Avatar: The Last Airbender Interview - How Toph's Arrival Changes the Game in Season 2

Netflix is presently gearing up for 1 of its astir eagerly anticipated returning shows of 2026. Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 is accelerated approaching. This caller section of the live-action bid draws successful galore iconic characters and elements from the animated series, not slightest of which being the long-awaited debut of the gruff earthbender Toph Beifong (Miya Cech).

As a primer for this weekend’s IGN Live festivities, we spoke with Executive Producer and Writer Christine Boylan and Executive Producer and Director Jabbar Raisani, the 2 radical liable for guiding the bid successful its 2nd and 3rd seasons. Read connected to larn much astir the debut of Toph, however the bid streamlines the crippled of the cartoon, and what to expect from Zuko and Azula’s simmering household drama.

IGN: The 2 of you stepped into bigger roles for Season 2, and that was a large alteration down the scenes. How antithetic would you accidental your acquisition has been moving connected the amusement this time, and did you travel into Season 2 with immoderate large goals successful mind?

Jabbar Raisani: With Season 1 postproduction, determination was an accidental determination to truly signifier the amusement successful a mode that we truly tried to present thing that audiences recovered acquainted but felt elevated, and I deliberation going into Season 2 was like, however bash we proceed that feeling of elevating this amusement for unrecorded enactment and truly bringing the assemblage thing that felt grounded? And for us, I deliberation the accidental to spell successful from the precise opening with Seasons 2 and 3, a batch of the discussions that we had unneurotic were, we privation to marque a amusement that feels much similar a humanities play look and feel.

So it was a batch of that, similar however bash we marque this consciousness similar a existent living, breathing spot and not similar thing that has been filmed with actors but created successful a computer. We utilized the Volume successful Season 1, which I deliberation we had immoderate large successes with, but for america it was similar we truly privation to beryllium successful existent places and existent locations. As a director, I overmuch similar being successful a existent abstraction wherever I tin look astir and spot wherever the prima is and instrumentality retired my small illustration and fig retired wherever the sun's going to beryllium and say, "Okay, we're going to sprout similar this," and it's conscionable overmuch much what I'm acquainted with, and I find it easier connected acceptable to enactment successful a abstraction successful those ways.

With the Volume, it's a full different situation that tin output immoderate large results, but for me, the existent satellite is the champion results, and I deliberation that applies for our ocular effects arsenic well. When you commencement with thing that is real, whether it beryllium determination oregon a elephantine acceptable build, determination mightiness beryllium immoderate bluish surface oregon greenish surface there, but there's truthful overmuch successful camera that it allows them to say, "Okay, that's what the airy was doing connected that day, and this is each successful camera, and we're conscionable adding a elephantine oversea serpent to it." So it conscionable fto america marque a amusement that was, I think, from the penning constituent each the mode done the last transportation of ocular effects, thing that felt grounded successful world that had elements of phantasy versus axenic fantasy.

Christine Boylan: Yes, and we got ace fortunate due to the fact that Jabbar and I worked unneurotic earlier we adjacent met each other, which was amazing, due to the fact that helium directed the occurrence I wrote successful play one, and due to the fact that of COVID I was not connected acceptable during that time. In my galore years of doing television, I'm astir ever connected acceptable for my occurrence and different people's episodes, but I wasn't determination during that time. I was conscionable truthful pleased with however it came out, truthful I was like, "Oh, this guy's truly good."

By the clip we really met successful person, it was already like, “Okay, you are the directing EP, you are the penning EP, this is happening.” It was already, we had already signed on. So we met and we're like, "You benignant of spot the amusement this way, I benignant of spot the amusement this way." "Oh, it's the aforesaid thing, okay, great." Because we look astatine the animated series, it starts successful a beauteous place, it matures and it matures, it conscionable benignant of opens similar a flower. And this amusement is not a one-to-one. It's a wholly antithetic benignant of retelling of the aforesaid legend, but we wanted to reflector that growth, and I deliberation we got to bash that visually and hopefully successful the penning and successful the VFX arsenic well.

Image Credit: Netflix

IGN: I ideate 1 of the challenges of making a live-action Avatar bid specifically is the information that you've got a communicative astir younger heroes, but you person a formed that's perpetually aging. So I'm funny however Season 2 deals with the real-world clip spread betwixt these 2 seasons.

Boylan: We precise much, similar the existent locations and the existent sets, we said we privation to movie successful the weather, we privation to- immoderate gets thrown astatine us, we volition judge due to the fact that that is what making a existent amusement with existent quality radical is. And portion of that is erstwhile you're moving with teenagers, they're going to mature. And I wouldn't adjacent accidental age. I deliberation Gordon inactive has a babe look adjacent astatine the extremity of Season 3, but determination is decidedly a clip spread successful betwixt Season 1 and Season 2.

We loved that successful the writers' room. We loved the thought of getting to tackle that. We archer a small spot of what went connected successful that clip gap. Certainly, determination was a large conflict astatine the extremity of Season 1, and there's a batch of fallout aft that conflict emotionally and physically. There's a batch of healing that has to happen, and immoderate of that happens off-screen and immoderate of it happens on-screen. So we got to springiness a small interruption there. What I truly privation is for the assemblage to measurement up and conscionable america wherever we're at. I travel from theater. I judge successful the assemblage giving and taking.

I don't ever look astatine the assemblage arsenic consumers oregon radical who are conscionable taking worldly in. I deliberation they are playing with america arsenic we are playing with them. So I'm hoping that they are looking astatine this clip leap arsenic a mode to capable successful immoderate stories that they get to miss. We don't get to archer each azygous communicative from the animated series, which I benignant of love. When I was starting retired and penning instrumentality fiction, I ever wrote instrumentality fabrication astir those moments successful bid that you didn't get to see. And aboriginal on, erstwhile I wrote comics, I wrote immoderate Star Trek comics astir those moments successful Star Trek and successful Next Gen that we didn't get to spot successful betwixt episodes. So I privation that instrumentality fiction. I privation each of that. I privation that beauteous originative information from the audience, and the clip leap gives america 1 country to bash that. In betwixt episodes, there's tons of small spaces for fans to travel successful and beryllium originative and capable in.

Raisani: I deliberation we kept it truly simple, too. It's successful betwixt seasons. Was it a year? Was it less? Was it a small more? We don't get specific. Things hap that we notation successful dialog a small bit, but it's really, helium was older, helium learned to waterbend, and past we benignant of commencement the adventure. And it's truly astir the assemblage catching up and inventing what you would similar that communicative to be. But we truly get the play propelling towards what's happening successful Season 2 and the escapade our gang's on. I deliberation too, we got the payment of they are older arsenic actors, arsenic performers. They had clip to enactment connected their craft. The performances we got successful Season 2 and Season 3, I think, are amazing. And I deliberation everybody truly went to enactment betwixt Season 1 and Season 2, and they each came backmost stronger. I deliberation each of america truly conscionable tried to larn everything we could from Season 2, level up Season 2, and truly bring our A-game.

Boylan: The formed worked precise hard. They were doing a batch of reading, they were doing a batch of watching films and things that we had recommended. They were moving physically, getting acceptable for this, and they were perfecting their acting craft. I'm conscionable truly grateful for them. Yeah.

IGN: Book Two of the animated bid is simply a beauteous dense story, and you've got these large elements similar Ba Sing Se and the Dai Li coming into play. How did you spell astir trying to construe and streamline that communicative for this caller version?

Boylan: I deliberation we knew that we could not archer each azygous portion of each story. We started retired being truly circumstantial astir scenes. We started retired with scenes you privation to see, things we truly wanted, things we truly needed. We filled a committee with each of those, and that included worldly that didn't get done successful Season 1, worldly that we could bash oregon propulsion from Season 3. We conscionable made a large board, and past we went done quality by quality and looked astatine quality maturation due to the fact that that is what play is. It's quality growth, and maturation is not a consecutive line. You turn forward, you treble back, you autumn back, you determination forward. It's a journey. So pursuing each character, the choices they make, and looking astatine each character's story, what acceptable pieces, what areas would champion showcase that quality growth, nary substance what, quality ever led everything that we did successful the writer's room. So things that were near retired were conscionable not going to work the maturation of the character.

We didn't person clip for them. There's plentifulness of worldly we'd emotion to do. I person an full Season 4 successful my backmost pouch I'd emotion to get into, but things are what they are. So I deliberation ever sticking to quality and making it grounded and real. You are 15 years old, you are an airbender, your full nine has been lost. That's real. Okay, present what bash you do? That's however we moved from infinitesimal to moment, and everything we could bring successful that we emotion from the animated series, we brought in. But we ever looked astatine this arsenic unrecorded enactment tin bash truthful galore things that animation can't do, and animation tin bash truthful galore things that unrecorded enactment can't do. And we emotion the animated bid truthful much. Everyone successful the writer's country is simply a immense fan, everyone connected the unit is simply a immense fan. We conscionable wanted to bash our telling of this fable that hopefully the assemblage volition travel with america and enjoy.

Raisani: Look, I deliberation arsenic immense fans of the animated series, it's ever hard. We privation everything in. But you can't person everything. So we would ever effort to find clever ways to enactment things successful the world, adjacent if we couldn't archer that full story. Like successful Season 1, wherever there's a Flopsy successful Bumi's palace, similar a statue. We couldn't archer that story. We wanted that there. We tried to find ways of incorporating things via dialog oregon paintings. If you look astir our sets, Michael Wiley designed each these astonishing sets, and we would archer him, "Hey, we privation to enactment this representation successful this acceptable truthful that mode we tin notation this happening from the animated bid we can't person successful the show." We were conscionable trying to find each these ways to enactment Easter eggs passim the show.

So I deliberation if radical ticker closely, yes, they whitethorn not get each country they wanted. We didn't get each country we wanted from the animated bid in, but we truly tried to enactment small Easter eggs and enactment small things successful that fans could understand, that we couldn't enactment it in, but we admit we emotion that too, and distill the amusement down to the mentation of the amusement that we could make. This is simply a live-action series. Everything animation does well, unrecorded enactment doesn't needfully bash well. There are definite things that unrecorded enactment shouldn't effort due to the fact that it conscionable won't enactment the mode it was successful the animated series. And that's wherefore I emotion the animated bid is besides connected Netflix, due to the fact that I tin spell backmost and ticker that. I emotion it. I inactive re-watch it.

Boylan: This amusement is made by fans for fans. That's the thing. And if you look connected my Netflix close now, and besides my different things, similar 90% of what I'm watching close present is anime due to the fact that we're successful a highest anime moment. There's worldly I wouldn't effort successful unrecorded enactment adjacent if I were offered the spot due to the fact that it's like, you can't truly bash that. This was a precise peculiar accidental to archer what is an eternal legend, conscionable with a precise grounded quality mode in.

Raisani: Yeah, erstwhile I archetypal recovered retired Netflix was doing Season 1, I was like, I was already a instrumentality of the animated series. Like, I don't cognize however they're going to marque that show. But I privation to beryllium progressive successful it. If they're going to effort it, I privation to effort it too, but that's brainsick to attempt.

Image Credit: Netflix

IGN: So Toph is astir apt the astir important caller quality that joins the formed this season, and I ideate that's a precise hard relation to formed betwixt her blindness, her physicality, and her personality. What were you looking for erstwhile it came to choosing an histrion to capable that role?

Boylan: So we've some been successful immoderate large casting searches successful our careers. I've ne'er been successful 1 this extensive. Jenny Ju, our casting director, unbelievable endowment astatine uncovering talent. She's truly terrific. We saw truthful galore people. When Miyako walked in, she walked successful similar an earthbender, and my gut, I conscionable got this feeling successful my gut going, "That's Toph." So yeah, evidently we went done truthful galore reads and truthful galore chemistry reads, but your gut's your gut, right?

Raisani: It was an extended search. I deliberation Jenny looked astatine implicit 6,000 submissions. I deliberation she whittled it down, and we astir apt saw 80 to 100. And past from there, we did callbacks to the shaper number, and then, yeah, similar you're saying. When we got the chemistry reading, it was similar Miyako was conscionable Toph. When they were done with that session, we're like, "Well, we cognize who's Toph." There was nary question.

IGN: And however overmuch does she benignant of shingle up the halfway radical dynamic this season? Do you consciousness similar she was benignant of a missing portion of the puzzle connected the show?

Boylan: I deliberation she shakes up the halfway dynamic successful precisely the close way. When we find this group, they've been done a lot. The pack is young, it's the 3 of them, but they person been done truthful overmuch together. It's the 3 of them and Appa and Momo. I don't privation to permission retired Appa and Momo, but they've been done truthful much. And past they are looking for an earthbending teacher. They don't cognize what they're going to encounter. They don't deliberation they're going to person different idiosyncratic their property articulation the radical and beryllium this blunt, shameless information teller. She's conscionable truthful funny. She's truthful wicked. She's brilliant. Writing for Toph was 1 of the funniest things. It was a pleasance successful the writers' room. We had truthful overmuch fun.

And erstwhile we brought Joe Strechay on, who was our blindness consultant, helium worked with Miyako connected question and each kinds of things. He besides worked with production, helium worked with directors, helium worked with the writers a batch due to the fact that we wrote a batch of jokes. We were like, "This is excessively far," and Joe goes, "Oh no, you tin spell mode farther than that." So it was beauteous great. I emotion processing the relationship, that relationship betwixt Toph and Sokka. That was truly important to me, that that happened. The mode she relates to each 1 of the members of the pack and however she doesn't spot easily, but erstwhile she does, she trusts fully. Those things are truthful beauteous to ticker unfold.

Raisani: I deliberation however she relates to each of the characters successful the pack was thing I recovered truly interesting. For Aang, he's either had everyone showing him deference oregon radical trying to termination him. And present he's got this caller concern to woody with, which is idiosyncratic that is expected to beryllium teaching him but doesn't amusement him deference and volition person nary of that. And truthful that's thing that Aang hasn't had to woody with. And past watching Katara beryllium antiaircraft of Aang, and her and Toph initially truly not seeing oculus to oculus connected however to bid Aang, and past watching Katara and Toph's narration look and watching their relationship bloom similar that, it's just, there's a batch of bully dynamics that inserting a caller quality truly changes things up and I deliberation gives america an full 2 much seasons of truly absorbing dynamics that, if you don't present this further character, not that it gets stale, but it conscionable gives america different places to spell and different dynamics to play with.

Boylan: And we conscionable Toph close astatine the nonstop infinitesimal wherever Toph needs to conscionable the gang. Toph needs to conscionable the pack arsenic overmuch arsenic the pack needs to conscionable Toph successful bid for Toph to grow. And so, implicit 2 seasons, she gets to person a maturation arc that I conscionable deliberation is lovely. It was specified a pleasance to write.

Raisani: Yeah, and past erstwhile it comes to however bash we really bash this connected set, we brought Miyako successful for, we bash footwear camp, and we did a refresher footwear camp, but we wanted her to consciousness comfy with our different cast, but not familiar, not overly familiar, due to the fact that she is expected to beryllium gathering with them for the archetypal time. So it truly was an absorbing dynamic of trying to get her capable clip with them to beryllium comfortable, but not truthful overmuch clip that it felt similar they were aged friends. So we truly tried to beryllium alert of however overmuch they were scheduled unneurotic anterior to america filming the scenes wherever she was gathering them for the archetypal time. And her archetypal time connected acceptable was the Earth Rumble, wherever she meets them. It was great.

"We conscionable Toph close astatine the nonstop infinitesimal wherever Toph needs to conscionable the gang."“

IGN: This is the archetypal play wherever we truly get to spot earthbending successful action, truthful tin you speech astir the situation of trying to visualize that power, and specifically Toph's sight?

Boylan: Joe Strechay, a fable successful the business, blindness consultant, hilarious, 1 of the funniest radical connected set, and brilliant. Wherever Miyako was, Joe was. That's however you recovered him. In training, connected set, and successful his spare time, which helium had precise small of, helium worked with the writers, helium worked with the crew, helium worked with stunts, and helium worked with directors to help- and the different actors to assistance everybody correspond blindness successful a mode that the assemblage tin consciousness acknowledged and known and seen, and besides Toph's peculiar power, which is her Toph vision, her Toph senses, her sound, each that benignant of stuff. That was truly the mode in, was with Joe.

Raisani: I deliberation that was the beginning, certainly. Mia trained with contacts that blocked her imaginativeness 100%, wherever she had zero vision, and she practiced navigating spaces that way. So she started successful acquainted spaces wherever she would beryllium astatine home, and past she moved connected to set. And 1 of the things we would bash is she would locomotion done acceptable without the contacts in, recognize the abstraction more, and past enactment the contacts successful and truly person to number steps, person to travel up with each antithetic ways of helping her to recognize and navigate that space. So that was an important portion of however she moved done space. Toph is unique, though. Toph has the quality to comprehend the satellite done her bending, truthful that's thing that nary of america tin genuinely subordinate to, and that's her ain unsocial experience. And Miyako folded that into her show and her movement. And past there's the stunts facet of it. Dean Cho and Adam Tang truly worked with Mia connected her movements of however to determination similar an earthbender.

And erstwhile she was moving similar an earthbender, our ocular effects and peculiar effects teams truly instrumentality the adjacent step. So if we're going to bash thing practically connected set, that's our peculiar effects squad moving world with each kinds of aerial movers oregon hydraulics. We did arsenic overmuch arsenic we tin bash successful camera. If we bash it successful camera, obviously, we besides bash a batch of ocular effects. When you're moving a stone that's the size of a wall, that's going to beryllium ocular effects. And utilizing our ocular effects team, we would truly program retired done pre-visualization what precisely is going to hap erstwhile Toph does this move. And past we would amusement that to Mia truthful Mia would understand, "Okay, this is precisely however I'm going to beryllium manipulating this satellite astir me."

And with Toph Vision specifically, we looked astatine the animated bid and truly broke down, okay, what are the elements that spell into Toph Vision? Are we going to bash achromatic and white? Are we going to bash these cascading, astir sonar-like visualizations that spell done the abstraction oregon not? And we started with stills and did immoderate elemental stills.

I mean, sonar, whether it's lidar, conscionable trying to look astatine things that beryllium successful our satellite that mightiness beryllium capable to pass it oregon mightiness beryllium capable to merge with the ocular connection from the animated series. Once we did that bid of studies with our ocular effects squad connected immoderate trial shots, we moved into immoderate existent live-action worldly from the show. But we truly ever based everything connected photography. Anything that was going to beryllium Toph Vision, we would movie it first, and past our ocular effects teams would furniture successful elements connected apical of those filmed elements because, for us, it's astir grounding it successful world and really, arsenic small arsenic possible, inventing thing afloat successful CG. We privation to bash arsenic overmuch arsenic we tin practically and past augment oregon heighten with ocular effects.

Boylan: Yeah, due to the fact that yet this show's astir manipulating the elements. It's not astir pulling magic down from space. It's the elements. So that's arsenic earthy arsenic you tin get.

IGN: I privation to displacement implicit to Azula and Zuko for a minute. Obviously, we cognize from the animated bid that Zuko is successful the midst of a immense redemptive quality arc, truthful tin you speech astir however some these siblings benignant of origin into the struggle successful Season 2 and however their narration with their begetter has evolved?

Boylan: Absolutely. This is simply a large acquisition successful what happens erstwhile you get conditional emotion versus unconditional love, and I'll permission it astatine that for those two. You tin determine who gets what and when. I emotion royal stories. I emotion succession stories. I emotion sibling rivalries. We ever looked astatine Azula and Zuko arsenic foils for Katara and Sokka due to the fact that they're siblings. So however bash these siblings subordinate to them? And some are missing moms. Dad is withholding for antithetic reasons. So however bash they turn up versus however bash they turn up? We would ever cheque successful and beryllium like, "Right, Katara and Sokka, are they a reflector to Azula and Zuko successful this moment? How is that working?"

Which I deliberation is an absorbing mode successful for Azula due to the fact that having a existent person, particularly idiosyncratic with Lizzie's talent, playing that character, we get to bash truthful overmuch much with her. And I deliberation I took vantage of that each 2nd I could. Every 2nd I could, I gave her arsenic overmuch arsenic I could. I deliberation making them existent radical was the astir important thing. Again, animation tin bash definite things that we can't do, and we tin bash definite things that animation doesn't person the clip oregon the vigor oregon the abstraction to do.

And a batch of that is truly grounding successful the household dynamic. What is it similar for these two? As idiosyncratic who grew up with a sister, right, I looked astatine this as, okay, right, the older-younger dynamic. What happens erstwhile the younger 1 is much aggressive? Well, the aforesaid happening happened with Iroh and Ozai. Okay, that's interesting. Let's speech astir that a small bit. We truly looked astatine that benignant of Fire Nation household histrion each the mode backmost to Sozin, and we're like, "How does this household equilibrium itself out?" And past you enactment that household successful the spotlight successful presumption of them being royalty, successful presumption of them being progressive royalty ruling implicit not conscionable an land but a clump of colonized onshore taken by unit and perpetually astatine war. What does that mean, increasing up successful that household? So we tried to look astatine it emotionally, internationally. A batch of worldly was based connected history. We looked astatine a batch of figures successful past arsenic overmuch arsenic we looked astatine the animated series, yeah.

Raisani: I deliberation what was truly amusive is the animated bid has definite flashbacks that they do, and we person ones that we did that are not successful the animated bid but I deliberation adhd to that lore, adhd to their journey, and however you spell from being a kid to being an big that has these truly hard choices to make. And I don't deliberation either of them is making a atrocious choice, fixed the way they were on. They're each making the champion prime they tin with the experiences they've had, and we truly tried to thin into that for Azula and soma retired her communicative successful a mode that helped maine recognize the choices that she was making. I deliberation that was truly important, to dimensionalize Azula successful a mode that she truly felt similar a live-action quality that I felt for, and I understood her communicative successful a mode that made maine consciousness for her. And I wanted her to marque the close choices, and it's truthful hard to ticker her marque the incorrect choices. And I truly wanted to marque definite we recovered that communicative for her and gave her the magnitude of surface clip that fto maine consciousness emotionally for her.

They're each making the champion prime they tin with the experiences they've had, and we truly tried to thin into that for Azula and soma retired her communicative successful a mode that helped maine recognize the choices that she was making.“

Boylan: I would accidental aforesaid with Zuko. Coming backmost to maturation is not a consecutive enactment up. Growth is doubling back. Growth is failure. Growth is, "I did thing bully and it enactment maine successful a coma." There's a batch of things that hap with Zuko's arc that we could research much successful unrecorded action, and I anticipation that we did.

Raisani: Yeah, and past moving with Dallas and Lizzie, it was amazing.

Boylan: They worked truthful hard.

Raisani: They're truly hard workers. And successful Episode 2, they're connected surface unneurotic for the archetypal time, and we spent a ton of clip rehearsing that scene. It was astonishing to get to rehearse it arsenic overmuch arsenic we did. And past the time erstwhile we really filmed it, it was conscionable specified an integrated process shooting it with them. And we truly did antithetic versions of what it means to beryllium unneurotic for the archetypal clip aft your banishment. You truly person not seen each different since that banishment. What does this mean for each of your characters? Are you coming here, Azula, to instrumentality him? Do you emotion him? It's each of these things. There is no, it's 1 thing. It's complicated.

Boylan: All of it. It's truthful complicated, and it's emblematic of that. That infinitesimal wherever Dallas hears Lizzie's voice, truthful Zuko hears Azula's dependable down him, and the look connected his face. That tin lone hap erstwhile a subordinate of your household has travel up down you and you perceive their dependable and you haven't heard it successful truthful long. It was specified a circumstantial prime that helium made.

Raisani: We tried to find a batch of small moments similar that and truly enactment unneurotic with Dallas and Lizzie to marque their travel thing that felt similar it was going to beryllium a truly hard determination for Zuko erstwhile we get to Episode 7. Is helium going to spell with Azula oregon is helium going to spell with the gang? Which way is helium going to choose? I deliberation if it's excessively casual of a choice, if Azula is the evident incorrect choice, that doesn't consciousness arsenic honest. But we wanted to marque it consciousness like, "Oh yeah, I wholly recognize however helium got lured backmost into that world." So it was a batch of clip spent successful conversations astir what their narration was like.

Boylan: I deliberation if a melodramatic statement works, each enactment has to beryllium close and wrong, and we effort to bash that arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable here.

Raisani: Yeah. And past going into the Ursa and Ozai backstory, I mean, we truly went into that successful much item due to the fact that that is simply a batch of the communal ground, similar the bully times they would person had. I deliberation we're backmost with Ursa successful that past, and we wanted to bring that communicative much to beingness due to the fact that that's the happening that Azula tin usage to bring Zuko backmost in.

Boylan: And it's the happening that bonds him to Katara.

For more, cheque retired IGN's reappraisal of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 and spot everything coming to IGN Live this weekend.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.