#yes that is from avatar the last Airbender

[moreclaypigeons]

My brain made this

[demaparbat-hp]

She will (and he'll let her)

[chrismho]

just finished s2 and I am SO mad at him

[die-auster]

To be my favorite character means to suffer. A lot.

I'm reading Kyoshi novels just to become obsessed with Kuruk. I loved him in the series already, but the novels! Now my love for him has increased tenfold.

Id in ALT.

To support this little drawing oyster – or Kuruk's therapy – you can visit my Ko-fi.

[zukkaart]

I need to write a Zukka scene where Sokka is in danger and the captors are basically saying they’re using him as bait and he just LOSES IT but not in the way you think

Captors: he loves you, he will come

Sokka: Prince Zuko does not and has never loved me.

Captors: you’re lying

Sokka: loving him is like loving the stars themselves. You don’t expect the sunset to admire you back!

Sokka: and if I happen to find myself in danger- let me tell you, Zuko is not stupid enough or sentimental enough, and he is CERTAINLY not in love enough to find himself-standing in it with me!

Captors: …

Sokka: *tears running down his face, but looks up to see Zuko as the blue spirit, standing right behind his captors*

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

What my brain INSTANTLY went to when I first heard/read/saw that part in Rise of Kyoshi.

[autumnslance]

In reference to this post I reblogged earlier, but don't want to muck up UC's activity:

#i think it's more important to see that redemption is in the eye of the beholder #not everybody (characters or real people) will accept the same type or amount of repentance for the same sins #some people might not care at all if the person who wronged them feels sorry; only if they materially repaid their crimes #others can feel the opposite #and either way that's their prerogative #you can disagree with the characters or the fans or the writers about who “deserves” OR has “achieved” redemption and that's okay #because it's ultimately a complex philosophical issue #like i agree with OP!!! but there's media literacy in accepting that not everyone will

I'm going to disagree with many of these tags, especially it being "in the eye of the beholder" and would argue it's more media literate to recognize when a character has a workable redemption arc even if one disagrees they "should" get one. It took me a long time to learn this cuz of how we're usually taught redemption = forgiveness in Western (especially very Christianized, and especially if explicitly raised Christian) culture:

It doesn't rely on anyone but the person seeking redemption.

Yeah, it's the wronged party's prerogative to never forgive, to think the perpetrator's atonement (and/or punishment) is not enough and never will be. Anyone (characters and actual people) who sympathize, and who are on their side, can agree it's not ever enough and that character/person's sins are unforgivable.

And that still doesn't matter to their redemption.

We have an example of a workable redemption arc that not all accept in Final Fantasy XIV with Fordola's situation, through the Endwalker healer role quests. She was raised a collaborator of Ala Mhigo's imperial occupiers, and thought the best way to help her people was to soldier for the empire, becoming their Butcher.

In the Stormblood patches, Raganfrid says he will never forgive her; he thanks her for the aid she gave in the throne room that day, but that's all. And even in the EW healer role quests, their interactions are complicated. He still can't forgive the collaborators, even as he works to reintegrate them into Ala Mhigan society. He recognizes many thought they had no choice. He can't, won't, forget the pain of losing his own loved ones to them. This is stated multiple times.

And others, like M'rahz, Sarisha, and M'naago also struggle, also say they won't forgive...but reluctantly agree they can understand how for the sake of their families, the collaborators felt pushed against a wall, and what lengths have they themselves gone to for their own families? M'naago even scolds Fordola: she doesn't get to give up, she has to keep working--or she dies as exactly what everyone said she was.

Fordola starts out as the one punished for her sins. Through the story, she makes her choices to change and fight and work for her people as a free woman. There are still those who despise the Butcher, and always will. Redemption comes from Fordola's actions, Fordola's choices. Who forgives her and who doesn't can't change that she has changed, and continues to do so.

And in the interest of fairness, for the opposite of Fordola, we have Laurentius. In A Realm Reborn, he collaborated with the empire, selling out his nation. He came out of his punishment wanting a new chance, so joined the Crystal Braves...and immediately fell under Ilberd's sway. While others remained loyal and stuck to their morals (and paid for it with imprisonment or even death), Laurentius went along with all of Ilberd's plans. And in the end, the player gets an opinion in the punishment he and his comrade face, but it's clear from talking to Raubahn there isn't much hope. Laurentius had his chances, but he didn't make any effort to actually change--so faced the consequences.

For Reference for the Healer Role Quests: Garland Tools Healer quest text starting with "Far From Free", and my own saved text in Gdocs (raw, not very organized compared to my later saved/updated docs).

(Nero's the war criminal who...didn't even get a slap on the wrist, he just waltzed into a leadership meeting 15 mins late with Starbucks and has been helping us save the world since. Gaius is the war criminal that went through traumas, saw his privileged preconceptions torn apart, and is starting down that road in the wake of Werlyt to clean up his mistakes and not let his children's sacrifices be in vain. None of these characters "need" punishment to decide to change; some of it simply happens as part of their stories, but they make their own choices and actions toward atonement.)

(Also redemption is usually an ongoing process, which is why "Death Equals Redemption", like how Yotusyu's situation is framed, is so dicey and often unsatisfying; are they actually changed, or they just getting out of putting in that effort to? Nothing indicated Yotsuyu actually cared to change, as sympathetic as she was in the end! But she has her redemptive moment for her fans, and the people who hate/won't forgive her also "win"--the trope is a "have your cake and eat it too" writing cop-out IMO at this point.)

[fangirlforeversthings]

He was the best guy around

What about the people he murdered?

What muuurder?

[hyacinths-in-a-storm]

I like to think that post-domestication Azula works her self to the bone to prove herself worthy, and Zuko is like: Hey sis you need to get some sleep, and Azula is like: fuck no, you never rest so why should I?, and Zuko is like: wait no- that's illegal

[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

idk man maybe i'm missing something but telling people that they aren't real fans of a source material because they don't full-on despise the live action adaptation just sounds a little close-minded and idiotic to me

[soyunmago]

*au where yue didn't became a spirit and goes with the gang*

Aang is succesfully cought by the dangerous ladys

Yue: azula entiende! El mundo no puede vivir sin él avatar!

Azula: Y yo, princesa, no puedo vivir sin usted!

Yue: eh?

Azula: cásese conmigo y le devuelvo al avatar >:3

Yue: y si me niego?

Azula: le zampo un rayo :3

Yue: u-usted... me ama tanto?

Azula: más aun, princesa

Yue: ¡ah! No sabia... que aun existían seres capaces de amar de esa manera~

Yue: sin embargo, no podría aceptar así nada más

Azula: :c?

Yue: primero tendra que llevarme a una cita~

Azula: :D

Psdt: "zampo" en mi país es arrojar o atacar con violencia a lo que sea, lo digo porque busque y parece ser que tiene un significado bastante diferente en otros lugares.

[demaparbat-hp]

Can we please see what Yue looks like in your modern au?

Lovely astrologist in the making 🌕💜

[ladyloveandjustice]

i'm not one of those 'media literacy is dead and our youth is wrong' people but the tags on that atla poll are. making me want to say it.

[r0semultiverse]

The line reads on these, especially the last one, sounded a lot like Zuko in the show proper.

[echoisquiet]

Hello tumblr this is my cat Zuko!

[chaotic-tired-bastard]

Roku's not special because he's the Avatar he's special because he's left-handed