#Inheritance Cycle fan cast

[blueiight]

I was reading your tags to dre's published ask. Do you think while writing about these blood sucking monsters, Anne deliberately made one of them a former slave master? I mean the way this man during his mortal times had benefited by preying on the black race and the reflection of it in his fate where he is now in literal terms an entity who survives by preying on people? Or is it like twilight ( movies) where Jasper's past as a confederate soldeir is just dropped as if it's the most casual thing to shrug away.

( something is up with vampire media and all of them being connected to slave trade my god. Either it is a social commentary or people really do not have any self awarenesses?

i dont know about twilight book or movie to make a meaningful comparison to louis’s book counterpart. i wish i knew. and tbh, its hard to prescribe authorial intent on a dead woman who wrote a sprawling epic of 20+ books for 50 years , especially with shifting perspectives , namely pivoting away from louis to lestat as her MC bc of what fantasy/POV was more interesting to her. but i think in the first book there was some intention there, i cant just say how much. lestat wants to hunt the runaway slaves along the freniere plantation, and louis discourages him from doing it not out of compassion for enslaved people (which would be condescending and abysmal writing for a slaveowning character), but for his proximity to the freniere’s as fellow planters. ive talked about it a lot how its really interesting in the first 2 books that the american planter is created both literally + vampirically by the european aristocrat.. and theyre both parasitic beings in relation to the enslaved people, eventually draining them+ burning the plantation down. iwtv early book louis is resentful of lestat in part bc he thought lestat wanted his plantation, but when he learns who lestat is + where he came from, the power and will he has. hes far more genial to him. its a very dark book, and i think the fact that these characters are so vicious + melancholic is intentional on the authors part. i dont know how much race based chattel slavery is meaningfully explored from the perspective of the slaveowner, but book louis thinking of people in his captivity as fixtures, as creepy ‘things’ more proximate to the supernatural bc of their ‘african nature’ (that had yet to be ‘trained’ out of them) is a very probable, chilling, and haunting perspective of a former slaveowner to take even a hundred and some years removed from it. or if we take it as book louis immersing himself in his perspective @ the time. either way. and its pathetic when fans try to flatten book louis into ‘he was a good slaveowner’ cuz at that point theyre just conflating the movie with the book. i kinda joke that book louis is the vampire it girl bc he was such a terrible mortal LOL. im still indeterminate on the exact mode or purpose, or how much it was just about the aesthetic of gothic horror (re: the earth’s a savage garden). especially bc later books fixate on very discrete modes and metaphors of servitude/subjugation ‘being a slave to the blood’ is a recurring motif running antiparallel with the motif of ‘purifying the african/asian/foreign’ (through ‘admixture’ with the ‘european’) (s/o poacher bro gabi + talamasca bro dave ig) and in later works, theres the cycle of slavery through marius & armand.. marius, whos mother was a slave, purchases armand. chattel slavery took inspo from the romans in the idea of maternal based slave caste inheritance.. idk. idk. ive had very long rambly convos w ppl on here in the past (& im still a bit embarrased abt it) on this, but i think the reasons why fans dont rly get into it is cuz most ppl got into these books at a young age + was just into the cool lore or the queer shit and were able to handwave things as just aesthetic/era/quirky anne things etc. idk.

[batsplat]

btw at le mans 2013 some vale fans had a huge (cringey ofc) banner which went like

yzr-m1: someday my prince will come

vale badly photoshoped as a prince: sorry babe

here’s how we can tie this to rgu and the whole prince&princess theme

also remember how in rgu the movie utena turns into a car and all? well what if valentino had some weird (vaguely erotic) dreams in that vein…….

(x, x) kermit at that poster not at the ask, to be clear!! weird ass sport

anyway, let's talk more about how to apply surrealist anime rgu to motogp! and yes, again, we are kinda stripping rgu from a lot of the stuff it was Actually About, but y'know on the other hand it'd also be flattening that particular artwork if your stance is that the 'only' things the story is relevant to is like. cycles of abuse. structural patriarchy. on-screen depictions of sibling relationships designed to make you extremely uncomfortable. all that stuff. so we are taking it as read for the rest of this post that rgu deals with more serious stuff than competitive sports and work from there

the car stuff!! anthy's prince literally turns into a vehicle to allow her to escape! it ends with both of them like... intertwined on the remaining husk of that vehicle, riding off into freedom. also the car looks cool

this isn't super relevant, I was just thinking about how much fun they made that car. like they made sidepod-wings into horsies. eat your heart out, ducati

now, in the film this is basically a metaphor for growing up, right. anthy is finally breaking out of the school and embracing her revolution by quite literally freeing herself from the prison she had both been entrapped in and had continued to entrap herself in. and isn't that... isn't that basically what valentino is doing when he's leaving honda for yamaha. well, no, obviously it's nothing like that. but say that it was like that, and that essentially this is the process of growing up, coming of age, growing into his own or whatever you want to call it. self-actualisation. a spiritual journey to a different bike manufacturer. valentino does think he's like... imprisoned in honda, it's his whole theme that year, he does a cute callback when he's won the title. brno 2003 is both the prisoner celebration and where he signs for yamaha, like he's not really being subtle about this. and the only way he can fully become himself is standing on his own two feet, thrive or fail, at yamaha. because now he's no longer following the path that's been set out for him. honda was comfortable in many ways, it was a very pretty prison - even if he felt underappreciated, he was still the golden boy at The Most Successful Manufacturer, he'd inherited doohan's team, he was building up a dynasty of his own. he was leaving behind basically... a completely guaranteed title for 2004 and most likely years beyond that for something far less secure

there is a kinda. obvious point here. and it's that according to this framing, valentino is implicitly being cast in the role of the princess. and the bike is the prince, who is being ridden to safety. which fits into the idea that there's like,, a deeply possessive element, of the bike towards the rider, and that's basically the key prince trait beyond lip service commitment to 'nobility'. I think that does kinda... work, not just because the contrast with the expected gender roles makes it more interesting, but also because 'seeing a vehicle as a symbol of liberation' inherently feels like a very valentino thing. the thing about anthy is that it's always a bit unclear how much power she has over what's happening, but when you rewatch the show enough times you do increasingly go 'huh has she been psychologically tormenting all of these characters for over thirty episodes as a diversion from the horrors of existence'. and the film very much then becomes... her version of events, if you will, where her brother the devil (that guy sure keeps cropping up in these asks) has become this defanged parody of himself,, and it really becomes more about her using utena to make the final step. or something!! obviously this is only one interpretation etc etc. but idk I think there's a fun element of this dual role of 'princess' and 'witch' where you've got a character who increasingly exerts autonomy over their own narrative and plays god a little bit and can also force other characters into slightly sadistic mini-arcs where they get turned into cows and who eventually brute forces their own vision on the world. because they do have power, and they are the instigator of the entire plot

so. so. I think one of my favourite things about valentino is... okay, so I don't actually really like when athletes are that good. with both valentino and marc, I have a very begrudging attitude towards just how successful they are, because that level of dominance is extremely 'meh' to me as a sports fan. they're really the exception here as far as I'm concerned, I'm very tenuously okay with their title count but it is also A Bit Much. but the thing about valentino, right, is that he mostly gets around that bit of my brain by also seemingly have a bit of an issue with dominance. the way he progressed through the ranks to the premier class is like,, nowadays, doesn't even stand out as notable because that's Just How Feeder Series Work, but back then it wasn't as guaranteed because they weren't feeder series!! it's not necessarily like clearing a level... you can just stick around to win more than one of these titles, and valentino was seriously considering doing as much but decided to move up anyway. I think there's something fun about how he kinda needs a certain difficulty level to get his brain into it. he's flirting with depression after 2002, writing in his autobiography about how AWFUL it is that winning isn't FUN any more, does his insane little yamaha switch which somehow worked out for him, got really into his f1 flirtations until quite literally when he starts losing again... he needs a bit of drama, he needs enemies, he needs MEANING!! I think inherently he's very suited to any role that casts him as a quasi-malicious storyteller, especially one that's searching for like,, some kind of Growth and progression. and also playthings. which then regularly feeds into a set of callous behaviours towards The Competition when it's seen as necessary. or just satisfying

the way this works when you. y'know. personify the bike into the prince,, is that inherently the prince's pov on this is also quite selfish, right, like it's a saviour complex and thinking you are The One who can claim the princess as your own. the prince can keep the princess safe... who can be used by the princess/witch as a tool to bring about world revolution, and so on. the prince attempts to control the princess, and the princess is devoted to the prince. and also, they can make each other worse!! it's kind of... eventually as a duo they can become so dedicated to this sick game they're playing that basically any act is excusable as long as it helps them win. anyway crucially I do think if you did a surrealism on valentino's brain, some blue haired girl personification of the m1 rocking up to save him from his shackles and allow him to finally attain revolution by turning into a vehicle and literally carrying him to safety... does sound about right, yeah. weird erotic bike fantasies and all

[fastestfrog]

I’m not super familiar with the proper way of planning out characters, but I was thinking about how I would personally classify the characters of the inheritance cycle (the first 4 books) into sections. So here we go.

Main characters. Anyone we get a POV from or other characters that are critical for the main story drive to happen, in order of importance: Eragon, Saphira, Galbatorix, Nasuada, Arya, Roran,

Major Characters. Key characters for the story, who have important roles and connections to the main cast, in order of importance: Brom, Murtagh, Glaedr, Oromis, Durza, Angela, Elva, Orik, The Eldunari, Razac, Katrina, Morzan, Thorn,

Secondary Characters. Characters who have a moderate effect on the events of the story or motivations of the main cast, who we spend time with but aren’t super critical, in order of importance: Firnen, Shruikan, Umaroth, Hrothgar, Izlandi, Garrow, Orrin, Jeod, Solembum, Selena, Sloan, Ajihad, Nar Garzhvog, Ismira,

Minor characters: Characters who have some effect, may have multiple scenes dedicated to them, connections to other characters, but aren’t very important, in ANY ORDER: Horst, Grimrr halfpaw, Carn, Lord Dathedr, Blodgharm, Rhunon, Vermund, Jormundur. Varaug, The Head Priest of Helgrind, The Twins, Lord Barst. The Forsworn, The menoa tree, Hvedra,

Side characters: Characters who have a few small scenes scenes or are long dead characters who set up the world, IN ANY ORDER: Vrael, the first Eragon, Vanir, any carvahall villagers, any of the dwarven leaders not already mentioned, Blagden, Martland Redbeard, Captain Brigman, Trianna, Faolin, Jarnunvosk,

Extra characters. Pretty much anyone with a one or maybe two scenes or a connection to another character such as: Yarbog, Helen, Edric, Fredrick, Valdr, Cuaroc, Lord Fiolr, Elvas caretaker, Saphira (broms dragon) etc.

Background characters: anyone else, for example, random named soldiers, Maud, the young priest in helgrind, people who show up once as a part of another persons scene basically, or someone mentioned once or twice by other characters like Thuviel.

Is there anyone I missed? Do you disagree with some of the orders of importance I put people in for the first couple of paragraphs? (Murtagh fans are gonna come for me, but please remember I’m only doing the first 4 books) would love to hear everyone’s thoughts.

[kitsaystransrights]

Okay I’m starting a new series on here called “I just finished this game” where I gush about a game I just finished.

Anyway, if you’re a fan of musicals, visual novels, or Greek mythology, you NEED to play Stray Gods.

If you haven’t heard of it before, Stray Gods is a visual novel with branching story routes, but it has the twist of also being a musical! Many of the game’s major choices take place in the songs themselves, and the songs will actually changed based on your decisions! Each song has numerous different permutations based on around 3-5 choices in each one. I recommend checking out Challenging a Queen, one of the early game songs that’s relatively light on spoilers, to see how some of the choices really add some spice to the game and weave through the songs.

The game’s story just follows Grace, a 20-something girl who witnesses the death of Calliope, the Last Muse, and to make matters worse, she has inherited her powers and role. The Chorus, leaders of the remaining Greek gods (known as Idols), give Grace one week to prove her innocence before she is executed, and the line of Calliope is gone forever.

Accompanying her on this journey are a variety of gods, monsters, and her mortal (strictly platonic… strictly) roommate, Freddie. The cast of Stray Gods is easily its best aspect, full of lovable and complex characters, leaving you laughing a lot, sobbing sometimes, and sometimes not knowing who to trust. And when it’s backed up by a fantastic voice cast, and nearly every character getting their own song if not multiple, I’d be astounded if you managed to get through the game without getting attached to SOMEONE lol.

(For the record, my favorite characters are Freddie, Persephone, and Aphrodite hehe)

And of course, what’s a musical without its music? The soundtrack of Stray Gods is absolutely incredible, even beyond the incredible amount of work and dedication it took to integrate so many variations of all the songs in the game. Lots of variety with the genre, sometimes even changing in the middle of a song! If I haaad to pick a few favorites, I suppose it’d be The Ritual, Look Into Me, and If Only. I’m a sucker for the emotional songs, but Look Into Me is suuuuuch a banger, it feels so threatening and I LOVE it.

OKAY now I’m gonna gush about my favorite parts of the story and get all spoilery so if you don’t want to be spoiled, DON’T KEEP READING! Go play the game yourself! Iirc it’s on all current platforms. Enjoy :)

So HOLY SHIT APHRODITE’S SONG HIT ME LIKE A BRICK??? I love the moral dilemma her whole cycle of rebirth puts you in, deciding whether to honor her wishes and let her die again or to convince her to find peace in life rather than trying to forget. I tried SO HARD to save her without forcing her and she ended up passing on anyways.

Persephone’s character is also SOOOO well done here, the reinterpretation of her story where she kills Hades is a fantastic direction to take her character. She ended up being my main investigative partner for the game and I did NOT regret it. I almost ended up romancing her, and I definitely will on my next playthrough, but I didn’t this time because of…

Freddie!!! Freddie absolutely rules and is my favorite character in the whole game. Mortal Greek mythology nerd who is super gay and wears a cool hat, how could I NOT love her??? My heart was completely torn to shreds when she died, and even though I knew she had to be able to come back somehow because you could romance her, the fury it raised in me made me blaze through the last four hours of the game and finish it in one sitting XD.

And JEEZ the way they let you bring her back is so well done. It’s not outright good or bad, it’s complex! Freddie and Grace are both traumatized by her death and resurrection, and the fact that you went against Freddie’s wishes and passed the line of Calliope onto her just makes it even more interesting from a storytelling perspective. It’s part of what makes If Only one of my favorite songs in the game. And of course, I’m a sucker for stories of unrequited love like Freddie’s is for Grace and now I’m gonna feel so guilty romancing anyone else 😭. Freddie is so relatable istg.

Anyways uuuuuh that’s all I have to say, maybe I’ll do a full review on my YouTube? Thanks for checking this post out tho! Okay bye :)

[fansandtheic]

Lexie's Story

"Eragon truly takes me back to a different time period, through the books but also in my life. 

I started the Inheritance series when I was in elementary school and immediately fell in love with the characters. I re-read Eragon more times than I care to admit. Reading was my escape from a harsh reality that I called home. My school library finally got a copy of Eldest, and I devoured it just as quickly and with as much interest. My school library did not carry the final two books and I made several attempts to find them. When I finally read Brisingr I was aching to find the final book but was unsuccessful many times! For years I thought the author passed away before being able to finish an incredible series. During this period of time the internet wasn’t in our pockets how it is today. I wasn't able to use the computer at home, and during my last year of elementary school through the end of eighth grade, I lived in group homes and other alternative living situations. So you can probably imagine that using a computer or having internet access wasn't easy. For a long while I gave up on the idea of finding out what happened to Eragon, Saphira, and the world of Alagaësia.

I would imagine I was beautiful and full of grace like Arya, fantasizing that one day there would be movies made of the series and I would be casted as her. Although I didn't know the ending, I was (and still am) a bookworm at heart, and my love for the world and the characters made me a forever fan of the Inheritance Cycle.

As I reached adulthood, I met someone who was also a fan of the series. She informed me there was in fact a final book! I received a copy that same year for my birthday… and put off reading it. Even though I finally had the opportunity to finish the series and was eager to do so for nearly 10 years, it suddenly felt very bittersweet. After another handful of years, I finally brought myself to read Inheritance. I took the better part of a year reading it, savoring the words so as not to finish it too quickly. I knew finishing it would mean there was no more to the series, just my thoughts about everything that happened in the pages of those four familiar books. It was bittersweet, bringing the series to an end, like a chapter of my childhood had been closed that I wasn't quite ready to let go of. And then something amazing happened. 

A few months after finishing the series, I was in a Barnes and Noble, looking for fresh reads. And that’s when i came across Murtagh. I could hardly believe my eyes. I have yet to read it, but this time i feel more prepared; it doesn’t feel so much like an ending. The Inheritance Cycle will always hold a very special place in my heart and I thank Christopher Paolini from the bottom of my heart for sharing such a heartfelt and incredible world with us. I so look forward to Disney making a tv series from the books, and hope it is all I’ve ever dreamed of. Of course, I won’t be playing as Arya, but I will always love and be inspired by her. Thank you Mr. Paolini for making my childhood so much better through an escape to a world filled with magic, dragons, elves, and dwarves. 

Atra esterní ono thelduin. Mor'ranr lifa unin hjarta onr. Un atra du evarínya ono varda."

~ Lexie

[cosette141]

Ho-Ho-Ho! CS Secret Santa here!

I've been a fan of the series since the beginning. When I first saw the trailer, I was sure that this was my kind of story. Where I live, they only aired the first season along with the international broadcast, and the following seasons were aired with a huge delay, sometimes a whole year. I couldn't wait that long and wanted to watch along with everyone else, and I had to look for all sorts of options to be able to watch online.

I also started to shipp CS during the third season - The Neverland Adventure. Their first kiss won me over to the cause. Season 3 is my favorite of all.

Favorite moments.... oh there are so many, but let's narrow it down to 5 favorites:

5. ...and I'm always a gentleman

4. Muscle memory

3. First kiss

2. Middlemist kiss

1. (all time favorite) You traded your ship for me?

Two of my favorite things are movies and books, so I was wondering which is your favorite movie/movies (not Christmas) and which is your favorite book/books. (I realize this is a hard question especially if you're a fan of these things like me). Do you have a favorite genre for movies and books?

🎄🎄🎄

hi santa!! :D

yesss season 3 was the BEST <3 <3 I love pining CS hahha. Those moments were all so perfect!!

Oh you're totally right, that is an impossible question hahah theres so many XD

Movies!

Valentine's Day (it's got such a huge A-list cast and they somehow wrote the most adorable story to go with it!)

Monte Carlo (with Selena Gomez)

The Parent Trap (Lindsay Lohan)

Finding Nemo

Ella Enchanted

Real Steel (Hugh Jackman)

Two Week's Notice (Sandra Bullock)

School of Rock (Jack Black!!)

Enchanted

Mamma Mia (which funny enough I just watched a few hours ago for the first time in years haha)

Books!

The Mediator (series) by Meg Cabot

Harry Potter!

Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle series) by Christopher Paolini

Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz (I devoured these books in middle school and high school!)

If you can sense a pattern, I tended to gravitate toward book series rather than standalones hahah. It's also why I love TV more than movies usually haha, I love when stories are really long and so many storylines get explored :D

Do we have any favorites that overlap?? :)

My favorite genre is probably action/adventure, comedy and romance when it's done really well (like captain swan) :D my favorite trope is 1000% hurt/comfort and fluff!!

[queen-of-the-weenies]

Finally replying to all the tags I've missed out on. Thank you for thinking of me :)

I'll also do three WIPs, because I love to talk about the things I'll never fully finish

What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

Whitegarden: Just finishing the damn thing ;-; I have everything planned out, from characters to plot, but the urge to actually sit and write it out continually escapes me.

Sielsi: Wrangling my original work into something less... Juvenile. The original parts I wrote were borderline plagiarized from the Inheritance Cycle, with sprinkles of Vampire Diaries mixed in there. I love the characters I made, but everything else needs a lot of work still.

The Bandit Queen's Bride: Inspiration is the biggest struggle for this one. I wrote the first handful of chapters in a blind haze, and haven't had any inspiration to keep going.

If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Whitegarden: Something dramatic, like the Game of Thrones theme song. Maybe a cool map graphic to show off the map I made of the continent, and symbolism to represent the various characters and factions............... So the Game of Thrones intro.

Sielsi: Something that starts out hopeful and cheery, that slowly darkens over the course of the season(s), until its got a noticeably sinister quality. Perhaps later it brightens again, but never quite returns to the cheerful sound it was before.

The Bandit Queen's Bride: Taylor Swift, but make it bardcore.

What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

This, I have no idea how to answer. I have a really poor understanding of why other fandoms are popular, so I feel zero confidence in guessing what kinds of audiences I would have from other fandoms.

What was the first part of your wip that you created?

Whitegarden: This song. The first time I heard it, I honestly didn't like it that much. Then I kept listening, and inspiration grew from there. Now it's permanently stuck in the top 20 most listened songs for me lol. I wrote up a rough draft of two children, separated in childhood because of a cursed bloodline. That rough draft is a far cry from what I've settled on by now, but it'll always hold a special place in my memories.

Sielsi: I was in middle school when I read Eragon for the first time, and I thought to myself, "I could do that, but with shapeshifters". So I did that, with shapeshifters. Wrote almost 40k words in a word document, just making it up as I went.

The Bandit Queen's Bride: Had the idea for a story and came up with a handful of characters. Spent a solid few hours trying to decide what sort of accent to get the Bandit Queen.

Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

Whitegarden: Most of the world is populated by animals very similar to what real life has. There are also monsters of various sorts, some more animal-like than others. My favorite is the Enochria, a shadowy beast with multiple arm-like appendages that lives in dark caves in the coldest parts of the continent. They emerge once a year at mid-autumn, then migrate south for the winter/early spring. They climb trees to find mates, then gestate their offspring for variable amounts of time until they find a suitable cave in their northern habitat. Due to magic interference from [Redacted for spoiler reasons], Enochria are moving further and further south, causing many to die from overheating, starvation, or being hunted by frightened humans.

Sielsi: There are natural animals, but nothing relevant to the story. Since half of the main cast are shapeshifters, all the animal shenanigans are their fault. Also I haven't decided if I want standard earth animals, or maybe to add some monsters too.

The Bandit Queen's Bride: There is a very good, very wonderful horse named Tore. A huge bay roan stallion who is extremely loyal to Jin, the Bandit Queen. He originally belonged to Jin's mother, and was passed to her when her mother left the gang. The rest of the bandits have their own horses, but so far, Tore is the only one with any fleshing out.

What part of your wip are you working on rn?

Whitegarden: I flip flop between making more character art and thinking of new monsters to add to the world.

Sielsi: Still struggling with how to lay out the story in a new way ;-;

The Bandit Queen's Bride: Trying to figure out all the secondary/tertiary characters

How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

The answer is the same for all three. Walking or riding horses is the most common way of travel. Those who can afford it will take carriages or ships. For Sielsi, the shapeshifters can turn into birds and fly.

What are your hopes for your wip?

I just wanna finish one of them. Please I am desperate to finish something. Anything.

WIP Questions Tag

I wasn't actually tagged by anyone, but @owlsandwich opened it up to everybody so I'm giving this a try! Open tag, but also no pressure tags to @somethingclevermahogony , @queen-of-the-weenies and @sarandipitywrites !

We're gonna do my main current WIP, God-Touched, and also a couple I've tabled for a bit due to stress, which are called Gods of Steel, and Nico after the name of the MC, respectively. I copy pasted the questions and I may have missed one or two.

What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

God-Touched: This is more of an overall writing struggle for me, but underwriting/being too concise. I tend to make unnecessary time skips when outlining and not add enough descriptive passages.

Gods of Steel: The world building. I usually enjoy complex world building, but I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this project. I'm taking it slow and building one aspect of it at a time as I'm motivated to do the necessary research, so fingers crossed that works out.

Nico: This one's kinda stupid, but keeping myself from imagining my protagonist as Nico di Angelo. She's completely different in appearance, mannerisms, etc, but I'm a rabid PJO fan and that was my first association with the name.

If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

God-Touched: Definitely something by Imagine Dragons, probably Natural.

Gods of Steel: Probably some kind of epic orchestral thing, I haven't found a specific track yet.

Nico: Song Of Women by the HU and Lzzy Hale. Going purely off of sound and vibes.

What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

God-Touched: Supernatural, Firefly, the King Arthur reincarnated as a space lesbian book (Once and Future) and the book Spellhacker by MK England.

Gods of Steel: This is gonna sound really presumptuous, but I'm trying to make it similar to Dune and the Na'vi Avatar movies.

Nico: Honestly, Tamora Pierce, even though my story is more sci-fi than fantasy. Also slightly the Divergent movie (haven't read the book in years), in that the MC slowly realizes just how much of a dystopia she's actually living in, even though she started out compliant.

What was the first part of your wip that you created?

God-Touched: The general concept of Christian mythology put into a queer science fantasy context.

Gods of Steel: The setting, (humanity's original non-Earth home), and some of its history.

Nico: The idea for the relationship arc between the two main characters. It was the first time I'd ever wanted to write romance, and it was an interesting challenge to come up with how that would play out.

Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

God-Touched: This is a major spoiler, but the main gang ends up adopting an iridescent rainbow baby space dragon. She looks majestic, but is actually a huge derpy goof. She's heavily based on Banana, my little sister's big ginger cat who is not exactly the sharpest crayon in the box

Gods of Steel: The main villains on this story are cyborgs, but some are cyborg animals rather than people. They started out as normal robots, but then got this virus that made them grow flesh, skin and other organic parts, but many of the animal-like ones still have working blades or guns as part of their bodies that they use when hunting humans for food.

Nico: The fauna of the setting for this one is very ice age influenced, the main character has a war mammoth that she's raised from a calf to be her mount and companion.

What part of your wip are you working on rn?

God-Touched: First draft of the first two books, if all goes well it's gonna be a five book series.

Gods of Steel: World Building.

Nico: In my first stage of outlining.

How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

God-Touched: spaceships and hover bikes

Gods of Steel: spaceships, then on foot after all their tech gets infected by the cyborgs.

Nico: Mammoth-back riding.

What are your hopes for your wip?

This is the same for all of them so I'll just do one answer: A devoted fandom that uses my books as inspiration to create their own awesome content. Fanart, fanfic, animatics, those character analysis YouTube videos, anything like that.

[anhufflepuffhobbit]

Inheritance Cycle fan cast (1/?)

Lupita Nyong’o as Nasuada

[itsaturno]

“There is a proper way to greet the sentinels in Ceris, certain patterns and forms that you must observe when presented to Queen Islanzadí, and a hundred different manners in which to greet those around you, if it’s not better to just remain quiet.” “With all your customs,” Eragon risked saying, “it seems as though you’ve only made it easier to offend people.” A smile flickered across her lips. “Perhaps.” 

Katie McGrath as Arya

[donut-powers]

Hii!! I love your hamefura fanart, it is so cute! My question is, how would you imagine a hamefura modern au? Have a lovely day!

Sorry for the (really) late reply and thanks for the compliment buddy! It really makes me happy that people like my silly doodles 🥰

Now for the question, I went a little overboard with it. I’m probably gonna draw the rest of the cast later. And I already drew Sophia but didn’t like the outfit I chose, so I’m gonna redo her later.

For the setting the Magic School → Boarding School for the rich, it’s probably in Switzerland or somewhere in Europe like Institut Le Rosey. I imagine it kinda like Ouran Highschool Host Club(must watch for a shojo/harem fan) aka a super elite school for the rich cause all the gang (minus Maria) are from the elite noble houses, so it fits, just change the uniforms to the dungeon episode ones or the ones from that volume extra.

These characters look really white, so it would not be set in Japan



You can find some drawings of how I picture them here

Now headcanon time below: (they are random af)

Katarina

Nationality + Ethnicity(the only one I’m gonna do): Luigi is Italian, Miridiana is latina(nobody is gonna change my mind about my latina!Miridiana headcanon) or asian(I have seen people said that she is a tiger mom, and i agree to a certain degree, but i’m not that familiar with asian culture to make an assumption)

Clothes: sporty/comfy, her hair is always pull up(via braid or ponytail) because it gets in the way of her silly adventures

Family status: the Claes are the equivalent of the Armani/Gucci family(just cause Luigi is italian)

Career: she would go for a major that helps people(like psychology, nursing or social work) or agriculture cause farmer!Katarina.

Hobbies: farming, video games, anime (she is a nerd), exercising(those trees ain’t climbing themselves)

Sport they practice: hiking/climbing and baseball/softball(that snake aint gonna throw itself) she is afraid of cycling after remembering her past life 😥

Series/Movies/Videogames etc that they would like: any villainess story she roots for them, comedies, slice of life

Type of drunk: at first happy/live of the party drunk, as time goes on she morphs into the crying drunk, she misses her past family.

The most athletic in the group, has the biggest stamina

She ain’t interested in inheriting the family business

Her favorite anime is little witch academia

She is the type that likes to visit different places all the time. Likes to take a bunch of pictures/videos and recommends places.

She becomes an influencer without trying.

She always tips at least 25% and recommends places to people

She is banned from various buffet chains

She probably has some form of attention deficit disorder undiagnosed.

People on highschool sports clubs always ask for her help (they want to recruit her), she agrees most of the times but doesn’t join any

She tried Hunnie Pop(pls don’t search it up if you are a minor), she thought that it was a cute dating sim, that opened a whole can of worms 🥴

She wouldn’t be engaged to anyone here, cause it’s a modern setting (rip gigi’s biggest advantage)

She avoids going to Japan because she is afraid of maybe seeing her old family

Saves money for her exile in _____country

Now that I actually think about it, she probably learns a trade, like carpenter or welder idk

Keith

Clothes: he is anime Timothee Chalamet, he is the sweater kinda guy. Also, have you seen Loid Forger from spy x family in casual clothes? that’s how i imagine keith, smart casual(he wants Katarina to look at him as a man)

Family status: the Claes are his godparents, close family friends. He and Katarina practically were raised together

Career: something business related to help the family business and clothes design(he happens to have a good eye for that sort of stuff)

Hobbies: making clothes for the gang, stop motion animation(dirt doll equivalent)

Sport they practice: track and field athletics, Keith runs way too much in the manga, he can keep up with a carriage!

Series/Movies/Videogames etc that they would like: he is into superhero movies, sucks at video games(just plays bcs Katarina asks him to), and knows a lot of chick-flicks because of Katarina

Type of drunk: flirty drunk, it’s the only way to get playboy!Keith

Edna Mode is his role model

Katarina convinces him to do some stop motion videos with cute nendoroids (kind of like “Animist” on Youtube)

One time, he tried “seduction for dummies”, he was so embarrassed that he swore to never use it. 

Geordo

Clothes: that one dude that’s always wearing formal clothes, also he wears hawaiian shirts because Katarina said (once) that she likes them

Family status: his family runs the equivalent of facebook/apple, a company with a shitton of money and influence

Career: Gigi seems like the type of person that would like a challenge (and something not related to his family-name) so a hard career like medicine/physics

Hobbies: driving fast cars and motorcycles, it really makes his blood pump and reading

Sport they practice: boxing, just to left off steam

Series/Movies/Videogames etc that they would like: adventure, mystery and secretly into romantic stuff

Type of drunk: sloppy!drunk, I like it when Geordo is portrayed as not perfect. 

His favorite movie as a kid was Cars (KUCHAOW), the gang roasts him on it

“Bet on it” from high school musical 2 hitted him hard, Troy Bolton stan

I’m sorry Geordo, but you look like a generic blonde dude in a Disney Channel show

Mary

Clothes: fabulous af, has the best fashion sense of the group(i had to look up what my favorite kpop group wear)

Family status: her family is in the entertainment industry, her mom used to be a famous actress and her father owns a big filming production company.

Career: i can see her being a good actress, but she wants to

Hobbies: gardening, painting

Sport they practice: before meeting Katarina fencing after meeting her she gets into capoeira(she wants to kick Geordo’s ass and good look doing it) 

Series/Movies/Videogames etc that they would like: gay stuff, stardey valley, fighting games, bayonetta, Knives Out 

Type of drunk: Touchy-Feely!drunk, not just Katarina anyone really

Usually does everyone’s make up, likes to mess up the boys

Sophia introduced her to Yuri(anime/manga genre), upset that most of the time it’s bait, and just gals being pals. But she takes any crumbs she can find

I can see her being a Lady Gaga fan

Big Halloween fan

Alan

Clothes: i could say emo, but I don’t think Alan would put THAT much effort in his appearance/make up. So casual bike/punk clothes

Family status: tries his best to make his momma proud

Career: music would be the easy choice, but I imagine if none of his brothers wanted to run the family business he would do it (bedgruguly)

Series/Movies/Videogames etc that they would like: underdog stories(shonen boi), music related stories and plays video games for the good music

Hobbies: composing music, playing weird instruments, and going to live orchestras/concerts

Sport they practice: soccer/basketball, he would try to befriend people through it or swimming, because he likes water and how you can’t hear anything under it 

Type of drunk: affectionate!drunk, he just wants to hug everybody

Hatsune Miku enthusiast

Sophia introduces Alan to the world of gacha music games

I can see him going to music festivals (Tomorrowland, Lollapalooza, Coachella etc)

Sophia

Clothes: she wears a lot of cardigans and big sweaters, do you know lilypichu? kind of like that

Career: a lot of people headcanon her as a writer, but I think in a modern setting she would be more of a reviewer

Hobbies: drawing(her favorite characters), cosplay, blogging

Sport they practice: walkin, she doesn’t seem like the athletic one

Series/Movies etc that they would like: true crimes, (trashy)romance connoisseur 

Type of drunk: surprisingly high alcohol tolerance, but when she is at her limit she turns into the blackout!drunk

Used to play gacha games, her parents prohibited it

I can see her being a fujoshi…

She tried to dye her hair teal for a cosplay but she didn’t know it’s hard for albinos to dye their hair r i p

Avatar the last airbender fan

I’m sorry Sophia, I’m portraying you as a weeb

Nicol

Clothes: practical/comfy, Nicol is a man of few words and so is his wardoble, but usually Sophia dress him up(he doesn’t mind)

Family status: his family runs Google or Microsoft idk

Career: something related with technology(computer science, business intelligence, robotics etc), his attitude reminds me a lot of my friends in that area

Hobbies: robot

Sport they practice: horse riding, he just likes the horses or fishing cause it’s really calm and he goes fishing with his dad

Series/Movies/Videogames etc that they would like: adventure stories, documentaries.

Type of drunk: reckless!drunk, he talks a lot, does a lot of stuff that he would normally not do

Star Wars fan

A lot of companies tried to recruit him as a model, later in life he made a deal with Keith/Mary to just appear in their stuff

Was into My Little Pony when he was little, he liked to watch it with Sophia

The Legend of Zelda fanboy, he see himself in Link

Maria

Clothes: cute

Family status: her parents divorced and her dad is a deadbeat-dad so her mom takes a lot of jobs to make ends meet(gotta make it tragic like FL), she stays with her grandparents most of the time, her grandpa used to be a doctor in the military (there’s no magic here so there must be an explanation of why Maria is good at healing people)

Career: she got a full scholarship, medicine, she looks up to her grandpa. Maybe specializing in physiatrist(idk).

Hobbies: baking, taking a stroll in the woods

She tried the realistic cake thingy and was good at it, she stopped doing it cause Katarina tried to eat E V E R Y T H I N G

Sport they practice: cycling, cause she has a bike

Series/Movies/Videogames etc that they would like: cooking mama enthusiasm, into the wholesome cooking/baking shows 

Type of drunk: she rarely drinks, but when she is drunk she turns into the pensative!drunk, aka sits down and overthinks stuff

She volunteers at the hospital way too much. She is that meme of “when employers want you to have 10 years of experience before age 22”

Tried to watch Grey’s Anatomy but it was too unprofessional and ridiculous

Likes "E.R." and "the good doctor"

Does a ton of fundraisers

Idk why but I imagine her always wearing something pink

Katarina asked her to recreate the Gordon Ramsay “idiot sandwich” meme, she refuses to do that to Katarina

[comiiical]

Warren Bonner

“29″

Demihuman / God

Etro

Cop

Warren is the son of the gods of War, Ares and Athena, born after a subterfuge he did in revenge for the loss of Troy in the hands of Athens. In vengeance, he aimed to have a truce with her only for him to ensure that she got infected with his seed. As a goddess, she gave birth to the child milennia ago, but her anger and the betrayal she felt caused her to cast away the kid that was born, however perfect he was and cursed him to live a human life of mortality in his immortality. He was found by cravens, raised by peasants and birthed, over and over again, for centuries, after his mortal life came to an end. It’s only when the faith in the gods weakened that he found a minimal strength, adopted by the Asgardians, him, an Olympian, lived a life among them, being reborn over and over until the curse weakened enough.

Nowadays, he is a cop working for the NYPD, and embracing his God status, ascending into it, due to the fan phenomena that vigilantism awakes in people, both in terms of fanatism and fear.

As the son of both Gods, Warren has inherited all the traits of an olympian god. For centuries, he was stripped of his immortality forced to a cycle of reincarnation instead. Nowadays, he’s once more immortal, but he has an actual age of 29 in his body and partially in his mind, for previous lives, even if remembered, do not affect the way he perceives what he’s lived. He has telekinesis and telumkinesis (or the ability to create, shape and manipulate, as well as control, weapons and anything that can be used as a weapon). He’s inherited his grand father’s lightning manipulation, and can make use of magknetokinesis to a similar degree to that of Magneto. After ascending into a god, he’s also capable of teleporting in a loud thunder.

[the-oddest-inkling]

My Main Hyperfixations:

I often claim to be a multi-fandom blog, but the joke's on you. I only have like five or so fandoms that I like.

Lord of the Rings (duh)

Eragon/ The Inheritance Cycle

Harry Potter

The Chronicles of Narnia

Star Wars (mainly Luke, Anakin and Cal Kestis Content)

Dragonball Z (I have only watched Dragonball and Dragonball Z and refuse to acknowledge all the shows that came afterward)

Inuyasha (and some other Animes like Detective Conan)

Percy Jackson (specifically the books and both movies. The TV does not exist for me)

The Twilight Saga (I personally prefer the books and hate the casting choices for Edward and Bella)

My other special interests are: Catholic Theology, Japan (huge fan of the Youtuber Abroad in Japan and Sharmeleon) and books.

My current dorment hyperfixations are basically all the queer centric shows I used to watch like Motherland: Fort Salem, Gap the Series, Xena Warrior Princess etc. They might come back from time to time. But I have a very good tagging system and always tag my stuff.

I do post a lot about my struggles with my identity (both sexuality wise and dealing with decades of bullying. I made a few posts about this, if you wanna check them out. My personal tag about rambling is "ani talks".

[hamliet]

On the Extra Pages

Paradis and War

We see Paradis being bombed, but bombing is not necessarily equal to destruction, and just because one city is wiped out doesn’t mean every city was, as horrible as that one city’s loss is. In fact, the story itself seems to subtly offer a hint that Paradis was not entirely destroyed, or at the very least not wiped out in a genocide, because the child looks to be a descendant of Mikasa. It’s ambiguous so people can choose what to believe about this, though.

Personally, I think it’s a good choice to show that Eren’s genocide did not in fact bring a forever peace. However, the war looks to be after Mikasa’s death as a very old lady, so hence we can conclude most of our cast lived good lives. Maybe the war was a result of Jaegerism and the genocide; maybe it was something else entirely, like the crystal resources. It is a cycle, war and peace, and neither are completely gone--because after the war comes a peaceful scene of a child trotting around and playing.

On the Titan Curse

So the spoilers said the curse still exists, but we do not see that. Yes, it is true that the tree opening looks like the opening Ymir fell into an d received the titan curse from the... spine creature, for lack of a better name/term. However, we simply don’t know this is the case for sure, and we don’t know what the child will decide to do should they inherit anything. Remember, technology has also advanced, so even if they ended up cursed, they wouldn’t have to immediately be cosigned to a short life, and their choices mean they are not doomed to create other titans like Ymir.

If we think of the spiny creature as evil in the world, evil born out of power, people will always encounter it. It’s part of human life on earth. But we have choices about what to do with it. Ymir was a slave who had no choice about what to do with it. Presumably, this kid, as a descendant of Mikasa’s, might well be able to choose differently if they even take the power and if the power is even there.

On Jeankasa

I agree entirely with @momtaku‘s analysis that this is a very Jack and Rose story, wherein Eren and Mikasa are Jack and Rose, and Jean is Rose’s unnamed husband. (I’ve actually been comparing Eremika to Jack/Rose for months now even before the ending came out.)

Eren and Mikasa are the main love story of SnK. We have Jean also loving Mikasa, and that it seems to imply they ended up together is a good conclusion. However, his face is never shown, so people can conclude it isn’t Jean if they don’t want it to be; however again, the authorial intent is pretty clear that this is Jean, but it’s also left a little bit up to people’s imagination and people can think what they like.

For Eremikas... Mikasa finding love again seems consistent with her personality to me, but I get that some people would have wanted her not to. To me it reminds me of Katniss having kids at the end of The Hunger Games, wherein it seemed to me like the obvious choice for her personality and arc, but having it confirmed was upsetting for fans who wanted something else, and that want is not inherently wrong.

But it’s also worth remembering that Mikasa and Jean and their kids, and her grandkids, are shown visiting Eren’s grave her entire life. She never “moved on” from Eren. She found a new love, and that new love (Jean) supported her love for Eren, and probably loved her devotion to him. One love does not replace the other because love is not a finite resource. She can be committed to both for life because Eren is dead; love is not limited by death in the same way as loving commitments are limited by life (and they are); love transcends death and life. It’s something many who lose a spouse IRL experience, as I’ve written before. Her grandkids helping her lower the rose to his grave implies that they know all about him, too.

Imo, the ending is, as Momtaku says, a win for Eremika as much as it is for Jeankasa. Sip your champagne, fine people.

Moving Forward

I love the ending. The final pages I actually like as well. I think critique is very valid and I get that people are not happy about different elements, but I don’t want further asks requesting validation for not liking an aspect (you are valid, you don’t even need any reason for it), or asks demonizing Jean or Isayama himself, and I especially do not want asks implying Eren was justified after all just because there was more war (if anything, it thematically implies the opposite). I’ve gotten hundreds of these asks, and I’m really stretched thin right now and tired. I love getting asks, but sometimes these asks can be emotionally exhausting, and I am only human. Asks about what I thought of a particular aspect, asking about a critique you’re genuinely curious about (not one you just need validation for an opinion of), etc are still very much welcome, but any asks like the above will not be answered.

[faroreswinds]

To me, the fact that Sothis willingly shared her tech with humans makes me think she could have been not a conqueror but a refugee (Nabatean… maybe that whole air problem for dragons in Elibe got worse) But knowing those people, that still means they’re coming in to take over. Especially having children on Fodlan soil. Just can’t win. :/

Honestly, we really CAN'T be sure.

There is some merit to the idea that maybe Sothis and the Nabateans maybe were not all what they were chalked up to be... but it's hardly convincing when the Slithers are so blatantly evil. We are meant to root for the main cast, no matter what side we join. The Slithers are always against you, and from that view are never viewed in any sympathetic light, so any concept that maybe they had a good reason to rebel against Sothis is like trying to say the water is still good to drink after you poured a lot of salt into it.

From dev interviews, we do know that the Nabateans basically ruled as gods... although, that alone means nothing. I think many fans tend to view this as an instantly negative thing, but by itself it isn't inheritably bad. I like to think of it as something akin to Middle Earth, where obviously greater beings were the ones in charge. In Tolkien's world, there were men of greater birth, it wasn't just a subjective concept forced upon the people through weak education and manipulation. Aragon was legit of a mighty line of men, and that came with actual power and biological advantages. Galadriel was a mighty elf compared to others of her race because she saw the light of the two trees, and her immortal life and great wisdom basically made her a goddess in her own right. The men of Rohan, while noble in their own right, were descended from lesser men than those of Gondor.

I think these concepts make many people uncomfortable, because they have a hard time separating fantasy from reality. In a fantasy, there can totally be a greater line of men and be nothing evil. If you view the work through the moral and cultural lens of your own upbringing, then you invite judging such situations as wrong, or something inheritably bad. And the idea that a race of beings could legit be better than YOU, the player/reader, might make people frustrated.

Nabateans are objectively superior to humans. They live longer. Have greater powers. You could even argue created better technology than humans ever did. It would only be natural that they fell into leadership, godlike roles. Being in a godlike role is a neutral stance on its own, but since many people, especially Western fans, see this as a manipulative role rather than perhaps a supportive one, will read that sentence and think "They controlled humans!" rather than the other reading, which could be "They merely protected or guided humans".

Sort of cycling back to the Slithers, I could present this potential scenario: long ago, they felt that they were controlled by Nabateans, and wanted freedom. When they rebelled, they lost because Sothis is an objectively more powerful entity. The humans in Foldan now are merely new creatures that Sothis created and thus, are nothing more than animals. Well, there is nothing wrong with killing animals, so they see no reason to take a mortal issue with killing said nu-humans on their quest to take back their world. After all, it was their world first!

This would be a very interesting concept to have in the world of Foldan. However.... as I said before, it's soured by the idea that we are meant to root against the Slithers, not sympathize with them- Sothis is meant to be viewed as an objectively good figure, and much of what I just presented is speculation at most, and not hard fact.

It's easy to see why many fans feel that maybe the Slithers Had A Point TM, but usually I find fans who truly feel this way also feel this way in service of supporting their stance against the Church, Rhea, and the Nabateans in general.

Which is.... kind of ironic.

[ayuuria]

Yashahime Translation: Animage November 2020 Issue

Please do not repost this translation without my consent! @officialinuyasha will be making a video version of this so stay tuned!

The Three Girls’ Incident Fill Journey

While carrying the expectations of “Inuyasha” fans, the story of the 3 girls begins to move. What sort of fate awaits the 3 girls with different personalities and grew up in different eras?

The original anime that succeeds the world of “Inuyasha”, “Hanyou no Yashahime”, has finally begun broadcast! (We are) sure there were a lot of people who were surprised after watching episode 1. Afterall, not only were the trio of protagonists on screen, but also the characters of “Inuyasha”, Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Sesshomaru, were freely moving around!

In episode 1, the story started with Towa being told the story of Inuyasha and Kagome (A priestess who came from ‘Tokyo’ 10 years ago and the half demon that exterminated demons with her) while she was captured at the Kanto region’s governor-general’s mansion of Ougigayatsu-Hiiragi. As Inuyasha and others live while exterminating demons, after ending the battle with the half demon, Naraku, it is said they fought a demon called Root Head… Familiar scenes are jammed together showing everyone’s traits such as the black Tessaiga unleashing Meidozangetsuha and Kagome’s “sit”. It truly was a festive curtain opening.

However, this was just the prologue of the Yashahime’s adventure since as Setsuna’s voice actress, Komatsu Mikako, put it “Episode 2 is the first episode “Hanyou no Yashahime”. A “new age of feudal fairytale” with the 3 girls has finally begun!

Moroha Inuyasha and Kagome’s quarter-demon daughter. She makes a living as a bounty hunter. She doesn’t have any memories of her parents, but she inherited “demonic powers” and “spiritual powers of a priestess”.

It really is the daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome! Moroha’s voice actress: Tadokoro Azusa

“Moroha is Inuyasha and Kagome’s daughter so from the time I auditioned for her, I wanted to incorporate elements from the two of them. I focused on things like how Inuyasha sits like a dog and his beast like manner when he speaks as well as Kagome’s strength as a woman and her suppleness. However, when I really thought about it, I thought the two of them had similar dispositions. It’s like they became similar as they journeyed together. Things like the kindness of when they end up saving people and how quickly the blood rushes to their heads when angered; (these) are traits they both have. That is why I thought Moroha might be like that too. I truly thought she was a child born from Inuyasha and Kagome from how emotional she is and how lightly she carries her body.”

Setsuna Towa’s younger twin sister. She is a member of the demon slayers and has a calm, collected personality. She was separated from Towa when she was young and does not remember anything from that time.

Staying calm while thinking of Sesshomaru Setsuna’s voice actress: Komatsu Mikako

“I was directed to “remember the way Narita Ken played Sesshomaru” when it came time to play Setsuna. During the audition, I did a version that had a cool aura at the forefront and a version that focused a little on being a realistic girl. At first I wasn’t sure which one to go with so I acted lightly but was told “More deeper, it’s okay to have a threatening quality in your voice.” Now I diligently act with complete collectedness while thinking of Sesshomaru. While I haven’t done any recording work with Narita-san yet, I worked with him a little over a year ago on a different work where we had a parent/child role so I can’t wait to show how happy I am to be his daughter again (laughs).”

Higurashi Towa Sesshomaru’s daughter and Setsuna’s older twin sister. She time traveled to the modern era when she was little. She excels at martial arts to the point that she can beat up gangs by herself.

She is good at fighting but she is still a regular girl Towa’s voice actress: Matsumoto Sara

“Since Towa spent 10 years under Papa Souta and does not remember her real parents, I think she’s more of a Modern girl than a Feudal girl. The first audition tape I submitted, I really focused on her being the daughter of Sesshomaru and had her sounding completely boyish. However afterwards I was told “Sounds too much like a boy.” Based on that, I think I got it just right with sounding like a 14-year-old middle school girl who’s good at fighting. Also just like Mikako-san, I have played a role as Narita-san’s daughter in a different work. As of now, I’m curious to see if there will be any parent/child interactions from here on.”

Cycling in Feudal Lands!?

The figures of Towa and Setsuna riding a bicycle while Moroha follows after them reminds one of the scene that unfolded in “Inuyasha”. In episode 1, Towa was presented with Kagome’s bicycle seat at Ougigayatsu-Hiiragi mansion. Does that mean a bicycle will be a key item in “Yashahime”?

Round Table Discussion with the Cast of the 3 Girls

The 3 of them who grew up influenced by “Inuyasha”

Everyone, (speaking) purely as “Inuyasha” fans. First, please tell us your favorite character or episode from “Inuyasha”

Matsumoto: Once we start talking about “Inuyasha”, forget the interview time, we’re going be talking past midnight! (laughs) For me, my favorites were Miroku and Naraku.

Tadokoro: Miroku! He’s precocious!

Komatsu: You liked Naraku?!

Matsumoto: First, I was overwhelmed by Miroku’s adult sexiness. I loved that fraudulent part of him. You know how whenever the air got tense within the Inuyasha group, Miroku would chime in with “Now then” and the air would soften. I felt that that was really cool. Back then, I ended up drawing Miroku’s wind tunnel on my hand and copying him (laughs).

Komatsu and Tadokoro: I did that too~! (in unison)

Matsumoto: On the other end, I felt charmed by how Naraku was too evil. I thought “There’s someone this evil!”.  I was shocked that even though he was originally human, as a result of getting all sorts of humans and demons involved, he became like that. I became completely enamored by the “true villain”.

Komatsu: If I were to speak in terms of Naraku’s faction, I loved Kagura.

Matsumoto and Tadokoro: Aah~ Kagura~!  (in unison)

Komatsu: Naraku is an existence that became a demon from the negative aspects of humans such as tenacity and envy. Yet from that, Kagura in a sense was born with a human like heart and I felt that that was attractive. Her life was always in Naraku’s hands. In reality, she wanted to join Inuyasha’s side but she couldn’t. Even so she wanted to be free like the wind and ironically at the end, she became the wind by Naraku’s hand. Then, in her last moments when she met Sesshomaru she said “I got to see you”….!

Matsumoto and Tadokoro: Yeah~!!

Komatsu: Kagura was the only character on the enemy’s side that I liked. On Inuyasha’s side, I’d have to say I liked the Inuyasha and Kagome pair. “Inuyasha” had a romance element to it; for me it was both a shounen and shoujo manga and it was a work that was truly like a textbook on life. I did things like ask my parents to make the Japanese style room in our house “my room” and bought folding fans because I said “I want to become a wind user too!”

Tadokoro: Mine is mainstream but I liked Sesshomaru.

Matsumoto and Komatsu: Aah~ Lord Sesshomaru~!!

Komatsu: Well our Papa is too cool.

Tadokoro: I can’t go against that charm. He doesn’t say much but despite it all, he does look out for the others. At first, he kept going after Inuyasha in order to take his sword but in the end, he ended up helping Inuyasha grow right? Something like that (laughs).

Matsumoto: He’s too tsundere!

Tadokoro: Exactly! Rin obviously but despite everything, he does consider Jaken important. My favorite episode was the one where Rin gets taken into the underworld.

Matsumoto and Komatsu: I feel you!

Tadokoro: To think that that Sesshomaru would say “There’s nothing that could ever be worth trading Rin’s life for”… I think that was the moment everyone fell for Sesshomaru (laughs). Also Kohaku. He went through something extremely painful and continued to suffer for a long time so that makes him do unnecessary things. He tends to value his life poorly and because of that, there are a lot of scenes where he’s saved by others. At first I thought “Please stop”, however in the anime because of Yajima Akiko’s voice, I really felt “It’s not that he’s getting in everyone’s way, he just takes action because he’s tormented”. Yajima-san’s acting of Kohaku is what made me want to be become a voice actor so I have a lot of feelings this character. When I saw him become an adult in “Hanyou no Yashahime”, I had this feeling of “Thank you for choosing to live”.

There is no end to the “Inuyasha“ talk. Then please tell us your impression of “Hanyou no Yashahime”. Did all of you audition for all 3 girls?

Tadokoro: I only did Moroha for the tape audition but afterwards I did all 3 girls in the studio audition. It’s just that there’s the fact that I just did Moroha for the tape so I was interested in her the most. My very first impression was that I was moved when I saw that the child born from Inuyasha and Kagome was this girl, and I was so happy to see their child. She really looks like them and she’s so lively that I thought she would actually come to life. I arbitrarily thought “I wonder if she’s living a happy life?”.

Matsumoto: I only auditioned for Towa. From her appearance, I thought she was cool but before anything else I was so shocked at the idea of “Sesshomaru’s daughter” that I was at a complete loss. I was like “S-Sesshomaru had a d-daughter…?!” (laughs)

All: (Laughs)

Matsumoto: I ended up thinking “How did he give birth when he’s a guy?”

Komatsu: With Sesshomaru, I can certainly see him doing something like cutting off his hair and breathing life into by blowing on it (laughs).

Matsumoto: I can see that smoking up and turning into a baby (laughs). While Towa has a twin sister named Setsuna, there was that setting of Towa spent time in the modern era. I felt there was a lot of ground for thought like “What happened between her and Setsuna?” or “Do they have different personalities?”.

Komatsu: In my case, when I received the notice for the audition, I only saw the title “Hanyou no Yashahime” and thought “This is going to be a title like “Inuyasha”” (laughs). When I read the explanation it really had “a work that succeeds the world of “Inuyasha”” written on it so I was really surprised. Not only that but it had the catch phrase “Sesshomaru has a daughter” so I was like “That Sesshomaru!?”. In any case, I was completely surprised. For the audition, I only did Setsuna but upon seeing the documents, her facial features and the white fluff (moko moko) around her neck, I thought she really is the daughter of Sesshomaru. In the audition manuscript, there were a few lines that showed that she didn’t seem to really remember her father but her closed off aura gave me the sense of ‘like father, like daughter’.

As you got into acting your roles, have there been any changes from your first impression?

Komatsu: Each of their backbones are slowly being dug up but among them, there a lot of scenes where you can tell that Towa has been heavily influenced by the modern era from having lived there so long.

Matsumoto: Yes. There’s a contrast like when they’re confronted by a demon; Towa will pull back where as Setsuna and Moroha will go on the offensive. Also when Towa hesitates to make the final blow, the two of them scold her.

Komatsu: For Setsuna and Moroha, exterminating demons is a job but for Towa, she exterminates demons with the idea of saving others. Hence, due to the difference in their way of thinking, they butt heads but as the 3 of them spend more time together, their sense of comradery will gradually deepen… I feel my impression is slowly changing as the story progresses like how Setsuna surprisingly participates in the joke scenes and how they move as a 3 person team.

Tadokoro: With Moroha’s change, I was first directed with “It’s okay to make it sillier”. Actually, while she does act on her emotions like a child and she can be a little stupid, in battle she’ll give out directions like “Do this” and I think she’s good at assisting. Based on appearances, Towa and Setsuna seem like they would be better at combat but the fact that Moroha has a sharp mind is something that surprised me.

Matsumoto: My impression of Towa hasn’t really changed but I’m curious to see how Towa will adapt to the Feudal Era and how the 3 of them will work as one. Even when Towa returns to the Feudal Era, it’s not like she forgets the modern era and she will show things to Setsuna, Moroha, and Takechiyo like “In the modern era, we have something like this”. Towa doesn’t seem to find it hard to go from the modern era to the Feudal Era and when recording began, I once again thought “It’s like this afterall”.

Komatsu: … I think the way Towa closes the gap between herself and others is similar to “that person”.

Matsumoto: You just made a big statement like it was nothing!

Komatsu: I thought the way Towa concerns herself with Setsuna and Setsuna responding with “Shut up! Leave me alone!” was a relationship similar to that of their parents… If you look at Towa, I think you can figure out who the mother is.

Tadokoro: Definitely get an idea. Then how about the possibility of Jaken? (laughs)

Matsumoto: The ‘Jaken is the mother’ theory huh! (laughs) What makes me get emotional is when even though Setsuna pushes Towa away and goes on ahead, she’ll stop, look back, and watch Towa complain behind her. She’s just like her father when she does that!

Komatsu: I feel! She’s totally concerned about her.

Tadokoro: To Moroha, despite what Towa and Setsuna say to eachother, they’re pretty lovey-dovey so she feels a little “left out”.

All: (laughs)

Matsumoto: The other day when we were recording a preview, Azusa-san said to me “Towa really doesn’t call for Moroha does she.” When I thought about it, it’s true that there’s a lot of “Setsuna and I did this” sort of talk (laughs).

Tadokoro: Moroha’s there too~! (laughs)

Matsumoto: To Towa, Setsuna is very precious. Even though Setsuna and Moroha are veterans when it comes to surviving in the Feudal Era, Towa still wants to be an older sister to Setsuna. That aspect is pretty amusing.

That is definitely something to keep an eye on in future broadcasts. Now then, please tell us your thoughts on episode 1 that was broadcasted.

Komatsu: The story of “Inuyasha” since then was drawn so I don’t suppose fans felt as if they had “come home”? I think it was a first episode that was like “First of all, welcome back and welcome to a new world of Inuyasha!”

Tadokoro: It really is moving isn’t it… I was also really excited for the broadcast.

Matsumoto: All the more since during the recording, the different casts recorded their scenes separately, so we never got to watch the “Inuyasha” cast acting directly.

Komatsu: Also there were nostalgic scenes that were just as they were in the original anime which is something that got me excited.

Matsumoto: There were. From episode 2 onwards, there will be lingering remnants of demons that appeared in “Inuyasha”. When past scenes come in, I myself become moved like “There was a scene like that!”

Komatsu: Episode 2 in a sense is the first episode of “Hanyou no Yashahime”. The first enemy demon that appears is a little similar to the first demon that appeared in “Inuyasha” so I think that’s a point that will make fans happy.

Tadokoro: Also in the TV anime, demons that appeared in scenes in the original work will also appear as “Hanyou no Yashahime” versions. That also makes me emotional.

Episode 2 onwards will be exciting for production key points that strike “Inuyasha” fans. Even in this edition’s illustration (P. 36-37), connecting with the bicycle Kagome was always rode in “Inuyasha”, we have a bicycle and the 3 girls.

Matsumoto: My heart is skipping seeing Setsuna wrap her hands around Towa’s waist.

Komatsu: She’s really looking (at her)! (laughs) Within the work, Setsuna hasn’t opened up to Towa yet but I wonder how much time has passed for the gap between them to close like this?

Tadokoro: Setsuna’s completely riding like a “girlfriend”! Moroha’s been taken off the bicycle (laughs)

Komatsu: We need to attach a side car to the bicycle for her (laughs)

Do you have any situations that you want to see illustrations of from here on?

Komatsu: I want to see everyone in a school uniform!

Matsumoto: Yes! Please put Moroha in Kagome’s sailor uniform.

Tadokoro: Yeah, I definitely want to see her wear that! Going along that line, I want to see Towa and Setsuna dressed like Lord Sesshomaru.

Matsumoto: Each one dressed like their parents, I like that. Not just a sailor uniform for Moroha but also in a priestess’s attire too.

Tadokoro: She has black hair so I’m sure it will look good on her.

Matsumoto: Moroha and Setsuna normally have their hair tied back so I want to see them with their hair down.

Komatsu: A situation where the 3 of them are in a hot spring. There were scenes like that in “Inuyasha” where there were monkeys in the hot spring. (laugh)

Matsumoto: Me personally, I want to see Setsuna and Moroha fully dressed in modern clothes. Something like all 3 of them going to an amusement park.

Komatsu: I want to see them taking tests for school!

Q. What do you think will happen when Towa and Setsuna reunite with Sesshomaru?

Komatsu: First, what will they call Sesshomaru? Will they call him “Father”? To begin with, I’ve been curious as to if Sesshomaru was the one who named them.

Tadokoro: That’s true. Who did name them?

Komatsu: “Towa = Eternity” and “Setsuna = Moment” … What sort of meaning do these complete opposite names have?

Matsumoto: I feel Setsuna’s is more fleeting. The wild ideas (translators note: head cannons to put it in western terms) won’t stop.

Tadokoro: Kagome’s was too but the names tend to have an uneasy nuance implied about them. For Moroha, the words “Double edged sword” and “Fragile” can have a close resemblance. There was a meaning to Kagome’s name so I tend to think there’s also a meaning in Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha. Also, Moroha’s red clothes is the robe of the fire rat Inuyasha wore that apparently, she remodeled herself so I’m really curious about that. Is it by chance… a memento? I don’t want that~!!

Q. Among the 3 of you, who resembles their character the most?

Komatsu: Probably Towa (Matsumoto)? Her aura is similar to Towa in a gutsy, cheerful sense. It doesn’t feel like an “act” when she’s acting.

Tadokoro: Me too, my first thought was Towa. I thought they looked similar in appearances.

Matsumoto: That makes me so happy….! There are times where I feel I’m similar to Towa but I think everyone has something similar (to their characters). I feel like Azusa-san is mischievous and sparkling like Moroha and Komatsu-san has Setsuna’s cool beauty.

Komatsu: No, I have zero coolness within me (laughs). I think the rock essence that Koroazu (referring to Tadokoro) has during a concert performance is close to Moroha!

Tadokoro: That’s true, I try to bring out a wild flavor (laughs).

Episode 1 Play Back: Inuyasha Since Then

Inuyasha and Kagome exterminated Root Head with there superb combination (?)… or so it was thought, but in actuality, it entangled itself with the roots of the Sacred Tree/Tree of Ages deep within the earth. The still living Root Head extends its roots to the fates of Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha. And the true identity of Munehisa, who told the tale, comes to light as the demon Yotsume (the 4 eyed owl). Just what is he is something to keep an eye on from here on.

Inuyasha Moroha’s half-demon father. After winning the battle against Naraku, he chose to live together with Kagome in the Feudal Era. He also drove back Root Head combining his power with Kagome’s but…

Sesshomaru A greater demon who is Towa and Setsuna’s father. While Inuyasha was fighting Root Head, he did not lend a hand but rather he quietly watched over Sango’s house where Rin was taking refuge.

[gregorygrim]

Dragon Prince Hot Takes

!!! Full Spoiler For “The Dragon Prince” Seasons 1-3!!!

So I finally got around to watching The Dragon Prince. Timely, I know, but better late than never i guess. I’m not completely caught up yet as I only got as far as S3E7 “Hearts of Cinder” in this first sitting. Considering I haven’t binged any series in almost two years, I think that’s pretty respectable. This means I won’t discuss the last few episodes here, except for a couple of things I was unfortunately spoiled for already, hence full spoilers.

These are basically my first thoughts and opinions after the binge and a good night’s sleep. It’s gonna be a lot so if you don’t care or don’t want spoilers…

TL;DR: 7½/10. Generally enjoyable, there are some aspects I’m not exactly fan of, but no dealbreakers

Firstly to everyone who told me that this was the new ATLA: you all need to rewatch Avatar stat! Like seriously. There are definitely parallels and given the cast and crew I think that’s what they were going for too (which is why I think it’s fair to compare the two), but still, no.

Secondly I love most of the worldbuilding and love that the series at least tries to give it to us in a bit of a non-linear fashion, even if it is kind of clumsy at times. I know some people are put off by expository dialogue and flashbacks, but I’m an epic fantasy nerd, I need that sweet, sweet lore to live as much as you mortals need food.

I like that there was clearly an effort made to integrate the worldbuilding in more subtle ways. For example you may initially find it kind of weird that all these different human ethnicities are existing perfectly integrated in what looks like a medieval society, until you remember from the opening monologue that the Human Kingdoms are the result of a massive diaspora following the human exodus from Xadia, so obviously people got all mixed up everywhere. It’s representation with an excellent in-world reason and that just brings me joy.

I also love the magic system(s) even though we haven’t really gone into that just yet. it really feels like there was a genuine effort made to create underlying mechanics for the magic rather than just making each spell a vaguely elemental themed ability. I really hope we’ll dive deeper into that in coming seasons.

I also like the little nods to other works of fantasy: Ezran’s ability to talk with animals is a reference to Tolkien’s world where some royal bloodlines had the ability to speak with animals, specifically birds; Primal Magic and its spells being cast with Ancient Draconic runes and words might be reminiscent of the Ancient Language from the Inheritance Cycle etc.

Thirdly the main cast is great. Callum, Ezran and Rayla are all interesting and relatable characters in their own right and as a group. I’m not going into each of them individually here, but while I think the series as a whole falls short of ATLA, as protagonist parties go I dare say this one is nearly on nearly on par with the gAang.¹

And yes, I love Bait, which I really did not expect following the first few episodes. I love his weird pug-toad-chameleon design, I love that he works like a flashbang whenever somebody says a quote from Scarface (I wish they hadn’t dropped that later on) and I love how done he is with everything and everyone at all times. I’ve only had him for 25 episodes, but if anything happened to him I would kill all of my followers and then myself.

On top of that, and speaking as someone who god knows is really not into shipping, I love Rayla and Callum’s relationship. It’s believable, it’s refreshing and it brings out the best in both characters without changing basically anything about them. Just two good friends who fell in love. A++, maybe even S tier.

Unfortunately though I can’t sing the same kind of praises about the villains. None of them are terrible (as in terribly written, most of them are pretty awful people), but with one exception they just don’t stand up to the protagonists in quality.

I could simply not take Viren seriously. Even now that is probably the single most powerful magic user in the world, he just has such strong Karen energy, every time he finishes a speech I am overcome with the urge to say “Sir, this is a Wendy’s” and it does not help the mood. I’m not even sure why. It might’ve been the voice because the guy who did Viren (Jason Simpson) also does a lot of kinda slimy characters in various anime dubs, it might be that over-the-top walking stick, idk.

What I’m saying is that as a primary antagonist he simply did not work for me. Which is doubly a shame because this kind of tarnishes the real “Big Bad” of this story by proxy. Aaravos, even as an invisible ghost, with his voice coming out of a caterpillar and next to no info on his backstory, has more style and gravity than all the human antagonists combined. It helps that he is by far the best designed character and Erik Dellums has the voice of a young god, but I’d argue even without that unfair advantage he has the potential to be a top tier villain. While he is stuck as Viren’s “little bug-pal” though he is just being dragged down.

(I’m aware that as of the final episode the caterpillar familiar is undergoing metamorphosis, probably to create a new body for Aaravos’ spirit to inhabit outside of the magic mirror, so I’m definitely hyped for more of him in the coming seasons.)

As for Soren and Claudia, I’ve got mixed feelings. This was one more aspect of the show that a lot of people compared to Avatar and while I see the parallels to Zuko & Azula, they are still very different, at least where Claudia is concerned. I’d also just like to mention that a lot of people told me that they thought the direction in which their storylines went were really surprising and I can’t disagree more. I predicted that Soren would defect to the protagonists on episode 5 right after Viren told him to kill the princes and I knew Claudia was going to stick with her father from episode 12 onward. My point is, it didn’t feel like some kind of plot twist, the way some people made it out to be, and which I don’t think was the intent.

I definitely got the sense that Soren was at least a Zuko-type character, though still not a Zuko clone, and as with Zuko I was consistently able to empathise and sympathise with him and his predicaments. I also appreciated that his dilemma is the result of his convictions and not him being kind of dense, which would’ve been all to easy and probably would’ve ruined his character for me. As it stands he is extremely milktoast, but perfectly functional for his purpose in the story and I can definitely see him evolving further and getting more interesting as we go on.

Claudia is where it gets complicated. Again, I can see the Azula parallels. But unlike that character, who is her father’s animal 110%, Claudia doesn’t strike me as a victim of Viren’s manipulation the way Soren undoubtably is. The way she talks about and uses Dark Magic, how she talks down to Soren and how even Viren finds it difficult to communicate with her, tells me as an audience member that she is an independent person. Which tells me that the cruelty and enthusiasm for causing harm she regularly displays is her own will. And that was before she straight up leads Callum on to manipulate him.

On the other hand I can absolutely relate to her devotion to her family, her big sister role (even though she is younger than Soren) and the way both the separation of her parents before the story and Soren’s injury in episode 16 must’ve affected her because of this. I know that, if my brother had become paralysed from the neck down and I knew a way to heal him, I would not have hesitated to kill that fawn either. Then again her relationship with her father is very different from parental relationships I am familiar with, so I can’t really say I see why she is so devoted to him, other than she promised her mother to stay with him years ago? ¯\(o_Ō)/¯

So basically Claudia falls into an emotional grey space for me. I can’t really tell how to feel about her either way and I’ll just have to see where she goes from here, which, while fine, isn’t necessarily great for an end of season cliffhanger imo.

Seeing as I’ve already talked about some of the show’s shortcomings, I think it’s time to dive into some of the what I would consider flaws.

Firstly this show needed at least 12 episode seasons. I have never made a secret out of my dislike for the modern short seasons and while I recognise that in the current climate in the industry giving everything full 25 episode seasons isn’t really doable, the pacing of this show, especially for the first season is just outright bad at times. It works as of the second season, but the first season alternately feels like it’s either rushing through or crawling along the whole way through.

The believability of Rayla’s and the princes’ relationship really suffers from this the most. It comes a bit out of nowhere on the boat ride and is then taken for granted way to quickly. Like Callum, seriously, this girl tried to kill you and your brother not even a day ago and you are currently cut off from all allies you have ever had until now. A little skepticism isn’t misplaced here. I also wold’ve liked if we’d just gotten a bit more of a sense of movement with the characters. I get that this is not the kind of show where we can just make an entire episode about the characters travelling and camping, intercut with plots centred around a more expansive supporting cast, but still I really would’ve preferred if Xadia didn’t feel quite so around the corner.

Another issue is with setup and payoff, which I think is partially a consequence of the pacing as well. A lot of smaller plot points are set up within the same episode as the payoff just wreak havoc on the narrative structure. A good example is the episode where they ride down the river in a boat and Bait tires to go into the water, but is saved by Ezran, who then explains the story behind Glowtoads and how they are pefect bait for large water predators. Then Bait falls into the water and is attacked by a massive water monster. This happens within five minutes of one episode and never comes up again. To me that looks like sign of rushed editing, which is probably not entirely the crew’s fault, given that they are on a schedule from Netflix, but it’s still a point of critique.

It unfortunately also manifests in the occasional line of horribly forced dialogue, often for things we can literally see happening on screen. Again, this is mostly the case in the earlier episodes, but it never completely goes away.

Finally, and this is where i get into serious issues that made me want to write this, we gotta talk about representation in this show.

First: disabled representation, meaning Amaya. Why is Amaya deaf? Because it’s good to have disabled representation.

Why is Amaya deaf and a high-ranking military officer? Because they didn’t think it through.

I know this may be a contentious opinion, but it is my belief that the purpose of representation, particularly of disabilities characters may suffer from, in fiction is to, y’know, represent people as they are in life. That includes especially the struggles they face and have to overcome, sometimes their whole life. This is not just me talking out of my ass either. A couple years ago I discussed this with several people that are disabled, specifically blind or otherwise severely visually impaired, in a different context obviously, and the general consensus was that it’s better to have representation that shows their life and their abilities as they are, rather than how they might wish they could be.

A mute or deaf person cannot be a medieval fantasy army general, no matter how good they might be in melee combat or who’s sister they are, because at the end of the day, they’re not able to give commands while they are holding a sword and shield. That such a massive logical oversight, especially in comparison to the extremely well done example of representation I mentioned above, and has so little impact on the plot that it leads me to believe, this aspect of Amaya’s character was tacked on in the last minute without being given any thought for the sole reason of the story having a disabled person in it. All this does is necessitate the existence of two otherwise entirely unnecessary characters, Gren and Kazi, both of which achieve nothing, aside from sometimes being literal set dressing.

That is where representation ends and tokenism begins.

And unfortunately this generally lacklustre attitude also extends to the LGBT+ representation on the show.

As of S3E7 “Hearts of Cinder” we have had two onscreen gay couples on the show (onscreen in the sense that both partners were onscreen and they were somehow confirmed to be in a relationship on the show). One of these, the queens of Duren, literally die in the same flashback they are introduced in, which incidentally also features them invading a foreign nation to poach a rare animal and subsequently starting the conflict at the series’ core. Not a great look.

Aside from serving as a tragic backstory for their daughter, the most impact they had on my viewing experience was that they made wonder how the fuck royal succession works in Duren. (People who know me are rolling their eyes right now because I’m bringing anarchism into this Dragon Prince review, but I’m telling you, this why fantasy monarchies aren’t compatible with LGBT+ politics in the same setting. Dynastic governments are inherently bigoted, you can’t have it both ways.)

The other couple are Runaan and Ethari, Rayla’s caretakers, although if I’m being honest you wouldn’t be able tell based on Runaan’s treatment of Rayla in the first episode. By the time we actually meet Ethari and find out about their relationship with Rayla, Runaan is suffering “a fate worse than death” (direct quote from the show) trapped in a gold coin.

I mean come on. That’s about as “technically not ‘bury your gays’” as it gets.

I think I need to reiterate here that my point is not that this show or its creators are somehow malicious. As i stated in the TL;DR: I don’t think this is a dealbreaker for liking this show. But it does demonstrate that they are prone to slipping to some potentially harmful tropes and this needs to be criticised and pointed out to them.

In conclusion, I really love this show. It’s not ATLA, it never will be, nothing else will ever be ATLA no matter how badly (and terribly) Netflix tries. But it does and should not have to be.

What it has to do though is improve. A lot of the building blocks are already there, such as Aaravos or Claudia’s development, Callum’s father, the origin of Ezran’s ability, the purpose of the “Key of Aaravos”, the true fate of King Harrow (we all know his soul is in the bird, right?) etc. Some things like the treatment of Amaya’s disability unfortunately won’t be fixable as far as I can tell, but if they at least manage to fix the gay representation I can make my peace with that.

¹ I know I said I wouldn’t go into each of the characters individually, but a) you should never trust a stranger on the internet and b) I really want to talk a bit about Callum. Specifically the “mystery” of why the hell he is connected to the Sky Primal. I write “mystery” because I think it’s fairly obvious from whence this talent came: there is only one humanoid species we know of with innate access to the Sky Arcanum and one of Callum’s parent’s is unidentified, presumed dead. 2+2=4. Callum’s father was a Skywing Elf. That’s why he recognised Nyx’s boomerang weapon. He remembered one like it either from his very early childhood (remember that he has photographic memory) or Sarai kept one and he found it at some point.

On top of that the name “Callum” or at least the pronunciation is clearly derived from Latin “caelum” meaning “sky” or “weather” and I already mentioned that Ancient Draconic is just bad Latin. It’s not very subtle. Unless they pull a complete 180 concerning the lore about Primal Magic he’s definitely going to be a half-elf, which would also just so happen to make him the perfect mediator between the Human Kingdoms and Xadia. Hmm, it’s almost as if they are planning ahead.

My question: How the fuck did that happen? Or rather: how did that fuck happen? I don’t think even Harrow knew or he probably would’ve a) paid more attention when Sarai advised against poaching the Magma Titan, because obviously she’s gotten around Xadia more than him, if y’know what i’m sayin’ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) or at least b) put it in his final letter to Callum. Unfortunately we know basically nothing about Sarai except that she was a soldier alongside Amaya and already had Callum before marrying Harrow. So does Amaya know? This is probably the most interesting plot thread in the whole story and as far as my friends told me it’s not going to be touched on anymore in the last two episodes than it already has thus far, which is basically not at all.