Tumgik
#I still like Tenzin I just think that he and Aang are super super different and that's an interesting dynamic to me
flameohotwife · 2 years
Note
Happy FFWF! What was the most recent fic you wrote, and what inspired you to write it? What makes your fic unique, and why did you take it in the direction that you did?
Happy FFWF! The most recent fic I wrote... I think it was Silence and Sparrowkeets for Kataang week (rated T). I wrote two fics for KW and I can't remember which one I technically finished writing last but that one was posted last so we'll go with that, haha. The prompts was "quiet moments/healing techniques" and originally I only intended to focus on the first of those, but wound up involving both. It's really just a little slice-of-life drabble on domestic family kataang, but I am proud of how it turned out.
I started with basically no direction, just a *feeling* I wanted to emulate. I wrote the first line immediately, and then it just kind of sat in the document for a couple weeks while the idea brewed:
Sunlight filtered through the curtains of their bedroom, but even Aang didn’t stir. He and Katara were sprawled on their bed, limbs heavy with exhaustion, with a teething Tenzin between them, still half-latched onto his mother’s breast. 
I think what makes this fic unique is the deep-dive moment in time of caring for an infant. I've read a lot of kataang fic and most of the cloud family ones I've read are super sweet, or very angsty, but not many get into the nitty-gritty exhausting bits, and I think I managed to do that here in this very short scene. I took it this direction because I wanted to show how incredible the love of a parent is for a teething (or colicky, or sick, or or or) baby, how deep we have to dig within ourselves to keep showing up at our best for them, and how sometimes that can even strengthen the love you have for your partner, going through something like that together (and sometimes going through something like that together makes you want to pull your hair out, but that's a different story, hahaha). And also how sometimes the quiet moments between bits of chaos are when you can really remember how much you love your partner and your family. I love exploring the little domestic moments of kataang/the cloud family like that.
Thanks so much for the ask, friend!
3 notes · View notes
Text
Watched LoK season 1 and it was really good
#korra is so different from aang but i still really like her! she’s a badass#i dont really understand the whole ‘no avatar state because she isnt spiritual’. like the avatar state is supposed to be a defense mechanism#like aang was able to have it without being able to control it or even wanting to be the avatar#team avatar is cool i like the characters so far#but it seems really fixated on the relationships. idk if this is in response to ship wars in atla#or they always wanted to do relationship drama but couldnt cause the atla characters were minors#the rapid progression of technology and society seems strange. like this is 70-ish years after atla?? idk how all that development happened#if you compare to real world it does sorta make sense? but its very strange.#also i dont like how...American it all feels. its very clearly 1920s new york and like...the avatar world isnt white or western#and the character designs of the atla characters suffer from it. like...why are they all white??#and the lok character design is super uniform like everyone in atla had unique designs and everyone here has the same face#that doesnt mean i wouldnt simp for a number of them though. it might be the same face but its Nice face#the probending arena thing was cool. we needed a replacement for the episodic eps based on traveling to new towns since they dont travel#i like tenzin! i think he’s neat. and i like seeing airbending by someone who isnt 1 a kid 2 super pacifisty. he will crack a bitch no prob#lin is a Goddess she is so badass. i choose to look away from the whole ‘toph is a cop’ thing and just admire lin being a baddie#also the fact that iroh is voiced by dante?? and he did Nothing to change his voice litchrally its just zuko? hilarious. that family’s genes#why are toph and katara not involved in the conflict? i know theyre old but like...neither of them would just be like ‘imma head out’#i saw the amon reveal coming cause i thought he was yakone which explained why he would hide his face from everyone#also the fact that a kid show just flat out hits you with a murder suicide in the finale?? im wheezing#i can definitely see how this was written to be a one season show and they did a good job with it. the ending was good. glad lin got fixed
7 notes · View notes
army-of-mai-lovers · 4 years
Text
i’m sorry it’s hard to believe Tenzin “pro-bending is a corruption of the noble tradition of bending” is Aang’s son. I watched The Blind Bandit I know Aang would have been all over that
5 notes · View notes
catboyllawliet · 4 years
Text
dude i feel like something (admittedly unimportant but whatever) that lok failed at in comparison to atla is drawing families that look believably related
i feel like that’s something atla did really well in comparison to others cartoons in general. like sokka and katara look like their mom but they’re not a carbon copy of her, and they also look like each other without being the exact same character but katara has a bow in her hair or something akfksk and you can also tell that zuko, azula and their parents are all related
in lok not only does the adult gaang not look anywhere close to what they looked like as teens (mostly because all the adult males in lok have the same angular chiseled face that just wasn’t part of the atla art style), they also had children who look nowhere close to what you’d expect their children to look like
1 note · View note
transtenzin · 4 years
Text
ok umm deleted my first post like a minute after posting because i started panicking and had to type it out again because i didn’t save anything like the dumbass i am, but here it is again 😭
so anyways
nonbinary tenzin!!!
(i’ll be using they/them pronouns for tenzin in this)
katara and aang are trans as well. katara’s a trans girl, and aang’s not a boy or a girl and that’s all you need to know–even if that much 🙄 so it’s not like tenzin and their siblings grow up not knowing that’s a Thing, because they are both very open about gender, especially aang, who encourages them to Think Some Thoughts about gender.
and tenzin tries.
oh boy, do they try lmaoo
tenzin thinks about gender. they don’t really get it tbh. and not in a comedic “what even is gender” meme kind of way, but like. genuinely. but at this point they’re kind of too embarrassed to seriously ask. katara and sokka make gender sound simple and clean-cut, while aang makes it sound like some sort of vague, weird concept, and tenzin’s siblings just kinda took their own interpretations of these and ran with them.
like, okay, sure. tenzin is seen as a boy by the people in the around them. there are certain expectations and assumptions around this perception/what it means. they don’t necessarily like all of them–which is its own can of worms when deciding why–if that is because they simply don’t like these conceptions, or if they don’t like them because they aren’t a guy, but like… picking that apart sounds stressful and complicated.
tenzin hasn’t brought it up with anyone because it’s kind of an awkward and embarrassing thing to admit, but they Super Do Not Like how their voice has gotten deeper. after a while they have realized it is not just the voice cracking thing going on that they don’t like, but just like. in general. everything is okay until they open their mouth 🙃
it’s not like, Every Conversation, but sometimes when they’re talking to someone and it’s a bit quiet, listening to their own voice makes their stomach drop. like that’s really what they sound like. fantastic. 🙃🙃🙃 (/s)
they think about this some but like… not liking their voice doesn’t necessarily mean anything?
kya’s a trans lesbian, and when kya comes out to their family tenzin finally gathers the courage and asks her how she knew. kya admits that it wasn’t like a single sudden realization or a point in life where she just Knew like most people seem to think there is. there were a lot of things that factored into it, but one of the main things wasn’t really how she felt with being misgendered as a boy, but the comfort she took in knowing that there were other things she could be perceived as instead, and other things she could be.
that’s the first time that someone’s ever explained to tenzin their self discovery with that much understanding. it’s a lot better than bumi’s “idk. if you know you know, you know” + generally being annoying about it every time tenzin tries to have a serious conversation (bumi is agender and when they’re like “but how do you know what your gender is” he’s like “you think i would know? rip to you all with genders but i’m different 😌”)
so after this conversation with her, tenzin is just like…. 👁👄👁 omg okay…. that actually makes some sense.
that gets him thinking more, but this time in a more specific direction. they still don’t know anything for sure though. tenzin Suspects they are not Exactly a boy, but other than that??? anyone’s guess is as good as theirs lmao. they try to take comfort in know there are ‘other things’ they could be, but mostly it just ends up stressing them out.
-
after tenzin and pema are together, tenzin has been thinking about it even more, and wants to talk to pema about it. like. tenzin has decided that there is a large possibility that they are not a man, and choosing a specific label just sounds so… permanent. they haven’t talked to kya or bumi or anyone about THEIR gender, specifically, because like… what’re they going to say? “hey actually i don’t think i’m a guy” “then what are you?” “idk good question”???
but tenzin has been questioning for a while now (like. a while a while LOL), and they want to trust pema with this.
(EDIT: also time to mention pema is a trans woman. i forgot to mention this for some reason)
one day pema says something along the lines of “ur my husband” and tenzin takes the opportunity and kind of just laughs like… what if i’m not… jk…. unless…? 😳😳
it’s not exactly how tenzin wanted to approach the subject ofc. pema grows kind of concerned when they’re like “well… actually… i might not be” and needs to clarify they still very much are pema’s spouse, but like… not husband, specifically. but yes, spouse. maybe?
tenzin is embarrassed at first to admit this because they’re like 40 years old. they just had their first kid. are they not a bit old for this?? (the answer is no, there is no age limit to this sort of thing.)
pema is happy to know and tenzin is happy to have told her because even if they’re still figuring it out at least there is someone who kind of Knows that there is a Possibility They Are Not Cis. and pema’s kind of like… idk… if you’ve been thinking about this for that long then i think there is More than a possibility that you Aren’t Cis. to which tenzin makes sure to emphasize they are still not 100% certain about anything.
pema’s like okay that’s fine but like… you know that you don’t have to be 100% certain to try on a label? labels are not things that have to be permanent. if in a few weeks you are just 70% certain that you’re nonbinary, you’re allowed to say you’re nonbinary. if some time later you find another label you’re more confident in, you can change to that. you don’t have to be absolutely 100% all the time to try stuff out.
tenzin surprised pikachu face
okay so… logically, they’ve known this. other people they know have done this, including their siblings. but otherwise? for themself? it honestly hadn’t crossed their mind that they’re allowed to just. say that they feel like x is a term for them, and then change their mind later.
but as simple as pema makes it sound, tenzin kind of internally cringes at the thought of having to say ‘so i told you i was x gender but now i think i’m x”. isn’t it enough of a hassle to do that all once, but again? just because they weren’t sure the first time??? ughhh
what if they ditched the whole thing altogether? throw the entire suitcase out. who needs a label 😌😌 aang kind of didn’t either
-
tenzin starts using any pronouns (like aang did, but aang wanted pronouns to be alternated, while tenzin hasn’t necessarily specified that) by the start of lok, but only with their family and korra.
aang also didnt use a label to describe his gender, and tenzin has been trying to be okay with doing the same.
in lok, hearing pema ask “were tenzin and their siblings this crazy when they were kids?” makes them happier than they can express. it’s like there’s little exclamation marks just going off in their head. like yes!!! that is them!! them!!! Euphoria ™ 💓❤💕💞💗💖💝
and then katara’s reply with “not tenzin, she was always rather serious” and tenzin almost forgets that they have to tell korra that they can’t stay and train her because that also makes them elated, although not quite to the extent that pema using “their” did.
after that they’re still going by any pronouns, but they’ve decided they have a preference for they/them.
when they’re back at air temple island, pema asks about other aspects of gender expression. which like lol tenzin has also been avoiding that thanks 💖 they’ve just been presenting as expected by everyone else–keeping their beard, wearing their usual robes, etc. they’re just like “i’m fine as i am ig” which is true. they’ve thought about changing up their appearance but like lol. they are also on the council and tenzin doesn’t need anything else adding an extra layer of stress on those meetings when everyone already seems inclined to not listen to them. which is also why they haven’t told anyone else about using any pronouns.
-
when season 2 comes around tenzin is still not satisfied with just Not Labeling their gender, but now that they aren’t on the council anymore, they can think about it more.
it’s just… they spent a long time figuring out what gender was, how they felt about their own gender, and while at the time just leaving it alone seemed simpler, it didn’t make them any happier. it really bugs them, actually, lmao.
at this point they are certain they are not a man, and highly doubt they are a woman either. in fact, they’re still not sure if they have a gender like, at all, but they are very hesitant to put a word to it.
they’ve become used to being referred to as a mix of he/they/she/xe/etc. around their family, although their use of he/him has decreased significantly and they mainly use they/them, so when they hear the air acolytes in the southern air temple consistently refer to them as “he”, they sort of have to pause a minute, and then decide to finally say something.
they’re asked then abt their gender and tenzin’s just like… um actually i’m just not putting a label to it atm you know haha ❤
it goes over pretty well but telling other people that makes them realize how much they actually do want to label it, despite how aang used to talk about not needing a word just for others to perceive her gender, and how everyone keeps telling them “that’s valid!”, etc. etc.
the scene in the spirit world with tenzin’s spiritual enlightenment is also about tenzin realizing that they are also free to explore their gender the way THEY want to, not the way everyone else did. even kya’s answer to “how did u know u were trans” doesn’t necessarily have to apply to how they did.
tbh after that tenzin stops caring. and not in an “my gender doesn’t matter to me anymore” way but “it does matter but now i will stop worrying about trying to do gender the ‘right way’“.
afterward they decide they think they are nonbinary. it’s a label that makes them happy, and it does cover what they’ve determined their gender might be. nonbinary is a broad term, and while they’re still not sure of the specifics, that’s okay. if they later discover they’re something else, that’s also okay. they can tell people they are nonbinary, and it’s fine if they have to tell them something different later. it’s not a hassle if it makes them feel happy being out.
-
tenzin’s family can still use any pronouns for them, but now everyone else is using only they/them for them.
tenzin’s okay with being called a husband/father/etc when coming from their family despite their initial talk with pema because they trust that they Get It and know that it’s not in a Cis Way, you know???
tenzin keeps their beard (unfortunately) and keeps shaving their head and stuff but they occasionally wear dresses with long swishy skirts and the euphoria!!!!! 😭😭 they love the cloak swishing you KNOW they’d love long swishy skirts too
this is actually the happiest tenzin can remember being with their gender and stuff. people are using they/any pronouns for them, they are wearing whatever they want, they are nonbinary, AND people know!!!
also time to mention jinora is transfem nonbinary, and she’s a bit nervous about shaving her head at first to get her tattoos. tenzin reassures jinora that her hair will grow back AND she will have her tattoos, which she’s wanted and has welllll since earned. they have a parent/daughter bonding moment over her distress about finally having grown her hair out as long as it was only to shave it all off. 
and tenzin understands that her nervousness doesn’t mean she doesn’t want them–she asked tenzin about getting them way before that. they are hugely significant to her identity, too, just as they are to theirs. tenzin gets it, and keeps going out of their way to give jinora compliments and use her pronouns in front of her while her hair is still growing back.
and ingores that jinora does the same for them for a little while after they tell her they’re nonbinary. no they’re not crying over how sweet their daughter is you are 😭
tenzin is pretty much freely expressing their gender however they want and living their best life now 😌
nonbinary tenzin… ❤❤ we love to see it
also additional headcanons for other characters that didn’t make it in:
sokka is nonbinary and uses ne/nim pronouns
kai is transmasc nonbianry (he/him)
449 notes · View notes
bloodbenderz · 4 years
Note
Can I ask what your season 1 Lok reboot looks like?
this is about 3k words i checked lmfao dont say i didnt warn u
a key part of the whole thing is that korra gets way more perspectives and more experiences representative of like, normal people in republic city bc i think something that really defined what a good avatar aang was was how many people he met and got to know and how he didnt exclusively or even mostly associate w cops and bureaucrats and leaders. so mako and bolin. well first of all their backstories are a little more fleshed out and we get a less black and white view of the “triads” (lol) and mako and bolin’s experiences w them. cuz the show very much does the whole thing of like Criminals Bad but dont worry even tho mako and bolin did commit crimes theyre not Criminals!! so just a little more nuance on the alleged gang problem and the poverty in the city
korra does start out very naive w very black and white ideas (ex. “you guys are CRIMINALS?”) i think a really good way of developing her away from her sheltered naive worldview is putting her in whats clearly an incredibly complicated city w an absolute cesspool of political conflicts, ethnic tensions, the lasting effects of colonization, etc and having her try and understand the needs of “the people” in a more complicated way than “i have to save the good guys from the bad guys” ykwim? and i think the absolute WORST way to do that is what they did. bc we get mako and bolin who could contribute genuinely compelling thematic elements to the story: one parent who was indigenous and one who was from a colonizer background in the decades directly following the end of the war, kids who grew up in poverty apparently without any familial support, and who now are trying to be “respectable” members of society (especially mako). and then most of that is pretty much tossed aside bc asami swoops in w her capitalist dad and her piles of money and the class issue is just never talked about again.
so the way i’d fix all that is like. introducing more, like, normal people. some nonbenders, more workers, more immigrants, etc, to show what daily life is actually like for people. because. we dont know! we dont have any context about whether the nonbender oppression thing is actually an issue bc we dont KNOW any nonbenders with normal lives! and spoiler: the nonbender oppression thing is not an issue. bc it doesnt make historical sense. lok is set 7 decades after the end of the war. that is not by ANY stretch of the imagination long enough to heal from the scars of imperialism, ESPECIALLY not when lok is also set in a settler colonial state. like that fact should have featured PROMINENTLY in the political and social setting! realistically, nonbenders arent an oppressed class, earth and water nation people are, regardless of bending status! as in all settler colonial states, the colonizers and their descendants (in this case fire nation people) retain most of the financial and political capital, leaving the colonized and racialized immigrants (in this case earth kingdom and water tribe people respectively) generally impoverished and politically suppressed. like aside from the fact that theres no way toph would have become a cop, it’s so ridiculous to think that an established privileged class of fire nation colonizers would EVER accept being policed by earthbenders!
imagine how much more nuanced and interesting it would be to set republic city as a remnant of a colonial past still fraught w the violence and tension that colonialism and the associated ideology imposed?? instead of some vague ideas of criminal who wear 1920s outfits and harass shopkeepers think about why extralegal and violent groups like that might form! earth kingdom people trying to push for the reclamation of their land? ethnic groups protecting themselves against corrupt cops? ESPECIALLY w the history that the fire nation has of SPECIFICALLY jailing and killing earthbenders and waterbenders BECAUSE of the potential they have to resist against fire nation imperialism like it just makes no sense at all that earthbenders would be privileged on land that, 70 years ago, they would have been imprisoned on! like these various paramilitary groups falling along these different ideological or ethnic lines, fire nation or earth kingdom or water tribe, pro colonization or anti colonization, pro cop or anti cop, pro immigrant or anti immigrant, and then you juxtapose that w depictions of a govt thats failing to keep this all under control w tenzin trying desperately to keep it together despite the fact that it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the state has no interest in taking the conflicts seriously and would rather just point vague fingers at criminals and gangs? and THEN you bring in korra, who has no idea about any of this and thinks that all its gonna take is kicking some ass every couple days, meeting normal people who offer all kinds of different opinions abt the efficacy of the state and the different violent or nonviolent groups and ideologies clashing in the city and the way all this shit is affecting people’s lives and livelihoods and relationships w other citizens??
theres so much good shit there so many incredible things u could do w that like Where do we go after colonial atrocities? is it possible for a settler colonial state to take revolutionary or indigenous ideas seriously? is liberal reform enough in a state like this? and then all the growth that korra could do going from a simple black and white life about mastering the elements to this messy complicated sociopolitical knot of a city? and all the different kinds of characters u could introduce in this city? like why would u EVER think that the most interesting characters that this story has to offer is a police chief a congressman and a billionaire????
but anyways. that’s what the Setting of my idealized version of lok is. as for the actual plot, it is as follows
it starts out similarly as the show. republic city is MUCH more fraught w political tension and violence and korra knows this but assumes that it’s just a matter of throwing a few gang leaders and corrupt officials in jail. tenzin manages to come see them in the south pole and intends give korra real lessons while he’s there but they receive news of a terrorist attack in republic city only a few days after he gets there so his family has to pack up and leave again.
korra stows away to republic city (katara catches her leaving and gives her blessing im a SUCKER for that moment). she does have a hard time adjusting but she doesn’t do what she did in the show lol the first person she meets in the city is this older woman who works on the docks, directs her to a place where she can eat and gives her a roof to sleep under for the first night. so korra’s first exposure to republic city is just about forming connections w ordinary people like ship workers and a family owned restaurant and people practicing their bending in the park. and by the time she reaches air temple island a day or so later her head is spinning w all this new information and the way that nothing is really what she expected it to be. tenzin gives her his own perspective on everything and pema gives her her own perspective on everything and even those two seem wildly different from all the people she’s already met. and so korra starts to get a kind of outline of the conflicts plaguing the city as extremely complex and a lot more influenced by older ideas of fire nation imperialism and earth kingdom land reclamation than she had any idea about.
mako and bolin are still pro benders but not like. super famous like they are in the show. korra’s picked up a couple friends by now and one of them takes her to a gym where a lot of amateur pro bending (is that an oxymoron? lol) matches happen and thats how she meets mako and bolin and joins their pro bending team. Unfortunately for korra, this gym is run by lin beifong, and also has the distinction of being one of the most notoriously anti settler state organizations in the country. lin beifong is NOT a cop but she runs this gym (and the pro bending league) as a way to offer support to local earth kingdom/water tribe youth, teach self defense skills, a center of community organizing, and sometimes to act as a front to hide revolutionary/combat organizing against the pro fire nation paramilitaries/police force. tenzin is DISTRAUGHT that korra does this and this is where the friction btwn them comes from bc (from tenzin’s perspective) she does things like this without thinking or even fully understanding the context behind them and tenzin will have to deal w the political fallout of the avatar openly aligning herself w a very divisive figure in the community and (from korra’s perspective) tenzin is too unwilling to take sides in a conflict that’s claiming lives and when the state is clearly not taking sufficient steps to protect people well then why the hell shouldnt she align herself w lin beifong, who IS taking steps to protect and support people?
as korra more fully integrates herself into the city and learns more abt how different people think abt everything going on this is where the real exposition abt the equalists begins. they’re a paramilitary group w an ideology thats gaining increasing support among middle/upper class fire nation people, esp nonbenders. on the face theyre abt putting checks on “bender oppression” but really it’s an excuse to persecute and surveil earthbenders waterbenders and airbenders, bc fire nation people have all this leftover fear about benders who arent fire nation Rising Up Against them and these people who r using their Savage Excuse for Bending to terrorize good innocent (fire nation) people. theres all too frequent terrorist attacks that the equalists claim credit for mostly against monuments to earth/water/air nation people and earth/water nation community centers (one like it was the event that forced tenzin back to republic city) but also like the govt doesnt take a lot of these seriously or if they do only a couple people are charged without doing damage to the entire organization
this is also around the time that they meet asami and she becomes part of their friend group. asami likes pro bending but her dad HATES it so she sneaks out to watch matches at lin beifong’s gym (korra says ironically like don’t u know how ~divisive~ that is and asami answers that the only reason its Not divisive is that gyms like beifongs are the only place where nobody recognizes her). and asami alongside korra is also kind of developing a more nuanced perspective on the city that she lives in cuz obviously the only worldview she’s ever been exposed to is her father’s right? and she keeps pushing it off making excuses not to bring mako and bolin and korra around to her house or even not to be seen w them in certain neighborhoods until they call her on it and she’s like Well honestly my dad might do something awful to u! and i dont wanna risk it!
and as time goes on we see more abt asami’s home life like her father’s hyper conservative politics and asami keeps these secrets abt her hobbies and her friends from him but she’s still clearly under his influence and mako bolin and korra r getting increasingly worried abt it cuz like...asami seems to tend to make excuses for him so that she wont have to be drawn into conflict and originally they think its just her being privileged and thats def part of it but the more they find out abt it the more they realize what a tight fucking grip he has on her and the way that like. asami sneaking out once or twice a week is the Only thing she does for herself. and it really starts freaking them out how influential this billionaire is and all the information theyre getting from asami abt what a piece of shit he clearly is. and so that whole plot thing comes about and shows us how deeply embedded these “equalist” ideas are in conservative republic city politics and how much influence theyre actually having in policy making and law enforcement.
asami suffers in the aftermath of this like being forced to truly confront the harm her father is doing both to the city and to herself. and she ends up leaving home when this discovery really breaks. but bc of the deep corruption in govt and police sato isn’t really....dealt with? like this big story breaks and everyones like Oh, My God! Hiroshi Sato Is Funding An Illegal Paramilitary Group! and theres all kinds of inane political discourse about it and he’s arrested but he bails himself out immediately and his finances are examined but he maintains control over them and after a few weeks the gang (bc they Have become close among all this w much less interpersonal drama lol) has to admit that this news story hasnt done what they thought it was going to it hasn’t dealt the equalists a real hit its just given them a very high profile ally
and this is when things really start to ramp up in terms of action like up until now korra’s daily activities are mostly like hanging around in the city w her friends  (which in part entails doing little avatar stuff that people dont feel comfortable going to police with, like Can you help me my ex husband wont pay child support or Please help i got robbed and i really needed that money for rent next month or Help my son keeps skipping school can you talk to him cuz im worried abt him being safe and doing well in school) and pro bending and airbending lessons (which i know ive neglected this part of the story in terms of her whole spiritual/physical conflict but it’s more of a subtle thing like it’s one of tenzin and korra’s more frequent arguments like tenzin says she needs to focus on spirituality and korra asks why she even needs to bc republic city is a sociopolitical problem not a spiritual one) but now the equalist threat seems to really be looming on every level of society like the storyline of equalists preventing pro bending matches happens here and everyones just at a total loss of what to do next. plus increasing and scary rhetoric about tenzin and his family that destroying the last airbenders is necessary to preserving the integrity of the united republic
and so theres the equalist takeover of the city. the people who are mostly resisting this are lin and ragtag group of people who have been resisting colonial rule for a long time (including suyin, who is part of a communist anti colonial community outside the city, because i said so and i think it would be fun), people who have been visiting her gym for years, members of her amateur pro bending league, plus asami and korra and tenzin. korra and tenzin have a sweet moment (bc they do genuinely care abt each other a lot even if their relationship has been marked w a lot of tension and arguing) where tenzin says like you know i think that ive lost focus on the kind of spirituality that might actually help you. korra says what do you mean? and tenzin kind of gestures to where theyre sitting with people buzzing around organizing to take care of innocents and civilians and to fight the equalists and he says this is a kind of spiritual too, isnt it?
and something something plot plot blah blah i havent decided on the details of the plot climax yet but that’s the climax of korra’s character development and what helps her connect w her spiritual side in order to protect the city: the realization that community is its own kind of spirituality. and it kind of represents the real development that i want her to have going from somebody who thinks that the world is divided into criminals and victims and she has to save the victims Into the kind of avatar who understands the people that she’s bound to serve. she becomes an avatar of the people!
and then happy ending lol korra and asami get together lin and tenzin reconcile after years of being at odds the show ends on a hopeful note that the inhabitants of republic city and the united republic as a whole Can move on from the scars of colonialism by reckoning w the remnants of fire nation colonial ideology and reparations to the earth kingdom people whose land this is and destruction of colonial systems that have maintained and enforced colonial violence all these years
291 notes · View notes
Note
kai from tlok or hakoda, maybe even bumi ii?
hello, my beloved :) jeg siger undskyld (i apologize in danish) for the uh. belated response. work got uh. a lot. and then i got far too invested in sds for my own good anD THEN I MOVED lol aNYWAYS here's all of them as a treat:)
kai
how i feel about this character: i absolutely adore him. i think he has a lot of really good moments--especially when everyone thought he was dead but then he wasn't and rather than saving himself, he risked his life to save the people who, essentially, saved him from a rough life on the streets. not to mention that this was probably the first time they realized people cared about them. like, the group was so happy to see that he was alive, and before he joined the air acolytes, he probably didn't have anyone who would have mourned them. he shows so much courage and passion when he gets invested in something and i love them for it.
all the people i ship romantically with this character: kainora my beloved !!! and like shipping him with pretty much anyone but jinora and maybe ikki would be. weird and kinda gross tbh. but he and jinora balance each other out yet aren't afraid to encourage the other and have fun together and that's just. that's so good.
my non-romantic otp for this character: mako and kai !!! like... they both have a lot to learn from each other and i love them for that. it's after mako realizes that bolin is old enough to take care of himself, he fixates on kai as his younger sibling to try and make up for that and to feel needed and able to protect someone because he sees bits of his younger self in kai. and it's kai showing mako that he doesn't always need to be the big brother, that he can depend on other people but also loving having an older brother figure and not knowing how to process that so they act out because that's all they've ever known... it's messy and weird but it's them and their odd sibling-esc relationship and i love it<3
my unpopular opinion about this character: idk if this qualifies as unpopular but demiboy he / they kai rights !!!
one thing i wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: i wish we got more backstory for him--like, that we learned more about his life as a child and that they explored the mako and kai sibling-esc relationship more but's it's all good--i can always headcanon :)
~
hakoda
how i feel about this character: hakoda my beloved !!! ngl, at first i didn't like hakoda because he seemed like the perfect person for awhile--swt chief loved by everyone, best warrior ever, can do no wrong... and that bothered me a lot when i first watched the show two years ago ??? anywas, i love he now. he's a good dad and the love he has for his kids is extraordinary and heartwarming and i love it and him<3
all the people i ship romantically with this character: bato !!! sometimes i forget that bakoda isn't canon... like... genuinely i forget that it's a fannon ship. that is how deeply i ship bakoda.
kyoda is obviously wonderful too! bakoda just holds a special place in my heart. but i wish we got more kyoda scenes in flashbacks or something because they were adorable.
my non-romantic otp for this character: hakoda & sokka, hakoda & katara are my two biggest ones. i mean,,, that reunion hug at the end of boiling rock ??? like,,, yes that family is everything to me. plus, as much as i love the possibility for great dynamics and healing with hakoda being a father figure to zuko, there are more fics under the tag 'hakoda & zuko' than there are with both watertribe siblings which is just. very sad. so i feel like zuko's possible relationship with him gets more attention than hakoda with his kids. like... don't get me wrong, i love the hakoda and zuko dynamics... but like. sokka and katara...
also hakoda and toph. i feel like they'd get along really well and would be too powerful for this world.
my unpopular opinion about this character: that... hmmm... idk if i have an unpopular opinion about him... yeah, i can't think of any oihgvhj
one thing i wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: i wish we had more scenes with hakoda and his kids, but that's me being greedy. i also wish canon would just admit that bakoda is canon already p l e a s e they !!!
~
bumi ii
how i feel about this character: oh boy, where do i staRT !!! i love bumi ii. he is my 1.5 favorite lok character and i absolutely adore him. i wish we got more of him--i do. and that is me being greedy because i think we got more of him than kya ii, but still. he is everything i love in a character--feels useless compared to the others because he can't bend, feeling disconnected an unimportant in his own family because they're all super powerful benders and he's just... he's just bumi ii, the nonbender. acting out for attention because, at this point, even negative attention is better than constantly being overshadowed. and despite the resentment he may feel towards his siblings for being "better" and "more important" than he is, he's still a big brother at heart and would do / sacrifice anything for them.
all the people i ship romantically with this character: no one !!! bumi ii is aroace thank you and goodnight <3
my non-romantic otp for this character: bumi ii & izumi. i just,,, i just feel like they would get along so well??? like. i cannot describe it, but in the gaang's kids crew, they are the best friends. izumi is one of the first people he comes out to as aroace and bumi ii is the first person izumi comes out to as nonbinary. they find solace and peace in each other and understand parts of the other that no one really understands.
bumi ii & sokka also. they have so much in common and they deserve to be besties. bumi ii needs reassurance from someone who understand being the resident nonbender, and sokka needs someone who recognizes and verbalizes that he's amazing and someone worthy of looking up to.
also, naturally, bumi ii & his family. i mean, the sibling relationship was a bit strained, but the three care about each other so much even though they don't get along well. bumi ii is used to looking out for them and taking the blame if kya ii or tenzin did something bad because he wants to protect his siblings the best he can and he may not have magic bending powers, but he can do this. and bumi ii's relationship with aang and katara is definitely better than how they made it seem in the show--change my mind. aang may accidentally give tenzin more attention due to, ya know, airbending, but there is quite simply no way that aang or katara would ever neglect a child as much as the show made it seem. the kataang parents are good parents and i stand by that.
my unpopular opinion about this character: bumi ii has tourette's !!! he got it from his uncle sokka and actually, i headcanon that he actually doesn't curse or say vulgar things a lot because he has some form of coprolalia and always has to curse / say vulgar things against his will, so he does his best not to curse if he isn't being forced. also aroace bumi ii rights.
one thing i wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: i so desperately wish that bumi ii had tourette's in canon... y'all have no idea... i also hate the way that the show had him join the military like ??? that's just weird and i just. did not like it that much ??? so i wish it happened differently. no. you know how i wish it happened? since he has coprolalia, he struggled to find jobs willing to hire him. the other sailors didn't care that sometimes he yelled inappropriate things--it didn't matter to them.
and, lastly, may i suggest reading never been in love (and it's all good) by my bestie @zukkaclawthorne ! it is an aro bumi ii fic about him coming out and it's the content we don't deserve but cherish <3
8 notes · View notes
ourimpavidheroine · 4 years
Note
do u stan mako?
I have been stanning Mako since Season 1 first aired. I have never engaged in the widespread hate for him that so much of the fandom seems to have done. I think he is an extremely misunderstood character. 
In fact, I think the problem with Mako is that Bryke was way too subtle with him in terms of the kind of trauma he had and the damage it did to him. We were meant to infer his damage based on his backstory. Which would have worked, I think, if the primary audience was older; however, since a lot of the audience ended up being younger kids/teens it was completely lost on them. (That’s not a read, by the way - just an acknowledgement that creating characters for adults and kids is not the same thing.)
Mako saw his parents killed in front of him when he was 8 and then became not only an orphan but a homeless one that was responsible for the care and upbringing of his 6 year old brother, all on his own. He had no support of any kind. Whether they lived or died rested quite literally on his 8 year old shoulders. That is fucking traumatic. Unbelievably traumatic, more traumatic than I think any other of the main characters in the Avatar universe had to deal with, short of Aang. 
Mako was a child who not only had massive trauma but did not have the security of a home, nourishment, education or adult support - none of it. Zuko had terrible trauma but an amazing mentor who cared for and helped him. Korra had terrible trauma but had her parents as well as Katara helping her both physically and mentally. That’s not to say that their traumas were somehow easier; it’s not a contest. What it is to say is that there was a support system in place for these other characters that Mako never had.
The only other character who can compare with what Mako went through is Aang, of course. His entire people were exterminated and he Rip Van Winkled himself into the next century. He had some massive trauma going on. And we do see him react to that, despite his cheerful personality. The difference, I think, is that Aang is 12 and Mako is 19. Aang isn’t any better than Mako when it comes to dealing with his mixed up feelings of friendship, loyalty and romance, it’s just that people are apt to give him a pass for the way he essentially forces Katara to be romantic with him because he’s 12. Mako might be 19, but the tug of war that Asami and Korra are playing over him (and we’re all clear that he instigates none of this, right? because if you think he does go and watch the show again, he never instigates any of the love triangle) is not one he is equipped for at all, which is why he fails so miserably at it.
In short, younger people have this idea that 19 is super grown up and that 19 year olds should have their shit together when in reality, 19 isn’t all that grown up at all. 19 year olds are still figuring it all out and will be for a few years to come. And that, I think, is why there is so much hate for Mako. They expect him to react to situations like Tenzin or Uncle Iroh would and uh...no. No.
(I also firmly believe that Mako is on the autistic spectrum while Bolin is rocking some serious ADHD but that’s a headcanon, so take that as you will.)
The other hate for him seems to be over him becoming a cop which...I think there’s a whole lot to be said for the way Mako goes from being a fairly high ranking triad member for his age (he’s canonically an accountant for the triad at 15, I mean...hello?!?!?) to later wanting to join the police. And he’s not a great cop. He’s too violent and breaks the rules - that’s what he knows, after all - and Beifong has to sit on him a lot. (Hell, she puts him a cell for awhile, and who could blame her? He’s a former criminal and he pulls shit on duty which is not only against the law but which causes issues for her.) His heart is in the right place - he wants to fight injustice - but all he knows is how that happens on the street. And again, I think Bryke thought that viewers would infer a lot of this about him on their own and while some of the older viewers did the younger viewers sure as hell did not. It’s all part of his personal growth where he learns to think about others instead of just his own (and Bolin’s) survival. There’s an arc there that goes from Mako pro-bending and not giving a fuck in Season 1 to Mako taking on the Colossus in Season 4, something which he clearly thinks is going to kill him. His goodbye to Bolin is what he thinks is the last one (which Bolin recognizes and it’s why he comes back to get Mako after he gets the engineers to safety). That’s a tremendous amount of growth but because Mako is Mako it’s mostly internal. He’s an internal sort of guy. But again, children’s media needs everything to be external and poor Mako as a character gets the ass-end of the stick when it comes to viewers who rely on external characterizations.
Obviously I think it’s possible for older viewers to just dislike the character because they don’t like him! I mean, I get what is going on with Mai and I never cared for her as a character, even though I sympathized with her and her particular background. But that’s my point. I can understand that she’s emotionally stunted because of an entire childhood of being forced to be seen and not heard and still not like how that manifests. But I’d never dismiss why she became the way she was. I can have compassion for her while not wanting to sit down and have tea with her (or write about her, for that matter). So if you understand how Mako’s trauma manifests and can have understanding and compassion for him as a character and still not want to have tea with him, then hey, I get it. But I rarely see that happening with the character and it’s a damn shame, I think.
122 notes · View notes
sokkascroptop · 3 years
Note
ur hc about what y/n would be doing in the tales of ba sing se ep made me think about bumi 🥺 like imagine if bumi just felt super sad and jealous bc kya and tenzin (especially tenzin) got so much attention from katara and aang but y/n was like "absolutely fucking not" and taught him how to play earthbending soccer bc she remembered how amazing it felt to know that not everything was specifically for benders, and that nonbenders DO have value 🥺🥺🥺
I’ve actually thought a lot about Bumi’s relationship with Aunt Y/N and Uncle Sokka with them all being non-benders. Like, way more than is necessary. Also, when I was first asked about Sokka and Y/N’s kids a few months ago, an anon sent in this ask where I elaborate a bit more on Y/N’s relationship with Bumi. They are really, really close because of him being a non-bender, especially in childhood/teenagerhood when he’s feeling real angsty and sad that he’s so different from the rest of his family. 
Like I said in that previous post, Bumi was different but Aang was a good father and all that shit about him only caring about Tenzin because he was an airbender is bullshit, however, children don’t think rationally about stuff like that. And so one day, when Bumi is feeling particularly down he goes to Y/N and maybe cries to her a little about it because, “–Dad took Tenzin to the Southern Air Temple to learn about airbending and stuff.”
and Y/N says, “Well, didn’t Aang take both you and Kya on solo trips to the air temples when you were Tenzin’s age?”
“Well, yeah.” 
And Y/N is like, “And don’t you think it’s important for all of you to have that time alone with him so he can teach you about the culture he grew up in?”
“Yeah... but it’s different, Aunt Y/N, because Tenzin is an airbender and I’m not. And now because they’re gone, Kya is doing stupid waterbending stuff with Mom.” 
So Y/N sits Bumi down next to her and they cuddle up on the couch (even though Bumi definitely doesn’t want to because 12 is too old to be coddled like that, ugh he’s not a baby) “I know you know this, but my family was just like yours. I was the only one who was a non-bender and I used to feel the same way you did. I traveled all around the world with some of the greatest benders ever to live and I could still keep up with them. So could Sokka. Have you ever thought that maybe when you grow up in a family of all benders, in a world where bending is revered in all cultures that maybe it’s better to be the different one because then you’re special?”
and Bumi stews on that for a while, and then Y/N says something that sticks with him forever. “Think about what you can give the world, just as you are now, rather than what you wish you could give them.” 
And then Bumi stops complaining at home. He doesn’t whine about airbending and waterbending practice, he just sits and watches or practices his own swordfighting or something, and Aang and Katara both notice that something has changed in him and they think maybe he’s just grown up a bit more until he’s 18 and he decides he’s going to join the United Forces to, ‘show the world what I can give them’ and then both Aang and Katara look at each other and are like, “fucking Y/N”
14 notes · View notes
ameliatheamazing · 4 years
Text
Welcome to Republic City
So that was the first episode of Korra! I think it was a great start personally. Right off the bat I can tell it’s an entirely different show with a new setting and premise, like everything is very different from ATLA. And that’s good, you know. Like I think people compare this show to its predecessor too much from what I’ve seen, but it’s not the same. It’s funny, Korra is kinda living in Aang’s shadow both in canon and in real life.
A LOT has changed between this show and atla and it’s kinda a lot to take in at once. The four nations are not separate anymore, and I think they still exist, like it’s not just one big country, but in Republic city everyone is kinda mixed together. That’s awesome, the setting is like super different and the only thing that’s really the same about the world is the bending. (except that’s changed a lot too lol). I am excited to see more of it.
I like the characters we’ve been introduced to so far. Korra’s really awesome, she’s very headstrong and she is definitely not one for avoiding conflict the way Aang was. And she is very dedicated to being good and helping people, almost to a fault. It’s interesting that she already has mastered water, earth, and fire so all she needs to learn is air. Aang was the exact opposite of that.
We met Tenzin, Aang and Katara’s son who is the second to last airbender, and he has 3 kids who are pretty fun. And we also met Lin who is Toph’s daughter and the chief of police. And we got to see Katara!! That whole scene with their family was very sweet. I’m excited to meet other kids of atla characters, and see what the rest of them are up to/what they did after the show. Like we know nothing so far about Zuko, like he could be dead or he could still be firelord, who knows
The antagonists that were introduced (the equalists) are pretty interesting because they don’t seem like, that bad? Like their cause isn’t just.. fascism, it’s kinda understandable. I mean they’re obviously still bad, like it’s a radical party that is very anti-bender and that’s not good, but it is realistic. We’re not really sure what they’re about yet but it’s very interesting.
Um, idk if I have anything else to say, except this show seems really promising and I’m very excited to post the next episode! I hope you guys enjoyed it and are as excited as I am to see the rest. Because I think this is gonna be very fun. See ya later!
17 notes · View notes
lunaxmadel · 3 years
Text
My thoughts on LOK characters after watching season 1 (spoilers (obv))
Thoughts on characters before watching | after season 1 | after season 2 | after season 3
Korra: I do not understand how people dont like her. Shes spunky and doesnt take shit and she has her own opinions... definitely a Taurus with ADHD you cannot change my mind. I feel like the reason ppl dont like her is purely based on the fact that shes a poc and a woman with a strong opinion and mindset and we're all taught that that's not acceptable. Ppl just can't stand that shes not like Aang. ANYWAY I LOOOOVVVEEEEE HER AND I RELATE TO HER SO MUCH I know shes not canonically ADHD but I still feel very represented
Jinora: sooo different from what I imagined! I thought she'd be more of an extrovert!! Shes so cute tho and I love how shes clearly a daughter of Tenzin!!
Amon: WHAT. HOLY CRAP. I did not expect him to be like....this.... this man is so OP!! How does he???? What is he???? This just creeped me OUT! What an amazing villain. And yk big thanks to him for getting Korra in touch with her air bending and the spirit world. Helpful man
Tenzin: I dont think I was wrong about him in my first post. I love him so so much i want him to adopt me lowkey???
Mako: still very attractive to the point that I just hate it. Idk I really like him but there's something off... and I know hes not gonna stay with Korra(?) But i dont think they're right for each other. He wasnt being honest with Asami and Korra and idk I like a man who's honest my dudes. Love the fact that he loves his brother so much!! So so cute!!! I love Mako, I just dont think either Asami nor Korra are right with him. But maybe I'll change my mind on that throughout the next seasons???
Bolin: THE AXTUAL LOVE OF MY LIFE!!!???? I LOVE THIS DUDE IF HE WERE REAL I WOULD MARRY HIM SO HARD LIKE HALLO THIS PURE BOY IS A DREAM MAN
Kuvira: I dont think I've met her yet??? So I dont know
Asami: still haunts my dreams this queen is the most beautiful person in any room shes in. In the beginning I felt like there was smth off... like she was so kind so quickly and that was just super sus but maybe shes just very social and just wanted friends!! I love when she stood up for herself when Mako wasnt being honest. You go queen!
Zaheer: I dont think we've been introduced yet so idk
Eska: same as Zaheer
Kya: I have no idea but now that I'm thinking about it maybe shes Katara daughter? Her mom's name was Kya right?
Lin: definitely bisexual. Fierce. I love her oh my god we stan a strong woman
Opal: we've not met her yet?
Wan: also haven't met
Bumi: WEVE HAD A FIRST GLANCE AT HIM AND HIS PERSONALITY IS LIKE AANG AND SOKKA COMBINED???
Suyin: I'm pretty sure now that she is Tophs daughter
Unalaq: I'd like to retract the statement that he has daddy vibes. He does not thank you. Well he does, when we meet him and at the end, in the middle hes lowkey an asshole though. Still hot though cant help it. When it was revealed he was Amons brother my mind was blown and the backstory is so tragic (so it turns out I switched the brothers but I'd figure I'd leave it in bc I was so confused and it was hilarious anyway read Tarrlok for that)
Meelo: HOW DARE THEY WRITE ME INTO THIS SHOW WITHOUT MY PERMISSION HAHAHAHAH MY MAN INVENTED FART BENDING??? ME BITCH I want to adopt this lil dude and mother him and that says something considering I dont want children so, yk, Meelo best boy
Varrick:have we met? Is he the referee at the fight club? I dont know. He looks fab tho
Pabu: AAAAAAHHH I LOVE HIM AND I WOULD STILL VERY MUCH DIE FOR HIM THANK YOU SIR? SIR?I WOULD DI3 FOR YOU SIR.
Pema: best mom. Looks like a cinnamon roll but could very much kill you. This queen gave birth to 4 whole ass kids and still just does her thing strong queen
Hiroshi: he is rich. Great mustache. Absolute douch tho
Tonraq: I honestly dont know OH WAIT IS HE KORRAS DAD?
Desna: still dont know
Saikhan: chief of police...? Still mean grandpa vibes
Shiro: is this the hobo man? I'm so lost in all the characters man
Senna: KORRAS MOM OH MY GOD THE MOST BEAITIFUL LADY ICE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE
Ikki: so okay I thought she was a princess but shes Tenzins daughter. Very cute, probably has ADHD. Just a a generally sweet bub. I still think shes a princess so I wasnt wrong
Tarrlok: ....wait? Hes Amons brotjer?? Then who the fuck is Unalaq? I think I'm confused
Naga: BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY my child I want you as my pet friend please please I love you please my heart goes boomboom
Adding:
Iroh: I was confused bc the picture it shows is old boy Iroh but this is Zukos grandson so. Anyway when he came on screen and i heard zukos voice i SCREAMED and then someone was like "general Iroh" AND I STARTED SOBBING I MISS MY BUB IROH anyway this is a dream boat hes gonna accidentally steal as much hearts and Zuko did
Overall thoughts so far:
OKAY SO I've waited with watching this for such a long time bc I just figured it would disappoint me bc I love Atla so so much!! So I never got to watching it always coming up with excuses for myself. Now that it came to NETFLIX though, I had no excuses left and boy am I happy I didn't. This show has already been amazing so far. There are certain things I still dont really understand but I'm sure we'll get clarification on that (why couldn't Korra airbend and spirit thing yk why and how can Amon take away powers? Etc) I'm so excited to watch more! It hold my attention so so well, I love the characters (I LOVE KORRA!!!) Anyway I was not disappointed and that was a great surprise!! I'm gonna start on season 2 and write another on of these when I finish that!
4 notes · View notes
lady-griffin · 4 years
Note
Avatar both Korra and Aang legends?
001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my -- 
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Favorite character: Aang, Katara, Toph, or Zuko (I can’t decide)
Least Favorite character: Pakku (his sexism was only really “solved” by Katarina being the granddaughter of the women he was once betrothed too – it felt forced and weak. I also didn’t like him letting Katara call him grandfather (or a version of that), but not Sokka. 
5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Zutara, Kataang, Zuko x Mai, Sokka x Suki, Mai x Ty Lee
Character I find most attractive: Katara, also definitely June
Character I would marry: Sokka or Suki
Character I would be best friends with: Katara or Suki
a random thought: Are the combo animals their own unique species or are the animals in the Avatar world able to reproduce with different animals and just over time, those half babies were able reproduce as well, and thus becoming their own species. 
That would explain the existence of both Solo Animals and Combo Animals. Example: Bears (Solo), Armadillo Bears and Platypus Bears (Combo) 
If that’s the case does that mean, the interspecies mixing happened millions and millions maybe a billion years ago, if so, is that why solo animals (cats, bears) are so rare while combo animals are the majority? 
Solo animals are super rare, which makes me think Bosco was like a super expensive/valuable gift to the King - showing his status as King. 
Turtle Ducks are the greatest thing ever.
An unpopular opinion: I never really thought “The Great Divide” was as awful as people make it out to be. It’s certainly not my favorite, but I was surprised when I learned how much people truly hated it.
My Canon OTP: Kataang
My Non-canon OTP: Zutara
Most Badass Character: Azula, also Kyoshi 
Most Epic Villain: Azula and Ozai
Pairing I am not a fan of: Azula x Ty Lee (I don’t hate it, but given how toxic their relationship was, I can’t say I’m a big fan)
Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): 
Not a character, but I thought that having Fire Lord Sozin banned homosexuality (in the comics) felt very weird to me and not in line with the Fire Nation. Out of the three remaining nations, the Fire Nations seemed the most “progressive” in terms of equality for women or more accurately for the goal of world domination they were willing to used everything and everyone they had.
It’s also interesting see how each nation and their relative status in terms of morality and their relation to female warriors/fighters/ 
The Fire Nation (Bad) has the most female fighters. We see actual women in the army, female prison guards, as well as the most individual named fighters/characters – Azula, Ty Lee, Mai, June, Lo and Li. Azula’s teachers must have been on an entirely different level than everyone else, as neither one was a fire-bender, but yet they were charged with being Azula’s mentors and teachers in regards to fighting and fire bending.
The Northern and Southern Tribes (Good) have pretty sexist views. Sokka is pretty sexist in the beginning (he had to learn that from somewhere), in Katara’s introduction all the men left (not all that were capable) and Sokka felt as the only teenaged male it was his duty to be in charge/protect everyone.
We literally have episodes that explored the sexism of The Northern Tribe and it literally takes Katara throwing down with an old man from them to start to change. And to my knowledge, there are only two named female water benders – Katara and Hama, maybe the healer in the northern tribe had a name(?), but the fact that I would have to look up her name, if she has one (proves my point). Her name is Yugoda. We don’t have any non-bender female fighters for the Water Tribes. 
The Earth Kingdom (Neutral) has Suki, Avatar Kyoshi and the Kyoshi warriors (unnamed), June, and the girl from Jet’s gang, but the only living female earth bender we ever see is Toph, aside from her we only ever see male earth benders.
The Air Nomads (Strive For/Good) seem to treat everyone as equals, but women and men lived and were raised separately.
So, it just felt lazy to say oh the fire nation is ruled by an oppressive regime and the regime is bad and banning/outlawing same-sex couple is also bad – so there.
When I think you could’ve had a very interesting story, when the Water Tribes who we’ve seen have the most backwards views on women, being the nation to ban same-sex marriages/relationships.
Avatar was very good on the whole – “It’s not that simple” and “Oh god, it’s so much more complicated -  so, I think it would’ve been a very interesting storyline to have The Water Nations have been the ones to ban same-sex relations, while maybe the Fire Nation maybe took after some ancient (Greece/Roman societies) where some thought a soldier would fight harder if they were fighting and protecting their lover/love.
Also, maybe in the recovery period. The Fire Nation wants to have same-sex be legal, but as they were were literally trying to take over the world and systematically tried to destroy other nations and colonize,  the Water Tribes don’t want their traditions and customs being dictated by those of the Fire Nation. I don’t know, that could’ve been very complicated and nuance story. 
It just seemed lazy to me and sort of ignoring what they’ve already set up in their canon universe, on purpose or not. 
 Favorite Friendship: Momo and Appa, Aang and Sokka, Aang and Zuko, Aang and Toph… Aang with anyone really
Character I most identify with: I don’t think I really identify with anyone, but when it came out, definitely Mai.
Character I wish I could be: Mai or Ty Lee
Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Favorite character: Korra 
Least Favorite character: Varrick, Unalaq (weak villain), Mako (at times)
5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Korrasami, Bolin x Opal, Korralin, Kai x Jinora, Makorralin (…I’ve read a lot good smut of these guys, so yeah...)
Character I find most attractive: Asami
Character I would marry: Asami
Character I would be best friends with: Jinora
a random thought: Why did they have Korra sleeping on her bed with shoes on in season one… that will forever bother me.
An unpopular opinion: I’m have no idea if this is unpopular, but I think Bumi getting air-bending was such a copout. There was something very interesting about the child of two of the most powerful benders (literally his dad is the avatar and his mother was the avatar’s water bender teacher) being a non-bender and that really could’ve been explored. It felt “cheap” to give him air-bending…I was never a fan of that
Also, it bothered me that the Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi all had skin tones that matched perfectly with their respected powers/lack of powers and also they all dress with that same mind set. As one of the first mixed families we really get to see, It would’ve been nice, if their styles of clothing were different or combos of Air Nomad, Water Nation and Earth Kingdom (given where they lived). 
Having only Tenzin be the only we see dress as an Air Nomad and later Bumi (when he gets air-bending) definitely gives credence to the idea that Bumi definitely had a reason for thinking he didn’t truly belong in the Air Nation.
I think Legend of Korra loss a good opportunity of introducing the first mixed families/kids, but still had them dress in regards to their respected element 
It felt weird that Bolin and Mako, dressed with their specific element color. 
Especially since Republic City was this huge diverse city, with influences and people from across the four nations. 
My Canon OTP: Korrasami
My Non-canon OTP: Korralin/Gender-Reverse Korralin
Most Badass Character: Korra
Most Epic Villain: The Red Lotus
Pairing I am not a fan of: Makorra, I was a huge fan of them when it started, but honestly as the show continued and looking back at it, their chemistry was off after the second episode. They had such a great set-up with the gazing end and music, but after that it was downhill.
Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Not so much a character, but Aang and Katara and their relationship with their children never felt right to me. 
In general, though, I think the creators struggled in finding the right groove for many of the characters if not all of them, at one point or another. 
Favorite Friendship: Korra and Asami, Korra and the Airbending Kids
Character I most identify with: Jinora and Ikki
Character I wish I could be: Asami
13 notes · View notes
firelxdykatara · 5 years
Note
If Zutara were to be canon,thanks to Aaron Ehasz,how will this affect Legend Of Korra?
This is a difficult question to answer, mostly because it would of necessity rely on a whole lot of assumptions and biases, and without asking Aaron himself (in private, where he wouldn’t have to worry about kicking off another fandom war), it’s impossible to answer with any degree of certainty.
Now, I can talk about how I, personally, think things would have been different if Zutara had been canon–which, for me, means that the epilogue of book 3 was just the tea shop scene, and we got a book 4 where, as Aaron briefly mentioned on twitter and in various interviews, the consequences of energy-bending were explored, the lost Air Nomads were found, Azula had her redemption arc (which would probably have tied into the search for Ursa, which I would’ve loved to see Aaron’s take on in book 4, especially considering the crap the comics handed to us), and Zuko and Katara grew closer and entered into a relationship by the end of the season.
(Before I start exploring this in more depth, I want to head off ‘delusional Zutarian’ arguments at the pass–I’m not saying it’s 100% confirmed that Aaron was planning to make ZK canon in book 4. I am saying (as I’ve said before) that, given the set up and development in canon, and the way Aaron himself has talked about how he develops characters and relationships, I believe he (and other writers/artists/crew members) was leaning heavily towards that particular relationship and would have explored it further in book 4 had he been allowed to.)
Putting the rest under a read more cause this got long.
We know some of what Aaron had plans for–Azula’s redemption, the consequences of energybending, the lost Air Nomads–but nothing super concrete. Going from that, then, I believe that in Book 4, the Gaang would have split up for a good chunk of it. (Please note that most of the rest of this is pure speculation.) There’s a lot of ground Book 4 would’ve had to cover–the Gaang in the beginning would’ve split off to head to their respective homes (Sokka and Katara to the SWT, Suki to Kyoshi Island, Toph… ok, Toph probably just stuck around Caldera and this would’ve been a great time to have the Toph&Zuko life-changing-field-trip episode we were denied in canon) to touch base with the families and friends they’d left behind to go on their save-the-world tour.
For his part, Aang would’ve returned to Guru Pathik. While he got a last-second Hail Mary (in the form of a conveniently placed rock, which still boggles my mind, but whatever) when fighting Ozai, he still was not a fully realized Avatar, and since I’m bitter that the Guru Pathik/chakras plot was almost entirely dropped after the book 2 finale, I’m saying he’d have gone back to finally finish that training because it makes sense and because I can. Anyway, he returns to the Guru, and by this point he has accepted that Katara doesn’t return his feelings the way he’d like her to (a call back to The Fortuneteller, which should have been foreshadowing for Aang’s emotional growth, barring the last twenty seconds of the episode).
Furthermore, he’s learned that ‘letting her go’ doesn’t mean he can’t care about her or want her in his life to be the Avatar (after all, previous Avatars have had love and even been married–Kuruk isn’t that great of an example, given that his love life got him killed, but Kyoshi lived over two centuries and had multiple loves over her incredibly long life, and Roku was married and had descendants of his own), it just means letting go of his expectations–letting go of the selfish aspects of his love, the parts that lead him to nod in agreement when actors on a play told fake!Katara ‘I thought you were the Avatar’s girl’, and that lead him to expect her to return his feelings and push against her boundaries when she told him she wasn’t sure and was confused. (He said “We kissed at the invasion and I thought we were gonna be together, but we’re not.” even though a) he kissed her without any warning, she did not kiss him, and she looked away and frowned afterwards, and b) she never once brought up the kiss again or hinted that her feelings towards him had changed and become romantic, so he had no reason to believe they’d ‘be together’.)
Ok that was a bit of a tangent, but the upshot is, Guru Pathik helps Aang fully master the Avatar State. While on that particular journey, Aang has to deal with the consequences of energybending–he pulled Ozai’s energy into himself, and he has to deal with the sudden darkness that was absorbed into his spirit. He also receives some sort of hint, possibly from a dream or meeting with a spirit, that with balance returning to the world, the Air Nomads can start to return, too.
Sokka, Suki, and Toph wind up going with Aang on his journey to figure out just what the spirits meant by that. They discover that the Air Nomads weren’t totally eradicated by Sozin (which would’ve been impossible, since we already know that inter-nation relationships happened in the past [Avatar Kyoshi’s mother was an airbender], and they were, well… nomads), but those who survived (because they weren’t at the temples at the time, or some who hadn’t attained mastery managed to escape) assimilated into the Earth Kingdom and even some in the Fire Nation. Because the world was incredibly out of balance following the decimation of the Air Nomad population, and because many of them were suddenly in a situation where showing they were airbenders was a death sentence, their spirit as a population was almost completely broken, and they stopped being able to airbend. In the present, Aang finds descendants of Air Nomad survivors, including Ty Lee (and, in my HC, Jet, who shows up alive bc I want him to get the healing arc he didn’t get in canon) who are beginning to discover they can airbend.
Meanwhile, Zuko asked Katara to accompany him on his journey to find his mother–it’s a callback to TSR, when he helped her gain closure for her mother’s murder, and since he wants to bring Azula too, he asked for Katara’s help sister-wrangling. They eventually find Ursa (who did not willingly forget her children, and who did not send a letter to her former lover to make Ozai question Zuko’s paternity, because in the show she was not a horrible person and she loved her children more than anything tyvm), as well as Kiyi (the only good thing to come out of that comic), and Azula finally gets the sort of closure she could never have before, and there is a heavy focus on her emotional journey. Zuko is there to support her, and Katara is there to support Zuko. In the process, Katara winds up with an odd sort of mildly antagonistic friendship with Azula, who gets to a point where she can good-naturedly tease Katara about her growing feelings for Zuko.
ANYWAY. I realize you were asking primarily how it would affect LoK, and I went on a whole ass book 4 tangent. So here’s how I see it changing the landscape in LoK.
First of all, Katara is granted the importance she is due. She has a statue in most major cities, including both Caldera and Republic City. Katara married Zuko and became one of the most beloved Fire Ladies in Fire Nation history, partly because she didn’t assimilate and give up her own home and culture, and she never hesitated to speak her mind during council meetings. It put off much of the nobility, especially in the first few years of their marriage, but Zuko had survived many an assassination attempt by then, and he valued his wife’s input above his closest advisors and never made a secret of it. The nobles could either accept it or risk losing their titles, which several of them did because they figured the Fire Lord was bluffing, only to find out he wasn’t in the slightest.
Katara was also active in the White Lotus, which she wound up leading along with Sokka and Zuko (who’d passed the mantle of Fire Lord onto their eldest daughter, Izumi, once they felt she was ready to lead), and when Aang passed away, they immediately began the search for the next Avatar.
Most of Korra’s early life would’ve been the same, Katara and Sokka saved her from the Red Lotus’ kidnapping attempt, and she wound up raised at the White Lotus compound where she learned waterbending, firebending, and earthbending, and was on the cusp of learning airbending from Tenzin (who was Aang’s kid with someone else–given his design, his mother could’ve been literally anyone, Toph or one of the returned Air Nomads or someone else entirely) when he got called back to Republic City, and she followed.
From here, well… ok, there’s a lot I would change about LoK just in general. Thinking specifically of how Zutara would have affected things, and with the stipulation that Aaron was still the head writer for LoK, I like to think that Katara wouldn’t have been rendered weak and useless (seriously, a bloodbender locked away Korra’s bending, but Katara–allegedly the most powerful waterbender alive, and the one who single-handedly got bloodbending outlawed–couldn’t undo it with bloodbending???), and would have been allowed to, for example, fight to protect her family (while Tenzin and his children wouldn’t have been her direct relations [unless, instead of Pema, he wound up marrying Zuko and Katara’s youngest daughter??? that’s an idea], they would still have been family, as Aang’s only living descendants) and taken a more active part in the water tribe civil war (which would have been given the narrative arc it was due instead of being a half-assed vehicle for ridiculous spirit world shenanigans). And besides, a gaang reunion episode where Zuko, Katara, Suki (because screw LoK for having her just up and disappear lmfao) and Toph fight the Red Lotus together just like old times??? That would’ve been fucking amazing.
(We got to see old ass men in AtLA fight like they were in their prime, including one who was over a century old. What was LoK’s excuse???)
Since we got the return of the Air Nomads in book 4 of LoK there would be no need for the spirit portals or the ‘harmonic convergence’, and instead Korra’s spiritual journey hinges on her trauma from the end of Book 1. The biggest difference, here, is that I have always been incredibly dissatisfied with the fact that Korra just stared sadly over the edge of a cliff and was suddenly able to unlock the Avatar State and get her bending back. Keeping in mind the way Aaron Ehasz excelled at character journeys in the original show, I think she should have ended book 1 with her bending locked completely. Katara was able to reverse whatever it was Amon did to her (and Amon, by the way, didn’t get killed–the Equalists also didn’t just disappear, and the thread of nonbender oppression carries through the rest of the series, to be revisited and finally resolved in book 4), but it didn’t give Korra her bending back, because the trauma she suffered was just as psychological as it was a physical block to her bending.
Book 2, therefore, would’ve included a narrative thread of Korra needing to go on her own spiritual journey to unlock her chakras and regain her bending, finally able to reac the Avatar State when the civil war between the water tribes reached a head, and she is finally able to broker peace, having learned a great deal about herself and her connection to the past avatars.
I realize that I’ve kind of derailed pretty far off the original point, so I’ll stop here with a general note that while Zutara, as a relationship, doesn’t affect a whole lot of this directly (for the most part it would just affect the parentage of the Gaang kids who showed up, the designs of some, and their relationships with each other and possibly with Korra)–however, with the addition of Book 4 and keeping Aaron’s writing talents for LoK, the landscape of the entire sequel would be altered. I’d like to think that he would’ve preferred writing a coherent narrative that did justice to the characters even if it meant ending the show with unresolved plot threads (especially since they could wrap things up with comics which, in this alternate timeline, are actually good and in character because I want to have my cake and eat it too), so rather than being disconnected plots that didn’t make much sense when each individual villain could’ve served as the entire series Big Bad, much of books 2 and 3 would’ve involved smaller scale plots and villains, with Amon returning for book 4 and everything getting wrapped up far more neatly than it did in canon.
TL;DR: while Zutara itself wouldn’t necessarily change a whole lot (it would affect Book 4 and the post-atla comics more) outside of the different Gaang kids and their dynamics, the show as a whole would’ve been vastly different if the writing team for LoK had been the same–including Aaron as head writer–as the writing team for AtLA.
Bryke were great Big Picture guys, great vision and visual guys, I’ve never disputed that. But they sucked at not missing the forest for the trees. They sucked at romance. And they really sucked at coherent plot and character development, especially in the small scale.
152 notes · View notes
jaxsteamblog · 4 years
Text
I started writing an outline for a non existent Flower Shop AU series but it just turned into Loving Avatar Thuy Hours.
Here are some great things about Avatar Thuy (SUPER long post because I love Thuy):
She tells her folks that she’s a girl around the same time she tells them about the bald man who taught her to sling mud. Because there’s not a lot of gendered differences in the Swamp Tribe, the trans thing wasn’t a big deal. Finding out their daughter was the Avatar, on the other hand, REALLY WAS.
The concept of “kin” (FOLKLORE TERM) and the connection of all life in the swamp via the root system has a profound spiritual effect on Thuy. She can perfectly call up any Avatar and, as she gets older, can channel them easily when in the Avatar State. For the on-screen Avatars, here’s Thuy’s hot takes:
Wan- She is Not A Fan. Doesn’t like how he shifts between being super cocky and super insecure. Wishes he had not closed off the Spirit Realm. (Not like it worked, as she gestures angrily around the swamp)
Yangchen- When Thuy learned about Fairy Godmothers from a book of Fairy Tales someone brought into the Swamp, this is immediately who Thuy thought of. Yangchen was always calming and patient, and listened every time Thuy would rant about her cousins stealing a toy or when someone pushed her into the swamp. Family is big in the Swamp and Yangchen became another mother.
Kuruk- He can’t handle kids. He also cannot handle the concept of hick Waterbenders. He is a North Pole Waterbender and (SPOILERS) fell for a high class Fire Nation Lady so, he does not like the Swamp. The Swamp is not a fan of his either.
Kyoshi- TBH Thuy was intimidated by her at first. However, when puberty hit, they talked a lot about body dysmorphia and what it means to be a woman. Thuy was able to accept her body with the continued help of Kyoshi. 
Roku- Roku is a story-teller. He told Thuy about the start of the war, and his time with Sozin. He talked about Azulon and what the royal family used to be like. Thuy was fascinated by the Fire Nation, wondering how such a mythological sounding people could do something so human like wage war.It allowed her to think of the Fire Nation as something more than just The Enemy.
Aang- The first Avatar to greet her. He was her confidante and like a very fun grandpa. He taught her to meditate and throw mud pies (breaking the rules by tiptoeing into Earthbender territory). He talked about the war as it was happening, and explained to her how important it was that she grow up safe. He talked about his kids and asked her about the Swamp. He explained how important it was to understand how all things, all nations, were connected and to make friends in every nation. He told her about Zuko, and about his grandkids. Especially Rohan, who might know a thing or two about pronouns. 
Sometimes, catgators are tame enough to keep near the residents. However, this is similar to things we see in the news when people keep exotic pets. Tame does NOT equal domestic, and bad things happen. So when Thuy shows up with Mister Whiskers, Everyone Is Quite Alarmed. 
Catgators, like real life catfish, are also borderline cryptids. No one knows how old they get. Or how big.
I imagine catgators move like alligators and can be surprisingly fast for their flat, fat bodies. Remember kids, run in a zig zag because they WILL get you.
I am from Florida. I live in Florida once again. My family has lived in Florida since we came to this country. I was “poor white trash” and had an accent. I am NOT indigenous (see above comment about coming to this country). I give Thuy a lot of traits from what I remember about growing up, things I know about the rural south via my family, and throw in the pieces I like from canon. I also want to explore topics that are indigenous specific like what’s happening to the Amazon and the continued sins my country commits on native and/or sacred land. As a sensitivity point: I do not wish to ever write about the trials and tribulations of these issues. That is for native people, as they are the ones who truly understand the generational trauma surrounding it. What I would hope to do is bring awareness to real world situations where we as non-indigenous people can assist.
Don’t let them cut down the Amazon y’all for real. And blowing up Mount Rushmore is RIDICULOUS.
Thuy loves people. Because she’s so used to being around a supportive community, and being a teenager, she doesn’t understand when adults are rude or mocking at first. 
However, she is VERY secure about who she is as a person. Her family and tribe has always supported her, so she has a very strong foundation. It takes a lot to rock her. Mostly, she gets embarrassed when people call her out or make fun of her for being loud and overly excited.
She is scared to meet Katara at first, because she learns a little about what Katara did in the war. What and who she lost. She feels bad that she wasn’t there. Thuy doesn’t know how to start a conversation with her, which is bad because Thuy not so secretly wants to replace Kuruk with Katara as her Water Tribe connection. She doesn’t want to go to Arnook, who lost his daughter, or Hakoda, who lost his wife, and Sokka is in the same category as Katara, obviously.
Suki finds her freaking out. And remember, Thuy is a close friend of Kyoshi. They talk and Suki relaxes Thuy by putting the Avatar in Kyoshi robes. Sokka finds them with Thuy thoroughly disguised and, I might actually write this scene so you’ll have to wait.
Thuy likes Azula at first because she is oddly fascinated by the performative femininity of the Fire Nation. Azula is powerful, confident, and very feminine, and that intrigues Thuy. But Azula is Azula and has very little interest in some backwater peasant, even if she is the Avatar.
Toph embraces everything about the Swamp Tribe, as does Rohan, so they are the ones Thuy is the closest to. Toph, as a more destructive Gyatso, figures out how to rig a pressurized device that launches mud projectiles and the two of them wreck havoc at fancy Beifong dinner parties. Rohan takes the technology up a notch and they all terrorize the Air Temples. Doesn’t have the same impact, because they all survived Aang. Toph teaches Thuy to take no shit and give no fucks.
Thuy is insecure about her inability to communicate with the Spirits. Having grown up in the swamp, she could see them and heard how other people ran into them. Especially the refugees that were allowed in. The Spirits seemed to guide certain people to Thuy, which meant they didn’t hate her, but they never seemed to engage. The only thing she could think of was Wan and blamed him unfairly for a long time.
Thuy does a traditional education as the Avatar. She works for a few years with Toph, having a basis in earthbending already from Aang. Crystalbending is her special talent and Toph dismisses it as playing with jewelry (but never discourages her pupil ofc). 
Jinora is Thuy’s airbending teacher and spiritual advisor. She is very good about calming Thuy when she continues to have this disconnect with the Spirits, but is unable to help her overcome it.
Tenzin deems Rohan too irresponsible but allows them to ferry Thuy around so they still teach the Avatar new things. Plus, in this world, there’s a secular sect of Airbending that Bumi - Aang’s son and an Airbender since apparently all Air Nomads are Benders?? - started during the war. They have a very loose relationship with the Air Nomad commitment to non-violence and can live in permanent residences. They are required to do their initial training at the temples, but many go back to their homes, don’t shave their heads, don’t live a monastic life, etc. Rohan goes back and forth about their place, but ultimately takes over as the head of the secular branch. It appeals to Thuy more and they take their role very seriously because of the responsibility. 
Zuko teaches Thuy firebending. His adaptations to include other styles makes it easier for Thuy to pick up, though she still learns the basics at the Royal Academy for Girls (where she meets Suzu and Zula). 
Katara is Thuy’s “master.” She helps Thuy navigate the political world and they work together on the Water Tribe restoration and re-unification plans. Katara oversees the training schedules, the visitations, the summits, the tributes, and every other bit of minutiae. She also gives Thuy a break and they hang out doing Waterbender stuff.
Sokka and Suki teach Thuy non-bending martial arts. Thuy can kick your ass in a multitude of ways basically.
Thuy gets her Avatar Companions at very different stages. You’d think they wouldn’t get along, but Thuy has collected them and they like her, so they make it work.
Suzu and Zula (those are their names, not nicknames) are twins. They are Firebenders and are not related to the royal family at all. They grew up near the palace, went to the Royal Academy for Girls, and were sent to the palace to keep Thuy company and it was supposed to be very formal and politically advantageous for their parents. Except they actually became friends with Thuy and escaped the Fire Nation to go on adventures, which their parents did not like.
Suzu is a blend of Azula and Ty Lee in my mind. She is named in honor of Fire Lord Sozin. (Her family is SUPER into Fire Nation superiority) She is cheerful and enjoys playing around. She and Thuy get overly excited about things together instead of being “mature” and “above such things” as many noble girls tell them repeatedly. Her “Azula” traits come out when someone insults her family or Thuy. She ends up learning chi blocking from Ty Lee. Suzu is not to be left unsupervised.
Zula is a blend of Azula and Mai. She is “the eldest” and does everything her parents tell her to do, even if she hates it. She is named in honor of Fire Lord Azulon (and I guess Azula?). She ends up becoming an instructor at the Royal Academy for Girls until Thuy whisks her away to go adventuring. Zula hates the rigid society among the nobles and very happily dashes off. Can’t say no to the Avatar right??? Her firebending skill is in marksmanship. She can and will singe the sleeve of some snotty little noble from across the room if they irk her. She learns to bend lightning from Iroh and even Thuy is a little scared.
When Thuy moved from her earthbending lessons and onto air, Toph opened up her metalbending academy to have something to do between professional bending competitions. Jae-hwan was a late addition because he couldn’t afford the fees. Then he found out that the fees were arbitrary because Toph is a Beifong and she gave him a room to stay in. Thuy met him when she visited her Sifu and he, not knowing she was the Avatar, stole her purse as a joke. When he did find out, instead of freaking out, started to make fun of her because some lowly Earthbender orphan was able to steal the Avatar’s wallet. He never lets her forget that or any other embarrassing thing he witnesses.
Tashi is very quiet. He surprised everyone by choosing to join Urban Dust, the secular branch of the Air Nomads, instead of continuing on at the temples. People thought he would become a great sage and possibly live old enough to see the next Air Nomad Avatar. But Tashi is a true child of the sky and would live on his Sky Bison Dawa if he could. He does not like being on the ground for long and frequently disappears to go flying. Tashi specifically asked that Rohan be his mentor, again shocking everyone, but Rohan understood. Getting older, Rohan calms down and becomes very philosophical. Tashi finds them to be very wise and they contemplate the nature of things together. Thuy appreciates the one friend of hers that would never end up in jail with her. Tashi brings the bail money. Tashi also hides the body. Tashi can keep secrets.
Aktuk was born and raised in the North Pole. His father is a waterbending master and his mother is a waterbending healer. His older sister is a waterbending prodigy. He lost his leg during his ice dodging ceremony when the boat crashed. As a non-Bender, he had almost drowned and has a fear of the open sea. He makes his own prosthesis and is very into mechanics. When Thuy attended a festival in the North Pole, they had collided because Aktuk was carrying a bunch of parts and material for a project and didn’t see her. Freaking out, Aktuk tried to scurry away as quickly as possible but Thuy kept asking him questions. When she asked how he kept his leg from freezing, Aktuk immediately started to infodump and forgot about being scared. Thuy had to drag him around for awhile, because Aktuk had been basically taught to defer to Benders, but they refused to let him. Suzu and Zula hated the reminder of Fire Nation propriety, Tashi accepted everyone, and Jae-hwan only cared if people were paying attention to him. Thuy and Aktuk date for awhile, but part amicably after they grow into different people.
Thuy saves the world and I steal Korra’s ending for her own. She balances the Spirit World and the Physical World, opening up the portals. She brings back DRAGONS.
Zuko and Katara ultimately retire. Their daughter Izumi becomes Fire Lord. Sokka and Suki’s daughter Kya surprises everyone when they find out she’s a Waterbender and sits on the Water Tribe triumvirate as the chief of the South Pole. Kya and Izumi, having been born on the same day, terrify the rest of the world with their closeness. They consider themselves more like sisters than cousins and have to be repeatedly talked back from their plans to rule the world. They aren’t killing machines, more that they think they know what’s best and only listen to each other. Sometimes Lu Ten. But ALWAYS Suzu. 
Rohan becomes the head sage of the Urban Dust and creates a flying society that freaks everyone out for awhile. Tashi goes to the Spirit World for a long time and comes back, a little weird. IDK, I have stuff to explore with him. It’s not bad, just very different. 
Suzu marries a nice, minor Fire Nation lord and settles down to teach firebending in his rural home. She adores the royal children and they adore her. When Suzu shows up at either the Fire Nation palace or the South Pole, other people know it’s because either Izumi or Kya were planning something.
Zula never leaves Thuy and they travel together forever. Are they together? IDK, it might just be my attempt to fix (what I think is wrong with) k*rr*sami tbh. 
Toph DOES end up going to the Swamp, but her family knows about it and visits her often. Toph does not become a cop ffs, she becomes Willy Wonka but without the candy and slave labor. Lin tries to head the Beifong family after her mother just leaves one day, but she is much more suited to being a metalbending instructor. Once Suyin settles down, she gently pries the Beifong stuff from her sister’s terrified hands and does a really good job at managing Gaoling. They both studied under the Avatar for a little bit, and their rivalry came about with Suyin getting along better with Thuy. 
Sokka, pulling an Iroh, never leaves his flower shop. People ask him if he’s THE Sokka, brother of the Queen of the Water Tribes, brother-in-law to the Fire Lord, friend of the Avatar, then the father of the South Pole chief and he always goes “No, I just look like him and we have the same name.”
He often says this while Zuko is sitting with him behind the counter, drinking tea. 
Aktuk helps rebuild the South Pole and the Water Tribe navy is reborn. The Earth Kingdom is shook. Toph introduces him to another Swamp Tribe member and he marries her. He loves the Swamp. The Swamp Tribe gains a lot more replacement limbs that were lost to catgators. 
Jae-hwan has a hard time letting go of the metalbending academy. He basically grew up there, and spent every free moment there if he wasn’t travelling with Thuy. When Toph has kids, he realizes he had thought of her as his mom and freaks out. She assures him that it’ll be okay. Before she runs off to the Swamp, she legally adopts him, making him a Beifong. He opens more metalbending academies but runs the one in Gaoling because of familial pride. He encourages Lin to take up pro-bending, and becomes a coach when the mixed bending circuit opens. Rohan is OBSESSED with mixed bending matches. 
Ultimately, Thuy gets to relax in a way Avatars had been unable to for many cycles. The Water Tribe navy keeps the coastal city-kingdoms in the Earth Kingdom in check, while also reinforcing the United Republic. With the Swamp Tribe literally in the Earth Kingdom, the city-kingdoms become more firmly established and the Earth King becomes the Earth Emperor, but has to manage all of the city-kingdoms and it’s just a lot you guys he is so tired. The Fire Nation goes through an artistic renaissance under Zuko’s rule and the former colonies turn into industrial powerhouses. They are an economic force unto themselves and protect the Fire Nation from Earth Kingdom advances. 
With the world in relative harmony, Thuy travels often, since her friends and family have settled all over the world. Mister Whiskers grows to ENORMOUS size and they put him in a wagon when they go around. He does not eat people (anymore) but the wagon still warns others not to get too close. 
Zula is always there, with her RBF and scary fast bending. Thuy is still prone to gleeful outbursts and Zula smiles lovingly. They like to read together and will fall asleep resting on Mister Whiskers as they all bask in the same sunny spot. 
Aw crap, they are together.
4 notes · View notes
thatpapioverthere · 4 years
Text
Y’all hyped up Korra and Asami. It was literally less than 30 seconds at the end of the show. Korra’s loss of communication with her past lives was just depressing. Many argue that she didn’t use her past lives as much for guidance and it didn’t really matter but that’s what makes her the avatar? Hundreds of past lives gone for what? What was the purpose of that plot element? I liked that every season had a different representative as the villain from every nation as if it were a slap in the face “doesn’t matter what nation you’re from, you can still be evil” and I’m okay with that. Many people get upset that Toph became a cop and founded the cops in LOK as if their world is exactly like ours? And then they ignore the fact that she literally hated the life so much that she would rather have gone to live in a SWAMP. For obvious reasons because she felt like she could see everything from there but also because she saw the cops becoming corrupt in a way she did not imagine. She was still a rebel. And even if she wasn’t, you can’t expect someone to be the same person they were at 12 years old, God Im so tired of hearing everyone say Toph shouldn’t have become a cop like stfu they probably just did it because she could metalbend and made that her legacy. Anyway fuck pigs in actual life though. Bolin became dumber as the show went on and I didn’t like that. Mako’s character development went from being a super cool sports athlete to a lame King body guard and I wish he ended his life in the first episode that earth king guy was in. Going back to the korra lost her past lives thing, what the actual fuck? It’s called the legend of korra not the fuck up failure of Korra? Also I thought the animals taught the people bending and not the turtles? And was it just me or were the footsteps in every episode so god damn loud for NO REASON. Like seriously pay attention to how loud the footsteps are in every scene like WHOMST thought that was a good idea? And no Sokka? We got Toph, Zuko, and Katara... but no sokka? Because he died young or something? Like holy fuck LOK was not a feel good show at all. After they disabled korra about the shit with the poison it just was a pity story. The hatred from the general public towards the avatar was just so unnecessary. The power hungry villains being too OP for her got old after Amon. Something about being a half baked avatar even though she was only missing her air bending? Because tenzin was a shit teacher who took everything too seriously, which was the EXACT opposite mindset of his own father. The inventions and shit were cool. Made asami somewhat useful and less helpless in a lot of situations. Kinda like the Sokka of the series. Her dad dying was depressing. Kuvira willing to blow up her own fiancé was depressing. Raava dying and eventually coming back was depressing. Seeing iroh was great fan service obvi. The whole Zhu li thing with Viagra was cute. Going back to Tenzin’s impatient attitude, how they gonna go the whole show emphasizing that tenzin can’t be spiritual because he’s simply too impatient and hard headed and not give him any character development. Like holy fuck it got old so fast! Then his wife had a baby and after the baby was born we never heard about it again! The air nation getting random people was cool but felt like a deus ex machina to save the air nation. And even then tenzin fucked that up by annoying the hell out of the people who wanted to be air nomads. Unalaq was a beast. I noticed there were a LOT of trends with using brothers as some type of foils. Like mako and Bolin. Amon and his brother. Unalaq and Korra’s dad. Tenzin and Bumi. Even just Suyin and Chief beifong like why was sibling rivalry/foil such a fucking theme in LOK? Aang neglecting Kaya and Bumi as children because tenzin was an air bender was just flat out depressing. Overall I think it was a neat show and it’s important to remember that it’s not a reflection of our world. It’s a fantasy world. The fact that there were no black people simply because all the people are supposed to be some type of
2 notes · View notes
torterragarden · 4 years
Note
Aang
Okay so I reblogged two different “send me a character” things today so I have to guess o which one you want lol but I’m going with the first one so
How I feel about this character: Adorable! Precious! My son! I think he’s a lot more interesting than he’s usually given credit for, he has a really unique arc for a protagonist, especially an all-powerful chosen one type of protagonist, and I think he’s really important rep for young boys too. Like, that he can be strong and brave and still have a lot of “feminine” characteristics but that’s never made into a dumb joke, Aang just is who he is idk it’s good. Also much as we all like to make fun of heroes not killing their villains because of weak “it would make me just as bad” reasoning I will always defend Aang from such jokes/criticisms because Aang is like, the best example of that trope being done right because it’s not about Aang being “just as bad” it’s about Aang wanting to preserve the beliefs and values of the people he lost to fucking genocide and if you can’t appreciate how beautiful and powerful that is then you’re WRONG anyway stan Aang
All the people I ship romantically with this character: I never got super into shipping in ATLA but like, I think the canon ships are cute and I like them so I guess I ship Kataang, and the way people keep disrespecting Kataang (and also Aang and Katara as individuals in the process), it’s made me pretty defensive of the ship lmao
My non-romantic OTP for this character: All of the gaang! So many good friendships!
My unpopular opinion about this character: He’s a good and interesting and well-written character and he gets way too much slander from this undeserving fandom. If you hate Aang you’re embarrassing and I hope you get well soon
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon. All right look. Look. That whole idea of Aang favoring Tenzin to the point that some people don’t even know Kya and Bumi exist? That’s bullshit. Aang would never and Katara would never let him. Aang brought Bumi and Kya to the air temples along with Tenzin regardless of their bending abilities and that’s that on that
2 notes · View notes