I was blessed to have been able to see the new Avatar movie in theaters today (they seriously need to expand to a full theatrical release, two theaters is not enough), so here are some of the thoughts bumping around in my brain (in no particular order)
⚠️major spoilers ahead!!!⚠️
- I wish this movie was three hours long, genuinely
- I love how the Avatar universe always humanizes their villains. Even though Tagah is the bad guy, viewers can still sympathize with where his pain is coming from, and the complex reactions that come with such generationally traumatic experiences
- ugh the character designs!!! Long hair Zuko buff Toph we won
- this was SO SO beautifully animated like oh my gosh, the wide nature/sky shots especially were just insane, so gorgeous I wanna live in it
- this definitely feels like it was animated for theaters, if that makes sense. The scenes are so grand and the details are so intense, it feels like it was animated with the intent of being perceived on a big screen, which makes it even sadder that was taken away from them
- WHERE. IS. SUKI???
- I’ll be so honest Aang really is the only one (aside from Tagah but I’m not counting him rn) who gets character development in this film. Because it was only an hour and a half, the writers really focused on developing his story line and the complexities/nuances of his feelings towards finding another airbender, the prospect of bringing the air nomads back, his grief and guilt, etc etc so the rest of the Gaang just felt like backup unfortunately
- jumping off that last point: I was really disappointed that we didn’t get to hear Sokka have ANY opinion on the fact that the gaang is battling a group of NONBENDERS who feel like second-class citizens in a world that prioritizes bending, when HE HIMSELF is a nonbender - surrounded by master benders - who battled feelings of inadequacy during the original series????? That was literally my first thought when they revealed the villains and I kept hoping it would go somewhere, but it never did
- adding onto that thought again, I was also sad to see they reverted sokka’s character back to only being the “comic relief” guy as a cheap way to avoid writing any character development for him so they could focus on Aang. By the end of the original series he has matured into a more grounded, protective, and thoughtful character who felt the weight of the world, his responsibility as an older sibling, and the severity of their situation and helped guide his friends through. He somehow seemed less serious/mature in this movie than he was by season 3 of atla, despite having grown up by ten years or so. Granted there is the aspect of allowing oneself to be more relaxed since they aren’t actively at war anymore, but still I wish we’d gotten to see a bit more of that “adult-ness” that should have been there.
- why were Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai and Iroh literally not even mentioned once? They couldn’t fit them in I guess?? But we got other cameos like the Cabbage Merchant and Foaming Mouth Guy, so it would have been nice for them to at least be acknowledged
- I really wish they gave everyone in the gaang more ethnic features, those noses were crazy
- I wanna think that Zuko is canonically queer now. Is he cononically queer now? “It’s all in the bone structure”
- SO glad they made Zuko beefier than Sokka that’s always made sense post-canon in my mind
- that dialogue exchange during the final battle where the guy took a jab at Zuko (something about how Zuko claiming he’s fighting for piece is rich when he sits at a throne built on a century of war) and OOF that one hit hard for me. I wish that got to be more of a moment too, I feel like a comment like that would really affect Zuko’s mental since he already caries guilt for his compliance in the war.
- probably a controversial take but I love that they let Toph comment on Tagah’s hotness several times, because I feel like too often in media the strong buff independent woman has to be a lesbian. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love lesbian representation and think we need more of it, but strong woman does not equal lesbian, and pieces of media need to stop feeding into that stereotype. Good on them!
- I love that Sokka was jealous of everyone calling Tagah beefy and hot LMAO, that was one of the few in-character things for him (that and the inventing)
- Sokka grabbing Zuko’s hair and saying “your beautiful face”…yeah…let me have my zukka crumbs ok LOL
- I absolutely adored any of the scenes where the Gaang was fighting side by side, and getting to watch the ways in which they utilize one another to strengthen their overall attack. Toph catapulting Sokka into the air via earth bending for a flying attack? So peak.
- the final exchange between Aang and Tagah where they recited the mantra together made me cry
- I think the ending scene montage during the credits was one of my favorite parts of the whole film. It felt like more of a peak into what their lives are like at this point in time, since the majority of the film was focused on such a specific story line
🖤🔥🪨🌊💨🖤
Ok that’s all for now!! I had lots and lots of thoughts on this movie. Words can’t describe how happy I am for not Avatar content, we’ve been waiting for this for years and now it’s finally here!! I hope the fan support behind this project helps get Avatar Studios the network support their need to continue with more great projects in the future, because there’s still so much more to explore in this incredible universe!
the thing about Tangled is that this is a story geared towards little girls (even if it's "fun for the whole family," it's a disney princess movie, it's geared towards little girls), and it says, "here is a girl who is naive and doesn't know anything about the 'Real World' or how to navigate it safely and correctly. now pay close attention: the good guys are the ones who help her grow and explore new things while still respecting her own perspective and feelings, not making her feel stupid. the bad guys are the ones who tell her that she is too weak/immature/naive to do the things she wants to do, because she is fragile and needs protecting." and I watched this when I was nine years old and it resonated deep in a part of me that I couldn't articulate with words yet.
Context for anyone who is wondering: Lamine Yamal's parents won an UNICEF raffle for a charity photoshoot in which Barça players posed with kids, and 5 month old Lamine happened to get 20yo Messi. Which is like. Literally insane
kind of weird how parts of your soul are left in various locations without any warning… like yes i’m always at the top of that hill, sitting at the bus stop, in the cool light of the Japanese restaurant, standing at the pier etc etc
Ich kann und mag heute von nichts anderm mehr schreiben, habe auch nicht viel zu berichten. Die Hitze ist hier unerträglich und setzt mir so zu, daß ich zu jedem guten Gedanken unfähig bin, auch habe ich zwei Nächte nicht schlafen können.
— Schiller an Goethe, 5. Juli 1799
[Im Juli 1799 wurden in Jena Maximalwerte von 36°C* 29°C gemessen. *edit: mir war der Wert im Nachhinein doch etwas hoch vorgekommen, also habe ich mir die verlinkte Quelle nochmal angesehen und obwohl der Autor das nicht explizit benennt, denke ich jetzt, dass die dort angegebenen Werte doch bereits in Celsius umgerechnet sind und nicht, wie ich dachte, in Réaumur angegeben sind (die zur Messzeit übliche Einheit); wären sie in Réaumur, gäbe es Ende des 18. Jh. mehrfach Werte über 40°C und das halte ich für sehr unwahrscheinlich... ganz so heiß wars bei Schiller also doch nicht — aber: alles ist relativ]
This is an awesome use of what is probably a master's degree if not a doctorate and I am 100% thrilled that she shared it even though it was embarrassing and she squeaked.
Californian (sup, fellow desert-havers) i've been using this since i saw it and it works so fucken good dude (i often have to put like 8 dogs in my car, so it's extra important my car isn't attempting to go super-nova when we get in)
gummygunk
tangentwithtanner
romaincrisis
vaporwave
