"The True Mind Can Weather All The Lies And Allusions Without Being Lost. The True Heart Can Tough The

"The true mind can weather all the lies and allusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light."

_The Lion Turtle, Avatar: The Last Airbender_

"Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished." And so begins the greatest stories of my teenage years. If grown-ups have the epic trilogy of Lord of The Rings, the kids before them had 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Three seasons, 20/22 episodes each, equally exciting, great characters and by great I mean lost, complex, twisted and relatable. The plot is well written, the episodes are well-wrought to each other that they unfold in a way which mesmerized me as a kid and still do (as an adult). It has a goofy humour and salty sarcasm which entertains and appeals to children and adults equally. The animation is brilliant and likeable, the music is AWESOME... And of course there are dark episode, dark characters, and some themes with dark undertones which are undertaken and portrayed in the best of ways. The show is one of the most influential stories I watched in my teenage years. So I decided to rewatch and revisit certain shows and movies I watched as a child and as an adolescent (let's call it a 2022 resolution). And having started with Avatar:The Last Airbender is thy best decision of January. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Uncle Iroh, Azula... These are characters that have had a lasting impression on me, their intertwining journeys of self-exploration, of self-worth and of enlightenment, plus the their descent to madness, to doubt, to hatred, to prejudice... Together they voice important messages, subjects and themes for their audience to learn, unlearn and relearn. Have you seen the show? If not, consider it. Trust me.

If their presence does not heal you or support you, then their absence will neither hurt you, nor drag you down.

@kafkaesquebibliomaniac

(From A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.)

(Artwork by Lesley Oldaker.)

"Let us again pretend that life is a solid substance, shaped like a globe, which we turn about in our fingers. Let us pretend that we can make out a plain and logical story, so that when one matter is despatched—love for instance—we go on, in an orderly manner, to the next."

-Virginia Woolf , The Waves-

(When you burn two matches leaning against each other, it gives rise to a tragiromantic dance.)

You, I and Us:

You mistake my mouth for a

Trap or a reeking graveyard,

And I take take yours for a

Phenomenon,

And a pleasant flowerbed.

You see in me what you escape in

Yourself,

And I see in you what I want in

Myself.

There's a you in I

And there's an I in you,

But what we need is to work on Us.

@kafkaesquebibliomaniac

"I want to be that faintest, almost unnoticeable ray of sunshine that falls on that faintest, almost faded, petal of the faintest flower in the backyard garden. Little triumphs in life, that's all I'm asking for."

@kafkaesquebibliomaniac