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zeno-zero · 1 month

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roku and sozin are divorced and their kids are azulon and those twin ladies

I am not exactly opposed to it but I am uncertain in a way ,, but what do you know, I like it in a way. Let's just say that this is an alternative universe ^_^ This is kind of self-indulgent,, haha.

Lo and Li's existence has definitely made Roku's heart ache (/pos). Reminded him about himself and his twin brother, Yasu.

Sozin has definitely shown some signs of harsh parenting, given how the fact Azulon turned out to be in the canonical universe,

Azulon was Sozin's firstborn, and raised to succeed him. Sozin oversaw his son's firebending training and favored him over another family member. Azulon ultimately grew up to be a supremely talented, but also very demanding and often cruel person.

Note: He also seemingly lacks empathy as well, willing to sacrifice Zuko because Ozai is trying to take advantage of Iroh's loss.

but because Roku is the bearer of these three confusing children, he.. had definitely tried his best to say the least. In summary, he's definitely a flawed parent but it gets through the children's heads that they are all loved and didn't suffer from any problems/issues at all! Hooray! (/hj)

Roku's parents whose parenting style is "questionable," he did not let it corrupt over and affected the children immensely. He's more focused about their well-beings/general health, the type of parent who motivates and supports whatever your dream is. A kind of parent who says something during dinner that you should eat greens every once in awhile while giving you a piece of cabbage next to your rice. He's gentle and nurturing but is strict when it's necessary. He also gives valuable life lessons when reading them bedtime stories.

Sozin on the other hand, Taiso's parenting style + Hazei's emotional absence definitely fucked Sozin up fully. There were many nights that he and Roku would sit down and talk where the children would sleep (except Azulon though, who would try to eavesdrop, sneaky little kid). At one time, he pitted Azulon against either Lo or Li if there were any signs of firebending — Roku was enraged by the decision and immediately stopped whatever was happening before anyone gets hurt. But they did find out that both Lo and Li are non-benders whereas Azulon is a firebender (Roku didn't care, Sozin somewhat expressed displeasure).

Lo and Li, at one point, had definitely bragged about how their fathers are both the Fire Lord and the Avatar in contrast to Azulon simply brushing it off and going on his day thinking it's normal to have parents like that (not really).

They have these children likely in their late 20's or early 30's but I do think about how Sozin wanted to hog the throne as possible so like.. 40's ?? 50's ??? I do think it's kinda stupid that they conceived children together in their 70's or 80's because that's just ,, scientifically Impossible.

Notes: Roku and Ta Min are low-key freaky with each other (/hj). He eventually settled down and began living out his life with Ta Min, with whom he later had a daughter, Rina. <- This comes after Roku is horrified at Sozin's proposition and tells him to drop it OFF 😭.

And then.. there's Sozin who has Azulon at the literal age of 82. Bro is a procrastinator but still gets the job done 🔥🔥🔥 (somehow).

Azulon would've still been a Fire Lord, but Roku's influence on him would definitely shape the Fire Nation a lot more differently. Sure, there were some.. penalties — but he'd be much more kinder, maybe more sympathetic with those who were born poor or have been screwed over and over because of the old laws (who knows honestly?)

Lo and Li are still the firebending instructors and political advisors, but still share the same ol' "escaping the Fire Nation Capital to go to ember island if it has gotten too hectic." They definitely got their rebellious phase from Sozin after all, sneaking out and starting their own adventures which causes the parents to be worried and befuddled.

To add something a little nice and a great fresh air to get ourselves away from doomed siblings that the Fire Nation Family has always had — Lo, Li and Azulon are siblings who are seemingly distant at first but when they do interact, they get themselves in malicious and hilarious shenanigans. They will always have a great time and never resent each other. Showing vulnerability is a sign of strength. They learned that from their parents after all, who trusted each other more than anyone else.

Oh man,, this is so long !! Hope you guys like it ,, huhu ,,,

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sillycat4 · 3 months

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AISHITEITANONI!!!!

im so mentally ill i love ZENO!!!

#art #zeno remake fanart #zeno #tsugino haru #fanart #zeno remake #aishiteitanoni #maretu #silly

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ursaribbon · 1 year

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What Modern Pokemon Means to Me

I've felt this way for so long, and I can't just not talk about it anymore. I'm hoping to find more people who feel this way, and I think Tumblr is the best place to do so. (cw: su/c/de)

In elementary school, I was cheerful and loud all the time, and people thought I was weird for it. I had been told my whole life that I was so unique and special, and since I only got that validation from adults, I would do everything in my power to get more validation by doing whatever adults told me to do and valuing whatever they told me to value. I was almost blindly obedient, and I sought academic validation. I started masking my ADHD. I was so stiff on the outside that I rarely cried anymore, especially at things other people would cry over. I felt like there was something wrong with me, or that I really was emotionless.

When puberty started and genetic mental illnesses came into play, I became a husk. I never displayed emotion, and people called me a zombie. I was frustrated. What did they want from me if I couldn't be loud or quiet? Classmates would ask me unprompted if I was depressed, exchange an amused look with their friends if they were paired with me for a group project, and whisper about me when they thought I couldn't hear.

Since I was a preteen, I would continually push away the people in my life because I had mental health issues that made it draining to talk to people. I wanted to spend all my time alone because I wanted to rest--I constantly wanted to be left alone in silence because everything going through my head was already too stimulating. My younger brother, my biggest supporter, would try asking me to play with him or try to talk to me about something he was excited about, and I pushed him away every time. He thought it was because I was tired and lazy all the time, because that was what I told him. He began to resent me for always leaving him alone, and even though I never tried explaining myself or even going to him for support, I thoroughly believed it was my fault for leaving him behind.

People who make fun of "teenage angst" are just making fun of themselves for what they see as "dramatic" looking back. It's easy to forget that regardless of what hormones generate them, feelings of depression are real and harmful. It felt like no matter where I turned, there was no light to overcome the darkness.

Gens 7 and 8 of Pokemon have gotten me through the worst of my teenage and pre-teen years. I had been following the Gen 6 anime by the time it was ending, and I was so excited for the next chapter of Ash's journey. I remember going around school telling everyone, "ASH LEAVES KALOS ON THURSDAY! NOVEMBER 17!!!" Not many people wanted to hear it, but for what felt like the first time in forever, I didn't care. I was already known as a zombie at school, and there weren't many things I unapologetically loved so much.

I was in middle school when covid hit. During online school, I felt lonely, scared, and sad. I had the rest and lack of stimulation I had always wanted, but I didn't realize how much it helped to be at school where I was forced to interact with other people. When I was really alone with my thoughts, I couldn't find a reason to live anymore. I was having s//c/d/l thoughts. One day during my lunch time, as I nibbled at my sandwich with my head down on the desk, I decided I may as well catch up on the latest episodes of Pokemon Journeys.

The Beautifly episode was playing, but I was only half paying attention, barely able to focus on anything. Ash had misheard and thought they were going to watch Beautifly hydrate, and Goh had a short fantasy about a Beautifly laying on the beach with a cup of juice before realizing the mistake.

He phrased it something like:

"Yeah, they look so peaceful when theY HYDRA-HOLD ON!!!!"

And I just died laughing.

I knew the joke wasn't funny. The funny part was Zeno Robinson's delivery. I must have replayed it ten times. It was the first time in months that I'd felt like everything was okay.

I even showed the scene to my brother. We both laughed at it for at least ten minutes. It was so nice to share something with him.

I became a bigger fan of the show, and started shipping Ash and Goh. It wasn't because Goh was flamboyant, although I won't deny that many fans assert him to be a certain sexuality based on how he presents himself, which is stereotyping at best and homophobic fetishization at worst. I ship the characters because I think they're compatible and are just cute together. That was when I found the Satogou Discord server.

I had never really had online friends like the ones I had on that server. For what felt like the first time, I had found people I could talk about anything with for hours. While progress wasn't a straight line, I was beginning to have s//c/d/al thoughts less and less because the people and media in my life filled me with light to overcome that darkness.

And then episode 62 aired.

In that episode, Goh's Sobble evolves into Drizzile. It was so excited to be an Inteleon that it didn't realize there was a middle stage in between. It couldn't even use Water Gun properly anymore, and other Pokemon made fun of it for that. It began isolating itself, and when Cinderace forced it to come out of its cave, it ran away in tears.

When Goh finds Drizzile, he tells it about his own childhood, when he was pointed out as being different for reasons even he didn't fully understand. When he asked himself "Why?" he only felt frustrated. This is what he tells Drizzile:

"I don't understand, but that's okay. And I don't need immediate answers, either. ... I'm fine if you just want to be who you are. ... If it helps you to nest, just do it. And if at some point you feel like being with a friend..."

"...I'll be there whenever you need me."

I didn't cry. I almost cried, but I didn't. And I didn't need a reason why anymore. Anyone else may have cried. I might have been a zombie or a husk for not crying.

...Maybe it was because I wasn't overwhelmed by what was going through my head anymore. It made me remember what I had been through, but the way these characters reached out to me was so much more meaningful than anything that came before.

The media that allowed me to laugh and to live and to make friends with ease once again provided light to me, not blinding me, but providing for me a moment of clarity.

I know not everyone likes the newer seasons of Pokemon. It doesn't fit the formula that provided light to those who have been fans for a longer time, and believe me, I understand how important these things are, but goddamnit, it's one thing to dislike a piece of media and an entirely different thing to continue arguing when you find out it means something to someone else. I respect those who don't like the newer seasons, and I won't tell you they're better than the ones that came before because, at least to me, they simply can't be compared to each other.

I know not everyone likes Goh, but I miss him so much for what he represented, and I can't thank the creators of Pokemon 2019 enough for what they went through to make what they did.

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felikatze · 3 months

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i finished all the zeno endings yahooo

at this point i admit i played it because i saw gavinom make fanart for it and gavinom makes the most baller WH fanart to exist so obviously i had to check it out

on one hand i liked it, on the other i didn't... i think it's because themes and some narrative elements are at war with each other?

uhh cws i guess discussion of ableism (institutional), cannibalism, mental illness stuff, whatever happens in Zeno

I really liked the True Ending E and Ushinoro Ending H... It's a commonality of both "best endings" that it has all characters confront their traumas and learn to move on from them. This is most evident in Fuyu in Ending E, who copes with what happened to his sister and finally lets go of his revenge...

And in Ending H, i really liked that Haru is still messed up from everything he witnessed, but he's getting better. He still has these impulses in his heart, he knows it's wrong, but it's still something that shaped him, and he wants to get better... It's nice. Also notably, Ending H is the one where nobody gets magical memory erasure. Everybody has to recover organically..

In that sense, I like that the whole memory erasure thing never really works, mainly applying to the normal endings. Bcuz you can't face and move on from trauma by just repressing it. That's why Haru relapsed even after his memories got erased the first time. He didn't properly deal with it, so as soon as he was reminded of it, it just came bubbling back.

Similarly, in the Sin Endings where Aki tells Haru the truth, it doesn't work either, because instead of supporting Haru through everything, Aki kind of just ends up stumbling ass backwards into Haru's biggest trigger and retraumatizes him.

In all of the Sin endings, it shows that you can't cure someone "by force" in how Aki treats Haru in those. Reflects hamfisted therapy approaches that are too focused on fixing people instead of treating them as actual people.

There's also a similar thread in the backstory, of how Aki fought to keep the facility open because he saw that his talk therapy approach was working with Haru. and it IS notable that Haru makes first strides toward recovery when he's treated humanely and finds a friend, literally anything resembling a support system.

It's extremely common for people to relapse when in safe environments. Even afterward, Haru immediately felt immense regret and agreed to treatment, which is why he accepted Fuyu's memory treatment, even when Fuyu was being shifty as fuck. Haru wanted to get better for Aki. Cute.

Where was I. Ah yes the institutional ableism thing. Aki fighting to keep the facility open because a humane approach was working, but the higher ups wrote off every patient as a lost cause and just plain crazy. Reflects the real societal problem that there just isn't enough money invested into rehabilitation and humane medicine.

The True Ends and Ushinoro Ends really managed to pull through on not having me write the game off after the whole "cannibal disease" twist by portraying everybody affected as a victim themselves, who can still recover and get better, even if they never forgive themselves or each other. You can always move on bro.

Now speaking of what I didn't like. the cannibal disease thing.

I GET that part of the theme is "this could happen to anybody." ANYONE can experience something traumatic, be struck by mental illness at any moment. There is no use thinking you're "above" anybody when you're one bad day away from being like them, and breaking that barrier of "normal people" and "the crazies" is the first step to the long road of destigmatization, and of getting people some actual support.

But. the specifics of the Zeno disease.... If it's caused by trauma, what the hell was all this genetic shit about? There's several notes in the game mentioning it may be hereditary, which would explain why both Fuyu and Natsu were affected, as siblings, but you're cutting WAY TOO DEEP into "serial killer gene" eugenicist theories there, pal.

Like with Haru.... since we get to see his backstory First and the game presents a very reasonable throughline of why he ended up this way... Child neglect + abuse left him with a skewed worldview and when he witnessed Natsu being eaten that imprinted on him a distorted meaning of love. And like, i can Understand this sequence of events? I can understand why Haru is behaving this way, I understand why specifically cannibalism is what he does. Because THAT'S what impressed him.

Whereas for the other people with Zeno... because Haru is set up So Well for these specific symptoms, everybody else just seems wack by comparison. Like okay maybe Fuyu still works since his traumatizing incident was his sister getting eaten but for Aki himself there really is NO throughline between his parents dying and eating people. There's no presentation of how the cause leads to the effect outside of a general "Trauma causes Zeno".

and in its origin Zeno ends up directly paralleling PTSD, so u get why "trauma causes u to kill people" is like, bad. Again for Haru it WORKS because there's that specific throughline of how he ended up this way.

And Natsu's trauma is.............. being rejected by her crush? Seriously? Like cmon man. When i saw that i was just sitting there like. Okayyyyy. Because she's the Only Girl this had to happen I guess. Maybe mirrors how Haru is also blatantly in love w Aki in his own distorted way but still just so weak.

(Actually thinking abt that one Sin Ending where Aki forces Haru to eat part of him to "cure" him based on his own misconceptions.... Like that is more compelling as a reason for Aki to have cannibalized Natsu than "he just suddenly wanted to due to Fantasy Disease"... Like if Natsu actually forced him to or something. Whatever.)

I also didn't like on the Ushirono End Path where it's revealed it's Natsu's Spirit that caused Aki to relapse. I mean like, isn't Aki relapsing because he was put into the position of killing someone to protect himself more compelling and also more reasonable? Like you don't flat out Cure trauma. It's always gonna be there you can work with it you can move on with it but there is no state where it is simply 100% Erased without risk of return Ever, which I'd imagine is the same for Zeno.

So to say that "Yeah Aki's Zeno was Cured from eating Natsu but then HER Zeno infected him again" is so weird. First of all, it's never established anywhere ever that Zeno can in any way be transmitted. That's a false correlation Aki makes at some point because Fuyu bit Haru prior to Haru going off the deep end again. Second of all. What?

The game is TRYING to base it's lore in reality by making Zeno a mental illness caused by trauma and to then introduce Spirits at the last minute... Suddenly having a ghost as part of the climax. I SEE the symbolic value both in getting to learn about Natsu as more than just Aki's victim, in allowing Fuyu the opportunity to talk to his sister one last time, in having her dying one final time to give Aki closure over his guilt, but.

Thematically. Yeah sure it's great. Logistically... out of place.

What the fuck am i talking about. RIGHT ZENO. outside of the whole "it's bad to just invent a mental illness that has you kill people" and the complaint at how weak it makes Aki's backstory when Haru's is great, other lore around Zeno is also just a bit Weird.

Like that it was being researched in this facility as potential use for a military weapon, since Zeno made people tougher and improved regeneration. This is obviously drawing on the concept of "hysteric strength", that humans are much stronger when their inhibitions are removed under duress. But it also makes it weird that the military would then just call it quits on the research when the patients aren't being cured. Like, you don't want them being cured, right? It's the ableism of only wanting people to recover if they're "useful", and if it's too hard, then they might as well just die to spare the resources.

And part of me understands that Zeno is also of course a plot device. Aki eating Natsu is necessary to facilitate the whole plot. Without that inciting incident, Haru wouldn't have developed the way he did, Fuyu wouldn't want revenge, Aki wouldn't have started working in the facility, etc.

There's lore bits saying that the military was looking for a way to artificially induce Zeno, because of the whole hysteric strength thing, then called it quits when the patients turned out to be too much to handle. Why isn't there anything to do with that? Ig i'm just spitballing at least something like THIS would feel more adequate over "Natsu wanted to eat people because her crush rejected her" + the mini lore over the oldest Ushirono being the vice prime minister who signed off on the facility being destroyed, fully aware that his younger brother is an employee there. Like what if this guy used Natsu as a subject to induce Zeno, then Natsu forced Aki to kill her, which fucked up Aki and Haru which lead to everything?

And maybe you'd feel that cheapens the narrative but it WOULD reframe what happened with Natsu as "terrible shit that ultimately wasn't anybody's fault and we all just now have to cope with" which is ultimately the exact same thing as just going "Aki went through with it because he had Zeno" because both options resolve Natsu and Aki of responsibility for their actions.

And now I'm gonna ramble about another point which is that exact measure of "responsibility". Like. Fuyu still wants to kill Aki even after being cured. Haru still has these urges in him on the path to recovery. Aki takes personal responsibility for having killed Natsu.

It's so WEIRD to say "they did these things because of The Disease" and then still put everything squarely in their hands. And i guess that's the narrative of "everybody has these urges inside them and could become like this" but then why make it this funky disease if everybody is acting on their own urges anyway???

and also side note. no cannibalism is not a basic human urge. it's just. not. everybody doesn't have the desire to eat people in their heart. maybe hurting people. but eating people is a specific expression of that, not the universal one.

i feel like if i talk more i'm going to spin more circles than i have already.

SO!! CONCLUSION!!! I did like it. I liked the commentary on redemption and recovery and a sympathetic depiction of mentally ill people, even those who have done "unforgivable" things, and the best ending shows that despite everything they've done, Aki and Haru don't deserve to die. It's very humanizing.

But ultimately weakened by the last minute introduction of supernatural elements, and the basic worldbuilding of the Zeno disease that just feels completely out of place for Aki and his character.

Idk what rating I'd give it. Good but i have mixed feelings? I thought the ending portions were overall great? Fuck if I used a guide tho, I'd have never found any of that shit myself, and the Sin Path was pretty delightfully Fucked.

for just like 2,5 hours of playtime max, it gives a lot to chew on. also the puzzles were fun though i DID use a guide for the timed one on the Ushinoro End path because FUCK OFF MAENO I'M GONNA HAVE A HEART ATTACK SOLVING PUZZLES UNDER A TIME LIMIT.

i also very much appreciate that it just lets you turn chase sequences off because otherwise my poor fragile rabbit heart would not be able to cope and i would explode. thank u for the accessibility.

#feli speaks #feli plays zeno remake

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