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ewingstan · 9 months

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I've been thinking about how Worm differs from Ward in it's approach to action, and I'm realizing that my dissatisfaction with the latter isn't just "the powers got more complicated." Its that action scenes are being used in completely different ways for completely different ends in each text, but are being paced the same way.

In Worm, each fight was a scenario where a problem was set out that seemed unbeatable given what the protagonists had at their disposal. The satisfaction of the fight was seeing the problem being "solved" through clever and unexpected use of the protagonists abilities. We get this time and time again:

The Undersiders plan for dealing with a few wards at the bank heist, and they get the full team plus the Dallon sisters—how will they make it out of a fight we know they're not prepared for? Time to change things up and go on the offensive!

The villains unexpectedly run into Lung during the ABB crackdown, and we've seen how much trouble he gave Taylor last time. How can she fight someone who seemingly no-sells all her powers? Time to get creative with how she uses her bugs!

Taylor's great at attacking an enemy's weak spots, but now someone with no weak points is on her doorstep. How can she fight off not just one of the feared Slaughterhouse Nine, but the one seemingly most built to no-sell her abilities?

Butcher needs to be dealt with, but she's incredibly powerful and anyone who kills her ends up inhereting a host of problems. How do we deal with her and her team? Hey, who left this emotion-manipulator-in-a-face-worse-than-death lying around for us to use?

It's like watching a puzzle being solved. Here's a clearly defined problem, here's how it's especially hard for Taylor because of her limitations, here's how she uses her powers and surroundings in clever ways to come out on top. It also means that basically every fight advances Taylor's character in some way—for it to be convincing, the audience needs to clearly believe in the limitation, which since we're in Taylor's head so much usually means she needs to belive in the limitation. So when we see her overcome this limitation, we're seeing how we (and she) were wrong about her. We learn that Taylor's willing to take insane risks and be agressive in the bank heist, we learn she can take advantage of other parahuman's powers in brutal ways during the Lung fight, we learn how she can use bugs in fully unnatural ways and inspire people to help her in her fight with Mannequin, we learn that she's thriving in the scarred state of Brockton Bay to the extent of utilizing its spankin-new suicide zone to deal with enemies, etc. This is part of why I never had much of a problem with the all-battles-no-breaks pacing that characterizes so much of Worm: it was never just battles! Every fight advanced Taylor's character an incredible amount!

This is a pretty common genre of action, but it requires a few things: namely, a thorough understanding of an enemies abilities. Its only fun to see a character outsmart a powerset if we understand the powerset. And we need to see the way an enemy is a problem for a character's apparent limitations if we want to appreciate how they're overcome. There's a reason why JJBA villains spend so much time monologuing about their stands, or why Sanderson spends so much time establishing exactly how each magic system works. If an enemies powers were vague and unknowable, then deafeating them wouldn't seem clever and limitation-overcoming, it would seem lucky or brute-force. So, Worm has Taylor teamed up with miss-can-explain-everyone's-deal and has her go up against villains famous enough for their powerset to be common knowledge.

But Ward isn't built for this type of clever power-munchining in its action. It's less Jojo's and more Berzerk, with its protagonist defeating her enemies though indomitable power and horrific force rather than cool tactics. Furthermore, Ward is interested in exploring the fog of war and how it affects violent engagements. Victoria is constantly thrown into situations where she has little idea of her enemies powersets, and defeats them without having ever fully grasped their intricacies. And part of this is because the powers in Ward are too complicated to be wholly "got" through simple demonstration, but also because she isn't approaching each fight with the goal of countering the enemy's specific schtick. She's trained to have specific tactics against different broad types, and doesn't typically analyze her opponent past the point of categorizing them as a breaker or a changer. And it makes sense! That style of engagement is gonna be common for anyone who doesn't have a Tattletale! (Kenzie is not a Tattletale. Her specific brand of all-seeing doesn't extend to being able to quickly give the lowdown on a powerset. It does extend to giving a full view of a battlefield and enemy positions, which helps facilitate the more "military engagement" mode for narrating action that Ward adopts). And unlike Taylor's useless-at-first-brush yet endlessly adaptable powerset, Victoria's powers are a blunt hammer that is very good at giving every enemy the nail treatment. Her action scenes are like watching a kaleidescope being smashed to pieces; we're constantly watching someone plunge into a bizzare sitation and smash their way out of it without really understanding what "it" was.

And to be clear I think this low-information style of action can lead to really cool moments. All we get about Mama Mathers for a while is "she can see you when you think about her" and "this is enough to keep the whole compound in line," so the reader's left to speculate on the actual extent of her abilities. And so when she starts driving people into violent spasming fits all of a sudden during the Fallen raid, its shocking and intense! You really get the sense that existing in the world of Parahumans means being subject to countless horrible and unknowable dangers you can't plan around, and when it works, it rocks!

But it also means that when fight scenes can only go on for so long before they start to drag. There's less satisfaction to seeing an enemy defeated without the puzzle component, and there's less character narrative being advanced in each fight outside of "what is Victoria willing to fight for/against" or "how much is Victoria willing to treat this enemy like a nail." Ward needs breaks in its action in a way Worm didn't, and when fights go on for the same length as they did in Worm it feels like Wildbow's using pacing that worked in one area without realizing how it could only work in that area. It might also be why I appreciate the quieter moments of inter-team banter and therapy sessions Ward is full of (besides those moments being, on the whole, really goddamn good).

#parahumans #wildbow #taylor hebert #victoria dallon #leo reads ward #leo reads worm #leo says

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littlealeta · 5 months

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Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina Review

Oh boy, where do I start?

So, this random movie from my childhood that nobody talks about just popped in my head one day and to be fair, I always thought this film was a mixed bag. I was a little too old for it at the time and I knew it had some charm to it and it was entertaining in some spots, but a lot of parts were just frustrating and easy to make fun of. But I never understood why it rubbed me the wrong way besides the animation. So, let's take a deep dive into this obscure movie, shall we? But, before I talk about the negatives, I do want to say one wholly positive thing about the film. The voice acting is the real highlight. That's it, I guess.

Story

I'm tired of running....

All I can say is... it left a lot to be desired. Lazy, rushed, and undercooked. It has potential, don't get me wrong. It's a refreshing take to have Thumbelina being abused and taken advantage of for her size, but they don't do anything with that concept after the beginning. I also don't understand why they had her be born in a little people village instead of just having her be born in the flower like in the story and then kidnapped. It just feels pointless. Hell, a lot of scenes in this movie is pointless.

Look, I'm not a scientist or expert on physics or whatever but I don't think that boat should be going backwards after it spent all that time going forwards.

I would've liked to see Thumbelina run into similar obstacles she has had her whole life throughout the story of being taken advantage of, studied, experimented on, and abused. Instead we just get human trafficking, like you might as well just go all ham if you're gonna have shit like that in there. It would've at least made the emotional core more powerful.

The action scenes are anticlimatic and full of deus ex machinas and surpise motherfuckers and conveniently shaped lamps. It's like the story doesn't know what it wants to be. One moment it's dark and disturbing as shit and then the next, it's more diabetic than many Disney films.

And Tom Thumb's story is just... I got nothing. I will explain more in the character section, but there's literally nothing interesting about his story because he's more of the deuteragonist to Thumbelina's protagonist, which is not an excuse but whatever.

As a couple, these two have little chemistry. They are the generic enemies to lovers trope and are only drawn together due to their similar lives, except Tom Thumb mostly grew up happy. The reason for their conflict in the first place made no fucking sense. The movie just wanted an excuse to have conflict and that's it. And then all of a sudden, they are now everything to each other, despite fighting 5 minutes ago. There's so many inconsistencies to this movie, it's insane, and I will explain more in the character section. If you really wanted to have conflict between them, maybe develop their (at least Tom Thumb's) personalities more? Maybe his optimism, cheerfulness and naivete clashes with Thumbelina's cynicism, pessimism, and depression. And through their journey, they learn and grow together and learn to help each other overcome their weaknesses. Because the film really doesn't have much character development and whatever little development they do have is pretty rushed.

And wtf was wrong with the script in this film? It looks like it didn't even get past the first or second drafts. There's wording in there like "you irrigate me" that sound like typos, it has all the things a script shouldn't have while also having the skeletons of a good movie. They even broke the show don't tell rule near the end where Thumbelina starts monologuing about how hellish her life was and that she gets to make her own decisions and then points out the whole mother like daughter bs like stfu. WE ALREADY KNOW THIS MOVIE! And WHO TF IS GOING TO CARE THAT A YOUNG ADULT WANTS TO MAKE HER OWN DECISIONS? And then the movie starts convoluting itself by revealing that Tom Thumb was arranged to marry Thumbelina all along (I thought this was a simple kids film?). Of all the writing mistakes this movie has, I thought it would have the decency to avoid those shits.

Most of the jokes are more contrived than funny, even one involves a poop joke.

Characters

None of them are anything special, to be honest. But I will start with Thumbelina.

She has all the makings of a great character. She’s strong and compelling, but she’s also a very flawed character with a lot of vulnerability. If you know me, you would know that these kind of characters are right up my alley. Spike Spiegel, Rick Sanchez, Shadow the Hedgehog, the There is No Game guy, those are all characters that have trust issues and hate people at first but their hatred belies a sense of loneliness and sadness which they all overcome once you break down their barriers. So, what went wrong here? Well, it’s the fact that Thumbelina doesn’t really have any significant growth regarding that. She doesn’t even seem to go through any trials that tests those weaknesses in order for her to grow. She meets Tom Thumb literally 30 minutes into the film, they fight a bit but a minute later, they fall in love. I also don’t think that they handled the depth of her character well.

Then why are you smiling?

She’s actually kind of a bitch, she bitches about losing some grass game despite her being too small and weak to win whatever the fuck it was, she yells at a frog, she yells at the lady bugs who ask her who she is and Tom Thumb, who she just met and has done nothing to her and she runs away from him, and then suddenly attacks and insults his height. So, does Thumbelina want to find another tiny person like her or not? Now, I do think these kind of interactions could be written well, but something is missing here. It feels out of left field. I could probably buy this a bit more if Thumbelina was abused by everyone all her life, but she had friends, so why was she so hostile to these characters for no reason?

Then stop looking at him funny!

She's also a victim of the constant pointlessness and inconsistences of the film so one minute, she Princess Peaches the mole and then the next, she's calling Tom Thumb a thing despite him being the EXACT same species SHE is and ALSO yells at the ladybugs about it earlier in the film.

All in all, she’s alright, she’s definitely the most developed and best character here, but I think they could’ve done better to make her more likeable and consistent.

Tom Thumb

Two-dimensional. The fact that he has no backstory to explain his personality unlike Thumbelina tells you right then and there how shallow he is. The movie mentions that he somehow escapes the circus, but we don't know how. If that's the case, then why did Thumbelina stay there all this time? Again, you could've had the exact same problem even with her escaping because all her life, she has encountered many different people bullying her and taking advantage of her, which would make the story and her character much more powerful. Considering how headstrong she is, I thought she would've taken that route a long time ago anyway and not just because someone told her where her village is. Also, if you're not going to develop his time in trafficking, then why not just go with the original story and just have him be adopted. He also feels out of place in his world, but in contrast to Thumbelina who was gaslit all her life, his caring role models can tell him that there are others like him somewhere in the 7.8 billion people in the world. He also has a bit of an emotional scene with his adoptive father where he has to leave him, but this is never elaborated on at all. Nor do we see Tom Thumb struggle with this. It's just another excuse for the movie to get the plot going.

Mole King

Disturbing af. Blud gets told about some pretty girl in the forest and then hits on her, point, blank, and a period. No conflict about her age, looks, personality, nothing. Take into account that Thumbelina is probably like no older than 19, it's so uncomfortable to watch this old ass incel obsessing over someone who's barely of legal age at best, complete with all tickling, touching, rubbing, and feet fetishes, too. And even going full on Bowser when she is taken away from him. And for no reason either.

In the third act of the film, he does explain that it's because they're both rejects, but how is Thumbelina supposed to be a reject in any way? She was just someone who was easily abused and felt out of place, but she was never ostracized by anyone. I take it that the mole is just an incel who wants any pretty young thing considering this one lady mouse also dated him. His song is good, but still, it's all about him hitting on Thumbelina and it makes no sense regardless.

Mole King's Minions (cuz I don't remember their names and don't care)

Mostly unfunny. They get their out of character moment when they refuse to capture Tom Thumb as the Mole King says so, despite him being their fascist. They make one stupid decision involving two split paths and they both decide to go down one path at the same time and I was like "BRO HOW ABOUT YOU TWO FUCKING SPLIT UP!" and they get reasonably cockblocked.

Three Ladybugs (cuz I don't remember their names and don't care)

These little fucking shits are annoying as all get out. Their entire existence is to make fun of and bully Thumbelina for no reason yet somehow treat Tom Thumb like a prince? What? Is this supposed to contrast things or something? It's so weird.

What do you think you are, hypocrites?

Clingy Bird (cuz I don't remember her name and don't care)

Can't fly for some stupid reason. Apparently, she was captured right after she hatched, but she's clearly an adult, so why she still can't fly, I don't understand. Like literally, a 4 year old can come up with a better fucking reason for a bird not flying than this. And then she starts crying because she thinks Thumbelina isn't her friend when, gurl, you only met her for 2 fucking minutes and you're already worrying over whether or not she's your friend?

Roman

The first villain of the film who came and went. Kind of a cartoonish villain who gaslights Thumbelina into thinking she's the only one of her kind. He captures two babies who happen to be the titular characters in a village where there are plenty of other babies around, what makes Tom Thumb and Thumbelina conveniently special? Oh yeah, because movie. Also, why does every Russian/Portuguese animated character have to be a ball of fat? I mean Gru from Despicable Me and whatshisface from Coraline...Mr. Bobinsky was it?

Dexter

Another villain who came and went. Some science kid whose parents are so ignorant he messes with ether. He's another cartoonish villain who wants to kill his captives because... he's evil, I guess.

Ben

Seemingly a nice guy, but then shows off his inner boomerism by making Tom Thumb fly the coop just because he's of age and he's apparently going to die soon. We don't know if he suffers from any illness or what, the story just wanted to take a sudden turn, I guess.

Thumbelina's Parents

Wish they got a little more attention if they were going to bring them back. Shouldn't they have been working hard to try and get their kid back all these years instead of just standing around doing jackshit? Like go gather up a search group or something.

Animation

I think it will appeal to kids. It's colorful, expressive, and fluid, but it also feels sloppy and unfinished. Like one scene had the characters talking without their mouths moving. It also just looks like a 2005 Newgrounds Flash game, I don't really have a problem with this on paper, but it just goes to show how sloppy and aged the animation is.

Music

I think the music sounds nice and catchy. But the music also falls flat because either the story writing is bad (Welcome to My Hole), the lyrics sound bizarre and tune unfitting for the context of the scene (One Two Cha Cha Cha) or it just sounded kinda bland (I'm All Alone).

Overall

As a kids film, I think this film will do a good job at charming little kids. It's dumb fun (not in a good way, tho) and bright and colorful. But I don't think kids over the age of 9 (around the age I was when I watched the film) would give a fuck. You're better off watching the Mario Movie if you want a fun simple animated kids film about a young girl being forced to marry an ugly bastard and it also has a song about it too.

I give The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina 5.2 bells out of 10

I was considering giving it 4.9 bells because of how bad everything was, but I just have to give it a little more credit because there's clearly effort put into this. It had the skeletons to be a powerful movie. On paper, the female lead is compelling and relatable, the theme is emotional and heartwarming, the crossover premise was always interesting, the music sounds catchy, the animation is charming, there's a bit of comedy in there... but they all fell flat due to the execution. I really do feel bad for the makers as it seems like the movie had a really hard time. From what I gathered on research, the movie has been in the making since early 1999 at latest and was completed by the end of the year. It had legal issues with Disney. I can tell how small the budget is just by looking at the writing and animation, and I think Disney, who distributed the film, didn't finance the project enough. That, and they were probably crunched for time. It's really painful how underwhelming this film was.

#the adventures of tom thumb and thumbelina #tom thumb & thumbelina #disney #miramax #hyperion #thumbelina #tom thumb #review

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 3 years

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You know what's on my mind?

Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse. You know, that movie released a few years ago that won a bunch of awards for its gorgeous animation and soundtrack etc etc.

It's definitely not a usual topic for this blog. Or even my main. Mainly, I have a burning desire to complain about one specific scene and maybe Marvel in general, which you can chalk up to my not-like-other-girls complex /hj. Also, nobody has ever agreed with me about how I think it's is badly written.

Nobody.

I think this is hilarious, so I am going to subject you all to my opinion on why I dislike this movie.

The animation is pretty, I'll give it that. So's the soundtrack. My issue with Spiderverse is not the animation or the soundtrack or even the fact that it's a superhero movie, as much as I dislike superhero movies in general--no, my issue is with the writing. Please bear in mind that it's been about a year since I watched it and so my memory is a little bit fuzzy, but I have not been able to stop thinking about this scene. It makes me that angry.

It's the scene about halfway through the movie, when all the other Spiderpeople have showed up in the basement and Peter's all like "Hi hello this is Miles, he's Spiderman too," and then the other Spiderpeople take his measure because they're largely unimpressed. And by take his measure, I mean they start hitting him.

Like, okay, fine, they don't beat him to death or anything. But they whack him enough times that he's...he's literally on the ground. He's on the ground and he's hurt bad enough that he can't get up? And they're going "c'mon Miles, get up, get up Miles, you can do it," and then someone else smacks him down, and then they keep telling him to get up.

And he can't.

From what I've been told by fans of this movie, the scene, narratively, is supposed to be a sign that he isn't ready. It's supposed to establish that Miles hasn't understood the fundamental aspect of being a hero--that when the going gets tough, and when you feel like everything is punching down at you, you have to get to your feet anyway. It's supposed to set up for a later scene where Miles does get up, which is a very standard narrative technique of demonstrating a failure and then the hero overcoming it.

But it's done so fucking badly that this scene ruined the movie for me.

Zoom out a little with me. This scene is about a bunch of people who are experienced, trained superheroes. They've been doing this for a while, they've been fighting for a while, and they've got technical know-how and prowess in spades. What do they decide to do with these powers, when faced with an untrained child who's out of his depth?

Beat the shit out of him, naturally!

I just- what the fuck, guys. You're supposed to be the people I'm rooting for, the people who I want Miles to help get home. You're supposed to be sympathetic enough that I don't rejoice during the climactic battle when they're getting their asses handed to them.

But instead of, you know, training the kid, giving the kid tips, you decide the best course of action is to beat him so badly he cannot get up and then conclude he's to weak to help them out.

What the fuck.

This scene killed any attachment or sympathy I had towards any of the Spiderpeople with the exception of maybe Peter Parker, because he was the only person to speak up and say that they were going too far, maybe? Even then, he didn't stop them. No, he let them beat up a kid while telling him he should be able to get up.

I'm sorry, would any of you be able to get up, having gotten their powers a grand few days ago and being attacked by four competent superheroes?

This scene has been justified to me as Miles being a superhero and naturally needing more responsibility. He's not "just a kid," or so the reasoning goes.

The fact remains that I do not care. Miles, superhero or not, is at this point a mostly-civilian teenager. You beat the shit out of him while telling him that he should be able to take it. How fucked up is that? Imagine doing that to anyone else. It's this four-on-one free for all and he is on the ground, and you've just kicked him in the solar plexus, and you're telling him to get back up.

No, fuck you, I hope you never get back to your home dimension. What the hell.

God, I hate this movie. That one scene ruins it because it comes halfway through the movie. Miles never gets an apology for being beaten up like that. It's not framed as A Terrible Thing To Do. And maybe this is about ~critical thinking~ because people should be able to decide for themselves whether or not to like certain characters, but honestly, I haven't met a single person who thought that scene was fucked up. So who knows at this point.

#hottakes with aure #spiderverse

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low-budget-korra · 5 years

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Lets talk about Korra

Today I will speak of her, which in my opinion is one of the greatest characters everr : Avatar Korra.

At first we see a 17 year old girl who probably had her first contact with a lot of things. First contact with a big city, first crush, first handful of responsibilities, first threat...

It is worth mentioning that since day one, Korra has embraced the role of Avatar with all strength and love. She felt proud of her position and willing to do her job as the Avatar

(look at this precious little thing)

Remember that she spent her entire life locked in a training center, without contact with the rest of the world, so her knowledge of everything beyond the gates where she lived was new.

Right in the beginning we see her dealing with some Equalists Protestants, which she does not take seriously. And only when she witnesses the power of the leader of this movement, she begins to take the threat very seriously and also, to fear this man more than everything in her life until then.

What does Amon represents for Korra?

I think this question can be easily answered by Korra's simple argument of love being the Avatar. And at least in the beginning of the book one they hinted that her life was just about that, Being the Avatar.

We are not introduced to any friends of Korra, except for Naga, or past boyfriend / girlfriend. Nothing. We only know that this girl is the Avatar. And I would not be surprised if that was the only way she saw herself.

Maybe that's why fight in pro-bending was so important. Not only as a means of socialization, after all it was thanks to the pro-bending that she met her friends, but also as a training and more important, search for identity. I think part of the journey of Korra in the first two books is a lot about that: search for identity.

Then, answering the question, Amon is the only person who can destroy that image, which can destroy Korra. He can destroy it without even needing to kill it. And that's exactly what he does.

In episode 4, we have, in my opinion, the darkest episode of the entire Avatar series. To be honest, I'm sure that if TLOK were a live action series for example, we may have a scene of sexual assault or an explicit threat of this there , because of the power struggle there between those two characters, no, power abyss and the way Amon touch her, her face, without her consent . Some people felt some kind of sexual tension there, no wonder there are people who shiped Amorra (Korra and Amon) back in the day.

That scene is powerful because Amon did not have to sexually touch Korra to violate her. At least, this whole situation served for her to open up with Tenzin over her fears and consequently learn how to deal with them, because I'm sure Korra did not get over what happened there so fast.

Still about Power Dispute we have another character who exemplifies this: Tarrlok. Tarrlok is a rising politician who uses Korra as a pawn in his goal to seize the power of Republic City. Amon also uses the same trick, after all, the moment he defeats the Avatar, the city would be his.

So we have this young woman who will stop right in the middle of a political power dispute.

Tarrlok also serves as a comparative. While Amon wants to dominate and destroy the avatar figure, not caring about who she is, Tarrlok wants to dominate and use Korra. And this makes me think that, that metal box was made exclusively for her. Like if that shit was for Amon, he didnt know Amon was a bender so an simples cell would be good. I think Tarrlok knew that Korra may ruin his plans so he had that as his plan B.

In the end Korra lost the physical battle but won the ethical battle against both. But at what price? Amon was able to remove the bends of the Avatar. And without them, how could she be the Avatar?

I also strongly believe that one of the final scenes of the season, when Korra is facing a cliff, I believe she might be thinking about taking her life. After all, everything she was, everything she'd trained so hard for, had been destroyed in minutes.

She, with the help of Aang and the other avatars, recovered her bends and with the help of everyone, including her then boyfriend Mako, she "moved on."

In the next one, I used to hate the first half of book 2, but then I came to see with different eyes.

In that first half, Korra is unbearable. Everything she learned in Book 1 how to be more mature, less spoiled and all, was thrown in the trash and she was the same "child" of the book one only worse.

Until I stopped and realized that I was also unbearable and childish like this when I had my bad phases of anxiety and depression, as defense mechanism and keep people away. Returning to Korra, and if this way of acting of her was nothing more than this defense mechanism?

Whether or not she was betrayed by her own Uncle. Imagine, shortly after having your life turned upside down, when you are recovering, trying to recover your image as Avatar and suddenly your own uncle betrays you? Yeah.

"Oh, but she should not have stayed on his side against her father"

Yes, but remember that our, still young avatar, has fallen into the trap of believing and trusting someone just because that person says everything she want it to hear.

In the end, Korra again goes through a traumatic moment when she has her connection with past lives destroyed. We see how it affected her when she apologizes to Tenzin, through tears. And Tenzin, as the excellent master he is, tries to motivate her to face Vaatu again (now merged with Unalaq, her uncle) and so she is able to beat him and secure another 10 thousand years of Light to the world.

In the final moments, we see the (somewhat innocent) decision to reconnect the world of spirits and the world of men. And we also see Korra and Mako permanently end their turbulent relationship, which I will speak more ahead.

Book 3 begins in a more mature, we see all the characters being presented in a more mature way and it seems that Korra, now, has overcome everything that has passed. We have the relationship between Korra and Asami deepening as well, and I will also comment further on.

In Book 3, called "Change" we have a great sacrifice from Korra. Her life goes down a notch when she decides to save the new airbenders from Zaheer and the Red Lotus, the strongest villain she's ever faced.

Zaheer, unlike the other villains, who had not explicitly intended to kill Korra, had as goal just to kill the Avatar. And he almost succeeded.

Not only that, Korra was physically and psychologically defeated. She won the battle but not the war, we can say so.

So book 4 begins and we only come across Korra in the final minutes and she is unrecognizable. We see that, once proud and courageous avatar, in someone depressed and cowed.

I think it's visible that Korra is afraid of being the Avatar again, Toph even tells her that during the season. And I think it's totally plausible.

Korra's fight against PTSD is one of the most honest and realistic things I've ever seen. Do you think that after a violent battle and almost die, even winning in the end, the hero returns home and everything is okay? I think not.

Not only what happened in the end of book 3 , but i believe that she also has having flashs or thoughts about all her fights and all the traumatic shit that she passed

Another thing I think is worth quoting is that Korra took 3 years to feel safer and re-embrace her duties as Avatar. It was not 3 weeks or 3 months, it was 3 years. And anyone who suffers from some mental illness knows very well the stigma that is, the fight that is, because everyone wants you to be well in 6 months when the truth is that many times you spend years fighting against this. And this is a pressure that falls on you.

Imagine, seeing all your friends moving forward while you continue "stock in the same place"?

Only after Korra confronts Zaheer, I think that was a way to show her coping with the trauma, she improves to the point of returning to be the great Avatar we know. The once "monster Zaheer" who almost kill her now is some dude in chains who fail at his plans and created an big problem and needed Korra to solve it

One of the quotes that struck with me most was in that filler episode thats a summary of all what happened in the show , and in the part narrated by Korra she says "I was so naive" and the way Janet delivered that line..., with some pain and I know the sadness but at the same time, stronger and more mature ... I think it means a lot.

here in tumblr I think, I saw a phrase that until today marks me that is :

"The Last Airbender is a story of a boy who becomes a god. The Legend of Korra is the story of a goddess who becomes a girl "

This is strong!

And I get very angry when someone comes to downgrade my baby Korra because she is such an incredible heroine and her journey is also incredible.

The story of how life can be hard and unfair, how it can hurt and paralyze, but there is always a reason to move on. We should always move on.

Korra is definitely not weak, quite the opposite, she is one of the if not the strongest heroine I have ever seen. Korra inspires overcoming.

Now l will let to talk about the relationships tomorrow. I promise

#the legend of korra #korrasami #avatar korra #mako #the last airbender #aang #asami #tenzin #lets talk about

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roseylaces · 7 years

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I'm sorry but why do you like sword art online so much??? And like is Asuna really strong.. because didn't she "die" (and how is she alive even -___-) and also got captured and molested and stripped yet didn't at least yell at the man or something? Like, she could've kicked - sorry in advance if her legs were chained up or something I forgot but? Idk spat at him?

okay this answer is going to be really long, so apologies in advance if that’s not your style… yet this ask ticked something in me, and i have to justify myself as to why i love sao, and why asuna is such a strong heroine, character, and person.

first of all, i definitely think this ask could’ve been worded better. wondering how asuna survived sao and forgetting what even happened during the final battle in fairy dance is a definite indicator of your lack of research.

im hoping that the answer to your first question will become evident as i answer your other queries, because im sure my passion for the series will come to light.

for your second question, yes, asuna truly is strong, in every sense of the word. she is physically strong, mentally strong, and spiritually strong. at the beginning of sword art online, asuna was a fifteen year old girl, suddenly removed from everything she knew. from the safe, incubator-style life she had lived up until that point, from her parents, life, and school, into a world where she did not know a single thing; a place where she had to fight to live without even knowing how. she had to constantly overcome her own mind, and strive to survive in a world that always tried to end her. if you were faced with the prospect of death at the slightest wrong turn, would you even try to push forward? i doubt many people would, yet asuna did. despite knowing that her efforts may amount to nothing, she refused to sit still, constantly fighting mobs in the first floor’s dungeon just to prove that she would not give in. she went to the most dangerous part of the floor at that time, and battled. from the beginning, her worth as a member of the game’s frontlines was secured, and even kirito knew this. when she first met kirito, she told him that she had to fight, and how that would be the one thing to determine her worth. if she was going to die, she was to do it on her own terms. how much strength must you possess to overcome a will to admit defeat and harness a determination to not play by the rules? not even kirito was able to think that way.

additionally, she is physically strong. after the sao incident, she pushed her weakened body to its limits, refusing to let what had happened to her determine her future. im not lying when i say she could definitely beat kirito in a real-life fight if that were to ever happen. shes very active, and even before the sao incident she was a fit person, which was one of the reasons why her agility in sao was so great. a part of the indicator for abilities in sao, although primarily determined by the system, also comes down to physical prowess, and this is something that enabled asuna to continue to be perceived as strong.

further to this, she’s spiritually strong. even after kirito found her in the first floor dungeon, she refused to become a damsel who submitted herself to her ‘more powerful’ partner, seeking to possess further strength so that she could be his equal. even when she joins the knights of the blood and she falls in love with kirito, she does not let this love stand in the way of her mission and purpose, instead utilising this to enable her to become even stronger. she now had something to fight for. she would not let the game take him from her, or take her from him. asuna is a rare heroine because romance did not become her strength, but instead allowed her strength to become purposeful. shes very inspirational in this regard, and truly is strong. she knows her weaknesses and turns them into power.

during boss battles and whilst frontlining, asuna never, ever let kirito do anything that would deny her determination and personal strength. she fought as her own person, was revered as the subleader of the biggest guild, and was able to do so because she possessed such powers. yes, she fought alongside kirito, but he never shut her out for her safety or dulled her light. she protected her own raid party, sometimes up to 47 others, kept control of the guild, and made the most out of every unfortunate situation. she entered sao not knowing a single thing about mmorpg combat, but she continued to learn, and utilise this new knowledge in order to push herself further. she saw kirito as a partner and a mentor, and soon became his equal and, i would even say, surpassed him in her understanding of technique and strategy. although she is partnered with kirito often, she is always considered her own player, her own person, dubbed ‘the flash’. only truly strong players are given nicknames, and this is an indicator of her strength.

and yes, asuna did die within sao during the 75th floor boss fight. she died because she sacrificed herself for the sake of the entire raid group; for the entire player population of sao. asuna knew that if it came down to either her or kirito, kirito would be the one that had to live in order to continue the endeavour towards beating the death game. he had the dual blade wielding ability, he was chosen by heathcliff/kayaba to be the game’s sole saviour. she jumped in front of heathcliff, a seemingly immortal object, to take the blow for kirito and give him a chance to fight and win. she did not die unnecessarily, she did not die in vain. she knew that her sacrifice would be for the sake of those 8,000 players still within sao. this act in itself is the true indicator of asuna’s strength. the ability to think of the greater good over one’s own self, and the act of sacrifice in such a dismal and dire situation, are both things that only those who are truly powerful in their mentality and sense of self would be able to do.

asuna was able to live because kayaba recognised this power. he recognised that asuna’s death was valiant and altruistic. her defeat was for the sake of those she did not even know. i know many people say that she jumped in front of heathcliff with for the sole purpose of protecting kirito, but this greatly undermines asuna. although, yes, she wanted to protect him, she was also thinking about the bigger picture - the future of sao - and knew that kirito was the necessary piece in the game to ensure survival. he would be the beacon of hope, and asuna knew that this was not the role set of her. so she did what she had to do, even if this ended her life. kayaba realised that asuna did not deserve to die, that her sacrifice was so great that to kill her would defeat the purpose of his ‘world’. so he saved her. it was her reward for possessing such inner strength.

to answer your third question, asuna was bound by her hands to the ceiling within the last battle scene with fairy king obeiron (sugou), and constrained by the manipulation of gravity as utilised by sugou by the alfheim system. she could not move at all, and these chains were deemed as immortal objects by this same system. also, asuna did yell at sugou. she demanded for him to stop. yet there was not much she could do, given the situation. if she refused too fervently, sugou could have hurt kirito more severely than what he did by turning down the pain absorption to a lower level, and if that had occured, she would never have been able to forgive herself. the lower pain absorption would have hurt her, too, and this is a key factor to keep in mind when analysing this scene. asuna had to make very quick, very calculated decision in such a short and desperate span of time. she had to decide the best way to ensure her and kirito’s safety, which would be so so difficult, seeing as the safest option would be to have sugou sexually harass her, to satisfy him and hopefully prevent him from doing anything horrific. of course, she would not want this, but thinking about the bigger scheme of things, sugou harming her would be better than fighting back, which may have resulted in having kirito or herself killed. she had to restrain her desires to give up for the sake of their best interests. that’s another exhibition of her strength, and further proves my initial proposal. further to this, she would not spit on sugou because she would in no way stoop to his level. she had to be above him, and refuse him in a way that proved his abhorrent insolence. asuna is so so strong because of this, and she is such a wonderful character.

as i said at the beginning, this became very long, but i truly am passionate about proving that asuna is a strong character, and that sword art online is so much more than what people think it to be. the characters are very complex and three dimensional, the story is engaging and very well thought out, and nothing happens without a reason. every action has a reaction, and kawahara-sensei is a master novelist for this reason. if i can convince even one more person that sao is not worth the hate it gets, or that asuna is not just a member of kirito’s (non-existent) harem, i feel like i would have done my job as an advocate for the series, and i hope people come to understand my love for the series and its characters.

#anon #ask #and no i wont use a read more bc people have to read this and understand this #*clears throat*#thank u for listening #i still cant believe i get ppl trying to make me explain why asuna is her own character and is a strong person #i just dont get it but thats okay bc ill explain it as many times as i need #its my purpose as a main member of the sao fandom #its an honour to do asuna justice #sao asks

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agent-85 · 7 years

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Hi sorry, I don't remember everything.^^' It was just after the ep and I was wondering what's left for me in this show? I mean I'm not very interested about Daisy, and I don't care about ward and hydra, these chapters were dead and should have stayed that way. Then they broke the only logical reason why Jemma and Daisy would be fine irl with the backdoor. They have no I.V. and no medical support so they will die of dehydration and before that they will "wet" themselves and worse... (sorry)

(2) They’ve gone way too far with Fitz, a freaking nazi sociopath :/ They tainted his character. Worse! another useless “love” triangle and this one is even more disgusting because merged with theme of non-con/violation/rape theme and if you add the fact that Fitz helped building her which has a father-imagery to it, it’s just urgh!! They don’t learn anything. So my main thing is FS and with Elizabeth quote, we’re going with the same kind of nonsense path than with GR arc…

(3) What’s the point to make Jemma save him if they don’t interact? I only watch to see that interaction. And with Jed quote, they don’t even have the decency to plan an ending… If it’s the last season, such a disappointment and whatever 1min “happy” scene they put at the end it won’t balanced all that nonsense. I’m sorry to tell you all that really, but I feel sad and lonely in my case and I love your blog so… sorry.(end)

Hey there, anon! Thanks for resending the first ask. I want to make sure I understand where you are coming from.

Okay, first of all, I think it’s a little premature to judge 4C after watching one episode. This was all setup, and we haven’t gotten to the real story yet. My guess is that we won’t really get to it until 4x18, since 4x17 seems to be Setup Part Two, in which we see where the other characters are (including, possibly, Elena and the real world crew).

I get really annoyed at people who gave up on the show after 1x5 because they were disappointed that no superheroes showed up. That’s not what this show is about, and if they’d taken the time to look at the show for what it is, maybe they would have liked it.

I am 1000% here for FitzSimmons, and I get by on amazing team dynamics when the FitzSimmons is stupid. So, if you’re not into Hydra or Daisy, may I suggest that we have a great story going on outside of that. Daisy is one player in this, and Hydra is just a weapon. The REAL villain is Aida, and since Aida has stolen Fitz, Jemma will have to fight Aida to get him back. That is something I am DYING to see.

Jemma spent all of season three as a damsel in distress, so to me, it is vital that she has this chance to save the day. It’s not that Jemma doesn’t fight; it’s that she fights in quiet, subtle ways, like she did when she tried to win Fitz’s heart in 3B. Meanwhile, Fitz gets to jump through holes in universes for her. My favorite thing about FitzSimmons is that they are equals—in intelligence, in courage, and in morality. So they should get equal chance to get the meaty, action hero roles, don’t you think? I do! Also, I just love Jemma and I’m so excited for her to get some screen time.

As for being trapped in the Framework: the purpose is to raise the stakes. If Jemma and Daisy can get in and out whenever they want, the story is over in five minutes. They want a bigger story than that, so we’re getting higher stakes. Before, they were trying to find the physical location of their teammates. Now, they have to actually navigate this new world in order to save themselves as well. To me, that’s a more interesting story. How are they going to get themselves out of an impossible situation? What happens AFTER? I’m so excited to find that out.

Cut for length!!

As for Jemma and Daisy’s physical bodies: they’ll probably be fine. If we can suspend our belief about an evil robot stealing minds, I think we can assume that Elena and Piper are doing a good job looking after them.

As for Fitz: yes, he is technically a Nazi, but he’s not a sociopath. Radcliffe is a sociopath, because he lacks any morality whatsoever. Framework Fitz, on the other hand, is doing what he thinks is right. Part of that is that he is trying to protect Madame Hydra, and I think there’s a bigger part we haven’t seen yet. Radcliffe would never get that angry about protecting someone else.

And here’s an important thing about Fitz: he has been deceived. His memories have been wiped and replaced with new ones, and our responses are often shaped by our experiences. I think of this as abuse rather than rape. He is making his own choices, but he is making them based on the information available to him. He doesn’t know that this information isn’t the truth. The writers like to play with this all the time, making a character make the “wrong” choice because they have bad information.

Jemma is the best example of this, because she’s usually the writer’s favorite victim. In season two when there was a possibility that then-Skye could be an Inhuman, Jemma talked about it like it was a plague. This scared Skye, and rightly so! But Jemma had a good reason to see it that way, because of the facts that were presented to her. Think about what Jemma saw happen in that temple! Mack was possessed, Trip was turned to rubble, and Raina became a homicidal porcupine. If you see those three things happen to people who go inside the temple, and your friend also went inside that temple, are you going to be worried about your friend? HECK YEAH! Of course, Jemma had no idea about Inhuman DNA or terrigenesis, and that was important information! As soon as she understood what was actually happening, she did a complete 180, because Jemma is a good person who was only trying to help her friends in the first place.

Something similar is happening to Fitz here. He is being lied to. He is being used. Madame Hydra needs his creativity to create this world and do whatever nefarious things she has planned, so she’s keeping him close and playing off his desires. He wants Jemma, so she stands in as Jemma. He wants to protect people, so she puts him in a position where he has to protect her. This is brainwashing, just like Jemma said!

The thing I was most worried about when it came to this arc was that there would be an implication that this is how the characters really are inside. I’m excited about this arc because that’s clearly not the case. Does Coulson, in his heart of hearts, believe that Inhumans are evil and that Hydra should stop them? NO! He has literally fought against those ideas. But he does have a tendency to be a company man, and now he’s been made to believe that Hydra is the company. His weakness has been exploited, just like May and Fitz’s weaknesses have. And they are being exploited in a way that serves Madame Hydra’s goals. The real question is this: when they see what’s true, will they change? Will they do what’s right? I think they will. They didn’t choose this life, and they’re already subconsciously fighting against it. Give them a chance to fight consciously, and we’ll see them tear this place down. That’s the whole point of Jemma’s “You are not your programming” speech. They HAVE been programmed, but they are more than that and they WILL overcome their programming.

Gonna go out of order here and talk about Fitz and Jemma not interacting: again, this raises the stakes. What we saw with the Ghost Rider arc was FS getting pulled apart (this was one of those times I subsisted on team dynamics), and this is about FS fighting their way back to each other. Fitz will probably fight in a small, quiet way and Jemma will be dramatic and loud for a change. So yes, they won’t be in the same room, but the story will be about their relationship. That was all set up by Daisy’s “you belong together” speech. I want to see them fight for each other! AND, eventually they WILL be together—this is all buildup to that payoff. I want that payoff! We got buildup of Fitz’s feelings in season one with the payoff of, “You’re more than that, Jemma.” We got the buildup of Jemma’s feelings in season two with “Maybe there is.” I know it’s going to be painful for them to be apart, but they will be in each other’s thoughts, and the payoff will hopefully be worth waiting for.

So, I’m not sure which Elizabeth quote you’re talking about, because there are a few. She said Jemma would be worried that she’d never get Fitz back, and we’d have to see if she forgives Fitz. But the thing about Elizabeth and anyone else is that their job is to promote the show. As my friend @aretsuna would say: the enemy is shooting at us. They are trying to stir things up to get you to tune in. If Elizabeth said, “Well, you know, Jemma is worried, but she really shouldn’t be because they find Fitz and everything’s okay,” she’d be doing a bad job. So, you have to take what she says with about a mountain of salt. All you can really get from that is that in 16, Jemma is worried about getting Fitz back. Doesn’t mean she’s not going to get Fitz back. Just means that she hasn’t figured out how to do it yet.

Honestly, I pay zero attention to anything they say about the future. That’s all a mind game they’re playing. What’s interesting is listening them talk about the past and their reactions to things that have already happened.

I agree that we absolutely need a fifth season. This is why I’ve been trying to encourage people to do things that will help the show get renewed. They said at the beginning that they had a five-season plan, and I don’t want to see 4/5 of that plan. I’d be okay with 6/5 or 7/5 of that plan, if they did it right.

BUT, there are a lot of factors going on here, and it boils down to basically a gamble. They are betting that the show will be renewed. In a way, that’s smart, because it’s easier to cancel a show when the writers/creators have stopped fighting. They also know that if they leave the story unfinished, WE will demand more. This is how Nashville got picked up by CMT after it was cancelled: they wrapped up every storyline but one, leaving a HUGE cliffhanger. The fans didn’t stand for that, and they ended up getting the rest of that story. That strategy can work for us. The other things that work for us is the fact that Marvel is backing them up, there’s a new Inhumans show to play off of (Arrowverse style), and a lot of the other ABC shows are not doing so great. We have a chance, and the more noise we make, the better the chances are.

That said, my guess is that they’re smart enough to do something that can work as both a series or season finale. The finale of Agent Carter is a good example of this. At the very least, we have the hope that anything that isn’t resolved here is resolved in other MCU series or movies.

Well, anon, I hope that addresses your concerns! That’s the best case I can make! Obviously, these are all my opinions and you have a right to your own, but I hope you don’t feel alone. I hope you can find a little optimism for how 4C will unfold. If it’s terrible, I promise I’ll call them out on it like I have in the past. For now though, I’m looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us. I hope I’ve helped you look forward to that as well.

#Meta of Agent 85 #AoS criticism #Anons of Agent 85 #Answers of Agent 85 #TW: rape #AoS spoilers

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