Um, Hi?

I don't know how to do this ‘people’ thing They/Them I mainly reblog stuff Current fandoms: Batman/DC, DPxDC, Avengers/MCU, Harry Potter, Assassin’s Creed (Desmond Miles), Star Wars (Obi-Wan), The Vampire Diaries, ATLA (Zuko). An Adulty Age, Autistic, Ace. Most tags are used solely to make THIS blog easier to navigate. ‘#other stuff’ is everything not fandom ‘#YES’ is my favourite stuff

[my-flying-sister]

I love rebloging. It’s the adult equivalent of showing everyone the cool rock I just found.

[the-dandy-liar]

[the-frightening-ghoul]

ㅤ

[alculai]

Why are you stalking me, there’s so many notifications

Hey, sorry about that. I follow your friend fruitcakebro and saw one of their posts rebloging you like 9h after u joined and kinda just read through what was there, I generally like everything I read unless I just scroll past so 🤷🏻

Hope I didn’t freak u out 😂

Welcome to tumblr!

[enki2]

[velvetys]

How is bnha anime of the decade...... they aren’t even anime of the hour of the minute of the second

[grimeclown]

The notes on this post were so toxic that staff just axed em

[abraxasrinbalt]

1969.........

[harperhug]

Yes, when the original post is deleted from the server (not just the blog, but the Tumblr servers), there is no root post for notes to be added onto, and also no root post for time to be counted from, so it starts from zero. Most computer operating systems use Unix, which was launched in 1971 with t.he epoch date of midnight on January 1, 1970 as 1. Therefore zero is one second behind that date: December 31, 1969. Also, very unfortunately, this also means nobody except you and anyone you reblog it to will see this explanation, as you cannot open the notes to see comments when there are no notes.

[ti0mumu]

[nick-nonya]

Tumblr is truly one of the webbed sites ever

[solnight99]

ohmg

[aroace-ryland-grace]

[thegreatlazule]

post's haunted.

[darkeeveeanimatesus]

The Rise of Phantom

Chapter 11- 12 art

[We never really heard much about the other timeline Dark Danny originated from. All we know is that he went berserk and destroyed it. But how?... why would Danny do such a thing? Is he really just a heartless monster now- hellbent on murder? And what about Vlad? What about the citizens?.. How did such a dark future come to be..? Surely SOMEONE could have prevented such a disaster....]

READ NOW!

Wattpad or Ao3

[nerdpoe]

"In other news, the newly discovered Infinite Realms, an alien dimension that sits right next to our own, has announced that they do not believe in America."

"...What?" Flash asks, protein bar halfway to his mouth. He's in the cafeteria of the Watchtower, and he's not the only one with his eyes pinned to the TV.

"I'm not sure I understand, Linda, can you clarify what they mean by that?" The male reporter asks, smile strained.

"Certainly, Todd. The Infinite Realms has stated that they do not believe that the United States of America is a real country, and as such, will not seek to make any deals or treaties with them."

Wonder Woman raises an eyebrow, leaning back in her seat.

"Then...then what do they think America is?" Todd asks from the TV, sounding a little desperate.

"Apparently, they view America as 'a collection of toddlers that bathe in money pretending like they own the world'."

Green Arrow starts laughing so hard he dry heaves.

[evilminji]

I mean... politically? America DID start it. The I.R. does have the right to do that. Especially if they have the ability to keep America from... you know... *all the historical examples of America doing as it has done* to them?

Honestly? Power move would be to recognize the Tribes. Since according to THIER(Infinite Realms) records? They were there first. Sorry guys! You're illegal immigrants. We only recognize the RIGHTFUL governments of this land.

Frankly? Put Sam in charge of it. She'd have fun.

[nerdpoe]

"Okay. So what you're saying, Linda, is that they will only acknowledge the Native Nations within America, but not America itself?"

"That appears to be correct Todd."

"Then what, exactly, do they think is in-between Native lands? The ocean?"

"Apparently, as I clearly stated before, they believe it's a no mans land infested with toddlers that bathe in money and pretend they own the world."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Do you need me to get you a pacifier, Todd? Would that make you feel better?"

[thatrandomsarahchick]

Danny travels back in time to make treaties with the native tribes and their Spirits. Then goes forward and has the historical proof of their existence from before the white man came and started their tantrums.

[zealouswitchwerewolf]

It started as a fuck you to the GIW and the laws they hid to pass the anti-ecto acts and now they've decided it's actually a good idea and are ✨invested✨. Sam's having a great time researching and focusing her activism on that, Danny keeps giving it more validity with time missions to make the more legit, and Tucker has decided to team up with technus to hack and expose all the billionaires and the shady shit they do and use it as extra confirmation.

[moss-covered-thoughts]

FUCK yeah political power move

[jinjeriffic]

Phantom presents treaties written in Native languages that were lost and linguists absolutely lose their fucking minds

[vi-reads]

Native languages from all over, too. Versions at least half lost to history and time, if not 100% undecipherable. He just put the geographically relevant ones on top of the stack for the moment, since they are arguing the validity of A Specific Region (bigass country used to count as many, before it was absorbed, thus "region").

When THAT crops up, the historians and linguists are trampling everyone else to Dive In. Gonna need a LOT of xerox copies to share, Dann-o. 🤣

[wisecloudnightmare]

[ailithnight]

I mean, does the Justice League really need to be involved anyway? It's not like the Infinite Realms is invading. Other than a few miscreants sneaking through the veil to cause trouble where they think they're less likely to be caught.

And then, per his agreement with various Native Nations, when one of his does come to cause trouble, the King sends an envoy to bring them back, since the humans would struggle to defeat a rogue ghost. (Danny retro-proactively authorizing his work as Phantom and also attempting to obscure the fact that he is the King.)

All in all, one nation refusing to recognize another is a political issue. The Justice League should be very careful, very hesitant to insert themselves into a political spat between countries. It's one thing to act in defense of the whole planet, or even to take a stance for people's rights. But international politics is not and should not be Justice League business. Even trying to get involved could be read as a massive overstep of power; a breach of trust that could erode any good will or cooperation they currently have with world governments.

I could, however, see them thinking the King's information is out of date and trying to update him about recent changes of power from the last few hundred years. But once he makes clear he knows of and simply does not acknowledge the colonizers as the reigning government; well he's not really a threat now is he? Not the kind of problem the Justice League needs to solve.

Also, I'm imagining this information coming to light now because (as Danny set it up to be so) it is time to renew the treaties. He made a whole spectacle of sending out ghost diplomats to travel to various native leaders to discuss the renewals and when the King should visit to do them and what other preparations should take place between now and then. It's all public enough that the GIW would have to be idiots to outright attack the traveling diplomats.

[headspace-hotel]

There is a lot of information out there about weaving, crocheting and knitting, but relatively little about spinning.

Which is a shame, since spinning is really where the "resource provided by the earth" tangibly becomes "object with a use."

Aspects of spinning, such as the amount of twist and the length of the fibers, are impactful upon the thread or yarn created, but lots of fiber crafters don't get to directly play with those variables...

It is so strange how textile production is so utterly dominated by very few fibers, when so many are possible. Industry keeps coming up with new ways to transform bamboo or something into fibers, which is all well and good, but we have yet to run out of easily usable natural fibers that have worked for thousands of years.

Dogbane—Apocyonum cannabinum—was called "Indian hemp" because it was used by Native Americans for ropes, cords and textiles. It's incredibly strong, soft, and easy to collect large amounts of it. But hardly anybody uses it.

[bookwyrmbran]

As far as yarn construction (twist, fiber staple, ply, draw, etc) goes, may I recommend the Spinner's Book of Yarn Designs (Sarah Anderson) and Yarnitecture (Jillian Moreno)? @dirtypuzzle mentioned SpinOff and Fibershed in the comments and those are great magazines and ways to find local groups as well. I've read some great articles on prepping and spinning flax, hemp, cotton, and silk on there in addition to the more popular fleece/fur/hair fibers.

For those especially I can't over-recommend the Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook or the Field Guide to Fleece (Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius.) An awful lot of excellent fiber breeds and species are now unknown, under-used, and in danger of going extinct; Shave 'Em to Save 'Em and the Livestock Conservancy in general are good resources for finding local people working with those. There's a chiengora (dog wool) group on Ravelry that's great, too, and lots of easily searchable info on raising silkworms at home and spinning from hankies.

There really is a dearth of information easily available on most plant fibers, I too would love to see more of it for like... almost everything, really. At a guess, most potentials get ignored at an institutional level because they're a pain to grow and process in bulk, which in turn means there's little if any data on how they stand up to modern washing and drying and detergents. Bast fibers tend to be a pain to prep as an interested individual (and often smelly!) and can be hard on the hands while spinning, especially those with extra long fibers. Even so a lot of people would spin old/new/ignored plants if they didn't have to process raw plant into spinnable fiber. I suspect that and not knowing which plants might be good options are the biggest obstacles to at least hobbyist experimentation.

[dirtypuzzle]

Here's a blog post where someone attempts to process and spin milkweed stalks. Keep in mind, milkweed stalks produce a bast fiber whereas milkweed fluff can also be spun but makes a brittle yarn by itself and is often mixed with wool or cotton, though I would assume you could process the stalks and then spin the floss into the fiber from the stalks. Spin Off talks about it here. Milkweed also sustains monarch butterflies, which have been having a rough time. You might have some skin reactions when handling milkweed though, so keep an eye.

Fibershed did a spotlight on dogbane, nettle, and milkweed in comparison to hemp and flax. They talk specifically about Native American techniques and current cultivation of all three, particularly dogbane, and ways to spin yarn and make rope. They aren't super in-depth about processing the fibers, but it seems like it's because they have more tutorials/guides on other pages. Bast fibers all have a similar retting->drying->scutching->hackling->spinning (you also have to ripple flax at the beginning) process, generally speaking.

Of course, flax is a really accessible plant fiber to spin yourself! You can plant it yourself, buy unprocessed flax (locally or online), or buy processed but unspun flax. If you're interested in the whole process, this book is the flax bible: Linen: From Flax Seed to Woven Cloth by Linda Heinrich. There are a lot of youtubers who go through it all, too.

If you're interested in kudzu, then may I suggest Oigawa Kudzu-fu Studio! They're located in Japan, but they have helpfully created an English website, too, where they go over making kudzu-fu (Japanese name for the cloth from kudzu). And if you ever find yourself going to Japan, you can take a class from them.

On Oigawa Studio's info page, they also mention that they work with ramie (plant in the nettle family), linden tree (basswood), and wisteria, so do with that what you will. I assume a lot of those resources are in Japanese.

Finally, hemp. Laws around if and how you can plant hemp, even for personal non-THC uses, vary wildly from state to state and country to country, so do your research. I'm not super familiar with it, and in my state I literally can't grow any of it at all without applying for a permit, so it's not really worth it for me.

[wanderingjunkdrawer]

To the previously mentioned sources I would add Abbey Franquemonty's

Respect the Spindle. Anyone looking for the how's & why's of hand spinning will find answers there. Interest in hand spinning has seen a steady growth in the past 15 yrs since this book's release.

We live in an era where there is a wide availability in tools, raw materials, and instructions. Before 2005 the spinner-wannabe was hard pressed to find the tools & fiber to even become a spinner much less explore the nuisance of rare fibers.

[pterribledinosaurdrawings]

how it feels to message a friend who's having Problems that you can't do anything to help with.

[pterribledinosaurdrawings]

#i appreciate how genuine and non-judgemental this comic feels #like left one is not upset at right one for caring while being powerless #and right one seems genuinely distraught and not performative

I'm glad the facial expressions are coming across accurately! It can feel so absurd to say gosh I hope the torment maze removes some fire and rusty nails soon, but alas, sometimes that's all one can do.

[whentherewerebicycles]

saw this on twitter and wanted to save it here

[hauntedselves]

Image transcript:

Thriving: "I got this"

Calm and steady with minor mood fluctuations

Able to take things in stride

Consistent performance

Able to take feedback and to adjust to changes or plans

Able to focus

Able to communicate effectively

Normal sleep patterns and appetite

Surviving: "Something isn't right"

Nervousness, sadness, increased mood fluctuations

Inconsistent performance

More easily overwhelmed or irritated

Increased need for control and difficulty adjusting to changes

Trouble sleeping or eating

Activities and relationships you used to enjoy seem less interesting or even stressful

Muscle tension, low energy, headaches

Struggling: "I can't keep this up"

Persistent fear, panic, anxiety, anger, pervasive sadness, hopelessness

Exhaustion

Poor performance and difficulty making decisions or concentrating

Avoiding interaction with coworkers, family and friends

Fatigue, aches and pains

Restless, disturbed sleep

Self-medicating with substances, food, or other numbing activities

In Crisis: "I can't survive this"

Disabling distress and loss of function

Panic attacks

Nightmares or flashbacks

Unable to fall or stay asleep

Intrusive thoughts

Thoughts of self-harm or suicide

Easily enraged or aggressive

Careless mistakes and inability to focus

Feeling numb, lost, or out of control

Withdrawal from relationships

Dependence on substances, food, or other numbing activities to cope

End transcript.

[luulapants]

My elderly father started talking about how frustrating he finds “the pronouns thing” and I was like. Oh no. He had such a good stand on this, he’s been they/them-ing his cishet siblings for god’s sake! Is he regressing?? And he was talking about how difficult it is to remember, and how onerous it feels to expect strangers to keep track of it, and I’m like oh no oh no.

Then he says, “I mean, the problem isn’t the gender thing. The problem is four words: she, her, he, and him. We got rid of stewardess and turned it into flight attendant. It doesn’t matter if the flight attendant is a man or woman, so we got rid of it. We just need to get rid of those. I don’t need to know.”

“You don’t need to know… people’s gender?”

“No. I don’t care, I don’t need to know, and I don’t want to remember it.”

So we can relax. It’s just a continuation of his crusade to they/them the world. He doesn’t want to remember anyone’s gender. He’s abolishing the genders.

[teaboot]

Your dad is so powerful

[kirinandvlindertje]

“transition poses some ethical questions. Such as, from what age should you be allowed to irreversibly change your body.“

This of course completely ignores the fact that puberty makes irreversible changes to your body. But let us just rephrase the question: “from what age do you gain bodily autonomy?” Now it gets very easy to answer: From the moment you’re fucking born.

[puppyprivilege-deactivated20151]

I’m sorry, I’m reblogging this twice in a row it is that important

[numinous-queer]

Stand up and say it again for the people in the back row. 

[drtanner]

This is all completely true and correct, of course, but on the topic of changes that irreversibly change a child’s body, prithee, go and talk to a fucking ballet dancer.

If you start ballet at 16, you are too old to ever expect to be able to do it seriously. If you start at 12 you’re too old. If you want to do ballet as a serious thing, as a career, you need to start at like eight years old or even younger, because your bones and joints need to be trained while they’re still flexible in order for you to be able to perform many of the required motions and stances of ballet. In particular, you need to be able to perform turnout of the hips, but all of your joints in your legs and feet will be affected, and this irreversibly changes your body.

And yet! Nobody talks about this as a negative thing! Little girls say they want to be ballet dancers, and if their parents have enough money, that’s what they get to be! Does it cause problems in later life? Yeah, sometimes! Often, even! But nobody talks about that because it’s a thing for cis people to do and so naturally it’s all fine!

Go and talk to a fucking ballet dancer.

[roni-not-tyler]

I was a ballet dancer (among other styles of dance) for 10-11 years, starting at age 6-7ish. I loved it, but not enough to make a career out of it. Dance was just a way to exercise is a fun way.

By the time I was done dancing at age 18, I had been through physical therapy for 3 separate issues caused by ballet. The worst one was because of how my hips and muscles developed and it cause discomfort in my knees so bad that I couldn’t walk very far without pain, much less climb stairs. One time at a pt session, a neighboring patient, who was elderly, said I was “too young to be here”. I was in middle school so I rolled my eyes. It was/is funny to me.

I am 23 now, and I still get stiff in some places, and I’m sure it is related to dancing as a kid. I snap, crackle, and pop like Rice Krispies.

I have no regrets because ballet and was a big part of my life. I just know that it will have long term effects on my body and there is nothing I can do to change it.

I didn’t know that ballet would affect me physically the way it did, but I still did it. If somebody wants to transition and goes in knowing and wanting the changes they will experience, then they should be allowed to do it.

[touchofhemlocktea]

Okay. I do not normally interact with Dead Tired in any capacity. But as a brief forray before returning to my usual, I will allow myself this dalliance.

Danny tries flirting with Tim in public when Jason is nearby, when Jason does the Brotherly thing and gets offended at the concept of anyone hitting on his baby brother. Tim eventually gets flustered and leaves, and then Jason walks up and puts a hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Look at my baby brother again, and I will shove a fucking gun down your throat."

Danny looks Jason up and down, and grins.

"Don't threaten me with a good time, prettyboy."

Neither Jason or Tim(because he was obviously still listening somehow, it's Tim) know what to do with this development.

Oooooh, how will Danny choose?...

...

Daniel Nightingale

26yo

Trans Male

Owner of Nightingale technologies.

The Waynes, the Bat Family, weren't normal about each other. They were vicious, controlling, obsessive, and as cruel as they were caring with each other at times.

Jason Todd-Wayne did not like Tim Drake. The smear campaign against his childhood self that he had undergone to "fix" Bruce's self destructive spiral after his death wasn't forgiven.

But that didn't make him not family...

Not his problem...

Nightingale was chatting with Tim about something or another. Tim had his business face going, clearly oblivious to the man's flirting.

Finally, Tim excuses himself, and Jason follows Nightingale to the bar. The man flashes a charming grin. "Mr. Todd-Wayne, it's an honor."

Jason flashes what's supposed to be a threatening smile leaning in as he hands Nightingale his Craft Beer. "Stay away from my brother or you'll be choking on my favorite gun."

Nightingale's eyes light up with irritating excitement closing what little space is left between them, breath unnaturally cold againsthis ear. "Don't threaten me with a good time Red."

Jason blinks and the man is gone, disappeared into the shifting crowds like a ghost. Something deep in his gut twists and settles.

Jason shakes off the feelings. Later that night...'Wait, did he call me Red?!'

[fruitcakebro]

EEEEEeeeeeEEEeeEEEeEEeeeEEeeeeeeEEEEEEEeee! This is EXCELLENT. OH-HO-HO, YESSSSS.

[touchofhemlocktea]

2 days later and a lot of research

...

Daniel Nightingale is squeaky clean, too clean. Records from before shortly after his 16th birthday are fake id clean.

Jason decides to run Nightingale against facial recognition mapping. Not particularly useful for a Trans male subject, but it might get a hit.

65% match, a single article in a newsletter from a mid sized town. Daniel Fenton. Mention of an article that no longer exists.

The town was permanently abandoned due to some sort of industrial accident. Radiation and chemical contamination. The entire area is now federally controlled and closed off to everyone but a select group of scientists and engineers.

Daniel Fenton, and his Family, the parents, the Doctors Fenton, godfather Masters, and Jazz have completely disappeared.

Jazz Fenton matches a child trauma specialist living in France, a Doctor Jacklyn Bran.

There's no matches for the parents and godparents.

"Who are you Daniel Nightingale."

...

He should talk to Bruce. He doesn't want to.

A movement makes him turn, gun out. Tim is standing there smirking even with the barrel inches from his armor less chest. "So....Nightingale is interesting. Truce?"

[fruitcakebro]

Oh, this is interesting. This is fucking INTERESTING. I would read 500,000 words. I would watch six seasons and a movie. I NEED to see Tim and Jason teaming up to track down Danny's history, and just. Dealing with the fact that both of them are kinda maybe interested in the same guy?? And he's clearly interested in both of them?? But it's weird, because it's Tim/Jason they'd have to share with??? They both feel at least vaguely like they should be opposed to this. WHY AREN'T THEY MORE OPPOSED TO THIS-? And more importantly, why is the object of their mutual interest seemingly a missing person with SHADY AS HELL circumstances???

I mean obviously you are under no obligation to continue writing for my amusement. But you have made this a lot more interesting than the prompt I gave would imply-

[touchofhemlocktea]

Somewhere...

"Agent Smith, you're looking very short today, and rather feminine, decided to try a new look?"

*grunt of annoyance*

"Mr Nightingale. Several...parties have begun investigating you."

*hums lightly around the straw*

"I'm aware. Met a couple of handsome, curious birdies."

*gritted teeth*

"There's secrets that are best left buried Mr Nightingale."

*dangerous chuckles*

"Agent Smith, I'm aware. This isn't your or your employers business."

*thick swallowing"

"Just be careful Mr Fenton. Those Birds bite."

*slowly widening grin*

"Sounds like fun"

[fruitcakebro]

EEEhhehEHeheheehehehehe.... Oh yes. Danny is most CERTAINLY in for quite a lot of fun. And explosions. And chaos. But most certainly, FUN.

[touchofhemlocktea]

The realms are an interesting place.

A ghostly visage of a young man carrying a camera and intermittently stopping to write something in a notebook flies in the void between a rough grouping of islands. Finally he feels the being he's looking for.

Wes drops in front of his twin with a sigh. Kyle is tending some strange flowering plants, plucking a portion of the buds and leaves from each before moving on. "Kyle, Ember is sending out invitations to a pop up concert in the singing towers of the Mothric jungles. The old crew was wondering if you would take a couple of bottles boo-berry wine for a box of bliss?"

Kyle hums to himself, core ringing calculations into the realms. "Boo-berry's fine but if they can get Lancer's ale instead I'll throw in a box of dreams. Why did they send you over by the way?"

Wes shifts uncomfortably, "Pauline says we should talk about things....I don't regret tricking mom and dad into sending you away even if it didn't really work."

Kyle, despite getting only a few more years alive than Wes, looks decades older for a second. "I don't forgive you, but I understand. I'm not happy you didn't give me a choice. I'm not happy you forced me to see the rest of you die, bury you, but I get it. I understand Phantom needed you to stay..."

Wes hugs his twin tightly, a mess of emotions vibrating between them. "I missed you. Can I...help around here?"

The hug is reluctantly returned, "Of course. I'll show you a few things once you get back from the old crew kay?"

[fruitcakebro]

Well now I'm just sad, goddamn. Yeah, it's exactly fucking like Wes to send his family away from a dangerous situation, just to walk right into it himself because 'he was needed'.

Also Kyle having a booze-for-drugs-swap with Ember is fucking hilarious to me.

[status-quo-hater]

I think one of the funniest abortion stances I've heard was from my parents neighbor. He's a like, hard-core libertarian viking larper guy who is very tall and very fat and very bald.

He believes a fetus is human with a soul, but also its "basically attacking the woman's body" so if she wants to get rid of it, that's "basically self-defense". He compared it to shooting a home invader. So he supports abortion not as healthcare, but as killing a baby in self-defense

[status-quo-hater]

Y'know I'm so glad someone reminded me of this. Because this was also discussed.

My stepmother did NOT like the way her Libertarian Viking Neighbor framed pregnancy as the fetus "attacking the woman". She incredulously told him this was extremely disrespectful to expectant mothers to portray pregnancy as so violent and negative.

Libertarian Viking Neighbor's response was that people consensually hurt each other all the time, and "there's like a whole community about that, with the acronym the one that starts with a B" And his reasoning was that if the mother was consenting to bring attacked by the baby, it in fact wasn't violent and negative because there was consent.

He brought up people consensually hurting each other, didn't go for one of the obvious answers like boxing or body mods or something, no he went STRAIGHT TO BDSM and he DIDN'T EVEN REMEMBER THE ACRONYM

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

Okay but imagine being the team of Eridian scientists tasked with keeping Erid's Only Human alive for as long as possible while the whole planet's environment is literally trying to kill him. And then Rocky shows up and is like:

“Grace says he would like half of dome to be water.”

“Oh, is necessary for humans to have large amounts of water question?”

Small Eridian equivalent of a sigh. “No. Not needed for life. In fact Grace will die if he falls in water and does not get out.”

“Tell him we give him water in containers that won't kill him. Lots lots lots of water on Erid for Grace to drink.”

“No. Grace say he want water on ground. Also want it with excess sodium chloride compound so it will be unhealthy for drink.”

“WHY QUESTION???”

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

To celebrate Erid getting their sun back on track, Grace asks for some alcohol. There's a small amount left from the Hail Mary and Rocky offers to take it to the science Eridians to see if they can synthesise more.

“Grace want this liquid for celebration.”

“Of course.” They scan it. “You have wrong liquid. This contain compounds which are poisonous for humans.”

“Yes yes yes. Grace say humans like feeling of being slightly poisoned.”

“WHY QUESTION?????”

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

Grace is like one of those extremely finicky tropical fish who instantly die if not kept in extremely specific conditions.

Only here the fish can talk and keeps asking you to make it vodka.

[captainkirkk]

Ok but Zuko using the knowledge he acquired during his banishment to help him as the Fire Lord. Like making small talk with Earth Kingdom dignitaries about their local foods that he enjoyed and even misses. Like having in-depth conversations with his captains about sea currents and navigation. Like, in the middle of a meeting with several high-ranking naval officials, pointing out flails in security, like how a person can cling to a Fire Nation ship for hours at a time, or climb aboard using hatches on the upper decks, or disguise themselves as a lower ranking guard with easily accessible spare armour….

Though none of his experiences can prepare Zuko for the long, awkward silence that comes after he admits to doing or at least knowing something illegal and/or completely buck wild

[cinthi-lante]

fire lord zuko: you should maybe revisit the security measures around the water ducts that the sealturtles use

northern water tribe leader: that’s not necessary, no one can survive submerged in the artic ocean for so many minutes

zuko:

zuko: remember that time the fire nation attacked you

[chucktaylorupset]

Zuko: okay first you have to promise not to get mad

[kamen-rider-zed]

Earth King: Tell me about your first visit to Ba Sing Se.

Zuko:

[elidyce]

Okay, but before all this:

Advisors: Princess Azula did perform the astounding feat of infiltrating Ba Sing Se…

Zuko: Huh? Oh, that’s not hard. It’s pretty nice, if you don’t mind the brainwashing, but you can’t get a spicy octopus for love or money. We ate so much jook. *shudders*

Advisors:… you got in too…. interesting.

*

Advisors: The mysterious Water Tribe city at the North Pole

Zuko: It’s a pretty place, if you like ice.  Lots of sealturtles. They have a really nice little sort of sacred grove thing there, too, I kidnapped the Avatar from it once.

Advisors: …. we have some questions….

*

Advisors: We still have not found the Fire Lord’s secret supplier of new weapons - 

Zuko: He’s at the Northern Air Temple. (Realizing they’re all staring at him) Oh, no, I haven’t met him personally, but I have friends who have. He sounds like a very interesting guy.

Advisors: SO MANY QUESTIONS

*

Zuko: (while directing post-war reparation efforts) Oh, and we need to send a lot of people to work on replanting the forest around this obscure village.

Advisors:…. may we ask why?

Zuko: Apparently the local panda spirit is pretty mad about having its forest burned down. 

Advisors, now afraid to ask: ….Yes, Fire Lord. 

*

Every now and then, the curiosity gets too much and they’ll bring up something like ‘legendary sand benders’ or ‘Southern Islands’ and Zuko invariably produces some tidbit of local knowledge (either his own or gleaned from the Gaang’s stories) and six Foreign Ministers have resigned in fear and the seventh one only barely held it together when Zuko greeted an envoy from a tiny, insignificant Earth Kingdom island with ‘Listen, I am really sorry about what happened last time, I hope the supplies I sent helped with the rebuilding, do you still have that giant eel thing?” IS THERE ANYTHING HE DOESN’T KNOW.

[knittingandscience]

Advisor: Before we start the meeting, I’d like to address the anniversary of Captain Zhao’s mysterious disappearance…

Zuko: At least he died doing what he loved?

Advisor: What do you mean, died?

[sockisverylost]

Advisor: so we’re still unaware of where the air temple is located-

Zuko pointing at the map: it’s really not that hard to find, I’ve been there three times and lived there for a bit. Its near the su- oh right I can’t talk about it

The Advisor, realizing the Fire Lord is talking about some vastly unknown areas that were deemed unsafe for people and an upside down gravity defying temple airbenders should only be able to access: sir??????

[life-is-fandoms]

@thatlostsock What do you think will happen when they find out about Boiling Rock? Or the Blue Spirit?

[sockisverylost]

@life-is-fandoms For the boiling rock I feel like Zuko would ty to tell them but as soon as he gets into detail the advisors look so horrified lmao and for the Blue Spirit he would deny it or something so he can keep doing his thing without the advisors onto him (they still are)

*

Advisor: we heard that last year four prisoners broke out of The Boiling Rock, it was horrible and criminal, what do you think of it?

Zuko:

Zuko: alright lets take a moment to imagine I’m not the Firelord and I’m recognized as a criminal to the fire nation-

*

Advisor: a criminal called “The Blue Spirit” has resurfaced what should we do?

Zuko: hm, are you sure they’re not just a freedom fighter or Kyoshi warrior-

Advisor: no I’m fairly certain that The Blue Spirit is of water tribe origin and not of the earth kingdom.

Zuko: Oh, interesting. And what do you propose we should do to stop them?

Suki & Sokka:

[alculai]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[captainkirkk]

Ok but Zuko using the knowledge he acquired during his banishment to help him as the Fire Lord. Like making small talk with Earth Kingdom dignitaries about their local foods that he enjoyed and even misses. Like having in-depth conversations with his captains about sea currents and navigation. Like, in the middle of a meeting with several high-ranking naval officials, pointing out flails in security, like how a person can cling to a Fire Nation ship for hours at a time, or climb aboard using hatches on the upper decks, or disguise themselves as a lower ranking guard with easily accessible spare armour….

Though none of his experiences can prepare Zuko for the long, awkward silence that comes after he admits to doing or at least knowing something illegal and/or completely buck wild

[cinthi-lante]

fire lord zuko: you should maybe revisit the security measures around the water ducts that the sealturtles use

northern water tribe leader: that’s not necessary, no one can survive submerged in the artic ocean for so many minutes

zuko:

zuko: remember that time the fire nation attacked you

[chucktaylorupset]

Zuko: okay first you have to promise not to get mad

[kamen-rider-zed]

Earth King: Tell me about your first visit to Ba Sing Se.

Zuko:

[elidyce]

Okay, but before all this:

Advisors: Princess Azula did perform the astounding feat of infiltrating Ba Sing Se…

Zuko: Huh? Oh, that’s not hard. It’s pretty nice, if you don’t mind the brainwashing, but you can’t get a spicy octopus for love or money. We ate so much jook. *shudders*

Advisors:… you got in too…. interesting.

*

Advisors: The mysterious Water Tribe city at the North Pole

Zuko: It’s a pretty place, if you like ice.  Lots of sealturtles. They have a really nice little sort of sacred grove thing there, too, I kidnapped the Avatar from it once.

Advisors: …. we have some questions….

*

Advisors: We still have not found the Fire Lord’s secret supplier of new weapons - 

Zuko: He’s at the Northern Air Temple. (Realizing they’re all staring at him) Oh, no, I haven’t met him personally, but I have friends who have. He sounds like a very interesting guy.

Advisors: SO MANY QUESTIONS

*

Zuko: (while directing post-war reparation efforts) Oh, and we need to send a lot of people to work on replanting the forest around this obscure village.

Advisors:…. may we ask why?

Zuko: Apparently the local panda spirit is pretty mad about having its forest burned down. 

Advisors, now afraid to ask: ….Yes, Fire Lord. 

*

Every now and then, the curiosity gets too much and they’ll bring up something like ‘legendary sand benders’ or ‘Southern Islands’ and Zuko invariably produces some tidbit of local knowledge (either his own or gleaned from the Gaang’s stories) and six Foreign Ministers have resigned in fear and the seventh one only barely held it together when Zuko greeted an envoy from a tiny, insignificant Earth Kingdom island with ‘Listen, I am really sorry about what happened last time, I hope the supplies I sent helped with the rebuilding, do you still have that giant eel thing?” IS THERE ANYTHING HE DOESN’T KNOW.

[knittingandscience]

Advisor: Before we start the meeting, I’d like to address the anniversary of Captain Zhao’s mysterious disappearance…

Zuko: At least he died doing what he loved?

Advisor: What do you mean, died?

[outcasts-redeemer]

Adviser: “There still has been no word about the whereabouts of the vigilante known as the Blue Spirit. The last reported sighting was in Ba Sing Se. It is imperative we find more information about him.”

Zuko: “Oh you’re still looking into that?”

Adviser: “He is a wanted criminal in both the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation for espionage, theft, assault and battery, breaking and entering and breaking numerous other local laws and customs.”

Zuko: “Huh when you put it like that it does sound pretty bad.”

Adviser: “My Lord, surly you heard of him and his crimes.”

Zuko: “Of course I heard of him. Its just… I mean considering all the good he did. His heart was in the right place?”

Adviser: “…”

Zuko: “Ok, so don’t get mad…”

[rederiswrites]

There used to be a lot of activities that took place around a populated area like a village or town, which you would encounter before you reached the town itself. Most of those crafts have either been eliminated in the developed world or now take place out of view on private land, and so modern authors don't think of them when creating fantasy worlds or writing historical fiction. I think that sprinkling those in could both enrich the worlds you're writing in and, potentially, add useful plot devices.

For example, your travelers might know that they're near civilization when they start finding trees in the woods that have been tapped, for pitch or for sap. They might find a forester's trap line and trace it back to his hut to get medical care. Maybe they retrace the passage of a peasant and his pig out hunting for truffles. If they're coming along a coast, maybe your travelers come across the pools where sea water is dried down to salt, or the furnaces where bog iron ore is smelted.

Maybe they see a column of smoke and follow it to the house-sized kilns of a potter's yard where men work making bricks or roof tiles. From miles away they could smell the unmistakeable odor of pine sap being rendered down into pitch, and follow that to a village. Or they hear the flute playing of a shepherd boy whiling away the hours in the high pasture.

They could find the clearing where the charcoal burners recently broke down an earth kiln, and follow the hoof prints and drag marks of their horse and sledge as they hauled the charcoal back to civilization. Or follow the sound of metal on stone to a quarry or gravel pit. Maybe they know they're nearly to town when they come across a clay bank with signs of recent clay gathering.

Of course around every town and city there will be farms, more densely packed the closer you are. But don't just think of fields of grains or vegetables. Think of managed woodlands, like maybe trees coppiced-- cut and then regrown--to customize the shape or size of the branches. Cows being grazed in a communal green. Waiting as a huge flock of ducks is driven across the road. Orchards in bloom.

If they're approaching by road, there will be things best done out of town. The threshing floor where grain is beaten with flails or run through crushing wheels to separate the grain from its casing, and then winnowed, using the wind to carry away the chaff. Laundresses working in the river, their linens bleaching on the grass at the drying yard. The stench of the tanners, barred from town for stinking so badly. The rushing wheel-race and great creaking wheel of the flour mill.

If it's a larger town, there might be a livestock market outside the gates, with goats milling in woven willow pens or chickens in wooden cages. Or a line of horses for the wealthier buyer or your desperate travelers. There might be a red light district, escaping the regulations of the city proper, or plain old slums. More industrial yards, like the yards where fabric is dyed (these might also smell quite bad, like rotting plant material, or urine).

There are so many things that preindustrial people did and would find familiar that we just don't know about now. So much of life was lived out in the open for anyone to see. Make your world busy and loud and colorful!