#wan shi tong
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Overall NATLA Thoughts
Okay, now that I've watched the series, I can give my thoughts.
Overall, I thought it was good!!! I had fun watching it! I'd rate it a solid 6.5/10. It's nowhere as good as the original, but it was definitely enjoyable and made some nice changes here and there that I liked. There were also some things I was also Not a fan of too.
I said in another post that it's best to treat this like an AU of the original. There will things that are great and things that are bad. That's the nature of adapting something.
Having said that, I need to get my initial thoughts off my chest... here we go.
Things I thought were good:
Sokka's characterisation - I really enjoyed him! I thought Ian did a good job! He played the funny moments well and retained the underlying seriousness/cautiousness. It wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed the changes a lot and think it was overall a solid performance.
Zuko's characterisation - Like Sokka, I do think I was most satisfied with their performances. A lot of Zuko's moments from the cartoon are sometimes... well, cartoonish and definitely wouldn't translate to live action, but I think Dallas did a nice job at balancing Zuko's desperate anger and that occasional sassiness well.
Zuko and Iroh moments were great. Had me on the floor crying. As it should have.
The bending looks a trillion times better than the movie - I understand it would not have been easy for the actors but, overall, I was very happy about it.
The scenery was stunning. It just looked so beautiful. I loved it so much.
Absolutely ADORE that they made Zuko a good calligrapher and artist. I read a fic about a million years ago where Zuko is a fantastic calligrapher and I thought it was perfect and made so much sense, and now I can say it's canon. This is perfect for me.
S U K I
The Freedom Fighters were ✨ perfect
They were so real for making Oma and Shu lesbians
Koh, Wan Shi Tong and Hei Bai looked fantastic, but I have more to say about all of them below, unfortunately.
I actually like the change they made that Katara is Aang's sole waterbending teacher.
Aang is not perfect, and needed more goofy scenes HOWEVER, I did like how they've had Aang's guilt more prominent in the story. The original didn't do a very good job with that, imo.
Zuko entering is breaking and entering era by breaking into an impenetrable Earth Kingdom prison is just perfect.
In Masks, I like how Aang and Zuko got a longer conversation - that was pretty cute.
I liked how they changed Yue a bit and got her out of the arranged marriage... how Yue saw Sokka in the Spirit World before meeting him in the real world.
Things I didn't like:
Far too much info-dumping/exposition. So much spelling things out. It was not as egregious as the movie, and I get there's a lot of information that needs to be conveyed well and quickly... but sometimes it really took me out of the show.
Why are Mai and Ty Lee here.... I was hoping the live action would give them a bit more depth (and they might as it goes forward!), but why put them in season 1 at all if they're just going to stand around???
Some odd changes - putting this as one point, but there are some bizarre changes that didn't make sense to me, as they did not benefit the story or deepen the characters. I have two main examples: a) making it so Aang didn't run away from home, and b) making it so Zuko actually fights Ozai in the Agni Kai.
Characterisation of Katara was Not Great. I don't think I got many hints of the reckless, compassionate, badass Katara until the end when she fights Pakku and rallies all the women together to fight (which happens off-screen). She was sweet and kind, but she just lacked the fire that OG Katara has.
Azula's characterisation - Azula is desperate to impress Ozai and so her character is just…. brewing with anger, frustration, desperation. I was SO excited to see the Azula we are introduced too… perpetually and irritatingly calm, calculating and ruthless. She's perfect, she's terrifying! She's literally the character of all time. But this Azula had more Zuko vibes? I don't think there's anything wrong with giving Azula more concrete motivation by wanting to impress Ozai and establishing that Ozai is abusive to both his kids, but I do think trying to do that right off the bat is a mistake.
WHY is Wan Shi Tong here. I love Wan Shi Tong, but like I said: Why Is He Here? Why could we not have his iconic, ominous as fuck introduction from The Library, and instead he's introduced in a random season 1 episode giving Aang Information(tm) about the Spirit World.
When Aang gave Koh the statue, and then he just takes it and immediately lets all the villages go, and neither of them even say anything, I actually laughed out loud. Like, I am so sorry, but what in the jesus fuck was that.
Speaking of Koh - I think Koh is better the less we know about him. Roku saying ~all Koh wants is a family like the rest of us~ just pissed me off?? I like my Koh the Face Stealer Terrifying and Unknowable, thank you.
NOTHING EVER REALLY HAPPENS WITH HEI BAI!!?? where's my precious spirit bear?? Like Aang never really does anything with him and the replacement Koh story is boring and it sucks.
Bumi.... sorry I just didn't vibe with him at all.
Things I can't decide on:
Fancy spirit knife to kill the moon spirit annoyed me a bit, but I guess they wanted to Kuruk something to work with and a little bit more interaction with Aang which I get but idk. I really flip/flop on this one.
I've been very on the fence about having Azula (and Ozai) being in the show in season 1 in general. I'm not sure if it benefited either of their characters.
Azula & Ozai's dynamic - Okay, so, I think they're trying to give Azula more depth, right? They're trying to establish what it was like for Azula to live with Ozai and that she's also (like Zuko) trying to desperately prove herself to him, but Ozai using Zuko's... achievements to do that just felt so weird. I get he's doing it to manipulate her, but that just felt so wrong when in canon it's very obvious that Ozai just didn't give a single fuck about Zuko. Ozai pits Azula against Zuko by saying he's a failure, he's a bad bender etc. Azula is born lucky, Zuko is lucky to be born - like, Ozai says that to Zuko's face. I don't know if I am communicating this point very well, but it just didn't seem right to me??
Zuko vs Zhao in the Siege of the North... I genuinely do not know how to feel about it! I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. I don't know how to feel about Zhao telling Zuko that his mission is a sham and that Azula is the prized one... It feels like it's saying the quiet part out loud? In the OG we all know that Ozai sending Zuko on that mission was an excuse to get rid of him, but we can work that out, no one actually says it. And then Iroh just fucking killing him/mortally wounding him instead of the Iconic scene where Zuko reaches out to save him despite everything Zhao has done to him, but Zhao's own pride gets in the way from letting him accept help from Zuko.
Zuko’s crew being the 41st is not necessarily a bad thing at all!!! But I do just want to say that in the original, the attack goes ahead, and presumably, those soldiers die. It’s horrible. Zuko’s sacrifice is in vain, and it was always going to be in vain because the Fire Nation as it stands would not allow Zuko's compassion to win. Ozai would not allow it. While not necessarily a bad choice (all the soldiers bowing to Zuko on the boat was so sweet I loved it!) but I think it does take away some of the horror of Zuko’s story (same as it does with making Zuko fight back in my opinion) because the whole point is that Zuko did the right thing - and he was punished for it, and those soldiers died anyway.
anyway...
Okay!! got that off my chest. I know I just had a big whine here, but I still had a lot of fun watching this show. I think some of the backlash is a bit over the top and unwarranted. It was never going to stand up to the original - and that's okay.
Enjoy it for what it is!
#zuko#sokka#katara#aang#yue#iroh#zhao#azula#ozai#jet#koh the face stealer#wan shi tong#hei bai#natla#avatar the last airbender#atla netflix#avatar netflix#jack talks#live action series
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How is AI affecting the Wan Shi Tong library
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My brain, stirring all my interests around like peeps in a chili pot:
#sorry I just thought about wan shi tong and his extendable neck and my brain went HOOTY!#also I’m dying bc I still have not emotionally recovered from King’s Tide holy FUCK#and I know that since Thanks to Them is going to be so much WORSE I’m not ANYWHERE near ready for that shit#so my brain is rotating around in hyperfixation hell like a rotisserie pig currently#can’t engage with fandom bc I want to avoid any MORE spoilers#but I know I also have to watch it before the next ep drops so I can actually be caught up for a few days hueeeghhh#and briefly engage with fandom and fics and shit bc OHH MAN DO I WANT TO#also I unabashedly LOVE Hooty y’all#maybe it’s just bc Lilith and I are so similar but#he’s the funniest character in the show and so so sweet and loveable - theyre so mean to him and for what?#it’s hooty appreciation hours#atla#toh#peeps in the chili pot#hooty the owl#wan shi tong#avatar the last airbender#the library#the owl house#edits by me
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Oh also I did this tattoo design for my mate! A mosaic Wan Shi Tong 🥰
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Wan Shi Tong and Koh have a face staring contest, or " How the Blue Spirit lost their face "
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WISDOM
www.beau-gar.tumblr.com
#wisdom kaye#avatar#avatar fashion#style influencer#black man#black model#handsome#wan shi tong#ty lee#mai#iroh#combustion man#princess yue#king bumi#sokka#appa#la sape#sapeurs#menswear#fashion#dandy#sprezzatura#blackmalemodel#menswearfashion#male model#mensfashion#black models#men's fashion#parisian style#mens style
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A:tLA general meta and theories
water/earth/fire/air/general
Passive bending
Gaang's address in Ba Sing Se
Tea of four elements
Aang is a sunshine boy and Toph is a gremlin
Learning during the war
Kataang beats Zutara
Bumi meets Aang after 100 years
About previous avatars
Character's wrong fandom treatment
Wan Shi Tong "He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things"
Tea pots in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1
Tea pots in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 2
Tea pots in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3
“Siege of the North" filming - left and right
“The desert” forces characters into circumstances that fundamentally change core aspects of their personality
“The Phoenix Flight”
Great non-benders Sokka and Suki
THE FOUR ELEMENTS + CHEMICAL ELEMENTS
There is nuance in mercy: Aang and Ozai
“The King of Omashu” and Foreshadowing
Color Theory in ATLA Part 3: Siege of the North (links for the previous parts are there)
The Gaang: first and last battles (sort of)
“Rock paper scissors” exist in the Avatar universe
Great A:tLA characters
“There is no war in Ba Sing Se” (about balance)
The best written characters of all time
Avatar drinking game
The Sokka and Zuko dynamic
Can waterbenders bend oil? Can earthbenders bend glass? Can airbenders bend sound? Can firebenders bend mixtapes?
Key cultural influences of Avatar: The Last Airbender
Culture tips for writing asian settings: naming taboo
@atla-lore-archive - EVERYTHING about the show canon
The only advice Aang doesn’t take is Yangchen’s
#atla#avatar the last airbender#aang#katara#sokka#zuko#toph beifong#ozai#the gaang#suki#wan shi tong
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Andrew is so Wan Shi Tong (the owl spirit from atla) coded.
Like seriously.
Wan Shi Tong warned the gaang that his knowledge should never be used for any ulterior motive. He believed in knowledge for knowledge's sake. He also told them about how Zhao took knowledge and used it for evil, so they knew he wouldn't let that happen again. And when Wan Shi Tong learned the gaang was taking knowledge with the intent to use it against someone, it didn't matter if it was for the greater good, he had warned them, and so he sank his library and almost killed the gaang for not adhering to his terms.
Andrew Minyard states his terms when it comes to deals and just in general. He tells people not to touch him. He expexts people not to break deals that they agreed to. If people listen and stick to their word, nothing bad happens. When people don't adhere to his terms, he retaliates.
So yeah. Andrew is very Wan Shi Tong coded.
#this just hit me like a truck#i was watching a video and they started talking about wan shi tong and i was like 'sounds like andrew lol... wait'#so yeah#aftg#all for the game#andrew minyard#avatar the last airbender#atla#wan shi tong
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#atla#Aang#Katara#Sokka#Pakku#Iroh#Zuko#Azula#Mai#Ty Lee#Bumi#Wan Shi Tong#polls#Appa#Momo#Toph#Lo and Li#Zei#Ursa#Ozai#Azulon
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WHY IS WAN SHI TONG JUST WALTZING AROUND THE SPIRIT WORLD? THAT BITCH SHOULD BE IN THE LIBRARY. THE LIBRARY THATS EXPLICITLY IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD. BECAUSE HE WAS ONE OF THE FEW SPIRITS THAT RESIDED IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD.
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Rant #1 – ATLA: S2:10 The Library...WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST TELL THE TRUTH!
I'm currently re-watching the series and am on season 2 as you can probably guess by this post's title.
And, while watching Sokka and the Gang lie to Wan Shi Tong, one thought went through my head...WHY THE FUCK DID THEY LIE?!
I get their nervousness and reluctance in sharing the full truth with the Owl Spirit due to his blunt and seemingly unchanging opinion of humans and their use of knowledge for violence and conquest. But, that's just it. Why didn't they explain that to him in a way he could understand!
If Wan Shi Tong is a spirit of knowledge and prefers things getting solved with peace rather than violence, they had a perfect reason to explain to him why they needed to look through the library!
Let's start with Professor Zei, he was a lover of knowledge and books. All he wanted was to learn and expand his own knowledge of different subjects and cultures. If anyone had a perfectly legitimate reason to be there and not invoke the spirit's wrath, it was him!
But, since he's only a side character in this, his background and story don't hold much weight compared to the Gang.
Like Sokka and Katara, for example, who've suffered their entire lives at the hands of the Fire Nation since they were born due to their war and quest for conquest over the entire world. Wan Shi Tong is about peace and sees humans as obstructers of that peace and thinks low of them because of this.
And let's be honest; he ain't wrong. Humans are very prone to solving matters with violence. In fiction AND reality. But, the Southern Water Tribe siblings know of violence and tragedy at the hands of humans, because they've been subjected to it their entire lives.
If Wan Shi Tong is about peace and being a spirit of knowledge, using said knowledge to solve one's problems, wouldn't it be obvious that would be a perfect reason to explain to him why they're seeking information from his library? They're striving to protect the peace and balance of the world, and that means that have to find a way to stop the Fire Nation. Yes, it is through a means of violence, but sometimes, that's what it takes to protect peace.
They're fighting to protect themselves, their families, and all the innocent people who have suffered for so long from this war. That's easily good reason #1 they could have given to the owl spirit as a reason to let them browse his library. But let's say that didn't work and he was still apprehensive, they've literally got an even more perfect angle to come at him with: KNOWLEDGE!
If Wan Shi Tong is a spirit of knowledge and dedicates himself to collecting information, books, and tomes from all different parts of the world, wouldn't that automatically mean he wants to do his best to protect knowledge as much as he can.
This war from the Firebenders has wiped out homes, villages, and an entire nation of people along with their culture, leaving one lone survivor. Aang literally has the best reason to ask Wan Shi Tong to use his library.
Imagine, as a spirit of knowledge, learning that an entire civilization and its culture had been destroyed and burned to the ground. Taking with them all their customs, rituals, knowledge and wisdom, their teachings and practices, so much information that could have been added to your library's collection.
Again, going back to Katara and Sokka, whose tribe was harassed and stripped of all their water benders, minus Katara, as a means of preventing any kind of pushback or revolution. Katara had to travel halfway across the world just to find an authentic water-bending scroll before finding a master to teach her.
Aang lost his entire nation and people in this war. His entire culture was stripped from the world to the point that no one really remembered or knew anything about Air Benders or the Nomads until he returned to the world.
That alone is a perfect reason to give Wan Shi Tong why they need information on the Fire Nation. They're working to prevent the same thing that happened to Aang's people and Sokka and Katara's Tribe along with others from happening again somewhere else.
As a spirit of knowledge, I imagine the destruction and loss of other pieces of knowledge and information would strongly upset him and push him to want to allow those seeking to defend it access to his library, despite his reservations about violence.
And, this is where I feel like I'm going to be a bit controversial, but I really need the gang to stop letting Sokka lead them into trouble.
Listen, I love Sokka, I really do. But, that boy suffers from a problem I feel many humans also suffer from and have yet to find a cure for; he talks way too much. Wan Shi Tong was already on the fence about them being there and had just threatened the professor with turning him into a stuffed head of anthropology. And, just when he asks you why you're in his library, you decide to LIE?!
Sokka does so much for the group and is a vital asset to them, but he's also a major contributor to why they constantly end up in trouble. And, if anything, that was a perfect moment to go on one of your Fire Nation truth rants. Any other time, Sokka doesn't waste a second in trashing the Fire Nation and exposing them for the brutes they are, and the one time it would really be helpful, he decides to LIE instead!
The moment Wan Shi Tong mentioned Admiral Zhao and his misguided quest to destroy his enemies, that would have been a perfect time to enlighten the spirit that Zhao simply wasn't looking to just defeat an army or a nation. He was going after one of Wan Shi Tong's own: another spirit!
As a spirit of knowledge, Wan Shi Tong definitely would know the implications that would come if the Moon Spirit, Tui, now Yue, died. As mentioned by Iroh many times, the world would literally fall out of balance.
And, again, if Wan Shi Tong is against violence, Admiral Zhao was a Fire Nation soldier looking for ways to destroy the spirits, and Aanng and his friends are looking for wars to stop the Fire Nation, who do you think he would side with?
It doesn't mean they're necessarily trying to destroy the Fire Nation, they're just trying to end the violence that comes from this war they're pushing.
So, someone explain to me why that would have been so hard to explain to the Spirit of Knowledge, rather than LYING to his face, after he just threatened to make someone a stuffed head. And then, when he flies off, you gloat under your breath about being bright enough to fool him?!
A PARDON I BEG?
LIKE SIR, DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?!
Yeah, I love Sokka, I really do, but sometimes, I really just need him to sit back and zip it. I get it was his choice to go to the library, but that I feel was a moment to just let either Aang or Katara do the talking. And I know Sokka wants to prove himself a capable warrior and leader, but sometimes being a leader is about knowing when to sit back and let someone else take the lead, and that was definitely one of those moments.
anyway, rant over.
#atla#avatar#the last airbender#avatar the last airbender#aang#katara#sokka#toph#toph beifong#atla aang#atla katara#atla sokka#atla toph#rant#wan shi tong#appa#sokka please shut up#i love you but please shut up
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Same energy
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What if the show runners plan for Aang and Zuko to find out about the comet’s return from the Sun Warriors (was that the tribe‘s name? 😭) since they would be informed about celestial cycles… and never intend on bringing back Wan Shi Tong and his library (they also forwent Zhao searching there) So when we saw him in ep. 5 it was just an homage like the tavern people mentioning the canyon guide.
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IT'S MY BOY!!! WASHINGTON!!! THE SCARY ASS OWL!!!
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If you’re still looking for the 6 Characters, how would you feel about Avatar Roku? 🔥
Well, I am not the biggest Roku fan, but his friendship with Sozin reminds the relationship between Thomas Becket and Henry II, and this is inspiring.
Thank you for the ask, it was really interesting!
I'm working on the fourth one, so there's only two characters left.
Upd: the next three characters are in progress. Thank you for your asks!
If you feel like it you can support me on Ko-fi.
#avatar the last airbender#atla fanart#6 characters challenge#song atla#song avatar#wan shi tong#roku#avatar roku
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Fanart for this fanfiction: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24590470?view_full_work=true
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