Love Me Please, Honey.

Here’s the thing about the air nomads.

I introduced a friend to ATLA a few nights ago, and they had only known two things about the entire show: the cabbage meme, and that Aang apparently wants to ride every large and dangerous animal he can possibly find. We got through the first five or so episodes, and my friend noted that Aang is exactly what a 12-year-old would be like if given godlike powers, and that this is literally just what he could do with airbending. He can’t even wield any of the other elements, and he’s one of the most powerful people on the planet, because he’s an airbender.

And that got me thinking.

This snippet from Bitter Work is one of the few pieces of concrete information we get about the airbenders, at least in ATLA. Iroh is explaining to Zuko how all four of the elements connect to the world and to each other.

Fire is the element of power, of desire and will, of ambition and the ability to see it through. Power is crucial to the world; without it, there’s no drive, no momentum, no push. But fire can easily grow out of control and become dangerous; it can become unpredictable, unless it is nurtured and watched and structured.

Earth is the element of substance, persistence, and enduring. Earth is strong, consistent, and blunt. It can construct things with a sense of permanence; a house, a town, a walled city. But earth is also stubborn; it’s liable to get stuck, dig in, and stay put even when it’s best to move on.

Water is the element of change, of adaptation, of movement. Water is incredibly powerful both as a liquid and a solid; it will flow and redirect. But it also will change, even when you don’t want it to; ice will melt, liquid will evaporate. A life dedicated to change necessarily involves constant movement, never putting down roots, never letting yourself become too comfortable.

We see only a few flashbacks to Aang’s life in the temples, and we get a sense of who he was and what kind of upbringing he had.

This is a preteen with the power to fucking fly. He’s got no fear of falling, and a much reduced fear of death. There’s a reason why the sages avoid telling the new avatar their status until they turn sixteen; could you imagine a firebender, at twelve years old, learning that they were going to be the most powerful person in the whole world? Depending on that child, that could go so badly.

But the thing about Aang, and the thing about the Air Nomads, is that they were part of the world too. They contributed to the balance, and then they were all but wiped out by Sozin. What was lost, there? Was it freedom? Yes, but I think there’s something else too, and it’s just yet another piece of the utter brilliance of the worldbuilding of ATLA.

To recap: we have power to push us forward; we have stability to keep us strong; we have change to keep us moving.

And then we have this guy.

The air nomads brought fun to the world. They brought a very literal sense of lightheartedness.

Sozin saw this as a weakness. I think a lot of the world did, in ATLA. Why do the Air Nomads bother, right? They’re just up there in their temples, playing games, baking pies in order to throw them as a gag. As Iroh said above, they had pretty great senses of humour, and they didn’t take themselves too seriously.

But that’s a huge part of having a world of balance and peace.

It’s not just about power, or might, or the ability to adapt. You can have all of those, but you also need fun. You need the ability to be vulnerable, to have no ambitions beyond just having a good day. You need to be able to embrace silliness, to nurture play, to have that space where a very specific kind of emotional growth can occur. Fun makes a hard life a little easier. Fun makes your own mortality a little less frightening to grasp. Fun is the spaces in between, that can’t be measured by money or military might. Fun is what nurtures imagination, allows you to see a situation in a whole new light, to find new solutions to problems previously considered impossible.

Fun is what makes a stranger into a friend, rather than an enemy.

Fun helps you see past your differences.

Fun is what fuels curiosity and openmindedness.

Masterpost of  Aliens

by Fatalitum

Everyone loves aliens in some way or another. I mean really, who doesn’t? This masterpost covers movies as well as books, short films, documentaries, etc. All sorts of really cool stuff. Anything marked with a “*” is available on Netflix (or Steam for video games) to my current knowledge. Now remember, Netflix is petty as hell and takes stuff down and posts it again all the time to don’t send hate mail because you can’t instantly stream Cowboys & Aliens!! I hope you guys enjoy everything, I worked hard on this and hope you get use out of it.

Alien Movies (Gray aliens first, then nontraditional aliens)

Signs (2002)

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Communion (1989)

Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Dark Skies (2013)*

Paul (2011)

Alien Abduction (2012)*

Alien (1979)

Aliens (1986)

Alien 3 (1992)

Alien: Resurrection (1997)

AVP (2004)

AVP: Requiem (2007)

Prometheus (2012)

War of the Worlds (1953)

War of the Worlds (2005)

Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

Predator (1987)

Predator 2 (1990)

Predators (2010)

Avatar (2009)

District 9 (2009)

The Thing (1982)

The Thing (2011)

Cloverfield (2007)

Independence Day (1996)

Men in Black (1997)

Men in Black II (2002) *

Men in Black III (2012)

Super 8 (2011)

Battle Los Angeles (2011)

The Faculty (1998)

Books about Aliens (Fiction) - No links to most of these, sorry!

The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle – 1974

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson – 2006

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton – 1969

The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells – 1898

Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke – 1953

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein – 1959

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – 1985

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham – 1951

The Course of Empire by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth – 2005

A Matter For Men by David Gerrold – 1983

Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney – 1955

The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin – 1976

Ring of Charon by Roger MacBride Allen – 1990

Evolution’s Shore by Ian McDonald – 1995

Pandora’s Planet by Christopher Anvil – 1973

Books about Aliens/UFOs (Nonfiction) - Links show general pricing

The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects by Edward J Ruppelt (1960)

Flying Saucer Pilgrimage by Bryant and Helen Reeve (1965)

Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky by Carl Jung (1979)

The UFO Experience By J Allen Hynek (1998)

The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel (2002)

Messengers of Deception by Jacques Vallée (1979)

Report on Communion by Ed Conroy (1990)

Remarkable Luminous Phenomena in Nature by William Corliss (2001)

The Trickster and the Paranormal by George Hansen (2001)

Out of the Shadows by David Clarke and Andy Roberts (2002)

Alien Short Films

Lifted (2006)

9 Minutes (2015)

Phil·a·del·phi·a (2007) – This one is very ambiguous but worth a watch

Time Trap (2014)

Slumber Party Alien Abduction (2013)

R’ha (2013)

The Landing (2015)

88:88 (2012)

Alien Disrupts Marriage Proposal (2014)

The Invasions (2010)

Vengeance (2015)

Predator: Dark Ages (2015)

Must See Alien Documentaries

The Truth Behind: UFOs (2011)*

The Truth Behind: UFOs Over Phoenix (2009)*

Aliens on the Moon: The Truth Exposed (2014)*

Best Evidence: Top 10 UFO Sightings (2007)*

UFOs the Secret History (2010)*

UFO: The Secret NASA Transmissions (2015)

UFO Files: Real UFOs (2005)

The Hidden Hand: Alien Contact and the Government Cover-Up (2013)*

Fastwalkers (2006)

The Day Before Disclosure (2010)

The Roswell UFO Incident (1994)

I Know What I Saw (2014)

Cool Websites About Aliens

ABDUCT.COM - Research centre in to the alien abduction experiences.

AREA X - the fastest growing conspiracy community on the internet.

ALIENS THE TRUTH - A very interesting website with a nice look and feel, and lots of video and picture content. well worth a look

ALIEN ASTRONOMER - An web site with a breakdown of subjects, & lots of downloads, info, & documents

ALIEN UFOS .COM - This website is devoted to the study of the existence UFOs (UFOlogy) and extraterrestrial life as well as any contact they have had with the US government and military.

CROP CIRCLE CONNECTOR , Is the One and only crop circle website you will need, tons of pictures and reports

CUFON, the Computer UFO Network, a free 24 hour service offering lots of UFO information.

DEBS UFO CLEARINGHOUSE This is a great site, full of interesting content, and voted in the top 5% of all websites on the net!

THE HULL UFO SOCIETY - If you live in or near Hull this should be the first point of contact for you, with local info and resources.

THE GALAXIES MOST WANTED… This site exposes Ufologies most infamous charletans.

IN SEARCH OF… Excellant resource site for UFO’s and all unexplained phenomenon.

KORNI’S UFO SITE - Lots of links and interesting content!

ORTK, Operation Right to knows webpage is basic but work a look if only to help in the UFO info fight.

SKYNET, An excellant site for UFO video’s, and photos.

CROWDED SKIES - archived websites of these websites

Cool Online Games About Aliens

Predator

War of the Worlds

War of the Worlds – Webcam required… this one is really fun!

Star Wars

Dark Base

Alien Attack 3D!!!

Being One

UFO Racing

Run (Fair warning… this one is genuinely TERRIFYING!!!)

Infested Space

Skinwalker

Aliens

Check out this website for all kinds of scary online games!

This site too

Scary-ish Alien Video Games - Those marked with an asterisk * are available on Steam for WIN/MAC and I would highly suggest checking that out first since it’s almost always the cheapest way to go. GameStop also has amazing sales on the weekends. (The other day I got Alien Isolation AND Evolve for like $20)

Alien: Isolation (2014)* on WIN/MAC/PS4/PS3/XBOX1/

Alien vs Predator (2010)* on WIN/PS3/XBOX360

Gears of War (2006-) XBOX1/360 ONLY

Mass Effect (2008)* on WIN/PS3/XBOX360

Dead Space (2008)* on WIN/PS3/XBOX360/WII

Stasis (2015)* on WIN/MAC

Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth (2006)* on PC ONLY

Evolve (2015)* on WIN/PS4/XBOX1 (more monsters than aliens, but it’s fun nonetheless)

Area 51 (2005) PS2 ONLY

Half Life (1998)* on WIN/MA/PS2

Silent Hill franchise (1999-) PS1/2/¾ ONLY (depending on game)

The Thing (2002) PS2 ONLY

Also: Best horror games available on MAC. Because most video game companies have been fairly slow to make their games compatible with Apple Computers, I did not limit this category simply to “alien” games. They’re all horror, though.

Alien: Isolation (2014)*

BioShock, 2, Infinite (2007 - 2013)*

The Darkness II (2012)*

Soma (2015)*

Slender: The Eight Pages and The Arrival (2013)*

Don’t Starve *

The Walking Dead, Season 2 (2012-2013)*

Metro: Last Light Redux (2014)*

DOOM 3 (2004)

petting cats: 💜💗💖💜💗💜💗💖💜💗💜💗💖💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💗💜💖💜💖💜💗💜💖💜

💕Love:

Rose + black tea + cocoa husk

Rose + Lavender + chamomile

Hibiscus + Vanilla

Hibiscus + rosehip + apple + licorice + orange + raspberry

Strawberry + apple + lemon

Cinnamon + sweet plum + ginger + fig

Green tea + jasmine

Chamomile + vanilla

Raspberry + pomegranate

Green tea + rose + orange

🌔Calmness:

Chamomile + rose + lemon

Chai + vanilla

Oolong + jasmine

Ginger + lemon

Chamomile + mint

Cinnamon + mint

Vanilla + mint

Rose + mint + lemongrass

Green tea + lemon balm

Passionflower + green tea

Sage + rose

🌱Centering/grounding

(drink before a ritual or spell)

When drinking tea before grounding/centering, make sure there is no caffeine. Grounding is all about balancing your energy, caffeine creates an imbalance by adding a kick of energy to our bodies.

Chamomile + lemon

Licorice root + peppermint + lemonbalm

Sage + lemon

Ginger + clover

Dandelion + rose

Peppermint + ginger

Rooibos (red tea)+ sage

Chamomile + green tea + lemon

☀️Happiness:

Rose + lemon

Mint + ginger + pomegranate + raspberry

Red tea + berries + rose

Apricot + almond

Black tea + black berries + raspberries

Lemon + orange + ginger

Lemongrass + apple + ginger

Rosehip + apple + citrus

Rosehip + hibiscus + blueberry + sage

Apple + cherry + hibiscus + licorice

Kiwi + lime + ginger

Vanilla + pear + ginger + lemongrass

Moonlight Serenade playing from another room