#protective zuko is my favorite thing ever if you didn't know

[posalis]

Do you ever think about Zuko acting as a human shield for Sokka? Because I do. A lot. (x)

[woodlaflababab]

Thinking about Zuko's influence on the audience's perception of Aang, specifically in Book 1. I kinda touched on it in this post but that post is pure unsorted rambling in which I didn't get to delve as deep as I wanted. Anyway, the relevent part was:

"With this whole episode, it's just the fact that Zuko is the reason we first get to see just how fucking cool Aang is. It's so easy to be like the others in the show and see Aang for his childish antics and sweet nature, but Zuko is the one that consistently reminds us, “No, this is the Avatar. He's powerful, he's brave, he's fiercely protective, and he deserves respect and acknowledgment for that.”"

Like, I mean, the point is redundant, everyone knows they are foils, so I'm not saying anything ground breaking when I say Zuko is often the one who brings out the best in Aang and encourages him to embrace being the avatar and that a lot of Aang's strongest charater moments are because of Zuko, yada yada, okay, we know, zukaang meta 101, nobody wants to hear it

But also, Zuko's opinion of Aang is so interestingly different from everyone else's. We get a view of Aang from the pov of himself, in which we see his doubts and struggles, the pov of the gaang, through which we see his antics and improvement and flaws. We also understand the opinion of the Fire Nation abt Aang (pure threat that's weirdly small), and we get plenty on the different opinions of the rest of the world.

If you took out Zuko's reactions to Aang, you'd feel like you know pretty much all there is to know about Aang. But to Zuko, Aang is an ever present mystery. The gaang doesn't really question anything abt Aang except what he can do and the rest of their enemies don't care to know things about Aang

But Zuko does. To Zuko, Aang is a source of constant questions, and this is sometimes played as a joke (i.e. "He must be a master of evasive maneuvering." to "You have no idea where we're going, do you?") and sometimes it hits the very core of Zuko's being and changes the course of the plot, (i.e. The Blue Spirit)

Zuko is unique because, to everyone else, Aang is one of two things. A Hero, or An Threat. He is neither to Zuko.

Zuko has no desire to defeat Aang. Aang is not a Threat to him. Hell, as Iroh says, Aang actively gives Zuko hope. But Aang is also not a Hero or ally.

He is neither a protagonist or an antagonist in Zuko's story. He's a goal. And that's such a unique perspective that allows us to question who Aang is from a neutral standpoint. Who is this person who effortlessly escapes trouble while having no idea what he's doing? Who is this person who saves someone they defeated? Who is this person who looks at an enemy and says 'you remind me of my best friend'?

Who else makes us ask these questions?

Through Zuko we, or at least I, see Aang as more than a person, and more than a hero, but as this unconventional conundrum that defies expectation at every turn, baffling and beautiful. Aang is so much more than your conventional hero and nobody sees or shows us that more than Zuko.

My favorite way to look at Aang is through Zuko's eyes.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Afrolatino Jason and 5th Robin Duke genuinely make me emotional.Duke was robbed so fucking badly and we KNOW damn well it's because he's the only black Batkid and that DC is gaslighting us for lack of a better term on him not being an 'official' one but Jason dgaf and calls him a Robin,a Batkid and a Batboy all the time and his brother with such a special type of fondness he's never had for the other three.He never had anything against Duke,he loved him from the start and Duke deserves that break after growing up a troubled but good kid,loosing his parents to Jokerization,having basically no friends and finding out his actual birth dad is an abusive deadbeat

Duke was adopted by Bruce when he was 11 and made Robin soon after and things went good during his Year One until he had a fight with Bruce that scared into thinking he was gonna get fired and as a technical black orphan who got bullied at school even if he fought back every time,he didn't wanna do anything other than to run away from home to avoid facing even the posibility of not being Robin anymore so he left Gotham in the dead of night to not get caught.He's found by a 20 year old Jason as this happened at the same time as Red Hood and The Outlaws Volume 2 kicked off(no,not rebirth,Jason's earned Rhato,his own cast,120 solid issues from 2010 to 2020)and taken in by him and so he becomes an Outlaw.There's other black kids on the team so he's not lonely at all anymore but Jason is who he's closest to and Jason loves him so fucking much back.He's borderline overbearing with how caring he is towards him but Duke loves it too much to complain and they do all the black brothers bonding traditions-Helping eachother with hair,black inside jokes,eating soul food/dominican cuisine together and they actually had so much fun teaching eachother the recipes,assigning themselves character duos from their shared favorite media(they're SO Aang and Zuko,it's nuts),no personal space between them because they can't help but want to be close all the time and to dick around together.They share a bed more often than not and play Animal Crossing sacredly together and Jason steals whatever things he sees he thinks Duke will like to gift them to him and Duke's as protective of Jason as he is of him because he feels he deserves it,just like how he made him feel deserving of Robinhood(ha!)

There's two very important scenes in Rhato-Issue 39,when Jason snarks he was just 'The Replacement Robin' and Duke defensively says 'You were always my favorite Robin when i was little!I never even got to see you in action but you're my favorite Robin for good now!' and Jason's stunned silent,completely unsure how to process it.And Issue 110,when Duke says '..........I was never a real Robin.I've been with you guys way longer than i ever was with Bruce-' so Jason cuts him off with 'Yeah,no shit you're not Batman's Robin.You're The Outlaws' Robin-You're my Robin and you always have been and you always will be' so Duke gets teary but also grins so hard his eyes close as his joyful face takes up most of the panel and a text box reads 'Duke Thomas is happy.Jason Todd is happy again,thanks to him.They're eachother's Robin,on purpose and by choice'

[jasmine-tea-latte]

Zutara Week Day 5: Respite

(everything is) blue

(Song Credit: Colors Pt. II by Halsey)

Destiny was indeed a funny thing, Zuko thought to himself through the haze of agony still overwhelming his senses.

A year ago, he’d wanted nothing more than to redeem himself in the eyes of his father, to find the long-lost Avatar and regain his honor.

An hour ago, he’d been determined to win back his birthright, so that he might ascend and be crowned Fire Lord.

And mere minutes ago, he’d been prepared to throw everything away, all of his goals and dreams and even the throne that was rightfully his.

All so he could protect her.

The waterbender who, until a few months ago, had been his sworn enemy, the ever-present thorn in his side whose determination rivaled his in protecting the Avatar from being captured.

And now, she was one of his closest friends.

An ally he trusted with his life, the member of their team who seemed to understand him better than anyone else.

And lately, the one person he couldn't live without...

But no, now wasn't the time to entertain those thoughts, he supposed.

As his bleary eyes gazed up at Katara while she continued to work tirelessly to salvage what was left of him, the prince exhaled a weak sigh of relief.

In the coming days, everything would change forever.

He would be crowned, charged with bringing his nation into a new world of peace.

She would no doubt leave afterwards for her homeland to rebuild, and there was no telling when their paths would cross again, if ever.

But for now, Zuko allowed his troubled mind a few minutes of respite, offering his savior a tired smile that she returned.

For now, he would cherish every moment spent with her while he still could.

“Thank you, Katara,” he rasped out.

She blinked back tears, smiling down at him.

"I think I'm the one who should be thanking you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the last couple of months, I've been dusting off my (incredibly basic) video editing skills, hence how this project came about.

For the longest time I didn't know what to do with it, until I saw the @zutaraweek prompt list and thought, well, it could work for "Respite."

After the hellish journey they've gone through as enemies into friends, they finally find a moment of respite on the battlefield, a few precious seconds of peace.

Some of my favorite details:

The flashbacks of them as enemies are in gray

The moments between them once they're friends / allies are in color, mostly blue

The Southern Raiders moments start off in gray and gradually become colorized, signifying the growth of their friendship

"What can I do to make it up to you?" -> cut to his foot pounding on the tile, racing to intercept the lightning strike

"You're dripping like a saturated sun"

And of course, that moment at the beginning when Azula shoots the lightning

This is my only entry for Zutara Week 2023, so I hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for watching / reading! 💜

[sokkastyles]

Something I find really, really tragic about Ursa's situation is that she probably knew or figured out very, very quickly that she would never be able to protect both of her children completely, if at all. She did what she did to protect Zuko, because he was the child that was in immediate physical danger, as Ozai (and Azulon I think? my memory's a bit fuzzy) wanted to kill him. Azula parroted Ozai's desire to kill Zuko because that's what Ozai was conditioning her and abusing her to do, parrot his beliefs (she was the Golden Child, and yes this absolutely was damaging for her). I find it so strange that some people think it's weird that Ursa reprimanded Azula for this, as if it isn't concerning if one of your children gleefully talks about killing the other one. But also, I can't help but think about the fact that Ursa was watching how both of her children were being abused by Ozai and was trying to intervene to the best of her abilities, and while I don't think she was perfect, I do find it really sad to think that she nothing she did would ever have been enough. Ozai wouldn't have stopped hurting both of his children. Even if she tried to help Azula more, there's no way Ozai would allow her any more influence over Azula than she already had. Even Ursa leaving (after poisoning Azulon) to protect Zuko was something that kept him alive, but didn't completely protect him from Ozai, and it's not Ursa's fault, but it's just really sad. What's your view on this situation?

The thing is that Ursa couldn't really do much at all to protect Zuko, even when she was there. I don't think she did truly know the extent to which Zuko was in danger until that night she found Azula in Zuko's room, gloating about Ozai killing him. If she did, she would have done more to keep Azula away from Zuko, but instead she encourages them to play together, not picking up on Azula's manipulativeness or Zuko's fear. I actually don't think she was really aware of the extent of what was going on, or could not see it clearly because she was also being abused. She is neither as protective of Zuko as she should be, nor as overly critical of Azula as she should be, which is why it's blatantly bullshit when people go on about her "favoring" Zuko. Especially when the person who says this in canon is Azula, who is actually being blatantly favored by Ozai, and is not a good judge of what favoritism looks like.

I think Ursa probably tried to make as much of a normal life for her children as she could. People living under abuse are good at pretending their situation is normal to cope. And the only solution she's able to see is the one presented to her by her abuser, which gives him exactly what he wants. It's pretty startling when you consider how similar what Ozai did to Ursa is to what he did to Zuko.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

If y'all don't stop tagging me in "list your favorite ________" challenges, I swear.....(kidding)

You know I'm indecisive and that the second I'm asked questions like this everything I have ever known or loved just falls right out of my head :'(

ANYWAY. I was tagged by @colourme-feral to name 9 favorite TV series. Nine? Not ten? Alright, whatever. Now presenting, in no particular order

wen-kexing-apologist's Top Nine Favorite TV Series

I think, much like last time where I listed my ten favorite characters AND THEN LEFT OUT PIKE MOTHERFUCKING DEXTER LIKE A GODDAMN NOOB I can't be certain I am forgetting one that I cherish greatly.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

I'm putting this first because A:TLA was a show I watched live in my youth and I remember running the hating Zuko to loving Zuko gauntlet in real time.

But seriously, you can't give me the single greatest redemption arc written in human history and not expect me to cradle this show close to my chest for the rest of my life.

There are so many shows we grow up with that we remember fondly and that in the grand scheme of things aren't that good, protected by young minds and nostalgia AND THIS ISN'T ONE OF THEM.

Seriously my poor mother has had to listen to hours worth of rambling about the incredibly strong adult themes, three dimensional characters, and conversations around war and the portrayal of no one society as inherently evil from both of her children.

This is my boy and I will love him until the end of time, I'm sorry that I hated you when we first met. In my defense the narrative compelled me to do so.

Sense8

Queer, sex positive, beautifully crafted, orgies as a symbol of human connection, the way the world is so small and that people from all over the world have skills that are valuable, that save lives, that are needed and necessary. Humanity and complexity given to people involved in the drug trade, humanity and complexity given to drug users, humanity and complexity given to gang members, humanity and complexity given to prisoners. Love, loss, tragedy, trauma, trans joy, throuple, couple and whatever the fuck Daniella is doing, one really good weed brownie curing transphobia.

The ending wasn't perfect but that isn't the Wachowski Sister's fault, it was Netflix's fault.

I Told Sunset About You/I Promised You The Moon

This show, especially I Told Sunset About You, may be the single most emotional a show has ever made me. I think I cried four times per episode for ITSAY, the only time I didn't cry four times was Episode 3, where foolishly I made it through 98% of the episode went "this edible ain't shit I don't know why everyone is so emo about Ep 3, it's been the most mild so far" AND THEN FUCKING BAM

Teh with the steel fucking chair!

When I tell you I spent hours, numb, staring up at the ceiling?? It's not an exaggeration.

When I tell you I thought about this scene for more than three and immediately burst into tears??? It's not an exaggeration.

This show altered my brain chemistry, this show altered my DNA, this show was so fucking good and ruined me so thoroughly that I wasn't even able to make my brain come up with things to analyze.

in this show, WHERE THERE IS SO MUCH THERE TO ANALYZE. I am making a friend watch it right now so I'm hoping I will have more to contemplate and talk about as I rewatch it now that the emotional impact has softened.

Moonlight Chicken

Look no further than my Gay Meta Masterpost pinned to my page to understand why I love this show so much. It is gorgeous, it handles the subject of disability well, it's the show that got me to start posting meta and as a result it is the show that got me all the friends I have on tumblr now.

This show is perfect, the acting is spectacular, the inherent queerness that runs through the narrative, THE LIGHTING. Aof knocked it out of the motherfucking park with this one.

The Eclipse

Folks let me tell you what happens when you go from Not Me to The Eclipse...

you fall desperately in love with First Kanaphan Puitrakul and his masterful acting ability. I love this show so much. P'Golf had things to say and she was not afraid to say it. The queer characters got to be complex and messy and wrong sometimes, none of the main characters were morally superior, they all contributed to maintaining the system, they all helped harm other queer people. This show was made with pocket change and a dream and it gave me two of my favorite kisses in BL, one of my favorite stories in BL, and my sweet summer child

my beloved Baby War Criminal who is my favorite character ever in BL. Look at him. He is under so much pressure. GOD I LOVE THIS SHOW. And I love Thua too.

Our Flag Means Death

Setting aside the problematic fans, I watched this show eleven times. It was one of the only shows I'd seen where every couple was queer, I love how gradually the writing team was able to move this show from comedy to something more serious, I love the way Stede returned home only to find that he had been forever changed, I love the way Blackbeard was on his way to grieving and healing with healthy coping mechanisms, and the commentary the show gave on how exposure to toxic masculinity and internalized/externalized homophobia (in the form of Izzy) can alter that course. I love that traditional roles and expectations are subverted in this show. That Pete and Lucius are in love, that Olu gets thrown around by Jim, that the show allows for an older queer person to both realize his sexuality and experience his first queer love.

And also

it introduced me to one of the first nonbinary characters I had seen on screen. Jim Jimenez you can murder me whenever you wish, it would be my absolute honor.

What We Do in The Shadows

For one, it's hilarious

For two, Jackie Daytona exists.

For three

It gave me Guillermo de la Cruz, the sexiest motherfucker alive.

The Owl House

Queer, neurodivergent representation????? In my TV show??????? A main plot point being around the all consuming nature of white supremacy and religious zeal. Hunter? Dear sweet, awkward, traumatized Hunter? RAINE MOTHERFUCKING WHISPERS?!

Listen, I'm a simple bitch, okay? You put an enby in my television and I will be forced to stan.

I mean look at them!

Word of Honor

*points to username*

If I didn't put WoH on here I would have to give up rights to my username.

This is the show that started me on the BL spiral and having read the novel, I have to say that I have never seen a show change a character and expand upon a story as well as Word of Honor has.

The sex appeal, the swagger, and the lowkey unsettling obsession The Scorpion King has in the TV show compared to the book?

Expert execution of fundamentally and fully changing source text. The costumes are gorgeous and the way I was driven to the brink of insanity by how gay this show was despite censorship is truly unmatched. I know censorship can dampen a queer story experience, but damned if i didn't go feral and say "I can't believe they got away with that" at every given opportunity.

And

It gave me my beloved Adult War Criminal, Wen Kexing, who as we all know, has never done anything wrong in his life, ever.

___

Bonus Round:

aka shows that I haven't or that haven't finished yet so I am contractually obligated not to put them on a list.

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us

I have two episodes left, it is absolutely killer, and if it continues to be as strong as it is this will be a 10/10 show for me and join the ranks of my favorites. This show is driving me mad with both hands and barriers and I need everyone to know that.

La Pluie

There are three episodes left for this to go wrong which is the only reason why I haven't put it on the list. But similarly to 180 Degrees, if it continues the way it is going now this will be a 10/10 show for me and join the ranks of my favorites. I LOVE what they are doing to subvert the soulmate trope. It is a masterpiece so far and I need more people to be watching this.

Tagging:

@solitaryandwandering, @ranchthoughts, @wanderlust-in-my-soul, @so-much-yet-to-learn, and @neuroticbookworm

Your choice whether to participate or not and apologies if you have already been tagged.

[aceofwhump]

Guys

The Weeping Monk.

The Weeping Monk has become my new obsession. I love him. I knew I would because seeing all the gifs of him in tumblr is why I watched in the first place I didn't not expect for him to capture my interest so much. It's not the strongest hyperfixation I've ever had but it is one nonetheless and I'm thrilled. Welcome the list of "Ace's Favorite Whumpees"!!

SPOILERS ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously I got ramble and let some spoilers loose so if you want to watch it still and don't want spoilers just keep scrolling

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So not only is Daniel Sharman fucking gorgeous but Daniel Sharman looking like this?

With the eyes and the hood and the darkness and the scruff. Oh hell yeah! He's like some omen of death with that cloak. I love it.

So why do I like the Weeping Monk so much?

Well first of all I LOVE A GOOD REDEMPTION STORY!!!!! Like so much! I blame Zuko for that. But if you give me a bad dude who's done some bad shit but also has one hell of a traumatic past then put him on a path of redemption and healing? I’M SOLD! And at the end of the season, The Weeping Monk has been set on his redemption beginnings and I will die if Netflix doesn't give us a season 2 so I can see this boy walk his new path towards redemption and healing. I crave it.

But anyway. This man right here. The emotional angst and whump he exudes is so lovely.

Towards the end of the season we find out that he's Fey and I fucking lost my shit. This boy is a Fey who was raised by the people who hate Fey. His people were killed and he was taken as a child by the same people who murdered them. He was then brainwashed to believe he was demon born and evil and a sinner purely for existing and was taught to punish himself for it (he whips himself in a form of self flagellation!) and I'm sure he was punished for all sorts of things growing up by his "Father". The amount of self hate and self doubt he must feel breaks my heart. He knows he's Fey! He remembers his real name (also that reveal sent me to another plane of existence) so he must have some memories of his family and his people. But he's spent his whole life being used as a weapon against his own people and brainwashed into thinking he was saving them because fey are inherently damned. And that's all he is to the Red Paladins. A weapon. But he sees them as his people, his family because that's all he knows!

This dude is so broken and brainwashed and lost it just breaks my heart.

LOOK AT HIM!! Look at this lost and broken boy!! He just needs some love and affection dammit!! I mean he flat out asks "Do you love me Father?" AHHH!!

And oh my god this conversation between him and Gawain?!

Allow me to share the whole conversation because I need to talk about it.

Gawain: Don’t be afraid Ash Man. I don’t bite. It’s those eyes. The mark of the Ash Fold. There haven’t been any in these lands for centuries. How did you find your way here? Have you just come to watch me die?

The Weeping Monk: Why didn’t you tell them? Before...you could have told them. But you didn’t. Why?

G: Because all Fey are brothers. Even the lost ones

WM: This suffering, it will cleanse you.

G: You parrot these words, but you know it’s all lies. I can feel it in you, my brother.

WM: You are not my brother.

G: They have turned your mind so far inside out...that you don’t know the difference between kindness...and hate. Who did this to you?

WM: We are saving souls. Your soul.

G: Tell that to the little ones that you burn.

WM: I don’t harm the children

G: You burn their homes, you slay their mothers and their fathers, and you watch your Red Brothers run them down on horses. And you see it all through those weeping eyes. That makes you guilty. Brother! You can fight. I’ve never seen anything like it. You could be our greatest warrior. Your people need you.

WM: You are not my people.

G: Then tell them. If this is where you belong, tell them what you are.

WM: I’ll pray for you.

G: And I you.

First of all this conversation is the reason I now ship these two. Just saying. Gawain saw that he was kin, that he was lost, that he was broken and reached out to try and help him even though he is the reason he is being tortured. I can’t with these two! But also, the WM felt guilty about turning him in and worried about his own fate but you can tell that Gawain’s words sink in and set something inside of him and it’s because of Gawain that WM is now on this path of his. AND Gawain! I fully expected him to hate this man after everything hes done but he saw a lost and broken fey brother and tried to help him and I just...Gawain is so good you guys! This whole exchange is just *chefs kiss*. Cause after this the WM saves Squirrel.

Which leads me to Squirrel and the Weeping Monk. The other reason I desperately need season 2 is because I can't wait to see this unexpected pairing. I mean come on, big bag tough guy with trauma becomes unexpectedly joined with a young child? Best trope ever. Plus he got his ass kicked pretty bad and I need season 2 start off with that so I can see Squirrel take care of this injured man. Anyway, these two are going to have a great adventure getting back to the Fey and I NEED TO SEE IT!!! I want to see Squirrel and Lancelot bond and Squirrel defend him against Fey who hate him and for Lancelot to reluctantly become attached and defensive of this Fey boy and AHHHHHH!!

Oh and side note: One of my favorite tropes occurred. Defeated in battle, manhandled to their knees and hood pulled off revealing their bruised and bloody face. God yes please.

Time for some headcanons:

Okay he's totally touch starved am I right? This boy hasn't known a kind touch in his whole life. Pain is all he's known. The Paladins only touch to punish him or wield him. And he thinks he deserves it. He deserves the pain. The punishment. But kindness? A soft touch? Someone tending his injuries gently? He doesnt know what to do it that. He ends up stiffening or flinching away from the blinds hands of the fey, confused at first but slowly he starts to crave that kind touch.

Squirrel is always hugging him. Like whenever he sees him. And WM doesnt know what the fuck to do with that. You think he ever for hugged? I DOUBT IT! So hes all stiff and awkward and kind of bears it but after a while he starts hugging back kind of awkwardly.

Oh and speaking of tending his injuries I can almost guarantee that he has either had to tend to his own injuries in the past or he didn't do anything for them at all. But he's in a Fey camp now and the Fey help each other so when he and squirrel first show up at the camp and a he's taken to a healer and at first he balks and is like "I'm fine" but people like Pym and Squirrel and Gawain (YES GAWAIN! I have thoughts hang on) are like clearly you're not so just sit down before fall down again and let Pym heal you! AND then we get a scene of them all seeing the scars and fresh lashes and being horrified

Okay Gawain. He's not dead and he and Lancelot become best bros (or lovers cause I kind of ship them so much. Forget Nimulot. It's Gawain and Lancelot all the way) and Gawain protects him from the Fey who want to kill him after Squirrel and Lancelot arrive at the makeshift Fey camp and he's taken prisoner. Gawain watches him and see his humanity and goodness and self hate and trauma and Lancelot has someone who sees him as a "brother" as someone lost but not irredeemable and they fall in love okay bye

His powers as one of the Ash Folk. We know he can track. But from what we saw what if he's also got some camouflage or healing abilities hes never explored. NEVER EXPLORED BECAUSE HE THOUGHT IT A MANIFESTATION OF HIS INNER DEMON!!!

Also, I saw these two onset pics and now I'm ready for this to be s2 WM and Squirrel.

Okay rant over. Sorry. Bye now ✌

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to ROCKETEAR!

It's a long post, but when are these ever really short? xD Seeing Carapace first made me so excited. I've been sad we haven't had much of him in the show. And then I saw that it seemed like Ladynoir was doing pretty good as they only had Carapace helping them this time. More S2 & S3 like. So I was like cool, cool, this is great. But what the heck scientist WHY ARE YOU BRINGING TYRANNOSAURUS REX'S BACK! Obviously she's going to be something big later on, she's too nicely animated not to be back. Not to mention Bob Roth's plans. Anyone else both intrigued but also scared at what that could do later? Big upcoming plot point, I think.

I screamed awwww because this is everything. I've wanted a LB/Carapace and Marinette/Nino friendship bond in this show since season 1. This scene made me incredibly happy! I'm a huge Nino fan, for those that don't know, so you can imagine how much I love this episode. Even though sad Nino.

"Alya, everyone has to believe that you will never use the Miraculous again!" End of episode: So anyway... So what I'm seeing here is, Alya's not fond of the idea of being just a spy, not being in on the action. Even though it's Ladybug's plan. Chat Noir isn't fond of what's going on right now either, where he thinks what's going on is all Ladybug's plans. Alya makes the decision to not do what Ladybug wants and tells Nino she's still Rena Rouge. So what's Chat Noir going to do to go against her? Because that's coming up on the horizon. Despite everything being easier for Marinette since everything's not just on her shoulders now, she's still been unable to play video games with her dad, and we know how much she loves doing that. :c That's really sad she doesn't even have time for her family anymore. DJWifi over here being all adorable. "You don't love me anymore!" Me: *Chat Blanc flashbacks* Alya suggests her new content could be Chat Noir edits and Marinette's like YES DO THOSE. Then those edits helped push Nino into thinking she was into Chat. Big oops. Not gonna lie, the rewind freaked me out for a moment. Last time I saw that was Chat Blanc so I thought something big was up. But nope, it's just like that scene in Puppeteer 2. Ugh poor Nino! He knows something's bothering Alya, but she won't say what it is and her behavior's too off from how she normally is. Poor guy. x.x Grumpy Nino that Carapace doesn't get attention and then they wrote his girlfriend with Chat Noir. I remember when Alya was grumpy for a bit about Rena Rouge not getting a party to celebrate her. Movie Ladybug telling Movie Chat Noir that he's better with Movie Rena Rouge. Is this a reference to the episode in Avatar, The Ember Island Players? Getting strong vibes when Play Aang and Play Katara were like, we're just friends nothing more and it's great! Play Katara was extremely into Play Zuko. I can see why Ladybug dismissed the movie (or was it the previous one since it's been awhile? Maybe?) because Rena Rouge and Chat Noir???? The writers (of the movie) just wanted to be different because everyone can see Ladynoir, unless they're blind. Alya and Nino are Andre's favorite couple. YES THANK YOU. I mean they're not my favorite because Love Square. BUT they're my second favorite next to them. Those kids are super adorable but definitely that kid playing Chat wasn't doing Nino any favors. First picture Alya shows. Chat with a heart tail. Yeah that's not doing her any favors lol. Nino: UGH CHAT NOIR'S COMING IN BETWEEN ME AND MY GIRLFRIEND. I KNOW, I'LL CALL MY BEST FRIEND TO VENT TO ABOUT IT. Best Friend Chat Noir: Best Friend Chat Noir: Welp maybe I should see what's up. Maybe I went a little to hard on the cat charm and she's fallen in love with me. Me: Oh oof here we go. Also can I ask, if anyone knows, who animated this episode? The fluidity is great and it looks really pretty. But it doesn't quite look like SAMG's work either. Whoever did it, I love it. S2 Chat Noir: You're not replacing me with a turtle, are you? :c S4 Nino: Who would want a reckless turtle as a partner? BOYS STOP. But yeah this whole scene had me laughing so hard XD Very dramatic and I love it. Nino's hilarious even when he's worried and sad! I would've absolutely loved to have heard this in English with the old English voice of Nino, but the new one worries me on whether or not he'll do a good job sounding like Nino and less high-pitched and whiny. :/ New York Nino was great but S4 Nino....x.x THE TRANSITION BETWEEN HIS INNER MONOLOGUE AND SPEAKING REGULARLY AGAIN 😂😂😂😂 Brilliant! It doesn't really feel like Miraculous Ladybug this episode, and I love it. Not that I don't love the show as usual but wow this is great. Okay, I want to point out that Chat Noir

probably was more worried about it than he would've been otherwise because of what happened with Marinette in Weredad. It probably made him more cautious about this sort of thing.

LOL Chat's sulking because Alya's laughing at the idea of being interested in him. 😂😂 I know that's a blow to one's ego and all, and he's dealt with this kind of thing a lot so I do feel bad for him, but that is his best friend's girlfriend and he definitely doesn't want her to like him. Alya: With him it's not just ❤️it's *makes massive hand gesture indicating she loves him deeply* SO SO SO CUTE OKAY ALL THIS DJWIFI 😭 Alya: And I don't even know your secret identity! I would never fall in love with someone I don't know. Chat Noir, literally fell in love with Ladybug, whose identity he doesn't know. Well Alya, I wonder if you saying that matters for later somehow.... o.O Nino running away crying is honestly one of the things that hurts me most in the entire show. Ugh. Adrien over here being all, I'm having a good day. I'm happy and smiling and it's great. And then it wasn't. Adrien, if Nino let him and didn't interrupt, would've told him about how Alya really doesn't love Chat Noir, and that would've seriously led up to his identity being exposed since Nino was watching and filmed them. o.o Did you notice how he was going to tell him about it? S4, the basement is where it's at. Adrien: Uhh, when did you arrange all this? Nino: *pounds fist on desk* I ASK THE QUESTIONS! 😂 So like. Why is Nino interrogating Adrien when he's after Chat Noir? He doesn't know they're the same person. XD He's looking at him like Adrien has info he's keeping or something omg.

Also again this animation is so nice. Adrien, feeling uncomfortable and so turns the music off. Nino, wanting his dramatic music on while he interrogates Adrien, turns it back on. Adrien, feeling even more irritated and uncomfortable, wants the music OFF and turns it off. Nino, turns the music back on. This may be a reference to something, I don't know, but lolol it's so funny. This episode is both super hilarious and super angsty! Honestly they've done such a good job in my opinion. Nino: I'm talking about something that I shouldn't tell you! ...but I'm going to tell you anyway! Alya's Rena Rouge and I'm Carapace! Okay but the way Adrien went from shock to utter anger, knocked his chair back and grabbed Nino's shoulders like "Tell me the truth. You two know about each other?" Aw man, my poor sunshine boy. A lot of the stuff bothering Adrien is all circumstantial, none of it is to purposefully keep him in the dark. And yet from his perspective, that's how it looks. "I thought secret identities must be protected at all times! If that was the truth, you would never tell me this!" Alright so three things. If he's referring to him saying that Nino and Alya know about each other, that was situational and important info for him to know now that this is out. It wasn't important to know before this. The time it happened was dire and was really no time to get around it. If he's talking about Nino telling him the secrets, well yeah that's not supposed to happen and Nino broke that trust. But also, I get the feeling pretty strongly at this point Adrien's going to be breaking some rules too and one of which is he's going to tell Nino who he is. Adrien's being too emotional in this scene to not be involved in it all, I'm wondering if that's going to be questioned later by Nino. He's acting like he knows too much to be a random viewer of the heroes like the rest of Paris. Also Adrien's best friend just totally dissed Chat Noir and went off about how he throws himself at Ladybug whenever he sees her with roses and love confessions. 😂😂😂 This is just too funny! "But he's always rejected because Ladybug finds him annoying! And she's completely right!" Omg Nino, that's not the reason anymore, shush! "And then Rena Rouge appears and he goes *tickles under Adrien's chin* hey pretty lady! You look elegant and you have great perfume." OMG does Chat Noir actually say and do stuff like that to Rena Rouge or is he just exaggerating here XD "If I could I would shut his mouth forever!" Yeah Nino, say what you really think about your best friend in the entire world. Yikes poor Adrien though. I never imagined he'd hear all these bad things about himself from his best friend directly like that. :/ That's a major misunderstanding of him. Which kind of pushes me more towards the "he's going to tell Nino" theory. Sad Adrien transformation DDDX Alya: *explained everything about why Chat Noir went over to her house in the middle of the night* Marinette *facepalm* Ugh that Chat Noir... Well at least there will be no misunderstandings there! xD "Chat Noir, you stole Alya from me! I will steal your life from you." Good lord man calm down. You can't just kill a man! Fanon: Chat Noir gets attacked by a guy over Marinette. Canon: Chat Noir gets attacked by a guy over Alya. Time to go back to the basement! lol Nino's music's still playing xD And the video is left with it paused on Chat Noir hugging Alya. Marinette looked a bit sad, but it was probably more about the situation being a mess rather than being sad he'd hug her. Meanwhile, Chat Noir's fighting Nino and would rather get beaten up by him than fight. x.x "I can't believe that I doubted you." "I can't believe I chose to do anything but be with you!" She wiped away akumatized Nino's tear just like how Ladybug wiped away akumatized Chat Noir's. ALL THE PARALLELS 😭😭😭 But that hug is so sweet!! Nino broke off the akumatization just like Alya did :o Dang, I wonder if that means something later too. "Love and secrets do not go well together, Ladybug. And I'm sure you have a lot of

them!" Secrets = from Chat Noir. Love = for Chat Noir. Yeah even Shadow Moth knows at this point. xP Thanks for that foreshadowing. Nino's charm is my favorite charm so far! It's my favorite shade of blue. Chat Noir: Everybody has doubts sometimes...even me." Ladybug: Is everything okay, Chat Noir? Chat: Oh yes...pound it!

So um. The placemet of Adrien's poster in between Chat Noir, Ladybug, and just with this entire situation feels very strange. Very intentional. But no clue exactly what that could mean..... Nino and Alya are happy over there watching those two, like they're waiting for them to figure things out or something. But really, Adrien should've talked to Ladybug when he could still do so calmly and be reasonable. I doubt that's going to be the case later on. And honestly Ladybug doesn't even know what's going on. Every episode we've seen really either has them working together or she's unable to be Ladybug when he's unable to be Chat Noir most of the time. I've said it before but these two really need to communicate. Nino and Alya are like a less adorably romantic version of what they'd be. "But they're a couple and they know their secret identities, so why does that rule exist for us but they can know?" Very simple. Because they were temporary holders and the Miraculous they had, Hawk Moth hasn't made it his life's mission to obtain, unlike them, who are permanent holders and Hawk Moth's been after them fiercely to make a Wish that could destroy everything. But. The fact he's asking this, and Marinette's Chat Blanc nightmare, really points in the direction that he's going to eventually find out that while she's thought about telling him all along, Chat Blanc's kept her from doing so.

Okay, so while it looks like he's staring up at the moon, if you notice, it really is just one of the pink bubbles.

Now, they could be making it seem like it's the moon though to give it a double meaning. But poor Kitty, he's feeling so awful right now over in that dark corner Dx Nino felt bad for only two episodes? and it got resolved, so hopefully this all won't last too much longer for him! Marinette had a few shaky episodes so hopefully he'll have a few before it gets resolved. But somehow I think that may be wishful thinking. This episode was so amazing, honestly. Wonderful writing, made me laugh a lot, aw a lot, and hurt a lot. It focused on the core 4 characters which I've wanted more of for a long time. The animation was beautiful. And it just felt so different in such a good way. Chat Noir's having a hard time right now, and I know there's a lot of anger and hate about it going around. But please, think of this as him hitting a rough spot in the road to a much better and brighter future. He's going to end up okay, he'll understand it all someday. And that day's honestly not that far for him if you think about it.

[heavensenthearty]

Jin and Jintara for the ask game?

So sorry that it took me so long to answer! I think I was depressed. But anyway, thank you so much for asking about Jin! I've been wanting to rant about her since FOREVER!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

Jin

How I feel about Jin?

Jin is one of my favorite characters. I know it sounds weird to say that about someone that showed up only once in the series, but it's true! She was the sweetest girl around and she was also one of those people that can stay positive despite everything. She was so kind, and cute, and her voice both in English and Spanish dub was beautiful. I also love her design, she's one of the ATLA girls I wish we had seen with their hair down. And she's one of those characters that I see having ordinary lives and dreams, that don't see themselves as fighters but they stand up when it's needed.

Any/All the people I ship her romantically with?

Jinko: Of course! Her crush on Zuko was super cute and the scene when she is dragging him to see the lights remains as one of the most romantic ones in the show! I loved how they were each other's first love and how comfortable they were around one another. I headcanon that everybody is super surprised when Zuko first introduces them to Jin because Zuko allows very few people to get all over him the way Jin does and even lesser people can make him smile like that.

Jintara: I already talked about this in my Katara answer, but I just imagine them so mind-blown by how much they have in common — and the fact that both are talking to the most beautiful girl they have ever seen — that they would click instantly. They would go on one date after the other in just one night because they don't want this moment with this wonderful person to ever end.

Jet/Jin: I call them JJ 🤭. The way I see them, Jet is so used to getting his way with his charm alone that he wouldn't know how to react to someone with as much life and people experience talking back to him, telling him he ain't all that. In an AU where they both join the GAang, I headcanon them becoming close because they are "the outsiders", and then I picture this exchange:

Smellerbee: I thought you didn't do "just friends".

Jet: Well, I do with her [Jin].

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

In general, I low-key headcanon that anyone who ever laid eyes on Jin has a bit of a crush on her because she is that drop-dead gorgeous.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for Jin?

Probably her three older brothers. My headcanon is that Jin comes from a single-dad home with three children aside herself. Her brothers make the house feel like a fire station, they are always either working out or going from one place to the other in a rush to get to work, but whatever they are doing they are fiercely protective of Jin and keep reminding her she is "the baby".

My unpopular opinion about Jin?

I don't think she is as innocent as the fandom sometimes portrays her. I see Jin as very street-smart and with plenty knowledge about Lower Ring's nite life — and on the escape routes for getting away from the Dai Li. (Not that she gets in anything illegal, it's just precaution.) She learned all this by sneaking out of home somewhat frequently, she didn't want her family's overprotection and Ba Sing Se's regime to stop her from living life as best as she could. I think beneath her cheery demeanor, she is always looking over her shoulder considering the city she lives in, and I also headcanon that she is well aware of her physical beauty and sometimes she thinks she can use it to get her way, too.

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon?

I wish she had joined Team Avatar.

Plain and simple like that.

Favorite friendship for this character?

Katara or Zuko. Or both!

I think she would become very close with Zuko once they met again after the War, and he would be eager to introduce her to Katara. He would think the two of them are some of the most important people in his life. Jin would be that friend that is always very close and everyone else thinks you are dating her — it doesn't matter if it is Zuko or Katara, Jin would take their hands and they would start walking the three hand-holding down the street.

My crossover ship?

I don't think I ever had one, but if you're asking me to answer on the spot... maybe Agatha Wellbelove from the Carry On Trilogy — they would be the BEST-looking couple — or... Nikolai Lantsov from TGT, or... I feel like she would fit into the Red, White, and Royal Blue universe, and I think there would be something going on with either Pez or June, but I don't know.

Or maybe Blue Sargent! Before she started hanging out with the Raven Boys? When she still had her anti-rich-kids reputation at school and Jin was just this girl everyone couldn't help but love... 🤭

Jintara

When I started shipping them?

Pretty much after I started shipping Zutara in The Crossroads of Destiny. When I got off the high of my very first AUs of them ending up together, my mind immediately went "What if Katara and Jin met?"

My thoughts?

They are so similar and they would understand each other so well. They are two amazing characters that the fandom sometimes overlooks; either as a couple or just as friends, they are the type of people that would stick with each other till the bitter end and support each other all the way. They would do their best to bring the highest positivity to each other's lives, Katara would push Jin to fight back against Ba Sing Se's regime, and Jin would help Katara distract herself from her all-consuming work. They would relate so much to each other and believe they finally found their soulmate at first glance.

What makes me happy about them?

That I can imagine them as a couple and as friends with very little differences in the dynamic. It's not complicated between them, it's sweet and they are united by common interests and values.

What makes me sad about them?

That they never even met 😑.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me?

Nothing more than the fact that there's barely any Jintara out there. I wish people gave Jin's character and her ships more of a chance.

Things I look for in fanfic?

No specific requests beyond accurate characterization.

My wishlist?

Well, things I would have liked to see in canon:

Jin and Katara meeting on the street and by the time Katara's friends find her, she is so immersed in this conversation with this random girl when she is supposed to be waiting for them.

Katara brushing Jin's hair.

Them walking hand-in-hand all the time.

Them having a conversation about Zuko.

Them shopping together.

The GAang going for a snack and Jin not knowing what to get so she says she'll have whatever Katara is having.

Who I'd be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other?

In an AU where Jin ended up with Zuko, it's probably one of my AUs where Katara decides to study medicine and is too focused on her career to get into a relationship. A few years down the road... maybe if it's also one of my AUs where Aang's character also develops and I see them working out as a couple.

And when Katara ends up with Zuko after the War, I have this headcanon that Jin starts hanging out with Zuko's friend group and goes in at least one date with Mai.

My happily ever after for them?

Them meeting at a tea shop in Ba Sing Se and they start chatting and feel this instant connection, and then when they get engaged they have this line from one of my favorite doramas: "I'm so happy I met you. You, my love."

😍 *squealing*

— 💋

Ask games!

[burst-of-iridescent]

Sokka for the "send me a character" ask meme thingy?

ooh i hardly get to talk about sokka so thank you for asking me about him! i love sokka <3

favorite thing about them: his ingenuity. sokka is obviously intelligent, but i think what sets him apart from the rest of the gaang is how he's able to strategize and think in ways that no one else would. it's what makes him such a great inventor and strategist, and i love that he always thinks so out of the box. it just adds such depth to someone who would otherwise only be comedic relief guy.

least favourite thing about them: it hardly needs to be said but obviously his sexism in the first quarter of the show. but then suki got him to chug his respect women juice so we're all good :)

favourite line: goddamn it he has so many good ones!! i think it would have to be a tie between "cactus juice. it's the quenchiest!" and "my first girlfriend turned into the moon" because it's so fucking hilarious

brOTP: i love the two idiots one braincell dynamic he has with both aang and zuko, so probably them. though i do think he and zuko would make a good ship as well

OTP: sukka! they're just so wholesome and cute and i love how head over heels sokka is for her

nOTP: i don't really have a ship that i absolutely hate (with the exception of incest and pedophilia), but i'm not the biggest fan of to/kka. i enjoy the fan content, and i don't hate the ship at all, but i just don't see sokka ever viewing toph as anything but a little sister in canon. that's just my personal opinion, though!

random headcanon: sokka finds space sword after the war. it's real. it happened. you will not convince me otherwise. he did not build that cool ass sword just to lose it forever, thank you very much.

unpopular opinion: i don't know if it's popular per se but sometimes i see this idea that sokka feels inferior to katara, particularly in parallels to zuko where it's like "older brothers who feel inferior to their more talented younger sisters!" but the difference is sokka's feelings of inferiority aren't about katara, but about the gaang as a whole because they're benders and he's not. his whole arc in sokka's master is learning that he is worthy regardless of his lack of bending, because he has his own unique talents that are just as valuable and necessary to the group as aang's, toph's, and katara's.

in contrast, zuko's feelings of inferiority stem from a lifetime of his father pitting him and his sister against each other, and his own frustration at falling short in comparison to her. zuko's arc is about realizing that he never needed to compete with azula at all, that his father was wrong for forcing them to do so, and that he did not have to be as good as, or better than, azula to earn his father's love. it's also about him seeing his worth and value, yes, but in a way that inextricably ties into his relationship with his father, while sokka's does not.

whoops i didn't mean to go on a rant but apparently i have more feelings on this than i thought lol.

song i associate with them: loyal, brave, true by christina aguilera (yes the one from the mulan remake we shall not speak of). specifically the lines:

"who am i without my armor? / standing in my father's shoes / all i know is that it's harder / to be loyal, brave and true"

it reminds me so much of sokka's struggles in trying to live up to his father, how he wants to be a soldier and a leader even while he's still a child. how, beneath the bravado and the humor, he's so deeply terrified of failing to protect the people he loves because he thinks he's not good enough.

favourite picture of them:

i think this moment encapsulates everything sokka is: someone who cares incredibly deeply about the people in his life, and will give anything to protect them.

[pretendthatssomecoolname]

Okay, so I want to spill the tea about Jet as an episode and Jet as a character. Yes. I am going to write about the amazing world of Avatar The Last Airbender. I am going to be quite extensive and bring up a lot of things.

So. What I have seen is that most of the people don't like Jet. The reasons are unknown. Jet in fact is really similar to one of the fanbase's favorite characters-Zuko. They both have obsessions caused by war. Zuko's is about capturing the avatar and Jet's is about fighting the Fire Nation. They both have their reasons. Zuko was pushed to this when he was banished and Jet when his home and family were destroyed by not anything else, but the Fire Nation-and that's exactly why he hates them so much. He has done a lot of good things. As we know he has helped Freedom Fighters and made some sort of home they were all missing. Unfortunately, his ideology has gone too far and like Sokka has said "you became a traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people". It's really sad for me that this happened to him. Of course, he is not fully blessed only because he had a rough childhood-nobody is. But if you think about it-Zuko (yes, I'm coming back to him) also has done a lot of bad things and also was kinda forced to it. However, Zuko had his uncle-and as we know from Azula's example one supporting adult in the life of a lost teenager is really a lot. Jet didn't have it. He was also trying to redeem himself-just like Zuko. He wanted to find new life in Ba Sing Se-just like Zuko. Unfortunately, his obsession with the Fire Nation destroyed him-again. Zuko was really close to this state-when he saw posters with Appa something broke down in him. But still, he had his wise uncle who helped him-something Jet also still didn't have. Here I want to appreciate Smellerbee and Longshot. They were really good friends and supporters. They were looking for Jet and were trying to help him as much as they could and never left his side-till the end. But it turned out that it wasn't enough. What I want people to remember is that he DIED (or something, I don't know it was really unclear) for gaang, so please don't be too hard on him. He is not my favorite person in this universe, but he definitely didn't deserve what happened to him.

Here goes the more fun part. Episode.

Actually, I like this episode. It gives characters a few important lessons while being hilarious. Especially the beginning. Let's start with Katara. I love how she is teasing Sokka about being "leader" (while with a dreamy face telling him that Aang's the leader) and about kissing gran gran. And people say she doesn't have a sense of humor-she has! She is the best Sokka's teaser. And Later. This thing about Sokka's instincts-precious!! Later we have Jet. This can be the problem people have with him. Katara had feelings for him. It was clear from the beginning. But to her defense-she was 14 and here is a tall, older, pretty handsome warrior who is lifting her of the ground to his own treehouse where he is the real leader. Come on. In her tribe there weren't even boys in her age except for her brother! Jet helped her realize that appearance is not everything and that you can't trust people so easily because they can lie to you, while you're so innocently believing. It also shows part of Katara's character. She is trusting people easily, but when someone fails her trust, it's really hard to gain it again. And another parallel between Jet and Zuko. Both of them gained her trust at first (after Zuko's try to change his life), then destroyed it and later were trying to gain it again, which wasn't an easy challenge. It's part of her and people should have expected her lack of easy trust for Zuko in 3 season instead of being hard on her especially considering that Zuko's faults were much bigger and had bigger consequences. One last thing in this episode that I want to mention is Katara giving her handmade hat (at first made for Jet) to Aang and he is wearing it and looking absolutely adorable.

Oh, so we are at Aang now. It's not a lot about him in this episode. He is making fun of Sokka along with Katara (the best thing EVER) and later just like her, he trusts Jet. Later he is a bit hurt (he considered Jet as a new friend), but not that much like Katara. What is odd here is the lack of his jealousness for Katara liking Jet. BUT what we can see 1.5 seasons later is that at their next encounter he is jealous. That means feelings development (and realization of them) and I love this small detail. Also, Katara is definitely against him and she is ashamed of her previous self. One more thing from Aang is connected with Sokka so...

Sokka being bashed the whole episode to end it like a boss. And by that, I mean all absolutely hilarious teasing and fun-making. He needs to deal with his younger sister and their 12-year-old friend. Just sending respect for this boy. But coming back to the topic. He's right about Appa being big and easy to spot. And my favorite thing in this episode (and also the reason why I am writing it) is Sokka talking about Appa's big arrow on his forehead and Aang saying after Appa's groan "Sokka's just jealous because he doesn't have an arrow". Ahhh how to not love this boy. And now I want my arrow. Sokka is underappreciated in this episode and is telling a lot of important things. Instead of being mean to Jet, he told him where he was mistaken and I love him for this. This time he was right about the boy who he called Katara's boyfriend (last time he was obviously wrong).

Yeah. I think that's all I wanted to say. I love them all. If somebody is ever going to read it. Wow. Hope you're having a great time!

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 2 for the first time. Random thoughts.

Huh. Only 7 episodes. Not complaining necessarily. For series with an ongoing plot I've definitely become more in favor with their seasons only having as many episodes as they need rather than them having to stretch themselves out to full up a certain number of episodes, which can lead to padding and just bad character moments.

Episode 1: Jeez. Catra visiting Shadow Weaver's cell just to rub her success in her face and verbally abuse her back for once. It's like a twisted version of Zuko and Ozai from ATLA. Catra's upbringing under her was abusive but this is far from a healthy way for her to deal with it. She's basically deliberately swimming in her resentment.

Episode 2: It's not that I'm rooting for her but by-golly was it fun to watch Catra act like just the absolute worst she could while she was Glimmer and Bow's captive.

I touched on this in season 1 but part of the drama of the heroes feeling guilt over leaving Entrapta behind is kind of lost on me a bit simply because it was her own fault it happened. She deliberately went back into the purge room because of her machine obsession, which then closed on her and erupted in flames. It was more than reasonable to assume she was dead and no one but her was to blame, so I'm not really able to be invested in their guilt over it.

That said, weirdly enough I do like that her "abandonment" doesn't seem to be even a blip on the radar for Entrapta herself. She hasn't joined the horde because she resents the heroes or felt left behind, she simply is so obsessed with machines and experimentation that she'll be on the side of whoever lets her do the most of that. Like, it's selfish and irresponsible but it's very in-character and I'd far rather have a traitor motivation be based in that over something stupid like a misunderstanding.

Episode 3: I love the mental image of Shadow Weaver thinking up princess-themed ghost stories to tell Adora as a child.

So, if the previous She-Ra Mara separated Eternia from the other realms/planets/whatever she did and that's what cut off the She-Ra line for 1000 years, I'm guessing Hordak may be from the time before that happened, thus his drive to create portals and calling Eternia a backwards world. Either he's naturally long-lived or his technology is extending his life.

Episode 4: You know, you could maybe argue it was vague enough that it could be taken other ways but I'm definitely getting some vibes here that Scorpia is crushing on Catra. She literally refers to the two of them as soulmates at one point. I know she says she's trying to be friends but this feels a level beyond that.

Fun little reference to the original She-Ra cartoon thrown in there (and maybe Cowboy Bebop...? James Bond...? What was Glimmer's art style supposed to be?). I like how it is more like just playful ribbing than anything outright dumping on the original. Again, I've never seen original She-Ra but whenever remakes/adaptations go out of their way to trash to the original I always kind of wonder why they bothered doing an adaptation if the original is just that bad? Also, I was having trouble sleeping so it was about 2am when I watched this episode and the very Eartha Kitt Catwoman Catra made it very difficult for me not to lose my **** and stay quiet. With how much of a contrast that version is from the one in this series, that was hilarious. Bonus note, it's a nice touch that Frosta's version of Catra is a pretty crasher in that sweet suit, since that's the only impression of Catra she's ever had.

Adora being a chosen one is definitely elevated up simply by how much the pressure of what she's supposed to be is getting to her. I'm likely going to keep making Avatar The Last Airbender comparisons throughout the series but that's partly because I went into this series figuring it'd be at least structured similar to ATLA (season 1 being more episodic and a little more kid-friendly as it builds up the world before getting more serious later). Adora and Aang are interesting to compare here. Aang's worries early on were less apparent because he was more in-denial/choosing not to think about his problems that much, which fit with his character as a free-spirited Air Nomad. While Adora is much more military-minded. She can't keep herself from thinking about her problems and trying to prepare for the worst-case scenario. And jeez, that idea of who/how Catra is in her mind. Not only beating her but making her watch as she takes everything she cares about away. Not Shadow Weaver, not Lord Hordak, but Catra. That whole Lion King Mufasa/Scar moment between them in episode 11 and their fight in the S1 finale really did a number on her mental image of her old friend. Not reasonably so.

Minor note: I'm sure I'm the only one who got this impression but by the look of it, the way the robot's eye moved, and the music, after getting the soda spilled on it that little spybot gained sentience for half a second and then immediately died. It was so darkly comedic I had to laugh.

Episode 5: So that red disc is basically She-Ra's Red Kryptonite, having an effect on the mind rather than the body. The drunk Adora joke doesn't really do it for me but it did get some nice interactions going between Scorpia and Sea Hawk, two characters I certainly wasn't expecting to bond. I did really like Catra's panic when berserker She-Ra nearly beheads her. The implication is that is Adora really wanted to kill her Catra would already probably be dead. It's a thing I like about powerhouse characters like Superman or Aang, who could just demolish everything around them and don't simply because they're a good person...which in turn makes them the scariest person on the planet when they're well and truly ticked off. I'm not going to lie, I do kind of want to see a She-Ra version of Aang when Appa was stolen or when Superman fought The Elite.

Also, Catra's line of "I have control over Adora. I'm not giving that up for anything.". There's a lot to read into there.

Episode 6: I guess my prediction was sort of right. Shadow Weaver became basically a magic parasite and while it did increase the power she's capable of the implication seems to be that she needs a constant fix of magic to keep herself going, thus her attachment to the Black Garnet.

Have we seen Micah before? Given how long ago the flashback seems set, the fact that Shadow Weaver didn't kill him and thus he probably becomes someone important later in life, I'm guessing he's Glimmer's dad and the queen's late husband, since I think he's the only important male character whose face we haven't seen yet. Also, he's voice by Ezra from Star Wars Rebels and that cracks me up for some reason. It's the exact same voice and a relatively similar character.

I compared Catra and Shadow Weaver with a kind of twisted version of Zuko and Ozai and that definitely still fits here. Both Catra and Zuko confront their parent and call them out for the inexcusable abuse they put them through but while that moment was the start of Zuko's upwards journey this and SW's betrayal seems like it's going to cause Catra to spiral even further. Makes sense why Adora leaving affected her so much. She's probably the only one Catra's ever had that she could consistently trust and rely on, even if she did somewhat resent her.

Not surprised Hordak is getting along with Entrapta. She's not socially aware enough to be scared or intimidated by him, so she'll speak frankly, and since all she wants to talk about is the machines, experiments, and how they could get them to work Hordak probably doesn't take much issue with that. She's producing results, which is what he cares about, thus also why Shadow Weaver and Catra started losing favor with him. I wonder if Catra is going through imposter syndrome? Shadow Weaver had that line that Entrapta earned her place next to Hordak and, if you think about it, Catra hasn't really "earned" anything. We saw that she didn't really take her training or studies that seriously, showing up late to combat practice and even getting partial credit for what Adora beat. She wasn't promoted to Force Captain because of her own abilities but because Adora had defected when she was supposed to get that title. She's come close to a few victories but never really had any except for Glimmer and Bow's kidnapping...whom she then basically let escape when she returned Adora's sword to her. She doesn't have the slightest clue how the horde's bureaucracy works when trying to get things done, like simply getting troops armor. Given how much better than her Adora always was and how little she herself has to her name, I wonder is subconsciously Catra believes she doesn't deserve her current position and thus why she's fretting so much over trying to prove herself.

Episode 7: Am I mistaken or did Bow's parents say that he's the youngest of TWELVE siblings? I was going to ask whether Bow was adopted or if his dad's used a surrogate or if maybe there's even just simply magic in She-Ra's world that allows two people of the same sex to have a child together but now I'm just focused on the 12 kids thing. I get nervous just imagining myself having more than one. You should see me when I'm with two cats. I have to pet both of them because I'd feel like I'd be making one feel left out and like the other is the favorite. I'm a mess with kids.

The dad with dreadlocks (Lance?), his design looked familiar to me and I finally realized it reminded me a of a fanart design for a human Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Very different voices between those two characters though.

I wonder if there's any significance to the robot protecting the crystal having the same design as those in the artic in episode 5? Obviously both have the connection to the First Ones but the robot in the forest who was also protecting First Ones' tech had a more insect-like design over these more worm/Graboid ones.

I'm kind of curious what Hordak would have done if Catra had told the truth. Given his interactions with her and Shadow Weaver he doesn't seem like the time to tolerate failure but I suppose the implication here is that he at least would respect those who own up to their failures. Or I suppose more simply he was just testing to see if she would lie to him and since she did there's little merit in keeping her in a position of authority anymore where she could lie about important things again.

Season 2 verdict: Still enjoying it. Another person on this reddit recommended I view seasons 2 and 3 as one since they are basically just one season split in two. I was going to do that but this ended up longer than I thought I would, so I'll just do 2 and 3 separate to keep them semi-organized and easier to read.

I think overall Catra is my favorite character since she has the most interesting backstory, interactions, and just general path through the story out of everyone. She's like Pearl from Steven Universe or, well, Zuko. There's just so much baggage there that she's trying and kind of failing to deal with. I'm always invested in whatever's happening when she's onscreen. Hordak so far is a good big boss villain for Adora to face but Catra is a good archenemy for her.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o027y3/going_in_blind_watching_season_2_for_the_first/

[kigozula]

Attack of the White Lotus arc 52 - 57

I am reading this arc again after a long time right now and got totally into it. I forgot how much I liked this arc. It is so exciting. So many differnt emotions at once. A VERY good arc!! I would almost say, it is my favorite arc so far. I'm sure more exciting things will come once we reach part 3.

And here some if my favorite moments:

"Did you just… kiss me?" she muttered. (Azula)

„Uh… nope, I didn't,“ replied Song…

Captain Rui Shi

„Where is she?! Is she with you?! Where is the Princess, Sokka?!“ asked the Captain, grabbing Sokka by the shoulders when he reached him. (this man and his worries about his Princess in part 1 are never failing to make me smile)

„The Princess… will she truly be safe at your house? Can you protect her?“

„Promise me you'll keep her safe, …“

„What is she doing here?!“ asked the Captain, shocked. „I told you to take care of her, not to bring her home while we were still handling a crisis! You promised you'd keep her safe!“

Sokka

Or maybe Song had let her sleep in her room… or even his? The idea made him gulp. Azula sleeping in his bed… ?

„You're not bending that thing, you heard me? No more bending for you" (Sokka talking to Azula in a demanding way... =D, love it)

Sokka kept his eyes on her until he was already at the door. He turned around unwillingly, …

Zuko (this guy is just unbelievable, but unlike in canon, I feel sorry for him in Gladiator):

„Who is he?“ Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow as he regarded Ty Lee's companion.

„Oh, this is Haru,“ said Ty Lee, smiling cheerfully. „He's my gladiator !“

„Wha-… ? You too?“ asked Zuko, staring at her in disbelief.

And now my absolute favorite parts, that made me melt*-*:

Ozai (him worrying about Azula is just almost the best thing)

„Not at all, my Lord. But… this might be wrong, but… a-according to what I heard, the Princess is… „

Ozai's eyes widened. The blood seemed to drain from his face when the soldier stopped talking.

"What of Azula?" he said, his voice becoming graver as he stared at the soldier with dread.

"She's above ground, sir," said the soldier, gulping. "And… from what I was told, she requires medical assistance…"

"Is she injured? Is she…? Why was she above ground?!" Ozai shouted, standing up from his throne, his face contorted in an angry grimace.

"If that's the case, then go find a physician immediately!" Ozai shouted, startling the soldier.

He strode the way down to the open crimson door at the end of the room, barging into it quite carelessly…

… And he froze when he spotted the scene in front of him. The Captain of Azula's Royal Guards stood beside her in bed, staring down at her. The Princess lay on the mattress, looking more helpless than Ozai had ever seen her before.

His frown disappeared when he caught sight of her. His daughter had never showed any weaknesses…

"What happened to you, Azula?" asked Ozai, approaching, still frowning, but no longer angrily. For once, the Fire Lord's eyes glinted with something the Captain had never seen in them before: concern.

"F-Father, I… I'm sorry, Father, I didn't mean to… I…" Azula cringed upon every word, struggling to sit up to prove herself to him. The Captain watched her warily, afraid her condition might worsen if she continued being so restless.

"What happened?" Ozai asked, his tone softening.

"I… I didn't hear the alarm, Father…" she muttered. "I was someplace else, and the sound didn't reach me… X-Xin Long told me there was a ruckus in the Palace, and I thought I should find out what it was…"

"You knew you had to go underground, Azula," said Ozai, frowning. "That is the way we have always dealt with emergencies. The army handles threats, we stay in safety until the issue has been sorted out."

"I know… I know," said Azula, breathing heavily. "And I'm sorry, Father. I… I was reckless, I know so, but I… I couldn't let them get away with attacking the Fire Nation. I… I'm sorry…"

"You should be," said Ozai. "Look where this has landed you, Azula… you shouldn't have been so thoughtless."

He shook his head and sighed. Never before had he needed to worry about Azula, let alone in this manner.

"I didn't… I tried, but I couldn't do it. They were going to make me their hostage…"

"What…? What?!" said Ozai, shocked.

And the funny ones^^:

The Captain didn't respond, but not only because he lacked an answer. Voices were coming into the room from the corridor. The two men looked out towards the hallway, frowns on their faces as new arrivals headed towards the room.

"No, no! This way, Song!" said Sokka, pulling Song down the right hall.

"T-this Palace is so big, how did you know where her room was? I thought you'd get lost…"

"Honestly, so did I. Let's just be glad we found it," replied Sokka, gulping and barging into the room carelessly… to find there were more people in Azula's chambers than he had expected.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty," said Sokka, not even knowing if he ought to address Ozai in that manner. Ozai's eyebrow twitched upon the disrespectful way Sokka had pronounced the title.

Rui Shi looked back and forth between Sokka and Ozai. His gaze fell upon Song later, and he nodded in her direction, encouraging her to heal Azula.

„You'll be alright now, Azula," said Sokka, smiling and approaching the bedside. "You'll see, everything will…"

"Gladiator," said Ozai powerfully, interrupting Sokka in the middle of his reassuring statements. "A word."

"F-Father, please…" said Azula, attempting to sit up in bed as she tried to reach Ozai, but the Captain stopped her.

The Bonus one: =D

"I truly underestimated you, gladiator," said Ozai, exhaling heavily. "You are much more than you seem at first glance. Perhaps you are a more suitable fighter for my daughter than I ever took you for."

"Uh… thanks," said Sokka, feeling the blood rushing to his cheeks. So he was suitable for Azula, according to her father?

Well, all in all, there are so many good things in this arc. Three of my favorite men worrying about Azula (Zuko missing, tbh if he would also be in these scenes, I cannot imagine how more interesting things would get) and the whole exciting happenings. It was, as If I am reading it for the first time. And I can't help but wonder, how would have things developed if Azula would've really been kidnapped?? Imagine Ozai... and Captain... and Sokka... and even Zuko.

Thank you for writing such good things @seyaryminamoto ♡