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#avatar as a concept is really great
albino-whumpee · 2 years
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Finished watching the space kitties movie and I got thoughts.
I hate the story of avatar. It doesn’t make sense! Compels me tho.
I have said this since I watched it the first time. What I liked about the movie was the world. I guess that’s the only thing the narrative did for me. (Think that the world was that captivating)
Anyways, I watched this movie last time when I was like 15? 13? However, don’t be fooled. By then I had already watched it more than 50 times. 50 of those from a terribly recorded pirated movie my parents bought me. So I know the story inside and out, but I was a kid and holy fuck, I would throw that kid off a cliff anytime. I wanna think my critical thinking has improved since then.
The Pocahontas storyline is absolutely true, in the same amount that it is a fantasy for the main character. New world, new body, new people to make an impression on. Kinda isekai ahahah.
The way things fall in the best course of events to have a dramatic twist later is like patchwork for a story full of holes. I mean, the movie has the “i see you” and “open your eyes” motif all throughout it, but what do they mean inside the story itself?
Connection.
This is so blatant in everything from the way the protagonist gets into the program, the function of everything in the planet, to how the avatars work. To how the protagonist, an alien puppet, becomes a part of their people.
That is the dream of one Jake Sully. His dreams of flying were about fleeing? About being free to do as he pleased? About stopping being “himself” and be something else entirely and yet be seen as who he was?
It’s funny a story that is about connection relies heavily in the question of “who are you really?” And runs with the option “I wanna be the second version of myself that’s completely fake”
Escapism.
No wonder I loved this movie when I was young.
To me, the story is one big beautiful dream that has the potential to become a nightmare.
But if we kinda dig deeper into some things, there was so much wasted potential.
- The avatars are created using dna from humans and the kitties. But there’s really never information that talks about the avatars state when not in use. It’s taking a big ass leap to say “neural connections is what makes a consciousness a person. How that synapses happens is unique to each individual and can be recreated even in another brain”. But running with it…
- Avatars are an incredible project if thinking about permanently switching the brain where the connection happens. Imagine that. A new body to transfer your consciousness to. Forever. Blue kitties is just a form you could have.
- Avatars are incapable of forming their own consciousness? Can they wake up from their dream? The movie shows the death of an avatar controller but doesn’t show what happens to the avatar. Did it die of natural causes a few days later? Or did it die alongside its controller? It’s so creepy to think it’s a biological suit.
- That brings me to another thing. The native kitties knew about the puppets and were disgusted by them, butttt, they don’t really act logically when the protagonist says “I wanna learn” because they go “…we wanna learn from you too. Come! Be part of our tribe! :)” like..??? Where is the hostility??? It pops on and off as the story sees fit and that’s so annoying. (And the trying to upload all of someone into another body? I mean, I would have loved to see the thought process for that)
- It’s kinda awkward to see the “let’s learn from you” phase of the story be written like that after so much whump reading. As if the character was trusted from the beginning, he wasn’t observed. He was literally pulled to learn from them rather than them learn from him. It’s such a big loophole and I think if it had been exploited a bit more, giving time and more thought to the protagonist actions to get their trust, it would have been great. Maybe even showing more than a one second attempt to reach by some random kiddo being intercepted by her parents would have been amazing to show this. (I’m aware that this was supposed to be shown with the other guy, but the lack of solitary moments because the girl was always with him muddled it up)
- People don’t blend in into the culture like that and I hate there was no cultural shock shown in order to keep the escapism motif. Like damn, that’s the best nonverbal way to show someone has to wake up!!!
- Also, the protagonist is supposed to be no much brain only brawn and with a big need to escape his life. So his actions make sense, but in a way, gah, an smarter protagonist would have been cool to see. Our regular guy trope is not so fun when our regular guy is modeled after a mediocre white man.
- No, but the fact that the guy’s personality was a big part of the conflict pisses me off. If you wanna show there’s an amazing world you wanna and should protect that’s ~real~ then why cater to this specific dude’s fantasy? Because he is owed that much? Because he is the protagonist?? His problems got solved too easy to be satisfactory. (Even in the war?!)
Sorry for the word vomiting but if anything this movie has left me with yet another great idea for a puppet whumpee horror story. :D
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sapphic-agent · 3 months
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Let's Talk About How Book 3 Ruined Aang
If you've seen any of my prior ATLA posts, you know that I don't hate Aang. In fact, I quite liked him in Books 1 and 2. He was flawed, as all characters should be, but the show didn't shy away from those flaws or justify them. He was called out for burning Katara and rushing his firebending, Sokka and Katara were rightfully upset when he hid Hakoda's letter, he willingly owns up to the fact that his actions helped drive Toph away, and his entire arc after losing Appa and finding hope again in The Serpent's Path was beautifully done.
(Hell, even in The Great Divide Katara says what Aang did was wrong and he agrees. It's played for comedy, but the show still makes the effort to point out that what he did wasn't the right thing to do. You're just meant to understand that he was fed up and acted off of that)
Those flaws and mistakes were addressed and improved upon and helped Aang to grow as a character.
But for some reason, that aspect of Aang's character was completely flipped in Book 3.
The best examples of this are in both TDBS and EIP. Both the show and the fandom are too quick to brush off that Aang kissed Katara twice without her consent, one of which after she explicitly said she was confused about her feelings.
(And yes, she is angry in response and Aang calls himself an idiot. But after this, it isn't really addressed. They go on like nothing happened for the rest of the episode. Aang's lamentation comes from screwing things up with her romantically, not that he violated boundaries)
The show never really addressed why what he did was wrong. Not only because he wasn't given consent, but also because both times he isn't thinking about what Katara wants. In both instances, Aang is only thinking about himself and his feelings. This is something that persists through a lot of the third book. And by Sozin's Comet it ultimately ruins any character development he had built up in the second book.
One thing I feel was completely disregarded was the concept of having to let go of Katara in order to master the Avatar State.
For me, the implication wasn't that he had to give up love or happiness necessarily. He was emotionally attached to and reliant on Katara, to the point where she was needed to stop him from hurting everyone around him and himself. This is obviously detrimental to his functionality as the Avatar. And the point of him "letting her go" wasn't that he had to stop caring about her, it was that his emotional dependency on her was stopping him from being the Avatar he needed to be and that was what needed to be fixed. I don't even think it's about the Avatar State itself, it's about being able to keep your emotions and duty as the Avatar separate.
(If you look at Roku, he loved and had a wife. It wasn't his love for her that messed everything up, it was his attachment to Sozin. He wasn't able to let Sozin go and not only did he lose his life for it, the world suffered for it. It's the unhealthy attachments that seem to be detrimental, not love itself)
And Aang realizes that in the catacombs, which is how he's able to easily enter the Avatar State and seemingly control it. He let Katara go.
So then why does it seem like his attachment to Katara is not only stronger, but worse in mannerism? He liked Katara in Books 1 and 2- obviously- but he was never overly jealous of Jet or Haru. He only makes one harmless comment in Book 2 when Sokka suggests Katara kiss Jet.
But suddenly he's insanely jealous of Zuko (to the point of getting frustrated with Katara over it), off the basis of the actions of actors in a clearly misrepresentative play. Katara showed a lot more interest in Jet and Aang was completely fine with it.
(Speaking of EIP, Aang's reaction to being played by a woman was interesting. He wore a flower crown in The Cave of Two Lovers. He wove Katara a flower necklace. He wore Kyoshi's clothes and makeup and made a funny girl voice. He willingly responded to Twinkle Toes and had no issue being called that. And for some reason he's genuinely upset about being played by a woman? Aang in Books 1 and 2 would have laughed and enjoyed the show like Toph did. His aversion to feminity felt vastly out of character)
I guess my point is, why did that change? Why was Aang letting go of Katara suddenly irrelevant to the Avatar State? It felt like him letting go was supposed to be a major part of his development. Why did that stop?
Myself and many others have talked about The Southern Raiders. The jist of my thought process about it is his assumption that he knew what was best for Katara. And the episode doesn't really call out why he was wrong. Maybe sparing Yon Rha was better for Katara, maybe it wasn't (the only one who's allowed to make that choice is her). Pushing forgiveness? That was wrong. But the episode has Zuko say that Aang was right when the course of action Katara took wasn't what Aang suggested.
Katara's lesson here was that killing him wouldn't bring back her mother or mend the pain she was going through and that Yon Rha wasn't worth the effort. That's what she realizes. Not that she needed to embrace forgiveness. How could she ever forgive that? The episode saying Aang was right wasn't true. Yes she forgives Zuko, but that wasn't what Aang was talking about. He was specifically talking about Yon Rha.
And that was wrong. Aang can choose the path of forgiveness, that's fine. That's his choice. But dismissing Katara's trauma in favor of his morals and upbringing wasn't okay.
I know it sounds like this is just bashing Kataang. But it's not simply because I don't like Kataang, in my opinion it brings down Aang's character too, not just Katara's. But let's steer away from Kataang and Katara for a minute.
The one thing that solidifies Aang's character being ruined in Book 3 for me is the fact that he- at the end of the story- does the same thing he did in the beginning.
He runs away when things get hard.
Aang couldn't make the choice between his duty and his morals. So he ran. Maybe it wasn't intentional, but subconsciously he wanted an out. And this is really disappointing when one of the things he was firm about in Book 2 was not running anymore. His character went backwards here and that's not even getting into the real issue in Sozin's Comet.
There's been contention about the Lion Turtle intervention. For many- including myself- it's very deus ex machina to save Aang from having to make a hard decision. And that in turn doesn't reflect kindly on his character.
Everyone- Sokka, Zuko, Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, and Yangchen (who was another Airbender and was raised with the same beliefs he was and would understand which was the whole point of him talking to her)- told him he had to kill Ozai. They all told him it was the only way. And he refused to listen to any of them, rotating through his past lives until he was given the answer he wanted.
And before anyone says that I'm bashing Aang for following his culture, I'm not. Ending the war peacefully, in my opinion, wasn't the problem. In a way, I think it allowed the world to heal properly. However, that doesn't make up for the fact that Aang refused to make a choice and face the consequences of that choice. Instead, he's given an out at the very last second.
Even if he couldn't kill Ozai and someone else had to deliver the final blow, that would have been better than the Lion Turtle showing up and giving him a power no one's ever had before. It would have been a good compromise, he doesn't have to have blood directly on his hands but what needs to be done needs to still get done. It would also show that being the Avatar isn't a burden he has to bear alone. That when things get hard, he can't run away but he can rely on the people closest to him to help him through hard decisions.
All these issues aren't necessarily a problem with Aang. Aang prior to Book 3 didn't have most of these problems. This is a problem with the way he was handled
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lovelybrooke · 1 year
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Platonic Yandere Sully Family x human reader Concept.
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I've wanted to write for the sully family for so long, but never got the opportunity because I couldn't see the movie. Now that I have, here are some headcanons. Also please request for Avatar in the future, I won't shut up about it. (Let's just pretend no one dies okay!)
For context, you're younger than Neteyam, Lo'ak, and Kiri, but younger than Tuk. I couldn't find official ages for them, so I had to guess, sorry.
You were like Spider, a human who was left on Pandora after the sky people were force out. Since you were young at the time, you were unable to be sent back to earth, and were given the privilege of living on what's left of the research bases near the Omaticaya clan. I won't go into the details of your parents, but I can another time.
Unlike Spider, as you grew, you preferred to say away from the Na'vi. Not because you thought they were savages like the sky people wanted you to believe, you were smarter than that. You were just...shy. You preferred to say in your little bunker, by yourself, away from the unfamiliar land of Pandora.
However, Eywa had other plans.
It started with Spider, who thought it would be really cool, and definitely not annoying, to bring the Sully kids around the research base. You and spider were not friends, a least, that what you thought. Spider thought you were great, since you were really the only human he could really relate to. You were also left on this unfamiliar land, by yourself, with a bunch of nerds to take care of you. You and Spider were much closer when you were younger, but as you aged, you went separate ways, Spider running headfirst towards Pandora, while you remained stagnant.
Anyway, when Spider would bring Lo'ak and Kiri around, you would hide off in your corner, alone. You didn't want to talk with them, occupying yourself with "homework" that the other scientists would give you, most of which would consist of history on the Na'vi or even earth itself, which you didn't spend a lot of time on.
When you weren't able to escape the Sully children, you were forced to spend time with them. Lo'ak was extremely interested in you, since you knew a lot about the Na'vi and its culture, but never spent any of your time outside the research base. He thought you were strange, but if he was being honest, it was something he liked about you. After a while, he started treating you like a sibling and would encourage you to explore Pandora with him and Spider.
Kiri loved you. You both shared a sort of standoffish nature, and she felt like you could relate to her like no one else could. She liked learning about humans from you and loves watching videos of her mother with you. Often, when she if fighting with her siblings, she'll come to you and rant about them to you. This will last for a while.
As time went on, your relationship with the two Navi grew. However, they both grew frustrated with your reluctance to leave the base. They didn't understand, Pandora is a beautiful place, and with them, you'll be safe. They wanted you to meet their family, since they already saw you as a part of it.
They didn't understand that your reluctance came from their parents. You knew how strong Jake Sully is, how strong Toruk Makto is, and you really didn't want him to know that his children were hanging out with a 'demon'. Neytiri scared you the most though. Humans destroyed her land, her home, and killed her family. You knew she did not like Spider, so why would she like you?
With much corrosion an oxygeen mask was put on you and you were let into Pandora. Honesty, you were like a small child seeing new colors for the first time. It was great seeing all the plants and animals that you've only read about in notes.
Kiri and Lo'ak introduced you to Tuk and Neteyam before introducing you to their parents. They have both already heard of you before your meeting, and while Tuk was excited to meet you, Neteyam was less so. Tuk being just 8 was excited about everything, but oh loud does she love you. She loves to play with you, and like Kiri she loves stories about humans. Sometimes you sneak her game consoles so you can play with her. Overall, she just loves spending time with you.
Neteyam knows that spending time with you is wrong, especially since his parents wouldn't approve of it. However, he just can't help but view you as another sibling in need of his protection. He's usually the one who take you to and from the base, since he's the one most concerned with your safety. He's also the one that helps you with your Na'vi. While he tells you it because you sound like a baby talking for the first time, it really so that his parents will like you better when you meet them.
The kids all have a secret understanding that you in fact, are their sibling. They don't care if you're human, a demon. They believe that you were meant to be a part of their family, and that Eywa drove them to you, so you could all be together. Even though, they knew at least one of their parents would never fully accept you. So, they planned on keeping you a secret for a while. Emphasis on planned. Because they were not prepared for Tuk going on a playful rant about her "super cool human friend who showed her cool toys and read her cool stories." Lo'ak tried to shut her up, but it was no use, because the moment Neytiri heard the word 'human' she was furious, forbidding them from meeting with you again. In an instant, Tuk was crying, Kiri was freaking, her and Lo'ak swearing that you were harmless and just a kid. When Neteyam started defending you was when Jake decided enough was enough and he would go meet you himself and decide whether or not you were fit to be around his children. Neytiri was upset, accusing him of taking the side of a demon, but when she was reminded of her mate's demon heritage, she cooled down a bit.
Jake didn't expect much from you. He expected you to be just like Spider, a child meddling in a culture he understood nothing about. However, when he did finally meet you one day at the research base you called home, he realized how wrong he was. You were like Spider in the curiosity department; however, you didn't take any interest in assimilating with the Na'vi. In fact, you were most interested in the idealist version of Earth the scientist fed to you. It took a while for you to warm up to him, however when you did talk to him, it was almost always questions about Earth, and as he got to know you, he didn't have the heart to tell you the truth about the status of Earth, neither did any of the scientists.
As Jake got to know you, he started to view you as his child. Much to the annoyance of Neytiri and the excitement of his children, he started bringing you around more often. He couldn't deny the since of fatherly love that would fill him when he saw your shy façade break and goof around with his children. Knowingly or not, he was trying to assimilate you into his family. You started spending less and less time with the researchers and more time with the Sullys. Soon, Jake unknowingly became a part of the plan to make you an actual Sully.
The one roadblock in that plan was Neytiri. She firmly believed you were an outsider, a demon, and that you would never be a part of her family. It didn't matter how much time you spent with them; your time was always cut short by Neytiri demanding you to go home. It even got to the point where Neytiri was threatening you to stay away from her children. Her behavior caused you to spend less and less time with the Sully's, and while Neytiri was happy, if eventually caused a fight between her and Jake. Jake said you were a child and needed their protection, while Neytiri claimed that it wasn't their business.
Due to her children, and mates, stubbornness, your presents was common, even if Neytiri didn't like it. Jake suggested that she try and bond with you, and while she barely knew what that met, she attempted for him. She would request your help while preparing meals or assisting with basic task. While it took a while, you began to warm on her. It wasn't until a minor attack by a wild animal where you were barely harmed that Neytiri realized how much you mattered to her. She viewed you as a baby, and eventually agreed that you were safer with them.
(This got too long, so expect a part two soon. Also please request for Avatar I'm obsessed.)
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mochatsin · 9 months
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WHEN THEY FEEL THEIR SINS ON MC
You’re a human, a vessel of various emotions and feelings. You’re far different from the brother’s who’s more affected by their own respective sins that dominate their emotions and personality. But being the avatars of their own sins, that means they can sense it on other demons and humans. You're no exception.
this is just a silly little thing stuck in my head. so just imagine if gluttony demons can feel other people's hunger or if a wrath demon can feel other's anger. enjoy !!
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Lucifer
As much as you try to hide it, Lucifer knows very well when he can feel the pride from you. At first it irritated him, especially when pride is imminent whenever you successfully forge a pact with his brothers. He saw that sense of pride as a threat to his loved ones when he had no clue why you needed to forge pacts. 
But when he gets to know you and your intentions better, he knows that this kind of pride comes from a good place like trying to fix his family. Afterall he can’t blame you for feeling that way when you’re able to bring the seven rulers to their knees. He’s thankful you never abused this power though or he would regret his decision of making a pact with you. 
Whenever you get a good grade in class, cast a powerful spell all on your own, or do a simple task any demon would see as small and easy, he feels how proud and happy you are when you accomplish anything that he could do with a single snap.
He has to remember that you’re a human, and doing what demons can normally do is something you’re allowed to take pride in. 
Feeling pride means he can also tell if it gets damaged. There was a time you were excited to show one of the brothers this spell you worked hard in practicing, but when Mammon said “Eh? That’s such a basic level though.” He didn’t mean to sound insensitive, but words slipped and Lucifer could tell you were hurt deeply. 
Lucifer immediately intervenes and scolds his brothers who undermine your efforts. “They’re a human who had little to no knowledge about magic until coming here to Devildom. Don’t speak to them that way or else.”
He would then turn to you with a gentle look in his eyes “MC, trust me when I say I was very impressed. I know you will become a powerful sorcerer. My brothers could use you as a role model to work harder themselves.” And you do become great with magic… really fast that it’s kind of scary.
When you show him a test you did well in, you were nervous at first since you know that Lucifer probably had perfect marks in it. Though he looks at you with a smile before congratulating you. He even offered to take you out for a treat as a reward.
He adores feeling the pride grow whenever he, the most powerful of the seven rulers, would compliment you and your hard work. He makes an effort to acknowledge you afterwards. Whether it’s pitching a good idea or doing well in a subject you struggled in. 
Absolutely loves knowing that you take pride when you see the brothers are getting along well. Lucifer knows that things have been less chaotic now that he has you by his side as war-level arguments are not as frequent these days. He knows things wouldn’t be like this without you around and he likes the influence you have on his brothers. You deserve to be proud of that.
Mammon
He is the embodiment of Greed and no one can ever compare to him, not when his sin has completely taken over him and his actions as everything he wants to do involves around the concept of getting rich regardless of the method. 
He was willing to bribe, hag, and steal if it meant he got his hands on what he wanted. It’s how his Greed works and he can’t control it.
The surprise he feels whenever there’s a sudden strong aura of sin coming from you, he’s never prepared for it at all. It happened the first time when he and Asmo took you to the mall, and he felt the greed from you.
You didn’t seem like the kind of person who would want material things, but maybe it’s fair when you’re surrounded by all these new and foreign products you can’t find in the human realm. 
You were staring at this well-crafted piece of jewelry, it was unlike anything you’ve seen in the human world and it was enchanting the way it glistens. Its glitters would dance inside like a galaxy of stars encapsulated in such a beautiful glass of your favorite color. You’re drawn to it. You want it. 
Though when Mammon asks you “something caught yer eye over there?” You turn to him with a small smile before shaking your head. You know you can’t afford it yet and you try to move on to forget about it.
It astonishes him that you don’t succumb to this greed despite how strong he can feel it from you. The self-control is admirable but he knows how sometimes it can eat him up inside, he can hardly imagine how you can walk away from it. 
Mammon tries to drag you and Asmo in the store where he feels your greed is strongest. He basically uses this sixth sense of his like a detector, where he keeps an eye on you whenever that sudden desire rises up and he inspects which one it is.
You wondered where he’s been off to whenever classes end until Beel tells you that he spotted him working in Hell’s kitchen once. Maybe he was trying to pay off some debt, since you saw Levi chasing him around the house the other day. 
Much to your surprise, you find Mammon by your door with the jewelry you were admiring the other day at hand as a gift. To Mammon, the big smile on your face was worth the blackhole in his pockets. 
You asked him why he would buy you something so expensive, but most importantly how would he have known you wanted this. You never told anyone after all. Mammon starts turning red, because there’s no way he can admit that he felt your Greed. So he’ll keep that secret for himself. 
He starts taking note whenever you start feeling Greed. They don’t happen as often but when it does, he’d want to see what caught your attention. It’s through these that he learns what were the things you like. It’s an upper hand he has against his brothers to know what's the perfect gift to you, but of course most of the time he can’t afford it anyways. 
Levi
Levi’s envy is the most evident when it involves his interests. If his brothers do better in school? Sports? Style? He wouldn’t really care about such things because it’s just not his thing. But whenever there’s a new wave of Ruri-chan merchandise and he doesn’t get it first, you can expect him to be sulking and throwing a fit on the group chat. 
He’s caught off guard when you were out in the mall one day and while you were trying to buy the latest album of your favorite band, you saw that some other demon already got the last copy.
The aura of envy was gradual and faint, but when that demon who got the copy gave you a nasty look, the spike of emotions was overwhelming for the otaku. 
He knows how envy is something he can feel from other demons, he always felt that when Asmo can’t get his hands on a new beauty product, or even with Beel when any of the brothers have the last extra cookie. But this is the first time in ages that he felt it’s been that strong coming from you. 
You were the last person he expected to feel this way, especially when you turned back to him with a smile. You tell him that you’ll just get a copy when the new batch releases but he definitely knows it's not okay. You waited for this for so long after all. 
Perhaps he could get you what you wanted on Akuzon? With the help of Satan’s connections of course. Levi never wants you to sit with such an uncomfortable feeling, he knows well how it’s hard to hold envy in. You indulge in his interests, he might as well do the same for you.
When that envy is directed towards another person, whether it's a demon or anyone else, he’d try to be comforting since none of his brothers can feel what you do. Unlike demons, humans are better at suppressing these sorts of emotions. 
Some demon is taller and has a better build than you? The other has better grades or better hair? It irritates you often and Levi can feel it. But when that envy starts turning into a form of insecurity then you best bet that he’s the first one to notice and try to do something about it. 
“M-MC um… I know I don't say this a lot but, I'm glad you’re my player two. T-the… best one I could ask for and— AGH DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!!!”
Giving you compliments is hard for him, and trying to not stutter with every word proved to be more difficult. But feeling the envy slowly disappear and seeing that smile on your face was worth it. He reminds himself that it’s for the sake of your self-esteem, he won’t allow you to look down on yourself!!
Satan
It took him many years and human lifespans to be able to master this kind of calm. For a demon that only knew rage, it was difficult for him to be able to control it. The amount of work it took for him to be the calm and respectable person that he is today, you can’t even imagine.
Though most of the time, that well built persona of his slips out and that monster gets unleashed. When that does happen, it’s very hard for him to control himself. Up to the point you or the brothers would have to intervene to stop him from ripping someone apart.
He’s calm, but inside he could feel the burning rage all the time. The wrath cannot compare to other demons, but there was one time that it did and it shocked him to feel such intensity radiating from someone else.
You were in the middle of doing a project that involves drawing a summoning circle for class. Satan was your partner and you were in charge of drawing the outlines for now while he studied the symbols needed for the summoning. 
It was going great until one of your classmates bumped onto your table, making your steady hand accidentally draw against the whole circle. You’re gonna have to redraw the outlines again just when you are about to finish. The demon saw the irritated look on your face and scoffed. 
“Not my fault you were in the way.” the demon would reply and leave. Satan was irritated of course, but he felt the sudden surge of rage from you. Like a match tossed onto gasoline, it burns through your soul. Though you were still calm on the outside because the last thing you need is to pick a fight.
He would pat your shoulder “MC, are you feeling… alright?” you would turn to him with such a gentle smile and say that everything is fine, but the rage was still there that your smile and words was kind of unsettling to him. 
Your wrath does not compare to him of course, but you were the last person he’d expect to feel this kind of burning fire since you’re so sweet and patient all the time. He wonders if this is why you were able to empathize with him whenever he struggles controlling his rage. Maybe you two are more alike than he realizes. So he helps you calm down and redo everything. 
A few minutes after what happened, you could see that the demon from earlier accidentally summoned a colony of fire ants instead of what was actually assigned, and he was punished by getting rid of every ant with his bare hands. No magic. 
Satan just smiles, maybe a certain someone must’ve written their symbols all wrong. He doesn’t play dirty tricks like this in class often, but he wouldn’t mind if it would help quench your wrath down. Though he reminds you to be more honest to him if you’re feeling upset about anything. 
He becomes more observant on your wrath levels, taking note of what ticks you off and when he should take you away from the situation or if he should intervene. Insensitive jokes? Bad day? Mammon stealing your things again? Satan is there to make sure you don’t tear something apart (as tempting as that image may be). 
Asmo
What frustrated Asmo at first was that his charms never seemed to work on you. Regardless of his magic or dashing looks, you remain unfazed and he wonders why. Demons or humans, all would be dancing at the palm of his fingers by now!
That doesn’t mean he isn’t going to keep trying though, it just fuels his excitement when he thinks about what he can do just to see that flustered look on your face. 
Sometimes he’s in a slump when one of his advances fails again. None of his brothers offered useful advice and he’s the Avatar of Lust! He should know every play in the book because one of them is bound to work. 
One day while you and the brothers were watching a movie in the living room, he was able to sense a waft of lust in the room and his eyes frantically searched for the source. Oh to his surprise to see that it was coming from you. 
The Lust comes from attraction, and a certain scene from this movie stirred up some feelings. You’re quiet about it and focused on the film, unaware that Asmo now has his eyes on you.
He started becoming more observant to the times he feels that faint aura. When this character in the film said some sweet romantic words, or maybe even something bold and daring, Asmo would pick up on those cues. 
From then on he would mimic the moves that would make you swoon and there is a devious smirk on his face whenever they work. He knows what are the right buttons to push and he’s loving every single reaction he gets from you. 
As fun as this is, he does love how he learns more about the new things you like. He finds out what pet names you like just and which love language you prefer, all by observing how strong your aura gets. Sometimes when he just does something sweet for you, he would feel the butterflies.
Given the kind demons he’s surrounded himself with, he only found out his senses aren’t just limited to sexual desire. It counts for attraction and he feels that more often when he’s around you. It’s a new and strange sensation, but it was welcomed. 
“You look absolutely stunning today sweetheart” he would always tell you every morning to feel those butterflies again. It’s a good mood booster for the both of you. 
If you’re at that point where you’re comfortable being intimate with him, Asmo would definitely use this sense like a meter to know when’s the best time to ask for kisses and… maybe something more. 
Beel 
It’s an understatement to say that Beel is just “hungry all the time.” He’s famished, with a never ending appetite and constant demand for food. 
When he goes too long without it, you can say that for a moment, he becomes Wrath. Though it doesn’t compare to Satan’s rampages, it still does quite a lot of property damage accompanied with a large bill and a 3 hour lecture from Lucifer. 
He never really pays attention when he feels the hunger from other demons whenever he would eat a meal meant for 5 people. Though he wondered why he never felt that from you when you first came down here in Devildom. 
It was only when you both visited purgatory hall did he feel the hunger from you when you saw all the baked goods Luke made for a taste testing session. It was the kind of hunger where he could say that your mouth would've been watering if you let it. 
He practices some restraint and lets you take the first few cupcakes and sugar cookies. As hungry as he was, he wanted you to enjoy it first because he knows that the moment he picks up a tray of sweets, it’s gone in a matter of seconds. 
Despite your hunger, you noticed how he’s staring at you (or the food) so intently and decided to offer him a cupcake. That made him look at you confusingly, why would you offer him the food you seem to be craving for so much?
“MC… do you not like the food in Devildom?” He asks since your Gluttony has never been this strong before “I guess it’s just that I haven't seen you enjoy food like this when we eat our dinners at the house.”
After you explained, it’s only then that he realized that because a lot of the food and ingredients were so foreign (and unsafe), it never triggered your appetite. 
He can’t really blame you when the menu consists of bat wings, bufo toads, and more creatures that would sound unappealing for a human. He never noticed the loss of appetite since he was too busy stuffing his own mouth with food. 
Beel took note whenever your hunger is satiated so he’d know what kind of food you’d want to eat. He also finds out which ones aren’t your fancy. Sweets treats? Savory things? Spicy ones? Beel will know which one you’re a glutton for. Would probably inform Lucifer to make sure some of your meals accommodate your tastes while staying here. 
Whenever he notices that you’re hungry, Beel would take you to certain restaurants (which is safe for humans) that he thinks you might like once he knows what your tastes are. He likes seeing the happy smile on your face when you eat something delicious. 
Beel tries to avoid eating the things that you like since he can really just eat anything else. You deserve to eat your comfort foods after all! But in the event that he does, accident or not, he’ll apologize to you nonstop.
Belphie
You would say that he could sense any sort of laziness radiating from demons, but he’s always asleep in the attic to even notice it. He’s aware of it regardless but it’s never really useful. 
Belphie felt it the most in this house whenever he would pass by Lucifer’s office. Always radiating with fatigue it’s almost infectious, though Belphie doesn’t really care much. It’s what he gets for working with Diavolo. 
However, there was one time he went down the kitchen to get some water and found you by the living room staying up to study. The coffee that Satan made for you wasn’t really working anymore and you’re the only one left in the living room trying to study. 
He felt how sluggish and heavy your aura was as you desperately tried to stay awake. There was a test upcoming and you wanted to learn all that you could, but it’s not working anymore and Belphie knew that when he walked up to you. 
“You know you’re not gonna get anything done at this point… it’s late, come on let's go to bed” normally you would decline his offer to sleep, but since you were so tired you agreed. You both slept peacefully in your room and he could tell that you were more energized than last night. 
Belphie started taking note of the times you’re feeling a little sleepy or lazy. Most of which happens in one of the classes you’re not really interested in. If not that, then it’s the amount of work you have to do as a human exchange representative or as someone babysitting seven demons. You need a break. 
He would be the one to remind you to rest if the sluggish aura around you was getting stronger. Belphie would always be the first to know that you’re tired before you could even realize it yourself, and in the end he’s always right. 
Whenever you have chores to do but are too tired, Belphie would ask (or nag) one of the brothers to do it for you. They have a hard time saying no if Belphie says it's for your sake. Most of the time it’s true, though he would sometimes use it as an excuse to get out of his own chores too. 
He noticed that you don’t really decline when you’re tired every time he asks you to nap with him. It’s a window of opportunity and he’s going to exploit it if that means you both get to cuddle up together in the attic or in your room. It’s a win for the both of you.  
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hobiebrownismygod · 7 months
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hey how about a margo study (spiderbyte). she has so little screentime and as far as i know no real comic book lore
Researching Characters so you don't have to Part 6: Who is Margo Kess/Spider-byte?
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Origins:
Margo Kess lives in a time where everyone spends most of their time in VR. If you've ever seen Ready Player 1, its a really similar concept. Everyone has their own virtual avatar and they all exist in a place called Cyberspace.
She hooks herself up to this network through a computer in her school's computer lab, and connects to her avatar, Spider-byte, that way. She thinks of herself as a kind of community service member, and spends her time tracking down cyber-criminals and helps people.
Powers:
She's not your average avatar. Her intellectual prowess and great knowledge of computers helped her hack the network to create these powers for herself. She can teleport through Cyberspace and uses her arms can stretch like we saw in the spiderverse movie.
She programmed her skills and armor to boost her speed and strength all by herself. Her cybernetic armor provides protection and keeps her identity a secret.
In the comics, Ghost Spider eventually recruits her to fight the Inheritors, but thats not really a part of the Margo Kess character we saw in the spiderverse movie so I'm not gonna get into it.
But other than that, there's really no other information about her origins or her powers. She doesn't have her own comic series, but hopefully she gets one eventually!
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cer-rata · 2 months
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An incomplete but very angry diatribe about the missed potential of the Star Sapphires
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So back in the day Geoff Johns and co decided to open up the Green Lantern mythos and add some more flavor and expand the concept of sci-fi tech powered by elemental emotion to more than just willpower. Which yes, is not an emotion, we ignore it and move on.
Anyway we got some really cool stuff! A rage tyrant fueled by experiencing incredible injustice on a personal and cosmic scale, whose vendetta twisted him into something terrible. An avatar of greed who was never allowed to have anything, not freedom, not family, not safety, who takes and takes and takes to fill a void that can never be satisfied. A priest who lost everything but presses on through his unshakable hope that the future can and will be better. It's a lot of fun stuff!
So in this great creative re-imagining, they had to do something clever and fun with the idea of an all female corps powered by love right? They took the opportunity to move past the purely romantic, sexual idea of love and the obsessed femme fatale archetype, because they had the chance to really explore different types of affection now that there were a bunch of different avatars with different stories to pull from right?
Right?
Nope! The only Sapphires we ever learn about are heartbroken over a cursed romance like Carol, grieving a dead fiance like Miri Riam, forcibly mind controlled to be one like Fatality, or just Miss Bloss who...kind of said she wanted to join up? No clue what her deal is, as far as I'm aware that's never really explained. And then we just never learn about anyone else, and still haven't. The hell is "The Lost Sapphire"? No idea, we'll likely never know.
It's frustrating because not only is this a glaring example of the depth of plotlines offered to women in comics compared to their male counterparts, but also a wild lack of imagination. Love is one of the most complicated emotions we experience. Fear, anger, hope, all pretty easy to quickly define. Love is multifaceted, cultural, incredibly contextual and a factor in so many different kinds of relationship. Just thinking logically it should be much easier to flesh out the motivations of a group pulling from such a nuanced source of power, versus something as clear-cut as rage. But no, the red lanterns got so many varied reasons for their rage, the male ones especially: Bleez being the woman was of course given the SA narrative, which I don't think is inappropriate on its own, that's an incredibly valid reason to be angry, but as the ONLY truly prominent female Red Lantern it's like...c'mon guys. But still, at least she and Atrocitus had different reasons for becoming what they are, and that variation was played for plot and drama.
But there's not a single Star Sapphire that personally champions something other than romantic love. And before you shoot me, it is explicitly mentioned that they DO protect other forms of love, so there's no reason for them to all be sexy and obsessed with kissing people. There are no Sapphires that are driven by:
The love of their children and families, even in a tragic sense, like Atrocitus and Saint Walker and Larfleez are...
Their love of their people, or their culture. It would have been interesting if Fatality was inducted BECAUSE of her pain at losing her world, but no, they just...replaced her anger with lovey vibes and called it a day.
Their love for nature. Not everyone is social, but social love isn't the only way to strongly experience the emotion.
Their love for themselves. Where is the fun narcissistic ass who loves their own self image to the point of getting powers? It would have been a fun twist and a cool way to get another villainous Sapphire if you wanted to.
Their platonic love of ANYTHING really. Are ace/aro people just...not capable of love then? It doesn't mean anything to be willing to drive cross country to help a friend move just because they needed it and you care? No? You need to be fucking for it to count?
It's like...fascinating if you really think about it. In this vast fantasy universe full of alien races with wildly different perceptions and life cycles, and where the other corps have plenty of non-human, truly alien looking members, that the women's only love corps is full of only hot hot scantily clad baddies. Most love that people experience in their lives isn't even romantic! You will have far more experiences with friends and family members and even loving strangers than you will have with romantic partners.
Like the reason is clearly sexism, duh, but we know sexism is bad, that's obvious, what I really want to make clear is how much this blatant, unexplored sexism just completely desecrated the potential of the worldbuilding here.
From another angle even: Let's say this this WAS the sex and romance all the time corps. Let's say that you wanted to keep it all women. I hate the idea that women are capable of love in a way that men aren't, that's such a bad take and just regressive and unhelpful, but let's just play ball for a moment. They're not even hot? Their designs are such ridiculously narrow versions of feminine attractiveness that they're not even successful at really being mass appeal sexy. I haven't even reached the point of complaining about the fatphobia and criminal lack of different body types yet, I'm still just saying that from the standpoint of fantasy sexy it's not even good at being stereotypical offensive fantasy sexy. It's just boring! They're all so visually boring! You can be scantily clad and still have an interesting and coherent character design! But that is not what they gave these women! They actually redesigned the classic Star Sapphire costume and made it MORE sexist and boring:
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Yeah it was cheesy but it was also cute and fun? The design is playful classic sci-fi girl and this is when she was still a dangerous unhinged villain. Its fun to look at and feels tonally coherent next to Green Lantern.
And then they just...
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No actually, I will not explain this one, you have eyes.
And yeah they fixed her costume finally,
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But! She's still stuck as Hal Jordan's romantic punching bag, and has not gotten to have any new adventures on her own.
So.
What I'm saying is it's a flop all around. 2/10, and only because despite everything Fatality STILL managed to serve. I actually think that all of the corps have been poorly used since blackest night, even the greens actually, but they never even gave the Sapphires a chance. They last showed up in...a WW annual I think? During the whole dark gods event, they needed Diana to help them fight the evil god of love, and there was a guy in the corp finally, and they talked about sisterhood and then we haven't heard a peep from them since. I think Carol might be due to get her ring back in the GL ongoing but she's not really been treated well so far, so I'm not hopeful for anything fresh and well reasoned.
So my lovely ladies (and that one unnamed guy), until they let you get it together it may be time to
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thesoftboiledegg · 7 months
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"Auto Erotic Assimilation" from season two is one of my least favorite episodes because it takes one of the queerest concepts in the series and makes it aggressively heterosexual. Aside from a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene with one male alien and a joke about Rick possibly contracting STDs from coal miners, most of the episode is a straight male power fantasy.
"Look at all the hot women with big boobs throwing themselves at Rick! He's the man! Unity's avatar is another alien lady with big boobs! Don't worry, folks--even if Rick talks to a man, he's really talking to HER! Don't you wish you were him, straight male viewer? Sexy alien orgies everywhere!"
The episode does have poignant moments and famously culminates with Rick's suicide attempt after reading Unity's final message, but a third of the plot is just a goofy teenage boy's fantasy. I watch it when I rewatch the entire series, but that's the only time I expose myself to that one.
When I saw screenshots from this episode that featured Unity, I thought "Oh God, not this again." Just let it stay in season two!
Admittedly, "Air Force Wong" handled Unity with more maturity. If this episode aired in season two or three, a bunch of sexy women probably would've mobbed Rick as soon as he stepped foot in Virginia. Here, the writers focused solely on the characters' relationships--not just Rick and Unity but Rick, President Curtis and Dr. Wong and their web of interactions.
I liked how Rick referred to Unity as "them," although he starts using "she" pronouns when she disconnects from the hivemind. This highlights one of my issues from the original episode: Unity is a hivemind, but she's also a hot, sexy alien babe who controls everybody, which are two opposing concepts. This seems like a backdoor way to make Rick's interactions Certified Hetero (which is probably what it was, to be honest.)
I also thought the resolution was unsatisfying. Unity's note at the end of "Auto Erotic Assimilation" makes it clear that she and Rick just make each other worse, but "Air Force Wong" implies that they should have stayed in touch. I was hoping Rick would get closure by ending it for good, but it seems like they're maintaining their distant but toxic connection.
I did like how the end of "Air Force Wong" parallels "Auto Erotic Assimilation." Rick heads back to the garage to drink, but instead of attempting suicide again, he decides to visit the president and put aside some of their differences. Like Dr. Wong says: it's a slow process, but he's changing!
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Aside from that, I loved this episode. President Curtis was hilarious ("Civil war, baby!" is already one of my favorite season seven lines), and he's as petty as ever. In fact, he's so petty that he was willing to enslave the entire Earth just for a 100% approval rating. He makes Rick look calm and responsible!
As usual, Dr. Wong was the voice of reason. She could've been just a crowd-pleasing cameo, but she guided Rick through his interactions and helped him remain stable in the face of emotional turmoil. While she flirted with the president, she didn't lose herself in some unprofessional whirlwind romance.
After watching "Pickle Rick" in 2017, who would have thought that Rick would not only willingly see Dr. Wong every week but try to punch the president to protect her honor? I wondered if he had a crush on her, but nothing he said implied romantic feelings, so I think he just feels protective over her because he distrusts the president.
Likewise, we're getting glimpses of how Rick treats his family: apologizing to Summer, sticking up for Morty when President Curtis insults him (I half-expected Rick to ruin that by giving Morty shit, but he didn't.) Morty sticking up for himself was nice, although man, the writers are underusing him. I think the president had more lines in "Air Force Wong" than Morty's had in these entire three episodes. And Morty's name is in the title!
Otherwise, setting up Prime's return was great. We're probably going to have a slow drip as season seven builds to their next confrontation. It seems like most of the trailer scenes are from the first four episodes and maybe "Wet Kuat Amortican Summer," so who knows what's in store for the other five.
And I mean--the Unity scenes weren't bad. Most of my issues are holdovers from 2015, which the writers can't change now. I'd prefer not to revisit it again, though. That's like taking another trip to Gazorpazorp.
Then again, later seasons have been correcting earlier issues (Summer saying "Sorry, Rick, but your opinion means very little to me" is one of my favorites), so revisiting "Raising Gazorpazorp" with a feminist lens could be another middle finger to the dudebros who are crying for Roiland's return and howling as Ian Cardoni outpaces him.
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For all it’s oh these things are a sign of madness, all the activities said to be done by spiral avatars is actually really fun. Like making monstrosities of clay, coffee which keeps you up at night, even drawing fractals it’s really rather relaxing it gets you into a zen meditative state, repeating the same sets of rules over and over again.
Like the voice of Michael and it’s rants are calming, they don’t really go on as lengthy rants as we remember and they don’t use so many metaphors or poetic descriptions.
But yeah the spiral for all it’s maddenings actually is pretty chill.
Also think about it letting go of certainty and right or wrong is so freeing, you’re just a deluded liar and so’s everything else. If someone is rude to you well that’s what they believe, it’s not really an us thing.
Also you start to think more abstractly, like as in being able to see how arbitrary and made up language and mathematics is, and social structures too.
Also then there is the ideas of absurdity, like we are nothing and kind of something, all things lie, and we’re no exception. So like accept others, because to them their delusions are truth as are your own.
Like chill out and stop trying to impose logic on yourself and others when you are illogical, abstract concepts
You know? It’s actually really great
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sokkastyles · 9 months
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It's really interesting to me that in the preview pages for "Azula in the Spirit Temple," Azula's dream includes everyone validating her in the ways she blames them for not doing in reality. Iroh praises her for conquering Ba Sing Se, because in the real world Azula resented him for not doing that. Her mother praises her for becoming fire lord, because in the real world Azula becoming fire lord led to her realization that she'd driven away the people she loved in search of power and control - which is the meaning of the conversation Azula has with the image of her mother in the finale. Zuko praises her for capturing the Avatar, something he could not do and eventually abandoned in favor of leaving the family altogether, something Azula deeply resented him doing. It's also interesting that Zuko doesn't have a scar, and looks very much like his younger self instead of his current self in Azula's ideal world, because it means Azula's ideal is that he never spoke out and was never burned and banished.
I've already seen some people remarking on this, but to me it's not really a sign that Azula cares about Zuko, the real Zuko. More that she blames him for his abuse, as is common in abusive households especially when one child is made a scapegoat. Because Azula can't blame her father for the abuse, she blames Zuko. If Zuko had never spoken out, he would not have gotten burned, and their father would not have sent him away. So unburned Zuko in Azula's dream never says anything against the Fire Nation.
Azula wants her family to be together, of course she does, but since she can't deal with the reality that her father's abuse is the reason they aren't together, she creates a reality where they never did the things that caused Ozai to drive them away, reflecting how she subconsciously blames them for the things Ozai did to them. This is a reality where Ursa was never banished because of Ozai's ambition, instead she is supportive of it. Iroh never left because he realized conquering Ba Sing Se wasn't as important as he once thought, and instead he praises Azula for doing what he could not.
The appearance of Ruon-Jin telling her she has great hair and smells amazing is just supposed to be a joke and is a cute reminder of Azula being a teenage girl with teenage girl fantasies. It appears last and makes little sense and feels like a non-sequitor because it's meant to emphasize the non-reality of the scene.
The scene is sweet and sad for what it says about Azula's need for her family, but it also emphasizes how warped Azula's conception is, that the world where everyone is happy can only exist in her mind if none of them ever spoke out against her father's evil and everything was centered on her and her accomplishments instead.
This could be a lead-in to Azula realizing this is a future she does not want, like Zuko's dream in "The Earth King" where he is fire lord and has no scar. Azula's dream in this comic gives me the same sense of unease, a portrait of a reality where she gets what she wants but the world suffers as a result.
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ashironie · 3 months
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I don’t have a good feeling about Celia
I tried to post this earlier but it got deleted so fuck
But from so many standpoints she just irks me
-She has the same character archetype as Alice. Many have pointed out their similarities and while this by itself isn’t much (as is everything on this list) with everything else it makes me weirded out
-She just came out of the blue. We had no warning in the episodes before no build up. We were introduced to the concept she was coming and then she came with little fanfare.
-Her introduction to the rest of the cast is a lot different than Sam’s. A lot understated. Maybe Jonny and Alex just didn’t want to do the same thing again but it felt really rushed and weird.
-I cannot see how she can possibly contribute to the plot in any meaningful way if she is just another victim coworker. She was introduced too late to have her death feel like anything but fridging (when you make a character just to kill them for momentary character drama), once again she shares a character archetype with Alice so the only thing that they could give Celia could be given to Alice perfectly fine, and she once again feels forced
-Celia was also too comfortable too quick for me. She just instantly trusted none of her coworkers would report her for talking shit about their boss. She seemed too genuine about everything even though she was in a completely new environment. And she was just so laid back with everything, like sure she might not know the full scale of things but she seems like she’s been their for as long as anyone can remember (something that might be due to the fact I associate this trait with Alice who has been there a long time)
-idk if I’m reaching or going crazy with this one but Alice seemed off. She moreso just said “I’m Alice” and and Aliced all over the place. But as soon as Celia left she said ‘yeah’ sorta suspiciously? Maybe I’m crazy. Then she’s back to herself replying to Gwen, who we can assume is only less interested in what Celia has to say due to the situation she’s found herself in during ep 4 was it? with Lena. The only time we really get to know her thoughts about Celia when she isn’t in front of her is when she’s bugging Sam about his crush on her, and also literally all conversation she has with Celia she also has with Sam and shifts the conversation (aside from just meeting Celia) to Sam (imo). The only time we get her opinions on Celia away from other characters is the little ‘yeah’.
-We don’t see Colin’s reaction to Celia either, which would mark the third episode in a row where Colin is only mentioned (to my knowledge). Though we don’t have any mention that he’s been hostile to her. The only characters that truly talk to her and that we can see their reactions to her are Alice and Sam. One who I’m convinced is suspicious of her and the other who’s ’in love’ with her (I was completely caught off guard by this due to not even thinking about any of that in the very beginnings of a horror podcast, I’m autistic and demiromantic, and because I was half listening the first time I listened. I sense it more but it still feels like a stretch to me before Alice mentions it though makes a lot of sense due to Sam’s reaction to her mentioning it)
-I feel like I’d be amiss to not mention the fact this is the episode we truly have an Avatar in it. Needles is the first avatar we tma enjoyers know as an avatar (in Norris’s statement in ep1 we have the maybe scammer but it’s unclear weather that’s an Avatar, someone being possessed, or something else entirely). Thematically, this would be a great way to establish a connection with Avatar and Celia. She was introduced exactly when Avatars were. Also the episode name could also be a reference to the fact we are having our “introductions” to Avatars thought this episode, but that’s unrelated.
-People has also pointed out Celia is in Tma, same name and same voice actress (so no Michael situation or helen and Mel’s therapist situation [I think I remember them having the same voice actress and that being a problem] here). Although I don’t know what the could mean but that’s actually the reason I decided to rewrite this mini-notsomini-rant.
I could be wrong about all of this and am prepared to be wrong but still, needed to get this out there.
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tobiasdrake · 1 month
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Dragonball has a couple interesting redemptions to talk about. Like Piccolo Jr., where depending on how you interpret his character changes both whether he has any significant crimes to be redeemed of, and the exact moment where this redemption begins. If you hold the Jr. is a seperate individual from Piccolo Daimao, then the only crimes he ever really committed are Attempted Murder (Of Goku) and mass property damage. And if you hold that Piccolo Jr. Was born a demon and lost that demonic status through positive character development, then his redemption technically occurs before he spends any time with Gohan, because he can't have been a demon when he killed Goku and Raditz (As Dragonball establishes that those killed by demons don't go to the afterlife). That scenario really makes you remember that Piccolo Jr. was only 3 years old when he fought Goku. And that's just one possible reading of his character
Piccolo is a complicated entity. There are basically three, arguably four versions of the character - but they are ultimately different facets of the same guy.
There's the original Piccolo-Daimao/Great Demon King Piccolo, of course. What's interesting about Daimao is that he seemingly lacks moral agency.
Piccolo isn't a demon because of how evil he is. He's a demon because, metaphysically, he is a demon. This is not a turn of phrase. It is not a title. It is not a fanciful status you can attain by kicking enough puppies. It is a mythological being.
When the Nameless Namekian ascended to become God, he purged all corruption and wickedness from his heart, and that wickedness became the demon Piccolo. As a demon, Piccolo is literally evil incarnate. He can only know evil. He can only be evil. He is incapable of anything else.
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This man has no true goals, desires, or ambitions. He's just evil. Because he is composed entirely of evil and can know nothing but evil. By circumstances of his existences, he's not even really a person; He is just evil.
Even his idea of world domination is just genocide in slow motion.
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He wants to kill everything for maximum evilness. He has a 43-year plan for disseminating fear, anarchy, and violence around society before he finishes killing all life on this planet. This is not a three-dimensional human being. This is what you get when you put an abstract concept into a body. He is not physically capable of making moral choices.
The moment everything changes is, of course, when Goku presents a very compelling argument that he should get his shit together.
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This is the moment that people often point to as evidence that the two Piccolos are different characters.
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Moments before he spontaneously explodes for... honestly, no clear reason at all... Piccolo speaks to the egg he's reincarnating himself into. It's a weird thing for him to do if the egg contains his own soul or essence or what have you.
But. Well. Contain it, the egg does. Piccolo hatches from his own egg with full continuity of consciousness from his past self. He remembers his identity, he remembers Goku, he remembers God and their relationship, he even remembers the language of his home planet from long before he and God ever divided.
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His identity, his personality, every scrap of knowledge he ever knew, is all intact in this new body. Piccolo identifies himself as the Piccolo-Daimao reborn.
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Which God independently corroborates.
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Piccolo never died; If he had, God would have died as well. God cannot exist if Piccolo-Daimao does not. This is how the metaphysics work.
An argument could be made that a reincarnation is not entirely the same being. It is nonetheless a new life, a new being. Avatar: The Last Airbender goes to great lengths to show how very different the reincarnations of a single person can be, as each incarnation is born as a blank slate.
But. Uh. Piccolo Jr. wasn't born as a blank slate. He was born with Piccolo's memories, identity, personality, ambitions, etc. fully intact. So trying to label him as a brand new person untethered from the old is ultimately splitting hairs.
However.
What he wasn't reborn as, is a demon. And that's where things get interesting.
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Piccolo reincarnated himself into a new body, but that new body was a new body. In terms of personality and memory and identity, he woke up the same Daimao as before - but metaphysically, he woke up as a fully three-dimensional being, suddenly capable of choice and complexity and moral agency.
He hatched himself into a new Namekian being, rather than a demon spawn.
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This new form of Piccolo still wanted to take over the world. Because that's what he wanted when he was a demon. Piccolo is a ball in motion from the time he hatches, continuing to pursue the agenda he had in place before his reincarnation gambit.
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But. It's. Complicated now, because he can't just do evil for evil's sake. His goals have to make sense now. They have to be a thing that a person would want. Before he even meets Gohan, he's already softened up from Pure Evil Incarnate.
The Demon Lord of old didn't really want to rule the world. It was just a pretense for a slow and cruel genocide. But in this new state, suddenly he cares about his prospective empire. He's concerned now about the wellbeing of the people he would govern.
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Eight years ago his "plans for this world" were for everyone to die. But here he is like "How dare this asshole try to kill my planet when I intend to rule it!?" He's getting confused about his own motivation because his original motivation was just "Do Evil".
In this form, Piccolo is self-aware now. And he's not happy about his place in the universe.
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Before, he was acting on just... raw evilness. But now he's emotional. He's bitter. Cynical. Resentful of God. He can feel things now. And with the arrival of the Saiyans bearing down on him, Piccolo's thoughts have turned to his legacy.
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People fixate on The Moment but it's the capstone of a point that had been hammered in and hammered in: That Piccolo is changing, that he's been changing since the moment he hatched from that egg. That he is even capable of change because he ceased to be a demon on that fateful day years ago.
It's on the shoulders of all of this groundwork that the fateful moment everyone remembers takes place.
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From this point forward, Piccolo is unquestionably 100% a protagonist, though he's still a bit of an asshole.
The debatable transformation in his character comes from his assimilation of Nail.
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While Piccolo and Nail's merger does have some fairly explicit effects on his character....
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It's not super clear whether his developing sense of empathy for others is a result of it, or a consequence of the growth he's already undergone up to this point.
In either case, Piccolo's development ultimately brings him to his final transformation:
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This last transformation is... unusual. In a sense, it devalues the redemptive journey Piccolo's been on up to this point. Despite Piccolo repeatedly insisting "I'M DRIVING, You're just going to be FOOD FOR ME," the new being that results from their joining is at once both Piccolo and God, and neither all the same.
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He still answers to the name Piccolo for convenience's sake.
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But he's different now. He's humble. Wise. A spiritual leader who offers reverence to the divine and guidance to the uncertain.
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This is not the same man who gleefully spat in the face of God.
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Look at him there, offering spiritual clarity. Piccolo would never.
This new version of Piccolo is effectively a brand new character, bearing some traits from both Piccolo and God. This is not a product of character development, but because they waved a magic wand and fused into a single guy. So it feels kinda cheap.
But at the same time, it's not. Because Piccolo's growth and development wasn't wasted. Indeed, it's that growth and development that brought him to this point; That made it possible for Piccolo and God to rejoin one another in the first place.
This final transformation is Piccolo's redemption; The culmination of a long journey that he's been on, from Pure Evil Incarnate to a three-dimensional man standing at the altar of God in his Temple in Heaven, seeking the ability to protect the people he loves.
The prodigal son finding his way home, to become himself again.
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okay things i liked about the live action:
the southern water tribe being bigger. it's still small but less unrealistically so
gyatso saying he's aang's friend
suki chafing against kyoshi island's isolationism. mostly bc it reminded me of "suki alone". you should read that instead probably
all the avatars serving as spirit guides instead of just showing up at the end. relatedly, incorporating kyoshi novel lore with kyoshi & kuruk
zuko throwing a fit bc aang stole his diary Manly Avatar Journal
zhao being a lower-status guy who just benefitted from right place right time
sebastian amaroso jet. he is so beautiful and perfect and that he was a mama's boy like katara's a mama's girl really worked
smellerbee and longshot existing. like they were obviously gonna be there but i got a little excited when they came on screen
moving the mechanist storyline to omashu. i thought his mad scientist energy fit well with eccentric omashu and it fixed the problems i had with his episode in atla. also he has a name now!
the idea that bumi, after living so many years as a leader during a war and losing his friend, may be bitter and upset with aang. his tests seem to have real meaning now instead of just being pranks and i like that eventually he softens when aang reminds him of friendship. like really gets at that theme of aang bringing hope back into the world
bumi's new design & omashu's general south asian feel
the one woman who started beating zuko's ass in the middle of the fight in omashu
OMA AND SHU LESBIANS!!!!
cameo by secret tunnel hippies
cameo by cabbage man
the guys in the bar referencing "the great divide" and "the waterbending scroll"
the way the spirit world works, responding to your emotions and shaping the environment around you. i know that idea's not exclusive to this show (it was in lok) but it's a concept i enjoy nonetheless
aang hugging gyatso and katara hugging kya in the spirit world got me a little teary
yagoda kind of a milf
yue making an actual cultural dish (it's called akutaq and often referred to as "alaskan ice cream")
katara responding to zuko saying "you found a master" by saying that she's the master
sokka's little plan to take down the fire nation ship where he went in and bashed in all their machinery. that was very in-character
sokka/hahn
unfortunately so much of what happened around those things was clumsily written but there WERE some decent ideas and good moments. idk i just wanted to be a little less negative
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demaparbat-hp · 3 months
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Hello. I wanted to say that I really like your art style, especially how you do Katara's face. That's awesome.
But every time I read the description of your AUs, it gives me the creeps. You once said you try to stay true to Katara's character, but... your AUs are like "what if I take one of her major character traits and throw it in a trash bin?".
Halfblood AU: no connection to her culture that basically defies everything Katara thinks and feels about her waterbending.
Helping the Fire Nation AU: no hope for the avatar that Katara expressed in the intro of every episode of the original show.
And lowkey less kindness. She's cautious and bitter and wants to help only Zuko.
She seems like a completely different character. Not Katara at all.
Zuko too. I doubt he'll be in the White Lotus, it's not in his character at all. He may use the help of the members, but the original ("The Desert") tells us he will not be one of them, it's just not his style.
You make zutara look shallow, like you think that Zuko and Katara as they are in the show would never work together. As a person who sees appeal in this ship I feel very uneasy seeing your interpretations.
And my god, why do you hate Hakoda so much? Every time you add anything to halfbloodAU he looks more and more disgusting. I cannot believe mister "you and your brother are my entire world" would do what you are saying. And a married man with a child cannot be so naive to think that a woman won't become pregnant after having sex with him. Hakoda would've returned and checked and tried to help.
Sorry. I wish I could enjoy your art, but you're making it so hard.
Hello, and thank you for writing. I'm glad that you enjoy my art, at least to some extent, and I'm sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable with my AUs. However, I find myself in the need of defending them.
Creating AUs is something I take seriously, and one of the core traits of an AU is that it's, inherently, a different world. I can change virtually anything, and that's okay. Haven't we all read a fic and thought, this character wouldn't react like this in canon, but went along with it anyway? Because we know this isn't supposed to be canon. These characters are living in a different context, and react to things differently.
Canon exists for a reason. An AU does, too. They're different concepts and must be treated accordingly. It's a matter of context.
But we're talking about characters, aren't we?
You've pointed out that I've changed Zuko and Hakoda, too. And you're right. I've found that people online are more... defensive of Katara when compared to other characters. And while that may not be important to this specific discussion, I do find it rather curious. It's something to think about.
Anyways, I change characters. And I've gotta confess, I'm not ashamed of it.
My Katara is still Katara, and my Zuko is still Zuko. I'm just playing with how I believe they would react in different scenarios, and with different backgrounds (that's important, too).
You mentioned that my AUs are like "what if I take one of [Katara's] major character traits and throw it in a trash bin?". And I'm sorry that they give you the creeps, truly.
But maybe I want to explore how being a product of two different cultures affects not only Katara, but also Zuko as characters. Halfblood gives me the opportunity to address these sociocultural issues through their personal experiences, and I find that kind of narrative awfully compelling.
And maybe I wanted to change one core trait of Katara's personality and see how that affected both her journey and the general plot. Hunters is a writing experiment, and it has taught me a lot about human nature. Thanks to what you so kindly call "throwing a character trait in a trash bin", I've gained a lot more respect for who Katara is in canon. If anything, I consider Hunters!Katara as a foil for Canon!Katara.
And I don't hate Hakoda. I have a lot of respect for him as a leader and a father. I think he's a great character and role model for others within the ATLA universe. Bashing characters for fun isn't really my thing. The choices I made for Hakoda in the HalfBlood AU (and Aang in Hunters) are a matter of narrative and plot building, not my opinion on his character.
Just think about how different that AU would be if Hakoda made better choices, if he didn't have a wife and a son waiting for him at the South, or if Katara's father was a random Earth Kingdom villager. About 60% of the conflict in the story would disappear. And I could build that conflict with other stuff, I admit it. I could use different plot points or make the characters do other things or give Katara One Big Happy Family.
But it would change the core themes of the story I want to tell.
It's important to me that Katara is a product of two different cultures. It's important that she has no father figure in her life. It's important that Hakoda, who is a great leader and a great man and a great husband and a great father for Sokka, made a huge mistake in his youth that has been weighting on him ever since. It's important that Sokka is suddenly faced with the realization that his father, his idolized role model, is human and has also royally fucked up.
I want to talk about these things.
But I'm able to recognize that they're heavy subjects and, really, most of us are just here for the fluff anyway. So I'm sorry if I've made anyone uncomfortable. I won't hold it against you if you don't like what I do or just ignore whatever lore I set up for my AUs.
This is fiction, this is freedom, and this is the way I express myself. We all do it differently, and that's part of the beauty.
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theskysungqueen · 3 months
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to make things brief cause I suck at organizing what I have to say, the live action was definitely Something™.
Cast: 10/10 kinda biased personally but yall can't take this from me
Gordon as Aang and Dallas as Zuko were the standouts imo. Gordon needs some direction on line delivery and the angstier scenes but overall he's very charming and I'm so proud of him for getting so much exposure!
Ian as Sokka was great, I just wish he was allowed to be more...messy? like Sokka pretends to be chill and all that but he's actually dramatic so I hope that gets improved in the next season if there is one
speaking of improvement, Kiawentiio as Katara brought out a softer side to the character but sadly diminished her spark and passion. I like that Katara now actually feels like a younger sister, it makes sense within the context of the story that Sokka and Gran Gran would shelter her after what happened, but as someone said, her anger is so central to her character and I just wish that got shown more. It's more of a script and direction problem tbh, if you look at Kia's interviews she has the sass and feistiness Katara needs
Lizzy as Azula is great, the writing is a bit clunky though so she did the best she could with it. Can't really comment on Mai and Ty Lee yet because they're kinda just there but it's a nice setup
Maria as Suki? perfection show stopping never the same she is a queen and I love the tidbit of Suki backstory which she never really had in the og show. I love her being such a loser around her crush we love to see girlfailures girlfailing. I wish the writers didn't make them KISS though 😭 slowburn ftw
the adults were great
Writing: 6.5/10
There were genuinely good moments and I love the concept of mixing up certain plot points to condense the story
But they just suffered from too much Telling instead of Showing WRITERS PLEASE LISTEN TO THE CRITICISM YOU HAVE TIME TO IMPROVE PLEASE
Omashu, mechanist, and Jet plot mixing as a concept was fine, but it dragged on and my friends and I got bored of it. I like it in theory but if it was going to take THAT long couldn't they have just separated one of those storylines for a different episode?
I appreciate that they tried to develop the water siblings' relationship by making them the stars of the Secret Tunnels, but I would've changed the way they "conquered" the problem (really? badgermoles respond to love? cute in theory but like why). If anyone's watched Barbie: A Fairy Secret there's a part where Barbie and her frenemy accuse each other of why their friendship failed, and it helps them make up and breaks the curse put on them. So that's what I would've done, force them in a life or death situation in which they have to say the unsaid things, maybe hug it out and boom
The way they handled Koh and the Spirit World was a Mess™ but the effects were decent
Zhao meeting horrible ends in every incarnation is so deserved
Yue having more agency was a welcome change AND I LOVE THAT SHE WATERBENDS. Then waterbends even when the moon is gone. It's such a nice visual nod to the fact that she has the moon spirit within her
That said, the show could definitely use more visual storytelling, less weird dialogue. Like it's so strangely common for shows or adaptations these days to exposition dump. Like they did not have to make Yue say that the ocean spirit was angry, literally just show me the dead moon fish and I'll get the idea. Then Iroh says "That's Wrath" that's just redundant now isn't it
I like that they saved Katara bringing Aang out of the Avatar State until last even if it could've been done better
HOW DARE THEY MAKE ME LIKE HAHN HE WAS A JERK IN THE SHOW BUT THEY MADE HIM A GENUINELY GOOD CHARACTER. Yes to brown men not being portrayed as jerks but also in the original it was a nice contrast to how far Sokka had come because Hahn reflected who he used to be. But live action Hahn </3
I like that they showed the deaths and blood. I wanted a live action that was both lighthearted but more realistic when it came to the injuries and death, and that'd kind of what I got
Other thoughts + overall
You can tell they put so much heart into this show, watching the bts, the bending boot camp with the correct martial arts, the easter eggs, the nods to the comics, the beautiful adaptations of Cabbage Merchant and Secret Tunnel nomads, there's so much passion behind the show it's a shame it suffered in its writing
which is why if they read reviews and criticism from the bigger name fans (TheAvatarist, HelloFutureMe, etc.) it would really help them improve for future seasons! The cast is stunning already and they have great chemistry (hopefully gets improved too!)
The live action is just a different angle to the show. And I'm saying this as an Avatar fan–the original wasn't perfect, either. I had some problems w it but the overall show was genuinely so good and heartfelt, those problems weren't glaring enough to put me off (unlike The Dragon Prince, sorry). The live action definitely wasn't perfect, but it tried to give us a new look into Avatar. Again, no adaptation will ever be a 1:1 remake and none should be. Where's the fun in that? But while the show is so full of heart and with actual fans working behind the scenes, I doubt if they listen to any criticism that they can't pull this off better next season.
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anonbeadraws · 5 months
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Hi !!!! I love your works, it's really beautiful and so expressive.
I have a question, how do you have so many commissions ? I tried so hard to advertise them but nobody ever reach out. Is it community? It's probably that...
Sorry for bothering you ^^
Have a great day
Hey there! Thank you so much, that's so kind! And that's a tough question!! So when I started offering commissions, it took me a long long time to get any interest. I was new to doing art like that, and had just been drawing for myself, had a fair few people following but, you know! When people started picking them up, I was very grateful! I think it can be, in a weird way, a mix of luck, community and personality. I've never been an aloof kind of artist, I get very excited at concepts people bring me, and I think that shows! And who doesn't enjoy someone else's passion for something original of their own? What I can recommend, is drawing for yourself, and perhaps for your friends as Requests. Creating art as a 'request', shows that you can draw to a brief! It's showing people what you can do and how well. You don't have to do it for random folks if you don't want to, it's just you're building a very visual and pointed portfolio like; Look! I can do what people ask me for and Well! When you're advertising your commissions, make sure to look at other posts to see what they're offering and how. Styles of commissions, particular niches like avatars or dnd icons or tarot card art! What grabs your attention when you're looking for art, and what would grab other peoples? What shines in your art, that will grab attention? After all, there are artists who do sketches for coms, some who do animations, some full traditional pieces! A wide range and theres a place for all art! There are also tumblr blogs that just, advertise commission posts! Hunt them down and ask for your ref to be added, never hurts to ask for help! And like you say, community! Offering comments and reblogs to other artists can only help us in the long run, but also, help you make friends and colleagues, people who might recommend you to other folks who need art. If you are kind, creative, passionate and dependable, you are what a commissioner will WANT to come back to, when they want more art! And who knows, you might make lifelong friends with those people, it's happened to me like, 8 times and I've made some best friends that way! It's, a bit of a slog to get there, no quick road (Unless you're Very lucky!!!) but it's also, kinda worth it, for the people you'll find. I wish you the best of luck, and feel free to send me your commission post, I'll reblog it! That's what artists do! 💜
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harleyification · 1 year
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Can I talk about Avatar for a second?? Lemme talk about ATLA/ALoK for a second.
Like, so, I have many, many...many....grievances and hangups about A:LoK. I have tried to watch it twice, and while the first season is okay, the second season made me so mad that I dropped it. Twice. I have not watched the third season or got to see Gays In Action in 4k, because I was that disappointed.
I remember a hell of a lot about ATLA...but I can barely remember anything about Korra. That’s mostly due to my disappointment, but the fact remains that I barely remember the show, after watching it twice, and it’s the latest installment. That being said, I remember one thing that stuck out to me most....
Vaatu.
I am so, SO disappointed that they really just!! Made up this AMAZING concept of an Avatar counter-spirit, and they were just like!! “Oh yeah, his concepts are chaos and darkness, he’s EVIL, dudes.”
The one thing in the world that could possibly rival one as strong as the Avatar, would have been Another Avatar. They could’ve done something amazing with that!! They could finally have a balancing act!! A great leadup to this bigger enemy, with a twist at the end - like how ATLA did it with Ozai, with Aang refusing to kill him and instead taking away his bending!! The outcome wasn’t expected, but it still led to the same ending, with a better meaning behind it because it didn’t force Aang outside of his boundaries!! But...LoK didn’t have that. It was “Here’s this sketchy guy, we all Know he’s sketchy, but LOOK, THE TWIST IS THAT HE’S SKETCHY!! BUT ON A MORE EXTREME LEVEL!! Haha!!”
The only thing that LoK managed to twist was the lore of the world, by expanding on the Avatar, how it came to be, and by introducing a spirit of EQUAL POWER to the Avatar. I love Wan’s and Raava’s story, that isn’t my problem with this twist. My problem lies in the fact that Vaatu was merely made to be the Evil Avatar Spirit, in a world where balance and equality mean everything. I think Vaatu being the spirit of Chaos and Darkness would’ve been so cool to explore, if the creators had time to explore him - because Chaos and Darkness aren’t evil, they’re nature. What is morality anyway to a spirit?? Why make an Evil Spirit?? Why not explore WHY Vaatu is the way he is rather than say he just is??
Does that mean that Tui and La are merely good and evil, then?? They’re supposed to represent Yin and Yang, quite literally. Is Tui, the moon, evil simply because they can only thrive in the darkness?? Is La evil, because the sea is unrestrained and takes innocent lives, being a chaotic force?? Shouldn’t Tui and La be CLOSE, or at least GRATEFUL to Vaatu for giving them the darkness they need to remain balanced?? I don’t know too much else about the spirit gods in Avatar, so idk if there’s a Spirit of the Night, but my point still stands - the moon can’t prosper without darkness, and the ocean needs the moon. How can that be constrained to an idea as simple as “evil”??
Was La in the wrong or the in the right for destroying those fire nation ships, for taking control of Aang, for taking Zuko’s crew away from him after their other half died??
I just think that the world of ATLA/ALoK would have been so much better if Vaatu wasn’t just...Evil Bad Guy Spirit. The balancing act would’ve been restored if there are two Avatars (and Raava should be seen as something that can become Too Much - too much light, too much serenity/complacency, too much order means that there’s no room for self-identity, chance, risk, and the ability to look inward. If Raava can go too far, but be held back by their Avatar, then why can’t the same be held for Vaatu??). For a world that says that balance and equality is the true guide to peace, it seems really, really desperate to keep only one Avatar.
Vaatu would have been an excellent twist, if he just wasn’t so one-sided, and if it was anyone else but goddamn Unalaq.
That being said, I think Tui, La, and Vaatu (and maybe Wan Shi Tong, that giant Owl bitch) would’ve been/should be Ride or Die.
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