nird-bird

[nird-bird]

i will say this until i’m blue in the face but i love the reoccurring motifs in taz balance like. shut the fuck up what do you mean crystal kingdom happened bc a son loved his mom. what do you mean the eleventh hour happened bc a dad loved his daughter. because a mom wanted to be with her babies again. what do you mean that so much of everything was built upon the voidfish wanting to be with its child.

[nird-bird]

as a fat person who's always clamoring for more interesting fat characters in media, I honestly think one of my all-time favorite depictions of a fat character is Jumba from the original Lilo and Stitch - both visually and personality wise

from a design perspective, even though he's an alien, he has so many little anatomy quirks that make him a more believable fat character than many fat human designs in other media. I love the realistic sag and layering of the fat on his arms, the lack of neck definition, the rim of chub around his face and upper back, the way his back is rounded. his clothes pull taut and pinch in anatomically accurate places (e.g. shoulders are firmer = smoother outlines, the sides and back are squishier = bumpier outlines).

and he's stylized so well! all these great details boiled down to some simple shapes and pen strokes. IMO the Lilo and Stitch art style is extremely appealing - it's warm and clean and visually pleasing, but every character is super unique. Jumba isn't supposed to be pretty, but even though he's a very large, very fat, bald older guy who spends most of the movie in crop tops, the way he's stylized and staged makes it clear the audience is supposed to find him interesting to look at, and variably intimidating/cool/powerful/capable. he's often funny, but the physical aspect of his comedy is derived from being so hefty the other characters struggle to prevent him from barreling ahead and doing whatever he wants; being fat makes him come off more in control of the funny situations he gets into, not less. also, because the art style is what it is, a lot of his character acting also just makes him look kind of cute ... though that's universal across the cast

I also really like the fact that his size clearly gives him both realistic advantages and realistic disadvantages. along with having a stronger sense of agency in the comedic scenes, his size in combination with his impulsivity also makes him a more intimidating antagonist. you never know what he's going to do, and his size makes it difficult for other characters to stop him when he's made up his mind. at the same time, it seems to take him longer to catch his breath, he sometimes grunts when moving around a lot to imply it takes more effort, and he clearly struggled to find clothes that fit him when putting together his disguise. I think it's awesome that the character's size impacts how he interacts with the world so much, and again, in relatable ways

and personality wise, it is ALWAYS great to see fat characters portrayed as intelligent - not only is Jumba an accomplished scientist, he's also crafty and witty! a few quiet scenes imply a philosophical side, as he ponders on Stitch's existence and feelings as a living weapon. with Stitch explicitly being made in his own image to an extent, I'd argue there's even room to interpret some of the things he says about Stitch being hints to how he sees himself; we never learn much about Jumba's past, but it's clear he's a social misfit and strongly defiant. I don't think it's a stretch to assume some of what he said to Stitch about being a monster who can never belong anywhere was intended to read as projection (which makes it all the more heartwarming when both of them find a place to belong on Earth)

it's also a nice twist that toward the end, Jumba is the one who is unexpectedly compassionate toward Nani, while Pleakley tries to urge him to ignore her. again alluding to a level of emotional depth and intelligence that is often missing from even well-intentioned depictions of fat people. his character isn't even fully explored, and yet he's one of the most dynamic and interesting supporting characters in a movie full of fantastic characters. the audience is expected to find him fascinating and even sort of mysterious, and he is!

the sequels and spinoffs were more merchandise-driven franchise fluff for kids than the artsy direction of the original movie, but even so, I remember Jumba went on to become Lilo's lovable, amoral uncle figure, which I also thought was so fun as a kid. I love that they committed to the fact that he was more caring and compassionate than he seemed. not only was he a cool evil mad scientist character, but he was also eventually ... a friend ...

and he was even gay

[nird-bird]

Long shots

[nird-bird]

I think about Azula shooters often and their common refrain of "if Azula hadn't had a mental breakdown, she would've won" and I'm here to tell you that no, she wouldn't have.

There is no universe in which Azula was winning that fight with Zuko (or Katara, for that matter).

Azula spent so much of Book 2 being built up as this deadly terrifying force against whom the heroes are badly outmatched that it can be difficult to catch exactly how quickly Zuko is advancing.

Back up a bit to Book One. For the fearsome exiled crown prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko's not that impressive a firebender. He's not bad by any stretch, and he's able to lay the untrained Sokka and Katara flat pretty easily. Then he gets in the ring with Aang, who is an airbending master, and the difference between a regular bender and a master becomes apparent when Aang literally puts his ass to bed:

People have attributed this to the fact that no one's fought an airbender in 100 years, but I think it's also worth noting that Aang (a 12 year old from a pacifist nation) has probably never fought anyone before. Like, ever. And yet the second Aang thinks "okay, I'll attack back", the fight's over.

Zuko's got the same genetic predisposition for firebending talent that Azula does, yet it never seems to manifest because of his mental blocks. At the beginning of the series, he's already so beat down that all he really has is conviction, pride, and anger, so even with training from Iroh (the firebending master, thank you very much), he struggles. Yet throughout Book 2, when he has no time to train because he's on the run, he actually seems to advance faster. The fact that his bending is literally tied to his character arc (as his morals become tangled and he has to fight off aforementioned mental blocks) is pretty brilliant. Like, by the time of the Crossroads of Destiny, Zuko getting his ass handed to him by Aang is a pretty consistent feature of the show--he just can't match wits with him.

Hell, at the beginning of the series, he and Iroh (again: the actual firebending master) launch a combined power surface-to-air attack...which Aang casually swats away into a nearby ice wall. Come the Crossroads of Destiny, however, and Zuko by himself launches this bigass fireball that blows through Aang's defenses.

Zuko advances so quickly that it's scary. That prodigious talent is in him even if it doesn't come through as cleanly as with Azula. Who, by the way, was busy about to get flattened by Katara some few dozen feet away, until Zuko took over and then effectively stalemated her himself.

All of this in retrospect makes it abundantly clear why Zuko's firebending seemed to skyrocket so much when he learned true firebending from the Sun Warriors: it was really the only thing left. He's hard a hard road learning how to fight waterbenders, earthbenders, and airbenders, and even if unconsciously, he's applying the philosophy Iroh taught him about augmenting his bending style with aspects of other styles (see also, the waterbending-like fire whips he uses in the above gif). Once he actually understands fire and how it works, he's got it mastered. Hence why any gap between him and Azula effectively disappears as soon as their next fight--before her friends have betrayed her and her stability goes out the window. There's no real sense of urgency to their fight at the Boiling Rock prison. True, Sokka's presence with the sword helps, but Zuko doesn't look remotely worried and he counters Azula's every attack perfectly.

All her life, Azula only ever learned fire. She was taught by the best people the fire nation can employ, so she knows all the cool tricks, but she's still poisoned by the corrupted firebending practiced in the modern ATLA timeline. Unlike Zuko, who managed to get the basics if nothing else from Iroh (fire comes from the breath, and can be used to survive as much as to kill), Azula has always used fire as a weapon and a means to hurt others. She has no true knowledge of the craft, meaning she's got the same weaknesses as Zhao, she's just better disciplined to the point she can make up for it.

Zuko's victory was a given considering Azula's complete loss of control by the time of Sozin's comet, but even had she been in a perfect mental state, she'd have lost, because in many ways Zuko is simply the better firebender.

And that's the truth of it.

[nird-bird]

LUP

[nird-bird]

I must have posted about this before, but. The fact that the Animus Bell asks Magnus: "how would you like to live forever?" and Magnus replies: "I'd hate it, shut the fuck up," all while Barry is listening. Barry, who not only made the bell, and knows what it would've asked Magnus, but also remembers the hundred years where Magnus was immortal, when Magnus could've lived forever. Who knows that the Hunger is coming again. Who knows that depending on the next 24 hours, the only way to save this world, and prevent complete annihilation of the multiverse, might be to restart the cycles, and foist immortality upon Magnus again. Despite hearing how much Magnus — his friend, his brother, his century-long companion who doesn't remember him — has come to despise the concept of living forever. They don't call it the Suffering Game for nothing. Because man. Man.

[nird-bird]

I just. The adventure zone balance is so important to me. It has surpassed all other media to become my go-to comforting thing to listen to when things are bad. One of my all time favorite things ever for real

[nird-bird]

Sometimes I think how TAZ Balance showed just how much the McElroys know and love each other. The fact that Griffin was able to write about what they would do for A HUNDRED YEARS down to the tiny details and they happily carried out everything he said is insane.

He KNEW his dad as Merle would willingly risk his life over and over to try to save them. He KNEW Travis as Magnus was NOT going to allow Fisher to stay on that planet.

And, most devistatingly, he KNEW that the one thing he could take from Justin as Taako that would tear his heart up was a sibling. He knew he could count on Justin to play into that heartbreak and he did it so well it literally broke all of us. "Who?" "You took EVERYTHING from me!" "The world is ending and I DONT CARE" like are you joking? Griffin knew that would be Justin's reaction to finding out he had lost a sibling!!! Imagine knowing your brother felt like that and playing him like a fiddle with it! Literally teeing him up for some of the best moments in fiction ever and Justin hits a home run every single time!

I guess what I'm saying is it's not railroading if you know what the answer is gonna be to every question. Griffin didn't need rails to keep these guys on track, he knew what path they would choose and every time they rushed in.

[nird-bird]

barry bluejeans is great 'cause like he's an undead abomination of his own creation, he's a skilled wizard, he was trapped in a time loop for 100 years, he loves blood, he goes for the kill without remorse when he needs to, he's a pain in at least one god's ass, he took nearly 50 years to fall in love, he helped start a devastating war, he's an alien, and also he was validated as correct by an omniscient being who could see the whole of his life stretched before him when he said "i am literally Just Some Guy"

[nird-bird]

"A girl too lovely to be really true..."

I've never drawn Brandy's Cinderella before and thought it was time to cross that off the list. I so appreciate this adaptation for having a Filipino prince, what a dream! And Brandy's so angelic and perfect in this role.

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[nird-bird]

Love these fools, rereading GtN knowing what an unreliable narrator Gideon is and learning more about the other residents of Canaan house from HtN just makes it so much funnier thinking about how these two goofs manage to look like proper terrifying, super intimidating nuns of the Locked tomb but really..

neurotic necro-nerd and her fake goth jock, both CRIMINALLY unsocialized.

[nird-bird]

Reminder and fun fact:

Today is the 4 year anniversary of the first ever taz episode

[nird-bird]

[nird-bird]

Sapphic Glinda canon!

[nird-bird]

One i forgot to post with the others but magnus is a space heater and also an A+ snug partner you cant change my mind

[nird-bird]

[nird-bird]

i don’t know if it was something that was there before and i didn’t notice, or was just added recently, but im a HUGE fan of the eye bags/under eye lines in barry’s lich form. such a good detail + adds character imo. barry🫶