A Tentative Tangling of Tendrils

The half-circles are called zaï! They're a traditional farming practice in the Sahel desert, and their introduction + reintroduction can be largely credited to Yacouba Sawadogo, the man linked above! He reintroduced and innovated on the zaï on his own farm in the 1980s, and did extensive outreach (along with scientist Mathieu Ouédraogo) to encourage other farmers to adopt them as well.

He also promoted the use of cordons pierreux, which are basically just lines of rocks to reduce erosion, preserve sediments, and increase water absorption.

Zuko and Katara (2/2) → Gifset 1 here

FRIENDSHIP WEEK: DAY 3 Hugs & Kisses

Well, being a Derry Girl... it's a fucking state of mind.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms 1.05

bonus humfrey hardyng reaction:

Here’s my problem, I’m a Nigerian and for those who don’t know, Nigeria was colonized by the British until 1960. If a Nigerian who moved to the UK and became a naturalized citizen decided that they wanted to become UK prime minister, would that be oppressive? Would it be oppressive for a Nigerian to become the Prime Minister of a nation that once colonized their homeland?

Or the United States (I’m not American) formerly enslaved Africans, so was Barack Obama becoming the first African American president oppressive? Since Africans used to be enslaved by the US.

Because this seems to be the logic behind the complaints about Katara having power over the Fire Nation and becoming a world leader with international reach. I mean, if this was the case, why didn’t she say she was not going to help that village in Book 3 since it would be helping the Fire Nation? Seems like she just saw people who needed help and wanted to help.

Personally, I think Katara gaining power over the Fire Nation would be a kind of poetic justice. I saw someone point out that it would be a really full circle moment for the two people who FireLord Azulon wanted to have killed within the same year ending up taking his throne and then working together to tear down everything he and his predecessors had built.

1. Broader discourse about whether zutara is a colonization fetish ship

This one gets tossed around by antis all. The. Time. Personally, I think it's a disingenuous reading of the ship that disregards their character arcs. It would be one thing if Zuko was actively perpetuating the Fire Nation's war effort, but that is never his motivation. All of his actions in season 1 and his betrayal at the end of season 2 are motivated by one thing: a child's desire to go home. When he finally gets his wish, it only takes him a few weeks to decide to join the gaang because he realizes that what the Fire Nation is doing is wrong. His reign as Fire Lord is characterized by a decolonization agenda that pissed off a lot of his own citizens. It's even canon that he devoted a lot of his efforts toward reparations and rebuilding the southern water tribe!

2. The recency of the Fire Nation’s genocide against the southern waterbenders

Even though most of the southern waterbenders were captured/killed well before Katara was born, her mother was killed as a direct result of the campaign to eradicate them. The timeline we're working with in this situation is much shorter than the gap between the abolition of slavery in the US and Obama's election or between your other example of a Nigerian British PM between 1960-now. The logic here seems to be that because the events in ATLA are so recent, Katara would face more backlash from the Fire Nation people and be forced to shrink herself to avoid ruffling feathers as a result. I think this is a fallacy. Even though slavery had ben abolished for over 100 years in the US by the time we got Obama, he and his family were still targets of virulent racism for his entire 8 years in office. I don't think that any theoretical backlash Katara would face would be worse just because the wounds are fresher; these are problems that don't just go away with the passage of time.

As you astutely pointed out, Katara wants to help anyone who is suffering, including citizens of the Fire Nation as seen in The Painted Lady. Even after the people Jang Hui discover that she's a waterbender and turn on her, she addresses them firmly and changes their minds, then continues working alongside them to improve their lives. Sounds like world leader material to me!

3. The idea that Katara would have no agency or purpose outside of producing heirs as Fire Lady

We know next to nothing about what the Fire Lady's actual responsibilities are in canon. What we do know is that Katara is a compassionate & inspiring leader, Zuko is committed to atoning for the Fire Nation's crimes, and they work insanely well together. It's not hard to imagine that if they were to get married, Katara would redefine what it means to be Fire Lady and Zuko would support her 1000%. She's never backed down from a fight, and he's never taken the easy way out once in his life. With their powers combined, I'm sure they would be able to weather any challenges they faced from Fire Nation citizens or anyone else.

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They can't fathom a queen-esque figure having any influence, and think she'd just have some powerless consort title or something. Like, that's entirely something they made up of their own biases. I can't fathom a world in which that'd be the case where Zuko and Katara wouldn't immediately change it, and where Katara wouldn't feel emboldened to fight that fight even when faced with prejudice (like she has done the whole show, making up her entire personality).

As well, it's trying to cast judgement on people who enjoy it as if they know with certainty the exact dynamic/story people make up in their minds about the ship. I agree that in-character, Katara finds purpose specifically fighting against oppression and in that vein being Fire Lady would be inherently empowering; she'd be able to do a lot of good and opposition would only make her double down. Though, I think a lot of people who use it to bash the ship have to lead with the worst-case scenario assumption of it to validate their feeling of moral superiority over the people who like it. Instead of just liking what they like and disliking what they dislike. It really says more about them than anyone else; in reality, that's how THEY would see it, and they project that onto others to then judge them for it. There's a huge difference between being like "this is how I'd see the ship, so I can't like it" and being like "this is how I'd see the ship, so anyone who likes it is liking something Bad and is Bad." That tells me immediately all I need to know about someone's intentions. (Like I think Kataang in the show is sexist and ill-begotten, but I'd never act like you'd have to be some kind of ignoramus or degen to like it. Different strokes.)

After I watched the show and thought of how they'd be together, I didn't even think about the logistics- so I was dumbfounded that so many antis insisted upon ALL Zutara shippers shipping some hyper specific Oppressive Traditional Dynamic. I was like, "Oh I didn't even THINK about that LOL." In my head they were still running around on adventures helping random people. He could just be a more proactive Fire Lord showing up in person and leaving behind a council or something to hold down the fort, he could strongarm Iroh into helping him rule, also who says there's not plenty of adventures for Katara to get into ruling the Fire Nation.

Also, it's fiction, literally anything could happen for any reason at any time. Maybe the comet turns around and destroys the place and it's only them left standing. Whoops, guess they can do whatever now! Like who's to say how others enjoy a ship or what the moral value of enjoying whatever made-up version of a story that Never Happened is? It's the same as being like "Oh you like this story where (what I interpret as) Evil Messed Up stuff happens; you must enjoy Evil stuff in the Real World!"

you rise with the moon, I rise with the sun

Zuko and Katara