#and it seems so in character for dob

[sarcasticsouthernbookworm]

Continuing my Oxventure retirement/last season predictions

Prudence either teams up with or replaces Lilliana as the conquering force in Geth, she is immortal now after all, she rules from necropolis on sea

Egbert dies heroically protecting Shattershield and/or his friends

Corazon continues adventuring, going to explore parts of geth the party never went to

Merilwen either goes with Corazon or back home to try and make the elves less racist

And like I said before, Dob escapes into the painted world to avoid his necromancy curse and/or Katie pearl head’s vengeance. (This is also why Prudence stays at the house in case he ever comes back)

[oxventure-text-posts]

I'm gonna be honest with you guys, the urge to do the same thing I did with the oitd silhouettes, aka slap text posts onto the art with no knowledge of their canon personality other than what they did in the trailer and pulling from the fandom's perceived personality for them, for the new oxventure characters revealed in that trailer is so real

[writtenbycassandra]

i usually don't talk about httyd on here, but for some reason i've felt the sudden urge to rewatch all the tv shows and overanalyze everything and i've got some things to say about the twins (mainly ruffnut). they are actually so underrated and not necessarily in the fandom, but rather when it comes to the shows itself. especially in rob/dob, where they barely have any characterizations at all. this is such a missed opportunity because both of them can be extremely perceptive and witty at times. they have lots of random knowledge, are multilingual and actually show interest in topics such as poetry, philosophy, psychology etc. (their entire character designs just scream insomniac kids with ADHD).

specifically ruffnut is pretty smart. she is one of the best liars in the dragon rider group (tbh the bar is set pretty low) and extremely cunning. that one scene where she tricked the dragon hunter guard by pretending to crack? only to steal his key without anyone noticing?? this comes to my mind. or how she just straight up lied to viggo and ryker without showing a hint of fear or remorse? and the entire thing with gruffnut. to me, she seems like she just doesn't really care and wants to keep the expectations low to have fun. also, her calling astrid out for not respecting the team was completely valid, especially if you consider the character dynamics. although astrid is a lot more present in the show, ruffnut has a stronger connection to the other dragon riders (except from hiccup). ruffnut, tuffnut, snotlout and (even) fishlegs have plenty of bonding moments together, where you can sense the found family vibes. astrid mostly ignores fishlegs/only talks to him about hiccup/rolls her eyes at him, is openly aggressive when it comes to snotlout, and dismisses everything the twins say. she, too, never got really close to ruffnut (another missed opportunity), which is why there was barely any female friendship represenation in the main group. (i mean, there was heather, but she wasn't there the entire time in rtte and barely at all in rob/dob.)

also, i think the twins were just generally more fleshed out in rtte than they were in rob/dob. like, tuffnut got his chicken and we see all his hyperfixations (mostly very dangerous dragons, which is just a mood on its own). and i loved the scenes where we saw that they actually cared for each other a lot. like when ruffnut forced snotlout to get bitten by every dragon possible just to convince her brother that he wouldn't turn into one. and tuffnut giving up his beloved maze, realizing that his sister was more important than his weapon, which was just an item he could replace.

i just generally love the twins and their sometimes chill and sometimes chaotic vibe.

[project-sekai-facts]

Only one date is ever mentioned in-game, that being 2021. Considering that the Virtual Singer Fan Festa seems to be a stand-in for Magical Mirai 2021, we can assume that the Scramble Fan FESTA! event takes place in September 2021 (the real-life MM2021 was delayed to November due to covid-19, but the pandemic doesn't exist in-universe and MM Tokyo usually takes place at the beginning of September). There are Leo/need Daily Life social media posts that show them attending Magical Mirai, and do state the year of the event, but these can be considered promotional material for the event itself rather than canon material, especially since the characters address in-game that only one year has passed since the start of the story (despite the fact they have celebrated new year's day 4 times now. Timeloop things).

Based on this date, we can actually place exactly when every main character was born. The cutoff date for Japanese schools is April 1st, making Ena the oldest main character, being a 3rd year with a birthday of April 30th, followed by Tsukasa on May 17th, so on so forth all the way down to Kohane, a 2nd year with a birthday of March 2nd.

Considering when Scramble Fan FESTA is set, Ena, who was a 2nd year at the time, would be 17 years old. That would place her date of birth as April 30th, 2004. Additionally, while Kohane, a first year at the time, should be 15 during the event, the game considers her to be 16 due to using a set age for every grade bracket. Regardless, the event setting places her date of birth as March 2nd, 2006.

Based on this, we can conclude that:

Ena, Tsukasa, Rui, and Shizuku were born in 2004

Mafuyu, Kanade, Airi, Minori, Saki, Toya, Nene, An, Ichika, Mizuki, Emu, Haruka, Honami, and Akito were born in 2005

Shiho and Kohane were born in 2006

This also means that Ena, Tsukasa and Rui are all older than the MEIKO software (released November 5th 2004), and everyone except Kohane is older than the KAITO software (released February 17th 2006). Every main character is older than Miku, the Kagamines, and Luka based on this information.

Using the information around set ages*, we can also work out rough estimates for when the side characters were born. For example, Arata, who was 19 during the first 3 years of the game, is 3 years older than the members of VBS who were all considered to be 16. Since the members of VBS were born in the April 2005 - April 2006 school year range, Arata was likely born in the 2002-2003 school year range.

* based on how characters like Youta and Miu, who are said to be the same age as Leo/need, were both confirmed to be 16 years old before the 3rd anniversary age-up. Also Haruka's age is confirmed as 16 at a point in time when she shouldn't be 16. Timeloop things.

Based on this, the oldest living side character, Kounosuke, who was 55 pre-3rd anniversary and 39 years older than Emu, was probably born between April 1966 and April 1st 1967. On the younger side of things, Hanano, who was 14 pre-3rd anni, was likely born between April of 2007 and 2008. I've put the rest of the estimated side character DOBs under the cut.

assumed age as of 3rd anniversary in brackets (literally just pre-age-up age + 1)

Rakunosuke Otori - April 2nd 1922 ~ April 1st 1923 (98 (at time of death. would be 100 if still alive))

Hinako Arisawa - April 2nd 1956 ~ April 1st 1957 (66)*

Kounosuke Otori - April 2nd 1966 ~ April 1st 1967 (56)

Jean Riley - 1967~1968 (55)

Harumichi Aoyagi - 1968~1969 (54)

Shin'ei Shinonome - 1973~1974 (49)

Mr Yoisaki - 1975~1976 (47)

Mr Asahina - 1976~1977 (46)*

Ken Shiraishi - 1978~1979 (44)

Taiga Kotaki - 1978~1979 (44)

Mrs Asahina - 1980~1981 (42)*

Yoshiki Shindou - 1982~1983 (40)*

Shuichi Hiiragi - 1983~1984 (39)*

Yuuka Kazamatsuri - 1990~1991 (32)

Keisuke Otori - 1991~1992 (31)

Shousuke Otori - 1994~1995 (28)

Daigo Kijima - 1994~1995 (28)*

Tatsuya Okazaki - 1999~2000 (23)

Yuuki Akiyama - 1999~2000 (23)*

Ayaka Saito - 2001~2002 (21)

Hinata Otori - 2001~2002 (21)

Iori - 2002~2003 (20)

Mio - 2002~2003 (20)

Arata Tono - 2002~2003 (20)

Souma Miyata - 2002~2003 (20)

Asahi Genbu - 2003~2004 (19)*

Reki Bakuno - 2003~2004 (19)*

Kotaro Mita - 2004~2005 (18)

Sakurako Seiryuin - 2004~2005 (18)

Nanami "Nanamin" Hayakawa - 2004~2005 (18)

Futaba Natsuno - 2004~2005 (18)

Arisa Higure - 2004~2005 (18)*

Ayumi Tabata - 2004~2005 (18)

Hibiki Miyake - 2004~2005 (18)

Shuuta Hayashi - 2004~2005 (18)

Ibuki Taniyama - 2004~2005 (18)

Yuu Hagiyama - 2004~2005 (18)*

Yuina Uchiyama - 2005~2006 (17)

Shouta Hayashi - 2005~2006 (17)

Miu Takagi - 2005~2006 (17)

Youta Yoshizaki - 2005~2006 (17)

Riho Hasegawa - 2005~2006 (17)

Saku Kousaka - 2005~2006 (17)

Akari Enosaki - 2005~2006 (17)*

Chiharu Tsubaki - 2005~2006 (17)*

Mai - 2006~2007 (16)

Hanano Yoshizaki - 2007~2008 (15)

Additional notes (mod is rambling atp):

Rakunosuke died when he was 98 years old. In the WxS main story, Emu says that he died a year ago. Assuming Emu was 15 at the time, they have an age gap of around 83 years. The year of birth listed here was based on that assumption.

We know that Kanade's mother died aged 30, but we do not know when she died. She is still alive in flashbacks set roughly 10 years prior to the events of game.

Characters marked with an asterisk had their ages officially given as one year less than they are given in this post. The reason for me adding a year on is because of the confirmation in a livestream of Daigo's age being 27. Daigo is meant to be the same age as Shousuke, whose age was given as 27 prior to the 3rd anniversary. Based on this we can assume that NPCs from the Brand New World era have their ages taken from the same time frame as characters from the Journey to Bloom era, i.e, pre-3rd anni (and this also confirms that NPCs inexplicably don't age but we'll ignore that for continuity reasons).

We do not have confirmed ages for Nagi, Sakaki, Ohara, Cedric and Slade, Natsuomi and Shuji, Suzu, Elena and Rebecca yet. Shuji is in university so is likely in his early 20s. Suzu is said to be around the same age as Nene and Emu. Cedric and Slade are said to be close in age to VBS (possibly a little bit older).

Nagi's age is left blank in the fanbook due to it not being revealed that she was dead at the time of publication. She is younger than Taiga, but we don't know by how much, but nonetheless she was likely born in the early 1980s. It is unlikely we will ever know her exact age.

Ohara is stated to be in his mid-30s, placing his birth year as somewhere in the 1980s, likely around 1986-1989. Sakaki is an old friend of Ohara's, so he is likely a similar age.

No NPCs are given exact birthdays

[dream-thief-forever-amen]

Pit Babe Ep 1 - commentary

Wait his name is actually Pit Babe???? I thought it was a metaphorical title… like Cutie Pie.

Heightened senses. How very Spider-Man?! I imagine that would indeed be problematic in a car shop filled with men and gym lockers…

Wow. He is gay Top Gun strutting out into the track… work it, bitch…

My goodness he is good looking. God surely loves some of us more than others, eh?

Those round glasses do kind of give him an anime stalker vibe so fair assessment.

Uh… surely that’s not normal? Just asking a complete stranger to borrow their race car? Dude, start smaller… geesh.

Jesus! Our man works out.

What does his cheesy tattoo say?! I must know… full sausage? Wtf… that can’t be right…

Nerdy boy is living the dream right now.

The lighting in this trash locker room is angelic. Also Pit Babe (is that truly his name? Help, it’s so cheesy!) is pulling this pouty sexy power move off like a pro? It’s a miracle nerdy boy did not cum on himself the second PB touched his waistband.

It has been too long since I chewed on someone’s neck! Ack!

I appreciate the old school gay club hook up vibe to this introduction. You are gay? Omg, I am also gay! Let’s go to the bathroom and fool around in the stalls! Ain’t no shame in it, cuties, you only live once.

Okay the cutie with the furry maroon sweater and the pony dob is all sass.

This show has Kinnporsche vibes. In that’s its cringey, ain’t a woman in sight, and the lighting is fabulous in every location. And we all know why we are watching it.

This little nerd is a weird character thus far. But PB does not seem to think so at all so maybe I am just reading the scenes wrong.

Ominous shrubbery maintenance. I love villain coding. Give him a bonsai tree and a really gaudy ring… message received.

Everyone calling nerd guy “Babe’s new boy” is funny to me cause they all look the same age… honestly he even looks a bit older than PB. And it just heavily implies everyone views PB’s boyfriends as walking dildos, which is funny pissy gay hazing and I approve. It would have been funnier if they called him “Babe’s new toy,” actually.

OMG that full body suit in the corner just scared the pants off me! I startle too easily for that shit.

Nerdy guy works out too! Nice arms, sir.

No kissing?! Wtf we got hooker rules? Or is this because of his extra senses? I guess that could be quite nasty if your sense of taste is enhanced… the real reason PB bottoms… he can’t stick his face between the cheeks.

This nerd must be huge, cause he is off putting af. Why does he act so weird?!

Admittedly he is super f-kable in that apron. Are these boys verse? Cause someone needs to top this nerd at least once, his subservient vibes are off the charts.

He doesn’t have pheromones? Am I gonna have to understand omegaverse stuff to get this show?

Bull sausage? wtf is this tattoo?!

Full Sausage? I mean… okay… but why…

PB has a very long neck.

Well, it’s definitely a Thai BL.

Ya’ll are freaks for loving this show.

I’m on board too. ;)

[zuko-always-lies]

Incomplete List of Metas (2024)

What does Ty Lee actually want (Ty Lee meta)?

One time Azula was "selfish"

Lo and Li

What exactly were everyone's character arcs supposed to be?

Zuko's choice in The Crossroads of Destiny is more interesting if you realize that he completely hated both Aang and Azula

Azula's expectation from Zuko

Zuko's "love" and Azula's expectations

Azula's lack of control over Zuko (Crossroads of Destiny through DoBS)

Why is Zuko obsessed with the throne?

What was Azula's actual truth/lie ratio with Zuko?

What ties Azula to her canon path?

Katara lowkey finds Ty Lee to be terrifying.

Zuko got so many unearned chances from the Gaang

A Comprehensive List of People/things Zuko Betrayed

Book 2 Azula really didn't want to fight Zuko

Characters that Zuko doesn't really "get"

Azula's Strong Emotional Empathy Skills

I had a nasty, non-AU idea about Ursa and Azula

Every time Katara Comforts Sokka

Azula's opportunities to kill Zuko (that she never took)

Unpopular Opinion: Ursa's parenting negatively affected Zuko

Every Single Time Azula Insults or Criticizes Zuko

Legend of Korra and the incredibly long season finales

Worst things morally Aang ever did

Toph bad list (morally wrong/questionable things she did)

Aang didn't try to force Katara to forgive Yon Rha

What did Zuko think was going on at Azula's Coronation Ceremony?

Azula the Hypocrite

What is Aang's opinion on destiny?

Historically Accurate Polyamory and ATLA?

Why did Azula send a message to Iroh and Zuko at Ba Sing Se even before she gained control of the Dai Li?

Zuko trying to comfort Sokka

What Ozai was proud of Zuko for

Suyin Beifong is such a weird character narratively

One interesting thing about gondola escape in The Boiling Rock Part II is that the scene seems to be almost designed to insulate Azula from moral responsibility for the Warden attempting to have the gondola dropped into the Boiling Lake

f/m Azula ships

Ozai is the only reason Azula was ever allowed to be powerful...

Little Mai, Ty Lee character beat

Azula would think that Ty Lee is not very suitable to be Firelady.

One thing I can't get over is that Iroh refused to attend Zuko's coronation

We need more fics where one of Ty Lee's biggest problems with Azula is that she feels Azula favored Mai over her

Azula was already going to break the cycle of abuse (and Zuko maybe won't?)

I think Mai might have some serious resentment toward Ty Lee post-war

Sokka and Zuko preparing for battle contrasted

In defense of Admiral Zhao and how he treats Zuko (or he's still a dick and an imperialist, but this is why/how his actions made sense to him).

What Suki felt sorry about (Suki meta)

One thing I think people forget is how jealous Sokka was of Katara's waterbending, how resentful he was of her being able to bend when he couldn't

Aang the prankster

Sokka and Katara were pretty mean to each other, and that's OK

Aang's Independence

Attention world: I have located clear and unambiguous evidence that Katara abused Sokka (Just kidding, of course)

Respect and the Zuko-Ozai Agni Kai

The First and Second Time We See Azula

Azula is the family member Zuko cares the least about, by far [and no, it's not because she's mean to him and no, this is not a post about Zuko's morality or anything like that]

Another interesting Aang moment

Shower thought about Sokka/Yue

[the-badger-mole]

Aang was a kid who was the sole survivor of a genocide. Why doesn't that factor in your opinion of him?

I've talked about this before, but his age and tragic backstory are irrelevant. ALL of the main characters are children with tragic backstories, and they are more empathetic, have more growth, and their tragic backstories...actually matter.

Listen, for all people whine about how often Katara talks about her mom (which isn't really that often), it's clear how her mother's death shaped her as a character. It's clear how witnessing her mother's death formed her worldview, and Kya sacrificing herself for Katara made a mark (she never turns her back on people who need her? COME ON! That is obviously her trying to save people the way she couldn't save her mother). Even her wanting to learn how to fight and not heal (which is an insane battle advantage, btw) speaks to her trauma around not being able to defend her mom.

Even Sokka's trauma around the loss of his father and not being deemed old enough (big enough/ strong enough/ smart enough) to go with Hakoda and the other warriors come through in his recurring need to prove himself (coming up with the big battle plan for DoBS, breaking his father out of prison, learning swordplay, etc.). It's woven so neatly into the narrative. His trauma matters to his story.

Toph is the least developed of the Gaang, and her issues with her parents have more impact on character than the destruction of the Air Nomads have on Aang. Heck, Zuko's entire arc hinges on compound traumas.

Meanwhile, Aang's trauma....? What trauma? Yes, the loss of the Air Nomads is a tragedy, but we, the audience, only know it's a tragedy because we have real world knowledge telling us so. Personally, I was in 3rd or 4th grade when I began learning about the Trail of Tears, and in kindergarten when I began learning about slavery (I was born in Harlem. The kindergarten I went to taught us accordingly). When I saw ATLA, I had a frame of reference for the genocide of the Air Nomads. But it didn't really seem to bother Aang all that much. Oh, sure, it did come up when it was convenient to the plot, but it mostly seemed to be a way for Aang to expound on the superiority of Air Nomad philosophy and society to whoever he's talking to. Aside from that, and his first rush of feeling when he found out what happened to them, the loss of the Air Nomads doesn't seem to effect Aang all that much. If he doesn't care about his tragic loss, why should I?

Aang is a fictional character. I don't have to extend the same pathos to him that I would to a real life person. It is the writers' duty to make me feel for him, and they did not. The way he's framed is the issue. And here is where I really start retreading things I've said before, but I think it needs to be repeated (again and again and again). Aang is not framed as someone who has a lot of growing up and learning to do. I could give him a pass on his worst traits because he's a child and still growing, but the show doesn't frame him that way. The show wants me to see him as a precocious imp who's wise-beyond-his-years but still has a cheeky lil' mischievous streak. It's not trying to frame his lying to the quarreling tribes in The Great Divide as a bump in his journey to becoming an effective leader bridging different people together. It wants the audience to laugh at him getting one over on the foolish tribes who absolutely went back to fighting as soon as Appa was out of sight. The show isn't framing his desperation to get the village in Avatar Day to like him as a foolish pursuit he needs to get over if he wants to be strong in the face of adversity. It wants us, the audience, to feel bad for him because his charm isn't immediately bringing the people over to his side. It wants us to be indignant that the villagers don't see how important Aang is and wont' support him. The show isn't framing Aang's non-con kisses with Katara as bad because it hurt her. It isn't making a point to that Aang needs to care about her feelings. It wants the audience to feel bad for Aang and hope for Katara to come around because he's A Nice Guy™️©️®️. Aang is never shown to be a particularly good friend to any of the Gaang, let alone him being kind to strangers just because that's his heart. All of that I would allow to be just him being a dumb kid with growing to do if the show hadn't made it clear that Aang was perfect and didn't have to change, and in fact the world should change for him.

Aang's age and tragic backstory are irrelevant because the show made them irrelevant. All they left us with was a Gary Stu character who hides his selfishness under a thin veneer of cheerfulness. It's not good enough.

[kquil]

hi pretty baby!! I have a very important question for you:

the year is coming to a close and it has brought us many great things (like your sweet sweet stories) and I'm simply dying to know.... if you were to do a 12 fics for 12 months sort of wrap up of your own blog, what would be your 12 most memorable fics of the year? which of your pieces really stood out to you? I'm eager to hear what my friends' proudest works are!

xx

i'm a pretty baby? my stories are sweet? ( /)///(\✿) AHHHHHHHH!

and that's such a fun thing to do as a way of rounding off the year omg! this requires some thought though, so i hope you don't mind if i take a while to answer

these fics aren't in any particular order but would say that the following are my 12 most memorable fics this year... (i will also include fics from my side blogs as those are my works too hehe~)

DIVORCING ORION BLACK CHAPTER 5

this was the fic that i first posted when i came back from my hiatus so it holds a special place in my heart~

DIVORCING ORION BLACK CHAPTER 6

DIVORCING ORION BLACK CHAPTER 7

i'm including all updates for the DOB series because i honestly think it's my magnum opus and i managed to stay consistent with updates until the end of the year ever since coming back from my hiatus

JAMES POTTER | HOW TO DRESS (nsfw)

this is from my nsfw side blog ; it took me an entire year to write this oneshot for james and it's 16k words long, which makes it the longest fic i have ever written AND it's the first ever NSFW oneshot I've ever written and posted haha! so it represents a big milestone for me

SIRIUS BLACK | BIKER BOY

this was dedicated to one of my dearest moots and close friends here @somewereinthegalaxi / @thebestofoneshots and was a fun little way of showcasing an interest we both share motorbikes, biker boy boyfriends and sirius black (づ> v <)づ♡ 

REGULUS BACK | HOLD HER PART 2

i've always loved the trope of characters being given insight into their futures somewhat, in fact, a niche of fanfiction i adore reading is based on that e.g marauders watching/reading the harry potter movies/books or harry traveling back in time and interacting with the marauders -- this is my little way of finally dabbling in the trope without writing another fix-it fic atop DOB (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

REMUS LUPIN | ONE NEGRONI

this combined a guilty pleasure of mine, mob boss aus and the marauders, mainly featuring our beloved Remus Lupin -- it just seemed natural making him the mob boss  (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵) hehe~

JAMES POTTER | GENUINE

i literally couldn't sleep until i wrote this and i'm so happy i did too because you darlings seemed to really enjoy it too! now i have a deep love for the actor james x singer reader trope (๑>◡<๑)

JAMES POTTER | LIKE LOVERS DO

this was sooo self-indulgent ( /)///(\✿) it's a manifestation of my love for james potter and the friends to lovers trope -- this fic is secretly how i want to my relationship with james to blossom in another universe where he's no longer fictional and i have a chance at making him mine!

JAMES POTTER | BOUDOIR PHOTOSHOOT

i've been seeing tiktoks of this on my fyp for a long time and i kept thinking of james every time i saw it, my real life responsibilities kept getting in the way of me writing it until i finally committed writing it even if it meant sleeping super late again (๑˃́ꇴ˂̀๑)   

GROUP EFFORT SERIES

this imagines series is from my mcu + misc. side blog and i predict having a lot of fun with it in the future ; i'm writing it from a random thought i had during my hiatus when i got into the mcu fandom, it went along the lines of: i wonder how the avengers would handle babysitting a baby like Jack-Jack from the Incredibles -- i slapped my love for single mother reader tropes on it and this imagines series was made!

THE PRINCESS' SEVEN MERCENARIES

after getting into the mcu fandom during my hiatus, i also fell in love with many of Chris Evans' characters and started reading fics about them too, combine that with my love for fairy tale aus, drawing inspiration from a writer with a phenomenal nsfw fairy tale series and you get this snow white au series with seven of my favourite Chris Evans characters (。>\\<)♡

damn... look at this list makes me realise how much i've written this year despite my hiatus -- i need to give myself more credit since half the time i feel like i'm not writing enough omg! thank you so much for prompting me to do this, my love!

[sapphic-agent]

"If I was surprised at anything, it may have been that it seemed like people were less willing to let her make mistakes than they were with Aang."

I hate Bryke's guts, but the one thing I will agree with him (Bryan) on is this.

I've gotten heat from Aang stans for saying this, but for me Korra will always be a better written character for me. Not because Aang's childish and optimistic and naive or anything like that. That doesn't matter to me. Hell, it's not even for his actions during DOBS or EIP or Kataang. Sure, those things aren't great, but they aren't the issue with his character.

It's not about Aang's actions, it's about how Aang's actions are treated by the narrative.

This is nothing new obviously, I've said this before. Many times. Aang kissing Katara in EIP is treated as him messing up his chances with her, not because he forced something on her she didn't want. The kiss in DOBS doesn't even come up again in the show (and when it did in the comics, Aang blew up and nearly melted her face off so-). I've spoken enough about his holier-than-thou attitude in TSR too and how his message of forgiveness is perpetuated as the right one.

It's one thing that is 100% better in LOK; Korra is held accountable for her actions, by the narrative, the other characters, and herself. A big part of LOK is Korra acknowledging her actions and making the effort to change and be better.

A great counter to Aang repeatedly crossing boundaries with Katara is in Reunion when she warns Asami about trusting Hiroshi and Asami calls her out on giving unsolicited advice. Korra immediately backs off and tries to apologize when she sees that she upset her.

Now compare this to Aang's behavior in TSR or EIP.

And before anyone says it, I know Korra's older. I also know Asami reconnecting with her father is different than Katara wanting to kill Yon Rha. I get all of that.

But honestly? That doesn't matter to me. Because when you're talking about fictional characters- especially character progression and development for the protagonist- addressing flaws is important. Accountability is important. Especially when it comes to how they treat the people around them (love interests like Asami and Korra probably being the most important).

This is what solidifies Korra's character development as being better than Aang's for me.

However, I do think it's because of this framing (and the fact that she's a woman, but shh) that Korra gets more hate. Her flaws being addressed also means that they're constantly apparent. The audience is always aware of them. Whereas Aang's worse actions tended to be brushed over or excused. Or the context of those mistakes were maneuvered to make the audience feel bad for him instead of the one affected by his actions (EIP EIP EIP EIP).

So yes, Bryan, people were more willing to let Aang make mistakes because you and your bestie failed to actually address them

[loopy777]

What do you think about theory that Azula was involved in Ozai's ploy for the throne? Spirit Temple revealed that Azula knows that Ursa helped Ozai poison Azulon, even though as far as The Search is concerned, after she told Ursa about Azulon's order, there is no indication that she hid in the room/hall where Ursa and Ozai made their deal. It seems highly unlikely that Ozai would ever tell Azula unless she was involved, Azula has yet to have a conversation with restored Ursa, and current canon doesn't suggest that there were other people involved from whom Azula could have learned about the details of Azulon's poisoning.

Yeah, even before the expanded material, I wasn't a big fan of Azula having some role. She was just a kid, didn't offer anything to the logically-assumed proceedings (as you noted), and her character in turn doesn't really gain anything from having that addition to her backstory.

After all, she's already traumatized and twisted by Fire Nation culture and the way Ozai raised her. She already tried to kill her brother several times. She has issues with the way her mother reacted to it all. She doesn't really need the addition having abetted a family-conspiracy murder during her childhood.

Honestly, considering what Zuko Alone and DoBS hinted at, even Ursa's involvement was a mystery until the comics introduced the idea that she knows how to make magic poison. Throwing Azula in there as well would just be over-complicating a simple matter of killing a 704-year-old cranky man.

Honestly, the only part I thought needed expansion was how Ozai got named as the heir when Azulon was so dead-set against it (bad-um-tish!) and we still don't have that explained. I continue to think it would have been more logical if Ursa was the fulcrum for that part, somehow providing or being the method for Ozai to be backed by the Fire Sages and Azulon's death not getting much of an investigation. But I don't think there's a plausible way to add Azula to that part, either, although I can totally picture Gene Yang claiming that Azula has heretofore unmentioned magic forgery skills and she uses her small size to sneak into Azulon's office to rewrite the will that he conveniently kept in an unlocked drawer in his desk.

And, not to put too fine a point on it, Ozai has so little content related to something other than abusing his kids or running a war. Why take more away from the one real manifestation of this character's primary motivation?

So yeah, I've never seen a compelling take on it.

[thoughtfulchaos773]

Fishes, Water, & Dreams Part III

Exploring the shows biggest symbolism- water based on Jung's Archetypes.

"Water is the commonest symbol for the unconscious. The lake in the valley is the unconscious, which lies, as it were, underneath consciousness...'" - Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious, Paragraph 40.

Water Symbolism 1- The Unknown

Season 3 has a big focus on water, but we can trace the water symbolism to Season 1, Episode 3. The episode begins and ends with Carmy near water, lost in his thoughts.

This is the viewers experiencing the first of Carl Jung's symbolism in explaining the unconscious—it’s the fear of the unknown, the uncertainty Carmy has—a sense of dread that follows. As he looks into the water, it’s Carmy going into his psyche into the unknown. "Let it rip" reminds him to face his fear of exploring those hidden parts of himself, of his emotions.

Dreams involving water—like Jimmy’s dream of driving to a lake with Carmy’s father or being submerged in a pool—add depth to these themes. Donna’s mention of a fish tank with fish swimming and the glass breaking ties into these concepts as well, exploring emotions and the unconscious.

Water Symbolism 2- A Sydney & Carmy Reflection

A reflection - when water is still, it can serve as nature's reflection, and its surface can mirror our true selves. But reflections also remind us of Sydney and Carmy- like Carmy, Sydney stands by the water to reflect on her innermost thoughts in 3x09- she's mirroring Carmy. As the song sings, choose to enjoy one's time by the water.

When Sydney and Carmy reflect their true selves emerge to the surface. There are often scenes of Sydney and Carmy mirroring each other, but the scene where Sydney stares into Lake Michigan is one of the more potent moments of reflection.

In a moment of openness, of rawness, and experiencing the loss of his brother, Carmy reveals his true self—the rebellious, unbound, spontaneous artist. This is the true Carmy that brought Sydney to him in the first place. The blood orange dish itself is also connected to water—it's a fish with blood flowing, like water, like life itself.

They reflect each other, and by being paired, when one connects with their true self beyond the facade of the world, they discover a path to wholeness.

Water Symbolism 3 Life & Birth

Another note—to visit @whenmemorydies, who explains it so much better than I do—but the water represents birth.

It can represent life itself and the process of being reborn based on spiritual beliefs - think baptisms and life in the womb.

In 3x08, Donna talks about the prolonged process of Mikey's birth, suggesting that it seemed like he didn't want to leave. Water is again associated with Mikey, as he takes his own life near the Chicago River, almost as if he wants to end where he began.

The process of being reborn, besides spiritual beliefs, can also connect to our psyche. The character's inferior functions, which are the unexplored aspects of themselves, come to the surface. Exploring those parts of themselves can lead them to be reborn and whole after such tragedy, to start a new life.

To be reborn, one has to die. I think grief plays a role in water. Not only is it our source of life and a representation of the mother, it also signifies the source of our demise - the cause of death. In a moment, characters can drown in their dark life like Mikey and never come back again.

Fun Fact: Natalie and Mike share the same astrological sign (Mikey’s DOB is 11/15/1979, and Natalie’s is 11/10/1988). Scorpio is considered one of the three water signs in astrology, which are associated with deep emotions and transformation. I wouldn’t be surprised if Carmy and Donna are also water signs, like Cancer or Pisces. This family is stuck in inherited patterns of not exploring their emotions to reach fulfillment. The only person to break this curse of not exploring their thoughts and emotions is Natalie (and crossing my fingers for Carmy).

Water also symbolizes emotions and the flood of repressed feelings, which can be triggered by anxiety and stress.

By grief.

Water & Grief

However, as the energy of my grief expanded, it became titanic, unmanageable. My inferior function was overwhelmed by the unconscious forces making themselves known. - link

Grief, too, plays a role in water. There's imagery in quotes such as:

"Grief is like the ocean; it comes in waves, ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim." – Vicki Harrison

There is also the concept of being overwhelmed by grief, and as grief becomes more intense, our less developed coping mechanisms might come to the surface. Death is a universal human experience, a part of our collective unconscious. For Carmy, thoughts of Mikey lead him to Lake Michigan. We see the water washing over the expo station, and right after that, Carmy takes a moment to himself while cleaning. Marcus also struggles with loss, taking a moment to look at Carmy. Both continue to push themselves while grieving.

Drawing a parallel to Mikey, and recalling episode 1x03, we witness Carmy going through a grieving process. The imagery of water is associated with Carmy once again as rain lingers on his windows, and he stares at his scar. Thinking of Mikey.

Water is not just connected to Mikey but Water is the characters' connection to their true selfs- to experience this connection they have to go through exploring their emotions, and after grief - the most rawest form of emotions comes rebirth - life continuing to flow after death.

[astridhoff03]

Reason why the producers of Chaos theory and Camp Cretaceous should produce a sequel series between httyd2 and 3…

1. they write their characters very well just like the writers from the trilogy

2. they have produced two incredible shows to a already successful franchise

3. they would nail the darker tone and the maturity of the theme of the second and third movie

4. no filler episodes. Don’t get me wrong I like the filler episodes of Rtte and ROB/DOB but they can get annoying sometimes

5. they produced Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, which has the highest rating since Jurassic Park and World

6. Both Fandoms would love it

7. it would be more effective than putting the money in a live action movie nobody ask for, aside from Universal who needs money and doesn’t seem to think about a Win Win situation with the fans.

8. they would include more adult themes so you would think:

[pedrosyouknowwhat]

i think nathan bateman would be a great leader for the raiders, but pope would absolutely have something to say about that, i think poe would be a catfish type, he's the kindest of this group and a little more helpful than catfish, but still intimidated by the other guys too much to actually save you.

OUTCOME 3, bro, there is not enough fanfiction for this character and its sad because he's possibly my favourite oi character. he's literally *made* for survival, i have a feeling him and whiskey could either get along like a house on fire or be mortal enemies.

blue, shiv, and cecil seem to be sweethearts on the surface, but they've had to kill for their food before, they're possibly the worst of this group since at least nathan, santi, leto, and jonathan don't try and hide the fact they're an asshole, these three will lure you into a false sense of trust, getting you to 'formulate' an escape plan with them only to laugh in your face and dob on you to the others.

i think this group would be a lot more functional than the pedro group since a lot of them are leader types, they know how to survive out in the wilderness and how to work as a team, but theres still a dangerous amount of masculinity here which means not much good can come out of them finding you and the pedro group.

in my mind they either find reader after she's somehow managed to escape (though not super realistic as i think the other guys would always have a pair of eyes on her), ran a mile away, only to bump into her 'saviours' who end up letting her tag along back to the house where they exchange her for food, water, goods, their own goes at her.

or, alternatively, this group stumbles across the house while she's been locked inside for the day whilst everybody works. they break in, ransack the place to find her huddled up in a closet. a long six hours go by until the pedro raiders finally make their own journeys back home to find strange men sitting in their living room. i can picture catfish being the first to return home, and subsequently being beaten up before reader cries out for him.

not sure if you do anon tags on here, but in case you do, i'll be 🥩anon from here on out!

~ 🥩

omg you are a genius

I definitely need to do more research (watch more movies lmao) but I see this being a drabble or alternative universe inside the fic!!!

Pope and Catfish reunion (? omg like they did the heist before the out break and he’s like what the fuck you doing in my house? or when he recognizes him among the men!!!

I imagine Pope would be like the fuck is this and Catfish would be like “honestly I don’t really know”

Nathan Bateman as a leader would honestly be more terrifying than Joel. Ten times more ruthless and ten times less structured since the outbreak.

O-3 looked so hot when I googled him, but I think Whiskey would be too intimidated by so much unknown and toxic masculine energy around his little plaything and immediately become overly defensive.

LETO??? FROM DUNE? say bye to your ass. Or any hole, actually.

I’d love to play with MoonKnights multiple personalities for this, like imagine the same man being so warm and cooing one day, and then snapping out of it.

I’ll totally see it more like them breaking in, and seeing her tied up to the bed, as if waiting for them. You are sucking Nathan’s cock as the Pedro group entered the house, Catfish of course impatient to see reader and taking as many of them as possible.

The others begin to drop in, and despite being one man down, no one can stop them once Marcus and Joel see what they have done to what’s theirs.

or if it’s the other way, and she is escaping, fuck they’ll even offer reader to them, make the notion get into her pretty little head that there is no escape. And if taking 7 cocks is a lot, imagine 14.

Joel would keep their number in case you’d ever misbehaved again. God you’d be putty once they are done.

Gonna do research about it so I can give you something better than this!

And yes, I love having anon tags!!! so cute thank youuuuu

[justanotherthrowaway1950]

(tw abuse)

Something I've been thinking about:

Sometimes I feel that there's not much we know about Azula. The only two episodes she's given depth beyond being a villain are Sozin's comet and the Beach. Even the time where she and Zuko were in the fire palace didn't show much.

I wonder if this contributes to multiple perspectives people have on Azula. Mainly anything along the lines of 'she shouldn't be redeemed, bc that was the point' and 'she wasn't abused'

The show implies many things about her. And there are many fabulous metas about her.

(I feel most of the ways Ozai abused Azula are implied. And this is another meta, but I find that a lot of people don't recognize that a character is abuse unless it's explicit and a point is made of it, especially if a character is shown to have some form of privilege.)

But what we are shown explicitly is a villainess who kept following her dad's orders until people turned on her because of it. Not much about why she is the way she is, beyond 'she was her dad's favorite' and does everything to please him.

Agreed. I've always felt that they should have removed or condensed some of the pre-DoBS episodes in S3 so they could have, among other things, given us an episode showing the events of ATLA leading up to Sozin's Comet from Azula's POV so her fall to madness wouldn't be so sudden, we could see how Ozai abused if her, if he ever did, and we would have had a definitive answer to the nurture versus nature debate that was only recently answered by her solo comic.

(If you want to see me go into details with my perceived issues with ATLA S3, please see this.)

But even accepting the "fact" that Season 3 had too much going to dedicate time to fleshing a character who was ultimately a secondary villain and foil to Zuko and Katara, it's really odd that they waited 15 years to finally fill in the gaps in the Azula's character and answer long-held questions by fandom, even if a non-insignificant portion of them view the answers as belated, fan-driven retcons. And even then, Azula's solo comic really doesn't really go into detail, either through flashbacks or dialogue, about Ozai's abuse of her, which leads to the problem you identified of people failing to recognize a privileged character as an abuse victim unless it is explicitly shown and directly pointed out by the text.

For example, in my opinion, based on my personal observation, a lot of fans view Azua's solo comic all but saying she is a product of nurture who felt she had no choice but to become his monster after Ursa left the Palace as a retcon caused by the creators becoming aware that Azula had a substantial fanbase that saw her as a child failed by her country and father, instead of a irredeemable, psychopathic monster who deserved her fate.

Especially since the comic fails to show Azula becoming progressively more evil after Ursa left due to the pressure she felt from Ozai, making it seem like Azula was trying to justify being a bad person since she was young to avoid taking responsibility for her current lot in life.

Or in other words, a Draco in Leather Pants situation that managed to actually affect canon.

I know the comics' main goal was to depict the transition between Aang and Korra' eras, and then fill in the time period between Sozin's Comet and when Aang's movie is supposed to occur after Avatar Studios became a thing. But I wish the comics from the start focused on, among other things, fleshing out characters who weren't a main character in the show like Mai, Ty Lee, and Suki, among others.

In my opinion, it's a shame that we know so little about the characters and world in Aang's era despite the comics being a thing for most of time after the show stopped airing.

(Yes, I know the roleplaying game is filling out the lore. But most people haven't read it, so the above statement applies to most ATLA fans.)

[convexityhunter]

Malevolence ref sheet

You know what's missing in TWOB?... Gladiators and dragons!

Info:

Name: Malevolence

Aliases: Head of the Vengeance Arena, Pit Master, Purple Ass (By ???)

Species: Dragon

Height: He's described as tall, likely around 7 feet or a little more than 2 meters tall at the head

Age depicted: 24/25 (DOB: July 14th 1993)

Gender: Male

Orientation: Straight

Element: Fire (Vermillion)

Element mastery: Talented (Class 5/10)

Personality:

Malevolence comes off as a charming, successful young dragon, having seemingly hit the jackpot already at his age. While he likes to boast about his prowess in his alleged fighting days, some people (Including his gladiators) secretly speculate that it's a lie. The rumor was stoked by his young age and the minimal amount of scars, though those who believe he was a gladiator himself think that he was simply extremely good at his job.

Malevolence is also very vain and embodies the stereotype of the treasure-obsessed dragon. A hedonistic thrill seeker, he almost always gets his way, rarely losing his cool, but mostly to keep up his enchanting façade. He relies on his fame and attractive looks to attract wealthy sponsors for his tournaments, so that he can finance the lifestyle he thinks he deserves.

However, the real Malevolence is far from the public image he portrays: he is a dragon elitist, believing that dragons are superior, which explains the overwhelming number of dragon guards in his arena and their higher pay compared to non-dragons. He shows little to no care to anyone who isn't a dragon, or deems unworthy of his time.

Malevolence is also a savant manipulator: once someone joins his roster, the only way they'll get out of the arena is inside a coffin. No tapping out. He also has the tendency to claim eye-catching goods for himself, particularly exotic pets of living and deceased gladiators... And that included Convexity Hunter's red tailed hawk, Icarus, much to her wrath.

The only exception to this dragon's cruel treatment seems to be [REDACTED], his favorite warrior, the champion of Vengeance Arena, the apple to his eye. Still, the relationship between the two remains purely transactional and highly strained.

Notes and trivia:

-Cape is optional, but he often wears it. Textures are optional as well.

-Scars aren't very relevant, except the large one on his neck (On the left reference). That's a patch of missing scales that have been ripped off, and it's an important detail.

-He set fire to a curtain at 7 minutes old.

-On average, according to his fighters, he will boast "like a peacock" 28 times a day.

-He likes to think of himself as the 'cool boss' who 'graciously runs this thankless place and keeps it together'.

-His breath smells of smoke and maple.

-Malevolence is not a fan of anime. But he often bothers his favorite gladiator with crosswords and sudokus.

-Similarly, he is not fond of videogames, seeing them as "tranquillizers" that cause people to chase meaningless virtual achievements instead of real-life milestones.

Art and character by me.

[sunrisens]

[ … ] ❀ you’re not from around here , are you? i figured because you totally just missed { ALINA HEO } walking by. don’t tell me you don’t know who { SHE } is ? they kind of look like { KIM DOYEON } and i could be wrong but i think that they might be { 25 } years old right now. they’ve been living in palmview for the last { TEN YEARS }. and i don’t know if anyone has ever told them this before but they kind of remind me of { SOPHIE HATTER } from { HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (BOOK VER) }. if you stick around the town long enough you might catch them in action working at { SEAGLASS HEIGHTS FARMERS MARKET } as a { SEAMSTRESS }. you see this town isn’t really that big of a place, some folks like to call them the { SCRAP OF SILK HIDING STEEL } of palmview! they took a liking to the name too after a while, go figure. oh crap, they must have heard me yapping. they’re coming this way. i got to warn you though, rumor has it they can pretty { RETICENT } at times. i wouldn’t take it too seriously though, from the times i’ve spoken to them they seemed pretty { TRUSTING } to me. we see each other all the time since they live in that { ONE ROOM } apartment beside me over in { SEAGLASS HEIGHTS }

FULL NAME AHREUM 'ALINA' HEO. NICKNAMES NONE. AGE, DOB TWENTY5, JULY 17. ZODIAC CANCER SUN. GENDER CIS WOMAN. ORIENTATION BISEXUAL. PRONOUNS SHE/HER. LANGUAGES SPOKEN ENGLISH, KOREAN. HEIGHT FIVE FOOT SEVEN INCHES. HAIR NATURAL BLACK, WORN LOOSE. EYES BROWN. PERFUME FLORAL SCENTED, SWEET. CHARACTER INSPIRATION SOPHIE HATTER (HMC, BOOK VER). FATHER JINYOUNG HEO. MOTHER MIYOUNG BAEK. SIBLINGS TWO YOUNGER SISTERS. PARTNER NONE.

alina, born in new york before her family moved to palmview, was always reserved as a child, preferring her own company as opposed to children her age. it wasn't anything noteworthy, but she was shy, and found it hard to reach out if others didn't reach out first. the move was hard on her as well, and she struggled to fit in.

(parental death tw) alina first shouldered responsibility at the age of seven, when her father passed away and left behind his wife and three daughters. it was a heavy, confusing time for the heo's, made worse by the fact alina's mother coped by spending nights away from home. at seven, alina learned to be mother, father, and sister.

their family business of tailoring was on the rocks. they weren't at all established in the community yet, and alina's mother was making no effort to do well in the work she had received. alina, in desperate need, taught herself everything she could learn about sewing and tailoring, letting her mother take orders before she fulfilled them herself. it was hours and hours of work, late nights and candlelight, but it was work that paid off.

as soon as she graduated high school, alina took over the tailoring shop full time, putting the money earned towards her sisters' college education. she wants them to live worry-free, unlike her, and is more than willing to shoulder the burden so they can enjoy themselves.