#that's basically what people seem to think kyoshi is like

[stairset]

I do feel like the way Kyoshi was written in the Avatar reboot was lowkey influenced by the fandom's perception of her. Cause like in the original show she's really just portrayed as a pragmatist who's willing to kill if necessary. Like Aang is conflicted about killing the Fire Lord and she's like "well if I were in your position I'd do it but that's just me. Good luck." And then people started making memes where she's like a murderous psychopath who thinks extreme violence is always the solution. And it was funny at first cause it was just exaggerating for comedy but now everyone thinks she was actually like that in the show when she really wasn't. And then in the remake her introductory scene is her angrily yelling at this 12 year old that he needs to stop being a little pussy and be a ruthless warrior or whatever and the only explanation I can think of is that someone in the writer's room maybe looked at a few too many of those memes.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Kyoshi/Roku first meeting prediction:

Ok ok I know I talked about Kyoshi being a fucking menace to her past lives. But like......I really just started thinking about what her first meeting with Roku might be. *w*

I know I said I kinda wanted him to be a fanboy of her (which I still do). More so before he meets her, but I'm fine if it doesn't happen until AFTER (it'd be at least a little different compared to Kuruk, who fanboyed the whole time, and Roku only did it after meeting her).

And I thought it'd be cute if he accidentally called her mom. And she's like "Yup, we're def the same people" jfkldsajf

But WHAT IF.....they have like the WORST meeting? TT0TT Like boi is PISSED, people keep comparing them. They keep putting pressure on him to fill her big ass shoes ("She has the largest feet out of any Avatar, what do they expect me to do?!"), Fire Nationals are like grabbing his shoulders and shaking him like "This bitch lived to be 230 and TERROIZED US please you need to figure out how to top that!" And he's like "????? I am 16 sir/ma'am wtf you talking about???"

Like imagine he has all that pressure, he's going through it in the novel, he can't communicate with Kyoshi (yet) and is just DONE.

Then finally he gets connected, and Kyoshi rolls up and:

Kyoshi, appearing all regal and neutral/emotionless as usual: You seem to be in some trouble, how can I assist? Roku: You know what? I don't NEED your assistance, you're just going to make things worse! Like how you made my life worse! Kyoshi: ???? You mean how you grew up in an era of peace and prosperity and never had to worry about going hungry? Roku: I-no, that's-ALL THE OTHER STUFF! Kyoshi: You'll need to explain, I've done a lot of 'stuff.' Roku: You're a tyrant! You scared people shitless, you're shadow is so large it's suffocating, everyone expects me to be like you, you're TERRIFYING *lists off all the anti-Kyoshi propoganda he can think of* Basically, I HATE YOU! I hate you so much, I wish you never existed. I wish you alive right now so I could watch you die again so I'd get at least SOME satisfaction out of it. I hate you Avatar Kyoshi. I hate you! Kyoshi: ............. Kyoshi: *closes eyes and puts head down* Kyoshi: snrk... Roku: ? Kyoshi: *throws head back and starts laughing* Roku: ?????!!!!!!!!!!!! Wha-you're laughing?! You really are as mad as they say? Kyoshi, still laughing: M-mad??? I-I'm not mad! This-is-oh. Oh my Yangchen! Snrrrrk. I haven't laughed this hard in over 100 years. Oh this is priceless! Oh I can't wait to tell Kuruk and Yangchen, they're going to love this! Oh that was so brutal, is this what it felt like for them? Oh my spirits, my sides! How do my sides hurt when I'm already dead! Roku: Wha-what are you talking about??? Kyoshi, gasping for air and laughing: Oh baby boi, you have no idea. You really ARE me. Roku: That doesn't make any sense! Kyoshi: Oh it does to me! Roku: I just said I hate you and you're laughing! What's the matter with you?! Kyoshi: Oh, sweetie, join the club. If I cried over every person who told me they hated me, I could've flooded the entire Earth Kingdom 10 times over.

And then sometime after her advice he becomes a fanboi afjdlksjfl;a Cause I think it'd be cute, and a cute arc, and I need my girl to have more in-universe fans (that aren't her weapons or Rangi-yes I'll make that joke a second time 8U)

[sanrielle]

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I noticed something interesting at the beginning of the first Kyoshi novel (no spoilers in this screenie):

[Text in image reads: Earth, Fire, Air, Water, and then Earth again, an order as unchanging as the seasons. A process stretching back nearly a thousand generations before Kuruk, and one that would hopefully continue for a thousand more.]

Now, I've always been under the impression that it's very possible--and even likely--that there have been more Harmonic Convergences than just during Wan and Korra's eras. Part of this stems from what Roku said in AtLA:

"I've learned the elements a thousand times in a thousand lifetimes."

However, that could easily be written off as exaggeration or Roku just making shit up for dramatic effect lol. BUT the above line in the Kyoshi novel comes directly from the internal monologue of a reliable Air Nomad leader. And it seems to heavily imply that the Avatar cycle has been recorded with enough dedication for them to have a general idea how many Avatars there have been.

I think this line can be interpreted in one of two ways:

1. 'Generations' is referring to normal people, AKA the roughly 20-30 years between a person's birth and the birth of their first child. A thousand generations would then be 20,000-30,000 years.

2. The word is used in a more figurative sense, marking each Avatar as a 'generation' in the cycle. Even with the extremely conservative estimate that Avatars live--on average--50 years, that would be 50,000 years between Wan and Korra. It could easily be double that, considering how long Kyoshi lived.

Basically, if we take this at face value, that means there has been at least one extra Harmonic Convergence between Wan and Korra, but as many as eight or nine. And I see no reason, canonically/lore-wise, that it can't be true. Vaatu remained imprisoned in the Tree of Time until Unalaq released him. In fact, it's entirely possible that most people in the AtLA world had no idea anything unusual was happening during previous HCs.

If my math is horribly wrong, someone please tell me nicely 😭😅

[kawaiichibiart]

Random assortment of ATLA AU ideas I'm probably not gonna do anything with but needed to get out there:

AU where Zuko was never banished from the FN due to the people of the FN revolting when they found out. Word of the Agni Kai and the War Meeting had made it's way across the nation and the majority were in favor of Zuko. So much that they were planning a mutiny. Annoyed, but seeing a way out, Ozai orders a tower be made far away from Caldera. Once it's made, Zuko would live there. If they win the war, he'll forgive his son and welcome him back. The tower is built and Zuko is dumped in there. Only one way in and out and he can't open it. The other option is literally barred. Blah blah blah, we get into book 2, Suki has been caught by Azula. She's on her way to prison, not sure where she'll end up. And she's surprised when she's told she'll be keeping the prince company. Because, what prince? And she's put into Zuko's tower. In short, Zuki prison roommates AU but it's not in the Boiling Rock.

No one understands how it happened. Why it happened. They prayed to the moon. So, why did the sun respond and save their daughter? She prayed to the sun. She prayed and begged for him to answer. The one who answered her was the moon. Sun Spirit Yue and Moon Spirit Zuko AU. Bonus if both can bend the element of the spirit that blessed them (firebender Yue and waterbender Zuko).

Zuku joins the Gaang early and poses as Sokka's wife the entire time (fiancee if we go as early as book 1 and up until they get to Ba Sing Se in book 2. Zuko: I must find my darling husband!! I'm so worried about him... Katara: Seriously, what do you see in that guy? Zuko: He makes me laugh.)

The SWT has collapsed. Men have gone to war, and the remaining women, children and elders have split between finding sanctuary in either Kyoshi Island or the NWT OR living a new life at sea as pirates. Sokka becomes well known as a decent pirate. He won't raid someone just to raid them. They have to have something he wants. And right now, his attention was in the rather pretty boy (he assumed it was a boy anyways) onboard Zhao's ship. He'd usually go for maps and plans and even rations when he raided a ship, but this time he's thinking of getting a person. Huh, kidnapping...well there's a first for everything. (Basic summary, the SWT doesn't exist, Sokka is now a pirate, and yes so are Katara and Kanna. Their biggest enemy personally is Zhao, who's hunting down the Avatar (whom they're hiding in their ship). Sokka eventually notices Zuko, who was given to Zhao rather than banished. Blah blah blah, it's easy to tell Zuko hates Zhao, hopefully he won't mind a small kidnapping if it means getting off Zhao's ship (he does but honestly he'd rather be on Sokka's ship, it's a lot cleaner and the avatar seems nice, the bison is a bonus.))

Despite his attempts, Zuko is unable to join Team Avatar. Not able to turn to either side, he runs off and goes into hiding. While on the run, he reunites with Jin and they end up having a heart to heart. Things are confessed but in the end they get together and go on the run together. They open up a secret camp for people like them, on the run from the war. They heal the injured as best as they can and work together to make food that can last a few days. The first time things turn sour is when Jet enters the camp. He's hostile and picking fights until he's given the choice to cool his attitude or leave and hope someone else takes pity on him. Things settle down and he gets close with Jin and Zuko. More time passes by and they're eventually approached by Team Avatar, Aang and Toph both seem pleasantly surprised to see Zuko, but Sokka, Katara and Suki (whom the two water siblings freed from prison alongside their dad) weren't, Hakoda doesn't say anything. Like with Jet, they were given a choice, cool the attitude or leave.

Growing up, Azula always trailed after her mother and older brother. Despite being their father's favorite, Azula preferred their company. Call her overprotective, but like Uncle Iroh and their cousin Lu Ten have told her over and over, they were dragons. And dragons hoard and protect what's theirs. Ursa and Zuko are Azula's hoard, and she wouldn't let anyone hurt them. So, when Ursa disappears, when Zuko gets burned and banished, she decides enough is enough. The war against the other nations has ended, it was time for Civil War. And once she won, she'd bring her real family back. Ozai touched her hoard, it was about time he learned why you should never touch something belonging to a dragon.

Is this how adoption works now?? He just, finds kids lost at sea, abandoned in random places, having run away? Hakoda's not sure why it happened. It started when he found a young girl adrift on a small boat. Her white hair hidden with scarves and her hood. Yue, Princess of the NWT. Ranaway upon learning she was engaged to someone who wouldn't care for her or her people. Then came ex-Prince Zuko, who had been abandoned on an island they stopped to camp at. He'd been living there for about 3 years, maybe longer, he's unsure. But hey, what's another kid? He joins their crew... Fuck his earlier words, he doesn't need more kids. But Hakoda just sighs as a small girl (Toph) follows Zuko aboard. Seriously, is THIS how adoption works now? How's he gonna explain this to Sokka and Katara and his mother? They'll accept Yue no doubt, Toph might also be easy, but Zuko? Fuck, he needs a drink- BATO STOP LAUGHING!!

She didn't want it to end the way it did. She hated what had happened to him. What Ozai did to him while she was gone. What their mother did when she abandoned them. She remembered when Zuko was happy. When he'd smile at her and tell her he'd love her. She remembered the expectations put on him, the extra lessons and how little he was allowed to sleep. She was...jealous for so long. Both of their fire were unique, hers a brilliant blue and his a kaleidoscope of colors. It wasn't fair he was treated special... He wasn't treated special. And she was blind to that. She was blind and the truth was falling apart right in front of her. She hated this. She hated what this war had done to her family. What it did to her. What it did to Zuko. And she hated that she just stood there as her brother was carted off somewhere, ignoring his gaze as he was taken away. She hates everything... (sorta a roleswap between Azula and Zuko but not really?? Both are strong benders, Zuko just peaked later on but not too much later. As the oldest, a lot of pressure was placed on Zuko and thus Ozai's attention was on him as well. Azula, upset with this, did everything she could to upstage him. The two have a good relationship, but Ozai favoring Zuko didn't help and so Azula left to capture the Avatar, stating she wanted a challenge and to prove herself. She got a ship, and set sail with Iroh at her side. Azula eventually joins to Avatar's side and branded a traitor alongside her uncle. Zuko is tasked at bringing her home and despite how much he'd rather join her, Ozai's grip on him is too strong (not in the sense he's loyal to his father, but in the sense that he's too scared to leave). We eventually get to Agni Kai during Sozin's Comet and Azula comes out victorious, but it feels like an empty win because she knows Zuko had lost long ago. This was just the fight that broke him (also yes, Azula becomes the Firelord).

[atla-confessions]

Because these people in this blog are currently having a heated discussion about something related to food and i liked doing the little confession about ATLA characters and customer service jobs, here’s how well I think ATLA characters cook (and if they can even cook or not):

Katara: cmon. it’s katara. yeah she can cook. she can make a damn good meal. is it healthy? yes. is it delicious? also yes. i think katara is probably an amazing cook. from cold to hot meals, simple to extravagant dishes, from vegetarian to meat lovers… she can do it all. (well, not ALL ALL, but you get the point; she’s talented.) she’s proud of her good cooking skills and WILL brag when she wants, thank yew very much. cooking is one of her love languages.

Sokka: now don’t kill me for this… but yeah he can cook. of course he can. and i don’t mean the open-minded sokka after kyoshi learned how to cook, i mean that boy has always known how cook since he was like twelve. and yeah i know he’s like Sexist or whatever in episodes 1-4 and when he was little but i swear to me it makes sense. he might’ve been sexist but he wasn’t stupid, cooking is a necessary skill that you’re required to have when you want to travel the world and become a warrior. sokka learned how to effortlessly war paint on, how to masterfully use a boomerang, how to hunt, how to fish, etc. … who’s to say cooking wasn’t one of those things? AND, no women were leaving with the men, which meant that the men would be cooking for themselves. sokka probably found this out and was like AH, BUT OF COURSE! IT’S MANLY TO KNOW TO HOW FEED YOURSELF! THIS MEANS I MUST LEARN HOW TO COOK IMMEDIATELY! sorry first i needed to justify myself because some people seem to think he’s incompetent when it comes to anything that people/the show deem as women’s work either subconsciously or not, like cooking. ok now onto his skills. yeah he can make a damn good meal as well. the water siblings are just like really good at cooking, both of em. he makes a mean grilled fish and an even meaner seal jerky. he’s especially talented at meaty dishes (of course) but he can also make nice vegetarian dishes when he’s cooking for the gaang. he can do… not mostly everything like katara, but that doesn’t mean he’s not skilled at cooking.

Zuko: love my boy, but he’s a spoiled guy. during the show he CANNOT cook. iroh makes his meals when they’re moving on foot. the ship’s cook makes his meals for him. when he’s alone? well… we all watched zuko alone… boy was Gaunt . wasn’t eating a damn thing and the things he did eat were stolen/not cooked by him/things he didn’t need to cook. now he can make Tea, but tea isn’t a meal. when zuko finds out both of the water sibling are amazing cooks he’s slighrly envious of them. now does this mean zuko NEVER learns how to cook? NO! he learns after the war when he can, but does this mean that he’s a good cook now that he’s learning? ALSO NO! he’s got the basics down and can feed himself if all else goes wrong and he’s stranded on a random deserted island, but that’s about it; he’s no katara or sokka, who both can make great meals for a shit ton of people. he will never get even remotely close to their level and he accepts this.

Toph: similar case to zuko’s. another spoiled kid who never had to pick up a ladle in her life and get stirring. but she’s literally blind, so it’s understandable that she probably wouldn’t be amazing at cooking. she most ljkely tried to cook once or twice and either burned the food or burned herself, or got mad and accidentally broke something. this is toph we’re talking about. she genuinely wants to learn how to make more meals than just simple cold sandwiches and stuff but she struggles greatly with it. when she was first introduced in the gaang, katara got upset when she refused to cook, but a simple ‘how do you guys keep forgetting i’m Blind’ shut her up real fast.

Suki: hell fucking yeah she can cook! what can she NOT do? she’s the leader of the kyoshi warriors. she’s an excellent fighter. she’s a kindhearted gal. she’s confident but not brash. we don’t know much about suki but trust me when i say that she can Cook. she’s really good with meals but her specialty is anything that’s remotely flashy. imagine those restaurants where the chefs make the food in front of you and get you to exclaim ooh and ahh. yeah that’s suki’s way of bragging about being a cool cook. sokka totally thinks it’s awesome and blushes whenever she makes meals for him because she makes sure to be flirty as FUCK! they have cooking dates together CONFIRMED! no no sorry no complaints talk to the wall yeah there you go… schmuck! (i like sukka can u tell?)

Aang: hmm. now this is a bit of a strange one. i think he CAN cook but not a lot of meals. he mostly cooks meals that originated the air temples but since they’re all vegetarian, most of his meals are cold and not hot, since there’s no need to heat up fruits or vegetables if you don’t want to. he also would ansolutely suck ass at making meaty foods but understandable because again he’s a veggie guy and he would never hurt an animal that way, all life is sacred to him. he’d try to learn how to cook meat for katara and his future children, but he’d end up feeling horrible the second he lays his eyes on any meat and would feel like he’s losing his touch with his culture. but katara’s there to comfort him and tell him that’s okay if he doesn’t learn how to cook meat. aang makes his vegetarian meals for the gaang and despite the fact that sokka really likes meat, he still compliments aang’s food and makes sure to eat it. they’re great pals, your honor. overall, aang is a good cook, but not very skilled when it comes to specific things. but still a good cook.

Should i do more? do these buds even like my little headcanons or assumptions or whatever? I saw a small spat about zuko’s customer service headcanon, so… don’t know if this’ll cause a spat or not. Just saying down here that these are all jokey jokes also Shit this was a lot of garbled writing!

[dartalias]

Pirate Kyoshi/flying opera AU

I wanted to draw this for i while and i still think i will but in case i cant (no time, but i think i can make it) i just gonna drop my idea here:

Pirate Kyoshi and Flying Opera Company

(This will be SUPER long im thinking about it for a while now)

basically: "what if Kyoshi had accepted Tagata's offer" it would be like "i will go with you if you let everyone go."

I kinda mix a little bit with airbender Kyoshi too, but different, so follow me here:

for this AU specific i thoght in make Kyoshi enter the fitht nation and pretend to be a non-bender to Tagata at the beginning since canonically she dont earthbend in front of her intil the seafloor (dosent happend in this scenario)

Why?? do you remember when Tagata say she dosent have use to earthbenders in a ship? But she look to Kyoshi and see "potential"

[Important detail in this AU: Tagata recognise Jesa's fetures in Kyoshi just like that other pirate did (see this in a coment somewhere and love it), i didnt make a backstory for them but i think it would be cool, the point is: she knows Kyoshi is Jesa and Hark daugther]

Because of that Tagata is divide trying to figure out if Kyoshi is an earthbender or an airbender, and Kyoshi's plan is just pretend she can't bend anything to make Tagata "lose time" intil she finds a way to ether escape or defeat her

But when Tagata try make Kyoshi airbend Kyoshi thinks "this will never work, im obvious not the avatar" what make her relax (which is what was missed in the firebend test in canon btw) and dont think about it much

And then she airbend

And BOOM, suddenly she's the avatar, literally only her knows it, and she is surrounded by a bunch of daufei, while being untrained, scared and lost in a completely unfamiliar territory

So, since she cant go back to Yokoya (Tagata and the deal she made etc etc.) She goes to her cannon next impulsive plan B

The Flying Opera Company

Somehow she convince Tagata to bring them in the ship as her "team" or "guests" bc she needs more training (its true) and they would be the only daufeis who would have some idea of how to help her

So she goes to the tea shop and convince them to joing her (in almost the same way of cannon: "you're our lider's daugther and its offering transportation") and agrees to teach her if she joins they, making their vows instead of Tagata's, this way they would be a gang working for pirates instead of part of tagatas krew, which make its possible to Kyoshi be/go openly againt her (not that something would really stop her, but still..)

And thats would be kinda it, they would be runing with the pirates, making caos. With a airbender in there ship they would be easily the "best"/bigest pirates ever (she can literally control the wind, in a ship) besides, fighting with a airbender is something you wouldn't expected or be prepared to do in the daufey line of work

And Kyoshi would be pretending to be just an airbender (probably making up a history of "i couldnt try it or they would figure out", or "it didnt work before" or "i knew it but couldnt train it" something like that) both for Tagata and the Flying Opera (exept Lao Ge who figure it out, maybe he teach her how to kill people here too)

So besides Kyoshi being almost openly agains Takaga and planing for her dawnfall, (she is BAD at pretend to like someone) and seemed to be more of a willing prisioner then a real part of her crew, having a daufei airbender is a super advantage and Tagata is smart enogth to use Kyoshi in her benefit even when Kyoshis is trying so sabotage her or going agains orders, thats a dangerous dinamic, especially with Kyoshi involved, but i think would be great to see it

I dont know how this would end tho (maybe a postponed seafloor rise?)

Some still untied points:

-Jianzhu would still be a big villan, i have some plans for him (and maybe Hei-Ran) but nothing concret

-Rangshi is obviously the endgame, i just dont know yet when she would join Kyoshi (she would never let Kyoshi go with Tagata, so they would have left before Rangi arrives) but since she would definitely go after her and i think this would be it, at some point she finds her and tags along

-Kelsang dies protecting Yun from Jianzhu

Is killed by Jianzhu when he discoveres Kyoshi to be the avatar

Dies trying to go after Kyoshi

Lives and help Kyoshi with airbender later on♡

-Lek lives

-i have NO IDEA how to make Kyoshi get her things (fans, makeup, diary etc.) but she does

And thats it

Write this make the drawing ispiration grow back stronger so maybe i will do somethings of this later

[biconickyoshi]

NAtLA first impressions (eps 1 & 2)

Here are my thoughts as someone who has been a superfan of the original series since 2007 (spoiler-free first, then spoilers below)!

Honestly, I'm feeling pretty middle of the road about this adaptation so far. I like a lot of the costuming, and some of the actors are good, while others have felt a bit lackluster. There's also some characterization choices I didn't like too much for certain characters (which I will get into in the spoiler sections below). The score is definitely not as good as the original series - I don't particularly like the new elements of the score, and when themes and motifs from the original score are used, I feel like they aren't used enough. The bending, while better than the 2010 version, still feels a bit fake and clunky, as do a lot of the special effects. There's also a problem with a reliance on exposition dialogue, moreso in the first ep than the second.

Now we'll get into the spoiler section. Don't read below this if you do not wanna be spoiled.

EP 1: "Aang"

What I liked:

Getting to see a bit more of the Air Nomads (which makes the genocide feel even more devastating)

The design of the Southern Air Temple felt very warm and inviting - I liked that there were lots of trees and whatnot

The added details about the Sozin purposefully allowing news of the war to be leaked to the Earth Kingdom to throw everyone off their trail of planning to attack the Air Nomads

Making the comet a special event for the Air Nomads, which brings them all together at the Southern Air Temple for Sozin's attack to happen

I like that Wolf Cove was actually called Wolf Cove (since it's never name dropped in the actual show)

Zuko and Iroh did a good job - I think Dallas is capturing Zuko's energy pretty well, and while Paul's Iroh feels a bit different than the OG, he's still doing a good job

What I was not so keen on:

Yep... I really didn't like that Aang didn't purposefully run away, and instead went to "clear his head" after Monk Gyatso told him he was the Avatar, fully intending to return before getting caught in the storm.

They really weren't kidding about removing Sokka's sexism. Instead of Aang being released bc of Katara's anger at this, they just happen upon the iceberg, and somehow while trying to waterbend their canoe closer she waterbends the iceberg open behind her??

Exposition dump from Gran Gran... and her basically just straight up telling Aang to his face "You're the last airbender! All your people are dead! And you're probably the Avatar too!" It all felt very wooden and definitely a bad change from how Aang realizes he's in the future in the OG series.

I had high hopes for a lot of the actors, and I hate to say it (especially considering Sokka's actor is likely not even indigenous at all), but Sokka has felt like the best actor so far. His lines come across a lot more naturally than Katara's and Aang's often do. Aang is alright, and of course looks and acts the part, but the way he speaks his lines sometimes feels too quick/unnatural. Sadly, I think Katara's acting has been the worst so far - in this episode I didn't see any of the emotion in her eyes that I felt like I should've been seeing. I will say I think she got a bit better in ep 2.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka just don't feel close. They never got time to go penguin sledding, to hang out with the village kids, etc. They still feel like strangers.

Speaking of, I guess Aang went out of the Avatar State by thinking about Gyatso? Again, that distance between him and the siblings (especially Katara) is glaring. Katara in general just seems to lack the spark she has in the OG.

EP 2: "Warriors"

What I liked:

Seeing the Fire Navy port - it felt very SEA-inspired, and that street food looked delicious lol.

Kyoshi Island being run by a woman (Suki's mom). Just makes more sense to me lol.

Suki - I looooved how they portrayed her as this kind of socially awkward character who wants to talk to Sokka but doesn't know how. It makes so much sense with her being isolated her whole life. I also felt like her and Sokka had quite a bit of chemistry.

The final Kyoshi battle was pretty cool

I kinda liked Zhao and Zuko both being at Kyoshi Island

Zuko's desperation to find Aang - he really felt like a kid to me in this ep with the acting choices Dallas made.

Strangely, I don't hate them nerfing the Avatar State a bit by making it to where Aang can only enter it when he's in an Avatar shrine. I didn't even realize it at first but the reason he goes into the Avatar State in the SAT is because Gyatso's skeleton was in Yangchen's shrine. I still prefer OG series Avatar State though.

I like that Kyoshi warns Aang with the vision about the Fire Nation's attack on the Northern Water Tribe. It gives him an incentive to get there faster instead of meandering.

What I was not so keen on:

Zhao seems to be a much less arrogant character here, at least outwardly. I know he was probably a bit cartoon villain-y in the OG series, but this dude just feels like another commander. Maybe that will change as I watch more. He's definitely conniving.

The goofy ass high beam lights from the Kyoshi statue's eyes

Kyoshi's characterization... This Kyoshi feels like the caricature all the casual fans perceive her to be (i.e. violence and strength are the best way, smite my enemies type of thing). I also didn't like how she just kept berating Aang for running away (which is weird that everyone keeps accusing him of this bc this version of Aang literally didn't even run away).

Aang is very driven to master the elements and defeat the Fire Lord in this version, which isn't necessarily a bad thing... But I feel like if anything, they could have at least kept it to where he ran away the night of the genocide, even if they didn't want to show him ignoring his responsibilities to go on adventures in the bulk of the show. A major part of Aang's character arc is him learning to accept his destiny and stop running/avoiding.

Once again, no Sokka sexism arc. This ep in the OG series was very important for him, but that's nonexistent here.

Once again, Katara's acting, while better than ep 1, feels like it's lacking emotion.

Overall, it's obviously better than the 2010 movie so far, and I enjoyed the eps to a degree, but there's still a lot of things that I wasn't super fond of. The changes that they seem to have made so far aren't too extreme yet, and I'm actually looking forward to seeing how far they end up deviating from the original show.

The whole time I was watching, I just couldn't stop thinking about how much better the original show is. I just kept missing the characters I knew and loved. Also, I still firmly believe this world and story truly works best in animation.

[reigningrockets]

Sooooo... Netflix's Avatar the Last Airbender huh...? episode 1 thoughts under cut.

just finished episode 1 and.... I am.... not impressed. It seems like this show fails to understand the core of what made the original series work. It's only episode one and it is severely suffering from an ABUNDANCE of tell don't show. It looks incredible and the sets and costumes are all impressive and wow they even pronounced the names right... (can't believe that's actually a positive point) however none of that matters if they fail to deliver on the storytelling.

First off, I found it quite amusing that Katara's opening monologue was stolen not once but TWICE by other people. First by Kyoshi, then later on Gran Gran. And speaking of Gran Gran I couldn't help but burst out laughing when she just somehow knew Aang was the avatar despite there being literally no reason for her to guess that. She was a wonderful exposition dump tho (I say sarcastically). And more on Katara but this is not the badass that we know and love. She's quiet and meek and doesn't even free Aang from the ice due to an angry rant about sokka's sexism (more on that later). I know it's episode one and of course she's an inexperienced bender but she's still is powerful in other ways. This version is so... nothing.

Next, the show annoyed me when Iroh basically just told Zuko and in turn the audience that Ozai's quest for Zuko to capture the avatar was supposed to be impossible and Ozai wasn't ever expecting Zuko to succeed. Did the writers REALLY not think that the watchers could just... I don't know... PICK UP ON THAT FACT FROM CONTEXT CLUES???? Of course the task was supposed to be impossible. Ozai does NOT want Zuko back home but Zuko is so blinded by his mission he fails to ever see that or accept it. You don't need to tell us! SHOW US! Audiences are not stupid! (also every time I saw Zuko drawing in his little book, I just laughed.)

Also love (hate) how the show removed all of Sokka's sexism because it was "potentially problematic" or whatever.... I guess characters aren't allowed to grow any more. Originally, when Sokka went on a journey away from home, a home where he was taught the "warrior way" and grew up as the oldest man in the village, he was finally exposed to the rest of the world and his narrow minded view expanded as he saw more of the world. Sokka GROWS as a person and becomes an "all women are queens" icon. This is important to his character and Netflix deciding to do away with that plot point is going to severely hurt his character. And once again the show suffered by just outright saying "sokka had to grow up fast." WHY ARE YOU TELLING US THIS? YOU COULD EASILY SHOW IT I PROMISE THE AUDIENCE WILL UNDERSTAND!!!

Finally, I want to just remind people that there is no such thing as filler in a series that is not being adapted from a manga. There was NO filler in the original show. The show was about a journey and they SHOWED that journey in it's entirety. By cutting out the journey and just going to the "important points" you lose time getting to actually know the characters and bonding with them. Then when important stuff DOES happen, its that much more emotional. I felt absolutely nothing watching this first episode except for the occasional mild to severe annoyance.

So ya. The show is already massively flawed and its only episode one. I had a feeling this would be the case from the moment this remake was announced and I find myself once again asking why this was even made. Since... ya know... There is already a show... and the show is arguably one of the best pieces of animated media out there.... so ya..... At least this will once again spur people into watching the original show so that's something.

[greatwyrmgold]

I've been thinking about Avatar: The Last Airbender recently. You know what's weird? The Four Nations. They're treated as a collective, a natural way to politically and culturally divide the world of Avatar, four units in balance. But they're not, really. They're too different.

Let's start with the Fire Nation, the closest to what you'd expect the nations to be. It's a nation-state in the most literal sense; a group of people who see themselves united by history, culture, and common descent, ruled over by a polity with a strong central government. (Relative to vassalage or something, not by modern standards.) It's pretty much exactly what you'd expect the Four Nations to be from their name, so the fact that it's the only one with Nation in its name is appropriate.

Then there's the Earth Kingdom. Unlike the Fire Nation, it's not really a unitary state. For the most part, the Earth King does not rule the Earth Kingdom like the Firelord rules the Fire Nation. It was overrun with bandits and warlords during the Kyoshi era, consolidated into warring states by the Roku era, and splintered into warring states again in Korra's era as soon as the queen was killed. The Earth Kingdom was kinda united during the Hundred-Year War, but with powerful lords acting independently of Ba Sing Se and occasionally calling themselves kings. It was united in Aang's adulthood, but that's an anomaly. Still, the Earth Kingdom isn't that different from what we'd expect from one of the Four Nations. It's a nation, just ruled by a polity too decentralized or fragmented to call a state.

We come to trouble with the Water Tribe...or, really, Water Tribes. There were times when the Northern and Southern Water Tribes were united under one chief, but it makes more sense to think of them are separate entities. The Northern Water Tribe has cities and armies and a hereditary chiefdom, with the chief's family basically being treated like royalty; the Southern Water Tribe doesn't seem to have any of those, being little more than a collection of villages with no apparent government.

Even if they were culturally identical, those distinct material conditions would make the two tribes' members very different. And they aren't culturally identical. And that's not getting into the Foggy Swamp Tribe. The Water Tribe isn't a nation. It's a collection of tribes nominally united by history and culture, but actually united by Waterbending.

And then there are the Air Nomads. It's hard to get a read on them; we don't see them in the actual show (damn you, Sozin), and the information we have on them doesn't map as cleanly to any real-world groups. They're nomads whose cultures are centered around fixed temples, with no territory and no apparent method of gathering food. They're a self-reproducing ethnic group whose men and woman are geographically separated. For that matter, they're a coherent culture, distinct from their neighbors, despite being geographically separated.

The Air Nomads are only vaguely sketched out, but they're even less like what you'd expect a "nation" to be. They didn't seem to have any central government (before they were reduced to the Avatar's family and his band of Air Acolytes), they don't have any territory to speak of, they barely have any culture beyond their spiritual beliefs. But they're still a Nation, equal to the other three.

The Four Nations have little in common. Only one and a half can be considered a unitary polity, like "nation" suggests. All except the Air Nomads and maybe Fire Nation show regional variation in culture; rural Earth Kingdom communities have more in common with the Water Tribes than Ba Sing Se, and the Northern Water Tribe arguably has more in common with the smaller, coastal Earth Kingdom states than it does with the other Water Tribes.

And there are plenty of polities, cultures, and ethnic groups that aren't considered one of the Four Nations. There are the daofei, the bandits and warlords I mentioned existing in Kyoshi's time. There are groups like the Shang of Yangchen's era or the Fifth Nation of Kyoshi's, who started as a mixture of different nations and coalesced into having a singular cultural identity (and a stronger governing institutions than most of the Four Nations). There are the sandbending Si Wong tribes, the Bhanti Island sages, and those bands from the Great Divide that nobody likes to acknowledge, but they do exist, unfortunately.

None of these groups, except arguably the United Republic of Nations, are treated as significant. They might be self-governing, with a distinct ethnic identity and spiritual beliefs and so on, and have a population that dwarfs the Air Nomads...but they're not one of the Four Nations, so they're not important. Most don't affect matters outside their immediate neighbors (generally just one of the Four Nations), almost none last more than a couple centuries (compared to the millennia that the Four Nations have been recognized as a thing), and just about all of them arguably fit into one of the Four Nations. The Bhanti sages are kinda independent but also kinda part of the Fire Nation, the various Earth Kingdom tribes are all earthbenders and are made to obey the stronger Earth Kings, even the Fire Nation colonies/Republic City aren't completely independent of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom.

The Doylist explanation is, of course, that the Four Nations are defined by their elements; one nation per element, one element per nation. But they're recognized as an institution in-universe—why else would the Northern Water Tribe assume leadership over the Southern when they were at the literal opposite end of the world? (They tried this before the spirit portal reopened, mind you.) And it's hard to imagine how that could be the case if it wasn't based purely on the elements in-universe, too.

The Avatar is clearly a central pillar of in-universe culture, particularly spiritual beliefs; that makes sense, since the Avatars have always been world-shaping figures, with supernatural powers beyond what anyone else is capable of. They rotate between four groups of people, each of which has a distinct powersets that each can only be inherited by members of that group.

The Water Tribe is seen as a unitary entity not because of any material reality, or even shared institutions, but because those are the people who can be Waterbenders. The Earth Kingdom constantly falls apart because of the difficulties in governing such a large area, and comes back together because Earthbenders exist. The Fire Nation is united by fire. The Air Nomads aren't put on the same level as the Fire Nation because their nation is politically significant, but because their existence is spiritually significant.

The other tribes, the daofei and the Shang, even the Fifth Nation? They might have territory and people, they might have distinct cultures, they might have political clout while they last. But they don't have their own element, and that makes them lesser. Fragile. As long as there are waterbenders, they will be one Tribe. As long as there are earthbenders, their ruler will be the Earth King. As long as there is a single airbender, the Air Nomads will be among the Four Nations.

[laoih]

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)

Another version of Bumi & why I like him

Let me preface this with the disclaimer that I'm fully aware that Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender has its flaws. But for me personally, the things it does well are fare more interesting, and so I would like to explain why I like how they changed Bumi as a character within the story of the live action adaptation. I'm bad at keeping it short, so this turned out a rather long post – my apologies. Also: potential trigger warning for mentions of suicidal ideation.

The starting point: Bumi in the cartoon

Cartoon-Bumi in the original series is a character who is very much rooted in the original medium. He lends himself well to comedy, and his challenges for Aang teach Aang and the young audience about opening onself to new possibilities, to think outside the box, to approach obstacles from new perspectives. It's good advice, and Aang takes it to heart and implements it at times later on. The reunion between Aang and Bumi is also sweet, and all in all it's an enjoyable episode.

Aang's position from the live action angle

Now, if the same plot is moved to the live action series (LA), the tone of this storyline is automatically changed as well because we are now looking at it through the lense of the LA. The cartoon is aimed at a young audience and has a big focus on comedy, so we can easily ignore some aspects of the situation that now come more into focus in the adaptation:

Aang just recently has learned that all of his people, the Air Nomads, have been wiped out and he is the last airbender.

Aang also has leaned that as the Avatar it is his duty to restore balance to the world and to defeat the Firelord.

A 100 years old man is challenging a traumatized kid to solve some tasks while his friends are being threatend by death-by-growing-crystal.

As I said – in the cartoon it's fine to think of riding Koi fish as the first order of business, and it's fine to threaten the kids with death because nobody dies anyway. It's fine for the cartoon not to dwell on these things. But the live action series explicilty wants to pay attention to some of these aspects, propbably especially because the cartoon could only address them in very small doses. I'm not saying that the live action always does it well, but the intention is there and it's different to the cartoon.

Aang's trauma and Bumi's response

In the live action, Aang cannot easily put his loss or his responsibilities aside. He is mourning Gyatso and the Airbenders in basically every episode, he is shocked by what he sees of the war in Omashu, and the need to go to the Northern Water Tribe is much more urgent because of Kyoshi's warning.

Would or should Bumi as Aang's friend as he is in the cartoon really pretend he does not know Aang in the LA, and would or should he trick him into believing his friends are in danger of dying? Even if he thinks Aang needs to learn a lesson, is that the right time and the right way to do it? Coming from the perspective of the LA, to me it seems needlessly cruel to threaten Katara and Sokka with death and Aang with the possibility that his friends might die, all while Aang is still dealing with the loss of his people and the fact that he somehow has to save the Northern Water Tribe. I think Bumi would no seem like a nice person or a good friend even if he was copied 1:1 from the cartoon. To me, in this new context it wouldn't make much sense to treat Aang in such a way, just because he thinks that Aang needs to learn a lesson or because it's fun to mess with people.

Fitting Bumi in the new context

Bumi in the cartoon is the episode's obstacle that Aang needs to overcome. If Bumi is to stay an obstacle in the live action, he now needs to have a different reason or motivation to become such an obstacle. A cartoon Bumi who is neither bitter nor angry but rather wants to help and is happy to see Aang can no longer realistically be that obstacle. Rather, I would expect that a wise old man of a 100 years would be more open and supportive right from the start when he meets his young 12 year old friend who just learned that his whole family has been massacred.

So how and why would Bumi still be an obstacle? The writer's answer to that was: because he is no longer wise and friendly, but lethargic and bitter. Why is he bitter? Because he has lived through 100 years of war and had to make horrible choices that still haunt him, and each year the hope for the war and for the suffering to end became smaller and smaller. The Avatar may have been the representation of that hope when the war started – but 100 years later he has become the representation of all the times that Bumi was hopeful but eventually disappointed.

His opposition to Aang in the episode includes three main aspects:

I. Bitterness towards Aang and the Avatar: Bumi blames the Avatar for being absent because the Avatar should have been there to help and wasn't. This isn't a rational reaction though, it's born out of the loss and the bitterness in Bumi's life. It's also personal for him, because Aang was Bumi's friend, and as the Avatar could have helped but didn't. On top of that Bumi resents Aang's disbelief when it comes to Bumi's capacity to care – they are separated by 100 years of lived experience that Aang completely missed and Bumi had to endure. Of course in this case Bumi also ignores the loss that Aang recently (from his perception) has suffered.

→ With this the writers set up a character who is emotionally no longer able to support Aang or take Aang's own situation and problems into consideration. He is mentallypositioned to be an obstacle to Aang, to be inconsiderate, ruthless and actually dangerous.

II. A lesson to learn: Bumi intends to teach Aang a lesson to make him understand why he is the way he is now. He cannot speedrun the last 100 years for Aang, but can give him and example of what his own experience has been in the past and what forced him to stop caring: he shows him what it's been like in the past when you are forced to make impossible choices, and what – in Bumi's mind – awaits Aang in the future.

→ This provides a motivation for Bumi to fight against Aang in all seriousness. Bumi is not playing games, because this has been the harsh reality for him. It rises the dramaturgical stakes of the fight.

III. Losing the will to live: Bumi is tired after 100 years, and that becomes very apparent in the fight. It is a part of a larger theme in the LA that explores what war does to people. In Bumi's case it has made him numb because he wouldn't have been able to deal with the horrors of war otherwise all this time. That is why he does not move a hand when he is about to be crushed – it seems to be a relief, and if it can teach Aang the intended lesson: all the better.

→ With Aang already knowing who Bumi is, this rises the emotional stake of the fight. Aang no longer is fighting an unknown weird old man, he is fighting someone who he believes to be a friend, and even worse: his friend appears to be suicidal. Having to fight and protect Bumi at the same time puts Aang under a huge amount of pressure both emotionally and when it comes to his bending skills.

The resolution: fighting hopelessness with connection

Granted, the ending is not as well executed as it could be. But for me it still carries the intended idea – or at least the idea as I understood it:

War can isolate people. Bumi has been fighting a war, and surely has lost people close to him, or cannot see them because battle grounds have a habit of interrupting travel. We also know there have been spies in the city as well as rebells who are unhappy with Bumi's rule, so it's difficult to even trust the people who are supposed to fight on Bumi's side.

Aang is the counter to all of that: he was able travel to the city because he can fly and cross borders and distances more easily. He is also saved from the predicament that Bumi has put him in because his friends have independently found a way to reach them, and luckily in time.

When he pulls out the gift that Bumi had given him all these years ago, it's very symbolic: the sky bison whistle allows Aang to call upon his friend Appa. And Appa has already saved Aang in the first episode, and will do so again in the episode following Aang's and Bumi's fight.

It's a reminder that for people who have lost the will to live the best hope is the connection with other people. It may seem trivial to those who don't have to struggle in that way, but a reminder of a connection, of friendship, of support or even just shared struggle can be incredible powerful. That's why I believe it is believable for Bumi to give it one more try. After all, the return of the Avatar as a potential powerful ally is also a good motivation to fight back once more.

[releasemefromthevoid]

MY ATLA LIVE ACTION S1E2 THOUGHTS

EP1 - EP3

We all know that ATLA’s character arcs and just. character building in general is one of if not its absolute biggest strength. This show has a lot to live up to on that front, and if it can manage it, then that’s all the better. I’ll probably be critical of this aspect in particular, keeping in mind that this is generally meant to be an alternate canon which leads to Some changes in order to fit a shorter form.

Without going too far into it, I’ll say I will continue to be a little worried about the new spin on Aang’s character arc until I can see it play out all the way through. 

I’m also a bit worried about Zuko’s character. He seems a bit more willing to hurt people than in the cartoon, so I think they’re gonna have to play that pretty carefully moving forward. 

There are, of course, some things they’re doing incredibly well. Zhao’s character is On Point, and Suki feels about right too. I also am generally liking how they’re adapting plot points so far. There’s at least one episode from the original cartoon that I can tell won’t be adapted because of something in this episode, and it feels natural enough, I guess. I don’t have too many complaints on that front. 

Stay tuned for episodes 3-8! Live reactions/spoilers under the cut!

really fucks with me to not start with The Monologue

still don’t know how i feel about this iroh yet. is it just bc he isn’t mako? idk it’s like. uncanny valley iroh

also still not a fan of aang being so serious already. hopefully there will be a substantial enough character arc to replace that

katara so far is reading the most like the original to me

MOMO

gran gran. just had a waterbending scroll?? i mean. i guess. bringing back the southern waterbending style. i do think i like the original more in this case, it’s just a little more horrifying to have that style basically wiped out completely. that being said this is definitely a way to consolidate the waterbending scroll episode right? i shouldn’t expect to see pirates?

ok the iroh and zuko dynamic in the marketplace was on point

there is NO unagi, where is she

SUKI!!! suki looks GREAT no notes.

suki’s. mom? interesting.

kyoshi island seems a lot less welcoming to aang, even though they know he is in fact the avatar, which does a lot to remind us that they were supposed to be a neutral party in the war. this is not a bad change

zhao definitely has the right vibes

omg, suki 😭get some queen

okay so we finally get to see aang being a kid for a minute (please just let them be kids sometimes it’s okay)

SUKI IS EATING AND LEAVING NO CRUMBS. love that we still get the classic suki beats sokka’s ass scene

oh,, is that what they’re doing with aang in this series?? not a learning to be serious thing,, he’s learning to deal with the fact that he is powerful and he has to control that so he doesn’t hurt people. that’s interesting, so i’ll reserve judgment until it plays out. it just. doesn’t feel the same

the sukki romance is almost playing out in a more believable way than the cartoon, so that’s pretty great

so like. what happened to avatar roku? is he just gonna be replaced with kyoshi? like she’s a badass and we love her, but. why?

sokka is not hearing a goddamn word suki is saying. he is Too Entranced. i have never been more on board with this ship

how are they dealing with this without the unagi

gotta say the spirit world appearance is really cool. chromatic aberration was a good choice

oh yikes kyoshi that’s a bit harsh. i miss roku

was zuko. about to kill katara?? he would never. tell me he would never.

ok so this is a winter solstice at the fire temple moment. happening now so it doesn’t have to with roku later? interesting.

“only call upon the past avatars when i’m at their shrines” lol okay. fair enough. roku did Not adhere to that in show

zuko’s digging himself a hole with zhao here. bro IMMEDIATELY called the fire lord

ngl i’m loving this iteration of zhao. absolutely despicable vile man. hate that guy. great character. 

liking: SUKI <3, Zhao's characterization, set designs, sokka and suki's relationship

worried about: aang's character, zuko's character

disliking: roku's absence (though i do love kyoshi, god bless), no unagi :(

[paragonrobits]

What do you think of the idea that the Gaang are children soldiers? I met with someone who said that I told him that this is an uncharitable view of the series.

My immediate response was to think 'NO THEY'rE NOT', pause a moment to reflect on all the way things apply in-universe and I amended this to 'no, they're not, you could ARGUE they are from a specific point of view but it requires deliberately disassociating from the premise of the series to come to that conclusion'. Such, I say, is the province of the sort of people who act extremely smug about getting one over on the series (or that's the impression I get) and for some reason also generally tend to be the people who ride the 'Azula is a badass girlboss' train so hard that they've wound up viewing her as a tragic victim of circumstances and everyone in the show is mean for not dropping their entire lives to parent her 24/7.

I suppose this is a roundabout way of me getting to the preamble that this is an uncharitable view of the show, most certainly, and it seems common among the sort of people who seem to treat the very premise as a series as something to mock and then act like they won something? I dunno. It's weird.

To get strictly technical, I don't think the Gaang are child soldiers in a literal sense, at least no more in the sense of 1. being soldiers and 2. are children. They're not trained as soldiers, they do not follow any formal chain of command beyond 'do what Aang thinks sounds good after he discusses it with everyone' or 'Chief Hakoda is hear so lets see what he has in mind'.

They're warriors, certainly, in a loose sense. Sokka is explicitly a warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, though its honestly unclear if he would actually be expected to fight in a conflict. Personally I am leaning towards 'no', since a lot of the stuff surrounding Sokka in this context feels like its not the sort of thing that normally happens in the Southern Water Tribe. Sokka is the youngest warrior in the tribe, and it feels like he IS considered a warrior (based on Hakoda specifically asking him to stay as a fellow warrior, during a big meeting) but while he was apparently trained as one, a lot of it seems self taught and based on him feeling obligated to try to be a warrior, rather than any kind of formal training. He's definitely a hunter, but that's not strictly part of being a soldier of any kind.

Something similar applies to the rest of the group. They're definitely warriors, in the sense of people who are capable and willing to fight outside the context of a formal chain of command, but they're not trained soldiers, except for Suki and possibly Zuko. While the Kyoshi Warriors seem fairly autonomous, it does seem likely that Suki is the leader of their group, as they defer to her, and is definitely wearing a uniform. I don't know if Zuko, and by extension Azula, are technically soldiers or not. I would guess they qualify more as independent agents. Ozai does send out Azula to perform tasks, and she has considerable authority, but again I don't really think she qualifies as a soldier, despite her training, given this specific context.

So no, they're not child soldiers in the technical sense of 'soldiers who are children'. The term is used a lot to refer to any child protagonists that engage in conflict, usually with an unspoken cry of 'and the older characters are HORRIFYING to allow this!'.

This basically kind of requires ignoring the central premise of the series, however, and making judgments on Hakoda, Iroh and other older characters is uncharitable in the extreme. Avatar the Last Airbender is a action-adventure series primarily geared at tweens and young teenagers; old enough to love the gross out humor and visual gags, but old and mature enough that the complex philosophy and moral questions won't go over their heads. As such, the show is meant for kids to watch and to like the protagonists. As such, it requires protagonists in that age group to go on cool adventures.

If a hypothetical viewer is going to complain about how the responsible adults aren't stopping their adventure to fight their own battles instead, they need to be reminded that this IS an action-adventure series, and the viewers are meant to think the characters are cool for doing this stuff. Criticizing characters for letting them fight is missing the point; they're SUPPOSED to fight. That's the point of the show.

From an internal point of view, there's an unspoken suggestion that while the adult characters don't want the kids involved, they honestly don't have much choice; much as Hakoda left the village behind, despite wanting to stay there with them, there was a war to fight in order to prevent the certain destruction of their home, if not worse. His children are now involved, and he doesn't really have much option in it one way or another. There's some argument to be made that maybe Hakoda has silently decided that if they do wind up getting killed in the fight... well, its their choice. He doesn't like it, but the situation is severe enough that risking your life in this situation is your own decision, and he might have made the grim algebra decision that such is the demands of the times.

The other thought is that Hakoda, and the other adults in a similar position such as Iroh (though not Ozai who absolutely does not care), are willing to allow them to make their own decisions given the momentous state of events; such is a time of destiny, and all must answer to it as they see fit. They have few warriors of any kind left, and the Gaang are powerful, and willing to bring balance to the world, so what are they to do? You can't just tell them 'no, go home, you're just a kid', because if the adults DON'T win the war, its going to be a moot point. Those kids will go home and then die anyway when the war comes for them, or face a more gruesome or horrific fate in the same way.

(There's probably some leeway in thinking that some characters are thinking that the kids probably WILL die fighting, and if they do, at least they do so with honor, instead of waiting to die as their homes are conquered. It's a grim thing, but the state of the world is grim for them, and it might be better to die with dignity instead of pretending you actually get to have a say in whether they live or die.)

This, of course, ultimately brings us to the big point of it: Aang.

The first bit, of course, is that there's no one left to actually stand as an adult for him. He has no one, except the Gaang. He has a few peers, most notably Bumi and some members of the White Lotus who are likely to understand his perspective and cultural position, and from their few interactions its clear that Aang would at least hear Iroh out if he said something on it one way or another. But he is, at the title points out, the last Air Nomad. Who is going to speak for him or tell him that he's just a child, and that this isn't his fight?

The answer is tragic, in a couple ways. The first is, well, it IS his fight. He is the Avatar. All fights are, by definition, his fight; to keep balance and bring peace to warring nations is the precise reason he exists, and everyone knows it. The other sad part is that Gyatso did, and no one listened. And now there is no one left to listen or speak for Aang at all. Not many people will speak like a parent or teacher for Aang, not when they don't really know him.

And the second part of it is, again, he's the Avatar.

He is the spirit of the world itself incarnate in human form. He has mastered the elements over a thousand lifetimes again and again. He is both human and spirit, the crossroads of destiny itself. By his will and right is all moral decisions given to him; should he decree that the time of humanity is past and everyone should perish and thank him for thinking of them enough to make a judgment, that is his right. Less misanthropically (and more in character), if he decides that this is his fight, no adult in the world has the right to say 'no' or argue with him.

He is the Avatar. What he says, goes, and they know it. The thing about Aang is that he is moral enough to probably feel this isn't good enough and there needs to be a moral framework beyond 'what I say goes', and that's a good thing, but at the same time that's still his decision.

At the end of the day, the affairs of the world are Aang's business, and whatever he does for it is his own decision. No one is about to second guess him or argue about it with him except for Katara, Sokka and the rest of the Gaang, because they're the only people he has left, in any way save Bumi (who is also likely to not argue with him on this).

The state of the world is desperate enough that, in character, they probably need everyone they can get who is willing to fight. The story itself is set up around the cool adventures of a group of friends fighting the big evil empire; trying to call them child soldiers is really missing the point!

I mean, if someone is going to be smug online and go 'WELL ACTUALLY all the main characters and villains are actually child soldiers and the adults are bad people for allowing this', I'm going to take a wild guess and assume they're not actually engaging with the narrative or its requirements. I'd say its a manifestation of the same insufferableness as the people who complain when the characters in a story do not constantly act for maximum efficiency and rationality, make mistakes, or do other things that smartasses on-line like to criticize to be smug.

I certainly think there's plenty of room to analyze WHY characters make these decisions, in universe; you can argue that Hakoda doesn't want them to fight, but knows he doesn't have a choice about it, or that Iroh has already made his peace with the possibility Zuko will die and the rest of his family are likely to be casualties (not that he really cares that much for anyone in his family but Zuko, and given that its people who have outright tried to kill him, I really don't think he can be blamed for that, or that its reasonable to see him as a villain because he implicitly holds a grudge over it).

But ultimately, calling them child soldiers is indeed uncharitable. What do you expect them to do? Wait in a room for a few years until they hit 18 and THEN go off to war? Or that Ozai is likely to put the war on hold as he goes "Ah, yes, of course, my family may be genocidal conquerors and I am absolutely DELIGHTED to burn the entire Earth Kingdom down and possibly dance on the ashes, but fighting children? Perish the thought! I'm putting the war on hold until they're adults. Oh, wait, right. I'm evil, I'm going to kill them all anyway. BACK TO THE CHILD MURDER, EVERYONE, YOU ALL KNOW I AM POSITIVELY GIDDY ABOUT IT."

But we all know that's about as likely to happen as Azula realizing on her own that a lack of active malice from Ozai is not the same thing as him actually caring about her, or that picking Ozai's side in their perpetual family conflict was a good idea. That is, she's not going to realize it without Destiny spending a few years bonking her on the head with a big list of all the time Ozai showed himself to have the emotional capacity of a rock while shouting 'HOW ARE YOU THIS DENSE??'.

So, uh, not very likely at all!

[circlique]

can earthbenders bend glass like it’s just a molten sand

can bloodbenders:

use it for healing

feel people when they don’t see it

tell when someone’s lying

boil blood

can airbenders:

play with sounds of different frequencies

keep people deaf

make air toxic (or waterbenders spray a substance)

can energybenders control spirits/avatar in avatar state as bloodbenders control people

can’t remember all the questions right now but sub-bending is really interesting topic

Can earthbenders bend glass?

Kyoshi bends glass in one of the Kyoshi novels, so this one is confirmed!

———

Can bloodbenders:

Use it for healing?

My personal headcanon is that Katara’s ability to bloodbend is part of what makes her such a talented healer. I think being able to minutely manipulate blood and tissues simultaneously with the healing water might result in overall greater healing ability. This is also somewhat hinted at in the Kyoshi novels, when a healer lowers the body temperature of injured people to slow down their body processes. Since waterbenders can change the phase of water, that sounds more like subtle bloodbending than straight up healing to me.

Feel people they don’t see?

Not sure about this one. I think this would rely on the assumption that waterbenders can “feel” unseen water like a metal detector or something, and there’s not much to suggest they can “feel” water they don’t already know is there.

Tell when someone’s lying?

I this kind of goes back to the previous question. Waterbenders don’t seem to rely on a “seismic sense” in the same way earthbenders do. I think it makes sense for earthbenders to be able to feel changes to a person’s heartbeat or breathing through the earth, but not so much for waterbenders who don’t have direct contact with the target.

Boil blood?

If they can turn regular water to ice or steam and have been hinted at being able to manipulate human body temperature, I think this is within the realm of possibility. Horrifying to think about though.

———

Can airbenders:

Play with sounds of different frequencies?

There is some evidence that they can manipulate sound waves, but mostly to enhance the volume, which would be the amplitude. We see this when Aang blows the bison whistle so loud it rounds up all the zoo animals in Tales of Ba Sing Se. It’s also touched on in Yangchen’s novel a bit that airbenders can project their own voices very loudly. I think frequency would be quite a bit harder, but maybe a skilled airbender could do it.

Keep people deaf?

As in, stop ALL air movement around them so that sound cannot propagate? It might be possible, but that’s such a high level of precision I think only a master could achieve it.

Make air toxic?

I’m not sure exactly what you meant by this one but I assume you mean something like isolating certain elements? This is a question I find personally fascinating, and we explored this a bit in the Avatar TTRPG I was in. We basically said an airbender COULD isolate elements in the air to remove oxygen for instance, but in order to do so would have to be exposed to ONLY that element first to know what it “feels” like in it’s pure form. It also required an extraordinarily high level of skill and the airbender to invent the technique was banished for it (but still taught it in secret).

———

Could energybenders control spirits / the Avatar in the Avatar state as bloodbenders do people?

I don’t think energybenders could do this but maybe spiritbenders could? But spiritbending still seems like it’s more to placate or anger spirits than control them, but I guess some level of control is needed to placate or anger them in the first place. So maybe, but I don’t think we know enough about spiritbending to know for sure. I do think a very skilled spirit bender could keep the Avatar from entering the Avatar state by suppressing Raava though.

———

I agree, sub-bending is one of my favorite meta topics!

[sainamoonshine]

Okay so I have watched like, three Avatar live action episodes so far and here are some quick thoughts on it. (Spoiler alert this is a positive post, negativity DNA unless you want to make me sad)

- Right off the bat it should be noted that my standards for good tv / movies are pretty low these days. Due to the general state of tv / movies, I have been forced to place the bar of acceptability at « I can see what is happening on the screen and the character’s costumes have colours ». NATLA passes both criterias with flying — well, colours.

- Secondly I actually like the way the show handles the character arcs. I feel like people who are complaining just noticed that they changed or toned down some aspects of the character arcs, and were so angry that they straight up stopped paying attention instead of noticing all the new and nuanced things that were added in. Every character is getting an interesting and intriguing storyline, they just don’t look exactly the same as in the original. If that makes you froth at the mouth, may I suggest not watching any adaptation ever maybe? Because huh that’s kind of what adaptations do.

- Unfortunately the pacing is kinda clunky and some of the dialogue is irritating, especially the recurrent thing where a character who would usually prefer to die before speaking about their feelings — or wouldn’t have the emotional maturity to even realize what they are feeling — just turn to the camera and loudly announce « I am feeling this thing! ». However, those two issues are obviously a result of not enough episodes. They had to cram A LOT in eight episodes and that is Netflix’s fault, not the showrunner’s. With eight episodes they basically had the choice between not having the time to properly « show not tell » and therefore having to cut out the character’s more subtle emotional states entirely, or try to work in conversations and monologues in which the characters just straight up say things to each other. So you get Aang telling Appa he’s scared of being the avatar and Zuko actually admitting out loud that he has hope that he might get to go home. It is what it is.

- They clearly ran out of money for wigs tho. Gran-gran’s wig is horrendous and the only thing I cannot forgive.

- Aside from some clunky pacing and gran-gran’s wig tho, everything else has slapped so far. Sokka is PERFECT. Suki was great too. Sad that they didn’t put Sokka in the full Kyoshi warrior getup but it does create an unintentionally hilarious moment where the kyoshi people are all like « um no we don’t have any outsiders in our village, no sir mister fire soldier » and meanwhile this idiot is just standing there all dressed in BLUE

- Aang is also perfect. Zuko is perfect. Katara is doing that thing where you bottle up all your anger inside and never make it anyone else’s problem and just keep smiling and being nice and polite and then you die, which unfortunately seems to make people think she just has no anger? Lmao okay.

- the cgi was hit and miss in the first episode but then got a lot better

- the fight choreographies are ON POINT OMG

- I didn’t remember why I didn’t like Jet (forgor most of his arc in the show) but just remembered I didn’t like him, which made for an interesting ep 3 viewing experience lol

- also Kevin from supernatural?????

- would prefer it if my husband stopped saying « okay Anakin! 🙄 » every time someone gets set on fire but I think that might just be an issue in my household

[aangtheairbender]

This is what I mean with the cookie-cutter perfect main protagonist. We fell in love with those characters because they had flaws like us, but managed to evolve and grow in a positiv way that both benefitted themselves and the others in their life.

I want to see a characters that is like me. That has faults and sides that aren't some attraktive; but can show with hard work and a change of both heart and mindset- are able to accomplish the things they set out to do.

Having perfect characters from the starts, doesn't really do much for a show. Why should I follow the "growth" and progress of a character that is already at the goal.

I'm also so against the way tv production make fictional character. They make them spotless. Everything is practically perfect and yet, people finds way to complain about them. We need characters that can grow and people needs to realise that showing bad or negative traits in a character is important for the story building and for the audience. Showing bad traits and how to overcome them is a good thing. If you want a generation that isnt sexist (in this case), you don't show a character that is not. You show what they do and say to overcome that hurdle.

Even as a child, when I first watched ATLA, I was never unsure that sokka was out of line to mock Katara in that way or that is was childish of him to not accept that the kyoshi warriors were all young women that captured them. But it was still important to see that growth in him, because I knew that were negative traits and a bad mindset to have towards women; I wanted to see him overcome it and be better person.

This is why i think "wokeness" ruins remakes and new tv shows. Because, people just can't handle very "human" faults in character. We see this with every Disney remake. With new shows for young adults. Every line and every point of progress is basically spoon fed to the audience, soi there wont the any interpatation of what is wrong and what is right.

I just think we need dynamic characters that clearly has sides to them that every person can relate to. I mean, is sokka is a "problematic character"....why not just drop Iroh and Zuko that literally was hunting the avatar to kill/capture him. But they wont do that, because then the movie doesn't have a conflict and you droop two of the most likes character. It just doesn't make sense in my eyes.

We need characters with faults. I think if you are either scared that you or your close ones (children etc) are going to be influenced by watching a character like sokka; maybe you don't have the maturity to make you own morals stance and shouldn't watch a show like that.

Tv shows and movies are there to place your morals for you. If you can't pick what's right and what's wrong between being a sexist and not; you shouldn't watch a show like that. If it upset you that much, the solution isn't to get rid of those traits. It is to not watch it.

Also, I think it's wrong to remove Katara's more emphatic and sympatic sides in the name of "modern feminism". I hate when film producers do that. They want strong females, so they give them the traits of toxic masculinity. When Katara's motherly sides was never a weakness for her. It made her strong and it made her fight for people she cared about.

That is just mu thoughts. I'm never really for the remake of things. I don't really think it does any good and nobody likes them, it seems like. Why not make new plots and stories. Like they could have made a film out of the comics or something. I don't think I will see the movie, just because I don't the necessity of having it made and because I will literally be watching new characters just with the same name.

Just read that the live action Avatar the Last Airbender is making Sokka less misogynistic which I think is actually a poor choice

Part of what made Sokka a good and interesting character was seeing him grow from a boy who often insulted women into a man who regularly drank his respect women juice

We need to allow people to be shitty and yet grow into better people and Sokka was a good example of that because he was generally still likeable as a character overall, even when he was being kind of a dick

Giving him the chance to learn and grow as a person was part of what made him a well rounded character and to remove that is likely to make him a flatter character overall

[biconickyoshi]

If there’s ever a series about the Earth Avatar after Korra, what are you hoping for?

Great question anon! I honestly haven't thought about it too in depth before, but now that you bring it up, a few things do come to mind.

I'd really like to get confirmation that Korra and Asami got married and lived a long and happy life together first and foremost lol, plus maybe some flashbacks to their wedding/an actual on screen kiss.

I'd like for the airbender population to have grown and stabilized as well, which I'm sure it would be by that point. I also think it'd be interesting if the Earth Avatar was a kid of a mixed-heritage family, since we know that can happen as seen with Kyoshi's parents having been an earthbender and an airbender. I'd like to see the world slowly becoming more like Republic City in general, with more diversity and cultural exchange than ever before. Maybe it would actually be more difficult for the next Avatar to be found due to this blending of cultures - that would be a very interesting thing to explore.

In terms of gender, it seems a lot of people headcanon that the next Avatar will be a dude, but I honestly would like there to be another woman Avatar since there's not a set pattern for what gender the Avatar will be. I obviously think it would be cool if they were nonbinary, but I sadly don't think Avatar Studios would risk doing that. I'd love to see a well-done queer romance between the Avatar and another character though.

Depending on when Korra passes away, I'm curious as to what level of development the technology will be at... like if we're going off of what we've already seen, AtLA takes place about 70 years before LoK, and we know that the technology in LoK is very 1920s (meaning the events of AtLA take place in about the mid-1800s technology wise in comparison to the real world). If Korra lives to be lets sayyyy 80, then the next series would take place 60ish years after the events of LoK. Sooo basically the 80s, which I think if done well could be a super cool aesthetic to explore for the AtLA universe!