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Blink and you miss it moment from [S2EP17 Lake Laogai] where Jet saves Longshot. His battle reflexes are insane. And look how protective he looks of his friend.
And I couldn't get screenshots but a split second before this he'd grabbed and pulled Toph to safety after one of the Dai Li agent's rock gloves pulled her down. She almost fell directly by the feet of said agent.
I'm going to go cry in a corner now.
Just my fave dai li agent oc , lets me introduce Min Ji Shen
In the middle of the shallow lotus lake
I will yap about him so much ( maybe ?)
commision from artist waonewt
Thinking about my previous post, I think it's also so on the nose how both forces Kyoshi created (the Dai Li and the Kyoshi Warriors) represent so well the people that influenced them.
The Dai Li were created as a force to keep order and to be efficient, to protect the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. Like Jianzhu and Yun. They even had the same Earthbending style Jianzhu and Yun had. And just like them, the Dai Li ended up becoming brutal, corrupted and villainous, and enemies to the Avatar. Meanwhile, the Kyoshi Warriors were originally regular women that were harassed by men. As a person who was very mistreated herself, Kyoshi simply wanted to teach them how to defend themselves, but they ended up becoming a good force that protected the island. They learnt how to fight the same way Rangi did. And then they adopted her fans and face paint (all her mother's) that Kyoshi herself adopted when she joined the Flying Opera Company, who were an outlaw gang but against the original expectations, they turned out to be very loyal, protective and worthy companions. And just like Rangi and the rest of the gang, the Warriors stayed that way: honorable, and always loyal to the Avatar.
I just think it all fits so well, it's great, actually.
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Courtesans And Sycophants
Creator Note: AHHH OH MY GOODNESS I FINALLY FINISHED IT!! VIENGKUEI REAL!!! COMING IN THE YEAR 3367!
waitwaitWAIT. the "cultural police" of ba sing se are called the dai li?? as in... the same dai li that avatar kyoshi apparently went on to establish??? i think i remember reading that tidbit in the preface of the kyoshi novel without having ANY idea who the dai li were WHAT IS GOING ONNNN
First time watcher and first time reader ; currently finished S2 Ep 14 and part-way through The Rise of Kyoshi. Please do not spoil!
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU
WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
Being in a minority, even a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.
To die hating them, that was freedom.
Ba Sing Se // 1984
One of the dumbest, most absurd things about Avatar is that they still kept the Dai Li around even after they conspired with Long Feng, did a coup, sided with Azula and then handed the whole Kingdom over to the Fire Nation effectively winning them the war in a single stroke. Tragically it being dumb and absurd does not by any stretch make it unrealistic.
atla thoughts again (im rewatching so be prepared for lots):
JET.
jet is one of my absolute favorite characters and one of the best written in all of atla. so bear with me while i yap. he starts off having this complete rage against the fire nation and not caring about hurting innocent people, even though his rage originated because of the fire nation killing his parents and other innocent people. a complete hypocrite. he then goes to ba sing se to start over, which presumably means he got tired. so so tired. of fighting with no end in sight. so he decides to start over. but just then. he runs into zuko and iroh. obviously firebenders and we (and jet) know that, but since no one else does, he looks completely insane and he gets taken by the dai li/brainwashed. (side note: i know zuko and iroh have their reasons for being in ba sing se so i just want to say im not justifying jet hurting them. ok back to jet now). and then team avatar runs into jet and brings his memories back, so he leads them to lake laogai where the dai li brainwashed him (and try doing so as he fights them now, but thankfully aang breaks through), and where they're keeping appa. jet. he's been through so damn much. he's been horribly hypocritical, but he's also grown. and what hurts the most is that ultimately, he wasn't killed by the fire nation. he was killed by the dai li. the earth kingdom. his own people. all his life, he grew up thinking fire nation = the biggest bad force in the world, but his own damn people killed him, and my heart forever hurts for him. i firmly believe jet deserved so much better. he deserved the chance to actually start over, despite everything.
