#when she ordered the assassination

[evecallum]

I know its an old meme but…

[discordiansamba]

rotating my boy avatar zuko and thinking about how the fire nation at large doesn't know that a.) the avatar is fire nation and b.) the avatar is the banished prince zuko. ozai's regime is keeping strict information control in place in regards to both of these facts, fearing that it has the potential to spark rebellions.

so of course, once team avatar arrives in the fire nation, they set to work right away spreading rumors about both of these things. hey, did you hear? the avatar's actually fire nation. i heard he's actually prince zuko, and that he's turned against his father. ozai and azula are caught up in a catch-22 where they know zuko and his group are probably in the fire nation, but they can't put out wanted posters for them. the populace of the fire nation doesn't know what their scarred prince looks like... but they know he has a vicious scar on his face.

(azula sends combustion man after zuko in hopes that he'll clean up her mess and actually kill him this time.)

at the fishing village, they speak of a fire nation boy with a scarred face who waterbent to help them clean up the river. in fire fountain city, the populace hides as there's a great clash between a combustion-bender and a scarred fire nation boy who bends earth and fire. and during the day of black sun?

well. the invasion forces make no attempt to hide zuko's presence there.

at the boiling rock, the prisoners whisper to themselves about the clash between princess azula and prince zuko- and about how the latter bent metal at the same time as he deflected his sister's flames. by the end of the war, it's practically an open secret in the fire nation that zuko is the avatar, even before iroh confirms it during his coronation when he refers to the no longer banished prince as the avatar.

(and if ozai's own son and brother decided to rebel against him... maybe there's something there.)

[bonebabbles]

Slash's Famous Scene

Here we are, lads. Everyone's favorite scene in the totally best arc of WC. The one where Slash pins a pregnant woman to the ground and licks her face, while threatening her fetuses and cutting her cheek open so Clear Sky can have more man pain.

So far I've been using "fridging" as synonymous with the brutal killing of a female character to advance a male character's arc; but I do want to remind everyone that the term "fridging" describes disproportionate violence done to women in the service of their husband/brother/father/son's arcs. It doesn't HAVE to be death; it can also be battery, maiming, depowering, or sexual assault.

So far, 8 women have died to serve male arcs, most of them for Clear Sky specifically. Fluttering Bird, Bright Stream, Storm, Misty, Bumble, Turtle Tail, Rainswept Flower, and Petal. Now Star Flower gets sexually harassed and kidnapped, bringing the arc's fridge total to 9.

Anyway content warning, obviously. It's still Warrior Cats and doesn't get too graphic, but this bag contains a dead dove.

First, Clear Sky gets another toesucking from the ghost of his wife who died after leaving his controlling ass. Specifically, after he threw his disabled brother out of his Clan, and after his lust for seeing random people (including his brother) get mauled at the border resulted in the death of Fox.

She tells him that his behavior never drove anyone away, it was all totally not his fault. I'm waiting for a laugh track and it never comes. The apologetics in this arc are unrivaled.

Then, Clear Sky wakes up and his pregnant wife is not next to him. So he goes looking for her and sees her being flanked by Slash and his memorable minions, Grunt 1 and Grunt 2. Star Flower is so possessed by fear that she doesn't move.

They REALLY need to sell that Slash is TRUE evil, PURE evil, because of the wet fart that is Clear Sky's redemption arc. They're saying that Clear Sky ISN'T bad, because he is not this. A dirty, sadistic monster who coos evilly about how he's going to hurt the kittens in his wife's belly and cruelly twitches his whiskers.

(as a petty side detail, please also note that this passage cannot even keep Slash's fur color straight. Behold, a cat so evil that he cannot even remain a brown tabby! He turns gray when he commits nefarious deeds! Ashfurification included!)

Star Flower is the one being pinned to the ground and having her face cut open as Slash screams about how she promised her father she'd be his mate, but this scene is about Clear Sky's distress. Star Flower is an object to this narrative, which these two men are in conflict over.

The pinning, the violence, the sexual implications, are being done to make Slash as monstrous as possible to contrast to Clear Sky. Slash doesn't kill anyone, so the narrative needs to make you SO UPSET your emotions are thrown into overdrive, so you'll accept how truly terrible he is.

The simple truth that this rancid book is trying to make you ignore, is that Clear Sky is exponentially more deadly. He has caused harm so unspeakable that they have to describe his bloody murders in passive voice. They "died" now, instead of "were killed," and the violent system he created is presented as "making up" for the trauma he's caused to the survivors.

"Pushing his muzzle close to her injured cheek, he licked the blood from her fur with a long, lingering lap."

Think critically about the characters they are presenting and the actions they make them do. None of these are real people. They are writing choices. They have portrayed Slash as a perverted, domineering, child-abusing savage, so Clear Sky the Settler can look good in comparison.

then Star Flower gets dragged off, kicking and struggling, feeble and completely unable to defend herself as clear sky thinks about how she might die along with his fetuses.

Obviously Clear Sky is so very stressed out by all this and needs to blow off some steam, so he smacks the nearest woman and starts screeching about how Star Flower is more loyal than the son he abuses

The first thing he does after the Slash event was physically assault the nearest woman. I can't... I don't have the words. Are you seeing this. Do you see what I am fucking dealing with. literally the first woman he sees.

"DOES THAT FEEL LIKE AN ACT??" He bellowed like a fucking wifebeater at the girl whose face is bleeding because he cut her in a fit of rage. That's fine as long as you don't lustfully lick it afterwards I guess!!!

[smugrenges]

Things the boys on discord said should be done and by god I had nothing better to do!!

[hella1975]

you are so right about hawks and shigaraki... I think about those two constantly. I just want to know if anyone found it kinda weird that Hawks first debuted with seemingly no connections, hero school, or even name and somehow got into the top ten as a teenager and had the funds to open his own agency??? like did no one find that suspicious??

gripping you by the shoulders THANK YOU. like why was it CELEBRATED that an eighteen year old was in the top 10 and running his own agency and going out to risk his life day in day out as a hero. that's a teenager. how is that even legal. and even if it is, it should at least be frowned upon or warrant SOMEONE to side eye it a bit, and on top of the fact like you said he's got NO ACCESSIBLE HISTORY not even a NAME like i firmly believe he was just locked up in the HPSC until he debuted bc they didn't want anyone knowing about the whole. you know. child trafficking so like. WHY DID NO ONE QUESTION THIS. WHY IS NOT A SINGLE PERSON CONCERNED

[kaerinio]

dany's constantly seeing wolves in visions?? dany sees robb's fate in the house of the undying without knowing it's him. she hears a wolf howl on the dothraki sea, and it makes her feel lonely. the dany-stark alliance is going to be so real!

[inkperch]

God, the 'write Kronya/Edelgard' demons are whispering to me again-

[swordmaid]

braeryn mention!!!! also 'willing to wade through the squalor' shri’iia’s like?? girl thats my home ur talking about

[littlequeens]

yes reading is subjective but do you ever just see a review that completely misses the point lol

[fstbmp-a]

"I love when assassins show up. It's always when there's a lull in the general fun and it really keeps me motivated, y'know? Like, oh, you've spiked my drink! Now I'm going to have a handicap while I kick your butt! Exciting!"

[muslimintp-1999-girl]

Jere is so observant and caring

The way he suggested going out to the golf course coz Cam was going to have a stroke due to their shenanigans 🤣

"The funeral was fucked, everyone was messed up....."

The way Belly thought everyone hated her for what happened at the funeral but Jere understands that Belly was grieving Susannah too just like everyone else and she wasn't making it about herself 😭❤. I think hearing that meant a lot to Belly especially coz her own mom was upset at her for the funeral day.

These are just a few examples

[dimension20stuff]

First and foremost I'm a Belizabeth Brassica apologist

[bluespiritshonour]

Could also be that since Azula was really small—if they spoke in euphemisms Ozai could have easily convinced her that that's what Azulon wanted. Because Ursa might have a little doubt here and there if Ozai plays that card. But having a kid talk about something they overhead is more believable. Especially when it's shown that Ursa learns about the throne room conversation when she overhears Azula telling Zuko that.

This flashback in ATLA, Azulon becoming enraged with Ozai for disrespecting Iroh and the recently deceased Lu Ten, is usually interpreted as Azulon then ordering Ozai to kill Zuko. I disagree with this for two reasons. 1: We don’t actually hear Azulon say that, it’s only referred to by Azula (who was around seven or eight at the time and might have misunderstood what she heard) and by Ozai, years later, when he is taunting Zuko on the Day of Black Sun. Neither Azula nor Ozai are reliable narrators. 2: Azulon is, at the time of this flashback, the ruler of the Fire Nation who has just lost one of his only two grandsons and heirs. What kind of monarch loses one heir and then turns around and demands the death of another, especially when losing Zuko would hardly bother Ozai? My interpretation of this situation is Azulon ordered Ozai to give Zuko into Iroh’s care, replacing Lu Ten as Iroh’s heir, neatly removing any argument Ozai had about Iroh’s line having ended. Ozai of course would never accept this. He either lied to Ursa, claiming Azulon wished Zuko dead, or outright told his wife he’d kill Zuko before seeing him get ahead of him in the line of succession, thus manipulating Ursa to help him assassinate Azulon. I think this theory makes far more logical sense than ‘Azulon ordered the murder of his nine-year-old grandson’.

[triple1st]

thinking about rassilon's (lack of) characterization in gallifrey time war

[gxos]

i honestly forgot nk jemisin existed and now i have to remember her writing exists which is also bad

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

it's interesting to me how much endo seems to be thinking about the underlying themes of spy x family given his utter indifference to his characters

like i applaud it, i do agree that the fandom may trend toward focusing on the more domestic and less dark themes of the manga/anime (just from my brief dive into the first two pages of ao3), and i was picking up on the darker aspects

it just strikes me as odd how much it seems to mean to him when, again, he doesn't care for his characters at all

he's a curious dude