“Where Words Are Scarce They Are Seldom Spent In Vain, For They Breathe Truth That Breathe Their Words

[unrelated] This is a restaurant in vietnam and its so cool??

So a lot of people are rightfully unhappy about the possibility that Katara will be aged up in the new Netflix version of The Last Airbender. That has a lot of issues and I’m glad people are talking about it.

But truthfully, I’ve always had some issues with how Katara’s relationship with Aang was handled. Generally, ATLA did very well with its female characters and gave us a lot of strong girls and women to admire, but it still had its flaws.

Specifically, the thing that bothered me the most when I first saw it as a child was the scene in Day of Black Sun where Aang kisses Katara without warning and without permission. That always made me uncomfortable. 

There’s also the way the writers handled the development of their relationship. Throughout the series, it is made very obvious that Aang has a major crush on Katara. But while Katara cares deeply for Aang, she is pretty much never shown to have romantic interest in him - except for that time that the fortuneteller tells Katara that she will marry a powerful bender and Katara is reminded that Aang is a powerful bender, plus that time they dance together in the Headband. But honestly, neither of those carries a lot of weight, in my opinion, especially compared with other scenes. Katara explicitly has a pretty negative reaction to the idea of a relationship with Aang in the Ember Island Players episode - where, again, Aang kisses her without permission, right after she said she was confused. Again, she reacts negatively to the kiss, and to Aang’s pushiness regarding a relationship. It’s kind of hard to see how they could move from this point to a full blown romantic relationship over the next few episodes. (Honestly, I hate that scene for Aang. It’s a pretty negative characterization for him. This scene made me uncomfortable as a kid as well. Actually, I might have hated this scene more than the Day of Black Sun scene.)

Anyway, for most of the series, Katara acts more like an older sister or mother-figure to Aang. And then at the end of the series, Aang defeats the Firelord and suddenly Katara is all in for a relationship? I remember the first time I saw it, it seemed sudden within the context of the story. Outside of the context of the story, it pretty much looks like Katara was treated as a reward for Aang - the hero saves the day, gets the girl trope. I don’t think I need to explain why that’s bad. It was also weak within the story’s plot, because it’s not well-supported by Katara’s character arc.

So the two main problems with the Katara/Aang relationship, in my view, are  these: one, Aang’s treatment of Katara within the story; and two, the writers’ treatment of Katara from outside the story.

(Plus, a 12/13 year old dating a 14/15 year old comes off kinda weird to me. A couple years difference matters at that age.)

This is honestly my biggest criticism of the series. It was still a great show, and I loved it, but as iconic as it was, it wasn’t perfect. 

I’ve learned the first minute of the dance so far, so I’m a third of the way through!

I’m kind of invested in learning this choreography now

This is beautiful! I love this song; I learned the lyrics a little while back and it’s such a pretty language to sing in. (I’ve kind of made a hobby out of learning songs in several different languages.)

I’m also a trained dancer, and I’ve been fascinated with hula for a long time. It’s so different from the kinds of dance I’m familiar with, and it’s so graceful and rhythmic! If I ever got the chance to learn about hula dance in a respectful and authentic way, I would definitely do it.

I hope im not just a blog you follow but also the only person with 100% correct opinions about the little mermaid

If you really want to help indigenous people, now is your time.

Ngati Paoa and other protestors have been occupying Putiki Bay after resource consent was given to develop it without consent from the local iwi. Today, they are blocked by police as developers being to destroy Little Blue Penguin habitat, a species on the decline with climate change and habitat destruction.

Public outrage and eyes on Putiki may be the only thing that can save Putiki now after every route has failed. Spread information about Putiki every where you can - Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, your local group chat, whatever. Please please please help save Putiki Bay, Aotearoa NZ!

“One of my Earth Science high school students is passionate about baking, adamant that she'll become a professional baker. Instead of doing a presentation to summarize her research projects, I allow her to bake what she researched. I think what she produces is amazing. Here's her obsidian cake.” - Goldraven on reddit

Posted on reddit by goldraven. Please go check out this girl’s instagram @honeyandgrey !!!!!!!!!

Please please please reblog!

my sister was feeling kinda down so I let her paint my nails to cheer herself up and she painted them black lol. I haven’t worn nail polish at all for like two years and I think the last time I wore black nail polish I was like 15

A friend of mine with a passion for folklore and small presses recently introduced me to Inhabit Media, and I’m so glad to have had a chance to peruse these books. 

Inhabit Media is an Inuit-owned publishing company based in Iqaluit, Nunavut (i.e. very very very North). They are dedicated to preserving and promoting the stories, knowledge, culture, and language of the Inuit and of Northern Canada, and they publish a range of books for children and adults that include contemporary and historical fiction, folklore and legends retold and beautifully illustrated, and non-fiction on history, science, and arctic life. 

If you enjoy folklore, oral history, wintertime storytelling, or really superbly creepy mermaids, definitely check them out. 

so my great-aunt (or whatever else one calls one’s grandmother’s brother’s wife’s sister) is trying to send me something in the mail, only she realized that she doesn’t have my address on hand. so she called me and I just spent about fifteen minutes trying to spell the name of the town I live in out to her over the phone. she doesn’t use text or email, so I couldn’t send it to her that way; and her hearing can be a bit troublesome and also English isn’t her first language. you can imagine that this phone call was a bit of a mess. I’m still not sure if she got the address down correctly or not, but I suppose I’ll find out eventually