#roku gets way too much hate

[sokkastyles]

I don't know if it's just me but I never liked the idea of Uncle Iroh being pretty much the same before Lu Ten's death and his enlightenment journey through the spirit world. It feels like it cheapens the whole thing. What would the point be if Iroh was the same joyful person but he just happens to wear a t-shirt that says "imperialism and world conquest are only for the ꓘool Kids"? Also his relationship with Ozai reeks (atleast to me) of him not just being Azulon's favourite child but also the Fire Nation's favourite prince and war hero while Ozai was the scapegoat and pariah.

The point is that you can consider yourself a good person and still do evil. The point is that even someone who is otherwise kind and appreciative of other cultures can be swept up in the lure of fascism. That's all but textual, with Iroh stating that he believed he had a great destiny and that's why, despite him being a kind person, he was able to also believe that he had a right to conquer.

It's also historically accurate, as many conquering nations buy into the myth of benevolent imperialism and use it to justify themselves. Zuko repeats the same thing to Ozai, that he was taught that the Fire Nation's conquest was their way of "sharing their greatness with the world" something that is also repeated by Sozin to Roku. The idea that, in fact, as a "superior" nation, it is their duty to conquer.

I also think Iroh being Azulon's favorite is what allowed him to retain the recognizable parts of the character we see in the series while still being successful and respected as a conqueror. We know that even before his redemption, Iroh was regarded as "kooky." The specific use of this word implies that any behavior he exhibits that is outside of Fire Nation norms, like being more fond of drinking tea and playing games than winning battles, is just an odd quirk and can be forgiven because he also keeps winning those battles.

I think that's also why Ozai resented him so much, because Ozai was the scapegoat who could never do anything right, and here was Iroh who had so many traits that would normally be considered flaws in the Fire Nation, yet Azulon kept praising him. That also informs why Ozai became the hyper-militaristic, ruthless person he became, perhaps in an attempt to show his father that it was he who deserved to be the golden child, the star general, the crown prince.

I like this interpretation of Iroh and to me, it makes his redemption, happening too late, all the more poignant. Tragic, but also all the more important because it was overdue. Because Iroh did know better, but chose to maintain the status quo. And that affected not just his life (I've talked about how I think Iroh could have been a very different person if he was raised differently, and there's a part of him that probably would have loved to have a doll himself if that were allowed him) but his son's life. Iroh was able to get away with his own "kookiness," but maybe not so for Lu Ten. Maybe Iroh thought that if he had to stuff down that part of himself for the regime, then perhaps he enforced that in how he raised Lu Ten.

I think that also tracks with how Iroh's fondest memories of Lu Ten seem to be him as a young, soft child. Not the hardened military man he would have become. And it reflect on how he is with Zuko, too. How he works to teach Zuko that empathy and kindness are what really makes a man. And I like to imagine that in doing this, Iroh also learns that that part of himself was never something he should have had to hide or repress to begin with.

That also vibes with how hard Ozai tried to repress it in Zuko. I know the popular interpretation is that Ozai saw his own flaws in Zuko, and I don't disagree with that interpretation, but I think a part of him also saw and hated the things he resented in Iroh, the things Iroh got away with while he was so criticized by his father. Think about how Ozai speaks about and treats Iroh, and about how he usurps Iroh to prove that he is strong and Iroh is weak the first chance he gets.

The irony is that in the end, Ozai loses to Iroh yet again, when his own son chooses Iroh over him as a father. But that's what happens when you treat your kids like mirrors to reflect your own glory instead of people. The cyclical nature of the Fire Nation royal family's dysfunction is fascinating to me.

#iroh #ozai #zuko

[whiteruncat]

I hope Netflix never gets ahold of another person’s artwork in attempt of a LA like they did with ATLA. If you can’t fully honor someone’s art and respect their ideas then don’t bother with a LA. It’s the most legal form of stealing artwork and creativity. It’s just cruel. And it’s so agitating to see the people saying “Well they tried” “They did their best” “You have to consider” Netflix should have been the ones to consider that maybe they should never have took on something they couldn’t do correctly. They have disrespected so many characters.

* Netflix took out sexism only to throw is back in! Yeah Sokka was sexist but the level of audacity to make the mighty Kyoshi Warrior Suki just another romantic interest is shameful.

* What happened to Katara saving a village of earthbenders? Katara started out strong and only got stronger by walking boldly with compassion, love, and the strength to help those around her.

* Let’s not forget about Bato & Hakoda. They are honorable and respected warriors of the Southern Water Tribe. Neither of them would let Sokka pass his ice dodging test if he failed it. They both love Sokka and respect Sokka too much to lie to him. Sokka passed his ice dodging test btw with Katara, Aang, and Bato.

* Ozai’s attitude towards Azula doesn’t make sense at all. Ozai basks in the glory of being a powerful firebender. His identity is firebending. Ozai married Ursa so his children would be powerful firebenders. Ozai wanted to kill baby Zuko because he wasn’t a powerful firebender. Ozai almost killed Zuko again after he rudely asked for the thrown and was told to sacrifice his son. Azula is Ozai’s pride and joy. She’s the firebending prodigy that’s perfect. Azula has never had to worry about whether her father loves her because Ozai has always favored Azula.

* Just me thing but I think Ozai was way scarier without a face. Only knowing him as Zuko’s father that burned his eye was like wow this dude is evil. Then the season 1 ending with Azula was an ominous beginning for them both.

* It’s kind of sad seeing Sokka so unconfident as a warrior. Sokka is a genius and he’s a warrior. He saw through Jet and saved a village. He played airball with Aang to cheer him up at the Southern Air Temple. Sokka helped trick the Sages to open the door for Aang to meet Roku. Sokka also got covered in snot when he first met Appa.

* Pakku didn’t find Katara’s necklace on the ground and I can’t believe they’re going to just write off Gramp Gramp like that. Why doesn’t Aang ever learn waterbending? Like the first season/book is called water and he is supposed to go the North Pole to learn waterbending. He doesn’t even know any waterbending by the end of the first season. You wrote out Iroh hitting on June but you wrote in June hitting on Iroh. Seriously?? Is Smellerbee the only girl in this LA that’s correctly done right? The Cave of Two Lovers isn’t even in season one!! It’s in season two.

* Bumi was done dirty. Aang, Katara, and Sokka got arrested for being goofy kids and destroying cabbages. Bumi came off as this mad king that was giving Aang three deadly challenges. Each one Aang had to think differently to solve. At the end when Aang realized the king was Bumi they laughed together and reminisced. Bumi set it up to show Aang that he would have to face many difficulties ahead as the avatar. He had no hard feelings towards Aang once. Bumi was so hateful in the LA towards Aang he acted like he flat out just wanted to hurt Aang.

* Aang is another big one obviously. He’s a kid and that’s just how he acts. Aang also chose to runaway. He was almost alone once he learned about being the avatar. His friends didn’t play the way they used to. And his best friend Gyatsu was all he had. When Aang heard they were going to take him away from Gyatsu he ran away because he knew that he would be alone. Being avatar wasn’t so much seen as a heavy responsibility at the time to a kid like Aang but it was the cause of his loneliness and he resented the title. Learning the abilities that followed were cool to Aang because he wasn’t alone and had new friends. LA Aang acts so serious and mature when Aang is serious-ly not mature at all.

I have to congratulate Netflix on one thing though. I hated the LA so much it made me miss the animated ATLA so I went out to the store and bought the animated set. Rewatching it is reliving the best days of my life.

I don’t blame any actors in the LA. I truly think they all did the best with what Netflix gave them. It’s not easy to act with bad script. 10/10 would have loved to have seen them in a good LA of ATLA made by the creators.

#avatar the last airbender #princess azula #aang #Bato #hakoda #sokka #ozai #atla netflix #katara #atla suki

[magicaljarofbeans]

ATLA Live-Action Series

So.

I just finished the season, and there are some good things, and... some bad things :|

I have purposefully not engaged with what the rest of the internet think about it since it came out so keep that in mind. All I know is that it's not been well received and people hate the acting (all from other people telling me in person rather than me looking it up).

Let's start with what I consider the good bits:

Sokka is funny

Iroh is amazing as always

Zuko is pretty good, but specifically amazing with Iroh

Admiral Zhao is even more detestable

The bending looks pretty good (minus the ice sledding)

Iroh's backstory made me cry like the animated series (it's the goddamn music ok!)

The cabbage man makes an appearance

Firelord Ozai is cast and acted well

Suki is great

Ok, I think that's probably the extent of the actually good. Now for the absolute wreck that is the issues:

The removed Sokka's misogyny, a key aspect of his character development

Aang isn't running away from his duties as the Avatar (and doesn't at the start either), despite it being a key character trait he works through. However, everyone is gaslighting him into thinking he has been?

Katara and Aang are simply not acted well. They are the youngest cast members, but it's incredibly forced and not really written well to begin with.

Katara has become Gandhi. Well, is trying to be. She just keeps blurting out inspirational messages and not saying much else.

THEY CHANGED THE ORDER OF EVENTS. This doesn't have to be an issue, but it is when it's done in a way where story-lines no longer make sense. i.e. Sokka meets Suki before they go to the northern water tribe and meet Yue. Basically Sokka kinda cheated on Suki and just doesn't care. (There are several more examples of this)

Aang literally doesn't bend a single drop of water himself. As in, NOTHING (giant water monster doesn't count)

Katara and Aang don't end up getting trained at the Northern Water Tribe. Like. At all.

Katara is labelled a "Master Waterbender" and now has to train Aang???? Ummm, what?

Aang can just fly now. Glider don't glide, it fly. It woosh over continent in a single day!

That brings me to, WHAT EVEN IS TIME. Apparently going from a small village in the middle of nowhere to Roku's temple in the middle of the Fire Nation takes a day by glider (Katara and Sokka were just sleeping and weren't for long enough to worry about food or water)

Ozai is happy to sacrifice half his navy to "distract them while we take Omashu". Which is so far away from the Northern Water Tribe that the distraction wasn't needed.

It's Book 2 with Book 1's ending?????

The old people are clearly young guys with old age makeup. Apparently they can't get older guys anymore? (Except Iroh :)

Aang keeps talking to the previous Avatars but not actually getting anything out of it.

Apparently he has to be at a temple to talk to the past Avatars now.

Azula is introduced prior to the Northern Water Tribe fight

We see Ozai's face. It removes the mystery and power behind his presence

What is up with Jet? He's now a bomb placing terrorist. Not too far from accurate but still

Oh and his base sucks. Literally only like 2 meters off the ground at most.

I'm sure I have forgotten some atrocities, and there are several things that are ok that I haven't mentioned (Momo and Appa look fine) but overall, it's fine, I've watched worse shows, but it's not that great. Just watch it for Iroh.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #atla live action #atla netflix #sokka #atla sokka #katara #zuko #prince zuko #atla zuko #team avatar #uncle iroh #iroh #fire lord ozai #ozai #atla ozai #princess azula #atla azula #thoughts #atla jet #momo #appa #admiral zhao #adaptation #tv series #tv series review #atla review

[prying-pandora666]

Aang the Segregationist?

I keep seeing this terrible take regarding Aang’s role in “The Promise” claiming he’s some xenophobic segregationist.

Guys, I know we have our grievances with the comics, but this one’s kind of a stretch, don’t you think?

No, Aang wasn’t pro-Harmony Restoration Movement because he hated the Fire Nation or because he was a bad friend to Zuko or because he was brainwashed or whatever other arguments I’ve seen.

It’s because he’s the last survivor of a genocide. As he’s coming into his mid-teens, he’s starting to grasp the depths of what he’s truly lost in a way his 12 year old self couldn’t. He’s desperate to cling to his culture before it’s lost forever, and his fears are well founded! Air Nomad culture could well die out with him.

That’s why we get the plot point with the Avatar Aang fan club. They inadvertently offend Aang by appropriating and misapplying his culture (however well intentioned) and this triggers Aang’s fears of how his culture is being lost. All that will be remembered is a watered-down caricature.

He flat-out says as much to Katara! Saying that the reason the Nations need to be divided is because the stronger Nations will always dominate the weaker nations either through conquest or imposing their culture. Aang is afraid directly as a result of the terrible trauma he’s suffered.

Time-stamped so you can see for yourself:

To try to paint Aang as some kind of xenophobic segregationist is a pretty terrible reading of the text. Especially when the point of the story is that Aang learns he was wrong to try to force the colonies to separate, and that he can better preserve his culture by teaching it to others while he lives rather than keeping it away where no one can potentially corrupt it.

Let’s also not forget he was being advised by Roku, who was also deeply impacted by the genocide and war that followed his failure to stop Sozin. Of course Roku is taking a hard stance! He tried to be reasonable and diplomatic in his time and it led to the 100 year war and the loss of the Air Nomads!

Aang is 14 tops. He’s trying to make sense of an unfathomable atrocity that was committed against his people while the whole world looks to him to mend the rifts of a bloody 100 years of conflict.

To ignore how that’s impacted him just so you can paint him as a bad guy relative to Zuko or whatever is not only a pretty lousy reading of the text, it shows a complete disregard for a horror that, tragically, does happen in the real world too.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar #The promise #Comics discourse #Aang #Youtube #Fandom Flanderization

[peony-pearl]

"someone PLEASE dare me to talk about the writing of Ursa's story from the comics"

This is your sign, child. Tell me all you've got

BLESS YOU!!!!!!!!

A bit of a foreword to anyone reading: I am going to be speaking about the writing of Ursa's trials from the comics in a critical light in the ways that her story was chosen to be written this way. If you find any kind of comfort or catharsis in her story, this post may not be for you. I am not here to be an anti, I am here to look at changes made to a character that I think could have been a lot more interesting if she had been allowed to keep her original backstory.

That being said:

Ursa's story of being plucked out of a happy home to marry 'the bad guy' could be interesting!

My problem with it is the inconsistencies it creates in it's own narrative... and the fact that it's such painful woobification of a woman who was willing to commit a high crime to save her son in the way that her circumstances create an issue where she is nothing but a martyr. It also continues the whole 'good lineage vs bad lineage' idea that completely undermines the power of Zuko's arc.

Ursa, in the comics, is presented to us as this bright eyed hopeful actress, in love with a man named Ikem when Azulon rolls up with Ozai, unlike some earlier lore where she was born into royalty and was the perfect match for Ozai. Now she's subjected to a wretched life which I can only imagine they put her through to make her completely sympathetic, because otherwise she would have been just like the rest of the royal family - EVIL.

Which I really hate that train of thought, but this is a family friendly show and as good as atla does with it's good vs evil nuances, I often remember I have to cut it some slack... but then I get a bit more frustrated because of the whole 'just because it's family friendly means they can simplify things' which I also don't care for but again... eh. I can't be too picky at times. (I was also raised on Gargoyles which did a great job on showing villains in sympathetic moments and heroes having big major flaws so I'm already a little biased)

Regardless; completely rewriting Ursa's backstory to the point that we no longer see her view of the war (or Ikem's! So they're good people!! We promise!) just comes off as almost manipulative and middle-school fanfiction-y. Ursa is a good person to sympathize with because she's being forced into these situations :C

And as such, she's a good person because of Roku!! And so Zuko is a good person because his mom loved him so much!!

And such, they don't have to show any changes on Ursa's part. No moral failings, no her and Zuko butting heads once they reunite to show how much he's grown... his morals come from her and Roku, because Avatar lineage = good.

And that grinds my gears so hard because then just like Ursa, that's robbing Zuko of his autonomy to make bad choices.

When Iroh tells Zuko in The Avatar and the Fire Lord that his legacy is the good and evil within him, it sucks because Zuko's legacy should solely be his own choices (I have my own issues with Zuko's view of the crown). Not the bloodline within him that he can't control. THAT'S A MAJOR POINT OF THE SHOW. People aren't born evil.

and yet Ursa is GOOD because she is Roku's GRANDDAUGHTER. That's really it. Yes, I can understand that she was raised in the moral compass left behind by him. But Ozai is only really good/charming to Ursa right up until their wedding when suddenly he's just EVIL and he's like 'you're MINE now hehehehe' like there's no in between, you just have to show Ursa in this miserable predicament which then also doesn't allow for any interesting development in our Ozai, aka previous big bad which could have been him following his father's orders to marry some woman and maybe he legitimately TRIED to make things work because NO ONE IS BORN EVIL. Ozai is such a shadow of Zuko that he would try to appease his father, and he might take this marriage on in the hopes that it would start building a bridge between them.

And we're not even getting into the fact that we don't learn that Ursa is the Avatar's granddaughter until the final season, JUST IN TIME for Zuko to learn this while he's locked in his self loathing and is utterly directionless. Again, this takes away the importance of his own choices. The boy who started the series completely devoted to returning home, willing to put himself and others through constant danger and misery just to appease his father is given a free ride card of 'oh you're actually good on the inside! Just do the good thing!'

Because he's Ursa's son, the woman who didn't want to marry Ozai because he was so so awful that his bloodline is OBVIOUSLY why Azula is the way she is (ugh).

Like this could work in more fairytale/simpler story settings but atla has gone so far out of it's way to continue to say 'no one is born evil' and 'people can change'; but when it comes down to it, they're really restricting the moral compass.

In the end, Ursa is good and suffered. Ozai is BAD because VILLAIN. (which yes he is but... ugh).

I don't know if I've made sense. I had a more cohesive idea when I wrote those tags but this is more or less my views of Comic!Ursa.

I don't hate her. But I hate that they just kind of shoved her on the misery train and kind of went 'wow that sucks right? This makes you want to see Zuko find her right?'

And then he does and all is well. Because Ursa is a GOOD WOMAN unlike that EVIL OZAI.

#atla #atla meta

[doyouevenshipbr0]

i just finished live action avatar the last airbender. buckle up. obv spoilers incoming.

~

honestly just gonna list the good and the bad and give a number rating at the end. this will be long. also THIS IS JUST MY OPINION!!!! nothing i say is right or wrong. dont hurt me.

the good

sokka (ik this is controversial bc of his actor okokokok im js purely from a performance standpoint he ate)

zuko (absolutely devoured)

fight scenes!!!! obv not as good as the animated (we knew this) but i still enjoyed

zhao!!!!!! do not sleep on him he killed this!!

KIYOSHI!!! ARE U KIDDINGGG

overall loved the focus on avatars other than roku

suki/suki and sokka

attack on the air nomads… ik it was unnecessary and a little hard to watch but still was v interesting

azulaaaaa and the fact that we see her this season. LOVE this addition. also the way they added her was veryyyyy well done. didnt feel forced.

bumi/how they handled the bumi arc in general. some parts i actually like better than the og. like how aang knew he was bumi right away. makes way more sense to me.

sokka and katara has some very sweet and genuine moments

aang and gyatso reunion awwww

omg. the “twist” with the 41st division that zuko accidentally saved becoming his crew. the bestttttt change that they made. i loved this. something so small but felt SO impactful.

yue/sokka and yue. this is a BIG one bc i think the original show really lacks with how they wrote yue and especially her relationship with sokka. i think it was a lot better here.

when zhao admits at the end he was working w azula and that ozai was just using zuko to motivate azula. omg. that was such a cool thing they added

and now. the bad.

aang. JDHSKSJDJ SORRYYYY dont care! he got better as the show went on. overall acting wasnt great and the writing for him definitely did not help

katara OOPSIES HEHEHE sorry but again same thing. kind of a dull performance. where is her PASSION?!?! wanted to like her so bad bc katara is my girl and this girl was giving katara on paper but the performance was just kinda bleh. didnt hate but DEFINITELY did not love.

costumes. dying on this hill i do not care. it was giving spirit of halloween. and some of these wigs…. yue’s wig? azula’s fuck ass pieces hanging out? HOW MAI AND TY LEE LOOKED IN GENERAL?! ouch

^in general mai and ty lee did not need to be here at ALLLLL. def shouldve waited till s2 for their appearances.

where is the silliness? where is the humor? hardly tried to embody the fun spirit of the original and when it did it failed miserably.

gran gran saying the thing. that’s katara’s thing.

too much exposition dumping.

first ep was by far the worst imo. how sokka and katara came across/met aang? WOW what a let down holy shit.

they should’ve kept it as aang running away from the southern air temple. not that he went for a late night drive with appa. dont care that this is a small thing. it is a HUGE part of aang’s character.

idk how to word this one and i think ppl would disagree anyways. but they are making iroh too obviously “good”. ykw i mean? when we first meet him, we know he’s not like the rest of the fire nation but we still don’t truly know where his morals lie. this show made it too obvious too soon.

why did katara never train w pakku?? that makes 0 sense. i understand she was mostly self taught throughout s1. but the whole thing was that: yes, katara was good before pakku, but when she finally did get a master, she became EXPONENTIALLY better and really came into her own. i am not buying that she becomes the master katara we know and love without learning from pakku. so unrealistic. when zuko says “u found a master” and she said “yes ur looking at her”. oh girlboss feminism u are going to HELL!

would like to take a moment to say^^^ i am a feminist ok. do nottttt get it twisted. but girlboss feminism is brainrot.

aang. did not bend. a single drop of water. are u fucking KIDDING ME? that was nuts.

really felt like if u did not watch the original series, this show would feel SO all over the place and u would have so many “wtf is happening” moments. the whole omashu shit was kind offfffff a mess. i see where they were going and why they were doing that but in hindsight after the fact i was like… if i knew nothing ab this show that would have been the most confusing clusterfuck.

and i think my biggest/most general complaint that i already talked about that i will briefly touch on: trying to do too much. why are we putting in characters and plot points that do not come till seasons 2-3 and are completely unnecessary now (secret tunnel, wan shi tong, swamp-kinda episode, etc.)

final thoughts?

it was enjoyable. i cannot deny that. landscapes were gorgeous. fights were well choreographed and looked GOOD. some changes were genuinely made for the better, and even changes that i do not necessarily think were better, i could respect the creativity of some changes and understood why they were there. but overall, as most live action remakes go, this was a flat portrayal of one of the greatest pieces of fiction of all time that suffered from some overly ambitious ideas and dull writing with little to no sense of whimsy. while some performances exceeded expectations, others that were crucial to the integrity of this show really disappointed me.

overall: 6.6/10. this number is completely subject to change.

#personal #atla #avatar the last airbender #live action atla #atla live action #live action avatar #live action avatar the last airbender #avatar live action #avatar the last airbender live action

[articulately-composed]

Thoughts on the ATLA live action

I may not post about it a ton, but ATLA was what brought me into fandom culture over a decade ago, so as you may assume, I have some Thoughts about the live action netflix series. Now, I'm gonna preface this by saying I didn't hate it. Surprisingly enough. I came into it thinking the whole series was gonna be a hate watch, but they actually did some interesting stuff with it.

Let's start with the positives.

Sokka - When I heard that they were removing Sokka's sexism, I thought his character was doomed. That's so much of his season 1 arc, I had no idea what was gonna be left. Turns out, they didn't take away his preoccupation with being a manly warrior, they just made it less overt, and honestly, that brand of "girls suck!" sexism that exists to get refuted in early 2000s kids tv probably would have sounded out of place and preachy in a 2024 show geared towards adults. In the end, Sokka felt like one of the most fleshed out characters. His original arc was left in tact, with the bonus of him being a simpy bottom for Suki in a way that kinda fits.

Zuko - I really liked that they added some extra backstory between Zuko and Iroh sooner. The bit with the funeral was honestly really nice. I saw some critiques saying that zuko was made out to be sympathetic far too soon, but honestly, I think it worked. The show is so well known that I don't know if gaining sympathy for zuko later on would have the same effect as it did 20 years ago. I thought the Zuko and Iroh moments really helped solidify their bond on Zuko's part, and tbh, that's gonna make his season 2 betrayal that much stronger (if they pull it off well). I also like the stuff they added with Zuko's journal. Of course he's a fuckin nerd who takes detailed notes with sketches about the stuff he's researching. If Zuko existed irl he'd have a bullet journal youtube channel.

The structure - I hate that no tv series gets more than 8 episodes anymore. it's ruined so much when it comes to pacing in literally everything. That being said, I like what they did when it comes to combining plots. It really made the show feel like it's own thing and not a 1-to-1 adaptation. They stuck Jet and the Mechanist in Omashu, and it worked. Roku's temple and The Blue Spirit were the same episode. Obviously, there was a lot of picking and choosing when it came to what plot points they kept and what they scrapped, and it did do a number on some of the characters' development, but the episodes they chose to keep were important ones, and they managed to weave them together surprisingly well.

And now, the negatives...

Episode 1 - The setup is dreadful. The show starts with a solid 20 minutes of backstory. Before you even meet Sokka and Katara, you know literally all the details about the air nomad genocide. And because they show you the entire genocide on screen before Aang is released from the iceberg, you don't get the experience of having it revealed to you as Aang is experiencing learning about it. His avatar state reaction to seeing Monk Gyatso's corpse just doesn't feel warranted when there's not that slow buildup to finding out about the war and Aang's denial of the whole thing. Episode 1 in general felt messy, rushed, and missing a whole lot of vital character growth.

Aang - Honestly, Aang's character in general felt flat. He gives me ipad kid vibes. He feels like a prodigy kid who just doesn't care, instead of a fun-loving goofball who 's scared of responsibility. He makes so many quips about not paying attention to the monks or falling asleep during meditations, and while it's not like he was super studious in the original, the thing he's doing to avoid studying is goofing around. Playing pranks with Monk Gyatso instead of paying attention to the monks. goofing off in a river with Sokka instead of learning waterbending. He's so un-silly in the live action and it's to his detriment. I guess this is just a part of the 8-episode curse, but because those filler moments have to be erased, you really lose out on all of Aang's stupid kid shenanigans.

Katara - Katara fell so damn flat, which is such a tragedy. I saw someone else on here talking about how the lack of Aang helping her be a kid again in episode 1 took away a lot from her, and they are totally right! Specifically, it took a ton away from the bond the two of them have. Really, there's no reason why Katara should have traveled with Aang in the first place. She didn't bond with him over riding animals, or help him understand what happened in the last hundred years (Gran Gran takes care of all that exposition...), and they don't even head towards the northern water tribe to find a waterbending master until after Kyoshi Island, so that's not why she chose to come either. Katara is also missing her whole "had to become the mom after her mom died" schtick. Not that she should be reduced to group mom, but that's still a part of her original character. She got plenty of backstory regarding her mom, but it was mostly grief. There was a little sprinkling of her sense of justice in there, but that's another one of those "victim of the 8-episode curse" things. So much of her character got lost when the filler was cut that there's not that much left over.

The spirit world - I know I just said I liked what they did combining episodes together, but honestly I think they tried to do too much with the spirit world episode. They use the Hei Bai episode to get into the spirit world, but the whole burned forest plot from the original is pretty much scrapped for a Koh plot, which combines the original Koh plot with the fog of lost souls from Korra, and the mother of faces from the sequel comics? The spirit world episode ties to Roku, like in the original, but Roku barely does anything outside of info only important to that episode. Out of all the avatars Aang contacts, Roku is the least relevant. Kuruk is more relevant than Roku. The bit with Monk Gyatso was sweet, but it did feel like one more thing on top of an already cluttered episode. Also, I don't love that Yue was a fox in the spirit world, it felt kinda out of left field. I didn't love what they did with Yue and Sokka in general, their whole vibe felt rushed.

Final thoughts, obviously it wasn't incredible. It's a show that doesn't really need or want to exist. They stuffed the first season of a cartoon with notoriously thorough writing into 8 episodes. But I didn't hate it. Honestly, I was pretty entertained. I fully intend on seeing season 2. I want to see what they're gonna do with Azula moving forward, how they're gonna handle Toph, and what the fuck they meant by "there actually is no war in ba sing se" bc clearly there was a fucking war in ba sing se, Iroh nearly gets crushed by a boulder by a vengeful soldier over it. I came into this with rock bottom expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised

#atla #live action atla #live action avatar #avatar the last airbender #inarticulate ramblings

[bluewithpurplepolkadots]

I know this is probably sacrilege for what is considered the king of redemption arcs. But I don’t actually care for the idea of Zuko having a conflict between good and evil within him because his other great grandfather was Roku.

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t hate Zuko actually being his descendant in general or anything. It’s more the idea of it being The Ultimate Reason Zuko is Different I take issue with.

One of the things I like about him and Azula being his descendant is a layer it adds to Azulon (in the comics: though I’ll groke to not having read them), to explain how the hell it happened, because in the show alone it is pretty out there as an idea (given Sozin’s all consuming hatred of his former friend).

Azulon practiced what was basically eugenics on his younger son. It was another fucked up cherry on top about what we knew in the show about the man (and also makes him willing to prune the family tree of the resulting disappointment of that experiment make even more sense in context).

But I don’t really like it framed as a major reason or ‘point zero’ as it were for Zuko’s internal conflict or why the he is the way he is. To say nothing of the fact it gets weird when you look at Iroh (with no Roku ancestry and gets to turn away) and Azula (who does and doesn’t get to turn away).

Nah. I think it’s better that he instead would have a combination of

a) Being pushed away by his father and being embraced and slightly coddled by his mother: a woman who has a much kinder and gentler disposition. Even if, like everyone in the FN at the time, she only cares at all for those within her own country. This also means Azula makes sense, as she was able to meet Ozai’s expectations for a long time and Ursa had less of an ability to have an impact on her. Ursa only got to influence Zuko so much because he was already disappointing to his father and he gave up on him entirely. Had Zuko been a prodigy like Azula, Zuko would probably be just like her. Thoughts for others are weaknesses to be stamped out. Iroh should be able to simply burn Ba Sing Se to the ground etc.

Zuko thanks to his mother’s influence has a stronger ability to care for people, but only of his own family and nation initially. (Which makes sense). He gets punished for it by his father and thus while banished he hardens himself because of his ‘weakness’. His already ingrained bigotry against other nations continues unquestioned until he can start to view people outside it as people too, his indoctrination being chipped away at over time (bonus points that Aang in the blue spirit was really the first crack of this).

b) Iroh (after Ursa’s influence meaning he saw good in him and feeling shame for not stepping in at the Agni Kai) being Zuko’s true father figure. Someone who Zuko later also betrayed/ looked away from. Both on some level want to atone for that: this shame influenced them internally and thus each other.

I don’t completely hate the idea that Iroh himself might in fact still think Rokus bloodline is the Reason. Like Iroh and Zuko are after all royalty. They’d have ‘views’ on lineage at the end of the day.

Hell, Iroh might even in some way if he’s broken through his own conditioning, think maybe Zuko (such as he is) would need to hear that sort of thing to make the final jump.

But how it’s framed makes me feel like we’re absolutely supposed to take it as gospel as to the Reason Zuko is different and has the capability to do good is due to his bloodline.

I mean arguably in a twisty way we could argue maybe it almost is for that reason: the fact Zuko got that chance to be different was due to Ursa: who after all is Roku’s granddaughter and thus has been raised to be kinder in general then the rest of the royal family: but the way it’s worded on screen feels strange to me.

#Atla #Zuko #criticism I guess? #like it doesn’t ruin the show or anything I just find it a bit off putting

[rosenlied]

A ranking of every vocalist/Vocaloid tuning in Sekai!

Starting out with the voices:

Disclaimer: I am not attacking any of the vas here. All of them are just doing their job and singing in character, which is very different from how a lot of them usually sing. For example: Ruby is easily my least favorite vocalist in Aqours but Airi is pretty high on this list despite them having the same va. It just depends on the character and how the va is told to sing for them. Any issues I have with how a character sings isn’t the vas fault but rather the fault of the directors and Sega. 

Ichika Hoshino: I wish I could put Ichika higher but out of the entire cast I feel like she suffers the most from being put in songs way out of her range. Dramaturgy, Roku Chonen, Night Sky Patrol and Lost One’s Weeping are great examples of this, she really struggles and sounds awful in all of them. She has her great moments like in Meteor Pulse, Regulus, Attract Light and Tengaku but sadly her misses keep me from ranking her any higher. I think part of my issue is that most of the time (minus Tengaku) her voice is just too soft for rock music. Compare her to Bandori vocalists that also sing hardcore rock (Ran, Yukina, Layer, Tomori and Uika) and you’ll see what I mean she sounds so much worse than all of them. She’s easily at her best with quieter softer songs than intense ones and I wish she got to sing more of that than having the team try and force her out of her range, which they sadly seem to be doing with TTB. That cover is going to suck but at least Rondo and Roselia exist.

Best alt vocal: Meteor Pulse

Minori Hanasato: Her voice is cute but nothing special. Sadly she’s never really stood out for me much in songs and sometimes her voice is just downright unfitting for them (Kigamure Mercy, The Snow White Princess Is,Flos and Near) and that problem is only getting worse with time for me. Because Sega is refusing to give MMJ any duets she’s put in every song they get and sometimes she doesn’t fit them at all.

Favorite alt vocal: Setsuna Trip

Emu Otori: I like Emu’s voice, it’s just way too childish for my liking and can grate pretty quickly. I know it’s her character but I wish they’d let her va show more range outside of that one baby voice they have her do. And unfortunately they don’t always put her in the right songs, as seen with Love Ka even if she has it a lot better then both Ichika and Minori in that regard.

Favorite alt vocal: Hoshizora Orchestra

Honami Mochizuki: This one hurts. I love Honami but she really hasn’t gotten many chances to shine outside of Flyway and Regulus. Part of that is sadly because the other Leo/Need members usually overpower her in songs outside of the two commission songs she has that are meant to show off her voice. She’s also put in a lot of songs that really don’t fit her voice (Amanojaku, Peaky Peaky, Stella), and while most of these are alt vocals I sadly cannot rank her higher. The same thing I said for Ichika (that being that she doesn’t fit hard rock all that well) is also very much true for Honami, if not even more so than it was for Ichika. Still I hope we can get more stuff like Regulus and Flyaway + she gets some more good duets that aren’t ruined by a sucky sounding Miku (Heartrate and Morning Glories). 

Best alt vocal: Flyway

Saki Tenma: Her voice is really upbeat and peppy! Sadly she hasn’t really gotten many moments to shine but when she shines she really shines. She does kinda have the problem of being put in songs that don’t suit her voice though (Amanojaku and Peaky Peaky being the biggest examples) and what I said about Ichika and Honami absolutely applies to her but overall her voice is really nice. Hopefully she gets to sing more or her own songs soon (looking at you Stella and Teratera)

Best alt vocal: Teratera

Akito Shinonome: I am going to get so much hate for this. Akito is a hit or miss vocalist for me. Sometimes he makes a song with his vocals (YY, Yobanashi Deceive, Crazy, Kashika, Tokio Funka) other times he just doesn’t fit at all and really drags the song down (Meltdown and Realize). I still think he’s good don’t get me wrong, but he’s rather hit or miss for me.

Best alt vocal: Yobanashi Deceive

Tsukasa Tenma: Another hit or miss vocalist for me. Tsukasa is so good in all of his commissions and the anniversary songs but elsewhere he can sound a bit too goofy for my taste. I know it’s his character but in songs like Showtime Ruler it’s just a bit too much. Still he has his moments in stuff like Filament Fever, Cyberpunk Dead Boy and Mr. Showtime. 

Best alt vocal: Neo

An Shiraishi: And we have the final member of the hit or miss trilogy. I like An’s voice but for whatever reason it rarely works with her group mates and she doesn’t really have a lot of harmony with them. And I know this is a direction issue because her va does not have this problem at all in Kamen Rider Girls or Abyssmare so I’m not sure what they’re doing. Regardless she has her good moments (Genkujo, Machi, Awake Now) and her bad (Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder, Shanti and GimmexGimme). 

Best alt vocal: Genkujo

Mafuyu Asahina: I feel like Mafuyu has an amazing real voice if that makes sense? When she’s singing in her good girl voice I don’t really care for how she sings but when she lets loose she’s incredible. This is best seen with stuff like Ussesawa, Slow Downer, Bug and Phony in which she’s incredible. Again the problem is that she mostly sings in her fake voice which isn’t nearly as powerful, I get it it’s her character but still.

Best alt vocal: Ussesawa

Kohane Azusawa: Her voice has improved so much it’s insane. There’s just something about it that feels really pleasant to listen to, especially in Neo and Beat Eater. I’m not going to pretend that she has her flops (mainly Shanti and Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder) but overall her voice is just stunning. 

Best alt vocal: Beat Eater

Shiho Hinomori: Her voice is really unique among the other L/N members due to how deep it is which really helps set it apart. It’s also the most fitting for hard rock songs out of anyone in the unit causing her to own songs like Kagero Daze, Tengaku and Voices. I won’t pretend that she hasn’t flopped (Lost One’s Weeping wasn’t her best) but she definitely hits a lot more than she misses. 

Best alt vocal: Kagerou Daze

Kanade Yoisaki: Kanade easily has the most emotional sounding voice in the game. I love how it sounds like she’s crying in nearly every song she sings, it adds to much emotion to Niigo’s commissions and covers. I do wish they’d like Tomoriru use her Tamao voice for her though since she said she coughs a lot after singing in Kanade’s voice which makes me feel bad. 

Best alt vocal: MKDR

Rui Kamishiro: There’s something about his voice that’s so pleasant to me. I really like how he can go loud without being to over the top yet mysterious and spooky when the song demands it. He can sound heavenly as well, he can just do it all.

Best alt vocal:Dance Orchestra

Airi Moimoi: I really love how peppy and upbeat her voice is! There’s just something about it that has this nice spunky quality that’s really pleasant to listen to and she’s the powerhouse of MMJ. That’s not to say she doesn’t have her more melancholic side either which is also lovely to hear.

Best alt vocal: Kigamure Mercy

Toya Aoyagi: There’s just something about Toya’s voice that’s so versatile to me. He can be gentle, he can be strong and he can be harsh and he owns all of it wonderfully. I think his only miss is Shu-Ran (though to be fair everyone sounded really bored there) but outside of that he eats up nearly every song he’s given. I just wish that he got to sing more soft somber songs once in a while because he really fits them. 

Best alt vocal: Ghost City Tokyo

Ena Shinonome: It’s hard to explain but her voice scratches my brain just right, I love it. She can sing powerfully, do emotional ballads or sing more silent yet creepy songs and she nails all of them. I also love how she sounds with literally any Niigo member and the emotion she brings to their covers, especially Non Breath Oblige, Irony and Gehenna. Then you have her commissions which oh my god. She’s incredible in all of them, I love how emotional she sounds in Infinitely Gray, Nomad and Watashi Wa Ame. Just a great vocalist overall. 

Best alt vocal:Infinitely Gray

Haruka Kiritani: I love how dynamic and emotional Haruka’s voice is. She does cutesy songs perfectly but then you get to stuff like Shoujo Rei and the Earth’s Final Confession and it gives you chills. She can really tackle any genre and sound, what a queen. What I said for Toya does apply to her as well, give her more somber soft songs Colorful Palette! Another thing id like to mention is that as far as female vocals in the game go she easily has the most powerful voice by a landslide. If you want proof just look at Devil’s Manner, I dislike the mixing on that cover but the fact that she managed to sing so well and not be overpowered alongside Akito, Rui and Kaito is just…wow. It really sucks that she won’t ever be able to sing like that again due to the nature of MMJ as a unit but oh well.

Best alt vocal: Shoujo Rei

Nene Kusanagi: Nene is the songstress of WxS for a reason, she owns most of their songs. Her voice has a really nice vibe to it that fits musical theatre esque songs perfectly which is perfect for WxS. Then you have the moments like her ahhhhhs in Glory Steady Go and the entirety of Coral where she just owns the song. 

Best alt vocal: Coral

Shizuku Hinomori: I love how gorgeous her voice is, she adds so much to every MMJ song. She sounds like a goddess and brings so much emotion to so many songs, especially Hug and Shoujo Rei. Then you have her ad lib during Memato Reborn, that makes me ascend every time. Not sure what else to say she just sounds angelic and give her a new duet it’s been two years since her last one!

Best alt vocal: Yoru ni Kakeru

Mizuki Akiyama: I may be biased because it’s Mizuki and I loved their seiyuu before Sekai but their just a phenomenal vocalist. I love their voice so much in nearly every song, it sounds so powerful but it can also be soft when the song demands. Shout out to Kitty, Lower, Gehenna and IDSmile especially, they carry those songs hard. And that’s not even getting into Give Me Your Night, Venom and Villain, god it should be illegal for them to be this good. (Ps if you like their voice please check out Revue Starlight their va voice one of the main girls there and said girl sings a lot).

Best alt vocal: Gehenna

Now for Vocaloid tuning: 

Disclaimer: I am going after Sega for how they tune and treat the vocaloids. For a game that’s dedicated to celebrating Vocaloid and its history it’s pathetic how dirty they continue to do the vocaloids in this game. They really need to get more people that know what they’re actually doing on board because it’s genuinely embarrassing that a majority of fanmade videos I find on YouTube are better then the actual in game Vocaloid alt vocals. 

Miku: JFC what does this game do to you? This is especially true with L/N covers, her tuning in Heartrate, Ray, Roki, Dramaturgy, Ghost Rule, Teratera and When the Morning Glories Fall all make me die inside. Then you have stuff like God-ish (disclaimer I don’t think she’s as bad as others say there), Pheles and PAIII Sensation all of which aren’t the best either, like stop please. That being said I do love her in Dokuzu, Lost and Found and What Kind of Ending are You Wishing For so that’s points to her I guess. 

Meiko: I’m going to be honest; the only thing keeping Meiko from being at the bottom is Kirapipi Kirapika and to some extent Filament Fever and Blender. They do not know how to tune her well, it’s just embarrassing. For whatever reason they’ve decided she’s perfect for cutesy songs like Kyu Kurarin and Kuninaru which is just….no? The point of Meiko is for her voice to be mature and she completely guts both songs. Then we have this new bizarre trend where they try and force her to be other Vocaloids that aren’t in the game for some reason which is just? In Lagtrain they tried to force her to be Kaai Yuuki, in Kibou no Tsuki they tried to force her to be Yukari and in Yoidoreshirazu they tried to force her to be Gumi. And that’s not even getting into Love Ka where they tried to overlay her vocals with Flower and thought no one would notice which is so funny I can’t even be mad about it. She’s so rough sounding in Phony, Egoist, Shu Ran and Pheles as well it’s just terrible. It genuinely kinda ruins her as a Vocaloid for me until I go and listen to Jitterbug, On the Rocks, Fraulein Biblioteka, My Love is Hellfire, The Snow White Princess Is and Nostalogic and remember “oh she can sound REALLY good”. Bottom line is: Sega get someone who can tune her because what’s going on right now isn’t working and I’m tired of her ruining my favorite songs. 

Len: Len isn’t as poorly treated as Meiko and Miku but he’s not great either. Don’t get me wrong he has his stand outs like Bug but on the other hand you have Kokoronashi and Beat Eater. I don’t think he meshes very well with a lot of the vocalists either, someone on YouTube made a mix of Kitty without him and it’s impressive how much better the song sounded. 

Luka: Look at how they massacred my girl. Listening to Marshall Maximizer, Dreamin Chuchu and Hello Worker makes me want to cry, especially when they had a perfect basis for the last two. Why do they make her voice so high, it doesn’t sound as unnatural as it does with Meiko but it doesn’t sound great either. At least she has Cute Na Kanojo, Living Millennium and Order Made.

Kaito: As much as I hate to say this Kaito being so high is because he rarely gets to do anything so there’s not as much of a chance for him to be messed up. Yes Dr Funk Beat and Shanti aren’t great but at least he has amazing stuff like Passion at 25, Samsa and Kiss the Villain. Everything else is fine I guess? Idk. Hopefully he doesn’t get the Meiko treatment soon (please don’t fuck up Heart Adnormal)

Rin: Despite being first Rin isn’t tuned amazingly. Still she gets out of Sekai the least scathed, I think her worst was Positive Dance time but everything else is fine to even pretty good. I really like her in Boo!, Voices and Infinitely Gray but even that doesn’t hold a candle to how good she sounds outside of Sekai. So congrats to Rin for not being totally butchered. 

#project sekai #pjsekai #Vocaloid #again: I am not hating on the vas #They are just doing their job and singing like Sega told them to

[redrikki]

Well, Masks was certainly an episode. It was so much episode. It was almost certainly too much episode.

Things I liked:

All the action during the break-out. That was freaking epic.

Aang and Zuko's awkward conversation about Zuko's stolen journal. Canon confirmation that Zuko is a total nerd, plus the idea that he's Aang's teacher long before he is officially his teacher is great.

June's everything.

Zhao's weaselly weaselness and the bit with him and his biographer while he taunts Aang.

Things I was kind of meh about:

Zuko fighting back against his dad. I still don't know how I feel about this. In fact, I don't know how I feel about the follow-up scene with Ozai either. Like, Ozai's still an abusive dick, but the lesson he's trying to teach is different, the framing is different, and their relationship dynamic is different, but I don't know if it works for me.

Zuko's crew being the 41st. In the cartoon, Zuko getting burned and banished saves no one and is just all about Ozai being cruel. He wins the respect of his crew by risking his life and sacrificing his quest to keep them safe right where they can see it. In this, his getting burned and banished actually achieves his goal which entirely changes the meaning of it for him. It's not just his dad randomly being an asshole, it's a sacrifice Zuko made to keep these people who end up following him, hating him, and eventually respecting him and it's an entirely different dynamic that, again, teaches Zuko an entirely different lesson.

Roku's characterization. On the one hand, I love that they had a different past avatar giving Aang some pretty solid advice about how there's more than one way to be the avatar. On the other hand, he's a prankster now? What the? Why?

Things I hated:

The pacing. Seriously show, slow the fuck down. It felt like the just crammed Roku in there because he's in there in the cartoon and their legally obligated to stick him in, but the results felt rushed and unnecessary.

#avatar: the last airbender #Avatar: the live action #netflix atla

[sokkastyles]

ATLA LA Ep 6 Thoughts:

I feel like Iroh is more defensive of Zuko than he should be. In the original, Iroh does explain Zuko's side to Jee, but I don't like the implication that Zuko understands sacrifice MORE. OG Iroh never felt like he was justifying Zuko's actions.

I do like the parallel with Zuko disrespecting a superior officer, which is got him banished in the first place, and Zuko disrespecting Zhao, while Zhao uses his past as a earning, and Zuko bullying his crew in the same way he was/is bullied. All because he thought war would be honorable.

Liked the fire sages and Roku but Aang going there to ask Roku for help in saving Katara and Sokka feels strange when he's supposed to be talking to Roku about the actual plot.

Aang: you can't always have been like this. *cue flashback*

BLUE SPIRIT BLUE SPIRIT

I can totally believe Zuko keeps exhaustive notes on everything Avatar related, but of course he never wrote about what happened to him.

The problem with Aang and Zuko having a prolonged conversation here is that it saps the tension out of their relationship.

"Compassion is a sign of weakness" / "I didn't mean to hurt you." The ways we hurt people when we've been hurt.

People talk too much in this show about what they're doing / going to do.

I get the feeling they were trying to make Iroh seem more proactive here, but it kinda has the opposite effect because instead of being paralyzed by shock/horror/guilt, he just like, makes one protest and then steps aside on cue.

"He's your son." "We'll see." It's a test.

It's a test but it's still not one Zuko can pass. Ozai accuses Zuko of holding back but the literal moment Zuko matches his ruthlessness, Ozai gets his excuse to hurt him.

And listen, I've seen some discourse about Zuko fighting back. But one, Zuko is not a skinny little kid here. I do wish they had cast a child actor but at the same time, Liu is so good that I can forgive that. So we have to accept a Zuko who is a little older and does not look as visibly like a child. Two, it doesn't matter whether Zuko fought back, nothing Ozai does to him is justified, but Ozai was absolutely looking for an excuse. The only thing that changes here is the excuse itself. The end result is the same, that Ozai deliberately hurt his son.

Azula's look of fascination is pretty perfect.

Aang's actor is good here. This is the scene between Aang and Zuko in the OG. Not sure why it was necessary for Zuko and Aang to have that talk before if they were also going to keep this scene. Again, this show has a problem with the pacing because characters keep stopping to give unnecessary exposition. I know we all want more Aang and Zuko but it doesn't quite work.

I still don't think Ozai's justification works.

The idea of Zuko's crew being the 41st is compelling. The idea that Ozai punished Zuko for having compassion by making him responsible for the people he refused to dehumanize, perhaps in the hope that he would eventually come to hate them. And it seemed like it was on its way to working. What I hate is the way the show frames things here by making it seem like it's the crew's responsibility to understand Zuko, and then suddenly they all worship him. The original showed us that Zuko still had compassion, and that was what earned the crew's respect, more than Iroh's story. It's also weird to have this happen after Zhao commandeers the crew, because Jee was right, that he, especially, knows the penalty for not following orders, and knowing Zuko's story only emphasizes how little autonomy the 41st actually have when up against someone like Zhao.

#atla live action

[asitrita]

Ok. I've just finished episode 6 of the Avatar the Last Airbender Netflix live action. I do have some issues with episode 3 and 4, but I get it. If I do not compare it with the animated series, I actually do not think episode 3 is that bad, not as good as the previous two, that for sure, but not too bad either. I would give it a 6/10. And to be honest, even if compared to the original series, I do not think it is that bad. I do get what people are complaining about, but guys, it is impossible to copy paste the animated series, you need to cut things out and mix things up a little, link them and put them together, weave it together, if you so want to include absolutely everything (I'm still a bit disappointed the one story I liked, that of Haru, was not included at all). My only problem here is that we miss the air temples destruction and desecration that was kinda important for Aang to come to terms with, and that we do not get to see how the fire nation finds about Sokka's invention, though I guess it is inferred that the mechanist told them as he was a spy for the fire nation while he was working with Sokka. Episode four was actually the worst so far for me. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Bumi's actor was bad at all, in fact, I think the problem was not the acting but the general look of the episode. He looks like he was wearing a costume, the scenes inside the palace look just weird, I guess they have shining stones in the walls, but it looked like they had lamps and electricity. When making and adaptation of an animated series things like this can happen. Because the series was all too realistic, as in real world tangible aesthetics up to this point, the recreation of Bumi's plain clean walls and overall the Palace aesthetics looks too cartoonish and out of place to me. It took me completely out of the fantasy, as did Bumi's vest or whatever he was wearing. On the brightest side, I friggin cried with Iroh's and Zuko's scenes, those were gold. I also think it was a decent way to include the tunnels episode into the live action, so I don't have any problem with that. Fifth and sixth episode, I liked them, and I didn't mind the changes at all. It was fine, actually, but I found Roku to be too... Bright? Like dude was chill, but not that chill, lol. (Also, no hate to the actress, but Mai actress was the worst cast so far, she looks nothing like the character, and I'm sorry, but I do like the actors looking like the characters, and in this case it is not just that she is physically almost the opposite of her character, but that her character had a very particular vibe to it, Wednesday Adams-like, that the actress lacks completely, so this is not even about looks, but about feelings, so to speak).

In general I'm enjoying much more the new material than the old material they try so hard to replicate. I loved episode 2, by the way. Oh, and Archer (or whatever his name is in English), the boy with the hat and the bow, looks like he was taken out of the animated series, he looks exactly like his character XD Loved him (and Jet 👀)

So far, Sokka, Zuko and Iroh remain my favourite characters, though Aang and Katara are growing on me. I must say, I read many people complaining about Katara's and Aang's performance, but since I'm watching the show in Spanish, the voice actors have probably improved quite a bit the delivery of their lines, so I like them quite fine. I still think Zuko is the best casted actor so far, he does not look exactly as I imagined Zuko, nor has his sharp features, but he feels like Zuko, he really does, I really like him and I think he's doing perfect as our prince. His performance is really really good, my favourite so far, and no, it is not because I also loved Zuko in the animated series, it is because I do believe he is bringing Zuko to life with his performance. Oh, I'm actually enjoying Zhao's performance quite a lot too, a bit different from the original, but he's also doing great, I hate that guy XD

Oh, the fantasy animals? They look great. And Ko scared the shit out of me XD

#spoilers #avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar live action #avatar netflix

[releasemefromthevoid]

MY ATLA LIVE ACTION S1E5 THOUGHTS

EP4 - EP6

I think I’m progressively getting more confused with how they’re structuring this plot. At what point does an adaptation stop being a necessary rearrangement and starts being changed for the sake of change. I don’t actually have the answer to that, but I’m going to keep that in mind moving forward. 

So there’s a lot going on in this episode, with an arc that again spans episodes 5 and 6 (as a guess). It seems the writers are bringing in elements from book 2, which they were doing before, but this time I’m not entirely sure as to why? I’m a little perplexed about it, I guess. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was a fairly enjoyable watch, but I do think I would sooner rather rewatch the cartoon again before this episode. 

There was a character officially introduced this episode that said some things that I feel directly conflicts with their character in the cartoon, and I’m finding it difficult to reconcile why the writers made this change. 

Lastly, this was the first time in this series where I immediately noticed a parallel between Zuko and Aang, which was always something that Made the original series for me, so I appreciated its inclusion here.

As always, spoilers and live reactions under the cut.

judging by the description, we’re in the winter solstice proper now.

katara is advancing in a much more believable way now

are they gonna do the misogyny in the northern water tribe thing? 

yeah this is def the opening to the winter solstice episode. does that mean we’ll go to the fire temple and meet roku after?

woah that shot with Aang on his knees in the burnt forest was the exact same one in the cartoon

“my name is sokka, rhymes with okka”

PIPPINPADDLEOPSICOPOLIS THE THIRD THAT’S CRAZY!! where was this in omashu

zuko’s being rude to his subordinates <3 love that guy

oh okay so the yuyan archers are being given to zhao. will this tie into pohuai somehow? should i expect to see the blue spirit next episode?

ozai is. talking up zuko?? to deliberately put down azula?? i mean. yeah okay i can accept that. if they’re making ozai turn on azula a little, then that means they might be setting up for an azula redemption arc down the line. i might miss the ultimate tragedy of her character, but tbh she deserves something good. it’ll be interesting to see how this affects zuko’s redemption arc as well

ooh the bear statues are nice. hei bai time

oh they’re. all in the spirit world? from just aang meditating??? that feels like that’s not how that should work, but okay

pirates, canyon guide? the callbacks, huh? we haven’t seen the adaptations for the waterbending scroll or the great divide, so are they implying that some abridged version of these events have happened in this version of canon offscreen? hm

june <33

HELP SHE’S FLIRTING WITH IROH

WAN SHI TONG???? love love love, he looks incredible!! that sure is a big fucking owl. why is he here though

has azula not figured out blue flames completely yet? they were orange, and flickered blue

i am enjoying this early azula arc, if not just because i love azula

they’re gonna adapt the bato episode, right? bc june is here. that might be coming soon, right?

hei bai <33 he looks great too

no bending in the spirit world

wait is this. an adaptation of the hallucinations in the swamp from book 2?? it’s kind of giving swamp. how much do we wanna bet that the three tailed fox was a representation for yue? i’ll bet it was the same actress doing the voice work

well. goodbye kya

face. stealer? koh is that you? 

well fuck. no bato episode, sokka’s already been ice-dodging. bato is in this flashback, but at what cost. i guess this does eliminate that aang miscommunication plot point, which i did hate.

sokka. bullied? 

this better not be real. hakoda would never say that. he Wouldn’t!! what the fuck. this better be a swamp-esque hallucination. i’m gonna be so mad. hakoda is a supportive figure in sokka’s life, sokka’s insecurities aren’t supposed to stem from the things he says, even if hakoda doesn't think sokka can hear. i would buy it if the village boys were the ones causing sokka issues, but in my opinion, hakoda should be part of the solution, not the problem.

koh the face stealer confirmed. this goes kinda hard

did anyone tell aang about the whole expressionless thing. what’s stopping koh right now

GYATSO????! this is peak gyatso he’s real

maybe. worry about your friends a little more though aang

“imprisons people in their darkest memories” huh. that means. hakoda was really saying that about sokka? hm

you uh. just gonna leave them there? 

it’s good that they’re still paralleling aang and zuko. that was very nice, and also a staple of WHY i liked the cartoon in the first place.

liked: wan shi tong's design (he looked cool as hell), koh's design (appropriately scary), the general look of the spirit world, possible (unconfirmed) foreshadowing of yue in a swamp-esque style

worried about: if they keep adapting things from season two and cutting things from season one, what's going to happen in later seasons?

disliked: hakoda's characterization (i know it didn't seem mean-spirited and i know he didn't think sokka was around to hear, but in my heart of hearts he would never say that. why does bato seem to believe in sokka more than hakoda)

#atla #atla live action #atla netflix #avatar the last airbender live action #avatar the last airbender #long post #listen i'm not disliking the series #it's a fine watch #but there's def choices being made here that i don't like

[hella1975]

hey you guys seem to like my atla wips and im currently ignoring my lecture notes on exponential and logarithmic functions so here's another one for you:

i have an au that surrounds an Object - currently it's a necklace bc i think the 'overpowered magical necklace' trope fucks astronomically - that has the power to enhance any bending by tenfold. it's the equivalent of comet-powered bending except you can have it All The Time bc it's a necklace. traditionally, it was handed down through the avatars just bc it's so powerful that in the wrong hands it could become very dangerous (👀) so obvs it goes to the peaceful symbol of balance. it's very draining and most benders can only use it once IN THEIR ENTIRE LIFE because that's how fucking overpowered this necklace is, so it's more of a keepsake that the avatars have. THIS IS WHY AZULON GETS OZAI TO MARRY URSA. her grandfather is roku and since aang wasn't on the scene, the necklace stayed in ursa's family and they were charged with protecting it. azulon then took the necklace for his own gain. he didn't actually use it for years bc it's one of those 'knowing you can only use it once actually just makes you hoard it and never use it at all' things but he became OBSESSED with it and ozai was nervous of confronting him for a very long time but he wants that necklace. eventually, when zuko is 11 (aka the canon timeline for this), ozai makes a deal with ursa. now when i say her family were charged with protecting the necklace, i mean it becomes their whole thing. ursa was raised to believe this necklace came before her own life and it's one of the reasons she stays with ozai, bc she refuses to stray from it. ozai says to her that if she kills azulon and takes the necklace, then ozai will let her hold onto it as long as she remembers that it's HIS. she agrees bc at that point she's just desperate to get it back and she's very worn down by ozai at this point also, so she does as she's told, but instead of going straight to ozai, she hesitates, and goes to zuko instead. she gives HIM the necklace, tells him she's sorry, tells him to run. he doesnt understand what's going on but ursa is a mess (she's pretty hysterical and not making sound decisions hence her going 'hey im gonna give the most powerful object in the world to my eleven-year-old child who very easily could have stayed out of this') and eventually zuko runs with the necklace. to buy him some time, ursa confronts ozai and says that she's destroyed the necklace and thrown the remains in the fire. ozai is enraged and kills ursa. zuko sees this all happen and realise just how much danger he's in, and leaves.

he's 11 with absolutely nothing to keep him alive aside a hastily packed dagger and some money that he immediately has to spend on buying clothes that aren't immediately recognisable as imperial fire nation clothing. he goes to the earth kingdom, hungry and desperate and scared, and notices a stall selling food. he goes to steal, but he meets another boy trying to steal at the same time and they almost get caught. the other boy is very much 'fuck you i was here first this is MY town i know all the hot digs when it comes to stealing' and zuko's like 'my brother in christ NO ONE ASKED'. they're the same age and they're both angry, and they HATE each other at first. the other boy can tell zuko is fire nation and tries to kill him, but zuko already has quite a bit of training under his belt so it's not a fair fight. they both leave bruised and with their tail between their legs, but it starts a rivalry because they both keep coming to the same food stall. in the end, an unlikely friendship starts when zuko extends an olive branch by stealing from the stall and giving half of what he stole to the boy. they're both way too hungry to refuse. there's a comradery to it. it's a VERY slow-to-build friendship bc the other boy is soooo against being friends with a fire nationer, but zuko is still just so scared and alone and he just lost EVERYTHING and watched his mother die at his father's hands, so he's stubborn with it and keeps persisting in his growly, abrasive way. in the end, the other boy caves, and they start to talk. zuko finds out his name is jet, and that he very recently just lost his family to firebenders (it's very brutal bc while i dont think jet NEEDS a tragic backstory to hate firebenders so much i also think he must have seen something really awful to make him as extreme as he is). zuko is honest with jet and tells him he got kicked out of the fire nation, that his dad was a dick and killed his mum, and jet is like 'oh you're a victim of the fire nation too'. it takes a little longer for zuko to reveal exactly who he is, and jet is naturally furious and betrayed. they fight (like PROPERLY) and dont speak for a long time bc jet actually kicks zuko out of town and zuko's like 'fair enough' and goes, but at that point they're already kinda reliant on each other bc they're literally CHILDREN who witnessed horrific trauma and have no one else in the entire world, so jet comes after zuko. in this au, jet isn't as much of a jerk and he would never hurt normal civilians, and that's zuko's influence on him and what he learnt from this firebender who's actually good, but on the other end of that, jet's influence on zuko in this au is that zuko is a lot more brutal and sarky. he's kind of a bitch actually <3. jet teaches him how to steal. zuko teaches him how to fight. they become SUPER fucking close and start the freedom fighters together. it's very much steddie parenting the kids in stranger things like they're literally like an old married couple together (bc jet and zuko's friendship is based around just pure insulting each other) and act very much as the Adults despite only being teenagers at this point.

by the time canon catches up with us and the gaang arrive, jet knows all about zuko, from his royalty to his bending to the necklace. he's sworn to protect him. now, in this au the gaang actually catch wind of this necklace, and monk gyatsu spent a lot of time teaching aang about it bc he was meant to be the next inheritor of it. aang is VERY aware of how powerful it is and almost everyone knows the story now of how the lost fire nation prince stole it from his grandfather in the night, killing his mother when she caught him, powerhungry and cruel. sokka and katara are both very much WE CANT LET THIS NECKLACE STAY IN THE HANDS OF SOME CRAZY FIRE NATION PRINCE WTF WE HAVE TO FIND HIM so that's actually part of their whole mission. cut to them meeting the freedom fighters. sokka and zuko IMMEDIATELY hit it off bc what is an atla wip without zukka, and sokka's actually having a whale of a time bc he's finally with guys his age and zuko teaches him swordfighting and jet isn't murderous in this so things are actually Good, but then one day when zukka are sparring, zuko's living it up in some slutty low cut top and sokka SEES THE NECKLACE (bc zuko never takes it off, this is relevant). now normally it wouldnt be a big deal but sokka's a genius AND very cynical AND already hunting this necklace down, so he starts questioning when zuko left home - bc he's clearly fire nation - and all that and realises the timeline is exactly right. there's a whole betrayal there and zukka argue AND THEN THE GAANG TAKE ZUKO PRISONER EXCEPT IT'S A REALLY ODD SITUATION BC THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS ARE READY TO GO TO WAR FOR HIM RN AND THE GAANG ARE READY FOR A FIGHT BUT ZUKO KNOWS THAT THE AVATAR IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THE NECKLACE ANYWAY AND HE'S ALSO KNOWN FOR A LONG TIME THAT HE CANT RUN FROM THIS FOREVER, SO HE JUST STOPS EVERYONE FROM SCRAPPING LIKE 'IT'S OKAY I'LL GO'. so he's a prisoner but he's also?? willing?? basically everyone thinks he's a prisoner except zuko who knows he could leave at any time if he put his mind to it. jet is reluctant bc those two have the STRANGEST relationship like they are more than besties it's not romantic but it's very much 'we have silent conversations based purely on the twitch of your eye or a nod of your head we are telepathic at this point' and they've not been separated since they were kids and had that fight, but it's for the good of the world so it happens.

so there we go! we get zuko travelling with the gaang from jet's episode onwards! except he's a 'prisoner' and zukka already have a pre-existing relationship before zuko became their prisoner so it's SUPER awkward for them and also because zuko has worn this necklace non-stop for five years his bending is now FUCKED (rainbow fire but also zuko is insanely powerful with very poor control) and it's just a whole canon rewrite on all that basis /\/\ it's so fun <3

#i think that jetko friendship is important actually #let them commit crimes together #so yeah zuko doesnt do much firebending these days so the necklace has just been sitting there #charging him up like a solar panel for five years #the kid is FUCKED when he starts bending again it's literally a mess #and jet reunites with us later with the freedom fighters ofc <3 #he DOES NOT DIE #i think #ooooooo maybe actually #no #atla

[moviemunchies]

I’m sorry I’m late, last weekend I was out of town, and I didn’t get to typing up my thoughts on the movie I saw, and now I’m behind on watching the movie I was supposed to watch this week and it’s all a mess. 

I’m terrible. I’m sorry.

Anyhow, that week I was trying to figure out what my movie would be, and then I saw that Mockingjay - Part 2 was on the Roku channel. And you can bet your bottom dollar that I decided to watch it then, and go ahead and finish the series (unless you’re counting the new prequel but we’ll get there eventually).

The war against the Capitol continues, and Peeta’s back! With the rebellion! Except now he’s brainwashed into hating Katniss by Snow’s people. And Katniss is tired of being a poster child; she wants to FIGHT, darn it! So she sneaks into a mission to invade the Capitol. Of course, things don’t go according to plan, because of course they don’t.

Man, sometimes, I forget how good these stories are. Because they’re messy. Katniss makes a lot of enemies, including the leader of the rebellion, because she isn’t easy to control. And I think that speaks to something in modern life, to the conflicts we face today. Too often we see people say, “I stand against the Evil, therefore I am Good.” And they revert back to that statement under criticism. Mockingjay reminds us that it’s often not so simple, and how the cycle can continue under a different ideological banner, blocking all criticism with propaganda.

Anyhow.

It is interesting that the Capitol treats the war with the rebellion similarly to the Hunger Games. For them, it is not just a war to be won, but a way to keep the people complacent. They don’t just spout lies in their media about their war, they dramatize it, make it into entertainment that keeps their own people from working out exactly how much danger they’re in–until it’s too late. There’s a statement to be said about the way we have blocked out real-world conflicts with Hollywood in there, somewhere. Therefore, the action you see, while some of it is cool, it isn’t just there for cool action scenes, it’s brutal war scenes that the Capitol tries to dress up as more glorious (for their side) than it really is.

Peeta’s arc in this movie felt a little bit rushed. We do see that he’s being treated for the brainwashing he’s been given by the Capitol, but before we really get a good idea of his progress he’s being put on the mission to infiltrate the Capitol. And he’s not fine, but he does move things a lot faster than I would expect.

This movie has the awkward role of Plutarch Heavensbee. He’s meant to be in here more, especially in the conclusion, but sadly the actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, died before he completed work on this movie. So there are awkward shots of him towards the end where he’s reacting to events, but doesn’t have any lines. They do the best that they can, but they clearly wanted him to be doing more here than he actually is. So it feels… weird. 

Snow is a fantastic villain? Because yeah, he’s an evil dictator, but he’s… not complex. That’s not the word I’m looking for, I think. He’s interesting, though–it’s entertaining to watch him on screen, because even though he’s an absolute bastard he has great scenes in the movie. And he positively does not care. Donald Sutherland had a blast playing this character, as he knew he would (he wrote a letter to get this role in the first movie). Great villain. I love watching him.

I’m not convinced that this movie should have been split into two parts (and neither is the director nowadays!). Still, it’s not a bad ending to the series. It still manages to convey the story’s message effectively enough, and I think longtime fans will be mostly satisfied with what they get. Maybe not happy about everything, but at least they’ll know they reached an ending that made sense with the story.

#The Hunger Games #Mockingjay #Movie Munchies #Katniss Everdeen #Mockingjay - Part 2

[nysocboy]

"The Seminarian": Gay evangelical looks for love, annoys his friends and the viewer. No, it's not Kelvin Gemstone

The Seminarian 2011: "A seminarian saves a lady's life. They fall in love."  And "A closeted gay seminarian struggles..."  Well, which is it?  It can't be both.  The only way to find out is to watch on Roku.

Scene 1: Whoa, the first scene shows a very well hung naked guy changing clothes in his kitchen!  Now we know the audience they're going after.  

He's Ryan Goodman (Goodman, har har) (Mark Cirillo), who lives in an incredible decadent-red apartment with his "when will you find a girl and get married" mother.  He is about to graduate from a conservative evangelical seminary, but he doesn't want to become a preacher: he's applying to a Ph.D. program at Yale. 

 

Scene 2: Meeting with his thesis advisor. Ryan is writing on how "love and desire" encourage procreation, protection, and socialization, "which enable us to survive and persist as a species."  The point of life is reproduction?  That's the house, job, wife, kids trajectory that my parents were always pushing on me.  I thought a gay guy would come up with something less oppressive.  Besides, he forgot the theology. "Oh, right...um...when we love each other, we reflect God's love." .

Scene 3: A restroom hookup leads to a heart-to-heart.  The guy had a bad breakup six years ago, and hasn't dated anyone since.  "So you're content without love?" Mark asks, horrified.  Some people are aromantic, and some are asexual.

Scene 4: Mark has only one gay friend on campus, Gerald (Matthew Hanon), who has just been dumped by his boyfriend, and doesn't have the energy to listen to his "love is bollocks" moaning.  Also a sraight friend, Eugene, who plasters the campus with "Protect Traditional Marriage" fliers. 

Although he has a girlfriend, Straight Eugene argues that you don't need to be in a relationship -- God's love is enough.  If you disagree, you don't understand God, and what are you doing in seminary?  Judgmental, aren't you?  Oh, right, you're training to become a preacher, and hate gays for a living.

Scene 5:  Mark working on his thesis: "When you love another human being, you love God."  He pauses for cybersex with Bradley, his online boyfriend, who lives too far away to meet. 

Scene 6: Mark decides to busybody into his gay friend Gerald's relationship, but  they have reconciled and don't want him nosing around.

Cut to the gym, where Mark is talking to his other gay friend about the Online Boyfriend. "So he lives far away.  You have to go see him, or you will never find love."  Dude, you live in Los Angeles.  Just walk into any bar and say "I have 8 inches.  Who wants to buy me dinner?"

Cut to Mark sitting on a bench, looking morose while Straight Eugene flirts with his girlfriend.

Scene 7: Mark bites the bullet and drives all the way down to Irvine to meet his Online Boyfriend. Ugh, bare apartment.  Ever hear of paintings?  Cut to the next day, with Mark gushing about the date to his gay friend Gerald.  Gerald isn't interested. 

Scene 8: Uh-oh, Online Boyfriend ghosts Mark. The various intertwining relationships are getting complicated. I'd better stop the scene-by-scene here.

The Online Boyfriend has some problems with drinking and depression, and keeps jerking Mark around, so Mark goes after his gay friend Gerald.  But Gerald isn't into it. 

Mark changes his thesis: "How can love be a gift from God, when it causes so much pain? The pain we feel is the pain God feels when we reject His love." 

He goes farther down the rabbit hole of disbelief: Didn't God know in advance about Adam and Eve's fall, which created this world of misery?  How could a good God allow it?  "This is what I hate about theology. It's justifying senseless beliefs with elaborate pontifications."  His friends wonder why he's still in seminary, and if he's still saved.  "You've backslidden, man."

He comes out to his friend's girlfriend, who respons about as you would expect: "You chose to sin!  You have to repent, and return to God!"  And to his thesis advisor, who advises: Don't tell anyone else, You don't want to be expelled a few months before graduation.  

Finally, we watch Mark sitting on a bench, staring into space, for about five minutes. Then he goes home and stares into space some more, and starts crying.  Mom asks what's wrong.  "Do you really want to know?" he asks.  "I'll tell you." Cut to black.

Beefcake:  Three penises. None of the other actors have any beefcake photos available. Left: more of Mark's penis.

Angst: I thought the crisis would be about "can you be gay and Christian," but it's really "why is love so painful?"  Being gay makes it more painful only because Ryan can't talk to many people about it. Just Gerald, Anthony, and Anthony's new boyfriend Jeff. 

My Grade: Too slow -- we spend 20 seconds staring at a curb, waiting for Ryan to walk by.  Rather wooden performances -- Ryan has one facial expression.  And I hate it when movies end abruptly,without a plot resol.... 

The full review, with nude photos, is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends

#Evangelical homophobia #Gay character #Mark Cirillo #Kelvin Gemstone