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Fortnite, are you sure about this? Did you think it through?

My friend Alicia made an ATLA meme

I just watched Avatar for the first time all the way through, and yeah, it’s great, but the one thing that surprised me was how different Katara was compared to the fandom interpretation I’d seen and internalized before watching.

Like, before you watch Avatar, you’ve seen all these memes about Katara and her mom, and based on those memes, you assume it’s one of those lines you have to get used to hearing at least once every episode. But then you watch the show and realize that she only talks about her mom maybe five or six times per season and you also realize she only brings her up when she’s trying to comfort someone or empathize with them because that’s how she processes her grief and that’s one way she connects with people.

Or you hear the infamous line, “then you didn’t love [our mother] the way I did” and you prepare yourself for one of the worst character assassinations ever only to see the scene after nearly three seasons worth of context and realize she was kinda right. She’s been the mother, the nurturer, the comforter. She’s been patient, gentle, and accommodating where everyone else has gotten to be insensible and reckless and childish, and the one moment where she allows herself to feel her grief, suddenly she’s this evil bitch and not, y’know, a 14 year old girl whose been thrusted into adulthood in a way no other character has. A 14 year old girl who should be allowed immaturity and raw emotion and anger instead of the patience and grace she’s been forced to extend to every character without even the smallest amount of gratitude or even consideration in return.

Or you see all of the clips where Katara puts Aang in the “friendzone” and you expect to have this wishy washy back and forth where Aang is putting his feelings out there only to have Katara neither commit nor express any clear reciprocation or rejection. Then you watch and realize that, as cute as the ship is initially, that there’s never a point where Aang returns any comfort or grace to Katara despite her always doing this for him to the point of coddling. That for as much as Aang says he loves her, he never seems to outgrow his perception of her so he can recognize her as someone who feels grief, anger, and pain as much as she expresses love, kindness, and maturity. And instead of having moments where he learns to see her beyond her strength or compassion, you’re instead given moments where Aang forces his feelings onto her, both romantic and non-romantic, and Katara is expected to just…shoulder those feelings the way she shoulders everyone else’s.

Katara is the most misunderstood character in the show. As much as people recognize the complexities of Zuko, Sokka, and Azula, they struggle to do the same for Katara because they see her struggles as somehow lesser, and therefore, less deserving of sympathy. They can handle her so long as she’s being endlessly patient and loving and kind, but the moment her endless love, patience, and kindness runs out, she’s suddenly this annoying bitch who can’t shut up about her mother or reciprocate Aang’s feelings. But Katara’s trauma does matter as much as anyone else’s. No, she wasn’t banished from her kingdom. No, she didn’t lose her entire community, and no, she isn’t the only one who lost her mother. But the difference between her and everyone else whose experienced loss because of the Fire Nation is that she’s never given time to process her trauma. Aang gets to lean on Katara constantly. Toph gets to express her feelings to Katara, and yeah, Sokka also lost their mother, but unlike Katara, he isn’t put in the position of being a substitute for everyone’s parent. He even admits that he sees his sister as a mother. The only characters who ever comfort Katara or allow her to vent is Zuko and her father and that’s, like, three scenes in a show where the other characters are consistently given opportunities to seek out Katara for unconditional support.

The fandom interpretation of Katara has been so bastardized that even those who haven’t watched the show know her for this fanon version and not for who she is. She’s such an interesting character beyond her fandom limitations, though. She’s brave, hot-headed, and hopeful as well as gentle and caring. She wishes to learn waterbending, not only because she wants to fight in the war, but because she wants to continue her culture’s practices because, and people often forget this, she also lost an entire subculture within her already fractured tribe. And she wants to defeat the Fire Nation both because of her deep love and empathy for other people, but also because she wants to avenge her mother. But because some of the fans have reduced Katara to a bitch who constantly whines about her mother and friendzones Aang, you wouldn’t know any of this, and it sucks because she’s the only character whose been dumbed down to such an extent.

everyone's got that one homie who zealously adheres to his inflexible code of honor even though it has long since become a burden to him

Our contestants are giving a wide variety of answers today folks

Selected Excerpts From The Fire Nation Royal Palace Servants' (Unofficial) Handbook

Or: Revisions To Normal Protocol After The Ascension Of Agni's Exalted Flame, The Dragon Of The Sun, et cetera, Fire Lord Zuko

1. Agni's Exalted Flame, The Dragon Of The Sun, et cetera, Fire Lord Zuko should not be referred to by his full titles and styles, no matter the context. This appears to annoy him. "Fire Lord Zuko" and "Lord Zuko" are acceptable, as well as "your majesty" and "my Lord".

1.1 "Lord Hotman", however, is unacceptable.

1.2. Even if the Avatar specifically requests you to address Fire Lord Zuko as that.

"Fire Lord Zuko is aware of the concept of mortality, but does not seem to understand how it relates to His Majesty"

doing the obligatory atla rewatch rn, and so far the main rewatch-value takeaway has been Uncle POV Unlocked 

Atla heritage post

Oh I forgot to tag @mistresskabooms

honestly it is sort of charming to me that the ATLA fandom has been hung up on the same imaginary teenage love triangle for fifteen years...personally I feel like it is NOT my business if Katara and Aang want to get married too young and have like a million children. godspeed to them, or whatever. but Sokka and Suki should definitely absorb Zuko into whatever they've got going on, mostly because I think it would be hysterical for two non-benders who can pass for straight if they do not open their mouths to have a regular third who is the hereditary monarch of the fire magicians. can you imagine. there's just a king in your house sometimes, rummaging half-naked through your fridge for snacks and complaining about how people keep trying to have him assassinated, and you can't tell anyone about it. hilarious dynamic.

best thing about uncle iroh is that if you pay attention he is actually just as much of an idiot as zuko but has just mastered the art of coming across as a wise old man. the even better thing is that zuko is the only one on the planet who somewhat realizes this and no one would ever believe him because he's zuko

like uncle iroh 100% does dumb shit on purpose sometimes to get people to underestimate him and keep zuko from capturing the avatar, but other times he just, and i cannot emphasize this enough, does impulsive dumb shit for no reason other than the fact that terminal stupid presumably runs in the royal family's blood

uncle: "you never think things through, prince zuko!"

also uncle:

#no wonder zuko was constantly frothing at the mouth! he's the only one who knows the truth!#god just imagine the number of times people have seen zuko yelling at iroh#and assumed zuko was just being mean#when zuko was actually yelling at his uncle for wasting all their money bartering with pirates AGAIN#everyone assumes iroh is babysitting zuko but really they're pingponging responsibility back and forth#and zuko at least has the excuse of being 16#anyway I love Uncle Hypocrite so much; funniest motherfucker on the planet (via OP)

iroh has never lived without support staff in his entire royal life AND IT SHOWS

My favourite thing about Zuko joining the Gaang is how seamlessly he assumes the position of:

sleep-deprived

over-aggravated

strict 

parent,  forced to play bad cop, to keep the children on task.

And my absolute favourite (without missing a beat):

Which is a pretty accurate approximation of daily conversations with a toddler.

THAT’S JUST IT ABOUT ZUKO. He became the missing piece the gaang sorely needed because he IS the central father figure taking care of the toddlers.

This is a character who’s been prepped for leadership for years. He knows he could potentially rule the firenation one day. His uncle has been secretly grooming him while aboard the battleship WHICH Zuko runs. He’s the leader of a small batallion of fire nation soldiers. He’s a prince. He understands what it means to be a leader. He understands sacrifice. Can you imagine from his perspective exactly what it was like to join the Gaang? The people who’ve thwarted him all this time, really ARE just children.

He finds out Aang really IS a literal child. Sokka is mostly self taught as all paternal figures he could have had teach him left for war at a young age. So he’s very much Junior as to what it means to be a leader. Toph led a very sheltered life of female nobility, learning to be seen not heard. And she lashes out in full blown preteen angst. Katara has the mom of the group part down because by god SOMEONE had to step up and be an authoritative figure to the babies!

So here comes Zuko thinking the Gaang might just be as war worn as he is. They’ve got all their shit together and must be, like him, mature for their ages. DING DONG HE WAS WRONG. He’s a practical adult with a lot of life experience trying to wrangle children in to saving the freakin world. No wonder he’s sleep deprived, aggrivated, and strict. He thought he was dealing with professionals. Like what he’s used to. Instead he just adopted 3 kids and is sharing custody with Katara.

people think "adult jokes" in kids shows are just sexual jokes failing to realize that sokka telling toph "you have to work here for longer if you want to qualify for vacation time" is the funniest thing i've ever heard. i don't think the southern water tribe even HAS that kind of economy

how fucking strong is Zuko like why do you even bother with your bending when you could just wham bam snap Aang’s spine with a kick

Can we consider how many people Toph caused internal bleeding and broken bones?

oh honey they are fully dead

No but Toph was a professional earthbending wrestler with the power to feel the whole human body at once through vibrations with enough accuracy to tell lies. She knows exactly how much pressure the human body can take before important things start breaking or I’ll go buy a hat for the sole purpose of eating it.

oh, sure. she doesn't care though. she's 12 and she's thriving and she loves to murder

Looking at how they're being lifted up, I'd like to add that it appears Toph just hit each and every one of those guards square in the dick.

ok but if bruce wayne somehow came upon zuko fresh out of banishment he would lose his mind.

black hair? check. bad parent(s)? check. trauma? double check.

bruce: how’d you get your scar?

zuko: my dad got mad at me for saying that killing people is wrong so he lit my face on fire and banished me.

bruce, vibrating with excitement, already pulling adoption papers from his utilility: that’s terrible. how do you feel about capes.

Zuko: Do you mind if I wear this blue demon mask?

Bruce: *sniff, tear in his eye* Not at all.

*Zuko fighting the Joker*

J: "wan na kno w h ow i go t thes e sc ar s"

Z: *rips off mask* i don't give a fuck

I’m still stuck at the “batman has adoption papers in his utility belt”.

“Quick, it’s time to use the Bat-adoption papers!”

Bat-option papers

Okay, but you’re missing the best part of this.

Alfred and Iroh complimenting each other on tea while they discuss their overly dramatic children.

iroh: once, i told zuko that he needs to work on his inter turmoil. he screamed at me that he had no such inner turmoil, and then proceeded to go to a cliff during a thunderstorm to scream at God to strike him with lightning

alfred: master bruce and i have that interaction at least three times per week.

@absentlyabbie​

I see your "Alfred and Iroh as tea bros" and raise you "Alfred and Iroh as tea rivals"

Consider

(later)

excellent addition

hey bruce spent a lot of his bat-study abroad in the far east and has kind of a weeb weapon collection so proposal, what if Bruce appreciates Iroh’s tea

while Zuko is enthusiastic about cream and sugar

further fueling their dad-figures’ passive-aggressive rivalry?

You had me at Zuko vs. Joker, I was crying by the Eastern vs. Western tea service

Wait a minute. Batman and Zuko have the same arch-nemesis.

Mark Hamill

Saw the last comment and my brain would not rest until it happened

this post has everything

this was an enjoyable ride. i liked the scenery very much. smooth suspension, nice height, several fascinating loops. 10/10 would go again.