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ljf613 · 10 months

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9 and 13, your pick of thing and its fandom

Let's go with ATLA.

9. worst part of canon This week I've been thinking a lot about the episode "The Waterbending Master" (S1:E18) and some of things that have always bothered me about it. My issues are rooted in the scene where Pakku tells Katara that he won't teach her:

First of all, he says it's forbidden for women to learn waterbending, but then he says that women learn healing. The phrasing here is kind of bizarre-- he seems to be saying that healing and waterbending are two completely different things that have nothing to do with each other, which is absurd; healing is one kind of waterbending, and fighting is another. (It bothers me in general whenever characters act like fighting is the only real kind of bending, because we literally see so many different applications of bending in the show beyond fighting, and acting like people who use their bending for building or art or healing or anything other than battle aren't real benders is absurd. Not all benders are soldiers, nor should they be!) Second, I dislike the false dichotomy presented here. Katara claims that she wants to fight, not heal, implying that it's one or the other. Not only does this suggest that she must choose between the two (and that she's chosen fighting over healing), it doesn't match what we see both before and after this arc: throughout the show, Katara uses her waterbending for both healing and fighting, sometimes in the same scene, and aside from this one episode, the narrative never treats this as anomalous. (Jeong Jeong even told her a couple of episodes back that healing was something done by "great waterbenders" and envied her for it, but now that's being retconned and we're told that it's a sex distinction and not even real waterbending?) Finally, I have a general problem with the difference between how modern society tends to treat traditionally feminine roles and skills compared to those that are traditionally masculine: things and behaviors that are generally viewed as masculine (in this case, fighting) are worthy of envy and emulation and everyone should be able and allowed to do regardless of sex, while those that are feminine (in this case, healing) are viewed as inherently degrading and pathetic (not to mention often unnatural and wrong) and only done by sad and unfortunate women who have no other options and are pressured into it. I find this entire mindset to be extremely sexist and, frankly, rather insulting to every woman in history. Imagine if the episode had been about Aang wanting to learn healing and being told only women got to do that, while boys should just stick with fighting. Now that might have been an interesting episode that would actually be perfectly in-character for Aang, as opposed to Katara "saves her friends' lives multiple times using her healing abilities" acting like learning to heal is a waste of time. (Ever notice that while we see several female waterbending fighters throught the franchise, there's not a single instance of a male waterbending healer? Is that because guys are incapable of healing, or are girls the only ones allowed to diversify their skillsets?) And none of this is to say that Katara was wrong for wanting to learn to fight or anything like that-- I just dislike the way the whole situation was framed.

13. worst blorboficiation The easy answer, obviously, is Zuko. I don't think I need to elaborate any more on that-- plenty of people have gone into this in the past, I don't think I have anything new to add there. (Although maybe that's more "woobification" than "blorbofication," if we're getting specific.) The one I find more personally grating is actually Kyoshi. I don't hate her, but I do hate the way people idolize her and act like she was the most amazing and wonderful Avatar ever-- usually while contrasting her with Roku, who gets such undeserved hate for... *checks notes* not wanting to kill his best friend.

Send me an ask that may incite violence.

#avatar the last airbender #thoughts #ask me stuff #choose violence #katara #pakku #the waterbending master #fandom critical #anti kyoshi #the portrayal of kyoshi that i found most compelling was actually in vathara's embers #(not to spoil it for those of you who haven't read it but she's shown as having been a complex character who made some very costly mistakes #some of which led to the chain of events that began the 100 years war AND incited the fire nation's enimity towards the avatar and the ek)#which i know makes me persona non grata in this fandom #but i haven't exactly kept my deep and abiding love for that fic a secret so why start now #fic rec #embers #vathara #thanks for the ask!#all queued up

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avatar-liveblog · 4 years

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S1 E18 The Waterbending Master

Owo waterbending?

Yeah aang tell him

Sokka what the heck

Momo I love you-

Oh they're in the north!!!

AAAA THEY'RE BEING ATTACKED OH GOD

EYYYYYYY THE TRIBE

Aaaand they're frozen in ice

Aand the fire nation knows where they are-

Ayy they're traveling with them now

They've reached the tribe!!!

That's a cool door-

Quite the thick walls

Man this is quite the place

Sokka no-

Ayyy music night

Oh he. He can't sing. Oof.

Feast time-

Lmao they're scared of Appa

"Now of marrying age" oh god no sokka don't get any ideas-

Also seriously 16 is the marrying age?

"Do an activity together" sokka wtf

Oh hai Zuko

"I'm taking your crew" jesus-

Oh god he recognizes the blades oh god oh fuck

I like Iro

OH GREAT

THEY'RE SEXIST

HOW FUN

Hell yeah Aang

Ugh this guy is a jerk

Sokka stop-

He's gonna walk right off isn't he

Aaand he did-

"That's some tasty gold" pfffft-

Wtf did he just s l u r p

She knows her grandmother-

Wait she was born in the north???

She probably left because she didn't want to be in the sexist tribe, DUH

"Or just stay in your room and sit in the dark. Whatever makes you happy" I feel called out

WHAT WAS THAT.

Blasting jelly. Sounds fabulous.

Zuko's ready for a fight and I am HERE for it

THEY'RE GONNA BURN THE HECKING SHIP TO THE GROUND

WHAT IS THAT THING. WHAT THE FUCK.

OH GOD ZUKO ARE YOU OKAY

At least his uncle cares about him

Sokka I love your carving

Oh? What's?? Going on??

"Master poophead" yeah that's accurate

"Disrespect" my ass you're a fuckwad

HELL YEAH KATARA GO OFF

Yeah suuuuuure you're devastated.

I hate this admiral bastard

HELL YEAH KATARA

G O O F F

DESTROY HIM KATARA

Oh man her hair's down

Ah jeez she's trapped

Oh shit he's the guy

ZUKO FUCK YEAH

Oh fuck a kiss

Ah jeez she's engaged

Ayyy she's in the class!

Oh god oh fuck the fleet

That's uh. That's alot of boats.

#avatar: the last airbender #avatar: tla #avatar #avatar liveblog

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