a brief introduction! (will be updated regularly ^^)
my online alias is sunny, but mutuals/friends can call me layla. i refer to myself collectively as weela, usually.
i am 18. cis female. she/her prns/terms are always ok!
sickies are my main special interest – this blog is vanilla & sfw but if you’re here bc i interacted w one of your posts, all my likes/follows are private. i am one of you. you know who you are~ 🫶
@the-niight-guard is my baby sister whom i love very much! star wars is her main interest right now, but recently we’ve been playing pvz:gw2 together.
I just watched Avatar for the first time all the way through, and yeah, it’s great, but the one thing that surprised me was how different Katara was compared to the fandom interpretation I’d seen and internalized before watching.
Like, before you watch Avatar, you’ve seen all these memes about Katara and her mom, and based on those memes, you assume it’s one of those lines you have to get used to hearing at least once every episode. But then you watch the show and realize that she only talks about her mom maybe five or six times per season and you also realize she only brings her up when she’s trying to comfort someone or empathize with them because that’s how she processes her grief and that’s one way she connects with people.
Or you hear the infamous line, “then you didn’t love [our mother] the way I did” and you prepare yourself for one of the worst character assassinations ever only to see the scene after nearly three seasons worth of context and realize she was kinda right. She’s been the mother, the nurturer, the comforter. She’s been patient, gentle, and accommodating where everyone else has gotten to be insensible and reckless and childish, and the one moment where she allows herself to feel her grief, suddenly she’s this evil bitch and not, y’know, a 14 year old girl whose been thrusted into adulthood in a way no other character has. A 14 year old girl who should be allowed immaturity and raw emotion and anger instead of the patience and grace she’s been forced to extend to every character without even the smallest amount of gratitude or even consideration in return.
Or you see all of the clips where Katara puts Aang in the “friendzone” and you expect to have this wishy washy back and forth where Aang is putting his feelings out there only to have Katara neither commit nor express any clear reciprocation or rejection. Then you watch and realize that, as cute as the ship is initially, that there’s never a point where Aang returns any comfort or grace to Katara despite her always doing this for him to the point of coddling. That for as much as Aang says he loves her, he never seems to outgrow his perception of her so he can recognize her as someone who feels grief, anger, and pain as much as she expresses love, kindness, and maturity. And instead of having moments where he learns to see her beyond her strength or compassion, you’re instead given moments where Aang forces his feelings onto her, both romantic and non-romantic, and Katara is expected to just…shoulder those feelings the way she shoulders everyone else’s.
Katara is the most misunderstood character in the show. As much as people recognize the complexities of Zuko, Sokka, and Azula, they struggle to do the same for Katara because they see her struggles as somehow lesser, and therefore, less deserving of sympathy. They can handle her so long as she’s being endlessly patient and loving and kind, but the moment her endless love, patience, and kindness runs out, she’s suddenly this annoying bitch who can’t shut up about her mother or reciprocate Aang’s feelings. But Katara’s trauma does matter as much as anyone else’s. No, she wasn’t banished from her kingdom. No, she didn’t lose her entire community, and no, she isn’t the only one who lost her mother. But the difference between her and everyone else whose experienced loss because of the Fire Nation is that she’s never given time to process her trauma. Aang gets to lean on Katara constantly. Toph gets to express her feelings to Katara, and yeah, Sokka also lost their mother, but unlike Katara, he isn’t put in the position of being a substitute for everyone’s parent. He even admits that he sees his sister as a mother. The only characters who ever comfort Katara or allow her to vent is Zuko and her father and that’s, like, three scenes in a show where the other characters are consistently given opportunities to seek out Katara for unconditional support.
The fandom interpretation of Katara has been so bastardized that even those who haven’t watched the show know her for this fanon version and not for who she is. She’s such an interesting character beyond her fandom limitations, though. She’s brave, hot-headed, and hopeful as well as gentle and caring. She wishes to learn waterbending, not only because she wants to fight in the war, but because she wants to continue her culture’s practices because, and people often forget this, she also lost an entire subculture within her already fractured tribe. And she wants to defeat the Fire Nation both because of her deep love and empathy for other people, but also because she wants to avenge her mother. But because some of the fans have reduced Katara to a bitch who constantly whines about her mother and friendzones Aang, you wouldn’t know any of this, and it sucks because she’s the only character whose been dumbed down to such an extent.
With the 25th anniversary of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney approaching, I couldn't help but think of all the messages I've gotten throughout the years from people who've told me that my unadulterated passion has nudged them toward the series. Many of them understandably don't know where to start, and so I decided to make a little post to lay out how incredibly accessible the world of Ace Attorney truly is.
If you've ever found yourself on the fence for any reason, this post is for you. Even if it's not, please reblog it! I would love to get more people into the series that rather unexpectedly changed my life and gave me brain slugs.
LET'S GO
Okay, so like, what is Ace Attorney? Like, it's a game, but wtf do you do?
It's a visual novel, actually, with gameplay elements.
Classic whodunnit murder mystery style VN. It inspired the likes of Danganronpa, which you may or may not remember was huge on tumblr back in the day. You play as a rookie attorney as he finds his wings in the world of criminal defense, and the gameplay loop consists of investigation-style point-and-click segments, and logic puzzle/debate segments in the court room.
You know way less about Ace Attorney's story & characters than you probably think you do.
You have no doubt seen bits and pieces of the story, or at the very least you have seen fanart of the blue one making out with the other guy (he looks like a dragonfruit smoothie covered in half-used kleenex), but I cannot stress enough how unprepared I personally was for the story. AA is one of those fandoms where the anoying fujo shipping culture greatly overshadows the canon and the depth of its characters.
I famously grew up on an internet that loved Ace Attorney and centered it greatly in the cultural zeitgeist, but despite only following lesbians I only found out five years ago that there are women in this game. Not only are there women in this game, but they are the central characters, and some of the best and most realistically written I have ever seen.
Did you also know that there are supernatural elements to AA? Spirits and magic feature heavily and are inextricable from the story. This is not just a boring legal drama!
Most of this is overshadowed by the Hawt Yaoiz because fandom is famously misogynistic, but unfortunately their frothing obsession over the dragonfruit smoothie man is not entirely misplaced. I will say with my whole chest here that Miles Edgeworth is one of the best characters in the history of fiction, and he is the reason I developed brainworms over AA.
BUT DID YOU KNOW HE ALSO HAS A HOT, MEAN SISTER WHO'S TEN TIMES COOLER AND MORE COMPELLING?
Yeah, me either. D-Don't look at my icon, don't worry about it.
Are the lawyers actually gay?
No. But I can't stress enough how little that matters, because they are actually in love, and the fact that they are in love is by far the least interesting thing about them as people.
Trust me.
Okay, so how do I play it?
Pick a system.
No, legiterally. What's your preference. The entire trilogy is bundled on it.
Here it is on Steam. Here it is on xbox. Here it is on playstation. Here it is on switch. Here it is on the fucking app store. Android too.
It regularly goes majorly on sale on all these platforms. I've seen it get as low as nine dollars, which equates to 3 bucks per game.
Are you broke? A rom for PC is probably not hard to find.
Do you have a modded 3DS? Download it for free off the homebrew store.
I cannot stress enough how easy it is to play Ace Attorney.
Wendy, that's great, but I hate this genre. Is there any way I can... avoid playing it?
Hey, me too!
No, really. I hate playing Ace Attorney! I do not like Ace Attorney-likes, either!
I hate logic puzzles, I hate using my brain in this specific way, and I hate trying to figure out murder mysteries.
"But Wendy, you are still insane about Ace Attorney. You have written over 300,000 words of Ace Attorney fic and run an Ace Attorney-themed youtube channel."
YES!!!!!!! IT IS THAT GOOD!!!!!
I got into Ace Attorney because I was lucky enough to have a friend who offered to stream their playthrough. But there are so many good youtube LPs you can watch. I personally recommend:
Press Buttons and Talk (a HUGE favourite of mine)
RTGame (mostly good, though he does listen to his chat a bit too much RE: forming opinions on the game)
Pixel Partners (haven't watched the whole thing, but my friends can vouch)
Lucahjin (same as above)
My favourite LP of all time, the one I am BEGGING you to choose above all else, is Crystaahhl's. She does not allow her chat to sway her play style/opinions. She is earnest, emotional, passionate, and unapologetic. She frequently starts streams with "okay so I was thinking about this case all night and here's my notes." And you get to watch her fall in love with the characters and story, feel openly, cry and laugh and scream, and become a genuine fan. I watch her LP whenever I need to be reminded of why this is my favourite series ever. Please watch her playthrough.
(avoid The Game Grumps' playthrough at all costs. please.)
What if I don't want to watch some youtube joe play the games?
Watch. The. Anime.
Listen to me. LISTEN TO ME.
Many people, some of them likely in the reblogs of this post, will tell you the AA anime is bad. They will tell you it is supplemental, and that it is not a replacement for the games, and under NO circumstances should you ever like or appreciate it. They will tell you that watching it as a new fan is the worst thing you can possibly do.
DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM. EVEN IF THEY ARE IN THE REBLOGS OF THIS POST. I, OP, AM TELLING YOU TO REJECT THEIR ADVICE AT ALL COSTS.
I like the AA anime more than the games, and I will proudly flaunt that fact whenever I am given the chance. I like AA for the characters, not the gameplay, so the anime is my favourite of all. It is not bad, it is not ugly or poorly animated, and it is not a sad imprint of the games it is based on. Immeasurable love and care has been poured into the anime, and it is true to every character it portrays and expands upon.
I know many, MANY people who started with the anime and got into the games later on out of sheer need to consume everything AA they possibly could. If you are like me and you don't place a lot of stock in figuring out the mysteries yourself, WATCH THE FUCKING ANIME.
And seriously, don't check the notes of this post. There will no doubt be hundreds of people debating why I am wrong. But I have never, ever been wrong about Ace Attorney <3
It's on CrunchyRoll. It's probably on whatever bootleg anime streaming site you prefer. You don't have any? Message me.
Subs or dub?
Personally I prefer the dub because I think Yuki Kaji is a weird pick for Phoenix / Ryuuichi (despite my love of him), but the script is tighter in Japanese and you miss out on Aoi Yuki as Maya / Mayoi in English. That said, I do mainly watch the dub and stream it for friends, I think it's one of the better dubs out there for sure.
Anything else?
Yes. If this post gets you into Ace Attorney, you must do two things for me.
Please reblog it!
PLEASE TELL ME ALL YOUR THOUGHTS. MY ASK BOX IS OPEN. PLEASE. PLEASE BLOW IT UP. PLEASE TALK TO ME ABOUT ACE ATTORNEY. I'M SCREAMING.
I messed up my shoulder a little while drawing these the last few days, BUT THAT JUST MEANS I'M DEDICATED!
JK, I need to rest it so I don't actually cause damage RIP. What do you do if you're not drawing, though?? Anyway, I love these designs. They're really cute and really pointless and I should really work on the actual AU it's based on. Maybe I'll do that!
Kudos to fanfiction writers for writing about all the trauma and emotional and mental turmoil that the original content creators dont acknowledge when putting characters through hell
This has evolved to one of fanfiction’s major assets in my eyes. To every author that cares enough about the characters in their stories to examine trauma, but also the slow, tedious processes of healing and recovery: your stories mean so much to me and other persons with mental health problems. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
The lesson of avatar was never “killing bad people makes you just as bad as them” it was “you cannot be letting fascists dictate what counts as a win or loss” guys like come on it’s been 20 years
Katara doesn’t forgive Yon Rha and hug him and dry him off and walk him home she leaves him scared and sniveling and crying in the mud but she leaves him alive because she realized in that moment that she was only doing this because she felt like she had to. She hates this man, therefore she should want to kill him, right? The narrative isn’t saying wow Katara killing a mass murdering fascist dickwad is just as bad as said dickwad killing an innocent wife and mother during a raid on her home, it’s saying wow isn’t it fucked up that this little girl has been forced to carry this deep seated anger in her for most of her life to the point where the only outlet she believes she has for it is killing a man in cold blood? And like… yeah! That is pretty fucked!
so so many fictional characters i love i know i would HAAAAAAAAAAAATEEEE as people. but when they are within the context of their little worlds and dealing with people that are not me i luv them
hitting you with 21 and 27 for franmaya on the character ask game! have a good day ^^!
thank u!!!
If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?
franziska: my headcanons are pretty consistent, as are her mannerisms. one thing i do with her a lot is have her kinda stick her jaw out or harden it to look tougher, which is something i stole from hanana mio's portrayal of her in Turnabout Gold Medal, my absolute favourite stage play and my favourite actress to ever portray franziska. the subtleties she adds to the character make me a little crazy.
other staples of my franziska are mostly based in canon: her hidden sweet tooth, her love for flowers and flower language, her boundless confidence in messing up english idioms / malapropism. i gave her dog allergies and made her hate the french because i thought it would be funny. i lean really hard into her german identity which is already kind of baked into her personality--she is blunt and short-spoken, she dislikes needless fluff/small talk, she's efficiency-minded and straightforward, she can be bribed with artisan baked goods, she's mad at how everyone in the states think it's fashionable to be ten minutes late instead of perfectly early. its all just a lot of extrapolation, really. whenever i feel i'm not writing her voice well enough i make her go 'bah!' and i'm right back there.
maya: i feel bad cause i have way less to say about her, i don't often write from her POV because it's not as easy/fun for me to be inside the head of someone as down on herself as maya tends to be. but i really like writing her dialogue because i can just load it up with gen z slang, her equivalent of 'bah' is 'freakin'' which she says in the anime dub and it kills me how natural it sounds coming from her. in my head she likes kpop and sends her friends a lot of memes.
i really like leaning into the uncanny with maya, tying her back to the fey clan even though she's kind of their ugly duckling? like my favourite thing is making her very irreverent and casual with her powers, ie "im gonna channel mia to win this argument/do my taxes/make me a sandwich" like her communing with spirits is just a party trick. at the same time, i love writing her with this sorta... overly-perceptive, almost spooky air to her? i fully believe the feys can get a read on you with one look. not always, as maya is provably naiive and gullible, but i think she is very much capable of being a sort of empath who can tell a person's mood/inner workings with one intense glance.
What is a color or colors that you think of when you think of this character, be it their canon color(s) or not?
it is most certainly their canon colors, i'm boring like that.
but! pink and blue is also a big one as opposed to their usual purple and blue, because. well.
i have such a big appreciation for how descriptive your writing is with personalities esp. will def be adding steel samurai to my reading list! (just have to get over the hurdle of starting it 💔 starting is always difficult for me)
