#Roku is friend-shaped

[yourfaveisfriendshaped]

Can Yokune Ruko (utau) be friend shaped please?

Roku is friend-shaped!

[ekjohnston]

What she says: I'm fine.

What she's thinking: At no point in their final conversations do any of the past Avatars tell Aang he has to kill Ozai. His living friends do, but the Avatars tell him to be decisive (Roku), that only justice will bring peace (Kyoshi), to take an active role in shaping the world (Koruk), and that he'll never be able to detach himself as an Airbender because he's the Avatar first and foremost (Yangchen). They don't give him what he wants (instructions), but they tell him everything he needs to hear in order to be able to do what the lionturtle eventually suggests. The idea that this ending is somehow cheating because Aang doesn't have to "sacrifice his soul" or anything is extremely bad for a variety of reasons. In this essay, I

[campchitaquamemories]

One thing I love, love, LOVE about the Netflix ATLA is that you *really* get a sense, very early on, for each of the past 3 incarnations of the avatar and how their struggles and their age of the world shaped them into who they are. (Spoilers for the animated show, if you care - and S1 and potentially future seasons of the live action)

Kuruk's age was plagued with threats from the spirit world (a history that rhymes with what we see when the cycle rolls around to Water again with Korra), that is where his focus was, and that is what cost him his closest connection to the living world. It left him crippled and bitter and unable to see the strength in Aangs connections with others. This is really something that was only hinted at in the anime, and I love seeing it fleshed out.

The next avatar, Kiyoshi, was born into an age of strife - warring kingdoms and tyrants and terror. She HAD to become a mighty and fearsome warrior, becuase she had to clean up the mess that Avatar Kuruk left in the living world. So of course, this is the lens through which she sees the troubles of Aang's age. This is the advice she gives him: only the strongest can bring balance and peace.

Then we have Roku, born into a golden age of peace and diplomacy, the remnants of Kiyoshi's iron fist holding the nations in their places. He was allowed a full childhood, friends, and you can see it in his manner, his sense of humor. You can also see the terrible pain of the wound that his best friend's final betrayal left in his spirit, when he counsels Aang that he cannot always trust his friends.

I just. I love that we are seeing all of this, and so soon! The stories of the previous avatars, and the way each of their lives impacts not just the rest of the avatar cycle, but the life cycle of their entire world, is so fascinating to me. I really, really hope they continue to deepen Aang's connection with his past lives if the series continues!

[pinkpastels113]

my opinion on natla (for those of you who care lol)

spoilers ahead.

dislikes:

where is katara's fire??? they took it mostly away except for the (obligated imo) fight with pakku. like i understand that yall changed the story of her losing her mother so that she's more timid and insecure now but that was one of her main core traits. she has a passion and is reckless and sassy, and is a leader who inspires words of motivation to other benders. she is not afraid to sacrifice her life for the care and safety of others. this remake just... does not show that

pakku is no longer katara's grandmother's ex/grandfather, and did not show any plans to go to the southern tribe to help them rebuild, which i genuinely liked from the animation bc it showed that the water tribes are reuniting instead of still being separated btw the north and south (it might come later but there was no indication that it was in the works). he also does not teach katara waterbending. he just validated that she was a good waterbender and sent some kids her way to lead during the fire nation attack

aang does not have a crush on katara. it was one of the main factors that drove his character into a more goofy, relatable, and just overall likeable kid; because he is just that, a 12 year old kid. in the adaptation he is too serious, and the mutual admiration that he and katara were supposed to have of one another is more one-sided. in natla they made it seem as if... aang is a much older person trapped in a 12 year old's body dropping odd wizened quotes from Gyatso left and right about how to be the avatar and to look to the future and stuff like that, but not actually taking them into account and growing?? if that makes sense. like the show kind of took away his gradual acceptance of being the avatar and having the responsibility, through his simple coming of age moments like having a major crush on katara

the first season is completely centered around aang's guilt. he does not learn any waterbending or attempt at firebending (and being scared of it). i assume katara is going to teach him in season 2 but they could have squeezed some kind of training in between the eight episodes?

mai and ty lee are just standing there. like i'm not kidding. they don't do much but give azula an audience in her training sessions and rants about being the rightful heir. i did love ty lee's encouragement though, it was cute

but adding on to that azula does not have that... fear factor. she does not have her friends scared of her, or the fire nation people under her control/influence. at least not yet

sokka and katara enters the spirit world with aang? that was a bit confusing. i understand that the directors/writers need to speed things up a little and need to provide some backstory to sokka and katara, but they are not supposed/be able to go to the spirit world with aang. it threw me off guard

bumi confused the heck out of me. they did not have him reveal his identity at the end so the games and challenge that he had aang do in the animation was given to him in the "catch-up" (basically) of his time in the war with aang. he just seemed kind of (more so than expected) all over the place for me...

roku did not tell aang about the comet. they talked about koh and how to save sokka and katara from being forever taken by koh instead (they were captured when they were in the spirit world). i assume aang will find out about this later? but from what i wonder...

sokka is a bit too serious for me as well... i adored him for coming a long way from the sexist beliefs that he held at the beginning of book 1 in the animation, but that was basically erased in the adaptation, sooo. and i completely understand that what he experienced as a child in this adaptation should've shaped him into a more serious character but dang. it's kinda to the point were his jokes are kinda cringy

his apparent obsession with suki (which was SO cute) but then chasing after other girls immediately afterwards? yes this was portrayed in the animation and i completely expected him to be flirty and whatnot (he's my flirty sarcastic hungry boi), but why have him stare wistfully and longingly at the fan that suki gave him when he is just going to turn around and chase after random fire nation girls (the one that got them running in like ep 3)? it doesn't make sense (and kind of makes sokka seem like an asshole). the creators should not push sukka so quick and fast and hard and then 180 sokka into a playboy. pick a side pleaseee *cries* (sukka was not pushed as hard in kyoshi island in the animation so i was okay with sokka being as flirty as he was)

the kind of arguments that sokka and katara have are kind of patronizing and demeaning. it's more of a "you're such a little girl and need to grow the f up" kinda feeling instead of a "im your big bro and am trying to protect you" kinda feeling

appa does not fight at all :(( . he's just the ride. sometimes forgotten in the background

likes:

excuse me but the azula hair flip?? in her introduction?? amazing.

ty lee is so perfectly casted it's like her animation popped out into real life. the hair and clothes UGH

i cried in the zuko and iroh moments and flashbacks to their relationship/iroh's loss/zuko's burn. CRIED. it was so emotional and well done

again, zuko and iroh's relationship is so strong in this adaptation you don't even knowww. iroh has like zero bad bones in his body from the get-go it's kinda amusing T-T

THE ZUTARA SCARF SCENE

all the cast look like their characters to me. even if their core traits/personalities are changed

jet and suki. that's all i have to say

sukka kiss and initial awkwardness. i cackled when suki went *sad face* when she thought she scared sokka away

OMASHU IS BASED ON A LESBIAN COUPLE

ozai is as evil and bad and merciless as ever. also manipulative. i can get where azula gets it from

it further explains/shows the "my father trained me into the weapon he wanted me to be" for azula

june and iroh. it changed from the creepy one-sidedness in the animation lol and june gave a talk about her way of life

the graphics for the bending are so cool. zuko's fire kicks *mesmerized*

fire nation burning of people. shows really how antagonistic ozai's peeps are

freedom fighters!!

the tiny soft moment between zuko and aang when zee blue spirit saves him :DD

hating zhao as he should be hated because he's as cowardly and stupid as ever

the 41st division!! cried at that nice touch

the way zuko actually fought back and showed compassion for his father in the agni kai and how his father basically forced him to be the way he is (all angsty and conflicted and whatnot) because "compassion is weakness and here is the scar i manually burn into your face to prove you)

overall if you love zuko this is your show because other characters may have faults but they killed it with my traumatized dude with the lil scar! and his uncle!! which he is already and always super nice to!!

[thatonepikminperson]

Fun Facts about Roku (Fun Facts with OC's Series)

She's one of the five gods who didn't get a redesign

Also, guess what, Roku is trans (The reason she get's a different eyelash shape compared to everyone else)

Also ALSO Roku gets to be both a God and a Demi-God (They don't have attached limbs and look kinda like Roku does)

Each Demi-God has a gem that represents them (If it breaks and there's no more of that gem, then you just die), and Roku's is a solid black mini top hat

Roku is the God of Demi-Gods btw

Before you ask, no, Roku's name did not come from the remote, I had the idea before I learned of it existing (Aka my family got one)

Roku wasn't supposed to be a God originally, but I make her one

Roku's favorite color is Red, which is also her God Color

A song that inspired Roku is ID Smile. Yes, ID Smile is like the only song that inspired this little cutie

Roku's weapon is a sharp blade, that can separate into five claws. It's also floating via some cat beans, cause Demi-God

Roku freaking loves her Demi-God friends, much more than the Gods of the World

Roku doesn't use a human disguise often, mainly because she hates it

The entire 'you might be a girl in a boy's body' idea came from one of her friends, Etzah, the Demi-God of Despair. So thank Etzah for the insight of a lifetime

Roku doesn't get the idea of things being made for boys or girls only. It just doesn't make any sense to her

Roku is kinda like a wine aunt, who just shows up sometimes in the God's dimension, drops the world's coolest fucking wisdom ever, and leaves.

Roku is often considered the weakest God, power wise

Roku doesn't really have a relationship with the other Gods. The closest she gets to someone is with Izuru, and that's just on an Aunt level (Which is funny, cause Izuru is older than Roku)

Because of the above, Roku is the most disconnected and out of the loop God

Roku fucking LOVES trains. They are just so neat to her.

Roku had a rough "home life," aka, Code made it so that the moment she got into the Demi-God dimension, she'd be stuck with a kind mother and a father who just wanted to protect her. One day her mother went missing for like a week and came back different. She became an emotionally abusive mother who really good at manipulating her husband, So, after awhile of watching this shit show, Code got bored of this, and forcibly changed the dad to hurt Roku, which got him (rightfully) locked up for 600+ years. And then Code wiped his memory. So Roku has a manipulative mother who hasn't come home in years, and what seems to be either a regretfully abusive dad, or dementia ridden abusive dad. Either way, she's stuck with them. (And suspects that something must have happened to her father and mother by a higher force. SHE'S RIGHT, but there's no way to confirm that, at least, for now)

[luckyrave]

Avatar The Last Airbender Episode 8 Highlights: The Winter Solstice, Part 2: Avatar Roku

Aang, Katara, and Sokka venturing off into The Fire Nation is quite honestly the definition of risky by all accounts. Zuko might always be the one that is attempting to hunt them down, but when you got another army of ships that are just surrounding the permeter that is just asking for more than just trouble. Even if was related to contacting the past life of The Avatar.

The same can very much be said for Zuko when he decides to head deep into Fire Nation waters after what The Fire Lord had done to him previously. One can definitely say that it's all in the name of restoring his honor, but at the same time that drive might even have push to a degree that could be considered reckless as well.

Through the essence of luck, Aang and the others had been able to make it past The Fire Nation Blockade which prevented them from their set destination. The Crescent Shaped Island where Roku's Temple had resided where it would be possible for Aang to have connect with him. He was greeted by The Fire Sages who were known as The Guardians of The Avatar's Temple, but rather than help Aang they were opposed to him so that he couldn't contact Avatar Roku. Except, for one individual by the name of Shyu who had offered Aang and his friends with some assistance to contact The Previous Avatar.

All it really took was a simple single experiment trial by Sokka, they managed to fool the other sages to open the doors with 5 simultaneous fire blasts that gave Aang just the advantage he needed to enter the room and contact Avatar Roku at last. The other Fire Sages and Zuko, who had attempted to prevent Aang, tried to open the door but couldn't because Roku wouldn't allow them to do so.

That brought forward to the topic of discussion which had been The Comet used by Fire Lord Sozin. According to Avatar Roku, it had been used as a means to initiate The War that had spanned over the last 100 years. Aang was bit perplexed as to what The Comet had to do with The War at this very moment, and Roku explained that Sozin's Comet would return by summer's end that would be used entirely by his descendant Fire Lord Ozai as a means to finish the world once and for all.

When Shyu had approached by Zuko as to why he assisted Aang in speaking to Avatar Roku... he revealed it was once The Sages Duty to serve The Avatar and that it still was. That led to the arrival of Commander Zhao was sarcastically moved by The Sage's words and also proclaimed that his story would be saved for The Fire Lord, and that he would be prepared for Aang once the conversation with Roku came to an end.

Little did The Fire Nation soldiers realize that in the brief time period left before The Winter Solstice came to an end, Avatar Roku temporarily took control of Aang as means of destroying the temple with the vocano's magma. Zuko had a chance to escape from The reckoning that Avatar Roku had unleashed upon the others just moments before The Winter Solstice came to an end.

All is all that ends well with Katara and Sokka comforting Aang after what had occurred with the destruction of The Temple on The Island, but also wiht Zuko continuing his pursuit to go after Aang. Even more the stakes are now raised because Aang knows he must master all four elements by the end of summer in order to defeat The Fire Lord and ending The 100 Year War in order to restore balance to the word, but that brings an end to my highlights for Avatar The Last Airbender Episode 8. Catch you all again for my highlights on the next episode.

[cloudgothdude]

I hardly voice my own takes on here but...

I think it's really weird that all the previous Avatars tell Aang he shouldn't have friends.

Like think about it most of the Avatar stories that out so far is watching them making their life long connections. (Aang, Korra, Kyoshi and Roku in a minor sense) We watch how the friendships start, friendships deteriorate, love blossom. Importantly how some friendships last lifetimes.

(Image source)

I feel that line is so crucial to the story. Not only does this add more context to Aang and Gyatso friendship. A direct comparison is Katara is Korra's first mentor. It also sets up when Korra befriends Toph. They butt heads but Toph becomes Korra's mentor, funny enough in a spiritual sense. (I know Jinora is Korra's spiritual guide in the spirit world but in this circumstance Toph helps Korra reconnect with the world). It's told to the audience multiple times the Avatar can't do this alone. They need the friends they can depend on so the Avatar can do their job.

This is why in the Netflix adaptation feels off whenever they tell Aang to do this alone. Then Aang tells them no I'll do it with my friends. Like Aang speaks with each Avatar for their wisdom. If all their wisdom says you have to do it alone then what's the point of the conversation. The original show and books have shown you can't be a solo Avatar and your council matters.

What I'm trying to get at is changing the wisdom each Avatar gives changes how we view them. Roku is very diplomatic and patient. (Also he apologizes to Aang ) His patience being his downfall when Sozin betrayed him. Kiyoshi is blunt but with reason. Her introduction isnt a conversation with Aang. It's to answer why she murder Chin the Conqueror. Who was too stubborn to know he was outmatched and didn't retreat so fell to his death. More to say that Kiyoshi was a great force and she wouldn't hold back for anyone and she cares deeply for her people safety. Not much is said about Kuruk in the original show but his carelessness lead to his beloved's face being stolen. None of them mention at first to Aang you have to do this alone.

The Netflix show meetings feel alot like the season 3 final 4 episodes. Where Aang seeks advice on a very conflicting matter. Should he kill Ozai. All their advice is yes. This advice to kill is such a turmoil to Aang he ends up finding a new solution with help of course but still. The tone is way different. The only time their advice aligns is when it's about taking out the big bad. Roku failed to. Kyoshi has done so before. Kuruk failed to. Yangchen has done so before. They expect Aang to too. It's a heavy decision. You know what's not a heavy choice -

HAVING PEOPLE YOU CAN COUNT ON!!! SO WHY TF ARE THEY TELLING AANG NOT TO HAVE FRIENDS. IT'S HYPOCRISY TO TELL AANG HE HAS TO BE ALONE WHEN THEY ALL HAD FRIENDS IN THEIR LIFETIMES. THE ADVICE SHOULD BE ABOUT THE CHOICES HE MAKES TO SHAPE THE WORLD!. SINCE AANG'S BIGGEST FLAW IS THAT HE IS AVOIDANT!

If you can't already tell the Netflix show makes me mad. Instead of a adaptation or a retelling it's a whole narrative shift. The lessons are changed and the focal point of the original is gone. Aang always sticks by his friends. And his friends stick by him. He doesn't need to tell the previous Avatars that because they had friends too who did the same.

Tdlr: I think it's weird the Netflix Show has the previous Avatars tell Aang he shouldn't have friends because it's essential for the Avatar to have a trusted council.

Anyways rant aside

I'll be waiting for season 6 of The Dragon Prince Netflix.

[luckyduckwrites]

The Sins of the Past Chapter 1-6: Imprisoned

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Katara/Original Female Character, Avatar Roku & Original Female Character, Avatar Aang & Original Female Character, Sokka & Original Female Character, Toph & Original Female Character

Characters: Original Female Character(s), Aang (Avatar), The Gaang (Avatar), Katara (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar), Sokka (Avatar), Toph Beifong, Roku (Avatar)

Additional Tags: Precious Aang (Avatar), Bisexual Katara (Avatar), Protective Sokka (Avatar), Firebending & Firebenders, Firebender Original Character, POV First Person, POV Female Character, Original Character-centric, Toph Beifong is a Menace, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Disabled Character, Childhood Trauma, Slow Romance, Slow To Update, Friends to Lovers, Canon Lesbian Character

Summary:

My name is Ryuza. My father was Avatar Roku, but he died when I was 4. A few years after his death, Fire Nation soldiers burned our house down. I dont know if my mother and sister were able to get away, but my left arm got caught in the wreckage. I would have died if one of the soldiers hadn't helped me, but I had to lose my arm due to the damage. He helped me escape, and I ran to the Earth Kingdom, finding refuge in Omashu. I met Aang, an airbender, and he brought me to stay with him in the Air Temples. He tried to run away after finding out he was the Avatar, so I went with him and got trapped in an iceberg for 100 years. What's happened since we were gone?

**AO3 & Wattpad links in masterpost pinned to the top of the blog**

Lazing on a rock near the gentle stream at our new campsite, I open my eyes as I hear footsteps nearing our campsite.

Aang enthusiastically exclaims, "Great, you're back!"

He leaps off of the root he was laying on, and I sit up, stretching my back.

I ask, "What's for dinner?"

Sokka pulls a handful of nuts out of his bag, saying, "We've got a few options. First, round nuts. And some kind of oval shaped nuts? And some rock-shaped nuts that might just be rocks. Dig in!"

I deadpan at him as Katara asks, "Seriously... what else you got?"

Momo coos, sniffing a rock-shaped nut before taking it with one of his paws, slapping it against a stone. When he does, we hear a loud thumping sound in the distance. Momo shrieks, his hair standing on end.

Sokka asks, "What was that?"

We hear another thumping sound, and Aang exclaims, "It's coming from over here!"

We start running toward the sound, and Sokka asks, "Shouldn't we run away from huge booms, not toward them?"

We hide behind a fallen tree, spying on a young boy bending boulders into the air and punching them into the side of the ravine.

I exclaim, "An erthbender!"

Aang exclaims, "Let's go meet him!"

Sokka says, "He looks dangerous, so we should approach cautiously."

Katara doesn't listen, creeping out of hiding and addressing the earthbender, "Hello there! I'm Katara! What's your name?"

The young boy gasps in surprise, dropping the boulder he was bending to the ground. He flees quickly, bringing down an avalanche of boulders with his bending to block the exit.

We stand next to Katara, and Aang calls out, "Nice to meet you!"

I say, "Well, that was a bust."

Katara shrugs, saying, "I just wanted to say hi."

Aang says, "Hey! That guy's gotta be running somewhere."

I ask, "You think we're near a village?"

Aang nods, exclaiming, "And I bet that village has a market!"

Katara excitedly says, "Which means no nuts for dinner!"

We run the same direction the boy did, Sokka slowly following behind us. We eventually find a mining village, strolling through the streets.

Aang says to a shopkeeper, "Nice hat! I'll trade you some nuts for it."

The shopkeeper shrugs, taking the nuts as payment. Aang puts on the hat as Katara and I watch the boy from earlier enter a shop. Katara and I enter the shop soon after him, Aang and Sokka behind us.

We hear the woman behind the counter ask, "Where have you been, Haru? You're late! Get started on your chores."

Katara says, "Hey, you're that kid. Why did you run away before?"

The boy nervously says, "Uh, you must have me confused with some other kid."

I say, "No, we definitely saw you earthbending."

Haru and the woman gasp, and she is quick to shut the door and windows.

She asks, "They saw you do what?!"

Haru exclaims, "They're crazy, Mom! I mean, look at how they're dressed."

Aang gazes at his new conical hat in confusion, and I say, "Rude."

Katara awkwardly grasps at her dress, looking with astonishment at herself, and Sokka quirks an eyebrow and smooths out his sleeve.

Haru's mother says, "You know how dangerous that is! You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending!"

I don't even need to ask who 'they' are. Firebenders.

Just then, we hear heavy knocks on the door, and a man exclaims, "Open up!"

Sokka peeks through the window's blinds, whispering, "Fire Nation! Act natural!"

Haru's mother opens the door, allowing the man to walk inside. Haru grasps his chin and stares at Katara cross-eyed, Sokka eyeballs an apple, Katara hunches forward with her eyes wide open, having stuffed her mouth with berries, Aang has his hand atop a barrel, beaming with an immense toothy smile, and I pretend to look at various fruits and vegetables.

Haru's mother aggressively asks, "What do you want? I've already paid you this week!"

The man arrogantly says, "The tax just doubled. And we wouldn't want an accident, would we?" He creates a ball of fire in his hands, making us all slightly back away as he smugly says, "Fire is sometimes so hard to control."

I want to snap at him, but I bite my tongue, a frustrated look on my face contrasting with everyone else's fearful expressions. The man glares down at me, and I glare right back at him, keeping direct eye contact.

He says, "Watch it, little girl. That temper of yours will only get you in trouble. Though I can tell by your missing arm you already know that."

I growl, "I am not little. I can handle myself just fine."

The man scoffs, approaching the store's counter where Haru's mother opens a small chest. She passed a meager handful of Earth Kingdom currency to the man.

He says, "You can keep the copper ones."

He walks away, dropping four copper piece to the floor before exiting the shop, slamming the door behind him.

Sokka says, "Nice guy. How long has the Fire Nation been here?"

Haru's mother replies, "Five years. Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships."

Haru says, "They're thugs. They steal from us, and everyone here's too much of a coward to do anything about it."

Haru's mother exclaims, "Quiet, Haru! Don't talk like that."

Katara curiously says, "But Haru's an earthbender. He can help!"

Haru's mother says, "Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village!" She casts a meaningful glance toward her son, saying, "He must never use his abilities."

Katara says, "How can you say that?! Haru has a gift! Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend! It's a part of who we are."

I mutter, "Oh, so my bending isn't?"

Katara says, "That's not the same thing."

Haru's mother shakes her head in dismay, saying, "You don't understand."

Katara says, "I understand that Haru can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?"

Haru's mother says, "They could take Haru away! Like they took his father."

I say, "I'm sorry. I know what it's like to be separated from people you love. We all do."

Around late evening, Haru and his mother lead us to their barn. Aang went back to our campsite, and flew Appa into the barn, where he immediately started eating hay.

Haru says, "My mom said you can sleep here tonight, but you should leave in the morning."

Aang says, "Thanks. I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay."

Appa pauses in eating the hay for a moment, staring at Aang with a blank look before returning to stuffing his face. Haru, Katara, and I take a walk into the nearby woods under the setting sun.

Katara says, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't know about your father."

Haru says, "That's okay. It's funny, the way you guys were talking back in the store? It reminded me of him."

Katara and I say, "Thanks."

Haru says, "My father was very courageous. When the Fire Nation invaded, he and the other earthbenders were outnumbered ten to one, but they fought back anyway."

Katara says, "He sounds like a great man."

We approach the top of a steep cliff, gazing out to the setting sun beyond.

We stop walking, and Haru says, "After the attack, they rounded up my father and every other earthbenders, and took them away. We haven't seen them since."

I say, "So that's why you hide your earthbending."

Haru earthbends two stone in a circle above his hand before crushing them into sand, saying, "Yeah. Problem is, the only way I can feel close to my father now is when I practice my bending. He taught me everything I know."

Katara and I sit next to Haru on the edge of the cliff, and Katara says, "See this necklace? My mother gave it to me."

Haru says, "It's beautiful."

Katara explains, "I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid. This necklace is all I have left of her."

Haru asks, "It's not enough, is it?"

Katara hangs her head, turning away from him as she says, "No."

Haru says to me, "I heard you talking about your bending earlier. Are you an earthbender, too?"

I nervously say, "Uh, not exactly."

Haru has a confused expression on his face, and we start walking back to the barn.

After a few minutes, we hear an old man yelling, "Help! Help!"

Haru exclaims, "The mine!"

Katara and I run after Haru to the mine, where we find the old man trapped under a tremendous pile of rocks, pinned to the ground on his stomach.

I gasp saying, "Oh, no. It must have caved in as he was leaving!"

Sand continuously pours down, rocks intermittently falling.

The old man exclaims, "Help me!"

Haru and I brace against the mine entrance as Katara pulls the old man's arms.

She exclaims, "Ugh! It's not working! We have to help!"

Haru exclaims, "There's no time! Pull harder!"

Katara says, "Haru. There's a way you can help."

Haru fearfully says, "I can't."

Katara says, "Please, there's no one around to see you. It's the only way!"

I step away from the falling debris as Haru leaps away. He faces the rock pile in an earthbending stance. With a sudden, strong move, he blasts all the rocks down the tunnel, freeing the old man.

Katara excitedly exclaims, "Haru! You did it!"

I add, "You saved him!"

I help the old man stand up, helping him walk away from the mine. We get back to the barn, and Katara and I tell Sokka and Aang what happened in the mine. I'm laying down in my bedroll, Katara is sitting up on her bedroll with a lamp in her lamp, Sokka is lying on a square bale of hay with his blanket over him, and Aang is sprawled out on Appa's head with Momo lying on his back.

Katara says, "It was brave of Haru to use his earthbending to help that old man."

Aang says, "You guys must have really inspired him."

I say, "I guess so."

Sokka says, "Everyone should get some sleep. We're leaving at dawn."

Katara asks, "Dawn?! Can't we sleep in for once?"

Sokka commandingly says, "Absolutely not! This village is crawling with Fire Nation troops. If they discover you're here, Aang, we'll be eating fireballs for breakfast. Goodnight."

Katara slyly says with a wry smirk, "I'd rather eat fireballs than nuts."

I say, "That can be arranged."

Sokka says with finality, "Goodnight!"

Katara, Aang, and I chuckle before Katara blows out the lamplight to get some rest.

The next morning, as we were packing up, Katara bursts into the barn, exclaiming, "They took him! They took Haru away!"

Aang and I exclaim, "What?!"

Katara hurriedly says, "The old man turned him in to the Fire Nation. It's all my fault. I forced him into earthbending!"

I say, "Slow your roll, there. It's no one's fault. It was the only way to save the old man. Even if he turned him in, he didn't deserve to die."

Sokka asks, "When did this happen?"

Katara replies, "Haru's mother said they came for him at midnight."

Sokka says, "Then it's too late to track him. He's long gone."

Katara turns defiantly to the open door, her fists clenched as she says, "We don't need to track him. The Fire Nation is going to take me right to Haru."

Aang confusedly asks, "And... why would they do that?"

Katara determinedly says, "Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending."

Sokka, Aang and I share horrified expressions.

I ask, "How are you gonna do that?"

Katara says, "I've got a plan."

She tells us her plan, and I say, "I hope you know what you're doing."

They head to our meeting spot, and I go into town, walking over to a group of guards.

I dramatically exclaim, "Please help! I barely escaped with my life! I saw an earthbender on the outskirts of town!"

The guards grab their spears, and I lead them to the meeting spot.

As we get closer, I loudly say to signal my friends to get into position, "I think I saw the earthbender over here!"

Katara and Sokka make a show of walking into each other, and Sokka angrily points at Katara, exclaiming, "Get out of my way, pipsqueak!"

One of the soldiers raises as eyebrow, and Katara angrily hunches over, saying, "How dare you call me pipsqueak, you giant-eared cretin!"

Sokka also angrily hunches over, asking, "What did you call me?"

Katara reiterates, "A giant-eared cretin! Look at those things! Do herds of animals use them for shade?"

She imitates an elephant-rat's ears, and Sokka towers over his sister, saying, "You better back off!" He slips his hand by his mouth, muttering, "Seriously, back off."

Katara now towers over her cowering brother, exclaiming, "I will not back off! I bet elephants get together and make fun of how big your ears are!"

Sokka exclaims, "That's it! You're going down!"

Katara angrily points at Sokka, saying, "I'll show you who's boss! Earthbending style!"

She over-dramatically leaps toward a boulder placed over an air vent, clenching her fists upward, but the boulder doesn't move.

Katara reiterates, "I said, earthbending style!"

I hear a quiet gasp behind another boulder before the boulder levitates into the air, revealing Momo from behind the boulder, who has his arms raised, licking his armpits.

A guard points at the lemur, saying, "The lemur! He's earthbending!"

Katara eyes the man in surprise as I say, "No, you idiot, it's the girl!"

The guard blushes in embarrassment, saying, "Oh. Of course."

Sokka steps behind Katara, laying his hands on her shoulders as the boulder falls to the ground, saying, "I'll hold her."

He whispers something to her quickly before the guards escort Katara away, leaving us to watch as she takes a final glance back. Sokka unhappily tugs at his ears, eyeballing Momo.

He says, "Momo, you have some big ears."

Momo folds his ears back, hunches down, and coos in protest.

I pet his head, cooing, "No you don't, cutie. He's just upset he has big ears and he's taking it out on you."

Sokka and I get conical hats in town like Aang's, wearing them as we stand on the dock, watching Katara be shipped off with earthbending prisoners. She looks longingly over her shoulder as the carts bobs along the pier, heading toward a waiting barge on the ocean. We head back to the barn and hop on Appa, chasing the barge as we fly through the clouds. We see an immense, smoking, off-shote Fire Nation prison rig just ahead.

Sokka says, "Shell be fine, guys. Katara knows what she's doing."

We head back, packing up the rest of our things and getting supplies in town. Around midnight, we fly back to the rig. We find a small nook where we can hide while Aang heads inside the rig to wake up Katara.

They emerge into the nook, and Sokka whispers, "Your twelve hours are up. Where's Haru? We've gotta get out of here."

Katara whispers, "I can't."

I hurriedly whisper, "We don't have much time. There are guards everywhere. Get on!"

Aang asks, "Katara, what's wrong?"

Katara indignantly says, "I'm not leaving. I'm not giving up on these people."

Sokka asks, "What do you mean you're not leaving?"

Katara says, "We can't abandon these people! There has to be a way to help them."

Aang says, "Maybe she's right. What do you guys think?"

I say, "It wouldn't feel right to just leave them here."

Sokka exclaims, "I think you're all crazy!" We duck to avoid a searching spotlight, and Sokka quietly adds, "Last chance. We need to leave, now!"

Katara sternly says, "No!"

Sokka shakes his head dismally, saying, "I hate when you get like this. Come on, we better hide."

Aang whispers to Appa, "Go hide."

As Appa soars overhead, I hear some guards talking to each other as we run away. We hide behind a stack of boxes while we come up with a plan, all of us sitting close together on the metal ground in the darkness.

Sokka asks, "We don't have much time. What are we gonna do?"

Aang says, "I wish I knew how to make a hurricane. The warden would run away and we'd steal his keys!"

I ask, "Wouldn't he just take his keys with him?"

Aang says, "I'm just tossing ideas around."

I shrug, saying, "Worth a shot. Uh, what if I blast the warden with fire and force him to give us the keys?"

Katara frowns, "No, that wouldn't work either. He's a firebender, too, and so are most of the guards."

I groan, asking, "What if we rallied the prisoners and mutiny him?"

Katara shakes her head, saying, "I tried talking the earthbenders into fighting back, but it didn't work! If only there was just a way to help them help themselves."

Sokka says, "For that, they'd need some kind of earth, or some rock. Something they can bend."

Katara splays her hand out on the metal surface, saying, "But this entire place is made of metal!"

I say, "No, it's not. Look at the smoke! I bet they're burning coal from the mines. In other words, earth. But the real question is, how do we get it within reach?"

Sokka lights up, saying, "We can just do what we did to get Katara imprisoned! You see those vents?"

Aang nods, heading off to close the air vents to lead all of the coal down just one of them. As morning arrives, leaving Sokka, Katara, and I bathed in light by the only open air vent.

Katara says, "It's almost dawn. We're running out of time! You sure this is gonna work?"

Sokka explains, "It should. These vents reminded me of our little trick back at the village. We're gonna do the same thing, but on a much bigger scale. There's a huge deposit of coal at the base of the silo, and the whole system is ventilated. Aang closed off all the vents except one. When he does his airbending, the coal only has one place to go, right back here."

A guard suddenly exclaims, "There's the intruders!"

We're surrounded by a large number of spear-wielding Fire Nation guards, the prisoners having gathered a safe distance away from the spectacle.

Sokka exclaims, "Stay back! I'm warning you!"

He pulls out his boomerang, turning back to back with his sister as I get into a firebending stance. The guards in front of me seem to be to be confused at that. Good.

An older prisoner that I assume to be Haru's father roughly exclaims, "Katara, stop! You can't win this fight!"

The warden smugly says, "Listen to him well, child. You're one mistake away from dying where you stand."

I growl, "That's what you think."

He raises an eyebrow before jumping back as a sudden rush of air shakes the facility. The ventilation shaft bursts off it's hinges as an immense blast of coal soars into the air, crashing down into a gathered pile. Everyone present is silent, staring in stark silence at this turn of events. Lastly, Aang leaps out from the now barren ventilation shaft, landing atop the coal pile and coughing, covered in soot and dirt.

Momo follows him, and Katara runs up to the coal, lifting a piece up as she faces the earthbenders, saying, "Here's your chance, earthbenders! Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!"

Haru bolts ahead without hesitation, prepared to bend the coal as a weapon, but he's stopped by his father bracing his chest to halt his advance.

The warden bursts out into highly amused laughter, saying, "Foolish girl. You thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces. Their spirits were broken a long time ago."

Katara's expression dims as she drops the piece of coal, staring at the forlorn prisoners.

The warden continues, "Oh, but you still believe in them. How sweet. They're a waste of your energy, little girl. You failed."

He turns to leave the facility, and I'm boiling with rage. I'm tired of his annoying voice. I'm tired of Katara and I being belittled. I'm tired of the Fire Nation! As soon as the warden fully turns away, I punch toward him, a blast of fire nearly hitting him before the fire is redirected as he turns around.

He looks shocked before glaring down at me. He growls, "Nice try, little girl. But I'm faster and stronger than you'll ever be without that arm."

A guard roughly holds my shoulders, forcing me to kneel before the warden. I keep glaring at the warden, not backing down.

The warden leans down to me, condescendingly saying, "You know what we do with traitors, don't you?"

He whispers as the guards lets go of me, "We throw them in the Boiling Rock, where they can never escape. You'll be dead in less than a week."

My eyes involuntarily widen before the warden smiles more smug than before, and stands straight up again, just before a single piece of coal sails through the air, pelting his right in between his eyes. Outraged, the warden looks around at see who dared attack him a second time. I look to my side to see Haru standing defiantly, levitating three pieces of coal above his hand. The warden sends a blast of fire towards Haru, but the fire is blocked as Haru's newly invigorated father raises a wall of coal in Haru's defense.

Guards line up and prepare for battle, and the warden yells, "Show no mercy!"

The guards send a blast of fire as one toward the rebelling prisoners, and I rush over to push the fire back. I can't stop that amount of fire, but I can slow it down. The earthbenders work together to haul a sizable mass of coal to fully block the fire in front of me. I wipe my forehead, feeling a little drained from blocking that huge wall of fire. I look at the prisoners, shocked that they'd help a firebender, but Haru nods at me, a slight smile on his face.

His father exclaims, "For the Earth Kingdom, attack!"

The coal is slammed to the ground, chunks of rock assaulting the guards. The battle immediately flares, prisoners ducking blasts of fire and countering with fists of coal. I grab a handful of coal, lighting it on fire before chucking it at guards, reigning it down upon them.

Katara and Aang chase after Sokka as he snaps soldier's spears in two with his boomerang, tossing the broken tips to Momo overhead. Haru and the older prisoner work in unison to compress gathered coal into one lump. I set it on fire before they sling it through the doors to make way for escape. The heated coal melts through the doors before the fire goes out.

Haru's father yells, "Get to the ships! We'll hold them off!"

The warden yells, "Do not let them escape!"

I join my friends as Aang starts generating an air funnel, holding it between his hands.

He exclaims, "Guys! Throw me some coal!"

Katara and Sokka drop heaps of coal, and I drop some flaming coal into his funnel, the material firing rapidly at the warden and the guards, knocking them to the ground or forcing them to duck. Following this, Haru's father and two other earthbenders work together to lift a platform of coal beneath our adversaries, moving the platform away from the rig and over the ocean.

The warden pleads, "No, please! I can't swim!"

Haru's father says, "Don't worry. I hear cowards float."

He dissolves the platform, dropping our enemies into the ocean. The prisoners gather on barges, and we start heading back to Haru's village. Haru and his father, whose named I learned was Tyro, approach me and Katara.

Haru says, "I want to thank you both for saving me. For saving us."

I smile, saying, "Of course! I couldn't stand seeing what they put you through."

Katara denies, "All it took was a little coal."

Haru says, "It wasn't the coal, Katara. It was you."

Katara blushes, and Tyro says, "Thank you for helping me find my courage, Katara of the Water Tribe. My family and everyone here owes you much."

I say, "So I guess you're going home now."

Tyro says, "Yes. To take back my village." He raises his voice to the crowd on the lower deck, "To take back all of our villages! The Fire Nation will regret the day they set foot on our land!"

The crowd cheers at Tyro's bravado, and Haru says to Katara, "Come with us."

Katara says, "I can't. Your misson is to take back your home. Ours is to get Aang to the North Pole."

She gazes over the rail at Aang, and Haru asks, "That's him, isn't it? The Avatar."

I nod, saying, "Yeah. He's like a little brother to me."

Haru says, "Katara, thank you for bringing my father back to me. I never thought I'd see him again. I only wish there was some way..."

Katara solemnly says, "I know."

She reaches for her necklace wistfully, but looks around her in panic as she realizes it's not around her neck.

She exclaims, "My mother's necklace! It's gone!"

Oh no. That can't be good.

[avatarcompanion]

I just lmao that atla literally went "so yeah, Roku showed compassion to his friend, and because of that, his friend went out to murder a whole nation - think about that for a moment?" and then just went on "yeah Aang wants to show compassion instead of killing, but we're not gonna examine the potential nuances or confront ways to avoid any consequences of that because... uhhh... some magic happens, so yeah it's just Fine".

This aspect was just so much better handled in The Promise, because Aang actually makes a fully formed desicion with character agency to be compassionate based on his own beliefs about how to shape the world.

[listentothelittlebird]

Rewatched the first few episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender with some friends, thinking some thoughts, also some quotes:

Kinda hilarious how they never address the oddly shaped animals in any way. Understandable given to anyone in the Avatar world those are just normal animals, but hilarious when the friend who has never watched the show sees the penguins for the first time and goes “those aren’t penguins”, “why do they have four arms?”

Takes three episodes for Katara to declare that she and Sokka are Aang’s family now. They trauma bonded fr fr

Haru the earthbender too, these kids are all so traumatised by the war! Wow!

Zuko in his cringefail era is so funny

(Friend about aang) “he’s twelve?”

(Friend about zuko) “he’s sixteen?”

Me and my friends cheering Suki on like yeahhh slay girl!!! Knock him to the ground yeahhhh

(Sokka apologising) “Character development!!!”

The contrast between Zuko’s ship vs the other military ships at the dock, where in episode two(?) his ship was so intimidating to the water tribe. Perspective

Also Zuko looking for Aang, like every time nobody answers him about the Avatar’s whereabouts he’s just left in awkward silence and I bet This Teenager must feel so awkward about it

I love the door designs for the Air Temple sanctuary door and the Avatar Roku Temple door!!!! Like both of those look so cool and the mechanics for unlocking them being bending related and just the sequence of the doors opening!!

Roku’s dragon is so cool. Long boi. Danger noodle. <3

Also for the first spirit encounter Hei Bai has such a cool design. Like it looks so otherworldly and it has such odd proportions and also Hei Bai in Chinese is 黑白 which are the characters for Black and White which is shown in the spirit’s black and white colours, which also links to the spirit being a PANDA! Fluffy <3 also that the architecture in that town were bamboo structures now that I think about it (doesn’t explain the acorn but that’s fine there was probably more than one tree around)

Cracking up at Zuko just karate kicking a chain into two like how strong is this teenager???

The intro having Avatar Roku shown in the “when the world needed him most, he vanished”

Bumi is such a wild guy. Like. Oh hey let’s just put my friend’s new friends in major discomfort for shits and giggles. Also let’s screw with said friend. I suppose Aang is a wild kid too though

Also that Bumi is the only one who would remember what an airbender fighting style is like so he kept saying that Aang was not being creative and had nothing new to show him

The pirates have such swag character designs, and also weapons. Those blades look so cool

(Friend, after Katara shouts at Aang) “oh noo you made the twelve year old cry”

[creatingjaemi]

Chips

Today I am definitely making a creating Jaemi blog. From literally starving to receiving urgent messages about my apartment to being degraded to levels I didn't think people could watch before there eyes and somehow make worse... I definitely lost my faith in humanity a couple times and I don't know when it will stop. Looking at how far I've come since taking that leap of faith four years ago (or w/e), I can see a visual representation of my growth and how things have only gotten better. I still feel sad for the only person I'm doing this for - my child, who is being abused right now 24/7. She's always starving in some way, always feeling degraded in some manor, and I hate to think about how this will shape her view on humanity after having gone through all of this. She thinks it's normal... no kid should ever think what she went through is normal... from the start, they always wanted to separate me and her. A child should never be forced to be apart from a parent they want to live with. When she lives with me. She get's basically the whole apartment to herself. People say it wasn't fair to me, working in a corner of the apartment for most of the day while she was in school and then also giving her the living room to watch anything on the kids Roku channel. She has two game systems, both age appropriate. The one with the chipmunks on the island, Yoshi, Mario. The only questionable one is Roblox but I don't want her to feel left out at school, we're already poor, at least give her something to feel cool around her friends. She probably has forgotten those days now. Where she's at, it's all rules, expectations, and people... lots and lots of people... there's no room to breathe. It's totally the opposite of what living with me is like but to a kid, it makes no difference. An adult is an adult. You listen to them and when things change, you don't dwell on the past, you just keep going until one day you wake up and it's too late, your childhood was stolen from you because of abuse and control issues and you can't get those years back. She doesn't know that. I do so it's my responsibility to do something about it. Creating Jaemi, I've sat in major mental anguish from this thought process. That she's been stolen from in a way nobody can comprehend until much later in life. It doesn't matter because I can never stop fighting for what I believe is right. I've been reporting and defaming bad men since I was seven years old. This black kid in our neighborhood, today someone compared me to a small Kris Jenner and I think that might be accurate, like slim shady but... white? I don't know, all I know is whether my daughter were hurting or not, I would be doing this because it's what I do. I see someone being taken advantage of, and I do something about it. I see someone taking advantage of another and I say something about it. It's no surprise, but people have amnesia, they think because things have been great for a few years, they get bawlsy, and forget the dark side of the night will come again for them too eventually. I guess that's how it goes, I don't know... it seems like these days, I can't rely on anything but order. If everything is in order, then it can't go wrong... at least when it does go wrong, there's no question - you know you did everything you could. Nobody can tell you nothing because order doesn't lie. People lie all the fuckin time, people are always fuckin up but if you follow the order of things, those people end up telling on themselves, some people are like satanic I think, they hate order, they thrive off of chaos. I guess I can remember being that way. After I was raped in high school, but not really any other time. Maybe when my brothers moved here and I lost my best friend, I probably enjoyed chaos then because it reminded me of what I felt like on the inside when nobody was paying attention to me, but I prayed and I got saved and after that, I didn't really want chaos anymore. I can't believe people twice my age never got to this point. Srsly guys stay safe in this hell hole and I'll see ya soon <3

[tshirtfashiontrend]

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[trendyprojectors]

XuanPad 1080P Supported Projector Review – PROS & CONS – 2023 Upgraded Video Projector

XuanPad Projector, 2023 Upgraded Mini Projector, Portable Video Projector HD 1080P Supported, 55000 Hours Home Projector, Compatible with TV Stick, HDMI, USB, AV, Laptop, iPhone, Android

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Immersive Projection Size & Long Lamp Life - The XuanPad projector offers a projection size ranging from 30 to 200 inches and a projection distance of 1m to 5m. With an expansive projection size of up to 200 inches, you can enjoy an immersive viewing experience and share great moments of movies, games, and sports events with family and friends. The robust heat dissipation system effectively extends the lamp's life to 55,000 hours, allowing you to enjoy entertainment for an extended period.

Noise Reduction & Zoom Function - Advanced noise-reduction technology reduces fan noise by 80%, ensuring crystal-clear sound quality from the built-in dual stereo speakers. With T-shaped correction and a 50% zoom function, you can adjust the screen size from 50% to 100%, ensuring perfect image projection and the best viewing experience. Note: When you reduce the screen size, the video screen size also decreases, but the main screen and settings screen size remain unchanged.

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Brand ‎XuanPad Manufacturer ‎HHLX/XuanPad Place of Business ‎Any question just feel free to contact our customer service. Model ‎M8 Model Name ‎M8 Model year ‎2023 Part Number ‎M8 Hardware interface ‎AV Port, USB, HDMI, 3.5mm Audio Special features ‎✅Wide Compatibility, ✅Excellent Service, ✅Perfect Gift, ✅Built-In Speaker, ✅Digital Keystone Correction, ✅Lightweight, ✅1080P Support Mounting Hardware ‎HDMl Cable, User Manual, Power Cord, Remote (battery not included), Mini Projector, Cleaning Kit, AV Cable

[jonfarreporter]

Sonoma Artist Makes ‘Pollinator Garden’ Accessible The second floor of The Sonoma Community Center was busy early Tuesday morning as a crew was helping local artist Sig Rundstrom prepare for his “Pollinator Garden series” opening on July 20.

“I knew Sig had shown his art work at SCC previously some time ago,” said Visual Arts Program Director, Jill Valavanis. “Yet it was his postings on social media of his work during COVID-19 that really caught my attention,” said Valavanis as she took a few moments from her busy schedule to speak with The Sonoma Valley Sun.

Mentioning Sig’s versatility as well as his ability to use textures in a painting, Valavanis said. “I think what pulls me to Sig’s art is his ability to highlight the subject matter in such a way that the subject he focuses upon is an accurate artistic representation.”

She explained further by saying, “a description of Sig’s work that comes to mind is “‘accessible’.”

“‘The Pollinator Garden Series’ is just one example of how Sig’s work in essence can make the viewer feel as a visitor to the actual garden.” “As a visitor we get a taste of what Sig sees,” said Valavanis. “As the garden blooms, takes shape and changes within the season, Sig makes this clear.”

“This includes layers, textures allowing the average person to experience the garden in an artistic sense and appreciate it.” “As I said, Valavanis reiterated, Sig makes it accessible.”

Explaining further what pulled Valavanis to Sig’s work particularly, especially as COVID-19 continued, she said. “I’ve always been a fan of the natural world and of course animals.” “I enjoyed his series on dogs,” she said while pointing to Sig’s painting of “Maggie” a dog that Sig and his wife Charlene took into their home just as the pandemic hit in March of 2020.

It was during the pandemic that Sig’s creative energy reached an unprecedented peak. Often referring to the wave of energy as “Mr. Mojo.”

Initially, as Sig and ‘Maggie’ took many walks together during COVID, Sig was inspired to paint a portrait of a neighbor’s dog they met; and then another and then another. What was a pastime to deal with the boredom of the pandemic, unexpectedly turned into a series, and then another.

As Sig would finish each series he would post his accomplishment on social media, much to the delight of Valavanis and many others.

“I was impressed that Sig was committed to making a series of works, even if it occurred a bit spontaneously,” said Valavanis.

“But it was when Sig got to doing his ‘Pollinator Garden’ series that’s when I realized something like this is important and should be featured.”

“I’ve been aware of the importance of ‘a Pollinator Garden’ said Valavanis. And, I’ve known for quite some time that bees are struggling environmentally,” she explained. “Bees are major pollinators and their are more species of bees than just the honey bees. Did you know there are ‘Solitary bees?’ “Most bees in the wild, uncultivated are Solitary bees,” Valavanis said.

The formal name for a bee keeper is called “an apiarist.” Most people don’t realize that bees and other insects are vital for the harvest of an abundant produce of vegetables as well as fruit and pretty-much all plant life.

Rokus Armonas and his wife, Kelli, manage Bay Area Bee Company. As a small but dynamic and devoted group of bee keepers, they know firsthand the importance a pollinator garden has upon the local ecosystem. “Local plant life factors into the honey-making process. It has an effect upon everything from flavor and taste to the quality of the honey,” said Armonas.

This is something that few people realize and this is one of the reasons Valavanis wanted to spotlight Sig’s work at SCC.

Getting a little “preview glimpse” of some of the paintings as they were going up on the wall at SCC, Sig sent out photos of the gallery space in preparation via email to friends and relatives. Sister-in-law, Jo Ann Ryon responded and exclaimed. “Those are absolutely beautiful!” “The color is perfect,” she added.

Fellow Sonoma resident, longtime friend of Sig, and someone who was among those instrumental in establishing a Pollinator Garden in Sonoma, David Herrema agreed with Ryon as he told The Sun.

“Sig’s definitely got the essence of the pollinator garden. I especially like the different painting techniques used and the different styles from realistic to the more abstract. Each one is unique, he said, never the same.”

Valavanis is pleased that she and Sig maintained contact throughout the pandemic and since then. “It usually takes about six months to get a show like Sig’s put together,” she said.

Even though the current protocol to getting an art exhibit up at the SCC isn’t as “regimented as it used to be,” (it still takes considerable effort) said Valavanis; “I have scheduling of local artists of at least a year or more in advance.”

“My artwork utilizes a wide variety of mediums, techniques and surfaces,” said Sig, speaking about the exhibit. “It includes oil, cold wax, acrylic, alcohol inks, water color and enamel paint done on canvas, scratchboard, aquabrd, wood panels and glass.”

The exhibit includes a years’ worth of work of over fifty paintings and is inspired by the Creekside Pollinator Garden in Sonoma. A reception will be held from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM the opening day of the exhibit.

Sig Rundstrom’s “Pollinator Garden Series” will be on display in Gallery 212 at The Sonoma Community Center from July 20 through August 25. The SCC is located at 276 East Napa Street, two blocks from the historic plaza.

For more information visit the SCC website. Or call 707-938-4626.

[someotherdog]

ingrid felt stupid. she believed herself to be a rational person… well, she viewed herself as an emotional person, but at her baseline, she believed in science and logic. she grew up in an atheist household in a christian town, and any time she thought there was someone watching her when no one was there, she chalked it up to being paranoid. that shadow that seemed to be in the exact shape of a person was simply just a shadow. that box that moved itself? she had accidentally moved it and just forgot about it. there was always a reasonable explanation for the unexplainable, and if there wasn’t one, she just made it up. or pretended that it hadn’t happened. the only problem was that ingrid couldn’t ignore it anymore. when these happenings started, she lived alone in a one bedroom apartment, and convinced herself that she had been creeped out by nothing. then when those nothings turned into somethings, she found a nice condo to share with a former law school classmate… but then her roommate started to experience them, too, but only if ingrid was home. when it finally started to screw things up at her job, particularly embarrassing her in front of a client, she had to stop lying to herself. there was something haunting her. fucking great.

a senior partner at the firm gave her the number to someone that could help. at that point, ingrid was ready to eschew rationality just to make it all stop. she hadn’t even cared that it was a partner that gave her the number, something that would’ve mortified her just a year ago. now, all she wanted was help. and help came in the form of… this guy. ingrid tried not to frown. “what?” her mind was haunted? fucking great! she attempted to ignore that and focus on his latter question. “it doesn’t matter where we go—it tripped me at the bodega yesterday, in front of, like, a whole class of third graders.” she ran a hand over her hair. “it started last year. i moved into a new place after my first big promotion and then… i don’t know. shit started happening. little things at first, like i couldn’t find my roku remote for days until i looked in the freezer and there it was, on top of the jonnypops, as if i’d ever put it there. then it was slightly bigger stuff. the power would go out randomly, or i’d feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up when no one was there. i’d have these crazy ass dreams every night, then i’d wake up at the same time, feeling like someone was sitting at the end of my bed. i tried moving in with a friend, hoping having someone else would stop it, but it just made things worse.” ingrid sighed in frustration. “now it’s getting physical. pushing me, pulling my hair, throwing things at me.” tears began to brim and she gritted her teeth to make them go away—she wasn’t going to let it win. she knew it was watching, too. it always was.

open to all ; dave is the guy you call when things aren't going well because it's too weird for the normal experts (yeah its jd@te)

Dave ground the butt of his cigarette onto the ground with the heel of his boot. "Some people find out the hard way that the dark things lurking in the night don’t haunt old houses or abandoned ships. They haunt minds.” He glanced around, a small smile on his lips that quickly disappeared. "You called and I'm here. Best to let me ask the questions. When did all this start?" His head turned just slightly as if he finally saw what he was looking for out of the corner of his eye. "Unless you'd rather be somewhere... more populated."

[luckyduckwrites]

The Sins of the Past Chapter 1-12: The Blue Spirit

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Katara/Original Female Character, Avatar Roku & Original Female Character, Avatar Aang & Original Female Character, Sokka & Original Female Character, Toph & Original Female Character

Characters: Original Female Character(s), Aang (Avatar), The Gaang (Avatar), Katara (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar), Sokka (Avatar), Toph Beifong, Roku (Avatar)

Additional Tags: Precious Aang (Avatar), Bisexual Katara (Avatar), Protective Sokka (Avatar), Firebending & Firebenders, Firebender Original Character, POV First Person, POV Female Character, Original Character-centric, Toph Beifong is a Menace, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Disabled Character, Childhood Trauma, Slow Romance, Slow To Update, Friends to Lovers, Canon Lesbian Character

Summary:

My name is Ryuza. My father was Avatar Roku, but he died when I was 4. A few years after his death, Fire Nation soldiers burned our house down. I dont know if my mother and sister were able to get away, but my left arm got caught in the wreckage. I would have died if one of the soldiers hadn't helped me, but I had to lose my arm due to the damage. He helped me escape, and I ran to the Earth Kingdom, finding refuge in Omashu. I met Aang, an airbender, and he brought me to stay with him in the Air Temples. He tried to run away after finding out he was the Avatar, so I went with him and got trapped in an iceberg for 100 years. What's happened since we were gone?

**AO3 & Wattpad links in masterpost pinned to the top of the blog**

I've lost track of how long ago Zhao drugged me, but it couldn't have been very long. I feel hungrier than I did when I was drugged, but I also haven't been eating much in the last few weeks, so that's not surprising. I wake up, but my eyes still refuse to open, and I can feel my body being chained up against a wall. My wrist is bound in chains and left dangling in the air, and my other arm has metal shaped around the short limb, and it's being pulled painfully into the air. Both my ankles are also bound together with metal chains.

My entire body feels sore, and it feels like my left arm has been broken. When did that happen? Zhao must've done that while the venom kept me asleep. At least I wasn't awake for that. I hear the door creak open, and loud footsteps approach me. I can only hope the person isn't Zhao. Suddenly, I hear the sound of sword being unsheathed, and I briefly question if Zhao decided to finally kill me after all, but the person just slices through my chains.

They sling me over their shoulder, and I hear them mutter, "Spirits, she's light. Has Zhao even been feeding her?"

I want to be able to move, just to even be able to open my eyes to catch a glimpse of my savior, but I know that voice. The Prince of the Fire Nation himself rescued me from Zhao. Why would he do that? I can only imagine he did it to use me as leverage against Aang, but I'm hoping I'll be better off with Zuko than with Zhao. He keeps walking until he makes it to another room, and I hear the door creak open, and him slicing through somebody else's chains.

I hear Aang's voice ask frantically, "Who are you? What's going on? Why do you have Ryuza? Why isn't she moving? Is she okay? Are you here to rescue me?" I don't hear a response from Zuko, only the creaking of the door opening wider, and Aang saying, "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

Why does Aang not recognize Zuko? Is he in disguise? Why is he freeing Aang? I doubt he's had a change of heart so quickly. Just a couple weeks ago he tried to kidnap me and Aang at my father's Temple on Crescent Island and had no qualms about telling Zhao who I was and dooming me to all this suffering.

All of a sudden, Aang exclaims, "My frogs! Come back! And stop thawing out! Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!"

I'm sorry, what? Why would Sokka and Katara need to suck on frozen frogs? I must've missed out on quite a bit in the last few weeks. Not like I'll be able to ask about what I missed. I wish they at least knew I was awake. The next thing I know we're in a place that smells awful, I'm assuming a sewer system underneath the stronghold.

We eventually exit from the sewers and I can feel that we're going up, Zuko likely climbing a wall as a soldier shouts, "There, on the wall!"

We're suddenly falling to the ground, and I can't brace myself at all, landing directly on the arrow that's still embedded in my left shoulder, driving it deeper into my arm. I can't even cry out in pain, only able to whimper and start tearing up. I feel smaller arms picking me up and holding me, likely Aang.

He asks, "Are you okay, Ryuza?" After I'm unable to respond, he says, "We'll get you out of here, Ryu. I promise."

Zhao shouts, "The Avatar and prisoner have escaped! Close all the gates immediately!"

Aang starts running while holding me, saying to Zuko, "Stay close to me!"

I can't make out what's going on, but I can feel a gust of air blowing past me. I'm guessing Aang blew a guard away. I'm shifted into just one of Aang's arms as he uses something to lift himself into the air, crash-landing on ground that's higher up than the ground. Maybe the top of a wall? I really wish I could just see what's going on.

It sounds like soldiers are getting closer, but Aang and Zuko fight them off before they can get close enough.

Aang picks up something with his other arm, saying to Zuko, "Take this. Jump on my back!"

I feel a counter-balancing weight on Aang's back, likely Zuko complying with what Aang said. How strong is this kid? He's only 12 and he's able to carry a 16-year old in one arm and another one on his back! Must be an Airbender thing. It feels like we're moving like we're on stilts, but I still don't know what's going on.

Aang says, "Give me the next one!"

I feel fire getting too close and assume that Zuko betrayed Aang by firebending at him, but I'm not sure. Maybe it's the soldiers? That's more likely, since we're falling yet again, but Aang airbends an airbubble underneath me this time so I don't get hurt any further. It sounds alike Zuko unsheathes his sword and the heat from fire gets redirected. I guess he's still on our side?

Zhao shouts, "Hold your fire! The Avatar and the girl must be captured alive!"

I'm proven wrong as Zuko holds his swords to mine and Aang's throats. Just pick a side already!

Zhao says through gritted teeth, "Open the gate."

Spirits, how I wish I could see his face right now.

A man asks Zhao, "Admiral, what are you doing?"

Zhao shouts, "Let them out, now!"

Wait, when did he become an Admiral? How? We start moving backward out of the fortress until I hear an arrow being shot. It must've hit Zuko, since his swords are no longer in front of Aang and I, luckily not slicing into me before he falls, and I hear a soft thud as he hits the ground.

Zhao shouts, "Quick! Recover the Avatar and the girl!"

I hear soldiers' footsteps stomping closer and closer, but Aang just stays out for a solid minute until I feel a weight in his other arm, and he runs into the woods. Did he seriously grab Zuko? I mean, yeah he helped us escape, but what else has he ever done for us? He tried to capture us multiple times and just held his swords to our throats!

Maybe he still doesn't know it's Zuko, though. He does seem to be in disguise, since nobody seems to recognize him. Even Zhao, who recognized him immediately in my father Temple. After a couple minutes of running through the woods, Aang stops, setting Zuko and I down on the ground. Based on the light I can see through my eyelids, the sun is starting to set.

After a few hours of resting, I hear Aang's voice, likely speaking to Zuko, "You know what the worst part of being born over a hundred years ago? I miss all the friends Ryuza and I used to hang out with. Before the war started, we used to hang out with my friend Kuzon."

I have fond memories of Kuzon. He was such a troublemaker. He and Aang would usually be the ones to get into trouble, and I'd have to be the one to get them out. Those were some good times, and the only times I'd tolerate going back 'home'. I wonder if he's even still alive.

Aang continues, "He was one of the best friends I ever had, as well as Ryuza, and they were both from the Fire Nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?"

He gets his answer when a large ball of fire is launched at him. Aang quickly scoops me up into his arm and jumps into the trees as far as he can go from Zuko as possible. He makes a stop at what I can only assume is a stream, since I can hear water splashing as he wades through the water.

He grabs some cold things and stuffs them into his shirt. Is this where he got those frozen frogs? Again, why does he need those? He carries me for a couple more minutes before setting me down against Appa's soft, fluffy tail. Finally, I'm home with my friends.

I hear Aang say, "Suck on these. They'll make you feel better." I feel Aang collapse next to me, and he whispers, "It's good to see you here, Ryu."

I want to respond to him, tell him how thankful I am that he finally saved me, but I'm barely able to to open my mouth.

I hear Sokka's voice with his mouth full, "Aang, how was your trip? Did you make any new friends?"

Aang responds sadly, "No, I don't think I did."

Katara asks, "I'm afraid to know the answer, but did you find Ryuza?"

Aang responds, "I did, actually."

It sounds like Sokka and Katara scramble over to me, both of them exclaiming in unison, "You did?!"

They both rush in to hug me, and I whimper as an arm squeezes my broken arm and another bumps into the arrow in my other arm.

Katara asks, "Oh my gosh, what happened to her?"

Aang responds, "I don't know, really."

I'm only able to whisper out one word, but it sounds more like a grunt, "Zhao."

The siblings let go of me, and Katara growls, "Zhao. That bastard! Spirits, I can't believe he did this!"

Sokka mutters, "Actually, I can totally believe it. He is not a kind man. Remember how he chained us up at the Temple when he took her?"

I start feeling faint after the arrow is painfully pulled out from my arm, and I feel something wrapping around my broken arm, likely gauze. I pass out, exhausted from the day I had. At least I'm finally home. I just wish Crystal could've made it out with me.