#this would be Perfect for gren honestly

[luminaryofblood]

Only in this context it acts more as a de-buff. 😭

... But imagine: Miquella comforting Mohg during that time and singing the same song that Mohg was serenading him with before.

When the period cramps kick in and get you feeling all

[gren-arlio]

So. Let me tell y'all about a guy named Camus. And a girl named Lala. And other folk. Welcome to Episode 14 of Waku Puyo Extras.

(Ah, back at it again writing these things.)

Hey guys, Gren here, and welcome to Episode 14 of Waku Puyo Extras, a series where I cover basically random stuff about Puyo and Madou as a whole. The Waku part is just because my brand is a single game I translate.

As my free time gets smaller and smaller, the drive to show off cool stuff remains about the same. Thank goodness school is over soon. I'm still alive, don't worry.

Finals and AP Exams are very much happening, so I'm spending that time studying. I'm hoping I pass.

Now, you would expect me to write about PPPP (P⁴ as I call it, Puzzle Pop in other locations) since it released and has a ton of stuff, notably well written characters. But alas:

I'm an Android user. Can't play it.

Frankly, at the moment, I'm not too interested in it right now.

So, the last episode was about Draco, that famous lass. What about this time? Well, since 80% of my work here is Madou related, why not give a showcase of some of the lesser known characters as a whole? Manga and novel stuff included.

With that, hope you enjoy. Also I said a bigger post is coming soon and drop it a literal month later. Damn.

So, Who ARE These Guys?

If you're not familiar with these characters, I honestly don't blame you. These guys are considered kinda niche in the franchise, but are more well known than some guys. I could mention Hanzo and no one besides people who played the game he's from or read the wiki would know him. Oh, or maybe Skeleton-D if we wanted to.

For now, I'll just cover the people have at the very least some stuff about them.

We'll begin with Camus, easily the most recognizable one that we'll be covering today. I swear if he was in Puyo now, he'd be so damn popular.

(From the manual of the Mega Drive release of Madou 1. Notable for being one of the very few times Camus is drawn with the teenage Arle and Lala, both 16, making Camus 18 in this.)

The man, or rather boy, in that photo is the fabled Camus of the Sable Ord- I mean Madou Monogatari 1, both on the SEGA Mega Drive and Game Gear. Since this is a game where Arle is in kindergarten, Camus is her senior. Yeah, senior is the word for this one. He's notable for being the only person to get a perfect score on his exams, that lucky bastard.

Oh yeah he's also like 8 years old for the record in that

In the game, he's both helps you and hinders you for different reasons. Sometimes he's very nice and teaches you things, and other times he's taking stuff from you for playing the game for longer than three hours.

However, at the end of the game (Where he also might help you depending on some stuff), it turns out he was an illusion all along, which is always...fun, you know? That one guy who's been helping you out turns out to not even be real, least in the Game Gear version of things.

Honestly? He's a pretty interesting guy in the game. Arle holds him with some respect, and Lala quite literally has a massive crush on the guy that she's willing to show. Unfortunately.

(Things are really serious in the Kindergarten Exam Fandom...)

He can come off as rude but at the very least he means well. And my goodness, his theme in the game is good.

Underrated gem.

Now, up until a while ago, I kinda thought that'd be the only games he was in, a grand total of 2 whole games. However, by doing this for...a year now, turns out that there IS one more appearance of Camus, presumably to be 18 in the game because...Well, Arle is a teenager there.

Arle Man'Yuki. Or Arle's Travel Log.

Now if I'll be honest, I STILL dunno all too much about the game, despite doing an entire episode on it. The game is super text-heavy, so I don't know EVERYTHING besides some of the Japanese history involved with it. (Crazy how the Heian Era is now some JJK meme. Time is a fun concept.)

Here, Camus has taken the role of the leader of the Shinsengumi, Kondo Isami. It's a long story, so... I'll just link my own work here. (I FINALLY LEARNED HOW TO PUT LINKS IN MY TEXT...)

I never covered Camus extensively in that game due to his admittedly small role in that game, but he's a fairly upstanding guy. Schezo works under him as the vice leader. Ain't that cool?

Check it out if you're curious about that, some basic Japanese history that may be a tad inaccurate, or JUMP HERO.

And err...that's every game he's from. Yeah, he's in a grand total of what, three games? It's not much but it's still something. He's a very cool lad.

-----

Wait, who's Lala?

I'm glad you asked, me. Lalah is a character from Mobile Suit Gundam that works with Char after he...well, this is a Madou blog. If only I could talk to you about Gundam. But alas.

Lala is ACTUALLY a girl who's the same age as Arle, and the girl who's madly in love with Camus...as I've told before. But she does have a little more than just that, don't worry.

In the Game Gear version at least, she sneaks into the tower Arle went into to graduate, upset that she wasn't the one to take the exam, but rather Arle. And yes. She broke a brick wall to get to her.

(A 6 year old is stronger than any of us. LMK if you can run into a brick wall just fine.)

Now if I had to describe her, it'd be "Arrogant but funny as hell". Because she's arrogant but funny as hell. Arle calls Lala her BFF, to which she doesn't take that reply nicely and says they ain't BFF'S, they ain't even friends. Straight hater energy. (She wasn't able to take the exam due to a cold.)

Camus appears to stop her from interfering, and she goes on this tangent about how wonderful he is, and how he always eluded her... and chases him, as shown more above.

Things start to get funky when you get deeper into the tower, as Lala makes a literal trap hole, and Arle falls down. However, Lala is mad that she fell and NOT Camus, leading him to appear in the floor above and basically say "Idiot. I'm not falling for that." and she continues to chase him.

Her reign of terror ends when Camus SEALS HER AWAY for the rest of the game. But she's okay after it all don't worry. Arle summed it up the best way I could. She ends up fine after the end of the game, however.

Lala also appears in Chaotic Final Exam too, now 16, but honestly...it's one of the games where I know next to nothing about it. Apologies. Just know that she's there and not Camus. (Though with the style of how the game looks...probably for the better.)

She's just overall what we call in the industry... a girlfail. She tries her absolute best but fails so, so much that I can't help but laugh at her and pity her at the same time.

-----

I have no cool segway into this section. Introducing... Rasp.

You might've seen them around if you've checked my blog here or there as a front page image for my works.

And you'd be right. Rasp is from the Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Manga, a brand new character just made for the thing. They're basically a minion who mostly impede the way for Schezo and Rulue. I say "they" because, well, Rasp is genderless.

Fun fact: Their salary is unknown, but they apparently get paid more than a Manga artist, so take that as how you will.

Rasp does appear frequently throughout the volumes, and does indeed fight Schezo. While they do lose, at least they looked pretty cool while doing so.

-----

Lightning Round:

Now these devilish goofballs are folks I want to show...but don't have much info on them just yet. Or there wasn't that much to begin with.

Septem:

(Creatura...La creature 98...)

Septem is another genderless character from the series, coming from Arle no Bouken, a game I know next to nothing about. All I know from it is them and that they cling to Arle like a sister. I love them.

This is absolutely one character I wish I knew more on, since she's much more developed as a character...I just don't know much about Arle no Bouken.

Dark Witch:

(What is this, a doppelganger bargain sale?)

Now she has a little more to her that I DO know but it's nothing spectacular.

Planned to be in Puyo N but was scrapped due to the idea of her being too serious, which is quite the reason for Puyo, but appears in Comet Summoner anyways as a final boss.

You can even play as her, and fight Witch herself and beat her... and possessing her. Kinda, sorta.

Runelord:

(Dweeb appeared in one game and changed a man)

Runelord is an odd case, because some of his lore is stuck onto True Madou Monogatari, which in of itself...is kinda iffy lore wise. And also really long.

In Madou S? Wants Schezo to be the next successor, he says no, fight happens, Schezo wins but is affected anyways. Apparently he was beaten by Lagnus, but that comes from True Madou, so the accuracy of the Canon can be very much debated. It all depends if you think it's Canon or not.

-----

And honestly, that'll be all for this time around. Apologies this took so long. Life's been quite the journey. Graduation's happening soon, and finals are happening soon. The list goes on. I'm hoping I get by through the school year, but alas, I'm happy you read this.

Adios.

[baatarthefirst]

"I Want To Ride You 'Til You See Stars."

you knew that would happen sooner or later lol

"I want to ride you 'til you see stars." Amaya signed to her new elf friend, only to frown when the queen looked at Gren expectantly. Turning, she saw his normally upbeat face had turned to stone; his hands still, "Well, tell her what I said."

"No." He signed back with no hint of emotion, good or bad. That meant Gren was really, really pissed off. The question was why? And why the hell was he refusing to speak for her? He'd said a lot more graphic things to women for her with only a little blush, "If you'll excuse me, General. Please excuse me, Queen Janai."

He bowed and stormed off, Amaya gave an 'I'll handle this' look to the queen before following him. She cut in front in front of him, blocking him off.

"What the hell, Gren?!"

"I'm not helping you ruin this." Gren was surprised she was doing it, after seeing them hold hands in the Dragon Queen's lair, he'd thought that Amaya finally found someone worth getting to know. After seeing them in the same space for a small length of time, he was sure of it. Amaya must be too, if she was trying to push her away.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"She really likes you. So you're doing what you always do when this happens. You'll act like an ass until that's all she can see you as. Only this time, you're not pushing her away so you won't fall for her, you're pushing her away because you realized you're already falling."

"I just want to fuck her. She's a friend and she's hot. Why shouldn't I?"

"Because you don't want to."

"I fucking think I do."

"Okay fine, a part of you does." he conceded, Queen Janai was very beautiful, "But come on, can you honestly tell me that you said that expecting her to fall in bed with you?"

"Yes." She looked down, ashamed at herself, "No."

"You know, she's going to need someone strong right now. And frankly, so could you. You've been holding up the mountain by yourself for years. Maybe it's time for you to let someone share the burden, Castro."

"You think Janai is my Signe?"

"She may be."

"You know Castro and Signe die at the end, right?" Long story short, Castro had to lift a mountain to save lives, Signe would stop and talk to him every day; they fell in love. One day the load became too much, and Signe helped bear the weight without question. For twenty years they held the mountain until it crushed them, after the last person escaped.

"Well, I look forward to hearing the legend of Amaya and Janai, happy ending and all." He pulled her into a hug, which she returned with much more force, "Just take it slow and see were it goes, okay? She may be your Signe, or maybe she's just your epic pal, Nanna. It's a perfect win-win."

Amaya went back, a little blank book and charcoal pen in hand. She explained that Gren called her out for using humor as a defense mechanism. She'd told Janai a tasteless joke that she was ashamed of herself for making, and she was glad that she hadn't understood. She refused to tell Janai what the joke was.

The elf was frustrated, Amaya insisted she would never say those words to her. She did put her at ease by revealing it's nature, not a racist joke, but a lewd pickup line that she never intended to follow through with. She explained she and Gren did have a long talk, but the rest was private. Janai looked curious at it all, but left it alone. The general suspected it was only because they didn't know each other well enough to push for information, not yet.

Some months later Amaya made herself a liar. She did sign the words to Janai, but to be fair they came from a far more genuine place. And yes, she did tell Gren that she used that line, and Janai did fall in bed with her after.

She probably felt a little too much satisfaction at that.

[madefate-a]

me. summer is the bane of my existence, i cannot think of anything worse than the summer, leave me here to turn into a puddle of absolutely nothing 

sith me. okay but ...... summer dates. walking through the park or down by the water .... listening to buskers ......... finding secluded lookouts that overlook the natural landscape ...... dinner & hipster beer outdoors where there are curtains of lights strung up ......... walking home watching the stars ..... getting caught in a surprise rainstorm, laughing & finding shelter, stealing kisses as it blows over ..... 

me. well, fuck. 

[golden-flute]

Dragon Prince continues to amaze me

Why hello there! I’ve been AWOL on Tumblr for a hot minute, but I finished season 4 of Dragon Prince at like 4:30 a.m. and now have to break down my thoughts or I’ll explode. Sorry if it ends up kind of long and disjointed. Buckle up, buttercup! Spoilers, obvs.

First, Soren and Claudia’s Confrontation Deep Dive

So this is what has taken up most of my brain’s bandwidth since I watched episode 7. Soren is one of my top favorite characters (others include Amaya, Gren, Runaan, and Bait), so I’m totally invested in his growth. Claudia is also very high up on my favorites list and her negative character arc is so amazing to watch. I’m a sucker for complex character stories where not everything ends up tied into a perfect package. This sounds a little sadistic, but I love watching characters struggle and fight for every morsel of happiness they can get their hands on, especially when their desires conflict with each other’s. Just like Soren and Claudia!

I suspect that this is not going to be the only confrontation these two have with each other throughout the remaining seasons. By the end of their conversation in episode 7 of season 4, nothing had really changed, and I think a part of that is due to how Soren approached Claudia. He painted everything in broad strokes, saying that understood how she felt because he had been on “the wrong side,” implying that Claudia was still on the wrong side and, by proxy, a bad person. But he also wanted to make it clear that change was possible. She could still be saved, in a way.

Soren was being aboslutely genuine and heartfelt. He clearly loves Claudia or he wouldn’t have tried to talk to her at all. And from our perspective, he’s absolutely right in his convictions! He’s basically telling Claudia what we, the audience, have been saying for the last three years. But, as we know, Soren is not exactly a “words guy,” and his desperate attempts to make her see things the way he does fall short. Claudia isn’t in the headspace yet where she’s ready for the sort of self-reflection that Soren had already undergone.

Claudia is an incredibly complex person with different motives and world views than her brother, even before they grew apart. Soren, I think, is more comfortable with seeing the world in black and white, and that’s how he explained himself and his thoughts to Claudia. But if/when he speaks with her again, he will have to get on her level and take all of her thoughts, feelings, and motivations into account without talking down to her from a pedestal of righteousness (which is how I think how Claudia would have perceived the episode 7 conversation to be). Only then will Claudia be able to listen and not feel as though he’s trying to take advantage of her, or making her choose sides--something she clearly has an aversion to.

Which brings me to my other thought: I think Soren is going to have another crisis of conscience before the end of the final season. Maybe not as big as the one he had in season 3, because I think that moment fundamentally swayed his morals. But we still have three seasons to go, and I don’t think all of it will be filled with an unchanging, flower-child Soren, beautiful as he is. That wouldn’t necessarily be interesting, and I don’t think Aaron Ehasz would let such a fantastic character off the hook that easily, lol. I’d honestly be fine if Soren stayed in his pure boy form, because he’s so fun to watch.

Buuuut where he’s at right now reminds me a lot of Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2, after he recovered from his illness. At that point, Zuko believed himself cured of any and all bad feelings ever, but it only took seeing Azula again to bring all the trauma back. I don’t think we’ll see as big of a change for Soren (after all, he’s already seen Viren--the primary source of his trauma--again), but there are still a lot of unresolved aspects of his life that need to be ironed out before he truly earns his peace. A big part of his future character changes will revolve around his relationships with Claudia and Viren.

All I really have to say at this point is that I’m so amazed and delighted by Soren as a character. At first, I sort of wrote him off as guy who filled the stereotypical, comical “dumb jock” role, but he’s so much more complex than that, and I really can’t wait to see how his story progresses, whether I’m right or wrong in my guesses.

Next, Soren and Viren

One of my main disappointments from season 4 was the lack of any sort of progression with Soren and Viren’s relationship. And I don’t mean that I expected them to resolve all their differences and decide to be bffs or anything. But... I didn’t expect to get... nothing. If the creators had kept the two separate for the entirety of the season, I would have honestly been fine with that. But they had them meet again, face-to-face, only to have no confrontation at all.

It felt really unsatisfying to go from the end of episode 7, where Soren had such a visceral reaction to learning about Viren’s resurrection, to the start of episode 9, where they’re just quietly walking side-by-side with no context for what happened in between those two moments. Did they talk? Did Soren shut down? Did Viren give him the silent treatment? Did Claudia keep them apart until they entered the Rex Igneous’s lair? We don’t know, all bets are off! And then afterward, Soren acted like it hadn’t happened. I just hope that they don’t just put any conversations in a comic or something, because I think it’s such an important part of Soren’s character. It would feel almost disrespectful to banish their relationship development to a different media format that not everyone may read/see.

I’m hoping this means the writers plan to have a little fun with the whole scenario in future seasons. Soren, Rayla, Callum, and possibly Ezran all have seen Viren alive now, which puts a huge target on Team Aaravos’ backs. Buuuuuut, if Viren kept mum during his and Soren’s reunion, there’s a chance Soren may think that Claudia was conjuring an illusory version, the way she did in season 3. Perhaps they may try to manipulate Soren into thinking it was an illusion to both put Team Ezran off their scent and diminish Soren’s reputation, just like when Viren threw Soren under the bus before about their murder-the-princes “misunderstanding.” At the very least, this sort of scenario would make for an interesting AU fanfic, lol.

I’m trying to keep myself open-minded about this particular issue. I think I feel a bit more rushed about it because I’m imagining the wait between seasons 3 and 4 and thinking of how long we’d have to wait to see anything more from father and son. But the creators have said in recent interviews that the three-year wait was an anomaly caused by the pandemic, and that they’ll be resuming a more regular schedule again. When I think about only having to wait 5-9 months for the next installment, my frustration about the lack of progress in this particular vein subsides a bit.

But still, it would have been nice to get a little more from those precious few Soren/Viren moments if they were going to bring them up at all this season.

Ezran’s Speech

I’m actually really surprised I haven’t seen more people talking about Ez’s speech in episode 3! But then again, after binging the entire season, so much had happened that I’d forgotten about it myself until I went back to watch a bit more carefully. But it was a really powerful moment.

Once again, I saw some ATLA parallels, but I figure if they’re deliberately putting them in anyway, I might as well call them out, lol. I got major Zuko vs. Azula Agni Kai vibes when watching Claudia and Ibis get into an absolutely gnarly fight while Corvus played the fantasy-cello. Something about string instruments playing over really bitter encounters really transforms the moment. It becomes sad rather than epic. Paired with Ezran’s speech about holding love and anger at the same time adds another layer to it as well.

The thing I found most interesting about Claudia and Ibis facing off is that these are two characters known for holding the prejudices that Ezran speaks about. In season 3, Ibis initially brushed Callum off for wanting to learn magic as a human. And even when Callum proved he knew the Sky Arcanum, Ibis told him to run. I think, given, time, he may have changed his tune, and perhaps he did. But from what we saw, he did carry some bias against humans. And then there’s Claudia, who hates so thoroughly that humans are looked down upon by elves and dragons. At first, I thought that might have been Aaravos’ influence on her, but as I re-watched a few key moments in previous seasons, I found a moment that she and Callum talk at the start of season 2, where she also voices similar opinions--that humans were born with nothing but that’s why Dark magic levels the playing field. I think Aaravos just fed that belief in her, but it already existed. Also the fact that Claudia is currently dating an elf! So, in a way, she is also holding her love and anger at the same time. I can imagine it gives her complicated feelings. Brings me back to Rayla calling Callum out for saying that she may be an elf, “but a good elf.”

To have these two particular characters who feel so strongly in their convictions fight while Ezran talks about old wounds just hit the mark. It was a really poignant, if not slightly heavy-handed moment. I don’t feel totally equipped or at rights to find the parallels in today’s world, but I felt them pretty hard during this scene. “Sobering” is a good word to describe it.

Other, less composed, out of order thoughts

Season 4 was very much a transitory season. It was setting up the final three seasons, so it’s understandable that we got more questions than answers this time around. I’m just glad we (hopefully) won’t have to wait another three years for the next season!

The animation was SUPER clean and beautiful this season! There were a few moments that really stood out to me, particularly in the way that Callum gesticulates. Tiny, subtle movements that they could easily leave out but don’t, such as him accidentally knocking his hand into the Tome of Translation when he asks Bait “now what?” Or rubs his face in frustration. Callum is just a jittery, hyper guy, and it’s especially noticeable when those quirks are suppressed by Aaravos’ possession of him. Callum is all about short, quick movements, but as Aaravos, he was slow, fluid, and confident. It was just the perfect amount of unsettling to watch and I loved it.

I love Zubeia so much. We’ve seen badass human moms, and a badass elf mom before, and now we can add badass dragon mom to the list. Honorable mention to the badass aunt!

Corvus is a musician, and I love it so much!

Terry has been adopted by the fandom and I am HERE. FOR. IT. Before the season came out, I saw exactly one (1) comment speculating that he was trans, and I’m so glad they confirmed it in the show! Especially since the comment pointed out that there’s very little representation for trans people who are actively in the transition process. I can’t speak for the trans community, but I feel like Terry could be much-welcomed representation in that regard.

I really love how pure Terry is. I feel like he sort of filled Soren’s vacant role in Claudia’s life as “her doof.” I’m willing to bet we’ll see a comic of Claudia’s travels in those two years, and their subsequent meeting. I’m curious how they found each other and discovered their attraction for one another.

Terry’s megane-shine picture in the credits gave me evil scientist vibes and I love it so much. His curiosity about creating mystery flubber out of Sir Sparklepuff’s chrysalis goo (a string of words as weird and random as the situation which prompted them) was really fun as well.

Viren is a lot of things, but he’s not transphobic. Yet another example of complex, layered characters. Even the “bad guys” can have decent qualities.

Trees to meet you is a thing, lol.

I’d never really shipped Soren with anyone before, but after watching his and Corvus’ interactions in episode 1, I would not be mad at their ship sailing if they felt so inclined. TBD.

More Gren and Amaya friendship! I love seeing those two together, they add years to my life.

Janai’s proposal actually made me cry, it was so cute. And their “two cakes” conversation was so tender and sweet.

The whole conflict between the Sunfire elves and humans in the camp could be an entirely other essay, but again, I don’t really feel equipped to write about it (also it’s like 1am now and my brain isn’t braining well enough to go in-depth about it). But I did notice the parallels with our own current societal problems, and appreciated that, in the end, the answer wasn’t to decide between right and wrong, but to find a way to learn and grow together. (But also that the offender had to show up for her actions and resolved to make things right--though it would have been nice to also see her apologize directly to the elf that she wronged and not just his leader).

Sir Sparklepuff is half creepy, half adorable, and half bizarre. And yes, I know that’s three halves. He gave me major Gollum vibes when he first crawled out of his chrysalis.

LIZARD IN A HAT.

I appreciated that Rex Igneous apologized to Zym when he realized he’d been talking shit about his late papa.

I also appreciated the dragon saber-rattling contest at the end. Again, Zubeia is awesome.

Soren spending half the season in floral pajamas was something I didn’t know I needed.

Also, Soren with the butterfly was pure and delightful. And also a great contrast to Viren and Claudia, who would have seen the butterfly as a means to gain magic. Soren saw the magic of its life, throwing him into sharp contrast with his family.

People have already spotted the parallels between How to Train Your Dragon and Soren befriending Squeaky, but I also KNOW in my heart that we’ll see fanart of Soren in the Chris Pratt Jurassic World pose, like he’s "taming” a bunch of widdle dragons/velociraptors, lol.

RIP Ibis. I talked shit about him a bit, but he really was a cool character.

I swing between being amused by the fart jokes and tired of them. Claudia’s season 1 “It wasn’t the hooooorse” still cracks me up to this day, but I may have to draw the line at “It smells SO good when he farts!”

Again, no Runaan, but RAYLA HAS THE COINS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

I really like that they kind of nerfed Viren in this season. He’s obviously recovering from actually being dead, and he’s also dealing with trauma over how he died. So few adults admit to having similar troubles, so it was neat to see an adult in a show display some vulnerability, even if he’s objectively an evil adult, haha.

I’ve seen some speculation about whether Rayla is actually fully Rayla or not. I’m kind of inclined to agree. Something about her is off. The best argument I saw for this hypothesis was someone pointing out that she argued NOT to defend Squeaky from the Earthblood elf guy, even when Soren was raring to jump in. Season 2 Rayla would have absolutely slapped the bejeezus out of season 4 Rayla for walking away from a dragon in need. Miss “It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s the right thing for ME to do” did not show up that night, and it’s... suspicious. Also the fact that she didn’t remember Ibis’s name? What changed? Signs point to Stella, with her... giant, unblinking eyes that give me Furby vibes, lol. Did she affect Rayla somehow? What happened to Rayla in those two years? She just showed up with no explanation. I think she is actually Rayla, at least physically, based on the fact that she also gave up chasing Viren and Claudia to save her parents and Runaan and also made a very heartfelt speech about how Runaan and Ethari were like fathers to her. That felt super genuine, so... I don’t know where the cutoff is for where the Rayla we know is and who we hung out with for most of season 4.

Soren recognizing the mirror and trying to offer Callum advice on his obsession with magic to avoid seeing him go the same way as Viren.

Also Soren suggesting to Claudia that the world might be better off without magic. I wonder if that’ll be foreshadowing for something?

I can’t believe this is so far down on my list, but Aaravos possessing Callum was SO intense! I actually gasped when Callum turned his head to show his blackened eyes. Aaravos knew exactly how to get to each of them, and I loved it. But then after Aaravos released Callum, it was KIND OF discussed a couple times, but it was just like they were talking about the weather or something. I don’t know... between this and dropping the ball on Soren’s reaction to Viren, this season kind of went wild when it came to following through on some of the most interesting talking points of the entire plot.

I’m surprised how little Aaravos showed up this season, especially since they rebranded it “Mystery of Aaravos.” At least we got a little of his sexy, sexy voice. Erik Dellums, you’ve done it again.

I’m SO excited to see what the creators have got planned for Callum. He was talking to Rayla about his concerns on whether he’s on a path to darkness. One thing I love about this series is that they also explore the concept of “too much of a good thing.” Like I said before, Soren is just too happy and pure for it to last three more seasons--I bet his beliefs will be challenged at some point and he’ll have to defend them. And I think Callum will face a similar challenge when it comes to his obsession with magic. I TOTALLY understand feeling like you can never do anything right and finding that one thing you’re good at and latching onto it. But then when it becomes your entire personality, you run the risk of narrowing your life path to just one, inevitable end. His greatest strength has also become his greatest weakness. I have a feeling that Callum will have to explore that concept a bit in later seasons, with the help of Aaravos, of course. I don’t think he’ll go Claudia-level darkness--he’s pretty self-aware of this potential danger--but I wonder if he’ll become a bit more morally gray as the series progresses. I’m here for it, if that’s the case! I love me some dark character development, after all.

God, how long is this list? I didn’t realize I had this much floating around in my head.

I adored the rock golems! Their designs were GORGEOUS! Did anyone else catch the Over the Garden Wall Easter Egg in the credits? My friends and I adore OtGW and try to watch it every year, and I got way too excited by that find, lol.

Zubeia and Soren’s friendship is so wholesome.

I wonder if we’ll ever see Soren and Claudia’s mom? IS SHE THE NEW URSA? ;P

I’m kind of glad that they backtracked on Callum and Rayla’s relationship. Watching two fifteen-year-olds admit their undying love for each other at the end of season 3 left me with kind of a bad taste in my mouth. That probably sounds a bit unfair, since I know there are plenty of high school sweethearts out there who become each other’s endgames, but... I guess it felt rushed. Season 1-3 covered the span of... what? A few weeks, maybe? A month, at most? In that time, Callum and Rayla went from mortal enemies, to strangers, to friends, to romantic interests. My guess is the writers did that so there would be some sort of closure in case they didn’t get renewed for more seasons, which is fine. But it always just felt off. So I’m glad that a) they backed off a bit this season and are working through a bump in their relationship, b) said relationship is still being worked on at the end of the season, and c) Rayla and Callum communicated their concerns with each other and respected each other’s boundaries. It makes it feel much more realistic and less cookie-cutter. And I’m glad they were renewed for all seven seasons so they don’t feel pressured to rush the relationship development again.

The Earthblood elf designs are so cool! I really love all the elf designs, but the Earthblood elves are really fun and different! Also Terry in activated Earthblood elf mode was so badass! More, more, more! ;P

YIP YIP!

Sad that we didn’t see a glowed-up Queen Anya!

Or Ellis and Ava. Or Lujanne. Didn’t she meet a human while she was on her prank war tangent?

I wonder how our favorite blind, narcoleptic ship captain, Villads-with-a-silent-D, is doing.

Congrats to the Associate Crow Lord on his promotion and his... um... excitement over rare Xadian birds, lol.

At the end of the day, Dragon Prince is a kids show, but I really appreciate that they don’t shy away from real-world issues. They offer a chance for us to view our world through the (more comfortable) lens of a fantasy world. We can see ourselves reflected in these characters, who are incredibly complex and three-dimensional. No one is fully good or fully evil, not Claudia or Viren, or Soren, Ez, or Zym. Maaaaybe Aaravos, lol. I love it when content geared towards kids recognizes that kids are a hell of a lot smarter than they’re given credit for and they don’t talk down to them or avoid covering more difficult subjects. It’s shows like this that will shape today’s kiddos in the same way that shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender shaped my generation.

Okay, I think I might actually be done.

If you’re still reading, you rock! What were some of your favorite part of Dragon Prince?

[scarlet-ancunin]

Maybe I want all three: how would the big three react to their s/o coming up behind them to give them a hug but then s/o licks their neck not even in a sexy way just s/o being like "I licked you so you're mine forever now". Really just s/o being a dork in love

Lol sure buddy

(fluff)

~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~

S/o Claiming Them

Desire of the Endless

Desire was looking at their mirror fixing themselves thinking about all the activities they were planning on doing today.

you were laying on their bed watching them smiling. you always admired how perfect they looked getting ready.

you also loved the fact that they belonged to you and said so even. when they were close to finishing you stood up suddenly and walked over to Desire wrapping your arms around their waist suddenly you leaned over and literally licked Desire's neck

They paused for a moment looking at you from the mirror "what was that just now" they asked turning around to hold you now.

"nothing crazy just wanted to make sure you know your mine is all~"

Desire laughed and kissed you deeply nipping your bottom lip and slipping their tongue past your lips. you moaned softly before pulling away. "Love if you like I can claim you right now I have all the time in the world~"

you giggle "sure love~"

Dr. Ian Wright

you woke up to the sound of Ian on the phone with Magic telling them they will be at the facility in an hour rushing to the bathroom to wash up.

when they come out they got dressed quickly and combed their hair back before looking over when they saw you sitting cutely at the edge of the bed

"yes you can tie my for me love" they smile and you giggled coming over and tying their tie for them once done you leaned in close and licked their cheek.

" i- y/n why did you do that?" they asked surprised wondering why you literally just licked them out of nowhere.

"just to remind you that you belong to me" you smile and they blush lightly and laughed cutely.

"Right, right well then" they leaned close and licked your neck before kissing your cheek "you mine as well love and I plan on showing you how much when I get back"

"I'll be waiting my dear"

you heard the door click and you let a dreamy sigh slip past your lips. "they are amazing"

Gren - Cowboy Bebop

Gren was by the bar watching the performers and smiled when they performed like they practice.

you were at the bar fixing a drink when suddenly you had the urge to do something crazy. so when you slip out of the bar area and sat next to Gren who didn't notice you were there at first.

However, they did notice when you suddenly leaned against them and literally licked their neck to which they looked at you surprised.

"Y/n what's gotten into your love," they said turning in their seat to look at you smiling amusedly.

"I'm sorry I just really wanted to claim you and I believe this was the way to do that," you said honestly to which they leaned close and licked the shell of your ear before nipping it sending shivers down your body.

"well my love I can lick any part of your body you want after my shift but I don't want Ana scolding us so be good for me and wait" you nod of course when you got up they pulled you close and kissed you deeply before letting you go and watching you go back to your station before looking back at the performer.

~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~

Taglist: @justaproudslytherpuff , @sherazyjade , @the-masked-scorpio , @sugakookieswithacupoftae16 , @happilydangerousworld , @harlekin6 , @supermegapauselouca

[whatsgnat]

Icehome book 3 thoughts(part 2):

I didn't think it was possible but Willa got WORSE. Truly impressive how awful she is. It's superhuman.

The tribe has never tried to take her from Gren once they learned she was there on their free will, yet she's constantly accusing them of trying to do this and CONSTANTLY degrading them and attacking them for simply helping and being nice!? It's maddening!

She is consistently ungrateful and rude and ignorant and refuses to not be. Because Willa surely knows everything and everyone else is the true problem of course 🙄. Because no one ever tried to talk to Gren and just tied him up for no reason!!! They are all evil and she must villanize everyone but herself, the perfect Willa. (I hope my Sarcasm is apparant here)

Honestly her insistence on this false fact of no one ever trying to communicate with Gren is WILD to me. It's not like everyone remembers Liz immediately trying to calm him and explain things before he lunged at her. Or when the Sa-Khui guys tried to loosen his restraints so they could try to let him move around and he-of course- attacked them. THEY TRIED.

It's almost laughable how insistent she is on this which just feeds to the fact that she's fucking delusional and made up a whole ass narrative that is so untrue and is doing everything she can to fight the cognitive dissonance and assert that her horrific actions were right!!!

When she's all like "You could've tried to talk to him! He speaks in a different language." It sent me over the edge. Like oh yeah the Sa-Khui are so primitive and dumb they didn't realize that, Willa, you are soooo right!

It's just fucking insulting!!!! I'm insulted for them... also does she not see the contradiction in that statement!??!?!

Thank god Hassen calls her out, because really Willa you wanted them to just let him run and kill anyone in sight while they try to communicate with him and pat him on the head gently?! Also that Sassy little "Ah" after her dumb as bricks assertion gave me life. Thank you for your service Hassen. Someone has to give her a taste of her own medicine.

GREN EVEN ADMITS IT

And no Gren. I think she does need to know. You need to tell her this so she can see how much of a self righteous fool she's been.

God my head hurts at the holier than thou monologues she puts us through with the same fallacy ridden, unfactual points that she beats until dead.

And can I also bring up once again how unfathomably selfish and self involved Willa is. It's always about her and her wants(which align with Gren, who she wants) and she never thinks about anyone else. She blatantly discriminates against all the sa-khui because of the fictional narrative she claims is reality and never considers anyone else's feelings. She's shocked when Mardok reveals he was going through some shit and even says something to the effect of she "didn't realize he would be sad about something".

Is she for fucking real?! Bitch W H A T?!

She doesn't see them as people capable of their own sadness and struggles. She dehumanizes them with her language constantly. She was even corrected once when calling them "aliens" with Hassen saying "No, people.". (Once again I love you Hassen.).

Shes truly the worst character POV I've ever read in a book.

Continued in part 3.

Parts to this below

《Part 1》:

《Part 2》: This post

《Part 3》:

[leximpwrites]

Poetry with Pointy Bits

I couldnt think of anything else to post, since I'm too focused on Seekers right now, so I figured I might put a snippet from one of the chapters of my fanfic from the lovely and amazing @officialleehadan. ^_^

"Well, that was fun!" he said, causing the rest of them to laugh. 

"Well, now we–oooooffff!!!" Alek went sailing sideways to crash headfirst into the ground as something very large smashed into him from behind. Zan and Gren threw themselves out of the way as the ghoul thundered out of the undergrowth, bellowing in rage, its piggish red eyes glaring around itself hatefully. Essylla opened a hole in the shield, allowing The two boys to dive through. She slammed it closed again just in time to stop the ghoul from crashing through. It recoiled from her barrier, hissing and growling in anger and pain, the light magic leaving vivid red burns on its arms. 

"Wher...the hell...did that...come from?" Zan gasped out, trying to catch his breath.

"It must have heard us fighting the gryphons and figured on finding an easy meal," Riah said, grimly. The ghoul smacked the barrier again, hard enough to make Essylla wobble, and hissed again in pain. 

Everyone, including the ghoul, froze as a thunderous, snarling roar tore through the air. 

Riah's mouth fell open. Tracy gasped, and Melody squeaked in surprise. Zan stared, his face unreadable, and Gren swore colorfully in three languages.

Essylla giggled. "Oh, he is piiiissssed," she said in a sing song tone of voice. 

Alek strode forward, his wings mantled threateningly, fangs bared, tail lashing furiously. 

He was also a lot bigger than he had been moments ago, his body reverting to his normal form from the sheer force of his rage. His skin was scaled, a dark, blood red, his face having lengthened into a more muzzle-like shape. His horns were longer, and his nails had thickened into wickedly curved talons. He was over fifteen feet tall, and he rippled with muscle. 

The ghoul, recognizing the bigger threat, lunged at him the same moment Alek launched himself at it. They collided with a tremendous crash, the ground shaking with the force of the impact. The ghoul swung at him, but Alek blocked the blow with a forearm, then dealt the ghoul a titanic blow to its chest, the force of the punch actually creating a shockwave that flattened the grass around them. Seeing an opening, Zan dove through the shield again and up under the ghoul's guard , dealing a nasty cut along its ribs. When the ghoul tried to swipe at him, Alek was there, deflecting the blow with a backhand sweep of his arm.

He socked the ghoul again, and the beast staggered back, Gren materializing from the other side in a similar move to what Zan had dine moments before. Tracy was pumping shot after shot into the monster through gaps between them, her timing and precision absolutely perfect. 

Every time the ghoul would try to attack either Gren or Zan, Alek would get in the way, blocking or deflecting its attacks, then delivering a massive blow of his own. When the beast was off balance, Zan and Gren would dart in, dealing cuts with their poisoned blades, and Tracy kept blasting away at it, keeping it angry and distracted. 

With a howl of rage, it suddenly tried to bull rush them, and Alek seized his chance. He leaned forward, grabbed the ghoul's ears, and yanked its head down. At the same moment, he flapped his wings and brought up his knee with all his might. 

CRACK

The sound of the ghoul's nose being shattered was akin to a very large branch being broken. It staggered back from him drunkenly, thick black blood oozing from its ruined face. 

"Zan! Gren! Alek! Fastball Special!" Essylla suddenly yelled. 

All three moved simultaneously. 

Gren and Zan sprinted at Alek from either side, then leapt into the air, turning sideways as they did so. 

At the same moment, Alek swept his wings forward as hard as he could. 

The two assassins were rocketed towards the ghoul, and Riah dropped a holding spell on it, freezing the beast for that crucial fraction of a second the boys needed. They struck it at the same time, each with a sword buried up to the hilt in one of the ghoul's eyes and out through the back of its head. 

The ghoul froze for a long moment, then, very slowly, toppled backwards, hitting the ground with a crash like a massive tree being felled.

Once again, silence descended for a long moment. 

Until once again Gren spoke up. 

"I know we talked about that move, but I honestly never expected it to actually be useful," he said, yanking his sword out of the dead ghoul and setting about cleaning the blade on the grass. "Now, would you care to explain why you look like a wet dream of Damarinth right now?" 

I may just put some more of these here for you guys!

@kitvinslakte ​​ @nox919 ​​ @dierotenixe ​​ @stuck-in-theclouds ​​ @apenvssword ​​ @wildforestferret ​​ @krceramics ​​ @starsdreaming ​​

[redemptiionss]

Edit 4/7/2020: I always meant to go back to this post to sort of give an update, because I still get notifications from this post occasionally. Much of what I said about having Deaf people in fantasy worlds & in media in general, etc still stands, but my opinion on TDP’s handling of Amaya being a Deaf ASL signer has changed. Season Three was pretty disappointing for me, and it’s pretty clear that they didn’t consult Deaf people & ASL interpreters regarding certain things, other than Amaya’s signing (which is still accurate). In fact, it feels like they took the easy way out regarding several things (in which I’m not going to explain on this post as it would make it longer than it already is). They could have done a LOT better. I wrote this soon after Season 1 came out, and in hindsight I jumped the gun and placed too much hope that TDP would handle it well. I know better now & not to expect too much when media written by hearing writers write in a Deaf character. So now I kind of cringe a bit when I see this post in my notifications. I would actually prefer it if it wasn’t reblogged anymore tbh lol. 

[I have gotten a couple of asks about this, although it was a while ago. I haven’t answered them because I haven’t had the time & I haven’t quite been able to put my thoughts in words. I’m in school as well. When I’m able, I will answer the messages. If anyone sees this and sends me a message, just know that I probably won’t be able to answer it anytime soon. ] 

-

The character of General Amaya is just.. incredible. She means a lot to me. 

I’m profoundly Deaf (as in: I can’t hear anything at all) and an native ASL signer. Deaf & ASL representation in mainstream media is incredibly rare. So, to actually see a deaf character like me, using sign language, in a mainstream children’s show? With an interpreter, and having this set-up portrayed in a normal, natural way IN A FANTASY WORLD WITH DRAGONS AND ELVES? HOLY CRAP. And she’s introduced as a significant character. She’s not a background character. She’s not a one-time character with a minor role. She’s a freaking GENERAL, an aunt to the princes, whose older sister was THE FREAKING QUEEN. Yeah, that legit NEVER happens. 

Which is why I’m so utterly floored. I’m just so shook. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would ever see something like this in a mainstream show written by HEARING people. I feel the urge to thank Ehasz for showing that deaf people can exist in a fantasy world. I never thought that it would feel this good to see legitimate deaf & ASL representation.  But it does. It feels so good and I’m just really happy about it. Is it perfect? No it isn’t.  (I will make a separate post explaining this!) But it’s PROGRESS.

I didn’t know that there was a deaf & signing character in the show at all until right before I started watching it. When I read a spoiler that there was, I was happy. I didn’t have high hopes (I generally have zero expectations when it comes to deaf & ASL representation and its portrayal tbh) but I was still looking forward to meeting the character. I just assumed that the character was likely going to be a minor, one-time character-- but.. well, even if it wasn’t the best, at least it was still deaf representation, right? I didn’t hope for any more than that.

So when General Amaya first appeared onscreen and SIGNED... my jaw dropped. HOLY SHIT. Cue internal shrieking.

Okay. Let’s talk about how they first introduced her character-- because I LOVED it and I thought that it was really great, the way they did it.

Rayla is in the lodge, and the scene switches to Callum & Ezran, who notice a troop of soldiers heading towards the lodge. The very first thing we see about her is that she’s a soldier, a warrior, a leader, a General. She’s leading the troops. She’s clearly in charge.

The next thing we learn about her is that she’s their aunt when Callum & Ezran recognize her. We can see that she obviously has a close relationship to the two princes. The relationship is a comfortable, familiar one-- one in which Amaya feels comfortable enough to kneel on the ground, to bring herself to the princes’ level, with her arms open for an embrace. It’s one in which the princes feel comfortable going to hug her, despite her being a warrior General. This scene had me wondering if she was their biological aunt.

THEN. We learn that she’s deaf and an ASL signer. What did they do here? We’ve learned quite a bit about her before learning that she’s deaf. We learn that she’s a General & likely a leader in her own right. We learn that she has a good relationship with the princes, which means that she’s likely familiar with King Harrow as well. They didn’t make Amaya’s deafness central to her identity. They could have done that, but they didn’t. Instead, they showed her deafness as merely being a part of who she is. Does that make sense?

Another thing I like about her is that she doesn’t speak. It would’ve been so easy, to add a short-cut by having her speak. Less money spent, less effort, & less time-consuming. However, this would’ve meant inaccurate representation/portrayal. I’m deaf. I don’t speak. There are a whole bunch of deaf people out there who DON’T speak, and they primarily use ASL. Because of this we are very rarely represented. Most of the time hearing people don’t know what to do with us lol. If we can’t hear, speak, or lipread, then what can we do? (And honestly, most of us Deaf people can’t lipread very well either. However, that’s for the other post.)  But... anyways. They didn’t do that. They showed that they were serious about this.

What I love is that I can really recognize that they took meticulous care & research in animating General Amaya’s signing. It’s obvious to anyone who knows ASL. Her use of ASL is accurate. It’s not half assed. It’s legitimate sign language. I was wondering if they had hired a Deaf ASL advisor like what the director did for “A Quiet Place” but it turns out that they hired a couple of ASL interpreters & filmed them signing every line of Amaya’s & sometimes from different angles as well. And that wasn’t the only thing they did, they also consulted Deaf people (which is extremely important!). It’s already obvious just from Amaya’s use of ASL that they took this seriously, but to know all this just emphasizes that even more.

It means so much that they took the time to create a deaf character for their show, that they were serious about deaf/ASL representation, did their research, hired ASL interpreters for ASL references, and that they consulted actual Deaf people. It means so much to me. This is HUGE. It really is.

Big thanks to Aaron Ehasz for creating General Amaya (and Commander Gren! Love him), and showing that deaf people can exist, survive, and have awesome roles in a fantasy world.

[incorrect-tdp-quotes]

TDP Heathers AU

So @princecallumenergy and I have many weird conversations, but this one actually made something beautiful

We have two different versions of this: the one with the younger characters of TDP (like claudia, soren, callum) and one with the older characters (Runaan, Viren, Amaya etc)

Younger characters as Heathers:

The Heathers are Claudia, Opeli and Gren as Chandler, Duke and McNamara respectively (Purple, Silver and Orange themed)

We thought Claudia had the potential to fit the role

Plus we couldn’t think of someone mean so we took someone who was dark coded

Opeli is just Opeli and she’s great as Heather Duke

Gren is only Heather M because Claudia has blackmail on him (for what, we don’t know)

We originally had Soren as Heather M but Gren fits her personality better plus we have better ideas for Soren

At first we cast Rayla as Veronica but then we needed a JD and I honestly think that if she had awful trauma she might just be bad enough to kill people

Plus it makes sense that she gets weapons because Runaan’s an assassin

ANYWAYS

Soren and Marcos are Kurt and Ram just less disgusting and actually decent

But just as dumbass

Soren is chill with the Heathers because his sister is like the head heather

Viren is the fucking teacher 

“Shine a light”

My Dead Gay Son is a Sorcos Anthem

Callum is Veronica

“Dead prince walking”

“Mythic Witch”

So like deranged Rayla as JD

Pulls two knives on Soren and Marcos instead of blanks

That’s about all we have for the younger characters feel free to add

Martha is Ezran but there’s no like Soren/Ezran thing cause that’s absolutely disgusting

Older Characters as Heathers:

Harrow, Viren and Sarai as Heather C, D and M respectively

Harrow is the perfect fucking Heather Chandler and he looks amazing in a skirt

Viren is a jealous bitch who wants the ‘throne’

Sarai is just a precious babey who likes Harrow so decided to stick with him 

We originally wanted to have Runaan as JD because he’s an assassin and Amaya as Veronica but then that didn’t work because if Amaya was Veronica no one would have died (this being Morgans point against my idea and it’s totally valid)

So then Morgan had the incredible idea

Runaan as Veronica

Fucking Aaravos as JD

We don’t know much about Aaravos yet but I get the feeling he’s a sinister character despite the fandom painting him as a memelord

So yeah also Morgan and I live for ex bfs Runaan and Aaravos

Amaya and Corvus are Ram and Kurt but they’re good and the reason they die is because they’re trying to stop Aavaros so he kills them

Gren is obvi Martha because the crush on Amaya just makes sense 

And Amaya and Corvus are only friends with the Heathers through Sarai

Runaan as Veronica is fucking gold: “Dead elf walking” 

“Candy Katolis”

“RUNAAN open the-open the door, please, Runaan open the door”

Instead of “Blue” being about blue balls, it’s about how they found Heather C’s mouth blue and it’s Corvus and Amaya trying to find out what that might mean

[bizarrebird]

I do wanna say that my first post about The Dragon Prince was made after only a few episodes and I hadn’t given it the chance it deserved, which was unfair of me. It isn’t perfect, but it’s a lot better than the credit I gave it after like three episodes. The representation is good (excellent in someways, could still use a little more in others), but for a kids show it’s great.

The world building was interesting, and honestly the biggest compliment I can give is that I want more of it. I want to know about the different kinds of elves. I want to know more about how the step-prince situation came about. I want to know more about the dangers faced on the front line. The first season planted many interesting hints that I very much hope later seasons expand upon.

There were a fair amount of typical fantasy tropes that played out, I won’t deny that. Where the Dragon Prince excelled, I think, is in the subversion of those tropes. And very specifically, I think the subversion of tropes that played a key part in the success of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Very, very often we see a duo of villainous siblings where both are horrible for one reason or another. Often, one is particularly intent on following a parent’s orders. And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s been done. It’s a tied trope. The Dragon Prince takes the conniving, evil siblings and does, what should be the easiest thing in the world, and makes them kinda dumb. I do not mean that as a bad thing. I feel like we’ve been inundated with a huge swell of super intelligent, impossible to defeat villains, and... that��s okay, but it isn’t great.

Personally, I feel like the ridiculously smart villains, who can’t be defeated and have to be befriended are often the result of writers who feel that they are too far above the general populous and can only be brought in once the rest of the world accepts them as they are. And further discussion on that should be reserved for another time. However, I feel very comfortable saying that the villainous characters in The Dragon Prince do not feel like this.

Soren and Claudia feel like kids. I mean this in the most flattering way possible. Being a kid isn’t a bad thing. It means they still have a wealthy of optimism and genuine hope that so often gets bogged down in a person’s later years. Soren’s a little dumb, but that still isn’t bad. It’s less that he’s someone who just refuses to understand things, and more that he has just been exposed to a very limited set of circumstances. So of course his world view is biased in favor of what his father tells him. But even then, he isn’t entirely comfortable with it, and that gives me so much hope for him.

Claudia is a triumph. I mean that as honestly as I can say it. I cannot tell you how rare it is that I see a character like her. She isn’t a Hermione. And yes, I mean movie Hermione here. She isn’t presented as being perfect because she’s a girl and she’s smart. Clearly, Claudia has bought into her father’s (very messed up) world view in at least some ways. People don’t always understand her, even her own father, but she’s still happy to learn and figure things out at any opportunity. She isn’t an Azula, who’s entire self worth is based upon her father’s opinion and feels the need to discredit her brother at every opportunity. That isn’t to say I dislike Azula, I think she’s amazing and fascinating, I’m just so incredibly happy to see another version of a younger sister character. I am honestly most excited to see what happens with Claudia in the future.

In terms of the other characters, I do feel as though the main three could use with a bit more development. However, that isn’t to say that they’re bad characters. They aren’t. But they’re better building blocks. Callum as a mage discovering his abilities clearly has an immense amount of potential if the series goes on, and I would love to see Jack De Sena lend his vocal talents to a character who delves into deeper places, though I still love his comedic moments.

Rayla is obviously amazing. Plenty of other people have commented on that. My only thing is that I do genuinely hopes that she learns from this season. All too often you see characters who learn at the end of one season that they shouldn’t keep secrets, and then they go right back to that next season. What I would love to see in future seasons, is a Rayla who actively tries to prepare Ezran and Callum for dealing with the elf world that the are inevitably going to encounter. If there’s still a bit of hesitance, that’s fine and normal, but over time, I would love to see her really grow to honestly trust the boys and give them a chance before judging how they’ll react to things.

As for Ezran, I love him. There’s no other way to put it. He’s soft and sweet and he had freckles, If you don’t love him, you might be a monster. I do hope that he gets to do more in later seasons. His ability to talk to animals is fascinating. There’s so much that can be done with that. There’s a moment late in season one, which I won’t get into to avoid spoilers, but is shows that he is clearly able to understand a lot more than other characters will, and that opens op so much potential in the future, and I really hope the show takes advantage of it.

I think a few dozen essays have probably been written on the adult characters at this point, so I will leave that as is for now. I will say that I adore Amaya, Gren, Ruunan, and Harrow and hope to see more of them. I also find the villains potentially very interesting. But just to make it clear, my summary here is that a lot of interesting things have been done and I really hope that the series will continue to do that if it’s given another season.

In terms of plot, I really like what this first season did. I know other people wanted a grander scale. Or some bigger payoff. However, I think this season did pay off most of the Chekov’s guns for the main three characters. Side characters are a different issue, which is still a fair thing to bring up, but not what I’m talking about here. For Rayla, Callum, and Ezran, they accomplished what they wanted for this season. And I will fight people saying they should’ve got the egg to some actual dragon or elf first. Their goal for this season was to protect the egg, and hatching the egg is and ultimate success of that goal. This also makes future conflicts possibly more complicated and interesting as there is an actual dragon baby to argue over now. So then, again narratively, this is a success.

So here, I’ve mostly just discussed what I like about the Dragon Prince. There are complaints to be made. And of course, there are comparisons to be made to Avatar: the Last Airbender. However, I think that’s another essay to write another day. As for the Dragon Prince, I would give it a very solid 8/10.

[chat-ra]

The Dragon Prince: A Review

okay so first off can i say that i started this series last night on the intention of finishing it within like, maybe a week or so and then all of a sudden i was on episode 8 and i couldn’t stop

hooooly shit

first off can i just say it’s AMAZING how much they managed to fit into just 9 episodes. like??? the plot is so complex??? every single character is so fantastic?????? the worldbuilding?????? holy SHIT

fantasy and magic and all that jazz is my all time love so i knew i would love this but i was not prepared for the LEVEL of love that i currently hold

okay okay so first off the holy trinity:

callum is so precious. he kind of reminds me of hiccup with his intelligence and his awkwardness and his very dry/sarcastic sense of humor. he’s so adorable and wonderful and sokka’s voice behind him makes it THAT much better

rayla. what the hell. i love her so fucking much? like i love how they made her this amazing badass character but that’s not ALL she is; she has insecurities and she’s sarcastic and resourceful and she can be a total cinnamon roll sometimes. HER ACCENT CAN I DIE. and she’s just ready to risk everything for what she believes in and i love her so much

EZRAAAAAN. he’s so precious. i want to wrap him in blankets and hug him. i also want him to be my best friend. he’s so pure and hilarious and adorable and i love how good he is with animals and his relationship with cal and how brave he is despite being just a little kid!! he’s wonderful

okay okay and onto my personal favs: the brodigies (as the fandom has evidently coined them)

soren. holy hell soren. he’s such shdjdjdh he’s such a dumbass jock and most of the time i want to either groan or punch him but he’s also ADORABLE. like okay god his relationship with claudia?? he could honestly choose to be so bitter about the fact that viren CLEARLY favors her but he doesn’t, like of course he makes fun of her but their relationship is shown so naturally and is actually so accurate to a sibling relationship. and despite teasing cal mercilessly he also 1) let cal pretend to beat him to impress claudia and 2) PUSHED CAL OUT OF THE WAY AND TOOK THE ARROW and like did you see his face when viren told him to kill cal and ezran??? oh my god, i know he’s not gonna try it he’s too good, but i can’t wait to see how that plays out. but like also “i don’t know what dad will do to me if i fail” + viren telling claudia to choose the egg over her brother sOREN HONEY ARE YOU OKAY

claudia, ohhhhhh my fucking god, i am so gay for this girl. like honestly cal around her is so relatable, i stan this nerdy adorkable goth. like?? she’s just so cute and quirky but ALSO LIKE THE DARK MAGIC??? i’m really interested to see where they go with her because she has the potential to be so,,, scary especially because of her utter fascination with dark magic + her devotion to viren. but i know she’s gonna pull through too, you can see how much she cares about cal and ezran and soren i just love her. i love how excited she gets about stuff and HER LAUGH IS THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD OMG i love claudiaaaa

viren can go die in a ditch and that’s all i have to say about him

amaya,,, hhhhdhssjsjs i’m so fucking gay,,,,,,,,

and gren!!! he’s so precious i can’t wait to see more of him

and king harrow omg omg i REALLY hope he isn’t dead because he seemed like such a good king and father and i love him,,,,

why is every character drawn so beautifully. seriously the animation in this show is kind of weird/different but it’s also BEAUTIFUL and every character is like,,, killing my bi ass

also the pacing of the show is fantastic. like a lot of shows sacrifice character development for plot or vice versa and either seem too fast or too slow, but this was absolutely perfect? every episode left me wanting more and i LOVED it

in general it’s just really well written. like every character has so much fucking potential. even viren who i hate with all of my heart is a spectacular villain. i cannot wait to see more

tldr; the dragon prince is amazing. in every way. i love this show so much and i CANNOT WAIT for the next season

[jellydishes]

@mr-system-of-a-downer: listen, you are allowed to think a show sucked. i honestly don't care if you think it's the worst remake since [insert whatever remake destroyed your childhood], or if you think i'm talking out of my ass. i won't bother to read your response just as your own eyes will glaze over as soon as i start answering you. you've already clearly made your decision about the show's quality and just want to prove the point i was trying to make. okay.

however, to address the one concern i am going to bother reacting to, you have it backwards. i am saying that the original cowboy bebop was trying to send a clumsy message about science and identity and how gren was just so traumatized by having tits, whereas netbop legitimately intended gren to be nonbinary. look, i googled it for you already because you clearly would rather complain to strangers on the internet than do your homework. no need to thank me

probably because they realized that there was genuinely more to be said on the subject than cowboy bebop was able to say that the time. society has progressed so far in such a short time, and their hiring a nonbinary character to play a character transgender people have interpreted as one of us since the show's inception is A Good Thing. am i saying the original cowboy bebop wasn't perfect? of course i am. nothing is.

i grew out of kneejerk hatred of any change made to the source material in my twenties, but i somehow never made the decision to go onto a stranger's post and complain about it even back then. come back and rejoin us in another decade. maybe by then i will have found it in myself to care about continuing this conversation

hot take, but watching a remake of your favorite thing and seeing that it has been changed is an opportunity to join in the conversation about why it was and what those changes mean for the narrative, not to screech CHANGE IS BAD AND THOMAS EDISON WAS A WITCH

real talk, if you wanted a shot for shot recap of cowboy bebop, just watch the old show. it's still there. it hasn't been sullied be fans of the show who wanted to engage with the source material in ways that weren't possible or not even thought about at the time, like a nonbinary character existing and being happy (and played by a nonbinary actor!) rather than being a clumsy trans allegory

[sparkledeerfr]

The Two Weavers

Mochi had noticed the door under The Castle the first week they had cleared it out. He studied the runes carefully, noticed the age, the perfect smoothness of the stone as though someone had filled an archway with cement. Daniel had asked him about it and Mochi had not so much lied as he had just left certain things out- the runes were an intricate spell made by weavers to keep evil away. It was best not to disturb the work.

Mochi checked on the door once a week after that, because yes it was made by weavers and yes it was a very carefully woven spell to keep evil away. Well, to keep evil sealed and away from others was much more precise. Mochi had never actually seen the work done in person, nor had he done it himself, but he knew exactly what had happened. It was the very, very last resort of the weavers to punish and remove one of their own kind. A very nasty individual had been sealed into a room and left there with a few key items- the weaver equivalent of marooning a shipmate on an island with a pistol and one bullet.

(Read More Link)

The problem was that master weavers were exceptionally hard to kill, and their life span was unknowable if they had mastered flesh weaving as well. There could be someone behind that sealed door or there could be nothing but a skeleton, some rusting weaponry, and dried-up vials that once contained liquid. It bothered him some days to think that someone could be alive down there, and how long they had likely been down there alone in the darkness. But he also knew that you would have to be an surpassingly, exceptionally nasty person for them to do that. The spell had to be performed by a group of weavers who all agreed it was for the best, and weavers were not a group to do something without thought or mercy.

He continued checking on the door, and though some weeks he would be lax, he always came back.

That was until the day he found the spell had been broken- the runes were scratched out as though they were a coal drawing wiped with a finger, not something etched into stone. There was a hole bored straight through what was once the sealed doorway, large enough for a mid-sized dragon breed to get through. Mochi of course carefully looked around and found no one, but noticed that the various supplies the prisoner had originally been left had been set into the wall, the stone encasing them as though it was resin that had been poured around them.

His next step was of course to search around town, to carefully warn Booker and Hex about any new strangers, and to write to the heads of the weaver order out in Wind about what had happened. From there the heads would likely warn other groups just in case the escaped individual held a grudge for the order itself, and weavers were exceptionally good at spotting other weavers so it would be best to have more eyes on the lookout.

Mochi was honestly not sure what to expect would come of this. He half expected a letter to come from the heads of the order telling him that the individual had been apprehended, but they had only sent back polite letters thanking him for the warning and any documentation they had about who the individual may have been. There wasn’t much to go on- only twelve people in the long history of the weavers had ever been sealed in such a way and all mention of them aside from the warnings had been wiped from the records.

But still weavers were no fools. History you tried to bury always came back, and thus they had kept careful lists of those so punished, their appearance, their abilities and why they had been imprisoned. Two such people were possible matches- a female mirror and a male skydancer. Both were expert weavers of all schools. The mirror had been sealed for ‘unethical and disturbing experiments’, the skydancer for ‘abusing the art of fleshweaving’. Unsettling, sure, but at least it gave Mochi more to work with should the prisoner show themselves.

Months had passed with no letters, not even the barest trail, hint or rumor came floating towards him. Perhaps the prisoner’s long sentence had changed them, and they left to start a new life. Perhaps they were just keeping quiet. Either way Mochi decided to not let it consume his thoughts more than necessary- at least that was until someone told him about the new pottery shop that had opened in Can Town. He would have checked it out regardless of course as he was always happy to see a new artist arrive in the area, but this time his first instinct was suspicion instead of excitement.

This instinct turned out to be correct as the owner was a male skydancer, and Mochi felt that little extra fire in the stranger’s aura that told him the other had studied weaving. The owner was busy chatting happily with another customer so Mochi took the time to look the place over. The pottery work was exquisite, of course. Even the most plain red clay pot was well smoothed and glazed to perfection. There were two-toned pots with razor sharp edges on the designs etched into the surface, fine china vases, stoneware, salt glaze- just about anything one could ever need in vessel form. And no doubt each piece was technically perfect and well made, no doubt the owner would be all too happy to create a custom piece should you ask.

The order always compared fleshweaving to sculpting when he was learning it. Funny that.

Mochi looked up from a blue and white urn to see the owner looking at him- and a wild grin spread over the other’s face. It reminded Mochi momentarily of that other skydancer, Atlas.

It was always skydancers it seemed.

The owner rang his current customer up, thanked them and then came trotting happily over to Mochi, who glanced around the shop and found himself alone.  “Hello hello friend!” the skydancer said, a wide smile on his face. “My name is Grenfell, Gren for short, so happy to meet you! I’ve heard that you’re ummm...a weaver? A fellow artist?”

“Yes, I weave,” Mochi replied, eyeing him carefully. “My name is Mochi. I was just admiring your work.”

“How kind of you to say so!!” Gren replied, his smile and eyes growing somehow wider, and Mochi suddenly had the thought that perhaps the years of isolation had in fact done a number on Gren, just not in the way he had expected. “It’s my passion, you know, working with clay. I dare say I’d do so for free if I couldn’t wrangle payment out of it, haha!”

“As would I with my work,” Mochi replied calmly. He was a patient individual, but this dance was already growing tiresome. Lives could be on the line. “And I would hope that you’ll stick to pottery and not practice your particular skill on anything else?”

“Why no! Of course not! How could I possibly work on anything else but clay??” Gren said, his smile showing more teeth.  Mochi sat there, quietly blinking at the skydancer, waiting for a proper answer. “Oh dear I’ve forgotten how absolutely boring weavers are. My goodness you’re not even the least bit unnerved by me!”

“You have not yet given me a real reason to be,” Mochi replied. “Now, should I call for backup, or can I just quietly keep an eye on you? I would be perfectly willing to let you attempt to re-enter society.”

“Oh I should think that I’d rather keep from ending up where I was, dear Mochi,” Gren said, still grinning. “But completely re-enter society? I dare say that’s a hard ask. Who among our order could possibly do that? We are all rather odd, after all.”

“Then we shall have peace,” Mochi said. “But if anything goes wrong, know that I shall be looking to you.”

“Oh my dear weaver, I would expect nothing less.”

[scarlet-ancunin]

Ok time For a maybe I want all three request:

How would the big three (yes I'm calling them that) react to their s/o asking them if they would like to join them in the shower

I found find it funny how you guys listening to my guilty pleasure of saying "maybe i want all three" its cute hehe

~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~

S/o Asking To Join Them

Desire of the Endless

It was cute honestly you always wanted to ask them but you was to shy to. I mean imagine an immortal being naked behind you or in front of you.

But what made you blush a little was the fact that the being your talking about is Desire.

Well one day you put up a brave face and made sure there was enough steam in the bathroom. Before opening the door and softly calling out to Desire. Because you felt them in your home.

"Yes my sweet?" They would say walking over and leaning on the bathroom door frame.

"Can you join me in the shower" you asked acting like you was washing but watching their reaction. You blushed deeply seeing them grin and slowly strip out of their clothing before making their way over to the shower.

You turned around blushing deeply only to feel them press their chest against you

"We are going to be in here longer than you think my love"

From far you could see your hand slide down slown from the doors of the shower

Dr. Ian Wright

Everyon knew you and Ian was the perfect couple and only you knew how romantic they can be

But one day you wanted to be cute and do something you never did before and that was asking Ian to join you in the shower.

You knew Ian takes one before you so you had to time it right and once you both was finishing up an early dinner you quickly rushed to the shower when Ian suggested to clean the plates.

So once you hear the tv in the room turn on you giggle softly and call out to Ian.

"Yes y/n" they asked you and you try not to laugh at how respectful they was covering their eyes.

"Can you join me please" you asked

They removed their hand from their eyes blushing and looked at you surprised.

"Really- i sorry- if you really want me to" they had a moment of covering there eyes and uncovering them again when you laughed softly.

"I do love besides it means after we both shower we can cuddle"

Thats all you needed to say and Ian strips their clothes and slips into the shower with you.

You giggle putting soap in their hair while they place some on your nose.

You both ended up laughing while taking a shower. It was by far the best decision you made and plan on continuing doing.

Gren - Cowboy Bebop

Gren came home and heard the shower running they was surprised you was home early today but that was good because they can spend time with you.

You heard them enter and smiled coming out the bathroom with a towel wrapped around your naked frame.

Gren looked over and smiles. "Well this is nice to come back to y/n"

You smile coming closer "oh is it" you said your lips inches from their own "mhm" they responded and kissed you softly.

It was becoming heated very quickly before you suddenly pulled away and smirk. "Well handsome lose the clothes and you can join me"

They mumble a soft "wow" and watched you drop your towel purposely not turning around but your head half way. "Coming love"

"Of course" they said following your steps and leaving a trail of clothes behind joing you in the shower.

Wrap their arms around you and kissed the side of your neck.

You hum in delight "i certainly missed you to love"

~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~

Taglist: @justaproudslytherpuff , @sherazyjade , @the-masked-scorpio , @sugakookieswithacupoftae16 , @happilydangerousworld , @harlekin6 , @supermegapauselouca

[redemptiionss]

TDP’s portrayal of Deafness & Deaf Culture through Amaya: PART ONE

So.. yesterday was the last day of Deaf Awareness Week lol. I’ve been working on this & part 2 and was planning on posting it yesterday, but obviously that didn’t work out as I didn’t finish them on time.

I know I said in my previous posts that this one would be about lipreading, but I decided that I would also talk about Deaf culture & TDP’s portrayal of Amaya. This post will be split into two parts: the first part will be about the authenticity of her portrayal, and the second part will be about how it is imperfect.

First. The portrayal of Amaya’s character & her deafness, while imperfect, is honestly incredibly refreshing to see compared to other portrayals in media. The entertainment media often will “cut corners” when it comes to portraying deaf people. They portray them as being able to hear some, speak some, & lipread as their primary mode of communication. This results in very little use of ASL, because it’s easier that way. Ta da! Less effort needed. Essentially, dDeaf people who are able to lipread/speak/hear some, are more likely to appear on television than Deaf people who cannot hear or speak & rely on ASL.

So yes, while TDP’s portrayal is imperfect, Amaya’s character is very refreshing to see. They actually put in effort to make Amaya appear as authentic as possible. For once, I’m seeing a Deaf character on television who doesn’t speak, can’t hear, & uses ASL as her primary mode of communication. Like me!! I really, really didn’t expect that, & least of all for her to use ASL. So yeah I’m stoked about her.

Now, it’s important to know that the Deaf community is diverse. Not all dDeaf/HoH people are the same! Some dDeaf people are profoundly deaf, like me, then others may have some hearing that varies on differing levels. Some are raised in oral education, others mainstream (public schools), or in deaf schools. Many are born to hearing families, others to strong intergenerational Deaf families (these Deaf people usually are very VERY strong, culturally & ASL-wise). Not all people with hearing loss are involved in the Deaf community/culture/world. 

I don’t want it to seem like I’m ignoring or excluding all the dDeaf/HoH people involved with the Deaf culture/community; who may be here on Tumblr & fit those descriptions lol.

To me, Amaya comes across as someone who is culturally Deaf. She practically screams, I’M DEAF AND PROUD. She isn’t some character that they just halfheartedly slapped the “deaf” label on for bonus points. This is great, as it shows that they really did their research & listened to the Deaf people they consulted. Honestly, they & the ASL interpreters deserve all of our thank-yous.

Oh, and I posted a translation of Amaya’s signing a while back as well btw.. COUGH COUGH. Lol.

The Good Parts:

Pretty accurate usage & portrayal of ASL syntax.

This shows their understanding that:

ASL is not just “English in sign”, or a “translation” of English. It is its own legitimate language: completely different with its own grammar structure, morphology, phonology (known as the 5 parameters), etc.

Examples of ASL syntax, courtesy of Amaya:

“BREAKFAST MOST IMPORTANT MEAL DAY.”

“FOOD HERE IS... *bangs stale bread on counter* HARD LIKE STEEL.” {weapons-grade}

[Rayla’s interrogation]

“YOU TWO? *gesture* MANY THERE YOU ARE?”

“LIE YOU” *points at Rayla*

[Escape scene]

“CALLUM, EZRAN, COME” *points at the space next to her*

“OKAY, YOU. I KILL MONSTERS BEFORE.”

“IF ELF KNOW WE FOLLOW THEM, KILL BOYS. NEED CAREFUL.” *points in their direction*

[Memorial/Grave scene]

“HELLO BIG SISTER. YOU MY HERO. PERFECT, STRONG, ENDURING, HEART-SOFT {compassionate/gentle}, AND REALLY SORRY BIG SISTER. I FAIL YOU. I SONS SAFE WITH BUT GONE/MISSING.”

Note: ASL grammar does not use BE verbs (am, is, are, was, were) or articles ( (a, an, the), & it does not use tenses like English does either. Word order is different from English as well. More info on ASL grammar here if anyone is interested. 

How to get a Deaf person’s attention.

Hint: you don’t yell. The best (and polite) way to get a Deaf person’s attention is to gently tap them on the shoulder.

We’ve only seen one scene of this so far, where Callum and Ezran is behind Amaya as she walks into the lodge. Because Amaya is deaf, with little to no hearing it seems, obviously Callum can’t just call her name to get her attention. So what does he do? He goes up and knocks on the shield Amaya is wearing on her back, and Amaya feels the vibrations and reacts immediately by turning around. This was a very tiny, quick scene, but I liked seeing that. :)

The job of the interpreter. (Psst. The correct terminology is INTERPRETER, not translator. Interpreters translate languages orally & in this case, into ASL. Translators deal with written text. This is just a peeve of mine since I am seeing many people refer to Gren as a “translator”.)

Contrary to [apparently????] popular belief, interpreters are not necessarily “stoic”, monotonous, etc. (I read that they were originally going to make him into comic relief.. I’m really glad that they didn’t.) Gren’s profession is a sign language interpreter. It is his job to interpret what Amaya is saying (and his job should be ALSO to interpret FOR Amaya at all times tbh... but I’ll get to that later in Part 2).

While it is the interpreter’s job to voice for Deaf people, this also means that they shouldn’t merely just say the words but to emote vocally as well, otherwise it’d appear that the interpreter & the Deaf person have no personality. It is their responsibility to deliver the appropriate emotion & tone that best fits what/how the Deaf person is conveying through ASL. So yeah, that is literally Gren’s job.

It is also his job to interpret what other people are saying, for Amaya’s benefit. Which is why I thought that the scene when Gren immediately jumps in to interpret for Amaya when she had her back turned towards Viren was an excellent demonstration of appropriate interpreting ethics. I would honestly like to see more of that in TDP, as that is the only scene we’ve gotten of Gren interpreting for Amaya.

Name Signs.

They are not nicknames. They are personal names, unique to each person who is a member of the Deaf community. This is an important & traditional aspect of Deaf culture. One isn’t just born with a name sign, of course-- it is assigned to them. It is a part of the Deaf cultural identity.

ANYONE can become a part of the Deaf community, including hearing people. However, hearing people/non-native signers should not pick or invent a name sign for themselves, as that is something reserved for a Deaf person to do. And in Deaf culture, it would be considered improper as well. Essentially, a culturally Deaf person assigns a name sign to a new non-native member of the community. It is considered a gift, something that is given to someone else and could be seen as a way of welcoming them into the community. The reason why it is like this, is because the creation of name signs actually has rules. << A link to an article/video that explains this, if anyone is interested lol.

However, not everyone has a name sign. Some may even choose not to have one-- meaning that their names would be fingerspelled, especially for those with names that have less than four letters.

There are two types of name signs: initialized/arbitrary & descriptive.

Initialized name signs use the first letter of your name from the manual alphabet. Descriptive name signs use classifier handshapes. Both may also be based on the receipent’s physical characteristics (this however, is more common in descriptive name signs. Initialized name signs usually doesn’t really have a meaning).

In TDP, it is shown that some characters have name signs (initialized), likely gifted by Amaya herself. Examples:

Callum: Initialized, in the handshape of a “C” & location is on the forehead  towards the side. [In Amaya’s introductory scene, his name was initially fingerspelled & now I think it was done as to emphasize Amaya’s bewilderment at Callum’s yelling.]

Ezran: Initialized, hand in the handshape of a “E” & location is on the side of the chin.

Corvus: Initialized, in the handshape of a “C” and tapped once on the head near the forehead.

Viren: Initialized, in the handshape of a “V” and tapped on the forehead near the brow.

We’re seeing a trend here huh, lol. They showed the sign names so fast, I had to rewatch the scenes several times to make sure I got them. No sign name for Gren yet... but then, his name is only four letters.

Facial expressions and mouth movements.

In Deaf culture & when using ASL, facial expression is a must. The expressions one makes when signing will affect the meaning of that sign. It is also a part of ASL phonology, also known as the Five Parameters of ASL. Within the 5 parameters, facial expressions are known as non-manual markers.

I personally thought that for this type of animation, they did a decent job with Amaya’s facial expressions and using that to further convey her intended message through ASL.

(For example, when she says “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, that was a comedic moment but you could see that she was serious, due to her facial expression and body language. And then when she said “Don’t worry, I’ve slain monsters before”? Her facial expression as she signs “I’ve slain monsters before”... that was superb & chilling imo!)

As for mouth movements.. she moves her mouth of course, accordingly with her facial expressions. But she doesn’t mouth out the words as she signs. Many Deaf people DO mouth words [occasionally, sometimes, or frequently] as they sign-- I am guilty of this actually. But not all of them do... I know that her not speaking & this has likely confused many people into thinking that she’s mute, but this is in fact common for many culturally Deaf people (aka those who were born & raised in intergenerational Deaf families and thus are extremely strong in their identity, language, and culture). So I thought it was absolutely excellent that she didn’t mouth words at all. I’m aware it was probably also because it was easier on the creators lol.

PART TWO

[This one has the section on lipreading btw lol]