#this is the equivalent of going on a bender

[magicaldragons]

guys,,,i think it broke him

[shannonsketches]

Let's not forget dying and then finding out said other guy was letting you keep the high ground because he felt bad for you!! 🫠

Majin Vegeta such a failure; imagine you sell your soul for a small power up, you kill a few hundred people to get the guy who beat you up once to fight you, and then you finally get your big revenge fight but a) the other guy isn't really into it and b) you don't have nearly as much fun as you hoped you would.

Like, man. Sucks.

[harper]

Just saw this on twitter and like… ?

When aang even found out he lost his entire tribe, he immediately had katara and sokka

When sokka lost their mother, he had katara

And when zuko lost his place in his family, he had iroh.

I’m not saying Katara didn’t have her gran gran, but I am saying that gran gran is clearly of an equivalent “silent generation” of souther water tribe that didn’t emotionally invest in their children. Instead most investing went into the traditional, practical aspects of Kataras role as a female member of the tribe with female duties to do.

Sokka starts out very unsupportive of Katara’s water bending and even mentions that he can’t remember their mother because he was able to cope with the loss thanks to katara stepping in.

Aang’s culture doesn’t create the deep familial root structures the water tribe does, and although the loss of monk gyatso was devastating to him, again he had katara and sokka by then.

Zuko only really felt loss when he lost his mother and what he thought he was entitled to as prince, and even then, iroh didn’t let him go alone (enough said).

When Katara lost her mother right in front of her because of her water bending with no other benders in the tribe, no one who believed in her as more than just a house laborer,,,, that was a different, more permanent loss for her.

[liquid-bonhomme]

Okay, part two. Let's go girls, gays and theys, Papa Polarity ain't saved yet.

[Part 1] [Part3]

Lily Commits Elder Gay Mutant Abuse, feat. "Eldritch Lily" (Part 2)

Everything gets worse . . .

4:13: Lily mischaracterizes Charles Xavier, throws up a Martin Luthor King quote she either doesn't understand or didn't read carefully enough, going full whyte. (Never go full whyte.)

How much do I need to dignify this by explaining why this is fucking asinine? Charles is a pacifist for the most part. A recognized and respected form of activism and protest. Like, the least charitable interpretation of what Lily's trying to say here is that figures like Gahndi, Abbie Hoffman, and dear old MLK himself are posers complicit in the oppression two of them lost their fucking life to.

That quote is referring to white people passively complicit in racism that just want black people to shut the fuck up Lily-- not passive forms of activism.

You know, it's one thing to be profoundly fucking wrong about cartoons, it's an entirely different beast when you're profoundly wrong about shit like this. Absolutely fucking ghoulish.

It feels weird pivoting back to the costumed vigilantes with funky genes, but we gotta keep going. Ironically for how much Lily is focusing on the movies here-- one of my issues with the way Charles is portrayed is he keeps casually threatening people/doing shady shit and getting away with it. Makes you question why it's framed as okay when he does it and not when it's Erik. Charles isn't a saint, he shouldn't be portrayed as one, and there's a lot of thematic dissonance when the films feel the need to lampshade the shit he gets up to less he lose the moral high ground.

4:50: OH HERE WE GO.

5:00: Lily goes on a long rant about the "activists who GO TOO FAR" trope in media.

I technically agree with her, but I can tell by the examples she's giving that she's parroting things Hbomberguy said in his RWBY video, just in a less charitable tone. So, really I agree with Hbomberguy.

She's not wrong that the BoM and Magneto sometimes wanders into this territory (I mean, they were originally 'The Brotherhood of Evil Mutant' and all that) unfortunately, but she hasn't supported that position at all. I have to assume she's heard this brought up somewhere else, this isn't exactly a unique take by any means. I doubt she's actually familiar enough with the content to create an original cohesive argument.

Lily doesn't like moral ambiguity in her media. That would be fine if she wasn't this butthurt that other people feel very differently.

6:05: "And yes, you knew we were getting to it! [ . . .] Almost all of Legend of Korras main villians start at a good through line. But then some twist comes up that makes everything they said before completely pointless."

THESE TWO, "START AT A GOOD THROUGH LINE!?"

LILLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

6:15: "Season one's Amon is a socialist activist who cares about the oppression of non-benders by benders-- until it turns out that he doesn't."

I know this is a popular interpretation of the equalitists, especially given that their name is 'the equalists,' but actually the show never gives us enough information about the sociopolitical dynamics of benders and non-benders to say for sure. I'm not going to get into it here, if you want my full breakdown and analysis on the social politics of Avatar, let me know. In summary, it's tempting to assume benders would be the dominant class as they have literal powers, but that's not really how systemic power works. There's conflicting inference on what the dynamics are, and it may be different depending on the nation. The equalists are schrodinger's activists. They could be the Black Panthers, they could be the Proud Boys. That is not me making a false equivalency between those two groups, it's just never established if their perceived systemic persecution is real or imagined.

This isn't really a criticism of Lily. That it is so ambiguous is a flaw in the show. The interpretation Amon is supposed to be a socialist is as valid as any. Well. . . It's an extremely reductive interpretation of a socialist, and I know Lily doesn't know what a socialist actually is, but I'm trying to be charitable when possible here.

I do LIKE Korra myself, to be clear. But, yeah. There's problems.

6:31: "Season four's Kuvira wants to stitch the Earth Kingdom back together but doesn't want to restore an oppressive monarchy like everyone else does. And then declares that she is the dictator of the Earth Kingdom."

Yeah, that is just a thing that has happened in history, Lily. When there's a power vacuum left by a sudden or violent upheaval of a tyrant, unfortunately often another tyrant at least attempts to take their place. This is one of the reasons why former colonies struggle to cultivate stability-- societies and communities can get fucked in the ass by this kind of shit. This isn't a pro-monarchy message Lily-- consider maybe trying to learn things now and again.

This is why people call you a fake leftist Lily. Doing (relatively) minor gestures of good will like handing out food for a short period then pulling the rug out from under the people once they're complicit is right out of the facist playbook. You are virtually doing the exact thing you accused Rebecca Sugar of, but for real.

You're being outfoxed by a kid's show again.

6:44: "Season two's Unalaq [you get the idea.]"

Lily is pro gentrification until you involve demon kites I guess. I'm confused why she thinks he ever had any good intentions, it's telegraphed immediately he's a bad dude. He's also by far the worst villain-- as in, the worst written.

7:10: "All of them go 'the status quo is bad therefore commence genocide' like they got their political theory from fucking Vaush."

By your line of thinking so did Firelord Sozin:

"I had my own vision for a brighter future . . ."

I don't like Vaush either, but-- this isn't even the pot calling the kettle black. This is the blackened grime on the pot calling the kettle black.

GOD THIS VIDEO IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT MAGNETO. WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT KORRA FOR ALMOST THIS WHOLE POST.

7:19: "The entire show you're watching Korra become a stooge for the status quo every single time. 'The problem isn't that the system is bad, it's that the wrong people are in charge.' And then they inevitably change the status like bringing democracy to the Earth Kingdom and you're left wondering-- wait, why wasn't the other person doing this!?"

I did not edit those two statements together. That is, in fact, Lily pointing out why her own arguments are stupid in the very next breath. Thanks for saving me the effort, I guess.

7:45: "Why weren't the characters you set up to do these things . . . Doing the things?!"

Because they weren't set up to do these things Lily. They're the antagonists. They ideologically were designed to be foils for Korra to overcome.

Korra's political messages aren't even that deep, and yet you're this incapable from telling even obvious totalitarian right-wing ideology and mild liberalism apart.

8:10: "It's so nakedly obvious how protective of the status quo these stories are."

This is, in a very abstract way, a valid criticism of Korra. This is a common problem in a lot of media, and Korra is far from the worst offender. I think it does breach past this to some extent, just not as much as I would have personally liked with all its seasons.

But make no mistake this is Lily again, taking something Lily has seen someone else say and putting that opinion through a blender.

Let's not beat around the bush here, Lily just wanted to bitch about Korra again. It's almost like she thinks if she repeats her idiotic media analysis enough, maybe THIS time people will realize how brilliant she is.

8:27: "A victim of abuse, torture or r@pe trying to kill her [only 'her,' huh?] abuser in vengeance is right to do so."

Okay, that's enough of this for now. Part 3 coming soon.

[dizzyhslightlyvoided]

Copyright smuggling: Darkstalkers

Darkstalkers is an old fighting game by Capcom -- it's basically like if Street Fighter 2 was a monster mash, except also there's stuff like a demonic alien, and a blue-skinned devil who wants to merge everybody's souls together. They haven't done anything with the series in decades, though, apart from the odd remake, and/or letting Morrigan and possibly a few other characters appear in crossovers. This post will try to come up with ways you can use non-copyrighted versions of the same characters and concepts! Fortunately, this is relatively easy, because a lot of them were Capcom figuring out how to copyright public-domain characters to begin with.

Specific public domain characters:

Sasquatch: Bigfoot. They didn't even give him a copyrighted name. Doesn't look remotely look like it, though. Actually he's kind of more like a Canadian yeti?

B.B. Hood ("Bulleta" in Japan): straight-up just "Little Red Riding Hood ... With A Gun." Like I'm not kidding, her character design is a completely generic rendition of Little Red Riding Hood, aside from the name and the weapons. If anything, her appearance is less distinctive than some depictions you can find on the first page of a DuckDuckGo image search.

Victor von Gerdenheim: An expy of Frankenstein's Monster. They basically just took the Hollywood version, gave him bigger hair and changed his skin from green to blue, and gave him a little sister to care about.

Demitri Maximoff: An expy of Count Dracula, in some ways; Demitri just has some Darkstalkers-specific rivalries and spikier hair. Just don't make it too obvious by directly giving him an equivalent of Midnight Bliss (gender-bender magic being its own non-specific concept).

Non-specific public domain concepts:

Hsien-Ko ("Lei-Lei" in Japan): a Jiang-Shi, a hopping vampire of Chinese myth controlled by a paper charm on her forehead.

Anakaris: The undead mummy of an Egyption pharaoh. Mummies are of course a generic stock monster.

Lilith: The concept of a part of someone's soul, or their entire soul, becoming separated and attaining a life/mind of its own. Can be applied to any other character-concept. Capcom later used this in the Devil May Cry series. Sonic the Hedgehog did it twice.

Felicia: Somewhere on the scale between "catgirl" and "cat furry." Felicia's main distinction is the strategically-placed patterns of fur on her body.

Donovan Baine: a monster-hunting half-vampire. That's not even a particularly distinctive concept.

Q-Bee: Bees.

Non-public-domain inspirations which have public domain counterparts

Jon Talbain ("Gallon" in Japan): His English name is clearly derived from Sir John Talbot, the title character of The Wolf Man (1941), which is not in the public domain; however, the concept of a werewolf is.

Rikuo ("Aulbath" in Japan): An off-brand Creature from the Black Lagoon, which isn't in the public domain, but "humanoid fish-people" is doable. For example, there's the Deep Ones from HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, which is understood to be in the public domain, or the kappa of Japanese mythology.

Bishamon: A cursed samurai/animated samurai armor. Not too hard to make something generic out of that.

Multiple concepts/potentially too distinctive to reference directly:

Morrigan Aensland: A succubus, or more generally a she-devil. She could also be some manner of vampire maybe? She can also transform her wings into jetpacks and whatnot (which is the only reason she's listed here instead of under "non-specific public domain").

Pyron: A demonic alien with fire-powers. That's it, that's the concept.

Huitzil ("Phobos" in Japan): an army of alien robots, with a design inspired by doguu figurines from ancient Japan.

Lord Raptor ("Zabel Zarock" in Japan): the more personable kind of zombie + rock and roll.

Jedah Dohma: hm. There's nothing particularly public-domain-shaped until you go as far back as "demon" or "the devil". Oh well.

[beifong-brainrot]

On one hand, I appreciate atla as the kid's show that it is, and there nor being too much gore and explicit horror. On the other, I notice how much I've normalised firebending to myself in the show. Like, oh it's just a bending technique at least 1/4 of the population should he able to do it. But it's terrifying, actually.

Don't get me wrong, all bending techniques are scary if you think about them for too long but like. Fire is dangerous. (groundbreaking, I know)

But I kinda forget that it is, probably due to the fact that we see it almost every episode and none of the main cast are severely injured. The outlier here is Zuko, of course, but I'd argue that his scarring feels more... deliberate? Like... Ozai decided to scar him, right?

While the horror of fighting regular ass firebenders isn't that they're abusive parents who deliberately scar their children, it's that their equivalent of throwing a punch is going flamethrower mode™️. The horror here is casualties of battle.

Like basic brawls could end in permanent disfigurement.

Looking at this scene, which I've randomly grabbed. Mako could've permanently blinded and maybe even deafened Desna on one ear.

Similarly here:

Katara narrowly dodged immense scarring and agony. Zuko is trying to hurt, if not outright kill her here.

Like sure, healing waterbending exists, but apparently that won't mend all scars and won't erase the pain.

Firebenders are unable to knock their targets out, or restrain them. Their bending style is aggressive and almost every single fire bender we encounter is playing to severely harm their opponents.

I think this is sometimes forgotten, due to our protagonists emerging from fights against firebenders miraculously unscathed.

Remembering this also makes it even easier for me to sympathise with the Gaang for not wanting Zuko around. Like. Not only has this guy been chasing them around the world... he's been trying to kill or injure them in arguably one of the cruelest ways possible that doesn't involve actual torture.

I wish there were more scenes that really hammer home how dangerous firebending is. An easy fix would be to show a scene of the characters using healing waterbending to remove burn wounds, i think? Not after some big emotional scene, or in a critical moment, but just as a grim reality of life.

Tldr; me, the idiot with skin grafts due to 2nd/3rd degree burns: fire is dangerous, guys 😯

And the burns that almost killed me weren't even from open fire. They were just from the sparks.

[masterqwertster]

Ashton in Daggerheart

Alright, because I'm me, we're starting with Ashton.

Ancestry

Mixed: either Faerie/Faun or Firbolg/Halfling

The thing is, there's nothing particularly close to genasi in Daggerheart. Technically a stone made Clank could be close, in a living statue sort of sense, but the Clank abilities don't really match Ashton.

So I've mixed Ancestries based on abilities.

Faerie/Faun is for Faerie Luck Bender (3 Hope to reroll duality dice of self or a willing ally in Close range once per session) as a nod to dunamancy and one of it's main abilities being a Mote of Possibility, and the Faun Kick (1 Stress to kick off after a melee hit for 2d6 with knockback to you or the target to Very Close) as a nod to Ashton's Crusher feat, and to a lesser degree the Belt of Momentum.

Firbolg/Halfling is similar themes in reverse. Firbolg Charge (succeed an Agility roll from Far/Very Far to close into Melee, 1 stress to do 1d12 to all targets in melee) as a nod to the Belt of Momentum. Halfling Internal Compass (can reroll 1 on the Hope die) for a little more consistent messing with probability.

I think I'm a little more fond of the Faerie/Faun mix for the Crusher feat similarity, since feats are inbuilt while the Belt was an item.

Community

Ridgeborne

I know that Slyborne seems the obvious winner for Ashton, seeing as they're a career thief and thug, but its ability is Advantage on negotiating with criminals, detecting lies, and finding safe places to hide. And Ashton has negative Charisma. They're not supposed to be good at people.

Meanwhile, the Ridgeborne gets Advantage on traversing dangerous cliffs and ledges, navigating harsh environments, and using survival knowledge. Which sounds a bit more like Ashton's Earth Walk racial trait. Not to mention that he's got some idea of dangerous travel just from getting out of Bassuras and the Hellcatch Valley. And likely to get more experience in that regard post-campaign as part of his ruin delving and general adventuring.

Class/Subclass

Vengeance Guardian -At Ease: +1 stress slot -Revenge: 2 Stress to mark 1hp on someone that attacks you in melee Specialization- Act of Reprisal: +1 Proficiency for you next successful attack against an Adversary that hits an ally in your Melee Mastery- Nemesis: 2 Hope to Prioritize an Adversary (only 1 at a time) so when you attack them, you can swap the Hope and Fear values of you die

Look, Unstoppable is fairly close to a barbarian Rage, and between the two subclasses, Ashton is a tank that gets the bullet shooting towards them rather than jumping in the path of the bullet. And they tend to lock in and go after whoever hurt their friends. Ashton keeps their people safe by taking out the other guys.

Domain Cards

So it's a 14 card spread, assuming that the extra Domain Card option is taken in each Tier of leveling, and perfectly possible to select without needing to swap cards at higher levels. But card swapping might be done depending on where extra cards became available.

Bare Bones (lvl1, valor)

The equivalent of barbarian Unarmored Defense.

And honestly, a really great armor choice in general since it has no penalties and can have the most armor slots if strength is maxed.

Not Good Enough (lvl1, blade)

A nod to Ashton's Great Weapon Fighting, this rerolls 1 and 2 on damage dice. Nicely, this isn't even restricted to one type of weapon, just rolling damage dice.

Reckless (lvl2, blade)

C'mon, barbarian reckless attack feature, except it's mark a Stress for Advantage instead of for the next round attacks against you are at advantage.

Body Basher (lvl2, valor)

Barbarian rage bonus, essentially.

Add your strength modifier to melee range weapon damage.

Lean on Me (lvl3, valor)

Ashton does try to comfort and support his friends. Whether they're actually good at it is another thing entirely.

But this card allows them and an ally that failed an Action Roll to clear 2 stress if he tries.

Support Tank (lvl4, valor)

A little more probability/dunamancy support.

2 Hope to let an ally reroll their Hope or Fear die when they fail in Close range

Deadly Focus (lvl4, blade)

Once per rest you can lock in on 1 target, getting +1 Proficiency until it's defeated, the battle ends, or you attack something else.

And Ashton has a habit of locking in when someone/thing pisses him off.

Champion's Edge (lvl5, blade)

A little bonus on crits if you spend the Hope, kind of like a Brutal Critical bonus.

Spend up to 3 Hope to pick only once per crit: clear 1hp, clear 1 armor, and/or +1hp to damage dealt

Vitality (lvl5, blade)

Making Ashton a little tankier.

You get 2 of: +1 stress slot, +1hp slot, or +2 to damage thresholds. And the card doesn't need to take up space in the loadout as it's a permanent Vault card.

Rage Up (lvl6, blade)

C'mon, barbarian rage once again.

1 Stress for +2x your Strength to the damage, and you can apply it twice per attack.

Ground Pound (lvl8, valor)

Baby earth titan power! Sort of. Okay, it's mostly the name, but also a cool ability.

2 hope to make a Strength Roll against all targets in Very Close range, throwing everyone you succeed against out to Far range where if they fail on a 17 Reaction Roll, they take 4d10+8 damage, half damage on success.

Gore and Glory (lvl9, blade)

A nice bonus for crits and killing. Which, Ashton is pretty decent at taking enemies down.

Crit with a weapon attack or deal the damage to defeat an enemy, and you gain 1 (more) Hope or clear 1 (more) Stress.

Hold the Line (lvl9, valor)

Gravity dunamancy! Mostly because of the drag feature here.

For 1 Hope, any adversary that passes into Very Close range is pulled into Melee with you and restrained. This only ends if you move, fail with Fear, or the GM spends 2 Fear to end it.

Onslaught (lvl10, blade)

This just beefs damage up, which Ashton does damage.

You always deal 2hp when you hit with a weapon, and if an ally is hit (and you aren't) while the enemy that did it is in striking range, 1 Stress to make them make a 15 Reaction Roll or they mark 1hp.

At the End

There's not any cards available to represent Ashton's time or spatial manipulation without pulling from other domains. But otherwise, I think I built out a pretty aggressive tank that is Ashton

[burnt-tortellini]

south english writing tips for non-uk CoD writers

im so tired of seeing gaz say “bruv” every 10 seconds OR hear about ghosts “mom”

i have no clue how much of this applies in other places/is obvious but!

ok so common slang

bloke/lad - a man

bev/bossman/brother/mush - a man but in a friendlier way (like gaz might call soap or price mush)

missus - someones wife (usually “the missus” is the wife of whoever is talking/being talked about, i dont usually hear people say “*insert names* missus” there also isnt a male equivalent sadly)

scran - good food or to eat (eg. “scranned that nandos” or “going to the chinese later to pick up some scran”)

kip - nap but you usually “take” a kip rather than “have” a kip if that makes sense?

cardy - cardigan/zip up hoodie (usually gen x or older women i hear saying this)(and me until i was 10 and got bullied of out it💔💔)

tory - technically supporters of the conservative party but the definition has been broadened to people who are posh/rich (derogatory)

bender - gay (derogatory, if you couldnt tell)

wank - jerk off

wanker/bellend/twat/knobhead/fuckface - common insults (also cunt is a lot more common over here, its still a bad word but it doesnt hold the same weight as in the states, ESPECIALLY among teenage boys)(although they just say slurs anyway so)

babe/hun - typically used by girls either as a term of endearment or to be patronising (you could call a random person in a shop hun or use it in an argument it really depends)

any word ending in “ic” can be turned into “____iccy” for instance “i look better in this piccy” or “digestives are proper good choccy biccys”

dead ____ - typically used by northerners as a substitute for “really” (eg. dead nice cake is a really nice cake), southerners usually use “proper” instead

chav - female equivalent of a roadman, hard to explain in terms that make sense. if i say “so…? spray, orange foundation, m to the b” does that make sense to you ???

roadman - male equivalent of a chav, balaclavas, nike tech jackets, bikes/scooters, vapes, central cee, usually congregate outside of maccies in packs

side note: idk how well known this is outside of the uk but along side the middle finger we have a reverse peace sign, usually combined with a wanking motion but can just be used like a middle finger. also a closed fist doing a wank motion holds the same effect

i will probably edit and add more as i think of them but feel free to reblog with anything i missed!!

[nicolebrennandraws]

so if this new Avatar series is going to take place in what is essentially that universe’s equivalent of the new millennium, will plastic benders be a thing?

if so, I have questions, seeing as blood bending works…actually nevermind.

[lesbiancruzramirez]

hi hi hi i've always thought that chick should be an earthbender, he's so earth-coded, anyways that's all ^_^

HI YES. thats so true. in fact, using this ask (tumbkr fuvking deleted the other one you sent its in the void now) to explain the equivalent of racing in this au: pro-bending from legend of korra!!!

excerpting from the wiki now for those not in the know:

a popular sport originating in republic city that involves two teams of three benders, one from each of the main bending arts besides airbending. The objective of the sport is to gain as much territory within the ring as possible within three minutes, or, alternatively, to drive the members of the opposing team over the edge of the ring.

so the racers in this au are pro-benders, but it does works a little differently now compared to legend of korra. in the very popular piston cup circuits, the format is usually a 1v1 or 1v1v1, with the competitors needing to be a different bender than the other. sponsors are also more common! the format is double elimination based, there are qualifying rounds and such beforehand and also a points system. 1st placer gets 3 points, 2nd placer gets 2, and 3rd gets none. between rounds, competitors are given a brief break to rest and consult their coach like boxing coaches sortof ? ya !

so the big tiebreaker match still happens between strip, chick and lightning and the outcome is still the same, i just havent quite fully figured out the mechanics of how everything goes and i have the florida 500 equivalent match with storm v cruz mapped out in my head better but thats for another post. along with the doc lightning stuff.

and this is tentative as im not a big cars 2 fan but i think the miles axlerod stuff would go something similar to the equalist movement and mater, holley and finn could be the nonbenders trying to investigate and stop all the conspiracy stuff while a fun tournament with a mix of pro-bending styles and formats can still happen, the piston cup leagues only allows bending in it's pure form with none of the sub-elements unlike the republic grand prix i assume itd be called now

and now the racers list i got so far!

lightning mcqueen - firebender

strip weathers - waterbender

chick hicks - earthbender

.

cal weathers - waterbender

bobby swift - earthbender

francesco bernouilli - firebender

shu - firebender

carla - airbender

raoul - earthbender

miguel - earthbender

jackson storm - waterbende

tim treadless - firebender

louise nash - firebender

river scott - waterbender

junior midnight moon - airbender

i dont have quite a good read on some of the other ones or ones from the games that im not too familiar with but willing to take suggestions

and last but not least our avatars!

doc hudson - the avatar, born in southern water tribe

cruz ramirez - the avatar, born in a small earth kingdom village

[korrasamibottles]

Doesn't have to be the character you think is the most evil, just the one you most love to hate/hate to love. They suck severely but whenever they show up you can't look away.

PROPAGANDA:

Amon/Noatak - Bloodbender with a genuinely tragic backstory. Reinvents his entire identity and creates a sham political movement that exploits real tensions between benders and non-benders instead of going to therapy. Explodes at sea with his baby brother Tarrlok.

Hiroshi - Straight up tries to murder his daughter and then runs away like a coward. Bit of an elitist snob. Calls Mako a rat which is ironic considering he's the one spending a not-insignificant portion of his time skittering through a series of underground tunnels.

Varrick - Steals Asami's company and also every scene he's in. Invents the movie and immediately uses it for war propaganda. Has only a wisp of a ghost of a moral compass. Helps start at least two sectarian conflicts. Always has some kind of foot situation going on (bunions, calluses, etc.) and makes it everyone else's problem. Treats Zhu Li terribly and for some reason she agrees to marry him anyway.

Unalaq - Nasty little manipulator. Jealous of his hotter older brother so he gets him banished from their tribe. Was part of the Red Lotus plot to kidnap Korra as a baby. Has an arguably erotic encounter with the ancient Spirit of Darkness that makes him huge and also red (honestly it's an upgrade).

Raiko - Total loser who didn't want a tree growing through his office and was a massive bitch to Korra. Failpresident who coped with his re-election loss by starting the in-universe equivalent of Fox News.

Zaheer - Horrifically brutalizes Korra and then haunts her for like 4 years. Kills the Earth Queen and creates a power vacuum later exploited by Kuvira. The kind of guy you meet at a protest who seems cool at first but then he says something completely batshit that makes you want to back away slowly with your hands up.

Queen Hou-Ting - Shitty old despot whose favorite activities are abusing palace staff and bleeding her people dry. Hates animals. Literally her only redeeming quality is that she's related to Wu. Got very creatively murdered by Zaheer. Probably nobody cares about her but I needed more evil women for this poll hashtag feminism.

Aiwei - Funny little guy with some great jewelry who always knows when you're lying. Let Zaheer and Co. into Zaofu via a secret tunnel attached to his room. Currently enjoying a long vacation in the Fog of Lost Souls.

Kuvira - Created what was essentially a nuclear bomb and looked super hot while doing it. An ethnonationalist who put dissenters in camps and probably killed tens of thousands of people and was only mildly apologetic about it.

Guan - A less hot and less competent Kuvira. Brainwashes Asami, Mako, and Bolin into attacking Korra in the comics. Even more unsuccessful at politics than Raiko.

[madlysage]

my stardew valley bachelor headcannons:

(basically just me creating my own characters as fodder for fic atp :,)

elliott (my darling)

- is from a wealthy family- his dad is british and a distant descendent of the royal family

- went to college for an english and philosophy double major and graduated with honors

- had an affair with a professor in college (he didn’t know she was married) and is estranged from his parents as a result

- secretly loves trashy bodice ripper romance books

- always comes in without knocking (dramatic man that he is)

- cannot garden to save his life

- an ugly crier

- yappiest yapper ever

- LOVES dancing (and was classically trained as a child- hello rich preppy parents)

-bi king

^^ like this but longer red hair (UGH)

sebastian

- bi-icon

- he’s mixed white and native american (choctaw to be specific)

- i always picture him with long ass black hair (it’s hot sorry)

- literally always picture billy wirth….

- he has a secret belly button piercing (but he’s hiding it from robin)

- his mom and dad had him as teens and his dad abandoned them because his family didn’t approve

- wants to be closer to maru but doesn’t know how

- alternates having crushes on sam and abigail (but let’s be so real it’s gotta be sam)

- has a soft spot for classical music

- smokes weed even more than cigs- feels responsible for how much sam smokes too

sebastian fans come at me all u want this is the man in my head when i picture himmmmmmmm

sam

-another bicon (could honestly be pan)

- secretly a smoker (don’t tell jodi)

- has tons of army men in his room- he started collecting them when his dad got deployed

- loves crop tops and will cut any and all of his band tees- but his mom keeps throwing them away

- is still kinda in the closet and a little girl crazy (particularly for abigail and penny)

- is teaching jas to skateboard on school breaks ever since she asked (a bit to impress penny)

(this just works for me idk- he gives me this vibe but like grungier and spunkier maybe)

harvey

- refuses to drink anything but black coffee

- king of anxiety

- secretly a good cook

- loses his glasses at least once a week

- can name any model of plane just from the sound of the engine

- wants to get his pilot’s license

- has a phenomenal record collection

………… yes this is my harvey and I WILL TAKE 0 NOTES GO ATJ GO

shane

- leaned how to braid hair just for jas

- was on the gridball team in highschool but keeps it a secret to avoid alex begging him to join his rec team

- was also best friends with jas’ dad in highschool from the gridball team and since his death he hasn’t been able to bring himself to play again

- wanted to go to college for agriculture but the loans would have been too much

- let’s jas paint his toenails any color she wants but is too embarrassed to let her do his finger nails

- got his ears pierced one night on a bender in the city but never wears them

- has a little crush on emily but is too embarrassed by it to ever tell (he doesn’t think she would ever feel the same)

- 1/4 indian on his mom’s side but isn’t in touch with the culture

- is a vegetarian but never talks about it

likkkke COME ON

alex

- wears a specific cologne and gets very upset whenever he runs out and can’t have his “signature scent”

- gets up early and makes breakfast for his grandparents everyday

- is poly but doesn’t rlly know that’s an option- and it ruins most of his attempts at monogamous relationships

- went to college for human physiology on a gridball scholarship but got Cs the whole time (but he’s still smarter than u would think)

- does yoga with evelyn every sunday and does george’s physical therapy each day too

- is the stardew equivalent of a freaking baptist christian (he’s all into Yoba)

likeeeee is this not bro

[toggle1-mrfipp]

I just saw the hilarious theory about what is going on, and it's not that Lego Land is a hallucination, but rather drinking that stuff caused them to go on a bender and they don't remember a single thing from it.

It's the One Piece equivalent of The Hangover.

[yupuffin]

We're currently discussing the silliness of an atla au with the beneath the sands group!

If Quay was in this au, what kind of bender would he be? Would his backstory change much?

I saw!! O:

Ooh, that's an excellent question... I'm going to start my answer with a disclaimer:

While I have watched ATLA from start to finish at least once, the last time I've seen it at all would have been... probably middle school at the latest, and I am now in my late twenties, so my memory of the series is far from the freshest; I only recall the most basic of concepts and premises 😅😆 (And I'm reasonably sure said viewing would have been well before LoK came out, so I'm not aware of what that part specifically encompasses.)

That said!

I think, given how I've said "ocean" is at least a solid 50% of Quay's personality, he would have to be a waterbender. I considered giving him the option of airbending, too, for creativity's sake, since when given the option I usually get assigned air as an element based on my personality/vibes, but I think water would make more sense just based on his living situation; in WuWa, he's originally from Rinascita, i.e. he's spent his whole life around the sea, and IIRC (though, like I said, it's been a hot minute, so I could certainly be wrong) that's much more likely to be characteristic of waterbenders than of airbenders.

And, assuming there's an occupation/career path in ATLA that's at least roughly equivalent to "marine ecologist," I'm having trouble envisioning anyone other than a waterbender specializing in such a field, especially since Quay is very into beachcombing and studying the dead animals he finds, for data collection purposes. 😆

Plus, then he gets to keep the personality trait of "this person is inexplicably psyched about water in any situation despite having lived near the ocean for his entire life and so you'd really think he was sick of it by now but you would be very wrong." 🤣

As for his backstory... I have yet to nail down the fine details in the WuWa universe, but I think you could certainly keep the general idea: he spends his entire young life in the same family group where lineage is highly valued, but nevertheless ends up moving out on his own after all of his family members "marry off." (Maybe Quay could move somewhere with more airbenders -- but that still has access to the sea -- and just be the odd one out who's just. really excited nd knowledgeable about water? I can't remember how much intermingling of groups is typical in the ATLA universe 😆😅)

[asherlockstudy]

Heya! I finally had a chance to watch the EB and had some thoughts on it, but I couldn't fit them in the reply, so I'm sending you an ask instead (it's probably going to be two due to world limit), I hope that's OK! :) My first thought was that OMG you weren't joking when you said it was complicated and basically just a big 'WTH are they even talking about…' throughout. In the beginning of the midlife crisis part, I thought 'oh Link is just being hyperbolic with the weird stuff, and he is probably trying to make it sound more interesting/fun or get attention', so I wasn't really taking the convo too seriously, until I started noticing that Rhett was getting into it, and not just to fill the time for the episode or wax poetic about his insights, as he often does, but like, a rhetoric. The first red flag was when he said 'there are certain social norms and certain ways we interact in the context of our community' out of nowhere. Why would the community be affected by it to the degree that Link should be careful? I mean Christy is one thing, because they are married and live together, but I got the feeling Rhett was talking about their public surroundings. Link sounded like he was talking more about sowing his wild oats and having fun with his remaining time, but the way Rhett framed it was more as though Link was about to do something illegal or at least very frowned upon. And I think that's part of why this whole segment sounded so disjointed, because there was this nondescript weirdness that Link wanted to get on, and it was never further qualified or elaborated (except that maybe it would be financially irresponsible, because Link mentioned that maybe he should go to a bank to get advice on safeguarding--at least that's how it sounded), but then Rhett made it sound like Link wanted to do something antisocial, or at least against the social norms established by their community, and it would result in Link getting completely isolated. This doesn't sound like your average Vegas bender/sportscar/face tattoo. The second red flag was the (and I do hate to say that because of what it might mean) not so discreet aura of manipulation coming from Rhett 'you are a father, a coworker…' and the 'manifesting your true self happens in the context of a community'. But Rhett, my man, why would that be a problem, are you implying that Link's true self is something antithetical or even reprehensible to that community? And how sad for Link to hear the equivalent of 'people won't like you if you show your self' (which Rhett even said outright, referring to Christy). And the subtle manipulation kept going: 'it [should] happen in the right context, with people who love you and respect you, not people who want to keep you from being a certain way' and then even more obvious 'if you are part of a team [and you do this] it's going to be harder to be part of that team'. I was literally staring at the screen in disbelief, because if that wasn't a covert manipulative warning, then I don't know what it was… And though Link said 'you're not keeping me from doing that, you're just giving me input', trying to sound resolute, I really think that what Rhett says will eat him up, even if he is resolved (he's also a very knee-jerk reaction, and impulsive person, so part of it has to do with his reactivity). And the third red flag was after that when Rhett saying 'do I want to be friends with that [example he brought up] of a person?'… WHAT. I mean where did that come from? It was honestly manipulation 101. I'm starting to think they have this dynamic that Rhett is only into Link when he is controllable, and I really think there is a lot of jealously underneath that (part1/2).

If Link is actually having a crisis where he's about to do something worrisome, and he deals by talking about it like it's no big deal, a true friend/caring lover/lifelong partner would see that and not give preemptive disclaimers in the vein of 'if you do this it's deal breaking, so keep to your lane', because obviously this approach will make a person on the brink double down on it even more. I don't know them, but Rhett's disingenuous commentary, and Link going 'la la la' in his head was jumping from the screen. I really think they were trying to broach a topic that they can't really put into words even in their private lives, so they are going circles around it, hoping that the other person eventually taps out. Also, it wasn't lost on me that Link was deflated afterwards, something in the way he was trying to laugh towards the end… I don't know what this big, mysterious weirdness that Link needs to express is, but the whole thing read to me like a teen movie where the nerdy kid caves in and hides his nerdy side to the bully popular kid he idolizes, and the popular kid knows that and represses him on purpose because he doesn't like the nerdy kid trying to break out of the school strata. I know I'm probably seeing things that aren't there, but the way that whole segment could make any sense is only if it's interpreted as a metaphor for whatever is really going on with them. In any case, it really reinforced my belief that Rhett probably had no intention of going along the tandem jump, or even at this point being a good encouraging friend. I don't think he has that big of a heart that he's doing it just to protect Link, he's doing it for himself, and this is the real question. Sorry for the wall of texts, but if you have the chance, I'd love to hear if this made any sense ^^;; Have a great rest of your day/night! (part 2/2)

ANSWER:

It was so valuable reading your input, not only because you see things that make me feel like I am not the weirdo crying in the desert but because you also provided additional, new ideas to entertain. There is not really anything I disagree or I think vastly differently about. I only refrain from considering Rhett straight away self-serving and not acting out of care for the most part. I don't disagree but it's maybe some sentimentality in me that still hopes in Rhett's mind he's trying to protect Link. Again, we don't exactly know what Link was truly raving about so technically we cannot judge Rhett just yet. I have to agree however that even in the most optimistic scenario it seems Rhett cares first and foremost for his own image and career and Link's interests and safety are secondary but, alas, so interwined with his.

You added to this a financial dimension that I had not taken into consideration. At the time of watching I thought this was some sort of red herring to cover the real topic they were discussing, much like they did by mentioning fleetingly hobbies and motorbikes. But you bringing this to the foreground made me think about it. What could be so financially irresponsible that could cause problems to Link's family, friends and business partners? Link is a very rich man and a big purchase - private islands notwithstanding lol - should not be it. It could be an investment but Link is financially frugal and cautious, I doubt he would take such a risk irrespective of Rhett's and his family's interests. Besides, there is almost an element of moral preaching in Rhett's stance, a legal purchase or investment would not justify this.

And then I remembered something that could be relevant, always thanks to you. This is something I haven't talked about almost at all. I have criticised many times how GMM has fallen to an irreversible loop of eternal food tests because they made the mistake to follow the clicks blindly and they created this type of audience for themselves. I have said how they must feel completely trapped in it as creators. Surely you will have noticed how frequently Link allows small jabs against their morning show. Have you noticed when they do something in GMM or GMMore, sometimes he will comment "Boy isn't this interesting?" or "Aren't you entertained by this?". He does this very often. Other times, especially in GMMore, he looks like he can't wait for the segment to be over. It actually happens very often. In their latest interview with Steve-O Link actually verbalized it, he explained how he feels trapped in what GMM has become, I think he said something like "he's squeezed in the corner". Then we have the time they seemed to have had a fight, shortly after Wonderhole. During those off days Rhett was really angry and made pointed comments addressed to Link like "That's his new motto, Stevie. I am not contributing" and "Now, this is teamwork, man" and more. (Recently it seemed Stevie also was temporarily at odds with Rhett and Link seemed irritated by her stance. I have noticed Stevie takes GMM very personally, she sees it almost as HER thing above all else.) So... what if Link wants to throw the towel...??? It's not that he doesn't want the creative partnership with Rhett anymore, not at all, but what GMM has become drains him. Furthermore, the merging of their identities with GMM and its popularity might be perceived by him as the obstacle to him exploring or expressing his true self and so he might have started becoming very negative against it. Rhett is certain GMM is their source of safety and income and the best provider of budget for their creative works so he thinks Link leaving GMM would destroy them. Link leaving GMM would cause a load of financial and legal issues he would have to take care of, it would cut him short of any income from the new episodes that is the biggest provider for his family, it would ruin the relationship of trust between him and Rhett and it would also cause enormous changes to GMM and Mythical (in which Rhett would like to keep working) and severe consequences for all the employees. Idk... it kind of fits? Maybe this is why Rhett stressed so much that he takes the most joy out of serving people by entertaining them and he is not considering stopping that... and that he would not be friends anymore with someone who does his thing irrespectively of anyone else.

And based on instict alone, it feels to me like Link just wants to drop everything and everyone, buy an RV and roam around the world (ideally with Rhett, but Rhett won't follow this way.)

[acidsaladd]

incoming rant abt a possible ninjago atla au u have been warned

the gist of the au and what i have in me head is that lloyd is the next air avatar but for some reason the air nomads are skeptical/afraid of baby lloyd so misako takes lloyd and skidadles far away from the temple. because of this, lloyd grows up as a regular kid with no air benders around to teach him air bending And no knowledge that hes the avatar (and therefore that he can bend the other elements)

fast forward to when hes like 9?? 10? wu finds him, surprise ur actually the avatar its training time something something big spiritual evil that might be related to garm something something then wu Leaves and so the training bit falls onto the ninja. which. none of them is an airbender mind u and lloyd Still doesnt know airbending. so they teach him the other elements and Hope that he somehow learns air by proxy

i have a very small and not rlly thought out idea for what an equivalent of the aging tea could be but this is basically it in terms of bg and going forward its just ur usual avatar and ninja shenanigans

ok. now. i have a couple ideas for why the air nomads could be wary of lloyd. one is that they know garmadon is his dad and garm has been cursed by a Particularly Evil spirit and so they think evil dad equals evil son and they dont rlly wanna deal with that so they r like we must get rid of the child he will reincarnate either way its no biggie which,,, uhh yea lets not

the other one is that the nomads have discovered that lloyd is going to be the first avatar that is a direct decendant of the first ever avatar (the fsm) and so they want to like?? harness his power or smth idk.

(the only problem with these ideas is that it kinda relies ok the air nomads having kind of violent and evil solutions to problems so i stil. dont rlly know 😭)

the point is!! one way or another, misako starts seriously fearing for lloyds life and the fact that he might not ever have a choice over it as his own so she takes the baby and Runs.

[abt the fsm, raine lowkey gave me this idea entirely so shoutout raine hello but i was thinking that theres two of them. like. u have the FSM, the first ever avatar, all plwerful godly being. and then u have the dad, the f in fsm stands for Father, this guy is just wu and garms dad. i dint have much else thought out for him just. yea]

now. if i want to talk abt the possible aging tea equivalent i need to talk abt garm. soo augh idk abt garm but i think rhe gist of it is that hes been possessed/corrupted by a spirit bc of a deal he made or for messing with a spirit when he was researching things. the point is hes known as this being that brings chaos and stuff but then wu and misako reveal to lloyd like, thats ur dad actually, and misakos being researching ways to bring him back and lloyd stumbles on this research and decides (not so smartly) that if one qants their dad back one must do it himself so. he manages to contact the original spirit that garm annoyed

so they talk and the spirits like "well i Would give him back but he kinda made me lose my time and energy on him for like,, 4/5 years so unless u figure out a way to give me rhat time back i aint giving him to u" and lloyd goes bet take does from me no biggie

so then lloyd makes this deal not rlly knowing what hes doing and he goes back to the real world and suddenly he has a brand new dad and also abt two whole heads more in height woops

(this all happens post training arc starting so lloyd already knows the ninja and has been living with them for a while)

OK NINJA TIME

so ive been Rlly debating whether i should do the Usual thing and just stick em in the element rhat they have in the show. OR (and this is the idea im leaning more towards) i go with vibes. obviously the vibes are still informed and consider their element in the show

ok first kai and nya. i want them both to be fire nation buut idk if i should make them both firebenders or make them have their usual elements. i do wanna let nya be a waterbender, However since they do live in the fire nation (most likely in a more rural town far from the mainland) nya would be a waterbender that uses mostly firebending styles and techniques. i just have always found this type of mix and match they do with aang and zuko specifically SOO COOL i love it so im gifting that to nya

cole is an earthbender obvi. i havent rlly thought much abt cole bc i immediately decided he would stay an earthbender and didnt question him further.

NOW HEAR ME OUT HERE. i kinda rlly want to make jay earth kingdom and leave him as a non bender. why??? bc the Vibes man. i want to rlly focus on his engineering and tinkery side. i think he would still be rlly involved with bending and stuff and he tries to find different uses to bending outside of fighting. maybe him and cole are childhood friends and jay is always bugging cole to try some of his projects with coles bending.

and finally zane!! hes water tribe but i struggled to settle him on either tribe. i think the northern tribe could fit him in the future but i do think he's originally from the south. i feel like the south gives him more potential to be the specific brand of Peculiar that zane was in the beginning of the sbow. and since this is situated pre war, the southern water tribe would be bigger and better off than how we see them in atla so it would be cool to explore that

so im picturing him as the weird son of the local medic and whatever else dr julien gets up to . so maybe dr julien is teaching zane stuff and he gets Rlly Rlly good so they send him to a bigger settlement with better teachers and eventually he decides to leave the south pole to continue learning and stuff.

i do have ideas abt how wu gathers them together but ive ranted way too much so i will make another post on that if i remember to