#but the plot? katara and suki???? what did you do to my girls

[bernard-the-rabbit]

Uni doodles <3

#the live action is making me so mad <3<3<3<3<3<3 #the actors are like perfect #the costumes are great (except the material) #but the plot? katara and suki???? what did you do to my girls #so have some doodles to calm me down #my trashy art #atla #atla fanart #avatar the last airbender #avatar the last airbender fanart #zuko #zuko fanart #zuko atla #yue atla #yue atla fanart #yue #yue fanart #katara #katara fanart #katara atla #guess who is baack

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: Netflix Avatar: the Last Airbender (Book 1)

(Thanks @knightsweeties for this cute GP)

Now I have AVOIDED looking at spoilers, and opinions of others until After I had made my own conclusions.

A lot of people are mixed on this series. With only one thing being consensus:

The last airbender movie < Netflix Avatar the last Airbender < Avatar the last Airbender

Aside from that, opinions have been all over the places. On how great or how bad the show is.

I will be going over my thoughts on it in the following categories.

The Action (fight scenes)

The Effects (from bending, CGI, and costumes)

The characters

The Plot

The changes

Does it capture the Spirit?

How does it stand on its own?

Conclusions.

(Spoilers below, but let’s get Right into it)

____________________________________________

The Action

So I’m going to say this. The action in this series is great. In my opinion it’s the strongest point in the series.

The battles from invasions, to simple one on one fights are very well done, some aspects even surpassing the original. Like the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe, you really feel the place is under attack.

And the bending battles are pretty gorgeous. It’s impressive to see the fight between Katara and Paku done serviceable well.

Though one flaw is the fact that sometimes showing the fight or attack actually took away from the impact of story beats done in the original. Seeing the attack on the Air Nomads actually took something away from it. Seeing Aang discover that horror is much less impactful.

And seeing Zuko fight in his Agni Kai against his Father also took a lot of bite from the scene. If Zuko never fought back it would have been so much more traumatic.

But they were still good fighting scenes.

Solid 9/10

____________________________________________

The Effects.

The Costumes in this are Gorgeous! Especially Kyoshi warriors. The characters mostly look as if taken straight from the cartoon. The Face stealer himself being ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING to look at in Live action. He is a sleep paralysis demon.

Appa and Momo both look great. The effects of the cities, and the blending are beautiful.

The bending also looks pretty clean. Though I admit the water bending was a bit lacking but the Fire looked ESPECIALLY fierce.

There is so much detail jam packed in this it’s amazing.

Though, I will say that it’s not flawless, some of the things do come off a touch goofy. But that could be more of uncanny valley with some of the bending.

8/10

___________________________________________

The Characters

And it wouldn’t be Avatar without the Characters in it.

And before we do anything, let me say, ALL of the characters look like the character they are playing. It’s like Netflix genetically modified them to Look like the character.

Dallas James Liu’s Portrayal of Zuko is PERFECT. Matching Season 1 Zuko’s personality to a T.

Zuko actually gets more development and his relationship with Iroh and the Crew are expanded upon more. That Funeral scene with him and Iroh broke my heart.

Maria Zhang’s Suki is also an incredible performance.

DANNY PUDI AS The Mechanist. (They cast Abed!) that was a fun surprise.

But now that we talked about what I loved about the characters… now to get to the negatives.

Aang feels so mopey. Yes Aang has his sad moments. But instead of being a hyper optimist with a penchant for fun, he is more like a depressed kid that has occasional bits of being a kid. I don’t blame the Actor, I just feel it’s more the writing

But if Aang got a downgrade in character, Katara was SHREDDED to practically nothing. The strong yet caring Katara was so… Passive. Even her big moment fighting Paku felt so… lack luster. It pained me to see this girl who was so strong come off so… passive.

Sokka did lose a chunk of character and development, but it wasn’t AS detrimental as one would believe. It’s still cruddy. But there was some stuff added that helped cushion the blow.

Appa and Momo were not as present because expenses (but at least they were fine)

King Bumi is dead. I don’t know WHAT was the plan behind Bumi, but this felt so… twisted and off. This isn’t the Bumi that taught Aang the lesson about how not everything is as it seemed. It hurt me to see such an accurate look be so inaccurate.

Azula and her friends felt like a down grade. I know what they were trying to go for. But I just didn’t feel that EDGE she had. It felt so.. pitiful.

On a positive

Jet and his team were still fun and a bit psychotic.

Ozai actually coming off as more competent.

And Admiral Zhao being incompetent yet super Egotistical was a change I welcome.

The bounty hunter Jun, flirting with Iroh was a change I wasn’t expecting but loved.

The Face Stealer may have looked more terrifying… but his actual action was mid… aside from the nightmares.

The rest of the character acting was a mix.

I gotta put this at… 5/10

When most of the main cast feels so bland it really takes away from the story.

____________________________________________

The Plot

So the season still follows the general plot of Book 1 of ATLA.

Katara and Sokka find the Avatar who got frozen for a long time. They go travel to help Aang find a Waterbending master so he can start learning to bend and save the world.

Now interestingly since it only has 8 episodes it sort of Blends together several plots into one episode. And this causes a lot of changes… and the effects of it are… well… a mixed bag at best and almost completely undefinable at worst.

Episode 4 being especially messy.

Now there are additions and changes from the original because of the constraints of Live Action.

Like not specifying that Aang has been gone 100 years, and actually changing certain story beats to references in order to save on time.

In some cases, it’s understandable. In facts being a one to one retelling would be boring.

The problem is that the story feels more like it’s pushing the characters rather than the characters pushing the story. Aang had agency, but now there is even more forced Agency.

I did like the changes that made the fire nation more competent. (I’ll discuss further in the next section)

But overall, I felt that the story was speed blitzed and super monologue heavy at its worse. It’s nothing incoherently awful. But it’s very lacking.

4/10

_________________________________________

The Changes

There were a Lot of changes done to this in comparison to the original series. So for this. I decided to make a new system.

I will list the change. If you see this Symbol (+) it’s a change I am fine with. If you see (-) it’s a change I didn’t like. And if you see (\) it means I’m indifferent to it.

-Fire Lord Sozin wiped out Air benders in person (/)

- Aang got lost in a storm by accident, not actively running away (-)

- Katara and Sokka lose the feminist development (-)

-No penguin sledding (- -)

-No Haru (-)

-Avatar Kyoshi take over (+)

-Zuko has a journal about the Avatars (+)

- Jet in Omashu (/)

-Teo and his father in Omashu (+)

-Bumi is jaded. (-)

-Secret tunnel early (-) (it’s weird that Sokka and Katara go in there, there is more I don’t like but I will just leave that out for now)

-The Funeral for Iroh’s son. (+++)

-The Agni Kai with Ozai was changed (-)

-The crew of Zuko is revealed to be the division that would have been sacrificed. (+)

-Aang never Water bends (-)

-Azula’s whole character alteration, and earning the blue flames (-)

-Less Serious Roku (-)

-Koh’e whole deal (-)

- Zhao’s death is different. (-)

-Yue having a bigger connection to Sokka (+)

-Fire nation demonstrates far more competence (+)

-

There are more but most of them I’m more understanding because of Time Constraints.

I will give credit that a lot of the changes I didn’t like but they did try something.

3/10

______________________________________

Does it capture the Spirit?

This is where I have to say Kind of.

When you see the references, Cameos, and the small details. You can tell there is some love for the original series. The attention to details and the bending choreography is gorgeous and Almost seamless.

It’s where we get to the core of the show that feels different.

For example. The Netflix version of One piece. There are a TON of differences, but the core of the characters felt the same. The spirit of the show was still clear. It was handled with love.

With this series, I can say there is a respect for ATLA, but the core seems to have a different focus.

So I put this at 5/10

As there are some things that you can see have reverence, but other things that don’t.

_________________________________________

Conclusion.

The stark defenders of the show say you shouldn’t compare it to the Original because it will seem worse. While also then comparing how much better it is compare to the live action movie.

Here’s the truth, if you watched ATLA, you are not going to expect this show to be better than the original.

If you didn’t watch the original show, you would probably be entertained, and since this show explains basically everything, you won’t need to know as much as the viewer going in… but there is also a lot going on.

If you were to go in and watch this show with 0 understanding of the show. I’d say 6 maybe 7 out of 10.

But if you are a fan that cares about the show. I have to put it at 5/10

And that’s where I put it.

5/10

It is watchable, but I’m not absolutely smitten with it.

I’m willing to give book 2 a chance… but I’m iffy. On it.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #natla #natla spoilers #avatar the last Airbender live action #atla live action #Gale reviews

[restinslices]

I liked the Twilight Lin Keui thingy idk if u watched Succession or Avatar the Last Airbender but can u do tomas,kuai liang and bi hans reaction to either of those shows and who their faves are?bi han is so azula coded

Off topic but do y’all make music playlists for y’all Ocs too? Shit is incredibly relaxing.

Bi-Han

You're so right about him being Azula coded 

Azula has to be his favorite character too. I refuse to take any criticism 

I think when Bi-Han watches anything he's probably on the villains side because sometimes they be spitting. They just have very harsh methods to go about these plans 

His favorite season I think would be season 2

Why? Ozai’s Angels obviously 

Season 3 is their downfall and season 2 is when they're all in their prime 

Plus the Ba Sing Se plot is something I can see him liking 

“See? Liu Kang is just like the king! Incompetent!”

Incorrect but that's an interesting theory 

He's such an Azula defender. He just like me fr 

Least favorite character? I wanna say possibly Commander Zhao because “how are you a Commander but you're terrible at your job?”

But I also wanna say Ozai

He could be his least favorite character because ya know, he's an abusive and manipulative sack of shit that turned his children against each other 

But he might understand his ambition and need to continue his family's legacy 

Depends on his mood ig

One of those people that saw Kyoshi for the 0.5 seconds she was on screen and immediately thought “that's my favorite Avatar”

As a kid he crushed on Ozai's Angels 

Because of the clothes alone he wanted to be apart of the Fire Nation but power wise we know that wouldn't have happened 

Oh the brainwashing of the citizens? That's unfortunate, but at least they're dressed amazing 

Pro Hama. She did nothing wrong. 

Thought blue fire was the coolest shit ever and thought Kuai Liang was ass because his shit is boring ass orange 

His favorite episodes are the season finales because it wraps everything up well and that's when the tension is extremely high 

In order it's The Crossroads of Destiny, Sozin's Comet (places 2nd because Azula lost) then The Siege of the North 

As a little bonus his favorite tale in The Tales of Ba Sing Se is The Tale of Toph and Katara 

Why do I think this? I think he likes the characters and also he enjoys watching little shits get what they deserve (the mean girls that insulted Toph)

Kuai Liang

So we're all agreeing that he definitely had a huge crush on Suki, right?

His love for female warriors that could put him on his ass started with Suki then he ends up marrying Harumi

She's a warrior right? 

Doesn't matter. She'll be dead in the next game anyway. MOVING ON-

Bi-Han wants to be apart of the Fire Nation and Kuai Liang wants to be apart of the water tribes 

As a kid he really wanted blue fire but it never happened 

Favorite characters I think would be Suki, Toph and Zuko

He loves all of them but these are his top 3

His favorite season is season 3 because it's the season that wraps up this amazing show from his childhood and it's done beautifully 

Favorite episode I think would be Boiling Rock 

It's the start of Azula's downfall and come on y'all, we saw Suki, Sokka and Zuko team up. Shit was fire (no pun intended)

He also likes The Beach because it emphasizes how broken the villains are and shows that at the end of the day, they were children robbed of a childhood 

Gets the appeal of Zutara but is a Kataang shipper 

Despises Ozai because of what he did to his kids and his people 

Honestly fuck Sozin, Azulon and Ozai

“Your people didn't deserve to live in my world!” shocked his little heart because damn, you still ain't got no remorse?

He watches this show very often as he grows up. It's never a show he forgets about 

Also fuck Long Feng

Forget all the brainwashing, it's keeping Appa that pushed him over the edge 

Definitely showing this show to his kids 

Too bad they won't live long enough to share it with their own children-

I'm done. Sorry 

Favorite tale is The Tale of Iroh 

Because… Iroh

Do I need to explain?

Tomas 

Probably had a crush on Katara 

I have no reasoning as to why. Like, with Kuai Liang it makes sense with who he marries later, but with Tomas I'm just “yeah that makes sense”

Heavily disagrees with people who call her annoying 

Yeah, she has her moments but she's not this terrible character 

As a child he was jealous of Aang because he got her in the end 

Yeah Tomas, just ignore the genocide of his people and the trauma he has-

You FOR SURE wanna be him 

Jealousy aside, he really likes Aang. I can see Aang being his favorite Avatar

Sokka is also a character he loves 

Tbh I think he loves everyone in the Gaang and while his favorite character is Katara, his second favorite switches from time to time 

Favorite season is season 1 because it kicks off this fantastic part of his childhood 

Unlike his brothers, he was fine with the element he has 

Yeah, he's smoke and not really an airbender but it's close enough 

Minus the genocide, they were living a good life (which is a wild ass sentence)

Knows all the ATLA conspiracies 

“Did you guys know there's a conspiracy that Ty Lee is a descendent of Air Nomads?”

“Did you guys hear this theory that Yue was supposed to be the Avatar after Aang but because he was in the ice she never got the Avatar spirit and that's why she needed the moon to live?”

“Do y'all think Sozin and Roku were hunching?”

Skips the Appa's Lost Days episode 

Favorite episode is The Cave of Two Lovers because it makes him laugh 

Everyone hates Ozai but you wanna know who's really on his shit list?

That old bitch that snitched on Haru

Kill him immediately 

The live action movie filled him with such a rage, he didn't know it was possible 

And because of that, he hasn't seen the live action show yet 

His favorite tale is The Tale of Sokka 

Why? It's just Sokka being a goober

#mk1 #mk1 2023 #mortal kombat 1 #bi han sub zero #bi han #kuai liang scorpion #kuai liang #tomas vrbada smoke #kuai liang mk1 #mk1 bi han #tomas vrbada #tomas vrbada mk1 #bi han headcanons #kuai liang headcanons #tomas vrbada headcanons #mk1 headcanons #lin kuei brothers #atla

[drpoisonoaky]

Whoa she has fallen deep

They realize how deep Katara has fallen for Azula. Because they simp for each other a lot.

Suki.

Suki needs to vent with someone. She loves her job, truly but sometimes…So when she saw Katara sitting there she knew she could help her. Katara is a great listener.

Even though it was weird she wasn’t looking at her at all. “I feel the new girls didn’t have discipline.”

“Aha” 

“Okay that sounds like she is answering in automatic and what she is looking at” As she followed Katara’s gaze she saw Azula and Ty lee talking. “Maybe it’s a coincidence”

Seeing Ty Lee there only reminded her why she was mad with the girls. “They only want to learn chi-blocking. And yes being able to chi-block is helpful but you have to train every day.”

“Absolutely” 

“She’s definitely answering in automatic but let’s check just in case”

“Where are they going to learn to fight mongoose dragons with their bare hands?”

“Right” Suki was astonished, Katara was really that disconnected. “Or how to fly.”

“Yep” Suki didn’t even know what else said to her. “Whoa she has fallen deep” 

“Absolutely” replied Katara without any question by Suki. 

“I had enough,” Suki thought. “TY LEE, AZULA COME HERE.” as she yelled that Katara broke her trance. 

“At your service boss” said Ty Lee as soon as she and Azula came close, while she made a military salute. 

“What do you want?” Azula replied slightly annoyed. 

“I want to have a conversation with Katara but she can’t. She only looks at you and answers in an auto pilot.”

As she heard Suki Katara blushed “Hey, that's not true. I-”

“Oh now she can say non affirmation sentences.” At least she wasn't mad with her girls anymore.

“Don’t blame her, I'm gorgeous.” declared Azula smirking.

“Kyoshi have mercy.”

Sokka.

Azula and Zuko were training for a while, well Azula was playing with Zuko because she already trained today and Zuko got along with it. 

Sokka knows nothing about firebending, but he knows he needs her sister’s help. The same sister who only looks at those without even noticing him. 

“Katara'' No reponse. “Maybe she didn’t hear me”

“Katara?” Nothing. 

“Earth calling Katara” Nope. 

Sokka looked at her closer. “Let’s taste the water’s” 

“I think I’m going to kill a bunch of kids just for fun.” And still, no response. Sokka was starting to worry but then, as Zuko hit the floor loudly, he realized she was focused on what Azula was doing “Whoa she has fallen deep” 

So he knew he had to bring the big guns.

“AUCH WHAT WAS THAT FOR??” 

“My old buddy never fails,” said Sokka after kissing his boomerang. “Stop looking at her, clean your droll and help me to move these boxes.”

“I wasn’t looking-… I was trying-…I WAS DROOLING.” Katara said, completely blushed.

“Your girlfriend lies way better.”

Toph.

Toph sensed Azula as soon as she entered the room, but what she sensed the most was the backflip Katara’s heart did.

“Sugar Queen, I think you’re having a heart attack.” 

“What? No. I’m cool, totally chill.” 

“Why are you talking like your brother?” questioned Toph. 

“I do not sound like Sokka”  

On the opposite side of the room Sokka was chatting with Zuko and Azula. 

“But I said to him “No bro, I’m cool, totally chill” and he believed it.” Call it perfect timing.

“I am blind not deaf.” As soon as she said that, Katara started to defend herself, as if Toph said anything to attack her. She was only worried.

“Well your “abilities” must be failing because I’m perfect.” 

“What is wrong with her”

Toph didn’t sense Azula approaching.

“Of course you are perfect” 

“Oh Hey- Hi- What’s up?” replied Katara blushing and like she had forgotten how to speak.  

“Is she really that bad? She was fine 5 seconds before Azula…” As she realized this Toph started to smile mischievously. 

“Are you plotting something against me?” Ask Azula joking.

“WHAT NO” Katara said quickly and loudly.

So Toph decided to play a little bit once she knew her friend wasn't going to die “Her sweetness here was doubting my “abilities”.”

Azula tilted her head while looking at Katara “And you said I am the weird one.” 

“Anyways I was talking to Zuzu and Sokka and they are making me go to the theater today so you are coming with me.” 

“It’s not optional, and we have to wear something nice.” added Azula quickly. After that she got close to Katara and kissed her cheek quickly. Toph senses how Katara’s heart gives a full gymnastic performance “Whoa she has fallen deep”  thought Toph.

“I don’t get a kiss?” Toph asks Azula knowing fully well that won’t happen.

“You should be even asking for one without taking a bath first.” 

“I girl have to try.”

After that Azula was out of the picture. Leaving a speechless Katara.

“Well at least I know why you are suffering a heart attack.” 

“I am no-” 

“Don’t even try.”

Zuko

Zuko was having a cup of tea with Azula and Katara in the gardens. Because it was a great day and Zuko needed advice. 

“And I know I am more approachable than the other Fire Lords, but I like to walk without being stopped all of the time. Mai doesn’t want to walk with me anywhere.” he stopped his rambling and looked at her sister “Are you even listening to me?” 

Azula was with her eyes closed enjoying the sun while Zuko spoke. She actually was paying attention but the sun felt great.

“Of course I am.” said Azula without opening her eyes or moving.

“So?” 

“Don’t stop with anyone anymore. Challenge some of them to Agni Kai.” 

Zuko looks annoyed at her not knowing if she really believes that or she simply wants to make fun of him.

So instead of picking a fight he decided to get a second opinion. 

“Katara?” 

Katara has been looking mesmerized at Azula enjoying the sun like she was the only thing that matters. But as Zuko asks her directly she knows she has to answer something.

“I am Katara.” Even after talking as if her brain didn’t work anymore at all she didn’t look away 

Zuko stared at her blankly. “Whoa she has fallen deep”.

“Great, your pity party broke my girlfriend.” complained Azula while she stopped to enjoy the sun and look at Zuko.

But in that moment, before Zuko could reply, they heard a loud “NO” from Katara when she saw Azula move from her previous position.

Knowing that he wouldn’t get the help he needed and being a little bit angry at these two, Zuko woke up to leave.

“Geez, I get it. I ask Aang. I don’t know why I even ask you two. One is mean and one is drooling over the mean one.”  He looked at them narrowing his eyes and left.

“Were you drooling?” said Azula smirking.

“I’m breaking up with you.” replied Katara, staring at her and pouting.

“Sure but first let’s keep enjoying the sun for a while”

Aang

When Aang asked Azula to teach him lightbending he knew it would be weird. But at the moment she saw Katara sitting near watching them, he confirmed it.

“You know when I asked you to teach me lightbending I didn’t visualize the audience.” 

Azula was finishing her arm wraps, almost ready to train and without looking at him said “It’s just Katara. She asked me to be here. Maybe she didn’t trust us with lightning. The last time we gave her a lot of work.” 

“Only Azula could describe like that killing me with lightning” 

“She also was my waterbender teacher, now I have double pressure” 

Azula was already done when he look at him “It’s just Katara”

“Yeah I know. But-”

“Is it because I’m dating her?” Ask Azula, raising an eyebrow.

“I mean yeah but more in- no- just- Agh.” 

“So for you it is weird that your ex-girlfriend, who still is your friend and now my girlfriend, is watching us training together when I killed you and she brought you back to life?” said Azula looking at Katara. As a response Katara gave them a thumbs up clearly not hearing what they were talking.

“It isn’t for you?” 

Azula looked at Aang for a second and shrugged 

“I have to deal with hallucinations of both of my parents. This is a walk in the park compared to that.” Aang stared at her, surprised that she talked about that with him. 

“Plus if you have lived in an Iceberg for a century you can deal with a bit of awkwardness. “ she added after that. Then she started to walk to the center of the training facility.

“I guess you’re right.” 

“I usually am. Let’s start.”

Azula turned out to be a good teacher and after a while he could create a little lightning.

“LOOK SIFU AZULA IS A LITTLE SPARK.” It was little and weak he made it. 

Azula looked at him with a little smile. Aang was happy and his happiness was contagious.

“If I was Ozai I would make you increase that until it wasn’t embarrassing to look at, even though it probably breaks you today. But I am not. So we shall continue tomorrow?” 

Aang looked at her slightly worried, “I can’t fathom what that man did to her…Wait, has she asked him to continue tomorrow?” 

“It  would be my honor sifu Azula”

As soon as Aang was done with her bow Katara appeared as she was in a hurry.  “Maybe she’s going to scold me”

“Hey Kata-” but when Aang looked at her he realized she never intended to talk to him. “Is she angry?” 

The good thing is Azula looked just as confused as him. But before he can ask her what’s wrong she starts to speak looking at Aang.

“So are you done? You are done. Good. Nice flame Aang.” 

“Did she just say nice flame? We don’t…what was she looking at?!” Aang was more confused at every moment.

Then Katara looked at Azula and the rambling started.

“Azula, you were great.. The best. Who would have thought you trying to help makes you look so h- makes you a great individual…makes you-”

Azula looked confused at first but then she was smirking. 

“Whoa she has fallen deep” Aang thought, looking at Katara when she stopped “speaking” and only stared at Azula .

“Azula, let's go now.” 

“Of course as a great individual it is my duty to help. See you tomorrow, Avatar.” Then they disappear from the Avatar line of sight. 

“Well at least I know how to produce a little lightning.”

Ty lee 

Ty Lee was walking around the palace going to see Suki. When she stopped and saw Azula was training. She was an ass sometimes but her fire was something beautiful. If it wasn’t against you obviously.

“Oh hey are you looking for Suki?” Katara was leaning against a pillar. “She probably was watching Azula,” concluded Ty Lee.

“Yes, well I know where she is, so I was going to” Ty Lee stopped herself when she saw a big blue flame surrounding Azula creating a circle.

“Even after all these years, watching her training is astonishing” said Ty Lee watching Azula, then she turned to Katara “It is crazy because I have seen her millions of times. For some time it was like a routine”.

Katara looked at her with a weird look. So Ty Lee thought “Shit I make it weird” 

“Not that I want to watch her like that anymore. It is just a memory. I mean her bending is still beautif-” As Ty Lee kept talking and Katara’s face was even weirder. “Okay maybe I should just shut up. Is it awkward? Of course it is I mean we dated and we have so good memorie- Nope I’m not talking anymore ”

“Agni please help me”

“Oh no Ty Lee is fine, it’s not awkward, quite the opposite. You know Azula, I love to hear more stories about her from an external source plus you two are friends, well you are my friend too. I mean not that clos-”

“Well at least she also is rambling. Is that part of Azula’s type?”

As if she was invoked by Ty Lee’s thoughts, Azula appears next to her. 

“So now I am a show? Maybe I should join the circus” she had a playful smile on her face.

“So I would get the chance to burn your safety net?” Honestly that was water under the bridge but teasing Azula is funny. Well, when she isn’t in a killer mood.

“I would never put one there at the first place, that’s for cowards”

As they started to bicker Katara only was staring at Azula with that expression. Ty Lee still hasn’t figured out what that gaze means until.

“She was looking at her as she was the best thing in the world, so that’s why she gave me that look she wasn’t jealous she was proud” So when Azula turned back to Katara, Ty Lee paid attention to Katara's gaze and only could think “Whoa she has fallen deep”.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #azula #katara #fire siblings #azutara #kazula #sokka #suki #ty lee #past tyzula #toph #zuko #aang

[babbletaels]

The avatar netflix show was REALLY good! I literally don't care about any of the things people are critiquing it about. Bad dialogue? These are child actors and the dialogue in the original wasn't as good as you think it was, sorry not sorry. Bad casting? Nope, I just disagree. Mai does not need to have a pointier chin for this to be a good show. Zuko does not need to look like whatever you think he should've looked like (you want him to look "more handsome" and "more white" don't you?). I couldn't care less what these actors look like honestly, and the dispute about Sokka I literally can't speak on because I'm from the other side of the world. Changing the story order, smashing together some plot points? Literally they did it well so I don't care. They did it really well.

The ONLY thing I thought could've been done much better was.. Let us have some down time. Show us aang and katara practicing together. Show us more of Sokka and Suki practicing idk. Show us the kids just hanging out doing stuff. Show us that they are actually friends. Most of all they could've shown us Katara practicing in the northern water tribe. It felt like things were just happening alll the time, like plot point after plot point after plot point. They should've made a little bit of room to show these things!

That's it that's my only complaint.

I really love the actors, they're perfect. Especially katara, for some reason I found her kinda annoying in the cartoon and I found the plot points of her being "motherly" to her older brother really idk weird. I much prefer Sokka trying to be a good leader and older sibling and being too strict about it. I don't care that Sokka "isn't sexist" anymore, I don't really care. The only thing it impaired was his conflict with Suki, cause this way it seemed kinda forced and they could've just had him say that he didn't take them seriously cause they're girls and been shown wrong it wouldn't have been so hard. But those were such short scenes I kinda don't really care that much.

The bending looked pretty good, it could've been faster but I can't be assed to care that much. Tv shows don't need to be perfect.

I literally loved the changes they made regarding Zuko and his family. It worked well the way it was in the original, but it really does work this way too, and they made Ozai seem even more psycho.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #atla netflix #avatar the last airbender netflix

[sokkastyles]

ATLA LA Ep2 Let's go:

I love that they kept a lot of the original music, but one thing I could have done without is the generic three-note chord to signal a cut to a scene with a villainous character. Those specific notes have been parodied too often for me to take it seriously. It's one thing that always jarred me in the original and it is especially jarring in live action to hear music that signifies a cartoon villain is about to walk on screen.

Zuko throwing things and chewing the scenery my beloved

"He ran! He's a coward!" I do love the angle of Zuko being confronted with the reality of what he thought would be a glorious destiny. There are two reasons Zuko associates not fighting with cowardice. One is because of what he believes about the fire nation as a whole, but also because of what his father made him believe about himself.

I do like that Aang is identifying that controlling the Avatar State is a problem he needs to solve. It gives me hope that the writers are trying to actually flesh out that plot point where the original failed. I don't like that there's been no mention yet of him needing to learn waterbending. Which brings me to...

Yes, Katara, it IS unbelievable that you've learned waterbending in a day all because Aang said some mumbo to you about energy. That's why I don't believe it. Katara does grow fast in the original, too, but it still feels organic. Here it doesn't and once again, it feels like they are giving that credit all to Aang and I hate that. I also hate that this is Katara's motivation rather than the Katara who took it upon herself to make sure the Avatar learned waterbending whether he wanted to or not.

There is something missed by Kanna giving Katara the waterbending scroll. Idk, trying not to compare to the original because I did want Kanna to be more active in Katara's life. But I get the same feeling of loss here as Aang already having Appa's whistle. Those two things in the original were part of a point about the tragedy of cultural attrition, that Aang has to buy back a cultural artifact that the seller does not even know the true meaning of, that Katara has to steal hers from pirates who already stole from her culture. It also begs the question that if Kanna had that scroll the whole time, why didn't she show it to Katara before, who was so desperate to learn waterbending?

Zuko talking about being gone three years, clearly ecstatic at the thought that his banishment will come to an end, while Iroh looks like he's about to send his son to his death for the second time. Kudos to the actors' faces expressing so much in that one scene.

The actor for Sokka is very good-looking.

Aang and Katara playing in the water was cute, but they seem even farther apart in maturity here than in the original. Even that scene comes across as a much older sister honoring a young child. I don't get a sense of Katara as someone yearning to be a child.

She's not wrong about the Avatar bringing connections, but Aang showing off isn't really the best illustration of that concept.

Okay, so, I saw some people complaining about Suki wanting to leave home "because of a boy" and like, that also happened in the original. What feels kinda pat here is that we've also added overprotective mom to the mix, which I don't love. When I said I wanted Suki's mom I meant I wanted to know how Suki became a warrior, I wanted to see more women bonding with other women and women's autonomy being treated as normal. Not whatever this is.

So they don't already know Zhao here? That's less interesting. Also "actual royalty." Another log to keep the "Zhao is a royal bastard" theory burning. Heh, burning.

Sokka is still a prick about girls fighting, everyone can rest easy now. Also his reaction when Suki tries to flirt with him the same way he does with her is exactly how that would play out in real life.

Aang avoiding fighting out of fear of his own power adds an interesting dimension to his character which is only briefly touched on in the original.

Zuko and Katara 1v1 yes!!!

Katara flashbacking to her mom's death during her first real fight is a nice touch.

KYOSHI!!!

Zhao wasn't very impressive until Zuko accidentally gave him a foothold, then that shit-eating grin was great.

I'll hold off on really commenting on this because I haven't gotten that far yet, but I heard that Ozai is more willing to praise Zuko here and it just does not make a lot of sense to me, not only because that is not how that kind of parent works, but also because hearing the news from Zhao, who would 100% play up Zuko having discovered and then LOST the Avatar, would just make Ozai see Zuko as more of a failure for having come close. Unless Zuko does something spectacular in the next few episodes I don't see Ozai being impressed.

#atla live action

[azulas-lightning-bolt]

guys I just want you to know that azula is my fav atla character (right above katara/toph/suki can you tell I like girls) but I’m actually going insane about mako right now.

also for the like,, five people who liked my last mako post please please please go look at @/jade-of-mourning’s blog. they’re so cool. they make such super awesome mako posts and his writing is really good and she also posts some stuff on ao3 so like. yeah. I’m obsessed with them.

anyway back to losing my mind over mako,, (a LOT more under the cut)

so okay I’ll admit I’m not typically a fan of angsty male characters (zuko is the exception. he’s too funny to not, and his character and development are really well done) because they all feel like copy-pastes of each other and they’re generally uninteresting.

but mako. mako is the female experience. not sure if I reposted it (as I tend to do with,, everything on here) but I saw a post talking about how what happened to mako’s character (all potential being discarded after romantic plot) is what happens to the vast majority of female characters. and as I’ve probably said at least fifty million times, he’s SO eldest daughter coded. I’m trans (they/he) but I grew up an eldest daughter and he’s like?? literally me??

as I was yapping about in a reblog—I just checked (lol) and it was in fact the post about mako having the female love interest treatment and tags about his eldest daughter syndrome—mako is somewhat made more ‘relatable’ than katara even when sending a similar message for the general audience. I think people should just be less brickheaded and appreciate my wonderful waterbending girl but mako being a guy makes people not immediately put his character into the lens of ‘ugh, dumb feminism’. (which, again, should not happen)

okay so why does this redeem him so much? I said I hate copy-paste angsty backstories meant to exacerbate a character’s edgy mysteriousness and mako is literally batman with a more violent aang for a little brother. he was basically the messiest character on the show, cheated on both his gfs with each other and fucked them up so bad they turned gay for each other (which was funny as hell of the writers by the way. his reaction to them coming out in the comics was GOLD. ik my boy was fighting back tears.) so, logically, I should hate him like 90% of the fandom, right?

well obviously 90% of the fandom HAS NOT WATCHED THE FUCKING SHOW is MISOGYNISTIC or HATES CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

I have. so much to say about this.

for one. did we watch the same show. mako is one of the most selfless, hardworking, and considerate characters, which he shows multiple times—it’s a major point of his character, actually. he’s the protector, the nurturer (*cough* the eldest daughter). down to his backstory, he shielded bolin from the worst bits of the underworld as best he could while still providing. from eight years old, all alone, he provided. that’s honestly what sets mako apart from literally being Batman (lmao) and why I don’t actually mind his backstory. he was put in an impossible situation, and told to figure it out. he was given no reprieve from the extremely traumatic event of watching his parents die by the element he wields, the one that he has to learn on his own to use to protect bolin.

the other thing is that a lot of his actions are selfish in a way. he doesn’t really care much about the street rats in the same position he was once in the beginning. but even that selfishness isn’t in his own interest—it’s selfishness for the sake of bolin’s well being. one thing that really hits me hard is the brothers’ relationships with food while on the streets. I’m going to make another post about that soon because I don’t want to ramble too endlessly on here. it’s really personal because. eldest daughter who grew up poor. yeah.

second, fandom misogyny. this makes like. no sense but I swear I know what I’m talking about. okay so misogyny is about gender right? but let’s step away from the cutout copy idea of gender, like genitals or fem/masc presentation or pronouns. think of gender as a set of inherent preconceptions, ideals, or societal expectations. that’s what it is but specifying that makes more sense. mako is a dude who is referred to with he/him and he looks like a guy but he represents a girl. mako is expected to be nurturing but not overbearing. present but not annoying. a provider, but don’t ask for anything in return. mako can’t cry in front of bolin, it’s not right for a little boy to look up to someone fragile. mako needs to work, but tiredness is not allowed. don’t be overly cheerful, it’s annoying and unfitting, but too much gruffness is just haughty.

did you feel like you were reading the transcript for that scene about how hard it is to be a woman in the barbie movie? good, because that was the intention. mako, to me, represents the idea of a sibling who is forced to also be a parent, whether or not they are the eldest, and often a girl to a boy. it could be because parents are absent or dead or bad at parenting or just foolish and inattentive. mako is hated (aside from that messy ass romance plot) for almost all the same reasons as katara and that just. infuriates me. like I have this one perfect representation that reminds me of my own background (sorry katara ily and you represent my rage) while aligning with my identity and everyone is shitting on it?? fuck mako haters he’s my special boy

last point. have you never heard of character development in your lives. did you not all love Zuko’s redemption arc, and then as soon as a dumb teenager who’s never had romantic relationships fucks up JUST AS BAD AS THE OTHER TWO PEOPLE INVOLVED (sorry korrasami ily but y’all were nasty for not asking to kiss mako) you’re all like ‘unforgivable’?? like he didn’t even have a redemption arc because HE WASNT AN EVIL CHARACTER. he was a poor kid looking for a sense of stability and he fucked up. he felt bad. I don’t think any of them apologized, despite the fact one was needed all around. he grew as a character because he let himself find stability and mature before seeking someone new to use as a life raft who was already sinking themselves. I truly believe that korrasami—had it not occurred at the end of the series—wouldn’t have worked out either.

all of them were unstable and lost and scared for their lives almost constantly. that’s not a healthy place to be in to seek a relationship and they none of them were good for each other until they gave themselves time to step away from romance and heal.

anyway stan mako to not be a bigot (im unwell about him)

#mako lok #lok #tlok #legend of korra #mako tlok #mako

[juniperhillpatient]

Okay BEARING in mind please that I have a lot of thought out ATLA opinions (most of them can be found in the tag for my first rewatch) & also that i do not analyze smartly on first watches / read throughs of ANYTHING (examples include that on my first watch of Buffy I shipped Buffy/Xander & hated Dawn, on my first watch of ATLA I disliked Azula for a long time & didn’t care about Jet, on my first watch of Scream I wanted Dewey to be the killer because of Scary Movie. I could go on probably)

—- here are my initial reactions to ATLA LA as someone who’s been having fun watching (usually tipsy) & enjoying my faves in live action even if it’s badly written 😃

Pros:

Jet is hot

Uh… um. Uh… umm. That was my big one okay..

….

….

Oh! Oh! Suki is also hot.

….

…

I think Katara’s live action actress did a really nice job even if I don’t always love how she was written I could tell this girl put her heart into it

Same with Azula’s actress tbh. And Aang. Zuko & Iroh also. It took me a second to get used to this Iroh but acting wise ignoring the script Zuko & Iroh did good. (Sokka & Yue were only okay but they didn’t do bad by any means once I got used to them.)

Azula’s intro was super fun. I thought for a second they were even gonna do something fun with her & this whole ratting out the rebellion plot. Also the actress did good & there were a few parts that were well written like her early displays of insecurity & her beating the shit out of that trainer & shooting Zuko’s letter. There was promise until there wasn’t.

They didn’t do a bad job of combining some of the plots. “Masks” was the strongest for me. It did a nice job showcasing several plots & I really enjoyed the significance placed on Zuko valuing the lives of inexperienced soldiers. Everything just came together super well in that episode with the Koh plot & everything. Now that certain criticisms of the Omashu episodes (like Jet’s mischaracterization in hurting his own people) have been brought up to me I dislike those episodes more than on my first watch through but I still think the Freedom Fighters were fun to see. And if you don’t analyze it too hard the plot combinations are fun. Anyway why would you analyze this adaptation too hard?

Cons:

Why isn’t Azula scared of Ozai? I get it he’s forged her into the perfect weapon & she did what he technically wanted but she disrespected him publicly & he was fine? Okay.

Above mentioned explanation of why Jet wasn’t done right ^^ He shouldn’t be willing to hurt Earth Kingdom citizens. Even if it was fun to see his logic & the Jetara moments & I do think the actor did a good job (no I’m not just saying that ‘cause he’s hot. That helps though).

Katara didn’t have to struggle at all she’s just a #girlboss! Isn’t that great? #feminism!

Who’s this super serious kid who always puts the mission first & where’s my silly goofy guy who wants to go on endless side quests? The actor does decent but that’s just not Aang.

Discount Zhao 😭😂

I just -

Discount Zhao lmaoooo 😭

Overall: I had fun. I will repeat myself - this is like the Harry Potter movies or the Series of Unfortunate Events tv show or any other adaptation of something I loved in its original form that’s never going to get it quite right to me. I hated some things. I had fun with other parts. Mostly? It was just fun to see my faves in a new format. It’ll never ever live up to the original but I never in a million years wanted nor expected that. Quite frankly? I didn’t want this to be made at all. But since it is whether I wanted it or not? I’m glad it was at least entertaining & enjoyable to have fun with.

This was ALWAYS going to be an example of what I call the “Marvelification” of television. Nothing is nuanced everything is quippy everyone’s edges are dulled. I never expected anything else so I’m not even listing that as a con it’s just a given to me. Binge culture whole season releases & the endless remakes & reboots of streaming sites are the death of television. This is again just a given to me I don’t have much more to say about it right now (though I’m sure I do just not now).

The original ATLA will always mean everything to me & this was just a fun little adaptation. Like a fanfic. If it gets renewed? Sure I’ll have fun watching more. But if it doesn’t I truly don’t care. Anyway I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts eventually these are INITIAL reactions please don’t treat them like I signed this post in blood I’m just thinking out loud having just finished this show! That’s all for now lol

#rose watches atla la

[fireheartwraith]

Someone accused me of being a hater and that pissed me off so here are all of my thoughts on the Netflix Avatar The Last Airbender live action series. What I liked, didn't like, what I'm worried about or hoping going foward, etc, in no particular order because I was just hate typing. I tried to separate my rambling into topics, but I did that after I had already typed everything. Enjoy

Zuko and Zhao:

I liked most of the fire nation characters. Zhao took some getting used to, but it was a fun new take on the character. I loved Zuko's crew and Azula's scenes. I really hate what they did with the agni kai and Zhao's death though, it really feels like they missed what those scene's meant for Zuko's character. Everyone already said all there is to say about why having Zuko fight back is a stupid idea so I won't comment on it, but having Iroh kill Zhao also pissed me off. He's supposed to die because of his own arrogance and greed and Zuko is supposed to try and help him because he's the type of person who would offer a helping hand to an enemy, despite his father's attempts at beating the kindness out of him.

Ozai:

I like what they are doing to Ozai, it could be interesting and add depth to the character, I just think it would be less ooc it those moments of doubt and "weakness" were in private? Like, in public, he is always this perfect façade but in private, the mask starts to slip away. But I think they’re going for that, so that's okay. It also adds dimension to his relationship with Azula since she also dons a mask of perfection, and this shows that she learned that with him.

Azula:

Speaking of Azula, I'm a bit worried because since we already sympathize with her, she could not be as menacing and intimidating a villain, but I hope it will work out.

Iroh:

I'm really 50/50 on Iroh. I like his interactions with Zuko, but why was he out there spewing fire nation propaganda and justifying his war crimes. My dude, what the hell.

Katara:

I really hate what they did to Katara and Suki. Let me punch someone. I won’t say much because everyone else has already exhausted this point, but yeah. Katara is so much more than a bender and a little sister. Her mother's death didn't just affect her bending, it changed everything in her life. She had to become her mother and take care of her brother when she was so young, she’s kind, caring, and a little overbearing at times. But she’s also prideful, jealous, stubborn, and has a bit a temper. She's not a perfect girl who smiles softly at the world around her. She's angry at what happened to her, she’s resourceful, she's funny, she's dedicated. This show's Katara is a bender, and that's it. And she's a prodigy at it, became a master all by herself because she don't need no man, no sir. Because #feminism is when your female protagonist is relegated to side character with no flaws apparently.

Suki:

And Suki, oh Suki... what did they do to you? Ah yes, cartoon Sokka is sexist, so instead of having him go through character growth spurred on by getting his ass beat by a girl, we'll just make that girl instantly fall in love with him and have an ungodly amount of sexual tension just so she and the audience can ogle at this shirtless man for a good thirty seconds. Yes, that's much better and not sexist at all!!

Sokka:

I like how they are focusing on Sokka's intelligence and other ways to be a hero since I've always loved that detail of his character (i seriously love when in modern aus he's studying engineering, bonus if he has a minor in arts and literature), but considering he *does* become a skilled warrior I fear this plot thread may not payoff. Like "you don't need to be a warrior to be a hero!! But here's some swordbending lessons just in case" is weird. Similar to that is what happened in the cave of two lovers: changing the answer to the riddle was stupid. It makes no sense in the lore AND makes Sokka look dumb. Couldn't he at least be the one to figure it out? The sibling moment was cute though.

Katara and Aang:

What bothers me most (after what they did to my poor girls) is that the gaang don't feel like friends, much less a found family. Katara isn't Aang's earthly attachment. If they wanted to start the romance when they look closer in age that's fine, but they could still be friends? I mean, they tell us they're friends and very important to each other, but are they? They went on a trip together and talked a couple of times. Katara should have broken him out of the iceberg on purpose because it not only shows how she disregards her own safety to help those in need, it is the inciting incident of the show and should be more than an accident. Again, she’s supposed to be a protagonist, the story is supposed to be told through HER. She's the one who should do the intro!! Not Kyoshi, Gyatso and Gran Gran.

She should teach Aang waterbending. This is Book 1: Water, why isn't that boy waterbending. That would further both the plot and their relationship. Which is supposed to be a cornerstone of the show, mind you. And I'm not saying "relationship" as in a romantic one. They should be friends, confide in one another, Katara should calm him down when he enters the Avatar state because this shows how important they are to one another. Gyatso's memory being what calms him down is cute, but if it impacts what is, again, a main plot point of the show (Katara is Aang's earthlyattachment), they shouldn’t do it. Also, Aang should have tried to firebend and accidently burned Katara. This way, Katara learns she can heal (which again is super important. Anyone remember the season 2 finale?) it also causes Aang to block out his firebending out of fear of hurting others again. WHICH IS ALSO A MAJOR PLOT POINT. Give me back Kataang, the show literally isn't the same without them.

Also, much time did the three of them spend together as a crew? Not that much, I feel like. Where's my found family?

Jet:

There are some things that I deeply miss, like Sokka's argument with Jet about the old man. The cartoon is very anti violence, it is definitely its thesis. We can discuss wether they are right or not forever, but the show is arguing that even though the fire nation citizens in the earth kingdom are living in a settler colony that serves the imperialist agenda, they are still citizens and killing them is wrong. This confrontation is so important for both Sokka and Jet's characters, and turning Jet into a terrorist feels like a betrayal of his character. And no, armed resistance like what the freedom fighters do isn't terrorism, regardless of whether or not it's morally right.

Missed theme:

The other thing I miss is Teo, his dad, and the other refugees being in an air temple. It adds a lovely grey area to the whole thing. Aang is pissed off that a sacred ancestral home of his people has been invaded and partially destroyed by machines (which also serves as commentary on industrialization and how historical sites are torn down to build skyscrapers and factories irl. We come back to the industrialization theme that the fire nation brings to the table multiple times, but a really obvious exemple is the painted lady episode in the third season), but also the people doing it are refugees running from an imperialist and genocidal army.

I think they saw the obvious parallels between the cartoon themes and real-world shit happening right now and decided to sanitize it lest they piss someone off with politics. Which ended up pissing me off.

The bending:

The visual effects where fine. Sometimes the humans ragdoll a bit too much, but that always happens. The bending looks good, but the firebenders attacking the monks in the beginning look just as powerful as eveyone else when they should be op because of the comet. The comet doesn't look thag much of a threat right now. Also in the cartoon is implied that Gyatso suffocated like twenty firebenders and himself as his final act, which is much more badass than what we got.

The creatures:

The creature design is very good, specially the ones supposed to look scary, because even the ones supposed to look cute look kind of scary here. Can you imagine anh child buying a live action Appa plushie? Because I can't. I also wish we got to see more of Appa and Aang's relationship. I understand it's probably expensive as fuck to animate, but we need them to be buddies. Remember, we have the lost Appa acr next season.

Script:

The acting is... fine. I just laughed when Aang turned to the camera and started to monologue about his personality, but that’s more on the script than on the actor. Speaking of which: oh god, please stop explaining every lore detail three times in expository dialogue. Sometimes, it's okay to tell not show (pacing, establishing worldbuilding, etc. It's why the cartoon intro exists!) but must you do it every time? And then repeat it??

Costume:

The score is obviously great, and the set design is good. Costume, makeup, and hair sometimes are iffy, but that’s because some things will never look good in live action. Yue will always look more like cosplay instead of a real person, I guess (I still think they could have just tried a very light blond wig or gotten an albino actress or something, but whatever). Wish Zuko's scar was looked more like a burn scar and less like a black eye. The clothes looked good, just a bit too "new" looking. Show me some dirt! They always look more conving when they get dirty and bloody.

They have points to improve upon, but overall, it's fun enough to watch on a weekend. But alas, the original is always better (not perfect, just better)

#avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar the legend of aang #atla #netflix avatar #netflix atla #atla zuko #atla zhao #atla ozai #atla azula #atla iroh #atla aang #atla katara #atla sokka #atla suki #atla jet #long post #live action atla

[fandomgremlinlover]

My opinions on the ATLA Live action series (just from the first episode):

….I fucking hate it.

No, the visuals are not the problem. And no, the cast is not the problem. It’s the fucking dialogue and delivery. As well at the changes they’ve made.

I can tell you right now, as a hard core atla fan, LA katara is not the katara I know. Why the FUCK is this girl not RAGEFUL AND SASSY!!! There is literally nothing to work with, her personality is dry, and her dialogue and delivery is so fucking blaaaannnd. It literally makes me want gouge my eyeballs out. My girl has been RUINED!!! THIS IS MUTINY!?!? Not only that, but aang’s lines and dialogue make me want to cringe and cry and throw up. His delivery is NOT done well (I blame the fuckin directors for this) and his lines make absolutely NOOOO sense for his character. Wheres the goofy little boy I know!?! Wheres the kid who RAN AWAY bc he was scared to be the Avatar!?! WHERES AANG!?!?

His reactions to his people being dead and gone are NOT it👁️👄👁️ also that reaction for Gyasto came out of fucking nowhere. He ALREADY knew about his peoples death, and how the fire nation had something to do with it!? He literally went from, “IM GONNA FUCKING KILL EVERYONE WITH MY AVATAR POWERS!!” to literally, “sorry guys,😢😢 I don’t know what got into me, I guess I overreacted a bit😰😔”…..NO YOU DIDNT AND WHY ARE YOU SO MATURE FOR 12 YEARS OLD!?!? ALSO WHY DID THEY CHANGE HIM FROM RUNNING AWAY!?! TO “I think I need some time to think guys😕😕😔😔” LIKE—NOOOOOOOO YOUR SUPPOSED FO FEEL AFRIAD OF BEING THE AVATAR AND BEING SENT AWAY AND YOU DONT WANT FO BE DIFFERENT AND SO YOU RUN AWAY FROM YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES BC YOUR IN DENIALLLLLLL😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Not only that, but media literacy is dead. Bc wtf do you mean you have to explain ALLLL the lore and info dump in the first episode😀 What happened to show not tell, hmm??? What happened to people having to use their fucking BRAINS to figure out themselves!?!? WHY THE HELL DID YOU PUT THE ORIGINAL INTRO INTO GRANNY’S DIALOGUE!?!?

AND WHY, do pray tell, DID YOU TELL AANG ABOUT THE GENOCIDE TO HIS PEOPLE IN THE FIRST FUCKING EPISODE!?!??! AND LITERALLY HAVE HIM REACT “man we lose people, but we gotta move forward😔” NOOOOOO WHYYY, AGAIN, DO YOU HAVE TO PUT IN BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE DIALOGUE💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

Iroh is a whole other can of worms that I will open later, but right now what you need to know is, I’m fucking pissed.

Now onto another issue, Zuko’s scar…Why the hell is it pretty-fied!?! Like, that is NOT Zuko’s fucking scar and anyone who wants to argue me about that can suck a lemon. Bc I’ve seen WAYYYY better makeup done by cheap ass makeup for cosplays. Let me say that again, COSPLAYS. Zuko’s scar is supposed to cover at LEAST half his face, and reach his ear. It’s supposed to be ugly and unsatisfying to look at. Because it’s a fucking fire burn. Also he can barely lift his fucking eyelid in the canon show, so what the fuck is that about!?! Like I don’t WANT a nice, aesthetically pleasing scar, I want an ACTUAL FUCKING BURN THAT DOESNT LOOK LIKE IT WAS DRAWN ON BY EYELINER!!!!!🤬🤬🤬

Sokka, my poor sweet funny Sokka…what have they done to you!!😭😭 They removed his most IMPORTANT character arc bc it was “iffy” and “was not relevant to the plot”…..it was fucking relevant you sick sacks of shit, he’s supposed to be iffy and then later grow threw Suki. He’s SUPPOSED TO BE SEXIST AND GROW AS A CHARACTER BC EVERYONE HAS FLAWS!?! IT WAS MEANT TO PROGRESS HIM BECOMING A BETTER LEADER AND MAKE HIM LEARN THAT UNDERESTIMATING HIS ENEMIES IS A NO GO!?!? LIKE, EVEN 9 YEAR OLD FUCKING ME SAW THAT SHIT!?!? BUT YOU CANT????? 💀

The only thing I enjoyed about this episode was the visuals, and admittedly, the air temple battle scene. It got to me, and it goes to show that the fire benders were brutal when they committed a genocide against the Air nomads. That was it….i…I don’t know how I sat through the rest of the episode….bc it makes me SOO angry. Like, as soon as the ending credits came, I started sobbing. They had the ability and the tools to make a great live action of ATLA, but they blew it. Because this show isn’t for the fans or for anyone who likes to sit down and discuss the meanings and implications of each scene and its significance for the show. No, this show is for people who only want noise in the background. I don’t care for it, and I’m not happy with what they’ve done. When I heard the original creators stepped away from it bc they were promised this show would be exactly like the original series, but instead they chose what they wanted to do and change. I knew we were doomed. I understand there are people who live the live action, and I understand. But I simply cannot tolerate the show when I know they could do better. I hate to compare shows and medias, but One Piece set my expectations really high. Bc the creator had full control or say over any and every decision that was made in the LA. The Live action ATLA disappointed me and I’m very sorry to say that I didn’t enjoy it. But I had a hunch, and for me, I was right.

#atla #atla live action #atla netflix #atla rant #live action atla #opinion #rant/vent

[captainvulcant]

ATLA vs NATLA: The same woman problem

There was one thing which particularly stood out for me in the live action ATLA (though it is not alone in this phenomenon) and that is how all the female characters seemed like they were reduced to the same basic archetype. We've seen it a lot in the media recently, the cool girl who is slightly wry, incredibly competent, badass, kicks ass, you get the idea. This is very much the modern makeover I felt the female characters in NATLA were given, and it got me thinking about ATLA and how good it was at presenting different types of women.

We had Katara who was fierce and nurturing, Suki who was cool and competent, Yue who was soft and kind, Toph who was brash and confident, Azula who was smart and scary, Ty Lee who was bright and mischievous, Mai who was insoucient and loyal. In the live action it felt like we just got different flavours of the same person.

I didn't take as much issue with the fire nation trio, Azula seemed pretty in character and we didn't see enough of Mai and Ty Lee yet to judge. I hope that they and Toph keep more of their strong personalities in season 2.

But Katara Suki and Yue fell pretty flat for me. A lot of Katara and Suki's personality traits were sacrified in the name of making Sokka less sexist. His learning in this area centres around his relationships with Katara and Suki and, therefore, with this aspect of his character removed it necessitated changing theirs. I don't personally see this as more progressive than the alternative.

Katara A huge part of Katara's personality is removed in the live action. Her nurturing, motherly nature has long been a point of contention in the fandom. But it represented a subset of women who are like that (ask any eldest daughter if Katara resonated with her). In the cartoon Katara and Sokka definitely trade off on being the responsible one of the group. Katara takes care of the basic needs, the emotional needs, and keeping the group together. Sokka takes care of navigating and the safety of the group. I don't know why they couldn't have kept this. Instead, Katara is treated like a child by Sokka (a whole year her senior and apparently all the wiser for it). The way that Katara takes over the role of her mother in the animation is reality for a lot of girls, these things often fall on daughters and I think Katara was a really important character for highlighting this.

Sokka's story focusses heavily on him trying to live up to his dad, so we could easily have had a parallel with Katara trying to live up to her mum. Characters can have more than one motivation, but for Katara we were just given her waterbending. And even here we miss key things through Katara being taught healing rather than discovering it herself, and then rejecting learning healing in favour of learning to fight. Ironically, NATAB has failed to understand the message of the northern water tribe arc - that both healing and fighting are important. And that is Katara: she heals and she destroys. She is a nurturer and a fighter. She is both, and both are important.

Additionally, a lot of Katara's relationship with Aang comes from her concern over him. With this absent, their relationship doesn't feel as strong, Aang instead being the one to teach and help her. Katara's emotional bond with Aang is also used in the live action as a plot point but it falls short of the emotional impact of the original because we have not been shown that bond. Katara's nurturing nature being contrasted with her fighting spirit and prowess is such a wonderful personality contrast which really rounds out her character in the animation and I felt its absence.

Suki I already talked about this briefly in my overall review so I will be short here. I personally didn't like what they did with Suki's character in the live action. In the animation I love how playful Suki is with Sokka. She is very self-assured, she knows what she wants and she goes for it. With Sokka's character changes we don't see this side of Suki with him anymore, she is unsure and un-wordly. Sokka seems instead to take the lead. She may still have the physical strength but the live action Suki feels lacking in emotional and internal strength for me. Added to this is her mother, who further brings out a side of Suki that isn't in the animation and I don't particularly identify with her character. I honestly can't quite explain my issue with other than it gave me an off feeling and the ick. I feel like I've seen this character so many times before, whereas Suki in the animation felt really refreshing.

Yue This is where we see the biggest departure from the animation. It's like they were so scared to make a main female character anything other than badass (in a very specific definition of badass). Every other female character I mentioned at the beginning can fight, and can fight well. Yue is the only main female character in the original who cannot, who doesn't even bend, and I think that's really important. It's important that Yue uses words instead of fighting, it's important that she does this despite the difficulties she faces due to her place in the world as a woman.

I was confused about why they would keep the Northern Water Tribe's tradition of women not being allowed to fight but not also keep the patriarchal governing system in place. Making Yue a bender and a priestess takes away the whole point of her original sacrifice, which is that you don't have to be physically strong or an amazing martial artist or bender to make a difference. It's Yue's heart which matters. Apart from the Avatar, Yue is arguably the most important character in the whole of the story. She is a soft girl, she is a kind girl, she is a girl who hasn't really been given much of a voice, she is a girl who has had her life very much decided for her. And she saves the moon. She saves waterbending. She does that. Only she could do that. To me Yue is an important parallel for both Aang and also Ozai (and to a lesser extent Zuko and Azula). She is the example Aang must follow, her destiny was to save the moon as Aang's destiny was to be the Avatar. These things are decided, how they approach them is up to the individual. With Ozai, Yue is his foil as a good leader. Unlike Ozai she never held the power of leadership, but she did assume the responsibility. She sacrificed herself for her people, Ozai sacrificed his people for his power.

The way they characterise Yue in NATLA just felt like too much of a departure from the original for me. They even make fun of the original when Yue says that she isn't really like her princess act (her act being how Yue is in the animation). Absolutely no hate to the live action actress as she was just acting how she was written and directed (although for me personally I also did not get any Yue vibes from her in terms of looks), but that Yue was far closer in personality to Katara and Suki (and even Sokka) than the animation Yue was. It's ok to have different types of female characters, and I hate how Hollywood has created this homogenised female archetype that is everywhere now.

I will end this on saying this is my personal opinion, a lot of this is based on feelings I had while watching it rather than concrete thoughts so obviously many people will disagree with what I have said, which is totally fine! I did find the characters to be a bit flat, I don't think there's anything wrong with making characters a bit more individual and vibrant even in something which is supposed to be "realistic". And once again I feel like the writing of female characters in particular has been let down. I think we sacrificed elements of the girls personalities in order to make them all extremely competent (apart from Suki who was too competent so they pulled her back towards the middle lol). As I've said before, much of this might have been solved by having a 10 or 12 episode run which allows for more character development and less plot. I think studios need to seriously think about whether this format serves the stories they are trying to tell.

#natla #natla review #atla live action #natla spoilers #atla #another long one guys sorry #am i imagining things or is every female character turning into a marvel version of themselves? #like yes they're very cool and quippy but where are my kids where are my children where are my little murderers and big princesses? #where have they gone?

[limeade-l3sbian]

i was going to leave it at just the shipping discussion at first, but i decided this bothered me too much, and i need to vent it out. i've had this on my mind for quite some time but i don't know many people into atla who are radfem or adjacent, and i absolutely do not trust anyone outside of radfem circles to not have the most status quo, heteronormative, male-centric, "things are exactly as i first imagined" / "i cannot imagine right or wrong or natural outside of the literal text given to me by the original writers" views on this topic (based on my own experiences with trying to talk about atla with others).

the show would have been far better if zuko were a (gnc) girl and azula were a boy. i know you may be resistant to this because i know you had at least some level of a formative crush on azula, but i'm begging you to hear me out on this one.

aside from the fact it would give a hero role to a fully gnc girl (as opposed to partial, like suki or toph), it just makes sense. zuko not being able to get approval from ozai no matter what, while azula is favored at every stop turns into a matter of familial misogyny, rather than "azula is just naturally better at being evil" (which takes a vaguely eugenicist angle when considering the comics, which say that zuko is probably not ozai's kid, but azula is). it doesn't matter that zuko is older, it wouldn't matter if she were more cutthroat, it wouldn't matter if she were better at bending, it wouldn't even matter if she caught the avatar. a patriarchal dictator like ozai would always favor a son over a daughter.

second, it would make all of the fire nation characters' situations more realistic and more poignant, in general. aside from the aforementioned favoritism towards a son over a daughter, it would make azula's characterization as a violent narcissist who believes (s)he deserves ownership and control over the world make more sense, it would change the context of mai and ty lee standing against azula for the sake of zuko (and each other) into a vaguely anti-feminist situation to a wholly feminist one (i don't ship mai and zuko at all, so the context of being a romantic couple here doesn't really matter to me; it could be motivated by romantic love or platonic love and solidarity imo), it would make zuko and katara's relationship and growth stronger (both of them would have a history of facing near-constant misogyny that served as barricades in the way of the direction they want to take in life), and it would almost completely erase the uneasiness of the fact that zuko was entirely redeemed and azula wasn't redeemed at all (even in the comics), because the real life context of violence and perpetuation of harmful cycles committed by women vs men supports that women can very frequently recover and be redeemed, and men recovering and being redeemable is much less common (because they don't want to).

this is just one aspect of the series i could talk on and on about, by the way, but this post is already too long. as a bonus, though: i believe this minor change would give so much more potential for better lesbian ships than whatever was happening in lok (which i hate for a number of reasons; mainly that it completely destroyed previous worldbuilding and i felt that the plot was just outright stupid in comparison to the original series, and the shipping stuff in that show was sooo...ugh. as i said, a completely different topic i could go on and on about).

OKAY WAIT ANON BECAUSE - AUGH YES WAIT!

It is true that I had a crush on Azula, but I'm almost CERTAIN I would've come out much earlier if Zuko had been the female GNC sibling LMAO.

I think the decision to make Azula the evil one and all that was based on making a good, long term female villain. I think the creators were trying to break a few barriers (which, in many respects, they absolutely did!). But what you're saying would have played so much deeper and allowed so much more insight (canon or otherwise) into this world. I imagine having a GNC daughter would also foster some resentment from Ozai compared to Iroh who has shown in canon time and time again that he's not going to get pressed about a bender's sex (I avoided the rhyme on purpose).

I haven't read the comics so correct me. But to me, Ozai always appeared to be a traditionalist where it benefited him. The topic of gender bias in the series isn't nearly as touched on as they could've gone. And in a way, I understand because it is technically a kid's show and as far as I'm aware, they were constantly on thin ice with Nickelodeon. But goddamn would this have made the whole show just that extra layer of *chef's kiss*.

My basis for Zuko and Katara were the usual points made. But what you said just AUGH ANON YES 😭😭 it would've been amazing! 😭

Talk as much as you want! Leave a whole essay for me to read idc when you're this based. 🫶🏾

#ask

[theowritesfiction]

'The Crossroads of Destiny'

Aaah, here we go with the epic finale of Book 2, I have been waiting for this.

Azula ordering the Dai Li around like a queen... you know, I'm not even surprised that people watch the entire show and then are shocked to find out that she's 14. Which just makes her that much more amazing, obviously. What really makes this scene for me, though, is Ty Lee just cheerfully making tea for her girls nearby, enjoying Azula's speech and simping hard. And Mai is just loving it.

Aang lying to his friends about mastering the Avatar State... umm no I'm still salty about the previous episode and this ain't helping. 30 more Jerk Points.

Okay, Iroh using his fire breathing trick to escape Azula's trap was very neat. I love how Iroh facepalms when Zuko states that he's going to face Azula. And Azula just plays it so cool. 'You're so dramatic, Zuko.' lmao, he really is. <3 Agni Kai? lol, no thank u. I love this girl. <3

Iroh pleading with Gaang to help him save Zuko... I mean, on one hand I like that he's not proud enough to ask because he cares about Zuko that much. But on the other hand, I am still salty when he claims that there's good in Zuko, while unwilling to see anything but rot and evil in Azula.

I love the little scene when the Dai Li agent reports to Long Feng in his cell, the agent just can't stop going on about how great Azula is. Okay, guy, we get you, she really is that great.

The crystal catacombs scene with Katara and Zuko was pretty much a starting point for one of my early atla fanfics, so I've done my fair share thinking about this scene already. But it would be silly not to acknowledge how defining it is for a large part of the fanbase. I mean, this is the scene that pretty much kickstarted Zutara. And even if I no longer actively ship them, I have to admit, Katara and Zuko just have strong chemistry. Katara touching Zuko's scar, the looks they exchange when Katara leaves, it's all there if you want to look for it.  

But I have to say... Katara claiming that she was saving the spirit oasis water for 'something important' when offering to heal Zuko's scar now just makes me think back of Lake Laogai and become angry. The writers did Jet dirty, and they also did Katara dirty by implying that she would let Jet die and not consider him important enough to save his life? Screw that. We all know that Katara would have stayed behind and saved Jet. This is a shameful plot hole.

And I do love the twist of Aang dying because Katara is unable to save him because she healed Jet or Zuko prior to Azula's lightning blast. I love it when a character as hopeful and pure is sent spiraling towards full emotional breakdown and descending into darkness, as I believe watching Aang die would do to Katara. It's a tempting scenario for me to explore.

Iroh's conversation with Aang as they make their way to the catacombs... Iroh validating Aang's terrible decision not to unlock the Avatar State, you don't know what you're talking about, old man, so stop flapping your gums. 40 Jerk Points for terrible advice.

I love the scene of Toph and Sokka trying to alert the Earth King. Azula is like... I'm not even going to lower myself to fighting those two. She just ends the fight by threatening Kuei. But I love how she lets the girls have a bit of fun with Toph and Sokka. I still love the Sokka/Ty Lee flirting. Sure Sokka, you're 'involved' with Suki. You've spent less time with Suki than you have with Ty Lee. The triple-cross of Long Feng is perhaps the most iconic Azula moment. I think it's very interesting that Azula invokes the divine right of rule as her political legitimacy, when I don't think that Zuko ever refers to it - even if it IS the only reason why he has any claim on the Fire Nation throne.

Zuko making his choice... I'm trying to see how it could come across as Azula manipulating him into making the 'wrong' choice, but... she really doesn't. This decision is all Zuko. Okay, when Azula promises Zuko that he will have his father's love, she is obviously saying what Zuko wants to hear. But at the same time, Azula has a very warped understanding of what their father's 'love' even is. She thinks she has it, but we know she doesn't, not really. It's all conditional, and Zuko coming back home as a fellow conqueror of Ba Sing Se fulfils these conditions so... it's not that Azula is even lying here. And unlike on my first watch of the show, I'm not even mad at Zuko for his betrayal. It's so understandable to me now that I can't even give him Jerk Points for it.

Okay these are some of the most iconic fight scenes in the show between the four kids. Zuko for once is able to put up a good fight against Aang. Azula fighting Katara means everything to me. <3 I had forgotten how well matched those two are and Katara almost gets the better of Azula. <3 Azula using her blue flame jets to completely destroy Aang. Zuko and Azula teaming up to overpower Katara... just amazing scenes. Zuko and Azula working together are so deadly. <3

The scene of Sokka and Toph liberating Bosco is so sweet and funny. Ty Lee trying to teach the bear how to hand walk <3 Mai not even bothering to put in any effort to defend a stupid bear. Yeah, she's soooo afraid of Azula punishing her, right?

Iroh turning traitor and allowing Katara to escape with Aang was a decision that has always fascinated me, because I think that Iroh is a more complex character with more complex motivations than to just decide 'well I've finally realized who the good guys are and so I'm going to go against my nephew and stand with them'. There are myriad of other explanations. The death of the Avatar would mean the loss of hope and likely collapse of all remaining resistance. Maybe Iroh simply did not wish something like that on Zuko's hands. Or maybe he's playing a long political game.

I think the final exchange between Azula and Zuko is almost wholesome? Azula has absolutely no reason to treat Zuko decently here if she didn't want to. I don't think Ozai ever ordered Azula to capture the Avatar, so she doesn't need Zuko as her fall guy for that, because that wasn't even her task. Wasn't her task to bring back the Fire Nation traitors, Zuko and Iroh? Task achieved. She did not necessarily have to bring them both back in chains. Capture of Ba Sing Se also wasn't Azula's goal. She just saw an opportunistic chance to do it and acted upon it. And now she has a massive success under her belt with which to further endear herself to Ozai. Again, why should she share this success with Zuko, unless she actually wants her brother back?

Anyway, I've rambled long enough. This was a great conclusion to Book 2, and I'm looking forward to Book 3! In the meantime, here are the final Jerk Point standings for Book 2, and we congratulate Iroh with a well deserved victory!

Jerk Points for Book 2:

Iroh - 600 Long Feng - 560 Aang - 320 Azulon - 300 Ursa, General Fong  - 200 Zuko, Toph - 120 Ozai, King Kuei - 100 Sokka - 70 Bumi, Lao Beifong - 50 Pakku - 30

#my atla rewatch #atla book 2 #the crossroads of destiny

[northerngoshawk]

for the behind-the-scenes ask game:

bleeding out (with you to carry me home)  because I freaking love this fic...kataang and zukaang friendship my beloveds

7, 9, 11, 21 😌

awwwww thanks for the ask choco 🥺

7. What inspired the idea for the plot?

honestly? nothing much, really. i just wanted to go back to my mcd roots (without the mcd) and hurt Aang again 😌 the rest just fell in place 😌😌

buuuuuut maybe it had something to do with the whump from Drag You Down and Lifeblood hehehe

9. Was there anything from canon that you pulled for this fic?

surprisingly enough, i think i actually did pull quite a few things from canon that served thematically to this fic.

one of the first things is definitely when Katara sees Aang get hurt. intercut with the scene are a few lines that allude to the moment when Aang was shot down in the Crystal Catacombs, which serve as a reminder that even though it had been a relatively long while since it had happened, it still haunted her.

another one was found in this line:

Mai's expression softens ever slightly when she meets Katara's gaze, and suddenly Katara doesn't see the deadly girl with flying knives and stilettos, nor the former enemy she had to face during the war. Katara sees a girl who loves and is loved, a girl who will do anything to protect the ones she cares about—a girl who understands.

this definitely pulls from the moment when Mai saved Zuko, Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda from Azula and stands up against her. obv, they wouldn't have been close enough to hear Mai pull the "I love Zuko more than I fear you" line on Azula, but i have a feeling that once Katara got to know Mai, she would understand that side of Mai, which serves as one of the things they have in common.

then there is this line:

Katara moves away as Zuko crouches down and unravels the sash around Aang's chest. (His) blood spills over Zuko's hands, and suddenly Katara remembers a time down in crystal catacombs, when he had betrayed them all, when Aang's blood had been on his hands. She tries to shove away the dark memories, because this time Zuko is saving Aang (but it's hard, it's hard when she can't see his scar without thinking of her mistakes)

definitely calls back to the moment in the Crystal Catacombs when Zuko had become an accomplice to Aang's death, and Katara had almost helped him and healed his scar. it speaks to the fact that even though they are all friends now, a part of Katara might always blame herself for almost healing Zuko and almost making what could've been the worst mistake of her life.

but another aspect of it is when Zuko is forced to cauterize Aang's wound and how he begs Aang to forgive him for it. even though it's done to save Aang, i'd think that maybe Zuko would still be guilt-ridden from his actions during the war and his people's massacre against Aang's, and to be the one to burn Aang, the Last Airbender, even if it's to ultimately help him...

the whole conversation Aang has with Zuko is to set to rest those burdens, and Aang pulls in the fact that he had once burned Katara in his reckless haste in order to make Zuko feel better--which works!

finally, the whole theme of Aang's people and him missing them and wanting to go home to them, resolved by his newfound family in his friends, all pull from canon. "Love is a form of energy," as Pathik said, and that energy was reborn in Aang's love for his friends.

whew, this was long! i definitely pulled a lot mroe from canon than i would've thought for this fic... but ig that's what happens when you write 6.6k words of Aang whump 🥲

11. Was there a scene that you hadn't originally planned to include? Why did you decide to fit it in?

not the exact answer you might be looking for, but close enough. originally, instead of Zuko being there to greet Aang when he woke up, i had planned to have Sokka there for a good ol' platonic Sokkaang moment--everyone needs more platonic Sokkaang in the world 😤

however, it wasn't until later on when writing this fic that i realized that i hadn't thought about how Aang gets saved. lol. oops. so the natural conclusion i reached was cauterization. okay, so then who does the cauterization? Zuko. then what would be the consequences of this?

it's from this natural progression of thoughts that i scrapped the platonic Sokkaang moment for the platonic Zukaang moment, mostly because there had to be a thematic resolution to Zuko's decision. it all worked out for the best tho--it was definitely one of my better decisions in fic writing 😌

21. What is something you didn't expect people to notice or gravitate towards in this fic?

Mai stabbing people with her knives??? 3 of the 4 comments i got took atl one line to gush about it, and it was just a little thing i tossed in there because i was like the Gaang should be there,,, oh but Zuko wouldn't go anywhere without Mai, and obv Mai and Zuko wouldn't just cower behind the guards, they'd fight. so that was mostly just to announce her presence (and it was also helpful in the little aside of the Katara & Mai friendship hehe). but i'm still happy people loved it 🥺 Mai definitely deserves more of a presence in Gaang fics 😌

sorry for the length of this, and thanks again for the ask, choco!

🎬 Behind-the-Scenes Fic Asks 🎬

#northern answers #chocomd #ask game answer

[fandom-frenzy]

netflix atla thoughts

from a person who has seen the show a couple of times and enjoyed it, but doesn't have it memorized word for word or anything

I liked the netflix show. I thought they would have benefited from having it be 10 episodes instead of 8, just to allow some space for the plot and characters to breathe. however, this seems to be a perpetual criticism of all shows nowadays because apparently every executive hates it if there are 5 minutes of downtime in a show heaven forbid.

they definitely took a theme and built a cohesive show around it. and the themes they draw out are themes from the original show! I have not yet read or watched any critiques of netflix atla yet so I don't know what everyone's up in arms about yet (but I do know they're out there), but from my perspective the showrunners understood what the overall atla show is about and did a decent job of distilling it. "what are the consequences of your actions? what choices will you make? how do you handle the expectations others have of you?"

a few highlights-

the kid who played zuko did a really good job, and definitely the standout of all the kids

kyoshi warrior makeup was ON POINT and kyoshi herself was stellar

the way backstories were woven in, especially iroh

koh

secret tunnellllll, secret tunnelllll....

a few "meh" points-

yue's wig

not really completing the storyline of the forest spirit, and the timing in that sequence overall

katara's and aang's acting was....well, they're unexperienced child actors and it shows

zhao's death, I just liked how so completely insignificant it was in the original show

a few points of extremely heavy handed exposition

a few areas I went "I bet someone's mad about that" and my own take on them-

the avatar state: they put rules around the avatar state that helps it avoid being a deus ex machina (or people asking "why didn't aang just...?") which helps on a meta level, but also by having him talk to the past avatars at their shrines they a) have an opportunity to bring in a lot more of the past ones over the course of three seasons and b) get to spread aang's main character arc (what kind of avatar should he be?) throughout the entire show instead of the back half of season 3

sokka's sexism: there were a lot of talking points when the show said they were cutting it out. and you know what? good on the show. sokka's character arc is not "learns to not be sexist" - because if it was, he'd have no character growth from season 1 episode 4 onwards. instead, they focused on his arc of "what does it mean to be a warrior? to be a leader? to have responsibility for others?" and just built in "women are also warriors" to that. he didn't need to have half an episode where he scoff's at a girl fighting, just for him to then spend another half an episode realizing girls can fight. instead we see him be humbled and learn from suki and still continue to wonder about what it means to be a warrior.

omashu: probably the biggest difference overall, and relocated a lot of things here. this is one that could definitely have benefited from an extra half to full episode, because there was so much. but again, it was telling a cohesive story. yes, bumi was more angry and less whimsical. he challenged aang instead of testing him. which fits very well with the "actions have consequences" and "people have expectations" themes. by moving the northern air temple plotline and jet there, katara and sokka each got to have subplots while still maintaining focus on the main plotline. and they left omashu having spent time the themes of others expectations vs your own choices.

momo in the final episode: out of the blue, sure, but we got an excellent example of the oasis water healing power which, I dunno, might really be some great foreshadowing for the end of season 2/beginning of season 3

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts as it continues to percolate but wanted to write these down as my own before I start seeing and hearing everyone else's.

[firelxdykatara]

Katara hated Zuko. It was a plot point. Sokka never did--and their "friendship" in the show was close to becoming something more--so they were on equal footing and had hinted romance. Zutara is misogynistic--why are you forcing Katara into a relationship with someone she hates? Choose Toph or Suki if you really believe Zuko isn't gay.

there’s so much to unpack here, and i know i should really throw out the whole suitcase, but i just can’t help myself

and please, i beg of you, picture someone laughing so hard that tears are streaming down their face because that’s me right now, reading this ask. i about choked on my eggnog, so thanks for that!

point the first: sokka hated zuko every bit as much as katara did in the first two books. it was a plot point. sokka wanted to leave zuko to die because saving him wouldn’t have been worth the trouble--he was pragmatic and deeply distrustful of anyone who wasn’t in his immediate circle, and that went especially hard for anyone from the fire nation. including the birds!

point the first part two: sokka’s easy acceptance of zuko into the gaang had less to do with any budding friendship or caring for him (since there was none to speak of until the boiling rock episodes), and more to do with a lack of any personal grudge. aka: there was no tension there. nothing to really dig into--no true development of feelings. because aang needed a firebending teacher, zuko was around and willing to take on that role, and also he was a prime roasting target, so sokka was happy enough to let bygones be after he helped them take down combustion man.

which, of course, isn’t to say shipping them isn’t valid. there are plenty of ships that have little to no canon basis but a lot of fandom support, and that’s usually fine....until the fans start getting uppity about it and insisting that there Is Canon Basis Really, and then insisting that the ‘rival’ ship is misogynistic when their alleged ‘canon basis’ requires stripping everything meaningful from the girl’s relationship to the boy and giving it to her brother instead. which is exactly what you’re doing here, but i digress.

point the second: how on earth was sokka and zuko’s ‘friendship’ in the show (and why the scare quotes? were they not actually friends? are you really sitting in my inbox right now devaluing their platonic relationship because you don’t think it exists outside of your belief that they really wanted to fuck the whole time, despite sokka being in a happy relationship with someone else?) ‘close to becoming something more’? when did they ever have a single, solitary conversation that hinted at any ‘deeper’ feelings? sokka spent most of their buddy cop adventure to boiling rock mooning over his girlfriend (heh, get it? mooning? because he- oh, you get the point), to the point where he had literal hearteyes the instant he saw her--and zuko’s purpose there wasn’t to deepen his relationship with sokka so much as it was to reunite sokka and katara with their father, and to see an example of what a healthy paternal relationship actually looks like.

(one of my favorite shots in the show is zuko’s soft smile when sokka and katara are hugging hakoda)

so already your claim that they ‘had hinted romance’ falls incredibly flat, because there was absolutely nothing in the show that was ‘hinting’ they had romantic feelings for one another--in universe or out of it. sokka was happily in love with suki, and even the one scene that i can imagine might make shippers scream--when zuko popped into sokka’s tent late at night--sokka was about to have sex with his girlfriend, and when he asked zuko ‘what’s on your mind’, the first words out of his mouth were your sister.

(and then, as soon as zuko left, sokka was calling for suki again. the next morning, he was making a flower necklace--or a lei. because he got lei’d. it’s amazing the things you pick up when you rewatch the show as an adult lmfao.)

point the third (and this one is really where your argument blows up in your face): your insistence that zutara requires ‘forcing katara into a relationship with someone she hates’ reveals your own ignorance, because it’s demonstrably not true--unless you’re trying to argue that katara hated zuko all the way through to the end of the show, which??? i suppose makes it make more sense that you think zuko and sokka had a hinted romance in the text, because viewing comprehension clearly isn’t your strongsuit.

why are yall so quick to dismiss katara’s own feelings in the name of calling a fictional, noncanon ship ‘misogynistic’? because katara said, in the text, ‘but I am ready to forgive you’--and then she hugged zuko, called him into a group hug with the gaang later, joked (and even flirted) with him on ember island, helped talk him through his anxiety about facing his uncle, and happily agreed to go with him to face his sister, where she saved his life after watching him take a literal bolt of lightning to save hers.

if any of that had happened with sokka, yall would be calling it demonstrable evidence that zuko and sokka are in love. and yet when we use that canonical buildup and the deep bond of friendship and trust zuko and katara have by the end of the series to imagine them getting into a romantic relationship because of feelings developed during these events......you call us misogynistic? really? because we’re ‘forcing’ her into a relationship with someone she ‘hates’....except she didn’t hate him by the end of the series, they were very close friends and had gotten over and had closure from their personal baggage, and that’s the kind of stuff that provides excellent fuel for envisioning a romantic relationship developing!

so what was your argument again?

ETA: i was so busy deconstructing the bulk of your argument that i forgot to address that laughable last line--toph or suki? who had much, MUCH less relationship development with zuko than katara did?? ‘if you really believe zuko isn’t gay’???? im sorry that you can’t recognize a whole bisexual when you see one, but as a bi myself, i know that zuko’s dual-wielding ass couldn’t ‘pick a side’ if his life depended on it. and he had more romantic coding with both jet and katara than he ever had with sokka--that’s just a fact. sorry if the truth hurts, anon!

#atla #zutara #zuko #katara #zukka salt #zukka fandom salt #just covering my bases #sokka #salt for ts #asked #Anonymous