can we bring back the term "fair-weather friend" bc I feel like if fair-weather friends got called that more this whole argument about whether or not you should be there for your friends when it's inconvenient/at what point of personal inconvenience it's ok to bail on your friends would kinda fall apart bc like. we literally have a word for "friend who's only there when you don't need something from them" because the baseline expectation is that a friend should be there even when it sucks. like we used to make fun of people for bailing on their friends.
10,000 people is a hamlet or perhaps some sort of large temporary outdoor entertainment venue. Fewer than than and I’m attaching -hamfordshire to the end of wherever you say you are from
Here is an article from NPR about it (May 22, 2026):
Carolina Milanesi, an independent technology analyst, said Google is trying to make its cash cow business — search — richer and more personalized, and it will make shopping easier. But there is a risk that users may have fewer choices about what to click.
"Right now it's: I ask a question, I get a bunch of answers and I feel that I'm in control as to which answer I take, or if I'm looking for something, which product I'm going to end up buying. That is going to be less so going forward," she said.
Milanesi envisions AI-enabled search and agents proposing products to consumers — perhaps even those they have requested — but with less clarity or choice around where it's coming from.
"If you're going to say: 'I want a pair of Jordans, go find them,' you're not necessarily sure what steps have been taken and whether the AI has used a source or a store that was paid for and therefore came up in the search results," she said, "or if AI actually went and did their due diligence and picked the best for me as a customer."
And here's one from Time magazine (May 20, 2026):
While Google already has “AI Mode,” the company will now power the whole search bar through its new Gemini 3.5 Flash model.
Instead of the classic list of blue links, Google Search will now also generate a custom page with an AI-generated summary of what you’re searching about, which will then trigger a conversation with AI Mode on the main page, allowing users to ask follow-up questions—similar to the kind of layout you would see when opening ChatGPT.
And a little more from Time's article on how this may affect the websites that we are trying to search for:
When Google first started implementing AI-assisted results, news publishers warned of “catastrophic” impacts on the industry, much of which relies on Google search to drive users to their websites.
Last year, news websites saw significant traffic declines as chatbots increasingly replaced Google search as the primary way to find sites and ask questions.
Small businesses also noted drops in traffic to their sites from Google, which has traditionally delivered customers.
Lily Ray, vice president of SEO strategy & research at Amsive, a digital marketing agency, warned as early as last year that Google’s planned changes to search are “going to have a devastating impact on the Internet.”
“It will severely cut into the main source of revenue for most publishers and it will disincentivize content creators who rely on organic search traffic, which is millions of websites, maybe more,” she told Technology Magazine.
So I saw this news last week and finally switched over to duckduckdo and the difference is STAGGERING. It's like...search from 20 years ago. The results I want are at the TOP. I can't believe I waited so long to switch.
agreed, switching to duckduckgo last year was the single best improvement in my life. just remember to change the search settings > manage ai and turn all the different toggles to Off (duck.ai), Never (search assist), and On (Hide ai images)
“It will severely cut into the main source of revenue for most publishers and it will disincentivize content creators who rely on organic search traffic, which is millions of websites, maybe more,” she told Technology Magazine.
So when the news sites go out of business, the content creators give up, the only places you can buy things from are the ones big enough to pay Google's going rate for being included in results, and the entire internet has been turned into an AI-generated ouroboros of shit... then what?
I’ve seen people do au’s of Bloody Mary where Grace’s twin brother is Colt Seavers from the fall guy which I honestly love but I haven’t seen anyone do what I consider to be the funniest option available which is make Ryland Grace an escaped Ken from Barbieland.
Think about it throughout PHM Ryland never talks about having a family he mentions having a girlfriend once in the book all we really know about her is that they moved in together briefly and that she had a lot of stuff.
Let’s say after Ken and Barbie break up. Ken decides to go out on his own and stumbles upon the real world. There he learns about science and becomes completely invested in that pathway. He either eventually figures out how to become a human or he stays a doll which could explain why he was the only one to survive his hyper sleep (and so he can live with rocky longer)
It could explain why he so heavily believes in non water based life so much because he WAS a non water based life form. Water doesn’t exist in Barbieland it’s all plastic.
Furthermore this could explain why he decided to become a teacher being a doll previously it’s only reasonable to assume he’d enjoy kid’s presence the same way Barbie does.
He also loves the beach and we all know that Ken’s previous job was beach
In the Barbie movie the CEO of Mattel states “we’re not worried about Ken…. Ever.” Meaning that it’s likely they wouldn’t care at all if a Ken left Barbieland and perused an education became a scientist and eventually a school teacher.
All this to say imagine Simon and Grace getting into some kind of fight where Simon is like
“You have no idea what it’s like to live your life forced to be a cog in the system. Knowing that what you want doesn’t matter, nobody caring about who you are not even your name matters”etc. etc.
and the entire time Grace is having PTSD flashbacks of this:
And then responds with:
“You wouldn’t last an hour in the place I grew up”
barbie, maybe she’s chosen a new name for individuality, is living her live as whatever she chose to be, but one day when she’s watching the news, and she sees Ken! apparently he chose the name ryland grace, and he became a scientist! and a teacher! and now an astronaut! she would be so proud to see what ken accomplished, only to learn that he’s going to space for a mission where they don’t plan for him to return! well thats not fair! he worked so hard to choose his path and now you’re sending him away!
maybe before he’s launched to space, she reaches out, even if anonymously, just to say “glad to see how you made a name for yourself since before, -your old friend, barbie” or something, and this is one of the few things he has with him on the hail mary, and also part of why he remembers that but not being a scientist lol
Are there Asian hairstyles that are unseen in canon but would make sense for Fire Nation male characters?
If they're supposed to be law-abiding citizens, then no. The Fire Nation's trademark topknot comes from the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE), a very brutal and militaristic period in Chinese history. There are quite a few aspects of the Qin Dynasty that are present in the Fire Nation, for example...
During the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE), Shi Huangti banned religion and burned philosophical and religious works. Legalism became the official philosophy of the Qin government and the people were subject to harsh penalties for breaking even minor laws. Shi Huangti outlawed any books, which did not deal with his family line, his dynasty, or Legalism... Confucian scholars hid books as best as they could and people would worship their gods in secret but were no longer allowed to carry amulets or wear religious charms.
In this sort of climate, men are viewed as tools of the state, so self-expression is not encouraged. That said, even under those conditions, men found ways to jazz up their topknot by adding little braid patterns and decorations in the back. They also had unique facial hair styles, although that might have been due to each soldier having a different capacity to grow a 'stache and beard.
However, in both the context of the Qin Dynasty and the Fire Nation, a man without a topknot would indicate he's some sort of criminal or shameful person. In which case, I suppose any hairstyle is acceptable for a law-breaking character.
ORBSJB AGNI AS A TURTLE DUCK I'm sorry but LIKE HOW CUTE AND then it's like he's this turtleduck in the pond bc depending on how people treat animals, small ones that need help, that's how he knows if they're good and he blesses the ones that treat him kindly and then Zuko and I'm sorry of this sint coherent (I'm a long time fan of your content btw, all the his and the books and omg I wish I could've gotten some)
Azulon looked down. His grandson, along with the turtleduck in his arms, looked up.
“This is Agni,” the boy said. “He says you should stop now.”
QUACK, said the duck. It was a strange red-gold. It was glowing. It was staring at him, even through the flames of the throne.
“Stop what?” humored the Fire Lord.
“The war,” the boy said. “It’s killing too many firebenders. Also his sister has been yelling at him, so we should let the waterbenders go, too, and be nice to them from now on so he can get a good night’s sleep and not have her redirecting comets at him any more. Probably we should leave all the other benders alone too because he’s pretty sure it was the air spirits that made him a flightless duck. He says that’s their sense of humor.”
QUACK, said the turtleduck.
“…Guards,” said Azulon.
This proved to be an ill-advised action.
ALTERNATE TAKE THAT WENT NOWHERE AND ISN'T EDITED HAVE FUN WITH THAT:
There is a Fire Nation child in Hakoda's village. The child has a softly glowing turtleduck in his arms and a quietly oozing wound under his bandage. This is not how Hakoda thought his morning would go.
"What's with the turtleduck?" asks Hakoda's son, who is wrapped around Hakoda's arm and his spear in a way that makes it very hard to instinctively stab at red-clothed things. Hakoda... expected more of them. But the tiny sail boat the kid just ran into Sokka's lumpy watchtower seems to be empty, now that its single feverish passenger has stumbled over. With his duck.
"It's a turtleduck-phoenix," says the Fire Lord's heir, answering exactly none of Hakoda's actual questions. "...You remember?"
"That your hair is going to get worse before it gets better?" says Sokka. "Absolutely."
The Prince scowls. "Then where's Aang?"
"Katara's been looking for him. He's still in the iceberg."
"...The Ember Island Players' iceberg?"
"The Ember Island Players' extremely accurate and well-researched iceberg."
The Fire Prince stares at Hakoda's son. The Fire Prince stares at Hakoda. The Fire Prince flips his duck around to face himself, then starts shaking it. "Give me a less stupid reality."
QUACK, protests the duck, with a burst of accompanying immolation that does nothing to dissuade the prince.
"Sorry, buddy," soothes his son, "you were always in the stupid reality. Remember the frozen frogs?"
Tag preservation because @muffinlance's tags always include a whole nother chapter of the fic:
#Lu Ten at the front lines: oh how cute I got a letter from baby Zuko <3<3<3#dad look at this letter from Zuko <3<3<3#dad he got his hands on the Fire Lord’s seal isn’t that adorable <3<3<3#Iroh staring at official courtly letterhead and his nephew’s new titles in the head scribe's hand: ...#Lu Ten: I’m gonna squish his little cheeks when we get home#Iroh who’s just gotten to the part ordering their immediate and complete retreat: …#Lu Ten: <3<3<3<3<3<3#avatar the last airbender#atla#zuko
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