#commentary: katara

[linootte]

Experimenting. Toph and Sokka are hanging out & chilling somewhere else

[crownshattered]

" Beards are...bad? " Since when..?

[tategaminu]

You were right, he even outgrew you

[chaoticly-shy-dragon]

so I am working - dragging my feet - through natla (1 episode left) and I thought I would share some of my thoughts and commentary:

Iroh: You must use your tact, your empathy-

Season 1 Zuko: [looks back at him]

*

Canon s1 ep3 Zuko: You... are working with Zhao. Willingly.

Show s1 ep3 Zuko: Yes? What's the problem? He is annoying but that's mostly it.

Canon!Zuko: UNCLE! DID YOU PUT SPIRIT MUSHROOMS IN MY TEA AGAIN?! I'M HAVING LUCID NIGHTMARES!!

Other random thoughts:

[Suki proceeds to defy gravity with her fan to impress Sokka]

Me, exasperation incarnate: Suki, I didn't know you were an airbender!

and

[Previous incarnation avatar bashing sesh]

Me: [...] But I love Zuko-Iroh interactions

[The one scene. Zuko is shouting how they can't just ask around. Iroh is offering advice until he gets distracted by street food.]

Me: The fact Zuko stood there for a few seconds trying to figure what this proverb means before he realizes its very much not a proverb - cackling

Second-hand long-suffering friend, who is at the end of her wits after hearing me talk about the butchering of Kyoshi's character for 20 minutes: XDDDD He legit thought rice had sth to do with it XD

there is more but it's more of

Oh no, he is hot.

And oh no he is also hot

Why is every extremist hot?!

Bumi is very bitter. Very.... Jaded.

Aang has no situational awareness: He did not just ask Zhao (Zuko too) to let him go so he can go save other enemies of the Fire Nation. He didn't.

Also. Why the firebender this, firebender that. Are the Fire Nation non-benders saints or something??

Mai casually says Ozai sucks for not thinking Azula is perfect <- Me: I mean she is absolutely right but she would not say that.

Azula's whole. Thing. I felt the narrative was trying very desperately to make her seem competent and clever but the fact that Iroh's thoughts insinuated the frontal attack on the Northern Water Tribe was her idea left me in stitches

But yeah. They nerfed Azula

Zuko - feral, bloodthirsty, a loser. <- Me: Oh my god they captured his essence! Minus the honor thing!

ZUKO NOT SAYING HONOR

THE TRAVESTY OF SOKKA NOT WEARING A DRESS

I WANT SOKKA IN KYOSHI WARRIOR UNIFORM

Katara not having any emotions ::: Aang walks all over her saying he can't support her in her fight against the patriarchy that is actually just Pakku and Yugoda or whatever was happening in the 7th episode: Katara doesn't blow up at him. Sokka calling her a little girl and never actually apologizing about the whole Jet accusation especially when he did the same with the Mechanist. : Katara doesn't blow up at him

Me: sounds fake but okay

At this point when Toph comes along Katara will let her not be a part of the Team (no Gaang just Team Avatar) and not contribute and not bond and NO FOUND FAMILY TROPE

Aang teaching Katara waterbending, Aang not goofing off, No Kataraang (not even a smidge) - something in me shriveled up and died.

Why is Azula soft??????

And why is Ty Lee assertive and forthcoming??? Just?? Why????

And finally, my second favorite:

Azula, trying very hard not to mention Zuko's ludicrous tenacity: Commander Zhao is a great asset... Maybe he needs better resources to showcase his true potential.

Zhao who barely passed his exams according to Jee the gossip queen: Yes, I do need the best resources. Give me all the 'sources.

[natlacentral]

I'm not gonna post my full write-up, but this was a really enlightening listen and clocks in at about 20 minutes if you want to give it a whirl. Here are a few of my favourite tidbits from Albert Kim and Jabbar Raisani's commentary on the official trailer.

They try to visit lots of locations because Avatar is a road show and they want to show the expansiveness of the world

Kim loved the eco message of the original and wants to convey it in the adaption as well

Raisani says Appa is a core member of the team who they wanted to bring to life as much as any of the humans

"Katara is the character who really recognises Aang for who he is, and that is a symbol of hope. And the return of the Avatar for her means that hope has returned to a world that essentially has lost hope for the last hundred years. She's the first one to see that, and over the course of the season, we're gonna see that message of hope spread throughout the world."

The juxtaposition of Katara's POV and Sokka's POV and their clashing opinions is an important dynamic especially in the beginning of the season and informs who they are as brother and sister and their journey coming together to support Aang.

They chose to choreograph and shoot the first Agni Kai, which they describe as the defining moment of Zuko's life, because you understand a lot more of Zuko's character when you see it in real life.

The Agni Kai goes to the core of Zuko's story. "What did his father really want? Does he want him to succeed and find the Avatar and come back? Is he using him against his sister? What is really required of him or desired of him by his father, and then is he going to do that or is he going to do what he thinks is right?"

Momo is a digital creature. They use a puppet so the actors know what they're doing.

It was important to them that Sokka not just be the butt of the joke but have his own humour

"Despite the burden that all these characters are facing and the fact that the fate of the world rests in their hands, they are just kids, y'know? Aang's a goofy twelve-year-old and Katara and Sokka aren't much older and we wanted to make sure that we conveyed that, because that's a really important part of not just the characters but of the story. And if they are gonna be these harbingers of hope, as we said, they needed to express that through their kind of childlike sense of optimism."

Commander Zhao is one of the main villains of the first season and primary antagonist for our heroes. Ken Leung brought humanity and ambition to the character. We see his ego swell over the course of the season as he gets more and more power and comes closer and closer to capturing the Avatar.

Suki will talk about how when you're not a bender, you have to be better than the benders. The Kyoshi Warriors have refined their combat to the point that they can more than hold their own against firebenders.

Sokka and Suki will have a "beautiful journey" in finding commonality in not being benders and what it means within this world.

While Kyoshi can exist in the real world, Omashu can only exist in fantasy, so they built it from scratch. Kim and Raisani would have conversations about the colour of the rooftops and mechanics of the delivery system. They want Omashu to be a city that even new audiences will look at and think, "Wow, that somewhere I want to go to. That's a place I want to visit."

They tried to do practical wherever possible. They'd start with actors and everything around them, build out as far as they possibly can, then extend from there. For the shot of Aang flying over Omashu they started with actors on rigs, filmed on green screen, then did a full digital shot.

They call the sequence, "The Joy of Flight." Like the animated series, they have scenes that are just fun. Aang and Teo could fly from Point A to Point B but they want to make things engaging and fun to watch.

All actors doing bending had to go through extensive training before shooting. The core cast did a six week bootcamp where they had to learn all four bending techniques.

Utkarsh Ambudar (King Bumi) was eager to do everything himself. While they did use stunt performers for parts, he was always down to do another take despite being exhausted.

The Avatar State is the ultimate power, to be treated seriously, so they don't have Aang going into it as much as the original first season so it felt special and communicated that Aang could only access it in specific circumstances. They've tweaked the rules for when and how he can access Avatar State.

"There are certain things we are going to modify, going to change, and hopefully fans will see that it's all for the good of the story as a whole and in dimension-alizing the story and bringing it from one medium to the other."

[shipcestuous]

on sokka/katara, it’s such a compelling setup! they’ve grown up very isolated in a small tribe, without anyone else around their age except each other. they both had a limited view of the opposite sex, with really only one another for reference, beyond distant memories of their parents. their father abandoned them at a very young age so sokka has to become the “man of the house, a father-like role, and takes very seriously his responsibility to protect their tribe, especially katara. their mother died at a very young age so katara takes on the role of mother, so much so that sokka can only see katara’s face when he tries to remember their mother. If aang had never come into the picture, it’s unclear if either one of them would ever have considered leaving their small tribe, so what that would’ve meant for marriage in the future is also very interesting.

i wish sokka/katara was more popular because there is so much potential there! especially with the new live action series unintentionally giving us so much more to work with lol. sokka’s role as protector of the tribe is given more emphasis and taken more seriously. katara helping sokka with his armor, sokka teasing katara, their interactions in general- the tone is less like siblings than in the animated series. also sokka and katara being the ones to go in the cave of LOVERS instead of aang and katara is a very VERY bold decision, and there is so much to explore there!

YES! I love to see enthusiasm for Sokka and Katara.

It's very interesting to consider what might have happened if they had never left their tribe.

I love the two of them stepping into their parents' roles, both in the tribe and with each other.

I bet a really good fic could turn a lot of people into shippers because there's so much good stuff here.

[vifetoile]

my only comment (because this is a great analysis) is that in The Southern Raiders, Aang does eventually come around and gives Katara his blessing; he says that facing her mother's killer is something she has to do.

now we can argue over whether Aang is genuinely making room for Katara's justified wrath, or if he's expecting that Katara will come around to his point of view and forgive. Katara does not forgive, even if she does leave Yon Rha alive (imo, she picked up enough to know that letting Yon Rha live as a failure is in fact the worst fate she could inflict on him). Still, in Avatar, especially in really deep episodes like the Southern Raiders, every line stands for a lot of character work, and I want to give Aang his due.

Still, excellent analysis of the show and of fandom

I just watched Avatar for the first time all the way through, and yeah, it’s great, but the one thing that surprised me was how different Katara was compared to the fandom interpretation I’d seen and internalized before watching.

Like, before you watch Avatar, you’ve seen all these memes about Katara and her mom, and based on those memes, you assume it’s one of those lines you have to get used to hearing at least once every episode. But then you watch the show and realize that she only talks about her mom maybe five or six times per season and you also realize she only brings her up when she’s trying to comfort someone or empathize with them because that’s how she processes her grief and that’s one way she connects with people.

Or you hear the infamous line, “then you didn’t love [our mother] the way I did” and you prepare yourself for one of the worst character assassinations ever only to see the scene after nearly three seasons worth of context and realize she was kinda right. She’s been the mother, the nurturer, the comforter. She’s been patient, gentle, and accommodating where everyone else has gotten to be insensible and reckless and childish, and the one moment where she allows herself to feel her grief, suddenly she’s this evil bitch and not, y’know, a 14 year old girl whose been thrusted into adulthood in a way no other character has. A 14 year old girl who should be allowed immaturity and raw emotion and anger instead of the patience and grace she’s been forced to extend to every character without even the smallest amount of gratitude or even consideration in return.

Or you see all of the clips where Katara puts Aang in the “friendzone” and you expect to have this wishy washy back and forth where Aang is putting his feelings out there only to have Katara neither commit nor express any clear reciprocation or rejection. Then you watch and realize that, as cute as the ship is initially, that there’s never a point where Aang returns any comfort or grace to Katara despite her always doing this for him to the point of coddling. That for as much as Aang says he loves her, he never seems to outgrow his perception of her so he can recognize her as someone who feels grief, anger, and pain as much as she expresses love, kindness, and maturity. And instead of having moments where he learns to see her beyond her strength or compassion, you’re instead given moments where Aang forces his feelings onto her, both romantic and non-romantic, and Katara is expected to just…shoulder those feelings the way she shoulders everyone else’s.

Katara is the most misunderstood character in the show. As much as people recognize the complexities of Zuko, Sokka, and Azula, they struggle to do the same for Katara because they see her struggles as somehow lesser, and therefore, less deserving of sympathy. They can handle her so long as she’s being endlessly patient and loving and kind, but the moment her endless love, patience, and kindness runs out, she’s suddenly this annoying bitch who can’t shut up about her mother or reciprocate Aang’s feelings. But Katara’s trauma does matter as much as anyone else’s. No, she wasn’t banished from her kingdom. No, she didn’t lose her entire community, and no, she isn’t the only one who lost her mother. But the difference between her and everyone else whose experienced loss because of the Fire Nation is that she’s never given time to process her trauma. Aang gets to lean on Katara constantly. Toph gets to express her feelings to Katara, and yeah, Sokka also lost their mother, but unlike Katara, he isn’t put in the position of being a substitute for everyone’s parent. He even admits that he sees his sister as a mother. The only characters who ever comfort Katara or allow her to vent is Zuko and her father and that’s, like, three scenes in a show where the other characters are consistently given opportunities to seek out Katara for unconditional support.

The fandom interpretation of Katara has been so bastardized that even those who haven’t watched the show know her for this fanon version and not for who she is. She’s such a interesting character beyond her fandom limitations, though. She’s brave, hot-headed, and hopeful as well as gentle and caring. She wishes to learn waterbending, not only because she wants to fight in the war, but because she wants to continue her culture’s practices because, and people often forget this, she also lost an entire subculture within her already fractured tribe. And she wants to defeat the Fire Nation both because of her deep love and empathy for other people, but also because she wants to avenge her mother. But because some of the fans have reduced Katara to a bitch who constantly whines about her mother and friendzones Aang, you wouldn’t know any of this, and it sucks because she’s the only character whose been dumbed down to such an extent.

[tsunodaradio]

only exception ⛐ 𝐋𝐍𝟒

there are things lando doesn’t like to do, but he supposes he can make some exceptions.

ꔮ starring: lando norris x girlfriend!reader. ꔮ word count: 2.7k. ꔮ includes: tooth-rotting fluff, romance. profanity. established relationship. ꔮ commentary box: first 1-2 finish of the year, babyyy! my co-driver @norrisradio wrote an oscar version of this here ‹𝟹 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

♫ the only exception, paramore. more time, alfie jukes. loverboy, young friend. c u girl, steve lacy. white ferrari, frank ocean. everyone adores you (at least i do), matt maltese.

LANDO DOESN’T LIKE WATCHING CARTOONS.

Or, at least, he doesn’t like watching them anymore. He’s in his mid-twenties, he’ll tell everyone. He has no reason to tune into things like The Simpsons or Wallace and Gromit. Lando thinks he has much more refined tastes nowadays, thank you very much. 

It’s why he had grumbled and kicked up a fuss the first time you tried to get him to sit down for something. Your yearly rewatch of Avatar: The Last Airbender, you’d said.

He was initially resistant. It didn’t matter how many kisses you promised him, how many hours you vowed to let him game uninterrupted. He just couldn’t bring himself to care about the first couple of episodes, and you let him go with a roll of your eyes. 

But then the stupid flying bison went missing, and Lando couldn’t help himself. 

You liked to watch in his living room, where you could sprawl out on the couch with a bowl of crisps. That made it so much easier for him to move from one room to the other, his eyes flitting a little too long on the television screen as he refilled his water bottle or came home from a quick jog. 

Lando hadn’t really tuned in for the first season— or Book 1, as you so often like to correct him— so he’s a little bit lost, but he picks up the necessary context clues. You’re so invested in it, too, despite this being your nth rewatch of your self-proclaimed comfort series. 

Every now and then, Lando will linger by the door. He’ll even throw in a comment or two. A mumbled “that Ba Sing Se shit is creepy” or an offhand “fucking Zuko,” and you would respond with small sounds of approval or dissent. 

And then he graduates to standing behind you on the couch, his hand on his hip and his gaze fixed firmly on the episode playing. He’s too stubborn to concede just yet that he’s invested, so you settle with this weird getup where Lando kind of just hovers until you call him out. 

By the time the Fire Nation’s prince joins Team Avatar, Lando has given up on feigning disinterest.

“You’re telling me she ends up with baldie?” Lando grunts disapprovingly, his arms tightening around you.

He’s referring to Katara and Aang. You had tried to keep your teasing to the minimum, not wanting to have him revert back to his whole too-cool-for-cartoons shtick. Still, you can’t help the way your lips twitch upward as you lean into Lando’s side. 

“She does,” you say absentmindedly. The Ember Island Players episode is playing, depicting some bastardized version of the main characters’ love lives. “There’s a sequel to this one where they talk about their married life a bit.” 

“There’s a sequel?” Oh, you love it— Lando’s voice pitching slightly higher with enthusiasm, then his attempt to hide it by clearing his throat and repeating, voice suddenly deeper, “I mean, there’s more?”

“Mhm,” you hum. “We can binge The Legend of Korra after this one.” 

Lando doesn’t say anything more. He locks right back into the Avatar episode, but you can feel that excitement thrumming through him like a current. 

Alright, so— maybe Lando likes to watch some cartoons. 

LANDO DOESN’T SET MORNING ALARMS. 

Being jolted awake is the worst feeling in the world for him. His years of conditioning had made it easier for him to adapt his body clock to whatever he needed it to be, without the help of a phone blaring some grating tune. 

He knows how to wake up at any given time. It’s one of the things you’ve teased him about, being the heavy sleeper that you are. 

Nowadays, though, Lando sets two alarms. 

You don’t know about them. How could you? He’s always up before you, hoping to get a run in before the sun has risen, or needing to jet off for work at absurd hours. You’re used to waking up to his empty side of the bed. 

When he remembers, he leaves something. A crude doodle on a scrap of paper with a dozen x’s and o’s. A misshapen attempt at a towel animal, inspired by whichever country he had been in last. 

For the most part, though, it’s the indent of his body in the mattress and the lingering scent of him in the sheets. 

Here’s what you don’t know— 

The first alarm is set 15 minutes before he actually has to get up. It’s set on a low vibrate, just enough to rouse Lando to consciousness. 

Half-asleep, he’ll reach over to find your sleeping form. The two of you tended to toss and turn in your sleep, making it so that he’d sometimes wake up to you on the far end of the bed or facing away from him. 

Whatever it is, Lando holds you. He spends the aftermath of that first alarm cuddling into you, whether it’s his chest to your back or his head buried in the top of your head. Nowadays, it’s become a habit; enough that he sometimes finds himself doing it to hotel room pillows whenever he’s off at races. 

Sometimes, he spends the fifteen-minute gap waking up. Most times, he drifts back into sleep, but with the knowledge that his touch is a little more intentional now. 

When his second alarm goes off, he’ll press a kiss to your forehead and peel away— facing the morning with the knowledge that he has you for one more day. 

LANDO DOESN’T LOSE. 

He has spent his entire life competing, so it’s practically instinct at this point. When a challenge is laid out before him, he has to win. No ifs, no buts, no second-place podiums. It’s the kind of thing that bleeds into every aspect of his life— from serious things like his career, to absolutely ridiculous things like who can brush teeth faster in the morning.

“No need to pout, baby. What are you so mad about?” Lando taunts as he leans back against the couch. The Mario Kart results screen is still flashing on the television, bright and damning.

His name in first place; yours, a distant fourth.

“I’m mad because you’re a cheat,” you accuse with a dejected sniffle, your grip tightening on the controller. 

Lando gasps and presses a hand to his chest. “I would never.” 

“You so did.” As he expected, you’re already slamming buttons to bring the two of you back to the selection screen. “One more round.” 

He purses his lips, attempting to hide the shit-eating grin threatening to break on his face. “You sure you wanna lose again?” he asks innocently. 

You don’t dignify him with an answer, already selecting your character with newfound determination. Lando, for his part, grins like an absolute menace. He spins his joystick as if he’s warming up for battle, his attention divided between you and the game. 

Lando doesn’t lose. But sometimes, he lets you win.

Not in a way that makes it obvious, because his ego is much too big for that. He plays it smart. He’ll take the lead for most of the race, just enough to keep you engaged, to keep your frustration bubbling. Then, right at the last second, he’ll “accidentally” mistime a drift. Maybe he’ll take a turn just a little too wide, letting you zoom past him in a blur of victory.

He does it because he likes the look on your face when you win— the way your eyes light up, the way you throw your hands in the air like you’ve just conquered the world. It’s the same way you look at him after a good race weekend when he’s standing on the podium, champagne dripping from his curls.

It’s a look he wants to keep earning, over and over again.

So when you finally cross the finish line ahead of him, when the words 1st Place appear over your character, Lando groans in exaggerated frustration, dragging a hand down his face.

“Nooo,” he whines. “I had that in the bag.” 

He’s not about to earn any Oscars for his performance. He knows that much. You’re gracefully oblivious, though, and you’re grinning like this is some grand prix instead of a lazy Saturday afternoon. 

“In your face, loser!” you cry, launching yourself at him in celebration. 

Lando lets out an oof as you land half on his lap, half on the couch. Your arms fling around his neck. He laughs, warm and fond, and presses a quick kiss to your shoulder. “Don’t get too cocky,” he warns. “Best two out of three, twerp.” 

He’ll actually try this time, he swears. But he’ll keep throwing every other match if it means seeing you smile like the game isn’t the only thing you’ve won. 

LANDO DIDN’T REALLY CARE ABOUT THE MUSIC HE LISTENED TO. 

His brief stint picking up DJ-ing as a hobby had proved that he cared mostly for house music, the kind of pulsing beats that made for a good night out. Other genres, though? He never really gave them much thought. He was content shuffling through whatever was trending, never attaching any particular emotion to the songs he played.

That is, until you gifted him a Spotify playlist for when he was away.

It had been a simple thing. Just a shared link and a text message that read: For long flights and hotel rooms. So you don’t forget home.

He hadn’t expected much. But then he found himself listening to it across a dozen different countries. 

Your playlist became his soundtrack while stretching at the gym in Bahrain, watching the rain streak down his hotel window in Japan, lying awake with jet lag in Miami. The songs you chose weren’t just good; they were you. A mix of things he recognized from car rides with you, songs you’d hum absentmindedly while doing the dishes, melodies that reminded him of mornings tangled in bed.

And so Lando gets an idea. 

He’ll make you a playlist, too.

He thinks he’s absolutely rubbish at it, thoughts. He agonizes over every song choice, wondering if it fits, if you’ll like it, if it says enough without saying too much. His Notes app is filled with half-written ideas— Do I put that one song from our first road trip? Too cheesy? What about the song that’d played at the café of our first date? Which one was that, even? 

He changes the order a dozen times before finally forcing himself to stop, heart hammering as he prepares to give it to you. 

It’s stupid. He’s being stupid. This isn’t some wedding proposal or anything; it’s literally just a collection of songs. He half-expects you to laugh when he presents it to you, shoving his phone into your hands with a muttered, "Made you something. It’s probably shit."

But you don’t laugh.

You scroll through the playlist slowly, taking in each title. Then, to Lando’s surprise, your eyes well up, and you blink rapidly to keep the tears at bay.

“Hey— hey, what’s wrong?” he panics, immediately regretting everything. “Is it that bad?” 

Damn it, he’s thinking. Probably should’ve booted that one Post Malone song. 

You shake your head, pressing your lips together to keep them from wobbling. “No, it’s just…” You sniffle, smiling up at him with something so unbearably soft that it makes his chest ache. “You made me a playlist.”

Lando exhales. “Well, yeah. You made me one first.”

“You made me a playlist.” You repeat the words like they mean something more, something bigger. And maybe they do.

He shifts, rubbing the back of his neck. “Dunno. Guess I kinda like music now,” he says, suddenly a bit shy. 

You’re on him in the next minute, the force of your kiss sending him reeling. He laughs against your mouth even as you mumble something like shutupshutupshutup. He holds your face in his hands, his thumbs wiping away your happy tears, and he resolves to make you a dozen more of these little collections. 

Somewhere, his phone screen is still lit, the title of the playlist staring up at the ceiling.

For when I’m home.

LANDO NEVER SAW THE APPEAL IN JOURNALS. 

Pen and paper never really meant much to him. He wasn’t the type to jot things down, wasn’t one for sentimental scribbles. Nobody else probably expected it of him, either.

Which is why the media nearly combusts when, during a post-race broadcast, the camera catches Lando hunched over a spiral wirebound in the garage. He’s seen scribbling something with uncharacteristic focus, and then he’s tucking the notebook away like it’d never happened. 

People on Twitter are quick to speculate. One viral tweet claims it’s Lando’s Death Note, where he’s listing the names of all the drivers he decimated at the day’s qualifying session. 

By the time media obligations roll around, it becomes part of Sky Sports’ list of queries. Once the usual stuff is all ran through, the interviewer pounces on the opportunity for a more lighthearted, humanizing angle. “So, Lando, what’s in the notebook?” the reporter asks, shoving her microphone a little closer to the driver. 

The Brit stiffens.

All around the world, people see the open surprise on Lando’s expression. The oh, shit moment where he seems to realize his ‘private’ moment had been put on full blast. 

He recovers quickly. Tries to evade by dodging the question with a joke. It’s obvious that the media isn’t going to give in, though, so by the time it’s a beIN SPORTS journalist posing the question, Lando can only sigh in defeat. 

“It’s a gratitude journal,” he admits, half-grinning. 

There’s a pause. A beat of disbelief before the interviewer laughs. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, inspired by my girlfriend waiting at home.” Lando winks straight at the camera and waves exaggeratedly. “Hi, baby!”

(You don’t find out until much later, when the clip has gone viral on TikTok. The comments are all to be expected— calling Lando a simp, claiming he’s down bad and absolutely gone. It’s equal parts amusing and mortifying.) 

The interviewer chuckles. “Well, given today’s pole position, I’m guessing that’s your number one?”

Lando’s eyebrows raise. “No,” he says, his voice tinged with disbelief. As if it’s unimaginable. “I mean, pole’s great and all, but I always have the same thing at the top of my list.” 

“Which is?” 

“Her name.” 

LANDO DOESN’T ‘GO SLOW’. 

He’s not built for it. 

It’s just not in his nature. Not when he spent his entire life learning how to push the limit, trim down lap times, find milliseconds where nobody else could. He thrives in speed, in the way his pulse thrums when he’s threading a car through corners, the rush of adrenaline when he crosses a finish line. He isn’t known for patience, either, or waiting, or any of those things that require taking his foot off the gas.

And yet. 

And yet. 

“Lando,” you say amusedly, glancing at the speedometer. “Are you seriously driving below the speed limit?”

Lando doesn’t look at you. He just shrugs, fingers tapping against the steering wheel. “Just being safe, baby.”

Your lips twitch, suspicious. You’re onto him, because of course you are. It’s embarrassing how obvious he’s become. In his defense, he never used to do this. Never used to ease into turns, never used to take the long route home, never used to pray for red lights and stop signs if it meant keeping you in his passenger seat a little longer.

But nowadays, he does.

“Baby,” you sing-song. “You do realize I live with you, right? It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

“Mm,” he hums, noncommittal.

You shake your head, but the look on your face is fond. “God, you’re ridiculous.”

Lando risks a glance at you then. His heart stumbles at the sight. 

You’re curled up in the passenger seat, eyes shining, hair mussed from where he’d flicked at it earlier. You look so impossibly soft in the glow of the streetlights, and he’s struck with the kind of certainty that rattles him down to the bone— that this, right here, is his favorite kind of drive.

His hand tightens over your thigh. “Guess you’re right,” he says with a laugh. “I am pretty ridiculous.”

Lando still lingers at the next red light. ⛐

[the-badger-mole]

It's so funny to me when people say I only ship Zutara because I want to be Katara in that scenario. No, stupid! I don't want to be Katara. I want to be the character sitting on the side and watching this messy romance unfold while I provide color commentary. I want to gossip with Iroh about Zuko's awkward crush on Katara. I want to be the older sister figure Katara turns to for life advice who sometimes teases her about the hottie who respects her as a fighter and helps with camp parent duties. I want to be the one who tells Zuko to stop being a coward and tell Katara how he feels already. I absolutely self insert into the Zutara dynamic, but I'm not picturing myself as Katara...I'm picturing myself as Jun.

[sirenalpha]

I'm seeing so much commentary on people reacting to the live action atla toning down Sokka's misogyny

and I'm over here like this is a total non-issue because in my own rewrite of the show I already did that exact thing, it makes complete sense to do it and they should do it because it's a weaker aspect of the original show

Sokka's early misogyny is utterly cartoonish in comparison to the set up of the rest of the SWT, it doesn't feel realistic for the only teenaged boy in a dying culture surrounded by adult women with a grandmother who left a more out and out misogynist society to act the way he does

how Sokka "resolves" his misogyny is equally cartoonish, I never liked how in The Warriors of Kyoshi literally episode 4 of the show makes a teen girl compromise her own culture with a female only fighting tradition teach a boy who is supremely rude and disrespectful to her and then still be attracted to him afterwards, it's more misogyny to fix misogyny and is very obviously men writing about how to fix misogyny especially as they have Aang make a joke about Sokka wearing a dress after going through how meaningful the fighting costume is and how a lot of Asian clothing with hanfu influences like atla borrows from would have men in what to western eyes would be dresses, Aang has already seen multiple male authority figures in robes, the joke makes no sense

I also wouldn't consider Sokka's misogyny genuinely resolved after this, consider how the show deals with his romantic relationships with both Yue and Suki and how both can be seen as extensions of how Kataang is treated in the show, rewards for the hero, especially with how Sokka interacts aggressively with Hahn instead of respecting Yue's wishes whatever her reasons for them, I think an argument can be made that Yue's death is a fridging for Sokka's storyline rather than or in combination with being a consequence of Aang's failure as an avatar or the culmination of her own storyline where she fulfills her duties as a leader to protect her own people

Beyond his romantic relationships, while Sokka drops a lot of his more misogynistic language with Katara, he doesn't support her when she faces off with the NWT leaders to learn waterbending, and he still leaves the caretaking and food preparation and grocery shopping to her which is more common than him going out to hunt or gather in order to provide for the group while he takes a leadership role like determining their travel schedule and routes, it is not an even division of labor and falls along traditional sex stereotypes

In addition to his typical duties to the group, Sokka also remains invested in the trappings of masculinity after ep4, he's concerned about what's manly and how he compares to Jet for example, there's no investigation or interrogation in his interest in meat and hunting and how they relate to masculinity and his misogyny, in the episode with Piando, his insecurity as a non-bender is resolved by giving him a new male mentor and a new martial skill, sword fighting, which is masculine in both western and Asian cultures rather than assuaging his self esteem issues in any less stereotypically masculine ways, I also think it was done so he could compare more favorably to Zuko, another male character, and even his interest in engineering and mechanics comes with a male mentor and is a traditionally masculine pursuit

the show's poor handling of misogyny also extends beyond Sokka, with the NWT, the show acts as if Pakku is the only reason the tribe is misogynistic and the only consequences to that misogyny is that women can't waterbend and there are arranged marriages, and that both the NWT and Pakku's misogyny is resolved by allowing only Katara to learn to waterbend which she doesn't even earn on her own merits, she gets the opportunity because Pakku likes her grandmother

none of this is realistic, misogyny is not because of one bad apple, Pakku doesn't make Yue's arranged marriage, Chief Arnook does, he picked Hahn for her, and the show acts as if Arnook has no authority to compel Pakku to teach Katara or any ability to persuade him in order to reduce his culpability in the NWT's misogyny as its leader to make him a more respectable character so it's not uncomfortable when Aang and Sokka follow his orders in the battle later on, but women not being able to bend and forced into arranged marriages is still status quo when the gaang leaves, Yue's just dead

I'm not even convinced the show runners understand what's wrong with arranged marriage, the issue is not Yue can't be with Sokka who she likes and at most has a slight crush on cuz she's only known him for like two days, it's that she's being treated as male property, a broodmare, and a vehicle to ensure Hahn receives the throne because her father has no male heir and picked some guy to succeed him instead, like it's not explicit in the show but that is the implication based on the historical reality of princesses in arranged marriages, and the show has her get out of it only through death idc that she ascends to being a spirit, it's still a teen girl that dies

There's also no discussion by the show of the Earth Kingdom's misogyny when it has the exact same shit going on, Toph is the only female earthbender in the show not including avatars, there might have been a female earthbender in the background when Katara broke them out of prison, but I'm not really counting that, the entire army and Dai Li are all made up of men, the EK might even be worse because the show doesn't demonstrate that women and girls even have the capacity to earthbend aside from Toph and avatars and Toph doesn't even learn from a human, she has to learn from animals, the show treats this as commentary on her disability but the show has no compelling reason why it can't also be commentary on her sex, Toph was also originally supposed to be a boy so this could have ended up so much worse there literally would have been no female earthbenders aside from avatars at all, I'm not counting Oma as she might just be a mythological figure not a real person that once lived

The Fire Nation kinda barely avoids the same issue, Azula is the only named female firebender aside from avatars in the show but she has two female sidekicks who despite being non-benders show martial skill and there are clearly female soldiers and guards in the FN military so there are much stronger implications of female firebenders existing and being completely allowed to train their abilities and that Azula isn't exceptional in that respect like Toph is, only for being a prodigy with blue fire

Azula was also originally supposed to have an arranged marriage in s3 and they dropped it in favor of showing that royal and noble girls could casually date in the FN which has wild implications for women's empowerment in the country more so than but especially in combination with the fact women can train and join the military (which is why I say the FN is not fascist it's literally the least misogynistic country aside from Kyoshi and by like a country mile so it's literally not misogynistic enough) not that the show does anything more than minor teen drama with it

again, the vast majority of this misogyny is completely unremarked upon by the show especially after s1 when they leave the NWT, it is clearly a fictional world made by men with no true understanding of misogyny just a vague awareness that misogyny is bad and what the really obvious and outdated examples of it are, this is a narrative inconsistency in the show to have the examples and commentary on misogyny be so cartoonish in the beginning and then disappear after s1

your options to resolve this inconsistency is to either go all in with more realistic misogyny and provide commentary on all of it but this takes effort and will be divisive, or take the easier route and ease off the cartoonish-ness of it and comment less on it to avoid drawing attention to all instances of misogyny in the show

obviously Netflix was gonna do the latter

(not me tho, I'm making it less cartoony and dealing with it in my rewrite)

[coolest-of-the-beans]

You know in all fairness to that one episode where she her humor was labelled "no-fun" or whatever, her jokes are usually spontaneous and situational. It's opportunistic humor, not curated. Of course she couldn't be funny on command, she's funny when the time is right for it. A well timed dry response. I get that, considering it's my style too.

I think what happens a lot with that kind of humor though is it can be taken at face value or as if the person saying it doesn't know how funny it was. Like, it's humorous in a way that feels unintentional. Which doesn't mean that it is, it's just the consequence of pulling it off in a natural unforced way.

"Katara has no sense of humor."

Katara, ironically, has a dry sense of humor. Just because it gets overshadowed by Sokka's funny antics and Toph's witty one liners doesn't mean she doesn't have one at all. Throughout the whole first season, she is constantly teasing and making fun of Sokka in a light hearted and loving way. In fact, one of the funniest lines in the show (in my opinion) comes from Katara when they were first visiting Omashu.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka trying to figure out Bumi's name. Sokka: I got it! Aang: Yeah? Sokka: He's an earthbender, right? Rocky! [man coughs] Sokka: You know, because of all the rocks Katara: We're gonna keep trying, but that is a good backup.

That line never fails to get a full belly laugh from me. Mae Whitman's delivery of that line is just sheer perfection lol

And when Zuko joins the group, he becomes the target for her teasing.

After Zuko utterly fails at telling Uncle Iroh's tea joke. Zuko: Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it. Katara: Right. Maybe because he remembers the whole thing. [Everyone laughs]

Katara does have a sense of humor. It's just a little dry. So can we as a fandom stop pretending that she doesn't?

P.S. I don't care that her supposed "lack of humor" was lampshaded in 'Sokka's Master,' that was one episode, and it was wrong anyway. God as much as I like Book 3 I also hate it.

[natlacentral]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Allure Magazine (@allure)

allure If you ask us, #Katara started the “I’m Cold” makeup trend 💙 Watch as actress #Kiawentiio walks us through some of Katara’s beauty looks from #Netflix’s new series, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” 🌊

Images courtesy of Netflix

[shipcestuous]

So I was looking through your posts seeing if anyone brought up the recent Avatar Live Action, and I haven't seen anyone on here talk about it?

So idk if you heard but in ep 4 (and throughout the whole series) they've been mixing plots to save time(??) but for some reason they decided to have an episode that originally in the cartoon happens in Season 2. It's the Cave of two lovers which originally has Katara, Aang and Sokka going through a cave, but Sokka gets separated from them so it's just Aang and Katara and they have a whole romance plot about going through this cave and for "plot" reasons they might have to kiss. It's uncertain if they did or did not kiss.

Basically what I'm getting at is in the Live Action, it's JUST Katara and Sokka going through "the cave of two lovers" which.. odd choice having SIBLINGS do the plot of an episode that's a WHOLE SEASON AWAY, and the fact it's a ROMANCE episode!

They even have Katara say to Sokka "I'm not a little girl anymore!" ....while in the..cave...of....lovers..... odd choice fr..

I'm just saying it's a WEIRD choice having the siblings do a romance subplot that's not even supposed to happen for another season. And then have her and him in the dark, arguing about how she's "not a little girl" when us as the audience KNOWS this plot is supposed to be romantic (it's supposed to be with Katara and Aang)

In the end they get out with the power of "Familial love" and hold hands while a badgermole helps them out of the cave.

The whole time in my seat like "WTF ARE THESE WRITERS TRYING TO DO TO ME??? THIS IS WEIRD??? I'm loving it"

There's also a LOT of subtext with Azula and Zuko in the show even though they haven't been in scenes together. As well as some more, let's say "odd" choices between Katara and Sokka (romance clichés like Katara helping Sokka lace his bracers before a fight and him picking on her for liking another guy)

I've had a relative wealth of asks about the live action ATLA and I love to see all of the Katara/Sokka enthusiasm. There others are here, which I didn't answer until after you sent this in. I searched my inbox because I wanted to answer all of them at the same time, and nothing came up, but I guess there were a bunch of messages at the bottom that hadn't loaded, including yours. Anyway, those asks and in that post and this one is here, for everyone's reference.

Writers ship Sokka/Katara confirmed.

I'm glad you pointed out her line about not being a little girl anymore, because he's the big brother and has his whole complex about being the guardian. And her whole flirtation with Jet shows that she's growing up.

[theweeklydiscourse]

Zutarians when Katara isn’t used as a prize for Zuko’s redemption arc and doesn’t fall to her knees and suck Zuko’s dick the second he isn’t a racist cunt toward her and instead actually loves Aang, someone who is her best friend and a fellow genocide survivor who understands her trauma and treats her with utmost respect

This is so exciting…my first deranged anon! I’m glad that my humble Zutara discourse could reach you and stir such strong emotions in your heart.

This ask serves as a reminder of the disingenuous nature of antis when it comes to discussing the politics of ATLA. Look closely at the provocative language anon uses as well as their hyperbole, notice how extreme of a characterization it is. See how much of the show they need to rewrite and omit to give their argument a leg to stand on. Notice how they invoke “genocide” and “racism”, not to make any sort of coherent commentary on the show, but to bolster their ship and make their claims seem less outrageous.

According to this anon, we should abandon our tastes in fictional ships and instead *checks notes* be morally obliged ship the two characters on the basis of shared trauma…what a compelling reason lol. Also, the “treats her with utmost respect” is not lost on me, apparently in anon’s mind “utmost respect” includes kissing someone without their consent and dismissing their trauma because their response to it doesn’t align with your values.

[theotterpenguin]

from the earth kingdom chronicles: the tale of katara

shoutout to michael teitelbaum for caring more about depicting katara's feelings than the atla writers ever did

from the transcript and commentary of lake laogai:

It annoys me that fans & even the ATLA narrative treat Katara’s crush on Jet as if she was simply being silly and shallow. Yes, he was tall and attractive…but he’s also responsible for an entire community of orphans? Maybe after years of parentification, she feels very connected to someone who also had to think about feeding and clothing people and generally keeping them alive? Maybe she admires a boy who seemed to have taken on both her and Sokka’s roles (caretaker and protector), and was really successful at them? Maybe Katara saw a competent boy and liked him just for that!

ATLA narratively chides Katara for liking Jet. He’s coded as this untrustworthy smarmy bad boy character in opposition to sweet friendly Aang. I mean, it’s not subtle: Katara makes a hat for Jet, and after she discovers he’s cool with killing civilians, Aang’s shown wearing the hat. But maybe Katara liked Jet because he had his shit together, while Aang was trying to ride giant fish despite being the saviour of the world! Maybe!

[memopmiff]

i let katara walk around on my floor by my plants and it really puts into perspective how tiny she is..

and azula was on the news! as a model for a dumb product, but still

for the news, they go out and stop random people for commentary, and this time they stopped zuko, who had this to say:

final thing, katara had this creepy dream. i dont know what it means ‼️

i also have a bunch of pics of mai and ty lee being super cute, they basically do everything together so theres a lot. ill send them in the next one lol 💖

and happy holidays!

tiny katara... 🤏

Omg the zuko interaction is so accurate it's like that one time he said "get out of my way skinny" 😭

Katara's dream is very freaky and I would very much like to see what Mai and Ty Lee are doing!! The fact that they do stuff together is so cute. Actually I'm curious about how all of them are doing now, sorry for the late response 🥹 hope you're doing well too!

Also for some reason Azula being on the news is hilarious to me so I drew her doing the weather forecast