#or at least being capable of manipulation and betrayal

[dxxtruction]

Louis does see Armand for all his flaws, and yet still chooses him, and loves him, but when he sees them for what they really were, and really entailed, he no longer can. Oh, gradations of evil. Louis had in ways bought into it.

[baldursgate3tempobsessed]

Past Astarion Meets His Future

This is a weird ass idea, but I'm doing it anyway. Some time travel fuckery. But the gist is: What if Astarion, decades before the Mind-flayers captured him, was on his last leg? Just on the verge of doing, what was at the time, his only way out. But what if something a little unworldly stopped him?

TW: Suicidal thoughts. M/F, me phoning it in with the dnd lore, Cazador is evil. Like, torture, physically and mentally, manipulation, literal horror shit. He's here so bad things happen to randos and our poor guy. I'm also using this as the backstory again for why Astarion can be in the sun in the future because it's so god damned convenient for drabbles.

~

Astarion watched the crowded bar with focused eyes, a feigned, relaxed smirk on his lips. But even with the acting, he could feel the smile on his face start to tremble, a tell-tale sign that he was truly on his last leg. It had been a long, horrible night, one that had no end in sight. Cazador was in rare form, demanding multiple warm bodies in the span of less than five hours. Astarion wasn't sure what had angered him this time, but he was taking it on the victims in a particularly savage way.

Twice already he had forced Astarion to stay in the room with the poor souls he'd brought back. And then Cazador... made him watch what he did to them. The monster truly had a knack for keeping them alive until the last possible moment. Beating them, assaulting them, laughing at their cries for help. He drank from them last, feasting on their blood until they were just on the edge of death before tossing to them ground. Then Astarion was dismissed with the order to find another.

He hated it. It was the worst part of his nights by far, not including when he was the one being tortured in their place. It didn't help that he always looked at their faces, full of terror and betrayal.

Why did he always have to look? It was a question he knew the answer to. It was because he did that to them. Perhaps not literally, but what was the difference? Astarion had led them straight into his hands.

That was all he did. His entire existence had been reduced to this. A slave, a rat, scuttling through the streets, only capable of inflicting the same torment on strangers. It was a hell that no one should experience, and one that Astarion had been in for nearly 130 years.

How could he continue like this? What was the point? He'd spent so long living on pure survival instinct, waiting for the impossible day where luck would be on his side. Where Cazador would kill the wrong stranger, where the possibility of his murder could become a reality. It was delusional, a poor excuse to continue clinging to this farce of a life.

But there was another option. There always had been. All he needs to do is wander off and wait for the sun to rise, and everything could finally be over. It's far from the first time he's thought about it. But Astarion is nothing but a coward. He'd seen the pure pain and misery of a death of that nature, your insides boiling from within as your skin turned to dust. It was horrifying, one of the worst ways someone could go. And yet... it was starting to seem like the only reasonable option he had left.

Maybe... maybe today would be the day, the first time he'd seen the sun in decades. And the last time he'd ever take a breath.

"Are you alone?" A voice asked, followed by a gentle touch to his arm.

Astarion turned, that same shallow smile instantly reappearing on his face. It was a man, one that was handsome enough for Astarion to probably not feel completely sick during the deed. Then again... he could always ignore them and go back to his final plan.

Or he could wait it out one more day, and pray for a miracle. Astarion nodded towards him, still slightly torn but willing to at least try. It's not like he could go home empty handed if things turned out that way.

"Come to my room?"

Well this was certainly easy. Astarion didn't even have to take the energy to bite out a subpar pick up line. He just followed the man to his room, a plan forming in his head on how he could convince him back to the manor. Not to mention his own escape if he turned out to have less than savory intentions.

The stranger shut the door behind him, sitting on the side of his bed with his hands folded in his lap, his eyes staring straight ahead. Astarion barely stopped himself from rolling his own. Great. A weirdo. What a lovely way to end the night, spending it seducing a complete freak. But Astarion had dealt with worse. He perched next to him, crossing his legs as he waited to see where this would go.

"I can see it," He finally said, his voice gravelly as he turned to stare at Astarion.

Astarion raised his brow, wondering for the first time if this particular prey had been partaking in some mind altering substances, "And what exactly are you seeing?"

"You."

Suddenly, the man was wrapping a tight hand around Astarion's wrist, his eyes shining with an unnatural green light, "You're close to the edge. Too close. My lord needs you breathing."

Astarion froze, equally parts horrified and confused at what he was alluding to. How on earth did he know his thoughts? What lord? Or the more likely reality; How wasted could one person be?

Astarion tried to pull back, frowning when he realized the grip on his wrist was iron-clad. He could feel a bit of panic start to swell inside him as he struggled, his voice rising, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Let go of me-"

"You must live," He said, the color of his eyes only getting brighter and brighter, near twin flames in the darkness of the room, "There is no other way. Kelemvor has work for you yet."

His confusion was quickly evaporating into rage. He didn't know what this thing wanted from him, nor why the god of death would have any interest in his life. But how dare he insist on Astarion's pathetic existence having meaning. He knew nothing.

His mask was slipping, his righteous anger spilling forth, "Let go. Before I rip your fucking arm off."

But he made no moves to back down. Instead he started to chant, an incantation that had Astarion officially panicking. Whatever magic he was using, it was powerful. Reality was shifting right beneath Astarion's feet, morphing into something different. The next thing he knew they were somewhere else entirely, his reality melting into something new right before his eyes.

The entire thing was so shocking that Astarion didn't even realize he was seeing sunlight. Without a single pain. He frantically looked around, the insane stranger's grip finally loosening as he twisted away. They were on a couch, in the middle of what looked like a brightly lit townhouse, voices spilling out of the other room.

Astarion stood quickly, a hiss escaping him, "Where in the hells are we?"

"Nowhere," The man said cryptically, his eyes still aflame, "Neither the present of the future. We are in nothing but a glimpse, taken and made for you."

That did nothing to answer his question. But it did make his mind go into more reasonable directions. This had to be an illusion, there was no other explanation for why he wasn't being burned alive. But an illusion of what? And for what purpose?

Astarion pinched the bridge of his nose, at a complete loss at what to do. He could try and kill him and pray that that would break the spell. But there was also the chance that he wouldn't live through an altercation with someone who could warp his senses so easily. Or perhaps this whole thing was a nightmare, a horrifying dream he'd cooked up after a night in the torture chamber.

Still at a loss, he settled on asking another question, "Then what is this a glimpse of?"

"Home," The man said simply before slipping off the couch. The cryptic bastard.

He started walking towards the next room towards the unknown voices; Astarion feeling helpless but to follow.

He lingered at the entryway, his eyes widening at the sight of a woman standing there, cooing at a teary-eyed child she had on her hip. They were right in her line of sight, but she had no reaction to their presence, instead calling out into the other room, "Did you find it yet?"

Another voice called back, oddly familiar as it groaned, "If I had, would I still be on my hands and knees here?"

Astarion stepped forward, more than ready to see if he could enlist the help of strangers for his predicament.

"They can not perceive us," The stranger said, interrupting the call for help that was on the tip of Astarion's tongue, "They are not real. Merely copies of what is, what will be."

"Lovely," Astarion growled out, his fingers itching to fight back against this demon of a man, "Now what in the gods' names does this have to do with me?"

"Watch and you will see," He said, his eyes blazing straight ahead, "The Lord of Death works in mysterious ways."

Astarion's theory of this being a torture-induced dream was becoming more and more believable. He didn't even bother questioning it, not when one more inane answer would send him into a tailspin. Instead he stared ahead, waiting for the moment he would wake up.

The baby was still squirming. Annoying whining sounds spilling from its lips, nearly on the edge of crying. But the woman still had a bright smile on her face, calling back "I told you we should have looked for it last night!"

"Well when she threw it across the room I assumed that meant it had fallen out of favor!" That same familiar voice yelled back, followed by an excited ah-ha! sound.

"Isabella's gonna have a fit, isn't she?" The woman sing-songed, bouncing the child on her hip, "I guess Mommy's going to have to let you start sucking on Daddy's hair again, huh?"

"I heard that!" The muffled voice called back, getting clearer and clearer by the moment. And then another man was walking into the room, grinning ear to ear as he held up a pacifier, "And I will not be forgetting it darling. Don't come crying to me the next time she's gnawing on your nose."

He leaned over to kiss the woman on the cheek before popping the pacifier in the girl's mouth, laughing when it instantly made her calm down. He was tall and pale, an elf with piercing red eyes and pure white hair.

No. It couldn't be-

"There. All better," The man sighed, his voice crystal clear in the calmness of the room, "She has quite the arm for a toddler."

It was a voice that Astarion knew, better than anyone else. It was his own.

Astarion watched, wide-eyed as his other self lifted the baby up in his arms, laughing as the child squealed around the pacifier, "She sure is cute for someone who can be such a brat. She takes after her mother doesn't she?"

The woman rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. Almost like she couldn't help but do anything else as she watched the duo, "Brave words for someone of your nature. Not to mention how she's your twin."

"Nonsense. She looks just like you, we should have named her Tav Jr," Other Astarion playfully argued, taking his other arm to wrap around the woman's shoulders, "I'm only responsible for the corpse-like complexion."

Astarion stared at them, in complete shock. He didn't-why would anyone or anything want to show him this? It didn't make sense. How would it be possible for him to be in the sunlight? Let alone to have a family. Astarion knew that this had to be a lie, there was no other explanation.

But that didn't stop his heart from aching from being forced to witness it. He was too shell-shocked to speak as he followed the duo to the other room, listening as his other self set the child in a crib, still cooing at her, "Auntie Karlach is coming over and you'll need your rest. How else will you be annoying together?"

"Astarion!"

He watched himself laugh as he pulled back, kissing her little forehead before murmuring, "Mommy only says my name like that when she has no comeback, isn't that right princess?"

"You're going to regret telling her everything when she can start talking," The woman, Tav, piped up from next to him, "I hope you realize she'll tell me all of your secrets."

Astarion rolled his eyes before pulling her against him, pressing a sweet and lingering kiss to her lips, "What secrets do I have that you don't know? Please, enlighten me."

What kind of cruel joke was this? Astarion, the real Astarion, had seen enough. He turned to the bastard that had sent him here, growling through gritted teeth, "Why are you doing this to me? Have I not suffered through enough?"

The man offered nothing of value, "We offer you what could be, if you can survive. No more, no less."

No. No, no, no. He wouldn't believe him. He refused to. There was no future for him. There couldn't be. I-It wasn't possible. Not with Cazador looming, not when he couldn't walk in the sun without being burned alive. And especially not when he couldn't even fathom letting himself care form someone enough to have a family with.

But that's what was in front of him. He turned back, his morbid curiosity getting the better of him. Just in time to see the couple standing there, holding each other while they made out like teenagers.

"I love you," His other self sighed happily, the words free and unbidden from his own lips between kisses, "More than anything my sweet."

"With one exception?" Tav asked, her arms wrapped around his neck.

Astarion laughed, nodding towards the crib with a knowing grin, "With one exception."

Astarion stared at them, a horrifying feeling starting to grow in his chest.

Hope.

It's the greatest betrayal he could give himself, an eternity's sentence to his own personal hell on the delusional belief that something better would come. He couldn't give in to it. He wouldn't.

But the question still escapes his lips, "How long?"

"Seventy years until you meet," The stranger said, "You must live to see it. Five more until you're here."

Astarion watched, wide-eyed as the alternate reality started to fade, the stranger's eyes becoming more dull and human-like by the moment. He stared until the last possible moment, trying to commit it all to memory.

But it was difficult. Like thoughts he couldn't quite grasp, slipping through his fingers. Something wasn't right.

"Will I remember this?" He asked, even though he was already on the edge of forgetting.

"No," The man said simply. They were back in the room, sitting on the bed as though nothing had happened, "But you'll remember the hope."

It was the equivalent of a curse, one that Astarion could barely fathom as magic twisted his memories. But he could feel it there, festering in his heart. The yearning for a new life, stronger than ever.

Astarion left Shar's Caress that night feeling dazed and confused. He barely managed to drag a wasted loner back to the manor with him, preying on him in the back aisles. It was startling to think that he'd almost forgotten his original mission considering the consequences. But whatever happened had... done something to him. Something that he couldn't quite name.

But he didn't see the sun that day. Or the next. Or the day after that. Instead he continued to struggle, to suffer at the hands of his sadistic sire with no end in sight. Not until years and years later, when the worst and best thing to ever happen to him occurred. He was kidnapped by mind flayers, but gifted with a disgusting parasite that allowed him to live in the sun.

It wasn't ideal but it was better than being under Cazador's thumb. Not to mention how he found companions relatively quickly. It had been pure luck that you stumbled upon him, even luckier still that you were the type to forgive a man for having a knife to your throat.

He was happy to accompany you. He was happy to do whatever it took to increase his chances of survival, frankly. It helped that he felt... strangely drawn to you. You looked oddly familiar. He didn't know how else to describe it, but it was almost as though he'd met someone from a past life.

[prntrink]

The Two-Way Street: An II Character Discussion

With the end of Inanimate Insanity’s second season and the recent reveal that more is coming, I wanted to take the time to talk about an idea I’ve been brewing in my head for a little while now. Now that we’re free of the competition, the show is free to explore its characters more in depth. This means a lot for characters who have previously been shafted or simply unlucky enough to place low in the ranks of the show. While my focus today is on a fan-favorite, I feel as if they haven’t quite finished their arc yet.

Enter Yin-Yang.

Now, I really appreciate the strides Yin-Yang made in Inanimate Insanity Invitational, learning to work better together rather than constantly bicker. However, I can’t help but feel like their development is one-sided. After rewatching the entirety of the series twice now, I think I have my thoughts in order. While they do have an arc, it is more focused on Yang and his own arc of opening up and allowing himself to be more vulnerable, despite the multiple betrayals he’s faced with. Now, I do think this arc is important, but it leaves their character feeling incomplete. This feeling is only accentuated in their last episodes as a contestant, “Spring on the Breakfast” and “Blue Buried”. On both rewatches, I felt that the writers were setting something up for Yin-Yang, but ran out of time to explore the strain on their relationship. In the span of three episodes, Yin-Yang loses their mentor, is manipulated into spiraling, and seemingly resolves their conflict. Compared to the 14 episodes where Yin-Yang is featured, this feels like a total writing crunch.

When we last see Yin-Yang, at least in depth, he’s not exactly harmonious with himself. But this time, it’s not because of Yang, at least not intentionally. It’s because of Yin. 

But maybe that was the writer’s intention. Thus my idea. What if Yin and Yang are going to swap roles in the upcoming II content? Perhaps that wasn’t the end of Yin-Yang’s arc. Rather, it planted a seed. The seed of something that will bloom in whatever comes next.

What am I implying? Well, let’s look at what the symbol yin-yang means! Wikipedia notes Georges Oshawa’s The Unique Principle as saying yin-yang is “an opposite but interconnected, self-perpetuating cycle.” The two halves of yin and yang are designed to react to each other. One ebbs, the other flows. One rises, the other falls.

One improves, the other devolves.

Throughout season 3, we see signs of Yang becoming more capable of compromise and meaningful relationships, at least until Candle’s elimination. He’s more willing to work with Yin and open up about his feelings, even if in a non-direct way. However, we don’t see much development from Yin. The most we get is in “Pesty Besties”, when Yin admits to struggling to assert himself.

Yin: (...)I didn’t know how to put my foot down, and I yelled, and I’m bad. I can’t do anything without Yang.

Yin: (…)I didn’t know how good you were at being assertive. I’m glad you’re here for our balance!

While this is a step forward, I can’t help but feel this is a rather surface-level form of development, especially considering the archetype Yin fills: the nice one. I find that a lot of arcs involving nice characters involve them becoming more assertive. Hell, it can even be seen in II itself, with Suitcase’s arc in season 2 revolving around becoming more assertive. It feels repetitive. But maybe that’s the point. There’s something deeper than Yin needs to work on that he either doesn’t recognize or is unwilling to face. Maybe his arc is meant to move in opposition to Yang. While Yang becomes better, maybe Yin is supposed to get worse, or at least have his flaws become more prominent. After all, it’s easy to look like a saint when your other half is the devil.

 But one can argue that Yang is the worse half. Of course Yin would be harsher with him! His history alone has given Yin enough reason not to trust him, and I do agree with that! However, Yang’s arc throughout season 3 revolves around his relationship with Yin, with him even agreeing to treat Yin better, a promise he held by supporting Yin’s desire to become more assertive. Even with these improvements though, Yang is regularly spoken to like he’s a child.

It’s also notable that later in the same episode, when Yang creates a mountain of soda cans, he lists respect as one of his demands.

Yang: Dinosaurs! Explosions! And respect!

While one could dismiss this as a petulant demand among other sillier demands, I think this is a small choice made to uncover a deeper desire of Yang’s. Also note how he’s standing on a tower of soda cans. Earlier in the episode, he says this:

Yang: They don’t want us in their team leader club because we’re not nearly as tall as them!

After this complaint, Yang’s gripe is compounded by OJ’s response to him clearly moping.

OJ: Wanna go press the button?

(Note: this quote is said with the tone one would use when talking to a child, made more blatant by OJ saying this to a clearly upset Yang.)

When Yang is atop his tower, this exchange happens:

Yang: I demand you finally take me seriously, shorties!

OJ: This was every day, back at the hotel. I didn't listen to him then... I refuse to now.

Again, this could be dismissed as a gag poking fun at Yang, but his wording, compared with later evidence, makes me feel like Yang could have a legitimate complaint that he’s only able to express through “immature” means. Chances are, he lashes out because it’s the only way he can make the others listen to him.

Throughout the series, we see plenty of Yang’s flaws. He’s impulsive, temperamental, violent, self-absorbed, et cetera, et cetera. However, we’ve seen throughout season three Yang’s attempts at improving. Yes, he’s still flawed, but we see more sympathetic characteristics. He’s passionate, assertive, confident, and while he denies this, shockingly vulnerable and trusting.

So, knowing what we know about the philosophy of Yin-Yang, it would only be natural for Yin to experience the opposite. We already see seeds of this in Blue Buried.

But Yin is the good half, isn’t his job to be good? Wouldn’t him having bad qualities defeat his purpose?

Yes, but that’s the point! In Taoism, neither Yin nor Yang are pure. The dots in their forms are meant to represent this. There’s yin in yang, darkness in light, good in evil. Additionally, in the finale, the contestants are free to grow beyond the stereotypes they were coded to be. This doesn’t automatically mean that everyone will change for the better.

Back on topic, in Blue Buried, Yin accuses Yang of murdering Blueberry based on a valid, but poorly-worded, question.

Yang: Uh, just one question-- what if you... WERE... the murderer?

Yin: Yang, is there something you'd like to share with the class?

Considering Yang’s past, this is a reasonable conclusion to make, at least on the surface, but let’s look a bit deeper. Firstly, if Yang did kill Blueberry, wouldn’t Yin know? Sure, Yang could have used mindful positioning to take control and leave Yin in the dark, but Yin never brings up any evidence that he could’ve done this. He doesn’t mention losing control, blacking out, or even having a moment of forgetfulness. The only discussion we see between them is Yin lashing out at Yang and accusing him of being selfish.

Yin: You know what Yang? Normally I’d complain about you embarrassing me with your insensitive remarks.

Yang: Okay, be normal then, loser.

Yin: But I’m not going to. Because I’m done.

Yang: Done? What do you mean done?

Yin: We were making real progress with mindful positioning, but ever since Candle switched alliances, it’s been all Yang all the time! No wonder Goo doesn’t see us as a unit anymore!

Goo: Oh, I wasn't trying to imply that I-

Yang: You think I’m the murderer, don’t you?

Yin: Of course I don’t think that. I KNOW IT!

Secondly, after accusing Yang, Yin makes no attempt to find other clues. We only make the initial accusation, then submit that as his final vote in the final verdict, even intimidating Goo into agreeing with him.

Yin: It's Yang.

Walkie-Talkie: What makes you say that?

Yin: It’s Yang. Pretty open and shut case. Right Goo?

Goo: I’m scared what would happen if I didn’t agree so yes!

Note that this accusation happens with no evidence from Yin, even when pressed for his reasoning. Yes, Yang has a reputation, but the reaction shown in the episode shows the rest of the cast being clearly confused. Some of them have even seen what Yang is capable of, and they still seem questioning towards Yin’s accusation.

Even when Blueberry himself reveals that he set up his own murder, Yin doesn’t address that he was wrong.

Yang: I told you it wasn’t me.

Yin: So everything’s still all about you, huh?

Yang: I DESERVE TO BE ABLE TO CLEAR MY NAME!

Yin: “I?” “My?” So self-absorbed!

Instead, when Yang brings up that he was wrong, Yin deflects him, bringing up his selfishness again, despite it not being relevant to Yang’s point. Even when he tries bringing the topic back around, Yin deflects again. They’re only interrupted by noticing Blueberry implying he’s going to eliminate Cabby, a common ally.

This isn’t even the first time Yin pulls something like this. Back during A Kick in the Right Direction, after Yin eats Dough, this exchange happens.

Yang: Yin ate him!

Yin: You can’t be serious!

Yang: It couldn’t have been me, I’m gluten free!

Yin: Okay, I ate him. I was starving!

Yin backs down fast, but it can’t be ignored how his first instinct was to deflect blame, albeit in a less direct way. However, pairing this interaction with Yin’s behavior in Blue Buried, I can’t help but notice a concerning pattern. It shows that Yin is willing to scapegoat Yang, even when he has no evidence or knows Yang didn’t do anything.

Furthermore, the way Yin talks about Yang, particularly in season two, feels like he views Yang as a burden to bear rather than a complimentary half.

Yin: If I was not attached to Yang, I wouldn’t do anything wrong!

Yin: I can’t [stand Yang], but we need to be together! Someone has to control his anger!

Pair this with how Yang talks about being freed from Yin in the same episode.

Yang: You can’t tell me what to do! I’m independent now! I’m doing this challenge my way!

Yang: Well, it doesn’t matter what you think. I control my feelings now.

Now, what does that spell for the future? While in the end of the episode, Yin says they had a personal victory, this always rang hollow to me. It feels more like they pushed the argument out of the way to try and help Cabby. But what if this was a purposeful choice? What if the rift between the two hasn’t been fixed, but had a bandage put over it to be taken care of later?

When Yang is separated from Yin, one line always catches my attention.

Yang: Well, it doesn’t matter what you think. I control my feelings now.

Now, I find this interesting because throughout the series, Yang is very vocal about his feelings.Especially in season two, Yin doesn’t often say that Yang can’t feel things, letting him butt in when they speak. However, I did notice something else. He appears to hold physical control of the body.

While Yang is vocal about wanting to do certain things, he doesn’t seem to act on these urges often, instead resorting to just arguing with Yin about it. The instances where he does gain control, however, appear to be whenever he catches Yin off guard or is misleading him. For example…

Yang kicking the ball at their own goal (S2E5)

Yin’s response implies that Yin was not aware that they were kicking at their own goal, or was under the impression that Yang was misled.

Yang eating the pizza (S2E4)

Arguably Yang taking full control, as Yin should have been able to tell what he was about to do.

Yang picking up the bike to destroy the TV (S3E9)

Presumably, Yin allows this action, as he’s shown being more upset than Yang moments before.

Yang doesn’t know how to move Yin’s leg (S3E8)

If they’re conjoined and share the ability to move their body, shouldn’t Yang have known that Yin can’t move that leg very well?

Despite wanting to move in different directions, Yang is only able to move them to the left after punching Yin and presumably distracting him (S2E1)

Both their eyes were closed in this scene, so they may have both been disoriented

Pairing this with Yang’s demands to be respected, this is more of a minor point, but I felt it should be brought up regardless.

Now, don’t get me wrong.I don’t think Yin is evil or anything. I think that wouldn’t be a good direction for his character. What I do think is that Yin-Yang’s character arc is very unbalanced, and that it would be interesting to see Yin move in inverse to Yang. I think it would be interesting to see Yin at his worst, and for the two to reach a point of balance that involves participation from both parties. After all, connection is a two-way street.

——

Please forgive me if this is shitty, for one I’m trapped on iPad Hell and can’t format very well. Additionally, I just really wanted to get this out. I apologize if none of this makes sense, I tend to do better in chats haha…but thank you for reading!

[turtlelioni]

Krisnix has the potential to be so deliciously fucked up hear me out

We always talk about Kristoph's influence on Phoenix, how it drove him to be this secretive, conniving sleazebag that we see in AA4, how Phoenix had to bear this man watching his every move for seven years and put up the friendship front at least every day every week. Can we talk about how resilient that is of him I couldn't stand to suffer that in silence with all my loved ones away from me. And to pretend you're that bitch's friend without bitching about it to anyone later? self inflicted torture.

but also

Phoenix, for however long he suspected Kristoph of ruining his career, never suspected him as capable of murder. And I don't believe that he was capable, not of the hands-on kind that he commited with Zak, but Kristoph was driven to the edges of his sanity with Phoenix as well. We know that he attempted to poison Drew and Vera Misham almost at the same time he got Phoenix disbarred, and while it was vile, it was all calculated. Flawless. Clean.

Which is why the way he murdered Zak is so fascinating. Kristoph Gavin, the coolest defense in the west, the gentleman attorney, hit this man with a bottle over the head. It's messy. It's desperate. It's his last shred of composure being obliterated, because during the seven years that he stalked and manipulated Phoenix, he was under his scrutiny as well.

He knew that Phoenix suspected him to some extent. Aside from the loose ends that he hoped would be resolved in time, he knew that this man had friends with inexplicable "bring back the dead" powers and that his best friend was Miles Edgeworth, whom he most likely has gone up against. He knew that Phoenix was only playing dumb with him, because whoever could best him at poker every single time could not be a complete fool.

Phoenix drove this cold, calculated killer into a barfight murderer. He brought him to the brink of desperation in trying to cover his mess and they only knew half of the shit each other were doing during those seven years.

Just the poison as symbolism for their whole relationship, man. Phoenix trusting Kristoph at first, slowly realizing what he's really done to him, him poisoning himself in return by being around him- the drinking, the dishevelled appearance, the backroom poker playing, Kristoph becoming more paranoid, more desperate, more risky.

Phoenix was aware of the fact that the man he was hanging out with had the potential to turn him and his loved ones out on the streets, but to find out that he was also a murderer? Capable of both the insidious kind and the hands-on kind? the betrayal. the anguish. just when you build a tolerance to him, he attacks you again.

I could easily see Phoenix develop an even deeper paranoia, having all of his house and belongings tested for poison after AA4.

I could see it actually being there.

[greengoddesssmoothie]

We don’t talk enough about how the Arcane started influencing Viktor back at the Hexgate scene where he has his vision. The Arcane plopped the idea for the Hexcore into his brain!! He is blatantly shown to be drawn to the Hexcore in a magical/paranormal way long before experimenting on himself. Heimderdinger even points it out, “Viktor, something’s different. You’ve changed. What did you do?” “It’s that thing! It must be destroyed!” All he’s done at that point is stare at it and touch it.

It makes me wonder, why Viktor? Could the Arcane speak to him because he was dying? Did it latch on to him solely because he bled where the Arcane was active (at the Hexgates)? Does he have a connection to the Arcane outside of Hextech? Was he always destined to become the Arcane Herald?

It has interesting implications for his agency throughout the show. My man made bad choices, I’m not denying that, but he was being manipulated by something that eventually shaped his very reality (there’s a reason he remained just as expressive in “the Hexzone” while his physical self was muted). He clung to the desire to help people throughout, but his perception of what that meant and how to do it became warped beyond recognition.

He was resisting the Glorious Evolution, believing humanity shouldn’t be sacrificed for the cause, right up until Jayce’s “betrayal.” And even then, I don’t think he was acting solely out of anger. He says, “I understand, now.” He believes he understands why the Arcane wants him to bring forth the Glorious Evolution, and that he should stop resisting.

I think there was a part of him that, after Jayce refused to join him, was hurt to the point that he didn’t want to feel, and in that way he acted selfishly. I also think there was a part of him that thought, “If Jayce is capable of hurting me in such a way, the Arcane must be right. We would be better off, would thrive even, without emotions.” And I truly think because of this, he rationalized to himself that what he did to Vander, destroying his essence by taking away his humanity, was a blessing.

I also don’t think much of him was left after the final transformation (after all, he’s mimicking Vander throughout the entire scene, indicating his own loss of self). And I think that’s why, when Ekko cracked open his mask, he hid. He doesn’t want to be there, he doesn’t want to be human or truly present. And I think his cracked mask gives him a moment of clarity, or at least more control. “Why do you persist? After everything I’ve done?”

There’s just a lot of complexity, here. Yes, Viktor technically had control of his actions. Yes, he was manipulated. Yes, his intentions were good. Yes, his actions resulted in the deaths of hundreds. In a post-canon universe where he and Jayce live, how does this complexity affect Viktor’s punishment, his treatment, after the fact? That’s not even getting into how he’d blame himself, just as he blamed himself for Sky’s death. How do you advocate for someone who refuses to minimize the role he played and refuses to use the fact that he was manipulated as a defense?

How do you adjust to being thrust back into a human body, alone and finite, after experiencing divine communion? How do you insist on death when the person who gave up everything for you begs, sobs, fights for you to live?

How could you possibly live with yourself, and for how long must you?

[greenerteacups]

what are your feelings about Azula? 👀

My feelings are that she gets done kind of dirty in the last season, especially when they lean into the madness arc, and like — I dunno, the whole "she's deranged and hallucinating" thing never scared me or added to her villain mystique. Azula was way scarier when she was cold and calculated and in-control, like with the Dai Li at the beginning of S2. When her mind starts going — as of course it will, she's about to be crowned the head of a sovereign nation at fucking 14, and she's been serving as a child soldier in active-duty combat for at least a year — it makes her seem so weak and sad. And to give the writers their due, the show fully intends this! We get long, intense shots of her crying and accusing a hallucinated version of her mother of never loving her, then accusing herself of being unworthy of love. Something confirmed in her mind by the betrayals of Mai and Ty Lee, who choose Zuko and each other, respectively (which is what Azula thinks her mother did). All of which makes her relationship with her father, an unloving and emotionally repressed fascist dictator, incredibly loaded, because he becomes the only person in her life capable of filling her need for affection. And that's only the beginning of her character. The show ends just as we get to see Azula at her lowest, having tempted us with this incredibly compassionate portrait of someone who's been manipulated into acts of violence.

Is Iroh wrong about the "she's crazy and she needs to go down thing"? Eh, probably not, I guess? Insofar as she's the sovereign of an imperial power, and if she's not apprehended she is most definitely gonna try and go do more massacres and war crimes: yes, because the show's about to end, Azula does need to go down. There's space in the writing of the show for someone to be both redeemable and also probably not redeemable in the time we have left before they hurt a shit ton of people, so they need to oppose her with violence. Fair. But (1) Iroh is himself a flawed character, and my read on that line is he's traumatized himself from failing to stop his brother Ozai before it was too late — something he's afraid of Zuko doing as well; and (2) as a former heir-presumptive to the Fire Nation throne, more decorated of two siblings, prodigious firebender, military genius, and only other person to successfully take the city of Ba Sing Se before being crippled by intense personal loss, I think Iroh sees himself in Azula, and it frightens him. And I think he's guilty, because after Ursa left, he obviously favored and cared for Zuko in a way that gave the kid a makeshift parent, whereas Azula had no one. And I think someone as wise as Iroh would see and feel guilty about that, if not for the act itself then for his inability to predict how a lonely, mean, and talented young girl would internalize abandonment in dangerous ways. All of which weights his judgment in how he handles her as a strategic threat. (Which, at the same time, she very much is.)

What I feel about Azula is that if you take the show finale as the endpoint of her arc, she is an incredible tragedy, and a really compelling remark on how the systems of imperialism and monarchy produce future imperialists and monarchs. I wanted someone in the story — besides her own wish-fulfillment hallucination of her mother — to acknowledge that those systems had failed her.

[theharellan]

My rough thoughts/interpretation/reflection of Solas and his relationship with Mythal after a first playthrough. It's subject to change on future playthroughs, but probably by inches (if I can ever get my audio fixed). Note that while I am trying to base all of this on canon, there is reinterpretation involved, as I do feel Mythal/Flemythal/Morrimythal was neutered somewhat in the writing process.

Spoilers for the whole of DA: The Veilguard.

When I roleplayed Solas I mostly played the relationship as benign, in large part due to her being another character whose role in Solas's life was gestured at but never defined. Which in some ways, is still true, but I think at this point it's impossible to deny she had a negative impact on him (to say the least). Since moving into fic writing I started to lean into the darker implications of their relationship, and while for the sake of rp I'm adaptable, I do still want to talk about my feelings regarding them.

I believe Solas, by aiding her, is culpable in many of the crimes they committed together- make no mistake of that, but he is also a victim of her. She says at the end she used his wisdom as a weapon, but she also used her benevolence as a tool to manipulate him, appealing to his knowledge of her nature to get what she wanted.

Her coaxing him to take a body after he states outright that "he has no wish to live as humans do" (I'm going to ignore the confusing implication that humans were around) is but the first betrayal she subjects him to, and imo the greatest crime she commits against him, specifically. At least in canon, the game skirts around the issue of vallaslin, but if the "he didn't want a body but she asked him to come" is true, then it would follow that the follow-up, "he left a scar when he burned her off her face" would also be true.

The second would be rising to the heights of the gods, and calling him the traitor for rebellion. Morrigan calls Mythal corrupted 'Retribution,' and that may be true of Mythal after her murder, but I believe long before that her benevolence had gone awry. From what I can tell, we have no concrete timeline for Elvhenan and what the gods did before and after her death, and therefore no idea what Mythal even means by tempering the other evanuris. Slavery almost certainly existed, which honestly is enough for me to say she was doing a bad job. Past codices indicate that her punishments were not just so much as exact:

"Mythal, in her wisdom, interceded in an argument between Elgar'nan and Falon'Din. With clever words, she convinced them to settle their grievance through a battle of their champions. Elgar'nan and Falon'Din agreed, and set their champions against each other rather than declare war among the gods. May those knights long be remembered, and Mythal's wisdom be praised." (x)

This and the codex describing Mythal's judgment characterise her tenure as a god as being far from bloodless.

There are also indications that not all had as much faith in Mythal's ability to see reason or cede power:

"Solas always thought" is the key phrase for me in this note. Not "we," but "Solas."

What this all means for Solas is that Mythal someone he has a deep, ancient connection to, but also someone who has hurt him deeply, violated him, used him.

And he doesn't want to face that.

Solas is quite capable of admitting his mistakes, even as he is moving onto the next one literally in the same breath... but Mythal's mistakes are never addressed by him, even at the finish, when he is holding the pommel of the knife out for her taking.

I think Solas navigates around the wrongs committed against him throughout the course of their knowing each other. His rage against the mages who forced Wisdom to take a body, to kill, may lead him to murdering them, but he never directs such anger at Mythal. He can't. The regrets he has about her literally flake and dry upon the walls of the Lighthouse because he can't. He can't face her remnant in the FadeAnd it's only at the end where he receives any catharsis in the matter, any admittance of wrongdoing against him (albeit without apology).

So in most interactions with Mythal, Solas will be very close with her, at best brushing up against the sides of where there relationship chafes. Always willing to believe the best of her, and her death granting him the mercy of being able to persist in that belief.

I do also believe their relationship was entirely platonic, albeit at such an intensity (on his part at least) that I'm certain there was talk. Luckily, I've spent ten years with Thora and Solas doing the ground work for Solas having deeply intense platonic relationships that match his romantic ones for their dedication and devotion.

[taus-inc]

My thoughts and feelings on Uglies the movie

I'm starting to think I understand a bit of how people who read Percy Jackson before watching the movies feel. Uglies was... a movie. I have thoughts that I wanna share with a condensed version of my rant with the notes I took at the very bottom. I know in the end it's just a movie but at the moment it's important to me. Obviously SPOILERS for Uglies, the book (mainly the first one) and the movie.

I want to start with the things I liked since that's a much shorter list.

i LOOVEE the casting for Dr. Cable as Laverne Cox, Keith Powers as David, Brianne Tju as Shay. I also like the casting for David's parents, Croy, Sussy, Dex and An.

Not all the design elements hit for me but the look and sound of the hover cars and boards i really liked. As well as how the interface rings looked and worked, kinda showing how easy it was for things to be "hacked". The look of the operation tank wasn't something I thought too hard about but I like how they brought it to life. And "THE SMOKE LIVES" was beautifully done. While reading the books I imagined something more childish given the sparklers but the movie did them wonderfully.

And something small and rather insignificant, Tally telling Shay that Peris was the one who gave her the necklace makes a little more sense than some random person giving it to her and her caring enough to wear it all the way to the Smoke.

Now... on to the nitty gritty of the things I didn't like as much. Some are kinda nitpicky so take my word with a grain of salt as these are all just my personal opinions. I took notes as I watched so they will kind of be in chronological order.

First is the casting of Tally and Peris. I knew when I saw the trailers I wouldn't like Joey King as Tally Youngblood, I don't think she's that bad of an actress, she just doesn't fit my vision of Tally. I like alternatives of someone like HAVANA ROSE LIU !!!, Sophia Lillis, Emma Myers, Paris Berelc, Chandler Kinney, Inde Navarrette, Talia Ryder, Quintessa Swindell. Basically, anyone other than Joey King. Someone I could see being book 1 Tally but also becoming who she was in later books. And for Peris maybe someone like Archie Renaux, Archie Madekwe, Nico Hiraga, Brodie Townsend, Connor Sherry, maybe a Finn Little or even a Charlie Plummer. Clearly, I don't have a set look for these characters just vibes.

I don't like that Dr. Cable is a public figurehead. Most of the things she does and are capable of are because she's more secretive. She's a manipulator who works behind the scenes. I could've appreciated it if they had done more with it and made it a purposeful change but like many other things I don't see the point in it.

Tally's relationships with anyone are honestly one of the most disappointing things done and my #1 gripe with this movie. It just does not make me care at all. We're missing so many vital scenes that I'm sure they couldn't fit all of them in but because of what they cut out I couldn't buy into them as people. Everything just felt so temporary and non concrete. I know it was probably to save money from actors ( f you btw netflix) but I'm sad the only other scene with Tally's parents, them convincing her to give up Shay and the Smoke, was missing. Her and Peris' relationship falls very one note and her and Shay's just falls flat. No real friendship between the two, bonding over feeling lonely and (at least to Tally) beginning their next step to prettiness together. Shay's constant reassurance that she doesn't think Tally is ugly and how she feels about keeping her original face because she doesn't think of herself as ugly either. Shay's anger is completely missing for me when in the book it was a very big thing considering how much Tally's betrayal cost her. The same anger thing with Maddy happened too but more on that later. Even with Dr. Cable manipulating her I think it was so poorly done. She just straight up lied to her about what was going on in the Smoke instead of using everything Tally had wanted for the last 16 years against her.

Next is what I think to be one another major failing on the movie that I have to force myself to understand that they simply didn't have time for but.. Cutting basically all of Tally's journey to the Smoke really hurt me because I feel like throughout all the books Tally's relationship and outlook on the wild is some of the most important because it shows a lot about who she is as a person when she really has to be alone with herself in such dangerous conditions and situations. The wild is always the start of her radicalization and her free thinking. It helps her be more open about the Smoke and it honestly informs a lot of her decisions later down the line. Her puzzling through Shay's note and learning to survive (with the help of some city things) were very detrimental and sad almost none of it made it into the script. And they didn't even get the note right!!

Short and to the point- replacing the rangers who helped Tally (and gave lowkey clues about what she learns later) with the Smokies.. Again, I understand time and money restraints but still Ugh!

Them making Croy immediately overly aggressive and skeptical of Tally also just takes away from his character. Even in the books we have little to go on, but I think taking away making him slowly put pieces together about Tally's stories and the math of the SpagBols simply not mathing is a small but disappointing takeaway.

The entire time in the Smoke went by wayy too fast, they never let you or Tally just sit and exist with the people living there already so again i just don't care that it was raided! We missed out on Tally discovering the people who lived there along with more of her relationship with Shay being discarded. Taking out the library, Tally discovering all of the people and faces from before through books and magazines and the man who looked over all of that. Which flattens her character more seeing as that was one of the first deaths she experiences that she feels is her fault. Tally meeting David's parents felt rushed and their conversation about the lesions just felt like it was her entire reason for suddenly not wanting to listen to Dr. Cable instead of her forming her own opinions and that being her final straw.

Something the movie loved to do was take away so many crucial parts of the story, a major thing being the raid of The Smoke. In the movie it happens so quickly even though I'm sure they could've included a majority of it. Tally's desperation in fighting for something she had inadvertently helped destroy, her and the Boss fighting to protect the last of the books and her watching him get killed because of it. Because of her. Her getting captured and gaining trust and respect from people (Croy!) who previously doubted her, but at the same time her relationship with Shay hitting the fan because she instantly knew Tally was at fault. Her being smart enough to outwit and out maneuver a Special Circumstance soldier and escape. Her hiding in the cave with David. Her coming back to see Croy had convinced people to leave their shoes because she didn't have any while hoverboarding away. All which fuels her guilt and need to protect and rebuild The Smoke seeing as she felt it her fault. In the movie she hid out in the open.. ran out screaming when Az was killed... outed what she had done in front of everyone. Then she blew up a building and Dr. Cable literally just let her go for no apparent reason. David finding out what she had done and what she caused should've warranted more anger but of course we get none of that. Next we just jump into helping the captured Smokies escape and Tally's crazy ass plan that actually helped show the depth of how smart she is was glazed over. We lose the reveal of Dr. Cable testing on Az causing him to pass away which, on top of being a doctor, fuels Maddy's need to have someone give informed consent before testing the cure for the lesions. The movie also took Maddy rightful anger toward Tally away from her. It might seem small in the grand scheme of things but agreeing to be the test subject for an untested brain alter for a woman who dislikes you for having a part in her husband dying is a step in her trying to earn forgiveness.

Shay's reveal to be turned pretty was completely under done and felt because of the lack of depth they gave to her character along with her relationship with Tally. Shay never wanted to be turned pretty and Tally is a big part of the reason her choice was taken away from her. Her becoming pretty was another thing that made Tally completely regret all that she had done and showed more of the ripple effect of the consequences of her actions. Plus that fuck ass wig and ugly silver dress they had her running around in !!

Overall so many of the choices made by netflix just lets me know they never intended on continuing the series in future movies regardless of the outcome of this one. Like them making Peris special and then killing him off ??!! The Specials having special suits and not special bodies. Changing out the rangers to not expand on the lore. ((Edit: The flowers being made by the cities actually does so much to harm the story which also explains why they removed the rangers because it was cities fighting against yet ANOTHER rusty invention that was destroying the world. The cities (who knows how many) were fighting to preserve nature which lends to them dulling people to slow down their overconsumption and later Tally's mission to make sure the wild was protected when people eventually got their free will back.)) Making the ending open ended because there was no way they could fully close it out because of the nature of the books but every other choice felt so definitive as to an ending and nothing more, like showing Tally pretty at the end when the closing of the book was just her surrendering. The movie itself didn't expand on even just the first books’ lore and it just felt like an extremely lukewarm version of the story that happens over a 30 minute period even though the movie is an hour and a half long. Everything felt rushed and not true to Uglies the book at all and it upsets me to see these books introduced to people in this way.

Ok, rant over. Peace out.

───────────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆───────────

TLDR, my sparknote ver.

Things I liked:

Lavern Cox as Dr. Cable

Keith Powers as David

Brianne Tju as Shay

Design of the hover cars and boards

Design of the operation tanks

Design of the "THE SMOKE LIVES" message

Thing I did Not like:

how this movie is a TERRIBLE introduction into this world

their failed attempts at humor

joey king as tally youngblood

dr. cable being a public figure head

the montage that skips basically all the world building

tally and shays watered down relationship

tally and davids watered down relationship

tally's parents not coming to see her before peris and really showing she was pushed into working with dr. cable

making the crash bracelets work like a bungee jacket and not using the mechanics from the book

dr cable lying abt what david and the smoke were doing to that extent

montage of the tallys journey in the wild

replacing the rangers with smokies

croy being over aggressive abt not trusting tally when he was sly and smart abt figuring out her story doesn't make sense

david just going "these are my parents" and no one clarifying their names

tally not slowly coming to realize that the smoke isn't that bad and her doubts before learning abt the lesions

the talk abt the lesions

peris being special

the attack on the smoke

not meeting the boss who keeps track of the books/magazines

tally and david hiding out in the open during the attack on the smoke

peris killing az bc az dying from medical testing was important !!! + az's "wah are yu doin"

tally outing herself in front of everyone 😒 + her dumbass escape scene bc she literally just got let go

not explaining or using tally's very smart plan to get into special headquarters

no pretty speak

shays ATROCIOUS ASS WIG that thing looks like a lego piece on her head and them contacts and that dumb ass dress

that glass breaking as soon as the fire touches it

the pt 2 of the solution being so easy to find and maddy not stealing dr. cables interface ring

the body suit for the specials bc their body is what made them special not the suits

joey king breaking up peris and david's fights was giving the fighting from the kissing booth

peris dying ??!!(!(!(

maddy not RIGHTFULLY being mad at tally for destroying her home and getting her husband killed

croy all of a sudden being on tallys side 

[rw-repurposed]

Rain World Repurposed - Zen the Thunderbreaker

Zen, or at least what he was once called. He was Chasing Wind's beloved pet and friend for the longest time as one of the first repurposed organisms that Wind had ever created. Zen was a hybrid of a slugcat, scavenger, and even a small set of Wind's own DNA. Yes, in technicality Wind can even say that Zen was his son.

One day, however, Zen was caught in a rarefaction cell incident which caused the cell to have a meltdown. Resulting in Zen being infected by it and absorbing its unlimited energy. Wind was able to recover him, however, the scars of what happened always remained on every inch of his body. Now, Wind nicknamed Zen the Thunderbreaker as he gained new powers from the incident.

However, things soon changed for the worse. Wind became more maddened with insane and inhumane experiments inspired by Zen's incident. he repurposed creatures for his own selfish curious reasons and without any feeling of remorse or regret. Thunderbreaker took notice as time went on and the facility ground became a nightmare.

Thunderbreaker tried to help the others that were imprisoned for experiments escape, but Wind noticed his action as a betrayal. Wind tried to brain blast Thunderbreaker but due to Wind's genome inside of him, Thunderbreaker just countered the blast towards Wind and severely damaged him before he made his escape with the others.

Carnage was able to recover Wind and Wind repurposed his own body in just a few short cycles. However, he became hateful of Thunderbreaker and his kind, the slugcat. Ever since then, he ordered his minions to hunt down every single slugcats in existence ESPECIALLY Thunderbreaker.

To Wind, there was no more Zen, there is only Thunderbreaker.

===

Thunderbreaker was capable of many things:

He's able to use the power of the rarefaction cell and manipulate the gravity around him to his own will.

He's able to use electricity power as a side effect of having Wind's own genome inside of him. The rarefaction cell also boosted this effect by an insane margin.

This also means he's immune to any kind of electricity attack, such as the Centipedes or electric spear.

He's capable of charging objects into a Singularity Bombs, this, however, will drain his food pips.

He has a pair of sharp bones coming out of his arms that he used as a method of climbing walls but it's also a weapon to defend himself from attackers.

He has 13 food pips. He needed 4 to be able to hibernate, he needs another 8 to be able to use his powers and it slowly drains his food pips whenever he activated them. And he also has one extra food pip which if achieved he'd be able to unleash his MAX power which will drain his entire food pips to zero.

His MAX power turned him into an energy cell that overcharged creatures and exploded them. He also became incredibly fast and able to fly until his food pips drained out.

Due to him having Wind's genome. He's immune to an Iterator brain blast and has to be injured in other ways. This also made him more intelligent than any other slugcats.

His scavenger genome also allowed him to communicate with scavengers and even be accepted as one of their kind. Having a high reputation within their tribes.

Thunderbreaker might seem powerful, but in a world where every nightmare creature is actively hunting you down and nowhere is safe, you can't afford to not have it.

Bonus...

[pinkblahaj]

rick riordan's female characters pt 2: aphrodite's children

during my reread of pjo, rick riordan's portrayals of aphrodite's children was what made me first realize that his writing of teen girls might be problematic. it does make sense considering the demonization of femininity that used to be so popular, but it is valid to still be bothered by it. i have thoughts on how cabin 10 is described overall, as well as the specific characters.

cabin 10

in the earlier books, rick made the aphrodite cabin way too one-dimensional. yes, the goddess aphrodite is known for her vain and shallow personality, and yes, the other campers tend to possess well-known traits of their godly parents (ares' children are aggressive, hermes' children are tricksters, nike's children are competitive, etc.). but the way that aphrodite's children were portrayed as especially weak, preferring to look at their reflections and gossip rather than play capture the flag, did feel blatantly sexist to me. like of course because their mom is the most stereotypically feminine of the gods, they have the least battle skills.

at the beginning of HoO i thought rick might be atoning for some of these flaws. it was interesting that piper, a character who explicitly rejects traditional standards for femininity and beauty, turned out to be a child of aphrodite. but then her siblings were still very stereotypical and their cabin literally made her "gag". i found it unnecessary that rick specified in the lost hero that most of the cabin were girls. sure, it makes sense that aphrodite would want to have more daughters than sons, but that combined with the fact that they lack the skills of other demigods just doesn't look good. i liked that rick mentioned that despite her reputation, aphrodite was a war goddess and the oldest of the olympians, but i was disappointed that he continued to stereotype her children so harshly.

silena

i don't have many criticisms of this character, other than her being described as one of the few nice campers from cabin 10. i really liked that she valued love and kindness, which more of the aphrodite campers should have been like imo. although aphrodite and her children have a generally shallow reputation in the original pjo series, i appreciate the impact that silena had on the series and the way that she showed that aphrodite's children can still have bravery and strength.

i do wish that more attention is paid to how luke manipulated/groomed her and others (which i've been seeing the pjo fandom do more now, fortunately), as this is a big reason why i can't see him as a redeemable character.

drew

call me delusional but i am a proud drew tanaka defender. yes, silena was manipulated by luke and she sacrificed herself heroically. but she still betrayed camp half-blood and is part of the reason why several of them, including charles, died. drew likely looked up to silena and felt this betrayal extremely severely, and her bitterness is justified. i just don't believe that she became mean for no reason.

because rick is clearly capable of writing his characters with more depth, it's so disappointing that he put so little thought into drew. clarisse was a bully, but she is revealed to be under severe pressure from her dad and later becomes friends with percy. luke is a main antagonist but evokes sympathy from many readers. even octavian, who was unlikable from beginning to end, was suffering mentally and enabled by apollo, and thus didn't deserve all the blame. yes, some people are truly horrible for no good reason, but with all the trauma that the pjo characters go through, there was likely a much better explanation for why drew is the way she is. i hate that he just made her the most archetypal mean girl who immediately hates the female lead because they are interested in the same guy. (side note: it's funny that the only other living female asian character in pjo/hoo i can think of is annabeth's stepmom, who i do NOT claim)

piper

this character seems to be quite controversial, but i honestly was not as bothered by piper as i thought i would be upon rereading. her "not like other girls" phase lasts pretty much only one book... and it's realistic for teenagers to have cringey phase. since i do have a problem with the larger context of how rick wrote aphrodite's children, i do see why some are more bothered by it, bc rick portrays piper as better than her more feminine siblings. in this aspect, i do think piper had some lost potential. i think it's great that we have characters like piper and frank who aren't pure stereotypes based on their godly parents and who have to learn to embrace that side of them. but i wish we would have seen piper realize that being feminine does not mean you are stuck up and that she possibly had internalized misogyny. i really like the interpretation that her identities of being indigenous and queer affected her relationship with femininity and gender expression, but i doubt rick himself actually thought that deep into it. however, i've only read the first two books of toa, so there may be parts of her character i am missing.

i remember finding piper and jason to be boring characters during my first read of hoo, but after rereading, i think they are good characters who were placed in an extremely bland relationship. i personally am a subscriber to the lesbian piper + gay jason headcanon, as hera manipulating them into a relationship feels a lot like comphet. but i don't find their relationship unrealistic either. i feel like our standards were raised pretty high by percabeth, a relationship based on an actual friendship between two people who knew and loved each other deeply. but it's also normal for teenagers to get together quickly without knowing whether they are compatible. also, considering how short the expected lifespan of demigods are, it makes sense that we see couples like jiper and frazel who start dating less than a year after meeting. i also was never that bothered by piper being "obsessed" with jason... the other hoo couples tended to do that too, and her mother is the goddess of love.

piper's charmspeak was an interesting power, but i don't think it was super well thought out. obviously, there are some ethical questions about her using it on people, including her own friends, that are never answered-- especially because sometimes piper doesn't even realize she's using it. also, i found it hard to believe that in the lost hero she was already able to use it on gaea. i enjoyed the moments where we saw her other skills and would have liked to see more of them. her emotional intelligence (as seen in the way she helps annabeth defeat mimas) was underutilized and could have been a great staple for all of aphrodite's children.

[ultraericthered]

A tale of two evil Disney kings.

I put this out not to make any statement about how one villain compares to the other, but to compare how similar in the spirit and the details of their evilness these two are; the last straight up Big Bad of a Disney animated movie before the next decade and the first straight up Big Bad of a Disney animated movie we've gotten since.

And I also want to touch upon something that confounds me.

King Magnifico, despite the film teasing at him being a nuanced and even sympathetic character at first, ended up becoming a villain vile and irredeemably heinous enough to be upvoted as a Complete Monster on TV Tropes. Majority vote approved, so that's fair. ...But Turbo, the dude with a similar rap sheet, is still not only ruled a non-example, he's in the "never to be discussed again" category for all the nixing of adding him to the trope ever since 2012. Because why, exactly? I am legitimately finding no good justification for this now.

Turbo locked away his subjects' memories within Sugar Rush's code without giving them any say on the matter (whereas with Magnifico it's at least a contractual arrangement between him and the people who give their wishes to him), and while the Sugar Rush characters don't appear to be acting all that off in any way besides not remembering Vanellope, no one in Rosas really seems to be suffering, depressed, dispirited, and poor off from having given up their wishes and forgotten about them either: it's a frequent criticism that they all seem to happy and prospering, and that the bad side of Magnifico's reign is more told to us than shown. The suffering only really visibly occurs on-screen when Magnifico takes and breaks the wishes (though even then it's written off as "making people feel sad" by a lot of watchers, so it's not easy to argue it's all that heinous). And sure, Turbo's manipulation of Ralph left Ralph with more of a choice to make regarding Vanellope's cart and her ability to race compared to Magnifico with Simon, but that could be argued to make Turbo that much more insidious and reprehensible in his approach.

And then we have Cy-Bug Turbo vocally making clear his intent to overtake all games in the arcade he chooses and forcing Ralph to watch the Cybugs attack Vanellope, comparable to Magnifico vocally making clear his intent to break all wishes in Rosas in order to enslave the despirited masses forever and forcing them all to watch him torture Asha. Yes, the latter might hit harder since it's such a betrayal of all the people he was supposed to be protecting and caring for, but that doesn't make Turbo's climactic villainy any less heinous. Turbo lacks magic powers, he's just a program who overrode that of a Cy-Bug and intends to make full use of the bug's capabilities to infect the lifeblood of other games and to physically harm others, namely Ralph, who he tells straight to his face that he wants to kill. And like Magnifico with the dark magic tome, Turbo's code merging with the Cy-Bug doesn't destroy his moral agency, it only makes him into a more unhinged, unfiltered and destructive version of the same cruel, egomaniacal asshole he already was. The fact that he uses the words "virus", "arcade", and "game" in the same sentence proves he's not merely another instinctive Cy-Bug; he knows exactly what he's doing, and sets out to hurt countless others knowing that he's hurting them not caring, and even relishing it.

Well at least we have other trope wikis to look to if we wish to find Turbo under his rightful classification. He is a Complete Monster, period. With the raw deal TV Tropes has given him for over a whole decade, he's the one who should sing "This Is The Thanks I Get?"

Yes, I am aware that the Complete Monster trope is not a badge of honor or trophy for whatever villain ends up on it,

No, I could not pass up this image.

[burningdreambanana]

E

Narcissistic Manipulation in Kosem and Murad’s Early Confrontations: Scene Analysis from Episodes 31 and 32

Episode 31 :

In this episode, Kosem confronts Murad after he executes his treacherous Grand Vizier without consulting her. She’s outraged, she doesn't agree with his decision, but she's mostly outraged that he didn’t ask her first. She reveals she knew about Topal being a traitor and was deliberately keeping him alive to uncover the rest of the conspiracy. The irony here is strong: she’s furious Murad acted independently, but she herself never disclosed her knowledge about Topal. Classic narcissistic double standard : she expects transparency and obedience from him while keeping him in the dark herself.

Murad explains his reasoning: to make fear “change sides.” He doesn’t say who he means, but Kosem takes it personally, immediately snapping that she has never been afraid of anyone in her life. This reaction reveals a key narcissistic trait: hypersensitivity to perceived criticism, even when none is explicitly stated. Murad’s words hit a nerve because they threaten her self-image as the super woman and unshakable power behind the throne.

When Murad demands respect for his decisions—reminding her he’s the Sultan, the owner of the state—Kosem plays the "Osman card".

It's a recurring theme in the show that what happened to Osman was extremely traumatic for Murad and heavily shaped who he became as a person. And I have a hard time believing that Kosem does not at least have some notion of that. She’s deliberately tapping into his trauma, weaponizing it to instill fear and make him compliant. She masks this as maternal concern (even to herself), but it’s a thin veneer over emotional manipulation.

Also when you remember that Kosem is the one that started the rebellion against Osman which led to his death, her words take on a darker, almost threatening tone. It’s as if she’s reminding Murad, not so subtly, what happens when a sultan defies her. This isn’t concern talking; it’s psychological warfare.

Episode 32 :

When Murad formally ends Kosem’s regency, she spirals. This should be a normal transition, Murad is 20, fully capable of ruling in his own right, but for Kosem, it’s an unbearable narcissistic injury. Her identity is so entwined with power that she perceives his independence as personal betrayal. Her reaction isn’t just disproportionate; it’s a red flag for narcissistic parenting. Then she goes to confront him, and I find the scene to be such a stark display of parental narcissism and manipulation.

First, she accuses her enemies of having turned him against her, because god forbid Murad is actually capable of making his own decisions. She simply cannot stand the idea that her son is his own person, and might have valid reasons to go against her.

Murad immediately points this out

But Kosem doubles down.

Instead of reflecting on why Murad might end her regency, like the fact that a 20-year-old sultan still ruling under his mother makes him appear weak and mentally ill, Kosem jumps straight to guilt-tripping. She casts herself as the selfless mother betrayed by an ungrateful son for simply claiming what is rightfully his. But beneath this emotional manipulation lies a deeper dynamic. Kosem refuses to recognize Murad as an autonomous adult capable of making his own decisions; she infantilizes him to justify holding on to power. Yet at the same time, she flips the emotional burden onto him, demanding that he manage her feelings of rejection, loss, and humiliation. This is a form of emotional parentification, where the child becomes responsible for the parent’s emotional stability. Kosem’s sense of identity is so entwined with both Murad and the state that his independence feels like a personal abandonment and a threat to her personhood. She reframes his rightful transition into power as an emotional betrayal, making Murad feel as though his duty to the empire should come second to his duty to protect her ego.

Then he points out she betrayed his trust by negotiating with the rebels behind his back, invalidating his own decision. She responds, as she always does, that she is protecting the dynasty and the state and Murad replies "by bowing down to rebels?". She gets mad

Her saying that is very ironic because from what we saw she was almost always willing to placate the rebels by giving them what or who they wanted (that's why Musa was killed for example)

Girl the army seems to be rebelling like every month, when is this opportunity coming? Say what you will about Murad but he's perfectly right to be tired of this shit, especially since he has already lost many closed one because of this.

Then she goes even lower to the guilt-tripping

mine = head

She says killing her would have hurt her less than ending her regency in public. This is over-the-top emotional blackmail. Sure, Murad should have given her a heads up but she's widely exaggerating by saying he humiliated her, a regency has to be ended publicly, and Murad's announcement did not bash her in any way.

When Murad tries to comfort her, she shoves him away. It’s an emotional power play, punishing him for asserting his authority.

He tells her not to take it personally; the state is at stake. But for Kosem, that is personal. She can’t stand the idea of the state existing outside her control.

Yet she denies when she is accused of using sultans as puppets rulers....

Murad finally snaps and declares the state now belongs to the Sultan. That’s when Kosem switches tactics, using denial and gaslighting.

I thought you were the state???

Murad sees through her and accuses her of being drunk on power. Kosem responds with a smug, self-congratulatory line about how “power is addictive” but she never became an addict, clearly implying he is the one losing control.

These early confrontation really sets up the toxic relationship between Murad and Kosem. Yes, he has a tendency to scapegoat her and his resentment of her goes too far, but anyone who doesn't see Kosem's behavior towards him is a major reason why he turned out the way he did is lying to themselves.

[lassieposting]

Serpine in therapy for the asks :)

Okay so my headcanon is actually that Nef doesn't get a choice about going to therapy. It's part of the parole agreement he makes with the Sanctuary when he immigrates to Roarhaven. Whether or not he is answerable for our Serpine's war crimes, and whether the Sanctuary here can try him for his war crimes back in Leibniz, is still up for debate by legal professionals and he'd rather not risk it, so in exchange for his freedom he agrees to comply with weekly check-ins with a parole officer (which ends up being Skug, because China is spiteful), regular therapy, and location monitoring.

And like. Honestly, he thinks the whole thing is a massive waste of time - the Sanctuary flexing its power over him to make a point. He shows up, he's charming and personable, he flirts with the therapist and the girl on reception and anyone else he happens to bump into - but he thinks that before long, he'll have them convinced that he's psychologically normal and doesn't need their services, and they'll discharge him.

But like. The thing about Nef, aside from having a sadistic streak a mile wide and Chronic Backstabbing Bitch Disease, is that he's spent the vast majority of (at least) his adult life surrounded by people who would turn on him in a heartbeat if it suited them to do so. He comes from a world where abuse, manipulation and betrayal are not only common, they're the norm. That's the only way to relate to the world and to others that he understands. The Faceless worshippers are a nasty bunch who all encourage each other's worst impulses and learn to care only for themselves, and on the rare occasion that they break those habits, they tend to get hurt by those who haven't. So like, Nef's normal meter is completely and utterly broken. In his Handbook backstory, his childhood was unstable and emotionally damaging. As an adult, he has nothing to do with his family - all he had was Mevolent and the Church. His relationship history is littered with violent psychopaths like Christophe Nocturnal and Jaron Gallow, people who approved of and supported Serpine's own sadistic tendencies, but also tended to vent theirs on him when it suited them. This. Man. Is. A mess.

The therapist suspects complex trauma - although, that's not as unusual a diagnosis as it is for mortals: it's a given for millions of sorcerers who survived the 500 Year War - narcissistic tendencies, though not to the point of a full blown personality disorder, and an obsessive focus on/one-sided rivalry with Skulduggery.

Honestly, I think Nef would mostly use it as an opportunity to annoy Skug. He pays attention, but mostly so he can take what the therapist tells him and put it to use while Skulduggery is stuck in the car with him for an eight hour stakeout. Psychoanalyse him. Armchair-diagnose him. Treat him to a three hour monologue of "My therapist said..."

But like. You know that thing where you start saying hewwo to mock other people who say hewwo, and it's kind of a mean-spirited joke at first, but suddenly you've unironically adopted hewwo into your daily vocabulary and can't stop saying it? Yeah.

Some of it starts to get in via osmosis and sheer habit. He spends so long mockingly telling Skug about all the problems that he (Nef) thinks he (Skug) has, that he actually starts to notice things for real. He can tell when Skug is dissociating. He can point out to Val that she has a tendency to pull away from and lash out at the people who want to help her, because she's terrified to be seen as anything other than competent and capable, and then he'll think, hold on, I do that too.

A lot of therapy goes in one ear and out the other because it doesn't work for him - complex trauma is just Like That. The standard practices - like CBT - seem like platitudinous drivel to you, and the fact that everyone else seems to think they work often feels like a great big joke everyone is playing on you. But he takes in enough to start making some small changes to how he interacts with others and how he behaves. He starts learning how to react appropriately to distress signals in the people who are becoming his friends, rather than seeing those signals as something to take advantage of, a soft spot to sink a knife into and twist. He's developing basic empathy, which actually helps him, because for once in his life he's in a situation where bonding with others is The Way To Get Ahead, rather than something that would get him killed.

And he's getting a better grade in therapy than Skug, by virtue of actually agreeing to go, so he gets to be smug about that.

[xxxkokin]

lolita is not a love story.

part I

the first thing i have to confess is that i started reading lolita because of lana del rey.

she wrote a song by the same name (utilizing the lines, “light of my life, fire of my loins” in the chorus) as well as including a more subtle version titled carmen in the same album. both of these songs were based on the events and imagery shown in the book.

the entire novel is narrated from the POV of humbert humbert, from prison, after he is caught having an illicit sexual affair with a child who he took in a cross-country trip. several times he makes commentary to his lawyer or quips about his own morality.

humbert humbert is terrifyingly charming in the first half of the book, with the gait of an abandoned man and the pale expression of a ghost. he’s educated, distinguished, even silly at times (referring to himself by several names, Humbert the Humble, Humbert the Brute) though this perception of an otherwise striking and eloquent European man falls apart at the seams as the book trails onward. he does not lie about being a pedophile, and being almost 3 times older than the objects of his affections. he is simply in a state of delusion—he sees certain children as “nymphets”, girls who are borderline demonic, seductresses who call to his heartstrings and attention (even unbeknownst to themselves, according to him). specifies ages 9-14. and though the reader knows what kind of advantage he holds over them, what kind of moral code he falls under, we want so badly to believe him. to think that some moments of his character are sweet or even likeably pathetic, that his love for dolores may even be somewhat genuine—alas, he is in love with her innocence. the idea of her. not for who she is. what claws at me the most is that i was unable to tell during some moments, whether he had professed true love or a dreadful perversion.

i experienced a betrayal in this book, almost as if i were in the shoes of dolores haze herself. so many of her traits feel kindred to how i was when i was younger: the brash stubbornness, the portrayal of flirtation based on her playful quips, tanned skin and freckles, her sharp humor, an even sharper mouth, and eventually, her sense of lost innocence. dolores (nicknamed “lo” by her mother, “lolita” by humbert) is initially affectionate with the protagonist, as the reader could be—teasing him, occasionally brushing up on him and comparing him to her british idol in the newspapers. however, as she realizes the deep and immense horror of her situation—the isolation, humbert’s calculated manipulation, the moral imperative of their age gap relationship—dolores haze finds her careless toying with a man becoming recklessly dangerous.

“Don’t do that. Don’t drool on me. You dirty man.”

she says this after a moment in the car where Humbert kisses her neck. page after page, the reader realizes that the very character of Lolita is told from the perspective of someone who wants to believe she was in control. Dolores Haze was a child. Dolores Haze has few lines and even fewer friends. She does not have a voice in the story, at least, not unless it is a “childish whine” to the protagonist. she is 12, later 13, later 14, capable of forming independent thought, and yet humbert treats her as an object of complete and untouched adorability. he throws out the fact that she has an IQ of 121 almost carelessly (again, she was in seventh grade?) and decides that she was ‘dumber than her quotient suggested’. humbert could not possibly interpret, or possibly, disclose, that dolores haze was terrified of being left alone after the death of her mother, financially and emotionally unable to sustain herself, and had forgone her logical thought for her safety.

[beemers-hell]

Can you drop more lore on Raina???

I wish I had visual images to accompany this, but oh well lmao, anyway Raina lore beneath the cut cause i like running my mouth!

Basically, Raina's kinda just vibing! Like Bank, she was born riiiiiight before Nevada went to absolute Hell, so she has very vague memories of what Nevada was like before the madness really took over n' everything. For a while, her and her family were doing well enough surviving through the early years of Nevada's newfound apocalypse state, however, one by one, her family members would be killed off, through random incidents. Eventually, around the time she turned 11, she was the only surviving member of her family, and she was, as you can imagine, incredibly distraught about it. Confused on what to do now that she was alone in the world, the only thing she could think of was making her way to a site inhabited by the Agency, since she at least knew there would certainly be adults there.

Obviously, since she was a tween, it's not like they were gonna hire her or anything, however the site she found herself at was in need of test subjects for a new series of experiments they were conducting, and, yanno, it's not like a kid is gonna survive for very long out in the wilds anyway, so they decided to take her in as fodder. There, she would be subjected to various experiments that were meant to test a new idea some scientists had been brewing; Maybe there was a way to turn Nevadeans into ultra powerful, supernaturally gifted entities, by somehow harnessing the powers of places and entities from beyond Nevada (ie. The Other Place, Dissonance, The Betrayers)? Which would certainly beef up their soldiers, if they were able to figure it out. So, the subjects of these experiments, including Raina, would be rung through the ringer in order to try and manipulate their bodies into becoming capable of supernatural abilities. Though many of these early attempts were unsuccessful, by the time Raina was registered into the experiment, the Scientists running it had finally broke through the initial troubles they were having and were at a place where some of the experiment subjects were actually surviving, and were displaying abilities they had not wielded before. So Raina's chance of survival/success was pretty assured.

And, yanno, trying to warp the body in order to make it capable of unnatural powers is gonna involve some pretty invasive procedures/testing, and Raina was subject to that shit! But she would eventually make it through the prep stages, which involved such procedures as; A couple of brain surgeries, multiple DNA splicing procedures, many rounds of injections with various substances, etc, etc...But she made it out alive so that's good! Though her physical body had been warped, as a result of her DNA and genetic material having been spliced with that of romp material. Oh well!

Raina showed pretty promising results; the Scientists in charge of her had been wanting to develop a way to engineer a grunt into being able to teleport, and they had managed to get it figured out with Raina. So she was teleporting! It was very uncontrolled and she seemed to have developed some sort of seizure disorder as a result of the signal misfirings occurring in her brain when she teleported, but kinks like those were to be expected and they were working on ironing it out with her. Unfortunately for them though, she managed to escape when a false alarm had been called on the facility she was stuck in, and managed to teleport herself outside of the perimeter of the building. And then she just fucking BOOKED it. By now she was around 14, and she was determined to figure out how to ensure her survival without relying on any outside help, since, yanno, her first attempt at relying on someone resulted in her getting turned into a science experiment lmao.

So she worked very hard on developing her survival skills, and learned how to make do for herself out in the wastelands. She'd picked up some skills from some of her fellow experiment prisoners, and had internalized a lot of the academic information she'd been exposed to from the scientists around her, so she spent a lot of her time split between honing in her ability to survive in the apocalypse, as well as nurturing her newfound interest in science and engineering.

Not much else happened in her life for a while, she was just busy surviving and learning, but by the time she turned 18, she had come across a little group of people calling themselves "W.M.S.Q." and at this point, she figured she could make a more educated judgement on if she could trust people around her by now, so she joined their little faction as a worker for them. And they were very good to her! So she stayed with them, and that's where she's at currently. She's a fantastic worker, a very skilled marksman, and extremely gifted in the engineering department, having gotten so good at her craft that she's just straight up inventing her own specialized weapons to use, just for herself. She's learned how to use her teleportation powers to the absolute effectiveness in combat situations, as well as whatever the hell it is that her weird romp abilities allow her to do. She's a very laid back type of guy in spite of the horrors she bore at a young age, in fact, due to them, she has no sense of fear left in her! Which has been proving to be a difficulty for her, but yanno, everyone's gotta struggle with something lol

[licorishh]

Welp. Binged the second half of the new ATLA show and finished it and I am still so incredibly impressed. Spoilers under the cut y'all know the drill

I freaking loved this adaptation. Slapped. Killed it. Nailed it. I'm gonna rewatch it over and over. Legitimately the only things I could really complain about are all related to Azula.

I really feel like Azula having screentime in season 1 served zero purpose here. I feel it would've been much more impactful to have her go entirely unmentioned until the finale when Zhao reveals to Zuko that Azula was behind everything (i.e. iy would've been cooler if Zhao were also revealing it to us, the audience, for the first time).

I also think it's a little odd how they're kind of totally changing the dynamic between Ozai and Azula (or at least the parts of the dynamic that we're supposed to believe is a representation of their relationship for the majority of the show). In the original show, Azula has no idea Ozai is simply manipulating her for the fun of it. She genuinely thinks he loves her, is proud of her, and is extremely impressed with her. It's not until almost the last episode that Ozai ever directly expresses his disdain for something she's done/said, unless I'm wrong. Ozai's expectations of her in the original show appear to be things she's easily capable of meeting, and she feels extremely confident in her abilities and is under the impression Ozai is equally confident in her. I find it strange that repeatedly in this adaptation Ozai is instead treating her pretty similarly to the way he treats Zuko. He doesn't appear to show her any kind of particular favor, doesn't expect anything but the most outrageously impossible from her, and regularly ridicules/undermines her and sows seeds of doubt in her mind that she's competent.

Azula doesn't show the slightest hint of cracking until the end of season 3 after Mai's and Ty Lee's betrayal. Sure, there are hints earlier on that she's a perfectionist and refuses to settle for anything less than the most flawless outcome, but she comes off as being incredibly confident and secure in her position. She doesn't doubt anything about her situation or her relationship with her father or brother. In other words, in the original show, the audience and Azula herself are never meant to realize until the very end that Ozai was pitting his children against each other. We (and her) are intended to believe that Ozai genuinely prefers Azula and is more pleased with her than he is with Zuko. In this version, there really doesn't seem to be much of that at all. It's just odd.

Smaller complaint, but I don't think that actress is necessarily just the most stellar choice for Azula, either. The casting for the show has been excellent so far, but this particular actress seems to be bringing out aspects of Azula's character that really weren't meant to be at the forefront until much later. Maybe it's the actress, maybe it's the writing, maybe it's both, but it doesn't feel like Azula. She doesn't feel like a substantial threat. Heck, Zhao is wayyy more compelling in this version than Azula is, and that's really not very good. She feels like just another competitor for Zuko.

Kind of branching off of that, and this one is a pretty small one, but Mai and Ty Lee are super boring. Granted, I don't really care about them at all in the original anyway (Mai has really no narrative reason to exist other than to be part of what causes Azula's spiral; I do like Ty Lee a little bit, but I could really take her or leave her), but they're just... so bland. There's no reason for them to be in those scenes other than to be cardboard boxes Azula can glare at. At least in the original, they serve as an excellent example of what's tethering Azula to reality and how she feels an incessant need to exert control over every aspect of her life. I reaaaaally wish they'd waited until later to bring them into the adaptation (it's also just reinforcing to me the fact that I simply cannot see Zuko with Mai at all in either version, but that's an issue for a different day).

Other than those things I wasn't too thrilled about, I really did love the show. The acting from the main cast was excellent, the stakes felt SO MUCH HIGHER and it was SUCH a nice tonal change, the bending looked incredible, the amount of effort put into accurately replicating the sets and the costumes was just astounding, and the pacing was excellent. I love how they were able to cut down on so much of the extraneous filler from the original season 1 by finding ways to compile them together in a way that still flowed excellently and allowed for a greater focus to be put on the main story. The main story in this adaptation never stops going, and for me, that makes it SO much easier and more fun to watch. It doesn't go off on forty-minute tangents that have zilch to do with the main point of the show.

Also Dallas Liu is literally the best possible pick for Zuko. He is capturing Zuko's miserable wet cat energy in a way no one but Dante Basco could do and that is saying something. He's also putting an excellent emphasis on how desperately obsessive Zuko is about catching Aang in season 1. He's completely blinded by his desire to find him, causing him to make completely illogical and irrational decisions driven purely by a desperate desire to measure up, and Dallas Liu is really doing an incredibly good job reinforcing that without having to actually say it.

Gordon Cormier is also absolutely killing it as Aang for me. I'm really not the biggest fan of Aang (I just don't usually like child characters; he's better in some parts of season 3 but he's just not really my favorite), but he's actually making Aang incredibly fun to watch. He's adorable and fun and silly without being painfully immature and difficult to be invested in. Yeah, I know, Aang's twelve and twelve year olds are immature, but that doesn't mean they're automatically fun to watch. He's really doing a great job there.

I also love this version of Zhao. I feel like he got way more screentime in this version than in the original, which was pretty cool. He turned out to be a much cooler and more dangerous villain than it felt like he was in the original.

I also liked this version of Yue WAYYYY more even though she was only in one episode because man!! She has a personality holy cow!! She's actually fun!! And entertaining!! Not just Phantom Menace Natalie Portman-levels of "Well she's a very nice person :)"

Also also, I loved the vibe of uhh episode 5, I think it was-?. Both of the Koh jumpscares legitimately startled me which I was not expecting 😭 normally I can eat simple jumpscares for lunch but they made him so frickin creepy which is honestly good because hE IS FRICKIN CREEPY

And I cried. Like three times. First time when frickin Leaves From the Vine played at Lu Ten's funeral (that one had me weeping as usual), I think a second time when Katara is remembering being a little girl and is hiding and she sees her mom being killed (that was honestly so much more impactful that we actually got to SEE such things instead of just hearing about it), and then I think again in Zuko's Agni Kai because my gosh he's been through it :((( the flashback parts before then though were so nice 😭 I lived long enough to see happy smiling Zuko in 4k which means I can die peacefully now

All of this is coming from someone who first watched the show as a young kid, was never really a huge Aang fan, and really doesn't care for the original season 1 and tends to skip it every time I watch the show. I have pretty unusual opinions about the original, so my opinions here may vary massively from the general consensus, and that's fine. I really loved this adaptation and I will be so heartbroken if they don't make a season 2 MAAAANNNN I NEED MORE 😭😭😭

Also the writers are goated for replacing Aang with Sokka in the Cave of Two Lovers and having Katara reinforce their family bond instead of pushing a self-insert crush a little boy has on a teenage girl who treats him like her son. And also that scarf scene which I think I will perhaps never not be thinking about. I will be forever indebted to them for that but again that's a topic for uhh not right now 👍