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Latest sketch bunch :) trying to practice poses

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Cultural Anatomy: Katara’s Book 2 Outfit

Katara’a Book 2 dress intrigued me in how uncanny it was to her Book 1 dress. The small changes they made to it completely changed the cultural vibes I was getting. The Book 1 dress just felt innately East Asian; the cross collars, sash, column skirt with high slits, and armbands created the image of a stereotypical martial artist.

When I look at her Book 2 dress, the rounded collar and A-line skirt felt a bit European to me. The rounded collar that buttoned up at the side reminded me of a Kosovorotka (Russian Peasant Shirt), so I figured Eastern Russia (Siberia) would be a good place to start researching.

And, with a little digging, I found a pretty spot on inspiration for Book 2 Katara: Tungusic Clothing. The Tungusic people are an ethnolinguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages; these ethnic groups include the Nanai, the Oroch, and the Manchu, whose clothes are featured above. They are native to Siberia and Northeast Asia.

Katara’s dress is just a Tungusic robe with the lower sleeves and cuffs removed. The loose sleeves, A-line silhouette, side slits, and rounded collar with thick trim are all typical of many traditional Tungusic outfits. A sash was added because pretty much every outfit in the Avatar-verse has a cinched waist. I like to think that Katara got this outfit from the Northern Water Tribe, since they have quite a bit of Siberian and Mongolic influence.

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to me, the funniest thing about “that’s rough buddy” isn’t the fact that sokka says something patently insane with zero context seemingly out of nowhere, or the fact that zuko clearly doesn’t know how to respond. it’s the completely incorrect use of the word “buddy.” zuko would obviously like to be friends with sokka, but sokka is not, in fact, his friend. this is the most time they’ve ever spent together, and it’s because zuko invited himself to tag along on sokka’s suicide mission. at this point in the episode, sokka still hates this guy, perhaps less than he did a week ago, but he still hates him enough that he didn’t bother forcing zuko to stay home, which means he still didn’t really care whether or not zuko lives or dies. which, considering that he had tried to kill zuko multiple times in the past, is not all that surprising. this entire episode is essentially just zuko forcing his friendship onto sokka while sokka is legitimately too depressed to care. so when zuko calls sokka “buddy,” there’s a spirit of dogged optimism characterizing that epithet, because in no possible realm would sokka consider zuko his buddy at this point in the episode. and that’s something we miss when noting the iconicness of this exchange, simply because, by the end of this episode, they are buddies, so in our minds looking back on these lines, the implication of friendship doesn’t feel out of place at all. and really, it isn’t out of place, but only because zuko’s tenacity and determination (in this instance, his determination to befriend sokka) has always hugely outweighed his ability to read the room.

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clotheswap edition for the only children of the group.. bcs apparently only children like to have fun too :’(

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My mind still trying to fathom how Mai and Aang get along

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I liked it better when Katara released Aang from his 100 year slumber through the pure unfiltered rage of a feminist rant at her brother

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Finished (re)watching ATLA with my sister a couple weeks ago. Zuko was her favorite, so I drew him for her... along with a little turtleduck :)

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My friend Alicia made an ATLA meme

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I’m convinced this is the moment Crowley fell in love.

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Oh, you better remember me like your life depends on it.

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11 years ago today. 

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Azula