orca

she/her | 20+ | ace lesbian | 🇵🇭 | this was supposed to be an art blog but now it's just odd reblogs of things i find lovely, terrible, or otherwise important + the occasional art

[incoherent-orca]

In ASL and SSL, this is the gesture for "Inshallah," which means means "God willing"; it's used to express hope that a specific future event will come to pass.

🇵🇸 Things you can do below 🇵🇸

🍉 SHARE posts from Palestinians, especially journalists on the ground (copy link on IG works just as well as sharing?). They're literally dying for that footage 🙃 let's make sure it counts

🍉 DONATE an E-sim @connectinghumanity_ on IG

🍉 DONATE to @CareForGaza (Twitter; donation links should be on their profile too). A lot of donation drives are just... making a grab at clout but this one is legit; a number of Gazans confirm that the food/produce is getting to them. The organizer seems to be Palestinian and living there as well

🍉 BOYCOTT brands listed by @bdsnationalcommittee on IG

Official boycott targets: AXA, Puma, Carrefour, Siemens, Ahava, HP, Sodastream, any products from Israel

Organic boycott targets: Domino's, McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Wix

🍉 PRESSURE your governments & officials to call for a ceasefire and #InvokeGenocideConvention at the ICJ (rootsaction.org)

🍉 PROTEST. If there are mobilizations in your area, show up to be part of the count. No heroics—do what you feel safe doing and listen to the organizers.

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it was also important to me to include an Al-Qassam fighter in this, because they're often scapegoated by Western media, and also by well-meaning allies who say "but civilians are not Hamas"; there's this attempt to separate militant resistance from the process of liberation as a whole

Yeah, most civilians are not Hamas, but they don't denounce them either. Palestinians call them freedom fighters, protectors.

because the resistance is not a bunch of evil, violent outliers; they are as much victims of the occupation as the women, children, and non-combatants are. Most if not all of them were born under the occupation; a good percentage of them are also orphans.

I will never condemn boys who live along the coast but have never seen the sea.

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And end to the violence can't mean a return to business as usual, where the occupation and apartheid continue and Palestinians are still getting displaced on their own land. it will still take decades to rebuild homes. priceless historical and cultural items & structures have been callously destroyed and can never be recovered. nearly all the children in gaza have been made disabled and traumatized and murdered—what kind of future will they inherit?

israel must be abolished. They, the US, Canada, and the EU, must pay

Inshallah, we will not stop at a ceasefire

Inshallah, we will see complete liberation for Palestine

[incoherent-orca]

updating this as many things in the old post are now moot

🍉 FUNDRAISERS —> http://gazafunds.com/

database of existing fundraising campaigns for palestinians in gaza and trying to evacuate/get medical care. these campaigns are vetted by the organizers so they should all be legit

🍉 CARE FOR GAZA —> https://www.gofundme.com/f/CareForGaza or https://www.paypal.me/UsmanaliF

org distributing aid & essential supplies in gaza

🍉 E-SIMS —> http://gazaesims.com/

🍉 WATER WELL REPAIRS —> https://gaza-city.ensany.com/campaign/6737

project by the municipality of gaza to repair the water wells that were destroyed by the IOF

[shinyeternatus]

they want you to care more about 'job' than yuri... don't fall for this scam

[siyumail]

something I drew while I was battling a fever

og img:

[polartss]

Suddenly I'm holding the world in my arms

[jessiewithaj]

sex, but instead of fucking you, we both get naked and i hold your head in my lap and forgive you for everything you think you've done wrong.

[jessiewithaj]

hey every girl rbing this with "please", "need", or somesuch, come here.

i am giving you a big hug from which you cannot escape.

i am squeezing you into my chest until all that tension eases and you can relax and feel safe in my arms.

[incoherent-orca]

a wip i guess?

aang with jewelry 🤝 katara with piercings because i saw this post and my neurons started firing

ok so i've done my best to do research i.e., 1) base the piercing designs from a single group instead of a hamfisted mishmash (my main references were the Nuniwarmiut) and 2) pick jewelry that looked like they might've been worn in everyday life and not exclusively for religious/ritual stuff

but ofc this is just me, some shitty google book previews, and 20 getty images tabs so if im massively overstepping just lmk and i'll take down the post

also sketch katara is so funny to me im so sorry i squashed your skull in queen 😔 and aang genuinely looked fucking scared in the middle pics

i still plan on coloring this,,,,,,,,at some point. also giving katara tibetan accessories as if they did a jewelry swap I HAVE DONE IT

[typewriter-worries]

there’s this extremely kind soul of a woman on instagram that makes accessible recipes that don’t require standing, chopping, or a stove and she might just have a permanent place in my heart

[peridotglimmer]

She's on YouTube too! For non-Instagram using friends:

I love her, she's great. Her recipes are friendly for both physical and/or intellectual disabilities. And her 5-year-old helps her cook. 🥰

Link to her YouTube channel:

Epicurious Expeditions

Celebrating the intersection of food and culture, travel tales, social commentary, grieving out loud. 🇳🇬/🇺🇸 👰🏽🧒🏽👧🏽👩🏽‍💼⚖️ Paid Collaboration

[malinaa]

what if we all explode

[derring-do]

This very production of Orpheus & Eurydice is now available to stream, free, for the month of June.

[dct239394cvvd098dffgggp]

to this day i cannot BELIEVE aang called up and blew off like nine avatars just because they didnt offer any vegan options to ending the war

[pikameme-dayo]

roku: my best friend assaulted me as a senior citizen :(

kyoshi: sometimes some murder is OK

kuruk: just punch people that disagree with you

aang: okay i’m starting to think that none of you took this avatar thing seriously

[teeveew]

You're not wrong

[aboutiroh]

Aang when he is told he’s the Avatar at age 12: *has a melt down because he understands the seriousness of this function and the consequences his new responsibilities will have on his personal life* 

other Avatars at age 16: I’m the avatar? Cool! Hey look it comes with a glowing eyes feature! 

[aviculor]

aang: fuck this noise, i’ll get advice from the last air nomad avatar

yangchen: i gave up that hippie bullshit first chance i got, i love murder

[hedge-rambles]

I will never not laugh at the bit where Aang is like "finally, an Air Nomad, you get me, right?" and Yangchen just says "sorry bud, I also vote murder".

A close second on that note is of course the trial of Kyoshi in which she manifests in the courtroom just to say "Actually, I did murder him and I'd do it again. But consider: the bitch had it coming".

[kittyissac]

#tbh I think there's something to be said for the fact that Aang was 12 when he ran away from home#and how there's more than a bit of evidence that the adult airbenders had a less strict pacifistic approach#Aang was purposefully sheltered by Gyatsu to protect his childhood and so he has the ethics of a child#and when he awoke there were no other air nomads around to sit him down and have The Violence Talk#about how yes we're pacifists and murder is bad but there are exceptions#like Gyatsu was a kindly man of the highest order but uh#he didn't just lay down and die on a pile of skulls he just found#man went out taking like 20 fire nation soldiers with him#Aang: ''I could never kill! Gyatsu taught me to abhor all forms of violence“”#Gyatsu: deals out death to attacking soldiers like he's got a side hustle as a claymore mine

[zarohk]

And the fact that he figures out a more technically complex and socially stable way to remove Ozai without making him a martyr just shows that he has a lot more skill at the problem at hand than most the previous ones.

To me, that whole scene was very much the previous avatars saying “when all you have is a hammer” and Aang going “okay, but what can I do with this Swiss Army knife?” and they don’t give very useful advice about it.

[tamer-of-jabberwocks]

Personally I also don't think the prior Avatars were all that helpful, but they weren't all saying murder was okay. Aang's there asking for help with Avatar skills because he'd had so minimal training, maybe there's something in the toolbox he doesn't know how to use yet, but they're all trying to make him comfortable with using the hammer he already has and knows how to use. What they were saying was what they thought he needed to hear, based on what they regretted most from how they'd acted as Avatars, and what they thought was most needed here.

Roku regretted not killing Sozin specifically because it gave him the opportunity to come back and kill him, then the Air Nomads. His lack of decisive action led to a lot of tragedy, and so his advice was to make sure whatever he did, make sure it was permanent, or Ozai would come back.

Kyoshi regretted not moving sooner on the threat of Shin the Conqueror and waiting until he was at the very edge of Kyoshi Peninsula before actually doing anything. She allowed a lot of destruction on the continent because she didn't move fast enough. Her advice is to move swiftly instead of allowing Ozai more time to act.

Kuruk basically did nothing as Avatar by his own admission and basically just said that Aang had to do something, and not to back off of his responsibilities because it was hard.

Yangchen is complicated because, well, she isn't talking about one of her own regrets. She's the one trying to give the 'Violence is sometimes necessary' talk to Aang, because she's the best person to tell him his duties as Avatar have to outweigh his duties as an Airbender. Arguably she is the one telling him to murder Ozai, but personally I read that as more 'you need to do what's right for the world, and I am giving you permission to break our cultural rules to do that. Because I am the only person you can ask for absolution.'

They were all trying to offer him spiritual guidance and support, but Aang wasn't looking for emotional support here, he was looking for solutions. Because he had already decided he wouldn't kill Ozai. No advice or absolution was really going to change that he already knew he wouldn't do it.

[autistichalsin]

#this is a perfect addition#they were trying to be advisors#but aang didn't need guidance at that moment#he needed answers#ironically they all gave guidance that aang had needed and could really have used earlier in his journey#but that he already had learned via his travels#important lessons to be had but not what aang needed in that moment#being swift and decisive to act#and not hesitating or taking half measures#or blowing off duties#these are important lessons to learn for an avatar#and yangchen clearly tried to help aang come to terms#with the dichotomy between being a monk and being the avatar#her words on why he can't separate himself from the world like other monks because of his duty to the world#is actually very important for his future growth i think#but they didn't give him the answers he needed#he knew he needed to stop ozai#but he also knew he couldn't look him in the eye and kill him#aang is actually being really mature in that moment#because he knows he can't face an enemy and kill them#and he's trying to find a path to victory despite that#and he keeps looking for that path#despite all options seeming to say there is none#and his persistence is rewarded when he asks the lion-turtle#who teaches him energybending

This, and also I think it provides the lesson of "the adults/elders in your life/community don't have all the answers for every situation. Sometimes you have to find your own answer, and sometimes the answer can be found with someone else, and it is absolutely okay to keep asking to find the solution to your problem. You're not disrespecting anyone or being arrogant; you know your problem better than anyone, and it is your life and your conscience, and only you can decide what's best for it. If the only advice people have for you is to act in a way that contradicts your own values, it probably is wrong for you, and if these are indeed your deeply-held beliefs, you need to hold on to them and instead try to find a way to confront your problem in a way that does not go against those values. Most of our regrets come from letting ourselves act in ways that contradict our inner system of morality. You have every right to act to avoid moral injury, even if what avoids moral injury for you would be a cause of it in others."

[incoherent-orca]

lover when i sing my song, all the rivers are gonna sing along

kataang but make it hadestown

listen. Why would I choose cosmic energy over Katara is Aang's equivalent of Orpheus turning around AND I'M ILL ABOUT IT

i don't plan to draw them but just know that in this AU, Persephone & Hades are Roku & Sozin. so the gods aren't really gods but roku's generation (Hermes is Gyatso!).

the instrument is a tibetan dramyin. i was gonna put them in the hadestown outfits but,,, i love their color palette too much + using the canon designs or cultures they're based on 😔 also just. Aang With Jewelry

to add: Bending... I'd say doesn't exist in this au; the avatar state is when orpheus goes la la la la la

[ptr-sqloint]

Poisoning - Sickness - Invasion

[writingwithfolklore]

Writing Resources to use instead of AI

For coming up with character names:

Behind the name (my absolute fav)

Allows you to choose the origin of where you want the name to be from, whether you want a more feminine vs masculine vs androgenous name (as voted by users), random surname generator, and clicking on the name gives you important info like if there are any famous people with the same name, where it’s from, how common it is, and how people tend to see it, etc.

You can also search their name database by letter or meaning or origin, so if you know you want a character who has a name/surname that starts with an A from Ireland, there’s a whole list for you to choose from.

Census sites

Especially useful if you’re looking for a name from a specific place and/or time period. Just search “(country) census (year)” and you’ll find a database of real people who lived in that place at that time. No one can ever call your names unrealistic again.

For coming up with place names:

Fantasy name generator

This site can basically come up with any name for any person, place, or thing you might ever need. There are also specific generators for different fandoms if you’re looking to make an OC in an established world.

For finding that one word on the tip of your tongue:

One Look Thesaurus

This is my go-to. Not only can you find synonyms like a regular thesaurus, but you can also describe words like “unhappy smile” or “quiet laugh” to find the more specific word you’re looking for.

For coming up with ideas:

Word cloud

When I need to inspire a new idea, I write down all the things I’m interested in (hauntings, academia, lesbians, etc.) and put them into a word cloud to shuffle them next to each other. Sometimes seeing a concept in a new context can spark new ideas!

WWF Discord

This is my discord channel (shameless plug) for when you need to brainstorm off other people but don’t have anyone irl to talk to. We’re also happy to read and give feedback on writing, answer writing questions, or just chat!

For visualizing places and characters:

Pinterest

Pinterest can at times be a bit too sterile for my tastes, but if you use the right words, you can find more realistic photos of places. For example, adding “aesthetic” after basically any word will bring up a more broad collection of photos to help you flesh out places.

This is also a great way to find photos of people and fashion to help visualize characters. I’m bad at describing clothes, so I usually collect photos of outfits to help me know what my characters are wearing. Searching up “character inspiration” will collect more interesting photos and drawings of people who might not exactly be of our world.

(However, to make Pinterest not show you AI results, you have to go into your settings and check the “reduce AI” box. Luckily, it does mostly work.)

Death to Stock

Like pinterest but completely AI free (hooray!) Only drawback is that you have to pay a monthly subscription (about $20 CAD).

Cosmos

Very similar to pinterest but slightly more "artsy". I'm not super familiar with this one but I believe all the photos are human and you can save them and create collections with a free account.

Dupe Photos

Royalty-free stock image site with very Pinterest-core photos!

Minecraft

If you haven’t built your entire fictional city in Minecraft instead of writing, why not? It’s fun.

The Sims

This one is dual purpose because you can not only create your characters in Create a Sim, but you can design their houses. If you really want to go for it, you can bulldoze all the lots in your town and build your world from scratch.

For checking grammar:

Grammar Girl

Easy to follow definitions and examples, and if you learn better by listening, every article comes with a podcast to follow along with instead.

Grammar Monster

This one is my favourite for checking grammar rules because there’s tons of examples in graphics that helps for any situation.

Reedsy

Among other things, reedsy can connect you to professional editors within your budget.

For writing advice:

One Stop for Writers

This one was recommended from my discord channel and has all sorts of tutorials and resources for the writing craft.

My Blog Directory

Another shameless plug, but if you need writing advice on something specific, you can search through my directory to see if it’s there. If it isn’t, you can always send me an ask about it!

For an alternative to Google Docs:

Ellipsus

Think google docs but without AI. Yay!

(will update this list with any more suggestions or resources I discover 😊)

[just-a-readthrough]

A great resource

[march-gay-shipping-madness]

SEMI-FINALS:

Pearlina (Pearl Houzuki/Marina Ida) (Splatoon 2) vs. SuleMio (Suletta Mercury/Miorine Rembran) (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury)

Pearlina

SuleMio

Voting ended onMar 24

[2023-yaoi-off]

Yuri-Off 2026: First of Her Name

Round 3: SuleMio (The Witch from Mercury) VS. XenaGabi (Xena Warrior Princess)

Suletta x Miorine

Xena x Gabrielle

Voting ended onJan 14

[2023-yaoi-off]

Yuri-Off 2026: First of Her name

Round 1: TexLapp (Arknights) vs Miorine x Suletta (Gundam: The Witch from Mercury)

Texas x Lappland

Miorine x Suletta

Voting ended onJan 12

[perplexingly]

Here's my furry nun comic 😇

[superkiakart]

Christmas Mistletoe