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imagines--galore · 6 days

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||The Thread of Fate|| Part Twenty-One

Summary: Soulmate AU. They say the Thread of Fate connects you to your one true love. It may tangle. It may stretch. But it will never break. Wrapped around your little finger it tightens when it feels your soulmate is close and loosens when they are far. And becomes visible with the colors of your soulmate’s Nation when you finally fall in love with them.

Pairing: Zuko x OroraOC (ATLA)

Rating || Genres || Warnings: T+ Romance. Adventure.

Previous Chapters - Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part Ten, Part Eleven, Part Twelve, Part Thirteen, Part Fourteen, Part Fifteen, Part Sixteen, Part Seventeen, Part Eighteen, Part Nineteen, Part Twenty,

A/N: All aboard the tear express!

She blinked at the four smiling faces in front of her.

"A vacation?" She parroted what Sokka had just exclaimed. Her unenthusiastic response did deflate a few shoulders, but Aang pushed ahead.

"Yeah! We've been flying around so much that Sokka thought it would be great if we just had a couple of days of pure relaxation. And what better place then at a secluded hot spring." He gestured grandly towards the canyon behind him.

True to his words, the round basin did boast quite an impressive spring that looked inviting. Not to mention it was surrounded from all sides by tall rocky walls, so they could bend to their heart's content.

Looking over his shoulder, Orora pursed her lips before shrugging. "I guess. As long as Sokka doesn't think it'll come in the way of his big trip." She looked towards him.

Where she would've made a little joke about his tendency to over-plan and over-think things, she remained silent. Sokka tried not to let his worry show, so he simply smiled wildly. "Not at all." He said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Beside, no offense Orora, but we've been traveling more then you have, and I think we've become pros at this traveling thing."

He gave her a grin before stepping away. "Now lets have some good old vacation fun!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air as Toph earthbended the rocky platform they were standing on and down to the water.

Orora remained nearly unfazed.

Prompting Aang and Katara to share a look of worry.

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This was ridiculous.

This wasn't a vacation.

They were being sent away. That was it.

It had to be.

Scowling to himself, Zuko shoved the last of his clothes into the bag he would be taking to Ember Island. What in the Spirit World had possessed his father to have them go on a trip to relax?

How could he think about relaxing when all his mind could think about was Orora and nothing else.

Well not nothing else, there was the fact that Aang was still alive. But that hardly mattered.

What mattered was going away to Ember Island meant he would be mostly alone with his own thoughts. Not that he wasn't alone here, he was always by himself. But at least there were ways to distract himself. Practicing his firebending and learning the more advanced sets, using his Dao swords to keep his skills with the weapons sharp, reading in the library and learning the more intricate ways the Fire Nation worked.

His father was actually rather impressed with how fast he was progressing. He had no idea, that his son was working himself to the bone so he wouldn't have to think of her.

Then again, no matter how much he tried, there was no escaping her.

She was always there, in the back of his mind, lingering just beyond his conscious thoughts.

Opening the door beside his bed, he paused. His gaze was fixed upon the comb he had kept near him since his return to the Fire Nation. He wasn't doing himself any favors by keeping it with him. Looking at it everyday just reminded him of the fact that they weren't together.

And would likely never be together since she was out there and he was here.

Right, he scoffed to himself, as if that were the only reason for the distance between them, he thought as that all too familiar guilt licked along just under his skin.

Shaking his head, he picked up the comb and wrapping it carefully in a red silk cloth, placed it at the very bottom of his bag under a false opening lest someone, his sister, find it.

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"Hey Orora!"

She looked up from where she had been flicking tiny stones with the tip of her finger and into the water. The small plinking of the stones as they hit the surface of the water was oddly comforting. Toph approached her with a determined gait and a grin on her lips.

"You promised me a bending duel." She said, pointing a finger at the older girl. She'd already dressed down to her swimming outfit, everyone had really. Orora had stayed dressed.

"So come on Ice Princess! There isn't much metal around, but that won't stop me from beating your butt." She added with a slight punch to her shoulder. Orora rubbed the sore spot before sighing deeply. "Not right now Toph." She finally said, turning her attention back to staring at the water. "I'm tired."

Toph stayed standing behind Orora for a good few minutes, though the other girl didn't even notice. She continued her little game of flicking tiny stones into the water. Her heartbeat felt so slow and dull, Toph realized, looking worriedly back at Sokka who was standing just a few paces away.

He moved forward, placing a hand on her shoulder and pulling her back. Toph followed his lead, though not before looking back sadly at the girl she looked up to and had come to consider as an older sister.

She hadn't even noticed the new nickname Toph had given her.

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"Hey Orora!"

It was midday, and the other four had been swimming for quite some time now, but everyone was starting to get hungry and Sokka had opted to catch them their lunch.

Which he decided was the perfect opportunity to teach Orora how to fish.

The girl in question looked up from where she had been sitting on Appa's tail. The bison didn't seem to mind, and it was better then sitting on the rocky floor. At least his tail was soft. She tore her gaze away from the never-ending blue sky overhead to blink at Sokka. "Yeah?" She said, her voice lacking any emotion. Despite the worry gnawing at his heart, Sokka grinned.

"Remember I promised I'd teach you some more stuff other then hand to hand." He paused, waiting for her to respond, but she stayed silent. Clearing his throat he continued. "Well! I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to teach you how to fish!" So saying he whipped out a fishing rod and with a hook at the end of it, which he had been unsuccessfully hiding behind his back.

The boy grinned. "Come on! It'll be fun, and you can even use your waterbending to find some fish, though I would prefer we do it the old fashioned way." He added, flicking the rod and catching the bottom of his shirt in the hook. It caught the fabric, making him scowl in annoyance as he tried to pull it out.

Though he stopped when Orora sighed. "Not right now Sokka." She said in a low voice, turning so her back was to him and she could instead look across the spring in front of her. "I'm tired."

The exact same response as she had given Toph, and maybe it was his imagination, but she sounded even more sadder then before. Glancing over his shoulder he caught the worried look on his sister's face. She gestured for him to step away and he did.

But not before he glanced back at Orora. She may be older then him by a few months, but that didn't mean he didn't worry about her like he did Katara.

He did manage to catch some fish, and he did notice that Orora's fish went untouched.

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"Hey Orora!"

It was almost evening, the sun had begun to set and the sky was turning a pretty pink and orange. She'd been staring at the sky for quite some time now, but at the sound of her name, she lifted her head.

It felt so heavy that she almost dropped right back.

Katara smiled above her. "You know it's gonna be a clear night and the moon will be out." She gestured to the large body of water that was at their disposal. "I could teach you some new waterbending forms and maybe you could teach me that new technique you came up with. I'd love to use my legs and feet for waterbending too."

The young girl looked at her eagerly. There was no way Orora would be able to resist the chance to learn some new forms. Nor would she pass up teaching what she had taught to Katara. Early on Orora had told her how much she enjoyed teaching someone something, anything really. So long as she knew what she was doing effected someone's life in a positive manner.

However, Katara's hopes were in vain. "Not right now Katara." She said the exact same words she had told Sokka and Toph. "I'm tired." The words sounded rehearsed, as if she had been repeating them over and over in her head, just so she could say them correctly.

The hopeful look in Katara's soft blue eyes diminished as she watched her older sister turn away from her and lay there as if she were.........

Tears stung her eyes and she nearly reached out to grab Orora's shoulder. But a hand on hers stopped her. She looked up at Aang who shook his head. Sighing in defeat, Katara stepped back. Aang squeezed her hand in comfort as the both of them walked away to where Sokka and Toph stood waiting.

"Now what?" Toph asked. Aang sighed, glancing over his shoulder at the still form of his older sister. "Now, I try to get through to her my way."

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"Hey Orora."

Her position hadn't changed from where she'd been staring up at the sky. She had been observing the changing colors of the sky, she now focused on the twinkling stars. At the sound of her name, she shifted her head to look at Aang.

It felt too heavy for her to even lift.

Still she did, just in time to catch Aang reaching out to her with a hand. "Come sit by the fire." He said, smiling softly at her. It wasn't a request like Katara, Sokka and Toph's had been earlier that day.

Closing her eyes briefly, she reached out to take his hand, pulling herself up. A wave of dizziness washed over her, reminding her that she hadn't eaten anything the entire day, and very little the day before. While she tried the gather her bearings, Aang led her towards the fire around which the rest of their little group sat.

They were all watching silently as she finally settled, taking her place in the small circle. Aang moved a little to the side, though he sat down next to her.

"Orora." He began. "We're all worried about you."

She stayed quiet.

"You haven't been eating, you're barely sleeping and you haven't bended for days now. Even when the meteor fell, you stayed with Appa instead of helping." He paused. "The Orora I know would never stand by and do nothing."

Katara shifted forward a little from where she sat on Orora's other side. "When we were at that polluted river, you didn't even put up a fight to help those people. You would never turn your back on anyone, so why didn't you do anything then?" Orora simply continued staring into the fire. As had become the norm for her, her legs were pulled to her chest, her arms wrapped around them.

Standing up, Sokka moved to the space between his Katara and Orora. "Whatever it is that you're going through Orora, you need to tell us. We only want to help." He encouraged, as Toph stood as well, moving to stand beside Aang.

"He's right, its been effected your heart as well. I've noticed it sometimes skips a beat and that could be dangerous." The firelight flickered against her unseeing eyes, as Aang reached out to gently take Orora's hand.

"Orora, I think its time you tell them."

A little startled, the girl looked up. For the first time in days there was a flicker of emotions that played along her features as she stared at Aang. He smiled sadly. "You stepped up when all of us were broken beyond repair." The young Avatar said, his voice suddenly carrying the wisdom of all his past lives. "You took care of all of us. Kept us from breaking apart completely."

He squeezed her hand. "You are a part of our family Orora, and family helps each other. They stand by each other, so no matter what you will say or whatever your choice might be, we will stand by you."

Ice blue eyes blinked, shifting from Aang to Toph, who wore the same smile as Aang. Her head moved to look at the siblings from her sister tribe. Each of them wore encouraging looks, and yet there was that worry glinting in their eyes.

She didn't like seeing it there. They shouldn't be worried about her.

A long pause followed. One where her heart warred with her mind. The former begged her to reveal everything, to unburden what she had carried for so long. The latter clouded her thoughts with nothing but darkness.

That was it.

Nothing but darkness.

"There's a strange darkness in my mind." She began, taking her hand back from Aang and staring into the fire once more. "Growing up I've seen dark before, but not like this. Never like this." She shook her head almost desperately, as if trying to get rid of whatever plagued her mind.

"I don't know what it is, but I know the source of it." A hand on her shoulder had her flinching, but she continued. "Its the knowledge that my s-soul-soulm-ate betrayed me."

Her very voice tripped on the word, the syllables heavy on her tongue.

"Your soulmate?" Katara gasped from beside her. Orora nodded. "Aang knows who he is, but I asked him to keep it a secret." She added, lest the other three tell him off for not telling them.

A pause once more, before Sokka spoke. "Who's your soulmate Orora?"

Another beat of silence.

"Prince Zuko."

Deathly silence, even the creatures of the night seemed to have gone into shock.

Katara and Sokka looked to Aang behind Orora's head, to see him nod in confirmation, his lips pressed in a thin line. Where they had been standing, Sokka and Toph sat down, forming something of a circle around Orora.

Reaching out, Katara gently took the older girl's hand and began to stroke the soft skin. "Tell us everything." She encouraged.

And so, within the comfort of her new family, Orora began to recount the whole tale.

She told them everything, and as she did each memory seemed to play out in the fire crackling in front of her. The young waterbender left out no detail, spilling what had been festering within her for so so long.

Every moment shared.

Every word spoken.

Every glare they exchanged.

Every fight they had.

Every realization she made about him.

Every time he showed the humanity in him.

Every time the trust between them grew.

Every time she would set him straight.

Every smile.

Every secret he confided in her.

Every laugh.

Every time he helped her.

Every tear.

Every time he comforted her.

Every fear.

Every time she comforted him.

Every insecurity.

Every hope that was born based on everything that happened.

Every embrace.

Everything.

She spoke until she had nothing left to say.

Until her throat felt raw from talking for so long after such a lengthy bout of silence.

"But in the end, none of it mattered." She whispered. "Because he betrayed me. He betrayed his Uncle. But that wasn't what hurt me the most." She let out a airy laugh of disbelief.

"What hurt me the most was that he betrayed himself." All four listeners looked at each other in surprise. "He went back to the people who hurt him, because he wanted his old life back, and in doing so, he betrayed himself."

Another laugh, this one broken in place as she pressed the heal of her palm against her forehead. "And that hurt more then anything. More then the fact that he betrayed me. That I couldn't do anything. That I wasn't enough for him." Another laugh that echoed across the water. "Me. His soulmate. I wasn't enough for him. How foolish and naive does one have to be to believe in that?"

Finally she looked up from the fire, her eyes burning with several emotions that none of them could identify.

"You weren't naive or foolish Orora." Aang finally spoke. "You did what any other soulmate would do when they meet their other half." His grey eyes flickered towards his own soulmate for a brief second. "You hoped, and that is neither naive nor foolish."

Letting out a growl of frustration, the girl stood up, moving to walk around the fire so she could stand in front of the edge of the Spring. "And what good did that bring me?" She asked, no demanded to know as she rounded back on all of them.

"Only heartbreak and a lesson that having a soulmate is nothing but torture." Whatever emotions she was feeling in that moment seemed to overflow from her very being. The water behind her trembled.

"I mean, Toph will never be able to know who her soulmate is because she can't see her string." The girl in question looked on sadly at her older heartbroken sister.

"Your soulmate turned into the moon Sokka, you can never be with her only watch from far away and wander what might have been." Sokka's eyes flickered to the moon as it shone just behind his raging sister.

She fell silent as her blue gaze flickered between Katara and Aang. Despite the plethora of emotions she was feeling, she would never betray the trust they had in her.

"Its just.......its just........." She raised her clenched hands to the side of her head for a brief moment. "Despite everything he did, I miss him. I miss him so much that I can barely breath." On of her hands dropped to her chest where her heart raged within. "I'm just numb. I thought I was building a new life, a better life. With him. How could I be such a fool?" The surface of the water behind her began to move, creating small ripples that lapped against the bank where she stood. With every word she spoke her vice began to grow in volume.

"And yet I grieve for the life I knew with him." The waves grew a little more. "I would've followed him anywhere, but he's gone to a place I can never........"

That strange feeling in her throat intensified and her eyes pricked, growing hotter by the second. But she continued.

"This grief that I feel." Her voice began to reach a crescendo. "It's pulling me down." Every eye was trained behind her where the water trembled. "And I don't know how to fight against it anymore!" She screamed.

Her arms came swinging to her sides in a wide arc.

And the water behind her rose in a giant tidal wave. Only to transform into huge spikes of ice and freeze in place.

Orora was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling. There was an almost desperate look in her eyes as she looked from one pair of eyes to the other. The feeling in her throat intensified, and an ache began to form in her chest. Overwhelmed, the girl fell to her knees.

"Your heart just skipped a beat again." Toph called, as all of them quickly moved to surround her. Orora clutched at her throat, her breathing coming out in ragged pants as she turned her panic filled eyes to Sokka.

Suddenly he understood.

Reaching out he grasped her by the shoulders.

"Orora, you have to let go." He urged her. "After Yue, I tried to hold it all in too. And I did for a while, but its not a good thing. Holding back is never a good thing."

She stared at him.

"Just......" He reached up to brush something from the corner of her eye. Something wet. A tear?

"Let go."

A sniffle echoed against the icy wall she had just created. Her entire body trembled. Her eyes grew hotter as she squeezed them shut.

That strange feeling in her throat rose up and escaped from between her lips in the form of a cry that echoed with the utter heartbreak she had been experiencing for the past three weeks.

And for the first time in her life, Orora cried.

She cried with her heart, her body, her mind, her voice, her eyes, her very soul.

She cried and cried, loud sobs wrenching from her fragile body. Katara was the first one to gather her in her arms and hold her, just like Orora had held her all those weeks ago when Aang had been in a coma. Tears pricked her own eyes as she listened to the girl sob over the loss and betrayal that she had kept to herself for so long.

Sokka, Aang and Toph joined the embrace at the same time. Their arms wrapped around Orora, the older sister they had so sorely needed. That they had lacked in their family. They would stand by her, just as she had stood by them. And after so long of barely any reaction from her, seeing her finally release all those emotions was a comfort.

Behind them the icy wall slowly dissipated, the water melting away into the Spring. With every passing second, the trembling in her body subsided, and her sobs began to quieten, her breath slowly evening out.

Until finally, after a night that seemed to have lasted an eternity, it all ended.

And Orora, in the comfort of her family's embrace, fell asleep.

And this time, she did not dream.

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Amber eyes widened at the sight.

There she was, standing in the moonlight once more. But this time, she wasn't looking at him in that disappointed manner, nor was she berating him or even speaking to him.

No, she simply stood there, looking at him with tears streaming down her cheeks.

During the whole time he had known her, Zuko had never seen her cry.

Be sad yes, but never cry.

Yet there she was. Crying and looking so utterly heartbroken that it broke his heart all over again.

"Orora?" He called out, stepping forward, hand raised as if to reach out and touch her.

"Why're you.....?" The words died in his throat as she continued to sob silently. Not a single sound escaped her.

Slowly, she raised her hand, her finger pointing towards him.

Zuko stared at her wide eyed as the realization settled in his chest, so heavy that it actually physically hurt him.

Him.

She was crying because of him.

Shame colored his tone, and tears pricked his own eyes as he stepped forward. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry Orora, I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry." He called out to her.

He wanted to reach out to her, touch her, comfort her like she had done him so many many times.

But he couldn't.

She was nothing but a mirage his mind had conjured.

Nothing but an illusion.

And while Zuko was being tortured by how own mind, a certain knife-wielding girl stood in the shadows, watching the Prince with narrowed eyes.

Watching as he spoke to someone who was not there.

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azulas-lightning-bolt · 2 months

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sooo I’m insane about mako right. well. well ho hum well do you remember the other ball of repressed rage firebending member of team avatar.

yeah so imagine the timeline gets switched up a bit. aang (sorry aang ily but it’s for the plot) dies a lot earlier so the gaang is all in their early thirties late twenties when the krew start to be born. none of the major plot events are going to really change (gaang will be atla white lotus age by canon, almost 60s) and rc has for the most part been established.

boom around ten-fifteen years later they’re all around fourties. the krew is in the ten-fifteen y/o age range—korra’s training in the compound, asami is being groomed into a businessgirl, but yk what that means for my favorite bending brothers? the streets.

the gaang minus aang are still active and about (sokka is alive Because) so it’s zuko’s turn to help toph run the underbelly of rc. she always gripes that she’s doing fine in her old age (she’s like,, 38) and they can just leave her alone with the damned city to rot (she mostly hates her job. only reason she sticks with it is because it’s a sort of backwards way to take care of su and lin*. if the city streets are safe, there’s no reason not to let them off free) but of course the gaang has a rotation anyway. they try to stay sort of in contact after ending a hundred year war together because that’s kind of big.

*by the way sokka is not their dad. they were made in a terrarium because toph Built kids out of boredom and aang gave them bending as a joke and they just. grew. became alive. idk it seems more in character than toph having kids the normal way.

so anyway zuko is out patrolling. he’s on gang-spotting duty, so basically toph has the aging fire lord running around after guys who graffiti gang signs on walls and Politely Asking where their hideout is. today he happens to stumble upon an inter-gang scuffle. it’s pretty typical, and he’s moving to stop it when—boom, lightning and screaming. now, it was mostly thanks to his (and a reformed azula, because she will be getting in here somehow) efforts that lightningbending masters took hold and spread the subbending more commonly, but it’s still not typical to see it in poorer areas. yet there’s one person with a gang rumored to have it—you guessed it, zolt!

so zuko goes chasing after the source of the lightning, thinking toph is gonna be so happy she won’t punch him for a week and keep her griping to a minimum once he brings in one of the biggest thorns on her side.

but it’s not zolt he’s chasing. it’s twelve year old mako, scared shitless that the firelord is chasing him down and nowhere near fast enough to outrun him or hide. none of zolt’s cronies are dumb enough to try and bail him, he knows, but he also doesn’t want to leave bolin waiting on a dead brother.

zuko catches him, baffled that ‘zolt’ is so small. mako says nasty shit (because in best impression of 12 y/o mako voice : royalty. You are the 1% that makes Us like this) trying to wriggle free, revealing himself as definitely not zolt.

Zuko stares at this grimy, angry little twelve year old with old, peeling burn scars (I’ll make a post soon about the scars he definitely has from like,, everything) and fresher lightning scars and is like,, hmm. tiny angry firebending child with scars and likely insurmountable levels of trauma=me as a child who just needed some guidance and turned out fine (not really but it’s the thought that counts)

and then he uses his brain really hard and decides he will give tiny angry firebending child with scars and likely insurmountable levels of trauma guidance. so mako gets picked up by the scruff and is dragged, kicking and screaming, by the firelord to the police station.

toph hears a child shrieking and is immediately like no. get it away. out of my police station NOW. and mako is like YES get me out of her police station NOW. and they have a moment of commiserating mako’s presence in the police station together.

but then zuko is like what if we gave him Guidance. toph says bring that bullshit to katara and gtfo. cue lin and su, annoyed teenagers/young adults around canon krew’s ages for highest potential siblingism. btw the beifong relationships are much better in this. su is immediately like. can we keep him mom please. lin agrees with toph and wants it OUT she just started working here and tenzin’s yapping about kids does not need to follow her to the bullpen.

mako is put into police custody (su drags him around with her and watches him overnight). he wheedles her into finding bolin and becomes much more agreeable when he has his brother to hold in a death grip. when asked to separate, he threatens multiple creative methods of murder.

this got really out of hand but the idea is that katara and sokka side with zuko and they all gang up on toph, who somehow caves and agrees to let zuko give Guidance to tiny angry firebending child with scars and likely insurmountable levels of trauma. she forces bolin on suyin but she doesn’t mind too much, shoving metalbending down his throat.

korra meets them earlier on, finally having some friends her age! they’re all really really weird though so none of them are well adjusted when korra finally runs away to rc (they follow her everywhere). how terrible. but mako and bolin are like 5000x stronger without even trying and they also have money.

all three teenage freaks meet asami (who is immediately endeared by their weird asses), shit goes down, but this time featuring nebulously-father zuko, favorite person-without-title-but-probably-scary-aunt azula definitely mom-adjacent katara, weirduncle sokka, toph who goes to the swamp whenever she wants because lin is basically chief of police already and big sisters lin, su, kya and izumi. also featuring cousin-ish iroh II and long distance/reluctant (respectively) older brothers bumi and tenzin.

I believe both mako and bolin, if possible, would be considerably more batshit insane considering who they were raised by, but also more calculated on mako’s part because azula absolutely got her time in with him. I think katara would’ve taught them, for an absolute worst case scenario, how to handle bloodbending, so they would’ve wiped amon. I think mako, considering azula, definitely wanted the kill with that lightning on amon but, considering azula, knew it would only turn him into a martyr for the equalists to rally behind without exposing him first.

also puppy love makorra in the compound. then korrasami in rc because pretty girl with a bike but then ‘sorry I kind of have a crush on your childhood best friend korra but I’m still in love with you’ ‘WOAH sick really? same lol.’ ‘we should all kiss.’ then makorrasami!!!!

so yeah I totally lost my train of thought but that’s like. generally it(?)

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oneatlatime · 5 months

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The Earth King

As always, commentary off.

No. Sokka. No. Stop. This is your stupidest idea yet. I want to LEAVE Ba Sing Se.

Sokka. Listen to your sister. And your other sister.

Toph embodying my will manifested on screen.

What makes you think the Earth King is going to listen to four teens and their fluffy dog? When I put it that way, this is Scooby Doo. Scooby Doo plus Momo. Does that make Momo Scrappy Doo?

We're going back to Ba Sing Se. Great. Yay. I'm so excited.

It is rapidly becoming apparent that Sokka has lost his mind.

Surface to air rocks is funny. I'll give it to them, that's good.

This fight scene music is fantastic.

Aang took a level in badass at some point without my noticing.

I know these hats are inspired by real historical hats, and so I really shouldn't make fun, but these look like the lovechild of a toilet brush and a feather duster.

This fight is majority Toph and Katara. RIP the egos of these several hundred Earth Kingdom soldiers.

Please ensure your fluffy little butt is securely stored in the overhead bins before takeoff.

There's no way these guys are still alive. This is what was done to Jet, doubled. They dead.

The girl who doesn't even want to be here is doing all the work. Typical.

My congratulations to Toph, Katara, and Aang for demolishing an army without breaking a sweat. If only season 1 Katara could see you guys now.

I said in my previous write up that Zuko doing something good always comes back to bite him. I didn't mean it this literally. Did he have to take the jug out with him, or was that for the drama?

Good job guys!

Soka steals my job and points out the fulfillment of the Beat Up Sokka quota.

His earthiness has an interesting set of priorities.

So... is this episode just going to be talking?

He brainwashed your friend? Did you miss that he killed him too?

I said in my last write up that Long Feng was Avatar's first competent villain, but the tone he takes with the Earth King is so unsubtle that I'm thinking of rescinding that claim. Unless the King is so dumb that subtlety isn't required?

Toothprints. Sokka the idea guy coming in clutch. Too bad his brain wasn't engaged at the start of the episode.

Appa is a herbivore. Confirmed. Although he should have fangs for aesthetic reasons. Fanged Appa would be metal.

This king is a confusing mixture of endearing and infuriating.

No mere fever will prevent me from doing mundane actions in the most dramatic way possible!

Way back in the 90s there was a print ad for Chevy trucks that I remember seeing in magazines. It had a shirtless guy in jeans sitting on the bed of his truck in a field, pouring a bucket of water over himself. It was kind of at sunset and had a very late summer vibe. I had completely forgotten about it until I saw Zuko's bucket shenanigans in this scene, at which point I was abruptly -ABRUPTLY- reminded of how much time little me spent staring at that ad.

OH MY GOD. The King doesn't know about trains!!! BLASPHEMY.

Huh. So the King isn't stupid, he's just horrifically naive.

Positive attitude Sokka is kind of frightening. I do not like.

If I told this King that I had a bunch of puppies in my windowless van, he would totally fall for it. So much about the Earth Kingdom suddenly makes sense.

That one guard is having a doozy of a day.

Did the King just show a smidge of self-awareness? Wasn't expecting that.

Who is this? I have no idea who this is. I didn't realise how integral the scar was to the character's design. Give it back.

Yikes. A bunch of shmymbolism. I suck epically at decoding shmymbolism unless it's really spoon fed to me, so I'm not even going to try to understand this dream beyond 'poor guy has a really bad fever.'

Has anyone seen the Spencer Tracy movie Father of the Bride? There's a bit where he has a dream that the floor on the way to the altar does pretty much exactly this. Hungry floors must be a common dream experience.

Pretty.

If the King is really this completely ignorant of the war, who's been directing the army?

It's pretty neat that Sokka is the spokesperson of Team Avatar, and that no one disputes that.

Aang says "there's a comet coming this summer," but I heard "comic" and I know they made tie in comics for the show, so I was like "ooh a crossover episode!"

"You're already vulnerable. The Fire Nation won't stop until the Southern Water Tribe falls. You can either sit back and wait for that to happen, or take the offensive, and give yourself a fighting chance." -Sokka's dad speaking to the men of the Southern Water Tribe, while his son listens perhaps a bit too closely.

If the King really was completely in the dark about the war, how does he even know who the General is? Did Long Feng have the power to keep the General from mentioning the war?

"Your majesty I'm General How, head of the Council of Five." "What's that?" "It's in charge of your army." "Right. And what's the army up to these days?" ... " ...I planted a lovely tomato garden this year."

I love that earthbenders don't wear shoes, and that it's culturally normal. Makes an intriguing visual contrast to their fancy duds.

I have GOT to know what Mushi the teamaker's secret file says.

Toph can't read guys.

Sokka, Katara, I get it. You miss home too. But how would anyone at all from your tribe know to send a message for you to Ba Sing Se? Last time you all touched base, you were headed to the Northern Water Tribe. And those guys sent you off to Omashu, not Ba Sing Se.

Nitpick time! Katara starts reading the text of this letter out loud before she unrolls it.

Katara's voice acting while she's reading the letter is sweet. She's so excited.

Iroh. Priorities. Tea can wait.

"Huh? What's happening?" "You huffed a bit too much cave slime under Lake Laogai. Just ride it out."

This vase is lit like a main character.

"You're going through a metamorphosis my nephew." Iroh, he's a bit too old for that talk. Hang on I just realised that Zuko went through puberty on that ship. I bet that was rough.

I don't trust this. This news is all too good.

Aang referring to them all as "the family" hurts a little bit.

It is unbearably sweet to let Sokka go see their dad while Katara helps the Earth Kingdom plan, but Katara sucks at planning. Then again, the Earth Kingdom sucks in general, so maybe having a sucky planner will be a net improvement?

Either way it's good little sister content.

But there are six Kyoshi warriors. I counted in Appa's Lost Days.

Oh they didn't

Attack hug!

Airbender Zuko is a very effective jumpscare. Don't blame him for freaking out.

You know it's bad when finding the scar intact comes as a relief.

Nope. Don't trust it.

Fuck this guy.

Long Feng even eats rocks maliciously.

Fuck these guys.

Oh they did. Fuck these guys.

Final Thoughts

And just like that, it all went to shit. Or it will.

I was braced to be annoyed by how conveniently quickly the Earth King got with the program, but it actually fits well into the rest of the episode. Instead of a thing that goes improbably well, it's the one thing that goes right in episode filled with set up for everything falling apart. That bothers me less.

This episode was actually fun. At least until the end. It was mostly talking and Zuko on a bad trip. But it was win after win for everyone but my Ba Sing Se hating self, and it's always good to see your favourites having a good day. But! I have a glimmer of hope! So long as Sokka and Aang aren't completely written out until they return to Ba Sing Se, at some point I'll get some episodes outside of the city. And I have Appa back, so things aren't too bad in the grand scheme of things. I wonder that Appa wasn't upset at having all his people back for five minutes then having them split up again.

I do not like positive thinking Sokka, and I especially don't like that I have no idea where he came from. That point wasn't set up at all. I want my baby cynic back.

If letting Appa go was enough to trigger Zuko's morality crisis to the point of physical illness, why didn't letting Aang go in The Blue Spirit, or choosing to chase after Iroh rather than the Gaang in The Winter Solstice Part 1, cause a similar illness? What is different about this time?

Toph was once again the voice of reason in this episode, or rather my personal audience insert. Although it did surprise me how excited she was to see her mom. I thought that sending bounty hunters after their own daughter was kind of unforgivable, but either Toph doesn't know, or she's a more forgiving person than I am.

I realise now that this should have occurred to me when I watched Appa's Lost Days, but what idiot didn't take the Danger Ladies into custody when the Drill was stopped? btw I keep calling them the PowerPuff Girls in my head.

This episode was simultaneously a finale to a lot of threads and an introduction to a lot more. It was a chance to breathe between crossing the finish line of the 'find Appa' quest and starting the 'season finale' quest. It was also structured backwards. The big fight was like six minutes in. The 'what are we doing this episode?' was one of the last scenes. But it still works. I'll be interested to see what I think of this one when I rewatch it. It was such an info dump that I wonder if my opinion of it will be different once I watch it with all of the relevant facts known to me already. Either I'll appreciate the episode's other parts like the comedy, or I'll be bored. We'll see.

Two episodes left this season! I don't think I'll be getting to those before next year. See you all in 2024! (time needs to slow way down)

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #the earth king

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balanceoflightanddark · 6 months

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What if this happened?

Azula and Zuko manage to capture the avatar right after Katara quickly healed him while still in Ba Sing Se. The gaang were forced to leave without Aang, altering the day of black sun plan into a rescue mission.

Until the end of "Day of black sun pt 2", Aang is stuck as Azula's prisoner. As the main character, Aang would still have the most screen time but it gets shared with Azula and he spends the most time with her.

What do you think will happen between them? What could "The Beach" episode look like with Aang in it?

Well, this is an interesting ask.

The first most definite thing I can say is whether or not Azula and Zuko know that Aang is alive. I would wager they would capture his body which might not necessarily be conscious to show that the Avatar is indeed dead. Naturally, this could lead to a nightmarish scenario like at the start of Book 3 where Aang wakes up on a Fire Nation ship, only for it to be under the control of the Fire Nation instead of being captured.

Course, I wouldn't imagine Aang's initial escape attempt being too successful given that he just recovered from being shot in the back. Azula and Zuko would still be able to hold him till he gets to the Fire Nation where Ozai...I doubt Aang is going to be kept in good condition since killing him would just cause the Avatar to reincarnate. Therefore, I could see Ozai keeping him in torturous conditions not unlike what Zhao put him through in Book 1. Alive, but unable to do anything. Might even give Azula the "honor" of watching him since Zuko has returned to become the Crown Prince.

But let's assume that Aang is able to try and make an escape attempt a few times. I mean let's face it, he's not exactly someone who's easy to keep down. I could see Azula wanting to keep his escape attempts under wraps so Ozai's wrath would not directed towards her. Now here's where things get interesting. She starts noticing that Aang is avoiding killing anyone, isn't going into the Avatar State, and overall isn't acting like what the Avatar is expected to act like by the Fire Nation (which we can get some interesting worldbuilding by seeing how they view the Avatar from their perspective).

If we go down this avenue of thought, Azula might assume that putting the Avatar in torturous conditions isn't working since he keeps trying to break out. What she might feel work better is if he was broken mentally so he simply wouldn't have the will to fight. To this end, she might give him better conditions that are less torturous, but she'll try to break him by passing stories about his friends dying or being captured or something. Make it clear that he can escape, but break his will to fight. Maybe have daily "chats" taunting him.

Now here's where things get interesting: Aang won't break. He knows Azula's lying to break him...but in the process, she inadvertently starts letting him know about her upbringing by divulging what her worldview is. Maybe even starts to feel a bit sorry for her than anything. I mean he did feel bad for Zuko even when the latter was trying to kill him, so it's completely in the realm of possibility. Which in turn befuddles Azula since everything she does to break him doesn't work, and she knows he's sympathizing with her.

Which leads to the Ember Island. This could be Azula's last chance at breaking Aang, showing how pathetic he is for sympathizing with a monster and not even attempting to escape when he has a chance. It backfires since Aang knows enough that Azula is NOT a monster, and tells her this. And the reason he doesn't want to escape is because he's afraid that Ozai's going to come after her for letting him escape (which isn't out of the question since Ozai is becoming more and more frustrated with Azula's lack of progress). As badly as he wants to escape, he doesn't want anyone else to suffer on his hands. Not even Azula.

Now here you can go a few routes. For me, Aang would eventually escape once he realizes that Azula won't budge. But he times it during a time where her back is turned, like the Day of the Black Sun so there's a reason for why her security is lax. Or he comes into contact with the rest of the Gaang and he escapes during the Black Sun Invasion so as to make it look like a rescue instead of incompetence on Azula's part. Either way, I do feel that Aang would advocate for mercy on behalf for Azula or at least make sure she doesn't rot someplace after Sozin's Comet. Azula would obviously assume that Aang abandoned her like everyone else, but Aang coming back and telling her the truth would give her a bit of a mental safety net and possibly lead to the road for recovery.

All in all, this was a good ask. You can do a lot with this, either go Azulaang, worldbuild for the Fire Nation, humanize Azula to Aang, maybe cause Aang to form a rift with Zuko or Iroh due to their differing opinions on Azula. You can do something with this given the ideas I just pointed out.

#princess azula #azula #aang #avatar aang #atla #atla ask #azulaang #azula x aang #aang x azula #not really #but there you go #anon ask #ask answered #ask me anything

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aangarchy · 2 months

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Netflix atla live action review ep 7-8

Home stretch baby. I figured since i love the source material i should just be able to enjoy it, or at least be entertained by it somewhat. But even that was just not possible. I pirated it after the first three episodes just bc i didn't want to give netflix the satisfaction of a view.

It's not so much the acting, the costumes or even the bad/mediocre cgi, it's the writing. It's an absolute shitshow, a mess of the highest caliber. For someone who claims to love the source material, it really seems like Albert Kim didn't understand why a lot of the things in the original worked the way they did. Things that are important for character growth got removed, and lore that we normally don't see til later on in the show (or even in a completely different story within this universe!!) got crammed in. For no good reason too bc it doesn't really add anything, just gives us another obstacle or useless exposition that's supposed to explain another useless thing they added.

Both of the last episodes take place in the north pole. This makes sense somewhat because in the original all three of the last episodes took place there. The reason they did this in the original is to have room for all of the stories that still need to take place (pakku, zuko, spirit world, koh, waterbending training, sokka and yue etc.) However in this version, even though minutes wise we have more time, we have less story. Like way less. Also episode 7 proportionally is much shorter than 8 and it really gives issues with pacing.

Let's start with what annoyed me most. Where is the waterbending training? Where is it? The season's title is Water and Aang bent ZERO water this entire season unless he was in the avatar state. Katara "trains" yes, but it's mostly practicing moves she found on the scroll (which gran gran just gave to her? Why didn't this woman give it to her sooner???). She gets NO guidance from anyone, and the way she gets better at bending each time is because a BOY told her encouraging things. A BOY. In the OG we get Pakku saying "raw talent alone is not enough", which makes sense because bending in this universe is an extension of martial arts, and you have to train to become good at martial arts. This LA show however treated bending like a magic power, basically giving some mumbo jumbo about balance and a clear head and think of the people you love to become a better bender. And while yes, your mental headspace also is important (as highlighted in the original where zuko couldn't bend anymore bc he had no aggression left) it wasn't the only factor, it wasn't even the main factor.

When we arrive at the North Pole, Pakku and the chief of the North both expect Aang to help with battle strategy in order to stop the attack bc they're already aware it's coming. Aang tells them he doesn't really know how (wtf were they even expecting it mean that is a whole 12yr old) and they turn away going "guess we can't count on the avatar" like? Dude?? If they have such good intel that they already know the fire nation is preparing an attack, and that the Avatar is alive, how tf did you not hear that the Avatar is also 12 years old and far from a master of the four elements? Idk this weirded me out.

They removed the deserter episode, which means Aang doesn't renounce firebending, which means we get no storyline of Aang dealing with his conflicted feelings surrounding firebending because fire gives life, not just destruction. Katara also doesn't find out she can heal naturally. We just get told that healing is just a thing all waterbenders can do if they train for it. Katara's necklace has no significance at all in the story currently. Yugoda doesn't recognize that Katara is Kanna's granddaughter. Katara's gran gran being from the north originally doesn't play part in the story at all. Katara doesn't even once utter the words "this necklace used to be my mother's". Idk why that bothers me so much but it does. They also removed her rage at not being allowed to fight. Sure this show's Katara also goes to fight Pakku, but literally everytime she speaks she just sounds reasonable. She fights him not because she's So Enraged at not being allowed to become the master she's meant to be, but because the script demands it. She says it so matter of factly too. She's like a mellowed out shell of who Katara is supposed to be. I feel like this overall for her character in this show btw. I don't blame Kiawentiio bc i saw clips of her performance in other works (anne with an e notably) and she's good. This genuinely just seems like poor writing and directing. They removed all of Katara's passion. She's not warm, she's not feisty, she's not angry, she's not nurturing, she's also not flawed at all. I hate to say it but in this version she's giving Mary Sue, especially bc she just learns waterbending on her own, and then gets called a master out of nowhere. That's not how that's supposed to work. You're supposed to earn the term master.

Let's talk about Yue. Amber Midthunder is a great actress, but damn, that wig. Their budget was over 100 million dollars and yet they couldn't give my girl a lace front? Her wig was so structured and stiff, and if it were any other context like cosplay or a drag show this would have been perfect. Now it just looked really unnatural and instead of the hair being platinum it was gray. Yue's character got given more to do here. They changed the story to have her break her own engagement, but it's implied that the reason she did this is bc she met Sokka in the spirit world and... fell in love? Idk it was a bit weird. Both Suki and Yue were inexplicably entranced with Sokka. In the OG it's implied that Yue likes Sokka bc he's so different from the boys in the north, kind of like a city girl falling in love with a country boy. But here it feels different, he doesn't stand out at all compared to the other boys, and Hahn isn't a dickhead like the OG. I will say i like that Yue is a stronger character here. She takes charge of her own destiny and she is the one to realize that she can save the moon spirit, and wasn't told by someone else that she could do it. I am confused by them making her a waterbender, but i'm not mad at that change per se. I liked her sacrifice scene, her own acting was great. Sokka however... i genuinely burst out laughing, like so loud. The zoom in on his face, the expression, it was too much and too little at once. Overall, Yue's story was okay. Was it better than the original? Debatable. But it wasn't bad and that's a win.

We get Avatar Kuruk way earlier than we originally got him. I'm still kind of confused about the whole "you can talk to past Avatars but only in their shrine with their statue" thing, because if that's the case how in the hell is Aang ever gonna ask advice from Roku (or Kyoshi, since the writers clearly have a bias towards her and want to make her the main Avatar guide ig) without having to travel all the way to the shrine? Can they only talk in the one specific shrine or can we take a miniature set of Avatar action figures with us just in case we ever need advice? Also this lore abt the shrines and statues is flawed at best bc later on Kuruk shows up for Aang during the fight, while they're not present at the shrine. Either way, Kuruk was far from the go with the flow Avatar he was characterized as in the original. I know that we got some insight into Kuruk's story in the Kyoshi novels, and turns out it's a lot darker than expected, but Kuruk never let that change his character. He always remained chill, or at least kept up the facade, and i don't think OG Kuruk would be the type of man that is angry about how his life turned out. In this version, Kuruk is this scared, mean, bitter man who is really unsatisfied with his destiny, which he lashed out at Aang for. He seemed really angry at Aang to for no good reason. We're also not supposed to know this part about Kuruk's life yet. It's too much information and de waste time learning about his life story, the only reason we learn it in the first place is to explain the Special Spirit Killing Knife. Also the actor for Kuruk.... yikes bro. Idk which hallmark movie they pulled him from but he and his stupid polar bear hat looked like ass the whole time.

So there's this weird part about Kuruk having a Special Knife that is able to kill spirits. Idk if this is a thing from the Kyoshi novels that also made it into this show bc truth be told i haven't made it far into those novels yet at all, but it was strange to me. Somehow Zhao has this knife. We don't know how he ended up getting it (did the fire sage give it to him? I didn't see it but i might have missed it) and we pretend that this is the Only Thing that can kill spirits even when the spirits are mortal. Doesn't that negate the fact that the spirits are mortal, if they can only be killed by a Special Knife? Also there's this weird convoluted part about how the spirits actually live in the spirit world and only cross to the physical world once every ice moon to know what it feels like to be "mortal" and choose a different "mortal" form each time and this time they happened to be fish. But still, they can Only Be Killed By The Special Knife. Huh? What's the purpose of this added extra lore? I saw someone say the underlying point is that it shouldn't be this easy to kill spirits but.... that's the whole idea behind the Ocean and Moon spirits having permanent mortal forms? Them being mortal and choosing a form as insignificant as a fish, constantly circling each other to represent the precarious balance between Ocean and Moon, a balance that can be thrown off very easily. The whole point was that they're fragile so why add all this extra exposition for no reason? Why make the spirits harder to kill if in the end you're still just gonna have a guy stabbing a wet bag and not some rough spirit killing battle?

Zhao also just gets told by the fire sage that killing the moon is a thing he can do. I don't like what this changes about Zhao's character. Zhao is supposed to be this cunning man. He's scary, determined, strategically inclined, but alas overconfident and willing to go too far which ends up being his downfall. His ambition is what led him to do his own research by visiting a spirit library to find any weakness he could potentially exploit, and that's precisely what he found. In the original, Zhao always fought for his own career. His own accomplishments got him the tools to try and beat Zuko in the Avatar race. But in this version, Zhao just keeps getting handed things. He's a slippery snake that plays friends with Zuko and then tries to steal the glory from under his nose. He gets handed the archers, he gets handed the information on the moon spirit, he gets handed a war balloon (which completely ruins the surprise of the fire nation suddenly having air power at the invasion), and he gets helped by Azula of all people. It makes him look a bit chumpy in this story, and it really worsens his villain qualities.

On a completely other note, this LA seems to have a thing for making adults yell at a 12yr old Avatar for leaving the world behind, and it doesn't make any sense, because in this story Aang left on Appa for a joyride to clear his head. Aang didn't purposely leave. He had every intention of returning after an hour. Yet every adult in this show, even the past Avatars that know damn well Aang didn't flee from his responsibilities, yells at him bc he accidentally got encased in ice. And somehow this Aang gets made to feel worse about it than OG Aang even though he deserves it way less bc this Aang didn't actually run away! I don't like what this changes about Aang's character. In the OG, Aang has one fatal character flaw and that's avoiding responsibility. He runs away, and has problems with taking accountability for what his actions cost the world. He goofs around, plays games and likes to have fun to avoid having to face his destiny, all while carrying the guilt and blame for the century war. It's a huge part of Aang's character journey. The guilt he feels isn't misplaced bc Aang knows he ran off, and he knows that the world is in its current state because of his decision. In the end he takes responsibility by showing up to the fight with Ozai alone. In this LA, even though by all means Aang shouldn't feel responsible, he ends up taking responsibility right away. He goes to Kyoshi Island, not to goof around and ride giant koi, but because he knows he can talk to Kyoshi there. Kyoshi yells at him for leaving (again, why? She knows he didn't run away) and gives him a vision about the watertribe getting destroyed. Instead of panicking about it (like OG Aang did after finding out abt the comet) he just accepts that he needs to go and help. And while this Aang does get to have fun moments (i especially loved how in the first episode he sees playing watertribe children and immediately joins them, that was quintessential Aang), he just seems very down and serious a lot of the time. He's scared of people getting hurt and is very worried abt the safety of his friends to the point where he agrees with Pakku and tells Katara she shouldn't fight. It's not Aang at all bc OG Aang was rooting for Katara when she fought Pakku. To sum it up: i think the casting for Aang was perfect. A cute southeast asian skater kid that loves to have fun and genuinely just looked the part? Brilliant! I am genuinely not upset at Gordon's performance at all (although sometimes i wish he'd enunciate a bit better). But the writing messed up the character so much that i couldn't even feel the joy for having the perfect looking Aang. I will say Koifish Godzilla (Koizilla if you will) looked dope. What did confuse me abt the Koizilla scenes is that sometimes there was no music (which is a choice i often like bc it gives the scene extra gravitas) and then sometimes there was a majestic score playing in the back, like they couldn't choose how they were gonna execute it and just picked both. I know that's nitpicky but it bothered me nonetheless.

Speaking of Koizilla. Wtf was that thing they added about Aang "succumbing" to the ocean spirit and being "lost"? They didn't even explain it at all, but both Yue and Iroh talked about how Aang would be lost forever now. We don't get a why, we don't get a how. And "lost" is such a vague word for it too. Like would his spirit be lost and only his body remain? Would he be completely swallowed up by the ocean? Would he remain Koizilla, forever rampaging at the ice wall? They added this for extra tension i guess, but it doesn't really work when only minutes later Aang is able to return no problem bc Katara talked him out of it, so we don't even get to find out what "he'll be lost forever" means. Also: the scene with Katara talking Aang out of it was cute, but the execution was weird. Originally Katara gives this speech when Aang goes Avatar state at the southern airtemple. I like that they still kept Katara's speech to Aang bc it highlights their bond which is especially important for later on in the show, but I don't like how now Katara had to give this really heartfelt emotional speech to Aang in front of everyone else at the northern watertribe. It's supposed to be quite an intimate moment between her, Sokka and Aang as a new family, they're supposed to promise they won't let anyone harm him, which eventually calms him down. Here though Katara's just yelling these words at him in front of everyone and all the intimacy is gone. It also doesn't work as well bc we barely got any time of the gaang bonding. They spend episode 3-6 apart most of the time, so really they shouldn't feel this bond towards each other just yet. Because this LA removed a lot of the side adventures, we don't get the feeling that these kids have known each other for months.

Another thing they removed is Appa and Momo as characters. In the original they each get their own moments, we even got one whole episode with Appa as the main character (which won an award btw). Here though, Appa is solely used as a transportation animal and Momo... honestly i don't even remember what he does but i think it's mostly a small comedic bit? Also he hands the acorn to one of the characters. This is a bad change bc in these episodes Momo gets hurt so bad he nearly dies, and it has no emotional impact at all bc he's just an accessory in this story. I felt no emotional attachment to Momo and he just has no personality. I wonder how this choice is gonna play out when we get the kidnapped Appa story bc so far it's not looking good.

Anyway, for positives. I warmed up on Dallas's performance a lot, i wasn't that mad at Ian Ousley's performance and there were moments where he genuinely made me laugh. The cgi for the creatures was decent, but for the backgrounds it looked horrible. I liked that they showed how devastating the Seige of the North ended up being, with the unnamed kid and Hahn both dying. I liked the effect showing those two had on our main characters. I liked when Aang, Sokka and Katara all worked together taking out that one firenation ship. I liked the way they showed Sokka and Yue bonding. I really warmed up to the costumes as well, i still wish they dirtied it up a little to make them look less new.

There's probably some more positives but they're really minor compared to the negatives and also my brain is just done atp. I'm never gonna rewatch it for more analysis either bc i don't think i'll survive it lol. I might make another post abt my opinion on the show as a whole? Like an overall summary? Bc this shit is VERY long and i do apologize. If you made it this far, uhm. Thanks for caring abt my opinion so much that you sat down for like 10 minutes to read my angry yapping? I appreciate it.

Anyway bye

#avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar #natla #netflix live action #netflix atla #atla netflix #netflix #atla la #atla live action #natla review

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zvtara-was-never-canon · 1 month

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i'm not a zvtara shipper in any significant way, but sometimes i can't help but see aang as slightly hypocritical. i get that he managed to let go of katara in CoD, but i don't understand how exactly he let go of her but was still super into her in all of s3. what does "you need to let her go" even means? also, i get that he doesn't want to kill ozai at the end of the series, but what about the times he hurt people in ways that would result in deadly injuries? (i don't hold the end of S1 against him since he was being used as vessel by the ocean spirit, i'm mostly talking about the avalanche he caused on the northern air temple episode)

When Aang leaves the Guru, despite knowing he won't master the Avatar State at all if he left at that point, he did it because he literally ahd a vision of Katara being in danger. When he is letting go of his attachment in that season finale, he gives one last glance at Katara, who is in the middle of a battle, because he knows that the only way to truly help her would be to trust that she will be okay and focus on preventing the Fire Nation from winning.

On the episode "The Awakening", when Aang is panicking and wanting to reveal to the world that he is alive and fight the Fire Lord without a plan, he goes alone. On the day of the eclipse, he kisses Katara, but they go their separate ways in the battle, instead of him being close by in case she needs him.

The "learn to let her go" thing has NEVER been about him no longer being allowed to be in love with her, or even a close friend, and it was never a fully black and white issue either - that's why we see IROH, the guy who lost his son because he chose his quest for power over thinking as parent and thus keeping him away from the battlefield, telling Aang that he is right to choose love above everything. Why we have Katara be the one to literally bring Aang back from the dead. Why the Guru himself explicitly uses Aang's love for Katara as a way to make him strong enough to deal with the grief of losing his people, and why he says "Learn to let her go" not "Forget about her" (there's a reason the cliche of all cliche lines is "If you love someone, set them free" - attachment existing, by itself, it's not a bad thing, but holding onto it ALL the time can get toxic).

Hakoda let his children go when left to fight in the war, doesn't mean he no longer cares or shouldn't care. Iroh let Zuko go in book 3 because at that point he had understood that his nephew needed to follow his own path, doesn't mean he no longer cared or shouldn't have cared anymore. Why is Aang the only one being held to an absurd standard of "If you understood that you can't always be with the people you care about because you got other responsibilities besides just being their friend, that means you're supposed to never want them around even when that wouldn't negatively affect anything"?

As for Aang's supposed "fatal victims" - this is a cartoon that operates on cartoon physics. The Omashu slide/mail system on episode 5 should have left the heroes permanently paralyzed from waist/neck down, assuming they didn't full on die because the human body simply can't survive a fall like that. Firebenders don't burn themselves when practically holding the flame they're generating, nor when they literally breathe fire. We've seen some of the bad guys survive falling down from an airship and hitting the ocean, in full armor, and be completely unharmed.

The show had casualties - but it was always highlighted a fatal injury instead of glossing over it. There's a reason the showrunners were surprised fans ever thought there was even the slightest chance Jet had not died. In a world where people survive absurd stuff, the show suddenly changing the tune to go "Actually this one screwed over some people" is the ONE way to know there actually was a death, and these situations are still the exception, not the rule.

"Oh but Nichya, it was an avalanche!" yes, much like the one in Mulan - a cartoon that is famous for going "Ya know what, the bad guys didn't die despite being buried in the snow long enough that all the good guys left, and only after a major plot event." It's almost like animation does that kind of stuff all the time...

You can't apply real world logic/physics to a cartoon, and it's very weird that the fandom only feels like doing so in the explicit attempt to create a reason to hate on Aang because they don't like that a pacifist remained a pacifist.

#anti zutara #pro kataang #pro aang #aang deserved better #aang defense squad #respect aang or die by my sword

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burst-of-iridescent · 3 months

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atla live action thoughts: episode 6

SPOILERS AHEAD

tw: opinions

things i liked:

love the moment where roku tells aang friends can be a liability and you can see in his face that he's thinking of sozin

koh lore is interesting. funnily enough i've also written koh being the son of the mother of faces in a fic before so i see netflix has been hitting up ao3

(for legal reasons, that was a joke)

i like zhao forcing zuko to turn aang over more than him capturing aang with the yuyan archers himself like in the original. this 100% feels like something animated zhao would do and it really drives home how much of a disadvantage zuko's at. this is the dynamic i wanted to see between the two of them

lmao @ zhao wanting to get every detail of his capture of the avatar in writing, and aang blowing air at him to send him falling over himself. they pulled that right from the original and it's great

BLUE SPIRIT TIME BABY

this fight (well the parts of it that i can see) is SO GOOD. pretty sure it's almost a shot for shot remake of the original and zuko and aang are working together seamlessly

oh i fucking LOVE that zuko and aang are trapped together and get to talk. zuko smiling despite himself... aang trying so earnestly to get through to him... the way zuko actually seems to be listening to him before he hears the word compassion... chef's kiss this was an INSPIRED change

"do you think we could've been friends too?"

the transitions from younger, happier zuko to older, traumatized zuko are fucking painful. the one where he looks into the mirror to see his unscarred, smiling self for just a moment before it flashes to his present reality... next time just shoot me netflix

"he will recover" "but he will never heal"

young zuko lying in bed sobbing as he's banished by his own father what if i killed myself

HIS CREW BEING THE 41st DIVISION HE LOST EVERYTHING TO PROTECT whichever writer suggested that needs a raise posthaste

"our prince" who is cutting all of these fucking onions

things i disliked/am conflicted about:

this is where the show suffers as an adaptation, because if the animation didn't exist, the agni kai would've been fine. zuko trying to dodge, having the chance to hurt ozai yet actively choosing not to out of love, being beaten up, pinned down and brutally burned as he whimpers in fear - all of that works on its own. it conveys zuko's compassion and ozai's brutality just fine, but not to the level that the cartoon does. the scene is brutal in both versions but animated zuko not even trying to fight, sobbing and begging on his knees, and being maimed anyway just hits harder than the netflix version

not sure if i saw it right but it seemed as though there were tears in ozai and azula's eyes??? i can maybe see it for this version of azula but in no world would ozai be crying over burning zuko. it feels like they're trying to make this version of ozai more complex but he was FINE as a classic villain

that being said, i do like ozai holding zuko's hand to his heart as he burns him. the symbolism of zuko trying to reach for his father's love while ozai permanently brands his cruelty on his son... ate

i don't even like roku in the animation all that much but his presence has been weirdly reduced in the show, even though he's the avatar aang is closest to. aang having to take on the burden of redeeming roku's failure is a significant part of their dynamic and i want more of that

hollywood i'm begging you to shoot night scenes that people can see because parts of the blue spirit and aang fight sequence were so dark i looked like the squinting lady meme

i really wish we'd still gotten the moment in the storm where zuko saved the helmsman. i know they kinda replaced it with the crew realizing they were only alive because of zuko's sacrifice, but they could've done both to show how much zuko still cares, even if he can't show it

how are we 3/4th of the way into the season and aang is STILL ONLY BENDING AIR

overall rating: 9/10. definitely the best of the series so far and i love how they expanded on zuko's backstory and his relationship to aang

#atla live action

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galaxythreads · 3 months

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The live action ATLA is amazing. 9.5/10. I didn't love everything about it, but there are so so so so many good parts and I'm so glad that Netflix decided to make this. I've seen a lot of weird criticism from long time fans and maybe I just haven't been in the fandom long enough, but. I absolutely think it's worth giving a watch if you go in with a semi blank slate. The Netlfix series is not trying to be an exact scene by scene remake of the show.

The thing about it that you have to remember when you go in is that they said they were going to change the tone of the show, and they did, and it works! It's not the same. It's not a comedy. It's funny, but it's not a comedy. Character motivations were changed to fit the darker theme. It's using Avatar as source material and intends to be an adaption, not a reconstruction of the series.

Katara is much more traumatized about her mom's death, which made sense! She was murdered in front of her. She's afraid to take on a maternal role because of that. She's quieter and softer because she's afraid and she's healing from her mother's murder. Katara in the series made sense, too, but I feel like someone looked at her and went! Wait. Smol child is maybe...not okay??? I have faith they will build her up as the seasons progress if they continue.

Hakoda is disappointed in Sokka barely passing his trial. Makes sense! They're at war! Sokka has to take care of the village, of course Hakoda has high expectations for him. And the thing is--Hakoda still trusted Sokka with the responsibility of the village anyway, so his disappointment in Sokka's trial didn't stop his faith in his son. And honestly, I think it's fine that Hakoda is not a perfect parent who never makes mistakes. Parents rant about their kids to their friends all the time. It's healthy because they're not doing it in front of, or to, their kid. Hakoda didn't know Sokka was listening. So. Idk. Sokka doesn't go through his misogyny is bad actually arc, and while I missed it, I thought he functioned really well in this story without it. And for the record!!!! Sokka STILL makes stupid jokes the entire season. He didn't lose his sense of humor.

Aang feeling so much guilt about leaving? Yep! I can vibe with that. I missed his innocence and playfulness, but I feel like this wasn't a bad take on the character either. He was still playful, but in the world they live in, it would make sense that he feels terrible for leaving. And everyone they encounter takes it upon them to rub it in his face so why wouldn't he feel bad or out of place?? Especially after Bumi. Everyone says he needs to face this alone, and Aang learning that he doesn't have to?? Powerful!! Is it the same arc as s1 of the show? No! It's not supposed to be!

Zuko's actor was perfectly cast. That boy IS Zuko. The scence at the end of e6 made me cry because it was so powerful with the 41st, and that felt so EARNED after episodes of watching Zuko's crew despise him to suddenly realizing the only reason they're alive is because of him and realizing it's an honor to shelter him. Zuko drawing Aang to pin him on his disaster wall was amazing. Him getting hit by some random woman for attacking Aang? Amazing. Him sitting next to Iroh during Lu Ten's funeral? So soft. The Agni Kai really rubbed people the wrong way, but I think it was interesting that they decided to have Zuko showing compassion be the root of Ozai's anger. He showed compassion to the 41st, he shows compassion to his father, and when Ozai has defeated him, he has him on the ground and could walk away, and he chooses to burn his face. It's not exactly the same as the show, but again, it's not intending to be.

Azula being here was interesting. I don't know if I loved Zhao being incapable of doing anything without her, but it works for what it is. Zhao is intended to be annoying and he was! So. 10/10. She cried when Zuko got his scar! Ozai playing the long hand of terrible abusive tactics made me want to bite him. Because Ozai doesn't care about Zuko. He uh. Made that pretty clear when he banished him and then at the end when he's explicitly told Zuko might have died at Agna Qel'a and he's like ????????? Am I supposed to care??? We've gotten rid of weakness. So??? Like he used Zuko to force Azula to become more ruthless. He used Zuko to shape her. I do hope we get more exploration of Ty Lee and Mai so they aren't Faceless Blorb Friends, but I just don't think there was really time in s1.

The parts they chose to remove and add into the story was interesting. You got to explore the story for the first time again. I definitely think both versions have merit and are deeply enjoyable, I just don't think you should go in expecting it to be exactly the same thing? I was happy to see a new take on the story, but that might be because I knew that it was going to be darker and the characters would adapt to that. I do hope we can get more of the vibe of the show's humor in season 2 if we get season 2, and Katara feels little more like her show-counter part because I missed her, but honestly, I do recommend to a friend.

Or at the very least, if you absolutely refuse to watch it, PLEASE go watch the last 1/2 of episode 6 with Zuko and the 41st because I CANNOT.

+THEY ACTUALLY PRONOUCED EVERYONE'S NAMES CORRECTLY #bareMinimumAward

#avatar the last airbender #avatar live action #Netflix Avatar #netflix avatar spoilers #atla #idk #my two cents #i binged the whole thing and I had fun #i haven't wanted to binge anything in forever #but I hope they get renewed because I'd love to see their take on s2 and 3

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sailorshadzter · 5 months

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from the ashes of war we rise like stars in the sky

The world where the Avatar has fallen and the war was instead won by the Fire Nation is cruel and dark. Team Avatar tried to get the upper hand with a battle, but the battle cost them more than they could imagined. Those who survived were separated, unknowing if their teammates lived or died. Will they survive long enough to become a group once more? Zutara based.

a rewrite (and continuation).

read on ao3

chapter 2

chapter 3

chapter 4

chapter 5

chapter 6

chapter 7

chapter 8

The dungeon is dark and damp.

It’s something that despite all the time that’s passed, she’s yet to grow accustomed to it. The small cell is windowless, so she lives in the dark always, never knowing when it is day or night. She lives in perpetual darkness. At first, when she’d first been brought to this place, she had railed against the heavy oak door, banging her fists and using her own sweat to cut away at the wood… But in the end, it was too much for her on her own and she was left with no other choice but to give in and accept the fate she’d been dealt.

That was months ago now, or so she assumes. It’s hard to keep track of time, considering her circumstances, and she can only guess just how long it has been. She never knows what one day will bring- death, she thinks most days, and some of those days she thinks it might just be better if that were the case. To continue living this way… Through starvation and torture, through pain and suffering… She isn’t certain how much longer she can take it all. But, the Fire Nation keeps her alive, perhaps to be used as bait someday against Zuko, or perhaps for another reason entirely, she couldn’t really say.

After Aang had fallen to Ozai the day of Sozin’s Comet, everything had changed. With his life had fled the hope of the world and the faith that anyone could defeat the Fire Nation. They had tried to rally the troops, to keep on fighting without Aang, but in the end, there was no healing the broken hopes of the world that had lost their Avatar. So, after a battle that had left her separated from the others, she went on the run, hiding out where she could and being protected by those still loyal to the Avatar’s cause, even if they were far and few between. It’s been so long now since she last saw Sokka or Toph or Zuko that she doesn’t even know if they lived or died… She misses them. She misses them all.

Not long after fleeing the Earth Kingdom, in hopes of finding the others, she’d been caught by a troop of soldiers that had beaten her. In a state of exhaustion from weeks of running, of fighting, of fear, they had overpowered her four to one and she’d been brought back to the Fire Nation, right to the Fire Lord- no, the Phoenix King as he styled himself now. He had offered her a deal… Plead for her life and swear an everlasting oath to him and the Fire Nation and he would release her from her prison. She’d spit at his feet in response.

And so, that was how she found herself where she was now, rotting away in this damp prison cell.

On this night, she finds she cannot sleep, not something all that unusual for her. The straw pallet they gave her as a bed is little more than a few inches thick, she might as well sleep on the stone floor, and she’s uncomfortable from a wound she’d sustained just the day before. She tosses and turns for the better part of several hours, staring sometimes at the ceiling, other times at the wall or door, until…

Footsteps.

She’s on alert now, listening closely, wondering for a moment if she’s only just imagined the sound. Footsteps would only mean trouble for her, after all. She lays in silence, waiting, wondering, when the next sound comes. It’s the lock on her door clicking and she knows without a doubt that the door to the cell will swing open at any moment. The late hour surprises her, but she supposes she shouldn’t be shocked, considering all the other abuse she’s suffered at the Fire Nation’s hands.

The door slowly opens, the familiar creak of the hinges sending chills down her spine.

There, in the doorway, is not a Fire Nation soldier, but rather, it is a tall form of what she knows must be a man, a blue mask over his face. She doesn’t move, rather, remains still and silent beneath the thin sheet she’s covered up with, a hundred different thoughts racing through her mind. And then… “Katara…?”

She blinks, attention caught most certainly now. Even now, despite the time that had passed, she would know the pitch of that voice anywhere. But, she doesn’t dare believe it, she cannot get her hopes up like that. It was impossible after all, that Zuko would be standing there in her doorway. “Katara… It’s me…” He’s speaking again, softer now, slower, and her heart skips a beat in her chest. Only then does she sit upright, turning her head so she might stare into the face of the masked man, wondering just how this could be happening.

He can’t believe his eyes.

There she sits before him, a ghost of the girl he recalls, so very different from who he remembers her to be. But, her brilliantly blue eyes have the very same penetrating gaze he knew so well and her dark hair falls long down her back in the same way hers once did. After all this time, he’d found her. It takes every ounce of his self control not to rush to her side, to take her into his arms and whisk her away from this place. But he can see from the sight of her that she’s terrified, that she’s injured, and fuck is she skinny. Always slim and well built, she’s little more than a skeleton it seems from how her tunic hangs from her limbs. White hot anger surges through him, but Zuko knows that now is not the time for that. His feelings could and would certainly come later, but right now his focus had to be on getting her out of this place alive. “It’s okay, Katara, I’m here…” He whispers, holding out a hand to her, though he spares one glance over a shoulder, listening intently for any sign that he’s been discovered. So far, so good. “I’m here to help you.” He knows that from this moment on, she would need him and he vows right then and there to himself that he would never let her down.

She sucks in a breath, hesitant, still yet unable to believe that this could be real. But when Zuko outstretched a hand for her to take, she’s reminded of a memory so long ago, when he’d once done the very same thing to her. “Zuko…” Her voice cracks over the once familiar syllables of his name, her blue eyes widening ever so slightly. As she reaches out her hand, hesitantly at first, she watches him push back the mask he wears with his other hand; golden eyes stare back at her. As her hand slips into his, a shiver races the length of her spine and suddenly she knows, suddenly, that flicker of hope she’d felt at the sight of him before becomes ignited.

Carefully, slowly, gently, he draws her up off the cot and onto her feet, steadying her where she stands before he envelops her into his warm embrace. Now that he holds her, he can feel how frail she’s truly become and his heart turns over. She sinks into him, her own arms wrapping around his waist as she breathes in his scent that even after all this time is familiar to her. “It really is you…” She whispers, burying her face into his chest as he holds on as tightly as he dares, fearful of hurting her any further.

But when he draws back to hold her at arm’s length, he swallows against the rising tide of emotions, forcing himself to keep his face passive as he stares at her. He can see a cut that’s half healed over her left eye, her right cheek bruised, her lips showing signs of once being punched. “I’m getting you out of here,” he says as he turns away, dropping down to his hunches before her, gesturing for her to climb onto his back. When she doesn’t move right away, he smiles, reaching for her hand to give it a tender squeeze. “Come on…” He murmurs and finally, she moves, climbing onto his back as he wants, allowing his arms to sweep beneath her frame, holding her into place. She’s struck by the memory of doing this very same thing with Sokka and their father and tears glisten in her eyes as she once again wonders what has become of those she loved on the outside.

Returning his mask into place, Zuko steps out into the dark corridor, thankful to find it’s still empty. They make their way down the hall and turn a corner, hearing for the first time any sign of another person around. He steps into the closest empty room and Katara holds her breath as the sound of approaching footsteps grow louder. It’s two guards coming, talking about a recent outburst of their Phoenix King- “.... Fire to all of the curtains…” one is saying as they pass the room they hide within, taking the corner that they’d just come around. His heart skips a beat and Zuko prays to whatever God is listening that they were not on their way to check in on her… But their footsteps fade away and only then does he return to the hall and begin to run.

They make their way through the winding corridors until they come to a dead end, making Katara wonder if he’d taken a wrong turn somewhere. But, to her shock, there comes a noise to their left and she’s turning her head to watch as a panel of the wall begins to shift, revealing an old man standing there, a small flame glowing in his palm. She knew him at once, it was Zuko’s uncle Iroh. “Come quickly,” he says and they slip through, Iroh replacing the panel as if it had never been moved at all. “It’s safe, they are all quite distracted with the council meeting,” he continues, giving her a little indication as to why they’d chosen today of all days to come to her as they have. “But let’s not press our luck.”

Together, they walk the long pathway of this dark corridor, the only light that of Iroh’s flame. But as they reach the end, he steps forward, pushing what she sees to be a large boulder aside, giving them a place to exit. And then, for the first time since the day she was captured, she realizes she’s outside. Hissing in pain, the sunlight so bright, she buries her face in Zuko’s shoulder, wishing for the darkness she’d grown to know for just a split second.

“Let’s get her back,” Zuko says and Iroh nods, taking note of the girl’s appearance; it was worse than he had expected, but she was alive and for that he was thankful.

Only now, as they walk away from the place that’s been her prison all this time, she feels safe. And that was when she allowed the suddenly overwhelming sense of exhaustion take hold and with her head resting against Zuko’s strong shoulder, she drifted off to sleep.

[ x x x ]

When she wakes, it’s in a strange place, but it’s in a bed- a real bed.

Suddenly, it’s all coming back to her now, the memory of the masked man coming to her rescue… But not just any man, it had been Zuko who came to save her. Her hands rise up simply so they can run over the length of her face, her heartbeat quickening in her chest as she recalls the memories of that night, of that moment. She then makes the first attempt at sitting up, but finds there’s a weight over her legs which prevents her from making it very far. A slow smile spreads over her face at the sight of Zuko there, asleep and draped over her legs, his dark hair falling into his face as he snores softly.

But then, as if attuned to her being, he’s waking, golden eyes blinking open before he’s surging forward, shocked and relieved at the same time. “Katara!” He nearly shouts her name as he comes to the head of the bed, helping her up into a sitting position against the pillows. “How are you feeling? Can I get you something?” He looks as if he’s not slept in days or more, shocking her, forcing her to wonder just how long it’s been since he came to rescue her from the dungeon.

“Water,” she rasps, realizing a moment later just how dry her throat has become. Zuko is on the move then, pouring her a cup from a pitcher on the side table and he himself presses it to her lips, carefully tipping it back to give her a small sip. The taste is more refreshing than she ever recalls the taste to be and it floods her with a strange sensation. “Thank you,” she says next, turning to look at him as he settles into place in the chair he once occupied. “How long…” The words die on her lips and Zuko knows she isn’t asking how long they’ve been here.

“Six months,” he says softly, knowing better than to ever lie to her. He watches as that realization dawns upon her and she accepts it willingly, perhaps a part of her had always known it had been a long time.

“How did you find me?” She asks next, tilting her head as she stares at him.

“My uncle,” he admits, thinking of the dozens if not hundreds of conversations they’d had about the situation. “I came here looking for him after you’d been taken, like most everyone else, we’d gone off on our own or been separated.” Zuko recalls those days as if they’d been yesterday; days of wandering alone, without reason, without purpose, lost and alone. In those first few days after they’d lost the fight and Aang, Zuko had thought about giving up. But it had been Katara to touch his hand and remind him that there was still something to fight for. There was a reason to live. So, they had fought on the best that they could, until that last fight that had left them separated. Then he’d gotten word about Katara… His only thought had been to find her, to save her, but try as he might he could get no leads. That was until he’d found his uncle. “He’s been hiding here in plain sight this whole time,” he gestures around, as if there were more to this place beyond the four walls they reside within.

“And no one turns him in?” Katara asks, surprised.

“No one here knows him,” Zuko admits with a shake of his head. “And those who do would never turn him in.” Here in the poorest part of the Fire Nation, there is little love for the Phoenix King and his ideals. “He’s running a tea shop.” To his surprise, and delight, she smiles, thinking of the kind-hearted Iroh serving tea to the poorest of his nation’s inhabitants. “He was the one who said you must surely be at the palace.” The rest was history. After many weeks, no months, of planning, they had found their way into the palace and thus, found her. “You should rest…” he says next, noticing her pallor, noticing her pain.

Katara smiles again, but she doesn’t fight him as she once might have.

“I’ll come back later,” he assures her as he helps her back against the pillows, drawing the blankets up and over her frame. He turns to go, because he knows she needs the time, the space. “Sleep well,” he says softly, turning back to her, but finds she’s already drifted off back to sleep, bringing a small smile to his face. He slips from the room, leaving the door cracked open, so he or his uncle might hear her should she need something.

“She woke?”

It is his uncle there, a tray of tea in his hands. Zuko nods and the older man breaks out in a grin, delighted by the news. “Now, you must go and rest yourself, nephew.” Zuko opens his mouth to protest, but Iroh won’t hear a word of it. “No need, I will take care of her should she wake again,” he won’t allow his nephew to fall ill himself simply out of worry for the girl. “Go on now, I’ll wake you if we need you,” but they certainly would not need him. For a long moment they remain as they are, Zuko casting his gaze back towards the door that separates him from her. “She needs you to be well rested, Zuko,” his uncle says softly, the only words that could ever make him change his mind. Only then does he nod, pausing for one moment to put his hand to his uncle’s shoulder, their twin colored eyes meeting for a long moment. Then he was gone, disappearing into the other room, once which he’d not occupied since returning with Katara some days ago.

As he climbs into his own bed, he rolls onto his side so he can face the only wall that separates them. He hopes, as he draws the blankets around him, that she sleeps soundly, that when he wakes next he will find her smiling, just as she always did. His eyes close and he drifts off, his last waking thought that of her blue eyes and just how brightly they once shined.

He would get that shine back if it was the last thing he did.

#zutara #zuko x katara #my writing #i wrote this #atla fanfic

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ultfreakme · 1 year

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Krew Gaang time-travel fic where Krew get knocked back in time to like the day after Zuko joins the Gaang because of spirit-power tech shenanigans that went out of control(the experimenting was done by bad people who saw what Kuvira’s giant mech could do and wanted to test further).

Right when they land, Aang realizes he suddenly can’t use airbending and earthbending. Korra and the crew have landed in a random fire-earth colony and she can’t bend water and fire(this is happening because two avatars at one time). Asami and Bolin figure out where and when exactly they are and decide to find Gaang to help them out as discretely as possible without telling everything about the future, and also to find a way back because the only thing better than one bridge between spirit & mortal worlds is TWO bridges.

Sokka & Asami get along like house on fire. They’re both bringing out the mad scientist in each other and there is a reason they didn’t exist at the same time.

Sokka: Are you a non-bender lightning bender???? Asami, shrugging: I guess I am. Maybe we can recreate it here.

Bolin is silently dying and freaking out about everyone. He sees Toph and is trying to be like “hey i got lava-bending!!” and is trying to show-off but also learn he’s just very confused on wtf to do. Toph is like “tf teach me exactly how you did that”. Bolin is very happy that Toph is bossing him around and Toph is living for this. Toph, sitting on Bolin’s shoulder trying to be the badgermole(which Toph said is real earthbender training she’s totally not messing with him): ‘Everyone should treat me with this amount of respect’

Bolin, enthusiastic: ‘Absolutely!’

Korra is calling Katara ‘Master Katara’ all the time and Katara’s so so happy about it. But Korra’s also pinching her cheeks and being like “wow you were so tiny! I mean you still are but you’re so SMALL!’. Korra and Aang are besties and Aang is finally relaxing because Korra’s obviously older and knows more, and she also has a stronger connection to the spirit world so she’s helping him out with that. She never thought she’d be teaching Aang anything. Aang’s seen visions of other avatars but seeing someone else alive is just, different. Makes him feel less alone, especially when Korra airbends(oh yeah Aang obviously teaches her all the games). Korra’s also very conflicted but also kinda glad that they didn’t let her go until she was older because she can’t imagine having to deal with all this when she was 12. She gets super-protective of all of them and kinda wants to stay and finish this for the Gaang but knows she can’t.

Mako and Zuko are being awkward in the corner like “we must be careful, vigilant, the Fire Nation is dangerous.” You think they’d get along but they DON’T. Mako can’t shake that the kid next to him is the former firelord, but he sees Zuko do something utterly fucking stupid w/ zero planning and is like “how did you survive to like 100 years old???”.

It’s always like-

Mako: What’s the plan?

Zuko: I break into a prison

Mako: That’s not a plan

Zuko: It absolutely is you child!

Mako: I’m technically older than you right now twerp

#krew #gaang #tlok #atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #the legend of korra #korra #aang #asami #katara #sokka #bolin #toph #zuko #mako

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my-cabbages-gorl · 3 months

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Marigold, chapter 1 of Blue

by @my-cabbages-gorl

Genre: Hurt/comfort, Romance Rating: Teen audiences & up (for now)

Some tags: Zukaang, first chapter in an in-progress series, sorting through real life as partners, past hurt, past breakup

Summary: The Avatar could never belong to any one person. Air Nomads and Avatars belong to everyone and no one, all at once.

The steady current of Aang's cultural practice only worked to quicken the pace of the ache thrumming in Zuko’s chest. He fell in love with him for so many reasons, including his connection to his people and the preservation of their heritage.

The heritage his family had brought to a gruesome, cruel, blazing end.

Aang’s culture taught him to create harmony with the world and encouraged him to think for himself and carve his own path. His people made him the man he was. Honoring their memory made him the only person who believed in who Zuko could be. And, he needed Aang to believe that’s who he truly was. Some days, like today, he wasn’t completely sure.

Aang belonged to the world, dead and alive. Physical and spiritual. He belonged to all four nations. He was spoken for the moment he was born.

And, yet here he still was. Padding into the Firelord’s bathing chambers with the baby blue of his mastery tattoos exposed everywhere but what disappeared beneath his marigold shorts. ***

This is the first chapter of what I think will be a 3-5 chapter fic.

I've been stewing on this one in my drafts for a while and realized I should start publishing chapter by chapter instead of sitting on a few chapters at a time so I can avoid a negative feedback loop of writing and rewriting without end hahaha.

Anyhow, this is a fic (like mostly everything I write) is an exploration of the complicated things Zuko and Aang would have to sift through as lovers, friends, world leaders, and as parents. Their history is so ethereal and beautiful- but, so painful and complex. Read on Ao3

#zukaang #zukaang fic #my fic #my writing #atla #zuko #aang #zukaangst

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spacedace · 2 years

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So because I’ve ended up with so many ATLA AUs/fic ideas (more than I’ll probably ever reasonably be able to write) I’m just gonna go ahead and drop some of them here for anyone who might be interested in using the ideas. What’s listed below isn’t all of my AU ideas, just some of the ones that I like but don’t know if I’ll ever get to actually writing. I’ll probably end up making more of these fic idea/writing prompts as I end up coming up with more lol

Living Shrine AU: From an early age Zuko is trained in a secretive sect of Fire Nation Spiritualists that serve the Fire Lord. The Spiritualists gain powers/abilities through binding themselves to willing Spirits in exchange for worship and servitude.

Instead of binding himself to a minor spirit like he’s supposed to, Zuko ends up forming a bond with the Blue Spirit. When the Agni Kai happens, the Blue Spirit goes on a rampage, nearly kills Ozai and scares the shit out of everyone in attendance, resulting in Zuko having to go on the run at 13.

Lone Dragon and (Air Bison) Cub AU: An AU that starts with Zuko leaving Iroh behind in Zuko Alone where instead of the Earth Kingdom town, Zuko stumbles upon a small group of strange refugees seeking a new life. After spending some time with them Zuko realizes that they’re actually some of the last living Air Nomads in the world.

One thing leads to another and Zuko helps them find a safe place to stay (trading his ability to Fire Bend to a Spirit in order to make sure), only for one of the Air Nomads - one of the small handful of Air Benders in the group - to ask him to help them hunt the Avatar down so they can become an Air Bending Master themself.

Which means Zuko is, once again, hunting Aang, only this time so he can yeet another Air Bender at him and then die in a ditch (Zuko is both very dramatic and making a little bit more of an emotional/mental wreck than normal in this AU). Everyone is very confused by the whole thing.

Prison Prince AU: In which Zuko, still very injured and not at all recovered from the Agni Kai and not even officially banished yet, storms the docks when the 41st Division is to be deployed, very publicly screams at several generals about how he refuses to let them sacrifice his people for no good reason, maybe causes a riot and ends up in Boiling Rock at age 13.

Instead of being murdered immediately like Ozai expects, Zuko ends up flourishing. The prisoners love him. The guards love him. Everyone is desperate to keep him safe and teach him anything and everything they can to keep him alive, unintentionally turning him into a nightmare of a skill monkey.

By the time Zuko is 16 he’s broken out of (and into, and out of again) every prison in the Fire Nation and half of the ones in the Earth Kingdom to boot, doing whatever he can to help his people wherever he ends up along the way.

Now if someone could explain to him this whole new fashion fad where people keep smearing red paint over their left eyes that’d be great. Maybe he’ll ask that Water Tribe kid what the deal is after they get done breaking all these people out of Boiling Rock (again, he’s really ruining this place’s reputation.)

Azula says “Fuck the Fire Lord” AU: After taking Ba Sing Se, instead of getting Zuko to help her attack Aang (and the Gaang at large) Azula instead convinces Zuko to stay with her and help her rule over Ba Sing Se/use the resources the city offers in order to fight against Ozai.

Things get confusing for the war after that, and even more so when Zuko decides he doesn’t want to just hide behind Ba Sing Se’s walls and sneaks out to hunt down Aang (again) and teach him Fire Bending. He may have forgotten to tell Azula of his plan. Azula may, due to some faulty information, believe that her brother has been kidnapped by the Avatar to force her hand into helping fight the Fire Nation. Things get a bit chaotic.

#atla #Avatar The Last Airbender #atla fanfic #writing prompts #fanfic writing prompts #Zuko #azula #blue spirit #blue spirit zuko #aang #sokka #honestly all of these are also zukka but i haven't added that to any of the blurbs so i'll just put it here #zukka #atla au #air nomads

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highfantasy-soul · 2 months

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NATLA - Episode 1: Aang (4/4)

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

An explanation of what I'm doing here and my history with ATLA.

Of course, full spoilers ahead.

Aang gives himself up once he realizes the fire benders have no issues harming the village, showing how he's willing to try a different angle to fighting - having no intention of staying locked up, but rather getting the fire nation away from his new friends - keeping true to the animated series.

I love the talk he and Iroh have where Iroh is very careful to say 'some believe' and gives alternative reasonings for this war - reasons that are explained in later books in the animated version, but does a good job at showing new viewers that the fire nation isn't just a flat-manically evil villain: they're just like real-world colonist nations that don’t see themselves as the bad guy even while they're doing objectively evil things.

I also enjoy him stealing Zuko's journal - I like giving Aang something to work with rather than having him just be at a loss in this brand new world with no info to go off of.

A lot of people feel that, especially the first part of book 1 in the animated series was a bit aimless - they don’t even go to Kyoshi island for Avatar reasons, they do it to ride the giant koi fish. This is compounded by the fact that the only goal they have is to reach the northern water tribe so Aang can learn waterbending, but along the way, they don’t really have a goal.

This way, they have another goal while they're traveling - figure out the Avatar state and what the Avatar is supposed to do, exactly - it gives the characters information to work off of rather than just wandering around - something that can work in episodic shows that are 20 episodes a season, but needs to be a bit more focused when there's not space to give each character moment/theme/lesson a full episode.

Sokka immediately turning over command to another villager while Katara is trying to convince him they need to go after Aang was so pitch perfect it was insane. It was just as great of characterization as when they had Sokka on board to rescue Aang in the animated show, but I love the addition of Sokka turning over his command instead of just inviting Katara into the canoe.

I like how they changed Aang going into the avatar state after falling from Zuko's ship to him being caught by Katara and Sokka as they come to rescue him, and just like in the animated version, Katara helping out with her waterbending. In the animated show, she showed her power by breaking apart the iceberg, in this one, she shows her power by stopping Zuko's fireball with a comparable amount of waterbending.

I think that, since we conclude this episode with the third episode of the animated version, having Aang go into the Avatar state twice in a row would make the second time feel cheaper, like it's super easy for him to get into it and show the control he did messing up Zuko's ship.

In the animated show, there was a whole episode separating the instances of the Avatar state - in the live-action, that would have been like, 10 minutes tops between them (plus him going into the Avatar state at the beginning to create the iceberg - so three times in one episode is a bit excessive), so I think the choice to nix him Avataring in the water and focus on him assuming it as he's overcome with grief and rage at the death of the airbenders was a good choice.

Speaking of the episode 3 content: while I do miss Aang's denial that anything happened to the Air Nomads and him trying to act like everything is fine and just playing his games at the temple, I can understand why they didn't have the time to drag out his denial and just jumped right to how the loss of the Air Nomads affected him.

Honestly, it doesn’t make much sense for Aang to be so sure that his friends - especially Gyatzo - are still alive after 100 years like he does in the cartoon. It's some hard-core denial he's in and I can see why that just wouldn't land in live-action over the course of a single episode.

Episode one had a LOT to set up and solidify and I think it did a great job. Of course, long form media will be able to take it's time with stuff and add different dimensions, so I'm very glad they exchanged his denial with us actually getting to spend more time with Gyatzo.

Starting with him and Aang at the beginning and bookending the episode with his assurance to Aang that he's going to be a good avatar and he'll always be his friend was a great way to show how important Gyatzo was to Aang - something we don't actually get so much in the animated version.

Deepening that connection and having the memory of Gyatzo pull Aang from the Avatar state, I feel like is much more earned than if Katara had done it like she did in the show.

In the animated version, we had 3 episodes of Katara interacting with Aang - and even though it was still really just the same amount of time they had together in both versions, our minds trick us into thinking she'd known Aang for longer due to three vs one episodes. Honestly, her talking Aang down in the animated version is a bit unearned and I can see why they changed it to be Gyatzo here.

I think it hits harder and makes more sense that it's in the finale that Katara is the one able to bring Aang back after he's merged with the ocean spirit - they've built a real connection and so before, it was Aang's connection to his past that brought him back, in the finale, it's his connection to his present and a possible future that does.

These are all fantastic ways to really show that the Avatar is both of this world and beyond - when in the Avatar state, they must be tethered somehow to the mortal plane or they'll get lost in their spiritual essence.

And then finally, to the 'goal' of the story: Aang needs to master all elements so he can bring an end to the war and bring balance back to the world.

Pretty much the same as the show, but they get to the meat and potatoes of the story a bit quicker - there's not exactly a ticking clock yet, and I think that's ok since in the animated series, with all the 'side quests' the gaang does, it can feel a bit…like they aren't really too concerned about ending the war soon. It's not until season 3 that the timeline really starts to affect the story - and only in some episodes. Keeping that aspect out of it for now, I think is a perfectly ok choice.

Intercutting Aang's speech about how we never know how important something is to us until we lose it with Zuko was a great choice - really setting up how the two of them are mirrors for each other

For Zuko and Iroh - I love how Zuko has a whole Avatar red-string wall! And a diary (sorry, notebook) where he's been studying and gathering all the info he can about Avatars, really perfect characterization right there.

I do wish they'd included Iroh talking about the breath of firebending, not the muscles, during Zuko's practice, but alas. Iroh is really the only character I'm still ruminating on - he feels the farthest from his animated counterpart, but I'm not mad at it. I just have a very, very, very specific version of Iroh I have solidified in my brain that, obviously, no one can replicate, so it's just something that I have to accept.

I guess the best way to put it is that this Iroh feels a bit more…casually intense than the animated version. The animated version always felt like he was relaxed at all times, very drunken master esque, and only in a few moments did we see that there was a lot more going on beneath the surface he wasn't showing us - in the live-action, I felt that simmering tension beneath the surface much more often than I did in the animated show.

Zuko's anger and obsessive need to capture the Avatar is shown so clearly in every scene he's in and, as he was the most interesting part of the animated series, it's no surprise he's the most interesting one in the live-action too.

His story and character just gives you so much to chew on and watch as he grows and changes so it's really no contest - where the other characters have pretty straight forward character motivations/arcs that don't really change through all three seasons, Zuko has the most going on and the most winding path, so yeah, every moment with him is so juicy

The opening of episode 2 with his tantrum and him screaming 'HE RAN' just shows how much the writers GET him - our pathetic cringe-fail loser angry boy <3

So that's my overview of episode 1 of the live action! I thought it was pretty strong, though as I've seen the animated a whole lot, the emphasis on exposition did drag it just a bit for me. Not because I thought the exposition was bad or unnecessary, but just because I, personally, already knew the stuff. Honestly, the stuff that deviated from the animated version was the best for me: the entire opening, Sokka and Katara's convo on the canoe, Sokka giving control to another villager to go save Aang, and Gyatzo - all of Gyatzo.

I think it did a phenomenal job at setting up the world, the stakes, and the characters - creating a super solid foundation to jump off of in the next episodes where the timeline of events from the OG show will be played with and altered. A solid foundation helps smooth the transition for us OG fans to see how many individual episode plotlines can be woven into a single episode.

#atla #natla #netflix avatar #avatar the last airbender #media analysis

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