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boys-with-gunss · 7 months

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𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 𝐃𝐀𝐘 (𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟑) 𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐒

I never stop yapping about Zero Day, he here's literally all my thoughts on it right now so I can stfu for a couple days.

Table of Contents:

Film Summary

Andre Kriegman

- Character Overview

- Character Analysis

- Strengths & Weaknesses

- Conclusion/TLDR

Calvin Gabriel

- Character Overview

- Character Analysis

- Strengths & Weaknesses

- Conclusion/TLDR

Cal and Andre

- Similarities and Differences

-Who really is the "Leader"?

Film "Critique"

Overall Conclusion

Sorces

Zero Day full movie, making of, and screen test (free)

Also quick disclaimer, obviously I take direct information from the movie itself, but some of my information is paraphrasing of character wiki's (which are made by fans) so if any of it is inaccurate, just lmk and I'll correct it. Sources will be linked at the end

FILM OVERVIEW (spoilers)

Basically, Zero Day is a 2003 film centered around characters Cal Gabriel and Andre Kriegman, two teenagers who document their plans to commit a shooting at their high school via video tapes with the intent that after they're done, authorities/media will get a hold of them and send out their message. The entire film is supposed to be like "found footage" type stuff, the entire film is just these tapes they recorded, then at the very end, security camera footage of their school after the carry out their plan. That's essentially the gist of the film and basically all you need to know.

ANDRE KRIEGMAN

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: Andre Kriegman is Cal's best friend, born in Köln, Germany, his parents immigrated to the United States whilst he was still very long. He was on the track team, worked on the school paper occasionally, and was an active member of the science club at his school. He as brown hair and eyes, and average build, and has some mild acne. He's has a pessimistic sense of humor and overall world view. He's hard headed, selfish, methodical, and orderly with a short temper. He tends to take charge and likes things done the way he plans. He's intelligent for his age and uses that to his advantage

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀: Andre is a natural "leader", he's very assertive and gets upset when things don't go his way, go off track, or when there's a risk it won't work out. We see this numerous times throughout the film, usually when Cal does something off plan (for example, the poem Cal presented about the shooting, Andre for very upset with him as it could risk them getting found out. Then the time when Cal wanted to write a letter to Chris after they stole from him, Andre objected multiple times because he didn't want ti being traced back to them before the shooting took place. Also we tend to see most of the plan being put together by Andre, like how he came up with the safety deposit idea, the idea of making a 'Will & Testament' type tape and leaving it in the car, breaking into Chris's, stealing his father's guns, etc, etc. You get the point. Rachel, Cal's " love interest" said hersslf that Andre seemed to be the leader of the Cal and Andre army of two and how she was more scared of him.)

Sources say Andre has an INTJ personality type (Introverted, INtuitive, Thinking, and Judging), his XwX is unknown. INTJs are usually focus on the big picture, are very logical, are very organized, and tend to be lead by reason rather than emotion. They're analytical, innovative, and strategic. We see examples of almost all of these things when viewing Andres character in the film, I'll just go through them one by one and provide a rating based on how well it fits him.

Focusing on the big picture - 7/10, obviously the main goal was to shoot up the school and kill as many as possible, and Andre was set on that and it was what the both were building up to the whole time, Andre mainly focused on that and that alone. Though he also focuses on a lot of the little details in the steps, which obviously lead up to the "big picture", but he spent a lot of time thinking over the specific. For the most part all of the things in the film that weren't directly related to the shooting or the "off-topic" stuff was caused mostly by Cal. (Ex: Scenes with Rachel, the prom, his monologues, getting Andre to go with him to read his poetry and getting him to drive with his eyes closed, etc.)

Logical/Analytical- 7/10, like I said before, he's very intelligent and had a well thought out plan, but the reason I rate this a 7/10 was mostly because his original plan was to shoot up the school and then just leave in a car with almost nothing and go from state to state with Calvin, which would be near impossible for two teenagers and in the long an short run, very, very unethical and illogical.

Lead by reason - 5/10, from the tapes we saw, the whole point of the shooting was to send a message, to show the consequences of the mistreatment Andre had faced. While those seem like I guess "good" reasons, they're really not. His actions are a result of his anger and his want for revenge. We saw it in the very beginning of the film where he and Cal threw eggs at Brian Hoff's (wrestling team captain who was a dick to them) just because they were mad at him and they could. I'd rate him lower but I have him a 5 because while his reasons for doing what they did weren't very reasonable, he executed the steps leading up to it and the act itself well.

Innovative - 10/10, Andre was good at creating solutions to almost every problem that interfered with their plan. For example, making his fathers gun shorter, thus more concealable. Not only was he good at creating things physically, but he found ways to benefit him and Cal through simple things, such as convincing Chris to take them shooting so he and Cal could learn how the guns work. Andre was also shown to be the more manipulative, finding small ways to move along he and Cal's plan by just interacting with people.

Strategic - 9/10, he executed his part of the plan very well and aroused zero suspicion and planned everything he did almost perfectly, the only reason I gave him a 9 was because of his idea to literally break into Chris's house while there were tons of people right across the street. I understand it was basically the only option, but it's not very ethical.

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀:

Strengths - intelligence, quick thinking, agility/speed, manipulation

Weaknesses - Primarily anger driven, unrealistic goals, inability to "stand up for himself" without literally murdering tons of innocent people

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻/𝗧𝗟𝗗𝗥: Andre Kriegman is the perfect example of a leadership role, his intelligence plans a big factor in everything he does and he's great at subtle manipulation to help get to his end goal. He has sort of a "mastermind" type personality because all his traits together are really what made him able to do his part of the plan (even if in reality he isn't the mastermind, neither is Cal though, and they both realize this). Though he's aware his intelligence and he's selfish, which has him set unrealistic goals, while he's not necessarily overconfident in himself and he knows that some things are just plain stupid to go through with, he doesn't think, but hopes, he can get away with it anyways.

CALVIN GABRIEL

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: Cal Gabriel is Andre's best friend, I assume who lived Connecticut his whole life. He played the guitar and sitar in his schools six-piece band and is survived by his parents and younger brother and sister. Cal has a seemingly great family and he's seen as a relatively nice and likeable and charming boy. He doesn't have trouble gettin along with people and Rachel really did like him a lot and overlooked his negative traits as Andre influencing him. He's obviously not been made fun of or bullied to the extent Andre has, but there's been instances. Calvin, on the outside is just such a "normal" kid some people see him as boring (ex: Rachel's friends at prom). Overall, on the outside he just seems like any other kid, he's not exactly outcasted like Andre either as people actually seem to like him. Though on the inside he's much more manic and impulsive and unstable.

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀: While with Andre, no one suspected him because he was manipulative, no one suspected Cal because he was deceptive and persuasive. He was good at putting on a front when interacting and was such a normal, friendly kid no one thought he could've been capable of something like what he did, and perhaps it wasn't his intention to out on a front at all, it was just second nature (Examples include: Him making Andre believe he was going to go alone with the original plan, the getaway car plan, until the very last second, him convincing Andre to do things just for the fun of it, like burning stuff and driving with eyes closed, and literally every single one of his interactions with characters other than Andre). Though sometimes in front of others he gets burnt out and starts showing how he really is. For example, the party he and Andre were at, he walks outside and sits on the porch, obviously overwhelmed and just becomes disconnected and quiet, practically the only thing he said in that scene was "I'm just not good at parties.", which shows while he is a very likeable person, perhaps the reason he's so close with Andre is because Andre doesn't have any other friends he has to hand out with like Rachel does, he doesn't get so burnt out and overwhelmed because he only has to focus on Andre, who he sees as very similar to him (even if they aren't that similar at all, which we'll get into later). He's very impulsive and manic as shown through the whole film. He just does stuff because he can and he knew the whole time be wasn't going to live to see the consequences or rewards (ex: the poem, going to prom with Rachel, joking around all the time, messing with the student during the shooting scene). Cal is seen as being more hesitant/remorseful about the shooting because of incidents such as him writing a note to Chris after stealing his guns, and him lagging behind Andre when they ran into the school. I personally don't see this as the case though as I think the only thing he felt remorseful about was the stealing from Chris, he said it himself in one of his solo tapes, that's why he wrote the note. Also I think the reason he lagged behind was because he was carrying more than Andre and Andre was on the track team, so obviously Andre would be faster. It's very clear though that through the entire movie and shooting he wasn't remorseful at all. Maybe he was hesitant in the beginning as in the tape he recorded outside he said something now "I'm ready for Zero Day NOW" and he said how he wanted to keep the feeling of being ready so he wouldnt back other, which can mean he was hesitant at first but he eventually stopped, we see him become more and more eager throughout the tapes as well.

Sources say Cal has an ISFP 4w5 personality type (The Artist/Adventurer personality type, Introverted ObServant, Feeling, Prospecting). ISFP are usually quiet, sensitive, flexible, relaxed, warm, artistic, adventureous people who are aware of their needs and desires, have a strong set of practical skills, want to live in the moment, and are emotion driven, though they are also seen as sometimes scary and hard to know. I think this is the most accurate for Cal than anything else ever could be, I'll explain why by doing the same thing I did for Andre and rating how well Cal fits these traits. Because we know his XwX, there's a lot more to go off of, so I might group up similar traits.

Quiet/Warm - 5/10, while on the outside and interacting with other people he was very friendly and humorous yet soft spoken, like we see when he was talking with Rachel's friend in the limo, during the shooting scene he was very much the opposite. HE was the one screaming and shouting, HE was the one kicking and knocking over things and losing his temper, HE was the one taunting and teasing the students, which came as a surprise to many because it was a complete switch from the character he was throughout the entire movie. I gave him a 5 because its a middle ground, as he both equally fits and doesn't fit these traits depending on the situation, which brings me to the next trait...

Flexible - 10/10, during the main part of the film, the tapes, he really just went along with whatever Andre said, while sometimes he just did whatever he wanted, he adapted quick to everything and didn't have a set order he wanted to go in like Andre.

Sensitive - 5/10, I wouldn't say Cal is sensitive to others, sure there's moments when he can come off as sensitive or defensive, like when Rachel said she knew Cal was going to show Andre the tape and he immediately defended himself on it and seemed to take it personal. But I think he's not as sensitive to others emotions as he is to his own, though I can't really rate this as we don't see him interact much in a situation where he could be sensitive aside from with Andre, who's his best friend, so he'll obviously be more comfortable and take any reprimands or insults from him not seriously.

Relaxed/adventurous/desire to live in the moment - 10/10, throughout the entire film, very rarely was he tense and he didn't seem concerned at all for the consequences of anything he did because he knew the whole time he was going to end up killing himself, as to Cal the shooting was like a suicide mission, but to Andre it was for revenge and to prove a point and send a message. Because he knew it would end in suicide for him anyways, he lived in the moment, like I said before in examples of his impulsiveness, he went off track from the plan just because he could and it was his chance before he died. He burnt his stuff because he could, he made fun of the poets just because he could, he went to prom with Rachel because he could, he didn't care at all.

Aware of needs, desires, and wants/emotion driven - 10/10, the entire time Cal knew he wanted to kill himself, and he did whatever he wanted before the shooting because he knew he wanted to, and he went through with the shooting because that's what he wanted to do.

Artistic - 10/10, Maybe he didn't like draw or paint and stuff, but he was still very artistic in many ways. In the tapes of him where he's by himself, the way he words things is somewhat poetic, also it's the fact that he literally wrote a poem. Also Calv is seen wearing a Pearl Jam shirt at one point, which could be a reference to their 1992 single Jeremy, which is primarily based on the story of a 15-year-old boy who brought a gun to school and proceeded to kill himself with it in front of his English class, which in itself is something very poetic as well and the story is very similar to Cal's intention behind the shooting. This shows how he expresses himself through more literary art forms and not necessarily how normal people would express themselves, which by the way, the urge to be different or to express emotions differently to be unique is a common ISFP trait.

Strong set of practical skills - ??/10, we know of his ability to deceive and persuade, but those aren't really practical skills, we don't honestly see many examples of practical skills in Cal, so I can't really rate him on this.

Hard to know - 10/10, practically every interaction he had never completely showed his true personality, which in itself proves he's hard to know. Also the kids in the Limo just didn't like Cal for some reason despite him just being nice and normal the whole prom and ride there and back, which can mean Cal is just a hard person to understand and like when you actually interact with him, despite seeming so nice and likeable to people who've either never interacted with him in any way, or to people that are close to him.

Scary - 10/10, he murdered multiple innocent people, and the fact he even thought of doing it in the first place is horrifying.

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀:

Strengths - Deception, persuasion, likability, normalcy, knowing what he wants and how to get it

Weaknesses - impulse, emotional drive, instability,

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻/𝗧𝗟𝗗𝗥: Cal's character is the perfect likeable character, and that's what makes the movie so interesting, because the main characters, especially Cal, who is shown to actually be the most violent and unstable, are so likeable, the way they interact with others seems so normal and friendly. Cal is a character who knows what he wants, and has a strong impulse, which just makes him go for it. He's artistically expressive and partially because of that he's a hard to understand and know, though he doesn't have trouble keeping friends. He's good at putting on fronts and that's part of the reason no one suspected him, because he was so normal.

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Through the movie, Calvin stresses how similar he and Andre are, but maybe they aren't that similar at all.

Similarities:

Both are social outcasts without many friends

Both wanted to do something like Zero Day before they even met, Calvin states this he also states they never had to talk about doing it, they just knew they both wanted to and started planning

Both condone things like Zero Day in general

Very obviously both mentally unstable

Both deal with a power struggle

They make joking threats

God complex

Relatively uninvolved with anything unrelated to each other or Zero Day

Emotion driven

Differences:

Cal has a less hard time getting people to like him and isn't bullied as much as Andre

Cal is suicidal, manic, and impulsive while Andre had a will to live, for a while at least and tends to stick to a plan and is very oderly

Calvin is very artistic while Andre honestly doesn't really seem to have any special qualities about him

Cal saw Zero Day as a suicide mission, Andre saw it as a way to send a message

Cal is more laid back and carefree and "fun" then Andre. During the shooting too we see Cal laughing and shouting and taunting and teasing just for fun, while Andre wasn't doing much of any of that.

Andre was manipulative, Cal was deceptive

Andre is very pessimistic whole Cal always seems to be optimistic

Andre has a more leader like an assertive personality and Cal just tends to follow along because he doesn't really care what they do as long as it ends in him killing others and himself.

Cal liked to wait to kill the students because he thought it was funny, but had no hesitation killing himself, meaning he overall had zero value for life in general, whether it be others or his own. Andre liked toying with some of the students but generally didn't waste time and just killed them immediately (unless he saw that Cal wanted to fuck with them first) but after the shooting was over, he was hesitant to kill himself, which shows how he values himself over others and doesn't want to die but would rather die by his own bullet then a police officers because he felt he was too good for it, which highlights his inflated sense of self worth and god complex.

SO WHO REALLY IS THE "LEADER"?

Short answer, neither. Cal and Andre like to see them both as "leaders" because they want to be seen as powerful, but neither of them are leaders at all, you can't have two leaders of the same plan, especially when the two people have completely different end goals. Andre is meant to seem like the leaders simply because he's more assertive and comes up with a lot of the ideas, though we see Cal can be equally assertive and while he takes a more careless approach he still executes Zero Day the way he plans, which is a leade trait. Also we see both Andre and Cal order each other around. This may seem like both are leaders, but this just isn't true. Cal said that the whole time, even before they met, they always wanted to do something like Zero Day and the built up their own plans and were only motivated to executed it when they met. He says neither of them had to say anything about wanting to do Zero Day, they just knew, and they worked together to make a plan. There was never a leader, Cal and Andre were both equally involved, neither one was more powerful than the other, they were equals who's different strengths and weaknesses put together actually benefitted the both of them.

FILM "CRITIQUE"

I honestly have nothing bad to say about the film, even the low budget worked in the movies favor as it made it seem more realistic and unplanned, like how found footage films should be. The actors were amazing and did a good job of portraying the role of both "normal" high schoolers and mentally ill murders at the same time. I don't think I'd change a single thing about the film except for the fact that we lack some information on the main characters. Cal recording tapes by himself helps a lot in the area of knowing his character, but I wish they did something like that for Andre too.

OVERALL CONCLUSION

Overall this is one of my favorite movies ever and it's so underrated. If you haven't watched it, you should (despite me basically spoiling the entire thing). I literally stayed up all night from 11 am yesterday to right now today, so I think this is pretty good. Anyways if I missed some shit or I got something wrong, tell me, please. Anyways, here's the sources

SOURCES

ZERO DAY FULL MOVIE + MAKING OF + SCREEN TEST (FREE)

(Note: this movie is free on YouTube and widely available, but I know others aren't and with streaming services raising their prices, piracy is a completely valid alternative that I support. So if you can't afford or just don't want to pay for streaming services, hmu, I have links to good sites and torrents and resources and information on how to stay protected and keep your data encrypted when on them. I know, I know, I'm a real one.)

youtube

Anyways, that's my film analysis, go watch Zero Day, I put an entire day of my life into this so yeah, cool if you read all this.

- Ronnie🔥🔥💯

#Youtube #zero day #cal gabriel #andre kriegman #zero day 2003 #zero day movie #zero day fandom #film analysis #zero day film analysis #i love cal robertson #kid in an army t shirt #army of two #ron hates blondes #future archives #ron-hates-blondes

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blueisquitetired · 4 months

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Astral Shards AU

TLDR: The Boys are in space and they have a Bad Time. (Lady Sneasler is there too)

(This is technically a No Man's Sky AU, but you don't need to know anything about the game to follow along just fine)

Welcome to the pitch! All art for this AU will get their own posts, so everything here will be in game screenshots. There's also a lot more to this story then just what's written here (As this is, you know, the pitch) so please leave any questions, thoughts, or ideas in my inbox. This bad boy isn't getting a fic anytime soon, so it's tumblr only for now!

(In game models of the boys. I'll post a drawing of their actual designs sometime in the future)

Post proper under ReadMore!

This is honestly half fic if I'm being honest.

Length: ~3,000 words or so. Sorry not sorry.

Disclaimer: I don’t know every single No Man’s Sky lore detail, and I’m not going to scour the wiki for every piece of information and spoil the whole game for myself, so not everything will be 100% lore accurate. And I’ll be ignoring the giant late game twist (if you know you know) because, as cool as it is, it’s very much a twist that consumes all narratives set in this universe, and I’d rather not make my story *also* about that. (Also, as with all AUs not currently written down in fic form, details are subject to change)

Anyway did you know the No Man’s Sky protagonist suffers from amnesia?

Picture this- Ingo wakes up on a frozen planet next to a crashed starship. He's a bit confused and lost- but his space suit is damaged and that kinda takes priority. Because of that, it takes him a hot minute to figure out he has no memories- but as he’s gathering the materials needed to not die he figures it out

The starship recognizes him as its owner and he feels relatively confident in his ability to fix all of this jazz, so he did exist before... but besides that he’s kinda stumped

But this place sucks- he’s constantly freezing to death, stuck either recharging his hazard protection with sodium or siting in his (still wrecked) starship until he warms up enough to go mine stuff with his handy dandy laser again.

And he’s alone

It’s very lonely

(He’s not supposed to be alone)

So the tentative plan is this: fix the starship enough for space flight, launch into space, and then fly to this solar system's space station. (which he has a gut feeling exists. “Every solar system has one” he mutters to himself. He’s not sure how he knows that)

It’s….. slow going. But it’s going

There’s a lot of mining involved, a lot of looting crashed space junk, a lot of mind numbing boredom as he goes to the same spaces over and over and-

And then he sees something weird in the distance.

(This is a monolith. In game it’s used to learn space language words and history and to get l o r e. I’m taking advantage of it)

It’s kinda a hike over there, and it uses up a lot of his sodium reserves, but eventually he comes face to face with….. whatever this is

So he walks around it, trying to figure out what it is, before eventually finding a platform he can interact with.

Stepping up to it, he’s filled with strange sensations and knowledge, a story of an alien race that is familiar yet he hasn’t actually seen yet-

And then the world shatters in front of him

He steps back in shock as a tear in reality forms, a crack in the cosmos widening and fracturing, the sound of breaking glass as everything s h a t t e r s-

And then everything is fine

He stands there, dumbly for a moment, mind reeling….

Until he notices something that wasn’t there before

A shard of purple glass

Carefully, he picks it up, holding it up to his visor-

It whispers

It’s faint, too faint. He can’t hear it well- but it’s important. The whispers are familiar and he needs to know what they’re saying.

So he treks back to his ship, filled with a purpose he hasn’t had in his entire remembered life.

It takes a bit to wire his radio receiver to accept strange reality shards as a valid form of input, but eventually he figures it out. Connecting the last few wires and attaching the shard to it-

“Ingo, where are you? Please respond.”

That’s- that’s- that’s his brother!!!! His TWIN!!! Ingo doesn’t know much but he knows that’s his brother and he’s not supposed to be alone and what happened, why did he crash and why is his twin not here, where did he go? What happened?? He needs to find him!! He needs to find him NOW!

This lights a fire under him

Suddenly it isn’t “hey let’s fix my ship because I have nothing better to do” it’s “I have to fix my ship so I can find my brother” he’s working in overtime

He visits the monolith once or twice too, hoping to get another hint, another clue, maybe even respond- but it has no more answers. Reality is stable, and there are no more shards of glass

It takes forever and the fixed spaceship is…… not great- but at least it flies.

It works well enough, and Ingo has enough oxygen for his life support and enough fuel for his ship to get to the space station- even if it’s on the other end of the solar system.

Ingo…. reeeeaally wishes it was better put together, but this is the best he can do for a previously totaled starship.

So, he lifts off.

And things go great at first!

His radar manages to locate the space station without much trouble, and his pulse engine should get him there fairly quickly.

He charts a course and gets going, little purple shard tucked into his suit. (He’d listened to the message on repeat hundreds of times. Over and over “Ingo, where are you? Please respond.” He’d combed through his ships logs as well, but they were almost all corrupted, left with nothing but fragments of his brother’s voice. This was his only true connection)

And then the engine dies

The engine dies and Ingo is in the middle of nowhere, ages away from any planet, stuck in the middle of empty space with no hope of getting anywhere.

No debris, no friendly ships, no nothing.

He’s going to die out here.

He's going to die out here and his brother will never know, will never see him again, will think he just forgot him-

He has a nice panic, looking at his limited supply of oxygen and mildly freaking out

(Majorly freaking out)

But at least he has his radio.

He doesn’t…. know any frequencies or anything, doesn’t know what to tune it too, but he has to try something.

So he just, turns it on and hopes for the best.

“Hello this is Ingo. I am stranded in deep space and require assistance.” No response. Tune the frequency one more decimal point “Hello this is Ingo. I am stranded in deep space and require assistance.” No response. Turn the dial-

And so on and so forth.

Eventually, his wordy message turns to just a hoarse plea of “help”, and he’s started switching the stations willy nilly, no longer one decimal at a time.

He’s going to die out here.

Hours of this, hours of desperately pleading into the vast depths of space-

The frequency changes without his input.

“….help?” He asks hesitantly, staring blankly at the radio transceiver. How did it do that? Why did it do that? Why was the display filled with random symbols instead of numbers-

“With what?”

Ingo jolts upright in his seat, adrenaline rushing through his veins and his heartbeat in his throat “I am stranded in deep space and require rescue.” He wheezes out, his throat sore and dry

“Oh yeah that’s no good. You sound awful- you must have been stuck there a while.” There’s the sounds of buttons beeping and fingers tapping before- “Ah found you. We’ll open a pocket near your location. Sit tight.”

And then reality warps and-

That’s new

It’s uh…. A bit too far from his ship though. It’s a nice, rational distance away, but his ship can’t move.

But it’s close enough he could probably jet pack over there.

Making sure his shard is close to his chest and firmly secured, he opens up his cockpit and leaps, propelling himself into the docking bay-

And oh

Artificial gravity kicks in, and he falls to the floor in a crumpled heap right by the entrance.

Impossibly, a ship flies in a mere moment later, even though there had been no ships anywhere nearby Ingo before. Several more soar in and out as he ungracefully shuffles to the station proper. Somehow.

And by the stars, is it loud.

(Please imagine this area being far more busy than it is. I took this photo on a weekday, but even on its busiest days it’s still a game that probably maxes out at lobbies of thirty or something. Since, you know, it’s an indie game)

After weeks of total isolation, the sheer hustle and bustle of hundreds of people is far too much to handle, the echoing reverb of ships landing and taking off sending spikes through his skull.

But, as uncomfortable as it is, it’s still people- and Ingo is so so glad to have company

“You okay?” A young voice asks as he clambers up to the parking space nearest to the entrance. “You took quite a tumble there.”

There's a short being on the platform, one that helps Ingo up. It's a youth, maybe female- and she almost seems to be the same species as Ingo. (Ingo has the feeling that he doesn't meet members of his own species much... or ever)

“Everything is operational.” he reassures, standing at full height and towering over the girl. He hunches down slightly, as to not seem intimidating. “I am just relieved that I am no longer trapped out there.”

The girl nods and gestures him forward, walking towards the station proper and expecting him to follow. He does

“Yeah I bet! If your ship wasn’t even working well enough to fly in….” She shakes her head. “Well enough of that. I’m iteration Akari! What’s your name?”

“Ingo.” He replies, a little more directly then he prefers. His voice is still hoarse. “What is this place?”

“The anomaly!” Akari replies, as they get closer to the crowd proper. “I guess this is your first time then?”

“Yes it is.” What in the world is this place? And where are all these people coming from??

“Then you should meet with iteration Adaman and Irida!”

Akari begins leading him past the crowds and towards a curving ramp.

“Iteration?” He asks, noticing the pattern in their titles.

“Oh yeah uhhhh… I’ll let one of them explain that.”

Akari chatters to him as they walk along, pointing out different landmarks and explaining their purpose

Eventually they reach a wide room that seems to overlook the entire station, just as bright and colorful as everything else.

“Hello!” A voice calls, and an alien decked in dark blue greets him. “You took quite the fall there! Are you alright?”

He is iteration Adaman apparently, and iteration Irida stands nearby. She waves when Ingo and Akari approach.

They are the leaders of this place- the founders of the anomaly. A place between dimensions, a safe haven for people like them- one's who are alone in the worlds they inhabit.

They ask about his lack of spaceship and Ingo tells them of his plight, eventually explaining his goal.

“I need to find my twin.” He explains, pulling out his shard of glass. “I remember little, but I know we are not meant to be separated. I fear for his safety.”

“A twin???” Irida sounds completely shocked, the plants she was monitoring forgotten as she turns to the group. “That’s not possible.”

“It could be.” Adaman counters. “In the infinite reaches of spacetime anything is possible.”

“The odds of such a thing are so astronomically low. Do you mean a brother in arms? A family chosen by bond alone?”

“No?” Ingo responds. “He looks like me.” He saw his reflection in the ice, his brother whispering in his ears. They shared a face.

“Impossible. Mathematically impossible”

“Improbable Irida. Not impossible.”

“The odds are far too low-"

“Plenty of people have siblings. And plenty of twins exist.” Ingo interrupts, irritation coloring his voice. “It is not that rare.”

“But not travelers.” Akari pipes up, finally joining the conversation. “Travelers are always alone.”

“Traveler?”

“That’s what you are.” Irida explains. “A traveler. We all are actually- everyone here. A being cursed to wander the stars, one with no home of their own. They may stop and rest, may find a place to settle down- but there is no place that is theirs, no community for them. No sky they rest under calls them its own.”

“Only one can exist at once.” Adaman adds. “Every dimension can only host a single one.”

“Hang on.” Ingo shakes his head. “That does not track. You just said that everyone here is a traveler. Which contradicts your earlier statement.”

“We are in an in-between space.” Irida explains, her tone pitying. “We founded the anomaly so travelers could find each other. So that the iterations could finally interact.”

“So we wouldn’t always be alone.”

“I…. I need to sit down.”

Adaman pulls up a chair and Ingo slumps into it, his head and helmet falling into his hands

“You can stay as long as you need.” Adaman reassures, his tone soft. “Our home is open to all, a bastion of safety.”

“I cannot.” Ingo sighs, before straightening back up. “I must find my brother.”

He holds out his shard of glass, reflections of multicolored light gleaming off it.

“This is the only clue I have”

“May I?” Adaman holds out his hand and Ingo hands it over reluctantly, watching as he holds it up to the light. His face falls as he examines it.

“Oh dear. Irida is this….?”

“Yes.” Irida's tone is grave, somber and mourning. “A shard of the glass world.”

“Your brother is almost certainly gone.”

“No!” Ingo leaps to his feet, his hands clenched in fists. “He is not! He sent me that message-“

“There are many in between spaces.” Irida interrupts. “We are in one, a stable pocket that hides us from the world, from the gaze of the Atlas.”

She frowns.

“Larger ones are far less stable. Refractions, cracks. The-"

“-world of glass.” Adaman finishes for her. “Any living being unlucky enough to fall in there will cut themselves on its fragments, their very being torn to shreds. Your brother would not survive."

“Not necessarily.” Ingo counters, his voice tight. “If I could get him out-”

“He would be nothing like he was before, shattered beyond compare.”

“But he would be THERE!” His voice is loud and booming, his throat stinging in pain. “I refuse to let him suffer and die in there. I refuse to just…. give up on him! I will get him out!”

“It will be difficult.” Adaman hands him his glass back. “To find a way in will be tricky enough, but to find a way out….”

“How do I get in.” Ingo holds the shard to his chest. “How do I find him.”

“Well…."

Adaman frowns, drumming his fingers on his arm.

"Entering the world of glass shouldn't be much trouble. It's a vast space, and opening pockets in spacetime is our specialty."

"But finding him is the actual problem." Irida adds, her face grim.

"Yup. Which makes your encounter at the monolith even more strange." Expression contemplative, Adaman once again holds out his hand. "May I see your message again?"

Tentatively, Ingo places it back in his palm, still reluctant to part with something so precious. Adaman hardly seems to notice, casually turning it back and forth in his hands as he re-examines it- before eventually scanning it with a tool on his table. Data streams onto his screen, and he hands the shard back to Ingo before examining what he received.

The group is silent as he scrolls through the data, a tension in the air.

".... I think you could probably find more of these shards. Going off of your account of the event and the frequency of the shard itself..." He trails off, expression contemplative. "They seem to be... tuned to you somehow. Connected somehow. Maybe it's related to you two being 'twins'."

He hums.

"Maybe your predecessor was split into two. Maybe you are connected more than you know."

Ingo has... questions about that, but he keeps silent for now. Better not to interrupt him and break his train of thought.

"If you can find weak spots in your universe, places where the boundary between the world of the living and the world of glass is thin... Maybe you can find more of these."

"And then what?" Irida asks, her tone annoyed. "What good would more of those do?"

"Why, that's where you come in my dear friend!" Voice light and face playful, Adaman turns to his partner and grins. "With enough data points, I'm sure you can triangulate his location!"

"And send this man on a suicide mission?"

"I will find a way." Ingo interrupts the two before their argument to escalate, his determination swelling. "A way to travel there without losing myself. I will not go in unprepared."

"You heard the man!" Adaman claps his hands merrily and Irida groans. "He's already made up his mind! Better to help him where we can, hmm?"

Irida shakes her head.

“Fine. I’ll rig you up a scanner. A way to find unstable areas.”

"And then you can gather more of those shards!"

“But you’ll need to go all over.” Irida huffes.

“Not just yellow stars. Red, green, blue. You’d need to build an intensive warp drive, which is expensive and requires so much materials and nanites and you don’t even have a ship-”

“We surely have an extra we can spare.” Adaman interruptes, flashing Ingo an apologetic look. “And while the trials will be difficult, I’m sure your determination will see you through. Akari?”

“Yes?” Ingo startles as the girl speaks. He had forgotten she was there.

“Can you check the hangers for a ship we could gift our friend? I’m positive we have a few that have been abandoned.”

“Of course!” Grabbing Ingo’s hand, the girl leads him onward. “Let’s find you something good!”

Unfortunately, ‘something good’ was a tall ask when looking through old abandoned spaceships. Most had been left behind for good reason, old piles of junk that barely flew and would require extensive repairs. Certainly not anything close to the state of the art traveling ship Ingo would require.

“Okay this isn’t looking great,” Akari started, no doubt noticing Ingo’s discouragement. “But you could probably break one of these bad boys down for parts and then buy a better ship? Work your way up?”

“I suppose.” Ingo frowned as he brushed his hand over one of the ships, a part coming off under his hand.

“Or maybe….” The girl trailed off, and Ingo gave her an inquisitive look. “I mean it’s kind of a long shot- but I do know a ship that has all the required technology you’re looking for already.”

“Really?!” Hope bloomed in Ingo’s chest, his hands shaking in excitement.

“Yeah. But uh, don’t get your hopes up too high. She’s really picky.”

“…..she?”

‘She’ was a ship by the name of ‘Lady Sneasler’, a living breathing organism that happened to also be a spaceship. A marvel of biology that was like nothing Ingo had ever seen before, a pure wonder and the most beautiful thing Ingo had ever laid eyes on. And he told her as much.

(Living ships are a very canon thing in game and they are so cool! I'll post some art of Lady Sneasler later, but for right now, here's my personal in game living ship, Darling)

She was flattered, and was even more flattered when Ingo broke into an excited ramble as he examined her thoroughly, reverently running his hands up her flank when she gave him permission. She was a prideful one apparently, and had refused a pilot for centuries- but Ingo’s genuine wonder managed to easily win her over.

And so Ingo got himself a ship.

Thus, the two begin their cosmic journey together, traveling through the galaxy to gather all of Emmet’s messages and eventually save him.

It’s long and arduous, rife with danger and trials... but eventually they manage to force their way into the world of glass, and pull Emmet out.

And boy howdy is he messed up….. but that just means they get a healing arc lol.

But yeah, that’s the basics! Feel free to ask questions if you’re curious, (I have a lot more I haven’t shared yet) and I hope you enjoyed! There’s a very decent chance I might end up writing a fic about this in the future, but that’s so far off that you shouldn’t hold your breath.

Thank you for reading!

#Astral Shards AU #blue’s writing #submas #submas au #subway boss ingo #subway boss emmet

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ensemble-news · 1 year

Text

This week on Ensemble News

The newest Crazy:B event has the community busted. Several theories, notes and analyses have appeared as a consequence.

Last week's catastrophy regarding the Enstars assets Drive appears to have settled down, however, the future of the drive is still unknown.

Ensemble News, our account, is finally running! Round of applause, we hope you support us through our journey.

Want to know more? Stay with us

▶ Fandom Section

Crazy Anthem and its landmarks

The newest Crazy:B music video for their song "Crazy Anthem" has been released. Because of this, the fandom has been making speculations about the possible landmarks that the video may feature, alongside theories and other writings.

A user on Twitter ¹ has deciphered many of the possible locations in which Crazy:B appears through the video and, possible, during their event story.

The video happens in California, as the event synopsis explains, but it looks like their route starts in San Francisco and finishes in Baja California, Mexico.

Curious about the locations? Here are some of the ones the fandom was able to find;

— Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills

"Venus Beach" — Venice Beach, California

— Walk of Fame, Hollywood

— Los Cabos, Baja California, Mexico

References:

1. Lisaw (@.mafucchu) via Twitter. 28/05/2023. Link

The Enstars assets Drive and its future

The past May 18th, the Enstars wiki Twitter account made an important post ¹ spreading awareness about the current state of the assets drive held by the account @.gradualcolors. The Twitter thread written explained that the assets drive — in which all cards, art, chibis, gifs, voice packs, and etc. are hosted, was going to be taken down due to multiple DMCA violations.

A week later, @.gradualcolors mod replies:

"All I want to say is that I want to stick with my belief of "assets = fandom creativity" and I'll try my best to maintain the new drive when I put it out again. I want to keep seeing how ppl decorate their social media with those files or do fun things like reading guides!!

Tldr; drive gone, will be re-hosted because I want to, rip my wallet tho. - H.E. had precedent to nuke the drive for reposting reasons so pls be careful posting fan created edits - Lemme see the cool edits and cute carrds you guys use these files for when drive comes back" (Rai via twt) ²

We don't know how much time it'll take them to make the proper accomodations to restore the folders, but we sure hope the struggles seize sooner than later.

References:

1. Enstars wiki (@.enstarsENG) via Twitter. 18/05/2023. Link

2. Rai (@.sakasakitty) via Twitter. 21/05/2023. Link

Inauguration! Ensemble News is finally up

To conclude with this fandom section, we'd like to express our excitement for this passion project. Ensemble News is a little blog that was constructed with pure love, with the objective of informing others and bonding with the community further. We hope you give this blog a chance, we encourage you to interact with us and to enjoy your time here. ♡

▶ Game Section

Event

The first Climax event has been announced. It's time for Crazy:b and their newest event "Sugoroku* Journey! Number Eight is Our BGM" to shine. Synopsis:

"Rinne and co. are invited to appear on "Number Eight", a show that was popular once upon a time, and so they head overseas. From Crazy:B's dice result begins their road trip where everything is left up to fate--" (Iridescent via twt) ¹

This event will feature 5* Rinne Amagi, 4* HiMERU and 3* Niki Shiina and Kohaku Oukawa.

Feature Scout

Feature Scout 2: Koga, has been announced. Synopsis:

"Koga isn't quite able to figure out what casual shots should be like, causing him to struggle in his photoshoot. He wants to show a cool side of himself while still looking natural." (Iridescent via twt) ²

This scout features 5* Koga Oogami, 4* Mika Kagehira and 3* Tsumugi Aoba.

Event Scout

Scout: Biblion, has been announced. Synopsis:

"Tsukasa isn't entirely sure about joining Biblion yet, but he joins as a temporary member. He finds a book that interests him in the bestseller section, and is engrossed in the book's universe." (Iridescent via twt) ³

This scout features 5* Tsukasa Suou, 4* Kaoru Hakaze and 3* Nagisa Ran, Hajime Shino and Tsumugi Aoba.

References:

1. Iridescent (@.iridesenescence) via Twitter. 27/05/2023. Link

2. Iridescent (@.iridesenescence) via Twitter. 24/05/2023. Link

3. Iridescent (@.iridesenescence) via Twitter. 28/05/2023. Link

May 2023 Tsukisuta notes:

Main story 1.5 is currently being voiced, part 3 will come out on June 26th. Summer voicelines will be added in-game on June 1st. New stamps were added to the Ensemble Live shop. Outfits for the 8th anniversary are now in the dia shop. Element (animation) prints are out and currently being sold at 7-Eleven JP. The next round of Starry Symphony tickets will start being sold on Jun 8th.

▶ Thank you for using Ensemble News.

#📰 ensemble news #🗞️ weekly news #📆 date: 30/05/2023 #enstars #ensemble stars

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centi-pedve · 6 months

Note

been scouring the regretevator wiki cause i was curious (terrible wiki btw i am so sorry. one page has a citation that just links to some discord bullshit which people who are not in the server obviously cant see) anyways i am getting a terrible impression of the creator(?) and i would be interested in your thoughts on this business if youd be willing to share :3

oh goodness gracious... well we do have Some thoughts and we dunno if they match your own concerns since, we purposefully don't go out looking for whatever the creator has said but yeah even from a distance it's. Not looking good. (Already mentioned some of these before but for the sake of putting it in one place we'll be redundant)

definitely has his own takes on certain characters, headcanons, and the like. it was silly at first but as time went on and the more effort he put into pushing negativity over certain things the less fun it became. we think, if you want people to dislike a character, you try and make them dislikeable within the context of the story and then let people form those opinions. rather than being weird about the fact that there are still people who do like the character and punishing them by denying them the most basic things or even involving them in the story at all because Doesn't Deserve It. yes this is primarily about unple/asant

related but... too much of a reliance on telling stories with twitter or other unofficial platforms. did we learn nothing from the dumbledore is gay tweet. like a huge amount of information on the wiki that is very important to understanding the characters are just is NOT in the game, like if you played the game fully you'd still need to rely on the wiki to be able to participate in fandom. honestly a large part of that is why we're so biased towards certain characters! unple/asant and infe/cted are the only characters with lore and trivia and such that we've bothered to go on the wiki for and memorize. we've played the game for hours and hours but that doesnt mean much lol. once again, unple/asant especially, it literally DOESN'T TALK or participate in ANY of the active dynamic story because Doesn't Deserve It but there's still things to know about unple/asant and people who like the game just want something!! like dunno the overuse of social media in storytelling just makes it so much more unfun, we don't like how information is released and the fact that we need to rely on external material that... is sometimes taken back because the creator has gone on record Just Saying Shit. favorite example vv

Which is really funny considering it has 1 piece of dialogue on the game. So it can physically speak, and is also not "mewing 24/7" by result of having that dialogue (pretty sure the creator was just encouraged to say that without giving a fuck but, whatever). but the things that happen in game are second to the creator's twitter feed AMIRIGHTFELLAS

3. the,. the ableism. we've heard people tried to bring it up with the creator in the past and they were ignored so we feel comfortable mentioning it lol. bi/ve is a stereotype of someone who suffers from paranoia really, we mean we love her but... lol... and we will say it again pe/st should not canonically have npd or aspd. like omggg the evil character that robs people has two pds negatively stereotyped as belonging to evil people we're sure there was no bias in this decision. maybe we'd be less bothered if people didn't treat it as so serious and pretend to be cluster b allies like "you have to give him some understanding cuz he has aspd and npd 🥺" like no because he's evil, also maybe it wouldn't hurt to care about real people with those pds instead of a caricature. also the half-hearted throwing around of the word "mute" for unple/asant has been pointed out as ableist by a lot of people.

tldr uhhh wuhgghh NOT A PERSONAL ATTACK nobody get us (: nobody talk us...

#asks #good morning! (starts bitching

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ultyso · 3 years

Text

(Censoring words solely because I’m not sure the word itself can be used on tumblr.)

T/W Mentions of p*dos

T/W Mentions of gr**ming

Tldr: As a CSA Survivor, voicing concerns of things I have heard people talk about on these topics in online spaces that does more damage than good to victims, survivors, and minors. I am only one voice, so please listen to all csa survivors, victims, and minors about this topic.

I don’t speak for everyone who is a CSA Survivor. We all have different experiences and feelings, some things may be less triggering or concerning for some more than others. Other CSA Survivors feel free to talk about your own feelings, experiences, and things you wished others knew as well since every CSA Survivor’s voice should be heard, not just my own.

These are my thoughts and some of the grievances I’ve had, the invalidation of my trauma, the things that have triggered back the trauma I thought I was able to heal so long ago, and I’m tired of it.

P*dophilia is not a term where you can just throw it around at anyone and everything. Be mindful where and how you use it. Do not let the severity of this word go down. It is not a joke. It is not some fun trendy buzzword. It is not a topic just for fictional media. It is a serious issue that harms so many children in the world.

Do not invalidate the trauma of victims by focusing on just fictional characters. Reporting fictional content as CP is not as helpful as you think. Investigators are on the look out to help save real children. Putting thousands of fanart/fanfics of fictional characters at the top of their feed lets p*dos hide easier and thus causes real children to still be trapped in their situation. If the fanart/fanfics is of real minors though, action should be taken.

You need to be a protector for real children. Learn the warning signs. Learn the prevention. Learn how to act if a real child has been harmed so you can help them. If you just treat it as a joke and use the word willy nilly on things that it does not actually pertain to it is immensely performative, makes it harder for investigators to find true perpetrators, and thus only hurts more kids than helps.

Clothing ≠ p*dophilia

Jfashion such as lolita and fairy kei is not p*dophilic or p*do-baiting. I don’t know why this has become the trend to call it that.

When you say this it sounds like victim blaming. “Well it’s what they wore.” Which is terrible. If you think wearing “childish” clothing is inherently sexual YOU are very much the problem.

Clothing is not what grabs p*dos attention. Clothing doesn’t do anything. It is a self expression for the wearer and that is it. For p*dos, it is the child themself they’re grossly invested in, not the clothes.

If you look at the origin of jfashion styles such as lolita, one part of the meaning is the resistance of sexualizing a person’s body. It also has nothing to do with the book so, stop equating them as the same.

Watching kid tv shows or movies, playing kid friendly video games, owning plushies or other kid toys ≠ p*dophilia

If you see an adult who is into movies/shows, toys, games made for kids chances are it could possibly be a CSA Survivor and this is their coping mechanism as a way to heal. To reclaim what was taken from them. Giving back to that inner child that never got the chance to live it. Even if they are not a CSA survivor, it could be an adult finally getting that doll they’ve wanted since they were little but could never get. Giving back to their inner child in that way. For me personally, KH is part of this for me. It has been my coping mechanism/safe haven since I was little. It is something I know I can always go back to that doesn’t bring harm to me. It’s an escapism from trauma and anxiety.

Height differences ≠ p*dophilia

An adult who is shorter than their significant other who is also an adult is not p*dophilia. A short adult is not “minor-coded.” They are just a short adult. A taller adult liking a shorter adult does NOT mean they like children. Joke or not this is inappropriate. Some adults just are not able to grow taller then others, so it feels like you are infantilizing a whole group of adult short people just because of their height. Not only that, but for survivors this can make them second guess their appropriate and safe relationships they have even more, which for some CSA Survivors it is already so hard to trust to begin with, this then can make them further associate even more things and people with their trauma that never needed to be and can cause further ptsd reactions.

A minor dating a minor one month/year younger/year older than them ≠ p*dophilia

This undermines the severity of what p*dophilia is. P*dophilia is an adult person who sexually fantasizes about, exhibits inappropriate and sexual behavior towards, has urges towards, and/or arousal towards minors. They are a sex offender/m*lestor as well if they act on those urges on a child. Thus becoming CSA.

This part is ONLY talking about minor + minor relationship: As cited from DSM-5 (wiki that has excerpt) “A person must be at least 16 years and at least 5 years older than the prepubescent child, for the attraction to be diagnosed as p*dophilia.” A 15 year old dating a 16 year old is not p*dophilia. If a 15 year old did inappropriate and non-consensual things to another minor the same age as, slightly younger than themself, or older than themself, that 15 year old would be more towards being called a juvenile/adolescent sex offender. Don’t use these terms willy nilly either, they are severe words too. Do not use them lightly for fun internet jargon.

In regards to fandom spaces. Just because someone on the internet labels themselves as something specific, does not mean this person can’t be a p*dophile based off of whatever the label is. You must always be careful with whom you interact with. They very well could be under the guise of feigning innocence and pointing fingers away from themself. Some may pretend to be one or the other and self-proclaim themself as the “good” adult. And HEAVILY emphasize this all the time. Which for me often raises a warning flag. Especially if they are in heavy contact with minors on a daily basis. Be always careful with anyone you interact with online no matter what they label themself as. You do not know who is behind the screen, so exercise extreme caution with the information you give to anyone, even if an account labels themselves as the same age as you. It could be someone pretending to be the same. Having a father who is a p*dophile, I can say, these gross people want to blend in. They’re going to feign innocence. They want to be in your line of trust. They may say things like “you don’t have to worry about me. I’m not that group of people” or “don’t trust them, trust me.” Be aware of the signs of gr**ming. This is a first tell tale sign that someone could be harmful. Some examples of warnings signs an be found here.

LGBTQIA+ ≠ p*dophilia

While there may be people who happen to be LGBTQIA+ that are a p*do, that does NOT mean everyone who is LGBTQIA+ is one. The community makes it explicitly clear that MAPS/p*dophiles are NEVER welcome in the community. It is harmful to associate them with the community too.

P*dophiles can be anywhere. In my my own experience, mine was my own father. They are in the most obvious spot and invisible to other’s eyes. They will if not often, be someone who has gained yours and other’s trust and preys heavily off of it. Such as a family member, a teacher, a doctor, a family friend, etc… They hide under this guise because what is the first thing anyone says? “Oh it couldn’t possibly be them. I know them. They’re good.”

I get wanting to know all the facts before putting a label such as p*dophile on someone. I get that some people do fake saying they were abused. I get it. When there’s a huge amount of evidence of someone being nefarious with children though, you can’t keep hiding from that truth and you need to stop supporting that person. Continuing to support those perpetrators just tells other scummy P*dos that as long as they’re well-liked enough, they too can get away with it. This only harms more children then helps.

Please put “T/W”s if you mention p*dophilia. CSA Survivors have different triggers and seeing the topic brought up willy nilly in spaces without it can be very harmful and may cause ptsd. Please be respectful to us all. Do not make a joke out of all of our suffering.

I’ve made a linktree of information on warnings signs, what to do, hotlines for victims, and more. Take action to protect real kids not just the fictional ones. That is all I ask: https://linktr.ee/CSA_Prevention_and_Help

#csa survivor #csa vent #trigger warning #p*do mention #tw p*dophilia mention #tw gr**ming mention

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dash-n-step · 3 years

Note

sorry to invade your dash like this but i have to get this out of my system- so much interesting dialogue comes from Seam which seems to be overlooked sometimes. besides the jevil lore, we also get possible chapter 3 lore after giving him two shadow crystals, the reason the king hates Lightners, not wanting to be caught in the dark world at sun down after at least getting 9 recruits, not getting 9 or more recruits still mentioning that its getting late, knowing where shadow crystals come from, and a lot more which can be found on the wiki or playing the game!! an interesting detail though is Seam seemingly warning you to not stay there for too long. Ralsei is also like this, sort of. He makes you and Susie a both a room, complete with beds and everything he thinks you might want/need. at the same time though, he both banishes you to finish your school project (which isnt too suspicious on its own) and at the end of chapter 2 stops the gang from creating a fountain to live there forever because of the roaring, which wasnt mentioned at the beginning at all (which is fair) but also doesnt even get a real cutscene in the weird route. even with the cutscene its short. and we know that Lightners and Darkners used to live together, but the Lightners trapped the Darkners "in this prison" and never came back, according to Seam. the roaring is probably real all things considered- there isnt any evidence to disprove it to my knowledge. but i gotta know, what happened to the Lightners and Darkners to seperate them? light and dark seems to revolve around it a lot. theres also another thing- in the Prophecy Ralsei mentions that Light and Dark have been living in peace for a millenia, and we're shown Lightners and Darkners together but seperated by a colored background. what does he mean by light an dark? like the literal light and dark we see in the world, daytime or nighttime, or is it Lightners and Darkners? if it was Lightners and Darkners that'd contradict what Seam said, right? or at least, itd make no sense for the Lightners to lock up the Darkners if they were at peace (im assuming this "prison" is being an object in the real world. speaking of the real world this probably isnt significant but i just want to mention how Ralsei says the Earth would split if the balance is upset, and considering Ralsei knows about school even though there doesnt seem to be any in the dark worlds so far, you gotta wonder what Ralsei knows). so uh, yeah!!

TLDR: what in the stars is the Dark World lore and how did the Lightners and Darkners become separate.

No worries, I love being able to just ramble like this: Seam is definitely an interesting character, for all they know, they only give us the information that's currently pertinent.

For instance, the PureCrystal, used to created the TwistedSwd and obtainable through save editing, has an interesting description:

The shadow purified by the cat

What does purifying a shadow mean? What's that got to do with anything when at the moment the best they've told us with these crystals is that we now suddenly need a shadow mantle to get the next one.

No way to know until it's actually time to know.

I don't think it makes them suspicious though, just mysterious. Gotta keep a story interesting after all and Seam was the one to lock up Jevil, who it takes a whole party just to tire him out, not even actually defeat him. They're knowledgeable and benign if not a tad nihilistic, so what do they mean by not staying too late? Considering the second part of the prophecy, we know that the darkness, when given the chance, is trying to take over the light. We see this as the smallest of rooms becoming impossible landscapes; creatures born from the random items in that space; confined by locked doors, seemingly overnight. And the thing is, we know this same darkness affects Lightners: given magic, fancy new clothes, and even weapons.

But eventually, there comes too much of a good thing, Noelle for instance, keeps getting stronger the more you push her against herself. She's eventually able to use Snowgrave but afterwards she's incredibly weakened and needs to take a rest "into a deeper, darker dream" as said by the queen. Despite her strength, she doesn't have enough to do the one thing Lightners seem to invariably have power to do, assert their own will.

So basically, I don't think there was a sudden separation ("The prison" for chapter one is largely about the classroom being locked up and the toys not being played with, though Jevil mentions everyone else being trapped, I personally think that has less to do with Lightner/Darkner stuff).

I think the different colors are simply symbolizing a metaphysical membrane between the worlds, like a cell. Both concepts co-exist intermixed, with certain aspects crossing over: a lightner's emotions feed into the darkness and defining the vibe of the area, and in turn, the darkness is either kept at bay (maybe with only specific fountains meant to stay maintained) or affects little things like dreams or other abstract notions.

What keeps them separate is an equilibrium, one the darkness doesn't forget while the knowledge of which for lightners may have just been lost through time, as things are. This balance would then only be exasperated at night time in an unnatural dark world, when hopes and dreams are more rampant, and the light literally wanes.

TL;DR: It's kind of like Yokai Watch meets Kingdom Hearts, I think.

#deltarune #noelle holiday #ralsei #seam #dashingposts #dashingthoughts #long post #asks #anonymous #it's like 4 so if none of this makes sense then -\_(:|)_/-#I don't think there's enough info to really get into why things are the way there are #dashingreplies

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natsumiheart · 4 years

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I look at a lot of stuff on Pinterest and one of people's reasons on why Oumasai is toxic is because Kokichi made Shuichi want to kill himself? Something tells me this is wrong but I'm not sure what proves it wrong. (I mean they also point out that Kokichi mocks Shuichi for mourning Kaede-) I'm asking about this because its been eating at me and trying to prove that it isn't toxic.

Hooo boy this is gonna be long so buckle up! I’m sorry I couldn’t make this shorter I just really go all ace attorney mode when it comes to this type of stuff.

Sorry if there are any mistakes or some parts are too confusing my internet might go soon so I can’t proofread and edit anymore!

I think what they’re referring to is how Shuichi got really depressed after discovering that the world had ended, but how can it be Kokichi’s fault? He literally wasn’t the mastermind, he didn’t make all that stuff up. Heck, he was the first one to even see that motive and on his own it was way worse to deal with. His behaviour was so out of line that Kaito got fed up with him and punched him for the nonsense he was saying.

The motive was supposed to make everyone fall to despair, it’s purpose was legit what happened to Miu where she NEEDED to go out to help out the world before everyone was gone. The motive was MEANT to be seen to make the game “More interesting” but Kokichi didn’t let the others see it until he finally convinced them that he’s the mastermind. If he didn’t the Mastermind would find a way to show it to them in a different way and there’s no knowing what could happen, and if he showed it to them himself they’re bound to believe what he’s saying considering the fact it’s obvious he already knew about this. He took that motive to basically make everyone give up on trying escape by killing each other, since as the mastermind he said “The game’s over now! There’s no point.” to prevent another murder from happening. AND IT WORKED, for a long while no murder took place but of course the actual mastermind couldn’t just sit idly and let the game be “boring” (Which was Kokichi’s goal) So they made a flashback light that Maki ended up seeing and calling the others to see, and the flashback light made everyone including Maki believe that Kokichi was a remnant of despair. They wanted to get rid of Kokichi for messing with the game and taking over their position, and this was their way to do it.

So, after all that, if others see that KOKICHI was the reason Shuichi wanted to give up for a second there. Then I really don’t know what to say. Shuichi has went through so much already because of the killing game and Kokichi’s attempt to stop the killing game is not the reason he wanted to give up. It was because he lost a lot his friends and because the world was most probably all gone. At that point he had nowhere to go back to and everything he has worked so hard for was for nothing because there’s nothing left. Kokichi didn’t do anything to Shuichi for him to be the sole reason he suddenly wanted to die. His depression got the best of him after being all alone with his thoughts for a couple of days, not eating or moving just sleeping the entire time. If anyone is at fault it’s the mastermind for making up such a cruel lie that even made Gonta commit murder to “save” the others.

And for the mocking him about Kaede’s death part (Which is literally one line after Shuichi removed his hat) Kokichi at that point had witnessed that the killing game was real and it was going to get him eventually. He wasn’t alright either and he had already started to make everyone hate him, acting more hostile and annoying so they all stay away (since anyone who groups up everyone or brings them hope will end up like Kaede did) He didn’t want to be the next Kaede or Rantaro. It started with that line but in the end he cut off all ties he had (if he had any) in chapter 4 so that they have no doubt that he is only full of malice and that he is indeed the mastermind.

“But how do you know that he has been devising that plan since back then?” Remember the “horse a” message? the first letters were added to it right before the next morning after the first trial where Shuichi entered the dining room without his hat. If you don’t believe me, here’s a paragraph from well written wiki!

Sometime between the end of the first trial and the morning of the next day, Kokichi would begin to devise of a plan to get everyone to think that he was the mastermind of this killing game, willing to be seen as evil for the sake of ending this madness. To begin this plan, he would leave a subtle message in the courtyard "Horse A", which he would later fill in with more letters as the killing game continued.

And here’s the source if you wanna check for yourself: Click here!

If it wasn’t already obvious, Kokichi is a LIAR. And his biggest lie of being the mastermind started after he saw the deaths of Rantaro and Kaede. That first chapter affected Kokichi a lot, he lied and lied to hide it but he was shaken up by the sudden death of Rantaro and was devastated by Kaede’s death. Though all he could say at her last moments is that she wasn’t boring. Because he knew, if he was truthful? Eyes would be on him immediately and he would be in danger.

Kokichi did his best to be the person he would hate the most, he lies so much yet says he hates liars, then says that’s a lie. Making everyone confused as to what the hell is right or wrong in what he’s saying. But he couldn’t keep up his facade forever especially when he was starting to get interested and even attached to Shuichi. In one completely optional scene in chapter 3 he legit says that he doesn’t want Rantaro to be the one who gets resurrected (Though he probably was more interested in him because he obviously knew more than he let on in chapter 1. Asking everyone about the Ultimate Hunt when no one else remembered it until they say the flashback lights, his fight with Hoshi, and how he was so sure that he WILL end the killing game. Kokichi even had his effigy in his room because he saw it as a clue or evidence that can help later, he needed to know what he was hiding and what his talent was.) and despite all that when Shuichi asks why he doesn’t want Rantaro to be the one, he says “Because you’d rather have Kaede back.” Of course he writes it off as a lie, but then right after that he SHOWS Shuichi his interest in Rantaro saying he might be working for the mastermind. The exact lines are:

Kokichi: “What if Rantaro was working for the mastermind? Bringing him to life might be a bad idea.”

(Trying to make Shuichi believe that he really did lie there about his reason why he didn’t want Rantaro to come back by making him believe that THIS was the real reason. I don’t know exactly if he entertained the idea or not, but he most probably did not believe Rantaro to be the mastermind here. He might have even made up that killing game anime he was talking about. Its’ real for us but might not be for them.)

Shuichi: “N-no that’s idiotic! Rantaro couldn’t have been working for the mastermind...:

“But is it really impossible? We only knew Rantaro for a short time. He did seem as though he was kind of used to the killing game”

The “used to” in that sentence was highlighted. THIS was Kokichi’s intention, to make Shuichi realise that Rantaro knew more than he let on. Which reinforces Kokichi’s interest in him. But Shuichi fell for Kokichi’s trap earlier and didn’t notice at all that he slipped the fact Rantaro would give more information.

It’s confusing I know, Kokichi’s thing is mind games after all. But what I’m trying to say is that for Kokichi’s goal to figure out this killing game and how to end it Rantaro would be most ideal to bring back but he just wanted to tell Shuichi that he’d rather have Kaede instead just so he’s happy. The evidence for that is how even after he says its a lie he lowkey shows Shuichi he’s more interested in Rantaro instead. It reminds me of those scenes where he says “WAAAHH I THOUGHT YOUD KNOW I HATE COFFEE” then right after he’s like “I’m tired of all that crying can I have a cup of coffee please.” Or “I actually can’t taste anything!” then “anyway my faves are spice and sugar!”

Kokichi did say something insensitive when he said “Is it cause Kaede died or whatever?” but it didn’t bother Shuichi at all he just brushed it off since he saw how he acted in the trial earlier. It wasn’t a surprise to him. Kaede’s death affected Kokichi too, and that line doesn’t match up with what he said about bringing Kaede back.

You never know what’s the truth and what’s a lie with Kokichi, everything he says contradicts each other. So how is it that all these people who hate Kokichi and call him toxic take his worst lines or moments as the truth when the context of his entire character and motive says otherwise. When he had to crush Shuichi the most so he believes that he is full of malice without a single doubt. To make him believe he was really the mastermind immediately, so he doesn’t go all detective on him like he usually does.

Kokichi’s actions were terrible yes but they were LIES he did it for a purpose that’s what makes him a grey character when in a KILLING GAME. It’s shown in salmon team that under normal circumstances the two would get along and Shuichi would want to learn more about Kokichi and his true self.

TLDR; Leave these children be, they were in a killing game. No ship is toxic unless it’s shown that person was terrible / messed up from the start and would hurt whoever they’re with. Those users just obviously don’t like Kokichi and hate seeing him with anyone XD and it’s obvious with how they blame him over a motive Monokuma/ the Mastermind has created and straight up ignoring the intentions behind his actions.

Now without evidence and stuff, truly speaking from my heart from here with full on bias XD

I get hating a character or a ship but oh my god can you not spread misinformation for others to feel obligated to agree? Toxic is such a strong word and I hate how people keep associating it with every ship they dislike. Making others feel bad for what comforts them! If Saiouma was so toxic how come it makes so many people happy? How come it makes people literally calm down, stop crying, and feel warm. Saiouma is one of the most adorable and realistic ships out there... Don’t ruin it for everyone else just because you don’t agree with how we feel. Just say you’re not a fan and move on!

Anyway don’t worry your ship is very valid! You can continue supporting them without feeling any guilt and if anyone calls it toxic they can see me so I break their kneecaps.

#rant #tw suicidal thoughts #oumasai #saiouma #shuichi saihara #kokichi ouma #danganronpa #drv3 #new danganronpa v3 #ndrv3 #i came to save a draft of a drawing to post tonight then saw this ask #AND I LEGIT SPENT 3 HPURS JUST WRITING AND PROOF READING AND STUFF PFPFP #call my otp toxic and youre dead ya hear #hope my answer helped you!#ill post the drawing tomorrow this is more important

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laora-inn · 4 years

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Supernatural - Some speculations about the last 7 episodes of 15th season

Well, after 2 trailers, episodes descriptions on IMDB and some unfinished plot-lines of SPN story I’d like to share my own speculations. Some of them are definitely wrong.

Destiel positive, happy end positive, don’t like - don’t read.

Season 15 | Episode 14. Last Holiday

A filler - that’s how we anime fans call episodes which have no deal with the main plotline, though can contain some interesting moments and nuances. In “Supernatural” these episodes usually have no Cas in them. Sometimes they are very good... but mostly not. They are “just for fun”, and fans enjoy them, because they can be really funny. No angst.

Like this one - no angst, no Cas, a wood nymph who looks like Mary Poppins to me (or Mrs. Marple whatever). Some British origin of the character.

That’s the episode which shots with Dean in purple nightgown are from (trailer short version).

I suppose the shot with Dean, Sam and Jack flying in the air could also be here from. But maybe not.

I don’t know where Cas may be. His absence should be explained to us in some way. In episode 10th he was missing because of talking to the angels. What’s now? Some preparations for the next Jack's trial?

In this episode Dean should come closer to Jack’s forgiving.

Season 15 | Episode 15. Gimme Shelter

I have NO IDEA what this episode is about. Maybe the next trial for Jack? Or not?

I think the shot from the last trailer with Cas protecting Jack on the truck bed is from this episode. Also, some tortured person on the bed with the “lust” written above could be from it.

And what about Sam and Dean? Where are they?

I think they may have their own journey here, separate from Cas and Jack. Possibly the epic shots with them entering some building are this episode from. Possibly not.

Season 15 | Episode 16. Drag Me Away (From You)

I don’t like this episode title. It looks like Destiel mocking to me - maybe, I just don’t have enough faith. I want to trust SPN writers but can’t. Somebody help me to believe, we all need that now! :)

THE ONLY episode in ALL THE SHOW except this one that had brackets in the title was 12x12, Stuck in the Middle (With You). Yahoo.

Obviously, 12x12 was a parody to the Reservoir Dogs, a movie by Quentin Tarantino. Parody in a good sense of this word, but still. The plotline, the scenes (oh, this lunch scene from different points of view!), the scenes’ order, the roles, though changed - all of them. In case you didn’t watch Reservoir Dogs, just go and watch it, and then re-watch 12x12. You will understand.

"Stuck in the Middle with You" is Stealers Wheel song which was in the OST of this Tarantino’s movie. This allusion should deal with boys’ and Mary relationship - because it’s her who betrayed them involuntarily, and now they are stuck in the middle with her.

But somehow this episode title also deals with Destiel relationship. Maybe ‘cause that’s Cas who is dying, not Mary. Maybe ‘cause even on his deathbed he doesn’t confess something important - not about his betrayal, there was no one, but about his feelings. He says "I love you”, but then adds “I love all of you”, and Dean is literally stuck in the middle with Cas here.

Back to the brackets in the episodes titles. Because of them I suppose that 12x12 and 15x16 could be connected. But how exactly?! That’s the question. I want them badly to be connected in Destiel way, but know too little.

Back then I supposed that Dean could be dying in this episode and it would be his turn to confess something to Cas. But now I don’t know if there will be Cas in this episode at all, I just don’t have enough information.

I hope he will.

Btw, the words “Drag Me Away (From You)” are in Toto’s song “Africa”. And in case you didn’t know, in 2018 this song was used for half-an-hour Destiel video made by fan here. It covers ALL the Destiel moments then far. Link for this video is in Supernatural wiki, in the Destiel article. Half an hour, 10 repeats of the song, author’s comment:

Along the way it stopped being funny and started getting insulting because this has been a literal decade (as of 2018 the vid features seasons 4-13) and the show has explored ALL of the tropes and yet and yet and yet...

I mean the fangirl shipper part of me also loves it. And then I get mad because I love it. I have a very complicated relationship with Supernatural but that's okay.

Have you heard the good news about Tragic Widow Dean?

TLDR: Have a supercut of all the DeanCas stuff set to Toto's Africa.

We can speculate a bit about this fact, but the truth is we know only about young Sam and Dean, who certainly will be in this episode.

I think shots with Billie talking to Dean from the last trailer also belong to this episode, as well as shots with young Dean with Samulet, who is a ghost now. But these assumptions could be totally wrong.

What circumstances will take us to the young Sam and Dean? Time travelling? Flashbacks? The parallel world?

Personally I think it will be the third option. Because how the hell young Dean can be a ghost in “our” universe? Unless it’s not Dean, though I doubt it. But if it’s not Dean, it can be a flashback, you know, with the young boys. Yep?

We’ll wait and see.

I don’t think that Sam’s appreciative words to Dean refer to this episode.

Also I don’t think Sam is going to sacrifice himself AGAIN (I’ve heard such an opinion). But maybe it’s my hope that makes me think in a wrong way.

Season 15 | Episode 17. Unity

I think some of Chuck’s shots are from this episode. Maybe the red lights in the bunker too. Maybe not.

There also should be Amara and some angels. I saw Uriel in the cast! Maybe there also be some light lit on the all situation in Heaven now, when Jack made new angels.

Some interaction between all of them + Sam, Dean, Cas and Jack should take place. Here the shot with sigil could be taken from.

What side the angels will take? How it happened that Uriel is alive? Was he resurrected by Chuck or Amara? What plans does Amara have, how is she planning to deal with Chuck?

And what’s for Naomi? Will she come back or not? I think she won’t, not in this episode for sure, and I’m already disappointed ‘cause you know, she should be alive. Dumah said she is. For me Naomi is an important figure considering Destiel, and I think she’d be the best Heaven runner.

All in all, in this episode should happen something that will make Cas happy. I suppose by the end of 15x17 or in the beginning of 15x18 they all will be sure that they have won the game, and Dean will forgive Jack for Mary.

The episode title may refer to angels’, Winchesters’ and Amara unity.

Season 15 | Episode 18. Despair

Well, in Supernatural wiki I also saw “The Truth” title for this episode.

Most of us are convinced that in this episode Cas will tell Dean about his deal with the Empty and will be taken by it. I believe the same.

I think shot with Billie knocking with her hand rotten belongs to this episode.

I have some doubts, but also think a shot with Dean leaning on Cas is from here.

I’m sure that “You fought for this whole world” and Dean’s crying scene belong to this episode. ‘Cause you know. Despair. And the truth - about Cas’s deal and possibly about their fake win.

Billie’s with her scythe and bunker intrusion symbols could also be from here (or from one the previous episodes ends, especially for Billie - as a cliffhanger). And it should be the case for Sam and Jack, I suppose. Because there is no other way for Dean and Cas to face Cas’s deal with just two of them.

Destiel confession will be here, in more explicit form that it could be in 15x16, because there will be A TALK, but I don’t think we’ll see something real explicit.

Maybe, Dean’ll say he loves Cas. Maybe not. I’m sure only about the fact that we’ll cry by the end of this episode. And that will be AN UGLY CRYING, just as Jensen said.

Well, maybe there will be a hint that Cas can be brought back, but I think it won’t. So prepare yourselves, my friends.

Season 15 | Episode 19. Inherit the Earth

Here I think Sam’s appreciative words to Dean are taken from. They are definitely comforting. ‘Cause you know, Cas is dead, Chuck is alive. Possibly Cas was in his way and Chuck erased him by making him believe in their win.

I also think Dean’s crying words “this whole mission, saving the world” belong to this episode and will be in conversation with Sam.

They still need to fight Chuck, and Jack is still alive. Here Michael will appear and helps. And there is one moment Sergey mentioned in 15x07, about the key to the Death’s library. He even described what it looks like! Cas heard that as well as Eileen. Well, if Cas is taken, then Eileen should return to the Winchesters, maybe with Sam and Jack, or just tell them about this key.

I don’t know what they are going to do after. Open this library? How? Find how to kill God? Or not? Will they try to save Cas?

I think they will not talk about Cas’s saving. And he will be dead in this episode for sure.

Also I think they’ll deal with God in this episode, one way or another.

Season 15 | Episode 20. Carry On

This is a land of unlimited speculation!

I hope Dean’ll have Cas back by the end of episode. I think Cas’ll save himself from the Empty, ‘cause, you know, he has a big goal there. The Empty tortures all the dead angels and demons, as far as we know. It should be fixed - Cas’s already made a promise to Ruby. And we know that Cas has no problem with ruining something and messing it up - he is basically THE GREAT TRICKSTER of this show.

Rebelling against Heaven and ruining angels’ plans? Check. Stopping Apocalypse? Check. Opening Purgatory? Check. Becoming a new God? Check. Bringing the Leviathans? Check. Casting all the angels out of Heaven and burning their wings? Check. Becoming human? Check. Becoming an angel by devouring other angels’ grace? Check. Getting an army of angels? Check. Giving up this army for one human? Check. Kidnapping angels’ prisoner? Check. Letting Lucifer in? Check. Helping “an abomination”, Devil’s son, to be born? Check. Annoying Empty so much that it brought him back to life? Check. Making a deal with the Empty? Check.

It’s very dangerous to mess with Cas, you just don’t know what he could do for the greater good, and yep, in some way Dean was right when he said that Cas is “something that’s always going wrong”. So I think the Empty is in trouble here, not vice versa.

Also, there is one more thing that bothers me. When Nick in 14th season was praying to Lucifer, he woke him up in the Empty. Theoretically, Lucifer can be awake by now. It could be a dead end, but still. Lucifer’s “true face” is similar to the Empty’s, sooo...

I don’t know what to think about it and the fact that Nick could reach Lucifer and return him from the Empty, so let’s move on.

I hope for the happy end for Sam (maybe with Eileen) and for all the hunters we know. They are family.

NO MCD here! If someone’ll die - they shouldn’t be Sam, Dean or Cas. I don’t want to see Eileen’s death either. I don’t know what about Jack. I don’t want him to die, but he is 100% supernatural being, and I am not sure what it means for him to die.

Monsters should stay, hunters should hunt them. We’ll see that the “family business” thrives.

There should be an order on the all levels - in Heaven, Hell and on Earth. There should be the new Death - of they should return Billie. Rowena running the Hell would be perfect. Wonder if Naomi could run Heaven. Maybe it will be Chuck? If he will be redeemed. Or Michael.

I don’t know what’s for the Empty and Amara.

I don’t know what the end for Jack will be. I’d like he will be alive, but I just don’t know. He can’t be a human. That will be right thing for Cas, but not for Jack.

I hope for Destiel endgame, as well as for Sam/Eileen. Cas should become a human, maybe, with some supernatural skills left.

I doubt that we have proper scenes of these ships together or Cas’ humanity. Just hints. But they can be very obvious - especially if we’ll see Dean’s reaction to Cas’s returning.

So, I hope to see them.

But, as I said, it's a land of unlimited speculation. We’ll wait and see.

What else should be resolved:

- Kevin can’t stay a ghost! It’s my main point here. He also can’t go to Hell. What will happen with him and in which episode? I don’t know. I just hope they won’t forget about him.

- There is the shot with Bobby from? 15x20? He should be somewhere.

- Also, there should be Charlie in this season unless something’s changed. Where is she?

- What are they going to do with alternative!Winchesters from 15x13? They will rest? They will make another HunterCorp? They will be gone?! Come on, something needs to be done with them! Of course, they are not so important here, so the writers can forget about them, but still, I’m interested.

What am I going to do:

I'm going to watch all the last episodes of the season. AND THEN, if there will be no happy end for the Winchester boys and Cas won’t be with them, I'm going to rebel. :) In every possible way - petitions, letters, actions etc. We are grown-up people here. We can fight for our rights, and it's my crucial right - to be happy about my favorite show ending. :)

__________________

Feel free to ask me anything or to comment. My ask is working!

#destiel #supernatural #spn #castiel #lucifer #dean winchester #deancas #eileen leahy #supernatural final season #supernatural 15 #kevin tran #charlie bradbury #bobby singer #rowena macleod #casdean #billie the reaper #destiel meta #destiel-meta

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margoshansons · 4 years

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N+A=J, Azor Ahai, and Dawn

Look, before you go and crucify me for presenting and actually believing this theory, just hear me out. I’m not here to convince you or bash on your theory, so please don’t do that with mine.

These are just my opinions and while proof for R+L is stronger and is probably what will happen in the books, I do think that people are missing out on the awesome potential for N+A.

This is not an attempt to prove it. There are people with more dedication and more time on their hands who have tried. I’m only here to discuss why I like this theory from a narrative standpoint better than R+L=J

TLDR: Jon is Azor Ahai and making him a Dayne gives him access to Dawn, cool warg magic, and the potential to be the Sword of the Morning, which I think is pretty sick.

So let’s go!

1. Jon Snow’s Narrative Arc

Jon Snow is arguably the main character of ASOIAF, with Bran and Daenerys joining him as other main protagonists of the series. And it’s no secret why.

All three have very distinct, very important relationships to Magic.

Daenerys has her dragons, Bran is the Three-Eyed Crow, and Jon Snow’s whole storyline is about preparing for the next Long Night. The war against the Others.

It’s been that way since the beginning. We get small bits and pieces of it here and there but once Othar attacks Mormont it’s finally revealed to us and Jon that there are bigger things beyond the wall than wildlings. And we know that this is a complete surprise to Mormont and the other men of the Night’s Watch.

We also know that there is little written about the Others in Westeros at all, seeing as Sam isn’t able to find much on them when he travels to the Citadel.

This leads to the Great Ranging which leads to the Battle of the Fist of the First Men, which leads to the mutiny, which leads to Jon betraying the wildings which leads to the Battle at the Wall, which eventually gets him elected Lord Commander.

My point being, Jon’s storyline at this point has been spent 100% in the North surrounded by magic. There is no indication of him going south, no indication of politics beyond strategy and Stannis, no indication of him doing anything except planning for a battle against the Others and trying to save as many people as possible.

IN FACT! The reason he gets shanked is because he momentarily forgets his duty and puts the same people he promised to save in danger.

Up until Jon gets the pink letter, he never thinks about going south, but then “Arya” is in trouble and he puts NW and wildling men at risk. That is why he gets stabbed, that’s why they say “For the Watch”

Because in doing so he not only forgets his vows, but also the cause the men had pledged themselves to.

Now, all of this next bit is speculation based on what I personally think is going to happen and why I think Jon being Ashara’s son makes for a better narrative.

We know several plot points need to be resolved regarding Jon. I personally think he warged in Ghost, and then Melisandre will give him the last kiss as a priestess of r’hllor, which resurrects him like Beric Dondarrion.

Now, interesting thing here. The last kiss is a common funeral rite for the religion of the R’hllor and there’s another name for it as well.

The last kiss is a rite practiced by the red priests of R'hllor. When a follower of the Lord of Light dies, priests fill their mouths with fire and breathe flame into the deceased, as they believe that fire cleanses and is a bright gift. Harwin and Thoros of the brotherhood without banners refer to it as the kiss of life. (Wiki of Ice and Fire)

So, a kiss of life that is related to fire, that’s interesting. You know what else is interesting?

The exact circumstances of Jon’s death. It’s very different than what happened in the show. The show scene was quoted as being “a bad guy killing a good guy” while the books made it much more morally grey.

The most interesting part of Jon’s death, however, is Bowen Marsh sticking the dagger in Jon. He’s not only the first person to deal a mortal blow, but GRRM describes in detail how much Marsh is weeping, and how tragic this end really is.

Hmmmm, is it just me or is this starting to sound familar?

Flames, saltwater, wow this is really starting to remind me of something, but I can’t quite put my finger on it....

*stares into the camera like I’m on the office*

He’s being set up to be reborn amidst salt and smoke!

And now we get to my main part of the theory (took us long enough) but before that happens I need to make one thing very clear.

The Prince that Was Promised and Azor Ahai are NOT the same person.

Yes, Melisandre refers to them interchangeably, but no offense, she’s wrong...like a lot.

And while we know that Rhaegar knew about TPTWP, it was highly unlikely he knew about the Others, because as stated above, there is little to no information about them in Westeros and they haven’t been seen since the Long Night. So I really don’t have any idea why Rhaegar would think his son was destined to destroy beings that didn’t exist.

He got the details of TPTWP from Valyrian scrolls, and based on the info we have, Valyrians never interacted with the Others.

Azor Ahai on the other hand, is prophecized to directly battle with “the Great Other” which Mel connects to the Others (although this isn’t confirmed). On top of this, here are the two prophecies of Azor Ahai and TPTWP

TPTWP

born of Aerys and Rhaella’s line

born of salt and smoke

prophecised by a bleeding star

has a song of ice and fire

“the dragon must have three heads”

will deliver the world from darkness

will wake dragons from stone

Obviously this is exclusive to Targaryens, and Rhaegar was even thought to be the Prince that was Promised, but I think this applies to Daenerys or Aegon more than Jon even with R+L.

Especially considering Rhaegar used the song of ice and fire line on Aegon before even thinking of Lyanna.

Azor Ahai:

will show up after a long summer

born or reborn amidst salt and smoke

born or reborn after “stars bleed” and “the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world”

will draw forth a burning sword named Lightbringer

will ultimately fight against the Great Other

There’s no mention of dragons, songs, or anything else that most people use to interchange the two. Now the reason I bring this up is because if Jon turns out to be the son of Ned and Ashara, then he not only has a claim to Winterfell through Robb’s will, but he also can claim Dawn, the Dayne’s ancestral sword.

Dawn is a unique sword in the fact that its not made of Valyrian Steel but it’s just as sharp. It’s blade is described as “pale milkglass” and it’s a two-handed greatsword wielded by the Sword of the Morning. It was forged from the heart of a falling star and is the entire origin for House Dayne. It’s even said to glow.

The intesting thing about it? Only a Dayne can wield it.

It’s not passed down from father to son like most Valyrian Steel swords, but is instead given to the knight most worthy of possessing it.

GRRM has always emphasized the importance of Swords, especially Valyrian Steel swords. But I think what’s so interesting about Dawn is that we get its history in the very first book, and Arthur and Ashara Dayne are some of the only named Dornish characters we get from that time period.

(Also, just a fun fact, George has said that if he could wield a sword it would be Dawn, so do with that what you will)

I think that Dawn is Lightbringer, and the fact that George hasn’t given much information about the Daynes (a relatively minor house) when asked, makes me think that they play a much bigger part in the endgame than we think.

They have ties to the First Men, which means they were around during the first Long Night and the Battle for the Dawn. This also means that they potentially have the same warging abilities the Starks do, which would only be heightened if they were joined.

(I have so many theories on the First Men and magic, but that would take longer to get into than this.)

So, if Jon were to be the son of Ned and Ashara, then he could become the Sword of the Morning, which provides interesting imagery when you place it next to “The Long Night”.

It also would create one of my favorite parallels. Ned Stark heads to Starfall to return Dawn to Ashara after killing her brother, The Sword of the Morning. Jon Snow/Stark heads to Starfall to claim Dawn after being declared the Sword of the Morning and Ashara’s son.

Tbh, I just love this theory because magic! And heartbreaking parallels.

In conclusion, ASOIAF is messy and complicated and won’t be solved with a perfect parentage reveal. I think this one is interesting and while I think R+L=J will be what’s revealed (tbh I don’t mind it as long as they don’t romanticize it), I think there’s just as great a story if Jon really is the bastard of Ned and Ashara Dayne.

Please be kind, I am only a lady who likes cool theories with way too much time on her hands.

#asoiaf #asoiaf meta #a song of ice and fire #jon snow meta #valyrianscrolls #jon snow #ned x ashara #*mine #house stark #house dayne #asoiaf speculation #{I just really needed to get this off my chest}#{please don't yell at me}#{also it's four am and I am very tired so please excuse errors}#{again please be kind}#{I just love magic okay?}

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y8nt56 · 5 years

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Soo Since everyone’s locked up and has nothing better to do is there anyone out there interested in helping me test my magnus archives cultist simulator mod?

details about under the cut if anyone is interested.

First off, I’m putting this on my personal blog rather then my modding blog because its not really a popular game, its more for tma fans and personal self indulgence rather then for cult sim fans, and it’s kind of different from the kind of things I normally mod as this is a script mod, and will warp the bg into a slightly different game. It’s basically a fully functional game simulator of tma, and you can choose who you want to put in your cult, how evil/monster you become, can save or reform anyone, including, say, og sasha, and turn the hunters as well jane prentiss, nicola, daisy, and jared hopworth. If i can get everything working it should actually be really fun for people who like tma OR cultist simulator. The grind will take forever though since there’s 14 fears and the base game only has 8, i’m hoping to give some scars more quickly so it isn’t quite as soul crunching, as there will be 50% more of EVERYTHING entity-related, making the table management a bit of a nightmare.

If you don’t have cultist simulator I need a few things not related to game play testing as well, like canon fact checking, making sure all the art follows canon descriptions given etc, cause its like over 150 new art pieces for it, not to mention all 160 statements that replace all books in the game and give you various appropriate lore based on how informative the statement is.

Its technically the priest dlc (start with the magnus institute ‘cult’, a position at the institute, 1 random starter assistant(sasha martin or tim) and elias special patron, the web scar, and the angler fish statement.) But If you try to change your temptation from knowledge or you cult to anything but beholding technically you can, but every 6 minutes elias has a special event that will force you to change it back. Theoretically, rn you could just keep the elias card locked when it tries to trigger and change your cult to like the lightless flame until the end of the game, but it wont change the ending, since temptation isn't actually required to win the priest dlc. The position at the institute card has a 180 second countdown, after which it triggers an event that will slowly turn all your health into sickness and kill you eventually if you don’t go regularly.

However, beyond the beginning and the fact you need all 14 scars' its more of a mix between all 3 dlcs because you have to manage statement consumption like with the ghoul and I’ve tried to make elias a special patron, like this sulochana ripoff, that will give you missions for the scars if you have high enough lore for every power like the dances in the dancer dlc but only useful IF you cant find the expedition on your own. Talking to elias without a topic will result in free occult scraps, so if you're very dedicated, you can use him as an infinite special histories lore machine for expeditions but is otherwise totally useless like the real elias.

I made the mistake of trying to replace the 'scholarship' ability with a new actually useful 'compulsion' ability if you level up reason that can force statements out of your own cultists with high fear lore in exchange for giving them resentment, but only if you haven’t already read their statement and this game is already a nightmare to mod. Resentment management/hunter and rival management is going to be more difficult then in the base game.

I’m so excited I'm finally gonna finish it no that i have time i only need like 5 more cultists and to run everything through illustrator so everything is sharp and clean, as well as a few more locations, artifacts, and the rest will just be bug testing i guess. and finishing the actual hard parts of modding with those kind of vague tutorials cause like, nobody mods this game.

If anyone actually wants to hear more about it or has any ideas i will not fucking stop talking about it if you let me haha

I also need art for the fear paintings if anyone wants to donate any. If not I'll just use the art of the old hours off the cs wiki.

tldr: I need base drawings run through illustrator, bug testing, ideas, canon checks, and art for every power for the paintings if anyone wants to donate them. or just lmk if anyone but me is actually interested in it.

#the magnus archives #cultist simulator #my art #my mods #i probably wont add any more mods to this blog though #unless people were actually interested #honestly this was more of a project for me to have an excuse to re listen to the whole pod multiple times...#tma

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sunflowereviews · 4 years

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WARNING: KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN! (Things to know before getting into KHR!) (A pinned post)

I’ve suddenly remembered why I made this blog in the first place (◣∀◢)ψ

(TL;DR at the end)

TO WARN YOU ALL ABOUT KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN.

If you’re looking to get into it, I want to tell you a few things.

It was originally meant to be a gag manga, but its popularity was in decline so they turned it into a shounen manga.

I’m saying this because if you’ve searched up the main character, Tsunayoshi Sawada, you’ve seen this

But when you actually got into the series, you saw this:

That’s the beginning, the original gag part of the manga where Tsuna is incredibly annoying and made everyone want to throw bricks at him.

I believe that in the anime, the gag goes on for about twenty episodes. In the manga, it goes on for sixty-two chapters.

I’m saying this because the original gag part is really annoying, boring, and slow. It’s not funny and it was a pain for me to go through when I started reading it. Now that you know when the serious shounen stuff starts, you can skip the original gag and get straight to the good stuff.

The only issue you’ll have with skipping it is you won’t know anything about the characters and their abilities. I don’t know anyone who skipped it so I can’t say if you’ll be able to figure it out quickly or if it’ll take some time.

IF you do skip it, DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, look at ANYTHING on the Katekyo Hitman Reborn wiki pages. You WILL get spoiled. Instead, I’ll give you a summary of each character from the wiki pages.

TSUNAYOSHI SAWADA - The main character

Tsuna is called “No Good Tsuna” by his classmates because of his poor grades, bad luck, wimpy attitude, and lack of athleticism. He easily admits these things about himself, lacking self-confidence and always doubting himself and quitting easily.

Tsuna is also the tenth successor to the Vongola, a powerful and influential family in the mafia. His ability is Dying Will Mode and can only be activated by the Dying Will Bullet. He is trained to become the tenth boss by the best hitman in the Vongola family, Reborn.

Dying Will Mode: His body’s limiters are removed and he becomes stronger. This happens because when he is shot by the Dying Will Bullet, he is put in a life-or-death situation and he must fulfill his dying will.

Tsunayoshi Sawada attends Namimori Middle School.

REBORN - Main

Reborn is the best hitman in the mafia. He helps Tsuna train to become the tenth boss of the Vongola. He is confident and unpredictable. He enjoys teasing his students and pulling pranks on them. Readers will find that he also enjoys cosplaying as he is often seen with different outfits.

HAYATO GOKUDERA - Main

Hayato is the right-hand man of Tsuna and he takes his role very seriously. He portrays himself as a delinquent but contrary to his image, he actually does very well in school. He has a short temper and is very irritable towards everyone except Reborn and Tsuna.

He uses dynamites and traps as his weapons and fights in enclosed spaces and at mid-range. He is also a very intelligent fighter.

Hayato Gokudera attends Namimori Middle School.

TAKESHI YAMAMOTO - Main

Usually called “Yamamoto,” he is friendly and naive, thinking that being part of the Vongola is simply a game that they are playing for fun. He is willing to make sacrifices for things that are important to him. He loves baseball and is just about as dumb as Tsuna.

Reborn gives him a bat that is actually a sword as a weapon.

Takeshi Yamamoto attends Namimori Middle School.

LAMBO - Main

Lambo is a five-year-old hitman who came to Japan to kill Reborn. He is a whiny and spoiled brat who has to be babysat by Tsuna’s friends and family. He is confident in himself and his abilities but cries over little things.

Whenever he is in trouble, he will use the 10-Year Bazooka, which is a bazooka that brings the version of himself from ten years in the future to the present and the five year old Lambo will disappear for five minutes. After five minutes, the future Lambo will return to the future and the five year old Lambo will return to the present.

KYOUYA HIBARI - Main

Kyouya Hibari is the leader of the Namimori Middle Disciplinary Committee, which is actually a group of delinquents. Kyouya enforces discipline in the school with his own methods, using his authority to assault people who get on his nerves.

Kyouya is cold and scary, having no care for the well-being of others. He will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. He hates crowds and prefers to be alone, often hanging out alone at the school roof.

He has an extreme loyalty to his school, punishing anyone who breaks the rules, even if they don’t attend Namimori. He has the school’s anthem set as his ringtone.

He wields tonfas as his weapons. He has full confidence in his fighting ability and dives straight into fights without thinking. He is the strongest at Namimori.

Kyouya Hibari attends Namimori Middle School.

RYOUHEI SASAGAWA - Main

Ryouhei loves boxing and lives life to the extreme. He is the captain of the boxing club and has a great passion for it. Ryouhei has a tendency to rush into fights without doing a fully analysis due to his enthusiasm. He has a short memory so he often forgets important details. He is always looking to fight new opponents and learn to improve himself.

He is loyal to his friends, as he will protect his friends without thinking twice about the danger he is putting himself in. He has a soft spot for women and children.

Ryouhei utilizes boxing to fight.

Ryouhei Sasagawa attends Namimori Middle School.

FUUTA DE LA STELLA - Supporting

Fuuta has the ability to determine rankings of people in any kind of category. He has a wide range of knowledge which makes him invaluable to the mafia. He becomes friends with Tsuna.

DINO CAVALLONE - Supporting

Dino is the leader of the Cavallone family which are allied with the Vongola. He has great leadership and combat skills.

Reborn trained him so he could become the boss of the Cavallone. Dino is devoted to his family (mafia family) but it backfires as he can no longer fight without the members of the family watching him.

He uses a bullwhip and his pet turtle, Enzio as his weapons.

DOCTOR SHAMAL - Supporting

Doctor Shamal is a skilled doctor. He is a womanizer and hits on every woman he sees. Due to his obsession with women, he refuses to treat men with injuries and will only treat women. Occasionally, he treats men out of sympathy. He has 666 disease but none of them have killed him because the diseases negate each other.

He is called “Trident Shamal” because he is an incredibly skilled assassin. He uses Trident Mosquitoes as his weapon. He can inflict illnesses or cancel illnesses with the mosquitoes.

BIANCHI - Supporting

Bianchi is a freelance assassin from Italy and the older half-sister of Hayato Gokudera. She is passionate when it comes to love, to the point where she can become violent. Aside from that, she is generally a kind person.

Her ability is Poison Cooking. Anything that she cooks or touches will be poisoned and uses this to incapacitate her opponents. When she snaps her fingers, the poisoned food will explode. Tsuna tried to avoid eating her food because he is the only one who knows it is poisoned.

Bianchi developed this ability when she was a teen. She would cook food for Hayato but the food was so bad that it would give him horrible stomach pains or make him vomit. Eventually, it became Poison Cooking. Hayato can no longer look at Bianchi without having severe stomach pain, vomiting, or passing out because when he looks at her, he remembers to horrible food that she forced him to eat.

KYOKO SASAGAWA - Supporting

Kyoko is the younger sister of Ryouhei Sasagawa and the love interest of Tsuna. She is care free and doesn’t question the odd things that occur around her as she is also somewhat of an air-head. She is a kind and caring girl and rarely gets angry.

Like Yamamoto, she thinks that being part of the Vongola is a game that they are playing.

Kyoko attends Namimori Middle School.

HARU MIURA - Supporting

Haru is an upbeat, enthusiastic, and care free girl. Although she has a crush of Tsuna, she is not the love interest. Unlike Kyoko and Yamamoto, she knows that the Vongola are real and aims to become the wife of the future boss, Tsuna.

I-PIN - Supporting

I-Pin is an assassin from Hong Kong who came to Japan to assassinate someone. She is energetic and friendly with everyone but will often get into fights with Lambo. She is also infatuated with Kyoya Hibari because he resembles her master.

Gyoza-Kempo and Pinzu-Timed Super Explosion are her abilties. Gyoza-Kempo is an attack that combines her martial arts with the strong scent of garlic from gyoza dymplings. This attack contains the essence of five-million gyoza which is enough to kill a human.

Pinzu-Timed Super Explosion is an ability where, when activated, she becomes a human bomb. A count down begins and the process of the count down can be seen on her forehead.

Credit to MyAnimeList.net and the KHR fandom wiki for the pictures and information.

TLDR: If you’re watching the anime, skip the first twenty episodes if you don’t like bad gag comedy. If you’re reading the manga, skip the first sixty-two chapters. If you want to educate yourself about the characters, you can read the character summaries I’ve made above.

You guys have no idea how much time I spent on this. At one point, I accidentally deleted everything and had to start again D:

Thanks for reading!!!

-Taiwan

#khr #katekyo hitman reborn #katekyo home tutor #tsunayoshisawada #sawada tsunayoshi #khr tsuna #anime #manga

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pompcoco · 4 years

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Harold Mews Character Analysis

(Authors note: This essay was made for fun and to educate people more on Mews and my analysis on him. I will be stating and summarizing many facts that some people might not know about Mews because the website I will be mentioning in this essay can only be found from a link in Mews’ page in the Poptropica Wiki. He has lots of information and character to him that the team and creators of Poptropica probably might’ve given without realizing, but honestly, it was good that they did. This will be a long read, so it’s ok to skim through or just read the conclusion and TLDR at the end. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy!)

Harold Mews is the eccentric millionaire that hosts the contests on Cryptids Island and aids you during your quests to find the cryptids. But during the time on the island, you don’t get to know Mews unless if you pay attention to his dialogue or what other NPCs say about him. There are multiple things you can learn about him from his wiki, an archived website of the Mews Foundation that was created to promote Cryptids Island in the times of its release, and the Cryptids Island Book. In this essay, I will go in-depth on Mew’s character and how he is one of the most developed characters in the Poptropica universe.

(What we learn from the game)

Mews is the first main character of Cryptids the player first hear about in the game. The player also learns that he is giving one million dollars to get proof of four very well-known cryptids. And before his introduction, you learn from NPCs from the rest of the island that he hides in his mansion, and the public has not seen him in years. He saves you from Gretchen after she nearly drowns you, and comments on how she is a cheater and will do anything to get the prize money. He mentions that he’s always had a fascination for cryptids ever since he was young and wants to prove that their there. When you give him invalid evidence, he doesn’t get angry at you and still believes in you. He provides the helicopter, the motorcycle in New Jersey, and the lab for the contest. And in the end, he wants to create a shelter for Bigfoot but won’t have enough money and will be broke until the player in the script gives up the money prize. From this, we can see that he is a kind man who has a passion for monsters and the unknown to the point of trying to prove their existence, but at the same time is considerate of their safety and does not try to put them in a zoo, unlike Grimlock.

(From the Website)

Mews has a biography that can be found in his wiki, sourced from the archived Mews Foundation website. This article explains he was well raised and came from a humble, hardworking family, inherited his family company, and turned it into a big success, Mews Corporation. He had always been adventurous and spent his free time in nature and on adventures. Examples include him riding the Great Booga Shark from Shark Tooth island and challenging Hermes, a literal god, in a ski race, in which he won. Mews, in the Poptropica universe, could’ve been one of the first people to climb Mt. Everest, but left the climber party to follow tracks he believed belonged to the Yeti. He did not find anything, but it made him realize his passion for discovering and researching cryptids. This dream of his was set in mind as years after this event; he retires from Mews Corp to creating the Mews Foundation. Their goal is going beyond scientific boundaries and show proof of cryptids.

From the website itself, it gives more detail of what the Foundation does from the News section. The Foundation does not just do research and expeditions, but they also provide and help the public. They showcase this by supporting and giving hair growth products for the people who turned bald in Spy Island. Despite their charitable acts and innocent goal, Mews and his Foundation have mixed publicity. For example, Mews was accused of helping build Dr. Hare’s Rabbot because Hare had used a navigational device that was developed by Mews Corp. Despite the accusation, a spokesperson of Mews, Cheerful Spinner, defends him and his company by mentioning that they defiantly did not have any involvement with Dr. Hare as well as the fact that adventurers use Mews tech and devices in a daily bases with their blimps. And when the announcement came up for the contest, Spinner comments that it is to stop the negative publicity that the Foundation has.

(From the Book)

In the book, it shares more characteristics of Mews. He has the habit of rambling about his adventures, which the main character in the placement of the player, Anne, notes that he is known to do. At the beginning of the story, Anne’s mom adds the fact that Mews does have a negative reputation for others by mentioning he is a “reclusive nut.” More on people’s opinions of him are in the book, but he does still has the humbleness and dislike of Grimlock from the game. For example, he’s sympathy for Anne when Grimlock steals their proof of the cryptids and also tells Anne that Grimlock is the only actual monster that actions should be put in a museum and should be long extinct. (Dang he really roasted her there it’s such a good quote) He also shares his story of seeing Bigfoot at a young age that either adds or is an alternative event to the Yeti search that stricken Mews interest for cryptids.

(Analysis)

From what has been given here, Mews is a man with the lifetime passion of proving the existence of cryptids, and despite being an old eccentric millionaire, he is still very to others and is very grounded and still has an adventurous spirit. A question that still is not answered or explained is Mews’ disappearance from the public and becoming more reclusive and private. There are multiple reasons that could explain his actions. One, he could just be working from home for the Foundation and wants to keep some of his research there, for example, the Cryptid Museum that is set up in his own home, private. Or two, he’s just tired. He’s had a busy life and wants more privacy and rest, especially with his status. And to why he created the contest all of a sudden after years of not being public is unknown. It could be because of the idea of him not proving the existence of cryptids as his life goes by broke him because he had been searching for years, and he was so sure that they existed. He might’ve been scared that everything he had worked for could be for nothing, so he began the contest without hesitation because he wanted all the help he could get to prove his dream to come true, but that wouldn’t go without consequences.

Despite his good intentions and character, he does have flaws. One flaw is that he has is that he is impulsive. He created the contest without any set rules or guidelines that could’ve made the contest safer and less messy. Mews also seemed to know Grimlock before this and knew her means to get what she wanted and could’ve prevented her from getting involved with the contest and hurting the other contestants. Mews is generous, but that is a flaw of his as well. His Foundation was funded from his pocket. He is a millionaire, but there is a limit to spending even with the amount he had. The Foundation website bio stated that they had been around for more than ten years, and they don’t take donations, meaning he had been providing the Foundation for years. Still, he would eventually become almost broke also as well as the Foundation because they did not earn money from their discoveries and expeditions. The inevitability of the Foundation’s lose in money is shown in a News article on the website, where it is briefly mentioned that the expedition leader of the failed Mongolian Death Worm search, Cuddly Fly, was told he would not be paid for the trip due to legal reasons. And as we all know at the end of the contest, Mews tells the player that he’d love to make a sanctuary for Bigfoot, but once he gives away the million, he’s broke due to spending everything on the contest and it being the last drop of money he has from the years of funding his Foundation.

Harold Mews is probably one of the most thought out characters in Poptropica. Even if the website was promotional for Cryptids Island, it gives a lot of details and information about Mews and his Foundation, their reputation, and slowly lose money. The book is also very good at showing his personality with his kindness, persistence, quirkiness, and rambles. Many Poptropica NPCs, especially if their not villains, are overlooked because they don’t have much lore or depth given to them due to the storyline of islands and how the player is usually given quests by NPCs and does most of the work. But Mews proves to be not just a normal NPC that makes you do all the work; he is an actual friend to the player by showing them much gratitude, patience, and really helps throughout this island.

TLDR; Mews is a cool character, and there’s a lot of things about him. He did a lot of things adventurous things in his life and threw away his life in business to go to his true calling and passion for Cryptids. He is kind and generous, but he has flaws since he started the contest without rules that led it to be pretty chaotic if you think about it as well as he ends up broke by the end because of the contest as well as the years of funding his Foundation by himself with no donations and no profit from it.

(Sourses)

Mews wiki

Mews Foundation Website on Wayback Machine (if this link doesn’t work its on the Mews wiki)

Crytpids Island Book you can get on Amazon!

#long post #cryptids island #character analysis #poptropica #harold mews

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end-of-pizza · 4 years

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Weird anime night ~Please teacher

Okay guys, I know I’ve been out of this whole anime discussing thing for a bit. Been in my own little world of building gundam models, watching ASMR videos and doing my tech support job, also got into buying stocks….the quarantine has been weird. I haven’t really left the house save to go to meijers to get groceries for 4 months now……kinda starting to lose touch with reality. To try and ground myself I have been revisiting things from when I was a teenager, rewatching old tv shows, reading old books….started with gundam 08th ms team, and Red Mars, and lo and behold I fell back in love with my old flame…ROMANCE ANIMES

long time readers of weird anime night will know that this is a thing that happens to me off and on. Highschool romance shows just vibe with me in a real way, I have been dating the same girl since I was 13, and I am 29 now, and we live together, so learning how to love while learning what love is, and learning about girls while also learning how to love one girl, man romance anime have that shit in spades….and it makes me feel really nostalgic, for things like first kisses, sneaking out after hours, being nervous with someone you will later be intimate with. I love it man, that shit DOES. IT. FOR. ME

so while revisiting my favorite romance anime of all time, Suzuka, I remembered about one I hadn’t watched since 2006, Please Teacher.

AND DUDES

THIS SHOWS FUCKING WEIRD

I remember it being pretty run of the mill, comedy romance story about a kid who bangs his teacher…..and like, yea on the surface that is what it is, but like…..spesh if you incorporate the second season into it, its sort of about ALL love….even some kinda eh….troubling kinds of love, like in season 2 a dude straight up wants to plow is like……kid sister, and that is…..well fucking disgusting, I know its like a THING in japan to want to bone your parents and siblings, because well……some sort of mass mental delusions or something…..but like, its there….its gross as fuck but its there….

The rest of the show is fun though, still pretty problematic, I guess it was less gross to me when I was 16, but as a 29 year old….yea a teacher wanting to bone her 15 year old student is pretty gosh darn awful......I mean she’s also like...an Alien.....but he’s still 15 years old and she is a dang adult

heres the wiki plot summary of season 1, warning spoilers ahead.

Please Teacher! is a story mainly revolving around a tight-knit group of friends in high school and how they cope with several life-changing events that are never too far off from intimate relationships. The main character is a boy named Kei Kusanagi who suffers from a very rare disease which causes a comatose state referred to as a "standstill" whenever he is under severe emotional distress.

Before the beginning of the story, Kei, at 15 years of age, had fallen into a "standstill" lasting three years after witnessing the suicide of his elder sister. After recovering, he quietly moved away from home in order to avoid social difficulty due to his long absence, and began living with his uncle, a medical doctor, and aunt. Due to the strange nature of how he came to live there, Kei wanted to keep the situation a secret from his new friends for fear of being ostracized as being too old to associate with them. After Kei had established himself in his new surroundings and had entered into a close group of mutually supportive friends, a Galactic Federation starship had entered Earth's atmosphere stealthily, approached Honshū Island and landed surreptitiously in Lake Kizaki.

The story begins with Kei suffering a minor 'standstill' while in the vicinity of the lake, witnessing several unexplainable phenomena happening there, and then watching as a beautiful half-human alien named Mizuho Kazami materialize beside the shore. Kazami was sent to observe planet Earth by a seemingly benevolent Galactic Federation in order to prevent humans from making developmental mistakes. Kei, upon observing the materialization, attempts to escape the pursuing Kazami. Kazami is under strict orders to prevent her true identity and mission from being discovered. During his attempt to escape, Kei falls into the lake. Kazami rescues Kei and, using information from his identification, is able to return him home in secret. The next day, Kazami has become Kei's new homeroom teacher and next-door neighbor.

During assisting her in moving in, Kei suffers another standstill, and while in a weakened state explains his predicament to the compassionate Mizuho, who ends up revealing her own origins and purpose on Earth. Several accidental activations of Mizuho's teleport technology (which were inadvertently caused by Kei) eventually place Kei and Mizuho in a couple of compromising situations in front of his uncle and aunt and his school's headmaster, but Kei protects Mizuho from charges for an inappropriate relationship between student and teacher by impulsively stating that they are married, resulting in an actual civil marriage that later blossoms into genuine affection for each other. The headmaster relents, partly because he, too, had married a former student younger than himself and can understand their situation personally. Both are allowed to stay so long as they do not reveal their status to the other students, and do not engage in any public displays of affection.

The remainder of the series concerns the budding intimate relationships between the close friends, one of whom (Koishi Herikawa) is romantically interested in Kei, and another (Ichigo Morino) who has suffered even greater loss of time from the same disease as he has; the problems of having to maintain the secrecy of the marriage; an interfering parent and sibling visiting from the Galaxy Federation; and Kei learning to overcome the ever-present threat of another lengthy 'standstill' stealing more of his life, particularly as he has fallen deeply in love with Mizuho and desperately wants to remain with her.

Eventually Kei falls into another major "standstill" and in order to bring him out of it, Mizuho has to use her technology which is against the law. As a result, her status on Earth is revoked, she is banned from the planet and all memory of her is erased from everyone's, including Kei's, minds. With the help of her mother and sister she sneaks back and is devastated to learn that Kei, who she is deeply in love with, has no memory of her. While helping her move back in, Kei reveals that his memory has returned and the two express their love for each other and get married again.

I am rewatching it, its nostalgic, not as nostalgic as Suzuka or School Rumble, which are my number 1 and also number 1 favorite romance anime. But it’s also not as problematic as like, Rumbling Hearts or School days.

I am happy to have this tumblr back in my life, it’s helping with the depression, I think that’s why I started it in the first place….the American Education System was surprisingly good at both causing depression and training me to help people cope with depression.

I love you guys, I will start doing one of these every week, and I really am thinking about doing a sort of short podcast on all the series I have done thus far, like a 30 minute episode or so discussing the stories, rating them etc. I really like the idea of doing a podcast, just takes a long time to make em, I’ve been trying to do a D20 or Cyberpunk real play podcast for like 2 years now, and still just in the editing process of it.

blah blah blah, TLDR

this shows weird, fun and heart warming at times, but it is about a teacher who fucks her student, and like YES she is half alien.....but…..she is also a pedophile, that didn’t really stick with me when I was 16, but it does now….so it is harder to watch then I remember.

6.5/10

~Hoover ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

please teacher update

maybe I wasnt watching the show closely enough but I guess he isnt 15? I got the impression he was like early highschool, but watched some more tonight and I guess hes 18 during the course of the show.....so she isnt a pedophile, but she is boning her student, and she is a space alien so there are still some not good implications there power dynamics wise.....but lets just say maybe I was too hard on Please Teacher 7.5/10

#weird anime night #please teacher #anime #romance

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lyayayaya · 5 years

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Is Finn/Cassidy present in Episode 4?

So, hi y’all! After securing my tin foil hat on my head, I can officially say I’m back with another theory!

(WARNING: There are leaks mentioned in this post. If you are not comfortable with leaks, please do not read this.)

A few months ago, I dived in the world of Buddhism, Hinduism and Wikipedia articles to figure out what kind of person Finn might be. In some aspects I was right (figured his personality and role in the group out!), in other apects, I wasn’t. But that’s how theorising is, you definitely can’t be right about everything.

Please take this theory with a grain of salt and don’t be afraid to express your opinions, whether you agree or disagree!

We were left with many questions after the ending of episode 3, especially after the episode 4 teaser. What happened to Sean’s eye? Why is Sean walking alone in Nevada? Where is Daniel? What happened to the punks? Will Sean get arrested by the police? Will we ever see Cassidy or Finn again?

An inside source already told the following:

Sean joins a cult in Episode 4.

We are close to the truth if we say, Jacob went back with Daniel to his community.

We will be able to interact with our loved ones via minor contact (a call).

These bits of informations and the teaser are the only things we have of Episode 4.

We’ll only get all the answers once Episode 4 is out and playable, but there still could be some clues hidden in previous episodes of Life is Strange 2 or hidden in Captain Spirit.

There are the infamous Hawt Dawg Man comic pages in Captain Spirit which should be taken into consideration.

Hawt Dawg Man wanders on the road alone and devastated when his “friend”, Mustard comes and picks him up. They drive off in a car so happy, there is a rainbow flying behind them. Suddenly, Evil Mustard comes in their way, saying he will “crush them like peanuts”. Mustard gets scared but Hawt Dawg Man steps up against Evil Mustard, saying he “likes mustard and he will empty him out big time”.

Despite the pages being an obvious joke, they could be foreshadowing.

In Wastelands, Sean could explore Finn’s tent. The tents reveal a lot about their owner’s personality and mental state. Under a plate of leftover pizza in his tent, there is a Hawt Dawg Man comic book.

He might have it because of Daniel or he just enjoys reading them. Regardless, the comic is present in his tent and it could be foreshadowing.

I know the insider source said we will have minor contact but what if it’s just one of the possibilities? I think the comic pages mean Cassidy/Finn could go after Sean and help him against the cult to get back Daniel.

Why?

I think being mustard in the comic is a metaphor to being white: Hawt Dawg Man (Sean) is ultimately a hot dog, not mustard (obviously) but he still has mustard on him (hence Sean is biracial) and he tells Evil Mustard that he likes mustard (Sean’s two love interests, Cassidy and Finn are both white).

Who is Evil Mustard?

He could be anyone from the group, someone in a high position and white. I think there are only white people in the cult, probably racist in some levels and only looking up at Daniel because he is believed to be a miracle child.

The reason why a Hawt Dawg Man comic book is only present in Finn’s tent isn’t because only Finn could help Sean, Cassidy could help him too. She is white and it was already hinted she could go with the Diaz boys. The reason is Finn’s name.

In a video made by Square Enix, we were told that his name is a reference to Huckleberry Finn. The name “Finn” means white, fair.

In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn runs away from his abusive father and becomes friends with a slave named Jim, who escaped from their owner and both of them hide away on an island.(...) Jim is eventually wanted for murder(...).

(...)

They continue their journey due to feeling forced to leave the island because search parties were coming. Jim gets sold to a farmer while Huckleberry Finn is away and Huckleberry goes after his friend to the farm.

Huckleberry Finn goes after his friend to the farm to free him.

Mustard goes after Hawt Dawg Man and picks him up.

These two plot points are extremely similar.

“They continue their journey due to feeling forced to leave the island because search parties were coming. Jim gets sold to a farmer while Huckleberry Finn is away”- this could mean Finn/Cassidy could actually go with Sean but Sean would get arrested while they are away for some reason.

Sean would probably escape before the officer would reach prison with him (maybe jump out of the car?).

For the end: are there any links between Sean and Finn/Cassidy in a religious aspect? While I’m not aware of such thing with Cassidy, Sean and Finn both seem to be involved with Satan (maybe referencing that they are the enemy of the cult?): The sigil of Baphomet badge on Sean’s hoodie, the book which Finn is reading. He is reading Lord of the Flies, the book’s title is another way Satan could be called as.

TLDR; Finn/Cassidy might come along with Sean to Nevada as one of the outcomes but they separate due to Sean’s arrest. They later meet again and rescue Daniel from Jacob’s cult.

Thanks to the Life is Strange wiki for the images and useful informations I used while making this post!

#life is strange 2 #lis 2 #life is strange 2 theory #life is strange 2 finn #life is strange 2 cassidy #lis 2 finn #lis 2 cassidy

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consmcchill · 6 years

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Avatar the Last Airbender movie FIXED

I did it. TLDR: I fixed the movie The Last Airbender. Feel free to skip this rambling intro and scroll down to the good stuff.

For the rest of you, my name is Conor McCahill, I’m an actor and wannabee screenwriter living in Chicago.

I wanted to post this on the internet for three reasons:

One: Avatar the Last Airbender means a lot to me. My high school friends would meet every week at my house to watch each premier live. Those memories are among my happiest. I was beyond excited for the movie, but, everything I found out about it pushed me further from it and when it finally came out I resolved never to see it. And I didn’t, until I was in a show with Francis Guinan, who played Master Pakku, and when he told me he was in it, I thought, “Hey, why not?” Watching this movie was one of the most disappointing experiences of my life. Fast forward to now and I’m reading Save The Cat, which is a book about screenwriting and one of the homework pieces is to fix a bad movie and make it a good movie. Obviously, the worst movie I can think of is The Last Airbender, so I chose it to fix it.

Two: Fans scare me. True deeply loving fans are like tiger mothers. You have high standards, and good for you! I can’t think of anyone who would enjoy this project more than a diehard fan and my goal is to impress you.

Three: Though I started this before the Netflix announcement of the Avatar the Last Airbender live action series, I’d still like to think that this could help get the movie remade. However, even if it doesn’t, maybe this can help you find closure that in some universe, a better movie exists.

I wrote this as if it was a wikipedia article describing the movie. I tried to avoid dialogue as much as possible, but sometimes, it’s just clearer. I used screenshots from the show to aid the reader though sometimes the pictures aren’t perfect, and other times I used real pictures or art. I linked to the websites where I did that.

The process:

I watched all of season one again, with an eye for character and story development. It was a real treat and I graphed each character’s development over the season, who was the main character of each episode, and how they grew in each episode. I painted a picture of tracking information about the characters, which characters know it, and when it is revealed to a character or the audience. I also tracked tokens, my word for props of importance like Aang’s staff and the water scroll. Adapting this cartoon to a movie was a huge challenge that I was not fully prepared for. The biggest challenge faced is reduction of the source material into roughly an hour and a half to two hours. Season one is very filler heavy, we get to meet our characters and watch them interact, and the first season takes its time and lets the characters be kids in a really nice way. Each episode is roughly twenty-two minutes long, making the season about seven and a half hours long which means inevitably something is going to be lost in translation because we’re losing six hours of content. Episodically is a great way to tell a story with lots of characters with multiple plot lines and over longer periods of time. Movies are better equipped to tell stories as an immediate chronological sequence of events with few characters. This just comes down to time and how much we have to tell the story and how the audience processes a story in “real time.” If you want the movie to be exactly the same story, well, that’s impossible and you should just watch the cartoon. It’s gonna change, there’s no way around it. After finishing the cartoon, I decided it would be a good idea to at least watch the movie again.

Overall and if you squint, Shyamalan got the story of the first season in the movie pretty accurately. His movie goes, southern water tribe, southern air temple, earth kingdom, northern air temple, and northern water tribe. The problem is that we don’t really get to enjoy any one thing for too long because we’re being whisked off to the next one. I didn’t want to make the same mistake, so I chose to limit my main settings to the number of my acts, for simplicity. I picked the southern water tribe, the southern air temple, and the northern water tribe capital.

Shyamalan decided to write each movie one at a time and I really think that doomed the project. I think he decided to do it that way, Nickelodeon went along with it, and by the time he realized his mistake, production has already started, and he couldn’t hold it up because it’s millions of dollars and our young actors are rapidly aging. Any kind of delay will hurt a project starring kids more than other movies. If you want to do it right, you need to be ready to pump out each movie so the kids can age naturally and not suddenly be adults, (see: Harry Potter.) Keeping his decision in mind, I decided to approach this project as if it were a trilogy. That helped me eliminate characters and plotlines for movie one, because they can appear later. I whittled my main characters down to seven, which is more than plenty; Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zhao, Zuko, Iroh, and Yue.

Let’s talk about Yue. Her sacrifice is the emotional apex of the first season of ATLA and is therefore the most important part of the movie. We need to care about Yue because the more we care, the more effective her sacrifice is and the more satisfying the emotional catharsis. In visual media, the way we make you care is we give you screen time. In the show, she gets three full episodes, but the development of her relationship with Sokka feels rushed. It still feels better than the Shyamalan movie, where she comes in at the last thirty minutes, and by all accounts gets half as much time as the cartoon. Considering her sacrifice, Yue needs to come into the movie early. Save the Cat talks about act two as the love act. Often in movies, it is when our protagonists meet a new character(s) who will nurture them through the end. It does not have to be true love or romantic love, it is often friend love. That seems like a perfect place for Yue.

I didn’t want to change the canon, but I had to get Yue into contact with Katara, Sokka, and Aang. I decided that the most important thing, at least in adapting, is not necessarily what happens to our characters, but that they grow in the same way. That freed me up to consider other, more exciting possibilities. Like, what if we bring Yue to the south, on a quest? Aside from Yue, the most necessary element of the north is the spirit oasis, so Zhao can kill the moon. So, I thought to place the spirit oasis in the ruins of the southern tribe capital, so we’re not suddenly robbed of a whole world crossing adventure where lots of stuff must happen. We can grow with our characters (Aang, Katara, and Sokka) in the illusion of real time, and not cut to weeks later at the northern tribe. That evolved into a portal to the northern water tribe, something heavily plot relevant, canon from The Legend of Korra, and it gives something new to longtime fans.

The Yue I came up with differs from the show Yue in very exciting ways. I develop her relationships with Aang and Katara and give Sokka a stronger interest, a love that could actually be returned and is hopeful. The best part is, I make her more active instead of passive. Since this will be her only movie, she should be there more, not to mention there are five main males and only one main female without her. All my own changes made me sympathetic to the way Shyamalan had to alter the plot and characters and it was the choice to boost Yue’s role that really lead to this entire piece.

Thanks to Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino for their work that continues to inspire me to this day. Thank you to all the long-time fans who run the Avatar the Last Airbender wiki. Your work was essential. I lifted some passages directly from the episode descriptions that match what I see as the movie, but where I did, I tried to mark with a *. Also, I used some art and photos and I provided a link to those artists. And, I dunno, thanks to Jim Henson who thought it was important and healthy for children to feel fear.

How I would open the movie:

Open on the fire nation palace: an imposing tower of red crowned with gold spires slices a sunny blue sky in two and looms over a vast courtyard. The front doors are open and we zoom into the darkness. Inside the palace, the air is thick and stuffy and ornate tapestries line every wall lit by braziers that fume and pop and crackle.

In a gallery filled with portraits of proud and angry men and women cloaked in red and holding fire in their bare hands, a teenage boy sits at a table, playing a tile game with an older man.

The boy squirms, agonizing over his next move. The older man is toying with him, but plants seeds of wisdom on how defeat a superior opponent. The boy tentatively places a tile, lingering his finger on the it before whipping it away. The old man examines the board.

With one decisive move, he places a lotus tile in the center of the field, winning the game leaving the young man in disbelief. The older man laughs as the younger man passionately demands a rematch, but they are interrupted by the sound of footsteps and they stiffen. A messenger comes. He bows low, and begs forgiveness from Prince Zuko for interrupting him, but he has come to escort General Iroh to a war meeting. The older man smirks and asks the younger man if he forgives the messenger. Zuko rolls his eyes and says he does but asks his uncle if he can join him in the war meeting. His uncle denies him, but the young prince pleads. He wants to be a good king someday, why not learn as soon as possible? Iroh relents and warns Zuko not to speak out of turn.

Iroh leads Zuko into the hall before the throne room. As the firebending generals go in, each makes a flame in their hand and adds it to a fiery bowl on a pedestal in the center of the hall. Iroh explains to Zuko, as he follows suit, that the ritual serves to show that no firebender will use fire bending in the throne room or face extreme consequences. Even the fire lord is honor bound to uphold his promise, he just never has to symbolically prove himself. Iroh puts his fire in the bowl. Zuko steps up after him and does the same, his face lit up by the flames.

The inside of the throne room is darker than the rest of the palace. Zuko is both frightened and exhilarated. As a particularly old and decrepit general drones on, Zuko admires the long war table, painted to display the entire world and littered with pieces that make war seem like a big game. This will all be his someday. His eyes draw him down past the far end of the table, to the wall of fire beyond which a dark figure, the fire lord, sits on an ornate throne obscured by the dancing smoke.

Zuko stares at the man beyond the flames and their crackle fills his ears. He feels the eyes of his father staring back. Zuko snaps to attention, just as the old infirm general outlines a plan to send fresh recruits into combat against a heavily garrisoned earth kingdom fort. The prince asks the general how he expects the recruits to survive, his interruption sending a wave of murmurs down the table. The general clarifies, he doesn’t. Their sacrifice will be enough to weaken the earth kingdom army, so they can be wiped out by a second wave of more seasoned elite fire nation soldiers. The mutters of agreement wash over the room. The prince is horrified. He cannot believe what he is hearing and stands and speaks, in defense of the new recruits and their lives. To send loyal soldiers to their doom is nothing short of treasonous. The color drains from Iroh’s face as the wall of flames flares up. He clutches Zuko’s robes and advises Zuko to apologize or be honor bound to settle the matter in an Agni Kai.

Zuko sizes up the old general. What could this old man, so near to death, possibly do to him? His uncle hisses at him to be quick, but Zuko is not afraid and accepts the fire duel. The wall of fire burns high beyond him.

High above the Agni Kai arena, the crowd that lines the stands chant ceremoniously. Zuko kneels, his back to his opponent and the chanting ends. He breathes deep, spins and rises, and throws off his cloak to face… his father, the fire lord.

Zuko doesn’t understand, the general he spoke against is in the audience, smirking, next to a teenage girl and his uncle.

The Firelord fumes at him, it was his plan Zuko spoke against and it was he, the fire lord, Zuko disrespected. His booming voice echoes in the vast chamber. Zuko falls to his knees, he won’t fight his father. The fire lord demands that he stand and fight, but Zuko refuses. The fire lord will give him one more chance but Zuko bows further, touching his forehead to the hard stone floor. The Firelord calls upon the crowd to witness his son’s cowardly refusal to fight. Only a permanent lesson is appropriate for such shameful weakness, he growls as he approaches his grovelling son.

Slowly, Zuko lifts his head and begs his father for mercy, but there is none.

In the reflection of his left eye, a fireball heads towards Zuko’s tear-stricken face. A girl’s voiceover begins. “Long ago the four nations lived together in harmony, then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked.” The fireball grows larger and larger in his eye until the whole frame is filled with fire.

https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-illustration-yurt-vector-drawing-portable-round-tent-covered-skins-felt-isolated-white-backdrop-freehand-outline-black-ink-hand-image80545151

The fire in Zuko’s eyes becomes a campfire in a yurt. “Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished.”

Reveal, a pretty and bright water tribe girl, Katara, telling the story of the Avatar to the young children she babysits.

The kids beg Katara to waterbend for them. She’s not supposed to, and they moan and whine. To appease them, she waterbends the soup in the pot in a swirl. They beg for more and, though it is difficult for her, she manages to suspend an undulating ball of steaming water in the air. It is a magical moment, even for Katara, and they all watch in awe until she lowers it back down. The kids go nuts and all take turns trying to waterbend the soup, but it soon becomes clear that she’s the only one who can. As she watches them all around her, there is a sense of how lonely and isolated she really is.

The flaps fly open and a teenage boy on the brink of manhood barges in and asks what the ruckus is about. Katara blurts out Sokka’s name in surprise and passes the commotion off as just childish playing. She turns the conversation to his hunt. He pretends to be downcast, then reveals three small fish triumphantly. Katara squeals with joy and embraces him.

https://itadakimasuanime.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/seafood-shellfish-hitsugi-no-chaika-avenging-battle-06.png

Later, as the sun sets, the fish roast over the fire. Katara, Sokka, and an older woman, their grandmother, eat with appreciation as if a feast as meager as this is rare. Sokka finishes first and as he gets up, he rips his pants, again. He criticizes Katara, her stitching is still terrible, and since Grangran can’t do it anymore, it’s up to her. He reaches for his other pair of pants but stops when Katara admits that she hasn’t mended them yet. Sokka gets cross with her for not finishing her chores. Katara retorts that if he wasn’t so clumsy, he wouldn’t tear his pants. Sokka scolds Katara for just playing around and waterbending. Their grandmother drops her bowl. Quickly, Katara denies waterbending, but Sokka saw her. Grangran comes down on Katara: It is forbidden, but Katara can’t forbid who she is! Grangran snaps that waterbending will get them all killed. There is silence. Sokka brings the pants over to Katara. He puts food on the table, the least she could do is contribute. Defeated, Katara fetches her needle and thread but hesitates before she begins to work. She’s about to speak when Sokka pushes that his pants aren’t going to mend themselves.

Katara pops off that he can repair his own stupid pants and throws them in Sokka’s face and storms out into the night. Sokka sticks his head out and calls after her but Katara breaks into a sprint. She runs past her neighbors, out of the village and runs and runs and runs until she can run no more, collapsing at the top of a snow-white cliff, overlooking a frozen bay.

The cold light of the nearly full moon beams down upon her. She looks up, with tears in her eyes and screams out her frustration. She pounds her fists to the ground. The ice cracks inches from her fists and shatter the side of the icy cliff down down down into the middle of the bay. The ground shakes and Katara is avalanched over with the side of the cliff and is buried in the ice and snow.

She pushes a mound of snow off her with her waterbending. As she cleans herself off, she notices a soft glow emanating from the fissure in the ice. As she investigates, the light intensifies, rising, until the source, a glowing ice sphere, bursts through the floe before her.

Cracks splinter throughout the sphere causing the light inside to escape. The light is too much and Katara shields her eyes. The sphere goes dark for a second then a pillar of light erupts out the top.

Back in the village, Sokka mutters to himself as he struggles with a needle and thread. The light rips through the night sky and through the flap of the tent. His eyes widen. He whispers Katara’s name and grabs his spear.

A dazzling aurora fills the sky. The broken bay has frozen again by some mysterious power, leaving the landscape jagged and strange. A cloud of snow and swirling mists ebb and flow about the remains of the sphere. Katara approaches and sees in the remains a boy tattooed with arrows and a white six-legged bison, both fast asleep. She kneels beside the tattooed boy and touches his face. He dreamily opens his eyes and then closes them again as he mutters about how beautiful she is.

Katara is amused. The boy snaps awake, he’s not dreaming. He jumps out of Katara’s arms and admires his surroundings. With his hands on his hips, he announces that he has made it to the south pole as planned and immediately requests a snowball fight and before Katara can protest she’s pelted as he laughs. She pulls the snow off as the boy exclaims that she’s a waterbender, and that it is officially on! Katara puts on her game face and snowballs begin to fly back and forth. Katara hides behind a snowbank. She peeks out and sees the boy scooping snow into a ball, she turns back and uses her bending to mold her own. She peeks out again, but he has disappeared. Out of nowhere he lands behind her and unleashes an impossible number of snowballs. Katara screams as she’s hit. Sokka hears her scream and breaks into a sprint. He yells her name and runs towards the boy with his spear who dodges the thrust and the following swing. Katara, covered in snow, tries in vain to stop Sokka. Sokka thrusts again. The boy lands on the spearhead, faceplanting Sokka into the snow and bringing him to his knees. Katara, wipes the snow from her eyes and gets a full view of Sokka’s undercarriage. She shrieks, “Where are your pants!?” The boy helps him up. Sokka didn’t have time to put on pants, he thought she was in trouble. Katara is touched.

https://www.deviantart.com/akreon/art/Appa-132703919

A low grumble escapes the large, furry, six-legged creature lying motionless nearby. The boy climbs onto it and enthusiastically rouses it. Sokka asks, unsure, what the thing is, and the boy replies that it is Appa, his flying bison. Sokka expresses disbelief over the purported ability of the large bison to fly. The boy, looking around at his surroundings, asks if they live nearby, which triggers Sokka to tell Katara not to answer, as he is convinced that the mystery boy is a Fire Nation spy, a notion that Katara rejects sarcastically. The boy introduces himself as Aang, an airbender. Sokka tells him no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. Aang laughs, they are very good at hiding. *

Aang offers to fly them back to their village if he can get shelter for the night. Katara happily agrees and climbs on with Aang, while Sokka refuses, convinced that Aang and Katara are crazy. Aang says, "Yip-yip!", and Appa leaps into the air, though immediately comes crashing down, while Sokka crows sarcastically about Appa's inability to fly, Aang decides Appa is still too tired to fly just yet. He looks over his shoulder and leans out to stare at Katara with a huge smile on his face, causing her, after a few long, awkward seconds, to ask, "Why are you smiling at me like that?" He replies, "Oh, I was smiling?" Sokka lifts his head back, groaning, while Katara, at first smiling at Aang's response, frowns back at Sokka. *

In the moonlight, they walk back to the village. A curious Katara asks Aang if he knows the fate of the Avatar; being an airbender, she knows that the Avatar was supposed to be an Air Nomad. Aang awkwardly states that he knew people that knew the Avatar but did not know the actual Avatar himself. A disappointed Katara drops the subject, leaving Aang looking guilty. *

Underneath the setting sun, a scout blows a horn atop a fire nation fort located at the foot of the southern air temple mount. The commander of the base, a fierce looking full-grown man, greets Iroh and Zuko in the courtyard, he makes sure to highlight Zuko’s scar to confirm that it’s him. Iroh shows his respect to Admiral Zhao, who asks what brings the exiled prince and his uncle before him.

Zuko demands access south, to the Antarctic seas, Zhao’s domain. This amuses Zhao and arouses his interest. Even if he had seen or heard any sign of the Avatar, he wouldn’t tell Zuko. Iroh reasons with him, then, that there would be no harm in letting them search. Zhao deflects and muses if Zuko’s quest to restore his honor will ever truly end. He continues that when he marries Zuko’s sister, Princess Azula, they will let him come live in the palace dungeon. Zuko retorts that Zhao is a fool if he thinks he can ask the fire lord for Azula’s hand in marriage. Zhao is confident, that when his mission is complete, the fire lord will offer his daughter’s hand. He denies Zuko’s request, his mission is too important, and sends Zuko back to his ship.

Later that night, Iroh finds Zuko glowering over the vast southern sea. He presses the prince to sleep, telling him that if he doesn't rest, he will, like his ancestors, fail to capture the Avatar even if they do find him. The prince refuses to his uncle’s wisdom, he will succeed because he seeks to regain his honor through the endeavor, a trait none of his ancestors shared with him. Iroh casts doubt on Zuko’s assumption that the avatar is in the southern water tribe. Zuko reveals his logic, that the old airbender has likely died, and a young waterbender would be next in line to be the avatar. If it was a northern child, the proud northerners would have announced it, like they did their runaway princess. Iroh still doubts, Zuko snaps at him if he has a better idea. The night sky lights up, the same pillar of light from when Aang was released, and the aurora casts a green glow all on the southern hemisphere. *

Zuko observes it through the end of his telescope, his eyes narrow.

From high above the fire nation fort, on a cliff side, a mysterious figure in leather armor watches Zuko’s ship leave and turn south in the dead of night. The figure stands, a beautiful young woman who’s white hair shimmers in the moonlight.

Back in the village, Katara leads Aang into a stable. They don’t have much room, so he’ll have to sleep in here with Appa. She gets him a blanket. As she hands it to him, there is a moment where they share eye contact. Katara breaks it off and leaves, but not before stealing one last glance at Aang.

That night, Aang has a dream that he and Appa fly through a terrible storm. They are buffeted by the full fury of the gale, struggle in vain to escape and eventually are forced under the waves. *

In his dream, Aang’s eyes and tattoos began to glow and he creates a giant bubble around himself and Appa. The bubble freezes over, encasing their figures in light which grows brighter and brighter.

In his sleep, Aang stirs and his tattoos dance luminously. The lights wax and wane in the slit of the stable door casting a strange light on the sleeping village.

The sun rises over an icy expanse the next morning. Aang throws open the flap to the yurt, but it is empty. Sokka and Katara and Grangran are already doing their duties. As he explores, the elderly villagers look upon him with suspicion. Aang bows to the villagers respectfully, eliciting a response of fear from them, and they hurriedly take a few steps away from the airbender. *

He hears Katara calling his name. Eager to impress her, he jumps high in the air and lands in front of her and her wards. The kids go nuts. They goad him into showing off, which he obliges.

Aang attracts quite a crowd, almost the entire village. He finishes his trick. Everyone is stunned. One villager erupts in applause, the others glare her into silence. The kids tackle Aang and climb all over him. His airbending is even cooler than Katara’s waterbending.

A stir in the crowd. Katara is a waterbender? Katara feels the eyes of the villagers on her. Grangran assures the other villagers that Katara is not a waterbender, as the crowd whisper amongst themselves and go about their business. She gives the younger children the evil eye and they scamper off screaming and grabs Katara and Aang to throw them both into the tent. She looks Aang square in the face and tells him that it would be uncustomary to kick him out without breakfast but that the airbender is no longer welcome here. She goes to find Sokka. There is quiet. Aang timidly asks Katara why she refuses to waterbend. She tells him it is forbidden. Aang doesn’t understand why. The waterbenders get taken away, by firebenders. There’s a war. Aang didn’t know of any war.

Just then, Grangran and Sokka return. Sokka has checked the morning traps and has brought oysters. He passes them out, they each pry them open and slurp theirs down, except Aang, who holds it awkwardly. Sokka apologizes and opens it for him. Aang makes a face, “Do you have anything vegetarian?” he asks. Sokka aghast, scoots away from him. Aang realizes he’s made a faux pas. He corrects himself. “Can I please have something vegetarian?” Grangran and Katara share a glance. Sokka doesn’t have any vegetarian options except for sea prunes for Grangran and they are nasty.

Grangran throws a shell at Sokka and thrusts a bowl of sea prunes into Aang’s hands. His stomach growls, and he eats one. He likes them!

Sokka does not get Aang. He and Katara share a look of disgust as Aang gorges himself. Katara leans over to Sokka and whispers in his ear that Aang doesn’t know about the war. Sokka asks how that is possible: the war has been going on for a hundred years.

Meanwhile, Zuko spies the village through a telescope. Everything is going according to plan. Just then, from around an iceberg, an armada of three of Zhao’s fastest destroyers cut Zuko’s Battleship off and he is forced to change course to avoid them.

Zhao boards Zuko’s ship. Zuko greets him, amazed he found the time to chase him and hopes his all-important mission wasn't jeopardized by this detour. Zhao admits it was easy to catch up with them, the battleship was built like a tank to hold a fully realized Avatar, which makes it slow, but necessary for his capture, which is why Zhao is commandeering Zuko’s ship. Zuko protests, the Avatar is his. Zhao reminds Zuko that he ignored a direct order and is trespassing in his domain. Zuko spits out that he doesn't take orders from anyone, especially a low born upstart rat like Zhao. Zhao's smile fades as he orders his men to take the prince into custody. Two guards grab Zuko arms, but he throws them off easily. He points at Zhao and challenges him to an Agni Kai, winner gets the ship. Zhao laughs, and asks how Zuko plans to survive stranded on an iceberg without a ship, doesn't he remember the last time he did an Agni Kai? Zuko will never forget.

Outside their village, Grangran leads Appa with a rope as Aang, Katara, and Sokka head out with her. Aang tells them that it was very nice to meet them, and he’ll come visit the South Pole again soon. Sokka explains to Aang they aren’t actually in the south pole, they are much further north, less than a day to the southern air temple. Katara extrapolates: There’s nothing left at the south pole.

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https://www.masterfile.com/image/en/679-07608205/moon-rising-over-trees-and-buildings-at-night

The tribes used to be connected by the moon gate.

Under the light of the full moon, the portal would open and northerners and southerners could walk between the poles via the spirit world to mingle and trade and visit family and make the pilgrimage to the spirit oasis. The moon gate connected the north and south cultures. Until the fire nation destroyed everything in south and the portal was destroyed.

Flashback: Fiery projectiles rain down on the southern capital and reduce it to rubble.

Everybody who was trapped in the south had no choice but to move away from the ruins because there was no food. The north pole is floating ice, and the waterbenders can fish beneath the ice year-round, but south pole is above frozen ground and there you can’t grow food in frozen ground. Grangran interrupts and tells the airbender that it’s time for him to go. As he turns to leave, Aang asks if they are sure the south pole is really destroyed. Sokka assures him sarcastically, that yeah, they're sure, and glares at Aang. Aang posits that the monks at the southern air temple would have told him, they tell him a lot of things, after all, they told him that he was the- he doesn’t finish his sentence. He climbs on Appa and they trot off. Katara calls for him to wait. As she approaches, she tells him the only thing they have at the southern air temple anymore is a fire nation fort. Aang looks at her with a twinkle in his eye and assures her, there are air nomad monks.

He extends his hand to her. Grangran yells that she’s taking too long and though Katara takes a breath, she doesn’t look back as she takes Aang’s hand and climbs aboard. Grangran pushes Sokka to stop her. Katara wraps her arms around Aang as he tells her to hang on. “Appa, Yip yip!” Appa grumbles and begins to move just as Sokka reaches them. He grabs Appa’s fur and tries to pull them back but ends up getting pulled himself and has to run to keep up. Aang leads them straight towards the edge of the cliff and Sokka screams that they are all going to die! He shuts his eyes and holds tight as Appa leaps and they disappear over the edge. Grangran cries out for them and falls to her knees. Appa and the gang reappear, flying. Sokka freaks as he clutches Appa's fur. Aang tells Sokka that when he says let go, to let go. Sokka protests but Aang leads Appa into a barrel roll and yells at Sokka to let go which he does out of instinct. The momentum flips Sokka up and over and plomp, directly seated behind Katara on Appa’s back. The daring move has made Katara cling to Aang close and she blushes.

Aang cheers and Grangran watches as they fly towards the sun.

The sun is directly overhead as the Agni Kai begins.

Admiral Zhao and Prince Zuko crouch, back to back on the deck of the battleship. Shedding their capes, they turn to face each other. Iroh counsels Zuko to remember his basics, as they are his greatest assets, but Zuko seems not to heed his uncle's wisdom, instead stating, simply and forcefully, that he will not allow himself to lose. As he assumes his stance, Zhao, doing the same, taunts Zuko, saying: "This will be over quickly." *

The two opponents stare fiercely into each other's unblinking eyes for a brief moment, waiting for the other to strike; it is Zuko who begins the duel with a series of fire blasts from his hands and feet. *

Zhao seems more than a match for Zuko, effortlessly avoiding and nullifying all of his fire blasts. As the prince catches his breath, Iroh continues to advise Zuko to remember his basics. Zhao throws his own volley of fire blasts; Zuko is able to block each attack, but he is slowly forced back with every parry he makes. For the final blast, Zhao, using both fists, sends a ball of fire that connects solidly with Zuko, knocking him to the ground. Pressing his advantage, Zhao leaps into the air, covers the distance separating him and Zuko, and prepares a finishing blast aimed directly for the prince's exposed face. An instant before contact, Zuko rolls out of the way, rises with a kicking flourish, and knocks Zhao out of his stance. *

With new-found vigor, Zuko releases a series of low attacks that cause Zhao to retreat, finishing him with a jet of fire from a full body kick. Prone, Zhao tells Zuko to do it, to give him a scar like his own, but Zuko aims beside his face instead. As the victorious prince walks away, a beaten and furious Zhao sends a jet of fire at Zuko's back. Iroh intervenes, however, stopping the attack with his bare hand and throwing the admiral to the ground. As Iroh stands over Zhao, Zuko tries to attack Zhao once more, but his uncle tells him not to taint his victory by retaliating. Iroh lectures Zhao about the dishonor he has brought upon himself through his actions and states that his nephew, even in exile, has proven himself to be more honorable. *

From the crow's nest, a scout shouts. They all crane their necks to see a flying bison with a water tribe girl and boy and air nomad fly far above them.

Up on Appa, Sokka refuses to open his eyes as he clutches Katara's garments. Katara lets him know that he's missing the sights. Aang spies the fire navy ships below. The fear deep inside him grows. He’s never seen fire navy ships this far south.

Both Zhao and Zuko blink in their telescopes. Iroh suggests they try working together as the bison disappears into the clouds.

Aang and Sokka and Katara fly through clouds and above mists and fog. Sokka asks if they are they yet. Aang spots the temple at the top of a mountain and they fly closer. Katara remarks on how beautiful it is.

From a window, the white-haired girl watches them all land in a sky bison pen and jump off. She disappears into the shadows. Appa grazes happily.

Sokka wishes he could eat, that ride took longer than he thought. Katara shushes him. Aang calls out to his people, but nobody answers. The temple appears to be abandoned. They walk up the temple steps. Sokka asks Aang if the airbenders have any food and is berated by Katara for being one of the first outsiders to see an airbender temple and he can only think with his stomach. She apologizes for Sokka. Aang insists the airbenders are simply hiding. There are lots of hiding places. They walk through a large archway into a great hall beyond. In the rafters above, the white-haired girl shifts into position. As Aang, Katara, and Sokka pass beneath her, she drops a net down upon them. The girl lands and knocks them off their feet and they fall to the ground in a pile.

She brandishes a staff at the subdued trio. “Are you firebenders?” She barks. They tell her they are not. “That’s just what a firebender would say!” They assure her they are not firebenders. They are water tribe, and Aang is an airbender. She releases them and introduces herself as Princess Yue of the northern water tribe. Sokka is impressed and bows, “your majesty,” Katara does a stiff movement she would call a curtsey. Aang recognizes the staff and grabs it but Yue holds fast. It’s a sacred air nomad staff, it’s not to be touched by outsiders. Yue is nonplussed. Sokka tells Aang that he can’t speak to a princess like that. Aang takes a deep breath and bellows, “LET IT GO!” His voice echoes in the halls. Yue lets go of the staff. Aang apologizes for yelling and inspects the staff. Yue never got the names of the other two, Sokka and Katara. Yue is incredulous, “You are Sokka and Katara!? Your father saved my life! Hakoda’s ship arrived at our capital a year ago and he was granted audience before me and my father. My father refused to help, and, I had to make a choice. I ran away and boarded your father’s ship in secret with the moon scroll.”

“We’re going to reopen the moon portal!”

But where is their father now? “He was taken prisoner by the fire nation. The last thing he said was he’d be a boomerang, but, I never got to ask him what that means.” “Means he’ll be back,” Sokka explains. He shows her the boomerang his father gave him when he left. Aang asks her how she got here. Yue continues, “I was found by a fisherman and made my way south. I got marooned here about a month ago after my ship sank. Been looking for a way off ever since, but there’s so many fire nation... We could fly to the south pole on a sky bison, though.” Someone’s stomach growls. Katara admonishes Sokka. It wasn’t him, it was Aang! Yue calculates that there is enough time to eat.

https://www.mostphotos.com/fi-fi/2720912/plum-orchard

The air temple orchard is overgrown, though a thousand years of tending have given a sense of order to the older trees. Aang hopes they like mountain peaches as he hops high in the air and grabs one. He lands and hands a peach to Katara and jumps back into the air. Sokka, asks her for it, salivating, and Katara licks it all over, much to Sokka’s chagrin. Aang lands with an armful of peaches and one in his mouth. He hands them out. They sit and enjoy a moment of peace.

Yue asks how the boomerang works. Sokka hands it to her and instructs her how to throw it. She does her best, but it is a terrible throw. She puts her hands up to her mouth and yells “Come back!” Sokka offers to go get it, but she should, she threw it, and they both end up going together. When they find it, Sokka throws it to demonstrate. Yue commends him on the throw. Sokka smiles goofily and gets lost in her eyes. They smile at each other and the boomerang runs smack into the side of Sokka’s head and he yelps in pain. Aang and Katara come running. Though he’s bleeding and wincing, Yue laughs and says it’s nothing a waterbender couldn’t heal. Katara isn’t sure what she means. Yue furthers, waterbenders can heal, she thought everybody knew that, especially waterbenders.

Yue pours some water into Katara’s hands. Katara is unsure what to do so she waterbends the water onto Sokka’s cut. Nothing happens. She closes her eyes and concentrates. The water releases a soft glow. Katara gasps and her eyes pop open. The wound has closed and there is no scar. Yue tells Katara that she just did some high-level bending. Aang lights up, he knows where the airbenders are.

Aang leads them to an intricately carved door. If the airbenders are hiding, it will be here. They have storerooms and water reserves deep in the temple. It’s his last hope. Only high level airbending can open this door, he reveals, and he bends two focused currents of air into the large doors' ornate locking mechanism, and a strange hauntingly beautiful tone resonates. The locks disengage, and the doors open slowly. Aang walks into the darkened room as Katara, Sokka, and Yue follow him.

Aang calls out to the airbenders. The room is pitch black and his footsteps echo. Katap. Katap. Katap. Skrit. He steps on something. It is a wooden medallion. He picks it up and flashes back to a happy looking older airbender monk: Gyatso, wearing medallion on a necklace.

Monk Gyatso is Aang’s sensei. Aang in the flashback has no tattoos yet and runs up to him calling his name and they embrace. Gyatso leads Aang out of the wind lock doors and onto the terrace before it.

Flying bison of all sizes fill the sky above. Gyatso tells Aang to call to him. “Appa!” Aang yells. Appa roars and dives down to Aang leaving his siblings and his much larger mother behind. Appa nuzzles and licks Aang as he laughs and laughs and laughs.

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The memory fades as Aang’s eyes adjust to the shadows. He sees a sky bison skull among bones and piles of soot and ashes, all over the room. Firebenders were here. Katara gasps. “Oh no.”

Aang falls to his knees. He is not alright. His eyes and tattoos light up. Wind begins to circle around him. Sokka freaks, “Is he glowing? How is he glowing?!” Katara calls for Aang. The winds get faster and faster, lifting Aang into the air. Yue makes them take cover. The soot and bones in the room get caught up in the whirlwind, disintegrating into brown and black dust and debris. Aang’s eyes, emanating white light, widen. The swirling blackness closes in on him. He shuts his eyes and pushes the darkness away, forcing all the ashes out the temple. Aang stops glowing and he drifts to the ground.

Outside, the ash cloud drifts away.

Yue, Katara, and Sokka cough around the corner. Katara runs to Aang and takes him into her lap. He stirs. It really has been one hundred years. She cradles his head and opens up to him that she and Sokka lost their mother to the fire nation. Even though his people are gone, he has found a new family: herself and Sokka. He looks Katara in the eyes and tells her with conviction that he will never firebend. Never ever. He sits up and hugs Katara as she mulls his statement.

From their ships, the firebenders notice the ash cloud drifting down from the temple as they pull into the harbor of the fort. Something must be going on. They form a squad of male and female fire nation soldiers fresh from the base. Zhao tells Iroh that he is too old and slow for this mission and Zuko is free to stay behind as well, if he doesn’t think he can make the climb. Zuko is ready. Iroh warns Zuko that Zhao is not to be trusted. Zuko assures his uncle, he can handle Zhao. From the battlements, Iroh watches the troops begin the hike. He puts on a cloak and sneaks out after them.

Later, the sun sets over the mountain peaks. Aang and the others bring flowers to a stone alter. The medallion sits in the middle of it. They pile the flowers around it. Aang sets a peach down with the flowers and steps back. Peaches were Gyatso’s favorite, he tells them. He closes his eyes. They all do. Aang gives the airbender prayer of mourning. The sound of wings. They open their eyes and a winged lemur eats the peach on the altar.

Aang laughs, a long clear laugh as he takes the lemur, lazily eating the peach, into his hands and names him Momo. The wind blows through the flowers.

Night falls. In a clearing in the orchard, Aang strokes the sleeping lemur as Sokka builds a fire and Yue puts peaches on the ends of sticks. She pokes fun at his fire building technique. Sokka has been building fires his whole life. Yue retorts that she’s only been doing it for the last year and she’s already better then him. They race to light the fire and Yue wins, but just barely. “Best two out of three?” Yue asks Sokka with a cheeky smile. Katara returns with a bucket filled with well water.

The peaches roast on the sticks as the fire casts an amber yellow on the kids’ faces. “So, are we going to talk about what happened?” Sokka asks. Yue and Katara avoid his line of questioning. Sokka extrapolates, “Aang was glowing. I haven’t heard of a glowing person before.” Aang is silent. Yue speaks up, “I have.”

“When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born, but I was born as if I was asleep, my eyes closed. They told my mother and father I was going to die. That night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the spirit oasis and placed me in the pond and pleaded with the spirits to save me. I began to glow and my hair turned white. I opened my eyes and began to cry, and they knew I would live. That's why my mother named me Yue. For the moon.”

Yue explains that Aang must be filled with immense spiritual power. Aang is silent. Sokka pipes up that it was the same light from when Aang came out of the iceberg. Still Aang is silent. Katara scoots closer to him and prods him why he told her he would never firebend. She asks him if he is the avatar. Aang stands, surprising the lemur and it scurries away. He never wanted to be the Avatar. He only ever wanted to be normal and play airball with the other kids. He didn't ask to be the avatar! They were going to send him away, to the eastern temple where he would be safer. Which means he was in danger. Avatars aren't supposed to know they are the avatar until they are 16 because: what if they told you, you were supposed to save the world at twelve years old? That’s why he ran away. He was going to come back but ran into a storm and somehow he lost 100 years.

Sokka is confused, if he's the avatar, how come he can’t bend the other elements? Aang doesn't know how yet.

Yue smiles. Out of her pack she produces the moon scroll.

In it is more than just how to open the moon gate, but also advanced waterbender techniques as well. She gives it to Aang and suggests Katara give him his first lesson. Sheepishly, Katara unravels the scroll. There’s writing, but she doesn't know how to read. Aang and Yue are taken aback by this, but Sokka doesn’t know how to read either. They have chores all day, there wouldn't be any time for reading, even if they had books. Yue sadly remarks that everyone in the Northern tribe knows how to read and apologizes that life in the south has gotten so hard. Aang comes closer and reads the scroll to Katara. Water is the element of versatility. It is a liquid, a solid, a gas. Gifted waterbenders can even be healers. He smiles and Katara blushes and Sokka touches his head where the wound would have been. Water is Tui and La, Push and Pull, and the earliest waterbenders learned how to push and pull the ocean like the moon with its tides. The moon is the source of power for all waterbenders and they are strongest when the moon is full.

They look up at the moon above. Aang remarks that they will be really strong tonight. Yue informs Aang, it's almost full. It's waxing, it will be full tomorrow. Katara admits that from studying the drawings, she doesn't know any of these moves. Aang asks her what she does know. She smiles. She takes him by the hand down to the well. Katara thrusts her hand out over the edge of the well and instructs Aang to do the same. She moves her hand up and down. Aang isn't sure but she tells him to feel the water, even though it’s not attached to his body. Splashes echo out of the deep. Katara says “Ok, I'll pull it and you push it.” Splash. “Ok, now you pull it and I push it.” Splishy splash. He feels it! Katara asks Aang to pull the water up with her. Aang is surprised on how it's almost like air, but heavy.

Together, they lift a large ball of water high into the air. Aang chuckles and starts pushing it over Katara's head, he lets go. Katara closes her eyes and shrieks but opens them when she realizes she's holding up the water by herself.

She celebrates and loses her concentration and drops the water and gets soaked. Aang laughs and she douses him with the puddle around her. Aang laughs again and dries himself off with a whirlwind. Katara, drenched, asks if he could dry her off too. He tries. Her hair is swept back and poofs out. They both laugh. They gaze into each other’s eyes. Between their faces, the light of the campfire sparkles in the distance.

The campfire suddenly flares up a pillar of fire 10 feet high. Sokka yelps. Aang and Katara turn to face the flames. A rustle behind them. Fire nation soldiers! They throw their spears. Aang whisks Katara down behind the well with him. Katara begins to panic. Aang tells her to use the water.

They lift a spout out of the well and repel the foot soldiers. They run towards the campsite. Yue and Sokka are held captive by elite firebenders while Zhao taunts her. He’s been looking for the princess’s hiding place. Zuko concludes she’s the reason he’s locked down the southern sea. Zhao nods.

Katara and Aang come running to a stop. Zhao is immediately taken by the air nomad boy. Where did he come from? Where are the other air nomads? Zuko wastes no time in taking Katara prisoner. He advises her not to struggle. Zhao stares at Aang while confirming with Zuko that the girl is indeed the Avatar. She's the one from the village, the one waterbender in all the south, therefore, she must be the avatar. Aang shouts that she's not the avatar. Zuko sizes up the air nomad boy. Then who is? Katara tries to stop him but Aang tells them that he is. Zuko retorts that he couldn't possibly be the avatar, he’s just a child! Zhao isn't so sure. The avatar would be over a hundred years old, Zuko reminds Zhao, they have the princess, they have the avatar, but if he wants to waste his time with an air nomad liar, he is welcome to. Zhao willing to be convinced, leaves Aang.

Soldiers take Katara, Yue and Sokka and form ranks.

Aang drops out of the sky in front of the squadron. He declares himself the avatar and points his staff at the firebenders. They laugh at him. He calls for Appa. From above, Appa roars, then dives and the solders duck and cower. Aang makes an air scooter and zips through all the solders like a pinball. Appa lands where Aang was standing and charges the soldiers with his horns, they scramble to their feet to fend off Appa. Some run. The distraction gives Yue the chance to escape. She knocks her captor in the gut and off of her and throws him into Sokka's guard. Aang takes out the bender holding Katara, and they struggle to get the chains off.

Zhao calls for the men to form rank. Someone yells, “the prisoners are escaping!” Zuko and Zhao leap into the chaos. They arrive to hear Aang give up on getting the chains off of Katara and that they need get to Appa to escape. Zhao is a clever man, he turns and runs to Appa, manifesting a fiery whip in each hand. Zuko fire charges into the group and separates Katara from the rest. Aang spins in and spins Katara out into Yue and Sokka’s arms. Aang and Zuko duel. Katara won’t leave Aang so Sokka picks her up and puts her over his shoulder. Katara begs Sokka to stop, but then changes her mind and tells Sokka to take her to the well. Yue tells them she will get the key to the shackles and joins Aang against Zuko. Appa runs about the courtyard chasing a hapless soldier in circles until Zhao faces off against the beast.

Aang dodges Zuko’s fireball as Appa wails in fear from afar. In his distracted moment Zuko gets past Aang but runs right into Yue. Aang is torn, does he run to help Appa or Yue? Yue tells him that she’s got this, and he goes to rescue Appa from Zhao’s torment. Yue gets in close, Zuko is on the defensive. He dodges past her, and she doesn’t follow. She has pickpocketed the key.

Sokka and Katara are at the well and Katara is bringing up all the water she can with her hands behind her back. Zuko comes racing towards them. Sokka screams and Katara throws the water at Zuko, and completely misses him. Katara asks if she got him. Zuko didn’t even get wet. Sokka throws the boomerang and Zuko has to duck. Zuko rises to his feet and the boomerang comes back knocking Zuko’s helmet. The water pools by Zuko’s feet as he fixes his helmet and with menacing rage makes fire daggers in his hands. Katara closes her eyes. She spreads her fingers then clenches her fists with a quick breath out and the water freezes and Zuko feet are frozen to the ground. Yue slides by Zuko on the ice twirling the key on her finger.

Yue unlocks Katara’s shackles as, in the distance, a blast of fire. Appa roars and flees into the air. Aang screams his name as he runs after him, but Appa won’t come back.

Zhao turns to Aang with a sadistic look in his eyes and a fiery whip in each hand. Katara, Sokka, and Yue come running. They try to convince Aang he has no other choice, he has to run. If he’s captured, who will save them? Fire nation soldiers begin to compose themselves surrounding the group. Zuko, fuming melts his feet. Aang pops the wings out of the staff. It’s also is a glider. He runs and takes flight on the orchard path. Zhao barks a command and all the firebending infantry call out and punch the sky sending fireballs into the air above and beyond and all around Aang. The fireballs arc in the sky and land all over the temple. The peach trees left and right burn and Aang lands among them. The sight of temple burning sends him into a rage. Aang glows. The wind picks up and blows all the fires out. Zhao and Zuko see. He is the avatar. With the fires out, the avatar spirit leaves Aang and the light of his tattoos fade and he lands. Zhao and Zuko race towards him; the chase is on.

http://kidskunst.info/linked/history-of-stairs-ancient-stairs-686973746f7279.htm

Aang runs through a large archway and into a great stone rotunda with a corkscrew staircase in the center. He runs at the speed of wind up the staircase to the top. Zuko and Zhao are hot on his heels. At the top of the stairs there’s a hallway and at the end of the hallway Aang finds the door to the jump room locked. Zhao leisurely jogs, beast like, up the stairs. Zuko fire leaps up the sides to just beneath the top. Zuko grabs the edge of the top with the tips of his fingers. He pulls himself up. Desperate, Aang hits the lock with the staff and it breaks open. The door swings off the hinges to a launch pad at the top of the mountain just above the tree line. With freedom before him, he turns around and faces Zuko as the prince rises to his feet.

Zuko promises Aang that if he comes with Zuko now, he and his friends will be unharmed. Aang asks how he can trust Zuko. The fire nation invaded and killed his people. Zuko retorts it was the airbenders’ aggression and illegal settlements on Fire nation land that brought this upon them. Aang claims the airbenders are pacifist. Zuko clarifies then, that Aang won’t just windblast him off and takes a step forward. Aang also takes a step forward. The people who lived here were mostly children. He accuses the fire nation of genocide. Zuko doesn’t want to believe it, but Aang’s conviction has awoken what he knows to be true, and he falters. Aang is still very vulnerable and emotional. His tattoos light up, his eyes glow, the wind rustles around his clothing: the avatar state emerges.

Zhao comes around the corner, not even out of breath. He sees Aang’s glow and smiles his crazy smile and charges Aang. Under the state of the Avatar, Aang is stiffer, more confident. He sends a blast of air with his staff down the hallway at Zhao, knocking him off the stairs. Zuko jumps after him and catches Zhao’s hand and saves him from falling. Zhao glares menacingly at Zuko as he pulls him up. The Avatar spirit fades as Aang realizes he just attempted murder. His actions horrify and confuse him. Tears stream down his face.

Zhao kneels, winded from the air blast. Aang turns to flee. Zuko takes off after him. Aang activates his glider and throws it out the window and leaps out after it, catching it and the wind. For a second, it seems like he’ll get away but then Zuko jumps after him at full speed and grabs hold of his legs, causing them to spiral and crash in the clearing below. Zhao approaches the edge and looks down. He jumps off. Aang and Zuko lie in a crumple before him. Aang tries to get up, but he can’t. Zuko is also injured. Zhao gags Aang and shackles his hands and feet. He goes to Zuko and helps him up. Zhao compliments him on his willingness to sacrifice everything, maybe they aren’t so different. Zhao throws Zuko towards the edge of the cliff and fireballs him off.

Aang watches, in a daze, as Zuko disappears into the forest below. From afar, Iroh is lit up by the light of the fireball. Zhao lumbers back from the edge and picks Aang up and over his shoulder as Aang passes out. Darkness.

A knock on a heavy iron battleship door. Iroh opens it and stands in the doorway. A messenger tells Iroh to hurry, there’s been an accident with the Prince. Iroh pushes through the crowd to the deck of the boat where Zhao meets him. Zhao proclaims to Iroh that the avatar threw the prince off a cliff. A search party is to be sent immediately to find his body for proper burial. Iroh spits and claims he never liked the sullen prince who had no respect for his elders and they can leave the body on the mountain for all he cares. He asks if the Avatar is in custody. Aang, gagged and bound, is carried by two large soldiers. Iroh leads them into the bowels of the ship. The battleship is a marvel of engineering and the prison for the avatar is state of the art. Even so, Zhao expected more. Iroh states that it’s mobile, self-sufficient, heavily guarded, and the safest place for the avatar to be.

In the avatar’s cell, Zhao has Aang’s arms chained up and his legs chained down. Iroh gets into Aang’s face, “So this is the great Avatar. Master of all the elements. I don't know how you've managed to elude the Fire Nation for a hundred years, but your little game of hide and seek is over.”

Zhao ungags Aang and asks him how it feels to be the only airbender left. “Do you miss your people? Don't worry, you won't be killed like they were.” Zhao turns to leave. Aang takes a deep inhale and breath blasts Zhao, knocking him to the floor. Zhao is triggered, and fiery. Iroh helps bring him under control. Zhao tells Aang, “Blow all the wind you want, but your situation is futile. See, if you die you will just be reborn and the Fire Nation would have to start searching all over again. So, I'll keep you alive, but just barely.” Zhao leaves in a huff. Uncle Iroh glares at the remaining guards and asks for a minute alone with the thing that killed his nephew. They oblige.

Iroh approaches Aang. Aang shies away, but Iroh lays a gentle hand on his shoulder and assures him he is not like the others. He reveals that he knows Aang didn't kill Zuko but that it doesn't matter because no one will believe Aang anyway. Aang asks what's going to happen to him. Iroh assures Aang that when the time comes, he will help Aang escape, but first, he needs Aang's help. He needs to know about the waterbending girl.

In the prison hold, Katara sits comforting Grangran. Grangran is babbling on about how the fire nation came not long after they left and rounded up the villagers onto their ships but Katara's eyes fix on Sokka. He’s worried about Yue. Katara thinks they should be worried about all of them. A guard rattles the door and tells them to shut up. Iroh enters, carrying a bucket of water. The guard tries to stop him from entering the cell but Iroh tells him the orders are from Zhao. The prisoners haven’t been watered all day. Besides, Iroh asks the guard if he thinks the dragon of the west can’t handle one young waterbending girl. The guard apologizes and opens the door. Iroh enters the cell, kneels, and takes out a ladle and invites the villagers to drink. They do not move. He drinks some water himself. Sokka takes the bucket and gently helps Katara quench their grandmother’s thirst. The bucket is passed around and Katara brings the empty bucket and the ladle to Iroh. He tells her, “Katara, I have spoken with Aang. He needs you to come with me.”

Iroh takes Katara into his cabin. On the bed, Zuko lies suffering, his stomach wrapped in bandages from Zhao’s fireball. Iroh asks Katara to heal him. Katara doesn’t want to, Zuko put shackles on her and he is after Aang. Iroh understands why she wouldn’t want to. Zuko attacked her, he’s an angry young man, he’s fire nation, but he’s the only good thing in Iroh’s life. Maybe she can see past the anger and the pain and see that he has suffered at the hands of the fire nation, too. Katara eyes the scar on Zuko’s face.

Reluctantly, Katara dips her hand in a bucket by the bedside. Water clings to her hands and she brings them to Zuko’s bandages. The water glows for a few moments and Zuko is soothed. Katara asks to be taken back to the cell. Iroh sneaks Katara through the ship. He takes her back into the prison hold and in with the rest of the villagers. As he locks them in, Sokka asks him about Yue. Iroh tells him, she is with Zhao.

In Zuko’s former quarters, Zhao sits beneath a rack of twin swords, eating a feast alone. Yue is escorted in. She has been bathed and dressed in her gown from the night she left the north. She is seated in front of Zhao. He invites her to eat. He tells her about the captain who found the dress of the northern water tribe princess on a water tribe boat headed for the south pole. Yue asks what Zhao wants. Zhao wants peace, a permanent peace with the water nation. The southerners have wasted their land, like the earthbending savages and the airbenders before them. The north will be safe, it’s water, the fire nation doesn’t want water. The southerners can move to the north. Yue doesn’t understand. Zhao tells her, he’s going to help her open the moon gate. Isn’t that what she wants? Yue asks about the avatar. Zhao tells her she can either leave here and return home with her people or join him in prison. Yue wants to know where her people are. Zhao will take her there.

The prison hold door is flung open. Zhao leads Yue to the southern people. She sees them locked in a crowded cell. She announces that they will all be taken to the North Pole as her new subjects. Zhao will allow them to open the moon gate to let the water tribe members through to their sister tribe. However, the southerners will never return to the south. This news is upsetting, the south is their home. Yue assures them, this is their only option. Zhao tells the Princess its time for her to return, Yue asks to stay. Zhao locks her up in with the rest of the tribe. A soldier enters the hold and tells Zhao they have the beast.

On the deck of the ship, fire nation soldiers struggle to restrain Appa with ropes. Zhao appears. Appa wails and struggles harder. Zhao delights in his fear and what a fine present Appa will be for his bride to be. They take Appa below deck and set sail. Momo watches from the walls of the fort. He glides down and reaches the battleship and crawls through a vent in the side of the ship. He hears familiar voices, Sokka and Yue huddled close. Sokka asks her what the north is like. Yue tells him that it’s different. She has responsibilities, she’s betrothed. Sokka doesn’t understand she’s to be married.

Yue asks if she can do something she’s wanted to do since she first saw Sokka. He nods and she kisses him. She curls into his little spoon as he holds her. Momo gags and continues through the vents.

Momo passes by Iroh and Zuko in his cabin. Zuko is feeling much better after being healed. Iroh tells Zuko that Zhao captured the bison and maybe they can use him to gain the Avatar’s trust. Zuko bets that if the Avatar escapes under Zhao’s command, it will be a huge blow to his plans. There is a knock at the door. Zuko hides in the closet. Iroh answers, it is Zhao. Zhao wants Iroh to know that he grieves for the prince and they will want to get word to the fire lord, but first, Iroh is invited to the north pole, as Zhao’s advisor. Iroh asks if Zhao meant the south pole and Zhao smiles and leaves. Zuko peeks out of the closet as Iroh shuts the door.

Momo continues on through the vents. Finally, he finds Aang’s cell. Aang is delighted to see Momo. Momo gnaws at the shackles at Aang’s feet, to no avail. He curls up around Aang’s neck, giving him comfort deep in the bowels of the battleship.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/outdoors/a19228/ice-breakers-coast-guard-great-lakes/

Late day, over the icy seas, icebreaker ships take the battleship as far south as they can. The firebenders load sleds and snowmobiles with their prisoners for the south pole. Katara is lead out, the only prisoner in full shackles and even a muzzle. Iroh walks down the gangplank after the last of the prisoners. He passes a soldier, there is a familiar scar beneath the helm. The two nod to each other and Iroh joins Zhao on his sled. The fire nation troops take off, roaring into the distance.

On the ship, a soldier stands guard outside of Zuko’s former room. There is a clanging at the end of the hallway. The soldier investigates and is incapacitated by a masked man. The man enters Zuko’s old quarters and stares at the twin swords on the mantle. The door is left ajar and the swords above the mantle are gone.

Down in the prison hold, four guards play a game in front of Appa’s cell. One of them asks why they need so many men to guard this beast. Another guard tells him, that he’s a gift for Princess Azula from Zhao just as Aang will be a gift to the fire lord. There is a bang down the hall. The guards all jump at the noise.

The helmet of a Fire Nation soldier rolls down the hallway toward them. When one guard investigates alone, the other three suddenly see a flame erupt from the hallway and hear the muffled sounds of combat and of chains being strung up. When two more guards follow after him, they find their companion strung up with his hands to the ceiling. The masked man, clinging to the ceiling, wraps a chain around a hand of each guard and drops down, simultaneously pulling the guards up. The last guard standing in front of Appa’s cell, having heard the scuffle, takes his horn to sound the alarm, though before he could blow the instrument, it is knocked out of his hands by a well-aimed knife. Noticing a figure running toward him, he firebends, though the masked man extinguishes the fire by throwing water and proceeds to sweep the legs from underneath the guard with the bucket. *

Appa groans in interest as the masked man offers him some hay.

Inside his cell, Aang hears a commotion and eyes the door with apprehension. Momo hisses at the door as the lock is being turned. Aang gasps as a masked figure enters with dual broadswords. Momo attacks the figure and is easily subdued when the figure reveals Appa in the hallway. The man unlocks Aang’s chains and retreats to Appa without saying a word. Aang asks him who he is, what is going on, and wonders if the man is there to rescue him. The figure does not respond, and they are interrupted by the sound of the alarm. He signals for the Avatar to follow him. *

Aang, Momo, and the masked figure ride Appa through the halls of the ship. They burst through the door to the deck and are surrounded by soldiers. The masked man draws his swords but Aang yells, “yip-yip,” and they take to the sky. Firebenders all around them shoot projectiles the sky bison dodges or are deflected by the swords. The soldiers’ last hope is artillery that they point at the escapees. FIRE! A rocket heads directly towards the bison. The masked figure taps Aang on the shoulder, but Aang is concentrating. The figure shakes him. Aang sees the rocket but doesn’t know what it is. The figure unsheathes his swords and throws them at the rocket causing it to explode and sending the riders tumbling through the sky in the resulting shockwave. The firebenders below argue about who’s idea it was to shoot the rocket. Gaining his senses after the blast, Aang whirlwinds himself onto Appa’s back. They dive and catch the masked man in Aang’s arms. Momo lands on Aang’s shoulders as the mask falls off the man, revealing him to be an unconscious prince Zuko.

At the south pole, the ruins of the former southern capital are jagged and jut harshly from the surrounding icy waste. Zhao investigates the moon scroll as firebenders race to cut blocks of ice. They stack ice block onto ice block to rebuild the portal according to the scroll. When it is finished, it looks like a tunnel that leads into the side of a wall.

Aang lands Appa on the icy terrain. The tracks of snowmobiles run deep and are easy to follow, but that’s not his issue. Zuko lies motionless on the ground. Aang’s gaze follows the tracks into the distance, then returns to the unconscious Zuko. He can’t just leave him here.

At the south pole, Zhao watches the sun set. He orders Princess Yue to open the moon gate. She can’t. Only a waterbender can. All eyes turn towards Katara. They unshackle and unmuzzle her.

Katara approaches the rebuilt portal. It looks rough and raw in the twilight. She waves her hands over the ice. No change. She does again, but nothing happens. Zhao’s face darkens. He barks an order. The water tribe villagers are pushed to their knees as firebender soldiers brandish flames at them. She tries again and again to use her powers on the portal, but still, it does not respond.

Katara cowers. Zhao approaches her, his fury palpable. He suggests she try again. She doesn’t know if she can open the portal. He sneers that he hopes, for her family’s sake, that she is wrong. He snaps his fingers twice and Grangran is dragged forward. Zhao commands her to open the gate, and though Katara tries, she still can’t do it. Zhao scowls. He looks over at the villagers and spies Sokka. He orders Grangran returned to the others and Sokka to be dragged forward next. Katara begs Zhao. He orders her to open the gate. Sokka tells her that it’s okay, and that he loves her. Grangran yells that she believes in Katara. Yue joins them. The whole village shouts encouragements. The sun disappears over the horizon. The light of the moon is the only light in the sky. Katara closes her eyes and waves her hands once again. Nothing happens. Zhao makes a fireball in his fist and approaches Sokka.

A villager shouts and Zhao turns. A soft light creeps over each ice block until the entire arch is shining. The shining abruptly stops and the blocks have fused together. Zhao investigates.

In the darkness of the tunnel, one can see the moon, hanging in blackness, illuminating a path to a distant archway. Zhao laughs, an evil laugh. Yue stands and bids the southerners to follow her to the north, but Zhao stops them. Elite firebenders take hold of Yue, while others put Katara back into shackles and muzzle and lump her in with the villagers. Yue spits at Zhao for turning against his word. Zhao takes her personally into custody and leaves the rest of the water tribe with the elite guard as he and a small team, including Iroh, lead Yue through the portal.

As they walk the moon’s path, Admiral Zhao sinisterly tells General Iroh that they are in the process of writing history, as they will be destroying the last of the Water Tribe civilization. Yue is aghast at Zhao’s machinations, and Zhao has her gagged. Iroh warns Zhao that history is not always kind to its subjects, Zhao condescendingly assures him that this will not be like Iroh's legendary failure at Ba Sing Se; Iroh ominously tells Zhao he hopes not, for Zhao's sake. The firebenders and Yue reach the end of the path and find themselves in the throne room of the northern water tribe. *

Iroh confirms their location and inquires if it is wise to attack during the full moon, as waterbenders draw strength from the moon. Zhao states that he is aware of the problem, and that he is working on a solution. As he reveals a secret door behind the throne, Zhao explains that years earlier, while serving as a young officer in the Earth Kingdom, he stumbled on the secret of the Moon and Ocean Spirit's mortal forms in an underground library. When he declares it is his destiny to kill the moon spirit, Iroh angrily informs him that the spirits are not to be trifled with. Condescendingly, Zhao tells Iroh he has heard tales of his journey into the Spirit World and assures him that the Moon and Ocean Spirits, having made the decision to give up their immortality to be part of the human world, will face the consequences of that decision. *

They descend down the passageway behind the throne to the spirit oasis: a small bamboo forested pool in a glacial atrium. A low voice is heard up ahead. Zhao puts his fingers to his lips and the firebenders sneak in the shadows. Chief Arnook, Yue’s father, prays to the moon for his daughter and his people. The light of the full moon shines brightly above. When he finishes, he asks an older man, Master Pakku, to escort him back. Zhao reveals himself and his prisoner, Princess Yue. Pakku squares up but Arnook orders him to stand down.

Zhao commends the chief for his wisdom and releases Yue to him. Arnook ungags her and Yue tells him that Zhao means to destroy the water tribe by killing the moon spirit. Arnook and Pakku share a look.

Arnook is incredulous that Zhao could kill the moon, whose bed is the sky and the horizon, but Zhao assures him confidently, that the spirits are close, closer than he thinks. He gestures to the pool, two koi fish swim around each other. Yue is in disbelief that Zhao thinks the fish are the spirits, but Arnook and Pakku are silent with secret knowledge.

Meanwhile, at the south pole, Katara breaths through her muzzle, now hoary with frost. A firebender yelps and points at the sky, it’s Aang riding Appa. The firebenders form a defensive perimeter. Katara takes her chance, she ices the locks to the point that they break and she frees herself from her bonds. She begins taking out firebenders as Aang does the same. The firebenders run to their snowmobiles and sleds and retreat. Katara throws off the muzzle and hugs Aang as Sokka inspects the gate. He runs through it, after Yue. The rest of the southerners follow with trepidation. In the palace, Sokka begins to call out. He sees the door ajar behind the throne. Sokka finds it out of place and passes through it. Katara and Aang ensure all the remaining southerners go through the portal. Aang shows her Zuko on Appa and they decide to leave him in the south.

Suddenly, as if he had been conscious for a while, Zuko makes his move and attacks. Katara trounces him. She freezes him in a block of ice and she and Aang and Momo try to pull Appa through the moon portal. Appa resists; after being cooped up in the ship, he is not interested in going through a small door again.

Sokka sneaks down the path to the spirit oasis. Zhao arrogantly applauds his own efforts to fulfill his "destiny", speculating as to which names by which future generations will call him. From the shadows, Sokka makes eye contact with Yue. He retreats to get help.

A water tribe scout on an ice tower watches the fire navy ship’s blockade. It’s nothing unusual.

Katara and Aang desperately pull Appa with a rope onto the moon path. Zuko the ice block begins to steam.

Zhao takes a burlap sack and charges into the water. After a moment, he rises with the fish in the bag. As he hoists it over his head in triumph, the full moon above transforms, turning from white to blood-red. *

The scout sees the red moon. His waterbender comrade in arms reacts: he can no longer waterbend.

On the moon path, the moon and path are red in the blackness. Katara feels weak. She collapses. Aang releases Appa’s rope and helps her up. Appa pulls back into the open air on the south side. Aang hobbles Katara over to the north side and lays her down in the throne room. He tells Momo to watch over her, he has to go back for Appa. The path beneath him cracks and Katara tells him to hurry. Aang runs through the gate to the other side. Before he can make it to the south, a shadow appears in the doorway and fireblasts him back. Prince Zuko who corners Aang in the disintegrating moon path.

Yue begs Zhao to release the moon spirit. The chief holds her and comforts her. Iroh pleads with Zhao to consider his actions: they will bring harm to all, not just those in the Water Tribe. Reinforcing the point, Iroh promises Zhao, "Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash on you ten-fold." Zhao confirms what he knew all along, that Iroh is a traitor. To save the moon spirit, Arnook offers Zhao the unconditional surrender of the northern water tribe.

Water tribe warriors swarm into the throne room and surround the villagers coming through the portal. Sokka appears in the door behind the throne and bids them to follow him. The arch of the moon gate begins to crack and Katara yells for Aang. Zuko’s firebending keeps Aang on the pathway guarding the south door as it splinters here and there.

Zhao confirms with Arnook, that he has his unconditional surrender and releases the fish back into the water. The moon turns white. Everyone, the water tribe scouts, fire navy sailors, Sokka, Katara, Aang, Iroh, and even Zuko is relieved. The floor beneath Aang and Zuko solidifies again and Zuko takes a defensive stance.

Zhao watches the fish swim. Something dark and unsatisfied crosses his mind. Without a hesitation, he fire blasts the white fish.

Iroh watches the fire bolt hit the moon spirit in horror.

On the moon path, the full moon above Aang goes out like a light. The path beneath Aang and Zuko disappears and Aang falls into darkness. Zuko jumps to the southern portal and pulls himself through as the pathway vanishes behind him leaving an empty black tunnel.

Katara yells for Aang, and approaches the portal, but the portal in the north now ends in an icy wall. Momo scratches desperately at the wall.

The scout blinks in the darkness. He is at a loss. One by one, on the horizon, the fire navy blockade lights their trebuchets. They fling fiery projectiles in waves. The scout blows his horn.

Appa huffs at the gate. Zuko tries again and again to jump through the threshold, but without the moon, the gate is shut. Zuko lights the sky up with his fire blasts.

Iroh bellows and lunges on Zhao. The elite squad do their best to protect Zhao but are subdued by Iroh’s fury. Zhao realizes he might be in trouble and flees up the ice wall, his fingers sinking like molten rods into the ice to climb his way out through the opening above. Iroh falls to his knees and mourns the spirit with the chief and Pakku and Yue. Sokka returns with warriors and villagers. The first round of trebuchet projectiles hit the palace and bits of icy debris fall from the ceiling. Grangran pulls Katara wailing for Aang to the safety of the path to the spirit oasis and down to join the others. The northern water tribe capital is in chaos. The dead white fish is prodded by the living black fish.

Aang floats in darkness thick as water. A giant black koi fish finds him and swallows him.

Katara clutches Momo as a ripple in the water breaks the stillness of the spirit oasis. Aang rises out of the water in the avatar state.

Katara is filled with joy, but Aang does not respond. He rises into the sky. Ice and snow from the land and sky begin to swirl around him and envelope him the form of a giant snow-white koi fish. The fish swims through the air out over the bay and dives into the water between fire navy ships. They are hit with a minor wave, but the sailors braced themselves. The snow fish becomes slush and the fish shape decompresses, filling the seas. Then the shape recollects and rises pulling all the water with it. The ships try to flee but are caught up in the gargantuan shape. The rocky bay beneath is revealed as some ships are beached on the seafloor. The water pillar takes a vaguely humanoid fish shape.

It collapses, and the navy ships are tsunamied away.

Back at the spirit oasis, Iroh notices, with astonishment, that Yue has been touched by the Moon Spirit, and that as a result, some of its life force is within her; Yue affirms the conjecture, then decides that she should try to restore the spirit to life by giving hers to it. Her father, upset by this idea, protests, but she is unmoved by him. Sokka takes her hands into his own and assures her there has to be another way. She calmly replies, "I have to try," and places her hands on the dead fish. *

The fish glows as Yue’s spirit leaves her body, she closes her eyes, exhales one last time, and collapses into Sokka's arms, dead. *

Moments later, Yue's body evaporates, and the fish, suddenly filled with life, swims into the oasis, looking for its partner. Floating, Yue appears above the water as a spirit, clothed in a flowing white dress. She tells Sokka that she will always be with him, kissing him one last time before disappearing; as she vanishes, the moon reappears in the sky, restoring the waterbenders' abilities. *

On the walls of the palace, Zhao sees the moon’s return and screams his frustration.

Aang fused with the Ocean spirit, in the meantime, has laid waste to the Fire Nation's navy but ceases as the moon reappears. The Ocean Spirit acknowledges the moon's restoration and, ending its violent vendetta, places Aang atop the outer wall of the city as it melts into the ocean water. *

Zhao finds a hole in the ceiling of the palace as jumps down. He has no choice but to escape through the moon portal. Except a figure blocks his way, Prince Zuko. They begin to fight. Iroh returns to the throne room and catches their duel. As Zhao and Zuko weave in and out of moonbeams let in by breaks in the ceiling. The beams seem to bend and sway as if attracted to Zhao. They wrap around him like a web of fine hair and he is stuck. Tentacles of light pull him into the air. Zuko, forgetting the duel, tries to help Zhao, reaching out a hand to him, but Zhao stubbornly refuses to take it, and he is pulled through the hole in the roof, where he vanishes in the light of the moon. Iroh puts his arm around Zuko and leads the teen back through the moon portal to the south.

Zuko is already planning, they will camp in the south and wait for the Avatar to return for his bison. Iroh looks at him sadly as Zuko begins to make camp with Appa tied up nearby. With a decisive move, Iroh unleashes a fireball that destroys the moon portal in the south. Zuko is speechless as Iroh retrieves Appa and mounts him and pulls Zuko aboard. Zuko says “uh… yip-yip” and the three lift off.

Back in the north, a drained Aang makes his way to the throne room as the rest return as well. Aang looks distraught at the closed portal’s dead end and whispers Appa’s name. The water tribe surrounds and embraces him as a group, with Katara, Sokka, Grangran, Arnook and Pakku in the center. The fire navy ships retreat out of the north and the moon glows high in the sky.

Post credit scene

In the Fire Nation, Fire Lord Ozai imparts the knowledge of Iroh's treasonous behavior and Zuko's failure to his daughter, Azula, and entrusts her with a special task as she looks up at him, a smile on her face. *

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