#Also my eyes lok!! Pretty :3

[whspermy-name]

MY BANGS LOOK SO CUTE RN :D

[waitingonher]

lok 

fem

persona: ok so im like. a pretty goofy gal. i’d also like to say im funny but idk,, im thoughtful, nervous, creative, a bit of a rambler? i also like to think im ambitious. im pretty chill, a go with the flow type of person usually. short tempered but i never really get there. quiet when alone but around people i get pretty loud and jolly. certified cat lover<3 /// physical: chubby/pudgy but pretty strong, pale skin, lots of scars (from cat scratches and accidents, like 2 lil burn scars on my wrist from hot glue), stretch marks, kinda short lmao (5’4), shoulder-length wavy/curly brown hair (more on the curly side), glasses, freckles just beneath my eyes and lots of beauty marks or whatever you call them all around..blue-gray eyes, long lashes, a little scar on my lip i was born with. no tats or piercings but i do wanna get a snake tattoo that runs from my back and splits down both my arms. i also wanna get a bridge piercing, snakebite piercings and/or a medusa, and a belly button piercing. i have short nails and i also wear braces

(in order of prevalence) physical touch/gifts/quality time

writing, drawing, fashion/clothes, i like taking walks even though i never do, i also like to clean, and i also like cooking/baking even though i never do☠️and i luv music. and i have a deep interest for psychology and voice acting

honestly it doesn’t matter much to me,, maybe something cute and classic like a movie date or going to a place for lunch/dinner? doesn’t matter to me as long as i can get to know the person well enough

nothing i can really think of physically, but i like someone who can keep up with me when it comes to intelligence so we can have like. thoughtful talks or something! if not that then definitely someone who has the same humor as me/someone i can laugh with and just chill with and someone i don’t have to prove myself around. also i do like ppl who are taller teehee

thanks!!

🪐🪐🪐

you matchup is . . . korra!

it was honestly love at first sight when korra saw you.

she's absolutely in love with your eyes and if she could, she'd spend the entire day just staring into them.

korra's also in full support of your piercings! as soon as you tell her about the piercings you want, she's already researching reputable piercing shops and booking an appointment LMAO

korra is our physical touch queen! she's always going to have some part of her touching you no matter what. especially in public! it's more of a reassurance thing for her to know that you're there. being the avatar has her terrified of potentially losing you :(

i fully believe that korra is the type of person to use those incredibly cheesy pick-up lines and moves on you! for example, she'd point off in the distance behind you and when you look over, she'd pull your face back in to give you a kiss LMAO.. she's so cheesy...

she'd also use cringey nicknames for you! and it's gotten to the point where you can't tell if she's joking anymore...cuz why is she calling you "sweet cheeks" on a daily basis now...

korra is SO good with conversations! she can go from laughing her ass off with you about some immature joke to having the deepest conversation about the meaning of life.

she's the best person to go to when it comes to talking about your plans and ambitions in life! not just because she's your girlfriend, but because she's genuinely just as passionate about them as you are. korra loves hearing about your goals in life and plans to stick with you til you see them through <3

. . .

author's note: first matchup in weeks oops. school is back in session lord help me

[a-master-procrastinator]

And now the rest of characters recreated in Soul Calibur VI! I'll try to keep it shorter than the last post, but no promises.

(btw I made a sideblog, once I'm done with swtor related part of Soul Calibur VI, I'm moving all SC realted stuff there ---> @soul-engraver)

I kinda? figured out a way to make togrutas and twi'leks in SC. Sort of. The game does different species (races?), but none that resemble those from star wars. However, there are 3 slots for special equipment that can be positioned (almost) however you like, so I chose some that somewhat resemble lekku and montrals. It's pretty wonky, and placing these on the heads looks very silly, so I added headgear to cover it a little (though for some reason Iressa looks better without headgear, just the cornrows)

I know that I could just not recreate them here, but something about having these characters interact (even if only through fights) just brings me some joy.

(I say joy as if three of them don't have their lives ruined as the result of interacting with each other)

Hair and face are waaaay off, but this game lets me give Rya a double-bladed weapon that can separated in two blades, and that's exactly her fighting style in my headcanon (in SWTOR I have two versions of Rya, one as shadow, other as sentinel for this exact reason).

Here I tried to recreate Vylneer, Auletta's secret apprentice, and the reason she looks so different in these pictures is exactly because she is a secret apprentice.

The first outfit is her 'official' appearance. Nox can't exactly hide the fact that she has a second apprentice, but she went to great lengths to hide Vyl's identity. In public when she's known as Kallig's apprentice, Vylneer wears robes that cover every inch of her skin and make her body difficult to recognize, and a mask that also modifies her voice.

The second outfit is for her cover identity as a mercenary (though I'm not sure if she's hiding the Sith eyes or not), since she was already living among the gangs of Nar Shaddaa prior to her training. And the third is her new cover identity that was used to infiltrate the Alliance and spy on them. In order to make herself less recognizable, Vyl changed hairstyle and tattoos. The goal wasn't to completely change her appearance, because this cover identity is just a continuation of the previous one, just not revealed to most people (though she does slip up once).

And here's the rest of my OCs. Won't comment (bc it's a lot of characters to cover), just want to show them here.

From Lette legacy (Jett as Outlander/Alliance Commander):

Zin Lok (a side character, Beirya's friend and kinda Jett's nephew)

From Sinnomin legacy (Imely as the Outlander):

Xennes (Consular)

Kerstes (Sith Warrior)

Zem (Imperial Agent)

Kaali (a side character, Kerstes's partner)

Vitonru (a side character, raised as a living weapon against Imely. it's a long story. also the screenshot shows an incorrect fighting style for him, but i was too lazy to edit that)

Ljora (a side character, Vitonru's partner)

Yatse (a side character, Ljora's friend and caretaker)

Breena (a side character, not sure where she fits, she just exists)

From Seinna legacy (Airistan as the Outlander/Alliance Commander):

Elixess (Smuggler)

Xaetel (Sith Warrior)

Val (Sith Inquisitor)

Myk (Bounty Hunter)

From Crustulum legacy (Vintu as the Outlander):

Ollin (Jedi Knight)

Lirijynn (a side character)

[madrone33]

Every time Aang goes into the the Avatar State in ATLA:

Damn this took a long time to research and write out. I made this mainly just because I wanted to have a comprehensive list of all the times Aang uses the Avatar State, and then use that to see how effective it actually is.

(And also 'cause I wanted to compare it to LoK so I could confirm my hypothesis that by giving Korra complete control over the Avatar State it severely lowered the stakes, and thus they had to drastically diminish the actual power and effectiveness of said Avatar State if they ever wanted to have any sort of tension and suspense ever again. Except this only succeeded in making the Avatar State weak and Korra lose all the time while using it; it's now less "God Mode" and more "slight power up." Kinda getting off topic, soz. If you want to see her chart for comparison I might post it lmao)

Anyway, this was pretty fun to put together, though I might've missed something - I'm just going off of memory and wiki lol. Keep in mind that this is a lot of the time my interpretations of events, since Aang doen't go around just telling the audience what his motivations and triggers are. But the show does a good job showing the main things, so I'm just reading between the lines a bit to get some more concrete numbers.

Uhhh it's really long. And kinda complicated, even for me re-reading this, so. Enjoy my statistics, I guess?

Legend:

SUCCESS = the Avatar State succeeded in resolving what triggered it.

FAILURE = the Avatar State failed to resolve what triggered it.

?[words] = uncertain on whether or not the outcome was a success due to emotional triggers and the real problem being unfixable/out of reach.

[words]. = involuntarily entered.

[words]! = voluntarily entered.

-[words] = entered because of immediate physical danger.

_[words] = entered because of an overwhelming emotional trigger.

'[words] = entered for a reason other than immediate physical danger or immediate emotional trigger.

Timeline:

0 AG:

1. -SUCCESS.

Trigger: Aang and Appa are drowning in the ocean during a storm.

Actions: airbends an air pocket around them that eventually freezes over into an iceberg.

Exits when: they’re freed by Katara 100 years later, and it becomes clear the danger is past.

Winter, 100 AG:

2. -SUCCESS.

Trigger: he’s drowning in the ocean after being attacked by Zuko.

Actions: waterbends a waterspout in the form of a twister and sweeps Zuko and his crew off the deck.

Exits when: Zuko and his crew aren’t in a position to attack, so the danger is past.

3. ?_.

Trigger: overwhelmed by grief and anger from abruptly seeing the skeleton of Monk Gyatso, and being confronted by the realisation that his entire people were murdered while he wasn’t there.

Actions: generates hurricane-force winds.

Exits when: Katara and Sokka help the emotional pain become manageable again.

(Notes: not gonna call it a success, because the Avatar State couldn’t fix anything. It couldn’t bring Gyatso back.)

4. '-SUCCESS!

Trigger: Zhao and his men are waiting in the Fire Temple to hurt Aang and his friends once the Winter Solstice ends.

Actions: channels Roku directly into his body, who frees Katara, Sokka, Shyu, and Zuko, and then erupts the volcano underneath the temple.

Exits when: the Solstice ends, the danger also being passed.

5. ?_. (almost enters)

Trigger: nearly being overwhelmed by anger and betrayal while telling Katara that the monks wanted to separate him and Gyatso.

Actions: starts forming a gale.

Exits when: Katara helps ground him and bring him away from the emotionally painful precipice.

(Notes: the past is the past, and the monks are long gone. The Avatar State can't fix this.)

6. -SUCCESS.

Trigger: they’re all drowning in the ocean during a storm. Again.

Actions: forms an air sphere around everyone and flies Appa out of the ocean and into the storm's eye.

Exits when: the danger is past.

7. 'SUCCESS!

Trigger: people are dying and he needs to ask the Moon and Ocean spirits for help. He watches the koi fish in the Spirit Oasis while meditating to try and cross over into the Spirit World.

Actions: talks to spirits in the Spirit World.

Exits when: Aang has the information he needs, Hei Bai helps him return to the physical realm, and his soul returns to his body.

8. ?_SUCCESS.

Trigger: overwhelming anger and grief after the Moon Spirit, Tui, is murdered and the culprit, Zhao, got away.

Actions: merges with the Ocean Spirit, La, and lays waste to the Fire Nation fleet besieging the city.

Exits when: La releases him after the Moon is returned and the emotional pain becomes manageable again, the Fire Nation fleet no longer being a threat.

(Notes: technically a physical success since they beat back the Fire Nation, but it’s complicated, because the main problem was that Tui was dead, and La couldn’t actually do anything about that. It was Yue who fixed it, not Aang or La.)

Spring, 100 AG:

9. ?_SUCCESS.

Trigger: overwhelmed by grief and rage after General Fong “kills” Katara to force Aang into the Avatar State.

Actions: uses airbending to blast the general away, rises into the air on a tornado, and crashes down to the earth, releasing a powerful earthbending attack on the general, his guards, and his fortress. A small air sphere surrounds him while Roku talks to him in the Spirit World.

Exits when: Katara is safe, the General is no longer a threat, and Roku has finished talking to him.

(Notes: complicated success. The general stopped being a threat, but the problem was that Katara had seemed dead, and Aang hadn’t been able to do anything about that. Not to mention, he fell for the general’s trick, so it doesn’t really feel like a victory.)

10. ?_SUCCESS.

Trigger: overwhelmed by pain and fury at the sandbenders who kidnapped and hurt and sold Appa, and needing answers.

Actions: a large air sphere surrounds him, lifting him up into the air and creating a sandstorm.

Exits when: Katara helps the emotional pain become manageable again. The sandbenders are not a problem.

(Notes: kinda a success? He manages to intimidate the sandbenders into fessing up, but it feels wrong to use the Avatar State this way, and anyway, it doesn’t bring Appa back, and Aang still isn’t any closer to finding him again.)

11. -FAILURE!

Trigger: impending death or capture for himself and Katara while battling Azula, Zuko, and the Dai Li under Ba Sing Se. He decides to let go of his attachments and enter the Avatar State.

Actions: emmits a concussive blast and floats up in a pillar of light, fully in control of the Avatar State.

Exits when: Azula mortally strikes him with lightning.

12. 'SUCCESS. (enters briefly)

Trigger: he's revived by Katara healing him with water from the Spirit Oasis.

Actions: two second glow. He lives, but the Avatar State is locked.

Summer, 100 AG:

13. -SUCCESS.

Trigger: while almost being killed by Ozai, his back hits a rock in the exact spot where Azula struck him with lightning, re-opening his chakra and triggering the Avatar State.

Actions: collects all four elements and compresses them in a sphere around him. Moves at incredible speed, ploughing straight through obstacles whereas Ozai has to dodge said obstacles. The sphere can be used both for offence and defence. Since the sphere contains all four elements, it allows Aang to earthbend and waterbend while away from a natural source.

Exits when: he purposefully stops himself, refusing to kill Ozai.

(Notes: I'm calling it a success because the Avatar State works; it saves his life, and beats Ozai.)

14. 'SUCCESS!

Trigger: Wulong Forest is burning.

Actions: purposefully enters and then exits again, with only a momentary glow of realised control. He pulls in the ocean until all the fire is extinguished, before lowering the tide back again.

Statistics:

4/14 - (28.571%) - enters involuntarily from physical danger.

1/14 - (7.143%) - enters voluntarily from physical danger.

5/14 - (35.714%) - enters involuntarily from emotional pain.

1/14 - (7.143%) - enters involuntarily for a half second glow as he's brought back to life.

1/14 - (7.143%) - enters voluntarily to channel a past life in response to a threat of physical danger.

1/14 - (7.143%) - enters voluntarily to cross into the Spirit World.

1/14 - (7.143%) - enters voluntarily to enhance bending in order to complete a task.

8/14 - (57.143%) - success.

1/14 - (7.143%) - failure.

5/14 - (35.714%) - emotional unknowns.

4/14 - (28.571%) - physical danger success.

1/14 - (7.143%) - physical danger failure.

3/14 - (21.429%) - technically succeeded in fixing the physical danger, but it's an uncertain outcome because of emotional triggers and the real problem being unfixable.

2/14 - (14.286%) - complete emotional uncertainties.

4/14 - (28.571%) - other success.

Conclusion:

Aang has an above average success rate while in the Avatar State.

Almost a third of the time is miscellaneous successes, another almost-third for physical danger only, and a fifth for technical physical successes with complications.

Emotional triggers happen the same amount of times as physical, though they're never resolved cleanly.

Involuntary use happens far more often than voluntarily.

He only outright fails once.

[jade-of-mourning]

okay sorry hi I know I just sent you an ask about my cat being alive but you’re like,, my favorite internet stranger so I thought you should know. I calmed down a little bit and read your response to my fourteen page ask

IM SO HAPPY I HYPE YOU UP‼️‼️ I love being peoples’ hypeman and you’re like,,, awesome so that’s super cool. don’t rush yourself but if you’re feeling pumped to share I will be your #1 fan. I’m probably gonna finish a little 4+1 thing and post it to my blog as a little grand reveal as snailon if that’s cool :3

ALSO I’m so happy you posted the cat thing on ao3 it was really nice and super well written and thank you for the suggestion! the cat is being washed thoroughly right now and I am on guard duty of the bathroom door. he was (we guess) stuck in the sewage of the construction sight beyond the wooded area behind our house.

SO MORE LOK THOUGHTS

you exactly caught my vibe (again) when you mentioned the insane repression mako and bolin are doing in canon. I honestly think there’s nothing more than elevator music behind bo’s eyes in canon because if the creators allowed anything else it would solely be The Horrors and they needed someone on that godforsaken team to be emotionally available and somewhat happy. and try as he might, mako will always be uncontrollably feral. I know by b4 he just has an all out brawl every morning fighting to get his hair presentable. give up and be the scraggly, strange detective that somehow knows everything that you were always meant to be.

which, for the record, is not to say I like his hair. I want him to grow it out more so he stops looking so fucking dumb with his stupid pointy ass hair (I really really really hate mako’s hair) but I also think it would grow out kind of wavy/curly which. yeah. I will be coming back to this later when I yap about avatar mako btw.

also PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEEE write mako absolutely losing his shit he 100% so much deserves that. he cries maybe once yearly and it is scheduled so I think he should get to murder y’know. just a little bit. he’s just a girl (insert sad coquette hamster)

makos hand being fucked up is the Vision. you understand so much. the gloves are so suspicious (the same way the shirt-on-at-the-sauna is in the comics. i see you, you little transmasc) and going off the logic of the last ep that with enough charge/consistency, lightning output can scar/mangle the exit point of the bender so. mako learning to use his bending mostly on his own fucking up and rocking his own shit until zolt shoves someone over to go clean up the rookie cause finding someone new is a pain. of course it’s a patch job (as you mentioned everything for them would be) so I imagine it’s like. pretty mangled. like stuff just slightly out of place, lots of raised skin and discolored patches and generally like uncomfortable to look at. I’d bet (like you said) bolin is really the only one he’d trust to see his hands unless makorrasami became like. a thing.

also if you have any,, fic recs,, I would be very not opposed,,,,,

OKAY OKAY SO AVATAR MAKO THOUGHTS. I’m actually going insane about this au.

so for 1: this idea was mostly a silly little ha-ha but imagine raava gets really fucking confused being in their first ever mixed kid and just. skips right back to air after mako. would that not be the funniest shit ever. like the earth kingdom would already be pressed that their go was a mixed kid who was a criminal firebender for the first bit of his life, but imagine how the FIRE NATION feels having their avatar “skipped over” because mako (again, CRIMINAL FIREBENDER) was technically a fn avatar.

and this keeps happening. more mixed kids. mixed kids out of the cycle ordered pairs become avatar. raava gets fucking lost. everyone loses track of whose element is next and world leaders everywhere are sobbing. mako would be so very pleased with himself. he and the half-avatar water tribe person would be clinking together glasses of alcohol in heaving and watching it all go down.

I was also thinking about this half-avatar playing a role in mako’s journey. They would be roughly fifteen years younger than the gaang, so it would make sense for them to still be alive (since raava could return to aang and still maintain them well enough) during mako’s era. do you think they could take on a mentor or distant relative role for mako? maybe being half-avatar would make them the world’s only dual bender, and they would understand mako’s struggle with wielding more than one element in a way no one else would be able to. bonus points if the styles they maintain are either earth and fire or the ‘opposite’ elements (like air+earth/water+fire—water+fire would be good to use to teach balance and that fire is not only to harm but to nurture, and that water parallels it as not only to nurture but to harm)

and that brings me to my third thought; both avatars followed in series have had a conflict or struggle with their bending. aang had to learn the other three types of bending—his conflict was finding teachers. korra needed to find it in herself to flow with the winds of airbending. but copying korra would be lame. so what’s mako’s conflict?

there’s where my pitch comes in (and kind of the point of the half-avatar); mako figured out how to use air, earth, and water as well as he uses fire (if with less refinement) within maybe a week (if that) of being discovered as the avatar. he’s a scraggly street kid used to clawing at what he can get and holding on tight: being discovered means he doesn’t have a particular reason not to make use of the other elements if need be, so he figures out how.

but the key words there are if need be. he absolutely can lift a chunk of earth five times his size, or entirely soak a full grown adult in pond water, or slap someone around with a strong gust of wind or power a building for a month with a bolt of lightning. will he be doing any of this? no. not unless his or bolin’s lives or livelihoods are threatened. mako’s struggle is that outside of life-or-death combat? he’s about the same as a nonbender. because bending has always been a risk—a life threatening and life ending risk—and one he isn’t willing to take unnecessarily. his journey is learning that bending can be used for more than harm or to enforce fearful order.

fourth and kind of final thought for avatar mako for now—he’s the earth avatar in this, but he looks very fire nation in canon (at least, my understanding of ‘fire nation’ v ‘earth kingdom’ features) so I was thinking, the avatar represents the four nations (kind of five now if we’re counting republic separately) (oh my god new thought what if there was an rc avatar ‘whose avatar is it’ ‘air by my guess’ ‘nah it’s republic city’s turn now’ ‘how does that even make sense? their blood is of the four nations.’ ‘I don’t make the rules man. ask the spirits, they’re right there.’) but they always look like the nation they’re from so. what if all the avatars look a little mixed but just lean heavy into native. so mako looks like a mixed kid already (though I’d make him more ek—will specify in a sec) but then just gets more mixed from. everywhere. but it’s not even generalized like,,, he looks like he’s from specific subcultures the last avatars came from. earth part looks kyoshi even though his dad wasn’t from the island. fn part looks like caldera city even though mom wasn’t. air—less noticeable, but he looks like aang, in a way. very temple-kid-y and less nomad-y. if that makes sense. and I’d say water part is kuruk but there’s also the ‘avatars look like their past life’s lover’ so. katara (ADDING TO THE PARALLELS IM GOING INSANE)

so this is the part where I elaborate on the ‘more earth kingdom’ part of mako’s design in my head. this also is part of the avatar-looking-like-lover thing. so ek complexions are pretty ranged, but a good deal of them are darker skinned. mako’s pretty fair, but I propose as a kid whose dad is white-brown (he’s an Italian farmer boy who tans heavy and he looks brown) and is also white-brown when I spend too long outside (ten minutes) in the summer; mako who tans so quick into a more typical dark ek tone. also bolin is darker because he deserves melanin. he gets to keep gold eyes cause they’re cool but I propose.. heterochromia!!! green/gold, could be some grayish/blue? js an absolute melting pot in there. then I associate ek with less pronounced but boxier facial structure, so either his face stays like,,, long, and is softer or stays sharp and is boxier like bolin’s. honestly prefer the first one but both are neat. also hooked nose. I don’t make the rules. katara also has a hooked nose btw it’s real I saw it.

also mako and katara have the same glare (sokka told me) and they scrunch their faces up like little carbon copies of each other when they’re focused. by the way I love to parallel the shit out of katara and mako can you tell,,

I just realized I wrote a longpost length ask. I’m so sorry.

I think I had something else to say but it’s getting late and it’s a school night 4 me so I’ve gotta get to sleep.

rest well! your favorite anon,

🐌

ah hello sorry for the extremely late response snailon!

I honestly think there’s nothing more than elevator music behind bo’s eyes in canon because if the creators allowed anything else it would solely be The Horrors

tbh you're so correct about this. let bolin have Feelings, 2024!!! (i find it so interesting that the general consensus is that bolin is more well-liked by the lok fanbase, but mako's fans are deep in the trenches whereas it's a lot harder to find active bolin fans. i stay forever respectful of the even fewer of them out there. not entirely sure how to articulate it, but yeah. bolin deserves better both from canon and the fanbase and one day i'll have to deconstruct his entire existence because he's just a fascinating creature who represents sort of a paper cutout of a stereotype

which, for the record, is not to say I like [mako's] hair. I want him to grow it out more so he stops looking so fucking dumb with his stupid pointy ass hair (I really really really hate mako’s hair)

HAHA that's valid. tbh i'm pretty neutral towards it; i like s1-s3 hair better than s4 hair because while i think that mako's poor attempt to comb himself into some semblance of Proper Society is pretty accurate to his character, i'm just not a big fan of it (though the fact that it looks bad is probably a further testament to his character never finding proper integration into society)

he’s just a girl (insert sad coquette hamster)

again. coughing at the essay i'll never finish writing on this. (okay off topic but i really really love transfem mako so much but also just fem mako in general and i need to put this out into the world. early lok fandom was on a seriously good kick when they were all drawing and writing lesbian makorra is my confession. mako being a girl makes my brain whirr)

also if you have any,, fic recs,, I would be very not opposed,,,,,

fic recs list i've written up but there's a lot of other good ones out there. immediately off the top of my head, people whose writing on mako i really like in general include slacktension (incredible author & artist from original airing with a mako voice of all time and great character dynamic exploration), rockingthegraveyard (best mako & bolin dynamics), wastetimeandtype (i especially like their casual ship fics and they made me an accidental fan of huan/mako), deerstalkerdeathfrisbee (wuko author but their mako voice is impeccable), bobtailsquid/steinbecks (another author from original airing whose writing style is just so poignant and accurate to character), themanofmanyhats, and velkynkarma. idk how you feel on makorra specifically but i confess, i accidentally really do like them and there's a lot of good stuff on ao3/ffn for them that i could share :P and i too am a fan of makorrasami but tragically, there's not a lot of that out there; however, all of old_and_new_friends' makorrasami works are fantastic. they're a multishipper who writes a lot of mako and very well, and while while i haven't read a lot of their fics because not all the ships speak to me, the ones i have read are all great. so yeah i'd suggest you take a look to see if there's anything there up your alley!

raava gets really fucking confused being in their first ever mixed kid and just. skips right back to air after mako. would that not be the funniest shit ever. like the earth kingdom would already be pressed that their go was a mixed kid who was a criminal firebender for the first bit of his life, but imagine how the FIRE NATION feels having their avatar “skipped over” because mako (again, CRIMINAL FIREBENDER) was technically a fn avatar.

okay this is actually so funny what LMFAO i didn't take into consideration that the avatar of the generation being from your nation is probably generally a point of pride and that mako's general existence is like,, the greatest possible insult to that in all the ways khsjdfbhfhsdbh i might have to casually include that in some outsider pov because the sheer comedy potential oh my god

do you think they could take on a mentor or distant relative role for mako?

i realize i probably didn't word it very explicitly in my initial explanation of this au, but what i actually meant was that raava couldn't leave the non-aang host entirely until their death because her presence was vital to their living. it's casually playing off the theory that yue was meant to be the water avatar, and so she was born sickly because of the absence of spiritual energy her destiny had intended for her — that raava's presence plays a role in the sustaining of her host's life. to sum up what i mean: raava is the vital life juice infused in the destined avatars. (roughly. it's been a while since i looked at this theory lol) therefore, while they continue to live independently of aang's actual death, raava can't move onto the next avatar until this not-avatar also dies. so they are very much dead as mako's immediate predecessor. but it's a great idea and i love that your brain thinks this way!

mako’s struggle is that outside of life-or-death combat? he’s about the same as a nonbender. because bending has always been a risk—a life threatening and life ending risk—and one he isn’t willing to take unnecessarily. his journey is learning that bending can be used for more than harm or to enforce fearful order.

oh interesting take. i can see that. in planning this au, i was thinking more among the lines of him only viewing bending other than fire to be a risk, and that he only ever figured out earthbending up until the point of where the story starts, but yeah i didn't really consider which element would be his block. he's honestly a pretty versatile guy in my opinion — i feel that he moves in a very airbender way (read: korra's spiral-motions in a leaf in the wind are meant to demonstrate her picking up mako's style of deflection, evasion, and waiting to strike), but his mannerisms are very earthbender in his stability in reality/rooted nature despite his lack of general stability in life. obviously he's got the firebender in him; i think he has a lot of pent up emotions and he generally represses them very well, but when it does get unleashed then he has a very typical-firebender explosive sort of manner. (i'm still adamantly against the take that he's a hotheaded no-thoughts raging firebender man though LMAO i don't understand how it's such a thing. sorry for the tangent. i'm resigned.) and for water, i feel it's adjacent to air in being less about head-on motions, and it's pretty reflective of mako's tendancies of roundabout-ness when it comes to matters of the heart. i don't really know how to articuate it but he has the most waterbender vibe. it's the katara so what i'm saying is that i don't really see him struggling with any of the elements in the way aang struggled with earth and korra with air, and you pose an interesting point. i'm not sure if your proposal would be in line with my current planning of this au, but it's still a really interesting idea that i'll mull over! it's a neat segway into the whole amon/equalists arc that i'd never cover but would still be set in the near future and i like the concept. thank you for sharing :)

but he looks very fire nation in canon

oh yeah i agree LOL i've seen edits of switching mako & bolin's eye colors (+ that iconic screencap from s1e2) and as much as it doesn't suit him i still stand by that he SHOULD'VE had green eyes and bolin gold. it's a small detail i've seen randomly included in a couple fics from way back when and it always makes my heart happy haha. i agree that lok dropped the ball in terms of portraying all the mixed families that exist in the series and that there was so much potential there, both with mako & bolin as main cast characters and background in the kataang kids (plus by proxy the airkids) — not just in the crossover of cultures, but just physical character design as well.

(also katara & mako parallels actually drive me crazy too lhfdhgksfjd)

(gonna be real dude by the time we finish feeding off of each other we're going to have oc-ified mako so much that he's not even from the legend of korra anymore)

i really love receiving your asks!! <33 but yeah this was a long one so it took a while to find the time to sit down & deconstruct into halfway cohesive responses. i'd love to chat about mako with u more in greater detail but it's a little bit tough with these longass askbox exchanges </3 i'll just put it out there — if you're comfortable, feel free to reach out to me from your main and we can talk through dms! and if not i'll always be happy to receive you in my inbox; just know that my responses will tend to be delayed because i have a lot going on in my life haha. it's lovely to hear from you again :)

[askhuntik]

The incredible TCK representation in Huntik makes the show timeless and more relevant than ever.

or "I convinced my 13-year-old brother to rewatch Huntik with me and he opened my eyes about why I keep coming back to this show all these years later"

Question: Are Lok and Sophie the ultimate Third Culture Kids? An analysis.

Definition:

Third culture kids (TCK) or third culture individuals (TCI) are people/kids who were raised in a culture other than their parents' or the culture of their country of nationality, and also live in a different environment during a significant part of their child development years.

Part 1 - Lok:

Lok is Irish/British presumably due to where his mother lives, his last name, etc. We meet him while studying at Venice Prep Academy. Presumably, he has studied there at least 3 years, because he has been in the same class as Sophie for those, by his own account.

Canonically in the show, they are 15, meaning he also spends the next 2 years traveling the world. He doesn’t ever return to his (presumed) home country for an extended period of time and mostly associates with other TCIs such as other seekers.

Lok is known to be very adaptive to any situation he is thrown in. He has no fear of change and actually embraces it. He attends a multinational/international school, and it is very typical for schools like that to value such qualities in their students (source:  attended 3 of those). It is not at all uncommon that he remembers Sophie sitting in front of him for 3 years, because it is pretty unusual to have the same people in class with you for multiple years, due to people constantly moving. Most stay for either 1,3 or 5 years - maximum at the same school/in the same place.

Also his skill at solving puzzles could have helped him get into the school - the entrance tests for schools like that are those stupid IQ tests, either with the paper that you fold then punch holes in then unfold, or the ones with shape codes that make you dizzy if you stare too much at them.

(source: have taken those tests to get enrolled in school like that and my mom was a teacher at several of those schools)

Part 2 Sophie:

While she was born and partially raised in France, we don’t actually know if she is French per say. But her larger family is from an incredibly diverse background, which explains why we also find her at Venice Prep Academy. Same thing with the skills and characteristics like with Lok. 

It is absolutely probable she never noticed Lok because people come and go all the time in those schools. Because she has lost her family it is entirely possible she never tried to make many friends because she knew she would lose them in 1/3/5 years' time anyway.

Her typical book smarts are a normal and expected characteristic given the school environment I previously mentioned. Most TCKs also speak multiple languages and know how to travel alone/look after themselves at a younger than expected age, as she displays in the show.

This is also why no one, in particular, may bat an eye at Sophie and Lok missing school or traveling a lot - it is normal in schools like those to randomly disappear for weeks at a time, you do have to alert the school, but strict attendance is never a requirement as long as you aren't falling behind and makeup all the test you missed while you were gone.

Argument: Are all Seekres TCIs?

While most Seekers seem to be TCIs, it isn't all of them, as indicated by “regional” seekers we meet through the show, like the team in Rouen - Peter, Billie and Annette, who are portrayed as profilers and are shown to be pretty clearly French and nothing screams TCI about them to me, personally. I might be wrong to think that though.

Final notes:

Look at those two, Lok and Sophie, breaking all the stereotypes, not one British hate the French joke throughout the show.

They are both citizens of the world and for sure qualify to be “TCK”s and they are portrayed as such really well, starting with the way they adapt to situations to how they act when faced with other cultures or their “own” cultures. It is also very typical for TCKs to stick together, even if they don’t come from the same “original” culture, like those two have shown throughout the series.

Personal Connection:

This show came into my life when I first had to adapt to the TCK lifestyle. I was 12-13 and had just moved to a new country and was thrust into the 'international school' system with people coming and going all the time. I related a lot to the characters in this show, especially Sophie and Lok because I saw a lot of myself and what I was trying to grow into mirrored in them. I think this is the only show that I have ever seen that shows even a little bit of this lifestyle and this system.

My brother is now the same age as when I started watching the show, 13. He watched Huntik with me back in the day but couldn't really grasp it. He was 4, when he was thrust into the 'international school' system and he is so happy to see himself in Lok now that he is older. The show is littered with small easter eggs that are so relatable to both me and him, aside from being huge history nerds, but also we recognize skills and behaviors that we have developed due to how and where we were raised mirrored by the main characters and I feel like that is why Huntik will always be timeless to people like us, because no matter how choppy the animation could be, no matter the fact we will probably never get a season 3 or a reboot, it represents us in a way nothing has ever been able to.

[swordgayist]

cultural appropriation in ATLA (hinduism edition)

i’m sure there’s already a ton of posts about this, but whatever, i’m still making one idc. 

ATLA’s cultural appropriation, everyone knows about it, the white people don’t speak about it, and the asian and indigenous people get ignored. we know the cycle. but i wanted to come here and highlight some of the most prominent examples of ATLA abusing hinduism, as i am kinda sorta hindu (i was raised in a hindu household, i go to chinmaya mission, that kinda shit). i might forget some things so keep that in mind.

this is gonna be divided into 3 main sections, since there are different ways that they disrespect hinduism that i don’t wanna lump together.

and i’d say i know a lot about hinduism but that doesn’t make me an expert, obviously, so if other hindus have anything to add and/or correct then please do !! and if anyone else wants to share how their cultures were appropriated then please do that as well !!

so let’s get started shall we?

appropriating hinduism

1) the avatar

we’ll start with the most obvious example: the avatar itself

i know that there are parts of the avatar mythos that are taken from other cultures as well but the idea of the avatar itself is primarily from hinduism.

basically in hinduism, the term dashavatara refers to the 10 reincarnations of lord vishnu (the god of preservation), with avatar(a) meaning form or incarnation in sanskrit, and das(a) meaning ten. it was said that whenever the world was out of balance, lord vishnu would come down to earth in a certain form to restore balance. Each reincarnation is considered a different life with a different story. the avatars of lord vishnu are often considered the saviors of the world.

so basically, the central idea of the show and the actual name of the show is largely based on hinduism.

2) chakras

many different indian religions have a concept of chakras (chakra meaning wheel or circle in sanskrit), but hinduism is the one that primarily preaches the system of seven chakras, the version used in ATLA.

chakras connect the physical body to the ‘subtle’ body (referring more to the spirit and the psyche) by connecting parts of the body to aspects of the mind. the idea is that through different forms of steady meditation you can manipulate the different chakras and allow the pure flow of energy through the body.

the whole idea of chakras on ATLA is that aang has to unblock them all to let the cosmic energy flow through him so that he can go into the avatar state at will. so yeah, pretty much that whole idea was taken from hinduism.

3) terminologies

these are just a few terms that were taken from hinduism. i’m pretty sure there are more that i can’t think of right now but yeah.

“agni” kai 

i’ll be honest i don’t know where the ‘kai’ part is from, i don’t think it’s from hinduism but if it is well fuck me i guess.  ‘agni’ in hinduism is the god of fire, so the creators used it in ‘agni kai’, the name for a firebending duel.

“bumi”

this is in reference to the hindu word for ‘earth’, which is bhoomi. this is also in reference to our goddess of earth, bhoomi devi. also this doesn’t really bother me but i wonder if the creators knew that bhoomi is a name typically used for women (as are most hindi names ending in ‘i’/‘ee’).

in general, concepts like having multiple complex gods (the spirits) who are capable of good and evil and the reincarnation cycle are prominent in a lot of asian cultures, including (and arguably primarily) hinduism.

mocking hinduism

now we get into the mockery of hinduism in ATLA, because it is very much there.

1) whoever the fuck that baboon guy in the spirit world was

now what the fuck was this.

i mean i wouldn’t say this is the most egregious example of them making fun of brown people but lord why did this even need to be there? this random guy from the spirit world has an indian accent ? and is fervently chanting ‘om’ for some reason, and it’s clearly meant to be seen as comical. also portraying brown people as monkeys....... really.

2) combustion man/sparky sparky boom man

when rewatching ATLA in 2019 i actually had no idea that this was a thing, because the last time i had watched it was as a kid and i didn’t finish it.

so lord was i in for a surprise when i saw...

now... now what.

if you didn’t know, combustion man’s ‘third eye’ is designed to replicate the hindu god of destruction, lord shiva. right down to the vibhuti on his forehead (referring to the three line markings around the third eye).

in hinduism, lord shiva’s third eye is used to reduce people to ashes, though as far as i can recall, not very frequently. the primary significance of the third eye is that it represents the ability of higher spiritual thought and higher consciousness.

the ATLA writers take the ACTUAL significance of the third eye, throw it out the window, and then take its destructive abilities to make a super duper cool and dangerous new firebending technique.

and if that wasn’t bad enough, the actual person who uses this technique, and is meant to emulate a GOD who is PRAISED, is a scary, burly, half metal man who is a villain and an assassin. not to mention the design of his facial hair replicates that super duper scary “terrorist” depiction of brown people, particularly of muslims, that white people are so thoroughly terrified of for no reason. 

this is a parody of a god, and they portrayed him as this terrifying, maniacal fucking assassin who, along with p’li, the combustion bender from LOK, is constantly referred to as a “third-eyed freak”. i’ve made this analogy before and i’ll do it again, this is like making jesus into a hitman.

now onto my favorite example...

3) guru pathik

ah, this motherfucker.

i don’t really have any problems with him as a character, i mean hell, must’ve taken a fuck ton of patience to handle aang’s “why would choose cosmic energy over katara” bullshit.

but we all know it, we see it plain as day, don’t even try to deny it.

“guru” literally just means teacher or guide, so i don’t really know why pathik needed to be referred to as “guru” so distinctively from aang’s other teachers and guides, but that’s just extremely trivial compared to all the other issues with this character.

first of all what is this character design? what is he even wearing? if they’re trying to replicate the clothes of swamis and priests and stuff this is already wrong, realized people don’t dress like this. and why the fuck does he have an indian accent? and why was this indian accent done by a non indian (brian george)?

once again, the poor but extremely heavy indian accent is clearly meant to be mocking, if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t’ve gone out of their way to get a non indian person to DO an indian accent, and instead they would’ve just gotten an actual indian person to play the role. 

and oh yeah, the onion and banana juice. because hindus just eat weird shit right.

whether it’s actually weird or not, the show certainly portrays it as weird. and as far as i know no hindu actually fucking drinks onion and banana juice.

ironic because brown people can absolutely destroy white people in cooking. but i digress.

i know what you’re all waiting for. because the guru apparently didn’t have enough fun with guru pathik, so they just had to come back to him in book 3:

where do i begin.

so this is obviously john o’bryan’s super funny and hilarious depiction of pathik as a hindu god.

usually when a god has multiple arms it’s to carry an array of things, from flowers to weapons to instruments, and one hand is typically free to bless devotees (ie. goddess durga and lord vishnu respectively):

but of course white people see this as weird and so they make fun of it, hence guru pathik having multiple arms just flailing about aimlessly (save for the two that are being used to carry the aforementioned onion and banana juice).

then there’s the whole light behind pathik’s head which is usually depicted in drawings of hindu gods to show that they are celestial.

also what the fuck is he holding? is that supposed to be a veena? because this is what a veena looks like:

and i assume the reason this was added was to mock the design of goddess saraswathi, who carries a veena:

but that right there in the picture of pathik looks more like a tambura than a veena. 

and it also just kinda looks like a banjo?

but i guess the animators just searched up “long indian instrument” and slapped it on there. actually no, that’s giving them too much credit, they probably didn’t search it up at all. 

and then the actual scene is pathik singing crazily about chakras tasting good or something while playing the non-veena and it’s all supposed to be some funky crazy hallucination that aang is having due to sleep deprivation. just some crazy dream, just as crazy as talking appa and momo sparring with swords or tree-ozai coming to life.

our gurus and swamis and sadhus and generally realized people are very respected in hinduism, they’re people we look up to and honor very much. and our GODS are beings that we literally worship. and the writers just take both and make caricatures out of them for other white people to laugh at.

4) other shit

before we move to the next portion i just wanna mention there are also smaller backhanded jabs that i can’t really remember now, but one example was when zuko was all “we’ll be sure to remember that, guru goody goody”. or when a character would meditate and say “om” only when the meditation is supposed to be portrayed as comical or pointless. or in bitter work when sokka was rambling on about karma. small things like that. but moving on.

south asian representation, or lack thereof

now i finally get to the “losing” hinduism part. by this i mean the lack of actual representation there is of south asians (the region where hinduism is primarily practiced) despite the fact that hinduism plays such a big role in the show’s world design.

i think it’s safe to say that broadly the main cast consists of aang, katara, sokka, zuko, toph, azula, iroh, mai, ty lee, and suki. 

a grand total of none of these characters are south asian. the writers don’t even attempt to add any south asian main characters. 

there are characters with dark skin, like haru and jet, but a) they’re not confirmed to be south asian and don’t have any south asian features or south asian names, b) they’re side characters, so they don’t count as representation, and c) even if they were south asian and main characters, jet wouldn’t even count because he’s portrayed as a terrorist.

the ONLY truly south asian character we get is fucking guru pathik. so yeah. not representation.

i don’t get how the creators of this show rip off of hinduism (among many other south asian cultures they rip off of), mock indians, and then don’t even have the decency to HAVE a main character who is south asian.

i’ve never gotten a chance to compile all this, and this definitely isn’t all the creators have done, but i hope this was somewhat informative.

[azucanela]

being zuko’s s/o would include hcs?

BEING ZUKO’S S/O [GENDER NEUTRAL!READER]

BEING KORRA’S S/O | BEING SOKKA’S S/O

SUMMARY: being zuko’s s/o from the confession to the weddin’ [say this but make it rhyme the way those singers do ya know]

WORD COUNT: 2.5k

WARNINGS: kissing, very mildly implied nsfw, soft zuko, a dragon

A/N: these are gonna be extensive bc there is no scenario but if you want whole fics there are like 6342 zuko fics coming since everyone is a zuko simp. also wow this is really long um i hope its what you wanted!

GETTING INTO THE RELATIONSHIP

you guys have probably known each other a long time, because homebody does not fall for just anyone, so if you become the object of his affections, you better feel HONORED. hehe honored 

i feel like it takes him a lot of time to actually accept his feelings for you are beyond platonic. the main reason he falls for you is probably your consistency in his life since thats something he tends to lack. like his mom? gone. his dad? kicked him out of the only place he ever knew. his life is filled with major changes so if you guys have known each other since childhood then consistency is key

once he realizes he likes you he kinda panics because what if you don’t accept him? what if you leave? even worse, what if you leave because he likes you? so now he’s panicking, and naturally, as one does, Zuko avoids his problems. You, being the problem. And his emotions, but he is in denial so

definitely talks to his uncle about the two of you A LOT, especially when he is first figuring out his feelings and trying to figure out what to do about them

his uncle is an elite wingman, constantly tries to get the two of you to be alone in the same space or get information out of you in regards to you

when it comes to confessing i can see a few situations

situation one is that zuko confesses completely by accident, freaks out, disappears, avoids you even more, like homie is a mess. after you get fatally injured, or maybe when he thinks you are asleep, or he just kinda blurts it out in conversation when you guys are doing something domestic. regardless, it is entirely by accident, and now zuko is freaking the heck out. 

“i really like this tea.”

“i really like you.”

“excuse me-”

“i goTTA GO FEED MY DRAGOn Y/N!”

“you don’t have a dragon!”

so that’s how zuko gets his dragon from LOK, storytime over

you kinda have to find him and get a word in before he runs off because he is really scared of rejection, he doesn’t want you to leave and assumes that if the situation is never addressed then you can’t leave woohoo problem solved. 

his uncle yells at him lol

when you corner him you gotta confess super fast and handle his anxieties because he is super worried about you hating him now even though it is the opposite. 

“please don’t leave me.”

“i’m not gonna leave my boyfriend.”

“your- your what?”

“we are dating now. i like you, you like me, so we are dating.”

situation two is equally chaotic, but far less dancing around the feelings since you confess! congrats! you have more balls than me! im so proud! good job bb!

when you confess, its probably late at night, a comfortable silence between the two of you, or maybe he’s ranting about something, like how dumb the concept of tea is idk. regardless this is DOMESTIC, so it’s soft and cute and you are just like you know what screw it this nerd is so easily flustered by me maybe he likes me back! look at us cuddling like a couple! might as well make it official!

zuko.exe error, not working

you broke him good job. 

he externally panics and internally congratulates himself while panicking. he is very shocked you feel that way for him because he is an oblivious boy. 

“honestly, i don’t understand why my uncle likes those flavored water leaves so much-”

“i don’t understand why i’m in love with you.”

“WHAT.”

if y’all were cuddling on a bed or smth he THROWS YOU OFF BY ACCIDENT SKJDHJFHKHWJKF oopsie, he just gets up so quickly that you kinda go tumbling.

homie literally asks you why so naturally you gotta start listing all of these reasons why because hes like perfect and beautiful and yeah we all love him a lot :D marry me zuko <3

you gotta give him a hot minute to process all the information you just gave him, he is in shock for a short while, kinda just sitting there confused. once it gets through his thick skull that you like him he’s gonna thank you 💀

then he’ll ask you how you wanna handle this and boom you have a boyfriend now good job! 

DURING THE RELATIONSHIP

dating during a war is hard so when y’all first start dating, probably towards the end of the war when he finally joins the Gaang, its gonna be really chaotic and you guys are still gonna be sorting through everything, like what kinda couple do you wanna be? neither of you know

kisses are rare during this time, especially since zuko is a generally private person who doesn’t really do PDA much, especially since he wants to avoid teasing and judgement from others. he’s a real people pleaser at the end of the day, he literally spent three years of his life looking for someone the world thought just disappeared permanently because he wanted his dad’s validation.

when you two do kiss, it tends to be a night in your shared tent, even then Zuko is weary of Toph’s seismic senses.

his kisses tend to be soft and sensual, he really just wants to take his time and enjoy it. however, bb does have a temper so you can expect some spice on occasion when he gets frustrated.

this comes later on in the relationship, once the war is resolved, but that just brings about new problems! like having to deal with the new fire lord who is always busy as your boyfriend!

especially at the beginning, when he’s newly crowned and everything is busy and new and he’s struggling with being organized, he rarely has time for you. however, you are likely his right hand, main advisor, general, whatever your area of expertise is he will find you a position in the castle, unless you tell him you want to stay out of politics. though, deep down, he wants to give you a position so he can spend time with you

once things calm down and he’s got being fire lord in the bag, he starts blocking in time during his day to actually take you out on dates and stuff

at one point just disappears for the whole day with you and everyone thinks he’s been kidnapped until they realize you aren’t around either

that’s not very responsible of you guys smh you have a nation to run 

is soft with you, though zuko’s temper definitely lessened when he became Fire Lord, but it no doubt shows itself sometimes, but never with you

well need your assurance sometimes because he gets insecure

like why is the beautiful amazing intelligent woman dating me i do not understand what the heck why have you not left me yet

knock some sense into him

also gets worried that he is a horrible ruler and wants you to tell him that he in fact does his job very well

did you forget you helped end a war zuko?

kiss. his. scar. give him love, its one of few physical parts of himself that he is insecure about and if you kiss him there he might start crying because wow intimacy didn’t know what that was

speaking of intimacy, he is a touch starved boy so when you start giving him love do not stop, never deprive him of cuddles he gets grumpy

lol play volleyball with him

very domestic??? like his parents highkey did not like eachother so now he just wants to hold your hand, lay with you in the morning, wake up to your pretty face, and just cuddle with you while you read aloud 

overall you two are a power couple and zuko simps for you 25/8 you rule as a team and he values you and your opinion VERY much, tries to take you out as often as he can despite his VERY demanding job, and expresses his love to the best of his ability

MARRIAGE N STUFF

zuko took the throne YOUNG he was like 16, so he is not proposing until y’all are at least adults, but i imagine that he is probably gonna wanna date you for like at least three years before proposing

he wants to make sure you are there to stay even if you’ve been around since childhood

there are two ways he is gonna propose here

situation one is where he kinda just does it,,, randomly? like out of nowhere he realizes that w o w he wants to marry you, he wants to spend the rest of his life with you and dedicate everything to you because you are HIS forever person

so he’s kinda just laying with you in the morning, nice soft kisses here and there, will not let you leave the bed and you are definitely complaining, especially if you have a position in the palace and need to get to work

regardless its a soft moment, there’s light filtering in through the window in your shared room, and its shining on your face, and yeah you are lowkey a mess because its the morning but you are just,, so,, beautiful??

and you start telling him about your plans for the, playing with his hair and stuff, and he’s listening to his heartbeat when he breaks from your hold and looks up at you and is just like

“marry me.”

“we also need to feed your dragon- wait what”

you are kinda just in shock for a moment, so you sit up and look at him, mouth gaping open like

“are you serious?”

he suddenly realizes he doesn’t have a ring and it is 7AM in the morning and it is not the best time for this

“...yes”

now you are laughing, falling back onto the pillows, and maybe there’s a tear in your eye as you nod rapidly, “okay, yes.”

now you are thinking of the fake story you are gonna tell people when they asked how he proposed because you are NOT saying it was in bed at 7AM while you were looking like a whole mess

“yes? yes as in yes you will marry me? are you serious?” 

such an idiot, but he’s cute its okay

you kiss him and its passionate and adorable, and he kisses back but he quickly breaks apart and is like “you’re sure? because i don’t have a ring-”

“how have you successfully run a country.”

“good thing you are gonna join me on the throne i suppose.”

“oh my god you’re right-”

“you aren’t reconsidering are you?”

“NO.”

have fun being the fire god woo

now y’all go back to making out and traumatize whatever advisor comes to check on you because they’re like where are the people who rule this country??? 

situation two is where he has been carrying around the ring for MONTHS but is looking for the perfect time to propose because you are perfect so this must be perfect

he couldn’t sleep and in the middle of the night he was like WELP I WANNA GET ENGAGED and kinda just decided he was gonna marry you

since you were asleep he couldn’t ask you right then and these

confides in the gaang and everyone is super excited

now he’s been walking around with this ring for months and what is he supposed to do now oh god

the gaang is like stop procrastinating bro, just ASK HER, and hes like NO IT NEEDS TO BE PERFECT

they help him set up the palace courtyard and make it all nice, there are lanterns, and candles, and a path of rose petals, and this time around he does have a ring so yes its great

he’s like hey let’s go for a walk! and you’re like okay??? lol

so you two are walking around the palace, holding hands, when he leads you to the courtyard and you are just like DAMN this is romantic AND pretty

“i think we are interrupting Zuko let’s leave”

“what do you mean interrupting-”

“well someone clearly put in a lot of effort!”

“that someone is me!”

:O

its not that he isn’t romantic its just that he’s never done something like this so now you’re confused

“did i forget our anniversary?”

“no.”

NOW you understand, looking around, you turn back to him to find that he’s on one knee, you two are in front of the pond with the turtleducks and wow it must be raining why is there water on your face? haha...

he tells you he loves you and that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you, and how he hopes he never loses you because you are just so vital to his life and his being and everything he’s done to make this world a better place has been for you and damn zuko you wonder if he got possessed

obviously you agree

and obviously something goes wrong

when he stands you tackle him with a hug and you two fall into the pond

oops 

the wedding[disclaimer: i have never been to a wedding so i do not know what happens in weddings, feel free to educate me pls] is either REALLY intimate and private, or really big and stuff, since you gotta go through that whole coronation process now and like public weddings n stuff

no matter what his uncle is the one who walks you down the aisle.

change my mind.

you cant. 

the intimate one is almost similar to eloping, probably happens in the court yard where he proposed, and you are wearing a AMAZING outfit, whether its a tux, an amazing dress, a jumpsuit, you gonna look FIRE

hehe fire

anyways it’ll probably be the people who fought with him in the war, the gaang, the white lotus, kyoshi warriors, maybe a few others, 

its a really nice ceremony, and the courtyard is decorated so beautifully, though Zuko considered putting a fence around the pond considering what happened when he proposed lol

if its a more public wedding, then its going to feel like the entire Fire Nation came to watch y’all get married, much more flashy, there’s a band performance, a banquet, y’all gotta use the ballroom so that everyone can dance 

kinda nerve wracking ngl

regardless, after you two get married nothing really changes because you always acted like an old married couple, and even as the other ruler of the fire nation, you always had an important job in the palace so its kinda just the same but more official

its a vibe

moral of the story is zuko is a simp for you and your marriage is mutual simping, that is all

A/N: i kinda went off ngl, also im about to hit 200 followers and i feel as though i should do something special so i am taking suggestions pls

taglists[lmk if you wanna be added or removed :D]

zuko: @shawni-h @lil-lex1 @boxofteenageideas @izzieserra @eridanuswave @bigbuckyenergy @outerxorbit

permanent: @chewymoustachio

[pxnk-velvet]

heart vs. mind // bolin x female bestfriend!reader

This is my piece for the atla/lok collab, hosted by @aitarose

Here’s the link to the main masterlist if anyone would like to check it out <3

===

“It’s me or her.”

The sentence clanged around in his head, thoughts churning deeply, as he sat hunched over on a bench. Body still clad with his sweaty pro-bending gear. He rolled his helmet from one hand to the other, completely baffled at the decision he had been faced with.

His girlfriend?......

Or his best friend?.....

Opal or Y/n?

It’s not like this hasn’t come up in conversation before. It has, in fact, been the topic of multiple. Which was something Bolin didn’t mind. Or at least didn’t mind up until now. How was he supposed to make a decision like this?

Ever since the beginning, Opal had always shown slight discomfort with how close Bolin and Y/n are. But who was she to break up a boy and his best friend? She had let it slide for some time now but recently she was getting more and more fed up with everything. On the other hand, Y/n had given Bolin and Opal space in the beginning, allowing themselves to each other. But now she goes everywhere with them. Something Opal obviously wasn’t too fond of but back then she didn’t have the heart to say anything that might hurt Bolin’s feelings.

Just before the match ended, both of the girls had been waiting in the locker booth to congratulate the Fire Ferrets on their win.

Y/n practically bursting at the seams when the team scored, nearly tumbling over the railing she was leaning on.

Opal walking into the booth, rolling her eyes as she witnessed Y/n cheering loudly. Opal quickly switched her demeanor, putting on a a tight lipped smile and clapping along with Y/n.

“Come on, Bo! You can do it!” Y/n screamed, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Opal had no idea what was up with her today but all she knew was that Y/n was getting on her last nerve. The dormant volcano inside of her finally awakening. Getting closer and closer to eruption.

“If you win, dinner is on me tonight!” Y/n offered, screaming at the probender.

Opal could’ve sworn she saw Bolin’s strength and speed pick up a little. Did he really not tell her? Was he really going to pass up their planned date for going out to eat with her?

She had been planning this outing for weeks now. A lovely dinner for two and only two. Then hopefully he’d take her back to his place. She even bought a cute set in his favorite color. She wasn’t going to let it all go to waste because of her.

Then an idea popped into her head.....

“No, Opal. You can’t be so mean to her.....well, not that mean but a little is fine.” She thought in her head, watching as her boyfriend’s best friend cheered and bounced next to her.

“You know, Y/n, me and Bolin are going out for a date later.” Opal attempted, hoping she could follow through with it.

“Oh? Well I’m sure you and Bo wouldn’t mind if I came al-“ Y/n started, intentions completely innocent.

“I do mind! He’s my boyfriend!” She exclaimed in the girl’s face, “So please back off and leave us alone.”

Y/n stumbled back, startled, jumping a little when the winning buzzer went off.

When Y/n had first met Opal, she actually thought she was pretty sweet and a good fit for Bolin. But over time, after everyone had gotten comfortable with each other, that’s when things started to take a turn. She started noticing the subtle glares and muttering Opal would send her way. Y/n choose to ignore it in hopes that if she tried spending more time with them things would change. But it only seemed to make things worse. Which isn’t what she wanted at all.

Opal stood over Y/n, towering over her opposite. Y/n’s frame sunk into the wall it was pressed up against, the lump in her throat threatening to make an appearance, tears and all.

“Hey guys! We won! Did you see that amazing move I-“ Bolin burst into the booth, Korra and Mako trailing behind him. The tension in the room so obvious, a sword could slice through it with ease.

“Uh- What’s going on? Did something happen?” Bolin questioned, unknowing of the current feud going on between his best friend and girlfriend. Mako and Korra standing awkwardly in the background.

He took in the scene paused in front of him. Opal, in complete distress, frustration apparent on her soft features. Something he had only seen so intensely a few times before. As well as the face of shock like she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t have. Y/n standing opposite of Opal, clearly trying her hardest not to let her emotions get the best of her. He could tell by her teary eyes and trembling lip. Mako and Korra’s great escape also didn’t go unnoticed by the earth bender.

Y/n opened her mouth to speak, only for a quiet sob to fall from her lips as she turned to out the door.

“Wait, Y/n! What happened? Talk to me.” Bolin called, taking hold of her shoulders before she could leave. His heart wrenching at the sight of his best friend in such dispare.

He turned to Opal, confusion evident, “What about me? Why don’t you ask to see how I’m feeling?” Opal whined from the other side of the room.

Y/n managed to slip out of Bolin’s grasp and run out of the room. Only the did Bolin get what was going on.

“What?” Bolin responded, to which Opal rolled her eyes and turned away.

“I really didn’t want to do this, but I’m putting my foot down, Bolin. She spends every waking moment with us. I can’t take it anymore! We need some alone time, Bo!” Opal vented, showing a side he had never seen before, “I can’t have you to myself anymore! You’re my boyfriend!”

“And she’s my best friend, Opal!” Bolin retaliated, “I’ve known her for years. I’m not just going to throw that all away. We’ve been there for each other when we had no one else. Why can’t you just get along with her? She tries so hard to get you to like her!”

Opal felt a chill run up her spin as soon as her brain comprehended those words. Was he seriously choosing her over his own girlfriend? The girl that he was supposed to love? The fact that he was going beyond just defending her didn’t sit right with Opal. The fact that Opal, his girlfriend, who he was to make time for and be there for her, was being pushed aside for his best friend. The fact that she was being expected to get along with her and withstand the constant extra voice in their conversations. Then it clicked.

“You like her...” Opal choked out, barely loud enough for herself to hear as she slowly turned back to face him.

“What?” Bolin struggled, “Opal that’s not-“

“Bolin. Stop lying to yourself.” Opal spoke sternly this time, “It’s me or her.”

Bolin stood completely shocked, starring at the girl that stood a few feet away. He let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he had been holding in.

Before he could even say anything, Opal rushed out of the room in the same manner Y/n had just a few moments before. Only this time, completely tearless.

Now, sat a clueless boy in his sweaty pro bending uniform, contemplating a decision that could change the rest of his life.

[pizzarollsareokayiguess]

Close Enough? (Kuvira x Reader)

This is a Kuvira imagine, reader and Kuvira are not established. K? Also, this will be sad :D questionable ending. if you want more, ask and you shall receive <3

TW: blood, spoilers for LOK Season 4  WC: 2620

Kuvira’s reign across the Earth kingdom had started to slow as she was met with resistance from Zaofu and the Avatar. Dealing with them had been easy, beating Korra had been easier, and now she was on her way to Republic City, to rightfully claim the district as official property of the Earth Kingdom. 

Kuvira felt powerful having so many people support her, especially when it came to her. Y/n had been there at the beginning, supporting Kuvira and boosting her esteem so much so, Kuvira’s own motivation took the step forward to claim the Earth Kingdom. Locked eyes, lingering touches, shivering shoulders made up the tension between the two; with the passion of war, it made it all that more bitter sweet. So why did Kuvira feel this way? She knew that y/n was loyal, perhaps the most loyal of them all, and yet the little voice in her head was screaming that something, somewhere, someone was going to betray her. Zhu Li was kind of a given but y/n? Trusting, beautiful, y/n? 

Kuvira’s relationship with Baatar, in her eyes, was political: losing him would be surprising, considering how strong his feelings were against his own mother. Could he be persuaded? Hopefully not, but yet here we are.

Kuvira’s hands were formed into fists as she listened to his pleading. Leave this? Now? We are so close, why would I give up now? Why would I when the last piece of the puzzle is in my hands?

Aiming the spirit weapon towards his location was easy. Pulling the trigger was even easier. But the voice in her head was now a full roar, claiming that no one was loyal, no one was on her side. So as the war machine rebounded from the shot it took, Kuvira straightened her shoulders and looked to her left. Sitting in one of the command chairs, was y/n. Back straight, hair gleaming, Kuvira wanted to swallow her whole, wanted to take her existence and keep it to herself. Y/n might have been lying this entire time, and Kuvira didn’t want to lose her to the avatar. That is one thing she couldn’t stand for, losing this war was not an option and Kuvira would do anything to reach her goal.

“Y/n.”

Snapping her head towards Kuvira, she stood and walked over, placing herself to the left of the platform. Looking her in the eyes, Kuvira stood even taller and her plan was falling into place. This will be easy.

“Come with me for a moment.”

Kuvira commanded the remaining soldiers to stay in their positions and alert her if there are any changes. Knowing the efficiency of the spirit weapon, she doubted that the avatar would have survived the latest shot.

Stepping off of the platform, Kuvira and y/n walked down into the belly of the weapon, where the roar of the machine made the thundering in her heart a little lighter. They came to a stopping point and y/n’s shoulders relaxed. It was just the two of them, perhaps this was a pre-game to victory? Kuvira was faced away from y/n and she could see where the muscle tensed in the uniform that Kuvira wore. Where the metal framed her shoulders and where it flared at her waist and constricted at her knees. She wondered how long it would take her to map every freckle that Kuvira had. Not knowing how many, she wondered if she would have the opportunity to ever count. Is this going to be it? She snapped her eyes back up when Kuvira turned around, crowding her space.

“It’s happening. The end is near and victory will be ours,” Kuvira murmured.

Their eyes were locked and their breaths were shared. How y/n craved to get closer.

“You’ve done wonderfully, I can’t imagine any other trying to accomplish what you have,” y/n whispered. 

Kuvira smirked, “Oh? Tell me, y/n, what have I accomplished?”

Y/n shivered, hearing her name come from her lips was a taste of heaven that she wanted every drop of. She wanted more, she craved more, so she easily answered, if only to savor every drop.

“Conquering the city-states, making the lords bow to you, creating a super weapon that is extremely effective, and should I mention the fact that you won against Korra?”

Toe to toe, their noses almost touched, their breaths were clouding each other and y/n jumped at the feeling of gloved hands fiddling with her own. Oh. Oh Oh-

“I could stand to hear more, if you’ll humor me,” Kuvira whispered.

Y/n took the jump and linked her left hand around Kuvira’s, and she looked her straight in the eyes. She could smell the metal and lavender that left Kuvira and y/n thought she would erupt. 

“Taking apart Zaofu to create something for yourself in a direct response to Su, you are incredibly powerful and what I wouldn’t do-”

Kuvira brought her face to y/n and latched herself to her lips. Her right hand clutched the back of her neck and she squeezed, playing with the hairs that rested there. Her left hand traveled from y/n’s hands to her lower back, pulling y/n forward. 

Y/n felt conquered and completed and finished, any word you could think of, her brain had fried with the machine and her insides turned to jelly. Being placed in Kuvira’s arms and kissing her was something that Y/n yearned for. Her center throbbed and she looped her arms around Kuvira’s neck. She wanted all that Kuvira could give her. Even if Kuvira left her now to take out an entire city, Y/n could live with that, her spark of life had turned into an inferno and had burned her inside out. She wanted to share that fire with Kuvira and as if the devil had knocked on her door, Kuvira licked her bottom lip and Y/n was so easy. She would let Kuvira do whatever she pleased, even right here on the machinery floor. She was entranced by the whole essence of Kuvira. She whimpered when her lip was bitten and she sighed when Kuvira seemed to ravage her being. Closer- She needed to be closer-

Pain.

Wha-

What is that?

Heat radiated from her side, what is-

Y/n’s eyes snapped open and she pulled herself from Kuvira. Kuvira had a grimace on her face, her eyebrows drawn together and lips tightened into a line.

Y/n’s breath stuttered and she looked down, red was encompassing her right side. She had been- Kuvira?- Why would she? Kuvira stabbed her? What?

Kuvira metal bended the weapon back into her sleeve and caught Y/n as she started to get dizzy. She lowered her to the grated ground as Y/n clutched her jacket, hissing in pain. Lips red, cheeks flushed, your eyes are so pretty like this..  Kuvira held y/n’s head in her lap as blood dripped from her wound. Pity, how distraught you look. The voice claimed victory and screamed in her head. See? How easy? The avatar will never touch her and the city will be yours. Just flatten the republic and you’re as good as gold.

But it wasn’t easy. Kuvira’s eyes watered but never flushed.

“I had to, for you, for me. I have to finish this now, I hope you understand.”

Kuvira placed her head gently on the ground, taking advantage of y/n’s stunned silence. Wiping her eyes, she left y/n there and composed herself to rejoin the bridge. Scaring the officers on deck, she ordered them to continue, they had a city to recapture.

Then a hummingbird got too close to the sun.

Her chance at freedom was disabled.

And the avatar, as always, brought balance to the world.

…

Her whole body hurt.

 It would start as a dull throb and then crescendo into a sharp point that radiated from her right side. Y/n was stunned, when she said that she would let Kuvira take over the world, she didn’t really expect to be a martyr. But did she really believe in Kuvira still? The blood that was staining her uniform said no, but the stuttering of her heart and the tears on her face said otherwise. She was gonna die in the center of destruction, how fitting. At least it was warm. . . She closed her eyes to the rhythm of a stepping behemoth and took a breath, knowing her fate was just the same as Baatar. They were both foolish, loving someone who couldn’t feel anything and yet thinking, I’m different. I can change her, she will love me, right?

Look how that turned out.

A shrill screech interrupted y/n’s pity party and she opened her eyes to see Su and Lin Beifong. Their determined eyes meeting hers. At that moment, she was made priority number two; number one being the destruction of the spirit weapon. Once the Beifong sisters had wreaked havoc with their metal bending, Lin dropped down to y/n. Gently placing her arms around her shoulders and her knees, Lin rejoined Su. The trio was then tossed around the metal tavern surrounding them before they tethered themselves to the wall. When the spirit weapon finally descended and crashed to the ground, y/n had passed out from blood loss. Stepping out from the carnage, the sisters stopped the bleeding enough that it wouldn’t cause a mortal end. Once they were satisfied with her steadying heartbeat they placed her with the other wounded. Then, they turned to finish the war. 

. . .

Y/n had heard that Kuvira surrendered after she witnessed the power of the one and only avatar. To be honest, y/n was shaken to her core after finding out that Korra created another spirit portal. The avatar was so powerful- she created a rip in space and caused two different worlds to mesh together in a brand new location? Holy Avatar did y/n regret being on the wrong side. 

Repercussions were being made of course. Baatar Jr was to spend life in house arrest for his involvement in the spirit weapon. After being seen by water benders, y/n’s trial was next, and she entered the courtroom in a wheel-chair. Although the wound didn’t sever any major organs, it was a major stress to the body and her back muscles were cut clean through so major movements weren’t recommended. That wasn’t the worst of it.

The hurt that clouded her heart had leaked to her eyes and her brain and she felt numb. Her brain kept going in a loop, kuvira’s eyes, blood, floor, kuvira’s eyes, blood, floor,- y/n was stuck in a mental carousel that try as she might she couldn’t get off of. She could sense the person behind her who was pushing the chair and when she looked up, she could see the council in all their respective colors and robes. She stopped moving and two officers stepped up behind her. But she didn’t try to escape. What was the point? She would take the punishment and move on. What about kuvira, don’t you wanna know why? Did it matter? Did the heat spread to her too? Move on. move on. move on?

The shuffling of papers interrupted the parade of self-pity that y/n seemed to be the mayor of and she dragged her eyes away from her fiddling hands to look up. Korra was there too. Should y/n bow? Korra saved everyone’s lives and without her-

“-without knowing the direct involvement of the individual before us how can we decide her fate?”

“She didn’t help with the weapon? What about the seizing of the city states? Anything?”

“Baatars testimony proves negative on the first but other witnesses say that she is seen on several occasions with Kuvira herself.”

y/n flinched. Pain pain pain 

“Well, Beifong, your jurisdiction houses the inmates, what say you?” The woman in question sighed and y/n wished she could sigh too without being condescending. Jail or home? Not that hard of a question.

“Community service. Either with the water benders or the rehabilitation of the city. I don’t want this one near my jail.”

. . .What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is she not good enough for jail? For Beifong’s jail? Rude.

“Then it’s settled. Y/n L/n, you are hereby sentenced to 25 years of community service, provided by the council before you and supervised by the United Republic of Nations. Dismissed.”

Y/n nodded and bowed her head to show respect to the leaders that handed her fate to her. Much better than house arrest. 

. . .

Y/n heard later that Kuvira was given a second chance, because Korra saw something in her that she saw in herself. Kuvira was sent to Zaofu to live out her house arrest with her adoptive family. Baatar is there too? Is she allowed to ask? Did he give her a second chance? Would y/n? Y/n was stationed near the infrastructure creation center in the city. She was there to help rebuild. Lin was her only visitor. Y/n’s family was disgraced that she chose the wrong side and she didn’t have any friends besides Kuvira, who happened to be a couple flying bison away. Lin would ask her how her wound was doing and Y/n would tell her. Then Lin would end the visit by insulting y/n’s bending and then she’d leave. It was nice. Y/n had a feeling that Lin felt sorry for her, did she know that y/n was betrayed by the one she thought she loved? Did Lin know that the inferno that raged within her dwindled to a flicker of heat? Sometimes it seemed that way when the silence got too loud but then Lin would go back to insulting her. She needed that routine. She probably would have been lost without it. 

Y/n was back to moving again and on a nice, sunny day in republic city; she was just about to finish the base to an apartment complex with the other volunteers (If you want to call them that, y/n faintly recognized some of the earth benders from Kuvira’s forces). When Korra had pulled up near the site on her polar bear dog. Jumping off of the animal, Korra waited until the supervisor started talking to her. After several beats, the supervisor nodded and shouted across the field, summoning y/n towards him.

Meeting them on the edge, y/n respectfully greeted them both before questioning the avatar’s presence. 

She sighed, “Many of the soldiers lived in Zaofu before the war, you were one of them. The metal domes are in grave need of assistance and since you are tasked with community service, it seems fitting that you return there.” “Is that all? I thought this was supposed to be a punishment? Wouldn’t going back home be a little too comfortable for me?” Not if Kuvira’s there, laughing with her eyes closed, hair frizzy from the day, freckles winking in the sunshine.

“Su requested it. Said, ‘that your greatest potential was misplaced with love that had nowhere to go’” Korra sighed.

Y/n felt like she got slapped in the face by the avatar. That would’ve been better. Of course Su knew y/n, she practically raised the child. Su saw the wandering eyes and the yearning sighs, she wasn’t stupid. 

And yet, here she was, extending a hand of forgiveness, a hand withered by betrayal, a feeling that y/n knew quite well.

Should she take it?

[dukebeelthazar]

Blood Omen 2 Review

Hey everyone!

I know it's been a while since my last post, but Taonpest and I were busy finishing our Legacy of Kain Marathon with Blood Omen 2. And I've beaten Blood Omen 2, hell, I've COMPLETED IT by drinking every single character's blood and opening every chest from every chapter! And to anyone who wants to make a LoK marathon, do yourself a favor and skip this game. There's nothing for it.

When I started playing BO2, I thought it was fine. I thought it was one of the most basic action game you would find on PS2 and I was fine with this. But that impression of low-budget yearly action game soon dissipated and became motoneous, frustrating and overall boring. Just to make things clear, I played the PS2 version of the game which is apparently considered the worst port of that game. And you wouldn't know how overjoyed I was when I read that.

One thing that strikes the eye is the graphics. They're okay for a 2002 PS2 game, but, the atmosphere, the aesthetic. There's nothing LoK about it. I know it's technically supposed to be a transition between Blood Omen and Soul Reaver, but to me, it looked more like a WarHammer Fantasy look-alike. The characters are...what they are. Kain and his massive man-tits looks pretty okay, but Vorador looks like an estranged cousin of Shrek who decided to live in the sewers instead of the swamps. Janos looks good. Another thing that sort of annoyed me were the FMV cutscenes. Soul Reaver and its sequel had beautiful FMVs that set the tone of the game and hyped you up. Unlike Soul Reaver, BO2's FMVs were made with the in-game models which makes some shots absolutely ridiculous. Once again, I like to think this is a budget stuff that happened.

Then, there's the actual game and story. Gee, I wonder what the plot could be this time. Oh? It's another revenge story, what a surprise. No surprise here, the story is not only barely existant, but somehow, even the dialogues are actually terrible. All that poesy and Shakespearian-talk from the previous entries? Gone. And it tries so hard to be serious that it's actually hilarious.

The actual gameplay can go fuck itself. The fighting mechanics especially are the biggest pain in the ass. It's clunky and unresponsive and most annoying of all repeating way too much. Every single fight (with the exception of some bosses) are down to the exact same method. You parry 3 to 5 attacks, dodge, attack, knock your enemy down, wait for him to recover, rince and repeat. So imagine spending hours doing the exact same thing with boring puzzles and frustrating platform sequences. I did like the Eternal Prison however with its claustrophobic approach that kinda reminded me of Resident Evil. And then Magnus came in, and what could have lead to a Nemesis-like encounter just fell flat because the AI in this game is as dumb as a brick, which means there are no actual consequences for you to mess around with Magnus. This leads to the boss fights, and if you've played any Legacy of Kain game then you won't be surprised when I tell you that they suck. If Soul Reaver's bosses are on the same level as Crash Bandicoot then Blood Omen 2 is Wrath of Cortex. They are that bad.

I guess I should also mention the sound. Just so you know we played the game in French. Jean Barney and Benoît Allemane reprised their respective roles from the previous Soul Reaver installments (Vorador and Janos for Barney and Kain for Allemane) and it's great to hear them again. We also get VAs new to the franchise like the amazing Phillipe Dumond (voice-over actor of Keith David in French) as the Sarafan Lord and basicaly almost every male NPC from the game.

Unlike SR1 & 2 however, I thought the French Dub to be very hit or miss, making the poor dialogue looking even more dumber than it already is. I like to think this because of direction issues (voice acting for video games in France is very different than in the U.S or Japan) because you couldn't sound as deadpan and monotone as Uma. Maybe this is an adaptation choice? I don't know, but this makes her death scene almost funny to watch. Allemane is playing his dialogue in his usual Kain-fashion (though slightly less "jovial") but some of his lines sound wrong. And then, there is the actor that actually outshines Benoît Allemane: Phillipe Dumond. This man is 90% of the game's dialogue and each time, he delivers especially as the Sarafan Lord. There's also something weird around the end of the game where Vorador changes voice actors in the same cutscene or even mid-sentence. I think the voice-acting for this game was rushed.

That's all I'll say about Blood Omen 2. This game made me feel empty. It actually made me wish I played games I don't like because I think the problem comes from me and not the games themselves.

Blood Omen 2 is a 3/10/. Stay out of its net, brethrens.

P.S: I wish I could stream games, but I don't have the setting nor the actual physical place to do it.

[bloodbenderz]

humaniterations (dot) net/2014/10/13/an-anarchist-perspective-on-the-red-lotus/ this article from oct 2014 is very dense — truly, a lot to unpack here, but I feel like you would find this piece interesting. I would love it if you shared your thoughts on the points that stood out to you, whether you agree or disagree. you obv don’t have to respond to it tho, but I’m sending it as an ask jic you feel like penning (and sharing) a magnificent essay, as is your wont 💕

article

i know this took me forever 2 answer SORRY but i just checked off all the things on my to do list for the first time in days today so. Essay incoming ladies!

ok im SO glad u sent me this bc it’s so so good. it’s a genuinely thoughtful criticism of the politics in legend of korra (altho i think its sometimes a little mean to korra unnecessarily like there’s no reason to call her a “petulant brat” or say that she throws tantrums but i do understand their point about her being an immature and reactionary hero, which i’ll get back to) and i think the author has a good balance between acknowledging like Yeah the lok writers were american liberals and wrote their show accordingly and Also writing a thorough analysis of lok’s politics that felt relevant and interesting without throwing their hands up and saying this is all useless liberal bullshit (which i will admit that i tend to do).

this article essentially argues that the red lotus antagonists of s3 were right. And that’s not an uncommon opinion i think but this gives it serious weight. Like, everything that zaheer’s gang did was, in context, fully understandable. of course the red lotus would be invested in making sure that the physically and spiritually and politically most powerful person in the world ISNT raised by world leaders and a secret society of elites that’s completely unaccountable to the people! of course the red lotus wants to bring down tyrannical governments and allow communities to form and self govern organically! and the writers dismiss all of that out of hand by 1. consistently framing the red lotus as insane and murderous (korra never actually gives zaheer’s ideas a chance or truly considers integrating them into her own approach) 2. representing the death of the earth queen as not just something that’s not necessarily popular (what was with mako’s bootlicker grandma, i’d love to know) but as something that causes unbelievable violence and chaos in ba sing se (which, like, a lot of history and research will tell you that people in disasters tend towards prosocial behaviors). so the way the story frames each of these characters and ideologies is fascinating because like. if you wanted to write season 3 of legend of korra with zaheer as the protagonist and korra as the antagonist, you wouldn’t actually have to change the sequence of events at all, really. these writers in particular and liberal writers in general LOVE writing morally-gray-but-ultimately-sympathetic characters (like, almost EVERY SINGLE fire nation character in the first series, who were full on violent colonizers but all to a degree were rehabilitated in the eyes of the viewer) but instead of framing the red lotus as good people who are devoted to justice and freedom and sometimes behave cruelly to get where theyre trying to go, they frame them as psychopaths and murderers who have good intentions don’t really understand how to make the world a better place.

and the interesting thing about all this, about the fact that the red lotus acted in most cases exactly as it should have in context and the only reason its relegated to villain status is bc the show is written by liberals, is that the red lotus actually points out really glaring sociopolitical issues in universe! like, watching the show, u think well why the fuck HASN’T korra done anything about the earth queen oppressing her subjects? why DOESN’T korra do anything about the worse than useless republic president? why the hell are so many people living in poverty while our mains live cushy well fed lives? how come earth kingdom land only seems to belong to various monarchs and settler colonists, instead of the people who are actually indigenous to it? the show does not want to answer these questions, because american liberal capitalism literally survives on the reality of oppressive governments and worse than useless presidents and people living in poverty while the middle/upper class eats and indigenous land being stolen. if the show were to answer these questions honestly, the answer would be that the status quo in real life (and the one on the show that mirrors real life) Has To Change.

So they avoid answering these questions honestly in order for the thesis statement to be that the status quo is good. and the only way for the show to escape answering these questions is for them to individualize all these broad social problems down into Good people and Bad people. so while we have obvious bad ones like the earth queen we also have all these capitalists and monarchs and politicians who are actually very nice and lovely people who would never hurt anyone! which is just such an absurd take and it’s liberal propaganda at its best. holding a position of incredible political/economic power in an unjust society is inherently unethical and maintaining that position of power requires violence against the people you have power over. which is literally social justice 101. but there’s literally no normal, average, not-politically-powerful person on the show. so when leftist anarchism is presented and says that destroying systems that enforce extreme power differentials is the only way to bring peace and freedom to all, the show has already set us up to think, hey, fuck you, top cop lin beifong and ford motor ceo asami sato are good people and good people like them exist! and all we have to do to move forward and progress as a society is to make sure we have enough good individuals in enough powerful positions (like zuko as the fire lord ending the war, or wu as the earth king ending the monarchy)! which is of course complete fiction. liberal reform doesn’t work. but by pretending that it could work by saying that the SYSTEM isnt rotten it’s just that the people running it suck and we just need to replace those people, it automatically delegitimizes any radical movements that actually seek to change things.

and that’s the most interesting thing about this article to me is that it posits that the avatar...might actually be a negative presence in the world. the avatar is the exact same thing: it’s a position of immense political and physical power bestowed completely randomly, and depending on the moral character and various actions of who fills that position at any given time, millions of people will or won’t suffer. like kyoshi, who created the fascist dai li, like roku, who refused to remove a genocidal dictator from power, like aang, who facilitated the establishment of a settler colonial state on earth kingdom land. like korra! she’s an incredibly immature avatar and a generally reactionary lead. i’ve talked about this at length before but she never actually gets in touch with the needs of the people. she’s constantly running in elite circles, exposed only to the needs and squabbles of the upper class! how the hell is she supposed to understand the complexities of oppression and privilege when she was raised by a chess club with inordinate amounts of power and associates almost exclusively with politicians and billionaires?? from day 1 we see that she tends to see things in very black and white ways which is FINE if you’re a privileged 17 yr old girl seeing the world for the first time but NOT FINE if you’re the single most powerful person in the world! Yeah, korra thinks the world is probably mostly fine and just needs a little whipping into shape every couple years, because all she has ever known is a mostly fine world! in s1 when mako mentions that he as a homeless impoverished teenager worked for a gang (which is. Not weird. Impoverished people of every background are ALWAYS more likely to resort to socially unacceptable ways of making money) korra is like “you guys are criminals?????!!!!!” she was raised in perfect luxury by a conservative institution and just never developed beyond that. So sure, if the red lotus raised her anarchist, probably a lot would’ve been different/better, but....they didn’t. and korra ended up being a reactionary and conservative avatar who protected monarchs and colonialist politicians. The avatar as a position is completely subject to the whims of whoever is currently the avatar. and not only does that suck for everyone who is not the avatar, not only is it totally unfair to whatever kid who grows up knowing the fate of the world is squarely on their shoulders, but it as a concept is a highly individualist product of the authors’ own western liberal ideas of progress! the idea that one good leader can fix the world (or should even try) based on their own inherent superiority to everyone else is unbelievably flawed and ignores the fact that all real progress is brought about as a result of COMMUNITY work, as a result of normal people working for themselves and their neighbors!

the broader analysis of bending was really interesting to me too, but im honestly not sure i Totally agree with it. the article pretty much accepts the show’s assertion that bending is a privilege (and frankly backs it up much better than the original show did, but whatever), and i don’t think that’s NECESSARILY untrue since it is, like, a physical advantage (the author compares it to, for example, the fact that some people are born athletically gifted and others are born with extreme physical limitations), but i DO think that it discounts the in universe racialization of bending. in any sequel to atla that made sense, bending as a race making fact would have been explored ALONGSIDE the physical advantages it bestows on people. colonialism and its aftermath is generally ignored in this article which is its major weakness i think, especially in conjunction with bending. you can bring up the ideas the author did about individual vs community oriented progress in the avatar universe while safely ignoring the colonialism, but you can’t not bring up race and colonialism when you discuss bending. especially once you get to thinking about how water/earth/airbenders were imprisoned and killed specifically because bending was a physical advantage, and that physical advantage was something that would have given colonized populations a means of resistance and that the fire nation wanted to keep to itself.

i think that’s the best lens thru which to analyze bending tbh! like in the avatar universe bending is a tool that different ethnic groups tend to use in different ways. at its best, bending actually doesn’t represent social power differences (despite representing a physical power difference) because it’s used to represent/maintain community solidarity. like, take the water tribe. katara being the last waterbender, in some way, makes her the last of a part of swt CULTURE. the implication is that when there were a lot of waterbenders in the south, they dedicated their talents to building community and helping their neighbors, because this was something incredibly culturally important and important to the water tribe as a community. the swt as a COLLECTIVE values bending for what it can do for the entire tribe, which counts for basically every other talent a person can have (strength, creativity, etc). the fire nation, by contrast, distorts the community value of bending by racializing it: anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is inherently NOT fire nation (and therefore inherently inferior) and, because of the physical power that bending confers, anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is a threat to fire nation hegemony. and in THAT framework of bending, it’s something that intrinsically assigns worth and reifies race in a way that’s conveniently beneficial to the oppressor.

it IS worth talking about how using Element as a way to categorize people reifies nations, borders, and race in a way that is VERY characteristic of white american liberals. i tried to be conscious of that (and the way that elements/bending can act in DIFFERENT ways, depending on cultural context) but i think it’s pretty clear that the writers did intend for element to unequivocally signify nation (and, by extension, race), which is part of why they screwed up mixed families so bad in lok. when they’ve locked themselves into this idea that element=nation=race, they end up with sets of siblings like mako and bolin or kya tenzin and bumi, who all “take” after only one parent based on the element that they bend. which is just completely stupid but very indicative of how the writers actually INTENDED element/bending to be a race making process. and its both fucked up and interesting that the writers display the same framework of race analysis that the canonical antagonists of atla do.

anyway that’s a few thoughts! thank u again for sending the article i really loved it and i had a lot of fun writing this <3

[undermattsun-archive]

japan national team x reader | w.c 1.3k

a/n: omg guys here’s the super cute epic collab fic i made w all my frieednsies <33 we all worked superrrr hard on this so pls don’t be mean!!!!!!!!! pls enjoy its xoxox and don’t forget to follow everyone here on this kidnapped by hq collab <33333333333

warnings: not proofread bc who does that xD (guys pls free me from this hell i’m in so much pain i didn’t even look at this i skimmed over it i left it as is, gg)

Read this while lsitening to the best song evar!!!!!!!!!!!1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_cXhBy78T4&ab_channel=JonasBrothers if you dont listen whil reading ill eat ur family MONCH MONCH MONCH

i go dwnstars, yelling ‘by mum!’ bfor laceing up my wite convrrse hightops (NOT blck becauz u cant sharpi on it) wth 1d lyrics scribbled on it. i rmb to draw a directioner infinite sign on mywrist. perfect, i think to mysdlf.

I never thot i would get to go to the olympics all the way on the other side of the planet in toky o japan! It was a dream come true for a simple, average, run of the mill girrl like me, who is 5’7 with naturally wavy hair, that’s not curly or strait and eyes as blue as the dark blue part of the ocean. 

I been dreaming of the olypoics since fetus. I just knew I had to be here, but I never thought it would actually happen. The only thing that would make it better is if I had a smezxy smexy boyfrwend! (A/n: Tee-hee! Maybe even two! (Or five! <333) haha! Aren’t I so quirky? <3)

I’m Wearing A Mint Green Crop Top That Ties In The Front And Some Denim Shorts With Black Converse. I Don’t Need Makeup Because My Skin Is Naturally Smooth And Clear And My Lips Are Already Red #wokeuplikethis And I Listened Only To MCR And P!ATD On The Plane Ride. I Bet You Dont Know Who They Are, THey’re My Favorite Banxds And Are Super GOod And Like Underground Bands. (A/n: Okay But If You Don’t LIke Welcome TO THe BLack Parade GTFO Of My FIc I Don’t Need YOu Here xoxo) 

ok so like,, im on my way to the olympics but then like, i get kidnapped !!! the car i was in was like super expensive and i cant see anything with the blindfold on. i hear voices of men all around me though, for like, a whole 30 minutes before they bring me somewhere and tie me up? "Take Her BLindfold off," one of them say, i hear. and im so nervous. but it's like a dream when they tug my blindfold off and im met with the prettiest emerald orbs ever looking back at me.

my stomach knotted in fear (more like an angry swarm of butterflies fluttering around ) i feel like screaming or squealing or both bc those eyes belong to someone so gorgeous . even more gorgeous than harry styles. hes like a god. i woukd so worship his foot. or something. (squee omg i can’t believe this is happening. i bet you wish that it was you huh?) 

bro who tf has emerald orbs green eyes im blanking rn

^ yo i was gonna ask i cannot for the life of me remember who

his #afff14 sppheres peered into my soul i really just felt seen. i took a deep breath before fainting he was just so pretty. *one hours later* i woke upa nd saw the pretty viridescent peepers staring into mine. like he was literally two inches away from my face omg i could feel his minty breath on my lips it smelled so good.

“My name is atsumu miya,” he said gruffly, the gruffness in his voice so gravely. “And me and me mates here think yer the most gorgeous girl weve ever seen. I blink up at him, orbs gleaming amd full of tears. 

“What do u mean, i’m just a normal quirky girl?” I say shakely, biting my lip. I bit my lip as the piss blond man spoke.

“You don’t know ur beautiful.” YOUR INSECURE DONT KNOW WHAT FOR YOUR TURNING HEADS WHEN YOU WAlk THROUGH THE DO OO OOOOOR

“U may be a normal quirky girl but ur OUR nroaml quirky girl now” his friend said with a deep voice. It was so deep that i almost thot it was like the ocean, he had curly balck hair and his eye were sooo mysterious (a/n i loooove sakusa i can’t believe him and his friends kindapped me omgggg XD)

“Stop it go away” osamu said (hee hee i can never remmber  tell which twin is which LOL i think its osamuuu) “no u have to share” sakusa responded angrily. I starred at them and didn’t know what theyd do next!

I looked over to he side ans see sakura pulling out hand sanitizer passing it around to his teamates. The green orbed boys huff as they put it on. i wished i could see his whole face hes so sedy, look over here pretty girl, i gasp pulled from my thoughts by their captain kita walking into the room with his hands on his hips and was theat aran? “You look even better in peroiusn” aran said to me, walking over to me “how do you know who i am?” i ask.

“listen bbygurl...” he yealls, pulling out a chair to sit acros from me. “you dont get to ask the questions, we are your new masters, and you shall do as we say.” i gulp nervously, my stomach feeling like a sharkndao is happening inside. “we hope u will be worth every penny we payed foru.” 

“M-m-m-masters?” my head felt like it was spinning in a teacup from disney land as i thought about what he just said to me. what did this mean? was i gooing to miss the olympics?? I wanted ot hate him with his super smug look on his face but i cant deny that he looks kind of hot and i’m into guys who look just like him,, the other guys r also relly attractive it makes my heart race. I look around trying to find answers when i make eye contact w a really really reall y tall guy who i thinks name is gao only to see another really really relly tall guy next to him,, hyakuzawa?

“what are yo going to do to me then?” ((*lenny face))

you ask, stomach bubbling. maybe i shoudnt have ateen that stale pizza earlier and washed it down with watermelon-lemon minute maid because now i felt like it was gonna come up. ((ew gross um tw vomit mention hehe)

“Dont worry were going to grab seme din din soon lil one,” one of them says. His name espapes me. Hes a ginger. They wont answer me for some reason and i suddenly miss my freedom when i would go to school (i go to an expesive private school for rich kids ahahah).

“WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH ME??” i yell again batting my fists against the ginger but he doesnt even blink. Ive decided hes hot but in a short king kinda way. His hair reminded me of of like cheeto coloured fine thread woven into waves.,,, like the ocean xD (ans...this has an ocean theme)

sudenly there was another voice it was yalling “BOKE HINATA BOKER” i looked with my stricking dark blue orbs and there wasd inother pair of stricking dark blueor bs like the ocean and blck hair. his voicde was veryy deelp an sexxcy (a/n lololol i luv u gakeyama kun *w*)

theres suddenly a loud voice in ur ear screaming directly into ur eardrum " BAKA KAGYEAMA BAKA"  (wtf our they communicating ????  ? )    i cringe at the yellign and another pair of strong arms bulls me away . i land against a hard, solid chest, i can feel the six pack thru his track Suit. 

and then my alarm clock playin what makes u beatyful goes off n i woke up. 

amen.

i rub my eyes wakng up, starrn into the mirror at my super borng brwn ugly eyes and brsh my equaly borng brwn hair. i lok up at m wall and see harey stylz and niallr starinf back at me on t walls. i sigh dreamily. they wud twll me my brwn uairs beatufil. 

[sun-flower-children]

Fic Recs Part 2

A/N: I was going to update the other fic rec list, but didn’t really want to, so I made a seperate one :) feel free to put more in the comments:)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

~BNHA~

Beneath The Rising Smoke by SleepwalkersQueen

Hawks followed the rules. He played well, because losing would bring him his death - or worse: civilian casualties.

Dabi was a risk. A cold-blooded killer and an inscrutable variable, too dangerous to be touched with bare hands. Their relationship was a game of dominance and lies, made from children’s rules. Where every word could turn the tables and every touch could burn a mind, Keigo wouldn’t lose. And when Dabis gaze burned the skin from his body, broke his ribs open and shamelessly stared at his exposed heart; Keigo only smiled. 'Give me back your hate and all your pain', he thought. 'Give me all shards of your hollow soul. The day will come when you'll bite off my tongue and swallow my lies, Touya.'

But suddenly Keigo's heart doesn't seem to get the rules anymore.

Switched and Scattered by kazzarole

After taking care of a minor situation at the mall, Todoroki and Midoriya find themselves under the influence of a frustrating quirk--and now they have to navigate the social deep water that is Class 1-A without anyone catching on to the fact that they've accidentally switched bodies.

Not to mention that this has caused the lines between 'friend' and 'crush' to become hopelessly blurred, and Shouto is pretty sure that this whole situation can only end in disaster.

cumbersome and heavy body by PoutyBats

Love has no limits even if he does.

'Kaminari never wanted to label his feelings. Labeling them made them real, and he didn’t want them to be real. '

 A Trip Up No-Memory Lane by acernor

Midoriya loses his memory to a villain's quirk in senior year and re-meets his classmates for the first time. With 20x the confidence, he takes absolutely 0% of Bakugo's shit, and pushes back when Bakugo tries to push him around.

Bakugo likes it.

Uraraka/Asui is the side pairing.

Called It by acernor

Kirishima is such a nice person that he inadvertently nets himself a threesome with his ex and his ex's boyfriend (Bakugo and Midoriya), aka the manliest guys in their class. NICE WORK KIRISHIMA

You all asked, and I deliver... the threesome sequel to A Trip Up No-Memory Lane ;D

Come Complete by feelslikefire

When Eijirou finds amateur porn of a certain someone, he has to show Katsuki. Now they have to figure out what to do about it. Or rather, who to do. (Established kiribaku invite deku into their bed, after shenanigans.)

Once Bound, Twice Mated by Aravis

The reality of being a mate and wife is far better than the nightmare Izuku imagined for his arranged mating. 

Something New by SillyMango

Todoroki and Bakugou keep finding themselves alone together. The results are confusing and explosive, then they don't see each other again for months or years. Then it happens again and again.

This fic explores how they navigate post-graduation life (when life hasn't turned out the way anyone expected) and each other. Each chapter is a different time they end up alone together. Slow Burn. Enemies to Friends to Lovers (not quite in that order). Emotional Roller Coaster. Happy Ending (I promise!). And lots and lots of talking.

~HAIKYUU~

And they were Roommates! by boomturkey

When the quarantine hits Japan, Hinata fears he might just go feral if he has to stay in his tiny apartment for the duration. Enter Atsumu, offering Hinata a place to stay with a yard and a home gym. Can they tolerate each other as roommates? And will they find love in the time of quarantine? (Yes.)

Or,

That quarantine fanfic every ship in every fandom needs right now.

moving in slow motion  by simplerushes

“First, you’re about to pick your ex-boyfriend up at the airport,” Osamu starts, eyeing him wearily. “Second, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

(or: one year after their breakup, shouyou calls atsumu at one in the morning and asks if he'd pick him up at the airport. atsumu says yes, because of course he does.)            

ampersand by infantblue

Atsumu confesses to Hinata on a dare and everything falls apart.

sucker for you by msbys21

There’s a question that hangs onto the tip of his tongue, heavy and terribly impulsive when he tastes it. “Omi-san,” He starts, “Have you ever drank from people?”

Deprived of blood, Sakusa falls sick - but Hinata might have a solution.          

Baby by witchy_alien

At three in the morning Kenma finds himself setting up an account to become a sugar daddy.

Dance of the Parallax by astroeulogy

For the last twenty years, Atsumu’s done all that he can to break his betrothal to the ogre spirit Sakusa. If he can just make it through one more night, he’ll be free.

~ALTA/LOK~

invisible string by taotu

Sokka sighs, folds his arms so he can rest his chin on them. “Aang?” “Mhm?” “Can you Google—listen closely, this exact wording—how to get over your dream woman who is also the love of your life when it’s been three months but you’re still hung up on her and now she lives next door so she’s virtually inescapable and there’s no way to get her back ‘cos she’s dating your ex and is definitely not into you?”

There Is COVID in Ba Sing Se by Odae

The whole world is under lockdown, and Sokka and Zuko move in together.

[the-golden-ghost]

Top 10 avatar episodes? (ATLA or LOK)

I've never seen LOK so... A:TLA it is!

The Siege of the North: (technically this is a two-part episode but shh) anyway WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH?! Siege of the North is flawless. Amazing Showstopping Impeccable. The scene where ash starts raining from the sky, changing the tone of the scene from peace to tension? The glimpse of the rows upon rows of Fire Nation ships and the sinking dread it brings? The waterbenders in action? The part where Arnook is going “some of these faces will disappear from our tribe for good” and it flashes to Han, Yue, and Pakku, all of whom did indeed leave but for different reasons? The part where Zhao traps the Moon Spirit and the WHOLE WORLD goes red? And then gray after he kills it!??! And the only color left in the world is the glow from the fire and YUE’S EYES!? Koh? Iroh’s confirmation that Zuko is son in all but technicality? Yue’s sacrifice? There is just SO much good stuff in this episode and I’m not even listing all of it I’m just listing what I can remember. Peak season finale 10/10. Outstanding.

The Tales of Ba Sing Se: Okay it’s pretty obvious why I like this one and the answer is “because it owns, duh” but beyond that it’s just a nice episode. It’s not big, and intense, but there’s plenty of Big Intense Episodes. This one’s just everyone going about their lives and we get a lot of quiet reminders that while these are the Saviors of the World they’re also just people (and a lemur) with their own problems and desires and wants. It’s just kind of nice to have a slice of life episode that doesn’t... feel like just an odd shoehorned plot (like some of the season 1 filler episodes I could name...) but actually feels like it’s about the characters.

The Deserter: GOD this episode is so pretty. I’m talking about the lighting and art design. Seriously go watch one of the other earlier episodes of s1 and then watch this. The soft filtered lighting with a subtle gold/orange tint to it, hinting at the element we’re covering in this episode? Gorgeous. The foreshadowing is also glorious. Magnificent, even. When I rewatched the show a few months ago I was catching little subtleties that went over my head as a kid. It works beautifully as a self-contained piece and also in tandem with its sister episode, the Firebending Masters. It’s also got the ONLY Zhao vs Aang battle in the entire season. I could go on about it more but I won’t, it’s just a SOLID episode and I think it’s underrated.

The Southern Raiders: Okay I know everyone likes this episode for the part where Katara makes the rain stop and that’s also why I like it. That was one of the most memorable moments of the whole SERIES for me. Beyond that there’s the flashback to Kya’s death which... we’ve known about it. We’ve known about it for the whole series. It’s affected Katara and Sokka deeply and we see it through their actions, but we’ve never really known what happened. Here, we do. And we get to see it from three perspectives, three times over. And then there’s Aang’s and Katara’s conflicting ideas of justice and vengeance and whether violence is ever necessary or justified. It’s just... a good episode.

Sokka’s Master: The Only Sokka Episode (but really why did it take until season 3 to give him one!? He deserves better) Anyway Piandao is the best teacher character in the series bar none so there’s that. For another thing we actually get to see Sokka at his best and realize just how necessary he really is. He sort of gets written off (even IN the show) as pure comic relief or just the One Nonbender Who Hangs Out With All The Cool Guys but here we have a Justice For Sokka episode that goes ‘you know what? Nah’ and points out that he’s a strategic genius who carries the team from behind. AND that he can be a badass, too.

The Runaway: First of all the episode opening with the END of the events was kind of a fun gimmick. I mean it’s not hard to see where it’s going but it was different. Secondly it’s about time we got a Toph episode that isn’t just about her not getting along with her teammates or about being blind. For example, in this one she becomes a career criminal. It’s what she deserves. Also the stuff about them all missing their parents and driving home the fact that this is a group of lost children is surprisingly heartfelt. (I’m not describing it well but I love this episode)

The Blue Spirit: This episode gives us some of our first inklings of Zuko As Good Guy and boy does it deliver. The thing that gets me about this one is the tension of the situation. I remember being a kid and seeing Aang trapped and alone and being like “oh shit” because for the first time, he doesn’t have his friends. Except he had a ~friend all along~. Also the herbalist is an icon.

The Avatar and the Fire Lord: We Love a Flashback Episode and we especially love one that comes with the caveat that “friendships can last more than one lifetime”. We also love to be sappy. We also love to make fun of Roku for not realizing that he was in love with Sozin.

The King of Omashu: Bumi is The Character Of All Time and I think I appreciate him more than any other minor character on the show so jot that down. This episode is so goofy and so much fun but it feels organic and light because we’re still early and we haven’t hit the point yet where the goofy episodes are annoying and out of place (looking at YOU, Nightmares and Daydreams...) also when I was a kid I totally missed the idea that Bumi was testing Aang not to see if he was smart n’ talented but to actually find out if he’d learned any of the other 3 bending episodes. “Don’t you have any surprises for me?” And Bumi’s earthbending having airbending elements that are specific to his bending... because he’s one of the only earthbenders alive who knew and trained with airbenders... I die. I feel similarly to Jeong Jeong’s firebending taking after waterbenders because he’s envied them and giving him a unique style of his own... I LOVE when the show gives minor characters these little details that make them stand out okay I ADORE it

The Blind Bandit: Okay this one’s just a fun episode and the character designs slap. The Final Battle (tm) also slaps. Toph’s bending style? The dinner scene? The reference to Dwayne Johnson? It’s all good and the animation for Earth Rumble XI was off the charts.

[ktlnz]

okayy I’ve finished (re)reading the huntik comics (which my partner has generously donated me) and here’s a couple of my takeaways:

first of all, FREAKING COVERARTS. here’s a bit of statistics: lok lambert has 4 appearances in coverarts, dante has 3, ford, ryder and frostanna (ford’s titan) – 2, meanwhile zhalia and sophie only have ONE COVER FOR EACH. and they’re not even in the centre of theirs. I mean ik it’s targeted to boys etc, BUT WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK (well I could only examine the 13 issues that I own, but still v disappointing)

on the other hands tho at least 4 (probably more) of the comics end with zhalia coming last moment to save dante’s (and of then the kids’) ass. and the shit is usually quite intense, like the otherwise he’d be dead kinda situation. tbh I constantly get the feeling that comics just can’t take the op dante fucking vale seriously (and we like it)

just like with winx club comics, the stories seem to be a bit darker and deeper (?) then the show. the difference is not that drastic as with the winx, but still I think rainbow had more freedom with those and that’s understandable

also I like how everyone on the main team gets their own kinda arc in this little (ig lok vs ford, zhalia working out her shit with ryder, dante trying to break through his past trauma and insecurities, sophie learning to be the Great Casterwill Savior (c) etc etc)

if you’d try to convince me ford isn’t the homoromantic arcnemisis for lok YOU WON’T. this man is is so over the heels in love, he’s literally just staring at lok’s photos in he’s free time bc he can…….. and the moment he defeated lok and realized THATS NOT WHAT HE WANTED IN FACT…. I’m glad my little queer coded villain at least gets a kind of redemption 😪

also as much as I do love zhante, honestly, zhalia and ryder have more chemistry and emotions shown in this brief story that those had in entirety of 2 seasons of the show. the scene where they just can not finish each other bc Old Feelings had an influence on a fair share of my original stories, and the three frames of zhal just straight up silently looking into ryder’s eyes to manipulate him into releasing her and giving her the bracelet…. The Masterpiece

well that’s pretty much it. I just needed to vent a bit. and now I’m just bitter that I ran out of official huntik content forever (unless (being the lost media they seem to be) the Italian untranslated comics would show up magically on my dash or wherever) :p