Baldurs Gate 3 Origin Characters Oracle Cards! Almost all of them have been updated since I first posted them. The last one is my Durge Amaranthine 💜 Which card do you like the most?
So I commissioned art of my Dark Urge character, Whisper, in a camp scene designed by a pair of great artists named Comfort and Adam!
And because I’ve been using Whisper in a series of fics over on AO3, I wanted to post the picture here so that I have something I can link to if people would like to see what she actually looks like.
Whisper is a half-drow arcane trickster Rogue Dark Urge who’s trying to resist the urges.
In my fics, I try to keep her as ambiguous looks-wise as possible so folks can imagine their own half-elves in Whisper’s place. Whisper is even meant to be more of a nickname she gained in the cult rather than her actual name - it’s just the only name she remembers.
The fics that feature Whisper can be read here! Just heed tags, there’s smut, explorations of trauma, a lot of blood, and heavy spoilers for BG3, especially Durge stuff.
Duels between 2 consenting parties should be legal and have no ramifications. Sometimes you just gotta beat the shit out of somebody
“Oh they’ll endanger others! What about property damage?”
Dueling areas. In every city, town, and general public. Minimum 1 per every 500 people. Government hires people to referee the fight and write down the rules the duelists agreed upon and generally make sure nobody cheats or jumps in
Destined Families - Part 1: “What are soul marks?”
Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender
Pairings: None in this first part besides a hint at future Mai/Zuko
Summary: A soulmate AU where people are born with marks indicating the people they are destined to love, either romantically or platonically. When they meet one of their soulmates, they can perform a soulbond and be taken to moments from the other person's past, during which they're invisible and can only interact by touch with the person they're soulbonding with.
Part 1 features Zuko and Toph learning about soul marks, and Katara’s and Sokka’s experiences with their soulmates during and shortly after the raid by the Southern Raiders.
Warnings: Mentions of Azulon/Ozai intentionally burning an infant Zuko and a newlywed Ursa; Character death, though nothing is described in detail; Character falls through ice and nearly drowns/freezes; No research was put into how the characters should respond to said near drowning in freezing water so possible medical liberties taken.
Also posted to AO3
****
Zuko always enjoyed when Azula had her friends over. For one, it meant she was less likely to start picking on him out of boredom. For two, it meant he could see Mai. Out of the trio of girls, he always had found Mai the easiest to get along with.
“So, why do you wear those gloves with the fingers cut off?” Zuko asked Mai one day. Ty Lee was teaching Azula some of the new gymnastics tricks she’d been practicing, but neither Mai nor Zuko wanted to have anything to do with it. Instead, they watched the two 8-year-olds doing cartwheels from the shade of a nearby tree.
Mai turned to Zuko, an eyebrow raised in a silent question Zuko didn’t know how to answer. “They cover my soul marks,” she eventually said, voice quieter than usual, and she began to absently fiddle with one of the gloves.
“Soul marks?” Zuko parroted, tilting his head in clear confusion.
“Do you… not have soul marks?” Mai had to lean towards Zuko in order for him to even hear her whisper. Zuko shook his head. He must not have them if he doesn’t know what they are, right? An emotion that Zuko couldn’t quite place flashed across Mai’s face. Sadness? Disappointment? But as soon as Zuko noticed it, it was gone as a thud followed by Azula’s laugh pulled Mai’s attention back to the other girls.
——
“Mom, what are soul marks?” Zuko asked Ursa later that night, tugging on the sleeve of her robe as she came in to tuck him into bed.
Ursa could tell this would be a long conversation, so she slid onto the bed to sit next to her son. “When did that come up, sweetie?” she asked, careful to keep her tone light and curious.
Zuko, however, still frowned, feeling like he somehow did something wrong by bringing it up. Still, he explained to his mother the conversation he’d had with Mai.
“Soul marks are little pictures that people are often born with on their skin that indicate that person’s soulmates. Soulmates are people outside of your family who you’re destined to love and are destined to love you, whether it’s romantic love or an unbreakable friendship,” Ursa explained.
Zuko’s lip began to tremble. “But I don’t have any soul marks. Does that mean nobody outside our family will love me?”
Ursa immediately scooped Zuko into her arms. “Do not tell your father or sister I told you this, but you have six soulmates,” she whispered into the young prince’s hair.
Zuko’s eyes widened. “Six?” He repeated. “Why haven’t I noticed them?” He looked over his body as though the soul marks would suddenly appear.
Ursa let out a sad sigh as she gently pulled up Zuko’s top, looking at the very old burn scar roughly in the shape of a hand on the right side of his abdomen. “Your father and grandfather think that soulmates are a sign of weakness, so when you were a baby, they burned your marks off.” She dropped his shirt, letting it cover the scar once again. “I only got a quick look, but I counted six marks.”
“Do YOU have any soul marks?” Zuko asked, now glancing over his mother.
Ursa sighed again, pulling the sleeve of her robe all the way up to show Zuko a burn scar of her own on her shoulder. “I did,” she explained. “When I married your father, I had to cut all ties to my life before the Royal Family. My soul mark was a part of that.” She let go of her sleeve and she instead reached forward to cup Zuko’s face in her hands. “Tell me, my love, have you felt a presence you couldn’t see? Invisible hands like ghosts giving you comfort, or trying to guide you?”
Zuko thought for a moment, then slowly nodded. “I thought that I was imagining things, or that some spirits decided they liked me. Either way, I didn’t want to ask anyone because I didn’t want them to go away,” Zuko admitted. He felt a firm hand clap onto his shoulder as though assuring him that they’re still here. He suddenly sat up straighter in a mix of surprise and happiness. “I feel one of them now!” Zuko said. “What does it mean?”
Ursa smiled at her young boy. “It means you will meet your soulmates one day.”
****
“Stupid Master Yu and stupid dad and mom,” Toph grumbled, punching the pillow on her bed. “You don’t need eyes to earthbend, you just need arms and legs! My arms and legs work just fine!”
Toph felt a pat on her shoulder and nearly jumped out of her skin. “What? Who’s there?” she demanded, the hand immediately pulling away. She hadn’t heard anybody enter her room, she was pretty sure her door was closed. Gently, as though not to startle her again, the mysterious presence tapped on the back of her left shoulder. She struck out with her left arm, swinging her fist in an arc around her. Surely she would’ve hit whoever was touching her shoulder, but she found nothing but air.
“GUARDS!” she shouted.
The bedroom door flew open. “Toph, what’s wrong?” Toph relaxed slightly upon hearing the voice of her favorite guard, Xiuying.
“I thought I felt someone touch me,” Toph explained. She heard Xiuying move around the room, checking every potential hiding place and entry point.
“There’s nobody here,” Xiuying stated. Toph felt the bed shift with her weight as she sat down. “What did you feel exactly?” she asked.
“It was like there was a hand on my shoulder,” Toph explained, putting her hand on her shoulder where she felt the presence as a demonstration. “And then a poke on the back right here.” She turned away from Xiuying to show her.
Xiuying had a theory, which was all but confirmed when she noticed a light blue arrow poking out from under Toph’s night clothes near where she said she felt the poke. “It seems that Fate has decided you could use some support from one of your soulmates,” the guard stated with a smile.
“I have soul marks?” Toph asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
“Your parents never told you?” Xiuying asked.
Toph dramatically flopped back onto her pillow. “They never tell me ANYTHING!” she complained. “Especially not about soulmate stuff.”
“Well, you’re supposed to be getting to bed. How about a bedtime story?” Xiuying asked, pulling back the covers on Toph’s bed and helping the blind earthbender settle in.
“Okay,” Toph agreed as she got herself comfortable.
“A long, long time ago, before the spirit and mortal worlds were separated, before the Avatar and benders, spirits of Fate and Destiny watched over and guided the early humans. They saw that humans were social creatures, needing love and connection, and they came up with a plan to ensure that we would get the support we need through our lives and find the people who could give it to us. They gave us marks, little pictures that give us a hint as to who will play an important role in our lives. And when a person finds one of their soulmates, a touch of blood will bring them both into each other’s pasts. Their presence is invisible but felt by their soulmate, and they are brought to the moments throughout their soulmate’s life where either they were needed, or there’s something important they need to see. Through that soulbond, even new friends can instantly understand each other on a deep level and be there for each other throughout their lives.”
Toph had closed her eyes at some point during the story, but she stubbornly refused sleep until it was over and Xiuying gave a whispered “good night” as she left Toph’s room to resume her guard outside the door.
****
Katara stood there, frozen. There was a Fire Nation man in her family’s home, standing over her mother. She could feel all four of her soulmates urging her to RUN. She had one gripping each hand - the soulmate with a feather-light touch was at her right hand and the soulmate who radiated heat clutched her left - both pulling in the direction of the igloo’s front door flaps. The soulmate who had a particularly strong presence was trying to push Katara by her shoulders towards the exit, and the last of the four was standing protectively at Katara’s front, as if trying to be a barrier between her and the man. Despite their combined efforts, however, the young waterbender remained rooted.
“Mom, I’m scared,” Katara said, voice small and wavering.
“Go find your dad, Sweetie. I’ll handle this,” Kya told her, projecting a confidence that neither she nor her daughter actually felt.
Katara was still frozen for a moment, staring into the eyes of the cruel man standing over her mother, until she finally snapped out of it. Turning and running out of the igloo with eyes blurry from tears, she followed her soulmates’ pull, trusting them to guide her to her dad.
“Dad! I think mom’s in trouble!” Katara shouted the moment she spotted him. Once he looked at her, she pointed back in the direction of their home. “There’s a m-”
Katara was cut off when Hakoda winced, groaning in pain as a gloved hand went up to the base of his neck, where Katara knew his soulmarks were. “Kya!” he gasped out, his attention narrowing in on his home as he ran as fast as he could. Katara ran after, not nearly as quick but still entering shortly after her dad, barreling right through one of her soulmates trying to keep her from entering the igloo. She didn’t care what waited for her behind the door flaps, her dad would protect her and she HAD to be there for her mom.
But her mom was already gone. A teary-eyed Bato soon entered the igloo and scooped up the sobbing young waterbender, taking her to his home and setting her down next to her confused brother. She felt all four sets of her soulmates’ arms wrap around her small, shaking form.
“Katara, what’s- The Fire Nation left, what’s wrong?” Sokka asked, pulling his sister towards him. “Bato wouldn’t let me go home.”
“It’s- it’s mom. She’s-“ Katara couldn’t get the last word out without a sob drowning it out.
“Gone,” Bato supplied, barely louder than a whisper as he sat in front of the young siblings. He had taken off the wrappings around his left arm, allowing the Water Tribe siblings to see his soulmarks for the first time. He had two on the back of his right arm, one white and vibrant blue in the shape of the tooth-and-bone necklace their dad wore, and the other now a dull gray pine branch. Sokka had seen the pine branch on his dad, he knew it represented their mom and was supposed to be a deep green. But he also knew what a dull gray soulmark meant, that what Katara and Bato were saying was true. Their mom was gone, and they’ll never see her again.
The instant Bato opened his arms in invitation to the siblings, they jumped at the comfort he offered. The three of them sat on the floor of his igloo, Sokka and Katara clinging to Bato’s sides and to each other as they cried. At some point, Hakoda finally joined them with Gran-Gran in tow so they could all grieve Kya’s death as a family.
——
About a month after the Fire Nation raid, most of the tribe had gone back to normal, though Chief Hakoda still found it hard to find the motivation to go out to fish or hunt. Bato made sure the Chief and his kids had enough to eat, but Katara could tell that Bato wasn’t doing much better himself. So she decided it was time for her and Sokka to lend a hand.
It took some prodding from Katara (mostly to get Sokka to wake up and get out of bed) but the siblings soon found themselves a fair distance from the village, sitting next to a hole in the ice with Sokka’s fishing gear in hand.
A couple hours later, when they’d only caught two fish that were each barely big enough for a meal, Katara and Sokka agreed that they’d try for just one more fish before heading home.
Katara studied the ice hole while waiting for something to bite and frowned. “Is it just me, or is the fishing hole getting smaller?” she asked, holding out her mittened hands to the size she remembered it being when they started.
“It’s freezing back up,” Sokka agreed, reeling the line back in so he could set the pole aside to focus on the ice. “Can’t you melt it with your water magic?”
“Waterbending,” Katara corrected almost out of habit more than anything. She shook her head. “I’m barely able to freeze water on my own, and that’s with everything already being so cold. No clue how to unfreeze it.”
“Alright, I’ll get it,” Sokka said with a dramatic sigh as he stood up and peered into the hole. He placed a boot firmly on the edge, testing the strength of the ice before lifting his foot and bringing it down with as much force on the edge of the hole as a 9-year-old could manage. He was just trying to chip away some of the ice from the side, and was careful not to put too much of his weight so close to the slick edge.
It took a couple stomps but Sokka got a thin piece of ice to drop from the edge and into the water. “Hey, it’s working!” he said, taking a small step so he could begin stomping on a new section of the ice around the hole.
“Sokka, be careful!” Katara warned.
“I am, I know what I’m doing!” Sokka assured her. He, however, paused as he felt a tugging on his arm as though the presence was trying to get him to step back from the edge of the ice. “One of the soulmates is apparently worried, too. It’s fine!” He waved the presence off with a giggle, their feathery touch almost tickling Sokka in its persistence. Ignoring the warnings, he stomped again at the edge of the hole, but instead of just chipping away the ice like expected, the entire chunk under Sokka’s boot fractured and broke off, plunging into the depths. The surprise jolt was enough to throw off Sokka’s balance, sending him tumbling into the polar water.
“SOKKA!” Katara shouted, dropping to her stomach to peer into the water from the edge of the ice.
Despite almost gasping at the shock of hitting the cold water, Sokka thankfully managed to keep from losing the air he had been able to get into his lungs as he fell. Of course, holding his breath was only the first of Sokka’s worries - the hole he had fallen into was likely the only spot for miles around where he could reach the surface and avoid being trapped under solid ice. He had to find that hole and FAST, but he didn’t even know which way was up. He tried to open his eyes underwater, but it hurt and what little he could see was too blurry to be helpful, and Katara’s voice shouting for him sounded like it could be coming from anywhere. But before panic could fully set in, Sokka felt something wrap around him, guiding him as he oriented his body upright, then when it started pulling him, he followed. While quick to trust the help, his mind was much slower at identifying the source, eventually realizing it was a soulmate, and recognizing their touch as different from the soulmate who had tried to warn him in the first place.
The soulmate led Sokka directly to the hole in the ice, but even then, his lungs were burning with the need for air by the time his head hit the surface. His desperate gasp for breath unfortunately brought some water in with the air, making Sokka sputter and complicated his goal of getting out of the dangerously cold water. Katara managed to catch his arms in her hands as they flailed in search of solid ice, and she slid backwards on her stomach to pull him to the edge with her.
“I got you, Sokka. I’ll help you up,” Katara assured, pulling her brother onto the ice with all her strength. “Then we gotta get back home QUICK to warm you up.”
A weak nod was all the response Sokka could manage between the effort of dragging himself out of the water and his lungs trying to expel the water he’d inhaled. As soon as Sokka was firmly on the ice and out of the water, he took a moment to focus on being able to breathe properly. A third soulmate, the one with the strongest touch out of the bunch, decided to help by giving Sokka’s back some firm pats to help guide the water out of his lungs.
Once his breathing was mostly back to normal, it finally registered to Sokka just how COLD he was. More than just feeling cold, his body had gone straight past being numb to the point that the cold felt more like a million sharp knives stabbing through his skin and to his bones. While Katara pushed herself to her feet to start walking back, Sokka instinctively curled into a tight ball, trying to conserve what body heat he had as he continued to sit on the ice.
“Sokka, we need to go back,” Katara stated, offering her hand to help Sokka up.
“Is-cold,” Sokka managed to say through chattering teeth. “Can’t-”
“That’s WHY we need to get back, so you can warm up,” Katara pleaded.
Sokka’s brows furrowed in confusion as, while Katara spoke, he suddenly felt like someone draped a fire-warmed blanket over his back.
“Your shivering slowed. Is it a good-slowed or a bad-slowed?” Katara asked, crouching to try and get a closer look at Sokka’s face.
“I think one of my soulmates is sharing body heat with me,” Sokka explained. He looked to the side to address his soulmate. “Give me a tap if I’m right.” A tap on Sokka’s knee, which was still pulled up close to his chest, and Sokka smiled. “Whichever soulmate you are, you make a good blanket.” He felt the presence shake a little, which Sokka guessed was a chuckle.
Once he was ready to get up, Katara helped Sokka to his feet and held his hand during the walk back to the village. Sokka could still feel the much-needed warmth from his soulmate’s presence as they walked, but he could tell that they struggled with finding a way to keep consistent contact while moving, so he didn’t stay quite as warm as he hoped.
“Dad! Gran-Gran!” Katara called as soon as they reached the village. “Sokka got wet, we need to warm him up!”
Hakoda was running up to his kids in an instant, looking them over for any sign of injury. “Let’s get him over by the fire for the moment,” he suggested, guiding the kids towards a fire near the middle of the village and sitting them down on a couple leather mats that had been placed around the fire pit. “What happened, is everything alright?”
“We went out ice fishing, but when Sokka tried making the hole bigger, there was a thin spot and he fell in,” Katara explained, trying to ignore the small crowd forming as the villagers were checking to see if the kids were alright.
“It’s remarkable you were able to make it back,” Gran-Gran commented as she walked up to Sokka to look him over. “To have found your way out of the water, and still have enough energy to keep you warm enough to make it back here is something of a miracle.”
“My soulmates helped, actually,” Sokka replied with a smile. “One guided me back to the hole while I was underwater so I wouldn’t get trapped under the ice, and another is really warm and was able to share their body heat with me so I could make it home!”
The village was silent for a moment, before chatter returned in nervous murmurings and hushed whispers. Sokka’s smile fell - he thought the tribe would be excited that his soulmates saved his life; he couldn’t figure out why they were reacting the way they were. “What?” he asked, glancing around the tribe before looking between his dad and Gran-Gran for one of them to explain.
“A soulmate’s soulbond presence feels different depending on if they’re a bender or not, and on what kind of bender if they are,” Gran-Gran explained. “Waterbenders have a presence that’s cold to the touch; earthbenders have a particularly strong touch - a very solid presence; airbenders, if memory serves, were said to have a feather-light touch in contrast to the earthbenders.” She sighed, and dread pooled in Sokka’s stomach as he realized what was coming next. “And finally, the presence of a firebender gives off enough heat that it’s said it can be felt even without a direct touch from the presence.”
“So, one of my soulmates is a firebender?” Sokka asked in a small voice. Gran-Gran nodded. “How- why-?” He looked at his dad, hoping for answers to the questions he couldn’t even form.
“I’m not sure,” was the only answer Hakoda could offer his son. “I’m just grateful at least that they very likely saved your life today.” He smiled in a way he hoped was reassuring.
“I’m going to go change into dry clothes and warm up in bed,” Sokka decided with a sigh, standing up to head into their igloo. He’d had enough stares and whispering from the rest of the tribe when he just couldn’t wrap his head around it himself.
——
Katara gave Sokka a good several minutes to change and have a moment to himself before she joined him inside. “Sokka?” she called to announce her presence as she pushed past the door flaps, letting them fall back into place behind her. She spotted Sokka instantly: he was in his bed and laying on his back, with his left arm bare of the wrappings he usually wore and held over his face so he could study his soulmarks.
“Hey, Katara,” Sokka sighed in greeting, glancing briefly in her direction as she came closer. As she sat on his bed by his legs, he didn’t move, still apparently looking for some kind of answers to emerge from the simple pictures.
“I’ve felt the firebender too,” Katara admitted, pulling a foot up to rest on the bed so she could wrap her arms around her knee.
“Well, that rules out the crescent moon as being the firebender,” Sokka stated, finally lowering his arm and sitting up. “The fact we feel them means we’ll meet them someday. That we’ll trust them enough to soulbond. But WHY? After everything the Fire Nation has done to us, our Tribe…” Sokka’s voice cracked and he paused for a moment so he could get his emotions under control. “How will a firebender even be able to gain our trust?”
“I donno. But clearly we’ll find out some day,” Katara replied with a shrug.
Sokka seemed lost in thought for a moment before speaking again. “You’ve felt all four of your soulmates, right? I felt four today.” He trailed his right hand down the line of marks on the front of his arm.
Katara nodded as she pulled open the collar of both her coat and tunic so she could look down at her own soul marks. They all matched with four of Sokka’s five, even following the same order down Sokka’s arm as clockwise around the front of Katara’s shoulder. At the top for both of them was a light blue arrow pointing down, followed by an eye with a cloudy blue iris and only slightly darker pupil, a crossed pair of curved broadswords with dark blue handles, and a golden fan. The fifth on Sokka’s arm, below the others and just above his wrist, was a light blue crescent moon, the ends pointing to the right, matching the moon on the Water Tribe’s emblem.
“Besides the firebender, which I’m GUESSING is the fan because it’s the only one not blue… also, can’t fans be used to help make fires bigger? Like when you blow on a fire to get it big enough to cook on?” Katara started, briefly getting distracted by her own logical reasoning until she remembered she actually intended on getting the conversation OFF of the firebending soulmate. “One of our soulmates seems like they hit really hard. Maybe they’re an earthbender, with a solid presence like what Gran-Gran was saying?”
“I half expect to get bruises with some of his friendly punches,” Sokka commented, wrapping an arm around himself to rub near where they had hit his back earlier. “He helped me cough up the water I ended up breathing in.” Even though Katara has insisted on avoiding using gender-specific words for her soulmates until she meets them and knows for sure which to use, Sokka figured there’s no harm in making guesses about his soulmates’ genders and using the pronouns that match his guesses. If he turns out to be wrong, he’ll just switch to the correct pronouns whenever he finds out. “He could be any of the three other marks, but if he bends, he probably wouldn’t use swords. Especially with earthbending. So probably either the eye or the arrow?”
Katara nodded in agreement. “One has a really light touch, like Gran-Gran said airbenders feel like, but that’s impossible. Probably just shy or something,” she guessed. “No clue which mark they might be.”
“She was the one who tried to get me away from the ice hole. I should’ve listened,” Sokka scolded himself.
Katara frowned slightly, but just continued on. “The last one doesn’t have anything notable with how their touch feels, but they seem particularly… protective. Kinda like you, actually.” She smirked as she poked her brother in the chest. “Trying to stand between me and danger, watching my back when I leave the village.”
“Protective enough to get in the water WITH me to make sure I made it back to the surface,” Sokka agreed. “My guess is he’s a strong warrior, probably the swords.” He tapped at the swords on his arm before beginning to trace the crescent moon with his fingertip. “I don’t think I’ve felt whoever the moon represents. With everyone else being there to help today, even Firebender, I’m starting to worry I never get to soulbond with Crescent Moon.”
Katara shrugged. “It’s possible. Or they just might be even more shy than Light-Touch.”
“Light-Touch? That’s the name you’re going with?” Sokka teased. “You should just leave the nicknames to me.”
****
Author’s Notes:
1. Yes, Sokka made assumptions about the genders of three of his soulmates and got them ALL wrong. Also, he and Katara got Zuko's and Suki's marks confused for each other. It should be pretty clear who's supposed to be who, but for anyone who wants a clear list:
Aang - arrow - feather-light touches
Toph - cloudy blue eye - strong presence
Zuko - twin swords - warm
Suki - fan - protective
Yue - crescent moon
2. I was heavily inspired by The Family You Choose by TunaFishChris on AO3 for this fic. The soulmate AU concept is largely taken from that fic (though with a few small changes to how soulmarks work, and a couple characters have different symbols representing them) as are a few plot details, such as Ozai burning Zuko’s soulmarks off.
3. If anyone wants to discuss this AU with me at all, PLEASE don’t hesitate to message me! I have a bunch of ideas in mind, as well as a bunch of details I’m undecided about. I’d love to discuss my ideas and thoughts, and hear about other ideas I might not’ve considered yet~
Nickelodeon is no stranger to having bumpers getting lost to time. Bumpers aren’t really meant to be watched after all, they’re mostly just to fill space between programs.
One such example of these is what is known to be called “Zombified”, or also “Hallow-mean”. They were a collection of bumpers that featured animations of Wanda and Cosmo, Fanboy and Chum Chum, and Bessie from Mighty B!, all partially lost, and supposedly a Spongebob one that would feature Spongebob and Patrick, that is completely lost as of the writing of this. As the name suggests, the characters featured in each bumper were creepy zombie versions of the nicktoon characters. Supposedly in the beginning of each bumper, an announcer would say “ Nicktoons gets ZOMBIFIED!“ and would proceed to showcase the zombie nicktoon character for that bumper. The bumpers first aired in 2011, and allegedly remained on the Nickelodeon website as last as 2015.
The bumpers were brought to attention as early as 2019, in a r/lostmedia post recounting the bumpers, and stately specifically they were looking for the Bessie one. Unfortunately, this didn’t really lead anywhere, as there were barely any comments on it. After that, other posts on other reddit forums addressing the same bumpers. One post would be featured on r/nickelodeon, and the other on r/tipofmytongue, both dated back to last year, and adding more specific details of them.
More recently, starting on January 9/2022, a lostmediawiki forum would re-spark interest in the bumpers, and officially kicking off the search for them. You can read the forum from the start here, or for those wanting a quick run down of where we’re at, there is this post summarizing the findings.
Now, onto the media itself. Below the read more I will discuss each bumper in detail and their statuses, including images and video of each bumper. They may be frightening, so do be aware. Videos will not be posted, but will be linked.
I’m part of this lost media search (and was the one who wrote the summary post linked above). Signal boosting because this is a really good overview of the search. Please do reach out if you have anything that could help the search~
So pretty much everyone in the Avatar/Korra fandom knows by now that Korra and Asami are together and are officially bi. And most people have also probably seen those pages from the Korra comic Turf Wars where Kya explains in brief how the four nations regard same-sex couples. But I recently went on a deep dive on the Wiki and found out a TON more, a lot of it coming from the Tabletop RPG, Avatar Legends, which is all official cannon due to Avatar Studios’s involvement in its development. So I figured I’d compile it all in one post.
And as this is going to be a long post with pictures, I'll be placing everything under a "Read more."
Air Nomads
Air Nomads just didn’t care about sexuality. Love is love and love is good. Even though Air Nation kids were pretty much raised communally, they did know who their parents were, and sometimes those parents were two dads or two moms.
This open-mindedness also extends to Trans and Non-binary air nomads. I believe this means that since the North and South temples were primarily inhabited by men and the East and West by women, individuals could chose to stay at whatever temple they felt comfortable at for their identity.
Characters:
-Rioshon, a nun from the Western Air Temple in the era of Roku. She fell in love with Princess Zeisan of the Fire Nation while teaching the princess how to chi-block. More on the Princess later. NPC from Avatar Legends.
-Bo, a non-binary trainee in airbending during the Era of Roku. They are a pre-generated PC for Avatar Legends.
-Enuk, a non-binary member of the Southern Water Tribe who gained airbending during the Harmonic Convergence. After gaining airbending, they left the Water tribe to join with the new Air Nation. Pre-generated PC for Avatar Legends.
Water Tribes
The Water Tribes are a bit... complicated in regards to gender and orientation. As Kya states, same-gender attraction on its own generally isn't too much of an issue, as long as it stays behind doors. Or, rather, tent flaps if you're in the South. Additionally, arranged marriages were the norm in the Northern Water Tribe until at least the end of the 100-year war, so attraction often didn't even play a role in marriage.
Even though people generally weren't disowned for same-sex attraction, the Northern Water Tribe's strict ideas of gender roles did lead to at least one trans waterbender to be rejected by her family.
According to Avatar Legends, in response to Korra's relationship with Asami, Chiefs Desna and Eska officially decreed that gender plays no role in who can or can not marry each other in the Water Tribes. They have received some pushback, but they make a point to attend same-sex weddings to make their stance clear.
Characters:
-Korra, of course. Bi, having been attracted to both Mako and Asami.
-Kya, the one narrating the panels I'm using in this post. She mentioned bringing home at least one girlfriend to meet Katara and Aang.
-Makittuq, the trans woman waterbender I had referred to, from the era of Roku. While her family and other members of the Water Tribe didn't accept her and understand her desire to live as herself, she found company among the spirits. She was an accomplished healer and was happy to teach the skill to any waterbender, and developed a method to calm dark spirits. She's an NPC in Avatar Legends.
-Massak, an inventor from the Southern Water Tribe in Roku's era who worked with her girlfriend (who happened to be Fire Nation) on ships intended to help with trade between the North and South Water Tribes. An Avatar Legends NPC.
-Qanitt, a non-binary chieftain from the Southern Water Tribe in Roku's era. Avatar Legends NPC
-Taiki, a trans man who wished to make a name for himself during the 100-year war, though the war ended not long after he had a chance. The Avatar Wiki says he's both from the Northern tribe and the Southern tribe, and since I don't have the books officially, I can't check which is correct. He's a pre-generated PC.
Earth Kingdom
The Earth Kingdom is probably the nation we know least about in terms of how they see and respond to LGBTQ individuals. However, the Earth Kingdom is also the largest and most diverse of the four nations, so different areas could have very different views.
There's at least one Earth Kingdom town in which same-sex marriage is recognized as of near the end of the 100-year war.
Characters:
-Kyoshi is bi, as shown in the comic panel and expanded on in the novels.
-Mingxia and Meilin are from the comic Suki, Alone. Mingxia was a friend of Suki's who left Kyoshi Island, and when the two were reunited, Mingxia introduced Suki to her new girlfriend, Meilin.
-Zenko, his husband, and their daughter are from the comic Origami from Team Avatar Tales, showing that same-sex marriage was recognized in at least one Earth Kingdom town.
-Junyi was a blacksmith who fell for one of his clients, and the two men planned to run away together until his client's wife found out and that's all I'm going to say here. He's an NPC from Avatar Legends, from the Roku era.
-Hua was a member of a gang within Ba Sing Se after the 100-year war. She tried to steal from Rose, the daughter of a pair of diplomats, but the two ended up falling for each other instead. Both are Avatar Legends NPCs.
-Xiao and Yuxuan are both non-binary pre-generated PCs from Avatar Legends. Xiao is from the 100-year war era and Yuxuan is from a bit later, in Aang's era.
Fire Nation
Going to break up my format a little bit, because I want to talk about this panel here and some new information that shines new, unflattering light on this decree by Sozin.
I mentioned her earlier, but Fire Lord Sozin had a sister, Princess Zeisan. As is family tradition apparently, Sozin and Zeisan were constantly pitted against each other, but Zeisan was born without bending. She sought out the Air Nomad, Sister Rioshon, to teach her chi-blocking, and the two of them fell in love.
Fire Lord Sozin outlawed same-sex relationships while his own sister was in love with a woman.
Honestly, I'd love to see more of Princess Zeisan's story. She seems like a VERY interesting character based on what the Avatar Wiki has from Avatar Legends. What I wrote here is just a tiny piece of what we know of her.
Other characters:
-Rangi, Avatar Kyoshi's girlfriend from the novels.
-Nyn Chei, Massak's girlfriend and partner in developing ships, until Massak broke things off with her when she realized their designs were being used for the Fire Nation's fleet. Avatar Legends NPC from Roku's era.
-Dalja Ro, non-binary leader of the Fire Navy relief fleet in Korra's era. They attended the Fire Nation Royal Academy for Girls as a kid, but they realized that they didn't exactly feel like a "girl". With the help of their classmates, they were able to figure out who they were. NPC from Avatar Legends.
-Sunlin, a nonbinary orphan from the 100-year war era. Pre-generated PC from the quickstart of Avatar Legends.
As a tabletop player, deliberately ignoring the GM’s obvious adventure hooks and going in the opposite direction just to be contrary is bad form; the GM is your fellow player, not your dancing monkey, and treating them like a vending machine whose buttons you can poke for unlimited creative content is a dick move
As a tabletop GM, you need to furnish your players with a specific reason to engage with your adventure hooks, ideally one tailored to their characters’ particular interests; if you just go “hey, shit’s weird over here”, they have no way of knowing what response is expected, or indeed, whether any active response is expected – you might just be doing a worldbuilding bit, for all they know!
(The latter issue is a common cause of the old “my players spent half the session obsessing over a random background detail I threw in for flavour and was inadequately prepared to expand upon” problem: if you don’t make a habit of actively giving your players a reason to engage, your adventure hooks will be indistinguishable from your worldbuilding bits, and sometimes your players are going to wrongly guess which is which.)
In response to several remarks in the notes to the effect of “why not just run a wide-open sandbox campaign instead?”, a couple of points:
1. The wide-open sandbox approach is not suitable for every setting or premise, and it’s disingenuous to pretend that it is.
2. In cases where the wide-open sandbox is tenable, one of its primary virtues is that it makes the preceding advice a whole lot easier to follow. When you’re running a wide-open sandbox, nobody expects you to describe every random rock and tree, so you can get away with “zooming out” and just hitting the major points of interest – and as a GM, you’re naturally going to tend toward describing points of interest that align with your own interests, whether you intend to or not. The upshot is that the prototypical sandbox campaign presents a world in which adventure hooks that the GM is interested in running are the only thing that exists!
(That still leaves the potential problem of failing to present anything at all that grabs your players’ attention, mind – but if you’re ending up in that situation by chance, you’ve got bigger problems than how to frame an adventure hook. If you’re either totally unaware of or totally unconcerned with your players’ interests, to the extent that you can describe a whole world and not hit even one of them, what the heck are you doing in the GM’s chair?)
A tip I picked up from watching a specific D&D group online:
If your players are easily distractable, don’t be afraid to throw in multiple adventure hooks for the same adventure. Or make the plot hook go to them. Some railroading is sometimes necessary.
Also, make sure DM and players are on the same page as to how much exploration of options is available.
For a Rogue, Corazon doesn't seem to enter rooms quietly
Corazón: How dare you imply that I, Corazón De Ballena, Human Pirate Rogue, am anything other than perfectly stealthy at every moment!!!
But yeah, the boy does not know the meaning of the word subtle sometimes. The way I see it, he figures that if he owns the house/ship, he doesn't have to knock.
To be fair, Corazon rarely knocks anywhere. Either he’s barging into the rooms of his house/ship because he owns them, or he’s sneaking into places stealth-like either via lockpicking or a window.
@randomthunk I’m so glad you liked it! As for the shared headcannons, the “Corazon finds out first and is disgusted” bit was included specifically because it was mentioned in one of dobsmoneylake’s tags. As for “Dob has no idea what he says and what they mean but is sure in his convictions,” that’s just part of his whole “Big heart, small brain” thing.
Also, “Dob only shows an interest in women who want to kill them”, I MEAN, AM I WRONG? My headcannon for at least these particular fics is that it’s Dob’s way to try to stop pining after Merilwen. Just start pining after particularly pretty enemies, since in his mind it’s just as likely to work out but he doesn’t have as much hope that it might be reciprocated and subsequently not as much disappointment.
Gotta love the hive mind XD. But yeah, Dob is so charming when he’s not even trying, it’s unfair. Someone please make sure Merilwen’s heart is okay. And Corazón finding out first is my favorite thing because of course he does.
I love that headcanon so much and with your permission I am adopting it for my own. It makes perfect sense and I absolutely love it.
My headcannon is your headcannon! Though I wonder how exactly it applies to a certain thief Queen. Did he become infatuated similarly to how he did Liliana, then when she seemed to actually reciprocate, he jumped at the chance? Based on the title of the next Oxventure, I have my fingers crossed we’ll get some more insight into Dob’s side of how that all happened.
Also, by the way, I laughed when I read A Meal Worth Its Salt because it starts the same way mine ended - with Corazon barging into a room and getting scolded for not knocking. I had finished writing by that point, just waiting for my roommate to proofread for me.
@randomthunk I’m so glad you liked it! As for the shared headcannons, the “Corazon finds out first and is disgusted” bit was included specifically because it was mentioned in one of dobsmoneylake’s tags. As for “Dob has no idea what he says and what they mean but is sure in his convictions,” that’s just part of his whole “Big heart, small brain” thing.
Also, “Dob only shows an interest in women who want to kill them”, I MEAN, AM I WRONG? My headcannon for at least these particular fics is that it’s Dob’s way to try to stop pining after Merilwen. Just start pining after particularly pretty enemies, since in his mind it’s just as likely to work out but he doesn’t have as much hope that it might be reciprocated and subsequently not as much disappointment.
A/N: So, this is a sequel to @dobsmoneylake‘s two-part Oxventure fanfic, Saturday Morning Cuddles (Part 1/Part 2). Written with their permission, and inspired by the tags at the bottom of part two.
(Also tagging @randomthunk because I know you were excited when I mentioned I was doing this)
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Merilwen tried. She really did try to relax. She was comfortable, Dob was clearly VERY comfortable. She could feel his slow, sleepy breaths, the rise and fall of his chest on her back, and his warm exhales through her hair and tickling her ear. She could feel his heartbeat, slow and steady. It wasn’t fair, every time Merilwen succeeded in calming her heart down to something resembling “relaxed”, Dob would shift slightly, reminding her of the decidedly “different from friends” way in which they were cuddling. His knee would shift up, curving around Merilwen even more, or the arm draped around her would pull her in tighter, or he would shift ever closer as if he couldn’t get close enough to the warmth of the elf in his arms.
Merilwen mentally celebrated her most successful attempt yet to just relax and let her mind drift off into a trance. She didn’t need it, of course. She had already gotten plenty of rest before Dob insisted she stay while he fell back to sleep. But it wasn't often she got extra time for her trance.
However, this attempt was once again thwarted when she felt lips press against the back of her neck. She snapped back into being alert, heart pounding in her chest as she froze, unsure how to react to such a tender gesture.
“Mornin’,” Dob sleepily greeted, though he sounded a bit more coherent than he had earlier when he initially woke up. Merilwen felt more than heard a thoughtful hum as he lifted his arm from her waist and brought it up, tucking his arm under hers and laying his hand back down over her racing heart. “Are you okay?” he asked with concern after a moment. “Your heart doesn’t always beat this quick, does it?”
“Well, what do you expect after…” Merilwen started, though she trailed off as she sat up in the bed, her body instantly missing Dob’s warmth as his arm fell from around her. “You just KISSED my neck!” A hand went back to the back of her neck, where she could still feel the touch of Dob’s lips.
This time, Dob pushed himself up to sit up as well, his hair a messy mop over his forehead that would be falling into his eyes if it were any longer. “Was that okay?” he asked, sounding almost fearful that he might’ve overstepped. “I thought, since you were okay with the cuddling, you seemed…”
“Dob,” Merilwen interrupted, placing a hand on his shoulder, taking a brief moment to marvel at how small it looked compared to Dob’s half-orkish build, “I’m not upset. Quite the opposite, actually.” She took her hand off Dob’s shoulder to brush his hair aside so she could more easily see the bright blue of his eyes.
Dob grabbed Merilwen’s hand in his. “So it’s okay if I…” Instead of finishing his question, he brought her hand to his lips, watching Merilwen’s face as he placed a kiss to the back of her hand.
Merilwen could feel her face get red-hot in a very obvious blush, though she didn’t pull away, even though Dob’s gentle hold of her hand showed she could if she wanted to. She suddenly felt way too exposed, Dob’s eyes taking in every feature of her face. Her very red face. She probably looked as red as Prudence. Embarrassed, Merilwen looked away, letting her hair act as a curtain to hide her face from the adorable half-orc she called her friend.
Not deterred, and in fact feeling emboldened by Merilwen not pulling away or telling him to stop, Dob scooted closer. He made sure to give Merilwen an easy out, a method to escape should she decide she didn’t want any of this after all, but Dob had a gut feeling that if that were the case, she would be long gone out of the room by now. He reached up to brush Merilwen’s hair back over her shoulder so she was no longer hidden by it.
“Dob, what are you doing?” Merilwen managed to squeak out once her face was once again exposed and Dob’s was just a few centimeters away.
“You seemed to like the kiss to your neck and to your hand. I thought I’d kiss your cheek next,” Dob replied, brow furrowed in confusion.
“No, not that, I mean…” Merilwen stammered. Dob’s heart dropped when Merilwen pulled away from him, though she didn’t move far. She put a little space between them, but it was mostly to sit directly facing Dob, her legs crossed in front of her. “All of this.” She motioned vaguely with her hand, indicating Dob and the bed. “The cuddling, the kisses, the ‘I like being this close to you.’”
“Merilwen, you know I like you,” Dob stated, as though it were a simple fact that would explain everything. Which, Dob figured, it should.
“Of course. We’re best friends, as you said earlier,” Merilwen said. “But cuddling like we were, and especially the kisses, that’s not a friendship thing. That’s a… a romantic thing.” The word “romantic” sounded strained, like Merilwen struggled to say it.
Merilwen’s explanation only made Dob more confused. Of course he knew that. “Right,” he agreed with a nod. “We are best friends, but I liked being romantic, and you seemed to like it too.”
“I did like it, but…” Merilwen replied, fighting to find her words. Her mind was a fog of joy and expectations of betrayal. “You can’t just SAY these things and DO these things and make my heart flutter like a lovesick kid just because we’re friends and I’m here and you’re in a cuddly mood and the women you want to be with are actively plotting to kill us!” Instead of trying to sort through the noise of her brain, she just let it all tumble from her mouth in a heap. She didn’t even realize she was avoiding Dob’s gaze until she finished, finding herself looking at the blanket in front of her. She slowly looked up, wincing when she saw sadness in Dob’s eyes. Sadness always looked so foreign on his features. “Dob, I’m sorry,” she apologized, reaching over to touch Dob’s arm, though she hesitated. Maybe it would be better if she just turned into a cat and let him pet her while she purred and forgot about her outburst.
Dob, however, interrupted that train of thought by grabbing the hand that was reaching out towards him and scooting closer to Merilwen until his legs bumped into hers. “Merilwen. I liked cuddling with you because I want to be with YOU. Forever. I never said anything before because I always assumed you had no interest in ME.”
Merilwen could hardly believe her ears. She would occasionally entertain the idea that maybe Dob had a crush on her, but then he’d say something about Liliana that snapped Merilwen back to reality. Could he have really been crushing on her this whole time?
Dob’s hand that wasn’t holding Merilwen’s reached over to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. Now that she knew that this wasn’t just some fleeting cuddles, Merilwen couldn’t get enough of Dob’s touch, leaning her head slightly into the brush of his fingers.
“Can I give you that kiss on the cheek now?” Dob asked, a playful smirk across his lips.
Merilwen gave a nod, humming an affirmation. Never one for a dull moment, Dob instantly leaned in, pressing his lips gently to Merilwen’s cheek. Merilwen couldn’t help but giggle, suddenly feeling silly in her earlier doubt. When Dob pulled back, Merilwen decided she wasn’t done with him quite yet. She brought both hands up to cup the sides of his face, halting him before he moved much at all, and before she could talk herself out of it, closed her eyes and brought her lips to his.
Dob’s eyes widened in surprise when Merilwen pulled him into a kiss, and he could feel heat rising in his cheeks, but it didn’t take long for him to begin kissing back, his eyes fluttering closed to just focus on how Merilwen’s lips felt against his. One of Dob’s hands found its way to the back of Merilwen’s head, fingers brushing through her hair, while the other wrapped around her waist to pull her closer.
“Yo, Dob, you just missed one awesome-OH MY GOD!” Corazon exclaimed, walking into the room without knocking and instantly regretting it. He’s seen Dob naked before, he’s seen Dob in the middle of all kinds of shenanigans. But nothing could’ve prepared the pirate to walk in on Dob and Merilwen wrapped up in each other’s arms.
Both Dob and Merilwen made startled noises as they jumped at the intrusion and threw themselves backwards, out of the kiss.
“Hey, Corazon,” Dob greeted, sounding a little sheepish.
Merilwen, however, looked quite angry as she glared at the pirate. “Didn’t anybody ever teach you to knock?” she scolded.
Corazon started backing out of the room, as if afraid of Merilwen lashing out. Of course, whether or not he was afraid of the wood elf, he had to get one more word in. “I am so telling Egbert and Prudence,” he announced before dashing down the hall.
A couple of months ago, I asked my followers what kind of Avengers fan art they wanted to see from me and they voted at 81% for the “Medieval / Heroic Fantasy AU” option. Here’s the result, I hope you’ll enjoy it! ♥ A big thank you to @vegetamochi who came up with the title. (Nb: this is an art project, there’s no fic to go with it)
A couple of months ago, I asked my followers what kind of Avengers fan art they wanted to see from me and they voted at 81% for the “Medieval / Heroic Fantasy AU” option. Here’s the result, I hope you’ll enjoy it! A big thank you to @vegetamochi who came up with the title. (Nb: this is an art project, there’s no fic to go with it)
Hello! I recently found your blog, and since I have nobody around me to talk to about Oxventure feelings, I’ve decided to inflict them on you.
Specifically having a lot of thoughts right now about “Orphaned from a young age” Dob dating “The only character with living loving parents” Merilwen and getting unofficially adopted by said loving parents.
I cannot even begin to tell you how thrilled I am to get an ask to my blog, and to get an ask to my blog about Dobwen.
Anyway, I absolutely adore this thought, and realized that Dob just wouldn't know that kind of affection and attention? Hmm...
(Thank you senpai @the-last-teabender for the word assist.)
You are free to lob any of these Dob/Merilwen feelings, headcanons, and etc. at me, the box is always open.
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