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autumnmobile12 · 5 months

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Storm Hawks: A Pretty Fun Take on Feminism

I don't know how many people actually remember this show, or even watched it , but this is an episode that's stuck with me all these years so I want to talk about it.

For context, the plot of Storm Hawks itself is pretty basic: Evil empire taking over the world, the good guys try to stop them, shenanigans ensue because kids' show. The main cast members fall into pretty generic archetypes. too. We have:

Aerrow (the 'true blue' leader)

Piper (the smart one/the girl)

Finn (the funny one)

Junko (the buddy)

Stork (the neurotic one)

Radarr (the animal sidekick)

And we're off:

This is Storm Hawks Season 1, Episode Ten: Fire and Ice

There was a lot going on in this episode, including a climate change allegory, but for the purposes of attempting to remain somewhat concise, I'm only going to cover the feminism theme for this post. Episode ten revolves mostly around Piper, opening with the team attending a festival put on by the Blizarrians, a race of snow-dwelling, humanoid, rabbit-dog creatures with Canadian accents and stereotypes in their world. (Which might be offensive, but the show was produced by a Canadian studio, so they can make fun of themselves if they want.)

The Blizzarian team (aptly named the Absolute Zeroes) invite the Storm Hawks to come snowmobiling with them in the backcountry. Piper is enthusiastic about the invitation, being a skilled cartographer, so she wants to map out the terrain...only to be told, "Ladies don't do the backcountry training. You just stay back with the girls."

Aerrow, being a true friend, tells Piper not to listen and she can ride with him, but since she's apparently not welcome by their hosts, Piper doesn't feel inclined to go anymore.

However, when Piper goes to meet up with 'the girls' and hang out, Suzy Lu (pictured above) unexpectedly introduces herself as the Absolute Zeroes' Sky Knight (essentially their captain.) So she's the one in charge, not the men, leaving Piper with the impression, Okay maybe being left out won't be so bad after all.

Later on in the episode, Aerrow does call out the male Zeroes, telling them she is part of their team and she has every right to be there with them. However, the Zeroes meet his words with genuine confusion, with the original member who told Piper to stay behind saying, "But Sky Knights don't do the backcountry training. That's just for us squaddies."

He thought Piper was the leader and therefore didn't need to be there. Similarly, because he was the male, Aerrow thought he was the Zeroes' leader, not Suzy Lu. It's still a sexist assumption to think Piper was in charge because she was a woman, but it's definitely a fresher take than the typical, "No, woman stay home because woman weak."

Going further into the comedy of the situation, though, is the fact the 'training' the Zeroes do in the backcountry pretty much amounts to them messing around on the snowmobiles and pulling off crazy stunts. They're just 'boys being boys.' If somebody wipes out on their ride, everyone else will be concerned up until the moment the fallen team member stands back up and starts cheering to show he's okay. It gives off a vibe that's similar to parents sending their kids outside to play when they're too hyper.

Further proving the point they are a bunch of well-intentioned dorks, it's also shown that Blizzarians don't assume all women are in charge. When Aerrow suggests a solution to the aforementioned climate issue that was also going on in the episode, Suzy Lu declares, "I like your thinking." And then, as an aside to Piper, whispers, "I was wondering why this one was in charge." So upon meeting the group, she definitely had a moment of, Okay, this Aerrow guy is the leader, not Piper. Kinda odd, but humans are wierd. Whattya gonna do?

...

Overall, the storytelling of Storm Hawks was a bit shallow, which doesn't often appeal to most adults, and that likely was a contributor as to why it didn't receive much attention outside its target audience. The world itself, Atmos, was an interesting concept; a world interspersed with mountain nations (terras) that rose up out of a hostile wasteland, so travel is achieved primarily by flight. This theme is seen throughout the series in the very culture as many of the characters are named after birds. (Junko (junco,) Stork, Piper (sandpiper,) Starling, Dove, Snipe, Wren, Finn (finch.) In addition to the flight, their machines were powered by these crystals that varied in type, purpose, categorization of how common or rare they were, so there was a scientific/magic element to it.

The writing was episodic in format, though, so the characters don't really have longterm goals and never really had development arcs that spanned much longer than a single episode. The conflict itself was effectively a world war, but unlike a series such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Storm Hawks never achieved the level of seriousness or emotion that a war story demands to be compelling or really respectful of that particular theme in fiction. The characters of Storm Hawks and ATLA are fun and light-hearted, but the Storm Hawks episodes were really more goofy and child-like adventures. I mean, there is an episode where it is heavily implied the reptilian humanoids are carnivorous and eat people. Okay, fuck, that's hardcore disturbing, but the show doesn't really expand on that because it's a kids' show. Nonetheless, since it's there, you're kinda left with, Okay, either follow through with your darker themes or don't mention them at all. It's a cartoon, find a better balance than that.

There also wasn't much depth to the villains either and their motivations were really just chalked up to the standard, "We're evil." One of them was even former 'good guy' turned traitor ten years prior to the main plot, but his reasons for turning traitor were never explored or even revealed. Come on, people, what happened? Ambition? Greed? He saw the political structure of the side he fought for was fundamentally flawed and decided it was best to tear it all down?

...

However, the detail that I appreciate with this nostalgia series is the fact that there were female characters in positions of power in Storm Hawks. Most of the fighting battalions were mostly made up of men, sure, and I would have liked to see a more balanced male-female cast, but some of the teams were straight up led by a woman and there was at least one group that was exclusively women.

The main antagonist, the reigning monarch of the aggressive nation in the war, was also a woman. (Well, teenage girl, but you get the point.) What's more; she was 100% in charge. She was not influenced in any way by a male advisor, she wasn't spurred on by the memory of a male predecessor, she was never intimidated by her male generals. And she was intelligent. Throughout the series, she was a scientist, an engineer, and a fighter. (Unfortunately, in the last season, her mind started to go a bit, so she pretty much devolved into a knockoff Azula.) We even have the brief insight of her background where it's shown she inherited her throne from her grandmother, not another male ruler. Which either implies primogeniture inheritance regardless of gender or it's a matrilineal monarchy, which is interesting to speculate, but that would be headcanon territory.

...

It was a fun watch when I was a kid, but as an adult...yeah, lots of flaws, a great deal of loss in potential with world-building and storylines, and even as a kid, I knew the plots and humor of later episodes fell into a category that was more stupid than funny.

But if Storm Hawks had one strength, they had the groundwork of the feminism angle down pat and that is always appreciated.

#storm hawks #piper #feminism #episode analysis #episode synopsis #nostalgia series #series analysis #absolute zeroes #cyclonis #female protagonist #female antagonist #sky knight #suzy lu

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ophelian-darling · 3 days

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𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Yandere Suguru Geto x Female reader.

Summary : Blessings form in different shapes and bright in different colors; Love being the fairest and liveliest one.

TW : Obsession, minor character death, discrimination, pregnancy, manipulation.

enjoy ♡

It is divine to think how hell would be regarded into grotesquely crimson images within the human imagination: Sufferance is too common, wounds as a thorn prick and lasts as a heart's ache, Yet consider this when we think of heaven: purity- innocence of Eden in its prime, everything that sources its beauty and continence from a glass sphere no soul ever stepped on, farthest from the nearest paradise which we -so far- know of. Every now and then, the glass sphere's page of the sky would rain glossy drops, bright in the charm of a moon's haze, kissing earth's soil ever so gently after a long fall through the dark space. The drop; a seed of everything that derives all good in this life, either blooms into flowers, little joys that are worth living for, or even people- lost angels on devil's land.

Suguru believes he has an eye for perfection: the images of others reflect on his irises and pass, be a fragment of a forgotten dream and ghost in a corner within his anamnesis. life ought to be lived as a sort of a sweven, destined to be erased once the reaper sinks in its teeth; Not like you have much of an option as a sorcerer, you just keep fantasizing and drawing rose-colored glasses about a life you know you can't have, sighing when conjuring a dear friend's lineaments, feeling a warmth under an eyelid when a beloved's smile flickers through a faint image of cogitation. a needle of duty had sewed up every passage to his heart; there was no horizon to look up to, except that one of exorcising curses to no end, saving that little part of happiness that was rightfully his to others who already had a fair share of it.

Suguru would burn the candles of thought and wander around a series of scenarios: what would it be like to love? What color is romance and what taste are kisses? There must be a reason why the moon was put on a pedestal of artistry, or a color of blood to abridge all tongues and words of ardor. There had to be a reason why someone was so eager and willing to hand their hearts on a platter to someone else, someone who was looked upon as the apple of eye. It seemed absurd: humans are merely products of vice, planted to sin and harvested to destroy, every letter and word they utter weighs nothing heavier than a lie, So why would such a morbid creature empty the jar of heart on another morbid creature? It is a wounding, shameless lie.

Cease to feel and halt to sense, there was no meaning in draining the amphora of emotion on someone, a one who can't taste curses to know how much of a grace it's devouring. it's pointless to break the glass of heart over a bod that ignores your agony to indulge in its little world of pink lies. He just wishes- Only if, if he slices that part of him that screamed of humanity everyday, the part that made him extend a wing to shield the helpless from their demise… He hated having a heart.

Once during a green summer, one that had a breeze of May and the pink warmth of Valentine's day, The sphere wrapped a blessing in a curse's fabric; a gift so pristine it competed with the glimpses of eternity with a smile and tore the horizon's edge with a kiss, a form of life that its existence on this cursed land was the vilest injustice ever committed towards its chastity. The Angel; now blossoming from the sphere's seed into a human with flesh and blood, nerves and bones, eyes and a beating heart, is left to be stained and tarnished, munched and swallowed by the imperfect- the bad seeds, the swirl of everything evil. a tear of a curse could lace a sea of blessings, and you had to be protected: from the serpents, the devils, the flawed, or anyone else that wasn't him.

"Y'know, Suguru, sometimes when I look through your eyes, I can see you fighting yourself, as if you were your own worst enemy" You started the conversation like this, so casually, with no hint or intention of digging too deep into his psyche.

July, casting blazing rays and nearly melting the shadows outside, while the pair of you decided to remain in class for no obvious purpose. Suguru didn't mind having you around, aware that you weren't going to engage in tittle-tattling, leaving him with the room to think. It's been a long year.

With a strike of sudden concern, and maybe a little suspicion, He directs his whole posture towards you, noticing your relaxed position on the seat beside his. a silence of something that was about to begin stretched before he asked "What do you mean?"

a Winter night smile drew itself on your lips. In a movement of Bonnie Parker leaning on her motorcycle, you faced his confused comportment, rolling your eyes playfully before replying "You thought that no one would notice? That's cute. but I must admit, you're so good at hiding it, even Satoru wasn't able to see it, I'm surprised!" something brightened in your expression, contradicting the words you just said. As if you were Suguru's Anima; you spoke so confidently, insisting on extracting a part you didn't like of him.

And that confidence stirred a certain sentiment within him. something he would see as… vulnerability?

He stared.

Another silence, silence of an absurd play, one that the audience certainly didn't need to absorb the scene.

You continued "Amanai was a human like any other, someone with dreams and hopes, fears and triggers, and a family- and a lot of friends. she lived her life to the fullest… Well, maybe not completely, but at least she had some taste of blessing before her death. people aspire to horizons, living enough to reach it and sometimes not, savoring both sweet and bitter times before kicking the bucket. But that's not what we're talking about here"

His eyes couldn't get any wider, the images played slowly and vividly while the cassette of that memory didn't seem to stop.

"She's a vessel that can be replaced. Lord Tengen wasn't in that need for her anyway. But are we sorcerers any better? no. we're replaceable as well, unless you are Satoru, which we aren't. Yes, we are strong, but still replaceable. The Jujutsu world needs to continue existing or else cursed spirits will blow everything to bits, and of course, we're the only ones who can keep it going and exorcise these creatures."

Your fingers twiddled with your necklace, rolling it slowly as your tongue flowed. "I wanted to go everywhere too, I wanted to have a lot of friends to love without worrying that they'll die at any second. I wanted to wander around and behold flowers and snow without seeing an ugly cursed spirit…"

His tongue wouldn't unwrap, au contraire to his thoughts. his mind moved as fast as forgetfulness would spell, drinking in all of your heart's tears. Perhaps, after all, he wasn't the only one who awakened to a harsh knowledge.

You, are special.

"It's not fair… why should I be the one who gives up on their happiness to save people who know nothing of my sacrifices…"

"I-.." your rant comes to a halt, a veil of guilt slides down your expression.

"Sorry… I didn't mean to remind you of… back then, I talked too mu-"

"No." He interrupts, his usual resting face painted over.

"You can continue, I understand you…" Suguru smiles.

Ever since the curtain on your heart was pulled, you seemed to confide in him more; drifting away from Satoru and Shoko slowly and subtly. He didn't want to think of it, yet these pages of poems and lines of serenades whispered something to him everytime he looked through you. She must be unhappy too, Unhappy people are sensitive to the unhappiness of others¹. and to confess, it balmed a little comfort on his soul to see that misery brought you together. Day by day, both of you would speak for hours, crafting an imaginary horizon where everything was a haven for a winsome world, goodwills falling like spring rain. Night by night, He who becomes the one to count the nights, scripting his nightdreams and rehearsing his hopes to a shadow of you that lingered in the corners, only for every word to blend into space once the daybreak spills through the clouds.

Your voice; it is the voice of his mind now. The shadow of you is melodizing his thoughts and troubles of the heart, lulling his reveries and caroling his visions. The pages of romance flip like petals in the wind: as the silk of your vocal cords tailors the letters with red and pink, he is finally allowed to relish the true colors of so-called love. Yozo² is no longer fool in Suguru's thinking, for wanting to die alongside the one he loved, which Suguru Geto himself now, secretly, hopes to achieve with you.

"Have you ever thought about death?" Green-colored smile, surely wasn't grayed by anything. Suguru just thought, what did you think? Did you want to be with him no matter the place?

The roles have been reversed. now you're the silent one; you were sure that you did talk too much that day, pouring your wounds into him that now they're his wounds. Guilt stinged your heart, only if you remained silent back then.

"Um- yes, I'm already accepting it, we're sorcerers after all…" you struggled to compose a thought he'd like, it came out as what a child attempting wisdom would say. speaking to your friend has become a difficult task lately, you didn't want to lose the thread of thinking you shared together, and he seemed quite pleased to talk to you.

He chuckled.

"Never thought of making it better for yourself at least?"

What…

"I used to think so too. But slowly, I'm finally able to see what I was too blinded to see. Remember when you said that you wanted to have a lot of friends and go everywhere? that's rightful of you to ask- but you can't get it whether you plead for it or not. I'm telling you; I know it very well when I say you can have everything you want if you step up and take control." stated he.

As if looking for any other person who seems to notice that there's something odd, you glanced around. nothing was in sight except the trees and grass of the long forest line.

His face didn't move when he continued "You see, we forgot that we were stronger, smarter and more skilled than the ordinary, say evolution theory: creatures go through a long process of development to become advanced in brain and muscle. some reach the highest stage of development and become a human, while others simply stop in the middle or never start, thus remaining monkeys"

For some reason, you imagined yourself operating on his brain: cleaving the front of his skull with a sharp scalpel, lifting up his scalp in a way a box of chocolates would be opened, unwrapping and milling his brain convolutions, looking through his memory and mind's eye to see when and where these ideas have crossed his mind so you can uproot them- it is your fault, you filled him with so much tangles for a sweetly simple soul as him.

"...And since monkeys can't survive on their own, we were the ones who would acquire and use their talents to establish Jujutsu and save them, doing it out of kindness and altruism, they give us curses and we cure them in response, continually and with no recognition of our merit…"

Something in his eyes twitched; he sounded as if he was letting go of an ancient burden, the Messiah's cross thrown off by his back.

"... You, me, Satoru or anyone who uses Jujutsu is the purest form of life on this earth, we're destined to rule as much as we were to protect, to punish as we were to love. we sorcerers are chosen by the heavens…"

"...Monkeys must die." the corners of his mouth were altered to a frantic excitement, seeming like he'd seen after years of being dim sighted.

It is a blessing to be ignorant.

It started out subtly. Suguru would continue smiling- the line and twist on his face metamorphosed into one you have no knowledge of: it was strange, uncannily simple and eerily sweet, more of looking at a portrait of a goner and less of seeing a friend. His compassion faded, a mock-lively kindness replaced it, by the nature a moonlight would mimic a sunray's warmth. it is not change, nor epiphany; your friend was dying with no hearse set or heart settled- Suguru slept to no awakening so the priest in Gojo-gesa can breathe to every aspect of life.

Eyes that used to behold the blessings in everything are now glaring with violence, gnashing its teeth to whoever and whatever didn't wield any cursed energy. it is visible for you to only see, all of the ink and blood jarred behind his eyes, masked perfectly and contained in a patient smile he wore to his subjects— our subjects darling! he would say, giving you a saddened look, as if his gift of a thousand obedient monkey wasn't enough to thrill you as much as it did to him.

“You know how much I love you, right?” he murmured, holding your hand. your eyes pierced the reflection on the vanity glass: a husband and a wife sharing an intimate moment, scenery of a devoted Genji holding a torn Fujitsubo³ and kissing away all of her distress. you switched your sight towards his hand, the one that stroked yours, the one that had on its ring finger a silver band twirled.

“And I'm willing to offer you everything I have, anything you want” He placed a kiss on the crown of your head, billing and cooing in his words “I just ask for a little smile in return, or a little ‘thank you’ for everything I do to us”

“You're taking advantage of innocent people, Suguru”

He scoffs “Are they really that innocent?! All they do is cause destruction and corruption. you're too kind to even call them people” the last word dropped like a glob of mercury, heavy and tarnishing. he's annoyed for sure that you ruined the romantic mood by mentioning monkeys yet again.

“You're murdering people who came to you for help, Suguru…”

You saw it without looking at it, the flash of rage and loathing, with all its redness and heat a fire had less or more of. you hoped in despair ,maybe there's still the lingering blush of compassion in his heart; the comity of your dear friend Suguru, not the hatred of your husband the monk. His fist flew in front of your face, grabbing your chin and rotating your skull to his penetrating eyes. for a second, a thread was pulled in your chest, cutting your heart with a feeling of fear, was he about to strike you?

“I told you thousands of times… those you cry for so much are. not. people. Do you understand me?!” He pressed on each word, heavy breath fanning your face. you could only look back and try not to recoil under his gaze.

“They ruin our lives, they kill us, they cause suffering and they taint this earth with their filthy emotions… if it wasn't me who gets rid of them and cleans their trash, only heaven knew how much time left for us to live…” he digs his nails into your flesh, gritting his teeth at you “They made you unhappy, they tried to kill me while I was risking my life to save them everyday!” he raised his hands in the air, snarling with full volume. you're sure that Nanako and Mimiko are in another room hearing, and utterly aware of their agreement and devotion to Suguru.

Frantically, he unwrapped his Gojo-gesa and threw it on the floor, shooting you a glare while he freed himself from the sleeves of his haori. his stare kept lining yours, and when he stripped from the white hada-juban, you've seen it, as if at first sight.

“Shouldn't a wife support her husband?! Why do I feel like everything else except for me matters to you?!” He yelled. it is not the first time you see the scar on his chest, in fact, you've seen it too many times that its lines were as familiar as the dimness of your eyelids.

“Whom am I doing this all for?! for us! for our family! they're just like us, they've been belittled and cursed by monkeys and they had their happiness snatched brutally from their hands… all just because they were sorcerers” he calmed, yet not eased judging by how sharp his expression was. He dropped his arms to his side, reaching to cup your face and force you to see his eyes “You were hurt too… you begged me to save you years ago… you do remember the day we sat together in class and talked”

You do remember.

The echo of that hour reverberated through his eyes. in their dark shade, you watched a reflection of yourself, helpless and gray, sew the first threads of his insanity. you wished if life had been a little more cruel and tore off your tongue before you ever got the chance to speak with him.

It's you who chiseled the priest.

He feathered a finger across your cheek, crooning honey “And you remember our dates too, all the kisses and embraces, our wedding and our nights together…” serene as a sea in spring, animating the past into a sweet lull. his eyes smiled to you, cording your heart when continuing “You love me, you love our family, our paradise— and him” His palm spidered to your stomach, stroking the node of flesh “You would never abandon him, would you?”

Can you even? He sojourned far in, tethered to you through a wall of flesh with a string stretching inside of him. the memory of his existence would carve lines in both of your bodies even after his birth.

“You're so selfless, that's why I fell for you darling” whispered he, drinking your silence in taste of obedience. Was there any release from the cuffs you wrapped around your own wrists? Suguru wasn't an imprisoner, he just smelted a bracelet you wished to wear, eager to please and in hunger for your praise, while you, in words and smiles, altered his brain to see in dark color.

“Why don't you say you love me?” he coated demand with love, pouring foam on your ears in a whisper.

Your skin felt light underneath, like you could walk out of it as a coat. In times like these, when he gave affection and demanded it back, you could only say one thing, unlike a full colored prism of flirtation he can murmur to you.

“I love you so much, Suguru…” at first, saying it was like uprooting a rotting tooth, but as time passed and your tongue knew the taste of lying, it became like picking a fruit.

He smiled “Good girl…”

His eyes glinted in red “...I love you too…”

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