#real men debate ATLA shipping

[earfgoddesss]

Election Day

[fanfic-lover-girl]

Anti Tagging is a Broken System

So there was this anti Zutara post that I saw a while ago that was tagged as both 'anti zutara' and 'zutara'. As you can imagine, zutara bloggers were mad and the OP claimed they tagged the post as 'zutara' as payback for zutara fans bashing kataang in the 'kataang' tag.

There was also a jedi critical post that was considered to be insulting to someone's religion or culture or some other nonsense. The person asked (**demanded**), the post be tagged as 'anti jedi' because seeing it in the 'jedi order' tag was causing real-world harm.

It confirmed my belief that the tagging system is severely broken and lacking.

These are two issues at play that I notice:

Villain vs Hero Double Standard

What's interesting is that this issue is mainly relevant for protagonists. If I want to bash Ozai, Palpatine or Joker on Tumblr, I don't have to tag my posts as anti. Maybe their fans would prefer it but we all know that these men are villains and the lowest scum in media. It's not bashing - it's the cold hard truth.

So why is it that my calling Ozai a bad father is not Ozai bashing, but me calling Aang a bad father is Aang bashing?? Why the double standards?? Sure, the hero will likely be more sympathetic because we are meant to root for them. But at the end of the day, just like Ozai, Aang played favourites and this left scars on his kids even in their fifties. If you are an Aang fan you can try to justify it, but his actions still hurt his kids no matter how you spin it.

What Does 'Anti' Even Mean??

There are too many ways to be anti character, anti ship etc which makes things murky.

Let's use Kataang as an example. Are you anti Kataang because you objectively looked at the ATLA show and you think how it is presented makes it a bad ship? Are you anti KA because you genuinely like the ship but you think it was not developed properly or did not go the way you thought best? Are you anti KA because you are just emotionally repulsed for whatever reason even though canon may give you reasons to support it? Are you anti KA just because it may be popular to be so in your circle?

That's the problem. Theoretically, the first two scenarios could be classified under the general 'kataang' tag. Because people who hold those opinions are not just bashing it for no reason but have objective truths that they have observed about the ship. Saying that Aang kissed Katara without her consent is an objective truth. Why should that be labelled as 'anti kataang'? It's the truth about the ship.

How would I address this?

The general tag should not be treated as a safe space. If you want a safe space, stick to a 'pro' or 'anti' tag. The general tag should be treated like a neutral zone where everything is laid on the table for debate and discourse. So if I browse the Jedi Order tag, I should see metas about cool Jedi powers and master-padawan relationships but also metas about the separation of families and the social harm it causes kids.

People need to stop being babies and grow up. If someone posts a critical meta about the Jedi order, it does not mean they are attacking whatever religion you have or calling for genocide in real life. Do you know how much witchcraft, paganism, atheism and other kinds of Christian bashing posts I see in the Christianity tag?? If you don't like something, just scroll past it like a big kid. Don't send death or rape threats to someone if you disagree with them.

I think if someone does not have substantial or accurate reasons for hating something, they should stick to the anti tag and avoid the general tag.

What do others think?? Tagging is hard because it's up to the discretion of the poster but I hope my arguments here made sense.

@caripr94

@tragicfantasy-girl

@sokkastyles

@the-badger-mole

[doomalade]

TIER 7: THE DEPTHS

“Blake should be branded in Atlas so Yang can save her”

This was a post made by a Bumblebee shipper before V7 basically saying that Blake should be branded like Adam and then saved by Yang. This has been criticized for belittling Blake’s character and coming off as a white savior mindset.

“Rooster Teeth”

Rooster Teeth is the name of the company behind RWBY. Their name has been debated whether it was a joking reference to a line in early seasons of RvB or a homophobic term to describe gay men.

“Yang x Sage = Yang Gangbanged by Black Men”

This is a take on the Yang x Sage ship (Wise Dragon) that says that since Yang is with a black character, she wants to be gangbanged by black men. This take is clearly one made by someone who has their mind rotted by porn and is extremely racist.

“Ironwood should try to kill himself but run out of bullets”

This was a take on Ironwood saying that the show should have him trying to kill himself but not have bullets in his gun. This has been called out for being extremely messed up and suicide-idealization.

“Ruby’s Cuts (DO NOT RESEARCH)”

In Volume 9 Chapter 8, Ruby is beaten up by Neo’s clones and becomes bruised and cut. One of the cuts is direct on one of her breasts despite her being canonically 17. This has received backlash for not only sexualizing a minor but sexualizing a suicidal and beaten up minor.

“Just let him have it”

This is a quote from Miles Luna himself. As a head writer of RWBY, Miles was talking about Adam in a Writers’ Commentary for Volume 6. When Adam’s branded face is revealed, Miles begins to talk about his personal head canon about how it happened. Now this isn’t 100% set in stone canon, but Miles went on to say that Adam got into a fight with his boss at the SDC Mine and his boss “just let him have it.” This has been criticized for Miles saying the branding of a minority character was justified.

“Adam was a child slave”

This is reference to the fandom trying to figure out the timeline and coming to the realization that Adam was child slave before he left to join the White Fang.

“White Man’s Burden”

White Man’s Burden is a piece of racist literature from the author of The Jungle Book. This connects to RWBY due to Ghira, Kali, and Sienna having allusions to The Jungle Book.

“Penny’s First Choice”

This is in reference to Penny’s decision for Jaune to stab and kill her on the bridge instead of him healing her by boosting her aura. It has been criticized for seemingly like an unneeded decision and how Penny was killed for the second time.

“Ironwood photoshopped with Stalin”

This is in reference to a photo made during V8 of Stalin that had Ironwood photoshopped in with him. This has received backlash for comparing a real world genocidal dictator to a fictional character.

“Coco’s Allusion”

Coco Adel’s allusion is to Coco Chanel. Coco Chanel is known for being a Nazi collaborator and would often spend days with people close to Hitler.

Alright, and now onto the final tier:

THE VOID

“Penny Polendina”

They killed her, twice. They killed my baby girl twice. They brought her back just to kill her again. They took my baby from me. THEY TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME.

this is hell. i am in hell.

badly cropped versions of each tier below:

i would’ve added more, but I figured this was enough shitty takes, problematic canon and uncomfortable implications for one day. :)

[nerdybookworm25]

Rambling about Katara and Zutara

Ok so I’m going to kind of just put my two cents out there on this stuff. I joined the ATLA fandom this past summer and just started watching TLOK (my brother and I just finished Book 2 yesterday). This is a hot debate and I just want to ramble on about my opinions on this stuff. A lot of this will focus on Katara’s perspective because I can understand her better than Zuko or Aang due to personal experience. Im just... gonna... get into it now...

I’ll give you some background on me so you guys can understand where I’m coming from. I’m a 15 year old girl with abandonment issues caused by multiple deaths of close friends and family at a young age (my uncle when I was 4, a grandmother like figure when I was 7, my dad’s mum when I was 9 or 10, my great grandma when I was 11, a close friend of my dad’s when I was 13 and many others). I also am the Mum Friend (my friends literally call me “Mum”). I’m the caregiver of the group- the glue, the harmonizer, the therapist, the teacher, the good advice giver etc. (This stuff actually hot me in trouble as a kid and it kind of messed me up). My friends who have seen Avatar have compared me to Katara on multiple occasions and say I’ve got the temperament of a waterbender. You can kind of see where I’d relate, you know?

I do ship Zutara. My brother turned to me during the Book 1: Water- Episode 9~ The Waterbending Scroll and asked, “What if Zuko becomes a good guy and ends up with Katara?” From then on I was on the Zutara hill and I’ll probably die there. It limited ships that I loved from childhood and I thought it would hav been really cool- it would have fit the themes of the show, it would have been a cool thing to see grow and blossom, etc. It had nothing to do with Katara and Zuko being attractive at all- not in the slightest. It also wasn’t me projecting onto Katara. I didn’t really care to notice any major similarities between us until Book Three: Fire- Episode 7~ The Runaway. It was this exchange that changed Katara from my favorite character to someone I could heavily relate to.

Toph: [Sarcasically.] Oh really, Mom? Or what are you gonna do? Send me to my room?

Katara: I wish I could!

Toph: well you can’t! Because you’re not my mom, and you’re not their mom! [Extends her arm at Aang and Sokka, who are sitting on a ledge.]

Katara: I never said I was!

Toph: No, but you act like it! You think it’s your job to boss everyone around, but it’s not! You’re just a regular kid like the rest of us! Stop acting like you can tell me what to do! I can do whatever I want!

I remember bursting out laughing when I heard this. My brother asked me what was up and I paused it and explained that that was a lecture I revived so regularly when I was younger. It really really ended up messing me up. It’s not like I tried to mother anyone- it just happened. I wasn’t controlling it. I didn’t notice I was doing it and I got in trouble. Now things are different and I’ve embraced the fact that I am the designated Mum Freind. Still working on getting over being told off about it in therapy though. Anyway, I think you now can understand where I’m coming from with this “analysis.” Now I’m going to get into it (for real this time lol).

I think I’m going to start with the caregiver stuff. Katara’s mother died when she was very young. It was a very traumatic death. We can infer that Katara blamed herself for this death because the Southern Raiders were looking for the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe- her. That’s a lot for an 8 year old to try to process. Here’s the kicker: I don’t think she ever fully processed it until after Book 3: Fire- Episode 16~ The Southern Raiders. She almost immediately helped her grandmother take up the roll as the woman of the house. She probably didn’t feel like she had anyone to talk to about what she was feeling however true or false that’s what she most likely perceived this to be. When Hakoda leaves for war with all of the men of the tribe, Kanna might be the matriarch and help raise Sokka and Katara but even Sokka admits that Katara became a pseudo-mother for him. Taking care of others doesn’t leave a lot of time to deal with your own issues. Sometimes it feels easier to help others face their demons than face your own.

We continue to see Katara become the glue of the Gaang as the series progresses. She keeps them together in the Si Wong desert after Aang leaves her, Sokka, Toph, and Momo. She’s always the one cooking, cleaning, and mending not because she wants to, but because she knows no one else will do it and it needs to be done. We see her try to coax Toph into helping out around camp when she firsts joins the Gaang. It doesn’t work and this conflict continues for most of Book 2 and the beginning of Book 3. All of this time, she’s making it a point to take care of everyone. When the adults show up after the Boiling Rock, she’s still the one making the dinner and probably does a lot of the other chores as well (except for tea making- this will come into play later).

There’s a running joke about Katara being “Momtara” within the ATLA fandom (more the Zutaraians in the fandom than anything else but it’s a pretty well known concept). We continue to see this when the Gaang is on Ember Island. She brings them all drink during training sessions, watches said training sessions in case someone gets hurt and they need her, wrangles Sokka to the best of her ability, and just generally looks out for everyone regardless of age gap. It’s her natural instinct to be motherly. She retains this quality even after she finds Yon Rha. (Getting closure on her mother’s death doesn’t mean losing what had become a major personality trait).

Let’s unpack that now, shall we? Kya dies and Katara thinks it’s her fault. She doesn’t really talk to anyone about it. A few years later, Hakoda leaves to fight in the war. The Southern Water Tribe recives no letters or news about what happened to their warriors at all. Katara felt like she lost another parent. She nearly says as much during Book 3: Fire- Episode 1~ The Awakening.

Hakoda: You’re taking about me too, aren’t you?

Katara: How could you leave us, Dad? [She attempts to wipe away the tears.] I mean, I know we had Gran-Gran, and she loved us, but we were just so lost without you.

Hakoda moves to comfort her as she turns away.

Hakoda: I’m so sorry, Katara.

Katara: [Embraces Hakoda.] I understand why you left. I really do, and I know that you had to go, so why do I still feel this way? I’m so sad and angry and hurt!

The thing that sets off this exchange is Aang running away for the third time since Katara has known him (the fourth time in Aang’s lifetime). The other times he ran were when confronted by the rude fisherman in Book 1: Water- Episode 12~ The Storm, then again during Book 2: Earth- Episode 11~ The Desert. Aang has a, for lack of a better word, chronic running away problem. I’m not mad at him for it. It makes him an interesting character and shows that he too has flaws (even if they aren’t always addressed but that’s an issue with Bryke). When Aang flys away after waking up during 3.1, Katara is distraught.

Katara: He left.

Hakoda: What?

Katara: Aang. He just took his glider and disappeared. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone, that it’s all his responsibility.

Hakoda: Maybe that’s his way of being brave.

Katara: Its not brave, it’s selfish and stupid! We could be helping him and I know the world needs him, but doesn’t he know how much we need him, too? How can he just leave us behind?

Katara feels abandoned by Aang. This is completely understandable. She has every right to be angry at him and feel sad that he flew away. He comes back every time but I feel like if I were in her position, as much as I’d hope my friend would come back and I’d tell everyone that I knew he would, I’d still be afraid that there was an off chance that he doesn’t. This is a natural human reaction to this situation. People were seemingly constantly fading in and out of Katara’s life and that just wasn’t good for her mental health. It couldn’t have been. This also raises the question of if someone has a very serious fear of abandonment, would it be healthy to be in a romantic relationship with someone who consistently leaves? Personally I don’t think so. Be friends? Sure. Date? I don’t know. It doesn’t quite sit right with me.

Katara probably feels abandoned by Zuko too. During the Book 2 Finale: Crossroads of Destiny, Katara and Zuko bond in the crystal catacombs under Ba Sing Se. They relate over their shared fear of being abandoned by those they love (yes I think Zuko has abandonment issues too- among other issues/fears). When he turns his back on her, she doesn’t live him (obviously). She has cared about him enough up to that point to offer to use what is arguably her most powerful possession to heal his scar. She cares. Because she cares about him then, she is downright livid when he betrays her. (Of course the difference between Zuko and Aang with this is Zuko leaves once and comes back and he doesn’t leave again. Aang leaves and comes back over and over and over again).

Katara: I thought you had changed!

Zuko: I have changed!

Katara carries the weight of his betrayal on her mind until she and Zuko go on their life changing field trip to confront the man who killed Katara’s mother. This was her time to finally get closure. She had probably had these feelings bottled up for 6 years and didn’t act on them. When she finally had the chance, her best friend and brother tried to stop her. She lashed out.

Katara: We’re going to find the man who took my mother from me.

Sokka pauses and stands up, surprised.

Zuko: Sokka told me the story of what happened. I know who did it and I know how to find him.

Aang: Um ... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

Katara: [Shakes her head in dismay.] Ugh, I knew you wouldn’t understand. [Begins to walk away.]

Aang: Wait! Stop! I do understand. You’re feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?

Zuko: She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice.

Aang: I don’t think so. I think this is about getting revenge.

Katara: [Angrily.] Fine, maybe it is! Maybe it’s what he deserves!

Aang: Katara, you sound like Jet.

Katara: Its not the same! Jet attacked the innocent. This man, he’s a monster.

Sokka: Katara, she was my mother, too, but I think Aang might be right.

Katara: Then you didn’t love her the way I did!

Sokka: [Hurt.] Katara!

Katara gets a lot of flack for this interaction. She says Sokka didn’t love their mother like she did and Sokka I’d understandably hurt. It doesn’t excuse what she said, but people do lash out when they are feeling a lot of emotions and they get defensive when they feel like they’re being ganged up on or attacked (I myself am guilty of this sort of thing). What Katara said was wrong but I have no doubt in my mind that she didn’t apologize to Sokka when he and the rest of the Gaang arrive on Ember Island later in the episode. She is seen walking over to him after she hugs Zuko.

Zuko and Katara go after Yon Rha anyway. For once in her life, Katara is feeling emotions and no one is trying to get her to stop or to push them aside. She doesn’t have to be constantly taking care of someone so she can focus on herself. Katara trusts Zuko more than I think she realizes. I mean she trusts him with a lot and he follows through on a lot of unspoken/subconscious agreements and promises.

Zuko is looking out for her. Zuko has her back. Zuko is allowing her to feel all of these emotions and work them out of her own accord. Zuko isn’t telling her to feel one way or another. Zuko isn’t going to judge her for whatever she decides to do when they find Yon Rha or what she does in order for them to get to that point. Zuko ensures she gets the closure she feels she needs.

When he sees her bloodbend, he’s surprised, but he isn’t appalled. When he thinks she’s going to run Yon Rha through with a giant shard of ice, he doesn’t try to stop her. He lets her be her. He sees a dark side of her in a way that no one else in the Gaang has seen. It’s strangely intimate. Clearly it has enough of an impact to make her forgive him. She knows he isn’t going to abandon betray her and her friend again.

Once they become friends, and even before that, Zuko starts to help out with small things here and there. We see him making tea for all of the kids at dinner. He tells jokes to make them laugh. He teaches Aang firebending. He goes with Sokka to the Boiling Rock to make sure he doesn’t get himself killed or in a prison cell for the rest of his life. With all of this, “Dadko” is born.

If you strip away Zuko’s anger, he just becomes the awkward-turtleduck-first-time-father that we all know and love. There’s more balance in the Gaang with him there to help and become an “authority” figure with Katara. They become the parents of the other members of the Gaang. It’s an interesting shift in their relationship- enemies to unsteady acquaintances to enemies to frenemies to friends. They’re close enough that they show small signs of physical intimacy and they tease each other.

Also if you look close enough when the Gaang walks into the “seedy Earth Kingdom tavern,” Zuko and Katara appear to be holding hands and are near each other from then until the finale episodes. They are clearly just great friends by the end of the show. I mean Zuko also takes a bolt of lightning to the chest for her...

Zuko doesn’t leave when his life gets difficult- not after he joins the Gaang. He made that mistake once and he won’t make it again. Aang was always part of the Gaang but continued to leave (again, I’m not mad at him for it but he never seems to realize the effect it has on the people around him- especially Katara). Zuko also doesn’t all but forget Katara and continue to run around the world. When Zuko fully decides to stick around, you best believe he is sticking around.

This works really well for Zutara. They’re both each other’s rock. They support each other and help each other in times of trouble. Do they argue? Yes. Is that a normal part of a healthy relationship- romantic or otherwise? Yes. Do they take care of and look out for each other while also not smothering or suffocating each other? Yes. I don’t know about you but this sounds stable and healthy to me. They balance each other out so well (I’m not going to get too into that because if you’re reading this you probably already know with the whole Tui and La, Yin and Yang, Oma and Shu thing).

Now, this is a big deal for me and it makes me furious, but Katara is forgotten by history. She has no statue. She is reduced to a housewife and healer- things our wonderful water feminist was afraid of becoming as an adult. I mean this girl

This girl

THIS GIRL

She becomes nothing but a housewife stuck in a healing hut who gets forgotten by the world and left behind by her family just... let’s all of that happen? Yeah that’s pretty unrealistic. I think about this frequently and with starting TLOK I have formed even more opinions and have a little thingy (I don’t know what to call it) for what happened to her.

Kya II is everything Teenage Katara wanted to do and be before settling down. Old Katara is everything Teenage Katara was so afraid of become reduced to/becoming.

It’s an interesting way to think about it and I thought I’d share. Now if Katara was Fire Lady, she wouldn’t end up like that. She’d have the power to change the world and continue to fight for what she believed in. She could have helped with the trail with Yakone. Katara has so much potential to not be forgotten or brushed aside and somehow it happened. It makes me so sad. The potential Zutara had to make sure Katara had a genuine legacy was right there at their finger tips and they didn’t use it. What a shame. What a shame.

With all of the things I’ve talked about, I just feel like Zutara would have been better for Katara than Kataang was. I think that’s more Bryke not developing the relationship well enough and instead choosing to be sloppy and selfish in the way they structured the relationship. Yeah this is my rambling on about the issue. Hope it was mildly entertaining! If you want me to write something about how Zuko would have benefited from Zutara, let me know!

[shitty-reviews-by-me]

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” is one of the best shows I’ve seen

This is your spoiler warning.

Note: I started writing this forever ago when I actually finished the show, but my procrastination is deadly, so I only got through the paragraph on Zuko before waiting like a month to pick it up again. 

Note 2.0: I know that there are comics that continue the series where it left off, but I haven’t read any of them. All of this will be based soley off of atla.

I started watching “Avatar: The Last Airbender” for two reasons. One, I remember seeing parts of episodes here and there as a small child, and I found what I saw intriguing; and two, my boyfriend just really, really loves it. When it showed up in the Netflix Spotlight I knew I was going to watch it, but it ended up taking longer for me to get to it than I originally expected. I procrastinate doing things I want to do just as much as things I don’t, but that’s another story.

I’m going to keep the actual review short. The show has been finished since 2008 and there is probably not much that I can say that hasn’t already been said. Besides that, I mostly just want to talk about my opinions because I have a lot of them.

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” is great on all accounts. All of the characters were interesting and complex. The plot was extremely complex, but easy to understand by anyone, no matter their age. In fact, when I made my grandma watch the first episode, it seemed like she kind of enjoyed it. Of course it is also possible she said that to be nice and was really thinking “what the fuck” the entire time. I haven’t found a single person say they don’t like “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” but maybe I’m not looking hard enough. Honestly I don’t know what else to say, I’m sorry, I just really want to talk about my opinions.

Let’s Talk About Zuko (because I love him)

I mean just look at him. How could he not be your favorite. Zuko is probably the best developed character in atla, and I’ll be honest, I never saw him as a “bad guy.” I mean, he was certainly a villian, but he wasn’t a bad person. In the first few episodes, Zuko is already painted as a sympathetic villian. We learn that as a young teenager his father banished him, sending him into a search for the Avatar. A search that was seemingly destined to fail. It is important to remember that Zuko was a CHILD. His family turned on him and all he wanted was join them again. Zuko’s actions were overall understandable.

Now Let’s Talk About Azula (she deserves better)

Azula doesn’t get as much sympathy as Zuko for obvious reasons. When the show ends her fate isn’t as clear as all the other characters. We get to see Ozai rotting in a cell, but Azula’s last scene is her having a complete mental breakdown after Katara managed to best her in combat. I’m sure the comics cover what happens next for her, but again I haven’t read them.

I’ve seen tons of people calling Azula a psycho, and an irredeemable monster, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Like Zuko she is just a child. She is only fourteen years old when the events of atla take place, and is the product of manipulation and abuse from both of her parents. She deserves a redemtion arc. There are videos and posts that will explain Azula’s psyche better than I ever will be able to, but I’m gonna try anyway.

I would like to make it clear that I do not believe Ozai deserves redemption. He was a grown ass adult who abused and manipulated everyone around him. While Azula also abused and manipulated the people around her, she did so as a child, following her father’s example. In addition to that, we know that Ursa’s belief that Azula was a monster hurt her. Ursa never showed that she believed Azula could be a better person, and therefore why would Azula be choose to be kind and good when her father rewarded the abusive tendencies she developed? One of the big differences between Zuko and Azula’s upbringing is that their mother believed in Zuko. She believed he could do good in the world but failed to show Azula the kindness she showed Zuko.

The cycle of abuse is very real. Pretending that Azula is just some psycho, and not a child following the pattern of behavior she saw growing up is immature. There is no question that she regularly did horrible things, and I don’t even think that her friends, Ty Lee and Mai, or Zuko should forgive her if they don’t want to, but she does deserve a fresh start. Let’s be real, Azula would need a lot of therapy to even get to a place where she could potentially be redeemed or forgiven.

In summary, people need to stop writing Azula off as an irredeemable psycho.

Kataang: Thanks I Hate It (just hear me out, okay)

Kataang vs. Zutara is such a huge debate, and trust me, I’ll get into Zutara, but right now I want to talk about why I don’t like Kataang in a list format.

Their Age Difference-- I think sometimes adults writing teen/preteen characters completely forget what it’s like to actually be those ages. Aang is twelve (I get that he’s technically one hundred and twelve) and Katara is fourteen. While two years really isn’t a big age difference, especially as people get older, it is a little weird when the the people are twelve and fourteen. When I’ve brought up this age difference to people I’ve always heard the argument that Aang is mature for his age and that’s why it works. That is a faulty for a number of reasons. First of all, the claim that someone is mature for their age is used to justify inappropriate relationships by pedophiles all the time. Secondly, it could be argued that Katara is mature for her age as well, so there is no way their maturity is equal. My final point, there’s a good chance Aang hasn’t even gone through puberty yet while Katara is definitely well on her way on that front. Maybe that sounds weird, but males start puberty between the Ages of nine and fourteen, which means there Aang is at a pretty average age to START puberty. Females start puberty between the ages of eight and thirteen which means she’s well on her way. Like I said, puberty sounds like a weird thing to bring up, but a lot of maturity come from going throught puberty.

They Made Such Good Friends-- Aang and Katara had such a good friendship throughout the show. It could have been a great example of a platonic friendship between a straight cis guy and a straight cis girl. Instead we got the male and female lead end up together, just like they do in everything else.

No Evidence of Reciprocated Feeling-- While obviously Katara must like Aang because otherwise she wouldn’t have kissed him, I don’t think there was very much evidence leading up to that moment that Katara had any sort of romantic feelings towards Aang. Throughout the series she says she only sees him as a good friend, almost as a brother. I will admit, there were hints here and there. In the episode The Fortuneteller, Katara is told she’ll marry a powerful bender, and in the end of the episode she realizes that Aang is an extremely powerful bender. In the secret tunnel her and Aang kiss/almost kiss (I can’t remember exactly), and in that moment it seems like maybe she could have feelings for him. Other than various small moments there isn’t a lot of evidence that she liked him. I think the evolution of Katara’s feelings should have gotten more attention because the kiss at the end felt a bit like it was out of nowhere.

It’s A Missed Opportunity-- There are so many cases in real life of cis men thinking their entitled to a romantic relationship with a woman because they’re friends, or she was kind to him once. Because of the young intended audience for the show, it could have been great to show little kids that it’s okay if romantic feelings towards someone aren’t reciprocated, and that it doesn’t have to ruin a friendship. Also that no body is really at fault when that kind of thing happens. It would have been a good lesson but obviously it didn’t go that way.

I haven’s seen it, but I know that in Legend of Korra you find out that Aang and Katara ended up getting married and having children. I think that still could have happened if they ended atla as friends. It could have been them developing feelings for eachother as young adults.

This ship has potential but I wish they did it differently in canon.

Zutara Isn’t Ideal Either

Honestly my biggest problem with this ship is the fact that many of the people who ship it don’t take into accout the fact that they both (particularly Katara) have trauma because of the other person. Zuko spent months hunting down and intimidating the gaang. Like I said he’s redeemed himself but that shouldn’t just brush the terrible things he did under the rug. Katara threatens Zuko’s life when he first joins the gaang, and I can’t blame her for that. She doesn’t know whether or not he’s really changed.

Like Kataang this ship has potential, but it shouldn’t be romantasized beyond the limits of what is possible.

In Summary

(wish i could give credit to whoever drew this but i don’t know who it was)

I could write a book on all of the opinion I have about this spectacular series. However, I’m exhaused and want to go to sleep. I will not be proofreading this, sorry.

Legend of Korra was just put on netflix and I’m sure that once I watch it I’ll have a million more things to say.

I don’t know how to end this, so uh... Peace?

[avatarsymbolism]

I Shouldn’t Have to Fight Against ATLA Fandom Imperialist Apologia in 2017, and Yet...

Hey dudes and dudettes!

So, I know a lot of you…most of you…are super excited about the LOK comic “Turf Wars, Part 1″ that just came out. And that’s great. 

But of course, fandom and society being as it is, it appears that there’s been a lot of controversy about this comic and the themes found within. Not just about shipping, but about some of the ideas presented in the comic as well. 

One particular panel that’s been the center of a lot of this controversy though is this little panel which features Kya telling Korra and Asami how the Fire Nation used to be relatively tolerant of homosexual relationships until everything changed when Firelord Sozin made that illegal:

Some of the complaints that I have seen about this panel (by people on all sides of this debate) include the following: 

How can you talk about the Fire Nation being homophobic without also mentioning their many other crimes like the Air Nomad Genocide?

The Fire Nation being homophobic doesn’t make sense because this revelation came out of nowhere.

It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to be homophobic because they were at the forefront of progress and wanted to spread their higher standard of living to the rest of the world.

It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to be homophobic because they were the most egalitarian of the Four Nations.

It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to have been homophobic because they were already imperialist and racist.

Now, it’s really not my place to talk about queer representation in media but, as someone who has spent a lot of time reading and learning about history, it really, really grinds my gears when I see people spewing this kind of garbage, especially when it reeks of an ignorance of history and a lack of historical understanding. 

Let’s go over this point by point though. 

Claim 1: How can you talk about the Fire Nation being homophobic without also mentioning their many other crimes like the Air Nomad Genocide?

Kya was specifically talking about same-sex relationships, and not stuff like Sozin’s imperialist endeavors, and the Air Nomad Genocide. While we we also learn that the Air Nomads were very open, chances are Kya wouldn’t mention the Genocide unless those two were somehow related. 

Furthermore, Kya says that Sozin criminalized same-sex relationships when he first took power, which happened sometime during the 12 years that Roku spent traveling the world and training, and not when he started to go through with his imperialist plan. This means that same-sex relationships became illegal when Sozin was between 16 and 28 years of age. 

With that said, it’s a basic rule of essay writing that you should always stay on topic. As such, Kya was keeping to the topic at hand: how same-sex relationships were historically viewed in each of the Four Nations, which is why she didn’t bring up the other atrocities that Sozin committed. 

Claim 2: The Fire Nation being homophobic doesn’t make sense because this revelation came out of nowhere.

Ok, aside from the fact that maybe, just maybe, this issue didn’t need to come up in LOK or ATLA prior to the introduction of this comic (although it could have, but that’s a discussion for another day), this claim really intrigues me because this isn’t the first time that something happened “out of nowhere.” 

For example,, the first time we’ve seen terms like ‘ashmaker,’ and ‘dirt girl’ thrown around as slurs was in “The Promise.” 

Prior to that, the only time we’ve heard an Avatar character using anything close to a racial slur was when the Warden called earthbenders savages in “Imprisoned,” and when Sokka called the Fire Nation savages for burning down a forest. But even then that’s stretching it. 

And yet, no one said a word when Smellerbee and her fellow Freedom Fighters suddenly started to call Fire Nation people ashmakers, even though it would have made canonical sense for someone like Jet to have used that slur prior to her. 

But even more irksome is this panel with King Kuei from “North and South” which starts a whole little subplot about how King Kuei has some antiquated ideas about what is and isn’t civilization: 

So apparently it’s “out of nowhere” for the Fire Nation to be homophobic, but King Kuei being an imperialist and Earth Kingdom/Fire Nationfolk suddenly throwing around racial slurs isn’t?  

How does that work? 

Claim 3:  It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to be homophobic because they were at the forefront of progress and wanted to spread their higher standard of living to the rest of the world.

Ok, first of all, Sozin, like many of his real life imperialist counterparts saw his nation as being superior to all those around him. Second of all, just like many of his real life imperialist counterparts, Sozin sought to share his nation’s prosperity with the rest of the world…through war and conquest.

That’s not “spreading your standard of living,” that’s being a warmongering imperialist and destroying the world around you in the name of “progress.” 

Second, how are these two ideas incompatible? 

You can can be the ruler of an imperialist nation but at the same time be any number of things. Mao, with his: Great Leap Forward” had homosexuals arrested. The West too has had a long history of having negative views of homosexuality and femininity alongside its imperialist history. 

And while the Fire Nation draws a lot of its influence from Japan–which historically had a tolerant view of homosexual relationships until the nation began to Westernize–we shouldn’t forget that 1) there is no real 1 to 1 comparison when it comes to real world influences of the Avatar world, and 2) the writers are allowed creative freedom. 

Claim 4: It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to homophobic because they were the most egalitarian of the Four Nations.

This claim can probably pertain to two things:

There have canonically been female Firelords prior to Azula and Izumi

We’ve seen women among the Fire Nation’s ranks

And to that I say, so what? 

For all its goddesses and views on homosexuality, the Greeks and Romans were still very misogynist. Sure, they were open about sexuality, but check out this snippet about Julius Caesar:

And to emphasize the bad name Caesar had won alike for unnatural and natural vice, I may here record that the Elder Curio referred to him in a speech as: “Every woman’s man and every man’s woman.”

And, while I should also note that views of homosexuality during this time were more about who took the penetrative or domineering role as  opposed to the actual act itself, there was still a taboo regarding who took what role, with those taking the more passive role being seen as woman-like and weaker than those in the more dominant position. 

On a similar note, when the Japanese and Chinese did allow for open, same-sex relationships, women were still thought to be inferior to men. 

Furthermore, you can still have a female Firelord while also having misogynist and/or homophobic views. Just look at Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth.

And even beyond that, queens like Margaret of Anjou had to fight against patriarchal institutions that wanted nothing more than to tear them down. And sure, you also had your occasional Eleanor of Aquitaine who’d manage to hold their own, but a lot of the time it was a constant uphill struggle for women throughout history. 

It wasn’t egalitarianism with these historical queens, but finding a way to make the system work in their favor. 

And as far as the existence of women in the Fire Nation military is concerned, this appears to a recent development since all the women we see in the Fire Nation military are relatively young. In fact, the closest thing to have to older Fire Nation women fighting or commanding armies are Lo and Li who were Azula’s firebending instructors. 

This has some real world historical backing too since we’ve see countries on both sides of WWII employ women as the war dragged on.

But again, this doesn’t mean that homophobia and misogyny are impossible. If anything, the slow inclusion of women within the Fire Nation ranks demonstrates that some progress can eventually be made in regards to the rights of women and people in the LGBT community. 

Claim 5: It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to have been homophobic because they were already imperialist and racist.

Sozin was already a racist, genocidal imperialism. Him also being a homophobe isn’t that much of a reach. 

Also, “it doesn’t make sense for [person] to be [one type of bigot] because they were already [another type of bigot]?” Really? This is an argument? 

You can be more than one type of bigot. History has proved this time and time again. How is this a valid argument? 

Anyway, that concludes my rant. Thanks for reading. 

[nigeiadigitalmarketingcompany]

Links 7/27/19

Digital Elixir Links 7/27/19

Dear patient readers,

I hate the Twitter redesign with the burning passion of a thousand suns.

Great White Shark Fever Sweeps Cape Cod Bloomberg (David L). Wish they were worried about pitchforks instead.

Local man accomplishes stand-up paddleboard trip from Duluth to Arctic Ocean Duluth News Tribune (Chuck L)

Star Orbiting Massive Black Hole Lends Support To Einstein’s Theory Reuters

Our lives have been co-opted by the Convenience Industrial Complex TreeHugger (resilc)

Wind Is Outpacing Coal As a Power Source In Texas For the First Time CNN

The USDA Didn’t Publish Its Plan to Help Farmers Adapt to Climate Change. Here’s Where They Need It the Most. Mother Jones (resilc)

Compound in red wine may decrease depression and anxiety New Atlas (David L)

Japan Approves First Human-Animal Embryo Experiments Nature

What If Avoiding the Sun Is Bad for You? Medium (Glenn F). They didn’t control for exercise. Outdoorsy, athletic people are more active: walking, hiking, biking, sports. If there is any connection here, the causality is likely to be the other way: more energetic people are in the sun more. People who use tanning beds almost without exception have a body fetish. When I was very briefly using tanning beds, the salon was full of body builders and other fitness enthusiasts who were exercising to get a body beautiful. In general, people in more temperate parts of the US get more sun. Ditto Europe. If sun exposure were as powerful a factor as this article suggests, you’d see noteworthy variations by region of the US and by profession (like lower rates of heart disease and diabetes among fishermen and ranchers who are in the sun v. office workers).

‘What keeps me going? My patients,’ says France’s oldest doctor at 98 Guardian

China?

Some wonder whether the Chinese army might be deployed to restore order https://t.co/g21Z1LJ93Y

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) July 27, 2019

Trump Denounces Both China and WTO: President presses trade organization to change China’s ‘developing country’ status Wall Street Journal

China May Delay Trade Deal Until After 2020 Elections, Trump Says Bloomberg

Brexit

“Use imperial measurements” eg “The population of the UK is 20 Bengal famines” or “Britain’s cyclically-adjusted trade deficit is half an Opium War”. pic.twitter.com/nSGekyNRKe

— Alan Beattie (@alanbeattie) July 26, 2019

Boris Johnson plans to frighten Europe then charm it. Here’s why he’ll fail Guardian. A key bit at the end, which explains why Labour hasn’t called a general election. But remember how May’s supposedly “fatal blow to Labour” snap election turned out:

The polls will show him [Johnson] that with the progressive vote split, with Labour down to 20% and the Lib Dems at 20%,, he could win a landslide in the first past the post system with an electoral understanding – even an informal one – with Nigel Farage. And he will know that if he waits too long into next year for an election, the recession will have begun to bite.

But we have this again: Boris Johnson ‘absolutely’ rules out pre-Brexit election BBC

Boris Johnson love bombs the North of England (after being mobbed in the Midlands) with £2billion fund for deprived towns as he promises new generation of rail routes to cut journey times Daily Mail

Leo Varadkar’s stern warning over Boris’s no deal Brexit – ‘Undermining the union!’ Express

Fernandez-Villaverde on Spain’s Economic Success Econlib. Reslic: “Brexit winner.”

The consequences of Switzerland’s lost equivalence status Bruegel

New Cold War

Cyber attack hits email users probing Russian intelligence Financial Times (David L)

Syraqistan

Iran has freed nine Indian crew members of a Panama-flagged tanker it seized this month, the Indian foreign ministry said on Saturday, and it appealed for the release of three remaining crew members held from the same ship. https://t.co/b1JW2DI5aY by @sanjeevmiglani

— Reuters India (@ReutersIndia) July 27, 2019

Iran: The Case Against War New York Review of Books

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

The Encryption Debate Is Over – Dead At The Hands Of Facebook Forbes (David L)

Imperial Collapse Watch

The Crisis of Anglo-American Democracy Jeffrey Sachs, Project Syndicate

The Marine’s F-35 Has Afterburner Trouble National Interest (resilc)

Trump Transition

Supreme Court rules Trump can use military funds for border wall construction The Hill

US, Guatemala ink migration deal on Central American asylum-seekers DW

Guatemalan mother begs soldier to let her enter U.S Reuters (resilc)

The Democrats’ Immigration Problem Is Bigger than Trump New Yorker

Pay or Die The New York Times. Resilc: “Latin America is where our Middle East investment$ should really go. The real payback is there.”

Trump’s 3% Growth Feat in 2018 Undone by Annual Data Revisions Bloomberg

We Are All Executioners Now New Republic

Democrats dig in on probes post-Mueller The Hill

Medicare For All Isn’t That Popular — Even Among Democrats FiveThirtyEight (resilc)

2020

MSNBC’s Anti-Sanders Bias Makes It Forget How to Do Math FAIR (UserFriendly)

Bernie Does Impromptu Medicare For All Town Hall In The Street YouTube (JohnnyGL). Important.

Dems Are Repeating GOP’s 2016 Primary-Season Errors Rolling Stone (UserFriendly). A feature, not a bug. As readers have said, the Dems would rather lose to Trump than win with Sanders, and this ridiculous field is all about draining votes from Sanders.

Sanders, Biden and the Electability Scam Black Agenda Report (resilc)

Warren Fellowship Applicants: Campaign Program Was a ‘Great Scam’ Daily Beast

Pro-Trump Republican aiming to unseat Ilhan Omar charged with felony theft Guardian. Resilc: “‘Send me to DC where I can really steal.’”

Airbus A350 software bug forces airlines to turn planes off and on every 149 hours The Register (resilc)

Latest 737 Max Fault That Alarmed Test Pilots Rooted in Software Bloomberg. Muilenburg said on an earnings call that the latest problems (which we discussed at length in a post). The bland description in the Journal:

In late June, Boeing and the FAA disclosed still another flight-control problem on the MAX, involving failure of a microprocessor that meant test pilots couldn’t counteract a potential misfire of MCAS as quickly as required.

And in the Times:

Boeing has been developing a software update for the Max for eight months, [a Boeing spokesman] said. It is unclear whether the new flaw can be resolved by reprogramming the software or requires a hardware fix, which would be costlier and could take much longer.

The post described at length why Boeing may have hit the limit of how much it can ask the chips to do, and there’s no room on chips this old for further optimization. It would be very good news for Boeing if it really can craft a software fix, but if not, Muilenburg made this representation on an earnings call, which meant if it was misleading (and misleading is broadly defined in securities law), he was engaging in securities fraud. Stay tuned!

Banks Sued Over LIBOR Manipulation Rolling Stone (UserFriendly)

As electric vehicle production ramps up worldwide, a supply crunch for battery materials is looming CNBC. You heard this here a long time ago.

THEY SAID YOU COULD LEAVE ELECTRIC SCOOTERS ANYWHERE — THEN THE REPO MEN STRUCK BACK The Verge (DDG). My heroes!

IRS Sending Warning Letters to More Than 10,000 Cryptocurrency Holders Wall Street Journal

Class Warfare

When in reality the largest firm of welfare in America goes to the ones at the top. Wake up folks. Greed will be our downfall. pic.twitter.com/xo8NZdiaPw

— Richard N. Ojeda, II (@VoteOjeda2020) July 25, 2019

Why Corporations Want You to Shut Up and Meditate | The Nation

Legendary Job Killer Steve Mnuchin Complains About Amazon Killing Jobs Vice (resilc)

Privatization of public goods can cause population decline Nature (resilc)

Antidote du jour (furzy):

And a bonus (guurst):

#SundayMorning

The Majestic Dance Of The Manta Rays

#NatureIsBeautiful pic.twitter.com/Z18j6ybWtv

— PROTECT ALL WILDLIFE (@Protect_Wldlife) July 21, 2019

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

Links 7/27/19

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[biofunmy]

Brexit, Iran, the Space Race: Your Friday Briefing

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

Good morning.

We’re covering a new hurdle for a no-deal Brexit, the downing of an Iranian drone by the U.S. military and France’s creation of a space command.

The move, which received stronger support than expected, set up a clash between Parliament and Boris Johnson, who is expected to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May next week. Mr. Johnson has entertained the idea of shutting down the legislature in the fall to ensure that, with or without a deal, Britain leaves the E.U. on Oct. 31.

What’s next: Results in the competition to lead Britain will be announced on Tuesday, days before Parliament goes into summer recess. Anti-Brexit lawmakers said the vote against suspending Parliament raised the chances of a second Brexit referendum.

U.S.-Iran tensions escalate

The American military shot down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, President Trump said. The drone is said to have come “within threatening range” of the Boxer, an American assault ship. It’s unclear if the drone was armed.

The news closely followed an announcement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran that it had detained a tanker, which it claimed had been smuggling fuel.

While the two episodes escalate the conflict that has pitted Iran against some of its neighbors and the U.S., Iran’s foreign minister moved in the opposite direction, proposing modest concessions and new talks.

Reminder: Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have risen in recent months after Washington imposed new sanctions.

Since then, there have been attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has exceeded the amount and the purity of the uranium it is permitted under the 2015 nuclear agreement.

France nudges Europe into space race

President Emmanuel Macron of France announced the creation of a space command within his nation’s air force. Emphasizing that French and European independence was at stake, Mr. Macron said the command would “ensure our defense of space within space.”

The move was the latest sign that the era of fighting in space — disabling or even shooting down satellites on which warfare on Earth is increasingly dependent — was getting closer.

Big picture: Pooling resources has helped Europe keep its leadership in the civilian use of space, experts say. But when it comes to militarizing space, Europe remains divided, with France facing resistance from Germany and other nations.

Challenges: The lack of a unified vision could constrain France’s ambitions for its space command. Mr. Macron hinted as much in his announcement: While he spoke of reinforcing France’s “strategic autonomy,” he added that it must take place in a “European framework.”

Trump’s party frets over ‘send her back’ chant

Nervous Republicans urged President Trump to repudiate the “send her back” chant that was directed at a Somali-born congresswoman during a campaign rally on Wednesday. They feared that it could hurt their party in the 2020 election.

Mr. Trump responded by disavowing the behavior of his own supporters. He claimed he had tried to contain the chant, which was directed at Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a freshman Democrat who is Muslim.

Video of the event clearly contradicted that assertion.

The politics: The cleanup attempt reflected the misgivings of political allies, including House Republican leaders, who have warned Mr. Trump privately that he was playing with political fire.

If you have some time, this is worth it

One small step

Five decades ago tomorrow, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the powdery surface of the moon in humankind’s first ever journey from one world to another. Those bootprints “could outlast the race that made them,” our veteran space reporter Dennis Overbye writes.

To mark the anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, The Times has produced ample special coverage, including a look at what life on the lunar surface would be like, a poem about the landing and a feature on Michael Collins, the astronaut who remained in orbit while Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. We also combined transcripts and select images to recreate the entire journey from liftoff to splashdown.

Here’s what else is happening

Japan: In what is believed to be one of the deadliest attacks in the country in decades, a man ignited a flammable liquid at an animation studio in Kyoto on Thursday, killing 33 people and injuring dozens more, the police said.

Morocco: Three men accused of murdering two Scandinavian hikers in the Atlas Mountains last year have been sentenced to death in an antiterrorism court in Morocco.

‘Unruly passenger’: Jet2, a British budget airline, said it had fined an English passenger about $106,000 for “aggressive, abusive and dangerous behavior” on a flight bound for Turkey last month. Military jets escorted the plane back to Stansted Airport, north of London.

Snapshot: Above, a prisoner flipping a sign to signify prayer time in the Detention Center Zone for the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. A Times reporter and photographer went inside the secretive prison, with tight restrictions on what they could see and photograph.

KLM: The Dutch airline found itself at the center of a heated online debate after a passenger posted on social media that a flight attendant had told her to cover up as she was breastfeeding her child on a flight last month.

Tour de France: Our columnist explores the vagaries — “the unexpected roundabout, the too-merry man waving a wine glass midroad” — that make this 2,162-mile race “so maddening and dangerous and, yes, enjoyable.”

What we’re reading: This essay in Vox. Jenna Wortham, a writer for the The New York Times Magazine, says it’s “a beautiful and meditative piece on the economy of ‘living your best life’ on Instagram, as told through the destruction of an indigenous landmark.”

Now, a break from the news

Cook: This weekend, try a galette — an open-faced tart — with nectarines and blueberries.

Watch: In “The Lion King” remake, our critic found “a lot of professionalism but not much heart.”

Listen: The Israeli duo Lola Marsh makes sweeping, cinematic music dripping in retro charm and reverb. “Echoes” is a lush beach-blanket bop, wiggling with energy, our critic writes.

Read: “The Nickel Boys,” Colson Whitehead’s first novel since “The Underground Railroad,” was inspired by the real-life story of a reform school in Florida where more than 100 children died from 1913 to 1960. It’s one of 11 new books we recommend this week.

Smarter Living: Trees suck up carbon and, while planting one won’t solve climate change, every tree helps. To have a meaningful effect, a tree must live at least 10 to 20 years, according to one expert. The right type of tree for your area and proper placement are among the things you should consider.

And a growing number of theme parks, hotels and special attractions are introducing training and sensory guides to accommodate travelers with autism.

And now for the Back Story on …

‘Sir Ed’

Edmund Percival Hillary, a New Zealand beekeeper who with Tenzing Norgay of Nepal made the first summit of Mount Everest, was born 100 years ago tomorrow.

Events in New Zealand will honor him, including the premiere of an orchestral work and the release of a special Land Rover. Nepal celebrates Everest Day on the anniversary of the climb, May 29, 1953.

Hillary and Norgay were the sole climbers from a Royal Geographic Expedition to reach the top of the world’s tallest peak, succeeding where 30 years of attempts had failed. A report in The New York Times centered on the fact that Queen Elizabeth II heard the news on the eve of her coronation.

The feat made the two men global celebrities. In the 1960s, Hillary founded the Himalayan Trust, which continues to work with communities in Nepal.

Known back home as “Sir Ed,” Hillary became synonymous with qualities his countryfolk prized: humility and steely determination. In 2008, he received a rare state funeral, and in 1992, his face replaced Queen Elizabeth’s on the country’s five-dollar note.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— William

Thank you Alisha Haridasani Gupta helped compile today’s briefing. Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford wrote the break from the news. Charlotte Graham-McLay wrote today’s Back Story You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S. • We’re listening to “The Daily.” busing as a tool of school desegregation in the U.S. • Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: subway map dot (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • The New York Times has dozens of free newsletters to bring our coverage to your inbox, including news, arts, music sports, opinion, arts and lifestyle.

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