spreadingoptimism

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That one scene in Lilo and Stitch got me thinking about how Obi Wan must’ve felt with Angsty Anakin at all times

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it’s so nice of them to lay out a carrot for edward even though they know he’s not coming

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shuri 🤝 okoye ↳ disappointed by the rest of the world

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One of the little details I love about The Storm is how Lieutenant Jee angrily refers to Zuko as, well, “Zuko”.

Then, after Iroh tells them all what Ozai did, Lieutenant Jee uses the respectful title, “Prince Zuko”:

And then, of course, this scene:

And then this parallel:

Before learning what Ozai did:

After learning what Ozai did (+ after Zuko helped rescue the crew):

I’m just a really big fan of their development.

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I love that zero relationships are made stronger through conflict in avatar the last airbender. War and oppression only serve to tear relationships apart in the show. I’ve already read some great pieces on the show’s depiction of colonial family dynamics. But the friendships and romances reflect it, too. There are no brothers in arms, no romances ignited because someone is leaving tomorrow for the battlefront.

As far as romantic relationships: Sokka loses Yue and twice has to leave Suki for their duty to the greater good. Katara is too overwhelmed with the conflict to invest in a relationship with Aang, and her first romantic feelings towards a boy are transformed into betrayal when Jet lies to her in his pursuit of justice. And even Zuko twice leaves Mai to pursue his “destiny.” And that’s just the kids. The adults are similarly submerged in devastated romance. We see so many single parents throughout the series. Many have lost their partner to the fire nation army. Some have incarcerated partners like Haru’s mother. Enlistment separates partners, too. And even the most dominating force in the world, Firelord Ozai, loses his partner in his desire for power.

Friendships are similarly prevented from blossoming within a culture of domination. Azula is the most evident example, with her friendships founded on obedience rather than mutual affection blowing up in her face. Zuko, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have any friends. Those oppressed by the fire nation establish their friendships in moments of safety, when the threat of violence is temporarily absent. “Do you want to go penguin sledding with me?” That’s the beginning of a friendship. They do not become friends fighting together. That is allyship. Look at The Blue Spirit. Zuko and Aang can fight together for a common cause, but this is not the shape of friendship. Even relationships between different marginalized groups are fraught with tensions founded in the imperial violence they’ve confronted. When Aang visits the Northern Air Temple, he is distraught over the desecration of the temple by the earth kingdom refugees. The violence they’ve each faced puts them in conflict with one another rather than providing a possible sense of kinship. It’s even more complicated when it comes to befriending across the lines of the oppressor and oppressed. Despite their affinity for one another and aligned goals, Zuko and Aang cannot truly establish their friendship until the system of domination is eliminated. Friendship is a dynamic between equals, and ATLA asks whether you can actually be friends across these lines if society refuses to be equitable. Friendships and romance depend not on conflict to deepen them but an active peacefulness.

When people talk about Avatar writing relationships poorly, I think maybe consider that the relationships weren’t actually supposed to be building up in any kind of traditional way in the show. I think ATLA was precisely focused on relationships being broken and sometimes even empty because of conflict. It’s only the last episode that’s meant to show the beginnings of things, the consummation of hope. For the first time there’s the possibility for these relationships to mean something rather than almost inevitably ending in tragedy.

“Let no one mistake us for the fruit of violence—but that violence, having passed through us, failed to spoil us.” —Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

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your fat friends notice the fatphobic things you say about people you don’t like

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When you’re about to absolutely destroy some kid who doesn’t respect dinos

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Video game: (has main character that travels the world alone)

My fuck brain five minutes in: but what if they had a friend

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It’s okay to be a beginner at the things you are interested in. There is no reason to feel intimidated by people more advanced than you are, because they too were in your place at one point. Keep learning and growing and expanding in whatever it is that you love and let nothing and no one stop you. You don’t have to be at the same stage as someone else. You can just be at your stage and that one is okay too.

[spreadingoptimism]

man I miss being 14 when I was willing and able to write whatever stupid indulgent bullshit I wanted and feel like I was absolutely killing it

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Puppy in cozy, toasty warm, comfort.  Taken into the flock. 

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i know most of them are just literal animal combinations, but avatar has some of the best fantasy animal character designs i’ve ever seen

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－Top 10 legendary Zuko lines !

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Who decided we have to give up pure and wholesome things just to grow up? Sleeping with a little Pikachu plushie does not mean I don’t also make my own doctor appointments.

[spreadingoptimism]

while “zuko sent to find one single person who hasnt existed in 100 years and then he actually does” can be very funny in concept, can we just talk about how fucking heartbreaking it must be for iroh? 

like. he knows this is an impossible task. and it does happen–yes! in the first episode, so maybe we don’t even think about it that much! but when ozai tells zuko to go find the avatar, it’s an impossible task. and iroh knows this. and zuko might have everything riding on this, and he’s a kid and hasn’t learned what’s impossible yet, and so he’s plugging his ears and saying “i can do it! i can do it and then dad will love me again!”, but iroh knows the only reason this specific task was assigned is because ozai doesn’t want him. he doesn’t want him back. ozai didn’t want him to betray them so he gave him a little hope, a little “of course i could still love you, you can come back, that’s a possibility, just don’t disappoint me” because, you know, he’s an abusive dick. but iroh knows his brother, and he knows 

i think as a kid, while i loved loved iroh, it was a little hard to reconcile his silly moments with his wise moments. it’s not anymore 

i’m just thinking of the pai sho tile, and how silly it seemed at the time that it was just in his sleeve. silly old man! so forgetful 

no. no, that wasn’t it at all 

because every moment he stalled, every moment he mucked up the plan, every moment he just generally wasn’t helpful, that was another moment where he could still have a chance. where he might get through to zuko. where he could delay what was suddenly now a very real possibility: 

that ozai sent zuko away, but zuko would actually come back, expecting to be loved. and that’s what iroh didn’t want to happen. winning ozai’s love was more unrealistic than finding someone who’d been dead for 100 years, in the end 

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“My wife and I forgot to close the garage last night. I think it became the meeting place for a secret cat gang.” 

(Source)