#the way reincarnation works in the avatar world is vague

[cuteniaarts]

Someone to protect / Someone failed to save

(Alternatively: The “P’Li saw her late sister in her niece” to “Midori is Lien-Hua’s reincarnation” pipeline)

[operationslipperypuppet]

we all know work song is a hardshine song, so what if i put a bunch of naddpod moments together to make that more true.

Transcript:

Moments from Work Song by Hozier and (in order) C1E54, C1E68, C1E91, C1E70 (two clips), C3E39, C3E32, C3E30, C3E45 (two clips), and C3E44 edited together. Song lyrics are in bold. Episode jumps without lyrics between them are shown with "--".

When my time comes around

Murph [narrating]: Hardwon, you are in this strange, in between world. {Kingshammer begins playing in the background} Like, the Feywild right now looks like an oil painting, like it's gray and white, and you can vaguely see what's going on, but it's all blurry. And you hear a bunch of voices in the distance. You hear the voice of Gemma, in the distance going:

Gemma [Murph, whispering]: Hardwon, it's not your time yet, Hardwon. Hardwon, we'll be together but not now.

Hardwon [Jake]: Gemma.

Murph: You hear another voice calling to you.

Elias Stormborn [Murph]: Son, join me in the halls of Isgard.

Murph: And from somewhere else, you hear dissonant whispers, but amongst them you recognize the voice of the Widow.

Lydia Stormborn (The Widow) [Murph]: We can get out together, we can get out together.

Hardwon: Mother?

{Kingshammer slowly fades out}

Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth

Moonshine [Emily]: {Gutless plays in the background} Um, I just wanna remind you, not every problem needs to be fixed, but, if you want, I can reincarnate you.

Hardwon [Jake]: I wanna die, real bad.

[Caldwell laughs]

Moonshine: Okay, well, I'm gonna take that as a positive because if you die, then I can reincarnate ya.

Hardwon: Take it whatever way you want [chuckles]. Uh, but no, I, yeah, no, that's, that's the right interpretation.

Moonshine [overlapping]: Hardwon -

Hardwon: I w - I -

Moonshine: I really don't want you to want to die, because I want you to live so much and I don't wanna be alone in that feelin'.

Hardwon: I don't wanna die. I wanna - I wanna - I wanna live again.

No grave can hold my body down

Murph [narrating]: And you guys hear its voice, uh, simultaneously echoing through the cave and also sounding like it's right over your shoulder, somebody whispering into your ear.

[Emily hums in acknowledgement]

Death [Murph]: Hardwon Surefoot.

Beverly [Caldwell]: Woah!

Hardwon [Jake]: 'Sup?

Death: {The Purge starts playing in the background} You should be dead.

Hardwon: Yeah, looks like you can't do your job right, can ya? [Caldwell chuckles]

Death: The reason I can't do my job is because people like Beverly and Moonshine break the laws of death.

Hardwon: Careful, you're talking about my family.

I'll crawl home to her

Murph [narrating]: {Oh, Melora! plays in the background} Hardwon, your spirit, um, flies into this body. Uh, you see, Melora picks it up, pulls him out of the sea, and brings half-elf Hardwon into this, um, demiplane with all you guys.

[Caldwell laughs]

--

Hardwon [/Jake]: {Tale's End plays in the background} I smash my forehead against Moonshine's, too. [Emily laughs in delight] And say, hey, if I was gonna come back as anything, I'm proud to come back as half of you.

When my time comes around

Hardwon [Jake]: But, Beverly and Moonshine? They don't need me. [pauses] And, and I have to be okay with that.

--

Hardwon: {A Memory plays in the background} But I'm coming to understand the reality - that they're gonna stay as strong and heroic as we all once were, and I'm going to fade away.

Lay me gently in the cold dark earth

Hardwon [Jake]: Um, do me one, one favor? If I start to slow you down {bird chirping sound in background}, you leave me behind.

No grave can hold my body down

Hardwon [Jake]: {metal guitar music plays in the background} Hardwon kips up.

Murph [narrating]: Your eyes are closed, you're knocked out, you remember the last time you were knocked out by an avatar of Gruumsh, you know you can't let that happen again. Just pure, force of will, you jolt your heart and get it going again, and you kip up.

--

Murph [narrating]: {The Hexblood Centurions plays in the background} Hardwon, you are suddenly jolted back awake with the help of Sol, you see Sol hovering over you.

Hardwon [Jake]: Oh, my god -

Sol [Caldwell]: Hey.

Hardwon: - do I love the smell of mushrooms after I wake up from death. [Caldwell laughs]

I'll crawl home to her

Hardwon [Jake]: [other cast members laughing throughout] Moonsh - Moonshine, if you can hear me, I'll be there tomorrow. I'll be there tomorr- I'm coming. As fast as I can.

[elizabethrobertajones]

So I've been thinking about Fransi way too much, on account of now levelling up what was a side character in Frog's journey and becoming completely invested in a tiny rude farmer :)

Obviously the suggestion that your reaper avatar is your shard is incompatible with the suggestion Golbez (original flavour) is your shard from the 13th, both of which are now supported choices for the player to make and leave you rationalising the other option. And I picked the harder one since saying Golbez is your shard just means your pacted voidsent is some other guy.

I've been turning that over in my head, wondering what else he could be if not that.

Then it hit me that of course we know a handful of people with the echo so it's easy to quickly assign one of them to Golbez and maybe even just knowing them would be enough to manifest some weird shit.

Like, there's the ambiguity of if this was a past life for you or Estinien or just Your Weird New Bond with the dragoon job stone is what manifests Haldrath out of our dragoon stone in the level 50 Dragoon quest - I lean to it being our past life but it is pretty vague on account of the lore being so unknown to us at the time that we have no framework for this, vs like, even in SB patches when we learn about Tenzen we're sort of putting the dots together a bit more thanks to the Dotharl that this is a definite in-world mechanic. Although I'll always be mad everyone's so mean to Ysayle, who may absolutely not be Shiva's reincarnation but up until that point we shouldn't have been mean to her because we did know reincarnation was how souls worked in this universe, it just seemed to be very fringey to KNOW who you had been. And she still has a strong bond to Shiva regardless of not being her because of her echo memory of her. She may have made a Primalsona of her based on her expectations but at the end of the day I think they'd made a connection.

So there's fully a ton of reasons to think we could have reacted to Golbez's memory so dramatically, especially if he was a shard of someone we knew.

Then I was like, so who is that. Who is the best possible person for it to be.

Of course the whole theme of the story with him and Zero and the Thirteenth falling from a ton of mistrust and in fighting and manufactured war, and the crux of what may have saved them (well probably not but it created a What If) was Zero not daring to reach out. The whole story was about empathy and friendship.

THE most obvious soul to me to have been the shard of the person lumbering around in Golbez's armour trying to rally a dying world (while the Azem soul shard was off working a farm, oblivious) is the 13th shard of Krile with her hyper-empathy and friendship based echo.

[andiwriteordie]

Okay so I've only been like vaguely reading most of the atla au asks (I'm with family bc it's break) so idk Everything that's been said (so sorry if I accidentally contradict smt or ask smt that's already been answered) also I love the scene with Joyce trying to make will breathe and all that implies afterwards bc. Ow. Breathing.

Anyways, I know avatars learn in a specific order and reincarnate in that order so El would be learning air last (like Korra did) and like Korra, I imagine she learned earth and fire fairly quickly but has difficulty with air... Like imagine Henry trying to teach her 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 what a mess lol. But then imagine like. Will being the one to help teach her it like wonder twins 😭😭

Like what if El knew all the bendings Except for air and that's also why she failed at actually defeating Henry the first time they fought? Like she never figured out how to airbend and when they had the initial confrontation (after Henry already tried + failed to teach her airbending) she didn't kill him bc he still knew how to use airbending to live or smt idk. But also in s1 she still doesn't know air very well so she can't reach into the spirit world and get will herself??? Like idk. But eventually will is the one to Properly teach her airbending... (And him saying it's all due to Jon's teachings 😭😭😭)

Yeah just. Wonder twins. Trauma and all that ✌️✌️

Ngl I never finished LoK (I watched the first 2 seasons and like half of 3??? And I don't even remember atla bc it's been a few years.) So I don't really know/remember all the avatar Lore lol. I'm just here bc I love aus and world building and angst and your writing and st and nostalgia lmao 👏👏

TOY HI I'M HERE AND I WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS NOW SORRY IT TOOK A MINUTE.

WHOA NOW THAT IS A CONSIDERATION THAT I HADN'T THOUGHT OF. @messrsbyler are you seeing this? what if henry had been the one to begin el's airbending training? literally that would be so fucking cool and it's perfect because in st canon we see how much el's powers mirror henry's and like??? yes. i love this. and then that's perfect because it gives henry the perfect opportunity to begin to try and manipulate el for his own gain.

also will eventually teaching el about bending? what if i cried. what if i CRIED? it's the way that el in this world has been so traumatized by her bending. her bending has been the representation of her abuse, and she didn't know about the importance of her role as the avatar until she met the party. so now, she has to be this hero that the world needs, and god. she doesn't know how to be this incredible master of all four elements when she hates her bending and it scares her when she uses it? but but but but then, through her relationships with the party, it helps to heal her trauma. the party, who represent the four elements and the nonbenders of the world, show her the beauty and the strengths and the goodness of what bending can be.

and none of them are very good at bending either, which like wow. talk about the juxtaposition between the freaking avatar being one of your best friends and then you're a bender who is just okay? dustin can't bend and has always been insecure about being the only one who can't do it. max never really got formal training because her family couldn't afford it, and what if the earthbending was from her dad? her dad, who walked out on her when she was just a kid. she wishes she could've been born a firebender, because she feels like a firebender, and earthbending just doesn't feel like it fits her. lucas excels at healing, but he has to work 3x as hard to get combat waterbending down. he gets embarrassed when the kids at school make fun of him, because it's still viewed as weaker to be a healer, a caretaker, instead of a fighter. mike has never ever been good at firebending, especially not compared to his protege of an older sister. he can't seem to move past the basics, and he burns things, and he's reckless and destructive with his bending. will always loved his bending until he was kidnapped by another airbender and was left traumatized and terrified of the very air he breathes and bends and used to love so much?

the party needs el, just as much as she needs them. and these kids, all of whom don't seem like they have much to offer—especially to the avatar—show her the best parts of what their elements represent. dustin shows the versatility and the importance of nonbenders, because he's flexible. he's the jack of all trades. he's the mastermind and a strategist, and as he grows healthier, he helps all of them remember their value doesn't come from their bending either. max shows the beautiful steadiness and stability that the earth provides. the strength and the resilience that comes from the earth—that though it may get weathered and worn down, it inherently does not change, and max doesn't either. a cornerstone for the party. lucas shows the adaptability, the willingness to change and become better, and the focus of community and love. he can rage like the ocean and his temper is dangerous, but he's also quick to learn from his mistakes and bring that sense of peace and community back to the party. mike is the driving force of the party—the fire and the determination that propels them forward. he's their guiding light, the one who sees the way forward, and the one who makes sure that they get there... together. he's their heart! and will, sweet will who has suffered so much but who also seems to understand el the best, struggles to relearn what freedom means in the aftermath of his own trauma. how does an airbender relearn the concept of freedom when his own control was ripped from him? how does an airbender find the joy of the free fall and the unknown and the never-ending mystery of the sky when he's seen the darkest parts of the unknown? when freedom turned into chaos and was used again him? he and el go on this journey together, as two kids who suffered through similar (but not the same) traumas, and they find their freedom and their joy together.

okay so i only just finished LoK like 2 years ago in the pandemic, and i would say if you have the time, definitely watch s3. it's by far my favorite of the 4 seasons, and while the og series will always be my favorite, i think s3 of LoK is fantastic. i always like a lot of the themes that s4 brings with discussing korra's ptsd and her humanity? so that's cool too!

oof, if you (and anyone else who read this) made it to the end, congrats. sorry that was so damn long lol

[zuko-always-lies]

Why Azula Staying a Villain Will Only Lead To Bad Stories[anon submission by justanotherthrowaway1950]

People say that Azula should stay a villain usually do to some combo of the following: she was born evil; her mental illnesses are untreatable (especially in her time); it would cheapen the redemption arcs we have already seen; she exists only to be a foil to Zuko; she needs to remain a villain to show what would have happened if Zuko had everything he wanted at the start of the show (and why what Zuko wanted at start was ultimately bad); and that she is better as a villain. But regardless of all that, I think the best reason against keeping Azula a villain is that we have already seen what Bryke will do if they keep Azula a villain.

Illogical power buffs despite spending two years in captivity to the point one could make a credible argument that she is the strongest non-Avatar, non-bloodbender, and non-sprit fused character in the franchise.

Shoddily relying on vaguely alluded to asylum abuse (and a word of god statement) to justify one of the smartest and cunning characters in the franchise engaging in several half-baked plots that don't really seem to further any of her goals or help her satisfy any of her desires.

Giving her Gaang-tier asylum inmates to serve as her new hench-women, either because they are scared of her and/or being manipulated, which doesn't make sense since she no longer has any political power and thus they can ignore her once she breaks them out. Not to mention she doesn't seem to have regained all of her mental faculties (ex. her Mochi rant during Smoke and Shadow and how her eyes bulge out like crazy!Azula in The Search at the end of the rant). 

Or because she became non-ironic friends with them, which doesn't make sense since Azula during her time in the asylum was clearly not in the mental state to take care of herself, let alone make friends not relying on her status or fear-mongering. Especially when The Search has Azula blame "Ursa" for making Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee stop fearing her, heavily implying Azula still thinks fear is a good way to maintain relationships. Not to mention two of them almost killing Aang after incapacitating him if it wasn't for his plot shield granted by LoK (he needs to die as a 66 year old man so he can reincarnate into Korra).

But most galling, how everyone starts acting stupid and incompetent (and thus denigrating them and their arcs/character growth) whenever Azula is involved so Azula can remain a credible threat despite The Gaang all being masters in their respective fields and having the resources of several nation-states at their beck and call plus a PMC (The White Lotus).

Like when Azula burned all those letters, how come Zuko didn't order his guards to pat her down?

When Azula escaped into The Forgetful Forest and Zuko said he tried, does that mean Azula managed to evaded an Avatar State power seismic sense? Or that she evaded June's shushu? Did Zuko call Toph or The White Lotus to help him capture one of the biggest threats to his throne and world peace? And so, what does it say about them that a mentally broken Azula still managed to evade them?

How was she able to break out six girls from her old asylum without Zuko finding out? Moreover, how come Zuko, or anyone for that matter, never asked any of the asylum workers what Azula was hallucinating about? For if they did, maybe Zuko wouldn't have taken Azula to find her literal trigger warning and put his beloved mother (and her family) in danger. In addition, how come no one asked Azula who "she" was?

But I admit all of the above this assumes Azula was getting relatively modern treatment and that anyone cared about her mental health, which doesn't seem to be the case. I don't blame them (I don't believe abuse victims have to help their abusers and nor do I believe that the oppressed have to help their oppressors) but still, are they world leaders who have been proven to be highly competent in the past when dealing with sensitive issues? So what changed? 

How come Ukano was willing to work with Azula to restore Ozai for the sake of his nation and family when not only is Fire Lord Zuko indebted to him for life due to Mai saving him at The Boiling Rock (not to mention Zuko offering him a job when his governorship disappeared after Bumi retook Omashu), but also when one of the first things Ozai would do after taking back power is killing Mai for her treason (imo, it is clear that after Zuko's defection, the only punishment for treason was death, with no chance for life in prison like Iroh had)?

How come The Gaang plus Zuko don't spend every waking moment after Smoke and Shadow hunting down Azula when she has made it clear with her actions (engaging in mass kidnapping with her own terrorist group and manipulating other terrorists groups to serve her ends) that she would do anything to turn Zuko into a tyrant? Especially considering this the same person who conquered Ba Sing Se as a 14 year old with just two childhood friends and her brother and thus her threat to Zuko at the end of Smoke and Shadow is anything but hollow?

For doesn't The Gaang have a responsibility to ensure that the fragile peace they have built remains? Especially when it is mostly their fault that Azula got free and that it is their general incompetence that allows Azula to remain free and a threat?

But on a more serious note, the biggest issue with Azula's character, or the comics in general, is LoK. For thanks to LoK, we know everything ends up being ok and that Zuko has a long and prosperous reign.

Thus, LoK hamstrings' Bryke's story choices; for example, if I told you that at one point Azula would escape after being cruelly locked in an asylum for two years due to being a madwomen and that she had become the GOAT fire-bender (her lighting manipulation and smoke generation put her in a different tier from everyone else imo) and H2H fighter in ATLA, you would assume that Azula would be leading a plot to overthrow Zuko and eliminate everyone in her way along with everyone who betrayed her en route to restoring the old regime. But instead we get Joker!Azula whose "true destiny" is to make Zuko have one day bad so he'll turn out like her even though the audience knows thanks to LoK she'll never succeed, making the whole thing a waste of time for the reader. And now Bryke wants to write more stories for Aang's time?!

IMO, unless they retcon LoK and/or the comics, it appears the stories they can tell will be lackluster for the reasons I already articulated. But who knows, I might be completely wrong (and boy do I hope so).

-Submitted by justanotherthrowaway1950

I think you raise some excellent points. The comics do no character any favors. Joker villains tend to be incredibly stupid and boring, and turning Azula into one of them while ignoring all of her canon motivations was beyond stupid. And you're right, if Azula is still trying to involve herself in politics in order to further Fire imperialism, she should be remaking the world in the process and continuing to be an active threat. She has the power to single-handily destroy the entire post-war order, and the Gaang should be acting like she does, not fucking off to their own lives and ignoring the problem.

Ironically enough, there's an argument to be made based on LoK that Zuko largely turns into the same sort of tyrant his father was, just acting for a different cause. But apparently Bryke see nothing wrong with extrajudicially locking people up forever in torture prisons designed to just barely keep people alive.

The one point I would like to make is that I haven't heard any evidence that Bryke are actually interested in doing more stories in Aang's time. Avatar Studios has said nothing to that effect. Ironically, their involvement with the comics might prevent them from doing more damage there, because they would almost certainly have to retcon the comics in order to tell a story post-war and they might be reluctant to do so. The other thing is that they had an opportunity to do a story in this time period in the past, and instead chose to do LoK.

[kitsoa]

So. Khux final. Your thoughts?

I knew I would see you in my Inbox! Greetings, been a while, apologies, summer vacation is tomorrow and I'm finally going to re-energize my fandom spaces. Overall thoughts: It was decent. Definitely a lot of wham moments and twists I didn't see coming. The execution of the characters were satisfying to a point that my complaints are truly weak by comparison. That said... I have gripes. Gripes that may have the bias of simply liking my own theories better but I plan to get the hell over myself. Long Post under the cut

The Darkness Ugh: I haven't commented on months of updated info due to the sinking distaste I had for the entire Sentient Darknesses conflict. I don't think it properly utilizes the Nightmare Chirithy concept and Darkling ideas that were heavily pushed in the early game (all the way to the last world). Regardless of the connection between the impetus of such threats, it felt a little shoehorned to create a new emergent threat in the Darkness Creatures. Ventus gets no blame, MoM and Luxu can feign some kind of noble intention, everyone is basically guiltless when trying to apprehend and eliminate a nebulous and hard-to-kill force such as them. I'll admit that it fits really well in the convolution of the Data-Worlds. The Union Leaders are a honeytrap essentially and it seems to have at least issued a major blow to the force of Darkness. I'm just not a fan of the implications of the future conflict I guess? I'm okay with Light and Dark themes but I really want them to explore it with more nuance. "Light is not Good" kind of tropes. I can't wait to see the Foretellers as bad guys but I don't want to blame some other possessing force. I want to see legitimate error and corruption. Maybe I'm being short-sighted with the development. I'm not giving it enough credit. It still makes my head spin with ideas.

Stuff I really LIKE because it reaffirms my thoughts on fictional realities which have already been confirmed but I am excited to see how literal it can get: Real Daybreak Town glitches as it falls to darkness. It's not as 'real' as any of them would like to believe. "A land where light and darkness cannot be controlled" maybe be fictional to MoM but that sounds like the real world to me. ※ is a literal icon for 'reference' which means the world is a reference to something else. Quadratrum is a reference to ffv13 AND/OR a reference to literal Shibuya the 'heart' of Tokyo. It can literally be both at the same time. I am convinced we are approaching terminal real world through this style of world-hopping. Playernort: I am actually pretty okay with the Player Xehanort thing. I firstly think it's funny because of the 'everyone is Xehanort' joke and now WE are Xehanort. If you believe in the infinite worldline idea than every Dandelion is Xehanort in some fashion because that avatar encompasses the entire Daybreak population and assumes the role of Xehanort's past life in some variation of the world's existence. I think it explains Xehanort's obsession with the keyblade war and finding the Union Leaders while I simply assumed there was something of value within them stirring that need. Heart reincarnation is a new(er) concept that is extremely interesting. It, first of all, says the quiet part out loud and confirms that 'sleeping hearts' are fricken Dead guys. I mean we know this but I don't think we have to call it 'essentially death!' it is death. You can literally choose to move on if you don't just sleep. There is no waking the player character anymore. They are literally a different person. It also invites some musing on Ventus and Sora's connection as semi-reincarnations. It's not exact because Ven did choose to sleep but the same process that happens in reincarnation was potentially invoked during their bond. My lore brain is very happy. Where they left off:

They say that you need someone to remember you at your destination, but Marly, Larx, and Ven had no one to bring them into existence like Maleficent did. A facet to the lore that really stumps me. Is that just a factor to ensure that they have memories? I have to assume so but I have no evidence. And we don't know if they are truly alone really (ven kinda wasn't) but it makes you wonder how the recollection of them was orchestrated. Of course Skuld is omitted, though she shares the unique context of leaving out of the same round of pods as Ephemer... who I don't think left at all. Ephemer is the only one who was still in his pod when it landed meaning he didn't time travel at all. I like to think that the Scala he creates has this... final world feel which leads me to believe he somehow ended up in the final world but he clearly didn't. Daybreak falls to darkness and he's swept up somewhere to create Scala. It's just interesting that he doesn't travel. It's a little similar to Kairi's use of the pod in that it just worked between worlds instead of time. And I think that's intentional on Ephie's part (to create the memories needed to bring his friends to the correct point in time?) The entire Brain situation leaves me very confused. There's Luxu possessing him? and Then he transports ahead in time? How does he have his memories if it was decided that he would arrive in Scala. Ugh. Whatever. It's interesting but dissecting Luxu isn't my forte so I'll leave it for when I'm feeling particularly inspired. Things left unsaid: Ava. That's the point I guess. They could have explained the Keyblade War much better. Worlds ending can be extremely vague.... Also, X-blade my ASS Xehanort was drunk and needs to go home and now I'm pissed at that stupid-looking keyblade and I wish it didn't exist because it CLEARLY DOESN'T APPARENTLY. Also, attempts at convincing me MoM is good have failed and I was not digging the insistent martyr thing he had going. I just don't trust him. Like one bit. I think he's playing everyone, but the Darkness shit bothers me because its not like I think he's siding with Darkness I just don't think that makes him noble or even misunderstood. Conclusion: This isn't necessarily a bad place to leave things off. It's very intriguing and I would love to see this reinterpreted. Thanks for forcing me to put my thoughts together, I had been avoiding this.

[nemrut]

Tearmoon Empire

I wanted tot talk more about fanfiction but there isn’t really a fanfic I am following atm that I am actually super exited about and it would feel a bit lazy to pick up an old one, so gonna talk about something else.

Last few months, I have read a lot of manga and a few LNs in the vain of transmigrated/reborn/reincarnated as a villainess and one part of the subculture is the villainess or MC being executed in their main life after being outmaneuvered or used by her loved ones and she then wakes up in her younger body. Tearmoon Empire written by Nozomu Mochitsuki and illustrated by Gilse is a more humorous take on that formula.

The summary on Amazon is as follows:

Surrounded by the hate-filled gazes of her people, the selfish princess of the fallen Tearmoon Empire, Mia, takes one last look at the bleeding sun before the guillotine blade falls... Only to wake back up as a twelve-year-old! With time rewound and a second chance at life dropped into her lap, she sets out to right the countless wrongs that plague the ailing Empire. Corrupt governance? Check. Border troubles? Check. Natural calamities and economic strife? Check. My, seems like a lot of work. Hard work and Mia don’t mix, so she seeks out the aid of others, starting with her loyal maid, Anne, and the brilliant minister, Ludwig. Together, they strive day and night to restore the Empire. Little by little, their tireless efforts begin to change the course of history, pushing the whole of the continent toward a new future. And why did the selfish princess have a change of heart, you ask? Simple—she didn’t. She’s just terrified of the guillotine. They hurt like hell, and Mia hates pain more than work. Lazy, selfish, and a complete coward, the ill-equipped princess of the Tearmoon Empire, armed with memories of her past life and a diary from the future, tries to avoid dying at the guillotine again and changes the very course of history in the process! 

Premise is very clear. Cowardly, petty and self absorbed princess died during her first life because of those attributes as the revolution of the small-folk caught her and because her traits made almost everyone dislike her, the few people who wanted to save her couldn’t. Now on her second life, she has some foreknowledge as she, by now, knows the general gist as to what went wrong, what led to all the suffering which kick-started the revolution. Understandably, she does not want another revolution to happen, or at the very least, if it does happen, she hopes no one will be particularly angry with her or that she will have enough goodwill to be able to escape.

So her every action, her every good deed, her ever interaction with people is fundamentally fueled by her desire to not be executed and trying her hardest to seem selfless and nice or at the very least not cruel or selfish.

And it works, it works so well that everyone thinks she is a wise saint who has appeared to save mankind,w ho is literally too pure, too good for this world. She makes some vague suggestion as to what could possibly go wrong,more capable people run with it and make it happen but because she was the catalyst, she gets the credit and praise.

It really, really works. The manga version is neat but the LN version especially shines with the way the narrator always makes sure to note how actually selfish Tia is. Tia does something nice or kind, the characters around her praise her for it and the narrator then goes on to state how very not wise and kind Tia actually is.

The story and characters are funny and likeable. It helps that Tia was never a muahahaha I love to be cruel kind of person. She was never evil. She was just spoiled and selfish, living an extremely privileged and self-absorbed life. It wasn‘t her fault that the country went down the drain, she just didn‘t care about anything but her own comfort and was the typical spoiled noble-lady to her servants and those she saw as beneath her class-wise. That meant that no one was inclined to be charitable towards her and saw her as part of the problem.

It is a very charming story, and really, really fun. Tia is a delightful protagonist because despite her still very selfish if understandable motivation, she is still doing good and right things in the world. She makes the world better, even if that desire comes from the fear of being executed otherwise and not because she particularly cares about other people. She does like others though, like her maid who was the only person who was kind to her during her imprisonment in her first life and Tia tries her best to repay her in this life for her loyalty and kindness which of course makes the maid love her even more. A few instances, Tia does good because she knows Anna (the maid) sees her as this avatar of justice and Anna expects her to step in and help and Tia is forced because she doesn’t want to lose Anna’s loyalty.

So yeah, give it a try if that sounds appealing. Manga has only 9 chapters though and only two volumes of the LN are translated/out.

[heartlessconviction]

So...The Dark Avatar

Ok I’m not going to defend this I hate the execution, however I do like the idea of the avatar having an equal in this regard, due to the concept of Yin and Yang.  The Avatar is seen as the bridge between the Humans and the Spirits, the middle man to put it in a crude manner. However I’ve always disliked this in many respects for a show that is all about balance and different perspectives among with the many cultures it draws inspiration from the avatar themselves whilst is a balance between a human and a spirit. Doesn’t exactly have an equal or a shadow to put it simply, they are seen as this one definitive figure in the universe where I feel the concept could have been handled much differently.  My whole issue with this draws from the origin of Vaatu and Raava, whilst intending to represent Yin and Yang two opposites of the spectrum that cannot exist without the other. Their entire history contradicts this principle. Raava definitively is seen as the spirit of peace and light, her defeating Vaatu is what is defined as balance in the Avatar universe which disregards the entire principle of Yin and Yang and the cosmic duality that encompasses this principle. Yes Vaatu still survives in Raava but that isn’t duality, that is one force dominating the other and thats why I dislike the origin of the Avatar somewhat.  The concept of having a Dark Avatar isn’t whats asinine, merely the execution. As having a second Avatar that influences the world in the Shadow of Korra or whoever the current Avatar is, learning to co-exist and balance the responsibility is balance. Where the Avatar is, the “dark” Avatar lingers on in their shadow, the Avatar themselves are not deities, they are humans and as such have flaws and shortcomings. They can make mistakes which can inflict horrible consequences onto the world they are tasked with maintaining the balance off, how would this go down with two Avatars, each with their own sense of morality and ideologies that may conflict with one another? How would they maintain the balance not of the spirit world and the human world but each other? This is what mainly pisses me off about season 2 of Korra the potential of having this concept was there, but they didn’t go through with it.  Some people who have also delved into this idea proposed that Kuvira should have been the Dark Avatar as she represents all of Korras worse traits. The Yin and Yang, whilst I agree with the assessment I disagree with the choice of character. Strictly because I believe the Dark Avatar needs to represent the opposite spectrum of the role of the Avatar, not the traits of the current Avatar. As in my version the Dark Avatar from the moment they appear, is in the lore and world for good, reincarnating each cycle.  So what is the Avatars role? To maintain balance, what is the opposite of balance? Imbalance or disorder, in other words chaos. What is the opposing force of order? Anarchy. As such I believe the “Dark Avatar” has to be no other than Zaheer. Zaheer as a character and his philosophy is the opposing force to both Korra and the role of the Avatar, the shadow in the light and thus he alone has to be.  So how would I do this? Alright season 1 goes ahead like normal, however just like we did in The Legend of Aang hearing about Sozins comet we hear about Harmonic Convergence and the fact that its swiftly approaching, this roles into season two. The only things I will change here is that Harmonic Convergence doesn’t occur until Season 3, her uncle isn’t evil just misguided and is thus killed in the final battle Vaatu is still imprisoned and only 1 of the two spirit portals remain open. So Korra doesn’t lose access to her past lives let me be clear here.  Season 3 will be a longer season which ends roughly the same as it does in the original. However the start will center around Zaheer breaking out of prison through the influence of Vaatu, with Harmonic Convergence approaching whilst Vaatu is still imprisoned he does have a tiny bit of leverage on the world. I don’t believe Zaheer would fall for this, for a stubborn man in the face of his principles he is not one to be deceived so easily. Hence why Vaatu shrouds his identity by posing as Guru Laghima, I think due to how Zaheer respects the legend and lessons of Laghima having Vaatu pose as this will be the way to get Zaheer on board  Zaheer kidnaps Jinora which forces Korra to open up the second spirit portal freeing Vaatu when Harmonic convergence begins, Zaheer explains the motives of the Red Lotus foreshadowing the rest of the season and merges with Vaatu to create the Yang to the Avatars Yin. Korra and Raava battle Zaheer and Vaatu whilst Korra has the advantage of all four elements the beefed up Zaheer can combat her on an equal footing, the fight ends in a stalemate and Zaheer escapes. Harmonic Convergence ends and Korra decides to leave both of the spirit portals open, Jinora is saved etc however its a hollow victory.  Now a timeskip occurs here which leads up to Season 3 and Zaheer discovering his air bending. Now the thing that I think allows me to do this, is that the whole Air benders returning is extremely vague, whilst it makes sense for both Bumi and Zaheer you’d be hard pressed for me to believe that everybody who did gain the ability to bend Air is descended from the Air Nomads at some point, I just believe it was the worlds way of restoring balance after Harmonic Convergence and with the spiritual energy being as potent as it is in the human world now. So what am I getting at? With the universe maintaining the balance in this manner, by giving non benders the ability to bend. Its not a stretch to believe with the existence of a now second Avatar after Harmonic Convergence Zaheer doesn’t just gain the ability to Air Bend, but also the affinity of the other three Elements as well although he awakens Air Bending first.  This is where the Season 3 of the original and mine align, Zaheer isn’t just saving the fellow members of the Red Lotus to capture and kill the Avatar this time, whilst thats still his objective to achieve true anarchy and freedom. He is also saving them in order for them to guide him and teach him to master the other 3 elements.. I also believe since Zaheer would be the Shadow to Korras Light, his Avatar cycle should be counter clockwise to the Avatars.  Avatar: Water-Earth-Fire-Air “Dark” Avatar- Air-Fire-Earth-Water The season plays out like it usually does, with the Red Lotus trying to capture Korra, with each encounter we see Zaheer becoming more adept with the other elements, though his primary element will still be Air.  Korra is eventually poisoned when captured and their final battle ensues when P’li dies giving Zaheer the ability to fly once his final earthly tether is severed. So this battle instead of it just being Korra in the Avatar State and Zaheer with his air bending, we see Avatar vs Avatar, both flinging the elements at each other, both in their respective Avatar states which makes this battle all the harder for the poisoned Korra who is just trying to survive this battle.  With a few new tricks, inevitably we are back at the moment where Zaheer is trying to kill Korra by sucking the air out of her. Now with Korras Avatar state we can all agree in general its much less impressive than Aangs, it makes sense in the original season 2 with her ties to her past lives being severed. However I kinda believe its due to her having less experience but also having less of a spiritual connection than her past lives.  Aang for example, even when he couldn’t control the state we all saw how powerful it could be when he was enraged or in danger. For me this makes more sense since Aang by default has a more enriched spiritual connection at 12, than Korra ever had throughout the series, thats my headcanon I’m sticking to it, in order to explain why Korras was so weak even before losing her connection to her past lives.  Zaheer on the other hand, whilst having that spiritual connection has the disadvantage of being the first in his respective Avatar Cycle. Meaning he is handicapped, which is why even though this battle is a hell of a lot harder for Korra. In the end due to this and Zaheers inexperience with the Avatar State, he is still pulled into the wind tornado and subdued.  This makes the moment in Season 4 where he helps Korra enter the spirit world more impactful, as he is not only somewhat atoning for what he just brought onto the earth kingdom which is against his ideals of Anarchy. As the opposite to the Avatar he is maintaining the balance of their duality by assisting Korra to regain the Avatar State and her connection to the spirit world. As he states to Korra their interests align.  The only thing I will change in Season 4 is that this isn’t the last time we see Zaheer. Later on he escapes from the prison he is being kept in to assist team Avatar in taking down Kuvira, via his mastery of Metal Bending. Whilst he does this solely on the principle of his own ideals. Nevertheless he is fulfilling his role in maintaining the balance by helping his counterpart in the final battle, both Avatars co-existing and in this case working together on this common objective. 

The finale ends the same way, just with Zaheer fleeing and from that point on in the comics of my version, we get to experience the consequences of having two Avatars roaming around. Not only from a spiritual perspective but the political aspect as well.  Obviously I’m not a writer, and I may have overlooked some things. That wasn’t the point of this however, the point of this was to display the potential of having a “Dark Avatar.” The concept itself wasn’t the issue, it has potential. The execution not only from the misrepresentation of Yin-Yang through Raava and Vaatu but how rushed it all felt as a whole. I would love for them to come back to the concept and try again, I honestly believe the Avatar should have its opposite in such a manner. Rather than having one almighty being that burdens this responsibility on their own, it makes them an outlier in my opinion. I also had the luxury of spanning this across book 1-2-3-4, were as they clearly had to rush it out for Season 2. Anyway this got way too long, but yeah it is what it is.

[emberbent]

Book 1: Fire | Chapter 4: Family Reunion

As he did with all his students, Amrit saw Shinza as a hunk of raw marble, and as he chiseled away, he started to unearth the statue within. Her method of bending was methodical and controlled; she combined strict textbook technique with inventive application, often surprising Amrit. But as beautiful and clean as her lines were, and as sufficient as her self-defense abilities were, she still lacked the core essence of what it meant to be a firebender. After a while, her progress came to a plateau.

He kept her training at a dogged pace, and she was up to the challenge. He had to give her that much: she was persistent. But after seeming to hit a wall, they both needed a break. 

“You’re doing great,” Amrit encouraged, catching his breath at the end of the day’s session. They were both panting and covered with sweat. The smell of charred air surrounded them.

Shinza gulped down a cup of water. “But?”

Amrit sighed, taking his time with his own cup of water before finally getting down to it. “I worry. You’re doing well here, but I’m not confident that your bending won’t weaken once you leave. This heat, and being on the equator… it’s helping you, but it can also be a crutch.”

Gracefully, she bent and settled on the ground. “So how do I get stronger?”

“I think you know the answer to that,” Amrit replied, sitting across from her and looking her in the eye. “It’s been a struggle for you - I know it has. But your progress has plateaued because you still haven’t pinpointed your motivation. You need to be able to overpower your opponent with sheer force. Firebending by nature is an offensive art, and frankly, I don’t think you don’t have the resolve for it.”

He watched her. Being straightforward was something Shinza valued, but delivering such a blow to her ego wasn’t easy. Not with so much at stake, and with all of the pressure falling squarely on her shoulders.

“I know,” she replied quietly. Streaks of black soot marked her face, obscuring her freckles. Several strands of hair had come loose from her topknot and framed her face. She’d given this everything she had. “I’ve been trying. I really have.”

“I know you have,” Amrit assured her. “But I think you need a break. We’ve been training in the temple this whole time, but you’re not getting what you need here. Maybe you should do some wandering.”

“I thought it wasn’t safe for me to travel alone,” Shinza countered, thinking of Mai and Zhang and their incessant need to be glued to her side.

Amrit considered that. “I think it’ll be worth it. Besides, as far as I know, no one knows it’s you who’s the Avatar, and you’re skilled enough now that you could hold your own in a struggle.”

They were quiet for a while. Ever since the incident at the General’s Tea House, no one would let Shinza out of their sight - even Amrit, who was now realizing the value of showing his faith in her. The idea of being treated like the adult she was, to her, seemed wonderful. Then she said, “I think I know where I’m going to go.” 

Shinza boarded a ferry to Fire Fountain City the next morning. She had dressed in mainland Fire Nation clothes, which was something she’d never done before, but for the first time in her life, she looked and felt proud. Maybe she wasn’t up to Amrit’s standards yet, but she’d come so far in the months she’d been on the island. What made a knot in her stomach, though, was the worry that this trip would be a waste. What if she didn’t find what she needed here? What if she disappointed Amrit? Or worse: what if she disappointed herself?

She stepped off the ramp and headed toward the address she’d seen on envelopes her whole life: her aunt and uncle’s apartment. She’d never met them before, but from all the pictures they sent and from the stories her father had read aloud from their letters, she felt like she did. Shinza wasn’t sure how they’d take to a surprise visit, but she’d had no way of letting them know she was coming. As she passed through the town square, she came upon what gave the city its name: the fire fountain. After Fire Lord Ozai’s flame-mouthed statue had been hauled to the ground and removed, the citizens of the town, under Fire Lord Zuko’s orders, had replaced the statue with the fountain. It was meant to symbolize the Fire Nation’s turning away from its past, and it was a beautiful sight when lit at twilight. But now it was broad daylight, and it seemed so much smaller than she pictures she’d seen of it with crowds gathered around it and with its floating lanterns glowing. It was hard not to be disappointed, but she kept going until she reached the address. 

Shinza ascended the stoop and used the iron knocker to rap a couple times on the door, using the interim time to make sure not a hair was out of place. A couple seconds later, the door swung open, and a familiar face greeted her.

“Ohh!” her aunt Chiyo squealed, already holding her arms out. “Is that Little Shinza I see?”

“Hi, Aunt Chiyo,” Shinza responded, smiling through the vague discomfort of being ensnared in a monstrous hug and pulled into the apartment. The woman was much shorter than Shinza, and quite round, with a kind face and twinkling yellow eyes. She reached upward to cup Shinza’s cheeks and beamed into her niece’s face.

“Oh, what a joy!” she exclaimed. “I never thought we’d get the chance to meet you. What brings you to Fire Fountain City? Are your parents here? Oh, come in, come in! Please, make yourself comfortable. Everyone! Guess who’s here?”

Shinza found that the little apartment was full of people, all of whom she recognized, and all who had come to the living room to see her. Her uncle Akio, her cousin Kenzo, his wife Nhu, and their children, Lili and Khazan. All of them fussed over her, commenting on her physical similarity to her father, Chiyo’s brother. 

“You’re just in time for dinner,” Chiyo sounded. “Are you hungry? I made a nice roast duck for the family. Oh, how lucky you came by today, when everyone’s here!”

“Sounds wonderful,” Shinza said; Lili and Khazan, who seemed boundlessly fascinated by their cousin, pulled her into the kitchen and offered her a place to sit. Gradually, she acclimated and started to feel comfortable. “It’s so nice to see all of you. I’ve seen pictures, but it’s not the same.”

“So what brings you to town?” Akio inquired, pulling out a chair for himself. “Taking a little vacation?”

“Something like that,” Shinza replied. “I’ve been working hard, and I needed a little getaway. And I thought, you know, maybe it’d be nice to meet you all.”

“Well, it’s just wonderful to meet you,” Akio beamed. “Tell us, how are your parents? What do you do for work? What’s it like in Republic City?”

Everyone around her leaned in, eager to hear. Shinza couldn’t help but laugh. All the attention was strange, but the magnitude of love she felt in the room was something she’d never forget. “Mom and Dad are fine,” she said. “Mom’s still practicing medicine, and Dad’s been enjoying his retirement as much as he can, for how badly his leg hurts him. I, uh… I’m an artist, technically, but I do some side work as a musician. Sometimes I dance, too, and sometimes I give lessons. Republic City’s nice like that - there’s always a job to take.”

“Oh, that’s just wonderful,” gushed Chiyo. To Shinza’s relief, no one gave her a hard time for not having followed in her parents’ footsteps. Chiyo chirped, “Bird’s on! Everyone come eat. Shinza, honey, you serve yourself first.”

With full plates, they all tucked in. The kitchen was filled with lively chatter, the heavenly scent of a meal made with love, and laughter. Topics of conversation wove and changed; Shinza had managed to tune out, finding the cacophony of everyone talking to each other and over each other simultaneously a little overwhelming; so had Nhu, was sitting beside her. The woman, who appeared to be a little older than Shinza, gave her an amicable smile as they continued their meal.

“So, did you hear?” Kenzo piped up. “The new Avatar’s been located.”

“Oh? No, I hadn’t heard that,” Chiyo replied airily. “Well, I hope The Organization manages to find them and do away with them for good. I shudder to think...”

Nhu groaned. “Kenzo, what have I asked you about politics at the table?”

“Oh, honey, come on. It’s friendly conversation.”

Shinza said nothing, coolly picking out the mushrooms from her bowl and eating them first. 

“It’s not friendly, it’s incendiary,” Nhu muttered. 

Kenzo countered, “I’m tired of this. We all know the Avatar needs to be done away with. We can’t have that kind of abuse of power in our world.”

“Daddy,” Lili interjected, tugging at her father’s sleeve. “Is it true the Avatar murders babies so they can go into the Avatar state?”

Chiyo nearly choked on her roast duck.

Khazan said to his sister, “A boy in my class says his dad is in The Org, and that they’re gonna find the Avatar and murder them in the Avatar state so they’re never reincarnated.”

“Okay,” Akio boomed. “That’s enough. Nhu, sweetheart, you can’t censor people. Kenzo, don’t provoke her. Now -- Chiyo, what did you say about those sweet dumplings?”

“They’re in the fridge, dear,” Chiyo responded, happy not to engage in such a grim facet of the conversation.

“What do you think about all that, Shinza?” Kenzo said after a moment, with his father’s back turned to them in the kitchen as he searched for dessert. “What’s your stance on the Avatar?”

Shinza delicately slurped the last of her noodles, pretending to think on it. “Hadn’t really considered it,” she said casually. “There’s no such talk in Republic City. Everyone basically pretends the Avatar doesn’t exist.”

“I’ve heard different,” Chiyo piped up. “Akio’s second cousin lives in Republic City, and he says The Org has growing numbers. They’re coordinating a search effort.”

“Well,” Shinza shrugged. “I guess, whoever the Avatar is, they should prepare for the fight of their life.”

“Well said,” bellowed Akio, coming back to the table with a tray of sweet dumplings. Dessert was a much quieter affair. The children went to go play in the living room, Kenzo and Akio went to go smoke on the balcony, and Chiyo, Nhu, and Shinza cleaned the kitchen and enjoyed some quiet conversation. After the last dish was dry, Chiyo looked apologetically at Shinza. “I hope we didn’t scare you off,” she said sheepishly. “Things can get pretty lively here.”

“No bother,” lied Shinza. “It was really an honor to meet you all. I hope this won’t be the only time we get to see each other.”

Through the balcony screen, Shinza garnered little scraps of Akio’s conversation with his son. He admonished Kenzo for allowing his little boy to entertain the idea that the Avatar was a child murderer, and Kenzo argued that he’d heard rumors of it himself. Besides - after Unavaatu, what wasn’t the Avatar capable of?

“I should get going,” Shinza announced. “Aunt Chiyo, thank you so much for dinner. I’ll tell Mom and Dad you said hello.”

“Okay, sweet girl,” once more pulling in Shinza for a captive hug. “Go tell your uncle and cousins bye.”

Shinza had parted with all of her family except Nhu, who offered to walk her to the bus stop. Just being out of the cramped apartment was such a relief that the shrieking locusts of late summer didn’t bother her. Nhu was quiet and tall, like Shinza was, with dark brown hair and striking hazel eyes. Her parents had immigrated to the Fire Nation from the Foggy Swamp when she was tiny, she told Shinza. She didn’t have the luxury of visiting her relatives like Shinza did; when Nhu’s parents left their family’s neck of the swamp, they’d been so deeply disappointed that they decided they wouldn’t be welcomed back.

“That’s awful,” Shinza replied. She couldn’t imagine being cut off from her parents that way.

Nhu shrugged. “What do I care? I have my parents and Kenzo’s family, loud as they can be. And a new cousin I can talk to.”

Shinza gave a genuine smile. The two passed the fire fountain, which was being lit by two keepers, shooting little synchronized spears of fire into the lantern wicks. Emberflies wove their way in and out of the lanterns, scarcely discernible from the light of the lanterns. “I was hoping I’d get to see this before I left,” she murmured.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Nhu replied. “Almost makes you forget about all the ugliness in the world.”

“Almost,” Shinza snorted. They watched the fountain for a while and then made their way to the bus stop. Just as they approached, the Satobus that would take her back to the ferry pulled up, hissing and coughing black smoke into the street. “This is me.”

Nhu took one last look at Shinza, her intense hazel gaze finding Shinza’s warm red-brown eyes and instilling a knowing look. “Be careful,” she whispered. 

Shinza boarded the bus, taking a window seat and staring after Nhu as she hurried back down the street, eyes ever vigilant.

[otakween]

.Hack//Sign - Rewatch, Episode 1

So I’ve decided to start a series where I rewatch anime that I’ve never really reviewed or done anything with. In alphabetical order. So, yep, back to the Dot Hack-verse. I got into .Hack waaaaaay back in my weeb phase (middle school). .Hack//Legend of the Twilight was one of my first manga.

(This one. I remember being obsessed with the character designs, especially Zefie who I based a shameless ripoff OC on lol. Also, I probably had one of my first “trap” character experiences with the manga.)

I watched .Hack//Sign in college when I was going through a really tough time with anxiety issues. It worked well as a distraction and I ended up getting hooked on the Engrish OP (”HOW COME I MUST KNOWWWW, WHERE OBSESSION NEEDS TO GOOOOO??”). 

Anyways, here are my notes on episode 1:

-Tsukasa MAKES this show for me. They’re such an interesting protagonist. Super spacey, super awkward and...possibly autistic?? Headcanon? I love nontraditional heroes in anime. Tsukasa basically doesn’t give a shit about any of the other players in this episode and by the end of the episode doesn’t even care about the shows own mystery (lol) “Whatever. I’m here.” Such a breath of fresh air from your typical light novel-type protagonist who is all about action, friendship and getting chicks. 

-I’m just gonna say it, the character design for this show is hella ugly. I’d say the animation is passable but the early 2000s style hasn’t quite aged well. Or maybe it’s just not my aesthetic. BT (makes me think of BLT) is especially funky looking 

I think it’s a combination of the ugly color scheme, the lipstick, and the awful hair. Also, the weird way they drew anime noses in 2000. (She looks like she’s from Yu-Gi-Oh!) This was a time where they attempted realism instead of moeblob-ism and it didn’t quite work :/

-Mimiru’s design probably holds up the best in its simplicity and I could see her character in a show today (kinda the loud, money-loving, opportunistic type). We see her character reincarnated in other versions of the series so I guess that proves her staying power. 

-Although the character animation isn’t to par I think the backgrounds look really nice and show some imagination. In this episode we saw a desert world, the inside of some kind of monster, and the hub world which looks like Venice. I could see an MMORPG having these locales. I have a soft spot for Anime!Venice cuz Aria is my favorite 

-One of my favorite things about the Dot Hack universe is its lore/scope. It’s pretty dialogue heavy and they’ve already hinted at the world’s history/politics through references to Balmung and ~mysterious~ visuals in the OP. Nice. It’s also a multimedia franchise so there’s games and manga and novels to add to the richness of the anime. 

Attempt at a Summary:

This episode is soooo vague. Basic idea is Tsukasa has amnesia and is stuck in a virtual world. This they find out mid-episode when they fail to log out. Tsukasa meets Mimiru, Bear, and The Crimson Knights and is rude to all of them (maybe on purpose, maybe not??) The Crimson Knights are now monitoring Tsukasa for being suspicious and having connections to a cat avatar. I guess the Knights answer to Subaru?

At the end of the episode Tsukasa gets some kind of divine protection from an AI (?) and this eldritch abomination appears:

I remember in one the AMVs I used to watch they played that South Park “Chocolate Salty Balls” song over clips of this thing...yeah.

[luffik]

Eyes of the Swarm - Lore pt. 2 (Founders of the Realmsguard)

This post is a part of Eyes of the Swarm, my and @zlukaka​’s visual novel in development. Any feedback/comments will be loved & treasured! 

Picking smoothly up where the 1st lore post left off, with the Swarm’s violence on the rise under the new reign of its first avatar... These events are still taking place several hundred years before the time the game will be set in.

Again we added some sketchy illustrations for your reading pleasure :)

While Belgar’s role in those early days was mostly to keep Nathan safe from harm and guide him where their god wanted them to go, the blindman had been granted the power to create items from elements present in the environment around him. Nathan’s blindness was subsiding, as promised, but it was a slow process (at first he began to distinguish light and darkness, then perceive vague colors and shapes of things). And although Nathan hardly even knew how birds looked like yet, the god that nestled in their minds had been already telling him about the flying machines that he was supposed to build soon. 

Elated but also kind of intimidated, Nathan shared those grandiose ideas with his companion, since though Belgar talked to their god as well, it was usually of other matters (the god could speak to both of them simultaneously, even on different topics, but for each of them this telepathic communication was private). 

Their god instructed them to climb atop one of the pillars and build their first outpost there. Later, those strongholds perched in the clouds, high above the towns and villages of the common folk that they surrounded with their protection, would come to be known as sky bastions, and the heroes that operated from inside them, would be hailed as the Realmsguard. 

But for the first few decades, the two chosen were working alone.

One of the first creations they required to be able to get on time where they were needed most were the flying machines their god promised. And so Nathan created the first aircraft. The design was quite basic, and would be redesigned by the Realmsguard many times in the centuries to come, but that was all they needed for now.

(as you might be guessing we will be hiring a background artist for the aircrafts and such X’DDD) 

This first flying machine as well as others to be developed in the future) didn’t even have an engine - it didn’t need one. Nathan became its pilot and with his powers, he would lift it in the air, and also anchor the fighter to the aircraft and pull him back like a magnet should he require it, allowing Belgar to fight freely from the wings and leap high up or away if needed, always certain that Nathan would pull him back. This combat system, in its advanced form, would be maintained in the Realmsguard for centuries to come.

And so began Nathan’s and Belgar’s time as the heroes and defenders of the world. For many years they effectively fended off the Swarm invasions. Often simply seeing these two patrolling the area, the beastriders would turn back and flee without a fight. 

The common folk of the towns and villages cheered and pronounced Nathan and Belgar their saviors, showered them in goods and sort of even acknowledged that there’s some god that nobody can see but who wants to protect them all (Nathan kept trying to make sure all this good they were doing is attributed to their god, and not just to them, so he always told the local population that they are just the god’s messengers). Their god was nameless, so they decided to give him a name. They called him Terry in celebration of his terrible sense of humour - he always tried to make a lot of jokes to feel more human but it would take many years before they became remotely funny. Terry liked his new name.

The god was pleased with his chosen, who also grew to become his friends. He continued to offer them his guidance and power - he would do so for as long as he could, he said. Side by side Nathan and Belgar were able to even stand against Kron, the avatar of the Swarm, though these epic show-downs happened rarely and always ended in a stand-off.

The problem was, that even though Nathan and Belgar were powerful and did not age (Terry told them that they were in fact immortal, but back then they managed not to test it in practice quite yet), they were still only two people. And so when they would be patrolling one region, the Swarm would often raid some far off town or village they had already protected before, and raze it to the ground, to teach Belgar and Nathan a lesson - they could not always protect everyone.

Those incidents had Nathan going through a crisis a couple of times, since his own story was also one of a survivor of such a mass slaughter, and he felt that he failed these people, that he was personally to blame for all their deaths. But both Belgar and Terry were reassuring him that thanks to their heroic interventions far fewer people were dying than they would have without their help. After being taught the hard way that they couldn’t be in many places at once for a time being they limited their operations to an area they could always fully protect, and they did not dare to venture far out to help someone in the distance.

They sorely needed more people to join them but they didn’t want to endanger lives of mortals. Terry promised that once there would indeed be more people with powers, and that they shouldn’t lose hope, so they waited. Unfortunately there weren’t any more people with powers just yet... or were they? Wait, what was that just now? Did they just witness some small time criminal in one of the towns use supernatural powers to extract money out of a local merchant?

Well... maybe there actually were people with powers already, Terry hesitantly admitted. Apparently, children with powers - infinitely smaller than the ones the two chosen had, but powers nonetheless - started being born some quarter of a century ago, around the time when Belgar and Nathan first made their pact with Terry. But he didn’t tell them anything about it. Why? Well, he had been waiting till those people weren’t children anymore, of course, because children shouldn’t fight, right? Well, yes, but now many of them were 20+ year olds, who probably turned into criminals by now, with their powers making such life easy and profitable for them. Marvellous.

At this point, Belgar and Nathan had a bit of a squabble with Terry, wishing he’d inform them sooner, some ten years ago at least, so they could have recruited and trained these people, and saved more lives together. Terry was sorry for this misunderstanding - the concept of time for him was still an abstract, quirky thing that he was trying to get a hang of. The quarrel ended with Belgar saying that what’s done is done and that setting criminals straight was nothing that he couldn’t handle. 

And so they set out to find the people with powers to join their cause - and they succeeded. Joining the heroes was alluring, offering a life of glory, and promise of immortality. The new recruits possessed weaker powers, since they did not serve as a vessel for a god, so as such, they were still mortals - yet Terry and Nathan had been preparing for this and by that time Nathan had almost finished constructing what was supposed to be a resurrection system, which would offer immortality to anyone granted with powers who decided to join them.

Unfortunately, once the Swarm’s avatar realized there are people with powers, he employed the beastriders to roam the world in search of them. And to Kron it didn’t matter if they took a grown men or kidnapped a toddler. The Swarm had strength in numbers, and so many people with powers fell into the wrong hands and were raised to become the first power-wielding beastriders. That time marked a start of a race between the Swarm agents and Realmsguard to get to such people as soon as possible, before the enemy found them.

Of course, the heroes still had the upper hand. The resurrection system that Nathan set up turned out to work (not 100% of the time, but well enough for now, and Nathan was already working on a perfected version). Additionally, Terry touched all the recruits that Nathan and Belgar deemed ready and worthy, and amplified their small innate powers with his divine ones. They still couldn’t quite compare with Nathan and Belgar, but they were far more effective than the people with powers snatched by the Swarm and could oppose them well.

And so began the times of the Realmsguard. The heroes expanded their operations, and more sky bastions were built - one day they would spread across most of their world. But long before that, the insufficient natural resources of their realm would force them to look beyond it.

For now, Belgar busied himself acquiring and training the new recruits, while Nathan pored over blueprints and drowned in research - there were still many ideas that Terry wanted him to set into motion, many inventions to bring to life. Such as the technology that would allow the heroes with powers to bond, which in turn would let them to tune in on a frequency needed to cross into other dimensions. This project was becoming crucial if they hoped to build enough aircrafts for the pilots and fighters currently in-training.

It was all going quite well, until one day a power-wielding squad of beastriders broke into their main headquarters and stole the reincarnation system together with the new realmshiting system that Nathan just finished working on. It was a bit of a dark day for the heroes and they tripled their defences around the headquarters afterwards, never to allow another such break in into the labs.

But there was a silver lining - it turned out that the Swarm didn’t really know how to use what they stole. Besides, Nathan had been already prototyping a new, flawless reincarnation system - he dropped everything else to build it as quickly as possible after this break-in and soon the heroes were back in action and immortal again, this time with no risk of malfunctions.

A bit more of domestic problems arose soon however, pulling Nathan and Belgar away from their work. Who was that Terry they kept talking about, and why had nobody ever seen him? Did he even exist? Their recruits began asking all sorts of questions and since Terry heard them all, eventually he asked Nathan and Belgar, if he should show himself to the people. They were both quite surprised to hear that question in their minds. They were used to their god being just a presence, sometimes golden light, they didn’t suspect he was even capable of taking form but once he asked, they encouraged him to do so - it was going to boost people’s morale for sure.

They took those words back as soon as they saw some weird glowing abomination... (well, Nathan, who used to be blind, was far less appalled by that first try). It took Terry some dozen attempts before both of his chosen sort of agreed that perhaps people won’t faint when they see him like that.

This was the vaguely human-shaped and sized form they finally settled on;

It was sure strange to see their god in front of them, but even this way, Terry could still speak into their minds and he was still present there, the form being just a partial way for him to manifest. Introducing Terry to his worshippers was deemed more or less a success. For sure, no one questioned that he was a divine creature. They feared him at first, but Terry was a benevolent and overly talkative god, and he was able to make friends with almost everyone he met. Soon his worship became better established and spread even further, becoming a counter-balance to the Swarm worship, although Terry insisted that was not the point. He just wanted to help and save lives.

And so the heroes continued to protect the world. They grew in numbers, and began to travel to other worlds - originally to acquire the materials they needed to advance their technology, but often standing up for the oppressed in those worlds that turned out to be populated - which was exactly what earned them the name of ‘the Realmsguard’ (more about that in the next lore post). 

Some more years passed before the Swarm established some sort of research department and finally managed to activate the technology they stole. And even though the battle against immortal beastriders was not a dream come true for the Realmsguard, the resurrection system that the Swarm had now was the flawed prototype, so there was always hope that if you killed a beastrider enough times, one time they wouldn’t come back. Sometimes they would also come back crippled, and run to join the Realmsguard, in hopes of being healed by Nathan’s perfected resurrection system (this in time resulted in the Swarm’s ruler deciding to execute everyone who came back crippled, before they had a chance to jump ship - a tradition that Vra and Otto still honor in the present times).

Like this, the power balance on both sides eventually evened out, and the race to get to the newly born realmshifters continued...

Thank you for reading! If you got this far, please tell us what you think! It will totally make our day and motivate us to keep working :3

And if anything made you curious to know more - please ask, we’d love to answer your questions <3!

The next episode will be devoted to realmshifting and to the relations between the legendary heroes of the Realmsguard and the two top agents of the Swarm!

Why did Kron send his two powerless second-in-commands - an old, personal advisor and the scrawny head of his research department - to fight the founders of the Realmsguard? Was it a wise move? You shall find out soon :P

[dcficstoread]

Fantasy/Sci-fi/Horror AU

For Truth, Justice and Led Zeppelin by haruslex **** https://haruslex.dreamwidth.org/36260.html

Superhero!Dean, photojournalist!Dean, journalist!cas

Summary: Being a masked vigilante is difficult enough when you’ve got petty thieves, drug dealers and a day job as a photojournalist to deal with (not to mention trying to keep your little brother alive so his wife doesn’t skin you). The last thing Dean Winchester needs is for his city to become the battlefield for an apocalyptic showdown between the forces of Heaven and Hell. But, like it or not, he’s being (literally) swept off his feet by an angel and thrown into the middle of a war he’s not ready for. Featuring superheroes, leather pants, secret identities, and Dean’s weird new coworker - Jimmy - who never seems to write any articles and won’t stop staring at him.

Bird of Paradise by trinitiyofone http://trinityofone.livejournal.com/201469.html

Hunger Games AU

Summary: When Sam Campbell is chosen as a tribute for the Games—an annual fight to the death between twenty-four of New Eden’s unlucky children—his older brother Dean volunteers to take his place. Dean fully expects to die so that Sam can live, but once he enters the arena, Dean discovers that what’s at stake in the Games is far more complicated than simple life and death, and nothing and no one is what they seem.

Metaphysical Gravity by zoemathemata **** http://archiveofourown.org/works/154558/chapters/222191

Dark Shadows crossover, Vampire!Cas

Summary: Vampire Castiel Collins is awakened from his tomb by down-on-his-luck author Chuck Shurley. With Chuck’s help [and blood] Castiel sets out to make a life for himself in Collinsport, restoring his old home and hopefully being reunited with the reincarnation of his former lover, Dean Winchester.

Non Timebo Mala by rivercritter http://rivercritter.livejournal.com/16054.html

Ancient Rome, Legionnaire!Dean

Summary: AU Set in ancient Rome. Castiel is the youngest member of the Novak family. His eldest brother Michael has designs on getting a seat in the senate but to do so he has to earn the favor of the powerful senator Azazel. When Azazel shows interest in Castiel, Michael sees an opportunity to use him as a bargaining chip. Cas, being a good son and loyal brother, isn't happy about it but is willing to go along...right up till he meets a certain green eyed Legionnaire named Deanarious who turns everything upside down. Action, adventure, sword fights, and treachery stand between them and their love.

Alchemy by wanderamaranth http://archiveofourown.org/works/269345

Superhero!Cas, Reporter!Dean

Summary: Castiel Novak's life is average until the day he wakes up with superpowers. Soon after he meets Dean Winchester, an investigative reporter with a knack for getting himself into trouble.

An Unkindness of Crows by reticentric http://reticentric.livejournal.com/184432.html

Crow fusion

Summary: People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible rage is carried with it, and the soul can't rest… Castiel Novak is such a soul and now he has been brought back for his chance at revenge.

Of Wizards and Dovah  by sofiwick http://sofiwick.livejournal.com/5313.html

Summary: Set in the world of ‘The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim’. Dean is Dovahkiin - the Dragonborn - said to be destined to kill the dragon Alduin, the World Eater. Castiel is the cute wizard Dean would very much like to have as an ally on his quest.

The Mechanics of Love by invisiblebookwm http://archiveofourown.org/works/575410/chapters/1031589

Summary: Loosely based on the manga Absolute Boyfriend. Dean is less than amused when, for his birthday, Gabriel signs him up for a month-long trial with Castiel, a humanoid robot prototype developed by Heaven Technologies to be the perfect boyfriend. At first, Dean is not thrilled at the new addition to his household, but as he spends more time with the robot, Dean finds himself slowly falling in love.

Dean Winchester and the Boy from Hufflepuff by thetreeswhisper http://thetreeswhisper.livejournal.com/2765.html

Harry Potter AU

Summary: Dean's 3rd year at Hogwarts is going A-O.K., but it gets a lot better when he meets Castiel. Meanwhile, the ongoing war against the Demons (dark wizards) ratchets up Dean's curiosity for the outside world, as well as his frustration with it. His dad isn't much help.

Black Glass by babygatsby http://babygatsby.livejournal.com/6111.html

Summary: Fantasy AU set in a fictional world where royalty from a Vatican-esque Empire have wings. The Winchesters live in the middle lands, away from the politics and blood shed of the north, but one day John Winchester discovers a dead body and a nearly-dead, winged child in the woods. Dean names him Cas, and they quickly discover that he is mute. Through certain events they learn that not all is as it seems when soldiers from the Empire raid their homeland, searching for mute men with wings. Cas and Dean, now grown, flee their home and attempt to escape the Empire’s clutches. Dean is captured and held by the pseudo emperor, Michael, and Cas journeys to strange and otherworldly places halfway across the world to gain power to save Dean, all the while battling others with selfish ambitions of their own.

Caught in the Crossfire Between Heaven and Hell by princess_aleera http://princess-aleera.livejournal.com/201919.html

Constantine AU

Summary: Constantine fusion/AU. Dean Winchester is a demon hunter with an expiration date. Castiel Novak just lost his brother to a very suspicious suicide. Their paths collide, and as forces align around them, Dean learns more about the Novak boys. About a gift that earned Jimmy a lifetime in the mental hospital, a gift his twin brother could share with him. A gift that just might end the world.

An Angel in Wonderland (AKA Who Killed the Cheshire Cat) by anoradh http://anoradh.livejournal.com/14530.html

Summary: The title says it all, really. A sort of murder mystery set in Wonderland, from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The Dreamer and the Mystic by bellanovaskies http://bellanovaskies.livejournal.com/10681.html#cutid1

Summary: When Dean Winchester’s eighteenth birthday arrived, he was expected to choose his Queen-To-Be; instead he found himself falling for a mysterious stranger with eyes like stars. Eleven years later, accompanied by his brother and their father’s knights, Dean journeys into ancient lands that have long since faded into legend and lore, to once again find the eyes that had bewitched him. Castiel's tribe may be a force to be reckoned with, but nothing can prepare Dean to face his own father, and confess his love for a less-than-human being.

Fairytales Are Real by landahoymateys http://archiveofourown.org/works/563287/chapters/1006771

Summary: In a land where fairytales have been all but forgotten, two brothers search for their missing father and the right to create their own fairytale. Along the way they will face evil and treachery like no other, and maybe just maybe, create their own happily ever afters.

War of the Regions by skylinehorizon http://skylinehorizon.livejournal.com/37337.html

Summary: Dean is an eighteen-year-old in a dystopian society, trying to deal with his little brother's steadily declining hearing loss and keeping him safe and alive. One day, the Officials come searching. They invade the villages of the Regions, and escaping is the only option for survival. While on the run, Dean and Sam run into another refugee, who becomes important to Dean in ways he never would have imagined.

Oadriax by Daksgirl http://archiveofourown.org/works/529431/chapters/938065

Summary: AU Sci-Fi heavily influenced by James Cameron's 'Avatar', where the boys aren't hunters, and angels and demons exist but are considered 'aliens'. After the death of their estranged mother Mary on a planet called Oadriax, Sam and Dean hop the first transport out to the edge of the civilized galaxy. After a tense run in with the base's demonic security chief and his creepy second in command Alistair, Dean finds himself lost in the forest, and stumbles into an angel with black wings and blue eyes that calls himself Castiel.

Let's Make It Up As We Go by crowleyshouseplant http://archiveofourown.org/works/547968

Summary: Dean sleeps with his limbs splayed out, blankets tangled up in his ankles. Something presses him down, catches his heart in his chest--are his bones going to break?--as he opens his eyes. Castiel looms over him, all tiger and toy, and the weight of xyr paw pushes Dean into the mattress. “Cas?” Dean says, voice all sleepy as he rubs his knuckles in his eyes. He pushes xem off, rubs his chest, the sweat from his skin causing the scratches left behind on his chest to sting, the vague mark of a print right over him, right over the center of him, like a stamp or a seal over the very core of him. “Why are you here?” “I told you, Dean,” Castiel says. “Because we have work for you.”