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[baronfulmen]

I've been rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender because why not and I'm losing my mind at Zuko's proper introduction. I don't know if it's hindsight, shifting characterizations, or just me not watching this in a long time, but this was amazing.

We start off showing he's an impatient and very angry kid. Reasonable, and the sort of flaw we might expect to see in a villain. Kinda funny that he expects to go up against an adult and fully 4-Element realized Avatar, but the kid is desperate and Iroh clearly expects his nephew to get the banishment-denial kicked out of him.

What's important here, though, is Zuko's introduction to the Southern Water Tribe.

Here, we have a very intimidating entrance where his entire ship just sails through the ice right up to the village's front door. It's quite ominous and this is our first proper introduction to how the Fire Nation interacts with a foreign people.

Sokka charges, I'm assuming fully prepared to die, and Zuko casually knocks him out of the way. Okay, so clearly the Water Tribe are entirely outgunned.

He asks "Where are you hiding him?" and the people of the Water Tribe go silent. I assume they're either just too scared to talk or actually protecting Aang.

Whatever the case, it's important to note that the Southern Water Tribe know the terror the Fire Nation can inflict. We have a whole episode dedicated to tracking down a division of raiders. Sokka was able to not only identify the ash-mixed snow as signs of an incoming attack, but estimate how many ships the amount of ash measures to. These are a people who have experience being terrorized and are probably expecting something terrible to happen.

And then, after they don't answer, Zuko grabs Gran-Gran. There was a horror sting to it, and everything the tribe knows about the Fire Nation suggests that Zuko is about to threaten or straight up hurt her to get answers. Classic "terrorize the elderly" bad guy stuff.

And then...

He goes "He's (the Avatar) be about this age and is a master of all four elements!?" and lets her go.

And all of a sudden, the tension that was built up is shattered as Zuko went "I know, I'll give them a reference for the person I'm looking for because clearly they're confused and I wasn't specific enough."

This went from a show of villainy to a show of Zuko being totally socially awkward and misreading the situation entirely. Not helping is that when he does try to menace them a moment later, his fire is slow and angled quite safely.

It still worked on the Water Tribe because they're understandably scared, but all I could think of is that this was the equivalent of a playground bully trying to make someone flinch with that fake-out lunge thing.

Because the fact-and something we'll come to learn-is that Zuko is TERRIBLE at being a Fire Nation oppressor. He's capable of doing morally dubious things and is a competent fighter. But he's lousy at terrorizing people and cruelty-that's kind of the point of his banishment.

And while we can see the story paint this picture of Zuko's true character as the story goes on with hints of good and conflicting loyalties, here we get to see just how bad he is at being "the bad guys".

[baronfulmen]

Rory Blank @BoneJail

People losing their jobs to ai is awful but I don’t think enough attention is being paid to the fact that some of the core proponents of it literally believe that one day a neopet will be so powerful it will be god and they need to build it or they’ll be sent to computer hell

Rory Blank @BoneJail

Every time you read something about what Elon is doing, or read something about Peter Thiel and the "dark enlightenment" or whatever, it's important to remember that at the core, the people at the top are afraid that they're going to be tortured by a bonzi buddy for all eternity

[baronfulmen]

Overall this is pretty close, with a few surprises. Honestly there's just such a huge difference between what you want in a show or podcast vs what works in a normal long term game that it's a hard call for some of them.

Note that this is NOT about who you like to watch as entertainment, who you would want to have as a DM, who you'd like to meet the most, etc. Pick as if they're just some regular person you happen to know and you'll have to play through a campaign with them week after week.

Sorry if your favorite person isn't on here but there was exactly enough slots for all the people that have done three or more seasons. For anyone curious the ones that were on two seasons and therefore got left off are Mike Trapp, Lily Du, Ify Nwadiwe, Danielle Radford, and Carlos Luna. There are too many to list that were on just one.

[baronfulmen]

In what universe is "reel" two syllables? Jesus this whole post is a train wreck.

Just checking.... We all pronounce Miette like My-TAY in our heads, right?

[baronfulmen]

I assume the caption is the prompt they typed in? This one is a funny idea but I feel like AI can do better at this point, the whole thing is a mess.

Ornate harp in the shape of Godzilla. Bratislava, Slovakia, 1367,

[baronfulmen]

Someone was killed like that at Disneyland, by a rope from the big ship on the river.

They'd been using the wrong kind of rope so it was extra springy, and when the metal cleat thing failed and pulled free under the tension it whipped out and hit someone in the head. I think there were multiple injuries as well, though only the one death. Basically they had things set up properly originally and then over time slacked off until they were doing things in a dangerous way and using the wrong equipment.

Also, I'm pretty sure this was the incident where they moved the body and cleaned stuff up BEFORE finally calling the cops hours later which is pretty fucked up, but I can't remember for certain.

i get so freaked out by like. pictures of really big rope

[baronfulmen]

See this is what I'm saying. Show me ONE example of it being a fairy.

Does this count as finding a walrus at your door?

[baronfulmen]

when i say i like hiking, i don’t mean “eight mile backpacking trip with special gear and an emergency beacon” sort of hiking, i mean a three mile loop to go look at pretty things and then a huge brunch after.

[baronfulmen]

A 28-year-old motorcyclist died in Washington State on Friday afternoon because a dipshit Tesla driver rear-ended him at speed. A Snohomish man, 56, was commuting in his 2022 Tesla Model S when he activated the car’s camera-based advanced driver assist system and according to his statements to police, began looking through his phone. With nobody paying attention to the car’s actions, the Tesla software ignored Jeffrey Nissen on his motorcycle and continued on at speed. The car rear-ended the two-wheeler, Nissen was flung from the bike, and his life ended pinned underneath the electric car, where he was still lodged when police arrived to the scene.

Tesla claims another life.

Reminder that even if you are personally aware of how dangerous Tesla vehicles are and vow to never ride in one, they can still kill you.

My own driving habits have changed around them. I always give Teslas extra space, avoid following them directly, and expect them to stop or swerve suddenly without notice.

Cannot count the times I've pulled up next to a Tesla at freeway speed, noticed the driver playing on their phone. Tap the horn. They look up with surprise.

Please, don't be that guy.

[baronfulmen]

interesting fact i have titanium in my spine

[baronfulmen]

I mean just think about Mr. Freeze's backstory for a minute guys

[baronfulmen]

"off-roading" on a road. Uh. Sir I think you have misunderstood what words mean.

[baronfulmen]

the x files is funny because at the time it was “progressive” or whatever to have the ultra-rational, levelheaded character be a woman

but it’s also a show where all the fucked up alien shit actually is real, so she’s just constantly wrong about everything