Local Problem

It’s actually pretty interesting because I spoke to a couple of the like trailblazer researchers/hobbyists who have bred this species before moving on to some that are in more danger right now and after describing my set up and care plans they were both like “oh yeah you’re basically good to go I don’t think you’ll have any problems as long as you just like keep up on basic care” and then I also spoke to some just like general betta hobbyists and all of them were like “ugh yeah no this species is a horrible one to start with. They need crazy water conditions and they’re incredibly picky eaters who are prone to starving before they accept any food” and like 100% of what I see this little betta doing when she’s not tucked away in her leaf litter (natural behavior) is eating. She accepted food immediately as soon as she recovered for like 20 min when she was delivered to me. And I mean I’m sure a big part of this is just that she was already accustomed to a tank setting and probably a lot of people get them directly from wild collection (which is legal for this species because their specific habitat is not protected at all and they’re basically fucked in the wild rn), but also I think this kinda just reinforces the idea that you can’t apply generalized betta techniques to them and in order for them to become more widespread in the hobby and therefore have a better captive population, people need to start approaching them as their own thing instead of just like one of the types of bettas that exists. Like she’s great and sassy and sometimes I get worried when I don’t see her for a while, but it’s because she’s so well camouflaged and has plenty of places to hide so when she does come out to say hi she’s very bold and I’ve never once seen her in stress colors the way I see so many people post their pictures of this species. And I definitely have a few very driven and knowledgeable researchers to tank for that because if I had gone into this on solely betta hobbyist advice I’d probably be pulling my hair out trying to figure out why my betta is unhappy and sick.

And I think the most surprising aspect of this has been how much she likes (or at least contently tolerates) the sparkling gouramis, because like that is absolutely not a species you’d ever really want to house with a standard betta fish. They’re too similar and also have similar sizes, so doing so would very likely cause a lot of aggression and stress in most bettas who are known for being highly territorial. For this uniquely social species? They’ve directly and noticeably helped her settle in and feel confident in the tank and she’s fine coming out into open water (something that would be risky in the wild) as long as the gouramis are there. Which is why I think it’s abundantly important to do a lot of research and talk to a lot of different people with experience when you’re keeping any animal, because conventional knowledge only goes so far even between very similar species.

the worst they could say was not no.

Sure, the Northern Tribe might have benders, but they have such a different culture/identity around bending compared to the South. We see in Hama's flashbacks that the Southern Tribe had male and female benders at the helm, fighting equally, learning the same things, sharing the same tactics. They weren't left behind as strictly healers or defenseless women given a man's gift, they were strong.

And the thing that separates Katara and Aang's stories being the last benders of their nations is that Aang remembers what it means to be an Air Nomad. There are obviously blind spots because of how young he was, but Aang knows the customs and the culture and spiritual practices. He was able to pass those down to Tenzin and his grandchildren, he was able to start the process of rebuilding what was lost.

But Katara? She was even younger than Aang was when the Southern waterbenders were eradicated. There are Southern practices that are most definetly just... a fractured part of history because she never got to experience them. There are ways of hunting, of building, of navigating the waters, ways of healing, probably even spiritbending, that are simply lost to time.

And maybe her grandmother can clue her into it, memories from a nonbender living aside benders, but it's not the same. She didn't get to hear it from the waterbenders, she didn't get to learn from a Southern waterbender, she doesn't even know what to rebuild because it was never something she was versed in.

That's why The Puppet Master is such a heartbreaking episode. Because Hama could have been the Southern teacher Katara clearly wanted, she could have shown her more, but ended up passing on her legacy of Bloodbending. And on the inverse, I can't even fully call Hama a villain for wanting Katara to know how to bloodbend, because the ache of thinking you were the only one left for so long, the rage against a Nation known for destroying nations, would've driven anyone insane.