i think it would do a lot of people good to remember that Mormons are white supremacists, no nuance, no debate, no arguing how they've gotten "more diverse", their whole belief system is fundamentally rooted in white supremacist ideals
It may just be me, but I think Iroh's lore drop that he invented how to redirect lightning when he "studied waterbenders" is astonishingly neglected... The conflict and motivation for Katara's arc in Book One are driven by the lack of teachers who can pass on waterbending, as the Fire Nation systematically attacked the Southern Water Tribe, imprisoned waterbenders, and deprived the culture of the embodied knowledge and practitioners needed to keep waterbending alive. Hama gives us a brutal testimony of how the Fire Nation treated waterbenders. So, while Katara is severed from waterbenders and their knowledge, Iroh, the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, somehow has access to waterbenders to extract the knowledge and insight from studying them to develop one of the most sophisticated firebending techniques in canon.
When he lectures Zuko on the elements and speaks of the waterbenders he "studied," he does so primarily to teach his nephew what they gain from appropriating knowledge of peoples that his family has been oppressing and annihilating for several generations. In other words, Iroh approached waterbenders and their knowledge as a resource for him to advance firebending. It's wild that ATLA (including when Zuko instructs Aang who cheerfully points out how this technique reminds him of waterbending) frames this piece of Iroh lore as a reason to admire him, because the moment you ask, "Okay, and how did he study waterbenders when his country has been actively at war with them and hunting the waterbenders of the South down for a whole generation...?"
Canon doesn't care (and I deem it very likely that the writers didn't think about the implications), but I do. Since I'm currently rewriting Hama's story anyway, I'll take this piece of Iroh lore as a prompt to overhaul the worldbuilding more extensively: Iroh is not uniquely enlightened for studying waterbenders, but for the raids on the Southern Water Tribe and the systematic abduction of the waterbenders aimed at studying them. That was the strategic objective of the relentless raids over years.
As far as we know, the four nations "lived in harmony" before the Fire Nation declared war. The army may genuinely not know at first how to engage waterbenders systematically in an environment that gives them a significant strategic advantage against the navy, because waterbenders can mobilize the ocean. They don't fight with ammunition; they fight with the battlefield against the Fire Nation's ammunition. That's terrifying.
Instead of sending a fleet, the initial raids and abductions aim to learn how to wage war against waterbenders who are surrounded by water, ice, and snow at any given moment. Fire is quite vulnerable to water, after all, because water extinguishes fire.
So, the Fire Nation collects data from every raid, documents and analyzes exploitable weaknesses, and tests different strategies and timing to tailor warfare and training in iterations accordingly. The abducted waterbenders become vital because they are turned into living training material for the soldiers. In the version canon gives us through Hama's testimony, waterbenders are held in cages and kept from bending under all circumstances. The question is why? Why go to such lengths? The construction, maintenance, and staffing of these prisons (which apparently hold the entire waterbender population of the South Pole) must be expensive. The Fire Nation isn't shy about eliminating an entire nation in one campaign, as they demonstrated with the Air Nomads. So, why keep waterbenders alive?
For my Hama AU, I decided to integrate the prison into the compounds of military academies. Hama and her comrades are held under conditions that prevent all waterbending, but the guards regularly transfer them in rotation to a training arena, where they have to waterbend to survive fighting soldiers in training.
In the Boiling Rock episode, we see that the Fire Nation controls firebending prisoners by literally cooling them down, strongly indicating that lower temperatures weaken firebenders. I think it's reasonable that this cooling technique is quite old because before the war, the only benders the Fire Nation would've needed to imprison were firebenders. The training arenas are equipped with the same mechanisms that allow instructors to adjust the temperature: at first, the temperatures are comfortable, even favorable for the firebenders, so they can focus on studying how waterbenders fight. The better the firebenders get, the more the instructors lower the temperatures to push their bodies to generate heat and mobilize energy under conditions that weaken them while strengthening their opponents, simulating combat conditions at the South Pole. The Fire Nation forces the abducted waterbenders to teach its soldiers how to fight them better. Analysts observe and record the sessions in detail to catalog waterbending forms, adjust training doctrines for the drills, update manuals, and design firebending techniques specifically to counter commonly observed waterbending forms, test those inventions in subsequent combat simulation sessions, and refine them through iterations. The arenas are a training ground and a highly methodical firebending military laboratory.
At first, the purpose of the abducted waterbenders from the South is limited to optimizing warfare against the Water Tribes. However, after a few years, the instructors notice that waterbenders make firebenders better firebenders. They are invaluable assets.
As Iroh explains, water is the element of change. Even after years, the analysts notice that these waterbender subjects never seem to run out of new ideas. Their capacity to improvise is genuinely admired among officers and relentlessly exploited: since the waterbenders keep adapting, they, too, can keep innovating. Their primary interests shift from optimizing waterbending specifically to advancing military firebending in general, as the war increasingly produces its own branch of firebending.
To train as many soldiers as fast and as efficiently as possible, masters started to radically standardize and simplify forms. The pro was reduced training time and higher accessibility; art and style were sacrificed in favor of aggression and speed. The con was far less flexibility and a narrower range of attacks; the more automated the muscle memory, the lower the responsiveness and capacity to improvise, because highly standardized training focused on repeating sequences rather than learning to combine isolated forms and figures.
Fighting waterbenders mitigates these downsides, and continuing to study their adaptations keeps firebending adaptive and flexible, which makes it harder for earthbenders to fight the Fire Nation soldiers because the repertoire keeps growing and becoming unpredictable.
As a young Crown Prince, Iroh studies waterbenders in the arenas and in direct combat under controlled conditions, a significant part of his training as a soldier and officer. He perfects his lightning technique in simulation battles with them. He learns to redirect lightning by observing how waterbenders defend themselves against his attacks. Iroh eventually masters a version of lightning redirection that doesn't involve waterbending by appropriating the original defenses his "test subjects" develop to survive him.
I appreciate the compliment. Please keep in mind that this worldbuilding overhaul is part of a bigger AU fanfiction project I'm currently working on. I'm sharing this because I want people to care about the fic and tease y'all to get invested. That's kind of what you have to do if you want people to see your work, isn't it? Since you tagged this with "writing aid," I want to ask you to please not assume that you are free to use it as a resource. I worked really, really hard on this; it takes time, effort, lots of research, and a lot more to come up with something original. I know I can't prevent anyone from taking ideas and putting them into their own work, but it's discouraging to think about how much labor this took me for others to think that this is theirs now, not even bothering to care about the fic for which I'm doing this. Like, the theme of this revised plotline or my AU is about the violence and injustice of extracting the creative, epistemic, and inventive labor of oppressed people, treating the efforts as resources, and erasing the people, context, and purpose from the achievement. The theme of this story is epistemic violence and appropriation, which, for Black thinkers, scholars, and writers like me (but non-white people in general have similar histories), is a very intimate issue. My own academic work in the history of science, racist science, and epistemic injustice is in these ideas, and I'm processing the disturbing shit I have to read to educate others (especially white people) in academic and scientific spaces through fiction and writing, right? This is part of how I cope and wonder what to do with this knowledge most white people never bother to learn about, and restore some hope for myself. It would be cool if you didn't treat it as a "writing aid." Especially not without asking for consent. Especially since the tag implies, for others, too, that this is just a free resource for everyone to use as they please. Please don't volunteer my labor as a resource. Please don't do that.
You’ve heard of “i didn’t say it was good, i said i liked it,” get ready for “i said it had some technical problems & didn’t fully deliver on its themes, not that i didn’t like it”
#I voiced a criticism of some of its aspects#which in no way implies I did not like it#“and especially does not imply that I would like to hear a defense of it of the form 'shut up and let people have fun'”
August 2026 - Israelis are vacationing on Siargao Island in the Philippines directly after participating in the genocide in Gaza, and treating the local people and environment like shit. And locals are fighting back. [video]
You can report suspected or confirmed IDF war criminals to the Hind Rajab Foundation, and they will try to get the war criminal's country of residence to follow international law by prosecuting them
Why are even some self-proclaimed antizionists so opposed to calling Zionism and Israeli society in general Jewish supremacist? I’ve seen a few instances where they’re like no it’s white supremacist.
It's uncomfortable to recognise that a group of formerly oppressed minorities can become supremacist in their own right without entirely assimilating into the global white supremacist network.
It's why even concepts like Mestizaje, Buddhist Nationalism or Hindutva have been essentially ignored for decades until recently. The only groups of minorities that people truly worry about with regards to reactionary trends and Nationalism are Black Americans, Indigenous people and Muslims. Then we have conversations about how Black Americans are actually all pro-Amerikan fascists, Indigenous people are blood and soil fascists and Muslims are all violent, homophobes who refuse to assimilate.
You've probably seen this NYT article by Nicholas Kristof getting a lot of praise today (moved to an archive link to avoid the paywall)
He reports on widespread rape and sexual violence of Palestinian male and female prisoners by Israeli authorities. The Palestinians who he interviewed risked their lives to speak out. Many of them were threatened with death and some were told they would be raped if they spoke up on the sexual violence they endured.
My issue is that neither Kristof or NYT deserve any credit for this article. Both NYT and Kristof are responsible manufacturing Israel's "case for genocide".
Even in this article where he is sharing actual testimonies from Palestinians who were subjected to such intense levels of sexual violence, he is spreading the Oct 7th rape hoax that has been debunked numerous times
I think everyone should read this article because courageous Palestinians risked their lives to tell their stories but don't forget that people like Nick Kristof and orgs like NYT have played an active role in this genocide.
Also huge trigger warning. This article has testimonies that are really hard to read so please keep that in mind
Oh my God the testimonies are so horrible I can't bring myself to read most of this.
Some of the testimonies are from children. Let that sink in. Children are risking their lives again to speak out against the sexual violence they already had to go through.
The IDF used dogs according to the testimonies. They filmed, took pictures, and laughed while doing all of this.
Never has an ideology needed to be ended more than Zionism. This is so horrific
Adding a source that specifically debunked the Oct 7th mass rape hoax that the NYT reported on
Also worth pointing out that the Oct 7th rape allegations that were weaponized were from ZAKA volunteers. These volunteers aren't trained to do anything but collect dead body parts which they then transfer to Jewish morgues.
ZAKA was formed by Yehuda Meshi-Zahav who is the same guy that lead Keshet which is a Jewish terrorist group. Yehuda is also well known for attempting suicide when it came out that he was responsible for over a dozen sexual assaults and rapes.
ZAKA was recruited to join Israel's Hasbara campaigns, they have been working directly on behalf of Netanyahu to shape propaganda, their operation unit commander has gone on record saying that he "puts aside medical consideration and decisions are made on who deserves treatment based on whether they are Jewish. If it's clear he is an Arab, don't save him."
Not to mention not one of these volunteers has been medically trained to make such an assessment.
That source I just linked does an amazing deep dive into this whole situation. I highly recommend giving that a read.
Had to repost this after reading up on ZAKA and founder Yehuda Meshi-Zahav. Apparently he sexually assaulted women, girls, and boys for several decades. And so many people in the community knew and didn't do anything until Chanel 13 did a report on him.
So not only did ZAKA lie about the Oct 7th rape, they also actively covered up Yehuda's rape for decades. And that's not even getting into how close this organization is to Netanyahu. They present themselves as a selfless volunteer force but in reality are a propaganda arm for the genocide.
It's so great that a Zionist Jew like Ben Shapiro can fearmonger about Palestinians and Muslims to no end and cause unimaginable systemic harm to a minority all to shore up support for their genocidal ethnostate, all of which are overlooked in the West, but let's talk about antisemitism please.
More on this later perhaps, but as leftists we really need to examine how we give "mutual aid"
We don't live in a vacuum, these "radical alternatives to charity" basically function the same way re: societal structures of privilege and social capital.
If the only people who get your "mutual aid" are the charismatic leaders or the pretty white women then no you're not radical and the neediest are better off jumping through a million hoops to qualify and get to their local food bank. We are failing miserably.
I think people consistently forget how much social capital plays a role in these individualistic 'mutual aid' campaigns and it drives me up the wall. 'Mutual aid' is not a one-way reception of financial support, and even if it were, this would in no way constitute a more equitable redistribution of financial ressources. It will always end up benefitting more well-liked, more socially adept and successful people.
Zionists don't actually care about antisemitism. I've seen them gang up on anti Zionist Jews like myself for simply being against genocide and murdering children. I've watched them excuse Elon Musk's Nazi salute. I've watched them excise Israel bombing a synagogue. I've watched them excuse sterilization of Ethiopian Jews.
If you have been following me for a year or so you probably watched me fight with a Zionist on here defending Israel for hiring actual Nazis. I've watched them call anti Zionist holocaust survivors kapos.
The only thing they care about is Israel. For their ethno state they will defend anything. I've watched them defend Jeffrey Epstein.
Stop entertaining a Zionist's definition of antisemitism
Do you believe that Jewish people are the one and only group of natives who do not deserve to live in their origin country? Do you think land back does not apply to them? Do you think only Palestinians have the right to self determination and their homeland? Do you know that the history is that both groups are indigenous and all historical evidence demonstrates that?
Do you not understand what the word native mean? Do you think it's okay to murder Palestinians and starve children to death because you some guy from Poland made Aliyah and now he thinks he's "native"
There are literal converts who will go to Israel and steal land from Palestinians. There is constantly settler violence happening against Palestinians
Stop trying to excuse the genocide especially with words you don't understand
Land back is when Shlomo from Williamsburg joins the IDF so he can kill Palestinians and take their land and then protest for the right to rape prisoners
And no none of this applies to Israelis. You can't be a settler colonial project and claim to be indigenous. That's not how it works
Land back is when the Israeli government offers you tax benefits, monetary incentives, and the protection of the IDF to move from Europe to Israel so you can displace an indigenous family in Palestine.
Land back is also when you destroy millions of olive trees since 1967 and kill Palestinian farmers who have been taking care of this land for generations
Pretty dystopian to be campaigning for fundraisers to save the lives of your countrymen trying to survive genocide and the top trending topics on Tumblr is the most recent zionism and fascism American military industrial complex propaganda movie.
Anyways Disney is a priority boycott target for the BDS movement! Don't watch any more Marvel movie trash, the MCU has been collaborating with the Pentagon to make Western imperialist propaganda since Iron Man 2008!
If you were going to spend money on tickets to see the movie, go send that money to Mona's mutual aid fund instead to help feed Palestinian refugees today! Your outrage should be translating into concrete actions to help Palestinians!
an interesting amnt of people seem to think of intersexism as a "less bad" form of oppression for.... one of the only kinds of oppression that routinely involves mutilating infants and young children. and then a lifetime of very specific and unique medical abuse. it actually makes me feel kind of insane
like. Trans bottom surgeries have to meet a pretty high standard- and that's a very good thing! People would not be getting these bottom surgeries if they were bad. Trans bottom surgeries are almost always very good, advanced, visually "realistic" (look close to or indistinguishable from natal genitals, depending on the surgery), and prioritize very good outcomes for function and sensation- genitals that work the way genitals should, feel pleasure (if desired), and heal well.
This is not true for IGM (intersex genital mutilation) victims. When i say intersex infants and children are being mutilated, i am not disparaging bottom surgery- i mean that the intersex ""corrective"" surgeries performed against our will do not meet the same standards. They aren't something we choose, they're forced on us. Victims of IGM are often left with chronic pain, issues with genital function and sensation, poor aesthetic outcomes, and scarring (which affects both the visual appearance AND can cause functional issues). These surgeries are completely unnecessary and done largely at the doctor's discretion, often without the knowledge of parents (either because they were not told or they were fooled), and the victim is almost always deeply unhappy (and often dysphoric) as a result. Doctors get to decide to mutilate us, lie to our families, and then also mistreat and abuse us for the rest of our lives. Further, outside of the surgical procedures, growing up intersex means routinely going through violating and invasive "inspections" of your genitals by doctors. I can recall having doctors, nurses, and volunteers demand to see my genitals as a young child, touching and examining them without my consent- same for my breasts once i hit puberty. Just about every intersex person i know can say the same. It's routine and constant medical and sexual abuse from medical professionals.
And that's not even getting into the social impact! Finding work is difficult when you're intersex. Dating is so much more dangerous when you're intersex. Intimacy is so much more dangerous when you're intersex. We have extremely high rates of childhood bullying, as well as extremely high rates of physical and sexual abuse. We're highly fetishized, both in broader society ("herm" porn) and even pretty significantly within the queer community. I hesitate to talk about my intersexness & my body in many spaces because of how many times talking about my body has resulted in people saying creepy shit about wanting my body and thinking people like me are ~sexy~, or asking invasive & often very dehumanizing questions. It's incredibly objectifying. It feels like i am not an equal to almost anyone, like i'm just some idea of a perfect sex toy with both parts and it feels awful. And everyone ignores it!!!! No one talks about it!!!! Everyone just brushes us off as this "lesser" issue, not as serious as things like homophobia or transphobia. We're always "collateral damage", "outliers", "edge cases", "accidental targets". And i'm sitting here trying to tell you we ARE targets! Society at large does not love us. It wishes to mutilate, rape, and abuse us. PLEASE love your intersex siblings. We're drowning and we need your help.
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