#but he's actively sabotaged by his own creators

[sparrowlucero]

Even if a creator is a bad person it's still okay to like their work. People need to mind their own business.

Honestly it's not really that sort of situation. I'll actively defend Steven Moffat here.

There was a huge hate movement for him back in the early 2010s - which, in retrospect, formed largely because he was running 2 of the superwholock shows at once, one of which went through extremely long hiatuses* and the other of which was functionally an adaptation of an already well regarded show**, making him subject to a sort of double ire in the eyes of a lot of fandom people. Notably, his co-showrunner, Mark Gatiss, is rarely mentioned and much of his work is still attributed to Moffat (and yes, this includes that Hbomberguy video. Several of "Steven Moffat's bad writing choices" were not actually written by him, they were Gatiss.)

People caricatured the dude into a sort of malicious, arrogant figure who hated women and was deliberately mismanaging these shows to spite fans, to the point where people who never watched them believe this via cultural osmosis. It became very common to take quotes from him out of context to make them look bad***, to cite him as an example of a showrunner who hated his fans, someone who sabotaged his own work just to get at said fans, someone who was too arrogant to take criticism, despite all of this being basically a collective "headcanon" about the guy formed on tumblr. Some if it got especially terrible, like lying about sexual assault (I don't mean people accused him of sexual assault and I think they're making it up, I mean people would say things like "many of his actresses have accused him of sexual assault on set" when no such accusations exist in the first place. This gets passed around en masse and is, in my opinion, absolutely rancid.)

On top of that a ton of the criticism directed at the shows themselves is, personally, just terrible media criticism. So much of it came from assuming a very hostile intent from the writer and just refusing to engage with the text at all past that.

Like some really common threads you see with critique of this writer's work, especially in regards to Doctor Who since that's the one I'm most familiar with:

A general belief that his lead characters were meant to be ever perfect self inserts, and so therefore when they act shitty or arrogant or flawed in any way, that's both reflective of the author and something the show wants you to view as positive or aspirational.

An overarching thesis that his characters are "too important" in the narrative due to the writer's arrogance and self obsession (even though this is a very deliberate theme that's stated several times)

A lot of focus on the writer personally "attacking" the fans or making choices primarily out of spite.

A tendency to treat the show being different to what it's adapting as inherently bad and hostile towards the original.

Just generally very little consideration and engagement with the themes, intent, etc. of the shows

This one's a little more nebulous and doesn't apply to all critique but a lot of it, especially recently, is clearly by people who haven't seen the show in like 10 years and their opinion is largely formed secondhand through like, "discourse nostalgia". Which. you know. bad.

I think these are just weird and nonsensical ways to engage with a work of fiction. I also think it's really sad to see the show boiled down to this because that era of who is, in my opinion, very thematically rich and unique among similar shows, and I'm disappointed that it's often dismissed in such a paltry way.

This isn't to say people aren't allowed to critique Steven Moffat or anything, but the context in which he basically became The Devil™ to a large portion of fandom and is still remembered in a poor light is very tied to this perfect storm of fan culture and I just don't agree with a ton of it.

* I'm sure most people have seen the way long running shows and hiatuses will cause people to fall out with a show, with some former fans turning around and joining a sort of "anti fandom" for it while it's still airing. That happened with both these shows. ** Doctor Who will change it's entire writing staff, crew, and cast every few years, and with that comes a change in style, tone, theme - the old show basically ends and is replaced by a new show under the same title. As Steven Moffat's era was the first of these handovers for the majority of audiences, you can imagine this wasn't a well loved move for many fans. *** I know for a fact most people have not sought out the sources for a lot of these quotes to check that they read the same in context because 1) most of them were deleted years ago and are very difficult to find now and 2) many of them do actually make sense in the context of their respective interviews

[charmac]

That thing with Rob's (unfunny) jokes was also what icked me when he was the only one that didn't say that Macdennis is the greatest will-they-won't-they…

I get that, like he never wants to brag so he’s hot to throw Sunny under the bus in any kind of ‘achievement’ it can (and should) claim.

A lot of the time when he talks about Sunny personally, it’s like he doesn’t factor in or actively consider that it’s way beyond just him now and what it’s become is the effort and work and talent of so many people. Like obviously he knows that, I’m not saying he doesn’t know that, but that when he talks or is asked about Sunny on his own, he seems to want to completely minimise it or use this kind of self-deprecation humour to dismiss what it is, and that comes off so poorly when he’s the creator saying these things.

It’s a silly thing for RCGKD+ to throw the classic, “Oh yeah this show has gone on wayyyy too long,” when they’re on a red carpet being asked about 16/17 Seasons and clearly having fun, it’s another thing for the sole-credited creator to throw Sunny out there as “been over for five or six years,” completely unprompted while talking semi-seriously about being able to recognise when you’re failing. I really wish I had more faith that Rob just doesn’t realise the weight of his words in instances like this.

I will say though, on the WTWT, the only thing about his answer is that he put them in the same category (or like “just below”) Ross and Rachel, which sticks out to me due to the fact that he’s openly talked about taking inspiration from Friends for Sunny.

When comparing Macdennis with greatness, his mind jumps to a couple who constantly self-sabotaged their relationship with each other, and sabotaged their relationships with anyone else because of each other, from a show he initially took inspiration from…a couple who are literal last-episode endgame (whether it completely toxic or not beside the point, showing they can’t escape each other)

I will chew on that like the head cow always grazing… if only he could also play along and say, fuck yeah i’m writing that and it’s GOOD, goddamnit.

[heavenlyhoundoom]

I have an idea for a sun and moon show fnaf fan game!

The game is currently called Sun and Moon horrors. The plot is that the Sun and Moon show became so popular that the characters got their own establishments separate from Freddy's(kind of like a sister company) called Sun and Moon's play place, featuring Sun, Moon, Earth, Lunar(current design), Eclipse, and Bloodmoon(old design). But since the real characters were either actual villains or already established characters at Freddy's. The higher ups in Fazbear Entertainment made replicas of them that are more like real animatronics with preset programming and actions and no self awareness. Unfortunately, a massive hater of the show hacks them and reprogram them to attack people in hopes to sabotage the business. You are a security guard watching over the animatronics to make sure they don't escape before their programming can be fixed.

Night 1: Sun and Moon are the only ones active on this night, they're the Bonnie and Chica of this game with Sun appearing in the left vent and Moon appearing in the right vent, you just need to press the yellow button next to the corresponding vent to shock them and make them leave.

Night 2: Earth is now active, she acts the same as Sun and Moon, but can appear in both vents and is a bit quicker to kill you.

Night 3: Bloodmoon and Lunar are now active, Bloodmoon will work his way to your office, when he is in the hallway in front of your office, you must lure him away with a romote controlled rat. Lunar is the Balloon boy of the game, if you don't shock whatever vents he's in, he will take your rat and leave you vulnerable to Bloodmoon.

Night 4: The final character, Eclipse is now active. You need to keep him away from your office by using audio lures on your camera.(he basically works like Springtrap in fnaf 3)

Night 5 is just a harder night 4.

Night 6 is a 6/20 mode that will put your skills and reaction time to the test.

(Only one animatronic can be in a vent at a time.)

Extras include a custom night, a list of achievements you can unlock, an alternate skin for each character that you can receive if you unlock the achievement connected to the corresponding character, secret characters with their own new game mechanics that are randomly unlocked during the custom nights by The Creator(the Dee Dee of the game), and more.

Also, Bloodmoon's jumpscare will be based on Rowen's jumpscare from Playtime with Percy.

[sometimesiwritethings]

Lost in Adaptation | Arisu's Lack of Ambition

when i first found Alice in Borderland (Aib) on Netflix, the second season hadn't even officially been announced yet. so after binge watching the first season, i stayed up the whole night to binge read all 65 chapters of the manga online. then i forced my roommate to rewatch the first season with me the next day

digesting the series this way gave me a lot of insight to how the live action adaptation differs from the original manga. in a lot of ways, i consider the adaptation to be the better version - and i don't recommend fans of the live action read the manga for... various reasons i'll get into in another post down the line

but... the original manga contains a lot of extra insight into the characters that i believe is crucial to fully appreciating the AiB series as a whole. for that reason, i'm staring this Lost in Adaptation mini series to explore all the differences in the live action for those who haven't, can't, or simply don't want to read the manga. and what better place to start than with the titular character: Arisu

in the real world, Arisu is a slacker with zero motivation or ambition outside of playing video games. he's a disappointment to his father and is made to look even worse when compared to his successful younger brother, Hajime. the Netflix adaptation doesn't really explore why Arisu behaves this way, but the manga gives plenty of insight towards the thought processes and real world lives of the characters

Arisu's mother passed away at an early age, leaving his father to raise two young boys on his own. instead of rising to the challenge, Arisu's father becomes bitter and takes his grief out on his sons

while Arisu's father comes off as cold and distant in the Netflix series, he straight up verbally and emotionally abuses Arisu for years. nothing Arisu does is ever good enough for his father. there's even an instance where his father actively sabotages Arisu's musical pursuits when it distracts too much from his studies

side note - i also think Arisu's brief musical background is part of why he believed he and Kyūma could have been best friends if they'd met in the real world

this level of childhood abuse is more than enough to explain Arisu's lack of ambition in life, but it goes deeper. Arisu's specialty in the Borderlands is as a Hearts player. he understands how social pressure and emotions can be used to manipulate others, and he learned this from how he was pitted against his brother, Hajime

at some point, Arisu decided that the only way to win his father's game was to not participate at all. because even if Arisu did manage to gain his father's approval, it'd negatively impact Hajime and wouldn't feel much like a victory at all. so Arisu slips into the role of a slacker and plays his part perfectly

this also explains why Arisu has so much animosity towards the game creators (especially Mira, the Queen of Hearts), and why he'd try to drop out of the Seven of Hearts game to save his friends

thankfully, Arisu manages to take his trauma and use it to his advantage in Borderland. one of Arisu's biggest strengths as a player is that he always manages to turn his weakness into a strength

thanks so much for reading! this is my first AiB related post, but please follow me to get updated when the next post drops, or feel free to check out my masterlist if you're interested in reading more of my content. and before you go, please vote let me know which installment of Lost in Adaptation you'd like to read next~

[outpost-lw]

Lortober: Oct. 21st

Prompt: Faith Wordcount: 442

--------------------

Frodr had happily left almost all practices that his family had instilled in and demanded from him behind.

Almost.

Two things he kept, because refused to be like them and let his own pride sabotage him.

As such, he reluctantly kept the etiquette. Not for constant usage the way they would have wanted him to, but rather because it was a useful tool that he could use in Gangleri’s favour.

He also kept the faith they’d taught him, because it was the one thing that had truly been his in that suffocating place.

They had taught him of the Creators and of Chaos, of the Spiritwolves and of Orrin in particular mainly in an effort to keep up appearances.

They were an old warrior pack, they had upheld faith in Orrin for generations; His was the name they used to justify their perceived superiority and the name they called upon to support their greed.

As such, it was unacceptable for their pups to be anything less than devout.

Thus, Frodr had grown up knowing all the prayers, had grown up with tutors saying one thing but meaning another, had grown up hearing his parents and the warriors of the pack use Orrin’s name when and how it suited them.

However, he had also grown up surrounded by all the old tales, and practising his faith had always been deemed a suitable (quiet, correct) enough activity that he’d been left in peace during it. His faith began as a simple means to an end – nothing but a way to create some breathing room for himself – but as time went by he got to read the old tales by himself instead of having them narrated to him through the warped lens of others’ opinions.

He read the tales, and upon realising that they were so very different from how others had made them seem, he started drawing comfort from them. Traditions and rituals that had previously been frustrating exercises in rote memorisation and etiquette started to gain meaning, started to grant structure and stability in a life that had previously felt like nothing but a sandcastle – only intact by grace of the fact that the tides of his family’s expectations had not yet risen high enough to sweep it away.

In a way, Orrin became more of a father to him than the one whose blood ran in his veins. His blood-father only wanted a tool. Orrin wanted… nothing. Orrin was a distant entity, but He was safe and He granted Frodr the tools he needed to endure.

In return, Frodr was more than happy to give the Spiritwolf his steady and stubborn faith.

[magioftheseas]

Persona 5 protag for the bingo?

Akiren truly is the most tragic fucking character. Imagine having all this style, all this potential to be as complex and as interesting as Tatsuya Suou My Beloved, all this Bisexuality, fucking wasted on dipshit writers deadset on having an especially garbage blank slate cishet self-insert with no actual personality of his own. (And this was the intent actually STATED OPENLY by the staff because god forbid we be able to pretend otherwise in this fucked society.)

It's so sad. And having the protag be a blank slate self-insert for a game with a plot like P5's is DOA to begin with!

Any personality or depth you can glean from Akiren is more often than not by accident if not actively in SPITE of the writing choices, but damn if this nasty crime boy doesn't make for a fascinating thought experiment.

[miraculous-clowncar]

but if marinette and adrien were to get together, with these flaws, don't you think it would be toxic?

(sorry for the late response I really wanted to put some thought into this)

Yes, of course it would be toxic. That's why they aren't together yet. This season is the angst season because it's diving into the psyches of the characters. The characters are being put in situations that reveal the deepest parts of themselves, including their flaws, to the audience. The characters have to be able to overcome these challenges before the overarching plot can move on.

Character development gives us a reason to become invested in a character. That's why most of us started watching miraculous in the first place. It wasn't because lovesquare was together, but because there was potential for them to get together. The whole appeal of the show is the process that eventually brings them together.

Truth and Lies clearly demonstrated why it's not a good idea for Marinette or Adrien to be in a relationship right now (if you want my deep-dive into this, you can read it here). Marinette needs to confront her self-sabotaging behaviour and work through her trust issues (which, honestly, are totally valid as the safety of others depend on it) so that she can open up to others, while Adrien needs to let go of his fantasy of Ladybug and make some space to unpack all of the shit going on in his life. He needs to learn how to get a grip on his life and make it his own. This includes asserting himself to his father; as made clear in Chat Blanc, Gabriel wouldn't approve of Adrien being in a relationship with Marinette because he would find it harmful to his brand. That's basically what led to Chat Blanc in the first place, which Marinette is actively trying to prevent.

With the way things stand right now, it doesn't make narrative sense for Adrinette to get together anyway. For endgame Adrinette to be well-executed, there needs to be a proper buildup to it. That's why the creators are milking the delay to the identity reveals. There needs to be a series of challenges and waiting that will eventually make the audience's investment in the show worth it. When Adrinette finally ends up together, we want it to be worth all of the heartache, conflict, and bs. Otherwise, one of the most anticipated canon ships of the entire show will fall flat and the audience will be left unsatisfied.

[norsecoyote]

There's this one stupid internet argument I keep getting into even though I know I shouldn't.

I follow/participate in a forum thread about webcomics, which is a mixture of genuine appreciation for good ones and communal hate-reading of the really bad ones. One such Bad One is the inexplicably but wildly popular Lore Olympus.

Lore Olympus is a terrible fucking comic for so many reasons, all of which originate in the creator's stunning lack of talent for anything beyond creating a vaguely compelling aesthetic. Artistically, the characters are all literally indistinguishable from one another except that each one is colored different (by which I mean, their entire figure is colored, skin, hair, clothes, everything). All the women have identical figures and faces (although some have pointy ears). There are a whopping two types of men's bodies, "buff" and "willowy," but they all have the same noses. Oh, and all of these body shapes change wildly from panel to panel, with zero sense of proportion or scale between characters.

The writing is where the real deep problems start, though. The comic bills itself as a retelling of the myth of Hades and Persephone except this time Persephone has Agency™, which tbf is a great concept. The problem is that the author repeatedly goes miles out of her goddamn way to rob her of any possible agency in her situation. She is literally constantly being manipulated by the other gods, pushed into uncomfortable situations, entire jobs, relationships, etc. with zero chance to choose for herself. Even beyond the core plot details, though, her internal characterization is childish verging on infantilizing; we are constantly reminded how out-of-her-depth and naive she is about the big bad adult world of Mount Olympus.

Which is a segue into the really awful shit that this comic pulls, as it happens. See, in this weird-ass inconsistent interpretation of the mythos (don't even attempt to make sense of the worldbuilding, seriously), Hades and all of the other Olympians are ~2,000 years old. Persephone, meanwhile, is 18. Literally 18. Also, Hera assigns her (without any of Persephone's input) to work as Hades's intern (Hades here being the CEO of "Underworld Corp").

So we're already getting into rocky waters, since the comic has somehow conspired to make the power dynamics of this relationship even more unbalanced and one-sided than the original mythos, where Persephone was physically abducted and carried off. But the real damning thing is that, having established this titillatingly taboo relationship, the author makes a special point of establishing that what attracts Hades to Persephone is: her body. I wish I were joking, but there's literally zero time spent on what he likes about her as a person, versus whole episodes on his feelings of lust. Which is still better than Captain Agency, for whom we have actually ZERO sense of what she sees in the gangly blue asshole (Hades is blue, which is the only way to tell him apart from his brothers, who are yellow and green).

So the comic sucks, and that's not even getting into the ways that every single character who suggests that maybe it's not appropriate for Hades to romantically pursue his 1,982-years-younger employee is immediately thereafter shown to be hypocritical and/or sabotaging the relationship for their own selfish ends, or the way that Persephone begins to come to terms with having been raped (in an early scene) not through any actions or reflection of her own but via Eros using his magic fuck-detecting powers(?) to realize and exclaim out loud, with other people present, that she's not a virgin anymore(??!!!!) and pressuring her into telling him the whole story. The comic sucks in both concept and execution and I kind of hate that it's apparently popular enough to get optioned for an animated series.

None of that is the stupid argument I keep getting into, though.

The stupid argument is that many posters in the thread, when asked (say, by a newcomer) why Lore Olympus is so bad, will say something like "because it's about how a really toxic type of relationship" (i.e. one with an enormous age- and power-gap) "is Good, Actually."

And mostly I can just let this slide, but every once in a while I am compelled to say, "actually, it's not bad because it wants to tell a romance about a powerful older man falling for a younger woman, it's bad because it does a really bad job of telling that story, in a way that actively glorifies the imbalance and either glosses over or actively mocks all reasonable issues with it."

Because, IMO, you shouldn't say that art is bad because of its subject matter. Just because I think relationships in real life like the one depicted in Lore Olympus are highly likely to be toxic and dangerous to the weaker/younger half doesn't, itself, mean that LO is bad for trying to make a counterargument.

But the other posters say: yes, this kind of relationship is so toxic that there's no possible way to write positively about one without being Bad.

And I suggest, just because you disagree with art or find its themes repugnant does not, in itself, make that art Bad. Maybe there are some topics that are just so taboo they should never be touched, but I dunno, the universe of human relationships is vast and varied enough that I don't think this crosses the line. I can imagine there being a romance about a couple like this that has artistic merit.

And they say: I didn't realize "45 year olds shouldn't get romantically involved with a 19 year old under any circumstances" was a hot take.

And that's when I start to get Mad On The Internet and go crying into my tumblr.

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Marvel What If’s Women Problem

Welcome back to the feminist rant!

I really didn’t intend to spend three weeks in a row writing about the Marvel animated series What If…? But I wanted to see this through.

Last week we talked about this show’s abundant use of the “fridged woman” trope. However, a show doesn’t need to kill its female characters in order to fail them.

Remember that time I made up a feminist movie test? I call it the “Want Test.” You can read the full explanation here, but here’s the summary:

This test requires that a film (or, in this case, an episode of a TV show) has at least one named female character. After watching the show, ask, “Does what the named female character want matter to the plot?” Then, score the movie based on the answer to this question.

If the answer is “Yes, what the named female character wants matters to the plot,” then give the movie a checkmark!”

If the answer is “Yes, AND this is true of multiple named female characters,” then the movie gets a check-plus. If these characters help each other get what they want, the movie gets a check-double-plus!

If the answer is “Yes, BUT her wants are an obstacle to a male character’s goal,” then the movie gets a check-minus. The woman may matter to the plot, but her importance is centered on her relationship to a male character and how much he matters to the plot. Often movies with a check-minus involve a male protagonist actively trying to stop a female character from getting what she wants; while she has an impact on the world around her, the movie isn’t rooting for the woman.

If the answer is “No, what she wants doesn’t matter,” then the movie fails the test. Give it a minus.

Okay, now let’s talk about Marvel What If. Once again, there are spoilers for the first seven episodes of this show below the cut, and some discussion of the plot points in the movies these episodes are based on.

When I compare the first seven episodes of What If to the Want Test, they each barely scrape their way to a check-minus (though after my rant last week, I’m tempted to edit my test so that a show that fridges a female character automatically fails). In summary, it does not matter what most of the named female characters want. Each episode has a single woman whose wants do affect the plot, but what she wants is always some kind of obstacle to a male character’s goal. Even when the women of What If survive the episode, the male characters’ feelings are the primary engine of the show.

As I neared the end of Episode Six, “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” I said to myself, “Well, at least Pepper and Shuri aren’t dead.” But then, in the last minute of the episode, Shuri and Pepper meet and state their intent to take down Killmonger. And I said to myself, “Okay, so why didn’t we get THAT episode?”

Sure, it’s cool to see two smart girls teaming up, but they don’t get to do anything! This episode repeatedly puts Pepper and Shuri down. Every time they express suspicion of Killmonger, someone contradicts them. What they want does not matter. They are obstacles to the men, and they are easily pushed aside, and so all they can do is stand in the background and watch while the boys run around and play war games.

If your named female characters only matter in the last scene of the show, then they don’t really matter. This episode wasn’t about the women at all. It was about the men killing each other and making each other sad.

*

I really don’t want to say much about the seventh episode, “What If… Thor Were an Only Child?”

What I will say is, “Why, why, WHY is Dr. Jane Foster more concerned about hurting the hot guy’s feelings than she is about how the hot guy is about to cause the end of the world?”

And I will also say, “Why does Captain Marvel need to be nice to Thor at the end of the episode after he spent the entire episode being a jackass to her?”

And I will end this section of the blog post by saying, “Frigga deserves so much better than any man in her family has ever given her.”

*

The second episode of this show, “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?” might be my favorite episode. Mainly because it’s the only one I genuinely liked while I was watching it. It was fun, and I was happy to hear Chadwick Boseman’s voice one more time. Overall, it’s a lovely tribute to both the actor and his character.

But, for me, liking this episode required ignoring a big problem: Nebula and Thanos’s relationship.

We don’t know exactly when in this timeline T’Challa met Thanos and convinced him to give up on the “murder half the universe” plan. But we do know that even before Thanos collected the Infinity Stones, he was roaming the universe slaughtering millions. We know he committed genocide against Gamora’s people the day he “adopted” her, and it’s safe to assume he did the same to Nebula’s. We know that he raised Gamora and Nebula to fight each other, and every time Nebula lost a fight, he replaced a part of her body with cybernetics, constantly torturing her.

What If never tells us that that Thanos did not abuse his daughters. It never tells us that he did not slaughter millions, including his daughters’ birth families. But it does tell us that Thanos is Nebula’s father. And he wouldn’t be her father if he hadn’t been roaming the universe killing people.

In this episode, we see an adult Nebula who seems to think her dad is annoying, but any feelings she might have about how genuinely terrible he is – feelings she was freely willing to admit in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies – go completely unmentioned.

Thanos and Nebula’s relationship is played for laughs, like they just need to get over their past and hug it out. That bothers me a lot. It’s like the show is saying that Nebula’s pain doesn’t matter. What matters is that Thanos is sad she doesn’t want to hang out with him.

I should also point out that in Avengers: Infinity War, Gamora gets fridged. Her feelings are unimportant to the plot; her stated desire to die before she can be used as a part of Thanos’s plot is mocked and discarded. When she is murdered, the moment of her death is all about how it would hurt Thanos to kill her. Gamora’s death also serves as motivation for Peter Quill to sabotage the other heroes’ efforts to stop Thanos.

Gamora is nowhere to be seen in this episode of What If. The women that Thanos abused really don’t matter here at all.

*

I’ve been putting off talking about this show’s pilot episode, “What If… Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?” This episode was… You know, it was fun, in a very similar way to how the Star Lord T’Challa episode was fun. I can’t lie and say I didn’t like seeing super buff Peggy Carter beat the crap out of Nazis. That was a lot of fun.

But the thing I couldn’t stop thinking while watching was, “This isn’t Peggy’s story. It’s Steve’s!”

Peggy Carter may have gotten the super serum in this reality, but Steve Rogers is still the main driving force of the plot. Peggy goes to Germany to save Steve’s best friend. She works with Steve’s allies, the Howling Commandoes, instead of finding her own. Steve’s issues and emotions are central to everything Peggy does; she may say in dialogue that she wants to end the war, but what we see is that Steve is her motivation. In fact, he’s everyone’s motivation – in the scene where Peggy, Bucky, Howard, and the Howling Commandoes decide to go take down Red Skull, they all go around the table and say that they’re doing it “for Steve.” Not because ending the war is the right thing to do, not because they care about the millions of people murdered and tortured by the Nazis – but because they care about Steve.

When I first heard about this show, I thought that Steve was going to die, and that would be why Captain Carter would exist. The interesting/ironic thing here is that the episode pokes at the idea of fridging Steve, but it doesn’t quite have the guts to go through with it. Everyone thinks that Steve died on the train, but then they find him in Red Skull’s castle, and he’s totally fine! Killing off Captain America would have been an interesting, powerful new direction to take the story. But this episode doesn’t seem interested in taking new directions. It seems more interested in showing how things would stay the same even if Steve didn’t get the serum, even if Peggy switched careers from secret agent to superhero, even if Bucky never became the Winter Soldier, even if Red Skull decided to open a portal to tentacle hell. Things just stay the same.

And I don’t get the point of presenting us with a show where there are “endless possibilities” if things are just going to stay the same. If Peggy Carter will still be a side character in Steve Roger’s story. If Hank Pym’s grief still matters more than Janet and Hope Van Dyne’s lives. If Thanos will still never be held accountable for abusing Gamora and Nebula. If Doctor Strange is still an arrogant jackass. If the only realities we see are ones where men get to act and feel, and women get to be plot devices.

The truth is that the Watcher just isn’t interested in showing us realities where women live and thrive in their own right. For all its emphasis on how different decisions can cause dramatic changes to reality, the creators of What If have no real investment in making different decisions in how they portray female characters. It’s just more of the same.

I’m done thinking about this show. Let’s talk about something else next week, okay?

Be good to yourself, be kind to each other, and you’ll hear from me again soon!

[yakumtsaki]

Ok hope you guys are sitting down, because apparently our greek house is now a towering ZIGGURAT of campus culture!!! I mean with members as illustrious as these, it was the only logical outcome:

Gen 3 has moved in, and everyone is thinking of resident King B Ti-Ning, but Ti-Ning is thinking about Frances ❤️ I might have been against this couple last gen because I wanted Ti-Ning for Jojo but honestly it feels like Ti + Fran were meant to be, they really are eternally into each other..

..as are Angel and Wulf, whose effortless happiness is seriously starting to piss me off when for all my toiling I can’t get Sophie and Shaj’s relationship points above a pathetic 10. 

Indeed, these 2 would rather socialize with literally anyone but each other, and I don’t want to sound paranoid but I’m starting to feel they’re doing it on purpose. This is our 3rd semester and Sophie is friends/best friends with EVERYONE BUT SHAJAR. I think they have interacted a total of 4 times-

-wow sorry make that 5, things are really heating up! At this rate they’ll have their first kiss by generation 7. 

Yes, yes, excellent, play catch with Wulf and Angel, it’s imperative that you develop these relationships with the most obvious spares ever. I’m legit starting to reconsider my entire gameplay style, this laissez faire bs is clearly not working.

-Well *we* don’t have any such problems, do we Donnie? 🌸

-We sure don’t, my beautiful moonflower!

-And that’s why we’ll win! People want heirs who have their crap together! Huhu! 💗

Then we can clearly count out these two, who have been getting high non-stop since they stepped into the building. 

-Do you think there’s any way we can monetize this activity, babe?

-There must be, darling, I mean if people won’t pay to see us levitate then what the hell will they pay for?

I don’t know Wulf, but clearly paying for your tuition was money well-spent.

It’s really time to shape up around here, everyone’s grades other than brainchad Sophie’s are absolutely demoralizing. 

-Well if we must waste time skilling, I insist Ti-Ning and I do it on the same mirror! 

Frances there’s another mirror right down the hallway, like literally 5 steps from you-

-It’s too far away!! Why are you always sabotaging our relationship?

-Pay that buzzkill no mind, dear, she’s just bitter because she took Sophie out of the townie pool for nothing.

We don’t know that yet! They might still get together!

See, here they are, spending some quality time! I can hear wedding bells already. 

-Shajar, I must say, if you’re as good at politics as you are at bowling, you will make an excellent Buzzfeed unpaid content creator.

-How about I throw this ball at your head, see if my aim improves?

Ugh Sophie, why are you are so cool and life-ruining?? Just do me this favor and get with Shajar, I’ll literally give you ANYTHING you want.

-Bribery might have worked with whatever idiots you previously married into this shitshow, but it won’t work with me! This drum set is pretty fun though. 

You like the drum set??? I’ll get you 50 of them!!

-Wtf would I do with 50 drum sets?

I’m just demonstrating how committed I am to your happiness should you choose to join our legacy!

-Well demonstrate it somewhere else. 

Ok Sophie, I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but you leave me no choice..

..it’s time for you to get fit so you check Shajar’s fitness turn on! She also has a fatness turn on but I felt making you fat would be out of character since as a townie you were always jogging. I honestly couldn’t believe you weren’t already fit when I brought you to college.

-It won’t work! You can’t force chemistry! 

Yea you absolutely can actually, so time to get ripped!

Speaking of chemistry, Mitch Indie passes by and hugely gets along with Shajar thanks to both of them being super into politics. If we’re gonna go with a dude that’s actually not a bad way to go, they have a lot in common, including a sim of their own gender they clearly belong with. 

Things with Mitch are going shockingly well, Shajar even LAUGHS at his joke, have we ever seen her laugh before?? But then, suddenly..

..MICKEY DOSSER shows up, and he checks both Shajar’s fatness turn on and cleanliness turn off! Well Mitch, valiant effort, but I guess if we’re going with a guy it’s gonna be Mickey, fml.

Shajar and Mickey are getting along pretty well, honestly I’m not opposed to this pairing although it is of course not ideal, but when the ideal match is being a giant pain in the ass I guess there’s not much one can do. 

-So what, I get fucking heatstroke from working out in the desert and Mickey Dosser gets laid??

Well I don’t know what to tell you Sophie, Shajar’s been obsessed with you for like 5 sim years now, at some point I’ll have to marry her off! 

-Marry her off then and see if I care! 

I will! 

-Fine!

Finer! 

-Finest!

Ok enough! I’m not making you work out anymore, do whatever you want. 

-Like I need your permission, Sophie Miguel always does whatever she wants! And if she suddenly wants to keep working out, she will!

YOU’RE DRIVING ME CRAZY

[legends-live-in-memories]

I Have Too Many Opinions. ep. 1

lmao. i got encouragement to post my opinions on fandom things and now i want to make a miniseries doing just that. so here i am. doing just that.

im putting it under the cut cuz this was 4 whole pages including the disclaimer. yes i put a disclaimer and i explain why.

Anyways, here is the first piece in what inevitably will become fandom info dump, this time on thomas astruc’s writing on miraculous ladybug. but only some of my opinions cuz we would be here all day otherwise.

So… a disclaimer before I begin… 

I do not hate Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir (yes i'm using their government name). I am quite a fan of the show actually despite its faults. I am also older than the intended audience but was obviously younger when the show first aired which is how my interest was piqued (the fact that its been 6 years and only 3 seasons says more about the show than me being a fan for that amount of time but also i never want to rush content creators cuz they're doing their best) and due to my age, there will be inherent bias in my approach of what i'm about to say as there is in EVERY opinion. The fact that it is an opinion should imply the presence of bias but most people tend to lack the critical thinking skills required to draw that conclusion ANYWAYS…

If I did hate the show I would not have this blog nor would I be even writing this because i tend to not give more than 2 seconds of thought to things i actively dislike (some of yall should give this a try) and i'm allowed to like things that are designed for an audience that i was originally a part of but grew out of. (I don't suddenly stop liking things because I'm older despite what many younger fans seem to believe about older audiences. I also don't need to be ‘allowed’ to do anything cuz i wasn't asking for permission anyways.)

This will not be character bashing, astruc bashing nor fandom bashing cuz, again, that would imply i hate any of those elements and if i did, i would not dedicate brainpower to them. Analyses and criticisms of media are fun and engaging and required if you wish to produce good enjoyable content. Now most of this should be already assumed and self-explanatory but people on the internet like to play morality roulette roll dice on purity culture and I rather have documentation that I am in fact not bullying fictional 14 year olds or a grown man. But alas, people get trigger happy whenever someone has less than 1000000% positive opinions on something they like and will throw out words they can't define (gaslight, baiting, toxic, problematic, gatekeep etc) in an attempt to defend their blind devotion, 

which is not needed, if you like something you never have to defend it, even if i don't like it. If you respond to anything I post saying you disagree with me, I will not argue with you. I won't debate back and forth and try to convince you that the things you like are wrong. Unless you are being absolutely tone deaf to what i'm saying, you wont get a negative reaction from me. So don't try to fish for a fight. Please. I got metaphorical hands for days and I'm mean, you don't want me hurting your feelings on the internet. Do yourself the favour. Difference of opinion is how we get diversification in media and is inherently a good thing. Now that that's out of the way, please don't ever let me have to say that again. I beg.

Now onto the fun stuff

I didn't know what I wanted as a first topic so my trusty internet friend @moonlitceleste suggested astruc’s writing… 

AND BOI do i got some opinions on ole tommy boi. Again I don't hate the dude. In fact, he has worked on a few shows that had defined my childhood, including but not limited to W.I.T.C.H. (all eps available on youtube for those interested, 2 seasons, general fun time all around).

So I don't think he’s scum of the earth but I do think his approach to writing mlb specifically has more misses than hits.

The first big miss is that he has no idea how to write 14 year old girls. At all. Almost every girl he has ever written feels like some terrible archetype built entirely for marketability and childish projection and pubescent self-insert (kind of). He has never been a 14 year old girl. I have. In fact when the show first aired, I WAS around the (assumed) age of the mlb characters. The behaviour he passes off as quirky or awkward or just the character’s genuine personality tend to perpetuate harmful stereotypes of teen girls found in the media and are never actually addressed as harmful. they just get swept under the rug. Marinette’s exuberant collage of teen heart throb model boi Adrien Agreste and her very painful almost fan worship she has of him (which flip flops like a paper sandal in the rain) being portrayed as a cute school girl crush uwu, Chloe being the y7 Regina George, Alya being the token best friend of colour with her ‘sassy’ personality (i want y'all to imagine me eyerolling so hard i bust a vessel in my eye), Kagami being the very damaging Perfect Asian Child stereotype. And before y'all get on your dusty soap box and defend going on about “BUT IT'S FOR CHILDREN”,,,, know this.

 i don’t give a solid fuck. 

Not one. 

Children arent stupid. Children are always going to remember the richy bitchy blonde who bullies the art kid, and the big kid, and the shy kid, and the non white kids, and was only nice to her equally rich white friend who she probably had a crush on or was only ever civil to her equally white lapdog. They're going to remember the half asian girl who was never allowed to actually be asian or the only black girl who existed solely as a soundboard for enabling bad habits or chastising the main character for the same habits she enables in the first place (boi aint THAT a topic for later). Like do i really need to explain that alya chastising marinette for taking max’s spot in gamer just to play with adrien rings absolutely hollow when she actively encourages her to sabotage the contest she’s in just so Kagami doesn't win?? Like I don't have to explain that right?? Again kids arent stupid and its quite something that Mari gets chastised for proving herself the best video game player regardless of her intentions just cuz it comes at the expense of max’s feelings/ego but is actively encouraged to sabotage not only kagami but herself by extension cuz kagami is ‘competition.’ Adrien is not a trophy to be won. And no I don't expect 14 yrs old to be perfect and to always make good decisions but these decisions are never addressed as being bad decisions. they get swept under the rug cuz those decisions were necessary for the ‘plot’ but astruc can barely keep characterization consistent and his characters suffer for it and it's the same children you preach are watching it that suffer as well. Cuz guess what? I KNOW 14 yr olds aren't like that cuz i've been there done that (this is the last time i'm saying that i promise) so I know astruc is just metaphorically throwing darts to figure out who says and does what without consideration for pre established personalities to drive the stalemate plot along. The same kids you say are watching this don't know that that's not how preteens work and will absorb and internalize those dynamics like baking soda and vinegar. Cata-fucking-strophically. 

And I haven't even gotten to the boys yet. Which honestly doesn't require much explanation anyways cuz they suffer the same fate as the girls. Tired archetypes with nothing to give them life. Nino falls into Adrien’s person of colour token best friend who dates the female lead’s person of colour token best friend so they can have cute double dates uwu. Except the plot goes nowhere and we have no inclination of romantic development beyond moments that only act to actively convince me to anti ship the lovesquare (i don't want to do that so i self indulge in fanon that actually cares about the characters and plot. may i interest you in True Sight on AO3?). Max is the residential nerd but it doesn't matter (cuz he and everyone are dumbed down for the sake of ‘plot’), kim is the sports jock (which interestingly subverts the asian comedic relief stereotype but only barely) and luka is cute older guy ™ that wears black nail polish and is in a band. The point of all this is to say there is no depth in the characters. It's especially blatantly obvious with the characters astruc doesn't like (chloe). Again, it being a show for kids is not an excuse to be absolved of putting effort into the characters you make.

This is one of the biggest misses astruc has. I haven't even gone into all the nuances of this particular miss. And i havent gone into how that works against him in the plot either. Mostly because the plot itself hasn't gone anywhere and partially because I wanted to go into the plot (or lack thereof) separately as its own miss. 

AND BOI is it a miss. 

SO home boy astruc wanted to reap the benefits of a serial show with ‘engaging’ plot without putting in any of the work to make a linear storyline and relying on the episodic format for, again, marketability. You can't have the best of both worlds, you are not Avatar: The Last Airbender. Which btw has a lot less episodes and a desired end goal that didn't involve top dollar. Legend of Korra did but that's not the point and it had its failings with that too. I challenge you, tell me how many episodes actually contribute towards a plot point or introduce new thematic elements to the show? Can you name them? I can and I'm going to include the plot points that moved the story in some direction if only temporarily. Yes only temporarily for some of these and i will explain later. (if you're in the server you already saw this list *wink*)

25/26. Origins- self explanatory, the beginning of the story, 

24. Volpina- introduction of the grimoire and Master Fu (kind of) and no, Lila is not a plot point,

28. The Collector- proper introduction of Master Fu,

37. Sapotis- introduction of Rena Rouge,

41. Syren- introduction of new aquatic power ups,

44. Anansi- introduction of Carapace,

47. Frozer- introduction of new ice power ups,

48/49. Style Queen- introduction of Queen Bee,

51/52. Heroes’ Day- introduction of Mayura and mass akumatization,

66. Startrain- introduction of Pegasus,

67. Kwami Buster- Marinette wears multiple miraculouses,

68. Feast- backstory as to how the miraculouses were lost,

69. Ikari Gozen- introduction of Ryuko,

70. Timetagger- introduction of Bunnyx,

71. Party Crasher- introduction of Roi Singe and Viperion,

73. Chat Blanc- alternate timeline that essentially means nothing but got a reaction out of fans anyways (myself included)

 77/78. Love Eater/Battle of Miraculous- Marinette becomes guardian and other heroes lose their miraculous,

New York Special- other heroes exist and there is an American miraculous box,

That's 21 episodes. 21 out of a heaping 78 plus 2 specials. Everything else was just your typical akuma of the day episode and everything that happened outside that had no lasting consequences on the plot thanks to the miraculous status quo. Was it entertaining to watch Lila stir the plot of the class dynamic? Hell yeah. Too bad it meant nothing by the end of the episode cuz we were struck with miraculous status quo. She literally doesn't appear again until Heroes Day. that is from episodes 25 all the way to 51, she means nothing and yet she is treated with the severity of a b-villain/rival thing. She means nothing by the end of Volpina if I'm being honest. She is only relevant for 20 mins of episode time she’s in then it's back to magic status quo that undoes any shift in dynamics and relationships. It's like Spongebob who can't get his driver’s license. The worst part is I actually like Lila and I wish the story treated her with the seriousness we as an audience are expected to treat her with. Despite being painfully inconsequential by the end of each of the 3?? 4?? episodes she’s in, it's entertaining to watch a character create drama just because. 

Too bad it means nothing.

Astruc is constantly building up suspense to something ‘important’ only for it to not deliver and fans are constantly having the rug pulled out from under us. Oblivio teased us with a reveal only that gets undone cuz memory akuma. Chat Blanc teased us with romantic development but that gets undone cuz time travel bullshit. Feast introduced more miraculous lore and the history of the guardians but that means nothing by the next episode or ever (i'm not including any reference to the season 4 trailer cuz i've been around the block a few times and im familiar with this lil dancy dance). Heroes Day teased us with a possible future team of heroes but that gets undone in Battle of Miraculous cuz ????? why?? (here's why; astruc was having a jolly ole time letting us know how irredeemable Chloe is at the expense of shooting his own stagnant plot in the foot. Again, discussion for later.)

Too bad anything that slightly swerves off course from the akuma of the day gets undone or ignored. Too bad nothing has any lasting consequence. I mean, if anything did, the episodes would have had a consistent order and release schedule so im not scrambling to watch the leaked ep in Portuguese or something while the french dub is two episodes behind while the english version hasnt even been dubbed. I really wonder how he plans to conclude the show when he’s so afraid to step out of the corner he painted himself in.

Again, not going into nuances. If you want you can ask for more specifics (i doubt anyone would) but this is really just a slightly detailed general overview of my opinions on astruc’s writing. 

I was going to include another miss in his approach to this show but imma save that for another time. 

How’s that for a ‘first’ post?

[artmakerproductions]

“The Crookits” - (#4) - Grandpa and Frankie 

Karloff Crookit: Mad mechanic/engineer who runs an auto repair shop. In his spare time, will create Frankenstein-like cars and other mix-mashed creations. Will sometimes end up doing so for his customer's own vehicles. Giving them a bit of life in the process. Modelled him after Boris Karloff obviously. Specifically the ones where he played the mad scientist rather than the creation. Is the father of Donna. Despite his age, he is very active as one can tell by his vast array of contraptions he's made in his free time. Finds he enjoys his work

Frankie: The family car, nicknamed “Frankie” and the creation of Karloff, is full of life. Created from bits and pieces of other cars. Mostly old models that wound up in the junkyard (basically a graveyard for cars and other machinery). Gets stir crazy when kept in the garage for too long. Going out for family drives around town often. If not, they simply just let Frankie roam free on his own. Though he has gotten himself impounded a few times and had to be bailed out. The car doesn’t like fire one bit, at all. Will freak out like a dog when a vacuum cleaner is turned on. Will speed away from it w/ the driver losing control. Karloff's other automotive creations, most if not all of them despise Frankie for being the "favourite" of their creator. Regularly bully and antagonize the poor automobile whenever he's around. Why he was sent to live w/ the family rather than stay at his auto shop/junkyard.

Inspiration(s)/references used:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/365215.jpg

https://www.carscoops.com/2018/02/bespoke-frankencar-made-28-different-parts-costs-25000/

https://9gag.com/gag/aj9BbGR

https://www.hotcars.com/10-pictures-of-modded-cars-that-make-no-sense-and-wed-actually-buy/

🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 Happy spooky season everyone! 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃

In THIS collaboration between me and my good buddy @mask131, we present to you our own spin on the “weird spooky family” trope that was popularized by “The Addams Family” and “The Munsters”, the ones a majority of you out there are probably the most familiar with.

They are, The Crookits! 

As I was first sketching up visuals, when I had the thought of making it a black family, or at least a mixed race one. To help stand out in the ‘weird spooky family’ crowd. As well as because more cartoons nowadays are featuring more non-white protagonists/characters as the leads. Plus famously, black people are hardly featured often in such gothic settings, ala Tim Burton. (If I’m correct). The father is a stay-at-home dad w/ the mother who is the breadwinner of the family runs a two-in-one business: a bed and breakfast and funeral home/mortuary. As to allow for a “guest (or guests) of the week” type formula w/ varying reactions to the family’s antics from those staying. Mixed in w/ the slice of life format for the family. As for said guests, which can end up being either monster or human. As to give some leeway w/ character making so that not every kooky character is directly related to the family. Like, a snooty and rude upper class monster family; or a typical suburban family that just finds the creepy aesthetic of the place charming. Y’know, to mix it up a bit from time to time. Perhaps rivals (both of the normal and abnormal sort) or people in the area/town who try and sabotage the business or drive the family out of town. “The Crookits”, a play on “crooked” if that wasn’t obvious X P

Let us know what you think! : )

[multiverseforger]

Robin the Boy WonderEdit



Characters from an illustration by N. C. Wyeth for "Robin Hood" (1917) by Paul Creswick. The look inspired Jerry Robinson's design for Robin.[6]:83



Dick Grayson as Robin in his first appearance, on the cover of Detective Comics #38 (April 1940), along with Batman. Art by Bob Kane.

The character was first introduced in Detective Comics #38 (1940) by Batman creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Robin's debut was an effort to get younger readers to enjoy Batman. The name "Robin, The Boy Wonder" and the medieval look of the original costume are inspired by the legendary hero Robin Hood. The costume was designed by Jerry Robinson who drew it from memory based on Robin Hood illustrations by N. C. Wyeth.[6]:83

In his first appearance, Dick Grayson is a circus acrobat, and, with his parents, one of the "Flying Graysons". Robin was born on the first day of spring, son of John Grayson and Mary Grayson, a young aerialist couple. While preparing for a performance, Dick overhears two gangsters attempting to extort protection money from the circus owner. The owner refuses, so the gangsters sabotage the trapeze wires with acid. During the next performance, the trapeze from which Dick's parents are swinging snaps, sending them to their deaths. Before he can go to the police, Batman appears to him and warns him that the two gangsters work for Tony Zucco, a very powerful crime boss, and that revealing his knowledge could lead to his death. When Batman recounts the murder of his own parents, Dick asks to become his aide. After extensive training, Dick becomes Robin. They start by disrupting Zucco's gambling and extortion rackets. They then successfully bait the riled Zucco into visiting a construction site, where they capture him.

Robin's origin has a thematic connection to Batman's in that both see their parents killed by criminals, creating an urge to battle the criminal element. Bruce sees a chance to direct the anger and rage that Dick feels in a way that he himself cannot, thus creating a father/son bond and understanding between the two. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, DC Comics portrayed Batman and Robin as a team, deeming them the "Dynamic Duo", rarely publishing a Batman story without his sidekick; stories entirely devoted to Robin appeared in Star-Spangled Comics from 1947 through 1952.

The character history of the Earth-Two Robin accordingly adopts all of the earliest stories featuring the character from the 1940s and 1950s, while the adventures of the mainstream Robin (who lived on "Earth-One") begin later in time and with certain elements of his origin retold. Both were depicted as separate, though parallel, individuals living in their respective universes, with the "older" Earth-Two character eventually reaching death in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Teen TitansEdit

1964's The Brave and the Bold #54 introduces a junior version of the Justice League of America. This team is led by the modern-day Robin, residing on Earth-One, and was joined by two other teenage sidekicks, Aqualad (sidekick of Aquaman) and Kid Flash (sidekick of the Flash), to stop the menace of Mr. Twister.

Later, the three sidekicks join forces with Speedy and Wonder Girl in order to free their mentors in the JLA from mind-controlled thrall. They decide to become a real team: the Teen Titans. By virtue of the tactical skills gleaned from Batman, Robin is swiftly recognized as leader before the Titans disband some years later.

In 1969, still in the Pre-Crisis continuity, writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams return Batman to his darker roots. One part of this effort is writing Robin out of the series by sending Dick Grayson to Hudson University and into a separate strip in the back of Detective Comics. The by-now Teen Wonder appears only sporadically in Batman stories of the 1970s as well as in a short-lived revival of The Teen Titans.

In 1980, Grayson once again takes up the role of leader of the Teen Titans, now featured in the monthly series The New Teen Titans, which became one of DC Comics's most beloved series of the era. During his leadership of the Titans, however, he had a falling out with Batman, leading to an estrangement that would last for many years.

NightwingEdit

In the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, the maturing Dick Grayson grows weary of his role as Batman's young sidekick. He renames himself Nightwing, recalling his adventure in the Kryptonian city of Kandor, where he and Batman meet the local hero of the same name. In post-Crisis continuity he is fired by Batman after being shot by the Joker and becomes Nightwing. He maintains this identity during his role in the Teen Titans, and occasionally returns to assist Batman and his successors as Robin in the form of Jason Todd and Tim Drake, Tim in particular becoming a younger brother figure to him.

When Bruce's back is broken by Bane during the Knightfall story arc, Bruce selects Jean-Paul Valley as his replacement as Batman as he does not want to burden Dick with the role and fears that Dick may go after Bane in revenge. However, when Valley proves to be too unstable to be Batman, Bruce undergoes a rigorous recovery and training program with the aid of Doctor Shondra Kinsolving and Lady Shiva to restore him to full health, defeating Valley with Dick and Tim's aid. However, feeling that he needs to re-evaluate Batman and his mission after Valley's defeat, Bruce leaves Gotham once again, after appointing Dick as his successor during the "Prodigal" story arc. While acting as Batman, Dick is left with a clearer idea of the psychological stresses Bruce must endure in the role, as well as facing some of Bruce's newer enemies — such as Killer Croc, the Ventriloquist and the Ratcatcher — while settling his own long-standing issues with Two-Face.

Miniseries and afterwardEdit

In Nightwing: Alfred's Return #1 (1995), Dick Grayson travels to England to find Alfred Pennyworth who had resigned from Bruce Wayne's service following the events of the KnightSaga. Before returning to Gotham City together, they prevent an attempted coup d'état against the British government that involves destroying the Channel Tunnel under the English Channel.

Later on, with the Nightwing miniseries (September to December 1995, written by Dennis O'Neil with Greg Land as artist), Dick briefly considers retiring from being Nightwing forever before family papers uncovered by Alfred reveal a possible link between the murder of the Flying Graysons and the Crown Prince of Kravia. Journeying to Kravia, Nightwing helps to topple the murderous Kravian leader and prevent an ethnic cleansing, while learning his parents' true connection to the Prince; they witnessed the original Prince being killed and replaced with an impostor who became as bad as his predecessor (although Zucco killed the Graysons before the conspirators could do anything about it). In the aftermath, Dick returns to his role as Nightwing, recognizing that, for all his problems with Bruce, Bruce never made him become Robin or join his crusade, accepting that he imitated Bruce's example because Bruce was worthy of imitation.

In 1996, following the success of the miniseries, DC Comics launched a monthly solo series featuring Nightwing (written by Chuck Dixon, with art by Scott McDaniel), in which he patrols Gotham City's neighboring municipality of Blüdhaven, relocating there to investigate a series of murders and remaining as he recognized that the city needed protection. He remains the city's guardian for some time, facing foes such as Blockbuster and new villains such as Torque, and even becomes a police officer so that he can make an impact on the city's criminal activity in both parts of his life. Later, Grayson divides his duties between Bludhaven and Gotham after a devastating earthquake and the subsequent decision to declare Gotham a No Man's Land, Grayson occasionally assisting his mentor and other members of Bat-Family in maintaining and restoring order in Gotham until it is fully rebuilt. When the Justice League vanished into the past fighting ancient sorceress Gamemnae, Nightwing was selected as the leader of the reserve League created by an emergency program Batman had established in the event of his League being defeated, Batman describing Nightwing as the only person he could have picked to lead the new team.

Eventually, the original League are restored, and Nightwing departs along with some of his League-although others remain as some of the original team take a leave of absence-although Batman notes that his leadership of the League proves that he is ready for more responsibilities. However, the death of Blockbuster prompts Nightwing to leave Bludhaven due to his crisis of conscience; Blockbuster was killed by vigilante Tarantula and Nightwing did not stop it even when he had the chance to do so. While Nightwing returns to Gotham to heal after assisting Batman in dealing with a series of gang wars, Blüdhaven is destroyed by the Secret Society of Super-Villains when they drop Chemo on it.

During the battle of Metropolis, Grayson suffers a near-fatal injury from Alexander Luthor, Jr. when he shields Wayne from Luthor's attack.[7] Originally, the editors at DC intended to have Grayson killed in Infinite Crisis as Newsarama revealed from the DC Panel at WizardWorld Philadelphia:[8]

It was again explained that Nightwing was originally intended to die in Infinite Crisis, and that you can see the arc that was supposed to end with his death in the series. After long discussions, the death edict was finally reversed, but the decision was made that, if they were going to be keeping him, he would have to be changed. The next arc of the ongoing series will further explain the changes, it was said.

After spending some time away with Bruce and Tim to heal and rebuild after their harsh times prior to the Crisis, Dick relocates to New York, but has trouble finding work as both Dick Grayson and Nightwing. During the Batman R.I.P. storyline, Nightwing is ambushed by the International Club of Villains. He is later seen being held in Arkham Asylum, where one of the surgeons, in reality also the civilian identity of ICoV member Le Bossu, arranged for Nightwing to be admitted under the name of Pierrot Lunaire (another ICoV member) and be kept both heavily drugged and regularly beaten by staff to subdue him. Scheduled for an experimental lobotomy by Le Bossu himself, he manages to free himself and come to Batman's aid for the finale of the story arc.

Batman: RebornEdit

Following the events of Batman's apparent death during the Final Crisis, Nightwing has closed down shop in New York so as to return to Gotham, where after the events of "Battle for the Cowl", he assumes the identity of Batman, with Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne's biological son, as the new Robin.[9]

The new team of Batman and Robin is the focus of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's Batman and Robin series.[10] Their dynamic reverses the classic dynamic of Bruce and Dick, by having a lighter and friendlier Batman paired with a more intense and dark Robin. Over time, Dick's experience as the Dark Knight would harden his personality as his mentor.

During this period, Dick Grayson as Batman also features as a member of the Justice League in a short-lived run by writer James Robinson. After an intense confrontation with the Club of Villains and the mysterious Doctor Simon Hurt (who has established fake evidence that he is actually Bruce's father Thomas Wayne), Hurt is defeated when Bruce returns to the present. However, Bruce leaves Dick to continue to act as Batman in Gotham with Damian as his partner while he sets up the new 'Batman Incorporated' program, Bruce publicly identifying himself as Batman's financial backer to justify a global Batman-themed operation where he funds multiple other vigilantes.

The New 52 (2011–2016)Edit

See also: The New 52

Dick Grayson is re-established as Nightwing following DC's Flashpoint crossover event, after which the publisher relaunched all of its titles and made alterations to its continuity as part of an initiative called The New 52. In the new status quo, Bruce Wayne is once again the only Batman, and Dick, like the other members of the adoptive family, is a few years younger. Dick, despite being 19 is drawn a bit shorter than in his pre-relaunch frame. This is likely due to adding believability to his acrobat past.[11] According to various interviews it is stated that Dick was adopted at 16, as opposed to 12. This is due to the DCNU's timeline existing for five years.[12] Dick Grayson is shown in flashbacks as Robin with a revamped version of the Robin costume in Nightwing (vol. 3) #0 (November 2012) and Batman and Robin Annual (vol. 2) #2 (March 2014).



Dick Grayson in his New 52 Robin costume from Batman and Robin Annual, vol. 2 #2 (March 2014). Art by Doug Mahnke and Patrick Gleason

In his civilian identity he is attacked by an assassin named Saiko who insists that he is the fiercest killer in Gotham.[13] The series Batman Incorporated relaunches with a second volume, continuing its story while taking into account the New 52's continuity changes; Dick is now depicted as Nightwing, and not as Batman, but the change is not addressed in the comic itself. In Nightwing, Dick inherits the deed to the circus from a dying C. C. Haly and begins a relationship with his childhood friend acrobat Raya Vestri. Saiko tortures Haly for information on Nightwing's secret identity, and the old man dies in Dick's arms after telling him the circus holds a terrible secret.[14] Investigating leads, he tracks down a supervillain named Feedback, who used to be a childhood friend, but does not learn anything.[15] Following Haly's clues, he finds a mysterious Book of Names in the circus that has his name on the last page.[16] Later the circus announces they will be doing a memorial show on the anniversary of the night Dick's parents were murdered, and Saiko attacks by detonating a massive explosion.[17]

It is then revealed that the circus has been training assassins for years, and Saiko was a childhood friend using Raya as an accomplice. Grayson had been selected to become a new Talon for the Court of Owls, but when Batman adopted him, Saiko took his place. The killer plummets to his death and Raya turns herself in. Returning to the Batcave, Bruce reveals to Dick that the current Talon is his great-grandfather William Cobb.[18] During the Night of the Owls event Dick faces Cobb, who was revived while protecting Mayor Hady.[19] Following the event, Dick decided to keep Haly's Circus in Gotham and plans to invest in turning an abandoned amusement park into their new location without Bruce's money.[20] He works with Sonia Branch, the daughter of Tony Zucco, the crime boss who murdered Dick's parents, into getting a loan for this plan by investing his entire trust fund despite being a high-risk due to Saiko's recent attack. The problems arise because of the guilt Sonia feels towards her father's actions [21] and many members of the circus are afraid for their lives because of the previous disasters and accuse Dick Grayson of being a flake, making it hard for those who choose to stay.[22]

The "Death of the Family" crossover event across the Batman-related comic books led to a major shift in Nightwing's status quo. During the storyline, one of Dick's friends Jimmy Clark, who worked as a circus clown, was murdered by the Joker because Joker felt like Jimmy was a knockoff of him. Nightwing later discovers Joker broke Raya out of prison, infected her with his Joker venom and has forced her to fight him while wearing a makeshift Nightwing costume. The toxin eventually killed Raya, though Nightwing tried in vain with an anti-toxin to save her. Nightwing then discovered that Joker left a message on Raya's abdomen that he was targeting Haly's Circus next.[23] However upon arriving there, Joker unveils his plan to burn the circus to the ground and then infects Nightwing with his gas that not only causes him to experience hallucinations of Jimmy and Raya, but he is soon attacked by the other members of Haly's Circus that were also affected by the toxin allowing Joker to capture him.[24]

In the aftermath, Haly's Circus is gone, with Dick broke as a result for having lost his investment. While the other circus members survived since Joker used a different Joker venom on them, they blame Dick and decide to leave after Raya and Jimmy's funeral, though deep down they know it is not his fault. Dick becomes bitter from his loss. After he used excessive force to bring down some criminals that tried to plunder valuables from the remains of the circus, Damian, having been monitoring him, is able to talk some sense into Nightwing, which helps him recover.[25]

Nightwing is later deeply affected by the death of Damian following his murder at the hands of Damian's clone, the Heretic, in Batman Incorporated. With Damian's death and potential resurrection becoming an obsession of Batman's, Dick is shunned by Bruce when he tries to tell him to move on, in Batman and Nightwing (a retitled Batman & Robin #23).

Later, the Nightwing series changes its setting to Chicago, Illinois. Sonia Branch reveals to Dick an e-mail that indicates that her father Zucco is still alive. After giving the address to Red Robin to try and track down who sent it, Robin uncovers that Zucco is residing in Chicago. Nightwing moves to Chicago in order to find and arrest Zucco, who is now living under the assumed identity of Billy Lester, an assistant to the mayor. Soon after arriving in Chicago, Dick meets his new roommates, a photojournalist named Michael and a computer specialist named Joey. After leaving the apartment to meet with Johnny Spade, a borderline criminal who steals and sells information, their meeting is interrupted by the police. A short chase results in the accidental destruction of a newly rebuilt subway. Meanwhile, a criminal hacker called the Prankster tortures, maims and kills criminal con men who are untouchable by the police.

The Chicago story is later abruptly ended by Nightwing's role in a larger company-wide crossover event. After the Crime Syndicate invade Earth Prime at the conclusion of the "Trinity War" Justice League storyline and defeat the Justice League, the DC crossover story Forever Evil depicts Nightwing's capture by the Crime Syndicate, who expose his secret identity to the world. Following their escape from the Syndicate, Batman and Catwoman decide to rescue him. He then is invited by Owlman to help defeat the Crime Syndicate, which he accepts. Nightwing is severely beaten by Ultraman and is attached to a device from a parallel world known as the Murder Machine, which is controlled by his heart rate and is reportedly impossible to escape from alive. When Batman and Lex Luthor arrive to free him, Lex stops his heart in order to fool the system so he can disarm it. However, Batman, enraged over what Lex has done, attacks him. Luthor explains it is not too late to save Grayson.[26] In an uncharacteristically heroic moment, Luthor injects Grayson's heart with adrenaline, which successfully revives Grayson. Cyborg enters, having defeated Grid, and Grayson joins Batman, Cyborg and Catwoman in freeing the Justice League from the Firestorm Matrix. After the defeat of the Syndicate, Grayson is seen with Batman in the Batcave. Batman tells him that he has to send him on the most dangerous mission he could possibly undertake.

GraysonEdit

The Nightwing title concluded in April 2014 at issue #30, and was replaced with a new title, Grayson, which depicts Dick having given up his life as Nightwing at age 22 and going undercover as an agent of the Spyral organization where the former Batwoman Kathy Kane works.[27] Written by Tim Seeley and former CIA counter-terrorism officer Tom King, the career change for Dick Grayson comes from the urging of Batman himself, who convinces him to remain dead to the world. Seeley stated that the series will be "leaning into" Grayson's sex symbol status. The character's look also is redesigned with no mask, but a blue-and-black outfit calling back to his pre-New 52 Nightwing counterpart with an addition of a "G" on his chest, said to be reminiscent of the Robin "R".[28][29]

In the "Agent of Spyral" storyline, Dick (known as Agent 37) is enlisted by Mister Minos, the director of Spyral, after having been chosen by Helena Bertinelli to serve as a new candidate. However, Dick serves as a mole under Batman due to their agenda of unmasking heroes by collecting the Paragon organs, organs in which contains the DNA of the Justice League and bestows meta-bioweapons the ability to use their powers. He assists Spyral's agenda to know more about Minos and his endgame, resulting in Spyral attaining most of the scattered organs. In a later story arc, Minos betrays Spyral and attempts to leak its secrets. To his surprise he finds the new Agent Zero, who reveals that she, along with the upper echelon of Spyral, had used Minos to attract Dick into Spyral and kills Minos as he has outlived his life full of humor.[30][31]

During Batman and Robin Eternal, Grayson finds himself working with various other members of the Bat-Family-during the time when Bruce Wayne is amnesiac after his resurrection against the ruthless villain known only as "Mother", who, it is revealed, briefly met with Batman early in Grayson's career as Robin, believing that he shared her views on using trauma to make people stronger. Mother intends to trigger a global collapse with the reasoning that the survivors will rebuild a stronger world after being broken by tragedy and without the hindrance of parents to force their ideals on them, but Grayson and the rest of the Family are able to defeat her, Dick affirming that Batman helps the Robins become their own people who can avoid the mistakes he made in dealing with his own trauma rather than Mother's belief that she and Batman each teach people to use their trauma to define themselves. At the conclusion of the storyline, Dick meets with the restored Batman, assuring Bruce that, unlike Mother, he never forced his ideals on them, but simply gave them all an example that they chose to emulate while avoiding following it so exactly that they became like him.

When the Court of Owls plant a bomb inside Damian Wayne, they are able to blackmail Dick into officially joining their organization, although all sides are aware that Grayson intends to try and use his new position against them.[32] The Grayson series ended at issue #20, where in the final issue, it was revealed that all knowledge of Dick's identity was erased from most of the world with one of Spyral's satellites, allowing Dick to resume his superhero activities as Nightwing once again.[3]

DC RebirthEdit

Starting with the DC Rebirth relaunch in 2016, Dick returned to being Nightwing with his black and blue costume, his Spyral contacts having wiped all global evidence of his dual identity and the bomb removed from Damian. He uses his new skills and expertise in espionage moving forward.[33] Nightwing is prominently featured in two Rebirth books: the fourth volume of Nightwing, his own solo book, and Titans, where Dick teams up with the other original Teen Titans after Wally West returns to the universe; through Wally, Dick remembers events of his life prior to Flashpoint and The New 52.[34] After the Titans are forcibly disbanded by the Justice League, Dick creates a new Titans team after the rupture of the Source Wall consisting of Donna Troy, Raven, Steel (Natasha Irons), Beast Boy, and Miss Martian.[35]

In his solo book, Dick is paired with a vigilante named Raptor and the two plan to bring down the Court of Owls from the inside. Barbara criticizes Dick's willingness to trust him and does not agree with his methods. Though Raptor seemed willing to play by Dick's rules of not killing, he tricks Dick into agreeing to a plan that results in the deaths of all of the Parliament of Owls in Sydney. After knocking Dick out, Raptor goes to Gotham and kidnaps Bruce during a conference. Nightwing confronts him alone in the ruins of a circus in Paris. Raptor reveals that he grew up in the circus as a child and fell in love with Dick's mother, Mary, as they stole from the rich and powerful in Paris. Raptor watched over Dick in the shadows as he grew up, and developed a hatred for Bruce Wayne as he represented everything he and Mary were against and felt it was dishonoring her memory to have Dick raised by him. Dick defeats Raptor and rescues Bruce in time.[36]

After joining forces with the pre-Flashpoint Superman to defeat the latest attack of Doctor Destiny, Dick contemplates checking out Bludhaven, based on Superman's reference to how the pre-Flashpoint Grayson acted as the city's guardian for a time,[37] and ultimately decides to go there.[38] While there he meets a supervillain rehabilitation group called the Run-Offs, all of which were villains he and Batman defeated in the past. He finds that most of them are being framed for crimes around the area and works with them to find the true culprits.[39] After solving the case and clearing their names, Dick begins dating their leader Shawn Tsang, known as the former criminal the Defacer.[40] Shawn is kidnapped by Professor Pyg after Dick discovers she might be pregnant with his child, and he teams up with Damian to track Pyg down and rescue her.[41] After Shawn is revealed not to be pregnant, she ultimately breaks up with Dick, who focuses his efforts on taking down criminals such as Blockbuster, the returning Raptor, the Judge, and Wyrm.[42]

During one of his nightly patrols with Batman, Nightwing is shot by KGBeast and nearly killed.[43] As a result, he suffered from severe memory loss and attempted to build a new life in Bludhaven. He changed his name to Ric, gave up being Nightwing, and became a taxi driver that frequently went to bars. With Bludhaven suffering from an increase in crime from the vigilante's absence, a detective named Sapienza comes across Dick's abandoned hideout in the subway and decides to become the new Nightwing.[44] Sapienza recruits a team of his friends in law enforcement to help him, and together they make a team of Nightwings using Dick Grayson's old uniforms. In addition to Sapienza, the team consists of Malcolm Hutch, the deputy chief in the Bludhaven fire department, Zak Edwards, vice of the 10th precinct, and Colleen Edwards, detective of the 14th precinct.[45]

During Year of the Villain, Ric is captured by William Cobb, his grandfather who is a Talon. A brain surgeon that Bruce hired to take care of Dick after he was shot named Dr. Haas was secretly a member of the Court, who was using a mystical memory crystal to alter Dick's memories and eventually shape him into becoming a Talon himself. William Cobb forces Ric to wear goggles and puts Dick under his spell. As a Talon, Grayson fights off other Nightwing heroes. A Nightwing hero name Connor Red shoots at Grayson's mask, making his eye visible. Connor Red pleads for mercy saying he has a family, and as the sun comes up Dick Grayson suddenly breaks out of his grandfather's control. Dick Grayson starts to remember his adventures as Nightwing. Ric defeats Talon, and saves his girlfriend Bea.[46] Afterwards, he journeys to Switzerland to learn more answers about his past from Dr. Haas, who attempts to use the crystal to alter his memories once more. However, an explosion seemingly sends her down a river to her death while Ric is able to retrieve the memory crystal she used on him. During the "Joker War" storyline, the Joker steals the memory crystal and uses it to brainwash Grayson into believing he is the Joker's adopted son, "Dicky Boy" and turns him against the Bat Family in his latest war against Batman. After Barbara gets the crystal back, Bea uses it to allow him to fully regain his memories as Dick Grayson.[47

[drwcn]

Hi! I was wondering on what you thought of the reunion scene where Wen Chao dies, why didn't WWX hug JC back?

Hi!! Sorry for the late reply, I was thinking of a coherent way to answer this after my exam. Here it goes:  

I think it boils down to a combination of 1) his personality, 2)his trauma/state of mind, 3)his long-term intentions. 

First and foremost, Wei Wuxian is not a touchy-feeling character, as least, not from what I saw from tv canon. I don’t mean he doesn’t have emotions, or that he doesn’t express affection, but that he is a very layered individual who keeps what he’s feeling deep down very well hidden from everyone. Yes he may be loud, mouthy or whatnot, but his true emotions, his true thoughts and feelings are kept bottled up and shielded against the world. In a way, I can sort of identify with that, as someone who seems very extroverted and is not afraid to speak. I am willing to share and talk about a lot of things, but the things that are closest to me, deepest most private emotions, I will never speak of to anyone. Perhaps I’m projecting or misinterpreting WWX, but I truly believe that he is quite like that as well. 

This is very different from Jiang Cheng, who although is bad at communicating, actually very much seeks to communicate. There are many instances where he asks wwx what’s going on, reaches out to him, and tries to understand. And his own outbursts of anger are his way of demonstrating that he is trying to understand, trying to communicate. Given his dysfunctional parents, I doubt Jiang Cheng was ever taught how to communicate healthily. He yells at wwx, again, and again, and again, because he wants a response. Because Jiang Cheng is confused and he just wants to sit down and talk about what the hell has been going on.

When Jiang Cheng hugs WWX, he is holding nothing back. He is damn relieved that his brother is alive, and he is so, so overjoyed. But the WWX who crawled out of Burial Mount is a different person than who went in. Nobody who goes through that kind of trauma consecutively (home destroyed, core surgical removed, beaten, tortured and tossed into the abyss of living hell) can be expected to stay the same. But he has to move forward, because the war is not won, because WRH is still alive, and he has a clan to avenge. At the same time, he couldn’t let Jiang Cheng know what had happened to him, because if there’s one thing more important than revenge to wwx at that moment in time it’s to keep the secret of the core transfer. 

When burdened with all that, WWX has to steel himself against everything. Have you ever been so angry, so hurt, so vulnerable that when a friend tries to reach out to comfort you, you shrink away. You shrink away because you can’t be touched, can’t be comforted, because if you even let go a little bit you’ll completely break. Because holding onto your anger and your coldness and that numb apathy is hundred times better than confronting everything that’s buried inside you. 

And lastly, I believe WWX has been working to self-sabotage himself since the very beginning. His target (whether he is aware of it or not) is that he is going to have to walk this demonic path alone. To him there are only three types of people in the world 1) people he needs to use demonic cultivation to protect e.g. the Wens; 2) people who he needs to keep away from to not taint with his demonic cultivation e.g. the Jiangs, Yanli, A-Cheng; and 3) the enemies who want to destroy him because in their ignorance they believe he is evil (Lan Qiren) or the enemies who want to use him for their own gains (Jin Guangshan). 

Until Lan Wangji (with 16 years to ruminate and reflect) makes it crystal clear to WWX that he wants to stand with his Wei Ying, no matter what, I don’t believe Wei Wuxian felt like there was anyone he could share this part of himself with. Even Wen Ning is in away... a creation of demonic cultivation, and not on par with him, the creator. 

I believe Wei Wuxian knows that he’s fucked from the get go. He never anticipates there will be a good end for himself, and he probably foresaw that in the end he’s going to have to walk this path alone. He begins isolating himself from those around him incrementally. He shuts himself off from Jiang Cheng just as he pushes Lan Wangji away. Because to him, he has no other choice. He has to keep walking this path because there is no other path to walk, but he couldn’t explain that to anyone. If he explains why he can’t walk the spiritual path....all the secrets he kept is going to to come out and he can’t have that. So, he is set to go down this single plank road, and he believes he has to walk it alone. 

He isn’t wrong. Without explaining why he is walking this path, no one 16 years ago is going to walk with him. No one. Not Lan Wangji nor Jiang Cheng. No one. And that’s perfectly reasonable. It’s like seeing your best friend randomly decide to rob a bank one day without telling you why. Of course you’re not going to help them. But if they explain to you that they’re being forced to do it because their son/parent/spouse is being held hostage, suddenly your position to stand with them might change. The same reason applies here. 

Thus, anticipating his future, it is probably easier for Wei Wuxian to isolate himself first than to be actively rejected by his friends and kin later. He strikes first instead of waiting to be struck.  Not hugging Jiang Cheng back, in its essence, is Wei Wuxian’s defence mechanism. 

[cobra-diamond]

How to Develop Avatar’s Season 4 - Part 3

1       The Pillars of Season 4

           In order to move discussions about future Avatar past mere speculations about what the creators were thinking, or whether or not going beyond Aang’s journey makes thematic sense, you have to start coming up with answers for what a 4th season would have been about: through which characters’ eyes do we primarily view the story? What is the overarching conflict? Who, or what is the primary threat? What are the new goals for the original cast? What challenges will they face? What changes will they go through? And so on.

           Fortunately, the three Fire Nation comics give us insight into what the creators had in mind for a 4th season. That being said, the comics are not Season 4. A Season 4 would not have had a Zuko that is so brain dead that he would forget his responsibilities and make a deal with Azula to give her the crown so he could live with his “real” (i.e. biological) family in some small town. A Season 4 would not have retconned Ursa so that she was exclusively a hapless victim of the royal family and not directly responsible for the killing of Fire Lord Azulon (this is not what the show implied, nor what the creators and prior official content stated about Ursa). A Season 4 would not have had an Azula whose multiple layers of inner turmoil vanish off-screen so she could become a “weightless, free” anarcho-guerilla inside her own country (see: Smoke and Shadow), among other problems.

           Nevertheless, the comics contain the critical elements necessary for devising a comprehensive post-finale story. These story elements are fundamental; they originate from the internal logic of the show and the loose threads left behind. However, since the comics exist and will likely never be retconned or remade, we may never get the “true” Season 4 that is revealed by these fundamental story elements. In that sense, these story elements could be thought of as the “Remnants of Season 4”, but that isn’t a very positive way of looking at things. It suggests we fans can’t use our own imaginations to fill in the gaps and come up with better answers than what the market forces affecting Avatar allows. Fans should be encouraged to use their imaginations, so I call these story remnants “The Pillars of Season 4” because they provide the foundation for building a compelling, consistent continuation of Avatar past the ending in the finale.

1.1     Pillar #1: Resentment & Opposition to Zuko

           In Zuko’s coronation speech at the end of the show, he said he would restore the honor of the Fire Nation, that the road ahead would be challenging, that one hundred years of war had left the world scarred and divided, but with the help of the Avatar, they could get it back on the right path and begin a new era of love and peace.

           A new era of love and peace. Rebuilding. Healing. That is exactly what the world needs. The Water Tribe needs love and peace. The Earth Kingdom needs love and peace. Rebuilding the Air Nomads needs love and peace, but the Fire Nation… Does not. Remember that the Fire Nation was not militarily dominated at the end of the show, nor was Zuko part of a wider internal movement to overthrow the current leadership and undo the past one hundred years. We did observe a small community suffering due to the war (the fishing village on the river), but this is not shown to be widespread; we are shown far more clean Fire Nation cities with substantial industrial activity in the background. The Fire Nation was not decimated by a century of invasion, nor was it brutalized by an external (or internal) foe that requires rebuilding from. It doesn’t need to heal. It is not scarred. It is not divided (more than any other stable country, that is).

           Zuko took power while the Fire Nation was at the height of its power and prestige and he believes it needs to be taken down several notches, that its honor questioned and its feats during the war impugned and undone. How many Fire Nationals are going to accept that view, especially from someone who was so recently deemed a failure and traitor by their previous Fire Lord? How much of the nobility, government and military is going to be skeptical of his intentions, or even downright furious at his ascendance? How many people in the Fire Nation are going to view him as a usurper, as a traitor, as an unworthy recipient of the crown? What kind of actions is Zuko going to take that will inflame these parts of the populace so much that they actively resist him? Notably, this is what happens in The Promise.

           One could take the stance that Zuko becoming Fire Lord was enough to set things right, that the whole Fire Nation simply rolled over and became obedient, but an instantly reformed Fire Nation has no potential for conflict and drama and thus no potential for a story. It also conflicts with official descriptions of the present culture of the Fire Nation, which Zuko is very much not a representative of as established by the fact that he became disillusioned with it. Therefore, the cause of Season 4’s central conflict is this: Zuko’s idealism must collide with the reality that the Fire Nation is not ready for the demilitarization, disgrace and emphasis on morality that it deserves.

           What are some of the potential points of conflict between Zuko and his country? They could be: dismantling the colonies, mishandling the relocation of the colonials to the homeland, using vast amounts of Fire Nation resources to rebuild the world, mishandling the rapid demilitarization, being viewed as a traitor serving the interests of the world versus the Fire Nation, being seen as trying to destroy valuable parts of Fire Nation culture, and so on.

           At the same time, members of the old regime—the bureaucracy that manages the country—might flee their posts, leading to momentary disarray and less qualified replacements; they might drain the royal coffers and armories and hide it to undermine Zuko; they might clandestinely divert funds, sabotage his efforts, or even embed themselves in his new cabinet to sabotage him from within.

           In short, things are not going right for Zuko. They can’t be if you want a compelling central conflict.

           In the words of Uncle Iroh, fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will and the energy and drive to achieve what they want. From that statement alone, it can be ascertained how that type of culture can have an aggressive, ambitious, ruthless streak buried within that must be controlled less it boil over into disaster (Sozin’s desire for conquest could be argued to have stemmed from this culture). As a result, the Fire Nation should be full of people who view Zuko’s rise as an unjust coup by their nation’s enemies, his actions as the willful destruction of the Fire Nation’s legacy and his lack of heirs as an opportunity to make sure Zuko’s policies end with him, which is exactly what happens in The Promise: multiple, constant assignation attempts on Zuko as a result of his destruction of the colonies.

           So the 1st pillar of Season 4 requires Zuko to face opposition from his country over his policies surrounding the end of the Hundred Year War and his goal to change Fire Nation culture. The next pillar concerns the royal family.

1.2     Pillar #2: The Anemic State of the Royal family

           The royal family is both a hereditary monarchy and one in which the leaders must be seen as worthy of their role. Although it was never shown in the series, Bryke have stated that they believe Fire Lords are expected to “prove their worth” and can have their authority and hereditary line challenged through Agni Kais. This is partly why they have to be powerful firebenders and proficient fighters. At the same time, the Fire Sages also play some role in the legitimacy of the Fire Lord, though this role is not clear. Perhaps it is like the Shogun/Emperor relationship from ancient Japan, where the Shogun had the “blessing” of the Emperor, but it was really the Shogun who ran the country while the Emperor acted as a figurehead and cultural leader. At any rate, Zuko inherited the throne after defeating and/or incapacitating Azula and the Fire Sages in the capital crown him the new Fire Lord...

           … But it’s only him. He has no other family ready to continue his legacy. Are he and Mai married? … No? Are they having kids any time soon? Not for several years at best. At the same time, his father is in prison and his bending has been removed, making him both ineligible for the crown and a threat to Zuko’s plans. Ozai is simply out of the question. Making matters worse, Zuko’s mother is gone, Iroh is a childless old man and his sister is both in a form of prison and, seemingly, mentally unfit to rule in addition to being a hostile member of the old regime. Maybe Iroh could be considered as shoring up the royal blood line, but he has no children and he might not last that long.

           This “anemic” state of the royal family could allow the ambitious-types in the country to smell blood for a regime change. Those who hate Zuko could view this as an opportunity to off him and the rest of the royal family. Maybe they want a Fire Lord who will do what they want or be easily manipulated. Maybe they want a new royal family with a larger network of existing family. Maybe they want to get rid of the royal family altogether and replace it with something else, such as a return to the Fire Islands (think of the feudal domains of ancient Japan or the numerous kingdoms of ancient China).

           But that’s what the ambitious, disgruntled members of the country think. For the rest of the country, the anemic, divided and dysfunctional state of the royal family sends three troubling messages: 1) that their country’s leadership is unstable and that it might be better to get a change over with now lest it be catastrophic later; 2) that the most powerful people in their country (the royal family) disagree with what’s best for the country when they are supposed to know what is best; and 3) that the current royal family might be permanently divided.

           And Zuko sees this. In the beginning of The Search, he comments how his father being in prison, his sister in an institution and his mother being missing for years sends a bleak message about himself, his country and family. If the royal family is supposed to be exactly that, a family, as Zuko laments, then is the fact that he went to war with his own family (to do what was right) sending the message to his people that they should go to war amongst their own family (their fellow citizens) to do what they believe is right: either overthrow the Fire Lord, or stop him from being overthrown? That’s kindling for a civil war. Notably, that Earth Kingdom academic’s explanation about a nation being a large family is based on Confucian thought.

           Second to this, Zuko also feels depressed that he doesn’t have a real family. Yes, he has the Gaang. Yes, he has Iroh. Yes, he has Mai, but the fact that he can’t sit down for dinner with a mother, father and sister like a normal family eats at his soul every night and day as portrayed in The Promise and The Search. It’s something he wants, something he craves and it is a constant, depressing reminder of how messed up his family is. Gaining friends through the Gang and wearing the crown hasn’t fixed that.

           But we know Zuko can never have those things, at least not for a long time. His father is a menace, his sister is an enemy and lunatic, and Iroh is just one uncle who, while like a real father to him, is a reminder of how dysfunctional his family is. His mother is also gone… Or, does she have to be?

           She might very well be alive. If Zuko finds her, he can have a mother again and not only that, he could use it as an example of the royal family being on the path to recovery. She isn’t his enemy. There’s no bad blood between them. If he could find her and bring her back, then he would feel less alone and the royal family wouldn’t be as empty. It would just be his mother, but at least it’s something, and this is exactly why Zuko decides to put his duties on hold and look for his mom in The Search.

           The 2nd pillar of Season 4 must be this: the currently anemic, dysfunctional state of the royal family must have wider implications for the success of Zuko’s rule and the Fire Nation at large.

           The fact that Ozai is in prison with his bending removed is not important because he is a villain who deserves it, but because he is the father of the Fire Lord and that’s how bad things are between him and his son. The fact that Azula is in an asylum is not important because she is a villain who deserves it, but because that’s how messed up the princess is. The fact that Ursa is missing is not important because Zuko misses her, but because the mother of the prince and princess is not supposed to be missing.

           This bridges into the next pillar of the season: the search for Ursa must represent a step toward rebuilding the royal family.

1.3     Pillar #3: Finding Ursa is a Step Toward Repairing the Royal Family

           When the show ended, the number one question captivating fans was, “What happened to Zuko’s mom?!?” The creators even teased us with it in Korra. Certainly it was a worthwhile question to answer and the creators thought so too, having stated in interviews that they storyboarded the reunion scene, but ultimately gave it the axe because they felt it needed more time to be properly told.

           This was the right move. Having the reunion scene be a 30 second blurb at the very end serves no greater purpose than to give Zuko a happy moment. Such a shallow handling of the subject would also have had other unfortunate implications. First, it would have trivialized the freshly revealed issues that Zuko’s sister has with their mother, which were depicted as being of much greater psychological importance to her than to him, and secondly, most critically, it would have erased the enormous value that the search for Zuko’s mom has for continuing the show past the finale. This is a key point: the search for Zuko’s (and Azula’s) mom is the key to bridging the gap between the end of the show and the start of its continuation. This is because fans are already interested in the subject of Ursa and it was left unresolved; it was a blatant loose thread that was compelling enough to answer. Putting the search for Zuko’s mom at the start (or close to) of a 4th season would allow fans a way of immediately buying into a continuation of the series.

           However, it is a waste of time if the search for Ursa is merely an adventure for the Gaang and Zuko. The events that occur and its outcome have to tie into the existing problems surrounding the royal family (see: Pillar #2) and must contain conflict, uncertainty and contribute to the overall story that Season 4 aims to tell. This means the search for Ursa cannot be simple and cannot merely be about finding Ursa. It must hit multiple turtle ducks with one loaf of bread. So how can this be done? How can the search for Ursa be both full of conflict and uncertainty, contribute to the overall story and convey the theme of rebuilding the royal family? By applying the 4th pillar: the Fire Siblings must work together to find their mom. This means the return of Azula.

 1.4     Pillar #4: The Fire Siblings Work Together to Find Their Mom

           There were two loose threads at the end of the show. The first was well recognized and obvious: what happened to Zuko’s mom? The second was less universally recognized, but equally perplexing: what is the ultimate fate of Azula?

           In addition to being a top villain, Azula underwent the most rapid and unexpected change of any character in the franchise, creating questions about her motivations and personality where none had previously existed, but yielding very few answers in return. What should have been a triumphant battle between her and Zuko—obvious evil versus obvious good; a bully getting squashed by their victim—turned into a somber event backed by sad violins. So was the fade-to-black at the end of the Agni Kai the last we should ever see of her?

            It turns out that Azula is critically important to the layout of a 4th season. There are three reasons for this. First, she is Ursa’s daughter. Since Ursa is Azula’s mom, Ursa is going to implicitly care about what her daughter thinks and feels, regardless of our (the viewer’s) feelings about her villainy. At the same time, Zuko is going to care about what his mother thinks and feels, which means we are going to care about what Ursa thinks and feels about Azula. If Zuko’s mother is expressing concern, regret, longing, etc. over issues relating to Azula, then Zuko is going to take his mother’s feelings to heart because that’s the kind of person he is; he isn’t going to dismiss his mother’s feelings out of hand because Azula makes him and others uncomfortable. Consider this: is it really Avatar’s place to talk about what it’s like to have family members in prison who were rightfully convicted? Because that is a dead-end topic full of heartache and distress with no hopeful message or inspiring resolution.

           As a result, when Zuko decides to find his mother, the topic of Azula is going to arise immediately because he knows his mother is going to care about her. This makes the search for Ursa the most logical re-entry point for Azula. This is a key point: just as the search for Zuko’s mom is the bridge between the end of the show and its continuation, the search for Ursa is the bridge for bringing back Azula. We care about Zuko. We care about the Gaang. We also care about Ursa, but we don’t necessarily care about Azula. Tying her into the search for Zuko’s mom softens the shock of her return.

           But why bring Azula back at all? Aren’t we done with her? Can’t she just be left as a “messy” part of life so the Gaang and Zuko can go on new adventures and meet new people?

           Azula’s ultimate outcome is relevant both for the sake of Ursa and for the future of the royal family. Keep in mind that Zuko is both the supreme leader of his country and default leader of his family (which is in shambles). He is responsible for a great many things greater than himself and his feelings. It is his job to ponder questions like, “Should I execute Azula, or keep her alive?” Or, “If I keep her alive, what is ultimately done with her?” Or, “Would annihilating her ability to be a credible authority in the country (i.e. remove her bending) be a mistake further down the road?” And even, “Are those actions in line with the kind of person I am?” Zuko can’t shy away from these questions and neither can we.

           Whether or not Azula can be part of a functional, peaceful royal family with Zuko is not what’s important. The fact that Azula is Ursa’s daughter is what’s important and unassailable. This, however, is minor compared to the next two reasons for Azula’s involvement in Season 4.

           The second reason Azula is critical to a 4th season is because she is a young member of the royal family who can firebend. That fact alone makes her supremely relevant to the success of Zuko’s legacy. Will the country view her as a natural, more desirable alternative to Zuko? Will they disregard Zuko’s attempts to make her ineligible to rule? Will they view Azula as hope they can have her as a leader some day (and undo Zuko’s policies)?

           Not only would the opposition have their eyes on Azula, but will Zuko hope that Azula can be integrated into his rule in a timely fashion, thereby strengthening both his position and the royal family’s?

           You could take the viewpoint that nothing bad will happen in the decades it takes for Zuko to raise a family, but Zuko’s enemies might act much sooner (and they have to since the goal is to create a gripping story). From Zuko’s perspective of looking at the big picture, it might be regrettable in the long term if Azula’s potential to help stabilize the country and royal family is left unfulfilled.

           The third reason is because Azula is a well-regarded, powerful and highly accomplished member of the old regime. Not only is she an alternative to Zuko by family, but also by her reputation and abilities; the forces in the country that oppose Zuko might want to use her to neutralize him; they might also hold her in greater esteem than Zuko and view her as the rightful Fire Lord.

           We know it is not this simple, though. Azula is not operating from a clean slate. She suffered a psychotic episode so bad that even Zuko and Katara were able to take pity on her. Instead of putting her in prison and having Aang remove her bending, Zuko had her incarcerated in straight jackets and padded cells in relative comfort. She also just embarrassed herself in front of the whole capital and, by extension, the leadership of the country, by banishing all of her servants and guards for no good reason (seriously, where did the Dai Lee go??) Maybe the events that transpired in the finale shifted the public’s view of Azula from being a “terrifying yet inspirational” leader to being weak-willed and too unstable to be Fire Lord despite her accomplishments. Maybe she has lost the respect and confidence of the people who would have otherwise sought her leadership.

           At any rate, whoever gets a hold of Azula has a powerful weapon at their disposal. If the opposition acquires Azula, they will be made substantially more powerful and legitimate. On the other hand, if Zuko can get Azula on his side, his position will be that much more strengthened; not only will there be someone to guard his legacy—if, if, IF he can get her on his side—but her allegiance might be what it takes to win over those who hate him; if Azula of all people can accept Zuko’s rule then doesn’t that mean the rest of the old regime can?

           So Azula’s ultimate outcome is not a heartfelt reunion with her mother. It is not a moral redemption story. It is not resolving her myriad of emotional problems for her own sake. Azula’s ultimate outcome is to contribute to the leadership of the Fire Nation, because that is what members of the royal family are supposed to do and she is a member of the royal family. This requires her to play a key role in resolving the massive internal conflict facing the Fire Nation as a result of Zuko’s policies. By having Zuko and Azula work together to find their mother, it introduces the idea that it is possible for the Fire Siblings to work together, that the defeated members of the old regime can get over their differences with the new one, and acts as a mirror to the 1st pillar about Zuko facing resentment and opposition from his own people (who better to represent that than Azula?).

           But this role for Azula cannot be forced upon her. In any good story, characters must make choices and the reasons for those choices must be sufficiently developed. In order for Azula to take a side in the conflict, it must come as the result of believable inner-conflict and soul-searching on her part, or else it will just be a shallow rehashing of something she already is (a villain) or an unearned, half-baked means of getting her on the side of Zuko. Essentially, since Azula was already a villain and soundly defeated in the show, her new role has to be more complex and different from what we’ve already seen. For this to occur, Azula has to learn for herself the depth of animosity toward Zuko that is brewing in the Fire Nation and the consequences of it should it fester out of control.

           But Azula has been in an asylum all this time. She’s been chi-blocked, restrained, manhandled on a daily basis and altogether detached from the outside world. She needs to get experience with what’s going on in the Fire Nation and learn it firsthand, not be told it (as smart as she is, she is not all-knowing). This yields the 5th pillar of the 4th season: Azula must live amongst her people.

1.5     Pillar #5: Azula Runs Away and Lives Amongst Her People

           Azula is not brought back in Season 4 because she deserves a happy ending, or because she is misunderstood, or because she is cool or for anything close to that. She is brought back because she is necessary for resolving the season’s conflict and for conveying its themes. In order for this role to be believable (i.e. feel like it is earned by the character and not by the plot), it must be given adequate time to develop.

            To contribute to the overarching conflict, Azula must first develop a detailed perspective on the burgeoning unrest in the Fire Nation. Similar to how Zuko’s exposure to Earth Kingdom peoples allowed him to develop sympathy for their plight (and respect for Iroh’s teachings), Azula must live amongst the people of the Fire Nation to understand what is happening among them and what is at stake. In this respect, if Zuko represents a leader who must feel compassion toward and act in the best interests of the world and Fire Nation, Azula must be a leader who feels compassion toward and act in the best interests of the Fire Nation. Her concern is not the world, but for the Fire Nation. Zuko’s concern is both. This is where their interests align.

           The time Azula spends amongst her people is not for her to develop sympathy or tenderness or righteous protectiveness toward them as we would expect from Zuko. This is not to say that she wouldn’t feel compassion for her people, but there is a shrewdness and practicality to the insights she makes into her nation, like an undercover boss learning their company is not what they had thought, or like a princess learning that there are problems in her country that otherwise would deserve the attention of its princess. There is another key point highlighting Azula’s value in contributing to Zuko’s goal of redeeming the Fire Nation, and it is absolutely critical: Azula provides a key perspective on the current Fire Nation that we cannot get from the heroes.

           The lesson at the end of Zuko’s coronation is that the Fire Nation has to be taken down several notches. It has to be impugned and reprimanded, defanged and reformed. We have not seen that Fire Nation, though. The most we saw was a factory spewing sludge into the river near a small fishing village and kids who were taught lies about the start of the war (and weren’t allowed to dance. The shock and horror). What we don’t know is what the current Fire Nation thinks and feels about Zuko and his plans to undo the past hundred years.

           Remember how Azula is a member of the old regime and, in many ways, the Fire Nation that must be changed? She was also a true believer in that Fire Nation, just like the people who are trying to assassinate Zuko in The Promise. Not only this, but she is royalty, making her perspective on what it takes to lead the country more prescient than disgruntled nobles, generals, colonials and the like. It makes her perspective on what the Fire Nation is today more valuable than the rose-tinted view of what it used to be, or should be. It is the Fire Nation of today that must change, not the Fire Nation of old that must be arise from the grave; those people are dead and buried, it’s the people who are alive now who are of concern.

           When we see the Fire Nation and its troubles through Azula’s eyes, we do so from the perspective of the Fire Nation that must have its honor restored, not the Fire Nation that must be rebuilt through Zuko’s idealism and unquestionable honor. Remember that the overarching purpose of Zuko’s journey is to restore the honor of the Fire Nation. Restore it. It has not happened yet. For Zuko to do that, he has to better understand the Fire Nation that benefited from the war, that found it acceptable that he be burned and banished by his father and that was willing to do horrible things that he could not do himself because that is the Fire Nation that he needs to change.

           Do you think Zuko is going to have a “kill all who oppose me” attitude? Is he going to order troops to storm into libraries, break into academics’ homes and burn all documents and writings that say anything positive about the war in order to erase it from history like certain Chinese emperors did? Is he going to jail all who oppose him? Probably not, and that probably wouldn’t work either as, if the penalty for treason is death and the penalty for rebellion is death, then you rebel, and as we know, a single firebender is a one-person army. How many of them live across the Fire Nation and could do immeasurable damage if organized into even a modest army? The Capital has to get its food from somewhere…

           But that Fire Nation hates Zuko’s guts and Zuko is constrained by being the Fire Lord. He can’t just put his duties on hold and live amongst his people for an extended length of time, nor does he have the inclination to sympathize with people who believe he deserved to have been burned and that the war was good and justified. But there is someone in the royal family who can sympathize with those people, who has the anonymity to live amongst them, learn the details of their grievances and plans and, potentially, command their respect, and that is Azula. Think that Iroh cares much about that part of his country? Or, that they even care about him? This doesn’t mean Iroh hates them, but he might feel casual disdain. We’ve seen evidence in the show that Iroh is both loved and despised. Not only this, but he’s been secretly working against the Fire Nation for years and did so very blatantly during the events of Sozin’s Comet. All of this now out in the open, along with the White Lotus Society’s “extranational” status as a group of foreign agents working to supplant the Fire Nation’s government. Remember that the people opposing Zuko do not view Iroh and the White Lotus as the heroes that we do. They likely hate the White Lotus’ guts too.

           In order for Azula to be exposed to these intimate levels of Fire Nation society, she has to live amongst the people affected by Zuko’s policies, and the decision for her to do so has to come entirely from her. It can’t be a brokered deal between her and Zuko at the start of the season, nor can it be out of pure self-interest either. It also can’t be contrived; no one can break her out of the asylum, tell them their plans and she says, “I’m in!” She has to be in the right place at the right time and in the right frame of mind to end up on this path naturally. In order for all of this to occur, she must literally escape the influences of her old life (being a prisoner, threatened with having her bending removed, being second to Zuko, reminded daily of her failures, feeling humiliated, etc.) and go into hiding amongst her people. This allows us to see the “full” Azula through the eyes and experiences of the Fire Nation, not through the heroes and their bad blood with her.

           So Azula is initially reintroduced through her connection to Ursa and the royal family. She is involved in some way with the search for her mother, but events transpire during the search that motivate her to run away and go into hiding. Whatever those events are, the motivating factors have to be tied to the themes and unresolved issues surrounding her downfall in the finale. Her psychotic episode, banishing people, her erratic behavior during the Agni Kai, incarceration in an insane asylum and her ultimate failure to prevent the old regime from falling are essential features of who she is moving forward and they cannot be resolved off-screen. There is no going back to the old Azula, just like there’s no going back to the old Zuko. The latter half of Season 3 changed her forever and must be addressed.

           There is a concept in story crafting called “scene and sequel”. It’s odd terminology, but it works like this: “scenes” are where the action occurs. It is where the world in which the characters live, or the characters themselves, undergo major changes that drive the story forward. Whereas “sequels” are the low points between the scenes, the low valleys between the high mountains. They are where things are relatively static for the characters; the lulls between major changes where the characters need time to adjust. Scene and sequel affects the tempo of a story and the key to understanding it is this: by the end of a scene, a character must have undergone a substantial change from who or where they were at the beginning, whereas during a sequel, they remain unchanged from start to finish. Sure, they can move a teensy bit, but if, for example, whatever is making them sad at the start of a sequel is resolved, that resolution must occur during a scene. It can’t “just happen” during a low point; it can’t happen off screen.

           Scene and sequel is important to understanding how to reintroduce Azula back into the show. Whereas Zuko, Aang, Katara and the rest of the heroes completed their arcs by the end, Azula had not. In fact, her misery was just starting. The time between the end of Season 3 and the start of Season 4 represents a sequel for Azula. Therefore, Azula’s unresolved problems leftover at the end of the finale cannot be explained away; they have to be continued.

           The last time we saw Azula she was rolling around on the ground, in chains, screaming and crying as her world fell down around her. The next time we see her, she cannot be radically different from that. Yes, she can be lucid and calm and able to hold a conversation, but she has to be frazzled and on edge; she has to be bitter and depressed; humiliated and resentful; hopeless and scared. She has to be in denial about her culpability for her failures. She has to be desperate to absolve herself of blame even though the truth is gnawing at the back of her mind, because that’s where she left off. Essentially, the emotional “pallet” from the finale has to be carried forward.

           However Azula is portrayed when she returns, one thing has to be very clear: she has not gotten over the events that transpired in the finale. Notably, this is what The Search did with her and it was done rather reasonably well.

           As for the reasons why Azula runs away, or escapes, or disappears? Perhaps she does try to kill her mother in a hairbrained scheme born out of her desperation and mental unwellness, as portrayed in The Search, and so does not want to face the consequences for it. Maybe there is a letter putting Zuko’s paternity in doubt, but Azula screws up the opportunity to use it against him (she gets distracted by trying to kill her mom, for example) and runs away so she isn’t imprisoned by her brother. Maybe she tries to take revenge on Zuko but fails and so she doesn’t want to go to prison, go back to the asylum, or have her bending removed. Perhaps she has another psychotic episode and the shame of being returned to the asylum is too much for her to handle. Whatever the reason, she has to be motivated by the fear, anger, resentment and humiliation left over from the finale. Think of what she was feeling during that final scene in Sozin’s Comet. That is what she wants to escape from.

           But where does Azula physically go? It has to be somewhere that is experiencing the variety of problems that the rapid end of the war and Zuko’s policies is creating, somewhere she can experience first hand the range of causes that is fomenting trouble in the Fire Nation. Maybe it is a city that benefited economically from the war industry and is now seeing its prosperity decline. Maybe it is an industrial town that has seen all orders dry up and they want their livelihoods back. Maybe it is a locale full of relocated colonials who are unhappy to have been removed from their homes and are struggling to make ends meet due to the strain they are placing on the Fire Nation economy. The options aren’t endless, but it should kill as birds with one stone as possible. For example, an isolated mountain village showing ”traditional” Fire Nation culture is not a suitable place for Azula (or the viewer) to go.

           Wherever Azula goes, it has to open her eyes (and ours) to the situation in the Fire Nation, and this leads into the 6th pillar of the season: Azula must discover the major threat brewing in the Fire Nation.

1.6     Pillar #6: Azula Learns the Major Threat Brewing in the Fire Nation

           Until this point in the hypothetical Season 4, the primary threat cannot be known. Yes, there have been assassination attempts on Zuko and yes, it has been revealed that there is widespread displeasure toward him, but none of it has been anything that the combined might of Zuko and the people who support him cannot put a lid on, and so far, a lid has been put on it.

           The reason the primary threat is not known are: 1) it has been hidden by those who are behind it; 2) members of Zuko’s cabinet have been hiding it/misleading him; and 3) it has been hiding its true intentions behind a benign façade.

           The reason Azula is able to discover the primary threat is because only someone who opposes Zuko and wishes him harm would be able to join forces with the people behind the primary threat. A peaceful, obedient, “normal” citizen of the Fire Nation is not going to seek out, or be interested in, ways of taking down the Fire Lord. But Azula would. So when she learns of the existence of this “threat” (a movement, plot, conspiracy, etc.), it appeals to her negative feelings and gives her hope that she can turn back time, that she can rise from the ashes of her shame and humiliation. Only someone with her background and belief in the old regime would be willing to cooperate with such a movement against her country’s imperial leadership. In other words, only a former villain. Zuko can’t do it. Aang can’t do it. Iroh can’t. None of the heroes can. They don’t even know it exists, neither do they have the personalities to associate with the kinds of people actively working to sabotage Zuko’s government. They would oppose immediately. Azula would want to get inside it.

           But that isn’t the only reason why Azula is the character through which the primary threat is revealed. She must be the one to reveal it because when she learns the full extent of the primary threat’s goals, she realizes the massive, cataclysmic consequences it poses to the Fire Nation and royal family. Now pillars 1 and 2 are tied together.

           A “normal” disgruntled citizen who hates Zuko would go along with the primary threat and trust its leaders, but Azula is not a normal citizen. She is the princess. She can see the big picture. The consequences of the primary threat have to make Azula’s “princess senses” tingle. It has to be something that reminds her of who she is and what her responsibilities are. It has to make her question what she truly wants and how far she is willing to go to get it, if she even still can.

           And the heroes don’t know what Azula finds out. Zuko doesn’t know the cataclysmic problem building in his country, but now there is a member of the royal family who does and she holds critical information necessary to either stopping it, or using it to her advantage.

           So Azula’s time living amongst her people is ultimately about teaching her (and the viewers) key facts about the Fire Nation’s culture and society that is leading it towards a massive internal conflict, a conflict bad enough that even the resentful, jilted Azula can’t feel comfortable about. Whatever the primary threat is, it is not something she can ignore and this leads to the 7th pillar of the season: Azula must take a side.

1.7     Pillar #7: Azula Takes a Side

           The main thrust of Season 4 is beginning to take shape. Zuko’s ongoing journey is to redeem the Fire Nation. He is opposed in his journey by his own citizens who despise him and what he is trying to do. At the same time, the anemic, dysfunctional state of the royal family is harming his legitimacy and requires resolution. He and Azula manage to cooperate with each other in finding their mom, but that too falls apart and Azula disappears. While hiding amongst her people, Azula discovers the truth about what’s happening in the Fire Nation and what she learns is so serious that it spurs her to action. But what will she do with her knowledge? Will she try to use it to her advantage, perhaps by taking over the primary threat from the inside? Will she do nothing and let the Fire Nation burn out of spite and desire to make her enemies pay? Or, will her pride and sense of duty as princess prevail?

           All of Azula’s experiences living amongst her people has been to prepare her for this decision (and for the viewer to believe it). Technically, she could make any choice (viewers’ expectations and internal consistency be damned), but keep in mind that Season 4 needs to show us new things. We have already seen Azula as a straight up villain. We’ve already seen Azula and Zuko fight to the death. We’ve already seen Azula defeated, badly. What we haven’t seen is Azula willing submit to Zuko’s will. What we haven’t seen is the fire siblings work together in a big, lasting way that isn’t born out of self-interest (Zuko wanting to earn his father’s love in The Crossroads of Destiny), or ulterior motive (whatever scheme Azula has during the search for their mother, which goes wrong and forces her to run away and become a fugitive). Just as we haven’t seen the Fire Nation that hates Zuko reconcile with him, we haven’t seen Azula reconcile with Zuko.

           So there is really only one choice Azula can make. It is the choice that contributes to Zuko’s journey of redeeming the Fire Nation, of rebuilding the royal family and of solving the central conflict of Season 4. It is the 8th and final pillar of Season 4: Zuko and Azula must work together to save the Fire Nation.

1.8     Pillar #8: Zuko and Azula Work Together to Save the Fire Nation

            This is the heart and soul of Season 4. It is what everything has been building to. This is why Zuko’s anxieties about the royal family are more than just heartache for him. It is why we have to spend time learning more about Azula. Season 4 is not about having extra adventures for the Gaang. It is not about the events that lead to Republic City and Korra. It is not about having more Iroh and his anecdotes. At its core, Season 4 is about this: it is the story about how the two warring sides of the royal family (represented by Zuko and Azula) become united again, symbolizing the change for good of the Fire Nation.

           How exactly they work together depends on the nature of the threat. We know Azula can be fearless, or at least highly confident, and is quite intelligent. Perhaps she infiltrates the threat to act as a double agent, playing both sides until the very end (we know she has the ability to do this given her success at taking control of the Dai Lee). Maybe Zuko uses his reputation as a kindhearted idealist to feign ignorance of Azula’s involvement with the enemy in order to shield her from scrutiny by the heroes and give her credibility amongst his enemies (to maintain the ruse). It can’t be last minute save-the-day though, as Zuko needs enough time to build trust for Azula.

           Whatever the details of the conflict and the manner in which it is resolved, the relationship between Zuko and Azula has to be believable and earned. There has to be times of conflict and mistrust between them. There have to be moments where the heroes have to be defended from Azula and where Zuko has to defend Azula from the heroes, but binding them through all of it and tempering the worst of their feelings is the fact that they are both royalty with duties greater than themselves.

           By the end, the primary threat should be defeated and no others lay on the horizon. Zuko’s rule should be safe and the future of the royal family certain. No longer will Zuko lament his lack of family, or feel haunted by his past. He will have regained his mother and, for the first time in his life, have someone who he is proud to call his sister. For him, it will feel like turning a new page. The past will truly feel like the past and the future will be unlike anything he has ever experienced.

           There will be no doubt that the Fire Nation can achieve the redemption it needs and that Zuko is the one to lead it, but not because he is a good, moral person. Not because he stood up to his father and defeated Azula in the finale. Not because he is a hero who earned a happy ending, but because he made the right decisions as Fire Lord, applied Iroh’s teachings to new situations, stood by what he believed was right even when other heroes doubted him and, finally, because he figured out how to turn a former enemy and member of the old regime into a friend, or at least into a lasting ally.

           Azula’s journey will be over and, at last, so will Zuko’s.

2       Summary

           To summarize, these are the pillars that must carry Season 4:

1)    Zuko’s policies are met by significant resentment and opposition from his own people;

2)    The anemic, dysfunctional state of the royal family has major implications for the stability and legacy of Zuko’s rule;

3)    Zuko is inspired to find his mom in order to strengthen the royal family;

4)    Zuko brings Azula with him to find their mother, both for the sake of his mother and to test the waters on a peaceful relationship with his sister;

5)    Azula goes awry on the search, resulting in her escaping/disappearing;

6)    While on her own living amongst her people, Azula discovers a massive internal threat brewing in the Fire Nation that she cannot ignore;

7)    Azula decides that using this threat to get back at her enemies is not compatible with her values, so she joins forces with Zuko to stop it;

8)    And finally, Zuko and Azula work together to stop the threat, thereby setting an example for the rest of the country and healing the rift between the two warring sides of the royal family.

3       Closing Remarks

           This framework does not place a limit on the content of Season 4, but clarifies what it must be built from. You’ll notice it says very little about the roles of Aang, Katara, Iroh and so on. That’s because they do not undergo the levels of change that Azula and Zuko must go through. Their journeys were over at the end of the series, whereas Zuko’s and Azula’s were not. At the same time, it is Zuko and Azula who have to work together to resolve the conflict, or more specifically, Azula who has to learn to work with Zuko. That is a major change on her part. In order to sell this to the viewer, adequate time must be given to its development.

           The Gaang needs to be involved, but what they do and the changes they undergo have to be in the context of the eight pillars and central conflict, or else their actions become extraneous filler and fluff. For example, Kataang is not furthered for the sake of fanservice, but because strengthening their relationship is the result of their teamwork in solving the story’s problems. At the same time, Iroh is not present because we like Iroh, but because he is a member of the royal family, has a checkered relationship with the war, split allegiances (White Lotus vs. Fire Nation) and apparently pessimistic view of his niece (i.e. Ursa’s daughter). Is Ursa going to appreciate, “She’s crazy and needs to go down?” Iroh must be tied to the troubles of the Fire Nation and its royal family.

           This depiction of Season 4 appears heavy on Azula. In short, this is because she has the most to reveal about the Fire Nation and has the most change to undergo. Essentially, she has to go on a journey, and journeys require time. In that sense, Season 4 could be thought of as being 1/3rd Zuko & the Heroes, 1/3rd Azula on her own, and 1/3rd Zuko, Azula, & and the heroes.

           A final word about how to handle Azula: you can’t be too nice to her. You have to sell her importance to the heroes and not assume people are going to care about her. In fact, that’s how any character should work, but in the case of a former villain, you have to work even harder at it. This makes Azula’s involvement in the season the most radical, but also the most intriguing.

           If you’re familiar with the Fire Nation comics (The Promise, The Search, and Smoke & Shadow), you’ll notice the parallels and deviations this framework has with them. It is quite apparent that Bryke were thinking along these lines when they brainstormed the comics, but for whatever reasons, they failed to follow through.

           The way to understand this framework—these “pillars” that support Season 4—is to look at them as universal to the franchise. They come from the internal logic, unresolved issues and established themes of the show. If, for instance, Bryke got abducted by aliens and Nickelodeon had to hire new showrunners to make a 4th season, the new showrunners would find this story inherent to the source material whether they were prior fans of Avatar or not.

           We’ll probably never get this story, but as fans we are free to speculate and devise our own scenarios in order to keep the entertainment value of Avatar alive. If you agree with this framework, you now have a method for developing the details of how Avatar can be continued past Aang’s journey in a way that is compelling, full of heart, and builds upon what was left behind.

           The craving you felt for more Avatar at the end of the show was not you being a ravenous fan who couldn’t accept that their plate was empty. It was recognizing the potential for a story that has not been fulfilled.

[miraculouscontent]

I'm a bit of a paranoid person so when Mari made her own blog my mind instantly went "she should hire max to make sure its protected against hackers"but then that would also make for a pretty interesting reveal situation, alya or someone from the class managed to hack it and trace it back to mari and all hell brakes loose

Yeaaaaah, though, actually—

“Thanks again for the opportunity, Ladybug!” Marinette exclaimed, staring just above an empty chair a few meters away.

She waited a few seconds, then stared at the camera and waved.

Standing up, she walked over to the camera and stopped the recording.

Turning, Marinette gave Tikki a smile. “Ready for the other side, Tikki?”

Tikki tilted her head. “I still don’t think I get it. Why would you want people to see you and Ladybug together?”

Marinette smiled. “To clear me as Ladybug, for one thing. No one’s going to suspect that we’re the same person if there’s a video of both of us.”

She paused, then added, “Plus, this could all be traced back to me anyway. I’d rather have it out now than have someone figure it out later, or it’ll just look really suspicious.”

Tikki let out a small hum, then flew over to the computer. “So… you can just put the two videos together on here?”

“That’s right,” Marinette confirmed. “And, if they don’t sync up perfectly, I can just do a little–” She waved a hand with a dramatic flourish. “–Marinette magic, so it’ll look good.”

Tikki nodded, staring thoughtfully at the screen. Then, she looked at Marinette, concerned.

Marinette blinked. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just worried,” Tikki admitted. “What if Hawk Moth sends his victims after you?”

Marinette let out a snort, then smirked. “Let him.”

“Wh–” Tikki’s eyes were wide. “Let him?”

“That just makes my job easier,” Marinette replied, moving over to her computer chair and sitting down on it. “Thanks to LadyBugOut, I can keep track of every news channel that could possibly report when someone’s been akumatized, and I get notified of any akuma that people see. If I see something on the news or hear that there’s an akuma that I won’t be able to get to in time, all I gotta do is head home, turn into Ladybug, and wait. Hawk Moth is going to deliver his villains straight to me.”

Leaning back, Marinette titled her head towards Tikki. “Besides, even if someone might be akumatized in the bakery or at school, I know that Hawk Moth doesn’t have full control of his victims. I’m already saying in the video that me and Ladybug have a strict business relationship, so he’d know that I don’t know her identity and that using me as a bargaining chip would be just as good as using anyone else.

“If anything, me running the blog is the exact reason why they shouldn’t go after me. I’ve been learning self-defense hands-on for every bee post I’ve made and, accordingly to Ladybug–” She winked. “–I know all the secrets of akumatized objects. If I supposedly have contact with Ladybug, all I have to do is get my hands on their object and break it, then call Ladybug.”

“What if they want you to call Ladybug to bring her to them?”

Marinette pulled out her phone, showing Tikki a fake contact that was a silhouette of Ladybug. Faking an apologetic tone, Marinette said, “Oh, sorry, Hawk Moth. Looks like Ladybug’s not transformed right now. No can do.”

“And if you’re captured?”

“We have new permanent heroes now,” Marinette reminded her. “If it was just Chat, yeah, it could be a problem, but now we have three new teammates. Besides, if Hawk Moth realizes that Ladybug never actually shows up when he’s got me, he’s gonna start realizing this as a lost cause.”

With a smile, Marinette said confidently, “So Hawk Moth might even make sure that I’m left alone because, more than anything else, he wants my miraculous. If he thinks that Ladybug will stay away if Hawk Moth captures me, then I’m off the table for capture.”

“Won’t Paris think badly of Ladybug if she doesn’t show up?”

“Not with our other four heroes ready for action,” Marinette replied. “Ladybug does the planning, but what she’s known for is turning everything back to normal. By the time I’m freed, Ladybug can still swoop in and fix everything. Heck, even if I’m mind-controlled, which isn’t likely, there are four other heroes to find the akuma’s object and break it, then you can do Miraculous Ladybug yourself.”

Tikki nodded slowly, then straightened. “Wait–” She hesitated, as if trying to figure something out on her own. “What do you mean it isn’t likely?”

Kicking off the floor to give her chair a small spin, Marinette replied, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Hawk Moth, it’s that he either doesn’t like going through a lot of effort or doesn’t know how to use his powers properly. He’ll get tired of capturing me real quick when it doesn’t work out for him. He’s dangerous, but he’s not a genius.”

Tikki gaped, surprised to hear such a thing being said. “How do you know?”

Marinette stopped spinning, staring at Tikki and stating matter-of-factly, “No one in their right mind would akumatize a baby unless they were desperate. I bet he was either aiming for someone else or is throwing everything he can at us to see what sticks.

“That’s why he won’t make a bunch of akuma again like he did back during Heroes’ Day. He can’t keep track of everything at once. That’s why he had to be out in public; he couldn’t see what was going on otherwise.”

Tikki paused, needing to process what that meant. “So…”

“He’s running out of options,” Marinette finished. “We haven’t seen the peacock in a while, and I bet that’s for a reason. Could be whoever’s using it or it could just be Hawk Moth trying his hardest to keep it under wraps; he did seem pretty surprised before that thing showed up to let him get away.”

Tikki pursed her lips, clearly trying to think of another retort, but had nothing. “You’ve really thought this over.”

Marinette nodded. “Well, I’ve been set on the right path, y’know?”

She glanced up, thinking about everything that’d happened since she became Ladybug. “I spent so much time obsessing over Adrien that I was doing the bare minimum as a superhero. I didn’t have any plans to look for Hawk Moth and never really thought about it until we brought the grimoire to Master Fu.”

She ran a hand along her hair, then got up and pulled down her schedule. What was once a schedule of Adrien’s activities was now a plan for her activities.

“So I’ve gotta get organized. All that stuff with Adrien was draining so much of my time and I didn’t even realize it.”

She sighed, pulling the schedule down and letting it rise back up to its original place. “And for what? Nothing! I could’ve been making fashion!”

Tikki flew up to her, flashing a smile.

Marinette couldn’t help smiling back. “What is it now?”

Tikki pressed against Marinette’s cheek, giving it a gentle hug. “You were doing more than the bare minumum, even back then! I thought you were a great Ladybug!”

Marinette blushed, placing a hand behind Tikki in an attempt to hug back. “And now?”

Tikki floated away, pausing. She clearly didn’t know what would surpass “great.” She giggled, then offered, “You’re a greater Ladybug?”

Marinette chuckled. “Thanks, Tikki.”

Facing the camera, she stood proud. “Now, spots on!”

She transformed in a bright flash of light, then wandered over to the camera. She hit the record button, then walked over to the opposite seat she’d been sitting in during her last recording.

“Hey there, everyone!” she greeted the camera with a smile. “Today, I want to introduce everyone to my assistant: the creator of LadyBugOut, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

Marinette breathed, steeling herself up for class. Even though the general response of her reveal as “Ladybug’s assistant” was positive–most people happy that Ladybug wasn’t doing so much work on her own–she was still preparing herself for what the reaction of her classmates was. She’d never said a word this whole time, so she wondered if maybe they’d grill her for that.

Before Marinette could even make it to the window peeking into the class, she could hear yelling. It was loud, but Marinette couldn’t make it out.

As she reached the window, Marinette looked inside and noticed everyone crowded around someone. Worried that she’d need to play mediator again, she went for the door and opened it as fast as she could.

Her mouth dropped open. Standing in the middle of a good chunk of the class was Lila.

They were actually yelling at Lila. She was hunched over in her seat, looking like she wanted to crawl into a hole.

Part of Marinette was tempted to just let it play out, but she took a breath and stepped into the class.

Lila’s gaze darted up to her. Immediately, she stood, looking extremely upset (though Marinette imagined that she was faking it).

“How could you do this to me, Marinette?!”

Marinette blinked. “Do what?”

“I can’t believe you and Ladybug would try to sabotage me!” Lila said through fake tears. “After I said that Ladybug asked me to make LadyBugOut for her, you made a plan with her to make me look bad!”

Silence followed. The class was looking between Marinette and Lila.

Alya and Nino though, were pretending to be distracted by their phones. Alya had stared up very briefly to look at Marinette, but immediately went back to her phone. Adrien was sitting nearby, but seemed conflicted on intervening. Chloe and Sabrina were at their desk, looking ahead with innocence but also seeming very invested in all the shouting. The only other people who weren’t part of the crowd were Juleka and Rose, who were sitting quietly at their desk.

Marinette stared at Lila impassively. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

Lila sank down to her desk, placing her hands to her face. “I thought you were so nice, Marinette! Why would you lie like this?”

Marinette went to interject, but Ivan cut in.

“She’s not the liar! You are!”

Lila gasped, staring up at Ivan in shock.

Ivan continued, “Marinette was never around to hear you talk about that! She always left as soon as class was over!”

It made sense that Ivan would know that, given that he sat next to Marinette in class. Lila, however, paled upon realizing that fact.

“W-wha–” she stammered. “No, that’s… someone must have told her!”

Kim glared at her, challenging her with, “Who? None of us ever followed Marinette out. We were all here, listening to you!”

He looked over at Marinette, gaze apologetic. Marinette simply smiled, waving at him.

Lila’s gaze was darting around the various classmates, most glaring at her at this point. “Then–Kitty Section!”

Juleka and Rose glanced at each other while Ivan’s gaze didn’t waver.

“You–you must’ve told her!” Lila insisted.

Rose tilted her head, not offended but confused. “We don’t talk about you around Marinette. She asked us not to.”

Lila looked back to Marinette, who simply raised her brows.

Adrien rose from his seat, finally doing something. “N-now, hang on, everyone–”

“Luka!” Lila shouted, pointing at Juleka. She was looking desperate at this point. “Juleka must’ve told Luka, who told Marine–”

Juleka stood, knocking a book off her desk. Her gaze was piercing, and Marinette had honestly never seen Juleka so upset.

“Are you saying that my brother would do something like that?!” Juleka asked loudly.

Lila was stunned silent, everyone else immediately backing off as Juleka headed straight for her.

“N-no,” Lila said, her voice pathetically small. “I just… thought–”

“Leave Luka out of this!” Juleka demanded. “I don’t even talk to him about you!”

Lila let out a noise like she was being strangled. Adrien went closer, looking ready to either restrain or calm Juleka, but Juleka just let out a huff and walked away, slumping back into her desk.

Rose slid over to her, gently rubbing her shoulder.

The rest of the classmates crowded back around Lila, their gazes even angrier than before as they waited for Lila to explain herself.

Lila turned, fumbling nervously with a paper on her desk as she tried to ignore everyone. Then, she perked up.

“I… I never said I made the LadyBugOut blog!” Lila pointed out. “Ladybug just asked me to!”

Standing up, Lila pushed her way through the crowd as politely as she could. She slipped in with Alya, then linked their arms together. Alya glanced over, confused.

“I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to cause any drama,” Lila began, “but I actually never agreed to make that blog for Ladybug.”

Lila leaned closer to Alya, feigning sadness. “It was hard to say no to Ladybug, but I just couldn’t betray my friend like that.”

Alya looked surprised. “Really?”

“Of course!” Lila replied, staring right at Alya. “I was so worried about what Ladybug would say. She was always so jealous that you had a popular blog.”

Faking a sob, Lila continued, “I’m so sorry for lying about how good of a friend Ladybug was. She’s not as good as I said. I’d just promised to keep her reputation a secret, but I can’t lie to you guys anymore!”

Alya raised a hand, looking like she wanted to comfort Lila.

Before she could, the class started shouting again.

“Oh, save it, Lila!” Alix yelled.

Max added, “That’s a terribly specific lie! You’re picking apart simple word choices and using them as a safety net!”

Markov flew from Max’s bag, equally perturbed. “Max and I do not appreciate your lies and attempts to bury the facts!”

“Was everything else a lie too?!” Kim asked.

Nathaniel shook his head disapprovingly. “You don’t even know Ladybug, do you?”

“And you hurt Marinette just to make yourself look good!” Ivan accused, infuriated.

Marinette glanced at Adrien, feeling his eyes on hers.

Adrien immediately turned away, though she couldn’t read his expression.

Alya, meanwhile, had recoiled at everyone’s shouting, Lila still clutching her arm. Alya opened her mouth, closed it, then began to say, “Guys–”

Alix snapped her gaze to Alya. “Don’t think we’ve forgotten about you either, Alya!”

“W-what?” Alya asked. Her expression turned to offended. “What did I do?!”

“Don’t act like we’re dumb! Just because Lila’s takin’ heat here doesn’t mean we don’t remember what you tried to hide about that kiss!”

Alya made a face that implied that it was actually herself who’d forgotten it in the midst of the thorough thrashing Lila had been dealing with.

“I–” Alya stammered. One could imagine that Alya had planned a response, but had lost it in the moment.

She glanced down at Chloe, who’d played a large role in the last heated moment of the classroom, but had been completely silent in this one.

Chloe was simply sitting there, Sabrina filing at her nails. Perhaps feeling Alya’s eyes on her, Chloe looked over in Alya’s direction.

All she did was smirk at both Alya and Lila.

Alya gaped, then turned her gaze back to the rest of the class. “But–”

Nino couldn’t even get a word in. The classmates were quick to turn on Alya.

“I’m not surprised, but man, Alya!”

“I thought you really liked Ladybug?”

“Wasn’t the Ladyblog supposed to be professional? What happened to that?”

“I thought you’d be the type that hate lies! Is this some kind of ironic joke?”

“I can’t believe it! I defended you!”

“I recommended your blog to other people! What am I gonna tell them now?”

In the middle of the chaos, Alya glanced in Marinette’s direction.

Marinette said nothing, not knowing what Alya expected her to say. Was Alya really expecting her to play defense?

Marinette had no sort of protection to provide. She couldn’t play middle ground to something so obviously skewed, whether she wanted to or not.

However, instead of questioning her on that, Alya asked stiffly, loud enough to remain audible over the shouts, “Why’d you help Ladybug with her blog?”

The shouting stopped, everyone straightening before turning to Marinette.

Marinette raised a brow at Alya, as if the answer was obvious (because it was). “Ladybug needed help. How could I say no to that?”

“Lila did,” Alya replied with just a bit of disdain.

Marinette frowned. She stood strong, stating matter-of-factly, “I’m not Lila.”

She refrained from a sarcastic addition of, “Sorry to disappoint you.”

Something must’ve clicked between most of the class, because they suddenly began to look at Lila, then Marinette, then back to Lila.

Marinette didn’t understand at first, but then she realized...

They were looking at Lila like how they’d looked at Marinette, all the way back on Lila’s first day, right after Lila had tried to turn them against Marinette.

Now, they’d seen their mistake.

Without warning, just about everyone (excluding Lila, Alya, Nino, Chloe, Sabrina, and Adrien) rushed at Marinette. They shouted profuse apologies, though Marinette could hardly make any of them out when they were all being said at once.

Nonetheless, she felt appreciated, trying to reassure everyone that it was okay and she wasn’t mad.

The door creaked a bit behind her, and Miss Bustier’s voice rang out, “Is something the matter?”

The class all looked at her, then quickly dispersed and returned to their seats. Mylene, who’d been largely quiet this whole time and had a seat behind Lila, moved just slightly to be behind Alya instead. Then, obviously debating with herself, she moved back to being behind Lila.

After a moment of consideration and realizing she had nowhere else to move to, she resigned herself to sit behind neither of them, trying for somewhere in the middle.

Marinette, taking a breath after all the “excitement,” glanced down at Lila, who seemed to want to sink as low as possible into her seat. She probably had one or two back-up lies for certain situation, but to have that video sprung on her out of nowhere; she certainly hadn’t been ready for that.

Allowing herself a little time to forget her better nature, Marinette smirked at the justice Lila’d just been dealt since she’d come into class. That went far better than she’d expected.