#i think for me it’s always been about the power imbalance but season 3 shifted it enough that i could get behind them now

[annarubys]

i was vaguely aware of nandermo before starting wwdits but i figured it was going to be like every other queer ship people go nuts about where it’s literal bread crumbs on screen. i was thinking this all the way until the last episode of season three and now i’m just resigned to the fact that everyone was right and that i’m invested in them now

[theflyindutchwoman]

The Road to Chenford - The realisation

The show has always been vague enough that we can all interpret differently when Tim and Lucy started realising their feelings were more than platonic. I wonder if we're going to have more insights on that regard now. In the meantime, let's speculate : what was the moment you think they had their "come to Jesus" moment?

Here's how I see things :

. Up until the end of season 3 - Friends (and TO/rookie).

When they met, they were under a very strict work imbalance of power (as hot it is in fanfiction, this is messy in real life). Any initial feelings of attraction there might have been, I'm pretty sure these were sublimated real quick. Not to mention that both were in relationships (dysfunctional but still there) and clearly not in that heads pace. Towards the end of season 1 and in season 2, we see them get closer. Tim let her set him up, something he would never have agreed before. They talk about their personal life in the shop. After Day of Death, the shift becomes stronger : they are less and less TO/rookie and more equals in the way Tim treats her (but not paper). It's obvious they care about the other very much. In 3.09, we have the infamous prank about feelings : between the way Lucy is easily able to crack up about it and the surprised and panicked face Tim makes, it's supposed to make us feel that if the feelings are there, they still don't realise it. Ironically Lucy is not wrong in her assessment, she just didn't fully get it yet. They are able to bounce back to being them real fast too, without much awkwardness. And then Angela's wedding happened (well technically it didn't but bear with me).

. Angela's wedding - The attraction Part

That's really the moment where it hits them both I think. The elevator eyes, the open flirting about the UC flirting, catching the other's eyes... While still being a superior officer, they are no longer in each other's direct chain of command. So it probably makes it easier to lower their guards. Tragedy strikes but we still see some remnants of this attraction at Tim's house. I honestly think Lucy was ready to risk it all, but I'm glad they got interrupted. Grief is hardly a good place to start something so important. Again, hot, but messy. I wish we didn't have the time jump, but I surmise Lucy was so adamant to become Tim's aide because it was safe. She had just lost her best friend, her life and job are full of uncertainties so being back to their old relationship was comforting. It's familiar, she knows how to navigate into this world.

And despite everything, their friendship really strengthens. Sure they date other people, but who do they confide in when it's tough or when in doubt? We even have Tim practically admit it after the double date : Lucy is comfort.

. The Practice Kiss - And so it begins...

I think Lucy has her moment slightly before actually. When she realises that Tim could get married, her heartbroken face spoke volume. I think it's really the moment where it hits her that there's something more and that she could lose him. Up until now, there was no real reason to worry : they always came up first. If he gets married, things might change. But it took the kiss for Tim to catch up. Poor boy got his brain broken so many nights that time, it's no wonder it stopped working. Also, Lucy's hopeful, then disappointed face when she thought Tim was going to talk about that kiss, makes me feel she is on the same page, they just don't know it yet. Something that was so comfortable becomes uncertain and that's scary.

There's a small detail that I think illustrate this perspective : the parking lot. Up until 4.22, all the major Chenford moments that took place in the parking lot, they happened underground. As a  way to suggest that the feelings are there, we can see them on their face, but they're buried underneath. But after the kiss, after they got their reality check, the location switch to outside… In plain view. Even the conversation they have about giving their relationship a chance to blossom happens nearby (the parking lot is just a bit further on the side if my geography is not fully messed up).

After that, they are both aware, but Lucy lets her fears win temporarily (and with the Rosalind's shadow looming over her, it's not too hard to sympathise). And yet, both still took a step forward in the apartment but Rosalind was not having it.

So why didn't they break up with Ashley and Chris? For Lucy, it's easy to answer : she's feeling guilty and decides to make amends by punishing herself. But her heart is not in it. For Tim, I think it's all about the safety : why break things up if nothing is going to change? He's craving for a family (not necessarily the children, he almost seems to have given up on that). If Lucy is not interested, why not stay with Ashley. Is it fair? No. But I'm sure many of us have been there.

[agendratum]

you mentioned that you find Vegas and Porsche fascinating so now bear with me and hear my proposal... the one who has the most flavor yet you really gotta read between lines to see it... KinnPete.

like I'm pretty sure that Kinn is platonically in love with Pete. He's just... so fond of him? Literally going out of his way to make sure he's safe during shooting in ep 14 tho Pete's his bodyguard and it's his job to put his life at risk? Worrying whether he is okay tho his literal lover is lying on his tits in ep 11??? And like I found it interesting that Porsche didn't worry at all about Pete and kept telling Kinn to stop worrying which I thought was maybe bc he was jealous?

and like Pete is definitely Kinn's type he's just walking around looking like THAT and Kinn, the biggest man whore, still doesn't fuck him??? He's platonically in love with him and would rather just keep Pete close to himself than fuck him and risk that Pete would quit the job.

sorry it took me so long to reply! i've just been thinking about it cause, like, i'm not sure we have the same vision of kinnpete, dear anon, which is totally ok and fine, but i do find their relationship fascinating in their own way

(also i don't really like taking that scene from ep 11 into the account, cause both porsche and kinn are being very DUMB in it, i'm pretty sure porsche wasn't thinking with his brain in it, and kinn was trying to think with his brain but was still failing for the exact reason of his literal lover lying on his tits. i'm a firm believer that if porsche really knew the situation, he would be way more worried about pete)

but back to kinnpete. the number one fascination point for me is always how much trust kinn has in pete. kinn who allegedly trusts no one, trust pete the most of all the other characters on this show, at least as i see it. he trusts him to protects the most valuable people in his life, he trusts him with his back, he trusts him to not be bought by the minor family and to not be intimidated by vegas. he obviously knows pete enough to not see him as just some fool, knows how well he works with people (like how he signaled him to take porsche outside in that scene from ep 3, trusting him to calm porsche down).

and pete is, dare i say, a little bit of a fanboy when it comes to kinn? or maybe not even a little bit, like he was so happy when he got reassigned to kinn, he was beaming (he would come to regret this reassignment a little bit, oh pete). pete, being all-knowing as he is, remembers kinn before the heartbreak, before his trust issues got so much worse. pete knows how kinn can be with his people, knows that he cares. yes, kinn is scary big mafia boss, but with him you don't have to worry that you'll just be another asset to be wasted. there is respect, there is fascination and the trust is definitely mutual.

and yet, they only know each other on the very surface level. and they aren't exactly the ones who would be capable of getting any further with each other. there is a power imbalance, always present. or rather, it was present through the entire time they knew each other until the end of ep 14. that's why, if there is season 2, i would love to see them interact as them, kinn and pete, not as khun kinn and the perfect bodyguard pete. cause what would that even look like?

i would love to see them having to work together for whatever reason, the four of them. and both vegas and porsche getting to see just how well kinn and pete work together, with each other. because they knew each other for years, worked together for years, they know each other's moves, what the other one like. like a perfectly adjusted mechanism. pete understands kinn without words, knows what he needs to do, and kinn can trust him to be exactly where he wants him to be, the process is perfected at this point.

and there is a little sting for both vegas and porsche, but also, also, maybe things changed, maybe they shifted. especially when it comes to pete. because pete knows, expects kinn in a situation where he has to choose between him and porsche to protect porsche, he's fine with it. but at some point kinn expects pete to do something, to be somewhere, and pete is not, because pete is by vegas' side, more attuned to him now, he's his partner now. and it's a bit sad, just a bit, cause the things will never be the same again.

and i would also love to see them be on the opposite sides. in a situation where pete has to point his gun at kinn, because he's protecting vegas, because he's protecting their little family, because he's not going to let anything stand between them and their fragile happiness. and if that means pointing his gun at kinn, then so be it. and kinn, he cannot, he cannot point his gun at pete because it's pete god damn it. it's their pete.

[fromtheplanethexagon]

the robot problem: a critical look at tobecky, 5 years late

hello wordgirl fandom i am back :) and i have a lot of thoughts that i never got around to expressing before i moved on from the show. so be aware that everything i'm saying is based on my experiences during the 2012-2016 era of the fandom & state of tumblr in general, and i am not familiar with more recent fan content.

it's been over five years since the show ended, and @ifbrd​ reminded me (along with some great analysis) that while tobecky was super popular since before the show technically started (thanks to the play date shorts), it's pretty unhealthy in a lot of ways that tend to be excused or flat out ignored in fanworks. i'd like to reflect on that a bit (a lot); specifically, how both the show and the fandom approached this enemies-to-lovers ship, and how easily this ship can slip into uncomfortable territory if we're careless about how we interpret the ship and create fan content of it.

i will admit, i'm mostly writing this as a response to past me and my old creations - though i moved on from the show as a whole years ago, i do like taking the time to reflect on old interests once in a while, and reevaluating my thoughts on them. and this ship is probably the biggest one that still lurks in the corners of my mind once in a while, so let's go.

cherish is the word: a short positive note before a much longer negative one

i wanted to start this essay off with some positivity, because i am going to be very negative after this. tobecky was, in some ways, cute. it's obvious from the very beginning that these two characters are on pretty equal ground, even if one of them isn't aware of it. and that's part of the fun - the irony of how unaware tobey is that his nemesis/crush/person that pretty much always wins against him is someone that he completely dismisses as incompetent. i want to point this out because honestly, in general i don't like enemies-to-lovers because a lot of them use a power imbalance within the dynamic, and i hate power imbalances, especially when it comes to actual life-or-death scenarios (at least, as much as cartoons can do that). in most episodes, becky is never actually forced to go along with his wishes. she's not held in a 'date' against her will, nor is she ever really outwitted by him. i bring this up because there is one huge, uncomfortable exception, which i will get to later.

another big plus to the ship is the fact that they just... get along? even when fighting? of course we get brief moments where they just hang out and talk about paintings or whatever, but i'm talking about how much they get each other, even if they don't realize it. like the word banter, for example. been there since day one. becky loves words, and while most other people in her life don't really care (ranging from 'eh, that's cool i guess' to her brother calling it annoying), tobey gives her a chance to show off and thus treats her as a worthy adversary as herself, not because of her more generic superpowers - something that we've seen in canon that she feels self-conscious about (see: her motivation in patch game). one of the less noticed examples, to me, is "it's your party and i'll cry if I want to", because it's just - okay. they both are excluded from a social event, and while it's obvious that tobey deals with it by destroying the city, it's also pretty obvious that becky also deals with her frustration by fighting in that battle. like, yes, realistically it's just objectively bad that he's destroying buildings. but they're also providing each other with a way to work through their frustrations, first by fighting and then by talking things out, and finally by hanging out together instead of dwelling on being excluded from the party.

so it makes a lot of sense to me that many tobecky fans gravitated towards writing far-in-the-future fic, usually by implying that some growth had taken place before starting to write the ship. (there are, as far as i'm aware, 2... maybe 3 exceptions, that take the time to attempt a real redemption for him, at least when i left the fandom.) because if you take away his worst moments, either by reasoning out that he was 10 years old and a mess, or that he was a cartoon character in a cartoon world where everyone's actions are over-the-top, or by just flat-out pretending that certain episodes never happened, there's some pretty solid ground to start a ship on.

go gadget go: we all do not see it, we simply close our eyes (review of canon)

when the show began, i was the same age as the characters. a lot of other people were, too - at least in my cohort of the fandom. i think it's pretty safe to say that many of us have fond memories of the show's earlier seasons, and held on to that interest as we got older, for whatever reasons. so like, not to be all 'as an OG fan...', but i remember seeing the shorts air for the first time in 2006. i have a diary entry in july of 2009 about how i, a 12yo with no concept of the idea of 'shipping', was disappointed in the new tobey episode because i wanted more tobecky interactions. (that was robo-camping, btw, lol.) and so i remember how exciting their rivalry felt, watching them as someone literally their exact same age, and then watching that again as a nostalgic 17yo, and then uh... growing up, to put it frankly, and realizing just how unhealthy most of their interactions were.

okay what i meant to say was, this section is an overview of the relationship's canon portrayal throughout the years.

first, we have early tobecky: this includes the shorts and the first few seasons. this is their classic relationship: he likes her and takes robots on rampages to get her attention, she majorly disapproves and has fun taking him down. we've all seen the show, you know what i'm talking about. his backhanded ways of trying to find out her identity often feature prominently in the episodes, which - sigh, i've mentioned this whole issue before, but it's kind of a grey area in the whole uncomfortable-factor thing, because while trying to find out her identity is VERY invasive, it's something that like... everyone in the show tries to do, even her canon crush (scoops). on the one hand, it's really not a great look, but on the other hand, this is a cartoon meant to parody a genre in which this trope is extremely common. so i just wanna say that i have Issues and Thoughts on this aspect of their relationship, but there are other things i find more important to discuss here.

second, we have late tobecky: this is seasons 7-8. this is... a very strange and huge shift from the previous dynamic, though it's not necessarily obvious. what i mean by that is that for some reason, the show writers made it so that half of tobey’s rampages have nothing to do with his crush on wordgirl, even though that used to be the sole reason for his villainy. seriously. we have the birthday episode, where he's upset because he feels left out; wg vs tobey vs the dentist, where he's mad that he has a cavity; and trustworthy tobey, where his robot goes on a rampage... after becky accidentally makes it malfunction. the two outliers are ‘guess who’s coming to thanksgiving dinner’ and ‘patch game’, but they still differ from previous seasons because 1) his destruction is isolated to a forest far away from the city, and 2) his motive is still to impress wordgirl, but his methods are relatively tame. also he completely gives up on the secret identity thing??? i may have missed some things but i think he straight up tells her 'yeah there's no way you're wordgirl, lol' and the subject is just dropped for the rest of the show.

i also want to include 'the robot problem' here, because it's one of two season 6 tobey episodes, and follows the 'doesn't destroy buildings to get her attention' pattern: in fact, he teams up with her to try and stop someone else from going on a rampage (even if his reasons are selfish, lol).

and finally. the other season 6 episode. we have go gadget go, the bane of my time spent in the fandom. because GGG is the single episode where tobey truly manages to take away her autonomy, and proceeds to abuse that power for an extended period of time, for his own amusement. it's bad. it's Very Bad. put in the context that it's a white boy doing this to an (ambiguously) brown girl, it's REALLY REALLY BAD. and the more i look back on it, tbh, the more weirded out i am that the show not only made it seem like she wasn't affected at all within the episode, it just... forgot about it (which is not unusual for shows and especially children’s shows, but WG does make some efforts to either retain continuity or create canon reasons for why things are forgotten about). it's the kind of thing that you can't excuse and honestly you can't redeem (like at this point, you gotta ask yourself why you're spending so much effort trying to redeem this guy when becky has several other possible ships that are nowhere near this unhealthy - violet, scoops, honestly even victoria if you want another hero/villain ship, my absolute fave rarepair rose, etc).

so if you want to still ship it you have to just pretend that it never happened. (i remember trying for weeks to write something exploring the aftermath of this episode, to try and make myself feel better about it, but the more i wrote the more i realized just how traumatic this event should've been, so i eventually just dropped it.) and i brought up my own timeline of experiences earlier to point out that this episode aired eight whole years after the show started. which means that when i saw it, even though i was a huge stickler for canon at the time, i'd built up my own idea of the show and characters strongly enough to go 'yeah, no, this episode sucks and i am going to pretend that it doesn't exist'. and i think a lot of other people did too, because i really saw like... no one mention it, ever, except for some rogue fanfics over on ff dot net that already liked dynamics like that.

because here's the thing, and i don't know if people nowadays are aware of it? but i'm 80% sure (cannot find a source, so the other 20% is that it was just a rumor) that the show was originally supposed to end after season 6. and even if it's a rumor, it makes a ton of sense, because we get 1) an 'ending' to tobecky, which is a bad one, 2) a permanent wordgirl identity reveal that significantly changes one of the major dynamics in the show, 3) an episode where TJ gets to work with wordgirl and get a nice potential ending for their sibling dynamic, 4) an episode where we see Two-Brains explore life without his henchmen... the list goes on, and idk how many of these are just major stretches. but the point is. if the show had ended there, that would've been a pretty solid ending for many things, including their relationship: aka, it would prove that it was only ever heading somewhere bad, and when tobey finally has his moment of triumph, he is truly evil about it. and this provides us fans who HATE go gadget go with an easy reason to dismiss it - we can say that it was an attempt to conclude things in a way that wouldn't have happened if the writers had known they'd get more time. but despite that... it is still a canon episode.

it is odd to me how dramatically the dynamic shifts after that, though, because we seriously go from 'worst case ever, tobecky is toxic, your ship is dead' to 'no actually they get along and hang out and get ice cream together and tobey isn't even pressuring her into it, she's happy to go along with it :)' like, immediately. i never knew much about the show writers, so i don't know if the writers changed in between these seasons, but i would absolutely not be surprised if they did.

the earlier episodes are definitely problematic as well (though they pale in comparison to GGG) but i think everyone who ships it is aware considering that tobey is, yknow, a villain. from memory, he destroys buildings to get her attention, lies to her about the level of danger that people are in to trick her into spending more time with him, blackmails her into reading his poetry, and he creates a robot based on her that’s supposed to be devoted to him (but of course, all of these things backfire). not great stuff of course, but like... he’s a villain, that’s the point of his character. and considering that he’s a child these are things that can be redeemed, if done thoughtfully.

anyway, to sum up this section, the show starts off with a pretty standard 'enemies with an unrequited crush' setup, takes a really dark turn for a single episode, and then for the rest of the show takes their dynamic in a direction that makes it much, much easier to ship. as long as you ignore a lot of previous content.

wordbot: where's becky's autonomy in all of this? (misogyny)

we've finally gotten to the fandom. i recognize that a lot of this is going to come across as hypocritical considering how active i used to be re: this ship, but like... i'm a very different person now. anyway. disclaimer i guess - i don't write this to accuse all tobecky shippers of being like this - i know a lot of us aren't/weren't! but boy do i have things to point out, so without further ado:

it is very hard to ship this without allowing some bit of misogyny to slip into it. very, very hard. the entire premise of the ship involves a girl falling in love with a boy that repeatedly pressures her to date him via threats to the safety of herself and people she cares about, which... it's 2020, i shouldn't have to explain why that's terrible & a terrible example to set for children (which is why i am glad they never made it canon, tbh). best-case fan content has tobey stop pressuring her and start working to redeem himself out of an actual change of heart, which leads to becky seeing him in a new light. worst-case fan content treats his incessant pressuring and sometimes outright threats as something romantic - and even worse, romantic to the point where he deserves her attention and love as a reward for not giving up or whatever. i did see this pretty frequently for a while, especially in the earlier 2010s (didn't read much, Not My Thing At All), but i don't feel like going into detail here because of how obviously problematic it is. one medium (but still bad) case is where the fan content makes him start his redemption, but treats her liking him back as a reward for not knocking buildings over anymore. another not great case is where she tries to fix him with her love, which is a very common and very dangerous romantic trope. both are just... so incredibly unfair to her.

in content where she tries to 'fix him'... yeah i feel like it's really obvious how misogynistic that is. girls and women should not feel responsible for the evil actions of men, plain and simple. idk what else to say here i just really hate that trope and hated it back then and it just sucks! so can we not do that anymore, thanks.

in content that treats her like a reward for good behavior, there really isn't much of an explanation for what she sees in him. if she just goes 'oh wow, you're good now, i am going to fall in love with you for it' the whole thing falls flat because it makes NO sense whatsoever. we get to hear so much about tobey and his feelings and why he likes her and how he feels about it, but where is that energy for becky? why does she choose to trust him, to spend time around him, what does she enjoy about his presence? where is her getting over scoops in the process of falling for tobey? where is her telling her friends about this, confiding in them, asking them for advice? where is her choice in the matter?

win a day with wordgirl: do you guys even like becky or do you just like the idea of her (misogyny... 2!)

it was pretty standard for all fandoms the early-mid 2010s, but that's still not a good excuse for why so many tobecky fanfictions centered specifically around tobey's feelings while refusing to give becky the same level of empathy and nuance. it is true that to ship them comfortably you have to redeem him to some degree, which means spending time figuring him out and trying to find ways to pull him to the light without feeling super OOC. but ships take two people??? and there was so much potential for fanfics to explore becky's complex feelings on the matter - because she is! complex! she's heroic and kind but she's petty and has a competitive streak, she easily befriends villains but also doesn't trust them and doesn't believe they can ever really change, she's the savior of an entire planet but has feelings of inadequacy as her civilian identity and struggles with feeling like she can be successful without superpowers, she's great at the straightforward meanings and uses of words and loves reading but struggles to write passages that aren't dry as hell, it can be easily headcannoned that she's neurodivergent (special interests, issues with fitting in with her peers, taking things very literally, etc)... seriously there is SO MUCH to explore about her character, and a lot of it comes into play when you add tobey into the mix (literally ALL of the things i mentioned are explored at some point using tobey as a parallel or foil), but i rarely saw fanfiction that explored her thoughts on things further than 'he's evil but... maybe good?' or 'he's evil but... i kind of like him anyway?'.

if you want her to fall for him while being a villain, explore it!! why does she go against her morals? does she lie to herself about it to feel better? does she feel like she has to 'fix him' as part of her superhero duties to the city, and if so, how does that affect her as she tries and fails to help him? does she fall for him when she believes that he's turning good, only to feel betrayed when he starts acting worse because he feels like he can get away with it? it's such a shame that fanworks spend so little time even considering these questions, and it is absolutely a product of how deeply misogyny is/was baked into how we approach media (especially back then).

tobey goes good: but wait, i thought this show was progressive (a conclusion, i guess)

ifbrd wrote a great meta recently about how the show is a bit misogynist, despite being progressive in several ways. honestly i don't have much to add, but i'd really recommend reading through this; it makes a lot of great observations about the ways that male and female characters are presented differently through the show

i have little to add, so i'd just like to conclude with a reflection on the ship from my current viewpoint. i do think part of the reason so many of us latched onto the ship, despite how obviously problematic it was, is that the show treats a lot of things that would be serious in real life as normal or even comedic - which is fine lol, i'm not going to pretend that it's not a show for little kids, so they have to keep the tone light.

but if we, as teens/adults, decide to engage with this content in a more realistic manner, we have to be prepared to confront how messed up so many of the things going on really are. and if you still want to ship it, there's nothing inherently wrong with that! there's a lot of interesting things to explore in this ship, no matter what stage of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers you write them at, and it can be really helpful to have a space where you can explore a dynamic such as this in fiction. (speaking from experience here tbh, writing some fic for them helped me deal with complicated feelings about some ex-longtime friends.)

so to write this ship at all means that there are canon issues that you need to deal with if you want to have them end up in a healthy relationship in any manner that makes sense (unless you create an AU where none of that is applicable, which, power to you then). and i’m not saying ‘write them with a healthy endgame or you’re Bad’, not at all lol. but at least please, please take a step back once in a while to examine the dynamic that you’re writing, and please be careful about whether you mean to be romanticizing whatever behaviors you end up portraying as good.

[borkthemork]

Color Symbolism - How Steven’s Shirts Portray Different Portions of His Life

A quiet musing from last night had me thinking about this and I knew I had to do a bit more in explaining. But basically, throughout the three main SU mediums — the main SU show, the SU movie, and SU Future — we all know the main color schemes Steven adorns himself regarding his star shirts. We have salmon pink, bright blue, and the heavy black he likes to tow around, but looking into the way these colors were implemented is what we will dive into.

Color themes and symbolism are very potent with Steven Universe. From the use of pinks, yellows, whites, blues, and the menagerie of other colors we could think of, Rebecca Sugar and the crew put a lot of deliberate thought into the design, especially on a thematic level.

For Steven, not only do his shirts represent a very iconic symbol towards the show as a whole, but it represents the main arcs and emotional statuses of our main character throughout the show’s running.

Edit (11/30/19): For sourcing, I’ll be putting the links to stuff I’m referring to in my reblogs. However, my post already got hit off the radar because of Tumblr’s broken algorithm, so if you liked this post then I would be grateful if you could help reblog and spread the word as well!

And with that, let’s begin.

Pink - The Arc of Innocence and Nurture

Pink harbors a lot of connotations regarding femininity in Western culture (and even a good load of masculine connotations in Eastern tradition) but it has a lot more than that under its belt.

It represents tenderness, cultivation, gentle love, nurture, safety, optimism, strength, but most importantly the color itself is seen as non-threatening, calming to one’s eyes, inviting to people.

But with this optimism comes the consequences of lack of awareness or vision. How do you think the concept of rose-colored glasses ever came about? It’s always the idealism or ignorance of the person that allows them to not see red flags or the reality of it all.

And with that, we could start connecting this to Steven Universe.

Throughout the five seasons, this boy always had this priority of being involved with the people and figures in his life as a therapeutic role model. He wants to heal the corrupted gems; he sees empathy and nuance in people’s struggles, and this mindset definitely kept going up to the point of CYM and onwards.

He sees the best in people and wants to encourage them to get onto the path of improvement and healing. There’s definitely innocence at the start, even if his life and the show’s antagonists challenged him to the brink.

However, the lack of vision could be found way back to the start of episode one. Season one was a slow burn of information since the POV showed that his family dynamic was never challenged to him because y’know, it’s his family, they’re gems, and they fight monsters. It portrays his mother as an amazing person to his parental figures, a martyr who loved everything and everyone. There doesn’t seem much for him to challenge at the start because that’s what his reality is, his status quo. He never questioned it. Why would he challenge something that he believes is the norm?

Of course, this illusion of a perfect family does get chipped away. With each episode that showed his family as flawed — with the world around him starting to expand more with information, his understanding towards the severity of the situation and what his status is gets questioned.

Steven will continue to keep his cheerful paradigm, but weariness has implanted a seed into him (among many other emotional issues from upbringing, but we’ll talk about that farther along).

Blue - Stability and Tranquility

The contexts for blue could vary a lot. Very polarizing definitions such as the relation to inebriation, water, and everything in between could dampen the straight-forward process on how to analyze the color associations further; it makes sense for this polarization since the use of it in the ancient and contemporary world isn’t rare, particularly in its application towards clothing, art, and other forms of creation.

But what we’re going to focus on is the sky (or light) blue, the one that Steven tows around before and amid the SU movie. It’s a color that’s mainly associated with the sky, hence the listed qualities found.

”Light (sky) blue: peace, serenity, ethereal, spiritual, infinity (The origin of these meanings is the intangible aspects of the sky.)” -Color Matters

Jill Morton, a color psychologist, also states that the color has a connection to conservatism, passivity, security, and introversion (which are important for later).

For now, let’s talk about Steven and his main goals.

Steven, throughout his two years of intergalactic diplomacy, became focused on bringing about a new form of Homeworld, cited in the game as him deteriorating the former authority doctrine and allowing people to do activities that aren’t limited by their former caste system. And with this, he brings forth the aim of peace and tranquility.

Cue the events of SU the Movie. Now at 16, Steven has been hinted to have never had full-on rest for the past two years he’s been doing his duties to the Era 3 reformed Homeworld. In his announcement, he declares that he wants to finally go back now that everything with the former empire is stable enough for them to function without him.

His main goal now is to relax, have time for himself, and gain his “happily ever after”. And we all know that this attachment to this idea will be played out for much of the storyline, to where it becomes one factor for him in a whole slew of others that prevents him from channeling his gem capabilities.

The catalyst towards him returning is through the concept of change, the ability for him to grow and adapt even throughout the trauma and pressure; Steven, in this movie, however, didn’t realize this because he was already at a state of his life where he just wanted a break from the morphing status quo. He wants a moment to himself, away from the anxiety of responsibilities placed on his shoulders at the age of bloody 14, and overall, just allowing himself to be a kid again.

Yet, even with him helping Spinel and returning life back to the Earth’s poisoned areas, Steven admits to the prospect of never having a happily ever after, and that he’ll “always have more work to do”.

This is where the color of his shirt changes, and with it, the break of Steven’s ideal stability.

Black - Aggression, Power, and Death

But with the expectation of stability for Steven’s life crushed after the events of the movie, I found it very interesting that his blue shirt wasn’t seen or even used anywhere from the stills and trailer shots we’ve seen.

This could be a deliberate usage on Rebecca’s part to discern SU Steven, SU Movie Steven, and SU Future Steven, but I’d like to believe that in-universe, Steven’s wanting to change into black-colored apparel is a mental choice on his part. For black, in color psychology, is a color that protects...and conceals.

“In color psychology this color gives protection from external emotional stress. It creates a barrier between itself and the outside world, providing comfort while protecting its emotions and feelings, and hiding its vulnerabilities, insecurities and lack of self confidence.” -Empoweredbycolor

A great deal of SU content creators have pointed out that Steven, for the entirety of his own life, has been brought up with the idea that emotional vulnerability, no matter how potent or minuscule, can become a weapon or a pain for not only their own being but for the people around them.

I can’t delve too much into it, sadly, but I will link to posts that commentate more on this in my reblogs.

His upbringing has brought him to the paradigm of repression, where his own priorities and needs are swept to the side for other people — even extending to the whole body of Homeworld because of the way he handled his diplomacy. He had to solve other peoples’ problems; he placed himself rock bottom in importance, and now he’s suffering the consequences for it.

Out of all the pieces of symbolism here, black is the most void and mysterious because of its absence of color. It’s used a good amount of the time as a motif of authority, power, and fear, but the ones I’d like to hone in on are death and the concept of being overwhelmed.

Now, we have no clear indication over how the series will go but hear me out. I don’t think a physical death would apply in this situation but more of a metaphysical death — a death of one’s current self.

We find Steven at a crossroads: it will bring his personal imbalance out in the worst ways, and through the fact that the sypnosis foretells of him handling powers uncontrollable by his cognition, then we know that this is a force that’ll bring him into strife over who he is and what he wants.

What does he truly want for his future and how will he come about it?

In Joseph Campbell’s template called The Hero’s Journey, a hero’s death has to come about by a new revelation, a new form of meaning and objective than what they originally intended. The death of one idea will then lead to the true answer, something new the character hasn’t explored but wants to explore since the concept’s been there from the beginning, yet needed a push for it to be unveiled.

”Black is the end, but the end always implies a new beginning. When the light appears, black becomes white, the color of new beginnings.” -Empoweredbycolor

If Steven has been chasing for a happily ever after for most of his life, then a paradigm shift will have to occur.

He must face the brunt of his problems, and in this, he’ll find the answer.

[brihana25]

In “Defense” of John Kreese

NOTE: Okay, here goes. I wrote this weeks ago, when I was still processing Season 2 (which, honestly, I’m still doing), and I wrote it in reaction to some of what I was seeing about Kreese in the wake of it. It’s long, so there’s a jump. 

To say I was surprised to see the posts about Kreese would be an understatement. I meant and still mean no offense to anyone who expected more than we got, but it truly baffled me, because we got exactly what we were promised. I saw the betrayal coming from the last seconds of Mercy Part II, and I didn’t understand how other people didn’t.

So, this is me trying to explain why I felt and feel the way I do about Kreese. And for better or for worse, since I’m posting it, it’s open for discussion.

Wow. Talk about five words I never in a million years imagined I'd type.

I watched Season 2 of Cobra Kai within fifteen seconds of it dropping. Once I started, I didn't stop. I didn't pause. I was far from the only one. A little over five hours later, I'd seen the entire thing. I was devastated, of course. We all were. I intended to do an immediate rewatch, but I couldn't make myself do it. I was left reeling, numb, and completely emotionally drained for the rest of the day. Again, that's not unique to me. We all were. And even though I have rewatched it since then, more than once, that feeling hasn't really faded. I'm still having a hard time putting my thoughts and feelings into words. I know it's only a television show, but the impact it has had on me – on all of us – cannot really be explained. We're all shocked. We're all stunned. We're all feeling and dealing and still processing it.

If there is one word to sum up Season 2, it is this: brutal.

And no one was half as brutal as the man himself, the creator of Cobra Kai, the puppet master who holds everyone’s strings and pulls them to make them dance, knows every character's buttons and how to push them: John Kreese.

I know a lot of people are upset about Kreese still being bad. And not only is he bad, but he's possibly even more despicable and irredeemable than he was in the movies. I know a lot of people feel that they were lied to, or somehow misled, into believing he'd be a good guy by the end of the season.

I'm going to defend not only the pre-season interviews that may have led fans to believing that, but also the character of John Kreese himself. And those of you who know me and what I have said about this character in the past will understand what an odd thing this is for me to do. But one of the things I love most about this show, and about the movies that spawned it, are the characters and their development. That does include John Kreese, and it always has.

If you think back over what we were told about Kreese pre-season, no one ever said they were going to redeem him. The Big 3TM said they were going to make him human. They did. Martin Kove said he was "a little bit good, and a little bit bad." He is both.

First, to The Big 3TM's statements that either said or implied they were going to make him more human: they did. They made him much more human than he was in the movies; they just didn't make him a good one. Instead, he is devious, manipulative, abusive and cruel. And those are things that only humans can be.

He's always been a kind of caricature, a stock character "baddie" with memorable lines and no discernible motivations for being the way he was. The most human we saw him in the movies was at the beginning of The Karate Kid Part III. We see him walking down the street, alone, dejected. He is a broken man. He has lost everything and everyone, and he knows it. He has hit absolute rock bottom, and he does not know how to climb back up.

That doesn't last very long, of course. He walks into the dojo, glances at his bills, half-listens to his answering machine, picks up a newspaper article about Daniel's victory, and immediately, his dejection turns to anger. His desolation morphs into a singular obsession with destroying the old man who humiliated him and the child who dared to defeat him.

Terry's words to Daniel and Mr. Miyagi in the garden, about karate being Kreese's entire life, about losing his students (mostly Johnny, we now know) breaking his heart - I believe this was entirely true. It's probably one of the few honest things Terry said in the whole movie. It is also probably one of the purest descriptions of John Kreese’s motivation we have ever been given. There was a glimmer of hope at the beginning, in Kreese's conversation in the car with Terry, when it looked like maybe he wasn't wholly evil. But as we realized later, his protest to Terry that he didn't "need to do this" - didn't "need" to torture Daniel and Mr. Miyagi - was token only. He wanted it to happen. I'd go so far as to say that he played on Terry's love for and protectiveness of him to make it happen. That became obvious later in the movie, when he came up with the "brilliant" idea of making Daniel's knuckles bleed. And now that we have seen just how manipulative and calculating he can be, it fits with who and what he is.

Does he have PTSD? Certainly. He told Johnny as much when he said the psychiatrists wouldn't let him re-enlist. Does it stem from the Vietnam War? Again, there is very little doubt. Is he still fighting a war in his mind that never ended for him because he wasn't allowed to finish it? I don't question that for a second, either. Do any of those things excuse what he did - to children and adults both - after he returned? Absolutely not. Understanding his mind and seeing the world through his eyes gives us insight into why he is the way he is, but it doesn't excuse what he's done. And it doesn’t justify what he may do in the future.

Humans aren't always nice and decent. All people aren't basically good. Daniel learned that when he was sixteen years old. Johnny learned it at fifty-one. John Kreese is 100% human, and that's undeniable. They gave us exactly what they promised us.

As for Martin Kove's assertion that Kreese is "a little bit good, and a little bit bad": he is. This is where understanding his mind becomes vital. Kreese's "bad" qualities are on clear and open display for us to see. His "good" qualities aren't as obvious, and some would say they don't exist at all. That is because his definition of "good" is warped, and it doesn't fit with how we understand that word.

Also, I believe very strongly that John Kreese loves Johnny Lawrence.

No, it doesn't look anything like love to most of us. It looks like control, and domination, and manipulation. It looks like abuse. And that's because it is. It is dysfunctional, and destructive, and based on a power imbalance that Kreese cannot let shift in Johnny's favor for even a second. But in John Kreese's mind, it is love.

Make no mistake about it, Kreese abused both of these men when they were children. He abused Johnny - mentally and emotionally - for five years. Whether the karate training ever rose to the level of physical abuse is debatable, but after what we saw in Season 2, in Johnny's memory of receiving his blue belt, the rest of it is inarguable. The hardest concept to grasp, after watching just that one small memory and the impact it still has on Johnny almost 40 years later, is that Kreese honestly believed, and still does, that he was doing a good thing.

Listen to the things he says. Really listen to him. Even after everything that happens, even after Miguel and Robby, and Tory and Sam, and even after the destruction of everything and everyone Johnny loves, Kreese is still convinced that what he's doing is what's best for Johnny. He truly, honestly believes that he's helping him.

In his mind, he is making Johnny stronger. He is making him better. He is turning him into a good little soldier who will follow orders to the letter, because if he does what Kreese tells him, he will not and cannot lose. He is doing this because he doesn't want Johnny to feel the things he felt. He doesn't want Johnny to ever feel the sting of a defeat he had no choice but to accept. He sees in Johnny his chance to redeem himself for all the losses he himself has suffered, and he will use any means at his disposal to get him there.

His abuse of Daniel is strictly about punishment. He doesn't love him. He didn’t want to make him stronger. He didn’t want to turn him into a winner. His abuse of Daniel was purely for revenge. He smiled about it. He laughed about it. He wanted to see “a lot more” of it. He tortured a child, and he enjoyed it.

As much as John Kreese loves Johnny Lawrence, he hates Daniel LaRusso.

He hates him for forcing defeat on Johnny. He hates him for being a better student, or a better fighter, or a better anything than Johnny. He hates Mr. Miyagi for being a better teacher, or a better fighter, or just a better everything than him. Mr. Miyagi succeeded in turning Daniel into what Kreese failed in getting Johnny to be, and so Daniel - at the ripe old age of sixteen - gets the dubious distinction of being the living embodiment of both Johnny's and Kreese's failures. Kreese will never forgive him for any of that.

And so, Kreese (in conjunction with Terry Silver, of course) brainwashes him. They convince him to torture himself, and they torture Mr. Miyagi through him. They turn him into something he isn't and never has been. They turn him into the opposite of what Mr. Miyagi taught him to be. They send him home every night, bloody and bruised and completely oblivious to the fact that he's a nothing more than a pawn to them. He's a toy. If Johnny is Kreese's good little soldier, Daniel is his cannon fodder.

Kreese loves Johnny, and he hates Daniel, and he destroyed them both. But what has to be understood is that in his mind, everything he’s done have been "good" things.

To redeem Kreese now, to turn him into a "good guy," to have both of his victims forget and forgive him for everything he did, would not only be wholly unbelievable, it would invalidate everything they've been through. It would erase everything that turned the children they were into the men they are. It would cheapen and dismiss everything Kreese did to them.

It wouldn't just "flip the script" on their story. It would rewrite it wholesale.

At its heart, Cobra Kai is Johnny's and Daniel's story. Kreese plays a large part in that story, absolutely. But it’s not his. What they suffered at his hands shaped who and what they are, what they feel about each other, and what they believe about themselves. For better or worse, he is Cobra Kai.

He is their boogeyman.

And if the show is about Johnny and Daniel, then it has to be about them dealing with the impact Cobra Kai - and John Kreese - has had and continues to have on them and the people they love. For that to be possible, Kreese has to remain what he is and has always been.

A little bit good, and a whole lot bad.

[official-mermaid]

I am very interested in these things you have to say!!!

I am guessing this is in reference to the Things I have to say about the shift in Quentin and Alice’s dynamic after 3x05? If it isn’t, I’m sorry, because I’m gonna start rambling. Feel free to clarify if you wanted me to ramble about something else. 

Okay, so–

Alice and Quentin both have very dramatic character development. Alice’s time as a niffin & Quentin living an entire lifetime. The development they have in terms of emotional growth is very, very different. Quentin has gained the emotional wisdom of a very old man version of him, and Alice has had to reacquaint herself with the experience of having emotions at all.  

Pre 3x05, post Alice’s resurrection: Alice and Quentin’s relationship is strained. 

The thing about Quentin and Alice’s relationship, from the beginning, is that Quentin doesn’t behave as though they’re equals. Alice picks up on that, and reacts to it. It gives their relationship a kind of tense dynamic. Alice, through no fault of her own, brings out Quentin’s insecurities. Quentin never feels like he’s good enough for Alice. He voices that multiple times, and he definitely acts like it. 

In the first few episodes of season 3, Alice holds the power in their relationship. Quentin just wants things to go back to the way they were before, but they can’t, and they never will. As a result, Quentin kind of defers to Alice. After he brings her back to life, he’s kind of in this consistent position of trying to convince her to forgive him, and to love him again. It doesn’t work well, their interactions are strained, there’s a power imbalance in their relationship. 

After 3x05, Quentin doesn’t have such strong emotional reactions to Alice. He stands his ground in a way he never did before. Because Quentin has dramatic character growth in 3x05. Before the Mosaic, he’s still very much in love with Alice. After it, he isn’t. He still cares about her, but in a you-were-my-first-real-love-fifty-years-ago type way. But it’s not like Alice really knows or understands that.

When she starts working with the Library, Quentin doesn’t trust her, doesn’t cut her the same amount of slack he used to, doesn’t defer to her in the same way. Their entire dynamic shifts. And Alice is confused and a little upset by it–she gets defensive and indignant when he makes his apprehension clear. Because she’s going through a very, very different type of character growth and development.

I think that’s, ultimately, kind of why Alice tells him that he’s the one she loves, and that the only thing she’ll regret about forgetting her life and identity is that she won’t remember loving him. That moment is kind of out of place, since her feelings for him that past season had been complicated and messy. But she’s in this terrifying position, where she’s making emotional and rash decisions, and I think she’s seeking out the kind of validation that she used to get from Quentin. 

That’s also where I think it comes from that Alice, in 4x05, wants Quentin to tell her what redemption looks like. Because she’s always thought he was good, and he used to kind of put her on a pedestal. And Alice has been so alone, and there was a time when she could rely on Quentin for reassurance and support. 

This rambling didn’t have much of a direction. I have a lot of feelings about their interactions, I’m sorry. I really hope they manage to make it to something like friendship. Because I just keep thinking about when Quentin said Alice could never lose him in season 2, versus him asking if she promises to leave forever in 4x05. And her saying that she’s always trying. It’s all a little heartbreaking. 

[nakamotoyutakemybreathaway]

Fireboy and Waterboy Chapter 2: On thin ice.

Avatar!Mark and the dream team go on a quest to save the world from an evil entrepreneur and some salty spirits.

“Hurry up, loser.” Jaemin panted, “If we don’t get to the ship on time, we’ll miss the sunrise.”

“What do you mean? The ships not about to go anywhere” Mark reasoned, looking at his cousin confusedly. Before he could even take his next step, Jaemin pelted his face with a small snowball.

“No, but the sun is. It only rises once a day and I am not waking up early twice in a row just because you made us late the first time.” Sometimes, Mark wondered why he chose to hang out with this loser outside of family gatherings. Oh right, it was because no one else lived in their village.They continued walking as the old, abandoned ship came into view.

About 80 years ago, a bunch of fire nation merchants got lost on their way to Kyoshi Island, bypassing the southern air temple and ended up in a small bay in the southern water tribe, where their ship froze into the icy water.  The elders don’t let children come here because the ice on the lake is thin, but also because they believe that the crew still haunts the ship. If the elders knew they were out here, they’d be sentenced to spend the rest of their lives shearing buffalo yaks. Jaemin stopped short just in front of the ship, and Mark thought it was the perfect opportunity to return the favour, using his foot to hurl a snowball into Jaemin’s butt.

“Hey! I swear next time your clumsy arse slides across the ice, I won’t even heal you” Jaemin threatened. Mark felt small pulse of regret, because usually when he got hurt, Jaemin would heal him and their parents would never find out what they got up to. He couldn’t just go and ask his dad to get rid of the bruises and not explain to him how they got there.

The pair walked up the gangplank and around the cabin to the other side, being careful not to lean over the crumbling handrails. Mark breathed a sigh of awe as the morning sun gently rose over the ocean, giving off a pale golden glow which reflected majestically off the ice. Nowhere else in the southern lands could a sunrise be observed with such a breathtaking view, and mark believed that the fire benders that lost their lives on this very ship were the reason why the sun was attracted to it. He recalls when he and Jaemin would be sat around the table for family dinners, listening to his uncles stories of the time he spent as a hunter in the isolated villages of the true pole, where it was dark for half of the year, and light for the other. Lucky we live here, he thought. Their village was on the coast of the southern water tribe, far enough north for sunrises and some seasonal difference in temperature, about 3 degrees warmer in summer.

“You know, I’d never thought of it as lucky that we live here, but this view is one good thing to come out of this place” Mark said to Jaemin, still lost in thought. Its not like the south pole was a bad place to live, there just wasn’t much going on. It was snow upon snow upon ice, and if you’ve seen a bit, you’ve seen it all. Only because the village was so boring were they up here now, on a dangerous ship- the one place they were forbidden to go- longing to go somewhere with lush forests, sandy beaches, rugged mountains; they craved adventure.

Mark absentmindedly shifted where he stood, leaning to grab hold of the guard rails around the stern of the ship. That was a bigmistake. The rail he was gripping suddenly gave way, the rusted bolts freeing it from where it was once firmly planted, falling with a crack onto the thin sheet of ice below. Without Mark even knowing what he was doing, he extended his arms as if to cushion the fall that was sure to kill him anyway, but instead his back slammed against the cabin of the ship behind him. It was as if a strong gust of wind had propelled him backwards and prevented him from falling.

“I’m not sure if this cold is making me hallucinate that I saw what I just saw,” Said Jaemin, looking concernedly at Mark, “but we should get back to the village before the elders notice we’re here. This ship isn’t safe for your clumsy arse”. Jaemin gripped Marks wrist firmly and started back towards the gangplank, pulling Mark who was still too in shock to make a move on his own along with him.

After having regained his equilibrium, Mark started to feel a sort of negative energy seeping out from the ice. This had always been a talent of Mark’s, when they were ten years old he had told Jaemin that he felt like he had some kind of connection to the spirits; he always got strange feelings when in close proximity to spiritual activity. Of course, Jaemin had told Mark to stop being silly, the spirits never involved themselves with humans. Over the years however it became harder to deny, Mark always got butterflies when an unseasonal blizzard hit the area, and after having spent a summer in the northern tribe learning advanced healing techniques Jaemin learnt that some injuries just couldn’t be caused by natural means.

Over a mound of snow that barricaded the view of the village from the ship, they observed what looked like a regular penguin waddling toward them, only that it couldn’t be. The creature was twice the size of a regular penguin, and a soft blue glow emanated off its otherwise translucent body. Just as Mark and Jaemin were about to ask each other if they knew what it was, it spotted them. The negative feeling in Mark’s stomach amplified tenfold, and a streak of pale blue light shot rapidly in their direction. This was definitely not a regular penguin. It had 4 eyes and housed rows of sharp teeth between its small but sharp looking beak. It was flapping wildly and aiming right at Jaemin. He luckily reacted quickly enough, and a jet of water shot up out of the ice to form a kind of shield between himself and the ghost penguin. It was  not enough however to repel the full force of the creature, and Jaemin was flung sideways, skidding to lay limply on the ice ten metres away. It immediately turned its attention to Mark.

Now Mark’s immediate reaction would normally be to try and restrain it with water tendrils or something of the sort, but his instincts unconsciously told him that this thing probably didn’t like fire. The penguin was a mere few feet away when Mark was finally able to snap out of his thoughts and act. He raised his fists and pushed them outwards from his chest and, much to Mark’s surprise, bursts of white hot flames shot out. By the time the flames subsided, the creature was thoroughly disgruntled and had clearly decide to retreat, zipping away from the boys to slide away on its burnt belly.

“I think it’s time we discussed something I’ve suspected for a long time now” stated Taeyong, the village elder and Mark’s father, as he held his skilled hands over Jaemin’s body on the table. Following the fight with the penguin creature, Jaemin was left rather bruised and weak and Mark had to support him over his shoulder to walk back to visit their parents. When they’d entered the council building, Taeyong was immediately up with a worried expression on his face, coming to attend to his nephew. Thankfully, Taeyong was the best healer in the south pole, except for maybe Jaemin who showed a lot of promise, and managed to have him back in commission within minutes. Mark on the other hand could barely mend a paper cut within an hour. As Taeyong was working on Jaemin, Mark explained all about their early morning adventure to the ship, the terrifying ghost penguin, and Mark’s strange abilities, ready to face the consequences of breaking the rules, but the guilt of disappointing his father still weighed heavily on Mark’s mind.

“Thanks, uncle Taeyong” Jaemin thanked, standing up to stretch his long limbs. Even now, at only 17 and 18 years old they were both significantly taller than Taeyong. “but more important than me, I think Mark might be the next avatar”.

“Don’t be silly! The avatar is supposed to protect the world, I can’t even protect you from a silly penguin…it can’t be me!” Mark cried, riddled with doubt despite all of the evidence.

“Come on think about it Mark! Avatar Taeil the air nomad died 18 years ago and no one’s heard from the new one since. Going by the avatar cycle, the new one should be an 18 year old boy from the water tribes, and there aren’t too many of those”. Jaemin was right, the world had been without an avatar for 18 years too long.

“You may not remember this Mark, but when you were 4 years old, when you were told to blow the candles off your cake, you blew so hard you took out the fire burning in the hearth on the other side of the room.” Taeyong informed him. “The other elders and I had suspected you would be the next avatar ever since then. I also have reason to believe there is an imbalance in the spirit world. Something is causing them to stir, and if the issue isn’t rectified they could wreak some serious havoc”. So he knew. Both Mark and Jaemin’s parents, Taeyong and Jaemin’s mother being brother and sister, and a quiet, bookish man named Jungwoo who was the youngest of the elders had known all this time.

“But if I’m the avatar, why would my other powers only surface now? Don’t most avatars start training when they’re still children?” Mark questioned his father, as if he could possibly know the answer.

“I expect it is because the world needs you now. You must go to it.” Taeyong breathed a sigh as though this statement physically hurt him. “You two should go collect any personal belongings you will need for your journey. I will inform the other elders and have some of the villagers prepare a ship and supplies. You will set off for the earth kingdom this afternoon. When you arrive you should head to the great city of Ba Sing Sei to find an earth bending master. Only once you have mastered all the elements can you put the spirits at ease, as is your duty as the avatar.”

“Wait. The two of us? Why does Jaemin have to be involved in this?”

“Well, you’re not about to travel the world alone. Jaemin is a skilled bender and healer, you still have much to learn about your native element from him. Besides, he’d go insane here alone. So long as you are together, you will both survive.” Taeyong said with a sense of finality, and ushered them out of the council building and towards their houses.

They stepped into Mark’s house first, gathering a few extra clothes and some animal skins for sleeping. Mark didn’t normally carry any personal effects, but as he turned to leave his room something caught his eye. Glistening from a shelf above his bed was a small silver ring, engraved with the emblem of the water tribe. It had been his grandfathers, who had then passed it on to Taeyong, who had gifted it to Mark after he’d learnt the water whip. Mark slipped it onto his finger and left, collecting Jaemin from the kitchen where’d he’d been talking to his aunt and heading next door.

At Jaemin’s they also didn’t grab much, only some clothes and Jaemin’s spear. That was Jaemin’s prized possession. At first glance it looks like an unsuspecting staff, but a latch near the top allows Jaemin to flick it forward, and about 5 extra inches and a sharp spearhead emerges. A year ago it was taller than Jaemin, but now it only reaches up to his chin, seeing as the tip is hardly ever extended. It was carved with delicate images of flowing waves and fish swimming beneath them, in the middle was a depiction of two koi fish, swimming at each others tails in a circle around a round, full moon. It was also a gift, from Jaemin’s extended family (his father hails from the northern tribe) whom he stayed with when he went North for a while. That had been the most boring few months of Mark’s life, but at least Jaemin had fun and extended his skills far beyond what he could here in the village. Jaemin never usually went anywhere without it, and perhaps if he had had it this morning’s events may not have happened. After collecting the essentials, the pair said emotional goodbyes to their mothers, who couldn’t bear to see them off on a ship and would rather pretend they were just going outside to throw snow at each other as they had when they were children. It was midday by the time they finally headed off towards the bay to board their ship.

As they approached the jetty where their ship had been docked, they seen both their fathers come in to view, along with Jungwoo and some other villagers that they recognised. They were met with several hand shakes and claps on the shoulder, as the men took their stuff and put it on the ship with the other supplies, a series of “good luck”s and “congratulations” being hurled their way. They walked to the edge where their fathers stood. Jungwoo stepped forward first, holding a large book out to Mark.

“This book has complete maps of every region and details the types of flora and fauna native to each area, including which ones are edible or have other uses. I think you would find it quite useful” Jungwoo explained shyly, stepping back and looking down as soon as the book was securely in Mark’s hands.

“Thank you”, he responded “I will use it well”.

At last he turned to look at his father, who was trying and failing to conceal the tears threatening to burst out of his eyes. All at once he was swept up in a tight hug, with Jaemin being pulled in beside him, and Jaemin’s dad coming to surround them all in his vast arms. For a moment, Mark stayed, wishing it could last longer, before they finally broke away and jumped onto the deck of their boat.

“Please… just be safe, and do what is right” was Taeyong’s final statement as they pushed away from the jetty with a bit of a water bending boost and started northeast, towards the earth kingdom.

At a glance, they had enough food to last them about 4 days, and according to his uncle, it should take them 3 days to get there, so long as they stayed on course. After that they will either have to hunt and forage for food as shown in Jungwoo’s book, or try to make money somehow, probably by doing odd jobs for little old ladies. After about 4 hours of travel, they were in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight in any direction and exhausted from the effort of speeding up their trip using water bending, so they decided to tie down the sails and go to rest in the small cabin in the centre of the ship. Mark fell asleep to thoughts of both home and what lay before him, anticipating the moment when they touch land and their adventure truly begins.

[alwaysaprille]

APRIL’S UNITY DAYS WRITE UP

Day 2 (January 14th) Part 2:

After lunch with #Bactus:

it was time to go handle other business. We split up here, with some of going to the Costume Panel and others going for autographs, unfortunately the costume panel with Wendy Biscuit was cancelled with no notice and the autograph lines were horrendous so we wound up just charging our phones and chatting for a bit until the Delinquent Panel, which featured Eliza, Bob, Chris, Richard, Jarod, Chelsey and Katie (Lindsey was supposed to be on the panel, but she was still not at the even yet). 

I was actually a bit late to the Delinquent Panel because I had my Bob photo op pictured here:

He’s a genuine sweetheart guys. Like, he remembered my name from the quick meeting we had at the panel in the morning, said he liked my hair, and asked if I’d eaten (he smells like mint-he was eating one-and super clean laundry, btw), before saying he had. When he asked how I wanted us to pose, I just asked for a hug and he said “Of course!!” He gave me a real hug first and then we did the side hug for the photo.

Then I joined the other gals in waiting for another Bob photo op, because Jen had two. After Gina, Sam and Jen took their individual ops, we all ran back for a group, which made Bob really smile, he was super surprised:

We finally made it to the Delinquent Panel and here’s the relevant info I gathered from there:

Everyone got their Custom Funko Pops, they were all super pleased (Sachin cat called from the audience because he didn’t get one).

They talked about their character’s ages, with Bob pointing out Bellamy isn’t really a Delinquent, Bob said Bellamy is about 24) so he must have had a birthday on the ground, same as Clarke. 

This is Harper’s biggest Season thus far (which makes sense because she’s finally a series regular).

Clark says that the Jonty high five in the trailer is a good indicator of the promise for Jonty this Season.

Bob said Bellamy thinks Octavia is responsible for Monroe’s death (which I agree with.)

When asked why they sided with Pike, Monty said it was for his mother (which I’ve always thought, so good to have that confirmed!). Jarod (who was anti-Pike) said it was because Pike was a Brother (another black man) and that the others wouldn’t understand.) Someone reminded him he was anti-Pike, it was funny. 

Jarod said he gets nervous working with Bob because he respects his ability as an actor so much.

Murphy had a lot of respect for Pike by the end of the Season, Richard loves Murphy’s relentlessness. 

Clarke’s emotional side comes from Jake, while Abby is where she gets her diplomatic/political stuff from.

They all joked about being chipped or “chip-faced”. 

Eliza said Monty is her all time favorite character on the show. 

When asked which other show they’d like to be on: Eliza said Broad City, Bob said Black Mirror (everyone cheered), Chelsey said Homeland. 

Richard said he thinks Murphy and Bellamy are back to some semblance of mistake and Bob made like...a “sure, Jan” noise. 

Season 4 has a huge power imbalance, with no real Chancellor or Commander and so the power shift is tumultuous.

There will be a mutual respect between the Delinquents and the adults because they all have to collectively come together. 

END DELINQUENT PANEL HIGHLIGHTS:

After the Panel was over, I had a few more photo ops scheduled, so I took care of those:

The Bad Boys op with Jarod, Bob and Richard. Sachin snorted when he heard their op was called “The Bad Boys”, lol:

I asked them to do a Charlie’s Angel pose, with me as Charlie, presenting my angels. Bob still looks too innocent (He can’t help it), but Richard’s face is perf!

I also squeezed in my Jarod Joseph photo op, I wanted to do the “Unfriendly Black Hotties” thing-Jarod, nailed it, me-unsure:

I missed the Camp Jaha Panel, because I was given a random free Meet and Greet with Luisa d’Oliveira.

Luisa is the sweetest, she started off by asking everyone where we were from (and remembered every place). She was so genuine guys. She doesn’t seem to realize that people actual like her outside of the Memori relationship. 

@adancergirl did a thorough write up of this, so I’m linking that here:

http://bellamyblakesprotectionsquad2k17.tumblr.com/post/155973832354/forgivenessishardforus-adancergirl-luisa-meet

END OF LUISA MEET AND GREET SUMMARY

Then I shot over to get my Photo Op with Lindsey “Actual Angel” Morgan done:

After that was done it was time for the Grounder/Mt. Weather Panel which featured Chris, Jarod, Chelsey, Tasya, Luisa and Jessica.

Chris was late and walked on to the stage looking like a hipster college student. (He wears a backpack everywhere guys and he always has his hood up, it’s adorbs).

Tasya confirmed that Echo is a royal guard for the Ice Nation and said there will be more Becho interaction this Season. Bellamy is the only Arkadian that Echo trusts (although we don’t know if that sentiment is returned-I expect to see some tension here!)

Jessica said it’s pretty obvious when you start watching Season 4 where Niylah’s allegiance lies. She’s super funny, btw. 

Chris is so deadpan guys. Like, his humor is out of this world. I love it. 

My favorite Chris quote was: “When Jarod's hand was on my knee in episode 210, I've never felt warmer.”

He asked how many people shipped Minty by show of hands (and then Marper). It was about even and Chelsey raised her hand for both options. 

Chris wanted a photo of the audience but he doesn’t have a smart phone (according to Jessica it’s a flip phone) and so he took out an Old School  disposable camera that he’d just bought from London Drugs and took a picture of one side of the crowd, forgot to roll the film forward, so had to pause and do it, and then the other side. Jarod shook his head and laughed. 

When asked which character they’d like to play other than their own everyone but Jarod said Bellamy. Jarod said Monty, because he’s like a cat-to which Chris replied “What?”

Marper was organic and not planned at all. They often didn’t have lines in Season 2, but were told to do things in the background, so Chris and Chelsey discussed what they would do in the situation if this was real (after Harper has her butt drilled) and Chris said “Well, we’re friends, so I’d try to make you feel better” and this is where the cup scene originates. 

Chelsey said they kept improvising those little scenes in the background and eventually the writer’s must have picked up on it and actually made Marper canon. 

Chris closed the panel with the following: He asked how many people had ever been in a breakup that was so bad that you thought you’d never love again, lots of people raised their hands, including all of the cast and then he said:

“Monty and Harper are at a position where they are super excited and super terrified because they are starting something new and they're sharing so much with each other so when that person leaves you it can be soul destroying. Welcome to Unity Days.”

Everyone cracked up and that was the end of that panel.

END OF GROUNDER/MT. WEATHER PANEL SUMMARY

Then  I ran up to get my final two autographs of the day, both from Bob. I gave him #Bactus and a handwritten card first, he smiled super big when I gave him Bactus and he and his manager both laughed when I explained it’s name, he said that was clever. 

I asked him to sign my “Bellamy Blake Protection Squad Shirt” with @indygoh‘s art on it:

and the postcard I won in the Cancer Gets LOST silent auction. He loved the BBPS shirt and said, sometimes Bellamy needs some backup and he and his manager said that the postcard’s artwork was cute. While I was leaving, he said “Thanks for Bactus, April.”

And I died on the inside because he remembered my name from hours before.

After the Convention closed for the evening, everyone gathered in my room and we had an impromptu pizza party where we just in person meta’d (and I got teary about Lincoln-which was super embarrassing) and it was such a great night, because talking in person is always so much easier than online.

We hung out pretty late, until most of us were sleepy and then parted ways to get ready for Unity Days Part 3.

[wingsofwriting]

How much I loved the Stydia of this season, and how very, very much I ended up rooting for them is so interesting to me. 

I used to be pretty anti-Stydia. Some of that spent as a Sterek shipper, some spent as a Scalia shipper, some spent as a Lydia don’t need no man shipper. But most of it spent on thinking that while Stiles and Lydia were perfect for each other as friends, but that them in a relationship could only end in an emotional disaster for both of them.

For so long, I saw a romantic relationship between them as destructive and unhealthy and unbalanced.

Because there would have always been a power imbalance of some sort, at least in the beginning (and even in season 3 and 4). Because you couldn’t just ignore that Stiles was had been that kid who’d been a nerd who’d crushed on the popular girl for so long, and Lydia for so much of the series was the popular girl who was so much more than just that but still could have taken advantage of that. Especially early on. Especially before she really learned to appreciate Stiles for himself, as much as Stiles had to learn to appreciate Lydia for all of her. 

But the thing is the characters changed and they grew and they grew up. They learned to work each other, they learned to save each other, they learned to love each other. Really love each other. Not in some idea dream girl way that Stiles once did. But to love the good and the bad of each other.

Season 5 was the season that really showed me the potential of them together as something magical and beautiful and by the last episode where Lydia proclaimed in such a heartfelt way that it was Stiles saved her. Something about that moment denoted a shift in how they saw each other. As a moment of showing them as equals in this fight against the supernatural

And that was really the start of me shipping them, as me really wanting them to be end game. 

But then this season, season 6, was so utterly perfect at bringing them together. And it erased any and all lingering traces of that power imbalance and with it, my lingering doubts. Because, of course, the only way brilliant, brilliant Lydia could learn just how utterly and deeply she loved Stiles with her whole being was by forgetting him. 

Lydia who thinks so much with her head and her banshee instincts, but so little with her heart. But the fact is that losing Stiles, losing the very memory of him, was like lose a limb for, losing some utterly vital piece of her. So much so that it was impossible for her to feel whole without him by her side. So much so that, even if everyone around her was gonna think she was crazy, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her other half was gone. And she wasn’t gonna let anybody tell her otherwise.

There was so much strength in her missing him and her quest to find him again. But so much heartache. And the fact that it was their love that brought him back. And then that after all this time, she loved him too. Because of course she did. That it’d become something as obvious as her breathing. And it was just as obvious to Stiles. That even after so long where Stiles loved Lydia and she didn’t return his feelings. That after being ignored by her for years, he didn’t need to hear her say it. Because Stiles knows Lydia like he knows himself. And in that moment, there’s no doubt for either of them that their it for each other. 

It was just gorgeous. The story arc of all the seasons has been gorgeous. Their story has been gorgeous. And I feel like I rode all it’s waves unintentionally, and that makes me love it even a little more. 

[biofunmy]

What Makes Nick Bosa So Good? Let the Experts Explain

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The N.F.L. has no shortage of great football families.

The Mannings produce exceptional quarterbacks. The Longs — the father, Howie, and the son, Chris — were defensive mainstays. Don’t bother trying to count all the members of the Matthews clan.

Now we have the Bosas.

The five players who recorded the most quarterback pressures this season, according to Pro Football Focus, have a combined 28 seasons of N.F.L. experience. Just behind them, at No. 6, is Nick Bosa, who was drafted out of Ohio State less than nine months ago.

That puts Bosa in position to win the same award that his older brother, Joey, a star defensive end for the Chargers, collected in 2016: defensive rookie of the year.

Nick Bosa, also a defensive end, totaled 80 sacks, hurries and hits for the San Francisco 49ers, tormenting offenses with a blend of power, speed and technical expertise amplified by a sophistication uncommon for his age, particularly at that position. The 49ers head coach, Kyle Shanahan, has joked that Bosa has been learning pass-rush moves since he was 3.

That wouldn’t be surprising given that his father, John, was also an N.F.L. defensive end; after being picked in the first round of the 1987 draft, John Bosa played three seasons with the Miami Dolphins.

By his second game with San Francisco, Bosa was drawing two blockers and sometimes a third. In his seventh game, four days after he turned 22, he had three sacks and an interception against the Carolina Panthers.

“He loves close-quarter combat,” said Robert Saleh, the 49ers’ defensive coordinator.

Ahead of the 49ers’ playoff game on Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings, The New York Times spoke with an array of experts to learn why Bosa has excelled this season. They were effusive.

“God puts his hands on certain people’s shoulders and just says, ‘You’re gifted, now what are you going to do with that?’” said Howie Long, the league’s defensive player of the year in 1985, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and now a Fox analyst. “He’s one of those guys. He’s built for football.”

Here is some of what the other experts had to say:

Interview excerpts have been edited for clarity.

Trevor Pryce recorded 91 sacks for three teams over 14 seasons: Nick Bosa looks like he does one exercise a week, and that’s squat. He has never skipped leg day.

Richard Dent, who amassed 137.5 sacks in 15 seasons, is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame: When the 49ers drafted Bosa, it looked like somebody at Ohio State knows some fundamentals about footwork.

Larry Johnson Sr., the defensive line coach at Ohio State, has tutored 15 Big Ten defensive players, or linemen, of the year: He’s got absolutely unbelievable eye-hand coordination. It’s like he’s catching a fly out of the air.

Mike McGlinchey is the 49ers’ starting right offensive tackle: He’s so good at seeing how offensive linemen move and feeling it out during the rush that he can feel imbalances, he can feel shifts of weight.

Johnson: We want the tackle to stop his feet, panic, and when you do that, if I get too close to your space, what do you start doing? You step backward or you shoot your hands to get you off. Bosa gets right into your face. That’s why you see Nick always closing the fight.

Long: When you get in the league, your physical elevator is through the roof and your mental elevator’s in the basement. Throughout the course of your career, the elevators are moving in different directions, and somewhere in the middle you hit your peak — 28, 29 — and the intellectual and physical side pair up. By the time your mental elevator is through the roof, your physical elevator’s in the basement and you can’t do a damn thing about it. His mental elevator is two floors ahead of where it should be right now.

McGlinchey: When we were going against each other a lot in camp, to study the film it’s like, “All right, this is what he did to me today.” And then it would be something completely different tomorrow that you have to fix again. It’s that process of not being able to prepare for just one thing.

Pryce: The closer you are to the tackle, you make him make a decision right now. Nick gets as close to him as possible and makes a fight in the phone booth, because he knows his hands are better. It’s a much more cerebral way of playing the game than I’ve ever known.

Long: The way he takes on a block, the way he sheds a block, the way he plays blocking combinations, it all lends to an extended career. Because he’s so technically sound.

Pryce: He’s beyond technically sound. Technically sound is what I was. He’s technically savvy.

Long: More often than not, you have guys that are one-trick ponies running around the corner or they might have one secondary move, occasionally. He can set moves up. He can go up and under. He can beat you around the corner. Or he can use power.

Dent: He uses his feet like he uses his hands. That means no matter what he’s doing with his hands or his shoulders or his head, his feet always continue moving up field.

Long: He can play third-and-1 as well as he can play third-and-10. His fourth quarter looks like his first quarter.

McGlinchey: If you’re on him, he still finds a way to keep moving toward the quarterback, and that’s what’s really hard. Most guys don’t have his mind-set of go, go, go, either. And that’s as much of a weapon as anything else.

Johnson: He’s starting to get used to the chipping and then two guys blocking him. At the start, he was rushing and guys started chipping. Whoa, what was that. Now they’re doing it every play. Why? Because it’s important to shut him down.

Shanahan: There’s certain edge rushers — there’s a few of them in this league, and Bosa is one of them — but when those guys can affect the quarterback on any play, you’ve got to be very smart. I don’t care who the tackle is, there are certain type of rushers, if the guy he’s going against is a really good player and he knows you’re throwing it every down, that guy is not going to be able to block him eventually.

Saleh: His movement skills, his instincts in pass rush, his feel in pass rush, is beyond what a rookie feels.

Pryce: I had a coach my rookie year who said he loves playing rookies because they’re too stupid to know they’re not supposed to be that good. And I think Nick Bosa doesn’t understand that he’s not supposed to dominate the game the way that he has.

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