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#but shadow is a bit of an exception

kr1llz · 1 year

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i dont know how to ask questions. but i now need to know everything about this au. any little scrap will do i just NEEDDDDD INFORMATIONNNNN

[sharp inhale] hi. fucking beams you

okay quick note: this is literally something thats been in my head for like 2 or 3 days if you see consistency issues ignore them bless. also for consistency purposes shadow has a higher concentration of chaos energy (bc i dont think this is ever said in any games but is just kinda implied)

the basic premise is that maria and shadow both survived the raid on the ARK and survived the fall to earth

Maria does still get injured and, in an attempt to heal her injuries, is able to use his own chaos energy to not only heal her, but more or less reverse the effects of NIDS at the cost of keeping his black arms traits completely at bay

additionally this extreme concentration effectively ruins his regulators, causing his issues with his black arms traits to be worse than they couldve been

With the reversal of her disease, Maria's lifespan and aging process is uh. kinda messed up, extending it by a pretty significant amount by making her aging process much slower

they go into hiding best they can and the 50 year timeskip that takes place in sa2 instead becomes time where they try and figure out 1. how the world works and 2. more about their past bc they were both kept in the dark about things while on the ARK (basically wtf was going on with shadows creation and why did GUN attack in the first place)

on the other hand, shadow experiences some mutations (third eye, sharper claws, increased amount of red quills/fur) and is more prone to violent episodes

these episodes are especially bad during their first few years on mobius but after awhile hes able to keep these episodes at bay much much better

i also lied when i said i wouldnt post the art this entire post is the entire au as of right now so heres their (still kinda wip) modern designs

this is where i havent thought things out as well but uhh BASICALLY maria hears about tails and how hes a genius and goes "huh. maybe this guy can help us but i have no clue on how to contact him"

this is also where things are very muddy but more or less shadow and sonic accidentally meet, maria finds them about to beat the shit out of eachother and offers sonic a meal as an apology

during this she tells shadow about tails and sonic goes "oh hey thats my brother :D" and there is no way to describe how they react in text so heres a doodle

as an agent for GUN, rouge is more or less the only true key they have to figuring everything out, so they have tails contact her (sonic and tails arent friends with her but its tails he has his ways) and she agrees to help them and uncover their past through some good ol spy work against gun, but says that theres a hefty price behind this work, that price being the chaos emeralds (this is her idea of being absurd and telling them that theres no way in hell she would do the job without being payed shittons of money) but they go "ok lol"

sonic tells tails about shadow and maria and how they want his help, and tails agrees

he does scans on the both of them and tells them exactly what happened to them all that time ago (marias disease being reversed, shadows glorified hormone imbalance) but says that he cant help with much else because he just. doesnt know enough about either of their conditions to really give any solid insight or advice but knows someone who might . this is where rouge comes in :}

this is where things kinda leave off bc like i said i thought of this like. three days ago LOL

right around this time the black arms invasion starts and through a series of events that i also havent thought out yet shadow gets like. partially assimilated into the hivemind

he still has his own conscious thoughts but cant control his actions, making him a threat

#if you read all of that i love you forever and ever btw #this is suuuuper self indulgent #normally i dont like my favs suffering #but shadow is a bit of an exception #mostly bc #me 🤝 shadow #extreme mental issues #and sometimes u just gotta have fun with the little guys that have the same illnesses as u<3 #but yeaaah it started as #what if shadow was in the hivemind but could still think #and then evolved into um #this #my art

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ride-a-dromedary · 3 months

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the darkest of nights, in truth, still dazzles.

a halsin fanmix [listen]

#BG3 Musing #BG3 Fanmix #Halsin BG3 #Halsin #Halsin Posting #my fanmix #i give up this is about as done as it will ever be - i've been talking about this enough i need to get it away from me #i could have made at least one or two other playlists with the number of songs i cut from this #there were some things that hurt me to cut but i figured others had them in their playlists so they're out there #(the impossible dream you will always be famous i am so sorry :(()#i had three goals with this 1. make it more of a timeline in that it follows a narrative order (which hopefully is easy enough to follow)#(it makes sense to me about as much as it is ever going to lol)#2. try to avoid using songs that other individuals have used in their playlists (with a handful of exceptions - i highly encourage you also #take a listen to the others around! lots of good stuff and i figured if you were missing it from this one you can find another with it)#(and if i did use one the context might be different #'closer here is being used in a different way than i usually see it - it's putting more emphasis on the 'you can have my isolation' bit use #in context of the matron and patron for example)#and 3. focus as much as possible on non-romance path elements of halsin's character - i.e. again that's a topic that is highly explored #in other fanmixes to great success - this one is about the childhood he references and the adventures and the capture in the underdark #and the shadow curse and the burying of people he loved and the uptaking of the archdruid position and the healing he did #and possibly did not do #and the radicalization he comes into when his goals are met and he's faced with injustices #and the struggle he has of redefining himself and figuring out who he is after all of it #hopefully the 'eras' are clearly defined but hey it's all gravy from here #honestly if there is one song to listen to that encapsulates halsin for me it's tapestry - highly recommend that #anyway i am blabbing - let the lyrics and such talk for themselves jemi please #but if fanmixes aren't your speed have a kinda nice edit i guess #edit: now with bonus song i just had to add after shamefully forgetting it

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mah-o-daryaa · 7 months

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The Cycle Repeats: Part I

One of the key themes of the ATLA franchise is the concept of the Avatar; master of all 4 elements, the fusion of humanity and Raava, the spirit of light and order, whose sole duty is to bring balance to the world, and be the bridge between both the physical and spiritual realms. Along with this comes the idea of reincarnation, which is the premise of the Avatar Cycle, the idea that the Avatar reincarnates in a cyclic order in any of the four nations (fire, air, water, earth). Another concept related to the Avatar Cycle (although originating from the fandom) is the idea of the Avatar fixing the mistakes of their past life, which is often indicated in differences in both habitual circumstances and personalities between both predecessor and successor, and therefore differences in morality.

But what if I were to tell you that the saying "history repeats itself" is also true among Avatar incarnations? Not exactly going the same way, but rather parallels between the lives, personalities, and accomplishments (and failures) of past lives?

In this series of metas, I will be going over parallels (or in some cases, foils) between certain pairs of Avatars that lived decades, or even centuries apart, and yet could not have ever been more similar.

The Unlikely Analogy: Avatars Aang and Kuruk

"Aang was an Air Nomad born in 12 BG and the Avatar during the Hundred Year War, succeeding Avatar Roku and preceding Avatar Korra. As the Avatar of his time, he was the only person capable of using all four bending arts: airbending, waterbending, earthbending, and firebending. He was also one of a select few Avatars and one of the first in many cycles to learn the ancient art of energybending as well as the first Avatar known to have actively used the technique."

"Kuruk was the Water Tribe Avatar immediately succeeding Avatar Yangchen and preceding Avatar Kyoshi. Native to the Northern Water Tribe, he was a powerful and gifted bender who dreamed of changing the mortal world for the better by uniting the people and acting upon the foundations laid by Yangchen."

Both texts above are directly taken from the first paragraphs of their respective wiki pages; however, you would be forgiven for believing they are nothing alike, specifically due to their respective heritages. In reality, I would wager that Aang and Kuruk are actually the same person (literally and metaphorically).

(WARNING: There will be possible spoilers for both The Rise of Kyoshi and The Shadow of Kyoshi, particularly regarding Kuruk's backstory. If you do not wish to be spoiled, I suggest not reading any further and scrolling past this post until you have finished reading both novels. You have been warned.)

Kuruk's legacy plays a central role in both Kyoshi novels, especially in the Shadow of Kyoshi, where it's revealed that Kuruk hunted and killed dark spirits. This lead to both his body and spirit falling apart and him dying at just 33.

The first parallel is, ironically, their heritage. Aang is an Air Nomad, and his native element is air. Kuruk is a Water Tribesman, and his native element is water. Air and water are compatible in the sense that water can literally be described as a combination of the qualities of earth and air. Like earth, water can be strong and solid. Like air, water can be gaseous, fluid, and unpredictable. However, water also has an intermediate liquid state, with a definite volume, but always changing shape. Something about being the element of change or something. Just like the Avatar Cycle. I actually wrote a meta dedicated to this subject.

Why am I mentioning this? It's because the first element Aang learned to master (besides air, ofc) is water (which was also the element that was easiest for Aang to learn besides his own, due to air and water having similar philosophies), and he first learned to waterbend in the Northern Water Tribe, Kuruk's home (although he only learned the basics with Master Pakku; he only mastered it under the tutelage of his companion Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, who is also part-NWT). Conversely, the last element Kuruk learned to master was air, and he mastered airbending at the Southern Air Temple, Aang's home (he learned to master it under the tutelage of his companion Monk Kelsang, and it can also be assumed hat it was the element that was easiest for Kuruk to master besides water). Both Kelsang and Katara go on to become mentors to Kuruk and Aang's successors, Kyoshi and Korra respectively.

Another parallel is that both Kuruk and Aang were successors to wise and influential Avatars of their time (Avatars Yangchen and Roku respectively). As I have said in the first paragraph of the introduction, I mentioned the idea of the current Avatar fixing the mistakes of his/her predecessor. In The Shadow of Kyoshi, it is revealed that Yangchen neglected the spirit world, often siding with humans when making decisions between them. This lead to an increase of corrupted spirits ravaging the physical world during Kuruk's time by passing through rifts created by Father Glowworm, some attacking up to a dozen villages in one day. In the episode The Avatar and the Firelord (Book 3: Episode 6), it's revealed that Roku, by refusing to kill Firelord Sozin, was unable to prevent the Air Nomad Genocide and, by extension, the Hundred Year War. Both Kuruk and Aang had to face the consequences of their revered past lives.

Also, Kuruk ended up spending so much time in the spirit world that he ended up neglecting his duties in the physical world. He also started leading a lifestyle filled with alcoholism and debauchery, both as a coping mechanism and as a smokescreen to hide his duties from his Team Avatar (Jianzhu, Kelsang, and Hei-Ran). This means that both Aang and Kuruk have avoided their Avatar duties, but due to different reasons. Aang ran away because he didn't WANT to be the Avatar, while Kuruk ran away because he NEEDED to be the Avatar.

Kuruk hid his illness from his friends because he wanted to protect his predecessor, Avatar Yangchen's legacy (she often sided with humans over spirits when making decisions between them), and because he worried for his friends' safety. Both Aang and Kuruk share a common fear: being unable to save their loved ones from despair. This can be tied to the episode Nightmares and Daydreams (Book 3: Episode 9), where Aang suffered with anxiety nightmares the night before the Black Sun invasion. One series in particular consisted of his friends, Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Toph, suffering, with Aang unable to save them, and Kuruk's refusal to confide in his friends to keep them safe (which could be a result of two of Yangchen's companions sacrificing their lives to protect her, and Kuruk not wanting to repeat it). The difference is that unlike Kuruk, Aang did confide in his friends (more accurately, you could say that his friends confided in him, as he was the only one able to defeat Firelord Ozai), and in the end, they all played a role in defeating Ozai.

This isn't even taking account the Kummi-Taang theory, which indicates more parallels between them both. To give a simple run-down, the theory states that Toph is a reincarnation of Ummi, Kuruk's wife, whose face was stolen by the spirit Koh The Face Stealer, hence why Toph was born blind, and why Aang met her in the mystical swamp in the episode of the same name (Book 2: Episode 4). I'll post another link to the actual meta dedicated to it:

On a more positive note, both Kuruk and Aang are stated to be bending prodigies, Kuruk especially. They each invented an airbending technique at the Southern Air Temple during their airbending training, demonstrating their unique creativity and adaptability (Kuruk's technique involved creating a cushion of air under a heavy object so it could be slid and moved over a floor with care, Aang's technique, the air scooter, is a spherical "ball" of air that can be ridden balancing on it like a top). Aang had already learned 35 of the 36 tiers of airbending at the time, so it would be rather ironic if Kuruk's technique was the only one Aang hadn't mastered at the time; however, I do have a theory that both techniques are connected, which I will discuss in a separate post. Aang earned his airbending mastery tattoos, and had Kuruk been an Air Nomad, he woud have gotten the same tattoos. Though, he did get a sky bison as a gift, and Aang's animal companion was a sky bison (Appa).

I noticed that the only time Kuruk actually wears his iconic polar bear headdress is when Aang summons him in the episode Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters (Book 3: Episode 19), not counting his brief appearance in The Avatar State (Book 2: Episode 1). In The Old Masters, Aang summons the past four Avatars before him for advice on how to defeat Firelord Ozai. According to @atlaculture, Kuruk's decision to wear the headdress in front of Aang--a strict vegetarian--could be him subtly reminding Aang that killing isn't always merciless (as Kuruk was a hunter, and probably had to hunt down large animals for food or as a rite of passage), which is stated here.

I noticed the line Aang says just before he summoned Kuruk:

"I need to look deep inside myself."

Despite the existence of the webcomic Escape from the Spirit World, which takes place between Books 2 and 3 (although Yangchen did say Aang wouldn't remember his journey in the Spirit World), this lines implies that out of Aang's past four lives, Kuruk's is the one he knows least about (Roku was Aang's predecessor, Aang probably knew/learned a lot about Kyoshi during his visits to the Earth Kingdom, and Yangchen, being an Air Nomad like Aang, was revered almost as a god-like figure across the four nations). Ironically, if you dig deeper, Kuruk is also the past life who was/is most similar to Aang.

Also, Kuruk's actual advice to Aang was: "Aang, you must actively shape your own destiny and the destiny of the world." This piece of advice has multiple interpretations. What Aang interpreted was Kuruk telling him to kill Ozai (combined with the fact that Kuruk was wearing a literal animal skin in front of Aang, only reinforcing his interpretation). However, Kuruk never said anything about killing Ozai. He could have actually meant that to him, it doesn't matter how Aang defeated Ozai, or even if Aang did kill him. To Kuruk, the only thing that mattered was Aang performing the act of Showing Up, and actively finding a way to defeat Ozai himself. Therefore, Aang obtaining energybending and then taking Ozai's bending away rather than killing him doesn't mean he didn't follow any of the Avatars' advice. On the contrary, by actively finding a third option to end the war, and actively participating in the final battle, Aang actually subconcisiously followed Kuruk's advice to heart (although you could say Aang didn't follow Kuruk's advice, since Aang didn't actively seek out the lionturtle; rather he was merely kidnapped by chance).

The final parallel between Aang and Kuruk is their relatively young deaths; more specifically, their final wishes. Kuruk died at just 33, surrounded by his Team Avatar, and he made them promise to take care of his successor and make sure she succeeds as the Avatar. Around 500 years later, Aang died at a relatively young biological age of 66 (and the chronological age of 165) surrounded by his Team Avatar and the Order of the White Lotus, and he made them promise to do the exact same thing. However, both Yun and Korra ended up growing up isolated from the rest of the world, and being told that being the Avatar was the only thing that mattered, which led to a serious mental stunt, even though it wasn't Aang's fault Korra ended up being kept in the Southern Compound on the orders of Tonraq, Tenzin, and Sokka, or Kuruk's fault that Yun was being physically and mentally abused by Jianzhu and Hei-Ran. The only difference was that Korra was correctly identified as the Avatar, but Yun wasn't. Kyoshi did not grow up the same way, but she was not spared either; I'll make a meta on her too. But seriously, how in the four nations is it possible for two people who lived centuries apart die with the exact same wish given to their loved ones? Unless they were the Avatar.

In conclusion, despite the difference in Aang and Kuruk's heritage, morality, and overall results as the Avatar, one could argue that it is true that certain beats in the cycle often repeat, depending on their journeys, personalities, and abilities. In the next part, I will explore the parallels between Avatars Aang and Kyoshi, Kuruk's successor.

Next ->

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six-of-cringe · 2 years

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Of course the crows would continue having a blast making fun of rich high society Kerch stuff post-canon, but considering that Wylan has zero idea of what normal looks like, having only ever been either in a super rich but super detrimental household or homeless, everything would be a fun little game of "Is This a 'Rich People' Thing or Is This a 'Jan van Eck is Fucking Insane' Thing?"

Like the crows would be just teasing about galas and bed warmers but when Wylan tries to roll with it he accidentally ends up whipping out the most deranged occurrences imaginable which were not, in fact, the ✨Silly Rich Person Tingz✨ he thought they were.

#this has the potential to be so comedic but so sad at the exact same time #wylan would see a 9yo mercher's kid call their dad da instead of sir and be like. i believe i have just witnessed a high society faux pas #the crows just wanna poke a lil fun but wylan keeps killing the mood by mistake #some things are rich people things that wylan accepted as normal things #some things are your father hoping you will die #which is it? guess Wylan and his plucky band of silly goofy friends will have to find out! likely over the course of many years!#'who's gonna tell him' - everyone else in the conversation #i am writing this instead of eating dinner. somebody push me out of bed and then down the stiars #wylan van eck #jan van eck #six of crows #soc #shadow and bone #six of crows memes #soc shitpost #except it's a little more verbose and a bit more of a bummer than a shitpost

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yourqueenb · 5 months

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To follow up on what previous anon wrote (I'm not that anon to be clear) but thank you also for writing the truth about Nia and calling PB out on her way too favorable treatment which led to her unofficially becoming a main character in this book.

Refreshing to read seeing as not a lot of people saw an issue with that, but the problem is IT REALLY WAS AN ISSUE and I hope to not see that in book 3. Like ffs we are the main character, not her.

Yeah, I mean it wasn’t necessarily meant to be a call out. It was more so me just venting my frustrations, but of course I agree with you about how annoying and detrimental to MC’s story it was. I really just don’t get why they would center a supporting character that much, but it’s not like they haven’t done it before in other series. I think it’s just that in this particular situation MC and Nia basically switch roles, whereas in other series like OH and TRR certain characters got much more screen time, development, and care than they should have, but the MCs still felt like the main characters for the most part

#choices bolas #choices blades #blades of light and shadow #choices stories you play #playchoices #well except for in OH 3 #Ethan was already eating up far too much of the story in books 1 and 2 but I think they took it to a whole new level in 3 #now that I’m thinking about it again the way they favored and centered Ethan might have been even worse than Nia #and I say might have been bc OH is not fresh in my mind like Blades is #but it’s def impossible to forget how insane the writing in that series made me 💀😵‍💫#like Ethan is still one of the Choices characters I hate the most to this day #whereas I don’t actually hate or particularly dislike Nia #there were just certain parts of her personality that were a bit grating #and again it was annoying how she was basically written to be the MC #choices #choices app #choices ask

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