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i-am-just-a-kiddo · 3 years

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favourite male fictional characters

Thank you @vishcount for tagging me, this was a lot of fun! 💞 I originally planned to follow your example and put ten characters here but suddenly it became a lot more oops. also i hope you forgive me for following your format, it’s neat

I am tagging @isabellaofparma , @the-cloud-whisperer and @sassyassassy!

I chose the characters that impacted me deeply on a personal level throughout my life (often shown by how long my love lasts over the years and if i was inspired to write for them).

In no specific order under the cut:

Legolas

The Lord of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien.

I think it’s only fitting I start off with this magnificent guy. Maybe I gotta admit, i’ve just had a crush on him ever since I was like, nine years old? He’s the character I will fight tooth and claw for (though I guess he doesn’t need me to do that). I love Orlando Bloom’s portrayal of him, eventhough he is vastly different from the books. Book Legolas is such a delight as well, he feels so whimsical and playful and his banter with Gimli is just gold. I was sad when The Hobbit trilogy came out and I was so disappointed by how they butchered his character, it just did not feel authentic anymore (maybe I am also just bitter about the forced hetero storyline for him. makes no cents, this elf is GayTM your honour. and he will meet his soulmate Gimli in a few decades). Either way, Legolas is the love of my life, thanks for coming to my tedtalk,

Peter Pan

Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie

Another childhood crush of mine. The gif I chose if from the 2005 movie because we always used to watch it and it is to this day one of my favourite movies. It’s so dreamy, so magical, yet also incredibly sad and sweet. I have this very strange fascination with Peter Pan. There is something incredibly unsettling about him, especially in the book. He represents something every child wants - who doesn’t want to escape their bedroom and fly away to experience magical adventured far from the adult world? And yet he also represents the impossibility of it, the curse he carries around with himself because he will forever stay alone, no matter how many lost boys he gathers around himself. And Wendy - it’s a love that was never meant to grow and mature, it’s a fleeting dream for the both of them. I have seen many different adaptations of Peter Pan and I have my favourites, though I want to give a special mention to the book Peter Darling by Austin Chant. It’s a retelling of the story how we know it, in which Peter returns to Neverland after having finally grown up BUT the main points I want to highlight is trans Peter? Heck yes. Gripping and compelling gay love story with our favourite original lost boy Captain Hook? YES.

Snufkin

Moomins, Tove Jansson.

I have discovered Snufkin for myself only last year, and yet I know he will stay with me forever. In short - I vibe with him, he vibes with me. His anxieties about being with people and longing for solitude? His fear of being loved and being important to someone to a point he doesn’t know what to do with himself? This man just wants to roam freely with his own mind and yet he always returns for something that captures him. Mum, I love him because I have rarely felt this seen before. Also, Snufkin said ACAB.

Prince Jing - Xiao Jingyan

Nirvana in Fire (2015)

This too is a darling I have only discovered recently. I watched Nirvana in Fire this year and let me tell you, it’s the best show I have seen in a long while. It’s absolutely amazing and it also ripped my heart out. All the characters are absolutely amazing and I am still not over it.

To be honest, I contemplated between Xiao JIngyan and Mei Changsu, because character-wise I think the latter is a lot more interesting and compelling. He makes for a fantastic heartbreaking and flawed protagonist.

However I have to admit - it was love at first sight with Prince Jing for me and I’m still lowkey mad abt it rip. Seems like I am not immune to Pretty Prince Propaganda. But apart from that, I adore him for his genuine

goodness,

his almost naive drive to be better and seek justice. He lost everything, and for the longest time did not have anything to fight for. So alone and lost and bitter, it makes me sad how much it hardened him. He is heartbreak and clumsy kindness hidden under a skin of scars that was inflicted by his father and many others. I see his sad cat-eyes and I cry, that’s just how it is.

Edmund Pevensie

The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis

I grew up with these books and movies - they have always been part of my life and it will probably always stay that way (only last night I rewatched the first movie and sobbed). Imagine my surprised when I finally watched the last movie about five years ago and was incredibly impressed by how they adapted the book; also imagine my brain suddenly going CASMUND in bold letters at Skandar Keynes’ and Ben Barnes’ performance in that movie. From there, I rediscovered this story completely anew for myself. My favourite Pevensie sibling has always been Lucy (and still is, because I identify with her so much and she feels like home to me); however this new discovery of Edmund’s character was overwhelming. It’s interesting to see characters you’ve grown up with from a more grown up point of view. I don’t want to lay out all my thoughts here, just know I am so heartbroken for him, and so so proud as well. His character arc is amazing and maybe that’s how the last movie makes me even more emotional. Seeing Edmund and Lucy still holding on to Narnia but knowing that that door was closing for them? Not to mention what happens in the later books (we don’t talk about that). Also did I mention Casmund. Here, have my incredibly emo and depressing take on Edmund’s character that I started writing four years ago and which will forever stay a WIP.

Nie Huaisang

The Untamed (2019)

My son. My soul. My bane of existence. The tragic thing about him is, that he does not really exist in canon as I have created him for myself. He’s a secondary character in the show, always so relatable yet still brings the ultimate twist of the story, yet he still remains this incomplete shadow. The movie

Fatal Journey

gave him a lot more and I cried tears of joy and devastation. I don’t know why I latched on to him so much, but apparently he is the one that I project on, the one that feels like he sits somewhere inside my chest. I don’t know what else to say - this year he has been everything to me. I spend a lot of time in his head while writing, and maybe that’s how he’s there forever now. Nie Huaisang saw my brain and went it’s free real estate. All my love for you, you dramatic art hoe.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Ah, another lifelong companion. There are many adapations that I adore - starting from the origin of it all, the books and stories which I have all devoured; the 80s adaptation with Jeremy Brett which was incredibly wonderful; to BBC Sherlock which shaped and traumatised me (I still like the first three seaons but I am too hurt to think about it); to the numerous movies - but by far my most favourite performance is Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. Somehow he manages to capture the Holmes I see in my head when I read the books, the sharp yet polite eccentric detective, who loves his companion so much and who has desire to help others. Sherlock Holmes will always stay special to me, in so many different ways. He shaped my youth and I know he will stay with me. (also what would you say when I told you he helped me discover that I can, in fact, be queer AND ace at the same time? thanks pal). What else is there to say? Sherlock Holmes is a universe that you can dive into and find many amazing treasures.

Isak Valtersen

SKAM (2015)

There he is, the boy that changed my life. SKAM changed my life. All of the characters did. However, Isak is special for many, as I imagine. I remember winter 2016, when tumblr was flooded by these norwegian white boys kissing in a pool and cuddling and I was like ‘nah’, this doesn’t look convincing. I don’t know what changed my mind but I remember sitting down at last and watching all that was released of season three and it was only downhill from there. I remember starting to follow the real life updates religiously while watching the other previous seasons in between. The one clip that completely wrecked me was when Isak went to the school nurse about his struggles with sleep - it felt like for the first time I saw someone on screen that could understand me on so many different levels. The entierty of seaons three is so personal, I would tell you to go watch it if you don’t know what I mean. The entire show in fact. It’s a masterpiece and it feels so real. This show impacted my life in a way that no show has managed to do before. I miss it so much. I miss Isak too sigh.

Shang Xirui

Winter Begonia (2020)

Technically, for me personally, Shang Xirui is the nonbinary, gay and ace representation I need in my life (or at least that’s my own personal take on him), but since that is not official, he’s still here on this list. Of course he is because wow, it’s been a long while since I’ve seen such a compelling character on screen. I went from disliking him to being absolutely heartbroken over him. I don’t think any other character in this show captured me as much as he did. There are so many layers to him and discovering all of his sides is a wonderful, heartbreaking, painful and also beautiful journey. I’m not sure I understand all of him yet, but I am willing to try and dig and just ponder his existence. This too, is a perfect example for a flawed yet authentic protagonist. Also he is the most beautiful thing on this planet, or at least that’s how I have been feeling ever since I watched this. I wish to write more of him in the future.

Aang

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)

I grew up watching ATLA and my favourite characters have always been Toph, Zuko and Uncle Iroh. In recent years however, I completely fell in love with Aang all anew.

I think especially in the past, I had these prejudices against main characters and found them all the most boring personalities ever. In recent years this changed a lot and especially Aang is a prime example for that. Watching him from the perspective of older me, I find so much wisdom in this young boy. Somehow he represents all I wish to be in my life but at the same time he shows his flaws, he carries this sadness with him that will accompany him all his life. This inner battle and chaos that he has to face day to day and in the end - he is just a young boy. So much has been taken from him and yet he learns how to not let it overtake him, that anger and hurt. He tries his hardest to be better than the day before, even if sometimes the world crashes down on him and he gets overwhelmed. He is a child recruited by adults to manage their mistakes and play into the hands of predestined fate and in this essay I will -

Harry Potter

Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling

I am surprised myself. I thought I would put Fred and George here, or Remus and Sirius, however I realised that none of them quite capture this feeling of lifelong change, of personal, deep impact that Harry had on me.

As with Aang above, I used to think Harry was the most boring protagonist, yet my opinion took a 180° turn in the past years. Many of the things I wrote for Aang apply to him too - the fact that he was a child, that lost so much, and was always faced with challenges that a child should never have needed to face. Something I want to address is how my favourite book, The Order of the Phoenix, lays all of this out. Harry is just as flawed, just as vulnerable and angry as anyone else. I know some people did not like his ‘emo behaviour’ in the fifth book but for me it just showed how human he is, how he was just a teen like myself at that time. As for many, this boy shaped my entire life, shaped a generation, and I will forever be grateful. I’m sad and angry at how J*R behaves, and how she puts us in the position of doubting our love for these stories. I know I will always love them, but I will not turn a blind eye on all the problematic shit is carries with itself and what the author piles upon us.

Lan Wangji & Wei Wuxian

The Untamed (2019)

I will try and keep this short, because if you want to read my thoughts about Wangxian just go to my ao3 and find the over 70k i wrote for them. I decided to put them here together because I can’t seperate them and I can’t choose between them. Each of them carries something I recognise in myself, and each of them is the opposite of me. They each own my heart and soul and I know there will never be a fictional couple like this for me ever again. They’ve snuck their way into my heart and have never left. They deserve to be here, together, because my love for them is indescribable. Bless them. + Bonus:

The Doctor

Doctor Who (1963/2005)

Technically, the Doctor doesn’t count as a “male” character, but since he has been presenting as male up until recently, I needed to include him. I chose the Tenth Doctor because he is the one that broke my heart the most. I adored Nine but he was there too short, and I do love Eleven and Twelve a lot, and Thirteen absolutely owns my heart, Ten has just always been the one that made me cry the most. I loved this era of Doctor Who, I loved how sad and hopeful he was, how heartbroken and yet determined to help wherever it was needed. Doctor Who is always that show, when I return to it, I am reminded that maybe, humanity and the universe isn’t all that bad.

phew, this took ages damn. but i had so much fun! i decided to leave out honorable mentiones because we would be sitting here until tomorrow lol.

#gosh this was nice #a lot of incoherent rambling here #thanks dear #tag game #personal

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seyaryminamoto · 4 years

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hii, can you tell me more about why you’re anti sukka?

... Okay, now, that’s an inaccurate statement.

As per current internet terminology, I’m not ANTI Sukka. These days, an anti is someone who obsesses with the ships they hate, and spends an insane amount of time harassing fans of the ship, attacking other shippers, making content to disparage the ship and pretending they’re on some sort of superior moral high ground by doing all these things. While I’ve made occasional posts on why I don’t ship Sukka, I don’t think I’ve made any since AGES ago. I don’t get in the way of anyone who does ship it and I wouldn’t even say I HATE the ship. In truth, I just don’t care for it. I won’t read or look for content about it, but that’s not the same as hating a ship, let alone the same as harrassing its shippers: so I’m not anti-Sukka, I just don’t ship Sukka.

Now, since your question’s intent was to figure out why don’t I ship it...

... Warning: long, long essay that won’t sit well with any hardcore Sukka shippers right under the cut. I would be using a truncated term like su*ka throughout the whole post if only the anon hadn’t already used the actual ship name, but regrettably, it’s likely to show up in your tags all the same. I am sorry, preemptively, if it does: please ignore it for your own good and go on your merry way without letting me ruin your day.

I haven’t talked about this for ages tbh. But anyways, here we go.

When I watched The Warriors of Kyoshi for the first time, I actually liked Suki plenty. I liked her initial conflict and chemistry with Sokka, though I wasn’t big on how she made him wear the Kyoshi Warriors uniform when it clearly made him uncomfortable, but all in all, I liked how their relationship had shaped up at that point and I even looked forward to Suki returning in future episodes.

On my first watch of ATLA, I seriously saw nothing wrong in Sukka. I didn’t think a lot of things through during that first time I watched the show, I was just binging the whole thing like a maniac (like a lot of people are doing at the time), so I found their relationship perfectly acceptable as it was, for the show I was watching.

And then later rewatches, even before the Sokkla bug bit me as hard as it has, I realized maybe that wasn’t entirely true.

One of the things I really, REALLY don’t like about Sukka to this day is how unequal their relationship is in terms of how the characters are written in the show. Basically, the same complaint I have about Asami in LOK applies to Suki ever since she reappears in Book 2, but ESPECIALLY in Book 3: her character ends up revolving almost exclusively around Sokka.

Meanwhile, Sokka appears to forget about her surprisingly often and easily.

Instance #1: there’s no sign of Sokka holding a torch for Suki when he first develops a crush on Yue. Implying that, while Suki impressed him, his feelings for her weren’t necessarily romantic despite she outright kissed his cheek... whereas he is crushing, HARD, on Yue. In contrast, Suki was so affected by Team Avatar’s visit to her island that she took off to help people around the world to follow their example. Sokka (and his friends) have a huge impact on Suki’s life... whereas Suki’s impact, sure, taught Sokka to set aside his sexism, but he’s never even seen reflecting on how much Suki has changed him because of this? Neither is Katara portrayed mentioning how much nicer he became after meeting Suki? There’s not a single sign through the rest of the season of how much Suki has meant for Sokka, whether as a teacher, friend or potential love interest.

Instance #2: after initially hesitating to kiss Suki in the Serpent’s Pass, Sokka finally kisses her once they’re about to part ways before she returns to the Kyoshi Warriors. It’s soooo very romantic... until, a mere episode later, Ty Lee openly flirts with Sokka and, instead of reacting as he does later in the season (with a comment along the lines of ”Uh, I’m with someone else”), Sokka merely WAVES AND SMILES. I... don’t even understand why the writers did this. They spent the entire season featuring Sokka avoiding Ty Lee, or being fully hostile with her, but somehow RIGHT AFTER establishing his relationship with Suki, he’s shown behaving like this? It doesn’t make any sense to me. It basically says either he’s not taking his relationship with Suki all that seriously, or he’s just blatantly disloyal, and considering how devoted he was to Yue, I can’t bring myself to believe it’s the second thing. A writing oversight? Eh...

Instance #3: when Toph talks about the moon turning mean, Sokka rages and rants about how nice the moon is. Why do I bring this up? Because Yue is out of reach. Yue is gone: he still feels the need to defend her from someone who isn’t really insulting her despite that. MEANWHILE... Suki’s fate, at the time, is unknown. Sokka has no idea if Azula captured her, left her for dead, tossed her in a river, sold her to a traveling circus...? He doesn’t. He seriously doesn’t. He can’t KNOW what Azula did because the last thing he knew, Mai and Ty Lee were masquerading as Kyoshi Warriors. Implying them, and their leader, did something to the group his girlfriend was part of. And yet, for an entire season finale AND the first half of Book 3, Sokka betrays zero intentions of wanting to discover what happened with Suki, or guilt about not being able to save her UNTIL AZULA BRINGS HER UP. I know it’s very sad for Sukka fans to see Sokka crying over Suki as he did when Azula taunts him... but why haven’t we seen the slightest sign of how affected he is by Suki’s presumed capture/murder/whatever he was imagining happening to her, when Book 2 features Sokka suffering over failing Yue in the Swamp, as well as rejecting Suki initially over guilt because of his lingering feelings for Yue, paired with fear of failing to protect those he cares about? And then in Book 3 he’s even standing up to Toph when she makes a careless comment about the moon spirit...? Why is it so easy to bring up Yue, but not Suki? Is this really just another writing oversight? So we’ve had TWO writing oversights about this relationship already, both of which suggest Suki is barely on Sokka’s mind at all? Is this oversight... or accidental characterization? :’)

Instance #4: Sokka and Zuko travel to the Boiling Rock. Sokka is determined to save his father. It’s a really cool, absolutely acceptable, very important decision for his character... but here’s the kicker: Sokka knows now, at this point, that Suki might still be alive and a prisoner of the Fire Nation. Azula outright said Suki had been WAITING FOR HIM AND GAVE UP BECAUSE HE NEVER CAME. This is what drives him to tears and to shout at Azula while wasting time during the Eclipse! :’D And then? Then he goes to Zuko, to ask him about Fire Nation prisons, and my gullible, first-watch self thought “oh, he wants to save Suki now that Azula said she’s alive! :D” ... only for his intent to be exclusively about his father. I’m not saying it’s WRONG for Sokka to privilege Hakoda over Suki, I mean, he is his father and Sokka really cares about family. It’s one of his main priorities, always has been. But isn’t it WEIRD that after Azula taunted him SO BAD about failing Suki, after saying Suki GAVE UP ON HIM, Sokka makes zero moves to find out if she might be alive and within reach? He could ask Zuko about her, maybe, seeing as he was on Azula’s side in Ba Sing Se and may have known a thing or two about any prisoners she captured in the Earth Kingdom? Sokka could have mentioned he wants to save BOTH Hakoda and Suki, and it doesn’t harm the story in the least for him to say something like that. It doesn’t make his efforts for Hakoda any lesser, and it shows Suki is a priority for him too... But no. Instead let’s feature him bumping into Suki by sheer luck, because that’s truly what it was, and instead of feeling any guilt for not helping her sooner, he’s just lovestruck and attempting to put moves on her when she doesn’t even know who he is yet. Super funny. Super romantic. Super lacking and I can’t understand why, WHY, someone would ever think this is how to write a quality romantic relationship?

Instance #5: connected to instance #4, actually. When traveling to the Boiling Rock, Sokka and Zuko have an awkward conversation. During this awkward conversation, Sokka asks Zuko if there was anything he left behind in the Fire Nation that he might have missed. Zuko smiles and talks about Mai. Sokka is surprised that the “gloomy girl who sighs a lot” was his girlfriend, and Zuko looks genuinely fond of her as he smiles and thinks of her. And then Sokka brings up his own romantic experience... WITH YUE. Instead of bringing up the girl who taught him girls can fight too, instead of bringing up the girl he hasn’t been able to save yet, the girl who MIGHT BE in the prison he’s headed towards, Sokka brings up the girl he absolutely CAN’T save anymore. He brings up the girl whose death most clearly scarred him, deeply, and I’m not trying to lessen the blow Yue’s sacrifice takes on Sokka... but Suki literally, LITERALLY, has something to do with the plot of this very episode? While “My girlfriend turned into the moon” “That’s rough, buddy” is a well-loved hilarious scene and line, I’d have sacrificed that IN A HEARTBEAT if the writers had thought to feature Sokka talking about Suki instead. He could’ve said Azula took her! He literally KNOWS this now, for a fact! Zuko could’ve told him “Hey, maybe she’s in the Boiling Rock too!”, and the plot of the episode wouldn’t have changed in the slightest, beyond featuring Sokka actively looking for BOTH Hakoda and Suki! But no. Again, no. Again, the writers choose to privilege Sokka’s bond with Yue over Suki. With Hakoda over Suki. With anyone else over Suki.

... whlie Suki, most obviously, has no one else she cares about more than Sokka. Why? Because she hasn’t even had enough screentime to establish any other significant relationships, and after the Boiling Rock, she doesn’t establish them anyways.

This causes Suki to feel like a Sokka satellite: SHE revolves around HIM. But Sokka? Sokka doesn’t revolve around Suki IN THE LEAST. Would it be healthy for him to be completely devoted and crazy over Suki to the point of disregarding his ties with other people over her? Hell, no! But it’s not healthy to feature Suki as good as doing that for Sokka either! :’D Suki doesn’t even have a solid, established friendship with any of the other Gaang members. She has POTENTIAL for it, but ever since she joins the Gaang she is most frequently shown interacting with Sokka and only on occasion with the others, but in no memorable, meaningful way with anyone but Sokka. She even joins Katara while searching for Aang in Sozin’s Comet, and we don’t see the slightest sign of unique, important bonding between them. She saved Toph from drowning once, found out Toph has a crush on the same boy she likes, and it’d have been interesting if she, for instance, had refrained from seeking an openly romantic relationship with Sokka out of respect for Toph’s feelings? They could’ve had a conversation about it? With Toph telling her to go for it, maybe, because Sokka liked her too? Suki saying she doesn’t want to hurt her? A perfectly nice bonding situation for these two girls, showing quite a lot of respect between them, as well as respect for their personal relationships with Sokka?

But no. That doesn’t happen.

The second important character Suki bonds most with is Zuko, and in the show, it’s exclusively because they’re with Sokka in the Boiling Rock. Once that’s over you can’t really say there’s any relevant, personal dynamics between them in the show. Heck, Suki tells him she wants a rematch with Azula in the Boiling Rock: Zuko could have offered her a chance to come with him to the Fire Nation and get that rematch, instead of offering it to Katara :’D Why doesn’t he? Because they DID take their time to establish a relationship between Zuko and Katara, even derrailing the show for a whole episode to ensure they would convince Katara to forgive Zuko for all the wrong he did, in the most absurd and contradictory situation possible. Meanwhile, a simple “sorry” from Zuko is enough for Suki to stop holding a grudge. You absolutely CAN interpret this as Suki not being the type to hold a grudge! Which, great! But you also CAN interpret this as the writers being way too lazy to give Suki as much time to forgive Zuko as she could have/should have needed. And sadly, while story-wise I’ll choose to read it the first way, I think, realistically, what happened was the second thing instead.

Suki doesn’t even have a meaningful relationship with Aang. AANG. I’m not saying she should have been his best friend, but Oyaji outright says “you kids had a big impact on her”. It’s PLURAL. It’s not supposed to mean “Sokka had a big impact on her”. Hell, Aang is Kyoshi’s PAST LIFE. Kyoshi is, in all likelihood, Suki’s hero! :’D And yet... nothing. Not even featuring Suki as a Kyoshi fangirl who knows all sorts of random facts about her, such as her favorite foods or the habits she enjoyed most, and Aang saying “oh hey, I like doing that too!”, so that they both could rejoice in this unique, curious shared common ground!

Nay. Nothing. Literally nothing. Her only serious, meaningful relationship is with Sokka... and like I said, whenever Sokka is asked about meaningful relationships with girls, his brain goes “Yue”, immediately, even when the plot would benefit from him saying “Suki” at least ONCE. He’ll sit out at night watching the moon, but he can’t be bothered to bring up how frustrating it is for Azula to have captured Suki whether before or after the Invasion. Yes, Sokka is shown to be the kind of guy who grieves quietly: why is it so much easier, then, to see his quiet grieving for Yue than his concern for Suki?

The truth is, it’s a writing shortcoming. It’s not even something I’d blame on Sokka’s character because, as I always have said, his relationship with Yue really highlights what a wonderful boyfriend he can be when he’s seriously interested in someone. He takes Yue out on dates, gives her gifts, fights for her people, fights the fiancé who only objectifies her, tries to protect her from fulfilling a destiny that will kill her? This is all top-tier romance hero behavior. It is. Why the hell isn’t this behavior seen with Suki too?

It’s not a matter of Suki being a warrior rather than a Princess so she doesn’t need him to act the same way he did with Yue: the show outright, literally, explicitly states Suki is a girl and a warrior, implying Sokka could easily enough woo her the same way he does with Yue, if he cared to. But he doesn’t. It’s Suki with the initiative when their actual romantic relationship begins, and later on Sokka can forget Suki is his girlfriend whenever it suits his fancy, to absolutely no consequences.

So... does this mean, then, that Sokka, in canon, only tries really hard when he’s chasing after someone he can’t be with? That he slacks off and drops the ball when the girl is already his? Well, that’s... not good. Not healthy. Not pretty.

This doesn’t mean that there’s nothing good about Sukka altogether, there are a few things about the ship that aren’t bad... but even then, scenes like “Sokka makes a gross sand sculpture and says it’s Suki” aren’t really that heartwarming to me. It’s not only a comedic relief scene that tries to feature these two as super romantic dorks... but it only reinforces one of the main shortcomings in this relationship for me:

Sokka doesn’t even have to TRY.

He doesn’t. He can make a gross-looking statue, say it’s Suki, and she won’t even make suggestions to improve it? She just says it’s perfect this way. It’s basically the kind of coddling Ursa did with Zuko when Zuko messed up in his firebending display and Ursa said it was wonderful. In the case of a couple, it feels like a mix of cute and condescending? Suki accepts Sokka as he is, sure, so she doesn’t challenge him, doesn’t try to make him do better, he doesn’t need to improve his work... because she’s fine with whatever she gets from him.

This is complacency. It’s a relationship neither one needs to make efforts for. Suki will always accept Sokka’s occasional romantic gestures, even if he leaves so much to be desired in his relationship with her, as opposed to his relationship with Yue. And I’m not saying Sokka DOESN’T care about Suki, but he doesn’t need to do better with her, and while that’s just what Sokka may think he wants/needs for the future, in truth, that’s not what makes his character thrive.

What makes Sokka’s character grow amazingly is CHALLENGE. And I don’t mean that he needs a girlfriend difficult to be with and out of reach (like Yue): I mean that, when faced with a love interest who keeps him on his toes and makes him continue pushing his boundaries, Sokka would genuinely develop and grow further as a man, warrior, leader and love interest. Look at how fast he develops into a quality swordsman while training with Piandao: why? Because it was a challenge. Because it was an opportunity to hone his skills. Because he had to rise up to prove himself, and HE DOES. In the Invasion? He feels he can’t measure up to Hakoda, but in the end? He winds up LEADING the whole operation. People FLOCK to him as he draws out the battle plans and strategies they’ll follow so they can figure out where Ozai is and take him out before the eclipse ends. Right after thinking he couldn’t do it, when the situation DEMANDED that he stepped up, he did and he goddamn EXCELLED at it, proving himself well above these challenges indeed.

THESE are the moments where his character shines the brightest. And a relationship that wasn’t so complacent would do this kind of thing for Sokka’s character just as well: a challenging relationship would promote his GROWTH. He wouldn’t be stunted in simplicity with someone who doesn’t give up on him when he spends MONTHS disregarding her circumstances. Because the truth is, I see Sokka as an overachiever in denial: he wants to go the extra mile, to do things no one else has done before, but because he’s stuck in a world where he doesn’t have the crazy powers his friends do, he wrongfully assumes they’re the ones who’ll do amazing things and he’ll just lag behind them, so he figures it’s better not to bother trying to stand out at all. Yet look at him, figuring out the perfect plan to take down Ozai’s fleet: look at him, making such an impression on Piandao, epic swordmaster, that Piandao even says “If you stay on this path, I know that one day you will become an even greater master than I am.”

Sokka has incredible, extraordinary potential as a character. He has huuuuge anxieties and sources of anguish and insecurities, and those only make his potential greater. He has flaws that can be worked on, there’s so much room for growth...

And the true reason I can’t support Sukka, on Sokka’s end, is because I don’t think that relationship will encourage him to grow any further.

Meanwhile, I can’t support it on Suki’s end because I don’t think she deserves to be an afterthought for a boyfriend who has so much going on in his life that she’s a secondary or even tertiary thing in his life unless she’s right in front of him. And even when he doesn’t have that much going on (meaning, during the first FOUR comic trilogies), he’s shown traveling the world with his friends instead of spending time with her. And heck, where Suki SHOULD have arrived in the South Pole with Zuko as his guard during North and South, Suki doesn’t show up at all. Why? Seriously, what sort of logic explains that the Fire Lord’s appointed BODYGUARD would stay behind in the Fire Nation while Zuko travels halfway across the world, with hell knows how many dangers ahead? If she HAD gone with Zuko, she would’ve had a chance to spend more time with Sokka and it’d even be a point in Sukka’s favor. But that doesn’t happen. To make matters even worse, Sokka doesn’t even tell Aang to say hi to Suki for him when Aang leaves to the Fire Nation by himself in Smoke and Shadow? There are TWO WHOLE PANELS as Aang takes off on Appa with NO DIALOGUE. Sokka calling after Aang to ask him to say hi to Suki literally would’ve fit PERFECTLY, right there! But no. Suki doesn’t even get that much from her boyfriend.

Seriously, it’s NOT THAT HARD to show a healthy long-distance relationship. It’s not that difficult to feature Suki and Sokka longing to see each other but having too much going on to meet up. But that’s not what we got with Sukka, not in the comics, not in the show. Fans ARE free to believe otherwise, and I’m not going to trample on someone who thinks we just conveniently never get to see the healthiest aspects of their very positive relationship... but there’s no genuine evidence to back up this belief. It’s just wishful thinking and hoping that things are far better behind the scenes than what we’re genuinely shown.

Again... I blame the writing. Especially seeing as Yang’s writing of Sokka is DISMAL. But it doesn’t erase what’s already there. It doesn’t do away with the very obvious problems in this relationship.

The positive moments Sukka gets are offset, for me, by all the negatives. The meaningful relationship they could have developed feels underdeveloped instead, something we should take for granted is there and nothing more. And even those positive moments and episodes aren’t necessarily that positive?

In particular, I point to The Ember Island Players: there are soooooo many messed up things about Sukka in this episode I have no idea how people aren’t more bothered by them. First of all: the episode features Sokka crying about Yue’s staged death scene, and Suki is shown amused, saying she had no idea Sokka had made out with the moon spirit. First of all: SOKKA DIDN’T TELL SUKI ABOUT YUE. Her initial reaction here is amusement, for some reason...? Yet as we already saw that there’s no real bad blood between her and Toph despite she, of all people, KNOWS Toph has a crush on the same guy she likes, there’s no real reason to think Suki would behave like a jealous fiend if she knew Sokka had a relationship with someone else before her. Yet Sokka doesn’t tell her about it: this implies he either doesn’t trust her, or doesn’t know her well enough to realize she WON’T be a jealous fiend, and outright assumes she will be one because of mistaken preconceptions about how relationships work.

At this point, Sokka and Suki have been officially together since Book 2, episode 12. Book 2 happens in spring. Book 3′s conclusion is at the end of summer. This means Sokka has had about four-five months of a relationship with Suki. Out of which, yes, she spent the majority of those months in prison :’D but then he rescued her! And... apparently proceeded not to tell her about his experiences while fighting in the war? To not share his biggest failure to protect someone he cared about? So... to NOT open up to Suki about anything that genuinely mattered?

Considering he’s willing to snap at Toph when she brings up the moon could be “mean”, considering he’s willing to tell Zuko that his first girlfriend turned into the moon when they’re only starting to trust each other... this unwillingness to tell Suki about Yue feels OFF. It doesn’t make any sense. His relationship with Yue was far from something to be ashamed of. It meant A LOT to him. Why the heck hide it from Suki, when all the reasons sound either condescending or distrustful as hell?

Ah. Because the writers thought this scene would be funny, that’s why.

And the funny scene gets even BETTER when Sokka shushes Suki and proceeds to cry about Yue’s death: he’s shutting her out. And hey... Suki doesn’t like this. She turns her face around and looks pretty irritated, whether by being shushed or by his unwillingness to share his past with her or BOTH THINGS...

... And then the show doesn’t acknowledge this OBVIOUS, SIZABLE, IMPORTANT shortcoming of their relationship ever again.

We’re supposed to assume Sokka explained everything later just because? Hell, he looks like he has absolutely no intentions of doing that. If you ask me, it even could feel like he thinks his relationship with Yue is none of Suki’s business? And that’s not pretty. That’s not good romance writing, no matter how you look at it.

This, of course, is not everything: there’s another two unpleasant situations in this episode alone! :’D

The second one is a slightly smaller one, but bears mentioning all the same: Aang is annoyed when the play makes a mockery of Zutara, so he gets up and leaves: Sokka tells him to bring him snacks. After his initial request, Sokka wraps an arm around Suki and they’re shown surprisingly cuddly now, DESPITE their previous impasse. At first, Suki smiles fondly at him. But then he turns around and asks Aang for more snacks. And then Suki outright looks ANNOYED, while Sokka looks like he doesn’t give a single crap.

This, I feel, ties in with what I mentioned earlier about how Sokka doesn’t even have to try with Suki: Suki isn’t merely a happy girl who thinks Sokka can do no wrong. She CAN be annoyed by him and his behavior, but for some reason, she chooses not to bring up her grievances with how he’s acting, even if it doesn’t sit well with her?

So while there’s supposed to be something so very cute with the monster blob sand statue, her approval doesn’t feel genuine to me. I simply can’t see it as genuine. Because when you feature Suki smiling in that strangely motherly way, saying the statue is “sweet” (instead of, I don’t know, saying she actually sees the artistic merit of it (if she did) or saying he just needs to put in a bit more work), she’s focusing exclusively on making SOKKA feel better about himself. And when Suki is annoyed? He doesn’t have to show remotely the same amount of consideration or compassion she displays for him. Why? Because she sweeps her feelings under the rug and lets him get away with everything he does, even things she’s not happy about. She lets him get away with keeping important secrets, lets him get away with annoying her in the middle of the play, AND...

... lets him get away with rubbing in Suki’s face that Azula kicked her ass :’)

Look, I’m not even being my biased shipper self here. The third unpleasant thing in Ember Island Players is that Suki decides to point out that Team Avatar keeps getting out of deadly pinches by sheer luck and that they lose a lot! She doesn’t say this with concern: she looks sardonic, like she’s legit mocking them. It’d feel completely out of place if she hadn’t been annoyed by Sokka earlier, so it feels (to me) like she’s just taunting him because she’s already not in the best of moods and expects to feel better by making fun of him. Not a terrible crime, but a rather strange one to commit too, considering she’s making fun of her boyfriend damn near dying all the time. You’d think, maybe, that kind of possibility should worry her a little more...?

... But then Sokka retaliates with: “You're one to talk, Suki. Didn't Azula take you captive? That's right, she did!”

Isn’t it goddamn WEIRD that Sokka would bring up what, according to a large amount of Suki’s fanbase, must have been a terribly scarring experience for Suki... just to win an argument with her? Just to piss her off because she’s making fun of him? They’re BOTH shown being remarkably inconsiderate towards each other and the struggles they faced in their respective journeys in this scene. It’s supposed to be lighthearted bickering, but the subject they’re choosing to talk about isn’t lighthearted AT ALL.

According to some Suki fans, Suki could have even been tortured, tormented in thousand ways, by Azula when she took her prisoner. There were whole posts going around about how heartwarming it was for Suki to still be waiting for Sokka, no matter what...!

And THIS is how Sokka reacted to Suki’s patient waiting for him? THIS? By telling her “lol loser Azula caught you anyhow so your argument’s invalid”? If Suki HAD gone through some serious torture, beyond getting stripped off her uniform, how on earth would it be healthy for Sokka to use this allegedly mentally scarring experience AGAINST HIS GIRLFRIEND?

Now then, it WOULD BE fucked up, but the truth is, Suki wasn’t tortured at all, so the whole delusional, tragic “Suki is so emotionally strong because she believed in the man who would come save her even in the darkest of moments!” is honestly nonsense in the end: a girl who was tortured, tormented and anguished by the memories of whatever she experienced in Azula’s hands wouldn’t have retorted to Sokka’s comment with an irritated: “Are you trying to get on my bad side?”

Yet again, Suki is annoyed.

They’re both annoyed by each other’s arguments.

But their discussion ENDS at this point, and goes forgotten, again.

Suki isn’t even a quality bickering source for Sokka, because as soon as Sokka rebuffs with a counterargument she doesn’t like, she turns things personal and takes offense. Where he may not have taken her initial taunt as a particular, personal attack, she does interpret his words that way.

AND THEN THEY PROCEED TO FORGET ABOUT THEIR ARGUMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS, YET AGAIN :’)

Now then... is all this so terrible? Am I making too big a deal out of small things that shouldn’t be inspected so closely, especially as they were likely written with humorous intent and nothing more? It’s entirely possible!

You see, I don’t exactly love the way romance is handled in ATLA because it’s frankly always flawed and faulty beyond belief. People often have said one of the three canon relationships is better than the others, but at this point I disagree altogether: they’re all written to be flawed and have huge gaps of logic in the behavior of the characters involved. The girls are always shown as prioritizing the boy above everything else ever, and the boys are too often shown leaving them behind, forgetting about their love interests alarmingly frequently, being outright FORCED by the plot to let go of their attachment to them, whereas there’s no such conflicts or situations with the girls, in the least! Implying that it’s fine for girls to be completely devoted to a relationship, to the point where their whole LIVES revolve around the boy they like, but the boy shouldn’t behave the same way and must learn to leave the girl behind or put her aside instead?

... The implicit sexism in this consistent writing element in ALL THREE CANON RELATIONSHIPS is honestly pretty disturbing. I don’t think I need to say much more about it, do I?

Now though, I will, however, point out that it’s relatively good for canon NOT to show Kataang, Maiko or Sukka as perfect relationships because it IS realistic. It’s not pretty, but it is realistic. These characters are children or teenagers who quite often didn’t even have good role models of romance in their parents or peers, let alone even slightly decent childhoods, so for them to be 100% healthy in terms of romance would have been utterly absurd. Therefore, these kids would be expected to make mistakes and then learn from them so their relationships improve over time.

Sokka and Suki’s relationship is flawed, which only lends MORE believability to it, because the characters aren’t warped to fit the narrative, to play them as unmistakably perfect, ideal partners for each other. But those flaws do lend for problems like the ones I pointed out above...

And you see, the ultimate problem is that these characters DON’T learn from those mistakes. They don’t. Mai and Zuko are shown making the exact same blunders in the show and the comics, hell, sometimes even worse ones in the comics. Sokka and Suki still act like they’re totally in love ONLY when they happen to be in the same place and even then? Suki outright ignores Azula’s zapping attack at Sokka in The Search! SHE’S IN THE SAME COURTYARD! But it’s the THREE BENDERS who come to Sokka’s “rescue”, despite he doesn’t even NEED rescuing, since the attack was goddamn meaningless anyhow.

The point is, however, that Suki is right there, damn it, taking care of APPA. And she’d sooner look after the sky bison that than check on her boyfriend, who was just “attacked” by her WORST ENEMY, WITH WHOM SHE WANTED A REMATCH???

Seriously. What logic is this. What kind of ROMANCE is this. It doesn’t make any sense to me, and if I were a Sukka fan I’d be beyond outraged by watching my favorite relationship written so carelessly.

So, because Yang’s writing isn’t even ALLOWED to move anything too far forward, because Bryke don’t want that, none of these relationships have developed in any interesting ways after the show. AT BEST you could say Kataang definitely act differently in the comics than they did in the show, for better or for worse, so you can say there’s some changes in their dynamics, though those changes aren’t necessarily related to genuine character growth. But Maiko? Same old story. Sukka? Same old story.

What exactly does Sukka do for Sokka at this point? He has someone to make out with whenever they cross paths? Yeah, okay, cool. And? That’s it? For that matter, he could be making out with anyone else just the same. What kind of room for growth does she offer him? Going by how she doesn’t even need him around her, by how she has never needed anything but mediocrity from him, I can’t say there’s anything to be found. Their relationship already dealt with its biggest possible hurdle WHEN THEY FIRST MET. That’s the main growth Suki offered Sokka, and now she can’t give him anything else because he’s way too efficient and learned everything she could teach him right away :’) Paired with this, Suki wasn’t developed enough as a character either, so if she has other regards in which she can teach Sokka a thing or two, we simply don’t know it, and the comics refuse to show it to us too, so up to date, Suki is severely underdeveloped by canon and will continue to be, as far as I can tell.

Which, of course, factors in the next question: what does Sukka do for Suki? Honestly, nothing. If this relationship did something interesting for her character, we’d have tons of things to say and discuss about her, but the truth is all Suki-related discussion tends to have nothing to do with Sokka (her past and growth as a Kyoshi Warrior, her future post-canon, whatever the heck happened to her by LOK’s time... I’ve never seen anyone genuinely pondering anything about her relationship with Sokka beyond “did they stay together or not?!?!”). Suki is at her best when she’s with the Kyoshi Warriors, because it’s the only element of her character that DOESN’T revolve around Sokka. Going by the plot of the Shells comic, she could go travel the world teaching girls self-defense, and kicking the asses of sexist dudes! It’s not really going to deepen her character, sadly, because that’s basically ALL we know about her since the start of the show, aside from her attachment to Sokka. And she doesn’t need Sokka to do this. She could do it by herself just the same.

Literally, just for the sake of giving Suki something else to do, not even for my personal OTP’s sake, I’d gladly see Suki breaking up with Sokka so she can damn explore who she is beyond this relationship? The Kyoshi Warriors serving in the Fire Nation Palace was probably the first interesting development for Suki in canon since she first met Sokka, and even then her role there was never explored fully, let alone was her potentially red-herring budding relationship with Zuko.

But who am I kidding? :’) not gonna happen. For all I know, they got married in canon and had a perfectly happy life together. A perfectly happy, mediocre life, where neither one has to make the slightest effort for the other, in the least. Taking each other for granted, every step of the way!

*sigh* I can’t want this for Sokka, seriously. I can’t. I love his character a lot, but I absolutely hate how he’s written in this relationship. Most my understanding of how Sokka behaves in a relationship has come from how he behaves with Yue, precisely because, as brief as their relationship was, he seriously appeared to value her above so many other things, to fight for her, to do anything he could to help her without asking for anything in return. And that’s why I write him as I do.

Love can feel different when you experience it with different people, of course, and I’m not asking for Sokka to be written exactly the same in two different relationships... but the difference is just way too vast. I don’t question he cares about Suki, but I do question that he genuinely loves her. This is NOT how someone in love behaves. And frankly, Suki’s behavior isn’t that of a girl in genuine love either. She likes him plenty, is impressed by the things he and his friends have achieved, but is it genuine love? How can it be, when they apparently can’t even trust each other about their personal experiences (Yue in Sokka’s case, spending months as a prisoner in Suki’s)? When his behavior rubs her the wrong way and annoys her when they’re at their most casual? When the bickering he’d likely enjoy having with a significant other just falters after two exchanges with Suki because she takes offense to what he said?

In conclusion:

Writing: the writing of this relationship is frankly really, REALLY flawed, far more than most fans are willing to acknowledge (whether fans of the ship or of the show in general). They try to make jokes with this relationship, but these jokes end up highlighting serious flaws in this relationship that are never addressed. Also, their relationship is hardly ever treated as something majorly important for Sokka, who constantly privileges his bond with Yue over Suki, which is radically contrasted with Suki, who has no meaningful relationships in the show beyond Sokka. As I pointed out earlier, the writing proposes the boy doesn’t need to revolve around the girl, but the girl DOES revolve around the boy? Absolutely appalling.

Dynamics: beyond their exchanges on their very first episode, their dynamics don’t offer anything unique to their characters. You can replace Suki with any other female character, and Sokka’s struggle to let go of Yue and accept a new love interest in his life wouldn’t change in any considerable way. It didn’t HAVE to be Suki, let alone a Suki whose original personality (sassy, demanding, proud to the point of bordering on arrogant, prone to making mistakes because of this flaw...) was completely hijacked by a new one (perfectly nice, friendly, reasonable, considerate, flirty, not demanding in the least, virtually flawless...). There’s not much Sokka can teach the Book 2-onwards Suki, or much else Suki can teach Sokka. There’s not much they can learn together either, because the writing never offers them new challenges they haven’t handled before. Their dynamics exclusively hinge on Suki being reliable in action situations, weak humor centered around Sokka being a mediocre boyfriend, and making out. That’s all their relationship provides, and frankly, they BOTH can do better than that.

Potential: I don’t think Sukka has much more potential beyond what we already have seen. Their natural chemistry isn’t anything out of this world, it’s FINE, but it’s not exactly something extraordinary that can’t be found anywhere else. And that’s really at the crux of why I don’t ship it or find much enjoyment in it: neither Sokka nor Suki appear to be at their best in this relationship. Suki is outright worse off by this relationship because she went from feminist poster child to a girl who REVOLVES AROUND A BOY. Please, let’s let that sink in? There are better possible relationships for them, relationships that absolutely could explore aspects of BOTH characters that have gone underdeveloped and overshadowed in canon, just for the sake of weak humor and make-out sessions.

*sigh*

Fact is, most the problems with Sukka are a matter of poor writing. With better writing, the relationship could be good, and would be easier to take seriously. But even then? I wouldn’t ever expect this relationship to outshine other possible ships for both Sokka and Suki. If you feature another girl as Sokka’s big, rude “girls are fighters too” awakening... what’s left for Sukka? Speaking from experience, seeing as I outright wrote that: without this factor, their relationship wouldn’t be anything particularly noteworthy. Sokka would respect Suki right off the bat, sure, maybe surprise her a bit because of how unpredictable and unexpected he can be, but there’d be no genuine reason for them to seriously develop feelings for each other. That their entire bond hinges on their first encounter, rather than the growth of their relationship across time, is far from appealing for me in a relationship. I absolutely need more than that to ship something.

I’ve already brought up most these arguments in the past, as well as others I probably forgot to mention, but I can give you one more post to look at (if you want it), specifically about how a certain ship can be a vast improvement for Sokka over Sukka :’D This, I’d hope, will clarify what I mean when I say other ships can offer Sokka far more than Sukka does. I didn’t dig into it here, since I tried to focus exclusively on why I won’t ship this, but that might help expand your understanding of my reasons not to support it. And then there’s also the ship I support for Suki... here are my arguments on that topic too. Admittedly, I was more centered on Zuko in this second post, but I basically already gave you all the arguments why Suki in Sukka doesn’t work for me :’D and there’s a few arguments in there about why Zuko would be a far more interesting love interest for Suki than Sokka has been so far, too. So... that’s that. I hope I gave you plenty to think about :’D

#anon #all this is about the ship itself #I have no qualm with the shippers except a select few #who exhibited some really gross behavior years ago #and whom I've happily not crossed paths with since then #I have no severe qualms with this ship's supporters #not like I do with OTHER ships #that won't be mentioned #so no I'm not saying no one should ship it #but I'm saying this is why I don't #*breeeathes*#anyways I hope you enjoy the veeeery long post anon

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meggie-stardust · 3 years

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tagged by the incomparable @arathesane

5 songs I’ve had on repeat:

The High Cost of Low Living .. Less Than Jake (I put Keep on Chasing on the last meme I did, but I am super digging this whole album)

Yeah Sapphire .. The Hold Steady (this is one of my fave songs in general, and also by THS, but also this is kind of my pump myself up song, and I was listening to it a lot over the past two weeks; and I’ve said it before but “I was a skeptic at first but these miracles work.”)

Rhythm Emotion .. Two-Mix (I have been waiting 40 episodes for this song during my rewatch, then as I’ve been writing my latest recap, I listened to this on repeat as well as found the remix they did because it was the 90s).

Sicilian Crest .. The Mountain Goats (This was the first song I heard off of In League with Dragons since it was the first song they talked about on the I Only Listen to The Mountain Goats podcast before the record came out, and I loved it, and it feels right to bring it forward to 2021. Here is is live).

Lost Again .. Dance Hall Crashers (This song got stuck in my head a few weeks ago, and I’ve had to listen to it like every day again since since, which is crazy because I haven’t listened to DHC in years, but they were awesome).

last movie watched:

We were staying at a hotel this weekend and we were exhausted, so we jut put on Pitch Perfect since it was at the top of the available movies list.

currently reading: “Imaginary Friend” by Stephen Chbosky, and I’m like 60% through, and I’m not sure if I like it? Maybe because I’m listening to it only when running, and it’s very much an homage to other horror (which I like), but on the other hand, I don’t know how this will end so, that’s good? IDK.

currently watching: Still doing a first time ATLA watch, and rewatching Schitt’s Creek with husband who hasn’t seen it. We’re almost done with our Gundam Wing rewatch and then Idk what I’m going to do...

Tagging: anyone who wants to play along because I’m too tired to actually add people

#tagged #meme #meg answers things

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higuchimon · 4 years

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[fanfic] Doing It Herself

Riding duels allowed duelists to read one another’s hearts and souls. She’d read Fudou Yuusei’s very clearly during their duel and she hoped that he’d read hers – enough to agree to come duel alongside her in the WRGP at least. He didn’t look convinced yet but she still had plenty of time until then.

Perhaps she’d lure him out to duel him again. Or duel those so-called partners of his, Jack Atlas and Crow Hogan. If she could defeat them, then perhaps he’d see that she was the far better choice for a partner?

Maybe. She’d think it through and see what she could do. But for now, she had something else to do. She stared into the bathroom mirror and sighed.

Riding duels allowed one to read the heart of one’s opponent. They did nothing at all for one’s hair. And in all fairness, she needed a hot shower. It wasn’t just the riding itself – which ended up covering her in dust and grime – but the dueling as well. Most of all, she needed to brush her hair.

She lifted up part of it with one hand. More tangles than she cared to think about and that was even with the best products she could get her hands on. She stared at the brush on the counter – also a very well made, expensive one, and it would probably be retired in another few days. With all the hair that she had and all the care that she had to put into said hair, she went through brushes like nobody’s business.

Sherry started brushing. She knew she could have help if she wanted it, but she didn’t. She wanted to take care of this herself. She’d done as much on her own as she could for the last few years. She could at least brush her own hair.

It wasn’t an easy task. Riding duels exhausted her as well. Not as much as they had in the beginning, when she’d practically fallen asleep moments after getting off her D-Wheel. In the moment of dueling, when the wind tore through her, she cared about nothing but the wind, the speed, and the duel. How filthy she got or how many tangles her hair ended up in didn’t matter.

But she couldn’t stay in the wind forever, no matter how much she wanted to. Which meant she needed to clean herself up and brush her hair and look somewhat decent once again.

The more she brushed the more she reflected on the duel. Who might have won? She’d shuffled her deck at her earliest opportunity so she didn’t know. She wanted to believe that she would have – but every duelist wanted to believe they would win the duel.

Maybe her next duel against Yuusei – and there would be one – would give her the answer to that. Or perhaps she’d even have the chance to duel that psychic duelist. Was she a D-Wheeler as well? Would she want to duel?

She would have to do research to find out who that was. She’d heard a great deal about Yuusei, the winner of the Fortune Cup, who’d defeated the King Jack Atlas. Rumor also had it that he and his friends saved the world. That, she really did want to learn more about. If he really had done that, then she really wasn’t going to rest until she got him on her team. How could she lose when she had the savior of the world on her team?

There wasn’t even a question of bribing him. A true duelist and a true D-Wheeler couldn’t be bribed in the first place. As he’d clearly shown just today, kidnapping him wasn’t an option. It could be done, but he wouldn’t co-operate. Sherry wanted him to co-operate. She wanted him to help her because he had experience in this world-saving thing and someone had to do it, didn’t they?

If he wouldn’t, then she’d do it herself. Whatever Illiaster’s plans were, she would bring them to a screeching halt. If it cost her her very life, then she wasn’t that worried about it.

At least she’d see her parents again, if that were the case. It had been so long and there were times when she didn’t think she remembered their faces all that well any more. It was more experiences than anything else – being held in their arms, trips that they’d taken together, the rough feel of her father’s beard against her skin, the strength of her mother’s arms around her.

The feel of the brush going through her hair as they took turns brushing it out. They’d done that for her every morning and every night, making sure her hair looked its best no matter what. She’d learned how to do it herself – afterward.

She didn’t cry this time. She had before, when she remembered anything about them. But she’d wept herself dry so long ago and now all those tears were replaced by a burning rage that sought any sort of expression. The best she found was when she D-Wheeled, when the wind fanned the fires in her heart to their greatest heights.

Her thoughts settled down as she finished working all the knots out. Overall it hadn’t been that bad – she’d have to remember that she should wear her helmet while D-Wheeling. Protections remained in place, but accidents could always happen. She’d seen it before. If she cracked her skull open, she wouldn’t be able to get that revenge.

That was the main reason she took good care of herself. If she didn’t do these things – didn’t eat, didn’t sleep, didn’t keep herself in good condition, wasn’t ruthless in her dueling – then she wouldn’t avenge them. Sherry couldn’t live with the thought of not accomplishing that, not after all this time.

So she would do it. She would take care of herself. If she couldn’t persuade Yuusei to help her, then she’d do it all herself. It would hardly be the first time.

But revenge would be hers. If it cost her her life, then that would be a very small price to pay.

The End

Notes: It’s been five years since I wrote 5Ds. And I can’t shake the feeling that I will write Sherry x Aki in the future.

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #ygo 5ds #sherry leblanc

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fanfictionlive · 4 years

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Have you ever read a fanfiction so good you can't enjoy other fics or the source material?

I finished rewatching AtLA, and I figured I'd read a couple of fics to scratch that itch I get whenever I read/watch some work of fiction I like. So, I hopped on FFN and sorted by favorites then clicked on the first one. It is just so good! Like, 3 chapters in on a 91 chapter fic I knew everything else would almost certainly pale in comparison fanfic wise.

So, I kept reading. And it improved on canon. Pointed out flaws I didn't care enough to notice. Because I don't LOVE the show, I never put much thought into it. Admired the art, some small details pointed out in the show's subreddit, yadda yadda. I'm only 31 chapters in and I'm certain I can't really watch the show again without those points irking me in the back of my head the entire time. Though, that feeling set in about 15 chapters ago.

I've only been reading it for two days and I had to stop early today because of the eye strain. The fic is already giving me weird dreams even! I'm almost infuriated at how good it is! I don't like what the author did with a few of the characters, and the philosophy of what things ought to be like vs. how things are actually like and how people should approach it but it is all rational! It's realistic and it hurts because of that. I LOVE happy endings. I love fluff. This is cold reality and-

I'm rambling. Of course, I am. Argh, I don't think I'll ever watch the show again because of this. I am almost certain I'll never read another AtLA fic because of this. It is infuriatingly good.

I have problems with it, certainly. The cast is already too large for me to follow, but that's mostly on me as far as I can tell. I have to use generic male/female form placeholders in my head. There are missing words here and there that cause me to trip while reading. The scene transitions are, as far as I can tell, nonexistent. But even with all of that, I won't be able to stop reading this fic. I think it'll be the longest single fic I've ever read. A RWBY fic almost took that title, but...

Sorry. I simply had to gush about this somewhere. This is really the only place I can. The only people who can even try and understand this mess of a post. Still, I am curious as to what others have found that made them feel like this. That IS the title of the post, after all.

submitted by /u/DinoGuy2000 [link] [comments] from FanFiction: Where Magical Ponies battle Imperial Titans https://ift.tt/3hUIdY2

#fan fiction #writing #fanfiction #tv show #series #movie #fan #write

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magic-and-moonlit-wings · 5 years

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I did a full-series rewatch of Trollhunters

In the course of this rewatch, I made the following observations:

A shop called “Bella’s”, with a picture of a flower on the sign, is seen four or five times when Bular is chasing Jim and Toby around town. Either they were going in circles or it’s a chain store. (Yes, I understand that animators recycle backgrounds.)

AAARRRGGHH carries Toby on his shoulders in the following scenes:

the first time Bular is chasing Toby and Jim,

the first time goblins are chasing Toby and Jim,

while chasing down Grit-Shaka’d Jim,

when Toby and AAARRRGGHH spot the Amulet flying from the museum to Jim in the woods,

during the fireworks fire,

when Toby is talking about taking Darci to play laser tag,

and in the Geode Caverns looking for Merlin’s staff.

Not Enrique climbs onto AAARRRGGHH’s shoulders in Bittersweet Sixteen and Recipe For Disaster. AAARRRGGHH rebuffs him both times, but allows it when Not Enrique climbs onto his head in Party Monster, by which time Not Enrique is more of a friend to the group.

Nomura’s grey-skinned lookalike can be seen at these moments:

when Toby first notices the Heartstone,

when Grit-Shaka’d Jim summons the armour at the ‘tattoo parlour’,

when Claire first enters Trollmarket,

at Not Enrique’s party (twice, first when AAARRRGGHH is asked about his injury, and then when Not Enrique climbs onto AAARRRGGHH’s head),

during the initial cut to Trollmarket during the time-stop,

when Vendel first announces the Pyrobligst match,

when Jim pulls injured Barbara out of the wrecked car and calls for help,

when Jim tells Trollmarket that Angor Rot has a horngazel,

during the preparations for Angor Rot’s attack as Claire practices with the Shadow Staff,

during the preparations for Jim’s trial when Blinky and Claire begin searching for leads,

and with Not Enrique during the Gumm-Gumm attack on Trollmarket;

last seen in the crowd at the gyre station during the escape.

Barbara and Nomura never speak to each other onscreen. (I had noticed this before, but the rewatch confirmed it.)

They speak about each other to other characters, and speak in each others’ presence. They presumably had conversations at the police station when Nomura had Jim and Toby arrested, at the Lake house when Nomura brought tea as a pretext for getting close enough to Jim to attack him, and at some point during the lead-up to the Eternal Night, but these were all off-camera.

The only women Barbara talks to are Nana, Ophelia, and Claire (and possibly whoever she was on the phone with in Bad Coffee).

Unless you count Nomura’s speech to the students at the museum in her introductory episode, the only woman Nomura is seen speaking to in the entire series is Usurna.

(At least, I didn’t notice Nomura saying anything to Claire. When the other museum lady tells Nomura it’s nice to have her back, Nomura just nods silently. She must have had an off-screen talk with Gladys, the Changeling dental hygienist who told Toby that Nomura ‘warned’ her about Toby and Jim, but we don’t see that so Gladys being a Changeling can surprise the audience.)

There are actually two animation models for cats: a grey cat (Claire’s cat, the one in the Troll Pub after the first visit to Gatto’s Keep, and the one eaten by blood goblins), and a Siamese cat (has its food hover when Jim first summons the armour, and hisses at Morgana-possessing-Claire). I had previously only noticed the Siamese, which also appears in 3Below.

I’ve made this point before but don’t recall if I did so publicly: for a cat-lady, we sure never see any cats in Nana Domzalski’s house.

Toby is seen wearing his Chubby Tracker outside the Vespa dealership in Bittersweet Sixteen.

Why do the Lakes (and the Palchuks - it looks like the animation team used the same garage layout) have a refrigerator in the garage? Not a mini-fridge, a full-sized one.

At the end of Recipe For Disaster, Strickler stops Not Enrique from eating a pen.

Regarding the Spring Fling:

Coach Lawrence describes the dance as the “year end Spring Fling” when he first announces it, although there appears to be another term left between the dance and summer break.

Coach also says the candidates for King and Queen are “faculty nominated”, which might explain how Eli got nominated when he doesn’t seem to be popular.

Jim, Mary, and Eli were all in the school play (Mary isn’t seen on-stage but she is present during auditions and tells Toby she’s in the play when he tries to ask her out in Young Atlas), Steve is on a school sports team (do they ever say which sport?), Shannon is Student Body Treasurer, and the teachers would know Darci is the school mascot even if the other students didn’t yet.

I literally just realized a few days ago that the reason we only saw three ‘dance themes’ presented could be because the girls’ theme suggestions happened off-camera, not because only the boys suggested themes - but this does not explain why the girls weren’t out there with the boys in the line of ‘candidates who are not presenting a theme right now, but either had or are waiting for their turn’.

Angor Rot killed at least four Trollhunters. That’s the greatest number of soul-lights onscreen at once after he dies the first time and their souls are freed. (There are actually five soul-light right before Ghost Kanjigar appears, but one of those was presumably Kanjigar, who we know was killed by Bular.)

Hunter Jim stomps on Jim in the same pose that Merlin and Gunmar later use.

I finally caught the joke when Toby tells the Tribunal, “Please have it noted for the record - and the MP3!”

I’ve been assuming Usurna used Creeper’s Sun to kill Vendel, but her knife wasn’t green so she might’ve just stabbed him. (That said, it appears to be the same knife Nomura stole and used to turn her restraints to stone so she could shatter them, so it might’ve been poisoned.)

When Strickler tries to stab Morgana-possessing-Claire, his knife is poisoned with Creeper’s Sun, seen in the green glow and confirmed when Blinky cuts the chains and they turn to stone. If Strickler knows the antidote, he might’ve seen that as a way to halt the threat of Morgana without actually killing Claire, in case they could later save her.

There’s been some talk that Strickler was pulling his punches fighting Jim. Possible evidence: some of Strickler’s knives end up stabbed into the breastplate of Jim’s armour when they train together. That never happened when they were enemies. (Alternate theory, Jim wasn’t giving his all to shielding himself from an ally like he was when he actually expected Strickler to kill him.)

This one is pure speculation on my part: what if the reason Strickler tried to have Nomura killed by Bular in Season 1 was because he was angry she attacked his students? It could add evidence to why Bular thought Strickler was going soft.

The real plans for how the amulet is put together, seen in Merlin’s workshop, look exactly like the notes and diagrams seen in Strickler’s office when he was crafting the fake - did he acquire Merlin’s actual schematic?

It’s been commented that the Staff of Avalon’s “human wielders only” rule was foolish of Merlin to use as a safeguard because Changelings, Morgana’s creations, can use it, but if Morgana really was Merlin’s apprentice once, it is both possible and probable that the staff predates Changelings. Maybe it was even one of her motives in inventing them.

Why did Strickler not at least attempt to steal the Staff of Avalon while escaping Trollmarket with Barbara?

I get that Troll Jim is stronger, faster, and more durable than Original Jim, but it was quite a gamble.

He’s also taller and longer-limbed and heavier now, not to mention the horns, which should all throw off his balance and make him clumsy, requiring a learning curve to become a good fighter again.

Even if trolls have better reflexes than humans, Jim’s not used to that and would overcompensate.

I get that the writers couldn’t fit in that plot arc with only three episodes left in the series, but it would be nice if the risk had been addressed, even after the fact.

We never saw where the portal went that Claire was trying to convince her parents to go through during the goblin attack, but we can assume she was trying to send them somewhere safe. We also don’t know where Enrique was, but can assume he was home with a babysitter.

What if Claire’s portal went to the nursery, so that’s where she sent the goblin that got knocked through it?

Tie it in to Wizards and have one of the wizards be the babysitter, thus equipped to deal with an unexpected goblin and not likely to tell their employer about it later: crossover episode!

Why would the earthquakes damage the Darklands? That makes about as much sense as all the Gumm-Gumms exploding when Gunmar died. Which is to say, I can come up with an explanation if I work at it (Killahead Bridge was being built in Arcadia in the first place because that’s the epicentre of where the Darklands’ dimension matches up to the surface world; Gunmar’s death created a fatal magical backlash against everyone he was mind-controlling), but it doesn’t flow logically based on information provided in the show.

Speaking of information provided in the show, this reaffirmed my belief it makes no sense for Jim to know Angor Rot used to be a hero because there are no scenes of Jim acquiring that information, which presumably would have been an emotionally charged and thought provoking discovery and thus should have been on-camera if it ever happened.

Everything speculated about when Bagdwella first barged into the Forge looking for help with a gnome problem ended up happening. The Heartstone was damaged and eventually destroyed, Jim had to fight a Stalkling, and ... well, Bular never got into Trollmarket, but Gunmar and Angor Rot both did.

Story idea that came about as a result of this rewatch:

Instead of going out to his backyard and summoning the armour, Jim puts the amulet up for sale online like he threatened to do if it didn’t talk again. Several Changelings independently find the Amulet of Daylight on eBay and a bidding war ensues.

#Trollhunters #commentary #Tales of Arcadia #spoilers #long post

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seyaryminamoto · 4 years

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Re: my ask on The Great Divide and Avatar Day... Holy crap, I wasn't expecting you to write a whole essay! Thank you! (It's also interesting that you bring up The Fortuneteller as the series' other big filler episode - I was always under the impression that The Painted Lady was what rounded out the trifecta, but then, fandom opinion on it has never seemed as extreme.)

Hahaha, sorry not sorry xD I don’t know how to be brief, it’s a problem xD but I’m glad you seem to have enjoyed it!

I brought up the Fortuneteller because it’s from Book 1 too, same as the Great Divide, and Book 1 is the one where a first-time viewer largely might feel like what they’re watching isn’t really going anywhere. I mean, I remember asking my sister if they’d ever get to the North Pole back when I was first watching it x’D I guess if the show offered the occasional glimpse of where they are on the map you’d at least feel like they’re making some progress (as the old Turbonick site allowed). But until the Northern Air Temple, there’s not much in the way of revealing how far north they’ve traveled so far within the story itself.

Anyways, the other reason I brought it up was because the Fortuneteller is a generally loved episode, despite objectively it doesn’t do much for the plot at all. It’s a handy way to compare it to Avatar Day and The Great Divide, because the question would naturally be why is it better than these two? What would make that one, as plot irrelevant as it was, more cherished than these two?

As for the Painted Lady, though... conceptually, I like that episode a lot. Not because of the Painted Lady herself, honestly I’m not as stoked about spirits in general as a lot of fans might be, and I’ve never felt too passionately about Katara’s plotlines: what I loved was the Fire Nation village of Jang Hui. It’s by far the lousiest of Fire Nation villages we see, even if Yon Rha’s isn’t the greatest, but this one is basically being killed by the Fire Nation’s warfare policies. The message conveyed is one of the most important ones I felt the show should have put forward, and it’s that the lack of balance in their world is damaging EVERYONE. The Fire Nation’s militaristic approach to... well, everything, would have consequences not only for the rest of the world, but for the Fire Nation itself.

That’s why I’ve even taken advantage of that particular situation in my main fic, because confronting a Fire Nation character with the reality that the war is harming their nation is just a great development and growth resource that the show squandered... and I will never understand why it did xD

But beyond that particular element of conceptual brilliance... the Painted Lady leaves much to be desired for me too. I don’t lump it in with the others as “filler” because of what I said, it really does add something of far more important value to the war and worldbuilding than Avatar Day did (despite that one features Kyoshi’s story, which, sure, expands the history of the Avatarverse but not exactly your understanding of their world as a whole...?), and obviously, much more important than what The Great Divide features. Still, I really don’t enjoy Katara and Sokka’s conflict here. Sokka’s position to not help people, to do nothing and just push forward with their plans, when he had taken the exact opposite stance in earlier episodes (namely Jet, where he saves Fire Nation soldiers from the dam’s destruction, no less, or even the Northern Air Temple, where he could have easily said “well okay this is too much drama let’s go to the north pole now, Aang”) felt like the writers were just hellbent on turning them against each other just for the sake of drama. Yes, Sokka and Katara often clash because of how different they are, but it’s different here than it would be in Books 1 and 2: you’d expect they’d have learned a few things from their frequent conflicts, such as the one they have in The Great Divide, but it flat-out doesn’t look like they did. After this, they still clash over Hama and later yet over Yon Rha. Meaning... they didn’t learn much from this conflict either. So, there’s not much in the way of growing and changing as far as their sibling relationship is concerned? It’s kind of... disappointing. At least, it is to me.

It was also really strange for Sokka to be so hellbent on sticking to a schedule that looks like an Excel spreadsheet graphic when

They have several days to spare when they reach the Black Cliffs in Nightmares and Daydreams.

He and the others wasted time in varying ways during the episodes leading to the Invasion (both before and after the Painted Lady) and he never used the schedule again as an argument to keep moving.

It’s not out of character entirely for him to act this way, but it makes no sense that they’d arrive at the Black Cliffs with time to spare if they devoted that much time to cleaning a river, getting Sokka a few swordsmanship lessons, lounging around lazily in a hot spring cove, visiting Roku’s old house for a while, running scams with Toph, dealing with Hama and her creepiness/saving all those villagers... I mean. Really. Time WAS wasted. A lot of it. And somehow they got there several days early?

For me, the conflict between Sokka and Katara in this episode feels less genuine than whenever they had conflicts before, partly because it was an old, tried and tired situation that presented Sokka as the cold-bloodeed and Katara as the emotional one (where Katara of course is framed as righteous and fair, while Sokka looks like a self-involved jerk up until he defends his sister). But it feels even worse after you progress in the show and find out that Sokka’s big concern over arriving on time was actually completely unnecessary? It’s an artificial conflict, really. It doesn’t feel genuine, it feels like it’s there just to create emotional stakes that don’t really pay off because we’ve seen these two for almost three seasons and we know their conflicts don’t last and always are resolved for the better (only for them to jump into a new one a few episodes later). No real difference here. You don’t learn a single new thing about these characters. It’s more of the same situations they’re always in.

This episode is probably great for Katara fans, and it definitely paints her in much better light than the other Katara-centric episodes of Book 3 (The Puppetmaster and The Southern Raiders), so I’d assume a lot of Katara fans love it to pieces. There’s also the obsession certain areas of the fandom have over spirit alter egos of characters... I don’t need to elaborate much on what I mean, but safe to say I’m far from intrigued by that particular trope (though my bigger qualm isn’t with the Painted Lady but with the Blue Spirit, against whom I have a gazillion reservations and I’ll voice them as many times as I must). So, as far as personal investment in this episode goes... yeah. I really don’t have any other than in the village of Jang Hui because of the implications it holds for the worldbuilding and the Fire Nation as a whole. Beyond that... this episode doesn’t really do anything for me. I often have to rewatch episodes for research purposes with Gladiator... this one I haven’t watched since ages ago and I can’t say I’m interested in doing it again anytime soon.

Still, as far as trifecta of fillers goes, I think it’s difficult to really determine which episodes should be part of it? There’s a lot of filler content in ATLA, but often peppered with stuff that will be useful later on somehow. Yet there’s a lot of it that isn’t? The nuns of the Abbey never come up again. The pirates aren’t relevant past Book 1. The entirety of The Ember Island Players is absolute, unabashed filler content, and some people even feel that way about The Beach too. Soooo... I guess ranking the filler episodes depending on their usefulness can be tricky. Some are more useful, some are less so, most of them don’t feature much in the way of useful, lasting character development and sometimes resort to old problems that could have been resolved already... such as the Runaway’s big Katara-Toph rivalry, which hadn’t reared its ugly head since The Chase, so it looked like a problem long-resolved.

So, would I round out the trifecta of fillers with the Painted Lady...? Yeah, well, I can’t say for sure, but I can say it ranks amongst my least liked episodes just like the other two xD

#anon #threw in a read more #just in case #I do ramble #a lot #oops #someone ought to stop me #but anyways I don't really know for sure what the worst ATLA episodes are #strangely one of my most disliked episodes is the Swamp #I... don't even know why #it makes me sleepy #and it's not like it's not useful as far as worldbuilding is concerned #hell I literally will take advantage of that swamp in a myriad of ways in my story #... but that episode #just doesn't work with me

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