#frogs-in3-hills

[comradekatara]

i recently finished the legacy of yangchen and i DO think you should become a yangchen blog, i think i should become a yangchen blog, everyone should become a yangchen blog…. you’ve said you really like kavik & kalyaan and i would be so pleased to hear any thoughts/analysis you had about them. legacy of yangchen important because insane younger sibling disease. o<-<

RIGHT!!!! everyone please read the yangchen novels in time for yangvik week it will literally take you like 2 days to read they are so short and readable and compelling and good. this has been a PSA.

anyway kavik & kalyaan are just so completely insane i am obsessed with them. like i was already compelled by them in the first book when it’s revealed that kavik considers himself responsible for the loss of kalyaan’s fingers for no other reason that the fact that he might have been insufficient in his prayer to the spirits for protection during their hunt. like, first of all, why would he assume that he’s the one who fucked up if the “spirits decided to punish” kalyaan. shouldn’t the logical assumption be that kalyaan was the one who angered the spirits? shouldn’t kavik be all about logic, seeing as he’s some kind of math prodigy?

no, because kavik is wholly unreasonable, irrational, and otherwise fragile when it comes to his brother. he truly believes with every fiber of his being that kalyaan is his ontological superior, and thus, every bad thing that kalyaan brings upon himself by being a bad person, is somehow kavik’s fault. kavik would sell out the avatar for the opportunity to protect kalyaan, because that is how much he values his duty to his family, how much he values the strength of their brotherhood.

and kalyaan, for his part, is an asshole to kavik. an asshole in general, but especially to kavik. he is constantly dismissing, undermining, and reducing him to some kind of irrelevant, childish fool. kavik genuinely considers himself to be lesser, mediocre and insignificant because he has so deeply internalized kalyaan’s rhetoric that he is. it’s why the shifting pov between yangchen and kavik is so necessary, because through kavik’s eyes only, we would not understand just how remarkably skilled and special he is, but through yangchen’s eyes only, we wouldn’t understand why kavik has this massive fucking inferiority complex.

but, and this is crucial, their relationship is also not a straightforward abuser/abused dynamic either. despite the fact that kalyaan is genuinely emotionally abusive towards kavik, he’s not fostering kavik’s dependency complex for shits and giggles. they are, in fact, completely codependent. their obsession is mutual, their completely irrational devotion reciprocal.

somehow, kavik knows this to be true. if the chapters had been ordered differently, his claim that kalyaan’s only weakness is him might be read as delusional, a complete fantasy, a projected desire. after all, kavik would certainly want that to be true, but we’re never given any indication that kalyaan so much as values him, let alone truly loves him. but he does. kavik is right. his perfect, unyielding trickster god of a brother will, in fact, shatter at the sight of kavik in pain.

kavik knows this, but we, as readers, do not until it happens, and it completely reshapes our entire notion of their relationship thus far. when kalyaan “manipulates” kavik into prioritizing his family over yangchen, it's not simply a matter of kalyaan exploiting kavik's dependency complex to save his own skin; it's something he truly believes. and kavik knows that if their roles were reversed, kalyaan would do the same for him.

so it's not that kavik isn't uniquely emotionally fragile and compromised when it comes to kayaan, because he most certainly is. but kalyaan is also uniquely emotionally fragile and compromised when it comes to kavik. and the shock of that revelation, in the scene where it's revealed to us that not only is kalyaan equally devoted to kavik as kavik is to him, but also that kavik is equally capable of exploiting that devotion to suit his own ends, has honestly yet to wear off.

i read the legacy of yangchen around the time it came out, last summer, and i still find myself surprised by just how much it captivated me, just how compelling i found these characters and their dynamics (but just the characters, also the worldbuilding, especially as they expanded on the sinister role of the white lotus, the culture of the air nomads, the complex politics within the earth kingdom, etc etc). as someone who already has an established weakness for toxic codependent water tribe siblings, kavik and kalyaan are by the far the craziest it gets. their deeply unhealthy bond as it shapes their respective egos in turn is genuinely fascinating. [sickos laughing meme] i love them.

[u3pxx]

yooo i didn’t know you were playing dgs2! how far are you and what do you think so far? :o

oh god, it's been such a long time! i was playing it with some of my friends long ago and i'm afraid we're stuck somewhere in the middle of the first case and we haven't been able to continue bc of our wildly different schedules 😔

i am enjoying the first case a LOT though, i love the immediate focus on susato (i love the ryutaro disguise I LOVE HER it's such a funny contrast to see someone like her who's usually calm and knowledgeable about the law as co-counsel be as much of a nervous wreck like ryuunoske was when she's the one leading lolll [ALSO HER SPRITES! her eyes darting everywhere is so charming and funny])

i think it's a clever way to ease us in a tutorial again without like having ryuunosuke or susato be like oh no! i have amnesia! and/or i forgot how the law works for no reason! she needs help because she's so NERVOUS her mind blanks and man, isn't that real pfttt

and i also really like who the victim was in this case (which did make me gasp out loud when i saw the opening cutscene bc i did not expect that frankly.) i feel like they're building up to a bigger reveal/story and i'm excited bc ohhh that person killed an important character in the first case and now that they're dead we're never gonna know their true motives... for now! (it's actually also been a while since i played the first game and i can't remember if there was any mention of the victim of 2-1's motive on that one ASKSKS)

I LOVE REI I LOVE HERRRR such a strong personality, best friend energy off the charts, unashamedly in love with her best friend what more could you ask for

ok the things i want to say are escaping me bc im pretty sleepy FDGHD but i just remembered when i finally got what the pun was in rei membami (it wasn't even in our own let's play i was watching an lp on youtube lol) i had to get up and leave bc fuck off localization team don't ever speak to me again /lh ASKSKDGHJD

dont know much about menimemo yet bc i think we stopped in his 2nd testimony maybe but also fuck off with his name pun DFGHJD

[copepods]

trick or treat!

bag of carrots

[phoenixwrightzine]

‼️ SPOTLIGHT ‼️

Our next court artist is bringing some bright splashes of color into this dreary courthouse! We love @frogs-in3-hills' fun shapes and patterns, and we can't wait to see her spruce up the place!

[zannolin]

14 and/or 29 for ask game? :)

14 answered here!

as for 29 again, here's a bit that broke off from some shazam wip along the way:

I’m sorry, says Billy. Like a prayer. A wish. I don’t forgive you, Freddy says, I don’t forgive you for leaving like that.

ask game!!

[libertea-and-icedcoffee]

Hello Max!! Since you mentioned being open to fic recommendations I thought I would mention these in case you haven't come across them already~ (hope you don't mind the long ask ^_^;)

Ghost in the Shell by AmevelloBlue: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44612611/chapters/112228021

an absolutely stunning fic about 03 SAINW Donny being transported to the Rise universe and slowly becoming the Rise turtles' dad. Heartbreaking and hilarious with perfect dialogue, beautiful character development for Don, and with an astounding approach to Rise!Splinter's character that's so amazing, it's honestly one of the highlights of the story for me. really really good found family vibes with bunches of hurt/comfort. and lots of people read it having not seen 03 at all so you should be fine having only gotten to S2! If you know the basic premise of SAINW you are good to go.

The Lemonade Leak by TurtleSoupSwimmer: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44567680/chapters/112105987

a dark and intense Rise Leo and Donnie relationship study with out-of-this-world prose and genuinely mindblowing twists! it's deeply creative and insightful to Leo's character in particular. the emotional ride is absolutely insane i really can't recommend this story enough bro, it's got this fantastic mystery vibe to it with the slow trickle of information. every paragraph feels like it's haunted, it's just a really fantastic story!

Train-Wreck of Thought by halogalopaghost: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47218450/chapters/118973173

THIS FIC. i am so very normal about it ToT this one is great to read even if you haven't seen a lick of 03 since it doesn't rely on any context from the show and i don't think it spoils anything. it's a Mikey-centric fic about him discovering his latent astral projection superpowers :] Ghost's writing is absolutely brilliant and hysterical, with a touch of absolutely jaw-dropping whump and tear-inducing comfort. the silly family vibes are unmatched and Mikey is characterized perfectly! one of my favorite tmnt fics and NO i'm not biased because Mikey is my favorite lololol.

ALSO suggest taking a peek at my ao3 bookmarks if you want, since i have a LOT of tmnt in there and almost all of them are tagged so you can filter and search based on the vibes ur looking for :]

(oh and, since you mentioned being excited for a D&D campaign: AHH excited for you!!! i would love to hear about your character if you are open to sharing!!!)

omg.

thank you for these suggestions and thank you so much for adding a short description of each

i'm actually so intrigued by all of them

sadly, the second one is locked to users only and i am still waiting for my invite (i'm like #45000 in line lol their ETA is next thursday. i can't wait lmao i never had an account on AO3 and i didn't know it was sometimes needed to be logged in until i heard about that LFLS fanfic last week and wanted to read it lmao)

Keeping all in my bookmarks and probably starting to read them this week

(im also happy they are completed, at least i won't need to wait on updates, i already have too many of them lol)

✨🐢🧪

[frozen-fountain]

Froze!! Just wanted to say I’m happy you saw that Ursula K. Le Guin post. It made me think of you and your writing. <3

Thank you, Sully! That's such an inadequate phrase when that's about the highest compliment anyone could give me and my 12K of Celes and Terra going at it in a greenhouse, but my day is slowing down and I'm tiring and words are hard. Got to pick up the thread she left us any way we can.

[temunitu]

2 and 21 for turtle ask game? :}

2. Favorite iteration?

it’s really close between rise and 2003, but 2003 pulls forward simply because it got to tell majority of the stories it wanted to. if rise hadn’t been “”paused”” my answer might be different

21. Give one character a hug?

2003 leo. he went through so much

[fyeah-tmnt]

📷 and/or 🙃 for ask game? :o

📷: What's set as your phone's lockscreen: I haven't changed my lockscreen in a while lol

So for the longest time it was a pic of my cats, but right now it's this and it has been for like 2 months lol:

it's really hard to find "vertical" art that is perfect for cellphones that shows the four of them properly lol

🙃What's a weird fact that you know: i need to ponder about it for a while... i do know a lot of very random fact. As a matter of fact, a lot of people say that autistic people usually have a very specific (or very few specific) special interest(s). for me, it's like, the opposite... well i like to word it that my special interest is learning, so i spend a lot of time learning random stuff (especially as a kid/teen). I'd spend hours at the library or on the computer reading on wikipedia lol

anyway, did you know

that venus and uranus are the only planets that rotate clockwise? I believe that even including moons, they are the only things in our system that rotate clockwise. meaning the sun "rises" to the west rather than the east!

another funfact is that sign language (i'm talking mostly about ASL and LSQ, but it probably applies to most of them) are not language-based, therefore, their syntax are very different. that is also why someone who's fluent in sign language and one speaking/reading language is considered bilingual. even if it's ASL + (american) English, they are considered different languages.

So the syntax is different when it comes to placing the subject, verb and object in your sentence. I'm not qualified to teach as i am not deaf or HOH (but i know LSQ which is the Québec-based sign language (Québec is a french-speaking province in the East side of Canada) but also because i'm not an expert and i could very much make a mistake so i'm not going to go into details. But yea, there's like "Signed English" which is basically "speaking english" but with signs (a lot of people who starts learning start like this) and there's ASL which is the "proper" way of signing (and there's the equivalent in all other sign languages, like there's Signed French/Canadian-French, and there's LSQ/LSF (france), etc) so if learning a sign language interests you, i really encourage people to seek for a class given by a deaf institute with deaf teachers, they'll be able to properly show you and explain to you deaf culture and deaf history it's SO interesting i'm so sorry for the huge paragraph omg lmao

Thank you and i'm so sorry for the facts LOL they aren't weird now that i think of it lmao

Main post here: X

[jackiebrackettt]

33 and/or 41 for ask game? (last adventure you went on and how do you take your coffee)

hi o/!!

33) the last adventure you’ve been on?

Good question! I’m technically about to go on an adventure 🤔 but idr what my last one would’ve been hmmm. oh okay! i went around to a bunch of diff stores trying to find something but alas I couldn’t</3 took a couple of hours and a lot of it was me just driving around but it was fun :] kind of a mundane adventure ig but I was driving places I hadn’t really been to before (and got lost a little..)

41) how do you take your coffee?

I don’t drink coffee at all lol I like hot chocolate though :] I’m not actually superrr a fan of sweet things though so? If I did drink coffee I don’t think I’d put sugar in there.. Who knows though!

[splashtailstar]

hello, potentially dumb question: i noticed you added an image ID to something i made, copying the text that i wrote using tumblr’s integrated alt text function. is writing an ID normally into the text of a post like you’ve done more accessible? i want to make sure so i can write more helpful IDs in the future. thank you and hope you are doing well :]

thank you for asking ve! while alt text is important and provides accessibility, it is not as accessible as writing the image description in the body of a post. not everybody has access to alt text. some screenreaders do not detect alt text. some people don't use screenreaders but still need ids. the background and text color combos are not customizable and it does not count as regular text, so content filtering does not work for alt text ids. the alt button can be hard to see along with resizing can make it hard to click. also alt text size doesn't always change with font size.

here is a post from a mutual explaining more about alt text: link

vi still use alt text sometimes as a supplement with the main body id, using the alt text as a very brief summary and the main body id for details. a post explaining more about this: link

thank you to the people's accessibility server for helping ve with this. you can go to them if you have any questions or need any help. you can also check out the accessibility tag on vy blog to find more posts written by other people on these topics

[comradekatara]

i am very curious about your thoughts on various utena/atla character parallels… every once in a while i see you offhandedly compare like.. korrasami and utenanthy and i’m like HOLD ON this is so true! if you have any further ideas about that i would LOVE to hear them. i honestly don’t know how big the audience is for rgu/atla analysis but i am definitely part of that audience. 😭

yesss i can't believe you're literally the first person to ask me this lately i've been making rgu references on like, every single post i'm shameless!!!!! over the summer i even wrote (like 95% of) an essay comparing sokka and nanami (tldr; they are meat) and i have yet to revisit it (bc i'm scared tbh) but i will post is eventually that is a PROMISE (for an audience of 5 people). also before we go any further my utena blog is @saionjeans and we have fun there. also, i have some utena/atla crossover art here and here, so check that out if you haven't already. the rest of this post will be scattered thoughts because my nanami-sokka essay will be doing a lot of the in-depth analytical work and i don't need to rehash that all now. but also, because i have never not once in my life heard of brevity, i did write a bunch of mini essays anyway, because of course i did.

korrasami and utenanthy: love and abuse

i compared utenanthy to korrasami a couple times, most notably in this post where i talk about how meaningful their relationship is despite being (arguably) underdeveloped, and then in the tags i still have to acknowledge that utena and anthy nonetheless did it better 17 years prior. but i do think that there is so much to be said for utena-korra and anthy-asami as two young women who are both set up to be "special" but in a way that denies and restricts them from their own humanity, cloistering them away from the outside world and making them more vulnerable to abuse. i talked pretty recently about how asami's abuse is really shrugged under the carpet in a way that pisses me off if i think about it for too long. rgu does such an incredible job of gradually exposing that abuse and its effects on society, not as a deviation from the norm (of the nuclear family, of the romance, of the school, etc.) but in fact a common symptom of it. lok does not critique the nuclear family in any meaningful way despite setting up so many different areas through which such a critique could be facilitated (made worse by the fact that atla sets such a fantastic precedent). but anyway, enough about lok (and how she disappoints me).

2. miki & kozue and katara & sokka: siblings and memory

in my sokka-nanami essay i talk about how various characters can be read to embody various analogues, but how my focus in that essay is primarily to draw a parallel between sokka and nanami by using the framework for gender/patriarchal logic rgu establishes. however, i also talk about how azula can be read as a nanami (or even an anthy) figure, as well as how katara and sokka can be read as miki and kozue (katara = miki and sokka = kozue, obviously) (and note that kozue and nanami are significant foils/mirrors too). i mean, they even have a similar light blue (to signify naïveté, innocence, childlike wonder) versus dark blue (to signify cynicism, jadedness, resigned subsumption into harmful norms) color scheme going on. the Special sibling and the afterthought. (although before going forward i do want to be clear that i am in no way alluding to any incestuous undertones wrt katara and sokka, and i would even argue that the allusions to incestuous desire between miki and kozue are more complex and nuanced than simply reducing it to mere perversion. but that's beyond the scope of this ask lol)

i know that some people might bristle at my comparing katara to miki (baby misogynist, little freak) but miki really exemplifies the trope of the "sunlit garden" in the same way that katara exemplifies that trope in atla. miki isn't the narrator of course (akio is), but the central motif of desire staked to an illusory formative memory since lost that defines a character's motivations and self-becoming is first properly introduced (not including the utena meeting dios intro) and defined through his obsession. in the same way, we are introduced to the world of atla through katara's formative memories, her desire that motivates her self-becoming also being an illusory formative memory, as well as a tale she longs to replicate ("the four nations living together in harmony"). katara, like miki, is defined by her naïveté and childlike innocence, her somewhat reductive desire to be noble and heroic, and her need to flatten everything into a clear-cut narrative wherein she is always its heroine. like miki, she resents her sibling for being transformed into a more cynical version of themselves in accordance with society's pressures (in kozue's case, it's the inescapability of patriarchy, whereas in sokka's case, it's... a lot of things), and longs for a time when they were "truly happy" and playing together (playing piano, playing in the snow, you get it).

both kozue and sokka heavily subscribe to patriarchal logic and comport and reduce themselves in accordance with the dictums of a world they consider truly inescapable. kozue seeks power within her limited frame, whereas sokka only seeks power insofar as it allows him to assume his very narrow role of protector, but they both assume those limitations to be ontological and fixed in a way that does not allow them to see past it. however, the lack of empathy both miki and katara refuse to attempt in understanding their worldviews, in no way making an effort to broach that misunderstanding instead of simply letting the chasm between them fester, nonetheless implicates them equally. after all, they too both adhere to their own limited worldviews, only in their worldviews they are fundamentally special and thus beyond reproach. sokka and kozue are both integral aspects of katara and miki's sunlit gardens, and their idealized return to a picturesque nostalgia involves a transformation (or regression) of sokka and kozue into their more innocent former selves. and sokka and kozue are in turn obsessed with katara and miki, the central figure around which their identity and actions revolve.

through this framework, aang thus becomes katara's anthy (aangthy, hehe), as the embodiment of katara's hopeful/nostalgic ideal of heroism, companionship, and the idealized promise of a distant irretrievable past. like anthy with kozue, aang "replaces" katara's longing for the softer, more innocent version of her brother with aang's friendship. like miki with anthy, katara possesses romantic feelings for aang despite his functioning as a replacement for sokka before he became a shell of his former self (or kozue before she became... sexually active). this is because katara, like miki, idealizes the patriarchal narratives that dictate that all significant relationships be either romantic or familial (or both). she wholeheartedly subscribes to this notion, hence why she attempts to subsume everyone who can meaningfully fit into her narrative framework as either a lover (aang, haru, jet, zuko for all of 2 seconds) or a pseudo family member (aunt wu, hama, pakku, toph, etc etc.), replicating those dynamics as many times as she needs to to make them fit within her two dimensional tapestry. and crucially, coming face to face with yon rha subverts that, because she recognizes the messy humanity spilling forth from the neat boxes she puts people in, and must thus contend with her own role in her narrative. of course miki, being a side character and not the narrator, certainly not the hero, does not get this luxury. and he must find a way to grow up anyway.

3. akio and ozai: patriarchy

there's something truly incredible about how both akio and ozai manage to inflict psychological harm upon every single character in their respective shows, even if they never interact with those characters directly. their reach is vast and spindly; it cannot be overestimated. and yet, ozai has only reigned for about six years. akio is only acting chairman of ohtori academy. they are not patriarchy itself, but merely its signifier. and obviously their modes of embodying patriarchy differ in many respects: a school is not a nation (despite the similarities), and a father is not a brother (despite akio being father-like). ozai is defeated by by being stripped of his technology of violence, whereas akio is not "defeated" in a literal sense (although i suppose anthy driving a car through his ghost and exploding him into a cloud of roses does make quite the statement), anthy merely leaves. and yet, in both instances, they are both forced to succumb to their own limited ideology regarding what constitutes power. if ozai lacks firepower, he lacks control over his subjects and the right to sovereignty. if akio's control is challenged, if people realize that they can just leave, that the ends of his world are entirely arbitrary, he no longer has the power to abuse and exploit and use others for his own ends.

the metonymic signification of patriarchy figured through both ozai and akio in dual ways further emphasizes their respective roles. ozai is both king and father, akio is both (acting) chairman and (acting) father. patriarchy dictates every aspect of [a patriarchal] society: from interpersonal dynamics to the nuclear family to the school to the state to the world. what makes both akio and ozai so brilliant in this regard is the fact that their influence is reflected in all these facets. ozai abuses every member of his family individually; controls them as a system; inflicts his (family's) propaganda onto the fn education system, rewriting history with (almost) no one to disprove him; inflicts his imperialist agenda both within the fire nation (ruining local economies through industrialization, forcing citizens to conform to restrictive roles, inflicting violence through occupation) and beyond it; he refers to the world as "my world," as if he is its creator, its owner, or its god. and in many ways, he is. akio similarly abuses everyone interpersonally (most notably anthy, touga, and utena); subsumes utena into his nuclear family system so that she cannot leave; uses the academy as a site of control in which adolescents are forced to comply with socially codified norms and thus made more vulnerable to the influence of adult authority figures (especially those who emphasize their individuality or inherent specialness when compared with the rest of the student body); operates ohtori as a sort of nation wherein patriotism is reified through the use of uniforms, affiliations, sociopolitical hierarchies, and an acting government (the student council); and defines himself as the creator/owner/god of his world. to be end of the world. to embody not an apocalypse, but a cage.

ozai and akio both fashion themselves the entire world, but it also makes them more vulnerable to resistance, to any mode of critique that points out the obvious: no, you're just one person, and the logic you use to dominate others is deeply, noticeably flawed. it's a logic that they exploit but that in turns exploits them, as they have so deeply internalized it that they can no longer immunize themselves against any kind of resistance. ozai claims that there is no room for an air nomad in his world, which is why aang defeating ozai through the pacifist values of his people and not through his greater power (which would nonetheless be subscribing to ozai's logic, and thus letting him win ideologically if not physically) is so crucial in shattering ozai's paradigm. just as utena, as someone who refuses to conform to the strict, arbitrary, and violently enforced norms of patriarchy, can so thoroughly disrupt akio's control by resisting him. just as anthy can by leaving. akio remains in his cozy little coffin, exerting meaningless control to uphold the hollow puppet of his ego.

people sometimes joke about how long it takes for zuko to recognize that the burning off of half his face was "cruel" and "wrong," but it's not that zuko didn't find it painful, it's not that zuko didn't fear his father, it's not that zuko idolized his father beyond reproach. he questioned his cruelty, in fact he did so constantly. he simply saw no other way to live. he had no conception of a world beyond ozai's defined limits, had no choice but to believe ozai's dogma and loathe himself for not sufficiently adhering to it. similarly, people often ask "if anthy could leave all along, then why didn't she?" because she, too, was trapped in a coffin of her own self-loathing. to leave an abuser is not as simple as simply stepping beyond the threshold and never looking back. first, you must locate the threshold. then, you must find the courage to look beyond it. i briefly touched on azula being an anthy figure before. well, i think that she is. just because she has yet to see beyond the threshold does not mean she does not find her limits. and yes, its not triumphant, and yes, her facade that masks her pain and fear is shattered, but ultimately, that breakdown is a good thing for her. because that's her first step to freedom.

4. the sunlit garden as mythmaking events

i talk previously in this post about the motif of "the sunlit garden" in rgu vs what i like to call "a mythmaking event" in atla, and i do want to elaborate on that slightly. i provided a link to a post on my utena blog going into what the sunlit garden "is" for each principal character, and atla has a similar mode of communicating these nostalgic desires and idealizations that motivate self-becoming, largely through flashbacks. for aang, it is quite obvious, as his memories of a before and after are (temporally, although not psychologically) fragmented by an entire century. that disconnect severs the two versions of himself quite neatly. those memories with gyatso and the other air nomads (as well as with child bumi, and with the mysterious kuzon) are his idealized past, his "sunlit garden," whereas the storm is his mythmaking event, the point in his life where his choices collide with his telos. there is no going back.

katara and sokka have a similar sunlit garden, their snowball fight being the last truly happy memory they have before the black snow falls and their childhood innocence is severed from them forever. kya's sacrifice and murder is katara's mythmaking event as she then chooses to assume the mantle of her mother who took her place, decides to become the greatest waterbender possible to compensate for surviving the genocide, and chooses to be a hero so that the collective memory and sacrifices of her people will not be in vain. like utena, she witnesses pain and suffering at a very young aged and is moved to become a hero so as to mitigate that suffering, even if her own formative tragedy can never be rectified. also like utena, she idealizes a seemingly utopian past wherein violence was more covert and thus presented itself as more ideal (the time of princes vs the time of harmony). her naïveté and persistent idealism are both her downfall and her greatest virtue. she refuses to accept the true state of the world to the point of blindness, but it is also that refusal to accept it that allows her to force the world into a kinder shape.

as for sokka, his mother's death was also a formative trauma, but his true mythmaking event is when hakoda leaves for war with all the other men of his tribe. hakoda tells him that "being a man is knowing where you're needed the most, and right now, that's here, protecting your sister." it's not a rose crest ring, but it may as well be. from that moment onward, sokka officially comports his identity into being his sister's protector, which is how he thus defines his manhood. and of course, being his sister's protector means being a martyr, because the precedent for "protecting katara" that has already been established is, well, dying for her. like aang being the avatar and the last airbender and katara being the last southern waterbender, sokka is thus defined by his necessity (ie, usefulness to others) as well as his isolation – not only the "last warrior/man" of the swt, but also via his own process of depersonalization and self-dehumanization as he attempts to fully embody his role as an eventual martyr.

zuko's mythmaking event is, of course, branded onto his face. in fact, zuko essentially assumes both katara and sokka's mythmaking events by first being irrevocably altered by his mother's sacrifice, and then being all the more transformed by his father's decree as he attempts to dictate what kind of man zuko needs to be. his "sunlit garden" is also shown to us in flashes: memories of a (literal!) sunlit garden, of turtleducks, of his mother's gentle guidance, of happier times on ember island, on his father's hand resting on his shoulder with pride instead of malice. it is unclear just how truthful these nostalgic memories are. obviously, his family was never actually happy. ozai had always been exerting control over them, even if his violence was once more obscured. we never see azula's sunlit garden, for instance (although i'd argue that she and zuko possess the same mythmaking events), and i cannot help but wonder whether it's because, like touga, she never actually had one.

finally, some honorable mentions must go to the following: toph, whose sunlit garden is also her mythmaking event, as she learns from badgermoles how to hone her gift and reject the rigid societal impositions that seek to limit, repress, and control her. hama, who never attempts to return to her sunlit garden in the swt with kanna, despite her freedom as established in her mythmaking event of teaching herself to bloodbend; she knows that she is irrevocably altered, and thus she can never go home again. appa, whose sunlit garden, of playing with the other bison at the southern air temple, occurs in conjunction with his mythmaking event of meeting aang and becoming the avatar's animal companion.

all of these events are depicted through flashbacks wherein the consecutive shots between flashback and present day mirror the character who is having the memory in the past and present, overlaying their younger face onto their current face with identical framing. i'm too lazy to compile a bunch of screenshots here, and i couldn't find the post i'd seen previously that had done so, but if you're as familiar with atla as i am, then you already know exactly what i'm talking about. this device is so effective particularly because it exercises restraint. every flashback in atla is crucial because it signifies either a sunlit garden or a mythmaking event that motivates the character its focalizing in the present day. atla is economical with its flashbacks, but not withholding. like with rgu, flashbacks in atla are used with a specificity of purpose, and illustrate their points in clear, precise ways. just because atla is not as overtly metatextual with its central themes of narrativization, nostalgia, idealization, bias, and storytelling, does not mean it is not present, and in fact, overt. ranging from katara's role as narrator to the fire nation propaganda aang attempts to correct in school, the use of memory and illusion is crucial in illustrating how atla functions as a narrative about heroism, legacy, and challenging dominant myths through preserving cultural memory under an imperialist regime.

5. final thoughts

obviously, i could go on forever. there is simply no limit to my ability to unpack and dissect these two shows (hence, my sideblogs dedicated to doing so). i haven't even talked about zuko as an analogue to saionji with regard to their latent homosexuality, misogyny, violence, and struggle to conform to a patriarchal ideal. and i barely touch on katara as an analogue to utena with regard to their naïveté, heroism, myopia, persistence, and somewhat misguided desire for justice (through her terms specifically), although like kozue and nanami as mirrors wrt sokka, her traits that i describe when comparing her to miki also map onto utena in many ways – except of course, utena, unlike miki, is also the "hero," and thus has the same destabilizing revelation regarding the banality of evil that katara undergoes in "the southern raiders." moreover, i only discuss one central motif in utena, because i think the sunlit garden is the trope that maps best onto the thematic work atla is doing, but i'm sure that there are many more frameworks i could compare. and yet, i only have so much time, and only so much space in which to ramble. so hopefully, for now, this suffices. however, if there any specific areas in which you would like me to elaborate, you know that i shall always be happy to do so.

[discatded]

hi cat just wanted to drop by and say i appreciate you! how are you what’s up :]

hi frog!! tysm i am good :D i put more stickers on my laptop (hearts+lowst sticker are the new ones in the 1st pic)

[infinitystation]

i thought i followed you ages ago but apparently i was not until now! i am sending good vibes your way rn friend! i would offer beetle pics but unfortunately i am not often blessed by them.. regardless! i hope you have a nice night :]

khdkdh hello!! i dont post too often here but i hope you enjoy anyways :]

you may not have beetle pictures for me, but i have always have beetle pictures for you

japanese garden beetle from my neighbor's yard :D

[enderwalking]

FFX au you say?? please share more if you like :O

i have like. a whole fic concept planned out around dsmp characters in the ffx universe that i really want to make happen, but i have never once completed a long-form writing project in my life orz.........but basically, here's a summary of what would be the first chapter:

RANBOO wakes up in the middle of the goddamn ocean, is come across and rescued by TUBBO, who was out on a scavenging journey.

it becomes quickly clear that ranboo does not remember jack shit about anything, except 1) his name, and 2) the fact that he is a summoner. he doesn't even know what being a summoner means, just that he is one

tubbo is like "ok weirdo" but is not gonna leave an amnesiac stranded at sea so he offers to bring him back to the nearest town (besaid equivalent)

they get back to town to find it all in a hubbub because the larger city on the island over has been completely ravaged by the Sin equivalent which in this universe is called NIGHTMARE

this is a shock to everyone bc Nightmare was defeated by high summoner PHILZA not even a year ago, and the Calm tends to last for at least several years

tubbo takes ranboo to the temple of the fayth to find TOMMY stumbling out; tommy had rushed over from the city to attempt to become a summoner so that he could perform the sending for those who died in the attack, but he was rejected by the fayth

basically, they explain to ranboo who is completely lost, performing the sending on such a large scale would require a full-fledged summoner, and those are few and far between on account of the Calm having begun so recently

well, luckily, ranboo is here, and the first temple of the fayth is right here also! convenient!

ranboo enters the temple to attempt to commune with the fayth; when he begins to pray, he suddenly sees a memory through the eyes of someone named DREAM. a simple memory of dream receiving the power of the fayth and summoning an aeon for the first time. his friends SAPNAP and GEORGE are watching, and they hoot and holler with pride!

after snapping back to the present, ranboo is able to replicate the feeling he experienced in the memory, and is able to connect with the fayth and receive its power. when he emerges from the temple, he is able to summon his first aeon, much to the town's joy and relief.

ranboo thus resolves to complete the summoners' pilgrimage and defeat Nightmare. tommy and tubbo decide to lend their aid as guardians. chapter end!

i have. a bunch of other roles assigned and plot beats planned. techno also joins as a guardian. phil and wilbur are unfortunately fridged for the plot, but they're important. i've got a whole narrative planned for the dteam that is revealed slowly throughout the journey. i have put Thought into this. i just need to, yknow. actually outline/write it lmao.

[hotmothsummer]

🌟 :O?

Hello Sully! I am giving you the raincutter dragon!

Class: Sharp

They have sharp fins on their head and back that help with more aerodynamic flight and are used for defense. They love rainy days and appear to eat the worms and other grubs that come up through the soil due to the weather, supplementing part of their diet. The long neck helps them catch prey. Their habitat is likely near freshwater bodies of water on land or on rocky coasts by the sea!