Cultural Inspirations in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3 - Fire

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[@XiranJayZhao]

27:02

[@dreamsolo1386]

Okay also first reply

[@polarbearsss]

KITTY CAT !!!!!

[@boxofstuff994]

CAT

[@hanatsuchiya9253]

That mase is a oniclub I think I cant remember its Japanese name

[@TWSTDSHDW]

Hey, don't forget 'The Legend of Korra'!

[@-gemberkoekje-5547]

Toph looks like a strong man in the play because the fire nation soldiers would be too ashamed to admit they lost to a little girl.

[@TheNinthGenerarion]

That would be a good in universe explanation

[@dbzcupcake]

Yet they cast Aang as a little girl?

[@-gemberkoekje-5547]

@@dbzcupcake woman play young boys in voice acting all the time

[@dbzcupcake]

@@-gemberkoekje-5547 nah bruh they hired an actual girl to play him in the play. They didn't shy away

[@-gemberkoekje-5547]

@@dbzcupcake it was poking fun at cartoons casting woman for boys...

[@leventemucsi9547]

"My crippling depression leaves me with no energy for physical activity" I didn't come here to get called out like this

[@apainintheaas]

I did

[@abthedragon4921]

Ikr 😂

[@SaotomeLuna]

I'm in this video and I don't like it XD

[@Sophiasidae]

🥲

[@inciaradible7144]

I was like 'I don't remember signing up to be in this video.'

[@--ACCEPT--]

About Tophs blindness: My gf is mostly deaf without her hearing aids, but even her own father forgets that sometimes. She once told me that he called her all excited, that he got the family a spotify subscription so now she can listen to music on the go. She had to remind him that she can not hear and in fact has no ear canals. So the fact that close friends sometimes forget that someone is disabled is actually quite realistic. Especially if that disability doesn't affect day-to-day life that much.

[@CoRLex-jh5vx]

Realistically, Toph has better vision than all of them. Makes sense they would forget she can't see the 'obvious' stuff they can.

[@hat7475]

OooHh omgg

[@FlipaDipDipp]

Ah man, I feel bad for the dad 😭 Getting all excited, thinking it would make her happy

[@--ACCEPT--]

​@@FlipaDipDipp No need :D They're a very humerous bunch, I'm sure they both laughed at it!

[@frauleinzuckerguss1906]

Wait, if her hearing aids can help her hear why couldn't there also be hearing aids that help her listen to music? Or is that a possibility and she's just not interested?

[@rannvamacdonaldarnskov4794]

To be fair to Katara about stealing from pirates, she stole back a tribe heirloom that had gotten stolen from waterbenders, possibly during a raid. She was just reclaiming her cultures artifacts!

[@frauleinzuckerguss1906]

Also she learned her lesson in that episode that stealing and stuff can get you a lot of unwanted attention. So it makes sense that she wouldn't want Toph to repeat that.

[@nadiamillones9979]

man I wish we could do that

[@Dell-ol6hb]

true

[@wherefancytakesme]

Also Katara was more so worried about stealing in fire nation territory for fear of their cover being blown. They weren't taking as much of a risk in Book 1 necessarily.

[@Taz.K]

@@nadiamillones9979 agreed. Tho it gets a bit more awkward when the ones who did the stealing were your own cultural brothers to a degree. Ukraine and Russia

[@asyawhite8632]

"Katara waterbent that sperm." EXCUSE ME- YOU CANT JUST SAY THAT AND MOVE ON SO CASUALLY 😭

[@ximexime05]

i choked

[@anonymousfellow8879]

seems legit. -Katara x Haru over kataang all day every day. also side of zutara, and aang x the wheelchair kid or firenation girl (I forgot their names sorry...)-

[@Metroid22540]

I was wondering if someone else would react to that! That was way too casual! And a slight guilt trip back to my teenage years!

[@abdirahul2253]

How else would tenzin have been born?

[@psychonaut1502]

She must've been browsing the Rule 34 subreddit. They've discussed that so much that they're like old philosophers.

[@user-lp4cm4dj6t]

"I once heard someone argue that Toph isn't disabled. What you mean is that you think she isn't incompetent because you equate disability with incompetence." 👏🏻

[@timothymclean]

On one hand, I see the argument; Toph isn't seriously impeded in some everyday activities that blind people in the real world are. But on the other hand... 1. She still can't do _all_ everyday activities. She can't read, for one thing. Or navigate a wooden house. 2. Disability does not just include people who are barely able to function in everyday life. Heck, not everyone who's legally _blind_ is actually _completely_ unable to see. Disability includes people who are just less able to do some things most people take for granted. It's not a binary between "normal people" and people who are, as Xiran put it, incompetent.

[@mega1283]

@@timothymclean yeah I seen people say the same thing about Ed from full metal alchemist.

[@alauracollis6520]

I really appreciate this being pointed out because I’m in my early 20’s and I’m Hard of hearing. But because I had the hearing loss brought on by noise exposure as a teenager. So I wasn’t exposed to deaf culture and I don’t really sign and I mostly use other coping mechanisms to communicate. I’m about to get hearing aids. A lot of time when I start talking about being hard of hearing and how it is a disability people try to tell me it’s not because I communicate well. Like I still have this issue and you don’t see all the work that goes into communicating. I have a disability it just doesn’t fit in to what society sees a disabled person as.

[@marilynsd1474]

@@alauracollis6520 agreed, and i know the feeling. I'm half blind (one eye is blind and has a shell prosthetic while the other has vision but slowly losing it) but every time i mention that im disabled and need some assistance sometimes i get responses like "you dont look disabled, your fine" or "if you can drive you can do anything, your not disabled" completely ignoring the fact that i learned to function without vision at this point (im 22).

[@sakuranovaryan9261]

@@marilynsd1474 that's such an insentivite thing to say one doesn't look disable.I'm sorry that people are so inconsiderate sometimes...um ..both my parents are deaf and speechless and most of our family memebers say that they understand what my parents go through but I understand they don't care that much for it heck nobody even talks to my parents in a family gatherings.. we keep them company ourselves. I guess we able people take a lot of things granted in our life. Well my family we don't take it all to heart We just quietly live our lives cause nobody will really know what complications goes on in somebody else's life. And that's the reality I guess.Sorry for making this about my life just wanted to share my story... May god bless you all ♡

[@s3cr3tpassword]

You can see how scared Toph gets we she can’t feel the ground. When she fell of the giant metal blimp and was only holding onto sokka, she was literally crying.

[@gayjayy]

Who wouldn't be scared to be kidnapped by random people and essentially blindfolded, in Toph's case feetfolded (?).

[@ivygomez8466]

To be honest, she was probably more scared of falling to her death than not being able to see. They fly on Appa all the time (and she can’t really “see” on him) and being in the desert for days was also difficult

[@alexisdowers2030]

She's also scared cuz she's holding on to Sokka and they're probably going to kill him first causing her to fall, hence she will literally see when his heart stops.

[@IronGhost8280]

@@ivygomez8466 But she at least on Appa is on a surface with a small barrier (the saddle loops) to stop her from rolling or falling off.

[@jolinewitsen3925]

I read a theory that the reason the Fire Nation "knew" there was one last Southern waterbender was because Hama escaped. So there was this incredibly dangerous waterbender out there that they were trying to catch, and obviously the first place they look is her home country because she might have wanted to return home. So they had no idea that Katara was there, but Kya assumed that they knew about Katara and took her place to be taken prisoner. Little did she know, after Hama escaped they no longer dared to take prisoners. Anyway I love your headdress, it looks very cool

[@schellwalabyen4656]

That makes a lot of sense…

[@JSythe]

Problem is, Hama and Kya look very different.

[@manitari9731]

“Who was the snitch that said there was one last waterbender in the south?” There’s actually a theory that they were never looking for Katara, they were looking for Hama. They knew she escaped, and they knew she was a bloodbender, which is why they weren’t going to bother taking her prisoner again and set to kill her instead. I definitely believe this too, because it makes more sense than someone just ratting out a little girl that really didn’t pose a threat to begin with

[@annapmark536]

I have a theory about that too. In ATLA comic "North and South" we learn that (not to spoil too much) there WERE waterbenders at the South Pole that were living outside of the Tribe so somebody had to teach them. That got me thinking that THAT person was the one that was ratted out. The reason Yon Rha came to the siblings' house? Hakoda is the head of the tribe so it was natural to come there. By pure coincidence Katara, his daughter, is also a waterbender so Kya must have thought they came for her and did the only thing she could do.

[@CleverCover05]

I always assumed it was them trying to find the next avatar since they wiped out the Airbenders.

[@pep_z780]

wouldn’t that only make sense if the timeline matched up? when did she escape if she was only in there for 20 or so years, I don’t think she’d be as old as she was if it was close to the same time that katara was a little girl

[@morganbiddlecom]

I love this theory and I'm glad it's so high in the comments

[@akirasaito1551]

@@pep_z780 I think Hama was canonically friends with Katara's grandma. If she got captured in her 20s, got out after about 20 years, then it's entirely possible that it happened around the time when Katara reached 7

[@TreeckoBro]

"Toph isn't really disabled." "What you mean is that you think she's not incompetent. Because you equate disability with incompetence in your head. Just because she's the greatest earthbender in the world - it doesn't mean her blindness isn't still there and it doesn't still affect her." *Mind is blown.*

[@goldenegg8of100]

She can’t read, distinguish colors or deal with anything that flies. Like arrows. She has coping skills better than anyone else but is still impaired by her blindness.

[@hoykfnvnnesnxnnensncjforkx1616]

Most disabilities wouldn't really be considered so if we had a more inclusive environment for people.

[@anselravenhart4753]

@@goldenegg8of100 She can deal with flying things. In her introductory, she demonstrates the ability to deflect stones thrown at her.

[@Corviidei]

@@anselravenhart4753 that’s because they’re stones and she’s an earthbender

[@badflamer]

ehhhh, i still disagree with this. she is not dis-abled. she is, as many say it in the real world, 'differently able'. No, she can't see using her eyes, but we don't call bats disabled for relying on echolocation in the dark. Her seismic sense more than makes up for not having use of her eyes in nigh-on every case, and leaves her far more competent than most who rely on their eyesight in the vast majority of ways that relate to orientation. Lack of ability to recognize ink painting/writing (and even then, that's bullshit because traditional chinese ink is primarily made of ground carbon, so she absolutely should be able to tell it apart from the paper it's drawn on) is absolutely minute compared to her 360 degree perception and complete immunity to light-based disorientation like flash bangs or sudden darkness. Or hell the fact that she can scan people's emotional states regardless of what facial expression they are wearing. Fact is, in 99% of instances her blindness is not in the least something she actually has to struggle with or around or even really account for as she goes about her life. She's completely substituted it for her seismic sense and I wouldn't call the narrow ways in which it does not accomplish the same things as photon-based sight a 'disability' compared to all the massive advantages it has over it.

[@kurmyshaharris7367]

Honestly, even as a child, that scene with Azula crying always made me feel so bad. She just looked so defeated, helpless and broken.

[@devilovesdevil]

Same it made me tear up I felt so bad

[@The.fantasybug]

Its heartbreaking honestly. Despite her confident and arrogant front, she always worked really hard to achieve perfection and appease her father and his impossible standards. In the end her friends betray her, her father tossed her aside and her strife for perfection overwhelmed her, causing her to spiral down, resulting in being defeated by the loser of the family and realizing there is no way she can ever rise again. So she finally lets her emotions rule her, something she has never allowed herself, and breaks down in crying, kicking, screaming and total dispair. It was so extremely well done. I never admired, hated and felt for a villain this much.

[@barbara_LL]

I love that they made Katara look truly sorry and destroyed seeing her like that even though she was a terrible person who attacked the gang several times

[@chrono-glitchwaterlily8776]

@@barbara_LL unrelated but aren't Katara and her the same age?

[@barbara_LL]

@@chrono-glitchwaterlily8776 yes, they are a dark foil of each other actually

[@dragonblast417]

I know that male Toph is a reference to her old design but I personally believe its because the people giving descriptions wouldn't want to admit they were beaten by a blind child

[@kjj26k]

It's both. The first is the Doylist explanation, the second is the Watsonian reason.

[@anniesearle6181]

I always feel a bit sorry for the random fire nation soldier who believes that their birthday ahs actually been remembered for once, then to be betrayed

[@Gabi-vt4ex]

Well I mean, atleast he got birthday wishes from his comrades lol but I know what you mean.

[@KeepCalmContemplateYourChoices]

@@Gabi-vt4ex Honestly if you didn't see that scene and create elaborate backstories for and started shipping those two soldiers, are you a real ATLA fan?

[@Gabi-vt4ex]

@@KeepCalmContemplateYourChoices are you gatekeeping a kids show?

[@KeepCalmContemplateYourChoices]

@@Gabi-vt4ex nah I'm just joking

[@tortis6342]

@@KeepCalmContemplateYourChoices I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that.

[@sticksandstones713]

I love how everyone else is like “ooo watch Netflix from other countries 😊” And Xiran is out here like “Oh yeah the Chinese government blocked my IP, so I needed a vpn for that sweet, sweet fanart”

[@latrodectusmactans7592]

I always thought Aang being played by a woman was a reference to Peter Pan, since stage versions traditionally play Pan with a woman. Didn't realize it was a reference to animation having woman voice kid characters, but that makes more sense.

[@CarbonMage]

I'm pretty sure it's both

[@Balrog-tf3bg]

That’s what I thought too.

[@pijahpants9052]

I realized recently that in the cave dance party, to the students it looked like Aang was super romantically dancing with his mom.

[@VanNessy97]

Kuzon's mom has go- (gets combustion bended in the ribs)

[@Cookiemonster-ui4vp]

Xiran’s outfits are getting progressively more extra. I LOVE IT

[@frostyskeletons8950]

Contrapoints better watch out 👀

[@greywaren6034]

It doesn’t even look extra on them hOW-

[@godlesslippillow]

@@frostyskeletons8950 I want a collab to see if KZbin implodes from the pure icon energy

[@ReiyukaE]

Serving the most amazing looks on a regular basis

[@ombracaradaverno9289]

They look fantastic! And the progression fits the dramaturgy - season three as the final season 🙃

[@beccag2758]

“Don’t make blanket statements like ‘The Fire Nation is Japan’” TTTTTTHHHHHHHIIIIIIISSSSSSS!!!!!!!

[@MisunderstoodNeko1]

I have a friend who is Japanese and identified as a Firebender due to this statement. Then I watch this video and was like "Umm... hey girl... inspired by Japan in a world war.... not by design.... so.... not good"

[@johnpears9558]

I kinda always thought of the Fire Nation as the British Empire at its peak because of its ironclad warships and colonialism.

[@foreverinafantasy]

@@johnpears9558 Japan also had warships and colonialism.

[@walter2721]

@@johnpears9558 I think the warships make sense but Japan was a ruthless and hugely cruel colonizer of many East Asian countries

[@NaoyaYami]

Saying "The Fire Nation is Japan" is equivalent to saying "Japan is Fire Nation" and it's obviously wrong, since according to all anime I saw, Fire Bending isn't part of skillset of your typical Japanese teenager.

[@rindomness3407]

American here: we really do have to recite the pledge at school every day (at least, prior to uni/college if you go, as far as I know). It took me until I was in high school to realize that this wasn't... like, a normal thing to require children to do. Then I was creeped the fuck out by it. We had a period of time where we also stood for the national anthem one day a week, which... was also really creepy once I realized this was not a normal thing. Edit: also as a disabled person (who sometimes gets Toph's treatment as 'not-disabled') thanks for the comment about Toph and her blindness because that. that really is what they're saying

[@neovagras980]

Yeah I always wonder why people think disabled people with either blindness or deafness are incompetent. They ain’t they can be just as if not more competent as normal people.

[@sakethvenkatesh2492]

High school American here: I also personally don’t like the pledge, so what I would do is just stand up and stare blankly at the flag, sometimes even logging into the computers while doing it lmao. Thankfully, I’ve never had the national anthem stuff. Also fyi, the reason why I said “personally” was because if anyone has genuine respect for their nation and feels that reciting the pledge is exercising, then by all means, you can do it.

[@daniellepointer8495]

We recited the pledge for the entirety of elementary school years; I don't remember ever doing it in high school. Hell, my elementary school went the extra mile and made their own pledge for us to recite right after. 🙄

[@user-cm8di3eb2t]

In Maldives , we used to sing the school song but now we have to sing the national anthem because the new government said so and no one likes it😢

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

You don't have to recite the Pledge and you cannot be forced to do so.

[@SystemofEleven]

The waterbenders were kept alive for the same reason Zhao didn't kill Aang: in case one of them was the Avatar, to prevent their reincarnation and avoid starting a new search.

[@BhlackBishop]

That wouldn't work cause Avatars have to be born and none of them were pregnant. They were most likely saving them for some twisted ransom strategy.

[@kaciwells5868]

@@BhlackBishop if i remember correctly, the avatars don't show their other bending abilities until urged or larer in life. (aand and korra being the exceptions, not the rules.) if the fire nation believed aang truly died, they may have kept the remaining water benders alive in case they proved to have latent abilities 🤔

[@BhlackBishop]

@@kaciwells5868 yeah but during the avatar and the firelord episode, Sozin said the last airbender eluded capture so the fire nation never believed Aang died and never stopped searching for him. Which is why Zuko assumed Aang would be an old man in the first episode

[@kaciwells5868]

@@BhlackBishop ngl, i totally forgot about that! i could have sworn they gave a legit reason for them keeping them prisoner, though. i guess i just have to rewatch the series and see lol

[@izzy1356]

@@kaciwells5868 You have a point though. If we're talking about the Southern Tribe then yeah, it'd be pretty impossible with nothing but children and women. But the Northern Tribe still has it's men and women. Any of them could easily produce an avatar. And then there's the Swamp tribe of waterbenders, who we know very little about. If they have women, there's another tribe an avatar could be born into.

[@mlp_firewind8129]

“Katara water bent that sperm” is the worst thing I have ever heard in my entire life

[@hernanpizarro8383]

Around a year ago a friend sent me a meme about this exact same concept. The meme had a horribly painted bootleg Katara figurine bending white water and a caption about her not needing any contraceptive since she's a waterbender.

[@xuanluu4873]

Time stamp?

[@starkassidy]

@@xuanluu4873 6:00

[@Jim4815162342]

I can find worse. Look up "Zuko and Azula adventure" for worse.

[@TheRaiden316]

That was when then were older, damnit.

[@EvanSol919]

"School collectively traumatizes us all." Yes. Yes it does.

[@Rivecha]

I read this comment as soon as she said that :0

[@MammaApa]

Roger Waters was right all along.

[@clarrie93]

I still got nightmares about how I forgot to do my assignments.. Even tho I'm already working now

[@EvanSol919]

@@clarrie93 I'm 30 and I still have nightmares about high school. 😢

[@KhanMann66]

30 years old and still get the occasional class dreams. Usually it’s about me missing class or skipping classes.

[@lunaguy1195]

39:05 And that is when I realized, I was not straight. Thanks Ozai's abs.

[@argolake8623]

In Shadow of Kyoshi, at the climax, Kyoshi and Rangi “put on their faces,” i.e. apply their face paint*. Rangi puts a red stripe under her lip to her chin, imitating the look of who but The Painted Lady. I love the small details that reward you for paying attention. *Except it’s so much cooler at this moment, because they’re in the middle of a fight and their faces are white because of the stone powder, and they paint their faces with blood. “Rangi put her palm to her bleeding lips, and swiped a crimson bar down her chin. It was the most distinctive mark of a benevolent river spirit worshiped in Jang Hui.”

[@mhello276]

"Iroh got ripped, and he is in prison. What's your excuse?" Mine is that i am a woman in stem and that is too energy draining to also work out

[@theomccann8047]

Mood af

[@nataleynakata3687]

"That's rough, buddy."

[@foreverinafantasy]

I'm also a woman in stem (Bme represent) and if I didn't run 40min a day I wouldn't be able to get out of bed. It's the only way I can energize myself... Coffee doesn't even work anymore.

[@isray89]

I'm a gay in STEM and trapped in adjunct/ABD hell. I hear ya - and I even have it easier since I can pass as a SWM!

[@roswynn5484]

I'm manic depressive (thanks for the speech about not demonizing neurodivergent people anymore, Xiran!) and even with my meds I can't motivate myself to make my real life much better. I also thoroughly hate my body, so I just gave up. It's all good though, I'm still happy =)

[@choryllis6646]

"If you want to see more videos from me, like a deep dive on Kung Fu Panda-" Um, YES PLEASE?!!?!?!?!

[@doodlebrain6594]

THAT WOULD BE SO GREAT

[@samx36]

YO, YES PLEASE!!!!

[@nixfi8213]

PLEASE

[@xailaluna7820]

Bruh I grew up with the Kung Fu Panda trilogy (I know I’m not the only one)

[@aaronamerican5187]

@@xailaluna7820 You're not alone.

[@hoarsebard]

The Puppetmaster is such a good episode in part because it reveals that Hama in fact has haunted Katara's narrative the whole time. She was friends with her grandma, she's the one that froze the fire nation ship from episode 1, Katara tells a scary story about her disappearance that she heard. She's not just scary to the viewer, she's an in-universe horror icon to the Southern Water Tribe.

[@marymohr2799]

My favorite part of the pledge everyday was watching my friends who sat behind me find increasingly ridiculous things to do while saying (or not saying) the pledge. From laying on the floor to one of them putting his foot over his heart rather then his hand, it was always entertaining. And yes, although students are not required to say the pledge and it is illegal to force them to, it's generally seen as a big no-no. I only ever had one teacher tell us he'd be okay if we didn't say the pledge because it was within our rights.

[@ArgenteonYT]

I used to just keep my hand over my heart and lip the words in elementary. Middle school I just did the pose and by late high school I stopped standing and kept reading my textbook during class or my novel of the week during assembly. I always hated doing the pledge of allegiance and 7 years after graduating I don't even remember the words and actually forgot about its existence until Xiran mentioned it.

[@leonineKelter]

Once a teacher actually lied to us and told us it was illegal to not do the pledge in the morning???? As a like 6 year old I accepted it, but. No??? America is crazy man, I'm so lucky I can get a dual citizenship soon like I don't want to be here lmao

[@WireMosasaur]

I love the gang constantly forgetting Toph is blind: Usually blind jokes are at the expense of the blind person but like 95% of the time in AtLA they're at the expense of the sighted characters and that's something I try to hold in my head as a great example of Jokes Done Right

[@azure_angel3967]

Can "Greetings, subjects" be the new official greeting? It's hilarious lmao

[@froggycheckers]

I absolutely agree, it's perfect 😂

[@jeffreygao3956]

It’s like Metatron calling his fans ‘Noble ones.”

[@faramirez643]

Agreed

[@dan_38]

It would, however, get old rather quickly if overused

[@garreonlefay6703]

i mean, we all kinda called her Queen soooooo.....

[@christopherlaingen7237]

9:20 I believe this is meant to be a type of kanabō (金棒) which was a type of iron-studded mace popular in combat in feudal era japan :) it’s basically a hexagonal / multi sided club with iron spikes or studs to be used for blunt-force damage

[@Drakochannojutsu]

I was looking for someone else who posted this! They show up a lot as weapons that oni or other youkai use

[@afterdinnercreations936]

Small thing that I really appreciated in the Ember Island Players episode. When they recapped the Blue Spirit, they insinuated Zuko captured Aang when it was Admiral Zhao. In fact, Zhao was almost completely cut out of the play. So much for being remembered in the history-books. He wasn't even remembered in a play made by his own people.

[@willyjum]

I thought that Zuko and Iroh refusing to dethrone Ozai was because they didn't want history to be (mis)interpreted as them killing their own blood relative to receive power. The Avatar is the one who has the authority and is obligated to take care of those that are corrupt.

[@dominiquereyes22]

That's exactly right. Iroh even tells zuko this after he asks why iroh doesn't just take out his brother instead of waiting for aang

[@Soroboruo]

It's also connected to the family's long history of violence, particularly towards relatives and, in the case of Roku, close friends. Zuko and Azula's duel COULD have been an epic smackdown, but the showrunners specifically lobbied to get live strings for the heartrending music and the whole thing just reads as tragic. She's literally wearing Fire Lord clothes that are so big they're falling off her when he arrives, because she's *maybe* 15 at this point. Ozai arranged for his own father's death after trying to capitalize on his nephew's tragic demise AND being (facetiously or no) told to murder his own child. Zuko refuses to attack Ozai during the Day of Black Sun - even when it comes to redirecting lightning! Compare with The Storm, where when the roles of powerful and powerless were reversed, Ozai maimed a barely-pubescent child for daring to surrender. And Word of God states that Zuko is looking on the defeated Azula with pity at the end of their fight - a fight resolved by Zuko's new friend rather than him committing violence against his own sibling. Iroh and Zuko both take pains to break away from the toxic cycles of violence that have plagued the Fire Nation royal line for so long.

[@vintheguy]

I mean if zuko ended the war after killing or incapacitated his uncle (or iroh too) then I doubt that would be looked as trying to steal power for bad reasons

[@Anonymous_Gambito]

Yes, the reason that the The Avatar has to be the one to defeat the firelord is not because he's the only one who can (he's not), but because he's the only one that should

[@hermescarraro3393]

Well. Yes. In hindu mythology the God Vishnu cyclically descends on Earth in the form of various avatars in order to defeat the wicked and restore Dharma, bringing back balance to the worlds. So it makes sense that in the Avatar universe, the various nations would see the avatar in a similar way. They are the physical embodiment and guardians of the fragile elemental balance of their world.

[@bretsheeley4034]

The king going off alone at the start of the season felt to me like taking an older animal that had been domesticated and pampered its entire life and then releasing it into the middle of the forest to be "free". .... At least the wolfbats will have a meal.

[@helloill672]

I heard a theory that the king' s bear is a spirit, so maybe that's how he survived

[@christopherb501]

Not from the bear, tho. We all know what happens _there..._

[@bretsheeley4034]

@@christopherb501 Hibernation?

[@paulinehjgaard6136]

Pretty sure I heard it was eaten by the Earth Queen 🤔

[@christopherb501]

@@paulinehjgaard6136 Granted, merely a rumor, but nobody would put it past _that_ husk of a person. ...if Zhao _does_ dive into that show, I can't wait for it to turn out that _that's_ derived from some myth or political rumor...

[@trinitip9246]

I think your take on not having mentally ill villains is really interesting! To me, I don't see it as dehumanizing mentally ill people, I see it as humanizing the villains. Knowing that they're like that because of generational trauma or BPD or something really helps me to remember "this villain is a human being. Maybe if their father had treated them better and worked with them on this illness it wouldn't have gotten to this point. We have to love them through their trauma!" It also then helps me to be more understanding towards myself and other people because you never know a person's background. Someone may be super kind because of their trauma and mental illness (like Katara) or super unkind because of their trauma and mental illness (like Azula). I think that the two of them in particular are foils of each other, both ~14yr old girls who lost their mothers and had to deal with their father's lack of acceptance towards them and their own mental health issues. The villain being mentally ill really just shows that the issues aren't as black and white as "this behavior is bad".

[@Nemo12417]

I don't know the full history of Sozin's prince crown, but if you read The Search comic, Ursa's parents had it as a family heirloom when Prince Ozai came and made their young daughter an offer she couldn't refuse. Roku's kids probably took it with them when the island was evacuated. As for how it ended up in Iroh's possession, he might have been suspicious of his father dying and sister in law disappearing at the exact same time without any official comment and conducted an investigation of the town of Hiara where he would have known Ursa to be from. He'd especially be suspicious if he was aware that Ursa had been trained as a master herbalist by her mother and knew a few things about certain untraceable poisons.

[@genevieveowusu885]

Their outfits never fail us. NEVER.

[@mcpugh]

From what I’m aware of, they actually use they/them pronouns.

[@car0linanne]

@@mcpugh but you wouldn't know unless you were using twitter. So I guess that's OK.

[@mcpugh]

@@car0linanne Actually, they mentioned being nonbinary in their stop asian hate video.

[@Cookiemonster-ui4vp]

@@car0linanne actually, they mentioned in their last video.

[@artifex2.080]

@@car0linanne they said that last video.

[@shockingheaven]

"It was the only legal way I could take my anger out on my parents when I was younger". Couldn't relate more.

[@phadenswandemil4345]

My parents used to let me walk on top of their backs as a kind of a massage when I was about 3 - 6. It was really fun

[@overthinking2621]

I’m 15 and my dad still wants me to do that (I have enough sense to not)

[@No1PlutoSupporter]

@@phadenswandemil4345 I was always scared whenever I did this

[@Raleyg]

As a Norwegian, one thing I always found a bit strange about other cultures, not just Asian, but even other western cultures, was how much respect a teacher is given. It's not that teaching isn't a well respected or disliked profession, but in Norway the relationship between teacher and student is a lot closer and more equal. I go to a university and I still refer to all my professors by their first name

[@fionafiona1146]

Germany has a history of quite authoritarian conduct, including by people establishing the education system out of a combination of aristocrats military training, capitalism and guilds, if that's informative. None of the 16 states is actually doing much to improve public education.

[@theekatspajamas]

Thats pretty common in the US too, at least at university level

[@thesparks00]

I guess it's respecting the age difference? Older students usually treat their teachers like friends where I'm from.

[@humanperson2480]

Yeah I once heard an American say how “American schools are so much more casual compared to European ones” and I was just so confused. Like Americans get sent to the principles office if they say something the teacher doesn’t like (“talking back” as they call it). I think in most of Scandinavia, you’d be seen as actively rude if you called your teacher by last time.

[@innuwu152]

In India, we have to greet teachers at all times. When they come into class it's a 'good morning' or 'good afternoon' while standing up, and we have to say 'thank you' when they leave. Even if they come in for less than a minute we have to do this. Gotta say good morning/afternoon when you're passing them in the hallway. Teachers think it's super disrespectful to not do it, and get super mad when we don't.

[@frankm.2850]

The Puppetmaster is basically a straight up horror story. I’m amazed they were able to air it.

[@Callisto1117]

I believe that toph’s blindness made her the best earth bender. She would just be a normal earth bender if she wasn’t blind and didn’t learn and befriend the badger moles.

[@frauleinzuckerguss1906]

Yeah and in that sense, while it can hinder her from doing some things, her blindness was a great asset to her.

[@theawesomeman9821]

the creators really did dodge a bullet with going with Toph instead of The Boulder as being part of team Avatar.

[@A_Wee_spook]

"Do you Americans have resight the pledge of allegiance at school?" Yes... every morning... until high school... Also, as a blind girl. You are 100% right about toph.

[@christopherb501]

* recite

[@isray89]

I always hated that when I was a student, but it's even worse as a teacher. If you don't at least stand and put your hand over your heart, you get dragged into the principal's office. Yes. As an adult. And people wonder why the USA's international image is.... well... not great...

[@christopherb501]

@@isray89 I'd wager that the gun violence and the Q-folk are a _bit_ more of a red flag than the Pledge at this point.

[@jovindsouza3407]

Here in India, I attended a Catholic school that forced us to attend mass in the school church about once a month, and we had to recite the pledge, the national anthem, the school anthem, the Lord's Prayer and two special prayers for before and after class.

[@isray89]

@@christopherb501 Touche!

[@Chiller-pc1dv]

I'd say that rather than mental illness, Azula's immense paranoia and anxiety lead to lack of sleep. Extreme exhaustion can lead to hallucinations. It would make sense.

[@badusername9903]

6:03 absolutely atrocious sentence, you will never be forgiven

[@conho4898]

"Katara waterbent that sperm" -A line I never thought I'd ever hear in my entire life

[@christopherb501]

You think _that's_ bad? ...you don't want to see some of the edited screenshots I've seen involving both this franchise and the music video for one of the songs brought up here...

[@brianstabile165]

How tf is that not called sex

[@jngo172]

Please don’t. Just don’t.

[@danielcheung6715]

I mean with that statement, Katara could probably blood bend Aang to keep hard?

[@lettuceprime4922]

@@danielcheung6715 - that + avatar state &, like, holy shit 😳

[@thequietestlilbucket8402]

After reading the Kiyoshi novels, I genuinely believe that Kiyoshi would have approved of Aang taking away Ozai's bending. She only told him to act decisively to bring justice, not kill. Even though she totally would have said killing was an option.

[@kariissmol9172]

She said "only justice will.bring peace" we all know justice is different everywhere.

[@jugemujugemugokonosurikire4735]

Having kyoshi lived to 270 or 230, can't remember, I'm pretty sure she had the need to shift her thoughts and morales at least twice.

[@agentscott96]

And would’ve probably killed him very quick

[@francestauzer2652]

I remember watching Aang seek guidance from past incarnations the 1st time thinking the same as Aang: 'they're saying kill Ozai'; but the second time, I realized none of them said Aang had to kill him to beat him, the closest they came to saying anything like that was when they spoke of their own conflicts & what might have changed if they took that step; I am glad he found a non-lethal method, just because too often people think Death is ultimate defeat when history shows that is NOT the case

[@lkcdarzadix6216]

Kiyoshi time was Brutal no wonder she has no problem with killing anyone she lived in a dark time

[@NicciGemz]

The gang constantly forgetting that Toph is blind and tossing stuff to her or saying, "look," were some of the most hilarious scenes in the series.

[@kazaookami]

I actually like the mental illness side of Azula. she may be one of the major villains but if you pay attention she is as much a victim as Zuko, she was put in this position to succeed meant she had to be ruthless, she had to take control of everything around her. When her only "friends" betray her it breaks her entire world perception and her psyche with it. With a different upbringing she could have been a very different person. theres a video by hello furture me called the psychology of azula i highly recommend checking out. It does a great job diving into her warped perception of the world.

[@alexander_markovski]

The psychology of both Azula and Zuko is fascinating. There’s so much more than a surface level to both of them, and as a psychology geek, it’s a fantastic video!

[@spookydid]

ive seena lot of theories say that azula is delusional the whole time we just dont see or hear how bc its rlly not from her perspective bc she clearly upholds and beleives delusions so whether she was seeing sum the whole time.....

[@Aghul]

Xiran Jay Zhao: "Greetings, subjects" Me: "I bow before you, my queen."

[@helenaingersoll8237]

I WOULD NEVER BOW TO THEM ... we sell our souls to show respect for our greatness

[@lunaakuma5044]

Well they're a feminine nonbinary 'I bow before you, my greatness?"

[@pearlm1084]

@@helenaingersoll8237 *them

[@skyler9643]

*emperor

[@Aghul]

@@lunaakuma5044 At this point "queen" is just a specific kind of energy that they give off ;)

[@20firebird]

“it turned out it smelled exactly like calligraphy ink, so all us chinese students were like SNIFFFFFFF” LMAO

[@shadenox8164]

I think what I like about the Southern Raiders the most was the fact it was shown that its okay for Katara not to forgive the man who killed her mother. Like it seems obvious when I say she couldn't forgive that but so many kid's shows go full in on Aang's perspective. But I think its an important message that if you can't forgive someone, that's fine you shouldn't force yourself to do so. I find at least in the culture I grew up in there's a very strong fixation on forgiveness such that it almost seems like if you can't forgive someone there's something wrong with you, when there's not. There's also the "you're only hurting yourself" aspect people put onto not forgiving someone which I also find wrong. Forgiveness has never been about making the person who was wronged feel better, its about absolving or at least easing the guilt of the person who wronged them and no one is entitled to that.

[@ZsanniGaines]

If only this message was more apparent in Raya and the Last Dragon

[@rectoraakor8843]

The show creators said that if they could have done a season 4 it would have had a focus on Azula's character arc like they did with Zuko.

[@pammy6429]

no no that was said from one of the writters of the show. but the creators always knew they wanted to do a 3 seasons show

[@cassandramuller7337]

That "I knew I shouldn't have asked Kyoshi" is one of my favourite lines in the show. Aang is just so grumpy saying it and it always cracks me up :D

[@foxfyre9908]

Xiran’s chill while being climbed by their kitty baby is the level of cool headed ness I aspire to be

[@GuiSmith]

I don’t think that was chill, just sort of “the show must go on”

[@DogWalkerBill]

Yes! Love kitty! Obviously Xiran was not paying enough attention to kitty! HAHAHAHA!

[@foxfyre9908]

@@GuiSmith I’m a performer lol “the show must go on” legit means projecting the affect of chill even when in immense pain or very distracted

[@kirayoshikage5991]

In the cats defense, that headdress does look fun to chew on-

[@baguettegott3409]

22:21 Yeah this is pretty universal I think. My mom is over 60 now and she still occasionally dreams that it will suddenly turn out she was supposed to take the math a-level over 40 years ago, and that she will be forced to do it now. The specific anxiety around math is so intense for so many people... it's such a shame because math is so wonderful.

[@amyg9518]

You hit the nail on the head about why it was worth it for Aang to defeat Ozai without killing him. I loved that the answer to ending the violence wasn't more violence. This was such a great series and I thank you so much for it.

[@mgormley7530]

"did Jet just...die?" Oh yeah, I guess Zuko wasn't there for that. That's a really weird way to find out what happened to that kid you were kind of friends with but who went off the deep end and attacked you

[@KHowardishereandthefunsbegun]

Like seriously, imagine telling that to the Jetko shippers 😙

[@moni-in-mini7471]

@@KHowardishereandthefunsbegun lol you don’t gotta attack us like that 😭 they had POTENTIAL

[@Emily-bp6qz]

@@moni-in-mini7471 another jetko shipper??! they were my number one favorite ship as a teenager lol

[@moni-in-mini7471]

@@Emily-bp6qz yup! I kind of stepped away from it for a little while bc of all the fan works that made jet abusive :/ but seriously, are you going to look me in the eyes and tell me they didn’t kiss on that ferry?

[@Emily-bp6qz]

@@moni-in-mini7471 they definitely had something goin on. I won't believe otherwise lol

[@chaosstatus]

8:33 I think that the Painted Lady couldn’t save the village because of the pollution. She’s tied to the river, so her spiritual power reflects it. Sort of like Hei-bei (sorry for the spelling) the panda spirit turning into an aggressive monster when his forest was burnt down. So the Painted Lady was too weak to do anything until the Gaang cleaned up the river

[@origamipein18]

That makes sense.

[@GuiSmith]

That's part of the reason I thought she had said "thank you" to the Gaang. It's not like she was the one to thank them for saving the village, even if they are her people. They cleared up the river and saved generations of suffering, restoring the Painted Lady in both her power and her image.

[@psgamer-0199]

Very well thought.

[@zaplepikachu]

Something that I saw about the fire nation saying "There's one last southern waterbender" is that they didn't know that Katara was a waterbender, but they believed that Hama had escaped back to the southern pole. That's why he didn't question why Katara's mom was the bender, because if they said "a bender was recently born," he'd be like "No you're way too old."

[@JSythe]

Problem is, Hama and Kya look very different.

[@RosemaryWeir]

I actually only watched Avatar and Korra this year and for the first time at 28 years old. It truly is amazing how the creators made a children's show but also managed to weave in adult content as well in such a fashion. Loved watching this series, no doubt when I watch Avatar again, I will be able to understand so much more. Massive respect to you for all you do.

[@shockingheaven]

Presentation is definitely what makes Ozai a supervillain instead of just a villain

[@linusmota9712]

A Megamind reference. I see you are a person of culture

[@BonaparteBardithion]

They use that a lot for the villians. Azula makes a point of looking as intimidating as she is dangerous. She spends as much time posturing as she does actually striking. Contrast that with Iroh who presents himself as soft as possible despite being even more capable. Heck, this even goes back to Zuko in the first episode. He shows up, destroys the villages fortifications in seconds and then takes out Sokka in one hit - and then he gets hit in the back of the head with the boomerang to present to the audience that he is still vulnerable.

[@kimberlyterasaki4843]

That and being voiced by Mark Hamill.

[@shockingheaven]

@@BonaparteBardithion It... it was just a funny reference

[@BonaparteBardithion]

@@shockingheaven I know. But it's a valid example of good character writing too. I almost went into how the film adaptation's version of him has the presentation of a middle manager. But maybe that's taking it too far.

[@ClaudiaDCD]

Just 'cause Toph has a great compensation doesn't mean the world is completely built for her. Love how you pointed that out. People with disabilities can be competent and good at things and getting around a world that wasn't built for them.

[@peepytime]

the show cleverly shows how her earthbending is very much akin to a cane or a seeing-eye dog. and when she is separated from her element she struggles more

[@appleslover]

.

[@juliec5151]

I believe the word you're looking for is "competency" Compensation implies she's like... get paid lol

[@ceilazel6061]

@@juliec5151 I think they meant she's able to compensate for the challenges her blindness poses

[@MikaMoonlight]

And I find her character similar to Artie in Glee. Artie is on a wheelchair but he still takes part in group choreographies, succeeds in school and such. But sometimes the group seems to forget he's disabled and that he does faces struggles even tho he might not express them all the time

[@xGhouI]

I appreciate that you said "Cultural Inspiration" and not "Appropriation" That's just what they did. They got inspiration from all these places and merged them into something different.

[@artist0154]

pretty sure "appropiation" is a word that is just use in U.S. I refuse to believe anyone else uses it unironically

[@xGhouI]

@@artist0154 it certainly seems so. That is why I appreciated that she didn't use it.

[@spookydid]

yah bc appropriation is a mostly ironic term used as mockery or like someone isnt understanding the impact that item has on the culture and is using it for their own gain. shes using the appropriate term for a reason lol

[@TheSuperRatt]

@@xGhouI Appropriation certainly exists, but usually only in the oppressive or exploitive sense. If Culture A actively demonizes, oppresses, and keeps Culture B in poverty, and yet Culture A commodifies Culture B's culture, can wear their symbols, clothing, can use their mythology, sell/export it for profit that Culture B doesn't see a penny of, etc. *while simultaneously* degrading Culture B for practicing their own culture... That's appropriation. And it absolutely did happen, and still does to this day.

[@Matrim42]

6:41 Ah, Erlang, a loose cannon of a deity who don’t play by the Jade Emperor’s rules.

[@fernandafortes5876]

Xiran: "...and capoeira, a Brazilian martial art and dance combo" me, a Brazilian: *gasps*

[@pedrobui.669]

paranauê 4eva

[@juliaabreus]

Eu kkkkkk e a parte que eu descobri que não tavam jogando futevôlei

[@crumblemuffin1257]

PEGA O BERIMBAU

[@ThaylonPedrosa]

EU SURTEI

[@lif6737]

*HUEHUEHUE*

[@abbie_wood]

Okay. Their outfits just got to a whole new level and I love it

[@Daye04]

I completely agree. I love their outfit every in every single one of their videos

[@cyan7460]

I look forward to their videos both for their content and their fits

[@Friendlyspectre]

Okay, as a non-binary person, I just want to say that it makes me feel so happy and seen to see people respect their pronouns straight away after hearing they were non-binary. I know they don’t mind she/her pronouns, but as someone impartial to he/him pronouns and only slightly dysphoric with she/her pronouns, it makes me feel best when people use my chosen pronouns (it’s like the person saying them are acknowledging that you’re trans and saying they support you). I hope you have a nice day :)

[@Berilia]

@@Friendlyspectre Of course! Seeing people respecting others always makes me feel happy, and if people didn't know its always great when they say something along the lines of "I didn't know that, but I'll remember that for the future".

[@astrisperspecto4130]

@@Friendlyspectre it is up to us, each individual, to make the internet a better place. And if you feel good reading comments about their video, that's awesome! Go forth, and be stunning

[@user-xx4qq5rv2c]

I watched the first part of this series and I know you mentioned that Mark Hamill voiced a spirit I think? But he also voiced Ozai. Another random one is that Hector Elizondo voiced Won Shi Tong in book 2. When we first watched the series my mom kept recognizing all the voices. “That’s Rufio, I swear thats Rufio” and “do you know who that is girls?”

[@matthewdavid6134]

@38:39 “mentally I’ll heroes who solve thing without violence”= Frodo, struggles with addiction, pacifist who never kills anyone, succeeds because he spares gollum who accidentally destroys the ring

[@jananias2985]

I love how Xiran's cat just casually walks in and out of the scene

[@lainiwakura1776]

If you loved that, you'll love Indifferent Cats in Porn. Don't worry, the cats are not being harmed.

[@greenergrass4060]

That Cat is the main character. Theyre the Avatar 😍

[@fairyhaven13]

As a schizophrenic and autistic person, I greatly appreciate your comment about mental illness. It truly is tiring how many villains are negative portrayals of schizophrenia.

[@remusteahan3521]

Legit, and how many autistic traits are villainised, also ive recently noticed most speedster characters (the flash, pietro maximoff, the kid in the incredibles) are all viewed as annoying and intolerable for their clear ADHD traits, I suppose at least they're heros though so there's that :/

[@felicity4252]

I agree. I watched a video on youtube where a psychologist "diagnosis" azula. And they state it isn't really schizophrenia just a need for perfection. They go into greater detail. You should check it out.

[@gigabyte2248]

I gather that Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7 is a more accurate portrayal of schizophrenia. I did read, though, that he does conspicuously lack the 'negative' symptoms of schizophrenia, where thoughts and emotions and stuff aren't there when they should be, rather than the 'positive' symptoms of things being there that shouldn't. Also, shout-out to Night in the Woods' Mae Borowski. Since when did you hear of *any* fictional character with dissociative disorder? Also Celeste, but that one's low-hanging fruit.

[@trin873]

As a autistic person I never realized thanks

[@MetatronsRevenge613]

Same

[@SwordTune]

19:38 I'm not sure how messenger hawks work in Avatar, but real messenger birds worked by returning to the mail posts they were taken from, since the bird's instincts were to return back to its nest or home. This system allowed you to send a message back a fixed location, and presumably they would use a bird that was taken from the next location down the chain, continuing until your message reached its destination.

[@socialistrepublicofvietnam1500]

17:46 I thought that was what was being referenced in Book 1 when the elderly man snitched on the earthbender who helped him

[@xxxholicfan2173]

I actually like how they made Azula have a mental breakdown in the last two episodes. Her breakdown was actually two seasons in the making, or 14 years in the making for her, and given the messed up family dynamic she and Zuko have with their parents, it was only a matter of time before she snapped. Although I do agree that there should be more heroes who are mentally ill and who are not dangerous so that mental illness doesn’t have to be demonized. I highly recommend you watch the Azula Analysis done by Hello Future Me, if you have an hour to spare. It’s very educational and it explains clearly why she had her breakdown and where her mental illness came from.

[@Soroboruo]

Honestly if you discount the comics (which i personally take as "optional canon") there's no further indication that Azula is hallucinating like she did with seeing her mom, and as other people have mentioned, she was under so much stress and dealing with abuse that mental health problems were basically inevitable. So yeah, 'breakdown' feels more accurate. Plus what made her a villain wasn't the mental illness but the *source* of it - Ozai's rules and expectations, growing up in a truly unbearable, absurdly stressful environment with impossible expectations heaped on her, plus far less experience with recovering from failure and mistakes than Zuko did. I do wish she'd gotten a proper recovery arc though.

[@littenfire3563]

Azula is insane though. She manipulates and controls other people to feel she's in power and is more than okay with killing people.

[@sbatou87]

"Also, Uncle, where did you hide that head piece?" Headcanon: Given to him while he was in prison by a White Lotus member. Iroh himself hid it in a loose stone or brick within his cell.

[@tortis6342]

I agree with thiss completely.

[@jennisangel4537]

15:57 I hate where my mind immediately went

[@EpicNerdsWithCameras]

24:20 There seem to be two popular theories about this. One which believes that Ozai had ordered Iroh to be killed, and that Ming mentioning the name of the tea was a way to warn him about that. The other theory is that she was trying to give an "out" to someone she perceived to be a kind yet helpless old man. Of course, both of those theories could be giving Iroh or the writers too much credit. He did end up choosing the wrong plant, after all, so maybe he confused them in his explanation.

[@MrBored-zm9ww]

You cant just make a jizzbending joke and move on like its nothing lmaoooo. That caught me off guard.

[@Monie71793]

Same 😳💀

[@monicaraybrandt]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGbXXmt3mbdjeMU

[@linkhs]

Your entire commentary about Toph's blindness needs to be shouted from the rooftops! I'm a visibly physically disabled person and having Toph be both disabled and badass was SO GREAT to see in a popular kid's show.

[@DragonGyrl96]

28:00 actually, I think I might be able to explain this a bit! Based on the aardvark sloths we see licking them later, my guess is they let them loose in the room! As for the egg itself, it has been theorized that that is in fact, a *live* dragon egg, and they keep it hidden in order to protect it along with the last remaining dragons.

[@jadebayoba7073]

40:00 a technique inventes by Wan, to be re used by Yangchen to then be passed down to Aang

[@jeredansurgeon1056]

We don’t **have to recite the national anthem, we **get to choose between saying a few words, or the teacher staring at us furiously while everyone around us conforms.

[@isray89]

You forgot that there's the obligatory diatribe post-pledge about how we aren't respecting the country if we don't stand and recite the pledge.

[@MegamiMichelle]

TRUTH

[@jerseyfrill]

lmao I had exactly one high school teacher that was like "This is stupid" so he never enforced it and that year my first period would all just sit in silence as they played it over the speaker.

[@ennenoire]

Lolll ye that happened to me in one class in middle school😭 but I gotta say my highschool was so over that mess like we had to say it for like events or whatever but everyday was too much faff for my teachers who couldn't really figure out the AV system

[@camelpimp]

So when I was little (context: I'm old) I don't remember doing the pledge every single day. That changed... gosh I don't remember when. Definitely tho we were doing it daily post 9/11...

[@leventemucsi9547]

The makeup The hair piece The dress I'm shook

[@Arella17]

The cat trying to eat the hair piece too

[@jackr_d_6975]

@Tiger they actually came out as non-binary recently, so they use they/them pronouns 😊

[@nyxusrune]

@Tiger .. this is very creepy.

[@nyxusrune]

@Tiger well I am AroAce, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t point when something is extremely creepy. Also they/them are correct pronouns

[@nyxusrune]

@Tiger I have no idea who “Long Beach Griffey “ is. And yes I do have a tendency to take things to literally (due to the fact that I’m probably autistic).I don’t over use the word depressed. Being as though 3/4 people in my family have depression (I’m the only one who doesn’t). And Billy Elish’s music is okay, but I mostly listen to metal. I don’t know how you being extremely creepy is related to “people taking things way to seriously” it’s fucking creepy.

[@GridSludge]

35:35 Well, that's not ENTIRELY Zuko's fault. Roku told Aang if he didn't defeat the firelord before Sozin's Comet, the world would come to an end. Aang proceeds to immediately forget this fact and decides to "defeat the firelord after the comet"

[@MrZongalito]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I feel like blood bending could have been a very helpful skill, It could help to stop blood from bleeding out in like an hemorrhagic, help the blood to flow back again in a body, purify the blood by stripping it apart from any poison, there could be plenty of possibilities to use blood bending for health matters, but of course, it would need to be supervised every time it was used, and any misuse would be punished by execution

[@thewonderlander1372]

They probably kept the waterbenders alive since they thought they killed all the Airbenders so they were looking for the next avatar in the cycle. (Water , Earth ,Fire, Air)

[@deborahmutombo7224]

Oh such a good point! If they had killed all the water bends then they would have had to do the same thing all over again with the earth kingdom.

[@sauleiwanderapfelstrudel]

i wonder what would have hapoened if they wiped out the waterbenders before the airbenders. would the cycle be broken? just skip to earth? some restore itself?

[@christopherb501]

@@sauleiwanderapfelstrudel I always assumed that if all extant benders of a culture were wiped out and there was no bending ability inherited by anyone still alive, when the onus of the Avatar mantle would pass to the next part in a cycle, it would pass to someone still distantly descended from a corresponding nation, or in some way born to be spiritually associated with the element in question.

[@AraujoDaisuki]

I was just about to comment that

[@miea34]

and they were right! the next avatar was born in the southern water tribe

[@HierophanticRose]

I think the hallucinations of Azula are more so alluding to her having a Psychotic Break, than a mental illness.

[@ailem2707]

Psychosis is a mental health condition

[@HierophanticRose]

@@ailem2707 Its an acute condition that are sometimes part of a chronic mental illness, but people with no prior chronic or congenital mental disorders can also be victims of psychosis under duress.

[@chooseyouhandle]

I never liked this because antisocial type mental illness like sociopathy don't have psychosis as a symptom.

[@kashsmith6181]

@@chooseyouhandle Sociopathy isn't a mental illness.

[@freetobree5323]

@@kashsmith6181 yes tf it is lol

[@ViennaDarlingvd]

I actually did think that the way Aang unlocked his thought chakra was emotionally powerful. He needed to truly know what he and everyone else would lose if he couldn’t win - like actually see it/experience it and being that close to being killed by Ozai was more of the unlocking than the rock

[@lightsideofsin8969]

Hallucinations are not automatically linked to mental illness though. Severe exhaustion and/or stress can also make you hallucinate. I don't think that Azula's hallucinations are vilifying mental illness. She is however severely stressed and I can't imagine her eating or sleeping well since Mai and Ty Lee left her. Her entire worldview was shaken by this one act of defiance and she clearly doesn't take it well. Hallucinating in such a vulnerable and highly emotional state is not necessarily connected to mental illness. I also feel like its wrong to armchair-diagnose fictional characters with mental illnesses that aren't addressed in universe. It makes us unconsciously project our perception of that character on the specific mental illness we suspect them to have and that's harmful too. I won't deny that Azula becomes very unstable but that does not necessarily mean that she has a mental illness.

[@Rammy_Latin]

preach

[@Karasus_drug_dealer]

“My crippling anxiety leaves me with no energy for intense physical activity” MOOD

[@kimberlybogert7031]

Seriously 😓

[@Hana_H]

Zhao: Greetings, subjects Us: *bowing* All hail our gorgeous empress

[@helenaingersoll8237]

I WOULD NEVER BOW TO HER ... we sell our souls to show respect for our goddess.

[@abrady0]

Kof Simp

[@LauchlinM.]

@@helenaingersoll8237 Nor should we bow... We should obviously _kowtow_ .

[@HobieInTheBox]

Our non binary empress 👑

[@1234kalmar]

@@HobieInTheBox NBress?

[@DiceGoblin77]

The giant club sokka’s struggling with at 9:16 looks like a kanabo, which was a type of war club used in feudal Japan. In media, they’re generally used by unusually large or strong individuals, and are often wielded by oni in folklore

[@bridgetreagan6341]

“Hold on…” *puts on glasses* “Pull the receipts.” *proceeds to call out Katara on her ‘do as I say not as I do’ attitude to prove her and Toph are just alike in their occasional moral-bending while bespectacled* This brought me such joy ☺️

[@Armuks]

"I can't stand hot environments, even Canada's too hot for me" I feel that friend.

[@karcavida3250]

Same

[@benneel5396]

Fun fact: Dante Basco is a break-dancer and Zuko uses a break-dancing move during his fight with Azula.

[@kateadams5574]

Rufio! Rufio! Rufio! Rufio!

[@LJA116]

He also breakdanced when he attacked Kyoshi Island.

[@danielleskov7526]

My theory for why Zuko and Iroh didn't go for Ozai themselves was because they realized that to the outside world, it would seem like them usurping power for themselves. Meanwhile, an agent of balance like the Avatar defeating Ozai could be seen as a way to take power and make things right without that sort of baggage hampering them.

[@LemonandCrackhead]

I think they did a very good job with Azula. They did not portray her as a typical villain that we all rejoiced being defeated. I distinctly remember feeling off when that episode aired. I now know it's because they had put in the effort to make us truly understand that she was sick, and if someone close to her had only cared for her properly, she might not have been the bad guy. I think this was possible in part because they did have a right and proper old school big baddy in Ozai. Nothing redeeming about him, manipulative and self-serving till the end, intent on pure death and destruction. We also get Zuko's redemption arc, which we can use as a "what if" guideline for how Azula might have been saved as well had events played out differently. If Azula had been the primary cause of everything with the war, then I would say it portrays mental illness very poorly. However, with the way everything played out I would suggest that they actually sent a different message: not every villain in your life is evil; some just need a helping hand to guide them out of their darkness.

[@marche800]

To be fair to the Earth King. Only a handful of people even know what he looks like, I doubt he'd be in much danger of being recognized by random fire nation soldiers. Though there is no vouching for his non existing survival skills.

[@-SweetCheesecake-]

Yeah releasing a sheltered King into the wild probably wouldn't end well-

[@maxgrozema1093]

Well, his family shows they are good with animals, except for his daughter then.

[@PersephoneDaSilva]

As if Azula wouldn't post flyers with a drawing of what he looks like.

[@marche800]

@@PersephoneDaSilva I mean she might not. I don't think she sees him as a threat.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

@@marche800 It's possible calling for his arrest would even legitimize him and undermine their control. If he's not doing anything against them and no one with influence is rallying around his image it's probably better to let the city forget he exists.

[@trystinew.469]

"I don't understand why the Fire Nation even bothered to keep the waterbenders alive" (20:40) I always thought it had to do with the fact that water was next on the avatar cycle, and thinking that the airbenders had been wiped out entirely, the Fire Nation naturally would proceed to cast their suspicions upon the water tribes

[@Anonymous_Gambito]

Ohhh that makes sense. They wouldn't want to kill the prisoners if there was a chance one of them was the avatar

[@trystinew.469]

@@Anonymous_Gambito Yup, because they'd have to start the search all over- And then it'd be in the Earth Kingdom, which was the most resilient location out of the three

[@sherlocksmuuug6692]

@@trystinew.469 And also the largest by far. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

[@peepytime]

yeah, and they kept them alive....until kya the bloodbender made them realize how dangerous they were. so in a way, she is the one who caused the fire nation to start point blank murdering the water benders.

[@trystinew.469]

@@peepytime Hama* but yes, that's exactly what happened

[@mycatoverlords]

Yeah, I wish Aang had needed to let his attachment to Katara go at the end in order to unlock his chakra and go into the avatar state. Unlocking it the way it happened in the story didn’t feel earned.

[@araline2905]

Same. The way they went about Aang defeating Ozai really offended me and made me feel like my intelligence was insulted.

[@Theroha]

He had already let go back at the end of book 2. The chakra that was blocked was a lower one, and it was physically damaged from the lightning instead of psychically blocked.

[@amalija11]

@@Theroha true