#sorry but i will promo this a lot

[nateconnolly]

What Does the Lion Turtle Chant Mean?

A podcast episode about the spirituality of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Transcript Preview:

Many people have told me they struggle to take Sozin’s Comet seriously because they would have killed the Fire Lord without hesitation. And, look, as far as I’m concerned — if you’re willing to kill a genocidal colonizer, good for you! Many blessings upon your journey! And the show isn’t trying to dissuade you. 

Aang is not the only voice of wisdom in Avatar. He’s not a puppet through which the text articulates its meaning. Avatar is about cultural exchange. When one character says what they think is true, that isn’t necessarily the moral of a story. That’s one voice, and the story is a conversation. So, I don’t think that Sozin’s Comet is using Aang to say “Hey, you, you, looking at the TV, you personally should never support violent revolution!” Water Tribe culture doesn’t seem to have any problem with killing on the battlefield. 

When Sokka lops off the Melon Lord’s head, there’s some very clear indications that we’re supposed to be troubled. The musical cue, Momo eating the melon, he lingering focus on Aang’s reaction … But I don’t think this scene is meant to communicate that Sokka is a bad guy. Or that soldiers are inherently bad people. I assume that Hakoda, Bato, and Tyro killed people. These figures are portrayed as admirable, and even as mentors. 

The scene in which Sokka kills the Melon Lord is there to illustrate the difference between Southern Water Tribe culture and Air Nomad culture. Sokka’s journey is about embracing and reclaiming all the parts of his culture that the Fire Nation tried to destroy. He wasn’t able to go ice dodging or to train as a wolf warrior, but he has found a way to become a strong, protective man anyways. And that does mean that he’s willing to kill or die for a cause he believes in. This scene doesn’t communicate that Sokka is a bad person. It communicates that Sokka is walking his own path, and that Aang is walking a different path. But the show doesn’t try to tell you one of them is wrong and the other is right. 

At the same time, I think we need to remember that Aang is saying something he believes. It’s not just an emotional problem for him. 

Aang gives multiple related, but different reasons not to kill the Fire Lord.

“I didn’t feel like myself.” 

The Fire Lord “is still a human being.”

Killing goes against “everything the monks taught me.”

“All life is sacred.”

In Southern Raiders, he also makes a more general claim that “violence is never the answer,” but I think that the writers had to use the word “violence” as a euphemism. In our normal usage of the word, punching somebody would be a “violent” act. Aang clearly has no problem whacking people over the head or shooting wind at them. I think this is a way of making the show more kid friendly, and that what Aang actually means is 

“[Killing] is never the answer.”

Some of these claims are about Aang as an individual. He’s saying he doesn’t feel like he, specifically, can kill someone. That it goes against the values of his culture. And some of these are universal claims. He’s saying no one should kill, not ever. 

But he also believes in a separate ethical mandate. As the Avatar, he has to protect the world. In this lifetime, that means preventing the Fire Lord from burning the Earth Kingdom. 

This is a story about moral standards, and they seem impossible to live up to. There’s no easy answer. If you believe that murder is wrong, and you believe in the duties of the Avatar, then you have a conflict of values, not just emotions. In order to understand the Buddhist themes of Sozin’s Comet, we have to understand Buddhist ideas of morality. 

This podcast episode

Bluesky

⁠Substack

⁠Twitter

⁠Patreon

Nate's short story about Buddhism

Transcript with Citations

#sorry but i will promo this a lot #worked really really hard on it #avatar #atla #aang #original post

[trippedandfell]

me, frothing at the mouth, begging the 911 promo department to give us another trailer, sneak peek, anything -

911:

#i’m sorry I know this is stupid it just wouldn’t leave my head lmao #911 #911 fox #edit: yes they have given us a lot of promo recently i’m just greedy shhh

[sp3akfromtheart]

breaking news: the three worst people you know are in a polyamorous relationship and i turned them into a sticker

and you can get it! linked here!

#sorry about all the r*dbubble promo today lol i just have added lots of stuff #hazbin hotel vees #hazbin hotel fanart #hazbin hotel valentino #hazbin hotel vox #hazbin hotel velvette #evil polycule #voxval #staticmoth #i have no idea what the velvette ship names are im sorry i just refer to them as the evil polycule #art's art

[starryjkoo]

It’s really funny when people are like - but JK hung out with x person 10 times this year! - and it’s like, okay, and then he chose to spend the next 18 months, 547~ days with Jimin? 😭 You might really want to rethink that argument friend. JK had other options, other people he could have gone with, other programs he could have tried for, a later date he could have enlisted on, and yet he chose JM, and vice versa. They didn’t even have to enlist with anyone, they could have gone individually like everyone else in the group. No one was expecting them to enlist together. And this is also probably the furthest thing there is from company content or fanservice considering we’re not even going to be seeing them for the next 18 months and I doubt they’ll even talk about their time in the military. It’s just so silly. “JK and JM were never together this year!” buddy, they’re literally together RIGHT NOW 😭

#jikook #I don’t agree with the ‘they didn’t see each other all year’ thing btw #I just think it’s a really funny argument #considering the circumstances #like oh they’re going to be seeing a lot of each other #and pretty much no one else for the next 18 months pal #so where does that leave us #I'm already halfway through making another rant post 🤓 #finally spent a day catching up on everything #sorry for possible future tag spam #maybe I’ll even post my JK promo dissertation for good measure #and sorry if this seems like i'm trivializing the military #that is definitely not my intent

[sparklecarehospital]

💕 Sparklecare Update 💕

VOL 3: Pages 215-220 (VOLUME ENDING)  🌈 Click here to read!

Promo art by @chaosblast and @yoylese!

✨ Support us on Patreon!  (If you wanna see volume 4 in advance, there are pages on there already!)

✨ Updates Mondays & Thursdays ~ BUT WE ARE NOW ON HIATUS!

#sparklecare #comic #v3 #here it is... the final update of v3 #i cant believe we made it #it was so fun though #the fandom grew a lot over the course of this volume and its great to see so many people so invested #i hope you guys enjoyed it as much as we did making it <333 #also sorry that the promo posts were delayed- the update art wasnt done

[bombdotcomshop]

A little glamour shot of some of the stylish spellcaster collection. The Wizard’s Familiar earrings are restocking for sure, and a version of the silver Venom too! Pictured here is version 2, but I’ll be restocking the OG starpoint version.

#if you check my site I’ve also snuck in a mini restock of the shadowgast hourglasses #I will have a bigger restock soon! #shadowgast #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #tara the tressym #dnd wizard #critical role #I’m sorry to be self promo-ing a lot this week. this year hasn’t been the best and I’m really hoping to end it on a good note #it’s my tenth anniversary of my shop too beleive it or not #bombdotcomgeekery

[magnifiico]

We have this king named Magnifico ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* [. . .] with lightning for hands and eyes that can glow—

No, no, no, I’m totally kidding! unless ???

please like/reblog if you're interested in interacting with king magnifico of disney's wish. heavily headcanon-based, spoilers present but tagged accordingly. (see my rules page for further information)

canon tied in with my remarkable queen amaya, written by casi (´⌣`ʃƪ)

#˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ 《 promo 》 #back and settled after the holiday weekend with my family #which means none of you are safe from us 8) #the entire world: dunking on the movie hardcore #me: this is so sad alexa play despacito #bc whether you like it or not magnifico is here and WILL be witnessed in one way or another #no but fr thank you so far to the folks giving this blog a chance! #it means a lot to have even a shred of support--i can't properly express my gratitude #much less my sympathies for having to deal with this dramatic idiot but this is what you sign up for sorry 8'))) #thanks again for your interest! :D

[caramel-mocha-latte]

Hi hello!!! Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've just been dealing with some pretty bad depression

And uhhh! I am currently unable to afford meds rn so I'm just gonna...

points at my $5 headshot commissions again

and even link my cashapp. Only $3 extra for a tiny on your shoulder now for my commissions! No charge for having a big hand patting your head or something cause it's actually easier to add than a tiny for me lol

https://ko-fi.com/mocha_latte/commissions

https://cash.app/$Astakoi

So uh.. if any of you want anything/just want to help me out, yeah I'd appreciate it a bunch!

Gonna try to get back into posting more art :> and do a few artfight things before the month ends

#hate to promo commissions or even ask for anything but uh... i am not super good without my meds and will not be paid until august 5th #some irl issues (one being my health lmao) + needing gas has me very broke rn though #commissions #donations #self promo #g/t #giant/tiny #g/t community #<- i still love drawing g/t stuff! #ooo i should draw tiny honkai star rail stuff- #anyway please feel free to commission g/t stuff! idm throwing a hand in the headshot somewhere or something to show size difference #wont get into detail on irl stuff so i understand if you guys dont want to donate anything!! and if you cant commission reblogging helps #not forced though #i do hate guilt trips a lot so im not gonna do that shit #my situation isnt life or death... worst comes to worst ill just get my meds when paid! #oh also going through some gender crisis stuff lol #anyway lol sorry for the tag ramble these posts make me nervous

[dandyshucks]

blinks tiredly. i decide "hm maybe i should try to expand my circle and step outside of it a little, lets go look at the main community tags" and im just greeted with a bunch of edgelords who think saying "fiction doesn't affect reality, don't like don't read" is peak activism and "fighting censorship". head in my hands. this is partially why i do not ever go into the community tags, my nervous system cannot handle blocking fifty weirdos every single day just so i can have a normal experience in the community tags hfdsjkl

#I HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE BLOCKED ALREADY. i am TRYING to curate my experience 😭😭😭 #and i have so many tags blacklisted fjdsjkl like. so many. every single variation of tag to do with those chuckleheads #which helps avoid them a lot of the time tbh bc it'll flag posts that ppl rb if the original post was tagged w any of those #so i can avoid rbing posts that have chuckleheads as the op most of the time #i also usually double check OP's blog before i rb stuff now bc man this place is rife with these weirdos #ANYWAYS. yes i want to try to engage w the community but i do not think i can handle it if theres gonna be so many edgelords jkdslfl #the only way i follow new ppl now is when yall do promo hour and i sometimes see a new face pop up fdsjkl #every now and then i have energy to try to engage with new ppl but its so difficult when so many ppl are such insufferable edgelords !!!! #''im the nasty pr-sh-pper your parents warned you about 😎'' cool man you sound like the most insufferably obnoxious person ever. :/ #''if you like CENSORSHIP-'' i am hitting block immediately bc u have a fundamental misunderstanding of what censorship actually is 👍 #I'M TIREDDDD WHY ARE PEOPLE SO DUMB ABOUT THIS STUFF. ''fiction doesn't affect reality'' I GUESS PROPAGANDA DOESNT EXIST THEN ???? #what a strange world they live in honestly. they dont understand how stories have served humans since the dawn of time. sighing loudly. #vent // #SORRY FOR THIS ONE IM JUST. ARGH. ppl talk abt encouraging community but i think maybe im not cut out for community #i want desperately to partake but i cannot handle it if it means dealing w all these bozos #it frustrates me to no end fdhsjkl and it upsets me so much and i wish i could deal w it better but. my nervous system is broken fdsjkl #i will try to expand my circle every now and then but i cannot do it often bc of this 😭 im not going to give up entirely though fdsjkl #(also this is partially why i dont tag my posts w community tags anymore bc i am just. so scared of these freaks getting their hands on it) #(the most i'll do is s.afeship or variations every now n then bc supposedly they're not in those tags fdsjkl) #delete later #dandyshucks

[fruitageoforanges]

aegon and aemond on their wedding night in my fic

#hotd #aemond targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #aegond #aegon x aemond #hotd fanart #hotd fic #drawing aemond’s hair in this took me sooo long #sorry for the shameless self-promo but i’m very proud of this fic #lots of character study #aemond should have some old burn scars on his shoulder #but getting aegon’s scars right was hard enough #anyway have two emotionally complicated idiots #this is right before aegon bites him fkljlf #i diagnose them both with a biting kink

[ilstar]

#𝕀𝕃𝕊𝕋𝔸ℝ: a private, selective & independent multi muse featuring gorou & yoimiya of genpact among others. low & sporadic activity to be expected; sideblog to @/rikyos & written by vos 22 / any prns. minors dni. see rules , roster and info on CARRD. unaffiliated. ✰ ✰

#i'm sorry abt the timing of this SPECIFICALLY to esther i'm laughing kfj #i was going to finish blog graphics first but i can live with reusing carrd ones for the moment 😭 #⁂ 𝙶𝙴𝙽𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙻 ── ⁎ ˚ promo . ❞ #using this font a lot but it scratches my brain okay #indie rp #genshin rp #hsr rp

[deathxproof]

BURN MY HEART BABY, TAKE A PIECE, I DON’T NEED ALL OF IT

Indie Canon, AU + OC 18+ Doctor Who RP Blog playing fast & loose with canon. Offering up dramatic Time Lords and their friends on tumblr since 2013.

Sporadic activity, low formatting, VERY headcanon based & somewhat AU based, text-heavy, mildly selective. Multi-ship, multi-verse, AU, OC, crossover, etc etc friendly. Incredibly queer in here. Main Muses: (Regenerated)Susan Foreman, The Master, Rory Williams, AU! Theta & Koschei, && the Doctor. ft. AU Rory/Darvill!Master & Susan Foreman 5! &lt;333

written and maintained by Andrew Rose (25+, he/they), active for roleplay or just to chat or plot on discord too (almondmilkofficial)

#seeing a lot of promos today reminded me i still needed to repost mine >:3c #about; deathxproof #cut down on muses for now so I don’t lose my complete mind and overwhelm myself further. #The promo still fucks though #sorry for how often I’ll reblog it guys #doctor who rp #dr who rp #doctor who roleplay #dr who roleplay #susan foreman #the master #the doctor #thoschei #thoschei rp #rory williams #self promo ; #ooc !

[finexbright]

instead of listening to a banger of a no skip album, you all are out here having a discourse about something that's not even valid in this case. just listen to the album and enjoy how hard it slaps

#like sorry but i'm honestly fucking tired of seeing ''his team isn't doing enough'' #honestly his team is doing great in terms of rolling out promo and everything around it #just because his style of promo isn't the kind that other artists do doesn't mean they're not doing it correctly #like. louis' music and genre appeals to a completely different crowd and he's doing promo according to that #i don't know what you expect but his ''team'' has actually done a lot #like trying to get his music picked up on tiktok and all the twitter/ig promo all of it has been great #i know louis was sabotaged before but i do truly think he has much much more control over his music and promo this time around #so when you all say ''louis' team isn't doing promo'' you really want to say that they aren't doing YOUR standard level of promo #like. he did listening parties. he did appearances and performances. he was active on social media #and then he broke his hand and couldn't do the signings and his shows and STILL they're pushing the album hard on social media #i know we all love him and love this album but there needs to be strategies in place to get it off the ground #and it has!! the album is doing great numbers #the day you all stop comparing louis' success to other artists' success is the day you'll actually be free #you're all being so fucking irrelevant by saying all of this and doing the open letter bullshit #stop acting like you know better than louis and his actual team when it comes to things #like i know we have loads of people in the fandom who actually do know things because they work in actual marketing/promotional careers #but even then. NONE of us know louis or his team or anything about their plans. stop acting like you know better #stop acting like they're not doing things correctly #and i don't want to be rude but i KNOW this is coming from people who weren't around during walls promo and are just basing this off of #other artists promo strategies #when you compare walls promo and success to this you will realise how much active effort his team is putting into it #so yeah. just shut up and enjoy the album

[hershelwidget]

DHMIS week day 6: Dreams/Electricity !!!

Man if they were a team they’d be Solar Energy. Looks at SG&G-

@transgenderduckguy​

#dhmis #dont hug me im scared #dhmis week #dhmis fanart #dhmis lamp #dhmis electracey #because i mentioned it i have to tag it im sorry #dhmis shapeshifters guns and guilt #if i had a nickel for everytime i made a ''superpowered'' duo against a purple background and a glow effect somewhere i'd have two nickels #it's not a lot but it's weird it happened twice... looks at tony and coffin #after this week is done i'll be showing individuals for these !! cause DAMN are they PRETTY and so many details are lost in the big groups #..wait that's exactly what i promised with the sg&g promo pics. uhhhhhhh #UUHHH. ANYWAYS UHHMMM ELECTRACEY LOOKS ADORABLEE AUGH

[orpheus-lovett-thenardier]

I don’t mean to only use tumblr to promote my ao3, but I wrote a Sweeney Todd holiday one shot inspired by A Christmas Carol, if you’d like to read it!

(This is by far the longest one shot I’ve ever written, lol)

#theatre #broadway #musical theatre #musicals #sweeney todd #sweeney todd the demon barber of fleet street #mrs lovett #nellie lovett #tobias ragg #a christmas carol #help this is the longest singular chapter i have ever written #just had a lot of ideas apparently #this was partially inspired by the fact that the og broadway toby was in a christmas carol the musical in 1995 #and so was the og sweeney understudy #and both stories take place within the same time period hilariously enough #sorry again for the self promo #i’m just desperate lol #please sir can i have some kudos #what in the oliver twist was that i’m sorry #wrong charles dickens story lol

[dogcollarpunk]

#cm punk #my gifs #wet rat era #sorry dont look at me giffing old cm punk stuff #I'd like to say this is the last one (for my own sanity) but it wont b so #oozes annoying in this promo #he says you got punked and I #well I cringe out of my body <3 #his uh entire ovw stuff is uh a lot #2 me its a lot 2 me