#feel free to ask things | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dapandapod · 2 years

Text

Writing horses - a loveletter

Something I have noticed while writing is just how very much googling one has to do. Especially when writing something you are not very familiar with. Animals in particular can be very tricky, and in our witcher fandom we have a darling horse as a very important character. Where Geralt goes, Roach goes.

As a horse girl myself I have a lot to stand on already (though language sometimes fail me, as I am not a native English speaker) while writing horse girl Geralt, (My Beloved), but not everybody has had the opportunity to spend time with a horse more than maybe a happy(or terrible, if you met a pony) memory.

Here are some easy things to help you write behavior, sounds, habits or needs. Just generally horse things. This is not perfect, nor complete, there is a lot of ground to cover, but this is an attempt to give writers the tools to write a horse. :)

I won’t mention gear, colors, gates etc, and attempt to give you tidbits of what google hides.

I’d like to point out, they are all individuals, and like humans have very different views on the world. Some are very dominant, some are very dramatic, some are very calm and trusting, some have a wicked sense of humor.

If you have seldom or possibly not met a horse at all but have other pets, it is easier to compare them to cats and dogs.

General behavior/body language can be more cat-like, elegant, spooking for nothing, independent, flicking tail when annoyed, and some of them can - like cats - be really picky about the people around them.

Social behavior is closer to dogs. Their chosen person/s or herd are very important to them, they can be very loyal, trusting and protective of them. Playful behavior can be nudges with their nose, whinnying when they see you, or what I call ‘lipping’ after you. Basically using their lips for either attention, begging for sweets, or just being playful.

A saying I have heard in the horse world is; A gelding you tell. A Stallion you ask. A mare, you send three different copies to her secretary, and she will get back to you in 2-3 work weeks. Sums up their personalities pretty good.

Horses are just funky family members,

Horse behaviour:

-In General, horses are quiet animals. Making too much sound can attract predators.

They knicker/whinny when they they are about to get food (and you are aaalways to slow), when they flirt or when they see another horse, or a rare shrill whine (iiiih!) while protesting. Of course, that is also an individual thing, some horses are really talkative while others are very silent. (Mine does old man grunts every time he starts trotting or while pooping… Hard work that.)

-Horses read your body language and react to it, even if you are in the saddle. Again, this is a training/personality/bonding thing, but a rider that is tense or stressed will have a tense and stressed horse. If you are calm when things are scary, the horse is more likely to be calmer in a stressed or dangerous situation.

-In comparison, when a horse is relaxed, their ears can point “outwards”, lowering slightly, rest one hind leg by cocking it, neck lowering. There are a lot of small little signs too, but that is how in depth you want to go. That also means they can read strangers, and decide that they do not like them.

-Horses can walk for a long time, yes, but gallop/canter for hours takes a lot out of them. Think of the last time you wore a really heavy backpack when you were out walking, and how tiring that can be.

If you have played The Witcher 3, you might recognize the horse’s fear-bar rising when getting closer to something dangerous, and her reaction when it fills. If she is terrified, she can either start running away from the danger, or attempt to buck you off. In this case, Geralt has Axii to rely on, but the rest of us mortals have to rely on the bond with our horses, the trust between us.

Some horses are trained to be brave, or even defend.

Think of police horses or war horses. They go where the rider says, because of their bond and because they trust that their rider will keep them safe. In turn, a horse can feel protective over you, and sometimes that is trained into them.

Think of war horses in this instance, who will trample enemies, use their front legs when they rear up on their hind legs, wave them around, or their hind legs to kick - hard.

This usually takes training or some really strong loyalty, as their first instinct is usually to flee.

Fun things horses can do:

-Horses can be ticklish, mostly around their stomachs.

-When they burst into gallop suddenly and/or kick with their hind legs, they very often fart at the same time. (usually this is a happy thing)

-When a horse is nervous, they poop. Gotta lighten the load in case they need to run, you know.

-Oh, and horses love to smell other horses poop. It’s very important to see who was there before them.

-Horses sometimes play with objects in their enclosure like dogs do, sometimes by throwing it around, shaking their head up and down, sometimes letting it go and see it sail to the other side of their enclosure, just to go fetch it and start all over again.

-They’re smart as hell, you can teach them to play games like ‘which hand has the treat’

-They will do weird things with their lips and head when you find that *one* spot they really want scratched, and attempt to scratch back at you with their lip, or just the air because you are too far away.

-Some horses when they are bored, they make things happen. Or overreacts, because that is fun. Oh my ACTUAL god is that a rock?!?! Freakout imminent.

-Horses can be mischievous. They know they are not allowed and will either sneak to get their will done, or stare you down as they do it. It could be sniffing/shaking a bag, using their leg to kick over a water bucket.

Less fun things horses can do:

-If the horse is distracted, untrained or doesn't know you very well, sometimes they forget humans have feet too, and might stand on them.

-They are deserving of all the grass. All of it. Now. Will not listen to nudges, kicking, pulling or otherwise. Grass is always more important

-When recently bathed, or just brushed down, there is nothing better than to roll in the grass. Or dirt. Or mud. Anything sticky they can find, really.

-Depending on horse personality, everything can be a potential danger. Sometimes it can be wells, sometimes hanging laundry, sudden burst of bird from a field, or even just waving your own hat to fan yourself in the heat.

(Though, mind, a horse that is on the road a lot like Roach might not care overly much unless she is feeling real dramatic that day or there is a real threat)

-If fleeing from possible danger, they can make a really sharp turn, spin on the spot or jump sideways/backwards. A really good way for you to meet the ground if you are not very steady in the saddle, being prepared for it doesn’t always help!

-Some horses are really bothered by insects and will constantly flick their tail, shake, or even try to reach the insect biting them with hoof or teeth until relieved

Caring for the horse:

-Horses eat a lot. It can be wheat/oats if you want Geralt to bring food for her, and grass. At a farm, horses will eat a lot of hay mostly, and many of them sleep in straw.

-Sleeping is important for horses, and since they are prey animals, that can be a tricky business. When with other horses, there is usually at least one standing up, standing guard as the others sleep lying down. If inside, or feeling safe enough (or being tired enough) they mostly sleep lying down. But not for too long. The downside of weighing around 500kg is that your body can’t lay down for too long, it can be really dangerous even. Another reason why they can lock their legs while standing up to sleep.

-Much of the time, you can think of a horse as an athlete. They carry heavy stuff, they can get stiff and sore, and they need to train to get strong and get good stamina. If you want them to perform very well, like racing, working on the farm, carrying heavy things for you like stinky griffin heads, they need maintenance and training. Think Athlete.

-When the horses are done for the day, or taking a break, you want to loosen the saddle girth, or take off the saddle entirely. Think of it as tossing off your bra at the end of a long day!

-Brushing is important! It cleans out the coat, reducing the risk of chafing and helping with blood circulation. It is also a bonding moment, and a good time to notice if the horse have gotten hurt anywhere.

-A common hurt for horses that go fast is stepping on the backside of their own hoof, or a branch or even their own legs hitting the inside of the legs on the area that is called cannon.

If you want to embellish your horse writing, here are some fun, personality building things you can use:

-Some horses are really mindful of their space. They don’t like other horses too close and will try to make them to back the fuck off with either teeth or a small kick.

-A very dominant horse, meaning someone who might be a leader of the herd, might be harder to read if they are ill, or challenge your decisions, doing the exact opposite of what you are asking, if moving at all.

-If a mare is in heat, she can be oh so peevish. If you nudge her with your heel, she can attempt to kick back, make that shrill sounds or even try to buck you off. They also pee a lot while in heat, like dogs do. (Heats can be compared to pms if you are familiar, uncomfortable, making you moody and sometimes ouchy, but again, individual.)

-Also some ‘smile’ by flipping their top lip up and showing their teeth - sometimes they do it bc they smell something funky but sometimes they just do it to be cute

There are so many things to add here, and there is no way to make justice years of time spent with and around horses. Every breed is a little different, every personality its own. The bond between a human and their horse can be very special and hard to explain, but oh so very precious. Sometimes they are a work friend and sometimes family, sometimes both.

Just enjoy your writing, and I hope this was helpful to make you more comfortable in writing horses. <3

(oh, and feel free to ask questions if there is something you are wondering!)

#writing horses #horses #writing advice #the witcher #witcher fanfiction #character study #ish #horses are often characters in witcher #feel free to ask things #this is supposed to be a starting point #something to stand on #hope it helps #<3 #dapanda writes #horse girl geralt

74 notes · View notes

youllnevergetmealive · 1 year

Text

Commissions Open!

Here you can find info on my commissions and YCH's

You can order by dm-ing me, or on my ko-fi!

And if you want to check examples of my work all you have to do is search the #myart tag on this blog or hop on over to @warrioroutcast

Have a most wonderful day and remember to support small creators and businesses!

#Feel free to ask things #I don't mind!#Love y'all #wish me luck!

5 notes · View notes

daisywords · 1 year

Text

btw I know ppl on this site go on abt mutuals but if you are someone that shows up in my notes regularly who I don't follow, I do notice and I am fond of you and if you reblog something from me I do think "YES I have pleased the follower with good taste"

#and feel free to reply/send asks/tag me in things

60K notes · View notes

oobbbear · 4 months

Text

I want to post this here too because I’ve seen it happen a few times

Please understand that there are cultural differences and language differences, if you see this happening let the person clarify what they meant, that person might just not be familiar with words the western side of the internet use

#bearz rambling tag #no it’s not really possible to let everyone who uses this term to change #because as far as I know this is the most common word with use on Chinese websites #I didn’t know that pairing are called ‘ship’ here #like why would I even know that #‘ship’ makes zero sense to me #it took me a while to learn the fandom language people speak here #it’s hard #give people time #shipping culture is very different too #Like on Chinese site you HAVE to clarify the Top and the Bottom of this ship in the ship name #it is very very important to them #people who like the same ship but with different Top Bottom preference will fight till no end #imagine how confused I was when I first got here #where there’s no top bottom differences #it’s not really a smut thing #it’s more a dynamic thing #AxB and BxA is very different #oh I can talk so much about the differences on fandom cultures #if ya are interested in more please feel free to ask #it’s very interesting to me #I wanna talk about it

8K notes · View notes

its-tortle · 2 months

Text

— taylor swift albums as months of the year —

4K notes · View notes

1pcii · 4 months

Text

the real reason Luffy likes zoro so much is because he is built like a bug

^^^here's a scientific (preformed studies myself) diagram to explain how.

#psii.png #i learned that antenna and feelers were the same thing after I finished writing all the annotations 😭#idk I thought they were different...#1pc #one piece #fanart #one piece fanart #roronoa zoro #zoro #monkey d. luffy #luffy #zolu #luzo #undescribed #if anyone wants a description feel free to ask me I'll try #everytime I see ppl draw chibi zoro he looks like a creature. specifically a bug or an insect to me #thought it was funny so here we are

2K notes · View notes

isjasz · 7 months

Note

hey so Ik I’ve done and ask before but it would be amazing if u could make like desert duo matching pfps??? :)

also Ik I’ve said it before but duuuude ur art abjsjfbsjj <3

[Day 81]

Does this work

(SORRY I JUST THINK THE CROP IS REALLY FUNNY FOR MATCHING PFPS LMAOAOOAOAA)

#dddaily4sherin #grian #goodtimeswithscar #and tyty HDKSJJE <3 #feel free to send as many asks as you like tbh i just respond to them slow NSKWKWKJW #hermitcraft #hermitblr #desert duo #my art #though tbh my art isnt exactly suited for pfps bc i keep things messy too much JSKAKEK #ill keep trying 🫡#is.asks

3K notes · View notes

sinlizards · 1 year

Note

i love love love the way you paint back lighting!! do you have any tips/ a step by step for the way you do it?

ended up making a whole painting just to break it down and explain my general process for subjects lit from behind so heres that + a timelapse!

main thing for drawing anything with a strong light source behind is to make the main subject Darker and more desaturated to convey that the light is behind them rather than to their sides (face cant be properly lit if the light is behind). Also making the Main highlight the brightest hue in the image helps to intensify it. I tend to use teeth/eyes as a good comparison point

some people have a tendency to make the sclera white out of habit but darkening that+ the rest of the whites helps the image read as Darker compared to the brighter highlight

#art help #i wont make this any longer than this already ended up being but if u have any more questions please feel free to ask!#ive been doing a lot of these breakdowns recently #the sclera thing also applies to how i pick colors in general! establishing whats supposed to read as 'white' in art makes picking #the colors surrounding it easier #also careful of how dark u make an image it can strain ur eyes to work on something like that for a long time

7K notes · View notes

tubbytarchia · 2 months

Note

For the ranchers a bit more shleep i just really like charakters comfy and nice:Dc /nf

Eepies. Jimmy woke up to really sore wings but its okay because Tango

#(I cannot imagine avians sleeping on their backs lest they have special mattresses or something but hnng. For the domestic fluff...)#team rancher #rancher duo #solidaritek #I imagine Tango is not nearly as much of a ray of sunshine in the mornings as Jimmy is. Jimmy finds it endearing though 100%#I also imagine Tango moves the hell around in his sleep and tangles them both up with his tail #He's gonna try to apologize a thousand times for “making you sleep on your back” but Jimmy won't let him #ALSO what does /nf mean lol. Every other day I see another new tone indicator that I cant figure out the meaning of #please feel free to use brackets to circumvent my stupidity. I do not know the hip things... I am but a boomer noobie #trafficshipping #trafficblr #I have so many other rancher asks in my inbox that could fall under this #Rancher cuddles and smol Tango and this and that hhrr but I will... I will get to them... in time....#never enough rancher content #also laying on someone when they laugh so their chest bounces up and down etc. Oh it makes me weak. Not that I know what its like lol #but it feels cute...#tubby art

524 notes · View notes

beescake · 4 months

Note

Sorry for the spam (^o^;) I just really like your blog

no need to apologize ayy!

in this corner we welcome all forms of enjoyment, regardless of whether you're a

happy to have yall here w me,

headin into homestuck 2024 :^)

#was debating if sollux truly was lurker type but then i rmbr'd him quietly reading all of karkat's memos for a good laugh HAHAHAHAAH #ask #aleemie #homestuck #karkat vantas #sollux captor #solkat #2024 #vioart #but o. regarding the etiquette learned frm other socmed #spamming here is safe+good! it does not harm the op by shadowbanning like instagram #and its not 💀 like twitter where ur likes/following are permanently set to public #ur tumblr experience is within ur control it can be as free/empty/curated as u want!!#((tho ofc i do encourage rbing for ppl who've been hoping to start that habit!!#s'cool to slowly work ur way up from the extra special posts that hv lingered longest in ur heart and quietly build ur cache trove :-)#for example back when i was struggling to rt on a new twt acc i just started setting nonsense criteria for myself LOL #like “breaking this void is scary holy fuck ok i shall start by rting posts w brownish/reddish clrs bcs its inspo vibes for my art”#and gradually after a while of deliberate sharing i gained more confidence to share a larger variety of posts that make me feel things!!!!#no more training wheels i may be scared but i love loving more!!!!#same goes for engaging w fics too it takes energy to think of how to comment and thats ok‚ do ur best to explore what works for u!!!!#take screenshots of ur fave paragraphs & start annotating in gallery/notes app if that helps!!!!#also tumblr's customizable queue means u can stack posts and bolt hgehehe. my preferred form of existing on the net))

956 notes · View notes

originalartblog · 10 months

Text

Continuation from the previous what if All Men Are Equal gave Chuuya total control over his ability, reverting it to its pre-lab state.

Maybe Chuuya can do something different. Maybe he could give it a try. It's not like he's being held by the Agency, he's free now, it's all up to him.

But I'd say Chuuya has never quite had this many options to make his choice from before.

1K notes · View notes

chimerahnova · 19 days

Text

Some random MH emotes I made (500x500)

#monster hunter #malzeno #lunagaron #shara ishvalda #violet mizustune #some people have asked if you can use these and since I already have let people if you want to use these feel free to #note: I may have COMMISIONS open later on and emotes are one of the things you can order from me: totally not a plug #…okay it might be a plug

263 notes · View notes

puppetmaster13u · 2 months

Text

Prompt 238

"Ugh. There's a group at the barrier again." Star squinted over the buildings they were all sprawled on almost lazily. "Seriously? I thought the GIW would have given up by now since there's 'no more humans' here," Sam's voice was sarcastic as she combed claws through her hair. The others grumbled in agreement, Valerie spreading her wings in a stretch. "Who wants to bet Danny is already about to crash their intrusion?" "Hah! I bet Dash is there already to video it!" "Those are both suckers bets," Wes scoffed, clear eyelid closing over his eyes and temporarily dimming the glow. "Let's be honest, Paulina has already left, she's going to get there first."

- - -

The GIW have been having a bit of trouble. Maybe just a bit. See, they were supposed to be taking care of the ecto-entities. Studying them, y'know? But er, some earlier agents had been a bit trigger happy, which meant the entities were well... aggressive. And a city full of dragon-fae-beings disliking any presence wearing white was rather terrifying, so they... might have gotten permission to bring a hero with them. For protection of course. ... Hopefully no one dies-

Feel free to ignore any of these pics lol, they're just ideas.

Order: Jazz, Danny, Tucker, Sam, Valerie, Wes, Dash, Kwan, Paulina, Star, Ellie, Dan

#dpxdc #prompts #dcxdp #ghosts are dragons #liminal class #liminal amity park #I used Flight Rising for designs but honestly feel free to do whatever #the GIW are called the ghost INVESTIGATION ward not ghost Extermination ward #By this time Danny's class are all adults or close #And everyone is Liminal as Fuck to the point their bodies *might* have morphed into dragons #They just so happen to have a physical flesh and blood body #Which hero is it that the government has asked to help protect the scientists?#Good question go wild #Danny is Not ghost king #honestly tempted for the liminal class to be poly because dragons hoard things <3 #eternal quartet at the least #platonic or romantic #not my art I used the Flight Rising

372 notes · View notes

sparklecarehospital · 1 month

Text

I mentioned this a while back I'm pretty sure, but just a reminder that once V4 is over, the site will be under maintenance for a while as I implement the site revamp. It won't be immediately that day, but it'll be relatively soon after. The volume ends on the 1st, so if you aren't caught up you should get caught up before then. There will be a Google drive archive of pages that I'll put together for people to access while the site is offline but it won't be possible to put content warnings on any of the pages on Google drive, which is why I recommend catching up as soon as possible (and I don't recommend reading for the first time through the Google drive archive for this reason either.)

I promise that every majorly requested feature over the years plus many more accessibility options will be included in this update. The mobile reading experience will be LOADS better with a new mobile layout that's easier to use and you won't have to zoom in on everything, content warnings will be customizable (YOU CAN PICK THE CATEGORIES OF WHAT CONTENT YOU WANT TO FILTER) and even entirely optional (YOU CAN DISABLE THE WARNINGS ALTOGETHER) the saturation toggler will be improved by miles and replaced with a slider AND you will be able to set the saturation the first time you ever open the (new) site to keep new readers from immediately getting blinded by the colors when they open it. Archive page will have images, there will even be a "transcript archive" that gives you the option to read the entire comic in text form if you need that. THERE WILL BE MORE CHARACTERS ON THE CAST PAGE!!!!!!!! You will be able to bookmark and save your place in the comic and go back to it later. Pages will be easier to find as you're actively reading with "thumbnail galleries" on the comic pages that show you smaller versions of pages that you can scroll through and click to jump further. There will be an option to put the pagination buttons above and below the page or both. Typing in a page number for a volume on the url bar will redirect you to the right page without needing to know which specific update it's in. All of this stuff is confirmed, if not already fully coded (several of these are coded already) will still be there on launch. I will note that some parts of the site are a bit different (the mobile site looks pretty different in order to make it more useable) the core functionalities that you're used to won't be different. I promise this update will be worth the wait and work it will take.

I don't know how long the site will be offline for because it's going to be so much work, but I'll try to set it up as quick as I can without rushing anything at risk of major bugs.

#if there's a feature not mentioned here that you think would be helpful feel free to reply to this post!#i cannot promise i will implement everything everyone asks for but the things said in this post have been requested by many people-#-for a very long time #text

215 notes · View notes

comradekatara · 1 month

Text

notes on “the runaway”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

206 notes · View notes