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seyaryminamoto · 2 months

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Azula's most overlooked characterization element

Why, hello there.

It is I.

And I'm back on my bullshit.

I didn't WANT to be. But a bunch of factors pulled me back in.

For the record: I'm not here to start any fights or light the fuse of arguments that I most likely won't have time or interest in responding to. What I AM here for... is to prove that there's something out there a bunch of people are delighted to sleep on because acknowledging it would render maaaany simplistic interpretations entirely invalid...

That group of people includes the fandom, of course. And the original show's staff. And the liveaction's staff, to a fault. Surely the TTRPG ones too. And absolutely, the comic book writers.

Hell, I'll even include MYSELF in that group, even though I'm making this post right now.

I found it really curious that I very recently saw this element mentioned in a pretty neat blog I follow, @atla-lore-archive, I absolutely advise anyone who hasn't checked out said archive to do it if you wish to understand a lot of the "extra lore" the fandom had access to, back in the old days when the turbonick ATLA site still existed and used to be the only source of deeper knowledge about the fandom besides the occasional interview that most people didn't even know where to track down.

But the funny thing is that the post I'm talking about proved that even Turbonick forgot about the people this post is about :')

And that would beeeeeeee...

*cue drumroll*

Lo and Li!

What makes Lo and Li an important subject to discuss?

Why, a lot of things. Among them, the fact that almost nobody brings them into the core focus of any analysis made about Azula's character. I've personally mentioned them once or twice I believe, mostly as negatives, there's but ONE positive aspect I've ever found of them: them being non-benders MIGHT be a reason why Azula isn't shown as being quite so obsessive with firebending supremacy as Zuko was supposed to be.

But that's very much the sole good thing I can think to say about them and it's completely subjective, as good as a headcanon, because we don't even KNOW if they influenced Azula in that sense!

Why do they seem to get overlooked quite as much? Why... let's start thinking about it, shall we?

Lo and Li are Azula's firebending teachers. As far as anyone can tell, they're also her advisors. These two people should be an essential part of Azula's life... but ironically, we seldom see them with her. Most times, Azula isn't around these two. Whenever she is? It doesn't usually look like she's having a good time.

And that's no surprise, considering her first scene with those two very much puts forward a dynamic of cold distance between Azula and her mentors: Azula is bending LIGHTNING. We have not heard of other lightningbenders until that point, and once the full show wraps up, there's only THREE (Azula, Ozai, Iroh). Out of those three? Only one is a fourteen-year-old girl. It's very easy to assume Azula's lightning is actually a skill she mastered unusually early in life, perhaps relatively recently, hence the practicing... but she's pulling it off. She's succeeding. She's doing something that genuinely catches a first-time viewer off-guard!

And Lo and Li's entire opinion of what she did is: "Almost perfect. One hair out of place."

This tells you the Fire Nation's idea of "imperfection" is... insane. Strict. Imposing. Unyielding. Unforgiving. Azula's reaction isn't to get angry at Lo and Li for saying what they did: it's to get angry at herself and try again.

But... that's not the only instance where we see Azula getting angry around Lo and Li.

The next few times Azula is around them, she doesn't seem to have much of an emotional reaction (one is when they tell her to find other allies, the other when they herald her as a great hero who returned home from Ba Sing Se). In the second of these scenes, Lo and Li are praising Azula as incredible, beautiful, all sorts of grand things...! And Azula smiles. She smiles at the crowd. She's not smiling at the old ladies who are praising her... she's mostly just happy to know her people are welcoming her as a hero indeed! Most the fandom would go "true! what an ungrateful bitch! She should've been happy that Lo and Li complimented her that way!!" Me? I wouldn't say that at all. Not just because I love Azula to pieces? But because the only information we have of Azula's dynamics with these two... doesn't seem compatible with the idea that what Lo and Li are saying here is for AZULA'S benefit.

Anyone who's had a hypocritical parent/caretaker/teacher must have endured awkward, horrible, unpleasant moments where this adult figure treats you like shit in private but in public holds you as this grand example, and a perfect child, and they never seem to stop saying they're soooo proud of you even though you NEVER felt that what they're saying is true. Maybe the first few times, you're naive enough to believe it. By the tenth time of incongruent messages? You start to realize they're talking you up as a way to make themselves look better. They're trying to show they're doing their job at raising you/training you, be it whatever it may. The praises are not FOR you... they're for a third person to hear and think "Oh, this adult's so cool, saying nice things about this kid they're responsible for! Nice!"

... You're starting to get the picture now, I'm sure.

Lo and Li reappear in the Beach. Azula is notably chill, enjoying the ride, talking casually with Ty Lee, telling Zuko to lighten up and to stop taking Ozai's choices personally, right? She seems... content. Relaxed.

Then, everything changed when Lo and Li attacked.

We don't even see why Azula is making this face at first. But she does it AT ONCE when their ship reaches the dock.

Who is there indeed...?

The stars of our post! :') if it isn't our elderly twin ladies... who brought Azula to a very disappoting beach house. And when Azula sees the house in question, she makes THIS face.

Judge however you may... even Ty Lee is weirded out by the beach house, going by that expression. Zuko and Mai aren't impressed either. But Azula? The look on her face isn't merely disappointment if you ask me... part of it looks a bit like embarrassment too? This isn't at all what she was expecting when she arrived (she has her old beach house for standards, which makes this extra underwhelming, I'm sure). She counts on Lo and Li to provide them with a place to stay, it goes implicit... and then this is what they do. It most likely isn't what she promised the other three in terms of where they'd stay, hence, I'd dare say there's a component of embarrassment here.

Shortly afterwards, we have our well known scene with Azula being utterly unconcerned with Lo and Li's apparent wisdom to the point of yawning over it. This, too, tells you she's just not interested in whatever those two have to say or bring to the table. Then, they show up again at mealtime and I think Azula just ignores them the whole scene.

After this? Lo and Li vanish until the finale. And what do they do in the finale? Why... it's the first time anyone expresses a verbal concern over Azula's wellbeing! Ah! A sign that Lo and Li have SOME affection for Azula! This time, you pesky Azula fans, you CAN'T twist this into a bad thing! For sure!

... Can't we, tho? :')

What IS Azula's reaction to: "We are concerned for your wellbeing"?

"My father asked you to come here and talk to me, didn't he‌? He thinks I can't handle the responsibility of being Fire Lord. But I will be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history."

And here, my friends, is when we have finally hit the jackpot.

Lo and Li could have been Azula's Irohs. She could've had TWO of him! Then you'd say: "hey! Ozai is such a dick he let Azula have two elderly wise ladies guiding her but only gave one old wise dude to Zuko! Rude!" and it would be further proof of Ozai's favoritism of Azula, right?

... But actually?

Lo and Li are no such thing. Lo and Li aren't moral compasses for Azula in the least. Lo and Li are not beacons of wisdom that genuinely help her sort her way through life. Worth noting: THEY COULD HAVE BEEN WRITTEN THAT WAY. They're not. They're not part of mysterious secret societies, they don't help Azula in any objective, significant, tangible way... there's very much nothing to say they EVER fulfilled the role Iroh did for Zuko. What role, then, were they fulfilling instead?

Why... I think we ought to listen to Azula, shouldn't we?

My take: Lo and Li are OZAI'S STAND-INS.

Someone's going to say "hey why would you assume that when Azula said this in the middle of a breakdown?? Surely she was just DELUSIONAL and PARANOID and ashdgkadhsgkjgh...!"

... Let me counter that one with a fun little analysis excercise:

WHY are Lo and Li Azula's firebending teachers and advisors?

The finale very directly tells us these two are not benders. We could've assumed they were! They're not: Azula's teachers are non-benders.

Has a single person out there ever asked themselves WHY this is the case?

How the hell is Azula, prodigy of the blue fire, epic lightning, cruel and powerful and precise and deadly bending... training under two elderly nonbenders?

Bringing this to a real-life example: do you remember what it was like when you were in P.E. classes and your teacher told you to spend 20 minutes jogging, and if you ever stopped you had to do 20 crunches and then get back to the jogging, and every time you stopped he'd tell you the same thing and you'd want that guy to vanish from the face of the planet? I don't know if that was only my experience, but I rather doubt it.

What did kids typically think/say when that happened?

"I wanna see that old fart doing the same shit he's making us do..."

It's a headcanon indeed to say that this is how Azula must have felt over Lo and Li, but it's VERY likely to be the case. But I'd dare say, in Azula's case, it's even worse because, to put it in another way? It's like taking programming lessons from someone who's never learned a programming language. They'll tell you you're getting things wrong without knowing how to help you get them right because they just DON'T KNOW what you're doing, and are outright INCAPABLE of what you're trying to achieve. They can't offer good guidance based on experience because they have ZERO experience on that subject! And yet they want PERFECTION from you! They expect it!

Lo and Li are these teachers for Azula. We only see them in one scene? And yet everything in the rest of the show suggests that they bring nothing important to the table for Azula, be it professionally, be it personally, be it emotionally... not in any aspect of life.

And this, if you ask me, is why the OG show barely ever brings them into scenes. Why the comics flat-out forgot they existed and even featured people like Sozin and Azulon in Azula's beach hallucinations but NOT the two ladies who looked after her and trained her. Why the live-action didn't even FEATURE them.

And us? The fandom? The fic writers?

I HAVE NO IDEA WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME I READ A FIC THAT HAD LO AND LI INVOLVED IN IT.

I'm not even saying as main characters, I don't even know if that exists, frankly: I mean as minor, or background characters. I have NOT seen those two be used in basically ANY fics I've read. I've scarcely used them in mine! In fact, I PURPOSEFULLY got rid of them early on in Gladiator because I didn't want them to sabotage and get in the way of Azula's progress as a character and I believed they'd do exactly that. They were an obstacle rather than anything useful, so I did away with them and then realized they could still occasionally serve some purpose in certain situations: I even had Azula visit them once and they were actually helpful! Fancy that! But... that's it. That's as far as I could go with them. I can't do MORE with those two because they're not characters one particularly feels compelled to work with.

And from what I've seen? That's the case for everyone.

So, I ask again:

WHY ARE THEY THERE?

WHAT IS THEIR ROLE?

WHAT IS THE POINT OF AZULA HAVING NON-BENDING TEACHERS?

Let's go further and further into logical thinking here, shall we?

Azula is a child. Fourteen years of age at the time she's introduced in the OG show.

Azula has no power over many things around her, particularly, her upbringing. That's in the hands of the adults around her. Her mother, up until she vanished, had some hand in it, then, it all falls to Ozai.

Ozai has been Azula's sole parental figure since Ursa left.

Ozai is the one who would reasonably call the shots regarding Azula's education, as all parents are wont to do... ESPECIALLY when he's a king with absolute power over his children.

... so, Lo and Li? Ozai either gave them the position as Azula's teachers personally, or someone else (Ursa) did, and Ozai either didn't WANT to remove them from the role (cue "Ozai being sentimental over Ursa" theories), or Ozai didn't give a flying fuck about who was training his daughter (cue "Ozai is an abusive dick without a heart or a brain" theories).

Anyone, of course, would likely interject here to say surely Ozai ALSO trained Azula himself because that's what he'd do with his favorite kid, right? See. I don't even disagree with that notion.

BUT IT'S A HEADCANON.

We have zero evidence that Ozai trained her! None! I totally will write that into Azula's backstory in many of my stories, but there's NOTHING in canon to suggest this actually happened and that Ozai was genuinely, actively, frequently involved in her progress as a firebender. Assuming he HAD to be is, still, a headcanon. You can't say that with any more certainty than mine when I say I believe Azula loves spicy foods. Does it seem to be something that would fit with her character? I think so! But if eventually canon goes "AZULA CAN'T STAND SPICY FOODS LOL JOKE'S ON YOU!" I... can't even say a thing about it. People's food tastes aren't reflective of their personalities. They really could do whatever they want in that respect. And that's the case for ANYTHING that isn't part of the show's storytelling or the character backgrounds or any texts we consider canon!

POINT BEING: Ozai, regardless of what you want to headcanon, had Lo and Li as Azula's teachers. HIS FAVORITE CHILD... and her only official instructors are two non-benders. Yang added Kunyo as an old instructor of Azula's when she was young, sure! But Kunyo was sooooo qualified that baby Azula was already kicking his ass. So, for that matter? He doesn't really seem to have been a cornerstone of her firebending development and the only other known teachers for Azula are Lo and Li.

For the last time: Azula's teachers are NON-BENDERS. AS CHOSEN, SANCTIONED, APPROVED AND ACCEPTED BY OZAI.

And with those two remarking on absolutely STUPID stuff like "one hair out of place"? Azula still became the incredible firebender she was.

Cue, now, the irony where Zuko was stuck in the basics 3 years after setting out of the Fire Nation... WITH IROH ACTIVELY SERVING AS HIS MENTOR.

You're not gonna tell me that Lo and Li would EVER be better instructors than Iroh, or are you? Because that makes no sense. Full-stop. Iroh is supposed to be the most profound and complete firebender thorughout the show because he's spiritually enlightened even though I admit I think that's bullshit and he doesn't just teach Zuko how to set things on fire, he actually makes him learn theory and spirituality and his teachings are more profound than just "ONE HAIR OUT OF PLACE".

So.

Banished as he is, disgraced and seen as trash by Ozai, Zuko STILL has a better teacher than Azula does.

... Is this LOGICAL? Is this NORMAL? Does this make SENSE?

If you think Ozai's favoritism of Azula takes the shape of "I'll give you every little thing you ask for, sweetheart, I love you very much, here, have ten million doll houses so you can set them on fire, and all the ponies you ask for and on your next birthday I'll buy you a baby dragon and you'll get your own region of the Fire Nation to govern and a fancy title..."?

Then Lo and Li, unfortunately, are right here to be a HUGE contradiction with your interpretation of Ozai and Azula's relationship.

Azula should have THE BEST teachers. Azula does not. Azula doesn't even LIKE them. Azula is openly shown to dislike them! To be annoyed around them, ANGRY when they're teaching her, she feels they're here to keep tabs on her for her father! In a sense, they're Ozai's SPIES on her! :')

Hence? Ozai's favoritism of Azula MIGHT not be what everyone keeps pretending it is. Maybe Ozai didn't do everything to make Azula get things EASILY... and to be fair? That's not what Zuko said anyway. People interpreted it that way... but that's not REALLY what he says:

"Everything always came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy, and everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky. "

Every line in this statement is absolutely questionable and all of it sounds like buuuuullshit to me. This is ZUKO'S perspective. And sorry not sorry, but it's tell-don't-show. People swear by his opinion of Azula and pretend he's absolutely objective about it. He's not.

But "Everything always came easy to her," does not mean "EVERYTHING WAS ALWAYS HANDED OVER TO HER ON A SILVER PLATTER." And yet this is what the fandom has constantly interpreted it as.

Azula might just be a prodigy. Maybe she started out ten steps ahead of her brother: this does not mean she needs no guidance, no training, no help. She's seen training herself over perfectionism in her very second scene of Book 2. And the guidance she gets in order to achieve perfection is actually, objectively, stupid.

This is what Ozai chose for her. This is an OBSTACLE for her growth, just as much as Lo and Li were obstacles for me when I was starting with Gladiator! Azula doesn't have it EASY: she just works herself so damn hard that even shit that should HINDER her does NOT do that. And even when her brother objectively has spent THREE YEARS with an advantage in the shape of being trained by one of the VERY BEST firebenders out there? Azula is still beating Zuko at it. With two non-benders as her teachers.

Where am I going with all this?

To the fact that Lo and Li are overlooked in just about every instance of the fandom.

To the fact that nobody includes them, and their influence on Azula, in their analyses of who Azula is.

I've seen a shitstorm rising over the Netflix characterization of Azula: SHE'S TOO ANGRY, they say. Non-stop. She's sooooo hysterical, all the time! She's just pissed perpetually!

Well. I haven't finished the show yet. But the scenes I've seen Azula in so far? They don't fit the fandom's view of Azula because...

... they're not taking Lo and Li into account.

As usual.

:')

Azula's reactions around Lo and Li being frustration, anger, irritation EVEN in scenes like The Beach, where Azula was FINE until she sees them? That shit is storytelling that went over sooooooo many heads, EVEN MINE! When I saw people going on about how canon Azula is... not insecure? Not angry? Has no frustrations and was only ever smirking 24/7? I... didn't feel that was right. I knew it wasn't right. And when I thought about it hard enough? I realized that one reason why this interpretation of Azula is IMMEDIATELY dismissable is because of Lo and Li: those two constantly made Azula angry. Even if that wasn't their intent, it's nonetheless the effect they'd have on her. And Azula didn't like having them around. She CLEARLY didn't appreciate them the way Zuko does Iroh, for instance! And this could be taken as a flaw on Azula's part... if we EVER saw evidence that these two ladies actually love Azula as a grandchild, or so. If we had any evidence that they actually have cared for her in ways nobody else ever did. If maybe the ones Zuko talks about, upon saying "EVERYONE LOVES AZULA" were these two! And maybe he was jealous of them! Maybe he wanted two old ladies to watch his every move and tell him his every flaw!

... Clearly I'm joking about that last thing, but anyway...

There's nothing to tell us Lo and Li were anything but Ozai's assigned watchdogs to keep control and tabs over Azula. That Azula's immediate reaction upon hearing that someone cares about her is "Oh fuck off, my dad sent you here because he doesn't trust me!" is... telling. It's not just paranoia speaking, even if it sure can be read that way! It's actually Azula's perception of those two, which is 100% supported by what we saw of the twins throughout the show, WHENEVER we did see them: their roles in Azula's life are indeed to keep tabs on her, to keep her under control, to pressure her into perfection, AS OZAI'S AGENTS! Seen this way, it MAKES SENSE for Azula to disregard their concern and immediately assume it's FAKE. She isn't even shown to doubt it, never questions that MAYBE they did care about her! She assumes they don't...

... And considering that, as far as I know, the official concept is that they BOTH LEFT when Azula banished one of them only? That they didn't contest her command, staying to look after her even if she only wanted one? I mean, clearly Azula can't tell them apart, so they could've taken turns: one watches over Azula for 12 hours and the other for the next 12 hours, I don't goddamn know! But they didn't do that. They LEFT. And if they left? It means they don't care remotely as much as they say they do. Not to the point where they'd challenge Azula's orders and help her when they KNOW she's not okay.

And all of this further supports my point.

When we see Azula in the liveaction being angry, bitter, irritable at Ozai's choices?

I see a reflection of the same dynamics that the OG too subtly weaved into Azula's relationship with Lo and Li. I see Azula reacting against Ozai's control over her because she feels it's DISTRUST. She feels it means her father STILL needs to be convinced that she's competent, powerful, ready to do his bidding. It isn't a case where Azula's irritation comes from wanting to rebel against her father... it's Azula wanting her father to UNDERSTAND that she's 100% his supporter and will put everything on the line to serve him and the Fire Nation.

And it's very damn easy to read that exact same thing into Azula's dynamics with Lo and Li as it is to see it EXPLICITLY STATED in the liveaction.

My point?

What the liveaction did is not nearly as much of a distant characterization choice as people think it is.

Ozai is Azula's Achilles' Heel. Everything she became, everything she grew up to be, was for his sake. He molded her to become those things and simply didn't give a shit about raising a daughter, he treated her as a weapon, and absolutely pitted his children against each other, just as much as OTHER adults in their lives did. But the impact of Ozai on Azula in the OG is easy to ignore. Why? Because we SELDOM see them interacting. Because we don't get that side of Azula's character fully explored. Because they didn't want to explore Ozai's character either! They were as cheap as they could be with all these aspects and so, only the people who really got into analyzing things on a deeper level would be able to say, without a doubt, that Ozai abused Azula emotionally with all the expectations and demands he put on his own child. Through the golden child-scapegoat dynamic that people have been bringing up non-stop in the past years.

So, proving herself to her father is what Azula wants to do, more than anything. Proving worthy of his favor, of his approval, is the closest thing she can get to feeling loved. Which is depressing as fuck. Azula gets zero affection: it's not even conditional affection, there's NOTHING for her besides approving words if she gets anything right. And this show's work with Azula's character? It was meant to make these things less invisible to all the fans who like to pretend none of it exists. And yes, I've seen them, crawling all over Twitter shitting themselves in fits of rage because how dare that show pretend Azula EVER had a bad time in her perfect flawless life!!

Well, the irony is that the OG gives you a smidge of evidence -- and yet that's enough -- to show that Ozai was doing very similar things to Azula in ATLA, and her reactions to it?

Huh. No smirks for Lo and Li.

No smirks for the symbols of Ozai's control over her life.

It's almost like the confidence, the smirks, the apparent ease with which she handles everything? Is a front that crumbles easily whenever it concerns the ONE PERSON with power over her life.

I don't believe, worth noting, that Azula's power comes from rage. I've seen people say that in fandom in the past and I find it a completely absurd take when Iroh himself spells out that her bending is about control, about precision, and it's Azula's FURY that makes her a sloppy mess in the finale. It's even INTENTIONAL that when she shoots lightning a second time, in her second establishing scene, THAT SAME HAIR FALLS OUT OF PLACE. She's still angry. She didn't get it "right" this time either. She's imperfect and she's trying NOT to be, but she cannot succeed. And upon bending lightning with emotions (rage/frustration)? That hair falls YET AGAIN out of place. Proof that she's not going to achieve the perfection she's being FORCED (indeed, by her father and the people who are here to represent him, Lo and Li) to strive for.

The liveaction had Ozai pushing Azula for a perfection she couldn't attain either. She's perfectly content in her cruelty at Ozai's side, right until she hears the Avatar was found and that Zuko has a shot at taking away the privileges she's been basking in so far. That she WASN'T nervous about this in canon is pretty damn obvious: OZAI SENT HER TO HUNT ZUKO DOWN FOR BEING A FAILURE. We never saw her reaction to learning that the Avatar was out and about. We have noooo idea what was canonically going on with her back then. The first time we see her besides the flashback is Azula receiving a mission that tells her she's STILL #1 and Zuko is no threat to her because Ozai thinks he's a failure. Thus? She had nothing to fear. Here? Ozai is actively using Zuko as bait to pressure Azula further. And if you're so confident in Ozai's good parenting skills as to believe he somehow WOULDN'T do that? Sounds like you don't understand the very basic and simplistic Fire Lod Ozai from ATLA, and that's not something to be proud of. So probably stop screaming your bad takes at the top of your lungs, because being incapable of understanding Ozai in canon is not a badge of pride, just saying...

FINAL POINT...

This post is not written expressly in the defense of the liveaction and its characterization of Azula. To this point, what I've seen of it doesn't feel WRONG or OFF unless you're the kind of person who thinks Azula is only capable of smirking and if she stops doing that she stops existing or something. Only people who cannot understand the depth, nuance, subtleties in Azula's story would ever be claiming that Azula's relationship with Ozai COUDLN'T be like this, or that Azula couldn't possibly be frustrated with her father or his choices when it's soooo clear what Ozai is going for, and why it's working. But in order to read Azula as a character capable of this range of emotion, frustration and ambition, all at once? You have to be able to treat this character, be it in the liveaction or the OG show, as a human being.

And that's what most the people criticizing this specific change are determined not to do. It's what makes them uncomfy. It's what rustles their jimmies.

Yes. I'm saying it in this very demeaning way because I actually find it quite ridiculous to be this insecure over the portrayal of a fictional 14yo in two TV shows. Whether the liveaction sticks the landing or fails catastrophically, I do not know... but I do know that if it's forcing a bunch of people to rethink Azula's character, and making them panic at the idea that she could EVER have human emotions, even if they're AWFUL human emotions?

Then I'm afraid you're only convincing me that, as bad as that show could ever get? It's getting SOMETHING right. I do love to see misinterpretations of Azula getting slammed in the face by the reality that all those beliefs, headcanons and takes in bad faith are actively, categorically untrue: none of which makes Azula a fundamentally good person, worth noting! But it makes it very clear that reading her as a one-dimensional basic villain, which is what the anti-Azula-redemption crowd actively does, is literally only possible if you overlook, ignore and fail to understand her character and her complexities, be it in the liveaction or in the original show.

There. I said my piece.

Another post, regarding the rest of the liveaction, is bound to come later. I'd say stay tuned but it might take me a while to write it at all. So... wait around and maybe you'll see it someday!

#azula #atla #natla #yep :')#I'm doing it #because I know the bad takes are everywhere so #let's see if mine actually gets any visibility this way #can of worms here we goooooooooo #(this is a bad idea I know it is I'm having a leave of my senses)#(but sometimes you just gotta watch the world burn and this has been... a complicated sad day)#also sorry if anyone saw it without the read more oops I thought I'd put it there #so either tumblr ate it or I forgot yikes #but now it's theeeere #sorryyyyyyyy

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itsclydebitches · 1 year

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RWBY doesn't care if faunus are viewed as an allegory for real world minorities. Faunus are magic hybrids of humans and animals - fairy tales in RWBY were always true. Hence, Blake is offered to become a human or a cat. Blake calls herself a cat because she is part cat. Ruby tells the red prince Blake is a faunus (the elf of the group) and the rest of them are humans because they are. Simple. RT: "I didn't come over here looking to solve systemic societal issues."

Then RT shouldn't have written a story in which they are actively and knowingly commenting on a systemic societal issue.

Yeah, this could have been the case. It's absolutely possible to write a version of RWBY where faunus are just #there and their animal characteristics in no way intersect with social justice. But RWBY didn't write that story. They explicitly introduced the faunus as victims of long-term discrimination. They're "second class citizens." "Animals" to be exploited, tortured, and discarded. There's nothing simple in writing a post-war decree that forces everyone with certain physical characteristics onto an isolated island away from the "superior" group. Or making your billionaire CEO target faunus for slave labor, including giving us one character who was branded. We're shown an extremist group fighting for their civil rights and the end message of that is, "They're fighting the wrong way not to be treated like they're disposable :/" RWBY introduced Weiss as a character who would compare Sun to a trash can and, what? We're really supposed to believe that he's just the "elf" of the group? It's a complete coincidence that the citizens of Remnant just happen to systematically target all the people with animal traits.

This isn't even the only time RWBY has explicitly woven social justice into its story. They had a main character lose her arm, introduced another with a metal body, a third that had lost half of his, and took all three on a journey that hinged on their disabilities. The entirety of the Atlas arc revolves around class and getting us to emotionally side with the victims of the rich elite. They've been teasing a queer ship for four years, but refusing to commit to it in a way that might piss off real life homophobes. Our fictional world supposedly wasn't grappling with the same discrimination... until May casually tossed out that she was disowned for being trans. The ENTIRETY of the story hinges on rooting for four young woman in a genre that has historically been dismissive of them and the go-to insult when someone disagrees with a reading is, "You just hate women, huh?"

RWBY is seeped in social issues. It's built on it. They're the freaking linchpin. The writers WANTED that because they understood that the best storytelling engages with real life concerns. But they didn't know how to approach these topics respectfully - they wanted the rewards of a "deep" story without carefully working out what they wanted to say about these topics - and the result is a franchise that's often more insulting than it is inspirational. After nearly a decade of that, RWBY doesn't get to suddenly backtrack because they fucked it up. They can't have their cake and eat it too. "We're a story about strong, empowered women, one of which is fighting for equal standing in her society, another who is grappling with disability, a third who is acknowledging her status as heir to a company that has done irreparable damage to her world and exacerbated class discrimination... but if that's not written well, don't worry about it! It's just a fun, silly story! Haha, why would you take a cartoon so seriously?"

RWBY has always wanted to be taken seriously but, you know, only when they're succeeding. If they mess up they want you to do them the courtesy of ignoring that which is... not how writing a paid for, public story consistently commenting on minority groups works.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

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insomniac-jay · 1 year

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DC | The Watchers

It's time I finally give the full introduction of my anti Batfam group, the Watchers. I've mentioned them in relation to two of my OCs who are members, Fatale & Crimson. I've given the gist of them on this post so I'll mostly be talking about the members here.

Members

Jonah Yates | Cybiotic

La'Frida Nile | Sirena

Vicia Lopez | Crimson

Jahzara Nwadike | Fatale

Will Vaughn | Allure

Aviva Santos | Copycat

Miguel Ramirez | Forger

Serilda von Meier-Berger | Duchess

Jonah Yates | Cybiotic: Jonah is the leader and founder of the group. Contrary to what everyone believes, he actually used to admire Batman until he started to see how every vigilante that appeared in Gotham was either an associate of his or within proximity of him. Not to mention the whole "No Metahumans except Duke" rule really killed Jonah's respect for the caped crusader.

With no other options, Jonah decided he'd take matters into his own hands. He and his friend La'Frida traveled around Gotham recruiting young Metahumans who had became disillusioned by Batman to join their organization. Within a few months, they had 100 members with them as the leaders.

As his code name implies, Jonah's Metahuman ability is to use the nanobots in his bones and blood cells to create cybernetic enhancements to his body. He is the strongest of all the Watchers, hence why he's the leader.

La'Frida Nile | Sirenia: Originally from Coast City, La'Frida moved to Gotham after her parents divorced and her mom remarried. She lived in the same neighborhood as Jonah and the two quickly became friends. She had no opinion of Batman until one night. Her family was sleeping when their apartment was destroyed by Bane, whom was fighting Batman.

Even though Bruce Wayne offered to pay for the repairs, it soured La'Frida's opinion of Batman permanently. When Jonah proposed the idea of the Watchers to her, she was immediately on board and joined him in recruiting Metahumans from around the city.

La'Frida's Metahuman powers are based off mermaids/sirens-- including her alluring, supersonic song, water manipulation, and more.

Vicia Lopez | Crimson: Vicia is the first members of the group. A Metahuman from Bludhaven, Vicia ran away from home so her parents could be safe from her powers. Along the way, Vicia got herself into trouble with both the local gangs and police, and was thrown into juvie as a result. She dislikes Batman and his family because they don't care about Metahumans unless they're what she calls "Batman approved".

When she was released from juvie, Cybiotic and Sirena approached her with an offer to join their Metahumans only organization. Vicia accepted the offer and became the first official member of the Watchers.

Vicia's Metahuman power is blood control. She can forcefully pull the blood out of others and herself without any type of opening such as a wound. The stability of her power is tied to her emotional state and as a result Vicia must exercise great emotional control so her powers don't go haywire.

Will Vaughn | Allure: Will is a Metahuman from New Jersey and probably the most laidback of the members. They're also one of the few members that doesn't have any ties to the Batfamily. Will joined because they had a hard time making friends and thought that joining the Watchers would help them make lots of friends.

Will has no ill will towards the Batfamily, they just find them kinda annoying and bratty, especially Tim Drake.

Will's power is illusions via sweet scents. They can emit a person's favorite scents that taps into their pheromones and makes them see happy or positive illusions.

Aviva Santos | Copycat: A Metahuman originally from Panama, Aviva has a reputation for being a trickster and prankster. Aviva has a grudge against the Batfam because Nightwing destroyed their favorite mall while she was shopping and he was fighting a bad guy.

Aviva is also the youngest member of the Watchers at 13 years old.

Aviva's powers are their code name. She can copy the appearances, voices, and abilities of anyone she comes into any type of contact with for up to 24 hours.

Miguel Ramirez | Forger: Miguel probably has one of the most valid reasons to dislike Batman. His family's business was destroyed by a bomb the Joker planted and as a result, his family fell into large amounts of debt. But even with the money Bruce Wayne gave them wasn't enough to recover from the devastation. From that day, Miguel grew to resent Batman and everything he did.

When an opportunity to best his former hero came along, Miguel took it and joined the Watchers without any hesitation.

Miguel can generate liquid metal and heat it to high temperatures to become solid and change its shape or form.

Serilda von Meier-Berger | Duchess: The only daughter of two wealthy German immigrants, Serilda got the short end of the stick when she discovered her Metahuman powers. She is another member that has no connection to the Batfamily; simply joining the Watchers to get an understanding of her newfound powers.

Serilda's the one providing the money for the entire operation thanks to her massive wealth, becoming the treasurer of the Watchers.

Serilda's powers allow her to generate crystals on her body. These crystals are more harder and have more luster than others, making Serilda a threat when exposed to any kind of bright light.

Jahzara Nwadike | Fatale: Jahzara is the Watchers' most remarkable member as she is the first human to be accepted into their ranks. What she lacks in Metahuman powers she makes up for in her other skills such as martial arts, swordsmanship, and agility.

Middle child of a successful Nigerian businesswoman, Jahzara doesn't have any beef with Batman, but Bruce Wayne himself instead. She sees Wayne Enterprises as a threat to her mother's business and joined the Watchers as a way to use their connections to gain access to them in order to take them down.

@calciumcryptid @autisticichihime @peachyblkdemonslayer

#jay's dc ocs #dc comics #batfamily #batfam

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immortalarizona · 6 months

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if you're interested i always wanna hear about oota npcs...! how'd you approach topsy and turvy?

heyyyy!! sorry it took me so long to reply, I was trying to do the responsible thing and finish my homework Before I got to do fun things on tumblr. (I still have a math project left to do tonight, but it's only due at midnight, it's fiiiiiine.) this is probably going to be another long one, so I'll just put a cut here right now :)

okay, so!! the Tinsplitter twins (yes I made up a surname for them, same as I did for Buppido and Derendil and Jimjar, because No One Can Stop Me):

they're somewhere in the range of 15-20, age-wise. not children in the same way Stool is (they are a whole two months old, I have decided), but definitely not adults either. I started by having them always whispering to each other about something, with Topsy coming up to one of the surface-er PCs (might have been the rogue?) to ask her if she remembers what day it is (and therefore what phase the moon is in, because I've decided that a lunar cycle is three tendays for the sake of my sanity). the twins refused to elaborate on why they were asking, and after they received their answer, they went back to debating between themselves. I had this whole other foreshadowing planned out where Topsy would struggle with kleptomania and Turvy would struggle with even worse paranoia due to their wererat instincts, but I was also trying to juggle the Sarith foreshadowing and Jimjar foreshadowing and Ront's storyline with the barbarian and Shuushar Stories and Stool getting adopted by the fighter, so that particular idea fell by the wayside, alas. still, in a bit of text-based RP between sessions, the rogue and the bard had a little chat with Jimjar where they shared their theories on the twins (as well as the secretly dhampir barbarian) and bet on when one of them would "cause a commotion." (Jimjar is literally my setting's moon deity in disguise. of course he fucking knows when the full moon is coming, and of course he won that bet. this is another bit of foreshadowing that I'm trying to set up :D)

just last session was the full moon, and oh boy, was it tasty. the ranger had cast alarm around the camp and had included the twins in the list of people that could set it off, so he was immediately pinged when the twins snuck off in the middle of the night. they left the following note scrawled on one of the walls in ormu pigment: Sorry. Must leave. Not safe. Do not follow. Thank you. -T&T.

they had taken all their stuff with them, indicating that they had no intentions of returning to camp. it was this, plus the fact that they're fucking children, that convinced the ranger and the fighter to go looking for them. Jimjar dragged the rogue along (they had that fun long-term madness due to a night spent in faerzress where they were each other's lucky charms), and Buppido and the bard also came along, if I recall correctly. (I think Ront had already died and the barbarian had been fucking kicked out of the party during some truly terrifying-for-me-as-a-DM RP at this point, hence the barbarian's absence. fun fact, the artificer in my PC art post is the player's replacement character, and I'm so excited to finally meet him.) the group easily passed the survival check to follow the twins' trail (the droplets of blood from where Topsy had been clawing at her own skin didn't exactly make it hard) and came across the twins in a small cavern overlooking a 60-foot cliff. (the cliff was my failsafe in case things started looking like a TPK. thankfully, we didn't need it.) Turvy begged for the party to run, because Topsy was in too much pain to speak, and then they transformed, and it was time to roll for initiative!

the last thing I wanted was a death match, so I played the twins as fighting more out of animalistic fear and a perceived need for self-defense than anything, which fits with the wererat lore I later established in the homebrew mechanics doc I sent out to my players for review. this did allow for the bard to give the party a safe exit from the cavern with a peace offering of food and a very good animal handling check--but not before Turvy bit the ranger in like round one and the ranger rolled a 9 on his con save. (I had him roll another con save at the start of his next turn to see if he would start transforming because what the fuck do you do in this situation the DMG never covered this, and, well. . . nat 1.)

in the morning, when the detransformed ranger led the similarly detransformed twins back to camp, Topsy and Turvy were absolutely miserable. they felt horribly guilty for having passed on their curse, and they were fully packing up their bags and preparing to leave the party because they believed that the party wouldn't want them around anymore. "We're monsters, aren't we?" they said, and Ront would have absolutely said yes if the barbarian hadn't eaten him the day before.

anyways, thankfully, the party was able to convince the twins that yes, they still wanted them around, and they really wished that they would've said something sooner so that they could've helped them sooner and maybe avoided all of this. I've got it tentatively in brain that the twins have some sort of Emotional Issues relating to parents (perhaps they lost their father at a very young age, and perhaps they originally fled home after being bitten so that they wouldn't hurt their mother), so all this genuine (or, well, seemingly genuine in the case of the bard, that stinky stinky bastard man) kindness had them even more in tears than they already were. the session ended with a group hug, and the next few days of out-of-session RP largely followed the ranger very consciously taking the twins under his wing and swearing to find them a cure for their curse, even before finding a cure for himself. Topsy has already sarcastically called him "dad" when he expressed a desire to protect them from whatever the fuck is going on with Buppido, but trust me, it'll be genuine soon enough.

I loooove language itself as a mode of storytelling, so I set up this Thing where svirfneblin generally don't teach their mother tongue to outsiders, something which Topsy and Turvy explained after the bard asked if there were any lullabies they found soothing that he could use to try and soothe the rats within and they sang one in Gnomish--or the namneblin, as I've termed it from cobbling together D&D Gnomish with Tolkien Gnomish to get what I want. at some point, the twins are going to start teaching the party the namneblin, which is their way of emotionally claiming the party as family. (this is gonna make it ALL THE MORE tasty and devastating when the Cool Uncle bard reveals that he's actually a murderous little meow meow who's been manipulating mansplaining manslaughtering this entire time, and I CANNOT WAIT.) they may even start calling the ranger a term which they refuse to translate, but which Jimjar will--a term that translates to "father." I fucking love found family. I am having a blast.

unfortunately, now we're way beyond the characterization given in the module. they don't really have any personality beyond "secretly wererats," so I'm still working on who they are now that that furry little secret is off their chests. they're both pretty curious, but thus far, I think Turvy is actually the more adventurous one of the two. he's expressed an interest in flying, something which Topsy finds absolutely terrifying, and he's also a bit less mature than his sister. (he laughed when the rogue made a "these nuts" joke during one of the bard's stories, and laughed even harder when Stool was like "I don't understand. What's a 'these nuts'?", while Topsy smacked him.) I'm thinking Topsy is just a few minutes older, and as such, she has that Older Sibling Protective Instinct in her. Topsy and Turvy are almost identical on a mechanical level, but now that the party has leveled up again, I've chosen to give them different survivor talents (see Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft for reference; I'm kinda just making things up as I go along) to showcase their different personalities. Topsy has the Desperate Scream talent, while Turvy has Adrenaline Surge, hinting that she's more of a fighter while he prefers to stay out of the fray. (they both each have a dagger and a sling, but I think I might let the player controlling them in combat know that Topsy prefers the dagger while Turvy prefers the sling.) I'm also tossing around in my brain different interests each of them could have, just to differentiate them further. I'm thinking Topsy could really like shiny things and collecting rocks and fun facts about rocks, while perhaps Turvy really wants to feel what it's like to soar through open air. or maybe he really likes plants!! who knows. I am definitely open to suggestions for hyperfixations to give each of them :]

so yeah, the Tinsplitter twins!! resident party children (alongside Stool) and catalysts of a found family dynamic that brings so very much joy into my heart and that the bard and I are going to heartbreakingly destroy at some point in the future of this campaign <3

#screams from the void #road trip to hell #dnd #oota #out of the abyss #topsy and turvy

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thenamesblurrito · 1 year

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Gonna sound like Oobleck from RWBY here and ask why are each of the people in the 4 groups here? Why is it that they are each at the JAAT? Why is it that each of them do what they each do?

i. anon i can give you a primer but like. you're essentially asking for the entire story in a single ask, or for me to link every post i've made in the past 2+ years?? exploring the answer to your questions is the point of The Entire Canon?

may i direct you to my pinned post where i have an about page, a navigation page linking to the bios for each hero kid, and a worldbuilding masterlist for all the important bits, including about the heroes and the JAAT and the context of society currently guiding their actions?

everyone is at the JAAT bc they were lucky/smart enough to pass the entrance exams designed to find the cream of the crop amongst younglings and teach them in the least functionist way possible for their society (except Nightracer who is a junker). for the other stuff... i think you'll have to be a little more specific, i'm sorry i genuinely don't know how to answer

here's my post on faction ideology

the Decepticons and Predacons, as individuals, for the most part don't truly want genuine anarchy, so "lawless world" is inaccurate. they simply operate at an extreme opposite of the current system, which is totalitarianism, so it basically manifests as anarchy. i mean, they're kids, so some of it is teenage rebellion. Megatron would probably love genuine anarchy for a week or so before relenting, but he's the only one who properly self-identifies as an anarchist even as a civilian. the heroes in these factions just want the current regime eradicated instead of reformed, and act accordingly. they'll be demonized no matter what they do, why not lean into it?

also, important to remember, these are kids. they have NO IDEA what type of society they're fighting for. two of the factions want to change what already exists, two of them want to destroy everything and start over. two of the factions believe in an individual's power and autonomy, two of them put their faith in community and teamwork. these are young internet liberals learning woke vocabulary and tearing into each other over petty leftist infighting with little to no real world consequences, except instead of doing it on the internet, they're doing it on the streets with superpowered fake bodies. i am literally modeling the faction conflicts off the stupid stuff i see teens doing with their political and moral choices. this is not a dig at teens, and not entirely their fault, it's simply teenagerdom! but they, and the SNAP kids, will put a lot of passion and effort and thought and even violence into something that is really, really dumb sometimes. hence getting a magical artifact from god and using it to beat up another person with a sword

#im not trying to dismiss ur curiosity i just really dont know how to wrap up the entirety of that first ask into a single answer???#also idk who oobleck is except i know its a irl non newtonian fluid. rwby is yet another thing im unfamiliar with #predacon #autobot #decepticon #elite guard

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hearth4days · 1 year

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what about mono headcannons?

I'll give him six too happy Six day

So monophobia. Very obvious symbolism, but I only ever hear people point out the ending of the game. The whole game is about him avoiding being alone. The comics start (kind of, but more on that later) with him alone and seeing Six be captured by the hunter. Despite them only having known the other existed for about two seconds, he then goes through the whole first chapter A.) getting her out, and B.) getting her to trust him. Once she's captured in the school, he once again spends the whole chapter going through so much unnecessary bullshit to get her out. At the hospital, everything particularly horrific happens when Six is not with him. And then he once again chases after her once she's captured by Thin Man, even learning how to transform the literal structure of the city and teleportation in the process. And then he still ends up alone. Both games are built to be focused around one child in particular, the settings and monsters included in making the place that child's personal hell. When he's with Six, he's not alone, but the monsters are (hunter, teacher, doctor, Thin Man kinda but he's complicated). When he's away from Six, he's alone against hoards of enemies (hunter's traps [there were originally supposed to be animals here too], the bullies, the hands, the patients, the viewers). Once he gives into his fear, accepting his role once he's abandoned in the Signal Tower, that's when he's turned into Thin Man. Hence why Six made it out of the Maw just fine, she faced her fear by fighting the Lady of her own free will

That was so long. I'm sorry, but this one will be too. The settings in Little Nightmares are not their original worlds. Technically in the comics, the first place we chronologically see Mono is in a group home of some kind with dozens of other boys. We never see groups of children this big in the Little Nightmares world, excluding the Maw where they're being kept for food. Especially not in a safe place specifically for children. The building seems to be their size too, unlike the rest of the enviorments we see. The building catches fire, and the other children are taken by Thin Man while Mono hides in a TV to escape. I'm assuming this is where he got his tileórasikinesis, and why his journey started in the first place (more in the next point). As he leaves the broken TV, the world around him is suddenly larger than him, which leads me to believe there is some sort of phenomenon that brings normal human children into an alternate dimension of sorts where the games take place. Which is why none of the children have parents, none of the human characters look older than 12 or 13, and why each game/DLC seems so specifically catered to being that child's personal hell, all leading to an event at the end that either kills them, turns them into a monster, or they come out of all fucked up and traumatized to hell and back

Mono's original goal was to find Thin Man and save the other boys from his group home. While he often sidetracks his journey to rescue Six, he also refuses to pay attention to her hesitance about his tileórasikinesis. It's clear through drawings and pictures that everyone in the Pale City knows about Thin Man, and that's not including the remains of children he took along their way. Yet Mono stops at every TV that Thin Man draws him in with, getting as close as he can to letting him out before Six drags him back. Their whole long trek is just an effort to get closer to the Signal Tower. This points back to his monophobia and his savior complex surrounding Six, he's so stubbornly afraid of being alone that he'll do objectively stupid things to keep people close to him even when it's not realistic or safe for himself or others

Mono runs the Pale City now that he's been left there. Even before he's Thin Man, the Signal Tower and the flesh walls inside of it are an extremely influential source of power. The Signal Tower (obviously) lets off the signal that's playing across the city's TVs, hypnotizing its citizens. The flesh walls being made up of eyes and other gooey face parts leads me to believe it's absorbing the life from those brainwashed by the Signal Tower. In other words, the tower is a sentient being running the city and feeding itself on those it catches in its web. Mono/Thin Man, being the center of that, is like the heart of the city. He can influence the TVs to let him teleport to their location, or draw in his younger self so as to continue the cycle/save his younger self, whichever theory you believe. It also explains the constant rain around the tower itself, as the whole city is alive and feeding off of his emotions. Emo Thin Man canon

The hats really are because the rest of the world hates him. His tileórasikinesis manifests itself physically as his irises appearing to be made up of TV static. In a world full of children afraid of monsters, some of the most deadly being child-adjacent in appearances, this helps him be seen as less of a threat by those around him

Mono did not have a crush on Six. I don't care what that one dev said, it ruins the story and I hate it. Let him be a selfish, afraid, clingy little kid. They're in a world where everything wants them dead and their lives are hell. Maybe they just have BPD and need someone around to stay sane. What about that

#hearth's mantle breakdowns #gamer hours #microwaves him

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sastiel-is-my-serotonin · 11 months

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SPN but it's just a game of DND AU. Coming from someone with incrediblely limited knowledge I've randomly picked up even though they've never played a game, or managed to finish watching a campaign yet, but has many ideas. So, with that, here are more thoughts.

Also, little background information, this is just the idea that Chuck Shurley invited some of his friends to a DND campaign, and most of them, if not all of them just stuck with their actual names because it was easy and less confusing that way. Sam and Dean are the most frustrating and fun characters to have because they have such bad rolls at inconvenient times but are so creative about their solutions no matter what's thrown at them that it's enjoyable even when things don't go according to plan.

The original campaigns true big bad is Azazel, which later gets changed to Lucifer, and so on and so forth, until the big bad ends up being God. (Chuck was going to do it a lot earlier but they never got the rolls they needed for it. But also, when it seemed like it was finally going to happen, he was petty and made it so that the big bad was God's sister.)

It wasn't supposed to be a long campaign, at least not as long as it went, but Chuck had ideas and people joined. So, it continued.

Link to the original post if you want to read it

Now some other things I thought about while I was trying to sleep.

Chuck is a genuine writer and actually took these ideas and used them in a book, with everyone's permission. They're supportive, but that doesn't mean he's not going to be made fun of for adding that into the campaign. His retaliation? Inviting Charlie, knowing fully well she'll manage to out meta him. And she did!

There's some ongoing bits. Like Sam asking if he could roll to get a dog nearly every session, and when he finally managed to, the way he got it was by accidentally hitting it with his car. The other players, and Chuck included, weren't sure by the looks Sam was giving if they were going to have to find another DM after Sam murdered theirs.

Dean makes it a point to describe whatever he's eating in character as if it's important lore. And will sometimes even bring actual food to truly immerse himself, and shares depending how many people are playing that day.

Castiel makes others roll to see if he'll understand their joke or reference and they go with it. The first time it happened Chuck was so confused but it was funny, also Dean has the worst rolls when it comes to it which is why Castiel never gets his jokes or references. Sam would rather explain over a roll sometimes though.

Dean has tried many times to roll and seduce Baby, but has failed every time. Which everyone is thankful for. Even if it doesn't stop Dean from being like that with his car.

Dean kept flirting with a lot of NPCs and Chuck tried to deflect it a bit by making some of them monsters and gave that info to the group, but it backfired because then Sam flirted with the NPCs.

Sam will listen carefully about the lore that's presented and loves twisting it so it technically would work. One example is when Dean needed to be on holy grounds to get away from the racist truck, Sam presented the idea and Chuck makes him roll for it. He rolled high enough especially with creativity that it was granted. Another time was when Sam painted their faces with blood to appear as a mask. And him and Dean were funny enough with the bit they didn't even need to roll for it.

Also, I think it would be funny if that reason Sam and Castiel didn't get to talk much at times was because Chuck didn't want to deal with the flirting. It kept sidetracking everyone but it wouldn't have anything to do with the campaign because they wouldn't even be in character! So Chuck just quit putting them together unless he had to for a bit. But that only fueled them, hence the soul fisting, will you, boy? Sharing Sam's trauma, Netflix in Sam's room, raising a kid together, they had fun with it. And Chuck pretended to hate it but they got creative with it and were pretty funny about it. That and were good at pulling at the heartstrings. And it's why later in the campaign he kept putting them together more and more often.

Oh and Castiel didn't know he didn't get an official goodbye to Sam, he wrote a speech as they got to the end and there wasn't anyway he wasn't going to do the speech. So he just said it facing Sam and that's why when Cas was all emotional Dean wasn't because Cas was facing the other way, he didn't have anything to bounce off of!! And so when Dean's character died he made sure Cas was there and turned his back with a long speech to Sam as a way to poke fun.

Sam didn't appreciate either because they both made him cry. And only one actually made it in the campaign. (They said it was only fair for the amount of times Sam made everyone cry during the campaign.)

Jack is incredibly comedic. Looks at Jack eating the Occultum, but also likes to balance heartfelt moments, childlike naivety, profound perspectives, while also giving fantastic one liners that make people break character.

When Jack randomly mentioned it'd be interesting if Jack became God, that became everyone's mission. Chuck included.

There's been times outside of the campaign where he's accidentally referred to Cas or Sam as father or dad. He doesn't get to live down those moments and the next session is always sappier when he makes those slips.

Oh, and Rowena was a really fun add. She made a really tragic character but played her with such confidence that it was easy to forget. So moments where she's vulnerable, with no alternative motives, really shine. Also, she helped Crowley come up with his character and accidentally called him Fergus and for some reason he added it. So when she joined way later in the campaign she said he didn't use it enough so she would. And had the perfect excuse as why, because she's his mother.

#Spn as dnd #There's always so many ideas for this #Even as someone who barely knows anything lol #chuck shurley #sam winchester #castiel #dean winchester #jack kline #crowley #rowena mcleod #charlie bradbury #Feel free to add on especially if you actually play the game

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thevoiceofdesertbluffs · 2 years

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OK, SO, HERE IT IS. THE LIST FOR THE POKEMON PODCAST AU, BECAUSE POKEMON IS OCCUPYING MY BRAIN RN.

ANYWHO, so first, we have WtNV!

IGNORE HOW IT'S ONLY 4 PEOPLE but i could ony really think of teams for them 😔. ANYWAYS. Cecil, 100% a psychic trainer, not much to say there, æ. Carlos, on the other hand, even tho he'd be a normal trainer, I think he'd have pokemon with interesting properties on his team, hence the ones i assigned to him (Apart from bunnelby, I just think he'd have one because funny bunny!)!! AND KEVIN. BUGS, BUGS BECAUSE OF THE SMILING GOD, ALSO THE CENTIPEDE POKEMON IN SPECIFIC (and a joltik because they're very cute and i could definitely 100% see Kevin gently holding a Joltik). AND FINALLY, KASPER! Ofc I had to include him, I am The Kasper Guy™ after all! So. Ofc he'd have very big steel type pokemon! And also a genesect. Do not ask how he got that genesect, no one knows, and no one ever will know! ALSO MY FRIEND BROUGHT UP YUNGOOS SO I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY IF HE JUST LIKE. HAS A GROUP OF THEM THAT CONSTANTLY FOLLOWS HIM DESPITE HIM WANTING NOTHING TO DO W THEM

AAAAND SECOND UP, we have Wolf359!

I did.... basically every character for this one SO I WON'T REALLY GO INTO DETAIL LIKE I DID WITH WTNV BUT YEAH. also, I don't think Hera would JUST have a porygon z, I just forgot to list anything else 😔. however, i DO think that she would have a rotom! ALSO. I think Cutter would be one of those bitches who sees pokemon as tools and nothing else (he's a bitch and i hate him BUT WHY IS HE HOT 😢😢😢)

OKOK, ANYWAYS, LASTLY WE HAVE.... TMA!!!

I DON'T REALLY HAVE TOO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT TMA EITHER, also i forgot to add that Jon would probably have like, a ! unown too. Also i hate elias soi thought it would be funny to give him a team that spelt out "LOSER" because i am a comedic genius

I love unown. AND ALSO I GAVE HIM MALAMAR TOO. BECAUSE IT FITS.

ANYWAYS YEAH. I MIGHT DO SOME DRAWINGS BASED OFF OF THIS BUT HERE IT IS. rhgahagaga AND TO THOSE WHO READ THROUGH THIS ALL, THANK YOU, AND I HOPE Y'ALL ENJOYED, Æ!

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alexilulu · 3 months

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Books I read in 2024: #0

A Memory Called Empire (Arcady Martine, Tor books, 2019)

The newest ambassador of a vassal station of a star-spanning empire is called to the imperial homeworld to take the place of the now former Ambassador who died under mysterious circumstances. Therein she is tasked with protecting their home from becoming fully taken by the empire and protecting their unknown-to-the-empire neurological enhancement that imprints the memories and skills of your ancestors into your mind from discovery.

I really enjoyed this one. We're starting with a book I actually finished in 2023, mostly because I wanted to talk about the second novel (which I did read in 2024, hence the #0) some more, and why not give you a primer in something else.

The Teixcalaani empire is fascinating. If you read the Imperial Radch series, Teixcalaan can feel at least superficially similar; big, mighty empire that masses force of arms against its neighbors, a beautifully rendered imperial core with a particular view of itself that includes in and out-groups of "barbarian/uncivilized" classes, and someone who is looking in on it with an eye towards defanging it. It's a tough comparison, too, because often I find myself comparing other novels to the Radch trilogy in distinctly negative terms, so they really earned a good nod here. Teixcalaan itself feels to me like an imagined paradise or the interior of the mysterious Radch's central Dyson sphere that the empire was built to protect. Somewhere where the sun is always in that golden hour of morning, cast in bronze and gleaming steel.

The Teixcalaani are so deeply interesting. The empire was founded by an Emperor, and his degree of divinity and political sway depends on the conquest of the periphery, founded on the idea of a semi-permanent state of consumption and invasion and integration of the periphery for glory and praise. The military naturally commands great cachet, to the point of a violent attempt to take the throne by a charismatic general returning home from a victorious campaign. Their culture revolves around poetry and meter, using it for their cryptography of essential messages (which they sent via a physical object couriered around the world, often sealed intricately in bone or stone or metal; imagine a message scroll about the size of your thumb, cracked in half and projecting it in the air. And they're remarkably fun just to hear speak, a sense of florid prose without moving into the absurd. In a sci-fi imperial core, it imagines a society so disconnected from the products of labor (though arguably the position we view from necessitates this view; only towards the end of the book do we see what it's like outside the Capitol, which paints a much broader brush of what things are like out there compared to in sci-fi NYC) that everyone who matters politically is essentially required to be able to write poetry.

Mahit is a delight. She has two wonderful things wrong with her:

1) she is a teaboo (British weeaboo) for Teixcalaan, and

2) because of this, she has a copy of the previous ambassador's memories and skills implanted in her brain before she goes.

Number one is pretty funny. Throughout the book, she constantly has to deal with people from Teixcalaan treat her like she's an extraordinarily stupid child for being a "barbarian" from outside the empire, an experience surely felt by anyone who has done any form of immersion training in languages they don't speak. And despite thr truth of this place she has obsessed herself with since childhood,she can't help but get caught up in the aesthetic of it. Hence, she's a teaboo: they speak the same language, have the same level of technology, etc, but you're always going to be "the weird guy who watched all of First Doctor Who when he was 34" or "the guy who wrote me a Shakespeare sonnet joke to invite me over to the pub".

It is genuinely very interesting! She's in a dilemma because she's fully caught between two worlds on this, and has so much going through her head about this empire she fell in love with and being the only thing between them and getting brutally absorbed in a trivially simple war of conquest.

It's good. It has a lot of lush descriptions of the world and the characters that gives you a fantastic minds eye sense for the places and people. Dialogue is fast, never overused, and just plain fun. Mahit and Three Seagrass make a fantastic couple, with just fnough simmering there in between one another that I actually truly enjoyed Mahit leaving to return to her station in the end rather than stay with Three. It's good, for once! It doesn't feel forced, it feels real (and only gets more real in the next book)!

It builds to a fairly strong conclusion as a story that is more about surviving political circumstances beyond your control than anything else, which Mahit has a phenomenal, believable knack for. Every bit of the book feels like watching a woman mortgage her soul bit by awful bit to this engine of empire.

My only regret is not having read it sooner after it published so I could have been more insane about Mahit and Three. What could have been...

#Alexis reads books 2024

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walimatu-library · 1 year

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The Nature of the Cosmos II

☰ Abstract & Table of contents ← Chapter I. Planets and stars

Minor planets

Alongside the brilliant stars and grandiose planets exists smaller worlds of equal notability. They're frequently referred to as moons and asteroids, but among scholars they're known as minor planets. The physical appearance of minor planets most closely resemble the rocky Terrans, though they aren't necessarily spherical in shape. Presently, there are two accepted types of minor planets:

Planetoids (often called asteroids) are characterized as being smaller than a planet, larger than a meteoroid or comet, and in orbit around the suns.

Moons have the same characteristics of a planetoid, except that they're in the orbit of another celestial body as opposed to the suns.

Note that comets and meteoroids are not included in this grouping¹.

Technically speaking, planetoid and asteroid are two different terms that refer to the same thing. However, the word planetoid is newer but much more appropriate. The word asteroid, meaning "star-like", was coined when early astronomers viewed what initially appeared to be stars that behaved like planets. However, advancements in telescopes have allowed modern astronomers to see that the bodies are actually terrestrial (like terranic planets) in appearance, hence the nomenclature planetoid meaning "planet-like".

Planetoids are somewhat similar in nature to the Terrans. Planetoids have a rocky surface, are smaller than the suns and the Titans, and orbit the suns in similar patterns². Additionally, some of the largest planetoids have proven to be a challenge to distinguish from small planets. While it's true that many planetoids are irregularly shaped, among the largest ones are actually spherical.

A prime example of a spherical minor planet is clearly visible with the naked eye from here on Aldun at night - Luan³. Luan, is a moon since it orbits Aldun, but if it didn't, it would be categorized as a large planetoid. Luan affects Aldun in prolific ways, such as creating the tides, the circalunar rhythms, and influencing our bond to time.

In western culture, Aldun is the seen as the embodiment of life, death, and evolution. Eastern culture focuses especially on the condition of mortality, postulating that Aldun also embodies temperance, imperfection, and matterance⁴. For my analysis of Luan's relationship with Aldun, I once again find it necessary to reference religious texts. The concepts of time and fate very frequently attributed to the Moon in one way or another across the world. This stems from a reoccurring belief that the Moon was originally a giant⁵ that became the Moon after their death, with differing variations of how and why the giant died. After their ascension to godhood, Luan became a deity of time and fate. In turn, this made it so that the giants were bound to time and could not only die, but also learn to value their existence and evolve into life as it is today⁶.

Just as the planets and stars influence the surrounding Cosmos, so do the minor planets, though not to the same extent. In summary of chapter one, stars embody the fundaments of creation while planets embody various concepts within the Cosmos. Planets and stars represent the major deities, whereas the minor planets represent minor deities as planetoids or attendant deities as moons. It's also reasonable to assume that many, if not all, are also deities of non-celestial origin. However, given the difficulty of studying celestial bodies so few and far between, it's problematic to assert anything concrete about their origin as fact.

Notes

Comets and meteoroids are smaller than minor planets and aren't the same type of celestial.

Whether they have a heart containing their core essence is currently unknown, as studying planetoids is more difficult because of their small size and limited quantity of nearby subjects.

The Moon. Pronounced "loo-ahn".

Matterance is a concept that refers to how mortality sets us apart from all other forms of existence. It also claims mortality is a gift and not a curse, frequently bringing up the importance of the fleeting experience of life.

Giants were an immortal race of created beings that were not necessarily large. They were just the progenitors of all forms of non-celestial life. Their physical appearance varied incredibly, though it is believed that they were likely diverse amalgamations of traits found in extinct and living organisms.

Luan binds everything in the Cosmos to time, but less directly so than Aldun. While celestials are immortal and not bound to life and death, they are subject to fate just as mortals are.

Chapter III. Comets and the Nirmanic Zone →

#under twin stars #worldbuilding #wip #astronomy #theology #treatise #non fiction

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xiaowhore · 3 years

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genshin boys in a zombie apocalypse

premise: you're a half-dead college student (figurative) hoping to find comfort from caffeine intake in preparation for a brutal final exam, which led you to visit your local cafe down the block... only to be mounted by a half-dead employee (literal) seconds away from biting your arm off before a kind stranger bashes his head in. “are you okay? we came to save you!” he offers his hand, smiling invitingly.

unfortunately it doesn't appear to be romantic when the rest of his friends are raising havoc behind him, spilling zombie guts across the floor.

includes: diluc, kaeya, childe, zhongli, venti, xiao, albedo, kazuha & scaramouche ! + extra appearances

diluc:

the one who makes sure nobody actually dies. well he'd probably push kaeya into a horde of zombies if he finds an opportunity though.

initially opposed to you joining their small group. gathering supplies is hard as is, and caring for a new member doesn't seem very logical. “plus we don't know if they're infected or not,” he reasons, scanning you up and down with an analytical stare. “they could be hiding a bite mark.” “do you want me to strip?” “wh- no! don't take off your shirt, idiot-”

after assuring that no, you don't need to strip, he begrudgingly allows you to stay in their hideout. given that you can contribute to their survival, of course.

despite his dislike of you at first, he does grow fond of you, giving headpats whenever you're down or smiling at you now and then.

“here. i found a sweater from a nearby clothing store. i thought it was my size but it wasn't so you can have it.”

sure, diluc. as if he didn't hear you complaining about the cold weather last night.

kaeya:

he's apparently diluc's brother and you're so surprised because they're nothing alike. he's friendly on the surface, all smiles and nothing but amicable, yet there's something... unsettling about him.

his cold gaze on you feels pressuring, as if he's testing your worth every time you go out from your camp to gather supplies, and he's deciding whether or not to discard you if he found you useless. you're even wondering if he'll lift a finger to help you if you were ever in trouble.

however, you find the answer to that question is a “yes” — when zombies run after your group and one of them managed to grab your arm, kaeya immediately stops in his tracks and returns to the spot where you got left behind to help, risking himself to get bitten when he could've very well let you off to die on your own.

when you return to your camp, he's worried and frantic, composure entirely forgotten as his voice raises in volume while he reprimands you for being so careless.

but it's not hostile; it's the first time that you realize that huh, he really does care about you.

“what were you thinking?! you should be more careful! if you were gone, i... i would... nevermind. let's talk about this later. you sprained your ankle, didn't you? that's why you ran so slow. come on, i'll treat your injury.”

childe:

when you first looked at him, you thought he was oddly familiar. not in the way you recognized a student from your school, more like a face you've seen around... kind of like someone you saw on tv...

wait a minute.

he's that famous vlogger, isn't he?? that one crazy rich guy living in a huge mansion with his family and everyone in your class obsessed over?? his videos range from cooking sessions to pranks on his friends, and even the occasional reckless parkour video...

hence his title as a troublemaker in your group; he makes spontaneous decisions and has no self-preservation.

you know he's good at combat, but he's a little too enthusiastic about killing zombies. you swear you've heard him laughing maniacally while snapping someone's neck. (you wonder what his fans would think to see this psychotic side of his.)

he often gets scolded for the trouble he causes, but he's genuinely a good guy. he doesn't possess the arrogance you'd expect a celebrity to have, he just acts like an overly familiar friend you have no choice but to accept.

if he feels sad, he doesn't show it, the stupid grin perpetually stuck on his face. he's the most eager in the reconnaissance group to check out other areas since he's always trying to find his family members. (you hope he meets them soon...)

tells you his memories of his loved ones when you wake up from a nightmare late at night and can't fall back asleep so he calms you down by talking a lot. his voice is normally loud in the day, chipper and maybe annoying when he teases you, but he speaks in a softer tone as he urges you to sleep.

“sweet dreams, [name].”

the most likely to die for you — he can be foolishly impulsive, as how diluc would put it, but childe doesn't think it's stupid. he doesn't need to think twice about whether or not he needs to save you. he just wouldn't hesitate to get you out of danger. no matter what the cost...

zhongli:

decked out in full suit and tie upon your first meeting. he'd been working in his office when the zombie outbreak occurred, and started tagging along with diluc and the others ever since he bumped into them.

somehow knows the best places to take shelter in and grab supplies, saying other people had most likely already raided the supermarkets and convenience stores + he makes tactical plans to defend yourselves from zombies. thus, he naturally became the authorizing figure of your little group, giving out orders and splitting work between each person. a position he abuses by assigning you to do the same work he does so you'll spend more time together.

“do you mind it? i feel calm when you are with me, so i prefer things this way.”

capable of looking good even without showering for days straight and covered with blood. discarded his stiff blazer and rolled up his sleeves for practicality, unknowingly seducing you with his toned arms.

he allows you to braid his hair when you ask him for permission to pass the time.

venti:

the chatterbox everyone's grateful for. whenever it's too quiet, you begin to worry about what happened to all your family and friends, but he fills the space in your head with useless gossip instead. (actually, maybe you don't feel all that grateful.)

apparently old friends with zhongli; zhongli keeps an eye on him so he wouldn't dare drink a single can of beer, since a zombie apocalypse probably isn't the best time to be drunk at.

appears harmless (and a deadweight with nothing to contribute to the group since he's a lazy little shit) but is actually frighteningly good with a gun. once killed five zombies in a row with perfect aiming to the center of their foreheads. since then, nobody complained about him anymore.

also the person who saved you on impulse — everyone else was too wary to save other people, yet he forced them to come along when you were in a serious bind in the cafe.

“why did i save you, you ask? no special reason! you had a cute face, so why not? haha! i'm not teasing you, it's s compliment.”

xiao:

unkillable. zombies fear him. bow down to the true undead.

xiao attended the same university as you, and he's pretty famous for being good-looking... and also for the crazy rumors surrounding him. people say he was a nasty delinquent at high school, or he's part of the mafia, or something even more ridiculous than that. you never believed them, since xiao was like any other diligent student apart from being quieter than most... or more handsome than most.

that is, until you see him swinging around his metal bat and sending zombies flying into the air. perhaps there was some truth to those rumors after all. oh, he took off his jacket- is that a fucking tattoo on his arm??? so cool!!

at first, you thought he hated you. you guessed he was against you joining their group like diluc, and he'd been treating you coldly because of that. but you soon come to find he's just a really awkward guy, and he's been avoiding you 'cause he thought he scared you for being so violent; you'd probably appreciate it if he didn't approach you. he's a softie at heart, so make sure to reassure him you don't hate him, or he'll be sad!

very attentive towards you. notices when you're feeling tired from walking, or when you feel a little hungry and need a small break to take a quick nap. the kind of person who'd wait for you to catch up when you tie your shoelaces.

“i'll carry you on my back. i'm pretty strong, so don't worry about me. you must be exhausted from walking too much.”

albedo:

a scientist from the research laboratory that started all the chaos. quite an amazing individual: he came from the source of the virus, but was able to escape from a building filled to the brim with zombies without as much as a scratch. not to mention he survived alone for a long time before he met your group, growing his own vegetables and fruits in the garden. horrified when he learns you've been living off on junk food.

“you can't always rely on instant noodles for sustenance...”

he believes he can make a cure, and there's a couple of solutions he came up with, but has no materials to make them since the lab had been festering with zombies and he had no time to take anything else with him. he knows of several other places that might have the items he needed, yet he hasn't had much luck for the first few locations he visited.

he acts as the team's medic, and is generally seen as another authorizing figure alongside zhongli. appears to be cold-hearted but you can see how displeased he is whenever one of you is injured upon returning to camp. (he doesn't want to grow attached. if there's anything stupid sci-fi movies taught him, it's that death is inevitable in a zombie apocalypse.)

yet he grows attached anyways. you see it in the way he always sends you off before you go on a supply raid, telling you to be more careful, or how he scolds you when you come back wounded. it shows in the way he does his best to cook, so everyone could have a nice dinner to return to. albedo cares. in fact, he cares too much when he shouldn't be.

albedo had a secret.

deep into the night, when everybody else is tucked into their small tents, he cautiously examines his surroundings before pulling down the collar of his shirt. a bite mark decorates his neck, the greenish tint beginning to spread across his pale skin. the scarred flesh is unpleasant to look at, throbbing painfully in random intervals throughout the day. he's not sure how long he can pretend it doesn't affect him.

he takes out a syringe and grits his teeth when he pierces himself with the needle. he has 4 shots left... and it's only a temporary measure to stop the virus from completely overtaking his body.

“no, not yet. i can't die yet. please, god, give me more time... i won't ask for more. just until i can find the cure and save everyone. that much is enough.”

kazuha:

back at university, you used to sit beside a really nice guy. he offered to lend his pens when you forgot yours, and allowed you to copy his notes whenever you asked. you greet each other in the hallways and chat occasionally, but you didn't think you were particularly close... though you did have a small crush on him.

so imagine your surprise when you're suddenly wrapped in a tight hug in one of your supply raids.

of course, your first assumption was that a zombie had caught you, but the giggle you hear right beside your ear is obviously humane and far from the feral growling zombies made.

“did you miss me?”

your scream didn't go unheard though, so the others came to where you were in a hurry. though they were fully prepared to murder zombies, they weren't prepared to see a pretty boy holding you tightly towards his chest.

... and so, he was another addition to your team. similar to your case, he faced some opposition, but the final verdict was to accept him. begrudgingly. honestly, there wasn't any real reason to reject him; ever since albedo joined, food shortage wasn't an issue anymore, so why is everyone wary of him...

that aside, he stuck to your side like glue, insisting to be your protector. he's unexpectedly good at combat, wielding a sword — you don't know where he got it from — and he's surprisingly helpful when it came to predicting weather conditions, which certainly made it easier for the reconnaissance team. plus he has keen senses, able to detect when a zombie is nearby. volunteers to be on guard duty often.

despite his laidback disposition, he's quite protective over you. you've yet to know why. he can be kind of touchy, instinctively holding your hand when you walk into a seemingly dangerous area or just pulling you closer to him when he spots a zombie by the corner of his eye.

“don't let go of my hand and stay by my side. i know you can handle yourself, but i don't want to risk it.”

scaramouche:

you once thought diluc and xiao hated you, but it turns out it was just a misunderstanding on your part. but this guy... this guy definitely despises you.

in the first place, your first meeting wasn't the most conventional way to meet. you've been walking around a new area as a reconnaissance member when this eggplant brat suddenly jumps over a fence and lands a clean kick to your face, not watching where he's going. to top it all off, he doesn't apologize, saying it was your fault for being in the way. you couldn't believe it when zhongli allowed him to stay at your camp.

just a really annoying asshole. he's prickly towards the other guys, but is even more of a dick when it comes to you. (and even more of a jerk towards childe, but that much is justified because you learn they're from the same university and in a weird frenemies relationship.) okay, so maybe you've been making fun of his height, or clowning his haircut... or called him weird nicknames to annoy him... but he started it!

you feel like a kid all over again when you're with him. there isn't a single conversation between you that doesn't end in a childish argument. albedo sighs in a way a disappointed parent would, but you can't bring yourself to be mature when he's around.

well... he can be decent... in a bare minimum sense... like that time he took care of you when you were sick and albedo wasn't around... or that time he threw a jacket on your face because you felt cold but he didn't want you to think he was being nice so he did it aggressively...

not that you got along well. you weren't friends or anything, definitely not.

so it comes off as a shock when he saves you in a life-threatening situation, swinging around a steel pipe to pave a way through the crowd of zombies surrounding you. his eyes are cold, lacking of any sympathy towards the creatures that were once human and treated them as mere pests. to him, they were just hindrances in the way getting to you.

“who said i'll let you die? i won't let you go until you admit defeat to me, so hurry up and hide before you get killed.”

bonus: the drama-free adventure of the bois

in your travels, you happen to come across a group of young boys wandering in the ruins of what used to be a bustling city. which is quite odd — most children are... well... turned, since they aren't the best at self-defense. but these guys don't seem to be afraid of zombies at all, casually strolling into a grocery store to grab a pack of gummy bears.

or more like... they're not being approached by zombies?

you later find out their names; you only saw a pair of blue haired boys at first, but two other guys were waiting for them at their little base camp.

chongyun had an astonishing ability to repel zombies. he explained that zombies tended to actively avoid him for reasons he didn't know, and albedo is yet to understand what makes this possible. (he begs zhongli to let these kids join you lmao.)

xingqiu refers to chongyun as a “zombie repellent,” and although true, isn't a very flattering title. he's a bright and resourceful kid, the reason why they haven't died yet; zombies may not chase after them, but they could still die of starvation or illness. he marks down locations on his map that he deems safe enough for them to enter, and he always tries to find a way out the city, thinking there was a possibility the outside is devoid of monsters. (that's if the government hasn't locked you in yet, preventing further infection.)

in contrast to chongyun, bennett is a magnet for zombies. bad luck seems to follow him wherever he goes, and he's barely able to survive thanks to razor's help.

razor is bennett's best friend, the main combat force of them four. he's abnormally strong for a high schooler, but bennett can assure that he's not a delinquent. loyal to his friends and vows to protect them until the end.

together, they're also searching for their other acquaintaces: for chongyun and xingqiu, xiangling and hu tao; for bennett and razor, a girl named klee... who is also albedo's little sister.

“at this point, we're just adopting kids,” diluc mutters under his breath.

venti laughs, “it's fun though, isn't it?”

“all it means is more mouths to feed.”

(diluc ends up to be the most doting to them.)

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comradekatara · 2 years

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omg no pls talk about modern au sokka/suki if you want <3

@kyoshialone asked: i would love to hear your thoughts on modern au suki/sokka! their energy is 10/10 @sleepy-chaos asked: this is me asking u to pls talk abt modern au sukka they're my everything @manicpixiedreamkiller asked: would LOVE to hear some sokka/suki modern au thoughts/headcanons/whatever u want ! @kidprophet asked: okay well now i have to ask for your thoughts about modern sokka/suki (+sokka navigating post-yue relationships?)

yesssss absolutely loving the enthusiasm here. she was a jock, he was a nerd, can i make it any more obvious 🎶

so straight out of the gate i'm just gonna confirm that yes, suki does, technically, live in her truck. her parents died when she was very young and she doesn't have a real guardian. that said, she has a lot of people in the periphery (both adults and peers) who she knows she can always contact if she needs support, so (before getting her truck) she kind of just crashes at the various houses of cousins and/or friends throughout her childhood, and has enough trustworthy adults in her life to provide for her that she never feels unsafe. by the time she inherits the old pickup truck from one of her many uncles/aunties, she is such a self-reliant, responsible, and overall cool person that no one who doesn't know her life story wouldn't assume that she was raised by a loving, nuclear family (even if there is also a rumor that she was raised by wolves).

suki is the most popular girl on the sports' team. which sport? you may be asking. all of them. every sport that her school offers (soccer, softball, basketball), including toph's wrestling club, suki's extracurricular roller derby team, her all-girl skate group, and her dojo; they all fucking love her. she has a natural charisma and leadership that everyone looks up to. all the other girljocks are at least a little bit in love with her. some guys too, but she's definitely more of a pussy magnet. in fact, when katara first sees sokka hanging out with her, she's like "omg how did a friendless loser nerd like you end up befriending suki?? THEE suki." and sokka's just like "oh lol she's in my physics class..??? and..... she's really bad at it :/

suki's a solid student who gets good grades, but she doesn't really try all that hard. she's naturally very clever, but she won't put in extra effort if something is challenging for her, because she already knows what she wants to do with her life going forward (teaching self-defense/martial arts to young girls) and you don't actually need knowledge of organic molecules or the nuances of hamlet to do that. she needs some sort of license/qualifications, but not any sort of college degree, so it's not like she cares about having a good transcript. she just doesn't wanna have to retake any classes, but she aces enough tests without ever actually studying for them that it's not really an issue.

sokka on the other hand will get a single A- on an essay and spend the rest of the week moping about how he may as well drop out of the eleventh grade now, since it's obvious he's such a FAILURE. even after yue died, sokka still got good grades. in fact, his grades somehow improved. the teachers were all willing to cut him some slack and let him skip some assignments, but he demanded that they give him more work, and he went from being a good student to being their best student. hence why his getting an A- now crushes his soul and dreams. katara, who only ever gets good grades in PE and history (her research essays are powerful and passionate!) is just like "i think there's something wrong with you. like, fundamentally."

sokka and suki sit next to each other in physics class. they're both corner of the room, middle row people (it's the most strategic and logical place to sit). as the teacher hands back their quizzes, sokka can't help but see that suki did really poorly on the last one. he doesn't really know her, because he hasn't exactly been sociable in... a while, but he can't help but just grimace at her and go "yikes" with like, a sympathetic little frown. and suki just laughs and goes "don't remind me" and then tries to peek at what he got because she hopes that they can commiserate on how hard that quiz was together but unfortunately he got a 100% so all she can say is "oh fuck off!" and sokka's like "if you want i can....help you?" because he already helps toph and aang with all their homework so how hard can it be, teaching a... really hot girl physics. should be easy. haha...

unfortunately suki is more than happy to take him up on his offer so she's like "can i come to your house today after my practice ends? I can repay u if u want” and sokka’s like “yes that would be great i love money and having money” (he has to provide for his family because gran gran is getting older and his dad still isn’t back from when he left three years ago and katara is only just now old enough to have a job and the beifongs do pay well for his tutoring toph but it’s not really enough) and suki (who does not have money, she lives in her car) is like “oh haha I was thinking maybe I could just set you up on a date with any girl in a school. I have connections like that” and sokka is like “oh no that sounds terrible I’d much rather have the money.” and suki is like “okay fine you can go on a date with ME.” and sokka’s like “are you stupid or something?? I need MONEY.” and suki’s like “ohhh youre gay! I can hook you up with a guy too I mean.... some of my friends have brothers....” and sokka’s like “IM NOT GAY I JUST NEED MONEY” (and also the love of his life died like less than a year ago but that’s neither here nor there) and suki’s like “alright fine I’ll get you some money” so she asks ty lee who asks mai to steal some change out of her parents’ desk drawers, not like they’ll notice anyway. satisfied with the payment, sokka helps tutor suki in physics. she also offers him some weed (mostly because he seems like he needs it) but he awkwardly turns it down. she shrugs and says suit yourself, secretly relieved that she didn’t have to give any of her weed to some lameass nerd who thinks he’s too good to go on a date with her or something??

katara sees them working on physics problems on the yellow couch in the living room and is just like “oh hi there suki captain of my soccer team and also the basketball team what are you doing in my house?” and suki is like “oh hi there extremely talented athlete katara this must be your brother. he is being very mean to me.” and sokka sighs and goes “no im not, you just fucking suck at physics, suki.” he's mainly used to dealing with toph, who is a genius, so trying to teach someone who is only “very smart” is proving a greater challenge than he’d anticipated. especially because suki is so blatantly high right now. have you ever tried to teach someone while they’re stoned out of their mind?? well, it’s a nightmare ok. suki’s like “okay you seem tense are you SURE you don’t want any weed?” sokka definitely does not want to partake in recreational substances, plus he's in his house, where his gran gran and baby sister live, but unfortunately kanna and katara are both like "please GOD just smoke some FUCKING WEED ALREADY"

they get absolutely zero work done that night, and instead watch planet earth (sokka's favorite show) completely enraptured by the gorgeous visuals and soothing sound of some old british guy (suki’s words). sokka's so grateful to suki for making him appreciate his favorite show more than he already did that he invites her over again, with the promise that he can actually help her with physics this time and won't just yell at her for being a stupid stoner who doesn't care about math. suki, who somehow already can feel herself developing a crush on sokka even though he mostly just called her an idiot jock to her face, is like "yeah ok sounds good."

suki aces her next physics test. when she sees her perfect score as the teacher is handing back their papers they get so excited that they literally kiss in the middle of the classroom. thankfully, because they are in the corner middle, very few people actually notice or care. sokka really doesn't want people going around thinking that he's dating the hottest coolest most popular girljock in school. imagine what kind of damage that could do to his carefully cultivated reputation as a friendless loner!

despite the fact that he is grouchy, grumpy, curmudgeonly, neurotic, easily annoyed, misanthropic, cynical, and a straight A student, suki finds that sokka is quickly becoming one of her favorite people in her life. like, really quickly. it doesn’t take long for her to figure out that despite his loner exterior, he actually has a heart of gold and the people he does let in adore him. and he’s secretly really easily excitable once you get him talking about any of his many bizarre niche interests. even when suki cannot follow a word he is saying, she is so endeared by the way his whole person lights up, and she loves to listen to him ramble. he’s smart, and funny, and secretly super weird (it’s only a secret if you don’t actually know him, though—people typically assume he’s quite boring because he’s very pretty and also studious and always frowning with one eyebrow raised like he’s waiting for someone to start attacking him and he’s always on guard, and how can anyone like that also have time to be eccentric and delightful?? but he manages) – but above all, suki loves how genuinely kind and selfless he is. she’s lucky in that she happens to know a lot of really good, kind, helpful people, but something about the way that sokka doesn’t even recognize how kind he truly is just makes her feel some type of way.

after the kiss, suki invites him to go stargazing with her in the back of her truck. she drives up to a secluded hillside and brings lots of cozy blankets and they share a joint and lots of snacks and some really cheap kinda gross apple cider and listen to suki's favorite indie rock girlbands, and they insult each other and make out a lot, and sokka points out all the stars that he knows (which is many of them), and they sit together there watch the moon rise. the moon inevitably reminds sokka of yue. he tells suki, "look, i like you, and i like this, but i don't want to be in a relationship. with you. or with anyone else for that matter. is that okay?" and suki's like "yeah that's totally fine monogamy is stupid do you know how many girls at this school wanna get in my pants" and sokka's like "ok yeah sure great glad we're on the same page." meanwhile both of them are secretly picturing sitting on a porch swing next to each other when they're really old holding hands. but in like, a casual low-key way.

something sokka loves about suki is that she actually reads books. and like, real books, not just fake books. it's not that her athletic prowess isn't sexy, but the fact that her favorite novel is notes from underground is actually way hotter. she also has really good taste in music, and even plays bass in an all-girl indie rock band. she's really kind, but she's also kind of mean, but only ever in a really funny way. and she is also so much more mature and responsible than like, anyone else at their school. sure, she's not more perfect than yue, but she's at least just as perfect, so he hopes that yue would be able to understand why he's moving on. not that he is moving on, because they're not in a relationship, because relationships are stupid, but you know.

suki finds out about what happened with yue from aang of all people. of course she knew that the beautiful quiet girl she could never muster up the courage to talk to despite the immense ease with which she navigates all other social situations died tragically, but she somehow never noticed that said girl was always joined at the hip with some boy with glasses (suki isn’t generally in the business of noticing men). but upon learning this, she realizes that it does indeed explain a lot of sokka’s behavior, towards everything and everyone. she also learns about his family situation (from katara), which explains even more. he pieces together her story in turn. he realizes that they have even more in common than he’d thought. they don’t really talk about it.

suki continues to hook up with other girls (no other guys, though) and she tells sokka about each one because he's basically her best friend now so why wouldn't she? she sleeps over in his room more often than not by this point (and whenever katara's like "why don't you sleep at suki's house one of these days? so i don't have to hear you guys through the wall" they both get really cagey and pretend that suki doesn't live out of her dirty old pickup truck, even though katara definitely has her suspicions) and she'll gossip to him about all the cute girls she’s seeing and he’s like “oooh” and “get it girl” and then they proceed to have sex and no it’s not weird ok. she keeps trying to set sokka up too, but sokka refuses to go to more parties than he absolutely has to (chaperoning his baby sibling/adopted siblings), especially considering that he has college apps to worry about. (he does once get an SOS text from zuko after his uncle set him up with some girl named jin that he crashes and pretends to just be totally oblivious to the fact that he's crashing a first date that ends with him hooking up with jin instead of zuko, for which zuko is weirdly grateful despite the fact that jin is clearly cool and hot?? but that incident is definitely an outlier. he doesn't return jin's texts, because he's too busy studying for the sats. also because he's pretty sure iroh would disapprove of what he did, even if zuko does not.)

considering how often sokka derides jocks (but only guyjocks for the most part. girljocks are cool and hot) suki is like “you know, it wouldn’t kill you to play a sport.” and sokka’s like “what are you talking about of course I play a sport! I play baseball” because suki is so wrapped up in her own sports she was not aware that sokka is the strongest link of their (otherwise mediocre) baseball (aka softball for boys) team, that sokka is fucking excellent at it. he also destroys her at mini golf (which is one of their not-dates) and she keeps saying shit like “I’m just letting you win because you clearly need this right now, sweetie” and sokka’s just like “ha, you wish.” suki hates how hot she finds sokka’s freakishly good mini golf skills. sokka’s like, “you know, if you ever paid attention in physics, maybe you could score hole-in-one’s too...”

they are that annoying (not) couple that hug-walks or holds hands everywhere they go, and everyone is like "ugh okay we get it the star athlete and the star student are in love thats so cute and great for them." no one is madder about this than azula, though, who desperately wants to be known as the star athlete and the star student, despite not even being in their grade so it doesn't even apply to her. she really hates sokka. she doesn't know whether she hates suki or wants to be her or wants to kiss her. she reports them to the school faculty for kissing on school property, and they're all just like "that's not against school policy..? like, it's annoying, but it's allowed. also quit being such a narc azula."

aang always says shit like "when you guys get married can i be your best man?" which is what he also said to sokka and yue and suki's like "sure you can buddy <3" and sokka's like "lol i think he was talking to me" and aang's like "hm but i thought toph would be your best man?" and sokka's like "oh shit you're right toph is definitely gonna be my best man. for this hypothetical wedding that's never actually gonna happen." and toph is like "FUCK YEAH I AM"

sokka and suki get announced as prom king and queen but it's super awkward bc neither of them actually end up going to prom that night; they got really engrossed in a game of monopoly while they were pregaming and totally forgot. suki's in a dress and sokka's in a suit and they don't even notice that prom started three hours ago. toph crashes their prom, accepts the crowns on their behalf, and is like "thank you, thank you, this is such an honor." they do make it to the afterparty though. suki is incredibly smug the whole time, because she just won a very intense game of monopoly.

despite being a freshman, aang throws them a graduation party because he’s friends with all the seniors. since this is an aang party, everyone is there, and it makes suki extremely emotional (sokka less so, he doesn’t really care about 99% of the people at this school). she’s like “oh aang what are you going to DO without me and sokka we’re basically your PARENTS😭” and “oh toph im gonna miss you so much you tiny ray of light😭” and “oh katara you’re gonna be such a great captain of the soccer team😭” and even “oh azula u weird as hell but kinda funny tho like i won’t lie. can’t believe im saying this but yeah ill even miss ur lil freak ass😭” (which is by far the nicest thing she’s ever said to azula and azula has no idea how to respond to that other than to laugh kinda manically and then just walk away in shame)

sokka’s valedictorian speech starts with a quote by dostoevsky and then “even though I hated most of you, because you’re morons...” by the end of it, suki and zuko are holding onto each other because they are sobbing messes. hakoda, also a sobbing mess, holds onto katara, who for once in her life is not crying, and merely fondly rolling her eyes. aang cries too but that’s mostly because he doesn’t know who’s gonna help him with his math homework now. afterwards iroh immediately goes up to sokka and is like “I am so proud of you” and sokka’s like “what about zuko??” and iroh’s like “oh yes him too.”

since mai and sokka are going to the same college (it rhymes with “winston”) and ty lee and zuko will also be in the tristate area (but at normal colleges for people who aren’t freaks) suki’s like “sweet i can just visit y’all in my truck whenever i want.” she mostly plans on visiting sokka, but admittedly she has grown fond of mai and zuko, and also (especially) ty lee, who finally kissed her in a way that meant something (but let’s be real, it always meant something) a few days after graduation. but yeah. suki has so many friends. like sooo many. but sokka is still her favorite. she tells him this and he laughs it off but in the back of his mind he’s just like “wtf...... why??”

suki drives sokka to college. well, katara, hakoda, and mai all tag along too, in the back of her truck, politely enduring the scream-singing riot grrrl album that is currently blaring from her car, but in suki’s mind she is driving sokka specifically. it’s not particularly far away, but she takes some detours so that the moment can last longer. she offers to stay on campus with sokka “until he gets settled in” but sokka obliviously is just kind of like “oh that’s very kind of you but you don’t need to worry about that mai and I are in this together” and sukis like “please let me stay here with you for a little while longer” and sokka’s like “oh. all right.” she spends that night sleeping in his super uncomfortable dorm bed and is like “wow I sure am glad I don’t have to go through this. and also grad school, knowing you. rip sokka.” and then continues to sleep in his dorm bed every night after. once classes start, suki decides that it’s time she let sokka go do important college things, and takes an impromptu solo cross-country road trip. she sends sokka pictures of all the landmarks along the way, and sokka sends her pictures of all his physics psets like “hey think u can help me with this??” and one really long video of mai drunkenly ranting about the possibility of extraterrestrial life that suki saves (and forwards to ty lee) and watches whenever she’s sad for years to come.

suki, obviously, is out in high school. sokka is not. not for any sinister reasons, but because he simply doesn’t know! he spent so long devoted to yue that he never even considered his sexuality outside of her, and then after that, suki was the only person he remotely liked. that said, suki has her suspicions. she’s always saying to her friends that sokka has “bi energy” and she feels so vindicated when he texts her from college to be like “I hooked up with a guy last night” she’s like “fuck yes i knew u were a lil gay 😌” and sokka's like “what?? how?? even I didn’t know...” then she points out that literally his whole high school friend group was queer. and sokka’s like “what about zuko?” and sukis like “oh honey..” and sokkas like “okay yeah.”

sidenote: ty lee wasn’t out, but it was kind of an open secret among suki’s friends bc they all knew that she hooked up with suki all the time and despite claiming it was only for male attention at parties, was definitely at least a little bit in love with her. mai wasn’t out, but she wasn’t not out either, she kind of just thinks that her sexuality isn’t anyone’s business, but sokka and toph and suki all clocked that she’s a lesbian immediately. they could feel it in their bones. toph knew she was gay by the time she was 10 because she had a crush on yue and, later, a far more embarrassing crush on suki (she can’t help it if sokka has perfect taste!). zuko knows he’s gay on like a subconscious level but he is deeply closeted so he kind of just fails to pretend that he isn’t, and all his friends attempt to respectfully go along with this. he comes out in his junior year of college, which, he is absolutely infuriated to learn, is two years after sokka came out. not that it’s a race or anything but how did he lose THAT one????

sokka constantly suggests to suki that now that she has a full-time job she could consider getting her own place (or moving in with him) but she’s like “no I like my truck.” and he’s like “okay you know you can still drive a car that you don’t live in, right??” and suki’s like “yeah I know. but I like my truck.” despite the fact that her job does pretty much tether her to one spot, she still doesn’t wanna feel tied down. on weekends she’ll drive until she reaches a forest or a secluded beach, and go foraging, or hiking, or just sit in nature. she visits sokka a lot, and every time she does, it’s like they were never apart (save for the tackle hug as they run at full speeds into each other’s arms yelling each other’s names). even when sokka finally does start seeing other people, he always makes it clear that it won’t (can’t) be monogamous because suki will always be a part of his life. and she is. they grow old together, holding hands on a porch swing.

#guys wake up new modern au lore just dropped 👀#hippolvte #kyoshialone #sleepy-chaos #manicpixiedreamkiller #kidprophet #modern au #asks #sokkaxsuki #suki #sokka #ugh i love them sm. absolute bicons <3

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smhalltheurlsaretaken · 3 years

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So this is less kicking a hornet's nest and more flinging a dynamite stick to it, but... The Baby Ludi case from the Star Wars EU is fascinating.

And not fascinating in the story itself (earthquake destroys town, mom is presumed dead, baby is found and adopted by the Jedi, mom wasn't dead, battle for custody ensues because the baby's mind has already been opened to the Force), but actually fascinating with how effective it is, and how it perfectly exemplifies how polarizing issues work.

It was specifically written to show how the divided the Galaxy was, especially over the Jedi, just as the Clone Wars were about to break out:

Pablo Hidalgo wrote it, though idk if Lucas approved it - or even knew about it at all - since it was promotional material for AotC but still was never featured or hinted at in any capacity in the main canon.

The only thing we have on Baby Ludi are 9 holonet articles (available on archive.org, see the wookiepedia page for a list of all of them) with absolutely no indications of how objective they're even supposed to be. They are media pieces. They make us feel emotions - they sensationalize, they stir up outrage, they make us completely irrational. Just look at what's under the first holo-report:

It's just so meta - so clearly reflecting on itself as it presents us with a certain (incomplete) narrative while simultaneously exploring how incomplete narratives make people react.

I used to see people (admittedly a while ago) brandishing this one obscure-ish story that only appears in one piece of EU media as the end-all, definite proof that the Jedi were meant to be understood as kidnappers - but in doing so, those people were actually playing into the story's very purpose: showing how manipulation is done. Showing how media and news outlets work.

If the story's goal was to end the debate on whether or not the Jedi are baby thieves, then it wouldn't have been given to us in the most vague, subjective way. There are no reliable sources in the articles, only second hand retellings of nebulous events.

The people who like the Jedi (like me) will probably jump on the information that Ludi's mother was too busy reviewing the script of an upcoming movie relating her tragedy to comment on people trying to storm the Temple on her child's behalf, and later being too busy with the movie's casting to comment on Ludi being transferred to an off-planet Temple. Or that Thrynka Padaunete, the leader of a Jedi 'watchgroup' who first protested the situation, then went on to be Jovana's agent in a production that was expected to be very profitable.

The people who don't like the Jedi will focus on them moving Ludi off Coruscant, or Plo turning an entire crowd of protestors away with a powerful mind trick (by the way, not something that's actually been shown to be possible in canon, but that's not the point).

At first I tried to analyze the story like I usually approach things, by trying to understand the perspective of each party involved. While I personally couldn't see the Jedi from Lucas' story keeping the child after only one month of training (since there even is EU precedent for Mace giving a kid back to the parents because they'd changed their mind), that wasn't what this story said, so I tried to understand. Maybe it really was too dangerous. Maybe they would have let Ludi see her Mom again if not for one particular reason we weren't aware of. Maybe they knew something that I wasn't being told.

And then I flipped my perspective, and I tried to put myself in the mother's shoes, and it was really horrifying. It was gut-wrenching, and there had to be more to her than making money off a tragedy. Maybe her conspiracist agent manipulated her, playing on her grief. Maybe her saying she wanted the money to go to charity was genuine. Maybe she was actually too distraught to keep fighting, because she felt the battle was already lost, hence why she stopped commenting on the developments.

And that's when it hit me. I was trying - when I was missing basically all of the information and all of the context - to pick a side to see who felt more right.

But we don't know. We can't know. We don't have any first hand account, any actual interview of any party involved given to us. There really is next to nothing more to the story than the summary I gave. Technically - since the story is entirely fictional - the 'right' answer doesn't even exist - there is no objective truth to base an opinion on. We don't see the reasoning behind each decision, who could have influenced who and why, what could have been political and what was in good faith.

Even when we do have those things, like with the actual movies, it's still possible to endlessly debate intentions, responsibility and failings. Here, we don't have any context, any ground to build upon. So to try to create that context based on our assumptions, whether they are more favorable to one group or the other is - in a very meta way - playing into the media's polarizing effect as though we were citizens of the Republic blind to the looming war, and trying to pass judgment on issues we're badly informed on.

That's the point of the Ludi story, not whether or not the Jedi are right or wrong, or whether the mom is actually opportunistic or simply heartbroken and human.

The point of that story (which is only 'canon' because it's referenced in the current continuity's book on propaganda) is to show how people jump to assumptions, and then try to create context around this kind of stories because they're either trying to support said assumptions, or because they're aware they can't pass judgment with so little to go on from, but since they want to pass judgment they have to give themselves something to work with.

And you know why I didn't include that much info on the story itself? (Apart from the fact that making this into a proper, impeccable meta would be a hassle and this is me already procrastinating on my homework?) Because many people who read this probably had their opinion on the case set by the time they were done with the second paragraph. Because I didn't give you any context, but it hardly mattered - just like it hardly matters to us that we often read a headline and think we've got it figured out.

So again, the Ludi story is fascinating, and super effective. I was ready to make a big fool of myself by trying to analyze the facts, when I didn't have them, when they didn't even exist.

Damn, that's the kind of reflection on perspectives and narratives and politics that Star Wars can do right!

ps: Lucas' Jedi were not child thieves in the movies or TCW, that's a hill I will die on. Here though? It is not the point. If anyone tries to use this post to argue that the Jedi were child kidnappers OR that they were right in the Ludi case - you missed the point.

#meta #long post #baby ludi #jedi order #star wars eu #legends vs canon

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tuiyla · 2 years

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I feel like ppl tend to gloss over the UHT convo w the glee girls right before Come See About Me in 4x08 - like Quinn is literally saying that the three of them knew each other so well, they could communicate perfectly without saying a single word. Not just her and Santana, not just Santana and Brittany, but all three of them. Ignoring how Glee almost completely erased Quinn's relationship to Brittana s5 and beyond, those three are family 🤧

Right?

Like, okay, let me go on a bit of a rant Anon if you don't mind. So a common gripe with the UHT is something that can really be applied to all of Glee: they love to tell you something's a certain way and in fact take credit for it, but don't put the actual work in. Case in point, yeah, the New Directions are a found family, but you'd be hard pressed to find scenes that truly build on that and especially for certain dynamics that don't include the core mains of Rachel/Finn/later Kurt.

But you know, I'm willing to take what I often feel like is a singling out of the UHT in good faith. For two reasons: one, they're a pre-established group that existed before ND and should have been shown to be close more. And two, Glee loooved capitalizing on the Unholy Trinity even in subtle ways. They couldn't be bothered to put the work in but coopted the fan-coined name UHT and in later seasons slapped them together to perform a fan-service number. Except they couldn't do fanservice in a way that was more than a male-gazey, "look we know they're iconic" lazy-feeling scene. Hence why we have both Toxic and Problem in seasons 5 and 6 but no actual convo scene between them save for the brief pre-Problem one.

So I get the dissonance. On the one hand, the UHT is so recognizable and iconic. From I Say a Little Prayer on, they're the Cheerios and as even Brittany and Santana develop into their own characters, they all get a substantial fanbase of their own. On the other, we have very few scenes of the three and just the three being friends. The only two UHT scenes I'd consider to be the kind of thing we desperately needed more of are New York 2x22 and the one I recently analyzed in 3x01. Other than that, good luck finding anything more substantial than a background scene or quick "see we know you like them ones" like "ending together" in Nationals.

But, and here's why I start getting baffled at people singling them out as bad writing or a bad friendship. A) it's a general problem Glee has and it's really us the fans who put work into 80% of the friendships because hardly any of them were treated right. So, like I've said before when I got asks about this, I feel it's unfair when people HC Mike or Sam or whoever to be besties with everyone but when it's the canon trio of the UHT they go "idk we never really saw them being friends". Being told, like in your example of how well they knew each other, is more than the nothing that we get a lot of others. And B), something's fishy about recognizing and acknowledging the writing problems Glee had and yet not extending the same grace (afforded to many other characters) to the UHT. People bring up season 1 and how Brittana didn't help Quinn; right, except we can recognize that Brittana were barely characters, that even Quinn herself hardly got the focus during her own pregnancy, and that Glee not only hates girls but female friendships.

And C), there are scenes where they're shown to be friends. Granted, they're often small and like I said not substantial but they're there. To substantiate what Quinn says in 4x08, we have them dancing together in 2x22 during Light Up the World. For Brittany and Quinn we have everything from Lean On Me to 2x11 to 3x17. For Quinntana, @amazonworrier just had an excellent post about this that I wholeheartedly agree with. All these scenes do in fact exist for a reason, even if the writers couldn't be bothered to flesh out the UHT. And I mean really there are so many scenes of the three sticking together throughout the seasons that it'd feel unnecessary to list them all here but amazonworrier's point about Quinntana scenes goes for those too. They exist; that's more than nothing. That's more than most ND combos have.

And like, here's the thing. You can lament the lack of substantial scenes as I do - as does every single fan of their dynamic. But if it's show don't tell you're looking for, Glee did show them. It wasn't much, not nearly enough for me, but it was there. So after a while it's like?? So what do you want? Do you purposefully ignore the moments they do have as a friendship trio because it's not enough, but then it's also not enough to be explicitly told they're good friends? Is there just no winning? But then there shouldn't be winning for 80% of Glee friendships we still hold them close to our hearts.

This really is just a rant at this point but I'm reminded of anons I got about how the UHT not being really friends was a correct hot take and it's,,, it's just not. It's canon, it's in the text. You might not like it, like me you might have wanted more, but it's there. And to recognize Glee's bad writing practices but then single out the UHT as a bad friendship instead of seeing the bigger picture is not where it's at. And to go back to your original point Anon after this ranty rant, people do gloss over Quinn saying that. And what for? They know each other well and they are a family. And to be clear I refuse to give Glee credit for the scenes that do show them be friends because they could have done, so, so much more, but it was enough to call them friends.

#and do not get me started on 'but quinn wasn't even at the wedding!!!'#long story shot glee hates girls but why ya'll gotta #did any of this even make sense i need lunch #the unholy trinity #glee asks #uht asks #unholy trinity #glee friendships #anon #i appreciate you anon sorry for the rant but you're right and you should say it #i think the uht gets more scrutiny because they're taken for granted more within the show #ffs the novels had more scenes for them than the show #but is that a reason for a 'they were never really friends'#or even better 'britt cares more about mike than quinn hot take'#or is a reason to simply be critical of glee and its injustice towards female characters #or should i just go grab lunch already instead of now going on a separate rant in the tags #hmm

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