#King Bumi

[feyres-divorce-lawyer]

Avatar: The Last Airbender High Fashion by Wisdom Kaye

[m-r-moth]

who should i add to the giant group pic?

the silly little cats have gotten out of hand, i love them so much

(for the rest just search the catla tag on my blog)

[yourhighness6]

ATLA The Older Generations Textposts

[wileycap]

Headcanon: When he hits his teenage years, Aang starts fucking with his friends by making up all sorts of wild stuff that totally happened 100 years ago. Toph always says "he's not lying", but at this point the Gaang knows that The Gremlin Supports Lying For Fun, so Aang always suggests going to Bumi to confirm whatever bullshit he's spewing this time. And he always does.

The Gaang figures that Aang must be somehow coordinating this with Bumi, because no matter how absurd the lie is, Bumi is always 100% on board and can elaborate on it seamlessly. They keep trying to find out how Aang and Bumi are coordinating the lies, going so far as to intercept Aang's letters to Bumi to check for secret codes, but they can never find anything.

And the truth is that they're not coordinating. Bumi just rolls with whatever Aang comes up with because it's hilarious and Aang is his buddy.

[mrboomeranguy]

Time will always keep going forward, no matter how hard you try to stop it.

[wilcze-kudly]

Hey chat is this anything

[sausage-rolll]

The amount of times I said something along the lines of "They would not fucking do/say that!" while watching the live action atla series is insane. It felt so weird to watch because the acting was pretty fantastic and the set design/costumes weren't bad for the most part either, but the writing and direction itself was painfully bad.

I think King Bumi is probably one of the worst offenders of being written completely ass backwards, which is a shame because the guy portraying him did a great job and I think he would have made a fantastic Bumi if the writing was better.

It feels like they missed the entire point of his character. They took his goofy/slightly mad front from the original show and dialled it up to 11 all the while completely ignoring all the nuance behind that front.

Bumi isn't just the mad king they portray him as in the live action, he's a mad genius. Despite his quirks, he's a fucking fantastic fighter and a brilliant ruler. Despite what you may believe from first impressions, it really does feel like he always knows what he's doing.

Even when he's being antagonistic towards the gang in the show, he's never actually putting them in significant danger. The crystals he trapped Katara and Sokka in were ultimately harmless and all the trials he gives Aang were more akin to games than anything. Even when he fights Aang in his episode he's very clearly not giving it his all, as seen when he single handily takes back his city from the fire nation during the eclipse and when he takes back Ba Sing Se with a small group during Sozins comet, when the opposing forces would have been at their most powerful. My point is that if he actually wanted to beat book 1 Aang, he could wipe the floor with him easily. But this version is fucking furious with Aang (wrongfully so this time around because he explicitly did not run away from his duties in the live action) And very much seems like he wants to cause Aang as much pain as possible, but can barely manage to land a hit on him when he's not pulling cheap tricks with the crystals.

-

I'm getting very side tracked but god damn it! This is the man Aang eventually decides to name one of his children after. Their friendship was so sweet and meaningful in the original. Bumi was such an interesting character in the original! And all of that meaning is lost here.

Ironically in an attempt to make Bumi's arc more dramatic and dark, they ended up making it significantly less interesting, along with also missing major parts of his character.

[torisprlng]

#rip cabbages

avatar: the last airbender (2005) | the king of omashu & the waterbending scroll avatar: the last airbender (2024) | omashu & into the dark

[ragzonacamrencruise]

Betrayal (An ATLA analysis)

It's really important to me, how, in the Avatar universe, the person who's at the right side of the throne (essentially the right hand), always betrays the one sitting on the said throne.

Exhibit A:

Long Feng, kept the King oblivious to the Hundered Year War and handled all matters that are not partying or charity events, making him the de facto ruler of Ba Sing Se without even the King's knowledge, essentially paving a way for his betrayal.

Exhibit B:

Zuko, said it himself, that he was literally at his father's right hand. Even Azula got only the second best seat. And the next thing Zuko does? He betrays his father. I know what you're all thinking. But didn't Zuko already betray him before? Well, he did when he released Aang from Zhao as the Blue Spirit. But, the important point is, his explicit orders were to capture the Avatar to restore his honour. It didn't matter which methods he used to do it. He only ever openly betrayed his father during the eclipse and that was after he was placed at the right hand in the war meeting.

Exhibit C:

Mai, a betrayal that was a turning point in Azula's declining mental health. But hey, Ty Lee betrayed Azula too, right? Yes. But that doesn't change the fact that Mai did it first and she was sat at Azula's right hand. Mai never really feared Azula. She only followed her around out of her own will. Ty Lee on the other hand, when Azula recruits her at the circus, is found showing fear. She only had the guts to betray Azula after Mai did.

It really puts into perspective how Ty Lee couldn't betray Azula until provoked because she feared her, and Mai betrayed Azula because she didn't fear her enough. It further solidifies Azula's stellar line, "You should've feared me more!", insisting that if Mai had feared her more, she wouldn't have betrayed her. This especially holds true because it's later explained by Azula herself that, "Fear is the only reliable way." Fear kept Ty Lee in line but liberalised Mai cuz she didn't fear Azula more.

But all that goes out the window because Ty Lee betrayed Azula too. This is also one of the main reasons why Azula banishes most of the people around her. Because, "None of them can be trusted", and she trusted Mai as she knew Mai never feared her. It hurts her deeper because she trusted Mai and let her mantra of "Fear is the only reliable way" go, and guess what happens? She betrays her.

This solidifies three things in her brain: 1. Trust doesn't work, and, 2. Fear doesn't work either. 3. Nothing works, really.

Therefore, her action of banishing everybody with, "Sooner or later they all would've betrayed me."

This works for Exhibits A and B too. Long Feng never feared King Kuei and King Kuei completely trusted him until he learned of his betrayal. Trust didn't work, and fear didn't work either.

Zuko had never trusted his father. He only feared him. He has a physical scar on his body to prove it. But once that fear starts to deteriorate, he openly confronts his father and betrays him, letting go of his fear with, "It was cruel, and it was wrong!". Trust didn't work, and fear didn't work either.

So, what does work?

Well, the answer is pretty simple.

Love.

Love works. Any number and different kinds of love, be it platonic, or sibling, or romantic, it doesn't matter. It is foolproof!

Genuine care and affection for a person, doesn't let you betray them that easily. It's what made Sokka decide they should help Aang in Book 1. It's what made Yue turn into the moon. It's what made Toph come back to the Gaang again after she stormed off in Book 2. It's what made Aang come back for Bumi in Omashu in Book 2. It's what made Zuko find his path to Iroh again in Book 3.

The lack of love (from her own parents) is what made Azula's mental health deteriorate, as she thought nothing worked; it's depressing because she doesn't know that love actually works, cuz she's never known or experienced love her entire life, so she doesn't even consider it as an option.

The lack of love is what made the Dai Li betray Long Feng. The lack of it drove Zuko's betrayal to Ozai, Mai and Ty Lee's betrayal to Azula and even Jet's betrayal to Katara.

This could go on and on, but the end point here is that Azula's words on betrayal are true, but only when love is taken out of the equation. Love is the 'X' factor. Without it, there really is no equation, as all leads to zero.

[sleepy-sham]

Didn't get past episode 5 of the live action. My expectations were low but it somehow managed to be even worse than I thought it would be. Anyways here's some memes of the OG GOAT I made to cope ((Big Post #2))

more atla memes

[hadesisqueer]

Honestly I have never fully agreed with the whole "Korra has the personality of a Firebender" because-- what exactly is the personality of a Firebender? She used Firebending a lot in the first books, I'll give you that, but it seemed more out of accessibility than anything; later she switches it for Air.

Fire is the element of power; Firebenders tend to be pretty determined people. Water is the element of change; Waterbenders tend to be very adaptable. Earth is the element of substance; Earthbenders usually are very resilient people. And Air is the element of freedom; Airbenders tend to be very free-spirited. There are stereotypes for benders (Firebenders are angry people and obsessed with honor, Earthbenders are usually pretty stubborn) that can be true with some people. But not always.

Now, here, look. These two are Airbenders.

Do they have the same personality?

Now, these two.

They're Earthbenders. Do they have the same personality?

What about these two Waterbenders?

Are they any similar?

Or maybe these two Firebender brothers?

What is the personality of a Firebender? Iroh's personality? Zuko's? Azula's, or Ozai's? Or Mako's?

Yes, Korra had affinity with firebending due to a couple of her personality traits that made her a very determined and fierce person. She also had an affinity with earthbending from a young age as well because she was a tough, stubborn and resilient person who stood her ground. However, she was also a very adaptable person who favored change, which is the main personality trait of what a Waterbender should be.

Personality traits aren't exclusive of one element. Kya is more spiritual and free-spirited than Tenzin and she's not an Airbender, but a Waterbender; stereotypically, Tenzin is kinda different than you'd expect an Airbender to be, actually, with him being more disciplined and serious. Bolin does not have the stereotypical Earthbender personality, either. And Mako doesn't have the stereotypical Firebender 'impulsive' personality either, he's more a 'cool under fire' person who usually stays level-headed in tough situations. Korra lacked spirituality and prefered to stand her ground or fight at first rather than avoiding conflict, which is why she had trouble with Airbending at first. But again, personality traits aren't exclusive of just one element nor does the element you bend really define and shape your personality; the way you are brought up, your environment and the people around you contribute more to that. Korra originally didn't have those traits due to the way she was raised, isolated from the world, groomed and pressured from a young age as the Avatar. Raise her differently, with a more normal, carefree childhood, and perhaps she wouldn't have struggled as much with airbending as she originally did.

In my opinion, the reason why people might think Korra has a full on 'Firebender personality' is because she has some common traits with a particular Firebender. The Firebender being Zuko. Both were originally hot headed, got angry easily at first, were fierce and impulsive. Korra also shared personality traits with Toph, too, being tough and stubborn —they were raised being isolated with no friends, too, which is a parallel between them. But like I said, personality traits can help with an element, but aren't exclusive of that element. Korra also had several things in common with Aang.

Personally, in my opinion, someone Korra has a lot in common with as well, maybe more than with Zuko or Toph-- is Katara, another Waterbender. They both are driven people with a lot of determination, righteous and passionate about what they believe in, and pretty adaptable as well. Korra seems to be more aggressive, and impulsive as well, but let's not act like Katara didn't have a temper, too, and like she wasn't impulsive and reckless as well sometimes (remember when she blew up a FN factory because Sokka said it without thinking of the consequences). They both could get very frustrated as well when they weren't immediately good at something they expected to be good at. There are many differences between them, yeah, due to the ways they were brought up —again, Korra was isolated from the world with no friends her age and pressured to be the Avatar and Katara was forced on a motherly role from a very young age after the loss of her actual mother. However, if they had been raised in more normal ways, I fully believe they'd be even more similar. Put Katara as the Avatar from a young age like Korra herself was and I think she could have been a very similar Avatar to Korra imo. But it also makes sense in some way they're similar considering Katara was Korra's waterbending master and likely one of her biggest role models growing up.

(Free my girls they both get so overhated for no reason too).

Anyway, to me there is really no such actual thing as having 'the personality of X bender', they're mostly stereotypes. There are personality traits that can be helpful to bend an element, but they're never exclusive to that element. Just because you're stubborn as hell doesn't mean you're an Earthbender, and Bolin himself doesn't really exhibit that trait. Just because you're a very fierce person, doesn't mean you're an Firebender. You can be a pretty spiritual person and not an Airbender. You can be a very adaptable guy, but a Firebender instead of a Waterbender. Aang was far from having the slightest stereotypical Firebender personality and he didn't struggle with firebending, but he had the determination needed to be a Firebender. He also had the same adaptability needed to be a Waterbender. Korra had some personality traits that made her have it easy with firebending. She also had personality traits that made it easy for her to waterbend and earthbend. Easy.

[aero-sense]

After gaining a little more information about Omashu from the games, I'd like to go into the South Asian/SEA references of the city.

The common headdress for men in Omashu are turbans. They wear it the same style of the Cabbage Man which @atlaculture has matched it to a Khăn Vấn, a vietnamese turban:

The turban does have a similar shape, but depending the style, the Khăn Vấn can be wrapped like a headband that shows hair in the back, unlike the Omashu turbans that wrap completely around the head. Turbans have a long history that spans many cultures and religions, so here are some other turbans I thought looked similar:

These are the Sikh turbans, also referred as a Dastār. This particular style shown in the example is called the modern Dumalla. I thought the wrapped style was similar to the turban design in the game.

Another kind are the Islamic turbans found in South and South East Asia, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. The turban can come in different colors and patterns (I found only white ones for the examples, but I've seen green, yellow, and checkered before).

The women in Omashu also wear head coverings and this one in particular reminded me of the hijab style I've seen Indonesians wear.

Another cultural reference @atlaculture covered is how King Bumi's rock candy he encased Sokka and Katara with is like the rock sugar used in Asia. The method of developing rock sugar, or Misri, was invented in India and is the oldest refined form of sugar. It's used as candy or a sweetener for milk and tea. In Karnataka, it's served with water for guests in the summer.

Lastly, Bumi's name has ties to South and South East Asia. @cyndaquillt has already done a wonderful post going into Bumi's name from a South Asian view:

Bhumi (भूमि, pronounced bhoo-mi) is a Sanskrit word that means ground. The root of the word is Bhu (भू) which means earth.

There's also @ririsasy additions, that Bumi is the Indonesian word for Earth. In Indonesia, Bumi is a name usually given to males, while Bhumi is a name commonly given to Indian women, and is the name of the goddess of Earth in Hinduism.

There's many overlaps between these cultures and more, but overall Omashu leans towards a more South Asian/SEA setting than East Asian compared to the rest of the Earth Kingdom. Any additions or corrections are welcome!

[randomfanficwritersworld]

Who is your favorite white lotus member?

[cy-clondo]

Page 3 of sticky notes :)

(Don’t mind zuko😭)

[wilcze-kudly]

[natlacentral]

fks_designs: From illustration to prototype to final touches and last minute adjustments to the final look of King Bumi 💚