This Is A Really Odd Thing To Consider With Atla, But For A Show That Loves Taking Liberal Scoops Of

this is a really odd thing to consider with atla, but for a show that loves taking liberal scoops of hinduism, buddhism and south and east asian cultures for its worldbuilding, atla is really weird about letting its characters practice religion.

everything in atla is people taking about spirituality, defining themselves with spirituality, yet nobody engages it in the context of belief. we are given the concept of worshipped beings in the atla universe; tui and la and agni for example. but none of these gods are ever seen as gods that the characters hold belief in. we barely get a framework of belief with the earth kingdom (the earth kingdom is examined politically and never religiously in the series) which would actually be interesting because so many cultures did have a god or goddess of the earth. the water tribe goes into cultural rituals, but only for an episode. we know nothing about air nation religious practices beyond nonviolence bad and vegetarianism. even the fire nation is practically a blank slate.

it's almost like the creators were nervous at the idea of letting the characters practice a religion, even a created religion that's foreign to the majority of their (most likely christian) audience. the weddings are very christian-coded (you're telling me that the FIRE nation wouldn't have a hindu-style marriage which literally involves FIRE), and the characters are never seen worshipping or participating in cultural festivals beyond the usual 'oohh fireworks and food' type thing. normally i wouldn't care, speaking as a former kid who did spend religious festivals like that, but if you're going to put characters forward that practice eastern religions and then have them interact in the most surface level way possible, what's even the point?

why is byeon woo seok the worst fake dead guy.

i don't know what ep 15 is going to be about, but why does the preview make it look like tae-sung is straight up going to launch a case against sun-jae because he thinks he kidnapped her.

this is strictly between christian denominations ex. anglican and catholic

reblog with your answer and your religion

man, all you zutara guys are way better at this shipping thing than me. i read through like ninety different metas about the symbolism of the colors associated between the two, the fact that the two of them are the emotional story arc of ATLA, and how their romance falls more into the canon themes of the franchise.....

and then i'm here like, he took lightning for her and she was aang's mom in an episode. i'm sold.