Stranger Things
YOU ARE THE REASON
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Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
trying on a metaphor
@theartofmadeline
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
Monterey Bay Aquarium
KIROKAZE
Misplaced Lens Cap
AnasAbdin
titsay
NASA
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
oozey mess
Jules of Nature
roma★
Janaina Medeiros
blake kathryn
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@archiearchero
sokka was the only kid in that show with social skills and a brain and he effortlessly charmed literally every. single. person. he met especially royalty no matter the age or nation this is why the writers had to nerf him and make him a non bender cause if he coulda bend anything the show woulda been called sokka and his good pal the avatar and its main conflicts would all be resolved by the third episode tops
For those interested in a very detailed video on the history of the USPS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLyU1WCQQ8A
It is the day of Azula’s wedding. Zuko has spared no expense for his little sister and dear friend; it’s the most extravagant event anyone has ever seen, even moreso than Zuko’s wedding. Ozai is there. He is chained to a chair at the center of the family table (as per the Kyoshi warriors advice). He is seated in between his children’s chosen partners and cannot leave. The partners are Sokka and Ty Lee. They are five hours into a friendly but heated argument about the existence of auras.
Ozai has never suffered more in his life.
Sokka keeps "accidentally" spilling his drinks on Ozai. He can FEEL the rage radiating off of his father in law everytime he's referred to as Prince Sokka so him and Ty Lee just start calling eachother Prince and Princess because they're gay they know how to be annoying (same)
It is the day of Azula’s wedding. Zuko has spared no expense for his little sister and dear friend; it’s the most extravagant event anyone has ever seen, even moreso than Zuko’s wedding. Ozai is there. He is chained to a chair at the center of the family table (as per the Kyoshi warriors advice). He is seated in between his children’s chosen partners and cannot leave. The partners are Sokka and Ty Lee. They are five hours into a friendly but heated argument about the existence of auras.
Ozai has never suffered more in his life.
security question: what was the last name of your first grade teacher?
my first grade teacher hacking my bank account: i’m in
why is this so fucking funny
Because it’s a joke
So how is everyone else handling rewatching Avatar on Netflix?
my tags got real long so what else is there to do but post them here
Who's ready to cry a little bit, courtesy of one of my favorite episodes, The Firebending Masters!!!
So Aang and Zuko have to carry their flames up a mountain to meet Ran and Shaw. Aang, based on his past experiences, is keeping his flame really small, and Zuko tells him he has to make it bigger. (He actually says 'give it more juice' which is... Just So Much.)
Aang tells Zuko that he's afraid of losing control of his flame. Aang is terrified of losing control, like the first time he tried to learn firebending, and Zuko telling the gaang that he needed to control his firebending so he wouldn’t hurt anyone is the catalyst for Aang wanting to train with him and letting him join the group at the Western Air Temple. But that’s not why I’m crying.
Zuko tells Aang “You can do it. I know you can. You’re a talented kid.”
You’re a talented kid
That’s something nobody has ever said to Zuko in his entire life. No teacher, and certainly not his father, ever saw Zuko holding a flame and told him he was talented.
If you go back to watch TFM, I think Zuko actually says it a little bitterly, even. In The Siege of the North, Zuko tells an unconscious Aang that he’s like Azula, because everything came easy to Aang. So when he tells Aang “You’re a talented kid” in TFM, it’s partly because, in Zuko’s eyes, it’s the truth; Aang is a talented bender (and probably in his head, the other half of that truth is that he, Zuko, is not.)
But even if it’s the truth, Zuko didn’t have to say it. So why say it?
I think he said it to Aang because it’s something nobody ever said to him, so he knows through that omission just how powerful it can be to tell a student that they’re good at something, that they excel. And Zuko is right; when Aang hears “you’re a talented kid,” we actually see him go from worried to confident at that line.
“You’re a talented kid” is something Zuko desperately wanted to hear. “You’re a talented kid” is something nobody ever said to Zuko, but “You’re a talented kid” is a gift that he can give to his student.
… and that is why I’m crying a lil bit. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
ok so i screenshotted this moment because i thought it was pretty cool
the first time we get to see all four elements working together for a common enemy, blah blah blah, but i started laughing because
sokka’s fucking boomerang. sokka threw a fucking boomerang at princess azula, renowned lightning bender and heir-apparent to the throne of the fire nation.
and sokka threw a boomerang at her.
I said it once and i say it again.
Azula considered Sokka to be the biggest threat in this group and countered him first. What this picture miss is Sokka sanding nearby. All members of this group unleash their attack at same time, but Azula reacts to boomerang first. If you watch this part in slow motion, you could see that Sokka’s boomerang was the first thing that would hit Azula and may even incapacitate her making her unable to continue to fight. So she had to counter in first. She deflected it with well placed shoot.
Then and only then, when there is no immediate threat, she starts to create her blue fire wall to counter other elements.
Lets think about this. How hard should you have to throw something to make it move faster that any elemental attack? Either all elemental attacks are slow or you are pretty strong. That said nonbenders with good aim and strong hands could easily overpower benders if they timed it right.(Aang got captured by Yuan archers who are all nonbenders.) Azula knew of this and acted according to it. She is talented bender and you may think that she should enlist other benders to help her track and capture Zuko, Iroh, and later avatar, but instead she uses her nonbender friend to help her.
Even if you have no bending you can still fight… and win.
Let’s not forget that on the Day of Black Sun, Sokka was the one in charge and Azula was no idiot Azula knew that.
When Aang, Sokka, and Toph all confronted Azula, she proceeded to make them chase her and waste their time. Azula is not only talented, she’s sly and smart as hell. WHO WAS THE ONE WHO SAW THROUGH THAT BS CHASE?
Sokka.
NOT ONLY THAT but after Sokka explains to the Gaang that Azula is just baiting them, Azula actually verbally attacks Sokka. Not through fighting, but through words, knowing not only that an intelligent person like him could only be brought down with emotions BUT that Sokka was the leader and if she could get him the stay, Aang and Toph would follow his lead.
Azula knew Sokka was their strength and took him down. WOULD SHE DO THAT IF HE WASNT A SIGNIFICANT THREAT TO HER!!??!
No. She wouldn’t waste her time and energy on someone she didn’t think was capable of actually getting in her way.
WHEN SHE GETS HER FIREBENDING BACK SHE HAS THE OPTION OF ATTACKING BADASS METAL BENDING TOPH AND THE FUCKING AVATAR WHO DOES SHE ATTACK?!?!
Azula never underestimated the power of non benders especially an intelligent one like Sokka. Sokka was a huge threat to fucking Azula on multiple occasions.
Remember that.
Look at this spot on fucking discourse. LOOK AT IT.
Just thought I’d drop this
into the debate as well, (instead of actually fighting him she backs off, and who blames her? Sokka’s club looks like it could shatter bones…).
Along with this:
Scenes with Azula confronting Sokka are few and far in between but they paint a pretty interesting picture, don’t they?
I mean, Azula’s friends/most trusted warriors were two non-benders. Mai was an expert with thrown weapons and Tai Lee was the only chi blocker shown in the first series, and she was able to take down half a groups of earth nation soldiers like that. Azula knows that non-benders are dangerous and she sees sokka for the genius he is
She’s knows she can take bending, she can redirect fire and she’s fought Katara a lot- but unlike Zuko she was probably never trained with weapons, she knows she has no defense to a sword or a club, and she knows that one of Ty Lee’s biggest advantage is that people underestimate her
Let me sum this up;
It doesn’t matter how much crazy magic bullshit you have, a sword to the face is a sword to the face.
My man Sokka getting the recognition he deserves
Zuko ✨
I only recently watched AtLA, but one thing that got me is how much platonic tension Zuko has with the Gaang when he decides to join them. Like when Toph latches onto him in Ember Island he blushes furiously; when Aang compliments him in the Sun Warrior temple he grins so shyly etc. Basically I'm saying he'd melt at the slightest sign of someone wanting to be friends with him and it's beautiful
the gaang after Zuko risked his life to hold of Azula in order to protect them: “To Zuko! Sure are glad he’s switched sides and is no longer trying to kill us!
Zuko: *makes this adorable face*
Zuko: ‘what is this??? appreciation??? nice? nice feeling! Is this friendship? Did I do the friendship right???!’
Zuko: ‘oh no, she’s going to fucking kill me. This is how I die. I knew I shouldn’t have done the whole field trip thing. She still hates me. I still suck. I’m beyond forgiveness despite what she said–
Katara: *hugs*
Zuko: oh wait, I’m okay, I did it, this is friendship, I’m okay
Zuko: “I’m garbage. I’m worthless. I’m a human garbage dumpster and this play understands that. They have translated the Essence™ of my terribleness through bad theater and I deserve it”
Toph: “your uncle talked nonstop about you when I met him because he loves you
Zuko, being used to his entire existence being actively rejected: “oh sorry”
Toph, who vibed with this anxious, awkward mess of a human space heater the minute Appa started licking him: “Listen here you little shit, you better pick that self esteem up or so help me”
Toph: excuse me, this is MY emotional support firebender
Zuko, still not used to the idea that people genuinely want to be around him for his personality: ‘!?!?!?????’
Zuko: *automatically assumes that group hugs are for People Who Aren’t Him and doesn’t even attempt to engage*
The gaang: “Come on Zuko, being part of the group means being part of group hugs” *Suki and Toph open up their arms to him*
Zuko: *awkwardly trudges over and has no idea what to do* (was this his first ever group hug? in his life? am I sad now? the answer is yes.)
#think of how this boy has grown up#in the intrigues of the fire nation#abandoned by his mother unwillingly though it may be#abused and manipulated by his father and sister#banished at 13 for trying to care about the lives of his men#eventually ending up a refugee and traitor#he’s always had to watch his back around people#because letting his guard down around the wrong person is dangerous#and this amidst all of the emotional turmoil inside him while he’s struggling with what his destiny is#finally he’s at peace with himself knowing he’s regaining his honor by teaching the avatar firebending#i don’t think he ever expected warmth and acceptance from this group#that they’d like him for HIM#he can let his guard down around them#because they’d watch his back#and while Iroh would have always done the same Zuko never let himself fully accept it because of his inner turmoil#but here he’s at peace inside and learning what true friendship is like on the outside#and i just weep for this broken kid who deserves all the happiness#(and side note#zuko as toph’s emotional support firebender wrecked me i died laughing but wept a bit at the idea)#i love this show#avatar: the last airbender#zuko (source: @faithandlovewillkeepmestrong )
i love how easily toph latches onto him and basically says “this one’s mine now, i’m gonna love him and help him and anyone who fucks with him answers to me bitches” and then i remember when she left her family to join the gaang and she told her parents “i’m 12 years old and i’ve never had a real friend” and how much of herself she must have seen in zuko and how excited she must have been to show him how good freedom and friendship could be and now i’m crying
Boiling Rock Zuko and Sokka were a special kind of dumb. (Click for quality) Original TF2 comic under cut
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Bill Nye for most of his career: Imma do science for kids. Science without politics. Nice, tame science for the kiddos.
Bill Nye now:
BILL, BILL, BILL!!!!
And let’s not forget
I’d never seen that last one, but my life is better for it
I saw this tumblr post and HAD to draw it, please accept my humble A:TLA offering.
whoever writes the trivia for each atla episodes is a chaotic neutral
you know what? i’m gonna say it. atla was a huge part of my childhood. it was definitely a step forward in regards to cartoons.
but the racial insensitivity is staggering. and i wanna talk about the amount of exploiting there is of south asian culture specifically. i’m south asian, indian specifically, and i grew up watching this show that was supposed to be “different” and “inspiring” for people of colour.
except there were little to no characters with dark skin who had importance and were explicitly made out to be south asian. that was fine. i was used to not seeing characters on television who looked like i did. except this show used my culture. they used my culture and they couldn’t even bother putting in good characters who looked like they remotely belonged to that culture, even if they were minor and not part of the gaang.
first of all, the show has a lot of influence from Hinduism—the word avatar (avatāra) itself means “descent” in Sanskrit, referring to the incarnation of a deity in human form. where did Hinduism originate?
indus valley, or what we now call pakistan, a south asian country. the entire concept of chi or prana, as it is referred to as in Hinduism, is a reoccurring theme in atla; your vital energy, your spiritual energy. this is another one of the religion’s influences on the show.
atla also talks about the seven chakras. this is another concept from Hinduism, and in the religion, they must always be unblocked for your prana (the term from Hinduism) or chi (the Chinese term which is used the show) to flow smoothly. chi is your life energy.
so. guess who helps aang out with his chakras?
right. this guy. the only blatantly south asian character we’ve gotten so far, and you wanna know why it’s so blatant? because he’s literally an indian stereotype. he’s the only obviously south asian character so far in the show and he’s a racist portrayal of enlightened practitioners of Hinduism. great.
oh, and before i forget—
do their foreheads look familiar? oh yeah, that’s because it’s literally copied off of this:
this is Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. they used a religious symbol in Hinduism to make a couple characters look cool. well, combustion man and p’li both have these third eyes, so we can assume they are at least south asian coded—but what are their characters like?
villains. unhinged. insane. we don’t even know combustion man’s name—we just know he’s a contract killer who would murder a child for the right price. p’li wants to dismantle all forms of government and let the world reign free in chaos, and finally she is given a horribly grotesque death: she gets her head blown off.
for all of the culture references that are important pieces of this show, you’d think there’d be an area that has south asian people. there isn’t one. i’m not going to speak about the other loads of racism in atla because i don’t belong to those cultures, but here’s my two cents.
this show was written by white men who did the bare minimum. it’s nothing worth praising.
as an indian, i’d also like to elaborate here. the ATLA creators were inspired by lots of different Asian cultures, and them taking concepts from hinduism is not inherently bad. i would have been happy if they’d used the same concepts* if they had bothered to actually put indian/south asian representation in their show. like, you don’t get to cherry pick from my culture while also creating racist stereotypes for cheap laughs.
*and combustion man is gross, appropriative and racist no matter how you swing it lol. shiva may be the “god of destruction” but he is not meant to be evil/an assassin - he destroys the bad parts of the world. it’s literally bare minimum research. and this is not a forgotten god, he is a religious figure who is actively worshipped. white men do not get to bastardize him for fun.
look, ATLA is a product of its time. it does many good things. but we can’t just sit here and pretend it’s the “gold standard for representation in cartoons” when it’s just,,,,not.
sorry for hijacking your post OP but i have so many feelings about this
to further on everything these two excellent people have been saying:
i want to specifically talk about the whole concept of the avatar in this show. we know several things about the avatar in general
they are the balance between the spirit world and the human world
all avatars share the same soul, just lead different lives
they maintain peace and uphold justice and try to keep the seesaw of good and bad in the human world from tipping too far into evil
this whole concept is lifted directly from the Hindu god, Vishnu. Vishnu is the most powerful of the holy trinity because he is the preserver of life. one of the most famous aspects of his mythology is the “dasha avatara” or the ten avatars, wherein he is reincarnated ten times into the human world (he’s reincarnated a lot more but those are the most important), and each time, it’s to fulfill a need and restore balance to the world, just like the avatar in ATLA is supposed to do
ATLA lifted its bedrock from Hinduism, and the fact that the only south asian “representation” in it is bastardized, racist, & completely unacknowledged, is incredibly insulting
i love this show, but it has its problems, and we need to be able to recognize and accept that
southern raiders zuko and jasmine dragon zuko r on two opposite ends of a spectrum but theyre both peak
these r the same character
It’s all explained in full by the fact that he is 16 years old.
