#Atlas All Inclusive

[crystal-lillies]

General thoughts after watching Season 1 of Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender (spoilers may be present)

It's not bad. It's weird, but it's not bad.

No one asked for this.

No one asked, but we got it anyway. So what did we get?

It's not a 1:1 remake. I don't think, despite everything people have worried and griped about before the show's release, anyone wanted that either. It doesn't retain the same character arcs for everyone. Not just Sokka, but everyone.

At the same time, they still have arcs.

They're weird, they feel weird, because this show does what the Shyamalan movie doesn't, and makes an honest effort to capture the essence of the animated show, of the characters, of the world, and there is respect in its efforts.

There are musical motifs from the original. The set designs are out of the original. Many scenes are shot exactly like the original as homages.

And yet, storylines are merged together, elements from later seasons are introduced earlier, character interactions happen differently, character motivations are presented differently, and that feels weird.

We know the motions but when we the audience try to follow them, the show changes its direction and pulls a weird flex out of left field.

I won't say I agree with every major and minor change made, but I'm not enraged or disappointed in the same way as I was (and many of us were) after seeing the movie.

Instead, I'm more inclined to see where these new threads intend to go, and how the story we all know and love can be told in a different way.

Roku had barely a presence in this season, whereas in the original, he was more or less Aang's spiritual teacher. Instead, we've felt more from Kyoshi and Kuruk and Yangchen, and Aang has felt lost in his spiritual journey as well as his physical one.

Ozai, who was just a shadowy one-dimensional nightmare for most of the original first book, is now a more fleshed out figure, but one of confusing motivations. It's not the tonal whiplash of the movie, of the Ozai who legitimately worried and cared about Zuko's well being while also having still scarred and banished him, but one who is playing a 4-D chess game with his kids as the pieces and doesn't care who wins so long as one does.

I don't think it was the right call to have Zuko fight back in the Agni Kai before getting burned, but it gives a different dynamic to Zuko and Ozai's relationship that he's not the towering, shadowy Mark Hamill terror Zuko cowers before.

This Zuko seems legitimately convinced Ozai cares about him and all it takes is the Avatar to win his full love back, whereas there's still bitterness in the OG Zuko of book one. He knows Ozai favors Azula over him, he knows he's had to struggle well before being banished.

I also think not casting Dee Bradley Baker was a mistake. But they have time to correct that mistake.

All the kid actors, being green, of course do not stand up to expressive and gorgeous animation with brilliant voice acting. But they are all giving it their best, and I think they have what it takes to grow into the Book 3 Team Avatar if they get the chance.

The music got to me a number of times, particularly the instrumental renditions of "Leaves From the Vine."

Do we need this show? No absolutely not.

We have the original ATLA, and we always will. It's a timeless classic of our generation. Nothing could ever compete with it or ruin it.

However, I do feel like this adaptation is worth giving a chance to stand on its own. It may be far from perfect, but after watching it through, I legitimately want to see where it goes from here. I want to see this cast grow and change in their own ways. I want to see Toph in live action. I want to see Ba Sing Se. I want to see the new directions this story chooses to take to end up in the same place at Sozin's Comet.

But that might not happen if Netflix decides to cancel it, and I think that would be a shame.

I really do think it's worth seeing this show through, for better or worse.

Overall, as a show, I would give it a modest 7/10. (With individual elements skewing higher or lower throughout)

I don't like that it's only 8 episodes, but that's been a trend of other streaming shows also, across platforms, so I cannot fault NATLA alone for that.

You don't NEED to have seen the original to understand what's happening or get key details (unlike SOME adaptations have been doing recently). You can get a complete picture with just this. Is it as pretty or vibrant as the original? No. But it is still a whole picture (or, could be, with all three seasons).

It has great effects, sets, props, choreography, good music. It has SUKI. And JET. and JUNE. And THE Cabbage Man!

AND OMA/SHU ARE LESBIANS! I mean, I see that as an absolute win.

[fandom-hoarder]

Another video that doesn't 100% match my feelings about live action atla, but the commentary about exposition, dialogue, and the way katara's character was ruined is spot on. Also Azula's characterization.🙃

I was just going to copy/paste, but then it was too much.

[burst-of-iridescent]

seeing people say they knew all along the live action would be bad after seeing the news about them toning down sokka’s misogyny bc “the original creators never would’ve let this happen! that’s why they left!”… ohhh my god. oh my god. the original creators made the legend of korra. the original creators had story direction on most of the post-atla comics. the original creators were involved with the goddamn m. night shyamalan film for fuck’s sake & spoke positively about it (at least, right up until it bombed upon release and then… *crickets*.) they cannot be trusted on jack, and i for one am immensely glad they are staying far, far away from the project.

regardless of whether the live action succeeds or not, bryke were never going to singlehandedly make it a cinematic masterpiece so please get that out of your heads and start judging the live action on its own merit — not by the inclusion (or lack thereof) of two men who have proven over and over again that they know fuck all about what truly made their show great.

[zukotheartist]

Atla live action spoilers

Atla's prop team is SO funny because on one side, it feels like they put a lot of attention to Zuko's room and belongings and so on (i really liked the pan down of his desk), hell, they even added a solo eye drawing to one of his journal pages because that's SUCH an artist thing to do. Artists' sketchbooks are FULL of random solo eye drawings.

But. On The Other Hand... they couldn't bother to hire a native speaker or even just a fluent speaker (tho a native one is always preferrable, especially for projects like these which are supposed to be all about inclusion and diversity) to write or even dictate the written chinese...

Cause it's not just that Zuko has bad handwriting (which could even fit the character tbh!), it's literally the fact that the chinese doesn't make sense/is weirdly phrased and it's a mix of traditional/classic chinese and modern chinese...

Yes. I'm still stuck here but as a linguistics/languages geek who's learning chinese... this was really dissapointing to me😭 (altho kinda funny bc of all the time i spent trying to translate it and thinking it was too hard because "oh it's probably some classic, super formal and pretty way of writing that is too advanced for me"💀)

[satoriberry]

very true imo. what those two have in common is them ALWAYS trying to tell women how they should live and if they dont do it their way, then they're losers and stupid and annoying and blah blah blah.

Is it just me or the more radical feminism gets the more it starts to sound like male podcaster talk

[ultfreakme]

idk of it's just me but i don't understand, the atla fandom, from all ships existing would just slander zukka out of nowhere. like mf i just want to see my boys being silly and in love in fanwork, why they need to be so mean lmao

I think it's because for close to 20 years, Kataang and Zutara were reining supreme in ship wars and fandom space. Jetko was the main mlm ship before but it didn't have nearly the same popularity. No other ship could even touch those two and those two continued arguing about what's best for canon.

Now though? Zukka's the second most popular ship on ao3- all of those fics and content showed up in 3 years. And suddenly the Netflix actors are pushing for Zukka practically every interview while actively dissuading Zutara(and hinting strongly at Kataang- thanks Gordon & Kiawentiio going "he/she's my.....family, yeah let's say family *wink* *wink*"). They're getting extremely popular and now fucking Netflix, Entertainment Weekly and Deadline are tagging #zukka in the year of our lord 2024(thank you for your service Dallas Liu, braver than the marines). Popular ships unfortunately get hate, especially queer ships, like just as a baseline regardless of if it's a canonically supported or unsupported ship, if it's "morally correct or incorrect".

This 'crackship' that no one took seriously suddenly feels...like a threat to these people??? Like we can joke about hahaha zukka gayyyy but we all know that's just silly gobbledygook right? (Not saying Zukka should or could be canon, but just the fact that people are seriously considering it as a ship option in fandom makes people act weird)

A lot of the the points made for "why Zukka is bad actually" are so funny though, that my initial irritation is fading and I'm just laughing at it. Some highlights that made me actually lose it:

Zukka is misogynist to Katara because, and I shit you not, they think that we think Katara is homophobic sdjfhbbgvh. I was shook when I discovered this was a thing.

Zukka bad because Klance bad (war flashbacks to Voltron)

"Everyone just wants a gay ship smh the chronically ONLINE FANDOM BRAIN HAS ROTTED THE SANCTITY OF HETEROSEXUAL-[EXPLODES]"

Zuko is a colonizer who's oppressing Sokka by dating him (i have no stats but this sounds like a white person trying very hard to sound like they're super inclusive and understand the plights of the colonized and oppressed. and the best way to do it is shit on a fake ship about lines on a page)

Zukka bad because it makes no canon sense

I think people who are Big Mad don't get that we're genuinely just chilling and making silly stuff without thinking too much about what SHOULD happen in canon. Everyone in ATLA fandom takes the show and the fandom far too seriously, like losing a fan discussion is somehow a slight upon their personal morals.

We coasted along without much hate for a good while but the increasing popularity means Zukka as a ship is going to get bashed ;_; I think the best we can do is block and ignore instead of engaging(very hypocritcal of me rn tbh, I'll try to stop).

I don't think you expected this....giant wall of text but thanks for sending me the ask and I totally get your frustration" Just let us enjoy our silly hcs and content!!!

[cynthiav06]

The Percy Jackson Fandom as a whole has this blind misconception that Annabeth is the smartest but Percy is this super powerful but dumb guy who can't do anything without Annabeth.

There is no evidence that proves Annabeth is the smartest, and let us break down the criteria for this.

1)Mythological knowledge:

Annabeth gets full points cause she has an exceptional amount of knowledge regarding almost all sorts of things.

Do we know anyone who knows myths better than her?

Nico and Jason most certainly have just as good theoretical information on Greek and Roman myths.

So, is this category inclusive to Annabeth? No.

Another point is that Percy is so good at adapting that even though he is unaware, almost always of who his opponents are, Percy ways manages to outwit them or beat them.

2)Quick thinking/Adaptation:

Percy Jackson wins no contest here.

Most newer demigods like Hazel and Piper have also shown the ability of quick thinking well.

Frank's tactical abilities are really underrated, along with Jason's .

3)Specialized weapons

The invisibility cap

(It was unusable through the whole of HoO.)

4)Power specific skill set:

Photographic memory

(It's an ability all Athena children probably have)

Natural aptitude for weaponry

(All children of war gods have this)

Trickery

I didn't say manipulation cause Percy is way better manipulator than Annabeth. It's not even comparable.

5)No. of Strategies made/ Perceptive ability/

Percy:

Tricking Crusty

Unraveling Ares's scheme

Unraveling Luke's betrayal

Figuring out use for Hermes's gift in SoM

Proving to camp of Luke's betrayal by tricking him

Helping in Tricking Atlas to lift the weight of the sky

Figuring out Kronos's plan

Planning the entire strategy of Battle of Manhattan

Tricking Gaea into helping him over Phineas

Tricking Chrysaur

Outwitting Geras

Annabeth:

Made the plan to kill Medusa

Taming Cerberus

Tricks Polyphemus, however, she directly copies Odysseus, so it's not an original tactic

Figuring out Quintus' true identity (along with Percy)

Activates Deadleus's defense mechanisms

Tricking priestesses of Roman deity

Tricking and trapping Arachne

I think based on all this, there's sufficient information that dispels the misebelief that Percy is somehow dumb and Annabeth is the smartest

[paintingpuff]

Netflix ATLA and the Air Nomad Genocide

I've started watching NATLA, and though I'm not really enjoying it, I've found it really interesting to compare its writing decisions to the show as a way to break both down and see how their parts tick. Since NATLA is trying to be more faithful than some other adaptations, the changes it does make stand out more and reveal the mechanics of the storytelling.

While I overall think a lot of NATLA's changes--even the minute ones--made the story execution weaker, the more complicated and interesting change of theirs is the intro, showing the day the Fire Nation ambushed the Air Nomads.

Pacing Criticisms

Cards on the table, I think that putting this sequence at the very beginning was a mistake. Watching Aang's emergence from the iceberg in NATLA made me realize how much the original cartoon imbues its beginning with mystery that makes for a much more active viewing experience. Aang doesn't know much about the present, Katara and Sokka don't know much about Aang's origins, and in their back and forth of information, we the audience organically learn both. Watching Katara and Aang piece together how long he's been frozen in ice was more satisfying and natural than Grangran deducing everything immediately when Aang showed up.

But Sherlock Grangran was kind of the only decision the writers could do, because if they tried the build up the cartoon did, it would just feel tedious to the audience, because we already know everything from the start. They kind of wrote themselves into a corner there.

But let's ignore that problem. We could imagine in another draft that this sequence of the Fire Nation attack shows up as a flashback, kind of like what happened in ATLA with The Storm.

That then begs the question: How does this sequence’s inclusion change the audience's experience, and is it for better or worse?

Facing Vs. Hiding the Horrors

Both series portray very dark and horrific situations, but the way they try to evoke horror from the audience are very different approaches, and for me raises a question I've been asking myself for a while: When wanting to display discomforting violence, is it more effective to imply/hide it, or to show it in detail? Somewhere in between?

(I specify discomforting violence, as opposed to violence meant to be catharsis or spectacle.)

There are arguments for both. Explicit violence can create a visceral, physical reaction to an audience member (especially the squeamish ones), though for some it can come across as gratuitous and even exploitative.

Whereas hiding the violence can horrify the audience by leaving a lot to the imagination (insert that quote about fear of the unknown from Hack Penmanship Lovecraft), or give the sense that the events are so awful that even the camera has to look away. Some also say this gives the characters more dignity, though others think this softens the emotional reaction almost as a form of self censoring (there's a reason kid's media often tries to show horrific stuff off screen, such as the original ATLA).

Ultimately I've come to the conclusion that the former approach works for some stories, whereas the latter works better for others, all of it based on a ton of factors.

So I don't think NATLA's choice to delve into more detail about the Air Nomad genocide is an illogical decision. I wasn't sure about it when I heard it, but I thought that maybe I'm just attached to ATLA's off screen approach, so I kept myself open.

And dialogue issues aside, I don't think the scene is that poorly done. But it did ultimately solidify for me that ATLA's narrative is stronger without an explicit depiction of the Air Nomad genocide.

The Grief of Never Knowing

The image of Gyatso’s skeleton from ATLA has haunted me ever since I saw it as a kid. It was an emotional gut punch in a very well done episode, but this particular screenshot has stuck with me, and that is because of the Fire Nation soldiers. A lot of people have pointed this out, but there are a lot of bodies here, and it implies that Gyatso managed to not only kill these soldiers, but do it when they were strengthened by the comet. That image is very discomforting--Gyatso is always seen from Aang’s perspective, and thus we only see him as the gentle old mentor and friend, one who cheats at games and throws pies he meticulously baked.

It also puts into Aang’s position and the grief he has to face. From his perspective, he was gone only a few days as 100 years passed. He never gets to see the interim, and thus neither do the audience. He is left with the same implications as we are, and has to face the realities of grieving the fact that sometimes you’re not there when they leave.

An excellent point from @endless-nightshift here is how one of ATLA’s core themes is coping with the aftermaths of atrocities and war, analyzing their long-lasting affects rather than just the initial shock of violence--something I had never consciously realized but once said out loud makes a lot click into place for me. There is a reason the show starts a full century into the war rather than just a few years. 

François Truffaut once said that “there is no such thing as an anti-war film,” because the medium of film is inherently better at elevating and glorifying what it shows rather than deriding or deconstructing it. While I don’t think it’s impossible to do the latter, the extended action sequence that is the intro to NATLA causes that sentiment to echo in my mind as I watch, rather than invest me into the story. 

The implied atrocities of ATLA draws me in to empathize with the wounded characters and world, whereas the explicit action of NATLA pushes me away. 

…and that’s where I was planning to end this analysis, but there is one thing NATLA’s intro adds into the canon that I think is actually genius--if they take advantage of it in the future. 

The Air Nomads are Joy

When I first saw the addition of the Comet Festival, I saw it as a purely mechanical decision to have all the Air Nomads in one place for the attack, as well as to make the act even more scummy. However, the more I thought about it the more I realized how it could tie into one of my favorite themes of ATLA: the Air Nomads (and especially Aang) as the joy and hope of the world. 

(I saw an old tumblr post about this theme that inspired this section. I wish I could link it but I can’t find it anymore, I’m very sorry and if anyone can help me find it tysm)

There is a recurring motif of associating the Air Nomads with humor and fun. Iroh mentions their good humor; Gyatso baking pies just to prank the other masters with it; Roku’s first airbending flashback being him using it to mess with his friend. This is a core tenet to Aang’s character as well. The first line he has in the show is inviting Katara to go penguin sledding with him. Half the stops he makes in Season 1 is purely to have fun. He excites Kyoshi island with an airbending party trick. The humor in ATLA’s tone isn’t just there because it’s targeted towards kids, but is the bedrock of the series’ themes. 

(On a personal note, the humor is also what got me and my family into the show. We saw the intro sequence with Aang crashing into the statue and it made my mom laugh so hard that we watched the whole series, and years later we’ve rewatched it dozens of times and own all the DVDs)

Joy and fun and hope were the first things to die when the Fire Nation attacked, and part of Aang’s job is returning that to a world that has been scarred by decades of war. You may already be seeing where I’m going in regards to the Comet Festival. 

A core conflict in the cartoon finale is Aang wanting to keep to the principles of the Air Nomads while still finding a way to stop the war (side note: I think the resolution and Aang’s decision to spare Ozai was a good one, I just think the execution was a little janky). Beyond the surface level conflict of who wins in the battle between Aang and Ozai, there is the additional tension of who will win ideologically. The return of the Avatar State is an interesting development in this dynamic, having Aang suddenly physically winning the fight, but spiritually losing up until the last moment. In the end, it is a triumph where Aang manages to find a third option to win both conflicts, despite them seeming diametrically opposed. It is about defeating Ozai and the Imperial Fire Nation by wholeheartedly rejecting their ideology of violence and might-makes-right. 

But now I see a really cool opportunity for NATLA with what they’ve established in the intro sequence: What if Aang reclaimed the symbol of Sozin’s Comet for his people? That day of the Fire Nation attack, centuries of the Comet Festival were wiped over in history, with people now naming that event as Sozin’s Comet and the beginning of the war. Wouldn’t it be poetic for Aang to mark the ending of the war by wiping away that stain done to his culture, taking it back from the Fire Nation in what ways he can? To turn a tool for genocide into an event of joy and fun once more. 

I’m reminded of moments from the cartoon like Suki commenting how beautiful the comet looks. It would just tie everything up beautifully, and I really really hope the NATLA writers--if Netflix does give them enough seasons to get there--take advantage of this.  

So, to sum up what I think of NATLA so far: I think a lot of its changes have made the story weaker, but I don’t want them to stop trying changes. If I wanted a 1:1 copy of the cartoon, I’d just watch ATLA--it’s also on Netflix, after all. With more work, I can see the writers making changes that accentuate and build on the beauty of the original. 

(Note: These are the thoughts I’ve accrued from just watching the first episode. I plan to watch more, but it does exhaust me at the moment. Still, I hope I can do more of these kinds of analyses, it’s a really fun writing exercise for me)

[survivalove]

Seriously gonna need certain people in the atla fandom to stop talking about colonialism with this singular definition of going somewhere, planting a flag and living there when there are so many different measures colonizers used (and still use tbh) to subdue and erase a people’s culture before “officially claiming” a country as their own, not even gonna get into those shady official means.

The 2 most common ways western media depict settler colonialism:

1. ethnic cleansing - wiping out the inhabitants and their culture by any means necessary: violence, disease, forced migration etc.

2. disrupting cultural traditions and economic advancement - imposing your way of life on the inhabitants making it impossible for them to survive on their own.

[P.S. This isn’t meant to be an all inclusive definition of colonialism as I’m sure there’s a lot of different ways you can talk about this that I’m probably leaving out from what I was taught growing up in a newly former colony myself.]

Frankly, I’m just tired of this fandom acting like the South Pole was not directly and indirectly affected by the Fire Nation’s colonial practices when:

1. ethnic cleansing:

Hama: They came again and again, each time rounding up more of our waterbenders and taking them captive. The Puppetmaster, Avatar the Last Airbender.

The Fire Nation literally tried to wipe them out continuously. They came back over and over until every single waterbender was captured and if another one was born (Katara) they came immediately back to keep the Southerners in their place.

As said by Katara and Sokka, waterbending was not just a means of fighting but an “ancient art unique to their culture”. The Fire Nation didn’t just physically subdue the South by taking away all their benders but literally wiped out an integral part of their culture which so much of functioning water tribe society depends on, which will be expanded on in part 2.

The Fire Nation also did this in the Earth Kingdom colonies as seen in Imprisoned, the only difference being the soldiers actually stayed in these places, but this did not stop the Fire Nation from coming back to the South and enforcing the same colonial practices they used in the Earth Kingdom over and over.

2. cultural and economic disruption:

I don’t know how much clearer the difference in the South Pole before and after the Fire Nation raids could have been made. The fact that they make it explicitly clear by including this frame in Hama’s story is just another example of how the raids affected the South’s overall development. With the genocide, they lost a huge part of their population to build, hunt and most importantly defend themselves. Like we see in the North Pole, the South had their own ice structures obviously built by waterbenders that people lived in, now living mostly in tents with the village being a much smaller size in general. Katara and Sokka are left to find food for their whole tribe with their benders (and other warriors) gone, and of course when the Fire Nation shows up yet again, they are extremely defenseless and would have been burnt to a crisp if Aang wasn’t there.

Of course, the war meant they also couldn’t celebrate a lot of their cultural and spiritual traditions with their warriors being gone, more an indirect consequence of Fire Nation colonialism since Hakoda made the choice to take the men to fight on his own. The consequences of this are first highlighted in the Bato episode and brought up again in Legend of Korra season 2 by Unalaq.

After 100 years of war, the Fire Nation literally managed to turn the South Pole into a colony in everything but name where they could go and enforce their will on the inhabitants any time they wanted, without having to physically live there in the cold which was least optimal for their living conditions anyway.

I’m tired of people acting as if the Fire Nation couldn’t go and “plant a flag” in the South if they wanted to, when in fact, they didn’t want to and they didn’t have to. They literally already subdued the South by removing them as a threat and was trying to do the same to the North in the Book 1 finale.

Anyways, I’m not an expert on colonialism and I’m not claiming these to be the only ways to define colonialism in real life or atla. This is just a rant based on my personal understanding of settler colonialism and just… my annoyance at how this fandom constantly downplays the already watered down depiction of colonialism in the show.

[germanpostwarmodern]

During the past decade Brutalism has become both a social media phenomenon and an object of increased interest on the part of conservationists and researchers. Correspondingly a considerable number of books have been published throughout the years with mixed degrees of depth and relevance.

Of undoubtedly great relevance is the recently published tome „Bruut! Atlas van het brutalisme in Nederland“ by Arjan den Boer, Martijn Haan, Martjan Kuit & Teun Meurs and published by W Books. The volume gathers a hundred Dutch brutalist buildings of which a top 20 selection receives additional pages and illustrations. In keeping with the nature of an atlas it is organized along regions and thus offers a comprehensive cross section of Brutalist architecture in the Netherlands. In between the book’s authors address influence of Brutalism in different typologies like housing, church architecture, school buildings or office buildings with the latter representing the majority of Brutalist buildings in the Netherlands. Particularly convenient is the inclusion of Brutalist glossary for all readers new to the matter as well as brief but concise dossiers of major Brutalist architects like Hugh Maaskant, Ben Ingwersen or Piet Zanstra.

But the major part of the book of course is dedicated to the buildings which are documented in stunning photographs by Bart van Hoek: he perfectly captures each of the buildings’ qualities and details and even those averse to Brutalism will have difficulties denying the strong presence of the chosen Brutalist examples. Among these are obvious choices like Van den Broek & Bakema’s Delft auditorium or the Eindhoven Evolution but also lesser-known gems like the Adventskerk in Aerdenhout, the Girokantoor in Leeuwaarden or the Parpart house in Geleen designed by German architect Wolfram Grundhoff.

Through its exclusive focus on Brutalism in the Netherlands „Bruut!“ provides an excellent overview of Dutch Brutalism between the 1950s and 1980s, its peculiarities and characteristics. On the other hand it hopefully is capable of increasing awareness and appreciation for these buildings which represent a unique contribution to a global architectural phenomenon.

[bridgerteon]

This is going to be an extremely long thread of my opinion about Bridgerton S3, especially Polin (and comparing Polin to a certain ATLA ship). So, good luck reading it.

I knew there are a lot of mixed opinions about Bridgerton S3; I have too. Around 50-60% from the book, Romancing Mr Bridgerton, has adapted to the show, which I, as a book reader, am happy to see. I also love the changes from the book that showcases Penelope (and Nicola Coughlan) to shine with awesomeness and deserves a lot of love and recognition after what she's been through.

I can understand why Netflix split into two parts. Part 1 is entertaining, pining and rom-com. While Part 2 is anxiety, emotional and romantic drama. Probably to let viewers breathe. But please don't do that again; I like to binge the whole thing without waiting!

There are:

- Great scenes -> Portia reconciling to Pen and being supportive (thanks Colin!) and Pen having the confidence to reveal herself as Lady Whistledown (LW), instead of letting Colin steal the spotlight for her. Also the Francesca/John romance as they "match their freak". There's actually a lot of great scenes, from Keeping Up With The Featheringtons to Peneloise reconciliation.

- Revenge scenes I like -> Penelope telling off Colin for being an asshole. Also, Lord Debling courting Penelope, making Colin jealous. The Vindication™ for Pen because that's how she feels.

- Some I groaned -> a threesome? Like really? I find it funny, but cringy.

- Some I am suspicious -> Michael Stirling [man] is gender-swapped to Michaela Stirling [woman], but I'm more cautious than angry about the change. Michaela is so goddamn pretty though, heh. I don't mind inclusivity, but it should be addressed with care if it's done for a main Bridgerton character. Besides, I like Francesca's story from the book, When He Was Wicked, and how it explains about grief, guilt and second chance of love. If the storyline from the book is shown, regardless of a lesbian love story, I'll be satisfied. I'll see how it goes and hope for Francesca's season to be heartwrenching and beautiful.

- And others that make no sense -> the lack of Kanthony, like where are they!? And why do they disappear all the time!? This is not them as they are always attentive. They were excellent in managing the Bridgertons and their mess. I love Kanthony so bring them back!!!

What I will analyse and defend is Show Polin.

When I read negative reviews about them, I shake my head in disappointment because the fans didn't understand it. It's like some people have a lack of media literacy. I'm open-minded and I like to analyse critically how and why it happens rather than comparing with other seasons of Bridgerton; I see the show as a separate entity from the books and I still enjoy it as it is. Therefore, I have better comprehension. I also read an article where Luke Newton explains why Colin is Jelly, as shown below. His insight justifies my point.

Since I read RMB, it does give me first-hand insight on the up-and-down relationship between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington-Bridgerton. I also included a favourite ship of mine from Avatar: the Last Airbender (ATLA) for comparison and how Polin's dynamics makes sense to me. (There's no need to have knowledge of ATLA).

So here's my opinion about Polin:

To be honest, I was expecting Katara/Aang tropes in Polin, as they are both friends-to-lovers ships obviously. What I don't expect is that show Polin is more related to Katara/Zuko (Zutara) instead, which is awesome (as an unfortunate Zutara shipper)!

I find Polin's love story to be as realistic as possible, knowing that a love story is not all sunshines, lollipops and rainbows. There will be disputes, doubts and secrets; I'm satisfied that they are addressed. However, there are some scenes from Polin that I am mad about or feeling something is missing.

Also, I DON'T CARE that Polin does not have the CHEMISTRY similar to Kanthony or Saphne(?) (Simon/Daphne). They have the CONNECTION with each other. Friends-to-lovers don't need chemistry; it rarely exists in real life. Friends-to-lovers stories are messy, awkward and full of disagreements, but the connection and their love for each other is always there between them. They are there since Season 1, are always seeking each other and are always themselves around each other. That's as real as it gets.

Themes I like from Polin and how it compares to Zutara:

1. Hiding their true self: Colin having some swag, being impassive, nonchalant mood, and goes to brothels; I find it weird. However, someone analysed that it's a facade because Penelope doesn't write to him, so he went on a teen girl phase and lost his damn mind, heh. Eloise, Pen and Violet know that that is not the Real Colin, who is a soft boi. He mentions that he is yearning for home and wants to feel like he belongs somewhere and to be seen for who he truly is.

This is similar to Zuko when he was sad/mad that he was banished and his father didn't love him, so his personality became antagonistic. Iroh knew that's not the Real Zuko, who was a gentle boi. Therefore, Iroh planned to nudge Zuko to a different side rather than following Ozai's goals.

Additionally, Penelope disguises herself as Lady Whistledown, Katara as The Painted Lady, Zuko as The Blue Spirit, and Colin as The Travelling Englishman/Pirate.

2. BETRAYAL: (I can't emphasise this enough because this theme let's me understand and love Polin). Penelope is anguished about Colin's comments that he don't give a 💩 about her and will never court her (Le Asshole 101 😒). Colin is heartbroken that Pen is LW*. Katara and Iroh were shattered that Zuko joined Azula to fight against Aang in Ba Sing Se. All of these events are unforgivable.

*(The fact that Luke Newton cried in the LW reveal scene as well as angry portrays Colin as heartbroken than enraged, which makes the scene more heartwrenching. I like that so much better than Colin having a temper like in the books and Katara just enraged when Zuko attacked her in Ba Sing Se. Thanks, Luke Newton, for making me feel sorry for Colin 😏).

Another one is that Colin argues with Penelope that she wrote negative comments on LW about his family, Marina Thompson (in my opinion, she deserved it for being deceptive), himself, herself and everyone else. He also feels that she has a "planned entrapment" for him to marry her, even though I knew he didn't mean it; he is devastated that she is not who she seems to be. Colin wants to feel needed and really yearns to love her fully because he wants to provide everything for her. But he doesn't think he's enough or unworthy for Pen and that he's not sure he'll ever accept Pen as LW, which makes me sad. Also... he's envious that she's more successful than him since she's rich as hell, an experienced writer and got her 💩 together; something he wants to achieve. But dude, you married a Sugar Mama! Similarly, Katara argued with Zuko after the Ba Sing Se fiasco and told him to bring her mother back; I found it absurd too, but I knew she was upset for being deceived and hurt as well, like Colin.

3. Self-confidence and accountability: Pen has brought her own voice to address the whole Ton that she is LW and to let them judge her. Nicola Coughlan has done it perfectly in that, as a shy but confident woman. She understands that people are hurt from her comments, but she wants to have a purpose - not as a spy though, heh. She wants the world where women, especially shy wallflowers, are seen and shine brighter as well in a patriarchy world. Also she understands that Colin is upset that she is LW, but she's adamant that she is and nothing will separate LW from her. LW is power and it helps women like Penelope earn her place in society, besides dilly-dally.

Also, Colin pushes Lord Debling away so that Colin can have a moment with Pen to change her mind and make her pick him, choose him and love him. He doesn't care that the Ton sees them, he just sees Pen. Also the way "he ran!" (thanks Dallas Liu 😏) to Pen's carriage just to confess to her. He is confident of his feelings for her, but respectful if she rejects him.

Same goes with Katara that she wanted a world where women can choose to learn waterbending to fight and men to learn healing, or both. And to Zuko that he had redeemed himself and wanted to end the war as the Firelord with ideals that brought all nations together in peace and harmony.

4. Accepting flaws and empathy: Colin accepts that Pen is LW, because he finally realises why while begging to Cressida: the isolation, the bullying, being ostracised and unappreciated, and the anger that no one will ever recognise, listen or stand up to her. But he knows she's not heartless and does regret her words that are published. Also, her letters to him amplifies that she is a great writer and that her and LW are the same person. After Pen reveals herself to the Ton that she is LW, apologises for it and explains why, Colin is more proud and in love with her.

Zuko saw Katara bloodbending (manipulating bodies through their blood). He was surprised. He didn't question it. He didn't chastise her that it's bad or that she's not herself. He accepted it as part of herself. He just wanted her to face her past and let her choose her fate. The End.

5. Conflict: Colin and Pen love each other so much, despite a Great Wall of Anger and Doubt separating them. Katara knew Zuko was not evil, but had to separate Zuko the Fire Prince with Zuko the Awkward, Caring, Flawed Boi.

Also, Katara and Zuko saw each other as legit rivals during the 100-year war. Meanwhile... well... Colin does see Pen as a rival... indirectly though as she's LW, while he is... just a Bridgerton... with no accomplishments... and a loser, heh.

6. Partnership: Pen agrees with Colin that he'll help her find a husband (even though he hired himself as one, heh). Also, Colin and Pen become writers together, as an author and columnist respectively. All hail Lord and Lady Whistledown! 🙇‍♀️ Meanwhile, Katara and Zuko became partners to find the one who killed her mother, fought together side-by-side during training and trusted each other to defeat Azula.

Extra: There's also a lot of love confessions and moments from Polin that made me giddy with joy, sad and amused (and jealousy for being single). Especially... That carriage scene, heh.

Now for the things I'm disappointed about Polin:

1. Colin doesn't tell Penelope that he forgives her verbally. Like since when did he forgive her? Katara told Zuko verbally that she forgave him, so why doesn't Colin say it to Pen? Same applies to Pen: where's her forgiveness to Colin? Unless I forget.

2. There's a quote from the book I like that Colin says “I love you. I love you with my past, and I love you for my future. I love you for the children we'll have and for the years we'll have together. I love you for every one of my smiles, and even more, for every one of your smiles” to Pen before he leaves to beg Cressida as Pen's distressed about Cressida blackmailing her. I'm sad that one is excluded.

3. Colin being an asshole for not allowing Penelope to let her fix her mess nor asking for his support at the start. Saying that "it is not up to you what we do", probably because he wants to be a hero. Dude, calm down, listen to your wife and compromise. Penelope can handle herself and does not need him to fix it for her, like she said "I do not need you to save me, I just need you to stand by me." I think it makes him feel useless as he likes to help and being needed 24/7. Besides, he makes it worse after begging Cressida, heh. Zuko survived listening to Katara's rants and death threats against him, and he still wanted to make it up to her, so Colin should do the same.

4. Colin being a Drama Queen™ for not sleeping with Pen because he's an idiota; he reminds me of both Katara and Zuko since they were both Drama Queens™ as well, heh. However, it broke my heart for Pen; she deserves better and deserves to have a wedding night full of love, not doubt. Fortunately, he does sleep near their room - like Zuko waited for Katara outside her tent - because Colin still deeply loves Pen and wants to feel closer to her, despite being pissy with her. Also, he sleeps on a chaise lounge where they made love because it reminds him of the happiness they have shared before the LW mess. Additionally, he ignores his lust for her while pissed, but I think it's a good idea not to have angry sex as it's just not healthy emotionally and mentally for them.

5. It would be nice if Colin allows Pen to read or discuss his journals more, like in the books. I want to hear his thoughts more. Or maybe the backstory of how Penelope becomes LW.

6. I really want to see more of the lovey-dovey happy Polin moments without any doubts or lies between them; it's not enough. Where's the Polin sex?! Gimme more happy Polin!!!

So that's my long analysis about S3 and why I like Polin, the good and bad. Also, Polin did change my whole opinion about friends-to-lovers stories after I had a sour taste of it from a ship I'm not supportive to, but that is for another story to tell. 

[scribblue]

Speaking as someone who loves Dareth I hate the way his misogyny is written.

I mean I don't want it to exist in the first place, given that Nya already faces sexism from pretty much every angle, and in the context of the whole publicity campaign thing she was recieving enough of it from the public already without Dareth excluding her from every opportunity and offering makeup segments etc. Do I understand its inclusion anyway? Sort of. I suppose it is "realistic" in the context of Dareth playing the sleazy manager role, because that is the tragic reality for a lot of women and teenage girls in the entertainment industry. I also HC that Dareth represses his homosexuality which, unfortunately, sometimes leads to misogyny in the real world. So I can't exactly write it off as something Dareth isn't capable of or that isn't necessary to the story or Nya's development at all–

However.

If it is going to be included, I would have really preferred Dareth to have an arc where he learns the things he said/the beliefs he held were wrong, akin to Sokka's arc in ATLA. Like let Nya beat Dareth up over that comment, let him see how wrong he was, let him at the very least apologize to her for his past actions. I know that sometimes misogynists are just that, and anyone can harbor those beliefs without changing or realizing they need to. Even people that seem "safe." But Dareth is a recurring character and a friend to the ninja, not just some random shmuck in the entertainment business they'll never see again. I would really have liked to see at least a tiny bit of growth from him. Even if Nya would never forgive him she is, at the very least, owed that apology and acknowlegement.

Anyway I saw someone talking about this earlier and it made me remember how much I hated this writing decision that's all

[bestworstcase]

anyway. something interesting about how the thematic narrative unfolds with regard to the opening narration (and ozpin’s rejoinder)

in her v1 soliloquy salem invokes strength twice—once as an intrinsic quality of mankind and once as a characteristic that emerged "in the shadow’s absence"—and the context in which she goes on to say that "there will be no victory in strength" makes it clear that she means the latter kind of strength; she’s referring to ozpin’s "guardians" and "monuments" and this is reiterated again in her v3 soliloquy and in divide and in her strategic approach to the war generally, in that she strikes at ozpin’s isolated guardians and symbolic monuments because she understands them to be false projections of strength masking his true weakness, which is that he lacks faith in mankind’s intrinsic strength—what salem defines as wisdom, passion, resourcefulness, ingenuity, hope.

ozpin’s retort that victory is found in the "simpler things that [she’s] long forgotten" which "require a smaller, more honest soul" misses her point altogether and is revealed very quickly as a statement of belief in the importance of finding the (correct) chosen one; his "smaller soul" is merely the rhetorical distillation of his guardians, a single heroic figure who achieves true perfection and so inspires the whole world to follow.

salem is correct on all counts—there is nothing special or unique about ruby herself that makes her capable of doing the impossible; she succeeds by banding the world together against a common enemy, which is precisely what salem mocks ozpin for refusing to do—not just in the sense of understanding the story’s themes but also in the more practical strategic sense. you cannot win a real war with symbols and martyrs.

gestures at v7-8.

"victory is in a simple soul" (this will be the day) -> "but through a simple soul, we lie complacent" (until the end).

"strength will not bring victory" (divide) -> "strength’s not victory" (for every life).

the "smaller soul" idea is given the appearance of being the narratively correct position by its inclusion in the first opener, while "no victory in strength" is the villainous—and therefore presumptively wrong—retort. the common trope of evil cannot comprehend good predisposes the audience not to think deeply about this or pay close attention to the specifics of what the villain is really saying.

then in atlas the narrative throws this reversal down like a gauntlet; suddenly we have the heroic voice in agreement that the "smaller soul" engenders complacency and that strength is not victory. how can this be? the villain understood all along that ozpin’s "smaller soul" was nothing more than a belief in salvation through the strength of a single heroic paragon obfuscated by poetic language. "there will be no victory in strength" and "when [your guardians] fail and you turn to your smaller soul, know that you send her to the same pitiful demise" are the same statement, spoken first in salem’s own words and later repeated in ozpin’s.

i’ve made this point before but taken into context with the whole soliloquy, "there will be no victory in strength" implies its own converse: there will be victory in the virtues salem sees innate in mankind, wisdom and passion and resourcefulness and ingenuity and above all, hope.

she reiterates this again more overtly in her v3 soliloquy, naming hope as mankind’s greatest strength and mocking ozpin for his failure to put his money where his mouth is and ACT on his professed faith in mankind. "your faith in mankind was not misplaced," she says, dripping sarcasm. if only you had given the people a common enemy rather than sowing doubt and distrust among even your inner circle by keeping them in the dark.

and on the foundation of this reversal: “balance is not two forces locked in never-ending battle. balance is an ecosystem, an organism, a living, breathing thing; thus, balance cannot be restored by force or calculation. true balance finds its own equilibrium. it only requires love, and the patience to see things through to the end.”

NOW this is where the recontextualization of the "victory in a smaller soul"/"no victory in strength" conceit starts to become really interesting: there is no victory at all.

there is only the state of being in equilibrium, or not. this is a story about balance.

as with salem, the specific language the blacksmith uses here is important (and it helps to have some familiarity with hellenistic philosophy, heraclitus and plato in particular, because that strongly influences rwby’s metaphysics): she doesn’t mean that opposition or strife is antithetical to balance. the first emanations of the tree were darkness and light, given destruction and creation. the central conceit is chiaroscuro. one cannot be without the other.

equilibrium is found in the tension between weight and counterweight and lost whenever these two opposites become unequal, such as (for example) if light decides that darkness should obey him rather than seek compromise with him when they disagree.

that in turn is passed down from the gods to ozlem through ozma’s belief in light’s (false) conception of balance as a state of perfection without strife. within this framework "unity" demands the complete absence of conflict or disagreement and becomes synonymous with obedient submission, and thus salem—who wants nothing but to be free—is rendered as the great evil who must be destroyed.

there is no question that salem understands the narrative themes with respect to humanity and the injustice of the divine narrative; she does. it is absurd and unserious to argue that she does not fundamentally believe the things she says in soliloquy just as it would be absurd and unserious to suggest that ozma doesn’t believe what he says in his.

what is in question and what does have crucial implications for the story’s resolution is whether salem herself seeks victory (to defeat the gods) or equilibrium (to remove herself as the blade held to remnant’s throat by ending the divine mandate); does she intend to win the war or to end it?

and that is a more difficult question. the fact of her commitment to war does not in and of itself provide an answer because ozma has existed in a perpetual state of (imaginary) war with her for thousands of years, with or without her participation. if she comes into the open and tells people the truth about his mandate and what the huntsmen academies are for, there will be a war. he already knows why she rejected the divine mandate and she has no reason to believe that he will react any differently this time if she appeals to him again, not when he’s had thousands of years to think about it and reaffirmed his commitment to the mandate over and over again.

or she can cut him down and strike at the academies one after the other in quick succession to claim the relics and be done with it before he returned—remember that neither the siege of atlas nor razing vale were part of her original plan, and she intended to leave atlas for last. it is likely that her plans for shade and atlas resembled her minimally-destructive plan for haven.

and even when she panics and commits to open warfare, she exercises a great deal of restraint; it remains to be seen what the exact situation is in vale but razing vale mere weeks after oz decimated hundreds of thousands of not millions of her grimm is in and of itself a demonstration that she’s fully capable of burning the whole world down to get what she wants by brute force. perhaps she felt emboldened once she’d claimed two of the relics but even then the sheer disparity in power between herself and ozpin is so vast that it is becoming absurd to believe that her restraint is motivated by "caution" alone.

she rips a continent open and uses the liquid core of the planet as a siege weapon. oz explodes every grimm for miles around with a blast of magical energy that took lifetimes to accumulate and that slows her down for maybe two hours. salem knows that humanity is strong when banded together in common cause but she also knows that didn’t stop the gods from wiping them out in the blink of an eye, and the difference in power between herself and modern humans is in that ballpark.

"in pursuit of a new world, no cost is too great," she says… in praise of cinder’s restraint. i couldn’t stop them from evacuating the city, i couldn’t stop them from using the last question, i couldn’t stop the maiden from escaping without putting the relics in jeopardy—you’ve done well.

so in salem’s view, for the sake of a new world, allowing thousands of innocents to evacuate to safety and laying aside personal grudges or ambitions is worthwhile. conceding a partial victory to one’s opponents is a fair price to pay in pursuit of a new world. what does this tell us about how salem thinks?

gestures, also, at witch. what does it say about salem that upon learning one of her five hostages is her general’s daughter, she gave up on recovering the lamp and lost a fight on purpose to let all of them go?

"there will be no victory in strength," she says. the rest of her soliloquy implies the converse that victory is found in human virtue and hope. in her second soliloquy she gloats about dedicating all her power to extinguishing ozpin’s hope; two volumes later she cautions cinder against relying on power to "take what [she] wants by force" because power comes with a cost but the "usefulness of others" cannot be overstated; three volumes after that she’s all smiles when ruby reveals her to the world as a rallying cry for hope and tells cinder that sparing lives is a worthy price for a new world. she intends to gather the four relics—that is her game to win, as she puts it to cinder—but what’s her plan?

is it to summon the gods for another confrontation? because there any number of things that salem could do, or try to do, with the relics in hand in pursuit of a new world: destroy the relics, end ozma’s curse to prevent him from coming back, release the imprisoned spirits, use the relics to carve open a doorway to a literal new world where the brothers can’t follow—she’s had millions of years to research and thousands to consider a way to escape the final judgment—use the crown to force ozma to stop, if it works like the golden cap. or even tell the world what will happen if anyone brings the relics together and use the implied threat of her having all four as leverage in negotiations, much as ozma did after the great war.

if salem believes she can beat the brothers and is dead set upon using the rest of the world as bait to lure them back, that makes her more dangerous and more difficult to persuade to talk—it’s what i’ve been anticipating on the grounds that it is the most straightforward way to keep the narrative stakes high.

but the other way ’round is also compelling—salem having a specific minimal-risk plan to dispose of the relics and/or ozma or otherwise end the mandate by making it impossible to summon the gods, and team rwby hitting upon the idea of bringing the relics together in the ever after to persuade the god of light to ascend—and seems more in line with salem’s characterization whenever she isn’t venting her rage at ozma; risk-averse, restrained, pragmatic, willing to compromise. if her most important priority is to end the eternal crusade against her and she doesn’t care about the brothers as long as they don’t ever come back, and these children get it into their heads to confront the brothers face to face… well it makes the negotiations crunchier, that’s for sure.

[lizardlicks]

On the heels of a new AtLA shipping tournament, I have completed my most ridiculous project WIP. BEHOLD!!!

The (current as of the week of January 15, 2024) AtLA Ao3 shipping grid! This chart is by no means comprehensive (for instance, I have the Boulder but not any of the other Earth Rumble participants, nor Aunt Wu at this time, though that may change in the near-ish future), but it's still pretty damn inclusive of most of the commonly appearing AtLA characters in fic posted to AO3. other potential tweaks include more color coding to indicate #of works posted in a tag.

To make the list the pairing has to have at least 4 separate works posted on Ao3. I've made notes where a tag exists but has less than 4 works posted to it. Some have none at all! I love rare/crack pairs with potential, and I hope other like minded individuals can take this and get inspired, or maybe just point and giggle if it kills a few minutes of boredom.

Enjoy!

[arlobarks]

☆ intro post timee ☆

haiii we don't have a cool system name but here's some info about us + our boundaries ^___^

☆ - Main fronters :

Arlo / Atlas (he/xe/pup/void/it) age slider (???)

Ivy / Luz (she/her) 18 y.o

Charlie (he/it) age slider (16-20 y.o)

Matt (he/him) 22 y.o

☆ - Basic info :

We're bodily 22 y.o so please, if you're a minor do not private message us!!

Apart from being plural, we're autistic, have adhd and ocd. We won't disclosure any more private information about us.

We like to hoard lgbt terms because it makes us feel more connected to ourselves! But we do identify as trans demiboy pupgender gaybian/lesboy.

We're inclusive of all good faith systems and identities. DO NOT interact if you're anti endo systems, not support "weird" lgbt identities like mspec gays, or are a radqueer.

We don't care about shipping discourse but we will block you if you attack others for fictional ships!

We are proud of who we are so we will most likely not deal with antis and trolls. Get blocked! ^___^

I think that's it! Feel free to dm and interact, we'd love to meet new ppl who are similar to us. And don't be afraid to use the askbox! ☆

[the-cool-space-nerd]

1/1/2024

Hey guys! I know it’s been a while, life has just been kind of crazy recently. Below, I have put together a list of all the astronomical events to look forward to this year. Enjoy!

January 3: Earth at perihelion

January 3-4: Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peak

January 11: New Moon

January 12: Mercury at greatest western elongation

January 25: Full Moon

February 9: New Moon

February 24: Full Moon

March 10: New Moon

March 20: March Equinox

March 22: Possible viewing of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

March 24: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation

March 25: Full Moon, Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

April 8: New Moon, Total Solar Eclipse

April 21-23: Lyrids Meteor Shower Peak

April 23: Full Moon

May 4-5: Moon Earthshine Mornings

May 6-7: Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak

May 8: New Moon

May 9: Mercury at greatest western elongation

May 11-12: Moon Earthshine Nights

May 23: Full Moon

June 6: New Moon

June 20: June Solstice

June 22: Full Moon

July 5: New Moon, Earth at aphelion

July 21: Full Moon

July 22: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation

July 28-29: Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak

August 4: New Moon

August 12-13: Perseids Meteor Shower Peak

August 14: Conjuction of Mars and Jupiter

August 19: Full Moon

August 21: Lunar Occulation of Saturn

August 28: Possible views of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

September 3: New Moon

September 5: Mercury at greatest western elongation

September 8: Saturn at opposition

September 18: Full Moon, Supermoon, Partial Lunar Eclipse

September 20: Neptune at opposition

September 22: September Equinox

October 2: New Moon, Annular Solar Eclipse, Micromoon

October 7-9: Draconids Meteor Shower Peak

October 17: Full Moon, Supermoon

October 20-22: Orionids Meteor Shower Peak

November 1: New Moon

November 4-5: Taurids Meteor Shower Peak

November 15: Full Moon

November 16: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation

November 17-18: Leonid Meteor Shower Peak

December 1: New Moon

December 7: Jupiter at opposition

December 14-15: Geminid Meteor Shower Peak

December 15: Full Moon

December 21: December Solstice

December 22-23: Ursid Meteor Shower Peak

December 25: Mercury at greatest western elongation

December 30: New Moon

***Please let me know if there are any mistakes I need to correct. This list was compiled using multiple websites, so some dates may be a day or two off. I also tried to keep this list inclusive to both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres***

Image credit: @cora.a.harris on Instagram