Rough Animation Of This X

Listen, I didn’t want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice. Here comes the smolder.

I commissioned @all-things-geekie to combine my two favorite fictional characters of all time into one and I will never stop screaming over how beautiful the result is

WHOS UR FAVORITE FEARLESS HERO? LEO!!!!

this au was inevitable

Who do you think is smarter, Sokka or Azula?

well I suppose one’s answer depends on how they define intelligence. personally, I value intellect far less than I value one’s capacity for critical thinking, self-awareness, and empathy. I believe that those are the fundamental pillars that define one’s character, and whether or not they know many things and possess many skills matters far less to me.

sokka and azula have a lot in common. they’re both strategic, calculating, resourceful, creative, and most importantly, they both enjoy stupid puns. (also they’re both entps but u didn’t see me say that...) another thing they share in common is that they are deeply motivated by a desire to emulate their fathers, to be the strong, respected, infallible leader they see him as, and due to their subconscious worship of patriarchy, they consider any sign of vulnerability, even amongst those they supposedly trust, to be a weakness—and they consider any weakness a sure sign of failure.

now, crucially, sokka grows out of this mindset. he learns to open up and express his feelings, and he learns to be his own person. he realizes that his father is proud of him regardless of how great a warrior he is. sokka desperately wants to prove himself, but it is in realizing that he should follow his own path that allows him to fully self-actualize. (zuko gets it.) azula doesn’t.

by the end of the show, azula is only just realizing that her father does not truly love her, that he only sees her as a pawn, to be discarded when she is no longer useful. azula doesn’t know who she is outside of her abuse, and she never got the chance to self-actualize. due to the brainwashing she experienced all her life, she lacks true self-awareness, whereas sokka has only been growing more and more self-aware through the seasons. (he’s still far more insecure than he should be, but he’s getting there.)

sokka and azula are both extremely intelligent. there’s no denying that. but to frame it as who is more intelligent is folly. the better question is, who would win a game of pai sho? and the answer to that, of course, is that sokka beats azula easily. not due to her lack of skill, strategy, or cunning, but due to her hubris.

Michelangelo is super under appreciated and here’s why (tmnt comic spoilers ahead)

It drives me nuts when people boil Mikey down to “the dumb one” or “the silly one” (I’m looking at you 2012) because he is not just a one-dimensional character. He has many layers.

Mikey is such an important part of the team because of his compassion and empathy. He has a deep emotional connection with his loved ones, and seeks to connect even with their foes in hoping to stop the fighting. I would go as far to say he is more emotionally intelligent than his brothers, and every decision he makes is guided by his heart, which is a driving point of his character.

Here’s a few examples of things he’s done that reflect this point:

Becomes friends with Woody, who works at a pizza place and is able to bring them pizzas

Trying to defuse the fight with Slash when the turtles first met him, and later when he finds out Slash is part of the mutanimals gives him candy and befriends him.

Leaves Splinter when he decides to lead the foot clan because Mikey knows it will only lead to more violence. His brothers try to convince him to come back, but after Splinter tells Jenny to kill someone they realize Mikey was right and leave Splinter as well.

Holding a Christmas party to raise the spirits of his brothers after they left Splinter

Becoming friends with all of the mutanimals, even though he disagrees with Hob and the things he does

And that’s only a couple examples. The point is that Michelangelo deserves more appreciation. It probably saddens him that he isn’t able to live normally among humans, but it never stops him from making a friend around every corner.

Which is why every time I think of Mikey I always think of the quote “He wishes only to love…and to be loved.” And honestly? He deserves to.

the way sokka and azula’s dynamic would progress from azula being like “sokka is extremely smart and needs to be destroyed” to “sokka is extremely smart and must teach me everything he knows,” but it’s also a very gradual process filled with a lot of rage and resentment and losing to him at pai sho; concurrently, sokka going from “wow I fucking hate you” to “wow I fucking hate you” (but said lovingly). also azula thinks all of sokka’s jokes are funny. every single one. they share the exact same sense of humor and this fact baffles all of their other friends so much

Sokka really is just a polymath like the dude is a warrior, swordsman, expert strategist, inventor, and based on that Ba Sing Se episode, has a knack for poetry. Good for him.

Us: lol Gary is Little Cato's Dad

Final Space: lol yeah

Us:

good morning today i am thinking about protective sokka

AU where Sokka’s high-on-cactus-juice encounter with the giant mushroom takes a dark turn. (Also he has a gun)

based on this beautiful tumblr post

bonus:

Day 11: catalyst

Last Ronin AU

Mikey would be so badass in this au… and also sad T^T

I got carried away bc I think this au is vry neat

Bonus: