onceuponanavatar

[onceuponanavatar]

“I hate obvious symbolism” bro shut up sun and moon couples are a pillar of our society

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had to revisit a childhood favourite while studying expressions

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Guys, I’m in my taang feels because Toph really was the only one who didn’t gaf about Aang being the Avatar. She loved him for being Aang first and foremost. It’s such a stark contrast to his relationships with Zuko, Katara, and Sokka (who all idolized the Avatar, and subsequently Aang, as a symbol of hope and peace). Toph primarily sees him as the kid who helped her breakaway from her family’s suffocating expectations and who gave her more respect as a master earthbender than anyone else. She was the only one who thought about if he’d need help against Ozai. She was the only one who joined the gaang because of how she felt about Aang as a person, not as the proposed savior of the world. Because to her, he’s not Avatar Aang. He’s Twinkletoes, her friend.

Edit: This blog is not safe for Katara haters. We’re big Katara stans over here so don’t even think about.

[onceuponanavatar]

now, i haven’t had twitter for a hot minute now, but I’m remembering a thread me and oomf had about why the “theoretically, zuko would have taken lightening for anyone” claims are irrelevant, and wanted to just put it up here. this argument kind of treats katara as some interchangeable placeholder for “zuko’s redemption” and undermines how the nature of zuko’s sacrifice impacts katara directly and heavily. i don’t think zuko sacrificing himself for her is supposed to signal, yes, he is fully redeemed now. I think it’s actually supposed to show how he cares very deeply about katara. I mean, sure, zuko would taken that hit for other members of the gang, but the narrative significance wouldn’t weigh as heavily as it does with katara. even the 1st pov shots of them reaching out for each other, the music, the soft looks wouldn’t really make sense for other characters, either.

katara had to watch her mother die in arguably the worst way possible, and a part of her trauma is the fact that she ran away, helpless, and was too late to save kya. kya died protecting katara, and that’s something she has to live with. now we get the finale where zuko—another person possibly going to die for prioritizing her safety over his own, who knows what happened to kya, who was with her when she confronted the man who killed kya—but this time, katara is not only able to stop the present threat, but she’s also able to save zuko’s life. imagine if zuko had died here? what would that mean for katara? it makes me so upset because the nature of kya and zuko’s sacrifice are very similar, but this is something they just never talk about again despite it being so pivotal to both their arcs.

this is all to say that people saying that scene doesn’t matter because zuko would have done it for anyone do not see the importance of katara as a character (and her very unique dynamic with zuko). i think it’s a bad faith argument to make. the question isn’t whether zuko would have done it for anyone else (he would have), the question should be, would that scene look and feel the way it did if you had swapped katara for another character. my short answer is, no. and that’s the point.

[onceuponanavatar]

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Can anyone share taang artists?

Here are my faves

@nalgasde-hao

@dragonbonez

@aviatordame

@justinepush

I encourage taang fans to go to their pages and search #taang and you’ll be blown away on how amazing they are.

[onceuponanavatar]

And yet despite ending with a very close and obvious bond of friendship, bryke has never again (and seemingly never will) allowed them another moment acknowledging it. Because we can't possibly allow the zutara shippers to get any ideas 🙄

The groups at the finale

I'm to this day very confused why the groupings of the Gaang where what they were at the end of the series.

It's time for the ending Avatar, and the Gaang has almost always split up for the season finales. It would not have been surprising if in this case they did not, and this was even teased with the idea that the entire Gaang would roll up and defeat Ozai together. Then they split apart even more so than before. Aang departs (in his sleep lol), they remainder go together only to split apart to have each of their own big moments in their separate groups.

But, I'm left wondering, why are Katara and Zuko practically attached to the hip during this? From the southern raiders onwards, those two are practically always next to each other, and interacting. Ember Island they sit together, from the moment Aang walks away and Zuko holds Katara back they're together including sleeping next to each other (while Sokka and Suki sleep next to each other a bit away) and share their story climax together. This kind of closeness and consistency in being together must be taken as a sign of them having a close relationship as otherwise its unclear why they would be together so consistently. Zuko interacts with the others, but the majority of his emotional conversations and support, from his end and hers are with Katara.

So, why do the writers go so far to establish a close relationship like this between Katara and Zuko? They did not really need to, and in fact with regards to the pairings at the end of the series it even comes across weirdly. It all comes down to the age-old question. Why was it Katara that Zuko dramatically chanced sacrificing everything for? I think even if it's not shipped, Zutara very much has presence in the original work in the sense that once these two characters get along, they very much connect deeply and would spend a lot of time together when they can.

[onceuponanavatar]

I just saw an article on Twitter that stated that Netflix's live action ATLA adaptation is going to make Toph's character more feminine. People on Twitter had really strong reactions to this, so I decided to read the article first before assuming what this meant. The actress who has been casted as Toph (Miya Cech) did mention that one of the changes to Toph's character is that she is slightly older (because of the actress's age), and also that the character is going to be slightly more feminine. Miya stated that she wanted to work in a more humanizing environment, and that she did speak to the original voice actress for Toph. Both of them have very similar methods for how they approached their portrayal of Toph. I still don't want to jump the gun when it comes to any of this, especially because I do think that some of the more original bits of writing the live action Netflix ATLA writing team came up with kind of did work at times (Iroh being more of a grey shaded character, the 41st regiment idea, Lu Ten's funeral, Bumi's feelings of abandonment, the Gyatso scenes, etc.). I wanted to know, what are your thoughts about this?

Okay, so I'm of two minds about this.

I love Toph, and I will also defend gender nonconforming girls to the death.

However

The complete uproar I'm seeing over this is pretty ridiculous. As you pointed out, Miya said that Toph will be "slightly" more feminine. Older is obvious, because Miya is an adult. Which also informs Toph's character because a lot of Toph's behaviors stem from her being a kid. Which doesn't mean that all tomboys need to grow into feminine women, but in the original show, Toph is a kid. She's one of the boys, yeah, but she also enjoys getting to feel pretty, has crushes, and is desperate for female companionship, as her relationship with Katara shows.

Miya is also correct about the original show being a cartoon and I'm seeing people pull this phrasing waaaay out of context to imply Miya is saying that gender nonconformity is "unrealistic." That's not what's being said at all, and I hate to break it to y'all, but Toph is a cartoon, and her lack of femininity is often played for laughs in the original show. The girl literally rolls in dirt. Like, it's obvious why that won't translate to live action well, the same way Sokka's over the top sexism wouldn't, or Katara bulging her eyes when Sokka makes a sexist joke or smacking him upside the head. It's a GOOD thing that the show is deciding to take these things more seriously instead of having us point and laugh at how haha funny it is that Toph doesn't like to wear dresses.

Also, what does "slightly" more feminine even mean? I saw someone saying that doing this would "take away the point of Toph," as if all Toph is or ever will be is her eschewing of femininity. But there's another important aspect to Toph, and that's her disability. The problem with the role Toph is forced into by her parents isn't that it's feminine, it's that they denied her agency. They wanted her to be feminine in a way that's helpless and doesn't take up space. If Toph were sneaking out every night to go dancing with heavy makeup, do you think her parents would like that better? Of course not. I'm more interested in the question of what femininity means for Toph as a disabled girl, because disabled girls always have to live in that liminal space.

I also suspect that Miya, like a lot of young actresses cast in similar roles, is wary of being typecast. I mean, look at how Maisie Williams was treated for her role on Game of Thrones. Even after her character grew up and had sex with a boy she had loved since season two, many people did not accept it because tomboy characters are supposed to be genderless beings. A standard which, again, is also applied to disabled girls.

Also people are still repeating the point about the show "removing" Sokka's sexism when they very much did not do that. He's still weird about Suki being a warrior, and the show still has him learn to respect her, without the simplistic "girls can fight, too" moral. Also the way people talk about Suki in the live action is really gross and misogynistic and makes it clear how much she has to fight for respect in the original show in the first place, which is evidence that it wasn't as progressive as people like to pretend it is.

[onceuponanavatar]

i hate the implication that shipping zutara means that you're downplaying colonialism. not only do comparisons between historical examples of colonizer-colonized relationships (e.g. sally hemmings and thomas jefferson) fall flat since 1) zutara originated as a desire for zuko and katara to enter a consensual relationship 2) zuko atones for mistakes and his contributions for being an agent of colonization. plus it comes out of this assumption that many of us aren't poc and are oblivious to the effects of colonialism.

[onceuponanavatar]

one kiss before the end of the world

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"Um, I could use a little help paddling here!"

Yeah, it's hard to be the canoe thirdwheel, isn't it, Sokka? 🤷‍♀️

(First zutara fanart of the year! Hoorah!)

[onceuponanavatar]

ASHES OF THE ACADEMY SPOILERS ‼️

“zuko and mai are gonna get back together!”

“no they’ll stay broken up!”

“wait a second… is that?”

MAILEE WITH A STEEL CHAIR????

[onceuponanavatar]

why 🤷‍♀️ should Caesar🥗 get to stomp👢👢 around like a giant🚶‍♂️ while the rest of us👩👴👵🧕🧔 try not to get smuched 💥under his big feet?👣 whats so great about Caesar🥗 hmm? Brutus 💅 is just as cute 💋as Caesar.🥗 okay? Brutus💅 is just as smart🧠 as Caesar.🥗 People🧔🧕👩👵 totally like 👍👍Brutus💅 just as much as they like 👍👍Caesar.🥗 and when did it become okay✔✔ for one ☝️person 👤to become the boss 🤴of everybody👥👥 huh?🤷‍♀️ because 💯that's💯 not 🙅‍♀️what Rome🏛 is about, we should totally💯💯 just stab🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪 Caesar!!!🥗🥗🥗🥗

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Old art I never finished or posted (for obvious reasons)

[onceuponanavatar]

sleepy gaang >>>> everyone else

[onceuponanavatar]

the most romantic pairing that "was never meant to be viewed as romantic" i have ever seen in my life