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akiizayoi4869 · 8 minutes
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Zuko's biggest smiles being at or about Mai
Avatar: The Last Airbender, 3.14 | 3.15 | 3.21
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akiizayoi4869 · 10 minutes
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~ 𝑲18 𝑮𝑰𝑭𝑺𝑬𝑻 ~
𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘺: @theultradork
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akiizayoi4869 · 11 hours
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What are your thoughts on the take that since Azula doesn't like tea, that means that she doesn't care about peace?
I'd ask what this person is smoking and if they're willing to share, because wow, that..very much ignores much of the history of tea in favor of watered-down new-age Westernisms that give us hipsters putting "namaste" on everything.
Okay, to be fair, there is a historical and cultural link to the idea of tea and "peace", but it's peace in the Buddhist and Daoist senses of the word. An inner calmness, a way to approach the state of wuwei or "No-Mind". It's not in the United Nations sense of the word, not really.
The history of tea begins as medicine, and grew to be associated with cleanliness and asceticism, a simple kind of purity. It was a drink of royalty before it became a drink of commoners because of the immense amount of work it takes to grow and harvest it. From China, it moved to Japan, where the Heian court refined their own ways of drinking, and it eventually moved to the samurai class. The warlords Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Nobunaga Oda were taught tea ceremony by the same master. Tea has always been associated with war and subjugation, from the Chinese who traded tea for warhorses with the Mongolians, to the entire colonization of half the planet by the British for the sake of the Royal East Indian Tea Company.
Tea = Peace is a very shallow reading of history and cultural significance, really. And it gets into an annoyance of mine with this series, when it uses culture as props and costume without necessarily digging into the symbolism of what is being used. In this particular case, I suspect the charge of "Azula doesn't like tea, therefore is against peace" is because it apparently somehow follows from "Iroh likes tea, and Iroh is on the side of the protagonists, who are for peace". (Nevermind General Iroh attempting to smash the walls of Ba Sing Se and joke about razing the largest city in the world to the ground is cheerfully drinking tea as he writes this.) Which, quite frankly, is a load of horseshit.
Tea is not monolithic. There is no one way to prepare tea. There is not one type of tea. The way one prepares tea for Chinese gong fu cha is vastly different than how one prepares a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, which is also different from Taiwanese tea ceremony.
It's far more likely that if Azula doesn't like tea, it's that she doesn't like the same variety of tea that Iroh does. Iroh appears to enjoy florals and delicate teas; it's very easy to suggest that someone who prefers smokier or earthier flavors would not enjoy a cup of those. A jasmine oolong will never be confused with a lapsang souchong or a tieguanyin or a sencha. Furthermore, Azula could very well not like the way Iroh prepares tea.
Because, and I'm about to commit fandom heresy here, Iroh might kind of prepare tea wrong. Or rather, we see him preparing tea the same way, regardless of what he describes he's drinking. It's very likely that Ba Sing Se has a different tea tradition than the Fire Nation, so unless he's importing leaves at great expense, he's probably using local cultivars when he starts his tea shop. And yet, you see him using the same style pot. Meaning it's entirely possible that Iroh prepares his tea in the Fire Nation style, regardless of how it's actually supposed to be prepared. Which...would lose out on a lot of the things that make some teas special.
Not to mention him pouring boiling water over the leaves when he says he's making a jasmine tea, a technique that is guaranteed to ruin the delicate leaves of that tea.
(Don't get me started on the utterly absurd notion that tea master Iroh invents boba, which is a Taiwanese invention that is often competing against traditional tea houses. And sometimes crowds out specialty cultivars, because a lot of boba is made with lower-quality leaves. The idea is basically the perfect encapsulation of all of this "culture as prop" nonsense, because Iroh likes tea and boba is what the younger generations drink, so clearly he must invent it! Despite it literally going against his characterization.)
Basically, it's far more interesting and offers rich possibilities if instead of "Azula hates tea ergo she hates peace", one instead didn't treat the large and complex subject as a monolith, appreciated the different cultural approaches to the subject, and instead considered what it might mean if Azula and Iroh disagreed greatly on the particulars of tea.
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akiizayoi4869 · 11 hours
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a few reminders because i’m tired and angry
fandom is a hobby, not a form of activism
adult women aren’t inherently creepy for being in fandom and having hobbies apart from raising babies and doing taxes
the vast majority of people pushing back against the worrying trend of instigating harassment over fictional characters and relationships aren’t incest supporters or pedophiles, actually
liking a m/f ship doesn’t make someone a dirty heterosexual invading your space
preferring gay ships doesn’t make you ‘’woke’’ and good
no one owes you a disclaimer that they are a good person who recognizes that their favorite fictional villain’s actions are evil and that they don’t condone those actions irl
liking a fictional villain is in no way comparable to advocating abuse/murder/genocide/etc and you’re a fucking idiot if you believe that
just because a woman is attracted to a fictional villain doesn’t mean she’s promoting toxic relationships or going to end up in a toxic relationship. assuming women can’t tell fiction and reality apart stinks of internalized misogyny 
some rando’s a/b/o fanfics have none of the level of influence that popular tv shows and movies spreading propaganda have
no one owes you a detailed description of their traumas and mental health problems
abusive relationships are not the same as enemies to lovers ships
y’all need to chill the fuck out over people, relationships, actions and events that don’t actually exist and learn how to enjoy and discuss them like normal people
fandom is a hobby, not a form of activism
feel free to add more
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akiizayoi4869 · 11 hours
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I was on YouTube, scrolled to the comments, and saw someone say that Azula is even worse than literal AZULON just because he had sympathy for Lu Ten’s death ☠️when…He literally wanted to kill Zuko after that??? Damn maybe this fandom is as dumb as other fandoms I’ve seen lmfao
And this is why I just don't go into the YouTube comment section, I'm forever afraid of the stupidity that I will find there😂. Oh yeah, this fandom is definitely just as dumb as the vast majority of other fandoms are lmao.
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akiizayoi4869 · 12 hours
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the day people learn that they can express negative opinions about queer rep without misusing the word queerbait is the day i will know peace
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akiizayoi4869 · 14 hours
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ya know, i spend a lot of my time watching various youtubers react to watching A:TLA for the first time, cuz i love the show and i love being a voyeur to other people's fangirling over pieces of media that i love lol, and one thing i've noticed is a pretty consistent fundamental misunderstanding of the fire nation's imperialism
everyone's first reaction is to 1) look for a reason for the fire nation's expansion and 2) both simplify and aggrandize it into "taking over the world"
no one i watch ever seems to recognize this as just.......a real political phenomenon that happens on a constant basis. that it is continually happening and being perpetuated in real life. like, this is just what most of the wealthy nations currently in our political landscape have done and are still doing. "taking over the world" is such a cartoonishly evil concept that there's a disconnect between that and the reality of it, which is bizarre because it's portrayed extremely realistically within the show, the magical powers involved notwithstanding. this is political conquest, it's economic exploitation, it's occupation and annexation and colonization.
it just feels so jarring to me to watch these reactors scramble for an explanation to something that is fundamental to the way most wealthy countries in the world function by default. and it would be one thing if these were kids, like idk how well i understood the premise when i was 12 years old watching it air on tv for the first time, but they're not. these are grown people in their mid 20s, these are adults presumably participating in society in the year 2024. they have to have heard of the concept of imperialism by now.
and i'm not trying to shame anybody. all of these reactors otherwise show great insight and understanding of the characters and the themes and the messages of the show. it's just such a consistent thing i've noticed across, what, like, 7 or 8 different reaction series? the shock and confusion displayed at the fire nation's imperialism, like they cannot think of a single reason that a nation might do something like this. as if greed and economic gain isn't enough of a motivation, or nationalism and racial superiority. as if we didn't all learn about various real-life countries "sharing their prosperity with the world" through violent occupation in school.
was everybody absent that day?? or is it just somehow harder to recognize when there's firebending involved??
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akiizayoi4869 · 14 hours
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There is some pretty shocking footage out there of the Baltimore bridge collapse early this morning. I've already seen some incredibly wrong, incredibly insensitive Hot Takes about how shitty the bridge was to have fallen after being bonked by a boat, etc
Please don't be that person.
The facts will come out. Speculation is silly. In addition to loss of life, the Francis Scott Key bridge was a major arterial in that region's highway system. Its loss will be felt for years, and not just to daily commuters.
Baltimore harbor is closed. No shipping at all. This will impact supply chains in ways we cannot even assess yet.
It's pretty fucked up.
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akiizayoi4869 · 15 hours
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“apologist.” “critical.” y’all are doing too much. when my favorite characters do evil reprehensible shit I simply don’t fucking care cause it’s not real
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akiizayoi4869 · 16 hours
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(ID in Alt Text)
A while ago I was invited to contribute to the Form the Ashes ATLA fan Zine for @recovery-zine!
I got to illustrate this double spread! (which was terrifying, thank you) Pretty sure this is where the thought "Jee survived the north" began to form for me! The theme was about the war ending, peace settling and people getting to come home and reunite with loved ones.
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akiizayoi4869 · 20 hours
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akiizayoi4869 · 20 hours
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It is extremely disturbing how many posts I see claiming that Roe v. Wade was overturned on Biden's watch and blaming him and the Democratic Party for it. It's disturbing on a number of levels.
First, it was Trump and Bush-appointed justices who handed down the Dobbs decision. This is a flagrant example of blaming Democrats for things Republicans did, and not coincidentally is one of the the most widely felt differences between the two parties. As a result, it's usually the first example Democrats and their allies point to; this misappropriation suggests a deliberate attempt to undercut that fact.
Secondly, and related to the first point, it obfuscates who the real enemy is, and I am comfortable using word "enemy" to describe the Republican Party because of the policies they advocate and enact. The truth is that states controlled by the Republican Party were where the effects of Dobbs are most severely felt, while states controlled by the Democratic Party are passing laws to protect abortion. It is important to know which party opposes abortion and which party supports it. If the Republicans gain control of the House, Senate, and White House, they will pass a national abortion ban, as they have done at the state level in several places.
Thirdly, blaming Biden for Dobbs demonstrates a very concerning lack of understanding of how the government functions. The judiciary is its own branch of government; judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. It doesn't matter who is president when a decision is handed down, it matters who was president when the justices were appointed. People sometimes react to this by moving the goalposts and claiming the real issue was a failure by Democrats to "codify" Roe v. Wade. I am not sure what "codify" means in this context, and I'm not sure they are either. One thing it does not mean is that congress can pass a law saying "abortion is legal forever." Republicans could easily repeal such a law and it the federal government cannot necessarily prevent states from restricting abortion at the state level. Roe v. Wade was a ruling stating that the constitution guaranteed a right to privacy, which included the right to have an abortion. This prevented abortion restrictions in a way federal law cannot. That doesn't mean passing federal law protecting abortion is a bad idea, but it isn't a foolproof protection. It's fair to argue that the Democratic Party and the left of center generally were complacent about abortion. The form of this complacency was not taking the courts seriously, while the right spent fifty years openly filling the courts with anti-abortion judges.
The last thing that worries me is that this is popping up phrased almost the exact same way all over the place. I am afraid that it is not merely incompetence, but intentional misinformation, that is then repeated by the incompetent who believe it.
I know some will probably dismiss this post as being from a "vote harder" liberal Biden supporter, but whatever your feelings about Biden, the Democratic Party, or the democratic process in the U.S., you should care about the truth. The truth is that Roe v. Wade was overturned by Republican-appointed judges and abortion bans are being enacted by Republican elected officials, and Joe Biden opposes these things. You can do with that information whatever you wish, but you denying it is dishonest.
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akiizayoi4869 · 22 hours
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Exactly! He literally invented a skill on his own, at 12 years old. How people say that he isn't a prodigy and hasn't mastered airbending is baffling to me🤣
Getting really tired of all the Aang hate/criticism (honestly I can't even call it criticism because it's just that stupid) that I've been seeing on my dash lately. Mainly by people who for some reason, don't think that Aang is an airbending prodigy/master because we are only "told and not shown that he is one". Like....guys. The literal airbending tattoos on his body prove that he is a master:
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The only way for an airbender to get his or her tattoos is by becoming a master, as was stated in the show. Not to mention that Aang was also the youngest airbender to have received his. Also, saying that we don't see him practicing his airbending is so dumb. Seriously, why would they show us that, when he literally did that 100 years prior to the show starting, hence the tattoos? Throughout the show we see Aang doing amazing things with his airbending that proves he is indeed a prodigy. Denying this just proves that you didn't watch the show at all, but rather you saw a version that you made up in your head.
And if you really want to go there with the whole "we aren't really shown how or why Aang got his prodigy status" you wanna know who else fits that bill? Toph and Azula. With Toph, we're given the flashback of her learning from the badger moles when she was lost in the cave.
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But outside of this moment? Nothing. We aren't shown her training to hone her skills or anything like that. When we meet Toph in book 2, we are told that she is an earthbending prodigy and the perfect person to teach Aang earthbending. The only reasons we are given for this is that she "waits and listens for the right moment to strike", something that Bumi told Aang was key to mastering earthbending, and because she's blind but can still earthbend and kick ass like it's nobody's business. Same thing with Azula. When we first meet her, we see her bending lightning.
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This is quite obviously a powerful technique. But are we given a reason as to when and how she learned and eventually mastered it? No. Azula's firebending is blue, and as we know, she is the only firebender who's fire is this color.
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We aren't given an explanation as to why this is in the show, however. Nobody in universe really comments on it, Zuko and Iroh don't bring it up either. Which, considering the fact that in her childhood, her firebending was the same color as every other firebender's, you'd think that would be a conversation at some point.
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And yet it isn't. In fact, the only explanation for this, as far as I know? Comes from the art book. Mike and Bryan wanted Azula's firebending to look different from Zuko's in their final fight, which is why they decided to make her firebending blue. Much like with Toph, we aren't shown Azula training throughout the years to perfect her bending, or throughout the present timeline. So this whole stupid argument against Aang does not hold up at all. Stop hating on his character just because you prefer a different ship to the canon pairings, I'm begging you.
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akiizayoi4869 · 22 hours
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Getting really tired of all the Aang hate/criticism (honestly I can't even call it criticism because it's just that stupid) that I've been seeing on my dash lately. Mainly by people who for some reason, don't think that Aang is an airbending prodigy/master because we are only "told and not shown that he is one". Like....guys. The literal airbending tattoos on his body prove that he is a master:
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The only way for an airbender to get his or her tattoos is by becoming a master, as was stated in the show. Not to mention that Aang was also the youngest airbender to have received his. Also, saying that we don't see him practicing his airbending is so dumb. Seriously, why would they show us that, when he literally did that 100 years prior to the show starting, hence the tattoos? Throughout the show we see Aang doing amazing things with his airbending that proves he is indeed a prodigy. Denying this just proves that you didn't watch the show at all, but rather you saw a version that you made up in your head.
And if you really want to go there with the whole "we aren't really shown how or why Aang got his prodigy status" you wanna know who else fits that bill? Toph and Azula. With Toph, we're given the flashback of her learning from the badger moles when she was lost in the cave.
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But outside of this moment? Nothing. We aren't shown her training to hone her skills or anything like that. When we meet Toph in book 2, we are told that she is an earthbending prodigy and the perfect person to teach Aang earthbending. The only reasons we are given for this is that she "waits and listens for the right moment to strike", something that Bumi told Aang was key to mastering earthbending, and because she's blind but can still earthbend and kick ass like it's nobody's business. Same thing with Azula. When we first meet her, we see her bending lightning.
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This is quite obviously a powerful technique. But are we given a reason as to when and how she learned and eventually mastered it? No. Azula's firebending is blue, and as we know, she is the only firebender who's fire is this color.
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We aren't given an explanation as to why this is in the show, however. Nobody in universe really comments on it, Zuko and Iroh don't bring it up either. Which, considering the fact that in her childhood, her firebending was the same color as every other firebender's, you'd think that would be a conversation at some point.
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And yet it isn't. In fact, the only explanation for this, as far as I know? Comes from the art book. Mike and Bryan wanted Azula's firebending to look different from Zuko's in their final fight, which is why they decided to make her firebending blue. Much like with Toph, we aren't shown Azula training throughout the years to perfect her bending, or throughout the present timeline. So this whole stupid argument against Aang does not hold up at all. Stop hating on his character just because you prefer a different ship to the canon pairings, I'm begging you.
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akiizayoi4869 · 22 hours
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Getting really tired of all the Aang hate/criticism (honestly I can't even call it criticism because it's just that stupid) that I've been seeing on my dash lately. Mainly by people who for some reason, don't think that Aang is an airbending prodigy/master because we are only "told and not shown that he is one". Like....guys. The literal airbending tattoos on his body prove that he is a master:
Tumblr media
The only way for an airbender to get his or her tattoos is by becoming a master, as was stated in the show. Not to mention that Aang was also the youngest airbender to have received his. Also, saying that we don't see him practicing his airbending is so dumb. Seriously, why would they show us that, when he literally did that 100 years prior to the show starting, hence the tattoos? Throughout the show we see Aang doing amazing things with his airbending that proves he is indeed a prodigy. Denying this just proves that you didn't watch the show at all, but rather you saw a version that you made up in your head.
And if you really want to go there with the whole "we aren't really shown how or why Aang got his prodigy status" you wanna know who else fits that bill? Toph and Azula. With Toph, we're given the flashback of her learning from the badger moles when she was lost in the cave.
Tumblr media
But outside of this moment? Nothing. We aren't shown her training to hone her skills or anything like that. When we meet Toph in book 2, we are told that she is an earthbending prodigy and the perfect person to teach Aang earthbending. The only reasons we are given for this is that she "waits and listens for the right moment to strike", something that Bumi told Aang was key to mastering earthbending, and because she's blind but can still earthbend and kick ass like it's nobody's business. Same thing with Azula. When we first meet her, we see her bending lightning.
Tumblr media
This is quite obviously a powerful technique. But are we given a reason as to when and how she learned and eventually mastered it? No. Azula's firebending is blue, and as we know, she is the only firebender who's fire is this color.
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We aren't given an explanation as to why this is in the show, however. Nobody in universe really comments on it, Zuko and Iroh don't bring it up either. Which, considering the fact that in her childhood, her firebending was the same color as every other firebender's, you'd think that would be a conversation at some point.
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And yet it isn't. In fact, the only explanation for this, as far as I know? Comes from the art book. Mike and Bryan wanted Azula's firebending to look different from Zuko's in their final fight, which is why they decided to make her firebending blue. Much like with Toph, we aren't shown Azula training throughout the years to perfect her bending, or throughout the present timeline. So this whole stupid argument against Aang does not hold up at all. Stop hating on his character just because you prefer a different ship to the canon pairings, I'm begging you.
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akiizayoi4869 · 23 hours
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REMEMBER TO HACK UR 3DS AND WII U BEFORE NINTENDO SHUTS DOWN THEIR INTERNET SUPPORT (April 8th)
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akiizayoi4869 · 23 hours
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So apparently some people seem to think this exchange is tragic as well as repulsive because (checks notes) "Azula doesn't want to be like Zuko because she sees him as nothing more than a victim! Being just like him is disgusting to her. She blames him for his abuse."
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Another day, another stupid take.
That's not what this scene says at all. What it's saying is that Azula FEARS being seen like Zuko in her father's eyes. Because she's already seen once before what that means.
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She saw her brother get burned by their father right in front of her. Being seen like Zuko means getting burned. It means getting banished. It means not having Ozai's love. She already felt unloved by her mother. She knows that Iroh doesn't care for her. So losing Ozai's love? It would destroy her. And as we can clearly see, that's exactly what happened.
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