makes me CRAZY how well atla illustrates all the different ways countries can be affected by colonization and imperialism…the air nomads wiped out in a relatively brief military campaign. the southern water tribe slowly worn down and violated over the course of decades. the northern water tribe completely isolating and turning to strict tradition in the face of a horrifying enemy. the decentralized earth kingdom being affected in varying ways, with some areas completely untouched but terrified that they’ll be next, some areas in an uneasy peace with the fire nation in exchange for economic domination, and some areas completely taken over. and just the ways that these kind of interplay…like the trauma katara and sokka have as people who live relatively safe from invasion, but with the threat of another raid always on the horizon, terrified that the next one will wipe them out for good, is completely different from the trauma aang has, as someone who lost everything and didnt witness the brutality, only its aftermath, and that’s completely different from the trauma that suki has, with kyoshi out of the war but constantly training in preparation for an invasion, and thats completely different from the trauma haru has, as an earthbender in an actively occupied village. and theres so much more too like theres all these complex and nuanced situations and none are objectively better or worse than the other but it shows exactly how many tools imperialism uses to demoralize and defeat those its directed against