#worked really really hard on it

[nateconnolly]

What Does the Lion Turtle Chant Mean?

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

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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. 

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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

[whaledocboi]

ai generated images make me increasingly sad and tired the more i see them in more and more casual contexts. i dont know how to explain, but it just fills the world with a bunch of nothing. no matter how visually stunning the pictures might be, there's nothing behind it for me. no dedication, no emotions, no feelings, no hard work or creativity, nothing i can truly think about, admire or enjoy. i dont think thats how art is supposed to be

#not to mention ripping off and plagirazing real artists hard work of course #which is a whole other conversation #i cant feel the same love and adoration for whatever the slop machine produces #it will never be the same #im just really tired #anti ai #anti ai art

[anotherpapercut]

yesterday I went to a little meeting at my local queer community center and I was admiring their bookshelves and mentioned that I work at the public library and someone said "well I bet they don't have any [LGBTQ+ books] at our library" and I was like um. yes we do. we have tons of them. half of our employees are queer leftists so they said "oh well I bet they don't in [nearby rural county]" and I was like uh once again yes they absolutely do. gay people live and work there as well

so here's a quick reminder that if you don't think your local library has enough queer centered materials you should actually check before assuming, and if you're not satisfied with their collection you should submit a request for more such books. I don't know what the political landscape of libraries looks like outside the us rn, but within the us no matter where you are, I promise you there are employees at your library fighting for inclusion and intellectual freedom and they can't win without vocal public support

#literally maddening thing to hear #we were fucking at pride this year #i know missouri is a hell hole but there are people working really fucking hard to make it better and we could use some support here #just fucking go to your local libraries website right now literally right this second #and look around #you may be shocked at the stuff you discover there

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

#writeblr #warm up #this is longer than i wanted i really considered removing that part about myself and what i went thru #but i think it really fucking bothers me that EVERY time i talk about being an artist #ppl assume i just like. had the skill and ability to drop everything and pay for grad school. #like sir i grew up poor. my house wasn't a safe space. i gave up a FREE RIDE TO LAW SCHOOL. for THIS. bc i chose it. #was it fucking hard? was i choosing the hard thing?? yes. #but we need to stop seeing artists as lazy layabouts that can ''afford'' to just ''sit around and create'' #when MANY - if not MOST - of us are NOT like that. we have to work our fucking ASSES off. hard work. long and hard work #part of valuing artists is recognizing the amount we sacrifice to make our art. bc it doesn't just #like HAPPEN to us. also btw it rarely has anything to do with true talent. #speaking as someone with a chronic condition i hate when ppl are like u have it easy. like actively as i'm writing this my hands r #ACTIVELY hurting me. i haven't been posting bc my left hand was curled in a claw for the last week #this isn't fucking luck. after a certain point it's not even TALENT. it's dedication & sacrifice. #''u get to flounce around and do nothing with ur life'' is a narrative that is a direct result of capitalism #imagine if we said that about literally any other profession. #''oh so u give up 10 yrs of ur life to be a doctor? u sacrifice having a social life and u get SUPER in debt? #u need to work countless hours and it will often be thankless? well i wish i was that lucky'' #we should be applying that logic to landlords ONLY #''oh ur mom and dad gave u the money to buy a house? and all u did was paint it white and rent it? huh.''

[ferretenjoyernineteen19]

[tw: gore, horror content]

Not sure how much the mlp infection AU has taken over tumblr yet, but I hope you enjoy my take regardless! :3

#my little pony #mlp #mlp virus #mlp infection au #mlp infected au #fluttershy #twilight sparkle #my art #horror art #fanart #really loved making this actually #working in grayscale was hard but definitely worth it #mlp brainrot #save me mlp brainrot #mlp brainrot save me #ferretenjoyerart

[zosanbrainrot]

this is how I see them

#sanji turned out so good and was just a quick thing so I had to add zoro #but for some reason he was super hard to draw for me this time #anyway this is how I see them #post battle staying up late on the deck drinking themselves silly to the point they forget to pretend to hate each other and just talk #maybe eating some snacks sanji had made #'we really almost died again didnt we' #looking at each other a couple of seconds too long before averting eyes #letting the mind wonder #zosan #zoro #sanji #one piece #my art #roronoa zoro #vinsmoke sanji #ETERNAL PINING HELL #im drawing these while on google meet at work

[cemeterything]

my mom has a degree but it's a degree in homeopathy of all things which always makes me think of this tweet

#🐉 #like she really did work hard for it but girl. not this.

[intotheelliwoods]

must not.. overthink... must NOT overthink shit. magic... must not.... logic brain... my poor poor logic brain....

Response to this aha

#rottmnt #nonsense #IM SORRY #I HAVE SUCH A LOGIC ORIENTATED BRAIN #Its so hard for me to pass things off as “magic” or “because thats just how it works” lmaoo #I need ANSWERS I need REASONING #friendly reminder im majoring in science #it shoes doesnt it #sigh. #my science major *really* shines through here actually

[peaceandlove26]

wip of my new favorite baby, designed by graymutual, currently unnamed but definitely a twiluna child

#ummm guys i promise i won’t make a new nextgen in my head because i can’t just make my nextgens have siblings apparently….! #mlp #name suggestions super welcome btw. i thought about wishing star maybe. the last time i named a character wishing star though she was kind #of evil and this girl is really not at all #i might end up tweaking the colors just a bit because some of them are hard to work with in my lineless style i realized. but i dont want to #ruin them… #also i will keep the tail being outlandishly big and fluffy. i didn’t draw it big enough in the sketch

[fmayyy]

Some more human Al’s

Not a deer yet but definitely a party animal 🤙

#alastor #human alastor #alastor fanart #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fanart #my art #still not really happy with the way I draw him but idk I’m getting there! #my style is just funamentally sooooooo different from the style of the series #that translating it is sooooo hard wahhhhh #but I will work on it some more and eventually land on something I’m happy with #he just doesn’t look deranged enough yet but WERE GETTING THERE #1k

[ghostsberry]

show off

#tf2 #unfortunately scout is blocking heavys arm that i worked rlly hard on :/ #pretty messy but i really liked painting it #i have so much fun drawing them they would have a lot a great comedic potential haha #scout tf2 #heavy tf2 #team fortress 2 #fanart #my art #artists on tumblr #illustration #sketch

[wingly-coded]

Oh, we couldn't bring the columns down

Yeah, we couldn't destroy a single one

And the history books forgot about us

And the Bible didn't mention us, not even once

#i worked so hard on making him so sad you guys #he's really really sad #good omens #good omens fanart #crowley

[neveromininart]

⚔ An immortal is dead and you're holding the murder weapon. ⚔

Sunset Phoenix is an action/mystery comic about an immortal kingpin and her criminal spy who were framed for the murder of a rival, and are trying to find the real killer before time runs out and the city succumbs to war.

Also I made it and worked hard on it and I think you should check it out because it's cool :)

#bro I worked on this for MONTHS #sunset phoenix #webtoon #anime #indie anime #animation #indie animation #comic #manga #If you think it's cool I would really TRULY greatly appreciate it if you could share #The series has been in the negative numbers-wise since the start and I've been fighting really hard to get them up #Reviews are really positive #I just hope people see it!

[pancakemolybdenum]

@josuyasuweek-2024 day 3: hospital / holidays / fake dating

emergency hair treatment

#josuyasu #josuyasu week #josuyasu week 2024 #was supposed to qualify for the fake dating thing too kiiinda but its hard to make clear visually and im bad at writing dialogue #but u can pretend they lied so okuyasu could visit or some bullshit like that. not that it works like that really but who cares #lovisas art #josuke higashikata #okuyasu nijimura

[fiendishartist2]

redraw of this post from bunnyfarm's release

kofi|instagram

#my last piece kinda disappointed me just bc i feel like i can do better #idk i think my style is taking a turn and im not sure how to work w it yet. i like messy art that looks kind of childish?- #-if that makes sense #but that kind of clashes w my way of drawing and i also have like no energy or creativity left bc of school </3 so its hard to draw #at least stuff that i really like that are like fully rendered and not just doodles or character standing w white background lol #so i took inspo from an old piece of mine to make this and sort of update it and i really like it!! i think my colours are way better #in the original they were kinda washed out i think and this is a lot more striking #me when primary colours #my art #digital art #artists on tumblr #the walten files #twf #bunnyfarm #sophie walten #jack walten #felix kranken #twf spoilers #tw eyestrain

[greelin]

“personally i think body hair is FUCKING NASTYYYYYYYYYYY icky yucky gross but you do you🤗 i would never say that. out loud. even though i just did. and i don’t view you any differently btw” do you guys hear yourself. like genuinely do you think about the language you use. at all

#some of you really do need to get decked i think. Just once #you do not need to be using words like this. it’s not hard. #and people are even doing it on this post! so funny. wild. how that works