#no bc actually part of me is like. not getting back into atla bc of this attitude which ik to anyone other than me seems so dumb

[hella1975]

a post about fic updates! so the fics im currently juggling are dog teeth, tams, and of course, taob. my original plan was to start posting the second installment of the dog teeth series by sometime in april, bc it's the fic im most into atm and i already have the first chapter done, i just want to bank another one or two because once i start posting it i want to KEEP posting it with regular updates, hopefully every 2 weeks like with kaiein. HOWEVER this will put my atla fics on a back burner. april is a good writing time for me (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE) bc i have the entire month off from uni to prep for may exam season, and i always want to write when im procrastinating my degree. which is. it's own thing im sure i'll graduate it's fine i'm fine. so if i focus on dog teeth, neither tams nor taob will get focus until like. june. which is par for the course with taob but im NOT happy about doing with tams.

SO my thought process was i can either be normal about this and just accept it's literally my final year at uni and im trying to graduate and it doesn't matter if updates are slow on ANY fics, or i can do my usual and implement an insane deadline that i somehow always make by the skin of my teeth. can you guess what i went with?

and thus i present unto the crowd my tentative plan: have the next taob chapter done by middle of april (im aware this is quite hand-wavey but it gives me a month to work with, so in my head this means anything between april 10th-20th), have the next tams chapter done by the end of april, and dog teeth can follow.

[caruliaa]

whoever created the idea tht associating tswift songs with atla is cringe didnt consider several things. main one being tht its based and fun.

[audsthoughts]

I get it, live actions aren’t for everybody and that’s totally fine. Not everyone’s gonna like it. But to shit on the stupidest things, or draw the dumbest conclusions??? Blocked. Y’all look dense as fuck. Views will be mixed as they always are, quit clogging up the tags with your negativity and find some chill 😂 The originals are still there to watch or read and enjoy…so go do that…it’s literally on the same app 👏🏻 I’m trying to be understanding I am, but some of y’all are so damn hung up you’re letting it completely destroy something you’d otherwise enjoy

Anyways!! Here’s some of the stuff I loved from the atla live action!

•cinematography, soundtrack, costumes - all on point

•getting to see the airbenders flourishing!!! Also the dude who played Gyatso?! Didn’t think I could love him more!! Even though it was painful as FUCKKKK getting to see the first invasion of the fire benders was an epic masterpiece

•speaking of, the first scene?? With the earthbender soldiers in the fire nation?? Iconic

•Omashu: unpop opinion I’m sure (bc y’all hate change but simultaneously hate when it’s carbon copy????????🤦🏼‍♀️) I loved how they incorporated like 3 or 4 episodes into one, and they flowed really well together. Jet is FOINEEE. Mechanist was perfect & his son is a freaking badass, amazing casting! Even though it was change, the secret tunnel scenes were still really freaking cool and the badgermoles were SICK AS FUCK. Also I love that Bumi was still cooky but not just randomly cooky? Like mans was run down from being king basically the entire war…which FAIR. And it made sense that he was peeved with Aang BECAUSE they were such good friends. Like the other avatars being mad at him? Yea that’s whatever. But for Bumi it was kinda personal. Also CABBAGE MAN WE MISSED YOU 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Oh! And the way they mentioned other episodes like they were lore when Zuko was trying to find Aang? That was an amazing way to tie back to the OG series

•I love how they incorporated the blue spirit, Koh, the fog of lost souls & parts of the ep where sokka and Katara got sick & Aang had to get them frogs - just reimagined it. Oh also Hei Bai! Yea, I loved that whole episode. Koh & Hei Bai were SCARY as fuck, it was awesome!!

•HAHN MY BELOVED…I ADORE YOU! Favorite character that they added/changed. Katara getting the other women involved in the battle?! Tui & La? The oasis?! 😭😭 stunning!!!! I also LOVEDDDDD Aangs avatar spirit that he turned into, literally perfect! And I loved the change that he gave himself over to the spirits wrath..fucking SICK. Also right before aang turned into the spirit/whatever that’s called, I was praying they’d do the line and thEY DIDDDD!!!

•Fire lord Ozai?? 😳😚 nothing needed to be said - perfection

•Kyoshi?! The Kyoshi warriors?! SUKI?! - speechless

•I like that they’re making more of a point to show how smart Sokka is! Mechanist calling him an engineer…I hope they play more into that! Ik they did a bit in the show with the subs (cartoon), but still

•”~hE rAn~” seriously my favorite line, I was DYINGGGG!!! The scenes with Zuko and Iroh, Zuko before the war meeting, the leaves from the vine being in the background at the funeral….ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME?! Zuko’s crew being the crew he SAVED?! And when they find out they all do the fire nation bows to their prINCE?! 😭😭😭😭

I’m being fair y’all - things I don’t love/hope they change:

•this one I’m 50/50 on - I don’t love that they tried to give Kuruk a reason for disappearing. They tried to pull shit from Korra to make him look meaningful & not useless as an avatar and it didn’t hit for me

•some of the wigs: obviously we won’t see Yue again, but I wanted her hair to be white. I didn’t love the wig but it wouldn’t have been as bad for me if it wasn’t so grey. Also do NOT love Azula, Tylee or Mai’s hair. Ik they look just like the show but whether that’s wigs or their actual hair (I’m clueless) it needs some serious improvement. Azula’s looks great down, I just don’t like how big the side pieces are that frame her face when it’s up.

•Katara, my love, I am PRAYING part of your development is also going to be her becoming more outspoken and badass, bc this season we saw the tiniest of glimpses of it, not a fan (unless it’s a part of her development…she did grow up in a tiny ass tribe so I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt)

• IK they’re going with a much more serious Aang, but pleaseeeee give us some actual moments of him being a kid. We saw that like twice 😭

•Dante is the PERFECT ZUKO, I will hear NO slander. However, I need him to be more of a dick. I’m hoping we’ll get that when he gets super desolate when they’re on the run & then we have Zuko alone & he has his inner battle. I need snarky dickhead Zuko, so you can truly see the big differences between what he’s fighting (himself vs. who his dad wants him to be)

Have fun kids!

In case I haven’t made it clear, idgaf if you disagree. I go so hard for these live actions because it’s fun! It’s just supposed to be fun and different and new. If you get so serious about it you’re ALWAYS going to be disappointed, there’s no way around it bc nothing is ever going to be as good as the original book, the original show, the original tale. OG atla is ALWAYS gonna be the winner, nothing will compare! So sit back ~relax~ and find some joy in the little things

[mothric]

(fair warning, re: ATLA—if you like Katara/Aang as a ship or just don’t wanna see anything anti them as a romance ship, def blacklist anti-Kataang and anti Kataang bc I…………………..reblog & post stuff with those tags, so I don’t wanna accidentally slam your feed with that content if it’ll bum you out ^^;)

thoughts under the cut - tl;dr i am not a huge fan either

no dude i'm... frustrated with kataang. it felt weirdly compulsory to have them kiss at the end when they never had a real conversation about their feelings other than katara saying she was unsure?? plus the kid is twelve, he hasn't even hit puberty yet... idk how you feel about other pairings, but i genuinely thought katara/zuko was endgame for most of the show, or at least leaving it open for them to get together when they're older. i really thought i was picking up on chemistry between them early on and thought that was intentional, that katara/aang was a red herring and that aang would have to learn to let her go as part of his hero's journey, while katara and zuko would have a whole thing about learning to see each other as three dimensional humans with common ground, not just enemies on the opposite sides of a war. (which, to be fair, they did have that growth - but he also let her touch his scar, for pete's sake! the least vulnerable kid in the world who wouldn't let anyone get near it! come on.) with all of the interesting, compelling, and clever writing this show achieved, it was really puzzling to watch them double back on what seemed like a clear setup for these very interesting arcs and go 'actually no, the hero does win the girl at the end because he's the protag and that's how it goes.' like? huh??? my brother in christ then why did you write zuko and katara the way you did and have aang go through all the turmoil he did about having to let go of things.... what

anyway before anybody burns me at the stake (i am quickly learning this is a many-years-long debate with many rabid defenders on either side) keep in mind these are just my impressions as a first-time viewer fresh off finishing this show. i haven't sought out any supplementary content, haven't seen LOK, i know nothing beyond what i have just seen. i don't hate the idea of katara and aang being together period, but for me to feel like it had wings, i'd need to see more natural growth/development of those feelings over time - lots of time, along with literal body-brain development. (again, one of these kids has started puberty and the other has not. when i was fourteen you could not have convinced me to smooch a twelve year old if you paid me. brother eugh)

[aquaquadrant]

“He reaches for Tango’s arm. “Tango, I love you-” “I know!” Tango jerks away. “I know that, okay? But you- did it ever occur to you that maybe I love you, too?” PAIN PAIN PAIN

“That maybe for once I- I did something ‘cause I love you and not ‘cause I hate myself?” Tango buddy i hate to break it to you but i still think you’re punishing yourself 

“Traps. He forgot to look for traps.” proof of how long he’s been away oh i am unwell

“Well,” Bravo says, stepping into the room, “isn’t this convenient?” I am going to write self insert fanfiction just to punch him in the face so help me god

“Jimmy surges into the air, wings beating, and swoops down at Bravo. “Don’t you dare call him that!” THAT'S MY BOOOOOOY 

“He’s already had ten years in the sun. That’s more than anyone else in Hels got.” and what if i started crying right here right now. 

“Bravo, on the other hand, stands to gain absolutely nothing from this except the satisfaction of knowing Tango is suffering. How strange, that the only player to ever really demonstrate that desire isn’t even from Hels.” and that's it right there, isn't it? This whole series has been exploring the idea of what makes us good and evil, and how easy it is to go from one or the other. The supposed “good” player, Bravo, acting more evil than ANY hels character we’ve ever met. Boom. 

“Tango tilts his head. “Yeah? If that’s the case, then uh, why did the universe send you here?” my jaw physically dropped in real life HOO BOY. 

“Shut up!” Bravo cries, almost desperate. “I’m the one in the right, here!” “Says who?” Tango asks.” I actually think this whole conversation is GREAT for Tango’s mental health. Like, i hope this is healing that little hels shaped scar thats been in him since he left. The part of him that always thought he deserved to go back. 

“And then he pauses. He stares at Tango, and Tango stares back. “... fuck. What am I doing?” been asking myself that about you this whole time buddy. 

“The sword clatters to the ground.” oh i am crying ugly tears rn. That whole realisation/explanation. I’m not gonna copy paste it here but. Fucking beautiful. I am crying. 

“For what it’s worth, I- I don’t think ‘being good’ is somethin’ that’s like… intrinsically handed to us, just by virtue of where we spawn. I think good is a choice that we make, every second of every day of our lives. And y’know, deciding not to choose good in one moment doesn’t mean we can never choose good again.” and there it is there it is THERE IT IS!!! THERE IT IS!!!! 

“Eventually, Jimmy waves them over. “Hey, so uh, you got somethin’ to say to Timmy?” I would die for Jimmy I would like that on the record please.

“the entire Double Life server has joined Hels.” I’m CACKLING get got Tango you’ve got FRIENDS sucker!! 

“Atlas grins.” ALL THE BETTER FOR ME TO KNOCK YOUR TEETH OUT

Fantastic chapter!!! So well worth the wait, I loved every word of it. EVERYBODY SAY THANK YOU AQUA!!!! 

auughhh i love asks like this, it’s so great to see what lines resonate w my readers bc like. when i’m writing, i spend so much time reading them and tweaking them and so they kinda lose their impact for me? so this is just really neat to see <3

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

MAC. OH MY GOD. HEAD IN HANDS. HOLY SHIT. ashe is in college (normal college i think??) VYCNENT IS IN SUPERHERO COLLEGE!!!! wiwi fucking around in the woods..... dakota also in college i think??? idk that wasn't super clear 2 me but i think he's there IDK I WAS JUST SO EXCITED FOR ALL OF THEM TO BE LIKE. EXISTING IN THE SAME PLACE!!!! ashe oughhh ashe i missed u ashe <3 i like to think he still has the trickster's wings. thats canon 2 me idc. oh my godd they're doing like. relatively normal shit!!!!!! aaaa!!!! oh i need 2 write a fic about them in college. i got 2. i MUST. even just a oneshot idc i wanna do it!!!

THE IRL MARIOKART AGAIN!!!! LE FROG!!! WILLIAM'S FUNERAL!!!! THE SILLIES ARE BACK!!!!!!!! SHENANIGANS!!!! oh that was so good. that was SO GOOD!!!!! oh im going 2 cry. i didn't cry and then it got to dakota with his aunt and i teared up a lil and then it had william falling off the cliff and landin gin the dirt and just. holding the soil in his hands and feeling it and i actually cried a lil. man. also CANTRIP IS NOT IN THE SPIRIT WORLD!!! WHERE IS SHE!!! DOES THIS MEAN SHE'S ALIVE OR IS SHE A GHOST I DON'T KNOWWWW GOD I WANT 2 KNOW. I WANT 2!!!! and atlas being killed. an X being carved into him. XAVIER VILLAIN ARC????? 👀👀👀👀 PERHAPS??? god i hope so. i would love to see him as a villain. i rly like xavier actually and i think he deserves to go a little apeshit <3 SO EXCITED FOR WHATEVER THE FUCK IS GONNA HAPPEN WITH MAL!!! GUY WAS ALREADY FUCKED UP AND NOW HE'S EVEN MORE UNHINGED!!!!! i like mal a lot. he fucking sucks. terrible horrible awful little man. i love him so much he's such a cool fucking character i want to throw him out a window <3 idiot shit bastard man!!!!!! and william asking vyncent if he would come to ghim funeral. bro was like THIS CLOSE 2 asking him out. i am telling u. and btw william's fucking "vyncent did you realize anything while i was gone?" right ebfore vyncent just passes tf out in ep39 was so fucking. yeah. that's ghostknife!!!!!!! it always almost happens and then it fucking doesn't!!! i love that for them i hope they're ten times as gay and awkward in s3 <3

GOD. that was so good. finales always fuck me up dude. im so fucking emotional. i feel like my entire being is vibrating like a lightning rod or some shit. ALSO u gotta send me more trivia abt the episodes!!! i think the last one u sent me was for episode 15 of s2. GOD PLS SEND ME GREYSCALE AND DEADWOOD TRIVIA!!!!!! I WANT IT!!!!! I WANT 2 KNOW WHAT THE HELL CHARLIE WAS THINKING DURING GREYSCALE. WHAT WERE UR THOUGHTS KING!!! TELL ME MR SLMCL!!!!!!!!

man. im gonna listen 2 bitb next but i feel like i gotta take a few days first yk??? i gotta let that shit sink in. i hope ur havin a good time reading worm <3 i wil start worm soon!! i just wanna get thru jrwi first bc if i try to get into more than one thing at a time that i know will inhabit my entire brain i feel like my brain is melting. too many blorbo thoughts i gotta stick to one thing first. anyway yeah that was. fucking wild <3 ty for getting me into jrwi i regret nothing

HIIIIIIIIIII WHISKEY. SORRY I LET THIS SIT IN MY INBOX FOR SO LONG I LOVE YOU.AUGH. PRIME DEFENDERS MY LOVE. every day i think about yakko showing up in cosplay . that made me so happy. ashe winters i love you so dearly. i have so many thoughts about post s2 ashe. if ashe isnt in s3 im going to fucking riot.

when i tell you that fucking part with the cliff made me UGLY CRY . like full on. "and you stay there" lives in my head forever.

EXTREMELY EXCITED ABOUT A POSSIBLE XAVIER VILLAIN ARC. LIKE. THATS GOTTA BE HIM RIGHT. THAT CANT NOT BE HIM. i wonder if allen is with him. fuck. AND WHERES CANTRIP. GOD. i miss her :( i think she deserves to go full vengeful spirit on williams ass and haunt him like a fucking poltergeist. god forbid women do anything.

dude finales fuck me up so bad too. god. 39 hurts me just a little bit more than 40 but 40 is still SOOOO insanely good to me. 40 was like the breath of fresh air we needed. i dont think 40 hit me as hard as a finale because i know we're getting a 3rd season so its not OVER yet. but something about it just made it feel so much more impactful than a regular season finale. god. i miss them so much.

IM SO GLAD YOU GOT INTO JRWI !!!!!!! ITS BEEN SO FUN SEEING YOU GUYS REACT TO EVERYTHING!!!!!! jrwi has been like. HUGE main hyperfix for me since like. last october. so im having sooooo much fun forever. hehehehe. me when my beloved mutuals and i are all into the same piece of media again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[leafykat]

ATLA LIVE ACTION RANT/MANIFESTO

After watching it I started typing and couldn't stop. Sorry it's really really long and probably not very coherent.

(Since I wrote this, Big Joel put up a vid on his side channel talking about his thoughts on the first episode and he had a lot of points I agree with so watch that too if you’re interested) <- eta: ok jk sorry it already got taken off youtube it's only on his patreon now

I really dislike starting the story with the beginning of the war. It's like they don’t trust the audience enough to care about the protagonists without laying out all the Big Important World Context out right at the start, or they don’t trust us enough to understand non-linear storytelling. I’m trying really hard not to just hate on changes simply for being different than the show I grew up with, because god knows I have my own issues with it. There are scenes that are nearly shot-for-shot, line-for-line remakes of the original, which makes the parts they change really jarring and frustrating. I don't mind the way they combined some episodes or storylines or changed some details, like, June being the one who hits on Iroh instead of the other way around, but other changes just feel like they either miss something fundamental (to me) about the characters or the story or are just… arbitrary, which is almost worse.

One thing that REALLY frustrated me right from the start was that Aang wasn’t actually trying to run away. He goes flying to “clear his head” and gets caught in a storm coincidentally right as he says “ok Appa let’s head home”. Why? Everyone treats him like a coward anyway. Everyone is way meaner to him than in the cartoon about something that, in this version of the story, objectively was not his fault. Why? In the cartoon, he feels intense shame that he wasn’t there for everyone, even though he was twelve and about to be taken from the only person that wanted him to have a childhood, and he got so overwhelmed and scared by what the world expected from him that he tried to run away from it. In the live action, he gets to reunite with the spirit of Gyatso, who says, “you couldn’t have done anything if you had stayed. You just would have died,” (paraphrasing bc I can’t be bothered to give it more views just to get exact quotes) which is fine, I don’t think he needed a spirit world reunion with Gyatso but I can accept it. But if that’s what that gives Aang closure, what is the point of changing him to be less responsible for disappearing? In the cartoon Katara is the one who reassures Aang and helps him process his guilt, representing the people of the present who he can still help. The live action has the voice of the past, the people that he’s ‘failed’, reaching forward in time to absolve him of any sins. And remember that in this version he literally was trying to go home. It just feels like they’re trying to remove moral complexity from his character.

Less importantly (except to me maybe) I think that showing us the Air Temple pre-genocide removes impact of seeing it for the first time in the cartoon. I loved Aang hyping it up to Katara and Sokka, unwilling to believe that it could have fallen. It almost makes the viewer think maybe some of them could have survived in secret. Then, the contrast between his idyllic memories and reality start to sink in. It was an incredibly hard-hitting moment, dulled in live action by the audience having seen exactly what happened to the temple already (including an incredibly hamfisted “you can’t beat us while we have the power of the comet!” line from who I think was Sozin.) I think Momo is pretty cute though.

Another thing that pissed me off was the way they handled the Agni Kai: They combine Zuko's duels with Zhao and Ozai into one, where Zuko not only fights back against his father but gets an opportunity to deliver (presumably) a winning blow and hesitates. This choice weakens important aspects of his backstory and, to me, flattens his relationship with Ozai: 1) That he was never a prodigy firebender like Azula, feeding the inferiority complex that Ozai fostered 2) The Agni Kai was meant to be public humiliation, meant to teach Zuko ‘respect’. It was in front of hundreds of people, and it was a thirteen-year-old child against a full grown firebending master. Zuko prostrates himself and begs his father for mercy. His refusal to even fight embarrasses Ozai by exemplifying the 'weakness' Zuko's mother 'instilled' in him. In his duel with Zhao, Zuko makes a conscious choice to be merciful despite Zhao telling him to “do it” and kill him. Despite knowing how the fire nation views it as weakness, as cowardice, especially in this specific setting. It foreshadows his later choices, and shows his innate kindness. Combining the two duels doesn't allow us to see that parallel nor that growth. Reducing his act of mercy to a mere hesitation in the moment of victory, furthermore, reduces his agency.

In fact, the adaptation softens a lot of Zuko's role as an antagonist, giving most of his actually villainous actions from the cartoon to other characters. They keep him capturing Aang in the South Pole, but Zhao leads the attack on Kyoshi village, they remove the episode with the pirates (s1e9), combine aspects of episode s1e15 ‘Bato of the Water Tribe’ with ‘the Blue Spirit’ (s1e13) and ‘the winter solstice’ (s1e7/8) removing three instances of Zuko capturing or attacking Aang in favor of one with Zhao capturing and Zuko rescuing him. But I guess they add a fight in Omashu. Look, this is inevitable as a result of combining 20 episodes into 8. I don’t really mind streamlining a lot of these episodes, nor removing others (having episodes like ‘the great divide’ and ‘the fortuneteller’ only referenced as rumors Zuko hears in a bar is cute, to be honest), though the change to the Bato episode where Sokka merely has a flashback of his father implying he thinks Sokka is an incompetent warrior is a really unnecessary and bad change, to me. But they took out almost every instance of Zuko posing an actual threat to Aang and replaced it with one fight scene in Omashu. To me, what it feels like is the show runners know Zuko is going to become a Good Guy and thus they don’t want to make him act too Bad.

On the topic of Kyoshi island: giving Aang a reason to go there aside from wanting to ride the giant Koi, whatever. Removing Sokka’s chauvinism, okay, I guess. But it ends up replaced with extremely awkward flirting between him and Suki that feels motivated by nothing beyond each being the first non-relative young adult of their preferred gender either one has ever met. Whether or not you want to have Sokka start off sexist, and that could be a whole conversation on its own, him humbling himself enough to ask Suki for instruction was an important moment of growth for him that he doesn’t really have in this version. And they don’t even put Sokka in the dress and makeup!!! BOO! Also minor moment but I think it’s also sus for the show to have Suki remove her makeup as soon as it’s time for her to be a love interest and then just not wear it again. BOO!! She looked really cool though. It’s not like I think her first appearance in the cartoon is full of depth or whatever, and I think the cartoon turned her into a cardboard cutout as soon as she became a love interest, but it’s like the live action clipped through a wall straight to my least favorite parts of s3 Suki. It’s just disappointing. I also don’t like Aang being able to just talk to Kyoshi and his other past lives so easily but that might just be my cartoon-purist talking.

I didn’t mind putting Jet and Teo into Omashu, even though I think Danny Pudi’s ‘I had no choice’ justification for working for the Fire Nation holds up less well when he’s in a position of privilege in an Earth Kingdom stronghold as opposed to protecting a community of refugees in an isolated air temple. I don’t think they needed to add the Cave of Lovers plot from season 2 into the mix though. Not only that, but to rework that plotline so that 1) Aang isn’t even there, 2) it’s Sokka’s idea to put out their lights and follow the crystals, 3) that’s not actually The Solution 4) badgermoles can sense…. Emotions???????? Sorry that’s so fucking stupid it makes me angry. They include the legend where Oma and Shu learned earthbending from the badgermoles, so why would these giant creatures have learned to sense human emotion instead of the pre-existing explanation from the cartoon: sensing the world through the earth. You know, the thing that connects them to Toph’s earthbending. I guess setting up stuff as far away as… next season… isn’t important. They used the stuff from the season 2 episode “the swamp” for aspects of the winter solstice plot anyway, which is where Aang originally had a vision of Toph and thus was able to identify her as an earthbender in spite of her appearance. I guess they can come up with something else, but it’s just a decision that feels arbitrary. Sokka could have had his flashback without the spirit vision, but since this is before he meets and loses Yue they needed something, I guess. At this point I’m describing these changes not necessarily because I think they’re inherently bad but because I want to describe how fragile this jenga tower is getting, and how unnecessary they feel.

Ultimately it’s like… the things they’re the most faithful to are all the most surface-level easter egg references, while missing or changing the actual soul of the source material. Gran Gran gives the opening monologue word-for-word because Fans Will Get It. They include Bumi’s rock candy trick and lettuce leaf joke but make him resentful and angry at Aang for no reason I can understand. Sokka isn’t sexist anymore, he just has issues where his dad apparently thinks he ‘shouldn’t have lives in his hands’. Ozai is… wait- is he tearing up while he scars Zuko’s face?

I know we all love Daniel Dae Kim but we did not need Ozai so much this season, let alone Azula, let alone Mai and Ty Lee. We especially didn’t need a scene where Ozai praises Zuko to Azula while belittling her. For the record, because people defending this scene seem to think the issue is that the rest of us fail to understand that Ozai is playing his children against each other: That is not the issue. It’s that he did not play his children against each other in this specific way. He uses Azula to show Zuko how much he fails to measure up and threaten his position as heir, and he uses the example of Zuko’s failure to keep Azula in line. If she’s good enough and Zuko is bad enough maybe she’ll become heir. After all, that’s what happened to Ozai and Iroh. They are allowed to change this dynamic in adaptation but personally I think it’s a change for the worse, and the shot of tears in his eyes as he abuses his son lends credibility to an interpretation that maybe he does want Zuko to succeed. Lol. The cartoon focuses on Iroh’s reaction, his inability to watch, instead of Ozai’s… emotional conflict? Or whatever.

Katara and Sokka getting stuck in the spirit world as a replacement for their fever in The Blue Spirit is fine, I think condensing that plot and the winter solstice works decently. It’s fine that they changed Aang’s motivation for finding Roku to be getting info on how to save his friends instead of getting crucial info about Sozin’s Comet. After all, they clumsily introduced that in episode 1. It’s honestly fine (Read with as much cope in my voice as you want.) Combining that with Zuko’s half of The Storm is also…. Okay, even if I’ve already described why I don’t like how they adapted Zuko’s backstory. What frustrates me is that The Storm parallels Aang and Zuko’s backstories in a way that works really well with the events in The Blue Spirit. In fact, they’re back-to-back episodes. But the live action has moved Aang’s backstory to the beginning of the first episode. So instead of getting to see how they’re both constrained by the roles and times they were born into, and how heavily others’ expectations weigh on both of them, we have to have Aang explicitly spell it out for us. Rewatching these two episodes of the cartoon I was just really struck by how efficient the storytelling is. All Aang has to say after he’s saved Zuko is that he misses his friend from the Fire Nation, and that he wonders if he and Zuko could have been friends if they’d been born into a different time. All Zuko has to do is attack him in response. Because we’ve just seen why they can’t be friends in this time, in this world. The live action has to create some plot point about Aang having stolen Zuko’s diary, and Zuko having researched Airbender culture or something. They bond a little bit over brushes before Aang goes like ‘why don’t you turn against your family?’ The conversation (before that part) is cute, just like, not a good replacement for trusting the audience.

I guess once we’ve gotten this far it doesn’t matter much that Katara and Sokka have been captured by Koh, because of course they were. Yeah, they changed how it works, yeah, now he steals your face once you’ve succumbed to despair or something. Whatever. At this point it feels like nitpicking to point out that what made Koh so scary was that he would steal your face if you showed him any emotion at all. Who cares anymore.

^ok I wrote most of that before having seen the last two episodes, which cover the last three episodes of the first season of the cartoon. Dude it got even worse somehow. It’s been a couple days and my friends and I rewatched all of s1 of the original show in the meantime.

First of all, the changes to the dynamic between Hahn, Sokka, and Yue were completely inexplicable to me. Yue gets nominally ‘empowered’ in the sense that she’s no longer trapped in an arranged marriage to a total shithead, but at the same time they made Hahn seem like a… genuinely good guy? He’s humble, asks Sokka for his expertise, and nobly accepts that Yue broke up with him. When asked about it, Yue says ‘he’s great, he’s just not the guy of my dreams’, before kissing Sokka. (They also reveal that she was the sexy fox spirit that flirted with Sokka in the spirit world —I didn’t mention it before because I didn’t think it mattered at the time— so I guess we are meant to believe that Sokka is the boy of her dreams. Which we know from these two and a half conversations that manage to be way less cute than the awkward/shy flirting from the original show.) Even if they wanted to completely change Hahn’s character, Yue’s conflict in the original show was between her heart and what she saw as her responsibility to her people. They could just as easily have kept that element: that she isn’t in love with Hahn, but that for Political Reasons can’t just break things off. That’s way more interesting! But I do love a forbidden romance, so maybe that’s just me. The adaptation does say that they were at one point betrothed, which raises more questions than it answers. If both of their parents were anticipating this marriage so much that they set it up years in advance, why were they okay with her just breaking things off because she didn’t like him like that? Are arranged marriages in the Northern Water Tribe (I’m so sorry I forgot the name they gave it in this adaptation) purely meant to be love matches? There’s no financial or political element at all? Even for a princess? Whatever. Hahn still dies, this time it’s just offscreen. This time I’m actually a little sad for him, if just for his wasted potential.

They actually take out the engagement necklace stuff altogether, including the history between Pakku and Katara’s grandma, and the story of how and why she fled. I don’t really know why but maybe they thought “you lost the so-called love of your life to backward practices” was a weak reason to change his mind. So instead they have it that he doesn’t change his mind but it turns out Katara doesn’t need a master anyway because she’s already good enough to be a master! Despite not having been able to waterbend ‘more than a thimbleful’ before meeting Aang, and us not really getting to see her train at all. Gran Gran gave her the waterbending scroll she stole from the pirates in the cartoon, so I guess we can assume that contained everything you’d ever need to know. She loses the fight but wins the hearts and minds of the people. The women of the tribe support her when she goes against Pakku and go “we want to fight too!” Oh, did I mention this is all after they realize the Fire Navy is at their doorstep, so it’s less a fight about the right to learn waterbending than about the right to fight in war. And then again the issue of Katara needing to learn from Pakku is sidestepped by her magically being good enough now on her own. I don’t actually mind the change to include other women from the North standing up against sexism but to be honest I don’t understand taking out the betrothal stuff. It was a deliberate parallel in the cartoon- women trapped in loveless arranged marriages and also forbidden from learning any waterbending aside from healing. But whatever, it’s a choice. I can live with it.

What I don’t like is the way they’ve undermined Katara’s journey in season 1. Aang teaches Katara how to waterbend at first, and she also doesn’t learn to heal on her own before an elder shows her how to do it. In the cartoon, she’s been trying and figuring things out on her own all her life. Her hunger to find someone to teach her is a major motivator for why she wants to go to the North Pole. We see her struggle, get intensely frustrated and jealous that Aang picks up waterbending more naturally than she does, and work really hard at it. Her dedication and hard work are what Pakku eventually praises about her when he teaches her. He compares her to Aang, who is naturally talented but distracted. This is after an indeterminate amount of time, but whatever, condensed timeline, 8 episodes, whatever. We don’t even see Aang waterbend at all this season, which is kind of wild to me. I guess if you take out the Summer Solstice Comet deadline to master all four elements (which they did) Aang doesn’t really need to rush. Instead they kind of just have Aang have a thing of like “I have my friends to help me” which is….. ok….. Oh wait, is this why they don’t care that much about foreshadowing Toph? Are they just not gonna bother having Aang learn the elements and just have her show up and join them for whatever reason? Is that why they just totally removed ‘The Deserter’? Wait sorry, I’m assuming they’re planning that far in advance at all, my bad.

Okay also like I have to talk about this because it bothers me so much. Zhao was handled so badly. Whatever, have a Fire sage just give him the moon/ocean spirit exposition in a flashback instead of the way it unfolded in the cartoon (I guess we’re already not bothering to set up the great library since the gaang already met wan shi tong, I guess that’s… fine… Appa can get captured a different way, if they’re even going to bother with that plotline in season 2. If they’re even going to do a season 2.) Sure, the moon and ocean spirits are only in the physical realm and vulnerable for ‘only one night’ now as opposed to permanently. Zhao knows this but not that they’re fish. Okay. Whatever. Blah blah blah. Those are personal nitpicks. But what really gets me is that in the end, Iroh and Zuko kill Zhao. Or rather, Zuko doesn’t finish him off, Zhao tries to attack when his back is turned, and Iroh finishes him off (similar to the way their Agni Kai in the cartoon plays out.) In the cartoon, Zhao and Zuko are fighting, Aang-as-Ocean-Spirit grabs Zhao, and Zuko reaches out to try and help Zhao, which Zhao refuses. He chooses to meet his fate at the hands of the spirits he provoked rather than swallow his pride. This is such a good conclusion to Zhao’s character! The live action also fails to set Zhao up as a formidable firebender, which is also not strictly necessary but I think complements other elements of his character well. His first episode in the cartoon includes the Agni Kai between him and Zuko, establishing Zhao both as a firebending master and as someone who values his ambition and pride above all else. In s1e16, ‘the deserter’ we see him as the embodiment of fire’s destructive hunger: he is baited into destroying his own ships in his desire to “win” his fight with Aang. He gloats of how his siege of the North Pole will earn him a place in the history books, and to win he is willing to kill the moon, against Iroh’s exhortations. In the live action, we get a weird revelation that he was working with Azula, and she was the mastermind behind a lot of his plans? Huh? He also “reveals” that Ozai was only ever using Zuko to “motivate his sister”, which is both incredibly heavy-handed and completely redundant. I guess I should mention that the finale has a couple scenes thrown in where Azula is doing firebending training to pass some kind of arbitrary Test Ozai has set for her, while Mai and Ty Lee watch and tell her that her dad is like, being way too hard on her and she knows he’s manipulating her right? Thanks girls!

Anyway, I guess since the live-action completely removed the golden child/failure dynamic between Azula and Zuko we needed something to replace it. The “my father always said Azula was born lucky. He said I was lucky to be born” line summed up that relationship dynamic nicely. Oh well, who needs it. Instead Zuko is good enough to have beaten Ozai in a duel at 13, but Ozai decided he was weak for hesitating. Meanwhile Azula is struggling to meet his expectations. He banished his heir on a mission that, for the last hundred years, was considered a complete dead-end, so that he could, uhhhhh, Motivate her when he miraculously started succeeding. Masterful gambit, sir. Okay sorry to harp on that again. Back to Zhao. Actually, what else is there to say. He has a couple funny lines but he’s just not the same guy at all on either a superficial or deeper level. It’s so disappointing. It’s also just a really weak choice to make Iroh and Zuko responsible for his death. Maybe they couldn’t figure out how to make the special effects look good when the ocean spirit picked him up. It just misses the point of Zhao’s ultimate tragedy, to me. The man so lacking in self-control, so ambitious, so assured in his own superiority, that he saw the spirits themselves as his prey. To be destroyed by the forces he tried to destroy is so poetic! Instead let’s water down Zuko’s mercy and Iroh’s pacifism.

This is all I can remember at this point aside from nitpicks. Do I think the Koh vs Kuruk backstory needed to be spelled out like that? No. Did we need to almost have Momo DIE to get Sokka and Yue to the oasis? Not really. I don’t think the way Zhao “assassinated” Zuko in the live action made as much sense, but we took out the pirates so oh well.

When you get to a certain point I guess the question becomes ‘how much can you change in an adaptation and still call it an adaptation’. What do adaptations owe to their source material? Where does the spirit of a story reside? If the same plot beats happen, does it matter if characters are different? If the characters are faithful, does it matter if events are moved around? If the destination is the same, how much does it matter how you get there? What do I personally want to see in a ‘live-action’ adaptation of Avatar, this show that I loved so much growing up? Well, assuming that “don’t make one” isn’t a possibility, I would have preferred they follow more in One Piece’s footsteps. That adaptation wasn’t perfect either, and it condensed around 100 chapters of manga into 8 hours, but it really felt like it got the characters right. Avatar had a tough job too, but it condensed 7 hours 40 minutes of cartoon into 8 hours of- wait. No. Well at least we got the cabbage merchant.

[sugarsnappeases]

gnawwww rawrr rawr give me more rodolphus meta i am starving

hello my beloved atlas thanks so much for asking i will try my level best to satiate your hunger ❤️

i think we should talk about voldemort actually. i think it’s time. so. as i said yesterday, i think rodolphus (and also antonin) were both some of the earlier people to join the death eaters (around 1970, when tom comes back to england and like. soft launches his war). to me, rodolphus works his way up the ranks very quickly. like he’s determined, and ambitious, and when he sets his mind to a task he gets it done one way or another. and he’s set his mind to the task of voldemort’s cause (he also started off pretty high in the ranks just bc of his family name and connections etc)

tom likes him bc of the aforementioned characteristics but also bc he’s like. solid. strong. reliable. he knows what he’s about. he’s someone that could be put in a bit of leadership position in the death eaters (bc as i said before. he’s basically a poster boy for them, like in all aspects of his life even if he complains about or disagrees with certain things he’ll still ultimately follow through and obey the expectations or orders)

i think he and tom meet through family. in the hbp pensieve memories, a lestrange is mentioned specifically by surname in the slug club meeting. i don’t think this is rodolphus’ father, bc i have Opinions about tom’s gang back at hogwarts and whether the heirs of the pureblood houses would ever have been able to fall in line with someone who they had known in first year as a shabby, no-name orphan w an unknown blood status. but i think maybe this lestrange is an uncle? or something of the sort to rod and rab and when rodolphus takes over as lord, this uncle falls under his jurisdiction or whatever and mentions it to rod when tom gets back to england or something like that

and rodolphus takes his responsibilities as lord very seriously so he’s investigating everything that his family is involved in, he’s setting up a meeting w tom. i reckon the uncle isn’t a very high level death eater but he tells tom that his nephew, the lord lestrange wants to meet and it happens fairly quickly after that. for tom, it’s a good point of entry into the younger generation of pureblood society, the ones who, unlike some of their parents, didn’t know him before he became lord voldemort, the ones that he can much more easily turn into a part of his army.

and rodolphus goes. obviously. he goes and meets tom and they chat and they see very eye to eye. tom is very good at appealing exactly to what his interlocutor desires and its no different w rodo, he’s investigated a little pre-meeting, figured out what rodolphus wants and leans into it while they talk. and rodo sees a release, something he can use as an outlet for all the emotions that he has to keep under the surface. and he also obvs sees it as like. an important task, the destruction and removal of muggleborns from his beautiful pureblood society, a worthy cause.

in the first war, i think rodo has a lot of power within the death eaters. he was basically the first in his generation to join up so through him people like lucius and the carrows and obvs bella and also importantly rabastan all join up as well (and this is another thing. to me rab isn’t made for fighting. he hates getting his hands dirty. he should be at the club. like genuinely. and i mean club in the sense of a gentleman’s club or something of the like. but he joins bc of rodolphus). he’s the first link to the new gen death eaters which eventually leads to the likes of barty evan and reg as well

and obvs during the first war, lucius sort of acts as right hand man (this is another thing that i can go in to) and i think rodolphus is the left hand. if that makes sense. he’s got the family name and the connections and the sociopolitical power but he’s also got the drive and the slightly twisted desires, the thirst for violence that tom would’ve absolutely fed on and nurtured and expanded until it consumed him whole. until the death eaters, by dint of being a release or something of the sort, become the most important part of his life. become the sort of thing that he would sacrifice his life for (in terms of azkaban being that life sacrifice).

like seriously. he goes to azkaban THREE times for voldemort. THREE TIMES. and he remains loyal to the very end. he never even wavers in it. and that’s very important to me. he is very important to me i think about him far too much.

[blazethecheeto]

ATLAS PARADOX RAMBLING

dude this book. i need to talk. about it. im going insane.

everyone who hasn't read it, PLEASE DO!!! it's a dark academia book about a bunch of gay silly magic people that join a society and try to kill each other. there's time travel, a big ass polycule, aesthetic scenes, the prettiest writing style in the world, science, philosophy, and fucked family. (opposite of found family).

(extremely chaotic unorganized long rant below, with spoilers. click at your own risk)

FIRST OF ALL WHY WAS THIS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE FIRST ONE?!!?!?

i had to power through the first one, it felt long, and unnecessary and like trekking through a JUNGLE with the thickest and most intricate ecosystem that i had to peel back and unravel for hours and hours. only to like move the plot by an inch.

BUT THIS. olivie blake found her footing because this was so good. i am aware the reviews hate on this book and some people don't like it, but personally i adore it and it's really well written.

CHARACTERS

bro they all had such wonderful voices, like they were distinct and unique from each other but not drastically, noticeably different I NEED TO LEARN FROM THIS. six of crows and the atlas six do multi povs so well <3 its like this book was made for me, each character was perfect and incredible and gay and silly and-

reina. love of my life. i look forward to all her povs because the plants are so silly and she's the best character. i said it. she's canon asexual now too YEES. i needed more of her because she was barely in the first one, and they DELIVERED. the juicy plot with her 'god complex' (ily callum) and her feelings getting hurt and learning she actually is lonely and wants friends? she's so wanda maximoff. next book better have her opening up and learning to love people or i riot (and also her killing people and being the badass she is)

parisa always my fave too, i do wish her character wasn't always talking about sex or romance, there were some great moments in this book where she showed off her telepathy powers (the prince in the tower!!) it was awesome. i'm glad they acknowledged that side of her with reina, (oh my god i ship them so much wait till i rant about them-) but dude i still HATE DALTON. SO MUCH. OH MY GOD. every time it's her pov i dread seeing dalton, i wish she could give that up. generic white men should die.

CALLUM. whatever turned him from complex, daunting, and a psychopath last book to janus from sanders sides this book- beautiful choice. he's literally the one sassy wine-sipping gay aunt that feels nothing and everything at once, also extremely mentally ill and depressed. he's SO FUNNY. his povs are fucking hilarious to read, and he quickly became one of my faves bc of how complex he is. i'm not smart enough to decipher and psychoanalyze him but god i LOVE CHARACTERS LIKE THIS.

i don't know what happened but nico is literally one of my faves now too, he's so silly and sweet and kind and i loved his relationships with everyone this book. like him trying to murder tristan in multiple different ways oml. he's my bbg. tristan was hit or miss for me, i did find him interesting but he's not my favourite. doesn't mean i hate him, he's so very british, i feel it radiating off the page. libby my queen my icon, her dream povs were so trippy i loved it- so so realistic to a real dream, that was the most surprising and unique part. also my bisexual queen seducing belen??

i did not like ezra and atlas was a little iffy here and there but tbh the cast was so well rounded and interesting and unique but paralleled each other so well?? THE RELATIONSHIPS. I DONT THINK ANY BOOK HAS THIS INTRICATE WEB-LIKE RELATIONSHIPS WITH EACH OTHER. they're one big polycule.

RELATIONSHIPS

nico and libby <3 i love them so much as siblings/queerplatonic partners. i don't ship them romantically, because i LOVE how they subverted the eye-rolling predictable ' YA academic rivals enemies to lovers' trope. when i started TAS, i immediately thought they were gonna get together and assumed the worst. but no, they still had the banter and importance in their relationship but without the romance? instead both of them were gay af. it's beautiful. i love subverting tropes so much. they're each other's 'other half' and they're hilarious together.

NICO AND TRISTAN. they were such a highlight this book, it was unexpected but so funny. nico trying to murder tristan and their little talks because 'they're not friends...just coworkers' yeah right, the best friendships start with creatively murdering each other. tristan being droll and chill af, and then nico bouncing off the walls my adhd king.

reina and nico broke me?? like that one chapter where they sparred and caught up with each other and reina was guarding her hurt feelings. DUDE THAT KILLED ME. made me stare at the ceiling for a good minute. their friendship is everything to me, they contrast each other so well. she deserves to be treated better- when they had that projection chapter and she saw that nico downplayed her skills...like she was good, but not good enough for him to care about her. AGGHGH.

REINA AND PARISA. NOW THIS. THIS HOOKED ME INTO THE BOOK. i ship them so bad guys. they parallel each other and are both hot and enemies to lovers and wlw slow burn and- look. reina is asexual, therefore the only person to truly see and understand parisa for who she is, and not be influenced by her body. like that one projection. she can help parisa understand HERSELF and who she is past her sexual desirability. how to love someone again. romantically. then, on the flip side, parisa can help reina see and understand OTHERS. reina only sees people as one trait, cut and dry- without any of the complex feelings. parisa is a telepath, she knows how to read others. THEY CAN BOTH HELP EACH OTHER AND LOVE EACH OTHER IN WAYS THEY NEVER COULD HAVE OMFDADJFLSKJADFL- also reina pinned her against a wall and they want to kill each other and every time they interact i scream into my pillow-

-

'You can't love anyone right?"

"I've met very few people worth loving."

-

*throws myself off a building*

now we just gotta play the familiar game "IS IT DELUSION OR IS IT JUST SLOW BURN" and find out whether their insane chemistry pays off in book 3.

the nico parisa scene was actually sweet ngl, even though i don't ship them. the whole callum and tristan thing was so bitter exes situationship coded and i ate every second up. especially that last conversation. AND OFC. GIDEON AND NICO?!!! AAAAA THEY WERE SO CUTE THEY'RE ENDGAME I SCREAMED WHEN THEY KISSED DUDE THEYRE SO-

PLOT

now for the actual plot. this book has so many interesting subjects and philosophies and debates i'm not smart enough for this. but past all the aesthetic glamour, it's science, time travel, dreams, multiverses, fate, reality, and the complexities of the human mind. and my god it's fascinating as fuck.

do i have any idea what they do in this society?? NO. am i entertained? YES. especially that whole explosion paradox to bring libby back to the future. the whole powering the connections via aurora borealis? the whole debate about being gods? i love it. i love it.

alright im so sorry for that rant, i gotta go now but DUDE I LOVE THIS BOOK NO MATTER HOW WEIRD IT WAS

[emiliosandozsequence]

what scifi media do you like?

OH ANON I HAVE SO MANY. i'm so glad you asked 💕💕💕 (tagging @gorydean too so she sees 💕💕💕)

gotta start first and foremost with the sparrow series by mary doria russell as my blog is basically just a shrine to it at this point. amazing book and definitely recommend it if you love found family, first contact, trauma, tragedy, and the abandonment of the faithful by g-d. huge massive trigger warning tho. everyone says the second book isn't as good as the first, but i completely disagree. i think they're bitg equally as good as each other; the second book just takes awhile to get to the most insanity inducing parts whereas the first one starts out strong with that and keeps going until the end of the story.

i would have more books to recommend, but i've only just started REALLY getting back into reading after several years of not reading as much due to a variety of reasons (mostly trauma and chronic and mental illness). that being said, i have an insane amount of films to give you to watch instead of books.

gotta recommend my all time fav film (or one of the two anyway), the fountain. most people...don't like this movie because they think it's hard to understand and doesn't make sense towards the end (i had to watch it several times to get it), but please please please watch it. it's a beautiful film both visually and plotwise as long as you give it a chance 💕

sound of my voice is softer in terms of scifi, but still definitely scifi. it's another film that lets you decide what to believe. it's also another film people tend not to like for whatever reason, but i think it's extremely well done and the ending is so 💕💕💕💕💕💕

cloud atlas. very much a story in the same vein as the fountain taking place over different timelines. another beautifully done story about how everything and everyone is connected throughout space and time. ofc my fav timelines are the ones with robert frobisher and sonmi-451. i do also recommend the book, but i liked the film better because of a few of the changes they made.

sunshine is one of my fav films ever and i've loved it since i was in high school and first saw it. it reminds me a lot of three body problem in the sense that antagonist (idk if i would exactly call him a villain even tbh) is using g-d as a reason for the things he's doing. there's a few deleted scenes i wish they'd kept in because it really emphasizes this, but even so, this film is gorgeous in so many ways.

i origins. if u can't tell already i'm a huge brit marling fan and i think this is one of her best stories. again: you get to choose what to believe and you really have to watch the whole film for the pay off, but it is so very much worth it. i think i've actually only ever watched this film once, tho idk why bc it's genuinely one of my favs.

looper is another film that idk why more people weren't into it. the setting is dystopian. i was trying to think of a way to explain it in a few short sentences like i have the rest of the films here, but it's one of those films also that i think going into it knowing nothing is better. the kid who plays the rainmaker is so fucking good too. he's not even 10, but he played that role perfectly.

elysium. EVERYONE KNOWS DISTRICT 9 BUT NO ONE KNOWS ELYSIUM. i stand by my opinion that this film would be infinitely better if diego luna were the main character instead of matt damon, but even so i really love this film. the score is gorgeous. also lmao we for real might be living in this universe soon if elon fixes up that space hotel he wants to do fucking rip

ender's game. the author is a homophobic and transphobic dickwad who actively gives his money to anti-lgbt organizations, so watch this for free if you can (and buy the books second hand), but i actually really enjoyed what they did with this film. a lot of people thought it was too rushed, but also like....ender's game is a very Dense book, so i understand why they did it the way they did it. also the score is amazing.

signs. another film involving g-d and religion seen through the lens of scifi and first contact. this film gets shit on a ton for reasons i do not know, but it's actually really well done. it scared the ever living shit out of me the first few times i saw it tho bc i did Not grow up watching horror.

knowing. another film involving g-d and religion seen through the lens of scifi and first contact (can you tell i have a type of film/media i like???). this film also scared the ever living shit out of me when i first saw it to the point i had to sleep with the lights on, but in all actuality it isn't scary at all (i was just 14 and had never seen a thriller before lol). i really love disaster films tbh, but this is one of my all time favs (next to greenland).

another earth i did not like when i first saw it. i thought the whole thing was kind of pointless and didn't make very much sense, but the more i've thought about it since then, the more i've understood it. funnily enough, i never watched it a second time, but it's brit marling, so i probably will eventually. again: definitely recommend.

lucy. listen i know this has scarlett johansson in it and none of us like her, but this film is good despite her. i thought it was going to be dumb as hell when i first saw it, but i actually ended up liking it so much that it's heavily inspired the next novel i'm planning on writing (a scifi space opera about a girl becoming g-d).

origami. okay this one is difficult to find and you WILL have to buy it if you want to watch it (trust me: i have searched FAR and wide for this film in any other place and vimeo is the ONLY place i found it; it's only $5 to rent on there tho), but it's so worth it. it's worth it. it's one of my fav films and i watched it purely because of francois arnaud and i'm glad i did. this literally is his best work imo.

ink is my all time hands down favorite film. idk if you would even call it scifi, but i love it so much i just wanted to talk about it. it very obviously had zero budget, but they used what little money they had VERY wisely and the result was this beautiful film. the story makes me sob every single time. actually it's quite similar to origami, so if you like one, you'll probably like the other.

tron: legacy is another film that people shit on and idk why. it has The Best religious imagery. like how are you going to top one of the programs falling to their knees in prayer as flynn passes by????? the whole thing seems to be a jesus/judas metaphor anyway and i'm crazy for that shit. gotta mention the score as always because daft punk knocked it out of the park (people shit on the score too and i really don't get why).

thelma. i watched this one a whim with a friend and i cannot recommend it enough. i feel like it was kind of popular on here when it first came out bc it's a sapphic film, but it's also just very good in general. i've seen people get super upset about it also bc their interpretation makes it lesbophobic (which is crazy to me but whatever.

melancholia. i did Not like this movie for the longest time, but then i watched it recently and finally Got it. i guess you really do have to be a certain level of depressed to understand this film, so if you're insanely suicidal and can barely function like me, then i recommend it. you will probably get some catharsis out of it like i did. it is a very Strange film tho.

the creator came out at the end of last year and it was so good. definitely my fav film to come out in the last few years and involves g-d, religion, and AI. the score also in this is great (everybody say thank you hans zimmer. again.). the ending makes me sob so much.

more that i love a lot, but not as much (apparently there's a character limit, so i can't explain why these are my favs too, but it's for similar reasons as above).

the matrix trilogy

the fifth element

snowpiercer

blade runner 2049

as for tv shows, i don't have as many, but i do have a few that i would highly recommend if you like any of the films above:

halo. again: everyone shits on this show, but the absolute TRAGEDY of it is the fanboys hate it bc they suck and are bigots and everyone else who would like it (LIKE MY MUTUALS) refuses to give it a chance because of its overall reputation, so i'm BEGGING YOU GUYS TO GIVE IT A CHANCE.

foundation. genuinely fucking good. so much of what the creators of this show have done to change the story has been for the better. i read the books and they were okay, but the show is so so good. idk when season 3 will be coming out, but hopefully soon (same for halo, which i actually like better than this show).

the oa. i will forever mourn what we could've had with this show. i can't even talk about it without getting choked up. this getting canceled really truly fucked me up.

castle rock season 1. technically a horror series, but this season is more scifi than horror, i think. everything really comes to a head in episode 9 iirc and that episode still makes me crazy when i think about it. i definitely need to do a rewatch.

firefly/serenity. you've probably heard this one recommended before, but there's a reason for that. it's really so good, but g-d and jesus hate me because it too was canceled before it could even finish ONE SEASON. thankfully there's a film that kind of ties everything together, but WE COULD'VE HAD SO MUCH MORE.

i tried to put in some movies that aren't talked about as much on here!! i also have several letterboxd lists dedicated purely to scifi, which you can find below.

holy holy holy (scifi (and other films) involving religious imagery or straight up just about theology

the sparrow cinematic universe (films that are either discussed in the sparrow or remind me of it or that i could see the main characters watching)

but it was my body. it was my blood. and it was my love. (films that i either genuinely believe could be based off of the sparrow or just remind me of it in some way)

per aspera ad astra (scifi films i have seen or heard of. this literally is every single scifi film i remember ever in existence so it's quite long)

also mainstream scifi that i recommend/am obsessed with

interstellar

dune series (wer'e talking about the books here; not whatever the fuck denis villenueve pulled with the films lmao)

district 9

annihilation/southern reach trilogy

ex machina

prometheus

pacific rim

arrival

event horizon

mad max: fury road

nope

mobile suit gundam series (mostly hathaway and g-witch tho)

star wars (mostly the prequel and sequel trilogies)

nausicaa of the valley of the wind

castle in the sky

inception

tenet

high life

aldnoah zero

hanna

real steel

86: eighty-six

this is so much longer than i meant it to be omg. anyway people do not call me the scifi queen for no reason.

[daycourtofficial]

Hiii!! I love your gingerfucker series but I’m mildly confused on the timeline of it? Anyway you could jot it down for me ? (Unless it’s already in order on your Masterlist, then you can ignore me) my mind needs a set order of things for it to make sense haha

Also… love your 4th floor fic too!!

Hi!! So I upload them out of order, but I do put them in story order on my masterlist, but I can give a brief timeline.

they meet when they're younger - there's no 'official' first meeting bc they see each other every so often at high lord meetings and such. They don't really interact too much until after Rhys' father dies because Rhys lets her have more of a presence in his court, and she and Eris bicker a shit ton. It feels like arguments to everyone else, but to them it feels slightly different but they don't put too much thought into it bc ew

The night Rhys' mother and their other sister die, she was there and her wings are cut off, however she was still alive so Tamlin actually wants to drop her off with Rhys, but she keeps muttering about Eris so he takes her there instead (if this is confusing, I have an entire plot planned out and a draft <3). Tamlin drops her off there, begging Eris to do something. Seeing Tamlin with her causes the bond to snap for Eris, so he and his mother spend the night trying to keep her alive while Tamlin goes and tries to figure things out in Spring. Eris drops her off in the woods so Az can find her, so she goes back to Night unaware that Eris took care of her and that they're mates

this part's murky bc I haven't fleshed it out but eventually she figures it out, they sneak around for decades. They even sneakily accept the bond (posted) and have a secret mating ceremony (drafted)

one day she's sloppy and Rhys finds their correspondence and kicks her out of Night, revoking her title - she goes to Autumn (posted), and Eris immediately kills Beron (drafted)

Eris is High Lord, she becomes pregnant about a year later, which causes her and Rhys to reconnect tentatively. After Atlas is born, she goes to Night and she and Rhys fight and she leaves early with Atlas and gets kidnapped (drafted)

blah blah blah she gets home, eventually she becomes High Lady (she wants to wait to 1) be reconnected with her family and 2) know Autumn better bc it is a mystery to her)

There's a drafted fic of baby Atlas and them going to Summer and vacationing

then she has Leif when Atlas is about 3, and then when Leif is about two she has the twins, Aster and Hestia.

Hopefully that helps! I'm planning a more in-depth timeline later on (a gingerfucker week surprise mayhaps)

[bru1sed-apple]

this isn’t to dig on ur anti zutara post but rather start a discussion.

in my experience, the reason we zutarians don’t like zukka is because of the animosity we get from the fandom. we analyze the subtle details we are given because practically every zuko and Katara interaction in the show is because all of them save the first have some degree of zutara in it. their chemistry- be it platonic or romantic- is undeniable.

and yet, we are told by zukkas and kataangers that we are wrong for shipping the ship. a lot of zukkas sideline the women in atla- sokka is given a lot of Katara’s qualities that are stated in the show (ie: people claiming that sokka is the team dad when he literally confessed that he saw Katara more as his mother than his actual mother), mailee is just there (majority of the mailee fics on ao3 are just them being a side couple in zukka fics), and not to mention comradekatara’s posts from back when they were lesbians4sokka about Katara being homophobic. even if it was a joke, it was something that people took seriously. a lot of the same zukkas are the ones making fun of katara for talking about her mother’s death when that literally happened three times outside of the southern raiders episode.

dont get me wrong, I know that the zutara fandom was absolutely rabid in the early 2000s and that’s where we get our bad reputation, but the only time that we’ve had issues with other people in the atla fandom was when they interacted with our content and it blew up.

Honestly you make some points I agree and disagree with so I'll go one paragraph at a time

1.

I do agree that some zutirans get hate that isn't deserved. I definitely think that a lot of the fandom doesn't like zutartians, I'm part of that group as well (for the most part). I also do think they have chemistry, but more in a way that's more like family rather than lovers.

I think the over-analyzing is a bit too much, I'm overwhelmed every time I see a zutara post. Obviously, some analyzing is okay, I sometimes analyze ships, but I feel like zutartians do it sm that it feels kind of annoying?? Maybe that's just me, but I feel like you don't have to analyze things just to justify your ship. Just ship what you like

2.

I agree with the fact that zukka shippers tend to sideline women in fics. I've def read fics where katara is sort of villanized, and I definitely don't agree with that. A lot of the time, ppl prefer MLM ships to than WLW ship, (which if you ask me, is because ppl prefer male characters to female ones (*cough* misogyny *cough*)(though i dont think most of the misogyny is purposeful))

Idk if it's bc we're in different parts of the fandom, but I've never really seen ppl say that shipping zutara is wrong?? I've seen ppl say they don't like it, and why, but they always state that they don't care if people ship zutara and that they're only stating reasons they personally don't like it.

Perhaps it's because I tend to stay away from the more toxic part of the community because if I see smth I don't like I more often than not just scroll past. But I def believe that their are zukkas who are toxic, but I think some of that is just because ppl are toxic, no matter what fandom you're in.

I can't really speak on kataangers because while I do like the ship, I'm not really in that part of the fandom, so I'm not sure if ppl are unnecessarily mean to zutarians.

(Edit: nvm kataangers can be real assholes, I def believe that they're unnecessarily mean to ppl who dont ship kataang 😒😒)

3.

As for the zutara Fandom in the early 2000s I can't really speak on that bc I didnt watch atla until I wanna say 2017 or 2018. So I don't really know what the fandom was like.

So yeah, that's kinda my take?? Idk I spent like a good while trying to figure out what to say 🤧🤧

[solaarbeeam]

ANIME GUYS WITH A TALL READER

MULTIFANDOM | FT. RENSUKE (BLLK), MIYA TWINS (HQ), KIRISHIMA & SERO (MHA)

(since this is technically a request from atlas, this'll be race non-specified, i'll make another version with black reader <3)

(this may ft. a part 2 with mostly bllk men so pspspsp atlas)

RENSUKE KUNIGAMI | BLLK

somebody please help this man bc how come he just doesn't care

this man really don't give a shit, he likes to be picked up like a fucking koala

even in the timeskip, even when y'all grew in height, he still managed to not give a fuck

niggas be teasing him for it too

"hey listen, if i get babied, i get babied" - rensule kunigami 2023

an overall sweetheart someone please take care of him for me pls

ask this man to be your step-stool he will do so

you often have to bend down to kiss him, which he doesn't mind, except for the fact that he has to get on his tippy toes to reach you even when you bend down

i'd like to mention that your like- aspen type height

all in all, we love this man

THE MIYA TWINS

LORD HELP THESE 2 ABSOLUTE LOSERS

but fr reality pls go and help them

they saw you for the first time and said "damn, thats a huge bitch"

now in atsumu's case

he's an absolute bitch about it

he acts like he hates it like the loser he is but he actually loves it

timeskip wise, even when y'all BOTH grew, he still happened to be smaller than you

and yk what that means

THE WHOLE MSBY TEAM BITCHES HIM ABT IT

"damn your s/o is taller than you? couldn't be me." - kiyoomi sakusa 2023

even meian got on it

he secretly loves it though, since let's be honest, the guy is the older twin, so he had to harbor responsibility for a lot of things as a kid and didn't have someone to quite literally lean on and pick him up when he needed it

you were safe to him

although you gotta admit, the comments did eventually get to you eventually

there was this lil tiktok goin around about you and your height for a while

had people defending you and people hating you

atsumu hadn't seen the thing since his P.R. team and Meian had literally banned this nigga from his phone so he had no idea what had happened

you were slouching and kneeling down, and atsumu noticed

lord behold the story he seen when he got his phone back

the way he literally went on live, with you in the background, driving around, and went off on the internet

this man was on instagram live callin everyone a hoe, whore, everything in the fucking book, you name it, he said it.

he loves you and your height, don't forget it

NOW, OSAMU

he's always been a "fomo" type person, so he really never gave a fuck

he just wants someone to cuddle him, bear hug him, and koala hug him after a long day

and lets be honest, he's into tall people

he really couldn't give a fuck

sunarin, atsumu, people like to make fun of him for it. as he is literally inbetween your thighs, resting, and scrolling on his phone in complete comfort as they do it

his fomo is real, and he loves you and thats all that matters to him

KIRISHIMA & SERO

LETS GET IT

kirishima is not for toxic masculinity and all that jazz

this man was raised by 2 moms, cmon now he was taught everything, and one thing he was taught by his second mom, was that tall people were always the best option

and goddamn is he thankful that his mama told him that

I MEAN LOOK AT YOU

YOU'RE TALL ENOUGH IT LOOKS LIKE YOU COULD BENCH PRESS HIM

and he finds it hot

piggyback rides 25/8, he likes to get them or will get on your shoulders and ride around if possible

he'll also give you massages

yes, the bakusquad makes fun of him for it, but last time he checked bakugou was 5'8 so there's no way he's talking

someone help this man he's infatuated with you existence

even as a prohero, this man is gonna brag abt you all day and all night

NOW SERO

similar situation with osamu, fomo is real, this man dont give a fuck

he'd rather you just sling him over your shoulder instead of walking everywhere

he even comes into class with him on your shoulder and just stays like that for the rest of the lesson, yes aizawa is tired but he dont care

as long and you can cuddle him and deal with his daddy issues + attachment issues, he had no problem with you being several inches taller than him

if you love him, you love him, and thats all that matters to him <3

copyrighted ayojordanstopscreaming 2023.

[releasemefromthevoid]

MY ATLA LIVE ACTION S1E1 THOUGHTS

EP2

First things first, a review without spoilers:

I think it’s fine so far. There’s a few changes here and there that are ultimately just fine that don’t impact the story all that much, but there are also some changes that I’m a little worried about. 

The biggest thing I’m worried about, I think, is Aang’s character arc in season one. This live action series, without going too far into it, seems to be setting up something different from his character arc in book one for Aang in this first episode. I’m wary, but I’ll see it through and come back for more commentary and reviews starting from episode two this weekend probably.

Live reaction and thoughts under the cut for spoilers

oh shit they kept the fire nation leitmotif. as they should

music def feels the same

opening fight sequence: stellar

did i mention the fire nation leitmotif

it’s interesting they started with the concept of the air nomad genocide. i guess they haven’t told us about the actual genocide, so that can still be a Surprise to new viewers. i don’t hate it. kept the opening monologue, but it’s kyoshi according to the captions?? weird but okay

GOOD MUSIC

why’s he flying without his glider lol

these environments slap actually

ooh comet mention

i really like the line “her spirit echoes in one of us”. that goes hard actually

mmm not really liking that gyatso is the one telling him he has to leave,,  came back with “you are my friend” though, so i’ll forgive it

APPA

this kid is pretty good in the role of aang

BRO FIREBENDER FLIGHT. is this just bc of the comet or can they just Do That. i mean,, we don’t technically Know it’s bc of the comet yet

sound design is kinda peak

really REALLY interesting that they’re starting with the air nomad genocide. i know i said that already but we’re actually seeing it now. it’s setting a tone for this version of the show to be darker/less lighthearted, which idk how i feel about. not necessarily good or bad. this is only episode one so i’ll have to reserve judgment.

comet power confirmed okay

THE AVATAR STATE LOOKS SO GOOD

wolf cove??? was that always the name of the southern tribe where katara and sokka are from???? 

i think it would have been fun if zuko’s scar was a little Hand Shaped

probably could’ve done the freeing aang from the iceberg part a little better. how and why was he freed, if not katara getting angry at sokka??

speaking of, sans the early book 1 sexism, sokka is DEFINITELY sokka. a few more one liners and you’ll have me sold

mentioned zuko’s banishment early. hm

speaking of. not sure how i feel about zuko rn. why’s he talking about the throne like that?? he should be more focused on his perceived lack of honor i think

yeah,,, where IS appa. oh shit he already has the whistle??? more importantly Where is aang’s glider

SOKKA HIDING BEHIND KATARA IS EVERYTHING TO ME

HELLO??? katara’s monologue??? almost word for word??? from her gran gran??

this environment design though,, the building is made out of what is probably a whale rib cage as support for packed snow?? that’s so cool

no pilot episode miscommunication plot! not unhappy, i hate miscommunication plots

oh sokka,,, “lord of snow and ice”

zuko has not Once said the word honor

zuko’s breakdancing firebending moves God Bless

AANG’S GLIDER SPOTTED. but we haven’t seen it as a glider yet. is it just a Staff in this version???? 

i don’t think this is how airbending works

oh sokka i love you. he’s sold me on sokka i do believe

IT’S A GLIDER

i. don’t think katara should have been able to do that

this kid def can’t cry on command. he’s selling heartbreak, but there are No Tears

let aang be a bit more of a child please?? he’s a bit too serious right now, isn’t part of his character arc figuring out that he has to take things more seriously in order to stop the fire nation? i’m worried about what they’ll replace that with

THE OG CREDITS SONG

Liking: Sokka, environment design, most of the visuals actually, the MUSIC

Worried about: Aang's character, Iroh's character

Nothing I truly dislike yet

[homebeyondstars]

I'm gonna try documenting my shifting journey :)

Heyy! I'm Pebble, I've been a shifter for 3 years and I've never actually tried documenting my shifting journey before? I feel like it would help me a lot to get my experiences out there <3

My main DRs:

♡My Hero Academia - Student(The one I've put the most energy into)

♡My Hero Academia - Room Mates with Aizawa(in our early 20s, before he became a teacher)

♡Stardew Valley

♡My little Pony Friendship is Magic - Mostly to heal my inner child tbh, i feel like watching so much of that show as a kid formed a part of my brain

Secondary DRs I'm not focused on ATM:

♡Dragon Ball Z

♡Harry Potter

♡Baldur's Gate 3

♡Legend Of Zelda

♡Naruto

♡Tinker Bel

♡Adventure Time

♡Royalty DR

♡ATLA

My shifting experiences:

I HAVE shifted before! though a mini shift, I'll give you my stories!!

My first shifting experience wasn't anything too crazy, but I had woken up in my sister's bedroom, completely shrouded in darkness. I was alarmed because i thought i had taken a nap in there. But after trying to alert someone, I woke up in my bedroom. This was far different than any lucid dream I've ever had, because it was sudden and surreal. I was having a normal dream and all the sudden I was in pitch blackness and groggy, I could feel my entire body.

♡This second one still freaks me out. I was just laying my head down, talking to my boyfriend on the phone - but when i look up I'm in my DR bedroom for only a split second. It was absolutely insane and I had no idea how to react still.

♡My third one was me waking up to Kirishima gently nudging my shoulder, as my eyes slowly adjusted to my blue digital clock in pure darkness that i HAD SCRIPTED - I could hear him laugh and say "C'mooon, brooo!" and I have no idea the context of what was going on. I was just peacefully in my bunk bed! i guess that tracks, bc i still have no idea why he woke me up.

♡My fourth one was very vague and I don't have a clear memory of this, but it's my most recent success:

♡I woke up in my DR bed after a super rough day, and after allowing myself to relax and assuring myself i have all the time in the world to shift - I realized that something changed. I don't remember seeing anything, but when I wrote to my friends I said something like I could see my room but I don't necessarily remember it. Tbf, that was like a year ago and I'm hopping back into shifting again :)

Let me know If you have any questions about my DRs!! :)

[greayworks]

The Wit Of Heracles

So I'm not going to be one of those Tumblr people who "Um actually did you know the way this game/comic adapted this character from Greek mythology isn't accurate to the cannon?!" because those people tend to have a very meme-like view of mythology and don't quite get that characters who date far enough back to 8th Century BC true don't have a true canonicity and talking about them is more complicated than "Yeah I'm an expert on mythology, I watched a ten-minute youtube video essay that uses memes to communicate they're point"

But something that does kind of bother me with a lot of depictions of Heracles/Hercules in modern media is that he tends to often be portrayed as a brute on the verge of bloodlust 24/7 or a himbo when a good part of how he tackled the labors he was assigned was through his wit despite the fact a lot of people around him perceived him as a simple brute.

In most depictions of how he confronted his labors Heracles was assigned a task that was considered a fools task, and while some he could maneuver through his brute strength other problems could not simply be punched away, when he fought the Hydra he burnt its wounds to stop it's heads from forming back (And in a lot of versions often dips his arrows in its poisonous blood for later), he diverted two rivers to clean Augean stables, and he tricked Atlas into retrieving the apples for him and then back into carrying the heavens.

Again, I am completely fine with adaptions of classic stories and mythology doing it's own thing but I think this bothers me because it represents the issue I have with a lot of people just of using the most famous aspects of a mythic/folklore hero as there whole story. Like Achilles lived a life before his participation and death in the Trojan War.