In the fourteenth episode of the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the trio stop by a local village that operates almost entirely on the directions of a fortune-teller who reads palms, clouds, and bones. Sokka’s skepticism soon proves to be a major force of contention as he wonders aloud if Aunt Mu could ever be wrong. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Avatar.
You know, for an episode that largely has nothing to do with the main mythology, I rather liked “The Fortuneteller.â€
First of all, it is a moment for the show to stop and breath after a wonderfully intense run of episodes, and it decides to focus (just a bit) on the relationship between Katara and Aang, which is largely adorable and made me want to say AW SHUCKS every five minutes. Even though the story isn’t as urgent as everything else, there’s a nice little parable here for putting all your eggs in one basket that, while a tad obvious, still was an entertaining twenty-four minutes.
One thing that “The Fortuneteller†sort of made obvious that I’d never really thought about was the dynamic of the trio. (Is there an official name people use in fandom to refer to Sokka, Katara, and Aang all at the same time? I feel like there should be, but you all might be refraining from telling me it because it’s spoilery. So…any non-spoilery suggestions?) In a lot of stories like this, about people with “powers,†I’m used to everyone who is a part of the group having that power. They vary in what they can do, but generally everyone’s close to the same level, with maybe one leaders. Here, though, in Avatar, we have Aang (WHOSE SKILLS ARE AMAZING IN THIS EPISODE) paired with Katara, who is still just beginning to master waterbending, and then Sokka, who has no power whatsoever. (EXCEPT HIS MIND AND HIS WONDERFUL SENSE OF HUMOR.) I guess I didn’t really think about it until that scene when Aang and Katara are bending the clouds into a skull (so goth), which made me give the trio a second look. I like that all three are so different from each other, in personality and in bending ability. Certainly there are multiple things at work to make this show so entertaining, but at the heart of it, the writers have grouped three such disparate people together under one goal, and then they don’t ignore that the three are so different.
“The Fortuneteller†places Sokka’s skepticism against the group as the three of them come into contact with Aunt Mu, the fortuneteller of a local village whose prophecies govern virtually everything, from the years’ crops to the color of shoes a person should wear.
I think the writers were aware that they were toeing a line that shows on Nickelodeon couldn’t necessarily address, and that was inherently in the plot of “The Fortuneteller.†I think this episode is largely about fanatical faith (and “faith†could be substituted for anything, and I’m glad this episode was not so explicitly about fortunetelling) versus fanatical disbelief. The trio discover a man fighting a platypus bear (I WANT ONE!!!!) in the most nonchalant manner humanly possible. In many respects, he doesn’t even look like he’s fighting it; it’s more like he’s blissfully avoiding it. When the trio shout suggestions and the man ignores all of them, Aang steps in to save the man, with Appa providing the necessary throaty growl to scare the beast off. (And leaving an egg behind. I can’t ignore that part because it is so glorious and adorable.)
Here’s a small thing this episode does extremely well to distance itself from being anti-fortunetelling: Throughout this story, Aunt Mu is technically right. The example given right here at the start is that she predicted that this specific man would be safe on his journey. Entirely by his own perception, he certainly was. Which meant that, to him, Aunt Mu was right. Now, I get Sokka’s anger, and perhaps I shared in that vehement anger at one point in my life. But so much of this episode consists of most of the characters being walking HATERS GONNA HATE gifs, if you think about it.
Religion and faith is a weird thing with me, personally, because I know that I have faith in a few tangible things and a few intangible things, but most of my life, I’ve not had the positivity to last that way. Cynicism and doubt are probably right after air and water in terms of Substances I Need In Order To Stay Alive. It’s just who I’ve been for a long, long time, even when I was a Christian/Catholic. When I hear people talk about faith, or finding something to believe in, I’m at a point in my life where I don’t meet it with anger or derision like Sokka does. (Oh, I certainly did, but it’s been a while since I felt that way.) These days, all I get is a pang of jealousy. I sometimes want to know what it feels like when you can have faith in something that gives a person comfort and hope.
I don’t want to get too deep into my own personal beliefs, mostly because I need to save that for when I start Mark Reads His Dark Materials in a couple weeks, when there will be BOATLOADS OF CONVERSATIONS THAT PEOPLE WILL FROWN AT. (I hope not, but, again, hope’s a funny thing for me.) But I wanted to point out that I really loved the way a lot of this were framed. To Sokka, much of what happens in this episode is completely foreign to him. He literally cannot conceive of why people would think this way about fortunetelling. Instead of realizing, like Aang, that different things work for different people, he resorts to something a lot of atheists/agnostics/nonbelievers are guilty of: believing they are superior in thought because they don’t “buy†into something.
It’s not hard to see my younger self in Sokka, especially the angry side, since my years of falling out of the Catholic church, and then Christianity, and then theism in general were wrought with a lot of bitter anger, sadness, and loneliness. And I lashed out at everyone around me because those things people felt were not present in my life. Since I couldn’t experience them, I turned into a five-year-old asked to share their toys: If I can’t have it, no one can.
So, in terms of the metaphor drawn out over “The Fortuneteller,†I felt really good about how balanced the story ending up being. That’s really the conflict at the crux of this: How do you respect a person’s beliefs and stop those same beliefs if they are possibly going to harm someone else?
DILEMMA, Y’ALL.
But that dilemma is resolved in an interesting way, too, since it involves trickery. I LOVE TRICKERY. Not as much as time travel, but it’s a fine thing to put in a story. This trickery is fascinating because it implicitly involves respecting the villagers’ belief to get them to prepare for the oncoming lava surge from the volcano. (On that point, I am so glad that no one protested the reading of the skull in the clouds or this episode could have been straight up irritating. Thank you, writers.) Not only does this open up the story to have Aang step up and GOOD LORD, HE IS AMAZING, but it creates a chance for that fantastic line of Aunt Wu’s at the end. The means by which Aang and his friends arrived at the end of this tiny journey involved three very different forms of beliefs. Each worked for each person, but the real key is that all of them took their “destiny†into their own hands and worked from that place and moved forward.
Now that is something can get behind. I think I would have found it kind of appalling had the entire village forsaken their trust in Aunt Wu and proclaimed themselves nonbelievers because…well, that’s simply not believable. It’s also not the point. It’s about what finding out what works for you and then recognizing that you are one person in a sea of billions. You are not the blueprint for the rest of humanity. (Ok, so I don’t think there are billions of people on this version of earth, but you get the point.)
The other subplot that drives “The Fortuneteller†is the burgeoning feelings brewing in both Aang and Katara, though, at this point, the two of them are alone in how they feel. Aang’s boyhood crush on Katara is SO UNFATHOMABLY ADORABLE. Can you remember the days of puppy dog eyes like that? Ok, that makes me sound four thousand years old, as if I literally can’t remember what a crush is like, but what I mean is that first time you realize you like someone more than just a friend. Aang personifies that here with his boyish charm and that doubt and uncertainty he occasionally shows us when he doesn’t really want to. Aang is a powerful airbender, all right, and I wouldn’t disagree with Sokka on this one. But behind that facade of ability and power, he’s a vulnerable twelve-year-old boy who is hiding guilt and fear, and watching him interact with Katara (and take REALLY poor advice from Sokka) allows that to come out.
Like the main story, there’s a nice balance here to show that both boys and girls can care about romance, instead of plopping that solely in the lap of the gals. Despite that both of them seem to be moving in opposite directions, there’s a lot to parallel between the two of them. (And I’m commenting on this first before addressing the obvious, which will surely drive the shippers wild. I PROMISE TO BE NICE.) The first thing that strikes me is that neither of them is particularly obsessed with the idea in the grand scheme of things. We’ve seen both characters express romantic desire, even if it’s in an entirely non-sexual story. But it’s just a part of a larger story, and I love that the writers have pretty much made this explicit: being interested in another person and doing virtually anything else is not inherently mutually exclusive. Yes, in this story, about half the episode deals with crushes and those fuzzy feelings in your stomach. That’s ok! Despite the many times I’ve publicly stated that ROMANCE IS ICKY and GROSS EW COOTIES, it’s really just because I’m a jealous curmudgeon, straight up. Romance has made up a whopping 5% of my entire life, so it’s very natural for me to be indifferent to it. (This sort of goes with the message from earlier: just ‘cause something doesn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t for others!) I actually do enjoy romance in fiction from time to time. (PETER + OLIVIA 4EVA. BROYLES + LSD 4EVA. THE DOCTOR + BOW TIES + RORY + AMY + ME = TRU LUV) I’m glad that they’re simply not ignoring that these people do have emotions other than those they utilize in battle or in traveling. And honestly, it really is that simple. I just want this to feel real.
I can now see where the shipping is really going to come into play for this show. And look, I swear I get it. I ship nonsensical things because I rarely “ship†anything ever outside of canon, and that goes back to the whole “I-am-disinterested-because-I-am-forever-alone†thing I joke about. But over the course of “The Blue Spirit†and “The Fortuneteller,†I do understand where the roots of people shipping Aang with both Katara and Zuko come from. SORT OF. That stops when I have to see fanart of Aang’s bulge or really weird sexual stuff and then I raise my face to the heavens and scream WWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.
But just like I live for mythology and plot twists, always loving the fact that I am so utterly unprepared for things, others long for these emotional, romantic moments. And that’s ok. No, it’s more than ok. Because what doesn’t work for me works for other people, and if we are ever to get along on this planet, that’s a message we’re all going to have to internalize to an extent.
(PLEASE DON’T HAVE A SHIPPING WAR ON MY SITE I AM BEGGING YOU I can only tolerate one in my lifetime oh god I am having flashbacks)
“The Fortuneteller†isn’t all that life-changing, but when I looked at the events on the screen and separated them from the larger narrative, I found myself cracking a smile at the whole concept. It’s a good story and really, what else can we ask for besides a good story?
THOUGHTS
- Another use of “crazy†to insult and criticize someone. Writers take note:
- As a twin, I declare: IT’S ALWAYS A GOOD DAY FOR TWINS.
- You know, Aunt Wu’s predictions were almost like ontological paradoxes in terms of how mind-melting it became when you realized that nearly any way you put it, her prophecies became true. OH LOGIC YOU ARE FUN.
- “The fluffy bunny cloud symbolizes death and destruction.†“Do you realize what you just said?â€
- Meng is so cute! I kind of felt bad for her by the episode’s end, but I’m glad Aang was respectful to her.
- “It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs.†SOKKA + ME = LOVE FOREVER
- “Can your fortune telling explain that?†“Can your science explain why it rains?†“YES! YES IT CAN!†lol’n until next week.
- Ok, Man Who Does Not Bathe: You are my hero.
- The ongoing joke that Sokka’s anguish is largely self-afflicted was highly entertaining.
- “So how do I look?†“You mean all of you or just your neck?†HOLY AWKWARD
I love this episode. :')
Also, as far as I know, the fandom has referred to Sokka, Aang and Katara as "The Gaang." I think there are more, but that's the one that immediately springs to my mind.
EDIT: OH YEAH, I've also heard "Team Avatar," dunno how I forgot that one!
By the way, the fortune teller's name is Aunt Wu not Aunt Mu. Sorry to nit-pick but I'm kinda anal and it was bothering me lol. XP
yup, the Gaang and Team Avatar are the main ones.
Gaang, Team Avatar…that's all I can offer.
Sokka: Maybe instead of saving the world you could go into the jewelry making business.
Aang: I don’t see why I can’t do both.
I WANT TO BUY JEWELRY MADE BY THE AVATAR. "Ah yes, I crafted this in between shuttling some strange people across a canyon and escaping Zuko for the umpteenth time. It's made from the hair of a sky bison – very rare, but be careful of allergies!"
Not only that, but I love that Aang has a life/career plan. He's not gonna be limited by being the Avatar! He's not gonna be defined by that! Okay, maybe he has to be a badass action superhero some of the time, but the rest of the time, if he wants to make jewelry, he's damn well going to!
Okay, maybe he has to be a badass action superhero some of the time
Badass action superhero? I think you mean "Kung-Fu Action Jesus". Because he is totally a bald messiah with kung fu powers…Jesus just had Judo.
Oh god that pun was terrible I blame Christopher Moore and I just couldn't help myself from making it.
He's Kung Fu action Jesus!
He's stopping the bad guys and making them pay
with magic kung fu he'll save the day
he's Kung Fu Action Jesus! (oh, yeah!)
Do you think we could show these to Mark?
I don't remember offhand if any of them have spoilers in them but they might ;_;
– Platypus bear ILU
– Sparkly pan-up indicating love ILU and see you whenever Sokka appears
– So Avatar is the anti-Twilight?
– The old “girls like it when you’re rude to them” BS completely backfires.
– Stalking is creepy, not cute
– “Can your science explain why it rains?” “YES! YES IT CAN!” Reminds me of that post you had on tumblr recently, Mark.
– I adore Sokka’s enduring skepticism and distrust of superstition. We are ~made for each other~
– The symbol for volcanic doom is the DARK MARK
"- The symbol for volcanic doom is the DARK MARK "
This was my first thought too, haha! Where's the snake? It really needs one!
and the symbol of death and destruction is a fluffy bunny. Has got to be a Monty Python ref!!!
Or a Buffy one!
My overwhelming thoughts for this episode were ONTOLOGICAL PARADOXES?? STEVEN MOFFAT WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY AVATAR. Get out get out get out my brain already hurts enough.
I'm a fan of "Team Avatar" rather than "The Gaang" because it emphasizes how they are more of a team than an Aang-led enterprise. For Aang to be the Avatar, he needs the support from Katara and Sokka.
My god, he's everywhere. Trying to inject fear into everything we love! So that the only things our eyes ever behold is pure terror! And when humanity is driven to the brink, knowing only horror, he will drink his fill at long last! Soon Moffat will have dominion over this world for eternity! ALL IS LOST!
You laugh, but last night I woke up around 3 AM with the certainty that EVERY SINGLE DR WHO MONSTER WAS AFTER ME ALL AT ONCE.
I haven't ever seen a single episode of Dr Who.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/c2tqk.gif" />
AWESOME GIF!!! 😀
It's great because it is always relevant
THANK YOU FOR THIS.
But 'Gaang' is just so funny. Or is that just me? Am I the only one laughing at that? Seriously, lols for eternity.
That's true, you're totally right. It does sound like something Sokka would come up with 🙂
See, Team Avatar reminds me too much of Team Edward or Team Jacob, or Team *insert name here*. So I actually see "Team Avatar" as more Aang-led than "Gaang".
Plus, I mainly like Gaang better because I'm a big fan of word play 😛
…i think its official.
i love you.
MYBODYISREADY.GIF
but seriously, your avatar reviews make my day <3
"When I hear people talk about faith, or finding something to believe in, I’m at a point in my life where I don’t meet it with anger or derision like Sokka does."
I mostly still get more angry than depressed or jealous. But I was never raised with any religion, so it's never something I felt was missing in my life.
"I sometimes want to know what it feels like when you can have faith in something that gives a person comfort and hope."
See, I really don't. What brings me "comfort" is knowing that I'm (well, all of us) are very fortunate to be alive. That the universe is largely against life forming, and that intelligent life is even more rare. I dunno, interestingly science and acknowledging the scope of the universe has always made me feel empowered, personally, so I've never felt that desire to want to believe in something else. What I do believe in works great for me.
But, given that Sokka is a non-bender in a world of magic, I think your depiction of where you see yourself in him is probably a lot closer to how Sokka probably feels than I do.
So, I have one main reason for liking this episode, and it's this line by Sokka:
Given it's a world of fantasy, I appreciate that the skeptic gets to be right. Plus, that bit of dialogue is basically the core of my life philosophy. And I enjoy that the fortuneteller is portrayed as a charlatan. It's pretty clear that many times she's just making shit up, even if she is technically right.
I'd also like to point out that the Asian fortuneteller is something I have no problem with in this ep, even when she's definitely in the wrong. I got into an argument about the Doctor Who episode Turn Left on this blog, where I was staunchly opposed to how that episode dealt with an Asian world and an evil Asian fortune-teller.
This episode doesn't just represent a stereotype, as we have so many Asian characters on this show populating a very detailed Asian-influenced world. That makes all the difference. This show does not feel like appropriation, simply because it's clear how much effort and respect goes into making sure the Asian influences are accurate and prevalent. Fortunetellers do represent a real aspect of the culture, as I know that in Chinese culture, as least, there is a helluva lot of superstition. So this episode deals with a character that on a different show, could easily become a racist stereotype. The difference for me is mostly about how many Asian characters are also on the show, to counter the idea that all Asian people are fortunetellers, small business owners, gang members, etc as often seems like the case on many Western shows. Essentially, Sokka's right there to counter the potential stereotype in this ep.
Plus, I can look at the written Chinese characters being used at various places on this show, and feel victorious about it, not irritated or angry, since it feels more like a celebration of a part of my heritage, rather than feeling like the show is simply using it because it looks good. This is in direct contrast to a show like Firefly, which I feel represents an appropriation of the language and culture (and it certainly didn't help that the actors butchered the language). I never really said much about this aspect of Firefly on the blog, mostly because it would be criticizing what wasn't there. So watching this show on the blog finally gives me a chance to say that this is how you do it.
Other things:
<img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/25h02mo.gif">
Platypus bear! Because why not. I do love that it lays an egg.
Small details constantly make this show for me – case in point:
Sokka kicks a rock, and it ricochets off this sign to come back and hit him. That character there means (good) fortune and happiness. ~Irony.~ Subtle, but cool if you can pick up on it.
<img src="http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee390/echinodermatasonata/11420fu.jpg">
Not particularly fond of Aang in this episode, I have to admit. He just comes off as desperate, and it's not enjoyable to me. His lack of interest in Wu's prediction about a great battle is pretty funny though. Additionally, I find Katara's lack of interest or acknowledgment of Aang's crush rather funny.
Waterbending clouds is pretty awesome.
Finally, why the hell is a child calling someone a floozie? Not on, show.
So watching this show on the blog finally gives me a chance to say that this is how you do it.
Watching this makes me wish Firefly was better which… is a rare thought for me.
Finally, why the hell is a child calling someone a floozie? Not on, show.
That part kind of bugged me too, maybe because of the goofy music played with it? Like the show was saying "Haha girls are so petty with their slutshaming?" IDK it's done well w/depictions of Katara so I'm hoping it's just one little misstep.
I pretty much agree with the sentiment at the beginning of your comment. It's not really anger for me, I just don't get the appeal of faith, and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. But, you're also right that Sokka's feelings are probably closer to what Mark feels, because he is missing out. Or it could be that he was raised in a place where there were no real water benders, and no bending culture because of the war, and it's just something he's not used to.
I actually thought Meng's bit at the end was a hilarious send up of fans who absurdly and wrongly hate female characters because male characters like them, or because, god-forbid, they have crushes on more than one character. Production of this episode would probably have been too early to catch that in the Avatar fandom, but it happens everywhere, and I definitely saw some of it directed at Katara. Meng isn't a character you're supposed to idealize — she's a stalker! — so it works for me. Meng is bad, but not the show.
Okay, so the anger only really comes up when people get all righteous about it – about how faith should be celebrated and they're not complete without faith and the like.
Meng walks that line of being deliberately unlikeable versus being sympathetic. But while I agree we're never supposed to really idealize her actions and behavior, even if we can still like her, the "floozie" bit just made me really uncomfortable.
Ah, well then we're in perfect agreement on both parts. 🙂 It makes me uncomfortable, but I appreciate uncomfortable moments to make us reflect on bad behavior.
The "floozie" part never bothered me, but then, I have never EVER heard anyone use that word seriously. I think I've only heard it a couple times in my life, one of them was this show, one was someone using it in a fiction with an almost identical tone. Like, the word itself sounds ridiculous, so I can't seem to take offense at it.
that GIF OMG SO GOOD!!
Thank-you; I just recently figured out how to make gifs, and it gives me a surprisingly liberating feeling.
A++ for your comments on faith.
Aaaah! I meant to upvote you, but I clicked the wrong button! Sorry!
No worries. Most of us have done it before.
I know they probably had to do it so that the sign would be readable, but that sign is the wrong way around. You're supposed to put a luck sign like that upside down, or the luck won't come.. But hey, maybe they actually are that subtle and it's another hint that Aunt Wu is a fake.
Or it could be a sign of Sokka's misfortune.
*rimshot*
Considering 80% of all newspapers still print a horoscope every day I'd say it's not the Asian cultures alone that have that fortuneteller part pretty deeply rooted.
"What I do believe in works great for me." Which, is kind of the point this episode makes, and what I believe in. Doesn't matter what you do/don't believe in, as long as it brings something to you 🙂
Your writing about Asian appropriation reminded me of an episode of Bones I re-watched recently ("The Girl in the Mask"), which had Japanese characters in the "story of the week." Every time a Japanese character was talking, they would have "mysterious Asian music" in the background, and this really annoyed me. Was anyone else bugged by this? I feel like I can't fully articulate why it bothered me so much, but it did.
The storyline in that same episode about the team not being able to tell whether a Japanese doctor was male or female was also pretty awful. Bones usually strives for sensitivity on cultural and gender issues (the main character is, after all, an anthropologist), but sometimes they get it really, really wrong.
“Can your science explain why it rains?” “YES! YES IT CAN!”
I LOVE THIS LINE FOREVER and my siser and I often quote it at each other at random, haha!
This isn't one of my favorite episodes (mostly because I suppose I'm like you, the romantic stuff is just…bleh…but I can agree that it's mostly cute in this episode) but it's pretty entertaining. I kind of love Aunt Wu's initial prediction for Aang that was all FIRE AND BRIMSTONE and he's just like "duh." haha!
Also, what was up with Aunt Wu's assistant there? He was so very oddly designed for a background character…which I kind of love, I have to admit. (Who says everyone who stands out will be SPECIAL?)
Poor Sokka. Just, poor Sokka.
Also, how could you not mention Aang's fortune with the bones? Aunt Wu is incredibly freaked out and he's completely nonchalant about the whole thing, just wants to know about love.
And Katara marrying a powerful bender…this leads an incredibly long list of people with many of them quite creepy.
Forgot to mention, this is the first time we get any indication of how bending is passed on. We obviously have twins present with the two kids. Based on their physical features, we have to assume they are identical since they are so close it would be astrologically impossible to be that identical and not monozygotic. One is a bender and one is not. It implies that either something happened that affected one twin (mutation of some sort) that gave him the ability to bend and didn't happen to the other (this does happen, a pair of identical twins ended up with one being normal and the other having Turner's syndrome), bending is very environmentally related (much like IQ), or the other twin has not found his bending powers and it is genetically passed down.
If you're throwing around words like monozygotic, I can only hope you won't mind me correcting you: astronomically is the word you're looking for.
I'm going to assume bending is passed magically. Not even gonna both with rationalizing the biology aspect.
Yes, astronomically was what I meant >>
And I just find it fun to theorize. Certain areas seem to have a much higher proportion of benders to non-benders. Kyoshi island showed absolutely none while what we have seen of the Fire Nation family are all firebenders (Zuko, Iroh, and Ozai).
I generally enjoy theorizing about fake biology too. I guess I generally get more into it when there's more info to work with, though.
It's just hard to parse the avatar cycle with any sciency explanation.
(I have sat down and made Harry Potter-related magical inheritance punnet squares. But most of the time I end up throwing in non-penetration, which is itself just kind of a 'something else is at play' explanation for genetics. It's an effect, not an explanation, basically. So then it gets into things like would some other gene override the "magic" gene, and I give up about then cause there's too much speculation on my part to be satisfying for me.)
Well, bending is power, so it stands to reason that extant power loci would attract people on the rise, as well as work actively to bring other powerful people into their fold in order to increase their might. If bending has a genetic basis, intermarriage between powerful families could quickly produce entire bending dynasties.
Count the times I used the word "power"… 😛
The creators have actually said there are reasons for why some people are benders and some aren't, though it isn't super clear cut. Also, this isn't a spoiler because it doesn't effect the story in any way and it doesn't ever come up in the show.
The basics of it is that the probability of being a bender is based on both genetics and culture. Children of benders have a higher chance of being benders, and the more spiritual a culture is, the more common benders are. The water tribe and fire nation have similar amounts of benders, with waterbenders being somewhat more common – the fire nation is more materialistic than the water tribe. The air nomads were just about all benders, which you can see in the flashbacks Aang had in the second(?) episode. And finally, the earth kingdom has the lowest percentage of benders. Keep in mind that so far we haven't seen a good representation of the various cultures yet – every citizen of the fire nation we've seen so far is a soldier, while the only water tribe people were from a tiny town that has been brutally attacked over and over.
And Katara marrying a powerful bender…this leads an incredibly long list of people with many of them quite creepy.
That's it, clearly the only possible pairing to ship is Katara/Ozai.
You lie! Katara/Iroh (Kataroh) is the only way to go.
Yeah, but Iroh is too soft and good. Ozai is clearly an evil bastard, and Katara is pretty headstrong herself – imagine how fun and exciting that relationship would be! 😀
Nu-uh. . . Katara/Bumi. Kabumi rules.
.KABUMI IS NOW MY FAVORITE SHIP FOREVER AND EVER. I don't even care if it makes sense, THE SHIP NAME IS THE BEST.
Kabumi! I love it! Also, I have an uncle Bhumi, and he was the one I immediately thought of when considering that relationship. Weird mental picture.
Is your uncle as awesome as Bumi. Wait, dumb question. NO ONE IS AS AWESOME AS BUMI. Except Iroh, of course.
My uncle is pretty damned awesome. (He works as a psychiatrist for children affected by war, so I think he would be really useful in the ATLA world.)
While I see your point, I must raise you Gyatso/Katara (Gyatara). THEIR LOVE IS SO GREAT IS TRANSCENDS GENERATIONS. AND DEATH.
Very well. I see your Gyatara and raise you a Kamomo(Katara/Momo).
THEIR LOVE TRANSCENDS SPECIES AND LANGUAGE BARRIERS. She may think that he's a "sweet little guy," but last episode we saw him risk his life to bring treasures from the four kingdoms to sooth her fever.
(I'm going to hell for that.)
I raise you APTARA. Appa is a powerful bender, more than Momo yes. He also flies them everywhere.
I don't understand this comment thread. Isn't obvious that Harkoh (Hagrid/Mark/Iroh) is the only OTP worth supporting?
Can I just say I love this comment thread.
i do.
“Can your science explain why it rains?”
“YES! YES IT CAN!”
I cannot tell you how many times I have been Sokka, especially when I was his age. I have gotten worked up like that about so many nonsensical, absurd, irrational statements by other people — a lot of them about evolution and other science-related topics — where after trying to fruitlessly to explain things, my final reaction is to throw up my hands and gutturally scream in frustration. My friends and family have had to “there, there, it’s not a big deal” me like Katara does here, and I thank them for it. I’m a bit calmer now that I’m older, but that boy is my heart and soul on screen, being mauled by a gooster. I love Sokka forever.
Even though this episode isn’t really advancing the main story, I love it for the character development. Sokka, the cynical logic guy, gets to shine, and it isn’t in a way that demeans the spiritual side of their world, which is a great direction for a kid’s show. There are a lot of things in the Avatar world that can’t be explained by science — the twins, only one of whom is a bender, are a great example of that — but for the things that can be observed and understood, it’s a helluva lot better to do that rather than rely on a fortuneteller who relays only what you want to hear. This episode is a stand against blithely ignoring the real, rational world, as well as against treating people who do believe like shit, and it was perfectly, hilariously done.
I’m not really a shipper, but I love the way this episode handles romance, too. The little kid crushes are adorable, and I loved it when Aunt Wu told Aang to follow his heart. His decisions are what’s important, not her predictions. She’s a smart lady.
And I love Meng, too, even if she's a bit confused.
<img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/hrkehs.gif">
You should hear what she has to say about Ginny.
+1 to you. Massive yes to all the science/skepticism stuff.
"You should hear what she has to say about Ginny."
I shudder at the thought. (Seriously, though, I like everything about her character but that one last line.)
Haha, I actually replied to your comment about Meng's line. She's a character I like because of what she does for the story, but don't necessarily agree with.
I thought the line was rather in character- makes sense for her to get jealous at the gal who's taken her crushe's affection. I also thought it was a subtle jab, since like Ginny, Katara gets some slut-shaming thrown at her. But then, each to their own.
You should hear what she has to say about Ginny.
*snort* A+, would lol again.
“Is there an official name people use in fandom to refer to Sokka, Katara, and Aang all at the same time?”
The term you are looking for is “the Gaang”. 🙂
I’m really enjoying reading your reactions to the episodes. I often end up turning to my friends and going “wait until he gets to…” and having a good discussion of the show.
We refer to them as "The Gaang". (: And her name is Aunt Wuu, not Mu. x)
Yeah, Wu. WU. GET IT?!
I don't. I feel stupid.
“It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs.”
"Bean curd" is a phrase that sounds really gross in English, but then I realized oh wait I've had those and they are delicious.
The implications here about not being a dick to someone for their beliefs (but also thinking critically and coming to your own conclusion in case of volcanic eruptions) are really nice. It's hard to walk that balancing line between seeming respectful of a belief and saying "but it might be wrong sometimes." I wouldn't say they got it perfectly, but for what it was, the episode was nicely done.
Gonna admit, I didn't watch some of the scenes because I get really bad embarrassment squick. Things with sitcom setups make me want to break in there and be like WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO YOURSELF. DON'T LISTEN TO SOKKA; YOU DON'T SOUND COOL, YOU SOUND LIKE AN ASS. OH GOD STOP IT.
The best part, though, was the scene where the fortune teller’s all “EPIC BATTLE OF GOOD AND EVIL” and Aang’s just like “Yeah, I know. Get on with it." Being a twelve year old with a crush when the object of your crush is completely oblivious is clearly a way bigger problem than a war that’ll decide the fate of the world.
Blah. I’m still sick and this episode isn’t one of my big favorites, so this will be a super short review that is mainly just for the gifs.
<img src=http://i.imgur.com/JzEPQ.gif>
I love Sokka in this episode, hahaha. His science can explain why it rains! And, if you always wear red shoes, of course the big events in your life will happen while you are wearing red shoes! I love that he just kind of ran around trying to convince people and they just sort of… though he wasn’t?
<img src=http://i.imgur.com/UglxV.gif>
Aang’s crush on Katara is very cute. I like how he is such a dork. I loved the moment where Meng pointed out the pretty cloud to him and he was like “yeah, whatever” only to turn around and try the same thing on Katara. Oh, Aang! He’s such a kid and it is adorable to me. ~He likes her~ And his trying to be cool and indifferent was so adorably bad. Aang is just that kind of guy, Sokka! And I saw the way you interacted with Suki, so I know you aren’t that kind of guy, either! Bad advice, bro.
<img src=http://i.imgur.com/F7Vjq.gif>
I also love how the creator’s started truly trolling the fanbase in this episode with the “powerful bender” line. Basically every Katara ship that involves Katara and another bender could use that line for proof, heh.
<img src=http://i.imgur.com/IJsuZ.gif>
The cloud-bending was super neat. And Panda Lily, the song that plays when Aang goes up the volcano to find a panda lily for Katara, is one of the songs available for download. It’s kind of romantic but then becomes sinister when Aang sees the lava. I approve.
Okay, that’s all for me. I’ll be back to my usual tl;dr soon.
Clearly Katara will marry Bumi. He's the most powerful earthbender you'll ever meet! I mean, he even shouts that right out to Aang in their fight. IT'S ALL SO OBVIOUS i see that subtext there writers
[spoilery comment self-redacted]
Dammit, I really wanted to say that.
MENG! I love Meng. I thought she'd be annoying initially but once again this show has a way with characters, even the smaller ones, and the depth they gave her (not to mention the terrific performance by her voice actress, YEEEE!) made her one of my favorite bit characters in the entire series. MENG YOU CAN HAVE MY HAIR, IT'S INCREDIBLY MANAGEABLE!
I over-identify with Meng's hair-related insecurities, not gonna lie.
I have the exact opposite problem. My hair really is incredibly manageable because it does NOTHING. It just hangs there. On the plus side, minimal tangles. On the minus side, it is a royal pain of epic proportions to spend 5 hours (not counting the previous night or the slept-in pin curls or rollers) putting waves in your hair only to have them go completely flat within 30 minutes before the show even starts.
But Meng actually kind of makes me feel better about that. I'm probably taking waaaaaaay more out of this than there actually is, but every time I watch this episode I go, "See? See? EVERYONE has something they dislike about themselves but they can still be awesome!" So yeah. Y'all can take my hair. I'll just grow more back!
I know your pain! For a musical once, the director decided that everyone in the chorus need to have ringlet curls. This involved a curling iron and an entire bottle of aquanet. It took my friend an hour and a half to curl all of my hair and it went flat by intermission. I just embraced the stick-straight look after that.
Except for the stalking. Ooh that is never cute until it happens to you.
I felt really sorry for her when Aang just waves away her feeling all the time though.
Oh, I've had stalkers. Multiple ones. I still find Meng cute, because she's not really stalking, she's just trying to get Aang's attention, in a very bad and heavy-handed way. If she'd gone the whole, "Well, I'm going to show up where you sleep and force you to like me no matter what, why won't you like meeeeeeeee?" thing, that'd be crossing over the line. But she hasn't quite done so yet, and when she figures out following Aang around everywhere isn't working, she backs off. So she remains cute to me. Annoying if you're Aang, but cute.
(not to mention the terrific performance by her voice actress, YEEEE!)
Agreed. It really is a shame we didn't get to hear more of her than we did.
More of Meng, or the actress? (Not entirely clear which you meant, though either way I agree because Meng could have been insanely interesting with more screen time and her actress blows me away no matter how much I hear her!)
The actress.
<img src="http://www.artofneil.com/misc/avatar/mengYou.gif">
Art by Ubern00b over on Avatarspirit.net.
Sokka's line is of course a classic. Loved the platypusbear (and all the conflicting advice on how to get away from it — reminds me of the old punchline, "I don't have to outrun the *bear*. I just have to outrun *you*.")
And I'm a sucker for the romance plotlines, so I liked Aang's crush, sympathized with Meng, and I also liked Katara's Slow-Motion Close-Up Face of Realization at the end there.
That is amazing. It took me a minute to figure out the song.
Cee Lo is always relevant and excellent.
This gif is perfection. <3
THIS GIF WINS FOREVER
"I do understand where the roots of people shipping Aang with both Katara and Zuko come from. "
I know that's not what you were trying to say, but there's a fair amount of that out there as well! Though I don't think Zuko/Aang shippers ever took themselves seriously enough to get embroiled in a ship war. (Note that this is not a cue for the Internet to prove me wrong again please D:)
Okay, more seriously: I'm glad you can enjoy the more fillery episodes as well! People sometimes complain about fillers, but it's I think they serve an important purpose of giving some space between more plotty episodes. And they're just plain fun!
GIF TIME
Everbody's crushes are so goddamn adorable in this show!
<img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/f4h8jo.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
I just wanted to hug Meng after she realized that Aang didn't feel the same way, she looked crushed 🙁
<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/rvynoz.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
But then she used the word "floozy" :l Against Katara and HEY YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT KATARA LIKE THAT IN FRONT OF ME OKAY
<img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/3313zex.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
Also, on re-watches, especially since this blog has made me more aware of ableism, I have noticed the common usage of "crazy" as well which is upsetting.
<img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/2pslpjl.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
Still, enjoyable episode with many gifable moments! Huzzah!
Actually, if I remember Mark's tumblr posts right, people ended up posting some intense fanart of the Zuko/Aang kind on one of his reviews so he probably does mean that!
Oh I thought he was referencing the great Katara/Aang vs Katara/Zuko battles of yore.
Hmmm either way, NO SHIP WARS GUYS AND QUIT WITH THE SEX CRAP THEY'RE ALL PRETTY DAMN YOUNG >:E
OMG ALL THE AWARDS FOR USING A RITA REPULSA GIF
Katara and Aang are just so awwww in this episode. I adore them. I think I love Sokka more, though. He's smart and funny, which is a great combination.
I loved that one of the twins was a bender and the other one wasn't. That was such a great detail.
One word: Floozie. I love Meeng!
And Katara finally sees Aang as more than a little kid who happens to be the Avatar. She sees that he's capable of some true awe inspiring bending.
Sokka you continue to rock my world.
First off, As a twin, I declare: IT’S ALWAYS A GOOD DAY FOR TWINS. YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT IT IS. Fuck yeah, twins.
As, that's the thing about Avatar filler- it's actually kind of fun and interesting, as opposed to most variations of filler (BLEACH I AM LOOKING AT YOU). Stuff happens, and it doesn't make me want to die! There's so much to enjoy about this episode- cloudbending, fortune-telling, and Sokka's obsession with manliness vs. Aang's utter lack of caring about manliness. THAT LAST ONE I ESPECIALLY APPROVE OF.
Shipping… meh. I think the show handles the relationship with a surprising amount of care and tact. (Except, did Meng just call Katara a floozy? What?)
Not much to say about this episode, other than I find it really fun, and Sokka's ever-prevailing skepticism fills me with joy.
After this is all over Aang and Katara should just go around making cloud art. It would be the coolest art ever.
Oh man don't get me started on Bleach! I'm watching on Cartoon network and it's like "fight fight fight" power upgrade "fight fight fight". And I'm bored.
I really, really like what you said here about internalizing the idea that what works for you doesn't work for everyone and you can't and shouldn't try to push it on other people. I know that's certainly how my circle of friends works (Christians, Jews, atheists, agnostics, Wiccans, you name it, we got it): we all respect each other and recognize that faith, or lack there of, is an intensely personal thing–and should stay that way. LOVE EACH OTHER AND GET ALONG, is really the point.
And that is why I love this episode. Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether or not Aunt Wu can really tell the future or not.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether or not Aunt Wu can really tell the future or not.
EXACTLY, yes.
I cannot upvote this comment enough.
This, so much this.
YES. The only time it matters is when blind faith can be come harmful to yourself or others, but otherwise, if belief helps you, go for it!
This basically. Obviously because I'm regularly in church, I have a lot of Christian friends who are from said church, but I also have great friends who don't share those beliefs. It doesn't mean we can't all get along with each other, and in fact it makes for some really interesting conversations and debates. It wouldn't be possible to have such conversations, of course, if we weren't respectful and understanding towards each other.
The Gaang 😀
As far as the belief thing, it can be beneficial to believe in these sorts of things, even if it's all in your head. There have been quite a few psychological and anthropological studies on the subject.
Several experiments have corroborated the theory of Depressive Realism; the idea that people who have a more accurate perception of reality tend to be more depressed because they lack the 'illusion of control,' like that which one can find through religious faith or superstitious belief.
I'm a walking example of depressive realism. 😛 My dad, too. We're both atheists who have had problems with depression. I can't speak for him, of course, but I know I've felt pretty hopeless about the world before. I'm not sure what "illusion of control" means, though. I mean, if you believe in a higher power, isn't that giving up control, in a sense?
If you're agnostic maybe, but most religions are systematic and often institutionalized.
The faithful tend to believe that if they do specific things, follow a certain diet or avoid certain activities, that they can control things beyond themselves. For example, praying for peace or for a loved one's recovery from illness is an appeal to an outside force for something people may feel powerless to obtain on their own.
Yeah, I get that, but then there's also a lot of "it's God's will" when something happens that people can't control. I dunno.
Truth. I am a gnostic atheist – absolutely certain that there is no higher power. Agnostic isn't a stopping place between theist and atheist. Theists believe in a higher power (God or gods), atheists don't. Gnostics believe that we can know for certain whether or not there is a higher power. Agnostics believe we can never know for sure. There's a great graph somewhere that illustrates this, but I don't know how to imbed images. The point being that these terms describe two dimensions of belief, not one.
Do you mean this one?
<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/156fslx.gif">
or this one?
<img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/14dhcb9.jpg">
Either way, they get across the point that theism/atheism are about belief, and gnosticism/agnosticism are about knowledge, and they aren't mutually exclusive states.
yes, thank you!
I like the second one better, just cause the "strong" and "weak" terminology in the first seems iffy. Plus, the second one explains it better.
Thank you for the picture. As an Agnostic Theist, I feel like I sometimes need to carry a card with this printed on it as people usually assume I am a standard Hollywood Gnostic Atheist stereotype who decry's faith at every turn, while I have more of a 'Live and let live' policy.
I am a Militant Agnostic: I don't know whether or not any god exists, and NEITHER DO YOU! 😛
Going to let other people tackle the rest of this, and say that as far as I have always understood it, agnosticism is simply the belief that it cannot be proven whether or not there is a "God" or similar being. A person can be a Christian and an Agnostic simultaneously, or Atheist and Agnostic, or really most anything that doesn't state that you have to believe it can be proven whether or not some sort of divine power exists. So I'm a little unsure about the "fluid" definition you provided.
EDIT: Augh beaten to the punch
I'm an agnostic atheist, so the entire post was just a whole big wut for me. THIS atheist is agnostic.
Lol me too, actually. Was kind of feeling like AM I DOING THIS WRONG OR WHAT
Agnostic Atheist high five?
<img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/1fwoqt.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
WE SHALL BE MASSIVELY ANGRY TOGETHER, AND LIKE, EAT
CHRISTIAN BABIESTHE BABIES OF CHRISTIAN PARENTS AND SHIT.Can another agnostic atheist join in?
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/24xlwjq.gif">
Amy Poehler improves every gif.
Ah hell let's just post a train of high five gifs regardless of religious (or lack thereof) beliefs!
<img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/vdirfd.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
High fives shall be the great unifier to truly transcend religious strife!
Sounds good! High fives for everyone!
<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/35ktzls.gif">
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/14ik3mw.gif">
If only they had gifs during the Crusades.
<img src="http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac220/thealisaurus/GIF%20Animations/HarryRonAVPM.gif" border="0">
I LOVE THIS THREAD
i have no idea what the OP said or why one of my mods deleted it
OFF TO MY SECRET FORUM
I don't remember exactly what they said, except that they stated their opinion, which shouldn't be cause for deletion, despite the tone, which may have caused offense? They said nothing spoilery either. Oh well. It's not like they had many downvotes either–or at least not enough to put them in the negatives?
Site rules:
"4) No bigotry, racism, sexism, transphobia, transmisogyny, ableist bullshit will be allowed."
That's why it was cause for deletion.
Heehe. Aunt Mu. Typos where have you been? I'm hoping for another awesome one like waterfalls of win.
so much of this episode consists of most of the characters being walking HATERS GONNA HATE gifs
that is very true.
I don't see why I can't do both.
You go Aang, bending all four elements, keeping peace, and selling jewelry. Fuck yeah.
Ouch getting shot down by Katara, made even worse by getting compared to Momo (Momo is awesome but you don't want your crush comparing you to you pet).
Aang's cocky smirk at hearing "powerful bender" <3
Can your science explain why it rains? YES, YES IT CAN!
Sokka, that is why you are awesome but then you go and say crap like being aloof gets you ladies. Is that how you got a kiss from Suki? No, no, it was not. You respected her awesomeness and superior warrior skills.
That stops when I have to see fanart of Aang’s bulge or really weird sexual stuff and then I raise my face to the heavens and scream WWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.
OH GOD EWWW. Why are you putting images in my head. gross gross gross gross i need to go scrub my mind now
Seriously, for a guy who's come in contact with he Spirit World, you'd think Sokka would be more lenient in believing fortune.
Actually, I'd say believing in fortunetelling is more of a superstition than real faith…
Um, you don't get to decide what counts as "real" faith and what doesn't. It might be just a superstition in a Christian context, but I am willing to bet that you know jack about, say, the syncretic faiths of China and Taiwan.
Believing in one thing doesn't mean you believe in everything else. The Spirit World and fortune telling are two totally different things.
Yeah, he's not an antispiritualist, he's just a skeptic. It's harder to be skeptical of being KIDNAPPED BY A PANDA SPIRIT!!!!!, which would have to have involved a large amount of really amazing drugs or something, than it is to be skeptical of fortunetelling, which could simply be coincidence or self-fulfilling prophecy.
Excellently said! I'm right there with you on the common sense thing!
it decides to focus (just a bit) on the relationship between Katara and Aang, which is largely adorable and made me want to say AW SHUCKS every five minutes.
…I'm sorry, that mental image is adorable and I want to high-five you on the astral plane.
Didn't know you were doing His Dark Materials. Some of my favorite books.
(When I read them, I completely missed out on the supposedly 'hit you over the head' themes. Huh. Oh well. Too bad the movie adaptation sucked)
One thing you overlooked here (well, not really, you sort of mentioned it, but more or less glossed over it): Man fighting bear. No, I'm serious here. At first I thought it was a gag, but in retrospect, this is basically a statement on the level of Badass that is found in this world. The twelve-year-old can glow it up and blow you up. The hundred-year-olds are totally ripped. The 60-70-ish dudes can survive being struck by lightning. And random middle-aged people can get in fights with bears and be totally chill about it.
Also: More of the booter.
<img src="http://www.deviantart.com/download/44893457/Mojo_Zhaozhao_by_Booter_Freak.png" />
Best. Fanart. EVER. Seriously, I read the name in Mojo's voice. It was GLORIOUS.
fail
You were close! Use <symbol> instead of [symbol], and you'll be gold.
Ughhh I forgot! lol It's the [ ] on another site.
Also, Meng is OBVIOUSLY a mini-version of Pippi Longstocking. Just look at the hair! 😀
OH OH ALSO! Something kind of neat and interesting
and adorablethat shows off Mike and Bryan and the rest of the creative team's research and respect for the Asian cultures they based their world-building on…DID YOU KNOW? That standing under an umbrella together is considered a romantic symbol in Japan?
http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep14/ep14-202.png http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep14/ep14-220.png
I just find that ten kinds of cute in a really exceptionally geeky way.
OH OH ALSO! Something kind of neat and interesting
and adorablethat shows off Mike and Bryan and the rest of the creative team's research and respect for the Asian cultures they based their world-building on…DID YOU KNOW? That standing under an umbrella together is considered a romantic symbol in Japan?
<img src="http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep14/ep14-202.png" alt="" />
<img src="http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep14/ep14-220.png" alt="" />
I just find that ten kinds of cute in a really exceptionally geeky way.
standing under an umbrella together is considered a romantic symbol in Japan
I noticed a lot of umbrella sharing when I was really into jdramas/movies. Thinking back makes it even cuter now.
Okay, I just have to share this:
<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_le81yaTIUW1qa2ss4o1_400.png">
HEE. I love it. 😀
PFFT PAH HA HA! That's so perfect.
The best ever
Okay, that GIF literally made me laugh out loud. PERFECT!!! 😀
It's funny because it's true.
That giff actually made me feel bad for him! Look at his face. he's crushed. And you know it's an Oedipus thing where he'll try to make his life not full of Pain and Anguish by making "Adult Fairy tales" and stuff and thus bringing it about.
OH MY GOD
I don't have much to add that hasn't been covered already. I also ADORE Sokka's "YES MY SCIENCE CAN EXPLAIN RAIN" line. Seriously one of my favorite quotes from the series. ITA about the blind faith vs. blind disbelief angle. SOMETIMES CONSIDERING OTHER POINTS OF VIEW IS COOL.
Anyway, have a Sokka GIF.
<img src="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d61/lostluck_personal/thsokka_XD.gif">
This is another ep that ranks as a favorite. Sokka is great with his skepticism and bad romance advice. Meng is adorable. Katara is delightfully oblivious until her "OMG! Powerful bender!" moment as well as her obsession with getting her fortune read.
Aang shines. He is just adorable trying to get Katara to notice him. This episode just shows how even though he is the Avatar he is rather like the boy next door. He just wants to be normal. Which is why when he is being told his fortune, he doesn't want to hear about epic battles. He knows he has a duty. What he doesn't know is if he will be able to have love or any sort of a normal life. And his face when Aunt Wu says she doesn't see love in his future is just heartbreaking.
He also shows how powerful he is with his bending and how kind with regards to how he dealt with Meng. He could have blown her off or made fun of her. Instead he told her that while he didn't reciprocate her feelings he had no doubt that she would find someone who did.
Like I said, this one is a favorite.
Katara: Should I eat a mango or a papaya for breakfast tomorrow?
Aunt Wu: Papaya!
Katara: Awww, I hate papaya.
This is such a cute episode! I love Aang's crush on Katara, Meng's crush on Aang (Does anyone have a GIF of Meng laying her eyes on Aang? The sparklies surrounding him as he picks his nose? LOL!) and Sokka + Science= WIN!
Also, Sokka is *not* powerless! He has a boomarang! in fact some (namely, me) would say that Sokka/Boomarang is an OTP! It's loyal 'cuz it always comes back!
(BTW, to make up for the lack of Avatar review yesterday, will you be posting two today?)
<img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/fortuneteller7.jpg">
I'm late today! Stupid interfering real life. Anyway, the pages for this episode have lots of art but pretty much no commentary, so on with the art!
<img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/fortuneteller1.jpg">
Aunt Wu's fortunetelling method of choice is osteomancy, the practice of divining the future by throwing a bone in a fire and reading its cracks.
<img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/fortuneteller2.jpg">
<img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/fortuneteller3.jpg">
<img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/fortuneteller4.jpg">
<img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/fortuneteller5.jpg">
The turtle statues were based on statues we saw during our visits to South Korea.
<img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/fortuneteller6.jpg">
I love the sheer amount of detail that went into designing a single village in a single episode.
FYI, this episode features platypus-bear. Platypus-bear says heya.
<img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/platypusbear.jpg">
Wow, I didn't even notice the turtle statue detail. Thanks for all these cool posts.
I love those artbook scans you're posting, kartikeya, please don't stop! 🙂
And those little statues reminded me of Spirited Away.
I love how this show portrays teenage romance as awkward and how clueless they all are (I'm in my mid-twenties and only a little less clueless and awkward). Sokka's advice to Aang is god awful, but it is what a fifteen year old with no experience would say.
Oh, the Fortune Teller. My main thought when hearing about this episode;
“Can you ‘science’ explain why it rains?”
“Yes! YES, it can.”
Also, platypus bears. A genuine semi-aquatic, lay-egging mammal of action, complete with random old villager who is epic enough to dodge one with a smile on his face. What type of world is the Avatar-verse where not only these amazing animals exist, but that badass exists in such concentration that Random Side Character Number 254 can fight them?
I shall answer my own rhetorical question; a pretty epic one. But even epic worlds find their own share of youthful crushes, dangerous volcanoes and potential charlatans. Put them all together and you get a pretty funny episode…not a particularly spectacular episode, and definitely filler, but pretty good all things considered.
I’ll briefly mention the romance element of it, even though shipping is definitely something I’m barely interested in. Aang manages to be adorably cute this episode; honestly, his crush is so obvious that I’m amazed that he hasn’t already painted a sign to Katara saying “I like you”. Of course, considering she didn’t grow up without any guy her own age, besides Sokka, who isn’t exactly the most naturally lovey-dovey, I get it. While there is some obviously some kindling for Kataang her, I think this once against serves to highlight Aang’s passive nature. He’d be perfectly happy to set up a jewellery shop and forget this whole ‘fighting’ business exists. As it stands, he sees nothing wrong with the idea that Kung Fu Messiah can also be Random Jewellery Maker. Hey, I’d buy necklaces from him.
He’s also the guy who’s so sick and tired of this whole “great destiny” thing that its hilarious to see him brushing off Aunt Wu’s declaration of how he shall be involved in the Epic Battle Of Good And Evil. He just wants to find out if he gets to marry his crush. Its adorable, and I do give major props to Aunt Wu to trying to help him. It could be interpreted as her stringing him along, filling him with intentional lies…but I mean, what would you do if you met a little boy who’s been destined for a great battle, but the one thing he wants doesn’t seem to exist? It was a sweet act of kindness on Aunt Wu’s part.
In this episode, I feel that Sokka really takes center stage, using his wacky humour and sceptical nature to liven up the episode beautifully. Like I said, I absolutely love his clashes with these people who have blindly believed the prophecies and teachings. I’m a scientist, and one who has spent a lot of time trying to explain the sound scientific method and evidence behind concepts such as radio-isotopic dating, evolution, vaccination and countless more. Its needlessly frustrating when people refuse to listen, because they’re so sure they’re right, and they won’t look at the evidence. Sokka’s frustration is my own. But at the same time, Aunt Wu says that his future is full of “pain and anguish, most of it self-inflicted.” And in this point, I think she has a point. To a certain extent, Sokka wanted to help the villagers and make them self-sufficient. But there was no reason to be so abrasive and deriding of their beliefs. Even if you don’t agree with them, don’t be a dick about showing your opinions. Show respect, and they’ll be more likely to respect your words.
I think the actually concept of the Fortune Teller was handled well. Like so many fantasies, they could have left it as an obviously “yes, it’s real, you should always have an open mind! Don’t be so sceptical.” I dislike that because there’s nothing wrong with scepticism, and it tends to deride characters like Sokka which have values very much favoured by the scientific method. But neither does the show out-right dismiss fortune telling. For me, this is a smart move, since in a world with spirits and element controlling people, there’s no logical reason that this isn’t possible, and it isn’t needlessly dismissive of those who do believe in the concept of divination. Where the ambiguity is most favoured, however, is on the question of destiny. Do these characters actually have a destiny? It’s often been hinted at; from the way that Sokka and Katara discovered Aang in the ice berg, almost as if it was planned that way. Of course, it could have been coincidences. Or it might be that people actively make their destiny, and the only way you can make something happen is if you try, and don’t just hope fatalism will get you what you need. As an existentialist, it’s a powerful message.
Enough on morality discussion…let’s talk jokes! Oh, Sokka is so wonderfully wacky here, definitely highlighting the wackiness of the situation, both in terms of how reliant people can be on silly predictions (the whole “I don’t like papaya!” thing) and also the very silly romance between Meng, Aang and Katara in the background. The jokes are wonderful. My particular favourite, after the science/rain thing is;
“The fluffy bunny cloud foretells doom and destruction!”
“Do you even here yourselves?”
I like the climax of the story, too. It’s nice not to see Aang fighting a human enemy, like the Fire Nation or Jet, or even a personification such as Hei Bai. Fighting an actual volcano is amazing to watch, and in a way makes a direct comparison to how the Avatar could be considered a force of nature with his powers.
Side Note: Is it weird that when the whole “Aunt Who?” “No, Aunt Wu” exchange happened I could only think of the Doctor this time around?
A genuine semi-aquatic, lay-egging mammal of action
I see what you did there. ;p
Mark- I must say, this is probably your best Avatar review yet. I love the parallels you've pointed out and discussed, along with the real world similarities. Like you, I like how there is no "right" answer- different "faiths" are right for different people- there's no one "right" way.Sokka: Can your fortune telling explain that?! (points to volcano eruption)
Villager: Can your science explain why it rains?
Sokka: Yes! Yes it can!One of the GREATEST lines in avatar (I'm probably biased as a science major). It's actually been one of my Facebook quotes since I first heard it.Finally, one last thing that I thought was a small, but very important detail. At the end, they ask if anyone is an Earth Bender. One of the twins says he is- the other one says he isn't. Now, I'm not a twin myself- but my sisters are. And I love that this small scene here that shows that just because someone is a twin doesn't mean they're exactly identical- they DO have their own personalities and strengths :)Oh- and I know 110 people have already answered this, so think of this as me voting for the "right" answer- it's the Gaang. Or the gAang, depending on how you prefer to spell it :)Oh! Oh! I forgot- I love the last line by Meng- "floozie". Not that it's true or anything, I just love how she says it 🙂
I heart this episode SO MUCH because of the way they treated Sokka and his skepticism.
I was so expecting it to be one of those cute episodes of television where the skeptical character just has to learn to believe and that there are some things you just can't explain and some crap. But it wasn't! It was about thinking for yourself and checking to make sure if things are true and thinking things over, SOKKA-STYLE.
It tells kids that it's okay to be skeptical and check things out for yourself.
I disagree with Mark and others that Sokka's final solution to this problem–tricking the villagers–was showing "respect" for their beliefs. He was definitely being practical. He obviously realized that he couldn't change their minds through reason. But tricking them isn't respecting them, it was accommodating them. Which is what you sometimes must do when people's irrational beliefs are going to harm a whole village. You have to resort to trickery to get what you want.
This is one of those moments where the show presents a morally-ambiguous solution as a correct solution because the heroes are doing it. I agree that although practical it wasn't respectful. AND it was actually Aang's idea.
Aang: "But they will listen to Aunt Wu."
Sokka: "I know that's the problem."
Aang: "well it's about to become the solution."
In the end Aang still takes advice from Aunt Wu about shaping his own destiny and that piece of knowledge circumvents what we should feel about the trickery- dislike.
I'm not saying it's bad or immoral that it wasn't respectful. Silly ideas don't need to be respected, necessarily, is what I'm saying. I don't have moral problems with their trickery at all! They saved everyone's lives.
I never noticed the parallel to religion in this episode, really. Although I did guess it was an Aesop on blind faith in general. It's trying to tell people not to put too much stock in one thing, but it's still ok to beleive in it. I like that. As an Agnostic Theist with a Gnostic Atheist older brother, former Catholic, I don't know what father and Methodist mother with little brothers I beleive are following in my mothers footsteps, I like it when people can respect other belief systems. The group could have let something happen to the village to prove Aunt Mu wrong, but they didnt, because it didnt matter that they had different beliefs, they were still people.
I think an interesting thing about the series has to do with bending and how its passed down. I think that according to a few interviews IIRC (its been a while lol) that bending is passed through several different factors. It's sort of like Harry Potter in that two wizards or benders can have a nonmagical/bending kid, and two nonbenders or wizards can have a magical/bending kid. Also the percentage of benders is different between each nation. Airbenders used to be pretty much 100% benders because of how spiritual and in tune they were with their bending, while either Firebenders or Earthbenders has the least percentage of benders in their nation. This is never mentioned in series though, but it's nice that Mike and Bryan (the creators) took the time to think out their mythology so much.
Maybe the genetic part is an increased susceptibility to having bending powers, and then your own spirituality (or maybe that of your environment) is the switch that ultimately decides?
It seemed like that could be it. After all, Sokka the endless skeptic isn't a bender, while Katara is apparently the only bender in the South Pole.
I just realized. So many people are discussing beliefs, but we're missing out on the most important belief of all: not believing in those who believe in you, but to believe in the you that believes in yourself.
To everyone who understands that:
ORE WO DARE DA TO OMOTEGARU!
MARK SHOULD TOTALLY WATCH TTGL, Y/Y?
The answer to that question passes yes into the realm of HELL YES.
Oh, he would so not be prepared.
Nothing can prepare you for TTGL. Not even ALREADY HAVING WATCHED IT can prepare you for watching it again!
Eh… might be a bit too much patriarchy for his taste. I'm more interested in seeing how he'd take to Eva.
I don't know if recommending him THE most depressing anime of all time to him is a good way to start him off on anime. Maybe something like Cowboy Bebop? Less depressing, still great?
I haven't watched that many anime to completion yet. But I doubt that Eva is more depressing/needlessly violent/downright scary than Elfen Lied.
Looks like ROT13 is problematic. Let's try ROT47.
—-
Last I checked, Mark liked grim stuff. Besides, [[D@>6 :?E6CAC6E2E:@?D C625 tG2 2D F=E:>2E6=J @AE:>:DE:4] p7E6C 2==[ @?6 @7 E96 =2DE =:?6D 😕 t?5 @7 tG2 😀 7C@> 2 >6>@CJ @7 E96 96C@VD 86?:FD >@E96C D2J:?8[ Qp?JH96C6 42? 36 A2C25:D6[ 2D =@?8 2D J@F 92G6 E96 H:== E@ =:G6]Q]]
HA! Guess that worked. What was wrong with the ROT13? It worked fine on an earlier comment of mine.
I'm sorry, my first thought after reading that was "We believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in theirs."
Please, someone scrub TLA movie from my brain.
This counts as a spoiler, so I'm deleting it.
my very favourite thing in this is the gentle respect that aang shows meng. <3
Oh, this episode is adorable. Seriously, you can get cavities from the cute. It's such a better filler then the Great Divide.
But I want to talk about the fortunes. One of the things I found it hilarious was how in a way all of Aunt Wu's fortunes came true (and for the record how awesome is Aunt Wu?). In a way it reminded me of Professor Trelawney from HP. I know you guys are going huh? But reread some of the fake predictions she makes in Book 3 or 4 and even some of the fake ones Ron and Harry make up. In some way or other they come true. Granted most of it was self-fullfilling prophecy but still.
Ok, as of this episode I am officially Team Sokka.
I get that it's important to respect other people's beliefs and not just rage at them for being 'saps' because that's just silly. But at the same time…I felt SUCH an affinity with Sokka in this episode!
– Can your science explain why it rains?
– YES! Yes it can!
I swear, I have had that conversation (or ones like it) so often, with people being all 'But can SCIENCE explain THIS???' Yes, of course it can. That's what science IS. Just because you don't understand it yet, doesn't mean it can't be explained at all.
I didn't always agree with Sokka's confrontational attitude towards people in this episode but I did sympathise with him because I've felt like that in the past. When people just refuse to listen to reason, sometimes you do fall into that trap of simply getting angry at them. It doesn't solve anything, but it's hard to resist.
Totally agreed on being for Team Sokka. I actually feel like if the message was "respect others' beliefs" it fails. Not because their beliefs are necessarily so ridiculous in their universe (they've got magic and a spirit world!) but because they are actually behaving dangerously and foolishly due to their beliefs. It's awfully nice to have your own fortuneteller around, but if you stop thinking for yourself and only rely on her, frankly, I don't see any reason that people should respect your beliefs. That's not religion and it's not belief. It's mindlessness.
Yep, I know what you mean. Actually, I just realised the end was a little weird. I mean, the people still trust the fortune teller. And she was wrong! Dangerously so. Sure, this time the Gaang was around to save them, but what about next time? The people of the village didn't really learn anything from this experience, and they'll be believing in her prophecies right up until the moment they're all wiped out by another volcanic eruption!
Not because their beliefs are necessarily so ridiculous in their universe (they've got magic and a spirit world!) but because they are actually behaving dangerously and foolishly due to their beliefs.
THIS. It's like those religious fanatics you sometimes read about who deny their kids medical care, because they believe "God will heal them", and their kids pay for it with their lives. Ugh, it drives me mad. God gave you reason, so use it!
afsdjadfskl;antoaweoijpaerwnkdzsflnk;dsafajkl those people infuriate me.
I definitely fall into the trap of throwing my hands up in anger when I come across people who I believe are acting irrationally, and sometimes I get so angry I can't even continue the discussion. I can't help it. IT JUST MAKES ME SO MAD. AARGH.
On a COMPLETELY different note, I liked how the shipping was handled in this episode. It was very cute and natural, and I'm glad to see it's not going to be some ~major source of angst~
It's weird, I'm completely unromantic in real life, but I swear, I'm such a sucker for a good ship! 😛
I always come into a new show trying so hard to just love the story, and not to get all caught up in pairing characters up, but inevitably there will always be a ship that just too adorable to resist…or maybe it's just the shows I happen to watch. 😉
One thing I liked about this episode is how lots of fiction would use fortunetelling for the whole chosen one you are fated to save the world from evil stuff and when Aunt Wu told Aang this he was all "Yeah I knew that already!"
I just realized how terrifying the Platypus Bear is. Bears are already terrifying. Platypi are weird chimeric creatures with one of the most potent neurotoxins in the world in little spurs on their legs. WHY WOULD YOU COMBINE THOSE TWO? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? I mean, that's like combining one of those huge spiders that eats birds with the Asian Giant Hornet. The Asian Giant Hornet, by the way, is bigger than my thumb, and has poison that can actually dissolve your flesh. And send your pain receptors into overdrive so it hurts even more.
Seriously, why would you give a bear the ability to shoot neurotoxins into people? That's twisted.
Yeah, I think this is one of the episodes where they played it both ways. Of the core cast, you really only have two male benders other than Aang — and while Iroh is clearly much more powerful… no — so it does set up some ambiguity. Especially since when Aunt Wu told Aang there was no love in his future it was one of the few moments that didn't seem to be a cold reading. I thought it was cute that he cared far more about his love life than his epic destiny right there, but it is still rather sad.
I thought it was just that his destiny is so epic that she was too overwhelmed by the MAJESTIC BATTLE to see anything about his love life. I mean, assuming she could actually fortune-tell.
I didn't really pick up on a faith subtext, seriously. Just fortunetelling.
I also missed the whole platypus-bear thing but that's outrageously funny and scary!
Haha, Katara was actually annoying to someone! That's something different!
I really enjoyed this episode too! It may have been filler, but it was a lot of fun. I appreciated the way Sokka's skepticism turned out to be right, and the way it was all portrayed. I also really empathized with his frustration. Aang, meanwhile, continues to be absolutely adorable, and as well all know by now, my feelings on romance in fiction tend to mirror Mark's. Except… you forgot one of the most important OTPs of all time, Mark. All time.
I mean, everyone knows that ROSE + DRUGS = TRUE LOVE 4EVA.
Where did that Rose/Drugs meme come from, anyway?
http://spune.deviantart.com/art/Gridlock-15495105…
Rose's love of drugs is so pure and true that nothing can compete. (Except possibly Doctor/TARDIS.)
I forgot about this episode probably because it wasn't all tense like The Blue Spirit. I love this episode because it gives us viewers a breath before another plunge into the world of the unprepared. Also, we are re-introduced to Sokka's cynic view, we saw it before with Jet and we see it again with the world of fortune telling. I appreciate that Sokka isn't taken in by the fortune teller, otherwise the town would have been destroyed by the lava. As for the romantic sub-plot, I am glad its there to bring even more depth to Aang's character. Before I go on, I will warn the shippers so they don't attack me. I see Aang's love for Katara as puppy love. But, moving on from that, I liked the humor a lot in this episode. Most of it relied on Sokka making himself miserable with bad throws which reminded me of slapstick. But, even though this show is targeted towards children, there is still a layer of sophistication that makes it fun for adults and twenty-somethings like me. I look forward to more reviews!
GAang (sic) is what i've seen for a good while.
THE DOCTOR + BOW TIES + RORY + AMY + ME = TRU LUV
i love that you added 'BOW TIES'.
<3
I've been meaning to ask; does your screenname have to do with the flash game?
I didn't catch the Faith subtext either, not that I would care (Apatheist pagan is apatheist) I am totally happy being a delusion theist. It's all good.
Also I wanna hug Sokka just like so hard (I think I became a huge fanboy for him around this episode I love adorable skeptics)
Also bravo for this blog not going into religious wars. I was totally afraid that Mark open a can of worms and we were gonna have Atheist/Theist arguments and then I would be sad and shit.
I don't think I was into Katara/Aang at this episode ( read some Zuko/Katara but I wasn't a shipper yet) I think I was still a Zuko/Sokka shipper and rebelling against the fan wars (OH GOT THAT'S WAS 05 WASN'T IT? DAMN)
Haha, I love Meng's crush on Aang and Aang's realization that he might like Katara in a different way… it's so cute.
I don't think I really had many other feelings on this episode though. I just want you to hurry up and get to Book Three so there are very few to no spoilers left.
<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/2vn2har.gif">
The fact that "crazy" is used as a derogatory word, while also being used to describe people with mental disabilites, makes it offensive. Just like "that's so gay" is offensive.
For a good explanation why "crazy" is a slur, I direct you to this link: <a href="http://disabledfeminists.com/2010/05/17/guest-post-from-rmj-ableist-word-profile-crazy/” target=”_blank”>http://disabledfeminists.com/2010/05/17/guest-post-from-rmj-ableist-word-profile-crazy/
Psst– your link broke somehow! It seems to have an errant image tag attached to the end? In case you can't edit, here's the proper (I hope!) link for everyone:
http://disabledfeminists.com/2010/05/17/guest-pos…
Also, whoops, I should have waited to see if anyone else had addressed the issue before taking it on myself. Thank you for linking this post!
Ah, thanks. For some reason that sometimes happens when copy-pasting a URL.
And I think more voices is always appreciated. Your explanation is great.
Again, I'm not condoning ableism, I think that people DO need to become aware that it is insulting towards people, and since reading Mark's blog I certainly have become aware of it when "crazy" is used to imply that a person is dangerous in the media–which is alarmingly often. Avatar is not exempt from this, as it's already been proven by how the kids first reacted to Bumi–which is the most obvious example I can think of in the show.
Yyyes, but even those other meanings there came to be because it has been so popular to liken mentally ill people to being 'senseless' or 'weird'. 'Crazy' has always meant mentally ill, and it only came to "mean" those other things when so many people started to inappropriately co-opt the word. Pointing out that the use of it as anything other than meaning 'mentally ill' is ableist is the same as pointing out that it's homophobic to use 'gay' to mean something bad, or misogynistic to use 'b*tch' to mean someone weak, or likewise ableist to use 'retarded' to refer to something/one unintelligent. Just because a lot of people in the past have used 'crazy' in an ableist and incorrect way doesn't mean that we should continue to do so today, particularly when we are now informed of the problematic implications of those uses of the word.
Alright thank you, I certainly didn't mean any offense, even if I may have been misguided in bringing that particular point up.
No problem! You've certainly handled the issue more delicately and flexibly than others have in the past.
Also, I wanted to come back to make a quick shipping statement. While I found Aang's crush storyline cute when I watched this, the romance is rather one-sided at this point. The whole humour of the storyline was that Aang was trying desperately to get Katara's attention and Katara was just totally clueless that this was happening. Sweet and funny, but not super romantic. Yet.
I remember thinking when I first watched the episode that when I was a 14-year-old girl, I wouldn't have been that interested in a 12-year-old boy, either. Just the way that works.
I think they handled the level of romance well for their ages there. You really don't want any more with pre-adolescents (Aang) involved.
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah no. I'm deleting this because it violates the rules here: no ableism allowed.
Oh Sokka,, you're skepticism saves lives! Good for you man! Much love! Okay, now on to the real stuff.
First, shipping. I love the "romance" in this episode. I'm with you Mark in that romance has never been a huge part of my life. At nearly 20, I've only been in one, 3 month relationship. I think that's why I love it so much in stories (provided it remains as a subplot). However, I'm not a Kataang fan and never will be. It always felt like a kid crushing on a teacher or classmate. They think it's serious, but the relationship would never actually happen. I think that aspect of their relationship is almost painfully, yet adorably obvious in this episode. Does that make any sense. Probably not. Moving on.
A lot of people have voiced opinions on this episode as a commentary on religion. I did catch the subtext, and actually wasn't impressed with how "religious people" could be viewed in this context. I am a Christian, and have been since I was sixteen. I have friends who are Muslim, atheist, agnostic, etc. I have yet to meet one person, religious or otherwise, that actually substitutes religion for logic. You can have both together. At the same time, you can have skeptical people (like Sokka) who are also religious, to varying degrees. I thought that the townspeople in this episode were portrayed more like a stereotype or charicature of a religious person, rather than based on real life. I don't know if that's because it's a childrens show, or what, but that's how i saw it. Please feel free to disagree, I'd love to discuss this with people…
Anyways… Great review Mark! Yay Avatar!
Just swinging by to share an image macro spawned from this episode that works so nicely.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/bRq7x.jpg">
Yeah. I *facepalm* every time someone claims that "faith and science are against each other". Um, no, that's 19th century BS. Many of the great scientists (even modern ones) were religious.
It's like that joke about a guy whose town was flooded and who refused to get on a rescue boat three times, claiming that "God will save me". When the water flooded his house and he drowned, his soul complained to God, "Why didn't you save me? I believed in you!" And God replied: "What do you mean? I sent you three rescue boats!"
Religious belief shouldn't stop one from being rational and having common sense.
That was incredibly weird. YOU ARE ME. that is my comment. Then I decided you must secretly be my sister so I asked her if she wrote your comment. +1 for you
I was so blown away by Aang's airbending when he stopped the lava. And Sokka's comment summed it up for me: "Man, sometimes I forget what a powerful bender that kid is." Totally. I skipped back and watched that whole scene again because it was just… wow. Also, I was smiling nonstop at the kid-crush and love stuff in this episode and the smile got bigger at Katara's realization from Sokka's comment. I also love that in the following scene it doesn't go with awkwardness taking over. That they can move on to the stuff at hand and not make this show just about relationships and teen awkwardness is so refreshing.
Okay, THAT is creepy. Ew. 😛
I just rediscovered Mark Watches after reading Mark Reads for a while…AND YOU ARE DOING LIKE MY FAVORITE THING EVER. <3
Also: the word used to collectively refer to the group is often "The Gaang." Cheesy, but hey.
This is kind of an interesting case. Here's what the dictionary says:
floozie
also floozy , "woman of disreputable character," 1902, perhaps a variation of flossy "fancy, frilly" (1890s slang), with the notion of "fluffiness." (From dictionary.com)
However, the entries all place its origin around 1902-1910, so it seems like definitely archaic slang– like I said, I have hardly heard this word used. Urban Dictionary does basically equate it with "slut," though, so… I don't know. I'm still not offended, but it does seem a questionable word to throw in a kid's show. I'm almost thinking they put it in as a substitute for "bitch" that kids wouldn't understand. Which… is probably not helping the case for people who are upset by them using "floozie."
Whee, I'm finally caught up!
I like that we're given the example of twins where one is a bender and one isn't. (In my head those guys are totally Fred and George.) It seems that bending ability is pretty random in this world.
“Can your science explain why it rains?” “YES! YES IT CAN!”
This reminds me a lot of Bill O'Reilly and his "tide comes in, tide goes out" argument. Like, YES, there is actually a SCIENTIFIC RATIONALE behind the tides, dude!
I also love that this episode sticks it to the "nice guys don't get girls" argument. Aang would obviously have much better interactions with Katara if he weren't going on Sokka's crappy advice in this episode.
The trio is affectionately called The Gaang by the fandom 'cos it sounds like gang and Aang is their leader, sort of.
Fans of The Gaang are called gAangsters. XD
You are going to read His Dark Materials?!!!! I am in love with that series, omfg. I read all three like 5 times in the period of a year. XD I am amped for that now. You just got me to comment. *squeals*
I'm so glad Mark brought up mutual respect. It always sucks as a Christian when someone lays into you for your beliefs, makes assumptions about you, etc., and I'm certain that it's just as awful for someone who is not religious to get hated on and disrespected by someone who is. The world isn't going to work unless we all treat each other with respect. I admit it took me a while during my teens to wise up to that.
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"These days, all I get is a pang of jealousy. I sometimes want to know what it feels like when you can have faith in something that gives a person comfort and hope."
Oh man did that sentence ever speak to me. Nicely put.
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