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violetosprey · 2 years

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Everyone talks so much about female yanderes but who's your favorite male yandere(s) and why do you like him/them?

Hello there! What a wonderful question. Well the simple answer is, “whoever I am currently obsessing over,” haha. Whether that’s a yandere in a manga or webcomic I’m currently reading, or even just the aesthetic of a character who is NOT canonically yandere (the reimagining can be fun). Anime might not have the greatest roster of male yandere in my opinion, but I think there’s plenty in comic format to choose from nowadays.

But that’s also a boring answer and doesn’t say too much if I just am picking said favorite because it’s what’s “new and shiny.” So I tried to really think about some of the ones I’ve liked in the past. Nostalgia could be at fault here, but I figured maybe I could find one that also stood the test of time.

I’m going to go with Fukusuke from the BL manga “Color Recipe.”

(non-spoiler TLDR list is at the top; Major spoiler explanations below)

I made sure to go back and reread the manga before this just to see if things went down the way I remember. Not only did several things still hold up from memory, but I got refreshed with a couple of things I had forgotten. Like how much I actually love the S/O, Shoukichi, in this story. He’s a lot better than just a typical hot-head lead.

But anyway, there are several reasons why I think Fukusuke holds up really well as a yandere. Some of these reasons even lead into others:

Semi-original concept

Disguise too good

Equal footing with the S/O

One of the BEST yandere “snaps”

Displays the difference between lust, control and love

Best of both worlds and a yandere to the end

1. Semi-original concept

Personality wise, a yandere who’s outwardly chatty and social but inwardly doesn’t care for anyone but their S/O isn’t really new. But most of the time I expect to see said yandere being especially flattering to their S/O to get in their good graces. So what’s Fukusuke’s first plan of action? Act like an a$$ towards the S/O. Not…exactly what you expect. But not only does our yandere have reasoning behind this, it’s integral to the plot. And of course, it comes back to bite him later.

I’d also say he’s kind of a mix with how he clearly doesn’t feel the same way most people feel (the author makes it clear he’s no saint), but he’s not a complete monster either (we’ll get to that later). He does get called a psychopath by another character in the story, but I really couldn’t tell you if he fits any mold exactly.

Him being a beautician/stylist is also a nice touch. I don’t recall a ton of yandere with this profession, but it adds a unique flavor to the setting. Especially since the S/O is very work-oriented, so the setting and line-of-work come into play a lot here.

Just a personal note, this is probably one of the few yandere where I’m not swooning over their appearance. There are plenty of yandere I drool over, but this is one I strictly love for their character and not their looks.

There’s a bit of a “love at first sight” kind of deal here, but I’ll give it a passing grade. It’s not just the S/O being a pretty face that starts the obsession. It’s a combo of the S/O’s work ethic AND their teary eyed face, haha.

2. Disguise too good

This yandere is so good at working behind the scenes, that the author felt the need to actually have another character point out the machinations of the yandere. I love Riku by the way <3 He’s odd and teeters on the neutral line, but I think he does a good job both letting the story be mainly about the yandere and S/O, but interjecting when he needs to. He might not be to everyone’s taste though. I could definitely understand if someone said they hated the handholding the author is doing here, or just hate how Riku doesn’t do more if they are aware of what’s happening. I wouldn’t say Riku’s exactly pure.

Still, if you even look at just the first few chapters, I could see a viewer might get fooled into thinking that the yandere is a much purer guy than he is. There are a few moments or scenes that make you wary of Fukusuke in the first few chapters, but there are also scenes that put him in a more generous light. I feel like he even was genuinely honest with some of his complements or advice towards Shoukichi. If the entire manga kept going like this, slowly the audience might start to doubt themselves or forget that there’s anything abnormal about this man. So the author has another character come and point out EXACTLY what the yandere is doing. And you quickly realize that Fukusuke is an extremely manipulative type of yandere.

3. Equal footing with the S/O

A lot of yanderes you’ll notice in stories have some kind of position of power. They might be a duke, a king, a ceo, etc. To be clear, I have no problem with this! I certainly love these types myself. The reason you probably see a lot of them though is because they fulfill two roles: the “Cinderella” fantasy, and easier writing. Let’s face it, lots of people love the idea of getting swept off their feet or chosen by someone of considerable status. It’s a mood booster, and a big part of fiction is escapism. Not only that, but a yandere in a power position has two advantages that can both make them more appealing for the S/O or terrifying. They can solve all the S/O’s problems more easily or give them anything they want with their status and money. OR they could push the S/O into a corner easily if they resist. The S/O could be strong-willed as hell, but they don’t have to be portrayed as a complete idiot for not being able to escape the yandere if said yandere, I don’t know, owns the entire police force for example.

Getting back on topic, Fukusuke is NOT in a position of power. He’s not even the manager of the beauty salon, he’s just the S/O’s coworker. The only thing he has over the S/O is the skill to socialize better with customers (ironically). But he uses this one skill to its FULL extent. He also relies on manipulation a lot more as a result. A yandere without power who wants absolute control needs to be VERY smart.

He’s not invincible though and is completely capable of failing. That’s why he has to be careful and why he’s a more interesting character. Other characters can see through him and ruin his plans, or completely accidental discoveries show his lies. Also, he still gets punched many times by the S/O. I also completely forgot that he got bitten during a BJ once (Ouch! But S/O clearly wasn’t into it).

He doesn’t rush either. He works over the S/O for an entire year before…

4. One of the best yandere “snaps”

For those unaware, a “snap” is essentially the breaking point of the yandere. They stop playing nice. You see these plenty of times, even in one-shots. They’re fun, but sometimes they can definitely feel really rushed or sloppy. This one is beautifully done. This snap doesn’t actually occur until after a year has passed of the yandere and S/O working together. He’s been playing a VERY long game and still isn’t quite in the position he wants to be. He wants to be Shoukichi’s #1. He wants to further monopolize him, but the S/O’s personality and priorities kind of stunt him.

It’s not just this frustration building up though that pushes the yandere over. Through a series of events, the S/O finally catches on to what the Fukusuke has been doing. Shoukichi even asks if Fukusuke HATES him. We as the audience know it’s the actually the opposite, but I completely understand how the S/O came to that conclusion. Shoukichi has a lot of morals and speaks the truth several times about what it means to love someone. Also, Fukusuke's explanation does not help his case.

When Shoukichi gets angry at our yandere, I really love how we FIRST see Fukusuke mull over in his head what his options are. It’s only after he concludes that there’s no means to make a recovery out of this, that he resorts to extreme measures: brief confinement, electrocution torture and blackmail.

5. Displays the difference between lust, control and love

Does Fukusuke lust after Shoukichi? Yes he does. He gets horny a lot and even admits he’s a rather perverted guy who would love to do all kinds of things with his S/O. Shoukichi’s not into the more perverted stuff, but that doesn’t stop the yandere one bit from wanting him. He’d have sex everyday with Shoukichi if he could. Does Fukusuke want control? Yes he does. Both due to his natural personality and obsession with the S/O, Fukusuke wants to possess Shoukichi completely. Even when he’s in a rather good spot I’d say after a year working with Shoukichi, Fukusuke still isn’t satisfied since he doesn’t consider himself the S/O’s #1. Shoukichi’s job, manager and customers always come first. Fukusuke keeps trying to encourage him to start up a business with him, but Shoukichi refuses. Even with them sleeping together and having an amicable relationship, it’s not enough.

Does Fukusuke love Shoukichi? YES he does. Here’s the thing about yanderes. It’s easy to love them for their lustful, controlling sides that really get things going. But I think some writers get a little too caught up with these sides that they start to neglect what makes a yandere a yandere: love. They forget to make it clear that the yandere doesn’t want the S/O as just a sex slave or some kind of personal toy/object for only their eyes. Maybe authors THINK they’re portraying a twisted display of love, but it just comes out wrong on paper.

But how do I know Fukusuke is different and is actually in love with Shoukichi then? Because he’ll actually do things or react in ways that show he’s NOT looking to just keep the S/O tied up in his apartment for his own amusement. That “snap” I mentioned earlier? The confinement period is very brief. It’s nothing like the stories that revolve around the S/O being held captive for an indefinite amount of time. Fukusuke only resorted to more extreme measures when his previous plans fell apart. He only wanted to push the S/O far enough back into a corner to finally pull him away from the shop.

After he gets Shoukichi to promise him to leave the shop and start a business with him, Fukusuke tries to have some celebratory sex with him and takes his S/O’s blindfold off. The author then gives us one of the best facial depictions of someone who is TRAUMATIZED that I have ever seen. Dubcon is a term that pops up a lot in BLs (I’m not here to talk about that), but I don’t think there’s anyone who would assume dubcon is present in this scene. Not even Fukusuke, at least not subconsciously because Fukusuke becomes very confused when he can’t get himself hard. He even mentions he thought the S/O’s teary face was cute in the past, but he knows this is different.

There are plenty of yandere out there that will force themselves onto their S/O despite their reluctance. There are also others I’ve seen who do get rattled when they push the S/O a little TOO far, and are then capable of holding themselves back. But it’s both highly impressive (and a little hilarious) to see a yandere straight up admit they can’t get aroused because they hate the sight of their broken S/O.

Again, Fukusuke has plenty of lust and control desires where the author could have written him just “winning” here and doing whatever he wanted with Shoukichi. But our yandere hesitates.

True to being a yandere, Fukusuke does try to convince himself to keep pressuring Shoukichi to listen to him since he’s come this far and this is what he resolved to do. I love also that when he’s talking with Shoukichi about “their future plans,” it’s very realistic. He’s going on and on about the logistics of setting up a beauty salon together, and that he wants it also to be a place they can live in together. This yandere doesn’t desire to keep Shoukichi locked up in a room all day. He literally wants him to be his LIFE PARTNER. This is exactly the type of yandere mindset I adore.

And finally, it eventually does get through our yandere’s head that…he messed up. From the very beginning, he messed up. Both Riku and Shoukichi (separately) point out why he failed. He looks genuinely devastated later. So he relents with the blackmail plans and completely pulls away and gives a damaged Shoukichi his space.

6. Best of both worlds and a yandere to the end

That is not the end of it though. What I’m about to say may be a little polarizing depending on how people viewed the characters overall and the ending: I think Fukusuke both learned a lesson and understood what he did wrong, BUT he also did not give up and just resorted to switching tactics.

I can’t really explain this one well in words I think. Giving the S/O space was probably the best thing a yandere could have done here. Even in the extra chapters, Fukusuke does not purposefully go hunt down Shoukichi. He gives Shoukichi back his freedom. Shoukichi can choose to come to see him of his own volition or stay away. He never contacts Shoukichi directly, but stays in touch with everyone else in the shop.

However, once again Riku points out how he still has not stopped being a manipulator from afar. He manipulates his customers to take advantage of Shoukichi’s good nature and guilt. He confesses in an article (and later in person when Shoukichi visits him in an extra chapter) that he will NOT take anyone but Shoukichi as his partner. No matter how much work he’s overloaded with work.

Shoukichi by the way is very interesting because he has both qualities that protected him from completely submitting to Fukusuke (i.e. job oriented, strong grasp of how you treat loved ones), as well as qualities that make him vulnerable (i.e. too sympathetic to others). Because of this, Fukusuke I’d say didn’t necessarily “win” in the way he wanted by the end of this manga, but he hasn’t exactly lost either.

I’m not entirely sure if I call Fukusuke a redeemed or enlighted yandere. It’s been a long time since I thought of those terms. But I’m happy to say he STAYED a yandere to the entire time. Also, I didn’t know where to mention this, but I do love a lot of his facial expressions.

Overall, I think this character did a really good job portraying the more wicked aspects of yanderes, but also not forgetting to show what a yandere in love is supposed to be like and having them grow for the better. Having two volumes did a lot of good to have the characters work through everything.

I definitely recommend this manga to anyone who even just wanted to do a character study on yanderes. Now there may be some I could see who don’t care for Fukusuke. Maybe he’s seen as “boring” because he doesn’t have as many over-the-top moments as some other yandere, or maybe you thought he went too far and are agitated at the thought that he could eventually win over Shoukichi. To each there own I suppose.

I know that the question asked about if I had several yandere I wanted to talk about but, I overloaded on Fukusuke so I think it’s best not to go into full details on the others here.

I did think about other yandere before writing this. Should I have gone with Kisshu from Tokyo Mew Mew as “baby’s first yandere” kind of deal, with Marcus from “Till Death Do Us Part” (warning: 18+) for basically kickstarting this blog, or with Mandarin Kim from “Cherry Boy That Girl” for making me enjoy a very different type of yandere from I’m used to?

I know I tend to go for the more villainous yanderes too, but a lot of those end up as one-shot villains or brief side-characters. That makes it hard to pick a favorite among those when there’s not as much character to analyze. So I wanted to go with who I thought was a very GOOD representation of a yandere today. I hope everyone enjoyed and I apologize for any grammatical errors along the way.

#yandere #male yandere #analysis #color recipe #answer

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canmom · 1 year

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status of canmom projects

for me to keep track as much as anything.

thrust//doll: steaming ahead in active development. this is taking most of my time at the moment.

ghost barrier: page 7 is drawn, and I’m working on giving a proper archive on the canmom.art site. once that’s done, and maybe page 8, I’ll post it. or you can get a look right now if you sub to the patreon. wink. I would like to commit to a regular update schedule but lets get the infrastructure up first eh.

animation night: haven’t missed a week yet and i’m not going to. I added a new introduction to the archive! I want to fill in some of the gaps, but we’ll see what time permits.

umineko liveblog: sorry for the hiatus here. I’ll be getting back to that tonight or tomorrow, all being well.

comics comints: hopefully going to write one of these on the weekend. the queue is: The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal, The Sandman (this one’s gonna be a monster), Dresden Codak. reading some other stuff, we’ll see if I wanna comint on it.

bookposting: this isn’t exactly a series or anything but I’m cooking some kind of post on charity’s Serious Weakness. it’s just a daunting one to tackle! i keep rewriting it in my head but I need to actually sit down and write lol.

nier guide: someone recently commented asking when I’d write up NieR Automata! with the anime it seems like it might be a good time. but uhh... look at that list, no promises I’m afraid!

learning to animate: hoo boy this on fell by the wayside T_T. I’ll try and squeeze a little practice animation in somewhere.

Also planning to release some short stories soon. More on that when I have more to report!

indefinite hiatuses: perspective drawing series, history of the anime girl, final baru article, adventure time liveblog (anyone remember that?). I might randomly pick one of these up if the mood strikes.

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gynandromorph · 1 year

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i guess it’s time for a new year retrospective thing since it’s almost a new year

this year sucked and not even in like a notably bad way, it’s just one big haze of nothing where nothing matters and nothing has any meaning because there’s literally no break in between all the stress. groceries are as expensive as ever and they’re just gonna stay that way forever while the cost of living limit for welfare stays the same so now i’m stuck between being unable to afford food AND having no healthcare. mawkish continues to get older and she has more health issues. it takes up an unspeakable amount of my time and money, but she’s happy and not declining right now. every time she skips physical therapy for her arthritis due to a cancellation i can see how it affects her, though, so i don’t know if i’ll be able to cut costs there. a lot of this is about money, huh? i just feel like i can’t even DO anything without it. i can just Be At Home which just makes me feel like a wild animal pacing in a cage. i’ve been single for a while now and i’m REALLY feeling it and i know it’s partially my fault for not wanting covid more than not wanting to be lonely but like what the fuck would i do if i put myself out there huh? tell some girl i don’t have enough money to buy lunch or a coffee so we’ll have to just sit outside at a park? yeah i’ve sat outside at parks to meet and chat with people but as like a first impression it’s not great!!!

and my art has gotten worse, of course. it’s stiffer, and i feel on edge because my hand is either always on the cusp of hurting again or it IS hurting again. i’ve gotten it back to normal again, and then i slack off on my exercises and we’re back to square 3 (i haven’t gotten so bad that i go back to square 1) because the exercises themselves are wildly time-consuming and god knows if there’s anything i don’t have enough of it’s time. i hate the tablet i’m using and i can’t even find the old ones i brought with me because of the move, but even then they’re very small and that’s why i like them and it’s also why i hurt my hand in the first place. still, the curves this tablet makes are just not the same, there’s tons of issues with it that aren’t technically issues but certainly things that impact how the art comes out and how much i enjoy making it. not really related but about a week into the new year i’ll be getting a new computer, also, and a new desk chair, since both of those are fucking falling apart. i want to do other things that i’m not going to say here because if there’s one way to make sure you never ever do a project it’s just announcing it publicly before you’ve done literally any of the work. still, we’ll see if anything changes. it feels like it won’t simply because my brain is too depressed to do anything anymore and even when i do do the thing it turns out like shit or i don’t retain it at all. these are at least things that will not require the intense use of my dominant hand.

oh and the last huge negative is i just have like functionally no religious community now because this friend i made at my last synagogue was a great friend!!!!! super friendly!!!!!!!!!!! too friendly in fact!!!!!!!!!!! and i tried reasserting that i was not interested in a relationship multiple times, i tried tolerating advances i wasn’t going to reciprocate and it just kept getting more physical, eventually i decided to get my rabbi there involved and i gotta say the response i got was disappointing at best!!!!!! this was maybe like november 2021 but it’s literally functionally cut me off from that community altogether here because i wasn’t thrilled about the drop in covid protocols and i’m certainly not more enthusiastic now that i’ve been sexually harassed just to have it brushed under the rug knowing this is an all too common reaction for jewish authorities to have!!! i literally feel like i can’t say anymore about it besides that but hey it kinda sucks!!!!!!!

that’s it dude, that’s all, i started a new comic way later than i should have but i did start it, and i’m living somewhere that kind of sucks the soul out of me but i won’t be investing a lot of time and money into a move this year not only because it’s tolerably under my sister and her husband’s roof instead of my mom’s but because rent is too fucking high for me to jump ship too. sure hope 2023 is a great year cuz it’s the last one i’ll have as a 20-something and the bar is certainly low after this one, i can’t even be more thoughtful or humble about this retrospective, i’m so tired of feeling like shit and having functionally no way to fix most of these problems

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dalt20 · 8 months

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Tooning in 4. Dev Ross part 4 of 7

DL: Yeah. Well the episode all’s Fahrenheit in love and war? Process of that episode?

DR: I believe that was a script doctor job. They weren’t please with..uh.. the first writers take on it, so i took it over and redid it.

DL: Well do you remember people like John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson? They were the creators of quack pack. They wrote for darkwing duck.

DR: Not really. I didn't interact with them

DL: Well but you know them right?

DR: Of them only. Our department was getting really big by then.

DL: Well you know Doug langdale? He was working the same time as you on DD, goof troop and bonkers. Also Aladdin.

DR: Yes, I knew him but barely

DL: Well, he went in to do great things. He’s working with Hollywood producer James wan on samurai rabbit for Netflix.

DR: Nice! I no longer follow any animation as I only work in live action now.

DL: Yeah! Well we’ll save that special project until the end of the interview. But don’t worry we’ll come back to it.

DR: No worries.

DL: The darkwing Duck episode, up up and awry. Process on that episode?

DR: Don't really remember anything about it

DL: Oh well it was your lowest rated darkwing episode on IMDb. 6.9 to be exact.

DR: Well, you can't please all the time.

DL: Time and punishment? Process for that episode?

DR: My inspiration was that Christmas movie where an Angel takes Jimmy Stewart forward in time to see the effects on his family and community if he committed suicide!

DL: Oh it’s it a wonderful life, eh?

DR: Right! Are we going to go thru every episode I wrote because I really don't remember... Tad and I would sit in his office and just throw around crazy ideas. He was fantastic to play off of. So many times we'd come up with concepts just by riffing. We'd talk about movies, books, look at comic books, the news...

DL: By note, yeah it would be redundant to just go over every darkwing Duck episode you wrote .

DR: Thanks! I would have to excuse myself then. I don't think about the old stories ever! A writer must stay current or die

DL: Writing for The little mermaid for Disney and CBS .

DR: Horrible experience.

DL: Why was that?

DR: I had come back to Disney after being lent out to Universal. I was assigned Little Mermaid but my story editors never came into the office so we couldn't riff on ideas like I used to with Tad. Their was hardly anyone around then and very uninspiring. No team work or comraderie. I was really unhappy so quit soon after. I went freelance then and only worked with Tad and Kevin Hopps. I worked a bit with two other story editors but again no teamwork there.

DL: Oh. Kevin hopps was a sitcom writer. He wrote for Norman lear.

DR: Yes! Great talent and great human being!

DL: I know. So, did you watch the original film?

DR: Which one?

DL: The 1989 film with Jodi benson? The classic box office success! Putted Disney in the map again and started the Disney renaissance.

DR: Yes, I did!

DL: Thoughts on the film?

DR: It was charming. Songs were fantastic! May I ask you a question?

DL: Sure, Go ahead!

DR: I don't want to sound rude, However, I wrote for Disney so long ago. I don't understand how my thought are even interesting on such old work. How my thoughts are even halfway interesting on why I wrote something. I'm curious as to what you will do with my answers.

DL: I’ll post on my blog. My job is to know about the writing process of the episodes of some shows.

DR: I'm not ungrateful, just wondering.

DL: As a interviewer. As of saying.

DR: Most staff writing processes are the same. We team up to throw around ideas to see what sticks.

DL: Hmm. Ok.

DR: I mean it will more interesting to talk more about the dtv films.

DL: We pitch ideas to our producers to see what interests them. They may like half of an idea from me and the only half from you and then tell us to construct a story out of the blended ideas. That's the way it works.

DL: Ok. Can I ask you about Aladdin : return of Jafar?

DR: That was totally a group think story. A dozen of us sat around and spit balled ideas. We agreed on one the broke up the story with each of us writing a section of the movie.

DL: Was it true that the film was a pilot for a tv series.but Michael Eisner didn’t know how to release the show, so he told you to make a pilot film?

DR: I don't remember.

DL: Well that’s what most people say. But it was the most sold video in 1994, next to the lion king!

DR: Right!

DL: Did you got a cut of the VHS sales?

DR: No! Staff writers only got salary. It's how most animation writers get ripped off. My films for Univeral made millions but I got nothing but a small fee for writing.

DL: Oh, I’m thinking about theatrical films. Now they get the money from the films.

DR: Depends! It depends on their agent!

DL: Yeah. So you wrote 4 episodes of cro for children’s television workshop/film Roman and ABC. Tell me what was cro?

DR: It was a show all about math.

DL: Oh. So how would your episodes work with a premise of cavemen and math?

DR: Vey difficult! You have to know the conceit of the show.

DL: Oh. What age were they approaching to?

DR: Very hard to write for!

DL: So how was CTW in general, The creators of Sesame Street?

DR: Loved them!

DL: Can you tell me about them.

DR: Just very smart and innovative thinkers. I love that! I love working for out of the box thinkers. They also appreciate crazy creators like me.

DL: well were you happy mark zaslove was the story editor on the show?

DR: Mark was brilliant but was a very tough boss. Very talented and very demanding.

DL: well did you feel upset when the show got canceled?

DR: No!! It was a very hard show to write for!

DL: Well apparently CTW got upset, that's why they created the cable channel noggin.Did you know that?

DR: No.

DL: well yeah. going back to disney, you wrote for bonkers and jungle cubs.

DR: Yes. Hated Bonkers.

DL: why? was it a roger rabbit ripoff?

DR: I believe so. It just wasn't a good concept. Character was horribly unlikeable. Not at all fun to write for.

DL: who was? bonkers or lucky? or in season 2, miranda?

DR: Both... I didn't write on season two and barely on one. I shouldn't say both, definitely Bonkers. I think so. It was a bad ripoff.

DL: well question. why anyone make a show about a cartoon in a cartoon? that makes no sense.

DR: Exactly.

DL: thoughts on the president of Disney TVA, frank price? he was your boss on jungle cubs and return of jafar.

DR: No opinion. I had enough on my plate being a full time writer with three kids!

DL: oh. well moving on to jungle cubs, how was writing the humans must be crazy?

DR: I liked that show a lot but was freelance by then and only did 2 episodes.

DL: oh how did you feel about the jungle book characters but as babies, a la muppet babies?

DR: I liked them a lot. It is always fun to imagine what an adult was like as a child! I think that about people I meet!

DL: well did you like the orginal film?

DR: Loved it!

#dev ross #disney afternoon #walt disney animation studios #animation #animation interview #disney #disney television animation #tooning in.#cro #children’s television workshop #CTW #jungle cubs #Aladdin #return of jafar #the jungle book #the little mermaid #disney ariel #darkwing duck #bonkers

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gswhan · 2 years

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Hey, hello, hello! I am Sera and you have no idea how ecstatic I am for this place to finally be open ahhh!! ( As a local horror enthusiast... ) I’m going to be reading up on everyone’s information first and then stirring up some plots with you guys! Anyway, without further ado, allow me to introduce you all to the epitome of The Hermit, YOO HANGYEOL (aka Han), the elusive lighthouse keeper up on Hongsi Hill. Find his profile here! I highly prefer Tumblr dms for the sake of my own organization but if you'd like to add me elsewhere, my tag is seracha sauce#3256.

BACKGROUND !

Born September 21st (do you remember), 1995 in Daegu

But frequently visited Gwasuwon to see his paternal grandparents

Lived a pretty nice life with his parents and younger sister; unfortunately, his mother had a severe chronic illness and passed away right before he graduated high school.

Enlisted in the military from Jan. 2016 to Aug. 2017 as a marine (was allowed out early because of an incident related to his secret but we’ll get to that later.)

Went to a university in Pohang from 2018 to 2020 where he was studying marine biology, which he always wanted to do as a kid, as well as engineering.

BUT he had to drop out of university to support his family after his father loses his previous job. Wasn’t interested in attending gsw college because of time.

So, in 2020ish, he moved to the island and, thanks to his grandpa, got a job job as a fill-in lighthouse keeper, training for when the old one retires eventually

in addition to being a keeper at the lighthouse, he takes up odd jobs around the island fixing up and taking care of any problems people might have, maintenance or otherwise. he also goes into town to sell the jam, carvings, and other things his grandparents make; typically to tourists and other stores that will sell them just for an extra buck.

He's been facing uncharitable rumors due to not being seen around very often and due to the main lighthouse keeper's own notoriety as being unkind to outsiders.

There are claims that he must be a hideous, deformed man or elderly and unfriendly often spread around. Particularly since he isn't overly fond of people trying to make trips up to the lighthouse.

That being said, his job is pretty vital for the ferries and ships going to and from the island. And he sees just about everything from his spot. Just about.

SECRET: when he was in the army on a short leave, he was walking with his girlfriend at the time and they were attacked by a man, forcing Hangyeol to defend them... and killing him in the heat of the moment. Because she was a military officer’s daughter, they were willing to sweep it under the rug but to this day, he blames himself and holds a lot of guilt over it, particularly given that he was gonna marry her.

ABOUT HIM !

Virgo/libra cusp 🤘🏻

Tall (very tall jfc), quiet, broody man... wears black and dull colors all the time. Still wonders why people find him lowkey spooky/sus

Marine facts encyclopedia. His favorite marine animal is the jellyfish.

Likes reading. Especially comics! (Especially dark fantasy!) it’s a great time killer and he’s read... a LOT.

Has a sweet tooth. If you wanna bribe him... make him some tteok or bungeoppang and he might think about it.

Addicted to iced tea. ADDICTED.

(I think he might be addicted to persimmons too tbh idk)

A whiskey connoisseur. Ask him for suggestions if you find him down at the Pink Room

Moderately skilled in repairs/hands-on stuff. He’s a bit of a MacGyver and WILL fix your issue with bubblegum and a paperclip if it works!!

Doesn't have much interest in going out much unless people basically force him to.

He's quite stoic and blunt.

Comes off pretty badly to new people and takes a while to warm up.

^ he’s just very afraid of getting close to people, fearing that if he does, they will eventually just get hurt. He actually doesn’t secretly hate everyone. He just needs to learn this isn’t the way to do things.

Surface level superstitious, finds views on the island fascinating and to be respected.

A devout Buddhist, a trait passed down to him from his mother. You can often find him at Eunjong Shrine or the Turtle park trying to chillax.

Takes up odd jobs around the island. Usually for the elderly.

Has the tendency to sigh a lot, and picks at his nails when nervous.

PLOTS ?

Just gen ideas. I'm bad at this and Hangyeol doesn’t really interact with many people before the incidents of the rp because of his reclusive nature and fear of getting close to people. But we can work something out. I am definitely open to darker plots and Hangyeol might end up with many plots that are skewed more antagonistic due to his nature (but he’s not really a bad guy).

Childhood friend (either also grew up in/often visited Daegu or Gwasuwon, where he would frequently visit) But he’s been very distant lately.

Fishing buddy. Simple as

Someone he first met when he moved to the island officially in 2020. Their relationship is strained now because he doesn’t go out much and always tells them to go away.

Someone who always wants to visit the lighthouse to take a tour of it and he continuously refuses. Please leave him alone!!

Someone who happens find him suspicious, what with his hermit tendencies and all.

Someone who frequently asks him to fix things for him. Alt. they keep messing things up on purpose just so they can have an excuse to talk to him.

Someone he sees actively disregarding and disrespecting the island’s superstitions and mythos. He warns them repeatedly but they never listen.

Someone who keeps asking him out on a date but he keeps refusing.

Someone he went on one date with and ran away. Goodbye no thanks not interested.

Ex. He might still be hung up on his ex girlfriend from over 5 years ago idk if any relationship he tried to have from 2020 to now would have been no longer than a month and probably not serious and he probably was a complete asshole on purpose during the breakup (sorry) even though he didn’t want to and there’s still a grudge there.

Drinking buddy. Have a whiskey with him from time to time.

Kind of a dark one, but people try to break into the lighthouse to attempt to off themselves from the balcony all the time. Han frequently stops them because he has a conscious (and doesn’t wanna be haunted). Fortunately, the worst that’s happened is someone got a broken leg because it’s not really that high up...... OR, someone who snuck in that he thinks is going to do it.

#gsw:intro #um.... yes hello #im bad at writing intros #ill greet and read everyone's things in a bit #i just got home

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augustheart · 2 years

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it’s so frustrating that despite their flaws upon rewatch young justice seasons one and two are pretty good. a lot of the team in season two is underdeveloped and the animated has always been pretty flat but the pacing of season one where every character gets an episode devoted to them and their personal issues (downtime for kaldur, coldhearted for wally, etc) works well. the plot of season two is pretty strong thanks to the story it’s based on and their willingness to genuinely kill off a beloved character is respectable.

and then seasons three and four are just… like that. the pacing is so excruciatingly slow and difficult and when we focus on different characters for mini arcs it just winds up being frustrating. the play acting at being mature and having grown up with the audience is just tryhard and, to be frank, boring. the halfhearted attempts at diversity just wind up being offensive to half the groups they claim to be representing. and of course, now the mystery box story is running on fumes after four seasons of endless setup and hardly any payoff.

young justice got me into comics when i was a kid, i look back very fondly on seasons one and two, and i was really excited for season three when it was announced, but the news that there’s currently no plans for a season five isn’t devastating, it’s relieving. i fell off the show mid season three and tried to pick it back up and just couldn’t. at least season two ended with a bang, not a whimper. we’ll have to wait and see if young justice can manage to round up even half the fan energy it had when season three was canceled, but my money is on it just… fizzling out. i know i won’t miss it. and isn’t that kind of sad?

#extended post #young justice

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gamebunny-advance · 2 years

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Grab Bag Doodles

Oh, it’s actually a grab bag this time instead of NSR and OC doodles! I’ve been working a lot more than usual this past week, so I haven’t had the energy to work on anything serious, but I just feel like I’ll explode if I don’t start posting at least something I’ve drawn once every few weeks, so here’s my doodles from last-last week.

1) Tabuu and Primid. Wanted to start drawing them again. I feel like I didn’t get as much out of Tabuu and his underlings as I wanted before my interests started shifting.

2) Mini Bosses. As I doodled this, I thought of a comic about how my human Tabuu, Galeem, and Dharkon seemingly have an aversion to clothes. Tabuu is like that for obvious reasons, he’s already a naked humanoid, so any clothing I gave him in this form was just for modesty. Galeem and Dharkon just don’t wear shoes because I feel like they’re more ethereal that way. I’m also trying to drop some of the religious imagery with them and make them more fantasy focused. It’s still a work in progress though.

3) Malt Shop Blue Sketch. He’s the next one up, but I’m not feeling the pose, so I’m probably gonna rework this. It doesn’t really lend itself to much interesting animation. I did however want to swap out his shades for regular glasses, so we can see his eyes through them.

4) Touhou!DJSS. I dunno, I just like the design I made for him and wanted to draw it again. It’s amazing how well DJSS lends himself to being a haughty anime girl.

5) Ex’s Meme. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, just so my feelings about this ship are a little more clear. I actually already filled it out, but I’ll wait until I actually finish the art to say anything about it. I wanna redo the art anyway. I think it’d be funnier if they’re interacting a little more directly.

6) Sizeshifter. A joke from the “Let’s do a science!” comic that might get cut. I dunno, think it’s a little low brow, but... it’s still kinda funny. Kliff’s here because he’s helping with the experiments as a part of his community service.

--------------------

NJ + Kliff: So does it work on your pe-

DJSS: You’re both going to stop right there before I have a reason to kill you.

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7) Kun3h0 Expressions. Just working on some expressions for Kun3. I didn’t label them all, but going clockwise, starting in the upper left corner: default, excited, annoyed, despondent, shocked, disappointed. I might rework “despondent” to be a little more interesting. I like making her puffs a little expressive though. Maybe the puffs should “inflate” when she’s mad?

8) Yomi redesign. I don’t think I ever posted about them, but Yomi was the character I came up with to test how HONK works. I was never really happy with their design, but I had to push through so I could focus on learning the program rather then get caught up in the art. They’re still not great, but I like them more than I did before. I might try a human version, because I think this is just serving to prove to myself that I’m really not good at doing more anthro furry stuff yet. We’ll see though~ I’m not too attached to them, so I might design a new avatar for testing.

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odditystew · 1 year

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My long-awaited return

Been a minute. Twitter’s being run by the Musk and he’s already talking about batshit stupid changes, so you know what? Let’s give Tumblr a try again. I mean I rarely post art or get the energy to do my own comics anymore, but I never had a following to begin with, so uhhh! I might do stuff again, we’ll see. In the meantime, I have life-news to share for anyone that’s followed this blog and remembers me as like, a person. First off: I made it! I work in animation now. I’m a Storyboard Revisionist at Titmouse, working on Big Mouth and Human Resources (it’s spin-off show). My crew is amazing, the directors are a blast, and I still work from home. Second, I’m nonbinary and pansexual. I think I’ve talked about also being grey-ace here on tumblr, but I can’t recall. The last few years I feel I have finally begun to understand myself fully as the person I am.

Also I started dating a friend from SCAD I reconnected with! And he’d apparently had a crush on me for years! Incredible! So that’s all! But glad to be back! Watch this space I guess!

#return to tumblr #life news #update

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translationandbetrayals · 2 years

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Oyasumi Punpun: a personal view on one of the best things I've ever read.

As a child, before I became a teenager, I used to love searching for mangas and trying to copy the beautiful drawings that I saw on each page. When I grew up I started to occupy my time on other things and I forgot about my whole fascination for manga, as I got closer to western comics (Watchmen being my all time favorite).

Then, two years ago, when I was locked inside my house during the forced quarantine that the whole world had to experiencie, I found out about Oyasumi Punpun. I know there are a lot of posts about this manga, maybe with the same ideas that I'm going to talk about, but I believe that it is a creation that doesn't leave people indifferent.

Melancholy is portrayed accurately in a lot of works from different areas: arts, music, literature, psychology, performance, movies, and of course, manga and anime. This feeling of a void inside of our souls is universal: eastern and western cultures approach it in their own ways, but sometimes they can create a portrait that is so truthful that it can haunt its audience.

So, what makes Punpun so popular?what makes this manga a touching experience to the reader?and why do I consider Inio Asano's most known story to be the best manga that I've read so far? we'll dive into that in the next lines.

To start, I'll talk about the story and the events in a little summary that doesn't pretend to tell each detail (we have Wikipedia for that, don't we?). Maybe you've been asking to yourself whether if reading Oyasumi Punpun is a good idea or not. Of course I encourage you to read it, but it might be a little too graphic or heavy for some people (which is totally OK, because this is a dense content).

We start off with Punpun Punyama, a little bird that lives with his parents and is their only child. Punpun seems to have a "normal" life: he is very innocent, and he is not capable, in a certain way, to see the dark side of his life. He is not aware of the problems that his parents have: the weird personality of his mom, or the alcoholism and violence problems of his dad. His uncle himself has a story with depression and different struggles that are revealed later in the other volumes.

On his first day of school, we are shown that he is "in love" with a girl who is a bully, but at the same time is very popular among her classmates. That day, the teacher announces that she is moving away from the school, but one of the most important moments in the manga happens here: Aiko, a new girl, appears in the classroom as a new student that comes from another city. In the first volume we are introduced to different side stories that can be considered fun but at the same time are a little serious: for example, Aiko's "mother" works at selling some type of magic water, which embarasses Aiko, only to be discovered by Punpun and his uncle, who confronts the lady. Punpun discovers pornography and starts to fantasize about different scenarios with Aiko, because he falls in love with her and they start a cute "relationship" together, having their first kiss or having a lot of different conversations.

Punpun friends seem like really normal kids: Shimi, for example, is the typical kind of a boy that is kind of clumsy, in counterpart of Seki, his best friend, who is very independent and knows a lot for his age. Harumi is the one who leads the group in a certain way: he is a good-willed kid, after all, and he appears later on the manga in crucial moments. Sachi, a character that appears later, is a teenager that goes to an abandoned factory to draw, the exact same place where the group of children go out to play and search for ghosts. As everything happens, we see the toxic origins of Punpun's relationship with Aiko: it starts with a lot of small lies and threats, and it only gets worse through time. Punpun, after receiving a telescope from his father as a gift, decides that he's going to be a space scientist, to discover a new planet and save his love interest.

After promising Aiko to join her in her plan to escape from home, Punpun realises that he is not ready for this kind of commitement, and leaves her standing in the place they agreed to reunite some time ago. In this part of the manga, we see how Punpun's father ends up going to jail for beating his wife, sending his mom to the hospital and wishing she never had Punpun, how Punpun's last name changes from Punyama to Onodera, or how the uncle relies on his bitter way of seeing life. Also, a conspiracy is shown as another side story: a man called Toshiki Hoshikawa starts his own sect, which will be very important in the future events within the years.

With all of these scenes we have a base for what will come next: we can consider this manga as a "coming of age" story, that shows us how much everything can change with time: Punpun starts to grow up, being an adolescent at first, then a young adult and finally an adult without any life expectances. Death surrounds some characters too, and each time we look at this work, we have to consider that suicide is always a part of it (even as a controversial topic). We start with a story that seems cute, and has beautiful pannels, a very good construction of its characters and even funny moments... but all of this starts to drive us to a point when we will inevitably connect way too much, then end up crying or just thinking about life in a more philosophical way. A lot of the dialogues are intended to show different points of view, depending of each character.

Asides from the art, which is a treasure on its on way, we get a portrait of depression at its best. That's why it might be triggering for people who suffer from depression: because sometimes it dwells in our own wounds. The sensations that some chapters of the Manga give are "silent": they give this impression of total desolation and disability, being at times devastating. Some parts of the story occur as "plot twists" and the story doesn't get predictable: it creates its own paths, it resembles different pictures of melancholy. For example, the explicit sexual parts are never intended to be "erotic": they always leave this strange feeling of disgust, or sadness. Violence is present too, and we see Punpun turning into a complete mess, changing (metaphorically) the shape of his head, which we will never see as a human.

Characters as Aiko live an existence that is full of hidden misery: in fact, Aiko is some kind of a paradox, because she is beautiful but her life is terrible, only to become worse when Punpun appears in the picture. Sachi, in other hand, is perhaps the most mature character: she is fully dedicated to her job, but she feels like she needs to save Punpun so she sticks to him in every way possible, and even saves him. We see how Punpun's close circle of people affect each of his actions, and we see how Punpun's choices affect others too.

Now, talking about my personal experience, I feel like this manga is one of those pieces that create some sort of a "new" self: I feel like there was one Mikami before I read Oyasumi Punpun, and when I finished it I was another person. Maybe because I got so in touch with a lot of experiences from my own life, in aspects that are so different: despising life at some times, family issues, toxic relationships and the importance of friends. Not everything was bad, anyways, I had a good time reading it and I feel like I was more conscious of things as I analyzed it, but it hurt a lot. It hurt because Aiko and Punpun (the main story) are an example of a toxic couple, and by the time I read this I was just getting out from a relationship that destroyed me because it was based on lies and abandonment. We learn about the destructive power of love, and that was just what I was learning, along with different life depictions, such as the uncertainty of the future, the overwhelming feelings of loneliness or how some things that look like simple coincidences are much more complex and imply the result of our own decisions.

I also feel that you can take everything differently if you experience the manga in another time of your life. I feel like this manga (again, paradoxically) has helped me to see that even when life seems so bad it can be accompanied by beautiful moments and people who are always there, with whom you can always count with. Of course, this is my own interpretation: it was a healing experience from all of the sad things that happened to me last year, and I'm very thankful with myself for having enough concentration to read all of the volumes.

Well, I hope after all of these words you might have imagined what Oyasumi Punpun is about, to help you decide if you feel like it's worth your time or not. If you read it before, I hope you enjoyed reading this (maybe we share some points of view in common, who knows?). Last but not least, I'm very thankful with the people who read all of the things I wrote. Sometimes I feel like these kind of things deserve to be talked about: we must take mental health as a real issue, and maybe if we remove some topics from the "taboo" spectrum we can improve as a society.

By Camila Iglesias.

#Manga #Japan #personalstory #submission

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glapplebloom · 1 year

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Since it’s been a while since the Polls were done...

Death Battle had a Champion's Poll and the winners were Discord Vs Bill Cipher and the long requested Cole Vs Alex. But there were other matches. And since I am a Champion (it is only $5 a month), I voted for who I wanted to see as well. And I did not vote for those two matches. So which did I vote for and what were my thoughts of the other matches?

Captain America Vs Kamen Rider Ichigo

I do think Captain America does need a return match. His match was an early research and we can do a much better job now. Imagine what sort of feats we could find now with a dedicated researcher on the job. As for Kamen Rider Ichigo, I do not know a lot about Kamen Rider. I know a lot of people enjoy the series and it would be cool to see their favorite series get the Death Battle treatment.

Among Us Vs Fall Guys

The idea is such a fun one that I am still surprised it didn't win. It would have been pretty interesting to figure out the research behind this. Though I don't think we'll be doing this in the future unless one of the two sponsors us or if the polls return and this gets back on and wins.

Kyle Rayner Vs Simon the Digger

I'm a researcher of Green Lantern and Gurren Lagann is an excellent series. I would definitely be the researcher in this match thanks to my previous Lantern work. What shocked me was the fact this didn't win either considering all the support I've seen of this match.

Ori Vs the Knight

I never played either, but the idea looks fun. Two indie platformers of varying styles and ideologies. It would have probably looked really good too.

Finn and Jake Vs Mordecai and Rigby

This is the match I voted for. For me, this is one of the big Cartoon Vs Cartoon fights. Adventure Time and Regular Show are sort of sister series. They have a unique style, wacky adventures and expect you to take things at face value. They even crossed over in comics. So having the two duos fight each other is one a long time coming. I get the feeling regardless of it losing, we'll be seeing this fight sometime in the future.

Kratos Vs Asura

Kratos is another one who could use a comeback. It was a Season 1 fight after all. And since then, he's in a whole new territory dealing with a completely different pantheon and new abilities. Meanwhile Asura is an obscure choice but an excellent one for Death Battle. His game is basically Quicktime City so we can see all sorts of feats thanks to them being more visual than gameplay. This could be a great fight.

Steve Vs Emmet

In case you couldn't tell, I enjoy Lego and other Interlocking Bricks. So I would have been glad to see Emmet enter. And Steve makes a lot of sense since Minecraft has a big history with Lego. If we could get Edbound to make this into an animation for Death Battle I think it would be better than a 3D one.

King Ghidorah Vs Deathwing (WoW)

It makes sense for Godzilla’s greatest rival (depending on who you ask) to be in Death Battle. But I don’t know about World of Warcraft to give a good idea on how this fight could be. But giant lizards fighting each other should be a no brainer.

Illidan (WoW) Vs Xiao (Genshin Impact)

Remember when I said I don’t know much about World of Warcraft? Same for Genshin Impact. All I know is they beat Sonic in the Fan Polls at the Game Awards and apparently a small 1000 year old girl is joked about being spare food in the same way Team Four Star’s Goku treats Icarus in the Cooler movie. But just because I don’t know either doesn’t mean it can’t be a great Death Battle. Look at Sauron and the Lich King.

Spy Vs Agent 47

So both of my votes were the last ones listed. Weird. Anyway, Team Fortress 2 is a great series and I wish it won their only match so far. And I think Spy could do it. Agent 47 is most impressive, but I think Spy could give him a run for his money and even win. But I haven’t played Hitman so this is likely biased. But man, I got to get back into playing TF2.

And those are my thoughts on the poll choices. I could reveal exactly how close my votes got to winning, but I don’t think it’s fair for those who don’t know how their votes are. Not to mention Death Battle didn’t reveal the results for a reason. And who am I to break that reason?

#research bin

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ygreczed-3 · 3 years

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The Walking Dead/Detroit Become Human AU

(so basically I was tempted to make a post to apologize about the mess my blog has become lately - feels like I’m posting AUs, artworks, sketches and comic updates in such a chaotic way… I’m really sorry about it ahaha 😅 Hopefully it will get better soon)

So this post is me drawing for hours and forgetting to eat on my break day (I finally did !!! Don’t worry ahaha) because I became obsessed with an idea again. Also I like to make concept arts and storyboards as if I was working on a professional project for a TV show/animation. I find it fascinating ! This time I don’t really have any plot or finished story, I just wanted to draw these scenes badly so… I just did.

I’d like to draw your attention to Connor’s curly hair and Hank’s design (strongly inspired by Kristoff from Frozen). I just LOVE these details.

⚠️Remember this is NOT a new series. Just me having fun with characters and a universe I like (aka The Walking Dead) !

Anyway, more ideas below 👀

*POW*

Hank open his eye again. The walker was shot in the head. Hank pushes the walker away, it falls dead on the concrete.

Looking up, he sees Connor with a gun.

Hank : Jesus… Thank you. I thought I was…

Connor : I wouldn’t have wasted a bullet for you if it wasn’t for your kid back there. Your car, does it work? Hank : … Yeah… I just… I was looking for some gas when… well… Can I drive you somewhere? Connor : Not really, I’m looking for someone.

___________________________

Hank and Cole are walking in a gas station with jerricans and pour what’s left of gas from the pump.

Cole : Dad, that mister from earlier, do you think he’s gonna be okay ? Hank : I think, pumpkin. He was the one helping us. Cole : Being alone sounds dangerous… He should have come with us. Hank : …

___________________________

It’s nighttime, Cole is sleeping in the backseats with a blanket, Hank is sleeping in the driver seat. He wakes up brutally as he hears something tapping softly against the car window : the young man from earlier. He rolls the window down.

Hank : You ? Connor : I’ve looked around the whole city. Now it’s too dark… I need a safe place to have some sleep, I was thinking you could let me in. You owe me after all. Hank : … Yeah sure. Get in.

Connor gets in the car. He takes his bag off and keeps it by his side, out of Hank’s reach. He takes his coat off but keeps a gun near him. Hank stares at him with narrowed eyes.

Hank : … You’re safe here, really. You can trust me. Connor : Sorry, but I only trust myself.

___________________________

It’s dark outside, Hank can’t really sleep with the stranger next to him. His guts dictate him to stay alert. He watches carefully as Connor turns his head to him, half-opening his eyes.

Connor: Can’t sleep ? Hank : … Well you were right… I don’t know you. What about you ? Did you sleep a little ? Connor : … No. I’m too… cautious. My brain won’t let me sleep with a stranger next to me. Hank : … My name’s Hank. You ? Connor : What the hell are you doing ? Hank : We agreed we couldn’t sleep next to strangers. I’m introducing myself. Connor : It won’t make it any better… *after a silence* I’m Connor. Hank : Nice to meet you. Connor: … Where were you before ? You… you act like a newborn in this hell… Hank : … I had a neighbor with one of those bunkers… with tons of food, water, enough to live for months. We… We were hiding there with her until… until a few weeks. Connor : What happened ? Hank : She thought she had heard a chopper. Thought someone was out there to rescue us… she opened the hatch and she was… attacked by those things… Connor: … the kid… he’s yours? Hank : Yeah… Cole. Connor: … Where’s her mom ? Hank : He’s never known her. Connor: Sorry. Hank : Don’t be.

*silence*

Hank : I think… I’m starting to relax… we should try to sleep huh ?

Connor is already sleeping.

___________________________

Connor takes his backpack as Hank and Cole take a breakfast with some fire.

Hank : You sure you don’t want to eat anything ? Connor : No thanks, I have my own stock. You should save your food for your kid. Hank : … Hey, if you ever need to find us… after you’ve found what you’re looking for, I have a police radio. Frequency 58,7 kHz. Connor: I won’t need it but- thanks. Good luck.

Connor leaves.

___________________________

Cole : What should we do now? Hank : … We need to find more food… and weapons. I’ll go downtown today. You… You’ll stay here alright? Cole : No I… I want to stay with you… Hank : I know you’re scared Cole… But it’s too dangerous. You’ll be safe hidden in the car. Cole : You’ll be quick? Hank : Back before sunset, pinky swear.

___________________________

Hank finds an axe on a bar counter.

Suddenly : *BONG BONG BONG BONG*

Hank : What the-

He runs outside and hides against a wall as walkers pass nearby, heading to the source of the ringing.

He looks up and sees Connor climbing on a ladder but a Walker is trying to grab his leg.

Hank comes and kills the monster. Connor : You..! Follow me !

On the rooftop, they see the church. It’s an automatic bell, the walkers are massively getting around the building. There is something painted on the wall that says “Find Jericho” with black paint and scribbled under it “Find 9s”

Connor : Nines… Hank : What is Jericho ? Connor : … A safe place for survivors. It’s hidden… to keep the thieves and killers away. Hank : … The church. Connor : What ? Hank : Jericho, it has to do with the bible. The message is written on a church’s wall. It’s not a coincidence, there might be… a hint in there. Connor : … But we can’t get inside with those creeps around… Hank : … Maybe they leave when the church stops ringing the bells. Connor : Or maybe we should try to lead them away with… Hank : With what ? Connor : … Your car.

___________________________

Connor : So, let me get it straight. You drive around the town honking. It will attract the creeps away from the church. I get inside the church and look for any kind of hint. When the bells start ringing I get out before the creeps come back. And what do we do with Cole ?

Hank : He’s going with you. I don’t want to have him in the car with hundreds of undeads trying to get me. Connor : … I don’t- Hank : Don’t worry. He’s a smart kid. He will do as you say. Right Cole? Cole : …Hmm. Connor: … Fine. Let’s do it.

___________________________

Connor and Cole sneak into the church. Connor kills two of the Walkers still inside the church as Cole follows him cautiously.

Cole : … Look. *he points out a book on the altar* Connor : … It’s a bible… The chapter about the Battle of Jericho… it can’t be a coincidence. *They look up and see something written with old blood on the wall behind the altar. It says “Rahab the harlot defied the King of Jericho. Here lies the key to the fortress.”* Cole : What’s a harlot? Connor : … You should… ask your father. Now… I have to read… and think. Cole : … We only have one hour left before the bells ring again… Connor : I know.

___________________________

Connor : … I don’t get it ! There must be something I’m missing ! Cole : … Connor, I found a map ! Connor : Not now Cole, I’m trying to focus… Cole : Connor, look ! Connor : Cole please I really need-…

Cole shows him the map… there is a “9s” written on it.

Connor : Nines ! Cole : Does it help ? Connor : … I don’t know-…

The bells ring suddenly.

Connor : Crap… we have to get out of here. Give me your hand, buddy.

___________________________

Hank is waiting for them : he has lit a fire and when Cole sees him, he lets go of Connor’s hand and runs to hug his dad.

Hank : I gotcha, pumpkin. *looking up at Connor* Did you find something ? Connor : I think… Hank : You think ? Connor : I have this map my brother left for me inside the church… there was some kind of riddle on the wall, and it must have something to do with this but… there is nothing noted on it. Hank : What’s the riddle ? Connor : “Rahab the harlot defied the King of Jericho, here lies the key to the fortress.” Rahab was a prostitute, she helped Joshua by hiding spies he sent inside the city… and Joshua spared her when he took the fortress. But I… I don’t see the connection. Hank : … Let me see the map.

Connor gives it. Cole sits next to his father, near the fire, and soon falls asleep. After some time thinking and overthinking it, Hank finally points to a town on the map. A city called Defiance.

Hank : Look. Connor : Defiance… Of course. The key lies in Rahab’s defiance… Defiance is a town… Fuck- You’re a genius…! Hank : Man, I was feeling like a Detective again… felt nice for a moment. Connor: You were a Detective? Hank : A police Lieutenant, to be specific. But yeah. Detective works too. Connor : … I don’t think the treasure hunt is done yet. You’re gonna need your supercop sense again ! Hank : … It’s good to see you all excited. Feels like meeting the real Connor under the survivor’s shell. Connor: It’s nice… that Cole and you don’t have that shell yet… humanity is a rare thing to find down there. Hank : … So, who is “Nines” ? Connor : My little brother. We lived together, in the same group of survivors. Our camp was attacked… we got separated. Hank : Looks like he’s smart. He solved the riddle all by himself. It took the two of us to understand the hint. Connor : He’s always been a nerd. Hank : Pffft… Well we should try to get some sleep. We should be able to reach Stoneton, then we’ll have to find more gas.

Hank gets up and carries Cole to the car seats.

Connor: … Hank…? Hank : Yup ? Connor : Can I… Can I come with you two ? I could go to Defiance by myself but… if you’re heading there too, maybe we could… Hank : What the heck ? Of course you’re coming with us. With our two half-brains we’re gonna need each other’s help to find Jericho and your brother, don’t you think ? Connor *chuckles* : Right.

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swordgayist · 3 years

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cultural appropriation in ATLA (hinduism edition)

i’m sure there’s already a ton of posts about this, but whatever, i’m still making one idc.

ATLA’s cultural appropriation, everyone knows about it, the white people don’t speak about it, and the asian and indigenous people get ignored. we know the cycle. but i wanted to come here and highlight some of the most prominent examples of ATLA abusing hinduism, as i am kinda sorta hindu (i was raised in a hindu household, i go to chinmaya mission, that kinda shit). i might forget some things so keep that in mind.

this is gonna be divided into 3 main sections, since there are different ways that they disrespect hinduism that i don’t wanna lump together.

and i’d say i know a lot about hinduism but that doesn’t make me an expert, obviously, so if other hindus have anything to add and/or correct then please do !! and if anyone else wants to share how their cultures were appropriated then please do that as well !!

so let’s get started shall we?

appropriating hinduism

1) the avatar

we’ll start with the most obvious example: the avatar itself

i know that there are parts of the avatar mythos that are taken from other cultures as well but the idea of the avatar itself is primarily from hinduism.

basically in hinduism, the term dashavatara refers to the 10 reincarnations of lord vishnu (the god of preservation), with avatar(a) meaning form or incarnation in sanskrit, and das(a) meaning ten. it was said that whenever the world was out of balance, lord vishnu would come down to earth in a certain form to restore balance. Each reincarnation is considered a different life with a different story. the avatars of lord vishnu are often considered the saviors of the world.

so basically, the central idea of the show and the actual name of the show is largely based on hinduism.

2) chakras

many different indian religions have a concept of chakras (chakra meaning wheel or circle in sanskrit), but hinduism is the one that primarily preaches the system of seven chakras, the version used in ATLA.

chakras connect the physical body to the ‘subtle’ body (referring more to the spirit and the psyche) by connecting parts of the body to aspects of the mind. the idea is that through different forms of steady meditation you can manipulate the different chakras and allow the pure flow of energy through the body.

the whole idea of chakras on ATLA is that aang has to unblock them all to let the cosmic energy flow through him so that he can go into the avatar state at will. so yeah, pretty much that whole idea was taken from hinduism.

3) terminologies

these are just a few terms that were taken from hinduism. i’m pretty sure there are more that i can’t think of right now but yeah.

“agni” kai

i’ll be honest i don’t know where the ‘kai’ part is from, i don’t think it’s from hinduism but if it is well fuck me i guess. ‘agni’ in hinduism is the god of fire, so the creators used it in ‘agni kai’, the name for a firebending duel.

“bumi”

this is in reference to the hindu word for ‘earth’, which is bhoomi. this is also in reference to our goddess of earth, bhoomi devi. also this doesn’t really bother me but i wonder if the creators knew that bhoomi is a name typically used for women (as are most hindi names ending in ‘i’/‘ee’).

in general, concepts like having multiple complex gods (the spirits) who are capable of good and evil and the reincarnation cycle are prominent in a lot of asian cultures, including (and arguably primarily) hinduism.

mocking hinduism

now we get into the mockery of hinduism in ATLA, because it is very much there.

1) whoever the fuck that baboon guy in the spirit world was

now what the fuck was this.

i mean i wouldn’t say this is the most egregious example of them making fun of brown people but lord why did this even need to be there? this random guy from the spirit world has an indian accent ? and is fervently chanting ‘om’ for some reason, and it’s clearly meant to be seen as comical. also portraying brown people as monkeys....... really.

2) combustion man/sparky sparky boom man

when rewatching ATLA in 2019 i actually had no idea that this was a thing, because the last time i had watched it was as a kid and i didn’t finish it.

so lord was i in for a surprise when i saw...

now... now what.

if you didn’t know, combustion man’s ‘third eye’ is designed to replicate the hindu god of destruction, lord shiva. right down to the vibhuti on his forehead (referring to the three line markings around the third eye).

in hinduism, lord shiva’s third eye is used to reduce people to ashes, though as far as i can recall, not very frequently. the primary significance of the third eye is that it represents the ability of higher spiritual thought and higher consciousness.

the ATLA writers take the ACTUAL significance of the third eye, throw it out the window, and then take its destructive abilities to make a super duper cool and dangerous new firebending technique.

and if that wasn’t bad enough, the actual person who uses this technique, and is meant to emulate a GOD who is PRAISED, is a scary, burly, half metal man who is a villain and an assassin. not to mention the design of his facial hair replicates that super duper scary “terrorist” depiction of brown people, particularly of muslims, that white people are so thoroughly terrified of for no reason.

this is a parody of a god, and they portrayed him as this terrifying, maniacal fucking assassin who, along with p’li, the combustion bender from LOK, is constantly referred to as a “third-eyed freak”. i’ve made this analogy before and i’ll do it again, this is like making jesus into a hitman.

now onto my favorite example...

3) guru pathik

ah, this motherfucker.

i don’t really have any problems with him as a character, i mean hell, must’ve taken a fuck ton of patience to handle aang’s “why would choose cosmic energy over katara” bullshit.

but we all know it, we see it plain as day, don’t even try to deny it.

“guru” literally just means teacher or guide, so i don’t really know why pathik needed to be referred to as “guru” so distinctively from aang’s other teachers and guides, but that’s just extremely trivial compared to all the other issues with this character.

first of all what is this character design? what is he even wearing? if they’re trying to replicate the clothes of swamis and priests and stuff this is already wrong, realized people don’t dress like this. and why the fuck does he have an indian accent? and why was this indian accent done by a non indian (brian george)?

once again, the poor but extremely heavy indian accent is clearly meant to be mocking, if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t’ve gone out of their way to get a non indian person to DO an indian accent, and instead they would’ve just gotten an actual indian person to play the role.

and oh yeah, the onion and banana juice. because hindus just eat weird shit right.

whether it’s actually weird or not, the show certainly portrays it as weird. and as far as i know no hindu actually fucking drinks onion and banana juice.

ironic because brown people can absolutely destroy white people in cooking. but i digress.

i know what you’re all waiting for. because the guru apparently didn’t have enough fun with guru pathik, so they just had to come back to him in book 3:

where do i begin.

so this is obviously john o’bryan’s super funny and hilarious depiction of pathik as a hindu god.

usually when a god has multiple arms it’s to carry an array of things, from flowers to weapons to instruments, and one hand is typically free to bless devotees (ie. goddess durga and lord vishnu respectively):

but of course white people see this as weird and so they make fun of it, hence guru pathik having multiple arms just flailing about aimlessly (save for the two that are being used to carry the aforementioned onion and banana juice).

then there’s the whole light behind pathik’s head which is usually depicted in drawings of hindu gods to show that they are celestial.

also what the fuck is he holding? is that supposed to be a veena? because this is what a veena looks like:

and i assume the reason this was added was to mock the design of goddess saraswathi, who carries a veena:

but that right there in the picture of pathik looks more like a tambura than a veena.

and it also just kinda looks like a banjo?

but i guess the animators just searched up “long indian instrument” and slapped it on there. actually no, that’s giving them too much credit, they probably didn’t search it up at all.

and then the actual scene is pathik singing crazily about chakras tasting good or something while playing the non-veena and it’s all supposed to be some funky crazy hallucination that aang is having due to sleep deprivation. just some crazy dream, just as crazy as talking appa and momo sparring with swords or tree-ozai coming to life.

our gurus and swamis and sadhus and generally realized people are very respected in hinduism, they’re people we look up to and honor very much. and our GODS are beings that we literally worship. and the writers just take both and make caricatures out of them for other white people to laugh at.

4) other shit

before we move to the next portion i just wanna mention there are also smaller backhanded jabs that i can’t really remember now, but one example was when zuko was all “we’ll be sure to remember that, guru goody goody”. or when a character would meditate and say “om” only when the meditation is supposed to be portrayed as comical or pointless. or in bitter work when sokka was rambling on about karma. small things like that. but moving on.

south asian representation, or lack thereof

now i finally get to the “losing” hinduism part. by this i mean the lack of actual representation there is of south asians (the region where hinduism is primarily practiced) despite the fact that hinduism plays such a big role in the show’s world design.

i think it’s safe to say that broadly the main cast consists of aang, katara, sokka, zuko, toph, azula, iroh, mai, ty lee, and suki.

a grand total of none of these characters are south asian. the writers don’t even attempt to add any south asian main characters.

there are characters with dark skin, like haru and jet, but a) they’re not confirmed to be south asian and don’t have any south asian features or south asian names, b) they’re side characters, so they don’t count as representation, and c) even if they were south asian and main characters, jet wouldn’t even count because he’s portrayed as a terrorist.

the ONLY truly south asian character we get is fucking guru pathik. so yeah. not representation.

i don’t get how the creators of this show rip off of hinduism (among many other south asian cultures they rip off of), mock indians, and then don’t even have the decency to HAVE a main character who is south asian.

i’ve never gotten a chance to compile all this, and this definitely isn’t all the creators have done, but i hope this was somewhat informative.

#atla #cultural appropriation #hinduism #guru pathik #combustion man #chakras #avatar

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doctorofmagic · 3 years

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My thoughts on What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

The very title of the episode sends a shiver down my spine. And this is where we’re going to start.

~ long post under the cut ~

A year ago, I wrote this post as an attemp to dive into one of the most important traits in Doctor Strange’s personality: love. Stephen is a being made of love, made to love, no matter which interpretation you have when you watch Infinity War. If you don’t read comic books, you’ll understand the moment you meet Donna. You’ll begin to understand how her death reshaped his entire subjectivity out of fear of failing, being powerless and unable to control everything around him (especially death), thus the arrogant and yet a disaster of a man we all know.

Where do I even start? Stephen loved her sister deeply and felt responsible for her death. And then, slowly, he also lost his parents and his brother. He fell in love with Clea but he also pushed her away. He loved Zelma platonically and lied to her, which was enough for them to break their bond. He felt attracted to Kanna but screwed things up, even though they remain friends. He was forced to kill the Ancient One, the only father figure he had ever since his father died. And lastly, the only person who would never leave his side... also left. Yes, even Wong. Stephen has SO much love to give but he’s also afraid because he’s cursed. He truly believes his love in poison. And would you look at that? What If really delivered a story where this is actually true.

What If Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

The level of understanding when it comes to the character is... inconceivable. What could possibly reshape Stephen into following a dark path but love? The very premise of the whole episode. This is so much more than a love letter. This is literally too much, in all senses.

Fine, let’s begin.

What if the best of intentions has very strange consequences?

No. You used the word “strange” for the pun but this is not the word. Nah-ah. I’d go with ATROCIOUS, for starters. Things are gonna escalate so quickly, my friends.

Seriously, tho? Christine is SO SO SO SO beautiful, they’re so cute together. I have this feeling that MCU!Stephen was quite toxic because of his arrogance and this is why they didn’t work out. But WhatIf!Stephen???????? He’s always praising her, teasing her in a healthy way, respecting her and listening to her. HE TRULY LOVES HER, I’M GONNA CRY ALL OVER AGAIN, PLEASE, NOT THE CRÈME BRÛLÉE, PLEASE

I’m going to leave this shot here because we need to go back to it later. Hold that thought.

And bonus points to “Yeah, well, I would call that quite remarkable.” / “Well, I would say the same about you.”

GODS. THE PAIN. STOP THE PAIN.

So in this reality, Stephen didn’t caused the car accident because he was checking his phone while driving. Also it was not the reckless attempt to pass the truck. Well, maybe it was the consequence of this act? The fact is, the car behind them loses control, which makes them crash. Does it matter? We’ll learn later that no, it doesn’t.

And yep... Christine dies. Have you noticed the shattered heart? Ah, the pain only gets better and better.

Again, Stephen blames himself. More than anything, this is so important because Stephen is all about guilt. We still need to meet Donna so we can add yet another layer of guilt. But the feeling exists. This is what corrupts Stephen’s heart and soul in all his iterations. This is what makes him the character I love so much. I love this SO. MUCH. In addition, his stubbornness to accept his condition. Man won’t take a no. This, this is Doctor Strange in character. Stop complaining about NWH Stephen, it’s pathetic.

Okay, “grief-stricken”, Stephen found the Mystic Arts and became a sorcerer. That’s when he learned about the Time Stone, the Eye of Agamotto and Dormammu. Nothing changes, he saves the universe. But time does not heal his deepest wound.

I love Wong so much. Every time Wong does something, the world is healed. Really. We’re going back to him as well but for now I’ll just leave this shot.

BUT STEPHEN, DOING SOMETHING RECKLESS? HE’D NEVAH

Aaaaaaaannnnnnd then he did.

He goes back in time. It’s been two years since he lost Christine. I think he reacted pretty nicely, despite the circumstances. Now let’s go back to that shot I said I was saving for later.

Stephen is so light-hearted here. Also, during the first time he lost Christine, he had no idea what “The Price is Right” was. He knows now, which means he probably tried to learn more about the show because of her, because of grief. HAHAHA MORE PAIN

AND THEN HE

AND THEN SHE DIES AGAIN

AND THEN HE KEEPS GOING BACK IN TIME

AND SHE KEEPS DYING

AND THE MUSIC

AND HIS VOICE

AND HE TRIES TO CHANGE FATE BUT IT CAN’T BE AVERTED

HE EVEN TRIES TO STAY AWAY FROM HER LIFE BUT SHE DIES ALL THE SAME, WHY

AND EVERY TIME THEY CRASH, HE FEELS THE PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL PAIN AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN, WHY

I’M-- *ugly sobbing noises*

Apparently, not.

And this scene when he simply... closes his eyes before she dies again...?

This is where this episode had me in endless tears. It got me the four times I watched it. I’m dead serious.

Okay, so, next the Ancient One appears to Stephen, explaining that Christine’s death is an Absolute Point in time. It cannot be changed. Stephen needs the accident to become the Sorcerer Supreme and defeat Dormammu.

And this is where Stephen starts his journey into darkness. “Nothing is impossible, you taught me that. I only require more power.” Disobeying the Ancient One, Stephen then travels in time, seeking the Library of Cagliostro. Now, if you’re not aware of that, Cagliostro was a sorcerer who studied time in comics, and later became Sise-Neg (there’s a recent post on this because of the new Defenders run). It’s funny to think that Sise-Neg also destroyed the world when he became a god, however he grew past his pettiness and remade reality. Stephen did not possess such power, as we’re about to see.

PS: “Stop torturing yourself, Stephen.” Naur but he should use this line like a mantra. Especially comics!Stephen.

Not gonna lie, tho. This place reminds me of the Temple of the Vishanti from T&T (of course I was going to insert T&T somewhere, it’s me).

And of course they’d go for a pun with his name haha. I don’t know how to feel about this, tho. I feel like the episode is too heavy and dark for comedy. But it is what it is.

Okay but why some books are in cages??????????? And wow, it seems Cagliostro also gathered knowledge about several fields of magic.

And then Stephen learns that, in order to break an Absolute Point, he needs to absorb more power. This is when I went “oh-oh, here we go”.

And for real, is this Shuma-Gorath? Why are they keeping his name a secret? Is this the same creature from the first episode with Captain Carter, right? RIGHT? It has to be Shuma-Gorath.

Of course he tries to be polite and ends up all hurt haha. O’Bengh warns him about love but he will not listen. “Love can break more than your heart. It can shatter your mind.”/ “Is she worth the pain?”. Please, this is Stephen. He eats pain for breakfast.

Also, also, let’s take a break. We’re finally going to get monsterf0cker tentacle-lover Stephen Strange. It will cost us everything but here we goooooooooooo (yes, I went frame by frame for your more obscure fanservice needs)

Gods, I love this sequence so much it hurts. Okay, here we go.

Shmebulock???????????

AND HE STOLE THE CAPE??????????? AND DREW THE LINE ON BUGS??????

The grasp this man is holding on me right now...

Some of you will understand. I’m with you.

And here are the grostesque ones. These are hard to take SS but I had to.

Animation, sound effects, OST? CHEF’S KISS TO ALL

And lastly... the tentacles. Yeah, if you’re new... this is a thing.

Fanservice. Fanservice everywhere. (low-key the reason I also waited to write this review, I wanted to enjoy this part so badly but I was too sad for that lmao)

Okay so. O’Bengh is suddenly OLD and DYING, until we realize that Stephen spent CENTURIES absorbing mystic beings. CENTURIES. WTF STEPHEN. He had nothing in mind but the goal to save Christine. And people wonder why he went insane???? I’m sorry, O’Bengh, but I can’t take you serious when you still call Stephen Sorcerer Armani. Oh, and also because you watched him absorb beings for centuries in silence lmao. But I guess I have to because you said that Stephen is split in two since the Ancient One cast a spell on him, splitting the timelines and making them exist in the same reality before he could travel back in time. I know, it’s complex. Anything for the plot.

And now good!Stephen has an evil!twin who wants to absorb him back in order to become whole and break the Absolute Point. Cool.

I said I wanted to talk more about Wong because I think people are not talking about him enough. Wong is so important in this episode. He’s the one who’s trying to heal Stephen after Christine. He’s Stephen’s anchor.

Also, THEY FINALLY USED A SPELL WITH THE NAME OF THE VISHANTI. HOORAAAAY

So, for the sake of our understanding, I’m addressing the characters as evil and good!Stephen. Let’s go. Evil!Stephen summons good!Stephen and gods, he still holds such a strong grasp on me... unbelievable. THE DEEPER VOICE BENEDICT USES???? PLEASE, DIDN’T WE HAVE ENOUGH?

Imagine his strength to hold so many beings inside him, fighting to control him. BRO, THIS IS TOO TOO MUCH

Fine, I’ll not post SS about the fight because I’d be here all night long but I WILL say this: NOT CLOAKIE!!!!! NAAAAAAAAAAUR

Also if you ask me if I recognize any of the spells? Maaaaybe the Flames of Faltine, the not-so-crimson Bands of Cyttorak and a little trick Magik does with her portals. That’s how far I go.

I’ll not comment on the “seducing yourself to stay in the trap”. I will not. I’ll just say that the first person Stephen thought of when “Christine” was talking about the crème brûlée was Wong. That’s it.

And finally evil!Stephen absorbs good!Stephen and releases... UNLIMITED POWER (I love when the stone goes red as if it was bleeding aaaaaaa)

I can fix him...

This scene here? Poetic cinema. (I love his wings so much)

And when Stephen says her name and the other monsters’ voices echo “Christine”, AAAAAACKKKK

AND OF COURSE CHRISTINE WOULD FREAK OUT, BRO. LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE BECOME BECAUSE OF YOUR TWISTED LOVE. I’M NOT DOING FINE.

Oh, but it’s too late anyways because Stephen broke reality haha. This scene is interesting because Stephen is the only one who sensed and/or talked to the Watcher until now. I read an interview that the Watcher kinda showed up but it’s also about Stephen’s keen senses. Bit of both, let’s say. Still, man, 616-Watcher is not that cold. 616-Watcher would watch this and say “how about I intervene anyway?”. WhatIf!Watcher is brutal.

The way Christine looks at Stephen one last time also KILLS ME, DESTROYS ME, BREAK ME INTO A MILLION PIECES.

And this is where my soul left my body.

This is how they end the episode. This is how you leave me speechless and with teary eyes. This is how you give me a whole existential crisis.

This... this was brutal to watch. Really.

What can I say after this? I’m used to reading painful things when it comes to Stephen. Aaron’s and Cates’ runs are heartbreaking on so many levels. Hickman’s New Avengers is not easier. Coincidentally, What If? Magik Became Sorcerer Supreme and The End. And now Death of Doctor Strange. And yet, after everything I’ve been through, I’d never expect to watch something so brilliant, so tragic, so heartbreaking and unexpected in the MCU. Never. This is top tier content and this is my favorite character with SO MANY LAYERS and SO MUCH UNDERSTANDING. I can’t put into words how meaningful this whole episode is to me, or how deep it touched my heart and soul.

I’ve been struggling to find the proper words since then, I still can’t. All I can add is, I cried for the 4th time now. This is too, too much, even for Stephen stans. Even for the ones who are used to pain, regardless of which media you’re into: comic books, live actions or animated movies. This is literally more than I can take and yet I’m so, so grateful. The voice acting, gods, how did Benedict manage to create a better Stephen than the one he’s literally playing in real life???????????? HOW

This episode really took the max potential Stephen had to offer as a character, added tons and tons of layers based on his grief, depression, arrogance and need to control everything and created a tragic masterpiece. In 7 years of being a Doctor Strange fan, I've never read or watch something that could go this deep into the character. The closest I can think of is Mr. Misery and the metaphor of Stephen's depression. This is a whole new level of respect and understanding. This is more than a love letter. This is peak maestry. It’s perfect, it’s heartbreaking, it’s... gods, I can’t.

Sorry for dragging you until this far. Before I wrap up this review, I just wanted to remind you all that Stephen will appear again, he will smile again, he will be surrounded by people again. So this is not the end. It was painful but be brave. We still have a few more steps to take.

#what if...?#doctor strange #stephen strange #what if doctor strange lost his heart instead of his hands?#wong #christine palmer #the ancient one #long post #review #he did nothing wrong #so what? he destroyed a whole universe #/j #benedict cumberbatch

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turtle-paced · 2 years

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A:tLA Re-Watch: Fine-Toothed Comb Edition

Shockingly, this is the longest recap yet, for one of the most important and best-written episodes in season one.

Book 1, Chapter 12 - The Storm

(0:55) Previously, on Avatar, Aang was deadly serious about not wanting to be the Avatar, while Zuko’s dad was deadly serious about not wanting Zuko to continue breathing. Both boys are having their issues accepting these facts.

(1:40) We start with a serene dream sequence, Aang flying on Appa, enjoying watching Sokka and Katara similarly flying around with him. The weather abruptly sours as Katara says that they need Aang. Katara and Sokka also vanish from the dream at this point, leaving Aang alone.

(2:08) Except for Gyatso asking simply why Aang disappeared. Aang says he didn’t mean to, and then Gyatso himself dissolves into either ash, smoke, or more stormcloud, any of which have some symbolic implications. Yeah, Aang’s got issues.

(2:16) The chanting voices of “we need you, Aang” are as threatening as the clouds and the flashback of the storm he’s catapulted into. The dream finishes with a split-second flash of Ozai’s profile looming threateningly against a backdrop of fire, as lightning splits the screen. The lightning’s a great touch, linking both the storm element of the dream and foreshadowing one of Ozai’s most terrifying strengths as a firebender.

So, you know, as a whole that was symbolic happiness and freedom being torn apart. Aang does not want to be needed, or relied upon, because this implies serious responsibility. He’s scared of that responsibility. It’s always worth pointing out that this is more than just a pre-teen being a bit immature and irresponsible. Which he is, but this is the +++ version. This is the freakout of someone who has a good idea of the scope of the Avatar’s responsibility, and would be understandable for anyone.

(2:29) Also, no tents! Like the events of the previous episode didn’t even matter.

(2:47) Katara tries to get Aang to open up about his trauma, but Aang isn’t ready to talk about it. Not this aspect, anyway.

(3:02) The new day dawns bright and clear. I love the animators for this sereis. Unlike unremarkable sunny days, today, when there’s going to be a storm, they’ve animated haze on the horizon to set it apart. And, of course, the birds heading for shelter.

(3:08) The group decides to head to a market because they’re out of food. Katara’s adapted very smoothly - for most of her life, there wouldn’t have been much in the way of commerce at the South Pole. Meanwhile, Sokka’s back in comic relief mode. This is a place where the relief part of comic relief works, though, in my opinion, and I’ll get into why in just a bit.

(3:29) Meanwhile, elsewhere on the ocean, we’re catching up with Zuko and Iroh for the first time since ‘The Waterbending Scroll’. Iroh says there’s a storm on the way despite the clear weather, heading down from the north. How does he know this? It’s not gone into. It’s the observation of someone who pays attention to the world around him - intelligence combined with the opportunity to see that world, in a setting where travel is difficult and dangerous for the vast majority of people. Iroh’s background informs this sort of line, even when the writing isn’t making A Thing of that background.

Anyway, Zuko’s not listening.

(3:50) Iroh is firm on his conclusions, arguing that the crew is in danger if they should continue heading north. “The safety of the crew doesn’t matter,” Zuko says, in front of the crew.

Zuko…does not think things through. Yes, there’s the obvious issue of saying the crew’s safety doesn’t matter in front of the crew. We’ll see later in this episode that he’s actually pretty quick to climb a wet metal ladder in a thunderstorm to save the crew, so yeah, the crew matters to him and the line is mostly bluster on his part. But what he also doesn’t think through are the implications - so he has to capture the Avatar no matter what, right? No matter…that he has to sail a manned ship into a dangerous storm? Who asks that?

Ozai does. And Zuko does not want to think about what sort of person Ozai is. So he focuses on the job in front of him. More to the point, following Ozai’s orders as Ozai would want them accomplished leads Zuko to do wrong things, like sail himself, his uncle, and the crew into a dangerous storm.

(4:08) Iroh can be quite apologetic for Zuko, even when Zuko says some frankly indefensible things. This won’t be the last time he defends Zuko from the consequences of his own actions.

(4:17) Katara, who grew up in a polar area, isn’t sure how to tell if a melon is ripe.

(4:37) Out of food and out of money. Word of the Avatar is spreading, but the gAang doesn’t yet have the connections that assure them food in built-up areas, or as we just saw, confidence in their ability to get more food.

(4:45) Aang flinches when he hears the old lady say there’ll be a storm.

(5:13) Sokka volunteers to take a fishing day trip to earn some extra money. Probably not a bad idea from the Water Tribe siblings, who know one end of a boat from the other, and presumably have been around more than their share of fishing operations.

(5:25) Over at Zuko’s storyline, he’s sailing right into some stormclouds.

(5:36) When Lieutenant Jee ribs Zuko about Iroh’s correct prediction of the storm, Iroh tries to defuse the situation, but Zuko escalates it, demanding respect.

(5:43) Jee kicks off the themes of respect in Zuko’s storyline in earnest. Jee points out that Zuko does not treat the hardworking crew or Iroh with anything near the respect they deserve, and asks Zuko what he knows about respect.

(6:04) Zuko turns around to challenge him with firebending. This is literally what Zuko knows about respect, as we’ll find out.

(6:11) Another example of Iroh quietly showing some real confidence in his firebending skills, safely dealing with both Zuko and Jee when they’re both preparing to firebend.

(6:42) “I said I was going to do this job. I can’t back out just because of some bad weather.” This episode is way more about Aang and Zuko than anyone else, but because this is a really well-written episode, it hasn’t forgotten about the out-of-focus characters. Here we see another examplee of Sokka trying really, really hard to be useful to the group, ultimately with mixed results. This is why the comic relief works - it’s dressing on a serious and ongoing character issue. Sokka is funny, the hijinks are comical sometimes, but his issues aren’t a joke.

(7:03) This old man gives us a contrasting view of the Avatar’s disappearance and reapperance to Katara. Katara grew up in a world where the Avatar was not an expectation. She’s grown up in the latter stages of the war, when everything had already gone to shit. Her life is hard, but it’s also no more than she expects. The war is how things are. So to her, the Avatar’s reappearance is hope that things might get less shit in future.

But older people? They’ve lived through decades of slowly losing the war. Places that were safe became not safe. Places that were Earth Kingdom were taken over by the Fire Nation. A lot of older people in the Earth Kingdom probably lived through Katara’s hope - hoping that the Avatar would be reborn into the Water Tribes, and as time wore on, into the Earth Kingdom, with no news. The Avatar’s disappearance is a source of bitterness there. Why now and not earlier?

Aang, who’s still adjusting to living in his own dystopian future, immediately gets the older person’s point of view.

(7:23) Katara’s defence of Aang is both passionate and accurate. That is what she’s seen Aang do ever since she met him.

(7:29) Aang flies off rather than deal with the issue. This is one of Aang’s most deadly serious problems all series, and this is the first episode that treats it with that sort of seriousness.

(7:35) Katara is also right that the old man’s pretty much a jerk for abusing a twelve-year-old for not stopping a global war.

(7:57) By the time Katara catches up with Aang, it’s raining heavily.

(8:22) Real good voice acting here as Aang’s voice breaks when he says he doesn’t want to talk about the issue.

(8:38) Appa and Momo also enter the cave and Katara gets a fire going. This is where Aang’s been rather luckier than the other person starring in this episode’s flashbacks.

(8:52) In the flashback, Aang is trying to teach his peers how to airbend the ball of air he likes to ride around on, the ‘air scooter’. Aang finds bending fun and uses it for personal entertainment. This is one of the reasons he’s really good at it and gets enough practice to be effective, above and beyond natural Avatar talents or whatever. He’s so good, in fact, that he’s considerably ahead of his peers in skill - but he’s also trying to equalise that gap so they can all have fun.

(9:19) To emphasise this, we learn that Aang actually made up this technique.

(9:32) Aang is taken from age-appropriate playtime to hear that he’s the Avatar. At the moment he’s only losing out on free time and fun.

Going to say it now, we’re not going to see many, if any, female Air Nomads in this episode.

(9:59) Similarly, Aang’s choice of childhood toys is recontextualised as something to do with his nature of the Avatar. No fun, only duty.

(10:14) Even Gyatso, the friendliest of the monks in this committee, has to admit that Aang has been told of his role four years in advance because of troubling things in the world outside the temples. “Storm clouds” as he puts it. I see what they did there.

(10:20) Aang is bluntly informed that the monks think war is likely. This flashback takes place probably a few weeks before Sozin’s Comet. The logistical preparations for assaults on the Air Temples had most likely begun (even if nobody knew what the buildup of military forces was for). We’ll learn in ‘The Avatar and The Fire Lord’ that Sozin had been eyeing off Earth Kingdom territories for decades. The monks are right to be afraid. They’re fucking up Aang’s childhood, but they’re fucking it up for well-founded, understandable reasons.

Gyatso also tells Aang that he’s needed. Aang doesn’t get a choice about whether or how he deals with all this. He’s had it all laid out for him. Here, here’s how your life is going to go, Aang.

(10:36) Meanwhile, on Zuko’s storm-tossed ship, Iroh volunteers to give Zuko’s increasingly cranky crew some more details of his backstory.

Zuko does not tell this aspect of his own story. Not once, all series. At this point in the series, he’s unable to. Telling it fairly would rip apart all the cognitive dissonance he relies on to keep going. He’s not ready to face it. That’s the character reasoning right now. But later, when he is ready on a character level, he never tells it so that the incident is never milked for personal sympathy points with the people Zuko has hurt in his misdirected efforts to please his father. “Zuko’s childhood was horribly abusive” is true, but it’s not enough; a reason, but not an excuse.

Keeping this information away from the sympathetic, heroic protagonists, who would be rightly horrified to learn any and all of this, is a vitally important part of making sure that Zuko’s family issues don’t eclipse what’s going on everywhere else. What happened to Zuko is awful and wrong, but it’s also not the only awful and wrong thing Ozai’s up to, and Zuko must choose to get his own shit sorted out independently.

(10:52) Also, Iroh’s got his ear to the ground when it comes to crew attitudes. He’s leaning on the family aspect and emphasising Zuko as a child, trying to get the crew to understand and empathise rather than leaning on any sense of national duty. We’ll see something quite different in other Zuko flashbacks.

(11:00) A younger, unscarred Zuko marches up to some sort of guarded door and demands quite rudely to be allowed in. Right, so he’s still just a royal brat?

(11:16) Not quite just a royal brat. Zuko wants to be let into the meeting so he can learn. Like I said back in the 1.04 recap, Zuko wants to rule the Fire Nation. He wants to do it well. At this point, he’s proactively dealing with the gaps in his own knowledge so he can do a better job in future. Like Aang, Zuko sees his future role and the responsibilities it entails. Unlike Aang, Zuko is eager to engage with those responsibilities.

Doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some class-based issues though.

Furthermore, Zuko, the prince, has been barred from this meeting. He’s the one taking initiative with regards to his education as a ruler. He’s saying that he should ‘start’ learning. Classic Avatar show-don’t-tell: fifteen seconds and three lines of dialogue, and we’re seeing that whether by accident or design, Zuko is not being trained for his responsibilities and is being shut out of a position as his father’s heir. It’s just as Zhao said back in episode three. Ozai does not want Zuko.

(11:26) Iroh extracts a promise from Zuko not to speak because some of the older people there are a bit sensitive, and gets him into the meeting. We don’t know how much Iroh knew about Ozai’s treatment of Zuko at this point, but ideally this promise would mean that Zuko wouldn’t come to his father’s attention, either…

(11:31) This is a very cool throne room concept. In later shots we’ll get better views of the flame detailing on the back wall and the fancy chair itself, but there’s one particular feature of the room that commands attention.

Ozai sits above and apart from his generals, separated by a constant, controlled wall of fire. That’s all about showing the monarch’s personal firebending prowess - Ozai’s maintaining that wall, without losing control and burning down the room, without accidentally hurting anyone (deliberately may be another matter), while keeping up with the meeting itself. Who needs the Earth King’s fancy door?

(11:58) Everything goes horribly wrong when one of the Fire Nation generals callously describes a battalion of new recruits as ‘fresh meat’ mostly fit for chucking on the front lines as bait. Whatever the tactical and strategic merits of this plan in its full context, this guy’s got zero concern for the lives of the probably-teenagers in that battalion.

(12:07) Zuko immediately and vehemently protests, back to his father’s throne, pretty much calling the general’s patriotism into question. Iroh’s summation of the issue is that whatever the merits of Zuko’s protest, it wasn’t his place to speak out. Zuko spoke out of turn. That’s the fundamental problem here. Zuko was disrespectful of the general’s ego. In response to a general being disrespectful of people’s lives.

(12:25) Back with Aang and Katara, Katara wants to know why Aang wouldn’t be excited that he was the Avatar. Katara’s viewpoint on responsibility is closer to Zuko’s than Aang’s - and her view on bending as fun is closer to Aang’s. She doesn’t immediately get Aang’s point because the responsibility doesn’t and wouldn’t bother her like it does Aang, and in the meantime, cool bending stuff!

(12:34) Back in Aang’s flashbacks, the other kids at the temple have all learned his air scooter technique.

This is as good a time as any to compare the flashback settings. Both are more washed out and restricted in colour than the present day scenes. Up to a point, Aang’s flashbacks are gold, white, and green, taking place in open spaces and well-lit rooms, often with greenery or other natural scenery in the background. Aang’s childhood was happy, peaceful, and simple, and the visual design of his flashbacks reflects this (even as the flashbacks implicitly deal with the reality that life outside the temple was getting pretty scary).

Zuko’s flashbacks? Mostly indoors or in enclosed spaces, mostly lit by firebending, with all the implied danger, toned red and orange and black. There’s not a window to be seen, not a plant, hardly any sky, even the architecture is mostly rigid straight lines. Zuko’s childhood was hard and oppressive, and the visual design of his flashbacks reflects this too.

(12:45) But as soon as Aang tries to join in, his friends stop and refuse to allow him to play with them. It wouldn’t be fair because Aang’s the Avatar, they say. It’s such a simple, childish thing, but the effects on Aang are profound. Being the Avatar results in a loss of friendship, companionship, and even just recreational activities. As Aang himself points out, he’s no more or less the Avatar than he was last week; all that’s changed is what people know about him.

Aang’s very much an extrovert - friends and social time are something he needs. The reveal that he’s the Avatar is resulting in some of Aang’s central emotional needs not being met. Plus there’s the whole ‘imminent war’ thing and you know I’m just not seeing a whole lot for Aang to get excited about here.

(13:20) Aang goes to play pai sho with Gyatso instead, but his heart is clearly not in it. Gyatso clearly knows Aang well, though, and gets him engaged again with some lighthearted airbending and very obvious cheating.

(13:41) Just when Aang’s starting to feel better, though, a senior monk comes to drag Aang away for more training. No games! “Time is short,” the monk says. These guys are scared. Real scared. In hindsight, seeing as every Air Nomad we’ve seen in this episode was maybe a few weeks away from dying in a genocidal surprise attack, being scared doesn’t seem all that unreasonable.

(13:50) Gyatso says no to more training, making it very clear that he doesn’t care for ‘the Avatar’, but for Aang. As we’ve seen from the previous scene, the people around Aang are defining him by the role, so Gyatso maintaining his concern for Aang as a human being is notable. (And all the more heartwarming knowing that Gyatso was a friend of Roku’s, too. Gyatso knows the Avatar and still insists on seeing and caring for Aang the individual.)

(14:12) Juxtaposing the good father figures with the bad, Iroh continues his recount of what happened after Zuko spoke up in the meeting. No dialogue from Ozai here; his reactions are filtered through Iroh and shown through the intensifying fire behind Zuko.

(14:21) Iroh can’t maintain eye contact with his audience as he describes Ozai demanding his thirteen-year-old son fight a fire duel over interrupting someone in a meeting. This is where the wrongness of Zuko’s situation gets more explicit - the none too subtle message here is that Ozai will not tolerate any slight, which comes from a seriously overblown sense of his own superiority. We’ll get some more details about his relationship to Zuko in particular in later episodes.

(14:39) Iroh’s narration that Zuko was surprised by his opponent’s identity is reinforced with the visual - Zuko falls out of a fighting stance altogether. All the shock of the moment is captured in the slow-motion fall of the fabric Zuko had around his shoulders. He’s not prepared for any of this. The motion of the falling fabric also continues to obscure Ozai from view.

(15:05) Over in Aang’s flashbacks, his issues have also come to a head. Gyatso argues for Aang’s need and right to have the closest to a normal childhood as he can manage. The rebuttal is that Aang cannot be protected from whatever destiny has to throw at him.

And again, it’s not as simple as one side being completely right and the other being completely wrong. Gyatso is bang on about Aang’s entirely valid emotional and developmental needs. The other monk is also correct as to how Aang’s needs fit in in the grander scheme of things. Aang can’t be protected. In fact, he was told he was the Avatar at all because the Air Nomads were anticipating that in the near future, they would need Aang’s protection. This is the culture that produced Avatar Yangchen, all right. Selfless duty calls for sacrifice…

(15:38) As the senior monk says that Aang will be separated from Gyatso and sent approximately halfway across the world, we zoom in on an eavesdropping Aang. What he’s gleaned from this conversation, quite reasonably, is that he doesn’t matter to the temple authorities. Not him as a person. This is not Aang’s sacrifice but people attempting to sacrifice Aang.

What we know in hindsight is that this is the last time Aang saw Gyatso alive.

(15:51) We get another of Aang’s rare flares of temper in response to Katara’s unconditional sympathy. It’s important worldbuilding that the Air Nomads aren’t silent, idealised victims but flawed human beings with responses to the political conditions of their times. It helps them feel real, even when their actions caused a considerable amount of hurt to Aang, and doesn’t take away in the slightest from the unfairness of their deaths.

(15:55) Aang is so angry he starts verging on the Avatar state, bending air and fire at the same time. In ongoing control issues, he accidentally blows a bunch of hot cinders in Katara’s direction.

(16:00) “I’m sorry I got so mad,” Aang says. Which is not quite the issue. As Katara immediately points out, Aang has a right to be angry. It’s not the feeling of anger that Aang needs to apologise for, and honestly, trying to suppress his much-deserved anger is one of Aang’s least mentally healthy habits. It’s damn good character writing - Aang, Katara, and Zuko all handle their anger at the world very differently.

What Aang should actually apologise for is the cinders, which he carelessly blew around in an enclosed space, and putting Katara at risk of injury. While we’ll see a bit of exploration of this issue in a few episodes’ time, the moral of the subplot is over in late season three.

(16:16) However, Aang is actually quite emotionally aware. “I was afraid and confused,” he says, quite easily. Compare to how hard it is for Zuko to identify why he was messed up in season three.

(16:23) The viewer sees Aang’s empty bed and note before Gyatso does. Here we get to the root issue. Confronted with the first major problem in his young life, Aang chose to run away from it. In the moment, I think it’s pretty clear that Aang was trying to regain control of his life by leaving before he could be made to leave, and trying to escape the responsibilities and the isolation that came with them. I don’t think it was anywhere near as dramatic as ‘turning his back on the world’ - but Aang, struggling with hindsight, loss, and the painful awareness that he actually did run from the challenges facing him, felt that crack very deeply.

(16:27) For a final kick in the metaphorical nads, Aang never got to hear Gyatso say that he wasn’t going to stop fighting for Aang’s wellbeing, and Gyatso never got to deliver that reassurance.

(16:34) Outside, there’s a storm. A physically dangerous situation for someone leaving by air.

(16:49) Sure enough, Aang’s flashbacks finish with him and Appa forced under the water. If it weren’t for the Avatar state, he would have died.

(16:59) As Aang says, the next thing he knew, he was waking up in Katara’s arms. Yeah. All the fear and confusion of potentially getting kicked out of the Southern Air Temple and losing his foremost parental figure? Aang’s subjective experience is that there were only hours between that and the start of the series. Hours broken mostly by a violent storm.

Think back to Aang in episode one. He was so eager to hang out with Katara and the kids in the village because his own peers and juniors wouldn’t spend time with him. He accepted getting kicked out of the village because he’d already been facing a similar dislocation. Why would the Southern Water Tribe care about him when the Southern Air Temple didn’t?

(17:18) Aang says he wasn’t there to help when he was needed. Katara replies that Aang’s being too hard on himself. Again, both sides have a point. Katara’s correct that Aang was, and is, a kid who couldn’t have known what was coming and couldn’t have done anything if he did. Aang’s correct that his absence on the day was a result of a character flaw, rather than any long-term decision for the betterment of the world. Even if he accepts Katara’s point in relation to this specific situation, the character flaw needs addressing if he’s going to resolve the central conflict of the series.

(17:30) Aang cannot make eye contact with Katara as she tries to tell him that it wasn’t his fault. This is something else Aang can’t face and seeks to avoid right now. Also, let’s hear it for Katara, who continues to give Aang a constructive way out of his own emotional spiralling (much like in 1.07) by reminding him that he can do better this time. There’s mutual hope-bringing going on here.

(17:45) Bring on some of the most horrifying scenes in the whole damn series! When last we saw Zuko, he was not quite squaring off to face his father.

(17:52) But it’s revealed that Zuko promptly got to his knees, apologised, and begged for mercy, his only defense that he was trying to do the right thing by the Fire Nation (in defending its common soldiers from its political leadership, hmmmmmm). The situation is not what Zuko thought it was, so with the new information he’s adjusted his behaviour and apologised.

(18:04) Ozai insists Zuko stand up and fight. Zuko refuses.

Zuko was in a no-win situation at this point. Stand and fight, his dad probably kills him. Refuse to fight, his father hates him all the more for his defiance. More to the point, Zuko continues to show a definition of respect that doesn’t match Ozai’s. Zuko refuses to do what Ozai says, because from Zuko’s point of view it would be more disrespectful to fail to apologise for his mistakes and then raise a hand against his father. You know, like he’s got some sort of morals and ethics, and loyalty to more than just himself. Ozai’s defining respect as whether Zuko does what Ozai wants.

(18:12) “You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher,” Ozai said. So there’s our link back to the events that made the flashback necessary. Ozai burned a new definition of respect into Zuko, and Zuko’s actively trying to internalise it. To him, if he doesn’t try and learn his father’s lessons, he would be a bad son. Even now it’s (seriously misplaced) love and loyalty that drives Zuko, rather than fear-driven compliance. Thoughts for later, hey?

(18:14) Cameos! Foreshadowing! Iroh, Zhao, and the as-yet-unnamed and unreferenced Azula watch as Ozai prepares to maim a begging, unresisting Zuko. Zhao’s none too upset. Azula is smiling. Azula’s reaction isn’t explored in much detail, since at the moment we have no idea who she is, but I’ll get back to it in ‘Zuko Alone’ and the series finale.

Throughout all this, the person we don’t see is Ozai. We don’t get a proper look at him until season three. Ozai has maybe half a dozen lines this season. What we know of Ozai is primarily through his children. First, and most noticeably right now, through what he did to Zuko. Both in the sense that holy shit he burned a quarter of Zuko’s face!, and in the sense that he’s got Zuko twisted up in serious emotional knots as the kid tries to deal, and does not give a fuck about any of Zuko’s suffering whatsoever.

(18:28) Zuko’s crew are sympathetic to Iroh’s story…which further suggests that Ozai’s treatment of his family is an outlier even within what we eventually learn is quite a repressive culture.

(18:55) Jee spells it out for the audience. Capturing the Avatar is Zuko’s only way home.

(19:02) However, that blunt expositional statement is only a path into a broader point. Iroh follows it up by saying that Zuko can never get what he wants back. Iroh understands, as Zuko does not, that the foremost problems in the Fire Nation royal family lie not with the ‘shamefully weak’ Zuko, but with abusive Ozai.

He adds a darker parallel - as with Katara, the Avatar’s reappearance gives Zuko hope. Which sums up the work this episode does to set up Zuko’s very eventual heel-face turn. Even in this twisted way, Zuko’s experience of the Avatar’s return has more in common with the protagonists than it does with the longer-term antagonists. In an episode where we’ve learned that Zuko’s motivated by love of his father and his country (despite their current wrongs), rather than a desire for power or conquest. They’re essentially selfless motives, damaging in context given that Ozai’s abusive and the Fire Nation is invading everywhere, but nevertheless fundamentally more like the protagonists’ motivations than the antagonists’ motivations.

(19:06) We get here a series of stills interspersed with present Zuko. Here’s the gold-toned flashbacks, including Ozai and Azula, both of them indistinct. He wants his family back, but can’t imagine his family happy in the present.

(19:15) The transition between softly smiling child-Zuko and scowling, scarred teenage Zuko is particularly effective.

(19:22) Meanwhile, outside the flashbacks, there’s a huge storm going on. Lightning strikes Zuko’s ship; the other half of the fishing couple tracks down Aang and Katara (somehow) to ask for their help.

(19:38) Aang says he’ll go back out into the storm to find Sokka and the fisherman. Everyone loves a metaphor. However, Aang conquering his traumas isn’t as easy as doing it once. The literal storm is the least of it. How to keep facing up to the war, its consequences, and his own responsibilities is a series-long project for Aang.

(20:02) Zuko is first up the wet metal ladder in a storm to go rescue the helmsman. When put to the test, and when the consequences are right up in his face, Zuko actually does care about the crew.

(20:11) Without explanation or any clue that this might be significant later on, Iroh redirects lightning away from the ship. He blinks comically afterwards. It’s a joke. Not an extremely advanced waterbending-inspired firebending technique that will prove crucial to the outcome of a couple fights at the business end of the series. No sir.

(20:54) Zuko spots Appa through the storm and knows what it means. In contrast to Aang’s need to confront the storm, Zuko needs to leave it. Again, tested, with the consequences right up in his face, Zuko picks the wellbeing of the crew over the lesson his dad tried to burn into him. And again, sticking to that behaviour, being the person who stood up for the common soldiers of the Fire Nation against its leadership (not to mention expanding that view beyond the Fire Nation), is a series-long project.

(21:25) Aang with some real quick waterbending there. No accident that part of his rescue here involves using more than one bending style, aka his Avatar powers.

(22:03) Naturally culminating with Aang using the Avatar state to get out of their watery bind, as opposed to using the Avatar state to hide.

(22:25) Zuko apologises to Iroh, and Iroh accepts that apology. What an underrated moment this is. Last time Zuko tried to apologise to a parental figure…well. We just saw what happened when he last tried to apologise to a parental figure. But he apologises anyway, sticking to his own knowledge of right and wrong despite Ozai’s actions. And on Iroh’s part, Iroh has no issues accepting the apology gracefully, without any fireballs or gravely injuring children. What this means in terms of Zuko’s relationships with his father and his uncle will be explored in more detail over the course of the series.

(22:37) Coming off this episode of full backstories and the setup for series-long arcs, Aang and Zuko make eye contact as Aang flees. I mean…it’s destiny.

(23:20) Aang does promise to stop beating himself up with what-ifs, though, with the fisherman explicitly pointing out that Aang’s presence here and now has done good. Which was Katara’s point. The episode ends on a literal lighter note, both with the sun breaking through the clouds and with Appa soaking everyone trying to get dry himself.

#a:tla #cw: abuse #fine toothed comb edition

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