#Every single one is important

[demaparbat-hp]

Even if zuko has a plan to end the war, making katara work amongst people who likely hold racism towards her and aided and supported the genocide of her people is still weird, especially since zuko benefits from the fire nations oppression of people throughout s1 when hunting the Avatar. Not good choices to make in a zutara au :/

Believe me, I've made these arguments against myself over and over again.

I know I'm putting Katara in an extremely difficult and unjust position in this AU with—from an outsider's point of view—little to no reason other than "I just wanted to see her in Fire Nation armor and kicking ass" and no consideration for the context. I'm not trying to somehow forgive nor redeem the Fire Nation's actions in war just because...well...just because. Not at all. People who've read Soundless (or any other of my wips, really) know that's not the case. On the contrary—I always do my best to see the war through a realistic, mature lense. And that includes everything that makes the Fire Nation so terrible in the first place.

That being said, there are some things I considered when deciding to make Katara side with them (even if her true motives lie elsewhere) in this AU. And they are not excuses. Just, different layers of context.

First of all, she was desperate. By this point in her life, her mother was dead, her father had left to fight the war, her brother followed behind a few years after, and she was left filling the empty spaces when, by all means, she wasn't ready for the responsibility. She had been feeling helpless and hopeless for years, and ached to do anything to help her people beyond doing chores and taking care for the children.

Let it be known that Aang's apparent betrayal comes from a place of trauma and misplaced anger on Katara's part. Much like how she put the Fire Nation's sins on Zuko's shoulders in S3. She is not on the right here, but this is her natural way to process and understand grief. There are many different aspects of her development as a child involved in how she views the Avatar—and, by extension, Aang—but more on this later.

Katara was young, and reckless, and she had just been "betrayed" by the first person who ever looked at her and saw more than the perfect caretaker she was forced to be. She was not in the right state of mind to make a decision like that and, to be honest, she couldn't have predicted the consequences. She saw a clear path to contribute to the end of the war, and by La she would take it.

On Zuko's end, you might argue that he should have known better than to let her join him and, well, you would be right. But there were many things about Katara's trauma response and state of mind that—unless he had known her for a long time—he couldn't have known. He will definitely blame himself later on, when the racism and cruelty towards Katara begins, and especially when word reaches her family at sea.

It's Katara's job to smack some sense into him from time to time and tell him that, yes, he should have tried harder to stop her (and she would probably be better off because of it) but what's done is done. And, by all means, the decision was hers to make. If anything, it's their fault, not his alone.

Now, Katara doesn't suffer the entire AU. That would just be cruel.

Zuko's crew was handpicked by Uncle Iroh, so you can expect dissidents, traitors and a few White Lotus agents who were smart enough to keep their true opinions quiet. There are...mixed opinions in that bunch, of course, but that's expected and, to be honest, rather easily dealt with. They are mostly honourable people just doing their best to end the war from the inside.

The real problem comes when they cross paths with, say, Zhao's fleet (or Hakoda's, let's be real).

And you may ask why Zuko is hunting down Aang, then, if he's secretly a goody-two-shoes himself... I'll explain that later in depth, so stay tuned.

In short, I know the decisions I've made, as a creator, are debatable at best, and downright blasfemous at worst. But they're deliberate.

I want the readers to feel conflicted about Katara's choices in this AU. I want people to have mixed opinions about the war, the (apparent lack of) morality, the characters, you name it!

I'm not trying to glorify a victim of war joining the side of the ones responsible for her people's genocide, even if it's just for show and she's actually set on destroying their government from within. Not at all.

Katara made a stupid, horrible decision, and she's going to suffer the consequences. But she's also going to fight to reach her goals, because she's stubborn like that.

I know most people may have a little trouble understanding where I'm coming from, because they don't have all the information necessary to make a full opinion.

I'm really thankful for these kind of asks. They let me explore these concepts and AUs in depth, and see what you think about them. I'm only human—my opinions are not infalible, nor The Right Ones, and this is a kind of discussion that I love to have.

So, keep the asks coming!!!

[ratknifeguts]

Time for some One Piece nonsense

[mspaint-flower]

hi

gentle reminder that me and my family are still in need of help and my comms are open, i have school so i may not be very fast but i try my best to be despite the situation i currently live in it would be great if you could help in any way, even just by sharing. thank you for everyone who helped me so far (and a special thanks to EmeliaK), i had wished by now this would be over but it's not. so i gotta keep fighting

thank you

[heymacy]

IAN GALLAGHER + his journey with bipolar disorder

╰┈➤ “At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of." - Carrie Fisher

[amphibianaday]

day 1821 - half a decade!

redraw of day 1, 364, and 1000, but with a twist - now it's also my frogsona :D

for now i'll be taking a (maybe permanent) break for at least the rest of the year! see you in 2025!

previous versions for comparison below!

[fanaticalthings]

Jason only resorts to his emergency signal when he's 0.1 seconds away from death and only when he's 100% reaching raw desperation levels of survival

BUT he also uses it when he's faced with the most mild of inconveniences, so the batfam are always stressed when they get his panic signal because is he about to fucking die or was he just locked out of the family Netflix account?

And obviously they can't take ANY chances, so it's always a 50/50 on whether the night ends with the fam huddled in the medbay of the cave, or whether all of them are fully costumed, weapons sharpened and ready to throw hands in Jason's apartment and Jason's just casually lounging on his couch like "Oh hey guys, I'm out of flour, can one of you run to get some?" with the most annoying shit-eating grin you've ever seen.

[ingravinoveritas]

"He should be used to this by now."

Maybe, just maybe, this shouldn't be something that he has to get used to. Because you would think that if he even once expressed that he wasn’t comfortable being filmed, that would be enough to make her stop. The fact that it isn’t and hasn’t been up until now is not okay.

She is doing more than just annoying him here--she is humiliating him. A "love language" implies something shared and spoken by both people, and this feels entirely one-sided at this point. If you genuinely love someone, you don't repeatedly violate their trust and then laugh/brag about "breaking" them for others to see.

I shudder to think what the reaction would be if the situation was reversed. The outrage that would occur if he was filming her when she didn't want to be filmed, and the dramatic shift in reaction to the camera. It would not at all be seen as acceptable.

And yet, here we are...

[rottmnt-residuum]

part 14

oh no! raphs brain :(   ...anyway

⇇ | ⇽ | index | ⇾

[wearenotjustnumbers2]

Biden told the reporters at the white house "no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth" simply denying the people killed in such a short time. In response, the health ministry of Palestine published a 212 page report, detailing the names, ages, genders and ID numbers to every person killed in the enclave.

Over 7000 kills where documented then, today the number increases but we have no way of knowing since gaza is completely cut off. Reporters IN gaza don't even know what's happening. If your house is bombed, you can't call an ambulance, there is no communication.

If you remain silent, you're siding with the oppressor. There is no "neutrality" in genocide. People of gaza are getting annihilated.

[lady-corrine]

Calling book daemyra's relationship "ambiguous" just because you can't stand that Rhaenyra was loved and you want to diminish her is such a mysoginistic move. Because what exactly was even remotely ambiguous in how Daemon was always attentive and always thinking of her while he was away in his travels? What was ambiguous in love poems, sailing and spending lazy hours in her constant company? In them being called lovers? In Daemon wanting to marry her and asking for her hand? In either of them only getting with other people only when they were completely apart and had no way to reach the other? In them making a baby long before their wedding and him going on a killing spree to free Rhaenyra for himsef? In him being known as so possessive of her he was thought capable of murder out of jealousy for her affections? In them marrying in secret to the extent that absolutely everyone was scandalized and the memories of their spouses tarnished? In them living happily and peacefuly for ten years in their marriage? In him organizing what was arguably the blackest act of his entire life to avenge her boy, who wasn't even biologically his? In him crowning her, raising an army for her, fighting and dying for her? Some of you spend so much making up headcanons and forcing people to agree with them that you don't even speak about canon anymore. It's embarassing.

[alackofghosts]

kiss kiss

[gingermintpepper]

One of my biggest pet peeves is the assumption that something has to be sad for it to be tragic.

I've always been a big believer of the 'Apollo has an awful love life'/'Apollo is plain unlucky with love' line of thinking but it does bother me that the general reasoning for that statement is given to the concept of 'Apollo is somehow undesireable and thus rejected' (Cassandra/Daphne/Marpessa) or 'his lovers die young and thus their love is unfulfilled' (Cyparissus/Hyacinthus/Coronis). I personally think that's a very unfortunate way of looking at things - not only because it neglects the many perfectly cordial entanglements and affairs Apollo has had, both mortal and divine - but because it presents a very shallow interpretation of the concepts of love and loss and how loss affects people.

Apollo can still grieve lovers that have a long, healthy life. The inherent tragedy of an immortal who knows his lovers and children will die and cannot stop it does not stop being tragic simply because those lovers and children live long, fulfilled lives. The inherent tragedy of loss does not stop being tragic simply because someone knows better than to mourn something that was always going to end.

What is tragic is not that Apollo loves and loses but that loss itself follows him. Apollo does not love with the distance of an immortal, he does not have affairs and then leaves never to listen to their prayers again. He does not have offspring and then abandon them to their trials only to appear when it is time to lead them to their destinies. He raises his young, he protects the mothers of his children, he blesses the households that have his favour and multiplies their flocks that they may never go hungry. He educates his sons, he adorns his daughters and even in wrath he is quick to come to his senses and regret the punishments he doles out.

Apollo loves. And like mortals, there will always be some part of him that wishes to protect the objects of his affections. Apollo, however, is also an emissary of Fate. He knows that the fate of all mortal things is death. He knows that to love a mortal is to accept that eventually he will have to bury them. There is no illusion of forever, there is no fantasy where he fights against the nature of living things and shields his beloveds from death. Apollo loves and because of that love, he also accepts.

And that, while beautiful, is also tragic.

[buddiesmutslut]

If I have to read “Buck could spend his life with Tommy, if not for Eddie.” I promise you I WILL scream.

No tf he couldn’t. That is not the story they’re telling here. I know it’s confusing bc Eddie is all over this storyline, but that’s not what you’re supposed to take away from it.

Tommy canonically has not been ANY different than any of Buck’s previous love interests. It’s been pointed out *several times* actually how similar he is to all of them in various ways, & yet, nobody’s been sighing “Abby/Ali/Taylor/Lucy/Natalia could be Buck’s soulmate, if only it weren’t for Eddie.” Bc that’s insane.

Eddie is not the reason any of those relationships didn’t last forever. I know we like to say that everything is about Buddie but it genuinely is not. Eddie is not the reason Tommy is condescending. Eddie is not the reason Tommy is dismissive of things Buck is interested in. Eddie is not the reason Tommy calls him Evan, despite the fact that “the people who know me call me Buck.” Eddie is not the reason for whatever is in Tommy’s past that is going to leave Buck spiraling next episode the same way he’s not responsible for why Ali & Taylor & Natalia didn’t work out.

Buck’s relationships don’t work out for their own reasons WITHIN the relationship itself, and whenever Buck & Tommy break up (whether that be in the next few weeks or later down the line) it will be because of something between Buck & Tommy.

Not Eddie.

Please stfu with this take. They are not trying to show you that Tommy could be Buck’s soulmate “if only Eddie wasn’t there.” I know we don’t know exactly what story they’re telling with them yet, but I fucking GUARANTEE it is not that one.

[nero-neptune]

“Roy was the engineer, and anything related to engineering, in any specialism, would have to pass through his hands. This included assembling the plane’s radio, just like he’d fixed the small battery-operated Spika radio and made it work.

“Adolfo sat down beside him. He explained to Roy that it was not a matter of expertise in electronics but one of ignorance, and pointed out that Roy was the least ignorant of everybody in that department. Roy argued that he had never seen an airplane radio in his life, not even in a book. Adolfo put his hand over Roy’s. ‘I know that, Roy. We all know that. I only wanted to tell you that you were the best one at handling the wires and the terminals, that’s all. But right now that’s a lot, it makes a huge difference … you are the engineer.’

“Roy, almost breathless, added something that his older friend already knew: ‘I am barely in my first year in Engineering, I’m only twenty years old, and the only time I’ve ever been remotely close to anything like this was when I helped instal a damn audio system for my cousins.’

“‘And you fixed the Spika radio,’ Adolfo responded, as if it were a thermonuclear station and not a basic portable radio the size of a pack of cigarettes. Before Adolfo even said the next sentence he knew clearly that it was as painful for him to say as it was for his friend to hear it. ‘Roy, the group needs your abilities. All we’re asking is that you try.’ ”

– “Is Anybody Listening?” from Society of the Snow: The Definitive Account of the World’s Greatest Survival Story by Pablo Vierci

LA SOCIEDAD DE LA NIEVE | SOCIETY OF THE SNOW (2023) dir. J. A. Bayona

[mycological-mariner]

First day of Pride and I just want to shine a light on all the trans people who are unable to transition, especially those who aren’t fresh faced university grads. Those who don’t live in a supportive or even just accepting home or community. Those who aren’t well off, those who aren’t good at or popular enough to crowd fund. Those who can’t afford transitioning. Those who can’t even transition socially or need to stay in the closet for your safety. Those who rely on benefits or unforgiving jobs to just pay the bills. Having to hear day in and day out you’re just GNC, that your pre-transition body is “ugly” and the ways you can express your gender are “cringe.” Every trans person who’s been told they aren’t “trying hard enough”. Those trans people who won’t even get to imagine transitioning for years.

I see you. I love you. You’re so undervalued and under appreciated in a world where being a white, well off 20 year old on HRT and getting surgery is more common to see than people who work full time and just don’t have that privilege. It sucks, so much. But you are loved and you are seen.

Happy Pride Month to trans people who aren’t where they want to be. The world is better with you in it. We all need each other.

[pharawee]

—You put on a facade like it's all cool, but deep down, you’re really hurting inside.