PALADIN TRAVIS SUPREMACY

There’s a theory that early Europeans started saying “brown one” or “honey-eater” instead of “bear” to avoid summoning them, and similarly my friend has started calling Alexa “the faceless woman” because saying her true name awakens her from her slumber

English has an avoidance register used in the presence of certain respected animals, which sounds fancy until you realize it’s spelling out w-a-l-k and t-r-e-a-t in front of the dog.

All evil whales are, well, evil. So evil that if you speak their name at sea, they will hear it and home in on you. So instead you use all sorts of euphemisms for their names. Also if you try to cook their meat it literally disappears from the pot. That’s right, they’re so evil, you can’t even eat them.

They include such types as the hrosshvalur (horsewhale), with big eyes and a red mane and tail. This is probably the best known and most feared of the lot.

The raudkembingur (redcomb) is especially cruel and bloodthirsty even by illhveli standards. If you manage to escape it, it will die of frustration.

Good luck escaping the mushveli (mousewhale) though, it has legs! And will clamber onto the beach in pursuit!

Or what about death from above? The stökkull (jumper) leaps high into the air and pile-drives boats to pieces.

Meanwhile the skeljungur (shellwhale) sits in the path of boats and lets them get wrecked on its shelly hide…

… while the sverdhvalur (swordwhale) slices through boats with its dorsal fin.

The katthveli (catwhale) is relatively harmless though. It meows.

The same can’t be said of the lyngbakur (heatherback), a classic island fish that lets sailors get on its back and then dives, taking them to a watery grave.

The nauthveli (oxwhale) on the other hand specially targets cattle, attracting them into the sea with its bellow before tearing them apart.

How can you avoid all these murderous whales, like the taumafiskur (bridlefish) here? Any of a number of ways, including getting a steypireydur to help. There are substances, ranging from angelica to sheep dung and chopped fox testicles, that they find abhorrent. And you can distract them with loud noises and barrels.

For more, I assure you this link will answer all your questions.

https://abookofcreatures.com/category/illhveli/

Fantastic article!! The guys looking for it were fish researchers who saw it one time, knew instantly it was an undescribed species, and then tried for nearly 20 years to find and document it!

It's a type of ghost pipefish, related to seahorses, and it floats around coral reefs looking like a piece of algae and hunting unsuspecting prey

They are, of course, named after Snuffleufagus from Sesame Street!

Later on it the project, they got citizen science involved, and people across the Pacific started reporting sightings of snuffy fish from all over!

We all know that peculiar hairstyle Zuko sports in Book 1. It’s also a hair style we see on the male Sun Warriors. This hairstyle, like other facets of the Fire Nation aesthetic, is inspired by Thai culture. In this case, Zuko and the male Sun Warriors are sporting traditional Thai topknots.

In traditional Thai culture, the crown of the head is the sacred portal of the spirit of life and is not to be treated lightly, especially regarding children. This sacredness extends to the hair on the crown, resulting in top knots grown over children’s fontanels (soft spots). In practical terms, it discourages careless adults from touching the most delicate part of an infant’s developing skull. The cutting of the top knot, known in Thai as kon chuk (โกนจุก), is seen as a rite of passage and an auspicious event for children between the ages of 7 and 13.

Obviously, these implications don’t quite carry over into the Avatar-verse, since we see plenty of adult Sun Warriors sporting the ‘do. Most likely, the hairstyle is meant to add to the Southeast Asian “flavor” of the Fire Nation.

That said, I do think this cultural subtext adds new dimension to one of Zuko’s most memorable moments, whether intentional or not. When Zuko cuts off his topknot, you can essentially view it through three equally valid lenses:

If you view it through a traditional Chinese/Korean lens, Zuko is renouncing his ties to his father; Confucians viewed hair as a precious gift from one’s parents and to cut one’s hair was seen as an act of disloyalty.

If you view it through a traditional Japanese lens, Zuko is renouncing his status in Fire Nation society and abandoning his title for the life of a peasant. In Japanese culture, a samurai seeking to join a monastery or the peasantry would cut off his top knot and undergo a dramatic decline in social status.

In you view it through a traditional Thai lens, Zuko’s hair cutting is a rite of passage. He’s leaving behind childhood and beginning his journey into adulthood. There’s no denying that Zuko matures a lot after he cuts off his top knot.

All of these interpretations fit the Fire Nation as they are a combination of Chinese, Japanese, and Thai culture.

In the book “the Rise of Kyoshi” the in-universe origin of that specific hairstyle was touched upon. It said that losers of an important Agni Kai had to shave their hair like that “to symbolize an extra level of humility from their defeat”

Here’s the excerpt from the book:

What do you think about that?

My own personal fan-theory before the Kyoshi books came out was that Zuko’s near-baldness was ordered by Ozai. If hair is a beloved gift from one’s parents, then there’s a sort of twisted logic to making your child shave their head when you disown them.

Ozai’s reasoning: “You’ve shamed yourself (and your parents by extension), therefore you don’t deserve the beautiful hair bestowed upon you.”

Since Zuko does still technically possess the title of prince in Book 1 and his banishment can be lifted on the condition of finding the Avatar, he gets to keep a small remnant of his familial tie to the royal family through his ponytail/topknot. Ozai, being the asshole totalitarian that he is, probably made like an official decree that Zuko must keep his head shaved for the entirety of his banishment to “humble” him.

This would also tie into Azula’s breakdown at the end of the show. After Ozai basically abandons Azula to be Phoenix King, she’s forced to confront that she’s now been abandoned by both parents. And how does she express this anger and grief? Cutting the long, flowing hair that she inherited from them. And it causes her to hallucinate her mother, who immediately comments on the act. Even in a compromised mental state, Azula understands the weight her action.

“You can’t treat me like Zuko!” Azula despairs. And not long after that plea, she essentially recreates the psychological/physical abuse that she saw Ozai inflict upon Zuko onto herself, albeit not to the same degree. Because as far as the prideful Azula is concerned, she’s been reduced to being no better than her brother.

Did I mention that Azula is my favorite ATLA character?

Like what I’m doing? Tips always appreciated, never expected. ^_^

You can read it as:

“Jelly” is called “Jell-O” by the Brits (a comedically false statement, which also implies Americans don’t know what Jell-O is)

or

“Jelly” is the term Brits use for what American typically call “Jell-O” (true statement, likely the intended meaning yet I personally find the original sentence a BAFFLING way to phrase that)

American friends: [a message to Americans from the UK:] “Jelly” [the word in the original post] is what the Brits [us] call [refer to as] Jell-O!

vs

writing it that might make the

confusion clearer

Me: But what if that one is your best friend?

6yo: ohh. Do I know the other five?

Me: Maybe! What if you kind of like all five of them but the one person is your best friend? What do you do?

6yo: I stop the trolley. Who put kids on the trolley tracks anyway?

8yo: Can I put the president on the trolley tracks, or is that illegal?

Me: It's for sure illegal, but so is tying anybody ri trolley tracks.

8yo: That's dumb.