Avatar: The Last Airbender & The Hunger Games

Yeah I agree. I also don’t mind when artists draw the characters with more Asian features, but you’re right that sometimes they are drawn in a way that is unrecognizable. I’ve legit seen people complain about Katara and Sokka having blue eyes because that’s “eurocentric”. Guess what, Katara and Sokka do have blue eyes! It’s a cartoon. The Water Tribe isn’t real. None of the nations are real. People can’t really shoot fire out of their hands.

“but people have a right to express discomfort when fanartists choose to emphasize the blue eyes” - except that a lot of the characters do have blue eyes. That’s just canon.

but since this is about atla, let me clarify: i wholeheartedly LOVE this show. have loved it for years. i agree with you that it was and remains groundbreaking in many ways. i even said i don’t personally take issue with the magical eye colors (though i understand why some people might.) my issue is with how this fandom has had a long nasty habit of overemphasizing - not just depicting, but OVERLY emphasizing - blue eyes and lighter skin and producing fanworks that are deliberately ignorant of cultural context. and this trend is racist, and alienating to many fans of color. you might personally be fine with these fandom trends, but many of us aren’t, and there’s a long history of fandoms for various shows but especially for Atla trying to whiten the characters. the hated live action movie cast all white actors in every role except...the evil fire nation. that was a deliberate and racist casting choice even though an indian director was at the helm. to repeat again- i LOVE atla and i disagree with 99% of the newer criticisms about the show being racist. but in this one arena, the fandom is all too eager to use the magical eye colors as a way to not understand these characters as also asian. does Harry Potter stop being white and british because he has magic powers? you can’t divorce race from media especially visual media.

I don’t understand how artwork can “over emphasize” the blue eyes of characters who canonically have blue eyes. Are they making them more blue somehow? Is there text saying “Look at my pretty blue eyes!”? I don’t get it. Bringing the Avatar movie into the equation is not helpful. The fans, including myself, do not recognize this movie. There is no movie in Ba Sing Se. “the fandom is all too eager to use the magical eye colors as a way to not understand these characters as also asian” - I completely disagree with this. Anime is a popular genre in Asian countries and the characters commonly have magical eye color and hair color, yet these characters are still seen as Asian. Who in the Avatar fandom is saying that the characters are white? The only argument I’ve seen in that regard are people saying the Fire Nation is white, and this is due to racism on their part since they want to equate whiteness with oppression. Your Harry Potter example is not a good one because while the story may be fictional and Hogwarts does not exist, Harry Potter still takes place in 1990s Britain, a real place and time. The Avatar universe is completely fabricated.

katniss as devery jacobs

haymitch as michel greyeyes

I'll start with the cold hard truth though. Canonically, do I think they would work? I hate to say it, but almost certainly not. I could see a drunken hookup or FWB situation for sure. But a serious romance? Unfortunately, no. If Gale and Katniss are too much fire, him and Johanna would be a District 13 nuclear weapons-grade mushroom cloud. To quote a reply to a reddit post on the idea, "I think both of them would need someone more Peeta-like to balance them out, just like Katniss did."

(Interestingly enough though, a few people I've seen who harshly object to it do so on out of love for Johanna and hatred for Gale. Which is...ironic to me. To quote another reply from the same post. "Y'all get on Gale's ass so much for accidentally killing some kids and feeling bad about it, but Johanna straight up agreed to the Capitol-kid Games with no hesitation or shame." But I digress.)

In fanon though, FUCK do I love them. I will admit, a lot of it's bc I love the niche trope of "sharp-tongued tough girl x stuffy, somewhat self-righteous soldier boy" (for reference, see Invisimech from Dispatch, Aaron x Reina from Subero, Geralt and Yennefer from Witcher). I am an absolute slut for that sole interaction between them in MJ, and think they'd have that banter-y dynamic in spades. And, as an amusing pitch to Gale criticals, how can it not be fun seeing him with a girl who doesn't hesistate to call him on his shit in the most blunt and savage way possible? Gadge fics where Madge does the same are very much my bread and butter too.

On a serious note when it comes to post-canon, it's intriguing to explore them both navigating their past traumas and difficulty adjusting to the free Panem together. And even with their seething angers at past injustices still burning inside them, they are both still somewhat young and impressionable by the end of MJ (Gale is 19, Johanna is 21). I think, even with all the shit they've been through, that opens opportunity for them developing more peaceful and humane psychologies down the road. Again, in fanon, at least. Gale I could def see that happening with all the guilt he's shouldering after Prim's death. Johanna...I think the best she could do is learn to live with the pain and crimes dealt against her. As much as I am skeptical of this type of morality IRL, I do wonder if her having a kid of her own would affect her mindset later (whether it's with Gale, co-parenting Odesta's kid with Annie, or however else).

Your fourth paragraph is perfect! I don’t know anything of those other pairings you mentioned but I like that dynamic. Their one interaction was such a tease, sad we couldn’t see them interact at least once more.

Thanks for the fic recommendations! I will check them out.

But I do agree she needs a quiet life in District Seven (or any district she chooses) like the one Katniss and Peeta have in Twelve, which would clash with Gale’s “fancy job” in the new government which has him on TV occasionally. So it would have to be an AU where he doesn’t get that job or, maybe he leaves that job in the world we do get. When Katniss tells us about him it’s still within that year after she was sent back to Twelve, there’s no mention of him in the epilogue (☹️). I know you say he’s “full of fervor and ready to rebuild the country”, but since he’s getting involved in the political world younger than most he might want to retire young too.

atla episodes ✶ 1.08— Winter Solstice Part 2: Avatar Roku

⇒ ATLA: gifset per episode

I don't know of any existing essays but I can share a few quick points that come to the top of my head:

People from the Seam of District 12 are described to have olive skin and dark hair.

I watch as Gale pulls out his knife and slices the bread. He could be my brother. Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same grey eyes. But we’re not related, at least not closely. Most of the families who work the mines resemble one another this way.

We do resemble each other, though, quite a bit. We have that Seam look. Dark straight hair, olive skin, grey eyes.

The woman, Seeder, [from District 11, which has a largely described Black population based on how most other characters are described to have dark skin] looks almost like she could be from the Seam, with her olive skin and straight black hair streaked with silver.

I've seen some people before try to say that "olive" could just mean white and tanned, but I'd like to say to that, quit fooling yourself. It's literally said right here that it's a genetic trait carried by multiple people of the same background; Katniss calls it "that Seam look". And before we talk about that background, I want to also zone in on something else about her appearance: that iconic braid. Katniss associates her braid with her identity.

I put my hair in the single braid down my back. This is the first time since the morning of the reaping that I resemble myself. No fancy hair and clothes, no flaming capes. Just me. Looking like I could be headed for the woods. It calms me.

As an Indigenous teen reading these books for the first time, even one with as much internal racism as I had, I high key related to this. For most Native Nations, braids hold more significance than just a style. I can't speak for everyone of course, but for my people it's about a connection with the Creator. But plenty people who don't follow those traditional beliefs still wear their hair long and braided, because it's part of our identity. Just like Katniss. It becomes her "trademark", because this hairstyle, while simple enough, obviously does not hold the same significance to people outside the Seam.

And back to the Seam... District 12 has a divided population that Katniss repeatedly describes as separated by those who come from the Seam like her, and those that don't. People outside the Seam are described to have pale skin and blonde hair, and are generally treated better by the Captiol / have more wealth.

Gale knows his anger at Madge is misdirected. ... "It’s to the Capitol’s advantage to have us divided among ourselves," he might say if there were no ears to hear but mine.

People within the Seam treat each other like family, making it easy for people in the Capitol to think Gale and Katniss are directly related. They are called cousins even though they aren't by a white lens/use of that word.

There is also a disapproval of people intermarrying, as alluded by Katniss asking about what Peeta's parents think of his crush on her.

"I’m sure that would thrill your parents, you liking a girl from the Seam," I say. "Hardly. But I couldn’t care less."

Bryke once again stating facts. I understand why they ultimately didn’t go this route. Still, I want my kataang content lmao I’m greedy. And not Lauren teasing the idea of more adult gaang content where we might see Katara and Aang starting a family 🤭