#let katara have southern raiders to herself | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wakkass · 8 months

Text

Katara's Lightning: waterbending technique

Part 1

Book 3 provided some very good ideas for alternative uses of waterbending. Everyone knows bloodbending, one of the most powerful and conceptual techniques. In principle, I think the episode with Katara mastering this ability is the most interesting in the season.

But not only because of bloodbending, but also because of creative ways to obtain water. Get it out of the plants! Or even out of thin air! This opens up so many possibilities that, unfortunately, weren't explored during the season. Maybe this was considered in comics or LoK, but I would like to talk about my version of the development of the concept.

I was very interested in controlling water in the air. I thought that this was a very revolutionary approach, because you need to get water from essentially nothing, it’s difficult and at the same time convenient. A source of water is always at hand, great!

However, the question is: is this all? Is it really impossible to go further and develop the ability in some other way? Lately I have been very interested in this question, and my reflection has taken me in an unexpected direction.

I thought about storm clouds. We have already been shown how, together with an airbender, even an inexperienced waterbender can control clouds. However, in the future, when Katara develops her skills, she may well be able to cope with this task herself. Clouds are made of water, and thanks to Hama, she clearly learned to feel the element on a more subtle level and control it even in the air. Making water particles move in the sky might not be that difficult for her.

And imagine how cool it would look during the invasion of the Fire Nation. If Katara didn’t just fly on Appa and destroy airships one by one, but carried a thunderstorm across the sky, like Storm from the X-Men. Bad weather would prevent the air force from entering the battle, and rain would help the waterbenders on the ground and prevent the firebenders from fighting. This would not only be visually powerful, but also quite useful.

And then I thought about what happens in a thunderstorm. Lightning. The firebending technique can essentially be summoned by the opposite element! This idea amazed me…

Let's start with where lightning comes from in nature. In simple terms, when small water crystals of different sizes move very quickly inside a thundercloud and collide with each other, they form opposite charges in different parts of it. The result is natural lightning. That is, all that is needed is to be able to control the water particles in the air, and, as we know, Katara has learned this.

Imagine if, during the same invasion, she had gotten too caught up in creating a storm. The ice particles collided so quickly that at some point, lightning appeared in time with Katara's movements. Powerful, uncontrollable, dangerous. She and Appa were in the middle of a storm without any preparation or protection, it was scary. But at the same time exciting and intriguing. How does it feel to realize that you can create magic of the opposite element? This can't help but stun you.

But Katara would have to restrain herself. I don't think she liked it, but she didn't want to put Appa and herself in danger. As a result, the thunderstorm she created was not half as powerful as it could have been.

Why is it important? Because in my perception this is not just a technique. I feel like the storm, and in particular the lightning, in this case represents Katara herself in book 3. Remember her rage in the episode "Southern Raiders" when she expressed long-buried feelings about the loss of her mother. Remember how long and painfully she nursed Aang after his death, and subsequently experienced enormous stress in “The Puppetmaster” due to bloodbending. I think Katara needs some emotional release (which she got in "Southern Raiders", but more on that in part two). And lightning could personify that internal energy that strives outward.

Remember how Katara's anger manifested itself in book 1 through its effect on the water around her? What if it got bigger because Katara grew up as a master?

This time it is very dangerous to give in to feelings like this and turn them into the element, because Katara is not able to control the lightning itself, only create it. This can seriously hurt her herself, as well as those around her, just like words and deep resentments (for example, towards Sokka for not grieving the loss of their mother as much as she does). Therefore, there is nothing left to do but restrain the impulses of rage and irritation.

Perhaps she would even refuse to create new storms. Unfortunately, without someone who could control the direction of the lightning, she cannot guarantee the safety of herself and the people around her. But where can she find such a handyman?..

Part 2 >

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #atla fanart #atla au #katara #atla katara #zuko #atla zuko #lightning bending #waterbending #bending meta #this idea seemed so simple and so brilliant to me #water creating fire #and this is a phenomenon from our reality #subject to the laws of physics #I want to play with this idea #there are so many types of lightning that we can use wow

517 notes · View notes

comradekatara · 1 month

Note

might be bit of a stupid question, and you may have even discussed it before. if so, sorry for asking again.

but: do you think aang forgives ozai, or does he just show mercy? aang seems to have a clear stance on the importance of forgiveness, however, the final moments of his battle with ozai are visually paralleled with katara's attack on her mother's killer - and katara is clear on the fact the she has not (and will not) forgive him. she just shows him mercy, i suppose.

do you think this sentiment is paralleled in these two scenes? do you think aang manages to actually forgive ozai, or is he just showing mercy in order to protect the values of his culture?

to be perfectly honest, the thought of whether or not aang’s decision to spare ozai is one of forgiveness never actually crossed my mind. you’re right that the issue of mercy is tied to forgiveness in “the southern raiders,” but i always read that issue of forgiveness as far less straightforward than a question of whether or not katara will forgive yon rha, and more so whether katara can forgive herself (and by extension zuko). as aang says, “revenge is a two headed rat viper,” and the reason he’s advocating that katara find room for forgiveness within herself is not because he gives a shit whether the man who murdered her mother will die or not (he doesn’t care if others kill as long as he doesn’t have blood on his hands, as evidenced by his relationship to sokka and toph), but whether katara will be able to live with herself after the fact. and he knows her, so he knows that she won’t.

by sparing yon rha, katara forgives herself for her own guilt in having to carry the burden of knowing her mother sacrificed herself to save her, lets herself rest and simply be a human person instead of dedicating herself to the pursuit of vengeance, to revenge kya’s foul and most unnatural murder. because of course katara has that instinct, and of course katara feels her mother’s death more personally than sokka does, and of course she feels a responsibility to right the wrongs that she (however inadvertently) caused in whatever way she possibly can.

she finally has the skillset and the intel that allows her to carry out her revenge, but in that final moment before she strikes the final blow, she hesitates and drops her weapon, her artform that she has dedicated herself to honing in a way no one alive has ever needed to (with the exception of hama, and even then). it’s a uniquely powerful moment in a show filled with powerful moments (many of them involving katara) because she is choosing herself over yon rha, over zuko, over the memory of her mother.

she lets the illusion that she is the hero of an adventure tale wherein good triumphs over evil fade away and she embraces her own humanity though acknowledging the humanity of her enemies. yon rha isn’t a uniquely evil cackling villain (unlike someone like zhao or ozai), he’s a person, an awful person, but nonetheless a human being. a soldier who acted as the arm of a vast and complex, terrifying machine. and by looking into his face once more, the face that haunted her nightmares, katara is able to see herself reflected in the face of the other, and finally fully realizes a tapestry of the world that can not be so neatly woven.

that is what it means to forgive. when she forgives zuko, it is not because zuko has done anything to earn her forgiveness: unlike with “the boiling rock,” where he genuinely risks his life to selflessly help sokka at his lowest point, he is the instigator of katara’s entire journey, and even though he is attempting to do her a favor because he understands her intrinsic desire for revenge born of guilt and rage and shame, it is not a selfless act (that comes later). but through forgiving herself, allowing herself to relax her rigid worldview of right and wrong, good and evil, she recognizes that even if zuko did do genuinely reprehensible, awful things, it isn’t in her best interest to hold onto that anger, and by allowing herself to feel less personal responsibility and shame over her misplaced trust in zuko leading to aang’s death, she is able to forgive zuko, but only because she had already forgiven herself.

when aang shows ozai mercy, however, the issue of forgiveness isn’t even really the right term for it. he’s not forgiving ozai nor himself, here, but rather powerfully asserting that mercy is not a weakness, but a deliberate choice, and one that is born of incredible strength of character, at that. he’s forgiving his people for “not fighting back,” he’s forgiving his culture for adhering to these pacifist values, and yes, he’s forgiving himself for not being the avatar that everyone expects him to be. he’s prioritizing his people and his humanity and his grief over what the entire human world wanted from him.

and crucially, before the lion turtle showed him his truest path, aang was going to kill ozai. he was resigned to this being his destiny. unlike katara, who fully planned on killing yon rha and only decided to spare him once she saw his face, aang didn’t want to kill ozai from the very beginning, and had to be forced into killing him, rather than being talked down. sokka tells katara not to kill yon rha as gently as he possibly can (and nonetheless immediately gets shut down for it), but then he almost bullies aang for not wanting to kill. sokka considers killing a tool that should be exercised with logical intent, katara considers killing an act that makes a statement, and aang considers killing a taboo that should never be violated. of course, aang’s stance on killing is a very culturally-specific one, which yangchen also adheres to as best she can, but also understands its limits when in the position of avatar. but aang cannot afford to simply be the avatar, because he must bear the burden of his entire people’s legacy.

so at no point does forgiveness for ozai come into play, because aang has no reason to consider forgiving ozai. his decision to take down the firelord is a tactical one, rather than born purely out of a desire for revenge. but he does mirror katara’s decision to spare yon rha in sparing ozai’s life simply because, in both cases, they prioritize themselves and the preservation of their own humanity over submitting to the logic of the men who have destroyed their lives.

#the-avatars-fury #asks #i love them so much wtf….#analysis #aang #katara #aang&katara #katara&zuko #yon rha #ozai #idk who else to tag #sokka #i guess

148 notes · View notes

starlight-bread-blog · 3 months

Text

The Good & the Bad: On Aang (Not) Killing the Fire Lord

I recived this asks forever ago, trurly sorry anon, but I'll keep my apologises for the end. I'd love to answer that!

If you're asking me, this is way better than """killing him""". Case closed.

Getting this cleared up: The show didn't say that Aang is morally superior for this. It was solely about staying true to himself. Not a moral high ground.

So when I hear people say it's problematic because it implies that sparing imperialistic dictators has some intrinsic goodness to it, (Ahem-Lily Orchard), I just can't agree. It was never about universal ethics, it was about Aang's culture and values.

Why Is This a Good Thing?

Aang loves his culture, and takes a lot of pride in it and its values. (See: in The Southern Raiders his first go-to to convince Katara to spare Yon Rah is his culture, rather than what such act would do Katara herself). He would have been ashamed if he had broken them. But right now they clash with his Avatar duties, with god-knows how many lives at stake. He needs to let go of his pride & shame, and become humble.

Just like Zuko humbling himself to the GAang before they accept him, or Sokka humbling himself to the Kyoshi warriors and Master Piandao, Aang could only speak to the the lion turtle after he'd given up, after he was humbled.

Even beyond Aang, it enhances the show's themes at large. A theme in A:TLA is paving your own path, and that you can do what you want despite the pressure. Your true destiny will come, you might be surprised by it, but it's yours and you're free to carve it.

You just have to keep going, to continue to do the right thing, and your destiny will find you. Things have a way of working out in the end, eventually.

Sparing Ozai serves the theme, thus the show overall. Everyone told him it's his destiny to kill the Fire Lord and end the war. But he didn't agree, paving his own path, his own destiny, and all was well. The pieces fell in their place.

It is s amplified by the fact that if you read between the lines, he actually did follow all the previous Avatars' wisdom besides Yangchen's.

Aang knew what he wanted from the start. He isn't going to kill the Fire Lord. People (rightfully) tried to pressure him, but in the end, he stuck to his decision.

Justice was served. Aang took his bending away and put him to rot in prison for the rest of his life. There's more than one way to execute justice.

"... and the destiny of the world". That's exactly what Aang did. He followed his own path (staying true to himself) while saving the world (ending Ozai regime).

So that leaves us with Yangchen's advice. The one he didn't follow:

This opens another layer to this. Why doesn't Aang take the advice of a fellow Air Nomad? The one he should relate to the most? Because despite both being Avatars and Airbenders, Aang is the last. They're not the same. Yangchen is speaking from a place of privilege. She can carry the weight of the Avatar and not worry about the Air Nomads. Notice the wording: "spiritual needs". But it's deeper than that. In her time, they were there, they'll preserve their culture and values. Aang doesn't have that.

He's Avatar: The Last Airbender. He has both weights to carry. The decision to spare the Fire Lord, while protecting the rest of the world, is embedded in the show's title.

There's also something so incredibly powerful in Ozai being defeated specifically with Air Nomad values. A 100 years ago, during Sozin's Comet, the Fire Nation started the war by genociding them. When it comes back, the Avatar, the last Air Nomad, ends the war and stops the next genocide while preserving their values. The Fire Nation isn't going to push him to taint (one of) the last living aspacts of the Air Nomads, and Aang is shouting it – in the very same day the disaster occurred.

(Additionally I view this as a land mark of his character development since Siege of the North. He used spirit powers for murder, now he's using them for mercy).

(A:TLA is also a show made with kids in mind. They may not be able to make Aang kill Ozai. He got his bending stolen and sentenced to prison for the rest of his life. That's a more than serviceable punishment for a show aimed at kids).

(Ps: If Ozai had died Zuko would never have found out where his mother is).

The concept is fantastic. Nothing wrong there. But now, it's time for the critisism.

What's the problem then?

Despite looking in internet forums, it's entirely possible that I missed some things. With that being said, the Lion Turtles could have been foreshadowed better. As I stated, I don't mind it. But as far as I recall, it was foreshadowed once in The Library, and that's it. (Edit: It's also foreshadowed in Sokka's Master and The Beach, but the point still stands).

The Lion Turtle is a twist, it subverted expectations, but that doesn't mean it has to be a deus ex machina. That's what foreshadowing is for. It's the literary device to making a plot twist feel believable. The result is many fans, including me, feeling as though it came out of no where, even though it didn't.

Overall, I love that Aang spared Ozai. It ties into the themes of the show and Aang's role as the last airbender. It makes perfect sense, it's rather beautiful. However, I do wish the foreshadowing was better.

And for Anon, to apologize for the wait, I dedicate you this meme:

156 notes · View notes

burst-of-iridescent · 3 months

Note

I’ve been reading a series where a guy is in a near identical situation to Katara was in The Southern Raiders. But what I find interesting is that no one really tries to stop him and the fandom considers it completely justified. I can’t help but think despite it being two different series and fandoms that Katara’s gender has at least something to do with this. When a male character wants to seek revenge and kill the murderer to do it, the narrative and fans justify it but when it’s a female character she’s vilified, seen as out of control and letting her emotions get the better of her. I hate when people say Aang was right to say what he did and try to stop Katara from making her own choice. It doesn’t help that we know Bryke is misogynistic based on well everything to do with their female characters post series after they didn’t have the talented writers who actually understood the characters helping them. And sure I know Bryke themselves didn’t write The Southern Raiders but we know from script leaks that there were more shippy Zutara moments that were cut and I think we know who’s to blame for that. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they still influenced the more problematic parts of that episode. Such as Aang and Katara never talking about or resolving their conflict, Sokka calling Aang wise beyond his years and never talking about or resolving his side if things with Katara, and even Zuko weirdly agreeing with Aang at the end that “you were right about what Katara needed.” Even though she literally just told Aang a second ago that he was wrong and she would never forgive him and doesn’t know why she couldn’t kill him. If you couldn’t tell I have rather mixed feelings about TSR episode.

Sorry for the ramble. How do you think their conversations (Katara, Aang, and Sokka) would go if they were to talk about it all after the episode?

oh misogyny definitely plays a part - just compare the way people react to inigo montoya from the princess bride vs katara in tsr - but i think the bigger issue is the overt narrative framing of the episode.

on a first watch, tsr appears to push a very simplistic idea of "violence = bad" and strongly favours aang's perspective, which encourages the viewer to see him as being in the right while katara and zuko appear to be in the wrong. the fact that aang never changes his perspective and both zuko and sokka are (forcibly and very uncharacteristically) made to take his side by the end naturally inclines the audience to do so as well.

it's only with a closer reading that you see a more nuanced take which highlights the flaws in aang's thinking and treatment of katara. katara herself makes it clear that what aang wanted her to do would not have helped her find closure, and she began her healing process without ever forgiving yon rha - which is exactly why i hate people attributing her decision not to kill yon rha to aang when she explicitly stated she did not and would not ever do what he wanted her to!

these are the same people who will also blame zuko for being a "bad influence" on katara, as if the only reason she hunted down her own mother's killer is because zuko convinced her to do it. katara isn't some weeping willow to be bent to the will of zuko and aang; her decisions are her own, not based on the whims of the boys in her life. can we please stop stripping katara of all her agency in the one episode that actually focuses on her trauma and healing?

rant aside, i do wish that katara had talked to sokka after this episode and i imagine there would be some apologising on both sides. sokka - a realistic sokka, because my god was he wildly out of character - would probably check in on her and admit that he was afraid for her safety and well-being. katara would likely apologise for the "you didn't love her the way i did!" remark and i think it would've been nice for them to finally talk about kya and for katara to bring up the conversation she overheard from the runaway about how sokka confessed to seeing her as a surrogate mother.

(imo the impact hearing that would've had on katara was largely downplayed in the show, and is likely part of the reason she reacted to sokka the way she did in the southern raiders, but that's a post for another time.)

the katara-aang conversation would probably have gone the same way that it did in canon, because the issues with their dynamic in tsr are part of the underlying problems with the kat.aang relationship in general. i would've liked to see aang have a little more of a reaction to katara saying she never forgave yon rha (he doesn't seem affected at all in the show), and for that to maybe prompt him to really reflect on what he said.

but ultimately what really has to be tackled here is aang's idealization of katara and his focus on clinging to air nomad values at the expense of those from the other nations - and those problems run too deep to be fixed in a single episode or conversation. the southern raiders would have been a good starting point, but unfortunately the finale never engages with these issues, and so what could've been a great arc ends up going nowhere at all.

#anti kataang #zutara #katara #the southern raiders

170 notes · View notes

longing-for-rain · 22 days

Note

what do you think of the argument some people make that goes along the lines of "zuko was acting entitled towards kataras forgiveness and the betrayal at the catacombs was just a second thought to him"? According to them, zuko failed to understand that kataras anger at him was a direct consequence of his previous decisions and instead blames it on her resentment against the fire nation (the whole "i think she sees me as her mother's murderer" spiel). They also claim that he's a raging misogynist bc of the way he treated katara in the pirate episode, that he didnt remember her name when asking sokka abt the southern raiders, taunting her in the northern tribe by saying she is a big girl now that she's learned some new tricks, referring to the kyoshi warriors as a "bunch of little girls", yelling at mai and acting possessively, mocking ty lee... amidst many other things, including the toxic masculinity accusations ofc. They also condemn his selfishness in helping katara find some semblance of closure. I think a great part of this is just biased hate, but i just wanted to know your opinion. It's okay if you don't want to answer though!

Oh no of course, I think it’s definitely biased hate, because these kinds of superficial “criticisms” only seem to come up in response to people shipping Zuko with the incorrect character. I’ve seen the same people who make these arguments praise Zuko, say they love him, say his redemption is inspiring, etc. in other contexts.

There is a lot to unpack here, but I’ll touch on all these points because I find them interesting. Also, in regards to generally stupid anti Zuko takes from whiny anti shippers, a lot of those came up here which I addressed in detail.

Now, about these particular arguments.

1) Zuko wanted Katara’s forgiveness out of selfishness

Firstly, I never understood this take because in context…Zuko already has what he set out to get when he left the Fire Nation at the beginning of The Southern Raiders. Actually, let’s take a step back here: leaving the Fire Nation. Did these people collectively forget that? Zuko could have stayed in his life of luxury, watched the world burn, and inherited the title of Emperor from his father. But instead, he committed treason, risking his life in the process, because he knew in his heart it was the right thing to do. This is the character you’re trying to smear as a selfish monster?

Anyways.

The Southern Raiders. The scene which kicks off the conflict with Katara is when the group is sitting around the fire, praising Zuko for his heroism and saving them from Azula. He humbly admits he doesn’t feel he deserves the praise, to which Katara agrees and storms off. But the important piece of context here is that everyone else—including Sokka, Katara’s own brother—seems to be on Zuko’s side. If Zuko was purely selfish, he wouldn’t have cared what Katara thought of him. He could have laughed along with Sokka and agreed that Katara was just being dramatic. But that isn’t what happened.

Zuko doesn’t look angry or vindictive here; he looks hurt. He cares what Katara thinks of him; he later says those words verbatim to Sokka.

I also think the fact that Zuko made a special effort to reach out to Katara above the other characters shows that he recognizes that the catacombs incident was much more personal for Katara. Zuko even acknowledges this himself.

Zuko: Katara mentioned it before when we were imprisoned together in Ba Sing Se, and again just now when she was yelling at me. I think somehow she's connected her anger at that to her anger at me.

Zuko remembers their conversation very well. Katara’s anger towards him was different than the others because she felt betrayed on a more personal level. She shared something deeply personal with Zuko and connected with him, and felt deceived when he betrayed her.

In Katara’s mind, Zuko talking about his mother was fake. She tells herself it was just him lying to her and manipulating her to gain her trust, because that’s easier than the idea that he didn’t care. I believe this is why Zuko finds it so important to make it up to her…and specifically why her mother was involved. Obviously Zuko was wrong to side with Azula. But he wasn’t being manipulative or uncaring. He was manipulated himself by Azula, the person who knows how to control him better than anyone else.

So, in this episode, Zuko is not setting out to prove that he’s “good” (he’s already done this); he’s setting out to show Katara that he does respect her trauma, he does understand and respect the weight of what she told him about her mother. Zuko can tell she’s deeply hurt and that he’s part of that hurt. That’s why he wants to demonstrate that his care for her was and is genuine. He never lied to her. And that right there is the opposite of selfishness. This is once again Zuko acknowledging his own faults and taking responsibility for fixing them. He doesn’t even seem to demand or expect forgiveness in the end.

Look at his face. He’s surprised. He did not expect this gesture, although he graciously accepts it.

If Zuko was this selfish, entitled monster people want him to be, he wouldn’t react this way. He wouldn’t even care about any of the points I just went through.

If you honestly believe that Zuko’s motivation was selfish and he was just manipulating Katara’s feelings this whole time, you fundamentally missed the point of one of the show’s most critically acclaimed episodes.

2) Zuko didn’t know Katara’s name (?)

This one is just stupid. I’m sorry. I didn’t know people actually used this argument because it originated as a joke post and you should be embarrassed if you genuinely think this is canon. It comes from the scene in The Southern Raiders where Zuko says “your sister” rather than “Katara” when asking Sokka about their mother.

There is absolutely nothing about this scene indicating that Zuko doesn’t know Katara’s name. The word choice is most likely to emphasize the sibling relationship between Katara and Sokka to explain both to Sokka and to the audience why Zuko sought him out specifically.

And think about it. Zuko has been hanging around 24/7 with them for probably two weeks at this point. There is no way he didn’t catch Katara’s name, if he didn’t already know it. And given how diligent he was in his Avatar hunting days, he most likely did already know it.

3) The pirate episode

Okay I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again…I’m so tired of people projecting some weird, creepy sexual undertones onto this episode. There was absolutely nothing abusive or misogynistic about the character interactions here. It was a very standard (and honestly a bit cheesy) example of a cartoon villain and hero interaction. The fact that you see a female character in any kind of distressed situation and immediately project sexual implications onto it is the real misogyny here. I never see people complain about similar scenes involving male characters:

I could dig up even more examples but can you see my point? The argument that there was any abuse or sexual misconduct on Zuko’s part this episode is absolutely misogyny—but it’s audience misogyny; not Zuko’s. The canon scene would have gone exactly the same way if Katara was male. The only difference would be much fewer disgusting sexual over-analyzations of it by fans.

4) “Little girls”

For this one, an important piece of context to keep in mind is that this script was written in 2005 by a creative staff of mostly men. So we need to ask the question, is this meant to reflect misogyny on Zuko’s part, it is it the bias of the writers?

Another prime example of this is Iroh’s interactions with Jun. Obviously, that was severely creepy behavior and absolutely misogynistic. However, most fans (including myself) tend to overlook that. Why? Because it’s jarringly inconsistent with the rest of Iroh’s character and his purpose within the narrative. In context, it’s pretty obviously something the writers thought was “funny” at the time but aged like rotten milk.

Also, in regards to sexist language during fights, consider all the stupid lines like…

Azula: Who are you? The Avatar’s fan girls?

Ty Lee: You are not prettier than we are.

…in the Kyoshi Warriors vs. Dangerous Ladies fight. Seems like this is just a writer bias issue, personally. When have men ever been normal about teenage girls? Right—never.

I get this is a slippery slope, so my approach is to compare Zuko’s lines like this to everything else we know about Zuko and ask the question: is there anything about Zuko’s character that indicates he views women as inherently inferior or lesser?

Well, no.

You know what is a trend for Zuko? He focuses on putting down his opponents by acting like they’re younger and weaker than him. His first reaction to Aang is “you’re just a child.” This is consistent with his attitude towards Katara and the Kyoshi Warriors. Zuko canonically treats male and female opponents no differently. He fights and moves on. No creepiness, nothing like Iroh and Jun, etc. If they were male, it wouldn’t have gone differently. That’s why I think it’s a reach to say these comments by themselves indicate a misogynistic attitude.

Besides, why would Zuko see women as weaker and lesser when this is who he grew up with?

That’s another thing. For as much anger and resentment Zuko harbors for Azula on the basis that she’s Ozai’s favorite and born lucky—not one comment is made about her sex. If Azula was male, nothing would inherently change about this dynamic. So yeah, I’m not really buying this whole “Zuko is a misogynistic incel” narrative. If you’ve ever dealt with incels in any capacity, you know they’d absolutely jump at the opportunity to whine that their (female) sister is so much more lucky and privileged and loved compared to them.

5) Zuko, Mai, and The Beach

I’m working on a longer analysis of this but to summarize…people on both sides blow this issue way out of proportion. Mai wasn’t abusive. Zuko wasn’t abusive. They were a pretty standard angsty teenage couple having angsty teenage drama. Zuko called Mai a big blah and shoved some dude into a vase. Mai told him he was out of control. That’s literally such a minor issue, that they resolved by the end of the episode.

But to dig into this more, consider the point this is in Zuko’s story. He’s at rock bottom. The premise of the entire episode is to show how abnormal and out of place Zuko feels among people who should be his peers. His issues with Ruon-Jian aren’t even about Mai to start. Zuko was beefing with this dude before the party even started, remember?

Why is Zuko mad at him? Because he’s making Zuko feel freakish. He’s making Zuko feel like he once again is an outcast, and Zuko hates that. He’s insecure. That’s…the point of the episode.

I’m not going to excuse his tantrum over Ruon-Jian talking to Mai, because that was toxic, but consider the context. Zuko isn’t some crazy possessive freak. In his mind, this is just icing on the cake, another example of why he’s an antisocial freak compared to other Fire Nation teens and he hates how it makes him feel.

But interestingly enough, I do think Mai and Zuko’s interactions in that scene give some insight into their dynamic and Zuko’s character—believe it or not, in a positive way. Just consider the context and body language.

I’m just stating facts here. Zuko is more physically threatening than Mai. He’s bigger, stronger, male, and he’s a firebender while she isn’t a bender. And yet, Mai has absolutely no trouble getting in his business to tell him off. Why? You can argue that it’s just because she thinks she could knife him—but we’ve seen how she reacts to an actual physical threat (Azula) and it isn’t like this at all. Mai is confident because she knows Zuko wouldn’t physically harm her. He’s angry, but he never once uses his figure to physically intimidate her. He clearly doesn’t make a habit of this behavior either judging from Mai’s reaction. Also think about the fact that the only physical altercation here is between Zuko and another man. The primary target of his anger isn’t the woman he’s allegedly acting possessive over unlike another character in the Ember Island Players and several comics…

Not to mention the way they reconcile around the fire. Zuko’s behavior doesn’t at all reflect an angry, entitled misogynist who thinks he owns his girlfriend. Quite the opposite. He clearly holds a lot of love and respect for her. It’s just that…this episode is literally displaying Zuko at his most tortured, his most self-hating, his most insecure as he realizes he no longer has a place in the home he’d desperately been chasing for years after being brutally mutilated and banished. With that in mind, I think he actually handled himself very well.

The thing about Zuko is that he takes accountability for his wrongs and works to improve himself. He has flaws and even when they’re understandable, he still takes responsibility for fixing them. That’s the trait of his that sets him apart from…certain other characters.

6) Zuko being rude to Ty Lee

Again, see above. Yes, Zuko was mean to her. But again, this is Zuko at rock bottom. This is Zuko venting his frustration about nobody being able to understand what he’s gone through and how isolated and freakish he feels. None of them had their faces burnt off in front of an audience. None of them were banished and forced to live as refugees. Zuko blew up at Ty Lee in the first place after she made a comment about bad skin.

Like yes, he’s rude, but did you miss the point of that episode? If you think this has anything to do with misogyny you’re just delusional, sorry. That interaction had nothing to do with Ty Lee being female. It had to do with her (and every other character that episode) living a privileged lifestyle while Zuko is (literally, too) feeling the weight of the scars his trauma has left him with.

So in conclusion, yes, I really think these takes are all shallow and unfounded jabs at Zuko’s character that either don’t understand or outright ignore critical parts of his development and story. And considering I’m #canceled for my based misandry in many circles, it should say a lot that I’m defending a man of any kind ✌️

#zuko #mai #zutara #maiko #atla #zuko defense squad #aang critical #canon critical #the beach #the southern raiders #ask #anon #meta

67 notes · View notes

sneezypeasy · 2 years

Text

Original Script Analysis, Part 2: The Southern Raiders, The Finale, and What I Think About it All

Link to Part 1

So folks, when it comes to literary analysis, there are two categories that textual interpretations typically fall under: the Doylist explanation, and the Watsonian explanation.

Watsonian explanations will contextualise an issue solely within the bounds of the story it is told in, so the answer to any question will be, essentially, “in-universe”. Imagine interviewing a character in the story, and asking them, “why did x happen” or, “why did y character decide to do z”. The answer you get will be a Watsonian answer.

Doylist explanations, on the other hand, are explanations that take into account things the characters themselves wouldn’t “have access to”, so to speak. These explanations often touch on writing concepts like theme, character arcs, tropes, setup and payoff etc, sometimes even referring to “real-world” motivations, intentions, or constraints that the creators were working with (or against). If an explanation or an answer to a question doesn’t sound like anything the characters themselves could have come up with, it’s probably a Doylist explanation.

I’m going to give an example from Titanic that I hope isn’t a spoiler to anybody at this point given how much this film has been memed to shit:

Jack dies at the end of Titanic. Now, why did he die?

The Watsonian says: He died because there was no room on the door.

The more intelligent Watsonian says: No there WAS room on the bloody door you smooth-brained koala did you even watch the fucking movie? They tried to get them both on there, the door just couldn’t hold the two of them because of something called BUOYANCY you fucking idiot-

The Doylist says: Jack died because it was the culmination of his character arc, and because he and Rose symbolise the class disparity of the victims of that tragedy; Jack is the poorer third class, and Rose is the rich upper class. Upper class women were the likeliest demographic to survive the sinking of the Titanic, and lower class men were the likeliest demographic to die. Jack had to die and Rose had to live; it’s symbolic.

Here’s another example: on the r/DeathNote subreddit, someone asked why L fell off his chair in such an exaggerated and dramatic fashion upon hearing that shinigami could be real. The top comment provides a detailed Watsonian answer, followed by a Doylist one:

Basically, Watsonian commentary is consistent with how the characters, in-universe, might explain/contextualise something. Doylism explains how a plot point or character decision serves a purpose beyond what the characters themselves would be able to conceptualise, whether that’s narrative payoff, authorial intent, or even marketing/executive decisions/budget constraints.

Why am I explaining all of this? Because I want to play a game with you guys.

You ready?

The name of this game is: Why, in the original script of The Southern Raiders, is Katara somehow asleep while LITERAL BOMBS ARE GOING OFF AROUND HER(!!!)

Is it:

A) Katara trained herself to sleep through Fire Nation raids and bombs from a young age

B) Katara is just generally that deep of a sleeper

C) Elizabeth Ehasz wanted an excuse (any excuse, really) to force Zuko and Katara to interact (because this is their episode, after all-)

Yeah, maybe I’m just unimaginative but I’m pretty sure it’s C. I’d love to hear your best Watsonian take for this one though (please, go nuts, lmao)

Like all the other changes we’ve seen, nothing has been done to the dialogue, which plays out how it does in the show:

I’m sorry I just can’t get over this 🤣🤣 “Character A and Character B hate each other/are not talking to each other/are currently in the process of biting each other’s heads off, now let’s come up with some ridiculous excuse to make Character A and Character B play nice and help and warm up to each other” is a pretty solid fanfic trope but I think this is the first time I’ve seen “MAKE CHARACTER A SLEEP THROUGH A FUCKING MISSILE ATTACK” utilised for this specific purpose.

Logically I understand why this was changed for the show, but I’m ngl, I’m slightly sad we didn’t get to see this version. 🤣🤣🤣

Interestingly, Katara doesn’t catch Zuko after he gets blasted off the war blimp - the script doesn’t specify anyone catching Zuko, it just says that he “lands safely on the bison” (sorry, I thought I wrote this one down in full but I only wrote down that quote, my bad 💀).

(It does make me wonder though, whether the storyboarders/animators looked at the “Katara sleeps through bombs” bit and were like.... “ok how about no, but we’ll give you ‘Katara catches a skydiving Zuko’ instead, fair trade?” 😂😂)

Continuing on from that, I have to say that even with the voice lines unchanged, Elizabeth Ehasz’s vision for Zuko and Katara’s deepening connection and understanding continues to trickle through this episode at various moments:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Katara sobbing as she recounts her trauma? Zuko getting teary himself hearing about Katara’s grief and love for her mother? Katara visibly relaxing as a result of unburdening some of her feelings onto him? Zuko pulling Katara back and making sure she’s okay before she ploughs on ahead?

😭😭🥰🥰

And then of course, there are times when Elizabeth’s subtlety is not so subtle at all (here you go, you guys have well and truly earned this one):

Welp. I can tell you I wasn’t expecting to see that - at all. I came to the WGF hoping, maybe, to find some small crumbs - tiny clues that might give a slight nudge to the rumours that Elizabeth Ehasz was a ZK shipper, and that shippy subtext viewers may have picked up in TSR maybe wasn’t entirely lacking in substance.

I wasn’t expecting to find a page where good ol’ Elizabeth had a zutara fangasm all over her own writing 🤣🤣🤣

On the hug itself, Elizabeth’s notes were very brief:

I was a touch disappointed not to see any more fangirling, though after that serotonin boost up above I really couldn’t be too greedy. 🤣

Zuko and Katara’s scenes together in Sozin’s Comet and the Agni Kai are generally the same as what we see in the show, though I thought you guys might like to read the lightning scene anyway:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This might be a good time to mention that I had the pleasure of working alongside @korranguyen on one of the two days that I visited the WGF. If you found the descriptions of Azula’s downward spiral in the Agni Kai uncomfortable to read, you might appreciate her essays here and here.

Unfortunately folks, we are indeed near the end now. And we know how the story ends:

Wins, eh? Interesting choice of words there. Almost makes it seem like there was a competition? Like there were, oh I don’t know, other contenders?

Now there’s something else which I think some of you may find very interesting about the script of Sozin’s Comet Part 4, and I will get to that in due course, but for now I want to discuss the way the ships were treated by the show writers and creators. As I summarised earlier and as you probably noticed yourself from reading these scripts:

From season 1 up until Day of Black Sun, the writing was heading towards a Kataang conclusion. And development-wise, it wasn’t too shabby! There was a clear and steady progression. Maybe a little subtle, from Katara’s side, but nowhere near as ambiguous as in the show. And again maybe this is just me, but I wouldn’t have been frustrated with it either, if it was shown like that.

After Day of Black Sun, the writing takes a weird turn. Kataang takes a nosedive while Zutara gets a ton of positive development (reconciliation, forgiveness, synchronicity and cooperation* anyone? lmao), which is canon in the show too but it’s… even more pronounced in the script? Aang is more aggro, Zuko and Katara are more tender/vulnerable with one another, they don’t scoot away at the suggestion that they like, like each other – and these are the final drafts? What the heck were y’all writing in the first drafts?? (No that’s not a joke actually, I wanna know 😭)

Kataang “wins”. Wins?!? I thought y’all said there was never even a contest!!**

Okay, time for some speculation/theorising on my part. To me, it seems like, at some point after writing the “Kataang” episodes but before actually animating and producing them, and before writing the later episodes in season 3, and perhaps even right up until the writing of Sozin’s Comet Part 4, there was a collective (if not unanimous) decision to “keep things open”. The question is: why?

Did the writers disagree, or was it just shipbaiting? Or was it some combination of both?

If no-one else, Elizabeth Ehasz is quite clearly a Zutara fangirl; I don’t think anyone can deny that after reading the way she writes these kids 🤣 That paragraph does not read to me like a writer casually (or grudgingly) obeying directions to shiptease because it’s what the producers wanted, it reads like a writer unable to stay professional about how much she loves this one fucking ship. (We feel you Lizzie. We feel you.)

So was there actually some discord in the writer’s room about which direction to take the romance arcs? @zutarawasrobbed pointed out that given the narrative decision to hinge Aang’s internal struggle and character arc around the need to “let go” of an “attachment” to Katara, (some?) writers may have seen a potential in deconstructing Kataang to fulfil this arc. This is especially possible if, after writing Crossroads of Destiny and/or seeing audience feedback to that episode, Zutara was increasingly beginning to appear as a viable alternative.

I mean, even by Sozin’s Comet, it doesn’t seem like they’d figured out how to resolve Aang’s whole “blocked chakra” situation –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aang “somehow” just happens to untangle what had previously been set up as an internal struggle, with the conveniently timed activation of some “chi bending nonsense” (and reverse-glowing arrows and “such things”).

Uh huh.

(To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty -)

Of course, the other possibility is that most of the way through writing the script, and maybe about halfway through animating it, the creators simply recognized a clear potential for shipbaiting, and this is at least somewhat to blame for the hot mess that is the romance arcs of ATLA.

My personal theory is that writer disagreement did happen, and is at least partially why we ended up getting what we got. The fact that both ships are specifically referenced and granted “approval” so to speak, by different writers, and one of them ends up explicitly “winning”, sort of cinches it for me. Either way, the show was clearly pulling in different directions at different parts and under different creators, and in my opinion the scripts support these rumours.

One thing is for certain: whether this was just shipteasing, or actual production hell in the writer’s room, it is my opinion that Zutara AND Kataang were both robbed.

Kataang had a decent romance arc written out for it, and even if there may have been issues reconciling it with Aang’s internal conflict set up in the Guru and/or with the over-arching themes of the show, it would have been all right in the end if they had just kept it the way they originally wrote it. I can’t really see any but the most die-hard anti-Kataangers being mad about it, and Kataangers themselves would have loved it. They had a fine romance written out and they ruined it. If they did so because Zutara was being seriously considered as a possible outcome, then it’s just all the more frustrating that Zutara never ended up happening in the end. They put a lot of effort into sinking a perfectly serviceable ship and ultimately it was all for nothing. (Or worse, purely for shipbaiting). Just sad.

So, that’s my thoughts on that. And that concludes this essay- oh wait.

Right... there was that thing I kept mentioning about Sozin’s Comet Part 4. 😈

*Ahem.*

So you know how I said all these scripts were final drafts?

That’s because they are - except for two episodes: Sozin’s Comet Part 4, and Jet.

Unlike the other scripts, which have all been labelled “As Broadcast Drafts”, these two scripts are ADR drafts.

What is ADR, you ask?

According to @lady-of-bath, who works in the screenwriting industry, ADR stands for “Automated Dialogue Replacement” and is used when a script has gone through a process of re-recording or re-dubbing, because for whatever reason, the originally scripted and recorded lines are/were unsatisfactory.

(This is also something you can verify yourself actually, even if you don’t live in the LA area: when you search up ATLA in the WGF database***, even though you can’t access the scripts you can access basic details such as, the date the draft was finalised, the name of the writer, and - whether it was submitted as an “ADR” draft or an “As Broadcast Draft”.)

I even emailed the library to ask about this distinction as well:

So if I understand this correctly, all the ATLA scripts you can find in the guild were first submitted, and then lines were recorded, and then changes were made to the script that didn’t involve dialogue replacement, and then it went through animation and post-production and ended up being what you now see on screen. This is supported by the fact that A) I definitely found some changes, but B) the changes I did find were all in the action lines/shot descriptions etc.

All the scripts submitted to the guild went through this process - all of them, except these two scripts.

These two scripts were not final drafts; I guess they might be more accurately termed “final final drafts™”, because they were submitted after some(!) lines were re-recorded, (changed? added onto? cut?!?) and the script was then updated to reflect these changes that had been made in post-production.

Which just begs the question: what lines had to be re-recorded??

What did the final draft look like before this???

(Might it possibly contextualise why Dante Basco and Mae Whitman apparently both thought Zutara was going to be canon?)

This is conspiracy fodder galore, lmfao. Pardon the dramatics here for a moment, but with enough tinfoil-hatting this could easily turn into the Zutara fandom equivalent of 18½ missing minutes of Nixon tapes. 🤣

Anyway, that about sums up my detective effort on this whole thing. I did find some more tidbits which I’ll likely post in a Part 3/Epilogue type thing - mostly small changes (most of them not really zutara-related) that I found interesting or funny enough to jot down; I’ll be making a compilation of these for your reading pleasure as soon as I can. ^^

One last bonus for you guys: the “I’ll save you from the Pirates” scene:

I must confess, I never really read this scene as romantically framed or “shippy” when I first watched it. But the way it’s written here looks like it’s taken straight out of a fanfic. “Right into the arms of Zuko”? Oh no. (Oh yes.) Oh me oh my. 🤣

*Also, someone needs to write a Mr and Mrs Smith Zutara AU titled “Synchronicity and Cooperation”, I’m saying it now, this is my official decree. Write it, folks. We need it.

**Screenshot taken from: https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Avatar_Extras_(Book_One:_Water) (Under “Goofs”)

***I hope that link works, if it doesn’t, just navigate to their Library Catalogue and search up ATLA yourself.

Edit: There was a minor typo in one of the passages - it originally read “Katara has a lot of energy and momentum, and Zuko pulls her back and STOPS her before they read the door” instead of what it was supposed to say (“before they reach the door”, lol). The typo should be fixed now 😊

#zutara #atla #atla original scripts #writer's guild foundation #the southern raiders original script #sozin's comet original script #kinda???#tin foil hat bonanza #buy one sherlock hat get one free tin foil hat #lmao #long post #text post #meta #bryke critical #kataang critical #this was fun guys #now go forth and write more metas #and more fics #enjoy!!

959 notes · View notes

zvtara-was-never-canon · 8 months

Note

Would you say that the show itself doesn't respect/understand Katara's trauma?

Let's see:

The first voice we hear in the very begining of the show (not just in the first episode, but in EVERY SINGLE ONE that followed), is Katara's. The first character to explain the show's whole deal, HOPE, is her.

Right away she explains to us through narration the whole conflict of the story, and the series itself immediately shows us how it has affected her and her family personally, with the death of her mother, the departure of her father as he goes to fight in the war, her and her brother struggling to get food, the tribe having no defense.

She is the first person to interact with Aang, the protagonist - and we find out about HER life, HER trauma, and see a bit of HER personality before we even see Aang or find out his name. The show introduces us to KATARA as a character, while Aang and his backstory are still always a bit of mystery until episode 13. For fuck's sake, the reason Aang becomes so endearing so quickly is because he brings the fun of childhood back to Katara and HER village.

The idea of traveling to the Northern Water Tribe is introduced because KATARA wants to be a fighter. And even when it goes from a promise of adventure between two friends to an official mission, Aang is happy that they will learn TOGETHER. Hell, excluding the opening, Katara is the first character we see using any kind of bending on screen, in the actual story.

The death of Kya and how it has severely traumatized Katara is brought up three more times in the first season - when she's comforting Aang, and bonding with Jet and Haru.

The first situation is one of the many times the show will make clear parallel between Aang's anger/grief at what was done to his people and Katara's anger/grief at what was done to hers. She comforts him about Gyatso's death by mentioning the death of her mother, managing to make Aang come back for the Avatar state. In the start of season two, we hear her mention just how tough it is to watch someone she loves be in so much pain. She comforts him again when the Sandbenders take Appa. And then in the Southern Raiders, when Katara wants to murder her mother's killer, Aang EXPLICITLY recalls these moments to explain that he DOES understand what she's going through (same thing she said to him the very first time) and still thinks that this is not what she needs to heal - much like Katara telling him not to weaponize the Avatar State, aka his pain.

Katara's grief over her mother is explicitly shown as a reason why she wants to protect the innocent, to help anyone who needs her. In the Haru episode, she's explicitly shown as a figure that symbolizes hope in the darkest situations, just like Aang is too her. Once again, the show lets her have some time in the spotlight, even in a plot that could have easily been filled by Aang since the dude is basically a messiah. And in the Jet one, while she's being lied to, she IS trying to do something good - and Aang is there with her. Once again, Katara's hero journey, and all the grief that comes with it, is literally being written alongside Aang's.

The show also places great emphasis on her journey to become a poweful warrior, even openly challenging (and giving some trouble) to a master that is unfairly refusing to teach her solely because she is a girl. She gets to hold her own in a fight against Zuko in the season one finale. In season two, when she expresses the desire to be given the title of Sifu like Toph, Aang immediately accepts. Katara is constantly shown to be pretty badass - including in the Southern Raiders, where she looks the man that killed her mom straight in the face and says she's not a helpless little girl anymore, exposing one of, if not THE, main reason why she wanted to be a fighter so bad. To regain power, to protect herself and those she cared about.

And while the show DID highlight these moments of strength from Katara, it also let her be vulnerable. We see her crying after thinking she saw her mother in the swamp, and when she believes her friends see her more as a motherly figure than a kid because she was forced to grow up too fast after Kya's death - and then Toph comforts her because they DO see her as their friend, not just a replacement mom. There's also the beautiful scene of her and Hakoda, in which she is allowed to admit how badly it hurt to suddenly no longer have her dad around, even if it was necessary/for a good cause.

There's also little things like her being allowed to bond with Bato and reconnect a bit with her tribe's way of life after some time away from it, or the show explictly having her tell Hama that it would be an honor to be allowed to learn more about her culture and heritage, which the Fire Nation obviously has robbed her of as the tribe is struggling to just survive. She also is clearly overjoyed when Pakku says it's about time for the North to help rebuild the South.

And, of course, when she's face to face with the man that killed her mother, she is allowed to stay her compassionate self - while still not forgiving him because, surprise surprise, the writers knew what they were doing and did not want to force her to suddenly ignore all that trauma just to half-ass a lesson about forgiveness is ALWAYS the way to go.

Katara is allowed to be strong AND vulnerable. To help AND be helped by others. The show clearly demonstrates, repeatedly, that she isn't just struggling to deal with the death of a parent, but with having to sacrifice her own childhood, not having BOTH parents around, seeing her home be destroyed both literally and figuratively, the feeling of helplessness as this century old war is taking so much from her and others (both dear friends and strangers). The writting for her wasn't perfect, but it was clearly not an after-thought like part of the fandom claims.

Just because she didn't kill a guy and wasn't okay with using bloodbending unless 110% sure there was no other alternative, it does not mean the show didn't take her character and it's struggles seriously. And if this fandom cared about her half as much as they claim they do, they'd recognize that instead of complaining non-stop about how one of the kindest characters in the story didn't suddenly do a 180 turn and go "Murder is great actually"

#katara meta #katara #katara appreciation #katara deserved better #pro katara

103 notes · View notes

linnoya-writes · 6 months

Text

“Stop criticizing Katara’s adult narrative just because she primarily chose motherhood. Raising kids is an honor, and she raised the Avatar’s kids!”

Every time I hear someone say this about Katara, I imagine it in the tone of fans who believe big career goals and motherhood cannot coexist, and that that a woman choosing motherhood is forfeiting their big career goals (sometimes even their identity) to focus all of their energy on the kids, and that still wanting those big dreams for yourself is selfish when you have kids to take care of.

I also imagine that people who say this are fans who saw Katara as the character always helping Aang with his physical/mental/emotional struggles as well as other people everywhere she went, and so she would easily transition into full-time motherhood as an adult because she was so naturally gifted with it already. These are the fans who tend to overlook the emotional labor Katara had to internalize due to her being “that mature voice” and “pillar of inner strength” for so many people at such a young age… not really having someone who understood her darker side or helped validate her feelings. Let’s just leave Zuko in The Southern Raiders and shipping out of this.

What I want to discuss… is why is Katara the only character praised by fans for choosing to raise kids in her adult life rather than for other things she accomplished?

Toph, for example, grew up as a single mom, raised two daughters of separate fathers, and she STILL managed to take her bending abilities to whole new levels by opening a metalbending academy and becoming chief of police for the entire Republic City well into her 50s. She was still active and involved in her career and served in criminal trials while still having two girls at home (Katara was not even present in Yakone’s trial, despite that he was being tried for Bloodbending… a crime Katara herself had deemed illegal.)

Zuko also took parenthood seriously, raising at least one daughter (whether or not a mom was in the picture is still TBD) and even in his elderly80s, he definitely seemed to show up to big events with his daughter and was protective of his daughter’s safety in the world. And oh yeah. Zuko was also the FireLord, who spent time reconstructing an imperialistic country and changing the views of so many generations of his people… he raised a dragon named Druk… and was active in overseeing Republic City.

Let’s also not forget that Aang was a father to the same kids he had with Katara, and yet he isn’t praised for choosing fatherhood over anything else he did. LOK tells us that in fact, he actually favored Tenzin over the non-Airbending kids, and the other airtemples didn’t even know Avatar Aang had other children outside of Tenzin. Did Aang dedicate time to raising Tenzin when they went on all those field trips? I like to believe so, but Aang also had lovely and willing Air Acolytes everywhere he went that would probably tend to Tenzin while he did important Avarar work. The narrative here doesn’t give us much of a positive outlook on how Aang was a dad, but that’s okay… because we as fans like to praise the other bigger important things Aang did like build Republic City.

While Aang, Toph and Zuko were continuing to build their legacies through their character strengths, sense of worldly knowledge, and incredible bending talents… in LOK, we only hear about Katara’s focused on healing (something she certainly didn’t want to be known exclusively for), despite the fact that The Greatest Healer in the World failed to heal Korra (twice!). We also hear how Katara was determined to make bloodbending illegal, and yet in LoK, bloodbending is still running rampant and elderly Katara doesn’t seem to be bothered by that. The Katara we see in the SWT (who’s just as elderly as Toph and Zuko) is a person who’s thrown in the towel, chosen a reclusive quiet life rather than attending big events (such as her own granddaughter’s Airbending ceremony), and letting the world deal with its own problems. It’s as if she trained the next Avatar in waterbending and she could finally retire; her work was done.

What makes Katara’s adult narrative so diminished isn’t because she was seen primarily as a mom, but because we as fans don’t see much fruit of her labor (both within motherhood and outside it). Yes, she raised Tenzin, Bumi and Kya, but even as middle-aged adults, her kids talk about how they were culturally divided as a family. They don’t visit their mother in the SWT unless it’s deemed necessary. Outside of Kya, we also don’t really see the kids (or grandkids) really connecting with the WaterTribe side of their heritage either. We definitely hear a lot about Katara’s healing abilities, but where is the proof of that? Where are the grand state-of-the-art healing hospitals in Republic City with her statue welcoming everyone, where it’s shown that Katara dedicated her time to train other healers and master new healing techniques? We also hear how she made bloodbending illegal, so why are people like Yakone still making it a problem? Why wasn’t Katara there, making a public statement next to the president regarding this cruel bending technique and making more an effort to monitor all Waterbenders in the SWT and NWT to make sure kids weren’t being trained in that cruelty? All we hear about Katara’s greatness is in side-commentary from other characters in LOK, but compared to Aang, Toph, and Zuko, there isn’t really much we get to see from that greatness.

We can’t even say that Katara brought the next generation of Airbenders, because in LoK season 3, Airbenders randomly come back all over the world.

So, I’m not saying that Katara choosing to be a wife to Aang and mom to the Avatar’s kids in her adult life was a disservice to her character. What I’m saying is that the things she accomplished outside of those roles didn’t really amount to much in the later narratives of ATLA. Katara could’ve changed the world, but her character was reduced to serving the Avatar’s narrative instead.

#katara #katara of the southern water tribe #katara deserved better #kataang critical #master katara #avatar the last airbender

101 notes · View notes

peanutbutterwrites · 2 months

Text

My Good Looking Boy - Part Two

warnings for series: angst, struggles with self worth and self esteem, issues with appearance, childhood trauma, and mentions of death and murder.

summary: taking place after the southern raiders, zuko and katara finally learn to understand each other a bit more and long held on to feelings come to the surface. the gaang go and watch the ember island play and chaos ensues with katara's feelings.

part one - part two - part three

authors note: in part two here we're gonna start to explore katara's insecurities and how they have an effect on her. i tried to bring some uncle iroh wisdom because i believe there are a lot of lessons that iroh taught zuko that he maybe just didn't recognize later and this chapter has one of them. as always, let me know what you think and if there are any errors feel free to bring them up. enjoy!

word count: 1.9k

Not too much later, Katara and Zuko brought the now clean clothing and blankets back to camp with limited finds for meals today. The group was finally all awake with Toph and Aang working on earthbending exercises and Suki and Sokka chatting as Sokka sharpened his boomerang.

“You’re back! I missed you this morning.” Suki said fondly, wrapping Katara in a warm embrace.

“Yeah, you have housework to do?” Sokka joked making Toph snort as she gave a brief wave and good morning to Katara and Zuko. With a roll of her eyes Katara snapped,

“You think that’s all I’m good for? Don’t take me for granted or precious prince Zuko is gonna have to start doing everything, and trust me, you don't want that.” Zuko frowned, slightly embarrassed, but said nothing as he passed out the clothing to their rightful owners.

“Hey, maybe I didn’t know how to do laundry this morning, but I do now.” he mumbled, retreating into himself, but he didn’t snap back at her. Placing the basket down, Katara felt guilt pool in her gut and it made her feel sickly.

“I’m sorry, yes, thank you for your help Zuko.” He perked up, and a small smile made its way onto his face. Katara felt herself easing up and had a smile to match.

“So, I wanted to bring up that there’s a play in town nearby!” Sokka announced, getting everyone’s attention. “Maybe we could take a break from saving the world one of these days and watch it. It's about us you know.” He announced, wiggling his eyebrows. The group looked mostly enthused at the idea, but Toph took her turn to speak.

“That's all fine and dandy snoozles, but those plays tend to be way too long and I don’t feel like trekking all the way back here at midnight or having to find a new campsite.” The group seemed to actually agree with Toph on this one, especially the early risers not wanting to be out late and sacrifice precious hours of sleep.

“Oh come on guys, one night won’t kill ya.”

“Actually,” Zuko interjected quietly, “I might have a solution”.

His brilliant idea is how the group decided to pack everything they had on Appa and make their way to the royal family’s vacation home with Zuko’s guidance. Apparently, Zuko was aware of the small town they were near and it just so happened to be extra close to the abandoned royal family’s vacation home. It has been unused for quite some time now, so he was sure they wouldn’t be found or bothered. The breeze on Appa helped alleviate the summer heat and Katara actually found herself closing her eyes and relaxing again. That is, until a flying pair of pants found their way to her torso.

“What the-” “I need you to sew them.” Sokka said, point blank rubbing his boomerang between his fingers. Katara felt herself grind her teeth in frustration, but quickly reeled herself back in and breathed deep while she reached for her sewing kit.

“Sure, Sokka. No worries.” Speaking the latter under her breath with a roll of her eyes. Shifting the fabric around in her hand, she found the guilty hole and got to work. And while the breeze was still refreshing and the thought of an actual bed enticed her, the frustration never completely left. From across the bison, Zuko eyed her with concern. He knew she was frustrated, it was simply palpable when she was. Fighting an internal war with himself to offer his help again, he found himself shutting his mouth seeing her furrowed brow and focused expression. He would only frustrate her more, he decided. The saddle was quiet until Toph began with her questioning. She had practically interrogated him before asking about the home itself.

“So sparky, how come you didn’t tell us about this beautiful abandoned home earlier? You tryin to make us sleep on rocks for forever?”

“Uh no,” he stuttered, “I just honestly didn’t think about it until Sokka mentioned that town. I watched many plays at the theater growing up. With my mom I mean.” At the mention of his mother, the saddle fell quiet again. “But you guys will love it I’m sure. There’s enough space for us all to have our own rooms and a courtyard for bending practice. I’m sure the kitchen still works great too.” Everyone lightened up a bit after that and the group fell into friendly chatter.

“Hey Zuko!” Aang's voice rang from the front of Appa. “Is that it?” And everyone peeked over the saddle to make out a large, traditional fire national style home at the very top of a mountain on the island.

“Yeah, it is.” A nostalgic smile found its way to his face, and Katara paused her sewing long enough to admire it. Landing was calm enough, and Katara threw Sokka’s finished pants right back at him causing him to sputter and fumble for the fabric. Working together, Appa was unloaded and the group rushed inside to pick rooms. The first thing Katara noticed was how big the home was, and then how red. The walls, ceilings and floors were all red with ornate gold accents, though she knew the palace must be ten times what this was. Rooms were plentiful and so were their size, so she was in no rush seizing one like the others. Venturing upstairs, she walked to the end of the hallway until a room caught her eye. Strolling in, it was nothing special. Like all the other rooms it was red and very large, but a balcony at the opposite end of the room stole her attention. Walking out, she gripped the railing as a breeze ran through her. From this balcony, almost the entirety of the island and most of the sea could be seen. The water stretched on and on until the horizon kissed its now calm edge and the island was lush and green. Turning her head to the right, she was surprised to see Zuko hanging out of the only other balcony. He looked peaceful, far more serene than his normal awkward, brooding self. And she found herself staring at him more than the scenery, that unfamiliar fluttering feeling returning to her gut. Then his head turned, and she found the fluttering doubling in intensity and the heat of the sun growing uncomfortably hot. But he simply smiled back at her and she got to see a hint of the golden twinkle in his eyes once again before he retreated back into his chosen room.

The group watched in legitimate horror. This play was horrible. Filled with fallacies at best and harmful lies at worst, their story couldn’t have been depicted in a more inaccurate way. Everyone was either arguing in outrage or grumbling in a mopey silence the entire way back to the vacation house, with Toph’s boisterous laughter the only exception; and Katara couldn’t even blame them. Angered at the way she was portrayed was on the forefront of her mind for the past couple of hours. Is that really how people see me? Some hope obsessed fangirl?! She stomped her feet even harder, pushing herself to get to the vacation home quicker. Her thoughts and doubts were slowly getting to her, was she really that useless? All the housekeeping and motivational speeches, did that make her weak? She was spiraling and tears were forcing their way out of her eyes despite her desperation to hold them back. No, she would not be seen crying.

“Good night!” She called out as soon as she reached the house, most of the others too busy still arguing to notice. She couldn’t hold the tears back as she raced up the stairs and slammed the door to her chosen bedroom, allowing herself to collapse onto the floor in a heap. Folding her legs under she ripped off the golden bangles and rings, a foolish attempt to at least look somewhat presentable, and ripped the half top knot from her head. Tears were pouring down her face and sobs and hiccups made her break down quite loud, once again she was grateful for the privacy this room offered her knowing a campsite would be far less forgiving. She was so busy breaking down that the creak of the old wooden door was the only thing alarming her to another's presence. “Just go away, I’m fine!” she roared. The intruder paused, hesitant, but after a beat the door simply shut quietly and soft footsteps made their way to her before strong arms wrapped themselves around her. She assumed Aang would be the one to follow her, but this person was larger and the hug warmer. She tensed up at the initial contact, but quickly melted into the embrace as the smell of cumin, sandalwood, and smoke engulfed her senses.

“Shh, it's okay.” came Zuko’s raspy voice as he gently rocked her in his arms and she sobbed into his robes. The back and forth rocking calmed her, and the warmth finally made her feel at home, safe. When was the last time in all of this that she actually felt safe? She couldn’t remember. This went on until no tears came out and the hiccuping had come to a minimum. Resting his chin on her head, he spoke again very softly, “Do you want to talk about it?”. He felt the rustle of her shaking her head into his chest and he sighed. “You know, I always felt like I was kind of useless.” He began, and Katara stilled. She let out a forced sort of chuckle and croaked out,

“You’re a prince, how could you feel useless?”

“My life wasn’t always so royal Katara. I was the oldest, it was my responsibility to learn how to lead, to rule. But I was always left behind. I couldn’t firebend as well as my little sister, I could never make my own father happy, spirits, I couldn’t even make friends. I have felt like a total failure my whole life. And yet, when I took time to think about things, about what my purpose actually is and where I belong, I find that I succeed a lot more now. Maybe sometimes, we feel like we’re failing simply because we’re in the wrong place. Maybe, if we look at things from a different perspective and reconsider where we stand, we can find the spirits are letting us fail to learn. To learn where we truly belong and are needed.” The crying had stopped, only leaving the occasional sniffle. “I am not needed in the fire nation, not now. That’s why I always find disappointment and failure there. But here, here Aang needs me. It's my purpose to teach him firebending and now, maybe you need me so I can teach you. Just like my uncle taught me, that really, no one is useless, they’re just in the wrong place.” Zuko finally looked down and found himself staring into two round, gemlike eyes.

“How did you know?” she mumbled, barely a whisper.

“When we see others going through feelings we’ve already experienced, it’s very easy to spot.” She leaned into his arms a little more, and he tilted his head to rest his unscared cheek softly on her head.

“Thank you.”

“Of course, Katara. You can always talk to me.”

#atla #zutara #zutara imagines #imagines #zuko x katara #alta imagines #hurt/comfort #light angst

35 notes · View notes

dreamchasernina · 29 days

Note

What do you think when people say that in tsr aang didnt understand katara?

Do you think the episode made a rift between them as some zk's claim

In my eyes she definitely owed an apology to both him and sokka but i think she appreciated aamg's advice later on although we didn't see it at first

I’m so glad you asked me this question because I’ve been waiting to give my two cents. I'm trying really hard to sort out my thoughts so bear with me if this post is too long.

I saw this take that Aang was overstepping or did not understand Katara or was forcing his beliefs on her in The Southern Raiders for the first time a couple of months ago. I swear I rewatched the episode to see if maybe Aang was stepping out of line or was inconsiderate of Katara's feelings and I honestly don't see how anyone could reach that conclusion.

Aang knows Katara, he knows Katara better than anyone and he knows that revenge will not make her feel any better. He knows that is not who Katara is, she is not the person to take all her anger out on someone and end their life. Aang telling Katara this is not the right path for her is literally him returning the favor Katara did for him in the Desert. They're the same situations, in the Desert Aang is hurt and angry over losing Appa, he is consumed by rage and is about to hurt or maybe even kill the sandbenders, which goes against everything Aang stands for, So Katara stops him. She stops him from doing something she knows he will regret for the rest of his life. Is Katara stepping out of line here? Is Katara forcing something on Aang by getting him out of the avatar state? No. If Aang was clear minded he would never ever want to hurt anyone, even the people who took Appa from him. This is the exact situation Katara is in in The Southern raiders, she is consumed by rage and grief and she is willing to lash it all out on that man. And Aang knows that will not take Katara's grief away, it will only be something she will regret, taking a man's life is not who Katara is, even if that man did the worst. So, he does what Katara did for him in the desert, he tells her there is a different path for her to take.

If you need further proof Katara was not herself that episode, the exact way Aang was not himself in the Desert, all you have to do is go back to The Puppetmaster episode. Katara was horrified to learn about bloodbending and refused to use it. When she had to use it to save Aang, she broke down crying. BECAUSE THATS NOT WHO SHE IS. Bloodbending goes against who Katara is. And in the Southern Raiders she uses that technique, the technique she said was wrong and swore she would never use. So that should be enough to tell you Katara is not herself in that episode, she is so blinded by anger and vengeance she uses the technique she was horrified to learn a few episodes back. So, Aang, her best friend, sees that and tries to help Katara not loose sight of who she is. Here is Katara breaking her morals because she is filled with hate and anger, and you're telling me Aang was our of line because he thought going on that path would betray who Katara is? MEDIA LITERACY IS DEAD!

It's not like Aang didn't want Katara to go on that journey or tried to stop her, he literally says "You need to face this man, but when you do, please don't choose revenge. Let your anger out and then let it go." Which is exactly what she does, which is exactly what she needs, Wow. Her best friend knows exactly what she needs. Shocker. Even Zuko says at the end of the episode "You were right about what Katara needed".

Some people had issue specifically with the fact that Aang told Katara to forgive him. But those people don't even know what he's saying. Of course that man doesn't deserve forgiveness, that man deserves to be miserable for the rest of his life, or even worse, Aang tells her to forgive for herself, not for him. He wants her to let that anger out and be free of it. When you forgive someone, that doesn't mean you're ok with what they did, it means you've moved on, you've let go go the anger that was consuming you, and that's exactly what Katara needed. Just because she didn't forgive him doesn't mean Aang was wrong. She saw that man, saw who was the monster who took her mother from her and she realised that he's not a monster at all, he is a pathetic old miserable man, and facing him was enough for her to be free. She didn't forgive him because that was not the path for her, and that's ok, but she did achieve what Aang wanted for her, she let that anger out and started healing. As a Katara stan, I love that for her, I want that for her! I want her to move on and heal, I want her to not feel guilty, and I want her to no give up her morals.

I truly don’t understand how someone sharing their beliefs and wisdom to help the person they love stay on the right path, is considered forcing their belief? Iroh gives Zuko wisdom and advise all the freaking time! Does anyone call that forcing his beliefs?? The hypocrisy, man. Just goes to show you how forced the Aang hate is. If it was a legitimate arguement I would take it seriously but the people who criticise Aang in this episode are also the same people who are saying Zuko understood her and helped her and was the only one supporting her. Which immediately makes your argument invalid, I'm sorry. Zuko doesn’t even know Katara! He had 2 conversations throughout the show with her, and you're telling me he understands Katara better than her best friend and HER OWN BROTHER WHO LOST THAT SAME MOM TOO? I need you to be so for real right now. The person he's "supporting" isn't even the real Katara, as I explained earlier. So, please, stop.

Now, to address the second part of your question. Katara’s line to Sokka did hurt and I’m sure she apologised for it but people tend to be too focused on that moment. She was filled with rage and hunger for revenge, this is exactly like how Aang was behaving in the desert after he lost Appa. That’s perfectly understandable, they were both not themselves. That line works so well showing you exactly how Katara isn't seeing things clearly. I, personally, was more offended by her telling Aang he wouldn’t understand. That was a little out of character for her cause girl, you were there watching Aang consume himself with anger ready to kill when he found out about Gyatso AND Appa, so what do you mean you knew he wouldn’t understand? Aang is the only one who truly understands. (no, Zuko doesn’t, please don’t get me started on how Katara losing her mom is nowhere similar to how Zuko lost his). So even though I feel like Katara wouldn’t have said that to Aang, I still know she wasn’t herself so I don’t hold it against her like the rest of the fandom does.

I'm sorry this answer is so long but I've been wanting to let this out for so long. I do not understand how people can say things like that in the first place. Just Completely misinterpreting the scene and the characters to fit their own narratives. I just can't stand it.

#avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar #aang #kataang #zuko #katara #sokka #the southern raiders

25 notes · View notes

sokkastyles · 1 year

Note

Just saw the craziest take. Zuko's redemption arc will be incomplete til he helps his sister heal and he let's go of the sibling rivalry Ozai created. What? Am I missing something? He needs to help his abuser heal?

It's not just the idea that he needs to help his abuser heal that is bad. This idea fails on its very premise. Not to mention that Zuko learning that he did not have to play nice with abusive people or listen to them was a big part of his redemption arc. Which includes Azula because there was that whole thing where he almost joined the gaang in Ba Sing Se until Azula convinced him to join with her, and the climax of his arc was rejecting and atoning for that choice and then defeating Azula in battle in combination with Katara, in a perfect reversal of his choosing Azula over Katara at the end of book 2. Saying NO to Azula was a large part of Zuko's redemption arc.

But the main reason why this take is wrong is that Zuko ALREADY let go of the "sibling rivalry." Which wasn't a sibling rivalry to begin with, because Zuko was never a rival to Azula, he was her Ozai-approved punching bag. Him standing up to her and defeating her was rejecting what Ozai created, which was not a sibling rivalry but a golden child/scapegoat dynamic where Zuko was the scapegoat. Zuko refusing to BE the scapegoat any longer IS letting it go.

Zuko let it go when he told Ozai that Azula lied to him about the Avatar's death. He let it go when he told Ozai that he didn't care about his approval anymore, and therefore has no reason to seek it either from Azula or by fighting her. He doesn't fear being Ozai's scapegoat anymore and he's not cowed by Azula's threats. He chooses to walk away.

And like, I know I keep saying this but I can't stress it enough. What Zuko does in walking away is the thing that abusers fear the most. Believing that you are responsible for "healing" an abusive person is what a lot of abusive people want, because it's another way for them to control the relationship and the narrative. Walking away from an abusive relationship is always a valid choice, and sometimes it's a necessary choice. And sometimes that's what letting go looks like.

And that's sad, but it was never Zuko who couldn't let it go. It's also not Zuko who continues to hold on to it, who challenges his sibling to an agni kai and says it was "always meant to be" even after the other person has chosen to walk away. Zuko left, remember? Azula was the one who came after him in "The Southern Raiders" with the intent to kill him because she couldn't let him walk away and live. Azula is the one who won't back down from a fight and says it was "the showdown that was always meant to be." Zuko came back to face her because he wanted to save the world. Azula is the one who holds onto a personal grudge. Azula is the one who cheats when she realizes she can't win. Azula is the one who almost kills her brother and laughs while he is dying. (Do NOT talk to me about Zuko's expression while she is tied to a grate when Azula had THAT expression after she had struck her brother with lightning.)

Azula is the one who, in the comics, continues to hold onto her hatred, continues to justify Ozai's abusiveness, and rejects Zuko's attempts to reach out to her every single time. Azula is the one who used Zuko's offer of dignity to weasel herself into a position where she could keep their mother's letter from him and force Zuko to take her along and put them all in danger. If anything, I'd say that Zuko's mistake in that comic was believing that she would be helpful to him in the first place and that she wouldn't try to take advantage of him. But the fact that he does continue to try to be kind to her shows how much he has risen above what his family tried to do to him. But he also has every right to be angry at her and distance himself from her completely. Just because he's still hurting doesn't mean he hasn't healed. And Zuko's abusers aren't the ones who get to be the measure of whether he has healed. Especially when they keep trying to hurt him.

I find it interesting that Azula is the one who keeps holding onto the idea that she is Ozai's golden child, and yet I've never, ever, ever seen it suggested that Azula should let it go, even when Zuko has risen above it and Ozai has rejected her. Even while Azula's reluctance to let go of this destructive mindset continues to hurt her as well as those around her. That's what Azula's mother tried to tell her in the mirror at the end of ATLA, that's what Zuko tried to tell her at the end of the "Search," and why she wept when he did. It's also why Ursa offered Azula an apology even when she didn't remember her, because she could see that Azula was holding onto this thing so tenaciously. Azula's mind has been telling her this whole time that she needs to let it go, but she can't. And that's a tragedy, but it's not one that Zuko is responsible for or had any hand in making.

#zuko #azula #ozai #abuse cw #atla comics #the search

155 notes · View notes

redwiccanrobin · 3 months

Text

I keep seeing people say the live action show is going to be bad only because Bryke is no longer involved. Now, I’m not particularly interested in the show because live action remakes just don’t do anything for me, personally. But I think y’all are giving Bryke way more credit than they deserve. Let’s discuss.

First, I think we should acknowledge the more problematic aspect of them creating the show in the first place. While I love Avatar, Bryke are two white men who took the aesthetics of many different Asian cultures to create their world. And most of the voice cast were also white. If there were Asian voice actors, they were either a background character or a villain (besides Iroh and Zuko, of course). Now, I know that some of you may have read that and thought about how the actor playing Sokka is not only white but lied about his ethnicity. Don’t worry, I’m mad at that as well and I’m beyond frustrated that Sokka has been whitewashed not once, but twice in the name of a live action interpretation.

And speaking of live action interpretations, let us not forget Bryke’s role in the 2010 movie. They announced their decision to leave this new show due to it not matching their vision. But they had no problem with the film that casted almost exclusively white actors to play characters of color. Again, if there were POC in the movie they were either background actors or villains (again, besides Iroh and Zuko). When people bring up the movie, they blame Shamalan for every aspect of it. Yes, he did not direct a good movie. But, at the end of the day, Bryke wanted this movie to happen. Everyone else, including Shamalan, wanted a season four but they were dead set on the live action movie that whitewashed most of the characters. And they were fine with that. That didn’t clash with their vision despite relying very heavily on non-white cultures to make their show.

Outside of the whitewashed movie, their creative choices are… interesting, to say the least. And we didn’t get to see those because the writers pulled their weight and tweaked the original concepts. Toph? Bryke wanted her to be a boy and be in a love triangle with Aang and Katara. It was the writers who made her a girl. Azula? Again, Bryke wanted her to be a boy and, again, the writers made her a girl. Katara fighting sexism in the Northern Water Tribe? They wanted her to be fighting for Aang, not herself. It was the writers decision to add in Katara fighting against a patriarchal system. Many of the episodes that people point to as their favorites (Zuko Alone, The Puppetmaster, The Southern Raiders) were not written by them. Yet, they get the pats on the backs from casual viewers and even some dedicated fans.

Do you know what happens when they do have creative control? At best, it’s mediocre, at worst, it’s bad. Let’s first take a look at their continuation of this universe by looking at Legend of Korra. The writers that made those iconic and beautiful episodes in ATLA? For the most part, they’re no where to be found. And it shows. LoK was a mess from the very beginning and never quite got its footing. Yes, I will acknowledge that Nickelodeon fucked them over. Yes, I do have respect for them for sticking to their guns and making Korrasami an item and giving us not one but two bisexual women of color. But besides that? It’s just a very mediocre show with mediocre writing.

But we see how truly bad things can get with the ATLA comics. Now, I do need to acknowledge that they didn’t work on that comic alone. So, like the movie, there are others to blame for the mess. But Bryke signed off on everything and wrote some of it themselves. And, boy, are they bad. A large number of the ATLA fandom do not like these comics and there’s definitely a reason why. Including out of character moments, prominent sexism with how the women are written, and just downright bizarre discussions, it’s not that much of a surprise that we don’t like to acknowledge it. In my opinion, no one got screwed over more in those comics than Katara. They make her a trophy girlfriend. A shadow to Aang rather than being her own character. That girl we watched in the show, the one who was vibrant, layered, complex, was gone. In her place, a hollow shell. And they would continue to show disrespect for their own character in LoK where she has been upgraded from trophy girlfriend to trophy wife. They didn’t even care enough about her, besides her being the wife of Aang and the mother of his children, to give her a statue! All the feminism we see in the original show? It definitely wasn’t Bryke.

I don’t know how this new live action show is going to pan out. It could be great, it could be bad. It could just be meh. But none of those outcomes have anything to do with whether or not Bryke was involved. Because they may have created ATLA, but they weren’t the ones who truly breathed life into it.

#avatar the last airbender #atla meta #anti Bryke #atla fandom critical

30 notes · View notes

comradekatara · 26 days

Note

I meant Hama and Katara... But thank you for the Kanna & Katara Link. I'll go theough it.

ohhh yes i obviously have so many thoughts on hama and katara as well..... hama is the embodiment of who katara could have become had a) her circumstances been slightly different (and worse) and b) had she had less emotional strength & resilience & desire to cling to her own humanity at all costs. like, the fact that katara gets multiple figures who embody the terror of her submitting to her most vengeful instincts and perpetuating the cycle of violence instead of working to end it is honestly quite beautiful, as that tension culminates in "the southern raiders" and katara lets herself prioritize her own humanity over her pain and rage and (totally justified) desire for revenge.

i know a lot of people think that hama and jet are the most politically confused aspects of the show, since they do play into the thing lok does where it's like "all oppressed peoples who employ radical means of resistance are simply cackling mustache-twirling terrorists," and while i do think that the way hama is framed at the end of "the puppetmaster" is in poor taste and lacks nuance, it's also pretty clear to me that a) their trauma is portrayed as sympathetic b) their stories are depicted as tragedies and c) atla doesn't actually demonize violent methods of resistance. like if katara wasn't literally the main character i'd feel much more comfortable making that critique (because lok does do this and it's liberal bullshit and it sucks), but we see katara use violent means of resistance as early as episode 6 of the whole show. she's literally framed as a hero for doing ecoterrorism; even when she's actually in the wrong in that situation, her desire to do whatever it takes to help people and encourage them to fight back against their oppressors is celebrated unconditionally.

the lesson katara has to learn from them is that she must never let her anger and desire for revenge consume her over her love for humanity and her drive to help people. jet and hama are both deeply traumatized in a way that made them prioritize wanting to wield power over others in the same way that they were once made vulnerable and helpless, and katara recognizes that instinct in herself too, that instinct in every person who has been subjected to that degree of violence. hama targets fire nation civilians out of spite, because she was once a regular girl from the southern water tribe who was targeted for reasons beyond her control, made to fight and treated like a villain. the reason she goes after "regular people" instead of targeting actual combatants is specifically because she knows that if the roles were reversed, the fire nation wouldn't care about differentiating her people in those roles; she's giving them a taste of their own medicine.

she used to be a resistance fighter who fought back against the imperialists on her land with everything she had, and it didn't work. she suffered unimaginable horrors, and in the process discovered an ability that would allow her to make others suffered the way she did. no, she's not a good leftist or whatever, but her motivation is understandable. she's driven by pain, not reason, just as katara and zuko are in "the southern raiders," just as aang is in "the desert" when he loses appa, just as sokka is in "the boiling rock." when one is hurting that badly, the desire to ease one's pain supersedes logic, supersedes one's core values in general, the values of grief taking its place. hama has been grieving her entire life; whoever she was before the raids is gone, and now she is someone shaped wholly by pain. and had katara not met hama, been traumatized by her, and thus vowed never to be like her, who knows whether she would have had the ability to take a step back and recognize within herself that she is standing over that precipice, and instead walk away from the threshold of violence, and back towards herself.

#ariadnesweb #asks #katara #hama #hama&katara #analysis #hama is kind of katara's sokka.... in the sense that sokka is aang's hama.....#they both have such similar struggles and are able to understand each other on a very profound level #but also must never submit to the logic that propels them become who sokka/hama already are #obviously hama's circumstance is more extreme #but both aang and katara must recognize their own humanity and never let themselves sink into the pain and be driven by it fully #whereas hama and sokka have already abandoned their humanity #in different ways. but still #that's for another post i guess #remind me to talk about sokka azula aang trio sometime #bc its crazy.#anyway i think i find hama more effective than jet to communicate this aspect of kataras arc #because hama is an elder of her tribe and she can bond with her in this incredibly special and culturally meaningful way #whereas jet is kind of just like. what if haru was an asshole #so uhhhh..... sure i guess #but we already know and like haru. so he's just kind of boring to me #whereas hama is awesome and i love her so much <3333 #(t shit that says in giant letters no one can tell im a dyke...)

94 notes · View notes