#maybe I should actually start posting my fanart here more often | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

neonscandal · 9 months

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Just see this in twitter by someone : "I'm starting to think maybe people should read actual BL manga. perhaps considering manga written with actual gay characters in it in addition to shipping m x m from whatever battle shounen you're into."

Like because of those subtext, there can be fanfics and fanarts, right? And then I decided to come here, your blog is really one of my comfort place....

Comfort place!? This makes me want to carve out time to post infinitely more. 🥹 Even though it feels a bit aimless, I’m glad I could cultivate that for you and hope I can continue to do so.

RE: twitter, without context, it's hard to tell whether this person is earnestly recommending people to expand their interests into BL or if they're dumping on people who tend to support and identify queer shipping across other genres.

On the one hand, heavy agree that if you appreciate queer pairings of any kind to absolutely find media and stories that shows healthy (and authentic, if possible!) representation of whatever you're into. I feel like sometimes in BL, specifically, there’s a lot of toxicity or violence passed off as romance which is why I recommend being discerning. Here are some green flag recommendations and I kind of touch on the importance of identity through engaging with queer content by way of BL's featuring fudanshi's there. Isn't always the case, but it's a storyline I appreciate.

If the poster was side eyeing queer ships in "mainstream" or shonen stories... they should grow up. I've been in and out of fandom for like.. 20 years. There have always been people who recognize and popularize queer ships. Back in the day? Characters didn't even have to share the same show, universe or genre to end up in a crossover slash fic on Fanfiction.Net.

Don't get me wrong, I've definitely needlessly explored several crack theories or made off-base assumptions about a story for the sake of trying to guess at where it’s going. But I sometimes question people's competency for reading/watching comprehension when a particularly shitty hottake is making its rounds on social media. Like are we not watching the same thing?

Subtext does exist. I don't know that all authors are as elegant or intentional in its execution but if you're not bothering to consider the possibility, you're potentially missing out on critical pieces of a story you're choosing to invest hours/years of your life into! This isn't simply as it pertains to shipping but also picking up on critical exposition (Attack. On. Titan.) or even questioning whether the information we're getting as the reader or viewer is conveyed with any sort of narrator bias. Yes, this is absolutely a My Hero Academia call out. ✨

Queer coding does exist. Tons of reasons why queer characters aren't always explicitly identified as such. More often than not, there's some form of censorship. Whether at the editing level during manga production or when it comes time for manga/shows to be approved for international distribution (re: information that's lost in translation vs outright decisions to alter the flow of the story). Most glaring example of this that comes to mind is Haruka Tenou or "Sailor Uranus"/Michiru Kaiou or "Sailor Neptune. In addition to gratuitous name changes when Sailor Moon was pushed abroad, several countries would rather portray the two as unusually close relatives despite the clear romantic undertones exhibited whenever they were on screen together. Also, IDK why, but pretty sure I'd seen somewhere that, initially the creator of Naruto did want to canonize Sasuke/Naruto but, truth be told, I've never watched the series and that could have been a fanon theory I'd seen.

Overarching messages exist. Similar to the first point, a story is seldom just a story. More often than not, you're looking at some sort of social critique or opinion that's being expressed or explored through the story. To not bother thinking critically about what you choose to spend time in enjoying is a pretty bland way to miss the point of it.

When all else fails, it's not our fault that the only relationships most shonen mangaka focus on developing is the one between "rivals". That's it. If there were more dynamic characters or literally any consideration toward the depth of intimacy between the main character and whatever tritagonist female lead the male lead inexplicably ends up with (aside from the simple rationale that "she is the girl 🎀"), then maybe fans won't have to hone in on how the only agency, equality and intimacy is between the only two characters of substance. That was a mouthful but so are the overly poetic soliloquies shonen rivals inevitably share about one another.. ✨

I'm guessing this question might be related to the last anon ask about fanfics? I agree regarding the fact that subtext allows for a richer selection of fan art and fics. I think, depending on content, the motivation for reading fics will subsequently differ. For instance, I'm less likely to read fanfics for a romance series even if I sometimes write for them because the source material generally satisfies what I wanted from them. But fix it fics, angst and romance fics for shonen/seinen series'?? I'll definitely pick them up because, 1) there are usually unexplored relationship dynamics in the source material, 2) there are alternative domestic/fluff storylines you'd never see because the genre doesn't allow for it, 3) the canon plot is usually so devastating *cough, JJK, cough* that I need a respite, and/or, 4) the developing plot tends to have a lot of holes that writers can explore to craft uniquely compelling AU's and alternative plotlines that I wouldn't imagine.

Man, it's been a while since I nerded out and really took the time to bang out a rant. I've had so many thoughts bouncing around but just zero time. Thank you for your ask and the reminder that there's someone else out there in the shipping trenches. Stay safe out there, anon!

#neon asks #anon asks #ship sails itself #meta #fandom #shipping dynamics #anime #manga #AOT #snk #mha #bnha #sailor moon #jjk

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hiddencarpet · 1 year

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1k follows!! Thank you everyone for staying here with me!❤️

I'm going to post an art raffle in upcoming days. ^^

I'd like to say something tho, as a word of advice for beginning online artists. This is going to sound pessimistic, but honestly i think more people should be mentioning it, even if someone could've thought that i should keep this post happy go lucky. If you aren't interested then please just scroll further on.

I have this blog since 2017, it's been over 6 years.

There always have been a lot of "how to get over 1k follows in a year" tips online. Even prior Tiktok there were lot of them popularity chasing tips. I'm not interested in having Tiktok or doing videos rn but it's not the point here.

I have been posting my art every 4-12 days with some breaks for about 3 years, (which i wouldn't be able to do without me developing a specific style, queueing posts and keeping artworks for months to myself to do finishing touches, and ofc having enough time for it). I Regularly posted art, even lot of fanart for some more popular fandoms. It did Not take 1 year, but 6, and i don't even know how many of my followers are still active.

Thing is, these popularity tips might help but don't have to. And in most cases they won't lead you to have 1k follows in a single year, but instead might lead you to a burnout, frustation, or injury if you aren't careful.

I'm into a theory that to get popular online most artists or youtubers needs around 10 years, often with lot of work. Sometimes 20. And sometimes popularity just never happens. People who get popular quickly are a minority. Maybe 1 of 50 gets there fast, maybe 1 in 100. A lot depends on luck, (sometimes regardless idea, topic or skill, though obviously those can help a lot. I wouldn't have 1k follows now if i hadn't helped my luck after all :). Sometimes people gain popularity by deeply involving themself with a community, or even get popular by writing silly and serious posts, though it also Has issues. After all the more you write the more likeliness you finally write something stupid and someone might even remember it to haunt you. Things you need extra energy, personality, or behavioral instincts for when you might not really have it.

And it's not like starting at an earlier age might always help you. I've been posting my art online even as a minor though it's not really there anymore. And i'm actually glad it never kicked off. The amount of stories on artist teenagers getting into awful situations or causing awful situations to themself because of their popularity and young age still quite haunts me. Sometimes kids are lucky and that's good for them! Personally I know i wouldn't be that lucky tho.

I guess i just want to say that, as someone who grew up a lot with popular online people saying "you too can be popular and earn money online with a little of work!", that sometimes it's best to just chill, have fun, do things without worry in your own pace and maybe look up other choices for your career rather than those related to your online presence. Especially when it's been getting worse each year and social media + AI issues will always be a little unsure, and hell knows what else might happen.

I wish i could say that things are going to go quick for me from now on, but i know it's not that likely. They might go faster but ehh, I'll just do what i'll do. It's been over 6 years. A hell of a journey :)

Meanwhile i'm glad to be there and happy and i Thank you all for your presence!!

#carpet talks #This post might sound depressing l but i honestly don't think enough people talk about how online popularity chase messes up kids and how #all this 'promise of glory' some influencers sometimes do without realising pretty often ends up in no positive places #and i guess this is my call of 'hey! I see you!! I've been there!! and i still feel like i can't give up it bc it messed me up with hope #for so long!'#Also I wanted to say. This post is not meant as complaint. I just want to bring to light an issue around chasing online popularity #This post likely won't be seen by many but you know. i Wanted to get it off my chest cause i think it's important #long post #personal #1k followers post

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tag-tag-reblog · 6 months

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(pinned post, or “why are you reblogging everything?”)

What’s your problem?

Tumblr is irreplaceable but it can really suck. Clicking on a tag should show you everything tagged with that tag, right? Wrong. For one thing reblogs aren’t included, and some original posts just don’t seem to appear either (or randomly not do so for days).

So?

It annoys me that for a fairly small fandom I can’t find everything posted that day in one place. A few fabulous TAG fans do a lot of reblogging and I often start by trawling their blogs, but this method means something they missed or wasn’t to their taste I might never see.

And?

Maybe it would be cool if just everything got reblogged in one place? Impartially? No impenetrable algorithm!

Isn’t that going to be impossible to keep up?

Oh inevitably. But I’ll have a go. I spend enough time trawling the hellsite for TAG content anyway, might as well do something useful when I find it.

To save this becoming an overwhelming task there will never be comments here nor particularly detailed tags (tws / ship etc filters should carry over from main posts so I’m not going to try to add to what the original authors have put). I might try to categorise a little in the tags (tag fanart, tag fanfiction, TAG Screencaps and gifs TAG RP etc), and include things like reblog event tags (fanartam for example) so one could search for the tag within this blog and it would actually come up with some results.

Going to try for daily but it might be every two or three.

Would welcome helpers if anyone wants to be added!

How are you going to find everything?

I have a fairly good list of which users tend to reblog with the “thunderbirds are go” tag. So I’ll start there.

I don’t intend to separately reblog every post in a reblog chain, as long as the post is findable I figure people can manage to look that up. However there may be some repetition as keeping track of ‘I reblogged this from person A so I’ll leave it off when I spot it on person B’s blog will require way too much manual brainpower.

You missed my post!

Message me and I’ll add you to my list of blogs to visit.

What about stuff that isn’t tagged “thunderbirds are go”?

I won’t find it… yeah this means some stuff will be missed but I’m not psychic.

This seems kind of spammy?

I’m going to use the queue and shuffle the posts so it won’t be everything from one person in ten mins.

All the same I do get this won’t be for everyone.

Please do feel free to block the posts - they’ll all be tagged with tag tag reblog so just filter that tag. Or this blog.

Similarly if you don’t want to keep getting notifs of my empty reblogs of your posts please let me know and I’ll stop!

Will give it a try for a little while and see how it goes. If it’s more annoying than useful I’ll stop!

#Thunderbirds are go #why are you reblogging everything?

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natsmagi · 8 months

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i was typing this in the notes to an ask but it gogt waaaay too long lol sorry. prefacing it with you know i love your artwork & i have nothing against what you choose to draw. also possibly worded weird cus i didnt write it in the sense of talking only to you alone

there is certainly this conflict between artists as random individuals and artists as a collective when it comes to how to approach this issue… as a hobbyist you can draw whatever you like but also when you have trends like a lack of fatness thats going to be disheartening too. i think the answer is getting more people into making art (& like general societal change of course since its an issue baked into bigotry.)

because as much as i agree with the sentiment of "there is significant under representation of fat women" (or characters in general) at the same time fandom is a hobby space and i dislike the notion of badgering individual artists to draw any particular thing especially when the source material does not have that thing. if you are looking for artwork of fat women thats great but i would not ever recommend something like enstars that has 1. no fat characters and 2. no women, barring a few exceptions. i think expecting to find fanart of fat women from a source entirely composed of thin men is unrealistic, even with the relative popularity of femstars.

plus there are other complications such as the typical modern fandom f/f scene sometimes being very strict and even vicious at times with their standards of what's enough diversity or what content is appropriate. ive heard a lot of anecdotes about people who WERE contributing to these things but whom were still harassed or got threats from other users over it not being good enough, and that's just not conducive to creating the environment or diversity you want. nobody is going to want to be in a fandom space where they have to walk on eggshells all the time. and i bring this up because of how you were clearly harassed by randos. accusing you of misogyny or shaming other womens' bodies as being "unrealistic" is not the way to go

the only reasonable solution i can think of to this is, again, to just encourage more artists to start drawing in the first place, or even better start contributing yourself. individuals should have the freedom to draw what they like without getting flamed for it AND people should be able to see themselves represented in artwork. i would like to see some more fat characters too, this is definitely something ive thought about before myself

(personally all the fat people i draw are ocs or portraits of people i know that i dont want to post online but maybe if i get some inspiration i will draw the long-sought chubby mugi myself. i am not super interested in femstars though so whether or not itd actually be fem mugi is up in the air. but all the talking here about this topic has had me thinking about following my own advice and putting what i want to see into the world.)

OUGHH THESE ARE ALL GOOD POINTS!! and i agree! the main thing we should be doing is ENCOURAGING people to add more diversity, not harassing them into it! people who only draw for fun arent really obligated to draw anything outside of their comfort zone, which again is why i think its better to simply uplift the idea of trying out new things and new appearances that you dont often draw

theres also SO MUCH room for more femstars artists too! and like ive said before if you wanna see something done right you gotta do it yourself. and i kind of like that. i like that everyone gets to craft their own little femstars variant of the enstars cast, and you can make them look however you want! and honestly? you SHOULD! seeing personal touches to designs always brings me joy, so even if you dont feel very confident in your art, if you have a specific vision for a character that you want brought to life please go ahead and draw it!! (or if you really dont want to you can always commission someone)

i also wanna highlight one of ur last points too bc yea. its unfortunate but often times whenever i see someone try adding diversity to their art for the first time they end up getting flamed because its not an accurate depiction of what they were trying to represent. and that really sucks! obviously we should strive to have accurate representation, but if its an artist that hasnt tried their hand on it before, ESPECIALLY a beginner artist, we shouldnt flame them for it. rather we should educate them on what went wrong and how they can improve for the future. these are people who actually WANT and are TRYING to add diversity to their art, but because in animanga circles theres a lack of education on how to draw more diverse features of really any kind. which is why trying to educate is far better than shaming. because if you shame these artists theyre gonna be too scared to try again, giving us less diversity once more

so yes basically what im saying is i want us all to encourage diversity and to help each other out by sharing resources and tips when it comes to drawing it!! one person is Obviously not gonna be able to do every single thing, which is why i want more people to pick up the pen and bring life to their visions!! also i really want more femstars food pelase pick up the pen i am a starved orphan and only femstars yuri can satiate me!!!!!!!!!

#long post #<--felt warranted KAHJSDFK #but genuinely though i want diversity to be requested and desired #and i want it to be done so in a positive and respectful manner towards hobbyists #if we're talking megacorps u can shittalk them all u want and send all the angry emails in the world #but for artists on the internet who are only here to have fun its important to remember to be kind and encouraging!#bc asking them for rep in a hostile manner is only gonna create negative associations #which. would be counterproductive #diversity is a wonderful thing so please do not make people resent it by being rude!!!!#that is not what we should strive for!!!!#ask

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medi-melancholy · 2 years

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end of year thoughts, mostly about art stuff

so much of what i drew this past year was just like, oc designs or sketches, nothing i could categorize as my usual “finished art”, but now i’m wondering if i should maybe start posting all that kind of stuff because like. well. any art is art

i guess i just still get self-conscious about the majority of my art being concept sketches + designs, mostly for original stuff, because that isn’t what grabs attention or makes money, even if it’s what i’m most passionate about and what i personally feel i’m best at :’)

i’ve grown more comfortable almost always only sharing that art personally among friends because at least then i know i’ll hear a response or feedback, especially, again, with original stuff. i post the same art here or on twitter and it’s like 15 likes total combined so. lmao. a bit demoralizing if there’s no actual interest there

with how my physical health has destabilized in some ways, getting back into posting what i draw is going to take a lot of motivation, because i put effort in to even just sit at my desk for a few hours, to use my hands, to keep my eyes on a screen, and getting very little acknowledgment when i do post what i’ve worked on is ehhhhh

on the one hand, it feels nice to not have to stress about not posting much, because i don’t have a good idea of how many people actually care or enjoy my art, i guess. i have no clue what my follower count does besides Exist because i can easily name the same few people who engage with my art without fail, and i’m eternally grateful for them. i can only assume most of the hundreds just left tumblr over the years. that’s fair, i’ve been here for nearly 10 years now lol

on the other, it’s tough to feel seen or successful without a proper or widespread platform. if i did more fanart, specifically fanart for popular stuff, that gets attention, but no one would stick around if i didn’t keep drawing for the same things. and that doesn’t feel true to who i am at all, and an unhappy existence isn’t a sustainable one

i know one solution to more engagement is simply to post more often, which leads me back to the question of, do i just want to post everything that i do draw, regardless of if i think it’s good or bad, regardless of how ‘finished’ or ‘clean’ it is? posting more = drawing more, though, and that isn’t always possible for me. disability’s a bitch! bad luck and unpredictability are bigger bitches

i’m excited to get back to drawing, because i am at my core an artist, and if i stop creating things one way or another, i wouldn’t really be myself, i at the very least wouldn’t be happy. having to take months and months away from drawing because of the fucking conga line of illness and health complications and being busy has been tough, and it’s made me think a lot

i guess i’m working on figuring myself and what i want to do out in some new ways, and that’s ok. i’m just happy to be alive, you know? it wasn’t a bad year for me, or a particularly challenging one. i think it flew by, actually, which i think is great. it was a good time. i hurt a lot, and cried a lot, i was sick a lot a lot a lot, and bad things did happen, but that’s ok. i’m still here. thank you for being here, too, friend. ❤

#like if you read if that's ok. not in like the 'need to see the range of attention caught' kinda way but like #just checking that it's been seen i guess? if that makes sense #and if you have any thoughts or feedback that is cool too!#had some healthy cries and talks today and i'm just lettin my mind air out and befriend the thoughts or let them pass if needed

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arsonistfriday · 2 years

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I posted 5,051 times in 2022

That's 5,051 more posts than 2021!

232 posts created (5%)

4,819 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@proudfreakmetarusonniku

@arsonistfriday

@rozugold

@stellocchia

@blissfali

I tagged 5,035 of my posts in 2022

#reblogs - 4,666 posts

#[creative splashes!] | other's art - 2,280 posts

#[pogchamp!] | tommy fanart - 589 posts

#[13 and a half years!] | wilbur fanart - 471 posts

#[peacemaker :)] | dream fanart - 433 posts

#['good' authority] | quackity fanart - 302 posts

#[immortal together :)] | jamie reblog! - 286 posts

#queue - 240 posts

#my posts - 175 posts

#long post - 166 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#opposite vibes as my au where dream died and became a ghost and would rapidly switch between wanting to kill tommy and being obsessed with

My Top Posts in 2022:

cc!Quackity bringing up c!TNTduo despite it not being asked about whatsoever is like cc!Dream bringing up cc!George whenever possibly

62 notes - Posted October 8, 2022

anyways friendly reminder: if you shit on cluster B disorders, use the term “narc abuse” or use any derogatory terms that are often used to refer to people with cluster B disorders, you’re ableist and you should really really stop that and maybe shut the fuck up!

and if any of my followers believe that, or any other ableist things, then the door is right there for you to leave because I do not want you here.

81 notes - Posted August 22, 2022

“Stop turning friends fucking around and playing into lore!!!” Bitch what do you think L’manburg was. What do you think the disc war was. What do you think Fundy being Wilbur’s son was. Like, so many storylines are built off of friends messing around

Also, the whole “cc!Dream was just messing around with cc!Tommy” is true still, however with the added context of the newer stuff, we can look back on it and go “oh that’s fucked up”. It’s like how when c!Wilbur rigged the election, it was mostly as a joke, but now we can look back and go “...actually that was like- hello? what? this happened. okay.”

ALSO Also friends can mess around with each other and play a character, y’know that, right? Like, when I tease my friends and act like a fucking wanker, I’m playing it up for laughs. That is technically playing a character, you are exaggerating something in order to get a reaction

See? Dream obviously didn’t foresee the whole exile/abuse plotline and shit, but he would’ve gone “oh do you know what’d be funny” and then started the disc war with Tommy, all while exaggerating his role in it by threatening to burn the discs and stuff. Like, he is playing a character, even if that character isn’t fully fleshed out.

94 notes - Posted August 3, 2022

if the DSMP never gets a proper ending can we call it our unfinished sympho- [gets shot]

128 notes - Posted April 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I don’t think cc!Dream’s audio is meant to make c!Dream sympathetic. It is an audio practice of c!Dream, and c!Dream is known to be an extremely unreliable narrator, especially when trying to make it out that “woe is me, I was pushed to this”. I think c!Dream is definitely sympathetic, however not because he was pushed to this point, but because of how lonely he is and how determined he is to fulfill a futile plan.

So yeah, cool audio, but it isn’t exactly reliable, considering it’s coming from c!Dream. And yes, he can be honest- brutally sometimes- however, I think this is the time he is choosing to twist his actions and make it seem like he’s a victim to his own choices. Humans aren’t snakes, we’re aware of choices much more. Snakes bite to protect, and humans can blow up; can exile; can destroy, but that isn’t to protect.

157 notes - Posted September 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #my posts

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agirlunderarock · 2 years

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The Shop Keeper

A/N Once again @journen has given me the perfect reason to write a short fic based on their art. I just- Okay I’m just gonna post a link to the picture and like it should all make sense. But you can find the picture of Obi-Wan doing the dramatic AF door scene from the Two Towers HERE Like dude you combined two of my favorite things in the world in one piece of fanart- and simultaneously gave me an asexual crisis. Because of that, this fic felt like it needed to be a reader insert, and reader basically goes through my fight or flight response to things SO thats why reader is like that, but anyway, I hope anyone who reads this has fun with it and enjoys it, and be sure to go give Journen some love for their art!

Summary: Its been a few weeks since a man who calls himself Ben stumbled into the doors of your shop, now it seems he does it on purpose. You do your best not to let Ben know how much his presence flusters you, your tooka has other plans though.

Pairings: ReaderXObi-Wan (not in a relationship, reader is trying not be infatuated and failing miserably. Or maybe they would be successful if Obi-Wan wasn’t Force sensative.)

Warnings: I don’t ever address reader by name, nor gender or describe them. I don’t write reader inserts often- SO. Reader has some thoughts that could be considered angsty, but like, they don’t know Ben is a jedi? How could they know? A tooka really steals the show in my opinion but anyways

Read on Ao3

gif is unrelated I was just trying to create space and didn’t want to repost the picture. Go like Journen’s art on their post DO IT

It seemed like you were always sweeping sand off your counter and floors. No matter how many times you dragged that old brittle broom across the floor, you could still hear the crunch of the grains under your boots. Of course it was something you were supposed to be used to, growing up on the oversized grain of sand meant that it was part of your daily life. Somehow though you didn't remember ever sweeping this much when you were a child. You weren't sure that your parents did either, though the more you thought about it, the more you wondered if the endless sweeping you followed them into is what made their old bones brittle so quickly. You pushed the thought away and instead chose to remind yourself that you were in charge of a little feed store, not an oasis. Dirt and sand and powder were to be expected on your floors and counters. It was a sign that business was good and would continue to be good.

You forced yourself to be satisfied and moved on to restocking the shelves with some beat up cans of water. They weren't the prettiest, but it was all you could get and most people didn't seem to mind, so long as it was clean and they could resell the cans. Everything seemed to work out well for both you and your customers.

As you placed the cans on the shelf, labels facing out of course, your gray and brown tooka hopped onto the top shelf only to swat at your hand demanding attention. You did your best to ignore her and finish stocking the shelf. You didn’t think she could hungry, you had just fed her lunch, not long ago, and given that you hadn’t found any whomp or tatoo rats lurking about the grain bags for the last few days, you felt that she eaten more than her fill. Still the tooka, you had affectionately called Mittens, continued to swat at your hand with a little brown paw.

“Ma’am,” you started sternly in your best customer service voice, “I don’t know what you’re asking me for. Use your words, or wait till I finish restocking okay?”

The tooka almost seemed to huff before whining its impatience and slinking off toward the counter.

“I have one more shelf to do Mits, you can wait five minutes-” You replied, thankful that no one was actually in the store at the moment. Even if most people who came into the shop agreed the tooka was very expressive, arguing with the creature wasn’t something you often liked other people to hear.

Despite the whining from Mittens, you finished much sooner than the five minutes you said you would take. Just as you placed the last can on the shelf a loud creaking and slamming came from the front of your shop.

You didn’t need to look up to know what had happened.

“Ben!” You exclaimed, dragging out the name in annoyance. You stormed around to the front seeing the sun beaten man standing in your doorway, arms out wide, holding them open, nearly looking like he was going to collapse. If you hadn’t known any better, you would have thought he was going to collapse. You did know better though, and the small twinge of his lips told you that he was once again just being the dramatic bastard that he was. “How many times do I have to tell you not to open my kriffing doors like that? They’re old! You’re going to knock them off their hinges like that!”

Ben straightened up and relaxed his stance a little as he let doors swing close behind him as he walked in the shop. He just offered you a small tired smile. As always he seemed unphased and even a little amused by your outburst, which of course only made you more indignant as you quickly tried to race him to the counter.

“You know the door has a bell on it for a reason,” you huffed as you watched him casually walk down to where the feed bags were lined up instead of the counter. “You don’t need to slam them open, its a small shop, I can tell when you show up just fine.”

Well more than just fine if you were being honest. After the first time he came into your shop, when he had practically collapsed in your doorway, you had a feeling that despite him being rather soft spoken, there was a heaviness to him that you couldn’t quite place. You never voiced it, but there was something about him that just seemed like he invited trouble. After he started with the dramatic entrances, you felt that he probably brought it on himself.

Mittens, the traitor, jumped down from her perch on the counter and trotted over to him as he scanned the feed bags. You could hear her purring as she rubbed against his leg.

“Hello little friend,” he said as he knelt down to pet the tooka. “You seem to be in a better mood than our mutual friend,” he teased before looking up at you with a small smile. Despite the wariness never leaving his blue eyes, there was something in the way his auburn hair fell in his face from the brief head movement and his smile had your heart leaping into your throat.

"She just thinks you have snacks for her," You answered, crossing your arms and leaning against the counter. You hoped that you could stop the pounding of your heart in your ears, but it only grew louder when he picked up Mittens and continued his browsing with her in his arms.

“She would be correct-” and from his pocket, Ben produced a small piece of what you could only assume was dried meat. Mittens happily but gently ate it from his hand before swatting at him for another treat. Ben just grabbed her paw and continued through the shop.

You figured he was there for some more grain for his Eopie, as he had shown up every week since that first day he came in, but you still failed to understand how he could go through so much grain.

The little ring of the bell above your door pulled you away from your pondering. You cast a sharp look to Ben as if to say thats how you’re supposed to open a door, but he still seemed unphased by your accusation. The Weequay woman who came in, went straight to the other side of the shop looking at the labels of a couple of clear jars.

“Miss Rekna, its good to see you again! How’s your Dewback doing? Is he feeling any better?” You asked, remembering the last time Rekna had been in your shop.

“He’s doing much better! That ointment cleared up the bacteria on his scales really well. I was actually hoping you had some more of it. Just found another in he heard with the infection so we have to isolate her for a few days until we can take care of it- Its just been one thing after another.”

“I’m sorry to hear that- Well no sorry that Dewi is doing better, but sorry that the herd might be sick.”

A small smile spread across Rekna’s sun worn face. “Its okay, I know what you mean-”

“Hey, why don’t you take a couple of jars on the house-” You offered. “I know things have been kinda rough since….well…..” You gestured vaguely to the air with your hand. “Just pay me back when you can.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to take advantage-”

“Rekna, its not taking advantage of anything, if I offer it to you. Take at least three treatments- I don’t sell it often anyways they’ll just sit on the shelf and expire otherwise.”

“If you’re sure- Thank you,” she said, throwing her arms around you in a quick hug before you handed her the large jars.

“You’re welcome, just let me know if you need anything, yeah?” You told her as she headed for the door.

“I will!, and give Mits a treat for me okay?” she called over her shoulder as she walked out of the shop, the little ring of the bell once again filling the dusty.air.

You stood silent for a moment as you eyed the empty space on the shelf and wondered if you shouldn’t have given away the supplies she needed. The new Imperial taxes were higher than the Republic ones used to be and lately, you and just about everyone else you knew had struggled to adjust to the new system. There wasn’t much you could do about it though. So you did your best to do business the way you always did, and hoped for the best. Things were tight, but you’d get through it. There was nothing else to do but to get through it.

A quiet whine of protest from Mittens forced you to remember that Ben was still in your shop. You turned just as he picked up a large bag of feed and hefted it onto his shoulder. For a brief moment, your mind taunted you with the idea of him tossing you over his shoulder in the same fashion, but you didn’t think that would really be possible.Or at least thats what you told yourself as you fought the little flips your stomach did when he placed the bag in front of you on the counter. You blinked a few times trying to clear the image from your mind before looking up at him. Had his eyes always been that blue? No. No they weren't it was just the contrast between blue tunic and the gray poncho. That was all. There was nothing to get worked up about.

"That was nice of you to do for Miss Rekna," he said as he counted out a few imperial credits.

"Yeah well, I tend to be nicer to people who open my doors nicely."

Mittens protested and flicked her tail in your face.

"Well you aren't very nice to me either Mits. I asked you to be patient-" You shook your head at the tooka, before looking back to Ben. His brows furrowed together as he recounted his credits. “Just so we’re clear, I only give discounts to people who are nice to me,” you teased.

“Perhaps I should apologize then for throwing open your doors,” Ben chuckled and recounted his credits.

“Or you could just not do that in the first place…” You answer but chewed on the inside of your cheek. “Well, Mits seems to think you’re nice enough, if only you because you spoil her when you come in- You can have the bag, just promise you won’t knock the hinges off when you come in next week.”

Ben seemed to relax at your offer, and though the crease in his forehead didn’t quite leave he matched your smile with one of his own. “How generous of you-but how do you know I’ll be back next week. I could take this bag and never come back-”

“Because you’ve come the same day every week since you passed out in my doorway,” You said, grabbing Mittens before she could paw open the feed bag. “What do you need a bag his big for anyway? You only have the one Eopie right? Are you going out and feeding random herds?”

The little twinkle in his eyes as his smile grew more genuine was enough to have your heart threatening to explode in your chest. “You could say that-”

“What do you mean? Its either a yes or no!” You found yourself laughing nervously. You knew there was no way he could hear the pounding in your ears, but Ben had a way of looking right through you. “You better be careful with that! These Imperials will start taxing you for the number of animals you have. Then you’re going to need more than just one of these big bags.”

“Well then its a good thing I know just who to come to, if I need any help.”

You narrowed your eyes at him trying to find the sarcastic comment in what he was saying. It didn’t seem there was one though. You weren’t entirely sure how to respond to it, if you were being honest. “Um…of course. Anything for the Eopie.”

Ben picked up the large bag from the counter and put it over his shoulder again, before leaving a few credits on the counter top. You were about to protest when he put a hand up to stop you. “At least let me pay half. You’ll need help soon if you’re not careful.”

You waved your hand dismissively. “Its, fine. I’ll just rack up the price if any imperials come in. They can afford it, and credits are just going to go back to them anyway.”

“That still sounds like a big risk.”

“So does crossing the desert once a week to get one bag of feed for wild Eopie, but here we are.”

“Then I’ll see you next week.”

“I’ll see you then.”

#Star Wars fanfic #star wars fanfiction #Kenobi series fanfic #Obi-Wan fanfic #Journen's art always gets me okay #I had a lot of feelings so it had to be a reader insert #obi-wan x reader #Look as I'm typing these tags I'm realizing I should have named the tooka Pippin and I'm crying at this loss #Guess that means if I write another thing to go with this reader gets two more animals to name after hobbits but hey #Anyways hope you enjoy!#reader insert

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meruz · 3 years

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once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous)

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL.

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close.

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

#ask #trying this new thing where i tag people in the body of the post instead

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fandomshatelgbtqpeople · 4 years

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On why “not like other girls” isn’t a useful criticism anymore (and maybe never was)

So, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the way people have been talking about femininity in feminist spaces for the past few years really fails gender nonconforming queer and neurodivergent girls.

In particular, I’ve noticed and seen others talk about the tendency to push the ideas that women never enforce gender norms on other women, never punish other women for not conforming to gender norms, and that female bullies essentially don’t exist because girls would never do that to each other. I’ve also noticed how the “face” of internalized misogyny has become the blatantly queercoded, neurodivergent-coded girl who’s Not Like Other Girls. That’s not an accident.

There are feminist circles made up mostly of women who have never had a problem with being accepted by other women, and their ideas about how girls and women treat each other are very influential. The things is that they don’t realize that how other women treat them and how other girls treated them growing up isn’t universal. They’re unaware that they aren’t accepted just because they’re women but because they’re able to check off a number of conditions that signal to other women that they “belong.” One of the more important conditions is being able to do femininity the right way. They’re unaware that there’s a huge difference between women who can do femininity the right way and choose to subvert it for feminist reasons versus women who can’t do it the right way at all, and that difference has a huge impact on how other women treat you. A lot of these women are probably well intentioned, but that doesn’t make it okay that their viewpoints, which erase women who are marginalized in ways they aren’t, have become so mainstream.

This, of course, has a disparate impact on gender nonconforming queer women, who can’t do femininity right because it leads to things like dysphoria and depression, and autistic women, who often can’t do femininity right because of sensory issues with makeup/tight clothing/certain fabrics, because they’re unable to understand the social rules that govern things like fashion trends or matching clothes, or because their special interests aren’t seen by their peers as acceptable things for girls to be interested in.

The problem arises because women in the first group, the influential feminist circles, seem to have decided that the idea of female bullies is a patriarchal trope pushed by men (girls wouldn’t do that to each other) and that only men enforce gender norms on women (girls are so much more accepting of other girls uwu). Gender nonconforming queer and autistic women, who grew up as gender nonconforming girls, know that this idea is frankly bullshit because they were bullied and ostracized by other girls for not being able to do femininity right or enough, but when we try to talk about this, we’re shouted down by the first group of women as just having internalized misogyny. The entire time I was in middle and high school, I only remember having my appearance insulted by a boy once. It was almost exclusively something other girls did. And yet we’re told that our own lived experiences can’t possibly have happened because “bullying is a boy thing, girls are all friends.” You would think that this conversation would at least be happening in queer circles but even there, gnc queer women are the only ones talking about it, while everyone else is all, “It’s so great how lesbians never enforce gender norms against each other. Anyway, here’s my fanart of a canonically butch character wearing a dress.”

So here’s where the girl who’s Not Like Other Girls comes in. The stereotypical girl who’s Not Like Other Girls is blatantly queercoded and blatantly neurodivergent coded, and that’s not an accident. It’s because those are the girls who are disproportionately likely to be rejected by other girls because of their inability to do femininity right, and that’s something that the women who love to talk about the girl who’s Not Like Other Girls have subconsciously picked up on.

Now, I’m not going to try to claim that no one who thinks they’re not like other girls has a sense of superiority about it, but overwhelmingly, the girls who think that aren’t thinking “I’m not like those dumb sluts.” They’re thinking “why am I not like the other girls.” For me (an autistic lesbian), my Not Like Other Girls phase was never about thinking I was better than everyone else. It was an attempt to explain to myself why I was being picked on and excluded by other girls, even the ones who were my friends. I knew I was different from other girls because I was told that by other girls. And the idea that girls who hang out mostly with boys are doing it because they hate other girls is largely false. Lots of teenage gnc queer and autistic girls hang out mostly with boys because they find that there are fewer unspoken social rules between boys, boys are less judgmental about their appearance than other girls, girls their age are starting to develop interests they find alienating, and/or because they’ve just given up on trying to befriend girls after years of rejection. It’s not internalized misogyny, it’s a trauma response.

All this vilification of the girl who’s Not Like Other Girls really accomplishes is making gender nonconforming girls and women into the main perpetrators of internalized misogyny and gender conforming girls into the main victims. It should give us pause that our idea of a stereotypical victim of internalized misogyny is a thin, blond, pretty queen bee-type and our stereotypical perpetrator is a queercoded, neurodivergent-coded girl with no friends, because it’s a blatant example of homophobia and ableism in mainstream feminism. It’s because the women with the loudest voices want to feel like they’re always the victims and never to blame. It should concern us how many posts are dedicated to condemning girls who think they aren’t like other girls when I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a single post condemning girls who bully other girls for not conforming to femininity. That’s an incontrovertible example of internalized misogyny that’s honestly a much more widespread problem, and everyone either wants to pretend it isn’t happening or has decided they’re okay with.

Gender nonconforming queer and autistic women grow up being ostracized for their gender nonconformity and no one can even make a post telling them its okay to be the way they are without having to add about a dozen disclaimers to avoid hurting the feelings of gender conforming women and still having 20 people in the replies reminding them that “some girls like to wear makeup :)” Meanwhile people will make 380 posts about how feminine girls should be celebrated without a single thought to how that contributes to the alienation and exclusion gnc queer and autistic girls are experiencing. Not everyone needs to learn to love pink or whatever. It’s so okay for gnc women to have deep negative feelings towards femininity as a concept when it was the reason for their abuse at the hands of other girls. That’s not internalized misogyny.

Anyway, I remember around the turn of the decade when the idea of the girl who was Not Like Other Girls really took off and I remember being able to picture exactly who it was about, but looking back, I can’t for the life of me remember whether that person was someone who actually existed irl, or whether it was the result of a popular media trope that everyone just assumed was also a problem irl, or whether it’s always just been the most acceptable women with the loudest voices blaming gender nonconforming queer and autistic women for something we weren’t doing.

mod k

tl;dr - Blaming girls who Aren’t Like Other Girls for internalized misogyny is victim-blaming bullshit. Girls thinking they aren’t like other girls is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.

#internalized misogyny #homophobia #ableism #butchphobia #mod k

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lovebecomeshim · 3 years

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hello! your zutara posting today has finally motivated me to ask this question because I came to atla very late(last year, to be specific) and I Love It Very Much but am 1000% out of the loop as far as why what remains of fandom (at least that I've seen among my friends) is so very strongly zutara. I'm not opposed to it per se I just don't really know what has driven it to apparently be such a popular ship? can you help me understand and maybe convert me a little bit?

Hey!! Your ICON! :D I can try but I’m not sure how coherent I’ll be; however I AM sure someone a lot more competent will be willing to add to this. Either way, I’m glad you asked because my plan was to drag down as many people as possible with me.

*smacks the hood of zutara* this baby can fit so much mutual love and support!

This got so long, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to put it under a cut on mobile and it already got deleted once so I’m scared to mess with it lol. Moving on.

I’m gonna start this with a disclaimer that im on mobile so formatting is tricky and I’m also really new to atla in that I only completed my first watch through in like 2019??? So some of my info is all just based on what I’ve picked up from Discourse 👀 so anyway the sparknotes version: zutara was wildly popular from the beginning. To the point where the atla crew internally disagreed on which ship should be endgame. (Ex. Bryke [showrunners] asked the writers to rewrite The Southern Raiders to make Zuko seem less ideal for Katara than Aang [which failed, depending on who you ask]; the animation team purposefully created a visual parrallel between Oma and Shu in the Cave of Two Lovers and Zuko and Katara in the catacombs under Ba Sing Se in the Crossroads of Destiny; etc.)

The ship was popular enough that Bryke actually chose to display zk fanart at a con for the sole purpose of mocking the fans, but that’s neither here nor there. The entire episode Ember Island Players, while a love letter to/parody of the whole show, was an opportunity to address zutara’s viability as a canon pairing (while, again, mocking zutaras for romanticizing that catacombs scene). Point is! It’s always been popular but with it not being endgame, there’s got to be something that’s given it staying power.

And that’s honestly got to do with three things: their dynamic, thematic cohesion, and potential.

(You know what... you know what, it’s four things. The fourth is they’re so aesthetically pleasing together and individually. Like, they’re just good looking people [specifically when they’re grown but they’re also cute kids] and that absolutely doesn’t hurt) (but it’s not the Point, it’s just nice to point out sometimes)

The dynamic is hard to get into without also looking at the canon pairings, but I think I can do that without unnecessary bashing. It’s just that part of the magic of zutara is really highlighted by what they give to each other that their other relationships don’t.

First off, it’s classic enemies to (would be) lovers. The absolute truest form of it. It’s not too different from how CS started out: a rogue antagonist with a job to do—but no personal vendetta against the future love interest—who is deeply and emotionally invested in his personal storyline (revenge/redemption) with little regard for how it effects other people after his entire life and genuine good nature are marred by suffering, and a fierce warrior girl with a strong moral compass and her own personal investment in stopping him (protect her family and save the world doing it). Obviously frustration and animosity grew between them by the nature of them being on opposing sides, but that just lends itself to the sweetness of their later reconciliation.

The thing is that while they’re wildly different on the surface (he’s a hot-headed prince of a fascist regime who is trying to capture the Avatar to please his father; she’s a nurturing daughter of the chief who is trying to protect and train the Avatar in order to topple his father’s throne) they find out that they have so much more in common both in their experiences and their personalities.

(What follows is an excessive use of the word “both” and I’m sorry about that)(I can edit it. I can do that. That IS an option............)

They both have an innate sense of justice that they are determined to see done (zuko, at the war meeting, sticking up for the Earth Kingdom kid when the guards torment his family, choosing not to steal from the pregnant couple despite his circumstances, abiding by his word to leave the SWT should Aang come willingly, etc.; katara, literally.... at any point). They both have pretty one-track minds at accomplishing certain goals once they’ve put their mind to it, regardless of a lack of support in that endeavor (it goes without saying I guess, but zuko’s entire hunt; katara’s determination to get the earth benders to fight back, her determination to absolutely destroy Pakku until he agrees to teach her, etc.). They both lost their mothers at young ages. Their worlds are war-torn and traumatizing to them both, if in different ways, but that ultimately forces them to grow up too quickly to be wholly independent individuals. They both have issues with their fathers (for WILDLY different reasons, but). They both hold extreme prejudices that they need to learn to overcome (which ties into thematic cohesion)(bit like Lizzie and Darcy in that way but magnified by a million). They’re both extremely emotional and empathetic—which can and often does result in loud outbursts. Katara’s a bit better adjusted and can temper her anger for longer than S1 Zuko can, but they both feel that anger deeply and have no compunctions expressing it (Katara is, usually, more justified, particularly in S1. Again, S1 Zuko is severely maladjusted but at the point when they could’ve feasibly become a couple, he’s so much better off with the way he carries himself). They both struggle with feelings of inferiority in their bending abilities when confronted with prodigal benders like Aang and Azula, but have the work ethic required to double down and become two of the most powerful benders in the three remaining nations. This is a little more minor but it is a parrallel that appeals to some shippers that they both have these alter egos in the Painted Lady (notably fire nation coded) and the Blue Spirit (water tribe coded) that are pretty different from who they are day-to-day and are useful in accomplishing a purpose that they as themselves cannot.

(I’m.... I just realized that this could potentially get very long. Should I have made a slide show with bullet points??????)

Anyway, similar. I know there’s more but there’s literally so much to love about zutara that I’ll drive myself a little crazy trying to compile all the ways they’re similar. (Just gonna say that at this exact moment I went back to add more similarities.... so okay then)

Once they’ve reconciled, we see how all of these things only lend themselves to a deeper intimacy together than they share with literally anyone else. There’s a steady partnership that positions them as the mom/dad of the gaang, while also providing the support necessary to allow the other to not have to carry so much responsibility. A lot of zutaras will point out how zuko is actually depicted doing the more domestic chores that are normally relegated to Katara once he joins the gaang, since the others in the group are two 12-year-olds and sokka. The one that sticks out the most is how he makes tea for the group and then serves them, while Katara is able to just relax with her friends around the fire. Fanon expands upon this a lot to Zuko helping with the laundry or the cooking or whatever else needs doing since he, as a once-refugee, is used to doing his own domestic tasks. Before Zuko joined, Katara was the one mothering everyone, sewing for them, cooking for them, etc. She’s always tending to the needs of the group, and that includes emotionally. She does the emotional labor for the gaang 99% of the time, but when she’s the one falling apart, she’s usually doing it alone and without the comfort that she normally provides for others. Until Zuko. And that’s before they’re even friends.

Which is WHY people romanticize the catacombs of Ba Sing Se so much. Katara is verbally attacking Zuko out of her own righteous anger but also her own prejudice when Zuko, surprisingly, chooses to be vulnerable with her. He’s been on a journey that’s opened his eyes a bit, but he’s never actively chosen to expose the rawest parts of his past to anyone. But for some reason he chooses to do that with Katara of all people. While she’s yelling at him. He sees her humanity, and for once can look past his prejudice and empathize with her. And this time, when she breaks down, she gets to be comforted. Katara normally talks about her mother when she’s trying to explain to someone else that she sees and understands they’re pain, as a form of comfort to them. Here, Zuko uses the exact same tactic. He sees her and he understands. And for zuko? He’s not being shut down. He’s allowed to articulate his pain regarding his mother without being ignored and made to internalize it, and he’s allowed to process how he feels about his scar out loud without being told that he deserved it. And then he lets her touch his scar, something we’ve seen him actively avoid before. He’s completely open to her and she’s completely open to him and all it took was one five minute conversation. She was about to use the little bit of Spirit water that she had, that she was saving for something Important, to heal the scar that still daily causes him pain just because they had, somehow, connected.

Plus there’s the whole parallel to the star-crossed lovers forbidden from one another, a war divides their people—

And then zuko messes up, he regresses, he gets what he wants and he HATES it. And the sense of justice he had as a child has been restored to him against his will and he can’t think of anything he wants to do more than the Right Thing, so he joins team avatar. Before he does that though, we get to see his relationship with Mai, which is where comparison really comes in. And what we see is Zuko, fresh off of his encounter with Katara in the catacombs, trying to be emotionally honest with Mai... and getting shut down and dismissed. Which is just how Mai is and it’s fine, but not for Zuko. Still, he keeps trying, and he keeps getting ignored or scoffed at or yelled at. Which is really a larger symbol for how he doesn’t fit in his old life anymore, but again that’s about thematic cohesion. He tries to articulate his anxieties about returning home, he tries to make romantic gestures, he tries to explain how morally conflicted he’s feeling—and Mai diverts to some kind of physical affection to shut him up and a parting comment that is pretty much always, in essence, “I don’t wanna talk about this.” So they don’t. On the other hand, once zuko and Katara are friends, we see him again emotionally distraught and caught up in his anxieties about facing Iroh, and it’s Katara who comes to him and listens to him and comforts and encourages him.

Similarly, we have Aang clamming up and getting uncomfortable whenever Katara shows any negative emotion, usually resulting in him making excuses or running away. Or, in the case of the Southern Raiders, lecturing her on how she needs to just let go of her anger about her mother’s murder. People have talked this episode to death and usually better than I ever could, so imma... keep it brief. There’s a serious disconnect between Aang and Katara in his ability to empathize with Katara and her needs that has her tamping down her vulnerability and amping up her anger. He tells her that he was able to forgive his people’s genocide and appa’s kidnapping (petnapping? Theft??), which is blatantly not true but also not an entirely equal parrallel to Katara’s situation, and continues making these little remarks throughout the episode. But it’s Zuko that Katara opens up to. It’s with him that she’s able to talk about the most traumatic day of her life, and it’s with him that she’s able to get the closure she needs, cementing their bond as friends and partners. This disagreement between Aang and Katara is then... never resolved. They just never bring it up and hear what the other is saying.

There’s a fic called The Portraits of Ember Island that has a line that so completely sums up the heart of the matter for why people love their dynamic. For context, zuko has woken up early to help Katara with the cooking and they spend the whole time just letting one another talk, and zuko stops to ask why she always just lets him talk. And so she stops to ask why he’s always helping, and it goes as follows:

There’s just... so much mutual support! Trust! Intimacy!! And it just continues like that from the Southern Raiders on, listening to each other, advising each other, watching each other’s backs! And then! Literally saving each other’s lives!! I will never be over the last Agni kai. Not ever. Zuko may have been willing to jump in front of lightning for anyone, but he actually did it for Katara. And in a show, that’s the thing that really matters. It’s a fulfilled trope usually exclusively applied to romantic pairings, and it ended up applying to Zuko and Katara. And then she ran out into the middle of a fight with tunnel vision just to get to him.

Also!! Also Zuko pushing Katara out of the way of the falling rocks at the Western Air Temple!! And Katara catching him as he fell from the war balloon that he fought Azula on!! Before they’re even getting along, they’re the ones reaching for each other. They come to this place of equal ground, as partners, who watch each other’s backs, call each other out but still listen attentively and understand, and provide the support that the other has been sorely lacking up until they knew each other (whether that be from lack of effort or lack of understanding from others, or an unwillingness to accept it for themselves).

Then, trailing along under the surface of this, we see the themes of the show totally embodied by Zuko and Katara as individuals and in their relationship to one another. There’s a YouTuber, sneezyreviews, who has a, like, 2-hour explanation on why she not only loves zutara but also believes that their endgame would’ve actually elevated the writing of atla to new levels particularly because of thematic cohesion and resolved character arcs. It’s the zutara dissertation I never knew I needed, and it’s funny and eloquent and effective, so I’m just going to sum up her section on thematic cohesion to the best of my abilities and then link it for whenever you have the time. And I HIGHLY recommend it, especially if you want a full understanding of what makes zutara so great and gives it such longevity.

Guru pathik has a line that goes something like this: separation is an illusion; things that seem different are just two parts of the same whole. Iroh also tells Zuko something similar: balance and strength are achieved when the different nations come together and influence one another and celebrate what makes them each unique. And this lesson is a massive central arc that both Zuko and Katara go through, moving past a black-and-white, good guys-vs-bad guys, us-vs-them mentality and into a greyer, more nuanced view of the world. Zuko sees the fire nation from an entirely new perspective and while he still loves and hopes for his nations future, he surrenders his blind loyalty to them in exchange for an unflinching loyalty to peace and love. Katara too had to come to terms with the fact that cruel people exist in the earth kingdom and water tribes, while some fire nation citizens are just regular, kind people who also need and deserve to have someone speak on their behalf. And this is honed in directly on how they view each other. They grow in their individual journeys to be open to the humanity in the other and then, once they’ve found that, they’re able to grow more in compassion for others in a beautiful feedback loop. And this is all matched in the symbolism repeatedly and intentionally associated with them in canon: sun and moon, fire and water, yin and yang, Oma and Shu who found love despite their warring nations. Their individual arcs are completed in each other and complement the themes of atla beautifully.

The canon pairs... just don’t. Which, again, is fine. But the very things that give atla longevity and popularity are anchored in zutara. Kat@ang doesn’t accomplish this. They’re... nice. Sweet. Especially when you erase a good portion of their interactions in S3. It could’ve been just a sweet love story. (Personally, the dynamic between toph and aang accomplish the same thing that zutara does, with complementary personalities that fulfill the theme of opposites blending in harmony) M@iko, on the other hand, is less sweet but I think wasn’t even supposed to last. Zuko’s relationship with Mai seems to represent his relationship with his old life as a whole. He can’t be emotionally vulnerable, he’s goaded into abusing his privileges, his agency and opinions aren’t respected. They just don’t have common ground with which to discuss anything that matters, so they don’t. As far as themes, the relationship doesn’t fit with atla. It’s zuko returning to and sticking with what is (on the surface) like him, what’s expected. Fire nation with fire nation. Fluid water bender with the flexible air bender. Like with like, separated from what is different and challenging and complementary.

And all of these things combined of course lead to the potential for the ship. I don’t know how familiar you are with the post-atla canon but... well, miss “I will never turn my back on people who need me”, miss “I don’t want to heal! I want to fight!” ends up living quietly in the SWT as a designated healer who turns a blind eye to the water tribe civil war happening right outside her front door. Which can be fine! People change! Some people just wanna stay inside. I just wanna stay inside! But the potential future for zutara is so much more satisfying, with Katara becoming the most unconventional Fire Lady the uppity old cads who are stuck on the old ways have ever seen. Fanon has her serving as a voice for the other nations within a kingdom at the point of its biggest political upheaval, as a confidante to Zuko who can actually help him while he’s trying to figure out how to move forward and make reparations. They have the opportunity, together, to accomplish what they both have set on their hearts to fight for: positive change that lends itself to harmony and balance. And the steambabies! A popular headcanon is that their firstborn daughter, the crown princess, is actually a waterbender, which causes such an uproar among the people who are adamantly clinging to the old ways. It’s just a future full of potential to be forces for good together, full of trust, intimacy, joy. The exact era of peace and love and balance that zuko announces that he intends to ring in with the start of his reign as Fire Lord is, again, magnified by the very personal zutara relationship. And we love to see it.

tl;dr zutara isn’t for everyone. Some people just don’t vibe with it. Some are nostalgic. Some love the canon they grew up with. Some have been disappointed for years. Some just see themselves in other characters and want their happiness instead. Whatever the reason, that’s fine. But for me, I love the way these two, from the moment they give each other a fair chance, are able to lower their walls and prejudices to see the other for the kindred spirits they are. They see each other’s humanity, and their response is to pour out love and support and compassion. I love that they’re a power couple in battle. I love the symbolism and, honestly, soulmatism that colors their every interaction. I love that they embody the whole storyline of atla in their relationship and how it develops, which is notably why their seasonal arcs always culminate in each finale with how they relate to one another. I love that zuko adopting a waterbending move is what actually saves his life and then katara’s. I love the chemistry! And I love the future they could’ve had, instead of the ones they were given.

So, in conclusion: I just think they’re neat and I hope you do too, at least a little bit. Even if it’s just respectfully from a disinterested distance cause you do you. And now here is the video I mentioned. I’m sorry this post got so long and then I gave you an even longer homework assignment, but I can’t recommend it enough. She says it all better than I can.

youtube

#zutara #atla #zutara rant #like really the way the canon relationships were written throughout s3 #it would’ve been more believable for zutara to happen #or at least be hinted at #all of the major issues presented in those relationship were dug up extensively and then... never resolved #and then they just slapped some kisses on a screen and said ‘there all better’#and we just kinda had to say ‘oh ok guess it’s all better then’#this got long I’m sorry #I wrote it all out and then tumblr ate 2/3 of it #which is why it took so long #and what I’ve written now doesn’t even match what I had before #because there’s too much to say about why I love zutara #and the stuff I left out the first time is what came out this time #rip to my original thoughts but this post is different #anyway that’s why this took so long #and I should’ve just made a PowerPoint...#I can do that too if you’d rather not read all of this lol #I won’t be offended #this is incoherent #Alia rambles uselessly #also hoping this doesn’t end up in any wrong tags because I don’t wanna step on toes lol #it’s not anti!! it’s just critical #in a compare/contrast way #I can pinpoint the moment when I started trying to rewrite my points from memory #because everything gets shorter and more succinct #like... I really said all that??? sounds fake and I don’t remember it anyway so here’s the condensed version #with no!! smooth!!! transitions!!!!#also why am I so lazy with proper grammar over text

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starlessalex · 3 years

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A long ass post in which I think too hard about future ACOTAR couples.

After lurking at the ACOTAR tag, I saw a lot of great theories and analysis that try to predict the trajectory of the spin-off trilogy. I’ve decided to write my own take on the subject (probably to my own detriment - involving myself in another ship war wasn’t on my bucket list this year, but here I am). I was thinking about what the potential future couples of the story might be, but through the lense of the plot - which couples make the most sense plot wise, which couple have the most potential to drive the plot toward. Here are my thoughts on the matter.

Before I start I will make a couple of disclaimers: 1) I obviously have my ship preferences, and it just so happens that the ships I like the most are the ones that according to me make the most sense narratively. That being said I’m not trying to be malicious or rude about all other ship possibilities - I actually like some of them quite a bit too. 2) I let the books speak for themselves. I do not invoke any paratextual information regarding those books: no SJM interviews or online posts. This analysis is based on what, imo, can be logically inferred from the text. 3) Of course there will be spoilers.

If that’s clear we shall being:

In my analysis I focus on the plot and which couples ensure the smoothest and most logical progression of it. Because of that I do not focus on the foreshadowing SJM included in the previous ACOTAR novel: I don’t quote anything, nor do I talk about previous interactions of those couples. In this analysis, I’m interested in the bigger picture so-to-speak. So first we need to establish what that bigger picture is.

Those books are meant to be standalone fantasy-romance novels with an overarching plotline that will reach its climax in the third book (since it's a trilogy). Each book will feature a different couple which apart from falling in love will lead the story to its next stage. What it means for the story is that the couples that we will be following are all heavily connected to the main story/conflict of those books. ACOSF established that story/conflict as stopping/defeating Koshei. I would argue that ACOSF also established Beron as a secondary antagonist as he is Koschei’s ally. With that in mind, the potential future couples all have to be connected in some way to those individuals.

We actually have a pretty small pool of characters to choose from. Since the story was pitched as SJM was writing ACOWAR, that book is where we can start our search for clues about which characters are going to be the future leads. I don’t want to use SJM interviews for information because things often change during the writing process, however, just in this instance I will note that recently SJM said that not much changed from that initial pitch so all foreshadowing in ACOWAR is still relevant. ACOWAR established 7 characters with potential future romances and storyline: Nesta, Cassian, Elain, Lucian, Azriel, Vassa and Mor.

Four of them are directly connected to Koshei or Beron: Nesta and Elain were made by The Cauldron gaining power that might potentially threaten Koschei and Beron. Elain is especially connected to Koschei - she’s a seer and had visions of him. Additionally, as far as we know she’s Lucian’s mate which makes her connected with Beron. Vassa was entrapped and cursed by Koshei and is currently trying to escape him. Lucian resides with Vassa at the moment, plus he is Beron's stepson.

Out of the 7 of the potential lead characters, two (Nesta and Cassian) already had their story told, which leaves as with 5 possibilities. Mor, unfortunately, also seems quite unlikely to have a book for herself in the near future because since ACOWAR no love interest for her was introduced and plot wise she also doesn't have a lot to do with Koshei. She has a connection to Eris (about whom I will talk about in a minute) and by proxy to Beron, but, again, there isn't a love interest for her in sight (I will talk about why Emerie doesn't seem like a possible candidate, at least not yet). With that we are left with Azriel, Lucien, Elain and Vassa. All of those characters have direct ties to Koshei and Beron with the exception of Azriel.

After ACOSF, three more characters caught people's attention as possible love interests too - Emrie for Mor, Gwyn for Azriel, and Eris for ...well for no one, at least for now.

Especially the Gwyn and Azriel ship gained a lot of traction among the fandom. I for one, don't mind them. I like the fanarts and the aesthetic but, logically, they together won't lead any of the two upcoming novels.

Gwyn, Emerie and Eris, are characters that were only just fleshed out on page in ACOSF, with Gwyn and Emrie being only just introduced to the story in ACOSF. Additionally, Gwyn and Emrie have nothing to do with Koschei and Beron so, unless they are paired up with one of the three remaining characters with those connections they won’t have their own books. Maybe, if SJM decided to continue the story beyond the spin-off trilogy, then we will get books with them as leads.

So, we are left with the above-mentioned quartet: Azriel, Lucien, Elain and Vassa.

So how do we couple those characters up?

Elain has two possible love interests - Azriel and Lucien. Technically, both ships work but if SJM goes with Elain and Lucian than their book would have to be the last, because that is where I imagine Koshei will be defeated. Also since Lucien is connected to Beron, I imagine he will be the one to strike him down for good, or at least have a huge rule in opposing him at the very end. If Elain and Lucien book will be the next one we are left with Vassa and Azriel to lead the last book, not together obviously. They would have to have different love interests - the last book would have to be either Vassa x someone (Jurian, probably) or Azriel x someone. To be honest, if the next book is Elain and Lucien that would mean Azriel isn’t getting a book because as I said Azriel x Gwyn makes little sense as the second novel in this trilogy and no sense as the third one because neither Az or Gwyn have connection to Koschei.

I strongly believe that the person who is most likely to deal with Koschei and the person who has the absolute right to defeat him is Vassa. She's the one who has been entrapped and cursed by him. Additionally it was her conversation with Feyre at the end of ACOWAR that was a giveaway as to what the spin-off trilogy is going to be plot wise. It also seems right up SJM alley to have her female protagonist defeat her abuser in a very poignant and satisfying way. I’m pretty sure that Vassa is going to be one of the leads of the future two books.

Lastly, I think we all can agree that at this point it's obvious that Azriel and Elain are two characters that SJM wants to write about and they will be main characters in the spin off novels, whether in the same book or not..

So to add all of this up we have two possible scenarios in fort of us:

1) The next book is going to be Elain and Lucien, and the last book is gonna be Vassa and someone (Jurian, Eris?, Azriel????). This scenario doesn't make much sense because: a) It would mean Azriel won't have a book (unless he's paired up with Vassa, which by now is not foreshadowed or hinted at at all). b) There's no clear love interest for Vassa, because Lucien would end up with Elain. Jurian is a possibility but he's, you know, Jurian. I don't think many people would want him as a MC. There's also Eris (bare with me here). Eris, technically, has a lot of the same plot connections that Lucian has (son of Beron, connected to the Night Court where most of our heros reside) + SJM clearly loves him. This couple is far fetched, obviously.

2) The most likely scenario, imo. The next book is Azriel and Elain - they have plenty of foreshadowing, Elain is connected to Koshei, the seer and the spy infiltrating Koshei/ Autumn Court (there’s plenty of possibilities as to how they together can be involved with the main conflict). The last book, Lucien x Vassa - the will defeat Beron, defeat Koschei, Lucian as the son of Helion the Spell-Cleaver will break Vassa's curse once and for all.

There's also other scenarios, however unlikely:

1) Gwyn and Azriel, Elain and Lucian (why yes: both Az and Elaine get books, why no: Vassa doesn't get a book which is unlikely cause she's the person most connected to Koschei, Gwyn has nothing to do with Koschei)

2) Mor and someone, Elain and Azrie or Elain and Lucian or Vassa and Lucian (why yes: we get a Mor book which is great, why no: Mor has nothing to do with Koschei, we don't have a clear love interest for Mor, Az or Elain, or Vassa are not going to get a book.)

To sum this all up. The characters that the fandom should keep an eye on are Elain, Azriel, Lucien and Vassa. The next books will be about them, and the most logical way to tell their stories is to couple Elain with Azriel and Lucian with Vassa. There is plenty of great analysis of the subtle and not so subtle way SJM is foreshadowing those couples since ACOWAR.

Of course I can be totally wrong with my predictions but judging by what's on the page I think I'm mostly right here. To be 100% sure we must simply wait

#elriel #azriel x elain #vassa x lucien #anti-gwynriel #anti-elucian #anti elucien #anti gwynriel #vassien

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kingwuko · 3 years

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Wuko in the Comics: Ruins of the Empire, Book 1 part 2

Welcome to my series of posts discussing Wuko in the Comics. In this post I'll continue to discuss RotE Book 1. There are some... interesting moments in the second half of this comic, including a very famous line that all but confirms canon Wuko.

Plot Summary

Fearing that Guan will use violence to stop the election, the Krew decides to bring Kuvira along with them to Gaoling, hoping that she can talk him down. When they come face-to-face with Guan, however, they discover he does not intend to use violence, but will run in Gaoling’s election. The Krew decides the best solution is to find another candidate with enough public support to defeat Guan fair and square; and they decide to ask Toph to run. It is revealed, however, that Guan does not intend to win fair and square. He’s planning to brainwash Gaoling’s citizens to vote for him.

Major Plot points in the second half of Book 1

We start off right away with the Sauna Scene. Everyone looks excellent. The ladies' sauna wear is lovely. Mako and Bolin have their classic swim suits seen in season 1. Wu is literally just wearing a towel. I found myself googling saunas and steam baths to see if it’s normal to wear swimsuits or just a towel, and everything I read said pretty much anything goes as long as you are comfortable, but I do find it interesting that everyone wears swimsuits except Wu. Maybe because he does steam baths more often and he’s just more comfortable in that setting? He seems pretty confident and not at all shy. I don’t have anything analytical to say about it, I just think it’s an interesting detail, that he doesn’t seem to have any hang-ups about being nearly naked around Mako his friends.

They are discussing Guan’s militaristic movement toward Gaoling, and tossing ideas around to handle the situation. Mako not-so-helpfully suggests using force with the united forces which Zhu Li shoots down right away, not wanting to escalate the situation. Wu agrees and wants to find a peaceful resolution. Korra, remembering her conversation with Kuvira, thinks she has the answer. She proposes bringing Kuvira along to Gaoling, which NOBODY is happy about. Asami is upset because she made it clear earlier she does not want to be in the same room as Kuvira, Bolin is distressed because Kuvira nearly had him killed when he defected from her inner circle, Mako points out that he nearly lost his arm taking down the mech, Zhu Li says she invaded republic city, Asami reminds everyone that Kuvira killed her father, and Wu boldly declares that we can’t forget she ruined his coronation… He quickly reads the room and apologises (character growth?).

Korra acknowledges everyone’s concerns and points out that she truly believes Kuvira can be an ally- she was their ally when Zaheer was trying to kill her and the airbenders; and when her spirit vine weapon ripped open a new portal to the spirit world, Kuvira thought she had died and Korra believes that changed her. Bolin points out that Kuvira is very persuasive and may have a good shot at convincing Guan to stand down. Everyone is convinced and declares their support for the plan.

Zhu Li orders Kuvira’s release and Korra brings her onto the airship taking them all to Gaoling. And, I’m sorry, this frame is like, the bitchiest collective look from Mako, Wu, Bolin and Pabu. I just love it.

They initially plan to restrain her, but decide it’s pointless when Kuvira points out if she wanted to escape that she would have already. They arrive at Gaoling and there’s no sign of Guan and his army. Kuvira is certain he’ll be there, and points out that she needs to change so she doesn’t meet with him looking like a prisoner.

Korra and Wu go to meet with the election candidates. Their portraits are on the wall and it’s revealed that the candidates are both elderly magistrates who have been working in the local government for a long time. They are practically indistinguishable from each other, which causes Korra concern. Wu isn’t happy about it either, he was hoping the elections would bring in new leaders to take the earth kingdom in a new direction. Instead, it looks like nothing will change in Gaoling or the rest of the earth kingdom if things play out the same way. They are both disappointed but Korra is optimistic that this is the first election and over things will improve as they iron out the political kinks

Back in the flying machine, they give Kuvira an outfit of Asami’s that is…. Like I can’t put it into words. I’ve never seen asami wear it and that is a shame. The word that comes to mind is “Dapper”. Like is we saw Asami wearing it when they first introduced her character literally everyone would have predicted Cannon Korrasami and immeadiately said “yup Asami’s gay straight women don’t dress like that”. Slacks, a collared long sleeve shirt, with a grey vest over top. Just like, amazing. I am so disappointed we never saw Asami wear this. Someone point me to a fanart of Asami in this outfit that canonically belongs to her please.

Guan arrives and Kuvira tries to talk to him, which goes about as well as you’d expect. So she tries to appeal directly to his troops and urges them to surrender, and they all say in unison “Hail Commander Guan!”. So Kuvira decides to challenge Guan and beats the crap out of him in a punch that looks like something directly out of a WWII propaganda poster or something.

Kuvira is literally about to kill him by bending the metal collar around his neck when suddenly Asami electrocutes her with some device she had hidden in the belt she gave Kuvira.

Once Mako and Bolin drag Kuvira away, Korra attempts to reason with Guan and tells him she won’t let him interfere with the election. Guan then reveals he has no intention of interfering- he plans on running in the election! He immediately turns in all the necessary paperwork to be on the ballot. He informs the Krew that soon, all the upcoming elections will have Earth Empire representatives running and once they have power in every territory, no one will question the Earth Empire's right to rule.

They reconvene back on the airship, where Kuvira is detained in the platinum box. They explain to Kuvira that she was wrong to provoke him, but right that he is an excellent strategist. Mako then tells Wu that he should just call off the election. Wu replies “Mako, you know I love you, but I’m trying to encourage democracy. I can’t just go around canceling elections because I don’t like one of the candidates. We need to see how this plays out”

…

Yes. “Mako, you know I love you”

…

We’ll discuss that at length in a bit.

They decide the best path forward is to find a new candidate who is popular enough to beat Guan. Korra excitedly suggests Toph. Which, like, wouldn’t have been the first person to come to mind for me, but I guess she’s the only person they know who is originally from Goaling? But everyone seems on board, except presumably Toph because she doesn't like to get involved in worldly affairs… So Korra announces they will just have to convince her!!

We then cut to Guan's encampment, where he is discussing Kuvira’s actions with a Doctor Sheng, observing that Kuvira just isn’t the same, and that the Avatar has corrupted her mind. The doctor suggests they “recalibrate” Kuvira’s mind and leads him into a structure where she shows him their latest “recruits'. We then see Goaling citizens tied up in chairs with devices on their heads. They are being brainwashed to vote for Guan! Yikes!

Mako and Wu Scenes

The Sauna scene

The meeting that took place in the sauna was at the behest of Wu. He said he was very stressed out so he couldn’t miss his steam bath. I know there are lots of jokes about Wu being high maintenance because he needs his spa days or whatever, but he is in a highly stressful situation right now and we know that self care is essential to maintain one’s mental health and in order to perform one’s job well. I think this was an interesting way to weave together his seemingly superficial hobbies with his new maturity and responsibility. I really loved this scene for that (though seeing all the hot people in sauna-wear is a bonus).

Also there is a recurring thing where Mako is just offering the worst advice to Korra. He wants the United Republic, a completely separate Nation from the Earth Kingdom, to just.. March into another country and ‘enforce’ their democratic process??? Like…. If you know anything about world history and current events we know that is awful and wouldn’t be received well and would be a recipe for political instability and long term conflict. Thank goodness everyone is like Mako no. I’m pointing this out because, as much as we think of Wu as being immature, irresponsible, whatever, the reality is that he has a level head while Mako is actually giving the irresponsible solutions here. It’s a really interesting evolution from the infamous Wu meltdown scene where Mako was the voice of reason, but here things have reversed.

Also, I want to point out the moment where Wu backs down after he adds his grievance to the list everyone is giving (She ruined my coordination!), it’s kind of played for laughs but like… Wu has a totally valid reason to be upset on par with everyone else, considering Kuvira had him drugged and kidnapped…. Why wouldn’t he have said that? Well, the simple and obvious answer is- the writers wanted to make a “Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking” joke. But since us fans like to give depths to the characters that they deserve, maybe Wu is genuinely traumatized and just doesn’t want to bring it up. And maybe everyone knows he’s traumatized and doesn't want to bring it up, because no one else is like “Wu, did you forget she had you drugged and kidnapped???” They just give him a look and he’s like “LOL oops sorry should have said my thing first!!” maybe Team Avatar understands that it was a really scary moment for him and they just let him shield himself with humor.

I know it isn’t isn’t exactly a strong Wuko moment, but the bitchy look that Moko, Bolin, Wu and Pabu give to Kuvira in the airship breathed life into me for some reason. I’m loving how they look like a group of mean girls who were just badmouthing Kuvira before she walked in. I think they were having a nice bonding moment before this.

Mako, you know I love you

Ok. So after Mako casually mentions just calling off the election, Wu flat out says “I love you” to Mako. This is a line us Wuko shippers just DIE for. The full line is as follows:

Mako: I say you call off the vote, at least for now. Make it impossible for Guan to win

Wu: Mako, you know I love you, but I’m trying to encourage democracy. I can’t just go around cancelling elections because I don’t like one of the candidates. We need to let this play out.

So. Like, what the heck are we supposed to make of this?

I’m not going to dig too deep and force my own interpretations and headcanons onto you. This I love you could mean a number of different things. I just want to pose some rhetorical questions about it and the context to give us all some things to think about.

Is Wu flirting? Does Mako actually know that Wu loves him? Is this an extension of Wu’s many other instances of flirting with complimenting Mako (on par with ‘my big tough guy” while staring at his ass)? Has Wu said “I love you” to Mako before? How many times has Wu said “Mako I love you” before? Is this evidence of them actually being in a romantic relationship during this comic? Or is it evidence of romantic tension building? Is Mako just totally oblivious to the fact that Wu said I love you? Or did he hear it and his brain blue-screened from the shock of being blatantly told I love you? Has Wu just gotten fed up that Mako seems oblivious to all his previous flirtations and he just decided to up the ante? Does Mako love Wu back?!

Lots of questions. Lots of interpretations. But (as far as I remember) Mako has only said I love you to two people- his brother and Korra (I don’t think he said I love you to Asami but I could be wrong). And if you’ve read this you know that Mako’s relationship with Wu is not brotherly. We’ve never heard “I love you” from Wu toward anyone else that I can recall so I don’t think he makes a habit of throwing the phrase around lightly. Also, worth noting: Literally no one reacts to the casual “I love you”. Everyone just goes on with the conversation at hand. The next frame that we see of Wu and Mako’s faces together, Mako is SMILING at Wu.

So like, he’s clearly not uncomfortable with being told that Wu loves him. And no one else is uncomfortable with it either. So what gives? Are they together? Are they flirting? Is everyone else just like “yup Wu said I love you Mako nothing out of the ordinary here because it’s painfully obvious Wu is into Mako, let's move on, nothing to see here”?

Wu and Korra

One thing I LOVE about these comics is the friendship between Korra and Wu. During the series, Korra tolerated Wu, warming up to him a bit at the very end when he told her his plan to abdicate. But through these comics there seems to be a comfortable familiarity between them. A bit of teasing, loads of moral support, and not a hint of her (or anyone) being super annoyed by him. He also doesn’t hit on her or anyone else except Mako, which is a very refreshing character growth because it was very tiresome to watch him objectify women in the animated series.

Korra and Wu spend a good amount of time together as she accompanies him to Gaoling’s city hall. They seem very comfortable with each other, comfortable enough that the writers included a fart joke.

Korra reassures Wu when he expresses worry about the election being pointless, she steps forward somewhat protectively when Guan shows up- the entire scene with Guan, Korra is standing between him and Wu.

Basically I bring this up because I genuinely love the idea that Korra and Wu are close and friendly, that they have moved on from his cringy behavior from the series (I like to think he apologized to both her and Asami?)

What this means for Wuko

If you are writing fic or just coming up with headcanon, there are two ways to look at the scenes. Either they are in a relationship, or they aren’t. You could easily just say they are in a relationship and are being quiet about it, because they aren’t ready to be fully public, or maybe because they are still figuring things out, or they are waiting for Wu to abdicate and move back to Republic City, etc. “You know I love you” is such an easy piece of canon content to make this your headcanon.

Likewise, one could say they are Not Together right now. Pre-relationship, if you will. Maybe they’ve danced around the idea, discussed feelings without actually getting together. Or maybe they are still clueless that there is a potential for a relationship. Wu might be putting out feelers to see how Mako responds to his flirtations. Mako might be wondering if he’s misinterpreting Wu’s affectionate touches and words. Lots of romantic tension, pining, each wondering if the other one has any feelings.

I also love the idea that Wu and Korra are friends and have discussed or will discuss Mako and Wu’s feelings for him.

So, in summary, Wu loves Mako. It’s canon. It’s right there in black and white. Make of it what you will!

Next post I will discuss Wuko in the first half of RotE Book 2. Wu goes on a life-changing field trip with Korra to meet Toph and confront a swamp-vision of his Late Great Aunt, while Mako gets captured and brainwashed by Guan. Wu and Mako are not together during these scenes but there will be lots of wonderful Wu backstory along with plenty of angst potential from the brainwashing storyline.

Wuko in Turf Wars

Wuko in RotE part 1

#Wuko #Wuko in the Comics #RotE #Mako #Prince Wu

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ravenvsfox · 4 years

Text

ok I just saw another post floating around about how people absolutely have to be reading novels rather than fanfiction and I just want to gently lay my thoughts here so that I may rest.

First of all, I totally get that impulse! there’s so much merit in consuming complex long-form lit if you can; it’s always crucial to stay informed, and it’s very cool to be supportive of authors (especially those who are marginalized, and whose narratives have been erased).

But I’ve also seen a lot of this intense, morally superior attitude, which makes a lot of assumptions about what qualifies as fanfiction and what actually constitutes capital L Literature. There’s always this mentality of like ‘oh wow do you want to read rpf mpreg porn or do you want to read Joyce like a big boy’, which seems...... reductive

Fanfiction is a many splendored thing! People write all manner of fluff and porn, but they can also spend a great deal of time formulating plot, accumulating research, engineering original characters, elaborating upon world-building, racking up word counts, acquiring their own fanbases, etc, etc

Like I’m sure I don’t have to tell you why it’s problematic to put classic literature on a pedestal and relegate all fan-made works to obscurity, but even if it WASN’T problematic, it also loses much of the spirit of literary criticism!!

We could be having a much more nuanced conversation about commissioned Virgil, bawdy propagandist Shakespeare and trashy serialized Dickens, about parody, satire, print culture, and intertextuality. I was just reading Celia B Whitehead’s follow-up to Henry James’ The Bostonians called “Another Chapter of the Bostonians” under the pseudonym ‘Henrietta James’, and that’s fix-it fic baby! It’s critical and funny and self aware!

How long exactly does something have to be in the public domain for it to stop being a fan work and start being allusion? what are the criteria that separate fic from literature? It can’t be word count, or hours logged, or drafting/editing processes, because those are so similar in the fic writing community that they would be impossible to sift out. Is it just about originality? publishability?

Can YOU pinpoint the moment that fanfiction becomes literature? Is it when you “command F--replace all” those pesky copyrighted names? is THAT the only border between trash and art? Shouldn’t we talk about that a bit more?

People write fanfiction that is more original content than reference material, and classical authors heavily appropriate their favourite characters, tropes, and settings, and those two behaviours bear strikingly similar fruit.

It’s easy to cry inexperience and completely discard fanfiction, and it’s easy to uphold a seminal text and thereby dodge the gruelling work of demystifying its production or retroactively putting slippery, playful, metatextual writing into categories. But man I really think you do literature a disservice when you paint with so broad a brush.

And in the meantime, what’s the merit of casting aspersions on an accessible form of writing for readers and authors alike? It’s free, it’s creative, it’s bombastic (I could also talk about how it belongs largely to young women and queer ppl, and how the disdain kind of.. stinks), it’s an unfathomable array of things, like all art.

If you want to talk about diverse creators, revitalizing the canon, and reading to expand your horizons, fab! Of course I think people should read books if they can, but not everyone has a consistent attention span, ability, energy, or desire. (Also if you think people who read and write fanfiction literally don’t read or write anything else I..... don’t know what to say to you.) Reading online articles and fan works because it’s easier to curate your reading experience is.... fine actually.

Reducing fanfiction to amateurish nonsense is often mean-spirited, but like mainly it displays a pretty glaring gap in your understanding of the genre. I promise it’s more useful to elevate your criticism beyond ‘fan work bad.. lazy... horny’ and ‘books good! acceptable to enjoy! I am very intelligent!’

Also I don’t really see people demanding that people stop consuming fanart and start consuming “real art”, maybe because it’s more obvious that much of the same technical skill goes into both, which is good to keep in mind when you’re filled with righteous anger and moral superiority because a community is sharing art.

And frankly, it’s a super interesting subculture, if you truly cared about literary or cultural studies. There’s a lot to get into: the increased impact and visibility of fan works with the advent of internet culture, the mutual influence of creator and audience, the way that stylistic mimicry/translation is a unique skill unto itself, the linguistic rules that have been created to label and circulate specific content i.e.: rarepair, AU, angst vs fluff, PWP, slow burn, etc.

Like I’m in grad school for the express purpose of reading books & I obviously think they’re Good, so that’s exactly why I think it’s dangerous to start closing off certain avenues of literary engagement because we’ve arbitrarily decided that they’re worthless :/

#fanfiction is cool you guys are just mean #fanfiction #writing #long post #sorry i have my essay hat on a little bit

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