Sometimes I write, mostly I cry over fictional characters.
tbh at least 50% of the reason I use this theme is that when you mouse over stuff it glows blue and that reminds me of Billy :3
Okay but like actually this is the most thoughtful gift IN THE WHOLE WORLD.
It might seem to make more sense to give Ron the precious family heirloom (remember that Molly’s brother Fabian died in the First Wizarding War; Molly has held onto his watch out of sentimentality since then). But Ron is the sixth son in his (canonically financially-struggling) family. He’s been forced into hand-me-downs his whole life. If he’d gotten the watch with a dent in the back, he wouldn’t have appreciated it; he’d only have seen the flaw. And if his mum bought Harry a new watch instead of getting Ron one, Ron would have resented that. A new watch was a worthwhile expense to get Ron a rare taste of the luxury and individual attention he has always craved.
Harry, though. Harry has money; Harry has new things. What Harry does not have is family. Harry is an orphan. Other than one photo album and the invisibility cloak, he doesn’t have anything that came with family history attached. What Molly does here is give him that; she makes him part of the family, symbolically, by giving him an emotionally significant if physically imperfect item. She gives him love in a tangible form.
The following meta is IMAGE HEAVY and contains SPOILERS for the finale of Avatar: The Legend of Korra.
So, in stage shows, final bows are super important. The smallest parts bow first, the leads bow last, and the best way to totally fuck with your actors as a director is to make their bows earlier than they should be or put them with people who played less important characters. Stick a main character too early, and they’ll be rightfully insulted.
The last shots of a show or a movie work on the same principle. You wrap up your character arcs roughly in the order most important to the story, then to the main character, if you have a central one like Korra. LOK’s finale was a great example of this, and their use of staging and structure just points big, fat arrows at Korrasami being legitimately queer and canon.
“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
In rain or shine
They left the house at half past nine
The smallest one was Madeline.”
-Ludwig Bemelmans, Madeline, 1939
I would like to share a sampling of the graduation project that I had so much fun illustrating! It’s an old series, but one of my childhood favorites. There has been a TV series and a live action film, but never a modern-ish animated feature, and it was a bit of a passion project to imagine what it would look like, down to the character designs and the actual scenes.
Also, I might have some good news to announce soon… keeping my fingers crossed in the meantime! ♪
EDIT: Updated the post to put all new Gilrs in one place!
EDIT: Updated the Pocahontas picture!
Modern Disney Girl - MERIDA!
Why short hair?
Merida was a young, teenage rebel. In the movie, she was always against the way of princess lifestyle. And her hair show this very good - in her times woman should braid her hair, cover them - but she always had this “mess” on her head.
What would modern Merida do? She would cut her hair, because many of people would say to her - you have such a lovely, curly, red hair, you should be so proud, don’t shave it, cut it…
But she would surely do that. That fits her character.
Now that Korra and Asami’s final moment is out in the world, it seems like an appropriate time to express how I feel about it. I didn’t want to say anything right away so the audience could experience the finale for themselves.
The main themes of the Avatar universe have always revolved around equality, justice, acceptance, tolerance, and balancing differing worldviews. In subtle and maybe not so subtle ways, Avatar and Legend of Korra have dealt with difficult subjects such as genocide, child abuse, deaths of loved ones, and post traumatic stress. I took it as a complement when Joanna Robinson of Vanity Fair called the show subversive. There were times even I was surprised we were able to delve into the really tough stuff on a children’s TV network. While the episodes were never designed to “make a statement”, Bryan and I always strove to treat the more difficult subject matter with the respect and gravity it deserved.
And over the years we’ve heard from numerous fans, in person and online, how Avatar and Korra have influenced their lives for the better or helped them overcome a life struggle or setback. I am always humbled when people share their personal stories with us and I am grateful that my love for telling stories has been able to help people in some small way. So while Avatar and Korra were always meant to be entertaining and engaging tales, this universe and its characters also speak to the deeper humanity in all of us, regardless of age, gender, race, religion, culture, nationality, or sexual orientation.
Our intention with the last scene was to make it as clear as possible that yes, Korra and Asami have romantic feelings for each other. The moment where they enter the spirit portal symbolizes their evolution from being friends to being a couple. Many news outlets, bloggers, and fans picked up on this and didn’t find it ambiguous. For the most part, it seems like the point of the scene was understood and additional commentary wasn’t really needed from Bryan or me. But in case people were still questioning what happened in the last scene, I wanted to make a clear verbal statement to complement the show’s visual one. I get that not everyone will be happy with the way that the show ended. Rarely does a series finale of any show satisfy that show’s fans, so I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the positive articles and posts I’ve seen about Korra’s finale.
I’ve already read some heartwarming and incredible posts about how this moment means so much for the LGBT community. Once again, the incredible outpouring of support for the show humbles me. As Tenzin says, “Life is one big bumpy ride.” And if, by Korra and Asami being a couple, we are able to help smooth out that ride even a tiny bit for some people, I’m proud to do my part, however small it might be. Thanks for reading.
You can celebrate it, embrace it, accept it, get over it, or whatever you feel the need to do, but there is no denying it. That is the official story. We received some wonderful press in the wake of the series finale at the end of last week, and just about every piece I read…
This is amazing and I’m so happy about the choices Bryke and the rest of the crew made…..perfect ending to the show <3
I’ve been thinking about making this post since I read this wonderful post by thevioletcaptain. I guess my extreme sleep deprivation has finally wrenched it out of me. Maybe I’m just too tired to put up with this crap anymore.
Like thevioletsoiree, I have a strong hatred for the self-deprecating use of the term “trash.” How many people have called themselves “fandom X trash,” “pairing Y trash” or simply “tumblr trash”? As thevioletsoiree points out, it’s something of a way to stop yourself from being made fun of, it can be a form of self-defense. However, there’s a greater problem with this phrase.
Calling oneself “trash” or “garbage” is a problem, because that’s a real symptom of depression and low self-worth and self-esteem. I know it is. For nearly 4 years when I was a teenager, I constantly told myself I was trash and garbage and worthless. That I was worth nothing and frankly, was a waste of space. I honestly, 100% believed that I was nothing more than shit on the trashpile.
These bouts of depression and self-loathing were combined with my discovery of fandom. When I withdrew from my real-life (and not always of my own choice, I was dropped like a loser hot potato by my best friend during this time), I spent time online, reading fanfiction, analyses. and accounts made by other fans and I didn’t feel so alone. I grew up in a small community and I was very isolated, trying to figure myself out in a town where there was no one else who was interested in the same things as I was. Learning about fandom was a positive experience, because I found out that I wasn’t alone in the world.
It has been over a decade of slowly working through these issues, realizing that I have worth, and value, and deserve good things. I still struggle sometimes to believe it, because when you truly think you’re garbage, it’s hard to convince yourself fully that you aren’t.
Now, this is where I come to the point about self-esteem. Damage to self-esteem doesn’t need to be overt or malicious, sometimes it can be as easy as making someone feel stupid for liking something. Or making them feel like they are garbage for enjoying something that they once found solace in or joy in or where they had once found a community. Little things that cause discouragement or make people feel bad for enjoying things like fandom or shipping or for enjoying tumblr, that can cut deep. For a place that has often brought attention to the issue of bullying, we need to be aware that damage to self-esteem is not limited to bullying.
If, when I was a teenager, I had encountered a community who was called themselves trash and garbage for having the same common interests and passions as I did, I would have taken it to heart. I might not be here right now if that was the attitude I had found. There were days when things were really bad, something like that, with how I had internalized a feeling of being trash, it could have tipped me over the edge.
And to the point of older people having a responsibility to their followers, you do. Words have power. They have meaning. And that meaning can be taken to heart by our followers. Those of us who are older, who have been through harder times have a responsibility to our more vulnerable followers. We need to be constantly aware of how what we say may be interpreted. Look, it’s your blog, write what you want, but the way these blogs work is that people have chosen to follow us and we need to be aware of what that type of responsibility can potentially entail. You have a small modicum of influence in another person’s life and you need to decide how you will use it. Will you use it discourage, make their experience on tumblr less positive? Or will you use it to encourage, to be a force for positivity? We can’t be positive all the time, the world is a disaster right now, but we can take measures to improve our interactions with our followers and, at the very least, not make their experiences or self-esteem worse.
So, there’s this girl. She’s tragically orphaned and richer than anyone on the planet. Every guy she meets falls in love with her, but in between torrid romances she rejects them all because she dedicated to what is Pure and Good. She has genius level intellect, Olympic-athelete level athletic ability and incredible good looks. She is consumed by terrible angst, but this only makes guys want her more. She has no superhuman abilities, yet she is more competent than her superhuman friends and defeats superhumans with ease. She has unshakably loyal friends and allies, despite the fact she treats them pretty badly. They fear and respect her, and defer to her orders. Everyone is obsessed with her, even her enemies are attracted to her. She can plan ahead for anything and she’s generally right with any conclusion she makes. People who defy her are inevitably wrong.
