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metellastella · 1 day

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oh god you don’t know how much this hit me, friars are such a strong running theme in a story I’m writing and also a song I wrote that I adapted into it later

#songwriting #writing #writing memes #writers #writers on tumblr #writing humor #meme #artists on tumblr #spirituality #monk #there’s a reason I’m hyper fixated on Aang ok #different sides of the world- but SAME VIBE

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metellastella · 1 day

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The sad thing is, it’s HARD nowadays to even FIND beta readers. FFN had a fairly active community section for it in ye olden days, but now it’s dried up.

If anyone knows online locations where this networking might occur now, PLEASE let me know.

I’ve included this plea in my Pinned Post for years now, and it may be because I’m not well-known in the least, but I’ve never heard a peep in response about it.

do you know where "no beta we die like x" comes from and how it is used?

The term "beta" in this context is short for "beta reader" - a person who reads a fic while it's still in the editing stage and helps the writer get it ready to post. Some betas check grammar. Some check canon compliance. Some are sensitivity readers. There are lots of things that betas can do.

So functionally, saying "no beta" means that the writer didn't get this checked by a second person before they posted it. It's a warning that there might be errors or typos etc. It's mostly used when an author has written something quickly and is posting without doing a lot of (or any) edits first.

As for where it comes from? It all started with a bumper sticker.

This image was an internet meme at one point, and it got meme'd on in the form of "no ___ we ___ like men"

Here on tumblr, one of the versions that got really popular was from now-deleted user @grec1a who created this version:

From there, it migrated to AO3 as the "no beta we die like men" tag, and very often the word men is replaced by the name of a character who dies in canon.

#fanfic #writer #writer problems #editing #beta reader #fandom old

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metellastella · 1 day

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Live footage of Aang simultaneously letting out ALL, every last ounce, of his frustration at how the world has gone topsy turvy in the past 100 years and also dodging Azula like a BEAST

#aang #you couldn’t have made a more Aang-coded piece of content if you tried #for a thousand years #azula #princess azula #avatar aang #aanglove #atla #avatar the last airbender #tagging aangzula because it’s funny #azulaang

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metellastella · 1 day

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me except it’s for writing

I made something

#writer #writer’s block #writer’s problems #novels #original writing #fanfiction #doesn’t matter which

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metellastella · 2 days

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If these people caught someone masked on camera stealing their one year old female dog with clear intent to spirit them away to some shady, filthy, miserable puppy mill place, would they keep THEIR cool? I think not.

All Aang had to go on was an apparently reputable and trustworthy adult- a guy whose established quest was knowledge- earlier in the episode EMPHATICALLY drive off sandbenders when they so much as LOOKED at Appa.

Danger.

great danger

from someone who clearly knew what he was on about

(Same guy who affectionately and respectfully said, ‘are you the last of your kind?’ to Appa)

Aang had no idea what these people intended. Appa would make countless good coats to sell to a different climate market OR a good source of food.

He’s one step away from a cow, after all. (cow-hog, for this universe)

Nobody knows what a flying bison even IS anymore.

Remember when he commented on ‘dead animals’ adorning the walls in Bato’s tent in the first season? Yeah.

Aang is genre savvy. He knows what world he inhabits.

If these Aang haters were in a country where it’s normal to eat dogs, and their dog went suddenly missing? Well your companion isn’t NECESSARILY dead! Maybe just lost! Let’s see how well THEY handle having their pet in potential mortal danger.

Never mind the background of having your entire rest of a human family butchered.

What about the Aang antis who say his trauma is not important because he lost the air nomads a 100 years ago or when they lost Appa?

I swear to God, this fandom is so fucking stupid when it comes to understanding how trauma works, that if Zuko didn't literally have a physical reminder of it on his damn face, fans would claim Ozai did not abuse him (they already to it to Azula after all).

IMAGINE thinking that "You lost everyone you ever knew and loved at once" is something that stops hurting EVER. And while yeah, they died 100 years ago, Aang was frozen during all that time, and only found out about what happened when Katara and Sokka accidentally freed him. He did NOT have 100 years to process what happened, he literally had this massive trauma to deal with while having the new burden of "If you don't master all the elements, something that took every other Avatar years to accomplish, in just a few months, everyone is gonna fucking die."

Seriously, people are constantly giving Aang shit for being immature or acting too much like a kid (spoilers: HE IS ONE, YOU DIPSHITS!), but considering the trauma of, again, LOSING LITERALLY EVERYONE HE KNEW AND LOVED IN A BLINK OF AN EYE, that kid is super well-adjusted. I would have spent a whole week crying, then walk into the ocean because what's the point of anything anymore?

As for the Appa thing, I've said it all once, and I'll say it again.

1 - Appa is literally meant to have a spiritual bond with Aang that cannot be broken even in death (see Roku and his dragon, who not only chose to die with him but also is still helping him out in the spirit world).

2 - Appa is one of the few things Aang did NOT lose. Literally the only other living reminder of his "old life" is Bumi - who was being held prisoner by the Fire Nation at the time.

3 - Appa is one of the few surviving things from the air-nomads. Losing him is a tragedy not just to Aang, but to the whole world.

4 - APPA WAS LITERALLY CAPTURED! Who the hell would be okay with hearing "By the way, someone you love was kidnapped and you might never see them again. In fact, they could be dead right now"

Trying to act like Aang was overreacting when he lost Appa or when he found out about the genocide of his people is pure bad-faith reading. It's like being mad at Zuko for falling for Ozai's trap on the day of the eclipse, like he would not be extremelly vulnerable in such a position - Ozai has been his abuser for years AND Zuko, naturally, was desperate to find out what the hell to his mother.

It's assuming that the characters daring to show EMOTION is a bad thing because "it affects the plot", as if "trauma informs a character's decisions" is not the point in the first place. Nope, the story would totally be much better if Avatar was pure exposition all the time instead of having anyone CARE about anything ever, and we especially can't have the protagonist be emotionally attached to anything and thus be sympathetic to us - just look at how well that worked in the Shyamalam movie!

#foreshadowing #atla #aang & appa #vegetarian #avatar the last airbender #aang defense squad #pro aang #if you have an attention span longer than 18 minutes you see the setup for what a tragedy this is in Professor Zei’s words and disposition #i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again #you don’t have to have a magic flying bison to understand this kid #I mean petting a cow at a sanctuary would probably help #but not required #animal welfare

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metellastella · 2 days

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Gonna make a masterpost for Pastel Punk Aang takes here real soon.

I'm tired of people defining Aang as this boring little vanilla guy. Aang helped Katara destroy a factory. He participated in Toph's scams. He shrugged off Katara's theft of the waterbending scroll and heartily laughed at her jokes about it. He was delighted by the Painted Lady ruse. He mastered airbending at twelve and the avatar state at thirteen. He snooped around the old ship after Katara said it was booby trapped and dared her to follow and stepped up to take the blame when it went badly and then surrendered himself to protect the village because he knew he could hand everyone on that ship their asses and escape. He outright lied to two communities that had been bickering for a century to get them to stop. He egged on Katara when she decided to throw hands with Pakku. He wants to ride every big animal in the world ("they don't like being ridden but that's what makes it fun" -unhinged take). He has sick burns for everyone which are doubly funny because they're almost always unintended as such. He threw a clandestine dance party in the nation that banned dancing and thought he was dead and wanted him dead. Before that he corrected and argued with teachers, beat a bully without lifting a finger and then brought his teenage friends to pose as his parents. The whole Bonzu Pippipadaleopsicopolis the Third thing. The being idiots with Sokka in Ba Sing Se thing with the bowing and the busboys disguises. He rightfully asked "what's cosmic power compared to a girl". Let's add all the badass stuff he does as a bender and as the Avatar up to and including energybending and the conversation with Koh the Face Stealer. That time in The Chase when he finished the fur trail and then decided to just sit down, sleep deprived, to wait and face whoever it was chasing them. Aang is one of the funniest and coolest characters I've ever seen and he deserves more respect. Absolutely unhinged kid with immense powers and the world is lucky he's goofy and has a good heart.

#pastel punk #aang #atla #avatar the last airbender #aang defense squad #pro aang

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metellastella · 2 days

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Aang outcunted everyone in this intro

#avatar the last airbender #atla #aang #tlok

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metellastella · 2 days

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TBH I think the peaceful monks were the type to administer herbal painkillers. They wouldn’t be all ‘tough guy’ about it.

But, if they weren’t, this dovetails into explaining why he can go through so much emotional pain (emotional pain uses the same brain pathways as physical pain) and still stay centered.

He was ‘prepped’ for it.

The reason he didn’t airbend Zuko off that pier (or firebend for that matter) in TSR for ridiculing his genocided people is because said genocided people reluctantly inflicted severe pain on a twelve year old because he insisted even if he could’ve waited to get them, at their suggestion.

/headcanon

aang’s first sweet tats

#the southern raiders #atla #aang #air nomads #monk gyatso #the idea that monk Gyatso would have let them do this to Aang is NO BUENO #fanon #headcanon

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metellastella · 2 days

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my little character study of aang.... because i love him more than anything

check out sokka here!

prints | ko-fi

#atla #avatar the last airbender #a:tla #atla fanart #avatar aang #aang fanart

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metellastella · 3 days

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RIGHT NOW.

Anytime you see the word “waffling” or “yapping” being used to dismiss a long entry of some kind, say “Do you mean TL;DR?”

Or, if it fits better to the sitch, “Would you like a TL;DR?” meaning, “would you like a summary?”

TL;DR needs to make a comeback

“Can I have a TL;DR?”

This is a perfectly reasonable request to make. We should do that instead of subtly implying the other person is “wrong” or “bad” for having and writing a lot of thoughts.

If one does not have enough motivation, or mental energy, or brainspace at a given point in time to seriously consider or parse a long response, THAT IS FINE. We’re all operating on probably not enough sleep and more stress than humanity has ever had to deal with pre-modern-era.

We have more information coming at us than ever before. Feeling like digesting ALL of it is simply not going to happen. You’re allowed to opt out.

HOWEVER.

It is NOT fine to not OWN that, identify it as your own shortfall, and by using this as a neutral phrase, acknowledge that the other person’s thoughts are also valid.

Please reblog.

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metellastella · 4 days

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if i think about aang for too long ill start crying. this poor bby went through literal hell because of sozin’s greedy bastard ass.

because of sozin, he was told too early that he was the avatar. he was TWELVE and had the weight of the world on his small shoulders. everyone he knew started treating him differently even tho he was the same person he’d always been. the monks wanted him training all the time and his friends didn’t want to play with him anymore because it’d be “unfair” (mind you, aang had always been more advanced at airbending than them. the avatar title just made him “too skilled”). and to top it all off, the monks wanted him and gyatso separated because of his avatar responsibilities. his childhood was literally swept away from him before a war even started.

and then when he was freed from the ice, he was crushed with the realization that a century had passed by. he had to come to terms with the fact that everyone he knew had already passed within that time. but the grief didn’t end there because he was then hit with the fact that not only were the ppl in his previous life dead, but EVERY single air nomad had been murdered. there was not a single person alive who shared his culture or native bending element. he was completely alone. he was the sole survivor of a genocide. a genocide that SOZIN directed in search of him. imagine waking up one day and being told that everyone who is like you has been killed because the perpetrators were looking for you and you alone. i think i’d die from heartbreak man. aang’s grief… he’s so damn strong for being able to even smile let alone be a shining symbol of hope for other people.

and then to be hunted down everywhere he went as he quickly tried learning all the elements, knowing that his friends were in danger because they were helping him, and that their futures relied on his ability to rise to the occasion at TWELVE. every other avatar had time. they were able to grow up a little before being sent off at 16 to complete their training for several years. aang was 12 and had a strict timeline (only a few months) for becoming a realized avatar. he was a BABY

and then when he ended the war and all the nations began rebuilding, he assisted everyone as the avatar and only air nomad left. he saw every nation in the crowd at zuko’s coronation. every nation except for his own. because there was no one left. just him. a child.

sozin when i catch you-

#atla #avatar the last airbender #aang defense squad #aang #avatar aang #air nomad genocide #kuzon & aang #aang & kuzon

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metellastella · 6 days

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Here’s a showtunes song that I think fits Aang. God-willing I’ll do a more polished version with actual warmup later. Haha

commentary at the end of the post

and here’s some bagua sketchies

Everything has its season

Everything has its time

Show me a reason and I'll soon show you a rhyme

Cats fit on the windowsill

Children fit in the snow

Why do I feel I don't fit in anywhere I go?

Rivers belong where they can ramble

Eagles belong where they can fly

I've got to be where my spirit can run free

Gotta find my corner of the sky

Every man has his daydreams

Every man has his goal

People like the way dreams have of sticking to the soul

Thunderclouds have their lightning

Nightingales have their song

And don't you see I want my life to be

Something so much more than long...

Rivers belong where they can ramble

Eagles belong where they can fly

I've got to be where my spirit can run free

Gotta find my corner of the sky

So many men seem destined

To settle for something small

But I won't rest until I know I'll have it all

So don't ask where I'm going

Just listen when I'm gone

And far away you'll hear me singing softly to the dawn:

Rivers belong where they can ramble

Eagles belong where they can fly

I've got to be where my spirit can run free

Gotta find my corner

Of the sky

I tried to very deliberately sandpaper out as much femininity in the enunciation as I could in order to emulate a young boy, seeing as I just re-watched Ember Island Players and am really incensed on behalf of our boi and the weaponized femmephobia therein. Coulda had a legit moral in there about ‘it’s ok to be femme’ but it had to be just making fun of him. ._.

Brings to mind the hypocrisy inherent in the writing of the episode Bitter Work.

Maybe I’ll post another sound bite in this same altered key to demonstrate the difference between this recording and my normal voice.

Might even go hogwild and do the original key for Katara or Toph. But which 🤔