#like they know how huge the avatar fandom is

[seyaryminamoto]

My latest completed commission may have been a bit ambitious... because I went wild with it. But I certainly relished in doing so :') Combining my favorite ship with my favorite-ever Disney movie is, uh... a dangerous concoction :'D

The commissioner specifically requested for Azula as Mulan, Sokka as Shang, and Xin Long (my OC dragon from Gladiator) as Mushu. The rest of the cast was up to me to choose, and I pretty much went wild rewatching this movie and picking out some of my favorite moments to recreate them in my style, with these characters. I came up with a lot of correlating characters between both ATLA and 1998's Mulan, but I couldn't hope to draw EVERYTHING, unfortunately. Still, if you want my reasoning for the cast correlation... check out the Read More! Beyond that, feel free to reach out to me if you'd like to commission me, or if you want to join my Patreon!

The Herbalist as Mulan's grandmother might feel arbitrary but she honestly felt like the ATLA elderly lady with the most similar personality to Grandma Fa. Fickle, with a unique connection with a seemingly perfectly ordinary animal, old and sassy? Figured it fit! So for once, the Herbalist is Azula's grandma! xD strange notion, I know, Azulon/Herbalist is not a ship I ever thought I'd accidentally put out in the world but there have been wilder ships than that in this fandom...

Momo became Cri-Kee, I wasn't 100% sold on it but when I considered that Avatar features soooo many hybrid animals... I figured he could be a hybrid cricket-lemur. Weird, I know, but eh? Better than nothing xD

Aang as Chien-Po was a no-brainer. He's the only character I settled on instantly, never even considered anyone else for the role. Their personalities line up really well, and Chien-Po's tendency to be OP and resolve things that are outside of other people's reach sounded like he was prime Avatar material! So, while their dietary preferences are an obvious difference between them, I decided to go for it nonetheless considering all their other similarities!

Kino (another Gladiator OC) is Ling, and he actually did give me a ton of trouble to choose. I considered many characters for the role right up until I realized that Kino's personality actually lines up fairly well with Ling's, down to being a class clown type (who ABSOLUTELY would have cut gym class!) and breaking out in song about the hypothetical woman he'd like to fight for? Yeeeeah that's right up his alley xD but there's another reason why I picked Kino...

... And that is my likely unexpected choice for Yao:

ZUKO.

ZUKO IS YAO.

YES.

I'M NOT EVEN SORRY.

(For the uninitiated, Aang, Zuko and Kino are best friends in Gladiator, very often together, and they make a really good team, so that's the extra reason why Kino became the obvious choice for Ling aside from having really similar personalities, definitely closer personalities than, say, Jet, for instance.)

People have likened Zuko to Shang a LOT since ATLA aired. This is the main reason why I'm even making this huge note! I suspect it's primarily because of the aesthetic, let's be real here, and because he becomes Aang's teacher, but people have exaggerated Zuko's alleged similarities with Shang, or taken them out of proportion, in many ways. I actually remember an AMV ages ago with "Be a Man" and it was Zuko "training the Gaang"?? It... didn't feel right to me. Obviously, someone might rebuff with "well, how does Sokka make MORE sense than that, though?" And believe it or not, I have arguments for that... (when do I not...?)

Not only is this what the commissioner specifically requested (and it obviously lines up with the ship we love!), but let's examine the actual reasons why Sokka as Shang adds up:

Sokka actually had to train a bunch of toddlers who weren't paying any attention to him. You know. Kind of how Shang had to train the unruly soldiers who weren't getting anything right. Sokka has a positive relationship with his dad (Zuko, ofc, does not). Shang also has a positive relationship with his dad! And not only this, but there's a military component to both relationships, specifically with Shang wanting to follow on his father's footsteps and aid him in the war... so much like someone else I know, who jumped at every opportunity to rejoin his father in the war, even wishing to join him as a child until Hakoda tasked him with protecting their Tribe instead (kinda like Shang is tasked with training soldiers rather than joining a battlefield).

And the final cherry-on-top that I'd loooove to hear Zuko fans try to argue against... is sexism :') didn't Sokka get characterized as a sexist guy for four episodes, which made people decide that this was his main character trait even if it went away that quickly? Um, yes, that happened. Shang literally sings the memorable song that's a crazy ode to masculinity, including the rather sexist line of "did they send me daughters when I asked for sons". Shang outright abandons Mulan once they discover that she was a woman all along (while, admittedly, choosing to abandon her rather than KILL HER, which as we saw from Chi-Fu, he was NOT supposed to spare her!)...

So, is this REALLY what Zuko fans, who willfully believe their boy is a feminist king (... why? beats me...) are trying to compare their unproblematic blorbo to? :'D Me? I have no problem linking Sokka with Shang due to Sokka's beginnings and due to the fact that both Shang and Sokka have similar growth when it comes to accepting femininity is as valid as masculinity, and as they both learn to respect women as fighters and potential heroes! (I simply do not believe Sokka's ENTIRE tenure in ATLA was about that, though, and that's what I continue to clash with the fandom over...) So... all this is why I've reasoned that Sokka is a VERY solid choice for Shang, in fact, better than Zuko could hope to be.

... but this isn't all.

Maybe some might accept my arguments for Sokka-Shang. And then, they might ask:

WHY ZUKO AS YAO, THO??

... And the truth is it took me long to see it, myself, but HOLY SHIT, DOES IT FIT!

What is the primary thing we remember about Yao in Mulan? This guy is constantly itching for a fight, to prove himself, surely riddled with insecurities that he exteriorizes through overcompensation of masculinity. He's funny as fuck, but he's taking himself 100% seriously as a manly man all the time, and he's always ready for violence. But there's one more thing...

He treats Mulan as his RIVAL.

And more often than not? SHE SCREWS HIM OVER. Intentionally or not.

What does that sound like? Why, yes, it sounds a LOT like Azula and Zuko's sibling relationship!

The fact that Yao is a temperamental dude who lashes out easily at things (oh, something he has in common with Zuko!), that he specifically resents Mulan (in this case, Azula, just as Zuko does!) and is either constantly looking to defeat her and prove his superiority over her (... wait, just as Zuko with Azula??), that he has a black eye perpetually across the movie, and it's his LEFT EYE (just as Zuko's scar is on his left eye! :'D), that he's friends with a pacifist he has basically nothing in common with, personality-wise (just like Zuko and Aang!), and that he pretty much has a REDEMPTION ARC in which he goes from a bitter, asshole rival to Mulan to treating her as a friend and ally, to the point where he was disappointed to leave her behind and THEN joined her at once when she says she has a plan? :') I have always been critical of Zuko's redemption arc, goes without saying. But if ANY of these characters redeemed himself in any significant way, it certainly seems to be Yao to me, and with people gushing NON-STOP about Zuko's redemption? Why, he ought to be the character who goes from bitter rival to loyal friend, right?

So. I'm not even sorry. Zuko is Yao. And I'd dare say that he should be flattered by the comparison, even, because Yao ends up being cool as FUCK!

I don't really talk about this much nowadays, but Mulan was my favorite Disney movie growing up, it ABSOLUTELY had a formative influence on me as a little girl, and Mulan was my favorite female character for a looooong time. Thus, any excuse to rewatch this movie makes me happy as heck. With the wisdom of age I know, of course, that it's not perfect, it's not what China wants, it's not the most thoughtful depiction of Chinese culture or the most faithful adaptation of Mulan's poem (... but I'd also dare bring up that the 2009 Chinese adaptation ISN'T all that faithful either...), but it has a kind of magic in it, a solid storytelling flow, so many memorable moments one after the next, that I could hardly choose which scenes to depict... Disney has never again seen the storytelling heights it reached with Mulan in 1998. I don't even care if that's a controversial opinion in any way... this is their best animated feature for me, and nobody can change my mind.

So... depicting Azula, my beloved, in all these scenarios as this character I adored and idolized as a child, was so damn fulfilling for me. While some might think that, personality-wise, these two ladies don't have much in common, the fact that Mulan is sent to a matchmaker who basically tells her she looks good but is going to be the worst wife ever...? Our girl Azula, with all those insecurities about being unloveable and a monster, probably would relate big time to that.

Mulan is also an INTELLIGENT soldier rather than a brawny one, which is how she starts to make progress in the army, it's how she manages to overcome the huns with that avalanche... and Azula's primary difference with most other antagonists in ATLA is that she's smart as fuck. She is very strong, no doubt, but a LOT of that strength comes from her intelligence, from assessing situations in unique ways, from planning and strategizing. The way Mulan finds the most unexpected solutions that still pay off reminds me a lot of how Azula achieves unexpected feats through rather unorthodox means, capable of taking over a city with basically no bloodshed while her nation has spent 100 years trying and failing to do so through major army incursions and who knows how much senseless violence. Obviously, I'm not saying what Azula did is GOOD and it's kind of dumb that we always have to point that out... I'm merely comparing the magnitude of the feats, and the fact that they both come from ladies who use strategy and intelligence to achieve their goals rather than muscle and physical power.

And while anyone would rage at me for the comparison between Fa Zhou (her dad) and Ozai, the truth is the dynamic between them CAN be compared, if loosely: Mulan literally goes to war to keep her father safe. Azula goes to war under her father's orders. Hell, she makes herself BAIT in the Eclipse to make sure the Gaang won't get to her dad?? While it's very much possible to say that both characters have different personalities and attitudes in life... I'd also bring up that their contexts are evidently completely different. I wouldn't say for certain that Azula, had she been raised outside a Royal Family, would be EXACTLY like Mulan... but they might have more similar traits than one might expect. Ultimately, though... I love them both. And this opportunity to swap their places was pretty much a dream come true!

Alright, that was plenty of rambling xD ultimately, I had a blast doing this commission, as I'm sure is obvious by now. So! If anyone wants to commission me, feel free to check out my prices right here and hit me up if you're interested!

[sokkas-therapist]

Hi hi hi! I have a quick poll question for all the Atla fans that were at Comic Con Revolution today!

If you got in, reblog and put in the tags what time you got in line. If you didn’t, reblog with how long you were in line for, and or what you heard/were told regarding wristband distribution. I’m genuinely curious, lol

Me and a couple hundred other people were in line for over 2 hours and didn’t get in 😭

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

honestly, i think the double standards with catra and glimmer stems from something other than pretty privilege, and it's something i've seen in a lot of media.

take, for instance, the atla fandom demonizing aang and katara but coddling azula. or the su fandom villanizing steven but making excuses for spinel and lapis.

and the reason for this is that villains or antagonists are always given more freedom to make mistakes, to do heinous shit, to be cold or rude or insensitive to others. the logic being that "they're the villain, of course they're gonna be horrible".

with heroes, on the other hand, there's this subconscious judgment whenever they make a mistake. heroes are meant to be perfect and as much as people say that they want more antiheroes, they always judge a hero based on how morally good they are.

which explains why katara is hated on for saying something insensitive out of repressed grief and trauma, but azula is coddled for committing multiple war crimes.

why glimmer is bashed for being kinda mean and making some bad choices due to grief and pressure, but catra's conscious choice to attempt genocide and willing participation in war is justified.

why steven is villanized for having a mental breakdown after years of suppressed trauma, but spinel's attempts to kill dozens of people on earth are excused.

why mabel is demonized for being kinda selfish sometimes and for being manipulated into giving away something she didn't know the importance of, but bill is loved by everyone.

why korra is blamed for trusting her uncle and losing her connection to the previous avatars, instead of unalaq being held accountable for manipulating her (unalaq isn't really coddled by the fandom but there's a huge victim blaming problem).

simply put, people want heroes to be pure. they want surface-level flaws like clumsiness and awkwardness, not REAL flaws. as much as these people say that they want more morally grey or complex heroes, the truth is that they can't even handle their hero being kinda rude to someone.

especially with characters like glimmer, mabel and katara, who have a more traditionally feminine aesthetic and is generally a good person, people expect them to be well-behaved and perfect all the time. even though both these characters were shown to be passionate and stubborn and fierce from the very beginning, people are still blindsided when they actually take a bold stance or act on their emotions.

and with steven, he was a nice, happy, easygoing kid in the beginning and he tried to remain optimistic throughout all the trauma he went through, so people just expect him to do that forever. to always repress his feelings and never give himself the space to express them, to always focus on being a therapist for literally every other character and to never prioritize himself.

and like sure, villains are meant to be evil. i'm not telling anyone to water down their villains. but there's a difference between liking a villain and excusing their actions. i like azula. i like all of the villains in tlok. i like bill cipher. i even like catra and white diamond minus their shitty redemption arcs.

but i'm not going to set double standards by justifying everything that a villain does and demonizing a hero for acting out of line once. especially if the hero actually takes responsibility for their actions and tries to be better, and the villains just get forgiven for doing the bare minimum.

[sunofpandora]

Now yall might send the pitchforks after me for this one but I feel like the fandom is kinda falling back because we’re at a point where smut is getting a little less appealing.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good sexy fic.

But I always just love some fluff and feels. Y’know?

We’re HUGE on smut.

But what about a story? No ‘porn without a plot’ (bc what’s a story without a plot?) I’m talking about a story in which readers experience connections that aren’t just physical or sexual. How about a story about forbidden love? Or best friends secretly in love?

Are you guys even aware how hard it is to find a Jake sully fic that isn’t smut? Trust me. It’s hard.

I feel like a good chunk of whatcaused the rise of our earlier avatar era was ‘I wonder what sex with these blue aliens is like?’

Trust me. We know what it’s like now. We’re FAR past the curiosity and ‘new discovery’ stage.

Im gonna be real guys. I’ve been here since January 2023. Ive seen all the smut, all the kinks, all the sexy stuff. I’ve seen it all.

You know what I haven’t seen?

Na’vi courting fics. Ever wondered what goes down with that? I have.

You know what I haven’t seen?

A unique perspective on Na’vi relationships. A huge part of writing is taking creative liberty. Who cares if your Na’vi isn’t perfectly right? Who cares if you want to write about an omaticaya with curly hair? Who cares?

(Maybe the super obsessive toxic people care.)

But I sure as hell don’t!

Creativity is freedom. You don’t have to read all the comics and interviews and visual dictionaries to write a story!

Im just yapping but the lack of non-smut content we have here is just a little too unappealing at this point.

[thighguys]

Please explain the vday video lore im new to the fandom!!!!

oh, sure! this is pretty much one of the biggest phandom controversies ever lmao so. super taboo topic too, people only got comfy even mentioning it within the past few years. tldr it was a private video of phil talking about their relationship that got leaked and caused them to be outed. detailed explanation under the cut bc it's long lol

basically in like 2010 phil recorded a video while dan was away on a family vacation (i think india) talking about how much he loved him and going into a bit of detail on like, their first date, etc etc (references to the manchester eye and avatar 3d come from this video as phil mentioned them kissing for the first time on the eye and also at avatar lol) and in the video phil said it was a Valentine's Day gift for dan as dan wasn't there to celebrate with him. he posted it privately and that was that. ive seen the video once but it was a while ago, mostly i remember a lot of little drawings of fireworks and cherries lmao. which, more lore, but. not for this rant lol

then a year later, 2011, youtube went through a glitch that unprivated everybody's private videos and the video was leaked. dan and phil put out a statement or wtv saying they had recorded it as an april fools prank for their viewers but they scrapped it because they worried people might take it seriously, and asked people to not spread the video around. luckily the phandom was still fairly small at this time and not too many people saw the video so it wasn't a huge deal.

THEN in 2012, it got unprivated again due to Another glitch, and this time (basically right after they'd gotten really popular) people went crazy over it. dan and phil asked people not to share it but it didnt work, and there are a lot of receipts from back then of both of them (but especially dan) getting super defensive about their sexualities. they copyrighted anyone who tried to repost the video and phil was still taking it down up until at least 2018 (i dont know of any vids being taken down later than that but im not sure).

the reason it was a big deal was pretty much just bc of the gigantic breach of privacy lmao. dan and phil were literally outed and people couldn't keep quiet and respectful about it. people got ahold of this private thing and then when dnp got defensive about it, instead of stopping, viewers kept pushing. i think it was a mix of 'wow this video is cute also phan is real' and 'the more upset and defensive dnp get the more it proves that the video isn't a joke' and also a good portion of the phandom was too young to recognize the impact they were making. not to excuse them, but like. they were 12 years old finding out their favorite ship was real and they weren't mature enough to shut up about it.

honestly it's just really sad to think about lmao. they were so young and they went through soooo much bs. it's amazing that theyre still together honestly, atp their relationship is literally unbreakable. there was a whole breakup theory after the video leaked the second time actually, bc they did less joint content for a while there before they launched dnpg. i never read up on that but im sure somebody's got a rundown on the main points if you're interested lol.

im sure somebody has a link to the video if you really want to see it? it's up on youtube somewhere (possibly unlisted) and i know somebody put it on tumblr a while back. i don't know where it is though, you'll have to ask around. i don't personally see any harm in watching it at this point- they're out and grownups now and so are we, so as long as you arent spreading it around or being generally disrespectful lmao i say go wild. not everyone will agree with that tho, like i said it was a reeeally taboo topic for a while and a lot of newer phannies honestly might not even know about it. i wasn't personally there when it happened but i was an 11 year old with internet access in 2017 and i literally took notes on dnp lore deepdives 😭

anyway that's about it! if anyone has other things they think i should add/edit lmk ☺️

[avelera]

Wheel of Time for all its flaws really was just The Most Worldbuilding

Like it really showed that oh, that cool idea you have for a fantasy world? Yeah come back when you’ve got 200 more of those to layer on top of each other. Ok, you’re almost half way to the amount of batshit worldbuilding in just the first three books out of fifteen.

It’s post apocalyptic sci-fi

It’s also Arthurian

It’s ALSO Norse mythology

It’s ALSO a totally new elemental magic system a generation before Avatar the Last Airbender

It’s ALSO a reimagining of Tolkien’s “a wizard shows up to take some provincials on an adventure where they become Important People”

It’s ALSO a political epic

It’s ALSO a reimagining of Dune

It’s ALSO an exploration of war veteran trauma and a denunciation of pain as having moral value

It’s ALSO a total remix mishmash of all the world’s cultures

It’s ALSO a deconstruction of the Chosen One trope where the Chosen One is utterly ruined by all the “cool things” destined to happen to him

It’s ALSO an air-tight prophecy engine where one tiny lie buried in the middle of just ONE of the THOUSAND PAGE BOOKS that many took to be an error was actually a huge character reveal they got debated for LITERAL DECADES before it was confirmed

It’s also an interrogation of gender in a world where women with magic are essentially the Vatican because men with magic are doomed to go insane, such that they’re hunted down like dogs

(And before I have to deal with the whole “gendered magic makes it transphobic” no it FUCKING ISN’T. It’s not perfectly progressive ffs because it was written in the 90s, but a man reborn into a woman’s body channels male magic because he is MALE and I’m so sick of people saying that the book is gender essentialist. You just haven’t read far enough.)

Anyway. Wheel of Time is totally unhinged worldbuilding. It was my first most beloved fandom. It’s totally unlike so much other fantasy to this day. The showrunner loves the books enough to know they have to be broken and reformed, just like the world itself, to work in this new Age and he’s done a fabulous job. You don’t understand how abnormal I am about this series.

[theshadowrealmitself]

Lately I’ve just been obsessed with “person who does not understand how beloved/famous they are” and it’s been so difficult because I can’t stop thinking about it but I can’t find anything that’s close to what I want

There’s several variations I’ve been ruminating over (Avatars from atla/lok who maybe don’t comprehend how big of a deal avatars are to the average person, superheroes who don’t engage with their fan base at all, etc)

But the current one I’ve been obsessing over is “chosen one who defeated the big bad”, it’s all after they’ve fulfilled some prophecy, or maybe there wasn’t a prophecy, they were just the person who got things done, however they did it, they got rid of them, and now it’s afterwards and they’re trying to figure out what they’re doing with their life

And they’d be a huge deal, and I’ve seen some fics in some fandoms that touch on this, but none show exactly how intense I think everyone would be, not just in terms of paparazzi but just like:

things they buy influence other people to buy them, huge amounts of fan mail, could have anyone they’d want, books and stuff being based on them, people obsessively buying any merch of them, and yes people keeping up with any news stories about them, and because of who they are practically everything is considered “newsworthy”, etc etc etc

But I also want them to be so fucking oblivious to all that, like of course on some level they’d know that people are a bit intense about them, but maybe because they spent all their time gearing up to defeat the big bad and then recovering from defeating the big bad, they never found out the full extent of how much of a public figure they are

But everyone else in their life knows, and has no idea the mc doesn’t know, there’s just a communication breakdown happening there

[renthony]

🏳️‍🌈

(Drop a 🏳️‍🌈 in my inbox and I’ll respond with a queer media recommendation!)

Everybody who follows me already knows that The Dragon Prince is my favorite TV show in the whole world. Created for Netflix by Aaron Ehasz (an alumnus of Avatar: the Last Airbender) and Justin Richmond, it's an epic fantasy series that kicks off with a trio of plucky protagonists who are determined to return an egg kidnapped from the dragon queen by a dark mage, because the kidnapping of the dragon prince (hey! the title!) puts the entire world at risk of war.

One of the fundamental themes is exploring the cycle of violence and abuse, and how that cycle can only be broken when people commit to it wholeheartedly. It also shows that, even when someone wants to break the cycle, there are others who are invested in continuing it, and peace takes incredible and painful work.

The worldbuilding is phenomenal, the character and creature design is incredible, the story is gripping, and the writing is...*chef's kiss.* Every season is better than the last, and the increase in animation quality across the years is unreal. Season six was utterly ethereal.

Phase one of the series spanned seasons one to three, and we are currently in the final stretch of arc two ("Mystery of Aaravos"), encompassing seasons four to seven. Season six just dropped, and according to the official Instagram account, it's been #1 on Netflix for the past five days! That's really great news, because they're trying really hard to get greenlit for arc three--so now is a really, really great time to get into the show! You want to do it, you want to do it so bad. Use the hashtags #TheDragonPrince, #ContinueTheSaga, and #GiveUsTheSaga if you do! Please, for the love of fuck! 😭😭😭

Currently there are six seasons of the tv show, several books (including novelizations, original comics, and art book, and in-universe guides), a tabletop roleplaying game, a board game, and a brand-new video game that launched this week. This world is huge, and it's so fun to explore!

Here's the trailer for season one of the show:

Here's a trailer for the most recent season, for those who saw the early seasons but didn't keep up:

And here's the trailer for the mobile game:

As far as why I'm recommending it as a queer show, there are so many queer characters. The show prompted some griping early on because it had a pair of tragically dead lesbian queens, but in the seasons since, they've introduced a gloriously alive lesbian battle couple who get married on-screen, a married pair of gay men, three different trans characters (one of whom joins the main cast in season 4 and remains a major character), and a general lovely air of casual queerness in a high fantasy setting. The tabletop roleplaying game has multiple canon queer characters, too, and the show's cast and crew have made it clear that they have queer people among them, they fully support queer people in the fandom, and they want to include queerness in their world. It's awesome.

(And I'm still sticking with "when one man looks at another man and says 'our baby was so cute,' that's canon enough for me." So there's some fantastic queer villainy that's, like, the perfect icing on the cake for me personally. The Dragon Prince: for all your unholy dark magic mpreg bug baby needs!)

Also, this show has my poorest, saddest, littlest, wettest meow-meow babygirl of all fucking time: Lord Viren, (former) High Mage of Katolis, the most turbo-divorced man in all existence. If you follow me, you've seen that motherfucker. You know who he is. You have seen his sad miserable little face. You know who I am and what I'm here for. This paragraph is not a surprise to you. You know.

Here's a picture of me in Viren cosplay, as both a shameless cosplay self-promo and a reiteration that, no, seriously, this is my favorite TV show ever:

Ask For a Rec | Other Media Recommendations | Support Links

[tallulah477]

Below the cut contains my thoughts and feelings about certain issues that I've seen recently that I feel like need to be addressed including hate/bullying, the new Neteyam & Lo'ak rp blogs, and the general fandom as a whole.

CW:// Mentions of pedophilia, predators, racism, and homophobia

Over the past several months, and especially over these past several days, it's come to my attention that we as a fandom need to make some things abundantly clear.

I was a silent reader for a long time. I love Avatar and this fandom with my entire heart and I wanted nothing more than to be an active part of it and member of the community, but the thing that stopped me for a long time was seeing how hateful people can be and I wasn't sure if I could handle it. Obviously, I decided that my happiness and sharing my love for Avatar and the characters with other people who love it as much as I do is more important than any nasty messages I might get and I couldn't be happier with my decision. I think I can safely say that most of us here in the fandom can say the same (although I'm sure the feeling of happiness comes with endless ebbs and flows for all of us).

That being said, the amount of sheer bullshit that I've been seeing on here is ridiculous.

The amount of hate messages that I've had to witness my mutuals receive is unacceptable. The amount of hounding as to why someone unfollowed this person, why aren't they interacting with this person anymore, why would someone write something like this, why won't you write this, is crazy to see. I've seen racist comments, I've seen homophobic comments, and I've seen people being called a pedophile wayyyy to often now.

This is Tumblr. We are responsible for our own media consumption. We cultivate our own media experience.

That means authors write what they enjoy regardless of content as long as they are responsible and tag the work correctly. You as the reader are responsible for heeding those warnings.

This means that if two people who used to interact or follow each other all of a sudden don't or someone gets blocked, it is no one's business as to why it happened. They don't owe you an explanation and there's no need to publicize drama. Do not go into their inboxes asking for details because all that does is feed the flames.

This is supposed to be people's happy place. Our safe space. And instead it seems like there's something new happening every single day.

At this point, we've all seen the rp blogs that have popped up. I'm not generally someone who enjoys rp so I didn't interact, but I saw a ton of my mutuals and others having a great time with them. Despite me not liking rp, it was exciting to see at first. A live persona of one of my most beloved characters interacting with fics that I love? Yes, it's definitely exciting to see!

But then it got not so exciting to see. The responses seemed solely sexual and out of character for Neteyam, a lot of them were really dark and borderline violent. I like dark fics, and I love dark Neteyam. But there are warnings to every dark fic and you go into them knowing what to expect. For a blog that's rp-ing a character that's not canonically like that, it was concerning to see.

We've had issues in this fandom in the past with predators. And despite us all being adults here (at least we should all be), you can never be too careful when it comes to the internet. I am NOT saying that the people running these blogs are predators, but certain things I've seen have raised some flags to me. Rp can be really dangerous when people don't know who's behind the character, especially if things are sexual. Since then, both blogs have created 'About Me' sections which I think is good. So that's something I appreciate.

However, we've also had the opposite problem in which minors interact with us and our content. It's a huge problem that we are constantly trying to battle because while seeing/reading sexual content can be harmful for those who are underage, it's can also get us into a lot of trouble for interacting with minors even if we don't know they're underage. When the accusation that the rp accounts were minors came out, they were sent asks to confirm. One responded respectfully and one, in my opinion, responded not so respectfully. If you are ever asked if you are a minor, don't get pissed about it. It's an important question and you should understand and respect its importance. Just clarify.

I'm saying all this not because I don't think people should interact with these blogs if you want to. It's 100% up to you and I know a lot of people were having fun with it. You're all adults, do what you think is best. And I do think it would be really nice to have more guys in the community, whether they rp or not. My issue with them is more about safety than anything else.

Now back to the hate comments. For any issues I might have had with the Neteyam blog (again, no hate, just my own thoughts), I only ever saw the Lo'ak blog being respectful. Yet, I still saw someone on their actual blog, not under anon, telling him "can't you just leave?". Under no circumstances is it okay to say this to another person. Any one who is an active member of this community who posts fics or the like KNOWS what its like to receive hateful comments like this and you think its okay to say something like this to someone else? No way. I'm sure you know what it feels like to get comments like that and you decided to be nasty to another person anyway. You should know better. Anyone who can say something mean to or about another person should be ashamed of themselves.

For as much as I love this fandom, this is insane that I actually have to say this.

Be kind. Be respectful.

And if you can't?

It's called the block button, people. Use it.

[but-a-humble-goon]

Adam Taurus Stans confuse me. Like, of all characters to die on they chose the Worst Guy in the show, and will swear up and down how cool he is on account of “black and red Iaido sword fighting is cool.”

For the exact same reason they get mad at the RWBY girls for developing outside of their initial seemingly two dimensional personalities. RWBY early on managed to attract the kind of people to its fanbase that subsist entirely on shit like Sword Art Online (or worse). Anime where the girls exist solely to be assembly line waifus distinguishable entirely by a small handful of endlessly repeatable shallow personality types so ubiquitous they literally have their own names

Category:Dere Types | Dere Types Wiki | Fandom Likewise the men exist solely to be avatars of pure, shameless power fantasy. Bland, empty cyphers the male audience can more easily project themselves onto. We call it bad writing, they call it the entire point. A lot of people like to use Jaune as their self insert but he is a gigantic loser and some people aren’t into that. Emphasis on some because the entire harem genre is built on loser protagonists which is why this fandom has so much of that going on. But still a lot of people were waiting for their Kirito. A badass edgy sigma male Gary Stu. Ren's much less of a loser than Jaune but also very much does not fit into that category. Wouldn't you know it though, there is exactly one other relatively age appropriate male character in the show from the start and he totally does meet that criteria if that's what you're looking for. In fact he fits the bill suspiciously well... Before we knew anything about him, before he'd had any screentime outside of the trailer and one five second long ending reveal in Volume 2, Adam Taurus had already been pre-selected as the designated male power fantasy self insert by a huge swathe of the audience. And to be fair that was intentional on the part of the show. It's not an accident that Adam is a walking goulash of things weebs are hardwired to have wet dreams over. The entire point of him was to brutally deconstruct the exact archetype of character he represents. The problem is we're dealing with media literacy on par with the average deep sea invertebrate. So season 3 happens and all the normal people went "oh wow that Adam Taurus guy is a creepy abusive psycho stalker and a complete monster, I can't to see him get his comeuppance" but all of the guys I've been talking about were instead sat there like "...so when does the power fantasy begin?" Then by the time they realized two entire seasons later that they were the ones being made fun of they were already very committed to this character. Channels like Eruptionfang had already put out playlists of media analysis videos examining the complexities of this completely made up version of the character that existed solely in the realm of their imagination who, were he ever real, would be the perfect sigma male antihero they were so desperately waiting for. Bit hard to just accept you were wrong by that point.

[god-complex-12]

Rasāsvāda

— Paring; Khonshu x male reader. Fandom; Moon Knight/Marvel

Rasāsvāda: (n.) the taste of bliss in the absence of all thoughts

Quote; "Your heart is aching, Y/N. Your mind is trying desperately to hold you together, like clay being pinched at the seams. You're trying to maintain control, but something in you is not quite stable."

Description; Night conversation with Khonshu. Disclaimer; Sad. Mentions of a higher power. Reader is Moon Knight. High up on a building. Absent-mindedness. Mentions of degradation and judgment for an opinion? Khonshu’s depicted to be a dick. Ignorance to one’s own feelings. Mental health issues (not specified). Unstability. Loneliness.

Word Count: 1.2k

Masterlist

A/N: I don’t know. Everything had been fucking everywhere for me, so have this and do what you want with it. That's all I can muster up. 

Trillions of small little light sources scattered in the darkness of the sky appeared, occasionally disappearing behind the light gray clouds and reappearing when they pass. Small to what all see, but huge when closer. Perspective tricking the less developed minds into thinking there's tiny night lights gifted by a higher power or simply to make the night sky look pretty. The earth’s atmosphere makes the bright celestial body’s twinkle. From where the white armored vigilante sat, he was incapable of hearing the ever subtle sound those huge stars emitted despite the sound traveling through the gas in the huge vacuum of the universe. 

The cold night wind made the knight’s cloak gently rustle. One of his legs was dangling off the side of the building ledge and the other flat on the edge he was sitting on, bent to his chest as his head was completely pointed upward. His mind blank, his mask off, his body relaxed. 

The god looked down at his avatar. His hollow eyes staring at the back of Y/N. He knew Y/N was unaware of his presence, but that’s not what concerned Khonshu. He tapped his staff against the rooftop to make himself known before speaking. The loud ‘thud’ of the staff coming in contact with the concrete roof bounced around the area. “Y/N. What are you doing?” 

Y/N didn’t flinch or move. He had gotten so used to Khonshu’s frequent appearing and disappearing that he no longer got visibly frightened by being watched. “Looking.” His tone was quiet, calm, and vague. He didn’t go on into detail, instead leaving it short and sweet for Khonshu to interrupt for himself, so that Khonshu was given the chance to make what he wanted of the answer.

Khonshu didn’t like that. He knew why Y/N was doing it. Y/N spoke vaguely because he knew if the answer wasn’t of the deity’s liking, it would only lead to degradation and judgment, so he gave an open book answer. Khonshu looked at the Moon Knight for a few seconds before calmly speaking. “Looking for what, might I ask?”

Y/N shook his head, not looking at Khonshu. “Not looking for something. Just looking.” He wasn’t searching for anything. It’s like looking at a painting in a museum, some people look through the painting for inspiration, techniche, or flaws; others just admire the work, not actively searching for something in specific. 

Khonshu tilted his head to the side slightly like how a dog does when you say it’s favorite word in a baby voice. This caught his interest. All the many years he’s walked this Earth, human’s like this always caught him off guard. "And what is it you hope to see by 'just looking’? Is there any particular reason why you wanted to be here.. on this roof?" Khonshu clearly didn’t get the message in the last response.

Y/N sighs. Not an upset or disappointed sigh. Just a simple deep breath. “Peace.” Another vague, open ended question for Khonshu to mold and shape to his liking. He gave an answer that would fit both the stand points of the searching artist and the admiring artist. 

"Hmm. And has that peace you seek been found?" Khonshu's gaze remained locked on Y/N’s back. He didn't seem to be bothered by anything, either. A few moments passed after the question. A comfortable silence filling the air between them. 

“Momentarily.”

Khonshu nodded slightly, remaining silent. If this was the kind of answer he was going to get, perhaps he should try a different approach. He sighed before speaking again. "What troubles you, Y/N? I know you're hiding something." Khonshu's voice was low and quiet, but there was something about it that gave it a slight edge, an underlying sharpness.

"I am?" Y/N slowly turned his head to Khonshu. This was the first time he had looked at Khonshu this entire conversation. His face is an unreadable expression even for Khonshu. "Since you know I'm hiding something. What do you think I'm hiding?” Y/N seems more curious by the accusation than defensive. 

Khonshu's gaze remained still and cold, but there was something there — a sliver of compassion. He knew what he was asking Y/N. "Your heart is aching, Y/N. Your mind is trying desperately to hold you together, like clay being pinched at the seams. You're trying to maintain control, but something in you is not quite stable."

Y/N slowly nodded and hummed in acknowledgement. He was silent for a moment as he went back to looking at the sky. It was true, he couldn’t argue even if he wanted to. "I'd tell you you're wrong, but if you were... I wouldn't be your avatar."

Khonshu chuckled lightly, finding the small jab quite funny. "Very astute of you." He sounded appreciative. "But you still haven't answered my question. You hide something from me, from yourself. What is it?"

"I must be very good at hiding because I don't know." He looked back at the night sky. He constantly had this nagging, never ending sense of dread. That something would go wrong, or maybe that something was already wrong. He was paranoid of everything around him and it was tearing his mind apart. Piece by piece. He didn’t know what caused it though. He never did. That’s what drove him into the dark, never ending pit of madness. 

Khonshu took a moment to respond. His voice was very carefully measured, calm. He knew that Y/N was going through something, even if Y/N was too stubborn to admit it or if the man truly didn’t know. "I think you might, Y/N. I've had the chance to observe you at close range for a little while. I know there's a weight on your shoulders. I know it's there in the way you stand so rigid, because you're so desperately trying to not buckle under that weight."

“Oh, how poetic of you. Does that come from being so divine?” There was sarcasm carefully laced Y/N’s tone. He’s not stupid enough to insult a god who saved his life and had been protecting him, but he can’t help but show some of his annoyance with light “playful” sarcasm. 

“You are a lonely person.” Khonshu states this as fact.

“I am, aren’t I?”

[wilcze-kudly]

honestly.... kuvira has irl parallels w putin.

I mean yeah I've compared her to Stalin and WOW IT'S ALMOST LIKE RUSSIA HAS BEEN DOING THE SAME DAMN THING FOR DECADES. Like seriously it's starting to feel like fucking groundhog day man.

And look, I don't want to be the asshole who shames people for liking Kuvira. I like a lot of aspects of Kuvira's character.

She's hot, she's charismaric (mainly due to Zelda Williams but yk) and she's a relatively compelling character. People are allowed to enjoy a villain character without endorsing the shitty stuff those villains do.

But there is a distinction between Kuvira the character and what Kuvira represents/the thinly veiled real life ideologies behind her.

Kuvira as a character is interesting, you know? Fun to talk about. Someone who was abandoned at a young age and proceeded to self sabotage her relationships and became a control freak who fears vulnerability due to that. Pretty standard villain shit. But fun, and there's a little more to her.

Kuvira as a representant of real world ideologies carries much more weight. People catch onto her Nazi imagery, but the Soviet stuff isn't as obvious. A lot of western europeans and Americans, the main demographic of Avatar won't immediately clock those influences behind Kuvira.

To those countries, Soviet occupation of Eastern Bloc countries was just the cold war, the red scare, a looming threat that could cause harm, but was at least not capable of influencing their lives too intimately.

While the countries that were under the power of the Soviet Union still have that memory fresh in their minds. Hell, my mom grew up in the PRL, my uncle was a part of Solidarność. People remember that shit it wasn't that long ago. Reading literature from not that long ago like A Minor Apocalypse or Madame feels surreal. When I read memoirs or just heard stories from my older relatives, I could taste the atmosphere of bleakness, distrust and confusion.

So maybe I'm just more primed to notice how Kuvira's actions play into patterns of Russian aggression. Maybe when Western European and American viewers are more willing to give Kuvira the benefit of the doubt, or see merit in her actions, I'm more willing to look at her through the lenses of the ideologies she represents.

Throughout most of the show, we don't actually see that much of Kuvira as a character. She's more a silent, looming villain in the background and due to her more calculated demeanour, we don't get a lot of insight into her personality until the last two episodes. So maybe it's easier to look at her more as a representant of dangerous ideologies than as a character.

Mind you, I don't think Bryke really thought through the implications of giving Kuvira the aesthetic and ideology they did. Nazis and to a lesser extent, Soviets, have become very much shorthand for "bad guy" in fiction. If they had thought this through, I wanna at least hope that they would have handled Kuvira more carefully.

Because by giving Kuvira a sense of moral ambiguity and the clumsy handling of her character, you have dumbasses ob reddit defending her. I'm genuinely shocked at the amount of Kuvira apologism in the tlok fandom.

But that goes back to the Western Bloc viewers and creators not really being familiar with the history Kuvira embodies. Not fully imagining the perspective of for example the people under her rule. Which is a perspective I am desperate to see, filling out the blanks with the history Kuvira draws from.

Most of B4 is seen through that 'outside perspective' of Korra and Republic City. Not unlike how a huge part of the narrative around the cold war and Ussr is the Cold War and how it affected Western Bloc countries.

Once again, the only characters who are actually part of the Earth Kingdom and have some experience with Kuvira's occupation are the Beifongs. But they are dismissed as biased, irrational, agressive or pushed aside when our heroic USA inserts get the spotilight. The fandom despises Suyin, derides Zaofu for not being the perfect victims. A story we see more and more of nowadays.

Suyin is depicted as "white woman liberalism" depsite being a leader of a community based, anti monarchist city which seems to allow it's citizens to flourish as artists and scientists and also refusing to seize power over a vulnerable country to hand it over to a monarchy she didn't support and then wanting to kill a fascist? But "ooooh Zaofu is culty and Suyin is a bit of a hypocrite" so I guess she's worse then the fucking Hitler Stalin lovechild that threatened to lay seige to her peaceful city.

The Kuvira apologism in the fandom does sometimes give me similar vibes to Putin dickriding from Conservative americans tbh. At least that explains it.

The reason I'm so unsettled by so many people being blind to the ideologies and history Kuvira represents is because that ideology is not dead. It seems like a lot of westerners don't really seem to care about it anymore, but Russia is still commiting a genocide in Ukraine. Hell, it seems like people from countries that aren't close to the conflict kinda forgot that was still a thing. People are fucking dying, homes are being destroyed. And you think Russia will stop at decimating Ukraine? They're already hiring arsonists to cause chaos in Poland, they're not gonna stop.

These ideologies still cause pain and death today. They're not for cheap villains who can be watered down and excused by a sad backstory. And they're certainly not to he excused and supported by edgy fans who somehow didn't realise that the previous show was violently anti fascist.

Love Kuvira as a character, enjoy her, her storylines, her personality. But for the love of God, acknowledge what she represents, who she represents and that it's bad.

Whew that kinda... got a little heavy. I apologise for the rant, I'm just very frustrated. By how Kuvira is woobified and exhonorated hy both fanon and canon, and by current events in the Ukraine and Poland and the rest of the ex-second world countries and the seeming apathy of the rest of the wider world.

Quick note: The terminology in this post may not be fully up to date, since a lot of terms have went out of usage and lost their meaning.

[sukiitoru]

Hello hello~ here for another niji ask, thank you so so much for doing my Sonny request <3

Anyway back on topic. May i request luxiem with an extremely flirty s/o? Or maybe just one if you dont wanna do all of them. Once again take your time and make sure to take care of urself

Hello anon! Glad you enjoyed the sonny request ♡︎.

Thank you for the wonderful request, I will do this with all luxiem members since this is an adorable request, and thank you for the kind words I sure will you take care as well ♡︎.

WARNING: Please remember that I am writing about Luxiem based on their characters online and not of the people behind their vtuber avatars, thank you!

Mc is non-binary pronounce is they/them

Fandom: nijisanji en.

Pairing: luxiem x mc.

Category: cute fluff, flirty mc.

Flirty affection.

Luca Kaneshiro

Luca is the type to be completely oblivious to any flirting directed towards him so he most of the time won't notice.

If he does notice he will respond with a 'pog' and he won't show any sort of reaction.

Unless you sit him down face to face and hit him up with the flirting he will be stunned for a second processing what you just said his face will turn bright red.

He'll be pretty flustered especially since it's his s/o his only respond is a soft 'pog' as he buries his head into Mc's neck.

After a while of being with mc he'll get used to the flirty comments and affection mc gives him but it never fails to bring a shy smile to his face and to make his cheeks a soft red as he chuckles in embarrassment.

He gets so used to it, he might flirt with mc back without realizing hitting them with a 'you too!', which works in most situations.

Mc would to need to find new tricks to make him flustered, like teasing him on stream, pinching his cheeks surprisingly gets him a little shy.

Luca is the type to pout and wait for you to flirt with him when you stop suddenly, or when you'd argue about something, he would just sit there and wait for you to fawn over him with a pout on his lips.

When he does get attention, his face lights up and he wraps his arms around Mc's waist, enjoying their attention with a big grin on his face.

Might test out some pick-up lines he found online and would say them to mc and wait for their response, mc responds most of the time with a laugh or a chuckle than mc tells him a better pick-up line and will kiss his entire face, his cheeks would turn red a huge smile on his face as he chuckles at the small kisses allover his face.

Just compliment and love this man, he loves everything you do anyways.

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

Shu Yamino

Shu is rather shy when it comes to flirting not knowing how to react, his face turning red slowly as he looks down and covers his face with his hands.

Would appreciate a warning but it doesn't change anything really so he stops expecting one in the first place.

He's just so shy about it at the begining of the relationship, than slowly gets used to it and warms up to the idea.

Might drop a few pick-up lines here and there but would get super embarrassed after, would definitely ask for cringe pick-up lines from mc to use randomly on twitter or just say them in his streams.

When shu comes up to mc saying he's the 'master rizzler', mc is very confused but supports shu anyways.

They'll help him with pick-up lines, how to deliver them, silly things like that until shu comes up to them one day and just says "I've reached my goal as the master rizzler thank you for your sacrifice".

Mc is still confused but smiles and gives shu a kiss on the cheek anyways than goes back to what they were doing.

Even after a while in the relationship shu is still pretty shy about it, he'll just laugh with the most red cheeks you've ever seen.

They grow even darker in color as mc just coos at him and brings him into their arms for a gentle hug.

He'll just mumble against their shoulder incoherently, mc doesn't have the heart to tell him they don't understand what he's saying, so they'll kiss his head gently over and over again until he calms down.

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

Ike Eveland

Ike is the best flirt avoider in this entire world, so when he gets another vox flirting with him left and right he just avoids it like normal.

Except his feelings for mc start to grow so their comments start to affect him just slightly, he still moves on from them not even acknowledging them but you'll see how his cheeks turn slightly pink showing he actually got affected by the comment.

When he and mc get together his reactions grow slightly, except of ignoring their flirting he'll smile gently at mc his cheeks slightly red as he looks at them, then back at whatever he was doing.

At one point something mc said made him so shy he just buried his head into Mc's shoulder with a whine.

Mc don't embarrass him please, he's just so shy about it.

As time goes on he gets used to them and his reactions goes back to normal completely ignoring the flirting except this time he'll have a small smile on his face.

Finds it very endearing and might get the confidence to flirt back with mc if he's drunk.

When he's drunk he finds the comments super cute and would go out of his way to say so to mc everytime.

He will then process to compliment mc and flirt with them for about half an hour.

Teach him pick-up lines and he will be even better than you at flirting it's the best thing ever.

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

Mysta Rias

Mysta will play it off awkwardly at first face glowing bright red as he laughs awkwardly "you don't mean that" he would say with an awkward laugh.

His face will turn a deeper shade of red when you tell him you mean it with a straight face.

Will mumble a soft thank you rubbing the back of his head and just sitting there than will mumble a weak "you're awesome too".

As he slowly gets to know mc and gets together with them he'll start to get more comfortable with the flirting and will smile shyly at it now, might even pitch in with a few pick-up lines himself.

After he and mc get together he'll grow more comfortable with it, and will start to flirt with mc on a daily basis learning their tricks and using it against them.

Mysta pulls an uno reverse and starts making mc embarrassed by his flirting, then they both will just giggle like highschool girls and just bask in each other's company.

Mc will definitely try to flirt more with mysta and to make him embarrassed knowing that physical touch is more likely to make him shy.

Just hug him out of no where or kiss his cheeks and face, he'll be putty in your hands.

As time goes on flirting will be the norm in their relationship, they could be just chilling on the couch cuddling and they'll start flirting with each other like they just met in the club.

Mysta finds it very endearing as their bond grows stronger as flirting starts to turn into their very own love language.

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

Vox Akuma

When vox first meets mc the first thing they both do is flirt with each other.

It's basically like a second language to them at this point from the amount of time they spend speaking it to each other.

Even before they get together they would flirt with each other all the time, which might annoy some people since it looks kinda cringe when you look at it from afar.

When vox and mc get together their flirting grows stronger, and they don't even take it seriously most of the time giggling after flirting with each other.

Both mc and vox find it a cute personality trait in each other and will tell each other how much they love it.

As they both get closer the flirting wouldn't stop, just growing more chill and turning into more compliments then flirting really.

They just love everything about each other and a day doesn't pass unless both of them tell each other how much they love and care about each other.

Mc and vox are a very affectionate and lovey dovey couple and they never deny it and just tell people about it all the time.

If they argue about something they will both sit on different sides of the room glancing at each other every once in a while with a pout on their face.

It will end up with both of them apologizing, and then cuddling and complementing each other to absolutely no end for the next day or two.

They love each other very much and they'll never grow tired of it or try to hide it.

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

Thank you for reading all support is highly appreciated ♡︎.

[anakin-pilled]

SILVER SPRINGS (Lo'ak x Fem! Reader)

pairing: lo'ak x fem! reader

wordcount: 7.6k

warnings: angst, fandom cliches, amateur writing, bantering, unrequited love (?), complex family dynamics, A LOT OF CLICHES IM SORRY, bad pacing (my bad bro idk how to pace a story im new to this), not sure what else as this is pretty tame

rating: SFW! though my blog is 18+ because i interact with nsfw content, anyone can technically read this?

taglist: @teyamsatan

author's note: okay hi this is my first fanfic that i've ever written before? not counting fanfics i wrote in middle school anyway i got the idea for this fanfic after listening to silver springs by fleetwood mac and i was so obsessed with this idea that i had to make it come true? im a huge neteyam girly so this is a shocker that my first fic ever is about lo'ak (he's my babygirl, just not the LOML like neteyam). uhhh im only familiar with academic writing and this is my first time EVER dipping my toe into the waters of creative writing so pls bear with me if this is not perfect. i actually think this is quite flat and tbh i hate the pacing like its actually awful and there is so much room for improvement, but hey what can i do? IM A NEWBIE AT THIS!! with that being said, if you do decide to read, please treat me with some grace because i am sensitive and i did this purely for fun!!! i know my lo'ak stans are starving for fics and im here to deliver!!!! i am not a professional or seasoned writer by any means but i really tried my best to create something enjoyable ): i don't know why this ended up being so long but it did and there WILL be a part two, i already have it outlined. SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, here is my first avatar fanfiction!!

proofread and edited but i got lazy toward the end LOL if you see any mistakes, please tell me kindly <3

You could be my silver spring

Blue-green colors flashin'

I would be your only dream

Your shinin' autumn ocean crashin'

The forest blended into a mixture of vibrant colors as you ran away from the incoming threat. Beautiful shades of blue, green, and purple passed around you. The feeling of the bare ground, soft and pliant from the morning dew, normally imbued you with a sense of stability and peace. As long as your feet were on the ground and connected to Ewya’s bountiful moon, you knew everything would be alright. However, this time, the feeling of the bare ground underneath your feet felt the opposite of stable and peaceful. The ground served as a reminder of how much longer you had to run until you reached the safe confines of the Omitikaya clan. 

You stopped running with a quick halt. Your chest heaved up and down as you tried to catch your breath. The beads in your hair clacked together in a cacophony as you looked around in different directions. The sun broke through the tree canopy and highlighted the forest like a kaleidoscope. Swish. You quickly turned your head to the other side to catch sight of what made the noise but all you could see was the rustling of the bush–as if whatever you were looking for was looking for you too before running off. Without a second to spare, you dashed in the direction of the village. But you only made it a few feet ahead of you before you were tackled by something heavy and shoved to the forest ground.

“I win.” said the voice from above in a triumphant, but annoying, manner. 

“You got to be faster than that, ‘eylan.” As you shaded your eyes with your hand, you were met with the illuminating picture of Lo’ak on top of you. The sun shone above on Lo’ak and cast him in beautiful rays of light. He looked like an angel–like a celestial being sent straight from Ewya’s heart and into your eyesight. Though you have never seen an angel, Norm described them as ethereal and pure religious beings. And at this moment, Lo’ak was an angel. 

“Get off me, fatass.” You said as you pushed Lo’ak weight off your body. You secretly loved the weight of his body on yours and how it radiated a warmth that hugged your body and soul. Lo’ak rolled off with ease and laid next to you on the foliage. “Hey! No need to insult me because you lost yet another round of hunter and prey.” 

Hunter and prey. A game that all Omitcayan children played growing up. And though you and Lo’ak were no longer children, you continued to play this game. Lo’ak claims it’s a great way to burn energy and let loose. You suspected he liked playing so often because it allowed him to avoid whatever daily chores his father, the Olo’eyktan, assigned him. And while you could think of better ways to spend your time, you indulged in Lo’ak’s childish whims because it brought him happiness. What type of best friend would you be if you didn’t? 

“I’m not insulting you because I lost. I could care less about losing,” You explained. “I’m insulting you because tackled me to the ground and put your entire weight on my body. Lay off the yovo fruit and I might insult you less.” 

Lo’ak scoffed at your response and stuck his tongue out in a mocking manner. “You mean the yovo fruit that Spider and I specifically collected because you asked for it? Yeah, I got put on ikran pen duty for a week after that since we missed curfew.” 

You simply rolled your eyes and aimed your middle finger at Lo’ak. Yeah, you definitely spent way too much time around Lo’ak. 

You both basked in the sun and listened to the sound of the forest: your home, your comfort place, the lifeline of the People. You thanked Eywa every day for the forest and the way it provided for you endlessly–from the delicious yovo fruit, to the medicinal herbs, fauna, and everything in between. There was a gentle rustle in the air as it approached low afternoon. If closed your eyes and listened hard enough, you could hear the faint buzz of the insects and the leaves fluttering. 

As you turned on your side to face Lo’ak, you noticed he still had his eyes shut. Your eyes raked over his stripes–the stripes that would forever be engrained in your brain–and focused on the armband that fits snugly on his upper arm. The weaved armband was made out of dried, violet stalks from the tstxa'a plant and braided into a traditional, intricate Omatikayan pattern. You added tiny clay beads that you hand-molded and painted a color very similar to a marigold–you captured copious amounts of juice from the banana fruit just to have enough pigment to create a dye. A small smile appeared on your face as you recall how long it took you to make the armband. 

Your eyes slowly made their way toward his face. They widened as they realized Lo’ak’s eyes were open and staring at you too. The air was charged with tension as you both continued to stare at each other in silence. 

You and Lo’ak always had this weird ability to communicate through eye contact alone. Your friendship, which was forged in childhood, ran so deep that words failed to represent what your eyes could. He was your other half as much as you were his. In these small moments of intimacy, you remember just how much you love Lo’ak. There was an unspoken bond between you two–a bond that went beyond friendship and teetered on the edge of romantic love. And while it was undeniable that there was something more happening between the two of you, your relationship stayed on that flimsy edge. 

“What are you thinking about,” you whispered in a tone so soft that it reached Lo’ak ears like a tender caress. 

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking,” Lo’ak replied with a teasing lilt in his voice and a glitter in his amber eyes. While everyone in the Omatikaya clan had the same shades of bright, yellow eyes, you thought Lo’ak had the prettiest. You raised the muscle on your face, where your eyebrows would have been if you had, and furrowed your forehead in suspicious knowing. 

“Thinki-” “I’m thinking about how funny it would be if I beat your ass in another round of hunter and prey! Last one to the village has to take over foraging duty!,” Lo’ak shouted with a boyish smile as he got up quickly and ran in the direction of his kelku.  

You got up from the lush grass and ran after him with another exacerbated breath.

The day drawled along as you patrolled the forest for the dandetiger tree. You looked for its long, azure leaves and armored trunk. As a healer in training, you were tasked by Mo’at to look for the tree for samples of the resin-like substance that it leaked. The sticky substance was extremely helpful to the Omatikaya clan in many ways as it behaved like an adhesive. It was especially important to healers as they used the dangetiger tree as part of treating wounds and ensuring bandages stuck and protected healing wounds. The healing hut ran low on its supply, thus you found yourself wandering through the forest. Kiri offered to accompany you, but you could tell she rather focus on perfecting the paste she was mixing. A major perk of being best friends with Lo’ak is that you also became close with his family and found a small niche within the Sully family.

You were an extension of Lo’ak, but also the opposite of him in some ways. Whereas Lo’ak was more energetic and impulsive, you were calmer and sensical. You both balanced each other perfectly; you were the yin to his yang. While Lo’ak’s nature often got him in trouble with his family, namely his father and older brother, you loved his high energy and zest for life. Sure, he could use more pragmatism in his daily thinking, but you saw Lo’ak’s personality as a blessing more than a hindrance, especially in times of war and destruction. If Lo’ak was your sun, then you were his moon–stable and outer-worldly. You were unwavering. Your nurturing nature and kind soul always amazed Lo’ak, even in the worse of times, you took it upon yourself to think and act as an optimist. You carried yourself with a sense of dignity that Lo’ak wishes he could replicate.

Though none of you ever admitted it out loud, you and Lo’ak knew that you loved each other in a way that best friends didn’t.

Despite your differences, you both had a passion for exploring and adventure. If Lo’ak went anywhere, you followed. And if he got in any trouble, you were only a few steps behind him. While Lo’ak intention for mischief was partially caused by the motivation to piss off his father, you believed that Eywa made Pandora for the purpose of exploring. Why would she make Pandora so magnificent and rich in life if not to experience every single crevice, nook, and cranny of it? While the forest would always be your home and the place you want to spend the rest of your life in, you could not deny the appeal of a nomadic lifestyle like the Olangi clan. However, with the return of the sky people on Pandora, your exploring had been cut to a short. Unable to venture into the unknown parts of the forest, the parts that resulted in a scolding or two from both your mom and Mr. Sully, you were forced to stay within the clan’s boundary lines.

Your thoughts were cut short as your heard movement in the background. The bag on your shoulder was discarded to the ground as you took out your bow and arrow. You were no warrior, but you begged Lo’ak to teach you enough to be able to defend yourself. Any Na’vi should know this little. You prayed to Eywa that it wasn’t a palulukan, or worse—a sky demon. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of your face as you aimed your bow in the direction of where you heard the noise. You aimed at the bushes before letting your final finger release the bow.

“Relax, syulang! It’s just me, Lo’ak!,” he said as he came out from the bushes of loreyu and walked to where you were standing. “Lo’ak,” you huffed with annoyance in your voice. “Don’t scare me like that, you skxawng! I was really focused on finding a dandetiger tree. Tsahik’s orders. What are you even doing here? I thought you were training with your father.”

“Lo’ak,” you huffed with annoyance in your voice. “Don’t scare me like that, you skxawng! I was really focused on finding a dandetiger tree. Tsahik’s orders. What are you even doing here? I thought you were training with your father.” 

As Lo’ak walked closer to you, you noticed the downturn expression on his face. Your immediate heart softened. He must have had another fight with his father, you thought to yourself. Lo’ak turned his face toward yours and you saw the unshed tears in his eyes that threatened to fall any second now.

“I, uh, I was training with my father until we got into a fight and I stormed off,” he said with a shaky breath. You could tell Lo’ak was trying to keep his composure, not wanting to show that vulnerable side he desperately tries to hide away. Yet, you knew better than that. Every time Lo’ak tried to shut down and hide his emotions, you came running after him and knocked down the fragile walls he built around himself. The walls were fragile because Lo’ak knew he would and could never shut you out completely. He took a deep, shaky breath before continuing, “I’m just so sick of it. He expects me to be this perfect son and soldier all in one, but I’m not Neteyam. I’m just Lo’ak.”

You always thought Lo’ak was the most complex person you ever met. He was the second-born son of the revered Toruk Makto and mighty Palulukun Makto. But, Lo’ak was so much more than that to you. He was more than both of his parents. Though he would never admit it, Lo’ak was a lost soul. Not quite like Neteyam, the mighty warrior and dutiful son, or the spiritual Kiri who was literally like Ewya’s disciple. Hell, even everyone knew Tuk would grow into a fine, strong-spirited woman! Lo’ak didn't know where he fit in his family. Of course, the Sully family loved him, and Lo’ak loved his family just as much. But that still didn’t stop the gnawing, deep feeling in Lo’ak’s subconscious from telling him that he would never amount to greatness like the rest of his family. You wished Lo’ak wouldn’t be so hard on himself because you also had a deep feeling in your subconscious that Lo’ak was destined for greatness–the feeling was embedded so deep in your bones that you would bet your left on it. 

“I know that I’m a fuck up.” 

“You’re no-”

“It’s okay, syulang. I know I’m a fuck up. I can see it in the tribes’ faces every time they hear my father lecture me, or worse, hear Neteyam lecture me. I can see it in my fathers’ eyes and in the way the rest of my family pities me.”

“Your family doesn’t pity you, Lo’ak. If anything, they pity the way your father has been forced into this weird dichotomy of the punisher and protector ever since the sky demons returned and how it’s taken an effect on your relationship,” you tried to explain as sweetly as possible. 

You took a step closer to Lo’ak and examined his face. Though his tears had dried and his eyes were now puffy, you could still tell there was a great sadness within him. You wished you could take all his pain and suffering so he didn’t have to. 

“I don’t know who I am besides the fuck up, or the troublemaker. I feel like my entire existence is defined by all the things I am not. Defined by the way I’m different from Neteyam or Kiri. I want to be defined by who I am, but I don’t even know who that is most of the time,” said Lo’ak. “I try so hard, but it is never enough to satisfy my father. Or myself. I feel this heavy pressure in my chest and no matter what I do to relieve it, it stays. If I am not meant to be the next Olo’eyktan or the next Tsahik, then who am I meant to be? Sure–I am training to become a warrior, but I’m not sure if this is something I want or if it is a role I am forced into. I know I’m impulsive and reckless and irresponsible, but I try so hard, but what if that isn’t enough to look over all my flaws and mistakes?”

You moved even closer and tucked one of Lo’ak’s front braids behind his ear. You always loved his hair like this. It suited his face so well. His braids were adorned by various beads, each with its own significance and memory attached to them. The beads he wore today were a pretty amethyst color. Your mind quickly flashbacked to the day you both created the matching beads. You both swam all day in one of the forest’s ponds trying to find the purple stones underwater so you could both craft new beads. Lo’ak almost passed out from lack of air twice and your hair was so tangled by the end of the day that it took your mother three hours to undo the gnarly knots. It was totally worth it, however, because you gained new accessories and memories to match. But before you could let yourself get too far away in the past, you shifted your attention towards Lo’ak and began to speak.

“I see you, Lo’ak. I see all of you. I know that you feel like a lost soul and that you get too caught up in comparing yourself to the rest of your family. And I truly wished you didn’t compare yourself to others so much because you are so special.” Lo’ak’s face grew warm at your words. Before he could respond, you interrupted him and continued to talk. “You feel like you are too different from your family and think you do not fit in, but you do! You are the light of your family; you bring laughter and happiness. The Sully dynamic would not be the same without you–it would be too serious and no one would have fun! Lo’ak, you have a strong heart like your father. Even though you could use some impulse control, I know you never have ill intentions. We are still so young and have so much more maturing to do. Do not let yourself be defined by the mistakes of your past. Mistakes are bound to happen–they are as natural as birth and death. You’re the light of my life too. Without you, there is no one else in this clan that could make me smile as much as you do. No one to explore with and quench our thirst for curiosity. You say that you are impulsive, but there is too much excitement in your body to contain it. I love seeing your excitement and wander–it is a reminder of Pandora’s goodness and the way Eywa intended us to live. You are not irresponsible, you are just learning along the way like we all are. There is no one like you, and my heart is torn because you do not see yourself in the same way. I pray to Eywa that you could see yourself through my eyes.” You then placed one hand on Lo’ak’s chest, right above his heart.

“​​Nga yawne lu oer, Lo’ak.” There was no going back now. You said it–the words that would either be fatal to your soul or make your heart sore higher than the Hallejuah Mountains. And though there was a risk of Lo’ak rejecting you completely, you jumped off the fragile cliff that your friendship lived on. All the intimate moments, the knowing smiles, and the lifetime of shared memories led you to this moment. 

A moment of silent pass as you waited for Lo’ak’s response to your confession. Lo'ak did not expect you to confess, but he knew at some point it was bound to happen. Just not right now, under these cruel circumstances, in a time of devastation.

You shouldn’t have confessed. Lo’ak wasn’t ready for it.

The look in your eyes was so sincere and so full of unconditional love. You are the only person who could truly see Lo’ak for everything that he is and everything he was meant to become. The light hit your eyes in the right way and Lo’ak could swear they were glittering. Ewya blessed her with both heart and beauty, he said in his head. Lo’ak could only stare as he still reeled from your heartfelt speech. He wasn’t an idiot—Lo’ak knew that there was a special chemistry between him and his best friend. And he also knew that it was the type of chemistry that only two people in love have. Lo’ak has known ever since he was a small child that you were his endgame. Your years spent together only solidified his hypothesis. 

Life on Pandora could be unforgiving and unrelenting, but you were the complete opposite. You were forgiving, always ready to accept Lo’ak back into your arms and heart after every mistake he made. Though these mistakes were rarely made towards you, you still welcomed him every time. You were always there for him. But, Lo’ak didn’t fall in love with you because of the fact you were always there for him. It did play a big part, but Lo’ak knew that would be a selfish reason for falling in love. Instead, Lo’ak fell in love with you because you were…well, you. You were kind and always treated your fellow clan members with the utmost consideration and respect. You were perceptive, never wanting to misconstrue a situation and analyzing all nuances before speaking on something. Because of this, everything you said or did was genuine. Lo’ak loved this the most about you. Where Lo’ak felt everyone in the clan (excluding his family and Spider) give him fake niceties, you were 100% authentic towards him. You never condescendingly spoke to him or treated him like a chore that had to be put up with. Compassion and understanding were what you treated Lo’ak with. These are all things he rarely experienced with other Na’vi. Yet, you also weren’t afraid to call out Lo’ak on his bullshit and humble him. You somehow balanced outspokenness and tenderness all at once. This lit a fire in Lo’ak soul.

This thought both excited and scared him. The thought of loving someone unconditionally, and being loved unconditionally, seemed like something too good to be true. Only something reserved for people who deserved it. Lo’ak knew you deserved unconditional love, but it couldn’t be with him. Despite everything you said about him and the way it almost glued together his broken self-esteem, Lo’ak could not return your confession in good consciousness. It’s not that Lo’ak didn't love you–hell, he loves you more than anyone or anything on this moon! But, his insecurities would not allow you to love him or allow him to love you. He didn’t deserve to love or be loved, not when his insecurities kept up awake at night, taunting his brain with “You’ll never be good enough” or “You’re a failure of a son and brother.” You deserved better than Lo’ak and all of his broken parts. You needed someone who was the best–someone like Neteyam, but not Neteyam himself because that would be the final nail in Lo’ak’s coffin. Lo’ak knows his recklessness, impulsivity, and natural gravitation toward the unknown was acceptable because he is young. These may be the traits you love about Lo’ak now, but he knows very well these are the same traits that can make you fall out of love with him too. After all, you won’t be young forever and it won’t be cute forever. But what if he never grows out of this? What if this is who he is meant to be? No, Lo’ak would not subject you to this fate. 

And so, for once in his life, Lo’ak let fear take over his decision. Your face morphed into an expression of shock and confusion before settling on a still face.

“I am sorry, syulang. I can’t do this right now.” 

You watched Lo’ak retreat from the spot you both stood in. What the fuck just happened?

You spent the next few days in a strange haze as you processed what happened between you and Lo’ak. At first, you were angry. How could Lo’ak just leave you hanging like that? For Ewya’s sake, he could have said anything else and it would have been a better response than what he said. You laid your fucking heart out on your sleeve, waiting for Lo’ak to take it and claim it forever. After your initial response to the situation, you started to worry. Maybe you misinterpreted your relationship. What if Lo’ak didn’t love you and you just thought he did because of how close you were? No, that didn’t sound right. You knew Lo’ak loved you too. Not even in a delusional way to comfort yourself, but there was no denying you both loved each other. Did you just confess at the wrong time? Perhaps it would have been better if you confessed when Lo’ak wasn’t fighting with his father. But, you didn’t even mean to confess! Well, you did mean to confess but not at that exact moment. You were trying to comfort Lo’ak and reassure him that he was wrong, that someone could love him. It just seemed like the right thing to say. What if it wasn’t? What if it overwhelmed Lo’ak and pushed him away? Now you felt like the jerk for confessing at such a moment. But Lo’ak was a jerk too for just leaving you! You really wished you could talk to him, or that he would talk to you, but the timing was horrible. The war party went out a few days ago, and it was Lo’ak’s first time joining the mission. But of course, things never go as planned. Over-enthusiasm from Lo’ak’s and an injured Neteyam caused Mr. Sully to put Lo’ak on lockdown for the last few days. This was the first day Lo’ak was allowed some freedom to explore, that’s what Kiri told you before she left with her brother, Spider, and Tuk. You wanted to join them in their adventure today, but you were still reeling from your last conversation with Lo’ak and decided it would be better to stay in the village. You needed one more day to unscramble your thoughts before approaching him.

The tension between you and Lo’ak had been festering, but it quickly came to a stop once you saw him walk back into the village with his entire family. Jake and Neytiri walked walk in front of their children with heavy looks on their faces. Jake looked angry, yet worn at the same time. His mouth was pressed in a tight line and the wrinkles in his forehead looked more apparent than they ever have before. Neytiri walked beside Jake with Tuk’s hand in hers in a tight grasp, as if she never wanted to let her baby go ever again. Her expression was harder to read, but you could tell the tsakarem was worried by her stiff posture. Kiri trailed behind her parents with a slouchy form and arms across her torso. She looks dejected. And finally in the back were Neteyam and Lo’ak. Spider was nowhere to be seen, which you found odd as he went with the rest of the Sully children into the forest, but you assumed he must have gone back to the human outpost before curfew. 

I wonder what happened. Something must have happened if the entire family walked in like that. 

Jake and Neytiri quickly made their way to their kelku and closed the opening flaps before any of their children could come in. The Sully children then made their way toward the side of their kelku and leaned forward on their hands as they attempted to listen to their parent's conversation. You wanted to make your way towards them and figure out what the hell happened. Just as you were about to walk over to them, Lo’ak turned around and his eyes scanned the village as if he were looking for something or someone. Lo’ak’s eyes then met yours and with a small nod, you understood what he was trying to say. Later. At our spot. 

Your stomach turned to bubbles as a feeling of cold anxiety washed over your body. You weren’t sure if it was because of Lo’ak or something else, but you knew whatever it was, it was not good. 

Lo’ak was already sitting on the bioluminescent forest floor when you arrived at the small clearing which was designated as our spot. It was a hidden clearing–away from any of the main trails and hunting and gathering spots that the clan used. You first found the clearing one day after playing a round of hunter and prey with Lo’ak and Spider. 

Flashback

You were both 12 years old. Your hair was cut in a sharp, shoulder-length bob because you claimed long hair only got in the way. A bright orange and yellow ombre feather decorated the underside of your hair. A simple beige-toned weaved top and matching ‘tewng adorned your small body as you ran away from Lo’ak. He loved playing the role of hunter–you assumed it because of the way Lo’ak looked up to his father.  He wanted to be like the Olo’eyktan in every way possible. This was before their relationship had a strain in it. Both you and Lo’ak were unmarred from the harshness of war. The only thought that filled both of your minds was what adventure you would get into next. 

As you giggled profusely and thought of where to run next, you noticed that you were in a different part of the forest that you never visited before. You searched for any familiar landmarks, or plants that would signify where you were. The giggles that previously escaped your mouth quieted down as the situation dawned on you. You were lost in the forest all alone! Your mom was going to kill you, but only if a nantang or palulukun didn’t kill you first. 

“Lo’ak, are you there!!!!!,” you screamed at the top of your lungs. That probably wasn’t the smartest move. A predator could be attracted to your sound. But you figured it would be better to call for Lo’ak. If any predators came, you could climb a tree and wait it out. 

“Lo’ak!!!” you continued. Worry was starting to creep in. If you didn’t find Lo’ak soon, there was no way you would be able to survive the night in the forest. 

As you looked around the clearing again, you noted that it was quite pretty. A small pond, decorated with pink paysyuls, sat in the middle of the forest. The sun streamed through the trees and you could see the fishes elegantly swim in the water. A pack of loreyu sat directly across the pond, along with eanean bushes right next to it. The clearing was simple, but you knew that it was much more than that. Like everything else Eywa created, the clearing served a purpose and was spiritually connected to the Na’vi. Perhaps its purpose was unknown until this moment. You decided that the purpose of the clearing would be a secret spot only known to both you and Lo’ak. The thought excited you, and you quickly imagined a lifetime of moments here.

Flashback Over

Lo’ak sat with his arms extended behind him with his back facing you. You could see the tension in his back muscle as he sat there, looking up towards the night sky. One of Polyphemus’ moons was shaped like an ikran claw. Despite the moon’s brightness in the sky, the stars still twinkled. A soft, minty green glow emitted from the bioluminescent leaves Lo’ak sat upon. His tanhi, patterned perfectly on his body like Ewya directly hand placed each freckle herself, glowed like the sky above him. Lo’ak was lost in his thoughts as he silently spoke to Ewya, questioning what her intention was. You cleared your throat to grab Lo’ak’s attention.

“Hey…” he muttered under his breath. You replied with a soft hello before taking your place next to him. There was still an awkward tension lingering between the two of you, but you pushed it away. Whatever happened a few days ago didn’t matter anymore. You knew something serious happened in the Sully family and you knew your best friend needed you right now. 

“Do you want to tell me what happened this time?” you quoted Lo’ak as you looked into his eyes for the first time in a few days. The dark lighting only enhanced the rich shade of his honey-colored eyes. They glowed brightly in the dark. His eyes resembled the shiny topaz glass jewels located deep in the rainforests’ many caverns–both were a sight to behold. 

Lo’ak thought he should rip the bandage off. There was no point in delaying the traumatic news he just received from his parents. 

“My family and I are leaving the forest.” 

You were confused by his statement. Leaving where? There was no other place to go. The forest was your home, his home. “Do you mean that you’re visiting another tribe for diplomatic reasons,” you asked with a slight tilt in your head to match confusion. Why would this be so important that he needed to meet you at your spot? This wouldn’t be the first time the Sully family has left on diplomatic retreats.

“No, (Y/N). My family and I are leaving the forest permanently,” Lo’ak replied. Your heart dropped into the pits of your stomach. Now you were just getting annoyed. You haven’t spoken to Lo’ak in the days, and the first thing he does is try to pull at your leg. “Lo’ak if this is a joke, then it’s not funny. What are you talking about?” you said with a stern voice. Lo’ak stared at you as if he didn’t want to explain further. It’s true, he didn’t want to explain further because it meant that what was happening was real and there was no way to delay or stop the situation.

“Earlier today, when we were exploring the forest, we saw footprints in the dirt that didn’t belong to any Na’vi. It was sky demons. We followed the footsteps to an abandoned shack. I knew we weren’t supposed to be there, but then we spotted a group of uniltìranyu in military gear. I quickly paged my father and let him know what we found. But as we were trying to leave back to the forest, the uniltìranyu captured us and held us hostage…”

“What?” you let out in shock. The magnitude of Lo’ak’s words hit you like a poisoned arrow. Dreamwalkers? How could that be true? The last dream walker to walk the ground of Pandora was Jake Sully…and that was 14 years ago.

“I-I  thought we were going to die. They treated us like we were animals. As if we were the ones who invaded their planet and deserved to be captured and hung. All I felt was primal fear and the instinctual reaction to protect my family. We were held hostage until my parents and brother came to our rescue. But, it was too late by then. They figured out who were and our relation to my father.  They even captured Spider…” Lo’ak had to stop speaking. The familiar tightening of his throat began. You could tell he was about to cry, but you pushed further. Honestly, your brain was fuzzy at this point. It was so fuzzy to the point that you didn’t even process the news of Spider, your tiny human friend, being captured. It completely slipped your mind. You didn’t have time to think about the implications of this news as you could only process one thing and one thing only: Lo’ak was leaving. The Sullys were leaving!

“What does that have to do with you leaving the forest?”

“Don’t you understand, syulang? They know who we are. Our lives are at risk! The whole clan is at risk if we continue to stay.” Lo’ak explained in frustration. “I don’t want this, I don’t want to leave the only place I’ve ever known. How can I leave the forest while Spider is out there, going through Eywa knows what, with those demons? How can I leave you?” Fat, wet tears streamed down Lo’ak’s face as he spoke. 

Crack. The sound of your heart breaking reverberated in your ears. All you could hear was a dull ringing. Your best friend, the love of your life–how could he just leave like that? You questioned the will of Eywa. How could she be so cruel to tear you both apart? Especially after your confession the other day? You wanted to curse and scream and cry all at once. However, you knew you had to be strong for Lo’ak. 

You held Lo’ak’s body in silence. You were both in a catatonic state. An hour or so had passed since his initial confession. The atmosphere was serene, a heavy contrast from the dark storm brewing in both of your minds. This may be the last time you would ever get to hold Lo’ak like this and fully enjoy his presence. All of the years spent together slowly meshed in your mind as you tried to calm yourself down with memories of happier times. You honestly didn’t know how you could survive this life without your other half. 

Lo’ak wasn’t faring any better than you. His continuous sniffles vibrated on your body. He barely looked up, wanting to savor the feeling of your bodies pressed together in such an intimate way. His mind was in a haze as he processed the situation. This wasn’t real life, it couldn’t be real life. His life was perfectly balanced with you. If Eywa sought to protect the balance of life, why would she take you away from him? Why would she take away Spider? 

Tomorrow is never promised. That is a cruel lesson you learned today. It was probably best that you and Lo’ak head back to the village and sleep, but you didn’t want this night to end. You wanted to savor every last moment. Memorize every stripe on Lo’ak’s body, every green speck in his eyes, the way his eyebrows moved, and how his body felt right next to yours. How could you say goodbye to 14 years of memories in one night? It seemed impossible. 

As you stared at the light reflecting off the pond, you knew there was one topic you had to broach. You weren’t sure if this was the right time, but it was the only chance you had. After all, Lo’ak only had one more day in the clan before his family set off to Eywa knows where. You knew the forest of Pandora held many clans, but you suspected his family would be going somewhere even further than that. You tried to calm the rapid pace of your heart, but your nerves refused to settle down. So, you sent a quick prayer to Ewya, turned to Lo’ak, and quietly said, “The other night, when I said I love you, why didn’t you say it back?”

You didn’t want to fight with Lo’ak–not on a night like this, where blood has been shed and a family has been torn from normalcy. But, you had to talk to Lo’ak about this. What if you never saw him again? You couldn’t live the rest of your life with unresolved feelings. It would drive you utterly insane and wreck your soul for as long as you live. 

(Y/N)...”

“I’m being serious, Lo’ak. Why did not you say it back? I know this is the last thing on your mind right now, but you cannot leave me hanging. You owe me more than that and you know it,” you said with determination in your voice. 

You then stood up. This was not a conversation you could have sitting down. The anxiety coursing through your veins made it impossible to sit still. Lo’ak followed your actions and stood up too. 

“I was afraid,” he replied.

“Afraid of what Lo’ak? We have always been so honest with each other.” You thought you would always understand Lo’ak, but perhaps you were mistaken. You didn’t understand what there was to be afraid of. You both loved each other, shouldn’t that be enough? You failed to realize that love isn’t enough sometimes. There are forces beyond your control that make love unsustainable and out of your reach, despite how close you are to it. Eywa did not teach you this lesson. Lo’ak did. 

Lo’ak was faced with two choices at this moment: he could confess his love to you or he could deny it. He so desperately wished he could choose the first choice. Something within him would not allow himself to whether it was because he was about to leave and he could not promise himself to you, or because he was so far deep in his inner turmoil. Lo’ak felt anger bubbling in his chest. This anger wasn’t directed towards you, but himself. He cursed his inability to allow himself to fully love you because of his internal issues. No, he justified the second choice in his mind with weak reasons as to why he could not confess his love. 

If he said confessed, Lo’ak knew you would spend the rest of your days waiting for his return. If he ever returned. You deserved more than that. You deserved someone who could love you now. The prospect of you waiting for him, only for Lo’ak to stay the same Na’vi he was now, a version of himself that wasn’t proud of, haunted him. Yeah. Lo’ak framed his reasoning to focus on you, rather than himself because it made the harsh reality less painful. Damn the fact he was leaving, he would wait 100 years for you too if he confessed. The reality was Lo’ak could not confess his love because he couldn’t give his all to you, not when his judgment and self-worth were clouded by thoughts so dark that Eywa would be heartbroken to learn one of her children, whom she created with love and adoration, did not love himself. 

Either way, he was about to break your heart for the second time within days. 

“You are the other half of my soul and if there is any person who can understand me, it is you. But, I cannot love you. I’m sorry syulang.” There was a sorrowful look across Lo’ak’s face. Your body deflated at his words and the familiar sting of tears gathered in your eyes. He didn’t want to continue, but if was going to break your heart, you at least deserved a proper explanation.

“You are the most lovely and wonderful woman on this planet; the idea of you not being in my life hurts more than a palulukan attack. But I swear on my life to Eywa when I say this, but it is not you. It’s me. You have always been this positive being in my life, and I always hoped it would rub off on me and make me a better man. I thought, maybe if that ever happened, we could be together in the future. I would finally be worthy of all the love you have to offer. I am not good enough for you. I would only drag you down with the weight of my heavy problems,” Lo’ak finished.

“But it’s not your choice to decide who deserves me,” you let out with an exasperated tone. “How can you stand here in front of me and deny the bond we have? The love we have? The other day when I confessed that I see you and you ignored it, I brushed it off my shoulder because I was sure, with every fiber of my being, that you see me too. That you love me. But now you are leaving, and Eywa knows when the fuck you are coming back, and you can't even admit it out loud?” you questioned. 

“Don’t you get it? I am not doing this because I want to deny the bond we have. I feel our bond every day from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep. Even in my dreams, you are there. Your essence is built into the foundation of my bones. I just can’t love you. No good would come of it. I’m the clan’s outcast. Yes, we are best friends and we know each other like the back of our palms. But I won't let you carry the burden of my imperfectness,” Lo’ak choked with a sob at the end. 

Without missing a beat, you tirade, “I think everything you are saying is complete bullshit. How could be absolute about something that has not been realized? We have spent the last 14 years together. I know you better than I know myself, Lo’ak. And I know you see me too, so what are you so afraid of? There is nothing that you could ever do that would scare me away from loving you. I love you for who you are–flaws and all. I notice everything about you, the good and the bad. I know you have feelings so big and nerve-wracking that you do not know how to handle them except by convincing yourself that they are true. But you cannot stand in my face and claim that this is for my own good. No, you are saying all this because you are too scared of the possibility that I might see through all that and decide that you are not worth the trouble, that every judgment the clan and your father says about you is right.”

You stepped a few feet away from Lo’ak and then turned towards the direction of the village. He hadn’t said a word since you finished your speech. Your entire back was facing Lo’ak until you turned your head over your shoulder to look back at him. The tears that pooled in your eyes began to flow like a sad waterfall that was dying, the tears slowly rolling down your stripped cheeks in an antagonizing matter. Your golden eyes stared into Lo’ak’s. He could see the hurt etched across your iris and he was sure his eyes looked just as pathetic and broken. It was a moment that would forever be engrained into Lo’ak’s memory. You opened your mouth and delivered the final blow to this already crestfallen night,

“Maybe I was wrong, maybe you don’t see me. Because if you truly did, you would know that I would not care about your weaknesses. I don’t even care about them now. I refuse to believe that you cannot love me too. You are a lot of things Lo’ak. A coward is not one of them. I’ll see you tomorrow to say goodbye.” 

And at this moment, Lo’ak knew this was the biggest of all his fuck ups. He had managed to ruin a lot of good things and moments. Never knowing when the party is over and when the business began. When it came to you, his sweet tìyawn, Lo’ak never made any serious mistakes. So why was he doing it now? Lo’ak’s eyes burned as he stared at your figure walking away from him and the future you could’ve had together. 

translations: eylan - friend, Olo’eyktan - male clan leader, tstxa'a - canalyd, kelku - home, palulukan - thanator, syulang - flower, loreyu - helocordian, skxawng - moron, Toruk Makto - toruk rider, Palulukun Makto - thanator rider, Tsahik - clan spiritual leader, Nga yawne lu oer - i love you, tsakarem - successor to the tsahik, ‘tewng - loincloth, nantang - viperwolf, paysyuls - water lily, eanean - blue plant, tanhi - bioluminescent freckle, uniltìranyu - dream walker, tìyawn - love

credits for dividers: leafs (x) green line (x)

[mothmanssweetsucculentass]

BEN Drowned headcanons

Finally I’m getting around to posting my current standing BEN Drowned HCs! The ask I got a couple weeks ago definitely motivated me to finish this finally lmao.

Trigger warnings for: Mentions of death, manipulation, suicide, drowning, violence, and the general mature stuff you should expect from the adult side of the Creepypasta fandom. There are NO CENSORS BEYOND THIS POINT. Read at your own risk.

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ageless/has kinda always existed since the internet has been publicly accessible

It/it’s pronouns, occasionally caught using they/them and even rarer he/him

Manipulative as fuck

Malewhore mansplain manipulate

Literally makes up a huge chunk of its personality idk what to tell you

Will doxx you

No seriously if you catch its attention you’re getting stalked

Stalks potential victims through the internet

Finds potential victims on forums and the “dark web”

Often goes after people who are heavily depressed and/or suicidal

Thinks it’s funny telling people to off themselves

Like fr its favorite hobby is basically being an average redditor

Probably the WORST mf to date out of all of my interpretations of Creepypasta characters

Gives zero shits about anyone besides itself

Seriously it does not care about you Y/N RUN!!!!!

Lies lies lies omg loves lying so much

Lies to get what it wants

Master “hacker”

If it’s stalking you say goodbye to any and all digital important things you have

Say goodbye to your laptop too

And switch

And iPhone

It’s all getting bricked by BEN if it finds it funny to do so

And it probably will

You like sleep? Too bad

Woe, nightmares be upon ye

Gaslighting KING. Deletes messages between you and people in your life on purpose

Has extensive knowledge of internet culture and video games

Knows every meme ever

Has created most of the “video game” Creepypastas as their own personal “proxies”

Sonic.exe, Smile.jpeg, The Princess, etc, anything inhabiting digital media that torments people, BEN is the one behind it all

Finds friendships useless but respects Slenderman enough to continue being a proxy for it

Got bored of tormenting the other pastas pretty fast, generally avoids them unless slender tasks it with giving specific info pulled from the web to the other pastas (news articles, police reports, locations, etc)

Out of all my HC characters BEN is probably the most serious/grimdark/gritty, I prommy not all my blorbos are as mature and serious as BEN

Takes on the form of a late teenage boy’s body, waterlogged pale skin, constantly glitching and dripping water. Speaks in at least five different voices/tones at once, including robotic AI voices

Only physically manifests to scare the fuck out of people

Stans Hatsune Miku

SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER!

All these HCs are for BEN! Not Ben!!!!

Because after much deliberation I have decided that yeah I kinda do want some of the old BEN middle school me liked to fuck around with. So without further ado, here’s my Ben headcanons:

Created BEN as an AI program for when he can’t be at his computer

BEN is kinda like their “avatar” for the internet

He/they pronouns

Roughly about 20 years old, give or take a few years

Died in the mid 2000s

Sort of??? A ghost?? Like a fusion between a ghost and zombie

Like is obviously a corpse and can kinda go in and out of corporeal and non corporeal form

Has the skin tone of a freshly drowned corpse, but isn’t constantly dripping water

Eyes constantly leak and drip with blood tho. Tissues are scattered all around his room with his futile attempts to keep the blood tears at bay. Face has a “pinker” color compared to the rest of his body thanks to how many times they’ve wiped and smeared the blood around

Similar in behavior/personality as BEN but toned way the fuck down

Like. Still enjoys tormenting people but can (sort of) empathize

Still an asshole tho

And a pervert

And a stoner

And a gamer

He’s a discord Reddit mod irl. Scummy guy tbh

Not afraid of water, just afraid of water damage on their equipment

Lives in the mansion basement

Hasn’t seen sunlight since 2004

Introverted as fuck

Prefers to be physically manifested, leaves all the digital movement to the BEN AI but can enter technology if need be

Cheats in any and all video games you play against him in. Hacker aficionado

Y’all know those fits people used to wear in the 2010s of like, cargo shorts and legend of Zelda t shirts? Almost exclusively his fashion sense

Like yeah he does have the link getup but finds it pretty tedious to get into

Does enjoy scene fashion quite a bit tho

And EDM

electronic stuff in general is his favorite shit ever

Him and the BEN AI never physically kill people, just manipulates them into offing themselves

He’s a weak motherfucker he physically cannot kill somebody

Emotionally tho he would mass murder if he could

The one thing him and Jeff can agree on

Bi, and aro. Kinda too horny and despondent to society to care for someone emotionally for more than twelve seconds

Could definitely stand to make a few friends though, and isn’t opposed to conversation if he ever leaves his gamer basement

Currently friends with EJ, Jane, Liu, Nina, and Helen

Has a tolerable relationship/mutual respect for Masky, Hoody, Jason, Puppeteer, and Slenderman

Doesn’t get along with/hates Jeff, LJ, and Clockwork

Sally sees him as an older brother figure. Unfortunately he’s a bad influence on the kid and also has no idea how to look after a child, he just kinda goes “fuck it we ball” anytime someone puts them in charge of Sally. Has taught her every swear and slur known to man. Thinks it’s hilarious to put her on the mic in gamer lobbies

“Hey dude check this out” proceeds to show you the nastiest shock video ever

Semi-fluent in Japanese despite being whiter than paper. Unsurprisingly a weeb

If he owns a body pillow he keeps it hidden with his life. They won’t be caught dead cuddling up to something like that at night

The mansion’s go to IT guy. Against his will but unfortunately if he wants to continue living in the mansion (or living in general) he has to take this role lest slenderman eviscerates him for defiance

Both him and the BEN AI have a major superiority complex, he thinks he’s way better than everyone else and is the cockiest bastard mf on the planet

Stans Hatsune Miku

[survivalove]

Seriously gonna need certain people in the atla fandom to stop talking about colonialism with this singular definition of going somewhere, planting a flag and living there when there are so many different measures colonizers used (and still use tbh) to subdue and erase a people’s culture before “officially claiming” a country as their own, not even gonna get into those shady official means.

The 2 most common ways western media depict settler colonialism:

1. ethnic cleansing - wiping out the inhabitants and their culture by any means necessary: violence, disease, forced migration etc.

2. disrupting cultural traditions and economic advancement - imposing your way of life on the inhabitants making it impossible for them to survive on their own.

[P.S. This isn’t meant to be an all inclusive definition of colonialism as I’m sure there’s a lot of different ways you can talk about this that I’m probably leaving out from what I was taught growing up in a newly former colony myself.]

Frankly, I’m just tired of this fandom acting like the South Pole was not directly and indirectly affected by the Fire Nation’s colonial practices when:

1. ethnic cleansing:

Hama: They came again and again, each time rounding up more of our waterbenders and taking them captive. The Puppetmaster, Avatar the Last Airbender.

The Fire Nation literally tried to wipe them out continuously. They came back over and over until every single waterbender was captured and if another one was born (Katara) they came immediately back to keep the Southerners in their place.

As said by Katara and Sokka, waterbending was not just a means of fighting but an “ancient art unique to their culture”. The Fire Nation didn’t just physically subdue the South by taking away all their benders but literally wiped out an integral part of their culture which so much of functioning water tribe society depends on, which will be expanded on in part 2.

The Fire Nation also did this in the Earth Kingdom colonies as seen in Imprisoned, the only difference being the soldiers actually stayed in these places, but this did not stop the Fire Nation from coming back to the South and enforcing the same colonial practices they used in the Earth Kingdom over and over.

2. cultural and economic disruption:

I don’t know how much clearer the difference in the South Pole before and after the Fire Nation raids could have been made. The fact that they make it explicitly clear by including this frame in Hama’s story is just another example of how the raids affected the South’s overall development. With the genocide, they lost a huge part of their population to build, hunt and most importantly defend themselves. Like we see in the North Pole, the South had their own ice structures obviously built by waterbenders that people lived in, now living mostly in tents with the village being a much smaller size in general. Katara and Sokka are left to find food for their whole tribe with their benders (and other warriors) gone, and of course when the Fire Nation shows up yet again, they are extremely defenseless and would have been burnt to a crisp if Aang wasn’t there.

Of course, the war meant they also couldn’t celebrate a lot of their cultural and spiritual traditions with their warriors being gone, more an indirect consequence of Fire Nation colonialism since Hakoda made the choice to take the men to fight on his own. The consequences of this are first highlighted in the Bato episode and brought up again in Legend of Korra season 2 by Unalaq.

After 100 years of war, the Fire Nation literally managed to turn the South Pole into a colony in everything but name where they could go and enforce their will on the inhabitants any time they wanted, without having to physically live there in the cold which was least optimal for their living conditions anyway.

I’m tired of people acting as if the Fire Nation couldn’t go and “plant a flag” in the South if they wanted to, when in fact, they didn’t want to and they didn’t have to. They literally already subdued the South by removing them as a threat and was trying to do the same to the North in the Book 1 finale.

Anyways, I’m not an expert on colonialism and I’m not claiming these to be the only ways to define colonialism in real life or atla. This is just a rant based on my personal understanding of settler colonialism and just… my annoyance at how this fandom constantly downplays the already watered down depiction of colonialism in the show.