Not bloody optimal

The lesson of avatar was never “killing bad people makes you just as bad as them” it was “you cannot be letting fascists dictate what counts as a win or loss” guys like come on it’s been 20 years

Katara doesn’t forgive Yon Rha and hug him and dry him off and walk him home she leaves him scared and sniveling and crying in the mud but she leaves him alive because she realized in that moment that she was only doing this because she felt like she had to. She hates this man, therefore she should want to kill him, right? The narrative isn’t saying wow Katara killing a mass murdering fascist dickwad is just as bad as said dickwad killing an innocent wife and mother during a raid on her home, it’s saying wow isn’t it fucked up that this little girl has been forced to carry this deep seated anger in her for most of her life to the point where the only outlet she believes she has for it is killing a man in cold blood? And like… yeah! That is pretty fucked!

And you know what ELSE is pretty fucked? That a 12 year old survivor of a genocide be told, over and over again that in order to bring balance and peace to the world he needs to go against the central tenants of his culture. Yeah, there didnt seem to be any other way than killing Ozai to stop the war but by constantly telling this kid that lethal violence, the same method used against his people by the fire nation, is the only path forward was indeed, very fucked!

Can you imagine turning away from your child because you don’t want him to look at you and be scared but he says he wants to see you and that he can finally be grateful he can see ghosts because he can see you his mother someone he now knows loves him so so much and he asks to hug you and you can finally hold your baby for the first time in 25 years and he looks at you and he smiles and you smile back and he says he loves you and you can finally know peace because your son is safe and he knows he is loved. I need to fling myself into the abyss