#especially in regards to what it COULD have been given what atla WAS

[royal-wren]

Favorite/Lesser known or lesser focused on Hermes epithets, both historical and upg. There are a lot of epithets that are easily applicable to Hermes and his roles/associations/domains for his endless reach. If it's one that I've given him as there is nothing there for that part of him it will have an asterisk (*) by it. Also, if you're expecting anything alphabetical you will be sorely disappointed.

Hermes Psithyristes - Whispering or The Whisperer. It highlights Hermes as the god who whispers his advice to the ear of those who ask him. It doesn't take much to look at this epithet and connect it to his oracle connected to Hermes Agoraios. Those that look to learn the knowledge of the future will tell him personally and hear his answer through the people that resonates with the one asking.

*Hermes Xenios - Of the Stranger/Guest or Of Hospitality. It goes without saying considering he is a god of the home, one that protects it (and any in the home) by every entrance as well as the god of travelers and friend of man.

Hermes Agroter - Of the Field.

Hermes Epikthonios - Dwelling on Earth/Earthly.

*Hermes Nyktelios - Of the Night, Nocturnal. I personally heavily connect him to the night and he has many historical domains in connection to it. Zeus and Maia met in the night and Hermes has lovers meet in the night, delights in it, and travels through it.

Hermes Pyledokos - The Door Watcher. Important to the divine pairing of Hestia and Hermes especially prominent as two gods of the home. Hestia dwelled inside, found at the very heart and in every room while Hermes was the one protecting every entrance to keep out what isn't wanted.

Atlantiades - In relation to his mother as a daughter of Atlas, signifying his status as the Titan's grandson.

Hermes Epiklopios/Klepsiphronos - The Stealthy-minded.

*Hermes Troglodýtis - One who crawls in holes or caves, such as a snake or fox, Cave Dweller/Dwelling, plus it also relates to wrens under the genus name. Contextually this is highly specific to his domain over mountains and caves and animals like snakes and those in the Canidae family, as well as my upg connection to Hermes and wrens (and birds in general).

Hermes Pantokrátōr - Ruler of the World/Ruler of All or All-powerful. It might have only been used once or twice as far as documentation goes but it's definitely earned a spot here. It's more on a personal basis for the worshipper and holds importance to me.

Hermes Koryphaîos - Leader of the Chorus. In relation to his position with the many Nymphai (Nymphs), he was the deity most associated with them and stood between man and the Nymphai for their worship.

*Hermes Aîtos - Something given: allotment, share. Easily applicable to his position in regard to life and death as well as luck. I also connect it to his relation to the Moirai as someone that works with them in a similar manner to Tykhe. Could be ambiguous as to whether it is positive or negative (or somewhere in between).

*Hermes Oîtos - Fate, Doom. In a similar vein to Hermes Aîtos but no longer ambiguous as it has a more negative meaning to it. More specifically in relation to Hermes Psykhopompos and Hermes Khthonios who works with the Moirai, Thanatos, and Kharon. The epithet in relation to death and the afterlife, one part of the cog that keeps the world in order that waits for us all at the end of our thread of life weaved by the Fates.

Hermes Areiās - Warlike, Curser, or Defender/Protector, possibly He who succors Ares. Outside of Mycenaean times could easily apply in relation to Hermes Kriophoros and Hermes Keryx (a mix of the two), as well as his domain over diplomacy and heralds that all play a part in war.

Hermes Dendrites - Of the Trees.

Hermes Kedrites - Of the Cedar Trees. The source of this epithet comes from Syme (Crete) where he is a god of vegetation and initiation into adulthood with Aphrodite.

Hermes Dromios - Of the Stadium.

*Hermes Klazo - To make a sharp piercing sound.

Hermes Syskopos - Sharp Sighted.

*Hermes Kosmâs (Hermes Kósmos also works) - Derived from kosméô (κοσμέω) kósmos (κόσμος), meaning order, lawful, government, ornament, decoration, honor, credit, world, universe, earth. It's an epithet that I hold close to me and hold with great importance for my special interest and adoration of space and everything in it. As Hermes is a god of astronomy, astrology, and constellations (making them in conjunction with Hera as well as teaching others about them), as well as his relation with his blue supergiant star immediate family and another epithet of mine Star-Born. The god that is both really ancient (as far as historical records and appearance(middle-aged)) and super young with so much life and energy with many eras to live through. A god of galaxies, their death, and birth in a cycle that is wide-reaching and covers the infinite and sometimes just a figurative coverage of how much he does. From the universe(s) back is his reach and everything he has hands in, as well as everything yet to connect to him for the past and future.

Hermes Deilakrion - Poor fellow. God of the greedy, lions, the devourer, the starving, the hungry, one that can't be contained or restrained. The one god I personally associate with driving those looking to learn no matter what to feel insatiable in the hunt for it. Also akin to a bringer of knowledge for the forbidden, what might drive one mad but make one enlightened.

Hermes Oneiropompos - Bringer of Dreams. For all the people that struggle to sleep and to remember dreams (like me), he ensures it. I have never slept so soundly and dreamed so vividly as I have with him.

*Hermes Episteme - Knowledge, Understanding (Science basically). He is the drive that spurns others on for the sake of creation, to find out the intricacies of life and what's good and bad. The god that fucks around and finds out regardless of the outcome with good intentions to know what to continue and stay away from.

Potnios Theron - Master of Animals.

*Hermes Tríbō - To Rub, Friction. A double meaning both as the creator of fire without reliance on nature that can be done by anyone with the right tools/knowledge. It also relates to Hermes' domain and part to play with marriage, the consummation, and unity during the first night. In the company of Aphrodite, Hermes makes this pass and for the modern day can easily represent a passionate night between two people that love each other.

*Hermes Astronómos - Pertaining to his domain over astrology and astronomy (especially as the one that teaches it), but especially with space and the stars as a whole. If it exists out there beyond the blue sky we are familiar with it's deeply connected to him.

*Mercurius Arieto/Arietare - To strike violently like a ram, batter, or to disturb, harass, or disquiet. A hundred percent a UPG/SPG epithet but one that stands out, especially with the person he becomes under the name of Mercurius/Mercury. A god more tightly wound with an intensity barely restrained behind an air of calm and indifference. It appropriately covers the change to fit the new culture and people that worshipped him under this name, a wolf-like god with sharp teeth and horns to show his wild nature.

Hermes Katokhos - To bind or restrain.

Hermes Kranaios - Of the Fountain? Of Springs.

*Hermes Keleasma - A shout implying authority and urgency. The idea is of a loud, authoritative cry, often uttered in the thick of great excitement. He is the deity whose voice is louder than anyone else's by a wide berth. Stentor(ians) will quiver before him as he has no match.

Hermes Kandaules - The Dog-Throttler or Throttler of the Beast. A Lydian god, an epithet denoting religious syncretism. Akin to an extension of Potnios Theron especially as one that tames animals especially predators and monsters like the Khimaira.

*Hermes Bromos/Bromios - For any sudden, loud noise, the crackling fire, and the roaring of the storm (the tearing or whistling wind).

*Hermes Anemos - To breathe, blow, wind, a violent agitation and stream of air.

*Hermes Philósophos - Loving wisdom, lover of knowledge/wisdom, educated, learned person, professor, philosopher, scientific, philosophic.

Hermes Kataibatês - Descending, in relation to Hermes being a conductor of souls and in his function as an underworld deity.

Sources:

Hermes a-re-ja: a new interpretation by José Marcos Macedo

Theoi.com

Hermes Epithets

"Candaules, whom the Greeks name Myrsilus … " by J. A. S. Evans

Miller, John F., and Jenny Strauss Clay (eds), Tracking Hermes, Pursuing Mercury (Oxford, 2019; online edn, Oxford Academic, 21 Mar. 2019), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198777342.001.0001

Bolling, George Melville. “Kandaules.” Language, vol. 3, no. 1, 1927, pp. 15–18. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/409642.

Lebessi, Angeliki. “Hermes as Master of Lions at the Syme Sanctuary, Crete.” British School at Athens Studies, vol. 18, 2010, pp. 195–202. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23276776

Chittenden, Jacqueline. “The Master of Animals.” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 16, no. 2, 1947, pp. 89–114. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/146954

Keleasma Definition

#hermes #hermes deity #dorian's polytheism diary #hellenic polytheism #helpol #hellenic pagan

[tetsunabouquet]

House Of Anubis: How the OG Dutch/Belgium show was butchered in its adaptation by Nickelodeon Part 1: Mick & Fabian

Given ATLA and Percy Jackson have gotten butchered again, I have decided to finally open my mouth about my favorite children's tv show: Het Huis Anubis. I am making this in several parts, because god this show was done dirty by Nickelodeon- especially the English adaptation. Today, we will go over exhibit A, Mick and Fabian and how they as individuals were butchered and their bromance was scrapped - all due to Nickelodeon's homophobia because OG Fabian's actor, Lucien van Geffen, came out as a gay man after the show ended. 1. Let's start with the most obvious thing: the boys appearance. Fabian is way cuter and way less nerdy looking in the English adaptation. The dude became Prom King for crying out loud. In the OG, whilst Fabian was cute, he was so in an overtly nerdy way and the idea of him becoming Prom King at all would have been an obvious prank. Mick was the dumb jock, the pretty boy of the cast who got played by a model. As a bisexual, this was the show that would get me bi-panicking because of Mick and Nienke (Nina in the English adaptation). 2. The aforementioned stereotyping was actually part of what made the bromance work. Because stereotypes are easier to understand for younger children and their contrasting stereotypes were written in such a beautiful way as they saw each other's value. Because in the OG, Mick has a lot of things going for him and he has a heart of gold but he has a dream he cannot accomplish being the dumb pretty boy he is but Fabian can. Because in the OG, Mick has a blind younger sister that he would like to cure more then anything but knows he's too dumb for medicine school unlike Fabian. He also knows Fabian is more courageous then he is and sees him as someone with lots of valuable traits whereas Fabian values Mick's loyalty and good, friendly nature as one of the show's primary himbo's. Their stereotypes allowed kids to understand each stereotype came with valuable traits. It's okay if you're a nerd or a jock. 3. MICK NEVER LEFT. Mick always remained the ignorant himbo walking around the house as his friends were busy dealing with cults. He was the breath of fresh air that brought normalcy throughout the show with his romance drama. Though he was ignorant of what they were doing, it's not like Mick was 100% oblivious throughout the entire show. For crying out loud Fabian had to fake his death at one point, with no one knowing he was still alive. Who was the one Fabian went to so he could say he was still alive? Mick. Really, a secret handshake is in no way on the same level as only telling your best friend you are still alive. 4. Which brings me to another character that never left: Nienke! Unlike her English counterpart Nina, Nienke remained as the leader of the Sibuna gang throughout the show with Fabian being the healthy kind of boyfriend who never felt like he had to take leadership away from her or anything. I swear in regards to Fabian in the English adaptation, they tried to hard to make a more alpha male version of Fabian. He's hotter, he gets more girls, he gets to be the leader and more. There is literal evidence they had toxic masculinity in mind: its Fabian falling to the sin of Pride in the show. Whilst the English adaptation was only faithful to the first season, the 7 deadly sins do show up in the first Anubis movie where Nienke is kidnapped by the antagonist. OG Fabian is literally the first person to win from all 7 deadly sins with the sin he ALMOST succumbs to being wrath as his friends and Nienke were about to die. Fabian was the virtuous knight in that movie and they actively made him more prideful in the English adaptation. Why would they change his relationship with Nienke and things like this, if it wasn't to make Fabian seem more masculine and whatnot because Lucien being gay emasculates Fabian in the eyes of Nickelodeon. For fuck's sake, Lucien was literally chosing to stay in the closet during the show because the ship was HUGE. He didn't wanted to break all of the little children's hearts by saying he was gay. Lucien was gracious 100%!

#tetsutalk #house of anubis #het huis anubis #anubis #fabian rutter #fabian ruitenburg #mick campbell #mick zeelenberg #mickbian #nina martin #nienke martins #nickelodeon #homophobia #Lucien van Geffen #Youtube #Mick's eulogy and how he makes Fabian promise not to go away ever again is just-

[royallpetrichor]

Okay so I haven't posted in like 12 years and I know I'm like a week late, but what's everyone's thoughts on the live-action ATLA teaser? I'm genuinely very interested to know, because I certainly have thoughts, and I've definitely seen some polarised opinions. What do you like about it, and are you worried about anything?

Anyway, my long personal thoughts are below the keep reading line. I probably haven't said anything super new, or any hot takes but they're there.

First, what I loved about the teaser. It looked visually stunning! The shot composition all looked amazing (to someone who knows nothing about film), the visual tone was definitely there, and the set design was gorgeous! The entire time I was just going "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god" but in a good way. The characters especially look great. In particular, I loved Suki, Aang, and Zuko. I know some people were disappointed with how the characters looked, but I really think it's the best we could have gotten considering the wide disconnect between animation and live-action, and I think it's something people need to remember.

The acting obviously hasn't been shown very much, so it's still up in the air in that regard. I've been trying to convince myself I'm cautiously optimistic, but quite honestly I've gone straight to pure excitement, despite my worries.

We're also getting more flashbacks, as shown by the fact there's a scene of the Air Nomad genocide. More worldbuilding and backstory is definitely something I'm very happy about, so I'm excited to see where it goes. The thing that stumps me on it is whether they're going to do it well. In the film that shall not be named, Shyamalan put references to the original show everywhere, but he never took the time to understand why they worked. It was like he wanted us to say "Wow! They said the thing!!!!!" as if we'd clap at the screen without actually thinking about anything. I'm really, really hoping that's not the case here.

The tone is definitely something that people are concerned about, myself included. The teaser was very serious and dramatic. Of course, the show has those moments but it's overall very lighthearted. It's a show about friendship first and foremost, and those positive messages are highlighted throughout the series. I'm hoping this teaser is more Netflix saying "Look at these cool effects!" and less "This is the overall tone of the entire series!".

The humour also comes to play in this. ATLA has a lot of jokes. You know this, I know this, they work, I don't have to talk about it. I'm curious about the humor in the live-action series because a lot of the humour in ATLA works because the show is animated, and wouldn't work in the live-action setting. In the film that shall not be named, Shyamalan tried to take jokes from the show, but they just fell completely flat because it was the completely wrong genre and just created tonal dissonance.

The last big thing I'm worried about is the characters, particularly Katara and Zuko.

I'm worried about Katara, because film has had this tendency in the past (and I know this is probably outdated) to "tone down" a female character's more "unsavoury/unladylike" traits. This is a bad example but it's the best my brain can come up with, but Hermione in the HP films compared to the books. In the films she was smart, brave, never wrong, and never made fun of. In the books, she was smart, yes, but also naive, and really mean and judgy sometimes.

Katara is a strong female character because she's not perfect. She's hotheaded and can hold a mean grudge, but those make her who she is. Also, in the film that does not exist, other character's strong moments are inexplicably given to Katara to make her more "badass" without actually putting in the work for her.

I'm worried about Zuko for an entirely different reason. I'm scared they'll "tone back" his assholeness in the first season, and possibly even give us his backstory a lot sooner. I really don't want this, because the whole reason his redemption arc works is because he was a villain first. He did bad things, but he atoned for them. His backstory explains his actions but doesn't excuse them. If we're sympathetic to him too early, the payoff is going to feel a lot cheaper, and like he didn't actually work to make himself better because he was already there.

Okay wow that was a lot, but that sums up all of my thoughts/concerns/excitement for the show. I'm really stoked to see where they go with it, and even if it's a disaster I'll probably enjoy it anyway honestly.

#atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar live action #avatar the last airbender live action #zuko #aang #sokka #katara #toph #suki

[cosmokyrin]

"loving penny polendia is suffering" yeah this is true

Also, this is coming from someone who is an avid Penny 3.0 Theorist: Do you think Penny will be resurrected once more in V10 (if it gets greenlit), and if so, how do you think they'll go about it?

lmao my blog title remaining relevant 2 years after I changed it is something I'd never expect out of V9 honestly

and HELLO fellow Penny 3.0 theorist!!

I know I will sound crazy and mad and insane for this probably but yes, I do highly believe that Penny will actually come back. No matter how many times I read why she won't, I have to disagree simply from the reading of her overall arc as a character. What I'm not certain is whether she will be fully resurrected in a body in V10, or just given hints (or something like, where she can talk with RWBY, Pietro and co. but still shares a body with Winter, like the Oscar/Ozma situation). AND HERE'S TO HOPING V10 DOES GET GREENLIT, WE NEED CONCLUSIONS TO THE ENTIRETY OF RWBY.

And to answer your question as to how they'll go about it? Idk really. There are many ways that the fandom (particularly the nnd and Penny cult fandom) have come up regarding Penny's third return. The most popular and arguably the most backed theory would be the Aura Transfer Machine theory, because from the two times it was relevant in the show (V3 and V7), it was never fully nor successfully used. And funny enough, the ATM was always about transferring Maiden powers, and it was always somehow connected to Atlas technology, so you can see where the narrative connects Winter, Penny and the ATM.

With V9's ending and showing no signs of Penny's body being around, that's where I'm personally kinda in the dark regarding of what they're going to do with her now. With Pietro around they could be going for another Penny robo body, but they'd have to address issues again of the possibility of Penny getting hacked, etc. Narratively speaking, I've always been on the idea that Penny will return not as human nor robot, but a mix of both (yeah, a cyborg!). Penny's weaknesses (and strengths / benefits??) as both human and robot have been expounded in the show that I feel like the most sensible conclusion is to give her the best of both worlds --- an enhanced human per se (like in the recent Terminator movies). But how they'll do that without Penny's human body, unless Ambrosius and the Staff of Creation gets involved again, kinda points me back to Penny being put back in a robot body (and from there they could probably just cover it up with some in-world explanation on why Penny is no longer hackable lmao). I like the idea that Winter will be heavily involved in it especially when it's been pointed out how Winter could allude to Pinocchio's Blue Fairy (who gave the boy his wishes). I could try to come up with any other way but it will always come back to Winter, Pietro and Ruby lmao

#rwby #penny polendina #askbox #anon

[itsclydebitches]

It occurs to me that all the fun of an Alice in Wonderland story kind of gets sucked out when your characters can just beat up everyone there instead of being forced to engage with the nonsensical and unfair rules of the setting. Where's the fun in tricking the Queen of Hearts and playing a bizarre game of hedgehog croquet? Just knock her block off.

I might have argued that RWBY backed itself into an inevitable corner by being a combat show - you have to forsake the bizarre rules and trickery of the Ever After for choreographed fights because that's just what RWBY is and what the viewer expects - IF we hadn't been introduced to the Jabberwock first thing. Plus, you know, Neo is there. We have the perfect setup for classic battles via old enemies/fantasy beasts and new, fun, interesting conflicts that require the girls to navigate a situation with skills other than brute strength... but no. I mean, maybe we'll get something moving forward, but the Prince's game isn't very reassuring in that regard.

You know what I was thinking about throughout that part of the episode? The Magicians. Specifically the scene where Quintin plays Push. Basically, he's a magic user playing a game of War, but in this version the whole point is to cheat. The player who's better at putting the right card in their own hand, the wrong card in their opponent's, or generally just fucking with the deck is the winner; a game of skill, power, and creativity. For all the show's many other problems (oh boy did it crash and burn lol) I love that scene and it kept popping into my head as the Prince yelled about humans cheating while, of course, cheating himself. That cheating could have been interesting, especially with a supposed strategist leading the charge, but as you say, instead we just get another beat 'em up fight. (You know, how Yang also wanted to solve her arm problem.)

Which I'm admittedly ambivalent about because we dodged three potential battles in the first two episodes (vines, Jabberwock, guards) and I was absolutely going, "When is RWBY going to give us some combat?" but it's one of those details that make me wonder why we're in the Ever After in the first place. If the show wanted Ruby to grapple with her depression while engaging in straightforward battle sequences, rather than grappling with her depression via the twisty, metaphorical rules of an alternate reality... she could have just done that in Vacuo. Thus far, three episodes in out of ten, all the Ever After has provided is a weather cue for when Ruby is feeling really sad. Otherwise every important character moment is easily removed from our setting. Some opportunistic Vacuo thief could have stolen Yang's arm. Ruby could have found something that reminds her of Penny among the Atlas civilians (which probably would have made more sense). Hell, people can even ask probing, thematically relevant questions like, 'Who are you?' given that they're unwelcome refugees. I'm slightly interested in the trio remaining small for a time, but beyond that everything we've gotten - Ruby is separated from her weapon, Neo's semblance evolves, Yang and Blake are still flirting, etc. - is not a result of the setting, it just happens to be happening in that setting, which begs the question of why we're taking this Ever After detour in the first place.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

[analviel]

ATLA NETFLIX, some of the thoughts I wrote down while watching:

The costumes!!!!!!

Fire. Bending.

The bending in general but FIRE bending and the way it left the victims.

Gasp! Oh, oh, oh! Help was sent to the earth kingdoms, maybe not the best fighters but still a lot of them, that's why the air nomads were wiped out and the southern water was devastated while the Earth kingdom stood the strongest. I like the way they set this up.

AAAAAAANG!!!

AIR NOMADS!!!!

Monk Gyatso!!!

Kinda bummed that Katara didn't break the ice by getting angry but I'm gonna be optimistic.

Hoooooo Sokka and Zuko exceed my expectations! "His destiny". "Repeating it doesn't help".

Although, the face burn is a bit underwhelming especially with what we just saw of the previous fire victims.

Sooooo excited for all the bending!!!

THE COSTUMES! THE TATTOO, ESPECIALLY THE WAY IT'S PLACED AROUND HIS ARMS!!!

Idk why maybe bcs Katara is my favourite so I'm watching her but she feels so.... Hmmm. Quiet. What happened to her lines at the beginning, for someone who's words are the first we hear in the OG.

When Sokka said "Before you kill someone", I expected at least a "Sokka!".

I do love the actress with the lines she's been given tho. With the rant to Sokka on the Air Temple. Gets that hopeful glint Katara has.

Zuko flipping out yes! He's so... Spazzy, does that make sense?

I'm not too young, I just haven't seen the world yet- Suki

Suki and Sokka are sooooooooo awkward I LOVE IT!!! Also that Mulan make-up remover. Asians are just built different I guess.

AANG AND KYOSHI!

Katara standing in Zuko's way- I can't wait until Zuko offers to kill her mother's killer with her!

We got Azula!!! Oh I love those first lines delievered like that!

Did I mention I love how Zuko is visibly falling apart, barely able to keep himself together, because I do, I really do!

Okay I'm gonna say it, Katara feels like she's just being dragged around everywhere. No- no initiative.

I....

Do not like that.

Feels like she's not getting riled up enough by Sokka maybe.

Mai is SO Mai, you can hear it so well!

They did Jet's intro good!

My Cabbages! The most passion so far!

Ooooh! Oh I do adore the secret tunnel scene in this!!!!

The Bumi actor is so good.

A friend. A friend! The direct Aang/Zuko and Gyatso/Iroh parallels.

The Zuko redemption storyline is living up to itself so far.

As for Azula, I really wished they left the breaking down era a little bit later. Like yeah, Azula wasn't right in the head from the beginning but that was shown more in how terrifyingly aloof and unstoppable she was in the earlier episode I believe but, well.

There's already a bond between Aang and Zuko but I've yet to see anything half like OG Katara and Aang!

Hmmm, actually, regarding Azula..... Ozai is, weirdly, invested in Zuko in a way we could've said OG Ozai would never say that. Which explains Azula here.

I love the avatar state glowy effects!

The sexism against Katara doubled and coated with genuine concern and real-life reasons that makes it hard to counter argue is making me lean in, in anticipation of how it will make my Katara blow up.

...... So no plan?..... I'm working on it, Uncle.

Sokka rushing towards Katara to 'convince her'.

Azula and Katara in the same episode is foreshadowing parallels.

Excited to have Katara's bending to visibly improve, like in the OG. And by that I meant how organically her water whip evolved smoother and faster in the animation. Like, you could see it.

........ Pakku vs Katara. Love the action, the effects. It could've been so good in regards to catharsis if Katara had just raged...... I'm just. Not going to.

Getting rid of their machine controls renders the fire army sitting ducks in the middle of ocean. Which makes me think of that reverse AU where the water tribe conquers the world.

If the water benders all work together, they can just have a giant tsunami turn them all over.

Master? Master Katara?...... That's so.... It's surprising rather than something you'd anticipate and cheer when we finally gain it.

Not a single waterbending training montage with Pakku. I'm still not sure if Pakku trained her or just gave her the title.

I like that I can tell that they know what they want to do with Sokka.

Not so much with Katara.

I gasped when all the Northern Tribe female waterbenders stepped forward like that.

So. There's a lot of stuff that they removed and added that I didn't like- less 'added', and more 'rushed'. Things that should've built up gradually, that could've been revealed in little bits were just immediately shown to us- my example here is Azula. When I first saw Azula, she was terrifying, her and her group were both my dream group and incited fear and awe in younger me, I didn't think she was insecure, I didn't think she was scared, she was practically the damn terminator with that epic episode of tracking the gaang slowly but steadily and driving them to exhaustion.

Is she actually insecure and batshit insane and scared? Yes. Was that what you were supposed to be able to tell with a single glance? No.

At first I thought maybe I was just biased with Katara, but I also feel like a lot of stuff they did with Azula was just.....

They did Sokka good, which was actually who I was concerned about the most. Zuko- I really love his portrayal. My moments of doubt with Aang are actually closely tied with Katara, which makes sense because hello, their friendship and bond was very important to the whole thing. Would've been a wonderful contrast to his Past bond with Gyatso and his Future bond with Katara.

I do think it's good.

Let me marinate on this.

#atla katara #atla sokka #Atla aang #Atla zuko #Atla uncle iroh #Atla suki #avatar the last airbender #netflix live action #atla azula #And I write

[6-atlas-6]

hi! this is in regards to your post where you asked to be given a genuine canon explanation for why alexis deserves to be defended at all. none of this is meant as a personal attack on you - if it comes off that way, i’m really sorry.

so, first off, the drama around alexis is really only half in canon. the issue i and other people have with alexis hate is that most of the time it tilts significantly towards misogyny, with such points being made as ‘it’s not misogynistic to call alexis a bitch. she was.’ obviously this one is problematic because it’s misogynistic to call ANY woman a bitch no matter what they’ve done (especially a fictional character who hasn’t… actually done anything to hurt you). she very rarely receives the same treatment as other ‘villains’ - nobody is really out and about in the tag going ‘what quinn/blake/ivan did is bad and therefore if you don’t hate them you too are bad and a bad person in real life’ which is another reason hate towards her sort of raises my eyebrows as i’ve come to expect misogynistic spiel. (…and blatant sexual objectification, but that’s a whole other post).

you’re fully permitted to dislike alexis! i can understand why you would, she did something bad that hurt sam and it makes sense to dislike her. however, it’s also allowed to look at her actions from another frame (e.g. looking at blake as first the guy who kept sunshine in a basement and then the guy who’s desperately trying to save bestie’s life). alexis’ actions can’t be excused, no matter what, but they can be explained and understood!

so here’s the in-canon part.

it’s been fifteen years since alexis turned sam. fifteen years is a significant length of time, during which an individual can change! a lot. i would personally hope alexis has learned from her actions, and is maybe getting some sort of help. i don’t personally believe the argument that apologising is always best. sometimes just staying out of the lives of the people you’ve hurt is the best route, which is as we know the one alexis took. maybe she’s changed. we don’t know! we don’t know that she’s changed but also we don’t know that she’s still the same. we just don’t know.

answering your question as to why she deserves to be defended; very little alexis ‘defence’ excuses what she did to sam. most of it is reframing what she did in an effort to understand her actions, as i said earlier (most alexis defence is actually against the way the fandom treats her). in the end, alexis is a fictional character and can be treated the way any other fictional character can, loved or hated. loving or hating her has no real impact on a person’s morality. if her actions upset you, that’s fine! they were wrong and they could be distressing. but they’re no different to anyone else in the redactedverse’s bad actions (that sounds so childish i’m sorry) and people are fully allowed to approach them however they’d like.

i hope this helps, if it was too wordsy i am SO sorry

^^ If anybody was wondering, this is the specific person I was talking about in that post. They actually did a really good job of explaining it to me, so I would take time to read it!

#redacted asmr #redacted audio #redactedverse #redacted #redacted alexis

[releasemefromthevoid]

MY ATLA LIVE ACTION S1E6 THOUGHTS

EP5 - EP7

Not gonna lie guys, this episode was pretty solid. As always with adaptations that take place in an alternate canon, there’s things I enjoyed and things I very much didn’t. 

First I have to say that they adapted one of my favorite episodes from the original this time around. They essentially mixed up episodes 12 and 13 (“The Storm” and “The Blue Spirit” respectively). That means we were largely focused on Zuko and Aang. That was a great choice to entice viewers like me, actually. I found the interpretation of the events of The Blue Spirit especially to be done very well on the whole.

I have some things to say about The Storm though. There was one very obvious change in Zuko’s backstory that I just don’t know if I can ultimately get behind, if not just because I don’t know what the writers are trying to say about this new version of him. Maybe it will make sense later. Either way, I’ll talk about it when I reach the end of the series and make a full review post, likely tomorrow. 

Lastly, there was one changed regarding the crew of Zuko’s ship that I’m just so down for. Makes things come together nicely, feeling more personal in a way.

More on that under the cut, with the live reactions

oh. zuko backstory. right here right now?

zuko is giving innocent energy when preparing for the war council, but he’s not reading as a child. there’s something about knowing he’s like 12-13 going into the agni kai that really hits different. i hope the show can make up for that

so this is the setup for the storm. but with no storm. i’m glad the story is being told at least

except iroh isn’t going to tell the story right now i guess

crescent island lets go

fire sages with the funny little hats. and here’s shyu

well, i guess that there’s no fun locking doors anywhere, huh. where’s the whimsy :( 

roku. roku buddy what. he’s a silly guy what

i’m kind of digging this roku

wait holy shit they’re referencing the mother of faces? that’s insane, isn’t that a comics or legend of korra thing (haven’t read/seen either)

is that all the roku we get? 

okay,, so aang is captured by june now. are we gonna get back to save katara and sokka anytime soon? or i guess this could be a substitute for pohuai stronghold?? as katara and sokka are out of commission and aang has been captured. i’m guessing zhao’s gonna get him at some point and zuko’s gonna blue spirit it up.

interesting that ozai invited zuko to speak. it’s no longer “i spoke out of turn”, it’s just an undermining of the general’s tactic. which, of course, is no less cruel, it’s just interesting. one way to resolve this huh?

yeah there we are, ambushed by zhao

there’s some significance in the yuyan archer severing iroh’s topknot. i wonder what they’re going to say with this. if anything

so we ARE going to pohuai. iroh is really talking it up, huh. “impenetrable”, “armies have tried and did not succeed”. oh boy here comes zuko

please let the blue spirit have some incredible fight sequences

yessss get that tsungi horn in here i love the blue spirit theme

zuko you goddamn ninja legend (can you tell the blue spirit is a favorite episode of mine)

not as much of a fight going in as i’m sure it will be going out, where’s that bucket of water takedown, huh?

THE LADDERS FUCK YEAH THEY KEPT IT IN

iconic fight scene. it might have been shorter, but i’m very happy with it

this was Such a turning point for how we see zuko in the cartoon. they changed both the characters for this adaptation, so it’s not quite the same, but i feel like the pohuai/aftermath scenes were done justice

a lot more words exchanged here. aang’s showing an incredible amount of emotional intelligence here. within this continuity i suppose that makes sense. the line “i have a feeling you’ve been hurt more than enough” is hard hitting, but still odd to me. how did aang put that together from the information given to him?

zuko. fights back against ozai in the agni kai. there’s even a moment where he would have won, but hesitated. i don’t think i really like the fact that he fought back at all. while the suggestion that zuko is at this point more skilled than ozai (and with better morals to boot) is incredibly interesting (since he is also supposed to be very much a child), does this undermine ozai as a threat at all? he’s no less cruel or manipulative for doing what he did, but i digress. also what does it say about this version of zuko that he fought back at all. it’s weird to think about

HELLO?? so the 41st was saved?? and is now zuko’s crew? they weren’t sent to the earth kingdom anyway or left ambiguous?? this is. actually not an unwelcome change. this feels a lot more personal, and i’m kind of impressed with this cool new interpretation of the 41st

i didn’t say it earlier but what’s up with the iroh voice over?? this episode and the last have had voice overs and it’s. just a little weird to me? an odd decision. feels a little forced, but i guess they were like “we gotta speed this up guys”

liked: the 41st being zuko's crew, the pohuai stronghold fights, the focus on zuko and aang

worried about: zuko's characterization

disliked: zuko fighting back against ozai in the agni kai

#atla #atla live action #atla netflix #avatar the last airbender live action #avatar the last airbender #long post #this one was largely good #lets keep this energy please

[waheelawhisperer]

To be somewhat fair to ironwood and fria he was clearly still giving her medical attention and keeling her as safe as he could which given she seemingly had dementia makes some sense, letting her wander around the city probably wouldn’t have been idea

But keeling her completely isolated from anyone except winter and whoever offered medical attention was still cruel,

Yeah, for me the issue here is less so that Ironwood provided Fria with end-of-life care so much as the reasoning behind it. He's not caring for a feeble old woman in her final days out of the goodness of his heart (or at least not just out of the goodness of his heart; Ironwood is most certainly capable of kindness, but that isn't the primary factor in play here), he's doing it so that his handpicked candidate has ready access to the powers of the Winter Maiden.

Given that Fria is... definitely not all there, I definitely don't think she should be allowed to wander around unchecked with the powers of a fully realized Maiden, but the way the scene is framed doesn't raise this point and focuses on Ironwood keeping Fria contained because he wants to be able to transfer her power to the person of his choosing, rather than because she might pose a danger to others without full control of her faculties.

Nowhere are Ironwood's priorities with regards to Fria more clear than when he sends Winter to murder her for a strategic advantage. Make no mistake, what Ironwood ordered Winter to do was murder. Fria is not so much a person in Ironwood's calculus as she is a resource, and her life and agency become necessary sacrifices in pursuit of victory once Ironwood believes Atlas is sufficiently vulnerable.

This may be a controversial opinion, but Ironwood's decision was correct from a strategic standpoint, if poorly timed. Atlas needs every resource it can get to meet Salem's invasion, and there are few resources on Remnant more potent than a Maiden, especially when you consider the fact that you also gain access to the associated Relic. If employed correctly, the Relic of Creation could have been a massive boon to the war effort, despite its limitations. It could have been used to generate equipment, materiel, defenses, or even robotic reinforcements as needed. It can only do one of those at a time, but even that offers a level of flexibility the hidebound Atlesian military desperately needs to face Salem's forces, and Ironwood has enough troops to use the Staff as many times as he wants - and this is just the most basic, least creative use for the Staff I can think of!

Ironwood absolutely fucked up by sending Winter to claim the Maiden's power as soon as Cinder spooked him and not providing her with adequate cover, but he was absolutely right to try to establish control over the Maiden power from a strategic standpoint, because it expands his options significantly and opens up a number of new avenues by which to attack, defend, and retreat. Unfortunately, he was right kind of by accident, because he sends Winter to kill Fria because he's scared and wants to run from Salem, rather than because he's preparing to fight.

Moral implications aside, and there are a lot of them, I can't imagine that Winter "Solve Social Situations By Hitting Them" Schnee is particularly good at providing care to the elderly, and the scene where we're introduced to Fria heavily implies that Winter is the only one providing that care (because Ironwood can't risk the power going somewhere else).

I do think that Ironwood is genuinely trying to do the right thing and be a good person for most of his run on the show, in his own heavyhanded, hamfisted way, but when I look back on his actions and interactions in light of Volume 8, there's always this sense of "You aren't quite real to me, and I am prepared to sacrifice you (regretfully, perhaps, and maybe even with hesitation, but I will do it in the end) if it becomes necessary" to him. Still one of my favorite characters, though. I love how flawed and complex he is, and his voice and aesthetic are *chef's kiss*. Jason Rose did a wonderful job bringing the character to life.

#rwby #analysis #fria #james ironwood #winter schnee #salem

[firelxdykatara]

every time i see a post by someone saying they just finished watching atla for the first time, i have this moment of jealousy–being able to experience atla for the first time all over again would be amazing, honestly–but then it’s replaced by this all-consuming sense of dread (and no small amount of pity) when i see the rest of the post (or in the tags) that they’re looking forward to watching lok.

like, especially if they’re gonna be coming fresh off of just barely finishing atla, expecting some amazing follow up to the series, and instead getting… that…………

like, it’d be bad enough if korra was just kind of a crappy show on its own. and don’t get me wrong, it absolutely is! the relationships are sloppy and inconsistent, the character development (where it exists at all) is all over the place, the plots make no sense and have ‘resolutions’ based on nonsensical fight sequences and dei ex machina because the showrunners couldn’t be assed to actually keep things consistent or bother with, like, narrative coherence or satisfying conclusions to plot arcs, probably because they figured Rule of Cool was good enough to keep the viewers distracted. on it’s own, korra would never have made waves. it probably would’ve been canceled after the second season at best, and hardly anyone would remember it. it managed to eke out four seasons by riding atla’s coattails and maintaining a meager fanbase who kept hoping things would Get Better (hint: they don’t)

but no, lok had to crap all over everything that was amazing about atla. the worldbuilding, which had been beautiful in its simplicity–there were complexities in the individual nations, but part of what made atla so amazing was that it didn’t miss the forest for the trees; there was a big picture that was gradually filled in as the story progressed, but still left plenty to the imagination rather than getting bogged down by so many details that the story got derailed–was actively destroyed come season 2 of lok, with near surgical precision. and the characters we spent sixty-one episodes getting to know and love in the original series?

well, let me do a headcount here:

katara: got to stick to the healing huts for the rest of her life, stuck at home with her two older children because they weren’t airbenders, and she was apparently perfectly content to let their father abandon them and her because apparently the only kid who was important to him was the airbender. katara, miss ‘i will never, ever turn my back on people who need me’, was nowhere to be found when her youngest son and his entire family were in grave danger. she also didn’t bother to attend her eldest granddaughter’s air master ceremony. i guess the journey was just too much for her old bones. (nevermind that in atla, the white lotus was made up of old men, one of whom [bumi] was over a century old, who still got to kick ass and take names. but whatever.)

aang: the afore-mentioned father who didn’t bother taking his oldest kids literally anywhere (not even ember island!!!) because he spent all of his time with his airbending kid and didn’t care if the other two had the slightest interest in their air nomad heritage. before you come @ me with ‘that’s just their interpretation!!! kya and bumi were exaggerating!!!!’, the air acolytes with whom aang and tenzin spent so much time while the latter was growing up and learning to airbend? they had no idea the avatar–THE AVATAR, the most famous person on the PLANET–even had other children!!! (and then, when bumi finally got to be an airbender two decades after his father died, he said ‘i hope i made you proud’ to his father’s statue–over something he was never able to control. as if he couldn’t imagine that his own father had ever been proud of him when he couldn’t bend anything. yes i’m still very mad about this.)

toph: had two kids with two different fathers, neither of whom her daughters ever met or knew the identity of, became police chief and then ‘retired’ (after getting her youngest off the hook for something, i forget, i think it had something to do with the incident where she permanently scarred her sister’s face [and then suyin had the gall to act like lin didn’t have perfectly valid reasons not to want to see her years later lmfao]), and fucked off to the swamp, completely abandoning her family and friends. (if the gaang could even be called friends by that point tbfh)

suki: disappeared

sokka: had a couple mentions, but he was dead, and nothing substantial was ever revealed about his life

zuko: the only one of the gaang who hadn’t either mysteriously vanished or been destroyed by the story. however, he was treated badly enough by the writers of the comics that i suppose it was only fair that he’s the only one who was a semi-decent parent, and who still cared about his family and his responsibilities. and he got a dragon so, i guess that’s one point in lok’s favor.

i just……… i’m so sad for anyone who’s about to go into lok thinking they’re getting something even approaching a spiritual successor to atla, and instead winding up with a crappy knock-off so poorly made the stitching is already coming out.

save yourselves the pain. i know i wish i had.

#atla #anti lok #anti bryke #and like!!! atla wasn't perfect!!! #i've talked AD NAUSEAM about atla's weak points and where i think it could have (and should have) improved #(even irrespective of ships cause contrary to popular belief there are more issues with atla than just who became canon) #but!!! #there's so much about lok that makes me SO mad #especially in regards to what it COULD have been given what atla WAS #i didn't even mention the crappy love triangle drama that dragged on unnecessarily for two seasons #or the same sex relationship bryke threw together in LITERALLY the last second of the show #with no prior build up because who needs to actually put the work into a relationship when you can just have them hold hands #and write a post on your blog for buttpats later #this essay was already long enough and i didn't even mean to wordvomit this badly #anyway just #if yall DO continue to lok #proceed with Caution #all's im sayin

[comradekatara]

Biggest post-ATLA fights/drama between Gaang members ?

okay i'm not gonna include any azula-related drama bc that could be its whole own post (and i've definitely talked about it a lot before too) but i am gonna include mai and ty lee bc they are honorary members of the gaang (esp postwar)

okay so there is a conflict regarding the fire nation colonies in the earth kingdom and what should be done about the fire nation settlers there but not in the way the comics handles it. if anything i think katara and zuko would firmly be on one side, that the fire nation shouldn't be exerting their power over native earth kingdom citizens on occupied land and that the colonizers should all gtfo; but then sokka is like that's unrealistic because where are they supposed to go, they've been there for multiple generations, they have mixed children, making people "return" to a country some of them have never even been to isn't the answer, and would only disrupt all their lives further; and aang thinks that even though the reason that fn settlers are on ek land in the first place is bad, it can ultimately be a good thing because it's one of the only places in the world where people from different nations are coming together and having mixed families, which is how he remembers the world being before the war divided everyone into these firm national divisions. so it gets really messy because it's such a complicated issue that can't be solved neatly, and sokka is the only one of them who recognizes that there is no idealistic resolution that will actually work perfectly, because people are garbage. and that's an issue that continues to surface throughout their entire lives, because there is simply no easy fix to colonialism. but yeah that's a big point of contention for sokka and katara especially, and one of the many things they continue to fight over for the rest of their lives.

katara also lashes out at sokka whenever she feels that he isn't in the swt enough (bc she misses him desperately), and sokka just feels horrible about it because he has responsibilities that demand that he be in multiple places at once, and no matter how much he tries to schedule his time evenly distributed among all the places he needs to be in a given year, the fact that he can't just be with his family all the time makes him miserable, and it makes katara miserable, and then she gets mad at him, and he feels guilty over what is basically out of his control because it's not like he doesn't try his hardest to prioritize his home/family anyway, and it's just a mess. but hey, that's life.

for the first few years after the war, at least one member of the gaang is in the fire nation palace with zuko at all times (usually toph, mai, and/or aang) because they all have an agreement that at least one of them is there to keep zuko company and give him advice and make sure he takes care of himself and doesn't have a breakdown. but then, it happens. aang gets waylaid by a village that needs his help with a spirit, mai is on kyoshi island with ty lee and suki, toph is in ba sing se with sokka and iroh, katara is in the south pole working, and zuko is alone. at first it's fine, because he's grown since he first became firelord, and he's not totally useless. but by the end of the week, when aang finally does arrive at the palace, he notices that zuko looks pale and exhausted and his bangs are uneven, and when aang tells zuko that he should probably get some sleep, he accidentally takes a nap that lasts 48 hours. after that sokka devises schedules for them with a contingency plan in place for when one of them gets in an emergency and can't babysit the firelord, so that at least two of them are in the fire nation at once no matter what. zuko is simultaneously offended that they don't trust him to be by himself and very grateful that they know not to trust him to be by himself.

katara never truly gets along with mai and ty lee. even after they apologize to every member of the gaang, make tangible amends for their past actions, and work with them to repair the world, she still just doesn't really like them as people? and vice versa (well, ty lee likes katara fine, but mai finds her annoying). katara thinks that ty lee is the most terrifying and inscrutable person she has ever met, and that mai's extreme privilege and disaffectedness and deadpan way of talking and confusing relationship to zuko just makes her a person she simply does not enjoy being around. she knows that aang gets along really well with ty lee (which katara accepts because aang gets along with everyone), and that mai is like bffs with sokka and toph (which katara chalks up to the fact that they're kind of insane), but she never really makes an effort to befriend them, and would absolutely never hang out with them outside of a group setting.

katara and toph will never stop fighting each other as long as they live. every time they see each other it's on sight. sometimes an idiot will be like "should we try to intervene?" and sokka is like "a) it's cute that you think that you can stop them and b) no, this is how they express affection." they even host formal tournaments (since they are the only opponents worthy of each other), which is sort of the origin of probending. but they fight each other informally all the time as well (which is to say, sometimes toph just throws a handful of sand from her pocket into katara's face and then runs away cackling, and then katara retaliates by using waterbending to pour a bunch of beer on toph's head, etc etc).

that time sokka said "flameo hotman" ironically in front of aang and zuko and aang was offended by sokka's cynicism and zuko was offended that sokka said "flameo hotman" at all and it led to all three of them getting in a huge fight and then suki tried to mediate but because she clearly just agreed with sokka she only fanned the flames (no pun intended) and aang and zuko became so impassioned that they held a public forum on the matter and it became an entire cause for national debate in the fire nation and sokka, who honestly didn't really give a shit in the first place, was just like "what have i done....??"

mai and ty lee do not particularly like iroh, and they make the mistake of letting toph know this, who is like "why would you say this about my beloved uncle 😭😭😭" and they're like "he's a war criminal and a misogynist....." and toph's like "well so am i are you saying you hate me too????" and they're just like "what."

aang gets genuinely offended after zuko says that he would never in a million years date aang. and then he's like "katara you'll never guess what zuko said" and katara gets offended on aang's behalf and says to zuko "well aang's out of your league ANYWAY!!!!" and then neither of them speak to him for like two weeks. all zuko meant by that was that in his mind aang is perpetually twelve years old and he sees him as his baby brother, but every time he tries to justify himself aang's just like "nope! i don't wanna hear it!" and when aang finally does hear him out katara's like "then why did you say aang was ugly and a bad kisser????" and zuko's like "wtf i never said that??????" and katara's like "interesting. so now you're calling aang a liar too???" it gets so bad that eventually sokka goes to aang and says "zuko wanted me to tell you that he thinks you're very sexy and knows that he would be lucky to date you" and then he goes to zuko and says "aang wanted me to let you know that he recognizes that he overreacted and just wants to move past this" at which point they apologize to each other and never speak about it again...........until zuko makes the mistake of saying he'd never date KATARA –

#this started serious and then descended into goofiness lmao #indistinctiveusername #asks #postwargaang #not tagging everyone #but i'll tag #katara&sokka #aang&zuko #and #katara&toph #pocket sand!

[jerrytheduck]

one of the big strengths that book 3 and 4 of legend of korra have that isn't shared by books 1 and 2 is that the consequences of book three directly lead into what happens in book four--both in the characters and plot. In the plot, kuvira is only able to take power *because* of the power vacuum left by zaheer killing the earth queen, and the complete disarray of the kingdom creates a perfect breeding ground for her to seize control. additionally, on the character side of things, korra's injuries and trauma affect her greatly in book 4 (obviously) but they also affect everyone else-- she's been gone for three years and that changed everyone. This creates a really interesting segue, as we see the direct consequences of book three on book four, as opposed to simply the creation of a new villian/character arc out of the blue for korra and co to deal with in book four. it makes sense that the power vacuum in the earth kingdom would lead to conflict and lasting changes worldwide, and i think it was a good call for the show to demonstrate that. (not to say that books 3 and 4 were perfect, but i think that was certainly a substantial strength to them.)

more under the cut!

Book 2 to 3 kinda has that bridge, as the harmonic convergence is what causes the airbenders to re-emerge as well as zaheer (and i do definitely like that premise, i especially like the idea of re-forming the air nomads as a major arc for the show, building on the foundation that we see all the way back in atla as aang struggles to maintain a connection to his people that are now gone) but the connection of harmonic convergence -> airbenders isn't as strong as kill the earth queen -> power-seeking leader takes control to fill the vacuum (i think this is largely because the plot in book two just generally isn't as strong, as i personally felt like a lot of the spirit-oriented stuff was interesting but less fleshed out/grounded than it could have been, even tho the idea of a conflict between the northern and southern water tribes is certainly an interesting premise to work with) and because that connection isn't as strong, the two seasons don't flow together quite as well.

(book 1 -> book 2 transition was relatively stop-start, as there wasn't really a huge connection between the two besides a time skip, so it doesn't get its own paragraph. book one was good but i would've liked to see more about the united republic's transition to democracy. ya girl loves me some development-of-a-stable-government plotlines. it's the gov major in me. unrelated pls drop fics in the comments about atla/tlok political intrigue if u have any)

I think that one of atla's great strengths was its ability to connect the three books into one unified storyline, and i think that korra's story definitely struggles in that regard, although there's really only so much that the showwriters could do about it, because (if i remember correctly, lol) the show got approved season-by-season, so there was less room for a single plot to stretch across multiple books, because it wasn't a given that there would be another season each time.

To be clear, I still love legend of korra and definitely always will (and it isn't really fair to constantly compare it to atla lol), but i think it's interesting to look at what worked and what didn't throughout the run of the show

#tlok #the legend of korra #atla #zuko #atla meta #tlok meta #korra #aang #zaheer #the thing where i said to drop fics if you had them was not a joke pls feel free to do so

[the-descolada]

Penny and Winter as Symbolic Human Machines

So honestly, I’m really impressed by how well done the ending of RWBY Volume 8 was with regard to character arcs being fulfilled, especially for Penny and Winter. I’ve seen a lot of takes, some that I somewhat agree with, and some that I just don’t, that Penny’s death was “bad writing,” and I think that, subjectivity of what constitutes bad writing aside, this is ignoring a lot of aspects of V7/V8 that made for a very compelling narrative, and feels heavily based in just people wanting Penny to not have died.

And I get this! Penny is one of my favorite characters and I’m very sad that she died; however, I really actually loved how fitting her death was for her story and the broader story of RWBY as a whole, so I wanted to do a write-up of my whole rant on this so that people could read it and see my thought process for why this only made me love Penny’s writing more. I’m not necessarily going to ascribe value to the writing itself in this analysis, as that is highly subjective, but I am biased so that’ll shine through some.

V7 through V8 had a lot of moments that frankly I hadn’t picked up on right up until the end that worked to build a dynamic interplay between Penny and Winter’s characters. Specifically, Penny's role is of a literal robot becoming less of a machine in the thematic sense and more of a person throughout, contrasting with Winter, who, while she is helping Penny realize herself as more of a person and less of a tool, is going through the opposite experience herself. This is essentially textual - it’s explicitly said by Winter herself in less words during the Maiden power transfer scene in V8E14.

When we as the audience reconnect with Winter at the start of V7, she is firmly entrenched as Ironwood’s confidante and second-in-command, serving as a face of the Atlas military as it squeezes Mantle. It’s safe to say that not many Mantle citizens like her very much, but she is insulated from this and continues to follow orders without regard for the welfare of the people. Ironwood at this point is already extremely authoritarian, even though he hasn’t graduated to full on dictatorship and declared martial law yet, and his will is also imposed on her through bringing her into the fold with the chief purpose of grooming (god this word feels grossly fitting given their dynamic) her to become the next Winter Maiden.

Winter, despite holding a a significant level of power and authority due to her military rank, has very little agency in this decision. She insists that her choice to take up the duty as Ironwood ordered is something she’s grown into and chosen, but it’s alarmingly clear that this is not the case; nearly every action she takes in V7 is still fully in the purview of Atlas (read: Ironwood)’s goals. I would go so far as to suggest that Ironwood giving her this position within the military after she escapes her father’s influence is intentionally conditioning her to view him as the sole way out of an abusive situation, and to disguise the fact that this new situation is just as abusive as the first below the surface.

Penny’s role in V7 is completely in opposition to this; while she is still theoretically under the control of the Atlas military, she is presented as the Protector of Mantle and seems to be beloved by the people. Our immediate image of her in Atlas is one of emotion and caring; she is overjoyed to see her friends from Beacon again, and this continues throughout the volume as she talks about what it means to be a person with them, Ruby and Winter especially. When things start going wrong and she is accused of killing people through the doctored footage from the rally, she is horrified at the prospect of being seen as a monster and continues to make every decision with the aim of protecting everyone around her, even at the expense of what her “duty” to Atlas might be. It’s clear that she is growing into her own agency, rather than being beholden to what Ironwood wants for her, and this helps prove to herself that she is her own person, not simply a tool of the military, not a machine.

The climactic scene of V7 takes these two character arcs running in strained parallel and drives a wedge between them, even as they battle a common enemy side by side. Winter’s devotion to Atlas (read: Ironwood) results in self-destructive tendencies, uncaring for her personal survival if it would further a goal that she ultimately and ironically does not truly believe in. Penny, however, begins to entirely shake this duty, risking even the Maiden power going to Cinder if it means saving Winter from dying. To her, personal feelings (ding ding ding!) and personal friendships mean more than duty to a state, or even (as we see later) her own well-being. Self destructive tendencies aside, this loyalty to people she earnestly cares about, who earnestly care about her, is loaded with symbolism that separates her from the metaphor of machine.

The result of the V7 finale reinforces the track the two of them are on; Winter, having been molded into a machine of the military, fails in her duty, while Penny, who has begun to recognize herself more and more as a person, succeeds at keeping the power from Cinder. She still has a massive amount of self-doubt and deep-seated fear that she doesn’t count as a person, but the Maiden power, being the perfect thematic symbol of “maidenhood”, goes to her, proving her to be a “real girl” and reinforcing the ongoing narrative. Winter, battling her own mixed feelings over being chosen for the power, never questions this; it’s clear that she, too, recognizes that Penny “was always the real Maiden, while [she] was the machine.” This also reinforces Penny’s narrative being heavily trans-coded, but I think that’s pretty obvious and doesn’t need to be reiterated. The two of them part sides here, one remaining with the Atlas military and one actively rebelling against it.

As Ironwood starts going off the deep end at the end of V7 and throughout V8 and starts sacrificing everyone around him to fuel his own narrow and tyrannical view of how to save Atlas, Winter simply...falls in line. She is continually forced to follow harsher and harsher orders, and any choices she makes as part of that, with only two exceptions, still are entirely in service to Ironwood. She has become, in essence, a machine locked into a set path, a path she, conflicted as she may be, follows all the way up to a choice she cannot abide - mass murder. Even orders that would result in her sister’s closest friends’ deaths she follows unquestioningly - it’s unclear whether she would have actually gone through with it, since the option is taken off the table by forces outside her control, but she certainly says as much in her conversation with Marrow. Only the prospect of annihilating the entire city of Mantle finally snaps her off the track Ironwood has set her on, making her recognize that all of this has never been for Atlas at all, but for Ironwood’s own ego. Fittingly, finally seeing Ironwood as her enemy and not a savior, she is tasked with taking him down herself.

Contrasting this, Penny’s role in V8 is entirely one of rebellion. The entire volume is her building her agency more and more, making decisions based on what she thinks is right and what she values. She rarely listens to any one person telling her what to do; even her father, who she loves dearly, isn’t able to make her do something when her sense of justice is on the line. Ironwood no longer has his hold on her for the most part; any attempt at manipulating her into doing something against her own morals is met with defiance, supported by her friends’ love for her. She has to be outright hacked to be forced into doing his bidding, and she fights this all the way down, her own inherent personhood pushing back against this attempt to dehumanize her. In this sense, even her becoming organic symbolizes this; she and the people she cares about defy this dehumanization of her, finding a way to free her from the last remaining vestiges of Atlesian influence and further reclaiming her own agency.

And what does she do with that agency when she is faced with oblivion? She simultaneously affirms it by making her final choice in a desperate situation, defying Cinder’s attempt to rip her power away, and also gifts it in the form of the Maiden power to the woman who she is watching attempting to also shake the shackles of Atlas, symbolically showing Winter her own inherent humanity. This decision, though dire, is in recognition of what is most important to her: her friends. Even believing half of them are dead, she gives up her life to ensure the rest survive. In the final moment she has with Winter, she reassures her that she won’t be really gone: the memory of her choice and who she is as a person will live on through Winter’s continued choices, through her agency.

In the end, neither of them were machines; just two hurt people fighting back against a brutal world that sought to strip their agency away. The tragedy in this conclusion, that that brutal world took one of their lives away, is fought just as defiantly. Penny knows that gifting the power in her soul to Winter means that her death won’t be meaningless, that her agency will last beyond her mortality and might result in the world finally being freed from the threat of destruction. It’s because of hope, not despair, that she makes her final choice.

#rwby spoilers #rwby8 spoilers #my writing #CRITICAL ANALYSIS TIME #i've been meaning to write up my rant on this for months #rwby #winter schnee #penny polendina

[amaryllisblackthorn]

a lot of people have this idea that Annabeth's been like, a Luke apologist and in denial since the very beginning but it's not really true?. Annabeth was angry at Luke for his betrayal in the end of Lightning Thief and during Sea of Monsters. It's only until the end of The Titan's Curse that she starts the 'Luke really isn't that bad' kind of thing.

the end of Lightning Thief:

"I can't believe that Luke..." Annabeth's voice faltered. Her expression turned  angry and sad. "Yes. Yes, I can believe it. May the gods curse him...He was never the same after his quest."

"When I get back next summer," she said, "we'll hunt down Luke. We'll ask for a quest, but if we don't get approval, we'll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?"

 She was really angry at him during Sea of Monsters. Her vision from the Sirens does indicate that deep down she may believe she's able to save him, or at least wants to, but it doesn't diminish the hurt and anger she does feel.

"How could you?" Annabeth sounded so angry I thought she'd explode. "Thalia saved your life! Our lives! How could you dishonor her--"

"Liar!"

"I understand you want to destroy the camp!" she yelled. "You're a monster!"

"Because you have none of your own [intelligence]!"

"That's disgusting!" Annabeth said.

"You're insane," Annabeth said.

"Go to Tartarus," she said.

All those above are on the Princess Andromeda with Luke. Then later, to Percy:

She shook her head. "We made a dozen safe houses like this. I doubt Luke even remembers where they are. Or cares."

Even in the beginning-ish of Titan's Curse, she doesn't trust him. When he's struggling under the sky and asking for her help, she's hesitant. It's only when the sky begins to fall  that she goes to help hold it.

Annabeth had tears in her eyes. She reached down like she wanted to touch Luke's face, but at the last second she hesitated. "What happened?" she asked.

"Why should I trust you?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was filled with hurt.

Then the darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow--tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke with her own strength.

However!! There's a shift in her feelings by the time Percy and Thalia rescue her and I personally think it's because she's aware that Luke 'saved' her life for the time being after Atlas ordered him to kill her after Artemis took the sky -- even though he was super complicit in her being in that situation in the first place. Compare:

Luke hesitated. "She--she may yet be useful, sir. Further bait."

and

"We'll bring Luke back," Annabeth pleaded. "To Olympus. He...he'll be useful."

I don't think it's a conscious parallel on Annabeth's part per se, but Rick Riordan using the parallel to indicate the connection. I think that's when Annabeth discovers that Luke does still care deep down, and that deep down the person that she knows is there. which is fair, because before this point he hadn’t given her any indication seeing as he literally directed  Oreius to eat her. that’s a whole ‘nother write-up, though, i think. i digress.

Once she knows this, she starts to view him as someone being manipulated and taken advantage of by Kronos, someone who was able to manipulate Ares, a god, in the first book, -- she's not wrong! He is being manipulated. That doesn't absolve him from his horrible behavior especially towards her, but she understands that Luke is a troubled, traumatized young man being taken advantage of by the evil King Titan, and she's also aware that literally no one else cares enough to try to save him.

like, the language Annabeth uses to describe Luke in the end of Titan’s Curse is the same that Percy uses to describe the demigods on the  Titans’ side in Last Olympian. 

"You don't believe me about Luke," Annabeth said, "but we'll see him again. He's in trouble, Percy. He's under Kronos's spell."

vs

I tried to wound his men, not kill. That slowed me down, but these weren’t monsters. They were demigods who’d fallen under Kronos’s spell. I couldn’t see faces under their battle helmets, but some of them had probably been my friends.

there’s another callback with the language Percy uses to describe the opposing demigods in Last Olympian. this time, to what Percy says to Luke at the end of Lightning Thief.

“He’s brainwashing you, Luke.”

“You’re being used, Luke. You and Ares both. Don’t listen to Kronos.”

vs

This kid was getting brainwashed—trained to hate the gods and lash out because he’d been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.

Poseidon put his hand on my shoulder. “Percy, there were only a few demigod warriors aboard that ship, and they all chose to battle for Kronos. Perhaps some heeded your warning and escaped. If they did not . . . they chose their path.”

“They were brainwashed!” I said. “Now they’re dead and Kronos is still alive. That’s supposed to make me feel better?

Percy has sympathy for the demigods manipulated by Kronos to be on the Titan’s sides; he sees them as victims. the reason he doesn’t for Luke, I feel, is because Luke’s betrayal made it personal. I think this is where Percy’s fatal flaw comes into play, honestly, with the personal loyalty. both in regards to the personal betrayal to Percy, as well as Percy’s loyalty to Annabeth (and thus Luke’s betrayal of Annabeth, too). and i feel this also applies, to a lesser extent, to Ethan. but that’s a whole ‘nother write-up, too (one day!)

there is, admittedly, the factor of Luke’s age in comparison to Percy, Annabeth, and most of the other campers. there’s definitely a power imbalance -- especially with Annabeth, which isn’t okay, obviously.  so even though he’s a victim and young himself, that power imbalance in regards to his actions, manipulations, etc is messed up and not okay. 

even so, Luke is still pretty young himself -- not as young as the others, but still young. like, i got into this series when i was younger than Percy and Annabeth were, so Luke, like most early 20 year olds, seemed very old to me in that regard; it’s only as i got older and closer to his are that i started to really realize that heck he was really young. so while Luke is definitely an adult in regards to the relationship he has with Percy, Annabeth, and other younger demigods -- which he should have been mindful of and makes his manipulation etc very messed up and not okay -- he’s also young himself which is something to keep in mind. like, Luke is only around 19-22? in the series. That puts him at a power imbalance in regards to Annabeth and Percy, in which he's very much an adult in the relationship, but outside of that he's still pretty young! he’s a college kid, which when you’re younger seems pretty old but then you are one and realize differently -- his brain hasn't even fully developed yet. but i’m like, seriously digressing. 

my intended point was that i disagree with the interpretation that Annabeth was blinded by emotions and a toxic relationship which led her to make excuses for Luke and unable to see him for what he really was etc,--  because Annabeth was angry at him after his betrayal and had even thought he was different, that he didn’t care anymore. The ‘Luke apologist’ behavior only starts at the end of Titan’s Curse, the third book in the five book series. I just feel like her ... feelings? perspective? position? idk the right word.... is often misrepresented? 

she becomes very defensive over Luke’s ‘inner goodness’ and stuff because she’s literally the only one who wants to save him and knows it. she knows what he’s done isn’t okay, but she keeps driving it home that he’s being manipulated because he is! it doesn’t excuse his actions but it doesn’t have to. by the end of titan’s curse, annabeth sees luke as someone terribly lost and no one trying, willing, or caring enough to save him. and like, she’s right when she sees luke as someone who isn’t beyond saving, who’s extremely lost and being manipulated through his trauma and anger -- it doesn’t excuse what he’s doing but that doesn’t make him someone not worthy of saving. despite what he’s done, luke is still her family and she will fight for him. she sees luke the same way percy sees the other opposing demigods in the last olympian and she’s right. she’s not making excuses for him, she doesn’t think he’s done nothing wrong, she’s just not willing to give up on him and she was right. as the child in the relationship/dynamic, it wasn’t her responsibility to be the one to save him and shouldn’t have been, but she wasn’t wrong in how she saw Luke.

 like, their was definitely a power imbalance in their relationship and it’s definitely important to acknowledge that, but i feel like people tend to like, erase annabeth’s agency, for lack of a better word, and attribute her desire to save Luke as being tragically misplaced? like, Luke has totally wronged Annabeth and mistreated her terribly, but like...I find her not giving up on him mostly admirable and not pitiable, though like I said as the child in their dynamic it wasn’t her responsibility.  i’m rambling though.

mostly this post was made to remind people that Annabeth was angry towards Luke, and rightfully so, until near the end of Titan’s Curse, which is where her defending Luke and insisting he could be saved really started, likely with Luke indicating he actually still cared deep down for the first time being the catalyst.  especially since it seems a lot of people give like the impression they think she’s done it from the very beginning? idk ive definitely rambled a lot and lost my main point sometime ago or something. enjoy this anyway.

#annabeth chase #pjato #percy jackson and the olympians #luke castellan #ab analyzes #i'm kind of expecting this to be somewhat controversial idk #;the last olympian #;titan's curse #;the lightning thief #;i have at least two other related metas i want to write up so hopefully ill get around to that

[itsclydebitches]

This is a nitpick honestly, but I was so interested in what they were going to use the Lamp's final question for, what new lore we might get. But then Cinder uses it for something the audience already knew. It was disappointing, and I eventually got over it, but upon reading the commentary and learning that the reason they had Cinder use it was because in their own words "it’ll be really frustrating" for those theorizing some other kind of final question? Honestly, why do I bother?

Yeah, I've been in the same boat, anon. As you say, the question ends up being a rehash of what the audience already knows, so the only way in which this forwards the story is with the bad guys learning about our heroes' plans. And yes, that leads to quite the finale: Penny dead, RWBYJ "dead," the Relics lost, and some undetermined portion of Atlas now stuck in a grimm-infested desert. From a surface level A to B perspective it does work, but I keep coming back to the question, "Why use the Lamp for that?" Yes, the result was appropriately dramatic (if badly executed imo), but there are any number of ways that Cinder could have found out about Ruby's plan without wasting the last question on that. Have Neo spy on them at some point and learn something significant. Have Watts hack into a scroll and overhear the conversation. Hell, you could have the baddies standing around arguing over what to do next and then what do you know, these strange, glowing portals suddenly start popping up nearby. Don't you think that's something worth checking out? Ruby's plan was to evacuate all of Atlas and given that the bad guys are on Atlas (something she... forgot about?) her plan, if she succeeds, automatically results in them finding her and learning what's going on. The bad guys never needed to discover what the heroes were up to. The heroes were already doing everything possible to bring the villains to them, simply by virtue of evacuating an entire kingdom at once with no regard for who was using those magical exits. (And, interestingly, if we start any sort of defense about there not being enough portals for Cinder to reliably find one, or they wouldn't know what to do with it, etc. then congrats, Ruby did not evacuate the whole kingdom. If the portals are too few or too confusing for the bad guys, then that's too few and too confusing for a lot of Atlesians too. Either the portals are a full-proof evacuation method for every living person, or they're not). So from a writing standpoint, it's significant that nothing within Jinn's vision helped the bad guys win. There was no reason why specifically watching the dining room and courtyard scenes was necessary for Cinder to achieve the victory she did. Once they're through the portal, it's just fighting. Neo wasn't doing anything more than that. Watts wasn't doing anything important behind the scenes, especially not once Cinder decided to kill him. It was literally just a "Bad guys find good guys and attack them + it's inevitable the bad guys would have found them if the heroes' plan works" situation, which, as said, could have been achieved without using the final question fans have waited three years for.

The only other reason why I think having Cinder witness those scenes is potentially worthwhile is if getting to observe Emerald with the heroes has a big, emotional impact... but it doesn't. Cinder just looks at her. That's it. The one redeeming benefit here - something character driven rather than plot driven - simply doesn't occur. And yeah, that's real disappointing not just due to the wait, but because fans have spent those years coming up with far better possibilities. Since the Lamp was introduced, people have been talking up when "Aladdin" would secure it, or how Neo would use it to backstab Cinder, or how this would finally be the moment when Ruby asked something about her mom. Instead, we were treated to the Relic used as an exposition tool with a character impact (Ozpin) that's never acknowledged, given a grimm attracting trait that's quickly dropped, not put in the vault because the characters are consistently written to make stupid decisions, not used to answer any of their many questions because again, written to make stupid decisions, inevitably stolen by Neo, given to Cinder who doesn't want it, given to Salem who can't use it, used by Oscar who won't take it, stolen again by Neo again, given to Cinder again, and then finally used to... show us two scenes we watched last episode, resulting in approximately nothing plot or character-wise. Now the Lamp is just a lamp, no more questions for another 100 years, and Salem will most likely start this all over again with the Staff: how many ways can characters foolishly not use it, not protect it, and lose it, before it eventually means nothing to the story anymore? Honestly, idek if I'd call it a nitpick. The show introduced the Relics as the cornerstone of this battle, but have failed on most fronts to do anything - not even interesting - but just satisfying with them. The Lamp was awesome for all of an episode when it gave us the much sought after backstory for Ozpin and Salem, but it's been pretty much downhill from there.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

[sunfoxfic]

...could you possibly say (tell?? Sorry I am not really fluent in english😅) what you like about Luka? I see a lot of hate for him and though I do agree with most of the criticism on his writing, sometimes people drag him in the sand for just. existing in an episode and are generally harsh on him😅 (I mean again I understand the frustration especially the salty lukanettes) but it just gets really tiring at one point.

Yeah, I'm with you, anon. A lot of people just want to criticize Luka's character for existing, which... sometimes characters just frustrate you and you don't like their roles in the story, but I have neither the time nor energy to devote into spending any time disliking him. I do acknowledge on some level that Luka was written into the story poorly in some ways, but I don't have time to focus on that, especially because afaik his role in the story isn't problematic. He's an alternative love interest, and he causes conflict, but he's a character and sometimes characters exist to be alternative love interests and cause conflict.

The reason why I like Luka is because, as a fanfic writer, I am so interested in the depth he does carry. Some people say that he's inconsistent or unflawed, but I disagree. Though he was never given time to develop flaws, there's so many places where he makes decisions clearly irrationally, which is honestly the most concise definition of a character flaw I can think of -- a trait that causes someone to make decisions irrationally. Why did he stay in a relationship with Marinette? Why did he stay in a relationship with her when she proved that she could not give him the one thing he needed for mental peace (truth)? Why did he keep Marinette and Adrien's secrets? Why did he let Marinette go through with learning Adrien's identity, even temporarily, in Ephemeral?

This all indicates to me that he has an Atlas complex. He chooses, around every turn of the way, to take on responsibility that he does not need to have. This is especially interesting to me in regards to his family, his relationship to Juleka and Anarka. I'd love to explore Luka's character as someone who's been through parentification trauma and who does not know how to stop.

I guess I agree, in some ways, that Luka is wasted potential as a character. But if anything, that's what makes me like him more. His presence drives the story in new directions, and I like unpicking why he does what he does. That unexplored potential is part of what makes me enjoy this story, especially as a fic writer.

#luka couffaine #luka sugar #asks answered #anonymous