#feel free to disagree!

[muffin-snakes-art]

Hi. So I’m not a Layton guy and all THAT familiar with the lore, but a close friend of mine is, and as far as I understand Layton has a dead girlfriend? Can I please know who Magolor’s dead girlfriend equivalent in this AU is? I’m legitimately so curious. /pos

I have been thinking A LOT about which Kirby character would fit Claire's (dead gf) role. In the end I chose Taranza bc I feel he and Claire are the most similar in character. They're both really good at what they do (Claire: brilliant scientist - Taranza: immaculate mage), quick thinkers, humble, and have a lot of love to give.

I'll explain more under the cut (along with images of Claire and younger Layton for design ref), but Taranza could've also fit in as a couple other characters bc I made Sectonia as Descole. In this essay I will-

In Kirby there's an interesting connection between Magolor and Taranza. Primarily based on that one Magolor portrait in that haunted house in Triple Deluxe (like ok huh????) and also that one Star Allies Wave 3 illustration.

With that portrait existing, to me it implies that Magolor has met Taranza and Sectonia before the events of the game somehow. This theory is further backed up with the Old Friend mask in Merry Magoland. Magolor would HAVE to have known what Joronia looked like before her transformation, and that means he would also have met Taranza too at that time. I could be completely wrong about this HAHA but those are my thoughts on that.

When Wave 3 was announced, I didn't think much on the connection of the 3 characters other than they were from the first three core games of modern Kirby. But then they posted this art piece.

It's so cute how Magolor and Taranza combined their magic to create a shield for Kirby!! Both of their respective magic circle designs are melded together perfectly. Did they practice together on their own to perform this or was that a lucky in-the-moment occurrence? Either way, they must know and understand each other's magic abilities to a decent extent. Like how both Claire and Layton understands each other's careers and goals. Layton is a professor in archeology. Claire is a scientist researching time travel and other stuffs. Those fields go hand in hand, and the two do what they can to support and improve each other's passions.

Now onto the other characters that Taranza would've fit as and reasons why I ended up putting him as Claire.

So I put Sectonia as Descole. Descole has an extremely loyal partner/butler/henchman named Raymond. Yea Taranza would easily fit as him, but a few things made me decide not to. Descole may appear cold and not show it, but even in his madness he cares for Raymond. He does order Raymond around, but he still gives Raymond freewill to do as he pleases. Sectonia is very controlling over Taranza. If Raymond were to make mistakes, I don't see Descole punishing him for them. Sectonia would. She blasted Taranza away for mistaking Dedede as the hero of the lower world. Maybe when she was Joronia she wouldn't and wasn't as controlling but....I feel we don't have the full story on their relationship. I also focused more on Sectonia's overall in-game personality. I absolutely love seeing the two spiders enjoying each other's company and having fun, but in-game we never really got what Joronia really thought of Taranza. As Sectonia, she saw him as a disposable servant. You can say her personality was corrupted by the mirror, but I personally believe the mirror actually amplified her negative feelings and views. Negative emotions are brought up a lot in Kirby lore. I personally find that more interesting than just the mirror possessing her or something. I may be very wrong on that, but those are what I thought about.

Last reason, which is uhm, Raymond saves Descole from death FGDHSJ I don't think I need to elaborate on that. It would be so neat and ironic to have Taranza as Raymond, but I also wanna keep things in line as possible with Kirby lore canon.

Yet, who could be Raymond then? Idk fgdsj that's why I struggled so much. If Claire wasn't an option, Taranza would've been Raymond.

Now the one other character Taranza could've fit as is Descole's late wife. His wife was never mentioned by name, to my memory, and didn't have a huge role in the games. There's not enough information on who she was. I wanted to give Taranza a fitting role in personality and importance.

So in the end after all that thinking, Claire it is! I also don't know who else in the Kirby cast would fit her better and be Professor Magolor's late partner. One may think Susie would fit Claire more, but I've already decided she will be Emmy. Emmy's and Susie's personalities are very similar to me. And Emmy's lore? Fits quite well with Susie's. I'll draw that at some point.

So uh yea. Thanks for reading all that if you did! Hope you enjoyed the insanity

#feel free to disagree! #I thought about this for the past few days I am unwell #i spent a good few hours writing this #there are many other important things i could've put my time into but this is very important to me #one last thing... #I've also decided who'll be Don Paolo #mark HAHA #it sounds so dumb knowing the story but also fitting in character??? #that may change but I can't stop thinking about Don Marx...... #asks #anon ask #kirby #magolor #taranza #sectonia #PLxKirby #professor layton #hershel layton #claire foley #jean descole #nintendo #hal laboratory #fanart #clip studio paint #magoranza/taranzolor get yo food #i don't ship characters but this is a cute ship and I see the appeal #i feel there's more to say about Magolor's and Taranza's connection #and how it parallels Claire's and Layton's story #but I can't figure out how to word it and it's mostly hc based #am tired idk how to write

[smallchildyue]

So as always I was thinking about Soukoku and the whole "Dazai fell first but Chūya fell harder" ordeal.

Because, think about it : when they first met, their interactions made clear that they had about the same level of annoyance/disdain for each other, alright. But the thing is, while Chūya's quickly grew into full-on hatred (please please PLEASE go read this post by @sorcerersandskillusers on the topic it's brilliant), I don't believe it's the same for Dazai. On the contrary, I'd say he instead grew fond of Chūya, or at least found him amusing and or interesting enough that it cancelled his initial negative feelings.

Now Dazai being who he is (aka an emotionally repressed teenager to whom I don't think anyone had ever shown affection) of course he expressed it with all the subtlety of a preschool brat pulling the hair of that playmate he likes, but that's a whole other story.

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd chūya #bsd dazai #nakahara chuuya #dazai osamu #soukoku #bsd headcanons #yue rambles #(but seriously this time lmao) #feel free to disagree! #i love to debate hcs with people ^^

[leceittthinksthisisnifty]

Okay so this is random and not really important haha but I've been thinking about this kinda saying I see sometimes on social media? Being "forcing an 18-year-old to choose what they'll be for the rest of their life is awful and wrong #societysucks" or whatever,,,and idk I just have some thoughts on that. One being, when else should a person have the chance to choose who they want to be? I feel like being stuck in general education for 12 years, being forced to learn a crap ton of topics that will likely never come into your life again, is enough? Isn't it? I don't know, to each their own, but I am very happy to be done with general education. Is this implying that such education should last longer? So, when will it end? The result of this just means that post-secondary education won't end until you're much older, too. If you go to uni for a bachelor's at 18 you could finish by 22, are they implying to not start until 20? 25? that means you won't end until later, too, right? As a person hoping for a medical degree, there's a big chance that I'll be stuck in uni for like 10-13 years, and this time scares me. I find myself often wishing I could have started uni earlier.. Two, is it really a societal problem? I mean, the government isn't stopping you from taking a gap year (I say this referring to my own country, I'm not sure how it works in others). If a person really thinks they need more time to decide, they can spend that time working and collecting money for eventually getting into whatever degree they want. Unless their family is pushing them to go right away, which I understand as I have experience with that situation, but that's more of a familial problem no? The government can't exactly be expected to barge into your home and beg your family to reconsider. So that takes away from that. The main problem I can see in this situation is the problem of money. Education (at least where I'm from) costs A LOT. And it just isn't possible to go jumping from degree to degree until you find one you like, unless you have the funds for it, which many, many people don't. Rather than this being a problem of society forcing 18-year-olds to decide on their future, I see this as a problem of society making the act of learning and deciding so costly that many people don't even have the opportunity to casually switch when they're uncertain, without it severely affecting their financial situation.

That's about it lol

#politics #society #personal rant #rant post #ranting #I was just thinking about this to myself while procrastinating and felt the need to share haha #feel free to disagree! #I'm open to hearing opposing views #it would help me understand the concept better #myposts #my posts

[its-tortle]

— taylor swift albums as months of the year —

#thought about adding ttpd as november #but i did not feel sure enough #also i think folklore is a mix of august/september and evermore is a mix of november/december #but i went with the later months because september is also a retrospective of summer and december includes the experience of november yknow #i hope that makes sense #and i hope my general album to month decisions make sense also #feel free to ask me about my reasoning #or fully disagree with me lmao #taylor swift #ts #taylor swift albums #tortle makes things #ts debut #fearless #speak now #red #1989 #reputation #lover #folklore #evermore #midnights

[procrastiel]

My observations from the Good Omens fandom:

Fanart and fics that are from the time before the TV series (1990 - 2019): Az & Co love each other deeply and there are no labels. Their love is very chaste and they usually kiss only. Ace vibes.

Fanart and fics after GO S1 (2019 - 2023): Aziraphale is a babe, a softie, and Crowley is the strong protector. The only fanart where Crowley is the one holding Aziraphale in his arms is from this time period. Fics are often explicit, but it’s very balanced between top Crowley and Top Aziraphale. There is a lot of play with different genitalia, but the main focus is still the strong, intense, unbreakable bond between the two, which defies all human relationship labels.

Fanart and fics after GO S2 (Aug. 2023 - present): Crowley is the soft, whiny baby who needs protection. Most fanart depicts Aziraphale as the strong protector and Crowley as the fragile girlfriend behind him. Crowley is very often depicted with black nail polish & long hair, more feminine character traits, unless both characters are female. Most fics are explicit, and Aziraphale is dominating Crowley, Crowley is desperately looking for approval or being a total brat and making Aziraphale’s life a living hell after the final fifteen, pouting and being angry/resentful. The main focus in the fics in now the sex and sexual pleasure. Now there is also a lot more exploration of different AUs and incarnations e.g. Crowley is very often a snake, they are drawn as robots or mouse & rat, AUs for coffee shops, gardeners, priests etc.

I am not judging this trend in any way, but I personally prefer the depictions and interpretations during the S1 era, because they feel the most true to the source material of the TV show for me. I wonder if after S3 it will diverge even further or if it will circle back.

#good omens #i have things to say #crowzi #ineffable husbands #feel free to disagree #aziraphale #crowley #good omens fandom #good omens fanart

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Gaslighter? I hardly know her!

[First] Prev <–-> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #jin guangyao #qin su #The parallels to the mulderskully comic were genuine scripting coincidences that I kept in for the irony. #wwx and mulder both have a strong need to show their beloved (investigation) partner the cool thing they just found. #Much to their chagrin and concern. #For as much of a mess the plot gets in The Untamed...one of the things it does probably the best of all adaptions is setting up JGY. #specifically how we spend time getting to know him as a *Regular Guy* around our deuteragonists' age. #I love how he's present in the cloud recess arc! I was rooting for him as a character! The twist villain reveal felt so heartbreaking! #Here in the audio drama (for as much as it does well) we pretty much get 2 scenes tops with this guy before he's villain monologuing. #before this we know him as 1) the guy NMJ yelled at a lot 2) a suspect 3) leader guy Jin Ling was partially raised by. #The elements are there but but not with any particular depth to make him...interesting (in this version). #Sure we get to learn more after the fact but it just falls so flat in comparison B*/ #ohhhh noooo the guy we are pretty sure killed a guy is gaslighting his wife and has a secret torture chamber. And he's a politician. #not much of a mystery to it all innit. #Feel free to disagree or bring up differing points btw; I love media analysis convos and this truly is just my opinion.

[unsertraumschiff]

spock chart that came to me in a vision

#i am certain some people would disagree with me on classifying leonard as straight and/or bully as gay. #however it is for the joke and the joke ONLY #so feel free to switch them in your head or something. either works they’re both gay spocks #I think some people would also disagree with me calling aos straight. sorry for that. once again a simplification for the bit #not even gonna tag this tbh it’s a bad meme #except for one tag: #bullyparade #for my personal reference

[cerealbishh]

"Good job, Aerith!" "It was nothing compared to you!" // "I'm so glad you're all okay!" "Right back atcha."

#ffvii remake #ffvii rebirth #aerith gainsborough #tifa lockhart #aerti #aerith x tifa #ffvii rebirth spoilers? #i love them so much #and i'm sure someone's already made this gifset but better... but why not? #i quoted their first and last high five dialogue #aerti high fives are adorable and romantic too i think #but obviously feel free to disagree #ffviiedit #ffviiredit #tifalockhartedit #aerithgainsboroughedit #aertiedit #pls not aerith's little hop/jump and tifa leaning in... it's too cute #twitter could never make me hate either one of these ladies #i might be missing a high five or two so if you can let me knoe which ones i'm missing that'd be great!

[kaladinkholins]

Very interesting to me that a certain subset of the BES fandom's favourite iterations of Mizu and Akemi are seemingly rooted in the facades they have projected towards the world, and are not accurate representations of their true selves.

And I see this is especially the case with Mizu, where fanon likes to paint her as this dominant, hyper-masculine, smirking Cool GuyTM who's going to give you her strap. And this idea of Mizu is often based on the image of her wearing her glasses, and optionally, with her cloak and big, wide-brimmed kasa.

And what's interesting about this, to me, is that fanon is seemingly falling for her deliberate disguise. Because the glasses (with the optional combination of cloak and hat) represent Mizu's suppression of her true self. She is playing a role.

Take this scene of Mizu in the brothel in Episode 4 for example. Here, not only is Mizu wearing her glasses to symbolise the mask she is wearing, but she is purposely acting like some suave and cocky gentleman, intimidating, calm, in control. Her voice is even deeper than usual, like what we hear in her first scene while facing off with Hachiman the Flesh-Trader in Episode 1.

This act that Mizu puts on is an embodiment of masculine showboating, which is highly effective against weak and insecure men like Hachi, but also against women like those who tried to seduce her at the Shindo House.

And that brings me to how Mizu's mask is actually a direct parallel to Akemi's mask in this very same scene.

Here, Akemi is also putting up an act, playing up her naivety and demure girlishness, using her high-pitched lilted voice, complimenting Mizu and trying to make small talk, all so she can seduce and lure Mizu in to drink the drugged cup of sake.

So what I find so interesting and funny about this scene, characters within it, and the subsequent fandom interpretations of both, is that everyone seems to literally be falling for the mask that Mizu and Akemi are putting up to conceal their identities, guard themselves from the world, and get what they want.

It's also a little frustrating because the fanon seems to twist what actually makes Mizu and Akemi's dynamic so interesting by flattening it completely. Because both here and throughout the story, Mizu and Akemi's entire relationship and treatment of each other is solely built off of masks, assumptions, and misconceptions.

Akemi believes Mizu is a selfish, cocky male samurai who destroyed her ex-fiance's career and life, and who abandoned her to let her get dragged away by her father's guards and forcibly married off to a man she didn't know. on the other hand, Mizu believes Akemi is bratty, naive princess who constantly needs saving and who can't make her own decisions.

These misconceptions are even evident in the framing of their first impressions of each other, both of which unfold in these slow-motion POV shots.

Mizu's first impression of Akemi is that of a beautiful, untouchable princess in a cage. Swirling string music in the background.

Akemi's first impression of Mizu is of a mysterious, stoic "demon" samurai who stole her fiance's scarf. Tense music and the sound of ocean waves in the background.

And then, going back to that scene of them together in Episode 4, both Mizu and Akemi continue to fool each other and hold these assumptions of each other, and they both feed into it, as both are purposely acting within the suppressive roles society binds them to in order to achieve their goals within the means they are allowed (Akemi playing the part of a subservient woman; Mizu playing the part of a dominant man).

But then, for once in both their lives, neither of their usual tactics work.

Akemi is trying to use flattery and seduction on Mizu, but Mizu sees right through it, knowing that Akemi is just trying to manipulate and harm her. Rather than give in to Akemi's tactics, Mizu plays with Akemi's emotions by alluding to Taigen's death, before pinning her down, and then when she starts crying, Mizu just rolls her eyes and tells her to shut up.

On the opposite end, when Mizu tries to use brute force and intimidation, Akemi also sees right through it, not falling for it, and instead says this:

"Under your mask, you're not the killer you pretend to be."

Nonetheless, despite the fact that they see a little bit through each other's masks, they both still hold their presumptions of each other until the very end of the season, with Akemi seeing Mizu as an obnoxious samurai swooping in to save the day, and Mizu seeing Akemi as a damsel in distress.

And what I find a bit irksome is that the fandom also resorts to flattening them to these tropes as well.

Because Mizu is not some cool, smooth-talking samurai with a big dick sword as Akemi (and the fandom) might believe. All of that is the facade she puts up and nothing more. In reality, Mizu is an angry, confused and lonely child, and a masterful artist, who is struggling against her own self-hatred. Master Eiji, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

And Akemi, on the other hand, is not some girly, sweet, vain and spoiled princess as Mizu might believe. Instead she has never cared for frivolous things like fashion, love or looks, instead favouring poetry and strategy games instead, and has always only cared about her own independence. Seki, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

But neither is she some authoritative dominatrix, though this is part of her new persona that she is trying to project to get what she wants. Because while Akemi is willful, outspoken, intelligent and authoritative, she can still be naive! She is still often unsure and needs to have her hand held through things, as she is still learning and growing into her full potential. Her new parental/guardian figure, Madame Kaji, knows this as well.

So with all that being said, now that we know that Mizu and Akemi are essentially wearing masks and putting up fronts throughout the show, what would a representation of Mizu's and Akemi's true selves actually look like? Easy. It's in their hair.

This shot on the left is the only time we see Mizu with her hair completely down. In this scene, she's being berated by Mama, and her guard is completely down, she has no weapon, and is no longer wearing any mask, as this is after she showed Mikio "all of herself" and tried to take off the mask of a subservient housewife. Thus, here, she is sad, vulnerable, and feeling small (emphasised further by the framing of the scene). This is a perfect encapsulation of what Mizu is on the inside, underneath all the layers of revenge-obsession and the walls she's put around herself.

In contrast, the only time we Akemi with her hair fully down, she is completely alone in the bath, and this scene takes place after being scorned by her father and left weeping at his feet. But despite all that, Akemi is headstrong, determined, taking the reigns of her life as she makes the choice to run away, but even that choice is reflective of her youthful naivety. She even gets scolded by Seki shortly after this in the next scene, because though she wants to be independent, she still hasn't completely learned to be. Not yet. Regardless, her decisiveness and moment of self-empowerment is emphasised by the framing of the scene, where her face takes up the majority of the shot, and she stares seriously into the middle distance.

To conclude, I wish popular fanon would stop mischaracterising these two, and flattening them into tropes and stereotypes (ie. masculine badass swordsman Mizu and feminine alluring queen but also girly swooning damsel Akemi), all of which just seems... reductive. It also irks me when Akemi is merely upheld as a love interest and romantic device for Mizu and nothing more, when she is literally Mizu's narrative foil (takes far more narrative precedence over romantic interest) and the deuteragonist of this show. She is her own person. That is literally the theme of her entire character and arc.

#blue eye samurai #mizu blue eye samurai #akemi blue eye samurai #blue eye samurai meta #just in case... im gonna tag this as #mizukemicritical #akemizucritical #though this post isnt actually criticising the ship itself but rather fanon's portrayal of the ship and the characters #for that reason lemme also tag this as #wank.mp3 #feel free to disagree of course but please be civil #and if you need to rant about how wrong i am without any convincing evidence kindly feel free to make your own post. peace and love <3 #fandom.rtf #meta dissertations.pdf #shut up haydar #edit: for full disclosure. i do rather dislike this ship. but obviously it's fine for anyone to enjoy it. please do! have your fun! #it's just that as usual! popular fanon and fandom around a ship is what has completely deterred me from any sense of enjoyment of it #it's a shame too because i was very open and even eager for some mizu/akemi romance in the future #but out-of-character fanon + the rudeness of certain fans has definitely soured it for me #but that doesn't mean people can't enjoy it obviously! ship and let ship!!! #plus it has its appeal which i DO STILL see and enjoy!!!! #i would even go as far as to call them soulmates because their narratives and characters are LITERALLY intertwined!!! #but. yeah. my gradual distaste for this ship is indeed very unfortunate.

[svltburn]

all of the yellowjackets are going to die.

i've had different versions of this theory bouncing around in my head since mid s1, and if you've seen final destination, you can just skip the rest of the post because you probably already know where i'm going with this.

natalie's death scene was overall unsatisfying in my opinion, but that's not because i don't think that the show was leading up to it eventually. her character arc was rushed and cut off too abruptly, but after sitting with the episode for a bit, i do think that natalie was always going to be the first of the survivors we saw die.

"we both know that's not true. this is exactly where we belong. we've been here for years."

now it's notable that natalie is appearing as she did the night of the party in the pilot. the last night before the plane crash. not just her outfit, but her hair and make up are the same. see how much of her roots are grown out, vs how much they're grown out in the 96 timeline.

when that plane went down 600 miles off course, no one was supposed to survive. not a single person on that plane should have made it out. The Wilderness, the lonely, violent, misunderstood Wilderness kept them alive when they crashed into It. when they found cabin guy's plane back in s1, lottie looked at the vines growing around the wheels and said "It didn't want him to leave", and she was right. laura lee's trip ending in spontaneous combustion should have been enough to prove that if only they were paying attention by then.

they all should have died when that plane crashed. The Wilderness allowed them to survive, to make a home. albeit violently, tragically, It nurtured them through two winters, and ungratefully, they all left anyway. eventually they're all going to have to go home to It, one way or another, dead or alive. It's already been inside them for years.

#anyway i'm feeling great! #<- dying inside #yellowjackets #yellowjackets spoilers #natalie scatorccio #lottie matthews #96yellowjackets #anyway i'm just saying things so if u disagree feel free to make fun of me to my face #yellowjackets meta #yellowjackets theory

[be-queer-do-arson]

Okay so I'm not generally a sports person but I can't stop thinking about all the ways the foxes revolutionized exy. For example, the way their tiny team structure made them focus on endurance and coordination rather than brute force? Amazing. And related to that, the way that they adapted by training players to fill multiple positions? That must have had huge implications for how they understood other players needs and allowed for flexibility of they needed someone's specialty in a different position (see the final game). BUT ALSO the way Kevin and Neil specifically shook up the game was insane. Kevin being ambidextrous and using it to make his moves unpredictable. Using heavyweight racquets to put more strength behind their shots. Communicating only in French so opponents don't get any warning but they're still in sync with each other. I'll bet you anything other teams were scrambling to catch up and figure out how to play like the foxes did

#the foxes winning season would have had insane implications for the way exy is played i can feel it in my soul #other teams would've been scrambling to catch up and copy what they were doing but no one can do it like them #the ravens had their time ruling exy but i think the foxess' unpredictability and determination kicked their playing style in the mud #insane about this if you couldn't tell #aftg #neil josten #all for the game #kevin day #the foxhole court #the kings men #the raven king #NOT TO MENTION ANDREW #but during the series what he does is more raw talent than innovative play style #if you disagree and can think of something specific he did please feel free to add on though

[demi-pixellated]

a redesign: to sate my personal sensibilities

#Legend of Zelda #LoZ #Tears of the Kingdom #TotK #totk spoilers #Yona #Fanart #MSPaint Draw #mostly-- i pulled it into sai for colours but yeah #incessantly muttering to myself over the last two weeks 'I Can Fix Her' #i don't have any strong feelings to her as a character but as a design.... #i enjoy the choice to make her a manta ray but I DESPERATELY wish they gave her a flatter head #-- not entirely like Muzu but closer to it #and also I'm severely allergic to saturated colours and she is unlookable #feel free to disagree and disregard this - it's a thought experiment #but Saki is next 😤

[marzipanandminutiae]

I miss people using non-medicalized terms for other people's passions

like. well and good to talk about "hyperfixations," "special interests [in the context of an autistic person's favorite subject]," or "infodumping" if you have ADD/ADHD or autism, or are talking about someone who is, but...that's not everyone who feels strongly about something, obsesses, or loves talking about their interests. those words mean specific things, associated with specific forms of neurodivergence

don't assume everyone is comfortable with that language

"rambling" is a word; so is "ranting." "obsession" is a word. "passion" is a word. learn them and use them

#mini-rant #it makes me really uncomfortable when people use that language to talk about my fandom activities #because those are fine and useful words! they just. don't apply to me. #also the weird assumption that everyone who like...has a hobby is autistic? or feels passionately about any activity? #at least in this case it's coming from a more positive perspective and usually from autistic people themselves but #I see people claiming that X character with a hobby they love is 100% Confirmed Autistic and if you disagree you're a bigot #you are free to headcanon that! but. #neurotypical people also have hobbies sometimes! #just saw someone saying that the character Daria was 'undiagnosed autistic' and therefore criticizing her behavior was Bad #my friend. she is a fake person.

[heeheeehaw]

I think about jiang yanlis most stupid choice so often of running onto that battlefield. It's her most stupid choice but makes the most sense within her character and the story. She has spent her entire childhood perfecting these peacemaking skills and being a pillar for her brothers, protecting them from her parents. But they kept getting older and all of a sudden she isn't protecting them from her parents, there's politics and wars and so much violence that her soup can no longer fix. She watches as she gets closer and closer to losing at least one of her brothers, as their family falls apart and all of a sudden she's grieving her husband, alone with a baby in a place so foreign to her with no support and she is going to lose one if not both of her brothers and she is going to be alone. So she doesn't make the rational choice, she's scared and she's already had a taste at what might happen if she doesn't do something but all she has are the skills of a peacemaker from a time when things were simpler but she tries her best, doing what she knows to keep her brothers safe and fails. It's the stupidest thing she could have done and also the only thing that made sense to her at that moment

#i am speaking out of my ass #but i also have a lot of feelings #feel free to disagree this is just how i percieve that moment #jiang yanli #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian #jiang cheng

[comradekatara]

notes on “the runaway”

the more i see people discuss how strangely sokka’s character is portrayed in “the runaway” the more i cannot help but feel that all my ad hoc rationalizations and justifications as to why he would contradict himself so greatly might actually be meaningless. why would he allow the gaang to endanger themselves for foolish reasons when he is the overly paranoid voice of caution in literally every other episode? why would he be so easily swayed by toph’s manipulative promise of buying him a fancy atlas when he’s literally holding her wanted poster? and most crucially, why would he say that he sees katara as his mother when no other episode in the show indicates that this is remotely the case?

this episode is great for katara and toph, whose hangups are compellingly explored here. i won’t get into the common misconceptions about katara being “motherly” or why they’re even at loggerheads to begin with, as i’ve discussed this at length in the past, but it’s actually undeniable that the assumption that katara is the de facto “mom friend” stems primarily from this episode, where toph all but outright accuses her of fancying herself their collective mother. however, katara becoming “the mother” of the group is very much a post-toph shift in her character, and you see her femininity being accentuated in contrast with toph’s deliberate lack of femininity also being linked to this sort of maternal role that she occasionally adopts, especially around toph. but i don’t actually think the issue is one of katara being a smothering, maternal figure towards toph, but rather a miscommunication regarding power, gender, class, and community vs independence. when katara and toph fight, it is for far more complex and nuanced reasons than the notion that katara is simply too overbearing. if anything, it’s the way in which she is overbearing that irks toph, just as toph’s rudeness is not the central issue, but rather that toph’s values (those of total independence and freedom) are misinterpreted as malice by katara (who values community and collaboration), and vice versa.

something very crucial to understand about this episode is that katara is not actually mad that toph endangered their group by pulling fun scams. katara has endangered their group countless times in the past to satisfy her own impulsive desires (and yes, she wants justice, but toph similarly rationalizes her scams through the lens of achieving moral vindication). katara would be all over toph’s scammery, would come up with scams of her own, would be having more fun than anyone—had she been included from the start. which is exactly the point. it is her exclusion that foments her critique, not the subject of their act itself (and the reason that you could not replace katara with sokka in this scenario is simply because toph would never exclude sokka in the first place). but katara would never admit that she is hurt by toph’s exclusion aloud, because katara is an extremely proud person. and a prideful, wounded fourteen year old is not going to thoughtfully use “i statements” as if in a group therapy session with the equally prideful twelve year old who deliberately excluded her; no, she is going to lash out. (lest we forget that in their first real episode establishing their group dynamic, katara literally mocks toph’s blindness. hardly an okay thing to do, in my opinion!) their conflict stems from their differences, but also from their similarities. they are both proud, angry, powerful, stubborn, and must assert their dominance at all times. it’s clear they both want to be friends with each other, and at times they are, but it is really only in this episode where they are able to cross a threshold that allows them to be truly honest about more meaningful insecurities than simply their looks (although i do of course find their exchange in “tales” beautiful as well). and you know who is instrumental (albeit reluctant to interfere) in facilitating that growth? sokka.

i’ve gone more in depth in the past analyzing why sokka’s speech in this episode regarding his mother and katara isn’t exactly as it sounds. i personally interpret his admission, that katara has always been there for him and that her face is all he sees when he tries to picture his mother, as an illustration of his codependent attachment to her, as she is the very locus of his identity. this interpretation is compounded by the fact that when kya’s face is finally revealed later in the season, she does bear an uncanny resemblance to sokka, which to me signifies the way in which sokka sublimates his own face for katara’s—which is also deeply unhealthy, but in a different way than an older brother parentifying his younger sister would be.

the fact is that there is simply no indication throughout the entire show (including this episode) that sokka views or treats katara as a parent. there are of course moments wherein she supports him emotionally or materially, but most of the time she is in fact teasing, tormenting, undermining, yelling at, or otherwise making life harder for him, at which point he is far more likely to act as her guardian figure and admonish her while simultaneously helping her get out of whatever mess she’s caused. and considering that sokka’s defining moment is when hakoda stakes his identity to protecting his (ontologically special) sister (which, as we know, as the bearer of kya’s face, in fact means dying for her), this dynamic makes far more sense than the other way around. i know that people commonly portray katara as the voice of reason who cleans up sokka’s messes, but besides a couple examples, it’s consistently the other way around. yes, it’s very easy to assume that sokka’s speech indicates that he sees katara as his replacement mother, but we cannot take this speech at face value if we are also to take the rest of the text into account, which we must.

but then there’s also the other glaring question that must be taken into account: why would sokka even allow all this? considering the first thing toph bartered was the sword he has painstakingly crafted just an episode prior, why didn’t sokka just pull the plug then and there? it really doesn’t make sense that sokka wouldn’t take katara’s side just for practical, logistical reasons. even if she doesn’t really care about the own point she’s making (as demonstrated by the fact that the scam she devises literally lands her in jail), sokka would see the logic in it. but... he does. he is the one to first discover the wanted poster, and he immediately points out to toph that their scams are drawing undue attention to her, and that they should put an end to it now that's it's putting them at risk. and yet, toph successfully bribes him, and so he continues to participate. why? what about the prospect of having money is so appealing to sokka that he’s willing to risk his precious rationality and caution for the potential of acquiring more of it? well, it’s actually quite simple.

toph is scamming for the thrill of the game. she loves proving the kind of men who undermined and demeaned her all her life wrong. she loves humiliating the people of the world who had once humiliated her. she’s not someone who values earthly possessions or really even understands that money is a finite resource. to her, these scams are a matter of ego. aang is also scamming for the thrill of the game. he loves a prank, a bit of mischief, getting into some tomfoolery. he loves spending time pulling hijinks with his friends. it’s funny, it’s fun, and it’s lucrative on top of that. but it’s clear that he views it as a game. now, sokka similarly enjoys pulling these scams. he adores toph and clearly finds it nearly as satisfying as she does to watch her destroy the egos of men thrice her size. but even more potent than his adoration for toph, is his appreciation for money.

when katara put them all in danger countless times in the past, it may have been to enact righteous justice, but it was never materially beneficial to sokka. sokka is a very practical person, and growing up in a state of colonial abjection taking on the role of provider for a couple dozen people mostly comprised of elderly women and small children makes you appreciate the value of goods and resources in a way that an aristocrat and a monk do not. you may be asking, "are you really arguing that sokka would undermine his own values and endanger himself and his friends so readily for the prospect of financial security?" to which i would argue that you underestimate how truly cynical sokka is. of course he loves money and food he doesn’t have to catch or forage – see: his appreciation for the immediate luxury of ba sing se that everyone else finds so stifling. he is not spiritual; he is attached to earthly possessions and the immediate physical needs of those around him. so of course he loves a material object. in his own words: “i do believe in the power of stuff.” because even when sokka is supposedly being uncharacteristically foolish or naive, he is in fact nonetheless promoting the cynic’s agenda every step of the way.

“the runaway” is a good episode, perhaps even a great one. however, it has also lent to some of the fundamental misinterpretations i see of katara, sokka, and toph that are constantly thrown around (including the occasional citing of this episode to justify that aang apparently “sees katara as his mother”). so in some ways, i do resent this episode for begetting those strange and incorrect takes, even if i think that in a vacuum, it is well-executed. it is an episode that complicates our characters, adds nuances and shades of grey to their pre-established characterizations, but does not actually rewrite them. sure, if this was the only episode of the show i had ever seen, i too might assume that katara was the maternal and responsible figure of the group, toph was a careless and rude little bitch, and aang and sokka were idiots who relied solely on katara’s infinite well of long-suffering guidance. but even within this episode, that is clearly not established to be the case, and if that notion is not sufficiently undermined by the episode’s conclusion, it is quite clearly by the episodes bracketing it, which provide crucial context through which to inform our understandings of the choices made in this episode, and why they are indeed interesting, but nonetheless do not reflect the characterizations established in the series as a whole.

#id in alt text #analysis #katara #toph #sokka #aang #katara&toph #katara&sokka #this episode is sooo #well. i like it #but the things it has done to how this fandom reads the gaang dynamic #is just. goddawful #so here are my 2 cents on why it IS in fact in character #but simply. no one is reading is correctly #feel free to disagree tho you can just straight up think its a bad episode thats okay too #i love katara and toph fighting in the mud sm tho #how could you ever hate that. i ask of you. how

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I'm sorry I let down my guard.

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#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #xue yang #xiao xingchen #God DAMN this scene was brutal. Season 2 episode 2 is almost nothing but misery and anguish #Helena by Nickle Creek does not quite fit the comic's vibe but it is absolutely a Xue Yang song so I linked it. #The change from “Helena don't walk away...(gentle)” to “HELENA. DON'T WALK AWAY (threat)” is fantastic. #And “Don't waste your pretty sympathy - I'll always be just fine”. Xue Yang core. #Okay now for the real meat. Disclaimer first: *I really like XY.* I think he's a great character. I think his actions consistently- #come from a place of deep trauma. While his reactions and actions put him in a villainous role he is still human about his hurt #and what I'm about to say is NOT intended to be a statement of causality or villianize a group of misunderstood people. #So with that said...Man oh man does Xue Yang have a lot of BPD traits. More that just 'character who is chronically manipulative'. #The impulsivity and emotional reactions and seeking stability makes him feel like he needs that control. What other choice is there? #The part that really gets me is how he *wants* to be safe and happy. But his past experiences tell him how thats impossible #He's the kind of person who goes 'if you don't like me then you better hate me for something substantial". All (pos) or All (neg) #''Love me entirely or Hate me. But don't you dare leave me or forget about me.'' #Not at all comfortable saying 'BPD coded'. Im not a psychiatrist. Just that he has TRAITS. Feel free to disagree or add your thoughts. #ppl with bpd also are not a monolith and everyone has very different experiences. Xue yang is very complex. People more so.