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insomniactalks Ā· 11 days
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Me: Wow, the Netflix ATLA was better than what I expected. Indeed, it felt too rushed, probably because they were asked to do only 8 episodes like everything in the platform; but they were still able to capture the feeling of the original, and it was an enjoyable show. Not to mention the effects, those were so well done, especially Zuko fire kicks, I loved those.
Me: *checks internet opinions*
Me: Oh... I'm supposed to hate this adaptation.
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insomniactalks Ā· 15 days
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The Agni Kai between Ozai and Zuko was one of the smartest, best additions to the show. I see people complaining about Zuko "fighting back", as though that's a bad thing or takes away the victimhood of his situation.
Zuko is prepared to fight someone else. Then his dad steps in. There's already a ton of pressure, and now confusion overwhelms, because wth why would he fight his dad and HOW. He doesn't want to fight him. But this Agni Kai's point is for honor, to prove himself to him, and a) he is firstly DEFENDING himself from his dad who is the one who starts fighting him hard. (throwing fire at him?? Hello??? Is he just supposed to take it??) b) don't you think Ozai would think worse of him if he didn't do anything at all? And don't you think Zuko takes that in consideration pretty quickly as his dad attacks him?
It's clear Ozai will fight. Now Zuko looks confused and scared during the fight, rightfully so, and he tries to figure out how far this will go. My wife keeps saying that he is sparring (and that y'all don't know about sparring, lol), and that doesn't mean you have to hurt your opponent, not the way Ozai intends. Zuko engages defensively, and then fights his father, hoping that's enough to show him that's he's good at this, that he's skilled. It doesn't have to go as far as Ozai takes it, it COULD just be sparring. Zuko COULD jusy try to show him what he's learned and hope his dad is pleased enough. Isn't that what he keeps trying to do anyway? Get his approval? Both he and Azula. Unfortunately, we know that's impossible.
The unfolding of this Agni Kai drives home the cruelty of Ozai in an even more intense way to me. Because no matter how well Zuko fights, it's not about skills, it's about how far he's willing to go, that's what Ozai is judging. The mentality behind it. Zuko isn't willing to hurt his father when he could, he holds back! That is his "weakness". And the way Ozai punishes this by doing what Zuko refused to do - burning Zuko where Zuko could've burned Ozai - that is a horrible reminder of this "failure" to go far enough, and the consequences it entails.
Zuko's scar now isn't just random placement, it has meaning behind it beyond the basic cruelty of Ozai hurting his child. It directly references Zuko's "weakness". Ozai showing him how it's done directly on his face, serving as a constant reminder that he couldn't be the strong one, so he got hurt by the one who was willing to be.
The sequence of Zuko holding back and Ozai NOT holding back but purposefully pausing and choosing to punish him this way was mind-blowing. Such a powerful, terrifying moment that makes Ozai feel even crueler than in the OG.
I don't think Zuko not engaging in the OG is bad at all, it virtually gets the same result; but I also don't think it's bad for him to decide to engage. It doesn't take away anything from the point, for me, the way it plays out in the live action takes it further. It examplifies Zuko and Ozai's relationship and Zuko's efforts - never enough - perfectly.
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insomniactalks Ā· 18 days
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twitter // ko-fi UNCLE send him to the principles office and have him EXPELLED!!!
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insomniactalks Ā· 20 days
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Katara and Zuko being the mom and dad friend of the group.
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insomniactalks Ā· 20 days
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I want to clear up a mistake people make with Azula and Ursa.
Ursa didnā€™t play favorites.
Ursa didnā€™t think Azula was a monster.
Ursa simply, unequivocally, just didnā€™t enable Azulaā€™s worst traits like Ozai did.
Ozaiā€™s favorite child was Azula, but Ursa still loved her more.
Because enabling isnā€™t love.
What did Ozaiā€™s enabling do? It made Azula into the type of person to never have any loyal friends. It made the type of person that Mai and Tai Lee would betray at the risk of their own lives.
Ursa pushed Azula to be with her friends. To be with Zuko. Ozai pushed Ursa away, and both kids suffered for it. Azula became a sadist, enjoying seeing her brother get burnedā€”while Zuko was pushed away because he cared for his people.
Azula thought her mom hated her because her mom was the only one who cared enough to tell her no.
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insomniactalks Ā· 21 days
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Uncle Iroh saying he has everything he needs on this boat, implying that his home is where Zuko is. Then, next scene we see them on the canoe with Zuko observing Appa in the sky, a reminder that he sacrificed finding the avatar in order to help his uncle. And he has no regrets, he would do it all over again bc Uncle Iroh is more important to him than his mission.
Those two and their lovely relationship is out there to kill me.
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insomniactalks Ā· 21 days
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The Lightning Scene, How Azula Targeted Katara (of All People), and the Doylist Reason Why That Matters
Mention Zuko's sacrifice for Katara in Sozin's Comet Part 3 as part of a pro-Zutara talking point, and invariably you'll get a Pavlovian response of:
"But Zuko would have taken the lightning for anyone."
(Not to be confused with the similar-sounding Pavlovan response, which is "Zuko's sacrifice ain't shit compared to a mouth-watering, strawberry-topped meringue dessert"*, which is actually the only valid counter-argument to how the lightning scene is a bona fide Zutara treasure, but I digress.)
Now, I've talked in depth about how the lightning scene is framed far more romantically than it had any right to be, regardless of how you might interpret the subject on paper; this is an argument which I still stand by 100%. That Zuko would have gotten barbecued for anyone, and that he was at the stage of his arc where his royal kebab-ness represented his final act of redemption, doesn't change the fact that the animators/soundtrack artists decided to pull out all the stops with making this scene hit romantic film tropes bingo by the time it played out on screen.
(I mean, we stan.)
There's also a deeper level to this conundrum, a layer which creeps up on you when you're standing in your kitchen at night, the fridge door open in front of you, your hungry, sleep-deprived brain trying to decide on what to grab for a midnight snack, and quite inexcusably you're struck with the question: Okay, Zuko may indeed have taken the lightning for just anyone, but would Azula have shot the lightning at just anyone?
But there's yet a deeper layer to this question, that I don't recall ever seeing anyone discuss (though if somebody has, mea culpa). And that is: would you have written Zuko taking the lightning for anyone else?
Or in other words, who Zuko would have taken the lightning for is the wrong question to be asking; the question we ought to be asking is who Zuko should have taken the lightning for, instead.
Get your pens out, your Doylist hats on, and turn to page 394. It's time to think like an author for a hot minute.
(If you don't know what I mean by Watsonian vs. Doylist analyses, and/or if you need a refresher course, go have a skim of the first section of this 'ere post and then scoot your ass back to this one.)
So. You're the author. You've written almost the entirety of an animated series (look at you!!) and now you're at the climax, which you've decided is going to be an epic, hero-villain showdown. Classic. Unlike previous battles between these two characters, your hero is going to have a significant advantage in this fight - partly due to his own development as a hero at the height of his strength and moral conviction, and partly because your villain has gone through a bit of a Britney Spears 2007 situation, and isn't quite at the top of her game here. If things keep going at this pace, your hero is going to win the fight fairly easily - actually, maybe even too easily. That's okay though, you're a talented writer and you know just what will raise the stakes and give the audience a well-timed "oh shit" moment: you're going to have the villain suddenly switch targets and aim for somebody else. The hero will be thrown off his groove, the villain will gain the upper hand, the turns will have indubitably tabled. Villains playing dirty is the number 1 rule in every villain handbook after all, and each of the last two times your hero's braved this sort of fight he's faced an opponent who ended up fighting dishonourably, so you've got a beautiful Rule of Three nicely lined up. Impeccable. The warm glow of triumph shines upon you, cherubs sing, your English teachers clap and shed tears of pride. (Except for that one teacher you had in year 8 who hated everybody, but she's a right bitch and we're not talking about her today.)
Now here's the thing: your hero is a hero. Maybe he wasn't always a hero, but he certainly is one now. If the villain goes after an innocent third party, there's basically no-one your hero wouldn't sacrifice himself for. He's a hero! Heroes do be like that, it's kind of their thing. The villain could shoot a bolt of lightning at Bildad the Shuhite, and the only thing that'd stop our boy Redeemed Paladin Bravesoul McGee from shielding his foxy ass is the fact that Bildad the Shuhite has the audacity to exist in a totally different show (disgusten.)
But. You're holding the writer's pen. Minus crossover shenanigans you don't have the licensing or time-travel technology to achieve, you have full control over how this scene plays out. You get to decide which character to target to deliver the greatest emotional impact, the juiciest angst, the most powerful cinematic suspense. You get to decide whose life you'll put at risk, to make this scene the most intense spine-chilling heart-stopper it can possibly be.
This is the climax we're talking about, after all - now is not the time to go easy on the drama.
So.
Do you make the villain target just anyone?
Or do you make the villain target someone the hero cares about?
Perhaps, someone he cares about... a lot?
Maybe even, someone he cares about... more than anybody else?
You are the author. You are the God of this universe. You get to choose.
What would deliver the strongest punch?
If you happen to make the inadvisable decision of browsing through these tropes on TV tropes, aside from wasting the rest of your afternoon (you're welcome), you'll find that the examples listed are littered with threatened and dead love interests, and, well, there's a reason for that. For better or worse, romantic love is often portrayed by authors, and perceived by audiences, as a "true" form of love (often even, "the" true form of love). Which is responsible for the other is a chicken/egg situation, one I'm not going to go into for this post - and while I'm certainly not here to defend this perspective as objectively good, I do think it's worth acknowledging that it not only exists but is culturally rather ubiquitous. (If you're playing the love interest in a story with a hero v. a villain, you might wanna watch your back, is what I'm saying.)
Regardless of whether the vibe you're aiming for is romantic or platonic however, one thing is for certain: if you want maximum oomph, the way to achieve that is by making the villain go after the player whose death would hit the hero the hardest.
And like I said, this doesn't have to be played romantically (although it so often is). There are platonic examples in those trope pages, though it's also important to note that many of the platonic ones do show up in stories where a love interest isn't depicted/available/there's a strong "bromance" element/the hero is low-key ace - and keep in mind too that going that route sometimes runs a related risk of falling into queer-bait territory *coughJohnLockcough*
That said, if there is a canon love-interest available, one who's confessed her love for the hero, one who has since been imprisoned by the villain, one who can easily be written as being at the villain's disposal, and who could quite conveniently be whipped out for a mid-battle surprise round - you might find you have some explaining to do if you choose to wield your authorly powers to have the villain go after... idk, some other sheila instead.
(The fact that this ends up taking the hero out of the fight, and the person he sacrifices himself for subsequently throws herself into the arena risking life and limb to defeat the villain and rescue her saviour, also means the most satisfying way this plays out, narratively speaking, is if both of these characters happen to be the most important person in each other's lives - at least, as of that moment, anyway - but I think this post has gone on long enough, lol)
This is, by and large, a rebuttal post more than anything else, but the tl;dr here is - regardless of whether you want to read the scene as shippy or not, to downplay Zuko's sacrifice for Katara specifically as "not that deepā„¢" because "Zuko would have taken the lightning for anyone anyway", suggests either that a) nobody should be reading into the implications of Katara being chosen as the person nearest and dearest to Zuko, so that putting her life in jeopardy can deliver the most powerful impact possible for an audience you'd bloody well hope are on the edge of their seats during the climax of your story or b) the writers made the inexplicable decision of having the villain threaten the life of... literally who the fuck ever, and ultimately landed on someone who's actually not all that important to the hero in the grand scheme of things - which is a cardinal writing sin if I ever saw one (even disregarding the Choice to then season it with mood lighting and sad violin music, on top of it all), and altogether something I'd be legitimately pissed about if my Zuko-OTP ship paired him with Mai, Sokka, or just about anybody else šŸ˜‚
Most importantly c) I'm hungry, and I want snacks.
*The Aussies in the fandom will get this one. Everyone else can suffer in united confusion.
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insomniactalks Ā· 21 days
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one of the most common anti zutara arguments i see is that Zuko would have taken lightning for any member of the Gaang. i agree completely.
but would Azula have targeted any other member?
i actually donā€™t think so.
Azula is calculating, manipulative, and an expert on how to upset her brother. She reads and analyzes each and every thing that he does.Ā 
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When Zuko shows up in the Catacombs Azula doesnā€™t know whose side Zuko is going to choose. Her face says that sheā€™s calculating his next move.Ā 
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And then Zuko decides to attack Aang.Ā 
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Azulaā€™s satisfied smirk says sheā€™s pleased, but not that she was necessarily expecting it. But look at Katara, sheā€™s actually kind of surprised that Zuko went after Aang. And then the fight ensues.Ā 
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Iā€™ve said it before, but Zuko doesnā€™t attack Katara until Azula is in serious danger. She sincerely thinks that Katara is about to smash her into the ground. Why is that? Very little manages to unsettle Azula; this is probably the most frightened we see her up to this point. Being at Kataraā€™s mercy scares the crap out of Azula, even after Zuko seems to have chosen Azulaā€™s side against the Avatar.Ā 
Maybe she doubts Zukoā€™s abilities, maybe she understands Kataraā€™s power.Ā 
Or, maybe she doesnā€™t think Zuko will try to stop Katara.Ā 
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But then Zuko does step in to break Kataraā€™s hold on Azula. He doesnā€™t strike Katara, even though he has a clear shot at her and it would be the more strategic move. He only breaks her grip on Azula.Ā 
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Another calculating look from Azula. Yes, her brother came to her aid against the waterbender. But did he attack her? Not quite. Attacking Katara directly would have accomplished the same goal as severing her water tentacles, but Zuko chose the option that wouldnā€™t harm Katara. He had just gone after Aang relentlessly, but he hesitated to use such violence against Katara.Ā Azula wouldnā€™t fail to take note of this.Ā 
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And Azula hears KataraĀ angry with Zuko. Thinking he had made a change, become a better person (by Kataraā€™s standards). Azula would be able to gather that somethingĀ had taken place in the Catacombs when they were together. Azulaā€™s the one who put them in there.Ā 
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The next time Azula sees her brother heā€™s joined up with the Gaang. During this fight sheā€™s only really gunning for Zuko. She could go after Sokka or Suki in an attempt to upset Zuko, but she doesnā€™t. Azula doesnā€™t see the value in sending either of them careening into the boiling lake.Ā 
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The next time Azula sees Zuko, she sees this. Theyā€™re both falling to their deaths and itā€™s the waterbender who is up in the saddle, reaching out to Zuko. The same girl who had thought Zuko had changed before he chose Azulaā€™s side in Ba Sing Se. The same girl that Zuko had been trying notĀ to harm last time they fought.Ā 
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Sheā€™sĀ the one who isnā€™t clinging to the saddle for safety, but risking toppling off the bison to save Zuko.Ā 
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And Azula says interesting indeed.Ā 
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Azula doesnā€™t witness this ^^ particular tenderness, but she sees a flicker of it when these two turn up for the Agni Kai.Ā 
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Thatā€™s why we see theĀ ā€œI know more than you doā€ smirk when Azula takes aim at Katara. She has spent her whole life finding ways to hurt Zuko. She knowsĀ that Katara in particular is a weakness for Zuko. She saw it when they were in the Catacombs.Ā 
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Zuko is grounded and confident today when theyā€™re fighting. Katara is by his side and apparently she was right about Zuko changing. And Azula sees that Katara has helped make Zuko strong. Sheā€™s been there for him. Saved him. Supported him. Encouraged him. Katara was the one who already believed in Zuko back in Ba Sing Se, betrayal aside.Ā 
Thatā€™s why Azula wants to kill her.Ā 
Iā€™m going to circle back to something else to prove this point. In The Chase, we see the first time that everyone else unites against Azula.Ā 
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Azula realizes then, too, that she is outmatched. And she pulls the same tactic in The Chase as she does during the Agni Kai.Ā 
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She goes after someone who loves Zuko, who believes in him and supports him. Someone who believes that Zukoā€™s strength lies in his goodness.Ā 
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Azula goes after Iroh because she knows how much damage it will do to Zuko. More damage than could be done by killing him. It will break him enough for Azula to defeat him.Ā 
Prior to his return, Azula sees Zuko hesitate about taking her side in the presence of two people: Iroh and Katara. Azula has exclusively seen these two as a threat to Zuko siding with her. Azula has seen firsthand that, for some reason, Katara makes Zuko hesitate.Ā 
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Azula thinks that sheā€™s going to kill Katara. She doesnā€™t think for one second that Zuko is going to move faster than lightning to save Katara
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But he does. And he has the same horrified look on his face as he did when Azula nearly killed Iroh. Because Azula was right, as usual.Ā 
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Azula comes completely unhinged after she hits Zuko because she absolutely intended to kill Katara, not Zuko. (Despite it all, she cares about him) She had calculated that Katara would matter enough to Zuko for her death to change the tides and for Azula to win the Agni Kai. But she micalculated. Again. She hadnā€™t anticipated that Katara dying would scare Zuko so much that he would die in her place.Ā 
Azula isnā€™t stupid. Even crazed, sheā€™s calculating. Sheā€™s seen evidence that Katara will make Zuko hesitate. Like she knew attacking Iroh would completely distract Zuko.Ā 
There is only oneĀ member of the Gaang who Azula has this impression of, and itā€™s Katara. If any other member of the Gaang had been waiting in the wings I donā€™t think Azula would have broken the rules of the Agni Kai. She wouldnā€™t have been able to bank on it being enough for her to take Zuko down.Ā 
But Azula knew that, with Katara, it would be.Ā 
Whatever has gone on between these two is strong, and Azula knows it.Ā 
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insomniactalks Ā· 22 days
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Katara's Story Is A Tragedy and It's Not An Accident
I was a teenaged girl when Avatar: The Last Airbender aired on Nickelodeonā€”the group that the showā€™s creators unintentionally hit while they were aiming for the younger, maler demographic. Nevermind that weā€™re the reason the showā€™s popularity caught fire and has endured for two decades; we werenā€™t the audience Mike and Bryan wanted. And by golly, were they going to make sure we knew it. Theyā€™ve been making sure we know it with every snide comment and addendum theyā€™ve made to the story for the last twenty years.
For many of us girls who were raised in the nineties and aughts, Katara was a breath of fresh airā€”a rare opportunity in a media market saturated with boys having grand adventures to see a young woman having her own adventure and expressing the same fears and frustrations we were often made to feel.Ā 
We were told that we could be anything we wanted to be. That we were strong and smart and brimming with potential. That we were just as capable as the boys. That we were our brothersā€™ equals. But we were also told to wash dishes and fold laundry and tidy around the house while our brothers played outside. We were ignored when our male classmates picked teams for kickball and told to go play with the girls on the swingsā€”the same girls we were taught to deride if we wanted to be taken seriously. We were lectured for the same immaturity that was expected of boys our same age and older, and we were told to do better while also being told, ā€œBoys will be boys.ā€ Despite all the platitudes about equality and power, we saw our mothers straining under the weight of carrying both full-time careers and unequally divided family responsibilities. We sensed that we were being groomed for the same future.Ā 
And we saw ourselves in Katara.Ā 
Katara begins as a parentified teenaged girl: forced to take on responsibility for the daily care of people around herā€”including male figures who are capable of looking after themselves but are allowed to be immature enough to foist such labor onto her. She does thankless work for people who take her contributions for granted. Sheā€™s belittled by people who love her, but donā€™t understand her. Sheā€™s isolated from the world and denied opportunities to improve her talents. She's told what emotions she's allowed to feel and when to feel them. In essence, she was living our real-world fear: being trapped in someone elseā€™s narrow, stultifying definition of femininity and motherhood.Ā 
Then we watched Katara go through an incredible journey of self-determination and empowerment. Katara goes from being a powerless, fearful victim to being a protector, healer, advocate, and liberator to others who canā€™t do those things for themselves (a much truer and more fulfilling definition of nurturing and motherhood). Itā€™s necessary in Kataraā€™s growth cycle that she does this for others first because that is the realm she knows. She is given increasingly significant opportunities to speak up and fight on behalf of others, and that allows her to build those advocacy muscles gradually. But she still holds back her own emotional pain because everyone that she attempts to express such things to proves they either don't want to deal with it or they only want to manipulate her feelings for their own purposes.Ā 
Katara continues to do much of the work we think of as traditionally maternal on behalf of her friends and family over the course of the story, but we do see that scale gradually shift. Sokka takes on more responsibility for managing the groupā€™s supplies, and everyone helps around camp, but Katara continues to be the manager of everyone elseā€™s emotions while simultaneously punching down her own. The scales finally seem to tip when Zuko joins the group. With Zuko, we see someone working alongside Katara doing the same tasks she is doing around camp for the first time. Zuko is also the only person who never expects anything of her and whose emotions she never has to manage because heā€™s actually more emotionally stable and mature than she is by that point. And then, Kataraā€™s arc culminates in her finally getting the chance to fully seize her power, rewrite the story of the traumatic event that cast her into the role of parentified child, be her own protector, and freely express everything sheā€™s kept locked away for the sake of letting everyone else feel comfortable around her.Ā Then she fights alongside an equal partner she knows she can trust and depend on through the story's climax. And for the first time since her motherā€™s death, the girl who gives and gives and gives while getting nothing back watches someone sacrifice everything for her. But this time, sheā€™s able to change the ending because her power is fully realized. The cycle was officially broken.
Kataraā€™s character arc was catharsis at every step. If Katara could break the mold and recreate the ideas of womanhood and motherhood in her own image, so could we. We could be powerful. We could care for ourselves AND others when they need usā€”instead of caring for everyone all the time at our own expense. We could have balanced partnerships with give and take going both ways (ā€œTui and La, push and pullā€), rather than the, ā€œI give, they take,ā€ model we were conditioned to expect. We could fight for and determine our own destinyā€”after all, wasnā€™t destiny a core theme of the story?
Yes. Destiny was the theme. But the lesson was that Katara didnā€™t get to determine hers.Ā 
After Katara achieves her victory and completes her arc, the narrative steps in and smacks her back down to where she started. For reasons that are never explained or justified, Katara rewards a male character who has invalidated her emotions, violated her physical and emotional boundaries, and forced her to carry his emotions by giving into his romantic advancesā€”even though he never apologizes, never learns his lesson, and never shows any inclination to do better.Ā 
And do better he does not.
The more we dared to voice our own opinions on a character that was clearly meant to represent us, the more Mike and Bryan punished Katara for it.
Throughout the comics, Katara makes herself smaller and smaller and forfeits all rights to personal actualization and satisfaction in her relationship. She punches her feelings down when her partner neglects her and shows more affection and concern for literally every other girlā€™s feelings than hers. She becomes cowed by his outbursts and threats of violence. Instead of rising with the moon or resting in the warmth of the sun, she learns to stay in his shadow. She gives up her silly childish dreams of rebuilding her own dying cultureā€™s traditions and advocating for other oppressed groups so that she can fulfill his wishes to rebuild his culture insteadā€”by being his babymaker. Katara gave up everything she cared about and everything she fought to become for the whims of a man-child who never saw her as a person, but a possession.
Then, in her old age, we get to watch the fallout of his neglectā€”both toward her and her children who did not meet his expectations. By that point, the girl who would never turn her back on anyone who needed her was too far gone to even advocate for her own children in her own home. And even after heā€™s gone, Katara never dares to define herself again. She remains, for the next twenty-plus years of her life, nothing more than her husband's grieving widow. She was never recognized for her accomplishments, the battles she won, or the people she liberated. Even her own children and grandchildren have all but forgotten her. She ends her story exactly where it began: trapped in someone elseā€™s narrow, stultifying definition of femininity and motherhood.
The storyā€™s theme was destiny, remember? But this storyā€™s target audience was little boys. Zuko gets to determine his own destiny as long as he works hard and earns it. Aang gets his destiny no matter what he does or doesnā€™t do to earn it. And Katara cannot change the destiny she was assigned by gender at birth, no matter how hard she fights for it or how many times over she earns it.Ā 
Katara is Winston Smith, and the year is 1984. It doesnā€™t matter how hard you fight or what you accomplish, little girl. Big Brother is too big, too strong, and too powerful. You will never escape. You will never be free. Your victories are meaningless. So stay in your place, do what youā€™re told, and cry quietly so your tears donā€™t bother people who matter.
I will never get over it. Because I am Katara. And so are my friends, sisters, daughters, and nieces. But I am not content to live in Bryke's world.
I will never turn my back on people who need me. Including me.
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insomniactalks Ā· 23 days
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THIS WAS VENGANCE
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Bonus
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Never forgive, never forget
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insomniactalks Ā· 23 days
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Dear Aangā€¦
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insomniactalks Ā· 23 days
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insomniactalks Ā· 24 days
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thereā€™s a reason why the entire story of avatar the last airbender begins and ends with katara. thereā€™s a reason why we are introduced to katara first before we are introduced to any other character. thereā€™s a reason why katara is the narrator. thereā€™s a reason why the creators have emphasized over and over again that katara is just as titular to the story as aang - sheā€™s the other main character.
when you water down katara - remove her compassion, her ability to connect with others, her nurturing role, her ANGER and RAGE and DRIVE - you water down the very fundamentals of the story. you drastically and severely alter the core dynamics of the gaang, because katara was so important to the development of every single one of them. she was the rock and glue that held team avatar together.
katara was unlike any other character to ever appear on television; she was a young brown girl who took no shit from anyone, yet at the same time remained kind and compassionate and nurturing. katara was a force of nature; proud of her heritage and culture, burdened by the responsibility of being the last southern water bender of the water tribe, angered over the death of her mother and everything that the fire nation took from her, determined to help every single person in need, determined to change the world, angry and resentful because old men and rules and laws kept telling her what she could or could not do, thus, she was determined to restructure thousands of years of patriarchy that stood against her from accomplishing her goals and dreams.
watering down katara into at most 2-3 tangible characteristics, stripping her away of all her motivation and agency and nuance, telling the audience that she wants to help and change the world only to have her stand in the background with an air of grief, demonstrates that the writers of the live action fundamentally misunderstand the spirit of avatar. and thatā€™s something so unforgivable. no matter how many changes they decide to make, or how much they decide to stay true to the original story in other areas, no matter how many flashy VFX fight scenes we get - if you fail to properly understand katara, you fail to understand the heart and soul of avatar the last airbender, everything that makes avatar such a timeless classic.
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insomniactalks Ā· 25 days
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Sorry, but having Zuko actually fight back against Ozai during their Agni Kai is just wrong. He was a child, only 13 at the time, afraid to fight his own father and was mutilated as punishment, because Ozai saw Zuko's begging and unwillingness to fight as unforgiveable weakness.
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The Angi Kai isn't meant to be a showcase of Zuko's fighting potential (that's what the Zhao fight is for), but to show the utter cruelty of Ozai.
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insomniactalks Ā· 25 days
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all the stages of catra bc. just because
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insomniactalks Ā· 25 days
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Y'all I am reaching, and I mean fucking REACHING with this observation. Do with this information what you will šŸ˜­ šŸ¤·šŸ½ā€ā™€ļø:
Zuko uses a navy blue and red sari (w/ gold accents) to entrap Aang during their fight sequence in 1x03 (I think?šŸ¤”)
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I just found it interesting that in the next episode, they animate Shu wearing a flowy blue robe with a tinge of red. They totally could have made Oma and Shu just wear green and yellow, considering they're Earth Nation citizens, but the bait be baiting šŸ˜…
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Why these color scheme choices? Interesting... šŸ¤” Anyway, I'm just enjoying every little crumb we get at this pointšŸ˜š Also found it interesting how similar Zuko and Aang are fighting in that scene, and how close to water bending the movements are (perhaps they're picking up some things along the way from Katara?) šŸ˜Š šŸŒŠ
I'm sure there are some connections we can draw to the now famous scarf scene we're all obsessing over at the momentšŸ˜šŸ˜…šŸ§£ I'm more than happy to hear it! Let me know what y'all thinkšŸ’œ
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insomniactalks Ā· 27 days
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Oma & Shu parallel: Scarf
Thereā€™s been a long-standing theory in the Zutara fandom that Zuko and Katara are the reincarnation of Oma and Shu. I wanted to add evidence from the live action that confirms it.
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I would like to point out the slow motion of when Katara passes him, and he reaches out for the scarf. He looks mesmerized, as if heā€™s getting lost in a memory. He then proceeds to follow her.
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In episode 4, we hear the story of Oma and Shu, and I noticed something very familiar in one of the designs. Oma wears a prominent scarf that flows behind her, just like Kataraā€™s did when she walked by.
This scene is filmed and directed to draw our attention to Zukoā€™s fixation on the scarf and Katara herself. The slow-motion sequence of Katara walking by, her scarf flowing behind her, and Zuko reaching out to touch the scarf, is highly charged.
My theory for his reaction is that he sees a scarf similar to one he wore in his past life on his reincarnated lover, flowing the same way it used to on him, only this time itā€™s in her color instead of his. Something in his subconscious tells him to reach out and follow her, and I highly doubt it was simply because of his motivations to capture the Avatar.
*Edit:
I will make a longer more detailed post in the coming days, but I would like to point this out before then. Think of this as a synopsis.
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