#their aesthetics & personality are COMPLETE opposites but at the core they're the same and it's doing something to my brain chemistry

[still-a-morosexual-help]

can't believe the peak character design for THE Lucifer Morningstar is an out-of-touch overprotective dad, who would do anything for his kid(s), and is trying to connect with them but instead he accidentally makes them think he doesn't give a shit and ends up giving them serious daddy issues

[kingsandbastardz]

I don't know your canons but tell me your favorite female character! Or how you got into them in the first place

This took me far too long because I couldn't find images dating back to the early 2000s that didn't look like it was photographed with a potato. Why is it easier to find high res images of older b/w movies ?

btw not spoiler free- so if you intend to watch this movie at any point in time, stop reading about halfway through cuz I talk about how the story ends.

Anyway, I give you---- my favorite girl bonding movie:

Shimotsuma Monogatari aka Kamikaze Girls

Gothic Lolita Momoko ends up in cabbage country away from all the amenities she holds dear to her hedonistic french rococo heart. She meets a bosozoku girl named Ichiko/Ichigo at a time when yankee/bosozoku were considered oldstyle and uncool. Ichigo kinda head butts her way into Momoko's life.

So I have a hard time relating to any sort of western style bonding movie, male or female, despite growing up in the US. I just... there was always something off about it. I hated the attitudes the kids had about their parents. I hated the kids. I hated the way they expressed their disillusionment. I couldn't relate to their dreams, their daily desires, or even their interactions with their own friends. Everything about these movies were an active turn off for me.

And then I came across 2 live action japanese movies that came out around the same time that was like having the sun come out for the first time because there it was -- not one, but TWO movies that spoke to me regarding coming of age and what it means to figure yourself out as a person.

For male-centered movie, it was the live action Ping Pong movie, based off Taiyo Matsumoto's manga Ping Pong. About two boys "sun" and "moon" trying to figure out who they are in relation to each other and to competition/talent/hardwork/actual dreams. While against the backdrop of competitive school ping pong where they face opponents that are attempting to figure out the same things bout themselves.

On the female-centric side was Kamikaze Girls which features a girl who's a self-obsessed french-rococo aesthetic loner, and a biker-gangster who's actually very group oriented despite being alone much of the time. They're both from subcultures that are fading from popularity -- and were even considered lame - stuck in the middle of an incredibly rural area (so rural they only have one Tesco as their main shopping center --- think walmart), and just... trying to figure themselves out.

Ultimately, both films are about finding the strength to be yourself not just amongst others who pressure you in other directions -- but also to have the strength to do so while you are completely alone. And on the flip side, strength is also being able to find and accept community and friendship where ever you are, from whoever you feel kinship with, even if they are a rival or traveling in completely different circles or trajectories in life.

All this while packaged in an aesthetic and gender sensibility that stressed balance between polar opposites -- where one friend was masc and the other femme and how both could balance each other or come together while retaining their individual goals and dreams and concepts of personhood.

So for Kamikaze Girls - since the question was about my favorite female characters:

Ichigo and Momoko were reflections of twin obsessions I had at the time with gothic lolita and yankee subcultures. One of the girls had a love line while the other had no interest in such things. One girl only cared about her hobbies while the other only wanted freedom and friends. In the end they find what they wanted and more. They both let go of things they thought were important to themselves -- to help each other. But without sacrificing who they are at their cores.

Ichigo realizes she too have Momoko's strength to go it alone.

Momoko realizes she doesn't hate people as much as she thought and she too needs community.

They're both willing to sacrifice for each other in the way the other person needs. Ichigo gives up her group to support Momoko.

Momoko gives up on being clean and alone and gets into a massive drag down fight in the mud with a group of gang girls.

They both ride off into the sunset together on a souped up pink motorbike/scooter.

To this day, I have yet to find any other coming of age stories that I have related to as strongly.

(btw this is where the brand Baby The Stars Shine Bright became famous)

Also, this is where I first discovered Anna Tsuchiya and became a quick fan of hers. They day she and Shiina Ringo collaborated was like rocker-turned-actor heaven for me.

[direwombat]

texture favorite change and alternate for syb please <3

falfd; idk how the two of you did it but both you and @jacobsneed asked for the same questions, so i'm just going to answer this in one dfl;jakdf

texture: Does your OC favor any specific kinds of cloth or textures? Is there anything they can't wear or don't like? What sort of fabrics do they prefer?

she really isn't that picky and will wear what she can find at thrift stores. the only things she ever buys new are underwear/bras and shoes (and she'll wear those until they're falling apart). everything else is secondhand. most of her wardrobe is denim, cotton, and flannel. i like to think she had a satin nightdress that she got for a steal at goodwill that she absolutely loved the feel of. i don't think she's a big fan of velvet and she's definitely not a lace kind of gal (itchy and just not her thing aesthetically)

favorite: Does your OC have a favorite article of clothing or accessory? What is it? What's the meaning behind it? Do they wear it all the time or do they wear it sparingly to keep it safe?

i...wouldn't necessarily say it's her favorite accessory, but the one with most sentimental value behind it is the saint medal of st. anthony her mama gave her when she was sixteen and started working on a fishing vessel. she wore that necklace every day until her mama was murdered and she lost her faith. but she never got rid of it since it is one of the last things she has of her mom. she was so afraid she had lost it when john burned down her/augustine's home, but she managed to find it among the ashes and she starts wearing it again after that :')

change: Has your OC ever drastically changed their appearance? Significant haircuts, big tattoos, complete wardrobe swap, etc? Why? How do they feel about the change?

before the reaping? no more so than a person normally does throughout her life. i think she did buzz her head at around fourteen, not long after her mom got her and her brother out of their father's house. it was an impulse thing that was driven by emotion and a desire to make some sort of change now that she was "free" from him. she immediately regretted it because the second she looked at her reflection in the mirror she realized just how much she looked like her dad, and promptly punched/broke the mirror :// she wore a lot of hats and bandannas for a while while it grew out.

after the reaping? well...she goes undercover as a Chosen for like. two weeks. and she really tries not to think about how...natural...it feels to be back in uniform and living under a strictly regimented schedule. there was something bizarrely liberating for her in becoming entirely faceless and defined only by her skills and abilities. it's part of the reason why she's so willing to accept a place among the Chosen, as the Judge when she eventually gives in.

alternate: What would your OC's alternate universe look be? If they're a fantasy character, what's their modern look? If they're sci-fi, what's their fantasy look? What AU would you want to see your OC in, and how would they dress themself? Bonus: Prompt an AU!

f;lkjdfa answering for her herald au i guess since that's like...the most "opposite" of her canonical verse. but i mean really? it would just be jacob's outfit but with tighter fitting pants lmao. her fashion sense really wouldn't be that different from what it normally is. she is, at her core, a function over form kind of person when it comes to clothing.

[zuko-always-lies]

In fairness, I totally understand why fans like azula to remain a villain. You brought up Darth Vader, and I honestly feel that guys redemption was VERY questionable and poorly written. My mind jumps to Maleficent and Venom/Eddie Brock when thinking about this subject. In their debuts (Sleeping Beauty, 80s Spider-Man comics) they were cool, but as anti heroes (2014 movie, present Marvel) they became less interesting and wussified. Or woobified in the former’s case (like fandom Zuko actually)

Azula remaining a good antagonist requires writing her in a manner consistent with the themes of ATLA and as a person and as a character who coherently reacts to events in a manner consistent with her motives, and writing a good redemption arc would require the same thing. If Azula is going to remain an antagonist instead of just moving on with her life, the question of why has to be answered well, especially as many of her core characteristics are not necessarily common in antagonists, and that requires a degree of empathy with her character. Of course, this is the complete opposite of her half-assed "crazy and evil" comics depiction, and it's also the complete opposite of a half-assed Zuko-centric redemption arc, which would also harm her character.

However, I think most of the people who "want Azula to remain a villain" don't think along these lines, they're just attracted to the aesthetic of Azula as a character who "people love to hate" and to the way the narrative presents her as powerful and evil.

[zukoshotleafjuice]

The funniest thing about june teasing katara and zuko about being a couple is that she just sees a pretty girl and an attractive guy, both looking almost the same age which immediately makes her go "you two must be a couple" and it just reminds me of zvtara shippers, you know what i mean? I'm convinced one of the reasons a lot of ppl ship them is bc of their looks. katara being the female protagonist and also a pretty, smart and powerful girl & zuko, despite not being the male protagonist, being the most attractive guy in the gaang. Boom, a "bomb ass ship". It is worth to recall that "people ship zutara bc they projected onto katara and had a crush on zuko". And if they say they don't ship them for that reason, then it's bc they read too much between the lines in every interaction they have. So, back to june, she didn't even care if they had chemistry or if they were friends or anything, she just straight up teased them about being a couple lmao. Because in all honesty zvtara can be an appealing ship in anyone's eyes but THAT'S IT, it doesn't go further than that. I can be testimony of that😅Before even watching the show i was like june, one day i saw a zk fanart and was like "wow aren't those zuko and katara from atla? They look so good, she's gorgeous and he's hot" i already knew kataang was endgame and that mai was zuko's love interest but seeing zuko and katara together was pleasing to my eyes. However once i watched the show for the first time (2 months ago i think) i realized there was really no romantic chemistry between them, nothing, literally nothing, i mean, i wasn't even waiting for the zvtara content in the show that made ppl ship them so much, i was actually very neutral about ships, i couldn't care less about them, but i still realized nothing was happenig between them and that it was obvious since book 1 ep 1 that kataang was endgame. Zuko and katara were two teenagers from opposite sides of a war that tried to kill each other multiple times and when zuko changed sides they developed a completely platonic relationship. As i said, people either ship them because it's an appealing and aesthetically pleasing ship (water/fire, enemies to lovers, opposites attract, the common red & blue ship) or they just love reading too much between the lines, OR BOTH, because they were so thirsty about it they ended up convincing themselves there was romantic tension between them, that they liked each other and that zvtara was scrapped when it was never planned in the first place. Not to mention the reasons why they claim zvtara should've been endgame are based only on symbolism and things they have in common that are just so ??? Random. e.g. (i saw these on a post on facebook and the comment section was hilarious, it was full of ppl being sarcastic about it & making fun of it) saying they should've been canon bc:

1. "They both lost their mothers at a young age" (?)

2. "katara was good but had rage in her heart and zuko was bad but had good in his heart so it was like yin and yang, and that was the main purpose/topic of the show" (?)

3. "they both had alter egos (painted lady and blue spirit)" (???) this one sounds like saying maiko was canon bc zuko worked in a tea shop and mai worked in a flower shop😂

4. "Zuko was the only one who supported katara in taking revenge on her mom's assassin" (?) if you ask me, that just proves zuko is not right for katara, he led her to do something she was gonna regret later (not trying to hate on zuko, i love him, and since i love him i acknowledge his flaws. I understand why he thought it was the best thing to do, he's an impulsive and resentful boy (he would've done the same if it was his mom) and he noticed how thirsty katara was for revenge, ofc he wanted to help her + he wanted her to accept him and thought it was the right thing to do in order to gain her trust, but it wasn't) unlike zuko, aang tried to make katara come to her senses and do the thing that was best for her: forgive and let go, and it was basically what she did at the end. She didn't do what zuko expected her to do. She did what aang expected her to do. She didn't forgive her mom's assassin, but she forgave zuko, and she didn't do THAT thing she (and aang) knew would regret later. Aang knew katara and what was the best thing for her to do.

5. and the most ridiculous one, "they both saved each other's lives in the final agni kai"(???????) and the funniest part is that it was followed by "WHAT MORE PROOFS DO YOU WANT???". Honestly wtf did ppl expect? Did they expect zuko to stand there and watch katara die? Did they expect katara to just stand there and watch zuko lay on the floor & die? And this has been said a million times and i am going to join and say it once again: zuko would've done that for ANYONE from the gaang, he would've done the same for toph, sokka, suki and aang. Because he learned to care about them. As for katara, she would've done that for anyone too wtf she healed aang once too and even brought him back to life. (I wouldn't be surprised if zk shippers used that as a parallel for romantic zvtara proof bc they're just like that💀)

There were more "reasons" but they're just so stupid and taken out of context like "they care for each other" & "katara was the one who encouraged him to talk to his uncle" like yeah that's what friends do. Basically all zvtara shippers do is REACH.

Also, i just can't see it happening. I like the enemies to lovers trope, maybe if the writers really intended to make it canon, i would have been down for the ship, it would've been interesting to see how it developed, but,, they didn't, and later i came to the realization that if it would've really happened, it would've been so... weird. Time to bring up the "colonized and colonizer ship" and how some ppl feel uncomfortable about it. Besides the fact that a relationship between zuko and katara wouldn't have worked (they're incompatible af, katara is a girl with a strong character and zuko is a guy with anger issues that takes everything personal, they'd be at each other's throats 99% of the time) it's just weird to think that katara would choose to marry a man from the fire nation, the nation that caused a big war that traumatized her, the nation that took her mother away from her. Imagine katara ruling along with zuko a nation she despised for years. Fire lady katara doesn't sit right with me, and i'm sure it doesn't sit right with a lot of ppl as well. I don't see katara doing that, and yes, i know she forgave zuko, but still, she would've never done that 🤦🏽‍♀️ i think it would've been so OOC tbh.

Another thing i laugh my ass off at is when they say "zuko should've chosen katara instead of mai" as if they were ever in a relationship for zuko to say "ok imma choose katara i wanna be with her". As if katara was EVER an option for him. They never showed interest in each other, what's not clicking?????? And zuko only had eyes for mai, not to mention that despite zuko and mai had a rough relationship, no girl would've dealed with zuko's bs better than mai. Can you imagine katara dealing with zuko blowing up over everything? Because i can't. Also people saying things like "zuko deserves someone who is always there for him and listens to him" (and ofc they're talking about katara) like, ok, you hate that katara is aang's "therapist" but you want her to be zuko's therapist. Logic? Where? And I do remember mai being a supportive gf and trying to cheer him up multiple times. Did they watch the same show as me?

Zvtarians try to play the victims about how they were "robbed" bc some voice actors shipped them and from what i've read people who worked for the show suggested to go for zk, but that's stupid, it doesn't count as "they planned it but scrapped it, we were robbed". The only word that counts are the creators' voice and they have stated they were always rooting for kataang, so no, you were not robbed.

People are just so in love with the idea of zuko and katara together they really convinced themselves it was likely to happen. Honestly zvtara it's a fine ship as fanon but ppl ruined it for me and what i hate the most is when they ship it and hate on aang and mai at the same time and make them look SO bad to invalidate kataang and maiko. Saying aang is abusive and mai is toxic is complete ✨bullshit✨ and lastly, it's ridiculous when they say the creators were cowards for not making it canon. They're cowards for not fulfilling your greatest childhood wish? Something they never planned? It is THEIR show. If you hate sm how things turned out then quit atla once and for all and go find another show that you know is gonna give you what you expect,,, it's tiring that they've been crying about it for 15 yrs , like, i joined the fandom recently but i can imagine how tired old atla fans must be of this.

OK so I have a lot of thoughts about this and firstly,,,anon I appreciate the dedication that it took for you to write  this, and I agree with many of your points. However, the attitude I have on this blog towards Avatar ships is far more neutral than what you’re saying.

Ultimately, romance is not and never was the focus of Avatar. Romantic development was always secondary or tertiary plot, and the entire show was far more focused on platonic relationship development. My attitude towards shippers on here - including Zutara shippers - is that people can ship what they want, as long as they’re respectful of each other and of the other characters that “interfere” with their ship. End of the day, shipping is irrelevant to the core of the show. 

People shipping something because they find it aesthetically appealing is honestly,,,fine. Personally, I think it’s reductionist, but I don’t care if you do because everyone has the right to enjoy media however they want to. 

That being said, we absolutely should call out racist or problematic tropes that we see, including ‘fire lady katara”. I also agree that it’s upsetting when people bash other characters in order to further their ship, as much of the bashing is also pretty racist and/or misogynistic. Calling that out, however, is separate from calling out every single person who happens to enjoy certain ships. 

“She didn't do what zuko expected her to do. She did what aang expected her to do. She didn't forgive her mom's assassin, but she forgave zuko, and she didn't do THAT thing she (and aang) knew would regret later. Aang knew katara and what was the best thing for her to do.”

I understand where you’re coming from, but I honestly disagree with this take. Both Aang and Zuko were approaching the situations from their own life experiences, but Katara didn’t do what either of the boys wanted. She chose her own path, by both sparing Yon Rha’s life but also refusing to forgive him. The episode is about Katara and her personal trauma and its focus should not be on her relationships with either Zuko or Aang. 

When I make posts such as this, it’s less about hating Z*tara and more about how this fandom focuses all its attention on romance and shipping, to the point where if you acknowledge a relationship’s importance it’s assumed you pair the two romantically. I don’t read Zuko and Katara’s relationship as romantic (for reasons that it would take too long to explain here), but their relationship development is extremely important, the two of them share tons of parallels and the final Agni Kai marks the culmination of both of their character arcs. Yes, Zuko would have taken the lightning for any of the characters, but it’s thematically important that it was Katara. None of this inherently means it’s romantic, but refusing to acknowledge the significance of the relationship between them is equally reductionist. 

This isn’t an attack on you, anon, and you’re 100% allowed to have negative feelings about a ship. But at the end of the day, it’s not worth getting this worked up over. If I were you I’d focus more on creating/consuming content for a ship you like than bashing ships you don’t!