itsnotmymind | Entries tagged with avatar: the last airbender

I'm still watching the Avatar the Last Airbender live action - two more episodes to go (don't spoil me). I'm enjoying it. Yes, it is a little obvious at times, but that isn't getting in the way of my enjoyment. It's interesting to see what they choose to change.

What's been driving me crazy is Paul Sun-Hyung Lee's voice. I knew he reminded me of someone, but I knew from looking him up on IMDb whoever it was, it wasn't actually him.

Finally, finally, I figured it out. He sounds like Vincent D'Onofrio. He sounds like the Kingpin of Crime.

It's been awhile since I've done one of these posts!

I'm currently reading Emperor of Rome by Mary Beard. This is a history book that does not look at each emperor chronologically, but instead has different chapters dealing with different subjects related to the emperor.

I'm almost done reading the Fullmetal Alchemist manga.

I'm watching the Avatar the Last Air Bender live action - of course. I haven't finished the first episode yet.

( Not really spoilery, but cutting to be safe )

The podcast I listen to, You're Wrong About, has several episodes on the O. J. Simpson trial. This is not a topic I would have deliberately sought out, but I am finding the episodes interesting.

A problem I have with the writing on Zuko/Mai is that we see Zuko confide in Mai, but we never see Mai confide in Zuko. The only exception in The Beach, and that's a group activity rather than one-on-one. I know this is mainly because Zuko is the more important character and it's helpful to the viewers for him to explain his mindset, but I still don't like it.

Avatar the Last Airbender is a kids' show that is very appealing to adults. In fact, there are only two major aspects of the show that I can think of that suffer from being aimed at juveniles:

The fact that the world can only be saved by a bunch of preteens and teenagers traveling around together. In reality, Aang would be exploited by the adults around him. But on the show, when General Fong attempts to do so, the kids just…leave.
The kids do things like sink ships and crash airships, but the possibility that they've caused human death is never addressed. It's one of the things that makes Aang's moral conflict about killing Ozai kinda hollow.

My most serious problem with Katara/Aang is not the ship itself, but the unquestioned idea that the person you fall in love with at fourteen is the person you will happily be with forever and ever. It's not that this CAN'T happen - just that it is rare and unlikely. I wish the two of them had gotten together when they were older - or, better yet, when Legend of Korra shows up we find out their relationship didn't last.

I have to admit when I watched The Beach, I assumed the beach had literal magic that caused the fire teenagers to discuss their issues and analyze each other. That scene didn't make sense to me otherwise, and that's the impression I got from what Lo and Li said about the beach, and what Ty Lee said after their conversation.

Awhile back, sadly I can't remember where, I saw someone commenting on the Sokka/Suki rendezvous in The Northern Raiders. This commenter asked, humorously, if the kids knew where babies come from.

So here are my thoughts on how the members of the Gaang learned where babies come from.

( Read more... )

It occurs to me there may be someone who reads this journal who is unfamiliar with Hello Future Me.

( Embedded videos below the cut )

Anyway, if you haven't already, you should check him out!

Crossposts: https://itsnotmymind.livejournal.com/144478.html

I've long been aware that Mai's words to Azula were perhaps the worst thing she could have said: "You miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear you." We know that Azula doesn't feel lovable, believes her mother loved Zuko but not her.

But for the first time, it hit me: Mai knows this, too. She was there for there for The Beach. Mai's not a character whose head I spend a lot of time in, so I don't know quite why she chose to deliver this line the way she did. But she was not innocent of how it sounded to Azula.

Continuing from here:

Opposite of Ozai, Ursa would likely be more protective of the child she nearly lost. It was this greater protectiveness that Azula mistook for greater love.

Here is my headcanon about why Ozai disliked Zuko:

(I know this is probably contradicted by comics canon, but it will remain my headcanon until such time as I read the comics and incorporate them into my canon)

"Lucky to be born" implies to me that there were problems at Zuko's birth. Maybe he came early, maybe he was just sick.

So I've decided they thought he might die. And to Ozai, with his might-makes-right worldview, his sickliness meant he was an undeserving heir.

Zuko didn't die, and instead grew up to be a healthy child. But Ozai's first impression of him was of was a baby that, in Ozai's eyes, was weak. That shadowed how he saw the boy for the rest of his life.

Azula, of course, had no such problems at birth.

I stumbled on this Avatar: The Last Airbender essay on Tumblr, and found I disagree, and decided to address it on my own journal, since I no longer have a Tumblr.

( Subconscious Motivations )

Awakening really gives a sense of what kind of person Hakoda is. His daughter is angry at him for no apparent reason, but he doesn't get defensive or try to alpha male her. He just accepts her anger until she is ready to talk about it.

That scene is also directly contrasted with Zuko seeing his father again after all those years. Hakoda talks about how much he missed his children. Ozai talks about how proud he is of Zuko. He could have let Zuko come home any time, but he didn't. The onus was entirely on Zuko to be a good son. Hakoda "miss[ed] you so much it would ache". Ozai apparently didn't.

I just finished my second re-watch (third watch) of Avatar: The Last Airbender. I have thoughts and opinions!

( Many Spoilery Thoughts ).

This is my first time writing a drabble, exactly 100 words.

( A:tLA Drabble )

Not going to write about politics now because I have nothing to say that isn't obscenities.

So instead I will remember the third season of BBC's Sherlock. I stopped watching because the writers forgot the plot. I enjoyed the show, but I wasn't attached enough to the characters to watch based on them alone.

In contrast, but the time I reached the Avatar: The Last Airbender episode Tales of Ba Sing Se, I was deeply attached to everyone involved. I struggle to pick a favorite tale. Iroh helping everyone around him while mourning his son? Sokka temporarily rocking it at haikus? Zuko's sweet be awkward date?

Well, one thing that annoys me is while the male characters each get their own story, Katara and Toph share a story and it's about getting a makeover. But still, overall, it will always be one of my favorite episodes.

OK, I do have something more to say about Legend of Korra. I really appreciate that Kuvira's surrender at the end had NOTHING to do with her boyfriend. Appealing to her relationship with him did absolutely nothing but put him in danger from her.

Contrast Mai doing a heel-face turn solely out of concern for her boyfriend. I tolerate it because of what it does for Azula's character arc to have Mai tell her she loves Zuko more than she fears Azula. But on its own, I don't like it.

Thinking about it recently, I realized that throughout his many changes Zuko is consistently a character who values loyalty. He pledges loyalty to his father and maintains it even after being burned and banished. He not only tries to capture Aang, but he even at one point intends to give Aang's staff as a gift to Ozai.

(I suspect the reason Iroh hands the staff to a crewmember rather than taking it to Zuko's quarters himself is jealousy - he certainly doesn't blame Zuko for his continued loyalty to Ozai, but it has to sting a little bit.)

Even after Zuko has come around and given up on being loyal to Ozai, he still values loyalty. He consistently names his betrayal of his uncle as the worst thing he ever did - that Iroh was loyal to him, but he did not return the favor.

In Nightmares and Daydreams Azula accuses Zuko of acting like a paranoid child - by the end of the season she is the one acting like a paranoid child.

So in my head, the southern water tribe is at the top of the map and the northern water tribe is at the bottom. This on its own would be fine - my map could have south at the top and north at the bottom - but the fire nation is still on the left side in my head, which would make them to the east when they are supposed to be to the west.

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A Chasing After Wind

Entries tagged with avatar: the last airbender

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Media Consumption 2/24/2024

Zuko/Mai - Something I Don’t Like About the Ship

AtLA: The Downsides of a Story Directed at Children

Katara/Aang Thoughts

AtLA - The Beach

Avatar the Last Airbender: Do the Protagonists Know Where Babies Come From?

One of My Favorite Youtubers

A:TLA: Mai in the Boiling Rock

Zuko - "Lucky to be born" Headcanon - Ursa's Perspective

Zuko - "Lucky to be born" Headcanon

"I don't know why, but I do care what she thinks of me"

Avatar the Last Airbender: Hakoda (and Ozai)

Avatar Re-Watch Thoughts

Avatar the Last Airbender Drabble

Tales of Ba Sing Se

Kuvira's Finish

Zuko - Loyalty

Brief A:TLA Thought

My Mental Map of the Avatar World is Messed Up