Since everyone's talking about the Azula comic I wanted to give my interpretation of this scene:

From the first panel we can see that Ozai is ordering Ursa to be proud of Azula. Considering the power dynamics at play within Ozai and Ursa's relationship, I say that comes off as a threat to his wife. His subtle way of saying "fix your attitude or else..."

On the bottom page as Ursa comes close to give Azula a kiss on the forehead, we can see that Ozai is no longer smiling. He's looking intently at Ursa.

Hence, when she steps away we get this plastered smile that she portrays as being happy mixed with her eyes that show fear.

Azula, still being a child and later on, doesn't understand the mixed signals that Ursa's giving. Therefore, her reaction is "She was afraid. Afraid for me, afraid of me.... wasn't she?"

I think Azula, understandably because she's a child, didn't take into account the control that Ozai had over her mother.

Ursa was scared for Azula, fearing the path of destruction, and self-destruction, that Ozai will inevitably set her on. Ursa is scared of Ozai, afraid of the harm that he is willing to inflict onto her and their children, and how powerless she feels to stop any of this.

I’m gonna be talking about the finale of season three so if you don’t want spoilers scroll on

They all cleared out? Good.

Honestly, I felt kind of disappointed with the finale, the battle was great, the buildup and the resolution of the characters that we have grown to know and love throughout the series was great, but.

And this is a really big but.

The actual finale of the show, the last few minutes we got with these characters, not Nine or Thorn or Dread or Rebel but the characters we started out with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Rouge felt bland. it made the entire series feel inconsequential, the way that everything was just better now, Sonic and Shadow were the only ones who learned anything, and we have no resolution to any of the other storylines. What happened in New York now that the egg are taken down? What adventures does captain Rose lead her crew on? How does the boscage maze grown to live in Harmony? Is nine just living in isolation now? And how do each of these universes function without their respective prism shards?

Of course, none of these questions take in the theory that each of the shatter spaces was a part of Greenhill, that each of the characters are a part of the ones that Sonic knows them as, but I feel like that theory would be better illustrated if we got a little more time with the og characters, If they could talk about this weird shared dream, Or contemplate the validity of their memories. Or if the characters themselves didn’t want to address it they could have the visual image of the shatter spaces colliding into each other.

I appreciate the hug that sonic gave Eggman, I think that was cute and funny but the fact that the battle proceeded with basically no consequences felt bland.

Overall the finale felt incomplete for me, but feel free to debate me on this, I’m actually really interested to see other people’s opinions of this finale.

Anyway here’s my interpretation of how I think an extra few minutes in the show could’ve gone.

We open up on New Yolk in shambles, robots are destroyed, the buses and trains that were used for transportation are powered off and the people are celebrating. The oppressive rule of the egg is no more and they are finally free. They establish a democracy or other political system, and their entire worlds technology is set back due to the absence of the prism shard, people are hopeful, there is a future for New Yolk, one that is safe for everyone.

Captain Rose collaboratively, with her pirate crew, decides to hunt for a new treasure, discovering other people, the mainland, and the giant gemstone said to hold immense power.

The scavengers live at peace with the forest, taking what they need and learning to give back as well, protecting its life from the inside.

nine lives in isolation, but slowly realizes that if he looks far enough there are inhabitants in the grim (because I refuse to believe there’s just this incomplete universe) and he’s able to make friends, even if it’s difficult

And Sonic knows, he knows he made a huge mistake and that he was lucky to fix it. Shadow knows to. But sonic has his friends, he has his friends he knows he can rely on and that he needs to listen to. And together, nothing can stop them.

(Or yk nine could be a interdimensional superhero who makes sure that other universes don’t break like his almost did, whatever you want)

There’s a huge difference between objectifying and attraction while I completely understand warning about fetishization I also wanna make sure that we don’t go too far in the other direction. It’s ok to be attracted to butches, to find us hot to want to date us. Just be attracted to us respectfully, treat us as human and for the love of god respect our boundaries.

@rickymaximum

personally i am of the opinion that since 2d chris and martin are clearly fictional, separate versions from their real-life counterparts (though the animated kratt bros are indisputably tied to the real ones), shipping them with other characters in the show isn't weird AS LONG AS those other characters are in no way tied to real people themselves. shipping pairings between even fictional versions of two real people is where things can get a little weird/messy, since that has a potential to impact those real people and their relationships. if zach or whatever other character were the self-insert of a real person my opinions on shipping that character with one of the bros would be way different, but since only chris and martin are self-insert-type characters, i see no issues with shipping them with their friends or the villains

i kinda view shipping as just One Of Those Fandom Things that happens to fictional characters, on par with things like making headcanons or redesigns. like, if someone started making headcanons about a real person, or were to redesign that real person to have, say, piercings or different hair or an altered personality, it gets a little weird. if someone does those things with fictional characters, though, it's no big deal. same thing with shipping. the animated kratt brothers are, again, fictional, and i think it's okay to treat them as such as long as the real kratt brothers are being respected

of course, if the real brothers ever were to express discontent with any sort of shipping, that's another matter. while 2d chris and martin are fictional characters, them being tied to real people means that if those real people don't want something done to their character, shipping or headcanons or redesigns or whatever, those wishes should be respected. i wouldn't doubt that chris and martin are at least somewhat aware of people shipping characters (i mean even a lot of younger fans end up thinking of chris and aviva, for example, as a pairing, and that's been going on since 2011), and my guess is that they don't care. no one is shipping these characters with the real kratt brothers (i'd hope) and so i highly doubt any of that would affect them

tl;dr as long as people aren't being weird or disrespectful in any way about shipping, i think it's chill. these characters are fictional and can be treated as such as long as the real-life kratt brothers are being respected

What's better as a fanfic reader?

Multiple interconnected stories

Or

A one hundred chapter fic?

(I have a draft that is already almost 30,000 words and not even close to done. I'm debating separating it by arc into smaller chunks)

depends on the story honestly. one single fic should have a single consistent main plot and then multiple subplots. if you wanna pursue multiple main plots though it might be better to break it up into several full-sized stories

at first glance that set list is incredible but where is the justice for speak now? This tour is THE best situation to play Long Live. or how people thought she'd do a Dear John/ WCS mash up.

Enchanted is a banger yes but I thought this would be a trip back in time....

okay im getting a little overwhelmed by the jegulus discourse (tm) surrounding the strike but i need to rant abt something tangential (and that seems to be going unsaid) so here goes:

there needs to be a more productive conversation about how adults and minors can interact respectfully and safely in shared spaces, particularly with regards to different forms of queer generational trauma and internalized biases (read: transphobia).

this is really long so the full essay is below the cut, but

TLDR: if you're sending trans people messages telling them that writing about sexuality wrt their own identities and lived experience is "perverse", "weird", "gross", "predatory", or "pedophilic", pls check yourself and think about why you feel uncomfy before proceeding

(also if you feel the need to harass/send hate to people on behalf of unnamed "others" or for "safety reasons", odds are you're the problem)

CW: discussions of transphobia (specifically kink/ hyper-sexualization and accusations of predatory behavior) teen pregnancy, grooming, age-gap relationships,

first, i want to state the obvious and say that adults and minors are in very different stages of life. as much as this may offend some underage people, adults have more lived experience and have had more time to process their internalized biases and phobias. they have had both the freedom and responsibility of adulthood. and this brings new revelations and understandings.

this does not necessarily mean that adults are necessarily phobia or bias-free point blank, but it does mean that there are a lot of things that would understandably make minors uncomfortable (even as woke as they are) simply because they have not had exposure to those things. and on the flipside, minors should not be blamed or bullied by adults for their discomfort.

with all this in mind, it is the responsibility of adults to create adult-only spaces and for minors be mindful of what they could be exposing themselves to when they enter those spaces. a lot of the discussion around "no post november" seems to pit tumblr (old hp fans) against twitter and tiktok (newer, younger hp fans).

i've seen a bunch of arguments that "minors dni" and "tags" don't take away from the fact that "offensive" content exists, specifically in the case of underage relationships and sex (often with content that is deemed pedophilic).

i empathize with this immensely, and i understand why the idea of an adult sexualizing you would feel uncomfortable. but i think it's important to note that thats not what's really happening.

if someone is writing a sexual relationship between two minors that isn't flagged with the hallmarks/abuse of age-gap relationships, then there isn't any real danger to minors reading it. if there is no grooming going on, if there is no glorification of age gaps, if there isn't an infantilization of one of the characters, then there's no real predatory behavior that would have a marked impact on a minor.

even if there there was a depiction of an age gap and an artistic depiction of predatory behavior, if the story is marked as for adults then writing and posting the story is not predatory behavior and it doesnt make the author a pedophile. for all you know, they could be processing trauma that they underwent as a teenager and is now creating art for other adults to share their experiences.

it is not fair to compare this to the fetishization of lesbians or gay men (which does exist in this fandom) because unlike straight cis women readying gay smut, we have all been minors at one point, and that experiences comes with a lot of trauma, especially for queer individuals who grew up before queer rights gained popular traction.

on the love of all that is holy and unholy, i beg of you to think before you call something disgusting, especially if it is created in a space that is not meant for you.

in this case, i am thinking very explicitly about discussions of trans sexuality in the fandom. anyone who has been on ao3 can see that smut, explicit adult content, and mild sexual content are a big part of the online space across all ships. Dramione and Drarry have some of the filthiest (non-derogatory) content I have seen in my entire life. much of it is written by people who have been actively involved in the harry potter community since the early 2000s, and are therefore older than 20, and a good chunk of it is written about 17-year olds.

however, as soon as things like pregnancy, trans sexuality, or any combination of the two are brought up, it's "fetishization" no matter what the context. im not here to defend or attack the mpreg tag (especially in other explicitly kink-related contexts), but trans sexuality and explicit content that is trans focused (specifically ftm) is not inherently kinky or fetishization. there are so many things that are fetishized by the world (trans people tend to be in that bucket) but that does not mean writing those things is inherently fetish-related. in fact, calling it "fetishization" reinforces that idea that trans people cannot exist sexually without being reduced to a kink.

this is further perpetuated by the fact that cis (and occasionally straight, re jily and pregnancy) underage sexual content is only ever given a slap on the wrist. (and also this is extremely fucked up when u think abt how some fics reduce women in the fandom to plot points-- thinking of "lily is only relevant to birth harry" fics)

in fact, the double standard is so enormous re all the girlies that want self-insert fics with their gay favs. the straight-up obsession with cis mlm ships that straight women in this fandom seem to have is something that largely goes unspoken about. but we don't cancel people for writing self-insert fics or check to make sure female authors are queer before they write mlm sex scenes.

(there are a few cases where trans regulus seems to be flagged as a self insert for cis women which is transphobic and fetishization in and of itself, but i promise you that the likelihood of this being written by a trans person is 0.00001%)

this is all to say that attacking trans authors for writing about trans sexuality and trans versions of experiences that are "cishet" is transphobic. but how does this come back to minors?

well, there is a long history of queer individuals (trans people specifically) being called pedophiles or predators for expressing their lived experiences and discussing sexuality that deviates from the norm. while most people in the marauders fandom are comfortable and content with cis queer "sexual deviancy," there seems to be more contention around trans queer "sexual deviancy." it can be seen as inherently "problematic" or "predatory," even when it is just trans people writing about their own lived experiences.

obviously not all trans people are perfect, not all queer people are perfect, and predatory behavior exists from people of all genders and sexualities blah blah blah disclaimer disclaimer.

and in all seriousness if someone feels genuinely unsafe and specifically targeted in online spaces, please speak out. this is an attempt to alleviate harassment, not silence people who are being groomed by strangers online.

but it feels like everyone is so quick to call out "problematic" in an attempt to distance themselves from JKR that you're just coming back around to doing her work for her

(this is very terfy, "anti-trans for safety reasons" behavior)

(also this is just me feeling attacked but if you come at queer adult marauders fans for being "harry potter adults" (derogatory) when you're in the same fandom, pls stop)

*if you disagree with this and what i'm saying, feel free to send me a respectful, preferably non-anon message*

I know y’all are extremely concerned abt the timeline of TRC but allow me to remind you of two things:

1. In this series, time in not linear it is a circle and therefore what happened in which order doesn’t really matter all that much

2. It’s not about the timeline, it’s about the magic and friendship and the things it made us feel, I’d rather have a series that stays with me for years and years after I’ve read it than a series that has a perfect sensible chronology

I see a lot is ppl saying they’re a little torn with shipping Sam and Frodo because “it’s good to have depictions of a healthy friendship between two men” and while I understand that perspective, I kinda disagree with the angle it’s coming from.

Because for me it’s less about men having good friend rep on screen, because let’s be honest men have a lot of good friend rep on screen, and far more about the way Tolkien depicts friendships.

Cus like all of LOTR is about the love between the characters. The love and respect everyone has for each other; and it’s never once played for a joke. The love everyone feels for their friends is what saved the day in the end. Platonic love is one that often doesn’t get a lot of respect in society, putting a lot of emphasis on either familial or romantic love. So seeing Sam and Frodo, two friends who are unabashed about their love for each other, it really hits because you just don’t see love between friends revered in that kind of way. 

When I first finished the LOTR movies, Sam reminded me of my best friend from childhood who I’m still friends with. A friend who has a boyfriend, but a friend I’m not shy about how much I love. I wouldn’t hesitate to follow her into the depths of mount doom because she’s a friend I care deeply about. We all have a Sam Gamgee in our lives and I’m glad Tolkien immortalized that kind of love in LOTR



What really gets me about the sentiment "Don't look away" is that its always used in the wrong context. People may be well meaning, but what they end up doing is flooding the conversation with zionist carnage in a manner not unlike the way zionists *want* their atrocities to be seen.

Rather than thinking, "I must traumatize myself with this image for Palestine," try, "I will not turn my back on the people of Palestine." Watching them die is not enough. Speaking only of their suffering is not enough.

Don't look away when Palestinians resist. Don't condemn them when they fight for their lives and land. Speak for their rights to live and move freely in their own homeland. Do not look away from their life. Palestinians are here, they remain, and they will remain, and they are in the future, and they will live free and happy lives just as anyone else should be able to.

"Don't look away" should not be a call to engage in real life atrocities like its a horror movie. "Don't look away" should be a call to make Palestine the focus of everything. Don't let people FORGET or IGNORE what is happening. You can talk about what is happening without sharing the same ghoulish photos that zionists love.

sketch feat. the tweets that inspired it

tell me you guys get it tho like why is he built

I feel like a lot of people go ‘people will hate women no matter what we do so just do whatever’ and while I do think there is merit it that, in my opinion, it’s a very ‘choice feminist’ thing to say. We should be encouraging women to look into the nuances of the things we do and question why we feel so compelled to do them. For our own benefit.

Ugh I will always love the concept of Katara using blood bending to revive Zuko after the last agni kai, mostly because it makes no sense to me that Zuko was able to bounce back so easily after being struck by lightning, but also because the way the show treats bloodbending is just odd to me. It was a defense mechanism created by a traumatized victim of some of the most devastating parts of colonization, and although I understand that Hama was supposed to symbolize the "bad parts" of waterbending and was important for Katara's growth in realizing that the world isn't entirely black and white, its still disappointing to me that the show never explored the gray areas of blood bending, especially since that episode was, as I stated above, about understanding the gray areas of the war. Katara using blood bending to revive Zuko would add so much to the last agni kai in demonstrating that she has truly realized that "good" and "evil" are relative concepts, and Zuko being saved by both a defense mechanism of a survivor of colonialism and a type of bending used to terrorize his people would have even added to his arc, as the narrative required him to save and subsequently be saved by the physical embodiment of everything his family sought to annihilate.

The main reason I think Goncharov worked better as a piece of mass produced fiction over Zepotha really does come down to the basic concepts of each piece. Goncharov had a concrete idea from the start, it was a lost 1973 mafia film directed by Martin Scorsese. Meaning that people new to the joke could more easily understand how to add to the story. Martin Scorsese has an unique style to his films, he has directed multiple mafia/crime dramas that people could pull from to create a cohesive story that sounds plausible for him to have made. People were able to come up with characters (and the actors who played them) and an actual plot by just studying the genre and finding what would work. Zepotha is just marketing a single artist's work under the idea of "an 80's horror film", no director, no actual genre other than "horror" (what kind of horror? Slasher seems to be the most popular, but Zepotha sounds more like a giallo style supernatural horror to me). There's no director listed, so no one knows how this film would play out or look. Because horror is such a vague descriptor here, people are throwing just about everything to the wall to see what sticks, which slows down the actual storytelling potential. People are making up characters first, before a plot leading to there being like 50 named characters, but any actual story is lost. Tldr; Goncharov found it's footing much easier and faster by starting out with a concrete idea, while Zepotha is stumbling because it's vagueness makes it hard for anyone to agree on basic things like story or characters.

Everyone likes to poke fun at Astarion when he mentions his nails but you do know why he's like that, right?

He had to punch a hole in his coffin and claw his way through six feet of dirt after Cazador turned him.

Or maybe the time when he was locked inside a tomb for an entire year, months of which he spent scratching his hands raw, desperately trying to carve his way out.

It does make sense why he doesn't want to "ruin" his nails, I doubt he wants to remember either of those moments, and those are the ones we know about.

"Why do Asmodeus and Beelzebub get to be good people while Mammon is flat-out terrible?"

Because greed can't be good. Bottom line. You can make arguments for lust and gluttony not being inherently harmful, but not greed.

The very basis of greed is intense desire for something (not just money) with disregard for others. You can be lustful and still love (ex, feeling sexual desire for your partner). You can be gluttonous and still be responsible (ex, going out to a party on your weekend). But you cannot be greedy and care about others.

Being the embodiment of greed inherently means you cannot care about other people. That's why Ozzie and Bee get to be Ozzie and Bee. That's why Mammon will only ever be Mammon.