Piandao: Head Of White Lotus HR

Here’s a concept that’s been living rent free in my mind for a month: Aizawa and Mic own a nursery and these are the kids that attend

I was waiting for someone to make this distinction between Iroh and Sokka! I headcannon that Sokka is the only one of the gaang who can beet Iroh at Pai-sho

One of the things that I’m fascinated by as a concept is that Sokka and Iroh are simultaneously very similar and also total opposites in many ways. There’s an aspect where they’re very tactically minded, intelligent leaders with a history of eccentricities… But Sokka is also one of the people for whom it would make the most sense for him to get argumentative with Iroh, and actually has done. 

Sokka constantly poo-poos the idea of destiny and spirituality, and gets mad at Iroh for suggesting that they rescue Zuko from the Crystal Catacombs because he doesn’t care about the “good inside” him. They have similar skill-sets and influence, but their ideologies are mostly incompatible. So I absolutely want to see more of Sokka actually debating him; that would be way more interesting the typical interactions we see with Iroh anyway.

(Zuko watches this in horror like a high-speed ping-pong match.)

I also like the idea of Sokka enjoying many of the same things as iroh, but in ways that make Iroh shudder. For instance:

–Sokka is good at, and likes playing Pai Sho. However, he is very much of a disrespectful opponent who engages in trash talk and speed plays. 

–Sokka also likes tea, but he is prone to dumping all sorts of ingredients into it that’s besides the norm, including sugar and honey and generally just “ruining” the natural flavor of the tea. (Sokka invents ‘iced tea’ which Iroh secretly views as blasphemy.)

–Again they have a penchant for strategy, and debate hypothetical scenarios, but Sokka is noticeably less honorable and is willing to resort to dirty tactics in spades if he thinks it can net him victory.

–They both have a thing for poetry, but iroh is very prosy and thoughtful, while Sokka can just string together whatever first pops into his head and fashions that into a workable poem. 

It just dawned on me that Sokka truly is a man of the arts. Haiku, painting, an appreciation for theatre(and yes, I do consider pro wrestling as a form of theatre, which is seen how hyped he was during Earth Rumble VI). He is the ideal engineering major with a huge appreciation for art.

don’t forget sculpting (his blubbering blob monster sand sculpture of suki), carving (the bear fish he carved for yue), and set design (he praised the effects in the boy in the iceberg). i’ve always said that i think there’s a false dichotomy between stem & liberal arts, because true science is a lot more theoretical and abstract, philosophical and artistic than we like to give it credit for. sokka is very logical, yes, but he’s also incredibly creative, which are the two key traits required in puzzle-solving. sokka solves problems through creative means; that’s what makes him so brilliant. but we see he enjoys harnessing that creativity elsewhere, too. it’s a shame that he never had time for art between the ages of 10-16 (”you can’t fight the fire nation with fun,” after all), because i do think with some practice he’d be genuinely great at art, and it’s clear he loves it.

ik this has been said countless times before, but i lose my marbles whenever i think about sokka slowly realizing that he doesn’t have to protect everyone all the time. sometimes he can let other people take watch out for him too!!

there was never really anyone to protect sokka growing up. all the other men had to fight in the war, and his mother was killed by the fire nation. my dude had to protect his entire village! and he let himself down when his girlfriend turned into the moon spirit when his only job was to protect her!

but all those scenes where sokka lets slowly suki protect him...

and he starts to open up to toph and zuko...

he feels awkward abt it but my heart melts every time sokka remembers that he isn’t actually ISN’T totally alone and sacrificeable. he’s allowed to be vulnerable. he’s isn’t just valued as a warrior, as a protector, but as a person! as a friend! even just a lovable-ass idiot!

throughout the series, sokka realizes that he’s LOVED by people other than katara obviously and he cherishes it. and his journey from Lonely Warrior to Cherished Friend absolutely obliterates me. every. single. time.

i find it both incredibly funny and endearing that mikey holds onto his big brother when he’s nervous, and don’s immediate reaction to danger is to get mikey out of sight. 

Nice going ruining Aang’s day.

inspired by this post!

bonus:

none of them know how to appreciate a joke

i am absolutely DYING at the idea of piandao inviting sokka into the white lotus. sokka obviously deserves it. but.

just imagine how that would go over at their monthly get together. everyone’s sitting in a circle, drinking their tea like the group of old people they are, and someone asks if they’ve met any new potential candidates.

piandao’s just like oh yeah. i uhh invited this kid? 15 year old kid. trained him for like maybe two days? definitely worthy. also you don’t have a choice i already gave him the white lotus tile. anyways, pass the cookies.

idk if youre still doing these but 🔥 sokka? im watching atla for the very first time rn and im loving your takes on it

not too late for these, especially for one about sokka

i love sokka

my main controversial opinion is that he’s really smart. I don’t really think that’s a controversial opinion though (anymore), and the show gives us plenty of evidence, especially in s3 (but as early as s1 and 2 too), that sokka is the brains of the operation, that he’s the voice of reason and rationality, and has all the strategic/tactical nous. i think he just largely uses humour to cope with his situation and all the pressure that’s on his shoulders as he’s the elder brother and the oldest (and only) warrior left defending the village & the last southern waterbender (and later that changes to the avatar and the last southern waterbender). i think he also tends towards a more scientific outlook probably because he’s a non-bender with a powerful bender for a sister, surrounded by other benders, who have connections to mystical creatures and the spirit world and so on.

i think sokka also acts in the way he does largely because he’s trying to imitate his father - who is both a skilled warrior and a clever tactician - & wants his father to be proud of him, as well. like there is a lot of ‘boy trying to be a man’ in sokka that is equally funny and sad. i think this idealism helps him avoid the pain of his father & all the adult men in his village leaving him and the others behind.

i think when he grows up, after the war has ended, I definitely think he might have more mixed feelings about it all. sokka spends a lot of time trying to be the best possible warrior and tactician, and takes it fairly seriously as well (consider how in s3 he’s always telling the gaang they’re running out of time), because he wants to be his dad, and assumes he’s going to be doing the same thing his dad is doing, and i think in five years time or so it might dawn on him that actually, after all his travelling with the avatar and co, and because they’re in an era of peace now, that absolutely isn’t going to be the case, it’s a whole new world, and he spent a lot of time trying to fit a mould that isn’t needed anymore.

& maybe, just maybe, he might feel a little bit of bitterness about how back then he felt like he was supposed to be responsible for everyone, at the age of 15, when he was still a kid himself.

(sokka probably has a “quarter-life” crisis about this at the age of 23 or something. painfully relatable, if i’m honest.)

i can honestly imagine sokka doing anything in the future except becoming the chief of his tribe. not because he neglects the responsibility - on the contrary he’s always risen to that responsibility, but more because he realises that isn’t where he’s most useful, and that’s not the role for him anymore.

(tbh my own headcanon is that katara becomes chief instead)

EDIT: just wanted to add that i don't really blame hakoda for all of this, like it was a difficult choice to decide to leave his kids behind & it was one imposed by years of fire nation raids and imperialist policies.

i also wanted to add that while i love the fire nation sibs (zuko & azula) to pieces i think something that is very very overlooked with sokka and katara is that while on the surface they're far more functional, they have an equal amount of depth and are also dealing with a lot of trauma. the loss of their mother, the absence of their father, & the effect that fire nation imperialism has on them and how it has hurt their tribe has a very profound effect and the way sokka acts, the way he throws himself into a position of responsibility at such a young age, is a product of this.

After watching Ep 11 myself, I think I can say this is my headcanon with confidence:

Both Wakko and Dot have good self-confidence, due to Yakko having raised them since they were little. He did what he could to make them feel good about themselves. Plus they had a fairly stable childhood.

Whereas Yakko, with whatever background may come, doesn’t have as much self-confidence or stability. He had to be an adult and raise his younger siblings, even though he himself was still a kid.

He needs reassurance because it was lacking for him. His siblings already have reassurance.