#would specifically frame it as an agni kai

[inamindfarfaraway]

Do you ever think about Azula after Zuko's banishment and before she was sent on her mission? About the time it was just her and Ozai? Because I do.

Her worst fear is being what Zuko is to their father. It's easy to look at her smirking while she watches Ozai light Zuko’s face on fire and think that she enjoys her brother’s suffering, but from the day she was born, Zuko has been the bad example. The scapegoat. The failure she exists to surpass. Where he is disrespectful, she will be obedient. Where he is weak, she will be strong. She will make Ozai proud. She will be perfect. She has to be. Because if she isn’t -

well, in that moment she sees that for herself. Iroh looks away, but she doesn’t. This eleven-year-old child watches the whole gory scene that her experienced general uncle can’t stomach, because this is a lesson for her as well, that’s why Father had her be here, and so she must not let herself tremble or cry or flinch or scream. Zuko is. That means she can’t. Instead she will do the exact opposite, smile with a princess’s proper posture.

Then Zuko is banished. He will most likely never return - most likely die young. He isn’t around to be the foil under her jewel anymore, making her shine brighter simply by contrast. (Or to play with her or comb her hair. But it isn’t useful or becoming to miss those moments. She isn’t a child anymore; her childhood was burned through like Zuko’s skin.) All Ozai’s attention is on her. All her people’s hope in the next generation of royalty rests in her. If she doesn’t hold her shoulders back and keep her head high, she will collapse under the weight of her nation’s future. Zuko got what he deserved. Just as whatever happens to her, she deserves it too.

How many nightmares does she have? How many times does she flinch or shake when her father touch her? Or force herself not to? How many times does she smell burning hair and flesh and hear her brother’s agony when she spoke her own opinion in a war meeting? How much does she secretly grieve him, and scold herself for it?

[zukosdualdao]

i'm literally insane about the last agni kai and the lightning scene(s). i swear i've rewatched it 10+ times since my last rewatch of the show (which was my first watch in years) and like. azula sees katara come into view from behind. zuko doesn't. he follows azula's gaze and sees katara and is immediately horrified. he doesn't even think or hesitate because he doesn't have time and for once he doesn't have to look back at azula to figure out what she's doing because he knows what she's doing and he won't let it happen. time dwindling into slow motion as a haunting score plays? and zuko literally yelling out "no!" because that lightning absolutely cannot hit katara. as soon as he sees it there's no chance of that ever happening. and then katara watching in horror as the lightning flashes against features in what is probably one of the most hauntingly beautiful animated moments of the show? zuko hitting the ground still convulsing with lightning and katara crying out "zuko!" and immediately trying to run to him before azula attacks again? and the next scene we cut back to with them, zuko is groaning weakly and trying to lift himself up, and we see katara literally gasp in surprise as she realizes he's still alive (i'm sobbing because i do quite literally think she thought he was dead) and immediately tries to run to him again, nevermind that she knows azula is still there, and the hand katara uses for healing is already doused in water as she reaches for him. but then azula starts attacking again. and zuko, despite literally being in so much pain that he can't stand and can barely even move at all without whimpering, still tries to reach for the spot where he can see azula attacking katara. katara is forced to hide from azula's attacks. and as azula is mocking "zuzu, you don't look so good" down to zuko, the perspective shot is such that you can SEE that katara is also looking at where he lies prone in the distance, surrounded by flame (probably wondering how much time they have before it really is too late) before looking back up at azula and realizing she needs to defeat her as quickly and handily as possible so katara can get to zuko. obviously katara would have done this anyway (the whole reason they were THERE was to halt the continued cycle of the imperialist regime of the fire nation), but the scene is specifically framed as katara trying to figure out how to stop azula so the obstacle to her getting to zuko is no longer in the way. katara's defeat of azula was epic and deserves its own post. but then after making sure azula is securely chained, she runs to zuko, looks at him with such immense sadness and horror and fear as she hears him in so much pain, tenderly turns him over so she can get a good look at the wound. and she cups his head? briefly but so gently? so that he won't hit it as she turns him over? and when she tries to heal him you can tell she is so genuinely unsure if it will even work, and so relieved that she starts crying tears of joy when she sees it has (at least enough to keep him alive and somewhat lessen his pain.) they thank each other (and you can tell it's still really hard for zuko to talk and his eyes are barely open but he thanks her anyways i'm.) and she thanks him back and!!! when he starts to try to sit up she makes a little surprised face and then immediately helps him to do so (and puts a tender hand to his chest while she does!!!) and obviously that last shot of them standing together is also one of emotional support, but katara's hand on his back is also partly because i still think (and certainly katara still thinks) trying to walk/stand on his own would be a bad idea, so it's definitely not happening.

[sokkastyles]

I came here from the Game of Thrones fandom, the “it was just like that back then in ye olden times” excuse was ridiculous there, and it’s especially ridiculous as an excuse to justify something that is clearly framed as NOT justifiable by the show in a fantasy world. As much as ATLA takes inspiration from Asian cultures, it is not a historical show.

But even if we look at what was considered culturally acceptable in the Fire Nation, what Ozai did to Zuko isn’t justifiable. Not that it matters in any case, but what Ozai does is not even reasonable by any rules of agni kais that we might get from what little canon says about it and historical influences that we might use as examples. The fact that we have so little given to us in canon makes the “oh, it was culturally acceptable” thing rather silly at best because we don’t know what was considered culturally acceptable. At worst it’s rather racist to be like “that’s just how their culture is, oh those brutal and primitive nonwhites,” especially when it is specifically established in the series that the roots of Fire Nation culture from which the agni kai originated are NOT the war-mongering military-obsessed values that the FN embraced after Sozin.

Even if we took the agni kai between Zuko and Ozai at face value, there are a number of things about it that immediately make it an unfair fight. Zuko himself tells his father “how can you possibly justify a duel with a child,” and that it was cruel and wrong. Zuko was thirteen years old. And since Zuko specifically mentions his age when he tells Ozai it was wrong, I think we can say that we would not be remiss in imposing modern standards. There’s no evidence that ritualistic duels between children and adults would be considered normal. It may have been accepted because Ozai was the Fire Lord, but I’m sure there were plenty of people, even people who witnessed it, like Iroh, who thought fighting a child was despicable but maybe wouldn’t say anything to go against the Fire Lord. 

We do know that an Agni Kai carries spiritual and cultural significance, and we also know from “Winter Solstice” that not all of the Fire Sages, the religious authorities in the Fire Nation, were down with the way Sozin ran things. It is made explicit in the series that Ozai and his ancestors were responsible for creating a spiritual imbalance in the world, so I think it can also be assumed that what we see of the agni kai ritual in the series itself is a twisted version of what it was originally intended to be. The wiki says that before Sozin’s rule, agni kais were rarely fought to the death, but that changed after Sozin’s regime and the emphasis on mercy and compassion being seen as weakness.

In addition to the fact that Zuko was a child when he was challenged by Ozai, I think it also goes without saying that the fact that Ozai is Zuko’s father as well as the Fire Lord means that there is a huge power imbalance there. This isn’t a duel between equals. Let’s look at what the wiki says about the agni kai ritual:

Any firebender may participate in an Agni Kai. Fire Lords can also be challenged, but that rarely occurs, as most Fire Lords are among the most powerful firebenders in the world.

I hear you saying “but sokkastyles, it says any firebender can participate and surely that means that children can fight duels with adults!” To which I say, common sense is your friend, please get to know it.

What I wanted to draw your attention to, though, is the statement that Fire Lords are rarely challenged to agni kais because they are among the most powerful in the world. Makes sense, right? It’d be pretty stupid to challenge the most powerful firebender alive to a firebender duel, unless you were pretty sure of your abilities. That doesn’t prohibit the Fire Lord from challenging others or fighting in the place of someone else, but it does ensure a pretty unbalanced fight. Which brings me to the next point, which was that Zuko did not even know he was fighting the Fire Lord. I think a lot of people forget this but it’s a key detail in whether or not you can consider this to be a legally or culturally justifiable fight. Even if you consider Zuko able to fully consent as a thirteen year old to fighting against an adult, against the Fire Lord, against his father, Zuko very obviously cannot knowingly consent to fighting someone that he didn’t even know he was fighting until the last moment, when it was too late to back down.

I’ve also seen people say that Ozai only burned Zuko because Zuko refused to fight, but here’s the thing. Given what I just outlined, Zuko was put in a situation that he could not reasonably consent to, that he obviously could not win, and then is punished for backing down. This is not a mere cultural ritual. This is Ozai deliberately manipulating the situation so that no matter what Zuko did, he would get hurt. And I don’t for a minute believe that Zuko would be spared if he had chosen to fight. If Zuko had chosen to fight, he would most likely have been cast as disloyal, the kind of disloyal son who would attack his father, and quickly defeated, and Ozai probably would have branded him as a result of his dishonor just the same. As it is, Ozai exerts his will against an adolescent who is begging and crying on the ground in front of him.

The wiki also says that a challenge has to be accepted, and we don’t see Zuko accept the challenge in the flashback, but even if he did, he was accepting it without the full knowledge of who he would be fighting, which renders his ability to accept moot if we go by most people’s understanding of legal consent (and, again, children cannot legally consent in any case, but anyway). Once he does see who he is fighting, he immediately tries to back out of it, but by then it isn’t an option. If Zuko isn’t given an option to decline then he can’t actually meaningfully accept the challenge.

Here’s another interesting tidbit from the wiki:

The Agni Kai is an ancient Fire Nation tradition. Fire duels have been fought for hundreds of years. However, such a duel is a grave matter, meant to be a last resort when all else fails or is insufficient to settle a dispute.

Did Ozai fight his son to settle a dispute? Was it a last resort, after other means of peaceful resolution had failed? I’m not gonna debate about whether a teenager speaking out during an important meeting justifies a duel or if burning a child’s face is an acceptable form of corporeal punishment. I think even by the rules of hypermasculine fantasy violence this would be considered a disproportionate response. My purpose is to point out that even by the established rules of hypermasculine fantasy fire land, it still would be considered a gross abuse of the system. Even the people on Zuko’s crew, who are all Fire Nation military, are shocked to hear the story. Jee says he assumed that Zuko was in a training accident and is nicer and more sympathetic to Zuko after learning how Zuko was scarred. Which would not be the case if the narrative that Ozai spins about Zuko losing his honor and being disrespectful and thus deserving to be burned were universally culturally accepted as true. I think there were enough people who thought it was, the Zhaos who bought into the fascist regime and glorification of violence. And yes, learning that it wasn’t justified was part of Zuko unlearning all the fascist BS his nation had been indoctrinated with, but it’s also made clear that Ozai wasn’t just acting within the rules of his society and that Zuko had to unlearn a lot of psychological conditioning due to his father’s abuse, and that included the idea that he deserved to be hurt. Ozai uses fascist values to justify hurting Zuko but what lies behind it is Ozai’s desire to use his power to hurt his son, and abusive people will frequently find ways of justifying their actions, by whatever means.

It’s also funny that people who bend over backwards to justify Ozai attacking a crying, surrendering child (from any direction, legally, morally, culturally, I don’t care) are often the same people who claim that Zuko was somehow taking advantage of Azula by fighting her when she was unstable and would have tried to kill him and harm others regardless of whether he had accepted her challenge.

[captain-azoren]

There’s one key element in Zuko’s story framing him as sympathetic, and that’s the war meeting. Specifically, it’s what makes Zuko speak out of turn; he’s standing against new recruits being sacrificed like fodder and essentially having their lives treated like fodder. This shows where Zuko’s morals lie in contrast to the rest of the Fire Nation military’s higher ups.

Here’s the thing though; Zuko’s morality isn’t actually all that relevant to his banishment or the Agni Kai with Ozai. Zuko could have objected to any number of things and the results would have been the same. The issue was that Zuko was being petulant and not knowing his place, and when it came time to defend his position and save face, he chickened out.

Now I know it’s not that simple. Ozai was also just being an abusive parent, but by having Zuko’s outburst be overtly good and righteous, it really kind of skews everything into being black and white; we as the audience are inclined to see this is Zuko being punished for being the good guy amongst bad people. 

I do get that within the context of the episode, “The Storm,” it’s to show that Zuko really does care about the lives of the soldiers under him, and while that is important for that episode, I think it’s been sort of detrimental in the long term.

So, here’s what could have been done instead to keep things neutral; have Zuko object to a tactic that’s not presented so callously. What I’m thinking is cutting the line about new recruits being “fresh meat” and replacing it with something more along the lines of “There’s no way this will work without heavy losses, so I’d rather lose our less valuable soldiers.”

Zuko could still have a similar outburst, and while he wouldn’t be unsympathetic, I think this would better represent why he got banished, for causing a scene while the adults were talking, over matters which he had no experience in and embarrassing his family.

[erisenyo]

Fic Writing: Interpersonal Relationships & Conflicts

Part Three of the request from @canubelieveitzel to dig into how I go about fic writing with a focus on defining interesting interpersonal relationships, conflicts & dynamics.

For me, interpersonal conflict is the engine that drives a story forward. (Note: conflict doesn't necessarily mean that there has to be a Big Fight, just that there is some room for growth that creates narrative tension) There are so many different ways to go about this, especially in fic, but my main tips would be:

Root interpersonal relationships in the characters' history (or lack thereof)

Ground conflict in misunderstandings, but try to avoid Big Misunderstandings

Know how you want the relationships to evolve

And because, again, concision and my strong suits, putting the rest below the cut.

For me, interpersonal relationships start with the characters' history and experiences (individual and shared). You can also dig into the lack of history, too, for example if you're writing about Sokka and Aang needing to work together to get Katara off the prison ship in Season 1 when they functionally don't really know each other.

Who are the characters to each other now, and how did they get there? What aspects of their history and personality brought them to this place? Given what you know about their shared history, how does that inform how the characters view each other?

You don't have to map out their entire life stories, but even knowing qualities of their history, like the fact that Sokka and Katara grew up close in a relatively small, isolated community, can give you an idea then of how they might be at 16 and 14 suddenly striking out into the wider world and to some degree trying to forge their own separate paths. This kind of focus on their histories lets me frame out how the relationship might have organically come to where it is now, and also highlights what the Big Impact moments in their shared history are.

By this I mean the major events that they shared, or that one experienced and the other saw the fallout of, that really shape how they interact with and see each other. This is helpful for me in understanding the kind of pivot points in the interpersonal relationship, the type of things that might move it in the future, and also the type of baggage that each character might be bringing to the table.

I also think about how the characters feel about the Big Impact moments (and how do those feelings change as they grow individually or together), because for me this helps frame up any current tension or conflict. For fic specifically, there's often a lot of room to interpret someone's feelings or reactions to a common event in different ways that can let you have the same history, but by leaning in to different aspects of their histories and reactions you can highlight different dynamics that you want them to have story to story.

If you take Zuko and Iroh--Iroh was probably absent for large chunks of Zuko's childhood. It was probably exciting and special for Zuko when he was around. And Iroh may have been mostly focused on his Crown Prince duties and expanding the glory of the Fire Nation or whatever, and potentially didn't often have time for Zuko. And then the Agni Kai happened. How does this shared history and their feelings toward it shape who they are to each other now to each other? Are they functional-parent and surrogate-child? Bending teacher and student? Unwitting adversaries? Smothering parent and grew-up-too-fast kid? Maybe Zuko treasures and fondly remembers moments that Iroh doesn't even remember. Maybe Iroh can only see the time he was gone and Zuko can only see the time he was there.

You can also build relationships around the function that characters are serving in the story. This works best for me with secondary characters in their relationship to the primary characters. How do they help advance the primary character's journey? What role do they serve in that character's life? Are they a source of wisdom? Of real talk? Of distraction? In These Things Unsaid and These Things Written, I use Aang to force Sokka to introspect, Toph to force him to defend the things he wants, and Katara to force him to think things through. And through his interactions with them, Sokka also has opportunities to demonstrate his growth by supporting them in turn.

And because I'm big on feelings, I also like to think through how the characters feel about where their relationship is now. Does Zuko enjoy Iroh trying to parent him? Resent it? Wish he could appreciate it? Not even understand what's trying to happen? And how do these feelings inform who they want to be to each other? Does Zuko want to move from parent-child to equals because he can't stand being coddled? Or maybe Iroh wants to go from an absentee family member to a father-son dynamic because he feels guilt for what he perceives to be his earlier neglect.

The difference between where a relationship is now and where a character wants it to be is one way to frame out an interpersonal conflict. My particular approach here is to try to have these conflicts and dynamics rooted in some kind of miscommunication, misaligned expectations, or misunderstanding without getting into Big Misunderstanding territory (by which I mean, a conflict that doesn't organically arise from the characters and their relationship and is mostly there to further the plot in what often feels like a contrived way).

I personally like it when a conflict doesn't have a clearly wrong side--if you can sympathize with both parties in a disagreement, I think that's a really great place to write from because you can really explore the nuances of the worldviews behind the conflicts, and the way different perceptions and different frames of reference are driving the rift rather than someone being a random ass to someone else. This also provides a good setup for character growth and greater understanding to heal that rift, if that's where you want the relationship to go.

To use These Things Unsaid as an example, Zuko and Iroh struggle a lot with their dynamic as Zuko grows as a character and Iroh doesn't. But Zuko is still withdrawn, reserved, cranky, and kind of mean, and Iroh is still well-intentioned, calm, soothing, and kind of patronizing. Neither of them means poorly, but they can't find common ground with each other and it contributes to an ongoing conflict in which neither of them takes on the role of a villain. That leaves the door open for the reader to become deeply invested in both of their growth and in the development of the relationship, rather than just wanting Iroh to get his act together so Zuko can be happy, for example.

You can find sources for these kinds of fights-without-bad-guys in how the plot is impacting the characters' status quo. Zuko and Iroh went from being rarely in each others' lives to constantly together. Katara and Sokka went from being always together to slowly growing apart and gaining their own separate interests. Zuko and Azula share much of the same history on paper, but end up in such different places. The characters are likely to feel differently about these cahnges, and the emotions that a character feels in response to the changing dynamic can be really good ground for exploring the relationship and framing individual (or shared) growth. Maybe Sokka really misses always having Katara at his side, and Katara is eager to strike out on her own. Neither side is at fault for feeling that way, but the way they effectively communicate (or not) about these changes and their feelings, or the way one half expects a change but the other doesn't, can work really well to frame up an interpersonal conflict that doesn't require a contrived misunderstanding or for someone to be the villain.

You can also look to misaligned character traits as a source of interpersonal conflict. Iroh is out here playing 4D chess with Zuko who is incredibly literal--how does this drive misunderstanding and miscommunication? Or how does a dynamic that worked 5, 10 years ago now not work as one (or both) of the characters grow? Maybe Zuko wanted Iroh to protect him from the world when he was eleven, but now that he's sixteen that dynamic chafes. This can work with characters who are new to each other, too--Sokka wants to be practical and rational at all times, Aang wants to have fun. How does this create tension in their new friendship? How does it create opportunities for them to see the value in the other's point of view?

A similar approach to misaligned character traits is when one side is growing and the other isn't. Think of friends drifting apart, or a kid feeling like they're outgrowing their parent--how does personal growth meet interpersonal dynamics? How does a character's growth (or lack of growth) negatively impact their relationships? Positively impact it?

Another approach that I think works well for romantic relationships in particular, and can be echoed in a character's friendship and family relationships, is focused on learning relationship skills. Maybe the character isn't a great active listener, or isn't a clear communicator, or is a compartmentalizer, or reacts hard and fast and makes decisions from a place of emotion--how does this impact their relationships? In These Things Written, Sokka isn't great at communicating his feelings, and makes a lot of assumptions about where other people's heads are at. How did this work for him in the South, but now as the plot advances and he meets new people, start to cause isues? A romantic relationship or new friendship or major plot event can act as a catalyst for awareness that there is a problem that needs correcting.

(I'll caveat that this can sometimes cast the character needing to learn as a bit of a dick as they kind of bumble their way through interpersonal interactions until they figure it out. I like to make sure that I have them 1) eventually acknowledge that they messed up or explicitly own the need to change, and 2) use this when the characters are younger. In many cases it's more understandable and less frustrating to read a 20-year-old not being great at communicating than a 40-year-old.)

For romantic relationships, I really like to look to love languages as a source of conflict. I find them to be a helpful framework for identifying very natural and very approachable conflicts that can nevertheless feel huge when the characters are in them. If Sokka gives love by offering acts of service, but Zuko receives love through quality time, then Sokka always running off to go fix a shelf or build him a new attachment for his bike or whatever is going to be a problem even though neither of them is doing something wrong. And if you want a fic where it's highly emotional but the actual conflict isn't dire, love languages can be a great way to make something like loading the dishwasher correctly become a flashpoint for a fight.

A really important part of writing all these interpersonal relationships and conflicts is knowing where you want the relationship to go. This doesn't have to be where the characters want it to go, and putting characters into a situation where their expectations aren't realized can provide a lot of good moments for growth, action, and narrative tensions. I find it works both to start with where you want a relationship to end up (particularly if it's a romance) or to think through how you think the interpersonal tensions you've identified will play out with the plot.

Either way, I find it very helpful to think through the growth I'm trying to showcase and drive toward (that progress doesn't have to be totally linear, also. Two steps forward, one step back is honestly pretty realistic). Knowing the end goal will let you plan out how character/relationship dynamics will impact the story more broadly in terms of evolving POVs, changing willingness to act or listen, and what plot moments might drive or highlight change (or the lack of it).

This also lets you make sure you have enough space in the story for the characters and relationship arcs you are planning. I'm not a concise writer (lol), and I'm a big believer in making sure there's enough narrative space for the growth that's occurring. For small fics, you're probably dealing with smaller growth, or a lot of time-skips. If you want characters to become close, fall out, and then find their way back to friendship, that might require more narrative space. Note that narrative space doesn't necessarily mean wordcount--you want to give the relationship space to breath, but you can leverage skipping through time really effectively to show that development without a ton of words as long as you're highlighting the history and offscreen events that are sitting behind the scenes you're writing (the 5+1 format comes to mind as a way that works really well for covering a lot of relationship ground in a shorter format).

Particularly with romance, I believe in really showcasing the way people fall in like before they fall in love, the difference between infatuation and a crush and romance. There are different stages of a relationship (or a friendship, or a parental or sibling dynamic) to explore with different tones and tenors, so know which stage you're trying to move your characters through. If they're going from meet-cute to happily married in like a week, you've got a *lot* of stages to move them through in a short amount of time (often by having some kind of very intense constant togetherness, life or death experience, *cough* Boiling Rock *cough*).

This already got away from me, so I'll stop there and pick up next time with the "how to keep it all interesting" bit of the question. Please chime in with any comments or questions, and I'd love to hear other's thoughts and tips!

Part One: Descriptive Dialogue

Part Two: Characterization

Up Next: How to Keep All Those Relationship Dynamics Interesting

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

What your opinion on the Agni Kai was better then aang’s fight with ozai

I want to first say that “better” is a completely subjective statement. Both the final Agni Kai and Aang’s battle with Ozai have huge importance thematically, but are also demonstrative of different aspects of A:tLA, so comparing them in an attempt to determine the “better” battle is really an injustice to the show imo. That said, the final Agni Kai is certainly the more popular of the two big battles, and honestly I can break down its popularity into three main points. People tend to favor the final Agni Kai because:

They see the final Agni Kai as the reason Z.utara should have been canon (no, this is not the same as seeing the battle as crucial to Z.utara’s development; I mean they full-on think that the final Agni Kai matters largely if not entirely because of the brief ‘Z.utara’ moment.)

They recognize the significance of the Agni Kai being framed as a tragedy (specifically regarding Azula).

Their lack of understanding regarding Aang’s arc (or, to be kinder, their personal disinterest in Aang) prevents them from fully appreciating his battle with Ozai.

There are a few other reasons the final Agni Kai tends to be favored (e.g. it’s a much faster-paced battle action-wise; Aang’s battle with Ozai is over twice as long and because of how the show was structured is broken up into several sections and thus feels even longer), but I think those are the main three. So let’s take them one at a time!

First, I have to start with the obvious:

People favor the final Agni Kai because they interpret it as their holy grail of why Z.utara should have been canon.

Firstly, I am not getting into the K@taang vs Z.utara ship wars. I don’t have the time or the energy lmao. But there is a huge difference between shipping Z.utara based on the content provided in the show (because y’all know I love me some Zut@raang) compared to somehow thinking that Zuko and Katara were both ready to be and should have gotten together at the end of the series. In short, Z.utara would not have worked in canon based on where the series stood by the finale, and that’s okay! That fact does not negate the appeal of Z.utara nor does it mean Z.utara shippers should not be allowed to interpret the final Agni Kai as involving Z.utara content (they absolutely can and should! we love to see that!). But the final Agni Kai was not some secret sign that Z.utara was meant to be canon, and people who interpret it as such are sorely missing the point of the battle.

Here are a few metas discussing the final Agni Kai in regards to Z.utara’s importance within canon A:tLA, if you’d like to read some analysis going more in-depth than I intend to. My thoughts regarding Z.utara and the final Agni Kai are pretty simple:

Zuko catching/attempting to redirect the lightning aimed at Katara was not because he was in love with her. For him to sacrifice himself because he was “in love with her” would entirely undermine his redemption arc, which is learning to earn forgiveness and accept unconditional love from his family (both Iroh and the Gaang), not because of romantic interest. (Again, this does not mean someone shouldn’t ship Z.utara; if that’s what you’re taking away from this post, then you might as well stop reading, because I assure you that’s not even close to the point here.)

Katara is set up as Azula’s primary foil (e.g. by and large her relationship in canon with Zuko is aimed as a surrogate sibling); her saving Zuko parallels Azula’s attempts on his life (though her most important moment as Azula’s foil is arguably bringing Aang back to life after Azula kills him, but that’s a subject for another time lol), and Zuko catching the lightning for Katara demonstrates him saving the sister he can save versus Azula, the sister he cannot save (hence her breakdown at the end of the battle while Katara walks away largely unharmed; Zuko’s decision is also a direct parallel to him siding with Azula in “Crossroads of Destiny”, having first chosen the sister who harms him over Katara, the sister who ultimately heals him).

The significance of Zuko catching/attempting to redirect the lightning aimed at Katara is not because it was Katara he was saving; the viewer sees Zuko’s decision and recognizes that he would have done so for anyone. Anyone in the Gaang, plus Mai and Iroh, and possibly even Ty Lee (hell, he’d probably have taken the bolt for Appa and Momo). Zuko’s redemption arc is sealed by his selflessness, his willingness to sacrifice himself for the sake of someone else. While the moment is especially powerful because of Katara’s position as a foil to Azula, it is not the Z.utara holy grail I’ve seen it portrayed to be.

To be honest, the interpretation of the Agni Kai as some big Z.utara moment is both superficial and a massive disservice to Azula and the completion of her arc, which is the focal point of most if not all of the battle, and also entirely undermines the power of Zuko’s redemption (as I discussed). So moving on to the next point!

People favor the final Agni Kai because they recognize its importance to Azula and how the key element of the battle’s emotional weight is its framing as a tragic, heartbreaking moment.

I rewatched both the final Agni Kai and Aang’s battle with Ozai before I wrote this, and I had to try so hard to not cry at the end when Azula breaks down, sobbing openly for the first time in the entire series. It is a powerful, devastating moment, and it is so heartbreaking because of how fitting it is for her. Does she deserve redemption? Absolutely. But in the context of the series and how A:tLA played out, rock bottom is where Azula needs to be, and the audience recognizing that fact is what makes the scene so painful to watch (and also why you can’t take your eyes off the screen). For me, the power of the Agni Kai never came from Zuko’s sacrifice (although I understand why that part resonates with some people more); instead, it was always about Azula’s downfall, her descent, the straw the broke the camel’s back - whatever you want to call it. I’ll try to keep the essence of my feelings towards Azula and the Agni Kai and why this battle is preferred short:

Azula is a much more established antagonist than Ozai. We know from the beginning the Fire Lord is the big bad, but his presence in the show is relegated largely to flashbacks and to the second half of the final season. Azula is introduced in Book Two (technically she appears twice, I believe, in Book One, but she has no lines so I’m not counting those moments lol) and becomes the key antagonist throughout the final two books. The viewers admire her intelligence and strategic capabilities, appreciate her wit and ability to turn a person’s words around on them, and even feel sympathy and pity for her when her difficult relationship with her mother is revealed (in “The Beach”) and when Ozai’s conditional love is demonstrated to apply to her, too (“Sozin’s Comet Part 1: The Phoenix King”). Thus, the final Agni Kai has multitudes more emotional potency in terms of the antagonist, as Azula is more pitiable and developed than Ozai, so it’s understandable that feeling a greater connection to Azula might result in someone preferring the final Agni Kai over Aang’s battle with Ozai. (That said, I will be discussing more about the significance of Ozai as a character later.)

The tone of the Agni Kai is that of tragedy (verus the more action/intense battle of Aang vs Ozai). While the debate of drama vs action is largely related to personal preference, I think it’s worth noting that no other battle in A:tLA (that I can think of) has the slow, drawn-out, orchestral music that is present in the final Agni Kai. The viewers realize this battle may be about power on the surface, but in reality it is a painful, devastating moment about a family irreparably torn apart (at least in terms of the series run). For me, that has always been the captivating factor of the Agni Kai. The viewers mourn for Azula, who has lost herself. Yes, she did so partially in her quest for power, but more importantly in her search for love, as she did not have a support system in her life like her brother (Zuko always had Iroh), and the audience grieves for her. Her mother both feared her and was disgusted by her; her father loved no one (including her) and only valued her for what she could provide to him; she hurt her brother and her best friends to the point where they were forced to turn away from her; and her uncle, as far as what is shown, never extended a hand to her. Azula is a victim of abuse (though this does not excuse any of her actions; in fact, her role in A:tLA as a victim who was abandoned and lashes out before breaking down on the inside is just as important as Zuko’s role as a victim who was given support and was able to heal). Thus, to me, the power of the final Agni Kai is all from the tragic tone (hence why Azula’s heartbreaking end brings me close to tears every time).

Bonus: The way Katara takes out Azula is incredibly clever and badass. (I don’t think I need to expand this one. We all love narrative foils!)

For some people, they prefer the final Agni Kai because of the emotional weight of the conclusion of Azula’s arc; that weight combined with the conclusion of Zuko’s redemption, in my opinion, are pretty valid reasons to deem the final Agni Kai their favorite battle of the series. That said, there is one other important factor to consider in the question of the final Agni Kai vs Aang’s battle with Ozai:

People prefer the final Agni Kai because they blatantly misunderstand and/or misinterpret Aang’s arc of reconciling his being both the Avatar and the last airbender, thus preventing them from fully understanding and appreciating the weight of his battle with Ozai.

This point is more complex than the two I discussed previously, so I’m going to break this one down further to help simplify it. Let’s start with the most obvious thing:

“The lion turtle and energybending were cop-outs!”

I cringe whenever I see this; imagine admitting to the entire fandom how blind you were to the extensive foreshadowing about the lion turtle and energybending. Downright embarrassing. There are so many metas out there explaining how the lion turtle and energybending were not cop-outs and how A:tLA did foreshadow their influence (some people need to admit they just didn’t watch the show tbh). I’ll try to provide a quick summary:

Chiblocking demonstrated how chi/energy and bending were intrinsically linked from Day. One. Moreover, it did so numerous times; trying to claim that blatant foreshadowing is not there is… well, kind of embarrassing.

The lion turtle was foreshadowed in “The Library” (and moreover the lion turtle only appeared after Aang called out to the Spirit World; his meditation was an appropriate attempt to seek help from those wiser than him to resolve his dilemma, and thus his plea was answered).

If you’re gonna argue the lion turtle/energybending were convenient cop-outs, you better also critique how Suki conveniently was at the Boiling Rock/the ferry, Pakku conveniently had been arranged to marry Katara’s grandmother, Toph conveniently inventing metalbending, every other time a spirit showed up conveniently, etc. etc. etc. Don’t cherry-pick, hypocrites.

The lion turtle/energybending were not necessarily predictable, no, but they also were not meant to be. You’re not supposed to guess every detail of every finale of every show. So yes, the lion turtle/energybending were foreshadowed, and this foreshadowing done so in a way where after they were revealed it was intended to be an “oh my god, how did I not see that connection before?!” moment. (At least, so it was for me.)

Dismissing the lion turtle and energybending as a cop-out is an age-old, boring misinterpretation of Aang’s battle with Ozai, and by and large I think most of the fandom is tired of hearing it. Thus, if people don’t understand the lion turtle/energybending and their roles in the A:tLA finale, then they’re less likely to appreciate Aang’s battle with Ozai and therefore would prefer the final Agni Kai. Next common argument:

“Aang was able to re-enter the Avatar state because of a rock? Really? Another cop-out!”

Again, if you’re gonna criticize the rock, at least criticize every other plot device used in A:tLA. I mean come on. Some people will really just cherry-pick instances solely with Aang. How very convenient for them, huh?

But the fact of the matter is that the pointy rock is actually pretty important! No, it didn’t necessarily have to be a rock that allowed Aang to enter the Avatar state again, but it was necessary that the Avatar state was unblocked for him by a physical trigger. The Avatar state was removed from Aang by Azula’s lightning striking him (after he’d done the spiritual work to control it, too!), which is a physical block, thus requiring something to physically unblock it. By the end of Book Two, Aang is able to enter the Avatar state of his own accord (he successfully unlocked his chakras, after all) and had Azula not struck him in the back and killed him, he presumably would have been able to do so throughout Book Three. Did that physical item have to be a rock? Again, not necessarily, lmao, but where he and Ozai were fighting, well, there certainly were a lot of rocks, so it’s not like it didn’t make sense. (There’s a meta here that touches a bit on the necessity of the Aang needing the Avatar state physically unblocked, too.)

“Ozai was a stereotypical, boring villain! He was barely given any screen time!”

This isn’t entirely untrue. Everything viewers are told about Ozai is from other characters in the narrative; mostly Zuko, but also Azula and I’d argue Iroh, too. Ozai certainly was the big bad of the series, and little is provided regarding his personality beyond being power-hungry, racist, xenophobic, and abusive. But… that’s kind of the point. Ozai is written to have zero redeemable qualities. There is supposed to be zero sympathy for him. Hell, there’s arguably even zero reason for him to live on (which actually makes Aang’s decision to spare his life all the more powerful, but that’s for later). There’s one line in particular that really defines Ozai’s character to me:

“You’re [Aang is] weak, just like the rest of your people [the Air Nomads]! They did not deserve to exist in this world… in my [Ozai’s] world!”

Ozai is the epitome of fascism, imperialism, and a superiority complex if there ever was one in a cartoon. His words remind the audience that maybe he didn’t initiate the Air Nomad Genocide, but he continues to seek the same goal - obliteration of anyone he deems inferior (which is, well, every nation except his own). Aang’s battle with Ozai is literally a fight against fascism, and that’s a hell of a powerful metaphor. So while I understand leaning towards the Agni Kai in terms of familiarity with the antagonist (aka Azula), I do think some people gloss over Ozai too quickly. Yes, everyone knows that Ozai is a genocidal dictator, but I don’t think the implication of that position - especially what it means to Aang - really sinks in for everyone.

And now for the big one:

“Aang should have killed Ozai!”

If you are reading this and for some godforsaken reason think Aang should have killed Ozai, I beg of you: read these metas and analyses about Aang and his arc explaining exactly why that’s the wrong take. This point has been argued a million times over and the fact of the matter is that Aang choosing to spare Ozai’s life and thus uphold his beliefs as an Air Nomad is the ultimate triumph (a direct parallel to the Air Nomads being forced to fight back against the firebenders during Sozin’s attack and were thus not able to uphold their beliefs - the ultimate sacrifice). Furthermore, Aang choosing to spare Ozai’s life but take his bending is arguably a fate worse than death for Ozai. Ozai now lacks all of his power/prestige, will be forced to watch the son he despises rebuild his country, and any lingering supporters he may have can’t argue “oh well the Avatar had no reason to kill him!” because Aang didn’t kill him. He chose mercy. He proved himself better and stronger than Ozai could ever hope to be.

Furthermore, Aang staying true to his beliefs as an airbender is central to his character. The core belief of the Air Nomads was that all life was sacred (such was why they were all vegetarians). If he had killed Ozai, if he had been forced to betray his spiritual beliefs, then he would have completed the genocide of the Air Nomads that Sozin started a hundred years ago. Ozai’s death at Aang’s hands = the death of the airbenders’ culture. Full stop. How could he be expected to bring balance to the four nations if only three remained? Maybe this is just me, but the message of Aang being an airbender (the last airbender) and finding another way (e.g. energybending) to defeat Ozai in order to uphold the beliefs of his people is a much more powerful message than him having to kill Ozai (especially because no one else understood how important Aang’s spirituality was to him [not even the Gaang!]; Aang did what was right, even when the world insisted he was wrong).

(Sidenote: The previous Avatars did not tell Aang to kill Ozai. That’s right - not even Kyoshi. I believe she gave him this advice: “Only justice will bring peace.” Great news! Aang did exactly that. Why are some people still so pressed about it??)

Furthermore, if someone calls Aang’s beliefs and his decision not to kill Ozai childish (we’ve all seen those posts), I’m giving you permission to deck them, because so much of the roots of the Air Nomads’ spirituality is rooted in Buddhism, and like,, we know westerners struggle to comprehend any narrative that isn’t our own, but the dismissal of Aang’s beliefs without making the connection that they’re also dismissing the beliefs of many, many real people? Yeah, please sock those assholes in the jaw. Give them the finger. Glare at them. Whatever works for you. Those are the people with the most superficial opinions on A:tLA, and to be honest, it really shows. Please: make an effort to understand the eastern narratives at work within A:tLA. If you don’t, there are so many things you will miss out on, and you’ll also just look like a prick.

For me, Aang’s battle with Ozai is so powerful (and my favorite) because of the ending and its importance to Aang:

“I’m not gonna end it like this.”

Aang chooses mercy by taking Ozai’s bending instead of killing him.

Aang chooses to uphold the beliefs of his people and guarantee the Air Nomads live on in him.

Aang proves his soul is unbendable.

Aang enters and controls the Avatar of his own accord (not induced by trauma or a spirit).

Aang reconciles his being the Avatar with being the last airbender.

Aang is finally at peace with himself and the world around him.

In short, if a person doesn’t understand Aang and his character, then the significance of his final battle with Ozai will largely be lost, and thus it makes sense that they would gravitate more to the Agni Kai (which is arguably a less nuanced battle, as Azula’s position as a victim of abuse and Zuko’s tale of redemption are not exclusive to either western or eastern narratives, while Aang’s arc is largely more eastern in nature and thus something less familiar to western audiences).

I have no doubt that my personal bias influences my admiration of the final battle with Ozai, as Aang is my favorite character and his narrative is easily the most powerful to me (he is the sole survivor of genocide who still chooses to seek kindness in life instead of revenge), but regardless I’d argue the sheer thematic weight of Aang’s battle with Ozai outweighs that of the Agni Kai any day (although, to be fair, they are presenting different subjects, so take my feelings there with a grain of salt).

The Agni Kai is a tragedy. It is devastating. It makes you cry. Aang’s battle with Ozai is a triumph. It is hope. It makes you take a deep breath and look to tomorrow with a brave smile. And that is why it is the battle that concludes the series.

TL;DR - Both are fantastic battles in their own merit, but Aang’s battle with Ozai is underappreciated because of the fandom’s incomplete grasp on Aang’s arc and character while the final Agni Kai is often appreciated/hyped up for the wrong (*cough* shipping *cough*) reasons.

[army-of-mai-lovers]

ATLA fic recs pt 3!

part 1 part 2 (again, consider this a re-rec of everything I recced in those parts, those were all brilliant fics! I have really good taste y’all) 

This is for Spotlight Saturday (which I didn’t even know was a thing oh my goodness that’s so cool) and also bc I passed two milestones since making the last one of these! thank you! I don’t know why you’re here but I’m so glad you are! <3 <3 <3 <3 also, a gentle reminder that I love so, so many more fics than appear on these lists, and there are even more fics that I’m simply not exposed to. if you want to send me your work or the work of people you really like, please do so! (G or T only, please)

1. Hooked by @listless-brainrot I know List writes fic specifically to cause me pain but I cannot tell you how much serotonin I got when I found out during the Great Jetru Summer Storm of 2020 that somebody had a) already made content and b) that content was literally incredible. Like not only does List have impeccable taste and an impressive amount of patience he’s also a really good writer??? To be perfectly honest I sometimes turn my brain off a little when I read fic, but List makes me sit up and pay attention to his writing and the way he’s writing. I think the framing device here with Haru telling this story to the gaang at the Western Air Temple is so interesting (and it makes me so scared list dude please tell me that doesn’t mean what I think it means you can’t-) and Jet and Haru’s burgeoning friendship/relationship? has been handled with such care and with such depth. I am absolutely obsessed with how he characterizes Haru in particular. Haru, being such a minor character, normally doesn’t get any kind of characterization, but List really said not only is Haru going to be the pov character of this fic, I am going to create an environment that gives him so much nuance. We really have no choice to stan. 

2. and the stars, they too, tell of spring by @katarahairloopies when I first read this fic I went absolutely feral, as I am wont to do with Kit’s fics and with yueki content in general. It’s just so personal. And like not in the queer eye meme way (although,,,,yes) but to me it’s very clear that the author has spent time in the situation they’re describing, in one way or another, and took a lot of care in rendering that situation to the absolute fullest of their ability. It’s one of those fics that has just stayed with me even though I read it a while ago, like I can still picture the situation, the way they described it, the way I felt reading it. Simply iconic. Simply iconic. I wish every atla fic writer would have the kind of care and patience with Yue and Suki’s characters in their long af fics that Kit does in a really short and pointed piece of work. 

3. i like my girls just like i like my honey by @lazypigeon I am....obsessed with this???? I love it??? It is totally gorgeous. I’m a sucker for ship fics that also explore friendships and the whole friendship between Sokka and Yue was just so queer and so utterly perfect. The jokes about their neighbors thinking they were married...the background zukka...the dresses....I loved it all so much. It really brought a smile to my face to read some fluff about two friends going outside to hang out with one another, like can you imagine??? wild. And then we meet Suki who is a farmer at the farmer’s market that Sokka and Yue go to and y’all pls tell me why farmer’s market aus aren’t a bigger thing because the idea of Suki being a farmer and asking Yue to go sample strawberries with her was just???? so cute????? like go off that’s absolutely iconic again we have no choice but to stan! And Sokka was absolutely hilarious when he was trying to wingman for Yue it was so funny and cute. also bonus for the title it was simply *chef’s kiss*

4. the anchor by @firelordemai one of my fave Maiko fics to date. Both POVs were on point but there was just something extra about that Mai POV it was gripping. I could not tear my eyes away from the screen reading this. I love love loved so much how the rock stood for their love for one another and how Zuko kept it, the whole way through, just utter and complete perfection I’m getting emotional just thinking about it oh my goodness. Legit it’s been a minute since I read the fic I’m just sitting here thinking about the use of language and how their relationship progressed and I am crying!!! I am crying!!! just. the talent. the talent! your fave could never! I am just obsessed with how the author chronicled them growing up and the challenges they faced as teenagers and the way they were driven apart and came back together again and my heart was on the floor in pieces when Zuko left it was just. oh my goodness. read this. 

5. time for the moon night by @kahtara ok storytime: when that ask game where you tell the author your favorite fic of theirs went around I hit up Joey and said that it was between laughter lines (which I have recced before peep part 2) and icarus, point to the sun and that I was planning on reading time for moon night but I just didn’t know if I had the emotional strength to do it and they said it’s less sad than laughter lines so I was like all right chill I’ll read it and NO, NO IT WAS NOT LESS SAD THAN LAUGHTER LINES, IT WAS, PERHAPS, MORE SAD THAN LAUGHTER LINES. in all seriousness, time for the moon night is my new favorite fic of theirs. the way they write yukka in general is just so full of nuance and emotion, they really flesh out both Sokka and Yue’s characters so well and in such a careful and precise manner and I really love it. The way time is bent throughout this whole fic is just so amazing. this kind of gorgeous, thoughtful writing that isn’t shy to really get at the depths is the reason I love fanfiction. this is why I care! ao3 is FREE. and yet you can get writing of that quality and substance?????? i’m floored honestly. 

6. if you ran away (come back home) by @shrinkthisviolet I want to spotlight one line in particular. “She wondered how long it would take him to notice the weak spot on the dummy’s left side.” That is so Mai. That is so Mai. The author did such a wonderful job capturing Mai’s situation and her perspective on it, but that line prepared me for an absolutely wonderful character study of Mai and look into her situation before and after the Agni Kai. I’m honestly so floored at how the author was able to portray such an intimate character study that so in character and so well thought out. Mai stans, come get y’alls juice. This one is also really sad and I cried a little (me crying at ATLA fanfiction is exactly as common of an occurrence as you think it is.) What was particularly heartbreaking to me was the way that the author showed how, even as a kid, Mai was driven to suppress her feelings and play to her best political interests. She’s just a kid! She’s just a little baby!!!!!!! I’m heartbroken, and I’m at a loss for words, quite frankly. I want Mai to have the whole world. gosh anyway this author is so incredible and I’m so so excited to read more of her work, because this was just stunning and deserves an incredible amount of praise. 

[sweettsubaki]

I love Iroh even though he has some.... Big flaws, which aren't really addressed in canon. But I like him in the sense that even some of the wisest characters are far from perfect themselves and don't have the answer to everything.

Point is, I can't help but think that Zuko might have actually dealt with most his issues better and earlier without Iroh there.

Zuko's pretty much the poster boy for "go big or go home" (granted in his case he needs to go big in order to go home but bad puns aside...), and despite all his love and patience Iroh never actually told Zuko that his punishment was unfair both in the crime/punishment ratio (disagreeing-talking out of turn/facing the fire lord in an agni Kai-being banished) and in the fact that what he said wasn't wrong in itself (the way it was said wasn't ideal but what was said was sound). So he basically insinuated that Zuko was indeed wrong but he still loved him regardless (which would be a great message if it didn't lead to Zuko trying to snuff his empathy so badly). In that sense he allowed Zuko to keep his hope that he might be able to go home if he captures the Avatar. It's hard to convince someone their honor doesn't rely on a specific task if you don't tell them the whole shebang was a hoax to begin with.

Now obviously people who don't want to listen won't listen and Zuko is a master at this particular skill which Iroh would know. However the way it's framed, he knew it so he for went trying to say it and... Well that means there's no soil for Iroh's wisdom seeds to be planted in.

As I said Zuko's a go big or go home type (the never give up dagger being its canon symbol) so without Iroh being there to... Smooth things over (between him and the crew, the people they meet, with the logistics of exploring and looking for clues) I can't help but think that he'd have been met with enough resistance to go further than he did in Zuko Alone (in part because he'd be younger so he'd have had less time to anchor "Capture the Avatar" in his head, in part because without Iroh to go back to, he'd be forced to face his demons earlier).

The main issue would be that he probably would still think love is conditional unless someone intervenes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[callioope]

Okay, well, apparently now I have to START OVER from scratch because the tumblr new post option doesn’t remember the text you already entered when you RESIZE YOUR BROWSER

*insert Zuko tantrum here*

ANYWAYS let me try to remember what I was saying before I lost like five or six paragraphs of thoughts.

Thoughts on Avatar: The Last Airbender

Overall, I really enjoyed the show. The main characters were interesting and well-written, including most of the villains, and it always felt like their actions and feelings were understandable, even when they were very obviously doing something that wasn’t good for them or those around them. (Which is not to say they were justified — just that you could understand why they felt, thought, or did something.) 

On that note, it also felt like their choices and actions drove the plot, and that’s generally something I’m trying to integrate more into my own writing. It’s easy to plan a story by saying the plot is a list of things that happen, but what I want is characters to shape the plot. 

What do they want? What are they able to achieve in the direction of that want? How might their flaws get in the way? How might the wants and actions of other characters get in their way? Etc. 

I mean, now that I’m writing it here, it seems pretty basic and obvious as far as storytelling goes, but I don’t think it always is to some writers and there’s something about writing it out and framing it in a particular way that helps me.

While we’re on the subject of character, I think most of the main characters had really satisfying arcs. Aang is very silly in the beginning of the show (and he’s a kid, of course he is), and he grows up a lot over the series (which is actually kind of sad, but apparently his burden. I was going to say the burden of the Avatar, but I don’t think that’s even true, especially considering they don’t usually reveal who the Avatar is until they reach 16 — Aang being an exception). Obviously Zuko’s arc is the most dramatic, and I’ll get to that later, but I knew where that was going and I loved every moment of it. 

Speaking of knowing Zuko’s arc ahead of time — I should disclaim that I very rarely shied away from spoilers when they showed up on my dash, so I had a pretty good idea of the main plot points of the show even if I didn’t know every detail. And while I may not have been able to state a lot of what I’d read off the top of my head, very frequently as I was watching, I’d go “Oh YEAH, I remember reading about this.” 

One final preliminary thought before we dive into things, but also, I had no idea how to pronounce many of the characters’ names! I’d only ever read them before. Particular ones I got wrong: Sokka (thought it rhymes with Ahsoka), Toph (thought it rhymes with loaf), and Mai (thought it rhymes with pie). Not important but just something I found strangely jarring. Toph was weird in particular because it sounded like her parents called her “Tough” but then everyone else said her name as though it rhymes with “off”. 

OKAY BUT ONWARDS

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: Book 1

Sokka

Sokka became a fast favorite! Despite his major misogyny issues, which were quickly addressed and something he grew past, I really sympathized with him early on. He has to put up with a lot! I mean, Aang is really silly and playful in the beginning and Katara often joins in. I don’t remember specific examples but if I recall, in the beginning (and actually even towards the end), he’s incredibly goal-focused and Aang keeps diverting their plans. 

I’ve been told that the overall fandom of Sokka is that he’s a big dummy, and I find this baffling. Yes, he often has goofy ideas, but then often his creativity becomes incredibly helpful! He reminds me of Ron Weasley. He may not be booksmart, but he’s creative and strategic. And if you know me at all you know I love Ron Weasley. #WeasleyIsOurKing #RonWeasleyProtectionSquad

Some favorite Sokka quotes from early on: 

“Oh, what, I’m not good enough to kidnap?”

“our friend is the avatar and i bet he'll fetch more on the black market”

Man, Sokka ended up having two love interests in this season! First Suki, and by the way, I was always confused about whether or not Suki was officially “part” of the crew based on the gifs and posts I saw. Sometimes seemed like she wasn’t, sometimes not. Obviously I understand why that is now, but anyways. Also I think for some reason I thought it was Toph who became the moon rather than Princess Yue. LOL! Toph/Sokka isn’t even canon but I guess I’ve seen that ship around enough I thought it was. More on Toph/Sokka later, since Toph isn’t in Book 1.

Aang

Aang is a Lot. I’ve already touched on how he’s incredibly silly and playful and the tone of the show initially is pretty goofy. It’s a kid’s show! That’s to be expected. But I really felt overly conscious of the fact that it was a kid’s show and I don’t think I would have kept watching if so many people hadn’t already raved about the show. 

On the other hand, any character who decided to yell at a literal kid for “turning his back on the world” infuriated me. Like, yes, okay, that is how Aang feels already and perhaps arguably what happened, but he’s still a child, and that’s not fair to put that burden on him. I mean considering that it’s eventually revealed that the monks told Aang he was the Avatar four years earlier than usual, why would they even assume that he knew the consequences? 

Katara

I did like the plot with Katara being frustrated at how quickly Aang picks up waterbending. I’ve been on both sides of that situation, and it sucks for both people. I appreciated them spending some time exploring it. 

I hated Master Pakku. He only agreed to teach Katara after he saw she was his former fiance’s granddaughter, not because he had any kind of revelation that he was Wrong in his thinking. At least, that was my interpretation of that moment. Are there any other girls in his class after he agrees to teach Katara? I don’t remember seeing any. 

Should I talk about shipping yet? I’m under the impression that can be a very touchy subject! Well, all I’ll say is this: seemed pretty heavy-handed in this season that Aang/Katara was the intended final ship. 

I don’t have another subsection so we’ll just toss this in under Katara cuz why not: Jet is something else. SMH. I appreciate them including a character like that here, but man was he annoying. (And I know he’s supposed to be, so congratulations, effect achieved.)

Zuko!!! & Iroh

Uncle Iroh is amazing. He diverts their journey to buy a new lotus piece for his game, only to find it had been in his sleeve all along! And I really just adore how much Iroh cares about his nephew. From the beginning it’s clear that Iroh is a better father to Zuko. 

This ended up continuing through the show, but I appreciated how Zuko’s story tended to parallel the story of another character (usually Aang although not always). Specifically how we learn Aang and Zuko’s backstory in the same episode. 

Speaking of Zuko’s backstory, this is something I appreciate as a Well Done Redemption arc, and I know for a fact that I’ve already read posts about this but I just want to express my own appreciation for it. His redemption arc works because they show the seeds of good that always existed within him. We, as the audience, see that very early on. We see him stand up to his father’s war council and stand up for the troops they were going to sacrifice. This is *integral* to his redemption working. It’s not the only part of his story that makes it work, but that redemption arc wouldn’t have worked as well without it. 

Finally on that subject, my reaction to his Agni Kai with his father: “I knew Zuko’s father was Awful, and I think I even knew he was the one who burned him, but this? This is crazy. PS: pretty sure we just saw a cameo of Azula smirking in the background!”

This was getting long, so I decided to break it into parts for each book/season.

[the-badger-mole]

Agni My Two Cents

Hey, so I’ve been seeing some hot takes about how the Agni Kai scene- one of the Zutara scenes- wasn’t a romantic moment between Zuko and Katara. And, okay, fine. Everyone has a right to their...ahem...takes. Also, I kind of get where these fans are coming from. Zuko was a  Good Boy ™ © ® whose heart was so pure he tried to save Zhao, who had literally just tried to kill him. Of course he would take a bullet bolt for his beloved friends. 

HOWMSTEVER!!!!!!!!!

I respectfully disagree. I see this moment as romantic for two reasons. Firstly,I see this moment as romantic because of the set up. 

Now, I don’t really remember when I started shipping these two. I know the seeds were planted for me in season 1, but the first episode I remember as set  up to eventual Zutara was- say it with me- The Cave of Two Lovers. Nothing about that episode makes sense if it wasn’t supposed to be set up for Zutara. And, I know that there are people who think that CoTL was a Kataang episode. Well, hehehe! Ain’t that cute?

BUT IT’S WRONG!!!!!!!!

I kid! I kid! Sorta. But here’s the thing. If it was supposed to be Kataang, the writers- who up til this point have proven to be masters of their craft- did a terrible job. It all hinges on the story of Oma and Shu.                    Two lovers forbidden from one another

                  A war divides their people

                  Built a path to be together...

Blah, blah, blah. So on. You all know the story. What’s this got to do with the Agni Kai? Patience, Iago. I’m  getting there. The story of Oma and Shu was clearly meant to be foreshadowing and a meta statement of the show’s over all themes. Balance. The illusion of separation. And of course, everyone’s favorite..love conquers all. Nothing about this fits Kataang. You know who it does fit? You know who it fits.

Yeah, okay! So what’s this got to do with the Agni Kai? Everything.

Two lovers torn apart by war. They come together despite their people hating each other. Peace comes as a result of their love, and the death of one of the pair. The inclusion of this plot cul-de-sac makes absolutely no sense if at this point in the series, Zutara wasn’t planned and it wasn’t planned for one of them to face death. I don’t pretend to know if the Agni Kai itself was set up (but probably, right?).  Then, of course, there’s Zuko and Katara’s relationship itself. They’ve made a complete 180* on their relationship. They’ve gone from enemies, to friends, to each other’s ride-or-die. Theoretically, sure, Zuko might have taken that bolt for anyone, but in actuality, no he wouldn’t. Not because he didn’t care deeply for all of his friends, but because he wouldn’t have asked anyone else to go with him. 

Look, if it was just about having a good fighter on his side, Sokka would have done. Sokka was smart, a good fighter, and the boys had already proven they work well together. Toph would have been a great choice, too. Toph is every bit as formidable as Katara, and she has and extra helping of vicious that would have been useful against Azula. Zuko had options. He chose Katara. He didn’t even have to think about it. That’s their relationship in a nutshell. I wish the show had expanded on this more, but it’s clear that at this point, Zuko and Katara are each other’s support system. It doesn’t mean that either of them loves their friends any less, but what they have (even platonically) is fundamentally different. Which is why it’s absolute rotten bull pie what happened to their friendship in the post ATLA canon. What do you mean they didn’t stay the very best of friends after all of that? Brkye are some haters, I swear...

Ahem...

Anyway, all of that- the Oma and Shu plot detour, the evolution of Zuko and Katara’s relationship, Zuko wanting to keep Katara safe from Azula- all led up to that moment. 

To me the Agni Kai scene isn’t just romantic because he risked his life for her, but it was because it was a culmination of something that had been building all series. That moment didn’t happen in a vacuum. Zuko wouldn’t have done that for anyone else, because there wasn’t anyone else he wanted there with him. 

Point, the Second....

That Agni Kai moment was absolutely romantically framed. ATLA fans, I call you to show your non-ATLA fan friends that moment, with no context or commentary, and ask them if that was supposed to be a romantic moment. I promise you most of them will say yes, that was supposed to be romantic. Why? Because TV and Film have a very specific language that most people recognize. The slow motion; the Big No; Katara forgetting the fight to try to get to Zuko. It all reads very romantic. 

Yes, I know that friends have taken bullets, grenades, punishments, what have you, for friends, but the way this scene is framed specifically speaks to a very strong love between the two. And I know that there are those of you who still will read this as platonic, as is your right. 

But that is possibly the single most romantic thing I have ever seen in kids’ media, and I hope that one day I’ll meet a man who loves me as much as Zuko loved his...ahem...friend. 

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Smile, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Paul Allen’s Living Computers Museum + Labs & BRZRKR

Has Professor finally found a way to keep DJ in the time limit? Some say yes.

Can a smile really make you think better of someone? What if it would make you think worse of them? This study looked at the perceived trustworthiness of people with various disorders, but the Nerds think it's not particularly rigorous.

Microsoft Flight Simulator will come with a physical edition including a lovely hardcover flight manual, and ten discs. TEN discs. It's going to be a pretty significant drive eater but if you don't have a good internet connection or want a pretty book this is the way to go. 

It's time to say goodbye to Paul Allen's Living Computer Museum + Labs. Paul's museum is the only place a regular civilian can access the classic Big Iron mainframes of the 60s and 70s, but they've recently announced their temporary closure which is sounding more and more permanent as more news comes out. Now if you'll excuse us, Professor needs to have a bit of a cry.

Keanu Reeves is writing a comic book called Brzkr which sounds like the most Mary Sue self insert fanfiction a man could write. We'll have to wait for the full story to come out, but the main character sounds annoying. Maybe it'll have good art though.

This week, Professor sat around waiting in Forager, DJ jumped around in Nohra and Dev-i-Boy formed an army in VRChat.

A smile can increase or decrease how trustworthy you are

- https://www.psypost.org/2020/07/a-smile-can-increase-or-decrease-how-you-are-treated-by-others-depending-on-your-personality-study-finds-57394#:~:text=Social%20Psychology-,A%20smile%20can%20increase%20or%20decrease%20how%20trustworthy%20you%20are,on%20your%20personality%2C%20study%20finds&text=Though%20smiling%20generally%20increases%20trust,with%20certain%20antisocial%20personality%20traits.

- https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0234574

Microsoft Flight Simulator now comes with 10 Discs

- https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-flight-simulator-is-getting-a-10-disc-physical-version/

The future of Paul Allen’s Living Computers Museum + Labs

- https://www.geekwire.com/2020/paul-allens-vulcan-inc-shuttering-divisions-impact-cinerama-cultural-institutions/

- https://rottedbits.blogspot.com/2020/07/on-closing-of-living-computers.html?m=1

Keanu Reeves, actor actor, musician, film producer and director and now comic book writer

- https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2020/07/17/exclusive-keanu-reeves-debuts-comic-book-writer-brzrkr/5448723002/

Games Played

Professor

- Forager - https://store.steampowered.com/app/751780/Forager/

Rating: 2.5/5

DJ

– Nohra - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1338250/Nohra/

Rating: 4/5

Deviboy

– VRChat - https://store.steampowered.com/app/438100/VRChat/

Rating: 4/5

Other topics discussed

Segway company owner rids scooter off cliff

- http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39377851/ns/world_news-europe/t/segway-company-owner-rides-scooter-cliff-dies/#.Xx1bOudS-Ul

Facial recognition software (technology capable of identifying or verifying a person from a digital image or a video frame from a video source.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_recognition_system

Microexpression (A microexpression is a facial expression that only lasts for a short moment. It is the innate result of a voluntary and an involuntary emotional response occurring simultaneously and conflicting with one another, and occurs when the amygdala (the emotion center of the brain) responds appropriately to the stimuli that the individual experiences and the individual wishes to conceal this specific emotion.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microexpression

Microexpressions Are Not the Best Way to Catch a Liar

- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01672/full

Polygraph (popularly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse,respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked and answers a series of questions)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph

Truth Serum (a colloquial name for any of a range of psychoactive drugs used in an effort to obtain information from subjects who are unable or unwilling to provide it otherwise. These include ethanol,scopolamine,3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, midazolam, flunitrazepam, sodium thiopental, and amobarbital, among others.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_serum

Sodium thiopental (also known as Sodium Pentothal (a trademark of Abbott Laboratories), thiopental, thiopentone, or Trapanal (also a trademark), or Fatal-Plus in veterinary euthanasia contexts, is a rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate general anesthetic. Thiopental (Pentothal) is still used in some places as a truth serum to weaken the resolve of a subject and make them more compliant to pressure.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_thiopental#Truth_serum

Polygraph in TV (Lie detection has a long history in mythology and fairy tales; the polygraph has allowed modern fiction to use a device more easily seen as scientific and plausible. Notable instances of polygraph usage include uses in crime and espionage themed television shows and some daytime television talk shows, cartoons and films.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph#Portrayal_on_television

L.A. Noire (neo-noir detective action-adventure video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games.)

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Noire

Good Cop, Bad Cop ("Good cop/bad cop" routine, also called Mutt and Jeff, joint questioning or friend and foe, is a psychological tactic used in negotiation and interrogation.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_cop/bad_cop

Eragon (a third-personvideo game released for PlayStation 2, Xbox,Xbox 360, andMicrosoft Windows, developed by Stormfront Studios. The game is based upon the 2006 Eragon film, which is loosely based on the 2002 book Eragon, by Christopher Paolini.)

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eragon_(video_game)

Red Dead Redemption 2 comes on two discs

- https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-10-20-red-dead-redemption-2-comes-on-two-discs

Great, Famous, and Controversial Multi-Disc Video Games

- https://www.gamezone.com/originals/great-famous-and-controversial-multi-disc-video-games/

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 PC Game in OZ Game Shop

- https://www.ozgameshop.com/pc-games/microsoft-flight-simulator-2020-pc-game?gclid=cj0kcqjw6ut4brd5arisadwjq1-gny7xta2snd0pecfhgbl2pnvvv0zh8mig1a7rskvorcir-e0560iaai8sealw_wcb

Cardboard disc included with Fallout 76 Power Armor PC edition

- https://www.shacknews.com/article/108552/cardboard-disc-included-with-fallout-76-power-armor-pc-edition

WWII Collection Microsoft Flight Simulator X Add-On

- https://www.gamesmen.com.au/wwii-collection-microsoft-flight-simulator-x-add-on

Microsoft might give up microtransactions thanks to Game Pass

- https://www.tweaktown.com/news/68793/microsoft-give-up-microtransactions-thanks-game-pass/index.html

Minecraft will soon have microtransactions

- https://www.tweaktown.com/news/57063/minecraft-soon-microtransactions/index.html

Nixie Tubes Watch Face

- https://www.facer.io/watchface/6XF7aL6HY8?watchModel=moto3602

How the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)’s measly millions keep America’s museums alive

- https://theconversation.com/how-the-neas-measly-millions-keep-americas-museums-alive-71964

J.J. Abrams Makes His Marvel Debut with 'Spider-Man' #1

- https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/j-j-abrams-makes-his-marvel-debut-with-spider-man-1

Did Marvel drop the ball with J.J. Abrams' Spider-Man comic?

- https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/did-marvel-drop-the-ball-with-jj-abrams-spider-man-comic

Why Marvel's JJ Abrams Spider-Man Reveal Backfired

- https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/06/21/spider-man-4-backlash-jj-abrams-marvel-comics

Factorio (a construction and management simulation game developed by the Czech studio Wube Software.)

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factorio

-https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/

Robolox (an online game platform and game creation system that allows users to program games and play games created by other users.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roblox

- https://www.roblox.com/

Equagesic (a combination tranquilizer and analgesic used as an adjunct in the short-term treatment of pain accompanied by tension and/or anxiety in patients with musculoskeletal disease.)

- https://www.rxlist.com/equagesic-side-effects-drug-center.htm

The Way of the Dragon (a 1972 Hong Kong martial arts action-comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Bruce Lee, who also stars in the lead role.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_of_the_Dragon

James Doohan Discusses How He Helped A Suicidal Star Trek Fan

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJuF7n9gGA

Electron microscope (a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a higher resolving power than light microscopes and can reveal the structure of smaller objects.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_microscope

Warm Red Earth (TNC podcast)

- https://thatsnotcanon.com/warmredearth

Shout Outs

19 July 2008 – It's been 12 years since Avatar: The Last Airbender aired its final episode on Nickelodeon - https://comicbook.com/anime/news/avatar-the-last-airbender-katara-trending-twitter-agni-kai-anniversary/

While this is a monumental for a number of reasons, many fans often celebrate this anniversary more for the stunning Agni Kai between Zuko and Azula before the final episode of the series. But while that is an important moment all on its own. The cartoon has recently reached a whole new audience via Netflix, who added the three seasons of the show onto their service in mid-May. The series has been a mainstay on the Netflix top 10 most-watched TV series charts since then.

19 July 2020 – Minecraft Original Title Screen World Seed Finally Found After 9 Years - https://screenrant.com/minecraft-title-screen-seed-found-original-background/

The original Minecraft world seed for the game's classic title screen has finally been found, ending a search that has spanned over nine years - but only took fans who decided to try to find it just over a month of hard work. For those unfamiliar with what a Minecraft world seed is, it is essentially a string of numbers and coding that's randomly generated and put together to make up a new Minecraft world. It may not seem like much to onlookers, but it's a bigwin for the Minecraft community and an important piece of history coming to light for one of the longest-tenured multiplayer ventures in modern gaming.

20 July 2020 – In a first, UAE spacecraft blasts off to Mars from Japan - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/uae-mars-mission-hope-spacecraft-japan-space-a9627481.html

A United Arab Emirates spacecraft began its journey to Mars with a blast off in Japan in what is the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.The launch of the spacecraft named Amal, or Hope, marks the start of the seven-month journey to the red planet. The probe will study the upper atmosphere and monitor climate change while circling Mars for at least two years. The craft is expected to reach Mars in February 2021, the year the UAE celebrates 50 years since its formation. The Emirates Mars Mission has cost $200m (£155.8m), according to minister for advanced sciences Sarah Amiri. It aims to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere for the first time, studying daily and seasonal changes. The UAE first announced plans for the mission in 2014 and launched a National Space Programme in 2017 to develop local expertise. Its population of 9.4 million, most of whom are foreign workers, lacks the scientific and industrial base of the big spacefaring nations. It has an ambitious plan for a Mars settlement by 2117. Hazza al-Mansouri became the first Emirati in space last September when he flew to the International Space Station.

Remembrances

20 July 1866 – Bernhard Riemann - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Riemann

Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician who made contributions to analysis,number theory, and differential geometry. In the field of real analysis, he is mostly known for the first rigorous formulation of the integral, the Riemann integral, and his work on Fourier series. His contributions to complex analysis include most notably the introduction of Riemann surfaces, breaking new ground in a natural, geometric treatment of complex analysis. His famous 1859 paper on the prime-counting function, containing the original statement of the Riemann hypothesis, is regarded as one of the most influential papers inanalytic number theory. Through his pioneering contributions to differential geometry, Riemann laid the foundations of the mathematics of general relativity. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He died from tuberculosis at the age of 39 in Selasca,Kingdom of Italy.

20 July 1973 – Bruce Lee - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee

Lee Jun-fan commonly known as Bruce Lee, a Hong Kong American actor, director, martial artist, martial arts instructor and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that is often credited with paving the way for modern mixed martial arts (MMA). Lee is considered by commentators, critics, media, and other martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century, who bridged the gap between East and West. He is credited with helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films. His Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated the traditional martial arts film to a new level of popularity and acclaim, sparking a surge of interest in Chinese nation and Chinese martial arts in the West in the 1970s. He died at the age of 32 in Kowloon Tong. There was no visible external injury; however, according to autopsy reports, Lee's brain had swollen considerably. The autopsy found Equagesic in his system. When the doctors announced Lee's death, it was officially ruled a "death by misadventure".

20 July 2005 – James Doohan - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Doohan

James Montgomery Doohan, Canadian actor, voice actor, author and soldier best known for his role asMontgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series Star Trek. Doohan's characterization of the Scottish Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise was one of the most recognizable elements in the Star Trek franchise, and inspired many fans to pursue careers in engineering and other technical fields. He also made contributions behind the scenes, such as the initial development of the Klingon and Vulcan languages. Prior to his acting career, Doohan served in the 14th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. He also served as a pilot. He saw combat in Europe during World War II, including the D-Day invasion of Normandy, in which he was wounded, apparently by friendly fire. After the war, he had extensive experience performing in radio and television, which led to his role as Scotty. He died from pneumonia at the age of 85 in Redmond, Washington. A portion of his ashes, ¼ ounce (7 grams), was scheduled the following fall for a memorial flight to space with 308 others, including Project Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper. Launch on the SpaceLoft XL rocket was delayed to April 28, 2007, when the rocket briefly entered outer space in a four-minute suborbital flight before parachuting to earth, as planned, with the ashes still inside. The ashes were subsequently launched on a Falcon 1 rocket, on August 3, 2008, into what was intended to be a low Earth orbit; however, the rocket failed two minutes after launch. On May 22, 2012, a small urn containing some of Doohan's remains in ash form was flown into space aboard the Falcon 9 rocket as part of COTS Demo Flight 2.

Famous Birthdays

20 July 1889 – John Reith, 1st Baron Reith - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reith,_1st_Baron_Reith

John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron Reith, was a Scottish broadcasting executive who established the tradition of independent public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom. In 1922 he was employed by the BBC (British Broadcasting Company Ltd.) as its general manager; in 1923 he became its managing director and in 1927 he was employed as the Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation created under a Royal Charter. His concept of broadcasting as a way of educating the masses marked for a long time the BBC and similar organisations around the world. He also stated that since his departure as Director-General, he had watched almost no television and listened to virtually no radio. "When I leave a thing, I leave it," he said. He was born in Stonehaven,Kincardineshire.

20 July 1932 – Nam June Paik - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nam_June_Paik

Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super highway" to describe the future of telecommunications. In 1974 Nam June Paik used the term "super highway" in application to telecommunications, which gave rise to the opinion that he may have been the author of the phrase "Information Superhighway". In fact, in his 1974 proposal "Media Planning for the Postindustrial Society – The 21st Century is now only 26 years away" to the Rockefeller Foundation he used a slightly different phrase, "electronic super highway": "The building of new electronic super highways will become an even huger enterprise. Assuming we connect New York with Los Angeles by means of an electronic telecommunication network that operates in strong transmission ranges, as well as with continental satellites, wave guides, bundled coaxial cable, and later also via laser beam fiber optics: the expenditure would be about the same as for a Moon landing, except that the benefits in term of by-products would be greater. He was born in Keijo (present-day Seoul).

20 July 1947 – Gerd Binnig - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerd_Binnig

German physicist. He is most famous for having won the Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Heinrich Rohrer in 1986 for the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope. In 1978, Binnig accepted an offer from IBM to join their Zürich research group, where he worked with Heinrich Rohrer, Christoph Gerber and Edmund Weibel. There they developed the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level. The Nobel committee described the effect that the invention of the STM had on science, saying that "entirely new fields are opening up for the study of the structure of matter." The physical principles on which the STM was based were already known before the IBM team developed the STM, but Binnig and his colleagues were the first to solve the significant experimental challenges involved in putting it into effect. In 1985, Binnig invented the atomic force microscope (AFM) and Binnig, Christoph Gerber and Calvin Quate went on to develop a working version of this new microscope for insulating surfaces. In 1994 Professor Gerd Binnig founded Definiens which turned in the year 2000 into a commercial enterprise. The company developed Cognition Network Technology to analyze images just like the human eye and brain are capable of doing. He was born in Frankfurt am Main.

Events of Interest

20 July 1968 – The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in Chicago, with about 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Olympics#History

The first Special Olympics games were held on July 20, 1968, at Soldier Field in Chicago. About 1,000 athletes from the U.S. and Canada took part in the one-day event, which was a joint venture by the Kennedy Foundation and the Chicago Park District. Anne McGlone Burke, then a physical education teacher with the Chicago Park District, began with the idea for a one-time, city-wide, Olympic-style athletic competition for people with special needs. At the July 1968 games, Kennedy Shriver announced the formation of Special Olympics and that more games would be held every two years as a "Biennial International Special Olympics". Hayden served as the games executive director through 1972, and then in international development for the games.

20 July 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11's crew successfully makes the first manned landing on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon six and a half hours later.

-https://www.history.com/topics/space-exploration/moon-landing-1969

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11#Lunar_surface_operations

On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (1930-) became the first humans ever to land on the moon. About six-and-a-half hours later, Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. As he took his first step, Armstrong famously said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

20 July 1969 – A cease fire is announced between Honduras and El Salvador, six days after the beginning of the "Football War". - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_War#Cease-fire

The Football War (colloquial: Soccer War or the Hundred Hours' War also known as 100 Hour War) was a brief war fought between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. Existing tensions between the two countries coincided with rioting during a 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier. The war began on 14 July 1969, when the Salvadoran military launched an attack against Honduras. Although the nickname "Football War" implies that the conflict was due to a football match, the causes of the war go much deeper. The roots were issues over land reform in Honduras and immigration and demographic problems in El Salvador.

20 July 1976 – The American Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars. - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/viking-1-lands-on-mars

On the seventh anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the Viking 1 lander, an unmanned U.S. planetary probe, becomes the first spacecraft to successfully land on the surface of Mars. On July 20, 1976, the Viking 1 lander separated from the orbiter, touched down on the Chryse Planitia region of Mars, and sent back the first close-up photographs of the rust-colored Martian surface. It was the first attempt by the United States at landing on Mars. Viking 1 carried a biology experiment whose purpose was to look for evidence of life. The Viking spacecraft biological experiments weighed 15.5 kg (34 lbs) and consisted of three subsystems: the pyrolytic release experiment (PR), the labeled release experiment (LR), and the gas exchange experiment (GEX). Most scientists now believe that the data were due to inorganic chemical reactions of the soil; however, this view may be changing after the recent discovery of near-surface ice near the Viking landing zone. Some scientists still believe the results were due to living reactions. No organic chemicals were found in the soil.

20 July 1977 – The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind-control experiments. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKUltra#Revelation

In 1977, during a hearing held by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, to look further into MKUltra, Admiral Stansfield Turner, then Director of Central Intelligence, revealed that the CIA had found a set of records, consisting of about 20,000 pages. that had survived the 1973 destruction orders because they had been incorrectly stored at a records center not usually used for such documents. These files dealt with the financing of MKUltra projects and contained few project details, but much more was learned from them than from the Inspector General's 1963 report.

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

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