#tagging for those that block them:

[ecoterrorist-katara]

I have been thinking a lot about blood bending lately and why the writers decided to go with the storyline of it being banned. I personally do not think it should have been. Like any bending form it can be used for awful things or it could be used for great things (my first thought is always in a medical sense but I’m sure there are other uses). And then I started to wonder if part of why they did that is bc that storyline was connected to Katara more than anyone else, and maybe this was a way to sideline her/focus more on Korra and the new gang instead of exploring with the older characters along with the new ones. But I was wondering if you had any thoughts on it!

hi anon! Sorry for getting to your ask a little late. I was at music camp (okay it’s a professional development program for musicians but I think of it as music camp in an effort to remind myself to have fun) and it was a big challenge since I’m chronically ill and needed a whole apothecary of meds to get through it. (I’m fine now! But needed to pace very carefully before & after and therefore stayed away from Tumblr)

It’s absolutely weird to me that bloodbending is singled out in a world where people can literally steal breath from one’s lungs, but it’s even weirder to me that they had a whole “ban bloodbending” storyline and sidelined Katara, because like…in what world would Katara feel strongly enough about bloodbending to ban it, yet do nothing to enforce the ban? The only explanation that makes sense is that she banned it because she was so ashamed, and stayed away from all the stuff around Yakone et al because she couldn’t bear to be reminded of what she’d done. And like all interpretations of canon Katara in LOK, that is just horribly heartbreaking.

I don’t begrudge the creators for wanting LOK to be about the new generation and I don’t mind seeing the Gaang play second fiddle. But I do object to the creators putting Katara in these situations where she could something in her wheelhouse, that’s in-character with her skills and ambitions, that is in line with her cultural impact as a role model for girls…and then sidelining her. Yakone is a big example, obviously, but so is Katara’s lack of involvement in the Civil War, the Red Lotus kidnapping, etc.

Like you said, bloodbending is useful in terms of the medical implications, but I also think it’s a humane tool in battle as long as it’s only used to incapacitate and not control. I can’t think of many better ways of incapacitating an enemy without causing serious damage (it’s even more efficient than chi-blocking!). If a bloodbender can stop encroaching enemies in their tracks with a flick of their wrist — well, that actually seems more humane than freezing them into ice cubes, which is the go-to waterbender move. I mean, Katara stops Hama with bloodbending in The Puppetmaster; she doesn’t actually control Hama with it. It’s terrible to override people’s bodily autonomy and make them do things they don’t want to do, but that is a very specific use of bloodbending.

I do think, though, that Katara is not the type of person to recognize all the other potential uses of bloodbending unless someone prompts her, and unfortunately that person is not going to be Aang. It doesn’t help that Katara’s first experience with bloodbending is being stripped of her own agency; similarly, it becomes her go-to weapon when she encounters (she thinks) the person who made her feel the most powerless in her life. To Katara, bloodbending is about taking power from someone else…and on her own, she’s not likely to see other applications. Katara is an excellent fighter with a lot of raw power, finesse, and creativity, but she’s not actually all that in-tune with her element, and I think that’s another reason she was never very interested in healing in canon (Katara and waterbending could be a whole other meta). Katara would’ve been an equally excellent bender no matter which element she wields, unlike Toph and Aang, who are uniquely suited to their elements. Katara borrows a lot from the more aggressive forms of bending (fire and earth): grabs people with water tentacles, hits them with ice disks, overwhelms them with big waves. For all that waterbending is about going with the flow and using the opponent’s strengths against them, Katara doesn’t exactly exemplify that philosophy (unlike Aang, btw, who is more intuitive as a waterbender than she is; that is why he picked it up more quickly at the beginning). She addresses all her problems head-on and is more likely to meet them with raw power than anything else. If I were to guess her astrological placements, she’d be an Aries Mars, minimum, if not an Aries Sun as well (she’d be a Cancer Moon though…I have Thoughts on ATLA astrology lmao).

Anyway, all this to say: I don’t think Katara would’ve thought of the healing implications of bloodbending on her own, when she’s already been traumatized by it, and that’s pretty tragic tbh. I like the Zutara interpretation of Zuko inspiring Katara to think there are other uses for bloodbending (as a wielder of a potentially destructive element), but I think Toph could’ve had a conversation with her about other uses for bloodbending as well, since Toph is really creative with earth. Actually, I think Zuko or Toph or Sokka could’ve all had a conversation with Katara about coming to terms about doing things that one is not proud of & moving past them, but I guess Katara can only follow the rigid moral code of her Do No Wrong boyfriend. Anyway, LOK’s despicable treatment of ATLA’s female characters is nothing new, but Katara’s is the most obvious and egregious because she’s actually there. We have no idea what happened to Suki or Azula or Mai or Ty Lee, and what we do see from Toph is not great either (in what world would she retire to be lonely in a swamp when having her friends meant the world to her…). All the boys got to have cool fulfilling lives and all the girls who aren’t lost to history are sad sacks, thanks Bryke! On a non-sarcastic note, thank you anon for such an interesting question!

[8pxl]

PSA 🗣️ another scammer using genAI without disclosing it

pixlgirl has been posting generated AI (targeting fandoms) without disclosing it, passing it off as their genuine art and has apparently scammed at least one person into ‘commissioning’ them. this is a public PSA so yall can block them, and not interact. please do not harass them!

it’s incredibly shitty to be disingenuous while posting AI but even shittier to scam people with it 🤢 stay diligent yall

[safelycapricious]

Needle-watch poll

So, I got some vaccinations the other day, and the pharmacy tech seemed unnerved that I opted to watch him insert the needle. And he is not the first to comment on it. I'm willing to accept I'm an outlier and shouldn't be counted, I'm just curious how much of an outlier.

[mcr0wave]

more emic unfortunately...💔💔💔💔 i love announcing them like they're an illness bc they are. erasermicosis 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

[katsigian]

Why are fandom discord servers some of the most stress inducing places in the world like why is it when you post anything into any channel it feels like either a) you're purposely being ignored or b) you've pissed someone off just by speaking. It's such a pain in the dick because if you want any sort of help with anything or want to be even a little bit apart of a community, you have to be in these servers. While the whole time it feels like that one picture of all the girls sneering at the camera because you showed your face in there

[starscream-is-my-wife]

Sometimes a day makes you want a Starscream to bite and squeeze

[methoughtsphantom]

Jason “my family doesn’t know im alive” Todd and Danny “my family doesn’t know I’m dead” Fenton going alongside each of their plans my beloved. like Danny will absolutely go head-to-head with all of Gotham to support his new best friend on all his crime lord endeavors while he drags Jason to also attend collage with him. They are roommates and there never seems to a mention of family from either side. It’s an unspoken understanding they have. They met because Crime alley as a ghost lair thrummed with so much loneliness, it was at first the perfect place for Danny to hide his ecto signature in. But then he saw the dumbass whose lair it was lean his motorcycle just a tad too much when making a sharp turn to an alley, he sweeped the floor through a lifted chain link that passed his body but not his helmet. Yep that’s right the red thing got stuck. Danny who at the moment happened to be watching through his window snorted. Much to his horror because if not a ghost that dude could’ve gotten his head flung off.

Still, the scene was ridiculous.

On a whim he irrationally sees the police closing in on the guy and panicked at the thought of the guy using intangibility to free himself so Danny phased them both through his apartment wall and left the guy sprawled in his couch. Jason didn’t freak out but that’s normal when one’s got a concussion, one the guy immediately denied having as Danny laid out the medical supplies. The idiot proceeded to almost flatten four steps to the door with his stubbornness. He also said “I’m asexual” in the most deadpan voice as Danny dropped him back in the couch.

Danny sighed. Clearly though, he’d done so too early in the night because the guy kept trying to go, kept trying to knock Danny out, kept trying to slash him with knifes Danny didn’t know he had stashed. He’d only disarmed the guy from his guns. The visible ones apparently, cause at one point the guy did take out a gun and shoot until the ammo ran out and then teetered the thing like it was an art prop and hit his moon lamp.

Danny "yeah you aren’t officially my friend until you’ve tried to kill me" fenton my guys.

Anyways both keep having the same argument over if Danny technically kidnapped Jason or not. Danny holds the fact that the police at least didn’t see the guy make the ridicule. Jason argued that happened cause he was sporting a concussion. Danny argued he got that after.

Jason at first thinks the guy's a meta, but no. Danny introduces himself, sheepily now that he recognizes this is who the lair he invaded is from. He bandages him and tries to cook for him. If Danny didn’t have ice powers he most certainly would’ve burned the apartment. Jason then proceeds to kick him out of his own kitchen and make them both enchiladas. It’s the most normal both had in a while with another person and the air seems oddly settled. From then on, Jason constantly invited himself over, under the pretense that this was his territory and therefore he could drop in unannounced. Danny who has actual powers says he only allows this because Jason cooks very well.

Danny stays away from the crime fighting business unless his buddy is in deep shit he can’t get himself out. Also it’s Danny’s turn to cover for his vigilante friend which Sam and Tucker give him so much shit for. (but also advice)

And they were roommates. (omg) Danny effectively derails Jason’s big comeback plans by casually dropping ghost lore every two days. Like,

Jason, talking about how he doesn’t want Bats snooping on his territory:

Danny: Just don’t let them in

Jason: ??

Danny: yeah!! Hasn’t Batman died and got revived??? You can totally kick out death touched people you don’t want entering on your lair.

Jason: …I can?

Danny: Yep dude, your lair’s supposed to feel safe.

Jason: wait does that mean I can kick you out?

Danny: First this is my apartment. Second, im dead, not dead touched. Third, it’s too late to get rid of me. bitch.

Anyways Jason is super excited. You mean to tell him he can actually deny people over to his territory haunt?? (Yes it’s only to people who have died and came back but still!! The sample size is exactly the type of people he doesn’t want to see—!)

Joker my beloathed can’t step foot in Crime Alley.

(Jason’d feel a lot safer if the clown was dead but the possibility of his murderer turning into a ghost and their little loophole not applying on the clown is too scary to contemplate.)

Anyways, Jason loves experimenting with the power. It can go from simply making people shudder and not want to enter crime Alley to straight up not letting them enter like there’s an invisible wall blocking the way.

Jason because he’s hurt that Bruce never even patrols Crime Alley and also because he’s petty put B under the category of “invisible wall” blacklist. His reasoning is that the man doesn’t even attempt to enter Crime Alley. To him it’s surely just a place shadowed in tragedy. (anyways that’s it’s the place he met Jason)

Ironically, Jason totally forgets that Batman does venture into Crime Alley one day in the whole year. The day he met Jason.

Okay. He didn’t forget at first. The first year Jason remembers cause it was only a few months till then but then the next— Jason forgets that today’s the anniversary of the day’s Bruce’s parents died. He forgets to allow B in when he feels a slight tug and dismiss the feeling that prompts Bruce to investigate because he literally can’t enter Crime Alley. He starts the trialsTM, he scouts on the very edge and sees people the whole day enter and get out and cross with no problem but Bruce can’t.

It’s literally just Bruce.

Time to call Constantine, i guess.

[stealingyourbones]

Never will I stop with the steadfast notion that folks in the DPXDC fandom should interact with at least some form of canon DC media.

There are comics, tv shows, radio dramas both old and new, podcasts, movies, magazines, so much shit that intentionally avoiding the media is simply preventing yourself from spawning new ideas and gaining a new appreciation for a fandom that you’re already in.

The Superman Radio Show has episodes 11 minutes long. A lot of the TV shows don’t have episodes that surpass 30 minutes and most are nearly fully clipped on the official DC YouTube channel. The amount of fan made motion comics is astounding. The amount of fanmade animations is equally as incredible.

[utilitycaster]

Forgot to put this on the scrupulosity/fear of liking a character who isn't a good person post yesterday but I think this explains something that's always irritated me - what I like to call the "mold that grew on the campaign" problem. I used that term initially to describe people who hated Essek because they almost always treated Essek as, well, some mold that grew on the campaign and not a character whom Matt created and whom the cast became interested in interacting with extensively to the point that his story became what it did - through constant choices that Matt and the rest of the cast made. Because if you treat Essek not just as a character you dislike - which is valid - but a Bad Person whose story tells you Bad Things and it's Bad to like him - then you would have to consider that the Critical Role cast told a story in which he was redeemed, and if you think that's bad or misleading then you need to consider that they're people who don't agree with you, which means [in this understanding of morality, to be clear, not like, what I think] that either you and they are not morally the same which means one of you is bad which means you liking their work might be bad. So Essek is talked about like mold - not deliberately crafted and introduced to this process* but rather some ambient rot that isn't really anyone's fault. Except perhaps the fans, which would mean that Critical Role is bowing to fan pressure even when those fans have bad opinions, which also says something about them that is perhaps bad.

Obviously this isn't the only case; perhaps the most egregious one was the already infamous "you can't criticize improv" line which implies that none of this has any skill or intent involved, but hopefully this was illustrative. Disliking or liking a choice is valid; but denying the agency - that someone made that choice - never is.

*yes some processes do deliberately introduce mold, you know what I fucking mean. mold on bread rather than mold used to make blue cheese.

[teaboot]

It's getting really old seeing you answering the same dumbass anons every day, please ignore them, you are literally feeding the trolls and it's getting annoying

oh god how funny would it be if I ignored this

[karpachev]

Uhm i gotta say team thunder is very important to me

(yes i'm making this name a thing)

Johnny would totally ask for a light in the middle of training. You can't convince me otherwise :D

[starscream-is-my-wife]

Ik it's a bit early but I can't believe it's been almost one year since this post

Btw yeah its real

[gnomey22]

Party Crashers Text Posts: Volume 3

Been a while since the first two volumes, but I’ve been racking these up behind the scenes, and they’re fun to do for variety, so more are definitely on the way.

Previous volume:

https://www.tumblr.com/gnomey22/764145504779108352/party-crashers-text-posts-volume-2?source=share

[cent-scratchnsniff]

something bad did indeed happen to that man. spent abt 25 minutes trying to find a better picture of that one (1) offical piece with his eyes open that wasnt compressed or tiny

[saberdramon]

observing kazumaji like they are snails. fated to spiral the drain together. they would hold hands while doing so if kiryu didn't leave all the goddamn time and majima worked through *gestures vaguely.* joy in mutual violence with a person you don't have to hold yourself back with, yet there's a purposeful nature to majima's losses because he isn't fighting to win. unhinged familial tones in majima sheltering kiryu from feeling indebted to him for the repeated sacrifices he makes for kiryu's sake, so that kiryu can live out the dreams he feels himself unable to chase anymore. simultaneous homoerotic undertones of *sinks teeth in* especially majima everywhere that still don't compromise the aforementioned, only make everything that much more layered. they are friends that would ultimately do so much for one another, but majima won't let that be mutual because he knows how kiryu is. they should have sex in a kamurocho back alley. even that would get layered and weird and complicated because of the mad dog mask that stands in between them, and kiryu has the potential to make anything into a reason to get himself beaten to death on a rooftop. they are physically unable to exist in a domestic setting. they can only exist in moments. they are liminal and they can't fix one another even if they tried. their mutual agreement of only majima being allowed to kill kiryu, twisting from a joke to an unhinged rule of sorts demanding that kiryu stay alive and perhaps even outlive majima. the self-imposed paternal nature in that, also. and yet there is subtext able to be read as romance, at the same time, from open flirtatiousness to more subtle gestures in the wider narrative. unbelievable mutual trust while majima still sees kiryu as vulnerable and kiryu still does not trust him so much he'd disclose anything too personal to him either. another familial aspect in both of those, in majima feeling the need to shelter kiryu and kiryu repeatedly walking away from his family in an effort to protect them from himself. fighting as a metaphor for sex as usual. there's unbearable amounts of love between them and they both express it poorly. the moment in dead souls where majima effectively asks kiryu to kill him lives rent-free in my head.

tl;dr i am running on the walls of my enclosure and ripping the old men to shreds while doing so

[two-entire-bits]

I fear some of the outsiders fandom would not survive the les mis fandom. we have 133 adaptions not counting book adaptions and sequels: 42 movies, 1 movie musical, 29 tv shows, 10 various different types of animated medias, 12 radio shows, 2 stage musicals, 30 plays, 6 video games, and a ballet. and no one here is getting their panties in a twist because someone posted about the 1978 les mis movie, or the english stage musical, or shōjo cosette in the main tag.