#but i'm glad i did because it really opened up this can of worms for me. like this wouldn't of clicked without those playthroughs so <3 yea | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cheswirls · 3 months

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set of drabbles i did for @februairy's cute badminton au :)

"what do you mean you have us in different rooms?!"

"exactly what i said." shanks raises his hands to rest on his hips as he puts his metaphorical foot down. "this is an important competition, and i need you both to be all-in, one hundred percent. that means no needless distractions."

he raises his index finger when sabo opens his mouth to argue. "none of that. i've given you my reason and your only choice. unless you'd rather find somewhere else to stay on your own dime?"

sabo's mouth snaps shut. this time, when shanks offers him the room key, sabo wordlessly swipes it from his hand. he picks his training bag back up off the floor and storms away further inside the gym, muttering over his shoulder about getting in more reps while everyone else goes out to eat.

it's to blow off steam, so shanks doesn't say anything against it. hopefully the extra exertion will clear sabo's head.

when sanji opens the door to his hotel room, he finds his doubles partner on the other side instead of his assigned roommate. he can't help the surprise that pulls across his face. "what about sabo?"

"he kicked me out!" usopp exclaims, going from looking bashful to suddenly being very indignant – literally kicking the air. "then he made me switch him room keys!" his hand falls away from his suitcase handle so it teeters on its own to stay upright on the plush hallway carpet. "do you see what the problem is with that? it wasn't even his room to dictate what happens in!"

his other hand slides away from the strap to his overnight bag, essentially leaving both arms free to cross over his chest. "but if anyone asks, ace told me to say it was actually him that did all this. like anyone would believe that, hm? ace wasn't the one who stormed off earlier when we all got room assignments."

no, but he did stay behind to deal with his petty princess, sanji drily thinks as he finally holds the door open wider. usopp slouches where he stands and moves inside with all his luggage.

"well, look on the bright side, hm? neither of us has to deal with having a roommate that wants to be with someone else."

usopp nods wordlessly, still feeling prickly and dejected both at once. "really i'm just glad there's no cover story i have to keep up with. at least we won't have to deal with the fallout."

neither of them mention that it probably won't be an issue at all, because when shanks is personally traveling and organizing his athletes, his oversight is notably lax most of the time. it's not like he'll come upstairs to personally check everyone is where they're supposed to be for the night. aside from the grief given at the beginning, it's over now, for all intents and purposes.

besides, he'd meant what he said. he'd much rather room with usopp than have to deal with the world's most pouty prima-donna for the next four days.

sabo puts his arms in the sleeves of his pullover and then stretches them above his head in a last attempt to pop his spine. he's not given a chance to lower them and shrug the rest of the pullover on because ace comes up behind him and sags into his still-arched back.

sabo carefully resists a forming shudder when he feels ace's arms worm around his middle, fingers immediately roving along his sides. "ace, we really should go down to eat breakfast," he tries.

"gimme one more minute," ace mumbles into the back of sabo's jersey. "i need more sabo time to myself before we have to go out in public."

sabo snorts, because it's not like they'll be coming right back up or anything. he's not stuffing his feet into anything but slide-ons before 10AM if he can help himself. and he doesn't want to deal with bringing any of their practice stuff downstairs if they're not immediately going to leave.

his attempt at thinking of a snappy reply fails when ace's lips start working up the back of his neck. sabo does shudder this time, back finally relaxing from the unnatural position, and his arms come down from overhead to land lightly on ace's own. "ace, c'mon. let's go get food."

ace releases him to finish getting dressed himself, leaving sabo alone to resume putting his light jacket on. his commentary still filters over to sabo, though, both unnecessary and unwarranted.

"we could just go out to eat. there's that bakery down the road along the way to the training facility, and the woman who owns it likes watching us compete."

"we're trying to save money," sabo reminds him lightly, then smirks as he recalls exactly what they're saving money for. "hotel breakfast is free. if you want something specific later, we can nag shanks into taking everyone to eat again."

he opens the door for ace and doesn't attempt to decipher ace's mumbling after being met with a dull look. it was probably about how they could've gone to eat last night (or at least ace could have, if he hadn't offered to stay late with sabo) and sabo's better off leaving the exact wording of such a mystery.

but he does tune back in once they're in the elevator, ace speaking a bit louder and from a bit closer when he wonders aloud if they'd get something for free from the bakery if they let it slip that they're engaged now.

sabo puts an elbow in his side before the elevator doors can slide shut.

"you're late" are the first words koala says to sabo that morning when he sets his food tray down in front of the modest table she's claimed. she's said it for the sole purpose of riling him up and it works. she looks on in amusement when he pulls his chair out more harshly than intended.

"there's no set meal schedule, dearest, but thanks for grinding my gears. i can always count on you for that."

koala puts a hand over her heart. "what are friends for?"

sabo sits down heavily and leans into the backrest of the chair with a long-drawn sigh. "yeah, well, if you want someone to blame, then it's totally ace's fault for not getting up."

koala raises a brow at the wording. come to think of it, she had watched the two of them walk into the dining hall together. "you stayed with him? how'd you manage that? didn't you send me a whole long angry text last night about shanks being a literal demon from hell?"

"i switched rooms," sabo bites, throwing his head back to say this as snootily as possible. (ugh. it's too early for her to deal with this attitude from him.) "it's fine. shanks obviously doesn't understand the needs of teammates who are together romantically, so i just corrected his mistake on my own."

"and does he know about this correction?"

sabo purses his lips and ducks into his small bowl of porridge. "no," he mumbles.

"your 'needs' huh?" koala prods, smirking when sabo glances back up at her. she raises a brow instead of verbally asking the question.

sabo rolls his eyes and stabs his spoon back into the pile of mush. "we didn't do anything like that."

"like what?" ace pipes up, finally within hearing distance. when sabo only shrugs his shoulders, he wordlessly looks past his head to koala, but she only seals her lips. "well, glad you two are having fun with your secrets," he mildly snarks.

he pulls out a chair next to sabo and slides into it. "i still think we should've hit the bakery instead, by the way. the sesame cookies are already out, and when i asked, a server told me they were done making them for the day!"

"could've woken up earlier," sabo mutters. then, louder, "and we're still trying to save money."

"hah!" ace leans back precariously in his seat, ignoring his plate of cannoli to be petulant. "so when you want something, it's suddenly a necessary expense, but when i do the same it's a waste of money to even consider?"

"yes, that's right!" sabo proclaims haughtily, stabbing his spoon back into his breakfast. across from them, koala can't help but laugh at their comedy performance.

"aren't you used to him being this way by now?" she asks ace when ace glares at her. she also reaches into her bag at the same time to pull out a collection of thumb-sized cookies she has wrapped in a napkin. "you're lucky i'm so thoughtful," she says to him before he can get out a retort, offering him the small handful of the same sweets he'd been complaining about not getting to eat. "and that i thought of you earlier when i saw these and realized how quickly they were going."

"you're right, i completely forgive you and love you," ace rushes to say as he accepts the gift. at his side, sabo purses his lips and huffs at the wording, but ace ignores him completely in favor of tossing a small cookie into his mouth. "you're literally the best."

koala inclines her chin, leering over at sabo when he happens to look up at her. "i'm the best," she gloats.

she should have expected sabo to snap at some point, yet the heel suddenly digging into her shin makes her realize she'd thought of this a tad too late.

"oh, that? i can tell you about that," robin says to sanji and usopp during lunch. she'd heard an abridged version from koala earlier of the conversation she'd had with sabo that morning. "shanks found out those two got engaged recently and thought rooming them together would be a needless distraction."

that's the short of it, but it sure does paint matching looks of surprise on both of the athletes sitting across from her. they've both paused with food halfway to their mouths. she chuckles at the sight, hiding her open lips behind one hand.

"oh," both of them say simultaneously. then, from just sanji, "ok, yeah, i'd be pissed too. what a dick move. that's a valid reason."

"how long have they been engaged?" usopp asks around a bite of his sandwich. "was that supposed to stay a secret?"

"i don't think so, it just hasn't been too long," robin assures him. "i actually don't know the specifics. you'll have to direct your inquiries to either of them."

"yeah, no thanks," usopp mutters. "if shanks nearly had his head bitten off, i'd hate to see what happens to me."

"well, he did incite them," sanji reminds him. "i'm sure ace wouldn't mind telling us."

he specifically says ace because they both know he's the more easy-going of the pair, and also when sabo is confronted with something he doesn't want to share, he immediately becomes the world's most frigid ice queen.

"sabo might be happy to spill details, if you catch him at the right time," robin mentions. "it's his engagement too. i wouldn't be surprised to learn he's more excited than ace."

alright, yeah, that's a good counter-point to consider. both sanji and usopp think that over.

"after dinner?" usopp suggests.

"no, neither of them drink during a competition." sanji shakes his head. "maybe after the plane ride back home? if he's too tired, he might reveal something without thinking on it."

"if he's too tired, he just won't give us the time of day," usopp counters.

"what about after they win this week?" robin suggests.

which. is a good idea, in theory. but they would have to win, which is not a one-hundred percent guarantee.

but it is something to think over.

koala bites on her lip and sags into sabo's side again to bemoan her fate. below them, the current women's singles match-up is their own teammate reiju versus an athlete from sweden. "how can someone look so hot while sweating so much?" she says, completely aghast.

she makes the mistake of glancing up at him after saying this, bearing witness to the large smirk taking up his face. he opens his big mouth and already she knows she wants no part in this. "well–"

"yeah, i don't need unnecessary commentary from the man with a boyfriend," she gripes, leaning off of him. thankfully, sabo shuts his mouth and only shrugs, still looking smug but at least remaining silent about it. "speaking of which, where did ace go? wasn't he just here?"

sabo looks to his other side to confirm ace has indeed disappear. he looks miffed at this but keeps his answer perfectly indifferent. "how should i know? i'm not his keeper."

"you're right, he's just yours," koala says before she can help himself. sabo gasps, completely and justly indignant, and the look on his face is the perfect reward for ruffling his feathers again.

koby notices ace and sabo from the distance, but it takes him getting closer and a moment of observation to realize they're monitoring their competition and not merely engaged in conversation.

because from further back, it does look like something different. he stops short to watch ace wrapping an arm around sabo's back, tugging him closer with a hold around his middle. from the angle koby is to them, he can see ace gesturing down to the court with his other hand. they're both talking quietly with their heads huddled close together.

casual intimacy between doubles partners is nothing new, but koby can't help but add another mental notch to the running total he has in his head telling him this is another moment between this specific pair that qualifies more as pda.

he's kept this count going since the olympics ended, when he'd first begun to notice the change in the pair's affection for each other. it's not relative or important, really, but sometimes he can't turn off his observant eye. not for the first time, he thinks about asking after it in an unofficial capacity. maybe if it's off-the-record, they'd tell him if something had changed.

before he can think more on this, someone is calling out to him. specifically, someone says "hey four-eyes!" and from experience and the cadence, koby knows it's luffy before he turns around to acknowledge the athlete.

"hi," he greets luffy a bit lamely, still caught up in his thoughts. "you have another match?"

"no, i'm done for the day," luffy reveals. "i'm just sticking around to watch ace and sabo." he pointedly looks over koby's shoulder to see the duo not far away, realizing koby had been facing that direction. "do i need to get them for you?"

"oh, no, that's fine," koby insists, raising both hands to wave luffy's suggestion off. he peers over his shoulder as well, noting that the pair are even closer together than they were before, and quickly turns back to face luffy. "they, uh, look preoccupied as-is. i'd hate to ruin their concentration."

luffy looks at the pair again and takes koby's words into account. "oh, they're always like that now."

now implies that something has changed recently, though koby's not hell-bent on knowing anymore. the distance between the four of them isn't large, and he'd hate to be overheard, even if he is still curious.

luffy steamrolls along, though, not realizing the gravity of the situation. "probably because they're getting married soon? they've been a lot more touchy-feely since getting engaged."

sirens blare in koby's head, and he has to resist the temptation to look back behind him again. "oh, ok," he says, suddenly overwhelmed. that does make sense. it is a good explanation. it's also probably something he should not be privy to, especially if it's a recent development.

luffy must realize this too, because he perks up and grabs koby by both his shoulders. "i'm saying this to you as my friend, koby, not as a journalist."

"yeah, i got it," koby wheezes. "you can trust me. i won't say a word."

"maybe we should come back to korea," ace says at the end of their stay. they're both outside on the veranda, some light alcohol still in either of their glasses though neither are keen on finishing it off. it had been a celebratory move that both are regretting, especially with the summer heat bearing down on them. even in the dark of night, the blush on sabo's fair-skinned cheeks is still evident.

"after the season is over," ace says aloud, though they both know the implication. after we get married, he means. "we can book a room at the shilla and sight-see for a few days. or just chill in there. not like there's a lack of things to do."

sabo had been about to reply, but at the mention of the luxury resort hotel, he chokes. gasping for breath, he swallows the rest of his champagne in an attempt to quickly recover. "isn't that just a tad too expensive??"

"eh, we can splurge a bit." ace shrugs, then grins over at sabo. "it'll be another thing to save up for. if you want to."

"well i don't not want to," sabo admits, which is progress. as long as he's considering the possibility, that's good enough for ace.

"they even have their own bakery inside," ace adds, which only makes sabo groan.

"will you let that go already?"

#op #writing #saboace #going thru the tag and using everything i know in an attempt to do this correctly heheeee #also koby being the sports reporter that ace has to shield sabo from def altered how i wrote his scene w luffy #i knew he was there but i forgot abt ace teasing him to accommodate sabo and its so good!!!#wanted that to show in how koby perceives ace and ace's interaction w sabo #(and that ace would bite his head off first in his eyes if he made a wrong assumption abt them or learned smth he shouldn't)#also lmaoooo its so much fun to write sabo like this i dont give myself the chance to do so very often #ik you were debating more nationals athletes but i saw reijus name again and blacked out and here we are #wanted to write zoro and perona into this but i ran outta ideas whoops #maybe next time ;)#(also i didn't know if hack or shanks or both are national team travel coach/chaperones #so i just chose the one more likely to be petty about not being in on the engagement as soon as it happened heh)

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rendy-a · 2 years

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I already sent in a few requests but then you had to open up the househusband can of worms, huh? 😭 /lh /pos

General headcanons for Trey, Ruggie, Azul, and Jade as househusbands please? 👉️👈️ I'm so soft for these boys I know I'm gonna brainrot so hard for them if you do this already. Thank you in advance if you do this!

I’ve got a separate request for just Ruggie, so we will look at him deeper there. For now, thanks for requesting. Let’s all househusband brainrot together!

Trey is a pro at being a househusband. Perhaps it is because he is oldest of all his siblings, but he just has a knack of knowing how to take care of others. If you need someone to encourage you to go for that promotion at work, he is your guy. Someone to cheer you up after a string of stormy days, he is your guy. Really, all the little things he does just makes you grateful that he is your guy!

Baking is his superpower. You fondly recall your first cooking experience with your husband, making a chestnut tart in the school’s kitchen. Since then, you’ve had plenty of reasons to be thankful for your spouse’s amazing baking abilities. Nothing cheers you up faster than one of the sweet treats your spouse serves you after a particularly long day. Plus, like any superhero, he goes about in proper costume. You know Trey has aprons that match each of his signature hats. He really gets that domestic vibe when he rolls up his sleeves and dons that apron to work in the kitchen.

Date night? No thank you. With Trey, its all about date mornings. Why morning? That’s when you can go out and find the best produce. You love accompanying your spouse to farmer’s markets to look for seasonal produce. He gets so excited when he can share some facts with you about the fruit and veggies; like how to tell when things are ripe or some interesting ways they could be prepared. If you have a few days to get away, you might even take a vacation to an area where there are interesting ingredients to be found. He still talks fondly about your honeymoon to the Scalding Sands and the spices he brought back with him. Maybe for your next anniversary…

You finish your dinner with a satisfied sigh, setting your fork down on the plate. “Another marvelous creation, dear,” you say with a smile. He gives you a bashful look and adjusts his glasses. “I’m glad to hear you approve.” He stands and comes to collect your plate and you just wave him away before picking it up and following him into the kitchen. He gets a small grin on his face as he slides over to give you space at the sink. He would never ask it of you, but you know how much he enjoys your company as you wash the dishes together. He will wash and you can dry.

After the dishes are done, you’ll both go get into your cozy clothes and head to the couch for movie night. Your nightly tradition is to watch sappy, predictable romance movies. It gives you background while you catch up on each other’s day. “And so, I told Cater I was sure no one would notice,” Trey finishes his story as you both laugh about your old schoolmate’s antics. You snuggle deeper into his embrace as you rub lazy circles on his forearm. “So, then what happened?” you prompt.

When the movie is over, Trey places a kiss on the top of your head and asks if you are ready for bed. “Hmm,” you hum in gentle agreement. He helps you to your feet and you go off to brush your teeth before bed while Trey stays behind to turn off the TV and fold the blanket you had been using on the couch. When he finally makes it to the bedroom, he asks if you remembered to brush thoroughly. “Tops and bottoms?” he chides. “Yes,” you reply. “And floss?” he verifies. “Of course,” you say. “Did you choose the mint or cinnamon toothpaste?” he enquires. You turn to him, “Why don’t you come over here and find out?” He flashes his own perfect smile at you, “Well I guess I’m not that tired after all.”

If Azul is going to be a househusband, then he resolves to be the best househusband. He reads magazines and does internet research on the standards of keeping an impressive home. Soon your humble dwelling is looking like it belongs in a magazine. If you tell him how impressive it is, he will act like it is no big deal but the pink along his cheeks says otherwise.

He manages the household budget like a pro. He may no longer be the lounge manager he once was but that doesn’t mean he has lost his business savvy. He negotiates with shop keepers like a frugal old woman, finding you discounts and deals everywhere. If funds end up getting a little tight, he might even look for a small amount of side business. He won’t let you find out (he wants you to feel like you are supporting this household!), but what you don’t know can’t hurt you. Azul and Jade call it their “book club” and you don’t suspect a thing; you just think it’s great he is keeping in touch with old friends.

He is used to working alone but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get lonely. Sometimes, Azul needs a boost to get him through the day. Leave him cute notes to find as he does his chores. It gives him something to look forward to as he goes about his schedule and reminds him that he is no longer alone. If he is particularly touched by one of the messages you leave, you’ll know when you get home. He will be even more enthusiastic with your welcome home greeting, reminding you that no one gives hugs like an octopus can.

When the power went off at your office, you decided to take the afternoon off. Its not like there was a way to keep working, after all! You smile as you think about the surprise your husband will have when you get home early. When you arrive, you quietly open the door and tip-toe into the dining room. You are shocked to find Azul quietly sobbing over a pile of feathers and a hot glue gun. A home décor magazine is propped up for reference on whatever project he is attempting. “Why is it so damned hard to glue feathers to this stupid piece of cardboard?” Azul laments to himself. You think this is not the day to surprise your spouse after all and slowly slink back out the front door.

A few hours later, you message Azul not to make dinner; that you’ll be bringing something home. You arrive home (for the second time) at your usual hour. Azul opens the door for you and takes the bag of fried chicken you’ve brought with you. He raises an eyebrow at you, “Did you have a bad day, dear?” You look at him guiltily, “Ah, well…I just thought we could both use a treat now and again.” He hums in agreement and leads you to the table.

“What’s that? Is it new?” you ask examining the feather bedecked centerpiece on the table. “Oh, that little thing?” Azul says. “Its something I saw in a magazine. Can you believe they wanted 100 madol for that? I thought I’d make one myself for a quarter of that price.” You try to keep a straight face as you say, “Well it certainly turned out nice. I hope it didn’t give you too much trouble.” Azul makes an expressive hand gesture as he shrugs, “Of course it didn’t. I’m easily capable of this much and more.” You slip an arm around him and give him a kiss on the cheek, “How lucky I am to have such a talented spouse.”

Home sweet home is not exactly the sentiment you get when you walk into the house curated by Jade. The décor is simple and modern but has almost a sterile feel to it. There is one exception and that is plants. Jade keeps a wide assortment of terrariums and house plants in every room of the house. They bring life to what might otherwise be a dreary space. Jade gives his plants names and lavishes attention on them, similar to how many people treat their pets. Sometimes you get jealous of the plants but that only amuses Jade. “Fufufu. Don’t worry, darling. Petunia isn’t half as striking as you.”

Jade has spent many years honing his sense of observation and attention to detail. This allows him to run a most efficient household. He is like your own personal butler, there to attend to your each and every need. Sometimes, he will satisfy your needs before you even know what those are yourself. You come home from a long day and notice there are new scented bath salts waiting by a steaming tub and let a warm smile cross your face. He always knows just what you need.

While Jade is used to using his skills as a butler-type to perform an exceptional job, what he is not used to is being appreciated for it. You make sure to find at least one small thing he has done for you each day and let him know how much it means to you. He doesn’t outwardly show that your small thanks have impacted him but afterwards, he goes about his day with a slight spring in his step. You also notice the things you praise him for get done a lot more frequently. You think it is Jade asking for your attention, in his own way.

It started with a sneeze. You’d never heard your spouse so much as sniffle before. You assumed he had some mer thing that made him impervious to human sicknesses, like the common cold. However, that one small sneeze would prove you wrong. Before the day was out, Jade’s complexion had taken on a sallow tone and his checks were rouged with a feverish look. “Hey sweetheart, are you feeling alright?” you asked him with concern. He places his hand over his chest and gives you a slight bow as he says, “I assure you I am perfectly capable of continuing with my daily activities. You needn’t worry about the quality of my work.”

You sigh at your spouse’s comment. “Jade, I’m not concerned about your work, I’m concerned about you! Come here,” you say as you give him a come-hither motion. When he arrives at your side, you place your hand on his forehead to feel his temperature. It didn’t feel warm. He smiles at you, amused at your action. “Well, do I feel warm?” You harrumph at him. “No, but we both know you are cold-blooded, so that doesn’t mean a thing.” His amused smile widens, an indication he is pleased you’ve realized your error. “Regardless! I know you Jade, and I know that you aren’t your usual self. Take a rest. If not for yourself, then for me.”

He looks at you, considering his options. “Very well, dearest. I suppose I can shuffle my tasks around enough to allow for a short rest.” You pat yourself on the back for having successfully bargained with your sly spouse and hurry him off to bed. So, he thinks he’ll be doing chores later; even though he is sick? Not if you can help it! With that, you roll up your sleeves and set to work on the household tasks. Jade is a very organized househusband, keeping a list of tasks written in his neat script pinned to a corkboard in the kitchen. You start with task four, tasks one through three having been already completed by Jade, which is doing some cooking prep work to get ready for tomorrow’s lunch.

By the time you are at task six out of ten, you are fatigued. How does Jade do this every day? You have a small dish of ice cream to cheer yourself up before jumping back in. There is no way you’ll allow your sick spouse to lift one more finger today. Seven, eight, nine… you were nearly done. You’ve acquired a lovely blister from using the broom and a renewed sense of appreciation for all Jade does. The last task is folding the laundry, which you do with eyes drooping from exhaustion. Then you grab the folded cloths and begin to stow them away in their respective places. When you quietly open the door to your bedroom to put away some socks, the light from the hallway causes Jade to open his eyes.

“My, my,” he says in a sleep addled voice, “how surprising. I’ve slept until nightfall.” You quickly tuck the socks in the drawer and go to join him, sitting on the edge of the bed. “See, I told you that you needed rest.” You run your hand over his forehead, gently pushing his signature lock of dark hair out of his eyes. “You know, I’ve been doing your chores all day and I must say that I think you take on too much. You should rest more, even if you aren’t sick. I love the way you take care of me and our home but sometimes I wish you’d take more care of yourself too.”

Jade’s eyes widen for a moment, as though you had startled him. Then he smiles softly at you. “How interesting you are.” You tilt your head to the side, as though urging him to elaborate. Instead, he chuckles softly, “Well, if all my chores are done, then I don’t see why I should get up at all. I do believe I’ll stay here all night.” You beam back at him, deciding in that moment that you were done too. You push back the covers and climb into bed beside your spouse, cuddling up to his side. “Is that a promise?”

#househusband au #trey clover #trey clover x reader #azul ashengrotto #azul ashengrotto x reader #jade leech x reader #jade leech #twst #twisted wonderland #twst wonderland

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seyaryminamoto · 9 months

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hello! I really like your meta about Zuko, and I'm so glad that I finally found a person who also thinks that Zuko in book 3 is a much worse person than he was in the book 1. I always thought that something was wrong with me, since literally no one sees this obvious fact for me! But I would like to ask you: What do you think about Katara in book 3? the fact is that she was my favorite character in books 1 and 2, and the way she was written in book 3 upset me a lot. it seems to me that they spoiled her character, but I can't explain why. Please share your thoughts!

Glad you've enjoyed my extensive meta on the fandom's fave, haha. I did write a lot about him, always nice to know my thoughts on the subject are still deemed relevant.

As for Katara... well, I have thoughts on her, too. My experience with her character is quite similar to yours, I'd say, because I too felt a lot better about her character in the first two seasons of the show compared with the third. I don't usually give this a ton of thought, but after your ask, I figured I'd try and figure out what exactly went down with her that made people like us feel so uncomfortable with Katara's portrayal at multiple points of Book 3...

For starters, I'll say I vibed with Katara a lot when I started the show for reasons beyond her being a great character or being written wonderfully: she could very well have been written mediocrely and I would have loved her anyway simply because I ran away from anime to ATLA in an era where anime kept shoehorning incest undertones into every sibling relationship, even in shows that didn't have that as a core subject. It happened at least twice that I can remember, I kept seeing people raving about shows where it WAS the core of it (I still do not understand the Oreimo deal, like, the minute I read that show's title I puked in my mouth and knew I'd never watch it), and I just needed... safety from that concept, I guess?

So when I went into ATLA, and the first sibling relationship you're exposed to is Sokka and Katara, two siblings who very much act like siblings? I was thriving. It was thrilling. I felt so refreshed that I think I didn't care much about the flaws of Book 1, despite my inability to sense direction for most of it, because thank the universe, it was a sibling relationship that made sense to me!

With that as an opening, I'd say that, initially, I thought Katara was fine for most of Book 1. In Book 2? She fell off the radar for me a bit simply because other characters are introduced that just appeal to me so much more than she does. I vibe better with characters like Azula, who tend to be the type of female character I just LOVE, and with characters like Toph, she's a tomboy, I was a tomboy (... was? x'D maybe I shouldn't use past tense...), so I gravitated much more towards those two by no real fault of Katara's core personality traits. Back in Book 1, there aren't as many main characters, so you don't have a lot of variety to choose faves from. It's not that strange, I think, that once the cast broadens, people's interest in certain characters can scatter too.

But then Book 3 happened, and I just couldn't enjoy Katara outside of episodes where she wasn't that important. The Katara-centric episode of Book 3 stand among my least favorite episodes of ATLA altogether, and among the least likely episodes I'd ever want to rewatch. I literally skipped over The Painted Lady in my first rewatches of the show, every bit as much as I skipped The Great Divide or Avatar Day, both of which annoy me a lot in the first two seasons. The Puppetmaster? Not even close to being an episode I could enjoy. Even the Runaway, that's supposed to be Toph-centric, ends up making me count down the minutes for it to end and I'm not even going to get started on The Southern Raiders and the absolute can of worms that episode is...

So, with all this being said, if we peel this particular cabbage open little by little...

After mulling it over, I've grown to suspect that Katara has major inconsistency issues since day one that most people don't particularly like to acknowledge, and that flew over most of our heads from the beginning of the show. She's pretty much portrayed to us as an empath, someone who has so much heart that she can't help but feel everyone's pain and suffer with them all the time. The fandom 100% acts like that's who she is (while also obsessively adultifying her unnecessarily, and forcing her into the mom!friend role, which... we'll talk about that later)

But this is also the same character who, when her brother banished Aang from the Southern Water Tribe as early as in episode 2, protested in a very particular way once Aang was gone. Which one of these statements sound more accurate to Katara's character, and a suitable protest for her to proclaim upon witnessing this injustice against Aang?

"Aang is alone! How could you send him away on his own? He could be in danger, Sokka! He's just a kid!"

"The Air Nomads are gone, Sokka! Where do you think he'll go? He doesn't have a home to go back to and you just sent him away!"

"You happy now? There goes my one chance at becoming a waterbender!"

If you ask the fandom? They'll most likely think that her reaction was either #1 or #2.

Surprise surprise: it was actually #3

I'm not saying she didn't show empathy towards Aang while Sokka was ranting at him, because she did. I'm not saying she wasn't willing to be banished along with Aang until Sokka asks if she'd choose pretty much a total stranger over their family and tribe, because she was. She absolutely did all those things.

... So why would she focus only on how he represented her one chance at becoming a waterbender once Aang is gone?

This feels off to me. I've never particularly liked that line. And you could absolutely say that Katara has every right to be mad at losing her chance to reclaim an aspect of her culture that she cannot connect to, but the way it was framed here? It absolutely makes Katara look more selfish than she actually was. The wording is not good. The show doesn't emphasize, at this point, that bending is such a core and crucial part of their culture and that Katara feels a major responsibility in being the ONLY person in the South Pole that can keep it alive. So it just comes off as a child's tantrum. Sokka's concerns were 100% valid too, even if he went about them while being a jerk (he is, indeed, an older brother...). He wasn't even wrong in the end about how dangerous Aang was to their tribe, since Aang's mishap with Katara on the ship gives away his position to Zuko, and it results in Zuko ramming a huge ship into their home and nearly killing people in the process. But you DON'T see the show fully framing it as though Katara and Aang did something wrong -- it was an honest mistake. We know it was. Sokka is framed as unreasonable for being so paranoid even though later events in the very episode prove he wasn't.

And that's... the crux of the issue with Katara's writing. If you ask me.

There are far too many instances where Katara makes mistakes that she's not held accountable for, that she doesn't apologize for, that run against the core logic and principles of her character and they either get shrugged off or overlooked. There are far too many situations where she acts out, and is a jerk at her jerk of a brother, even unprompted on occasion, and it's supposed to just be funny. One particularly stood out to me when I revisited it a few years ago, I can't really remember what for (maybe when I was writing Jeong Jeong's arc in Gladiator and I had a look at the fishing village...?), but it's the famous flashback episode in Book 1: The Storm.

The scene in question is... humorous. Supposedly. Katara is trying to buy fruit in the market but then realizes they have no money to pay for it. Not only does Katara piss off the vendor, but the vendor actually takes her rage out on Sokka once she realizes these kids won't give her any business: he gets kicked in the rear, as the transcript's description says. No one protests the woman's violent reaction, not even Sokka. Katara most certainly doesn't do it. But that's not all there is to it: Sokka doesn't hold what happened with the fruit vendor against Katara, they have a conversation on how they have no money and no food... and Katara offers him the golden ticket solution to their problems:

"You could get a job, smart guy."

Am I too feminist for thinking it's insane that Katara expects her brother alone to get the job? That she's not saying the THREE of them should get jobs? She and Aang are BENDERS! That's an asset most people aren't likely to find in any would-be employees in the central Earth Kingdom! So... wouldn't it be logical for all of them to do it? But no, instead, Sokka alone has to get the job?

And yes, I know, Sokka is the provider, Sokka is the protector, Sokka would do ANYTHING for his sister and the people he loves: you ask the fandom, though, and that's Katara instead of him. Moments like these simply do not exist in the fandom's eyes and, if they do, they're just excusable because Sokka is boring/weird/annoying/insert-demeaning-nonsense-here and Katara is a queen who can do whatever she wants.

Then, the consequences arrive once Sokka gets a dangerous job on a fishing boat and nearly gets killed in a storm. Aang is the one who shows concern about the potential storm when the fisherman's wife brings it up: from all I can see in the transcript, there's nothing from Katara. Sokka says they told him to get a job, so that's what he's doing, and there's no manifestation of concern from either of them about maybe joining him on this fishing trip to ensure he's safe. Instead, Aang is haunted by his past and Katara goes with him when he leaves, which, yes, is very important for context on the Air Nomads and Aang's life... and yet we don't really NEED for this scene to be Katara and Aang only. It could've included Sokka too. The plot of the second half of the episode would change? Likely. They could've come up with another idea, and not shown us a Katara who doesn't show concern for her brother's safety or any remorse when her unfair demands or expectations from him could result in catastrophic outcomes :') yes, she worries about Sokka's safety once the storm hits, but there's no sign of her feeling responsible for Sokka being out in the storm at all. No apology. Which is ironic, because Zuko apologizes to Iroh in that very same episode, hence, an apology from Katara to her brother could have mirrored that side of the story well, and they REALLY loved doing Zuko-Gaang parallel scenes like that, so it would have fit perfectly! Didn't happen, though.

Point being... Katara's compassion and empathy are not absolute. It's important to keep in mind is that they don't need to be! But precisely because she falters with them in moments where she REALLY shouldn't, with people as important to her as her own brother? It becomes very difficult to believe that she's the empath the fandom is convinced she is, and that the show's narrative tries to push her as.

The real reason why her failure to show compassion to Sokka in "humorous" situations feels so unnerving isn't because she's a typical little sister who takes her brother for granted (which is a perfectly logical/believable behavior!): it's because there are no consequences for it. Maybe at some point or another there were? But I for one can't remember many instances where Katara failed Sokka and it was framed as her fault and her responsibility. Let's look at other Book 1 instances that exemplify what I mean:

She freezes him to the deck of Zuko's ship, which puts Sokka in MAJOR danger, and she just tells him to hurry up as if it weren't her fault that he's frozen in the first place. We don't even see her making efforts to thaw him out of there when she IS the waterbender so it seems logical that she should be able to help with that (and if she's too inexperienced to do it? The least she can do to help her brother out of a dangerous situation is to TRY???). But apparently it's funny that she doesn't help him when it's her fault! So this is fine!

She endangers the entire group over the waterbending scroll, which, of course, the pirates had no right to have anyway and it's reasonable that she'd want it for herself... but she antagonized a group of fully adult, dangerous, potential murderous pirates, against Sokka's constant warnings that they shouldn't pick that particular fight. As far as I can remember? Her apologies on that episode are exclusively about how she hurt Aang's feelings by being jealous over his greater talents as a bender. Basically, nothing for Sokka, no apology for not listening to him about danger, making it worse when the very final moment features Katara proudly telling her brother that she won't steal things... unless it's from pirates. So lesson not learned because it's funny, again, to never acknowledge that Sokka has a point.

She actually cares about Sokka's fate in Jet! But the thing is... the narrative doesn't frame that as Katara's fault. Because it's not. Jet made his choices and he did awful things and he captured Sokka, lied and gaslit everyone, because he had a goal to fulfill and he used Katara to make that happen. As angry and upset as Katara is, it's not exactly shown that Katara is sorry for having trusted Jet when Sokka could have ended up paying a deadly price for it. She's angry at the betrayal, even in Book 2 it's constantly framed as though Katara is upset at him as an ex-girlfriend would be upset at her ex-boyfriend for lying to her rather than, you know, being pissed at him for nearly killing her brother + an entire village. My point is, the narrative framing never holds her responsible for Jet's choices. Which, again, she's not. But she IS responsible for her own choices... and one of those choices was disregarding Sokka's warnings about Jet. THAT was her fault, and her responsibility. She jumped to conclusions and assumed that Sokka was bitter and jealous that Jet was the charming cool leader Sokka could never be. There were no apologies to Sokka over that, either.

I could go on, and on, and on. The truth is, I bring all this up to show with solid evidence that Katara's writing was always a little... unstable. Weird. Disconnected from logic in many regards, I'd say. It's not logical/compatible to tell us that this character has the BIGGEST heart of the entire cast when she fails to show that heart to none other than her own brother, who is inarguably the person who she knows best and with whom she should share the closest relationship, even as her friendship with Aang grows and thrives. That makes no sense, thematically speaking.

Is it meant to be comedic? Yes, every bit as much as Iroh sexually harassing June was done for comedy's sake. That's not an excuse for characters behaving in ways that are thematically contrary to what they're supposed to be portraying... and along with that? No excuse for them facing zero consequences for that behavior. Which is, in fact, my main issue with these flaws from Katara: I have no issue with the writing choices in the scenes I listed just now! I take issue, however, with the lack of follow-up and consequences that you can BET, 100%, would have befallen Sokka if it had been him instead of Katara acting that way. He faced consequences even for things he didn't do, for comedy's sake: he wouldn't have gotten away with disregarding Katara's safety as often as Katara did with him, no chance at all.

Ultimately, these scenes in Book 1 are kind of ignorable in the larger scheme of things (or at least, that's how the fandom has always acted). Not a lot of people take any of this as major proof of characterization for Katara. You won't see a lot of fic writers showing her acting like this. Canon, though, often would go down this route for funsies, and the comics certainly did it plenty too, that I can remember. Part of the issue here is that, as funny as it is, it also makes Katara feel stale as a character, as does the Sokka-Katara dynamic, at large, because there's no progression for it. That's probably my greatest gripe with the Great Divide, believe it or not: it fakes being an episode where Sokka and Katara are going to be confronted over their conflictive tendencies, and the ONLY potential development in that basically-filler episode SHOULD HAVE BEEN Sokka and Katara learning to be a bit more harmonious and respectful of each other? ... And that's just not what happened at all. The status quo remains exactly the same after that episode, and it continues to be like that until the end of the show.

The real reason why Sokka and Katara are deemed the healthy siblings is because, of course, compared with the other main set of siblings in the show, these two appear to get along wonderfully. But the truth is, their relationship is not as dynamic as it deserved to be. And that's part of why Book 3 ends up failing in ways Book 1 might not have, while having similar flaws: Book 1 is when you're still getting to know these kids, and that's why I find its flaws far more forgivable than anything that comes later. When there's basically no development for that connection at all, Book 3 winds up falling flat with characters like Sokka and Katara and the bond between them.

All this being said... I'm not saying that Katara is terrible in Book 1. I still stand by the fact that I really enjoyed her character in many instances of this season, there absolutely are situations where she sasses Sokka that still make me crack a smile, and genuinely humorous situations that don't paint her in a questionable light over her lack of concern for her brother's safety. Her fight to earn the right to be trained as a waterbender is deeeeeply flawed but it's not her fault, it's more the misogyny of the writers/creators that decided that a betrothal necklace from his past would make Pakku unlearn all his sexism and get over his bullshit right after beating up a girl who was fighting tooth and nail to make him acknowledge her. That he only acknowledges her because he wanted to marry her grandmother is... uh... fuckboi behavior even when he's well over 70 years of age? XD

So, yeah, Book 1 still has my favorite Katara of the entire show even though I REALLY wish she wouldn't get away with things that other characters wouldn't get a pass for (... well... other than Zuko...). I can't enjoy her as much as I enjoy other characters because I really don't like it when characters aren't held accountable for serious mistakes they made.

Moving on to Book 2, though, and leaving behind my greatest gripe with Katara's Book 1 writing (lack of direct consequences/self-reflection on her part), Book 2's biggest sin when it comes to Katara is the beginning of the "mothering" trope. I honestly did not feel motherly vibes from Katara towards anyone in Book 1. Sokka is very often the one playing the responsible role, while Aang and Katara are seeing the world, practicing their bending, doing reckless and fun things. The entire thing about Katara being the mom friend started in Book 2 when she suddenly becomes the epitome of responsibility (well... kinda) when Toph joins the group. She still does sketchy stuff with zero consequences (I'll forever complain about how ice is not cold in this show, the kids she froze to the wall may have been dicks, but freezing someone alive that way should have resulted in serious health repercussions, just as ANY case of freezing someone alive should have, ffs, be it Zuko in Book 1's finale or Azula + Katara in Book 3's...), but once Toph is part of the group, she becomes the cool girl who's "one of the boys", and now Katara is "the mom". This dynamic gets forced into the story pretty much right after Toph joins the group. And after that? It doesn't really change for the better often. There are only a handful of instances where Katara wasn't acting wholesome and comforting and kind and compassionate in Book 2 (... particularly with Sokka, ofc), but the point where her dynamics, even with Aang, start to feel motherly is definitely Book 2.

And this adds to the issue, in the end: Katara's appeal as the main girl in the show is suddenly gone because Toph is here, and she's a way more unique character that the writers definitely were having fun working with, probably more fun than they had with Katara. So they had to find a new niche for her, I'd dare guess. Thus, instead of actually building up an awesome and solid friendship between Katara and Toph, they mostly just clash and collide. Toph is basically the ONLY character who gives Katara grief and isn't framed as in the wrong for it, which is its own set of issues (namely, Toph not being challenged enough by the narrative, which stunts her character growth), but among many things, we suddenly get shown that Katara is a girly girl who likes makeup and she ropes Toph into this when nothing we've seen so far suggests that Toph would be comfortable with that. Katara pushes her into doing things because they're the "girls of the group"... and it doesn't often look like Toph's feelings on anything are important when Katara is pushing her around for whatever purpose. I'm not saying Toph hated the spa day, she certainly had fun eventually, but even when the comics made a "Katara and Toph's day out" story, where Toph got to choose what to do for once, the story devolved into Katara's show anyway, and things concluded with Toph deciding they're better off doing girly things together when they want to hang out because Katara is just too intense for the things Toph would like to do.

This isn't even in the show, but it's basically a response to Tales of Ba Sing Se to try and even out Katara and Toph's one-sided dynamic, where Katara calls the shots of their entertainment... and even then, Toph doesn't really get what she's looking for. But Katara does get that out of Toph because all she wants is a girl to do girly things with and Toph provides that in the end, no matter how much of a tomboy she may be. Toph might just want a friend who loves the things she loves, and who knows, Katara could be that person! But the story never leads her in that direction so we never see that happen. And that's why that particular friendship never really... clicked for me. Their dynamics don't really feel enjoyable to me as they were written in the show, even though they very much could have been.

That's one thing I'll always give ATLA: the character potential and synergy they captured with that cast could be absolutely incredible. Team Avatar is so iconic because they really could work well off each other. A lot of teams in other media just aren't this good (... one of my main reasons to not enjoy Voltron and drop it in season 1 was my absolute failure to find any synergy between those characters, it felt like they all hated each other and I honestly did not enjoy their dynamics in the least), but Aang, Katara and Sokka have great synergy due to their different personalities in Book 1. Same when Toph joins them in Book 2. Zuko ABSOLUTELY could have been better in the group than he was if Book 3 hadn't devolved into the Zuko Woobifying Show by the second half, where the only writing priority was making him friends with everyone, and making them all feel sorry for him and have compassion towards him. But, broken down to his core traits, Zuko's personality would have resulted in solid chemistry with everyone else's if they'd gotten off that agenda anyway! So ultimately, ATLA has a big win in this respect that a lot of TV shows would LOVE to recreate but they simply haven't struck the right kind of balance in character traits.

Hence why the way they wrote Toph and Katara's dynamics kind of feels like a betrayal to me. Those two could have been a lot of fun, they have EVERYTHING it takes to be entertaining characters with not a ton of things in common and yet building a solid friendship that hinges on their differences. I've seen a fair few examples of that kind of dynamic in other media, and it absolutely would be possible with Toph and Katara. It's really unfair that they couldn't capture their dynamics in such a way that both characters would SHINE, rather than constantly resorting to conflicts between them that never seemed to truly be resolved.

So: Toph should not be a problem for Katara. She should enhance her character and doesn't because of writing failures. One of the core failures is "mom friend Katara", of course: there's nothing inherently wrong with Katara stepping up and taking care of people she loves, but there's something very wrong with it when she's suddenly portrayed as this motherly figure when she's doing things that Sokka had been doing just fine in Book 1. Main reason why this is the case? Sokka got dumbed down to full-time class clown for whatever reason in Book 2. While he has good moments, a lot of times they went WAY overboard with making him a source of comedy this season and that, too, contributes to mom friend Katara. Since Sokka is being so meh? We even feel relieved that Katara is there to keep things together because nobody can expect the other three to do it, right? But... Sokka was doing it in Book 1. And there's no real development to explain him NOT doing it anymore once Toph joins in besides "Katara is now the mom friend and Sokka is just here to be funny". It's not organic development: it's forcing tropes that just don't fit. And while Katara's mothering doesn't feel as unpleasant as it could here, it ultimately forces a new interpretation and portrayal of her character that honestly isn't all that interesting, most of all when the other characters are constantly portrayed as "more fun" while she's just here to keep them in line.

It just isn't the same Katara we met in Book 1, and it shows in spades. Book 1 Katara would have been hyped to join Aang and Toph in chaos while Sokka screams at them to behave themselves. Book 2 Katara is the one trying to keep the other three in line, and there's genuinely zero development that led things to that stage. It's not organic storytelling. There's no growth that leads to that, and so, it feels off.

But the core problem of all these flaws in Book 1 and Book 2 is that they roll together and snowball into something far greater that then proceeds to just... disrupt everything we thought we knew or understood about Katara. We've been told she's a kind person above all else, someone who cares about people close to her, someone who embodies hope and strength and love...!

... And then Book 3 starts, and we're actually facing a Katara who shifts into a wholly different person with the speed of a whiplash that we're left not knowing who tf this is anymore.

"Mom friend Katara" absolutely comes back in Book 3, why lie? She takes care of people, she tries to provide, she tries to be nice and sweet and then also enforces discipline on Toph (particularly) when she's being irresponsible!

But the reason why The Runaway is such an unpleasant episode is because Katara's behavior is dialed up to a thousand, and the conflict between her and Toph feels WAY too similar to what it was when they were barely getting to know each other in The Chase. Why are they STILL clashing over such things? There are occasional glimpses of friendliness there in The Runaway, sure! But they're not so strong that you actually feel like that friendship supersedes their conflicts and their propensity to bicker and argue and hurt each other. Toph blatantly calls her out on her mothering and fully canonically confirms that Katara is The Mom Friend™. Where Toph is annoyed but eventually complies with doing what Katara wants to do in Tales of Ba Sing Se, this time Katara makes a huuuuuge fuss over Toph's misbehavior and her scamming Fire Nation people. And you could argue that Toph has every right to do it, or that Katara is right to be worried, just like Sokka used to worry about such things in Book 1...

But what we get is a stale dynamic that repeats the same problems we saw in Book 2, as well as Katara coming off as rather hypocritical because she, too, did dangerous shit and picked dangerous fights where she shouldn't have, and ignored everyone who told her not to do it: she gave Toph that kind of grief over things Katara was willing to do back when Toph wasn't in the group (see the pirates thing), and she will try to stop Toph from having fun on her own terms when nobody has ever tried to stop Katara from doing that in hers. Of course, any Katara advocate would read this and go "you're missing the point: Katara was sad and upset that she was being LEFT OUT! That's why she was so mad about this!" Then the irony of the matter is that this argument STILL reflects poorly on Katara. She gave her friend a tough time, called her a wild child and a crazy person, went through her personal belongings because "she could tell Toph was hiding something from her", so she fully disregarded Toph's privacy... all because she couldn't say "Wait, you guys went scamming Fire Nation people? Damn, why didn't you wait for me! I would've gone too!", and there you go, problem solved! Katara's not left out anymore!

Yes, of course, that's not how it WORKS, people can struggle to identify what they feel...!

... And now it's my turn to say that that's not the point.

The point is that Katara said and did hurtful things to her friend. Things she eventually regrets, yes, but that she didn't have to do at all. This is the same person who fed Appa a bunch of food that made it look like he was sick, all be it to keep the group from leaving the Jang Hui river village so she could go out of her way to heal the injured and sick without telling anyone what she was doing. That, too, was a choice she made with no concern regarding how the rest of her team might feel about it: was she doing something nice? Sure! But it's not fundamentally different from Toph doing whatever she wants with zero regard as to Katara's feelings on the matter. Katara KNEW she was stalling their journey and that Sokka wanted them to move on: she didn't care about his feelings or priorities, and the story eventually frames Katara as being in the right for feeling that way. Here, she's in the inverse scenario, only it's with Toph rather than Sokka, and instead of realizing that she, too, has made choices that were irresponsible/dangerous/risky and STILL went all out with them, down to fighting whoever opposed her choices? Katara just doubles down until she, again, breaches boundaries and overhears Toph and Sokka's conversation, WHICH IS ANOTHER CAN OF WORMS DUE TO THE SOUTHERN RAIDERS FOLLOW-UP...

The thing is, Katara as a mom friend is not even a good thing. It's not conducive to fun or interesting storytelling, not in Book 2, not now. It doesn't make Katara a more interesting and dynamic character. The way she's portrayed isn't so she looks tragic for taking this role, it's all about forcing these kids into tropes that don't necessarily add up to who they have been so far. Katara's mom friend status is NOT treated with any compassion. It's not handled as a sore, difficult subject outside of the ONE conversation Sokka has with Toph that Katara overhears. And it's not centered on Katara's tragedy, on how she overcompensates for her mother's absence, it's centered on Sokka accepting her as a motherly person and encouraging Toph to do the same thing. The people who saw further depth in it probably haven't looked at the script itself in a long time: you CAN see more to it, but that's not the point of the scene. That's not where it's going. And the fact that such a tragic situation is what conduces Katara to take up the mom friend role actively makes it look like... she shouldn't have it. Why would she be the mom friend if she's just overcompensating for Kya's death? If she's taking up responsibility by thinking that no one else will (a blatant lie because, again, in Book 1 there's NO SIGN of this behavior and it's Sokka who's in a role of responsibility compared to her), it suggests that EVERYONE ELSE ought to step up and stop "relying" (and Sokka very much uses that word) on Katara being the mom friend. It's not a healthy thing. It's a coping mechanism that seems to be actively damaging Katara: and the story doesn't acknowledge it that way.

So... "mom friend Katara", dialed up to a thousand in Book 3, absolutely has a connection with why her character loses its sheen by this point in the story. There's no attempt to deconstruct this coping mechanism by Katara. No indication from the rest of the team that maybe Katara should get to be a kid just like them and stop being so uptight (even though VERY often she's not that uptight but the show very much tries to pretend she is). It's Katara's initiative to do a scam, it's not Toph or Sokka or Aang who think she needs to join in on the fun, she basically inserts herself in it. So basically, those three take the route of saying "that's what she's like, we just gotta bear with it", instead of actually helping her. If we'd seen that? Mom friend Katara would actually be a fun element to witness deconstructed by the story. And I'm not blaming either Katara or the other three for this:

This is EMINENTLY a writing problem.

Mom friend Katara is not a good trope. It could be if the point was to help her break free from it. It's not. It's simply weak writing that can't handle two girls with proactive, aggressive personalities and a ton of agency, a lack of creativity in realizing how much potential there could be in making Toph and Katara the absolute best of friends. It's seriously a disservice to the two of them that this trope literally blooms over Toph joining the show and then NEVER gets resolved or chased away. And when you have characters like Sokka or Aang kind of joining the bandwagon of "yeah, Katara's a mom!" when the two of them traveled with her in Book 1 and she WASN'T that at all? It makes matters infinitely worse.

So, if you ask me? This is the first thing that makes Katara feel more unpleasant than ever before in Book 3.

The second thing is even worse.

We return to accountability, as well as to illogical flow of thought when it comes to the writing of Katara: in Book 1, we see a hopeful girl who never speaks ill of her father or betrays any manner of displeasure or distrust towards him. No sign of her being conflicted by what Hakoda is doing: the focus is entirely on Sokka's feelings on the matter once it finally comes up in Bato of the Water Tribe, and Katara is a secondary matter, if even that.

This would be fine if Hakoda hadn't come up at all as a subject throughout Books 1 and 2. If Katara had never had the potential opportunity to see her father in any of these instances and had backed out from them for bigger reasons than... plot reasons.

For reference: she's excited, just as Sokka is, when Bato says he can bring the kids to meet their dad again. They're HYPED. We see no sign of Katara being upset at Hakoda for leaving at this point. The only portrayed reason why she and Sokka decide not to go see Hakoda is because they think Aang needs them more and they decide to forgive him for hiding the map. Katara, from the get-go, is not as angry at Aang for hiding the map as Sokka is. Clearly, Sokka wants to see Hakoda far more intensely than Katara does: even so, there's no sign anywhere here that implies that Katara harbors resentment or dissatisfaction towards Hakoda.

Book 2 gives us a similar situation: Katara declines going to see Hakoda and offers to be the one who stays in Ba Sing Se so Sokka can go see Hakoda himself. Sokka is soooo thrilled and thanks her and calls her the best sister ever and Katara very much says she is, indeed, the best. Which she's allowed to, worth noting, I'm not saying her reaction to Sokka's praises was bad, it's actually funny: but what I AM saying is that she knows how much this matters to Sokka and that's why she makes the offer she does. It's also VERY convenient! Because logic dictates that, if Sokka stays behind, he realizes the Kyoshi Warriors aren't themselves far faster than Katara does (even though, to be fair, Katara didn't really have much time to realize it at all), and we wouldn't have Aang suffering over Katara's imprisonment because the one in chains would be Sokka and then Aang might just go "oh okay it's just Sokka, I can go cosmic if it's not Katara"

... yeah I'm being sarcastic I actually don't think Aang wouldn't have saved Sokka, but they very clearly had Katara stay behind first and foremost for this specific purpose...

But Katara's acknowledgement that this is a good thing for her brother makes you REALLY wonder how much of a secret grudge she was supposed to feel towards her father at this stage of the story. The truth, in my opinion? She wasn't actually supposed to resent Hakoda as she did, let alone quite so harshly.

My sister personally told me that she thought Katara's anger at Hakoda was a fine storytelling choice when I told her I didn't like it. She told me Katara herself most likely didn't realize how hurt she had been by her father's leaving, that it wasn't until she was around Hakoda again that she understood she resented him at all, and that she had a lot more pent-up rage and frustrations than she had EVER acknowledged, and they burst out frequently in Book 3. Which, you know, is one possible explanation that tries to make this whole thing more palatable. From a human standpoint? This is valid.

... From a writing point? Not so much.

A Katara who struggles to understand her heart (which... is odd, tbh. As far as they portray her, Katara tends to know exactly what she's feeling, why she's feeling it, and she acts on her emotions rather than brains more often than not) would be portrayed as confused over her own rage at Hakoda. She would not have been written as a snappy teenager who hates her dad. She would have snapped at him and then apologized by reflex, unsure of what's come over her. We would see Sokka trying to mediate between them too, probably asking Katara what's her deal, and she would have no idea how to explain it. Katara would be avoiding Hakoda, knowing she loves him, not knowing why she seems to hate him now, afraid of saying things she shouldn't. Every time she snaps at him, she should worry about what she did, she should fear for Hakoda's feelings, she should reflect on what's going on inside her heart...!

... But that doesn't happen. And that knocks SO HARD on the concept of empath/compassionate Katara that it basically turns her into a whole different person.

As I've said countless times so far: it's not about Katara being perfect. I don't WANT her to be perfect. But I DO want the show to acknowledge that she's not. I want the flaws to REALLY read as flaws. I want other characters to react to those mishaps on Katara's part, and I want HER to reflect on what she's doing and realize she's messing up, just as she does when she hurts Aang's feelings in the Waterbending Scroll, which is most likely the best situation where Katara actually owns up to the exact mistake she made and feels genuine, palpable, obvious remorse for it. But when you feature Katara lashing out at Hakoda, and everyone just staying quiet because "uuuuh, awkwaaaard...", it feels off. Aang asks Katara, outright, what's her problem with her dad! And Katara goes "What? What problem?" She's acting like she's not even aware of the fact that her behavior is out of place, basically gaslighting Aang into pretending that she didn't do anything rude or mean to Hakoda. Aang literally saw it with his own eyes and is the ONLY person to bring it up.

To make matters worse? Katara has been with Hakoda for WEEKS. It's not like they just crossed paths two seconds before Aang opened his eyes. The implication is that she's been behaving like this, or her behavior has been deteriorating towards Hakoda with no one worrying about it or trying to make her reason with it. for that long. Sokka didn't do anything. Hakoda just took the teenage rants and left her alone because that's what she wants. And when the one person brings up that she's not acting like herself? Katara pretends nothing's wrong and acts like everything's fine and she's not acting any differently from herself. Whether she actually is just lying to Aang or ALSO lying to herself is a matter of debate... but what it suggests is she's unwilling to confront the gravity of her choices and how she can be hurting her father with them.

This is NOT to say that Katara has no right to be angry about Hakoda abandoning her in the Tribe. She has every right to be upset and feel forsaken. Their mother died, and Hakoda left with all the men of the tribe, and Sokka was left behind, tasked to protect everyone, and Katara apparently felt responsible for the whole village too: as valid as Hakoda's quest to fight in the war might be, it's not out of this world for Katara to harbor frustrations and resentment over what happened.

What IS out of this world, and particularly, not appropriate to her character, is that her way to convey those feelings was something she gave herself to, completely, only to reason with it once Aang was missing so that the episode would conflagrate her problems with Aang and Hakoda into the same thing.

This is basically a dark expansion of what we've seen in Katara's treatment of Sokka since Book 1: where it was typically "humorous" when she was a jerk to him and paid no price for it, this time it's not humorous. This time, you're supposed to see her being a jerk and then go "aaaaw, poor dear," even if you're not supposed to get mad at Hakoda because he is very much a decent dad. The show was trying to have its cake and eat it too with this situation, because Katara DOESN'T apologize to Hakoda for being unfair to him: HAKODA APOLOGIZES TO HER. Hakoda acknowledges the pain he caused Katara and the damage his leaving has wrought upon his children by apologizing and explaining how much he missed them... but Katara does not acknowledge the pain she inflicted on her father by acting out when he wasn't doing anything wrong. Is this teenager behavior? You could chalk it down to that, but that's precisely why teenagers can be a pain in the ass! And that's very much how Katara is being portrayed if she's unwilling to acknowledge she acted out and hurt someone she loves!

Her problems and resentment towards Hakoda magically go away after that single conversation. After this? She loves him. No hard feelings left. If her problems with Hakoda were this deep and difficult to navigate and work through, either she bottled them up in the rest of the show and stopped them from affecting her father... or she just got over it that quickly. Which would be very unrealistic because Hakoda apologizing for leaving doesn't change the damage Katara suffered through because he was gone. A single apology doesn't fix everything that people read into Katara's deep anguish in this scene and episode. And yet that's very much how the show portrays it: Katara is 100% fine in every single other interaction with Hakoda she gets past the first episode of Book 3. Does that make sense? Is that good writing? No, actually: it's literally digging up a problem, making it up last minute with zero lead-up to it, where the ONLY way to read "lead-up" is to pretend that Katara always had ulterior motives to avoid going to see Hakoda, even though we NEVER were shown that she was hiding anything, something that could be VERY easily shown in the story if they'd always had this in mind. The truth is that they didn't. They made it up for this episode, forced it in there, didn't even write it right because nobody reacts to Katara's behavior reasonably except Aang, and she gets away with it without even having to apologize. That's... not good form for any character, let alone Miss Responsibility and Empathy, is it?

This is why it's such a problem that Katara acted as she did towards her father. It's not because this is an unthinkable flaw: it's because there's very much no lead-up to it, kind of like there's none with Korrasami's big reveal in LOK's finale. It's because there's no follow-up to it either. It's because we don't see Katara living up to her supposed core character traits, where she should have a realization that her choices and actions and behavior have hurt someone else, someone she cares about. None of that happens.

And I will say: it's different when it comes to her clashes with Zuko and her reactions to him in the second half of Book 3. This is basically the MAIN thing the fandom gives her grief for and I hate them for it: she has every right and reason and justification to show no empathy or compassion towards a person who, as far as she could tell, took advantage of her compassion in Ba Sing Se, of Aang's compassion frequently across Book 1, and paid them back for all of it by joining forces with Azula and showing no concern to help Aang when Azula almost killed him. I am no fan of Iroh's... but Iroh jumped in to help Katara and Aang escape, at risk of being captured. Zuko stood beside Azula and did NOTHING to help those two leave. He showed zero concern for Aang's survival. He saw his sister potentially murder someone and had ZERO REACTION. So, no offense but full offense: Katara's unwillingness to trust Zuko is JUSTIFIED. Not only is it justified? It's CORRECT. It's the only writing choice that makes sense. Sokka getting over it relatively quickly feels off to me, no matter if the Boiling Rock adventure isn't as bad as others might be. Aang not holding a grudge for too long kind of fits because it is Aang... but Katara being that mad at Zuko? That's 100% fine. It fits. It works. And anyone pretending that what I said about Hakoda applies to how she treated Zuko is just completely biased in Zuko's favor.

Katara and Zuko do not have a secret magical powerful soulmates bond in canon. Their one instance of bonding comes after multiple instances of the exact opposite thing. Katara and Sokka were 100% down for leaving Zuko to freeze to death in the North Pole, and the ONLY reason why Zuko survives is because Aang can't let that happen to him. It's AANG'S compassion that saved Zuko. Katara felt none, AND SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO FEEL ANY. Let's not forget that!

Moving on to Book 2, Katara actually makes her first offer of kindness to Zuko and Iroh in the Chase when she offers to heal Iroh after Azula's attack. Zuko's reaction is to lash out violently and yell at her to leave: who, exactly, would feel inclined to think this poor beautiful sad boy just needs love when you OFFER HIM kindness and his reaction is, in a manner of speaking "go fuck yourself I'll handle this on my own"? And it's worth bringing it up because it feels like the fandom is hilariously misled into thinking the Gaang magically knows what Zuko is up to and how he's growing and evolving, as if they were part of the audience: they're not. The last time Katara saw Zuko before Ba Sing Se is literally when Zuko refuses her help. We're also talking about Fire Nation people: Katara has every right and every reason to believe that Zuko is refusing her help, not out of personal, internal strife he's dealing with and has no idea how to handle... she very much can read this as "inferior Water Tribe peasant, you will not heal my uncle with your wretched waterbending!" Because... let's be real, that's what Zuko looked like to Katara across Book 1. She has no real reason to think he's any better or different from that until their catacombs scene...

... And he stabs her in the back and joins Azula there. Right after "bonding" with her.

So let's be VERY clear on that respect: Katara has no real reason to forgive Zuko. She has no real reason to feel empathy outside of the show constantly trying to push that she's kind and compassionate with no boundaries, even if she forsakes that kindness and compassion at random whenever the plot requires it. But her death threats to Zuko? They're completely fine by me. I'd be pissed if she had acted any differently, and if anything I hate how easy Zuko had it to befriend everyone but Katara.

... Not to say I'm happy with how he befriended Katara either, but anyway...

As this isn't Zuko meta, we're not going to get into the true core glaring issues in The Southern Raiders, because ultimately, that episode paints Zuko in a disgusting light that his fans are constantly gaslighting themselves about. He was not beinga heroic good dude helping someone he connected profoundly with. His behavior leaves so much to be desired and proves he hasn't unlearned a lot of toxic things he had internalized. He didn't unlearn them in this episode, either. But the GREATEST sin Zuko commits in this episode, without a doubt, is bringing Katara on a journey that ultimately did NOTHING for her. The only person benefitting from it was Zuko himself. I've seen people pretend that Katara finally found closure: she did not do such thing. She learned what kind of scum killed her mother, but she did not forgive him nor did she kill him. Closure would mean peace. Katara did not find peace with the situation. She's shown troubled, sitting at that pier, miserable, when Aang talks with her, she's STILL angry. That's not closure. It never was.

What it was, however, was the journey where Katara thanked Zuko and forgave him because..! Uh... because...

... Why, exactly, did Katara forgive Zuko here?

He brought her to her mother's killer: she found no closure from it. In fact, she learned the VERY disturbing truth that she hadn't realized so far: HER MOTHER DIED SPECIFICALLY TO SAVE HER. Her mother sacrificed herself for Katara's sake. She CANNOT find peace with this reality in a single afternoon because holy shit, who would? Katara KNEW her mother had died. It's not until Yon Rha tells her what happened that she understands what happened in the igloo. Katara herself, her waterbending skills, and the target she painted on her own back because of something 100% out of her control, something that is NOT evil and that the Fire Nation was hellbent on destroying, are the reasons why Kya was murdered. This is DISTURBING SHIT to deal with. And the show completely sidelines this revelation and the dark impact it could have on Katara, which, seriously, is HUGE, way worse than what happened with Hakoda, because it very much could have triggered a profound self-hatred by Katara towards her own skills because how tf could her bending cause her mother's death?! Not to mention the obvious: who was that source? Who told the Southern Raiders that there was a waterbender? Who the hell is responsible, beyond the Fire Nation, for her mother's death?

There's A LOT to unpack here.

And none of it matters because Katara is just supposed to forgive Zuko for exacerbating and worsening her trauma regarding her mother's death :') funny how that works.

This IS the point where Katara should make a display of darker sides of herself that she didn't know or understand. THIS is where Katara turning dark like Aang did after Appa vanished would make PERFECT sense. With this revelation about Kya that's beyond disturbing: not with Hakoda... and certainly not with Sokka.

The cusp of Katara's worst is, by far, her behavior with her brother in the Southern Raiders. I know a million excuses have been made for this moment: my problem is NOT the fact that she lashed out at him as she did and said something DEEPLY hurtful. It's the fact that KNOWING, SEEING HE'S IN PAIN...

... does not matter to her one bit.

Instead of a trite scene with Zuko spouting shit he does NOT mean (aka "violence wasn't the answer... but lol go kill my father okay??"), we deserved a scene with Katara and Sokka talking this out. People pretend it's fine as it is: it's not. Katara has spent the ENTIRE show disregarding her brother's feelings in a myriad of ways: this time, it was way more painful and way more hurtful and SHE KNOWS IT. It's not funny. She's not amused. She's not being a shithead little sister. She's ANGRY. She's UPSET. She has every right to be! What she DOESN'T have a right to do is hurt her brother DELIBERATELY and then escape every consequence from doing that.

There's very much no way to spin that moment into making Katara a decent sister. There's no way she remains true to her core values of being empathetic, kind and wholesome when she will insidiously, vindictively hurt her brother this way. And what I said earlier about her overhearing Toph and Sokka in the Runaway? It actually gets a follow-up in this scene: Katara telling Sokka that he didn't love Kya as she did is basically her WEAPONIZING the information that was NOT meant for her as her alleged evidence that Sokka didn't care about Kya as much as she did. As if his inability to retrieve Kya's memory was NOT a manifestation of trauma, as if it were something he's FINE with! He's not! How guilty must he feel for that? Does that matter to Katara at all? Why... nope. Because all that matters at that point is her own rage, her own feelings, her own fury. Which is, then, entirely against the character we've been told she is.

The lack of apology or follow-up to this horrible moment will never stop being one of the absolute biggest misfires in one of the WORST written episodes of this show. Yes, I said it. The more I ponder The Southern Raiders, the more I realize it's an immensely flawed speedrun to establish a friendship that simply doesn't add up. Katara and Zuko becoming friends after this journey requires some wild, absurd leaps of imagination that, boiled down to basics, don't make any sense. There's no reason for Katara to decide she'll forgive Zuko after she regains enough clarity. Why does she forgive him? Because he proved he'd rather make her happy than defend his nation anymore? Ironically, at no point does Katara show any appreciation of the fact that Zuko is setting aside his firebending supremacist attitude completely for her sake. So maybe that's not it.

Ah... is it because of how he, and he alone, was ready to help her go on this journey of revenge...?! Why, ironically, the only reason why ONLY Zuko goes on this journey is incredibly artificial and fake: this IS intended as Katara's "field trip" with Zuko. None of the field trips make sense, from a logical standpoint, as duo journeys. I've mentioned it to a few people: Sokka and Zuko could have brought Toph with them to the Boiling Rock, a metal location where her abilities would be VERY useful, used her as a false prisoner and turned her in as a captured ally of the Avatar's, who 100% will bait him into coming here to rescue her so that the Fire Nation can get him next! A cover as strong as that one might actually get them further along on that rescue attempt than what they did in canon. But this CANNOT BE... because it was Sokka's field trip with Zuko so nobody else is invited, even if they're very much not doing anything else (as is the case with Toph). Aang? Why didn't everyone join the firebending discovery with Zuko and Aang? They weren't doing ANYTHING in the Western Air Temple at the time. They very much could have gone with them too. But they don't. And that's exactly why Katara's trip works exactly as it does: it's the solo journey with Katara and Zuko, and the ONLY way to make it work is to show Sokka and Aang completely opposed to the concept of finding Yon Rha. I'm not saying I think Sokka and Aang would have been on board if they're allowed to remain IC... but they could have wanted to go on this trip with Katara regardless of not agreeing with what she wanted to do. Hell, as is OBVIOUS: Kya is Sokka's mom too. His opinions, his feelings on this subject, should matter just as much as Katara's do, and fuck anyone who pretends otherwise. These two are NOT supposed to be the well-known unhealthy siblings Zuko and Azula, who each got one parent in their corner and therefore the other parent treated them like they were worthless or a monster. Hakoda and Kya were parents to BOTH their children, and any narrative or interpretation that attempts to say that ONLY Katara's opinion on Kya matters is immediately ruled out, for me, as absolute bullshit spouted by someone not worth listening to. Point blank.

Also, the fact that Zuko USES Sokka to gain this information about the southern raiders, and then doesn't even extend the chance to Sokka to join them? When Sokka is basically his new best buddy? That... does not make sense. It basically portrays Zuko as a disloyal asshole who takes advantage of his friends for his purposes and tosses them aside, disregarding their feelings whenever it suits him.

So Sokka's treatment at the hands of this episode is just deplorable. Both Zuko and Katara are HORRIBLE to him... but Katara is our focus here, she's actively hurts Sokka and then proceeds to not care. Because that's how she has operated so far, and that's how she always will.

Hence: we have a long, long tradition of Katara not treating Sokka fairly all across the show. The reasons why it's not a fair or balanced relationship at all is because Sokka typically pays the price for being a dick to Katara: either she inflicts the punishment herself, such as when he's disrespectful in the Drill and she smacks him with the slurry, or the narrative inflicts some magical punishment instead that CONSTANTLY proves that Sokka is not allowed to be a dick without facing consequences for it. Does he ALWAYS learn the lesson? Sure he doesn't! But the consequences for it NEVER stop. He doesn't get away with being a jerk to his sister. That's forbidden. But Katara? She's allowed to get away with it every single time! And the reason why it gets worse and worse is because we went from relatively silly/comedic things, in which Katara did not apologize because "it's funny that she didn't apologize", to NOT funny things at all, such as this scene in Southern Raiders. Even just a troubled glance at Sokka, or a slight hesitation after seeing how hurt he is, would be enough for me: there's NOTHING. She doubles down and keeps charging ahead. Zero thoughts or concerns given to her brother.

If this isn't why you have issues with Katara, well, I don't know why it might be the case in your case x'D But I absolutely attest that the combination of "mom friend", "selective compassion particularly when it comes to her brother" and "absolute imperviousness to consequences for her mistakes" are the things that fully caused my initial appreciation of her character to shift into ambivalence and then into full blown dislike once I reached Book 3.

Worth noting: THIS IS A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE SHOW'S WRITING. Boiled down to basics, written by any more competent hands, I don't think Katara would have acted the way she did often, ESPECIALLY in episodes like The Awakening or The Southern Raiders. I categorically refuse to write Katara in my stories as someone who gets free passes for EVERYTHING she does. I also refuse to portray her as the mom friend, particularly in Gladiator. There's a lot of depth you can give this character! So much you can do, so much worth exploring... and canon just settled for stunting her and then only bringing her out to play in ways that make her unpleasant, not particularly bright and extremely resistant to character development even after allegedly learning lessons (see how her initial behavior around Hama, who shows red flags often, isn't all that different from how it was with Jet? There's only a handful of moments where it looks like Katara MIGHT be wary, and yet they're quickly overcome by her excitement, which Hama manipulates in her favor until she does the bloodbending reveal). So I'm NOT saying Katara had no potential... but I am saying the show itself failed her, big time, because of how she was written. A quick glance through the transcript of the Puppetmaster to confirm my memories that Katara shows no sign of concern over Hama when Sokka finds her suspicious reveals that, after Hama shows them her comb and that she's from the Southern Water Tribe, Sokka, and Sokka alone, apologizes for suspecting her of being sketchy. Nothing from Aang, even though he was part of it too. Nothing from Toph, either. And certainly nothing from Katara. Only Sokka apologizes. As usual.

So... what does this tell you? What does this tell any of us? That Katara's development is... erratic, at best. That it's not linear isn't a bad thing, but that it contradicts itself non-stop, that her core traits come and go willy-nilly as the plot demands it, that her motivations to do things (like forgiving Zuko) don't add up to her experiences or to any lead-up we've witnessed, is most certainly not good.

If I were to rewrite ATLA, the main characters I'd want to rewrite into making a lot more sense than they do, and making their arcs actually logical, are Zuko and Katara. I'd definitely add a few rewrites for Iroh, particularly to make him WAY more accountable for shit than he ever was, and to show he's not universally loved and shouldn't be, since people would have very reasonable grievances with him. I'd also rewrite a handful of things with Aang, too. Toph, full-stop, deserves a growth arc of her own beyond getting stronger and getting used to having friends. Girl has the range. They just never let her explore it. And of course, I'd change a fair few elements of Azula's writing as well. But I feel like no characters would warrant a deeper intervention than Zuko and Katara, precisely because they constantly fail to live up to all the stuff people keep pretending they're flawless exhibits of.

And this is one more issue we've got going on with Katara:

The fandom ABSOLUTELY has been unfair to Katara. A lot of people hate her for no reason. A lot of people who potentially have unexamined racism making their hearts' choices for them and they despise her just because she dared not have fully-white skin. A lot of people pick completely ridiculous things to get angry at her, such as people who HATE HER because she's "rude to Zuko". Just, fuck off. That's about the stupidest reason to hate this character and stupid reasons for that have been heard plenty.

But Katara's fans have become... reactionary. They appear think that any criticism to her character NEEDS to be fought off with "she was right tho" or "she has every reason to act this way" or "she's HUMAN she's allowed to make mistakes you heathen!! That's what a flawed character is like!"

Here's the kicker, though: if you have justifications and excuses for every little unpleasant thing Katara EVER does? You're basically taking a dump on her character yourself and saying she IS flawless.

Flaws in characters are bad things that cannot be justified. They can be funny! They can be annoying. They can be infuriating. But they're things that inconvenience other characters, that hurt them, that show they're not above or beyond doing harmful things! All of what I listed in this crazy long post are Katara's flaws. The reason why I don't like the way these flaws were handled are all the things I already have talked about: no accountability for flaws is basically saying that these flaws don't matter. No follow-up, no lead-up, means Katara is allowed to be as much of an ass as she wants to be and nobody cares: THIS IS NOT FAIR. This is not how ANY character should be written. This is the core reason why I've spent years feuding with Zuko and Iroh: they get away with shit they should NOT get away with, EVER. They're not held accountable for so much they should be. This happens to Katara too. particularly in her dynamcis with her brother. And when people see those flaws and just start listing reasons why it's actually okay? All you're doing is dehumanizing these characters to pretend everything they EVER do is fine.

Also worth noting... character flaws are the way characters grow. If a character is DEEPLY flawed, you know what kind of work you have cut out for you as a writer. If you're writing a story heavily steeped on character development? Then those flaws are VITAL to the work you have to do in order to develop these characters!

But when Zuko is unnecessarily violent and you're told "it's because his culture and family are!", you rightfully assume that as he drifts away from Fire Nation ideology, Zuko WILL grow less violent. Then, you watch how he picks an unnecessary fight with Aang in the finale because everyone's being lazy, an EXTREMELY violent fight at that, and you contrast his earlier behavior with it and... where's the difference, exactly? How did he grow or learn better if violence is STILL his immediate reaction to anything he doesn't like?

Thus, when Katara's flaws get overlooked, ignored, disregarded? What kind of development does Katara get, if none of her flaws are addressed in a way that makes it look like she's genuinely learned any lessons? At least, none of the worst, biggest, glaring flaws were addressed. None of the things that she SHOULD be troubled by and that she shouldn't be happy with herself over, especially after seeing how she hurts people with her actions. This isn't cool. This isn't a fun way to write a character. And it's so glaringly unpleasant when you can so very easily contrast this with the well-known terrible flaw Sokka displays early on: sexism! And then he gets his ass kicked by Suki and he learns to respect the Kyoshi Warriors... and we never see him displaying that particular flaw again. THAT is what growth looks like! What can we point to with Katara that remotely compares to this? That she accepted Zuko? Yeah, no, that sincerely could not count any less. Her personal arc CANNOT be about Zuko. That she got over her mom's death? She didn't. So that's not it either. That she helped Aang save the world? So her personal arc was about Aang and not herself? Was her whole role in the story to play Aang's cheerleader, then? Because if that's it... she was doing that just fine at it since day one. She's the only person who faithfully believed the Avatar would return well before Aang turned up in her life, if the first episode's introduction is to be believed.

So... what, exactly, was Katara's arc? If it's just her waterbending skills, then she's as stunted as Toph, unexplored and underdeveloped and left to just strengthen her fighting skills while Aang and Zuko and Sokka are getting full character arcs, even if very lowkey but very much effective in Sokka's case, where they develop and grow (or they should) into the men they're supposed to be to end the war! Why don't Katara and Toph get similar arcs? Why aren't they challenged on a level that actually provides them with lasting, solid, provable growth, where you can look at them where they started out and see how they ended up and conclude their journey was beautiful?

I insist... writing. Weak writing. Failures to understand/develop characters properly. And of course, lack of accountability in storytelling. I wrote that one focusing mostly on Zuko... but it's very much applicable to every character who fails to own up to the things they should and deserve to face consequences for.

Anyway... this is what I'd say about Katara atm. I'm not 100% sure this is everything because I might have overlooked some stuff that also made Katara's character kind of backfire (while I'm no Kataang hater, I 100% agree that the ship should have been written better too, and after writing them whenever I have, it's honestly kind of ridiculous how such an easy ship could get fucked over so badly by weird writing choices...). Whether you agree with these assessments or not, ultimately, there are valid reasons to feel offput by Katara and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Most of all when you DID appreciate and cherish the character once before, but her fans just jump to the conclusion that you must be a mindless hater to think she's anything but flawless (this, while claiming they love that she's flawed, then they proceed to reveal they have no idea what a flaw is...).

(final note: SORRY IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO ANSWER! Super lengthy answer to make up for it, I hope :((( sorry)

#anon #I am not tagging the character directly but I bet this is gonna show up in her tag anyway because Tumblr gonna Tumbl #look #if you're the kind of katara fan who cannot stand a single word against her #just don't read this for your sanity of mind #... but if you go ahead and do it anyway?#don't come back at me with a million arguments to prove your fave is indeed flawless #because you're basically just spitting upwards at that point #and further proving that you do not understand character growth or development in the least #she's not a goddamn religious figure she's a fictional character #every fictional character that's worth something is flawed #and flaws are not always going to be cutesy pretty things #such is the case with Katara #the writing of this show is a mess in many regards #but they fucked up in particular with some characters the fandom adores #and I hate how the fandom acts like that's not the case at all #just to take trips into delululand and absolve them of every single thing they did wrong #and all the very deserved consequences for their worst actions #because the show itself dropped the ball hard enough in that respect for the fandom to do the same #you do you #but no argument will change my mind #and if none will change yours?#... skip past this post :')#it's a free world

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miribooksies · 3 months

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Jack and the Cockoo Clock Heart (2013)- Movie, Spoilers

HEHEHEHEHHEHHEHEHE

I watched this movie when I was a kid, tiny me, and I found it again because its songs kept worming around my head, and I'm so glad I did.

It starts with a our protagonist, Jack, being born in the coldest day on earth, his heart is frozen, so it is then replaced with a clock. It all starts from this, his heart. This movie is, in my opinion, a tragedy, but I think it's very debatable and interpretation-oriented.

The art style is very captivating, making everyone look like some sort of pristine doll. The backgrounds are very thought out and a highlight with how imaginative it is and how much it aids the story, especially regarding time-skips and travel. THE MUSIC IS AWESOME, I enjoyed this the MOST, it's very rhythmic, very thematic, and it explores multiple genres and atmospheres depending on what part of the story they're currently on. The MUSIC WAS MY FAVORITE, if nothing else just watch it for the melodies.

That being said the story is very captivating too, it's very motive driven, so it's very fast paced (including the dialogue, but I think it's because of the translation from French and not a choice to cut time) and every moment is key to the storytelling. Despite this quick pace, it is a slow burn, but they do a very good job of keeping it dynamic while keeping the tension of the main plot.

It is, however, a very sexual story, despite nothing being very explicit. The sister-figures of Jack are sex workers, when Jack meets his love interest (IMO most important part of the story, and best chorus, and very stunning atmosphere) he references tearing her dress to confetti with his teeth which ???? he's a kid in this moment so that was very confusing and weird, relationship between George Meliès and the two headed woman, and other instances of sexual innuendo achieved in many, many angles. I feel this is very notable, since Jack never is involved with anything. Being so enamored with Miss Acacia and his heart situation, we can probably assume he's a virgin, yet it doesn't stop the main and side romances from being very suggestive.

From what I hear the book is much more sexual, and the presence of it in his childhood in both book and movie is commonly tied to the sister-like sex workers, who are very open about their work and do share work stories in front of Jack.

Miss Acacia's powers are also never noted, which is strange because it isn't like every stranger walking the street suddenly sprouts thorns around their body or purple cones in their tits, it might've been very intentional though? I like the fact it was never a center of attention, and I think it really aids characterizing Acacia, pushing forward a fairly well-rounded character for the short amount of time. It helps us visually see her feelings, emotions, and intentions, kind of like wearing her heart on her sleeve.

On that same locomotive of thought, Joe has the same birthday as Jack, which is such a random piece of lore to drop, but giving it a bit of thought forms a solid idea. Jack was born on the coldest day on Earth, this is what caused for his heart to be mechanical, meaning that Joe was also born in that same coldness, but we don't see him walking around with his own pendulum, so why is that? Probably because, following the film's very direct and literal nature, his heart is simply cold, which pushes him to be as cruel as he is to Jack.

It might've been because it was 1 AM and because the beat might've scared me, but I really felt the final kiss in my chest, and I think the building up of the whole narrative really makes this such a good ending. If it's a good ending is probably debatable, but me personally I appreciated the direction in which it was taken, and that the tragedy was taken to the end, without letting go of the romantic plot for a second. It feels very complete, I guess. Even as he climbs the snowflakes, it feels very true to the story, that's probably why I like it so much.

Props to the whole team honestly they REALLY know how to make atmosphere, and the way they used those tools to convey storytelling is PHENOMENAL!!

I also see where and why the movie could be strongly disliked, if you end up hating it, but I thought it was fire.

I watched it here!

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thisgirlnamedblusy · 1 year

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Hello, I hope you are well! I was thinking that the reader has a friend and one day they meet at her house and y/n meets her friend's mother (Marilyn) and ends up liking her (there can be smut if you want) I'm sorry if you don't understand what I wanted to say

Yesss!! I hope you like it, and sorry about the language mistakes.

How I seduced your mother

Pairing: Marilyn Thornhill x Fem! Reader

Warnings: slightly implied smut, nothing explicit

Word count: 2,970

Summary: You didn’t know you friend’s mother, but when you do it, you can’t stop thinking about her.

N/A: Requests are open!!! I love you all!!

“Where did you say your house was?” You asked, looking around you.

“(Y/N), you don't have much sense of direction,” your friend told you. “The green mailbox.”

“The green mailbox,” You repeated in a mocking tone, looking for something that matched that description. “Oh, okay, I see that.”

It was a Friday night, which meant “girls night” to you and your friend Becca. That day there was going to be an important novelty, this time it was going to be at her house, and not at yours, as always. Becca always made excuses not to go to her house, but by force of insisting and insisting, she finally confessed to you that her mother was a bit weird, and that she didn't want you to get a bad impression. Nonsense, in your opinion. You didn't think there was anyone on Earth weirder than you.

You went up the small stairs, finally hanging up the phone and rang the bell.

“I'm coming!” a voice that wasn't your friend's said from the other side.

The door opened and you had to blink twice. A really beautiful woman was there, smiling and wearing what looked like gardening gloves.

“You must be (Y/N), I'm Marilyn, Becca's mother,” she said, playfully removing one of her gloves and offering you her hand.

“Gla, glad to meet you,” you said, shaking it politely. You deeply wished you hadn't blushed, you were a very impressionable girl, and women of a certain age were your biggest obsession.

“Please, don't stay there, come in, Becca is in the shower,” she told you kindly. You nodded and entered the small house.

“Yes, I think I haven't left her alone, I couldn't find your house,” you said, trying to sound amused in a slightly clumsy way. Marilyn smiled at you, putting the glove back on and going to a strange plant that she had on a table.

“Wow, that, is that a carnivorous plant?” You asked, trying not to create an awkward silence. The redhead looked at you and nodded, gesturing for you to come closer. “I've never seen one of these up close.”

“Well, people don't usually plant them in their garden, I guess not everyone likes them,” she told you, looking at the plant. You watched it too, quite interested.

You knew that she was a botany teacher at an academy, but that woman, was a complete stranger to you.

“I like it,” you whispered. You were breathing too fast. You expected to find some strange, eccentric or too sappy woman, but nothing like that. Marilyn was a kind woman, and she seemed quite normal to you, among other things…

“Do you want to feed it?” She asked you. You doubted when you saw a glass with living worms, but your curiosity was stronger than the disgust that those bugs gave you.

“Okay, okay,” you stammered. She nodded and gave you one of her gloves. With care and a bit of reluctance, you reached into that jar and pulled out one of those disgusting worms, and left it where she indicated. You watched as the plant closed in an almost hypnotic way, but you weren't sure if that emotion you felt was precisely because of that.

You didn't usually notice the first woman that passed by your side, but sometimes, for some reason, you fell in love at first sight.

“Hey, (Y/N).” Your friend Becca came down the stairs and greeted you.

“Hi Becca,” you said, coming out of your thoughts a bit.

“Mom, are you already bothering (Y/N) with your plants? It didn't take you ten minutes, huh?” She reproached her. Marilyn just sighed and winked at you. You felt the imperious need defend her.

“It wasn't her fault, B, it was me who asked her,” you said, winking back to the redhead.

“Okay,” your friend said, pointing to the stairs. “Let's go upstairs, I bought pizza.”

“You mean I bought pizza,” her mother said, amused, earning a furious look from her daughter.

You went up the stairs to your friend's room, where you took off your shoes and left your backpack on the mattress on the floor. You began to talk about your stuff soon , about the university, about the desperate love of your friend... But in your head there were many questions, and all in the same direction.

“Hey, B, why did you say that your mother was weird? She seems quite normal to me,” you asked, drinking your soda. Becca raised her eyebrows and looked at you with a shrug.

“Well, that's because you don't know her, she's always with her plants, sometimes I think she loves them more than me.”

“I'm convinced that's not true,” you said, trying to hide your curiosity.

“Well, maybe I’m overreacting. Ever since she broke up with her girlfriend, she has been more aware of them, I guess she does that to forget. That woman was an idiot anyway, I never tired of repeating it to her, but she is too innocent. They always do with her whatever they want.

You choked on that new information, which on the other hand you were unaware of. Becca didn't have any secrets from you, but for some reason she had that one kept under lock and key.

“Did you say girlfriend?” You asked, lowering your voice a little.

“Yes, girlfriend,” your friend repeated, somehow annoyed by your insistence.

“Wow, you hadn't told me that,” you said, giving her a nudge. Becca turned to face you and frowned, like when she was going to threaten you about something.

“Of course not. I'm not crazy,” she told you seriously. You smiled, not understanding why so much secrecy. “I know you, (Y/N), I know your tastes, and unfortunately my mother fits them. So don't even think about it.”

“Do not think about what?” You asked, pretending to be clueless.

“Don't play dumb with me. My mother is untouchable , okay?” She asked in a truly serious tone. You were such a good friends that you couldn't even hide that this woman did catch your attention. You decided to joke around a bit, as usual.

“Well, that's for her to decide, right?” You said with a seductive voice, knowing that you were starting to make your friend nervous.

“(Y/N), I'm going to say it once: Don’t, come closer, to, my, mother,” she told you, narrowing her eyes. You stuck out your tongue at her mockingly, and she responded by throwing a pillow at you, which led to an absurd fight.

After two horror movies and endless talks, it was time to sleep. You had a good time, but the new information you received left you a little indecisive. You didn't usually break your promises, but you liked that woman from the first moment. You had been with a few women of that age, but none of them had caught your attention that much. You were curious, and knowing that there was a remote chance that she would notice you made you set a goal for yourself. You weren't going to get close to her, thus keeping your promise to your friend, but maybe you could somehow get her to get close to you. You liked those kinds of games, it was your favorite hobby, and if your friend was on the lookout, much better.

You fell asleep right away, but the next day you would put your plan into action.

The vibration of your phone woke you up. Becca was snoring in her bed, but the early morning light was already streaming in through the window. Now all you had to do was sharpen your ear for her. Soon your wish came true, and a shower sounded softly somewhere in the house. After a while, footsteps came down the hall. It was the time.

“Great,” you whispered to yourself, getting up off the ground, trying not to make a sound. You always slept in your underwear and a tank top. You made a move to get dressed, but the panties you were wearing seemed enough, and besides, the longer you stayed in the room, the greater the risk that Becca would wake up.

Tiptoeing you got out of the room and went down the stairs. Marilyn was there, already dressed, watering the house plants. Looking up at you she freaked out a little, and she jumped.

“(Y/N), you scared me,” she said with her hand on her chest and a shy smile. You put on the face of a good girl.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to,” you said, pretending to rub your eyes. Through the holes left by your hand, you looked at her, which for a moment ran through your body from top to bottom. A small smile appeared on your face.

“I haven't woken you up, right?” She asked you innocently. You shook your head, taking a few steps forward.

“I always get up early, I like to see the sunrise,” you whispered strangely. She smiled tenderly and continued watering the plants.

“Do you need help?” You asked, moving closer until you were right behind her. Marilyn stopped and turned slowly to look at you, surely surprised by how close you were.

“Um… Well… Well, if you want to finish watering, I… I can make some coffee,” she said, stuttering, avoiding looking at you directly. She had gotten nervous, it was a good sign.

“Perfect,” you said, dragging your words, and taking your hand to hers to take the watering can, but not before caressing her hand, "by accident."

She went to the kitchen so fast that you couldn't help but laugh. Becca was right, it wouldn't be hard to seduce her.

You finished your task and went to the redhead, who was quietly making coffee. You rested your elbows on the island and leaned over, leaving a good view of your breasts for whoever wanted to look.

“How do you like your coffee, (Y/N)?” She asked with a cup in her hand. When she turned around, she was blocked, unable to avoid looking. You were hiding, looking at your phone.

“I like it black…” You sighed, ignoring the fact that she had looked directly at your cleavage. You didn't think she would fall so fast. Marilyn shook her head and cleared her throat, looking away from your prying breasts.

“I can make a tit for you... A, a tea if you prefer,” she said, her face red with shame for that little big lapse.

“Coffee is okay, thank you very much, Marilyn,” you said kindly, but without taking your eyes off her.

“You, you’re welcome.”

That coffee was one of the most tense moments of your life. She was smiling, yes, but she was nervous, restless, surely because of your little provocations. Becca hadn't gotten up yet, so you could still make her mom even more nervous, but don't going overboard. She took her mug from and set it on the sink, not wiping that smile off her face. You got up from the stool and took yours, leaving it in the same place, but touching your body with her on purpose. The redhead made no attempt to move away from her and let you brush up against her. It could have been coincidence, but you didn't think so. Still, it couldn't be that simple. You were her daughter's friend, 17 years younger. Nobody would think it was a good idea to be seduced by someone like you. When you put the mug down, you made a risky move, gently stroking her arm. She turned suddenly, and opened her mouth to say something, but the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs seemed to dissuade her.

“Good morning,” Becca said, yawning.

That interruption told you that you should stop your advances, at least for that day. You weren't sure if you had managed to get her attention, but you had a good feeling.

The following week, Becca told you that she was going away with her boyfriend for a couple of days. It was the perfect moment, the unbeatable opportunity to make your fantasies come true, or at least to try.

You went up the small stairs again and, biting your lip, you rang the bell. After a few seconds, the door opened, and Marilyn seemed very surprised to see you.

“(Y/N), hasn't Becca told you that she's gone with Jack?” She asked, faking a smile. It was clear that your presence made her uncomfortable, but you didn't know in what way.

“I know, I've come to see you,” you said naturally. She raised her eyebrows and sighed, pointing to herself.

“Oh, me?” She asked, puzzled.

“Yes, I've thought about putting some plants in my apartment, and I came to ask your advice, but if you're busy…” You said, turning around, feigning disappointment.

“Wait, wait,” the redhead told you, grabbing her arm. “Yeah, sure. I'd love to give you advice, please come in.”

You smiled victoriously and turned around, pretending a normal face.

You spent a while making up an excuse, and listening to what seemed like an endless symposium about plants. It wasn't boring, and it also helped you see that you had some things in common, apart from Becca, of course.

“Which one do you choose?” She asked.

“I think that the cactus is the best for me, I'm very clueless,” you said amused, placing a hand on her leg, casually.

“It's, it's a good choice…” She said, starting to get nervous again. You did not withdraw your hand, what's more, you began to raise it little by little. Marilyn got up from her chair, startled, and her gaze turned serious.

“(Y/N), enough,” she told you. “What are you doing?”

You played clueless again.

“What do you mean?” You asked, at the same time that you got up too

“I think you know what I mean.”

“I have no idea, Marilyn.”

The redhead smiled nervously and she shook her head, as if she was hallucinating. It was time to move token. You were getting closer to her little by little, and she was backing away, until her back collided with a wall.

“Do I make you nervous?” You asked, changing your tone of voice and approaching her ear.

“A, a little. I, I don't know what you want from me, but I don't…” She said, hesitating, avoiding to look into your eyes.

“I want you, Marilyn, you're the sexiest woman I've ever seen,” you said directly. Becca wasn't there and you decided to stop being nice, you had been thinking about her all week.

“Are you crazy, (Y/N)? I am, I am your friend’s mother.” She said, with a less surprised tone than you expected.

“So? She's not here right now…” You whispered, shamelessly putting your hands on her waist.

“I don't know what you may have imagined, but I didn't…” She murmured, stopping when your body got too close to hers. “I think, I think you should go.”

She was lying and you knew it. You noticed how her cheeks were flushed, her pulse was racing and she avoided looking into your eyes. It wasn't the first time you'd seen someone in that state.

“Did you like my breasts?” You asked, causing the redhead to widen her eyes, shaking her head profusely.

“What are you talking about?”

You laughed mischievously, seeing how, as much as she was protesting, she made no attempt to remove your arms from her waist.

“I saw you looking at them the other day… I bet if Becca hadn't shown up, you would have ended up taking me right there,” you hissed in her ear.

“I… I don't…” She sighed, unable to continue speaking. You got very close to her lips, without touching them. Her breathing was rough and her whole body began to tremble, as if she were holding herself back.

You finally kissed her slowly. It was a short kiss that didn't last more than two seconds, but it confirmed that you were right. She moved a little away from you and shook her head again.

“No, (Y/N), this is not right... You are, you are my daughter's friend,” she said, moving her hands towards your face, as if that absurd resistance she had with herself was gradually dissolving.

“Tell me I should stop, and I'll do it…” You said, now going to her neck, without her doing anything to stop it. Marilyn closed her eyes, enjoying your kisses.

“(Y/N)…” She gasped, kissing you unexpectedly. That kiss was passionate, hungry. You smiled triumphantly as you saw her defenses fall and you deepened the kiss, caressing her entire body with your hands.

Her hands began to move as well, getting under your hair and caressing your clavicle.

“Oh, my God… This is wrong…” She said between kisses. “This is so wrong…”

“Shh,” you said, putting a finger on her lips. “Let yourself go.”

Your jacket fell to the ground as desperate gasps began to fill that house. Marilyn grabbed your hand and walked up the stairs, dragging you after her. You entered her bedroom, without leaving a second to breathe. You laughed and fell on the bed, looking suggestively at the redhead.

“Get naked, (Y/N),” she ordered you. You raised your eyebrows at that sudden change in attitude, but you obeyed with delight. You only left your bra and underwear. Marilyn climbed on the bed and was on top of you, looking at your body in an almost disturbing way.

“Do you like what you see?” You asked defiantly. Suddenly, she slapped you on the cheek, not very hard.

“Shut up, silly girl. Tell me, (Y/N), do you like to go around provoking people?”

You smiled. You liked those kinds of games, but you didn't expect a woman who looked so sweet to have those kinks.

“ I only provoke the people I like,” you said defiantly.

#marilyn thornhill #marilyn thornhill x reader #laurel gates #wednesday #ms thornhill #oneshot

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max1u3 · 1 year

Text

The Decline of the Anniversary Event, Part 3

The final remix event took place in August and just...ugghhhh

Tada, here are the Rem-mixes...

I just...

I'm literally studying concept and character design and I would get fail for plagiarism if I tried something like this.

As usual, here are the originals. You won't be surprised to see another skin that already has a twin colour pallet worm it's way in here.

It's not like there are literally dozens of skins that don't have twin skins Blizzard.

But really.

You do you.

Some real classics in there, skins I know people really adore. Then they go and get those crappy remixes. It just makes me wander what Blizzard was thinking.

I'm not as mad about the weekly challenges this time, for the purely selfish reason that I skipped the last two special events because I thought the skins were mid and was glad for another chance to get them.

I can understand why Blizzard would want to give new players the opportunity to get these skins, but it also feels like laziness wrapped up in false generosity. It still miffs me when I realise we got absolutely NO new, original, content for three whole events.

But, I guess it doesn't compare to this years Anniversary event.

For starters, there isn't even a trailer on their YouTube for it. Nor is there a separate post for each week on their Instagram.

I was busy during the first week, *cough* playing Baldurs Gate 3 *Cough* and I didn't get a chance to earn any of the rewards of SS the information, so this is all I got for week one.

In the first week the Winter Brawls and the Battle for Olympus mode came back and they had a series of challenges and rewards tied to them. Most of the rewards were pitiful credits, which are still a pretty dead currency even with the anniversary shop being open (for only a month). Everything still costs a steep price even if the currency is credits. Other than that it you can earn the classical hero icons for Junker Queen and Sojourn. The big reward here is the Echo highlight intro.

Wait.

That's weird.

I can't find the skins.

What?

Where did they go?

Oh wait-

There they are, costing as much as paid for OW1.

Oh yeah, here's the anniversary store, where you can buy everything with 'credits'.

The only skins you could buy with credits were the space raiders ones, the Ice Angel skin, the Art Deco skin, the Pearlescent skin and the Infinite ace. The Beekeeper and Hermes skins still cost real money, they're just discounted.

I can't say for certain those are all the credits skins though. I had the space raider skins on pre-order and I bought the infinite ace when it came out.

Anyways, here's week 2.

Once again, we have returning events, nothing new, and a series of challenges to complete. More classic golden player icons, a few credits and a Junker Queen victory pose.

It's not really screaming, quantity is it?

Finally, week 3.

Finally, in week 3 we see the return of the Summer Games modes and the mischief and magic game mode. The rewards are mostly the same with the golden player icons and credits, but finally, finally, we're presented with our first free skin. The cursed captain Reaper skin!

Hooray.

A single skin.

Lucky us.

Honestly.

Blizzard started out with 11 free legendary skins you could get through loot boxes, and now all hey offer is a card machine and a single free skin?

Do better Blizzard please.

I'm literally paying the price of OW1 for every skin I buy.

It's just getting ridiculous.

Apex Legends manages to have loot boxes and a battle pass, so why can't we?

#overwatch #ow2 #overwatch 2 #ow #anniversary

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adayinflash · 2 months

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An Address at an Ill-Timed Funeral

TWs: Implied Suicide

(I'm drunk and very sleepy. Also I promise this piece isn't a call for help, I'm doing fine just pulling from times when I Wasn't)

“I think I’m losing my mind,” she said, the bright smile breaking through her lips not reaching her eyes. “Don’t worry about me though, I’ll make it through.”

That was the last time I talked with my sister. That’s not to say that that was the last time I exchanged words with Allison Stevens, of course. I met up with her probably half a dozen times in the last year. And every time we talked. But we always talked about the superficial stuff, the things we could tell anyone. I was talking to Allison, the financial advisor who worked at a perfectly average firm. Allison, the woman who showed up to every party with the same pair of hoop earrings. Allison, who ordered the cheapest dish at every restaurant, and never got a wine pairing.

And I’m glad that I got to spend time with that Allison. I really am. While it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for every time I came into town to visit with her, I’m grateful for the fact that I got to spend time with her at all, because I know that my brother wasn’t so lucky, what with him still working his way through college.

But I was missing so much. And I still do miss her. Allie, who chased me around the yard with worms and bugs she dug out of the ground. Allie, with her frizzy bedhead that she never bothered to fix unless she was going out. Allie, who learned how to cook from our mother and tried her best to teach me and David after she passed. Allie, the slobbering drunk who needed to hold someone’s hand in order to fall asleep after having two shots.

I miss all of her so, so much. But the worst part is, I realize that I’ve been missing all of her since she died. But I’ve been missing so much of her for much, much longer. I feel as though I haven’t seen a single genuine feeling of hers in two years. And I can’t help but wonder how much of that is my fault. If I had told her a little more about some of my own struggles, would she have opened up about hers? What if I tried to take care of her, the way she did for us so much when we were all younger, and she was still far too young to have that burden forced on her? What if when she spoke to me for real, that one time, that was her last attempt at salvation, a reach for freedom, that I ignored and brushed off. What if I’m at fault.

My face feels flushed, throat dry. A hundred pairs of eyes burn into me hotter than the too-bright spotlights. My voice shakes with every word as if I speak over an earthquake, and I swallow down the tears that rise in my throat like bile.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that we need to take care of each other. Ensure that care is a two-way street. Receive help in times of trouble, give what help you can in times of security. Because your love costs you next to nothing, but may be the one thing that saves another’s life.

Thank you.

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ariel-s-awesome · 2 years

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May as well post my response to someone on AO3 asking why I hate season 2 here. Already stirred the pot.

(Can't get read more working so everyone has to deal.)

I could write multiple essays about it but I'll keep it brief to avoid opening a can of worms. (Yes, this IS the brief version.)

1) Portraying Wander as a perfect immortal space Jesus ruined his character. Sylvia was forced to blindly trust him when she previously balanced out his worst impulses. So it also ruined their friendship by introducing a toxic power dynamic. And Sylvia's character too as she got forced into a subservient role.

Wander continuously pushing Hater's boundaries in an effort to make him good worked when he seemed young and naive, without knowing when to back off. If he's done this song and dance many times now Hater's just the latest entry in villains he's overwhelmed into submission. It's manipulative and cheapens their friendship.

2) They flattened Hater. In season 1 there was solid internal logic behind his foolishness. He's not just a stupid childish oaf. In much of season 2 his behavior seemed far more random with little purpose but to make him stupid and incompetent. (There were still some good episodes, mostly when Dominator was nowhere in sight, but...)

3) Misogyny. There were issues in season 1 but it really took off when Lauren Faust left the show between seasons to work on Medusa (which later got cancelled, sadly.) I have a feeling that her input kept it from getting out of hand with how it went from the usual lack of prominent female characters to the Dominator love interest arc.

Dominator worked well as a big threat that shook up the status quo and forced the main 4 to work together. But she was forced into a love interest role and demonized for not returning Hater's feelings.

This attitude is what leads to women getting assaulted for turning men down. As someone making children's cartoons, Craig has a responsibility to examine the messages closely and avoid reinforcing harmful ones because kids are very impressionable.

Also WOY used to be a great show for aromantics because it emphasized the importance of platonic love. That was no longer the case and many aro fans became bitter as the love interest arc wore on.

Her being portrayed as evil for not feeling love (I'm The Bad Guy) was the slap in the face as an aromantic (who thought I was a girl at the time) and my final straw. So I'm evil. Okay thanks guys. Time to pack it up and not even be able to bear to look at the show for several years.

Dominator was sexualized and it was disgusting. They constantly emphasized her boobs and hips despite her being fairly flat on model. There was even a storyboard posted with a note to fix her posing because when she was expressive that "wasn't pretty enough" or something like that.

They reduced what could have been a cool character to eye candy because she was a girl. Which is exactly what Wander and Hater did to her.

If this was a one episode thing that ended with Sylvia calling Wander out for being misogynistic and harassing her to pair her up with Hater, it would be fine. It'd be a good lesson. But it consumed most of the season without him and Hater ever being shown as wrong.

4) It was a waste of time that literally ended with the words "nothing ever changes" as they returned to the status quo. Craig McCraken failed to read the writing on the wall and thought that he would have unlimited time to tell his story. (Disney had an unofficial hard limit on keeping anything but breakout hits to two seasons at the time. And Wander wasn't one.)

Unpopular opinion but I'm glad Wander got canceled. Even putting the mess it became at the end to the side. That experience improved Craig's storytelling skills as he learned to work with the time he has instead of what he hopes for.

And that was what made Kid Cosmic great. I'm more attached to Wánder Over Yónder both because I was there for it airing and because it's my long-term special interest, but Kid Cosmic objectively has better storytelling because Craig learned to focus on the story he wants to tell.

It still has its flaws pacing wise, both because of Netflix keeping it short and him using so many main characters that most hardly got developed. (...Poor Chuck was all but abandoned by the narrative after his life was shattered.) Yet the story got wrapped up. Unlike Wander.)

5) Much more minor complaint but: The art suffered when they switched animation studios. I mean, I know Titmouse is a hard act to follow. But it looked cheap, with more errors, worse expressions, and more reused animation.

Probably not something the actual target audience would pay much mind to (I was a teenaged animation buff), still disappointing after how well-animated season 1 was.

#long post #woy critical #misogyny #assault m #actual original content

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nilesmoon · 7 months

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Hi, I loved your post about the family vacation with Ichi and Sawashiro. And I'll just say that I didn't have a problem with Sawashiro's role in IW... until the very last second. Because they get a freaking helicopter for Kiryu, but no one even went to look if Sawashiro was ok?? They just leave him in the chair while tending to Kiryu. BOTH of them are dying.

Like holy shit, Ichi would have gone to him in a second. He would have stopped Ebina's monologue instead of just standing there without even knowing if he was alive or not. That was for me the most disrespectful moment. I loved how Ichi believed in him at the beginning of Chapter 10, and then I was expecting some kind of reunion at the end but he f*cks off to Hawaii, not even a "Please save the Captain" to Kiryu or anything. That's what made me the most mad

I really hope they pay us off in Y9, he better come back with a cool eyepatch and join the party

Omg I didn't really expect anyone to read that post let alone get an ask about it but I'm so glad that you loved it!! And huge same if he's not coming back as a party member or dying in a meaningful way, there's no point bringing that asshole back.

Me, being the Arakawa family tragedy enjoyer that I am, was overjoyed to see Sawashiro back for 8 and while he did have a few banger moments, the ending really did ruin it all for me. Me bitching abt it under the cut bc I need to puke out my anger Somewhere

Like I keep going back to think about how Ebina calls Ichi, tells him that he's got a bone to pick with him, tells him that he's holding Sawashiro captive bc what better bait to dangle in front of Ichi than the possibility of someone he cares for getting hurt??? And lets be real here the rest of the cast has no reason whatsoever to care about Sawashiro other than him being someone important to Ichi. (I think Tomi says something like 'i dont know this guy but if he's being used as bait he's gotta be important to you' iirc)

Then Kiryu walks in and is like "leave Ebina to me" bc Ebina's plotline is suddenly something personal Kiryu has to deal with??? (my feelings about kiryu being a protag in this game is a whole diff can of worms that I wont open rn but keep in mind how its mostly negative) So Ichi leaves that to him and doesn't really state what he's feeling about all the new info that gets dropped on him (this could be a 'Ichi putting others above himself' moment but i still hate it bc whats the point of Ebina's '''plot twist''' if Ichi was not even a part of it????)

And my god Sawashiro at that last scene. I think my live reaction of that scene is still on twitter where I just bitch for an hour. Even before the scene happened I was like "If they kill Sawashiro without Ichi present it'd make no sense. just like how killing Hanawa without Kiryu present was a Bad Choice".

When that chair turned... I think I tuned out the rest of Ebina's monologue bc I kept thinking the same 3 things: 1. none of this would've happened if sawashiro came with me to hawaii, 2. there's absolutely no reason for this to happen with This Cast (i dont think they even react outside of gasping or something) and 3. when will this masato clone wanna-be shut the fuck up so I can beat his face in (One thing I'll give to that chair scene was how it was a direct parallel to Hoshino's corpse. I think it was a very sexy thing rgg did.)

And then they're like "look!! he's not dead!!!" but at that point I was not sure if that was a 'last words' or a 'he's still alive!' moment. and I'm gonna be honest I Still Do Not know bc just like you said anon, NOONE DOES ANYTHING ABOUT HIM??? (nor about ebina for that matter) AND THEN THERES NO FOLLOW UP WHATSOEVER????? and all this makes me see it as sequel bait tbh

and I'm not even going into how he doesnt even get to meet Akane again. Thats a whole other topic on its own and I think I already typed out enough lol.

#thank you so much for this ask!! but also #IM SORRY I DIDNT WANT THIS TO BE A HATER MOMENT BUT I HAPPEN TO HAVE A LOT OF EMOTIONS FOR THIS ASSHOLE AND I AM. VERY UPSET :((#my haterisms for this game (mostly) stems from my immense love for these fuckass fictional characters #I need to force myself to finish writing this fic. its gonna be sort of an aftermath i needed w ichi & sawashiro.#I need to get it out of my system before it leaves me completely then there will be No Fic #answered #nile talks #iw spoilers #Infinite wealth spoilers

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thatwritingho · 11 months

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Hello Kay!! What a treat it was to wake up to such a spicy chapter of MM. I know you say you have a hard time with brevity but I really did not feel that anything was "too much" even for a 9k word chapter - you don't bog down the reader with anything and everything a character says/does has a purpose in the story (even if that purpose might be to be deliciously hot)! I also really liked how you incorporated talk of safewords/consent in the middle of Pickles and Olive's intimate moments. It goes a long way to show he cares about her wellbeing even if he might struggle to show it sometimes (especially as of late). And the bit with the "pickle stuffed olive" was SO cute and candid!! I know preferences can differ for sex and whatnot but I really love to see partners able to joke and laugh and not take sex so seriously. I can't wait to see the next half and hope it ends well for them...they have a great start!! ^^

Thank you as always, Meefy! You leave the best comments🥹

So glad you enjoyed!! And I'm glad nothing felt bogged down or unnecessary! I really couldn't imagine cutting anything else out, no matter how many times I looked at it — sometimes ridiculously long smut scenes are just necessary for relationship development, I suppose!

Because aside from just being hot and fun and self-indulgent, I do try to use all my smut scenes to develop character relationships and dynamics, so they're(typically) pulling double duty! Like, yeah — giving Pickles an opportunity to show Olive that he cares for her through the rockstar-acceptable act of sex haha.

The safeword/consent point is gonna be a big thing coming up, because, as you can tell... Olive's ex fucked her up in that regard, and so far, no one else(looking at you, Nathan and Toki) has really pushed back on it with her. Pickles is prying open a can of worms.

And yeah, the food puns, hehe. I thought the word "stuffed" when writing, made the connection, and knew immediately there was no way Pickles wouldn't do the same and immediately say it when it popped in his head. I love taking time to inject cute little moments of characters being silly during the do — it makes it feel so much more intimate🥰

#wow this got long #anyway #next chapter will be kink on kink on kink haha #it gets dirty filthy nasty #its what Olive deserves after the few weeks she's had haha #she's gonna have a hell of a night #someone get the liquid iv packets ASAP #hope everyone is prepared #part of the reason these chapters are so long is because Pickles' dirty talks NON-STOP and that continues hehe #momento mori #olive axworthy

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palialaina · 1 year

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I spent some time with Ashura today. I needed... I guess an adulter adult than me. And Dad's pretty calm and quiet, and he didn't seem to mind me following him around like a duckling.

We didn't speak much, I just... kinda followed, kept myself out of the way, and other than making sure I had food, he seemed perfectly okay with that.

It was nice.

It feels weird to finally think I'm more or less settled. Sure, he's not my Shepp yet, but he knows perfectly well that he's my choice. I feel a little impatient that he's not there yet, but... well. He's Dad, whether he likes it or not, and I can chill out.

Tish has started giving me more tips on furniture making, so I'm trying them out. I am definitely not the best, but she swears that I'll improve. I pointed out that Reth didn't, and she just kind of laughed.

Reth laughed too, when I told him, and then gave me a noogie. No fair being taller than me, jeez!

I did finally get Nai'o his flowers, and he said he made them their favorite foods. I still think he's way overthinking things, but if an over the top apology makes him feel better, go Nai'o, I guess? I did get an apple seed out of it, which is going to be awesome. I wonder if I can climb in the branches of the tree? I... I think... I think I did something like that when I was a kid.

Huh.

Weird thought. None of us humans were ever kids in this world. I wonder what a childhood here would even be like? Then again, with how particular the Majiri are, and also how... sort of out there the Grimalkin can be (seriously, how Zeki can't be in contact with his own mother just because it makes them seem weak is wild.), I think I'm glad to just emerge from a pink void as I am.

In the interest of builfing even more furniture, I went iron hunting in Bahari again. Found me some Palium too, and did some beach combing, and did not get sunburned because I wore protective clothing. (I really do not need round two of Everyone Fusses At Berry, thanks) I have to say, the geysers are both terrifying and exhilerating, and I am probably going to catch a cold at some point because of them, but whatever.

I did find a lovely green pearl, and I kind of want to give it to Jel. I really want to understand this Majiri custom more. If he gives me a pin, should I give him one? Or is that... would that be a thing for going beyond just being a couple?

Oof, now I've made myself anxious. I think I'll go see how my smelter is going with all that iron I brought home. And check the preserves jars. Maybe my glow worm farm.... I wonder if I should make another? I really do want to finish all the things in the Night Sky Temple. Maybe it'll open up another one for me to explore? Like the Windy Ruins in Bahari, or the place in that picture above? A door built into the mountain, right under my feet!

If I could just get that one recipe, and then the three fish...

Yeah, I think I'll have a nap, then make another glow worm farm. And then it's back to Bahari for more iron so I can work on these Chic and Industrial sets...

#palia #palia online #singularity 6 #berry plays palia #palia game #palia journaling #palia journey #palia mmo #palia roleplaying #Reminder that I am roleplaying in these journals and ascribing things to the NPCs that I *think* they would do

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askthechronoverse · 1 year

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Chapter Three: Sympathy for the Master Breaker

Last Chapter •||• Next Chapter

A few months had passed since Rex appeared in the garden and already, the people living in the Unikingdom castle already incorporated him into their daily routines. The fast pace of life in the castle, going from doing neglected chores with Richard to cleaning up Unikitty's messes kept Rex from thinking inward too much. The only time he was able to really think was at night, when the brightness of the kingdom changed to something more like home. Occasionally, Puppycorn would join him in his insomnia, talking about nothing too revealing about himself or too important.

It was one of those nights that the man found himself. Puppycorn had brought with him a new radio controlled car and the two took turns driving the thing around the cell.

"Did you think of what you wanna be called? I feel bad callin' you Rex if you don't like it." Puppycorn's tongue lolled on the side of his mouth as he drove donuts on the floor. Rex looked down at the little dog.

"I'm still not sure, kid. Don't feel bad. It's my name right now. That's like feelin' bad for callin' you Puppycorn." He leaned his back against the wall, watching the car. "How's your boardin' goin'? Didja get that kickflip down?"

"I'm getting a little better, but I keep faceplanting. I wish ya could come to the skatepark with me!"

"Kid, your sister has me runnin' around all day. Haven't had a whole lotta time for myself." Puppycorn calmed a little. "Are ya doin' it like I toldja? It worked with my raptors."

"Yeah! … Kinda. I can tell Unikitty to let you come." Puppycorn's ball tail wagged.

"She's not gonna let that happen. She wants to protect you from the big bad world-ending jerk."

"Ya seem pretty cool to me!"

"That's because I like you. You aren't tryin' to analyze me or force me to feel things I don't." Yes, the kid made him feel things, but it was things he didn't want, like guilt. "I noticed ya kept our secret, by the way. Pretty cool of you."

"Really? Thanks! I try to be cool!" His little ball tail could go flying at any time.

"Yeah, kid. Unikitty hasn't caught on yet to who I was. I appreciate it." He ruffled the pup's ears.

"Are ya gonna tell me more secrets?"

"Why not? Ya got somethin' in mind?"

Puppycorn tilted his head. He wasn't much of a thinker, so Rex doubted the pup was going to ask too hard hitting a question.

"Do you hate my big sis?" That was unexpected. Rex took a deep breath.

"She's annoying. I'm not sure what I saw in her and she needs to stop tryin' to do whatever she's tryin' to do with me because she is way too high energy for me right now." He shook his head, letting a small smile worm its way on his face. "I'm still glad I'm here an' not any other place in the known galaxy."

"Why?"

"It's kinda nice here. Everyone wants to help me… well, except Hawkodile. He's probably just doin' his job. Wish he'd loosen up an' let me have something to do in here."

"I can getcha stuff to build somethin'. What do ya wanna make?" Puppycorn braced himself to run out the open cell door.

"Hmm. How 'bout this, kid? I'll tell ya the parts. You go fetch." Rex closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. After a moment, he began to point to parts scattered around Doctor Fox's lab. A lot of the pieces were still attached to things, but Puppycorn destroyed the items for the parts. It was all in good faith, right? Eventually, everything Rex needed was at this feet. Puppycorn sat on the floor across from his friend and watched him work. He'd seen people build things before. He'd even done it himself. But the way Rex built was different, like his instructions came from a higher power. His movements were blindingly fast, the pup couldn't keep up.

Neither of the two noticed the lights turning on and Unikitty zooming into the cell like a bullet, fur turning crimson.

"What are you doing?!" She bellowed, breaking Rex's concentration which caused him to drop what he had been building. The item was half finished and unstable, the item crumbling back into the base components.

"He was building somethin', Big Sis!" Puppycorn seemed to slump a little as he gathered the parts. "I wanted to see what he was building! He builds things weird!"

"He's a Master Builder, Puppycorn." She turned to Rex for a second before starting to sift through the parts. "What were you building, Rex?"

"Look, I need somethin' to do around here besides clean up your messes. I was buildin' a-'' Before Rex could say anything further, a grasp was heard behind them. Doctor Fox looked around at the damage Puppycorn had caused in his effort to help Rex.

"Did you make Puppycorn do this, Rex? You were trying to escape, weren't you." This wasn't asked. This was a demand. Unikitty's horn and tail was engulfed in flames. Rex knew what this meant. She was angry. Not something he needed.

"Well, yeah, he helped me get the parts but-"

"I trusted you! How could you use my brother like you used my friend?" Each accusation was accented with an increase in height on the column of flames. "Get away from my brother!"

"Let me speak, Rainbows for Brains." Rex growled. "If I wanted to leave, I would have left by now. Puppycorn never closes the door. He'll even forget to close it after he leaves for the night. You can sleep through Armommageddeon. I could have just walked out that door and never come back. But I'm still here. Putting up with you." Puppycorn looked from his friend to his sister, not sure how to keep the peace.

"You were waiting for the right time to leave! How long have you been using my brother‽" Unikitty pressed her face against Rex's, sweat pouring from his brow. "What have you been telling him?"

"Nothing! Can we cut the crap with this overused cliche? It was old in the the 80's!" That made Unikitty pause, which left time for Puppycorn to chime in.

"Sis, he's my friend! He's told me about dinosaurs and skateboards! He's so cool!" Blue and green hearts and skulls floated around his head for a brief moment. Unikitty turned to her brother, fur still red but her form was less intimidating.

"Wait. He just told you about dinosaurs and skateboards?"

"Yeah! Did you know that raptors have feathers? And they're super smart, too!" Puppycorn bounced in place. His sister smiled at his excitement, but her attention turned back to Rex. "Sis, he's my friend."

"I'm happy you made a friend, but you gotta be careful with him. He hurt a good friend of mine. I don't want him to hurt you, too." Her attention never left Rex as she spoke.

"Who did he hurt?" Puppycorn tilted his head, attention to Rex, who was now backed into the corner of the bed.

"You never met him, Puppycorn. He lives far away from the Unikingdom." Her fur was going back to pink. "But he made my friend do a very bad thing." Rex said nothing. He didn't deny it. What he did was unforgivable. "I don't want him to do that to you."

"I'm gonna break this moment up and move things along, especially since you both are making intense eye contact with me." Rex pushed Unikitty off of him. "He's the only one of you who hasn't been totally overbearing this whole time. It's kinda funny: you want me to stop being grumpy. He helps me with that. That and upping my evening mediation to an hour a day." He muttered the last sentence. He cleared his throat. "You still haven't put the pieces together."

"You aren't helping, Rex. Whenever you talk about yourself, you… talk for hours about being stranded on a desert planet for years watching large children play with us like we were made out of plastic interlocking bricks? But that's not helpful! I can't use that to help you!" The red fur came back. Rex rolled his eyes.

"I don't work like that! I don't trust you. Thought you got that hint already." He put his hand on his head.

"But he totally trusts me! He lets me know all of his secrets!" Both Rex and Unikitty gave Puppycorn the same look of shock.

"What secrets, bro?" The room was silent after a while, save for the sounds of Doctor Fox fixing her equipment. After looking at the floor for a moment, the little dog spoke.

"Uh… it's a secret, sis. You can't tell anyone a secret. Especially since I promised." Puppycorn's ears went back, tail stagnant.

"Puppycorn. He's a liar. He might have told you something bad, something not true. Please tell me what he said." Rex looked away from Puppycorn. Go ahead. Blurt it out and save yourself.

"He didn't lie to me! I know he didn't! He sounded like he was telling the truth!" Puppycorn got closer to the two. "You were telling me the truth, right?" Rex didn't reply. It was strange that the pup was sticking up for him without calling him names. He found the words once he let the situation sink in more.

"Just tell her, kid." Honestly, it was a bigger deal to Unikitty than it was to Rex.

"Nuh uh. I said I wouldn't hurt you. Breaking a promise hurts." Puppycorn looked up at Rex with that look in his eyes, the one that made Rex's heart go weak. This all felt so saccharine. It would have made him puke if it weren't the one thing he desperately needed to hear.

"What did you tell him, Rex? What lie did you tell him?" Unikitty got in the human's face again. Rex pushed her back.

"I told him the truth. Not sure he understands it, but that's OK. He's a good kid. You want me to be direct? Fine. Before I started Armommageddeon, I was a naive construction worker who thought he actually had friends who loved him. Imagine his shock when those friends forget him for a happy little fantasy the first chance they got."

"I would have never done that. Not to a friend!" Something snapped behind Rex's dark eyes.

"But you did, Princess Fluffyhead! You forgot me! Left me for dead in a harsh, dry planet with only the thoughts of failure and inadequacy rolling in my mind. 'Be tougher, Emmet! You're such a Hufflepuff! You're so weak and useless!'. All of that played in my head for years while I got to watch the two brats that run our world help you and the others pretend I never existed! A happy little lie of a perfect world!" Rex's voice was unstable, torn between a gravelly growl and a pained whine. "You don't remember doing it. It happened in a timeline he prevented. But I remember! I'm the last shattered fragment of that mistake! I'm the Emmet who didn't get a happy ending. Who saw through everyone's lies, even the Man Upstairs!" He curled up, but his clenched fists were shaking. Unikitty stepped back, turning blue.

"Wait… did I really hurt you like that? No wonder you keep pushing me away." She held back tears, knowing her hurting former friend was doing the same. "Is that why you did it? You were hurting inside?"

"I wanted to get back at them for the pain they caused me. I didn't care about anything else. Heck, I'm still convinced someone is just telling a story, using us as an outlet to revive their creativity. But, everything feels… real. Even in Undar, when everything started to go in his favor. When she saved him." He turned his back to the cat and dog. "It still hurts and I can't stop it. I'm still so weak."

Puppycorn slipped under his floating sister and sat next to his friend, putting a paw on his shoulder to try and comfort him. His face didn't show that anything Rex said did anything but fly over his head, but the pain was something easy for the young pup to pick up on.

"You aren't weak. You never were. If it weren't for you, we would all be Kragled right now. You were so brave then." Unikitty's eyes watered. She couldn't help it. "Emmet… Rex… Whatever you want to be called right now…. I'm sorry. I really am. It takes a lot of strength to let people in, you know." She looked over to Doctor Fox, who was taking notes on what Rex had said relevant to her time research. "Doc, can you get us some lemonade? We definitely need some." Doctor Fox took the hint and rushed out of the lab. Unikitty turned back to Rex, who still had his back to her and her brother. She put her paw on his other shoulder. "I said I would help you. Like Puppycorn said, breaking promises hurts and I won't ever, ever hurt you again." Rex slowly moved his hand from his face to the paw Unikitty rested on his shoulder.

–

The dawn broke to a thick and somber atmosphere, something rarely felt in the Unikingdom castle. Rex had fallen asleep, still curled up in the corner. Unikitty and Puppycorn left him when they noticed he had gone silent, the elder royal assuming he'd simply exhausted himself after the altercation. The time traveler stirred in a state of odd feeling calmness. He pulled a blanket off his body that he didn't recall having on him when he fell asleep. When he did this, he suddenly felt a chill on the middle of his back. He tried to move away, but it followed him with a tutting noise coming soon after.

"Please hold still. I need to run some tests." He groaned. That voice belonged to Doctor Fox. "Last night, you revealed some data regarding your past that was very enlightening. There are two of the same person existing in this timeline and I need to determine what kind of effects this will have."

"Doc, I've been in the same timeline with my past self before. It didn't do anything the fabric of time an' space couldn't take. Can you run tests after I wake up and have some coffee?" Rex tried to stretch, but whatever Doctor Fox had on his back was pressed against his left shoulder blade now.

"Actually, I would have preferred it if you were asleep. It would be easier to get some baseline brain scans during a deeper sleep phase." She shrugged. "I can make due, but I would appreciate your full co-operation, for once."

"Alright, Doc. I'm honestly too tired to fightcha." He sank back into the position he was when he was asleep.

"Is your exhaustion emotional or physical? You did release some major emotional baggage last night. The sparkle matter left over was quite potent."

"What the heck is sparkle matter?" Rex's voice was muffled by the corner.

"It makes sense you wouldn't know about sparkle matter. You're from outside the Unikingdom. It's the manifestation of strong emotions. Love, happiness, sadness, even anger. I'm currently logging and studying yours, since this is the first time I've seen sparkle matter from someone who comes from another world. I can't help but wonder if your time in the Unikingdom is changing you on a biological level to be more like us."

"Why don't I remember seeing sparkle whatzits?"

"I'm not sure. I still need to test my hypothesis about your biological conversation first. Please continue to hold still. The scan is almost complete." After a moment, the coldness left Rex. "Alright. You can go upstairs. Unikitty wanted to talk to you. I advised her to give you some time to yourself, but you know how she is." She gave a small laugh. Rex nodded and sluggishly got to his feet. Doctor Fox was already at her computer by this point, a jar of shapes beside her. He could make out lightning bolts, rain clouds, little velociraptors, and his R emblem. There was tape on the jar with his name on it, but it was clear that this was sparkle matter. His sparkle matter. His mind went back to when he and Unikitty first met. He did remember hearts and stars radiating from her horn. He could do that now, too? He put a hand on his head, heading upstairs.

He eventually found Unikitty alone in the kitchen. She had some waffles placed on an empty place on the table across from her. "Hey. Come sit. I made ya waffles because I know how much you liked them."

"Princess, I would never say no to waffles." He sat across from her. "Doc said you wanted to talk. We breakin' up or somethin'?"

"No. I just… really wanted to apologize for… well, everything. Even the stuff I did in another timeline thingy. Emmet… Is it cool if I call you that? Or do you prefer Rex? This is so confusing, and Doctor Fox had to explain it to me three times this morning." Unikitty was smiling warmly, her blue eyes trained on Rex for a reaction of any kind.

"I'm leavin' that up to you, Princess. I'm not gonna fightcha." It was clear the man was exhausted to his core.

"Then, Rex. I'm not the Unikitty that hurt you, but I'll be the Unikitty to patch you up again!" She almost sang her convictions.

"Princess, you can't make me be my old self again. That person left a long time ago."

"I don't expect to. My goal is to help you not hurt anymore. Ya just gotta promise me you won't run away and, y'know… end all existence again. Promise me you won't?" She leaned on the table with anticipation.

"You sound serious. That's rare for the ruler of the land of no rules. I'll keep my rage in check, Princess." He reached his hand out for a handshake, but she came in for a hug instead. The hug lasted way too long, but Rex didn't mind.

"So I have to talk to Hawkodile, but you're gonna be my guest for really real. No cage. Doctor Fox wants you to keep the tracker on, but that may be for sciencey reasons. Richard's setting up a room for you in the castle!" Almost as if summoned, Richard floated through the door.

"Princess, you need to discuss this with Hawkodile first, because Rex was already deemed a security threat. Also, I have enough to do today without setting up-" Unikitty interrupted him quickly.

"You get to add someone to help you with choresl! It'll be great!" She was undaunted by the monotone brick's words.

"That would be nice." He turned to Rex. "Just to let you know, you may be doing more than your share of chores. You don't mind chores, do you?"

"Nah, bro. I spent mosta my life in a place where people who didn't follow the rules disappeared for a while. I'll try not to complain too much." Richard blinked, the only sign of a reaction.

"Alright. I'll get a room cleared for Rex. Unikitty, I want you to help acclimate him to the Unikingdom. Make sure Hawkodile is with you." Richard floated away, right through the wall.

"We gonna talk about the whole 'float through walls' thing? Is he a ghost or somethin'?" Rex asked after staring at the wall for a moment.

"No, he's just Richard. He's the castle caretaker!" Unikitty shrugged. "I gotta get Hawkodile. Stay there and eat, OK? I'll be back before you can miss me!" The magical cat zipped away. Not a second after she did, Puppycorn appeared at the door.

"Oh! Waffles!" He bounded to the seat Unikitty had occupied. Rex slid the plate over.

"Take 'em, kid. I'm not really hungry." The puppy took the food without another word. Rex watched the sports themed sparkle matter fly. "Sorry about last night. It wasn't fair to you ta see me like that."

"It's alright, dude. Ya've been sad since I met ya," Puppycorn slid the now clean plate back to Rex and licked syrup off his face. "But I totally kept my promise! I didn't tell Unikitty nothing!" That earned him a pat on the head.

"Ya did. I think I just needed to tell her myself." He leaned back on his chair. "Hey, do ya remember things comin' off my head when I was… y'know." Puppycorn scratched his head.

"Huh? … Oh yeah! I found a cool raptor thing next to you after ya went to sleep. Doc said it was sparkle matter, but she sounded really confused. Somethin' aboutcha being from another planet. We looked around and found a lot more of the stuff. Maybe that's why ya sound tired!" Puppycorn spoke with pride.

"Maybe, but I don't think I'm gonna be able to take a nap for a while. Shocked ya picked up on that, kid. Your sister sure didn't." Rex chuckled. "She's still up on Planet Unikitty, huh?" He pointed over his head.

"Nah. Pretty sure she's at Hawkodile's treehouse."

"Kid, never change. Ever." Puppycorn looked confused, but this was dispelled by Unikitty returning to the kitchen with Hawkodile.

"Let's go shoooopping!" She sang out, her bodyguard behind her trying to look as menacing as possible. "You can come too, Puppycorn!" The puppy jumped off the chair and rushed out the door with Unikitty. Rex started to follow, but Hawkodile stopped him.

"I'm watching you. Got it?" Rex could feel the bodyguard's stare through his sunglasses.

"Yeah, bro. Got it." Hawkodile let Rex through the door first, keeping him within eyesight behind him. Rex rushed as fast as his body could take him to catch up with Unikitty and Puppycorn. By the time he did, they were out of the castle grounds and heading into town.

"What're we gettin', sis?" Puppycorn was bounding with enough energy for everyone present, especially the man behind them.

"Rex is getting his own room in the castle and Richard wants us to help him decorate!" Hearts and stars flew from her horn.

"Ya know, I could save us money and just Master Build some furniture." Rex didn't sound as enthusiastic as the other two.

"Nope! You don't need to Master Build here!"

"Or do the stunt you had Unikitty's friend pull with that wedding cake." Hawkodile stated, both calm and threateningly.

"Ya probably wish ya could punch a cake like that." The comeback didn't have a lot of punch, but adding the smirk Rex flashed, it was enough to annoy Hawkodile. He turned his attention to Unikitty. "Seriously, though. I'm sure the possible dead guy ya call a caretaker'll probably thank me for recyclin' and upcyclin' some of the junk you're hoardin' for some reason."

"Nope! No Master Building for you today! We're getting you new stuff!" Unikitty was still playful, but starting to get firm. If Rex had to guess, maybe she was trying to give him stuff as some weird form of reparation. She and Puppycorn talked about something silly for the rest of the trip, until they got to a large outdoor marketplace.

"Oh boy! Toy Zone!" Puppycorn's tail was in danger of flying off and bouncing into the bushes. Rex lifted an eyebrow.

"Toys? I thought we were buying stuff for my room, Unikitty." He folded his arms. "I'm not really a toy guy." At least not in the traditional sense.

"They totally sell other things too! Look around! Anything you want, it's yours!" Yep. This was Unikitty paying to repent for things she technically didn't do. Cool. He could work with that. He began to walk past the stalls, silently scanning each shopkeeper's merchandise. His strange appearance was enough to get the geometric people of the Unikingdom whispering to one another. Eventually, he stopped at a stall that seemed darker than the others, both in color scheme and aura.

"Cursed Games and Such." He read out loud, amused. "Know anything about this place, Princess?"

"Yeah! Stay away from that one! The games really are cursed!" Unikitty called from a few stalls away.

"They are, huh? I ain't afraid." He looked back at the stall, where a hooded shopkeeper stood, his eyes and mouth glowing green.

"Not afraid, huh? Do I have a game for you! The cost is free, but the price is beyond reckoning! Are you interested?" The shopkeeper kept a jack-o'-lantern smile on his face as he spoke in a supernaturally echoed voice, pulling a board game out from under the stall and putting it down on the counter.

"Maybe." Rex mirrored the shopkeeper's smile. "What's the catch? We talkin' Jumanji here or is it like the arcade cabinet in Maximum Overdrive?" The shopkeeper's smile fell into nothing in confusion. "OK, you don't have the same taste in movies I do, obviously. So, will the game flat out kill me, or trap me until someone finishes that session? I'd prefer somethin' like Zathura, because that was just Jumanji in space, but I ain't picky. Sell it to me, big guy!"

"Wait. You want to know about the curse? That's a selling point for you?" The shopkeeper's voice lost the echo. He leaned over the counter and saw Unikitty in the distance. "Oh. You came with her, didn't you." He put a clawed hand on his shadowy face. "Look, I really don't want to spoil the whole thing for other potential buyers who might be listening. If you aren't going to take the game, move along."

"What's with the game with the dragon on the cover? Looks metal." He pointed to a box with a grey dragon on it titled 'Castles and Kitties'.

"Oh! That's a roleplaying game! I have all the expansions for sale as well!" The shopkeeper's eyes lit up. Rex grabbed the box and skimmed the main rule book.

"OK, this is super nerdy." He yawned as he put the book down. "Tempting, but super nerdy. Is this another thing ya can't tell me about the catch for?"

"... What do you think, man?"

"Tell ya what. I've got nothin' but time around here. I'm new to town and I need to get rid of some pent up creativity. I'll get the books and maybe I'll invite you to play with me if I decide to be…" Rex flipped through the book again. "A storyteller. Sounds good, big guy?"

"I'm usually the storyteller!"

"Well, sometimes ya gotta let someone else take the wheel. We got a deal?"

"Here, just take them and go!" The strange being, flustered by Rex, pushed a lot of books in the man's arms.

"OK, brother. Work on your pitch, alright? Ya almost lost a sale there." Rex winked and headed for the others. "I got something to do when I can't sleep, guys! Should put me to sleep in no time!"

"We… got a wagon for your stuff?" Unikitty gestured to a red pull wagon, which Rex promptly dumped the game books into. "You know those books are cursed, right?"

"Probably. But that just makes it more fun. Otherwise I just bought a collection of nerdy play pretend books." He stuck his tongue out and grabbed the handle of the wagon. "Let's make tracks before that shopkeeper realizes I forgot to pay!" He seemed to have a little more spring in his step as he headed to another stall.

After the cart was overloaded with furniture and things Rex thought he'd need, the group headed home. Puppycorn sniffed the air. "Aw man! Pizza!" The group followed the blue pup to the kitchen, which was decorated in green banners, some still being hung up by Doctor Fox and a few of her robots. There was pizza on the table, as Puppycorn stated earlier. Richard floated toward them.

"Since he is officially a resident of the castle, I felt we should throw a welcome party for Rex." The lack of emotion in Richard's voice was something Rex wasn't going to ever get used to. "Welcome to the castle, Rex."

"I helped, Unikitty. Don't worry." Doctor Fox's words seemed to reassure Doctor Fox.

"Should I put my stuff in my room first?" Rex gestured to the wagon.

"Richard can take care of it! Riiiiight, Rick?" Unikitty started to change the decorations to something far more elaborate.

"No, it's fine, Princess. I'll put them away. Rick, can you show me where you're havin' me crash?" Rex gripped the handle of the wagon.

"I would be happy to. Follow me." Both brick and man ignored Unikitty's protests and headed out of the kitchen. They walked towards a darker part of the castle. Richard eventually floated in front of a door with Rex's emblem painted on it. "I figured you would want a room away from the main parts of the castle."

"Appreciate it, man. Unikitty and Puppycorn are hard to keep up with." Rex rubbed the back of his head.

"They definitely are." Richard agreed, tone adding a little more light to the monotone. "You will be expected to do your chores, but you already know that. Clean up after yourself if you make a mess. Try not to disturb the other people on the castle if you stay up late." He closed his eyes. "Feel free to join the party when you feel up to doing so. I'm sure Unikitty will keep it going for you."

"I'll just drop this stuff off an' follow ya back. I probably should try to get involved in stuff like this." Rex yawned softly.

"Are you sure? You sound tired and Unikitty's parties can last into the night."

"I know, Rick. I know how to sneak out of a Unikitty party when I'm tired." He opened the door and saw the bed from the cell was there. The room was empty, but a sizable space for whatever Rex decided to do. There was an empty walk in closet and windows that looked over the gardens. He walked to one of the windows and opened it, letting the afternoon air filter in. "What do you grow in the garden? I used to claim I was a farmer. I might try growing things."

"We grow all the food we eat in the castle. I wouldn't say no to someone helping me in the garden, or taking that as a part of your chores if you find you have a green thumb." Richard smiled.

"I used to claim I did a lot of things. Archeologist. Script doctor. Cowboy. It was all stuff I wanted to do." He moved away from the window and started to decorate the room with the items in the wagon.

"Rex, maybe you can use this opportunity to explore yourself and learn what you want out of life. You're never too old to do that."

"I'll give it a try. I don't have a direction to go right now with my life, anyway." He picked up an expansion book for 'Castles and Kitties', holding it for a moment. "I have a lot to figure out."

"You are in a good place to do that. Most of the chaos around here is caused by Unikitty and her friends. There are worst places to explore yourself."

"Yeah." Rex put the book down on a shelf. "I can think of a few right now. "You're pretty wise, Rich."

"Tell that to Unikitty. She needs to hear it sometimes." Richard helped Rex finish putting things away. When the task was done, he turned to the man. "Are you ready to return to the others? I can let them know if you want to rest."

"I wouldn't sleep either way. Let's go." Rex glanced at the still empty closet. "I'm gonna need to pick up some clothes at some point. Didn't see a lot of those at the market."

"You can do that in the morning. I'll lead you back to the kitchen. Come on." Rex followed the grey brick back to kitchen, where the party predictably was in full steam. Flashing lights and loud music filling every corner of the room and there was now a tower of cupcakes next to the pizza.

"Where have you been, Rex! You almost missed the party!" Unikitty flew over to him as he grabbed some pizza.

"Surprisingly, your friend is more responsible than you are." Richard stated over the music.

"He's just trying to impress you, Richard! He'd rather party with us! Right, Rex?" Unikitty waited for a reply from her friend… and was shocked to get none. "Rex?" Again, no reply. He just started eating his slice of pizza. "REX!"

"Huh? What do ya need, Princess?" Rex put his pizza down. Unikitty huffed a little.

"I was talking to you! Didn't you hear me?"

"Not really. Sorry, Princess."

"But Richard could hear me fine! Why couldn't you?" Rex shrugged and just bobbed his head to the music. It didn't seem he recognized that Unikitty asked him anything.

"Princess, your friend may have hearing problems. Try talking louder or turning the music down. I know he can be rude, but I don't think he's trying to ignore you." Richard stated, floating over to the boombox the music was playing on and turned it down to a reasonable volume.

"Rex!" Unikitty shouted close to her friend's ear.

"Unikitty!" Rex yelled right back. "Do you just like calling my name or do ya have somethin' to say?"

"Do you really have trouble hearing or did Richard make that up because the music was too loud?"

"Yeah, my hearing's crap. I never got it checked, but I deal." Rex shrugged, going back to his pizza.

#the newspaper isn't antiquated •||• written works

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