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ecoterrorist-katara · 2 months

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Hey bestie any zutara fic recs. I feel like I’ve read all the classics.

Hello anon! Oh boy have you come to the right place because I have read several million words of these two dorks falling in love and though I plan to read several million more, I am always down to screech about talented fanfic writers!!! Here are most of my faves, some of which you’ve probably read but my enthusiasm simply needs an outlet. No WIPs to minimize heartbreak.

In the spirit of not recommending too many classics, I’m not including anything from the first page of the Katara/Zuko tag on AO3 sorted by kudos, with one exception. Same rule does not apply to FF.net because nobody visits that site anymore, yet we mustn’t forget our roots!!!

TL;DR of my Zutara Fic Recs:

Half Asleep for a Miyazaki-esque adventure romance

Southern Lights for a sweeping epic where A Song of Ice and Fire meets Middlemarch

Refraction for a swoon-worthy post-war political romance ft. Katara learning how to politick in a patriarchal world

Stormbenders for a fun undercover romance that is a ZK classic for a very good reason

Another Word for Alchemy and The Slow Path for hilarious yet emotionally compelling adventures with found family themes

The Undying Fire for world-building, more Gaang shenanigans, and super satisfying slow canon divergence

Katara Alone for our fave girl’s post-war Bildungsroman/travelogue/heroic tour

Simple Misunderstanding for a hilarious rendition of Ponytail Zuko capturing Katara and trying to not be a creep

Clothe Me in Seasons, Dress Me in Snow for a mostly canon-compliant (so, v angsty) story about the different ways that love can evolve

And some one-shots and modern AUs I feel like deserve some more love

Summaries, reviews, and general fangirling under the cut because holy shit this post is long lmao

Long fics / series:

Half Asleep, by crushinator | Rating: T | Word Count: 82,335

Summary: Five years after the Hundred-Year War, Fire Lord Zuko is hit with an assassin's dart, and falls into a coma from which he cannot wake. A week passes, and his prognosis is grim. But Katara could swear she hears him in her dreams.

My thoughts: this fic, in many ways, is novel quality. The pacing? Immaculate. The action scenes? Exciting and interesting yet super easy to visualize. The characterization? On point. Katara is peak Miyazaki heroine in this, setting out on a quest to the Spirit World to save her boy (who’s not really her boy) from whichever Eldritch horror has him in its clutches. I love the little glimpses we have of the mutual pining between Katara and Zuko, and there are no words to describe how much I love the resolution of Katara and Aang’s relationship in this story. And oh boy, is the climax of the fic super romantic. This is just a really well written, emotionally compelling, tight fic. Deserves to be a fandom classic.

Southern Lights, by colourwhirled | Rating: M | Word Count: 769,274

Summary: A world where the Avatar has disappeared from memory. Where Sozin’s Conquest was successful. Where the unsteady order of the empire is threatened as members of the royal family are picked off one by one and lines are slowly drawn in the sand One last chance for peace forces an unlikely alliance between a homesick waterbender, a carefree Air Nomad, a runaway Earth Kingdom heiress, and the fire lord's inscrutable son. Together they must learn to shed old enmities and become the balance they seek to restore to the world.

OR:

The avatar has four heads.

My thoughts: Is it a Bildungsroman? Is it a war story? Is it a politics story? Is it a love story? Is it a friendship story? Is it a story about colonial violence and well-meaning complicity and finding justice in a world where it simply doesn’t seem to exist? Yes to all of the above, because at 700k+ words YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL. You know how Virginia Woolf once said that Middlemarch is one of the few novels written for grownups? Well, Southern Lights feels adult, not because of violence or sex or general grimness (looking at you, HBO), but because it’s fundamentally about having the courage to make choices, live with the consequences, and make more choices, and repeat that over and over again. If Katara is a Miyazaki heroine in Half Asleep, she is full on Daenarys (pre-character assassination) in Southern Lights, a heroine who gets put through her paces yet retains her unwavering resilience to find her place in the world. Katara can be pretty frustrating in this and I know a lot of the commenters on this fic wanted to smack her up the head halfway through, but I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs and her decisions make sense to me even when I also want to smack her for them, and isn’t that a symptom of good writing? I count my lucky stars that I joined the ATLA fandom after this fic is finished (which was only last year!) because I got to binge it in a few days and I have not been the same person since. Deserves classic status.

Refraction, by caroe3725 | Rating: E | Word Count: 215,249

Summary: Making choices after the war was supposed to be the easy part. Her future decided and neatly packaged based on what everyone else wanted for her, what she should want, too. But Katara’s destiny had a funny way of being exactly what she wanted to run from. (As if anyone needed another Zutara post-finale slow burn after 15 years.)

My thoughts: YES WE DEFINITELY NEEDED ANOTHER POST-WAR ZK SLOWBURN OF SUCH IMMACULATE QUALITY. Both Katara and Zuko’s internal monologues are excellent in this, but I particularly love Zuko’s. The writer is so good at capturing his resolve, his earnestness, and his awkwardness. This is a very restrained fic — no great histrionics — but also incredibly romantic. The first kiss scene made me want to both sigh and screech. I’m also just a huge sucker for “Katara learns politics” which this fic has in spades, with a bonus of very thoughtful gender dynamics. Anyway, if you liked AJ Lenoire’s The Summit or andromeda13’s such selfish prayers, you’d probably like Refraction. Zuko and Katara are very much dumb teens in the beginning portions of this fic, which I personally like because it makes me nostalgic. Oh, and Katara is low key chaotic good in this, which is super in-character and hilarious.

Stormbenders, by Fandomme | Rating: T | Word Count: 171,000+

Summary: S3 AU from FBM. Deep in the Fire Nation jungle, the Gaang meets a group of rogue water ninja who send Zuko and Katara on a mission to retrieve Ozai's secret battle plans.

My thoughts: I’m aware that if you asked the average ZK shipper ten years ago what the ship classics are, the answers are probably Stormbenders, His Majesty Prefers Blue, and the Sparrowkeet series. The other classics are good (classics for a reason!), but Stormbenders remains my favourite. It’s funny. It’s exciting. It’s WELL PACED. The ZK relationship grows so organically, which is a huge feat considering this fic was started before we even got The Southern Raiders. The events are a little more adult than the show, but the tone remains very ATLA. There’s a lovely little animatic of the beginning of the scene on YouTube to show you exactly what I mean about the tone and the humour. I am always weak for a well-structured adventure romance, and Stormbenders stands the test of time because it’s just such a well-written fic.

The Undying Fire, by Boogum | Rating: T | Word Count: 534,665

Summary: "He has the eyes, Princess Ursa." They were half-forgotten words, a whisper of fears never explained. Zuko had dismissed it all as nothing to worry about—until he somehow healed the Avatar. Fire healers weren't meant to exist, except he did. He'd saved the kid's life. Naturally, he wanted answers. Too bad finding them wasn't so simple...

My thoughts: This fic is mostly Gen, and Zutara shows up in the latter half of the series. Despite being a ZK shipper I like plenty of Gen fics too, and The Undying Fire gives me the best of both worlds. I love the world building, the humour, and the slow ramp up of the Gaang friendships. I absolutely love how the canon divergence is so subtle at first and gradually unfurls into something super different, yet retains much of its ATLA charm. Boogum’s written some other bangers too, and I have to give honorable mention to Zuko’s Tiny Dilemma (where a spirit transforms ponytail Zuko into his six-year-old self, and Uncle into a teapot, and somehow it becomes an emotionally compelling 100k word saga) and Following Blue (season 2 canon divergent Bluetara with a bigger focus on romance).

Katara Alone & associated fics by cablesscutie | Rating: T | Word Count: 86,890

Summary: The war is over, and with it goes the only life she has ever known. In this era of love and peace, the world is becoming new, and Katara is unsure of her place in it. That's okay though. Katara has rebuilt her life from scratch before, and she will do it again.

My thoughts: I love post-war “Katara sets out to find herself and also finds Zuko” fics. Katara Alone is a fabulous coming-of-age story with some good old fashioned letter flirting during Katara’s solo travels. The sequel, Lady of the Tides, has some very thoughtful depictions of Katara’s place within the post-war Fire Nation, and the accompanying story from Zuko’s POV, The Fire Lord at Home, hits all my buttons. Like…Zuko is Fire Lord Good Boy! He passes legislation! There is political optimism! Swoon.

Another Word for Alchemy, by FanPanda 13 | Rating: T | Word Count: 108,000+

Summary: Five years have passed since the Avatar defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and the members of the Gaang have all gone in their own direction. But when Aang invites them all to a Peace Summit at the North Pole and tells them of his new project, for which he will need their support, the group comes together again for adventure, fun and romance. AU. Zutara. COMPLETE.

My thoughts: Now this is a fic that thoroughly crept up on me. The first 3/4 is good old fashioned fluffy, funny, fourth wall-breaking Gaang shenanigans with plenty of Zutara. But the last quarter? Oh boy does it come right at you and slam you in the solar plexus with the platonic love and found family feels and the complexities of those feelings when you’re a teenager. The impact of Aang’s loss of the Air Nomads is treated very thoughtfully here, way more so than in the show.

The Slow Path, by TazmainianDevil | Rating: T | Word Count: 125,723

Summary: Eight years after the fall of Ozai, Aang returns to the friends he left behind.

My thoughts: This is actually a Taang story with a great ZK subplot. But what I love about it is that the whole Gaang (including Suki ALWAYS INCLUDING SUKI) is superbly characterized. The ZK banter is top notch. I could actually hear their voices in my head in some of the scenes. Their relationship is playful but has plenty of emotional heft. And the plot is exciting and well-developed. My favourite thing, though, is how the author treats Toph’s POV: it’s very thoughtfully written, with consideration towards how she perceives the world.

Simple Misunderstanding, by ShamelessLiar | Rating: T | Word Count: 80,965

Summary: Katara was captured by Zuko, but there was a lapse in communication. Takes place after The Fortuneteller. Fierce Katara, honorable Zuko, and meddlesome Iroh. Also, music night

My thoughts: Generally I don’t love fics where Katara gets captured, especially by Zuko (just a personal preference, not here to judge). But! I love this one, because…well, the circumstances of Katara’s capture by Ponytail Zuko are simply hilarious. Katara is suspicious and stubborn; Zuko has a one-track mind and doesn’t understand why Iroh is treating his prisoner so nicely; oh, and Aang gets into an amazing side quest with some spiritual animals. The only thing about this story is that it ends a little abruptly since the author was considering a sequel, but it still reads as a standalone fic. The author also wrote His Majesty Prefers Blue and Call Me Katto, two ZK classics, but Simple Misunderstanding is far and away my favourite work.

Clothe Me in Seasons, Dress Me in Snow, by sadladybug | Rating: T | Word Count: 62,026

Summary: It is not the memorial she deserves, nor the one she would want. But it can't be helped. He owns no property in the other nations, and he needed to keep her close. Closer than she was in life, anyway. Zuko's reflections on a life lived and a life that could have been.

Review: sadladybug lives up to the username by creating a sadness so contagious that I have yet to recover from it, and I cope by recommending this fic to other Zutara shippers so that more may suffer like I did. (Stop the cycle? No.) Look — I think there’s something extremely beautiful and poetic about a love that changes in nature and form and expression, but not in intensity and devotion, and that’s what this fic is about. Loved it. Never reading it again.

One shots:

There’s a category of canon-compliant Zutara one-shots that are all extremely painful, and I cannot get enough of them: in the next life by we-were-angels, taking place right before Katara’s wedding to Aang; water can heal, water can break by crazyache, about why Katara didn’t attend Yakone’s trial.

To combat the above, here’s a few funny, fluffy ones that make me cackle: i am older now by ama (who wrote the banger that is The Blackfish and the Dragon), an old!ZK fic that I read to counteract the emotional damage inflicted by psychedelic_aya’s we hold our hearts in silence; all good things start with tea by yodalorian, where Zuko’s hapless Disney sidekick-esque advisors try to get him a wife; And Half at One Another’s Throats by songofhopeandhonor (whose account is deleted), about Zuko’s harebrained proposals to Katara; The Dragon of the West’s Guide to Flirting by bluesunflower44, which is exactly what it says on the tin and the awkward disaster you’d expect. Waiting on a Steady Sun, by nire, is a long version of my favourite tropes: fake marriage + idiots to lovers ft. pining for your spouse.

I generally don’t love modern AUs, but akaiiko’s talk is cheap (and i’ve got expensive taste), where Katara meets Zuko at a frat party, is a whole damn delight; my old aches become new again by jamesstruttingpotter is a wonderfully indulgent modern AU based on Our Beloved Summer.

And finally, some season 3 character studies: don’t tell me how to feel by paintingcranes, ft Katara at the Western Air Temple being increasingly incensed at both Zuko trying to be helpful and how other people react to his helpfulness; the other side of mercy by crazyache, where Sokka calls Katara “high-strung and crazy” and that really makes Zuko think; The Silent Garden by romilley (whose WIP The Horizon is also fabulous), where Katara and Zuko avoid their feelings through a reluctant-allies-with-benefits arrangement (ft a way of depicting intimacy and sex that makes me think of Normal People); a deep delight of the blood by eruthros, where Zuko asks Katara to practice bloodbending on him out of pragmatism but also a little bit of guilt (it’s unrated, but that “Kink Without Sex” tag is there for a reason).

Thank you for asking me for my recs, anon, because I needed an outlet to rave about fanfiction and my irl friends have heard enough. Feel free to ask me questions about specific fics that aren’t on this list: I always love talking to people about fic and I’m always looking for new ones to read!

#Zutara Fic Recs #This post is brought to you by my autism #Which demanded that I swap out my last special interest for ZK fanfiction #zutara fanfiction #Zutara fanfic #Zutara #can i ask you a question?

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linddzz · 4 months

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Here an assortment of Facts About Morpheus in the Red Flags AU. Where I'm starting to lean more towards the version where they meet and are already into each other before the ""Fake Date"" Incident:

-Jessamy is the raven he took care of when he found her injured outside of his townhome. He now has a room with a window he often keeps open for her to fly into whenever she feels like it. I don't know how legal any of this is in London but tbh it doesn't matter because he also does not know what the laws are and doesn't care.

- His townhome is very dark maximalist in decor, which tends to surprise people at first. There are houseplants and little statues all over, and the walls are hidden behind millions of bookshelves. There is an art studio room and books scattered everywhere. Very recently, hypothetical visitors would notice a lot of child locks and child proofed areas that have a bit of a panicked "I bought every safety thing in the store bc I have no idea wtf I'm doing" energy to them.

- He has a therapist. Yes, the Morpheus that Hob meets is the upgraded version who is actually working on himself already. This is what the improved personal growth version of Morpheus is like.

Anyway, said therapist is Gilbert F. Greene. Because Morpheus going head to head with an unstoppable force of old timey adorable optimism who will also not take his shit is delightful. Dr. Greene insists on going by first names and Morpheus always makes "Gilbert" sound like a slur in retaliation. Some conversations I imagine include:

"Good morning Gilbert, you will never guess who had what you might call a """relapse into self destructive behaviors"""" last night."

"I am very sorry to hear that my dear boy. Let me say though, that I am so very proud of you for calling me! That is a phenomenal step for you and it's wonderful that you are being proactive in your recovery."

"Don't patronize me Gilbert. I will hang up."

(this ended up being super long so I'm just gonna spare y'all's dash. Warning for some lightly touched on mentions of drug use and self destructive behavior.)

- Him getting a therapist was part of the requirements for gaining visitation rights and then weekend custody once a month with Orpheus. The therapy is actually helping, and he's bitter about that.

- His given name is actually Dream, he goes by his middle name. All the Endless siblings have awful names. Desire goes by Adonai because who calls a fucking child Desire???

When Hob meets the rest of the family, Destiny goes "it's good to see you again, Dream" and Hob begins turning to Morpheus like "lmao who tf is named Dream" only to find Morpheus glaring daggers at his brother.

- The Endless parents are rarely around. Some of the siblings still live in the manor and they all use it for family dinners, but it's common for their parents to be off travelling for years at a time.

- Morpheus is an author and a painter who has a bajillion pen names to go with each genre he writes in, so it's hard to figure out exactly how much he's written. Even before becoming a father though, his face and full name is mostly associated with children's fantasy stories that he illustrates himself, and his Art vs Artist vibe is very Miyazaki.

Him and Calliope collaborated on a series of illustrated poetic translations of ancient epics. Their divorce was exactly as messy as one might imagine the divorce between two passionate artist types might be.

- His downward spiral of self destruction started before the divorce but oh boy did it nosedive during and after.

- When she got pregnant after divorce proceedings had started, there was a moment where they were both meeting with lawyers and one asked something along the lines of if this meant they would try for reconciliation and staying together. Calliope said "no" immediately.

It's not like Morpheus exactly thought they would get back together, but the speed and firmness of that hard "no" had his head screaming with white noise and some badly thought out self medication for months, which ended up being why Calliope got full custody and he is just now able to get more involved with the now two year old Orpheus.

- His rebound with Thessaly was also messy. She was just in it for a fun fling and he was... Morpheus. He found out he got dumped when she informed him she was already in the process of moving back to Greece, and Johanna said he needed to be banned from any more beautiful Greek expats from that day forth.

- No one can figure out what the deal is with him and Lucienne. The simple explanation is they're queerplatonic soul mates. Lucienne's wife Gault thinks they're a bit codependent (not an inaccurate assessment), but is more civil with him since the day she yelled at him to go get an actual therapist instead of constantly putting his shit on Lucienne, and he actually did. (It is unclear if this or Calliope demanding therapy for him to get visitation with Orpheus was his wake up call catalyst, but probably a bit of both.)

- Lucienne was originally a personal assistant. She now works as his editor since she seems to be the only person who can keep track of all the shit he's written. She is also the only person who can get away with critiquing his works in progress without sending him into a fit where he might burn all his manuscripts.

- When Morpheus started mentioning this Gadling guy a lot, Lucienne paid a visit to the pub. Not to do anything so crude as to threaten a man's life if he breaks her sensitive friend's heart. What could she do anyway? No no. She's just here to smile with zero trace of humor and ask some questions while looking him up and down through her spectacles. Hob will later describe this as one of the most pants shitting moments of his life, and he felt like he got transformed back into a primary school kid who talked slightly too loudly in the library.

- Morpheus went through a slutty phase during and shortly after University that was less of a healthy and fun exploration of his sexuality and libido, and a bit more "I will take anyone who will have me in any way they will want me and I know that if nothing else, I'm pretty."

- Him and Johanna used to have a game seeing who could get more free drinks in one night. This had to be put to an end when it turned into the catalyst for at least three screaming fights between them.

Fight subjects were

Quality vs Quantity. Morpheus insists his ability to get people to buy him a single glass of wine that costs £50 beats Johanna's cheap beers. Johanna disagreed. loudly.

Is it cheating when Morpheus ran to the bathroom to smudge on some eyeliner and then stole Johanna's lip gloss? Is it further cheating when Johanna realized that his main method of getting drinks was "act like Adonai"? Accusations that he would ever act like his horrid annoying younger sibling sent Morpheus into an absolute tantrum.

Competitiveness DID overcome sibling rivalry enough for Morpheus to go to Adonai for makeover assistance. This backfired because it made Morpheus hot to the point of intimidating, and Johanna won that night.

- After Hob starts flirting with him, Morpheus goes suspiciously into a Romantic, Pre-Raphaelite inspired art era featuring lots of noble knights with dark sunlit hair. A lot of them seem to be lured in by dark haired fae entities all La Belle Sans Merci style. It's disgustingly obvious.

-Therapy has made him juuuuust self aware enough to know that he MAYBE tends to go a bit hard and fast with romance. This makes him a little more cautious with Hob than he usually would be, and he's doing a bit of "Hob is so nice and sweet and interested but I'm gonna mess it up :(((" pining. Everyone around him is fucking sick of it. He is not self aware enough to realize he's still going super hard and fast, but this time he's doing it while sighing sadly and drawing Hob in his sketchbook all the fucking time.

#red flags au #human au #Dreamling #gonna make my pinned masterpost to organize shit later today djdjdksk

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thatswhatsushesaid · 6 months

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i have seen this observation made as a complaint about tgcf in the past, and i can understand why someone might feel this way about the novel after reading mdzs specifically, where the tighter narrative focus is on solving The Mystery of why wei wuxian was brought back from the dead in the first place. but i am thoroughly enjoying the slower pace of tgcf's storytelling because it allows readers the time and space to experience the characters xie lian meets from more angles than simply 'let's solve this mystery!' which, to be clear, is not a criticism of mdzs! i mean, i have many criticisms of mdzs, but this is not one of them. i mention this just to highlight a difference between the two novels.

as a storytelling conceit the slower pace, and the attention xie lian pays to details of the world and characters that have no obvious connection to the central plot, puts me in mind of those spaces within hayao miyazaki films where a character is just waiting for a traffic light to change colours, and decides to watch a cat sunbathing. a bit like letting a bottle of fancy wine breathe before serving it.

tl;dr i like that the story rambles and wanders a bit. xie lian is a wonderful protagonist to share that experience with, too.

#ray reads tgcf #xie lian #mxtx

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neotaissong · 3 months

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many thanks to @vvaterling for the tag, appreciate it

Last songs I listened to: 'the creator has a masterplan' by pharoah sanders, 'arab voice of freedom (live)' by fairuz, 'kwanzaa' by karma and 'weight of the word' by MIKE

Currently watching: mandabi by ousmane sembène (super stressful watch as unc gets taken by the triple threat of colonialism, corruption and a community of vultures) sankofa by haile gerima (one the best time travel movies of all time, with arguably the most cathartic slave uprising commited to film, another gerima masterpiece that burns all the exploitative, liberal-fascist, cash-grab, trauma porn slave narratives to dust) burning an illusion by menelik shabazz, the empire strikes back 4K80 (all these 'resistance' movies owe haiti, algeria and vietnam, a big phat cheque) love is blind (ngl after mandabi i needed thissss lol, so much mess this season) as above so below by larry clark (has some of the fiercest close ups of all the la rebellion films) little forest: winter/spring (a beautiful, seasonal series of movies, focused on cooking in a small village in Japan and the relationship between a daughter and her mother who has abandoned her, it's like a slow burn cooking show slash japanese art house movie series (it's 4 movies in total) about the poetic changing of seasons...it really makes you think about how limited western filmmaking/storytelling is and in it's own way asks the eternal question: what is cinema?) spirited away by miyazaki (i kinda hate sharp images at the mo, BUT reluctantly getting a 4k cut made from an 8k upscale, had me marvelling at every single frame and brushstroke and now im bopping thru the streets to joe hisaishi's score like a joker, but u know idgaffffffff this movie is an absolute masterpiece and it ain't up for discussion my dears lol) the muslim mindset and islam’s mission with dr sohail hanif and ig stories from: bisan, motaz, hindkhoudary, warsanshiree, saul williams, red_maat, bsonblast, amandaseales, oaklandmademe, thezaynalarbii and yasinbey...

Currently reading: ousmane sembène interviews, the quran, art on my mind by bell hooks, ming smith aperture monograph, domu: the dreams of children by katshuhiro otomo, the sound i saw by roy decarava, instant light (polaroids) by andrei tarkovsky, maafa by harmony holiday, the book of light by lucile clifton and suheir hammad's gaza suite. dipping in and out of all of the above...

Sweet/savory/spicy: all three, but right now, korean spicy chicken is what i dream of...

Relationship status: single...praying she loves god...............................and korean spicy chicken..............

Current obsession: shooting with my new camera, lenses lenses lenses, colour grading on davinci, preparing for shoots at the end of the month, inshallah...roy decarava's photography and his use of shadow, darkness and light, ming smith's photography and her use of blurrrr, darkness and focus, summerdanceforver dance-off videos (i miss paradiso) new balance 9060's and salehe bembury's designs and interviews especially his peace be the journey sneakers, hiking, harmony holiday on twitter (unmatched raps with a razor under tongue!) hiroshi yoshimura - copped the vinyl represses of green and surround, which im super grateful for, totally obsessed with green: ethereal and expansive movements through nature, basking in healing frequencies. local reggae community radio station run by elders in north london, always vibrant, shaggy and aggy. talking, arguing, listening, LEARNING, UNLEARNING, loving and meditating on how to decolonise everything, liberation and how we get free...free palestine congo sudan and stopppp cop city...steamed buns from bun house, writing and shooting (jill scott voice: slowly surely) and last and certainly notttttt least, getting closer to god...

Last search: flights to jamaica... (get me outta babylon fam)

Currently working on: beating burnout and the resulting procrastination to finish my new movie inshallah...preparing for shoots at the end of the month inshallah...

now i tag: @humbleseed @kndmind @ritasdove @ahla-tahiya @komplikacije @wrathdiwata @earthgoddessmusings @elea-mar @mosterriblewoman @thacryingame @besarelcielo @universalstudent @jamiefoxxhairline @therootednomad @0912199 @afeelingindescribable @sbtravie @artemisiasea @macaroot @textualtrancetextural @143-4u @afroladina @chaosteorema @rose1water @coyotelo @godzilla-en-mexico @esdr0 @gullyrootoranamu @guwop07 @bohemialatina @emekkka

im sure i've missed some mutuals, plssssss if i didn't tag you and you feel like you wanna put us on game and spill the beans on whats currently got you moving --------- pls join innnnn!

#j #undeniable #neotai's song

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sesanghe-myah · 2 months

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Chuchu: imma girlboss, gimme snackies! 😠

Dr. Miyazaki: Annyeong 🤗

Chuchu: ch-chu…eommaaa 🥺

#she was revving up to claim the table but then noticed an unfamiliar stranger 😂#aaaaaahhhh chuchuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!! 😆❤️😆❤️😆❤️😆❤️#kittisaurus #chuchu

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demifiendrsa · 5 months

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Official English translated author comments featured in Weekly Shonen Jump 2024 issue #4/5

Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 246 - Gege Akutami

Blue Box chapter 131 - Kouji Miura

Undead Unluck chapter 189 - Yoshifumi Tozuka

Two on Ice chapter 14 - Elck Itsumo

Dr. Stone: 4D Science chapter 3 [END] - Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi

Sakamoto Days chapter 149 - Yuto Suzuki

One Piece chapter 1102 - Eiichiro Oda

Nue’s Exorcist chapter 32 - Kota Kawae

My Hero Academia chapter 410 - Kohei Horikoshi

Kill Blue chapter 35 - Tadatoshi Fujimaki

Shadow Eliminators chapter 4 - Kento Amemiya

Akane-banashi chapter 92 - Takamasa Moue

Green Green Greens chapter 5 - Kento Terasaka

Witch Watch chapter 138 - Kenta Shinohara

Me & Roboco chapter 167 - Shuhei Miyazaki

The Elusive Samurai chapter 139 - Yusei Matsui

Kagurabachi chapter 15 - Takeru Hokazono

Mission: Yozakura Family chapter 208 - Hitsuji Gondaira

MamaYuyu chapter 16 - Yoshihiko Hayashi

Martial Master Asumi chapter 27 - Kawada

Cipher Academy chapter 54 - Nisioisin

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dustbunnybell · 4 months

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⋆｡°✩EII & IEI + Enneagram Subtypes⋆｡°✩

Names under the cut

EII sp4:

Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

Fyodor Dostoevsky (Writer)

August "Auggie" Pullman (Wonder)

Dr. Kenzo Tenma (Monster)

Taeko Okajima (Omoide Poroporo)

Hayao Miyazaki (Movie Director)

Sufjan Stevens (Singer)

Kanade Yoishaku (Project Sekai Colorful Stage)

EII sp6:

Bruno Madrigal (Encanto)

J.R.R. Tolkien (Writer)

Armin Arlert (Shingeki no Kyojin)

Fear (Inside Out)

Cal Kestis (Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order)

Chihiro Fujisaki (Danganronpa)

Charlie Brown (Peanuts)

Izuku "Deku" Midoriya (Boku no Hiro Akademia)

EII sx9

Wall-e (Wall-e)

Robbie Daniel Skinner "Cavetown" (Singer)

Legoshi (Beastars)

Mantis (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Mafuyu Sato (Given)

Eleanor Crain (The Haunting of Hill House)

Suzu Naito "Belle" (Ryu to Sobakasu no Hime)

Shion (no.6)

EII so9:

Fred Rogers (Television Host)

Padmé Amidala (Star Wars Prequels)

Glamrock Freddy (Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach)

Frodo Baggins (Lord of the Rings)

Lucy Pevensie (Narnia Chronicles)

Tanjiro Kamado (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Makoto Naegi (Danganronpa)

Kenshin Himura (Rurouni Kenshin)

IEI sx4:

Lana del Rey (Singer)

Gaara (Naruto)

Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Musa (Winx Club)

Gerard Way (Singer)

Johan Liebert (Monster)

Searan Choi (Mystic Messenger)

Jason "J.D." Dean (Heathers the Musical)

IEI so4:

Diane Nguyen (Bojack Horseman)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Writer)

The Little Prince (The Little Prince)

Guillermo del Toro (Movie Director)

Hans Christian Andersen (Writer)

Napstablook (Undertale)

Sadness (Inside Out)

Bingo Heeler (Bluey)

IEI sx5:

Amélie Poulain (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain)

Aurora Aksnes "AURORA" (Singer)

Lemon (Bullet Train)

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (Philosopher)

Korekiyo Shinguji (Danganronpa)

Yuri (Doki Doki Literature Club)

Spectra Wondergeist (Monster High)

Elsa Korr (Jojo Rabbit)

IEI sp6:

Mitski Miyawaki (Singer)

Raine Whispers (The Owl House)

Carrie White (Carrie)

Yoon Bum (Killing Stalking)

Yoosung Kim (Mystic Messenger)

Spider Demon Mother (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Veronica Sawyer (Heathers the Musical)

James Sunderland (Silent Hill 2)

#personality typology #socionics #enneagram #EII #IEI #enneagram subtypes #sp4 #so4 #sx4 #sp6 #sx9 #so9 #phew this took a lot of work but it was worth it

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trumpets0ng · 2 years

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226 - “Slowly”

Beginning /Meanwhile/ Next

((I Lost a Friend-Finneas))

For easier comprehension, listen to the song for lyrics.

#always walker #xander adebola #zoe patel #coco hutton #ritchie villanueva #dr. miyazaki #sims of color #black simblr #trumpets0ng

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balrog-slayer66 · 1 month

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Classic : The Art of Sherlock Hound, an animated series directed by Hayao Miyazaki and Kyosuke Mikuriya in 1983 - Gallery and details: https://itsartm.ag/4aDc02o

#sherlock hound #sherlock holmes #hayao miyazaki #kyosuke mikuriya #studio ghibli #retro anime art

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samasmith23 · 10 months

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Evangelion: You Can (Not) Marathon — (Part 11)

Neon Genesis Evangelion, “Episode 11: In the Still Darkness/The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still”

Continuing my Evangelion re-watch marathon with NGE, “Episode 11: In the Still Darkness/The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still”! For my thoughts on the previous episode, click the link to the post below:

So here’s some very interesting trivia about Episode 11! The animation for this episode was actually produced primarily by Studio Ghibli instead of Gainax. I couldn’t find much information about why exactly Studio Ghibli were guest animators for this episode specifically, but if I had to haphazard a guess I’d say it was probably due to a combination of both Studio Gainax’s rapidly declining financial resources during the early & mid-1990s which heavily impacted NGE’s budget and production going forward, as well as the fact that Studio Ghibli’s founder, the famed Hayao Miyazaki, was a former mentor for and is good friends with NGE’s director Hideaki Anno. And Ghibli’s fingerprints are definitely visible in this episode as not only does the art style in the animation stand out as a bit more wonky and overly expressive than in previous episodes of the series due to differences in animation director Toshio Kawagushi’s graphic rendering style, but Episode 11 includes multiple humorous gags that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Ghibli movie!

The booklets for the original Platinum Collection DVD boxset provide some further in trivia regarding Studio Ghibli’s involvement in the predation of this episode, including some background Easter-Eggs: “The animation for this episode was handled by Studio Ghibli, known for their work on such films as ‘My Neighbor Totoro.’, Nozomu (written as ‘peek’) Takahashi, the city assembly electoral candidate, who only appears as a name is a twist on the producer of Ghibli, Nozomu (written as ‘aspire’)” Takahashi. [Blooper here, since the name of the guy in the episode is pronounced ‘Nozoku’.]”

Similarly, the Oguru Commentary #44 elaborates: “Studio Ghibli is in charge of the original drawings. Takahashi Nozomi, a city council candidate who appears in the play, is named after Ghibli producer Nozomu Takahashi at the time. Mr. Takahashi used to be an editor of Animage, and Dr. He was in charge of the serialized article "Video Lab" under the name Nozomu. Some readers may remember him. Although it has nothing to do with Ghibli, the poet Hideaki Antani appears in the "My Resume" section of the newspaper Fuyutsuki was reading.”

But with all of that out of the way, let's finally dig into the episode itself!

Lol! I love how the episode opens with Aoba getting a UCC Coffee can out of a vending machine at his local laundry mat! I guess the first two Rebuild movies weren’t the only times Evangelion plugged that particular bit of product placement!

So this introductory scene of Ritsuko, Maya & Aoba at the laundry mat before meeting Professor Fuyutsuki on the subway is incredibly intriguing on multiple levels. Similar to the previous scene from Episode 10 showing the NERV Staff relaxing during a non-chaotic situation, this allows us to get a further glimpse into the daily lives of NERV’s personnel outside of their usual military industrial setting. It makes these characters feel a lot more human and three-dimensional in that regard. It’s also interesting to see how while Ritsuko is very casual in her interactions with Fuyutsuki, Maya & Aoba still address him as their commanding officer even when off-duty.

But even more importantly, the subway scene further fleshes out the world-building of Tokyo-3 as a fictional setting, as Anno reveals some rather interesting details about the city’s political structures and institutions. Specifically, Fuyutsuki & Ritsuko reveal to Maya & Aoba that the city’s official council are largely just figureheads despite politicians still holding elected positions of power, and that in actuality the majority of the Tokyo-3’s decision-making process is relegated to the Magi supercomputer system down in NERV HQ’s Central Dogma. While Maya makes an off handed remark about this system still being “democratic,” I can’t help but find the idea of restricting policy-making to three sentient AI programs to be rather authoritarian and undemocratic in actuality. Like, the idea is that humans are inherently distrustful and incapable of being trusted with making important political decisions is not only an incredibly nihilistic perspective, but you are still restricting power to three “superior” authorities rather than giving power to the people themselves.

It’s honestly a rather fascistic system of government when you stop and think about it, and I can’t help but view it as an intentional choice on Anno’s part given that EVA takes a lot of inspiration from the themes of Ryu Murakami’s novel Fascism of Love and Illusion, which according to the EVA Geeks Wiki, focuses on “the ‘activities’ of the ‘Hunting Company,’ a political association that thoroughly rejects the weak and weak democracy and aims to establish a dictatorial and fascist society. The story is set in Japan, which is in the midst of a crisis of global depression and a sense of extreme stagnation, and the political organization ‘Hunting Company’ engages in both open and closed conspiracy, violence, and terrorism.”

In that regard, there are actually quite a few parallels between Murakami’s “Hunting Company” and both NERV and its parent organization SEELE in EVA, the latter two of which are depicted in increasingly negative and vilified lights as the series progresses.

Even Aoba somewhat addresses my concerns about the authoritarian nature of a supercomputer administrated government by not only dismissing Ritsuko, Maya & Fuyutsuki as “technophiles!” Furthermore, his his comment also correlates with the second episode’s title “The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still” being an overt reference to the classic sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still, since both stories explore the implications of humanity’s relationship with and over-reliance on technology.

Again, I can’t help but wonder if this was also meant to serve as some kind of critique against fascistic authoritarianism in-relation, only in this case through placing total authority onto science & technology instead of a traditional human dictator?

Lol! I love the expressionless look on Misato’s face as she casually tries to shut the elevator doors as soon as she see’s Kaji rushing towards the doors, only for her facial expressions to immediately shift to cartoonish annoyance as soon as Kaji stops the doors from closing and gets inside with her!

Sigh… poor Shinji… I can’t help but feel incredibly bad for him here as Gendo coldly and rudely dismisses his own son when he tries to call about parental approval for a vocational education form, demanding that Shinji never call him on that phone line ever again. Have I mentioned before how much I absolutely despise Gendo’s guts?

Also, I don’t think I’ve given Spike Spencer’s voice acting as Shinji enough credit during this marathon. While Spencer’s delivery does start off pretty rough in places during the first few episodes of the series, you can really see him grow more naturally accustomed to the role as the show progresses. Spencer conveys Shinji’s feelings of anxiety, confusion, and rejection during this pay phone interaction so well!

Oh boy! It’s during this scene where Shinji’s being scolded on the phone by Gendo that crap truly starts to go down in this episode! Not only does Shinji randomly lose his father’s signal during their call all of a sudden, but at the exact same moment the power completely goes out in NERV HQ, trapping Misato & Kaji in the elevator in the process! Even all of the emergency back-up generators have completely shut down, therefore rendering NERV and all of Tokyo-3 completely without electricity. Additionally, Fuyutsuki orders that all little remaining power be completely redirected towards operating the Magi, even if it means completely cutting off NERV’s life-support systems (again, reinforcing the inherent authoritarianism behind relegating all political power to 3 supercomputers).

Like dang! This entire scenario of NERV and the city of Tokyo-3 experiencing a mass blackout not only makes for an incredibly entertaining premise for the episode, but from a thematic perspective it effectively conveys why putting all of our faith and trust in technology to administer our lives and daily routines has its serious drawbacks and risks!

Wait, why does the street have “EVA Socket” written across the left lane in big orange letters? That seems like a random detail…

Asuka continues to demonstrate a similar type of toxic patriarchal attitude that I previously discussed with Misato back in Episode 4, wherein she mocks Shinji for “not acting like a man [and] letting everything get under his skin.” Not only is this reflective of how attitudes of toxic masculinity and patriarchy so systemically interwoven into societal institutions that they can influence of women to uphold said traditionalist perspectives and not just men, but it also highlights a particular characteristic of Asuka’s character specifically. Namely, “masculine protest,” which according the Wikipedia article for this episode, is “a psychological term for a form of rebellion identifiable in women who are tired of the role stereotypically associated with the female gender. [In this regard] Asuka acts as if she is trying to prove herself and surpass the male gender, fusing an inferiority complex and radical rivalry.”

Not only does masculine protest inform Asuka’s egotism and competitive behavior with Shinji during the previous three episodes she’s appeared in so far, but it’s particularly on display here in Episode 11 as the trio of pilots are forced to infiltrate navigate NERV’s maze-like network of during the middle of the blackout.

Asuka’s “masculine protest” also serves as an interesting contrast to Shinji’s behavior being more feminine coded at times, highlighting how her rivalry with Shinji is largely artificial, a byproduct of not only her own deep-seated psychological trauma, but also her unwittingly playing into toxic societal expectations and gender stereotypes despite actively trying to rebel against them. In essence, Asuka wants to prove her own “superiority” to Shinji, but at the same time she tries to force expectations of toxic masculinity onto him in order to inflate said-competition! This also ties into the episode’s underlying themes regarding the fallacies of authoritarianism, since Asuka repeatedly tries to reinforce her own singular authority upon her fellow EVA pilots whom she perceives as being inferior to herself, only for the majority of said-efforts to be undermined by her peers, thereby demonstrating just how inefficient authoritarianism actually is.

And to cap off this scene, I love the subtle look Rei gives as Asuka is emasculating Shinji. As if to indicate that she’s beginning to question pre-programmed societal and gender expectations? That wouldn’t surprise me considering that Rei’s overall character arc is all about gradually questioning and later defying Gendo’s abusive gaslighting and expectations in order to achieve independence by discovering her own individual sense of self. In a sense, while Rei was designed as a cog in NERV’s authoritarian machine in order to fulfill Gendo’s patriarchal ambitions to resurrect his wife Yui Ikari (due to Rei’s nature as a clone of Yui artificially created in a lab), she’s beginning to question the expectations and norms imposed upon her since birth!

So this episode actually introduces one of several unanswered mysteries which EVA fans have continued to speculate & debate about in the decades since the series’ release: who exactly was responsible for the blackout in Tokyo-3?

Misato & Gendo both come to the realization that the blackout must be a deliberate act of sabotage since they state that it’s impossible for all three of the generators which supply NERV HQ and the city above with electricity to simultaneously shut down. Despite the episode raising the question of who exactly cut the power, the culprit’s identity is never confirmed either here or later on the series. While some fans have speculated that it was either a random terrorist, or agents of SEELE who caused the blackout, I’ve personally also believed to Kaji be a likely suspect due to him being a double/triple agent for both NERV and SEELE who’s true allegiances are similarly left incredibly vague!

If Kaji is indeed the culprit, then him rushing to get on the elevator only for them to get conveniently stuck inside during the blackout definitely wasn’t just an excuse to continue making flirtatious advances towards Misato then!

Lol! The dramatic irony here! Just as soon as Fuyutsuki states that he hopes an Angel doesn’t show up to attack Tokyo-3 during the blackout when NERV is defenseless, the scene immediately cuts to the JSSFD detecting the Ninth Angel, Matarael, slowly approaching Tokyo-3 on radar!

All that’s missing here is the “wa wa wa” trombone sound-effect!

I love the brief montage of Misato, Aoba, and Rei each realizing that the emergency phone lines are down as well! Great editing on Gainax & Ghibli’s part there!

Asuka immediately taking on the self-assigned role of “group leader” the moment she, Rei & Shinji realize that they need to break into NERV HQ themselves in order to assess whether or not anybody inside is in danger. While this is definitely both funny and perfectly in-character for her, it’s also further reflective of her inflated sense of pride and competitive streak while also correlating with her artificiality of her “masculine protest.”

Not only does Asuka bring up the idea of a group leader when it wasn’t even suggested by Shinji or Rei, but she quickly assigns said-role to herself while asking if the two have “any objections?”, in essence forcing them to go along with her games that are designed to validate her own pride. It really does demonstrate how despite Asuka’s constant attempts to frame herself as a “mature grown-up” in the eyes of both her peers and commanding officers, in reality she is acting incredibly childish and immature by doing so. Brilliant screenwriting and characterization on Anno’s part!

Lol! And Rei immediately partially exposes in the inherent childishness of Asuka’s “masculine protest” by pointing out that the emergency entrance to NERV HQ is behind Asuka just as she boasts about leading the way ahead of Rei & Shinji!

Yup… more toxic reinforcement of gender stereotypes on Asuka’s part. She immediately defers to Shinji manually opening the door, essentially ordering him to do all of the heavy-lifting despite her desire to prove her “superiority” simply because she thinks heavy-lifting is “man’s work.”

Interestingly, this scene of Shinji doing the “heavy-lifting” for Asuka is juxtaposed against Hyuga delivering Misato’s laundry for her just as soon as he hears a JSSFD plane overhead warning about the approaching Angel. It seems that while Misato has at least somewhat worked through her previous attitudes concerning toxic patriarchal expectations of men when it comes to Shinji, she’s still actively engaging in such attitudes when it comes to having her subordinate Hyuga basically act as her secretary…

Lol! The Studio Ghibli animation is definitely noticeable in this scene where Kaji suggests that Misato “take off her shirt” when she’s dying of sweat in the elevator…

No joke, when I first saw this scene several years ago of Maya telling Ritsuko that the commanders were “still cool and in control” despite the growing heat and lack of air conditioning, only for it to then cut to Fuyutsuki’s bare feet in a bucket of water behind the desk and to have him tell Gendo, “It’s hot…,” I immediately burst out laughing!

I think it was the combination of the contrast of Maya’s impression of Fuyutski’s professionalism against the silly image of his bare feet in water, as well as VA Guil Lunde’s dry delivery of Fuyutsuki’s line that made me laugh so hard! Haters like to say that EVA is nothing but depressing psychoanalysis, but scenes like this prove that EVA can actually be incredibly funny whenever it wants to be!

Another funny moment! Hyuga basically just carjacked a news van in order to not only warn people about the rapidly approaching Angel, but also to break through the barricades to NERV HQ! Feel sorry for the poor news anchors he dragged into this though…

Fuyutski & Ritsuko’s theory about someone deliberately sabatoging NERV’s power systems in order to get a complete read-out of the headquarters and the system’s layouts definitely provides credence to the fan theory that this was all part of SEELE’s plans to later launch an all out invasion during The End of Evangelion, especially since Episode 7 previously established that NERV was also facing severe budget cuts for their defense program! Anno is very efficient in subtly foreshadowing and planting the seeds for future payoffs incredibly early on! Kudos!

Also, Gendo’s line about “mankind’s greatest enemy [being] man himself” after Fuyutsuki expresses frustration about the first being to truly infiltrate NERV HQ being “a member of [their] own species.” This highlights how despite the looming apocalyptic threat that the Angels represent to humanity, at the end of the day the principle antagonist of the Evangelion franchise is ultimately humanity itself! A sentiment which will later be reflected by Misato & Hyuga during a similar exchange in The End of Evangelion!

Lol! Looking at this image of Asuka, Shinji & Rei marching single file through NERV’s dark tunnels, combined with Asuka’s own childish games of “leadership,” I can’t help but think that Asuka would fit in perfectly with John, Michael and the Lost Boys of Neverland from Disney’s Peter Pan!

Actually… considering that John and the Lost Boys were similarly playing in childish games of “hunting Indians” (yeah… some casual 1950s colonialist racism on Disney’s part there… classy…) while including anti-Indigenous slurs in their “Following the Leader” song, while also dismissing Peter and Wendy visiting the Neverland’s mermaids as “girls stuff” in a misogynistic manner, the Peter Pan reference is actually more apt than I originally thought considering that those are similar authoritarian & gender-essentialist societal “norms” that this episode is criticizing Asuka for actively engaging in...

As funny as it is to see Asuka immediately defer to Rei leading them to the shortcut after the overhear Hyuga overhead warning about the Angel despite still proclaiming to be the leader, it does feel a bit out of character for Asuka considering how much she hates Rei especially for reminding her about the parts about her past that she hates about herself. Or is this Anno deliberately conveying subconscious cracks in Asuka’s armor?

Oh boy, Shinji finally asked one of the biggest questions a lot of fans were probably having by this point in the series (myself included when I first watched it): “What exactly are the Angels and why are they attacking us? Aren’t they supposed to be messengers from God?”

And of course Asuka does little to answer his questions by shutting him down with her, “What are you, stupid?”, catchphrase before giving him the reductive answer of, “Who cares? They attacked us first? And when someone’s attacking you, you attack back.”

It’s definitely reflective of Asuka’s narrow-minded and immature mindset…

Holy crap! The scene where the trio makes a wrong turn (once again due to Asuka’s childish egotism), only for her to open a door back to the surface with the 9th Angel, Matarael, lurching across the city and stopping to stare directly back at her, leading to Asuka to quickly shut the door in an understandable panic, is still legitimately terrifying and chilling! The soundtrack “Angel Attack III” certainly helps emphasize the fear in tension on display here!

Returning to Matarael specifically though, I do quite dig this Angel’s design here. Not only does Matarael have this unique arachnid-like aesthetic, with its giant lumbering legs making it strongly resemble a daddy long-legs spider (which make the Angel’s movements feel simultaneously slow yet menacing) but also the multiple Illuminati-pyramid eyes that are spread out all across its body! While some fans have obviously connected the pyramid eyes to SEELE considering the organization’s similarities to Illuminati conspiracy theories, I can’t help but be reminded of Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls every time I now look at Matarael’s eyes!

Are we sure Matarael is actually an Angel and not just a relative of Bill Cipher’s from the Weirdmaggedon dimension? It’s certainly possible considering that not only is inter-dimensional travel a firmly established precedent in Gravity Falls, but the series finale of that show also references a lot of visual imagery from EVA!

Being serious again though, in regards to this Angel’s name, Wikipedia states that, “The name Matarael (Hebrew: מטראל) also comes from the Book of Enoch, where he is described as the angel of rain. The name of Evangelion's Matarael refers to its offensive strategy and its powerful, corrosive acid, which it rains on its enemies.”

Lol! The image of a Hyuga driving a news van directly into Central Dogma is in-and-of-itself a hilarious image!

Despite my open and justified disdain for Gendo Ikari, I do have to begrudgingly give him some credit for having the ingenuity and foresight for the possibility of having to launch the Evangelions manually if the power ever completely ran out (despite all the aforementioned failsafes), even having a back-up diesel generator on stand-by for such an emergency.

It pains me to say it but… kudos Gendo? No, it I still feel dirty saying that!

Oh boy… I love this heavy and intense confrontation between Asuka & Rei as the latter once again tries to properly guide the trio to Central Dogma after Asuka’s previous multiple failed attempts. Seeing this as the third strike Rei has inflicted upon Asuka’s pride (Strikes 1 & 2 occured back in Episodes 9 & 10), Asuka is seriously beginning to make some serious negative presumptions about Rei’s character, not only projecting her own sense of inflated superiority onto Rei, but even expressing jealousy over the fact that Gendo seems to be playing favoritism with Rei.

And I love how Rei immediately counters Asuka’s accusations about “not feeling superior or being favorited by anyone,” stating that, “I am treated no better than anyone else here.” Is Rei slowly starting to realize that Gendo’s treatment of her is actually incredibly toxic and abusive?

Asuka telling Shinji, “First Child is definitely aggressive, and I’ll bet she’ll do anything to stay number one! Some people just think that they’re better than others!” Yup, definitely some hypocritical projection on Asuka’s part…

Geez! Even imagining just how unbelievably heavy manually inserting that Entry-Plug into Unit-01 via a rope-&-pulley system must be, even with Gendo and half-a-dozen other people doing so, just hurts to even think about! I bet all of their muscles are incredibly sore for the rest of the day…

Lol! I love how while Shinji & Asuka fall out of the air vent and land on top of each other in, Rei instead gently drops herself down in a composed and graceful manner! A great method of visual contrast and characterization!

So this is the first of two scenes in which Shinji starts to develop a false sense of hope that his father is finally starting to appreciate and value his existence. Shinji is shocked to hear from Ritsuko that his father personally helped prepare EVA Unit-01’s Entry-Plug, with her stating that Gendo “believed in him,” before Shinji looks up to see Gendo still pulling on the rope to lift the plug.

While Ritsuko’s words feel rather unhelpful and hollow due to what an abusive piece of crap Gendo actually is, considering that The End of Evangelion later reveals that Gendo does secretly love Shinji but has always purposefully neglected his son out of fear of hurting him due to his own self-loathing, I can’t help but wonder if there’s actually some truth to Ritsuko’s words here? I mean… its certainly possible considering that its also later revealed that Ritsuko is sleeping with Gendo (again… gross!).

It’s actually pretty neat seeing the NERV staff being forced to prepare the Evangelions for launch manually and without electricity, unlocking all of the heavy machinery locks either by hand or with what limited power that the diesel generator provides them, as well as the fact that the pilots themselves have to use their EVA Units to push the walls locking them in place as well! It certainly creates a visually distinct and unique variation of the traditional EVA launch sequence! I love it!

Lol! The image of Units-00 through 02 crawling through the giant air vents with giant battery-packs on their backs just looks so silly! But still… again I love it

Shifting away from silly imagery though… Matarael oozing acid directly out of its eyeball to burn its way down into the GeoFront is simultaneously incredibly disgusting & disturbing, further emphasizing the EVA’s Angels as these eldritch alien monstrosities!

Alright! So Asuka’s actually demonstrating some legitimate leadership skills during the Angel fight of this episode! While this is still another veiled egotistical effort to prove her own “superiority” as part of her “masculine protest,” her strategy of having her Unit-02 act a living shield to protect Shinji & Rei’s respective units from Matarael’s acid as the two try to retrieve their dropped rifles at the bottom of the vertical shaft, with Shinji Unit-01 acting as an offense to whom Rei’s Unit-00 will serve as backup to by throwing the rifle up the shaft towards, thereby allowing the Shinji’s offensive EVA unit to fire a barrage of gunfire at the Angel above as the Asuka’s defensive EVA unit gets out of the way, destroying the Angel!

Like, this is actually some mature and calculated planning on Asuka’s part! A definite contrast to her previous immature boasting and lack of sense of direction while navigating NERV HQ during the rest of the episode. Asuka actually is capable of showing emotional maturity when the time is necessary!

Although from a motivation perspective, Asuka’s strategic planning is still rooted in her misguided sense of pride, since she not only immediately interjects Rei’s offer to serve as defense against Matarael’s acid by demanding to take her place, but tells Shinji that it’s her time to save him so that she doesn’t owe him any favors after he previously rescued her after the fight with Sandalphon in the previous episode!

Also, Rei being assigned the role of backup instead of offensive further illustrates that Asuka holds Rei in even lower regard than she does Shinji…

In addition to being such clever strategic planning on Asuka’s part, the actual execution of Asuka’s strategy is incredibly epic as well! I especially love the quick choreography of seeing the units drop down and prop themselves against the walls of the vent in rapid succession, with Asuka blocking Matarel’s acid, Rei using her Units booster jets to descend to the bottom of the pit, and Shinji firing a rapid volley of gunfire upwards which kills the Angel! Badass!

So… was Kaji actually looking up Misato’s dress like she speculated as she was up on his shoulders desperately trying to open the elevator roof while dying from a bursting bladder? Or was he just trying to look at her opening the door? Because if it’s the former, then that’s rather creepy on Kaji’s part…

Lol! If the Fuyutsuki with bare feet in a bucket of water scene is my favorite gag in this episode, then this right here is easily my second favorite! Just as Misato & Kaji are trying to open the elevator roof door, the power suddenly comes back on and the two lose their balance as the elevator starts to move again and reach its intended floor! Only for the door to open to reveal Ritsuko, Maya & Hyuga on the other side, and the three see sweaty and exhausted Misato & Kaji lying on top of each other in the floor! And given that Misato has her jacket off combined with her & Kaji’s exhaustion, sweat and unfortunate positioning, the three immediately assume the absolute worst, with Maya coldly commenting in response, “Sex fiends…”

Absolutely priceless!

As gorgeous as this closing scene of Shinji, Asuka & Rei gazing up at the starry night as Toyko-3’s power comes back on is, it does raise some very interesting philosophical questions. While Shinji can’t help but appreciate the beauty of the night sky with he absence of light pollution, discovering the beauty which technology and electricity makes us forget, Asuka can’t help but state that she feels much safer and more comfortable with the artificial light that electricity provides, stating that it makes her feel closer to humans.

Not only does this harken back to the Hedgehog’s Dilemma in which people will pursue empty and hollow relationships out of fear of hurting each other, but it also argues that it is primarily due to humanity’s over reliance on technology that they are able to obtain the power that they possess. This is further reinforced by Rei’s comments about “Man [fearing] the darkness, and so he skirts away at the edges of it with fire,” which insinuates that technological advancement is derived from a desire for power, and that a desire for power is derived from fear of the dark, of the unknown.

It’s this desire for power & control, and fearing of the unknown & the other which is sadly the source of humanity’s sins and crimes throughout real-life, especially considering that the countries at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution were also the ones who perpetuated centuries upon centuries of colonialism, slavery, and genocide upon those that they othered and exploited for their technological advancements. It’s honestly a rather insightful critique about the correlation between over reliance on technological advancement and the adherence to fascistic authoritarianism which I alluded to at the start of the episode concerning Tokyo-3 utilizing the Magi supercomputer system to make all of the important political decisions in the place of an actual democratically elected government.

Also, the fact that Shinji then speculates over whether or not this “fear of the dark” and technological advancement is not only “what makes mankind a special species,” but also the reason that the Angels want to destroy them, implying that what makes humanity “special” it’s sins and flaws, and that the Angels are therefore passing divine judgement upon them. It also harkens back to Gendo’s previous words of “Mankind greatest enemy is man himself.” Some strong thematic writing on Anno’s part there!

And of course, the episode ends with Asuka demonstrating that despite her growth during the fight with Matarael, she still has a LLLOOONNNGGG way to go as she once again falling back on her old childish habits by dismissing Rei & Shinji’s philosophical questions with, “What are you? Stupid?! Who knows what [the Angels] think?”

So that was NGE, “Episode 11: In the Still Darkness/The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still,” and overall it was another incredibly strong entry into the series! In addition to further emphasizing Asuka's flawed superiority complex through the lens of her "masculine protest" all throughout this episode, I especially loved the thematic and philosophical questions it raises about the dichotomy between technology, nature, humanity, & power, which is definitely a correlation with the kinds of elements found in the anime films directed by Anno's good friend Miyazaki. In that regard, it's actually kind of fitting that Studio Ghibli served as the guest-animators for this episode. Additionally this episode not only enhances the overall intrigue and ambiguity surrounding the shows mysteries through the unknown culprit behind the NERV and Tokyo-3 blackout, the fight with Matarael was another banger Angel fight, and this episode features some the absolute funniest moments in the entire series (special thanks to Fuyutsuki and Maya! Your comedic bits were most definitely appreciated)!

Next time it’s gonna be Episode 12!

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