✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

there’s a reason why the entire story of avatar the last airbender begins and ends with katara. there’s a reason why we are introduced to katara first before we are introduced to any other character. there’s a reason why katara is the narrator. there’s a reason why the creators have emphasized over and over again that katara is just as titular to the story as aang - she’s the other main character.

when you water down katara - remove her compassion, her ability to connect with others, her nurturing role, her ANGER and RAGE and DRIVE - you water down the very fundamentals of the story. you drastically and severely alter the core dynamics of the gaang, because katara was so important to the development of every single one of them. she was the rock and glue that held team avatar together.

katara was unlike any other character to ever appear on television; she was a young brown girl who took no shit from anyone, yet at the same time remained kind and compassionate and nurturing. katara was a force of nature; proud of her heritage and culture, burdened by the responsibility of being the last southern water bender of the water tribe, angered over the death of her mother and everything that the fire nation took from her, determined to help every single person in need, determined to change the world, angry and resentful because old men and rules and laws kept telling her what she could or could not do, thus, she was determined to restructure thousands of years of patriarchy that stood against her from accomplishing her goals and dreams.

watering down katara into at most 2-3 tangible characteristics, stripping her away of all her motivation and agency and nuance, telling the audience that she wants to help and change the world only to have her stand in the background with an air of grief, demonstrates that the writers of the live action fundamentally misunderstand the spirit of avatar. and that’s something so unforgivable. no matter how many changes they decide to make, or how much they decide to stay true to the original story in other areas, no matter how many flashy VFX fight scenes we get - if you fail to properly understand katara, you fail to understand the heart and soul of avatar the last airbender, everything that makes avatar such a timeless classic.

It's so wild to me still how different some of the others are. And it's no wonder I would try to supress the differences. It can be kinda scary and uncomfortable to suddenly feel like you hate something you love or feel suddenly angry for no reason. And that's just being influenced by *one* of them. It's so strange sometimes of course my instinct is to think it's not real.

Didn't know this was something that needed to be said, but persecutors are people, too. You can't write them all off as hopeless or evil or not worth your time – they still deserve at least the most basic of respect. And yes, this includes one who "won't/can't change." With the way some of y'all act towards persecutors, I'm not surprised the ones in your systems lash out or don't want to change! Try some kindness sometime and see where it gets you. Persecutors deserve respect just like anyone else and a lot of them just need someone in their corner. If everyone in your system is only showing them cruelty, it's no wonder they're showing the same to you.

no one is born to be alone