Can they sing? And can they cook?

[lizbee]

resonant writes: "Whenever I'm exploring new characters, I always enjoy asking myself two things: Can they sing? and Can they cook?" and then offers a series of cooking-related character sketches for the Avengers movie-verse.



This got me thinking about the Avatar characters, both musically and in the kitchen.

Aang:  is canonically an enthusiastic rather than skilled musician.  He has a passable singing voice, but most of the songs he knows are a hundred years old.  And singing reminds him that he's the last person in the world who remembers the old Air Nomad songs, so for a long time he hardly sings at all.  Until he has children, when Katara finds him teaching them old, forgotten songs and stories.

Aang makes really excellent fruit pies, but when it comes to every day cooking, he mostly learned out of self-defence.  It's hard being the only vegetarian in a group of omnivores, and at first he didn't have the heart to tell Katara that fish is still meat.

Katara:  has a very nice singing voice, but is sometimes self-conscious about her Southern Water Tribe musical roots.  It's only recently that she's realised the songs her grandmother taught her were simplified versions of Northern songs.

And, of course, she can cook.  And usually has to, since she's the only member of Team Avatar who can cook consistently. 

Sokka:  knows the same songs as Katara, but for some reason people always complain when he sings.  Which is fine, because that path leads to wearing flowers and becoming an annoying hippie nomad, and songs about secret tunnels are never the answer.

Sokka's cooking is mostly meat-centred.  He can hunt, prepare and cook his own meat.  But vegetables are an unknown quantity, and he always burns rice or noodles. 

Toph:  can play the pipa, but doesn't.  Her parents tried to have her taught traditional Earth Kingdom songs, but these days, her repertoire mostly consists of obscene ditties and drinking songs. 

Toph would like to make it clear that it's not her blindness that keeps her from cooking. It's simply a skill she has chosen not to cultivate, and if that means she's always eating out or ordering in, well, it also means she doesn't get stuck cleaning up.

Iroh:  is a known singer of songs.

He does not, however, cook.  You'd think it'd be like making tea, but no, sadly it is a skill that has always eluded him.  He tries, and sometimes performs experiments with exotic Earth Kingdom ingredients, but somehow these never end well.  In a pinch, he can throw some things in a pot, but no one who enjoys food for its own sake would relish his cooking. 

Zuko:  word of God has it he's a skilled tsungi horn player, but it conflicts with his emo, so he doesn't.  As a child, he liked to sing, but Ozai and Azula bullied that out of him, and no amount of well-intended persuasion from Aang, Katara or his uncle can make him start again.

Zuko's a passable cook -- mostly out of self-preservation, because the alternative in Ba Sing Se was being dependent on his uncle -- but he never met a spice or chilli he didn't like, so generally the others are wary of his meals.  And as Fire Lord, of course, it's not his place to prepare meals.  And since the palace is the biggest employer in the capital now the army has been downsized, he should probably not put the servants out of work.  Even though, of late, he has become worryingly picky about his tea, and is constantly on the verge of insisting on brewing it himself.

Azula:  can play the guzheng, a zither, but lost interest when it became clear she had limited skills as a musician.  Her official reason was that practicing took too much time away from her firebending.  She has a pleasant singing voice, but music is for peasants.

Cooking is also for peasants.  Though obviously, if she ever tried, she would be a superb cook.  Ty Lee would agree.

Mai:  was taught to play the shamisen competently, but associates it with the many, many useless but decorative skills her parents expected her to master.  She cannot sing.  At all.

Nor can she cook.  What, don't we have servants for that kind of thing?

Ty Lee:  never learnt an instrument -- or rather, she started learning lots, but always got distracted -- and shows more enthusiasm than talent as a singer.  There was this one week where she couldn't or wouldn't stop singing the secret tunnel song, and frankly, is lucky Mai talked Azula out of killing her.

She can, on the other hand, cook.  Mostly curries and stir fries, the simple food they ate in the circus.  When she first ran away, she didn't have the first idea of how to prepare food, or do her own hair, but she's a quick study, and people just seem to like teaching her things.  It's not, of course, food suitable for a princess to eat, but Azula was really nice about it.  Well, in her way.  Well, she was pretty mean, actually, but she still ate it. 

Suki:  doesn't have an extraordinary voice, but she can hit a note and hold a tune.  Purely through osmosis, she knows the fishing songs of Kyoshi Island, as well as the traditional songs of the Kyoshi Warriors.

She can also cook, not amazingly well, but she's never poisoned anyone, and her fish curry was universally popular.  Even with Aang, since she actually remembered to make a separate batch with tofu instead of fish.  She thinks of cooking more as a chore than a pleasure, but that's no reason not to do a good job.

Comments

[holyschist]

...now I kind of want to read a story where Aang tries to convince Mai to be his friend by feeding her fruit pies.

[yifu]

Seconded.

[lizbee]

Now I totally want to write that. Though I can't decide if it's "convincing Mai to be his friend" or "seducing her through pastry".

[frabjous]

Both. Obviously.

[terajk]

Can I request "seducing her through pastry"? :D

[holyschist]

I would read either!

[crossedwires]

This is excellent. ♥

[umadoshi]

I enjoyed this SO MUCH. *^^*

[unjapanologist]

How about Ozai? ;)

[lizbee]

He has a really lovely singing voice, and is a talented musician. But every time he showed any interest in this area, his father made a disparaging remark and compared him to Iroh.

Unexpectedly, he can cook, but only on Ember Island, and only barbecue.

[skygiants]

That last point is the greatest truth about Ozai I have ever heard.

[lizbee]

I just spent half an hour trying to draw Ozai barbecuing. MY FINE MOTOR SKILLS ARE INADEQUATE!

[unjapanologist]

I AWAIT THE ART WITH GREAT ANTICIPATION.

[dancing_serpent]

*snicker* Oh spirits, yes. I can so see that!

[unjapanologist]

*insert mental image of Ozai flipping burgers while Zuko and Azula hang on to his legs going dad dad dad when's the food done dad is it done yet dad how about now dad?* Thank you, that's kind of perfect.

[lizbee]

While wearing a KISS THE COOK apron, y/y?

[unjapanologist]

"Bow to the cook and swear your eternal allegiance and devotion to his plans for world conquest" is a mouthful, yeah. "Kiss the cook or get on the barbecue"?

[deird1]

*likes*

[terajk]

<3 <3 <3

[wingblossom]

This was amazing, thanks for posting it. <3