#my initial thoughts

[mind-made-of-references]

"I won't let him do this to anyone else."

I was waiting for a scene of Maul crying, but I didn't think it would affect me this much. I'm not okay, wow. And I didn't expect him to say something like this. The kindness didn't entirely leave him, apparently. This makes his eventual failure to defeat Sidious so much more tragic.

"The emperor wants you dead./Likewise."

Is he talking about Palpatine or himself? Is he passively suicidal?

[aquariusshadow]

All my NATLA!Zutara thoughts on an INITIAL WATCH THROUGH! - NOTE: this is from only ONE watch through, so i WILL have missed things and probably also MISREMEMBERED something - NOTE 2: There are some things ik i jotted down out of curiosity that might come to play in s3. so if i mention something that has no significance initially, its probably cuz i want to theorize it/use it some how for later (be it s3 predictions or a fic/artwork)

EPISODE 1: - When Katara is talking to Amita (spelling? same person?) and learning about the Painted Lady Lore, Amita says. "When you see a Painted Lady [flower] it means we're going the right way." - NOTE: ZUKO AS THE BLUE SPIRIT SEES KATARA AS THE PAINTED LADY AND TEAMS UP WITH HER. HE DOES THIS WHEN HES ACTIVELY TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE. - The Painted Lady flowers appeared again in the same nature spot the Gaang went too - that was also the place where Iroh and Zuko were doing manual labor. - "The right cup of tea at the right moment can change your entire life. That is how I got Zarina to fall in love with me." - IROH to ZUKO - I made a note of this for future reference...maybe we'll get something in season 3? Or maybe we can interpret this more metaphorically like the cup of tea being 'the right PERSON at the right moment.'

EPISODE 2: - Ursa telling Zuko about the Blue Spirit - not necessarily anything directly zutara but I found it interesting that Ursa being Zuko's mother is the one who tells him that, and Amita is the one who tells Katara about the Painted Lady, because I kinda view Amita as a mother-figure type person to Katara. Or like they could've done more with that dynamic if they wanted too. - Katara showing more agency and talking Political Trade ideas with the Beifong Family for the Southern Water Tribe - I really liked this cuz it plays more into the Ambassador Katara idea that's super common among Zutara fans. Fire Lord Zuko and Ambassador Katara lets gooooo - Fei telling Zuko she doesn't need to be ashamed of his scar and Zuko feeling really uncomfortable when she said this. - I was worried this would initially undermine Katara's offering to heal it HOWEVER it shows Zuko's state of mind at that moment in time, and when reflecting back to the dialogue in episode 7, my worries were alleviated because Zuko was in such a different headspace by the time we got to episode 7 - "I'm not surprised that you're standing with the enemy, Zuko." - When Azula says this, the camera pans specifically between Zuko and Katara, zooming in on both of their faces. In hindsight, this was obviously DIRECT AND IMMEDIATE foreshadowing to the Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady, but I love the implications this could have for season 3 - Katara offering to heal Iroh just like in OG

EPISODE 3 - "The people of the water tribe transform adversary into growth." -IROH to ZUKO when he's explaining the different elements - Wanna try and tell me that's not a direct foreshadowing of Katara transforming her adversary into growth as she and Zuko finally become friends in season 3? Or even the nugget we got at the end of season 2? - I think we saw the beginning of Blue Spirit and Painted Lady right before the episode ended?

EPISODE 4 - Oh, right, okay, this montage at the beginning, direct Blue Spirit and Painted Lady parallels of cuts between the two as Zuko's doing his thing, and Katara is painting her face. - I made a note about hearing Katara's theme somewhere during this - I also made a note about the camera cutting between them during the montage - PAINTEDSPIRIT FIGHTING TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME - Jet name-dropped Katara and Zuko GASPED. - I believe this was during the part where they save the Reformed Firenation people from Jet's attack - Zuko saves them because they're the ones who start opening his eyes to Ozai's tyrannical rule and force him to start looking at things differently. - Katara saves them because she didn't see them as evil Fire Nation, just people who were being attacked and bullied. (at this point, I don't remember if she realizes that they are actually Firebenders or not?) my memory is fuzzy here) - I just find it interesting that their first team-up involves the beginning of changing perspectives/broadening perspectives on the reality of the Fire Nation and their people.

EPISODE 5 - Zuko saw Katara in the town talking with Sung and followed her - Jet calls Katara a "Flame Lover"

EPISODE 6 - This is just a head-canon I came up with because I wasn't the biggest fan of Zuko/Fei or Zuko/Jin, so as I was watching during this episode, I had this thought of like what if each girl Zuko spends time with and opens up more with is solely to prepare him for when he meets Katara and they open up to each other. - "I'm doing it because I want to help people...and for myself." - ZUKO to IROH - This directly parallels why Katara is the Painted Lady and why she kept it quiet the entire time. - The fact that the Painted Lady and the Blue Spirit team up IMMEDIATELY AFTER KATARA AND AANG HAVE THEIR ARGUMENT?????? - Zuko saves her from the Dai Li - Does a badass flip thing OVER HER BACK - THEY ALSO HAVE A SYNC'D/TEAMUP MOVE

EPISODE 7 - "When I saw the Dai Li attack you, I didn't think. I just helped." - "I feel guilty for living! What do you feel?" - WE GOT THE OG LINE OF HER SAYING THE FIRENATION TOOK MY MOTHER AWAY FROM ME, AND ZUKO SAYING THATS SOMETHING WE HAVE IN COMMON - Zuko tells Katara a little bit about Ursa - Zuko tells Katara how he got his scar. - "It's like a waterbender drowning." - "When I pictured the face of the enemy...it was your face." - "No matter how much you hate this face, Katara, I hate it more." - "I see a person in pain. Someone who needs healing." - The fact Katara asks him if she could heal him??!!?! - She thinks the water was meant for Zuko. He thinks he doesn't deserve to be healed, and she says you WILL. NOT you DO, but you WILL. - SHE TOUCHES HIS SCAR. ITS SLOW AND TENDER TOO!! - Katara fighting the Dai Li in the cave hallway - Zuko sees and immediately rushes to help. BUT THE DAI LI AGENT SAYS TO SEPARATE THEM AND BENDS A ROCK BARRIER BETWEEN THEM!! The camera keeps cutting between Zuko and Katara's faces. - She was so happy to see Zuko when he came down fuuuuuuuuuu-- - We got the OG "I thought you had changed!" dialogue

EXTRA NOTE: I'm listening to their theme on spotify and it's so melancholic, sad, and tender all at the same time.

So that's everything I noticed, some stuff I had more analysis on, other stuff was more dialogue, but this is everything I caught on my initial watch through! A more thorough and in depth analysis can come from me if y'all want it - plus Ik everyone in this fandom also has their own amazing takes and theories and picked up on several things I definitely didn't my first go around.

[mishatookmyquarter]

Holy fucking shit ???

[lucithornz]

My initial thoughts after using Ellipsus to write a few fics now.

Overall I really like the program, it's intuitive and easy to use. I was able to very easily copy over a project I was working on and just get to writing.

I have a few reservations about it that I will list below.

Pros: - easy to use. I found the program to be very easy to understand right away. Nothing is hidden away in a menu you'd never find, all the big stuff is in a menu on the side - good font selection. Some are pretty much dupes of more popular fonts. - lots of color filters to help with eyestrain. Dark mode and a range of various color combo and grayscale modes - outline feature is very helpful for multi-chapter works - draft feature is helpful for keeping track of multiple versions or separating multiple parts of the same work Concerns:

These aren't cons, just some things that I want to see unfold before I would fully commit to using the program. - since it's a new program and not currently profitable I am concerned about the long term reliability of use - there will be paid plans after the full product launch. I would want to make sure there is a free version(which they currently guarantee) that has enough features I need to write - limited in scope. Currently very good for writing but if you want to do anything more technical like make tables and graphs etc it's not there yet. Very good for creative writing but not as versatile as other office suite programs. - side tool bar. I would like the ability to have the bold and italic and center align options more easily accessible. I would like to be able to move those to the top of the screen. Just so I don't have to click an extra button to get to those options.

My main concern would be how new it is. I think this kind of project is worth supporting, but I am hesitant to become completely reliant on a product that has yet to fully run on it's own. I will continue to use and support Ellipsus because a use base will be key for a project like this to actually make it. My advice would be just don't immediately put all your projects into it just yet, have other copies backed up.

Things I did not test: - the export to AO3 feature. I know this is there but I didn't try it out yet. - special characters. I have used a few but nothing fancy, so I don't know if this program has a more limited scope in that area as well.

Overall I like the program so far and I will continue to use it.

[killatravs]

i’m more interested in the woman who wrote this album then the people who may have inspired it. this album to me is a story of a woman with a fierce attitude and free spirit who tamped that part of herself down for many years and then made the choice to reclaim those parts of herself and the chaos, destruction, and mess that choice resulted in. for what probably felt like a lifetime last summer so much of what we perceived to be different stories (joe breakup, matty fling) were more intertwined then we were ever aware of and that entanglement and messiness of unraveling a life you built with someone and what comes after is all over this album. it’s beautiful and wretched and dramatic and spiteful but it’s so so human and i continue to be endlessly fascinated with taylor the person vs taylor the superstar

[extra-petty-me]

Queen Charlotte (2023)

[xuunies]

[peblezq]

Stranger Things 3 didn't have to hit that hard, but it did...it really did...