makes me CRAZY how well atla illustrates all the different ways countries can be affected by colonization and imperialism…the air nomads wiped out in a relatively brief military campaign. the southern water tribe slowly worn down and violated over the course of decades. the northern water tribe completely isolating and turning to strict tradition in the face of a horrifying enemy. the decentralized earth kingdom being affected in varying ways, with some areas completely untouched but terrified that they’ll be next, some areas in an uneasy peace with the fire nation in exchange for economic domination, and some areas completely taken over. and just the ways that these kind of interplay…like the trauma katara and sokka have as people who live relatively safe from invasion, but with the threat of another raid always on the horizon, terrified that the next one will wipe them out for good, is completely different from the trauma aang has, as someone who lost everything and didnt witness the brutality, only its aftermath, and that’s completely different from the trauma that suki has, with kyoshi out of the war but constantly training in preparation for an invasion, and thats completely different from the trauma haru has, as an earthbender in an actively occupied village. and theres so much more too like theres all these complex and nuanced situations and none are objectively better or worse than the other but it shows exactly how many tools imperialism uses to demoralize and defeat those its directed against
It also shows tha trauma war has done to the imperialists. Their homeland is polluted from the industrialization that’s allowed them 100 years of war. Their people have lost the nuances of their culture, everything “traditional” is actually a hundred years old or less. The people have forgotten how to dance, and the economy revolves around war and colonialism. The government and ruling class is corrupt and oppressive.
I was trying to see it in the arrangement of stars and galaxies, but it’s just. A fucking. It’s a fucking. Question mark. Floating in space. Not a constellation, just a floating goddamn question mark. I want to scream.
Because I know this website’s ability to read between the lines is ass, this is directed at people HIRED, PAID or SPONSORED (with money or other perks) to cosplay for promotion of struck properties and studios, whether that be at physical events or online (insta, tiktok etc). This isn’t about you and your buddies cosplaying for fun at the local convention, so don’t go attacking random cosplayers not actually involved in content creation or promotion for these cretins.
