Candice Patton as Iris West-Allen on THE FLASH

I was expecting to enjoy She-Ra and the Princesses of Power , but I did not expect it to further my love for my favorite character from another beloved series: Mai from Avatar: the Last Airbender. This particular aspect of her character and story were always fairly obvious, but I never saw the full scope of it until after I saw the differences between Adora and Catra’s responses to the Horde’s evils.

To put it simply: Mai never sees the Fire Nation as an evil force because she is never exposed to its atrocities. We can assume that her first journey beyond the borders of the Fire Nation was her trip to Omashu–a city that was conquered without bloodshed or ruin. There was no debris to clean up, no funerals for the dead, no wailing widows or starving orphans…especially none that would cross her sight. She was the daughter of Omashu’s new governor; she would never have to walk through alleyways containing refugees or find herself in the middle of an opposition rally (in fact, her only exposure was a failed assassination attempt!).

Likewise, when she reached Ba Sing Se, she and her companions were brought straight to the royal hall of the Earth King. There, she was able to witness the splendor of the King’s court and listen in on the gossip of the palace–people excitedly talking about how a war with the Fire Nation had been kept secret, nobles questioning if this was just a new trick, guards worrying about whether or not they were prepared for an attack. Everything she heard would only confirm suspicions and propaganda: the Earth Kingdom didn’t care about its soldiers in the field, and it deserved to fall. Any of its subjects she might have seen suffering on the way in or in her subsequent date with Zuko in the market square (still in the middle-to-upper ring!) could simply be categorized under a column reading “Oppressed because their leaders don’t care”.

So she returned home with Zuko believing that they had successfully overthrown a regime that didn’t care about its subjects–she had seen not one, but two cities that were taken simply through subterfuge and intimidation, rather than by long, drawn-out war. The Fire Nation’s propaganda machine was clearly correct: the Earth Kingdom was vile, corrupt, and weak. 

Then one day Zuko just ran away and said “I’m going to join the Avatar, don’t come with me, I’m a rebel now.” Her mind must have snapped. Zuko always worried about whether or not he belonged in the Fire Nation because of his abusive father and the nation’s apathy toward his departure–I’m sure Mister “I’ll Leave a Note So She Doesn’t Worry” never spoke to Mai about the suffering he had witnessed firsthand…suffering so extreme that even rescuing a village from thugs and robbers had earned him nothing but hatred and scorn. Zuko understood how evil the Fire Nation was, but Mai had no comparison.

And yet, when he told her that he saw it differently, and that he believed the Fire Nation was truly the nation in the wrong, she trusted him. She pulled out her weapons against her own nation and threw herself headlong into danger, death, and prison simply because she believed Zuko when he said “We’re actually the bad guys.” She didn’t ask for proof, he didn’t have to take her to a decimated village, and she didn’t befriend anyone from the other side through some harrowing adventure. She simply listened and decided “Well, I love this guy, and I trust him.” 

That’s powerful.

The concept of 'love'

does not equate to romance

does not transcend all the negative aspects and the history of this species ; it is not 'redemptive of humanity'

does not make someone a better person

is not necessary to be human

is not necessary to exist

should not be used to categorize people into moral categories

is not a moral feeling

is not indicative of 'innocence' and 'purity'

is not something that all individuals in the collective humanity 'live for'

is a complicated and personal journey that one can embrace , squander , and anything in between

can't be captured in a single post , as it is surrounded by individuality and nuance

is a neutral feeling , same as any other emotion

is a neutral feeling

The feeling of affection and devotion towards someone or something does not have to be described using the word 'love.'

hi psa: the second someone apologizes for being excited about something, that is the moment you start talking about it with 10x the enthusiasm because 100% guaranteed they have, at some point in their life, been shamed or told shut up or calm down about something that brought them joy and learned to apologize for taking up space and expressing themselves - learned to make themselves smaller- and that’s the absolute worst feeling in the whole world so please, the moment they apologize or say “I’ll shut up now”, you start talking about it for them, hype it up, encourage them to talk your ear off and participate in their excitement. We want their passion, we want their excitement, joy and love. We do not want to be stunted and bitter and angry like the ones who tried to stifle us, we want to foster and nurture the glow in their eyes and the sound of their voice speeding up with exhilaration

sending so much love to everyone who feels like they’re never chosen as the best friend, as the partner, as the favorite. sending love to all of you who have been treated and felt like second best. sending love to all of you who have felt rejected and unwanted. to all of you who have had to try really hard to fit in because you felt like you never will. 

you are so loved. you will be seen and heard by the right people. you can trust that you are valuable and not defined by other people’s perceptions of you. if someone doesn’t see your worth, it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

We’re not gods, Nora. We’ve just been given extraordinary abilities.

—Barry to Nora, The Flash, “Cause and XS”

You guys really liked my last poll so

I've been called a cop over it but sharing around uncredited art with no source links or attribution, especially when it's made by independent creators, is fucking shitty! I do not fuck with you even a little if you do that!

emperor kuzco was clearly gay

enough reclaiming slurs, I think in 2023 we should reclaim nascar. they banned the confederate flag on all properties & their stance on lgbtq+ isn’t just performative bc in 2013 they fined a driver 10k for using a homophobic slur, condemned indiana in a statement for an anti lgbt law, and partnered w carolina’s lgbt+ chamber of conference in 2022. nascar was founded by anti-cop moonshiners/bootleggers who drove suped-up fords to out-run the police. #yaaascar

@swsource star wars week ★ day 1: favorite character ↬ LEIA ORGANA

I really could never transition to atla tumblr because aang is my favorite character and i could not deal with the way some of you freaks talk about him. It’s like yall forget he’s a 12 year old genocide survivor who has the literal weight of the world on him.

and it really pisses me off cuz it’s always those shippers at the scene of the crime and that’s why generally ppl dont like you bitches. You cant simply like your wack ass ship instead you have to paint aang out to be this violent evil predator....just weird

aang being my favorite since 2008 and then in 2024 i searched his name on tumblr the first thing i found out was a giant ass zutara opinion on how he is the patriarch emulated and this is my villain story

What show you all are watching?? How can grown ass people (GROWN ASS PEOPLE) watch a cartoon for kids and saying crazy things like this?

Insane behavior

It’s an instinct, a feeling…

Managed to finish this just in time!  Happy New Year everyone!

This story happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. It is already over. Nothing can be done to change it.

i know the in-text divide is that obi-wan sees anakin as a brother and anakin sees him as a dad. but tbh. to meeee. they’ve ALWAYS been a teen mom & the kid she didn’t want. like what is obi-wan’s decision to take anakin on at the end of tpm if not a girl telling her parents she’s keeping the baby, goddamnit, too late to back out now? and what is aotc if not an adult obi-wan yelling at teen anakin going “i gave up COLLEGE (free-wheeling knighthood) for YOU you BRAT and your FATHER (the force) is a DEADBEAT so i have to raise you ALL on my OWN…..” and anakin is like “ma just because that man hurt you doesn’t mean i can’t find love…” . & so forth

No in between. Reblog if you vote pleas