*annoying nerd voice* i think one of the problems with atla fanfic and also part of what inflames fandom sentiment against aang is people’s refusal to or inability to engage the spiritual dimensions of the avatarverse. people have all these deep insights into various characters and a great handle on relationship dynamics but they ignore the spiritual elements of the universe or downplay them to an unrealistic extreme. it’s why so many people miss the importance of aang’s scenes in “the phoenix king” as he sits apart from his friends who are all urging him to take ozai out. aang points out that he can’t just kill people he disapproves of, inferring that as avatar his duty is to something greater than political triumphs and the will of the different nations, and that none of them can grasp the scope of that responsibility. but so much of the fandom dismisses aang’s arguments because they’re deeply empathetic with the other characters to the point where they see the avatar as existing to help them, rather than them helping the avatar so he can help everyone - which is what aang does by disarming ozai and letting the fire nation (led by zuko) to decide its own fate. within the context of the avatarverse, this is precisely why the avatar exists - to create balance so that people can make their own choices free from tryanny or the threat of obliteration. aang killing ozai would have had terrible political as well as spiritual consequences, because it would’ve dislodged aang as a peacekeeper and made him a weapon that people close to him can deploy. it would’ve resulted in yet another supremely unbalanced outcome. and as a sidenote, people love to cite kyoshi as an avatar who did what they perceive aang being too weak to, but she didn’t actually strike the killing blow against chin. in fact her first move was divestment - using her mighty avatar powers to separate kyoshi island from the mainland so chin couldn’t invade it. in the avatarverse, the avatar has to always see the bigger picture, spiritually speaking. that so many fans remain infuriated by the story decision to have aang end the war by stripping ozai of bending is exactly why it shouldn’t have happened any other way. tldr: a lot of y’all miss the point cuz of petty fandom wars.

Data was an artist on a level organics cannot achieve and I appreciate him.

it continues to astonish me how much Data is proof of neurotypical writers being unable to conceptualize an actual lack of emotion. As an autistic viewer, i always found him deeply, profoundly emotive, driven by passionate interests and deep bonds, with a strong sense of personal identity. But the text of the show constantly affirmed that none of that was true, that he didn’t feel anything—which, of course, made it all the more absurd that he wanted to feel, because someone who was truly lacking emotions shouldn’t feel the pangs of desire to feel them. 

we constantly see Data exploring creative pursuits, immersing himself in different art forms and cultures, while his organic (and especially human) crewmates mostly entertain themselves at the holodeck and other such diversions. How many times was Data’s exploration of an art used in an attempt to convince the audience that he didn’t understand, that he couldn’t feel, when neurodivergent viewers could immediately see a sympathetic attempt to learn a new skill by someone who was inexperienced in it? 

Data’s appreciation of a unique poetic form from an ancient nonhuman culture is presented for absurdity, while the series tells us it’s perfectly normal that a bunch of space explorers want to play at Robin Hood (what, were there no other great works of storytelling between the point of timeline divergence and the start of TNG? That’s centuries!)

As a fellow autistic Star Trek fan, Data has always held a special place in my heart. His drive to be more human, his constant desire to understand the human experience resonated with me as a child and young adult who also struggled to be human in the way others demanded of me, to feel and display emotion and to fit in with the society in which I was immersed without standing out like a sore thumb. Data’s earnest attempts at understanding and communicating and fitting in with others, and the frequency with which people got upset or frustrated with him for not being like them reflected my own experiences trying to emulate the behavior of those around me but never quite getting it right.  It took me a long time of wrestling with the contradiction between Data’s obvious desires and feelings, and stated “lack of emotion” before I came to a satisfactory answer. Obviously, Data possesses emotions. What he does not seem to possess, however, is a good way of talking about his emotions, of naming and processing sensations and making sense of them. There’s so much within him that he doesn’t understand and can’t articulate; he can’t cross-reference and compare one feeling to another, give it a name and refer back to it. In other words, Data is deeply alexithymic. He doesn’t know how to connect his behaviours to what he feels inside, how to make the connection and understand the relationship between one and the other.  As someone who, in the midst of a deeply distressing and unsafe childhood, could only muster up “calm” or “okay” or “i don’t know” in response to any inquiry about my emotional state, who understood emself in terms only of “angry” and “not angry”, my favorite android’s quest to comprehend his own mind and heart (his oh-so-very-big and beautiful heart, my sweetest of mechanical darlings) and make sense of himself was desperately necessary. And seeing that he had friends, companions, loved ones and meaningful relationships with people who desired his company and included him in their community without condition, was also necessary.   I love Data. 

you know now that I think about it Finn probably has an eating disorder. In the ‘Before the Awakening’ novel it talks about the meals the stormtroopers received, and that they were small and didn’t have very much taste and that the stormtroopers weights were very monitored that even a few pounds difference meant you had to lose or gain it back. So Finn, after growing up accustomed to that lifestyle feels guilty eating sweet things or things that are rich in flavor. He probably rations his serving out perfectly and has a ‘no more no less’ attitude with his meals. Finn so used to the first order meals, filled with just the right amount of calories and protein needed for the troopers to be healthy, he eats a small amount of food nowhere near enough calories and protein to keep him running. Finn understanding that he’s low on calories but feeling too guilty to eat more. Finn watching rey, who after being starved for so many years has no issues eating as much as she needs to be full, and wondering how she does it. Finn who flips out when he realizes he’s lost or gained weight, who does everything, working out/eating less etc, to get back to his ideal first order trooper weight.

Turn on your location op

What if Poe and Rose were the romance subplot in TLJ?

So was talking to a friend about how weird the kiss between Finn and ROse was and he brought up a good point I would like to propose to you all. Does anyone think that Rose and Poe would have been a better romantic subplot? It wouldn’t of felt like she was purely made to be a romantic wedge between Finn and Rey as well as setting up a redemption arc for Poe since he got her sister killed for his Dreadnought Run. I know a lot of people ship Finn/Poe but this film didnt seem to keen on pushing that ship as much as they did others. You could even replace Rose’s fangirling over Finn with Poe and that would be more believable, since Poe is known as a great X-Wing Pilot and has been the Resistance longer than Finn. Doesn’t seem like Rose knows in the film that Poe was kinda of the direct cause for her sisters death which could create an interesting tension and dynamic to their relationship. Now, you are welcome to poke holes in this as much as you like, just a spit-balling thought really!

What Luke learns in ROTJ: The Jedi were flawed, but that can change.

What Luke learns in TLJ: The Jedi were flawed, but that can change.

What Kylo Ren learns in TFA: If I want to commit myself to the dark side, I have to let the past die and even kill family without remorse.

What Kylo Ren learns in TLJ: If I want to commit myself to the dark side, I have to let the past die and even kill family without remorse.

What Finn learns in TFA: I have to look out for a higher cause than myself and my best friend and join the fight against the evil regime I defected from.

What Finn learns in TLJ: I have to look out for a higher cause than myself and my best friend and join the fight against the evil regime I defected from.

What Poe already knew in TFA: Don’t waste lives with reckless abandon. 

What Poe learns in TLJ: Don’t waste lives with reckless abandon.

@themattress​ I think your comment shows a restrictive view of what “the higher cause” means when it comes to Finn’s character arc in TFA. The op was submitted by @rktho-writes and can’t speak for his exact intention, but my understanding is that “higher cause” means "join the fight against the [First Order]” and this is something Finn absolutely does in TFA.

You seem to be saying Finn could not be truly dedicated to a higher cause in TFA because he did a wrongful thing in lying to the Resistance or did not dedicate himself to the Resistance as an organization, maybe both, and also because his motivation was to go back for Rey.

On the first point, the deception/lack of dedication to the Resistance, an organization is not the only mediator for a “higher cause” mentioned in the op. Finn can fight tyranny without necessarily identifying with or obeying the Resistance. In fact I have argued that getting away from dedication to an organization is a healthy development for Finn, as someone recovering from lifelong endoctrination by a different organization (link). It’s also why I think his arc in TLJ actually represents regression or retraumatization for his character, but that’s another subject.

You’re also flat-out contradicting canon when you say Finn only cared about Rey and not the fight against the FO. He had already reunited with Rey when he saw the Resistance struggling to destroy the oscillator and agreed with Han they should help. If he cared nothing about anyone but himself and Rey he would have argued that they needed to get away, like he had with Poe about going back to Jakku, but he agreed to stay and risk his life to help fight the First Order. The key point here was that he agreed of his own will, not because he was a soldier of the Resistance but because he wanted to help them, and his friends, defeat the threat of Starkiller.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Rey only starts showing Force abilities after she meets Finn. The Force is connection and their connection to each other was the first real one either of them had felt. It was in defending each other that they made their final and vital leaps in TFA. 

In TLJ Rey is connected to Kylo against her will….it’s artificial, uncomfortable, invasive, and decays her agency and free will. Then she reunites with Finn and remembers what true connection feels like, giving her the strength to recognize and definitely sever Kylo’s toxic bond. (Side note: No, I do not care if this wasn’t intended. The author is dead and I have killed him. The raccoons are feasting on him as we speak.) 

The Force is connection, and Finn and Rey are each other’s first. Rey already had that vestige of connection from her family, her stories of Jedi and the Force, but for Finn, who had connection starved out of him from birth, it’s a lot harder to believe in others and in himself. It’s a lot harder to feel connected when that might bring pain, because all the people you connected to are now people you have to kill. But if Finn was strong enough to make that first choice, to step out into the unknown after a lifetime of brainwashing and conformity, he’s strong enough to take the next, and the one after that.

I hadn't thought of that! 👀 I do have an ongoing theory that Finn awakened the Force in Rey with his Force Void ability, but I didn't think of how hard they connected in their lifetimes of being starved of meaningful relationships. Good point

POINTS OF ORDER:

6. Went up against a whole army alone in a rematch with Kylo/was the one(1) person there who wanted to help

The Trios’ lines in the TRoS trailer are clearly meant to tell us what their arc, their character’s focus, will be in the movie.

We hear first from Finn, the Poe and finally Rey, words that are meant to tell us how this is going to go.

Poe’s and Rey’s are by far the most clear cut. 

Poe’s words about leading and those who wishes to fight will follow them, clearly is a continuation of his position and arc from the last two movies and the comics as the new leader of the Resistance.

Rey says that people always say they know her but no one does, telling us that her arc about identity and finding out who she is, is not at an end. Secondly it might herald a possible opening to the Dark side for in a rebelling against a role who has been foisted on her, but she never wanted. Unlike Anakin and Luke she never wanted to save the galaxy or have much in the way of adventure, she wanted her family. But now she designated galactic savior and she may be quietly revolting against it. Kylo’s appearance at the end and his claim that he does know her feels like a mallet heavy hint at her being a Skywalker or a Solo (and Kylo possibly being involved in her original disappearance).

Finally there’s Finn, whose words seem mysterious as to his role. And then again not.

The trailer starts out with him saying “It’s an instinct. A feeling,” and it sounds like he’s describing the Force without Jedi dogma or indoctrination. His voice is soft, like he’s trying to put into words something he doesn’t quite have words for. 

Then it continues, “The Force have brought us together”.

His voice is still soft but there’s more firmness and far more conviction here. It sounds to me like it comes from a different place in the movie than the first part and almost like he’s giving a speech. Either way he speaks with the conviction of a Jedi but without the arrogance of one.

And here is what I think this tells us about Finn’s part in this movie.

At the end of the day what brought down the PT era Jedi were their arrogance, their certainty that they alone were right and them putting systems, institutions and dogma above the needs of living people. This isn’t something TLJ invented, we have two trilogies and I don’t know how much extra material telling us as much already.

If the Jedi are to come back and be a constructive part of the galaxy they need a different path than what the PT era Jedi walked (and what might be written in the sacred texts). They need someone who puts compassion and humanity above institutions and systems and dogma, someone who will rebel against it and tear it all down if necessary.

In short, the future Jedi if there’s to be a future for the Jedi at all, need Finn.

He’s a man with no Jedi training and hence no dogma induced in him, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know the Force and the trailer tells us that indeed he does. He has shown already that he will question and outright rebel against any system he finds wrong, no matter how dangerous it is.

Rey would never be able to bring back the Jedi alone and with only the old texts and what little Luke gave her, there’s far to great a chance that she would repeat the mistakes that the PT Jedi and then Luke in turn, made. And it’s a job she doesn’t really want to have anyway.

But with Finn’s humanity, compassion and his complete lack of reverence for authority and institutions it might succeed. His traits are the key missing to unlocking a better future for the galaxy and a possible future a Jedi Order who is doing what it was supposed to be doing all along, protecting the people and all living things in the galaxy from dangers. Especially when those dangers comes from their rulers.

Yeah, Zuko Alone is still one of the very best, if not the best, episodes of Avatar. The shocking and disturbing revelations about his family and backstory are riveting, the choreography of his fight with the earthbenders is incredible, and the choice to explore Zuko’s psychological trauma through the framework of a Western is brilliant. But above all, the moment when Li turns on Zuko and rejects him for being a firebender is so important, as it’s the first of many scenes in his path to redemption in which he tries to help but is ultimately rejected by those he saves. It’s such a pivotal episode for his character development, and it’s still one of my favs.

some of my favourite things about atla

tl;dr: avatar: the last airbender is a fantastic show and everybody knows it

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was not a perfect show but its treatment of imperialism, war crimes, and genocide was light-years ahead of some of the stuff coming out today (looking at you, Star Wars).

In DS9:

I love a good villain, I love to love a good villain, and Dukat fucked me up so bad. I was so on board with the charismatic asshole, even though he’s the bad guy, because he’s so well written and acted it was fun to see him be villainous, but then I got to the episode where his relationship to Kira’s family was revealed. Something about how well he lies, even to himself, was so fucking real it absolutely destroyed me. The rest of the show was so difficult to get through, but I mean that as the highest compliment- Dukat is possibly the best villain ever written. He’s absolutely vile and I like nothing about him except how insanely hateable he is. It’s SO GOOD how unbelievably bad he is

EDIT: unsympathetic is the word I’m looking for! I liked him for a long time because he exhibited empathy and regret, and then you get to that episode where you realize it’s all bullshit, and worse, he believes his own bullshit. It’s mind blowing how hard they bait and switched me with him.

Now I’m not much of a shipper at all, but i’m honestly surprised how many people think Rey and Finn aren’t a thing after the last Jedi. I ended up talking to so many people about that I’m just gonna make a post of my thoughts copy and pasted from one of my conversations!. BEWARE OF SPOILERS and let’s have a nice discussion, not trying to tear down any ships, just chipping in my thoughts!!!

Keep reading

Theory For Scorpia’s Backstory (And Why I’m Heckin’ Worried For Her)

Despite her getting a fair share of screen time, we haven’t really gotten very deep into Scorpia and her unusual status of royalty within The Horde. We’re only 20 episodes in, yes, but I can’t stand not knowing, so here’s my thoughts based on what I can put together. The first explanation we’re given is through Scorpia: The Horde crashed into her family’s kingdom kingdom, an entente was established, and as a symbol of trust Hordak was given the family runestone.

To me, this seemed a little fishy from the get-go. I’m willing to believe there might have been a brief alliance, but Hordak doesn’t seem like the kind to share his throne with anyone. In fact, he seems to have a habit of suddenly turning against anyone who bears the slightest risk of challenging his authority.

Sure enough, in a flashback episode in season two we are given a little broader picture, and it’s implied that the powerful runestone was not exactly “handed over” like Scorpia may have thought.

So what is the truth? If the alliance between Scorpia’s family and Lord Hordak (if there ever was one) fell apart why is Scorpia allowed to keep her princess title? Why is she even around at all?

The details are fuzzy as to how it happened, but I think a lot of it comes down to Shadow Weaver.

When the garnet is threatened, Shadow Weaver insists that she alone has learned to draw power from a runestone…. a feat no other sorceress has ever achieved. Why? Because runestones, in their natural state, are only wielded by princesses:

So what happened with Scorpia? She was included in Light Hope’s examples of princesses who have power over their respective elements, so what went wrong?

I think the timing of Shadow Weaver’s alliance with The Horde was no coincidence. The capture of the Black Garnet was what first alerted her attentions to Hordak, and it wasn’t long after that she was right there at his side, so how is Scorpia involved in the entire mess?

Hard to say, but I’m guessing she was the victim of brainwashing at best, and experimentation at worst. It’s not clear how Shadow Weaver achieved her goal of taking control of the runestone, but three things are immediately clear:

It’s been said that messing with minds is Shadow Weaver’s specialty, and Scorpia was likely young enough to accept a lie wholeheartedly when it came to what happened between her family and Hordak. On that note, whenever the creators of SPOP talk about Scorpia, one descriptor always comes up:

she’s fixated on loyalty

And frankly, I can’t blame her. She was raised in a world where all her peers were taught to demonize princesses, described as monstrous untrustworthy boogeymen. There is a lot of pressure for someone like Scorpia to prove their dedication at every turn, to the point where she seems to have made loyalty to The Horde a central part of her character.

That would also explain why Shadow Weaver chose Scorpia as a fellow force captain for Catra; someone who’s had authority problems from day one. She probably expected Scorpia’s dedication to The Horde to keep the problem child in line, but when Catra’s unflinching personality created a long-absent sense of acceptance and affirmation, Scorpia’s loyalty latched on to Catra and the plan backfired.

But while that answers the “how” of Scorpia being strung along by The Horde, it doesn’t explain why. The why is what has me worried.

It’s only a theory, but I think Scorpia is insurance; A way to regain control of the black garnet if something ever happened to Shadow Weaver… or a way for Shadow Weaver to regain control of the crystal if something went wrong. Now the Horde has Entrapta, who proves perfectly capable of wielding the runestone’s energy with technology alone, but if they lose her… or, more likely, if Shadow Weaver gains enough power to try and take back the black garnet by force… Scorpia might find herself at the center of something she doesn’t quite understand.

In the end, it might not even come to that. If the princess alliance is ever going to be reformed and bring balance to Etheria, Scorpia is inevitably going to have to both find a way to reconnect to her runestone, and reject an entire life tailored around appeasing the force that stole her heritage and rebuilt her whole world around a familial pact that never existed.

That’s going to be rough, let me tell you.

ok so Leia was heading to Obi-wan before the Battle of Scarif, and before she ever knew she or anyone would have the plans. It wasn’t just a last resort, “vader’s bout to get us we gotta go somewhere” decision. the fact that she was going to Obi-wan is probably the reason she was with the rebels and not on Alderaan.

so think in the context that a) Bail was knowingly sending his daughter, who has the genes of one of the most powerful force users ever, to go get a Jedi, b) Bail knew that he was sending the biological child of Anakin to Anakin’s former master and friend, c) Obi-wan definitely would knows who Leia is, d) Bail knows that Obi-wan is keeping an eye on Luke.

I’m not saying Bail Organa knowingly sent his force sensitive daughter to the only fully trained Jedi he knew how to get in touch with and also her force sensitive brother, but Bail Organa knowingly sent his force sensitive daughter to the only fully trained Jedi he knew how to get in touch with and also her force sensitive brother. Because he and Mon Mothma decided things had gotten to this point.

Someone in the tags said “Bail didn’t send the plans to Obi-wan. Bail sent Leia.”

YES. The Death Star plans were a last minute bonus. Bail’s actual plans for dealing with the Empire and the Death Star was LEIA

Goddamn right.

always be my maybe and long shot are in the small genre of romance films that have the guy change for the female protagonist. like he was being a dick and his friends and family TELL HIM HE WAS. like you know how refreshing that was? and the girl loved him but she wasn’t going to give up her career for him. and he changed. HE ACTUALLY WAS LIKE, no, YOUR dream is important. like i cried at that? that shit is healthy to see in mainstream media.