Mr. Curlstaine

House of Cards (2017)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) / Defending Jacob (2020) 

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) / Defending Jacob (2020) 

child: mom, can we get metallica?

mom: you got metallica money? we got metallica at home.

metallica at home:

Keanu Reeves, 1992 from 108 Portraits by Gus Van Sant

Early 80’s James Hetfield looked like a surf brochure boy

When I was a kid I laughed at this, but now as an adult who works in the public, I can assure you people are exactly like this.

the feels

Source: YahBoyAang (twitter)

I looked away…

I was thinking a lot about this moment. Somehow it feels like the agni kai was a watershed moment not only for Zuko, but also for Iroh.

I think this is something that Iroh is intensely ashamed about - and it is the source of all the patience he has with Zuko and his determination to make things right for him.

Because Zuko’s scar is not just a testament of Ozai’s cruelty as a father, but is a scar on the soul of the entire Fire Nation.

Their supreme ruler publicly mutilates his own son, a 13-year old child, who merely spoke the truth about a nation that in a quest for power has lost perspective on the worth of human life -  and everyone cheers.

The scarring and humiliation of the young prince (who should be really the symbol of the future to his people) is a grotesque public spectacle.

And Iroh, who was once next in line to leading these people, former great war hero, one of the most powerful benders, and still one of the nation’s leaders  - all he can do is to look away.

The boy who spoke the truth, who stood up for kindness, who tries to do the right thing, who refuses to fight his own father, who begs for forgiveness - he faces completely alone his horrible punishment, and nobody speaks up for him. 

And I think this is Iroh’s moment of truth - that disagreeing privately is not enough, he cannot look away anymore. He realizes that healing this boy could be the chance to heal the Fire Nation, that he is maybe destined to be their leader, but not from the throne of the Fire Lord. He has to get Zuko through this trauma and  show him kindness, love and acceptance in a way he has never experienced it. He has to teach him that speaking up and saying sorry should not and will not lead to harsh punishment, that kindness is not weakness and cruelty is not strength; that honor is not violence, but doing the right thing. 

while “zuko sent to find one single person who hasnt existed in 100 years and then he actually does” can be very funny in concept, can we just talk about how fucking heartbreaking it must be for iroh? 

like. he knows this is an impossible task. and it does happen–yes! in the first episode, so maybe we don’t even think about it that much! but when ozai tells zuko to go find the avatar, it’s an impossible task. and iroh knows this. and zuko might have everything riding on this, and he’s a kid and hasn’t learned what’s impossible yet, and so he’s plugging his ears and saying “i can do it! i can do it and then dad will love me again!”, but iroh knows the only reason this specific task was assigned is because ozai doesn’t want him. he doesn’t want him back. ozai didn’t want him to betray them so he gave him a little hope, a little “of course i could still love you, you can come back, that’s a possibility, just don’t disappoint me” because, you know, he’s an abusive dick. but iroh knows his brother, and he knows 

i think as a kid, while i loved loved iroh, it was a little hard to reconcile his silly moments with his wise moments. it’s not anymore 

i’m just thinking of the pai sho tile, and how silly it seemed at the time that it was just in his sleeve. silly old man! so forgetful 

no. no, that wasn’t it at all 

because every moment he stalled, every moment he mucked up the plan, every moment he just generally wasn’t helpful, that was another moment where he could still have a chance. where he might get through to zuko. where he could delay what was suddenly now a very real possibility: 

that ozai sent zuko away, but zuko would actually come back, expecting to be loved. and that’s what iroh didn’t want to happen. winning ozai’s love was more unrealistic than finding someone who’d been dead for 100 years, in the end 

May I hit y'all with a hot take

Uncle iroh has Hawaiian shirt energy

Sokka also has the same energy but no sleeves

Thank you for your time

I think a lot of people forget that Zuko was NEVER the villain. Like yes, he was an antagonist, and a foil to the gaang, but he was never a villain. Even back in season one, Zhao was the villain not Zuko. Then Azula and eventually Ozai in seasons two and three respectively. We are meant to root for Zuko from the beginning. He is always cast in a sympathetic light, even before we learn his backstory.

That’s why his redemption arch works. From the beginning he was framed against and outside the Fire Nation. In literally the third episode Zuko is pitted against Zhao and is shown to be more honorable, merciful, and different.

Zuko was never a villain, he was just misguided and an abused child who wanted his father’s love and acceptance.

zuko rly thought the avatar was 100 years old, and he was still fully prepared to fucking kidnap him. imagine if that had actually gone down like zuko thought it would. you’re a fully-realized avatar and you’ve been hiding out for over a century and all of a sudden you get approached by this 13 year old kid who’s like “WHATS GOOD I’VE GOT NO DEPTH PERCEPTION AND I’M READY TO FIGHT GOD” 

Atomic Blonde (2017) | dir: David Leitch

Cinematography: Jhonathan Selan