#katara rant

[arieskorra]

Angry Katara is my lifeblood but have we talked enough about how beautifully emotional she is? Her heart is so full of love.

She sees Aang do something even mildly adorable and suddenly she becomes overwhelmed™️ and starts thinking of everything he’s been through, and how good he is to her and how happy he seems after the war, and how much she values his presence in her life and how noble and gentle and kind he is and how she thinks he brings light everywhere he goes, and she loves him more than she can express with words and suddenly she starts *sobbing* and Aang is like “oms are you ok??”

She looks at Sokka one day and suddenly he makes a face that looks exactly like their mother, and she starts to think of how far he’s come and how supportive he always was of her even through his misguided misogynistic boy years because she knows he’s never really been that way, he was just trying to be what he thought a man was, and now look at the man he’s grown into, and he sees her and says “are you alright? you’re staring at me funny. did i do something?” and she just starts *sobbing uncontrollably* (however she tries to keep it together bc he’s her brother and losing it in front of him is way too embarrassing lol)

All this to say I think what’s so beautiful about Katara is how her anger is something that comes from her capability to feel everything so deeply. It comes from love and a desire to protect the things that are precious to her, and when she helps others she is guided by empathy. She is so so so emotionally intuitive and not only that, but she also understands fundamentally that her emotions are a sacred part of her. She takes pride in them and lets them guide her and it’s so inspiring to me.

On a side note, Katara is 100% Cancer coded and you cannot convince me otherwise.

[theladystrikesagain]

how does a show released in 2024 fail harder in showcasing fully rounded female characters with flaws and strengths and rich personalities than a cartoon from the 2000s. why has television & film legitimately regressed across the years when it comes to showing women as human beings lmao

[wilcze-kudly]

Avatar Fandom!

Tell me your thoughts surrounding Katara and her parentification, how the fandom treats her as a character much older than she actually is.

[thief-of-eggs]

Thinking about Zuko practicing hairstyles on Katara (for both his own benefit, and later to try on Sokka)

Thinking about them slowly but surely bonding through these little shared moments. Talking about their childhoods, their families, their memories.

Thinking about Zuko still asking to do her hair, even well after he’s mastered every style. Thinking about Katara coming to Zuko when she wants her hair done, thinking about her making excuses because she wants the peace that comes with sitting in front of him, closing her eyes as a touch so similar to her mother’s weaves through her hair.

Thinking about Zuko finding the sister he lost in those moments with her. Everything he wished he and Azula could be, he finds in Sokka’s younger sister.

[thatbookgirl1118]

I cannot for the life of me find the original post (tumblr is a hellsite) but this was sent in an atla gc:

@the-badger-mole

and tbh i always kinda felt like kataang was weird exactly because of that one-sidedness??? like there's one episode of katara maybe sort-of seeing aang as a love interest (when the fortune teller tells her she'll marry a powerful bender), but then the rest of the show is her being passive in the relationship or actively pushing aang away (like their second kiss). and then at the end she just randomly decided "okay i like you i guess."

whereas aang got a bunch of pining moments and you actually believed he was in love with katara.

and most of their relationship was about how she helped aang - he did contribute to her character development over the course of the series especially as a bender of course but it didn't feel as emotionally/spiritually deep as katara's literal one episode sidequest with zuko.

but then someone else wrote "I would argue the opposite? Kataang is where Katara choose the peaceful nomad which subverts the trope presented where zutara is where she chooses the strong protector/combatant. Aang as a character is a subversion of the typical hero while zutara is like,,, coloniser romance idk"

and honestly... i kinda get that. aang was problematic in a lot of ways, but he was definitely a subversive protagonist, and i can see the power of allowing the woman to choose the pacifist vegetarian over the extremely obviously hot jock badboy. this is an incredible oversimplification of their characters of course, but the point stands.

Basically, Kataang is the ship we all logically want - the sweet, friendship-based, seemingly subversive one. But Zutara is the one that actually makes sense in the story, with these characters, not their tropes. Aang is subversive, but he and Katara are also kind of terrible for each other - he isn't mature or selfless enough for Katara, who needs someone to force her to take care of herself because she's always the one taking care of everyone else (wonder what that's like). That's why she and Zuko are so perfect, because he not only takes care of her, he makes HER prioritize herself. Aang... does not. He's pretty selfish, which yes is partially due to his immaturity (I personally don't count Korra as canon because it treated ALL the og characters terribly so I'm speaking purely from his 12 yo self), but it's also just a basic incompatibility thing. And Katara is actually equally bad for Aang - she enables him waaay too much, and he needs someone who doesn't. Who forces him to stand up on his own two feet and take responsibility. She's too much of a mother, and her relationship with Aang is too mother/older sister-ish.

With Zuko, on the other hand? Katara started out HATING him, forcing him to prove himself to her instead of handing him everything she had like she tended to do with Aang and Sokka. He had to earn her care, and as a result he appreciates it way more and demands way less of it. He's a far less selfish character generally for the same reasons, and is much more mature/has a better understanding of life and gray areas. Southern Raiders is a great example of this - he's down for whatever Katara decides because he understands that there's no one right answer, unlike Aang who simply preaches forgiveness. I'm not necessarily attacking Aang about that either - I do believe that grudges eat away at a person, and taking a life does haunt you, so forgiveness isn't necessarily bad advice. But it's not what Katara needed. Aang is great as a friend, but I don't think he's what Katara needs from a romantic partner. Zuko just... is.

[quillthrillswriting]

i honestly feel like this scene & aangs actions in this episode as a whole is a really good representation of the idea that in healthy relationships, you shouldn't just blindly support everything that your partner does.

for starters, aang is shown to be supportive of katara facing her mothers killer. he tells her as much!

however, we see that when it comes down to it, katara doesn't actually want to kill this man. katara, in her heart and soul, despite all the anger and fury she harbours toward the fire nation, is emotionally mature enough, when she's in a healthy state, to realize that more killing and bloodshed will not undo what has been done. aang sees this & recognizes that her grief will not be removed by doing this, the same way that he knows for himself that even if the fire lord killed all of his people, killing him isn't worth the damage it would do to his values.

i genuinely do believe that he isn't trying to be controlling, or restrict her healing. rather, he's trying to make sure she understands the gravity of the situation, the toll that literal murder will take on someone. he, as a loving and supportive friend, sees his friend on the path to doing something that will ultimately be self-destructive, and is trying to prevent her from making an awful mistake.

i mean, lets think about katara's character as we know her. yes, she is known for her temper and can tend to do and say rash things. but whats important to note is that she herself often feels regretful of these actions. she apologizes when she lashes out, she herself feels that she goes too far.

do we really, truly believe that killing this man would have made her happy? would have avenged her mother?

becoming a killer at only the age of 14 is undoubtedly incredibly traumatizing. i feel like a lot of times i see discourse about this episode, we seem to forget that. she is a child. this is literal murder. this isn't the same as a partner saying that they don't want you to wear revealing clothing outside, or expressing weird amounts of jealousy about you maintaining friendships with the opposite sex.

so yes, if you want to boil it down, aang is expressing that he is against katara doing something. but that something is killing, and i don't see how he could be a manipulative or controlling partner for simply vocalizing that murder is not the solution to katara's grief.

he recognizes that killing this man will only tear her up inside, bring her down to the level of someone who kills others, who gives in to self-destructive impulses.

him doing this shows that he does understand her needs- he supports her going to face her mother's killer, but makes it clear that extreme violence is not what will help her heal.

his support of katara is not blind, and she is better for it. their relationship is better for it.

[survivalove]

blah blah something something about how fandom gravitate towards more individualistic characters because they’re easier to understand compared to community-oriented characters whose character development is very much tied to their culture/nation because understanding a single character is easier to understand than a character AND an entire culture, especially when said culture is based off a marginalized community that exists in real life 🫠 and said fandom is majority WHITE.

[coralpaperthoughts]

I will never understand ppl who hate/anti ANY of the members of the Gaang, or even any of the other kids. coz they are just kids. in the middle of a fucking war. of course they're gonna fuck up and make mistakes and be little shits, THEY ARE 12-16 !! ALL OF THE GAANG (including Zuko but excluding Suki) HAVEN'T HAD PROPER SOCIALISATION WITH OTHER KIDS THEIR AGE UNTIL THEY MET EACH OTHER !!

and yes, you could argue that Katara and Sokka had each other, but that's siblings and siblings are not the same as friends, and also Sokka was the only teen boy left in the tribe and I think Katara was the only teen girl too (might be wrong there tho)

you could also argue that Aang had friends before he got stuck in the iceberg so he did actually have that socialisation, but bro is fucking 12 and he was stuck in an iceberg for a hundred fucking years and had the whole avatar thing weighing down on his shoulders, cut the boy some slack ???

Toph and Zuko were both Rich Noble Kids™ so they automatically did not get proper socialisation with other kids their age. Toph was sheltered from the outside world because she's blind and a young girl, but yes she did go to that underground boxing ring but that was mainly adults, I highly doubt she was hanging about with kids there and definitely not in normal circumstances.

And although Mai and Ty Lee were there, they were Azula's "companions" (not originally meant to be friends but may have ended up as so after the war) and they weren't there for Zuko, they were there for Azula only. I'm pretty sure Zuko spent most of his time with tutors or with his mother before she left, he didn't get any socialisation with normal kids and he definitely did not get a normal childhood.

None of them got a normal childhood, so can you really blame any of them for being manipulative or assholes or doing dumb shit, whilst still being a kid/teen !!! and then being bad parents too, when they literally have no good role model to go off of (love Hakoda but bro was not there for his kids for a good couple of years and that does a lot to a kid)

edit: also Azula deserved a redemption/healing arc because she was a victim of abuse as much as Zuko was. she was in fact just a child, as much as the rest of them were, and deserved better. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk 🙏

edit 2: Jet also deserved a chance at healing. like bro watched his village burn and was the sole survivor, he probably has mega survivor's guilt that isn't touched upon in the show, like his hate for the fire nation is pretty rational and his actions (to an extent) are justified. all I'm saying is that if he had anybody else in his corner, that wasn't more angsty, out-for-revenge teens or kids, he could have had a much nicer life. one that didn't lead him to his downfall.

[sansas-amythest-hairnet]

One of the best things that happened to me was coming to terms with my femininity, i realized that i loved feminine things and that it was ok. Liking pink and dresses didnt make me lesser than other women, it wasn’t a weakness. I soon realized that by stopping this insane derision of traditionally feminine things in life i was in fact improving my character. I think that I saw improvement in the fact that i stopped just hating female characters who had these traditionally feminine traits like Cinderella, Aurora, Sansa, Katara, Fluer, Ty Lee, Susan Pevensie, and so many others, looking past this mental block i had as a pre-teen and early teen i realized that they are all strong characters who have many many admirable traits, I would even go as far as saying that they are what i would want to be as a person as opposed to the characters i idolized as a pre-teen. This internal hatred of my femininity wasn’t of my own creation though, i knew that I was very smart from a young age, and people around me and the online communities i saw all demonized these characters saying that they were weak, annoying, and deserving of misery. Some people say that our society is more accepting of woman than we ever have been but its still so hostile to young girls, people disguise this hatred of feminine things behind jokes on the internet calling girls “basic” for just doing things that girls tend to do, we see it in the pure hatred that grown men AND other women throw at artists like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter degrading them and depreciating their capabilities as artists, and the absolute hatred that any female led fan base receives. And while Hollywood may feature more female characters as leads in movies, they aren’t good characters, we see characters that aren’t well written, a strong female character is a well-written character, this is one place where i think Star Wars has done really well, we have Ahsoka, Fennec, Padme, Leia, Jyn, Mon Mothma, and both the Kryz sisters are all beautifully written and have distinguishable personalities, you have the kind Padme, the headstrong and confident Leia, the wise Mon Mothma, and Ahsoka who is perhaps one of the best written characters in Star Wars. We need more characters written like this. Also, We as a society need to STOP shaming the traditionally feminine qualities in young girls specifically, let little girls know that they aren’t lesser just because they are kind. We also need to stop teaching young boys that cruelty and meanness makes them more masculine.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk

[tokyosmega]

the atla universe if languages existed

hey there! ever wondered what avatar would be like if the nations actually spoke different languages? me too! here's my idea of how it would go:

(set during avatar: the last airbender, might add more during korra times another day)

quick disclaimer: i am an american who speaks american english and conversational france french. all of my language knowledge comes from youtube or school. this is just a silly little headcanon i needed to write down.

WATER

Within the water tribe’s language system, there are two main languages: Northern Water and Southern Water. Northern Water is spoken by the Northern Water tribe and Southern Water is spoken by the Southern Water tribe. Despite having similar names, the two languages are very different. When the Water tribes lived as one on the water lionturtle, they all spoke the same language (which we will call Olde Water), but after separation, they evolved independently. Think of the relationships between the two water languages as the relationship between French and Spanish. Their words can be similar (sol/soleil, luna/lune) because they share roots from Latin (or in this case, Olde Water). Northern Water and Southern Water share roots to the point where a Southern speaker and a Northern speaker would not be able to understand each other but could probably pick out a few key words from their speech. Similar words are things that are native to their area, while less common things that did not exist/were unknown during Olde Water times have differing words (the word for “polarbear-dog” is probably similar in both languages, but the word for “badgermole” is probably different). If the tribes met often for peace/community reasons (perhaps annually), then both languages would contain loanwords from the other tribe. For example, if sea prunes are a Southern Water tribe staple, then the word for “sea prunes” in the North is probably the same as it is in the South. Neither language has any sort of written component- it is completely oral.

Another, more niche language also exists within the Water language family, and that is Foggy Swamp. This language also originates from Olde Water, but has a great amount of Earth influence, since the swamp itself is in the Earth Kingdom (influence specifically from Omashu). Someone who speaks Olde Water would understand Foggy Swamp to the extent that someone who speaks American English would understand Pidgin English (that is, they would have to focus intently and would be able to get the jist of their speech). A Northern Water or Southern Water speaker would not be able to understand them at all, since their languages have developed so drastically from Olde Water. However, one could trace roots of words in Foggy Swamp back to Northern or Southern Water. An Earth speaker would not understand them at all either, but would be able to trace back loanwords and modern terminology (the word for “swamp” or “cat-gator”, for example, would be a lot more similar to Earth than it would be to Northern Water or Southern Water). Foggy Swamp also does not have a writing system.

EARTH

Because it covers such a vast space, the people of the Earth kingdom used to be incredibly linguistically diverse, with almost every city speaking differently than the next. During Kyoshi’s reign, Chin the Conqueror took over most of the kingdom and standardized the writing system (similar to the Qin dynasty in China), and therefore heavily influenced spoken language in the Earth kingdom. As an after-effect, Common Earth, also known as simply Earth, is the most widely spoken language in the world, to a similar extent as English or Mandarin Chinese. It is taught as a second language in every nation and it is hard to find a city where there are no Earth speakers. Everyone in the Earth kingdom speaks or understands Earth. Omashu Earth is an accent that is spoken primarily in the city of Omashu, and has tonal differences from Earth, similar to the difference between New York English and standard American English. Aside from Omashu Earth, the other areas of the Earth kingdom that were taken over by Chin do not have distinct accents. There are some slight variances, especially in the Southern islands between the Air temples, but all speakers of Common Earth can understand each other perfectly. Common Earth has a stable writing system that does not vary.

Despite Chin’s attempt to standardize language within the Earth kingdom, the places he did not conquer held fast to their respective languages. Ba Sing Se Earth, which can also be called Upper Ba Sing Se Earth, is the language that differs the most from Common Earth due to Ba Sing Se’s impenetrable walls cutting them off from the rest of the kingdom. Since both languages are derived from Olde Earth, they share similar writing systems, but neither language can understand each other (similar to the relationship between Cantonese and Mandarin). The walls between the Upper and Lower ring also created Lower Ba Sing Se Earth, where grammar is more simplified, due to the hasty lifestyle of a lower-class worker. Both Upper and Lower Ba Sing Se Earth speakers can understand each other, but Upper Ba Sing Se speakers might not be able to understand Lower slang. Their writing system is exactly the same. Kyoshi Earth is spoken solely on Kyoshi island, and is very similar to the former language of the people of Yokoya. It is not understandable to any other Earth speakers and functions similarly to the relationship between Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, with a different yet similar alphabet to Common Earth. The Si Wong tribes, who inhabit the Si Wong desert, speak various independent languages, but are collectively known as Si Wong Earth. Their languages have many loanwords from Common Earth due to trade. Their written language is syllabic and simple, similar to Cuneiform. 

FIRE

Most of the Fire nation speaks the same language, but there are three main dialects within the Fire Nation language system. The most commonly spoken dialect is aptly named Fire, but is also known as Common Fire. This language is spoken within the Fire nation capital, Caldera, but is mainly used within the greater land mass of the Fire nation. It evolved from Olde Fire and is the most basic form of Fire nation speech. The most similar dialect is more of an accent with some different slang terms and is known as High Fire. It is spoken by the citizens of Caldera, especially the nobles. It is completely understandable to those who know Common Fire and vice versa. The relationship between the two languages is similar to the relationship between Canadian French and Quebecois. The main difference between High Fire and Common fire is pronunciation of words and tonal patterns within sentences and phrases. The last dialects all get looped into one group and are collectively known as Provincial Fire. Provincial Fire is spoken on the outskirts of the mainland and into the chain of islands off of the Fire nation. It varies greatly depending on what island or area of the mainland it is spoken in and has differences from Common Fire that are similar to Korean’s differences from its provincial dialects (speech pattern and tones, different slang terms). The further out one gets from Caldera, the stronger the dialect. Written language within the Fire nation is the same across all of the dialects and characters are similar to Mandarin Chinese as they are pictorial and syllabic (from canon). 

The Sun Warriors are the only ethnic group of the Fire nation that speaks anything other than Common Fire. The Sun Warriors speak Sun Fire, which originates from Olde Fire as well, but has changed greatly since it was spoken within such a small group of people. Someone who speaks Common Fire would not understand Sun Fire at all, but could probably pick out a few words that have similar roots to Common Fire. Sun Fire has two written languages- one is reserved for spiritual leaders and spiritual texts, while the other is used by all people. Visually, it is similar to the differences between Japanese’s Kanji and Kana writing systems, where one is more simplified and one is more traditional. Spiritual written Sun Fire is more similar to written Common Fire. 

AIR

The people of the Air nation only have one language: Air. Due to a high need of proper communication, as well as people constantly moving from temple to temple, or growing up at one and working at the other, Air nomads developed only a single language from Olde Air. Air nomads have a robust writing system to allow writing of incredibly complex ideas and air nomad journeys. Most nomads learn multiple other languages as they age, so they can succeed no matter where they find themselves in the world. Due to the destruction of the Air temples, Air is almost a completely lost language. Remaining speakers include Aang and his children, as well as a few Earth kingdom elders who learned the language from friends and passed it down to their children.

MISC.

Cities born out of the 100-year war, like Cranefish Town (Republic City), are another story. The Fire nation mandated that all colonies only speak Common Fire in hopes of destroying the culture of the city, but despite that, a hybrid language developed: Earthen Fire. To a non-speaker, Earthen Fire sounds like Common Fire, but the grammar structure is very Earth based (a Fire speaker can understand Earthen Fire in the way that a Dutch speaker can understand Afrikaans). It also incorporates many loanwords from Earth. The writing system involves the exact same characters as written Earth, so it almost sounds like Fire spoken with an Earth accent. 

[blluespirit]

was going through my drafts and uhhhh she had some points 💅

[dreamchasernina]

I’m not a writer but even I understand how good the OG show was at showing us exactly who these characters are in the first few minutes of the first episode. The fact that they changed those scenes in the live action, where Katara shows the audience just who she is, tells you exactly what the problem with this adaptation is.

In the animated show Katara sees a boy in the iceberg, sees that he’s alive and knows she has to get him out of there. She knows she has to do everything she can to help that person she doesn’t even know! She doesn’t even think twice, doesn’t consider the dangers of hitting a giant glowing iceberg in the middle of nowhere. She grabs Sokka’s weapon and gives it her EVERYTHING to save this person. Because that’s who she fucking is! She’s compassionate, she’s strong willed, she will give it her all to help the people in need. And that’s what you get in those 2 minutes of the show.

As a writer, how do you press delete on all of that, and instead make Katara try to return their boat and accidentally free Aang from the iceberg? She frees him unknowingly. What do we learn about Katara from the scene? Absolutely fucking nothing.

I have absolutely no faith in the next two seasons unless they bring in competent writers.

[steveandbuckysdaughter]

I just remembered that in like 2018/2019 I wrote the most articulated plot for an atla fanfiction trilogy in which Mai and Zuko got back together and married, but had to fight three dangerous ladies: a watertribe/fire nation girl with bloodbending abilities and blessed with the sun spirit (give me a break I was like 13), an earth kingdom lavabender with vitiligo, and a firebender with combustion bending. And the plot was basically that the bloodbender was believed to be a nonbender and was Zuko’s betrothed, but she was playing everyone to get to the throne and conquer the world. And since she knew Zuko was in love with Mai they kidnapped her and brought her to Lake Laogai and brainwashed her, and she got back to normal when Zuko told her he loved her. and then the first book ended with Zuko and the gaang visiting Azula in prison to ask her for help. But then in book two Azula became an ally of the dangerous ladies and their spy, but at the same time went through a redemption arc and sacrificed herself to save Zuko from an explosion. And then the third book was Azula kidnapped by the three dangerous ladies who wanted to crash Maiko’s wedding and kill everyone, but Azula escaped and killed combustion girl. Then a big ass battle began and it was a complete mess

I even made the coolest drawing that I can’t find for the life of me, and the cringest trailer to have ever been created.

It was so cool yet to cringe and stupid, but it was my baby. And then one day I just hated it and deleted everything AND NOW I WANT TO PUNCH MYSELF BECAUSE THE IDEA COULDVE BEEN SO GOOD😭😭😭

Anyways here’s my little breakdown because I can’t believe 14 yo me just deleted everything and 19 yo me just remembered the whole ass plot on a random Tuesday.

ALSO the whole “kidnapped and brainwashed but saved by true love” thing was an idea I loved EVEN BEFORE I became a marvel and Stucky fan. I call this fate lmfao

[comradekatara]

Here's a completely random ask for you: what holiday (halloween, valentine's day, national ice cream day, etc.) would each member of the Gaang feel unreasonably strongly about? Can be positive or negative feelings.

oh this is a good question! (i hate so many american commercial holidays so this is a great avenue for me to project my frustrations with us capitalism onto these little guys. and to be clear im just doing us holidays bc otherwise there would simply be too many options and i’d be stuck here forever)

aang: he’s not enough of a hater to dislike any holidays. he’s a big fan of april fool’s day, valentine’s day, and halloween, because he appreciates fun and joy and love and merriment duh

katara: every thanksgiving she goes on an impassioned rant about the historical revisionism of the us empire deployed as a propaganda tool as it continues its genocidal imperialist project and the absolutely sick and twisted audacity of americans to celebrate a known lie in a mockery of the atrocities committed from the past into the present (this one may or may not just have been me, yesterday). every november-december she goes on an impassioned rant about the commercialism of christmas, and how it’s largely a fake holiday devised by capitalists to glorify the sanctity of the nuclear family, and how the supposed “secularization” of christmas is in fact a product of christian hegemony, it’s propaganda and you’re all falling for it because you crave hollow comforts in your cold and dismal life, and instead of attempting to look beyond the scraps you are given under capitalism you all just force yourselves to enjoy a facade of happiness and nostalgia because you refuse to admit that you’re fundamentally uncomfortable in your society!!!!!!!! (this is what i think but wisely refrain from saying because it’s not worth it. katara, however...) also she likes valentine’s day sometimes (depending on whether or not she has a boyfriend). she also has a lot to say on columbus day and the fourth of july of course, but this bullet point is already far too long.

sokka: his favorite holiday is pi day. he does not care for any other us holiday (but he has been known to enjoy a halloween here and there), but he specifically hates april fools because aang insists on pranking him every time, for some godforsaken reason. (he’s just so prankable!)

toph: her least favorite holiday is valentine’s day because it promotes m*rriage, one of her most hated institutions (it’s a long list). her favorite day is taco tuesday

zuko: he insists on celebrating shakespeare’s birth/deathday as if it is a real holiday that anyone actually cares about. and he gets offended when no one else cares. his least favorite holiday is the fourth of july, but not for any political reasons, it just has really bad vibes.

suki: she loves halloween because it has everything you could ever ask for in a single day: dressing in elaborate costume, eating so much candy, and getting really drunk. she’s also one of those people who gets really obnoxious on 4/20, at which point mai is like “you know it’s hitler’s birthday, right?” and immediately kills the vibe. just because she can :)

mai: she has a love/hate relationship with halloween, because theoretically it’s a celebration of the gothic, the liminal, the macabre, the ghostly. but in practice it’s just an excuse for everyone around her to get wasted. she hates christmas more though. santa freaks her out and cloying, forced cheer and merriment is unnerving and infuriating, actually.

ty lee: she dreads valentine’s day every year because she simply has too many suitors and it is very stressful. she likes april fool’s day because it gives her the opportunity to exercise her more devious inclinations. she can prank people so well they don’t even know they’re being pranked; on april first the world is her playground.

azula: she has no real opinion on any specific holidays. they’re petty distractions for mindless drones who require a modicum of frivolity here and there to spice up their otherwise dull, worthless lives. however, she quite likes tax day.

[onyichii]

Avatar and Wakfu Similarities

I wouldn’t be surprised if the creation of Wakfu was influenced by avatar the last airbender

Katara - Evangeline (the level headed/voice of reason)

Sokka - Percedal (the comedic relief)

Toph - Amalia (the prickly one (at times)/comes from wealth)

Aang - Yugo (the MC. Only one of their kind. Falls for girl from their group)

Appah - Adamai (the animal fam)

Momo - Az (the pet)

Uncle Iroh - Ruel Stroud (the old guy) (Ruel wasn’t throwing out wisdom like Iroh)

Amalia and katara also have a dead mother similarity too. And they get with the male lead. Also Kataras father was the chief of their tribe, while Amalias dad was a king—so they both have that in common too (daddies who were leaders).

Just something that came to mind after rewatching season 1-4 this week.

Then there is the last scene being a kiss initiated by the woman. However Wakfu…there’s is SUPER beautiful!

Wakfu:

Avatar:

[fictionally-attached]

It is now becoming more and more clear to me as to why the creators of Avatar the last airbender walked away from the live adaptation.

Toning down Sokka's sexism

Sokka being sexist is as important as Katara fighting against sexism. They are BOTH products of their culture. The makers of the Netflix adaptation forget Sokka was the only boy left to protect his village. He believed it was his duty to protect the weak. When he came across warriors that were women, he felt they knew nothing. Only to be humbled, he’d apologize, and accept he was wrong. He even fell in love with one of them (Suki). Sokka’s sexism came not just from his own trauma and trying to fill his father’s shoes, but also the fact that Water Tribe culture is very strict re: gender roles. This showed that although the Fire Nation were the bad guys each nation still had its own flaws and issues. Plus, by showing a likeable main character overcoming their prejudices, it does a better job teaching people to not be prejudiced than by just having the villains be prejudiced. This plot point is a HUGE focus on Sokka's initial development. He is not just some goofy side kick non bender. He learned that his views were flawed and GREW from it. This issue is still relevant to today and not just back in the early 2000s.

2. “We had to make it a serialized Netflix drama, which meant it couldn’t just be for kids. It had to also appeal to the people who are big fans of Game of Thrones.”

I'm fed up with the common misconception that making something appealing to adults necessitates it being dark and gritty. It's an oversimplified assumption that overlooks the nuanced maturity already present in the story. This series masterfully incorporated mature themes that resonated with audiences of all ages. From the genocide of the Air Nation to instances of child abuse endured by characters like Zuko, and the exploration of sexism within the Northern Water Tribe, ATLA didn't shy away from addressing complex issues. It also delved into cultural erasure, the horrors of war, the pitfalls of autocratic governance, and the struggles of characters dealing with PTSD, depression, and mental illness. These elements added depth and resonance to the narrative. Pushing for further grimness to cater to a different fanbase would undermine the series' existing richness and maturity.

3. “We decided to make Aang’s narrative drive a little clearer. In the first season of the animated series, he’s kind of going from place to place looking for adventures. He even says, ‘First, we’ve got to go and ride the elephant koi.’ It’s a little looser as befits a cartoon. We needed to make sure that he had that drive from the start. […] We essentially give him this vision of what’s going to happen and he says, ‘I have to get to the Northern Water Tribe to stop this from happening.’ That gives him much more narrative compulsion going forward.”

Giving Aang this drive right from the start completely changeshis character. A significant aspect of his development in the first season involves transitioning from someone who simply longed for a carefree childhood to one destined to fulfill the role of the Avatar. Remember, he's just 12 years old. Aang's sense of being overwhelmed by the weight of his Avatar duties is precisely why he fled and ultimately became trapped in ice. He wasn't eager to embrace his Avatar status, and that reluctance doesn't vanish overnight. He's a child burdened with the unimaginable responsibility of saving the world and stopping an entire nation. That essence of childhood doesn't evaporate with acceptance of his fate; it remained a fundamental aspect of his character arc across all three seasons. Maintaining his childlike innocence while navigating such weighty responsibilities is central to Aang's appeal and adds depth to his character. Moreover, the numerous detours the "gaang" takes contribute significantly to world-building, a vital element that imbued the original series with its charm. Will the remake ignore all of this???

In today's media landscape, there's a growing tendency to portray main characters as almost too flawless. While it's important to have protagonists that viewers can connect with and support, that doesn't mean they should be devoid of any imperfections. Flaws are what lend characters their humanity and depth, providing them with the opportunity to evolve and improve as the narrative unfolds. When a character begins the story with flawless beliefs and actions, it leaves little room for growth, resulting in a stagnant character arc.

I'm really concerned about how Zuko's and Azula's character development will be handled in the remake. They're both quite flawed characters, especially Azula. She was portrayed as being evil, yet also struggling with mental health issues. It's important to recognize that both aspects can coexist, and one doesn't excuse the other. This complexity was depicted well in the show's final season. I hope they won't simplify or remove these traits in the remake.

And what's next? Will they remove the beloved cabbage man too?