"Yes"

max’s 500 followers celebration!

hear me out, the whole song is about taylor during the 1989 era. she is rebekah. let’s take a step back to the 1989 era and remember how iconic her 4th of july parties used to be. so big that the first year she didn’t throw one, that was the biggest news of the day that year.

in the song she states “rebekah gave up on the rhode island set forever.” which is a reference to her not really being at her rhode island home any longer.

she continues on to say “flew in all the bitch pack friends from the city” and as we all know, taylor had the biggest “squad” of this time and everyone wanted to be her friends, but then they all left in 2016. this leads straight into “filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names” which would reference all of the celebrity friends she had at this time. also a direct correlation to “this is why we can’t have nice things” because “it was so nice throwing big parties. jumping to the pool from the balcony. everyone swimming in a champagne sea.”

the next line states “and blew through the money on the boys and the ballet” which is basically her way of stating that she flew through all these friends and they all left, and flying through boys would reference how she’s always been considered a serial dater.

Aang:

Katara:

Sokka:

Toph:

Zuko:

Azula:

Uncle Iroh:

Ty-Lee:

Mai:

BASEBALL

how non-linear zuko’s recovery is. it would’ve been easy and dramatic to have zuko do his heel-face-turn at the end of series 2, because the whole season was dedicated to him finding a new place in the world and realising the wrongs of the fire nation. the fact that he actually hits rock bottom at the end of season 2 feels far more real, as well as sending a more important message. when zuko decides to help aang in season 3, it’s a decision he has made completely by himself, not because of circumstance or Iroh’s advice. he’s separated from his uncle, has regained his title of crown prince, and has his father’s (conditional) respect. he’s no longer outcast and making the best of a bad situation, nor doing what his uncle suggests. his time in the earth kingdom with Iroh informs his character development, but at the end of the day, he is the one that manages to get himself out of his toxic mindset, which is one of the most powerful messages about recovery I’ve seen in fiction. 

the way aang and katara’s relationship is handed in season 3. while ‘the day of black sun’ does fall into the trope of aang kissing katara out of nowhere as a bold romantic gesture, I adore that in the ‘ember island players’, when aang tries to kiss her again, they actively challenge it. katara rightfully says that she’s confused and there’s too much going on for her to make sense of her feelings, aang kisses her anyway, and she pushes him away. it’s made clear that aang is in the wrong for disregarding her feelings. when they finally kiss again, it’s katara who initiates, and that teaches a subtle but hugely important message to children about consent. 

the magic system is more than just a bunch of cool powers. each element is tied to a specific philosophy and way of thinking. we get the sense that aang achieving ‘balance’ is about more than mastering powerful abilities - it’s about spending time with multiple cultures, studying multiple perspectives on life, and finding harmony between them.

while the energy bending introduction was a little bit of an ass pull, the final episodes raised an incredibly complex issue - namely, the debate of whether it is ever right to kill. given that it’s a kids’ show, I’ve never been in the camp of thinking that aang should’ve killed ozai, and think there’s a poetic beauty to the fact that - as the last airbender - he refused to relinquish the philosophy of his culture. but the fact that they broached such a controversial topic at all was incredibly bold.

the fact that the characters change appearance throughout the show. it makes them feel far less static, as well as being a great device for conveying the passage of time. 

starting from season 2, they introduce much more variety in motivation among the villains. the fire nation aren’t the only antagonists. we see earthbenders who forcefully trigger the avatar state because they want to end the war as quickly as possible, waterbenders with personal, indiscriminate vendettas, spirits who are removed from human conflicts and wish to protect their own interests. throughout the whole series, we see conflicts between the villains - zhao and zuko competing to catch aang, azula and long feng competing for control over ba sing se. it adds so much complexity and intrigue to the story. 

azula is a hammy, fun-to-hate villain who also manages to feel raw and human. her backstory explains her actions without justifying them. even though we start the series with the utmost sympathy for zuko, by the final series, we come to the realisation that his imperfections and exile are the only things that saved him from becoming like azula. they could’ve made azula’s takedown into a kickass moment full of schadenfreude, but instead it was harrowing, dark, and undeniably tragic.

every single member of the gaang has their own strengths and weaknesses, such that the group would never be able to function without any of them. I particularly appreciate that sokka is never merely delegated the role of dumb comedy side-kick. while we do laugh at his misfortune a lot, his insecurities are thoroughly explored and his tactical skills are crucial throughout the series. he also undergoes a huge character arc rivalled only by zuko’s. 

the writers don’t forget previous events and characters. aside from bringing them back for the invasion in season 3, previous characters are continually addressed, even if just via off-hand comments. I love that aang keeps mentioning hei bai despite them only appearing in one season. I love that kyoshi returns in the season finale to talk again about her conflict with chin the conquerer - as does the avatar who tried to slay ko. I love that Iroh’s redirection of lightning in season 1 becomes hugely relevant in season 2, along with his white lotus tile. I love that the library in which zhao discovered the name of the moon spirit becomes a key focus in the second season, rather than just being a vague plot device. it makes the whole avatar universe feel so much more real, precise and consistent. 

iroh feels genuinely wise. he’s not just a tropey old man whose generic advice is treated as incredible wisdom. even though I first watched avatar as an adult, so much of what iroh says in the series genuinely resonated with me - particularly his point that pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. he also has his own distinct history, goals, and personality. you get the sense that his wisdom has come from many years of setbacks and self-discovery.

toph’s relatively unchanging character. while many of the characters undergo huge arcs, toph remains fairly unchanged throughout. she grows more comfortable among her companions and realises she doesn’t have to do everything herself, but, at the heart of it, she remains the blunt, stubborn, self-important little goblin girl that she was at the beginning of the series. given that toph has spent most of her life hiding her real desires and talents, this is exactly what her character deserved. it’s also an excellent metaphor for the unchanging nature of her element, earth. 

the gaang never insist that they’re not children. one of the most annoying tropes in children’s shows is when the young protagonists constantly claim they aren’t kids (looking at you, storm hawks), but it is completely absent from avatar. the characters never try to prove that they’re more mature than they are - aang openly acknowledges that he’s just a kid, multiple times. okay, katara does sometimes take it upon herself to be the mother of the group, but the writers explore why that is, as well as making it clear that she’s just as much a child as any of them. I think it’s so important for young viewers to get to watch heroes who are every bit as silly and childish as they are, but who still have real complexity. I also think it adds huge appeal to older viewers, because we never have to roll our eyes at a bunch of bratty kids insisting they’re aren’t children. 

Good world-building and foreshadowing should reward people for noticing small details such as names or places or even guessing what a character will do.

Since it is a general rule in Tumblr to use ATLA as an example of good writing, I want to point out to Azula’s first appearence in the show.

We first see her in a flashback only for a moment where she does not say anything and her identity is not even hinted at. But to those who pay attention, you can gather that her design is too unique to be just a background character, she must have some importance down the line.

You can also see that her reaction to Zuko being punished is similar to Zhao’s and the opposite to Iroh’s. This manages to establish plenty about her.

And then the season finale reveals she is Zuko’s sister.

One of my favorite things about people’s blind reaction to ATLA is when they notice Azula’s flashback cameo and say “hey, she seems happy Zuko is being scarred for life. Wonder if she is important in some way” then discover who she is and go “the girl enjoying Zuko’s suffering was his sister!!?”

And that is good payoff. Because it is something that actually rewards people for engaging with the material. It gives them positive feedback that tells them there is value in engaging with the material beyond just consumption. That there is value in rewatching and see what one missed.

The need to “shock” audiences is the opposite of this. To have a character or story seem important only to drop it unceremioniously because “it was unexpected” is the opposite of that.

Viscount: [angrily] “Sir, you will find the word ‘fear’ is not in my vocabulary!”

here’s a definitive and totally subjective rating of davids

donatello: 3/10 honestly pretty embarrassing, but worth a mention. just your run-of-the-mill, oh-you-haven’t-heard-we’re-copying-classical-greek-sculpture-now david. stiff, awkward, and pretty dopey looking twunk. has the same expression of someone being told dona-fucking-tello sculpted this. can’t even hold his slingshot bc it’s too gay. don’t worry there’s a redemption arc on its way.

donatello pt 2: 9/10 fucking superb you funky little gay man. total glow up. a complete deviation from the norm by a well-known deviant. takes contrapposto to sultry new heights. look at this lad’s little hat and boots he’s not a nude he’s just naked. some people say goliath’s head is modeled off of donatello himself literally he was horny enough he said “step on me” in full fucking bronze. goliath’s helmet has little gay greek reliefs on it, not even remotely subtle. look at the feather going up his thigh and tell me u didn’t cross your legs when you did. commissioned by the medici for their palace, which makes it even cooler by association. 

verocchio: 8/10 ily baby a perfectly fine lad, looking at him makes me smile. his little dress is so cute with its stylized arabic psuedo-script border, and the floral pasties? adorable. something about goliath’s head feels a little disjointed, but you know what? fuck him. he’s not important. david’s the real star here in his little cheerleader get up. what really makes me biased towards this one is that the model was supposedly verocchio’s star student, the young leonardo da vinci. and look how fucking radiant he is! love it.

michelangelo: 7/10 technically this thing’s great. look at the fucking veins on the hand that’s absolutely mental. but all in all it lacks the overtly homosexual intrigue of some other davids and, frankly, i expected more from well-documented gay disaster michelangelo. obviously a classic but also makes it prone to being too over-saturated. i do love his yaoi hands though.

I like to think that the class 1-A band keeps up regular jam sessions after the cultural festival (at Bakugou’s request). 

Bonus:

Steven Universe was never about that. Whenever Steven faced off against an antagonist, answering violence with violence always had made things worse and never resolved things in a satisfying way. Even the face offs against the corrupted gems. 

When Steven and the Crystal Gems faced of against Lapis, the conflict wasn’t resolved until Steven reached out to her, tried to understand her and talked with her. The battle preceding this was hopeless. Lapis had the upper hand. It would’ve ended in ruin. 

Defeating Peridot wasn’t the answer. It left unanswered questions and just poofing her and forgotting about her would’ve led to the entire Earth being destroyed by the emerging cluster. 

Destroying the Cluster was a hopeless cause. It was only after Steven reached out to it and tried to understand it that he could save Earth and give the Cluster some semblance of peace. 

Defeating Jasper was portrayed as a tragedy rather than a victory. Jasper was too hurt and desperate and angry to be reached and so she became completely corrupted before Steven could help her. The fight against Jasper left both Jasper and Steven worse off. 

To fight Bismuth wasn’t the answer and did not solve anything. It just hurt everyone involved. But finally unblubbling her and talking with her did the trick. Violence wouldn’t convince Bismuth that Steven was not Rose, and it certainly didn’t make up for the injustice that had been done to Bismuth, no matter how wrong her plan of shattering the Diamonds might have been. 

The first battle against the Diamond was absolutely HOPELESS. The Crystal Gems were completely outmatched and overpowered. Fighting them to the bitter end wouldn’t have solved anything. There’s no way the Crystal Gems could’ve defeated the Diamonds in combat. Just look how fast Lapis und Peridot were taken out. What stopped the fighting was Steven reaching out and connecting with the Diamonds. 

And then look at how easily White Diamond could overtake the minds of the other crystal gems and make them into her puppets. Fighting her would’ve been absolutely hopeless. Even with Steven blocking all her attacks, it would’ve ended in a stalemate at best. 

The point of the show is that you can’t just punch reason into someone, and that wars never solve anything, that pacifism isn’t weakness. 

Steven is a pacifist. Him defeating White Diamond not by force, but by showing her that perfection doesn’t exist and that your flaws aren’t something to be ashamed off but what make you what you are isn’t a cheap solution. It’s perfectly in line with something that’s been central in the show and the way it approached conflict, and it would have been completely out of character for Steven to attack White Diamond. Not to mention pointless. 

Disney Fairies

It wasn’t a virus, it was an issue with how some old computers at the time were programmed to deal with dates. Basically some computers with older operating systems didn’t have anything in place to deal with the year reaching 99 and looping around to 00. It was believed that this inability to sync with the correct date would cause issues, and even crash entire systems the moment the date changed.

People flipped out about it, convinced that the date discrepancy between netwoked systems would bring down computers everywhere and shut down the internet and so all systems relying on computers, including plane navigation etc. would go down causing worldwide chaos. It was genuinely believed that people should all switch off computers to avoid this. One or two smart people spoke up and said “um hey, this actually will only effect a few very outdated computers and they’ll just display the wrong date, so it probably won’t be harmful” but were largely ignored because people selling books about the end of the world were talking louder.

I’ve been a programmer working for various government agencies since the early 1990s and I can say with some confidence:

NOTHING HAPPENED BECAUSE WE WORKED VERY HARD FIXING SHIT THAT MOST DEFINITELY WOULD HAVE BROKEN ON 1-JAN-2000.

One example I personally worked on: vaccination databases.

My contract was with the CDC to coordinate immunization registries — you know, kids’ vaccine histories. What they got, when they got it, and (most importantly) which vaccines they were due to get next and when. These were state-wide registries, containing millions of records each.

Most of these systems were designed in the 1970s and 1980s, and stored the child’s DOB year as only two digits. This means that — had we not fixed it — just about every child in all the databases I worked on would have SUDDENLY AGED OUT OF THE PROGRAM 1-JAN-2000.

In other words: these kids would suddenly be “too old” to receive critical vaccines.

Okay, so that’s not a nuke plant exploding or airplanes dropping from the sky. In fact, nothing obvious would have occurred come Jan 1st.

BUT

Without the software advising doctors when to give vaccinations, an entire generation’s immunity to things like measles, mumps, smallpox (etc) would have been compromised. And nobody would even know there was a problem for months — possibly years — after.

You think the fun & games caused by a few anti-vaxers is bad?

Imagine whole populations going unvaccinated by accident… one case of measles and the death toll might be measured in millions.

This is one example I KNOW to be true, because I was there.

I also know that in the years leading up to 2000 there were ad-hoc discussion groups (particularly alt.risk) of amazed programmers and project managers that uncovered year-2000 traps… and fixed them.

Quietly, without fanfare. 

In many cases because admitting there was a problem would have resulted in a lawsuit by angry customers. But mostly because it was our job to fix those design flaws before anyone was inconvenienced or hurt.

When the FATEFUL HOUR came along, it wasn’t just one hour.  For a global company with offices in dozens of countries, it was 24 hours of being alert and on-call.  I imagine that other large organizations had similar setups with entire IT departments working in shifts to monitor everything.  Everyone was on a hair trigger, too, so the slightest problem caused ALL HANDS ON DECK pages to go out.

Yes, we had pagers.

For hard numbers IDC’s 2006 calculation put the total US cost of remediation, before and after, at $147 billion - that’s in 1999 dollars.  That paid for an army of programmers, including calling up retired grandparents from the senior center because COBOL and FORTRAN apps from the ‘60s needed fixing.

Also note that there were some problems, including $13 billion in remediation included in the figure above.  Some of these involved nuclear power plants, medical equipment, and “a customer at a New York State video rental store had a bill for $91,250, the cost of renting the movie ‘The General’s Daughter’ for 100 years.”

That’s how early people started figuring out there was going to be a problem and working on a massive effort to fix all their systems, a huge undertaking that brought them right up through January 1, 2000.