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#this goes for toph too
yourhighness6 · 3 months
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I feel like people who dislike Zuko miss how important his character is, especially to IRL abuse victims. The journey from scared, angry, isolated and abused to confident, calm, loved and accepted while being handled almost perfectly in the context of his abuse is so underrated even while being hailed as one of the best redemption arcs of all time.
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comradekatara · 2 years
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ugh okay i get that toph is a) extremely powerful and b) rejects traditional gender roles but she is NOT a brute. her whole deal is that her earthbending technique isn’t like the mainstream approach of using sheer force to attack. the reason she beats the boulder so easily isn’t because she’s physically stronger than him (she very obviously is not!) but because she waits and she listens. that’s the whole reason aang decides to recruit her as his teacher. because she is uniquely creative, perceptive, thoughtful, patient, and intelligent. she enjoys fighting and she’s really, really good at it, she’s sassy, she’s forthright, and she delights in being kind of disgusting in a way she wasn’t allowed to be growing up, but she’s also empathetic, understanding, and vulnerable. by ignoring that you are doing a huge disservice to what makes her character so incredible in the first place. thank you
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hecksupremechips · 2 years
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It’s so funny cuz before people started jumping on the 2020 atla bandwagon like not a single soul was out here thinking of zuko x sokka it was always that zutara shit and then all of a sudden people liked the gay ass zuko shit and me, who never considered this romance ever, was just like. Yeah okay cool :)
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is there any fanart, fanfic, or other fanworks about Bumi and Toph hanging out? Bc two incredibly powerful earth bending chaos gremlins being even 30 feet close to each other is a recipe for disaster that we should be exploring
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dalekofchaos · 2 months
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AU Asami is Amon by nikoniko_808
Give me the forbidden enemies to lovers Korrasami
Okay I wrote up my own au of Asami as Amon
Hiroshi and Asami witnessed the death of Asami’s mother at the hands of the Red Lotus society. Asami swore revenge on all benders. The corruption of Benders has gone too far and Asami and her father cannot let it continue. So they create a movement. The Equalists. Near the end of season 1. Asami would be nowhere to be seen. The Krew believes the Equalists have kidnapped Asami and when Korra confronts Amon, they don’t see her.
Tarrlok is still captured by Amon, when Korra sees him and they chat, he tells the whole story of Amon as it happened in the show to her and everything. Like it goes in the show. Korra and friends go to confront Amon at the arena where Tenzin and his family are about to lose their bending. But they don’t because she gets there in time. She accuses Amon of being a bender, as per Tarrlok’s story. Amon doesn’t unmask. And he isn’t a bender. Tarrlok lied to get Korra to confront Amon so that he could capture her and he could hopefully save his own skin for the service at least. They fight. Amon takes Korra’s bending in a big demonstrative way. So all the crowd can see what comes to any benders, especially The Avatar who stand against him. Then the reveal happens. Asami is Amon.
In order to get her bending back and learn how to give others their bending back (yeah, Korra wouldn’t get it back at the end of Book 1 because consequences? What’re those?), Korra has to go on a quest to learn her bending(her masters would be Toph, Katara, Izumi and Tenzin) in the Spirit World to understand everything. Korra does not cry about loosing her bending because she realized she’s still The Avatar and has to go to The Spirit World to get her bending back, to help everyone get their bending back and stop Asami
Throughout the series, we would meet Kya, Bumi, Izumi, Eska, Desna(Eska and Desna would be Korra’s siblings in this universe, because fuck Unaloq) Opal and Kai. We have the same romance between Bolin and Opal and Jinora and Kai. We would also meet Varrick and Zhu Li, because they are comedy gold. They would all help in the fight against Amon and the Equalists.
In Korra’s venture to the Spirit World,
she would still see Wan’s story(because that’s the only thing I liked about Book 2) and I think in her journey in the spirit world she would see Asami’s story, in which her family were victims of the Red Lotus society and Asami learned to take bending away in the spirit world. Not only that, we would find out that Asami would be bonded with Vaatu. Asami is the darker Avatar.
Before she leaves The Spirit World she connects with all her past lives to ask what she should do about Asami. Korra has her Aang moment where she has too has to decide what to do like he did with the fire lord, only this time there’s more to it than just stopping the bad guy. It’s about the person she loved. She can restore everyone’s bending by reversing Amon’s convergence, but she can’t do that so long as the avatar spirit is split. And as long as Asami is part avatar, she can go into the avatar state. That’s still pretty damn dangerous even with only water and blood bending. Korra realizes the only thing she can do to stop Asami? Love her.
After her journey to relearn her bending and journey in the spirit world, Korra travels the world to gain allies. From the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes and Air Nomads. Korra unites the world against Amon and the Equalists.
In the final fight, Korra defeats Amon. She exorcises Vaatu from Asami, thus ending the dark Avatar and stopping Amon’s convergence. She reverses what Asami has done and uses it to restore everyone’s bending. So she has to come to the hard part. Amon makes it clear, no matter what, even without the ability to energy bend or without Vaatu, Amon will never stop, Benders will never be safe. Korra shows Asami what she was denied. Korra loves her and forgives her. Asami gives up and accepts whatever punishment.
During Book 3, Asami would work with Korra in stopping and killing the Red Lotus society. However, when Zaheer is stopped. He is left at the mercy of Asami and for everything he’s done and turned her into. Asami kills him.
Book 4 happens. Asami’s redemption is rebuilding Republic City and using Future Industries to repair the damage she’s done as Amon. Blah blah blah Korra stops Kuvira blah blah. Asami earns her redemption and the love of Republic City, the krew and more importantly Korra. Ends with Korra and Asami venturing in the Spirit World and ends with a kiss.
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rewrittn · 1 year
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I saw this and totally had to post it here. Absolutely this. Zuko 100% thinks of any moves katara has used against him and tries using them with fire.
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cy-cyborg · 19 days
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How your disabled character's allies react to their disability can make or break the representation in your story: Writing Disability Quick Tips
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[ID: An image with “Writing Disability quick tips: How your character's allies react to their disability matters” written in chalk the colour of the disability pride flag, from left to right, red, yellow, white, blue and green. Beside the text are 2 poorly drawn people icons in green, one is standing with their hand up to the face of the other, who is in a wheelchair. /End ID]
Something I brought up in my big post about Toph Beifong was how the other characters reacted to Toph pointing out that things were not accessible to her and setting boundaries regarding her disability, which were ignored. I had more to say about it than I thought I did, as it turns out (when isn't that the case lol) but I feel like this is an important aspect of disability representation that is all too often over looked.
You can write the best, most accurate portrayal of a specific disability ever put to screen or page, but it won't mean much if all the other characters, specifically those we're supposed to like and empathise with, treat your character terribly for being disabled and having needs relating to said disability, especially if the story justifies their behaviour.
You see this most often with autistic characters and especially autistic-coded characters. The character in question will be given a bunch of autistic traits, most often traits relating to not understanding certain social dynamics or sarcasm, and when they get it wrong, the other characters we are supposed to like jump down their throat, tease them or outright abandon them. Autism isn't the only disability that gets treated this way, but it is one of the more common ones that get this treatment. It doesn't matter if you do everything else right when creating an autistic character if the other "good guys" constantly call them annoying, get angry at them or laugh at them for the very traits that make them autistic, or for advocating for their needs.
Likewise, if you have a leg amputee character who is otherwise done well, but is constantly being criticised by their allies for needing to rest their legs or taking too long to get their prosthetics on, it undermines a lot of the other work you've done. Same goes for having a wheelchair user who is accused of being a bore or a stick in the mud because they point out the places their friends want to go to on a group holiday have no wheelchair access, or a deaf character who is accused of being entitled for wanting their family to learn to sign, or anything else.
This isn't to say you can never have moments like these in your stories, but its important to remember that a) people with the same disability as your character will be in your audience. If you spend a whole season of your TV show shaming your autistic character for real traits that real autistic people have, they're not exactly going to feel welcome and may not want to hang around. b) it's going to very, very heavily impact people's perceptions of your "heros" who do this, especially in they eyes of your audience members who share the character's disability or who have had similar experiences. This isn't like calling someone a mean name or being a bit of a dick when you're sleepy, it's going to take a lot to regain audience appeal for the offending character, and depending on exactly what they do and how frequently they do it, they may not even be able to come back from it at all. And finally, c) there should be a point to it outside of just shaming this character and saying the other guy is an asshole. Like I said before, you're character is criticising real people's real disabilities and the traits or problems that come with them, things that they often have no control over, it shouldn't be used as a cheap, quick way to establish a quirky enemies to lovers dynamic or show that one guy is kind of an ass before his redemption arc. If you really must have your characters do this, be mindful of when and how you use it.
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bythepen98 · 11 months
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@zutaramonth Day 3: After all these years ||
I just love the idea of them learning to dance together and being so very cute and awkward about it at first 🥺💕.
Brief backstory:
Although they were busy preparing for the war, they still needed time to have fun and de-stress so a small feast with music and dancing seemed like a good idea. Zuko and Katara were pushed to spend time together by the rest of the Gaang because they've had enough of the weird distance between the two, brought by brewing feelings that both weren't sure about acknowledging yet. At this point, they've already resolved most of their issues and were on track to becoming really good friends until the 'complication' happened.
Feelings can be ass sometimes fr.
Somehow, what started as a one time, peer pressured, clumsy bonding attempt between two hyperaware-of-each-other teenagers ended up lasting longer than expected. Excuses would be made to continue dancing together because once the initial awkwardness has passed, they found that it was actually quite relaxing (especially for two usually hot headed people) just going through the motions and communicating with looks and gentle touches what they had zero courage to say out loud. Both were also restless and couldn't always spend their hours training so dancing felt like fair game. A very pleasant and completely platonic way of passing the time with a good friend, or at least that's what they told themselves.
Then the war ended, feelings were finally acknowledged and returned now that there was enough time to reflect and actually do something about it and time continued to pass. No matter the changes and busy schedules that came with adulthood and bearing the responsibilities of ruling/helping rule a nation, some things remained constant. Though they never broadcasted it, the Gaang knew that Katara and Zuko would sometimes be found at night just swaying in each other's arms while they quietly talked about their day. It became a tradition - their way to bond and reconnect after a busy day. It was also muscle memory at this point and something they would naturally drift to doing when the opportunity arose. If they weren't training, lounging and drinking tea or walking arm in arm along the courtyard for a stroll, they'd be dancing.
Ofc the dances varied. Most of the time it was simple, intimate, and didn't require much energy. It was during festivals and other special events where they'd let loose and swap partners with their friends. They definitely would've taught each other's traditional dances too. Most of the time they stuck to couple dances though.
The two would then make it to their golden years surrounded by friends and family. In this au, Aang, Sokka and Suki are definitely still alive and kicking and they, together with Toph, would reminisc about the good old days and pat themselves in the back for helping get Zuko and Katara together. They would've gotten together eventually anyway but the Gaang just sped up the process and the credit for starting the whole dancing tradition goes to them. Aang isn't afraid to admit that he and whoever he married in this au also partake in said tradition; Sokka and Suki would do so every now and then but they much prefer exchanging swords as their love language; Toph is indifferent and much prefers just sitting back and letting them enjoy themselves.
This is way over due but I'm glad I was able to finish it. Will sadly be the only prompt I'll be able to do for zutara month bc life threw a wrench and made me too busy, though I'm still interested in making the other prompts at a later date. /N
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sjbattleangel · 11 months
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If people talked about ATLA the way they talk about Steven Universe, Star Vs. TLOK and She-Ra.
"So Aang just ran away and froze himself at the bottom of the ocean, leaving innocent people to be conquered by the Fire Nation? What a selfish coward! He has blood on hands!"
"Ugh! The stupid chauvinistic crap Sokka says! The creators are misogynists!."
"Man, Katara is such a Mary Sue! The way she grew into a waterbender was so unrealistic. Bad writing!"
"Toph is blind? But how can we tell? A blind person can never do THAT! Nope, sorry. Not good enough. Doesn't count as real representation."
"Zuko is an irredeemable, imperialist brat, too easily forgiven. He doesn't deserve a redemption arc. He should've been killed at the beginning. The creators clearly have a thing for "Draco In Leather Pants".
"The King of Omashu, Imprisoned, Jet, The Deserter, The Cave Of Two Lovers, Avatar Day, The Tales Of Ba Singh Se, ect. Pointless filler episodes with nothing to add. More examples of sunk-cost fallacy."
"Azula is a powerful young woman who slowly goes insane because Mommy and Daddy didn't love her enough? The creators hate women and want them back in the kitchens!"
"So we're shown that there're innocent people in the Fire Nation who don't support the war yet the Fire Nation are still the bad guys? Trying to earn woke brownie points much?
"Aang doesn't kill the Firelord but drains him of all his powers, ultimately sparing him!?! THE CREATORS ARE FASCIST SYMPATHIZERS!! OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!"
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cryptids-and-muses · 10 months
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ATLA modern au that is slightly more realistic than usual:
Aang:
Does not go to college
Lives part time with his grandpa gyatso and part time in his VW van
Works as a janitor at a dojo he used to train at and goes to the various kids belt ceremonies
Does a lot of activism in his spare time
Katara:
Goes to college on student loans
Lives in student housing with Ming from the episode the fortune teller as her roommate (this was too funny not to do)
Used to work for a nonprofit but got paid shit, was encouraged to do a lot of unpaid labor, and got super burned out
Now works as a tutor
Is torn between becoming a teacher and full time activism, while struggling with possible not being able to support herself on either path
Still does a lot of activism and that’s how she met aang
They were both part of a blockade to stop construction on something bad for the environment, the cops showed up, aang helped katara get away with his VW bus (I said more realistic not fully grounded)
Sokka:
Also in college on student loans
In student housing with tio from the episode the northern air temple as his roommate
Has a work study position with Pian Dao who’s a professor
Has switched majors a lot but eventually settled on engineering
Toph:
Uses the money her parents send her for tuition to rent a shitty apartment
They think she’s enrolled but she’s not
The college she told them she got into is very far away from them to help justify moving away
Doesn’t have a regular job but is part of a local level MMA league that she does pretty well in
Survives off that, odd jobs, and leftover money from her tuition
Suki:
Got into college on a sports scholarship
Is studying physical therapy
Rents an apartment with several roommates (kyoshi warriors)
Has some kind of training or coaching job, think camp counselor
Met aang through the dojo he works at and/or toph through her fighting league
Zuko:
Used to go to college but dropped out
After he was cut off bounced between his friends places before ending up fully moving in with toph
Works at his uncle’s tea shop (obviously)
Is generally very lost and doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life
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yandere-avatar · 10 months
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Yandere! Toph Beifong Headcanons
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Hey guys I'm finally back and doing Toph's headcanons Hope yall didn't die waiting for me lol
She was very mean to you at first and you had no idea why
She didn't know how to show you she liked you, so she retorted to being mean
Katara was the first to pick up on Toph's little crush
Toph goes out of her way to keep you safe
She's always feeling the ground to make sure you are near
If she senses you're gone, she becomes super alert
If you try and call her out on her crush, she'll deny and call you stupid
If anyone insults you, she takes it personally and defends you
When in the air or not on the ground, she usually holds you
"Not because I like you!" She'll yell, blushing a bright red
She's like a tsundere and we'll never admit to liking you, even if you are dating
She's scared of you leaving her or finding someone better
^ To stop this, she's always trying to prove herself
Whether it be her strength or her Earth Bending skills
She gets so pissy when someone tries to hit on you, especially if it's an Earthbender who's showing you their skills
Toph knows she's the best Earthbender in the world, so she doesn't understand why they even try
She picks fights and you always have to jump in and stop her
"You think you're better than me?"
"Nah. I know I'm better than you" [She'll mock, before turning towards them and pretty much threatening them]
Your opinion is the only one that truly matters to her
Hell, she values you more than the Avatar [And that's saying something, because he's a lot more powerful for you]
If you're a non bender, she didn't like you at first, because she saw you as a problem that was holding everyone back, until she 'saw' you fight
You could defend yourself without any powers
If she did call you out for being a problem, you instantly bring up her being blind
"If you can fight blind, what makes you think I can't find without any powers?"
She's taken aback, not having thought about that, so she lets you slide
You probably die before her, which when you do, that's when she goes into the Swamps [Kind of like to mourn you and be closer to nature, which reminds her of you]
She's hesitant to leave the swamp, but she knows you'd want her to protect your children
"I love you, Toph"
"I guess I love you too"
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comradekatara · 16 days
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I just read your rant about zukka and it made me think what if zuko’s obsession with sokka has to do with the fact that sokka in some ways encompasses some of the traits that have been forced on Zuko since he was young like the whole killing without mercy or remorse and the need for control and the strategic thinking. But Sokka uses these skills no to try and rule the world but to help aang stop Ozai. I haven’t watched atla in a while but your analyses help me realize a lot of details that I missed about it was he characters
yeah i’ve talked before about how sokka and azula being so similar must be kind of a mindfuck for zuko because sokka has “a killer instinct that’s just so fire nation” but also he’s literally friends with the bald baby pacifist monk avatar who says shit like “do you think we could’ve been friends too?” and so zuko clearly has no idea what to think. like he and azula were both indoctrinated into this world that valued certain traits and dogmas over others (ie, sokka’s over aang’s) and so azula sees sokka as more of a threat.
it’s funny because obviously sokka and zuko’s first encounter is sokka getting his ass handed to him by a guy who doesn’t even care that he’s in his way, but also that scheme is pretty immediately disrupted by sokka’s boomerang. and then the next time they meet, sokka has actually spent time training under someone (instead of fumbling around in the dark by himself) and can now hold his own far better. and every single encounter after that sees sokka not only rising to zuko’s level, but surpassing him, fighting him, foiling his plans, advocating to leave him for dead, ignoring him, dismissing him.
even at the western air temple, sokka is the liaison who welcomes him into the group (the designated “leadership” role comes with more responsibilities than simply assassinating assassins), but he also makes it pretty clear that he doesn’t care for or trust zuko throughout “the firebending masters,” even if his manner of bullying is far less overtly malicious than katara’s. and yet, zuko cannot discount him. zuko saw him kill combustion man. zuko understands his value to the group. zuko recognizes that quality he and azula share. zuko may have had an advantage over him the first time they met, but it sure didn’t last long. if azula and zuko have anything in common, it’s a mutual respect for sokka.
like, sokka is the only member of the gaang’s name azula actually says (aang is “the avatar,” katara is “peasant,” toph is [insert blind joke here], and suki is “my favorite prisoner”) and on the day of black sun, she elects to distract sokka first and foremost knowing that he’s their “leader.” and she does clearly respect him more than most people do because she can see herself in him (at least to some extent, i don’t think either of them are actually insightful enough to realize how deep that connection truly goes) and thus can recognize his worth as someone who is in a similar position, albeit on the opposite side.
zuko does say and aang and katara’s names (and appa’s), but sokka’s name is the first he says, and it’s really the only name he uses as a mode of address. and the matter of naming is clearly important to royal heirs, who are defined by their names and titles. we see that especially when zuko confuses ursa’s “remember who you are” with “remember your ancestry,” declaring who he is not as internal identity, but as title. to afford someone the respect of addressing them by name is to implicitly demonstrate respect for them.
this is further demonstrated by the fact that unlike “you just had to pick up the glowing egg” zuko of just an episode prior, zuko really does follow sokka’s leadership and places his complete faith in his abilities. there’s no complaining or backseat driving or undermining of his intentions, which is genuinely anomalous for zuko, who generally refuses to listen to anyone about anything (unless he’s being actively scared into submission, and even then he’s stood up to ozai multiple times). he’s not outspoken in these episodes, however. he is downright docile. and it’s because he genuinely believes sokka to be his superior. which isn’t to say that sokka isn’t better than he is, but like. aang is too and he doesn’t take his knowledge into account! because aang doesn’t represent the values that zuko strove to embody his entire life.
what’s more, i would imagine there’s something kind of satisfying, if not downright intriguing, about knowing someone who basically is what you aspire to be, who you were told you must be your entire life, and seeing that he is just. absolutely fucking miserable. like azula is also miserable, but zuko doesn’t know that (yet), because she hides it better. but sokka is genuinely suicidal (especially in these episodes). meeting this idealized standard of perfection you have always failed to reach and realizing that whatever standards you once (recently) held yourself to are actually deeply unfulfilling. that sokka isn’t “perfect,” that he actually considers himself a failure. and the fact that when he does fail, he considers it the end of the world because he never built up the resilience one gets from being a normal person who doesn’t always succeed on their first try. and zuko’s like “finally, something i have that he doesn’t: intimate knowledge of what it’s like to constantly fail and underperform and disappoint people!”
zuko is really perfectly equipped to support sokka in this situation, because he idolizes him enough to provide him with the unconditional support sokka feels fundamentally undeserving of, and also understands sokka’s misery enough to give him actually meaningful advice when it matters. what’s interesting about how zuko feels about sokka is that it’s not just about uncritically putting him on a pedestal for being Nice Azula or whatever, it’s also about zuko’s genuine desire to help sokka and protect him.
yue inhabits the martyr role that sokka has always envisioned himself in, suki establishes herself as someone who is equally capable of protecting him and he can her, and zuko risks his life to support sokka on his crazy suicide mission, when sokka was so intent on going it alone because he wasn’t thinking clearly didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. sokka doesn’t need someone who treats him like an irreproachable god. in fact, i think sokka would hate nothing more than having a sycophant. he needs someone who understands that he is fallible and vulnerable and needs help like any human being does, and respects and trusts and admires him anyway.
zuko doesn’t have the capacity to recognize azula’s insecurities and shortcomings, or the desire to help her, but he does for sokka. because he never felt like he was in a position where he had to compete for something against him. he’s not trying to usurp sokka’s role as “leader” (except for whatever was going on in “sozin’s comet,” but that’s for another post) and is happy to simply follow him, in a way that is genuinely uncharacteristic for him.
and you can say that it’s because zuko is gay and stupid (which wouldn’t be wrong, per se), but it’s also because sokka embodies everything zuko ever thought he had to be. and it’s because sokka doesn’t even care. it’s the recognition that one person’s idealized model of behavior is another’s burden. that if zuko had been “perfect” like sokka, he never would’ve gained the wisdom to accept defeat and not let it deter him. perfect like azula, who, like sokka, shatters in the face of failure.
zuko says as much in “the siege of the north,” and again in “the western air temple.” the fact that he isn’t a prodigy, the fact that he “had to struggle and fight” to achieve what little he has, is “what made me who i am.” so he’ll respect sokka, of course, because sokka is who he wished for so long that he could be. but he’ll also support sokka, because he has just enough distance from the situation to recognize that he’s not an island (even if sokka himself is convinced that he must be). so it’s not obsession, per se, nor is it simply uncritical admiration that confuses excellence for infallibility. it’s unconditional support born of understanding, a sort of empathy. it’s devotion.
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the-badger-mole · 7 days
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PLEASE elaborate on dark Aang killing Sokka, I love your ideas
Aang's demonstrated a lack of respect for the SWT customs and culture. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they are more overtly dependent on hunting than the other nations, but also I think there's not a little bit of classism, too. As they get older, and Aang becomes more insistent that the whole world be more like the Air Nomads, it would become a sticking point between Sokka and Aang. Suki would also not trust Aang blindly, which would influence Sokka, too. The tension between them would grow over the years, not at all helped by Sokka's feelings about how Aang treats Katara and her children.
Over time, Aang's support for the soft colonization of the NWT of the SWT would become too much, and Sokka would demand that any NWT transplants are subject to the SWT's laws and customs just like they would be if they immigrated anywhere else. Aang would argue that the more "sophisticated" NWT was having an enlightening effect on the rustic SWT. His thinking is that the NWT's influence would bring the SWT closer in line with Air Nomad philosophies, or at least the philosophies as he understands them. Sokka's not having it, though. One day Aang goes too far and supports what is essentially a coup that would leave Sokka as chief in name only so the the NWT can set up an annex government. Of course Sokka will not stand for that. At this point, the rest of Aang's friends see the problem, too and go to support Sokka. There is a skirmish between the NWT colonial forces and Sokka's warriors. Aang goes into the Avatar State, trying to end the conflict, but he attacks the SWT forces, who are being led by Sokka. Sokka takes a hit and he dies. It's too fast for Katara to even attempt to heal him.
When Aang comes back, he sees the death and destruction he's caused. Sokka  is among the dead, and Aang is at a crossroads. He can either realize that he has failed as the Avatar and become the very thing he was supposed to protect the world against, or he can retreat further into his selfish denial and lament what he was forced to do.
Sokka's death has a ripple effect. Fire Lord Zuko officially voices his dissent of the NWT's occupation of the SWT. Katara takes her brother's place as leader of the SWT, and she leaves Aang, taking her children with her, including Tenzin. With Toph's influence, Gaoling and Omashu both unite with the Fire Nation against the NWT and Aang. Something like the Equalist movement takes shape in the SWT and the Earth Kingdom, and Aang finds himself facing backlash. The people of the world begin to question the actual duty of the Avatar, and how much say he should have in any of the world's conflicts.
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nerdycanible1 · 1 month
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Heyo! Anyone want some Lin Fanart? :D
Here you go!
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I'd like to think this is right after Suyin hurt her and Lin may or may be blinded 👀💧
I'm not exactly good with expressions but I wanted to show Lin in both pain but also the anger and hate in her eyes.
All art belongs to me. If reposted plz credit!
Accidentally written a little one shot that's horrible. I meant to take a nap but just sat in my living room typing this and munching on food!
Enjoy- tho I doubt it'll be good 💀
Suyin would undoubtedly be upset she hurt her sister, but wouldn't be prepared to see this expression. An expression she's never seen on Lin before and is possibly ingrained in her mind forever.
Suyin would go to help Lin but Lin would refuse to let Suyin any closer and literally build a wall preventing Suyin from getting close.
Toph shows up and asking what happened, comforts Suyin upon feeling the little ones erratic heart beating all before Suyin tells her mother she's sorry and that Lin's hurt.
Toph goes to see what happens and all she hears is Lin barking at the healer to just do what they can and a slam of a door closing. Toph could sense something is wrong with Lin and can tell she'd faint at any moment if she don't step in only for Lin to hold her hand up at her mother and tells her, "Not now."
Before Toph could say anything Lin tosses her metal coils down on the ground and telling Toph that they'd need to be upgraded and that it's best for everyone in the facility to get them reworked.
Lin's face begins to swell up, the blood is trickling onto the ground and the healer helplessly following Lin around as she's barking orders but is starting to sway and almost faint.
Toph ends up freezing Lin in her place with her metal armor just to help the poor healer out and demands Lin to tell her what happened.
Lin straining too much and only just begins to fall to her knees as she can't fight against her mother in the state she's in, her heart aches, her face feels in agony and she feels ready to fall asleep.
The next thing she knows, she wakes up in a dimly lit room. She could smell the incense and the sandal wood and the light smell of spring in the air. She could hear yelling down the hallway between her aunt and mother, Suyin screaming that it was Lin's fault and of course the numbing pain on Lin's face.
She knew what happened and knew how bad the wound was. She didn't need a healer to tell her how bad the wound was because she felt it, could already sense her other senses strengthening.
With a sigh the metalbender slowly turned her head which made the blood in her head pump and practically caused her brain to ache as she tried to look out the window.
It took too long for Lin to focus and could see the sun had set a bit ago. She'd sit up and leave if she could but just the thought of it hurt Lin's head and she didn't want to go through that pain.
"We don't arrest family!!"
"And look what happened! Agni Toph, Lin got hurt and Suyin's in shambles! I'm not asking you to arrest Suyin I'm just asking you to help her. Ground her! She needs a mother Toph, not an absent one!"
"If I need any advice from you I'd ask! It's just a scratch, Beifong's don't get hurt!-"
"Mom?-"
"-And what do you know about raising kids Sugar Queen? Your two oldest couldn't wait to leave you and where are they now?!"
"-Aunt Katara?-"
"-That's not fair and you know it! They're grown up! Let them do as they and ex- you know what? Forget it! Since you're blind to see what's in front of you I'll tell you! Lin hates you and you don't know why! You're so concerned about your job, about your name, about your position, about metalbending that you forgot what's important!"
"And what's so important huh?!"
"That Lin is important too!"
The silence is what stung Lin the most. Maybe it was the hesitance or maybe the fact that her mother took a whole 10 seconds to finally respond. It was enough for Lin to realize her mother never saw Lin on any level of importance in a very long time.
"So what. She's a big girl, she doesn't need me. She didn't need me when she started tying her shoes, she don't need me now."
Lin sighed felt tears prickle in her eye before quietly crawling out of bed and out the window. She made her way down to the beach and sat down mauling over her aunt and mother's words.
Maybe her mother was right. Maybe Lin was the first to start pushing everyone away. Maybe she forgot what family was. It would make sense why her mother and younger sister were close and how she wasn't. Maybe Lin stopped being apart of the family once she realized she was nowhere near the same as them. When she was the one ruining their fun and becoming a "party pooper."
And even if that was true, even if it were very much apparent, it didn't hurt any less. People used to tell her how much her mother and her were alike. Nicknaming her Little Toph or Tiny Beifong. That she was going to be just like her mother and become a great metalbender.
She thought that since she looked like her mother, became an officer like her mother, bent the same stones as her mother, that she and her would share a bond. A bond that no one would understand but them.
It hurt her once Suyin was born, it was like Toph and her clicked right away and suddenly Lin wasn't Little Toph anymore. She became Miss cranky pants or miss you're-not-Suyin's-mom. She was no longer little Chief but an annoyance to her and her mother. A nag that ruined the fun.
The more people saw Suyin and Toph together the more they said Suyin was exactly like her. Rough, abrasive, strong, stubborn and a powerful metalbender.
A metalbender. Lin just realized why her mother favored Suyin over her. It was because Suyin was a great metalbender. Maybe that's why she loved Suyin more than her.
Lin ran her fingers through the coarse sand and stared up at the moon. Was she always this different? Was she ever in the spotlight to begin with? Lin didn't know but she knew she'd have to accept that she'll never be good enough. Even as she thought these things, Toph was probably taking care of Suyin because she was upset.
Maybe one day Lin would be a true Beifong and everything will be fixed. One day where she was just liked her mother and sister and they could be happy. One day where she didn't become a buzz kill.
Maybe one day she'll be a great metalbender that was worth her mother's time. She just hoped it was soon rather than later. She didn't want to be the only one left behind.
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starlight-bread-blog · 8 months
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Katara is More Patient Then We Give Her Credit for
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Katara has been getting a lot of flak for supposedly being hot headed and getting angry at very minor things. Even those who love Katara seem to accept this as the truth. But it's not. In reality, Katara is simply a female character who owns her rage. And I feel like there are two main components that debunk this notion.
Warning: Long, long post.
1. In the instances where Katara is angry it's either justified or makes sense in context.
The Waterbending Scroll
Katara stole, wouldn't you know it, a waterbending scroll. She practices before giving it to Aang, and fails hard. Then Aang who she's supposed to be teaching, gets it right and explains how to do it. Katara has an outburst.
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Katara: Will you please shut your air-hole! Believe it or not your infunite wisdom gets a little old sometimes. Why don't we just throw the scroll away since you're so naturally gifted!
Why is Katara that mad here? Why did she have an outburst? Because she was carrying the burden of being the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe her whole life. Because her waterbending is the reason Kya died. Because she have been independently studying waterbending her whole life. And now her student is having it all easy and is trying to teach her.
And wouldn't you know it, she realized what she did immediatly. Literally, a second later.
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Katara: Oh my gosh Aang. I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me. But you know what, it won't happen again. Here [the scroll] is yours. I don't wanna have anything to do with it anymore.
She even apologized to Momo. Katara had an isecurity rooted in trauma and pressure. When Aang try to teach her she hit a breaking point and lashed out. And not one second later she's already apologizing.
The Waterbending Master
Katara and Aang are going to see Pakku, the waterbending master. But when Pakku sees she's a girl, he says he won't teach her. This is why Katara gets angry. She flew across seas just to get rejected due Pakku is being a sexist freak. I think we can all agree that being denied something because of sexism is a good reason to get angry. And when Katara realized Pakku won't teach Aang if she'll keep insisting, she drops it abd tells Aang to drop it too.
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However, that doesn't mean she won't study in secret. She deserved to learn waterbending and she knew it. She took the consequences into consideration and decided to not make a fuss.
But of course, they both get caught. Pakku says he will no longer teach Aang, the Avatar who absolutly needs to study and still refuses to teach Katara because he's still sexist. Only then Katara challenges him to a duel. Only when they have nothing to lose. She challenged a sexist prick to a duel, one who shamelessly denied her oppretunity because of her gender.
The Chase
At the start of the episode Katara gently hints Toph to help unpack a camp for the night. This is when she's not tired yet, and shows patience.
Katara: So Toph, usually when setting up camp, we try to divide up the work.
Toph: Hey, don't worry about me. I'm good to go.
Katara (still calmly): Well, actually, what I'm trying to say is, some of us might fetch water while someone else might set up the fire pit or put up the tent. *smiles* Even Momo does his fair share.
Toph (slightly irritated): Katara, I'm fine. I can carry my own weight. I don't need a fire. I've already collected my own food. And look. *earth bends a tent* My tent's all set up.
Katara: Well, that's great for you but we still need to finish-
Toph (loudly): I don't understand. What's the problem here??
Katara: Never mind.
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Katara then goes to apologize. While also attempting to make sure her and Toph are on good terms by having her acknoledge that she wasn't 100 absolutly in the right.
Katara: Hey Toph, I wanted to apologize for earlier. I think we're all just a little tired and getting on each other's nerves.
Toph: Yeah, you do seem pretty tired.
Katara (slightly irrutated): I meant all of us.
Toph: Well, good night.
Katara: Good night.
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By all means, Toph is in the wrong for the sheer refusal for communication. At first Katara calmly explained to her what was needed without even spelling it out. Toph was being passive, so she dropped it. And then she apologizes after doing nothing wrong just so they could be on good terms. Toph was the one being passive agressive. And Katara pretty much let it slide.
This is Katara. The patience she showed right here is her natural, normal self. The rest of the episode is under the context of sleep deprivation and how it's making them all hostile to each other. Including the pacifist Aang. Who's outburst leads Toph to leave. After she does, both Aang and Katara express remorse.
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(Side note: I heard people take issue with the line "The stars sure are beautiful tonight, too bad you can't see them, Toph". It's been interpreted as Katara making fun of Toph for being blind, but it's just another instance in the recurring joke of the Gaang forgetting Toph is blind, and listed as such in the official A:TLA Youtube channel).
The Runaway
Update: This section, especially, is majorly outdated.
The episode has a silly opening where Aang is trained by Toph and Katara. Toph misses and accidently hits Katara with a big rock. After Toph doesn't apologize, it leads into a fight which is absolutly not to be taken seriously, that ends with Aang pointing out that it was supposed to be training.
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It doesn't work as an exapmle for supposed hot-headedness because the reason this whole thing started because Toph hit Katara with a rock and refused to apologize.
But moving on to the real conflict of these episode, Toph scammed someone and Katara makes it clear that they shouldn't do it again, it'll draw attention to them. Aang promises her it won't happen again but.. um.. you know what happened.
Katara, being responsible, told them to quit because they'd potentially get exposed. Toph didn't reach well, telling her to lighten up. Katara rightfully gets angry, because they really might get exposed and Toph is dismissing her like her concerns are nothing. They have a short argument and Toph storms out.
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This is why Katara was angry this episode. Her reasoning for being upset is the Gaang potentially exposing themselves for easy money. That's the conflict.
The Painted Lady
In this episode Katara sees a starving Fire Nation village but Sokka won't allow them to stay due to time limits. So she faked a disease for Appa so they could. Sokka confronts her. At first, she gives up and packs to leave. But since she destroyed the factory that's been polluting the villages water and taking their medicine, the people in charge assumed it was the civilians, and were coming to attack. Sokka and Katara get into a small but intense argument. Important to note, that she doesn't react intensively until Sokka does.
Katara: Well, what was I supposed to do?
Sokka: Leave! Do nothing.
Katara: No! I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me.
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Her anger here doesn't highlight hot-headedness, it highlights compassion. Compassion is one of Katara's core traits. She's angry because she's being angrily demanded to see people suffer and stand by. And she will not tolerate it. She will never, ever turn her back on people who need her.
2. In reality, Katara is defined by her patience and compassion.
What I did here was listing off times where Katara did get angry. But Katara is generally a caring, kind person. Rather if it's cheering up Sokka, going shopping with him after he admitted to feeling useless; if it's pulling Aang out of the Avatar state, putting herself at risk when he's out of control; if it's helping deliver a baby of a stranger; or if it's freeing prisoners of the Fire Nation. She demonstrates impressive patience throughout the show.
The Deserter
In this episode Aang was asked to just control fire. Aang gets irrutated himself at this, but Katara assured him that it's probably for a good reaso. But when his master left, he firebent. He was being extremely careless with his new found Fire Bending and burned Katara's hands.
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Did she...
A. splashed some water at him.
B. Yelled at him.
C. Ran away crying.
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Yeah, she didn't express anger at all. Sokka was who's angry at Aang.
The Desert
The sand benders stole Appa and the Gaang is suck in a desert. Katara demonstrates her patience a lot this episode.
Toph and Aang are arguing about Toph not stopping them.
Aang: You just didn't care! You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone.
Katara: Aang, stop it. You know Toph did all she could. She saved our lives.
Sokka: Who's gonna save our lives now? We'll never make itout of here.
Aang: That's all any of you guys care about, yourselves. You don't care whether Appa is okay or not.
Katara: We're all concerned, but we can't afford to be fighting now.
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Aang accused the Gaang of something horrible. Katara told him to stop, but still understood his anger and calmly explained to him that it's important not to fight in a life threatening situation.
Aang then storms out to look for Appa. Katara's response?
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Katara: We'd better start walking. We're the only people who know about the solar eclipse. We have to get that information to Ba Sing Se.
She didn't get angry, she was rational and thought about the greater good.
After Aang comes back, Katara suggest they should try sleeping, gives the Gaang all of her bending water without drinking herself. And then finds a way to get to Ba Sing Se using the locations of star systems.
The Gaang spots a cloud and mistakes it for Appa. But Katara realizes the potential in a cloud. She tells Aang to fly and bend the water from the cloud so they could drink.
Katara (disappoibted): Wow, there's hardly any in here.
Aang (intensively): I'm sorry, okay? It's a desert cloud, I did all I could. What's anyone else doing? *Points at Katara* What are you doing?
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After dealing with everyone's tireness, Sokka's high nonsense and Aang's attitude, carrying everyone, thinking of possible solutions to ensure they'd all survive, how did she react to Aang accusing her of not doing enough?
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Katara: Trying to keep everyone together. Let's just get moving. We need to head this direction.
And after everything she did for everyone, she pulls Aang out of the Avatar state when he's raging, out of control.
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Katara is not so hot headed.
She's sweet, nurturing and caring. She demonstrated incredible patience and perhaps even saved the Gang's life in The Desert with her resilience. Katara's compassion is her defining trait.
But that doesn't mean she's not a human being – she's allowed to be flawed, and in the moments where she does, she's very remorseful. And in the moments where she doesn't, people will still hold her accoutable for simply feeling a justified emotion.
Does it make you oh-so-hot headed to stand up to a sexist denying her opportunity? To make sure your friends don't destroy your chances to win a war? To not tolerate being told to see people in need and do nothing in a middle if an argument she didn't start? Of course it doesn't.
And other characters are allowed to express anger, to be flawed, in ways that are way worse than Katara without being labelled annoying hot headed by the fandom.
Katara is widly known to be irrational, letting her anger get the better of her, but it's simply not true.
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emkini · 1 year
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I need to draw modern au atla just because I need these children in absolutely horrendous clothing. Sokka wears a Hawaiian shirt with his winter coat and fingerless gloves from a tourist trap. Aang wears a sky bison t-shirt with a floral-print skirt. He goes jogging in violently neon shorts.  Zuko wears black turtlenecks and roughed-up black jeans ONLY but secretly has a closet full of very expensive embroidered silk robes and coats that fit him perfectly. Toph wears cargo shorts and a too-big death metal t-shirt and her socks are mismatched. Her crocs have one (1) pin each and it’s a middle finger. Katara almost looks normal until winter comes, at which point she becomes a terrifying force of nature in six layers of coats she made herself. they are cringe. they are free
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