#and it might not have been 'enough' but from atla we know that if toph is acknowledging outwardly that shes wrong

[thisloveforyourmom]

Call me crazy if u want but i dont think its that weird that the group of traumatized/abused child soldiers turned out to be pretty flawed parents. Like it makes sense to me that the only one of them who didnt seem to have that issue was the one whose entire arc was about unlearning generational patterns of trauma

[late-draft]

I want to know all of the details of the scifi au like right now, I'm so hooked instantly

Okay let me set the stage!

This is a sci-fi AU, leaning onto (what I've read) the first idea of ATLA; however unlike how it had Aang be from an ancient technologically advanced civilization waking up in a technologically regressed world(?), here the tech that Air Nomads had was forgotten and new one was created and it proliferated.

An important thing to keep in mind is that I intended this AU to be literally made up of iconic, primeval tropes of young audience's shows. I'm currently in a phase where I test how well I'm able to incorporate tropes and make the best use of them, so for this AU, expect it to feel EXACTLY like the thrill of running at 10 PM up to your grandma's CRT TV to watch that amazing series on Jetix you can't get enough of!!!!

~~~

First thing to notice here, the world has a Key Holder for every bending type. Keys are your magical symbols. It's the standard trope in these types of shows, think of them as kids who represent the absolute core traits of their element. Because Aang has to find specific individuals now rather than arbitrarily choosing a teacher, we have a tighter narrative although more trope-y. Aang is the Key holder for Air - every Avatar is always a Key holder for their native element, but can be taught other bending types only by respective elements' Key holders.

As expected, the world is ruled by the Fire Nation's strongest corporation, led by Emperor Ozai. Most of the setting is skyscrapers, huge power cables and mazes of pipeworks. Hakoda is the leader of resistance but he had disappeared two years ago, leaving his two children with a warning to stay hidden and safe below ground. Their secret hideout is pretty safe and cozy. Of course Sokka and Katara would not sit idly forever! Wandering through the underground they discover an ancient cryo pod, the only active one left. When he comes to himself, Aang realizes that he's the last airbender in the world for the past 1000 years.

The Avatar is able to operate ancient spiritual machines that the Air Nomads tended to. Once he learns all bending types, he'll be able to return airbending to the world through a Harmonic Convergence event by activating a huge lionturtle machine. The problem is - nobody knows where this machine is, but the Avatar is able to "listen" for signs of keyholders and machines through an ancient leftover network. Katara and Sokka swear to aid Aang in achieving this goal and restoring balance to the world. Ever since airbenders disappeared, there had been heavy dissonance in the spirit world, creating terrible natural disasters that altered the face of the planet. They're having difficulty finding the Key holder for Water.... the first one they find is Toph for Earth! She joins the gaang in late season 1 :)

In this AU, there's a tradeoff where the element of kungfu fights is reduced in favour of high-speed chases through the metropolis. Aang (14) moves quickly through the city using only his airbending, by running or speeding on his air sphere. The only piece of new equipment he wears are clear plastic goggles that Sokka (18) gave him. And while you might expect Zuko (19) to be chasing them on a red motorbike, no! It's in fact Katara (17) who's a super-skilled bike driver while Zuko and his entourage are on ROLLERBLADES SKATING ACROSS WALLS AND PIPES. Propulsion via firebending! (same thing Azula does in canon, just elevated to skating). Iroh waits for his nephiew to fail each chase and offer him tea, he's just wearing black dress pants. XD Sokka is Katara's genius engineer brother who constantly grumbles and throws sarcastic remarks because he has to fix her bike after every. single. chase! In this setting, Ozai is specifically looking for the Avatar because he could, using unethical means and technology on a trapped Avatar, be able to grant all bending types to whoever he chooses. This would spell disasteeeer. However, it's also implied that in a similar way, he could "fix" anyone...

Some notes:

You can probably feel the conclusions of many things I left blank. This is on purpose.

Zuko absolutely must have to be motivated by a desire to win his father's approval and love, this must not change. I'll introduce Azula in a later post.

The lionturtle as a concept and its effects are made clear and setup from the get-go. The spiritual machines are just a background element that doesn't affect the plot, it's just a goal.

Aang still has a crush on Katara! And it would be brought up a bit more frequently, in order to serve the plot.

Ozai is doing something concrete that's directly related to Avatar's bending, tying him closer to the Avatar as his antagonist.

This AU's setting is as you may have sensed, more mellow at first. It doesn't have a currently active war.

The characters are older because that feels more fitting to me. (I was investigating W.I.T.C.H. show and saw they were basically all 13 and dating and I was like. "Yikes. No")

Help me dig out any VISUAL references you might remember, from shows of the similar vibe. The goal is not to mimic but to add to the characteristic genre.

These screenshots are from OBAN: STAR RACERS and are what I'd associate with the old Air Nomad technology!

Shape Da Future from Jet Set Radio is precisely what aligned perfectly with this AU.

I'll be sharing more details about this AU in future posts, and everyone is welcome to add their ideas and thoughts on it! I wonder what I forgot to mention here…

[burst-of-iridescent]

Aang was indeed a bad father. It's way past time we stopped making excuses for him.

An all too common defense for Aang is the fact that he's a monk and is not well-versed in how parenting looks. Yeah! No shit! But do you know who is well-versed? Katara! They talk as if Aang is a single parent like Toph but he is not. Katara's been on Aang's side since the day they met, always stood up for him, always complimented him.

Is this really the thanks she gets? Are they really that disinterested in explaining Katara's side of the story? As if her not getting a statue wasn't insulting enough.

Another major flaw in this defense is that Aang is not just a monk. He's the avatar. This means, part of mastering all elements also means embodying all of the ideologies based on said elements. That includes elements/ideologies completely opposite of his own. His daughter's crack about Aang "cutting and running when things get tough" shows that he's learned absolutely nothing.

We never truly see him master all the elements, he just gets them and, more or less, calls it a day. I'm even beginning to doubt that he's truly mastered his default airbending and he just got his tattoos prematurely because the monks were impressed with his scooter invention.

Zuko got the privilege of understanding the ideologies of other nations, allowing him to grow, and unlearn any toxic masculinity lessons through them, and would blow a gasket if he ever saw a kid get mistreated by a parent in any way. Is it really any wonder why Zuko is the more popular character and the most requested choice for Katara, in comparison to Aang?

using the "but he was a monk!" argument to excuse aang's bad parenting is fucking baffling to me. even leaving aside that aang did have a father figure (or are we collectively ignoring monk gyatso?), i don't think you need to witness fatherhood in action to understand that showing preferential treatment to one of your children is a messed up thing to do. that seems like the kind of thing that should be common sense, especially when you're best friends with the guy who's walking proof of what happens when you play favourites with your kids.

truthfully, i also don't fully agree with katara being able to compensate for aang's supposed lack of knowledge. while i do believe katara was a good mother, and i don't think it was her responsibility to teach her own husband how to be a good parent, i have my doubts about how much, if ever, katara called aang out on his behaviour towards bumi and kya. if their relationship in atla was any indication, i suspect katara very much turned a blind eye (or at most tried to gently suggest that aang pay more attention to bumi and kya) to aang's flaws in this area, as she (unfortunately) does in most others. that's one of the reasons i was never able to get onboard with kat.aang, because katara is the only one of the gaang who is never able to meaningfully challenge aang, even when he desperately needs it. (the only time i recall her trying to push him to do something he doesn't want is in sozin's comet when the fate of the literal world depended upon it. not a good omen, methinks.)

the katara we knew in atla might not have idly sat by while aang favored his airbending child over the others, but the seeds for who she turns out to be in lok are already planted. it's not a stretch to see how katara's blind faith in aang, and her unwillingness to confront his flaws, could have easily led her down the path to the woman who would fail to stop her husband from neglecting two of their children.

it's no surprise that aang in lok is repeating all the same mistakes he did in atla, because his character arc came to a screeching halt at the start of book 3 and was never picked back up again. how are we meant to believe that aang ever became the avatar (yknow, the embodiment of all four nations in one) when he was still, at the very end of the show, prioritizing the values of one nation over the others?

truly the shocker of the century that people might prefer katara to be with a character who had a believable arc with well-written development and a satisfying conclusion, instead of the narrative equivalent of a brick wall.

[sokkastyles]

I have seen arguments in the past that Iroh favoured Zuko due to Zuko being like a replacement son for Lu Ten. I think you commented on the flashback where Iroh gave Azula a doll and Zuko his knife. I don't think Iroh is sexist because he bonds with Toph easily enough. Do you think Iroh would have been as close to Azula as he was to Zuko if she was less like Ozai?

Tbh I think "if she was less like Ozai" is sort of beating around the issue, which I don't think is your intention, but let's be clear for the Azula apologists in the back who want to make this an issue of Iroh disliking Azula because of clashing personalities or whatever, when that's not the issue at all. I think Iroh and Azula would have gotten along very well if Azula wasn't a cruel person who rejected Iroh from early on and then tried to capture and kill him. The only evidence before Azula literally trying to kill Iroh that he doesn't like her is that he got her a doll, which isn't actually evidence of anything except that he cared enough about his niece to get her a gift.

I know the sexism accusation comes from the gifts being gender essentialist, but that is an issue with the narrative, more than what it tells us about Iroh, because, as you said, Iroh does not ever express any gender essentialist views. In fact, he's often seen encouraging views that do not align with gender essentialism, and this is one of the reasons Azula dislikes him, even before his enlightenment, because his interests align more towards things that would be seen as unmanly in hypermasculine Fire Nation culture. I think Iroh was able to get away with some of those things before Lu Ten's death because he excelled militarily, but he still differs from the norm enough to get him labeled as "kooky." Azula doesn't criticize him specifically on the basis of gender, but those traits do align with gender essentialist values. Being strong, aggressive, and stoic are values traditionally associated with masculinity and thus it is "kooky" that Iroh is more emotional and more interested in simple indulgences, like tea, personality traits we know he had even before his enlightenment. Azula's comment that he is not a real general is absolutely gender coded because we already have those associations, whether or not Fire Nation culture specifically does.

Also, the doll. If giving a doll to a girl simply because they are a girl is so awful, where is that energy for every other time the atla universe has girls, and only girls, play with dolls? Are Kiyi's parents sexist for giving her a doll?

The response to this might be, "but Kiyi might have asked for the doll! Iroh should have known that Azula does not like dolls!"

That's when I would point back to the narrative. The narrative does not tell us that Kiyi asked her parents for a doll, and even if it did, it's still a gender essentialist narrative choice. It doesn't matter whether Kiyi wanted it because Kiyi is fictional and wants whatever she is written to want. The narrative also doesn't tell us that Azula doesn't like dolls, but it DOES tell us that she doesn't like Iroh, for all the reasons already listed. in fact, if we go by the comics, Azula did at least at one point like dolls, because Zuko compares Kiyi and her doll to Azula when she was little.

That's when we go back to narrative purpose. The narrative purpose of that scene is not to tell us that Azula does not like dolls or that Iroh is sexist. The narrative purpose is meant to tell us that Azula does not like Iroh, which is also reinforced by everything else we can point to in the narrative to show us that she doesn't like Iroh, specifically because she thinks he's kooky, lazy, not a real general, etc. etc, and her father was teaching her to be cruel to people like that. Being given a doll as a gift by uncle failure only reinforces to her what she already thought about Iroh, and since, as I said above, the things she already thinks about Iroh are things coded as unmasculine, being given a feminine gift reinforces to Azula that Iroh is unmasculine.

In short, i's not that Iroh thinks Azula should be more feminine, it's that Azula thinks Iroh should be more masculine. The misogyny is Azula's, not Iroh's.

This is also confirmed by Iroh getting along just fine with Toph, as you said. And now I hear you saying "but Toph is a tomboy!" Okay, but remember that the previous thesis was that Iroh specifically was sexist against Azula for being a masculine girl. Which I debunked above, and Iroh being just fine with Toph, another masculine girl, confirms this.

Iroh neither encourages Toph to go home and play with dolls like a proper young lady, nor does he encourage her to be strong and masculine. He has a conversation with her about letting people help her, the same things he is also encouraging in Zuko, and also listens when Toph tells him that he needs to tell Zuko how much he needs him, too.

Speaking of what Iroh teaches Zuko, the idea that Iroh thinks boys should be a certain way and girls should be a certain way is also debunked by Iroh encouraging Zuko to act in ways counter to FN toxic masculinity (I know it is not framed that way, but the things the FN values overlap heavily with toxic masculinity, even if we take the view that they allow women to be in the army, etc). Instead, he encourages Zuko to be kind, empathetic, and moderate. He also encourages the same thing in Aang, and says he is wise to choose happiness and love over power. So there's no evidence that Iroh believes boys should choose strength and girls should only choose feminine pursuits.

What we do have is Iroh valuing kindness over power, while Azula values power over kindness. That's the real difference, and what Azula burning the doll is meant to tell us.

I think Iroh was this way even before his enlightenment, to a degree, but as I said before, he could get away with that when he was the Dragon of the West because he already excelled at fitting that image without having to try too hard. This is where I circle back to what you said about Zuko being a replacement for Lu Ten. We don't know, but I think it's possible that Iroh may be the way he is with Zuko because of feeling like he pushed FN values too hard onto Lu Ten, culminating in his violent death.

Maybe the things Iroh excelled at didn't come as easy to Lu Ten? Maybe Iroh did feel like he had to enforce a certain standard onto Lu Ten, different from the one he would have chosen, had he been given a choice?

I talked before about this theory, the theory that Iroh got Azula that doll because it's what he would give to a girl, because it's something he valued and would have given to his own son if that had been considered acceptable. That a lot of his regrets with regard to Lu Ten was that he ignored his own natural inclinations in order to push Lu Ten to fit the standard he knew the FN would enforce on him, and that's why he encourages the opposite with Zuko.

As a side note, since you mentioned Toph, could you imagine Toph, even considering how much she quarrels with her parents, who do force a certain gendered standard on her, still, can you imagine Toph destroying a gift her parents got her? Toph is firm with her parents about how she feels, and leaves when they don't let her express herself, but she's never cruel to them in the way that Azula is cruel to Iroh, and Toph's parents have actually hurt her in the way that Azula apologists imagine Iroh has hurt her.

[justthoughts1310]

OG ATLA is a diverse show, Netflix ATLA isn't.

In a world where so many people are fixated on skin color and skin tone, it's crazy to me that I haven't seen anyone say anything about this yet. However, I believe most people are thinking it, so I'm going to say it.

ATLA is a show of characters with diverse skin tones. Sokka and Katara are brown-skinned characters.

Whereas, Aang has white skin and Zuko and Azula have very fair almost porcelain like skin. Their skin was supposed to be without blemish, and Zuko even pointed this out in one episode.

When you look at the live-action cast of ATLA, they are all white-washed. They all have very similar skin tones with the exception of Sokka's actor who is very fair-skinned.

Now, I know what you're thinking. OP how could they all be white washed? They are all indigenous or of Asian decent. None of the main characters are white.

Well, you are correct. However, I am going to introduce you to the concept or colorism. It allows for POC characters to still be white washed, under the notion that the European beauty standard is the idea beauty standard. Translation: the lighter (whiter) the skin, the more beautiful the person.

Which is what we see here with the lightning of Sokka and Katara's skin. Now, you might say, that they were appropriately cast as indigenous. Yes, they may have been. However, idenginuous people come in wide range of skin tones. There's light-skin indigenous, brown skin indigenous, dark skin indigenous and everything in between.

Therefore, we cannot pretend that this was the only canonically correct depiction of Sokka and Katara. We certainly cannot pretend that these actors were the best fit for the job, since they both walked their parts and completely missed the motivations and central themes of their characters.

As a kid, I know that it made me as a black woman and a lot of my friends who were brown women (Indian, Asian, North African, and Latino alike) feel seen when they saw Katara. They were able to see themselves in Katara, because Katara looks like them. I felt more seen when I saw Korra, because Korra was darker and starting to approach my skin tone.

That alone should be enough to want to cast the characters correctly. I mean we so often hear people complain about the blackification of once white characters. The most recent example being Halle Balley playing the Little Mermaid. However, it has always been FAR more common, that individuals and roles of color have been played by and adapted by white actors who do not bat an eye.

Yet, that's not enough, because Katara and Sokka's skin tone meant something. It means something and so does Zuko and Azula's skin tones.

For starters, Zuko and Katara have brown skill despite living in a cold climate, in order to protect their skin from the harmful rays or the sun. Wow.... I know shocking right? 😲

Some of you are shaking your head and thinking that doesn't make sense. It's cold in the arctic, why do they need protection from the sun? It's because the sun's rays reflect off of the white snow. Without a sufficient amount of melanin, the sun's rays could burn the skin of the indigenous people who live there. However, with too much melanin, the indigenous people who live there may not absorb enough Vitamin D. Hence, the brown skin.

Secondly (this point is more race-y), Katara and Sokka at this point when the Southen Water Tribe has been demolished by the Fire Nation, are effectively peasants. They are especially peasants when compared to both the Northern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation.

Peasants work outside. Therefore, peasants tend to have darker skin amongst the people in their given region. They have darker skin because they are exposed to the sun more.

Royalty has lighter skin, because they stay inside palaces, they don't do manual labor, and they have servants, so their skin is always protected from the sun. Has anyone ever notice how pale Toph is and the fact that she's the only character in ATLA who has a last name? That's by design people.

The sibling pairing of Sokka and Katara and Zuko and Azula are diametrically opposed in the original show. They are the ultimate dichotomy.

Sokka and Katara:

- wear blue

- are Water Tribe

- are brown skinned

- are peasants

- grew up in tents and igloos

- are kind to each other

Zuko and Azula:

- wear red

- are Fire Nation

- are fair skinned

- are royalty

- grew up in palaces and slept in Alaskan King sized beds

- hate each other.

The sibling pairs are opposed by more than just their nations of origins and the colors of the clothes. They are also opposed by their skin tones in order to reflect their lot in life.

Someone once said that Katara would never marry Zuko because she's too dark. Her skin is not the skin of royalty, and that person was probably right.

However, Sokka and Katara's skin is powerful, because if you read the Kiyoshi novels you'll learn that there's a great lineage in regard to who gets to train the avatar. It's my belief that if Aang met all of his friends before the 100 year war, Azula and Toph would have been the only people deemed worthy to train Aang. The most powerful people in the world are usually associated with the avatar, yet in the OG show, the most disenfranchised people in the world: Sokka and Katara made Aang into a fully realized avatar.

[wilcze-kudly]

Beifong babies appreciation post

This is gonna be a more self indulgent post. But if you spend any time on my blog, you know how much I adore the Beifong family, particularly Suyin and her children. And you know what I don't see enough appreciation for Suyin's babies, which makes sense, since they're side characters, but here's a lil ramble about them and some reasons why I love them.

Baatar Jr

Actually, I think Baatar is actually a very underutilised character for being Kuvira's supposed right hand man, as well as her fiancé.

He's technically the brains behind Kuvira's collosus, and probably much more.

As damaging as living in his father's shadow was for him, I do find it extremely adorable how he engineered all Baatar Sr's projects, it's really cute!

His loyalty to Kuvira and his love for her is admirable. It's honestly adorable, how much she means to him.

Btw mans stared into Korra's eyes while she threatened him im the Avatar state and laughed. Say what you want about him but he has balls.

The angst surrounding his involvement with Kuvira is absolutely delicious.

Like imagine turning your back on everyone you know and love for one person, only for then to turn on you and try to kill you with upur own creation?

And then everything you've worked for for 3 years is null and void? Gnarly

Also him being under house arrest with the family he betrayed? You could argue he got off really easy, which he did... but goodness gracious the angst.

Huan

I'm like 75% sure that he's a reference to The Dark One, one of Toph's metalbending students, which is actually really fun I love you emo metalbenders.

I always found non combative benders very interesting, especially when they use their bending for things like art, it's very cool.

While I think a Huan's character is made to mock "tortured abstract artists" a bit, he actually isn't terribly caricaturised?

Like... he has a pretty clear ideology and moral compass, and he sticks to his guns, even when threatened. He clearly values personal freedom and freedom of expression, and is willing to stand up for it.

I also love headcanoning that he had a close relationship with Aiwei. Since some of Huan's ideals match up more or less with Red Lotus ideology, which makes me wonder if Aiwei did subtly indoctrinate Suyin's children.

Huan and Ikki's friendship is really cute too lol.

His design is also really cool ngl

Opal

MY BABY AHHH 🧡 honestly my fave female tlok character.

Free her from the heterosexual love interest dimension she deserves so much better lol.

Like, I really dislike Bopal as a ship, and part of it is because of how much of a disservice it does to both characters. But most anti Bopal takes I see are also horrifically anti Opal.

Honestly, Opal just gets a surprisingly large amount of hate in genral? Like why? People call her annoying and a brat/ a knockoff Korra and she's barely done anything lmao

Opal's is very interesting, her journey to independence, her unseen development between B3 and B4, her firece loyalty to her family despite her separation from them

A lot of people criticise her attitude towards Kuvira, but honestly, she was quite rational in her anger? I also think she should have been allowed to hold a grudge against Bolin for longer, like yes he redeemed himswlf somewhat when rescuing her family, but it does feel really shallow and a fast way of tying up a pretty complex storyline.

Her arc reminds me very much of Toph's in atla, which is bittersweet since we see how that ended for Toph.

I love her lil pouty face ahh.

Wei and Wing

Genuinely. Might be my fave underdeveloped side characters.

Avatar has a habit of making very interesting twin duos and these two are no exception.

I really like their strong bond with their mother, they really are the most mamma's boys to ever mamma's boy.

Similarly to Opal, the twins' firece loyalty to their family and city is really sweet, but also there's a lot of potential for angst here. Like, Opal gets to see the world and adventure, but the twins are probably stuck in Zaofu forever.

The twins also are the only ones of their siblings upholding that "Beifong metalbender" archetype that Toph started. I think there is a bit of pressure on them, ad they are the "golden boys" of the family

I'm also a sucker for when benders work together/combine their skills so seeing the twins work together is really sweet.

Also. Gay™️. [Insert longass ramble about weilin lol]

I actually find the small differences in personality between them that we are shown. Where Wei is a bit more snooty and competitive, Wing is very playful and outward with himself. I like picking their differences apart.

Okk.. that's it my ramble for today us over 😭 I love the Beifong babies so much and wish there was more appreciation of them lol

[linnoya-writes]

Aang actually *was* a Terrible Dad (and we should stop making excuses for him).

One thing I cannot get over is how people say that Aang actually wasn't that terrible of a father, and I keep hearing the same excuses to his behavior: he didn't grow up with conventional parents, he had to focus on bringing back his air-bending culture, Katara was already a natural parent and was totally okay being the housewife/mom who let Aang off the hook with most of the serious parenting duties... ugh....

Anyway, I have three points to give:

1) Aang may not have grown up with conventional family structure, but he certainly knew enough about the world (being a nomad his whole life pre-war) to understand what a healthy family dynamic looked like. He knew enough about Toph's dad and Zuko's dad to understand what a poor father figure looked like. Aang also spent time with Hakoda, in ATLA season 3, to see the characteristics of a good father -- and this doesn't even include the time he spent traveling with Sokka/Katara alone and noticing how their dad's absence was affecting them. I put a lot of emphasis on Katara, here, because she makes it very clear in Season 3 that her father leaving the family was devastating... and this girl would want a partner who understood those feelings and do absolutely everything to keep the family together. It's what she did throughout the entirety of ATLA-- Katara was the glue that kept everyone close -- and you would think Aang would pick up on those cues, rather than let history repeat itself after he had his family with Katara. Imagine how awful it must've been for Katara, watching the man she married ultimately go off with their air-bending son on these cultural excursions, and not even consider that their two other kids might want to learn about air bending culture anyway. They're a bi-cultural family, after all, right? Wouldn't that have been a prime example for the new world, showing a blended family being together and not separate? Just let that sink in for a moment.

2) Many people say that any misunderstood family dynamics between Kya, Bumi and Tenzin came to a peaceful conclusion in LOK season 2 with a happy family portrait. Here's the thing-- a posed, smiling family portrait doesn't necessarily indicate a healthy family unit. I'm also making note of LOK Season 3, when Bumi admits that he finally feels more connected to their father after he magically gets Airbending, and also that scene when Kya/Bumi arrive to the Northern Air Temple and the acolytes are shocked to hear that Avatar Aang had other children besides Tenzin. I mean... how much effort would it take, exactly, for Aang to just mention to the temple monks and acolytes that he had two other kids? Was he embarrassed to tell them they weren't air benders? Was he ashamed? In any case, he was the Avatar and he should've demonstrated pride for the children he had regardless of their bending ability or lack their-of. It goes without saying that, while Aang did grow up differently and had many priorities being the Avatar and the Last Airbender... he still made some conscious choices about how little of a "family man" he wanted to be. Aang clearly favored the air-bending life and didn't process that he was also raising a family that was part WaterTribe (perhaps because many of their customs clashed with his air-bending way of life... but that's another conversation.)

3) Yes, Bryke are notorious for writing examples of poor father figures (Ozai/Unalaq/BeiFong/Yakone/Hiroshi) and I'm also here to tell you that they're known for writing women who lose agency and turn devoted-doting-domestic-docile once they get with their man. Pema from LOK is a good example-- all we know about her is she literally gave her life to be an air-acolyte and carry Tenzin's children (the only backstory we get is Pema secretly pined for Tenzin until it became too much and she had to say something), and be the good housewife and mother to those air bending kids. We know nothing about this woman's individual wants or needs outside of motherhood. Another example is the backstory of Yakone and his unnamed wife who-- after giving this man two sons, completely disappears from the narrative and is not aware Yakone is abusing his kids. And she's still exists, because Amon refuses to go with Noatak so as to not abandon their mom. Their mother was so unnecessary as a character after she had the kids, she became this oblivious/silent character in the background who let her own kids get abused. Another example is Unalaq's wife-- again, about a father using his two kids like his henchmen and the mother isn't even in the picture. We know she exists because after Unalaq gets destroyed... Esna turns to Desca and says "what're we gonna tell Mother?"  It may have been written as a subtle joke... but the underlying sentiment is still there.

I'd say my favorite example is the fate of Fire Lady Ursa-- a woman once determined to protect her children that she was willing to commit murder and treason -- ends up choosing to forget those same children and instead wipes all her memories of them entirely to start a quiet domestic life with her childhood sweetheart, a man who very much knows the life Ursa left behind and has the power to decide what truths he wants to tell her about the world and live like there wasn't even a bloody war happening. (Don't even get me started on how The Search disappointed me. Oy).

Perhaps Aang and Katara -- even without intent -- might have fallen into that formulaic pattern when Bryke wrote out the first two seasons of LOK, because that was during the time The Promise, The Search and The Rift comics got published, and Katara's character was definitely becoming that unquestionably-loyal/no fuss/devoted girlfriend to Aang where she would go with everything he decided and sadly sit in a corner while Aang got all the praise and attention and never considering her feelings. Bryke picked up on these mistakes, however, because in the later comics like North & South and Imbalance, you can see them giving Katara some leadership moments (particularly when Aang isn't around) and Aang more of a mature, considerate approach with Katara, saying things like "I'm sorry I just left you to fight alone like that!" and "You're always asking me if I'm okay. Now it's my turn-- are you okay?"  The effort was definitely there to make Aang and Katara look somewhat more compatible than they let on. But things didn't really seem that promising in Legend of Korra... as Katara's character arc gets breadcrumbs of acknowledgement regarding what she did for the world outside of Aang's narrative.

It seems like Katara's badass individual characteristics were written second only to whatever she needed to be for Aang, including being the primary parent to his non-airbender kids while he focused on the air-bending culture.

In any case-- I'm almost certain Bryke will be bending over backwards to "fix" all of these flawed elements of Kataang and Aang as a father figure in the upcoming animated feature films, because if there's anything Bryke likes to do... it is "tell" us that Aang was a great guy and there absolutely was no other better person for Katara.

[le-panda-chocovore]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

For fandom : Haikyuu, BNHA, ATLA, and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Thanks 🌻

Sorry I took time but lists and ranking are difficult to me lol, and I had 4 different asks about making a TOP 5 so I kinda lost myself into it 😅

Oh my god there's so many fandoms, you're really trying to kill me damn-

Okay okay Imma try not to write to much (<- will probably fail)

HAIKYUU

Favorite Character: (I absolutely HATE that question, why do I have to choose ?!?) I'd say Bokuto Koutarou but I also have 5 others in mind lol

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: The Tokyo Stage during S2 is my fave because my favorite characters get many screentime together, we see so many different people interact, and it's so fun to enjoy matches without the stress of the competition. I get to support anyone and not feel guilty about it !! Also there's Tsukki's character development, and there's my favorite scene in the anime (the Oya Oya Oya), and they all learn and work on new techniques and it's so cool !! (<- already rambling too much)

Character I Think is Underrated: Maybe Gosshiki ? He's such a baby I love him. I believe Tendou is very much loved so not underrated. Tanaka too. I know people love him but I think he deserves so much more. That man participated in EVERY MATCH, he NEVER got replaced and he doesn't have an ultra special attack and he's not the ace but he's sooooo reliable and cool. He's a caring sempai and a good player and an amazing friend and the only straight ally in a gay world lmaooo We don't appreciate him enough.

Character I Think is Overrated: When I'm not rewatching Haikyuu I think that Hinata and Atsumu are kinda overrated because yeah they're cool but they're not the bests and their characters (I know they're different) aren't the ones I love the most and also I think they're selfish. Then when I rewatches the episode for fun I4m so invested in everything and I just cannot not love them. So, no one is overrated actually.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: HAHA I won't answer that- Alright I will but keep it short. Let's say any popular ship that involves Tsukki, Kuroo, Bokuto, Akaashi and Kenma. Yes even the polyships. Yes. Any popular ship.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: Everything. (<- only short answer I4m able to give)

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA

Oh it's been a while since I've been in that fandom. I lost my hyperfixation 3 years ago and I don't even read the scans anymore. Let's do it anyway, maybe it'd wake some sparkle in me and I'd be able to finish my fanfictions !

Favorite Character: I used to say Present Mic or Bakugo and I'm not sure now. I think Aizawa-sensei is someone safe to say, he'd never not be in my Top 3.

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: It's been so long, I don't really know

Character I Think is Underrated: Hatsune Mei. I love her and I rarely see people talking about her (or maybe I'm not on the good side of the fandom). And Mina (I know she's loved but not enough)

Character I Think is Overrated: All Might, I don't really like him. Mineta of course, he deserves Hell.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: EraserMic. I didn't write 3 fanfics about those dumbass gay teachers to not put them here.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: The theme is good : how should we build a society where almost everyone has a superpower ? How do you regulate that ? How do you classify people as heroes, vigilantes and villains ? How do childhood trauma and socioeconomic differences, and traditional cultures play on the development of the superpower and the life of a person ?

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER

This one is easier because I've already did a fan card about it!

Favorite Character: Zuko. Also Toph.

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: The Boiling Rock episodes.

Character I Think is Underrated: I don't think there's one ? I just think Avatar Kyoshi is a bit misinterpreted because the fans love exaggerating, but nothing actually bad.

Character I Think is Overrated: Jet maybe. I just feel nothing about him outside the context of him

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Zukka Nation

Something I Love About the Show/Movie : It's just perfect ? Perfect representation of everything ? It shows so many delicate subjects (people -kids- involved in war, sexism, racism, denial, terrorism, propaganda, redemption, trauma) and it's just GOOD. Zuko returns to his abusive family and makes more mistakes. Sokka looks down on women despite living years of his life surrounded by them. Katara steals something because her ego is hurt. Aang hides something to his friends because he has abandonment issues. Toph is.... Toph. And it's so well written and perfect and good.

JUJUTSU KAISEN

I've done this one too but it's still hard to me lmaooo

Favorite Character: Geto Suguru and Gojo Satoru and Choso and Itadori Yuuji and-

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: Hidden Inventory Arc. The story should have stopped here. We don't need anything more come on it's fine. Everyone's happy and it's fine (episodes 4 and 5 don't exist)

Character I Think is Underrated: Ino Takuma. Protect him.

Character I Think is Overrated: That fucking Naoya Bitch. I learned his in the TOP 20 popularity poll ??? HOW THE FUCK ??????? I literally cannot see his face, it gives me nausea. I hate him so sincerely, I don't even want to think about him.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: You know, I know, we know. The strongest. The one and only. The curse me a little at the end. They're known by many names. Satosugu, Gego, Sugusato, Goge, SaltSugar, whatever you want.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: It's literally a story about love. It is not a romance anime, but it is about love. The theme comes back so often. Suguru loved his friends and it doomed him. Satoru loved Suguru and became a teacher. Yuuta loved Rika and cursed her. Geto's family loved him. It's all about love and no one could convince me otherwise.

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

So I was looking up ATLA fics where Yue lives and I went through all of the potential Yue ships on there, and man am I boring.

I only really ship her with Zuko (contrasts and parallels), Sokka (canon as the right person in the wrong lifetime), Suki (seeming total opposites with the same tastes, meaning they likely have more in common than one might think), or her just being poly with some combination of these three or all three of them.

Though I am bewildered that there doesn't seem to be a dedicated Sokka/Suki/Yue tag at the very least, even though I've read multiple fics with that ship. It seems like the authors are instead just tagging Sokka/Suki, Sokka/Yue, and Suki/Yue, but they're a trio in the fic?

IDK there's a dedicated tag for Sokka/Yue/Zuko, so I don't know why there's no Sokka/Suki/Yue tag.

She almost got married off to a guy she wasn't interested in, and he wasn't interested in her, at least not in an actual loving relationship kind of way. Let the girl live, with her two husbands and wife, who're goofy well meaning badasses.

The rest of this gets kind of long and is just me rambling about the Yue ships I don't like.

I don't ship Yue and Katara, because I do just see Katara as straight, I just can't see her with any girls. I only really even ship Katara with Aang, and like Jet as bitter exes who only tolerate each other enough to not want the other dead or seriously harmed. I didn't even really ever get into Katara being with Haru the way I know some people did. I don't ship Yue with Azula because Azula doesn't need a relationship she needs therapy. My only Azula ship is Azula/Healing. Her being in a romantic relationship as she is in canon is going to end with pain for everyone involved.

I don't ship her with Jet, because Jet's an ass and Yue deserves better after growing up in the misogynist hellscape that was the pre-Katara North Pole. Even if we're talking about redeemed Jet, he's still an ass, that's just his personality. He'd also need some serious therapy before I'd ever want to picture him dating.

I don't ship Yue with any of the adult characters, because we only ever know her as a recently turned 16 year old, before she dies and becomes a spirit. So trying to picture her with any of the adult characters instantly makes me feel like that one doofenshmirtz meme where he blasts away the guy on a motorcycle with an inator because he flirts with Vanessa.

I don't ship Yue with Aang or Toph. The age gap is a touch too big in the show which is where I primarily see them depicted as I never got into LoK, and only Toph even appears in that.

I personally head canon that Toph isn't into commitment, at least not like the marriage kind. She definitely has a few different lovers over the course of her lifetime, but she's married to her job and of course earthbending.

Toph enjoys the company of companions, but she enjoys her own company just as much, if not more a pretty good chunk of the time. I see her as maybe aromantic, or at least somewhere on the spectrum.

While Aang's been interested in Katara since he came out of the ice berg. And within a few weeks I feel like he was at least subconsciously more or less set on someday becoming Airbending Master Aang, Husband of Waterbending Master and Master Healer Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, who just happens to also be the Avatar.

From here on is basically my rambling about a Warless AU and my thoughts on that:

If the war actually failed during the original attack on the air temples, and Sozin got dethroned by his sister or one of her still living supporters... So the 100 year war and Air Nomad genocide never happened, but because Aang runs away before the attacks, he still gets frozen and then reawakens in in Katara's time.

Anyways, I'm almost certain Aang would have made his eventual goal in that timeline be becoming Katara's house husband. Or at least as close as someone literally nomadic like Aang is could manage.

Also, I know people ship Aang with other people, like Toph, or Azula, or Zuko, but I'm sorry I just don't see it. Katara is the love of Aang's lifetime. I mean they got married, which I'm pretty sure is something that wasn't even part of Air Nomad culture back before the decimation.

The only married Air Nomads I know of from canon are Aang, his son Tenzin, and Avatar Kyoshi's mom, who left the Air Nomads to get married. So I'm totally convinced Aang just altered Air Nomad culture so he could be Katara's husband.

I'm honestly convinced that if the Air Nomads survived and he didn't have the duty of restoring Air Nomad culture, Aang would have left the order the way Kyoshi's mom did to be able to marry Katara.

[gemgirl28]

ATLA prompt, post-canon: Lu Ten lives, Iroh and the Gaang only find out when he walks into the Jasmine Dragon.

Hello dear!! 💜Thank you for the prompt!!

OoooO I've seen a few headcanons about this before, let's see if I can do them justice.

Toph and her brilliant "vision" sensed him first.

"There's someone at the door," she said. "He's been standing there long enough to have read the sign saying the shop is closed."

"Maybe he can't read," Aang suggested. Sokka nodded in agreement.

"I'll go tell him," Katara said, rising from her spot and setting aside her teacup.

"I'll go with you," Zuko quickly said. At Sokka's raised brow, he tacked on "You know, in case the guy is dangerous."

"You know I can take care of myself," Katara said with a teasing smile.

"Yeah and we all know you just want to be alone with Katara because you - mmmfff!" Zuko clapped his hand over Toph's mouth and whispered something in her ear. When she nodded, Zuko pulled his hand away and followed Katara out of the private room where they were celebrating the end of the war, leaving behind a silent but smirking Toph.

"I wonder why this guy is hanging around," Katara mused, heading downstairs to the main portion of the Jasmine Dragon.

"Probably someone who got turned around and is lost. Look, Katara..." Zuko trailed off, trying to find the right words for what he wanted to say.

She hummed in acknowledgment as she reached the front door, unlocking it and pushing it open.

"I'm sorry but the Jasmine Dragon is closed today, but you can come back tomorrow for some of Iroh's amazing tea!" Katara said to the loitering man, who Zuko saw had his hood up, casting his face in a shadow.

"If it's alright, I'd like to speak with Iroh." He pulled down his hood, and Zuko gasped.

"Cousin?"

The man's attention snapped to him. "Zuko?"

Katara's hands flew to her mouth. "Are you...?"

"Forgive me," he said, bringing his fists together and slowly bowing. "I am Lu Ten, son of Iroh."

"They said you were dead," Zuko said. Katara's eyes flickered between them for a tense moment.

"I'll go get Iroh," she whispered, though they heard her clearly. She turned and sprinted back into the shop.

"I would prefer to tell my story only once, cousin, but it was no longer safe for me to be alive," Lu Ten said.

Zuko swallowed thickly, counting the moments till Iroh returned. "So you... faked your own death?"

"With a little assistance, yes. And I've been hiding since."

"Who helped you?" Zuko asked. Lu Ten grinned.

"When you return to the Fire Nation, she'll be waiting for you." Lu Ten stepped forward and clapped Zuko on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll be very excited to see your mother again."

Zuko's jaw dropped open. Try as he might, he couldn't form words, but any sound would have been lost to the sob that came from the rear of the shop.

"Son?! My son!"

"Hello, Father."

Send me a prompt and a pairing!

[ultfreakme]

Howdy! I have a random question I'm asking folks for funnsies.

What are five characters or groups/organizations in Avatar the Last Airbender that you wish had gotten more screentime than they did in the show? Just out of curiosity.

Hey! Hope you're doing good. Hmmm tough question because I'm like mixing up LOK and ATLA. I feel like ATLA is pretty well-balanced and gives enough of the characters to the point where I'm like, not yearning for more from ATLA for any character or organisation(and the very few I did got tied up in TLOK ;_;) But if I had to pick;

The Freedom Fighters- Would have loved an episode dedicated to them as a group and not just Jet. Something that works like a regular Gaang episode where we see the FF's being silly and badass.

Southern Water Tribe- I think us knowing so little about their culture could be intentional to show the effects of colonization but that's being way too generous. Would have loved to see their culture, their beliefs and how they function. They split off from NWT years ago but ATLA made them seem like they're functionally the same when I highly doubt that's the case.

Iroh's wife and Lu Ten- Iroh's wife is non-existent and no effort has been put in to show who she is, what she did, NOTHING. We know of Lu Ten as Iroh's son. That's it. I think Lu Ten was looked at by Zuko through rose-tinted glasses and he might have been like Iroh wrt the war, but he could've also been like the rest of the family before him(colonialist).

There's a ton of added lore from the roleplaying ATLA game that's so intriguing. One that ended up stuck to my brain were Massak and Nyn Chie- boatswain and engineers from the SWT and FN respectively, they were women and lovers and invented the FN cruisers together to help with trade and travel but Sozin made Nyn Chie use it for the war. THE DRAMA. The symbolic significance of that story. THE LESBIAN DIVORCE. Obsessed really.

The rest of Gaang from Western Air Temple, i.e., Teo, Haru, The Duke. We know they were there but they did very little. I wish we got to see more of them interacting. Like Haru hanging out with Sokka, Zuko and Suki. Teo with Aang & Katara, Toph and The Duke, or any mix-up of the groups but I'm just grouping rn based on age. Real missed opportunity.

Thanks so much for the ask!

(also I'm an LOK hoe first and foremost sorry-not-sorry so quick and dirty; Red Lotus, TLOK-Fire Nation and therefore Izumi, still more of SWT, the colonies, Mako & Bolin)

[capriciouswrites]

Good day. I just read watch the ripples change their size and wanted to know if there's a continuation to it? How do they talk about their bond? How/do they end up together? What happens next? I am so enamored by this idea of soulmates. So unique. And I love how you wrote it.

OKAY SO

wait, hold on, here's the link for anyone who wants to read/refresh before dealing with my rambling: watch the ripples change their size

Then the rest under a cut b/c fic spoilers.

Okay so! There is not a continuation to it -- originally it was going to be the start of a much longer work, but tbh I am not so great at the long works and it felt 'complete enough' to be a stand alone for fictober. I don't have any intention of writing more in this verse at the moment, but lord knows I've been bit by inspiration at weirder times -- and I was thinking about doing another month of daily fics this month...(Can't be October tho because I'm traveling).

But that's not what you're asking about, so!

Wait, shit, okay first thank you so much for the ask! I really appreciate it and super appreciate the compliments. I love soulmate aus and I love coming up with weird ones and ATLA had just so many soulmate possibilities that I went a little nuts.

Now, to answer your actual questions: at first they don't -- as of the timeline of the fic they haven't actually spoken about it. They both know, and they both know the other knows -- but I think for each of them there's a small belief that maybe, maybe, maybe it's a different water/fire bender. (Neither of them actually thinks this, but they're both young and have doubts). So they don't actually talk about it, they just make sure the other one knows how to handle if someone tries to use the other's powers against them.

And then they go to face Azula, because that's still the path they're on. Only -- and gosh I have like three different ways the Azula fight could go and you know what, here are some options:

Azula sends lightning at Katara, but Zuko doesn't lunge between them -- and Katara redirects it at Azula with one hand and directs a shit ton of water with the other -- and Azula is still twitching from electric shock long enough to get her chained down.

Zuko recognizes that Azula is going to send lighting at Katara and blood bends her so she can't, and then they chain her down.

Azula sends lighting at Katara -- and it doesn't hurt her. Which shocks Azula long enough for Zuko to win the battle and get her chained down.

Some combination of those three options.

Anyways, they win without anyone needing a ton of healing (which kind of makes me sad tbh I love the sacrificial scar, but needs must), and then not thinking about it Zuko takes Katara's hand and they stand there victorious and it's a moment, okay. They have a moment.

They still haven't talked about it tho, because of course they haven't.

But then Aang comes back, and is all "we can be together!" and Katara is just like "oh but I have a soulmate? and it's not you? it's a firebender?" and that's the first time she's actually said it and, well, Aang loves her and wants her to be happy, and so the fact that she says that and then has a panic attack about the fact that she said it means he's more concerned with making sure she's okay then being hurt. And then they talk it out and he's just like "yeah of course it's Zuko" and she's all "it might be!" and he's just like 'bitch please' (except not really b/c it's Aang and that's definitely more Toph).

And then Katara is all 'doubt' and "well he's going to be the firelord so he can't marry me anyways" and that's just her insecurity talking, but Aang thinks maybe Zuko has said something -- so he rushes off to tell Zuko not to be an idiot and he has to accept his soulmate and he's telling Zuko this in front of a bunch of his new advisors who are all heart eyes and THE NEW FIRELORD HAS A SOULMATE THIS IS V. AUSPICIOUS YES THE BEST NEWS EXCELLENT AND SHE'S A BENDER PERFECT and the pr people and ambassadors are crying in gratitude b/c honestly this is like perfect press and is going to make stepping back their, oh you know, crazy conquesting thing a little more reasonable.

And so they get married without having actually talked about it, but it's fine b/c they actually do really like each other, and then they get to have a sups awkward talk that's all "check yes if you like me" and "if I said I liked you would you say you liked me I'm just kidding unless..." on their wedding night and it's v. sweet.

And once they really accept each other into their hearts they do get full access to each other's powers plus some, and holy shit are they stupid powerful.

The end.

Thanks for the ask!

[whomst-the-hell]

i was thinking about it and i realised that i had sort of subconsciously been under the impression that atla was one of those star wars situations that tells you anyone can be magic but in actuality every major plotpoint just ties back to one single family every time (some of you may be saying “but rey wasnt a skywalker!” to which i respond “who was the primary antagonist then wiseguy” but this post isnt actually about star wars so fuck me ig) anyway what im getting at is, other than zuko, whose major theme is his relationship with his family and therefore with his nation as a whole (and also he was actual royalty so it was inevitable tbh), every single other main character’s parents were not explicitly benders, or were nonbenders. aangs parents arent ever even shown! i mean for a show where its canon that magic is genetic, they do a waaaayyyyyy better job at delivering the “anyone can be a hero” storyline than media that actually textually tells that story lmao

not only is the show about children, its also about lots of marginalised groups. all the characters are POC, toph is blind, katara is a girl (toph is obviously also a girl but her character doesnt really explore misogyny like katara ykwim?), sokka is just some guy even in the context of the magic system, even aang — the literal chosen one!!!! — is just a random kid who also happens to be the reincarnation of the most powerful spirit in the galaxy or whatever (thats a recurring theme of the show actually), and zuko ,who is the most nepo baby protagonist, isnt actually the prodigy of his family and is instead frequently upstaged by his little sister lol

like it would have been so easy to do a “and guess what the reason toph is such a great bender is because she’s secretly king bumi’s great niece!!!!!!” reveal, which is such a classic plot twist that tbh its barely a twist these days, but instead toph was a badass specifically because of the unique perspective she gained by being disabled and the way that allowed her to connect with the world around her ie the badgermoles — thats a way stronger story! the only relationship reveal we get (other than i guess aang learning he’s the avatar which kind of maybe counts??) is zuko learning he’s related to roku which. i mean he was already a nepo baby so it doesnt detract from his agency really and in fact reinforces his recurring “there are two wolves” conflict, which up to that point was mostly shown through azula and iroh (think his ba sing se fever dream wherein there were two dragons inside him voiced by azula and iroh respectively one advocating good the other evil, foreshadowing the final conflict of the season where he must choose between azula and iroh and he backslides in his moral arc by choosing azula which is a really cool narrative choice that tbh now that im thinking about it i probably should have made this tangent its own post but we’re here now ig)

also i was thinking about how bending is genetic but also skips generations (neither kya nor hakoda is a bender, and we dont know of any grandparent other than gran gran, who is a nonbender, and i think its a dominant gene bc ursa wasnt a bender to my knowledge but zuko and azula are, so probably neither kya nor hakoda had bender parents, but obviously katara is a bender, but sokka isnt, plus there were identical twins in the volcano episode where only one was a bender which does confuse me scientifically but i dropped science so whatever) and bending is shown as common enough that probably everyone has atleast one ancestor who is a bender so tbh it sort of circles back to being random lol

this post is really just me thinking out loud (well not. out loud. bc its written. you get it) so it might not be coherent but idk its another way that atla is very clever and has effective storytelling and creates themes subtextually etc etc ok thanks

[fernshawart]

How to write a cane user character

(Written by a cane user)

A few months ago, I wrote a small guide on good disabled characters and why they were good that gathered quite the attention, and I thought that doing another more specific guide this time would be interesting for writers or just people that are curious ! This guide will include general informations, some things to do, some things to avoid and some ideas that might revolve cane users's lives.

Things to know about cane users

Cane users are pretty diverse, and putting us in little boxes usually isn't the best idea if you want to make a character that has substance and isn't just "the disabled one". Here some infos about cane users that might be helpful knowledge !

Canes don't have ages. Most cane users in media are portrayed to be old, but truly, anyone can have the need to wield a cane ! I've been using mine ever since I was 17.

Can users can have a large variety of problems for their canes. Some canes are used to avoid pain from effort. Some canes are used for balance purposes. Some canes are to make walking less exhausting (works the same as walking sticks !) And sometimes, it's multiple problems at once.

Not everyone needs their cane 24/7. Some always need it, some can make small efforts without it but overall often need it, and some people, like me, can spend quite a lot of time without it. I almost never use my cane in my house, and mostly take it outside !

People with canes can run. We're not necessarily slow, I'm even faster than a lot of my friends.

Not using a cane can come with consequences, but not always. Some people might be able to walk without a cane but then suffer horrible consequences, but for others, canes are just a commodity for specific occasions.

Canes don't have to be looked down upon. Look at some characters with canes that look cool as hell ! Arsène Lupin, Roguefort Cookie, Brook ... Their canes serve their style !

We can be pretty healthy. Some people can have canes just because they were born with a bent leg and that's it. Our cane doesn't define our health status.

Canes aren't a curse. Think of them as something positive. It's a tool to make our lives better. You don't see someone sitting on a chair and think "awh, it's sad that they need a chair". It's more something like "hey it's cool that this chair is here so they can sit down"

Things to do

Make them use their cane. And when I mean use, I mean that canes are just funky long sticks usually made out of metal. Have fun with it ! Let them use it as a weapon ! Trust me, one hit in the knees with a cane and you're DOWN. Use it to reach stuff that's too high for everyone ! Have fun. Be creative.

Let them decorate their cane. It's an extension of their body ! You usually put on clothes that you like, don't you ? It's the same for a cane. If they like cutesy stuff, let them paint in it pastel colors ! If they like a more flashy style, add some stickers on it ! If they're a fancy person, give them a beautiful crafted cane with jewels on it !

You can make them a little shy or uneasy about their cane. Some people don't feel worthy of confident enough to wield one. It's not rare to see people think they're "not disabled enough to do so"

But on the other hand, you can do the complete opposite !! Make them proud of that cane ! Make them act like they're feeling pretty and more confident with it ! One thing i like to think about with my own cane is that I look like a cool gentleman. That boosted my confidence immensely.

Things to avoid

Don't make it their whole world. And by that, I do not mean that their cane shouldn't be a defining trait of their personality. Think of Toph from ATLA. She is blind, and you usually can't think of her character without describing her as blind. However, that isn't her entire personality trait. Make cane users have a goal in life, friends who enjoy them for who they are and not just pity them, have fun ... Don't just make them the disabled one.

Don't try to make the character's life just a plain disaster unless it's the focus of your story and you really know what you're talking about. Having a character who's always in pain, who feels bad about relying on their cane and/or who's angry at the entire world for being disabled is a REALLY tricky subject to use if you don't want them to be either a mass of unhappiness and angst for no good reason or some inspirational porn of the character who inside is deeply tortured but outside keeps up a facade because they shouldn't cry to avoid making others uneasy.

Do not, and I repeat, do NOT try to heal them, especially in a magical way. Bad idea. A lot of disabled people's goal isn't to be healed. It's to live a normal life. Making it so the ultimate goal for them is to be healed makes it as if they were worthless as long as they were disabled. Making their situation better physically or mentally is one thing. Curing them completely is really bad. "But some disabled folks want to be cured !" True, true. But if you are able bodied, I'm not sure if you can have the right mind to understand all of the complex details about this situation that leads to someone's life choices and the end result may look like you think the only thing that can make disabled people happy is being freed from their condition. I think it's best to just avoid it altogether. If you need a more nuanced idea, try to give them a solution that still has a few downs ! For exemple, a prosthetic that feels like a real arm, acts like a real arm and basically replaces it perfectly is a full cure. But a prosthetic that takes time to adjust to, needs repairs sometimes and doesn't look 100% like an arm can be a better narrative choice

Smaller thing, but don't make the handle uneasy to wield if you draw the character design. You can decorate most of the cane, but if you have chunky spiky decorations on the place you're supposed to clench your hand over, you're gonna hurt yourself. I've seen quite a lot of jewel handles or sculpted metal handles and usually their not good. If it's detailed metal, your hand will end up cramped in little parts and it can hurt. If it's a jewel, it's so easy for it to slip out of your hand it's unpractical.

List of tropes/ideas of scenes/details about canes to help you write new situations !

If you walk with a cane during winter, you can't put your hand in your jacket to get warm and there's a high chance your hand will get freezing. So after a long walk, you get an excuse for another character to hold their hand and warm them up.

If the handle is metallic, you get the opposite problem during summer. You can burn yourself so easy ! Easy accident if you want someone to help and get closer to the disabled person without it necessarily involving their disability.

Canes are SUPER useful when you're walking upon heights. They make things really easy, just like hiking poles on mountains ! I live on volcanoes and whenever we clim on a harsh slope, I'm always the first to get up there. Good moment for your character to get a boost of confidence if they get all the way up somewhere before their friends !

The first time using your cane feels magical. If you have chronic pains, it makes you feel like your pain disapear. If you can't walk right, it feels like everything is suddenly alright. The moment where a character chooses to wield a cane can be huge for character development. It's a moment of fear because of the impact a cane has on their appearance, but also a moment of confidence and relief.

Canes fall. All the time. And after a while, it becomes fucking comical. Trust me, putting a cane against the wall, seeing it fall and doing it three times again in a row while it doesn't want to stay up makes you embarrassed but also makes you want to laugh because of how stupid it looks.

When you get a cane, you stop being invisible. When you walk outside, generally speaking, people don't look at you. They don't care about you. But when you get a cane, people start to stare at you for no other reasons that you have a cane. Half of them are just curious, especially if you're young. The other half has a very specific look. The "oh, you poor thing" look. Which is, trust me, particularly awful to get, especially when you're just existing and doing nothing special. How does your character react to this ? How do they feel about it ?

I believe that is all I had in mind. I may add some more details in the future if I get other ideas, but this should already be a good start. I would be thrilled to answer questions if you have some, either in my askbox or through DMs.

I will tag this post with characters holding canes that aren't necessarily considered cane users but that some people may be interested in writing as such. Feel free to tell me if you'd like to see tags being added !

Edit : I'm highly encouraging everyone to look at the tag section under this post where a lot of other can users are sharing their experiences !!

[sokkastyles]

Reading ATLA: The Promise

Part 1: pages 27-65

Previous post here.

If this comic is supposed to take place a year after the events of ATLA, how come Zuko's hair isn't grown out? Considering how fast it grew in less than a year in the series, why does he still have that crappy white guy haircut?

So while Zuko is busy falling apart, Aang is in the FN helping with the restoration movement and speaking for the Fire Lord, but apparently they’ve had no communication with each other? This plot makes NO sense.

Aang: “Don’t worry, everyone I’ve helped move from the colonies to the mainland totally loves it and is welcome!”

One page later:

Katara and her OMG face: “The last time I saw Zuko, I was sanctioning his death under the assumption that he might theoretically turn against us. I am totally shocked now that this thing that I predicted would happen seems to have happened! I wonder if this problem would have been solved by communicating with and trusting my friends, like we learned to do when Zuko joined us at the Western Air Temple? Nah, I’m just gonna stand there and look in distress.”

Meanwhile, we jump to Toph’s metalbending academy! This I like. Why is this not something Toph continued to pursue as a career in LOK? We quickly learn, from Toph’s students, that something is happening in Yu Dao, which is apparently near enough to Toph’s school that ALL of her students’ parents live there. Toph wants to know what’s going on, and spots Appa and, in a scene that completely defies the established laws of how bending works in the series, flies on a rock to join the gaang and ask what’s going on.

Toph being so quick to say that Zuko is, specifically, acting like Ozai is so completely contradictory to her character. in ATLA she was the first person to believe in him at the Western Air Temple, and she also understands wanting to be seen as an individual and not be shadowed by your parents’ expectations, so for her to immediately jump to “Oh no, he’s acting like his dad” is strange.

The other thing is that it seems weird for her NOT to know about or understand what is going on in Yu Dao or be able to see it with a more nuanced perspective, especially since the unrest seems to have been occurring long before Zuko got there, since her school is so close to the city and her students apparently live there, ALL of them, as the comic states. These are earthbenders that wear green but their parents live in Yu Dao, which is part of the Fire Nation. So, the issue of multiculturalism in the colonies is one she should already be able to understand. I’m saying this as someone who teaches at a school with a large population of children whose parents are immigrants. I don’t like how this comic simplifies things for the sake of manufactured conflict.

Then Aang has a spirit conversation with Roku where Roku tries to discourage Aang from talking to Zuko and encourages him to just kill him instead. Now, I do think it makes sense that Roku is projecting his own experiences with Sozin onto Aang and Zuko, but the lesson shouldn’t be “talking is bad, killing good.” The message should be about not being blinded by your own biases, which ALSO includes acting before thinking just as much as it includes the dangers of acting too late.

Also wasn’t there a whole deal in ATLA where Zuko’s “good side” was explained by him having the blood of Roku and Sozin inside him? While I did think the whole “genetics determines your destiny” thing was reductive when ATLA did it, and contrary to the overall message of the story, which is that individuals determine their own destiny, I feel like Roku’s message here is kinda backtracking on that? If Zuko has the capacity for good because he is not just Sozin’s descendant, but Roku’s, then why is Roku so quick to not believe in that goodness?

Isn’t that Smellerbee, who in ATLA tried to encourage Jet to stop being blinded by hatred and wanted to start a new life? Also, let’s keep jokingly misgendering her, that’s fun.

The last time we saw Katara and Aang develop their relationship, they were rudely interrupted just as they were about to “figure out what they meant to each other.” Now, after a year time skip, they are calling each other sweetie. 

Relationship development: footage not found.

Let’s take a minute to appreciate these guards, who are SHOCKED and APPALLED that the Avatar, the Last Airbender, flew over their wall with his little glider.

Semantics question: Did the comics mispell “flameo,” or is “flamio” the plural form when addressing multiple hotmen?

I actually think Aang greeting them this way is hilariously in character. Also, let’s hear it for this general who’s like, “yeah, I’m gonna fight the Avatar! I’m sure Fire Lord Zuko would want me to do this!”

So then Aang fights these Fire Nation soldiers. Katara stands there and screams and only intervenes because she’s mad that the soldiers, and I quote, won’t “stop trying to set my boyfriend on fire.” Katara, who in ATLA hardly needed an invitation to get involved in a righteous fight.

Then we have the infamous “Zuko grabbing Katara’s wrist” scene, which I already wrote about here, but now that I have the full context I want to reiterate how ridiculous it is that people on the internet try to paint this as “abuse” when Aang and Katara broke into a protected city that is being besieged by freedom fighters, started attacking the soldiers there, and Zuko has NO IDEA why they are there because apparently NO ONE IN THIS COMIC TALKS TO EACH OTHER. Granted, Zuko also had to have the idiot ball to create this conflict in the first place, but from his perspective, he’s protecting people, and Katara (as Zuko reminded us) is a big girl and a master waterbender in her own right, who is able to defeat a whole retinue of soldiers single-handedly. Zuko holding her wrist and telling her to stop attacking people is not abuse. In fact, it’s one of the few times in this comic so far that someone has tried to stop the fighting instead of just mindlessly attacking.

Also, Katara says “Don’t make me hurt you back” to Zuko while he’s holding her hands behind her back. Am I NOT supposed to read this as kinky?

So then Zuko and Aang fight, Aang says Zuko “has changed” except neither of them communicated with each other before attacking first. Then Aang gets so enraged that he goes into the Avatar state and only Katara can calm him down and stop him from attacking Zuko. Should we be worrying about Aang’s emotional state and how he’s so quick to move towards uncontrollable violence, and how upsetting this is for Katara to witness? No, apparently these things are only an issue when you come from the wrong family. This is a good message (sarcasm alert).

I don’t really have much to say about the next part that wouldn’t already be rehashing what I’ve said before. Zuko talks about realizing that there are people here that consider themselves both a part of the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, that removing all the Fire Nation would require separating multicultural families. He says some misguided things about how “everyone is better off now” and Aang says that they can only have peace if they are separate. There IS a good conflict here, I just wish it would have been better written. Obviously there’s the issue of exploitation, and we see scenes of Earth Kingdom people being exploited that are supposed to make us question what Zuko says about how they’re both better off. Zuko’s comment comes from a place of not understanding his privilege but he’s also coming from the perspective of a defeated nation that he’s been tasked with protecting. If Zuko hadn’t intervened, there probably would have been fighting in Yu Dao regardless. And keeping the nations separate doesn’t solve that issue, especially if Zuko is supposed to be working with the leaders of the other nations. Aang’s stance on how balance can only be achieved through separation sounds a lot like “separate, but equal.” You don’t end oppression by keeping people separate, you end it by teaching people how to live with each other.

Toph I<3U

[likealittleheartbeat]

I deeply appreciate how ATLA depicts all the main characters responses to trauma. Aang’s, for me, however, stands out for its rareness in media. And we are not hammered over the head with the idea that Aang (or any other characters) repeatedly act certain ways because of a single traumatic event. Sure, there are key moments in our lives when a certain event comes to the forefront, but no one experiences the world as constant flashbacks. Rather, we see only in retrospect the way our sarcastic sense of humor or our heightened friendliness were protective responses to a deep emotional injury. Being able to understand Aang’s approach to loss is essential for the show. The structure of the series is founded on his arc (despite an incredible foil provided by Zuko). Our little air nomad initially confronts the loss of his people with a full-on meltdown in the episode “The Southern Air Temple,” where Katara’s offering of familial belonging soothes him. But this kind of outburst is not Aang’s primary response (and actually the literally out-of-character apocalyptic tantrums align with Aang’s overall process of grieving). Instead of constantly brooding (hey Zuko!), Aang leans heavily toward the monk’s pacifist teachings and toward his assumed destiny “to save the world.” He becomes overtly accommodating and joyful, constantly trying to see “the good” in everything with a perfectionist’s zeal. This is not to ascribe his bubbliness only to his trauma. Rather, he comes to emphasize this part of his personality for reasons related to the negative emotions he struggles to face.  Book 1: Water

In the first season, Aang is simply rediscovering his place in the world. “Water is the element of change. The people of the water tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a sense of community and love that holds them together.” This is vital to Aang as he initially faces his experience. He won’t get through this if he is not prepared for his life to change. Even if he hadn’t been frozen for 100 years, his world would never be the same. This fact involves eventually finding new people that he feels safe with. After such a massive loss, he’s learning who to trust, and also often making mistakes; not only does he find Sokka and Katara (and I’d argue he’s actually slow to truly open up to them), this is the season where he helps save a fire nation citizen who betrays him to soldiers, befriends the rebel extremist Jet, and attempts to befriend an actively belligerent Zuko (his moral complexity had only JUST! been revealed to the kid!). He’s constantly offering trust to others and seeking their approval in opposition to the deep well of shame and guilt he carries as a survivor of violence. This is also the season where Aang swears off firebending after burning Katara in an overeager attempt to master the element (one will note how fire throughout the series is aligned with, above all else, assertiveness and yang). Aang is so eager to be seen as morally good to others that he refuses to risk any possible harm to them.  And asserting himself carries a danger, in one sense, that he might make a mistake and lose someone’s positive regard, and, in another sense, that he is replicating the anger and violence he’s witnessed. He has no relationship to his anger at this stage of his grief, so it comes out uncontrollably, both in firebending and the Avatar State. It’s through the patience of his new family that he can begin to feel unashamed about his past and about the ways his shame is finding (sometimes violent) expression in the present. Book 2: Earth In the second season he begins to trust himself and stand his ground. Earth, after all, is the element of substance, persistence, and endurance. The “Bitter Work” episode encapsulates how Aang must come to a more sturdy sense of his values. First, there is the transition of pedagogical style. While Katara emphasized support and kindness, Toph insists on blunt and threatening instruction, not for a lack of care towards Aang. Instead, it’s so Aang learns how to stop placing the desires of others above his own--to stop accommodating everyone else above his own needs. Toph taunts Aang by stealing one of the few keepsakes from the monastery that he holds onto. This attachment to the lost airbending culture is echoed in the larger arc with Appa. And, by the end of this episode, it is Aang’s attachment to Sokka that allows him to stand firm. This foreshadows the capital T Tragic downfall in the “Crossroads of Destiny.” Aang gives up his attachment to the other member of his new found family, Katara, despite his moral qualms. Although he has access to all the power of the Avatar state, his sacrifice is not rewarded. Season 2 illustrates Aang coming to terms with his values. He is learning about what he stands for, what holds meaning to him. Understanding himself also includes integrating his grief, and there’s a lonely and dangerous aspect to that exploration. We see Aang’s anger and hopelessness over longer stretches rather than outbursts in this season. It’s hard to watch and hard to root for him. That depressive state leads to actions that counter his previous sense of morality, as he decisively kills an animal, treats his friends unkindly, and blames others for his loss. Letting these harsher feelings emerge is an experiment, and most people discover their boundaries by crossing them. Finding ways to hold compassion for himself, even the harm he causes others, is the other side of this process. Our past and our challenging emotions are a part of us, but they are only a part. Since Aang now has a strong sense of community and is learning to be himself rather than simply seeking validation, we also see him having more healthy boundaries with new people. He’s no longer befriending villains in the second season! He’s respectful and trusting enough, but he’s not putting himself in vulnerable situations nor blindly trusting everyone. Instead, he’s more likely to listen to his friends’ opinions or think about how the monks might’ve been critical towards something (they’re complaints about Ba Sing Se, for example). By knowing what he cares for, he can know himself, the powerful, loving, grief-struck monk. And he can trust that, though he might not be everyone’s favorite person, he does not need to feel ashamed or guilty for who he is or what he’s been through. Book 3: Fire However, despite a sense of self and a sense of belonging, Aang and the group still find themselves constantly asking for permission throughout their time in Ba Sing Se. It’s in the third season, Fire, that initiative and assertiveness become the focus. And who better to provide guidance in this than the official prince of “you never think these things through,” Zuko. It’s no longer a time for avoidance or sturdy defensiveness. It is the season of action. Fire is the element of power, desire, and will, all of which require us to impact others.  We see the motif of initiative throughout the season: the rebels attempt to storm the Firelord on the Day of the Black Sun; Aang attempts to share his feelings and kiss Katara; Katara bends Hama and a couple of fire nation soldiers to her will. In each of these examples, the initiators face disgrace. Positive intent does not bring forth success, by any means, only more consequences to be dealt with. This is perhaps Aang’s biggest challenge. He is afraid that his actions will fail, or worse, they will succeed but he will be wrong in what he has chosen. The sequencing in the series, here, is important. We have already seen how Aang has worked to care for (and appreciate) the well-being of others and how he has learned to care for his own needs. With this in mind, he should be able to trust that his actions will derive from these wells of compassion. But easier said than done. Compassion can also trap him into indecision, hearkening back to his avoidant mistake in the storm, in which the whole mess began. Aang’s internal conflict, here, becomes more pronounced as the finale draws nearer. I think it’s especially significant that we witness Aang disagreeing with his mentors and friends. He must act in a way that will contradict and even threaten his sources of support if he is to trust his own desires. Even the fandom disagrees about the choice Aang makes, which further highlights the fact that making a decisive choice is contentious. There is no point in believing it will grant you love or admiration or success. For someone who began (and spent much of) the series regularly sacrificing himself just to bring others peace, Aang’s decision to prioritize his own interests despite the very explicit possibility of failure is the ultimate growth his character can have and the ultimate representation of him processing his trauma. (This arc was echoed and made even more explicit in many ways with Adora in the She-ra finale.) The last significant time Aang followed his desire, in his mind, was when he escaped the Air Temple in the storm. To want something, to trust his desire and act on it, is an act of incredible courage for him, and whether it succeeded or failed, whether anyone agrees or disagrees with it, it offered Aang a sense of peace and resolution. Now I appreciate and love Zuko’s iconic redemption arc, but Aang’s subtler arc, which subverts the “chosen one” narrative and broke ground to represent a prevalent emotional experience, stands out to me as the foundation for the show I love so much.