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#I HOPE I'm being gaslit
cryocrits · 3 months
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Hey, hey Palworld? The game Palworld, buddy, what is this?
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You see this? Only one type that's super effective against more than one other type? Dark is only super effective against Neutral? Half of the chart is just dangling off in the breeze like a wind chime?
If someone presented me with this in a restaurant, I'd feel morally obligated to grab the nearest source of hot soup and just throw it on them
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every time i think the "staff can do no wrong and any form of complaining or expressing literally anything other than "yaaay love it <3" with no further comments is bashing and literally evil we should never say anything that could even potentially be interpreted as mildly critical ever because ~some artist who worked hard on this is probably reading the forums and might feel bad if we ever express anything but praise~ also we must be constantly positive at all times unless we're passive-aggressively shaming someone for having an extremely polite and apologetically worded criticism and if you ask the staff for literally anything you had better be prepared to preface it with 3 paragraphs of apologizing for breathing air" attitude is bad on tumblr, i take one look at the forums, and holy fucking hell is it SO much worse on site
#i go for years at a time without ever bothering to look at fr forums#and then every time i do i remember why i stopped#it feels like a goddamned cult on there and every time i dip my toes i come out feeling slimy and sick#as if i just spent an hour being aggressively gaslit by my extremely manipulative grandmother#what the fuck is wrong with everyone#i'm glad i decided to keep this creepy fucking fandom at arm's length and mostly just lurk years ago#that place is not a healthy environment for anyone to be in#flight rising#legitimately the single worst fandom i've ever had the misfortune of being adjacent to#and in such a creepy and insidious way too#they'll call you an entitled whiny baby to your face and then convince you it's your fault and you're a horrible person for feeling offende#it feels like being neck deep in the absolute worst kind of preformative sj spaces#you know the ones where everyone interacts primarily via callout posts and there's discourse over if crossdressing is cultural appropriatio#that kind of toxic sj space type energy#but somehow combined with like this weird feeling of being in a mormon church in a deep south town#where all the “nice grandmas” will try to put poison in your food if they find out you're gay or voted blue even one time#and it's somehow gotten SO much worse since the last time i looked on there#they've got people literally apologizing for existing what the fuck how is this normal to any of you people#this is so far beyond toxic positivity it's like. crossbred with passive-aggression and shaming and metastatized into something new entirel#it's terrifying. i hope flight rising never shuts down just so that whatever the fuck this is can stay semi-contained.#pro tip: the more a fandom is universally convinced it's Wonderful and Welcoming the faster you should run the other way#actually good fandoms don't have to constantly reassure themselves and everyone that they're great and perfect and toxicity-free#nor do they react with immediate borderline violence to the slightest suggestion there might be anything wrong with the fandom culture#anything wrong other than “people like you who think there's something wrong with our perfect community” anyway#on that note also any fandom that insistently calls itself a “community” just. yeah. no.#get out while you still can.#fandoms work on corporate logic if they're trying to convince you they're your family or friend that's not just a red flag#that's a whole damn red fabric store
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koishikei · 10 months
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as a matter of integrity, i do not like arlecchino
that doesn't change the fact that my spouse had the funniest explanation for the gender change:
"they waited so long to reveal her that she transitioned."
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vulpinesaint · 1 year
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i appreciate how fierce you are in your slander against blood libel the game. costing peace of mind to lead this battle, defending jewish and trans people along the way. you're doing amazing <3
anon i love you for real. this is very sweet, thank you 🖤 happy to delete stupid transphobic shit from my inbox for at least the sake of making sure my blog is a safe space for my trans and jewish mutuals if they didn't know that already. i'm carrying such an indescribable amount of anger over this so if you see me devolve into incoherent violence in the next few days just try and be niceys to me for a little bit haha <3
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notimminent · 2 years
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starter call ;; @vihilum​
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    “ My best friend turned out to be a serial killer. ”  Wow that was not at all what she was expecting to say, but she wanted to show that she could sympathize and understand and not have him run away? Or was it just her trying to get it off of her chest?  “ I -- uh -- I know it’s not... it’s nothing like what you’ve seen or heard, but... I believe you. And I also know what it’s like for people to not believe you. ”
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maddy-ferguson · 2 years
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i'm gonna start rewatching st this weekend and i don't know what i'm gonna do when i get to season 4 and it's as not good as i remember it being because there's things other than the gay road trip going on...it's my least favorite season not even byler can convince me it was amazing
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thebibliosphere · 9 months
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I'm not sure the novelty of a doctor actually providing me with compassionate and competent treatment will ever wear off.
Like... I've known for years I am sick. Logically I am aware I've been ignored, abused, and violated. But there's still that abused and gaslit part of my brain fearfully murmuring, "But what if I am doing this for attention and I just don't know it? what if I am a Bad Patient?"
And it's so ingrained that even when a doctor tells me they ran biopsies that confirm my diagnosis irrefutably, I'm still like, "Wow, I sure am a good liar being able to fake biopsies like that." Like bitch, the fuck did I do? Manifest a fake result through the power of my brain?
What kind of Matilda-ass-nonsense do I think I'm capable of? And why am I not using it to make Elon Musk explode at will?
Anyway. I hope my therapist's great-grandkids enjoy the college education I'm about to bankroll. Fuck me.
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swordsofsaturn · 2 years
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god some of you people act like a celebrity is only gay the second you personally discover them saying something fruity
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willgrahamscock · 18 days
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trying to understand your posts feels like I'm being gaslit by hannibal lecter. this is to say I love you and I hope you have a good day
Personally I think I say things in an outlandish way but I never lie or mislead anyone with what is happening. For example, did Hannibal try his best to get Will pregnant? Yes, and because his eyefucking didn’t work that’s why he baby trapped him with a teenager instead.
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genderqueerdykes · 1 year
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if you are aromantic and are struggling to find a place in your own community, you're not alone and i have so much respect for you and your situation.
i came out as aromantic in 2015, it was one of the first queer identities i came out with besides being trans. at the time i didn't have a label for my sexuality, but aromantic called to me and felt like something that i had been missing my whole life. i decided to come out, there were mixed results at the time, mostly a sort of "meh that's not really queer but ok," kind of reaction, despite having friends at the time who identified as asexual.
i always been made to feel "broken" for most of my life for not experiencing romantic attraction in the conventional sense because i was told that i was an "emotional brick wall," "insensitive," "rude" and "uncaring" for not being able to get into romantic fiction like my best friend could. she would get so angry at me for not understanding her feelings -
- but whenever I get angry when people can't understand my feelings, it's a problem. whenever arospec people get frustrated when folks can't understand us, it's viewed as deserved or like we should just roll over and deal with it because society tells you it's "normal" to behave this way. being aromantic often times means being gaslit out of your own experience.
i beg to ask you, in a society where you are expected to have a loving partner from virtually the moment you hit adulthood- how is the lack of these feelings, or participating and engaging in these relationships in a way that defies this norm not queer behavior? my lack of romance has always stood out and made a difference in my relationships, even in my platonic ones. i have been told numerous times that something is "wrong" with me or that i'm "being immature" for not enjoying romantic contact and being repulsed by romantic content in media.
if you are aromantic, you are queer, and there is nothing "wrong" with you. if you are greyromantic, arospec, aroflux, cupioromantic, or any other identity on the arospec, i respect you and your situation and your struggle so much. i hope in time we are better understood and our struggles to be accepted lessen. i hope in time it will be easier to talk about our identities and experiences.
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taylortruther · 25 days
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I'm very curious about clara bow, especially because it seems to me that it would be taylor comparing herself to clara bow and how she felt during the relationship. But that being the last song I wonder if it would be like a hopeful song (if the tracklist progresses linearly when it comes to how she felt with time) and in that case I wonder if it will be how she doesn't want to make the same decisions as clara bow made? (Idk i don't really know a lot about her other than what I have read on tumblr) or do you think it could be a sad song like hoax? When it comes to closing the album
i think it could be a lament for all the women who were forced into boxes from which they could never break free, and who suffered the consequences if they didn't make themselves smaller or more palatable. the women who tried and tried and overcame so much adversity, but still couldn't do it "perfectly." who were gaslit and provoked endlessly until their downfall. and i think it will touch on how society, at large, does this to women... but the men in their intimate lives also take part.
reading about clara bow (and i am not an expert), it's obvious why taylor might relate:
clara was considered scandalous at the time due to her sex life and many relationships, but she had an intangible "it factor" that made her beloved and yet more widely criticized. she had some major disagreements/issues with studios, and her mental health was in decline, which led to her leaving the spotlight. that's when she met rex bell...
(also, reminds me of how taylor spoke about zelda fitzgerald's biography. obviously we have tlgad about rebekah harkness. she's spoken about liking sylvia plath. there's a theme here. even the main character in rebecca - fictional, but still.)
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dee-morris · 6 months
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The Book of Life Is a Red Herring
Throughout season two over and over again we saw Aziraphale behaving protectively. Protecting Job's children, trying to protect Elspeth from damnation, protecting Crowley from Furfur's snitching. So it's in keeping with the narrative and his characterization that he went back to heaven with the Metatrash as some sort of protective gesture. We don't know the details and we're not meant to know, but that's the thesis I'm starting with.
(and DO NOT @ me with any of that "Aziraphale did it bc he's gaslit/naive/gullible/traumatized" bullshit. NOTHING in the narrative supports this take, it's insulting, and I'm just about done being polite about it so consider yourself warned)
A common theory I'm seeing is that he or Crowley was threatened with erasure from the Book of Life. Motherfuckertron said that Michael didn't have that kind of clearance, but maybe Metabitch does. But we're not sure that the Book of Life is even a thing. Beelz thinks that it is, but they didn't actually sound very sure if you want my opinion. (And clearly you do, since you're here reading this.) Their retort to Crowley sounded very "YUH-HUH!" to me.
I think the Book of Life is a distraction. A magician's misdirection, if you will. It's not a certain enough set piece to really work as a valid threat.
I think Metabitch threatened Crowley with holy water. "I've been looking over your previous exploits" The bitch figured out how they did it, and he knows that Crowley isn't actually immune. THIS is why Aziraphale wanted him to become an angel again so badly. Not bc he "doesn't accept Crowley as a demon" or whatever Aziraphale Slander is the Bullshit Take of the Day. It's because if Crowley becomes an angel, holy water can't hurt him. Sure there's always hellfire, but they'll have to negotiate with hell again to acquire it and Hell is currently experiencing technical difficulties so good luck with that.
He went back to protect Crowley, but because of the situation they were in (almonds are called watchers in the Bible and Metadick was standing right outside) he was unable to explain the threat directly. We know they can communicate through the Bentley, so I'm hoping they get another chance to talk soon.
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If Americans shouldn't vote for Biden what should they do instead? Vote for trump? Vote third party? Not vote?
(I know most people would probably ask you this in bad faith but I'm just really distraught at the state of politics and keep hearing people say "don't say he's the only option and don't support him" but there's never alternatives given and I don't know what an effective alternative could even be)
I think a good place to start that a lot of people are comfortable with is probably volunteering and petitioning for 3rd parties to make sure they Do have ballot access next year. So that ppl Can vote for someone else next year.
And yes, vote 3rd party this election. Or don't vote at all.
Besides that? Learn some basic defense and join protests. Support encampments and do things leftists say like join a union and organize your own community whether it be your schoolmates, coworkers, or all your friends and their friends.
Y'all see the news right?
Censorship and propaganda are rampant right now, along with transphobia and racism and even Nazis are back. Tensions are high to say the least and everyone is worked up about the election and Israel.
Figure out what you wish someone else would do and then do it. Is that de-arresting protesters? Organizing a bail fund, fighting cops and throwing tear gas back at them when they make things violent?
There's a lot to fight against and even more to fight for. Find what's worth fighting for (to you) and actually start fighting for it. Don't let cops or your principal or boss or anyone else stop you.
I think one of the most important things we can do right now is remind the government and those that serve the government that they won't take our rights so easily. That if they want to silence us then we're gonna make sure it'll hurt more than it'll help. That we can and will fight back.
And that's why it's so vital that we show them we won't settle either. We won't vote for Biden.
We settled for Clinton and look where that got us.
Does it feel like voting for more and more conservative blue candidates actually helped prevent harm? Or does it feel like you were manipulated and lied to?
Gonna be real, it feels like the government is a manipulative abuser and we're all it's gaslit victims who don't want to believe things are that bad just cuz he killed someone else instead of us.
Which is like...it doesn't mean good things for us that our government could do that and we'd rationalize it, you know?
How we want to get out of this fucked up dynamic is up to us. We work, we pay taxes, we listen to the governments rule of law, and still our government won't codify rights, our trans friends are being abused by the government, or it's banning apps with censorship. And the whole time it's telling us to shut up and be grateful it isn't worse.
Abusers never ever tell you that it could be better too. And they don't want you to know that. Cuz then you leave. And if you leave then they can't manipulate and abuse you.
So yeah. They'll shit on us for doing Anything that doesn't result in us staying, for doing anything that results in us choosing our own well being instead of theirs.
But that's what we need to do.
And you need support before you do that. That's what organizing is. It's like calling the besties who hype you up to leave your shitty ex. Except it's a bunch of people agreeing to support each other when they choose to stand up for something. Organizing is making sure there are people watching back and making sure if one of you is harmed or arrested that there'll be someone there to help bail you out.
The more people you have to bail you out, the less you have to worry about being outnumbered, spoken over, or physically stopped with force.
So yeah. Do that.
Organize. I hope I stressed that enough. The people on our front lines need us to be there for them as much we need Them to keep fighting for us.
Also since I'm here: make sure you and your friends don't talk shit about protesters even when they get violent and break shit. It's not abuse when the victim finally hits back at their abuser, it's self defense.
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alllgator-blood · 9 days
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MY BAD FOR LIKE SPAMMING I DIDNT CHECK YOUR BLOG IN LIKE A WEEK AND I ATE ALL OF YOUR RAMBLINGS AND ART
I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT YOU LITERALLY KILLED ME WITH THE ANGST THINGYS
FLIGHT GOT DELAYED, I HAVE CHOSEN THIS ASK TO BE THE FINAL ONE FOR NOW BEFORE I SHUT MY PC OFF. I just wanted to say there's absolutely no issue with spamming me because number go up = more dopamine so I'd be insane to complain. If anything I think it's neat when I see familiar names in my notifs/inbox, it's been forever since I've had an online presence so I love going "oh look who's online!" when I see someone liked a bunch of my posts sdfkjhsdfkjs
ABOUT THE ANGST STUFF. I AM SORRY I KILLED YOU WITH MY ANGST COMICS, BUT AM GLAD TO HEAR THEY ACTUALLY LIKE AFFECT PEOPLE?? I bum myself out when I do sad comics but in like a good way. I haven't been invested in anything in sooo long, so I like feeling every possible emotion towards this stupid game. I HAVE...MORE ANGST......SO MUCH MORE. I work on it when I'm sad about irl stuff cause being sad about fictional stuff is more fun.
I'm gonna put a sketch comic under the cut, it's the one where shamura is accidentally gaslit into having a freakout and killing one of their followers. AVERT THINE EYES IF THAT'S TOO HEAVY, THERE IS ALSO SLIGHT SKETCHY GORE WHERE I COULDN'T REALLY CROP IT OUT
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I cropped out the part where they explode their follower from the inside out. I was formerly a warrior cats kid so I like drawing edgy violent shit, but I understand not everyone wants to see that SDJFHSDFKJ- it'll be in the final comic if I ever come back to this one (tagged appropriately)
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I wonder if it's obvious that I'm projecting hardcore in this comic but also, I feel like if I HAVE to have the health issues I do, I might as well make lobotomy spider comics based on my personal frustration?? I have a few more like this but one of them is...idk if I'll ever post it cause it's more soul crushing the other ones I've posted.
What a way to leave my blog for the next week. ENJOY THE ANGST, SEE Y'ALL WHEN I'M BACK FROM THE BEACH B)
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REWATCHING GO S1, LIVE PLAY-BY-PLAY OF DOOMSDAY WAHOO
HELLO MAGGOTS REWATCHING SEASON 1 BECAUSE THE FIRST TIME WAS A KIDNAPPING CHAOTIC MESS. EPISODE ONE HERE GOES. I DON'T REMEMBER A LOT OF DETAILS BUT YES.
Opening scene and Earth's got vibe-checked by God and I've been gaslit about the dinosaurs
GARDEN OF EDEEEEEN wow his first appearance and Aziraphale's already so prissy and flustered might fuck around and fall in love with him idk
I finally understand who these mf's are hi Hastur and Ligur you're not zombies after all
FOR FUCK'S SAKE SECOND SCENE CROWLEY'S BEEN IN AND SHE WALKED IN, SERVED HIPS HAIR AND CUNT, AND THEN MANAGED TO TALK HER AWAY INTO A PROBLEM
LIKE GENUINELY SHE COMES AND SASHAYS WITH HER HAIR AND SAYS TIMES ARE CHANGING AND HEAD OFFICE LOVES ME AND JUST INSTANTLY HASTUR AND LIGUR USE HER WORDS AGAINST HER
idk sister mary loquacious is kinda doing it for me rn with that satanic nun's habit and losergirl energy
third crowley scene and he's misplaced THE LITERALLY GODDAMNED ANTICHRIST because he made small talk with a bloke outside without checking for details
mmmmhm yes sister mary wink again your bitchless decisions are sexy y'know what i mean
Gabriel feels like his brain was eviscerated and replaced with one of those youtuber's paid course promos at the end of their how to change your life in 45 days: three simple mindset shifts video
so THIS IS WHY EVERYONE KEEPS SAYING PAVLOVIAN IN THIS FANDOM IT'S BECAUSE OF DUCKS of course it's because of ducks
mmmhm yes sure crepes French revolu--Crowley stop eye-fucking Aziraphale you're making everyone at the Ritz horny
Aziraphale don't moan into your food man you can't take these two anywhere
Crowley thanking the driver for slowing down is everything to me
And they're drunk hu-fucking-zzah good thing we'll have 11 year olds saving the world coz these fuckers sure ain't doing shit
OH MY GOD HE WAS TRYING TO SAY BOUILLABAISSE I JUST REALISED. I THOUGHT HE WAS JUST MAKING KISSY FACES AT AZIRAPHALE I'M NOT OK-
What Aziraphale was doing back was definitely kissy faces though that mfer wasn't even trying to say bouillabaisse when Crowley said what sounded suspiciously like baby
kissy kissy from lil miss prissy [i would have made such a great high school bully shame i had no inclinations that way]
SORRY WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK WAS THAT SOBERING UP EXCUSE ME THE FANFICS MADE IT SOUND LIKE IT WAS A CLICK AND THEY'RE SUDDENLY NORMAL WHY IS THE ALCOHOL REFILLING
oop nun down nun down
i want ya see a wile ya thwart amirite on a t-shirt
"actually i encourage humans to-" just say you're a lazy bitch azi we love you
love crowley fake-manipulating azi into helping like azi wants to be manipulated y'know so it's not technically his fault he was wiled over or whatever and they're both just such ENABLERS
not azi going SOFT at being godfathers with crowley
NOT BROTHER FRANCIS PLEASE NO FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SACRED AZI WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS PLEASE
WARLOCKKKKK I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
HNNNG MICHAEL SHEEN HAD TOO MUCH FUN WITH THIS
why is nanny ashtoreth so seductive with that of course dear is it just crowley's inherent disastergirl sex appeal
HALF PONYTAIL CROWLEY I AM A FUCKING SLUT FOR HALF PONYTAIL
GASLIGHTING HEAVEN AND HELL THAT'S MY BABYGIRLS
erIC THE DISPOSABLE DEMON I DIDN'T KNOW THEY COME IN S1 well not come i hope unless being eaten by a hellho--nope
ANGEL CROWLEY SAID ANGEL ANGEL ANGEL
CROWLEY TRYING TO BE SUBTLE ABOUT KILLING BEFORE GETTING ANNOYED
waiter crOWLEY OUTFIT I CANNOT BE NORMAL AFTER THE WEDDING DRESS DESIGNING ABOUT THIS COSTUME
FOOLS WRONG BOY YOU FOOLS IM DEAD
DOG IS UNIRONICALLY SO CUTE EVEN BEFORE IT GOES SMOL
gonna give my roxie a kissy brb she's my angel and all this dog talk makes me miss her (she's a few feet away under the bed)
i asked her for a kissy and she crawled out and gave me a kiss i love her
DOGGGGG ADAMMM
...roxie's crying to be taken downstairs it's nearly 2 am this is on me for waking her up i crowley'd myself fml
EYYYYY WELCOME TO THE END TIMES don't mind me I'll have to take roxie down yes I know maggots I'm crowley-coded I KNOW THAT I'M A BLOODY DISASTER BYEEEEEEEE
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oneatlatime · 4 months
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The Tales of Ba Sing Se PART 2
The Tale of Zuko
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Maybe I should make a Zuko's Stupid Faces post.
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Zuko and Iroh's whole dynamic in one frame.
This girl is cute. Total girl next door type. She does have fairly horrible taste in men, but she's also very cute.
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I just want to take a minute to point out a VERY important distinction. Zuko is not going out on a date. Zuko is not taking a girl out on a date. A girl is taking Zuko out on a date. She's got that arm in a death grip. Not only is that a clever reversal of the usual hetero dynamic, but I'm convinced it's the only way Zuko would ever get any action, so it's also in character.
I know Zuko's social skills are non-existent, but apart from the blow up at the waiter he is actually trying. He's failing, but I have to give him points for trying.
The way this girl's voice actress says "You juggled" made my ears very happy. And the beleaguered "yes. I juggled." is equally good.
Zuko! Tell her you did sword stuff! That's something you can actually do!
It gives me hope that someone so steeped in the most toxic parts of the Fire Nation, for so long, can STILL be so bad at lying, but it would certainly be a handy skill right about now.
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I take it back. This girl does have good taste in men. Zuko's such a softie when it counts. He still sucks at being normal, but he just risked his identity because the girl he didn't even plan to go out with was a little bit sad.
This girl is the best.
Ha! He kissed her back! He Did! I saw that!
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I take back what I took back. Zuko's evil again. He made my new favourite girl droop.
I love that Iroh's waiting up for him while making it look like he isn't waiting up for him. How many times on their ship, when Zuko was out Blue Spiriting, do you think Iroh found a reason to be randomly sat on the deck at 3 am?
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Character development baby! Can you really call yourself loyal to the fire nation if you admit to having a good time on a date with an Earth Kingdom girl?
The Tale of Momo
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Pretty.
That was a FILTHY bait and switch. For one shining moment, I had Appa back.
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They should take that to June.
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Not Appa.
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Also not Appa.
I did not have 'Momo gets gaslit' on my Avatar Bingo card. Nor did I have 'interspecies animal friendship angst.'
Are these cat things the raccoons of the Avatar universe? Or the squirrels? Urban scroungers?
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I love the idea that this guy just grabs the closest squirrel, sticks a hat on it, and expects it to dance. He got lucky with Momo.
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I thought they were taking the animals to the pound, but this is very much a butcher. Which means that in Ba Sing Se, they eat varmint. Stay away from the hot dog carts.
That's very effective Simglish.
Thank god for thumbs.
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Aw they're friends! This has Aristocats vibes, when O'Malley and the girl cat are getting together near the end.
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And one final Fuck You, because god forbid Momo's tale ends on a happy note.
I'm guessing that's an Appa print, but couldn't it also be a platypus bear?
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Something about the cats standing vigil over Momo's grief gets to me.
Final thoughts
I'll go through each of these stories individually, but first some general comments.
Last episode was kind of intense, and definitely ended on a downer (not that this one didn't), so it was a good call to at least start this episode off on something a bit gentler.
I was really impressed with the soundtrack throughout. Apart from the Tale of Momo where it's the animal noises that are front and centre, the music is doing a lot of work in every story, the strings especially. The strings are doing emotional work, plot stuff, and even humour. Seriously, next time you rewatch this episode, pay attention to the strings. These shorts are actually very light on dialogue (apart from Sokka's), but they don't feel that way because the music is doing the talking.
I'm assuming that this all took place over three days at least, since Iroh, Zuko, and Momo's tales seem to end on different evenings. So I don't think calling this episode 'day in the life' is accurate. My bad. It also occurs to me that this kind of episode format would be a great way of showing time has passed. If they had had an episode like this in the Northern Water Tribe - after Katara beat the crap out of Poophead but before the Fire Nation attacked - I would have liked the pacing of the whole finale arc better.
On to the stories!
The Tale of Toph and Katara
It might be because I didn't understand what this episode was doing yet, but this one didn't do much for me. It was good to see Toph have a moment of self-doubt, but I never would have assumed, based on her previous behaviour, that her appearance was her proverbial weak spot. Katara did a really good job at building her back up, and she was delightfully (and appropriately) understated for once. When she's reassuring Aang of something (especially in Season 1) Katara tends to got from 0 to 60 very quickly, so it was nice to see her be reassuring in a quiet, non-steamrolling way. Is this Katara character development? Apart from the fact that Toph quite literally got her eyeballs sanded, nothing much in this episode stuck out to me. Except those bitchy voices. Those were like knives in my brain.
The Tale of Iroh
So many questions! Is Lu Ten buried in Ba Sing Se? How is that grave not defaced yet? How did Iroh get a copy of his son's picture? They lost everything at the North Pole, right? Did he ask the people who got him their passports for a picture of his son too? Does Zuko know/remember that it's his cousin's birthday? If so, why isn't he there offering Iroh the world's most awkward hug? Given the fact that Iroh spent the whole day helping people, including a very misguided youth, and given that Iroh says something along the lines of "if only I could have helped you [his son]" does this imply that Lu Ten was going through a crisis at the time of his death? Was he misguided like the wannabe mugger? Is Zuko not the first Fire Nation Prince that Iroh has had to guide through an identity/existential crisis? Is Zuko going to be the first time Iroh succeeds at guiding a Fire Nation prince through an identity/existential crisis? Does Iroh live in perpetual fear of failing Zuko the way he seems to believe he failed his son? Am I reading too much into this?
To be quite honest, this story would have hit me harder if I had remembered going into it that Iroh had a son. Lu Ten takes being a textual ghost to a whole new level. Also the 'In honor of Mako' text confused me. And worried me a little.
The Tale of Aang
I liked this one! Aang can't help Appa at the moment, but he can help all the Appa stand ins who aren't fortunate enough to have an Aang to help them. Aang is a nice little boy! Of course he'd free a bunch of animals without thinking about the consequences and the epic pile of platypus bear dung he's just landed the zookeeper in with the Dai Li. I liked the animal designs. I liked the earthbending. I liked the Siamese cat representation. I loved cabbage man. I think that, if Appa could have known, he would have approved. I also think that I'm once again reading too much into this. it was nominally a fun fluff piece elaborating on a established emotional conflict (Appa missing), which gave it just enough weight to be slightly more than a fluff piece.
The Tale of Sokka
I am entirely serious when I say that 'poetry bouncer' is my favourite joke so far in the WHOLE show. I love absurdity played entirely earnestly. It's fridge funny too. The longer I contemplate the implications, the funnier it gets. What past event required a poetry bouncer be introduced? He's not there to protect the students or the teacher; he's here to reinforce the structure of the Haiku by force. Was he hired by the concept of Haiku? Is Haiku taken so seriously in Ba Sing Se that he's needed to break up cat fights between students? There is a rich well of haiku-related hijinks just hinted at by his presence, and I want to know more.
Sokka is so often his own worst enemy that it makes sense that he's taken out by his own hubris. That fortune teller lady was absolutely a crook, but she did one hell of an accurate cold read on Sokka.
The Tale of Zuko
Credits tell me that the girl's name is Jin. I would like to congratulate the creators of Avatar for managing to illustrate romantic interest so palpably without resorting to heart eyes and steam whistle noises. Nothing wrong with those; I'm just impressed by how much of Jin's interest in Zuko you can feel. Also, she'd better be more than a single episode character, because I need more of this sweetheart. She's a real contender for displacing Toph as my favourite girl in the cast.
To be fair to Zuko, he did make Jin droop (UNFORGIVABLE), but it was also the right call. He can't date her honestly. It IS complicated. And I don't think any Earth Kingdom girl (worth dating) would knowingly go out with Fire Nation royalty. Jin wanted Lee the Tea Boy. Try as he might, Zuko can't stop being Zuko. I would argue that he shouldn't stop being Zuko. His flashback mom told him not to forget who he was, so I'd also argue that the narrative doesn't want Zuko to stop being Zuko either. I guess it's a case of right girl, wrong time. It looks like she's cool with him being a firebender, but firebending and being the Fire Lord's son are not the same magnitude of hurdle to dating. Maybe when the war's over they can hook up again.
The Tale of Momo
I think this qualifies as cruelty to the audience. I got the impression that this story was crafted borderline maliciously, to make the viewers suffer angst dump after angst dump.
I liked seeing things from Momo's perspective. I loved the animal noises, which really got across a shocking amount of emotion. Those, combined with body language, were as effective as any spoken script. These cartoon people really know how to use their medium.
It absolutely kills me that Momo is missing Appa, and since he doesn't understand human speech, he can't even be comforted by knowing that his humans are actively looking for him. If you've ever seen one of your pets missing another of your pets in real life, you know there's nothing worse than the helplessness that comes with not being able to explain or magically summon their friend back from the kennel, or the vet, or the dead. All you can do is give them hugs. I'm glad that Momo got a street cat support group at the end of the episode, but the animal grief at the beginning was hard to get through. It's sweet to have confirmation that Momo sees Appa as family, but surely they could have showed that to us in a way that doesn't make me need to hug the stuffing out of my own pets?
Final Final Thoughts for real this time
This episode wrings you out a little. Fully a third of the stories are about Appa, despite him not being there. At least half are about missing someone who isn't there. At least half are bittersweet.
I liked this episode format. I hope they use it again next season. Only Toph and Katara's tale felt too short to me. The rest did such a good job at drawing me in, that when I went back to check timestamps I was surprised by how short these stories are.
I'm going to go eat too much chocolate.
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