dylanaz

[dylanaz]

The Mirror Scene

Many different metas have been written about this scene, but I want to draw your attention to one specific detail.

This is an amazing art, but what caught my attention is Ursa placing hands on Azula's shoulders.

What's interesting, is that in the actual canon the hallucination of Ursa doesn't try to touch Azula, or hug her or give her any physical affection at all.

She's not even standing very close to Azula. Ursa is just standing there with her hands in her sleeves, which wasn't far from reality, judging by the family portrait.

Mirror scene can be interpreted in different ways, but it's incredibly curious to me that physical affection is not what Azula actually hallucinates in this scene.

[dylanaz]

I just don't understand how this is funny or hard to comprehend. I thought Zutara shippers would be at least sensible with this, but apparently not.

#zutara #don't ship actors

[dylanaz]

I don't understand why people don't get that everything B/ryke touches get ruined. Yes, they came up with the idea of ATLA, but they weren't the ones who made the show the masterpiece it is. At this point, it's getting ridiculous how people are still falling into the trap of "If they stayed, live action would've been better".

(This is directly copied from The Last Airbender movie Wikipedia page)

Avatar: The Last Airbender co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko voiced their opinion in an interview regarding Shyamalan writing, directing, and producing the film. The two displayed much enthusiasm over Shyamalan's decision for the adaptation, stating that they admire his work and, in turn, he respects their material.[16] In a 2014 interview, Konietzko and DiMartino said that the project was given the go-ahead without their approval, and when they tried to provide input, it all got pushed to the wayside. Konietzko added even further that "A) We didn't want it to be done at all. Before anyone was attached, we didn't want it. And then B) If it was going to be done, we wanted to do it, but they weren't going to let us. C) When they attached Night, we just thought, 'Well, this is what we've been dealt. We'll just offer help when it's asked of us, and if it's not, we'll stay out of the way'. In the beginning, it was more positive and we offered help, but then we had a big falling out".[17]

This is not the first time we all agreed that a certain something never existed. (There is no ATLA movie in Ba Sing Se). This is the creative team behind the ATLA comic:

Oh and there's another very controversial show after ATLA. Some fans liked it. Some didn't. What is it again? The Legend Of Korra.

I know that there are several other small projects that did well, but don't you see the reoccurring pattern? Most of the times when any of these projects got criticized, they just threw all the blame on the writers they were working with.

#anti bryke #avatar live action #criticism #zutara

[dylanaz]

Rumors

The boy in Iceberg gets lots of attentions from the Fire Nation. Everyone starts talking about it. Rumor has it, the Fire Prince fell in love with a waterbender. He chose the girl over his Nation and started training the Avatar.

The rumor reaches the Caldera city and Azula hears it one day. It doesn't surprise her, though. Zuzu was obviously seduced by the stupid peasant. Stupid, weak and naive Zuzu. He will understand she doesn't love him soon. He will learn that he doesn't belong with the small group of rebels. Especially not with the waterbender.

Everyone starts talking about the girl. She's from Southern Water Tribe and she's a master waterbender. People say she saved a Fire Nation village, dressed as a spirit at night.

The rumor about Avatar's waterbending teacher being the Painted Lady flared through the Fire Nation and it died down after the last Agni Kai.

Everyone in the Fire Nation knows about the waterbender The Fire Prince loved to death. Rumor has it, he almost died shielding her with his body from his sister's comet powered lightning bolt.

The waterbender defeated Princess Azula before she tended the Prince, outsmarting the Princess with unlimited powers.

The maids said she slept by his side that night. Some said they kissed after the fight.

Whatever happened it only fueled the flames of gossips. The Waterbender from Southern Water Tribe became the hot topic.

Some says she's daughter of Chief Hakoda. So that makes her a Princess from Southern Water Tribe.

Some says she's the most beautiful from four nations. So that the Prince took a lightning bolt to his chest for her.

Rumor has it, the doctor saw The Prince curled in bed with the Princess from Water Tribe, comforting her with soft words they never heard from the Prince before.

So the people say that The Prince is madly in love.

Soon the words reached the Four Nation and the old General, who was more than happy to know it all.

------

But like, our dorks are idiots and also in denial. AND they have no idea what people are talking about.

Everyone thinks that they're together and they're almost planning their wedding and they have no clue about any of it. 😂

The Four Nations are convinced. Everyone is convinced. Even Momo and Appa are convinced they're together. Every single person heard about the rumors except them.

Iroh is just smug and happy about them, secretly planning their wedding.

But neither of them talks.

Sokka being the impatient guy he is, threatens Zuko. And Zuko's like, "We're not together. What are you talking about? Katara doesn't like me that way. She's just my best friend".

Katara says the same thing to Suki and Toph. But Toph is just as smug about it as Iroh, because she knows Katara is lying when she says she doesn't like Zuko. 👀

------

#zutara #rumors #sharing the old stuff #reblog

[dylanaz]

Vaatu rises with the doom

Sokka rises with sea prune

Zuko: rises with the sun

Katara: rises with the moon

Me: rises at the noon

#zutara #poem #avatar the last airbender

[dylanaz]

I should make the whole analysis in one post, especially with Better Than Revenge.

Is the Ember Island Players' version of Zutara the equivalent of the Betty, James, and Augustine dynamic?

#Zutara #song analysis

[dylanaz]

They murdered Iroh's character.

So, uh, Netflix Avatar, huh? Yeah. I guess I'll make a really long post about it because ATLA brainrot has is a cornerstone of my personality at this point.

So.

It's okay. B, maybe a C+.

That's it.

Now for the spoilers:

The biggest issue with the Netflix version is the pacing. Scenes come out of nowhere and many of the episodes are disjointed. Example: Aang escaping from Zuko's ship. We see him getting the key and going "aha!", and in the next scene he's in Zuko's room. And then he just runs out, no fun acrobatics or fights, and immediately they go to the Southern Air Temple where he sees Gyatso's corpse, goes into the Avatar state, and then sees Gyatso being really cheesy, comes out of it, and resolves that conflict. Nothing seems to lead into anything. The characters don't get to breathe.

The show's worst mistake (aside from Iroh fucking murdering Zhao) is its' first one: they start in the past. Instead of immediately introducing us to our main characters and dropping us into a world where we have a perfect dynamic where Aang doesn't know the current state of the world and Katara and Sokka don't know about the past, thus allowing for seamless and organic worldbuilding and exposition, they just... tell us. "Hey, this is what happened, ok, time for Aang!" There's no mystery, no intrigue, just a stream of information being shoved down the audience's throats and then onto the next set piece.

The visuals are for the most part great, but like with most Netflix productions, they just don't have great art direction. It feels like a video game cinematic, where everything is meant to be Maximum Cool - and none of the environments get to breathe. It's like they have tight indoor sets (with some great set design) and then they have a bunch of trailer shots. It's oozing with a kind of very superficial love.

Netflix still doesn't know how to do lighting, and with how disjointed the scenes are, the locations end up feeling like a parade of sets rather than actual cities or forests or temples. As for the costumes, Netflix still doesn't know how to do costumes that look like they're meant to be actually worn, so many of the characters seem weirdly uncomfortable, like they're afraid of creasing their pristine costumes.

The acting is decent to good, for the most part. I can't tell if the weaker moments come down to the actors or the direction and editing, but if I had to guess, I'd say the latter. Iroh and Katara are the weakest, Sokka is the most consistent, Zuko hits the mark most of the time, and Aang is okay. I liked Suki (though... she was weirdly horny? Like?) but Yue just fell kind of flat.

The tight fight choreography of the original is replaced with a bunch of spinny moves and Marvel fighting, though there are some moments of good choreography, like the Agni Kai between Ozai and Zuko (there's a million things I could say about how bad it was thematically, but this post is overly long already.) There's an actually hilarious moment in the first episode when Zuko is shooting down Aang, and he does jazz hands to charge up his attack.

Then there's the characters. Everybody feels very static - Zuko especially gets to have very little agency. A great example of that is the scene in which Iroh tells Lieutenant Jee the story of Zuko's scar.

In the original, it's a very intimate affair, and he doesn't lead the crew into any conclusions. Here, Iroh straight up tells the crew "you are the 41st, he saved your lives" and then the crew shows Zuko some love. A nice moment, but it feels unearned, when contrasted with the perfection of The Storm. In The Storm, Zuko's words and actions directly contradict each other, and Iroh's story gives the crew (and the audience) context as to why, which makes Zuko a compelling character. We get to piece it out along with them. Here - Iroh just flat out says it. He just says it, multiple times, to hammer in the point that hey, Zuko is Good Actually.

And then there's Iroh. You remember the kindly but powerful man who you can see gently nudging Zuko to his own conclusions? No, he's a pretty insecure dude who just tells Zuko that his daddy doesn't love him a lot and then he kills Zhao. Yeah. Iroh just plain kills Zhao dead. Why?

Iroh's characterization also makes Zuko come off as dumb - not just clueless and deluded, no, actually stupid. He constantly gets told that Iroh loves him and his dad doesn't, and he doesn't have any good answers for that, so he just... keeps on keeping on, I guess? This version of Zuko isn't conflicted and willfully ignorant like the OG, he's just... kind of stupid. He's not very compelling.

In the original, Zuko is well aware of Azula's status as the golden child. It motivates him - he twists it around to mean that he, through constant struggle, can become even stronger than her, than anyone. Here, Zhao tells him that "no, ur dad likes her better tee hee" and it's presented as some kind of a revelation. And then Iroh kills Zhao. I'm sorry I keep bringing that up, but it's just such an unforgiveable thematic fuckup that I have to. In the original, Zhao falls victim to his hubris, and Zuko gets to demonstrate his underlying compassion and nobility when he offers his hand to Zhao. Then we get some ambiguity in Zhao: does he refuse Zuko's hand because of his pride, or is it his final honorable action to not drag Zuko down with him? A mix of both? It's a great ending to his character. Here, he tries to backstab Zuko and then Iroh, who just sort of stood off to the side for five minutes, goes "oh well, it's murderin' time :)"

They mess with the worldbuilding in ways that didn't really need to be messed with. The Ice Moon "brings the spirit world and the mortal world closer together"? Give me a break. That's something you made up, as opposed to the millenia of cultural relevance that the Solstice has. That's bad, guys. You replaced something real with something you just hastily made up. There's a lot of that. We DID NOT need any backstory for Koh, for one. And Katara and Sokka certainly didn't need to be captured by Koh. I could go on and on, but again, this post is already way too long.

It's, um, very disappointing. A lot of telling and not very much showing, and I feel like all of the characters just... sort of end up in the same place they started out in. I feel like we don't see any of the characters grow: they're just told over and over again how they need to grow and what they need to do.

To sum it up: Netflix Avatar is a mile wide, but an inch deep.

[dylanaz]

The most iconic scarves of all time

"Cause there we are again on that little town street

You almost ran the red cause you were looking over at me

Wind in my hair, I was there

I remember it all too well"

#zutara #taylor swift #red and blue #scarfgate #all too well

[dylanaz]

the thing about the ember island play is that though it is certainly inaccurate, it is distorted - not false.

the whole point of the play is that the gaang do recognize aspects of themselves - their mistakes and desires and choices - in it! aang is cheerful and traditionally non-masculine, katara is intrinsically hopeful, toph is strong and doesn't conform to social norms of femininity, sokka is comedic, and zuko was obsessed with regaining his honour.

the reason it affects them at all is because it does hold a kernel of truth - because, though exaggerated, it draws upon traits, actions and relationships that genuinely exist. and so having katara call aang her brother and implying real romantic feelings between zuko and katara in this episode where every supposed exaggeration is underscored by reality only lends credence to those implications instead of dismissing them.

after all, if the play was meant to spoof zutara... it can only be because there was indeed something real to spoof in the first place.

[dylanaz]

If it helps them sleep at night...

anti zutaras with zuko & the rest of the gaang: zuko smiled at aang👬 💕 zuko & sokka comedy duo 🤣💑 zuko & toph softies 💖🫂

also anti zutaras with zuko & katara: how dare you 🤬🤬🤬 zuko colonizer ❌️❌️❌️ katara victim 😡😡😡 bad 👎👎👎 abusive 👎👎👎 toxic 👹 GRAAAAAAAH

[dylanaz]

#zutara #anti kataang #sokka

[dylanaz]

The new show just feels like a watered down version of the original.

Character flaw? We don't have it.

Solutions? Pretty much handed to them.

The episodes don't feel as satisfying as the original show because they don't learn a lot by the end of an episode (because they're nearly perfect). It's like watching a history documentary instead of a show that is supposed to teach you morals and dilemmas. Also, none of the episodes are focused on a specific character.

The biggest character defining moments? Nahhh. Because they're perfect, they don't exist. Sokka will learn the watered down version of accepting that he is a bad fighter. Instead of assuming that girls can't fight.

Katara won't steal anything because she's not that desperate to learn waterbending. Also, because it's not feminist, she won't have any bad treatments due to being a girl. Oh and she never got to save earthbenders from the Fire Nation through the power of her persuasion. She doesn't need to feel like she has to be in charge because Sokka will take care of her.

Zuko won't save anyone's life besides his Uncle's, because he is a tolerable jerk. He won't call out Zhao and win, just to not be cruel. He's neither kind nor angry. Oh and Zuko tried to KILL Katara eventhough in the original Zuko tries to explain his situation.

Aang learning to accept his fate as the last one of his kind? We don't have it. Instead we have Gyatso tell him about it and Aang is like, "Ok. I won't be sad anymore". And Aang doesn't want to goof away. He just wants to save the world.

Uncle Iroh doesn't feel as genuine as he is in the original.

I understand that the new show needed to change the script, but they should've still kept the heart and soul of the show. The character flaws and the lessons, character defining moments should've stayed right where they were. Plots should've revolved around those. Or they should've made their own versions to demonstrate Zuko's kindness, Katara's determination, Aang's dilemma and Sokka's acceptance more strongly.

[dylanaz]

The Cast and Crew Don’t Deserve Your Hate

I know many of us feel hurt and betrayed by NATLA. I know this. I feel the same.

Please stop cursing Albert Kim and the production crew. The fact is, he inherited a huge mess that was already behind schedule. Studios nowadays want the fastest turn around possible and are willing to pour money into projects.

But not time.

I’ve said it before, but LOTR is the absolute gold standard for production. They took years of pre-production time to hand craft their costumes and props and wigs. They hired artisans to hand make tunics and chainmail by hand. They sourced and layered real human hair for their hair pieces. It was incredible.

GOT also attempted something similar though not nearly at the same scale.

That’s why both of these productions have such fantastic and realistic feeling costumes, wigs, and props.

Modern studios just want fast turn around. They’ll pour in money but they want it fast. That’s why the modern takes on LOTR and GOT (ROP and HOTD) look like mediocre cosplay by comparison. The stylists are doing their best, but there’s only so much you can do with so little time.

That’s exactly what’s happened here. You can tell in how awful all the wigs and beards look, even compared to the Shyamalan film of all things! It’s why you can see machine stitching and the fabrics aren’t thick enough to pass for animal pelts. It’s why Iroh’s beard looks like it’s going to fall off, and Yue’s hair looks like a Lego piece, and Azula’s bangs are visibly attached extensions of a completely different sort from the rest of the synthetic wig. It’s why Zuko’s scar looks like a birthmark and not a burn.

It’s why the bending, despite having impressive animation, doesn’t line up well with the actors’ movements and feels pasted on. Almost as if the artists and fight choreographers didn’t get to communicate and plan together.

It’s why the scripts are a poorly juggled mish mash of plots, with threads left to hang in the wind while others are so oversimplified that it feels like a playschool version of ATLA rather then the “adult” version it’s supposed to be.

And it’s why the the Chinese writing is grammatically a mess like they just ran it through Google translate.

I have nothing but respect for Albert Kim and the cast and crew that worked tirelessly to bring this disaster to life under these conditions.

I worry about the poor crew being put through some awful crunch time for this show…

Yes it’s bad. But it’s not only bad as a piece of media. It’s bad as an indicator of what studios prioritize now, and it’s neither audiences nor their own staff.

[dylanaz]

Taang + Zutara | Parallels

[dylanaz]

I cried in more than 1 occasions. Lol. I bawled my eyes out during the genocide of Air Nomads.

The leaves from the vine made me so emotional. I can't even put it into words.

Katara and Kya hugging definitely made me shed a tear or two.

And the 41st division made me cry in shock, because it was a good twist.

Gyatso protecting the kids made me feel emotional, but the way the children were looking calm made me crack up a bit (I know it's cruel, but it made me adore the little ones because they looked so unserious)

btw i cried in more scenes i.e. aang buring gyatso & kya’s death, but these were the silliest ones to me. like wdym lt jee saying ‘OUR prince… has returned’ got me crying 💀

anyway tag urself i’m “can we talk about it when i get back?”

[dylanaz]

I was just about to write something about it, but it saved time.

100000% agreed. It was probably the most thought out plot I never knew I needed.

Okay so I just managed to finish watching the new live action ATLA series and all I see is people getting mad about changes and this and that but I’m here to talk about my FAVOURITE change made.

The 41st division that Zuko saved being his crew on the ship. I L o v e that to no end. Just the fact that Zuko saved their lives entirely and yeah they’re kinda banished with him but they would be dead otherwise and ahhhh my gods it’s amazing. I think it’s an amazing addition to the story and I’m glad it was put there.

Sure I didn’t agree with some of the other changes but keeping in mind that it’s difficult to adapt cartoon to live action and that a lot of the original episodes when the show was coming out were fillers I think they did well including as much as they could even if it was put in the background. Like that one pub scene you can hear a patron mention that the avatar defeated the canyon crawlers or something along those lines.

Cabbage man was incredible as always 🥬✨

#atla live action

[dylanaz]

This is so true. The cast look phenomenal. The world building is fantastic. You can clearly see that there was so much thought process behind the decisions they made with the visuals.

I'll be honest. It's not a great show, but the best live action remake ATLA ever had.

It's making a difference with the all people of color cast. It may not matter to some people, but it matters to me so much. Seeing people like myself on the screen makes me feel like I matter. And it was a big opportunity for the actors and everyone who worked on the show. And I'm not blaming them. They did their best with the material they had, although I have some acting criticism for some characters. It could've been avoided with better directing. But I understand that the whole project was rushed. It pretty much crammed everything in. And you can't have a lot of control with decisions when you're tight on time.

I might not like the live action a lot, but I will continue to watch it. It's better to experience it than miss it completely. Afterall, they did best they could.

The Cast and Crew Don’t Deserve Your Hate

I know many of us feel hurt and betrayed by NATLA. I know this. I feel the same.

Please stop cursing Albert Kim and the production crew. The fact is, he inherited a huge mess that was already behind schedule. Studios nowadays want the fastest turn around possible and are willing to pour money into projects.

But not time.

I’ve said it before, but LOTR is the absolute gold standard for production. They took years of pre-production time to hand craft their costumes and props and wigs. They hired artisans to hand make tunics and chainmail by hand. They sourced and layered real human hair for their hair pieces. It was incredible.

GOT also attempted something similar though not nearly at the same scale.

That’s why both of these productions have such fantastic and realistic feeling costumes, wigs, and props.

Modern studios just want fast turn around. They’ll pour in money but they want it fast. That’s why the modern takes on LOTR and GOT (ROP and HOTD) look like mediocre cosplay by comparison. The stylists are doing their best, but there’s only so much you can do with so little time.

That’s exactly what’s happened here. You can tell in how awful all the wigs and beards look, even compared to the Shyamalan film of all things! It’s why you can see machine stitching and the fabrics aren’t thick enough to pass for animal pelts. It’s why Iroh’s beard looks like it’s going to fall off, and Yue’s hair looks like a Lego piece, and Azula’s bangs are visibly attached extensions of a completely different sort from the rest of the synthetic wig. It’s why Zuko’s scar looks like a birthmark and not a burn.

It’s why the bending, despite having impressive animation, doesn’t line up well with the actors’ movements and feels pasted on. Almost as if the artists and fight choreographers didn’t get to communicate and plan together.

It’s why the scripts are a poorly juggled mish mash of plots, with threads left to hang in the wind while others are so oversimplified that it feels like a playschool version of ATLA rather then the “adult” version it’s supposed to be.

And it’s why the the Chinese writing is grammatically a mess like they just ran it through Google translate.

I have nothing but respect for Albert Kim and the cast and crew that worked tirelessly to bring this disaster to life under these conditions.

I worry about the poor crew being put through some awful crunch time for this show…

Yes it’s bad. But it’s not only bad as a piece of media. It’s bad as an indicator of what studios prioritize now, and it’s neither audiences nor their own staff.

#avatar the last airbender live action #atla live action