#phil is an air bender | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

historyhermann · 6 months

Text

Futurama Season 8 Part One Spoiler-Filled Review

Futurama is a mature animated sitcom with elements from the sci-fi and comedy drama genres. The original series aired from 1999 to 2003, then 2008 to 2013. Matt Groening created this series, like The Simpsons and Disenchantment. He developed it with David X. Cohen. Both were executive producers along with Ken Keeler and Claudia Katz.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the fifty-fifth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on November 9, 2023. By this article, I've surpassed how many reviews I wrote for The Geekiary (52 posts), meaning I have written more for PCM than The Geekiary!

Part One of Futurama's eighth production season (and eleventh broadcast season) is a Hulu revival. It focuses on a crew of six misfits who work for Planet Express, a package delivery company. Turanga Leela (voiced by Katey Segal) pilots the Planet Express Ship. In a continuation from the Season 7 finale, she is the girlfriend of Philip J. Fry (voiced by Billy West), a man cryogenically frozen for 1,000 years before arriving in January 2999. They are joined by a foul, impertinent, alcoholic, smoking, and egocentric robot named Bender Bending Rodriguez (voiced by John DiMaggio), or Bender for short, the staff physician and lobster-like extraterrestrial John A. Zoidberg (voiced by West), and long-term accident-prone and ditzy intern Amy Wong (voiced by Lauren Tom). Other protagonists include company founder Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth (voiced by West) and company accountant/bureaucrat Hermes Conrad (voiced by Phil LaMarr).

Some characters play supporting roles. This includes Amy's partner, Kif Kroker (voiced by Maurice LaMarche), a lieutenant and assistant of Captain Zapp Brannigan on the Nimbus, a Democratic Order of Planets (DOOP) starship. Brannigan, like Fry and the Professor, is voiced by Billy West. He is a general with 25 stars, part of DOOP, and has feelings for Leela. There's also a highly intelligent animal, who often acts cute and innocent, named Lord Nibbler (voiced by Frank Welker), the rough janitor Scruffy (voiced by David Herman), and an aggressive corporate CEO named Carol "Mom" Miller (voiced by Tress MacNeille). She heads a mega-conglomerate known as MomCorp, which monopolizes robot production. She has three sons (Walt, Larry and Igner), and previous romantic relationships with the Professor and his nemesis, Dr. Ogden Wernstrom (voiced by Herman).

The first episode begins by re-introducing viewers to Futurama's characters. Bender cheers return of Leela, Fry, and their friends. The series takes place in 3023. Fry believes he has "achieved nothing" for his 23 years in the future. After taking Leela's advice, he pledges to watch every show ever made. He does this even after Bender warns him about the terrible TV content out there. There are also jokes on actual show names in blink-and-you-miss-it moments. Fry subscribes to the fourth-biggest streaming service in the world, known as Fulu, a play off Hulu.

The episode has social commentary about the binge model: Fry wears goggles which drill directly into your brain. Such devices allow a user to watch all the episodes in one continuous stretch but you must sit perfectly still in an all-encompassing metal suit. In the real world, binging a series can lead to regret, depending on whether viewers plan binging ahead of time. It can contribute to people feeling like they are "bored" unless they binge shows. In the case of this episode, Fry stays in a chair, sitting perfectly still for months without any breaks. His mind is soon overpowered by binging. He loses touch with reality.

In a plot line which echoes the goals of the recently concluded WGA strike, and ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, Fry's friends convince the robot bosses of Fulu to reboot All My Circuits. They produce episodes as fast as they can, so that Fry doesn't die. To make matters worse, Fry watches the episodes at double-speed. The writers can't keep up with the fast script production. Bender declares that "any idiot can be a TV writer," beginning to write scripts himself. This episode makes clear how writers are so stressed/crunched in the current entertainment industry. The writers collapse from exhaustion during the episode.

The episode ends with the reality of the entertainment industry: executives give constructive notes, say the show isn't working, cancel it, and declare "you will always been an important part of the Fulu family." The episode undoubtedly comments on how TV shows work and ravenous corporate executives. I the past year, Ridley Jones, Inside Job, Dead End: Paranormal Park, and Human Resources were cancelled by Netflix, while The Owl House and Archer ended. For Fry, his friends attempt to shift his focus from the streaming world back to the real world. This plan is unsuccessful, as there is a huge explosion, and they believe he is dead. In reality, he had left the suit two days before, so he could catch up on reading.

Fry admits he stopped watching All My Circuits because the show quality decreased in the last couple of episodes (because Bender wrote them). In another timely moment, there is a mock presidential summit on the dangers of streaming television. Fry declares that shows should not be rebooted without quality. He states that viewers must binge responsibly, streaming no more than 10 episodes in a row. He adds that a TV show must be cancelled every few years if it cares about its audience. This episode is an effective way to begin the series. Even so, it is more dramatic than funny, with some comedic moments.

The next two episodes focus on entirely different subjects. One talks about definition of motherhood, noting that Amy is the smizmar of Kif Kroker and mother of their child even though she contributed no DNA, unlike Scruffy, Kiff, and Leela. Another is on the nose when it comes to social commentary about the cryptocurrency boom and Bitcoin. In that episode, Leela calls the latter a "pyramid scheme for rubes," after the Professor reveals that Planet Express went bankrupt because he invested in it. What follows is an episode spoofing the Gold Rush. The characters go out West, hoping to strike it rich, traveling to a town where all the electricity goes to Bitcoin mining computers, with everything else resembling the Old West.

If that isn't enough, everyone has a Wild West-flair. Roberto has a knife-shooter gun. Leela becomes a barmaid/sex worker. Fry meets a man made of borax (Borax Kid). Zoidberg becomes the town doctor. Dwight tries to team up with Roberto to rob a stagecoach (and take a USB stick). Bender kills a donkey by accident. In one of episode's, best jokes, they use Bender's "shiny metal ass" to sift through river stones. Amy complains there is very little Thalium and just "worthless gold."

youtube

The episode ends with their confrontation at the Bitcoin mine. The saloonkeeper, Delilah (voiced by MacNeille), is using robot heads to calculate numbers. She defends her action, says that all the money earned is donated to an orphanage. In the end, she gets away with it, even putting three heads of the robot mafia into "the mine." Even so, the Borax Kid is punished for copying public domain stories almost word-for-word and changing a few words himself, so he could get the glory. This story ends with a classic so-called "Mexican standoff": everyone fired guns at each other, and the characters shown from multiple angles. The episode closes with everyone walking off into the sunset together, a good ending for the main cast.

The fourth episode is one of the best in this series revival. The beginning, which centers on worms attacking Nibbler's brain, seems to be on par with usual shenanigans in other episodes. This changes when the crew are transported in a toy tank, inside of Nibbler's litter box. They come across dung beetles and magic psychedelic dust. In a clear parody of Dune, the beetles lead them through the sand to find the worms, setting off a pounder (like a thumper) to attract the sandworm. In a callback to the original series, these worms are the same ones that once made Fry smarter. This goes even further: Nibbler claims to be "the messiah." He declares that everything is interconnected and should stay as it is, undisturbed.

As a result, Leela becomes despondent. She even surrounds herself in pure uncut magical sand. It helps her see how everything is interconnected. It is revealed that smaller parasites are weakening the worms. They put aside the whole "everything is connected" mantra to stomp out the smaller parasites, saying a line must be drawn somewhere. This is akin to characters discussing eating good "meat" in a 2000 Futurama episode, entitled "The Problem with Popplers." Later, Nibbler talks to his fellow intelligent beings about how Leela's bravery and loyalty allowed his previous consciousness to be restored.

More than other episodes, this is the most inventive, even featuring a character chewing on a Bart Simpson doll. As Jean wrote in a review on this very website, Dune, based on the well-known novel by Frank Herbert, can have a twisted timeline, dense plot, and have a wide scope and scale. It is, more than anything, a sci-fi epic, centering on the desert planet of Arrakis, with the resource of spice sought after by all. Even with its sweeping visuals, make-up, and CGI, there is exposition over the top. Characters are often referenced by their full names rather than abbreviations. The film is relatively long. Some of this energy comes through in this Futurama spoof, which is a sci-fi series quite different from Dune or Release the Spyce.

The fifth episode has extreme relevance when it comes to corporate conglomerates which dominate the economic landscape. Mom is the epitome of this, with her Momazon service, a play off Amazon, which runs a "fulfillment center" on the Moon. Some people resist these efforts, saying that her warehouse is polluting the Moon. She buys everyone off with speech recognition software known as Invasa, her version of Alexa. The way that the warehouse functions echoes criticism of Amazon for avoiding taxes, toxic work culture, and mass data collection from consumers. These workplaces take the conditions of the real-life equivalent a step further. They are fully automated by non-union robot workers who endure the conditions 24 hours, 7 days a week. When Mom is challenged by Leela, saying the robots are engaged in forced labor, she says the workers enjoy the work.

Not everything is happy: Bender, after quitting Planet Express, is forced to work at the plant. He even sends a package with a warning so his friends will save him. To make matters worse, the "wonderful" artificial intelligence (A.I)., turns against Mom, going rogue, and it ends up taking over the entire universe. As such, they can order what they want from Momazon with quick deliveries, which is supported by abysmal labor conditions. There are many Futurama callbacks, like the destruction of the Apollo lander, the man with a hat declaring "The Moon Will Rise Again," and the return of Al Gore's floating head. Bender ends up back in the same apartment with Fry and Leela, and is fine being the third wheel, rather than working in a warehouse.

This episode is not unique in criticizing A.I. Take Light Hope in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, who tries to activate a planet-destroying weapon to annihilate the universe, and attempts to exploit Adora (as She-Ra) to accomplish that end, or Lunella's A.I., Skipster, in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, which skips important parts of her life that she found "boring." Also consider Cyrano in Cleopatra in Space, an A.I. created by series villain Octavian who tries to control a protagonist, and a paranoid A.I. scared of ghosts, the godlike A.I. depicted in The Orbital Children, or malevolent A.I. in Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Moon Girl has a living/A.I. supercomputer named LOS-307. An A.I. named T.O.M.I. (Technical Operations Management Interface) is in Supa Team 4. A ship navigator named KRS is in My Dad the Bounty Hunter. The worst example of A.I. is in the first, and second (to a lesser extent) of idolish music series Kizuna no Allele. That series had a pro-NFT segment and almost encourages creation of anime by A.I. This Futurama episode leans toward criticism in Cleopatra in Space, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Moon Girl, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and The Orbital Children, and away from other depictions. The episode acknowledges prevalence of A.I., as Carole & Tuesday does, with a music producer named Tao using advanced A.I. to ensure performers are profitable. It hints at danger of relying on A.I., which relies upon models trained by extremely low-paid workers.

Other episodes are callbacks or more relevant now than they would be even five years from now. One is an X-Mas themed episode featuring efforts to stop murderous Robot Santa with a time travel machine. Another parodies the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This involves quarantines, masks worn on ears, people working remotely, and conspiracy theories on Facebag (the version of Facebook in this world). The latter is enhanced by competition between the Professor and his sworn nemesis, Wornstrom. The Professor gives people a flimsy paper card (a dig at COVID-19 paper cards) and 3D chips inside of a vaccine to track it. The episode ends when everyone gets a vaccine using voodoo practices, likely a reference to Louisiana Voodoo rather than Trinidadian Vodunu or similar syncretic religious practices in the African diaspora. The episode ends with the statement that any sufficiently advanced magic is distinguishable from science.

This Futurama episode was one of the more hilarious ones. It echoed a "missing" Cleopatra in Space episode about protagonist Cleo facing the consequences of avoiding quarantine, and the August 2011 Futurama episode "Cold Warriors." The former includes Cleo realizing, after she infects the entire campus (but is a carrier), the importance of quarantine. At the episode's end, she enters quarantine as she presumably has common cold, and declares “quarantine stinks!” The Futurama episode is different because it parodies the oft remote work and hints at delays from the virus.

youtube

The eighth episode is just as strong. Zapp is brought before a DOOP disciplinary hearing after an egregious incident with Kiff. It is declared that he is "cancelled." DOOP strips him of his title and states that he must undergo mandatory sensitivity training. The episode centers on "cancel culture," known as consequence culture. It has been covered poorly in some media and better elsewhere. In this episode, Leela becomes captain of the Nimbus. Fry and Bender join her as first officers. The sensitive training class teacher, Dr. Kind (voiced by DiMaggio), is abusive, and DOOP's worse groper.

While Zapp apologizes to those he harmed and Leela gets a medal of valor, there's a lot more going on. There are sequences which resemble Star Trek films, part of an all-around parody of Star Trek itself, including about the Prime Directive. Leela, Fry, Bender, and others come down to the planet in a bucket, making the residents of Tacila believe they are not advanced. Their society has sophisticated machinery running on pneumatic technology. This aligns with the original Futurama series where DOOP engaged in intensive mining operations and worry of Beckett Mariner in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 that Starfleet has become a fighting force involved in armed conflict. DOOP only wants a treaty with Tacila to acquire air rights.

This episode ends with Dr. Kind, almost ruining the air with a Durian. At the last second, Bender (likely) orders the Nimbus to fire upon Dr. Kind, killing him. Later, Leela gets the aforementioned medal. She is discharged for not wanting to fire on innocent civilians. Everything returns to the status quo. Leela, Fry, and Bender return to Planet Express. Zapp goes back to DOOP. He doesn't care about civilian casualties if it "gets the job done." At the episode's end, the idea of consent is emphasized. Zoidberg sucks on Leela because of the Durian smell, and she thanks him for asking first.

Futurama's penultimate episode is a mixed bag. It includes some good moments poking fun at toy commercials, but is also dark with death, dismemberment (of cars), horrors of war, and the like. There is a strange plotline about a Space Prince (voiced by LaMarr), who Leela only loves because of a spell. Even so, there are good points about absurdity of religion (to an extent) and respecting ability of women to voice their opinions (although Bender doesn't support that view).

The final episode, for now, goes further, touching on the meaning of "life." The Professor creates a simulated universe, with copies in three-bit form. He declares that the simulation's beings are "nothing more than ones and zeroes" and aren't real. After he promises to Bender that the simulation won't be terminated, he changes his mind. He even finds an alternate power source to keep the universe functioning. Bender goes into this simulated world, wanting to tell them the truth (that the Professor made the world). He decides to not do so after that world's Fry, declares that it doesn't matter.

The episode closes with Bender returning to the real world. A solution to preserving the simulated world is presented: underclocking the processor. Although these beings realize the world is simulated, they care little about it. In many ways, this episode echoes the computer programs, known as "programs" in Tron: Uprising, but those depicted here are more basic.

Moving on, a largely-circulated spreadsheet in which people anonymously described their conditions in animation studios, does not mention The ULULU Company, previously known as The Curiosity Company, an animation studio and production company, that produced this series and Disenchantment. The company previously worked on the five Futurama films. Sadly, it isn't listed on Glassdoor. So, the company's conditions cannot be determined. Hopefully, people are being treated fairly and the work environment is productive.

The same spreadsheet had eight entries for Rough Draft Studios offices in Glendale and Burbank. These reviews were overwhelmingly negative, with anonymous entries saying there was overwork, disorganization, harsh treatment, and inflexible hours. These revealed an anti-union environment with unionbusting in Burbank. The same studio previously reached an agreement with Local 839 of the Animation Guild, which covered animated TV series and features at their studio in Glendale.

It is hard to know where the series will go from here. This is only part one of the eighth season. It has ten more episodes of its Hulu run, as part of the revival. Watching this revival is nostalgic. It was one of the first animated series I ever watched. I fondly remember episodes parodying Napster and homophobes opposing same-sex marriage, and visual jokes. Some episodes coined terms such as robosexuality, meaning love/sexuality between a robot and humanoid. The strong sci-fi themes stuck with me: the series premiere had the protagonist (Fry) time travel from 1999 to 2999. More than that, there was dimensional travel, voice actors such as Dawnn Lewis and Frank Welker, commentary on worker exploitation, heartfelt moments, advertising parodies, and storylines focusing on family history, roots, and connections.

Overall, the Futurama revival is different feel than the original. Even so, it differs from Final Space, and others like Disenchantment, and Steven Universe. The series is not fundamentally different than the original show. It is improved without few changes. For instance, there are no episodes about queer identity of main cast members or anything along those lines. In this way, it is like The Proud Family revival. Hopefully, the series continues to improve as it moves forward into Season 8 Part 2, and beyond. Futurama is currently streaming on Hulu, Apple TV+, and Disney+ (in some jurisdictions).

#futurama #pop culture #reviews #animated sitcom #adult animation #the simpsons #disenchantment #comedy #social commentary #crypto #strikes #sag aftra #wga strike #scifi #bingeing #revivals #hulu #animation #Youtube

3 notes · View notes

ao3feed-crimeboys · 9 months

Text

and no answer will be heard // to the question no one asks // so i’m asking if it’s true

by Dragonimbus7

Wilbur let it drop, and instead he asked what had been plaguing his mind since Techno had dropped the news on them all. “Is it true, what you said, about the Air Nomads? Did you see…the temples burning?”

Techno shook his head, “I was only informed as you were. But I read the reports and I heard the scouts who recounted it. It must be real.”

or, at the dawn of the Hundred Years War, Air Nomad Philza flees from the Fire Nation, and Water Bender Wilbur must find a way to protect his family

Words: 3106, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Video Blogging RPF, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Major Character Death

Characters: Wilbur Soot, Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Phil Watson | Philza

Relationships: Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Oneshot, Wilbur Soot-centric, Hurt, Sad Ending, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Protective Wilbur Soot, Older Sibling Wilbur Soot, Air Nomad Genocide (Avatar), Pre-Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sleepy Bois Inc-centric, Sleepy Bois Inc Angst, Wilbur Soot is a Water Bender, Technoblade is an Earth Bender, Tommy gets no powers, i'm mean like that, TWB MCC Event, TWB MCC Event Build Mart, The Writer's Block MCC Cyan Creepers

#ao3feed #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #crimeboys #crime boys #crimebois #crime bois #mcyt #This is an automated process #If you see any fic that breaks boundaries #or the fic is yours and you don't want it shared send an ask #it will be looked at and removed if need be

0 notes

25ticupsinacupboard · 2 years

Text

Well now I’m gonna chime in on the debate I’ve been seeing on twitter

Wilbur is a water bender

Tommy is a fire bender

Phil is air bender

And I saw Marley on twitter say techno is a non bender and he changed my mind honestly

#used to think techno earth and now I like non better lol #also I saw someone say fire bender with blue fire for Wilbur and honestly I like that too

1 note · View note

thatweirdfandom · 3 years

Text

unpopular opinion: what the dsmp characters would be in avatar :tlab

Tommy: he would be a non bender. he strives so hard to catch up with everyone else when most of everyone around him is a bender. big brother figure techno is his main inspiration but doesn’t know that techno himself isn’t a bender. he grew up on the streets and is street smart, he uses a mix of of them but has a short sword and make shift molotovs

Tubbo: 100% earth bender but doesn’t pick up secondary traits of a earth bender- threatens to crush everyone taller then him- main style of bending is launching himself at others or just as a transport

Wilbur: a resentful water bender, he wanted badly to be like phil his dad and he only sees how useless a water bender is compared to fire. he has the potential to pick up secondary traits like blood bending but only in his last moments to get phil to kill him

techno: non bender but everyone is convinced he’s a bender because “there’s no way he’s just that powerful without bending” even tommy who looks up to techno doesn’t know techno is a non bender- during exile he takes tommy in and shows that being a non bender is nothing to laugh at. (i would also like to say he would be a second generation air bender because just how subtle and cool it would be for techno)

phil: (basically uncle iroh) he’s a fire bender but wishes he was a water bender like his wife or even a air bender. he doesn’t want to be seen as someone who once brought so much destruction because of being a fire bender. he only bends when it’s a last chance method. he has both secondary traits of a fire bender ie: blue fire and lighting

Dream: it’s unclear what dream bends because having george and sapnap around as a team they work together in a way that it makes it look like he bends more then one element when they just have such a well built team of combining bending techniques together. but he’s a air bender, he was raised a air bender but some sad backstory and well he goes beyond what anything he was ever taught. he also is proficient in chi blocking

George: water bender, he was trained as a healer but prefers a more chaotic lifestyle of fighting recklessly/clumsily- he relies heavily on using ice in his bending and tends to pick up on sapnap and dreams fighting style then using proper techniques of bending water

Sapnap: earth bender with the secondary trait of lava bending. he’s absolutely brutal and takes no breaks, he tried to pick up on fire bending techniques because of his arsonist personality but couldn’t get the breathing techniques down

i’ll do more if this interests anyone enough

#atlab #dream #dream smp #dreamsmp #dsmp #wilbur soot #dadza #mcyt #philza #sbi family dynamic #sbi #technoblade #techno #tommyinnit #tubbo #sapnap #georgenotfound

595 notes · View notes

cr0wbonezz-wr1ting-inc · 3 years

Note

In the avatar AU, what are the alliances? What benders are what benders allies or enemies?

i assume you're talking about the nations, if not please send another ask sjsgzgkjzgs

war sparked about 3 years ago.

all 4 of the lords are like no other, which means there is bound to be some conflict.

technoblade wanted to be more aggresive with leaders that used military assets without good reason, to which most agreed to.

philza proposed to only use military force when all 4 of them agreed to it, but dream and georgenotfound weren't happy about that. george suggested having a right-hand man to review and approve those type of decisions, which dream really liked, but the other 2 hated that idea as well.

no one settled on an idea. dream and george felt like it would be unnecessary to have everyone come together for something that can be easily done on their own, while techno and phil both thought that it wouldn't be wise to give military power to people with biases. they stayed arguing for hours explaining why their ideas were better, which ended up in nothing but a group of tired people and a tense relationship between the 2 sides.

dream was the first one to strike. he deployed his most powerful military on fire nation borders and tore down one of the walls, attempting to provoke the fire lord.

both philza and technoblade were pissed, retaliating together and firing back twice as hard by taking out multiple coal mines on earth kingdom grounds.

after both sides dealt and recieved some hefty damage they were both out for blood, eventually agreeing that this was war.

when it was known by the citizens, everything was thrown on its head; things like coal, minerals, pastries and books didn't enter the water tribe or the fire nation, but the air nomads and the earth kingdom were deprived of fish, animal hides, pork and machinery.

after 2 years of fighting eveyone was exhausted. even the air nomads didn't have any energy left to fight. the 4 lords decided to hold a meeting and try to come to a solution. after a few hours of arguing and back and forth, they all agreed to stop the fighting. the people are hurting more than ever, and the nations are getting more and more hostile by the second.

it has since been peaceful between the 4 heads and their nations, though there are some places where outsiders are hated and even attacked for what they 'did to their country'.

ty for reading <3

au m.list

main m.list

#cr0wbonezz-wr1ting-inc #dream smp au #mcyt au #mcyt #dream smp #dream smp x avatar: the last airbender au #dream smp x reader #mcyt x reader #technoblade x reader #philza x reader #dream x reader #georgenotfound x reader

82 notes · View notes

peachy-rambles · 3 years

Note

Hallo, ALTA Au where Techno is a discarded and uncared for water/blood bender who meets hesitant air bender/avatar Phil

Anon don't get me started on the atla/lok universe, I would not be able to stop talking lmao.

Techno is an orphaned waterbender and accidentally discovers he's a bloodbender when he bloodbends a person (who was probably trying to harm him). His bending is probably exploited by a powerful group, so he eventually hides it away, and pretends to be a nonbender so no one will find out. He trains himself to fight without bending and becomes one of the best and most feared warriors, everyone unaware of the true power hiding within him.

Phil, would not want the responsibility of being the avatar at all. He probably wouldn't even want to be an air nomad (well, he likes the nomad part and traveling around, but other than that he dislikes all the rules and traditions). He runs away before he even finds out he's the avatar and perhaps meets little orphan Techno (before he found out he was a bloodbender), befriends him and maybe becomes the first person to ever show him kindness? But soon enough the monks find Phil and drag him back to the air temples, tell him the truth that he's the avatar and that he can't run away, he has responsibilities he needs to attend to. So Phil stays put (because he's being guarded all the time now) and trains for years to master the elements. And once he becomes a full master, on the day of the ceremony to celebrate him becoming a fully fledged avatar, he leaves. He does leave a note this time, saying he's going to travel the world and help people out wherever he can, but he's not going be on the beck and call of anyone.

And maybe, he ends up meeting Techno again, but because it's been years and Techno is no longer the little orphan, but now a massive scarred and heavily muscled warrior, Phil does not recognize him. Techno, on the other hand, recognizes Phil (his first friend and first love) but pretends he doesn't, not wanting to see the disappoint in Phil's eyes once he sees what Techno has become.

Techno tries to stay away from Phil and ignore him, but unfortunately for him, that just makes Phil all the more intrigued in Techno. Because he's the avatar! People love him, flock to him! So what's this warrior's deal?

They end up traveling together (aka Phil bats his eyelashes at Techno and convinces him to travel with him), Techno keeping his secret close to him and Phil just happy to have someone around who cares about him and not "the avatar".

#techza #technophil #uhh sorry anon #i kinda went off #peachy fic prompts #asks and replies #peachy said a thing

78 notes · View notes

dreamsmp-au-ideas · 3 years

Note

Eyo its glass au guy, the au where glass physics just doesnt apply to our birdbois, here to add to this literal fucking crack au because dear fuck i might run on angst alone but mAN WE ALL NEED A BREAK SOMETIMES

Anyways, have you ever noticed that technoblades windows are just trapdoors with holes? wELL--

I like to imagine that literally the only reason Technoblade found out about Philza's... condition, was wAAAAAAAAY back then, back when they were just two dudes that dont die and were just chillin. Techno was just probably out and about, hunting deer, drinking blood, staying at villages and deciding whether or not to slaughter everyone when he leaves, you know regular Technoblade stuff.

When he discovers the invention of glass. (Yes im making both of them that old and no you cannot stop me)

Techno's pretty fascinated by the art of glass making and ends up staying at the village a little longer than Philza and him expected and even ended up not slaughtering them.

He actually stayed so long in the village in fact, that Philza's wanderlust got the better of him and he kinda just-- left techno. Not without saying goodbye tho.

So now, philza's exploring the world while techno is mastering the art of glass making. The reason techno was so interested in the first place was because he saw the combat potential and the living improvement it could bring. And if the history books say something abt a pink haired pig hybrid helping a potion maker invent the splash potion well, technos not gonna say anything.

And as the years went by, techno proceeded to make hundreds, if not, thousands of glass creations from sculptures to weapons to containers and anything he could think of really. But those years of glass blowing and fire fanning really did a number on him. So much so that while taking a break in the middle of his creations, he drank a health pot to fix the itch in his lungs.

He coughs a little, waving away the smoke of the fire. Man, the wood he got today was smokier than usual huh? It never got so thick he couldn't see across the room but itll be fine, he knows where everything is anyways.

He finishes his latest project and airs out the room, to try and get rid of the smoke blocking his vision. But why is everything still so blurry? So he goes outside to get some fresh air.

And now he's fuckin worried because he pretty fuckin sure he didnt set the village on fire enough to cause such a crazy amount of smoke to block his vision. Because oh god, he cant see shit anymore.

So he panics. He pours a pot each to both his eyes and it got a little better because now he can see things a few meters away from him kind of okay but his eyes are still fucked up. Chat is still screaming and Techno, caught up in the panic and emotions of trying to deal with all this bullshit, tries to calm himself down by breaking his defective products. Now at least chat is a little satiated.

Philza, having visited his longtime and only friend, hears the sound of something shattering. It sounded like a clay pot but higher pitched for some reason. So he rushes to Techno, holding seemingly nothing but his hands covered in deep cuts.

Techno meanwhile, has finally calmed down and started to clean up and pick up all the shattered remains of his glass objects. And as he picks them up, he squints at them a little, trying in vain to see if his eyes are salvageable. But with each shard, that hope slowly dims and finally he accepts his handicap. Until the last few shards. Because one of them broke into a really large piece and for some reason, he... can kind of see through it??? Huh, maybe his defect pile wasnt as defective as he thought.

Philza comes back to him with a towel and a health pot (he puts them in clay containers shoosh he dont know glass exists okay) and asks whats wrong. Techno raises his head to reply when he realizes "oh sHIT PHILZA YOURE SITTING ON GLASS WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU OKAY"

And philza, the old bird man he is just kinda goes "huh??? Wat???? Glass???????" And Techno just kinda blindly pockets the glass he was looking at and pulls out a glass health pot of his own to tend to Philza's "wounds".

Philza kinda just stares because holy SHIT IS TECHNO A FUCKING POTION BENDER WHAT THE FUCK. Philza kinda just dazedly grabs the floating health mixture and his hands just pass through the liquid and his fingers are coated in potion.

And techno also staring because holy SHIT IS PHILZA A FUCKING GLASS BENDER CMON I SPENT LIKE-- 2 CENTURIES MASTERING THIS STUPID THING AND APPARENTLY PHILZA CAN JUST DO WHATEVER WITH IT WHAT THE FUCK.

And now they're just vibin on the floor with their heads blown. Oh yeah, techno invents eye glasses. The first two he makes are for himself and phil because "phil, do you not see the glass? You are literally just sitting on a pile of shards."

The glasses fitting was also kind of a train wreck since techno made rimless glasses and the glass just-- went straight through philzas eyes and shattered on the floor. When philza brings it up, techno vehemently denies screaming like an 8 year old and being torn in two because he didnt know whether or not he should worry over phil first or the thing he made for him.

Damn dis long. Lol oops

Pfft. Oh my god. This is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. Just the both of them being confused with each other and oh my god.

#dream smp #dream smp au #glass au #philza #ph1lza #technoblade #ask #the-2nd-random-kid

63 notes · View notes

tommyinnitapologist · 3 years

Text

avatar au (karlnapity centered)

- four elements, with all the subelements

-Fire: Sapnap, Awesamdude, Schlatt, jack manifold, technoblade,

-Earth: Wilbur, Eret, Ponk, Punz, Bad

-Air:Tommy, Phil, Karl, niki, Ranboo, alyssa,

-Water: puffy, niki, ranboo, slimecicle, tubbo, skeppy, george

-Quackity: as of right now, assumed not able to bend

head cannons for it under the divide!

- no worries karl sapnap and quackity are still together

-whenever raiders, armies, villains, etc come attack the village they all live in karl and sapnap force quackity to stay home and hide

-it pisses him off but he can't exactly fight his fire producing and air producing boyfriends

-tommy is so utterly pissed off that he got air and not fire

-tommy and quackity complain about their elemental struggles constantly, to the point where if they get too annoying wilbur just forms an earth prison around them

-main enemy isn't the fire nation (surprise) its a subsection of air benders that have been going around and suffocating people until the surrounding town surrenders

-absolutely horrifies karl, he refuses to bend for weeks when he hears of it

-then, of course, they attack the village and in the midst of the fight karl sees quackity getting suffocated and puts all of his power into throwing that man hundreds of feet in the air

-karl then promptly shoved quackity into the house and made sure the door wouldn’t open

-quackity then watches the fight from the window, watching sapnap throw flame after flame at the attackers

-until he’s brought into the air, and left to fall into his death

-next thing quackity knew he was standing in the middle of the town, sapnap floating in the air

-the town wasn’t even focused on the floating sapnap, their attention all focused on one thing

-quackity’s eyes were glowing blue, he was the one holding sapnap up

#quavatar au #lol get it #karlnapity #quackity #karl jacobs #sapnap #dream #georgenotfound #tommyinnit #wilbur soot #technoblade #philza #tubbo #so many more #what y'all think??#i love making my favorite characters the center of all angst and plot #if you couldn't tell

120 notes · View notes

starrywolf101 · 3 years

Note

Heyo!

Do you have any thoughts on sbi and what elements they would bend? Like in avatar?

Ooo! This one is a thinker!

I'd put Phil as an Airbender. He's often lighthearted and a bit of a jokester, though can also be calm and collected when need be. It suits him to be Airbender! That, and Phil is really good with the elytra. (In minecraft) Phil has a mastery over the air. In fan work, Phil is often portrayed with wings, and being able to fly is a mastery over the air as well. Plus, his character is often described to have a Wander Lust, and that reminds me of the nomads from Avatar.

Tommy is suited to be a Firebender. He has a fiery passion, and a destructive tendency, that just screams Firebender! I would compare Tommy to a flame, bright and will burn someone if not handled carefully. Fire isn't only destruction, but also life. Tommy is fully capable of destroying and rebuilding. That being said, fire can consume everything, and that happened with Tommy's character in the dsmp. He gave so much of himself to L'Manberg and watched as it consumed him. The blue of his character's eyes also grew dinner and dimmer the linger he was exiled, like a flame being extinguished. Firebenders are also proud people, and Tommy is most certainly proud. He refuses to let anyone knock him down.

For Techno, I had him between Firebender and Earthbender. I ended up going with Earthbender because it felt right. Earthbenders are stubborn and strong. They never go down without a fight, and that describes Techno pretty well. Techno is a strong willed fighter, and makes use of the neutral jing— waiting and listening for the opportune moment to make a move. Techno is seen to have a cold exterior: a monotone voice and a lack of care. Though, he is also depicted to be protective and ready to fight for those he cares about.

Wilbur was hard to place because of his chaotic nature. I settled for Waterbender after some thinking. Wilbur can be calm and go with the flow of things like a stream, though he can also go into a rage and act like the rapids. He can be cold and indifferent like the cold oceans. He can be fun and playful like the tides and the babbling brooks. Water is both life and death, and much like fire, can destroy or rebuild anything. That's why he and Tommy get along so well despite being opposite elemental benders.

93 notes · View notes

according-to-the-laura · 2 years

Text

StackedNatural Day 117: 7x15, 10x14, 11x14

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

February 17, 2022

7x15: Repo Man

Written by: Ben Edlund

Directed by: Thomas J. Wright

Original air date: February 17, 2012

Plot Synopsis:

Four years ago, Sam and Dean exorcised a demon serial killer. Now he's back for revenge.

Features:

Dean torturing demons again, Hallucifer, an old enemy, Dean getting kidnapped, a human serial killer, a demonic talent scout.

My Thoughts:

I liked this episode! It’s strong for the usually somewhat floundering, cas-less part of season 7. Generally it was well paced and structured, and I thought that the opening scene particularly was really well directed.

This narrative is what they were going for (and missed) with Nick and Lucifer in season 14. In my opinion the issue there is that Buckleming are the ones driving that plot forward, being as obsessed with Pellegrino as they are, rather than Bedlund, who wrote this one.

I dislike Nick and Lucifer so much in those late seasons that I was surprised to remember how much I like Hallucifer in season 7. I think Sam’s vision of the people in the library slamming their heads into the desk was really effective, and I like that Bedlund at least remembers that Lucifer is Sam’s subconscious at this point and so he can show us aspects of Sam’s thought process that are usually pretty difficult to depict in a televised medium without voiceover. Even the quirkiness of Hallucifer vs his behaviour in season 5 doesn’t really bother me, because again, it’s Sam’s memories mixing with his own brain. Late season Lucifer is based way too strongly on Hallucifer instead of the actual canon villain of season 5.

I think it’s cool that this episode came so close to 1x15 The Benders, the original “Dude, they’re just people” episode.

Notable Lines:

“Did you ever think that maybe I loved being possessed? Did you? I loved the connection, the power. And I loved him. Love of my life, actually.”

“God... you were so desperate to fix the world back then.”

“You going to sleep?” “Damn straight. Screw consciousness – that's what I say.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 8.4

IMdB Rating: 8.3

10x14: The Executioner's Song

Written by: Robert Berens

Directed by: Phil Sgriccia

Original air date: February 17, 2015

Plot Synopsis:

Sam, Dean, and Castiel must deal with Cain's return. Rowena and Crowley grow closer.

Features:

Cain breaking into a death row, Cas torturing a demon, Crowley’s mommy issues, mass graves, Dean and Cain fighting for the First Blade, remission and relapse.

My Thoughts:

I wasn’t totally sold on the pacing of this episode, something felt a bit off to me, but damn if every single line of Cain’s dialogue isn’t raw as fuck. And also he’s a dilf.

Once again I find this version of Hell very boring. I think that Hell is malleable and it looks different at different times, but you could do way more interesting things with it than a basement that still appears to have daylight coming in. Remember the endless yellow hallways and lines and sickly lighting of the Hell from The Man Who Would Be King? That kind of creativity is what I want to see. Or at least some redder lighting.

I do find Crowley and Rowena’s relationship very interesting. I like that even when he’s trying to be aloof he still desperately wants her to be proud of him. I like that despite that he still chooses Dean over her and then loses both of them. He’s become very human in these later seasons. It’s cool that despite this episode nominally being about Dean struggling with Cain and the Mark, it’s almost a Crowley POV episode.

Everything about Dean vs Cain rules. I had forgotten how explicitly Cain names Cas as Dean’s lover. He delivers that line about killing Cas hurting Dean “something awful” right after saying that Dean is living his life in reverse, when Colette had that spot in his own story. Somehow a scene without Cas at all is some of the most blatant queerbaiting the show has had.

I really liked the moment at the end of the episode where Dean pats Cas on the shoulder. Usually that’s played so casually but in this moment it was very serious and lovely.

Notable Lines:

“I've gone by many names in this life. The father of murder is one of them.”

“You know last week, when I said that I would go down swinging when the time came? I meant that I was at peace with that. I just didn't realize the time would come so soon, you know, like right now. I'm scared, Sam.”

“Look to my example, boy! There is no resisting the Mark or the Blade. There is only remission and relapse!”

“Your biggest weakness, the thing I noticed the moment I met you, your courage, your reckless bravado.”

"Have you never mused upon the fact that you're living my life in reverse? My story began when I killed my brother, and that's where your story inevitably will end. [...] First ... first, you'd kill Crowley. There'd be some strange, mixed feelings on that one, but you'd have your reason. You'd get it done, no remorse. And then you'd kill the angel, Castiel. Now, that one... that I suspect would hurt something awful. And then! Then would come the murder you'd never survive, the one that would finally turn you into as much of a savage as it did me.”

“Tell me I don't have to do this. Tell me that you'll stop. Tell me that you can stop!”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 9.0

IMdB Rating: 8.8

11x14: The Vessel

Written by: Robert Berens

Directed by: John Badham

Original air date: February 17, 2016

Plot Synopsis:

Sam and Dean convince Lucifer (unknowingly, thinking he's Castiel) to send them back in time to find a hand of God which could destroy Amara.

Features:

A French female spy murdering a Nazi, Crowley chained up like a dog, historical Men of letters, the Ark of the Covenant, an Allied submarine, Cas and Lucifer fight for control of the vessel.

My Thoughts:

Holy SHIT, y’all.

I’ve never seen this episode before, I had no idea what the plot was. I guessed that the Casifer secret might come out because of the title, but that was it.

That was a fantastic episode of television. You were all right, Casifer is incredible, Misha does such a great job playing him. I cared about the side characters, the stakes felt real and urgent and important, the design was great.

Really the only things I didn’t like were the CGI on the sub in the water (just cut the establishing shots if you can’t afford the effects, folks) and the look of hell and behaviour of the demons, which I don’t really need to elaborate on because I complain about those same things all the time in Stacked reviews.

For once, the Nazis in Supernatural didn’t feel like a gimmick. Robert Berens has the honour of successfully writing Nazis into the story. I loved Delphine. I was hoping right from the beginning of the cold open that she would be a spy, mainly because I’ve read a lot of novels about female spies in WWII (read The Alice Network if you’re interested). I love how delighted Dean is about there being a Woman of Letters. I love how smart, powerful, and dedicated to her cause she was. I love that she ripped through that ship and burned the Nazis inside and held the power of God in her hands. And the setting was great! Almost a bottle episode, the lighting and the tension were so well played. The way that Dean knows by now that he can’t change the past but he still believes that he can find a way to save them.

The Casifer reveal is played perfectly. The pacing throughout the episode is so clean. I love the little hints that Sam misses, assuming that Cas is being meaner than usual to him because he’s worried about Dean. I love that he takes the iconic trench coat off before he reveals his true nature. I love the moment that he realizes he can drop the act and the few seconds that it takes Sam to catch up.

Dean has so much faith in Cas at the end that it’s heartbreaking. I’m deceased. And the way that Cas refused to eject Lucifer because he needed to save Dean.

Notable Lines:

“It's not like your war, it's big. Biblical, end-is-nigh big.”

“Kill me [...] It's spell-bound to my blood, my heart. Its' power lives and dies with me.”

“Dean's the one with the link to Amara, why have I been trying to spare you? I mean maybe it's because you're like the girl who kept turning me down at the prom.”

“I wanted to be of service to the fight.”

“I was just a witness.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 9.9

IMdB Rating: 8.8

In Conclusion: Casifer makes me like late-season Lucifer in a way I thought was impossible.

<< Previous Day | Next Day >>

#Stackednatural #supernatural #spn #7x15 #Repo Man #10x14 #The Executioner's Song #11x14 #The Vessel #when Cas and Cain were arguing in 10x14 my roommate said ‘such a shame to witness dilf on dilf violence’#I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW GOOD THE VESSEL IS

4 notes · View notes