#i was actually thinking about Sokka and how his opinion on bending changes throughout the show

[aboutiroh]

You know what’s astonishing about Katara? She grew up in a world without bending.

It’s not surprising that Sokka calls her bending ‘magic water’ in the first episode. It might as well have been magic to them at that point; they had never seen it in practice until they meet Aang.

So not only did Katara not have any teachers, she didn’t have any kind of guidance, no visual aids, no idea of how bending is supposed to look or work. The first time she ever sees actual waterbending movements is when she steals the waterbending scroll from the pirates. The first time she meets another waterbender is when she reaches the North Pole, where within weeks she outmasters pretty much everyone and goes on to teach the Avatar.

Everything she does is so incredibly impressive, and yet I can’t help but feel the most proud of her when she catches a fish on that little boat.

[flameunquenched]

okay so i've decided i have some concerns regarding netflix's adaption of avatar: the last airbender (which for the sake of my poor fingers, i'm shortening to natla). i will admit that i may have been taken in by the beautiful trailers and i can further admit that the actual cinematics do look fantastic. i love the costuming, the cgi of the elements themselves, and the animals. but...the more i hear about the overall storyline of natla, the more concerned i become.

first, the removal of sokka's sexism shows that the showrunners simply fail to understand his characterization and the innate flaws that make him a character to root for as he grows and changes. sokka grew up the only real man in his tribe because his father and the other men left to fight in the war against the fire nation. not only that, but we can see based on the northern water tribe that there is a sort of innate sexism therein entirely with women being relegated to healing duties when they could bend and men as warriors. and honestly, when you really view it through the correct lens, it makes sense.

but removing that deprives sokka of a great piece of his character arc. not only does his sexism eventually become broken by his sister, but he learns from the kyoshi warriors new ways to fight and comes to respect them not only as 'girls' but also as seasoned, accomplished warriors. my concern is that the removal of his innate sexism is not only going to do a disservice to the character but also to the viewer themselves by sanitizing a story that, frankly, can get quite dark when you think about it.

second, what really worries me is the change to avatar aang. i read an article where they decided to remove the random stops here and there and instead basically have the gaang go immediately to the north pole to begin learning waterbending which...that's not really staying true to aang's character, in my opinion. the article i read basically says that aang learns about the fire nation, goes 'well, let's get to the north pole asap' and off they go. but that does a disservice to aang's character as well. a key point of aang's entire arc is that he does not want to be the avatar. he never wanted to be. it was a title forced onto his shoulders and a mantle he never desired to wear.

by removing those random stops throughout the earth kingdom - and eventually, i assume, the fire nation given that they REMOVED THE FUCKING COMET WHAT THE ACTUAL FU--okay, no, ran, breathe. stay on topic. woosah. - then they are also taking away the chance of the audience to see how severe the war, colonization, and oppression has become throughout the world thanks to the fire nation. not only does this offer the potential sanitization of the fire nation's hundred-year-long war for total conquest and dominion, but it also takes away key parts of the storyline, depending on how much of the early plot lines they scrub.

it is key for aang to see those things. he needs to see the forest that the fire nation burned and help to soothe the angered spirit (which i will say i think we are getting, thankfully). he needs to see the fact that the fire nation is in so many towns and cities throughout the earth kingdom. there may be no war in ba sing se but the rest of the earth kingdom has been feeling the effects of the war with the fire nation for a century now.

i'm not touching the removal of sozin's comet in this post. like. nope. not doing it.

basically, i am concerned. i am beginning to see why the original creators decided to leave over differences and i am really worried that netflix does not understand how to adapt atla and the importance it has with so many of us, myself included, who grew up with it and adore it so. i rewatch atla at least twice a year, often far more than that, and while i desperately want to see a live action version, the "it's a remix, not a cover" line concerns me. and sure, it doesn't need to be a word-for-word, shot-for-shot cover, but i feel like the scrubbing of the two above issues has already broken the heart of the storyline and the hearts of its fans.

i dunno. maybe i'm wrong and need to trust the process and wait. but i've been badly burned by a live action atla before and i don't wanna go through that again.

[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.

[seyaryminamoto]

As someone, who's favourite character is Zuko, let me just say that your analysis about the Southern Raiders is spot on. Something about that episode (especially the way Zuko acted) always felt a little... off to me. And I could never figure out what it was exactly and considering the fact that discussion about this episode centered around the Kataang vs Zutara, I thought I was the only one who felt that way. So, I guess thanks for putting my thoughts into words.

Oh, I really feel ya, anon. If you actually don't look at the episode from a shipping point of view, which seems to be the focus of most the fandom, a lot of unpleasant things really start sticking out. I'm personally neutral to the Kataang vs. Zutara debate, I see good points and drawbacks to both ships, and no one's going to convince me that this episode proved the superiority of either pairing, especially when the shipping interpretations have never been important to me when analyzing this episode. People can say Aang is right in the end, they can say Zuko understands Katara's plight better (which, considering Aang has lost even more people he loved than Zuko has, he certainly should have understood Katara's suffering quite well too), but focusing on whether Zuko or Aang are the angel or the devil on Katara's shoulders practically blinds everyone to the very glaring and mindboggling flaws in this episode's writing, imo.

In general, the concept of Zuko's life-changing field trips with the three Gaang members he'd wronged the most is fine and fun for most people, but from the first time I watched the show it felt like the production team knew they were pressed for time and needed some veeeery quick and effective solution for Zuko to gain acceptance in the Gaang ASAP despite all the bad blood there. I can imagine a lot of people love these episodes, but admittedly I wouldn't rank any of them among my favorites because, as interesting as some of their concepts could be, if executed right, my immersion certainly wasn't as strong as with the rest of the show due to the nagging feeling that this was all for the sake of redeeming Zuko in the eyes of each Gaang member... and not necessarily in the eyes of the audience.

They get away with it, of course, because by this point in time, the audience is 100% conditioned to love the Gaang and Zuko, and if you see them getting along, you should be rejoicing in their team-up... but if you put some emotional distance between yourself as a viewer and the events of these episodes, their writing leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the concept of giving Zuko a quick whitewashing in the eyes of Aang, Sokka and Katara, one after the other, so they can genuinely accept him as a teammate and friend. If we'd seen similar trips frequently or occasionally in the rest of the show, with two specific members of the team taking off on an adventure by themselves, it might not be so glaringly obvious (and even... artificial? I guess?) that they're trying to quick-redeem him for each of them here, but on top of it happening thrice, it's literally happening one after the other, too. There's no episodes in-between, it's just literally a four-parter arc of "let's help Zuko become friends with these three".

The plotlines to be dealt with in these episodes are basically catered to each Gaang member, tailor-made life-changing field trips based on whatever they'll value the most, all of it conveniently possible and doable in the span of time they have between Zuko's joining of their group and the show's finale. Aang needs to learn firebending, Sokka needs to save his dad, Katara is permanently grieving for her mother's death. And so, Zuko to the rescue! If he helps them with their personal character quests, he gets 50+ approval points! :'D Honestly, I'm absolutely not against the notion of Zuko befriending them, obviously not, but the methods through which they chose to make it happen simply might not be the finest...?

Zuko loses his ability to bend because he "lost his rage", but he's still angry pretty often, the show even spoofs its own writing by showing him losing his patience at Sokka... while at the same time trying to sell that Zuko "isn't angry" anymore? Zuko helps break out random prisoners from the Boiling Rock without taking a single moment to actually learn who they are, why they were locked up, and without pondering if they deserve to be helped or if perhaps they're genuinely dangerous? Zuko gives Katara every possible tool and information she needs to take revenge on Yon Rha, because, loosely quoting his own words, he "cares what she thinks of him"...?

How about if we'd seen Zuko trying to connect with Fire Nation people, to help his fellow Fire Nation citizens, especially the ones who were living in dreadful conditions, like the ones in the Jang Hui river village? How about if we'd seen Zuko saving lives rather than threatening to take them? How about if we'd seen Zuko actually reasoning with his anger, and either working his way out of it, or repurposing it consciously, or making legitimate, personal efforts to find a new source of strength for his firebending through self-reflection, above all else?

We didn't really need sudden one-on-one field trips to teach Aang, Katara and Sokka to trust Zuko: we needed Zuko to prove himself worthy of that trust, to show how much he has changed, to literally contrast his new behavior with the old, to actually see that the guy no longer jumps into violence-mode 24/7, that he's willing to listen to other people's opinions or wisdom, that he wants to learn better when he knows he's misguided or misunderstanding something or another. Would he have become BFFs with any of them in four episodes if this had happened? Well, it definitely would have happened with Aang, the other two would have been trickier, but they definitely would have been more willing to accept him if they actually got to SEE that the changes in Zuko weren't skin-deep. Katara can be as thick-headed and stubborn as she may want to be, but I have no doubts she wouldn't have been able to hate Zuko as much as she used to if she'd seen him helping people, much like she often wants their group to do. But instead, they don't get to see the actual changes and growth... they just get their biggest goals and wishes satisfied, and that's enough to decide Zuko's trustworthy, no matter whatever sketchy behavior he displays in later episodes.

I absolutely appreciate the worldbuilding context we gain for the raids on the Water Tribe through The Southern Raiders, but I don't think this was an organic way to tell the story of how Zuko became friends with the Gaang. If pressed, I'd even say that Zuko's overt desperation to be their friend is OOC, to a degree: if this guy actually knows how dangerous his father's plans are (and he's supposed to :'D), how isn't he focusing on that side of things, when he's always been such a go-getter? It's not like he grew out of this sort of ends-justify-the-means behavior, seeing as he's absolutely obsessed with stopping his father ASAP, by any means possible, in the finale, when there was no such urgency to be found ever since he joined the Gaang. How isn't he more worried about stopping Ozai than about becoming best friends with the Gaang? Immediately sharing everything he's learned about Ozai's intentions of destroying the whole world might not make them friends instantaneously, but it would certainly get someone like Sokka to take his information seriously and immediately begin strategizing how to counter Ozai's plans. Instead, Zuko spent all those weeks, over a month, even, teaching Aang firebending, going on field trips and hanging out with his new friends in Ember Island. Once you have all the cards on deck and you actually look at all of them at once, doesn't it feel like there were so many more ways to achieve what the show was going for, far more effective ways than through the "let's be friends with Zuko" arc?

Ultimately, there's very little display of growth, in my opinion, in this small arc, on Zuko's side, despite the most obvious and reasonable way to earn the trust of the Gaang would be by outright showing them how much he's grown. I won't deny I appreciate that the writers respected his personality and didn't just warp him into the perfect good softboi the way the fandom apparently interprets him, but even if Zuko was going to be cranky and speak one-liners like "I'm never happy", it wasn't impossible to write better situations for him to connect with the Gaang's members and gain their trust. Even if the writers were set on having these episodes happen exactly as they did, they absolutely could have been written in a much better way, to create an explicit and direct contrast between Zuko's early behavior and the new Zuko's behavior when it comes to things that matter (most the parallels I've seen the fandom drawing are things like "oh look he hated tea before but now he brews it for his friends! So much growth!"... would've been nice to see the growth when it came to a lot of other things, too, if the growth really was there? Am I rite...?).

I may just be influenced by other redemption arcs that focus mainly on characters having common goals and working together to achieve them, then becoming friends in the process... but I really don't see how Zuko's character benefited from these episodes. Yes, bridges were built... but they absolutely could have been built in a more organic way that didn't make people like myself (and a few others) question if Zuko had learned or grown at all, considering the way he behaves isn't all that distant from the Zuko we've seen and known throughout the rest of the show. And the fact that he really seems to have learned nothing in The Southern Raiders once you reach the show's finale... you're basically asked to take for granted Zuko did learn a lot of lessons because he says he did, to assume he's going to put them into practice sometime in the future despite he has chances to do it during the show itself but never does, simply because they drop the ball upon every opportunity to show how much he's changed.

I really don't blame his character at all, when it comes to these shortcomings... it's seriously, genuinely, a problem with the writing department. Take a look through the fandom and you'll see thousands of people who claim Zuko's character arc is the most touching, complex and beautiful writing they ever have seen... and why? Because we're in the face of tell-don't-show :'D most people's perception of Zuko's character are based not so much on HOW Zuko displays his growth, it's strongly based on him stating he made progress, even if there's too many instances where the growth simply seems to have fallen to the wayside or gone forgotten for the sake of a plotline or another. Zuko absolutely could have been written far better than this, he could absolutely have the redemption arc his fans are sure he does have, but for me... there's way too many gaps in logic, too many missed opportunities, to truly think his growth was as extraordinary as a lot of people are hung up on saying it was.

[strawbebehmod]

My hot take about the atla comics

Good things:

Iroh inventing boba tea

Ursa standing up to ozai and leaving him begging her to grovel at his feet to feel powerful

Expanded mythological lore with new and interesting spirits

Zuko bending rainbow fire

Toph having good things like a bending academy and a potential budding romance with a nerd

Kiyi and zuko's relationship

Iroh and zuko's interactions

Iroh in general

Every scene with the kyoshi warriors

Zuko and Mai having more interaction time

The suki and sokka moments

Azula during the search

The cute katara and aang moments

Explaining cultural appropriation scene

Bad things:

The bullshit with kiyi inexpicitly hating Ursa

The bullshit with Ursa changing her face and forgetting her children

Alzula-post the search

The stupid on again off again bullshit with Mai and zuko either have them be friends or in a relationship, stop torturing Mai guys.

The use of misunderstandings to further the plot

The way people seem to jump to the most dire action almost immediately instead of taking a moderate approach all the damn time

The need for all the stories to be trillogies (pls bring back the anthology comic sets)

Turning smellerbee into kinda a mini jet

How everyone in the firenation seems to think ozai was a great leader despite him directly harming his own people like with the factory

Zuko's detractors being made out to be like they are in the right at times (not talking about them not being strawmen but like, zuko actually considering if he's a bad leader for doing the right thing)

Ozai getting any acknowledgement from zuko

The continued lack of zuko toph interaction

In general how toph was just left out of things after a while

The obnoxious kataraxaang moments

Sokka acting like a child for a good chunk of the comics

Lao Beifong being the only one of her parents toph has a talk with even though its implied throughout the series the more complicated relationship she has is with her mother

I realize these may be controversial but they are my opinions

[liquidink21]

If I were doing the Avatar Remake

Just a list of things changes and tweaks to the original I would make to Avatar if I was in charge of this netflix remake, given that we’ve all lost hope in it and now I’m just speculating to make myself feel better. I’ve already made a list of things it really needs, and this list includes them, but I’m just going to go hog wild with my imagination and opinions on Avatar. In a rough order of when I think and them and what episode it becomes relevant.

How long are these new episodes going to be? I’d like to extend them for more story content, though am wary of overdoing it. How does thirty minutes sound? Enough for some more depth to some episodes.

I think it should be pointed out earlier on that there are more villages across the South Pole. This is canon, and would make the Southern Water Tribe feel more alive.

Aang’s friends from the past: in addition to Kuzon and Bumi, give him a Northern Water Tribe pal. He’s never been to the South Pole, and was deliberately coming to make new friends somewhere the Monks wouldn’t think to look for him. We can reference this friend again when we reach the North Pole.

Somebody, probably Iroh, mentions Zuko’s name in front of Aang. It’s always infuriated me that the Gaang know’s Zuko’s name suddenly in Warriors of Kyoshi without anyone telling them what it is. I don’t think it needs its own episode, just somebody says it while he’s captured.

The terms of Zuko’s banishment don’t restrict him from the colonies in the Earth Kingdom, so they don’t consider those colonies to be proper Fire Nation territory. I feel they should have their own name, just to make the politics of the show feel deeper. “The Eastern Protectorate” is a nice reference to the Chinese “Protectorate of the Western Territories.” Zhao can namedrop it when they go to his port.

The fact that Kyoshi Island has such a different culture from the main Earth Kingdom should be brought up. The answer is a mix between isolation and cultural exchange with the Southern Water Tribe. Katara and Sokka probably have a passing knowledge of the island. “Oh, that’s where we are.” Also, if Aang knew to come here for the Koi fish, how didn’t he know about there being Kyoshi revering settlements there?

There should be an adult Kyoshi Warrior training the others. She approves of Suki training Sokka, and comments on the rarity of outsiders and men being Kyoshi Warriors. I feel Sokka is the first outsider, but there was another man. Adult warrior gives the explanation that when she was a young trainee, a man working on the docks was teased for “fighting like a girl” so warriors taught him exactly like a girl.

There should be an Earthbending Kyoshi Warrior. I mean Kyoshi herself was a bender, the art can’t be exclusively a non-bending form.

Maybe point out that there are multiple villages on the island. This is in fact canon.

Haru’s mother and village could use some actual names.

We never see any non-bending Earth Kingdom soldiers. I loved how the Fire Nation has different uniforms for its bending and non-bending warriors, and I’d like to see the same for the Earth Kingdom troops.

I want to know more about those pirates? The captain is ethnically a Fire Nation citizen. Is there a story behind that? A navy deserter? Like an opposite of Jeong Jeong, deserting not for ethics but because he didn’t like duty getting in the way of fortune? I’m probably just overthinking it.

The names of the Freedom Fighters are obviously pseudonyms, and Jet probably urges the Gaang to adopt some themselves.

While I don’t actually feel that Aang lying to the two groups in The Great Divide is an unforgivable wrong, I feel the lie itself was a little demeaning and could have been a little more sophisticated.

I have seen that post saying there needs to be more Indians in Avatar than just Guru Pathik, given how many Indian concepts are in the show. Many people also share the opinion that there should be Indian airbenders, so yes they should appear in the flashbacks in The Storm (and The Southern Air Temple as well). Also some Earth Kingdom villages should be Indian based as well. I think the market from The Waterbending Scroll could be a good place to start, maybe the port from The Storm as well, though probably somewhere that isn’t just a background place as well. Maybe the nuns in Bato of the Water Tribe too.

Iroh could be less creepy with June.

Ah, The Northern Air Temple. Honestly I feel that while the ultimate message of Aang being okay with the Mechanist and his people settling in the Air Temple is okay, I feel it needs to end with a greater emphasis on the Mechanist’s people being more respectful to the site. Ramming pipes through historical mosaics and demolishing statues is really not on. Also, while Sokka being cool with industrialisation is in character, I do think he’d disapprove the desecration.

I feel the fact that a lot of the Fire Nation’s technological might (not all of it, though) is riding off the back of a blackmailed Earth Kingdom citizen is something that could be brought up more often.

Yue’s story with the Moon Spirit needs to be explained almost immediately, so that it’s not kind of an arse-pull when the plot needs it.

Legend of Korra makes a big deal about the South gaining independence from the North, but they’re already treated as separate nations? I think it should be mentioned somewhere, probably from Hahn, that the South is technically subservient to the North, though operates with a great deal of autonomy that comes with not being able to contact each other.

The North is pretty sure it’s the original Water Tribe, but can’t say for sure. Hahn thinks of the South as nothing but a colony, though Arnook is more progressively minded and notes there are no records of who came first and treats the South as a sister tribe.

I think there’s another character worth adding, a captain of the Northern warriors. He can appear several more times throughout the series, which I’ll elaborate on.

Zhao comments “there’s a reason they’ve survived a hundred years of war” whereas other comments suggest the Northern Water Tribe has been sitting out of the war. Apparently the North did take uniforms from soldiers 85 years ago, so I think the idea should be that they received one big siege back then, and since then they’ve been experiencing raids since then culling their villages and forcing them into that single fortified city-state. Since then, their ability to send ships out has been impeded by Fire Nation ships patrolling those water but not engaging the city itself until Zhao’s siege.

Yue, when mentioning the waterbenders learning from the Moon, should reference humanity receiving bending from the Lion Turtles, just to introduce the concept that bending could be given and therefore by implication taken away.

There’s a historical character I want to introduce: an Earth Kingdom general that was nearly able to push the Fire Nation out of the Earth Kingdom around half-way through the 100 Year War, but was taken down by internal Earth Kingdom politics. The Fire Nation had to do its conquests all over again because of him. It would help fill out a century of history that is poorly explained. I think he could be introduced by Sokka asking General Fong how they still have an outpost on the west coast when most of that region has been occupied by the Fire Nation.

Azula’s blue fire should be depicted like blue flames are in real life: very straight jets rather than the flickering things you see in the animation. Since it’s basically just powerful fire, I think it should be seen with a couple of other firebenders, though Azula is the only one that exclusively uses it. Jeong Jeong and Iroh would be good people to use it.

I saw a post once by a Korean rightfully upset that the only Korean characters in the show (Song and her village) are lumbered in with the essentially Chinese Earth Kingdom as if they’re the same culture despite Korea obviously being separate and having a poor history of China attempting to enforce hegemony over it. I think maybe something could be made of Song and her people being a distinct culture that has had a generally poor relationship with the Earth Kingdom at large. Maybe the previously mentioned Earth Kingdom general was screwed over for being of this culture.

I’m not sure how to depict the Swampbenders. They'll no longer be caricatures of the guys in the next studio, so they’ll be more respectfully treated and not hillbillies. I’m not sure if they should be Vietnamese (given the original characters have Vietnamese names) or southern Native Americans (given they’re waterbenders, and the other waterbenders are Inuits).

After failing to get Bumi as Aang’s earthbending teacher, they throw around suggestions. Since Aang is learning waterbending from Katara they consider a similarly aged Earthbender. Katara suggests they go find Haru, while Sokka suggests the earthbending Kyoshi Warrior I mentioned before.

I saw a post once suggesting that the Beifongs were collaborators, and while I think this is somewhat extreme, I would like to explore the interplay between their wealth and their position in the war. Also, the fact that Toph had been sheltered from the war and has far less of an emotional stake in it needs to be explored in more detail.

In the Zuko Alone flashbacks Azula really needs to be made out as a normal child with a bad influence (her father) instead of an inherently bad child. My sister points to this episode and claims Iroh or Ursa should have just drowned her and that’s something incredibly fucked up to say about a ten(?) year old.

In that vein, Iroh’s “no she’s crazy and needs to go down” line really needs to be changed to something more compassionate. Most Avatar meta states that Iroh doesn’t actually hate Azula; he’s just prioritising Zuko’s safety, and his line here needs to reflect that.

Aang should recognise the Lion-Turtle, and know that they gave humanity their bending powers. Just to keep that concept in mind, so that when it comes to the energybending climax it’s less of an arse-pull.

Wan Shi Tong’s morale compass and lumping a bunch of kids attempting to avoid genocide in with conquerors needs to be called out more, and I feel Katara should be the one to do it.

Suki gets to stay on for one extra episode and help fight the Drill. It also makes for a better explanation of how she got back. Right now it’s implied she went back across the Serpent’s Pass; in my own she’d explicitly head along the wall and go back with the ferries.

I want more discussion of Ba Sing Se’s social stratification. Was Jin able to visit the Jasmine Dragon? Or was she blocked from entering higher rings?

Toph’s lie detecting thing made into a spiritual or chi related thing. The whole heartbeat thing is pseudoscience.

The Northern Water Captain I mentioned earlier reappears, having met and joined his men with Hakoda’s. Hakoda praises his son with helping bridge the gap between the two water tribes.

Ty Lee gets more appearances in Book 3, even if just in the background. She got some nice development in The Beach and I want to see more of it as Azula’s brought her out of that circus and back into the Fire Nation nobility.

Sparky Sparky Boom Man’s tattoo has a different design that is not a villainised appropriation of a Hindu symbol. Something nice and geometric, maybe sun based.

Hawky at some point returns to Team Avatar. I want them legitimised as a member of the Gaang! Equal status to Momo and Appa! Also I suppose bringing a letter back from the Beifongs could have significance to Toph. But let Hawky return!

Hama has a more compassionate ending. I feel after she’s led away, Sokka figures it’s pretty fucked up that they’re handing one of their own over to the Fire Nation so they go and rescue her. They give her a choice between joining them to fight during the eclipse or returning to the South Pole to help rebuild the Southern Water Tribe (given that there’s Notherners helping rebuild she could help make sure they rebuild it in the style of the south and not a facsimile of the north). She chooses the latter.

No weird Guru Pathik during Aang’s hallucinations please.

While discussing the allies that Hakoda picked up, he mentions some people he couldn’t get: they couldn’t find the Kyoshi Warriors, the Sandbenders didn’t want to come, the Omashi Resistance wanted to use the eclipse to retake their city, and General Fong’s outpost had been overrun. Just flesh out things a little.

Sokka and the other Water Tribe warriors should be wearing that facepaint for the Invasion.

I want more interaction with The Duke, Haru, and Teo with the Gaang.

Chit Sang’s girlfriend and friend join with the second escape instead of being strangely absent. Also, who is he? Sokka probably looks him up to make sure they’re not bringing a serial killer into their midst. Preferably not, I like to think they were thrown in there for opposing the war.

I’d like Suki to learn from Hakoda that the other Kyoshi warriors are alive, if imprisoned.

Suki doesn’t like wearing prison clothes and attempts a facsimile of Kyoshi islander clothes by stealing Katara and Haru’s clothes.

Some more emotions between Sokka and Suki relating to her imprisonment please. There’s a lot of pent up trauma there and I’d like them to work through it.

People like to play up Katara’s “you obviously didn���t love her as much as I did” line into an insight to a horrible character rather than just something stupid said in the heat of the moment, though I do think Katara should apologise, if only to show the haters that this isn’t her personality.

Training with Aang, Zuko finds out he has the peace of mind to do lightning. He wouldn’t use it against Azula, but it would be a nice demonstration that his inner turmoil is more or less resolved.

The adult Kyoshi Warrior I mentioned at the very beginning of this reappears as a White Lotus member. She, for whatever reason, has a replacement warrior uniform for Suki, because I feel Suki shouldn’t have to go through the climax in a Fire Nation disguise. Also maybe Sokka should be wearing his warpaint too? I mean it’s culturally significant to him.

You want lightning? No I don’t. Azula’s growing inner turmoil denies her the use of lightning, mirroring Zuko’s original inability to use it when he was lost and confused. So when it comes to sneakily zapping Katara it’s just her fire, but a flame more concentrated (and by implication, rage-fueled) than we’ve ever seen from her. A veritable beam that Zuko has to put his all into deflecting, opening him up to an attack. A non-lethal attack; Azula still has that line about “the family physician”. She doesn’t want Zuko dead and leaves him be when he’s down. Despite going off the deep end there is a spark of compassion in her that stops her from doing that.

As I’ve stated previously, Aang needs to do something slightly more significant and spiritual in order to access the Avatar State again rather than that stupid rock. Some sort of spiritual lesson.

As I’ve said a few times now, the Lion-Turtles should be known to the audience by now, along with their ability to give bending to humans, so that the ability to take bending has been implied.

The weird orange-vs-blue lightshow with the energy bending was kind of melodramatic, though the corruption-vs-purity thing could still be visually represented by Ozai trying to physically overpower Aang and failing.

Possibly to be continued.

[greatfay]

atla for the ask meme, again! and some unpopular opinions thrown in maybe? mwah

my all-time ultimate fave character: 

Prince Zuko. The angst, the drama, the stream of terrible choices, the hair (all four phases of it), and of course, the redemption. Zuko fucked me up as a kid. He set the bar so high for redemption arcs, and still to this day I’ve yet to see someone live up to it. STILL. Actually maybe Minya in Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer, where the only truly evil characters are long-dead before the story starts. But Zuko really set the bar. He just tries SO hard, the way they handled his character was celestial.

a character I didn’t used to like but now do:

Azula. Don’t drag me but obviously the first time I saw Azula, I was, what, 10? I actually think my timeline was off, in my Harry Potter post I said something about Book 2 coming out when I was 10 , I think I was 11. Anyway, the first time I saw Azula I was just like fuck she’s scary, and throughout book 2 she compounded this point by being fucking scary, so I didn’t like her because she’s The Bad Guy.

But then my brain grew in and now I’m like “she’s the most psychologically complex character I’ve ever seen in my life” and I literally love her. I could write an essay on how she’s not a sociopath at all, she’s got a Machiavellian type-A personality but she’s not a sociopath (which I think strips a lot of complexity from her character), she’s very much a product of her environment and it’s a fascinating examination of Nurture vs. Nature when you compare her and Zuko.

She turns defense into offense, look at that. She never loses ground in a fight.

a character I used to like but now don’t:

Hmm... I don’t think my opinion has changed on any of them tbh. They’re well-rounded, likable characters. Oh there’s one, Master Pakku! As a kid I was like oh he sucks cuz he’s sexist, then he trains Katara and I’m like ok he’s cool. But then?? I grew up and realized this man enforces this same societal bullshit, he just made an exception for Katara because he had a hard-on for her grandma so it’s some Snape bullshit lmao. So he’s the only I started to like and stopped liking.

a character I’m indifferent about:

Suki. She’s often depicted (in media and out) as a part of Team Avatar, despite appearing in only 4 episodes. FOUR. I really like her character, mostly because she’s a great example of a character playing important roles who doesn’t need a big character arc or development or even flaws. Think about it: Suki doesn’t have character flaws. She’s noble, honest but not naive, clever, a good leader, she doesn’t have flaws, she’s there to be there, and that’s perfectly fine. Wish I knew more about her tbh, like where is she by the timeline of Legend of Korra.

a character who deserved better:

Suki, lmao. Because she doesn’t appear a lot. And Ursa I guess, because I read Smoke & Fire and her arc with her daughter rejecting her face is so weird to meeeeee. It’s such a weird element.

a ship I’ve never been able to get into:

Zukaang. One’s a middle-schooler and the other is a high school junior, ew lmao. Zukka as well because idk, by the time these two interact without anyone else, other ships have cropped up and taken hold. Also Tyzula because Azula is cruel to her (but she’s also one of the few people she shows genuine affection toward without performing).

a ship I’ve never been able to get over:

None. I’m fine with most of the canon pairings but not head over heels. Maybe Sokka/Yue? That was sad.

a cute, low-key ship:

Zuko and his honor.

an unpopular ship but I still enjoyed it:

None tbh!

a ship that was totally wrong and never should have happened:

Ursa/Ozai lmao. Poor Ursa.

my favourite storyline/moment:

All of the tension from several gd episodes that led up to the Crystal Cave climax of Book 2. Runner up is Katara’s revenge arc. Bro... she stopped the rain. And I loved the look of awe on Zuko’s face like “thank GOD I switched sides.”

a storyline that never should have been written:

None?? ATLA is a near-perfect story. The ending is the most controversial part but I’m old enough now that I get it. I guess energy bending could’ve been hinted at way earlier, like maybe by the Guru guy, but I���m cool with the ending.

my first thoughts on the show:

Great show, love it, I wanna be an airbender, wtf was that ending.

my thoughts now:

Great show, love it, I wanna be an airbender, ohhhh of course the 12-year-old wasn’t going to murder a man on a children’s show lmao I get it now. And that’s that.

Ask me about a tv series/movie/franchise/book!

[cluebottles]

Consuming Avatar: The Last Airbender for the First Time...

... at 23 years old. 

**Some Major Spoilers Ahead for Plot Lines and the Ending -- If you haven’t seen Avatar: The Last Air Bender I highly suggest you watch it before you read

[Before I begin: I live in America. Currently and since the “founding” of our country, minorities have not been treated as equal -- Black people in our country have been treated as less than human and have been brutally murdered at the hands of the police and the hands of our governing system of racist oppression since the beginning. It’s still happening. It will continue to happen if we ignore this, if we give up, if we push forward without enacting change. Be safe when you are protesting. Educate people who might not understand. Use your platform to speak out, to share information and resources. Donate if you can. Here’s some resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ ] Alright, so the spoiler alert is out there in the open and I’ve addressed our current situation, I guess we should jump in with a little back story of my history with Avatar. As a kid, I never watched it. I still pretended to water bend in the pool -- Avatar transcended more than just television. The idea of controlling the elements around you was magnificent enough to bleed into that weird group of kids who never watched it growing up. I also had one Avatar video game that I barely played...because I didn’t watch the show...so I didn’t know what was going on. Trying to watch something and be caught up as a kid without streaming services was just impossible, so I’m lucky to not only have the complete box sets now, but we’re all lucky Netflix has graced us with the story to binge-watch.

I want to first start off and say that overall I highly enjoyed this show. Everyone I knew has praised it as being an important character building experience that made them the person they are today -- and while I can understand that, and some of that is not only important and moving, I’m also here to criticize that, just a little bit. 

Let’s start off with the characters and story-- both of which mostly fantastic. I mean, Uncle Iroh is a phenomenon I’d only heard of and honestly had to think he was overrated until I fell in love with him on screen.   

I think Uncle Iroh is also a very important character because he shows an important and believable character growth -- he was a war criminal. He was pushing forward, killing innocent people as he attempted to conquer the great Earth Nation city Ba Sing Se. His son was killed in the war he was raging, and he gave up and went home and over years has worked on himself to have the wisdom he is known for and astounding character growth. “But didn’t he save the last two dragons?” ...you can do a good thing while also doing other bad things. Lmfao. He is constantly trying to steer his nephew, Zuko, in a more positive direction, while also providing scattered support to the Aang Gang more than once throughout the entirety of the series. (RIP to Uncle Iroh’s original voice actor, Mako Iwamatsu, and I praise the beautiful story dedicated to him in Uncle Iroh’s tale, an episode that made me cry once I realized it was a dedication to him.)

Let’s contrast this to these two -- both having the least believable character growth(s? ses? ???) I’ve ever seen.  

Everyone says “that ZUKO CHARACTER GROWTH ARC THO” and I just... I don’t have the same energy for it. Maybe it’s my most unpopular opinion on this show? But ... it’s just so rushed. I do think this series ended too soon, and I know it goes beyond just this show in comics, but as a consumer of just this show, it was flat to me. “I MUST HAVE THE AVATAR” to “I MUST HELP THE AVATAR SAVE THE WORLD” but a majority of him in this series has been the former while the last season, really, has been the latter. We stan reassessment and learning and bettering the world, but some of the first times he’s helped the Avatar has been for his own personal gain because he wants the glory so he can go home to his abusive family. I wish he would have been given more time to have a more realistic turnaround, because the beginning and the end are there -- it’s just a weird muddled middle that doesn’t make sense to me. The same with the hatred of his father. We’re not given much between “I NEED TO RESTORE MY HONOR AND COME HOME TO MY FATHER” and “I WILL HELP THE AVATAR KILL YOU” and I think that’s a shame. 

Mai... I just... I can’t even.. like I don’t know where to begin on how underwhelming her betrayal of Azula is. Like yes, it has shock value, but besides the shock value, to me, it’s unbelievable. Yes, she has had a crush on Zuko since they were kids, but she’d been closer to Azula than him for most of her life. Even in the EPISODE where she does this betrayal she has very little time alone with Zuko. He tricks her and traps her in his cell, and just moments before this she’s accusing him of going against her and their entire nation. In scenes we see them together before this she’s broken up with him and shouted at him, they’ve gotten into fights, a lot, and she’s seen talking about the perks of dating a prince, relishing in the fact that she gets them too. To me her betrayal is unbelievable. I don’t hate her at all though! I honestly just think she needed more screen time so that we could be shown her doubts about the Fire Nation and how strong her relationship to Zuko actually is. 

I guess it’s time for another unpopular opinion -- I can’t stand Sokka and Yue. They don’t have chemistry. Yue is literally engaged to a dickbag and instead of doing what was best for her, she was going to just go through with it. Also, Yue and Sokka don’t know each other that well nor have they known each other for that long, whereas Suki met Sokka first. Suki and Sokka have a natural chemistry. Sokka takes Suki for granted, a lot, but they’re fantastic. 

Cluebottles’ Top Ten Favorite Character List

Uncle Iroh

Sokka 

Toph

Suki

Avatar Roku

Appa & Momo

Avatar Kiyoshi

Katara

Aang

Zuko

Now, we know Uncle Iroh preaches humility, growth, peace and harmony. And while a lot of the time I would agree, there are some times where I don’t. Here is my biggest criticism of the show: love doesn’t conquer all, and Avatar: The Last Airbender sloppily tries to enforce that it does ‘til the awkward end of the series.

I understand that this is a children’s show. However, the fact that it’s about war and multiple people have died during the show (even if it wasn’t always outright shown), I don’t think killing the Fire Lord would have been unwarranted. If anything, it’s another show that pushes “no matter what be the bigger person”, “no matter what, love is the only way”, “you can’t fight hatred with hatred”, which ultimately does not work, and furthers the bullying of people or the oppression of people. 

Aang is supposed to save the world, and when it comes down to it, he can’t kill the Fire Nation’s Leader, Lord Ozai, who is the third in straight succession to lead the assault on conquering the other nations. A war of 100 years ends “peacefully” -- except for all of the people who lost their lives fighting for their family and freedom against the Fire Nation. 

Aang seeks council from his previous Avatar incarnations -- and each of them tell him to take out the Fire Lord for the good of the world. That’s Aang’s only job as the Avatar -- to keep the balance and work for the good of the world. 

Instead of him bringing down the swift hand of justice, Aang learns how to bend energy (wtf?) at the literal last minute from a giant lion turtle so that he can bend the energy (again, wtf?) out of Ozai and take his bending power away. Even when the kid gets the snot knocked out of him and the Avatar state takes over, Aang stops it. And then he bends the energy (wtf x3) out of Ozai successfully even though the turtle tells him it can corrupt him entirely if he does it wrong, that it’s extremely hard to do, and even though he’s never practiced doing it.

Iroh was a war criminal. He reformed himself and helped the community he hurt when he really never had to. Zuko has his own “character development arc” where he goes from being bad to goodish to bad again to okay to bad to finally  good. He’s a kid, he’s still learning, and has changed drastically for the better.  Azula...Azula had been struggling with some form of mental illness/psychosis since she was a small child even into adulthood. She’s hateful and dangerous, but not only is she still a kid -- she should be (and is) locked up so she can’t ever hurt anyone again. 

Fire Lord Ozai is an adult, fully aware of his actions, has killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people in his wake trying to take over territories and kill other benders, enslave them, and imprison them. Even when confronted by the Avatar, resistance, and his own son peacefully, not only does he start the violence in retaliation, but he doesn’t learn from being shown compassion. He is literally already a war criminal, there should be no compassion left for anyone to show him. My point being that there’s a stark difference between him and others who may have been like him. 

So in the end, the big message that this sends to me is that you should always show love and compassion. Never resort to violence. Be the “bigger person”, like I mentioned above, and like I said this doesn’t translate to real life. I think a huge reason why I feel I need to criticize this and other children’s shows that push this message is that we are being fed this narrative at a young age while we’re being bullied, while we’re facing hatred from others whether it’s because of the color of our skin, our gender, our sexuality -- we are expected to always be the “better person”. Our problems will somehow amicably be fixed by love. We shouldn’t actively be trying to dismantle a system taking advantage of and killing minorities, all I have to do is be nice. As we grow that feeds into our naive outlook on protesting and rioting, our outlooks on lawmaking and leadership. “Well they just made their whole movement look bad” “You should never resort to violence” -- meanwhile the police have been murdering black people for years and years, and people have been “peacefully protesting” that. Rioting was what got freedoms for several different movements, whether it’s worker’s rights, lgbt+ rights, the "civil rights act”, rioting is what literally got the USA the “freedom” to begin with. 

In the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang is gifted at the last moment with the ability to take away Lord Ozai’s power and ultimately, have a peace restored without violence. In the real world, you cannot take away the power of war criminals and oppressors because they have the power in a system stacked against you. So trying to answer such a huge life question, trying to end a war in the real world, trying to take down oppressors -- showing them love and trying to fumble it on your own sense of humility does nothing. 

I watched this show unfold and finish moments before I watched people take to the streets to protest yet another black life lost by the hands of police brutality and systemic racsim. Watching George Floyd die just for being black in America, knowing all of the black lives lost every day just because they are black in America to then look at a show that tries to push a message like “love conquers all”, “violence is unnecessary”, just makes me angry because we live in a world where these sentiments, though nice, don’t exist.

That being said, I’m glad this show meant a lot to people, because it did mean a lot to me too. For some reason, it gives me a strange sense of hope. This is probably my favorite show and I’m watching it again after just finishing it. If you haven’t watched it, there are a lot of lessons that can be learned to positively affect you and make you take a step back and re-evaluate, and maybe implement some of Uncle Iroh’s wisdom into your life.  

[araeph]

How do you see relationships between the Gaang progressing throughout adulthood? Bryke obviously did a bad job portraying them in general, and seeing how the other avatar writers felt the same, I imagined so much more for our favorite characters than what Bryke lazily did. Any thoughts on other characters like June?

First of all, therewould be NO leaving Zuko completely on his own to govern the Fire Nation. Thatis just a stupid move politically, militarily,

Jack: Spiritually, ecumenically, dramatically …

You name it. Thismeans that Iroh stays in the Fire Nation with Zuko, so that rather thanbacksliding by chatting with Ozai, Zuko would gain ground in his mission toredeem himself and the Fire Nation. The first few years would be extremelyvolatile, and there would be a lot of challenges ahead. He would have to searchfor his mother and reconcile, somehow, with Azula. But you know who would havebeen there to help him?

Aang. No, not theAang who decided “A promise is a promise!” and went into the Avatar State twice to attack Zuko. No, this Aang hascomplete control of the Avatar State, as he shouldhave by the end of the show, since that was one of the main goals of hischaracter. Aang would have gone to the Fire Nation first, since he spent theleast amount of time there out in the open and would have major trustrebuilding to do after what happened with Ozai.

During his time inthe Fire Nation, he would have discovered Ty Lee as an untrained airbender.This would give him the impetus to start looking for other airbenders, whomight not even know about their gifts. He would have difficulty with awork-life balance, but he would eventually find a way with the help of:

Toph. Toph’smetalbending academy is something I wholeheartedly approve of. I think sheshould eventually become a businesswoman and use her family’s vast wealth tomake Gaoling (and their new ally, Omashu) alternate power centers, so Ba SingSe wouldn’t have such a stranglehold on the rest of the Earth Kingdom, with metalbenders initially acting as private security, and later, a police force in the city. But while I understand that Toph has the attitude of a beat cop, she hates the city,walls, and rules, and there would be a bunch of all three if she became Chiefof Police. (P.S. She would have many more tea times with Uncle, and get that life-changing field trip with Zuko we allwanted to see.)

Toph would alsohave issues to sort through with her parents, and she would probably never seeeye to eye with her family. But one person would help coach her through it:

Katara. At first,Katara would bury herself in her work at the South Pole, helping her father,brother, and Pakku rebuild the Southern Water Tribe. She would be at the heartof social justice issues, especially for Water Tribe women, and would challengemore than one antiquated idea that the Northerners would bring with them. Shewould get many marriage offers once she turned sixteen, and to take a breakfrom it, she would answer Zuko’s request help find his mother. This leads toher realizing how stifled she feels at home, where everyone expects her tocater to them, in addition to helping lead their tribe. She would apply for adiplomatic post to the Fire Nation and eventually create her own cross-bendingschool, adapting her school from Toph’s metalbending academy. At first, shewould worry about not being at home enough to help the women’s rights movementin the Water Tribe, but someone else has the situation under control:

Suki. Suki would bean asset as the head of the Kyoshi Warriors, and also as a partner for Sokka.Her island’s location and the fact that the villagers wear blue all point toWater Tribe influence on Kyoshi anyway, and once the war is over and tradebegins booming again, she would work to make Kyoshi less of a spectator in theworld and more of a participant. She would be an excellent role model forSouthern Water Tribe girls who don’t want to be pigeonholed into the homemakerideal, and could also play a part in Republic City eventually. As the leader ofan island that was neutral during the war, Suki would be an ideal person tohave on the Republic City Council. (P.S. Why it’s a Council of Five when thereare no nonbending representatives in LOK is a mystery to me. This would fixthat oversight.) But who would lead the Kyoshi Warriors if she took up such aposition?

Ty Lee. Ty Lee didn’tget a real explanation for why she joined the Kyoshi Warriors, especiallyconsidering her misgivings about spending the rest of her life as a matchedset. She could turn the tables on the idea, lending individuality to theWarriors and teaching them chi blocking techniques while learning some of theirfighting styles as well. These nonbenders could eventually form the Equalistmovement, but a different one than in LOK—a morally ambiguous movement, insteadof a villainous cadre led by a demagogue.

In the end, though,Ty Lee is a wanderer, and I’m inclined to believe that she is, in fact, anuntrained Air Nomad. Eventually she would discover this, and that not only isshe not part of a matched set; she is possibly one of the rarest human beingsin the world. This would interfere with her “aura” for sure, because she’s notnecessarily cut out for the ascetic Air Nomad lifestyle. So while she would behappy for Aang to train her, she might also butt heads with him about how tobest secure the Air Nomad legacy for the future. Of course, since the AirAcolytes in Korra treated Kya andBumi so abysmally, in my opinion this could only be a good thing. Through itall, she would still keep in touch with:

Mai. I have adifferent character path planned for Mai than what other fans might suggest. Maibecoming a bounty hunter is a popular fanon idea, which makes sense, since shedid seem to enjoy tracking down Zuko and Iroh so that Azula could imprisonthem for life, as anyone would enjoy doing to a person they supposedly had acrush on. To me, Mai’s poker face and cool-under-fire attitude screams“White Lotus”, of which there are no female members that we know at the endof A:TLA. The main obstacle to inducting her into the Order would be that theWhite Lotus is based on principles of interconnection and understanding othercultures, which Mai categorically does not have. But this is one of the placesshe could thus grow the most, without having such character development tied toa specific person. The fact that she fooled the Fire Princess means she canplay both sides skillfully, which she’ll need to, considering a rival to theidea of a balanced world is going to be:

Azula. With Ozaiimprisoned and without his bending, Azula is the most creditable foe thefranchise still has. Patchy though her sanity might be, she is still extremelydangerous (as we saw during the Agni Kai). In an ideal world, she would use heralmost preternatural instincts for personal weakness and manipulation to be aruler, but the very confidence she exudes is based on her rigid mindset and afalse sense of Fire Nation superiority. As natural as leadership might be forher, she burned all her bridges when she banished or imprisoned every followershe had. I like the idea of her relearning the meaning of firebending from thedragons and bringing the Sun Warriors into the modern era, but it would be avery painful character path for her when just being mentally stable is a hugehurdle. I think she would need to stay in the Fire Nation for several years,slowly healing with Zuko’s help, before even attempting it.

There is one otherpath that I would consider for Azula, and that is: the Spirit World. Azula isnot a terribly spiritual person, but a spiritual journey such as Iroh underwentmight actually help her. It could train her mind to separate illusion and self-deceptionfrom reality, and give her a better sense of where she belongs in the world.Not to mention, the Spirit World is dangerous and full of tricksters such asKoh; I think she would enjoy the challenge.

And what about Sokka?

Well, Sokka’s character got shoved to the side in the comics, but honestly, him being on the Republic City council, helping the White Lotus, and likely being chief one day is just fine! Legend of Korra didn’t really do him the disservice that it did the other characters. However, there is one thing that he will never, EVER be, and that is the possible deadbeat dad of Suyin. For my reasons why, please look at this post.

I don’t have ideasfor anyone else, really, but we can’t leave out our most important character:

The GAang. In thecomics and LOK, the GAang all seem to have gone their separate ways, especiallywith Zuko being so isolated from everyone except Aang. Katara, too, seemsvery cut off from current events, which is unacceptable. The GAang remainedlifelong friends, regardless of any romantic relationships or lack thereof.Busy and hazardous as their lives might have been, they would always make thetime to write, visit, plan projects, and attend reunions together.

(P.S. I don’t knowthat June needs to develop as a character; she’s one of those tertiarypersonalities that’s just fine with the amount of screentime she has.)

[ashruin-a-blog]

WHY LEGEND OF KORRA IS ... NOT GREAT.

so i’ve had this on my mind for a very long time & i’ve decided to finally just put my opinion out there in full. i will be talking about my personal opinion about the legend of korra as a series. this is gonna be long so it’s under a read more.

in order for me to talk about this i will be addressing the overarching flaws of the show including timing , series arcs , character development , etc. again , this is all my opinion but i will be drawing for the show for some specific points.

1) LORE CHANGE.

this cannot be avoided & is one of the main reasons why the show failed for me personally. also , i have to heavily draw from ATLA in comparison , simply because it was the template for LOK. in ATLA , we were given a vague description of ‘ why ‘ the avatar universe worked. truthfully , we didn’t need an explanation about bending other than : there were original benders that people learned from. although briefly mentioned before , it is spoken of mostly in S3 E13  , evidence of that   HERE. 

we do not need an origin of the avatar to fall in love with this universe. regardless , LOK decides to give korra a flashback to wan , the original avatar who did not learn from the dragons , but was rather endowed with the mystical powers of firebending from a lionturtle & greedily decided to keep them for himself. of course , there’s no problems with vigilante justice or an anti - hero , but there’s really no motivation for his character other than stealing food & this directly changes the ideology presented in the original series. & personally , is somewhat of a let down. the original avatar , the first person to master all four elements , was nothing more than essentially an accident. 

another conflict arises in the wan arc : what the avatar is in & of itself. in the original series , the avatar is essentially just that : an avatar of the universe’s spirit. a representative that is created to restore balance to the world. in LOK , the avatar is a mesh between spirit & man. there is nothing inherently wrong with this ideology , but it is different than what was originally presented. in the original series , there was no mention of raava or vaatu. in fact , most spirits were based in animalistic creatures such was   WAN SHI TONG   ,   KOH   ,   etc.   whereas raava & vaatu have strange designs that are not based in anything previously shown or alluded to. again , there is nothing wrong with this in a standalone series , but there is a conflict that is unavoidable in watching the two shows & comparing their origins.

2) WRITING

the first season of LOK was the one that made the most sense to me , even there , i found issue with the plot & world building. ( but that’s a different meta , in short : how did they progress from simple warships to radio & cars in 70 years , why not have the villain ACTUALLY be an oppressed non-bender ? ) i think that if they kept it a mini - series , i would have been able to overlook many of the issues that arose later in the series. LOK addresses many mature issues & i will praise it for that , but the later writing is subpar at best with multiple plot holes &  features confusing or plain lack of character development. there are so many deus ex machina’s that i can’t even count them : korra suddenly learning airbending is one of the major ones from the beginning of the series. the show itself doesn’t have enough time to tell the story that it aims to tell & i think that is unfortunate. i believe a major reason for the lack of stellar development & writing issues is because the head writer for ATLA did not return for LOK. evidence for that   HERE.  this is not the first show that has nose dived because the original writers did not return , i just think it’s a shame because of what LOK could have been.

3) CHARACTERIZATION

although this could be a sub-category of the last one , i have decided to give it it’s own category due to how many issues arise with it.

KORRA 

many of my issues with the series truly stem from korra herself. i concede , she is an extremely strong character , iron - willed & stubborn. but her negative aspects tend to outweigh the good ones. for the main protagonist of a series , this is not a good sign. for the sake of comparison , i would think that korra is almost akin to an outspoken version of zuko , before he changed sides. he was extremely hotheaded , stubborn & iron - willed. although zuko had 1) a reason for his extreme behaviors 2) a redemption arc. but the difference is that zuko was punished ( either by a loss of capturing the avatar or some other issue ) whenever he didn’t think things through , whenever he flew off the handle. there was always some kind of realization that there is no reward for acting the way he did. korra , on the other hand is constantly rewarded for her behaviors & learns no lessons from having an attitude. her mentors seem to let her do what she wants & even when she is in trouble --- she’s really not. some deus ex machina or lack of proper caretaking will suddenly fix that. her character develops somewhere darker through the series , but she doesn’t truly change & develop into a more mature version of herself that i would have liked to see. her lack of sincere apology for any misdeed she does leaves me with a bad taste , i want more from her. in short , she’s unlikeable as a protagonist & the series suffers for it. 

BOLIN

the shining light of the series who is tossed aside with absolute zero development. bolin had extreme potential as a character. to become a great fighter , but still not be the most talented in the group. he is fun loving & kindhearted , a dynamic similar to sokka’s but still different enough to be even more likeable in my opinion. his humor is hilarious & personality an amazing contrast to the rest of the main cast. but after S1 we got nothing from him. pushed aside , he barely seemed part of the show. he was instead thrown around into different roles & relationships that didn’t suit his character. i would have loved to see bolin develop further with korra & asami , but especially mako. if we could have seen their relationship progress & more of bolin , i think his character would not have felt as wasted as it did.

ASAMI

asami is great , probably one of the best characters in the series. the only major flaw i have with her stems from something in S1 where she turns on her father that she has loved up until that turning point just to help people she barely knows -- but that can easily be overlooked & i won’t shame her for being a genuinely good person.

MAKO

truthfully , a similar issue as to what happened with bolin. although more on the forefront , mako did not have any character development. there as a crutch to korra’s character more than anything , i would have loved to see mako become more expressive as a character throughout the series. i did not see much from him after S2

anyways , might add more to this. i might not. take it or leave it. 

[kristallioness]

"North and South: Part Three" - a review

My copy of "North and South: Part Three" arrived exactly a week ago and I finally managed to read it (for the first time in the correct order without skipping any pages) yesterday early morning around 5-6 am. I'm not sure about the previous trilogies, but since I'm aware of how this one has received so much critique and it's probably my favourite out of all of them, I feel the need to share my more-positive thoughts (and protect my babies).

Before I begin, I'd like to point out what I've already written about some of the scenes/pages when I first saw them (basically my first feels about those moments): pages 5-15, 16-20, also a few random pages. Besides that, I wanna share this good review I accidentally stumbled across while searching for scans and this awesome video (with a fitting sound effect), where Katara slaying Gilak and Aang catching Hakoda has been animated.

----------x----------

Alright, since the third part starts with Toph Beifong and her students continuing the work at the oil refinery, I'll start with my thoughts on her. The way Toph talks to her students is hilarious - they're the most prestigious and only metalbending school in the world. When she asks Ho Tun whether they're metalbenders or lily livers and he hesitates before answering - priceless. Dude, like you ever had a choice.. I must agree with Toph that politics are (often) dumb.

Katara ain't interested in helping to build something that can potentially damage the environment of her home - darn right, I support her! For those who might not understand why she's against the oil refinery, please read my review of the second part over here. I've explained it pretty well why I can understand her concern, as well as why she's not happy about changing everything they've ever loved about home (like she says a bit angrily to Sokka, who's clearly much more excited).

Let me continue with some other side characters while I'm on the topic. There's one character I'd like to bring up here, who simply kept surprising me throughout this last part and who I am so-so proud of - Zuko. I just wanna hug him and tell him how proud I am of him, okay!? That moment when he said the Fire Nation is ready to help the Southern Water Tribe, especially since they've caused enough harm to them during the war - it reminded me of his daughter, Izumi, doing the contrary 70 years later when she refuses to join an unprovoked attack against Kuvira's army with the United Republic of Nations due to the Fire Nation's warlike history. Even the angle on their faces during these scenes is the same. Like father, like daughter for real here. Zuko's humility is worth noting.

There were some other fun moments with Zuko that I liked, such as how he and Sokka hugged during his arrival at the South Pole (for the first time after the war!). Can I just say, brotp for life? I love how this reminded me of Zuko hugging Aang before they parted ways in "Smoke and Shadow" (the angles of these scenes are the same, too), but now they're reuniting. Speaking of hugs, I cannot stress enough how much I love that the world leaders (Avatar Aang, Head Chieftain Hakoda, Earth King Kuei and Fire Lord Zuko) are getting along so well. I repeat, I wish that such a peaceful time would come to our world, too. Kuei offering Zuko to join him in Bosco's paws is such a simple, but sweet and caring act. This really gives 'bear hug' a new, quite literal meaning. Zuko being afraid of bears is another amusing fact. One final thing, I loved how the writers showed that Zuko's a master planner, too - like Sokka, he can anticipate their enemy's moves, understand the motives behind their demands and he knows how Gilak thinks. Also, crossing-his-arms pouty Zuko is adorkable and cute.

----------x----------

Enough about the side characters, I'll talk about the conference since it already came up earlier. Let's take a step back before the meeting because I love that Sokka supports Malina during the unrest in the beginning. She really needs someone (besides Hakoda) to be there for her during such a hard time - her brother Maliq was sent back to the Northern Water Tribe along with the rest of her crew, they were both nearly killed, she had to see the love of her life almost bleed to death right in front of her. She hasn't had it easy either.

I also enjoyed seeing Sokka's enthusiasm towards his father's presentation during the meeting, like a best friend cheering his mate on, supporting each other. Now that's the kind of father-son bond I love. I hadn't seen page 22 before, so that really made my heart skip a beat (in a good way, it was a nice surprise) - the foundation of the future Southern Water Tribe, laid down by Hakoda and Malina. I felt so happy to see the familiar plan of what we've already seen realized 70 years later (during TLOK Book 2). This connection made me smile. During the fight I loved the scene of Sokka throwing his boomerang to cut down the chandelier so it'd fall on the soldier's head. Look at his smug face, such satisfaction.

In contrast to Sokka's delight, I loved how an annoyed Katara defended her point of view when the Earth King declared that he might not be ready to aid them with their plans. Her comparison of the Outer Ring (I do believe she meant the Lower Ring though?) and her home in particular was supposed to be a nice (unfinished) insult, since Kuei implied that her tribe should be cleaner. Well, the tribe being warmer is something they can't change, but then again Kuei hasn't even seen the world, so he doesn't understand how climates and weather work. I'm rather quick to forgive him for his clumsiness, however, I understand why Katara is justifiably angry at him for saying such things. But, as a reader, I'm ready to give Earth King Kuei time to learn. Because I know where he comes from and why he's like that.

Moving forward a bit, there was a moment involving him, which felt like a cold shower. It was the moment I realized that the situation's serious, far more serious than I'd originally imagined. When Zuko claimed that killing the Earth King could start a new war. This was a possibility I'd never considered and the mere thought sent shivers down my spine. The Earth Kingdom attacking the Southern Water Tribe for murdering their leader. A frightening reality.

While the Earth King was gone, I really felt for Bosco, who was obviously worried about him. Hakoda correcting Malina that the bear missed his best friend, not his master, was very endearing (I'm loving their private moments more and more). Like Appa was worried about Aang when he disappeared into the Spirit World. Both times, Katara's the one who comforts them - I guess she has a way with animals, too, just like her boyfriend (these two are perfect for each other). Also, I like to think that Momo and Bosco are best buddies.

----------x----------

Having mentioned the fight and the kidnapping, I'd like to write down my opinion about that as well as the beginning of the exchange in the mountains. First off, that fierce glare at Gilak when Katara wanted Aang to drop her - my only thoughts were something in the lines of "Oh, shit! She's mad.." and "Damn, she's ready to shred him to pieces!" (honestly, so would I be). Lesson learned (long ago, actually) - don't mess with this girl or her family, because she will kill you. Katara and Aang's teamwork in order to save Hakoda was excellent. Aang's face when Sokka and Katara told him about the Bridge of No Return later made me laugh though. The Southern Water Tribe can be fricking savage.. good luck with your girlfriend there, Aang! I'm just kidding.. but seriously, Southern Water Tribe people are not to be messed with.

Coming back to Aang and Katara, I've gotta admit that I was pleasantly surprised at how much they interacted in this part (my expectations were low based on what I'd heard). There were so many little moments or big action scenes where they were together, all of which filled my heart with joy. For example, once they'd reached the Bridge of No Return, Aang was standing a few feet away from Katara when he answered Sokka's question. But he noticed that Katara was worried - she didn't even address him, he simply noticed. So Aang just walked up to Katara to kiss her cheek and comfort her that everything's going to turn out fine. What a cutie! Just look at that gentle caressing of her right cheek, she's smiling while holding onto his forearm to hold it steady (or to pull him in closer because she likes what he's offering to her - love, comfort and hope).

Following this scene, when the members of Team Avatar were getting chi blocked was a moment where I felt like I wanted to jump in the middle and interfere to help them. Chi blocking has always creeped me out (in the sense that you'll be completely defenceless/paralyzed), so this particular scene wasn't pleasant to read for me, even though I liked it. Sokka's reaction really made me laugh - kind of not the time to be happy about it, buddy. Also important, Hakoda worrying about their well-being and calling them kids is touching (well, they are still teenagers so it makes sense).

I was absolutely mind-blown by the plan Sokka came up with on how to neutralize the chi blockers' attacks. This was a nice tie-in to the armour of the Metalbending Police Force of Republic City. Turns out it wasn't Toph who invented the originals, instead it was Sokka! His plan in general was ingenious. I'd seen the pages where they were chi blocked, but I hadn't seen how they come out of it. I expected them to wait or stall Gilak's army long enough for them to regain their ability to move and bend. This was an amazing turn of events. Toph and Katara getting revenge on those two annoying chi blocker siblings - I just wanna praise my girls forever because gosh, I hated those two! They really irked me. I loved Katara and Aang's quick reaction when they had to go rescue the rest of the three still hanging from the rope bridge. Sweeties saving people together.

I liked the way Hakoda talked to the Earth King while he was walking to the middle of the bridge. He was supportive and tried to help Kuei get his mind off the fear of falling by reminding him of Bosco. I didn't notice until I reread the book a second time, but when Malina is saying her final farewell to Hakoda, the Earth King is crouching and covering his eyes whereas everyone else's mouths are wide open. Either he can't look because he's scared to see what'll happen next or.. he's crying.

When the rope finally broke, the looks on everybody's faces killed me, especially Sokka and Katara's. How many times does Katara have to scream "Dad!" and have my heart break into a million pieces? I don't think this question will ever receive an answer. Hakoda's a side character and as we all know from the original series (for instance, take Yue or Jet), anything can happen to these beloved characters. And Hakoda's one of my favourites! He really has a special place in my heart, he reminds me of my dad and that's why the whole Hakoda-Katara (father-daughter) dynamic makes me emotional every single time. I see a lot of myself in Katara, too.

----------x----------

And with that, I reach the most heartbreaking turning point of this part - Malina sacrificing herself to save at least one of them, namely Hakoda. How did I interpret this moment? In various ways.

First off, I immediately noticed the gleam on Katara's necklace and knew it was related to what she says at her mother's grave the next day. It symbolizes her mother's courage running through her veins, her instincts kicking in to go save the woman. But I think there are two other things that are going through Katara's mind.

Katara sees this as the moment Aang fell in the Crystal Catacombs, which she mentions the next day. She sees herself in her dad, having to witness the love of his life die right before his eyes (again). Besides that, it also symbolizes what happened 9 years ago - Katara being the first one to see the look on her dad's face when he realized he'd lost Kya. Remember, Katara and Hakoda both ran into their igloo and found Kya dead, Sokka probably joined them a bit later. Their mother, his wife. The worst part is Katara has seen it before. It's a painful reminder that back then (and for the following 6 years) Katara blamed herself for not being strong enough to save her mom. But this time everything's different. She's a master waterbender, she knows she's capable of saving Malina, that she can spare her dad from going through the same hurt he had years ago. I imagined that during this moment, Kya was knocking on Katara's conscience, telling her to "Go! You're strong enough now! You can do this, sweetie! Save her!.. For him.".

Also, I realized that this is a powerful parallel - someone Katara hates (or used to hate) finally earns her trust completely, proving that their feelings for her (as a friend / as a future stepmother) and her family are real, they really do care for her and have no intentions of betraying her or her loved ones ever again. This is exactly what happened to Zuko during Sozin's Comet - he jumped in front of Katara to protect her from getting struck by lightning, which was the final and most important act in his redemption arc (concerning her). Malina does the same in order to spare at least one of them (I mean Hakoda, since Aang could've easily flown back to safety) - she accepts her fate (her eyes tear up) and willingly releases her hold on Hakoda's hand. Neither character knew that Katara would (or could heal the damage made by lightning) save them. In a way, Zuko and Malina have a similar history when it comes to befriending Katara. And this is definitely something I really love. I'm satisfied with how Malina and Katara's relationship was handled, how she earned the girl's trust by proving that her feelings for her dad were sincere. I knew it'd have to be something big because, like I said in my previous review, Katara can hold a grudge.

Cut to the next day and I admit that I wasn't prepared for this moment - Sokka and Katara visiting their mother's grave. I was really confused at first because I thought the water tribe siblings went to the place where they found Aang, but the iceberg had melted and the ground had resurfaced. I needed to read Katara's lines twice before the reality sank in and I understood why she was saying those words. The Kya-Katara (mother-daughter) dynamic has always been a touchy issue for me, too, so I broke down in tears and sobbed for a longer while. How could I have been so foolish? I still cannot believe it..

Remember when a 14-year-old Katara confessed to Haru that her mother's necklace was the only thing left of her and it wasn't enough for her? Katara, now 17 years old, has realized that there's something much bigger she inherited, someone who's been with her all this time - Kya's courage, her mom's been with her all along. This is an important step forward (in healing) for Katara. She understands that her mother's love is still inside her heart, similarly to how Aang learned (from guru Pathik) that the air nomads' love for him is still inside his heart. Look at him staring at her lovingly as she mourns. Aang's proud of Katara for reaching this realization.

----------x----------

I'm gonna finish with something slightly happier, something I haven't discussed yet, but it's connected to the previous scene. The next living southern waterbenders, Sura and Siku. I managed to completely nail this subplot when I guessed what'll happen in the third part in my previous review (I'm so happy I foresaw it!). The only part I didn't see coming was Katara explaining the loss of her mom and the meaning behind it to the little girls. I bet she explained this the same way to her daughter Kya years later, I've even written my version of this happening over here. Sura and Siku understanding what Katara told them and demonstrating their waterbending to her deceased mother shows that just like the Air Nation will be reborn in 70 years, the Southern Water Tribe is very much alive. All in all, a very sympathetic ending for this subplot.

The waterbending lesson with Pakku, Katara, Aang, Sura and Siku is among my favourite scenes from this trilogy. Aang stating that Katara helped him end the war, the two of them waterbending together to show the little girls what they can (learn to) do, Katara kneeling down to the girls' height and slightly tilting her head to talk to them (her motherly side showing) - all so precious.

Do you know how children usually say things like they are? Well, I adored how they spoke about Master Pakku, it was so sincere, truthful and funny altogether. But I also understood why the girls were scared / didn't wanna show their waterbending to him. Think about it from their point of view - a strange old man who can waterbend happens to find their well-hidden village, tells them that the Hundred Year War is over and they don't have to hide their waterbending anymore. For all they know, it may be a trap and those monsters could still be out there. Where's the proof? Sura and Siku aren't convinced until they meet Aang, who confirms it.

There were so many bits and pieces I really loved that happened after Sura and Siku ran away. Pakku being sarcastic towards both Hakoda and Aang, the latter blushing as a result and the former thanking him for trying to teach those girls. Hakoda was interested in seeing what the two of them (I believe he's referring to Katara and Aang) were up to, addressing them as Team Avatar grows on him. I'm telling you, I love Hakoda so much!

And then there's the entire scene with him, his baby girl Katara, her boyfriend Aang and his pet winged lemur Momo. I love this scene for so many reasons! Including Momo finding something to eat and Aang making sure that he's well-fed (as well as the way he gulps that fruit in one bite). Hakoda being proud of Katara for becoming such a great healer, wondering whether he'd still be alive if it weren't for her (just.. I'll never get over this). Katara worrying about her dad's health (she gently wraps her arms around his), telling him about Team Avatar and her concerns about their home with Aang defending her arguments about the plans. This is the kind of scene about Hakoda, Katara and Aang spending time together that I've been wanting to see.

----------x----------

To sum up, the only solution we didn't get was an explanation as to why the Southern Water Tribe is considered to be a colony of the Northern Tribe. However, while writing this review, I thought of a wild theory I'm gonna put out there. We're aware that Sokka was the last known Chief, right? If he didn't have any descendants and Katara didn't want to take on the role (being devastated after both Aang and her brother's death), then wouldn't that mean the southern tribe remained without a chief? So the Northern Chief automatically claimed control of both tribes, whereas the South still had the Council of Elders (who would later choose Tonraq to be the new chief). It didn't happen 70 years ago during Aang's time, it happened 70 years later during Korra's time. Just my idea I thought I should share.

The ending where Team Avatar is cooking together, people/ world leaders from all 4 nations are present (note the 4 elements in the correct order forming half of a circle on both sides), sitting together like family and enjoying a good celebratory meal - I believe this is a very nice way to wrap up these series for now. Gave me warm feelings and really melted my heart. Also, chubby Momo in the end!

I'd love it if the next trilogy continued by showing Team Avatar leaving the South Pole. But just before they leave, Aang and Hakoda talk privately and he asks for Katara's hand in marriage. Hakoda gladly agrees and they leave, Katara is unaware of what Aang wanted to talk to about with her dad (he keeps it a secret). Aang would propose in the third part of the trilogy, very near the end. I'm weak, but it's a great opportunity to ask and this is a moment in their lives that I really wanna see!

In conclusion, the comic trilogy "North and South" has touched me in so many ways - I've smiled and laughed, shed countless tears during heartbreaking/heartwarming scenes. It's reminded me of how much I love the Southern Water Tribe and Katara's family. How much joy I feel seeing Team Avatar back together again. I cannot possibly put all of these feelings into words, but ultimately I'm more than content with how everything turned out and very happy to own copies of these three parts. "North and South" may just as well be ranked at the very top of my list.

[seyaryminamoto]

I am curious about what's your opinion on how Katara is treated in the comics vs in the show (both ATLA and LOK). Maybe a better question is, what do you think the dynamics between Katara and Aang have with each other and to the kids should have been like?

God I had written up a huge response and the browser shut down so I lost it *sobs*

But alright, I’ll try to be brief this time.

I think Katara is not written well in the comics. You can see it clearly not only because of her flawlessness (I’m not saying this as a compliment), but because some elements of her character have been as good as wiped out for no reason. There’s no sign of the sass she had in spades in Book 1, and that she still had to some degree during Book 2 (can’t really remember much of it in Book 3, that was mostly just passive-aggressiveness towards Zuko). She’s not really the same character we knew from the show, and that’s obviously not her fault, since the one I hold responsible for this is Yang.

Katara is her own character in the show, but in the comics she’s mostly coded as “Aang’s girlfriend”. There’s not a lot of material for her as a character, which is a lot of what happens to Asami in LOK - her agency in the story is relegated to her relationships with other people. Sometimes Katara’s relevance, like in The Search, is in relation to her sibling relationship with Sokka (which is then used as a parallel to Azula and Zuko’s), but most times it’s in relation to Aang. And that’s not how her character worked in the show at all. Granted she was Aang’s friend, but she could get important subplots where you could see what her character really was made of. Her subplots in the comics (up until North and South) are so few, so lacking, and do nothing for her character overall. Sokka gets subplots in nearly every single trilogy (subplots that also do nothing for his character, because it’s usually just Sokka being a goof all the time), Katara is mostly in them right next to Aang, to kiss him or support him and curiously, seldom do we see it the other way around (I guess North and South may have changed that at last, but I haven’t read part 2 so I can’t say for sure).

In LOK, I absolutely understand Katara being an old woman who doesn’t do a lot in the plot (if anything what ticks me off is Zuko and Toph being brought back to fight while Katara isn’t, in my frank opinion none of them should’ve been brought back for action if LOK was supposed to be a story of “late teens and adults”, unlike ATLA which was the “kids and old people show”). But it’s certainly annoying that we don’t know nearly enough about what Katara did in her adult life, and that the only news we have is that she got bloodbending banned (when technically that sort of bending could have done wonders for medicinal purposes of different sorts, but I guess that never crossed her mind…). Outside of that, there’s not a lot of news on what Katara was up to, and it’s not too surprising that there’s not, since LOK and the comics were written with the same idea of Katara in mind: she seldom gets to do anything important, mostly just helps and supports whoever needs it.

Granted, part of her character was about being the “mom-friend”, but that’s PART of it. It’s not 100% of what comprised Katara. Her more aggressive sides, the sass, the stubbornness, most of that is gone in the comics, and in what little we saw of her in LOK. It’s not something I can understand, really.

Lastly, regarding how her children were raised, I’m actually pretty bothered by that topic. Not only do I fail to understand how Aang could be such a mess of a father, but I don’t like that it’s implied that Katara did nothing about it. I’m not here to toot Zutara’s horn or anything, but I THINK they like the idea of Katara calling out Zuko when he needs it. Zuko will make mistakes all the time, that’s just what he’s like, and whoever he marries should be able to make him rethink whatever he does wrong. Of course, Katara is no paragon of perfect morality, but on most regards she’s better with morals than Zuko. 

Now, I guess the problem is that we’re told Aang is perfect in regards of morality (… which is not entirely true), and ever since they got together, Katara somehow thinks he’s always right? Which is why she swallows her jealousy in The Promise and ends up thinking she’s the selfish one for not being a fan of Aang’s fan club (tbh that was one of the lousiest things that trilogy did). And it’s also why she hasn’t really defied him at all throughout the entire comics’ run. I can’t remember any defiance at all, actually. Not even a “Hey, why the hell did you forget to invite ME to your fancy lunch but you didn’t forget to invite Toph?!” in The Rift. Nothing. And… that’s another thing that makes Katara feel weird in the comics. She just seems to turn a blind eye to any mistakes Aang makes, regardless of the magnitude of those mistakes (and in the Rift it actually pisses me off a lot, because Aang literally forgets about Katara for an entire volume of the comic, and only remembers her when Sokka tells him she’s stuck in a cave-in, and so far I think I’m the only person who’s claimed to be bothered by it). I know we’re expected to think Aang is a better human being than everyone else in general, but he makes mistakes: and Katara is PERFECT for calling them out. She’s born for that, calls out everyone else’s already!

But not Aang’s, at least not since the show ended. She won’t do it in the comics, she didn’t do it between the comics and LOK (that is, if we assume she probably stood by and allowed Aang to take Tenzin on vacations while neglecting the rest of their children). It’s not something that can sit well with me. I don’t know why they’ve started writing her this way, but I mostly dislike the way her character has been written in the comics and LOK. It doesn’t look like she was a bad mother, but she still could have been a better mother and wife if the writers had just wanted her to be one.

Now, what do I think Katara should be like in comics and LOK?

First off, I’d scratch all the “sweeties” nonsense. Dear god is it corny and it feels out of place ten times out of nine. I don’t like it, it’s not cute for me, it really feels forced. Terms of endearment aren’t impossible, but I wouldn’t have them refer to each other as sweetie ALL THE TIME. NO. *heavy breathing*

Secondly, I’d want Katara’s subplots to not be only about Aang or on a lesser degree about Sokka. How about seeing her interact with other characters, like Suki, like Toph, like Zuko? Why didn’t she befriend Kiyi too in The Search, for instance? Even Toph gets a weird BFF comic with Ty Lee, but Katara is relegated to mainly interacting with her boyfriend and her brother. Sokka gets to spend time with Toph, with Suki (in Shells exclusively), with Aang, with Zuko, even has a pretty personal one-on-one competition with Azula throughout The Search that Katara did NOT have. But Katara is stuck with Sokka and Aang only. If we wanted to see her character being as it used to be in the show once more? That would need to change. We could have more stories like that one in the Lost Adventures, where she goes out with Toph for a day. We could have stories about her and, I don’t know, Mai! Anything!

Third, in regards of LOK: if we’re going to relegate Katara to the role of the “healer”, which I’m not the biggest fan of, but I figure that’s what Bryke went for… why the hell didn’t she inaugurate Republic City’s Main Hospital or something epic of that sort? That’s the perfect place for her to have a superb statue! It could be a place that employs all sorts of bending healing types, where research is done to find new ways to use bending for healing, or new means to cure people without bending, too. Why didn’t this happen? Beats me. I’m not saying Katara wasn’t allowed to be a housewife, because she is, but it bugs me that as a housewife she apparently doesn’t even get a say upon how Aang plays favorites with their kids. So, if she’s not going to have much of a say in that, why not give her a job? She could handle a job and raising kids at the same time, so could Aang. I really have no doubts about it.

And there’s probably more things I’d add, but those three would be the first steps to giving Katara some of her agency back. If she didn’t want to be a healer she could easily have a waterbending academy too, why not? She really could do lots of things for Republic City and I’m sure she would have been happy to do it. Fact is, it’s just unfair that everyone else gets to make their “mark” on Republic City but Katara doesn’t (and obviously Suki doesn’t either, but let’s just pretend she left her own mark in the Fire Nation instead…). It feels out of place for a character who was the third most important one of ATLA’s franchise, right behind Aang and Zuko. She should have gotten a little bit more recognition, inside the story and out, too. The writers could have done her character justice, and they should have. But well, who knows? Maybe North and South Part 2 gave her some of what her character was sorely lacking…

So, that was a long answer anyways, lots of grumbling and rambling but I hope I answered your question properly!