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Things Ray Terrill has canonically done because he was Sad

Apparently pierced his own ear at some point between his "father's" death and the funeral. At home. In the dark.

Stood out in the rain in a chicken costume and thought about how miserable adulting is.

Wished for the cathartic release of vomiting.

Created a light construct mirror to have body-image issues in front of while flying (and then got seen naked by a plane full of shocked people).

Hugged it out with his father on the Great Wall of China.

Wrote unsolicited letters oversharing about his feelings to a thirty-four-year-old woman he has a crush on after meeting her once.

Went to her apartment, somehow got in after finding her gone, filled her bathtub, and sat in it, fully clothed, while having a mental breakdown.

Wrote to her and actually told her he did this.

Threatened an electronics store mascot.

Proposed to his childhood best friend (unsuccessfully).

Decided to get drunk because that's what people on TV do when depressed.

Used his light manipulation powers to shoplift a bottle of whiskey that he couldn't legally purchase because he's underage.

Tried to get into his old house while drunk and sobbing about his troubles to the new homeowner, a total stranger.

Zoned out for a long time while working the drive-through late at night.

Started working for a supervillain after his friend refused to help him defeat a video game villain he created that somehow got loose and started taking over countries.

Went to see his mom without bothering to change out of his bathrobe.

Mowed his mom's lawn in December to have an excuse to see her.

Made up a story about getting bad grades to avoid telling his mom that he's upset after an incident in which he unknowingly "French-kissed Satan."

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Been wanting to sketch Mitsuri for a while now

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Everyone needs to know that Harold designed the black and blue Nightwing suit. That was Harold.

Harold also rebuilt the Batcave after it was destroyed in the earthquake, and installed sound-dampening foam stalagtites. Yes, the Batcave ceiling is fake.

Actually it is deeply funny to me how the Batman fandom does not acknowledge Harold in any capacity so when I first saw him in comics I was fully jumpscared by “who the hell is this motherfucker”

Anyway more fics need to feature the full on Hunchback of Notre Dame subplot that apparently went down in the Batcave

I want Tim or Dick to offhandedly mention missing him or something while the newer kids are like what the fuck are you talking about what do you mean

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Non-Gotham superhero: "So, how'd you learn to fight like that?"

Dick, Helena, Babs & Stephanie: "I did competitive gymnastics in high school, you see."

The Huntress (1989) #1, Nightwing #126, Secret Origin #20, Showcase '95 #5.

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Something everyone should know either as an authority or as a person labouring under an authority, being anywhere from a babysitter to a parent to a government entity, is that establishing a rule of any kind is incredibly labour-intensive and difficult to enforce.

So if you're going to make something into a rule, it HAS to be something you can both Verify and Enforce- if you can Verify but not Enforce, it's essentially just a suggestion. If it's something you can Enforce but not Verify, you're going to waste a lot of energy and time becoming an authoritarian dictator that nobody likes.

And because the process of Verification and Enforcement BOTH take a LOT of work, it makes no sense to waste all that work on establishing a Rule which has no Function.

For this reason, every Rule you set must perform a Function which gives you a return that is, if not greater, then at least EQUAL to the energy it takes to maintain, in one way or another. Otherwise, the whole system collapses.

Any authority that exists has limited time and limited resources, so it must prioritize rules that minimize the MOST HARM, that are EASIEST TO VERIFY, and are MOST ENFORCEABLE.

So, before you CREATE a rule, you must ask yourself:

What does this rule accomplish?

Is the reward of this rule greater than the expense of establishing it?

Can I verify when this rule has been violated?

Can I feasibly discipline one to violates this rule?

And, what I would argue is almost MOST important after all that,

5. How do I explain this rule in a way that people will want to follow it?

As a parent, for example, "do not set a campfire in the living room" is a good rule, because it is easily explained as a risk to personal safety and property, it's a rare enough situation to come up, it's easy to tell when it's happened, and a consequence like "you will not be left unsupervised for an extended period of time" or "you will write a report on house fires" could be implemented as discipline.

But as a parent, "no eating outside of meal times" is not a great rule in most circumstances. For one, food is easy to access, the harm that can come from snacking between meals is almost zero, it's almost impossible to prove, and there is no feasible way to stop someone from doing it OR make them WANT to follow it without lowering yourself to abuse.

So, if there is a behaviour an authority wants you to follow, it must first ask itself Why. Then decide if that is reasonable. Then decide if it should be a Rule or a Suggestion.

If the desired rule is not verifiable, or enforceable, then the authority must make peace with the fact that it will be taken as a suggestion. It has no other choice but to become an enemy, and slowly lose all respect and credibility.

You cannot make "no snacking" into a rule. But you CAN say, "this is how you keep a balanced diet, this is how you stay healthy, please don't take more than you'll eat at dinner, save leftovers for later".

You CAN make "no fire pits indoors" into a rule, and you can remain vigilant that it doesn't happen and give it your full focus when it does.

This is where laws based on social or religious judgement fail.

You cannot Verify or Enforce against drugs, crossdressing, homosexuality, sodomy, satanism, tattoos, prostitution, oral sex, or abortion. Not in any way that matters. Not in any way that Protects more than it Harms. It's difficult to prove, difficult to enforce, and it happens too much and too consensually to universally oppose. You can only expend energy and cultivate a population that distrusts you in trying.

You CAN Verify and Enforce against violence, abuse, theft, fraud, embezzlement, discrimination, and murder. Because it DOES Protect more than it Harms, and you can justify the expenses. Because these are things that happen nonconsentually, and can be prioritized, because there are Victims who experience Harm. Enforcing these rules can cultivate safety and trust instead of suspicion, cooperation instead of opposition within a populace.

Which is why laws against anything that does not cause harm, in my opinion, is doomed.

Because I've been raised and raised kids and seen kids raised in both ways, and I know that "because I said so" does nothing.

If you cannot Verify or Enforce, then the best you can do is Educate, provide safe options, and build a system to heal and recover for any potential fallout.

But that’s just my opinion.

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imagine a goat with a hat

STOP-

what hat did you give the goat what is the instinctual hat you gave to this goat

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giant redwood trees really are so cool, they just have something incredibly special going on. it's hard to describe if you haven't seen them

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Comedy series about an evil wizard where in every episode they discover some Ancient Secret of Magic that will allow them to surpass their rivals and bring the world to its knees, and every episode they learn the hard way why modern wizards don't do it that way anymore.

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170

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So, been thinking about Avatar and the animals of Avatar, and how Zuko has kind of been dubbed by the fandom as the animal guy. Not arguing against Zuko being the animal guy, I understand why the fandom has dubbed him as such. However, I'd like to make the suggestion that, perhaps, there is another character who could also be considered the animal guy:

Sokka.

Now! I know what you're thinking. Sokka likes to eat animals. That's very true, he is the meat and sarcasm guy. But he seems to befriend, be befriended by, and know how to work with a whole lot of different animals throughout the three seasons.

Of course, there's Appa and Momo, which everyone in the Gaang gets to add to their friends list. Not surprising on its own, until you remember that Sokka started out trying to eat Momo. Clearly, Momo has forgiven Sokka of this.

Two different wild animals (enemy birds and Foo Foo Cuddly Poops) feel safe enough around Sokka enough to use his head as a perch.

He soothed wild badgermoles through the art of music and even was able to ride them out of the Cave of Two Lovers.

It is Sokka that a foxy knowledge seeker decides to help, leading him directly to the calendar in the library (and Sokka does the right thing and rewards him with a snack after).

Who is it that gives Flopsy a big ol' hug after getting everyone out of Omashu? Oh yeah, it's Sokka.

And the koalasheep just let him use them as his makeshift therapist office.

He really does ride a huge variety of animals and does so fairly well for (presumably) never having ridden an animal before Appa (which would be somewhat similar, but still require a different skill set to steer and control, and he takes to each of them so quickly). Here he is riding an eel hound, about to mount a ostrich horse, and a komodo rhino that he managed to take control of during the invasion.

And of course, we cannot forget Sokka's own beloved pet, Hawky. Look at how happy he is to have his own hawk.

So, in summary, Sokka is absolutely an animal guy that loves animals just as much as animals like him.

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Argh I have taken two days off work to rest and relax, do some gardening and maybe even write a bit.

And now the Tasks have Appeared.

This always happens.

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the fact that Aang tells Yangchen, another Air Nomad, that “I’m even a vegetarian!” implies that this was actually uncommon among Air Nomads

my working theory is that they swore various degrees of oaths to their life style, with abstaining from meat being one. not obligatory, as it is rather difficult for nomads to survive without hunting at all.

Yangchen does refer to it as detaching from the world to find enlightenment so that may be what she was actually getting at; Air Nomads didn’t find it obligatory, but viewed it as a spiritual restriction they took upon themselves.

It may even be because they didn’t view it as a moral choice, but emulation of the sky bison?

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tim, immediately recognizing dick based on one piece of information and an intuitive leap

batman #441

cassandra, recognizing bruce wayne based on recognition and an intuitive leap

batgirl #24

#parallels to me.

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JackBat meet-cute where they both expand their mansions to the point that they join together into one giant castle and they both end up thinking their respective house in haunted as a result until eventually they realize that it's just Bruce/it's just Jack and they fall in love.

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Next person to say that Tim Drake has the highest kill count gets a curse on their bloodline