#im talking about avatar the last airbender

[thepringlesofblood]

look there's a reason that "a home you can never truly go home to" is a theme in stories across genres, mediums, eras, trends, & cultures, and it’s because it fucking slaps

[thethiefandtheairbender]

as a lifelong ATLA fan who narrowly had ATLA dethroned as my top show by The Dragon Prince steadily over the past 5 years, the similarities between the two have very little to do with the surface level parallels that get regularly drawn between them.

Like ATLA, TDP has Books for seasons and chapters for episodes, but unlike ATLA, which only touched on storytelling sparingly as a theme, TDP is obsessed with interrogating storytelling and history and the presence of unreliable, biased narrators throughout many of its episodes (most notably 2x05, 2x06, 3x06, 4x04, and 4x07 among them). Half of what you learn in the 1x01 intro ends up being a lie once you reach S3, with more being steadily deciphered.

Yes, TDP has different magics with people living under those umbrella terms... for the elves. Humans are coming culturally at things from a completely different angle, and the elves' connection to their primal sources are discussed philosophically in detail, informing their practices and their culture first hand, including the way they chafe against humans, who are arcanum-less. Many animals in the world are also connected to magic, which influences both their design and which ones get hunted for humans' more 'clever' solution in dark magic, including each other.

The core issue of the Puppetmaster, down to being a coercive magic formed by someone deeply resentful of their imprisonment? Said puppetmaster is the main endgame antagonist of the entire show with all of S4 onwards being exploring the ethics of controlling people against their will in various methods, and the entire show itself being a thematic battleground of fate (imprisonment) vs free will for virtually every single character.

Where ATLA mostly concerns itself timeline wise with ending the war, very little thought is shown by any of the characters as to what they'll do after the war. This isn't a problem (as it reflects the sheer domineering scope of the conflict) but even Zuko being firelord is only ever really addressed with 2.5 episodes left till the finale. TDP, meanwhile, ends its 'war' in s3 and s4 opens up with dealing with the old wounds festering between people with centuries of history, the struggles that come when people aren't able to let go and believe they're safe or mourn in a healthy manner, and the religious/cultural clashes that may occur when trying to integrate different groups of people.

TDP also has an evil father with a devoted daughter and a brother who eventually defects, but it explores the reality of an abusive parent who loves/will sacrifice for you and your right to leave regardless, even if that means leaving the sibling you truly deeply love and who loves you in turn. Which means that when you and your sibling are on opposite sides of a deep ideological conflict, it actually really fucking hurts bc we've seen first hand just how much they love each other and also how and why everything fell apart not in spite of that love necessarily, but also because of it.

Is this to say that TDP is a 1:1 with ATLA or that it's better? No, not at all, and the latter is subjective. I prefer TDP, but I think they're about on equal ground when you look at each show currently as a whole (although TDP has two seasons left to go).

But TDP takes a lot of what ATLA was doing thematically with some of its most interesting beats and then builds or expands upon them further. It talks further and more consistently about the cycles of violence; in many ways, Jack De Sena's character, Callum, begins the series largely where Sokka had ended (and he's not the most like Sokka anyway; very much his own thing); we get Faustian bargains and centuries' long grief and fucked up people who are trying both succeeding and failing at not doing fucked up things. There are antagonists, but it is very hard to actually label anyone at this point a straight up villain. Moral greyness is where the show starts, and it just continues from there.

That's not to say the show is nothing but dark and depressing - like ATLA, there's a steady thread of hope and humour even as the show gets steadily closer and closer to its 11th hour point - but the show is usually emotionally heavier. There's more blood and potentially disturbing imagery with body horror and on screen death. There's so much foreshadowing you basically can't go more than 5 minutes into any episode without having something that's going to come back around or be referenced again like 3-5 seasons later.

Just to be clear - TDP is like ATLA, but it's like ATLA in interesting ways beyond the more shallow surface level that usually gets attributed to it, while still very much being its own show and its own thing. And that is why I tend to recommend it to people who like ATLA.

Thank you and goodnight

(Also, the fandom doesn't have any ship wars, and the show is queer as fuck)

[abrillustrated]

hi my name is august and for the past week or so i have become so consumed by thoughts of avatar the last airbender that it is actually ruining my life and relationships.

yeah so unfortunately i can only be completely insane about this so i have to stop before it consumes me or at least manage the fixation i have for this early 20s zutara au

+ mai bc its really a shame that they didn't resolve her story outside of her relationship to zuko. so i think she starts fight club. which gradually turns into a gladiatorial ring

edit: im typing up everything that i wrote in the drawing bc it just occured to me that not only is my handwriting a mess, but it's also cursive

Image 1

katara: How do you live in this hot ass country.

zuko: What about that literal glacier you live on, hm? Do you see me complaining?

Image 2

Zuko: my plan right now is to soft launch democracy for the Fire Nation. like, i don't think we can do that now because we're so weak, but 10-20 years down the line?

Image 3

Zuko: Honestly, my plan right now is to rule for a couple generations and fix everything that my father and my grandfather did , and then establish a democracy.

Katara: why not a democracy now?

Zuko: because the people of the Fire Nation don't know the truth about their own history. they've been fed propaganda for a hundred years. they need to be able to make informed decisions before i can do that.

Katara: and after that?

Zuko: after that im fucking off to the earth kingdom to take over my uncle's tea house and you will literally never hear from me again

Image 4

from left to right "katara" "need to redo the face" "this is chief katara to me. this is her at around 19/20 to me" "Anime katara. this anime shit is easy" "fire nation katara. putting her at about 14 y/o" "this is a screencap redraw"

Image 5

me: hello greenpeace

katara: after my mother died i had a lot of unchecked rage for the world, so my dad signed me up for tai chi classes to, like, calm me down but i ended up still angry but also really good at tai chi

katara: i feel like im doing well all things considered

me: katara is so special to me. she is a fully realized creation to me. so casual. so passionate about the world. one thing about her is that she is an activist. she has a strong sense of justice. fuck. the train jumped lol

image 6

mai: zuko, im starting a gladitorial ring and i don't know the legality of it so if you could just change the laws as i go that'd be great

zuko: yeah sure that sounds great

zuko, but smaller: wait what.

image 7

mai: REF, ARE YOU BLIND?! WHAT KIND OF CALL IS THAT!

background guy: woah holy shit

captioned: "Mai starts a gladiatorial fight club

[t-annuki]

He looks just like a dream,the prettiest boy I've ever seen...

[writingtot]

i grew up catholic so that scene in sozin’s comet pt 2 where iroh immediately forgives zuko ALWAYS reminds me of the parable of the prodigal son.

[crimson-constellations]

i have a pattern for find out my fav fics in each fandom im in that consists in me looking for some quick fluffy shit to read bfr bed but being so tired i barely understand a thing forgeting about it for months then picking it to reread by pure accident just to transcend to the fucking skies over how good it actually is

[hitemwiththeoop]

they butchered the avatars. they freaking butchered them what the hell was that 😭

they went along with kyoshi's misconception as a ruthless murderer. they made roku look and act so goofy it was ridiculous. and they showed kuruk 1st season only to have him say some wack ass shit about pushing your friends away because they're a burden like the other two said what the actual fuck was that

[hyacinths-in-a-storm]

I think Ozai would’ve turned out fine if he had an older sister figure in his life.

[offbrandzuko]

What is it with tv seasons and only being 8 episodes long now? I heard someone say that Zuko never could have happened in these conditions and they’re RIGHT

[nopeferatu]

oh another thing tho, i keep seeing ppl talk about how 'essential' some of the episodes they got rid of are to the plot and i'm like girl... these were morality tales. these episodes were made to teach children good morals. i don't think people who hate the new adaptation remember as much about the original show as they thought bc these eps are everywhere in this first season and the writing is pretty obvious, childish, and unneccessary imo

[m00nchildwrites]

I'm into Yue having a Spirit World connection. It just makes sense.

[ineffablejaymee]

zuko's swords being a metaphor for him and aang>>>

edit NOT a ship post

when zuko was hanging out with that earth kingdom kid he explained that he was using the swords all wrong. they were both part of one weapon, and using them as separate objects created imbalance. unless used as one, they werent much

and this is exactly what zuko and aang were like. for the first two season they were on opposite sides, their stories very different though teaching them the same lessons.

and for the first two seasons, the war was still going on, on a large scale nothing changed. however the small changes and their impact on the world made them both grow as people so they could finally face eachother and be mature enough to work together

only after teaming up were they able to reach their full potential, and fulfill their destiny; end the war and bring balance to the world

[bendgineer]

My hot take on the netflix avatar adaptation hate is that it all seems a little too familiar feeling as all the hate legend of korra got back when it was being released.

[thelifeofacactus]

I think that we as a society need to accept that some animated shows are best left animated

[stinkysarai]

ah yes sokka and azula the two most relatable people in the planet to me … unfortunately

crippling perfectionists who idolize their fathers so badly that it ends up hurting themselves trying to find a way to become just like them … little hakoda and little ozai (and yet they both look just like their mothers and NO i will not get over this i die every time i see ursa and azula and kya and sokka)

two little people. one believing that he is worth nothing; if he were asked to put his life down for someone he loved, he would do it in a heartbeat, wouldn’t need any convincing at all… he’d probably do it with a smile on his face, completely happy that they get to live and totally uncaring of his life

the other is living life believing that all she is, is her strength. all her life, power has been the one thing that she has worked her life toward. she was a prodigy, a master, a genius. she’s perfect at everything, and has to be perfect at everything, because if she’s not, then who is she? friendship and love does not exist to her , they are foreign subjects to this girl. all she knows is fear, manipulation, condescension = success … oh did i mention her major abandonment issues hey wait did i mention SOKKAS ABANDONMENT ISSUES

and when these two fail at something or lose… oh boy!! perfectionist sokka is a genius of course, but everyone is bound to fail. he knows this, and he has failed before, but when he fails the invasion because azula absolutely tricked him by playing with his emotions, he ends up going on a suicide mission , which WOULD have had him never return to the gaang… if zuko hadn’t joined him on his journey. this boy failed and almost killed himself because of it, even though his failure wasn’t even as horrible as his mind thought it was. it likely would have worked had the entire ba sing se thing not happened

azula’s friends betray her (two more people abandon her) and then ozai abandons her as well, and she can’t take it anymore and has a mental breakdown on what is supposed to be the best day of her life. she’s about to be crowned fire lord, will have power over the entire nation alongside her father, and yet she breaks. this is the one thing she’s worked her life for, the one thing that she strived for, and she is so close to achieving it but ultimately fails and breaks down.

and i mean. i guess theyre not RELATABLE RELATABLE cuz of the whole ‘my father leads a nation’ thing and such but believe me when i say that i . relate to them in multiple ways and the thought of them has made me cry and be like oh… oh… Oh to my own issues… waaaa

sokka and azula you two will always have a place in my heart and also i will forever hc you guys to end up being great friends if azula gets her well deserved redemption arc

[casualdadnomad]

gold rush sokka

mirrorball zuko

(if u think i have it backwards pls tell me why i am curious)