#they are not in any way shape or form on equal footing which doesn’t make this a ‘war’

[kingofmyborrowedheart]

I’m sorry but you can’t cry “human rights violation!!!!” when you are actively carrying out a campaign of genocide.

[the-great-fusilli]

I’m pro-delulu and I too believe in shipping characters that don’t canonically end up together BUT… I will never get behind Zutara (my mind changes often, but rn no🙅🏽‍♀️.)

Maybe it’s because I don’t take colonization and eithnic clensing lightly, or maybe it’s because I disagree with the “Katara is like Aang’s mom” statement. Either way they should not be end game. People often bring up how Zuko helped Katara release a lot of pent up emotions concerning her mother’s death and who killed her, but the Fire Nation (his people) were responsible for that death. And up until that specific arc Zuko was upholding the beliefs of those people.

“Zuko doesn’t need Katara to be his mother like Aang and the rest of the group do, they’re on equal footing.” Except Aang and the rest of the group don’t need Katara to be mother either. People just view Katara as a maternal character because of her personality and that’s the only role they’ll acknowledge her having in the group. Katara’s mother showed her a love so deep and protective that she died so Katara could live. Of course the trauma of losing her mother in that way at such a young age would cause her to take on the role her mother had. Whether it be because of obligation, or simply because that’s all she knew.

Aang and all the other characters have experienced a lot of trauma, but Aang was raised by monks. He doesn’t need a mother figure because he’s never experienced gender roles in the way the other characters have. His idea of a family is being shaped as the show progresses because aside form Monk Gyatso, they are the first real family he’s had. He’s curious, fun-loving and light hearted because that’s how Monk Gyatso raised him to be, not because he’s an irresponsible little 12 yr old without a mother. His people were eradicated, so Katara doesn’t raise Aang she guides him through grieving the loss of his people. A loss she knows all too well.

Toph is blind and her family is overly protective. They don’t give her the space or freedom to be her own person or earth bend. Another experience that Katara knows all too well. Her grandmother never let her leave the southern water tribe or water bend so she gives Toph the same thing she gives Aang. Sokka is Katara’s brother… he also experienced the loss of their mother except Sokka is a boy. He’s been made painfully aware of gender roles because he watched their father leave to fight in the war instead of staying to help him and Katara. He wanted to be more like his Father because be believed that was his role in the family (to fight). So the responsibility of taking care of the both of them fell on Katara.

Katara and Zuko are not on “equal footing” especially not before he leaves the Fire Nation. He’s a prince from the Nation that has been opressing her family, her people and the world for 100 years…(he literally calls my good sis “water tribe peasant” meaning at some point he believed she was inferior because he had royal blood.) He has changed now of course and I love both Zuko and Katara, but them being end game makes no sense to me. Even in terms of chemistry… I don’t think they have any at all. Majority of their screen time together is just them fighting with each other (verbally and physically.)

People also like to use the episode where Zuko takes Katara to find the man who killed her mother as proof that Zuko was the only one who truly helped her grieve and get closure. Which honestly I don’t understand. I think he definitely aided in helping her move past what happened, but it could’ve went painfully wrong & I think it was a bit misplaced. For one, Zuko’s whole reason for doing that was to get on Katara’s good side. He said himself that everyone else had forgiven him already except Katara. He understood that his role in the group was teaching Aang to fire bend, and helping the gaang defeat his father. Which is why he couldn’t grasp why she wouldn’t put her personal feelings aside for the sake of the team. He needed to gain Katara’s trust for the sake of better team work when they fight. Katara was also extremely hypocritical that episode, and spoke from a place of anger and hurt. Aang wasn’t invalidating her feelings, he only did for her what she’d done for him. He reminded Katara that her rage and anger needed to be fueled into defeating the Fire Nation, NOT revenge. Because revenge doesn’t help you grieve & it wouldn’t help them achieve the REAL goal. {Not to mention she was so disappointed and upset with Jet for wanting revenge (a character who truly reflects her), but because the man she was going to kill wasn’t innocent somehow her revenge was different and therefore justified?…No.}

Katara would tell Aang all the time how much seeing him so enraged in the Avatar state genuinely hurt her. Yet for some reason she couldn’t fathom that he’d feel the same way seeing her blood bend in the same emotional state? No…I think in that moment she just didn’t care & wasn’t thinking about it. Zuko was counting on that, and he used Katara’s pain to get her to trust him (it was smart and it worked but still not cool.) Zuko understands Katara’s pain to an extent, but it’s not the same at all. Zuko’s mother was banished, but Katara’s mother was killed… and by Zuko’s nation at that. The only people in the group who TRULY understand Katara and that pain… are Sokka and Aang.

Aang and Katara to me are like 2 halves that make a whole. Their characters are tailor made for each other and I love it. I’ve believed they were soulmates since the moment she broke him out of that Iceberg. Katara felt a higher calling, not only to be a water bender fighting for her people, but also to be apart of something bigger than herself, fighting for everyone. Her first time experiencing freedom is when she was took on a mission to give that same freedom to others around the world as well. Its not a coincidence that in the first episode where she feels her biggest emotions, she showcase her strongest bending yet at that time in her life, AND she broke THE Avatar out of an iceberg he had been in for 100 years. It was FATE. Katara helps Aang grieve, gives him a family after losing the one he had, teaches him water bending, teaches him that the world may be counting on him, but the amount of death and pain he sees is not his fault and most importantly teaches him how to use his power to stand up for and fight for the people who can’t fight for themselves. She shows up when he needs her the most. Aang also helps Katara finally step into her own power. His arrival gives her the things necessary for her development… freedom, fun, opportunity to master water bending, a new addition to the family after the loss of her mother, and a partner in justice. The way Katara is capable of truly seeing and understanding Aang, speaking to his soul when they had just met… reflects how meeting him helped her heal. They connect so much because despite their differences they understand each other. Some of Aang’s own words were “Why would i choose cosmic energy over Katara?” He had an opportunity to master the avatar state land directly in his lap, but instead he chose her.

IM TEAM KAANG TIL I DIE

Also I think personality wise Zuko and Katara are too much alike for it to work romantically imo. They’re both sassy as hell, sarcastic, stubborn momma’s babies, who resent their fathers a lil and went through hell for a couple years because of their siblings (+ losing their moms.) In some ways they ARE opposites (especially their bending & colors,) and i agree they have character development arcs that fit together like puzzle pieces…BUT they are more alike than they are opposite. I absolutely LOVE both characters, but I fear people look at Zuko with rose colored glasses on alot of the time. Especially when it comes to Katara. Zuko did what needed to be done for the world’s sake, but he’s no super hero when it cones to Katara and she has a deep wound related to getting revenge on people people who harm her family. The main reason Zuko broke her trust in the first place was because he helped Azula kill Aang after letting Katara believe he was on their side… Aang is her family It was never about her mother when it came to Zuko’s forgiveness. She even said she would kill him if he even thought about hurting Aang when he first joined the gaang.

With that being said… I don’t have a problem with people who just like to see them together, but pls stop with the justifications because… It genuinely makes no sense to me at all.

[sleepingdeath-light]

blue diamond smut hcs ; 18+

requested by ; anonymous (01/05/23)

fandom(s) ; steven universe

fandom masterlist(s) ; here

character(s) ; blue diamond

outline ; “blue diamond smut hcs? i'm 19 years old!”

warning(s) ; sexually explicit content, soft dominant!blue diamond, pet name kink, lingerie kink, consensual use of blue’s powers as foreplay, oral sex, size kink, implied shape shifting to accommodate sex acts

minors and ageless blogs will be blocked

blue diamond isn’t strict in the bedroom by any means, but that doesn’t mean that she isn’t dominant — she’s a member of the diamond authority, power and control come as naturally to her as swimming comes to a fish, and though she may generally fall into the category of ‘soft’ domme, make no mistake, she’s still very much so able to put her foot down and put you in your place if she really needs to do so

she uses a lot of pet names for you in the bedroom and will very rarely ever use your name or title unless you ask her to do so — things like ‘dear’, ‘love’ or ‘little one’ (or ‘little gem’ if you are one) are her defaults but she’s open to introducing new terms of endearment for you so long as they aren’t degrading in nature for either of you

she definitely enjoys a more romantic approach to sex as it’s much more about emotions than the act itself for her — so both of you dressing up (you more than her due to the nature of her form being more permanent) in sheer lingerie (in her colours, of course) and wooing each other before making love is much more common than spontaneous sex

if you asked, and are affected by it, she’d be up for using her powers on you to a point — it’s obviously much more diluted and weaker than what she’d use on a servant or any other gem, but it’s enough to just barely impact your emotional state one way or another (usually it’s just her way of letting you know that she’s currently aroused without having to come out and say it, which she hates doing as she gets much too flustered to get her words out properly)

she’s someone who equally enjoys giving and receiving oral sex but she gets terribly flustered either way (both before and after altering her form to properly accommodate the act)

when receiving, she can barely look you in the eye and doesn’t quite know what to do with her hands (usually settling upon resting them on your head/running her hands through your hair whilst you go down on her) — it also usually happens when she’s either in her palanquin or when she’s sat on her throne, with you knelt between her legs licking her to climax

when giving, she’s much more focused and generally keeps her eyes closed as she massages your thighs and waist and hips — but if she opens her eyes and sees you looking at her, then all of her confidence disappears and she freezes in place, completely forgetting what she’s supposed to do for a few moments before she tentatively goes back to what she was doing

that being said, later on in your relationship when sex is something she’s much more comfortable with, these moments of freezing and becoming intensely flustered become much less frequent — only popping up on rare occasions and leading to a brief light moment of laughter before you go back to whatever you were doing

though she’s not as overt about it as yellow or white, she does have a bit of a size kink and enjoys being able to use her larger size to manipulate your form in the bedroom (or, conversely, having you pleasure yourself using parts of her usual form that would otherwise be much too large to fit inside of your body) — she particularly enjoys having you ride and grind on her fingers to get off when she’s doing some menial work for the empire, and will offer up plenty of gentle encouragement and praise while you entertain yourself with her (bonus points if you beg for her attention and call her ‘my diamond’ when you’re doing this to emphasise her role as your dominant and superior, but she won’t be offended or put off if you don’t do either of those things — again, she’s not as authoritarian as the two other remaining diamonds)

[ketsumyo]

They’re so strongly 🌻 already and can easily see ☀️ between her and Kota!

Though I’m not averse to 💘 happening over a 💙 either… 👀

relationship meme | accepting

1.0 friends like siblings / best friends

absolutely ! this one earns a bit of context. :’)c

ketsumyō’s ability to bind to and manipulate blood at the molecular level grants tsubaki an unparalleled aptitude for precision and targeted, medical intervention—especially in trauma care and the treatment of bleeding, haematological disorders, and inflammatory syndromes. while I could write a thesis on the specifics, the relevant takeaway here is that her shikai would make her uniquely suited to handling ukitake jūshirō’s recurring episodes of severe hemoptysis.

one headcanon i’ve for tsubaki which was used as the bridge between her and kotarō’s friendship is thus: during her tenure with the fourth division, tsubaki would have been a regular presence in the thirteenth division barracks, offering medical care to their captain during one of the most formative—yet tumultuous—periods of her life. struggling with the moral implications of her shikai and the distance she put between herself and her peers in the fourth, tsubaki would have been at her most vulnerable, making this a time when significant, enduring relationships could naturally emerge.

in this context, ukitake’s boundless kindness and wisdom would have served as a grounding influence for tsubaki, but their bond would always remain marked by formal barriers of rank and respect. kotarō, on the other hand, could meet her on equal footing. his affable, easygoing nature would have softened the sharp edges of tsubaki’s meticulous decorum ( made worse in this period of distance and uncertainty ) coaxing out her sharp wit and sly humour. their friendship would have come as an anchor during this challenging period, and friendships forged under these circumstances have lifelong foundations.

2.0 slow burn -> friends to lovers

given the foundation of their friendship and how easily they get along, yes, I could see this dynamic naturally evolving ! tsubaki, shaped by her upbringing, deeply values loyalty and commitment in the spirit of bushidō. any significant relationship in her life would require time—slowly and deliberately building on trust, shared experiences, and a mutual, empathetic understanding of the other’s depths.

vbbbbbbbbnnnn ( shoutout to my cat for their contribution to the meta. it stays. )

tsubaki has an easy sense of humour and is more than capable of relaxing, but kotarō's affable nature would bring it out in ways that feel effortless and natural. his authenticity would create a space where tsubaki could let her guard down, revealing her true self—the vulnerable, charming, fierce woman behind the trained, beautiful decorum.

for someone like tsubaki, this level of comfort—paired with a deeply emotional understanding of the hardships we endure to protect the fleeting beauty of the world—is non-negotiable in a romantic relationship. she doesn’t need grand gestures or empty promises. she needs a man who makes her laugh, who anchors her in the joy of the moment, but also shares in her reverence for what is worth fighting for. (ꈍ ꒳ ꈍ✿)

[cagemasterfantasy]

Circle of Stars Ranking

Guide:

1=useless

2=often useful

3=sometimes useful

4=perfect

Star Map 4 4 there are a total of 4 benefits buried in this feature and they’re all fantastic

Star Map Focus ??? while it’s not mechanically impactful this is a great bit of flavor. I’ve hoped for more unique spellcasting focuses for years and this is the first time we’ve gotten one the common magic item focuses in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything barely count since they’re still generic focuses with added stuff. I also love the idea of a Druid running around with a big heavy stone slab or a delicate collection of glass disks especially since even a tiny amount of damage to either would jeopardize years of delicate work

Guidance 4 the best support cantrip and you get it for free so you can enjoy other cantrips without feeling like Guidance is a cantrip tax because it’s too good to skip

Guiding Bolt 4 very solid at low levels both as a support option and for damage output and Radiant damage is a rarity for Druid

Free Guiding Bolts 4 not only can you cast Guiding Bolt using your spell slots you get to cast it for free a number of times per day equal to your Proficiency Bonus. This is done as a 1st level spell but 4d6 damage and Advantage on the next attack against that creature is better than any damage cantrip even at 17th level. Eldritch Blast+ Invocations don’t count. You won’t get enough free uses of Guiding Bolt to totally replace attack cantrips unfortunately.

Starry Form 4 turning Wild Shape into a buff rather than a utility option was first done in Circle of Spores and it’s just as cool on Circle of Stars. Starry Form is arguably even cooler because instead of locking you into a combat mode Starry Form has an attack mode a healing mode and a utility and casting mode. Much like Circle of the Moon and Circle of Spores expect to use Starry Form in any noteworthy combat but remember that you only get 2 uses per short rest so you’ll still need to be functional without it sometimes. Choosing which constellation to use is one of the most important tactical decisions that you can make in an encounter. If you’re in close quarters and need to keep your spells going go for Dragon. If your party is short on hit points going into the encounter or if there’s some kind of hit point attrition issue (enemy has big AOE damage, or you’re fighting in a burning building) go for Chalice. Otherwise go for Archer and pump out damage as fast as you can. This tactical decision goes away at level 10 when you get Twinkling Constellations in a way. Keep reading. But until then this will be among the hardest and most impactful choices that you make in a fight

Archer 4 1d8+Wisdom Radiant damage as a Bonus Action. It’s a spell attack so the attack uses your Wisdom modifier and doesn’t benefit from things like the Sharpshooter feat. This is a great offensive option and the fact that it doesn’t stop you from casting a leveled spell on the same turn is just spectacular. This is likely your go-to option in combat because it’s going to be useful in every combat on every turn at any level. The damage improves at level 10 but honestly if it didn’t this would still be great

Chalice 3 more than doubles the total amount healed by Healing Word and you can target a creature not targeted by your spell so you can heal 2 creatures at once. However this also encourages healing in combat which you should try very hard to avoid doing. The best use case for this is to use it right before a Short Rest if you have a Wild Shape usage left over. The healing improves at level 10

Dragon 3 Druids have a lot of Concentration spells so guaranteeing a minimum roll of 10 on those checks is really helpful. Guaranteeing a minimum roll of 10 on Intelligence and Wisdom checks allows you to use this outside of combat which is a great utility option if you have knowledge skills like Arcana or Nature. At level 10 this adds a 20-foot fly speed allowing you to fly while keeping your Concentration on a spell

Cosmic Omen 4 tactically similar to the Bard’s Bardic Inspiration and Cuttings Words. You won’t be able to use this as often as a Bard can use Bardic Inspiration but 3 to 6 times per day is still extremely impactful, especially since you can use this as a Reaction. The Weal and Woe options are roughly equivalent so when you roll to see which one you get you’re essentially deciding if you get to use this offensively (weal) or defensively (woe) that day

Twinkling Constellation 4 more damage from Archer more healing from Chalice and flight from Dragon even at just 20 feet speed are all big improvements. The ability to change your constellation each turn WITHOUT SPENDING AN ACTION means that the difficult tactical decision which you normally make when you activate Starry Form goes away making your life much easier. Now you get to make that decision every turn instead. Do you suffer from Analysis Paralysis? This will either make it way better or way worse. Do you have an ally down at 0 hit points? Switch to Chalice and heal them. Need to maintain a Concentration spell? Turn on Dragon fly out of reach and do your thing. The rest of the time? Archer

Full of Stars 4 a bit late and strange on a subclass that’s so clearly intended to fill a back line role but consider that Druid has notoriously poor AC and just d8 hit points this is a fantastic improvement to your durability