#aang's a mcguffin

[the-badger-mole]

If I may prompt: I would like to hear your Aang Is Not The Hero rant, if you'd like to share (I have my own thoughts along similar lines, but I'm curious about your take).

It's something I've talked about before, but I don't think Aang adds that much to the story. He is the titular "Last Airbender", but his major contributions are either being a conduit for more powerful beings (La, the lionturtle, the Avatar State, which he doesn't have control over even into the post series comics), or he facilitates getting the Gaang from one place to another. He's the reason that the plot is happening, but he's not an active participant. He barely acknowledges that a war is happening, let alone takes it on himself to figure out how to end it.

To call Aang the "Real Hero™️©️®️" feels laughable when his accomplishments are stacked up against his friends. His fight with Ozai isn't even the emotional linchpin of the series. We all know that honor goes to the Agni Kai, but even confrontation between Ozai and Zuko had more weight. Heck, even the scenes with Sokka, Toph and Suki had higher stakes and emotional importance. Sure, Aang grabbing Ozai by the chin leech was funny, but Sokka clinging to Toph as she dangles in mid-air is a heart stopping moment.

Beyond that, no one's relationship with Aang matters that much. He isn't a particularly good friend to any of them, and he receives far, far more than he gives in terms of development moments (and he still manages to hardly grow at all). His most major contribution to anyone else's growth ends up with him completely misunderstanding Katara. By comparison, Katara is a much more integral character. She is the one holding the Gaang together. Her conflicts with her friends contribute to growth moments with all of them. Even Toph, as criminally underdeveloped as she is, has moments with Katara that lead to them both growing as characters.

If we want to name a true protagonist for the story, or the "Real Hero™️©️®️" , it's Katara. Katara is the true hero of the story. Without her, the plot falls apart. Aang is the inciting incident for Katara's story to move forward. Essentially, Aang is a McGuffin. He could be replaced by a magic wand and reliable transportation and very little about the story would have to change.

[eponastory]

Gotta apologize again for practically swimming in your DMs lately, but I remembered why people like 'Toph x Aang', and often cited Toph's honesty and lack of glorification to Aang as a reason why she would've been a better romantic interest for Aang than Katara. And I don't disagree with that, Toph is much more likely to put her foot down to let Aang know when he's wrong, which should urge him more to grow. But despite Toph theoretically being a better love interest for Aang, I have a question:

Would Aang be a good love interest for Toph?

Because since you, @longing-for-rain , and other Zutara supporters described Aang's immaturity very well, I have to wonder if Toph would be happy with Aang, knowing how hurtful he can get (Desert, Ember Island, did Aang even apologize for those instances?). What do you think? Do you think Aang has the qualities to be a good love interest for Toph? Could I ask this question for Ty Lee too? Because I see lots of people believing that Ty Lee would've been a good choice for Aang, but would Aang have been a good choice for Ty Lee? You know what, let's just get every popular alternative candidate out of the way, since people ship Aang with Toph, Ty Lee, Zuko, Sokka, and even Azula and Mai. Run the gauntlet (if you want to). Would Aang make a good love interest for literally ANY of the main characters?

Unpopular opinion, but as Aang is written in the show... he's not a good candidate for anyone.

Wait wait wait...

Hear me out before everyone gets up in arms...

This is where we have to acknowledge that Aang is a fictional character and not a real person (we are not going to count LA Aang because technically that would make him an actual person because he is portrayed by an actual teenage boy) therefore everything is written to be as it is. However, because fiction is subjective, we can debate whether or not to treat Aang like an actual person.

So with that in mind, let's begin this deconstruction of Aang's character and how he is not a good fit for any sort of romance as he is written in the show.

Aang's Selfishness

This right here is glossed over many, many times in the show. What I mean by selfishness is the fact that he is unable to look beyond his nose when it comes to other characters and their feelings. In real life, this is a very twelve year old thing to do, but unlike real life there is no one there to call him out on it. Just the writers, and they don't even do that. That coupled with the fact that he is written to be a child, it really doesn't make sense to me. That and he is the McGuffin and 'The One' of the entire show.

Bryke sets it up to be a good show by giving us the premise right from the start, but as the seasons move on, I don't really see any development from Aang. Only the characters around him.

That being said, because you don't get that development, any relationship going forward is going to feel shallow, like most of the relationships (except sukka) feel. Zuko and Katara progress in their relationship well because there was growth from both of them.

When it comes to Aang, he is more concerned with his views than taking a moment to think about everyone else's. Of course, I applaud those who actively seek peace in their lives and with dangerous situations, but Aang is incredibly naive. He doesn't get any better, even when Zuko calls him out on it. We see Aang struggle with the solution, but then Deus Ex Lionturtle shows up and doesn't really encourage that growth.

Because you don't get that growth and him moving past how HE feels, that is where a relationship is going to fall apart. It's not toxic, but if he doesn't change then it can become that way. Again, Aang is not a narcissist. He is just selfish and naive. These are two big things that cost him.

[beifong-brainrot]

✨️Quill's meta and other ramblings Masterpost✨️

I've decided to compile all my metas and longer posts into a list I'll pin to my blog, for easy access and for anyone who wants to go back and sift through my pretentious soapbox ramblings.

List of metas under the cut:

The Last Airbender

✨️Aang

The Avatar State as a Panic Attack

Aang as a McGuffin?

Aang's biases and comparison to Szeto

✨️Katara

Katara's fear of loss and how it impacts her relationship with Aang Part 1

Katara's fear of loss and how it impacts her relationship with Aang Part 2

The Desert is one of Katara's strongest episodes

How Hama impacted Katara

Katara's parentification in the Runaway

Katara's forced maturity in the fandom

Katara's childishness is important

✨️Kataang defense squad Activities

Kataang through the female gaze

Kaatang's nonlinear development

The symbolism in Kataang

The Avatar State's place in Kataang

Anti Kaatang/Pro Zutara hypocrisies

✨️ Defending Jetara as well

✨️Toph

Toph's story is a tragedy, actually

Toph's relationship with her father

Toph's reaction to Ba Sing Se and its rules

An extremely reluctant defence of cop Toph

✨️Zuko

Zuko's connections to the characters around him and why it's not all Katara

Zuko wasn't the good guy in B1 (and that's ok)

Talking about Zuko's scar as a burn victim

Zuko's Love Language- gift giving

✨️Miscellaneous ramblings

Mai's trauma

The evolution of Mai and her political stance

The Fire Nation's misogyny p1

The Fire Nation's misogyny p2

Across the Isle- Fire Nationals connecting with the victims of their nation

Ursa and Azula's estrangement

Azula's love language- quality time

The Legend of Korra

✨️Weilin Propaganda:

Weilin Propaganda part 1

Weilin Propaganda part 2

✨️Bolin

Bolin's fawning trauma response

Bolin's lack of agency and his potential role as a weapon

Why Bolin stayed with Kuvira as long as he did

Bolin's relation to Earthbending

✨️Suyin, my pookie

Adding context to Suyin's 'flaws'

Suyin's Coping Mechanism- Zaofu and family

Suyin is NOT a narcissist

The tragism of Suyin

The misogyny of Suyin hate

Suyin's combat skills

✨️Lin Beifong haterisms:

How Fanon Lin affects other characters

Lin's tumultuous relationship with Korra

Lin should've left the police force

✨️Opal is Queen

Opal hot takes

Opal's seperation from the Beifongs

✨️ Thoughts on Huan

✨️Beifong Boogaloo

The Beifongs as superfeelers

Critiscisms of the Old Wounds episode

Strange structure of Suyin and Lin's feud

Baby Beifongs appreciation post

Lin and Opal parallels

Suyin and Kuvira parallels

Suyin and Baatar's reconciliation

✨️Beifong twin miniseries

Sparring moment

Wei and trust falls

Reactions to Baatar

The Beifong twins are traumatised ♡

✨️Amon

The flaws of Amon's ideology

Amon's character driven story

✨️Prince Wu appreciation

✨️Mako

Mako's low self esteem and its relation to Kai

✨️Miscellaneous

Lin and Suyin paralleling Mako and Bolin

Mako and his relation to his family

Convergence Airbenders adapting to airbender culture

Tlok's Usamericanism in B4

Republic City's divide between Earth citizens and Fire nationals

Texts inbetween tlok and atla

Biases against Earthbenders in Republic City

Aiwei theory compendium

Katara and Sokka paralleling Bolin and Mako

Lavabenders paralleling each other

The Gaang being parents did not ruin them

Azula vs Zuko and Kuvira in the matter of redemption

Sokka and Bolin- the tragedy of funny guys

Analysing the Avatar State

Tlok and atla on character motivation

[blackbullet99]

Some ZKs are pretty upset with that recent post you made about them, namely sokkastyles and eponastory and some one guy called broadwaybalogna. They’re saying stuff like you’re encouraging bullying, you’re respect for them is dependent upon their opinions about fictional characters and one of them took offense that you said they downplay genocide, saying their ancestors experienced it and Bryke are white or something (along with Aang being a Gary-Stu McGuffin).

These are the posts, what do you think?

https://www.tumblr.com/broadwaybalogna/756326576927440896/is-it-bad-to-say-i-chuckled?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/eponastory/756307670306308096/well-i-guess-im-going-to-have-to-address-this?source=share

Honestly, not to be dismissive, I ain’t gonna bother reading those links.

Of course those losers are gonna be upset, I told it like is, calling them out on their stupid (and downright offensive in some cases) takes. They’re seething and coping, but the truth hurts. I don’t even know how they found these, one of these crybabies blocked me, so they’re obviously obsessed with me and can’t get by without stalking me anytime I dare to criticize their idiocy.

For the record, I never told anyone to bully these people. I don’t condone it, that’s on whoever reads this, but these people have a victim problem, seeing as ZKs constantly go into the wrong tags, call out anyone who disagrees with them (plenty do so by name) and spend of their time hating and whining about a show they claim to love. But suddenly I’m the big meanie-weenie because I hurt the feewings.

One final thing, I ain’t gonna go and act like Bryke are the best writers ever and should never be criticized, cuz they should, they made a great show, but said and did some pretty stupid stuff too. If anyone’s ancestors experienced genocide, I feel for you. But as a person of color myself, who’s ancestors I know where killed, enslaved, beaten and colonized among many other things, I called out these people because their opinions on serious subject matter such as genocidal trauma and how people (fictional or otherwise) was downright vile and insulting regardless of your own situation, A:TLA, may be fictional, but their issues towards such serious subject matter is callous, vile an reflects their crappy personality. I take issue with these idiots dismissing issues such as genocidal trauma, imperial propaganda, comparing a genocide survivor to a literal colonizer, invalidating the trauma and feelings of a colonist survivor (Katara) and adultifying her (in the Kataang tag no less).

Not to mention this rancid colonist take.

Need, I mention this, as a person of color, this makes me physically sick. They’re either unempathetic to a character who suffers from genocide, invalidate someone who experienced colonization and only care for the character who initially perpetuates imperialist antagonism, who did genuinely learn from his mistakes, but even those they always excuse.

In conclusion, screw these guys, it doesn’t matter what the vocal minority of toxic ZKs think, they can play the victim all they want, but their opinion means nothing, they downplay the effects of genocide and colonization trauma, because they don’t care, about the issues about the characters, it’s all to make a Wattpad middle school ship look better, because evidently they think it’s too weak to stand on its own and really clinging on to a fanon ship is all they amount to.

[womanistic]

One piss poor thing I hate about atl-a fanfiction (outside of the racism and misogyny and phenotype obsession and ppl knowing Tiu & La names and colorism and Zuko weebification/favoritism and racism) is that Aang is never allowed to be wise or or get angry or lie or steal (as he and every hero in the og show did regularly) or just be a character most of the time? he's treated like a cute sunshine mascot character or mcguffin that needs to be protected at all cost not like his role is to do the protecting in universe.

Aang lacks agency and any nuance in the same way Zuko lack all his characterization any comedic moments in fics. Plus all of his beliefs not just the 'no murder' one are treated as naive and cute. Not deeply held beliefs that he would fight for.

[mdhwrites]

What if Hunter’s Disability Mattered

So... this is effectively just me discussing another direction the show could have taken. Am I saying it would have been better or that they should have? Not really. I get to use what they presented as a base for this and I’ll even talk about some of the issues at the end with the plans they possibly had for Hunter. But how cool would it have been if his lack of magic actually mattered to his character? Instead of being something that was brought up twice and then cured? That it was maybe a real component in getting to understand him, his desperation to work with his uncle, etc. like that. So the big in on this, the big change, is that... His staff is Magi-tech. Belos just has access to that. And in Hunter’s second appearance, Belos gains the abomatons, which is more magi-tech. Magi-tech that, even after falling from grace with Belos, is Kiki’s domain... for some reason. Despite her having magic. What if the abomatons weren’t introduced so quickly? What if Hunter was a true threat for the Owl Family to begin with. He shows how technology could benefit them at a time when magic seems to have failed them but getting that tech would mean aligning with Belos. So while Eda works on her potioncraft and Luz works on glyphs, Hunter is harassing and hunting them. Actually doing what his name would make you expect. And while they keep losing and scrambling away, like Aang versus Zuko where it’s hard to often call Aang getting away a flat out win for the good guys, we’re learning more and that knowledge is also letting the Owl Family fight him better. And what is causing them to constantly be in conflict? The same thing that did it in Eclipse Lake: A hunt for what’s needed to make a portal. Make that a larger part of the story and you have a reason for Luz, Eda, Lilith, etc. to go on journeys that Hunter is going on as well since Belos would already know what’s needed. Then comes the mid-season finale. A crucial component, potentially one of a kind, makes Luz surprise Hunter by not running or using tricks or holding back to try and not actually hurt another person. The spell comes out, aimed at his throat in her frustration and pain that’s been growing all season, and knocks his staff away as he reflexively tries to block it. This would be the first time we’ve seen Hunter without the staff. And rather than go for the ingredient, Luz in her anger grabs the staff and goes to slap a fire glyph on it to get rid of the tool once and for all. That’s when Hunter, his confidence truly shaken for the first time, pleas for her not to. That whatever she do, she just not break that. It could take months for his uncle to gather the ingredients to make another and until then... “Until then, I’m nothing. Less than a witch. Less than a demon. Less than the very dirt because I can’t do magic without it so please, PLEASE just don’t break it.” A long pause. A hold on Hunter’s face before the sound of something snapping. He looks up immediately to see Luz’s shoe on a stick. And then his staff in front of his eyes. “Take it. Just... take it.” “L-Let me guess,” Hunter says, even as he reaches for it, hesitantly though as he’s afraid of this being some wild witch trick, “in exchange for the object, right? That’s the deal?” “No.” Luz lets go the moment Hunter takes it before walking towards the object. Hunter, stunned, doesn’t stop her, especially as she keeps speaking. “There are times I’ve felt like that. Less than human. When the bullies make things I care about seem like nothing. But...” She says as tears come down her face. “You’re always better than that. Always a person. Always worth the right to a little kindness.” She forgets to take the object as she turns around, mcguffin in hand, trying hard not to sob as she finishes with, “And that staff or books whether you have them or not... They don’t change that fact. Just like my mom would always say. And that’s why I need to get back to her, okay?” Hunter stares at Luz, silent, not even speaking as Luz runs past him. We then get a shot of him looking down at the staff and just whispering, “Still a person... even without this?” S2B would start with Hunter gaining a new edge against the Owl Family: The abomaton. But the abomaton isn’t simply for a power up for him or a big monster to constantly have around for action scenes. We get scenes of others praising the abomaton. How it’s better than witches with how it can do magic and fight better than most of them. Kiki could in fact even do a lot of this as she mocks Hunter. But he also can’t refuse the order from his uncle to use them, nor deny their effectiveness. Now the fights take a more personal element to them. There’s more anger and pain between Luz and Hunter now as the internal conflicts brought up before flare up every time they see each other. Luz’s desperation versus Hunter’s confusion. Quickly though, the confusion wins out when Belos holds Hunter back. It’s because he’s realized the abomatons are the ones winning... So why bother sending Hunter. Belos tries to claim it’s for his safety, that without the staff, he’d be defenseless, let alone without the abominations, and Hunter loses it. Screams at his uncle about not needing them, even throwing the staff on the ground hard enough to crack it. And Belos simply says no. Without them, Hunter is useless to him. So pick up the staff, apologize, and go to his room like a good little nephew. Which Hunter does... until flying out to find Luz. He’s finally willing to listen to what she has to say about his uncle being evil. How can a good man tell him something like that after all, and an evil wild witch make him feel more cared about than his uncle ever did? And so Hunter is redeemed in time to tell the Owl Family about the Day of Unity and progress forward. So... First the big things that would make this just... not happen. 1: The shortening would FUCK this plan because while I claim it could be done in one season, it likely would rather have two so the portal hunt is more the first season with Hunter’s turn happening at the end of it and it becomes more about fighting Belos for the ingredients he has in Season 2. This also brings problem 2: This would require way more focus and serialization than TOH wants. Fitting Lumity into this would be difficult if compressed to one season (though I don’t know, maybe let the two actually go on an adventure together? Multiple of them even as Amity becomes concerned for Luz’s safety against Hunter?) and Willow and Gus questionably struggle to find as much of a place here. It would require TOH to be willing to choose one of its identities and we know that would never happen since even in S3 it STILL won’t drop the school. It also requires letting Hunter be a bastard for longer. To be more dyed in the cloth of the EC. The show goes so quickly out of its way to be like “No, this isn’t him. He isn’t a bigot like his uncle” that they wouldn’t do this either. They only let him be ‘The Golden Guard’ for like... ten minutes of screen time. Then he’s a sad but mad boy. Actually being willing to wait on that reveal, foreshadow his better nature instead? That’s just not how the show does its character arcs. Not even with Amity, who they had the time to do so with. There’s also the shipping problem. This show obviously loves its ships and this would A: make it so people might expect a Lunter ship even though I made Avatar references for a reason and Aang and Zuko do genuinely work well just staying friends. More so though B: you don’t really get Huntlow with this unless Willow of all people is showing up for a lot these missions... And more likely, Hunter, especially before the turn, would get MAD about Willow’s trouble early on with magic, despite her being so powerful and finding it effortless now, being compared to him literally not having magic. It’s like telling a depressed person “Oh, yeah, I know what it’s like needing two alarms to get out of bed because I just don’t want to go to work, but I manage it every day,” when they haven’t been able to work for a month because their anxiety and depression is so severe that feeding themselves is a struggle. They’re not the same issue. The show actually is smart enough to (if I’m remembering right) never have Willow try to say the two are the same and it’s more incidental that she makes a connection with him over it. And while I don’t care about that ship, someone on the creative team clearly does so *shrug*. And I’m not saying this is perfect. While I am personally disabled, I’m not willing to speak for all disabled people. It also is possibly too harsh on the mechanisms that allow a disabled person to do more than they are physically capable of but that could actually be addressed by Hunter never getting rid of the staff. Maybe even Eda talking to him about how she’d love to not need her potions but her potions also help her feel safe and in control and she’d possibly miss them if her curse were ever cured. Then Hunter could have a a healthy relationship with his staff, even repairing the cracks made when he threw it away. But I do think it would solve a problem with TOH. The series very much so feels like it runs on a logic of “If we present deep and nuanced concepts, we don’t have to actually do anything with them to still be praised for them.” And that’s how you have Amity clearly being emotionally abused by her family but that never reflected in her actions, especially after she decides she likes Luz. That’s how you get Willow talking about her and Amity not being real friends and then not doing anything with it for so long that when it is addressed it feels almost comical that they aren’t past this and focused on more important things. And it’s how you have someone disabled, disconnected from the rest of their society simply from being born differently... and that being more for lore purposes than actually being about the character.

[eponastory]

So can we all just agree that Aang is the McGuffin?

Because that is literally what he is.

Well, that and he is also 'The One' trope too. I don't have a problem with this trope other than a lot of writers make it compatible to Jesus and then the whole message of their story gets muddled.

I'm still on the side of 'Zuko is really the main character' for this show.

hey there!

please don't take this the wrong way, because i'm genuinely just asking. i've seen your criticism of aang and kataang appear on my dash from time to time, and it just got me wondering: how can you enjoy the show?

i understand that you feel passionate about katara, and i suppose about the entire story, but. aang is like on screen 90% of the time, and he gets his happy ending too (as happy as it can be, of course, with having his entire culture and people on the brink of non-existence). how do you reconcile your love for the show with your dislike for its main character and how the narrative rewards him?

and once again, please understand that i'm not attacking. i'm just curious to see at what point does someone stop being a fan and start being simply critical of a certain media, if you know what i mean.

thank you for answering if you do, and cheers!:)

I just don’t pay attention to him very much. Even in the finale, Zuko’s ending and story stands out more to me. Him standing before the crowd in his sparkling crown, announcing that he wants to bring in a new era of love and peace, that’s powerful to me. Watching Zuko go from an abused boy who thinks his only worth comes from accomplishing an impossible task in his desperation to appease his abuser, to a literal king taking back his power and using it for good, is a powerful story.

As for Katara, to me, her true ending is the Agni Kai. I wrote a whole post about it. That is the culmination of her arc, where she is able to display her power and use it to overthrow the regime that she’d grown up being terrorized by. And then after Zuko was nearly killed, Katara was able to save his life just like he saved hers. The way their stories intertwined was beautiful, and it was a beautiful conclusion to Katara’s story, watching her not have to feel helpless for once and bringing the change she’d always dreamed of.

As you can probably tell, these are my favorite characters so I was satisfied by their endings. To be honest on my rewatch, I usually kind of just skim the Aang vs. Ozai fight because it’s just an anime battle. The characters hadn’t even met prior to the fight, so the emotional depth is lacking compared to the Final Agni Kai.

As for the balcony scene? I don’t watch it. And I think it says a lot that by simply not watching it, nothing is lost. It adds nothing to either character and only serves to give Aang a reward. Before that moment, nothing about the finale suggested Katara wanted that at all. Neither character played a significant role in the other’s finale arc. There was absolutely no narrative significance between them.

But there was for Zuko and Katara.

To me, Katara ended the story as a heroine and warrior, not a love interest. With Zuko, that was her ending. So that’s the real ending to me, because that’s what her character means to me.

[canmom]

rewatching AtlA, and one thing that really stands out to me that I didn’t really consciously appreciate as a kid is that the editing and pacing in this show is really good. i guess it goes under the heading of fight choreography, which is widely praised about Avatar already, but that discussion from what I’ve seen tends to focus on the show’s translation of Chinese martial arts to animation. and like, that stuff rules - the characters generally move smoothly and solidly, it uses exaggerated smears in the right places - they’ve learned the right lessons from anime, to a much greater degree than later attempts to make anime-style western cartoons like She-Ra or Castlevania.

but none of that would matter if they can’t cut it into a story! and that’s what I’m noticing on this watch

the most recent episode I watched, The Waterbending Scroll, is one of the mid-season episodes that tends not to get remembered as much as the season finales and big character episodes like The Storm or The Blue Spirit. most of the second half of the episode is an extended fight scene that turns into a chase, and I found myself really noticing how they interleaved the episode’s different subplots into each other and how clearly they showed the progression of the fight.

at each point in the episode, you knew pretty much exactly where everyone was, what their intentions were, where the mcguffin had bounced to, and despite the use of a few cartoon clichés like the inexplicable giant waterfall (which makes no hydrological sense when the baddies have sailed upriver to this point from the sea) it told a very clear and appealing story. it all rolled along very fluidly, and that - as much as the shot to shot stuff of how you animate a particular move - is a really big part of choreography.

it reminded me a great deal of Every Frame A Painting’s discussion of Jackie Chan’s fight choreography:

like Jackie Chan, AtlA makes heavy use of static camera shots. this is sort of a necessity in traditional animation with handpainted backgrounds - you’re kind of limited to what can be achieved with a pan or a dolly shot (where you can simply paint a few layers of backdrop and move them at different speeds to achieve parallax). moving the camera forwards and backwards through a 3D environment is extremely hard to animate well, so it pretty much only appears in special setpiece shots like the flying scenes in many Ghibli movies, or in high altitude scenes where the background is very distant from the camera (like many sampled in this video).

in Avatar, the result is very similar to what it has in Jackie Chan’s films: every movement is clearly staged, well-lit, and shot from a wide angle, so you know exactly what’s going on, which is perfect for this kind of martial arts story and also demands a great deal of rigour in animating for it to work. of course, a lot of this probably has to do with the animation production process from storyboards through to numerous stages of revisions and frame-level timing edits - there’s a degree of timing precision you get in animation that is very hard to achieve with live action, though of course the greater control is at the same time very demanding.

on thinking about it a little more, The Waterbending Scroll doesn’t actually show you everything all the time. It hides a lot of information by having one of the pirate characters set off a smoke bomb near the beginning of the big setpiece fight, which serves to isolate particular characters (and sets up a great visual gag where Aang blows the smoke away, finds himself surrounded, and immediately pulls it right back). on one level this was probably a budget-saving measure - it’s much easier to animate a cloud of smoke than a large group of fighters - but it also serves a strong editing purpose of isolating the story-important characters and shots, without distracting with extraneous information.

AtlA has its limitations (in terms of writing of course, and in terms of the intrinsic limitations of TV animation, and certain things improved over the course of the show - the background paintings are often quite sparse on detail for example), but it’s really kind of striking just how well even the (less renowned) first season holds up on a technical level. if I get around to rewatching LoK, it will be interesting to compare it with AtlA fresh in my mind.

[loopy777]

If you were asked to rewrite Ducktales season 1 to be one large overarching story(similar to avatar book water) instead of 2 dozen largely unrelated tales, how would you go about it?

I kind of thought it already was? There’s the building threat of Magica De Spell, the ongoing mystery of Della’s fate, and the arc of the cast acknowledging that they’ve really become a family.

If you mean in terms of an adventure goal, like Aang getting to the North Pole and mastering Waterbending, then I’d probably expand the whole Greek gods thing in some way, perhaps with a search for a treasure from Greek mythology.

That would give us more Storkules, and I love that guy and his unabashed fangirling of Donald. More importantly, the family of the gods could be a nice tie-in to the theme of the family-building. Whatever treasure or information is being sought could also be made into the McGuffin that brings Magica back, retaining her as the final threat and keeping Lena involved. I figure the cast would return home between finding clues, so there could still be one-off episodes dealing with Duckburg, and they’d jaunt around the world looking for the next clue in the line, keeping things varied.

[the-badger-mole]

Please don't take this as me being judgmental, I'm really genuinely curious, but do you still enjoy the show if you dislike Aang so much? Did you dislike him the first time you watched the show or is it more recent?

Also, just wanted to say I love your writing and they inspired me to write a couple zk pieces myself ❤

Always glad to hear another writer is writing! Maybe I've read some of your work.

I still like the show (even though I can't watch anything after the Agni Kai). Not liking the main character of a show isn't that unusual. I don't particularly care for Ted Mosby, but I still like HIMYM. I've never seen The Vampire Diaries or True Blood, but from what I understand a lot of fans don't like the mains on those shows either. The good thing about ATLA is that the other characters are so well done that I can more or less ignore Aang (tbh, I feel like he's useless to the story. He's more of a plot device than a character). I didn't always hate Aang (a lot of my stronger feelings came after finding out how awful he continued being after the show), but he was never the reason I was tuning in, either.

[eponastory]

Well, I guess I'm going to have to address this now...

Since Blackbullet99 seems to have a hard-on for Zutara shippers who call it like it is.

Well, blackbullet99 can fuck off.

I'm not even going to get into why two American men decided to write a character like this, but it is what it is.

Bryke is the person responsible for the shitty writing that doesn't really address the trauma of a fictional character that I genuinely can't stand because he is one foot into Gary Stu territory and is a McGuffin at best.

Does this mean I hate Kataang? Not really. My problem is with Bryke and their stupidity about Westernizing South Asian Culture and how they wrote Aang. I'm not South Asian, but I do have some friends that are, and I'm very protective over them and their beliefs. I will admit when I'm being stupid and apologize for misunderstanding. Clearly, it is something that is blatantly going on with blackbullet here.

So in light of that, this reblog was discussing something about Aang's character being (hold on brain fart)... more or less unaccountable for any of his actions.

Here's the deal. I don't downplay actual real world genocide. I condemn it, my ancestors were victims of colonization and at the same time genocide on one side and the other were the colonizers. It's horrible. I am a student of history and I know things about genocide and war that most wouldn't believe happened. But here we are. It's bloody, it's inhumane.

But for a fictional character that is written by two white men from America... it's hard for me to empathize with that. I don't know how anyone can look at that and say oh yeah... they know! When they don't.

As a writer, I understand that we use real world events to inspire our work. But, here is the thing, we write what we know. I can not possibly know what it's like to survive a genocide and be able to write about it from that perspective. I have sympathy and I love those that have witnessed it first hand. But this is beyond my comprehension. I do my best to make things realistic in my writing by reading first hand accounts, but Bryke... sweet Godzilla... they know nothing.

So there. My defense against someone who thinks they are morally superior.

And they can still fuck off.

[the-badger-mole]

I've seen people criticize Zuko for not taking the opportunity to kill Ozai during the eclipse but expecting Aang, a 12 y.o. pacific monk to do that instead. He was called hypocritical for being unsympathetic towards his unwillingness to take a life when he himself couldn't. I do like Zuko and tend to side with him ( post redemption ofc ) over Aang, but that seems like a valid take, I don't think I have a counter-argument to that.What is your opinion on It ? Also, what do you think was the in-universe reason for Zuko to make such a decision? He said that It's not his destiny, do you think there was any other reason for It? Is he not wrong for not doing It just bc of destiny since It's just an abstract concept and the stakes were really high ( plus It's against the show's message about shaping your own destiny) ?

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it sounds like the people criticizing Zuko for not killing Ozai when he had the chance wanted Aang to do it? That doesn't sound like a contradiction, so I'm not sure if that's how you meant it?

Aside from that, I can only speak for myself. I understand why Zuko didn't kill Ozai. I also understand why Aang didn't want to. What my problem with the resolution for that was that it was the first time Aang seems to have even thought about what ending the war would entail. It doesn't make him look noble, or idealistic. It just makes him look stupid. What do you mean? What do you mean that he took this entire journey to get him to master all the elements on a deadline so he can end the war, and he had no idea what ending the war would even look like? He didn't even consider it? It had to be told to him. He really goofed off this entire series and didn't think about his project until the night before it was due. And don't anyone try to use his age to excuse this to me. First of all, Aang isn't a 12 year old. He's a fictional character who was created by writers. Writers who were telling a story. THEY are the ones who didn't consider how Aang would end the war. Second, within the story, Aang's age is never used as an excuse for why he did this. In fact, not only is an excuse not given, it's treated like a virtue on his end and not a lack of forethought on his part. He's rewarded for it.

Listen, I hate the Lionturtle/Rock of Destiny double deus ex machina, and I have made no secret of it. It was a cop out. It cheapened the finale. It made everything Aang was supposed to learn irrelevant, because no, he didn't have to make sacrifices and hard choices for his victory. He won because he was supposed to win (and how's that for shaping your own destiny?). Here's the thing, though. The Lionturtle, at least, could have worked. If Aang had to come up with the solution himself, go find the Lionturtle and ask for help (and maybe have to perform some challenge to earn it), then it would've been a satisfying ending while still not making Aang himself have to shed blood (nevermind that keeping his hands clean was a privilege most of the heroes in this story couldn't have).

I didn't necessarily want Aang to kill Ozai, and definitely didn't want him to kill Ozai just because it would look cool (although...). I would have been fine with a no-kill ending, if it had been set up right. I just think having Aang kill Ozai given the set up of the rest of the story would've been more satisfying than the cop-out ex machina double team. Or someone else could've faced Ozai, because he was never the main villain of the series. Azula was. And that fight was both satisfying and didn't end with her death, either (because it's a kids' show). It wouldn't even have to change. Aang was not the real hero of this story. Katara was the hero of the first half, and Zuko was the hero of the second. Aang was just the McGuffin. He could've sat this one out and been the one to make the "Real Hero" speech instead of Zuko. That would have been a good ending.

[the-badger-mole]

https://www.tumblr.com/the-badger-mole/748859167656312832/how-is-aang-a-terrible-friend-genuine-question-i

while i agree with all your points, i tend to give aang some grace for the desert - he lost his best friend, he didn’t know what had happened to appa and he’s also just twelve

but at the same time, i do see your side of it, that isn’t always an excuse, especially when by the end of the show we haven’t been shown any sort of development of his character, we just need to assume he did all the development and he’s now the “wise and fully realised avatar”

The way I see it, this is a fictional story. The main character is fictional. He should have an arc. He does lots of terrible things that never get walked back, and that may be true to life, or whatever, but it doesn't make me root for him. Aang is the hero of the story. The hero is allowed to mess up, sure, but the hero also needs to be called on it and become a better person. Otherwise, what is even the point of telling the story? I like ATLA because I consider it to be more Katara and Zuko's stories than Aang's. He's not a good character. He's not as relevant to the story as he should be. He's just there to move the plot along. I can accept him as a McGuffin, but he will never be the hero in my eyes. If I find it more compelling to steer into his worst traits, blame Bryke. They wrote him that way.

[technicolorlove]

6 - "Um no, it doesn't matter if Weiss had grown or not. Adam is still a damn psychopath that'd sooner go for the kill than try to listen to anything that Weiss has to say." good thing I didnt say she should have a convo with him then! I said Blake and Weiss should talk about it. Y'know, the girl she's friends with who was a part of the same revolutionary force that adam was? "Sienna living and getting to talk to Weiss or even Ilia = the letdown not Adam." excellent point! the reason adam was still a let down though was because HE WAS BRANDED like AN ANIMAL?? is this a common fucking practice?? if we go off blake's body language when adam unmasks it clearly isnt that shocking to her. fuck yang doesnt even seem rattled by it? would weiss know that this happens? would she be horrified to find out that her father treated people like this? would that make her even more pissed off at him and make her epic own of his ass even better when she exposes how fucking unethical his work practices are along with his conspiracy against atlas in.. v7 or v8 i cant remember. "They do put in small moments here and there like the v7 scene between Weiss and Blake w/ Weiss seeing the SDC sign" wow.. one moment between them in the whole 5 volumes since weiss was racist. like you dont think that it would come up a little more often especially now in atlas? "On top of that there's a reason that Adam was kept to Blake and Yang, namely that Yang is everything Adam failed to be. Then on top of that is that no matter what they do they get people going after them, so they just set the entire thing to a metaphorical back-burner with some small bits here and there towards it." i dont care if he was kept to them like physically, i just think emotionally they should have discussed that shit with their team more lmao? especially after v6? like i get if they didnt wanna talk about their trauma earlier but like cmon they just killed someone wouldnt they wanna discuss that with their team?? blake seemed pretty fucked up about it afterwards we dont think we could have had a scene of them talking about it maybe at the start of v7? "Some of the problem is that you're forgetting that RWBY isn't that genre of show and again has bigger things happening." okay, so what genre is it then? generic fantasy? mcguffin centered fetch quest simulator? like, lets compare this to... fucking ATLA? a show about a group of kids settled with the weight of the world. THAT fuckin show has time for these kinds of character interactions, not relegated to small moments but whole episodes, they travel all over the globe to try and stop an oncoming apocalypse while collecting things(bending styles for aang) and oh hey zuko what are you doing here in my comparison to weiss schnee? (do not mention emerald and compare her to zuko please dont do that their arcs share superficial similarities but they are not the same, if anything emerald is this version of weiss you're talking about. i dont really care about her and shes sorta just been vaguely a dick riiiiight up until v6 when shes like "ohhh well.. maybe we're the bad guys?" and then does some more cinder worship until shes told off and goes from zero to hero over the span of.. like late v7 to late v8 she just clogging up the already bloated cast, and she barely appears in that fuckin epilogue [god i hope they dont do a fucking colonizer plot they are going to fuck it up just like they fucked up the racism]) Trust me, I love rwby, i love it so much it hurts. and when i bitch about it its because i wish it was so much better than it actually is. Like objectively its not that great writing wise. I lament missed potential and threads i think could have been handled better. I despise people who do "rewrites" that fundamentally change everything about the show except some names. Do I think they should course correct now? fuck no, we're in wayyyyy to deep. I really like v9 and it was tight and honestly weirdly enough the justice league crossover movies had some of my favorite weiss writing to date. Lemme wrap up before i get too rambly.

I wouldn't consider the crazy stalker ex angle a bad one for Adam (some people may disagree with me on this), but what I do wish had happened was building up to it more. And it sorta happened in this volume, where his oversight and cowardice at Haven resulted in him losing power. I just wish we had seen more of that fall yknow? How his desire for adoration and "justice" was fueled by his own ego. And the more power he lost the more the manipulative stalker ex boyfriend thing became prevalent. I also wish that his SDC brand went literally anywhere story wise. The fact that it's never brought up again (especially to WEISS) just sorta puts a big question mark on the end of his character. The fact that we don't even have a canon explanation for how he got it is even worse!! I have a lot of issues with how faunus are are used as a massive bludgeon with the word "RACISM" printed on it despite the writers' seeming unwillingness to actually discuss that topic. It takes Weiss all of two episodes to unlearn her prejudice but then she never uses any of her seemingly substantial power to actually DO anything about her father's business practices or for even make a switch to buying dust from local shops instead of straight from SDC itself. Imagine how much deeper Flint's jab at her would have been if we saw her actually trying to put in effort to undo the harm her family does to small businesses!!

I dunno I feel like they should have picked an angle for Adam and stuck with it. (Also i'm someone who likes Ironwood's fall and thinks it was well built up, so sue me)

[the-badger-mole]

Aang had the potential to be a great character: wise beyond his years but young at heart, the only survivor of a Fire Nation genocide but the person best able to see what they could be instead of what they are, a pacifist who ended a 100 year war without compromising his principles. It's just the execution got thoroughly bungled. I think that's my least favorite thing about him. That, or my inability to a) figure out whether i dislike or just "don't like" him and b) figure out why that is.

I frankly can't think of a single wise thing he did during the run of the show. He absolutely lucked out a few times, especially with the combo Lionturtle/Rock of Destiny assist in his battle with Ozai, but nothing he really worked for. The Great Divide incident is the only example of him taxing his little brain to come up with a solution to a problem, but I think the solution he came up with just proves that he's not really cut out to be the Avatar.

It would have made a much more intersting story for him if in the end, the people who were so reliant on him realized that he couldn't do what was needed and instead solved the problem themselves. The message of the story would have been "We are all the Avatar", and I think the show would have been better off for it. Aang was not the real hero, despite what Bryke forced poor Zuko to declare. Literally everyone except Aang had an active part in ending the war. Aang was just a puppet for the Lionturtle. He wasn't even looking for a solution. He just decided that the most practical one wasn't for him, and the universe had to step in on his behalf.

[the-badger-mole]

Katara Appreciation Day

Without Katara, everyone on the show would be some form of dead. She was not only a warrior who fought with valor, she kept everyone fed, kept their clothes clean and wearable, she healed them, she empathized and inspired people everywhere she went. She is the true hero of ATLA, and she doesn't get nearly enough credit