#but most importantly it's just integral to how she sees the world now and how her body connects to it and she connects to her body

[longing-for-rain]

Katara and Mutuality in Relationships

There are lots of conflicting opinions about which characters Katara felt attraction towards, which characters she didn’t, and how long she felt that attraction. I see in most cases, people point to quick clips of her faintly blushing or kissing another character on the cheek as evidence, but I think these kind of takes miss the nuance of the purpose attraction serves in a story.

Most importantly, I see these characters treated as if they are actually people capable of making their own decisions. It’s important to remember that these are fictional characters. They don’t make their own choices; the writers make their choices for them for the purpose of telling a story. From that standpoint, it’s more valuable to examine how a character’s story and narrative themes tie into their relationships with other characters. Animators can shove in a kiss or a blush wherever they want, but it’s harder to demonstrate through storytelling how and why two characters might feel attraction towards one another, and how a relationship between them would develop both characters and contribute to the overarching themes of the story.

In other words, when discussing which characters Katara is “attracted” to, I’m discussing which relationships and actions within the narrative build on her established story and arc. Romance is always integrated into a story for a reason, and considering that reason is important.

Unfortunately, ATLA is very much a product of its time in this way. It’s easy to see what romance adds to the arcs of the male characters—but not so much with the female characters. All three canon relationships (kataang, sukka, and maiko) follow this trend to some degree. The primary purpose of the woman in this narrative is to act as a prize for the man for performing some good deed. Once they’re together, she ceases having her own motivations and becomes an extension of the male character she’s dating. This is pretty blatant with Suki—she barely had a personality in that later seasons; she is there to be Sokka’s girlfriend. Similarly, Katara becomes a completely different character—she’s even animated differently—when the narrative pushes her into romantic scenes with Aang. Her character is flattened.

So what is Katara’s arc, and how do the romantic interactions she has throughout the series contribute to this?

Well, that could be a whole other essay itself, but to put it simply, Katara’s arc is one of a young girl devastated by grief at a young age clinging to hope that she has the power to fight and change the world for the better. Which she does as she gains power and confidence throughout the series—culminating in her defeating Azula in the finale.

But the part I want to focus on here is how Katara connects with other characters. She connects with them over shared experiences of grief and loss.

Take Haru, for instance.

Haru: After the attack, they rounded up my father and every other earthbender, and took them away. We haven't seen them since.

Katara: So that's why you hide your earthbending.

Haru: Yeah. Problem is…the only way I can feel close to my father now is when I practice my bending. He taught me everything I know.

Katara: See this necklace? My mother gave it to me.

Haru: It’s beautiful.

Katara: I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid. This necklace is all I have left of her.

Haru: It’s not enough, is it?

Katara: No.

This isn’t just a throwaway moment; it’s an important character moment that leads up to growth and the progression of Katara’s overall story, both in this individual episode and in the whole series.

Katara finds her power in the connections she’s able to make with other characters. It’s a powerful driving force for her that makes her a strong character even before her bending abilities develop. Imprisoned was such an important episode to establish who Katara is and what her power is, and adds so much to her arc.

But there is one line in particular from the above exchange that also stands out: Haru says “it’s not enough, is it?” and Katara agrees. Even this early in the series, we’re establishing the fact that despite her drive and hopeful outlook, Katara feels deeply hurt, she feels a deep sense of loss that she opens up about to other characters in moments like these. But unlike Haru…Katara can’t go rescue her mother. Her mother is dead, and we see her grapple with that grief throughout the series.

Another character she reaches out to like this is Jet.

Jet: Longshot over there? His town got burned down by the Fire Nation. And we found The Duke trying to steal our food. I don't think he ever really had a home.

Katara: What about you?

Jet: The Fire Nation killed my parents. I was only eight years old. That day changed me forever.

Katara: Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation.

Jet: I’m so sorry, Katara.

Another important note about Jet is that there are explicit romantic feelings from Katara in this episode. Again, Katara empathizes with another character through a shared sense of loss. Sadly, in this case, Jet manipulated her feelings and tricked her into helping in his plot to flood the village…but those feelings were undeniably there.

That was the tragedy in this episode, but it also gives the audience so much information about Katara as a character: what motivates her, and what she wants. Katara is established as a character who wants someone who will connect with her and empathize with her over her loss—her greatest sense of trauma. She wants to help others but also receive support in return. The reason why she was smitten with Jet, beyond just initial attraction, is because he gave her a sense of that before Katara realized his true motivations.

A lot of people make the claim that Aang is good for Katara because he also feels a sense of great loss and trauma. And while on paper that’s true…does he really demonstrate that? I just gave two examples of characters Katara connected with this way, and both responded with deep empathy to what she said. Very early on in the show—the third episode—Katara attempts to connect with Aang the same way. How does he respond?

Katara: Aang, before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you about the airbenders.

Aang: What about 'em?

Katara: Well, I just want you to be prepared for what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother, and they could have done the same to your people.

Aang: Just because no one has seen an airbender, doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped!

Just compare this exchange to Haru and Jet. No effort to empathize, not even a “sorry for your loss” or anything. It’s a stark contrast, and the reason for that is because this narrative entirely centers Aang. Katara’s narrative always seems to be secondary to his when they’re together—which is exactly my point when I say this relationship has a fundamental lack of mutuality. It’s built that way from the beginning of the series. It does not add to Katara’s arc nor establish what about this dynamic would attract her.

And, look, before someone jumps down my throat about this…I’m not saying Aang is a horrible person for this response. I think it’s a sign that he’s immature and has a fundamentally different approach to problems than Katara. Katara is a character who has been forced to take on responsibilities beyond her years due to being a child of a war-torn world. Aang’s approach to problems is avoidance while Katara never had that luxury. It doesn’t mesh well.

This is all in Book 1. I honestly could have gotten on board with Kataang if the series meaningfully addressed these issues…but it didn’t. In fact, they actually got worse in some ways.

Back to Katara’s mother. We’ve established that this is a core part of Katara’s character and like in the scene with Haru, she indicates that this is an unresolved issue that pains her. But then, in Book 3, Katara actually does get a chance to confront this pain.

This would have been a powerful moment. Surely the character who is meant to be her partner, her equal, would have been there for her. Surely he would have understood and supported her, fulfilling her narrative and adding to her story.

But Aang didn’t do that. I won’t go into details because there are a million analyses out there on The Southern Raiders, but Aang’s response to Katara was the opposite of understanding. He got angry with her, insinuated that she was a monster for wanting revenge, and tried to dictate her behavior according to his own moral values. And importantly, from a narrative standpoint, he did not go with Katara. One of the most important events in her arc, and Aang didn’t support her—he actually tried stopping her. He didn’t contribute to her growth and development.

Also noteworthy:

Katara: But I didn’t forgive him. I’ll never forgive him.

Even at the end of the episode, Aang clearly doesn’t understand at all what Katara is feeling. This line demonstrates it perfectly. He thinks she forgave him when that wasn’t the case at all…but of course, he didn’t even accompany her, so he didn’t see what actually took place. His worldview is fundamentally different from hers, and he’s consistently too rigid in his morality and immature to center Katara’s feelings.

Throughout Katara’s whole arc, her most significant character moments, Aang’s character just doesn’t come through the way Katara’s constantly does for him. Their narrative lacks mutuality. When Katara and Aang are together, she becomes an accessory to him. The ending scene is a perfect demonstration of this.

Now, to address the elephant in the room.

Which character does actually add to Katara’s narrative and support her growth as a character?

Correct! I just talked about how important The Southern Raiders is to Katara’s character and story, how it’s a chance for her to finally address the grief she’s been carrying since Book 1. And who stood by her side throughout this pivotal moment? Right—Zuko did.

You can talk all you want about how he’s a “colonizer” while Aang’s people suffered genocide, but you’re forgetting that “show, don’t tell” is one of the most basic aspects of storytelling. The fact is, despite how it looks on paper, Zuko was the one there for Katara at her critical moments. Zuko empathized with Katara more than Aang ever did—as demonstrated in this episode. Zuko never once brought up his own cultural values. Zuko never once told Katara what to do. Zuko’s position was that Katara should be the one to decide, and that he would support any choice she made. He supported her decision to spare Yon Rha, but he would have also supported her if she decided to kill him. I actually found this episode to be a satisfying reversal to what is typically seen in TV—for once, the female character is centered while her male counterpart takes the backseat and becomes a supporting role to her narrative.

Even before this, Zuko is shown to empathize with Katara.

Zuko: I’m sorry. That’s something we have in common.

I think what gets me about this scene is the fact that he’s still Katara’s enemy, and she was just yelling about how she hates him and his people. But despite that, Zuko still empathizes with Katara. She is fundamentally human to him, and he expresses that to her in a way that allows them to connect. Zuko stands to gain nothing from this. It’s true that Azula entered the picture and twisted things around—but in this moment, Zuko’s compassion is genuine. His instinct was to respond to her grief with empathy, just like she consistently does for other characters.

And finally, how else does Zuko add to Katara’s arc?

I don’t think there is any more perfect of an example than the finale itself—the culmination of the arcs and development of all characters.

Zuko and Katara fight together. In a heartbeat, Zuko asks Katara to fight by his side against Azula, because he trusts her strength. She’s his equal—both in his mind, and in a narrative sense.

Then, this:

Both of their roles are so critical in this fight. They both save each other. The scene has such raw emotion to it. These characters were together at the conclusion of their respective arcs for a reason.

This is the perfect conclusion to Katara’s arc. She just played a critical role in ending the war that has caused her trauma her whole life. She just demonstrated her mastery of waterbending (another thing she’s dreamed of throughout the series) by defeating the world’s most powerful firebender during Sozin’s Comet. Even though she had help as all characters do, these are victories that belong to her and demonstrate the growth and power of her character. And to top it all off? She was able to save Zuko’s life. She didn’t have to endure the pain of feeling helpless to do anything while someone else died for her; this time, she had an active role, she changed her fate, and she prevailed. Zuko plays an important role in Katara’s story without dominating it. They perfectly represent mutuality. They add to each other’s stories. Their narratives become stronger when they’re together, without one diminishing or sidelining the other.

So, from that standpoint, that’s why I always see the attraction between Zuko and Katara and why I see it lacking between Aang and Katara. Zuko and Katara’s story doesn’t need some cheap little throwaway moments to shine. It’s integral to both characters’ stories. We are shown not told of the way these characters feel about each other. Given everything we know about Katara, her goals, her values, her past loves…absolutely everything points to Zuko being the true subject of her feelings.

Because let’s be honest. The ending I just described is so much more powerful and so much more Katara than seeing her being relegated back to a doe-eyed love interest for Aang to kiss. It hardly even made sense—Katara played no role at all at the culmination of Aang’s arc. She was relegated back to a love interest, rather than the powerful figure we saw fight alongside Zuko.

#zutara #katara #zuko #atla #anti kataang #canon critical #jet #haru #katara deserved better #aang critical #meta #analysis

[manikas-whims]

Things we can still get in a possible SoC Spin-off

now that i'm done ranting about the things that annoyed me, lets talk about this.

1: Some light on Inej's backstory, the abuse and exploitation she suffered, her own struggles with touch, her vulnerable side, her fun side especially when she's around Jesper and Nina, her fears and how she rises above them. According to this article by tvguide, showrunner Eric Heisserer states that a script has already been written about her incorporation back into the Dregs. Let's just hope they stop reducing Inej's personality to a mere “knife wife” and “girlboss” , and address her actual depth.

2: Tante Heleen's return! Since we never actually see her body onscreen and her death is merely mentioned twice and shrugged off, I'm hoping she's alive and that the production team is keeping her for the spin-off. She's an integral part of Inej's character arc.

3: The Dregs. I wanna see Rotty, Specht, Anika, Pim, Per Haskell, Big Bolliger and the rest of the bunch. Also Dime Lions, Razorgulls, The Liddies, and other prominent gangs. And a shot of the entire Merchant Council would be nice.

4: Since Inej will return and Matthias is still in Hellgate, we'll get the entire Hellgate breakout and Ice Court Heist. (I'm assuming during Matthias's breakout, Pekka Rollins will also manage to escape from Hellgate 🤔) So we can still have the entire book 1 ending at Vellgeluk where Wylan's face has been tailored and Inej gets captured by Van Eck.

5: Crooked Kingdom plotline till they rescue Inej— Kaz throwing off a rapist from the lighthouse after gaining intel, Kaz threatening a little girl, Jesper and Wylan going to receive Colm Fahey and the whole “people pointing guns at each other is basically a handshake” 😂, Nina's struggles with Parem and Matthias trying his best to be there for her, the iconic Kanej reunion at Goedmedbridge,..

I'm not sure how they'll proceed after retrieving Inej, because alot has already been adapted in this season of SaB. But we'll still have the showdown against Van Eck. Not sure what they'll replace the plague thing with but we'll see..

6: Wylan's backstory! Aside from Inej, we also have Wylan's heart wrenching backstory and we'll witness it all. His early life, the moment he lost his mother and his world became gray, his escape from the men who try to kill him, his realization that they were sent by his own father, his struggles with it all, his conflict with being a good person and working with criminals, his reunion with his very alive mother and Jesper being there for him, and so much more..

7: Kuwei! I'm a big fan of this sassy boy. He absolutely hates having to be with Crows and he chooses not to use their language simply so he can avoid conversations with them 😭 We'll see him cause conflict in Wesper's relationship but also slowly accepting and being thankful of the Crows. And I really hope, the show adds a sort of camaraderie between him and Wylan too. But despite it all, I still wanna see Wylan threaten to drown him 😆

8: The Bathroom Scene ♡ If we take into consideration the wound cleaning moment in season 2 of SaB, its a lot different from the bathroom scene. For starters, they're on Black Veil and not an actual bathroom, and Kaz didn't actually tie any bandages for her. Most importantly, the neck kiss didn't happen. So bathroom scene can still happen and it can serve as a beautiful callback and a parallel to this scene in season 2.

9: Kaz can still find Inej's parents, meet them and well, gift her a ship. Wylan and Jesper can still have their happily ever after, living at the Van Eck Mansion.

10: Since they've made so many changes to the source, can they fucking not kill off Matthias and let him and Nina have their happily ever after too? Like they can act as delegates for Ravka and Fjerda 🤔 Or they can help Hanne claim the Fjerdan throne 🤔 Anything aside from killing him off please.

if you guys have something to add or correct me on, please do so in replies/reblogs ☺

#six of crows #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #matthias helvar #nina zenik #kanej #wesper #helnik #crooked kingdom #freddy carter #amita suman #kit young #jack wolfe #calahan skogman #danielle galligan #grishaverse

[catonatrain]

Hi, I hope you're doing well ! For the character ask game, what about Momoi Satsuki with 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 12, 16 & 23 ?

thank you for the questions !! finally able to finish this since i was a bit busy !!

everything will go under the cut because i ended up writing like a very mini essay

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

she is my daughter !! i rlly love the love she has to offer to the world !! and most importantly, i love her passion for basketball as well -- i rlly enjoyed how integral she was to the teams she was a manager to due to her data collecting, and how those analytical abilities made her a force to be reckoned with !! in conclusion, that's my girl !!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

ok i do feel like i answered that in the last question, so i'll add that im absolutely so endeared by the fact she nicknames many people :] honestly kagamin and midorin are amongst my fav nicknames from her... think kagami and midorima won there

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

i don't have too much experience with the fandom -- since i got into knb in mid 2022 and rlly have only interacted with a few ppl on tumblr and my friends -- but from what ive seen, i rlly love the amount of love ive seen !! most people ive seen like her a lot and support her !! even those in other fandoms (looking at my beloved a3! fandom the most) -- when momoi's on polls (ex. @/girlygirltournament, @/girls-in-love-bracket, @/pinkandbluebracket) there's always a lot of support for her !!

quick fun fandom thing -- i do want to say that in the pink&blue poll, an alliance was made with a3! fans because both a3! fans and knb fans were super supportive of each other and had a fun competition and ever since then... they have been brother in arms 2 me...

and of course my favorite is still @/pinkhairswagtourney where we arranged for muku (the a3! pink haired boy ever, i even have a little can badge of him) and momoi to tie and be a team together !! and then they won the whole tournament... being able to beat madoka :D and i like to think it is bc of our shared love for charas

(also to anyone reading this, i think you guys should vote for a3! charas when u see them on polls)

THIS GOT REALLY LONG but essentially, momoi is very loved from what ive seen and even to those outside of the knb fandom and that is smth i like a lot :>

8. What's something the fandom when it comes to this character that you despite?

again, i don't really interact with fandom, but i can guess (based on most fandom patterns) that there are people who likely ignore her in favor of the other (most likely male) charas and that'd make me :(

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

i like to think she and takao will eventually become besties and have a very fun group with midorima and kise

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

i assume this question excludes ships you would have no real opinion on (so probably some pairs where they dont interact that much -- even tho i have shipped charas who have very little interactions it all depends on the vibes...)

anyways that makes it a tough question for me !! i personally do prefer aomine and momoi to be platonic, but like. i get it. theyre childhood friends who love each other a lot. inseparable... their bond is just very special to me...

this ended up being me talking abt how i like aomine and momoi's bond but i think that's ok even if i basically didnt answer the question because like. after writing all of this im like... yeah its not my least favorite but i already committed to writing this much

23. Favorite picture of this character?

THIS IS SO HARD... i love so many momois in da world... but ill choose this one for now because she looks soooo happy in it !! look at her smile, she is everything to me...

#AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH it was soooo fun writing abt charas i like again since i only have done it for polls... #i appreciate it a lot !!! and if anyone else wants 2 send in charas that is cool too... #ANYWAYS... MOMOI LOVEMAIL thats my daughter i hope everyone loves her as much as i do <3 #knb #momoi satsuki #ask this shooting star #i will also react to ur things soon as it is midnight where im at....

[besiegedhunter]

You mentioned Lappland being "lone wolf", but it's interesting how in the end of Siracusana it said that she's no longer can be called one, and that makes me think about that contradiction in her character where she's the representation of wilderness, but in the same time the thing she despise the most is mafia aka wild part of Siracusa.

Also that part in the end with "Never again will Siracusa have a place for her" makes even wonder if she actually will be in next Siracusa event or if she suddenly will appear in some other plotline.

Oooh. Honestly I didn't remember that but yeah, it's quite interesting and I honestly really like how it plays into her character. Like, she despises Siracusa and everything about it because of how her Father showed her no affection and cruelly raised her to become the next Don of the Saluzzos, which he succeeds in.

I'll have to reread Il Siracusano again as well as her files etc to see how this impacts her character but I think that Lappland seeing Siracusa as a swamp and Texas telling her that she needn't be leashed to Siracusa herself and then Lappland going to her Dad for the last time is due to this.

She is the "perfect Siracusan" because her Dad seared Siracusa into her very being. She couldn't escape Siracusa because she is Siracusa. This makes her integrally tied to her family which doesn't want her, making her a Lone Wolf defined by being apart from her Pack and why she goes to her Dad to cut ties for good she's no longer a "lone wolf."

Which is just a thought I've not ironed out.

One thing though is she seems to be following Texas's steps exactly. Her in IS-ST-4 is the period of time where Texas left Siracusa and was alone in Columbia till Emperor met her, which perhaps Zaaro meeting Lappland is meant to mirror.

Idk. Tis but another thought lol but I am curious, cause translate this into the civilization vs wilderness allegory and yeah. Lappland hates the mafia, the wilderness and is herself the wilderness, an overgrowth in Zaaro's words but is finding herself in the pure, unfiltered wilderness now at the end of IS-ST-4 so who knows what they're doing with that. Unless Lappland's heading towards an acceptance moment like Texas finds in Il Siracusano, if we continue that.

Also on the second part, I am of two minds. Like I think it'd be really interesting to see Lappland doing things in another place like Higashi but on the other hand I kinda don't think that they'll do it.

Like, she could find her own PenLog but I feel there's so much history and tightly knit bonds in PenLog that'd be hard to just recreate in an event and it feels like they wouldn't try to make a new group for Lappland to fit into when she already has an established connection to PenLog and most notably Texas.

Also perhaps more importantly is the themes of Siracusa, Lappland, Texas and Zaaro's presence. Take her from Siracusa and she loses so much themes. Texas despite being exhausted of the mafia and resentful like Lappland returns and accepts Siracusa. And Zaaro, while interesting if he is taken elsewhere I feel that a lot of things significant about him and that he'd have an opinion on would be lost.

Buuuut to go back to "Lappland following in Texas's footsteps" they could do something hilarious: Zaaro following in Emperor's. Him leaving Siracusa and learning more of the world, opening his eyes to new opportunities and putting the swamp that is Siracusa and the Signore dei Lupi's rigid game behind him would be interesting.

And it's not like they wouldn't have a 6* foreign to the setting. Prime example is Ideal City. Will we get Durin operators? We'll get one and instead, the six stars will be from Sargon and Ursus lmao. So it's certainly possible.

I also would love to see a Lappland in Higashi event but only time will tell where she goes.

#ask #in the process of researching this I got more of an appreciation for her arc in Il Siracusano #and ultimately her character on a whole #cause wow did that expand with the event #also had an idea #that she'd have a ronin-esque story in siracusa's wastes #if they wanted to carry on the wilderness analogies #and do something with why she rather quite resembles one

[redwineconversation]

In re: privacy

I really hate talking about a player's personal relationship but I saw something on Tumblr re: van de Donk's relationship with Carpenter and it genuinely bothered me, so I am going to talk about it. I'm not going to link to the actual blog I saw it on because I don't believe in witch-hunts, and also because I like to think I am a morally good person. Which is more than can be said for certain other individuals.

Anyway, the anon messaged this particular blog and was basically along the lines of "van de Donk has changed and that's why I can't support her relationship with Carpenter even though my opinion has no weight but admitting that I never go outside."

The thing is, they're actually right. Van de Donk has changed in terms of social media content. But they're glossing over a very, very important fact.

The thing that changed? She's with Lyon now, a team that goes to considerable measures to block fans from doing super invasive shit.

Lyon just isn't going to shove a camera into one of their player's faces and demand they vlog their day-to-day activities. It's just not going to happen, because Lyon doesn't operate like that. Lyon doesn't belong to the fans and as such doesn't market themselves as such. They've never done that before and it's just not something that is going to change. Lyon gatekeeps the shit out of their own players. They're trying to loosen their stranglehold a bit, in that even monsters say they're sorry in their own way, but the core principles aren't something that will be put up for debate.

And those principles go something like this: treat a player the way you want them to see ... yourself.

Lyon wants to be seen as the best team in the world. It genuinely, genuinely bothers them when another team gets fawned over in the media, when Lyon's success is dismissed as being anecdotal at best. It's a weird mentality, in some ways: the more Lyon wins, the less accessible they are seen to the public, so Lyon feels they have to win to prove they still can, and so the access becomes more restricted, and so Lyon wins ...

Anyway. Let's get back to van de Donk.

Yes, she has become less accessible since moving to Lyon. But let's be real: that's the only thing that has changed. She's still the same person. The only difference, really, is that she is on a team that is allergic to social media content. Instead now you're only seeing what she personally, and the club professionally, wants you to see.

Anything she does outside the club is up to van de Donk's own discretion to post on social media or not.

Because here's the thing: Lyon respects the line in the sand. They want van de Donk, the professional player. That's who they signed and that's what they want: a player who will show up to work each day and just does their job. The rest is just background noise.

We don't know the intricate details of van de Donk's day-to-day life now that she is fully integrated into the Lyon team. But we don't deserve to know, either. Who she's with, what's she doing - do you really think that kind of information is something Lyon feels the public should know?

More importantly - does it really make that much of a difference to you?

I think that's really what I find so bewildering. And, to a degree, offensive as well. Certain individuals are basically saying that they can't support van de Donk unless they get a free voyeuristic insight into van de Donk's private life.

That's gross and invasive as shit.

You don't have a right to know any of her private life. Who she is with, what she is doing, how she talks to her partner in private - I mean this in the most genuinely sincere manner possible. Why the fuck do you think you deserve to know any of that?

Anyway. As I was saying, I don't think van de Donk has changed at all. She's the same person she was before. The difference is the accessibility to her private life has changed.

And so now it's a lot harder to "like" someone when you realize that given the choice, they never wanted you to be a part of their private life in the first place.

#all good love stories start in the rain #danielle van de donk

[dextixer]

Worldbuilding of RWBY - The reason i HATE and LOVE the show in equal measure.

I love exploring new fantastical worlds. Be it through books, video games, anime, movies or any kind of media. To me, all of those creative endeavors are not just about the story that is being told, it is also about the world that is being presented to me. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings being one of my first influences in just experiencing new worlds.

RWBY is no different in this regard. While the fights captivated me as much as anyone else, its the world that attracted me the most. It was during the retcon period of League of Legends and (in my opinion) the total failure of a story from "Sunrider" that i got fully immersed in RWBY as not just a cool show with cool fights, but as a full world full of wonder.

And this sense of wonder has only been growing since V1, with each volume bringing in new information, or series such as "world of remnant" that also gave extra information about the world. Even with my opinion that the quality of the show is not the best, anything the show gives i like in a creative sense (to an extent).

Imagination and Freedom

The reason why i care about worlds like RWBY is because they allow imagination to run free, for not only the creator but also the consumer. Let us take the universe of "Shadowrun" games for example. It is a dystopian cyberpunk setting with fantasy elements in it. Through this universe i have seen stories, met characters and even explored ideas that i never thought about before. And so have the writers.

We have a cyberpunk setting with fantasy elements? Well, why dont we explore what would happen if a corporation exploited the concept of "Feng Shui" for its own gain?

Why dont we explore transhumanism through one characters quest to achieve immortality of all humanity through integration of machines?

Why dont we explore how becoming an outcast and finding strenght in it can lead a person to reject and even fight against values instilled in them by others?

I could go on for hours about the stories i have experienced in Shadowrun. Characters i have met. And the world itself of course, the differences and connections between different corporations. European war 1 and 2. But most importantly is that while there have been a lot of things explored, i still feel like the world has a LOT to go through. As such i both feel content with what i have now, yet i want more.

Remnant, a world underutilized

This is not the feeling i have with the world of RWBY as much as i would like to. While i still want to see more of it and can tell you about the world of Remnant, i cant even tell close to the ammount of stories that i can about Shadowrun. And its simply because RWBY barely utilizes its world and even characters, at least the main show does.

The books i have heard about quite frankly sound more interesting and more exploring of the world than the show. A brother and a sister working together to recreate a monarcy as they believe to be the righftull descendents of a great ruler? The details i have heard about those books are great, they explain why civilians dont have aura, how Vacuo was fucked over by the other kingdoms.

Or what about stories about Ozpin? Him in his various reincarnations? Him living different lives and influencing legends and stories that outlive his own hosts?

And yet the main show over 8 volumes manages to run over 3(4) kingdoms without barely exploring ANY of them. Why does Vale look so "modern"? Does it even have a consistent city plan that does not change between Volumes? What culture does it have? How is it ruled? How do criminals like Torchwick and Junior come about? The same can be said about other locations as-well. We barely saw Mistral, most of our time in Menagerie was in a literal palace and while V7-8 do try something with Atlas, it is quickly cut short due to Salem being included in a place that she genuinely did not need to appear in.

It just feels like im sitting in a train looking out the window and see so many interesting things pass by, yet being unable to focus on any of them.

This is why for the most part fanfictions of RWBY keep me an avid fan of the show. I have seen fanfictions that create/explore the military life of Atlas. Fanfictions that explore the relationship between huntsmen and simple civilians. Fanfictions that explore a possible crime underground in various kingdoms. Fanfictions that truly explore and utilize the world that the show has, and does not use.

What is a Huntsman

In the end, some of you might say "Well, RWBY as a show does not focus on those things, its fine if they are not shown", and that is partially correct, RWBY as a show is about different aspects of the world than i have listed previously. The problem is....

Even that is done poorly in regards to worldbuilding.

Aura has been retconed in V5, and even to this day, from the show itself we barely know ANYTHING about it. It can shield people but we dont know what for example decides aura reserves, why do people have different ammounts of Aura? Why are certain weapons (like snipers) not more popular since aura is active? How is Vytal Tournament even a thing if anyone can die from stealth easily? Why are aura trackers seemingly used in the tournament and almost never make an appearance again?

Hunters are basically trained mercenaries right? What governs them, does anyone? Is there any way of ensuring loyalty? Are there many rogue huntsmen? Do businesses or governments use them for some shady stuff? Is that not allowed or allowed? How would you even take in a rogue huntsman and keep them in jail? Can you negate semblances or Aura of people somehow?

Are they all trained to build/maintain their weapons? Where do they get the parts? Who teaches them? Does everyone do that?

I can ask these questions all day and night and receive barely any answers to any of these, while i can go into a single Shadowrun game and get many, if not answers, at least directly proposed theories and information. The same cannot be said about RWBY.

And the questions i gave before? All related to huntsmen, the people we are following on their adventure right now. They even have Qrow with them, a supposed veteran huntsman of a bad background that could be utilized to tell the heroes at least a few of these things.

And yet, nothing.

End

I love the world of RWBY because it allows a LOT of creativity in those who look at the world and want to add to it. But i also hate the show because it REFUSES to do the same, to take the world it has created and fully utilize it.

RWBY genuinely could have been on the level of Avatar with its worldbuilding. An adventure during which our heroes discover/learn more about the huntsmen system and the kingdoms that they are supposed to protect.

And yet as many have described what RWBY has is a world that is as big as an ocean, yet deep as a puddle. It has so much at its hands and does nothing with it.

And it is frustrating.

I WANT to know more, yet the show refuses to do so and instead looks like its running head-first into the end of the series.

#rwby #rwde #best of r/rwbycritics #rwby discourse #rwby discussion #worldbuilding

[6blackfilin9]

you've unlocked a rothbart crush from my childhood i completely forgot i had... thank you... and odette/rothbart is so INCREDIBLE, FASCINATING, NOVEL! precious to me. i tried to look thru ur tags but did not find like, a synopsis of how u envision that happening? so how do u envision that happening? if u dont mind me asking :3c

I hoped to draw some of the key scenes to give you the insight, but it seems that my schedule isn’t currently fit for this. Sadly.

So, there is a very short answer: it took a lot of work, time and dead nervous cells. The latter goes mostly for Odette.

For as long as they were on the Lake they could not have formed a proper romantic relationship, this is absolutely impossible due to the circumstances. But they could still make some personal bond, even though slightly twisted and antagonistic, the “frenemy” kind of thing, and therefore create the ground for forming a normal relationship afterwards, when they’re married and have matching interests.

In my opinion this is very much possible, taken how these characters are written. I mean, Odette is a sweet, endearing, soft and gentle pain in the ass that can flip your world up and down for how keen she is in getting what she wants. And Rothbart is both a dark bloody disaster and the Einstein in the fields of magic and running things, wether it’s a kingdom or a fanfare show. Both are ironic and sarcastic clots of energy integrated into their overall calm demeanor but revealed if need be. Perfect.

Furthermore, as egotistical and stark his actions and character may appear, they don’t make him the ultimate evil, only for William’s supporters and family, maybe. The only  thing that distinguishes Rothbart from any other noble people is him knowing magic

So maybe, maybe, with time, they’d manage to make good relationship and family, but only with time, and only when the circumstances change from that they’ve been like on the Lake

I mean, initially Rothbart had zero interest in her as a person, she was naught but a tool for him to get what he wants with impunity, so he couldn’t have been genuinely sympathetic or caring when it’d come to picking on her.

And initially for Odette he was naught but an enemy. I mean the mortal enemy kind of thing

She didn’t see her father die, but it’d be perfectly clear for her that did die. It’d be perfectly clear what kind of role she played in the coup.

Key and minor at the same time

Actually i have an intention to somewhen discuss the issue of the movie not following the rules it itself had set in its beginning, and what it could have been once it followed these rules. But for now, to clarify myself I’d like to point out just that the writers were trying to sit both on the chair of realism and the chair of a fairy tale

And, appealing to the realistic one, I’d like to say that Rothbart wouldn’t have laid all his hopes on Odette’s will

He was not just an aristocrat coming from the kingdom he wishes to take, but the chancellor, which not only gives him access to the court and all his old acquaintances and connections, but provides him impressive amount of experience as a politician, economist and diplomat. Even being banished, he still would have kept some of them, and, most importantly, used them

So, by the time he kidnapped Odette, he’d have comparably firm basis of support in the kingdom, which would allow him to both wait long enough and keep the situation hanging in the air in one case, and to go in and take the power right away in another

The only reason the first option is much, much more appealing is that in feudal order you better do stick to the linage. Common people viewed the monarch as a viceroy of god on earth, and therefore the only legitimate ruler is the heir to the currently royal house. So if you don’t by blood belong to this linage, your position is.. quite shaky. Maybe there will be a riot. Or maybe not and it will go fine and dandy. Or there may be a major bloodshed

But once you marry the legitimate heir, you can avoid slaughtering your taxpayers people

They both understand this. They both know that the only thing that would change depending on her decision is the the number of complications Rothbart would face with proving the legitimacy of him taking the throne. But most importantly, the risk of bloodshed, which considerably decreases once Odette accepts the proposal

But there’s the thing, responsibility

Once she accepts right away, she commits the betrayal. She’d betray the memory of her father, her family, her pride, her kingdom, which is both the legacy of her father and her responsibility as an heir.

But the longer she declines, the weaker Rothbart’s control over the situation becomes

I believe it’s clear that he is not the only one drooling over the opportunity to take the empty throne and make their house the reigning one, to set it above all others. His alliances may be firm, but people don’t really fancy hanged up situations and loss of opportunities. And once he does lose control, the bloodshed is inevitable. The only issue is wether it will be within the walls of the palace only

Odette knows it as well as he does. That life won’t wait for her to make up her mind

Which makes her torn apart between her personal good and her country’ good. Which is, in fact, enough of a reason for her to accept Rothbart’s proposal even without him pushing. Initially she’d, indeed, be seeking for the ways to free herself, either by trying to physically get away or to fool Rothbart, maybe trying to haggle with him at some point, but in the end of the day, she’d still have to make the choice and take responsibility for any of the two decisions.

And here is the second thing, time

Rothbart, being the wise and very patient old asshole he is, knows it’s just a matter of time and he just has to wait for it. So there is literally no need to push her. And he would not even really wish to push her, for it would only worsen her antagonistic attitude. I mean he wouldn’t like to get a knife under his ribs in his sleep after a wedding night, right?

Again, initially he didn’t care for her at all

But the desire to at least try to get things done quicker (and enjoy his revenge just a tiny bit) would drive him into interacting with her. Mostly in the way of picking on her and toying with her

Odette does make an impression though. There are certain things to respect her for, certain things to like, certain things to be curious about. It’s unwise to speak of true romantic interest on his side at this point, but there may be some sympathy for her, which would lead him to pay her more and more attention. As much as her own attitude towards him would allow

With Odette being all alone, having nothing to do, sooner or later she will get used to his monologues, and there will be a point when she’d start piping up just to try piss him off. Which would give him room to make a pause in this routine and give her a few days to enjoy her space, and, as a little bonus, realise how he really makes her days by just letting her have a daily intellectual acid-filled badass banters. There will be moments for him to provide her some more things to make her feel better, such as books or a few games maybe. I bet he plays cards magnificently

But no matter how possibly comfortable she can get around him, and no matter what he does for her to feel so, for as long as she is his prisoner there is no way their relationship can be deprived of antagonism. There is no way she’d trust him, or genuinely sympathise with him. She might be suffering being deprived of social interactions, but she remembers who’s to blame for it, you know. She will come to respect him, greatly, both as a person and as a foe, but respect doesn’t really have that much to do with sympathy. It only serves as a basis for it.

At that point there is no way he can get to her through personal connection.

But, there’s the third thing, experience gap

Once he’s careful enough with that tiny little bit of sympathy Odette will have for him, he still could do so through the sexual one. Keeping in mind that plenty of time has passed, all the passions has settled down in a complacent stubborn slumber, and that for Rothbart her liking of him at that point is naught but an additional bonus, even though very flattering and pleasant, he will be damn patient and careful

And he does have the ground there

With everything in her life now depending on him, with him being the second key-importance figure for her now, (read: all her thoughts and intentions are somehow linked to him), all he needs to do is just to draw some of these thoughts this way. Being mature, experienced and quite charismatic, charming man... Rothbart can do that. Even though It might take even longer than making that tiny first step of at least getting used to each other

For Odette it will be catharsis though

Now not just she’s torn between what she desperately doesn’t want to do and what she is ought to do, but also facing the fact that she feels attracted to a man who killed her father

And it can very possibly lead to uh

Pretty harsh things

And thoughtless actions

Which can possibly send both Rothbart and Odile rue the day he’s come up with that ingenious kidnapping plan of his

You know, actually, she could have avoided such situation, and keep the feeling at bay, not let it grow and bloom from all attention paid to it, if not prevent it from appearing at all

But there’s the fourth thing, maturity

Even being both emotionally and intellectually smart, Odette doesn’t really have the sense of responsibility but only the picture of it (that’s what the exposition of the movie suggests, basing both on fairy tale canons and on how the character acts like. I mean openly speaking of ruining the medieval arranged marriage AKA state contract in front of many people, worst of all from an ally country with which this contract was made, and therefore disgrace your medieval dad AKA your sovereign by showing everyone how poorly you were brought up by him is beyond irresponsible. Wars got started for even lesser flaws back then)

The whole thing is literally about growing up as a person, both Derek and Odette. Of taking responsibilities and obtaining control over themselves. Back at the day, she is indeed just a few steps from doing so, yet still is not there

Though I don’t really think that Rothbart’d heat things up to the point where they get laid, but he’d certainly give her a glimpse of what he is like in this guise. Maybe not once. Or not really subtly, either. What i do think is that around this time of directing things into the intimate field is when he’d start to develop something for her, to start liking her not only as a person but as a young woman

There are plenty of things to like there, let’s say. Odette is not only intelligent but also smart, keen, witty. Over all the time spent on the Lake she’d also become very inventive and calculating, forged in cat-mouse games with him and Odile, and patient, thanks to all the banters with him. I guess I don’t have to mention that she is very beautiful, also

And she has an overall endearing image

If Odile is pure evil of a devil with mind and heart of a martyr, Odette is a delightful, sweet little angel with an impish drive and rebelliousness

The one that corresponds with the one of his, really, even though his is that of a more mature one

They both are latent daredevils (or not so latent). Overall they have plenty in common

So yeah, he’d form some sort of infatuation for her. And at this point he’d be god damn interested in it becoming something more as they get married

And it rather would than not, why I’ve typed a lot above. Whether they do get married or not.. I don’t know, as well as how complicated this would be. Because Derek is still in the picture, no matter how useful it’d be to just forget about him. Whether Odette accidentally finds him on one of her desperate tries to escape while he roams the right forest in it's right part in the right season in the right month, week, day and hour, I don’t know still. Depends on the plot, as fell as the events that followed their meeting. What I can say is... that would be real awkward for her. I mean real awkward.

But, back to the marriage, sadly there would still be consequences, inevitably.

Odette may forgive him for imprisoning her, for it was only for the matters of the coup and not his personal joy. She, if gets to know of the details, after some long-long time may even close her eyes on the connection between his little bonus-revenge, on that “everything you own and love will be mine” thing, and the marriage with him quite literally owning her. But for killing her father? I doubt it

Even if we imagine that she would, would he, now that he cares for her feelings? Making the cause of your loved one’s suffering is hell of a burden, and doing this mindfully makes it dreadful, even though done prior to getting close with each other

And while Odette will get over what happened with time, live her life serving her people and put some of the remaining pain aside in a dark corner of her mind, leaving the place for the better future instead, Rothbart until the end of his days will be stuck with this shit. It won’t crush him, for he is rather wise and he won’t get fixated on the past, especially when his actions weren’t some kind of mistake, he’d rather concentrate on being a good king, husband and father.

But the knowing of what exactly he has done will never leave him, and haunt him, at times. At times like, for example, William’s birthday, it would be exceedingly palpable

To sum up

It’s a thing with an extremely rocky start and an outcome with the firm union of the two snarky daredevil dumbasses, the one cute and subtle and the other harsh and sardonic, which has a very bittersweet and kind of heartbreaking connotation to it

#rothbart #princess odette #swan princess odette #swan lake odette #swan lake rothbart #swan princess rothbart #von rothbart #sorry for such a huge text and a delay #i have a habit of stuffing too much into answers to simple and local questions

[vitos-ordination-song]

So much progressive-leaning media today falls into the trap of pandering, dumbing things down, and just regurgitating the target audience’s pre-established beliefs. The story beats feel like they’re lifted from a Twitter thread. Like “this movie is about Generational Trauma,” “this character arc embodies the struggles and triumphs of queer experience,” etc., but the stories themselves don’t have any spark to them. It reminds me of how in scientific research, you’re not supposed to start with a conclusion, but follow the evidence wherever it goes. I think it’s bad for art to start with the conclusion, without doing the work to get there, and doubly gross when that conclusion is just trying to score points for popularity.

Octavia Butler was very resistant to that kind of thing. I’m reminded of an interview where she gave a nuanced description of what she was trying to accomplish with her black female characters. To paraphrase, she said something like, they’re strong because I’m naturally shy, so I wanted to write my way into being more confident. But she specified, they don’t go around SAYING “I’m a strong black woman.” They just act as if they have no limitations, which helped her to be that way herself. I think a lot of media now is way too referential, too determined to be A Part of the Conversation, to have that restraint.

Inu-Oh is interesting because it does purposefully cater itself to the public, but not at all in a way that I find grating. I think it’s because it’s a work of the people—the common people, brought together by shared passion for lost stories. About stars who play for the adoring masses instead of the emperors and warlords. When they play for the powerful, they do so to reveal the truths the powerful have suppressed. It’s also an amazingly artistic film, very fresh and unique—its appeal is undeniable, one can’t fault a work for being a crowd pleaser when it pleases through true excellence. Lastly and most importantly, it’s heartfelt.

Too often, I’ve been on this website and seen someone say that this anime is politically subversive, or that show is diverse, but when I watch the thing in question, it feels unbearably fake. You can just feel the corporate boardroom meeting where the decision to lazily make a character a minority was made to try to whip up positive buzz, or even a backlash as a marketing tactic. Sometimes it’s less like the creators were totally cynical and more like they just didn’t know how to tell an interesting story or incorporate subversive elements/diverse characters into their world. But either way, I’m bored with it, tired of this kind of media in general.

But Inu-Oh is actually everything progressive people are looking for in media. I mean, it actually is a queer, politically subversive story about two disabled/marginalized people who love each other 😭 Soooo much care was put into making it feel authentic, not cliche/forced, there are real stakes, there is a real moral compass, artistic integrity, and a wonderful story which is taken to legendary proportions. All the characters, especially Tomoari and Inu-Oh, are crafted with loving attention. You really do not see something like that every day.

[doeeyyeed]

shadow work prompts that have left me crying (i felt good after though)

My responses:

- letter to a parent (hurts so good when you have mommy/daddy issues)

Dear mom, I thank you for having me even though it was a scary decision to make at the age of eighteen. I know you said that grandma was never around and when she was, she was high and abusive. I feel sad for your younger self, who struggled and felt so much pain. I wish I could've met who you were before I came. I see how this affected your parenting style, so I have grace and compassion. However, I'm struggling in my adulthood with behavioral patterns and nervous system regulation. I've developed social anxiety and struggle to feel safe and secure in romantic partnerships. I want to have grace and compassion for this part of me. Most importantly I want to heal from it and become a version of myself who can have a great love for myself and others. I see how my perfectionism comes from my childhood. I realize I've only received love and praise from you when I accomplished something that made you proud. But all the times I disappointed you, I was deeply criticized and I see how this has affected my self-esteem. I find myself fantasizing a lot about how things would've turned out differently if you weren't a young single mother. Maybe I wouldn't have been an obese adolescent and I wouldn't struggle with body dysmorphia today. What I learned recently from the shadow work I've been doing is that I am worthy and abundant without having to be perfect. This realization is something I have to constantly bring myself back to, remember, and embody it. I am grateful for the way I grew up because of the wisdom it bestowed upon me, however, wisdom is only practical if there is a level of integrity to go along with it. You raised me with the values of being an honest hardworking person and for that I am grateful. I see how I implement these practices into my daily life, now I just wish to feel relaxed and less anxious when I perform activities with the intent of these values you've taught me. I still feel like I'm hustling to make the fact that you had me feel worth it to you.

- letter to your younger self (bonus points for pre transition self if that applies to you)

Dear younger Alexandrea, there are 8 billion people in the world. Why do you expect that everyone will like you? Let go of your people-pleasing tendencies. You are so creative and full of imagination. It's okay to not have a buddy to follow through with your passions. I want you to stick with music and beg Mom to get you singing lessons. You are naturally gifted with movement. Don't waste your time with the mean girls in organized sports. You thrive in dance. I'm sorry you didn't have these opportunities that played to your strengths. I'm sorry you went to a school where people cared more about egos than learning. Education is the key to life. Study hard because it will pay off. Stop chasing people, and trying to be cool. You got mixed up in the wrong crowd, going to parties in middle school where you've been taken advantage of by loser dudes. I'm deeply sorry this happened to you. you didnt know any better at the time. I wish your parents made home feel safer for you, so you didn't always want to run off, smoke weed, and hang out with anyone who was willing. I wish you knew your worth. I'm sorry that home didn't support your emotional needs. Learn how to validate yourself and regulate your own emotions. You didn't deserve emotionally immature parents who took their emotional baggage out on you. But I bet things wouldn't have felt so scary if you knew that everything turned out to be okay.

- letter to your childhood pet/pets

Dear Benjamin Franklin, you were my first pet dog. You were only a puppy when you died. I had only got to love you for three months before that fatal day. Your death has impacted the relationship I have with dogs today. Dogs aren't something I allow myself to feel emotionally attached to. I keep my emotional distance and view them as "just a dog." This saddens me that I'm not allowed to feel a spiritual connection with dogs like I once did with you. I started seeing dogs as sad creatures who are helpless and at the mercy of their owners. They want so much attention, quality time, and love that it makes me feel uneasy and guilty that I'm unable to provide that for them. I just ignore them and carry on with my day. I wish when I saw a dog it made me happy like how you once made me.

- letter to your childhood best friend

Dear Wendy, you're the only childhood friend of mine that I still hold so close and dear to my heart. However, it saddens me to think that this feeling isn't mutual. I see you show so much love for others that we grew up with. This makes me feel like I'm just a suppressed memory to you. I wish I knew why you keep me at a distance today. I'm sorry I sucked, that I got distracted with boys, that my behavior tended to be uncomfortable for you, costing me to lose my wholesome friendship with you. This has to be one of my biggest regrets. In my eyes, you are the most amazing person I have ever met. It hurts me that we aren't close anymore.

- listing out your insecurities and then complimenting said insecurities

I am extremely insecure about my small asymmetrical breast. I am grateful that my breasts are healthy. I am insecure about how far my nose sticks out from my face, however, I am grateful to think about how people pay to have a bridge like my nose. I am insecure about how much fat I store in my lower body like in my thighs and waist. I am grateful I have a lot of muscle and am toned still in those areas. I am insecure about my thin lips making my face feel less pleasing to the eye, but I am grateful for my beautiful smile. I am insecure about my thin hair, but I am grateful I have a lot of it and that it is always so soft and shiny.

- listing everything you’re grateful for,, even if it’s just a few things

I am grateful for the abundance that fills all areas of my life. I am grateful for my heart, body, mind, and soul. I am grateful for the gentle reminders of how I am connected to the universe. I am grateful that I am the master of my thoughts and I choose my perceived reality. I am grateful to love and be loved.

- letter to your ancestors or just all ancestors in general (i like doing it for all ancestors that way no one feels left out)

Dear ancestors, I year to know you. A huge desire of mine is to learn about my ancestry. I want to know where my physical features and genes originated. I want to know you and build a relationship with that knowledge by adjusting my lifestyle. Like what if y'all had only access to goats instead of cows. I would switch to eating goat yogurt instead of cow's so I can better support my genetic process. something like that.

[josephejlersen91]

We don't have the Usual LMS

Everyday, I hear of the amazing work being carried out by children from around the world, as they become knowledge-able, as well as knowledgeable in their gaming interactions. Many children, supported by experienced elders (parents and their peers) are taking part in this exciting platform. Teachers are also helping their students to achieve amazing feats.

Look at this stunning construction in Minecraft The Minecraft build is stunning! Babylon in a completely modern world of our children's futures. By amazing - I don't mean just building in a gaming environment! I'm talking about engaging in the arts of literacy and communication, digital citizenship and storytelling and, most importantly, in the realm of creativity and global cultural. It requires effort from adults to nurture students in this way.

Minecraft in education is a growing phenomenon and educators are taking to the platform to see how they can integrate Minecraft into the learning environments of their schools. To be honest - Minecraft is also becoming a minefield of its very own in the 'grown-up world' (consultant warning) - and that is why it is crucial that we connect with a quality user with a solid knowledge of best practices in Minecraft rather than with consultants.

Project Mist

Project Mist, from Donelle Batty, is one of my top Australian leaders - working with her kids daily that we could only wish for all our children. Donelle has been running Project M.I.S.T (Minecraft In School Transforming education) for what seems like eons now. Her students have very powerful learning experiences. GMods experience in Minecraft tells it all!

My experience in Minecraft this year was truly memorable; the team work, the efforts, the creativity gained and witnessed was simply amazing. I was able to interact with others with similar interests as me and made friendships throughout the year. The most enjoyable thing was cooperating. When there were large mobs and deaths, we took shelter and shared our supplies. If someone needed help with creating or building something, it was always satisfying to show them how to do so. I've also learned about the importance of my appearance online and how I present myself to the people of the world wide web. Presentation is important and your first impression of you is everything. If you act like an online tool, people will see you once and say "Wow this person is ridiculous and rude." And that would be their last visit to your page/ sever/ profile. Editum

Recently I followed a tweet to read what Donelle wrote about the 2014 launch of #ProjectMIST.

2014 #ProjectMIST is about to begin. It requires a dedicated community! http://t.co/HwGMrUlHI5 #minecraft @natbott42

- Donelle Batty (@dbatty1) March 21, 2014

She reminded us that Minecraft is a collaborative experience as are the many stages of learning that are required to gain Minecraft experience. Donelle is a leader in the world, and will soon be traveling to Tasmania as an Hardie Fellow (Info re Hardie Fellowship recipients 2013-14).

Donelle was also reminded of Jo Kay's incredible work, who I have worked closely with over the years on many projects. Jo currently supports and builds our work in the Master of Education, Knowledge Networks and Digital Innovation degree here at CSU. We do not use the typical LMS however, we have created our own version for the degree at present.

Donelle is also able to explain this in a similar manner:

ProjectMIST is extremely fortunate to have one person who has been with since the beginning of the project and is there every day, even at 12:00 am. Jo Kay is there to assist the students when I'm not. Her assistance is highly appreciated by the students and they show this by building replicas of her avatars on their own servers, one young man did this the other night , when she helped him out when he locked himself out of his server. This student has now just been accepted onto Massively @ Jokaydia Minecraft Guild and is very excited to be able to build, learn and explore with others from all parts of the world.

If you're an educator, a parent, or just someone who wants to give kids the chance to play Minecraft I suggest you visit Massively @ Jokaydia.

The Massively @ jokaydia Website is an online community that is sponsored by jokaydia.com – provides parents and kids with games-based spaces where they can collaborate, learn, and play!

The project is designed for kids aged 4-16yrs who are interested in gaining digital media skills, exploring their imagination and enhancing their online social skills. We currently use Minecraft, a video game Minecraft to provide a secure whitelisted server, as well as various activities that allow kids to choose their own fun learning paths and adventures.

You can't do better than that! Babylon was designed by one student!

#Editum

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #578

Top Ten Non-MCU Characters to Bring Into the MCU

So I had two lists planned for the next couple of weeks, and for some reason I was really looking forward to writing them – they seemed like simple, fun things, that didn’t require as much thought or analysis as all the “Best Of” stuff, or even the Lego stuff (I think I found that one difficult just to narrow it down!). And then, wouldn’t you know it, Things in the News happened and I decided to make a last-minute swerve.

Now, this is a list about the MCU, and obviously there’s one very big MCU-related story that broke this week that I shan’t be commenting on. For a start, it’s miserable and dark and depressing. But also, I'm not really sure how I can spin that off into a list. However, I have managed to find a list on some of the other Hot Marvel News of the week!

Because this week two things happened: one, Liv Tyler was announced as joining the cast of Captain America: New World Order as Betty Ross, Bruce Banner’s love interest who was last seen in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk (okay, technically she was last seen in an episode of What If...?, but she was voiced by Stephanie Panisello). She joins a cast that already includes two characters from a film that was once regarded as Marvel’s black sheep/red-headed step-child (whichever is the least offensive term for “a film everyone more or less was forgetting about”), further bringing into focus hazier elements of the periphery of MCU continuity. At the same time, filming has commenced on Daredevil: Born Again, a series which establishes categorically Charlie Cox’s eponymous hero as an MCU character, after the (again) haziness of his decade-old Netflix shows. And, here, we’re still left to wonder what’s canon and what’s not; Daredevil, Kingpin, and the Punisher are all confirmed, but at least one Netflix-era actor has been recast, and there’s been no word on whether Daredevil’s biggest supporting characters, Karen Page and Foggy Nelson, will be headed to Disney+, or whether those roles will be recast if so. And – and! – that’s not even factoring in the other headlining Netflix heroes, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and probably somebody else.

So! In the interests of all of that – and surprising myself with the revelation that I've not already done this list – here I present ten characters from Marvel properties of yore that I would like to see categorically pop up in current MCU continuity. Now, some of my usual stupid rules. For a start, I'm not saying “main characters, main timeline” here; no, I don’t actually mind if some of them are variants who we just see in, like, Secret Wars or whatever. And I've tried to avoid just mining the Netflix shows and Agents of SHIELD. And most importantly, I'm not here to fan-cast or bring back X-Men characters. True, Logan would have popped up here, had he not already been confirmed for Deadpool 3; but I think we know that both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four are coming very soon, so as fun as it might be for James Marsden’s Cyclops or (ha!) Chris Evans’ Human Torch to emerge from a portal in 2026, I would rather they spent that time establishing the new, definitive, canonical versions of those characters. Similarly, I'm trying to avoid “joke” characters. Like, do we really want David Hasselhoff’s Nick Fury in a main MCU movie? I get it’d be funny in Deadpool 3, if he’s bouncing round the multiverse, to encounter the Hoff in an eye patch, maybe with Dolph Lundgren’s Punisher to boot. But for the most part here I'm trying to imagine characters being properly integrated into a film or a series, even if it’s just for a one-off, like No Way Home. There, the multiversal characters from Marvel’s past were used excellently, bringing a good deal of nostalgia, excitement, and resonance for those who remembered them from Before; but also serving the plot of that film and servicing the current incarnation of Peter Parker. They didn’t feel like fan service, or if they were, it was very well done. I think the risk of bringing back beloved versions of characters from prior films is that it wouldn’t serve them very well – an argument I think you could make about Professor X in Multiverse of Madness, even if I personally enjoyed that cameo (as much as I really love Patrick Stewart, though, part of me feels it should have been James McAvoy for some reason).

Anyway; enough of all that nonsense. As you can see, I am once again thinking about this too much. So let’s get on with it: ten characters from not-the-MCU Marvel who I'd like to see incorporated into actually-properly-the-MCU Marvel.

Quake (Chloe Bennet, Agents of SHIELD, 2013): Agents of SHIELD steps on the toes of MCU continuity too many times to be considered wholly canon, but I don’t see a reason why there couldn’t have been a similar SHIELD team in “our” universe. At the very least, Bennet deserves a chance to mix it up with the Avengers. Her character arc is the backbone of the series as she grows into a leader and a hero, and frankly she’s just pretty cool. The idea of SHIELD secretly having another, covert team of powered heroes is a pretty good one, and I think you could just plonk her into the MCU without much in the way of exposition. Alternatively she could be a “normal” agent who eventually discovers she’s got some kind of “mutation”. Diddle-iddle-ee-dee-dee…

Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter, Jessica Jones, 2015): I nearly didn’t include her because I think it’s inevitable she’ll show up. Alongside Daredevil, Ritter’s Jones was one of the absolute highlights of the Netflix run. She makes perfect sense as a street-level hero alongside the likes of DD, and would work well bouncing off, say, Hawkeye (especially Kate Bishop). Ritter’s morose performance – Wednesday Addams meets the Hulk – is probably my favourite of all the Netflix-era characters, and it’d be great to see her back.

Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen, Agents of SHIELD, 2013): again we have a character who doesn’t need complicated introductions; May could just be introduced as a long-standing SHIELD agent (or, I guess, maybe working for SWORD now?). And mainly the reason for reintroducing her is because, frankly, Ming-Na Wen is absolutely kick-ass and needs to be in stuff more often. She’s already the only person who’s got the Disney Holy Trinity (Princess, Superhero, Star War) and placing her in the for-realsies MCU would absolutely cement that.

Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man, 2002): this one I guess would have to be a bit different because a) we already have “an” MJ, and b) you’d need her alongside Tobey Maguire’s Peter, who we already know exists in a different universe. But I want to see that universe! I want to see Peter and MJ, now in their mid-forties, married with a kid who – get this – has spider-powers. This is literally the plot of a comic! More than one comic! Honestly, a Disney+ series or even just a movie about “Spider-Girl” with Peter and MJ as her parents. Honestly, just do a loose adaptation of Renew Your Vows. But seeing Dunst back in such an iconic role would be tremendous.

Karen Page and Foggy Nelson (Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson, Daredevil, 2014): for some reason these two core characters have yet to be confirmed as being in Daredevil: Born Again. I think this is a shame, and I hope it’s just part of some kind of plot or whatever, and not that they’ve been written out of the new continuity or recast. Woll’s Karen was really the big love of Daredevil, much healthier for him than Elektra; and Henson’s Foggy was his conscience. I’d rather we had a simpler, pared-down take on the story, with Matt and Foggy as lawyers and Karen managing their office – like at the start of the old Daredevil show. Plus now they’re part of the wider MCU we could get a great scene with Foggy and Happy Hogan – two actors who’ve played Foggy Nelson, in the same scene! Hilarity ensues.

Laura Kinney (Dafne Keen, Logan, 2017): See, it’s not all Netflix and SHIELD. We already know that Wolverine himself is coming back, but timelines being what they are I think we can safely assume that his daughter Laura – aka X-23 – who first appeared in Logan will not be returning. Unless! She does! What if, right, our mainline MCU Logan – who we’ve never seen – has already fathered a child a while ago, and when she appears, that’s our Wolverine? After all, Laura has adopted the mantle in the comics. And having a female Wolverine would avoid the poisoned chalice of any actor who’d have to follow in Hugh Jackman’s shoes by reinterpreting the character. And, most importantly, she flippin’ rocked in the role at a very young age. Now with a few years and His Dark Materials behind her, I think she really could be one of the anchors of a new age of the MCU.

Luke Cage (Michael Colter, Jessica Jones, 2015): and now we go screeching back to Netflix. What can I say? The vast majority of the characters they introduced over there were great. They really did nail the casting, and Colter’s Cage is a part of that. The chemistry between him and Ritter was fantastic, but also he was just such a cool, stoic presence next to the angsty Daredevil and the grumpy Jessica. And there’s not much more to say than that, in my opinion; like Jessica Jones, I think he’ll appear before too long, but what with starring in his own action movie franchise it’s possible he’ll be less able to return in the near future. Still optimistic though!

Ghost Rider (Gabriel Luna, Agents of SHIELD, 2016): yeah, okay, Agents of SHIELD again, but this one is a bit different. It’s not one of the main characters and it’s someone who absolutely could handle a spin-off. In fact, you could just ignore everything in SHIELD and re-introduce the character entirely. Luna’s take on the character was cool but troubled, his performance more nuanced and internalised than the raging demon of hellfire played in the movies by Nicolas Cage (hellfire has its time and place, of course). Plus if Luna is Ghost Rider in the MCU, then that frees up Cage to be someone else! Someone totally bananas! Mephisto, anyone?!

Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick, Iron Fist, 2017): there’s one big Defenders character who I’ve not listed here, and no surprises. I feel a bit mean, but out of the four stars it is Iron Fist who feels most replaceable, the one that’s less attached to a given actor. I don’t blame Finn Jones too much; I do think he was miscast for a couple of reasons, but also he suffered in a slow and slightly boring story that was too reminiscent of then-recent seasons of Arrow (it didn’t help that he looked and sounded a bit like Arrow star Stephen Amell). However, the breakout star of that show was Henwick as Danny Rand’s girlfriend Colleen. She believably kicked ass in the fighting scenes and was also both tough and tender as required. I’ve no idea if it has any basis in comics history, but maybe if they wanted to bring back Iron Fist as a character but not Jones himself, perhaps Henwick could step into those shoes?

Blade (Wesley Snipes, Blade, 1998): yes, it’s true, Blade – the character – has been recast and is going to appear in the MCU looking and sounding like Mahershala Ali. This makes sense, because Snipes is sixty years old and has a bit of baggage, so snagging a younger Daywalker is probably a good move. However, Snipes was also fundamentally attached to the role, a role that is – arguably – a major catalyst for the MCU in general, predating both the X-Men and Spider-Man franchises that established Marvel’s cinematic bona fides. So I think it'd be brilliant if they found a way to honour Snipes’ legacy in the role, either in some kind of Secret Wars cameo or perhaps a miniseries set in a different corner of the multiverse. I still think it’s a shame that they didn’t do something along the lines of bringing Snipes back as Blade but having his daughter be the star of the show, but never mind I guess.

So there we are! A bunch of Marvel characters. I didn’t add one of my big hopes – that Emma Stone plays a live-action Spider-Gwen – because I’m not sure if that’s the same character or not really, and because I’m not sure where she fits beyond a cameo in Secret Wars, which is something I was trying to avoid. Yes, there’s a big SHIELD/Netflix focus, because really if you’re bringing in all-new X-Men and Fantastic Four casts, there are only so many other avenues for long-term roles in the MCU. But never mind! I liked those shows so it’d be nice to see them come back. To some degree.

Sadly no room for FitzSimmons either.

#top ten #movies #marvel #comics #tv #mcu #agents of shield #daredevil #jessica jones #netflix #ghost rider #luke cage #blade #iron fist #spider-man

[outofcontexturi]

sat 10th Dec 2022 journal 00:41am

I’m currently at mikes apartment in Croydon. I’ve spent the evening at his office and just chilling here talking about life and shit. really put a lot of things into perspective and he gave me a deeper insight into his life and personality. I didn’t know he had some of the things he had going on. I’ve genuinely learnt a lot and I’ve come to accept that he does care about me as much as I’ve tried not to think about it all these years. I would think he has me in his best interests. I can’t exactly tell how I feel though. Reba has unfollowed me on pretty much everything. I think that’s the end of that friendship. It’s painful but again. I don’t feel like I’m in the wrong so I’m not so hard pressed about it. I think she’ll feel it more in the long run. Because I know what I bring to the table as a friend and I know that I’ve been there for her when she’s needed me the most. I know I’ve tried my hardest with her and if she chooses to leave then she can honestly be my guest. I don’t care. It’s 00:56am. Apparently I’m going to a breakfast thingy later on this morning or at least I’ve been invited to it. Also I managed to get a meeting with an acting agency!! can’t believe it happened but like damn it happened. This whole process has been the most stressful thing ever and just to even be seen by an agent that has some form of faith in me is kinda crazy when I think about it. Like damn. I didnt play a massive role in this play; infact I wasn’t even that integral to the story but to see someone actually enjoy it enough to say they’d want to meet with me is something so crazy. All praise goes to God. And some praise goes to me for fucking pushing thru this rep cause God knows I’ve cried tears many many times thru out this process even thinking whether or not I want to carry on this show or kill my self . I’m glad I didn’t opt the latter. Life can be wonderful sometimes. I’m still broken a bit from everything that has happened in the last 3 months. Life doesn’t feel so real. I feel alot at once and it’s not easy but I’ve survived the toughest days I’ve lived this year and that’s got to count for something. Still letting go of things and people that don’t serve me. I need to cut down on the porn I’m watching too. It’s not fun anymore. I need real intimacy. Or something. This is no longer serving me the way it used to. I need a change. There’s more to this life. There has to be. It’s 1:11am. I genuinely don’t know what to think of life. I’m going to look back at a lot of these posts and think “23 must’ve been such a crazy year man” cause I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said I don’t believe what’s happening in my life or whatever. I also don’t think I’m crazy. I don’t think I’m schizophrenic. I don’t think I’m depressed. I do think I’m moody. I’ve been moody for at least 10 years now maybe even 12 idk. Life just seems to be at a constant. Mike was talking about habits today and how to know if you’re addicted to something you can test it by noticing if there’s a habit in said behaviour. I know this already but it was nice to be reminded and to think about the behaviour I show myself. It’s also nice to know that I can change at any time. I need to make time for travel. I think im at that stage in my life. I must travel and see the world. I hope it get to experience all these different cultures and widen my worldview before I go. It’s 1:48am now. was scrolling thru Twitter. I need to think of some questions to ask this agent. more importantly I need to sleep. I’m gonna try and aim to sleep in the next 30 mins. Goodnight/ morning uri. until next time bud.

sign out time : 1:49am

#journal

[matriarchsdevotee-archive]

🪁 🍮 🦋 🪀 🌺(parental figures?)

Symbols Meme - Accepting

[ 🪁 ] does your muse have a special talent or hobby they devote themselves to? why is this talent or hobby important to them?

Not in her canon verses. Nabooru works from the time she can walk to serve her people in one way or another and she's integrated this so deeply into her personality that any minute of the day that isn't spent serving them or keeping herself alive is a huge generator of guilt. However, she does in her other verses. In the Mafia AU, she's got quite a few. For one, she writes religious documentation which, while perhaps in her cover job title, is not actually expected of her. She also boxes in her free time, under an assumed name in very dark and largely illegal boxing rings, and at various points performs spoken verse poetry. Writing her documentation is important as she really did want to be a priestess when she was young and before it was made perfectly clear that her options as an adult were continue running the family business or die trying to get out. She believes in the mission of the church - it's much more to her than a convenient cover story. She actually still performs services every Saturday which is definitely something the board doesn't approve of, but it's just convenient enough to get her off the hook.

Her boxing is decidedly more selfish. The dame's got a stressful job, see? And, unluckily for her, she's the only rumrunner in the world with a mild fear of guns. She understands the need, recognizes that others aren't in the wrong when they use them, but she saw her own mother shot dead with one, and more to the point, she believes they're disrespectful. In her mind, there's nothing wrong with a duel or jumping someone with a knife, but a gun doesn't give one's opponent any time to react. But boxing? Boxing is pure. Well, it is outside of betting rings. It's just her, the crowd, and whoever thinks they can take her. She doesn't have a perfect record, but she wins far more often than she loses.

The poetry was, admittedly, less of a hobby and more of a coping mechanism. After the chaos of the Lantern Festival massacre and her mother's sudden return from the grave, she found herself as the reason for dozens of innocents' death, as well as the shaky position many of her women and their families were in now. She also felt more wronged than she ever had as an adult. Her relationship with her brother was changed forever, she had been deeply betrayed by her mother, who had apparently had a long-standing affair with one of the city's other crime bosses,, and ultimately she felt that the family business would always harm more than it helped. Writing poetry, no matter how bad and emo, helped her process this and pushed her toward campaigning for the repeal.

[ 🍮 ] is your muse intelligent academically? do they have any other intelligences?

It depends. She fixated pretty heavily on history and religion as a child, and because that happened to align with her dictated role in the tribe, they didn't bother to teach her much else. She can write and do basic math, but math was a massive struggle for her. She generally still has to write things out to do it properly. Her emotional intelligence leaves a lot to be desired. She's no diplomat and leaps to threats if her initial attempts at resolution don't work. She is, however, quite good at leadership. She second guesses herself a lot in day-to-day life, but when it comes to important tribal matters, she's good at sticking with her decision and maintaining the follow-thru, even if that means she has to take harm in the fallout.

[ 🦋 ] does your muse have any unconventional interests? what are they?

Her most unconventional interest is the crocodile hunter instinct. When Nabooru says she loves the desert, she means it. Every square inch of sand, every dry lakebed, and most importantly, every desert creature. When she was little, she loved watching the scorpions and snakes wind their way around the dunes, and as an adult she has a soft spot for wild animals. They don't kill snakes as part of their faith, but Nabooru is always the first to volunteer to remove it when one's gotten a little too close to the children's quarters. She finds beauty in all of Mother Desert's beings, no matter how strange, ugly, or deadly they may be. This has not helped with her scarring problem.

[ 🪀 ] what was your muse’s childhood like? how did their upbringing affect them?

As I won't stop going on about, Nabooru was raised in the temple. She was always going to be groomed into being a Priestess like her mother, but because her mother died at a relatively young age, she was taken in even closer and more quickly. She was  taken in when she was three to begin her training and began participating in ceremonies when she was five as an attendant. As a result, she always had her path laid out for her - at least, she thought she did. She knew she would be a priestess, but never would she have believed she would take over the role as Heirophant, the head priestess, and certainly not at the very young age of 16. Between this responsibility being presented to her and the encouragement to give as much as she could to the tribe, she learned to put them first and herself at a far, far second.

[ 🌺 ] what is your muse’s relationship with their parents? are there specific things they like/dislike about them?

Nabooru's mother died when she was four. She has very few memories of her that are her own, but she's heard many stories about her. They seem to correlate with what she remembered; a gruff, unsympathetic woman who dedicated her life to the temple, but wasn't afraid to use it for personal gain. She respects her mother's memory out of obligation, but she isn't sure she would have liked her if she had actually been raised by her. The Gerudo generally raise their children as a group as a necessity, so she spent some time with the teachers and caretakers who specifically worked with children, but her named Godmother Ashio, the Heirophant before her was in charge of her. Ashio terrified young Nabooru. She was under constant pressure to do right by her and their people and she never felt she could live up to her mentor and protector's example. Ashio was harsh and quick to insult anybody if they didn't follow through correctly; nobody seemed to make more mistakes than Nabooru. it may come as a surprise, then, that Nabooru doesn't hold any distaste for her memory.

Ashio was a harsh woman, but she lived through a desperate time. She had to mother the Gerudo at some of their weakest times. She was confident in a way Nabooru could only aspire to, stronger than any being she had met, and never harmed those in her care - at least, not physically. Though she's made an effort to be different than her predecessor, especially in training new priestesses, she still prays for Ashio every night and honors her memory during festivals.

#answered asks #headcanons #vicious-valor #Tribal Business

[techspianblog]

Employee Story | Meet Sakshi Munot — Front Runner Of Our Internship Program 2022

Freshers are an integral part of our team. They bring a diverse perspective and are agile enough to make our workplace lively and fun to work.

In the latest edition of Employee Story — we talk to our people about their journey, learnings, and growth at Techspian. We share the stories of our employees, so you get a taste of our culture.

The Employee Story is an exclusive collection of the experiences, endeavors, and adventures of the team. Recently we interacted with Sakshi Munot, Associate Software Engineer—to learn about her journey. See what advice she has for newcomers in the industry. So, experience how her journey began, why she chose us, how it started and how it is going.

What’s your journey from getting an opportunity at Techspian to winning the “Debutant of the Year” Award?

I graduated during the pandemic. The time was scary for someone just passed out with zero experience. As an engineering student, I began working on my core skills.

At the same time, I was looking for an internship position at a software company in Pune. And finally, after a few interview attempts, I was fortunate to be selected at Techspian. I am incredibly grateful for this internship opportunity. I have made all of it.

To summarize my journey till now—being responsible, finishing all project tasks on time, helping other team members to finish their tasks, and most importantly enjoying the process while doing all that.

What does growth mean to you at Techspian?

When you are exposed to learning about yourself and focusing on strengths—I believe that’s what growth means at Techspian.From a temporary role of NodeJS Intern to Associate Software Engineer to getting an appreciation from the leadership team. That acknowledgment is enough to continue to give my best. The core values and the people here make it a fun place to learn. The entire experience has had a positive influence on my life.

What will you always cherish about working with Techspian?

All the moments I spent here. I love being respected, empathized with, and thanked for everything. Moments like celebrating small wins and genuinely being happy for others’ success are some takeaways so far.

What do you love most about working at Techspian?

Firstly, it’s the people. The workspace shares a diverse culture. You spend time with talented folks across the industry. For instance, in my initial days, I happen to sit next to a guy who was fixing a production issue in the AWS cloud. Hearing my naïve doubts thrown at him, with a gentle smile he tends to explain to me the entire cloud platform. Later I learned that he’s a senior DevOps engineer at Techspian. I love the accessibility I have with seniors.

What’s your favorite me-time activity?

 I always make time for myself. And never live my hobbies as an option. In my spare time, I try connecting with new people and explore new ideas. I intend to learn at least one new thing in a day through books, or OTT content.

What is your advice for freshers in the tech industry?

Always be on your toes to face challenges. The world does not need another template, it requires another rebel. So, avoid thinking small, be patient and trust the process. Things will roll out in your favor at the right time.

This was Sakshi Munot for you. Elegant, bold, and focused on chasing her dreams. We hope her story inspires you to get going. We promise to bring you more such stories from our people. Till then—stay tuned to our blogs and catch us on our LinkedIn page for instant tech updates.

Read More: https://www.techspian.com/blog/employee-story-meet-sakshi-munot-front-runner-of-our-internship-program-2022/

#employee story #debutant #debutantoftheyear #internship program

[greenekjeldsen93]

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[lokiondisneyplus]

'Loki' takes over: Tom Hiddleston on his new TV series and a decade in the MCU

Ten years after Hiddleston first chose chaos in Thor, Marvel’s fan favorite God of Mischief is going even bigger with his time-bending Disney+ show.

Tom Hiddleston is Loki, and he is burdened with glorious purpose: After playing Thor's puckish brother for over a decade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, no one understands the mercurial Asgardian God of Mischief as well as the actor. He can teach an entire seminar on Loki if given the opportunity — which he actually did during pre-production on his forthcoming Disney+ show. In conversation, Hiddleston quotes lines from his MCU debut, 2011's Thor, almost verbatim, and will playfully correct you if you mistakenly refer to Asgard's Rainbow Bridge as the Bifrost, which is the portal that connects Loki and Thor's homeworld to the Nine Realms, including Midgard, a.k.a. Earth. "Well, the Bifrost technically is the energy that runs through the bridge," he says with a smile. "But nine points to Gryffindor!" And when he shows up to the photo shoot for this very digital cover, he hops on a call with our photo editor to pitch ways the concept could be even more Loki, like incorporating the flourish the trickster does whenever magically conjuring something. The lasting impression is that playing Loki isn't just a paycheck.

"Rather than ownership, it's a sense of responsibility I feel to give my best every time and do the best I can because I feel so grateful to be a part of what Marvel Studios has created," the 40-year-old Brit tells EW over Zoom a few days after the shoot and a week out from Thor's 10th anniversary. "I just want to make sure I've honored that responsibility with the best that I can give and the most care and thought and energy."

After appearing in three Thor movies and three Avengers, Hiddleston is bringing that passion to his first solo Marvel project, Loki, the House of Ideas' third Disney+ series following the sitcom pastiche WandaVision and the topical The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Led by head writer Michael Waldron (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Heels), the six-episode drama sees Hiddleston's shapeshifting agent of chaos step out from behind his brother's shadow and into the spotlight for a timey-wimey, sci-fi adventure that aims to get to the bottom of who Loki really is. "I wanted to explore slightly more complex character questions," says Waldron. "It's not just good versus bad. Is anybody all good? Is anybody all bad? What makes a hero, a hero? A villain, a villain?"  

Even though Loki — who loves sowing mayhem with his illusion magic and shapeshifting, all with a major chip on his shoulder — has never been one for introspection, the idea of building an entire show around him was a no-brainer for Marvel. When asked why Loki was one of the studio's first Disney+ shows, Marvel president Kevin Feige replies matter-of-factly, "More Hiddleston, more Loki." First introduced as Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) envious brother in Kenneth Branagh's Thor, Loki went full Big Bad in 2012's The Avengers. That film cemented the impish rogue as one of the shared universe's fan favorites, thanks to Hiddleston's ability to make him deliciously villainous yet charismatic and, most importantly, empathetic. The character's popularity is one of the reasons he's managed to avoid death many times.

"He's been around for thousands of years. He had all sorts of adventures," says Feige. "Wanting to fill in the blanks and see much more of Loki's story [was] the initial desire [for the series]."

The Loki we meet on the show is not the one who fought the Avengers in 2012 and evolved into an antihero in Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok before meeting his demise at the hands of the mad titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. Instead, we'll be following a Loki from a branched timeline (a variant, if you will) after he stole the Tesseract following his thwarted New York invasion and escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. custody during the time heist featured in Avengers: Endgame. In other words, this Loki hasn't gone through any sort of redemption arc. He's still the charming yet petulant god who firmly believes he's destined to rule and has never gotten his due.

Premiering June 9, Loki begins with the Time Variance Authority — a bureaucratic organization tasked with safeguarding the proper flow of time — arresting the Loki Variant seen in Endgame because they want his help fixing all of the timeline problems he caused while on the run with the Tesseract. So there will be time travel, and a lot more of it than in Endgame. As Loki makes his way through his own procedural, he'll match wits with new characters including Owen Wilson's Agent Mobius, a brilliant TVA analyst, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw's Judge Renslayer. The question in early episodes is whether Loki will help them or take over.

"One of the things Kevin Feige led on was, 'I think we should find a way of exploring the parts of Loki that are independent of his relationship with Thor,' or see him in a duality or in relationship with others, which I thought was very exciting," says Hiddleston, who also serves as an executive producer on the show. "So the Odinson saga, that trilogy of films, still has its integrity, and we don't have to reopen it and retell it."

Yet, in order to understand where Loki is going, it's important to see where he came from.

Hiddleston can't believe how long he and Loki have been connected. "I've been playing this character for 11 years," he says. "Which is the first time I have said that sentence, I realize, and it [blows] my mind. I don't know what percentage that is exactly of my 40 years of being alive, but it's substantial."

His time as Loki actually goes a bit further back, to 2009 — a year after Robert Downey Jr. big banged the MCU into existence with Iron Man — when he auditioned for Thor. It's no secret that Hiddleston initially went in for the role of the titular God of Thunder, but Feige and director Kenneth Branagh thought his natural charm and flexibility as an actor made him better suited for the movie's damaged antagonist. "Tom gave you an impression that he could be ready for anything, performance-wise," says Branagh, who had previously worked with him on a West End revival of Checkov's Ivanov and the BBC series Wallander. "Tom has a wild imagination, so does Loki. He's got a mischievous sense of humor and he was ready to play. It felt like he had a star personality, but he was a team player."

Hiddleston fully immersed himself in the character. Outside of studying Loki's history in the Marvel Comics, he also researched how Loki and the Trickster God archetype appeared across mythology and different cultures. "He understood that he was already in something special [and] it was a special character in a special part of that early moment in the life of the Marvel universe where [he] also needed to step up in other ways," says Branagh, who was impressed by the emotional depth Hiddleston brought to the part, especially when it came to how isolated Loki felt in the Asgardian royal family.  

There was a lot riding on that first Thor feature. For one, no one knew if audiences would immediately latch onto a Shakespearean superhero movie partially set on an alien planet populated by the Norse Gods of legend. Second, it was integral to Feige's plans for the shared universe. Loki was supposed to be the main villain in The Avengers, which would not only mirror how Earth's mightiest heroes joined forces in 1963's Avengers #1 but also give Thor a believable reason for teaming up with Iron Man, Captain America (Chris Evans), and the rest of the capes. Feige first clued Hiddleston into those larger plans when the actor was in L.A. before Thor started shooting.

"I was like, 'Excuse me?' Because he was already three, four steps ahead," says Hiddleston. "That took me a few minutes to process, because I didn't quite realize how it just suddenly had a scope. And being cast as Loki, I realized, was a very significant moment for me in my life, and was going to remain. The creative journey was going to be so exciting."

Hiddleston relished the opportunity to go full villain in Avengers, like in the scene where Loki ordered a crowd to kneel before him outside a German opera house: "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation," says the Machiavellian god. "The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

"I just knew that in the structure of that film, I had to lean into his role as a pure antagonist," Hiddleston recalls. "What I always found curious and complex about the way Loki is written in Avengers, is that his status as an antagonist comes from the same well of not belonging and being marginalized and isolated in the first Thor film. Loki now knows he has no place in Asgard."

Loki did find a place within the audience's hearts, though. Feige was "all in" on Hiddleston as his Loki from the beginning, but even he couldn't predict how much fans would love him. Feige recalls the reaction at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con: "Did we know that after he was the villain in two movies, he would be bringing thousands of people to their feet in Hall H, in costume, chanting his name? No, that was above and beyond the plan that we were hoping for and dreaming of." It was a dream Feige first got an inkling of a year earlier during the Avengers press tour when a Russian fan slipped past security, snuck into Mark Ruffalo's car, and asked the Hulk actor to give Hiddleston a piece of fan art she created. "That was one of the early signs there was much more happening with this quote-unquote villain."  

Despite that popularity, the plan was to kill Loki off in 2013's Thor: The Dark World, but the studio reversed course after test audiences refused to believe he actually died fighting the Dark Elves. Alas, he couldn't out-illusion death forever. After returning in Taika Waititi's colorful and idiosyncratic Thor: Ragnarok, Hiddleston's character perished for real in the opening moments of Infinity War. In typical Loki fashion, before Thanos crushed his windpipe, he delivered a defiant speech that indicated he'd finally made peace with the anger he felt toward his family.  

"It felt very, very final, and I thought, 'Okay, that's it. This is Loki's final bow and a conclusive end to the Odinson saga,'" says Hiddleston, who shot that well-earned death scene in 2017.  

But, though he didn't know it yet, the actor's MCU story was far from over.

Credit: Charlie Gray for EW

When Hiddleston returned to film two scenes in Avengers: Endgame in 2017, he had no idea where Loki portaled off to after snatching the Tesseract. "Where'd he go? When does he go? How does he get there? These are all questions I remember asking on the day, and then not being given any answers," Hiddleston recalls. To be fair, it's likely the Powers That Be didn't necessarily have answers then. While Feige can't exactly recall when the writers' room for Endgame first devised Loki's escape sequence, he does know that setting up a future show wasn't the primary goal — because a Loki series wasn't on the horizon just yet.

"[That scene] was really more of a wrinkle so that one of the missions that the Avengers went on in Endgame could get screwed up and not go well, which is what required Cap and Tony to go further back in time to the '70s," says Feige. Soon after that, though, former Disney CEO Bob Iger approached Feige about producing content for the studio's forthcoming streaming service. "I think the notion that we had left this hanging loose end with Loki gave us the in for what a Loki series could be. So by the time [Endgame] came out, we did know where it was going."

As for Hiddleston, he didn't find out about the plans for a Loki show until spring 2018, a few weeks before Infinity War hit theaters. "I probably should not have been surprised, but I was," says the actor. "But only because Infinity War had felt so final."

Nevertheless, Hiddleston was excited about returning for his show. He was eager to explore Loki's powers, especially the shapeshifting, and what it meant that this disruptive figure still managed to find a seat beside the gods in mythology. "I love this idea [of] Loki's chaotic energy somehow being something we need. Even though, for all sorts of reasons, you don't know whether you can trust him. You don't know whether he's going to betray you. You don't why he's doing what he's doing," says Hiddleston. "If he's shapeshifting so often, does he even know who he is? And is he even interested in understanding who he is? Underneath all those masks, underneath the charm and the wit, which is kind of a defense anyway, does Loki have an authentic self? Is he introspective enough or brave enough to find out? I think all of those ideas are all in the series — ideas about identity, ideas about self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and the difficulty of it."

“The series will explore Loki's powers in a way they have not yet been explored, which is very, very exciting.”

The thing that truly sold Hiddleston on the show was Marvel's decision to include the Time Variance Authority, a move he describes as "the best idea that anybody had pertaining to the series." Feige and Loki executive producer Stephen Broussard had hoped to find a place for the TVA — an organization that debuted in 1986's Thor #372 and has appeared in She-Hulk and Fantastic Four stories — in the MCU for years, but the right opportunity never presented itself until Loki came along. "Putting Loki into his own procedural series became the eureka moment for the show," says Feige.  

The TVA's perspective on time and reality also tied into the themes that Waldron, Loki's head writer, was hoping to explore. "Loki is a character that's always reckoning with his own identity, and the TVA, by virtue of what they do, is uniquely suited to hold up a mirror to Loki and make him really confront who he is and who he was supposed to be," says Waldron. Hiddleston adds: "[That] was very exciting because in the other films, there was always something about Loki that was very controlled. He seemed to know exactly what the cards in his hand were and how he was going to play them…. And Loki versus the TVA is Loki out of control immediately, and in an environment in which he's completely behind the pace, out of his comfort zone, destabilized, and acting out."

To truly dig into who Loki is, the creative team had to learn from the man who knows him best: Hiddleston. "I got him to do a thing called Loki School when we first started," says director Kate Herron. "I asked him to basically talk through his 10 years of the MCU — from costumes to stunts, to emotionally how he felt in each movie. It was fantastic."

Hiddleston got something out of the Loki school, too. Owen Wilson both attended the class and interviewed Hiddleston afterward so that he could better understand Loki, as his character Mobius is supposed to be an expert on him. During their conversation, Wilson pointedly asked Hiddleston what he loved about playing the character.

"And I said, 'I think it's because he has so much range,'" says Hiddleston. "I remember saying this to him: 'On the 88 keys on the piano, he can play the twinkly light keys at the top. He can keep it witty and light, and he's the God of Mischief, but he can also go down to the other side and play the heavy keys. And he can play some really profound chords down there, which are about grief and betrayal and loss and heartbreak and jealousy and pride.'" Hiddleston recalls Wilson being moved by the description: "He said, 'I think I might say that in the show.' And it was such a brilliant insight for me into how open Owen is as an artist and a performer.'"

Owen Wilson as Mobius and Tom Hiddleston as Loki in 'Loki.'| Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios

Everyone involved is particularly excited for audiences to see Hiddleston and Wilson's on-screen chemistry. "Mobius is not unlike Owen Wilson in that he's sort of nonplussed by the MCU," says Feige. "[Loki] is used to getting a reaction out of people, whether it's his brother or his father, or the other Avengers. He likes to be very flamboyant and theatrical. Mobius doesn't give him the reaction he's looking for. That leads to a very unique relationship that Loki's not used to."

As for the rest of the series, we know that Loki will be jumping around time and reality, but the creative team isn't keen on revealing when and where. "Every episode, we tried to take inspiration from different things," says Waldron, citing Blade Runner's noir aesthetic as one example.

"Part of the fun of the multiverse and playing with time is seeing other versions of characters, and other versions of the titular character in particular," says Feige, who also declined to confirm if Loki ties into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and/or other upcoming projects.

Making Loki was especially meaningful to Hiddleston because they shot most of it during the pandemic, in late 2020. "It will remain one of the absolute most intense, most rewarding experiences of my life," he says. "It's a series about time, and the value of time, and what time is worth, and I suppose what the experience of being alive is worth. And I don't quite know yet, and maybe I don't have perspective on it, if all the thinking and the reflecting that we did during the lockdown ended up in the series. But in some way, it must have because everything we make is a snapshot of where we were in our lives at that time."

While it remains to be seen what the future holds for Loki beyond this initial season, Hiddleston isn't preparing to put the character to bed yet. "I'm open to everything," he says. "I have said goodbye to the character. I've said hello to the character. I said goodbye to the character [again]. I've learned not to make assumptions, I suppose. I'm just grateful that I'm still here, and there are still new roads to explore."

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