the-badger-mole

[the-badger-mole]

How long have you been a part of the atla- specifically Zutara fandom for??? I swear I’ve seen your work everywhere but never knew it was you.

Oh, I've been a fan since the original run. I've been a Zutara shipper since the first season.

#atla #Zutara #ask the badger mole

[the-badger-mole]

ZK Actor AU comic Part 2

This was based on a tweet I’ve been itching to draw. When I first saw it I knew I had to draw it and make it zutara because DUH. So yeah I did a different artstyle so I can finish it quickly.

If you have any headcanons in this AU please feel free to share :>>> pls my brainrot for this AU is so intense

Part 1 of this comic (here)

[the-badger-mole]

do you think youd hate aang the same amount if he and katara hadnt ended up together?

I might hate him less, but only because he'd be easier to ignore. Most of his worst moments had to do with his interactions with Katara and his entitled attitude about her, so if the show hadn't pushed his crush as a pillar plot point of the show, I could have looked past him. I never liked him, though. Even in Book 1, when he was his most bearable, I was more interested in Katara's journey than Aang's. At his best, he was only boring.

If the show had gone exactly as it had, but Kataang wasn't endgame, he would still have been disrespectful (Bato of the WT), ineffective and dishonest (TGD), self centered (TWAT), short sighted (DoBS, Sozin's comet), and not a good friend (pick an episode where someone other than him was in emotional distress). I would absolutely still not like Aang, but as I don't really see him as the main protagonist, he might have only annoyed me. Not great, but the rest of the cast would have made up for him.

#atla #anti aang #anti kataang #ask the badger mole

[the-badger-mole]

Dearest Badger, general lurker at the tearoom here, first time sending in an ask, but I was reading this post https://www.tumblr.com/the-badger-mole/747562525324902400/love-how-you-shamelessly-hate-aangi-mean-this?source=share and was intrigued by 'justice for Mr. Collins!' and am now dying to hear your take on him in p&p

So, let me be up front and say that I was kind of being facetious with that. I recognize that Mr. Collins is not a great person. He's pushy and annoying, and I'm very glad he didn't get any of the Bennet girls. HOWEVER, he was aware of the Bennet family situation and of what would happen to them if Mr. Bennet died suddenly. He was aware that because of the way the inheritance on their property worked, he was in a position to help them. If he'd married any of the Bennet girls, that sister would've been able to keep the other women in their home. Yes, part of the reason he was so gung-ho to get married was to make Lady Catherine happy, but that doesn't change the fact that, all things considered, it was very generous of him to offer to marry Jane or Lizzie. I think in another story, he'd be seen as a hero.

It's also the reason I hate it when I see fans talking about how awful it was that Charlotte ended up with him. Charlotte was good. She was pragmatic, and went into the arrangement with both eyes open- which is more than I can say for Mr. Collins. But I think they both made out alright. Charlotte got security for her future, and Mr. Collins got a smart, capable wife. I like to think that with her influence, Mr. Collins got less butt-kissy, and that they at least managed to build a friendship. I'd be very sad for both of them if they just spent the rest of their lives not being loved, even if it was mostly platonic.

#pride and prejudice #justice for mr. collins #he was annoying #but he meant well

[the-badger-mole]

In regards to Zutara….wouldn’t making Katara Fire Lady be a very bad move politically? Wouldn’t she have to deal with endless discrimination? And would she even want to live in the Fire Nation? Especially if that means she can’t travel to the SWT as much as she wants?

all question I have as a zutarian

Depends on the story. I like a little political intrigue, so yes, she would face discrimination. She would also be very popular among the common people, though. It would take her a while to build up her head of steam, but ultimately, I think she'd be the most beloved Fire Lady in generations. As far as how she'd like living in the FN and being homesick, I think she and Zuko would make it a priority to visit the SWT at least a couple of times a year, either together or just Katara and their kids alone.

Ultimately, though, it is fiction. It all depends on what you want to write. The only limits are your imagination.

#atla #zutara #fire lady katara #headcanons

[the-badger-mole]

If you were to expand on southern water tribe culture, what sort of traditions would the people have?

I've written a few traditions into my fics. Off the top of my head, here are a few:

All the Things That Are and Will Be

The death rites of the SWT don't involved burial in the ground. Instead a the body is washed and prepped by the family, and the body is laid to rest under stones piled around and over top the body. The ceremony involves a song commemorating the deceased for becoming one of the ancestors.

Traditional

To mark engagements in the SWT, the potential husband presents his intended with tools and supplies that will be useful to her in married life. This is usually sewing needles, knives, beads and furs, but the intended bride is allowed to make special requests. For Katara, this included fancy pens, new waterskins for formal and everyday use, and a crown. In With the Changing of the Tide, she also made special requests for a talking mirror and the skin of a camel seal. The potential husband also presents his intended's family with furs, skins and tools, and also, he joins the men in the family on a hunt for what will become the engagement party meal.

Uncharted Waters

In the SWT, villagers will gather frequently to share stories about a lot of things. Sometimes they're historical accounts. Sometime they're folk tales. Sometimes they're about how they got their various scars, like Katara tells Zuko in chapter 8.

Summer Bloom

When a SWT girl has her first period, there's a celebration among the women. They go into the mountains to the thermal springs and have what essentially amounts to a spa weekend. There she has a formal introduction to the "polar bees and otter penguins", the older women share their advice on dealing with period symptom, and there's a feast. The girl is welcomed into womanhood with gifts of needles, knives, combs and beads.

Some traditions I've been thinking about, but haven't actually written down yet: Siblings share a sleep cot until they're old enough to complain about it. When that happens, the family homes get bigger to accommodate more sleeping space.

There's a strong musical tradition within the tribe. Their instruments are limited. They have a drum, a hand drum, and a pipe for their major instruments, but they mostly sing. The SWT goes on to popularize acapella in the ATLA world.

The Southern Water Tribe is made up of several small villages lead by locally selected chiefs who then come together to choose one overall representative for all the villages. Hakoda is the third nonconsecutive member of his family chosen as the head chief, and Sokka is chosen after him. After Sokka, the next chief comes from an unrelated family and a different village entirely.

#atla #swt traditions #katara #sokka #hakoda #kanna #zutara #because the fics i linked are zutara fics or at least mention them

[the-badger-mole]

BUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! NOT THE HABSBURGS!!!😂😂😂😂😂😂

[the-badger-mole]

Sokka trying for me of Aang's recipes 😂

#atla #sokka #will never go vegan #“just cause you put syrup on something don't make them pancakes”

[the-badger-mole]

it will never not be bizarre to me that kat.aangers use the fortuneteller episode as foreshadowing for ka when literally every possible interpretation of this episode is anti kat.aang.

if aunt wu's prophecies are unquestionably true, then kat.aang is DOA right off the bat because she explicitly says she doesn't see romance in aang's future. yet kat.aangers love to uphold the “powerful bender” prophecy as foreshadowing for kat.aang so… which is it? are aunt wu’s prophecies only eternally binding for katara but conveniently untrue when it comes to aang? because if katara marrying a powerful bender is unchangeable, then so is aang not being able to find love, so that’s strike no. 1 for ka foreshadowing.

now on the other hand, if we take aunt wu's prophecies as false, then our boy aang is free to do all the lovin’ he wants… but following the same logic, so is katara. and since her prophecy is the catalyst for her seeing him as a potential romantic partner at all, that’s strike no. 2 for foreshadowing.

finally, we come to the last interpretation and the episode's actual message: that destiny is real, but not immutable. throughout the episode, it’s clear that aunt wu's prophecies do come true, though not in the way that their subject(s) might expect. the future isn’t created through passive acceptance, but active agency. everyone has the power to shape their own destiny, and make their own choices.

this is the complete opposite of katara beginning to view aang in a romantic light solely because sokka makes an entirely on-the-nose comment about him being a powerful bender. because had katara not heard her prophecy, that would have meant nothing to her! how is this meant to be the spark that fuels the kat.aang relationship when it's entirely based on katara holding herself to a prophesized future instead of writing her own story, and hence antithetical to the fundamental theme of the episode?

which is also why so many people interpret this episode to be lampshading zutara, because the only way that all of these contradictory interpretations — aang isn’t meant to find love, katara is meant to marry a powerful bender, but both of them still have the power to shape their own paths — make sense is if the final scene was an intentional red herring… but that’s a discussion for another time.

[the-badger-mole]

That's what makes his backtracking on the whole anti-miscegenation thing so hilarious to me. As if he'd actually make that rule apply to him and his "forever girl"...

But yeah, the cultural differences would also make for an interesting point of vulnerability in their relationship. Especially since it seems that Aang insisted on a mostly Air Nomad lifestyle for him and Katara, but he only had a 12 year old's understanding of the culture and philosophy. Does he ever go back to study more? How much more? (Don't forget, that becoming an expert in anything takes time, and he might not have a lot of that, even if he had the inclination also doubtful). What does the Air Nomad culture say about family and gender dynamics?

His age is another thing to consider, too (though not in the way that his defenders insist it is). How would so much responsibility, notoriety and deference at such a young age play into what he expects of Katara as his girlfriend/wife? Especially when you consider all the girls throwing themselves at him- many of whom definitely became Acolytes. If he's used to people taking his word at law at an age where he's supposed to be developing more complex empathy skills, what does that mean for his dynamic with Katara? Is that why we don't see her opposing Aang? What happened when she did (or at least tried to) oppose him?

Help. I wanted to write a broken, misguided, almost-but-not-quiet-villain Aang, but my hand slipped and I am turning the Kataang relationship in my fic into an absolute fucking nightmare T_T I just didn't want the characters to be so black-and-white, you know, but the longer I write, the more this turns into a story about emotional abuse. Now I'm trying to kind of do both angles.

It doesn't have to be a choice. The thing about most abusers is that they aren't outright villains. A lot of them are very charming, fun, and smart. A lot of them are pillars of the community, and even genuinely believe in their causes. But they are also selfish, possessive and think that their partners are an extension of themselves. Maybe Aang doesn't think he thinks that of Katara. Maybe he thinks the way he treats her is normal until it's pointed out. Maybe he tries to course correct, but then backtracks because he thinks he's losing her because she did her makeup or hair in a new way that gets her compliments from other men.

If you're writing from Katara's POV, maybe she still sees the sweet, fun loving boy she met a long time ago. Maybe she blames herself for being too quick to jump to anger for him lashing out and tries to fix herself. Maybe she thinks if she does everything he needs -keep his schedule, cook his meals, take on all the domestic and childcare labor- he can focus on being the best Avatar/whatever his career is in this fic. The thing about abuse is there's a lot of rationalizing going on on both ends. After all, no one goes into a relationship thinking their s/o is going to turn out to be a monster. And a lot of times, they don't even see how bad it was until well after they leave. If you're worried you're making this relationship too one note, ask yourself why Katara hasn't left yet. Or why it's taken this long for her to decide to leave.

[the-badger-mole]

Help. I wanted to write a broken, misguided, almost-but-not-quiet-villain Aang, but my hand slipped and I am turning the Kataang relationship in my fic into an absolute fucking nightmare T_T I just didn't want the characters to be so black-and-white, you know, but the longer I write, the more this turns into a story about emotional abuse. Now I'm trying to kind of do both angles.

It doesn't have to be a choice. The thing about most abusers is that they aren't outright villains. A lot of them are very charming, fun, and smart. A lot of them are pillars of the community, and even genuinely believe in their causes. But they are also selfish, possessive and think that their partners are an extension of themselves. Maybe Aang doesn't think he thinks that of Katara. Maybe he thinks the way he treats her is normal until it's pointed out. Maybe he tries to course correct, but then backtracks because he thinks he's losing her because she did her makeup or hair in a new way that gets her compliments from other men.

If you're writing from Katara's POV, maybe she still sees the sweet, fun loving boy she met a long time ago. Maybe she blames herself for being too quick to jump to anger for him lashing out and tries to fix herself. Maybe she thinks if she does everything he needs -keep his schedule, cook his meals, take on all the domestic and childcare labor- he can focus on being the best Avatar/whatever his career is in this fic. The thing about abuse is there's a lot of rationalizing going on on both ends. After all, no one goes into a relationship thinking their s/o is going to turn out to be a monster. And a lot of times, they don't even see how bad it was until well after they leave. If you're worried you're making this relationship too one note, ask yourself why Katara hasn't left yet. Or why it's taken this long for her to decide to leave.

#atla #anti aang #anti kataang

[the-badger-mole]

Hear, hear!!!! Talking about characters you hate is just as much a part of fandom participation as talking about the characters you love. As long as you keep it cute and tag it correctly, it should not be an issue.

And I do hate both of those characters (though I love exploring their darkness).

It's always "No I don't hate A@ng or Ma! I just want to criticize how their characters were handled", and never "They're fictional and you're offended on the behaf of literal nothing".

Ps: Zks say what you gotta say to avoid harassment. I don't hate them either. It's just absurd that hating a fictional character that doesn't exist is something to be denounced in order to be taken seriously.

#anti aang #anti mai #if you block these tags you never have to see me again

[the-badger-mole]

Love how you shamelessly hate Aang—I mean this totally as a compliment by the way! I’m so tired of seeing “I ship Zutara but I LOOOOVE Aang he’s a cinnamon roll baby!!!” and “you can like Zutara and also like Aang” and “it’s the WRITING that’s bad not Aang!” takes…ugh. Please. He’s a cartoon character and I don’t like him. That isn’t a crime. He’s boring at best and an entitled borderline abusive little shit at worst. I don’t like him! It’s so refreshing to read your blog, I don’t understand this fandom’s obsession with acting like he’s a real child we have to coddle

I don't understand it either. Then again, I will go to the mat to defend some pretty controversial characters, so who am I to judge (justice for Mr. Collins!) ? I don't mind that other people like him -some of my favorite people in the fandom like him- as long as they don't come after me for not liking him.

But yeah, the defense of him boiling down to "bad writing" always felt off. To me, bad writing is when the character suddenly takes actions that seem to come out of nowhere. Aang's actions in the back half of ATLA and into the comics and LoK track. They track very well with who he was even in the first season. Yes, he got worse as the series progressed, but the seeds were always there. I guess, if you want to make an argument for it being bad writing, you could talk about how his bad traits in the first half seemed to be setting up a growth arc that was abandoned in the second half. There's an argument to be made there, but it's not an argument that Aang's worst traits were OOC for him. I am not shocked at the kind of family Aang ended up having. I'm not shocked at how Kataang the couple turned out. I'm only shocked that Bryke managed to be that honest about Aang without realizing how awful he was.

#atla #anti aang #anti kataang #okay i feel the need to explain myself with mr. collins #is he the best character? #no #does he seem like a joyless drip? #yes #but in his defense he just started a new job and his livelihood depended on him kissing his rich boss' silk clad bottom #his drippiness is job security #am i glad lizzie turned him down? #ABSOLUTELY! #but him wanting to marry one of the bennet girls was an act of kindness that i don't think gets the credit it deserves #he was trying to make sure his cousins wouldn't have to face a life of poverty and insecurity after their father died #that was mad decent of him! #i will die on that hill

[the-badger-mole]

Love your posts! Could you go into more depth on how Aang disrespects Katara’s/Watertribe culture?

There isn't much depth to go into, because the show doesn't touch on the Southern Water Tribe culture very much. And why would they, am I right? It's only 40% of their main heroes' culture. But what little they do give us is mostly shown through Aang's perspective, and Aang makes it clear that he isn't a fan of some of the most major components. He's disrespectful about the food and about the artifacts that come from a culture that mostly hunts their food. Bato of the Water Tribe is the most egregious display of his contempt, when he goes into Bato's tent as a guest and is sly and snide about the furs and antlers on display. That honestly bothers me more than Aang's reaction to the sea prunes.

There are a lot of people who defend Aang because he's young (his age as a defense is carrying a lot), but here's the thing. As with so many other things that he does, it's never walked back. We never see him come back to his attitude about the culture the girl he allegedly loves comes from, and think, hm...well, they are different from what I'm used to, but that doesn't make them less worthy of respect. I would not be surprised to hear that at some point in the comics, Aang makes a big show of loving the SWT culture, but first of all, Legend of Korra exists. I've already pointed out how so many things in that series points to Aang playing favorites among his children, and to the Kataang family dynamic being really unhealthy. I've also probably already pointed out how divorced Tenzin is from anything pertaining to his SWT heritage. There is no sign anywhere on Air Bender Island that he's mixed heritage. And why is that? Because his father never embraced his mother's heritage. Secondly, at one point in the comics, Aang is in support of the NWT soft colonizing the SWT in the name of "unifying" the two tribes...even though they sit at literally the opposite ends of the world from each other, so how does that even make sense? Still, even in the main series, he shows a lot more respect for the NWT culture than the SWT (or at the very least, he isn't as blatantly disrespectful). Bryke can do whatever they want to in the comics, it still ends with LoK happening.

#atla #anti aang #anti kataang #lok makes it clear that aang never did walk back his disrespect of swt culture #katara deserved better

[the-badger-mole]

What do you think about the upcoming movie trilogies of atla? I feel like they’d assassinate the katara and zuko’s relationship more :(

I think team Bryke has no more ideas. They're probably going to spend the entire trilogy trying to counter 20 years of criticism of their boy and pet ship. To predictable ends

#atla #anti bryke

[the-badger-mole]

Are you high?

Is Kataang the Zutara of Avatar: The Last Airbender? Discuss.

[the-badger-mole]

What do you think of Platonic Zutara?

I'm for it. Obviously, I don't want them to stay just friends, but I do love their friendship. Besides, I love a good friend stage in the friends-to-lovers variations.

#atla #zutara