Supreme Chancellor

Elected to prevent natborns doing another Empire

[str8aura-no-not-that-one]

Love it when a robot character has an inexpressible immobile face but stares at you in silence in a way that you know is judgemental

[lithominium]

[supremechancellorrex]

It's like they need extra time to process you because you're... just that unique. Truly something they have never seen before or could predict. The judgement is so real

[supremechancellorrex]

I think sometimes fandom and canon can blur a lot. Understandable, but I think fans need to sometimes take a step back and remember that when debating other people, canon is the only thing both sides should, in theory, know and it's unfair to expect the other party to dance to the tune of your fav fanfiction.

Now, I know it can get a little muddled, especially with the comics, because this is the panel that appears in the Official Avatar Search Comic and is canon:

It's not exactly my favourite comic, because I find the canonical context of this scene makes it downright stupid to me personally, but it is canon and it is mass-produced as part of the criteria and a canonical part of the wikis. I don't like it for Ursa's character, but any fan has a right to included it in a holistic discussion of the character and tell others to look it up when discussing the current canon and are unaware of it.

Meanwhile, in contrast, this, below, is a complete fanon mock-up:

As are, in relation to this, these additional fanon scenes as well below.

These scenes do not appear in the Official Search comic and anyone claiming they do and referencing them in that way is misinformed. People cannot expect other people to take these fanon scenes and character perspectives as canon, when discussing Ursa, Azula or Zuko in that context. There is no point of reference.

I'm fine with fans creating things and talking about them, I love fanfiction - well, except the bad ones - but some fans expecting a fan of the show and comics to treat a fanfic they like as canon or near enough when discussing the characters is pretty unfair and entitled to me imho. I, myself, often want to talk about and debate stuff from the official content when talking about the actual characterisation, worts and all, over being continuously side-tracked in a discussion by things that didn't actually happen.

[supremechancellorrex]

One great thing about Avatar: the Last Airbender is that it was a show born out of passion, and I feel like as a fandom that creates a lot of hidden gems that spin the world in colourful directions.

I'm really enjoying the work of this really talented creator called Austro. He really gets the characters of Avatar and makes me think about the world of Avatar from new, refreshing angles. Flames of Kaiya is an engaging, novel-length story with clever interplay between all the characters, both new and old, in a forever-changing world of intrigue, stakes and mysterious intentions.

Flames of Kaiya

https://archiveofourown.org/works/57050662/chapters/145092592#workskin

And it even has a short comic based on the first chapter to give a taste of the amazing story to come with beautiful illustrations.

Flames of Kaiya Comic

Avatar: The Flames of Kaiya

Toph and Sokka encounter a mysterious Firebender near the end of the Hundred Year War. Do they have what it takes to come out victorious?

Meanwhile his Ty Lee Joins the Circus comic is a really fun and heartfelt tribute Ty Lee that really helped me appreciate her character more. It has fantastic dialogue, characters moments and lovely artwork too.

Ty Lee Joins the Circus

Avatar: Ty Lee Joins the Circus!

Takes place two years before the beginning of Book One, uncovering the story behind Ty Lee's departure from her noble life to join the circu

(Alternative AO3 Link)

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

[reconstructwriter]

Had Another Breakdown and Watched Attack of the Clones

And wow, what a B-Movie title but I’m already committed to this terrible life decision so I might as well continue. Got through the Phantom Menace so how much worse can this be?

Warning! Another long post! Also tw for Attack of the Clones shit including genocide and slavery.

The Watto scene: Not only does it double down on Watto as a Jewish stereotype – seriously, WHY?!? – but a scene where a former slave meets their enslaver after ten years of growing up and mystic training with a laser sword? I expected a lot more. Watto should’ve voided his bowels because this has to be Worst Case Scenario for a slaver! At best he was a little ‘nervous friendly’. And Anakin is already well-established as ‘man-child who Loses His Shit at the drop of a hat’. Like dude, where’s your angst and teenage fits now cause boy does this situation fit the bill! But nope, NPC fulfills their NPC duty and off they go.

Fanon Anakin vs Canon Anakin: I was introduced to the former and slowly learned what he’s really like and oh wow is he such a terrible mess of a human being no wonder Mace Windu noped his training. His Fascist statement is extra YIKES for Padme since she’s one of those Senators who’d be forced to agree. The first temper tantrum alone sounded way out of line given the relatively professional setting, let alone the creepy boundary-breaking stare. The ‘I’ve been dreaming about you for ten years’, the ‘my feelings are suffering’ speech – also taking place with him in shadow for extra broody effect. And his first genocide (I can’t believe we’re already keeping track here!) And he KNOWS BETTER is the worst thing. He admits, out loud, that he knows better and still does the thing Padme why did you say yes to this mess?

Padme being mind controlled: a fairly common fan theory to answer the above question, but in-movie Padme straight up asks Anakin if he will use a mind-trick on her (in the context of a 20 questions game so not serious). Anakin’s response is ‘mind tricks only work on the weak minded’. On the one hand, implies Padme is too strong-willed for Anakin to influence through the Force – but on the other hand this also suggests to me that he would if he could!?!?

Though Anakin was the one to suggest keeping the relationship a secret, which did surprise me so no guilting Padme about ‘wanting a marriage like a free man’ like I thought. Padme is the one who says she won’t live a lie. Good to know for future reference.

Are droids sentient or not? Dex outright says droids can’t think but I honestly don’t know if this is in-universe how droids work or if Dex is having a Cleigg-on-Tusken-People moment.

Jedi are Arrogant? Lots of people have cited Madame Nu’s confidence in her archive’s integrity as evidence the Jedi are arrogant and horrible justification of Sith crimes follows. But Obi Wan thinks there’s something more going on and Yoda encourages everyone to help find his lost planet in one of the only nods to ‘funny trickster teacher Yoda’ we get in the movie. To me this seems a hint that the Jedi are unprepared for betrayal from within. Which Dooku’s, Anakin’s and the Clones’ mind-controlled betrayals all blindside the Jedi Order.

Jango: I’ve been torn about him since I learned about him. On the one hand, understandable vengeance motive (per legends anyway), on the other hand selling his own kids into slavery and probably knowing something about the chips and genocide order because I can’t otherwise imagine the legends version assisting the Jedi.

Jango does state in-movie ‘they’ll do their job well’ in a way that sounds just a bit ominous but I don’t know if he’s being accidentally vague or deliberately giving a subtle hint he knows about the Jedi betrayal plan. If this version is just in it for Boba and the money and doesn’t have the motive of his Legends counterpart, why would the Sith ever need to tell him? Dunno, but I was surprised to not hear him say anything derogatory about his clones. I mean he’s still selling his children into slavery in a way George Lucas doesn’t grok but he doesn’t actively deride them like I’ve read in fanfic. It’s a low bar but not as low as Anakin’s.

Made for the Jedi? So the Kaminoians confirm the clone army is specifically made for the Republic but commissioned by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas. Glad the movies cleared that up.

Scene Contrast: Kamino is Dark and Stormy with creepy sterile whiteness everywhere in complete contrast to Naboo’s sunny and lush green paradise. The clone army is grown and trained in creepy white lab while the robotic army built in a dark but organic underground hive. Obi Wan sneaks onto Geonosis through the light of day to investigate galactic concerns. Anakin on Tattooine stalks the Tusken people in the dark of night for personal stakes.

The (Other) Horribly Racist Cliché: Speaking of which, I get we’re supposed to assume Shmi was abducted but, um, Cleigg isn’t even a witness – like I initially thought – but is guessing abduction based on tracks in the desert sand and his incredibly racist bias. Are we supposed to doubt every word out of his mouth? If Shmi had been in a bed (even tied) I’d have assumed patient before prisoner.

Anakin’s Genocide: He goes off to save Shmi as ominous music plays and the suns go down, at which point he doesn’t just walk the fascist talk and do baby-Vader’s first genocide but also foreshadows his betrayal and genocide of the Jedi! Which really reinforces the Sith/Nazi and Jedi/Jewish parallel here – Hitler and the Nazis got their Holocaust ideas from White America’s treatment of our native and PoC counterparts. So too does Anakin the future Sith start his genocidal tendencies with the Native people of Tattooine.

But nobody in-universe seems to get that?!? Blorbo!Anakin authors recognize that thar was some FUCKED UP SHIT!!! (Usually by pretending it didn’t happen or re-writing the scene into something less Moral Event Horizon.) Padme’s response would fit better Anakin murdering the literally disarmed Dooku – morally wrong, against the Jedi Code but somewhat understandable but genocide? Cleigg is narratively supposed to be kind and sympathetic but he practically sent a demon after people who’s land and water he’s stealing! The person acting most realistically is the perpetrator and all Anakin admits (again) is he’s a Jedi and therefore should be better. But this still feels like he should have come back to Padme yellow-eyed and Dark Sided!

Once again, George Lucas’ racism screws up the story he’s trying to tell. Ugh. Okay, enough movie time for now. Sorry I’m a hopeless binger despite my friends and kitties’ best efforts.

[supremechancellorrex]

Yeah, honestly there's nothing quite like the way George Lucas handles a story with the Prequels. Every single topic and plot point is butchered beyond belief. The Jedi just accept a mysterious slave army created on a mysterious planet deleted from their archives, an army based on a man that concurrently works for the other side of the war via Count Dooku and tried to kill them, with no real quibble. Everyone's just cool with it, the slavery of a people called "property" is not discussed. Anakin murder murders "not just the men, but the women and the children" and Padme the so-called gloriously pro-rights Senator is just okay with it, in fact it's hot for her enough to marry him.

[noperopesaredope]

A Post Outlining Why the Clone Troopers are 100% Slaves

I'm pretty sure nobody is really arguing otherwise, but I was thinking about this earlier and decided to actually look up the definition of slavery, and holy shit the clones fit it even more than I thought like oh my lord-

I've also seen people not really acknowledge that the clones are literally slaves, so this is to set it in stone. This post is mostly pointless, but I wanted to make it anyway because it's actually crazy how much they fit the definition and I need people to know about that.

My main source I will be using is Britannica and their page on slavery, but I may also take a few others and use those as examples.

"slavery, condition in which one human being was owned by another. A slave was considered by law as property, or chattel, and was deprived of most of the rights ordinarily held by free persons."

The clones are canonically property of the Republic and clearly have no rights, otherwise half the shit that happens to them would not be happening due to being illegal (or it would at least be slightly more regulated). One aspect of this I think is important is that slavery is supposedly illegal in the Republic, and yet clones are owned by the very government that outlawed the owning of sentient beings. As I will discuss more, many of the rights sentients have in the Republic do not apply to the clones, showing that they have far less rights than those which are, as Britannica said, "ordinarily held by free persons."

It's also heavily implied that the clones are considered property/chattel by the fact that they are not legally considered sentients. Otherwise, again, them being owned by the Republic would not be legal or permitted. Sentient beings cannot be owned under Republic law, and since the clones are owned by the government (and again, seem to lack various rights which are applied to all sentients), this implies that they do not count as sentient beings. Honestly, it seems like culturally they are somewhat considered non-sentients due to basically being perceived as organic droids or something similar, thus they are more likely equated to property. Not even chattel, since that would imply that they are at least living beings, and clones are barely even tried as ones.

"The slave was a species of property; thus, he belonged to someone else."

I state this constantly throughout the entire analysis.

"In some societies slaves were considered movable property, in others immovable property, like real estate."

I don't know what TF that means so I don't know if it fits or not but one of the two probably fits.

"They were objects of the law, not its subjects. Thus, like an ox or an ax, the slave was not ordinarily held responsible for what he did."

This one is a bit complicated and debatable. They don't have rights, but are still somewhat held accountable for their actions. Then again, the use of the term/concept of "decommissioning" somewhat state otherwise. To the Kaminoans at the very least, the clones are products. So if they break the law or break certain rules or "fail" in some shape or form, they are thrown away. Not really punished for their actions, but treated more like a broken phone that doesn't work properly.

On top of this, I'm not sure if they would actually be tried in front of a court of law. They can be court martialed, but that's a bit different and very internal to the GAR, which is what owns them (yes, they are owned by the Republic in general, but most things regarding how they are regulated seem to be in relation to the GAR). If they were to commit a regular crime, they would most likely be decommissioned rather than tried in the same way as a regular civilian or natborn sentient. Again, while they can be punished, the law doesn't seem to apply to them in the same way. It would be up to the GAR rather than the justice system.

Honestly, this might come up later, but it's unlikely the clones would even be able to get legal representation, since they already don't even need to be court martialed to be straight up executed. And since they aren't legally considered sentients, it would be hard to properly try them in a court of law that isn't a military court. Like the quote says, you cannot try an ox or axe, thus, it would be hard to try a clone if they aren't considered to have any real free will. And even if they are, they aren't considered sentient and instead are property.

I guess a more accurate comparison would be if droids could be arrested and sued/tried vs getting simply destroyed (or the owner of said droid getting in trouble and destroying them/shutting them down). Highly unlike. And I believe that applies to the clones as well. Perhaps they could be declared too dangerous and be decommissioned, but not given a proper trial or anything.

If anyone disagrees with me on that, please do so in the reblogs or replies because I do want to hear your thoughts on if clones could be tried in a regular court (rather than a GAR court) and how that would even logistically work.

"He was not personally liable for torts or contracts."

These guys might be able to do some things like arrest warrants and mission reports, but they would NOT be able to sign a contract. I don't even have solid proof. I just know, and you do too. How would that even work? I don't think they can really even sign stuff outside of the GAR or their job.

"The slave usually had few rights and always fewer than his owner, but there were not many societies in which he had absolutely none."

I already explained how they have literally no rights. Honestly, the only reason this statement doesn't completely apply is due to the fact that they have absolutely no rights, as I will talk about more in the next statement.

"As there are limits in most societies on the extent to which animals may be abused, so there were limits in most societies on how much a slave could be abused."

The very fact that decommissioning/reconditioning is a thing, the Kaminoans aren't in trouble for all that child abuse, and how easy it would be to retaliate against clones reporting abuse (honestly unsure if a natborn would even be punished for abusing a clone) shows that pretty much all bets are off in regards to abuse. Plus, the fact that they have no rights and are barely considered living beings kind of makes it hard to find any proper protections for them.

"The slave was removed from lines of natal descent. Legally, and often socially, he had no kin. No relatives could stand up for his rights or get vengeance for him."

I'd say that the only legal kin the clones could possibly have are each other and maybe Jango, and there is no way the clones would be able to stand up for each others' rights. They honestly probably aren't legally considered kin anyway, so it would barely matter.

The clones can not vote, run for office, and have basically no form of government representation. They can not participate in politics in any real form.

"As an “outsider,” “marginal individual,” or “socially dead person” in the society where he was enslaved, his rights to participate in political decision making and other social activities were fewer than those enjoyed by his owner."

"The product of a slave’s labor could be claimed by someone else-"

Pretty much all clone labor is military related, and all the spoils of war are handed to the Republic. Not sure if this applies to regular soldiers anyway, but the point still stands.

"-who also frequently had the right to control his physical reproduction."

Do you really think the GAR would let the clones have kids?

Even if they did, I'm pretty sure they'd have the legal right to still prevent the clones from reproducing.

"Slavery was a form of dependent labor performed by a nonfamily member."

The clones are not related to anyone in the government. They may have some clone superior officers, but those clones don't own any clones, and the highest ranking officers are always natborns. The GAR also very much depends on the labor of the clones. Like, almost the entire GAR is just clones except for the people in charge of the GAR.

"The slave was deprived of personal liberty-"

The clones have no personal liberty because they are government property.

"-and the right to move about geographically as he desired."

The GAR very much controls where the clones can and cannot go. Sometimes they are allowed to go wherever they please, but the GAR still holds permanent control over where the clones are allowed to go.

"There were likely to be limits on his capacity to make choices with regard to his occupation and sexual partners as well."

The big point is that they have no choice but to be soldiers and work for the GAR. And as I said earlier, they definitely don't have any reproductive rights. This likely applies to romance as well.

"Slavery was usually, but not always, involuntary."

These bitches did not choose this. They were literally born into it. Honestly, they weren't even born into it; they were signed up for this before they even existed.

"If not all of these characterizations in their most restrictive forms applied to a slave, the slave regime in that place is likely to be characterized as “mild”; if almost all of them did, then it ordinarily would be characterized as “severe.”

Here are the parts that do not apply to the clones (or can be argued about):

.

.

.

.

.

There are none.

I actually put 2 quotes here before realizing that they actually do kind of apply.

While I didn't quote the entire article, that's because those parts weren't talking about the definition and what actually makes something slavery. When it comes to the actually qualifications, the clones' situation checks off every single one. I initially thought it would be more in the medium zone, but this is severe severe. The best I can give is that at least they get paid, but we don't actually know that. They are able to pay for things, but that might be due to odd jobs and discounts on stuff. Even then, the article doesn't mention pay of any kind, so it doesn't even matter.

There is also so many layers to their enslavement that makes it so much more twisted and disturbing. The harmful genetic modifications/experimentation (the aging thing specifically), the fact that they were created specifically to be slaves, the entire practice of decommissioning, them not even being considered sentient beings or people, and so much more.

I know why the show never acknowledges that they are 100% enslaved (acknowledging that all the clones we know and love are technically enslaved by the side we're rooting for and nobody is doing anything about it is a bit too dark), but it also drives me crazy how it feels like even the darkest versions of canon acknowledge that they are literally slaves in every possible sense of the word! The only time they are acknowledged to be slaves is by the antagonist of one episode, and his whole point is basically brushed aside!

We literally had a whole ass slavery arc! And Rex was right there with nothing to do! That would have been a perfect time to at least vaguely acknowledge that the clones are slaves! Like, Rex could vaguely mention that he somewhat relates to the slaves, since he doesn't exactly have much freedom, and the government barely considers him and his brothers to be people. Even if he is treated well and doesn't face the same abuse, they do have certain things in common. Then leave it at that. Literally anything.

Honestly, what drives me crazy about Rex being there is the fact that they really get into the horrors of slavery while completely ignoring that Rex is already in that exact situation, he's just not being tortured! Like, he feels bad for all the slaves not just because they are being abused but because they are enslaved as though he isn't already a slave himself! That is literally you, dude! You are in the exact same boat as them, you just aren't being whipped.

The only differences here are:

The clones aren't tortured or receive cruel and unusual punishments (the latter is debatable)

The Jedi don't abuse them (anyone else could, though, and the Jedi don't because they are nice to them)

They are treated slightly better in general

I can't actually really think of anything else. There are so many things that are basically the same, just dressed up differently. Even the dying from work and getting killed for just existing are the same! Fuck, the slave chips are just decommissioning!

Rex clearly feels bad for Anakin's sad backstory and all the slaves on Zygerria, but it's like he doesn't even realize that he has so much in common with them! It's just not obvious at first because the clones are treated kindly and aren't outright abused (most of them, at least).

Anyway, the point is: the clones are slaves. Like, the slaveist of slaves. And I need canon to acknowledge that at some point somewhere by some kind of character that canon acknowledges to be right. Because we all know it already. Canon already depicts the horrors of slavery. I just need them to say it out loud for once.

[groove-on-boogie-down]

So has anyone drawn the comparison between Jango fett—although compensated—being essentially bred so his offspring could be used for a galaxy’s military labor not unlike enslaved ppl being bred so plantations could have more free labor

Or his genetic material being used in perpetuity after his death not unlike Mrs. Henrietta Lacks whose cancer cells were stolen to be studied for their indefinite reproduction ability. Or is that too real for ppl…

[supremechancellorrex]

Honestly, the way Star Wars handles the storyline of slavery and oppression is disgusting. The complete bungling of the clone's storyline, given what we know about them in the world as "property", hits every writing no-no. You get the impression the writers just stumble with and trod on every sensitive topic with mindnumbing disrespect.

[supremechancellorrex]

When you're browsing tumblr in the Avatar fandom and you come across something so absolutely breathtakingly embarrassingly stupid again it still gives you pause.

These little delusions seriously aren't worth my time, but it makes me laugh, which is something so I'll give it that. "After how he's treated her", wow, just wow. Just remember folks, always be grateful to the girl that viciously smirks at you as your father burns your face, mocks you over it, tries to trick you into getting imprisoned, tries to kill you with lightning, and whose "service" is to propose genocide of another kingdom. Still looking for that so-called "10,000 times more compassion" evidence.

I gotta say, this is just peak comedy. How delusional do you have to be to watch the show and have this take. I want these people to go outside and go up to anyone who worked on Avatar, any writer, voice actor, the sound design guy even etc., in real-life and spew this utter crap take all over them. Personally, I'd be embarrassed to have this derangement exist in my mind. Touch grass unless it makes you spontaneously combust.

[supremechancellorrex]

I find it really hilarious when I see various stans across fandoms get so aggro and make strawmen out of other people's criticism of their fav character in order to not engage with the actual argument. They act like it's a winning strategy, but it's just the final nail in the coffin for any critical thinking.

Ultimately, you can't, nor should you, try to 'morally' justify the optics of characters taking part in abuse or tolerating/promoting/enabling imperialism, fascism and slavery, and you don't even need to. You can just enjoy the characters, love every sassy one-liner or flashback sob story they have, but your favs are not just 'misunderstood good guys' to everyone when that's on their ticket. You can't erase the (pretty major Jupiter-size) flaws people find in your characters just because you're too weak to admit the characters you like would likely be pretty shitty people in real life based on their actions.

[supremechancellorrex]

Continues to amaze me how people still regurgitate the same propaganda and myths about African civilisation that was used to promote colonialism and slavery. You cannot truly be against slavery, racism and colonialism if you keep giving power to the misinformation that was used to justify it.

African people have a long history of building towns and cities and living in them, creating hubs of trade, learning, innovation, art and wealth. The purpose of European and western colonialism was to rewrite history textbooks to justify ills and that included downplaying black people's achievements at every turn to make them seem 'lesser'. Yet, the evidence tells a different story. Here are some examples, out of many, below.

Old Benin

"Great Benin, where the king resides, is larger than Lisbon; all the streets run straight and as far as the eye can see. The houses are large, especially that of the king, which is richly decorated and has fine columns. The city is wealthy and industrious. It is so well governed that theft is unknown and the people live in such security that they have no doors to their houses." -Lourenco Pinto, Portuguese Ship Captain, 1691.

Timbuktu

"The scholars and jurists who lived in Timbuktu enjoyed great prestige and received great salaries from the state.”

“The city of Timbuktu had become a place of learning and scholarship. Books were more in demand than any other merchandise.”

"This virtuous, pure, undefiled, and proud city, blessed with divine favour, a healthy climate, and [commercial] activity." - Abd al-Rahman al-Sa’di, 1655.

Mogadishu

Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia and has had a long history as a trading hub. Chinese admiral Zheng He first visited the city in the 15th Century as part of his expeditions. Envoys from Mogadishu travelled back with them to China, providing many gifts, including zebras and lions, to the Chinese Emperor and the Ming-dynasty capital of the time.

Chinese chronicler Fei Xin, a soldier who accompanied Zheng He on his expeditions, described Mogadishu as this in his travel account: "[The houses are] built of stone, four or five stories high, water from deep wells drawn from buckets made of skin with cogged wheels.”

"The native products are frankincense, gold coins, leopards, and ambergris. The goods used in trading [by the Chinese] are gold, silver, coloured satins, sandal-wood, rice, china-ware, and colored taffetas. The rich people turn to seafaring and trading with distant places."

Mogadishu has appeared in a number of Chinese texts as early as 12th century. Its placement on old maps has varied, although became more accurate after Zheng He's visits.

(This 1402 map while more accurate in some ways accidentally puts Mogadishu [1] closer to the Red Sea than it is)

[catdownthestreet]

I just finished watching ATLA again.

I'll be honest, I cried.

Not because it was over, but because Katara is my favorite character.

I cried because I know how Katara ends up after the show. I know that she doesn't even get her own statue. I know she is left behind by Aang while he spends time with his one airbender child instead of her and their other children. I know her own grandchildren don't even know who she is. I know that she is simply not important or worth the writers' time anymore.

To me, the way Katara ends up is a horror story. She settled down, leaving behind any dreams she had of rebuilding the four nations. She becomes a healer, despite stating she was not a healer but a fighter throughout ATLA. And despite being someone who cares deeply for her family, she isn't even present for her grandkids.

It's not that she's too old to be doing anything, because literally everyone else in the Gaang- except for Suki, who is also left behind- is still active. Everyone is present but the two married women.

It's not that Katara wanted to settle down. It's that she was made to do so by the narrative, sending a message that married women should give up everything because they're not supposed to want anything beyond family making after that point. It's a harmful message, and it cannot be justified by simply saying "she could've wanted to settle down after everything."

This is not my Katara. This is the writers' idea of what women should do when they marry. They are meant to settle down, drop everything, and be forgotten by history. And that is how Katara's story ends- she isn't there for so much of the narrative after ATLA (in LOK specifically). She's so absent that she doesn't even get her own statue.

That is not who Katara is. She is a fighter, she would not stand to simply be passive and forgotten like this. Everything in ATLA told us, the audience, that she is not the kind of person to settle down.

So when she got left behind alongside Suki, that was not only contradictory to her established character, but also extremely sexist.

I don't even care who Katara ended up with at this point. I just wanted her to actually continue to be herself. But because Bryke wanted to avoid various things from being taken certain ways by the fandom, they chose to write Katara out of the story entirely.

Bryke does not care about Katara. They care about Aang, and they care about making half of the fandom hate them. I do not need to elaborate on this, if you know, you know.

But you should care about the message this sends to women all over the world. You should care about what this tells us is normal and okay. Because this isn't normal or okay. It's a horror story, one that has been accepted as the norm for far too long.

Katara deserved better.

[supremechancellorrex]

Honestly. It's complete agony to see Katara as such a non-entity in LOK, as if her passion, soul and life have been tempered to be as inoffensive as possible. Katara used to take up space, she would never ever back down no matter if everyone else was telling her no, full of skill, passion, relentless determination and spirit. The idea that she would just fade into a shadow of herself, barely an entity onscreen, when Bumi at 112 was a beast, is deeply disappointing and not the life journey I expected of her. I especially don't believe Aang, who I think LOK character assassinated in its own way on that front to give Tenzin, Kya and Bumi some cheap drama, would be able to get away with that level of bad parenting. Katara would not let her children be treated like that, she would not just slipped into the background of the world, she would confront it and knock some sense into 'Aang' if it did ever happen.

[commander-quack-to-the-bridge]

Where do you read your fanfiction???

Ao3

Fanfiction.net

WattPad

Tumblr

Other (add in tags)

Voting ended onJun 27, 2025

Asking because currently I only post to ao3!!!! but I often feel like I'm not reaching as many people as I could??? IDK.

If you see this in the wild, hit me with a response and maybe a reblog so I can figure my life out!

Thanks pals

[supremechancellorrex]

In all honesty, I used to do Fanfiction.net back in the day, but its format looks really dated and ugly to me now. Plus, those embedded ads on the page are a real horror show for readability. Went Ao3 and never looked back.

[hugsandnoregrets]

actually will never stop being bitter that half the white lotus in atla is made up of fire nation turn cloaks who spent the majority of their lives hurting others, conquering, invading, and imprisoning people until they changed their mind/heart and ways within the last decade and they get to become good guys and live happily ever after

but hama doesnt get that redemption chance, despite being tortured and mistreated 1000x worse than any of them and having trauma based (if cruel) reasons for doing harm unto others. she shouldve been in the white lotus. meeting katara should have sent her on the path to redemption.

idk i just hate that iroh literally invaded ba sing se and was part of the seige that killed thousands of soldiers and he thought it was even humorous until his child died, but hama gets imprisoned AGAIN because she imprisoned fire nation citizens - not even killing them - instead of getting the chance to become a better person.

the narrative choice for the white lotus to be made up of a bunch of redeemed old men but the one old woman we meet is irredeemable is just an ick to me that gets further compounded as katara got absolutely shafted in lok

[supremechancellorrex]

Honestly, the fact the GAang let Hama be imprisoned again by citizens of the same nation that genocided her culture and tortured her is really disturbing. Especially when a citizen says "You're going to be locked away FOREVER!" like she was in the FN internment camp as a young woman. They didn't even treat Jet that badly and he attempted mass murder. I don't know why Toph even led the mob of FN citizens to Hama instead taking them to the village or ditching them considering she didn't help in the battle.

I get the impression the writers were so busy playing with sexist "witch" and "hag" tropes with Hama's character, it undermined the character writing when it came to her being a victim of colonialism, internment and trauma.

And, yep, it's strange that there are no women in the White Lotus, meanwhile Pakku the long-time chauvinist presumably has had a long-running seat. We seem to have a lack of elderly female masters that can kick arse while having a surplus of Bumis and Irohs.

[a-beskar-burrito]

“None of this would be here without Luthen” is not Tony Gilroy making his oc into the sole cause of the rebellion, it is Cassian Andor expressing loyalty to the man who recruited him into the rebellion, and whose contributions are downplayed by the rebel leaders he assisted. Cassian exaggerates to counteract the council’s dismissal of a man who should really be among them. A character’s perspective is not equivalent to that of the creator.

[supremechancellorrex]

Exactly. It feels like people really are lacking media literacy these days, probably part of the reason why they can't and everything is world-ending to them.

[sinoheritage]

Three-knife hairpin 三刀簪 (one for the country, one for the family, and one for oneself) was a popular headpiece among women in the city of Fuzhou, Fujian province.

Also known as "Three Hairpins” it consists of three small swords worn like hairpins, mostly made out of silver or white copper, and engraved with patterns.

There are various theories about the origin of the Three-Knife hairpin. The most popular one claims that it evolved from small sharp weapons worn by women during the Ming Dynasty in order to defend themselves against Japanese pirates raiding China’s coastline, by killing their enemies, or even committing suicide.

In June 2024, the three knives were selected as an intangible cultural heritage of Fuzhou, and more people became aware of this traditional clothing culture.

[atlaculture]

I could see an older Mai doing her hair like this.

[supremechancellorrex]

Ironically enough in Ember Island Players, actress Mai does have a couple knives in her hair. Hopefully Mai sees the play and gets some style inspiration.

(And also be inspired to wear makeup that's not totally depressing too, according to Ty Lee)

[dale-art-revival]

End of Great War Era German Askari

Painted in Photoshop

I typically shy away from illustrating soldiers in a way that obscures their uniform; it's both tedious and fun getting the little details right. But after doing a bunch of research, I came across some photos of Askaris wearing very tattered uniforms and some with their tarbushes decorated. I thought that would be fun to try and depict, so here's what I came up with.

It's been a few years since I've posted any art, let alone my Great War illustrations and portraits, so it feels very good to have completed this and to share it with y'all :3

[supremechancellorrex]

Really fascinating! Thank you!

[supremechancellorrex]

Hehe, someone sent me this screenshot as a welcome back to tumblr (a bit of a stirrer for nostalgia). Wasn't much of a rebuff from sokkastyles in my opinion, from what I remember of the conversation. But that's life. Still don't think it's possible to trespass online though, especially when replying in a public chain.

https://www.tumblr.com/supremechancellorrex/768296366258651136/nope-you-cant-trespass-online-when-you-post?source=share

[supremechancellorrex]

One thing I never understood is why Long Feng didn't utilise more sleeper agents. He was able to successfully brainwash Jet and the Joo Dees, as well as presumably others. I'm surprised he didn't have agents throughout the city that were made loyal no matter what. When Azula had her pretty speech about the Divine Right to Rule, he could have activated them.

Additionally, I wonder why he didn't brainwash Mai and Ty Lee? Azula was separated from them in the Guru episode. The Dai Li Agents could have sucked them into the ground in a surprise Earthbending attack in their quarters and brainwashed them while Azula was having a chit-chat with Long Feng. Toph easily subdued Ty Lee with a surprise Earthbending attack in Crossroads of Destiny, and the Dai Li had the numbers and were experts at sneak attacks, subduing and brainwashing.

Honestly, I'm also surprised Azula and the Fire Nation after conquering Ba Sing Se didn't utilise the brainwashing technique for the state. Brainwashing is practically an authoritarian state's wet dream. Yet the writers completely dropped that major plot thread.