#i do not see the comics i do not see lok i am looking away i do not see it 😞

[ben-the-hyena]

Quick little rant y'all can ignore (I just love ranting too much)

Unpopular opinion : it is NOT to be a hipster or to be like "I'M NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS~" but very often either I will hate or just not be interested to watch at all the newest Tumblr fandom. I really feel like a Tumblrite but sometimes it feels like I just can't enjoy or be hyped by whatever the others are hyped with without doing it on purpose, as if we have nearly no common taste. I mean sure we all are unique and loving everything others we do is boring and impossible and would prove the person is shallow and can't be true, but just, absolutely nearly every big Tumblr fanfavorites annoys me

Superwholock ? Sherlock was nice but not THAT nice and the others never interested me. HH/HB ? Loathe the characters and story. Lackadaisy ? Don't understand the hype. Nimona ? Don't care. She-Ra ? Hated it. The Owl House ? Can't stand the posts on my dashboard nor the charadesigns. Centaurworld ? I know it is one of those things that look lame in the trailer but from what I got gets deeper, but I saw it being so much overhyped I can't. Green Eggs and Ham ? Ugh couldn't it have just been the old cartoon ? Arcane ? The more people said it was revolutionary the less I wanted to check it out. SU ? I used to love it but then it betrayed me with how badly written it endes up to be. SVSFOE ? Except one or 2 arcs it was not my type and the ending infuriated me. Ducktales ? Only season 1 was good to me. Miraculous Ladybug ? It broke my heart so fuck you show. Encanto ? "Narcissic families are ok and misunderstood if they are pretty". Wendell and Wild ? The demons did look interesting and I was curious for them but sadly the main character is insufferable and Idgaf she is sad she is still an asshole but gets away with it. Wednesday ? Tim Burton understood NOTHING avout the Addams Family and flanderized Wesnesday. HtTyD ? Should have been a standalone. LOK and to be fair ANYTHING coming after ATLA books comics and upcoming series included ? Burn em to the ground. Rise of the Guardians ? Seriously the animation is gorgeous but you have the blandest plot and characters ever but everybody calls it original and groundbreaking wtf ?! Arlo the gator boy/I Love Arlo ? Ew it looks ugly as fuck and I am VERY wary of titles that self congratulate (coincidently the Lou! franchise became very shitty when it was renamed into I Love Lou Very Much so it ticks me off) makes me wanna do the contrary and hate Arlo. Carmen San Diego ? Didn't care. The Cuphead Show ? Only season 1a is good 1b and 1c are shit but because "gae devil" everybody loves it holy shit the game is better. Frozen 2 ? Admit it, you liked it ONLY because you see Elsa like a lesbian and wanted to go "HAHA GET FUCKED" to Let It Go. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON LIVE ACTION REMAKES

Some I even actually just didn't dislike it or care at first but it was seeing all the excessive posting and love for it despite 1) not wanting to watch (I love Arlo, never I wanted to kill a gator child so much force of seeing him on my dash) and/or 2) seeing legetimate problems and flaws and yet everybody ignoring it (Encanto, I hated the end but I did like the movie itself but seeing everybody justifying the end made me loathe it) it turns into hate. But some I hate from the start but seeing everybody love it anyway makes me wonder if at that rate the problem is me and I nitpick too much or of course like everyone I just have my own tastes and what pops up on my dash is not a reflect of universal taste ?

But I often call it a curse because everybody seems to have fun and it's as if I am doomed not to like and it looks like what the audience usually loves is just not my type, which sucks because I don't have many people to vent about it, not many people to gush about the obscure things I love because I am cursed to really invest myself in old fandoms I only find about now or stuff that don't even interest much people but fit my specific niche tastes, dashboards flooded with "OMG GUYS WATCH IT IT IS *SO* IMPORTANT AND THE BEST EVER" making me want not to whereas only 3 likes on posts of franchises I love that are barely known or loved... Probably why I have so many obscure fandoms actually. I am SURE it is subconsciously why I wanted to give a chance to Elemental and Avatar 2 since nobody talked about it in good or at all here !

I am not even sure and just like me those who love these franchises and are part of these fandoms must just have their own specific intersts peaked of course and if so it is absolutely alright ! But often I see they all have a pattern and I feel like, like when I ranted in my posg that defends Elemental, that they will love it and adore it just for ONE element not matter the rest hence why they only talk about that one element that irritates me when I am flooded in posts praising it but really it is just that element. "Omg so much representation" ok cool what is the plot "it is a trans allegory" yes but more precise ? "it is so GAY (affectionate) and girl power !!!" yes but ? The characters ? "Oh the characters are minorities some are LGBT half are POC and some even have a disability and they fight heteronormativity and traditional beauty standards" ok ok I GOT it but what are they like as people !?! "there is a canon gay ship in it I love them little blorbos" I DON'T GIVE A SHIT DAMMIT WHAT IS THE PLOT AND HOW ARE THE CHARACTERS "also it has a varied cast and is made by minorities and women !" Ok bye now I won't be able to help but see it being loved only because of those and not for its story and it will make me bitter about it as if there is nothing else but that to defend because it implies the scenario itself isn't that special for people to only talk about the Christmas present package rather than the content

It is very occasional I will actually get curious because it IS my type thanks to Tumblr : WOY, Pinky and the Brain Undertale, Good Omens, TDC : AOR. It needs to strike a sort of special chord in me to go "uh !?! A modern cartoon that feels like an old cartoon with funny designs and animation and funny characters !??! Uh !?! 2 gay mice that were probably not meant to be gay but they accidentally cracked many eggs in their portrayal and to think I was not interestee when I thought Brain was bidimensional and didn't give a shit about Pinky like I thought ??! Uh !?! Fun skeletons and a macho fish woman with cute pixel style !? Uh !?! Angel and demon are friends and were on Earth for years looking for a kid !?! Uh !?! In that prequel it shows one reformed Skeksis being actually good helping Gelfling and in a relationship with his Mystic ??!" And other Tumblr favorites I loved like idk FNAF, MLP FIM, Spiderverse, Puss in Boots 2, The Bad Guys and usually in general most popular big studios block buster animated movies I loved and others did were stuff I found by myself which Tumblr just coincidently did too so it doesn't count. Some I even discover them years later when the hype died down and nobody speaks about it anymore (reinforcing my idea that IS probably wrong that they don't even really love it but just go "OO SHINY" when something is new and pretty) that I can notice and love years later or at least late a franchise, like I don't wait on purpose I just really discover it at this moment or something peaking my interest only happened recently or peaked my attention now

Those aside most of the time I will really not be interested, a third of the time because "I am told to so I don't wanna" and it has to be myself or it will feel like a chore like when I am recommended stuff IRL I will actually postpone even if if I had not been recommended I would have started watching it earlier (I heard from a friend this looks like a symptom in a type of neurodivergence but I AM NOT SURE), a third of the time it really doesn't look or sound like my type of story at all and I keep wondering why there is nothing new for me and why everybody is so hyped by it, and a third I actually give a try and I end up straight up hating it or just finding it meh and overrated. I just need to find my own fandoms myself, even if they are obscure, that spark my interest, hoping they don't become bad in the end (SU, Ducktales, the Cuphead Show, Miraculous Ladybug etc. Sigh) which happened too many times already and makes me even more wary force of experience about what is popular since even when I myself find it becomes shit people still love it. And of course they totally HAVE the right to never would I harrass and police what people have to like and dislike, but it kind of feels lonely at times and sometimes it makes me think if something is wrong with me not to enjoy what seems to be enjoyed by everyone else and if it is my fault ; and thinking that even makes me anxious and guilty feeling like I am ranting for nothing and people will think I am an attention seeker making me even more gjulty and so on which becomes a vicious circle with my anxiety

[ungirthed]

want to make a place for my thots of anything with no viewers if i remember to come on here. i cant believe i keep having to make these since i end up getting followers and interacting. but i'm an adult with shit to do irl and things to fight and this fandom is almost 20y old so idt i will do that. lol. just finished atla like 20y too late cos my parents hated me and my bro watching tv growing up. journaling/blogging thots!!! ugh. i wish i didnt hve adhd and dyspraxia lmao gonna split them up so i dont get overwhelmed reading my bullshit. if u stumble upon this it doesnt make sense sry

politically a lot of critique that i have to think about. character and plot wise it was pretty good and tight esp for a kids show. amazing female characters. can't wait for the bi agenda from LoK but i may take a while for that. p much i have to say these are great characters and i could talk a lot about them but i'm shocked at what i took away with regards to the romantic rships from the show and the characterization via it.

re love lines:

i wish kataang was written better in the show (MY opinion if any1 stumbles upon this). i don't ~ship~ zutara bc i am an adult and even back then no cos who cares lol but i see the appeal and am attracted to that. i do think we have to retire the trope of the "both sides but falling in love" not because it isn't possible but because post 10/7 (free palestine) i don't think it's worth it to look at it this way anymore. until someone proves themselves not worthy of death because of the resistance fighting back then they NEED TO PROVE THEMSELVES IMMEDIATELY. no more of this i'm in a concentration camp but he's a nazi bullshit. no more i'm a slave but he's the slave master's son (i mean in this case u could have been related but no1 listens to me!) it's repetitive, reductive, and untrue.

that being said: i just never care about the typical bildungsroman love story. you see the One Person bc i guess the kids tasked with saving the world have to be monk-adjacent (in aang's case quite literally) bc understandably theyre so fucked up lol. but it's always sooooo boring to me esp if it's f/m.

katara is such a complex character and mae whitman brings a wisdom to her voice that can be frustrating to connect with for me but her character arc, her strength, her MIND, her heart, and her fists. i think ppl probs like zutara the most when shes' going batshit and no one can understand aang's perspective. but aang is one of a kind and the cutest smartest sweetest loser ever. not my fav char but i love him. he's like if i had a younger brother and not an older one lmao.

of course they're (kataang) together. they were meant to be from the moment they saw e/o and that stupid cave kiss...this is why you don't wait until 32 to watch this lol.

but nothing surprised me and it was meant to be the way it was written. that's also why i find it understandable but shocking people in the universe and apparently outside of it were surprised at aang's turmoil over ozai. like are you joking? he's a 12 year old vegetarian monk. which: i loved his vegetarianism and obviously he was going to be but very casually they put in a line that hints as to why he would be and why many of us are...so i am dedicated to it again.

so wrt that and zutara...the episode where he's with her with the dude that killed her moms and his support of her i can see why people like them. the cave ep obviously but this show is veryyyyy free with affection i noticed and there's some jealousy but they all get over that pretty quickly. i read some of the comics and i could see different rships happening and i definitely think this world lends to queerness (me personally i love monogamy but a certain type lol so not rly interested in much poly but i do like a throuple) but i could see most being bi+ or having identified as that in the past, or labeling themselves but nto limiting. that's just an aside for meee...

so like katara was being katara. i could see suki and zuko being romantic but also a deep friendship that could be deeply affectionate either affect or physically or both bc that's who these ppl are. katara is a very intense person and that's part of why she can be annoying. that's part of why they ALL can be overwhelming. theyre intense, traumatized, repressed kids and teens with mostly good hearts (or just a person so disconnected from herself but also a fascist so u know. her going nuts lol)

hmm what else oh yea. so i came away with maiko......gjpasig the show was paced and plotted well. i am a libertarian communist (anarcho-commie) so MANNNNN i wish they did better on that front but again i must remember i am 32, ancom, and the world is diff. but anyway lmao so team avatar is who i would want to spend time with but i got so interested in mai and ty lee (mailee...). that beach ep conversation was so good, that whole ep, their argument. it was extremely teenage and showed how fucked up they all are. how confused and fucking lost and pathetic. how small their lives are. how boring....so mai...

[flameohotwife]

Do you like tlok

Hi anon! My answer is a very complicated one. Yes and no.

I like The Legend of Korra for giving me canon kataang, cloudbabies, and more of the characters I know and love from AtLA. I like some of the concepts they tried to tackle, and a lot of the new characters. I liked Avatar Wan, and seeing Iroh in the Spirit World of course, and I LOVE the airbabies. I am one of those people who gets SO into a world that I immediately need more of it when I finish the original piece of media, so it was lucky for me that my family and I watched AtLA for the first time during the pandemic so that we could *immediately* watch LoK after. We then bought and read all the comics (which I also have mixed feelings about, I admit). So for that reason, I am very glad that LoK exists so I could be fed.

HOWEVER (and I'm going to continue under a cut because this got long):

I don't like the way they made the cloudbabies (and other mixed-race characters like Mako and Bolin) all "pick a side." I could write a whole essay on this, and am slowly working on a fic about it but, as a mixed-race person myself, that didn't sit right with me. That's not how families or racial identity work. They would have grown up learning about and celebrating BOTH sides of their (nearly extinct!!!) heritage. They would have eaten foods from both nations, worn clothes with BOTH colors, etc etc. As the head of the modern Air Nation I can understand Tenzin's appearance, though I wish he had worn some small nod to his Water Tribe heritage as well (even just a bracelet or a blue sash/belt or something). Kya and Bumi's outfits bothered me though.

I'm not a big fan of the way LoK treated Aang, either. For what it's worth, I LOVE that every single one of the characters in AtLA were complex, multi-faceted, and nuanced. I love that no character was perfect, and that they all had (somewhat glaring!) flaws. However, given the gaps in age between the cloudbabies (and especially between Bumi and Tenzin), there is absolutely NO way that Aang didn't take the others on a family vacation *ever.* Aang would have had YEARS to bond with Bumi before any of his siblings were born, much less Tenzin, and Bumi would have been out of the house only a few years after Tenzin came into the picture. I have a much younger sister, and I know how that goes. I got lots of attention from my parents/grandparents for a while, and then I left for college and my sister got more. It's not favoritism it's just how families work sometimes. Obviously Aang would have had to spend an extensive amount of time with Tenzin to work on his airbending, on top of his Avatar duties, but that's different from just not taking family trips (and need I remind anyone that Aang is a NOMAD. I HC that he and Katara were still fairly nomadic when Bumi was born even and didn't settle down on Air Temple Island for a little while yet).

ALSO we were robbed of Aang mentoring Korra the way Roku mentors Aang throughout LoK (and the comics). Honestly I was wary of watching LoK because I knew it meant Aang had passed away and I was going to be sad, but I was looking forward to seeing him in that role, and then... it never really happened (other than that very brief "When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change" line.

I'm also not the biggest fan of how they changed the Spirits/Spirit World and the lore, but those things bothered me less than the character-centric issues. I know Nickelodeon messed with things, too, so I won't even get into the plotlines. Overall I'm glad LoK exists. I like it enough that I've seen it multiple times (at the request of my kids but still). It gave me canon confirmation that Aang and Katara got married and had babies, and that's all I really needed. I can (and do) fill in the rest with fic. Thanks for the ask, anon! Sorry it got long.

[cursestothemoon]

Valentine’s Day Blurb

FRED WEASLEY

Warnings: none

Fred Weasley was never one to remember things that weren’t of absolute dire necessity. Birthdays, anniversaries, things of such nature he could get by with but if you were to ask him trivial things like, for example, Valentine’s Day he’d be a bit lost. His usual response to the question being ‘sometime in February’, or ‘when the women get rowdy’ that would earn him a questioning gaze.

So when Fred woke up this morning in a more chipper mood than usual, insisting to go pick up a few muffins and some tea before work, George made no move to dissuade him and instead offered a thumbs up and a knowing smirk. Fred paid no mind to his brother’s odd behaviour then, but as he stood in a crowd of people all pushing and shoving to get into the cafe or the next door flower shop Fred thinks it might’ve been smart to question George before he left.

“Awfully busy, isn’t it?” He made the comment to no one in particular, though a short man with a round belly and frantic lok took it upon himself to answer.

“Cause it’s Valentine’s Day, you knobhead. Pity your girlfriend…”

Fred turned around to snap at the insult but as he did it seemed the man had disappeared into the crowd, leaving Fred with a slack jaw and raised expression looking as though he was just about to start talking. He brushed it off and continued to fight his way to the cafe, it was rather new to Diagon Alley and Fred should’ve expected there to be a line.

Though his rapidly deteriorating mood seems to lift exponentially at the sight of someone just a few people ahead of him in line. He’d never seen her before, he was certain he would’ve remembered if he had. She paid no mind to him, though why would she? She was ahead of him in line and probably buying something for a significant other. And suddenly Fred felt grouchy all over again, the long line, and now the pretty girl he just had to see on Valentine’s Day probably buying breakfast for her partner.

‘Some person that must be’ Fred thought, ‘a girl like that should not be buying anyone anything, they should be buying it for her’

In his head his tone was snarky, the thought of the beautiful stranger going home to someone undeserving made his face contort into an expression reminiscent of a child eating a lemon. But with a shake of his head, he willed himself to get his mind off the girl and her subpar relationship that he had drawn up in his mind.

The line moved quickly and Fred was next to order, the mystery girl gathering her single cup and muffin bag getting ready to walk out of the cramped cafe. He walked up to the till, reciting the order he’d grown to memorize over the years: two black teas, one with a splash of milk the other with two and two chocolate pumpkin muffins. With a nod of his head Fred shoved his wallet into the back pocket of his trousers and moved to wait for his things.

As Fred stood idle, he let his mind wander, yet again, to the woman who stood here just seconds before who was now walking out of the door, a single cup and muffin in hand.

One cup

One muffin bag

His eyes lit up almost comically at the possibility of her not being in a relationship with some git, but his face fell just as fast when he realized he’d probably never see her again anyway. Fred grabbed his and George’s drinks and muffins with a grumbled ‘thank you’, and walked to the door. He was still grumbling to himself when he pushed the door open and turned right to make his way back to the flat, only he didn’t get very far.

The force of something knocking into him was enough to have the two drinks in his one hand topple over, but he managed to save the muffins. The gasp, however, made him think the person he ran into wasn’t so lucky.

“My muffins!”

He looked at the person, who was knocked to the ground, and nearly dropped his own muffins. The girl, the same one in the cafe, was sitting on the floor cover in not only her drink- which Fred was sure was a coffee- but also George’s and his; not to mention her two muffins rolled away from the bag she had dropped in her fall.

Two muffins

Fred felt the familiar scrunch of displeasure contort his face, maybe she did have someone, but that wasn’t important at the moment.

“I am terribly sorry, I should’ve been watching where I was going.” Fred said, crouching down to help the girl up only to have her refuse his help.

“I’ve got it.”

He still put a hand on her elbow to guide her up, his mother teaching him his manners from an early age.

Y/n looked up at the stranger and felt the air get knocked out of her again, he was beautiful. Doe eyes, red hair, large stature, it could’ve been worse.

“Y/n L/n.” She introduced herself, hand shooting out.

Fred took her hand gently, giving it a soft shake before dropping it, “Fred Weasley, and I am very sorry. I’d love to buy you another coffee.”

He watched as she pretended to think for a moment, a small smile playing on her lips, “And muffins?”

“And muffins.” Fred laughed. “Though I don't know how well my heart would take it if you were to take my apology muffin home to a waiting boyfriend.”

Fred watched her laugh as she pulled out a wand to clean her shirt and his- he hadn’t even noticed the mess on his shirt- and shake her head.

“No I was just hungry, your heart can go another day.” She smirked, walking back into the cafe with Fred.

She was perfect, he was sure of it, and he’d make sure to dial up the charm.

“Oh I’m not so sure about that.”

Y/n hummed in response, “Oh? And whatever could I do to remedy that?”

Fred felt his lips tug up into a smile at the undeniable chemistry between them and how easily they had clicked. She matched his energy perfectly, he was already certain.

“Consider this our first date?”

taglist:

@amourtentiaa

[klm-zoflorr]

Issues with the Tyzula ship that Tyzula shippers/fics typically avoid

Stereotypical Tyzula Ty Lee: “Azula-san, I completely forgive you for everything you ever did to me or my best friend and have always loved you unconditionally. I will help you become better if it means risking the quality of my life, my other relationships, my sanity, and even my life. I will magically be able to help you deal with your myriad of mental issues as if you always only needed love/affection instead of real medical help. I will always love you even if you don’t really change your behavior or worse, remain the same power hungry bitch you grew up to be. I love you ‘Zula.”

Look, I am not opposed to Tyzula for I actually think that they had a real friendship, even if there was a massive power imbalance, that got fucked up by Ozai’s abusive teachings and Azula trying to act as her sovereign and friend at the same time. But there is a tendency among Tyzula shippers/fics to make Ty Lee forgive Azula way too easily, make Azula not deal with her flaws or make (proper) amends to Ty Lee and Mai, retcon Azula into a soft baby who didn’t do anything wrong other than get abused, and/or gloss over the issues between the two.

For example, If Tyzula occurred pre-Boiling Rock like some fics imply, do you think it would have been consensual? Especially considering that there has been a massive power imbalance (Azula is Ty Lee’s Sovereign) since their childhood that Azula took advantage of even then; Azula forced Ty Lee to join her squad at firepoint; and Ty Lee is deathly scared of Azula? And if it happened post-Boiling Rock there is a massive power imbalance in favor of Ty Lee since the moment Azula “acts up” (it doesn’t have to be a big thing since Ty Lee is scarred shitless of Azula) Ty Lee can either call Zuko to jail her and/or have Aang de-bend her. There are some Tyzula fics that properly deal with, imo, the pre- and post-Boiling Rock power imbalances but most of them just gloss over them.  Not helping is the fact that comics imply that the two never had a real relationship at all and that Ty Lee is still deathly afraid of Azula, willing to chi-block Azula the moment she is anything other than docile. 

Also, how come most Tyzula shippers/fics don’t touch about LOK’s Turf Wars said about Sozin outlawing homosexuality and the implications it has for a lesbian/bisexual Azula? If Azula, who tries to be the model princess in a post-Sozin Fire Nation, can’t even realize that using fear is not a good way to maintain relationships, how would she deal with the fact that she has feelings for girls? Most of the Tyzula fics or headcanons I have read don’t seriously deal with the fact that either Azula is deep in the closet and/or suffering from serious internalized homophobia and would not likely express her sexual preferences in public unless she was in an extraordinary situation or got serious therapy plus years of self-reflection/character growth. Not to mention the fact she would be one of the leading perpetrators of homophobia by virtue of being Ozai’s right hand general/advisor.

So, do I have a valid point about how Tyzula shippers and fics often engage in abuse and/or toxic friendship/relationship apologism? Or I am just being too harsh on a group of shippers that have been vocally condemned by the greater ATLA community and most likely will never see their ship be canonized? And yes, some of my own fanfic works do contain Tyzula so feel free to call me out if I am being a hypocrite and holding people to standards that I can’t uphold.

-----------

This was a very interesting submission, Anon, and I don't think you're "in the wrong" here, even if I don't necessarily agree with you. At least you're polite, so I won't swear at you xD I'll sum up your points for clarity's sake

"Tyzula shippers make Ty Lee dumber and ready to do anything for Azula. They write stories without depth and without adressing the imbalances in their relationship"

Here's my personnal opinion on that: this kind of drama/angst is hard to write, and I don't want to waste my time for 10 chapters while they're angstying over whether or not to love each other. Mental health issues are hard to write too, and I want azula to be happy, so I can just make them dissapear. I completely acknowledge it isn't the most realistic kind of writing, but I don't care, I just want to have fun. I wouldn't pretend it's canon either.

Now, some Azula fans are just biased towards her, and like to pretend her canon character did nothing wrong and is purely a victim and is owed Ty Lee's love. I'm not gonna shit on them, in the grand scheme of things it's quite inconsequencial, but I don't think that's accurate.

"Tyzula shippers make it happen even if Azula is still a "villain" and hasn't redeemed herself for her sins"

I can link this to my first point a little, and erase all moral complexity for the funzies while acknowledging it isn't canon. But there's also the fact in ATLA, Ty Lee has little to no redemption arc herself. She just betrays azula, and then the good guys accept her and mai with no problem? We could interpret that as "she was always supporting Aang's cause and hated azula secretly since forever" but I don't think that's very correct, because Ty Lee never shows any sign of it, never talks treason, never helps the good guys while azula isn't looking (unlike mai!). The only thing that could possibly make her betray Azula, in my point of view, is seeing her other best friend almost die to her hands. And even then, it isn't a moral choice. I firmly believe Ty Lee was just as indoctrinated in the Fire Nation's ways as everyone else there. And that she actually supported her nation and obeyed Azula as her commander not only because they were friends, not only because she had to, but because she was loyal to her nation. And the only reason I can see her go to the good guys' side at the end of atla was simply because of self preservation with a side of unbrainwashing from FN propaganda

So, in conclusion, I don't think Ty Lee is a completely good character, and I don't think she has a problem with Azula's crimes.

"There is a power imbalance"

I'm not going to deny that. But who told you all relationships with a power imbalance are inherently bad? They're more likely to be toxic, but they won't always be. If the person with the upper hand is respectuous and nice, everything works out perfectly. It's more of an advice towards people who don't have the upper hand in their unbalanced relationship, and who could get taken advantage of. But Ty Lee is smarter than she looks, and I believe she would know to stay away from that.

Pre-boilling rock, there is indeed problems with them getting together, but they're not due to one of them being toxic. Azula is Ty Lee's princess, and it isn't her fault. She was literally raised to lead. And Ty Lee was raised to follow. We see that despite that, Azula still considers Ty Lee as her friend and gets her in her team in a nice way. But it isn't her fault she was raised in the middle of a war and sees the will of the fire nation as more important than anything.

Additionally, I don't think Ty Lee hated Azula, for the reasons I mentionned before.

Post-boilling rock, I just don't think Ty Lee would be scared, or cruel enough, to jail or unbend Azula for no reason. Because, again, I don't think she hates her.

"The fire nation is homophobic"

As is usual with me, I loathe the comics and don't consider this as canon. It doesn't even make sense, apart from saying "fire nation's evil, they're homophobic now too" to be honest, if anyone's gonna be homophobic it's gonna be everyone, cause there was no gay representation in atla.

Oh, and f*ck this, I hate homophobia, I don't want my fictionnal worlds to have it too. It's dumb as shit and everyone is gay in the Fire Nation. There.

"So, do I have a valid point about how Tyzula shippers and fics often engage in abuse and/or toxic friendship/relationship apologism? Or I am just being too harsh on a group of shippers that have been vocally condemned by the greater ATLA community and most likely will never see their ship be canonized?"

You do have a valid point that some tyzula shippers have the same problem as some azula stans, as in that they put her on a pedestral and say she did nothing wrong. But some also just don't want to bother with that and just want to write fluff, and that's fine. There are way worse things they could be doing.

It is true that Tyzula is kind of a controversial ship, and for this reason I don't think you should care too much about it. Bullying people never help anyone, and criticising tyzula shippers will only push them back in their fandom spaces and make them unable to tell apart genuine, objective criticism and mean bullying.

I don't want Tyzula to be canon, btw. Well. For me canon kinda stopped at the end of atla, so everything is possible after this point lol. Not that I even care much about canon.

You are not an hypocrite for liking tyzula and criticizing it. You can call out the behavior of people in your own community, it's perfectly fine and should be encouraged. I'd pay more attention to your opinion too, because I know you don't just dislike the ship and want to find any reason for it to be "problematic"

I'm gonna put that submission in the Tyzula tag, if anyone in there feels offended by that do let me know. I don't intend to shit on this ship at all. Also, if anyone wants to add points or give me perspectives I didn't think about go ahead!

[sparklegemstone]

Taking a break from work so time to write up more of my Loki trailer thoughts since all the cool cats around here seem to be doing it :-D.

In chronological order:

1) Personally I was 'meh' about the trailer starting with the Endgame scene just because I think the Russos did a terrible job matching the tone of that scene with the tone of the original Avengers film's conclusion and I want the Loki series to feel like a continuation of Avengers.  Alas, the Endgame scene grates on me as feeling inauthentic to the story it's supposed to take place in.  But I certainly understand the practicality of needing to put it in to give the audience the context for when/how this new story with Loki is taking place.

2) But five seconds later on the other side of the wormhole…yay, Kate Herron fixed the tone!  This feels much closer in tone to when Thor and Lok depart for Asgard at the end of Avengers.  Excellent job Kate.

3) Was so pleasantly surprised by Owen Wilson's portrayal!  Very different than any of the comedic characters I strongly associate the actor's acting style with.  I like his character a lot with what we've been given so far.  It's instructive reflecting back on the potential concerns I had and that were being discussed in the fandom when we were working with scraps and rumors that we now know don't have merit: things like 'Hiddleston is only there to narrate the series' and 'How comedic in tone is this going to be if Waldron from Rick and Morty is hiring Owen Wilson?'.  Ah the good old days of baseless speculation.

 4) I mentioned the frequently low camera position in another post -- it does a poor job of conveying how Loki carries himself, tall and straight and elegant.  It makes him seem more ordinary, but maybe that's the point -- equalizing him with Mobius rather than it being an Asgardian in a non-Asgardian's presence.

5) The way Loki goes from locked down and not letting any sense of what's going on his head slip to Mobius (what I feel is in-character for Loki) to suddenly being a lot more open with what he's actually feeling and having less guarded, more friendly/casual attitude toward Mobius is weird to me.  I think it's a cut just for the trailer and hopefully it will make more sense in context, but Hiddleston's acting here and the way he has no qualms about being physically guided out of the elevator by Mobius is one of the points where it felt more like Hiddleston playing a different character than playing Loki to me (and lacking Loki's costuming doesn't help that perception certainly).  Which I know is nitpicky, but I was just curious to see to what degree this would actually feel like 'fresh off of Avengers' Loki and so I'm paying close attention to what feels in and out of character for me.  Does Mobius say something to really throw Loki for a loop that would cause him to drop his guard like that?

6) "Glorious" -> YAASSSS that's the Loki I wanted to recognize.  He's back!  I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around how blessed I am, but we've got him back for more screen time.  Also, with him back in Stark Tower and the later image of post-apocalyptic Manhattan, I am super intrigued by the possibility of Loki (and me too!) experiencing different ways things could have played out on Earth, if he'd succeeded in his conquest for example.

7) Loki's going to learn about what happened in the main timeline and the choices he made in the future?!  That's huge!  Should be a fascinating character moment.  This bit of Loki turning away from the projector gives me a lot of hope that the writing in the show is actually going to explore, honor, and authentically run with where Loki was as a character at the end of Avengers and the context of what he experienced rather than Marvel just plopping the "general" character of Loki into a genre-fied crime thriller show basically disconnected from the events of Thor and Avengers so they can say they made a Loki show.

8) Do I like Loki in the beige detective jacket?  Nah, not really.  But I do appreciate that even with the earth costume they kept Loki's style of being completely covered up.  Also creates contrast with him not being in control when he's in the TVA prisoner jumpsuit that has short sleeves.

9) Thought that was Nat on Voromir at first because of the purple environment.  Been reading some thoughts on how that's probably not Nat, and while the theories make sense, if that's true, why would Marvel put in a shot of a character that looks so much like Nat that it would cause confusion and maybe get her fans' hopes up?

10) I agree with @delyth88​ on the D.B. Cooper scene.  Didn't think I'd want Loki looking like Hiddleston, but I don't mind it / it's not taking me out of the scene as I might have expected.

11) The fight choreo and edit into the twirling -- I already discussed this before, but the physicality of it is giving me human-strength!Loki vibes.  If instead the guy he's fighting is also super strong, wouldn't the plastic or metal disc thing between them break upon impact?  Also the fact that it seems implied that Loki would get hurt by jumping out of the plane w/o Heimdall’s help to catch him.

12) The twirling -- is Loki legitimately, celebratorily, uninhibitedly happy?  I feel like we've never seen him like that since the Thor cut scene before they all made that fateful trip to Jotunheim.  I read a theory that the roman numerals on the building in this frame might mean he is in Pompeii the year the volcano erupts, which is interesting.

13) Loki saying "Brother”,  “Heimdall", coordinating with at least Heimdall, traveling on the Bifrost -- HOPE!  BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, HOPE!  I was honestly expecting the show to make no mention of anything connected to Asgard, except maybe segueing into Thor 4 at the very end, so the fact that Loki is (indirectly) interacting with Heimdall -- calling Thor "Brother" (even if not to Thor) !!!!!!!!!!!! -- interesting!  

14) The idea of him being D.B. Cooper is very fun! (though I didn't know who that was in advance).  It's very easy to pretend that Loki is real and has been an unidentified part of our history all along.

15) I do not like the last scene with comics!Loki suddenly being brought to life.  In fact I had a very kneejerk dislike of it the first couple times I watched the trailer (so many watches ago :-P) because it presses a very personal button of mine, which is how the MCU is moving toward becoming more spectacle-driven and comic-book-y and therefore away from the grounded, character driven storytelling that I enjoy about the MCU.  I'm here for the character of Loki that I love as he is already established in the MCU, not the comics versions of the character.  Also, IMO the acting is out of character for MCU Loki and more goofy.

That said, I'm hopeful context will help a whole bunch here as @iamanartichoke​ has said.  Given all the timey-wimey multiverse shenanigans, it's probably not even Avengers!Loki anyway, and I'm certainly not going to begrudge the many fans who are excited to see comics references on screen.

Overall impression?  Very excited, very hopeful.  Would I selfishly want a story that's just a direct continuation of the Avengers and hyper focused on the exact context of the character of Loki as he was in Avengers, fleshing out the off-screen bits and up-until-now only implied emotional impact of what Loki experienced between the end of Thor and the start of Avengers, digging into his relationships with the Black Order, and family, reconciling with his heritage?  Uh…duh ;-).  

But you have to give an audience what they need as opposed to what they think they want, and from a craft perspective, this has to be its own story.  The Thor and Avengers stories are their own stories, they're told, they're done, even if certain emotional threads were left hanging / implied / off-screen that we as very detail-oriented Loki fans would like to see dealt with explicitly.

But given that this was always going to be its own story, I'm very hopeful that the series has an explicit creative goal of telling a story that also does a great job with emotional continuity and exploring the fallout of Thor and Avengers and what that means for Loki's character; of honoring, picking up from, and running with Loki as a character in the context of who he was when he surrendered to the Avengers and where he goes from there.

The Marvel Studios executives could have easily decided to make an isolated story featuring Loki that general MCU fans that don't think overly deeply about the character would have been very happy with and probably it would be very successful, and I would have gladly taken that over nothing.  But I'm optimistic that that isn't what we're getting and that they chose to ground their story in the specific context of Loki's character.  We'll see!

[army-of-mai-lovers]

No pressure if you don’t feel up to it, but I was wondering: what are your favorite-for-the-happiness atla episodes? Alternatively, what are your favorite-for-the-themes/plot/drama/feels?

ooohhhh this is such a good question. I’m actually slightly better at picking favorite atla episodes than I am favorite movies lol my favorite for the happiness and favorite for the themes episodes are actually the same episode, which is, to the surprise of absolutely no one, The King of Omashu. People sleep on this episode and on Bumi and it makes me so sad. “wahhh book 1 isn’t any good” LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND TELL ME YOU FELT NOTHING WHEN BUMI AND FLOPSY WERE REUNITED. LOOK ME. IN THE GODDAMN EYE. It’s so heartwarming that Aang has somebody who knew him before the iceberg, and that they got to spend time together after the war (I haven’t read the comics I’m just assuming). And I’ve made a post about this but I’ll say it again: that episode was foreshadowing for the lion turtle. Bumi was asking Aang to find creative solutions to problems that seemed to have an obvious answer, and then later, when Aang was faced with the problem of what to do with Ozai and it seemed to have an obvious answer, Aang found a creative solution to that too. 

my second favorite for the themes is Imprisoned ofc, I think it’s a really well done and dramatic episode and Haru is lovely in every single way. So much worldbuilding and character work for Katara happened in just that one episode like it was just really well constructed (and then they threw it all away for bender supremacy in lok, which I am not the least bit mad about) Also, may I reiterate, Haru was there. 

my other favorites for themes and drama are Southern Raiders, Crossroads of Destiny, and the whole book 3 finale, for reasons that I hope are obvious. I love me some Katara-centric episodes and Southern Raiders is the best, it’s just also very hard to watch because it’s so heavy thematically, but the ending of it is absolutely beautiful. All the season finales are great but seeing Aang literally die at the end of book 2 shook me to my core, and then seeing him choose what’s best for him and his people and the world in book 3 was so powerful ugh I love him so so so much. other favorites for the happiness are the Blind Bandit, the Kyoshi Warriors, and Boiling Rock. Blind Bandit bc Toph, Kyoshi Warriors bc Suki, and Boiling Rock bc Sokka and Zuko friendship and sukka and maiko and Suki and Ty Lee fight and cool Suki warden capture scene and yeah mostly just Suki.

[echidnana]

not a pretender.

in which a young nonbinary toph comes to terms with themself.

this is by no means an interpretation of the show! it’s more so my own personal headcanon paired heavily with me just. projecting onto toph. (also, this is written not taking the comics or lok into account.) i wrote this for myself, but i know how much fanworks mean to me, so i’m posting this as both a way to document my work and make it available to anyone looking for lgbtq+ works of the atla variety. if you read this, i’d really appreciate feedback! i know i’m not an amazing writer and i’m always looking to improve. 

•••

toph is twelve and hates pretending. pretending to be small, weak, ladylike. it makes them want to vomit. it’s not until they run away with the avatar that they realize just how much they hated it.

toph is thirteen and the war is over and they are free. they never want to have to pretend again. that’s why they hate it so much when they realize there’s something else. it’s an odd feeling; almost uncomfortable and very confusing. toph feels like they’re lying by not understanding it. but how would they explain? hey, guys, something feels off. what feels off? oh, i don’t know, just something. they hate it so they ignore it.

toph is fourteen and their body is changing and they panic. at first, it’s quiet enough to ignore, but when their body morphs into something so distinctly not theirs they feel like they’re buried miles underground. toph doesn’t know what to do. then one day while they’re all visiting zuko katara asks about having another ‘girl’s day’ and toph can’t stand it anymore. they snap and yell “no! i’m- i’m not a girl!” katara looks shocked and toph realizes what they’ve done and leaves before she or any of the others can say anything. 

an hour later toph is laying on the ground outside of the fire nation palace. too many thoughts are rushing through their head. will katara hate them now? what about everyone else? they had always accepted them as they were; would this be it? tears are streaming down their face and they hate it. they hate feeling weak and like they’ve been pretending. they sense someone coming in their direction. sokka. he was still a good ways off, navigating the twisting corridors of the palace, and toph briefly wonders if they should just leave. sokka was definitely coming to talk to them. it would be so easy to just leave, run away... but no. these people are their family and they refuse to run from them until they chase them off. 

it doesn’t take him long to find them, laying in the grass. sokka doesn’t say anything; just sits down next to them. he doesn’t comment on the trails of dried tears streaking their face; doesn’t comment on how long they’ve been gone. he just sits. the two of them stay like that for about three minutes before toph can’t take it anymore.

“well?” their voice is shaky and makes them feel even more vulnerable.

“well what?” 

the words don’t come easily, but they’ve been thinking for a long time. “sokka, i snapped at katara. and, i mean, it’s not like i haven’t done that before, but this is different. i just... i don’t know what to do. about anything.”

sokka shifts to lay down as well. “ya know, toph, i know what you’re going through.”

“i doubt it.” 

“no, really, i do. i wasn’t... i haven’t really talked about this before, with anyone except katara, not because i’m ashamed or anything, just cause it hasn’t come up. but, i- well, i wasn’t born in a boy’s body.”

toph’s eyes go wide. “what?”

sokka laughs a bit. “yeah. everyone thought i was a girl, since that’s what my body looked like, but by the time i was five and had the words to explain it, i knew i was a boy. i just... knew. no one was even surprised. it’s a common thing, in the water tribes. mistakes happen. i mean, i don’t see it as a mistake, just sort of... something i am.”

toph can feel tears welling up again. the past few months had been hell and as soon as they let it out there was someone right here who understood. a weird silence passes and toph can’t bring themself to fill it. 

“toph,” sokka starts again, “i know you’re probably... going through some stuff right now, but i want you to know that we’re all here for you. and we... we’re your family. we love you no matter what.”

they sit up, trying not to let the tears fall. “i- i’ve just been confused. i hate being confused. but i know now. i... i know who i am, and i... i’m going to be me. thank you.”

“no problem, toph. it’s totally ok if you don’t know yet, but do you want us to call you something else? or use different pronouns?”

they’ve thought about this, agonized over it constantly for the past weeks. “yeah, i... i’m still toph. i just... i’m not a girl. but i’m not a boy, either. can... what can i be called if i’m neither?”

“well, i’m not an expert or anything, but what about they and them? those are gender neutral.”

they. them. toph’s face breaks into a smile. “yeah. that- that’s me.”

“great!” sokka says, pushing himself up to his feet. “do you want me to tell the others, or do you want to?”

“i will.”

“alright. and toph? i’m here, ok? i... i don’t know exactly what you’re feeling, but i’m here for you.”

“i know.” they stand as well, waking alongside sokka out of the garden. “oh, and sokka?”

“yeah?”

they punch his arm, hard.

“ow! what was that for?”

“thank you.”

they can here the grin in sokka’s voice when he says “you’re welcome.”

[elrondsscribe]

No ATLA shipping wars, please. There is room for ALL the ships.

So I’m sure anyone who’s been tracking me lately knows that I’ve been all up in Avatar: The Last Airbender ...

And I must say, after checking out the tags, I am TERRIFIED to speak my mind about ANY of the ships I like!! Like, I don’t want to be thought of as a poisonous Supporter Of That Which Is Toxic And Problematic because I did or didn’t gel with one ship or other. Spoilers under the cut.

See, I’m always the kind of fan that nobody likes: I’m the MCU fan that appreciates Steve and Tony; I’m the Star Wars fan that loved all nine Episodes. So when I say that I sail literally all of the ships because all of them hit me in different kinds of feels, well, y’all know to expect this from me.

(I should say at this point that the only thing I’m considering ‘canon’ for the purposes of this conversation is A:TLA; no LoK or comics is relevant here.)

(Also, can I just say what a wonderful change of pace it is to be in a property where, at least in the generation of our ‘mains,’ there seem to be more named, developed female characters??)

So I’m gonna start out with saying: I like the canon pairings as they stand! Kataang, Sukki, and Maiko being the main ones, obvs. However, I also like all kinds of AU pairings too!

Like Zutara - I mean, I can hardly say anything here that ten thousand others haven’t already said better, but their journeys do parallel each other in a lot of significant ways, and I think that, by the end of the show, they do legitimately share enough to have the foundations of a good relationship, if as a fanwriter you wanted to go there. You could make much of the poetry of their differences (”you rise with the moon, and I with the Sun”), and/or really develop their existing ability to safely be the ‘splash zone’ for each other’s turmoil. Besides, I think Katara’s mothering fussbudget energy would be a great thing for Zuko, and there’s a gentleness to her that he’d find healing.

{Now, I’ve seen a lot of comparisons between Zutara and Reylo, made by people who either want to demean or defend both ships. I’ve also seen these comparisons soundly trashed by people who like one, but not both, of these ships. As someone who never has had strong feelings either for or against Reylo, and as someone who loves Zutara but not exclusively, my response to all of that drama is a big old shrug of my shoulders. So don’t come at me screaming about Reylo, either to stan or cancel. Please just don’t.}

Also I don’t know a good way to say this, but you know how some people just can’t seem to resist reading Zuko and/or Sokka as gay? Well, I can’t stop reading Mai as lesbian; I don’t know why.

I don’t know which pairing Taang is. If it’s Aang/Ty Lee, omg yes!! Kill me with all the sparkles and rainbows! I already want to eat them both up. More seriously, I think Aang’s peaceable temperament would be a really welcome change in her life, after Zuko’s turmoil and Mai’s ice and Azula’s, well, Azula-ness. She’d probably just love Aang’s aura :) 

If Taang is Aang/Toph, well, we’ve observed that our flighty lil’ Aangster could use a grouding influence :) I don’t know who on Tumblr pointed it out, but Toph is the last person in the world to fangirl over Aang, which seems to be very good for him, while also not clipping his wings. While I do believe they’d be the kind of couple to quarrel and, at times, drift apart from each other (she’s incredibly rooted while he’s the embodiment of a free-spirit), for some reason I can easily see them finding each other again. There’s a scene in my head, one where an adult Aang is faced with the necessity of a sacrifice play that he might not come back from, and instead of tearfully trying to convince him not to do it, Toph says, “Go get ‘em, Twinkletoes.”

[And if you ship Zutara alongside Aang/Toph, you could have a fanfic where you did a Parallel, with Two Ships Of Opposite-Power-Benders. I’d be a fan!]

Now I’ve seen Sokkla floating around too, and I must say that this intrigues me, especially the way that this ship is connected to ideas about the redemption of Azula. I’ve seen some people being really upset that Azula never got a redemption arc in the show, but c’mon guys. A redemption arc for Azula would have taken a long-ass time - it would’ve been awesome, but it would’ve taken a long-ass time, definitely longer than a fourth season, I think. But if you were going to go with a combination of a redemption arc and a ship for her, Sokka would be a great idea. I don’t think Azula knows what fun and merriment are, and who knows those things better than Sokka?

[Honestly, that’s the thing about shipping Sokka with anyone: he would bring them laughter.]

But enough about the het AU ships, let’s talk about the gay ones!

Zukka would be the most prominent example, of course. The rapport that Zuko develops with Sokka over ‘The Boiling Rock’ is beautiful to behold (jokes about ‘that’s rough, buddy’ aside), and heaven knows Zuko needs someone to teach him how to laugh.

And remember how I said that I somehow can’t see Mai as straight? Well, I also can’t stop shipping her with Azula (don’t know the ship name for this one, but I know it exists). Obviously this ship would have more than an edge of ownership and manipulation about it, but they’re so deadly radiant and it’s like I can’t look away from them.

And Ty Lee is just so adorable and sincere (even with all the buried sadness) that shipping her with almost any of the other girls just makes my heart melt. Especially Katara, who would just cuddle the hell out of her whenever she’s feeling down. Or even Azula, who would totally own and work her but also, like, dazzle her. Main exception being Suki - for some reason, my head goes all kinds of hot, dirty places when I imagine Suki and Ty Lee sparring.

However, all this being said, I still have love for the canon ships that we got.

For example, like I said, I do ship Kataang, and I think together they’re incredibly sweet, but I also think that Katara’s tendency to hover and Aang’s tendency to (literally and metaphorically) fly away from/float above problems would jointly become a not-inconsiderable hurdle in a long-term relationship. Now I’ve observed couples in real life with similar dynamics, and I’ll stick out my neck and say that I consider this a workable hurdle, especially if both Katara and Aang grow in maturity and interpersonal understanding as they get older.

Similarly with Maiko: we see that, where Zuko’s emotions tend to run fire-hot, Mai’s tend to run ice-cold; we saw a clear example of these tendencies really clashing with each other. And Mai’s way of showing Zuko affection does seem to have genuinely perplexed some people who watched the show, to the point that they didn’t read it as affection at all. But again, drawing on what I’be observed, some couples really do develop a ‘love code’ that they understand even if literally no one else does. I don’t see any indication of either Mai or Zuko actually ill-using the other; and I will always stan this line from Mai when she made her big choice: I love Zuko more than I fear you.

As for Sukki - well, you already know. Sokka definitely grew and healed a lot from it, but I don’t think the trauma of being unable to protect Yue is one that will ever truly leave him. And as much as Suki understands him, I do think Sokka’s protectiveness will sometimes grate on her. She’s a motherfucking warrior-chieftain. And yes, this can definitely shape into a relational problem, but not one that can’t be worked around.

So ... TLDR, I love all the ships, and refuse to be part of the anti drama.

[ruby-x3]

Is Suyin the child of Toph and Sokka?

Disclaimer

I tried to get as much "true" information as I could, but because I have not much time I couldn't write down all the sources. If you need the proof you can easily find it on the internet. Sorry for that!

This entry has more or less comments of my personal opinion. Therefore I want to highlight those parts in purple.

EDIT: It's confirmed, that Sokka and Suki lived in the suburbs together after ATLA. It was confirmed at ComicCon in an Q&A. Thanks to the cautious readers out there :) I hope you still enjoy the text!

OK so I have stumble upon this theory on what happened to Sokka between the end of the comic arcs (yet) and the beginning of LoK. Therefore I found a pretty interesting picture on Instagram from somebody, who tries to find evidences that Toph and Sokka have a child and it's Suyin Beifong.

As you can see the person compares to facial and body proportions as well as skin tone and similarities. Especially between Sokka and Suyins children you can see a good amount of similarities. I can also agree with the point that Suyin have facial similarities to Sokka. For example if Tophs and Sokkas gene mixed, the skin tone would fit and Suyins heart-shape face would make sense (Toph has a square/round face and Sokka a pointy/oval face shape). The only thing I can't agree is the shoulders? I mean they are just shoulders? You can't tell that they are pointy because Suyins shoulder pads are obviously pointy, but Sokkas are just normal shoulders?

Anyway the text also says that Suki died in a war (it's right according to Google but please feel free to correct me) so there could be room between Sokka and Tophs relationship.

So first of all I want to show parts of their relationship in ATLA and then slosh to the comics.

As we look in the past, there are some points where Toph and Sokka seems to have a bit of chemistry - at least they really care for each other.

At the beginning I want to take emphasis on their trust to each other. In the episode "The Runaway" in Book 3, Sokka and Toph both shared some deeper feelings and fears of themselves to each other. As friends, this is nothing new, but still a great moment of their bond.

Secondly on the war ship Sokka protects Toph and holds her. Again, this might be just a thing between friends. I see nothing romantical here, because she can't see the falling rocks and she also did the same thing for Sokka at "The Serpent's Pass" in Book 2.

Now going a bit deeper Toph is holding Sokkas arm as they went back to Ba Sing Se with Appa and Aang after he went to the Guru in the episode "The Guru". The same thing happened in the boat in episode "The Painted Lady", book 3. Usually Toph doesn't need a helping hand on Appas back as you can see in various episodes. This hug also doesn't seem very much on a friendship base but more "romantically". It's a pose you would usually do to a crush in my opinion.

Especially in the last picture after Sokka went to master Piandao she showed affection towards him because she missed him after only one day. She mentioned her missing of Sokka before in the Gaang part, which nobody else did. They also tent to trust each other, because they didn't fear to tell their fears and problems. She even complimented his drawings (more as a joke), but they sort of picking on each other a lot. Toph also seems to have some sort of interest in Sokka, because she thought he saved her in the water and wanted to thank him with a kiss.

To be honest this isn't very typical for Toph. Yeah, she has also shown some affection towards Zuko, when they tried to find Aang. But this was more like a kind act, because she wanted to know Zuko better and also have some adventure with him as everybody else. She also tried to kiss "Sokka" on "his" lips, because in the she goes towards them with her face. This is no "this just naturally happens", because animators take a long time to animate a few seconds. Therefore there was an intention in this gesture by the creators, leading Toph to show her soft spot, which she usually doesn't show. She rather appear very hard (like a rock) and is indeed very badass, but you should also consider her as a girl with an interest in boys. She also should have hit puberty around this time and the only guy in her reach would be Sokka. We should not forget that Sokka is kind of a "playboy" - at least he has the most relationships in the Avatar universe. Therefore I guess that she could have developed some feelings for him. Maybe not that far, but I think the interest was definitely there.

There are also some other scenes where their bond shows even further, but first I want to talk about the characters. I am mainly talking about characters who have something to do with the Tokka theory.

First I want to talk about Sokka

Well you all know Sokka as an womanizer. He had an relationship with Yue, a princess, he is/was together with Suki and even in the comics girls had interests in him. In LoK we literally know nothing about him. We only know that he was a member of the console in Republic City and that he died before we started with LoK. This is very strange, because people thought he would have been with Suki, but she wasn't mention in Lok at all. I want to talk about her later.

Did Sokka has an interest in Toph?

Well, I can clearly say no, at least in ATLA. We can see by the pictures and gifs above that Sokka had just friendship in mind. For the fact that around this time he was in a relationship with Suki, he never thought of Toph as a potential girlfriend. He was just protective around the last arc, Zosins comet, because they were friends. Nothing more, nothing less. But, as I said, I can still sensor some deeper trust between them, because Sokka told her she saw her mother in Katara, which is an information that he is not keen to speak about. This changed a bit in the comics. Their interaction were much more present than in the series. A part of it is because in the series the focus was much more in Aang. In the comics they clearly have more interactions because the focus on Aang serving the world went away. In the comics we saw a lot of Zukos life in the palace and how he rules. We also saw an arc, where Aang wants to spread the air nomads culture to volunteers and the issue of avatar Yangchen. Katara and Aang being busy being a couple and Sokka and Katara only come together at the Northern Water Tribe.

Sokka has, more or less, plenty of time to spend. Because Suki worked as a guardian for Zuko, Sokka didn't see Suki on a regular basis. Sokka helped Toph with her metal bending academy in "The Rift". Also in "North and South" Sokka spend time with Toph.

He even gave her all the soft toys he won. In my opinion this is a typical boyfriend-girlfriend moment. He could either safe the toys for Suki, but he doesn't. Also in other situations he wants to be with Toph instead of Aang and Katara. He also praises Toph a lot during the series, in the comics and even LoK you can see it (when Yakone was in court).

Now to Toph Beifong

As a blind, but a noble girl she was restricted by her parents to do any physical work or task due to her disability. She also hates authority and rules a lot due to her parental treatment. In the series, she was 12 year old, as old a Aang. In this time many hit puberty, so I guess she may be in puberty at this time and also starts being interested in the opposite gender. So therefore I asume she had a crush on Sokka for various points (examples) mentioned above.

In the comics she found a metal bending school. For the first time in "The Rift" we get to know a man called "Kanto". Toph seems interested in him as well.

If you read the comic you'll notice that she clearly wants to be in a relationship with him. I think he is the father of Lin, because he has the same hair colour and wavy structure, but also her father's name is "Kanto".

As we know in the end Toph was chief police officer of Republica. She has a second child, who is Suyin.

So indicating Sokka might be the father, what speaks for this theory?

After the end of the war we were sure Sokka and Suki will be together and in the comics and they still are. But according to Google Suki died in a war, so this leaves space between Sokka and Toph to develop a relationship. Furthermore Suki seems to have an interest in Zuko.

This actions are, sure, typical for friends, but the way of acting is hinting of an interest. I wouldn't deny it, it seems very suspicious. Also Zuko might be interested in Suki as well, since they see each other everyday and Mai broke up with him. He still have eyes for Mai, but it's not completely impossible that Suki and Zuko are attracted to each other since they both are very badass and attractive characters.

Due to this fact the relationship between Sokka and Suki might have crumbled, leading to a break up between them. We don't see something about Suki in LoK at all. She just vanished completely, which could indicate her early death. Since we know that Toph has interest in Sokka and he maybe has an slight interest as well, so they might end up. The next hints are in the appearances of Suyin and her children, who have heavy resemblances to Sokka.

I first thought that the resemblance is heavily of Bataars side, the father of them. But the similarities to Sokka are stronger!

Therefore, many of those "evidences" turn into the favor of their relationship.

But what speaks against ist?

So basically I would say that it's still a theory. Sure, there are times where many theories were right, but not all. We are speaking in a room of speculations and as you might know, not all things are clear. For example the mother of Izumi is not mentioned at all. There are things, which should(?) be a mystery or unimportant. Maybe for spicing up the series or just because the authors forgot and made it up later on (e.g. J. K. Rowling does every time).

Secondly I want to point out the strong friendship game everyone has in ATLA. We see a lot of strong friendships, which could hint an interest towards the person, but mostly they stay friends. One reason could be that the authors want to trick us, but I believe that the friendships are strong on purpose, because they want to show how much they connected through the war and their experiences. Having a bit of a chemistry does not mean anything relationship wise, that's nothing new for sure.

Third and lastly I want to stick out that shipping everyone with everyone not only does ruin the atmosphere and characters of the series, but also makes it kinda awkward? I mean I have nothing against ships, but not every gesture means love from both sights. That's nothing new in the avatar world and also in ours. We sure can make ships like we want, but if they happen to be real, wouldn't that make their whole situation somehow awkward? Like Suki and Zuko having "an affair" while Sokka doesn't know anything. Or Sokka making up with Toph because they don't have anyone left. This does not only bring some people in a bad light, but also let the characters seem desperate. I wouldn't like the idea that Sokka lost a love again or that Zuko and Suki cheating, which speaks against their natural characteristics and morality.

So what's the conclusion?

As mostly seen many aspects are based on personal preferences. There are hints of a relationship, but there must not be one. This vision is clearly on the readers mind whether they believe the signs or not. I wouldn't doubt the possibility of their relationship though. There are evidences and there is no clear story in between the comics and the start of LoK. I wouldn't mind if Tokka really happened, but I would not state it as the only truth. As a Tokka shipper, I would say yes to the theory, as a Sukka/other Sokka-ship shipper probably no. Feel free to have your own opinion based on this entry, because that's only what's left.

[science-fiction-is-real]

thoughts on imbalance part 1

I just finished it like 30 secs ago so i have some things to digest

but so far i like it.  Of course when fiction gets political, it’s very easy to read into the story with your own biases.  And I am a political person with my own way of looking at the world and of course my solution for the conflicts in the story is of course EAT THE RICH, DESTROY CAPITALISM, JUSTICE FOR ALL.  but you know.  We still have to see how it plays out.

we definitely have set up an interesting conflict, between benders and non benders.  One LOK tried to handle but didn’t really.

One thing i don’t really like so much about ATLA’s and LOK’s attempts to get political is the way they very deliberately blur the lines between who is in power and who is marginalized.

In most of the ATLA universe, benders are people in power over non benders.  And now they are trying to portray benders as economically and socially marginalized people.   It doesn’t work like that in real life.  Powerful people usually benefit from whatever changes come to economy, not the other way around.  Because they use their power to take advantage of the situation.

They did this too in north and south.  They tried to make the northerners seem like people in power, but also made the southerners look like racist xenophobic scumbags when they were actually trying to protect their country from imperial foreign profit-seekers.

They did this in “The Promise” when they were like “But GEE GOLLY  YOU CAN”T JUST KICK THE FIRE BENDERS OUT????!!!!???!!!” Yes kicking people out of their home is usually not a good idea, but for the love of god let’s not pretend like the Fire Nation are the victims in this scenario.

And it is tempting to do this when writing fiction because conflicts seem more interesting when “B O T H    S  I D E S    H A V E A POINT”  but that is bullshit horseshoe theory non sense and it needs to go away because it is actively harmful to the way we handle real life conflicts.

I also found it interesting that there was almost no talk of race in this comic.  You think it would come up.  And it kind of did.  But it wasn’t really explored.  I guess i’m okay with that.  not every topic needs to be explored in every work of fiction.  But it is somewhat strange that something you think would come up did not come up.

So that’s my thoughts on that.

[omegansamurai]

A Message to Haters, as well as an ATLA essay, and My Last Bryke Rant(until those two do something stupid again)

You know, honestly, I really am tired of bashing these dimwits. And I’m only doing this because I CAN so I won’t feel like I’m being threatened and criticized by blind Bryke fans who can’t do their research because they don’t want to face the truth. In fact, to some of you, is shipping THAT important in your life? Come on...there are a lot more important things in life than just what ship you love. You’re hating on people who say Bryke are bad writers because that interferes with your ship? Seriously? Are you kidding me? Really, what did the pairing ever done to you? And I don’t mean the fans of that pairing. Really, of all things, what has THE PAIRING ever done to YOU besides existing? 

I mean, sure, I like certain ships and I get a little sad about them not being canon, but here’s the thing; I DO move on. And there’s a thing called FANFICTION, FANART and the FANDOM. Notice a similarity in those words? The word FAN is in there. So to the people who say that I’m not a fan...really? Why do you think I write fanfiction? Why do you even think I rant? Because I care. I care about these characters and how they are handled. Also, wait a few years, and maybe an ATLA reboot would be in the works. Maybe they’ll put those so-called ‘fanon’ pairings in there because of popularity, and we’ll see how you like it. Because Avatar is not getting any better with these comics and with the LoK series. You have Bryke to blame for that.

I’m also really tired of this crappy shipping debate. Can’t we just get along and stop acting immature about this? So what if that pairing is canon? I have the right to like another ship that isn’t canon. And that applies to Avatar. And before you say anything, I am not, as one had rudely called me, a stock Zutara fan. I rarely read those anymore because there’s so much of them. I like it, but I’m not a diehard fan of it. The main pairing that I will always like is Taang. And if you hate that pairing for some reason, they why? Is it that big of a threat to your pairing, which I’ll say it, but mean no ill will towards it, Kataang? I can admit it’s canon, but it was handled in the most poorly constructed way possible. I’m sorry, but I feel that way. Bryke likes this pairing, but the way it was portrayed in the show just seemed weird. They were trying so hard to get Kataang to work that they butchered Aang(and to an extent Katara) horribly. He’s just a kid, he’s not Casanova Jones. Bryke really ruined their main character...whether you like it or not. Also, I can admit that Kataang could work, and that’s cool if you like that pairing, but again, Bryke really screwed that up by rushing it and it just wasn’t appealing to me. I’m sorry, it wasn’t.  It was already established that Katara viewed him like a little brother in seasons 1 and 2, and now she suddenly winds up with him at the end of the third season? I can see where you’re all coming from with liking the pairing though, but Bryke just did not know how to write it. 

But I’m not going through shipping issues, cause that’s not the point here. AND if you still think I’m some ‘shipping fan’, then that just shows that you still think shipping is the big issue here. NO IT ISN’T. IT’S BRYKE’S WRITING THAT I’M MAD ABOUT!

Really though, I try not to be mean. I try to be a nice guy. I don’t want to start having enemies because of what I say. And let me address to the people who are rude enough to go to my posts, start hating on me, and try to make me look bad; Bryke may have given the others credit(because their original ideas suck in the first place), but they’re still douchebags. Just to let you know, Aaron Ehasz and the writers straightened up the story into what it is. Bryke are in NO WAY shape or form the masterminds behind the writing. That’s the ATLA writers' job. And I want to be a good writer in the field of animation. I can’t draw worth squat. I can only write. I have an imagination, and I want to use it in any way I can. Also, just to let you know, the reason I didn’t reply back to all the haters in my posts isn’t because you all won the argument; I just couldn’t deal with the negativity. I’m not going to engage in a conversation with people who are just going to be a troll to me. A rude troll, by the way.

Although, I will say sorry to anyone that I’ve offended by what I said on Bryke and on the shipping aspects. I don’t mean to offend you. I’m just mad at these two, and I don’t think they handled the shipping well, okay? I have every right to be mad and rant about them. And I can listen to people’s opinions on what on pairings they like if they act nice and mature about it. But you’re not going to get anywhere calling people stupid and an “insert ship here” fan.

And if by some reason Bryke ARE innocent? Okay then. fine. I was wrong. But I doubt that they are innocent. Cause Avatar is really in a tough spot right now. It’s not the same as it was, and we have Korra and the comics to thank for that. And if you don’t believe me, then again, fine. I don’t care, Power to you then if you think Avatar is going in the right direction. I don’t, personally. But really, again, I don’t care.

I will say this though as a last insult to Bryke; they are shallow, they suck, and they can’t write. There. It’s over. I’m done. I don’t think I have anything else to say, so with that, I’m done ranting on Bryke. I’ll be getting back to stuff that matters in my life, as well as getting out new blog content out sometime soon.

And if you’re still going to be a troll to me despite me telling you all this, I WILL block you. And if you block me first after insulting me in this post before I even try to block you, or even when I’m sleeping the night away, then congratulations, you’re a coward. But you know what? It won’t affect me, because I am going to be the bigger person here. I’ll just kindly delete your message, cause I don’t need that kind of negativity. If you have something to say about what I said, then say it nicely.

But yeah, I’m done ranting on Bryke. So with all that said, good day.

[magicrobins]

Dare you to answer all 100 of those questions

Well shit man I feel challenged.

All questions answered under the cut.

1: Is there a boy/girl in your life?

As in boyfriend/girlfriend? Nope, single af over here :P

2: Think of the last person who hurt you; do you forgive them?

Uhh probs? I mean I don’t really remember but it probably wasn’t a big thing.

3: What do you think of when you hear the word “meow?”

My kitty, my little pumpkin, Freckles uwu

4: What’s something you really want right now?

To finish answering these questions? JK JK lmao!

I’d really like to see one of my best friends again, for like more than just one day but like I always really want that.

5: Are you afraid of falling in love?

In a way, yes. I’m afraid that I’ll fall in love with someone I’m not meant to be with and have my heart broken. I’m afraid I’ll fall in love with someone who won’t like that I’m sex repulsed, who won’t like that I don’t think I’d want to have kids, or at least little kids/babies. I know the right person won’t mind any of that, but I’m afraid of falling for the wrong person before I fall for the right one.

6: Do you like the beach?

Yes! I like looking for seashells but I stay the fuck away from the ocean.

7: Have you ever slept on a couch with someone else?

I haven’t fallen asleep on a couch, that I’m aware of, but one of my best friends and I cuddled on one while relaxing during a 24 film contest.

8: What’s the background on your cell?

A picture of Korrasami from the LOK comic.

9: Name the last four beds you were sat on?

Name the last four beds?? Uh my own, my dad’s, and my sister’s?

10: Do you like your phone?

Meh. It’s a good phone but since some iOS update, it’s been a real bitch. :/

11: Honestly, are things going the way you planned?

Ahahahaha no. Some things are nice, some things are… what they are. I didn’t plan to spend four years at MJC but I’m getting my AA degree at the end of this year. I didn’t plan to want to continue my schooling and get a Bachelor’s/Master’s in archaeology but that’s because I’d y’know buried that dream deep down ‘cause I thought I wasn’t smart enough (still sometimes feel like that but I got this, don’t worry). I didn’t plan to actually get into theater and want to minor in theater. I didn’t plan to get hella into Dungeons & Dragons and play in two campaigns, DMing one, and uploading the videos to YouTube but hey, I like how that turned out. I didn’t plan on being stuck with writer’s block majority of the time and restarting the same book over ten times. All in all, life’s not really going how I’d planned but at the same time, I hadn’t really made a plan. I just sort of let it take its course, I guess?

12: Who was the last person whose phone number you added to your contacts?

Oh a friend of a friend’s who joined this RPG campaign that’s based on the Dresden Files. She was added to the group chat so I added her number. :)

13: Would you rather have a poodle or a Rottweiler?

Uhh I’d rather have both, duh.

14: Which hurts the most, physical or emotional pain?

Emotional by far. I’ve dealt with physical pain for like four years now in my left shoulder (finally getting that fixed this summer) and while it can hurt so much that it makes me cry, I’ll take it over emotional pain. That’s probs not a good thing but that’s how I feel.

15: Would you rather visit a zoo or an art museum?

I like the zoo, but I’d rather go to an art museum. I adore museums and don’t go to them as often as I’d like.

16: Are you tired?

Who isn’t? It’s past 11pm rn so yeah, I am lol.

17: How long have you known your 1st phone contact?

My first phone contact was probs my parents and sister so my whole life lol.

18: Are they a relative?

Yep ;P

19: Would you ever consider getting back together with any of your exes?

I have one ex and I’d have to say no. Nothing against him, it’s just that I don’t have romantic feelings for him. I don’t want to date someone I don’t have romantic feelings for.

20: When did you last talk to the last person you shared a kiss with?

Not like a kiss on the cheek, I’m guessing? If so, then no one :P

21: If you knew you had the right person, would you marry them today?

Mm, I’d probs say yes if they proposed. A wedding takes time to plan though! ;P

22: Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

Haven’t ever kissed anyone -shrugs-

23: How many bracelets do you have on your wrists right now?

None, but I usually wear at least one on my right wrist if I’m not wearing long sleeves.

24: Is there a certain quote you live by?

No really, sorry.

25: What’s on your mind?

“Dear God, there’s a lot of questions!” lmao

26: Do you have any tattoos?

Nope. I’d like some but I’m terrified of pain and needles. ^^”””

27: What is your favorite color?

Red!

28: Next time you will kiss someone on the lips?

Shit idk? At this point it’s looking like never lmao

29: Who are you texting?

No one atm. Last person I sent a text to was my sis.

30: Think to the last person you kissed, have you ever kissed them on a couch?

…Y’all just keep wanting to rub in that I ain’t ever kissed anyone before lmao!

31: Have you ever had the feeling something bad was going to happen and you were right?

Probably. :| I also probably caused that bad thing to happen.

32: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex you can talk to?

Yep! uwu

33: Do you think anyone has feelings for you?

I mean there’s someone I’d love to have feelings for me but no, I don’t think so. It might be the insecurities talking, but no one, to my knowledge, has had feelings for me in a while.

34: Has anyone ever told you you have pretty eyes?

Uhh aside from parents or family?? Shit I can’t remember, but y’know what? I have damn pretty eyes. I have pretty hazel eyes ok lmao.

35: Say the last person you kissed was kissing someone right in front of you?

Then that person would be kissing air ‘cause I haven’t ever kissed anyone lmaooo

36: Were you single on Valentines Day?

Every Valentine’s Day, yes. :’)

37: Are you friends with the last person you kissed?

Yes. I’m friends with Nobody. xDDD

38: What do your friends call you?

Depends on the friends and when they met me. Friends who I’ve known since high school called me by my full first name, “Briana.” Friends I’ve met online or at college call me by my nickname, “Anna.”

39: Has anyone upset you in the last week?

Not that I can think of… Irritated, sure, but not really upset.

40: Have you ever cried over a text?

Pfffffffffffffffffffffft…. Of course.

41: Where’s your last bruise located?

Uhh I don’t have any atm but probs on my leg?

42: What is it from?

Hell if I know -shrugs-

43: Last time you wanted to be away from somewhere really bad?

That hasn’t been for a while… I usually feel this way when I go to class in the beginning when I don’t really know anyone, especially if I’m put in front of the class to talk. (This happened a lot in the beginning of the acting class I took.)

44: Who was the last person you were on the phone with?

My dad. Called him to let him know the fucking hide away door was busted again… I hate that door.

45: Do you have a favourite pair of shoes?

All of my boots. uwu

46: Do you wear hats if your having a bad hair day?

Yep! Mostly depends on the outfit, but majority of the time I’ll wear this Code Geass hat I have.

47: Would you ever go bald if it was the style?

Fuck no.

48: Do you make supper for your family?

Pffft no.

49: Does your bedroom have a door?

Yes.

50: Top 3 web-pages?

According to Chrome, the top three I go to is YouTube, Tumblr, and Facebook.

51: Do you know anyone who hates shopping?

Maybe? I’m not sure.

52: Does anything on your body hurt?

My left shoulder. For the past four years. :’)

53: Are goodbyes hard for you?

Depending on who they’re with. Saying “goodbye” to one of my best friends when he moved to Arizona was… that was painful.

54: What was the last beverage you spilled on yourself?

Probs Dr. Pepper.

55: How is your hair?

Fine atm. It’s not combed but I don’t mind how it looks rn.

56: What do you usually do first in the morning?

Check my phone.

57: Do you think two people can last forever?

Yes, anythings possible.

58: Think back to January 2007, were you single?

When aren’t I? Lol yes, I was.

59: Green or purple grapes?

Meh either is fine with me.

60: When’s the next time you will give someone a BIG hug?

Idk, when they need it?

61: Do you wish you were somewhere else right now?

…I’m not sure, tbh.

62: When will be the next time you text someone?

Tomorrow? Idk.

63: Where will you be 5 hours from now?

Home, in bed. :P

64: What were you doing at 8 this morning.

Sleeping ;P

65: This time last year, can you remember who you liked?

Yes.

66: Is there one person in your life that can always make you smile?

Absolutely.

67: Did you kiss or hug anyone today?

My cat lmao

68: What was your last thought before you went to bed last night?

I don’t really remember, sorry :/

69: Have you ever tried your hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end?

Probably.

70: How many windows are open on your computer?

Two - five tabs in Chrome though.

71: How many fingers do you have?

…Ten?

72: What is your ringtone?

Just some generic ring tone.

73: How old will you be in 5 months?

Still 23 :P

74: Where is your Mum right now?

At her house probs.

75: Why aren’t you with the person you were first in love with or almost in love?

Let’s go with “almost in love” ‘cause idk wtf falling in love feels and idk if you can fall in love with someone who you have strong feelings for but never dated.

To answer the question, though: ‘cause I was a closeted af idiot. I mean, in all honesty, I understand why I was closeted. I was refusing to admit to even myself that I wasn’t straight. I get why I was so scared but like… in hindsight I wish I’d been open with myself and open with this person.

76: Have you held hands with somebody in the past three days?

Nope.

77: Are you friends with the people you were friends with two years ago?

Absolutely!

78: Do you remember who you had a crush on in year 7?

…Wtf is year 7? Is that 7th grade? If so, I was homeschooled then so didn’t have a crush. :P

79: Is there anyone you know with the name Mike?

I have a few family members with that name.

80: Have you ever fallen asleep in someones arms?

Nope.

81: How many people have you liked in the past three months?

Mm one person but that’s just ‘cause I legitly don’t know how to move on, like no one’s really told me a good way to move on so my brain is just like “What to do with these unrequited feelings fuck :|”

82: Has anyone seen you in your underwear in the last 3 days?

I have ;D lmao

83: Will you talk to the person you like tonight?

Mm probs not? Not unless they text me. I texted them yesterday, didn’t get a response but I know they’ve been busy.

84: You’re drunk and yelling at hot guys/girls out of your car window, you’re with?

Idk? I don’t drink so idk why I’d get drunk.

85: If your BF/GF was into drugs would you care?

Yes.

86: What was the most eventful thing that happened last time you went to see a movie?

I saw Black Panther. Enough said. uwu

87: Who was your last received call from?

Probs the hospital to schedule an appointment?

88: If someone gave you $1,000 to burn a butterfly over a candle, would you?

Wtf no!! DDD:

89: What is something you wish you had more of?

Either money specifically to pay for school, or filming equipment so I can film the D&D sessions how I’d like to film them. :|

90: Have you ever trusted someone too much?

Maybe? Idk.

91: Do you sleep with your window open?

Nope. Door open but window closed.

92: Do you get along with girls?

Lmao I like to think so.

93: Are you keeping a secret from someone who needs to know the truth?

Um idk? I mean I’ve never told the person I had (have?) strong feelings for that I’ve had those feelings and how long I’ve felt that way but like idk if they need to know that?

94: Does sex mean love?

No. You can have sex without love and love without sex.

95: You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, is that a problem?

I’d be alone. :|

96: Have you ever kissed anyone with a lip ring?

Idk does Nobody have a lip ring? lmaoooo

97: Did you sleep alone this week?

Nope, I have my cat and my dog. uwu

98: Everybody has somebody that makes them happy, do you?

Yes. I have my friends, my pets, and someone special to me.

99: Do you believe in love at first sight?

Yes. I don’t believe everyone experiences it - everyone falls in love in different ways - but I believe it’s possible.

100: Who was the last person that you pinky promise?

Uhhhh idk? That was probs years ago?

[mytearsricoshay]

This maybe is a really unpopular opinion, but I don't like what they are trying to do with the legend of korra comics. It was bad enough that they pretended to be inclusive when they make korrasami canon when it was the fandom who did all the work, they didn't care to give them a properly development because they knew the power of the fandom and now they know that the fandom is still on tumblr and they are writting fan fiction in order to sell the comics. I don't like when people use my +

sexuality to appear to be inclusive, they are not the first one to try it and sadly they won't be the last.

I’m going to start off by saying that I think you’re preaching to the wrong audience here friend. I’ve always been aggressively pro-Korrasami and pro-Bryke and I’m one of those people who will take LGBT representation in whatever form its given to me (except for like...Irredeemable villains and obviously token characters who are there for one ep and then gone *coughRedKansascough*. 

I am apologetically a slut for queer rep, but I like to think I’m still aware and critical of representation that’s obviously been half-assed, and I have never felt that way with Korrasami.

That said, just because I don’t feel that way doesn’t mean I don’t think your feelings are extremely valid. I can see how you and others might feel a little taken advantage of with this whole influx of LGBT inclusive material in the Korra comics when, in your eyes, they didn’t try very hard to do so in the show. From that perspective it seems like an attempt to cash in on their queer fans. 

The way I’ve always looked at it, though, is that they have more freedom in the comics to do what they’ve always wanted to do (”Always” meaning since the developing stages of Book 3 when Korrasami became a real possibility). Nickelodeon is still a children’s network and, much as it hurts to admit, we as people are still largely considered “taboo” for the kiddies. Abuse, adultery, and murder-suicides are cool for them to see tho. Many kids shows today have begun to show more LGBT characters, so we seem to be moving away from that mindset. 

But Korrasami was a thing in 2013-2014, before gay marriage was even legalized country-wide. Censors were a real problem in showing LGBT content on networks like Nick, Disney, and CN. We already know from Bryke (or one of them, can’t remember which though lol) that Nick censored a kiss in the finale. It stands to reason then, that Nick was probably fairly strict when it came to developing Korrasami. The fact that they got what they got approved (Like the Hug n’ Blush, which was probably the most forward moment outside of the finale) still amazes me tbh. I believe that they’ve begun to include more LGBT material in the comics due to a lack of censors and more creative freedom, not to attract more readers, though I’m sure that’s definitely a bonus.(Young Justice did something similar in their tie-in comics with Marie Logan by the way, only LoK did it better by not killing off the Lesbian 2 seconds after her reveal) 

I do take issue with your insistence that the fandom did all the work, however. Contrary to popular belief we didn’t just pull Korrasami out of our ass based on breadcrumbs (And neither do Bumbleby fans or SQ fans, or most other fans of f/f ships but that’s another discussion for another day). Korrasami was so prominent in the fandom because of what they were doing on the show, not the other way around. Did fandom play a part? Of course, I’m sure we helped to plant the seeds and I’m sure the OG and most diehard Korrasamis would have found something in the show to feed into their ship with or without the writing team backing them up. 

But I was there from the start, and I watched the Korrasami fandom grow exponentially in Books 3 and 4, which is when Bryke have said they started working hints and moments in. It’s not a coincidence that the ship drew more support in after the writing started leading in that direction and, I’ve come to realize, it’s not a coincidence that I myself started shipping Korrasami in book 3 either. Bryke and the crew fought hard for Korrasami to become a reality and I truly believe they did their best with the restrictions they were given.

Really, whether you see Korrasami (and all the other LGBT things they included in the comics) as taking advantage of their queer audience or a genuine attempt to be inclusive is dependent on whether or not you’re willing to give the crew the benefit of the doubt. I am, but if you’re an LGBT fan who feels differently then that’s your right and I can’t question it or judge you for it. 

At the end of the day though, when I think of all those finale reactions that show queer fans jumping for joy or crying actual tears because of Korrasami, or see posts with stills from Turf Wars talking about how much this means to them, I find I really don’t give a damn about their intentions. What matters is the impact, and Legend of Korra’s impact on LGBT fans cannot be denied. 

[merryfae]

Yall mind if I rant: The Sequel Nobody Wanted

The newest comic got me to question my stance on Korra/sami yet again (the dashes here exist to keep it out of the tags, just in case that’s still a problem). The short version of this is that my stance really hasn’t changed. (Also, just a headsup, I haven’t read my old anti k/s post in a long time, but it’s probably full of logical fallacies and the lot, so…what I’m getting at here is please don’t judge me based on what I’ve written in the past). 

I remember when I loved LOK. Book 1, I was able to look past the flaws, because the tension, characters, and atmosphere was so good. Book 2, the flaws became harder to overlook, but the Avatar Wan episode was definitely an experience. Book 3 was an entirely solid outing, though I missed some of that original atmosphere from Book 1. And then Book 4. I was so excited for the finale, because Book 4, despite its flaws, had been pretty great. But through the majority of the finale I was thinking to myself, “is that it?” Like, don’t get me wrong, there were some good fight scenes between Korra and Kuvira, and Mako’s sacrifice was pretty powerful, but most of it was underwhelming. It felt less like a wrap up of the show, and more like a wrap up of that season. Nothing from past seasons really tied together with the exception of the spirit portal. Plot elements from past seasons that could have been integrated into the show were dropped altogether. I don’t know. It was disappointing. 

So I was already in a bad mood, and the entire ending with Korra//sami kind of killed it even more for me. Because representation is important, no doubt. I push for it a lot myself. But not when it impedes the storytelling. The storytelling of LOK? Didn’t warrant it. This is coming from someone who, at the start of Book 3, loved the idea of Korra/sami. Their interaction in the car? Adorable. Asami sparring with Korra? Great. But there was nothing in future episodes to build up to a romantic conclusion. There was a scene where Korra blushed when receiving a complement from Asami. That’s the only scene between Korra and Asami that implied romantic intent. That and Mako’s whole, “What is with you two???” thing when they all go out for lunch, but goodness, if that wasn’t the most forced, inconsequential conflict I’ve seen in this series. I mean, if you have to tell the audience that there’s something going on between these characters instead of showing us, maybe there’s a reason a portion of your audience didn’t latch on to your intent. 

The problem with every scene where Asami and Korra interact (aside from the fact that they don’t bond over internal, character-building struggles, and instead just solve external problems together) is that most scenes are just Asami supporting Korra emotionally. Which, okay, for another character, that could imply romance. However, Asami’s character is already naturally caring and nurturing. She was already a character who was entirely supportive of the rest of the cast, so it’s no stretch of the imagination by any means to view her supporting Korra with tea or her offering intimate support when Korra is devastated in the Book 3 finale as inherently platonic. And, given that she was a support figure already, Korra sending her letters that the others “wouldn’t understand” can likewise read as platonic. This would be different if a character like, say, Opal interacted with Korra in similar ways after her introduction, a character who did not exist to offer unconditional support to our main leads already throughout the show, and whom Korra alternatively exhibits support for in Book 3 (or maybe I just really like their air bending scene together. I don’t know. Don’t hold me to that one). And that covers basically all of Korra and Asami’s interactions – Asami offering Korra support, and Korra accepting (usually) that support. That is, aside from those short (very short) but sweet moments at the beginning of Book 3. Plus, Book 4 takes place after a years-long gap as well, so the fact that we’re only shown them interacting once outside of the finale in Book 4 really speaks volumes. Which is not to mention that, aside from that last scene they have together, they hardly interact in the finale at all. I wanted to like this ship. I really, really did. But not when the writing didn’t add up. 

And then there’s the fact that Bryke’s claims that Korra/sami was intended from the beginning are obviously false. I mean, they’re on record saying that after Book 2, relationship drama had come to an end, and they were ready to focus on friendship. If I remember correctly, the voice actors had to be called back in after the finale had already been finished in order to include that last scene with Korra and Asami. It was literally last minute. 

It certainly doesn’t help that I dislike basically every ship in LOK. I never liked B/opal either. I didn’t like M/asmi, and Ma/korra didn’t have the best development itself. Honestly, I don’t think Bryke are good at writing romance period. But I’m angrier about Korra/sami, because not only is it a relationship involving the show’s main character, but it’s the central focus of the scene that ended the entire show. Say what you want about Kat/aang, but at least that ship was planned and introduced beyond minimal amounts of subtext from day one. It was a consistent part of the story. And alternatively, if LOK had ended with Ma/korra like it did in Book 1, I wouldn’t be necessarily pleased with it, but at least there was a textual history there between the two. 

And I hear the arguments about how Bryke couldn’t include textual evidence of Korra/sami because it was a ship between two women. Okay, point taken. I mean, they did admit that they didn’t even bother asking Nick until last minute, but I digress. But jeez, you could at least develop their relationship a bit, couldn’t you? Again, the only conflicts these two face together are external ones. Korra and Asami fight a gang. Asami carries Korra away from danger while Mako and Bolin fight off baddies. Korra and Asami escape/crash/rebuild an airship. In none of these scenes together do they have any meaningful interactions. Maybe you could count Korra grinning at Asami for two seconds while they rebuild the airship. Maybe. But they don’t bond over anything or talk about anything except what’s happening to them at the hands of outside forces (or essentially, what’s relevant to the plot). Hence why Asami’s offer of unconditional support of Korra in the Book 3 finale rings a little hollow. It’s just Asami doing what she’s been doing the whole time, albeit with a more emotional framing. 

And all this could all lead me to explaining why I didn’t like the conclusion of Korra’s character arc, or why I didn’t like how Asami was essentially a plot device until Book 3, and even then, she wasn’t given any real development. (In fact, I’m actually kind of bitter that the show didn’t write Asami better. Her entire character basically revolved around A) the love triangle nonsense or B) her father/company). But if I were to go in depth with that, it’d take another thousand or so words, and I’m amazed I even had the drive to write this whole thing in the first place. In short, the show really is a mess. 

Now, I’m only writing all this because I’ve seen panels from the comic. The first few panels I saw, I figured I shouldn’t judge too harshly. I didn’t see enough of the actual comic to draw a conclusion. But with the new ones out, it’s safe to say that the comic seems relatively out of character for both Korra and Asami. Seriously, maybe one sentence in there sounded like it could come from Korra. I implore you all to switch the dialogue and pretend Korra is saying Asami’s lines, and Asami is saying Korra’s. Do you feel the character-charged dialogue? Me neither. And anywho, I’m a bit frustrated people are hailing Korra/sami as the epitome of representation when it’s really…not. It’s hard seeing Korra develop into a nearly unrecognizable character for me, because she was the saving grace of the show from day one. 

Korra/sami isn’t the only ship that’s frustrated me like this. I downright despise several forced ships in fictional media, especially when it’s detrimental to a character’s development. I didn’t like J/ashi from Samurai Jack. Krist/anna or Kristoff/anna or whatever the heck it’s called from Frozen was pretty awful. Several Marvel movies (of which I am a fan) have awful romance subplots (Sta/ron and Bruce/nat are the biggest offenders). At the end of the day, Korra/sami isn’t the biggest offender. It does offer quality bi representation between two WOC. But that doesn’t mean we have to like it. Go ahead and enjoy your ooc comics folks. Who knows. Maybe it’ll actually be good. 

[lokgifsandmusings]

I just read your articles about Kataang and Zutara. I agree that they should've shown more of Katara's POV, but I don't think Zuko would be a better choice for her than Aang? Okay, when it comes to chemistry, maybe, because they do have a lot in common. But look at "The Beach". What does Zuko do when he sees Mai simply talking to another guy? He gets jealous and tries to isolate her. Compare that to Katara befriending Jet or Haru. Aang has a crush for Katara since the pilot, but does he...

… Try to isolate her from them too? No. In the play, however, he’s being portrayed by a girl and he’s being directly told he and Katara are just friends. It’s understandable that he’ll get upset. Besides, yes, kissing Katara when she said she was confused was wrong, but he did realize it was. Did Zuko realize he didn’t act properly with Mai? What makes you think he wouldn’t have similar issues with the more outgoing Katara? Now, I love Zuko, I just wanted to point out that he’s shown… 

To be more entitled than Aang. I honestly can’t recall a single moment Aang feels upset that Katara doesn’t fit his mold of “perfect girl” like it’s stated in the post. Their relationship was built by friendship (though it probably should’ve stayed that way by the end of ATLA, I agree), he knows her and vice versa. In many ways, Aang isn’t traditionally masculine and I think he’s a precursor to, say, Steven Universe (rickthanieltumblrcom/post/162225640707/avatar-aang-feminist-icon)

I don’t ship Kataang or Zutara, but I think you guys are undervaluing Aang and I don’t think it’s fair to say he caused Katara to do less because she was overshadowed by him. That’s completely the writers’ fault, because they could’ve shown Katara be more proactive between ATLA and LOK and during LOK the way she was in ATLA.One last thing: while Zuko was the one who went alongside Katara to find the man who killed her mother, this doesn’t detract from what Aang tried to tell her. If you remember previous episodes, how’d Katara act if Aang got mad and/or entered the Avatar State? She’d try to calm him down, exactly like how he tried to do with her. Also notice that he lets her go, because he realizes she needs to confront her demons and he shouldn’t interfere. I really love your work, don’t get me wrong, I just…

Looks like your last thing cut off, but that’s okay, cause I do understand the view where you’re coming from.

First of all, I hope I haven’t mis-stated my own stance, but while I do find Zuko and Katara to be a more compelling romantic match in a general sense, I don’t ship them as they’re portrayed in the show proper. Them having a make-out sesh in the finale would have also not been free of issues, and felt a bit jarring, though I’m assuming if that had been the planned end-point, we would have gotten a bit more to their dynamic.

For that reason, I’m not sure we can really compare behaviors. Zuko’s jealousy at the beach was showing him in an incredibly unhealthy mindset in general (taking on the mantle of Prince of the Fire Nation wasn’t going so well, which the end of that episode showed), and Mai immediately told him he was being an ass and called him out for that. It was addressed in canon, and we outright saw his behavior change, especially when he left the situation that was causing him so much inner turmoil anyway. Could jealousy have still been an issue? I mean…maybe? But it’s rather moot, especially given Zuko’s continued growth in the comics in this department and how he handles his emotions in general.

Aang’s entitlement wasn’t addressed at all, and accidentally continued into the comics. Sure, he called himself an “idiot” for forcing a kiss on Katara at the end of Book 3, but then that entire scene may as well have not happened when the ending didn’t even involve a conversation between the two. I can’t make any sense of why “Ember Island Players” was scripted the way it was.

This is getting long…

I think in a larger sense though, this isn’t a matter of “either/or.” I have issues with Katara and Aang as a pairing because I have issues with Katara and Aang as a pairing, and the way they’re portrayed in canon, I don’t see it leading to a super happy life together. Which…LoK canonized, and that’s why I’m saying I love it, because it didn’t shy away from a damn thing.

Aang balking at Katara not being his idealized image was most easily on display in “Southern Raiders.” I understand it landed for you as Aang just trying to calm Katara, but to me, it came across as overly patronizing, and the genders at play in that situation really didn’t make it more appealing. Let’s not even touch the horrifying reaction he had at the idea that she might not have reciprocated his feelings. And we also do see canonical jealousy from him, at multiple points, such as when they hug in “Crossroads of Destiny.” Like…this reaction right here betrays, fundamentally, his entitlement, and it should be disturbing:

I know I used it in my piece, and I will continue to use it and shove it in everyone’s face because that’s how bad it is for me. This is not a healthy way to approach a relationship at all. I have large issues with the Nice Guy trope, probably because I dated one for 4 years, so this is a very subjective reaction on my part. Everything I’m writing is just to explain where I’m coming from. 

We may just have to agree to disagree. Depending on experience and personal taste, I’m sure Katara and Aang’s lack of the whole “you drive me crazy” thing that’s shoved into a lot of TV ships was incredibly refreshing. And yeah, Aang is not a traditionally masculine guy. I do love that! Fuck, that’s my taste in men. He’s a good protagonist and it’s really cool to see a pacifistic series lead that’s also the victim of genocide and comfortable enough to make jewelry; it is refreshing. I just am not going to get to a place where I find his early romantic relationship with Katara compelling at all, though I love the implications that we ended up with.