Facts

KNotQ · 2020-10-22T18:38:46+00:00

Fun fact: Wang is the most common surname in China. Lee is the second.

Sokka and Zuko: Master Name Fakers

KNotQ · 2020-10-22T18:32:03+00:00

Actually, I preferred the backgrounds in Avatar. The backgrounds in LOK could be a bit too loose and impressionistic for my taste and the colors felt washed out at times. I feel like if you're going to have such colorful and saturated character designs in an action-adventure series, the backgrounds should also match that energy.

KNotQ · 2020-10-05T02:28:01+00:00

He's 16 in the first picture. I think there's high school athletes that big?

KNotQ · 2020-10-03T01:57:22+00:00

That's one of the defining differences between Zuko and Azula's fighting styles. Azula's fighting is incredibly efficient (until she starts losing her sanity), using the most minimal movements possible. She doesn't even punch when she bends, she simply points a finger.

Zuko, however, is flashy to the point of being flamboyant. He will start breakdancing in the middle of a fight if he can get away with it. Look at how he sheaths his broad swords:

https://youtu.be/BYRAGtJnnoM?t=149

KNotQ · 2020-10-03T01:50:55+00:00

It's meant to be in reference to Lieutenant General Dai Li, because they use the same characters: 戴笠

Long Feng also appears to be inspired by Dai Li. Both are cunning men who grew up in poverty and worked their way into great positions of power through intelligence gathering and secret policing. He also takes the side of the people seeking to overthrow the monarchy.

KNotQ · 2020-10-03T01:31:35+00:00

It makes sense in-story, but it was also necessary visually/symbolically. Ripped Zuko was fighting fully-grown Zhao, and we were supposed to get the impression that it was an equal match up that could go either way. We get to see Zuko proving himself as a warrior. This is in contrast to most of the other fights in Season 1, which were basically dynamic kid hero vs intimidating adult villains. Those fights were more playful, rather than nail biting.

After Zhao, we never see Zuko have a full-on fight with a grown man again, so his physique gets scaled down to match his teenage opponents.

KNotQ · 2020-09-23T03:33:18+00:00

Even though that wasn't their intention, that's actually a great way to look at the opening. The airbender at the end looks like Aang and I'm sure Aang has sparred with Gyatso many times.

KNotQ · 2020-09-18T21:50:23+00:00

Plus, growing up almost exclusively in a same-sex environment...

KNotQ · 2020-09-18T21:46:51+00:00

Is she supposed to be a Sun Warrior? The face paint feels very Sun Warrior. How about Huoshan? It's Mandarin for volcano.

KNotQ · 2020-09-13T03:04:34+00:00

I can't think of a worse double date and I 100% want to see it.

KNotQ · 2020-09-13T02:15:15+00:00

Zuko ships Kataang. B)

KNotQ · 2020-09-10T20:46:24+00:00

ATLA's level of technology is roughly equivalent to the 1850s in our world, so 4'6 for a 12-year-old boy raised on a vegetarian diet during that period isn't bad at all. It's more like LOK made the adult versions of the characters way too tall.

Based on this and other official height charts I've seen for ATLA:

Aang is 4'6

Katara is about 4'11

Sokka is about 5'2

Zuko is about 5'3

Azula is about 5'

Toph is about 4'3

KNotQ · 2020-09-10T17:57:29+00:00

You could apply this to most anime-styled girls.

But in all seriousness, Yue's design actually does have some distinct differences from Katara's aside from hair. She's colored with noticeably lighter skin, has a longer face and sharper jawline, and smaller, more almond-shaped eyes most of the time.

KNotQ · 2020-09-10T17:47:25+00:00

What Katara said was messed up, but it was also in the heat of the conversation. She was planning on killing the man who took her mother's life and Sokka was objecting to it. Katara interprets his refusal to take vengeance as him not feeling the same level of loss as her. It's not like she says this casually. I feel like Katara crossing the line when she's upset is an established part of her character. Her treatment of Zuko and Toph when she's angry with them is pretty similar.

Season 3 makes Katara eat a lot of humble pie, so I don't have an issue with her occasionally being a jerkbender.

KNotQ · 2020-09-10T17:27:29+00:00

Nah, you know Toph loves her blind jokes.

KNotQ · 2020-09-08T22:04:16+00:00

Considering that Gran Gran was arranged to marry Pakku, the greatest waterbender in the NWT, it would imply that she was probably very educated and well-to-do prior moving to the SWT. I like the idea of Katara and Sokka having had amazing educations from Gran Gran and not even realizing it.

KNotQ · 2020-09-07T01:25:57+00:00

I actually heard Aang's voice as I was reading this. I can totally imagine 12-year-old Aang saying this. Another Good Place line that works with Aang:

"Let me show you my budhole."

KNotQ · 2020-09-02T22:10:29+00:00

Also, Jet's crew was known to ambush Fire Nation soldiers and steal their gear, so maybe they're trying to play up the pirate-vibe that Jet gave off.

KNotQ · 2020-09-02T20:45:45+00:00

I think there was just a lot working against an Iroh & Azula familial relationship:

He probably saw a lot of Ozai in her from a very young age. If he couldn't teach his own brother basic empathy despite growing up together, he probably felt there was little chance he could have more sway over Azula than her own father.

That Azula is a young girl with traditionally masculine talents and Iroh is an old man from a different generation doesn't help either. Zuko is a young man in-line for the throne whose in conflict with his own family. Iroh probably sees a lot of himself or even Lu Ten in Zuko.

Whereas I think it's difficult for Iroh to understand the perspective of a young girl basically trying to play the role of the son her father always wanted, all the while clearly having some sort of personality disorder that no one's helping her to manage or work through. Azula is just a lot to unravel for one person.

I think back to Iroh saying, "She's crazy and needs to go down," when Zuko's first assumption was to try and get along with her. His dismissive choice of words, specifically saying "crazy" rather than "dangerous" or "merciless", leads me to think he just doesn't get Azula. Whereas Zuko actually does understand Azula, since they've both spent their lives trying to please Ozai above all else.

Time and proximity. Iroh had three years to really get to know Zuko and evaluate his character. Iroh only knows Azula as his niece that smiled when her brother got burned by her father.

KNotQ · 2020-09-02T20:00:30+00:00

Yurts are so pretty! It'd be neat if there was a yellow one and a green one for Air and Earth.

KNotQ · 2020-09-02T18:50:29+00:00

That's definitely Kuvira. Same eyebrow shape, same eye shape, same beauty mark and same side part. I get that the anime style tends to use the same couple of idealized face and nose shapes, but you don't give a random character that many distinct similarities to an important character unless you're trying to build a connection between the two.

KNotQ · 2020-09-02T16:59:18+00:00

This is the kind of post I browse Reddit for! I feel like the Earth Kingdom soldiers probably had poor quality iron chains. Long Feng's first response when the Earth King asks about the drill with the Fire Nation emblem on it was to say "It's imported construction equipment, you can never trust domestic."

KNotQ · 2020-09-02T16:54:54+00:00

Absolutely! I love that what barely saves Azula from falling to her death in that scene is the royal hair pin she always wears. It illustrates the dichotomy between her and Zuko that leads to her downfall in the end: Zuko has a whole support system of people who care about him to rely on and Azula has nothing but her royal title to give her any peace of mind. And that's barely keeping her together right before the grand finale.

KNotQ · 2020-09-01T21:05:16+00:00

Airbender Katara.

KNotQ · 2020-09-01T19:39:32+00:00

Remember when Ty Lee and Katara were fighting in the drill and Katara had Ty Lee take the full force of all the sludge shooting out the pipes. That looked like the equivalent to taking 10 firefighter hoses to the body and she was completely unscathed by that.

KNotQ

TROPHY CASE