Take a Step

Katara and her blad bf and gf. She know that she got good enough hair genes for both of them

thought about the Katara v Pakku fight too hard and made myself cry

the thing is that Katara's right.

there are a lot of episodes of ATLA where the main characters aren't totally right, because they need to learn a lesson about something. they're kids, it's a kids' show, there are morals to get across. that's not a bad thing; for the most part ATLA tells those stories really well without condescending its characters or its audience, which is why the cast gets to grow and change so organically and we're all still frothing about how good the writing is twenty years later.

but when Katara attacks that old man right there in public where everyone can see, she's right. this isn't a lesson about her needing to learn patience or humility or deference to her elders or respect for a belief system that's different than her own. in that moment Pakku is both the face of the Norther Water Tribe's cultural misogyny and an asshole who has disrespected Katara personally, and instead of having to find a way to play nice she gets to attack him with everything she's got.

she doesn't win. she can't win, it would be ridiculous. but the show knows this; Katara herself opens the scene by saying she doesn't expect to win while Sokka and Aang try frantically to talk her down. it's not about winning, it can't be. Pakku is, very literally, old enough to be her grandfather; he's had decades to master his form in a walled city untouched by war. Katara is 14 years old and the only bender from a village that's been diminished to nearly nothing. there's never been anyone to teach her; the artform died out before she was born. she has nothing. every scrap of knowledge she has is something she's had to struggle and steal for. how much of her waterbending has she learned on the fly, improvising as she fights desperately to keep herself and her friends and innocent bystanders alive? she's the Avatar's waterbending master, sure, but she's learning alongside him.

and she still gets to hold her own, for a few furious minutes. this old man doesn't even initially respond to her challenge, won't even dignify her by looking in her direction, treats her with scorn when he does finally address her. she is always, always at a disadvantage against him but she gets to make a scene, she gets to tear down entire structures, and she gets to be right. the fight ends with Katara immobilized in ice, completely outmatched, still seething and snarling at Pakku that she's not finished with him. she never backs down for a second, never doubts even for a moment that she has every right to beat this man's ass for the way he's disrespected her.

and the narrative backs her up on that, 100%. Katara is, frequently, unreasonably self-righteous to the detriment of herself and her friends, but this isn't one of those times. there's no moral for Katara to learn here; Pakku is the one who needs to get his shit in order.

a smug old man is a dismissive, sexist twat to a teenage girl who has suffered more than he will ever understand and when she sttacks him no holds barred she is framed as so completely, totally in the right that it's still cathartic two decades later as a woman in my late twenties. teenage girl moment of all time.

the thing about toph is that she is so disturbed by katara’s femininity that she doesn’t realize that if she really wanted to piss katara off she’d echo the things her mother would always tell her. e.g. criticizing her posture, the way she eats, how she sits, generally implying that her behavior is unbefitting of a Lady. comments like “i can’t believe you of all people would slouch like that. like a man.” that would anger katara way more than toph calling her a prissy little goody two shoes or whatever (although of course that claim is also deeply untrue).

and then the reverse is also the case. katara is too busy chastising toph for her disgusting, unfeminine ways that she doesn’t even realize that if she really wanted to get to her she would insult her masculinity, not her lack of femininity. instead of criticizing toph for not putting enough effort into her appearance or her hygiene, if katara only implied that she has a low pain tolerance, or that aang could beat her in an arm wrestle, she would really hit toph where it hurts.

both of them are too mired in their own hangups to realize that they could piss the other off way better through empathizing with the other’s point of view, but unfortunately their rejection of the other’s point of view is the source of their conflict in the first place, so neither of them realizes that they both have the perfect weapon with which to annoy the other forever. they are simply too myopic to use it.

Mae Whitman animated characters: a summary

🌧️blue characters!

#I was initially thinking Sokka just doesn't realize there's different widths for different tasks#but you know what would be a hilarious AU?#color blind Sokka#Earth soldiers? Fire soldiers?#he'll figure it out on the fly#get it?#because they're on Appa#flying#WE GET IT SOKKA PLEASE DODGE THE FIREBALLS#avatar the last airbender#atla#bonus points if combined with face blind Zuko#Sokka: *squinting hard at other teenager's clothes at a Fire Festival* he looks a lot like the Shouty McHonor Lost but he's way too chill#Zuko: *squinting at Other Teenager He's Never Met Before Probably* he's been staring at me#does he want my fire flakes?#...or friendship?#Uncle is this what people do when they want to be friends?#they make intense clothing eye contact?#Not-Colorblind Not-Faceblind Iroh: why don't you go offer him fire flakes and see Prince Zuko

[id: Line sketch of Toph, Sokka, and Katara. Toph holds a length of thread in each hand. Text above her: Nah these are identical. Next to her, Sokka smirks triumphantly at a glaring Katara. End id.]

Sokka: Aang y'know how you took away Ozai’s firebending?

Aang: I recall yes

Sokka: can I have it

Aang: …what?

Sokka: can I have his firebending. just for like ten minutes

Aang: what no

Sokka: why not I wanna prank zuko

Aang:

Aang:

Aang: okay five minutes

This fukn post had me reeling so ofc I had to draw it

hi take everything I own

There’s more!

summer showers 🌧🌦🌧

local earthbender calls fire lord slurs

bonus:

Thinking about the strict etiquette around hair in the fire nation, especially the fact that the only people allowed to touch your hair in public are close family.,, thinking about sokka who keeps ruffling zuko’s hair or giving him little braids just because. Zuko who keeps letting him do whatever he wants and wears the little blue beads for DAYS, never bothering to inform sokka about the rules bc it means that then he will stop. And for some reason he just can’t accept that. (Etiquette is dumb anyway.) Once sokka absentmindedly tucked a strand of hair behind Zuko’s ear in front of the whole council and a crusty old noble had a stroke (good.) Everyone thinks they must be courting. the rumors are insane. Meanwhile sokka & zuko are still stuck in the “oblivious idiot” stage of the 50000k slow burn romance, blissfully ignoring the fact that by fire nation standards they’re already boning in front of everyone’s salads.

@chiptrillino don’t hide you are right and you should say it lmao

you CAN 👏 NOT 👏 tell me Aang wouldn’t love fart jokes. Boy is an AIR bender from Prankster Island. He’s airbending his farts at people. He asks Sokka to pull his finger and launches himself 50 feet in the air. He does this every single day. Sokka laughs at it every single time.

I can’t even say he finds it so funny because he’s 12 because I also find it funny and I am in my 20s

Avatarstuck AU Edits Part 1/???

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