#sorry I'm not being as active nor posting edits as i should

[heymonty]

btw who missed me?

[all-hallows-street]

Lingzi's Odaibako/Twitter Answers Collection Volume 2

Continuing the compilation of Lingzi's Odaibako answers. Click here for Part 1.

You can still send questions/comments/requests through Odaibako but please be respectful and mindful! As the author stated they will not respond to any questions or suggestions about future content! Also do not spam, Lingzi answers in rare bursts so they might not get to answer your comment any time soon.

A few clarifications. I will skip some doodle requests/drawn answers and will compile them later in a post with all of Lingzi's twitter drawings. Everything with [] marks an edit so the English sounds more natural.

16. Hello. I have a question. There is a scene where Nini imagines (delusions) having a child with Lily. Can demons and angels actually have children? Is there a mix of devils and angels? I was curious because angels themselves don't seem to reproduce.

Yes, that's just Neil's fantasy. Angels don't have the ability to reproduce~

Source

17. Hello Teacher Lingzi I'm Japanese and I'm learning Chinese. I would like to translate your manga All Saints Street into Japanese. But I understand copyright. Can I translate your comics and quote your images? (Also cite sources, of course.) Or is it difficult for an individual to do this?

Ah, sorry, I haven’t looked at the question box for a long time 😂 I don’t know if it’s too late to answer now 🙏🙏😭 If it is only for the purpose of learning and communication, it is no problem to translate comics that have been released for free! 👌👌

Very important answer for me lol.

Source

18. Do you have the names of the demon representative and the vampire representative? (Other representatives too) I like it very much😭

That's a new character created by the animation team, and I don't know him either... (laughs)

Source

19. Hello! I am Japanese. I learned about Halloween Street through anime and fell in love with it! I particularly like Ira. I want to know what kind of woman Ira likes🙇‍♂️💕︎💕︎ I like your comics❣️

Does it mean love in love...? I think he might not be interested in women... nor other genders... He is mainly not interested in relationships, but if I have to choose one trait, I think he might like [loves and is good at playing games] 】Female w

Source

20. Seven-year-old Anna looks similar to a seven-year-old human, so Damao must be in his twenties? How long is a werewolf's lifespan?

The lifespan of a werewolf is almost the same as that of a human, and Damao should be around 25↑🤔

Source

21. Hello Teacher! In the anime, Neil's age is stated to be 16 years old, but I read that in the original story, the devil is 80 years old and becomes an adult. Are the age settings different between the anime and the original?

Regarding this... I checked with the screenwriter of the animation before. They forgot the setting of the comic, so they wrote it according to the age of human beings 😂😂 So just think that the settings of animation and manga are different!

Source

22. Hello, teacher! I don’t know if there is a detailed setting for this, but I am a little curious about whether the ice cream that the devil eats (the name is really apt) is a real soul (?) Can the devil in the All Saints Street world eat human souls?

It’s a real soul 😂 But what’s frozen into ice cream should just be the soul of the fruit (everything is alive👌) Yes, they should like evil spirits and the like.

Source

23. I really like Neil's design. I love Neil very much and I have all his belongings around me. Neil has one side of his hair braided. Why does he braid it? I like it because it's very pretty. Do you think this is fashionable? (I'm Japanese so the translation may be different)

The setting is because Neil's mother's family has the habit of wearing braids for generations, so he and Nick both have braids. (But the real reason is that I like to draw braids and think they are cute)

Source

24. Hello, Teacher Lingzi. Does FENZ have any guidelines for doujin activities? (I would like to know if there are any rules like HMCH, such as distributing doujinshi but not producing goods.)

As far as I know, it has never been posted🤔...So I can't give a formal answer to this question. It's just for reference...As long as you don't take the official pictures privately ( Official comics + animation) should be fine if you print pirated copies and sell them, and do fan activities...

Source

Two similar questions are answered at once.

25. Hello! I recently learned about this through an anime translated into Japanese. All the characters are really cute and I really love them! Will a Japanese translation of the original manga be released…? I really want to read the original… When will the Japanese version of the Manseonggae original comic be released?

Because there are really many people asking about the Japanese single volume, I will give a unified reply here: Thank you for your interest in comics, but… I really don’t know! 😂😂😂 I basically won’t be involved in anything other than [conceiving + drawing] comics, so I really don’t know…but I haven’t heard any relevant news yet, so it should be…not available yet Plan it!

(It's been a year since and there are still no news about an official Jpn manga publication)

Source

26. Hello, excuse me for asking! Previously, you answered in the question box that angels do not have the ability to reproduce, but how are the genders of angels determined? Sorry for the Japanese. I would appreciate it if you could answer. My favorite work🥰

Being infertile does not mean that you have no reproductive organs🫢(probably) I think you can imagine the body of an angel as that of an infertile human 🤔

Source

27. Hello Teacher! Does Abu have a sense of pain? If there is something that everyone has that Abu doesn't, or something that Abu has that everyone doesn't? Please let me know!

I still feel pain, but it’s a special place... Maybe it’s because I’m less sensitive to cold and warm. Even if I only wear T-shirts all year round, it’s OK, but I still wear them with the four seasons in order to better integrate with everyone. To change clothes.

This is being answered through Abu's perspective or the translator is confused af. Source

28. Hello teacher~ I just discovered that there is a teacher’s account on Twitter a while ago, so I looked at all the pictures on Twitter. The series on Ira is really warm and cute, but at the end I saw Ira lying on Teacher Lin’s shoulder. It made me think, is it possible for him to lie on top of others like this (stealing) and moving (lazy)? After all, hiring someone to hold a parasol in summer is equivalent to getting a free taxi without having to prepare sunscreen. Although I don’t know how to deal with the clothing issue.

Haha, it’s because of the clothes that he usually doesn’t do that. Although it’s really convenient... If you can change clothes at home, the probability of turning into a bat is higher. Forget it outside, the clothes will fall off. On the ground~

Source

29. Can devils go into church? 🤔 for example if someone they know gets married at a church do they just have to stand outside? wwww

Oh I never thought about that before, but I think you are right[.] They may not be able to get into the church

Source

30. Hello teacher, I’m interrupting you again (although I am anonymous). I want to ask this time, will an angel still be an angel without a halo? To be more specific, it probably disappears. Also, can angels share halos?

Logically speaking, the angel's halo will not disappear, but it may be damaged and destroyed. If it is broken, just go back to heaven and apply for a new one😌👌It's not a big problem. Yes, Lily also secretly used Teacher Lin’s aperture.

Source

Continue in Part 3

[sl33py-g4m3r]

Currently lost in chargestone cavern~~~~ how do you find the way out? Are there multiple exits?

Makes me want to reclaim the first shiny I ever found~~~ was a full odds Joltik in black and white~~~ found it on the last day of high school what feels like forever ago, cause some of the teachers let us play games.

I sadly no longer have the shiny~~

And the way Joltik jump around are so cute~~

I mean about the getting lost you can just skarmory taxi out but that’s not fun imo. Wish there was a map instead if it just being ‘under the terrarium’ or maybe the magnetism in the cave doesn’t allow the map to work as an in universe example? Much like how it didn’t in Area Zero.

Just put the shiny tags so I can find the post later so I don’t forget to hunt it~~~

✨

This makes me nostalgic actually~~~ Sorry for the long text post... Recounting all of the shinies I've found that I remember...

random shiny Joltik in Chargestone cave (black and white)

random shiny wurmple on some route in ORAS while trying to find a 1% surskit

idk how many shinies in Let's go games but that's when I actively started hunting for shinies

shiny zigzagoon and that one grass thing (the first gym leader uses the evolution as his ace) in Sword and Shield

soft reset shiny cyndaquil in Soul Silver

soft reset shiny snivy and tepig in black and white (still need to go for oshawatt (idk how to spell it)

soft reset shiny piplup in platinum (i was over odds on that hunt)

also a bunch in legends arceus that I forgot... having that audio tell when a shiny spawned was nice~~~

thinking about it maybe I should start actually keeping track of how long it takes to get a shiny?? I wasn't in the lets go games or anywhere else cause I did with the piplup hunt and it seemed more of a hassle than it was worth to me. But also I don't want anyone of accusing me of being a cheater cause I'm not... Getting stuff legit is way more fun than cheating shinies in... The actual hunt part gives them value and not the shiny itself~~~ imo anyway.

but every other shiny hunter I've watched on youtube keeps track of their odds and I don't....

now I'm pretty sure all of the tags for all the games I've found shiny pokemon in won't fit, lol.

~~ a visually impaired shiny hunter ~~

And if you all are annoyed at me putting that every time; I'm not sorry for once. I'm legally blind irl, and proud that I have enough vision to actually shiny hunt~~~

the hype of finding a shiny is unreal sometimes~~~ So much hype hearing the sparkles and seeing the alternate coloration...

footnotes cause I don't care nor do I play pokemon go anymore~~ Shiny eevee during that one eevee community day, and shiny spoink

(edit to complain~~ all of the visually impaired tags are gone cause tumblr still caps the tags at 30 and the web browser doesn't stop you adding tags anyway before you post it and it cuts it off.. AAAAAAAA)

[kamisama-spoops]

—Idiot

Character(s): Tomoe

TW: Injury, a little bit of angst

Genre: Starts off with a little bit of angst but ends off with fluff

Notes: Gender neutral reader || I'm being self indulgent and figured I might start posting my kh wips <3

"I don't know how you could be so much of an idiot to keep managing to do this to yourself." A heavy sigh left the yokai as he wrapped up your arm. Leave it to you to try climbing a tree that you knew didn't have any footholds.

A chagrined pout reached your face. With his tone of voice, you'd think you were being reprimanded by your parent. "Maybe you should add another thing on to the list of things you don't let me do." Your mumble wasn't exactly quiet nor were you actively attempting attempting make sure that he didn't hear you and an exasperated scowl twisted the yokai's usually impassive expression.

"Such a list wouldn't exist if you didn't insist on being so reckless. It isn't like you actually listen to me regardless." Same old, same old. Always the same lecture.

"If you're so annoyed by it, then maybe you should just stop caring. It'll save you the trouble." There was a bitterness that Tomoe wasn't used to in your voice, a stark contrast to your usually excitable and flowy attitude.

It was rare that you ever acted like this. Like anything that anyone said ever had any affect on you and that was when he knew that he may have gone too far this time. Well, not this time alone. The pressure of each lecture constantly building on top of another was bound to make you burst eventually.

He didn't mean to make you upset. He never wanted that. He just cared about you, maybe too much, like each time you got injured hurt him as well but he knew that he could be a bit harsh, even if he would never admit it out loud.

He looked up at your face which was turned away from him, scowling down at the floor, and used one hand to direct your gaze to his.

For a second he felt his heart crack at the annoyance that you directed at him before your eyes flickered back to the floor.

He had to take a breath to steady his mind. "I'm... sorry." He was almost tempted to take his words back when your eyes widened, boring into his. This was bound to be one if the first times that you had ever heard him say those words. "I was harsh and having to take the position of a god can't be easy even with a yokai like myself helping you do all of the work. I just- want you to be safe."

By the end of his apology, he was looking away from you, cheeks flushed. He was never this honest with anyone and honestly, he didn't think that he would be able to survive even another second of your staring at him like that.

He almost lost his balance when you threw yourself at him, tackling him into a hug which threw both of you to the floor. Your jovial laughter filled his ears and he found himself smiling too. For a moment at least.

"Thanks for always looking out for me, Tomoe."

A tired but relieved chuckle reverberated in his chest. Maybe he was finally getting through to you.

"Maybe next time I should take you tree climbing with me."

Never mind. You were still an idiot.

Tags: @rurifangirl @a-chaotic-dumbass @damnfoxx

Do not repost, edit or claim. Only reblog ❤️

[almalvo]

I think the majority of the tos fandom is neutral on or actively likes the greenish skinned spock?

There have been a number of quintessentially tumblr style posts over the years where someone (who to my knowledge is part of a vocal minority) comes up with some argument or piece of evidence to support the claim that a green skinned spock is perpetuating antisemitism, and then someone immediately provides evidence that counters or discredits the claim, then another rebuttal is presented and so on and so forth. ("Net zero information" as tumblr veterans will say.)

It seems to come up every so often, either side being made up of Both jews and goyim. It seemed to me the overall consensus after a while was it was not really a problem, some people just wanted it to be. Perhaps it is making a resurgence.

Obviously times change and we become aware as a group of different things in different ways (example: the miniskirts of the skant uniforms being shown on TV in the 60s at the time being seen as empowering women due to censorship and the culture then, versus the general consensus now that having women show more skin is not necessarily as empowering as it is objectifying. One doesn't really invalidate the other. What is the most "right" to do going forward today is still different from yesterday, yet those saying the miniskirts were black and white, categorically, never "progressive" are still missing, ignoring, or inventing context.)

I'm sorry if any of the discourse has tired you out, or sapped anything out of your enjoyment with regards to trek and its fandom here. I hope that its clear this is more of a symptom of the modern internet, and how that pronounces and enables the faults of general human interaction and the various hiccoughs endemic to it, than trek precisely.

From the other end, if its any consolation, this is neither the first nor the last of this in trek. Perhaps you might find it oddly nice to be included:

There are stories of discourse handed down from the "beginning times" of this fandom? Tales of brave fic writers and artists meeting up at conventions, passing around the hand bound and hard printed copies of the zines that they worked together to make, through the snail mail before the internet was a twinkle in any of our eyes, and attempting to guard specific editions from individuals who did not agree with the particulars of something found theirin and sought to do away with them through force, espionage, and various other means.

So it may be tiresome but at least its a little bit of a trek tradition? And a human one? Similar things seem to happen throughout history, to philosopher kings as much as fandomites. Hopefully theres humor in it, in the end.

I also think if people are coming for you, perhaps its a matter of becoming more popular and overall exposed to more individuals. On your way to becoming a "big name fan," perhaps? ;). Maybe more of a curse than a blessing, though. Hopefully it pans out right for you.

I think most people recognize that what youre doing and contributing, it is with love. I think the majority see your love, especially for spock, in your work. I think we can also see our own love reflected in it.

You're doing great work, I just hope they're not bothering you too much. You really add something to the fandom, and it really feels like you specifically are contributing something to a tradition of hope and joy and more that dates back to the inception of things. (The inception of both trek, and fandom as we know it and knew it, that is. They are often one and the same.)

Someone mentioned your work reminded them of the old trek art, and you said you werent quite sure what that meant. I don't think I myself could quite do what that meant any justice in explanation, but I do believe it to be true, in both fashion and in spirit.

Aesthetically there is some resemblance, but it also just feels like we should be welcoming you home, should you deign to stay a while.

Like its not quite a stranger being inducted.

Like the bones of the place we've built together recognize a kindred soul, and would be gladdened if that soul were to stay a while and build anew, or upon old foundations, at their leisure. Like theres a history to be shared that that soul can be trusted with, though they are as free to come and go as we all are.

Theres just some nebulous quality that someone else may be able to better pinpoint than I. I think it may be that same quality you mentioned not being able to quite put into words in a previous post. (Assumptions, Assumptions, though. If I am wrong, I apologize, and mean no offense. )

Theres just a recognition of feeling in eachother in this fandom I think; that feeling that drew many of us to it. Like how some sea dog sailor sees anothers yearning for the open ocean, and how one future day some solar sailor may recognize that same yearning, this time for the stars, in some young bucks eyes.

I also apologize if this is too much, or uncomfortable to receive. I'm up a bit too late, and am rambling and most likely incoherent, but it seemed untenable somehow to not make an attempt to offer something, anything, if there was any chance you may feel alone or disillusioned with those around you. It felt important to not sit idly, and silent. I make no excuses for anything less than ideal, but I hope things are worthwhile despite any misgivings you may have.

As well, Please do not feel it necessary to respond to or post this if you'd feel better not doing so. (No offense where none is intended? None will be taken, at least.)

From me, to you: Peace and long life, Sochya eh Dif. 🖖

And if I may speak for trek in general: May we, together, become greater than the sum of (both of) us.

Hello, dear Anon.

I am, regrettably in far fewer words only out of succinct packaging and in no way diminutive insult, so humbled and thankful for your wonderful message - rather missive - to me :')

I assuredly took no offence by those who voiced this unpopular and logically unsubstantiated opinion on Spock being some indecent and politicised caricature of the Jewish existence. I understood it as a largely emotionally driven explication, knowing how emotions shield us from a more objective reality we may not like to acknowledge out of whatever comfort, ease, fear, and even ignorance doing so can grant in those of us who have inherited and live through pain.

Unlike the typical regular, as someone who is fairly extensively well versed in the historical and social contexts of these kinds of matters, psychology and the more scientific disciplines in tandem, it is why I could hold anything at all in credible confidence, as I took these opinionated submissions to be what could be expected and understood when it comes to the human question and the human condition.

I welcome these conversations - there is a particular endearment unique to the bustle and puzzle of buzzing minds. Additionally, functionally, I can already tell numerous individuals have become better learned from my exchanges and gestures so far in their own ways positively and constructively, which I deem a quaint success.

And you would be very correct in your observation of my personal takes on the universe of Star Trek, for indeed, in even the characters I portray, they are, I profess, truthfully, the illustrative letters of my fathomless love.

Ahem - well, in any case, though I am new, I intend to reside for, certainly, a while ;)

And so, I am very grateful for the warm welcome into this - the largest, oldest, and truest fandom family I have ever been privileged to have found and become a part of, and may ever will be.

It is all well worth it, and so,

I am content.

Dif-tor heh smusma ~

[lovebecomeshim]

hello! your zutara posting today has finally motivated me to ask this question because I came to atla very late(last year, to be specific) and I Love It Very Much but am 1000% out of the loop as far as why what remains of fandom (at least that I've seen among my friends) is so very strongly zutara. I'm not opposed to it per se I just don't really know what has driven it to apparently be such a popular ship? can you help me understand and maybe convert me a little bit?

Hey!! Your ICON! :D I can try but I’m not sure how coherent I’ll be; however I AM sure someone a lot more competent will be willing to add to this. Either way, I’m glad you asked because my plan was to drag down as many people as possible with me.

*smacks the hood of zutara* this baby can fit so much mutual love and support!

This got so long, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to put it under a cut on mobile and it already got deleted once so I’m scared to mess with it lol. Moving on.

I’m gonna start this with a disclaimer that im on mobile so formatting is tricky and I’m also really new to atla in that I only completed my first watch through in like 2019??? So some of my info is all just based on what I’ve picked up from Discourse 👀 so anyway the sparknotes version: zutara was wildly popular from the beginning. To the point where the atla crew internally disagreed on which ship should be endgame. (Ex. Bryke [showrunners] asked the writers to rewrite The Southern Raiders to make Zuko seem less ideal for Katara than Aang [which failed, depending on who you ask]; the animation team purposefully created a visual parrallel between Oma and Shu in the Cave of Two Lovers and Zuko and Katara in the catacombs under Ba Sing Se in the Crossroads of Destiny; etc.)

The ship was popular enough that Bryke actually chose to display zk fanart at a con for the sole purpose of mocking the fans, but that’s neither here nor there. The entire episode Ember Island Players, while a love letter to/parody of the whole show, was an opportunity to address zutara’s viability as a canon pairing (while, again, mocking zutaras for romanticizing that catacombs scene). Point is! It’s always been popular but with it not being endgame, there’s got to be something that’s given it staying power.

And that’s honestly got to do with three things: their dynamic, thematic cohesion, and potential.

(You know what... you know what, it’s four things. The fourth is they’re so aesthetically pleasing together and individually. Like, they’re just good looking people [specifically when they’re grown but they’re also cute kids] and that absolutely doesn’t hurt) (but it’s not the Point, it’s just nice to point out sometimes)

The dynamic is hard to get into without also looking at the canon pairings, but I think I can do that without unnecessary bashing. It’s just that part of the magic of zutara is really highlighted by what they give to each other that their other relationships don’t.

First off, it’s classic enemies to (would be) lovers. The absolute truest form of it. It’s not too different from how CS started out: a rogue antagonist with a job to do—but no personal vendetta against the future love interest—who is deeply and emotionally invested in his personal storyline (revenge/redemption) with little regard for how it effects other people after his entire life and genuine good nature are marred by suffering, and a fierce warrior girl with a strong moral compass and her own personal investment in stopping him (protect her family and save the world doing it). Obviously frustration and animosity grew between them by the nature of them being on opposing sides, but that just lends itself to the sweetness of their later reconciliation.

The thing is that while they’re wildly different on the surface (he’s a hot-headed prince of a fascist regime who is trying to capture the Avatar to please his father; she’s a nurturing daughter of the chief who is trying to protect and train the Avatar in order to topple his father’s throne) they find out that they have so much more in common both in their experiences and their personalities.

(What follows is an excessive use of the word “both” and I’m sorry about that)(I can edit it. I can do that. That IS an option............)

They both have an innate sense of justice that they are determined to see done (zuko, at the war meeting, sticking up for the Earth Kingdom kid when the guards torment his family, choosing not to steal from the pregnant couple despite his circumstances, abiding by his word to leave the SWT should Aang come willingly, etc.; katara, literally.... at any point). They both have pretty one-track minds at accomplishing certain goals once they’ve put their mind to it, regardless of a lack of support in that endeavor (it goes without saying I guess, but zuko’s entire hunt; katara’s determination to get the earth benders to fight back, her determination to absolutely destroy Pakku until he agrees to teach her, etc.). They both lost their mothers at young ages. Their worlds are war-torn and traumatizing to them both, if in different ways, but that ultimately forces them to grow up too quickly to be wholly independent individuals. They both have issues with their fathers (for WILDLY different reasons, but). They both hold extreme prejudices that they need to learn to overcome (which ties into thematic cohesion)(bit like Lizzie and Darcy in that way but magnified by a million). They’re both extremely emotional and empathetic—which can and often does result in loud outbursts. Katara’s a bit better adjusted and can temper her anger for longer than S1 Zuko can, but they both feel that anger deeply and have no compunctions expressing it (Katara is, usually, more justified, particularly in S1. Again, S1 Zuko is severely maladjusted but at the point when they could’ve feasibly become a couple, he’s so much better off with the way he carries himself). They both struggle with feelings of inferiority in their bending abilities when confronted with prodigal benders like Aang and Azula, but have the work ethic required to double down and become two of the most powerful benders in the three remaining nations. This is a little more minor but it is a parrallel that appeals to some shippers that they both have these alter egos in the Painted Lady (notably fire nation coded) and the Blue Spirit (water tribe coded) that are pretty different from who they are day-to-day and are useful in accomplishing a purpose that they as themselves cannot.

(I’m.... I just realized that this could potentially get very long. Should I have made a slide show with bullet points??????)

Anyway, similar. I know there’s more but there’s literally so much to love about zutara that I’ll drive myself a little crazy trying to compile all the ways they’re similar. (Just gonna say that at this exact moment I went back to add more similarities.... so okay then)

Once they’ve reconciled, we see how all of these things only lend themselves to a deeper intimacy together than they share with literally anyone else. There’s a steady partnership that positions them as the mom/dad of the gaang, while also providing the support necessary to allow the other to not have to carry so much responsibility. A lot of zutaras will point out how zuko is actually depicted doing the more domestic chores that are normally relegated to Katara once he joins the gaang, since the others in the group are two 12-year-olds and sokka. The one that sticks out the most is how he makes tea for the group and then serves them, while Katara is able to just relax with her friends around the fire. Fanon expands upon this a lot to Zuko helping with the laundry or the cooking or whatever else needs doing since he, as a once-refugee, is used to doing his own domestic tasks. Before Zuko joined, Katara was the one mothering everyone, sewing for them, cooking for them, etc. She’s always tending to the needs of the group, and that includes emotionally. She does the emotional labor for the gaang 99% of the time, but when she’s the one falling apart, she’s usually doing it alone and without the comfort that she normally provides for others. Until Zuko. And that’s before they’re even friends.

Which is WHY people romanticize the catacombs of Ba Sing Se so much. Katara is verbally attacking Zuko out of her own righteous anger but also her own prejudice when Zuko, surprisingly, chooses to be vulnerable with her. He’s been on a journey that’s opened his eyes a bit, but he’s never actively chosen to expose the rawest parts of his past to anyone. But for some reason he chooses to do that with Katara of all people. While she’s yelling at him. He sees her humanity, and for once can look past his prejudice and empathize with her. And this time, when she breaks down, she gets to be comforted. Katara normally talks about her mother when she’s trying to explain to someone else that she sees and understands they’re pain, as a form of comfort to them. Here, Zuko uses the exact same tactic. He sees her and he understands. And for zuko? He’s not being shut down. He’s allowed to articulate his pain regarding his mother without being ignored and made to internalize it, and he’s allowed to process how he feels about his scar out loud without being told that he deserved it. And then he lets her touch his scar, something we’ve seen him actively avoid before. He’s completely open to her and she’s completely open to him and all it took was one five minute conversation. She was about to use the little bit of Spirit water that she had, that she was saving for something Important, to heal the scar that still daily causes him pain just because they had, somehow, connected.

Plus there’s the whole parallel to the star-crossed lovers forbidden from one another, a war divides their people—

And then zuko messes up, he regresses, he gets what he wants and he HATES it. And the sense of justice he had as a child has been restored to him against his will and he can’t think of anything he wants to do more than the Right Thing, so he joins team avatar. Before he does that though, we get to see his relationship with Mai, which is where comparison really comes in. And what we see is Zuko, fresh off of his encounter with Katara in the catacombs, trying to be emotionally honest with Mai... and getting shut down and dismissed. Which is just how Mai is and it’s fine, but not for Zuko. Still, he keeps trying, and he keeps getting ignored or scoffed at or yelled at. Which is really a larger symbol for how he doesn’t fit in his old life anymore, but again that’s about thematic cohesion. He tries to articulate his anxieties about returning home, he tries to make romantic gestures, he tries to explain how morally conflicted he’s feeling—and Mai diverts to some kind of physical affection to shut him up and a parting comment that is pretty much always, in essence, “I don’t wanna talk about this.” So they don’t. On the other hand, once zuko and Katara are friends, we see him again emotionally distraught and caught up in his anxieties about facing Iroh, and it’s Katara who comes to him and listens to him and comforts and encourages him.

Similarly, we have Aang clamming up and getting uncomfortable whenever Katara shows any negative emotion, usually resulting in him making excuses or running away. Or, in the case of the Southern Raiders, lecturing her on how she needs to just let go of her anger about her mother’s murder. People have talked this episode to death and usually better than I ever could, so imma... keep it brief. There’s a serious disconnect between Aang and Katara in his ability to empathize with Katara and her needs that has her tamping down her vulnerability and amping up her anger. He tells her that he was able to forgive his people’s genocide and appa’s kidnapping (petnapping? Theft??), which is blatantly not true but also not an entirely equal parrallel to Katara’s situation, and continues making these little remarks throughout the episode. But it’s Zuko that Katara opens up to. It’s with him that she’s able to talk about the most traumatic day of her life, and it’s with him that she’s able to get the closure she needs, cementing their bond as friends and partners. This disagreement between Aang and Katara is then... never resolved. They just never bring it up and hear what the other is saying.

There’s a fic called The Portraits of Ember Island that has a line that so completely sums up the heart of the matter for why people love their dynamic. For context, zuko has woken up early to help Katara with the cooking and they spend the whole time just letting one another talk, and zuko stops to ask why she always just lets him talk. And so she stops to ask why he’s always helping, and it goes as follows:

There’s just... so much mutual support! Trust! Intimacy!! And it just continues like that from the Southern Raiders on, listening to each other, advising each other, watching each other’s backs! And then! Literally saving each other’s lives!! I will never be over the last Agni kai. Not ever. Zuko may have been willing to jump in front of lightning for anyone, but he actually did it for Katara. And in a show, that’s the thing that really matters. It’s a fulfilled trope usually exclusively applied to romantic pairings, and it ended up applying to Zuko and Katara. And then she ran out into the middle of a fight with tunnel vision just to get to him.

Also!! Also Zuko pushing Katara out of the way of the falling rocks at the Western Air Temple!! And Katara catching him as he fell from the war balloon that he fought Azula on!! Before they’re even getting along, they’re the ones reaching for each other. They come to this place of equal ground, as partners, who watch each other’s backs, call each other out but still listen attentively and understand, and provide the support that the other has been sorely lacking up until they knew each other (whether that be from lack of effort or lack of understanding from others, or an unwillingness to accept it for themselves).

Then, trailing along under the surface of this, we see the themes of the show totally embodied by Zuko and Katara as individuals and in their relationship to one another. There’s a YouTuber, sneezyreviews, who has a, like, 2-hour explanation on why she not only loves zutara but also believes that their endgame would’ve actually elevated the writing of atla to new levels particularly because of thematic cohesion and resolved character arcs. It’s the zutara dissertation I never knew I needed, and it’s funny and eloquent and effective, so I’m just going to sum up her section on thematic cohesion to the best of my abilities and then link it for whenever you have the time. And I HIGHLY recommend it, especially if you want a full understanding of what makes zutara so great and gives it such longevity.

Guru pathik has a line that goes something like this: separation is an illusion; things that seem different are just two parts of the same whole. Iroh also tells Zuko something similar: balance and strength are achieved when the different nations come together and influence one another and celebrate what makes them each unique. And this lesson is a massive central arc that both Zuko and Katara go through, moving past a black-and-white, good guys-vs-bad guys, us-vs-them mentality and into a greyer, more nuanced view of the world. Zuko sees the fire nation from an entirely new perspective and while he still loves and hopes for his nations future, he surrenders his blind loyalty to them in exchange for an unflinching loyalty to peace and love. Katara too had to come to terms with the fact that cruel people exist in the earth kingdom and water tribes, while some fire nation citizens are just regular, kind people who also need and deserve to have someone speak on their behalf. And this is honed in directly on how they view each other. They grow in their individual journeys to be open to the humanity in the other and then, once they’ve found that, they’re able to grow more in compassion for others in a beautiful feedback loop. And this is all matched in the symbolism repeatedly and intentionally associated with them in canon: sun and moon, fire and water, yin and yang, Oma and Shu who found love despite their warring nations. Their individual arcs are completed in each other and complement the themes of atla beautifully.

The canon pairs... just don’t. Which, again, is fine. But the very things that give atla longevity and popularity are anchored in zutara. Kat@ang doesn’t accomplish this. They’re... nice. Sweet. Especially when you erase a good portion of their interactions in S3. It could’ve been just a sweet love story. (Personally, the dynamic between toph and aang accomplish the same thing that zutara does, with complementary personalities that fulfill the theme of opposites blending in harmony) M@iko, on the other hand, is less sweet but I think wasn’t even supposed to last. Zuko’s relationship with Mai seems to represent his relationship with his old life as a whole. He can’t be emotionally vulnerable, he’s goaded into abusing his privileges, his agency and opinions aren’t respected. They just don’t have common ground with which to discuss anything that matters, so they don’t. As far as themes, the relationship doesn’t fit with atla. It’s zuko returning to and sticking with what is (on the surface) like him, what’s expected. Fire nation with fire nation. Fluid water bender with the flexible air bender. Like with like, separated from what is different and challenging and complementary.

And all of these things combined of course lead to the potential for the ship. I don’t know how familiar you are with the post-atla canon but... well, miss “I will never turn my back on people who need me”, miss “I don’t want to heal! I want to fight!” ends up living quietly in the SWT as a designated healer who turns a blind eye to the water tribe civil war happening right outside her front door. Which can be fine! People change! Some people just wanna stay inside. I just wanna stay inside! But the potential future for zutara is so much more satisfying, with Katara becoming the most unconventional Fire Lady the uppity old cads who are stuck on the old ways have ever seen. Fanon has her serving as a voice for the other nations within a kingdom at the point of its biggest political upheaval, as a confidante to Zuko who can actually help him while he’s trying to figure out how to move forward and make reparations. They have the opportunity, together, to accomplish what they both have set on their hearts to fight for: positive change that lends itself to harmony and balance. And the steambabies! A popular headcanon is that their firstborn daughter, the crown princess, is actually a waterbender, which causes such an uproar among the people who are adamantly clinging to the old ways. It’s just a future full of potential to be forces for good together, full of trust, intimacy, joy. The exact era of peace and love and balance that zuko announces that he intends to ring in with the start of his reign as Fire Lord is, again, magnified by the very personal zutara relationship. And we love to see it.

tl;dr zutara isn’t for everyone. Some people just don’t vibe with it. Some are nostalgic. Some love the canon they grew up with. Some have been disappointed for years. Some just see themselves in other characters and want their happiness instead. Whatever the reason, that’s fine. But for me, I love the way these two, from the moment they give each other a fair chance, are able to lower their walls and prejudices to see the other for the kindred spirits they are. They see each other’s humanity, and their response is to pour out love and support and compassion. I love that they’re a power couple in battle. I love the symbolism and, honestly, soulmatism that colors their every interaction. I love that they embody the whole storyline of atla in their relationship and how it develops, which is notably why their seasonal arcs always culminate in each finale with how they relate to one another. I love that zuko adopting a waterbending move is what actually saves his life and then katara’s. I love the chemistry! And I love the future they could’ve had, instead of the ones they were given.

So, in conclusion: I just think they’re neat and I hope you do too, at least a little bit. Even if it’s just respectfully from a disinterested distance cause you do you. And now here is the video I mentioned. I’m sorry this post got so long and then I gave you an even longer homework assignment, but I can’t recommend it enough. She says it all better than I can.

[nicanario]

this post is a product of its time

tw: discussion of racism, homophobia, misogyny and a short mention of sexual abuse.

ok, this is basically gonna be a very long rambling post about my not fully developed thoughts on the justification many people give to bigotry when talking about the past: "it was a product of its time"

it would be fair to say, with me being a raging SJW socialist scumbag, that I don't think this is a very good argument and is most of the time actually an excuse to not think about the problems inherent to our society, historical or not, and, by extension, the problems with ourselves. but I do think that sometimes, just sometimes, this can be a valid point, or at least one that raises some interesting questions.

I'm going to cite examples from several pieces of media, but fear not, I'll try to make this as accesible as I can.

so, let's take Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) as our first case study. this show has, correctly, been called progressive by everyone except for clueless people who don't know much about Star Trek's history, Star Trek's crew, Star Trek's cast, or, frankly, Star Trek. because if you ignore the clear, sometimes in-your-face political history and present of the franchise, I don't think you know much about it at all. I do think you can call yourself a fan if you like it, you may have watched every single episode for all I know. but lots of mental gymnastics are needed to ignore the political progressiveness Star Trek has had since its very beginning.

episodes like Let That Be Your Last Battlefield are obviously anti-racist, at least in their intention. but the episode in question really is "a product of its time," and at the very end fails to uphold its ideals. the episode ends with the two aliens (who are LITERALLY. BLACK ON ONE SIDE. AND WHITE ON THE OTHER. BUT IN THE OPPOSITE SIDES.) fighting each other on their devastated planet, and the crew is like, "oh yeah if they both would give up on their hatred that they both share both of them equally" when it has been firmly established that one is the oppressor and the other one is the oppressed.

and that's a lot of Star Trek, not just TOS. even Discovery, one of the most recent series, has done Bury Your Gays (and Trans) TWICE (though both times literally rectified it, which is cool). there are episodes of the franchise that are overtly racist, or misogynistic, etc. TOS is lauded, mostly justifiably, as very progressive, especially for the standards of the time. they put a woman of colour as one of the senior staff, for fuck's sake. of course, when you analyse that same character, as with most of their intentions at being progressive, you'll see that she was relegated and sometimes even outright mistreated when she had the potential to be much more. but, at that time, it was a lot.

I had a friend (emphasis on "had") who, after I told him about TOS's both progressiveness and constant misogyny, told me something like "imagine feminists trying to complain about a show from the 60s." so, with unearned spite, he was, in some way, trying to make the argument that it was a product of its time.

you could say Star Trek, all of Star Trek, is "a product of its time" in the sense that it's not always perfect. uh, yes, I would agree. but that doesn't mean people have to accept it. well, I mean, the show is kinda over, you have to accept it's that way. but you don't have to accept that it's not wrong just because it was a product of its time.

H. P. Lovecraft, as another example, was a greatly influential writer whose works still shape a lot of people's ideas to this day. I have only ever read like one of his stories, so don't expect me to have an opinion on his works. but I can have an opinion on what I know about him as a person (he did have a life outside his writing, after all). and, yeah, he was a huge asshole. if you want to know more in depth about the subject, please watch Hbomberguy's video on him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8u8wZ0WvxI

but basically, he was incredibly racist & homophobic. some people might even say, "he was a product of his time." well, there are two possible rebuttals to that. the surface level one, and the one that examines why that argument is wrong to the core.

The Surface Level Response to "it was a product of its time": um, no it wasn't. Lovecraft was more racist than a lot of people even in his time. he wasn't just a guy who carried the racist beliefs of his society like everyone else, he was a reactionary who actively thought and discussed how racist he was, and how right he was for being that way. but that's only applicable to Lovecraft. one can't argue the same for Star Trek: TOS, because TOS did try to be more progressive and more anti-racist than the rest of its society. that leads us to the next response.

The Response that Actually Deals with the Fact that No Matter How Progressive You're Trying to Be, Your Failings Can Still be Criticized: the thing is, trying to excuse Lovecraft's or Star Trek's bigotry because they were "products of their times" misses the fact that racism is still wrong, and some people knew that in those times as well. people from these times weren't all naive or stupid or whatever. they had the capacity for rational thinking. they could stop and think, "hey, maybe what we're doing is wrong." and the fact is, some people did. not perfectly, not to our standars, but they did. everyone could have stopped and think. but most of them didn't, and we can criticize them for it. racism, homophobia, sexism, etc. HURT PEOPLE. horribly. massively.

also, even if you agree with the "it's a product of its time" argument, some people aren't criticising people's or work's bigotry: they're explaining why they don't want to experience it.

The Talons of Weng-Chiang is a 1977 Doctor Who serial, and it's one of the show's more racist stories. almost all the villains are Chinese, every single Chinese person is a villain. there's yellowface, slurs, stereotypes, the Doctor speaking nonsense words instead of actual Chinese, and a general belittling of Chinese culture.

note that I'm neither Chinese nor of Chinese descent. I have been searching for hours for a few posts I've read a while ago (some by people who are of Asian descent) about this episode and I can't find them. sorry.

suffice it to say, even though I love Jago & Litefoot (the audio series and the characters), it's not an acceptable episode at all. but it's also important to remark that, because of it, some people aren't going to want to watch it. sometimes, people aren't saying "the episode shouldn't be this way," which causes others to answer that it was "a product of its time." sometimes, people are just saying, "this is an episode that attacks real people. I don't want to see it. I don't care if it was common in that era to be racist, i don't want to experience it."

however, there is an interesting point to the "it's a product of its time" argument. after all, everything is influenced by its society, for better or worse. and we can't change it anymore. TOS sometimes didn't quite understand the political themes it wanted to explore. Lovecraft was a horrible bigot. Talons was racist towards Chinese folks. and that's that. I don't think we should change the episodes/stories or anything. edit them in any way. that would be, in a sense, changing history. and we wouldn't learn anything from it, about how we can do better.

I think there are two solutions to this:

1. warnings before starting the text: this was done with The Talons of Weng-Chiang. on Britbox, where you can watch Classic Who, this serial has a content warning before the start. that's good.

2. the removal as a whole of the text from some places: I think before applying this one, there should be a lot of thought put into each case. I don't think removing a whole serial of Doctor Who or Lovecraft's stories from anything would be, well, fair. especially on tv episodes a lot more people worked on those, not just the writers and the directors. Lovecraft's writing influenced thousands. we shouldn't erase them or anything. but sometimes, for some cases, we should.

those in the US might seen a Confederate statue being taken down. that is, in a way, a form of removal of a piece of history.

but that is a good removal. statues glorify. one sees a statue and probably thinks "this was a person worthy of admiration." they should be taken down, maybe even with a permanent mark of why this was done (a plaque that reads "a statue of X was here, but he didn't deserve it because of Y" could be put in place of the statues, for example).

another example is the removal from DVDs of the short episode A Fix with Sontarans, a Sixth Doctor minisode that featured Jimmy Savile, a presenter who was later found out to be sexually abusing children.

the removal of that minisode is good, actually. it's not a full episode (it's not even Doctor Who). some might say that's "erasing history" but, like, you can still find it online or information about it if you want. this minisode deserves removal from DVDs and Blu-Rays and whatever more than content warnings. it's not an important part of the show and it prominently features a horrible person who did horrible things during that time.

so, after all that, I have explained why I don't like the "it's a product of its time" argument. it is an interesting point that deserves to be examined, but it's not very good.

I have had this in Drafts for so long I've probably forgot some of the points I was going to make, but eh, what can you do? hope you enjoyed reading this.

bye

[vnshkk]

Let's talk about Kyo's media blackout.

It is with a slight reluctance that I post this. It's not wise to mention Tanuki online nor share what they talk about within the overseas fandom for a multiple of reasons. 

1. I don't want them to get angry at me

2. I don't want the overseas fandom to flip out and judge the Japanese fandom

3. I just want everyone to be chill and happy and flowers

But I've seen a lot of people freaking out, a lot of random theories floating around and people worrying so I wanted to post this theory and open it for discussion. 

Of course this isn't fact. It's pure speculation. But given the timeframe, PERSONALLY I feel like this may have had something to do with Kyo decision. 

So I post this with two DISCLAIMERs. 

1. As mentioned this is not in any way fact. There is no proof that Kyo does or doesn't look at Tank. I simply find it interesting the sequence of events, the timing of the media blackout and I am only translating this for those who are interested. I hope this doesn't cause any huge arguments or any bad blood. It's simple here to discuss and consider.

2. Please do not judge the whole fandom based on Tank. Just like any forum, any comment section on the world wide web; there will be people who leave negative feed back. It is a tiny portion of people and not a reflection of the Japanese fandom as a whole. Judging them based on what they said would be like someone looking at negative comments or sarcastic jokes on Tumblr and judging the English speaking fandom. That's not to say what they post is okay, but it's just dumb shit posting and shouldn't be taken to heart. 

you get me fam?

Okay, so I contemplated posting screenshots and translating what happened immediately after Kyo changed his profile picture up to when he deleted everything but as I said I don't want to be taken out by angry tank users so I'm just gonna translate a selection of posts. 

These posts are taken from the Meg thread (remember the girl linking arms with him at a concert? That's Meg.) which to be honest is a shit show. It was a thread born from those notorious pics and for over a year now has remained a place where people post rumours, shit talk, complain and just make shit up a lot of the time. So please, AGAIN, bare that in mind. It is a place of negativity born from a scandal that shocked a lot of the fandom. Aint nothing nice ever gonna be said there. Periodt. In reality a lot of the people who post there are still fans of Kyo. I think they're just still a little hurt by the way it came to light about Meg. 

After Kyo posted his new picture I checked tank before going to bed because I was curious about what their reactions would be and everyone had exploded. During the 7 hours I was asleep Kyo deleted everything and left the internet forever so tbh given the fact he was probably bored in a hotel in Fukuoka, just did a radio show, probs wanted to see peoples reaction, etc I personally, believe he was on Tank. This is a running theme in the thread itself and people often say he actively browses it (this is not a major thing, a lot of guys in bands browse tank same as celebs browse twitter. Why Kyo would look at the meg thread in particular? idk. ) 

SO TLDR 

Yesterday around 7pm the thread suddenly changed to mixed reactions after Kyo changed his Twitter pic. 

"His new twitter icon had me shook lol" 

"I hope he changes his instagram one too" 

"Idk I don't like how quickly he's become some kind of social media old fogey" 

"Kyo's turned into a social media monster too" (*edit; my bad Yuchi is beer monster, Shinya is social media monster lol)

"It's kinda cheap" 

"I get you, it's like he's lost his values" (probably because Kyo has always made big deal about how much of himself he shares) 

 It continued like that for a while with people more or less saying the same thing until he posts about leaving social media.

"He just suddenly said he's not gonna do social media anymore" 

"lol after he went to all the effort of changing his profile picture" 

"I'm shook" 

"annoying 40 year old nut job" 

"Bet you he came on here"  

"Do you normally change you icon then quit" 

"Join Kyo online" 

"idg why even though Kyo's had so many haters since he first started twitter he's suddenly affected by it??" 

"I still think he's cute even when he's sulking like this lol" 

"I knew he was looking at Tanuki"

"I don't get why he's suddenly deleting it after all this time?? It's like what is this old man on about?" 

"It's lame how he's making such a big deal of out saying he's quitting" 

(lots of people agreed with this post saying that he's acting childish)

"I wonder what happened? Like everything seemed fine recently. I mean we'll never know but like I'm sure he has a lot going on.." 

"I can't believe he basically wiped his instagram clean but left all the pics of cake and omurice lmao" 

"If only he'd go to sleep earlier and eat a banana the serotonin would fix everything" 

The random comments and mixed reactions continued for all of Friday.  One of the main points that stuck out after the initial reactions was how people began to become suspicious that this was merely a tactic to get people to join Kyo online with people claiming this was typical of business man kyo,  that it was about that time of year where they usually begin to advertise and promote in order to get new members. 

So, allow me to play devils advocate for a second. As someone who is a member of Kyo online I have to admit since he started posting more and more online (compared to hardly ever on Kyo online), the membership has become more or less invalid. In the past it was worth the money for the videos and pictures that as fans we rarely saw. But if he's going to post them online then it raises the question (tickets to concerts aside) is there any point in being a member if you can just get the content for free?  I'd imagine that this plays some kind of role in why the reactions are often negative. Members of Kyo online have suddenly gone from having something exclusive that was only for them, to simply being a part of something anyone can access. 

Another point someone brought up is that whilst it's acceptable for Kyo to be upset. It is very, very childish and the timing is selfish.  Sukekiyo literally made their instagram days ago and suddenly Kyo states how he isn't going to post online anymore. This act instantly casts a negative feel on Sukekiyo's insta. It almost gives a vibe that any picture Kyo is in might be "against his will". Kyo is not new to criticism. He's been in this game for 20 plus years. Everyone who is in the Indies scene knows about Tank. Every fan, every bandmen, knows it's a bad place filled with mostly shit posting and rumours and doesn't represent fans a whole. 

The meg thread is simply fans flogging a dead horse, posting any poor Japanese girl with a straight fringe and some tattoos, anyone who looks even a little like Meg and saying she MUST be a groupie of Kyo. Which begs the question why would Kyo go there? Why would he look at that? Why would he want to subject himself to that kind of thing and then punish the majority for some dumb comments a few bored fans made? What was he expecting by going there?

Of course there is no proof Kyo lurks. But the reality is he probably does, I mean he's only human, he' s bound to be curious about fans reactions for Madara, etc and where else to get honestly reactions than an anonymous forum? Personally, as someone who has lurked tank for a few years now, I think he reads it. There have been times in the past where he's mentioned certain things, done certain things and I've thought "hmmm that's weird tank was literally talking about that". But once again there's no proof. It's just one of those vibes you get sometimes. (one major one I can think of is during the interview for mode of gauze where he said everyone massively complained about it. I know people can submit questionnaires after lives but I feel that a lot of Japanese people are more brutally honest when they can hide behind anonymity. ) 

Considering the "staff" posted a pic of his feet on the sukekiyo instagram today, I feel like this is just Kyo being (sorry to say) butthurt and it might just blow over.  A lot of the comments mention his age, mention how he's clearly trying and failing to copy 20 year olds by using insta, that he's lame or cringe and that's gonna hurt anyones pride. But I honestly think Kyo should be looking at the billions of comments on instagram of people who love him rather than a few trolls online. 

So with that being said I hope this was an interesting read and gave a little insight into why Kyo is often private. It was a big deal that he was posting so much and actively using instagra. I for one was very happy. I believe that in this day and age it is something that is required in order to engage with your audience and keep a good relationship. Hazuki and Ruki are good examples of this and Ive been saying for the longest time I wish Kyo would get more on board with it. So it's a shame he's left at the first hurdle. 

Oh well. This is why we can't have anything nice isn't it. 

[killian-whump]

do you know what it is that Prof Harrison whispered to Carrie? I tried hard to listen but I couldn't hear it. I know it was something "demeaning", so I assumed maybe like to call him daddy or something, but I'm still rather curious.

Okay! Here I am, locked and loaded, ready to make this post!

This question was driving me nuts as well, and I was full of ideas and guesses, but no concrete answers… so I got myself a digital copy of the book (perfect for searching through so I don’t miss a damn thing!) and set to work. This research, combined with multiple rewatching of scenes from the film and some recent comments made by Colin and the book’s author, has led me to…

Absolutely have no 100% concrete answer for you. Sorry!

HOWEVER!!! I have some pretty solid educated guesses that are close enough to sating my own curiosity… so hopefully, maybe they’ll sate yours, too.

First of all, I firmly believe there is not only one, but two things Professor Harrison asks Carrie to say. This is because, simply put, the book and the movie paint Professor Harrison and his relationship with Carrie in different lights. I had already come to this conclusion last night, only to find some Twitter comments made this morning that basically confirm it. When fans pointed out that they wanted to know what (a) the author intended Harrison to have said and (b) what Colin had in his mind when portraying the character on film, Caren Lissner said she knew (a) and that (b) was “probably worse” - to which Colin answered, “I know both.” Both responses imply that there is, in fact, two different (but similar, I’m sure) answers to the “What did he want her to say?” mystery.

And that makes sense, because the novel and the movie have wildly different takes on the relationship. In the book, there is no “first edition” book she loans him and he never returns. There is no big showdown with her father. There is no punch in the face. The book makes it much clearer that the relationship between Professor Harrison and Carrie is much more an equal meeting of minds that have a lot in common and have true depth of feeling for each other. Yes, both of them. Professor Harrison does not come off as much as a predator feasting on a young, inexperienced student. He comes off as a man who is likely as lost and lonely as Carrie, stunted socially due to a lot of the same issues, and while he enjoys her innocence and youth, it doesn’t come off as skeevy as the film portrays it.

However, both relationships come to the same end when Carrie refuses to say this “mystery phrase” he asks her to say to him in bed. The movie portrays this as a sudden request out of nowhere that leads to the immediate end of the relationship. In the novel, it is more of a slowly building maelstrom that eventually explodes, leading him to end things. Again, two very different scenarios are presented. So to answer the question “What does he ask her to say?” one needs to look at the two stories separately to really answer it.

We’ll look at the book first, since it is what the movie is (mostly) based on. The book is narrated in first person by Carrie herself, so everything we learn about Professor Harrison and their relationship is, of course, skewed by her own lens. But this style of narration also gives us some important insights into Carrie’s actual thought process and who she is. Within the first few pages, she states that she is asexual. She reiterates this multiple times throughout the entire book. Not only is she asexual, but she feels the rest of the world is “sex-obsessed” and she has some truly archaic thoughts about the moral bankruptcy of sex in general. At one point, she literally states to her friend Kara, “It’s immoral for a reason.” She never says what that “reason” is, and even admits she isn’t religious and doesn’t buy into the biblical reasons for the supposed “immorality” of sex. Still, it’s pretty safe to say that Carrie Pilby has some serious issues with sex.

The book also tells us that Professor Harrison was the first and only man Carrie has ever had sex with. They had sex multiple times over the span of the several weeks they were involved, though Carrie at one point refers to their lovemaking as “incidents” and reveals that they always left her feeling “sore and unfulfilled” afterwards. It is also made clear in her conversations with Kara about the affair that she never once enjoyed being with him sexually, though she didn’t think he was inept (Kara disagreed, insisting he must have been inept if he never figured out how to pleasure Carrie). She admits to her therapist at one point that she had sex with Harrison to “see what it was like” and so that people would stop assuming her inexperience is the cause for her lack of interest in sex.

To me, what Professor Harrison asked Carrie to do for him in the novel is fairly obvious. Over the course of their relationship, they seemed to have connected on a deeply intellectual level, but they simply could not connect sexually. It’s a very common problem in relationships between sexual and asexual people. The problem is that David Harrison thought the problem with his young lover was her inexperience and “prude” nature. He was obviously trying to get her to open up to him and become an active partner in their lovemaking by telling him what she wanted and how to please her. The book seems to be speaking less of one magical phrase he asks her to utter, and more of the kinds of things he wanted her to say. And, as with the movie, he prompts her to share these things with him by asking her, explicitly, “What do you want me to do to you?” She even begins to answer him, saying, “I want… I want you to…” and then she breaks down and can’t do it. The novel also states at one point that the things he asked her to say were “not only dirty,” but that the words were also “harsh” - But remember, everything in the novel is coming from Carrie, as the narrator. She does not tend to swear (if she ever does, I don’t think so) and she truly believes sex is immoral, unnecessary and unpleasant. Even the most benign phrases would be dirty, harsh and unnatural in her world view.

Further evidence that whatever he asked her to say was absolutely nothing unusual whatsoever, when Carrie reveals to Kara the reason why things ended with Professor Harrison, Kara confirms she’s better off without him and adds, “If you’re not a person who feels comfortable saying ‘boo,’ then you shouldn’t have to say boo.“ If what Harrison was asking her to say was truly heinous or unnatural, Kara would not feel the need to stress that it doesn’t matter what’s being asked or how common it is, if one doesn’t feel comfortable, they should not be required to do it.

I truly believe that novel Professor Harrison simply wanted Carrie to tell him what she wanted him to do in bed, and was unaware (or did not care) that Carrie simply lacked any sexual desires in the first place.

Which brings us to movie Professor Harrison. He’s a work of something, alright. He moves in on Carrie with practiced finesse and easily seduces her, persuading Carrie to give up her innocence literally (her virginity) and figuratively (the book). The movie goes out of its way to paint this character as a villain, changing him from an awkward middle-aged man to a smooth predator and adding in the final showdown where he gets his “comeuppance”. There is no comeuppance in the novel, because it really isn’t necessary. The closest the novel comes to it is when Carrie realizes Cy is “better at everything” than Professor Harrison was - the first time someone measures up against him and comes out on top, thus vanquishing the specter of his perceived perfection in Carrie’s eyes.

Mind you, this is not any kind of error on anyone’s part! No one misinterpreted the book or the script or anything. It’s an obvious change the filmmakers made to give the film a clear “bad guy” to get popped in the nose and zipped by a one-liner in order to let the audience know “look! everything’s right in the world again!” Which is why even the book’s author acknowledged that what she intended the Professor to say and what Colin envisioned the professor saying are two different things and the movie version is “probably worse”.

And as for that request made in the movie… I personally think it was very likely something related to age-play. The signs are all there. The movie is definitely painting him as a predator preying on a young student - a characterization supported by Colin’s own assertions that his character is pretty much an irredeemable scumbag. There’s also the scene in the restaurant, when he comments emphatically about how he “hated being treated like a child…” and then looks at her expectantly and asks “How ‘bout you?” That’s called fishing, folks. He’s feeling her out to see if the idea of being treated like a child is something she is okay with or not. He also is rather domineering with the wine glass, instructing her precisely how to do something as banal as sipping wine. (Book Harrison is also said to enjoy teaching Carrie things, but she also mentions loving how their every conversation left her feeling like they’d both learned three new things from each other. There is no give and take in movie Harrison’s instruction. He’s simply telling her how it’s to be done and she’s doing it.)

It’s also worth noting that in the novel, Carrie does not use the word “demeaning” to refer to the request Harrison makes of her. That is another addition made to the movie - and I think it’s a telling one, implying that what he is asking her is not something lovers normally say to each other (as the book seems to hint at), but something that would be humiliating for Carrie. The book makes it very clear that Carrie feels that she and Harrison were equals, misfits finding a place with a fellow misfit. There is no indication that Harrison ever made her feel inferior to him - nor wanted to. Movie Harrison, however, has a very patronizing way of talking to Carrie that makes a “demeaning” request seem entirely in character for him.

So there’s my educated guesses. In a nutshell:Book Harrison wanted Carrie to tell him how to please her in bed.Movie Harrison wanted her to say some kinky ageplay stuff.