#the tales of ba sing se

[starlight-bread-blog]

Find Yourselves a Girl Like Jin

Zuko: [The city]'s okay.

Jin:

Zuko: You have... quite an appetite for a girl.

Jin:

She was trying so hard and Zuko was giving her nothing. But no matter how annoyingly awkward he was, she was commited. This kind of patience is gold. We must find it.

#zuko #atla #prince zuko #fire lord zuko #firelord zuko #atla zuko #zuko x jin #atla jin #jin atla #the tale of zuko #tales of ba sing se #the tales of ba sing se #jin x zuko #jin #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #avatar aang #avatar

[theteashopgirl]

Happy 17th anniversary to The Tales of Ba Sing Se! Episode 15 of Book Two first aired on 29 September 2006.

Throwback to this fun Tale of Zuko-inspired art, Zuko de Cafe by Nic Parris (via DeviantArt)

#the tales of ba sing se #the tale of zuko #zuko #iroh #jin atla #jinko #fanart #nic parris #artistsondeviantart

[oneatlatime]

The Tales of Ba Sing Se PART 2

The Tale of Zuko

Maybe I should make a Zuko's Stupid Faces post.

Zuko and Iroh's whole dynamic in one frame.

This girl is cute. Total girl next door type. She does have fairly horrible taste in men, but she's also very cute.

I just want to take a minute to point out a VERY important distinction. Zuko is not going out on a date. Zuko is not taking a girl out on a date. A girl is taking Zuko out on a date. She's got that arm in a death grip. Not only is that a clever reversal of the usual hetero dynamic, but I'm convinced it's the only way Zuko would ever get any action, so it's also in character.

I know Zuko's social skills are non-existent, but apart from the blow up at the waiter he is actually trying. He's failing, but I have to give him points for trying.

The way this girl's voice actress says "You juggled" made my ears very happy. And the beleaguered "yes. I juggled." is equally good.

Zuko! Tell her you did sword stuff! That's something you can actually do!

It gives me hope that someone so steeped in the most toxic parts of the Fire Nation, for so long, can STILL be so bad at lying, but it would certainly be a handy skill right about now.

I take it back. This girl does have good taste in men. Zuko's such a softie when it counts. He still sucks at being normal, but he just risked his identity because the girl he didn't even plan to go out with was a little bit sad.

This girl is the best.

Ha! He kissed her back! He Did! I saw that!

I take back what I took back. Zuko's evil again. He made my new favourite girl droop.

I love that Iroh's waiting up for him while making it look like he isn't waiting up for him. How many times on their ship, when Zuko was out Blue Spiriting, do you think Iroh found a reason to be randomly sat on the deck at 3 am?

Character development baby! Can you really call yourself loyal to the fire nation if you admit to having a good time on a date with an Earth Kingdom girl?

The Tale of Momo

Pretty.

That was a FILTHY bait and switch. For one shining moment, I had Appa back.

They should take that to June.

Not Appa.

Also not Appa.

I did not have 'Momo gets gaslit' on my Avatar Bingo card. Nor did I have 'interspecies animal friendship angst.'

Are these cat things the raccoons of the Avatar universe? Or the squirrels? Urban scroungers?

I love the idea that this guy just grabs the closest squirrel, sticks a hat on it, and expects it to dance. He got lucky with Momo.

I thought they were taking the animals to the pound, but this is very much a butcher. Which means that in Ba Sing Se, they eat varmint. Stay away from the hot dog carts.

That's very effective Simglish.

Thank god for thumbs.

Aw they're friends! This has Aristocats vibes, when O'Malley and the girl cat are getting together near the end.

And one final Fuck You, because god forbid Momo's tale ends on a happy note.

I'm guessing that's an Appa print, but couldn't it also be a platypus bear?

Something about the cats standing vigil over Momo's grief gets to me.

Final thoughts

I'll go through each of these stories individually, but first some general comments.

Last episode was kind of intense, and definitely ended on a downer (not that this one didn't), so it was a good call to at least start this episode off on something a bit gentler.

I was really impressed with the soundtrack throughout. Apart from the Tale of Momo where it's the animal noises that are front and centre, the music is doing a lot of work in every story, the strings especially. The strings are doing emotional work, plot stuff, and even humour. Seriously, next time you rewatch this episode, pay attention to the strings. These shorts are actually very light on dialogue (apart from Sokka's), but they don't feel that way because the music is doing the talking.

I'm assuming that this all took place over three days at least, since Iroh, Zuko, and Momo's tales seem to end on different evenings. So I don't think calling this episode 'day in the life' is accurate. My bad. It also occurs to me that this kind of episode format would be a great way of showing time has passed. If they had had an episode like this in the Northern Water Tribe - after Katara beat the crap out of Poophead but before the Fire Nation attacked - I would have liked the pacing of the whole finale arc better.

On to the stories!

The Tale of Toph and Katara

It might be because I didn't understand what this episode was doing yet, but this one didn't do much for me. It was good to see Toph have a moment of self-doubt, but I never would have assumed, based on her previous behaviour, that her appearance was her proverbial weak spot. Katara did a really good job at building her back up, and she was delightfully (and appropriately) understated for once. When she's reassuring Aang of something (especially in Season 1) Katara tends to got from 0 to 60 very quickly, so it was nice to see her be reassuring in a quiet, non-steamrolling way. Is this Katara character development? Apart from the fact that Toph quite literally got her eyeballs sanded, nothing much in this episode stuck out to me. Except those bitchy voices. Those were like knives in my brain.

The Tale of Iroh

So many questions! Is Lu Ten buried in Ba Sing Se? How is that grave not defaced yet? How did Iroh get a copy of his son's picture? They lost everything at the North Pole, right? Did he ask the people who got him their passports for a picture of his son too? Does Zuko know/remember that it's his cousin's birthday? If so, why isn't he there offering Iroh the world's most awkward hug? Given the fact that Iroh spent the whole day helping people, including a very misguided youth, and given that Iroh says something along the lines of "if only I could have helped you [his son]" does this imply that Lu Ten was going through a crisis at the time of his death? Was he misguided like the wannabe mugger? Is Zuko not the first Fire Nation Prince that Iroh has had to guide through an identity/existential crisis? Is Zuko going to be the first time Iroh succeeds at guiding a Fire Nation prince through an identity/existential crisis? Does Iroh live in perpetual fear of failing Zuko the way he seems to believe he failed his son? Am I reading too much into this?

To be quite honest, this story would have hit me harder if I had remembered going into it that Iroh had a son. Lu Ten takes being a textual ghost to a whole new level. Also the 'In honor of Mako' text confused me. And worried me a little.

The Tale of Aang

I liked this one! Aang can't help Appa at the moment, but he can help all the Appa stand ins who aren't fortunate enough to have an Aang to help them. Aang is a nice little boy! Of course he'd free a bunch of animals without thinking about the consequences and the epic pile of platypus bear dung he's just landed the zookeeper in with the Dai Li. I liked the animal designs. I liked the earthbending. I liked the Siamese cat representation. I loved cabbage man. I think that, if Appa could have known, he would have approved. I also think that I'm once again reading too much into this. it was nominally a fun fluff piece elaborating on a established emotional conflict (Appa missing), which gave it just enough weight to be slightly more than a fluff piece.

The Tale of Sokka

I am entirely serious when I say that 'poetry bouncer' is my favourite joke so far in the WHOLE show. I love absurdity played entirely earnestly. It's fridge funny too. The longer I contemplate the implications, the funnier it gets. What past event required a poetry bouncer be introduced? He's not there to protect the students or the teacher; he's here to reinforce the structure of the Haiku by force. Was he hired by the concept of Haiku? Is Haiku taken so seriously in Ba Sing Se that he's needed to break up cat fights between students? There is a rich well of haiku-related hijinks just hinted at by his presence, and I want to know more.

Sokka is so often his own worst enemy that it makes sense that he's taken out by his own hubris. That fortune teller lady was absolutely a crook, but she did one hell of an accurate cold read on Sokka.

The Tale of Zuko

Credits tell me that the girl's name is Jin. I would like to congratulate the creators of Avatar for managing to illustrate romantic interest so palpably without resorting to heart eyes and steam whistle noises. Nothing wrong with those; I'm just impressed by how much of Jin's interest in Zuko you can feel. Also, she'd better be more than a single episode character, because I need more of this sweetheart. She's a real contender for displacing Toph as my favourite girl in the cast.

To be fair to Zuko, he did make Jin droop (UNFORGIVABLE), but it was also the right call. He can't date her honestly. It IS complicated. And I don't think any Earth Kingdom girl (worth dating) would knowingly go out with Fire Nation royalty. Jin wanted Lee the Tea Boy. Try as he might, Zuko can't stop being Zuko. I would argue that he shouldn't stop being Zuko. His flashback mom told him not to forget who he was, so I'd also argue that the narrative doesn't want Zuko to stop being Zuko either. I guess it's a case of right girl, wrong time. It looks like she's cool with him being a firebender, but firebending and being the Fire Lord's son are not the same magnitude of hurdle to dating. Maybe when the war's over they can hook up again.

The Tale of Momo

I think this qualifies as cruelty to the audience. I got the impression that this story was crafted borderline maliciously, to make the viewers suffer angst dump after angst dump.

I liked seeing things from Momo's perspective. I loved the animal noises, which really got across a shocking amount of emotion. Those, combined with body language, were as effective as any spoken script. These cartoon people really know how to use their medium.

It absolutely kills me that Momo is missing Appa, and since he doesn't understand human speech, he can't even be comforted by knowing that his humans are actively looking for him. If you've ever seen one of your pets missing another of your pets in real life, you know there's nothing worse than the helplessness that comes with not being able to explain or magically summon their friend back from the kennel, or the vet, or the dead. All you can do is give them hugs. I'm glad that Momo got a street cat support group at the end of the episode, but the animal grief at the beginning was hard to get through. It's sweet to have confirmation that Momo sees Appa as family, but surely they could have showed that to us in a way that doesn't make me need to hug the stuffing out of my own pets?

Final Final Thoughts for real this time

This episode wrings you out a little. Fully a third of the stories are about Appa, despite him not being there. At least half are about missing someone who isn't there. At least half are bittersweet.

I liked this episode format. I hope they use it again next season. Only Toph and Katara's tale felt too short to me. The rest did such a good job at drawing me in, that when I went back to check timestamps I was surprised by how short these stories are.

I'm going to go eat too much chocolate.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #the tales of ba sing se

[iammyownsaviour]

Avatar: The Last Airbender 2x15 "The Tales of Ba Sing Se"

#toph's crush on katara confirmed !! #btw i also just posted a fic on ao3 where toph is the one to compliment katara and make her blush go read ;) #avatar: the last airbender #atla #the tales of ba sing se #katoph #katara x toph #toph x katara #katara #toph beifong #wlw ship

[grimdarkgirly]

Something I noticed on my last rewatch of ATLA in the Tales of Ba Sing Se - The Tale of Zuko: The fountain scene has SO much amazing subtext. It is the first time in the entire show that Zuko uses his bending for reasons other than survival, violence or expressing his anger - he uses his fire bending to create joy for someone else. AND it’s the first time in the entire show that someone gives him enthusiastic praise for what he is able to accomplish with his bending. Even Uncle Iroh never does this and often criticizes Zuko when training him. It is constructive criticism and it always comes from a place of love but for someone like Zuko, who has a lot of internalized shame, he most likely receives Iroh’s feedback as reinforcing the narrative that he’s a failure and he’ll never be good enough. When Jin opens her eyes and says ‘oh wow, what did you do?’ She seems genuinely amazed and it feels so good to the audience because it’s the kind of admiration Zuko has always craved and longed for from his own family. And he gets this small moment where he can feel accomplishment and pride. It’s really the first time in the series that we see him embrace the present moment and display unrestrained satisfaction and happiness for something he’s done. What makes this scene so beautiful is that it’s something he does outside of his own desires and motivations and something he does for someone else.

#avatar the last airbender #zuko #the tales of ba sing se

[lqzuko]

#zuko #prince zuko #atla #avatar the last airbender #book 2 #the tales of ba sing se #fire nation #earth kingdom #lq zuko #lq prince zuko #lq atla #lq avatar the last airbender

[roxyrondell]

I just watched a reaction to The Tales of Ba Sing Se from ATLA and “Leaves from the Vine” will always make me cry. Especially the second time Iroh sings it. When Mako Iwamatsu’s voice cracks while singing I cry harder. Avatar the Last Airbender is an incredible show and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it. If you have seen it I’d say it warrants a rewatch.

#avatar the last airbender #the tales of ba sing se #uncle iroh #mako iwamatsu #an absolute legend #rip mako #leaves from the vine #i just 😭😭😭😭

[robstetrician]

"Happy birthday, my son..."

"If only I could've helped you."

#leaves from the vine #falling so slow #ugly sobbing to this episode as we speak #robs avatar rewatch #atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #the tales of ba sing se #atla iroh #uncle iroh #iroh #atla lu ten #lu ten #this episode hates me

[axelwolf8109]

The Tales Of Ba Sing Se and Appa's Lost Days are the saddest episodes of ATLA

#atla #avatar the last airbender #the tales of ba sing se #appa's lost days

[lonelylittledot]

girl, if he doesn’t cry during The Tale of Iroh, he’s not the one

#Avatar The Last Airbender #atla #iroh #uncle iroh #the tales of ba sing se #the tale of iroh #leaves from the vine #Mako #nickelodeon

[dyingroses]

Avatar: The Last Airbender + text posts and stuff

#avatar #avatar incorrect quotes #avatar: tla #the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #atla #atlaedit #uncle iroh #katara #azula #princess azula #zuko #prince zuko #atla zuko #zuko x katara #zutara #the southern raiders #the tales of ba sing se #atla sokka #sokka #sokka avatar the last airbender #atla ozai #ozai #book 1: water #book 2: earth #book 3: fire #the storm #avatar aang #aang #post

[starlight-bread-blog]

Me: Why don't I have friends in the new school? I wish someone talked to me :(

Me when someone talks to me:

#tales of ba sing se #the tales of ba sing se #zuko #prince zuko #atla zuko #fire lord zuko #firelord zuko #atla #a:tla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #avatar aang #zuko x jin #atla jin #fire nation #atla book 2 #the tale of zuko #anti social #social dysfunction #socially awkward #socially inept #social life #socially anxious #socially exhausted #introverts #introverted #introversion #introvert

[veggiesforpresident]

i wanna give it a pass cause it was made in like 2007 and any show of women supporting each other was basically revolutionary at the time, but man the toph + katara section of the tales of ba sing se just did not hit!!! like it didn't really dive into the characters the way the other sections did.

the spa day idea was like. fine. but god i wish it would've ended with "let's share some non-appearance-related things we admire about each other". like considering that the two of them don't always see eye-to-eye (no pun intended) that would've been much more impactful instead of just "you actually ARE really pretty :)".

#atla #the tales of ba sing se #katara #toph beifong

[oneatlatime]

The Tales of Ba Sing Se PART 1

Once upon a time in Ba Sing Se, the Gaang got Appa back. The end. Please?

This title sounds rather expositiony, but last episode was already a plot/exposition dump, and a rather dark one at that. So who knows? Not me.

Sokka hun I think you're supposed to shave with a blade slightly less substantial than that.

I am fascinated by the hair loopies. I always thought that they were braided in, but they clip in. Does she have a magnet in her braid that they clip in to? A lego type system?

CAT

Toph's morning routine is uncomfortably close to mine.

I know Toph likes being slobby to stick it to the man, but wouldn't it also help with her spatial awareness if she's always sporting a healthy coating of earth? Maybe she can sense where her limbs are better or something?

"Spa day!" "Do I have to?" UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE GUYS.

That has got to be torture. How would you like a pumice stone to the eyeballs?

Now THAT'S a healthy coating of earth.

You're not usually into that stuff? You got dolled up last episode.

Are there voice acting awards? Because whoever voiced these guys needs one. I have never in my life heard such perfectly distilled middle school clique bitch impression.

That's cathartic.

Katara's smothering/mothering tendencies usually annoy me, but it's a good thing those means girls happened when Katara was around, because this calls for serious hugs. I almost want to say that it's out of character to see Toph not be 100% sure of herself, but I think it adds character instead.

Do you think anyone's ever told Toph before that she's really pretty? Ever?

That's a good hug.

Is this short stories? Like an anthology? TALES of Ba Sing Se. Like day in the life? Ok. I'm going to break this up for ease of reading/writing.

The Tale of Iroh

If Iroh hadn't distinguished himself by making the best tea in the city, he would have come to everyone's attention anyway by single handedly fixing everyone's personal problems.

Bending soccer. Why didn't I think of that?

His voice is funny in this scene. Also isn't honour a fire nation thing?

One of my absolute favourite things about Iroh is that his philosophical side is always balanced out by a practical side. He's always philosophising but he's also always grounded. Sometimes hightailing it is what needs doing. Sometimes your sister is crazy and needs to go down.

You know you're bad at crime when your poor stance actually offends the guy you're mugging.

I also like how Iroh really doesn't moralise. He'll teach this guy what conditions the moonflower likes; he'll teach this guy how to mug better. Knowledge is for sharing, no judgment attached!

Random mugger speedruns Zuko's arc.

So pretty. It's been a while since there's been good pretty.

oh shit

ok

Now I have questions!

The Tale of Aang

Writers take note: You see this sad face? You see what you've done to my boy? You can reverse it with one simple trick! GIVE HIM APPA BACK.

I love this. Can't help Appa, so Aang helps every other animal in Ba Sing Se instead.

I want to know what this is. Monkey panther?

I didn't realise until now how tall platypus bears were.

CABBAGE GUY! HI!

Actual dragonflies. Punny.

I love these. My nomination for cutest atla animal.

I hope that wasn't required agricultural land. Should have put the zoo near the drill instead. That land already looked close to salted.

This was some Toph level bending. Love to see Aang's skills progress.

Turtle seal's got competition for cutest animal.

Just call this portion the petting zoo and it's a win.

The Tale of Sokka

Something I don't talk about enough is Sokka's supernatural skill with that boomerang. The realistic explanation is that he's spent every spare minute since receiving it honing his skills by chucking it at random piles of snow, but I like to think he's a boomerang bender. Actually wouldn't boomerang bending be a manifestation of latent airbending tendencies?

I make this face at lasagne.

I may have to make another Sokka's Stupid Faces post.

There is nothing oaflike about falling out of a window and into a Haiku. He was even polite about it!

Somebody introduce Sokka to flyting.

Forget about being a warrior, Aang needs to end this war yesterday so that Sokka can go be a poet. Warrior poet. He's way too creative to waste on cannon fodder.

Poetry bouncer. The longer I think about that the funnier it gets.

Betrayed by hubris.

A Poetry bouncer. Who comes up with this stuff? How do you come up with that? I keep thinking about a poetry bouncer and I keep giggling.

I'm breaking this post here as I'm reaching the image limit. Part 2 coming immediately!

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #the tales of ba sing se #airbender Sokka fanfic when?

[sokkastyles]

Zuko telling Jin that he and Iroh were in a traveling circus seems like a one-off joke at first, but now that I think about it, we do hear about traveling circuses specifically in the Fire Nation and its territories. Specifically, we hear about Ty Lee joining the circus, which is an easy frame of reference Zuko might have.

The other time we hear about circuses is also of Fire Nation origin, in "The Deserter." Most of the information I found on this comes from the wiki, which says that the Fire Days Festival that Aang and co. attend is a traveling show that includes firebenders that is meant to bring Fire Nation culture to Fire Nation occupied towns in the Earth Kingdom. So, this could be a conceivable reason why a pair of Fire Nation citizens who are firebenders might be traveling in the Earth Kingdom. So, really, if Jin thinks Zuko is a juggler and guesses that he is a firebender, she might be able to come to that conclusion as well (despite Zuko's terrible juggling.)

Zuko also might have come up with that alibi because it was something he had an interest in, given how he also recalls other examples of Fire Nation arts, like going to the theater as a child, and the blue spirit mask having special significance for him.

It's also the typical fantasy of an unhappy child, and since he actually knew a kid who joined the circus because of not wanting to be compared to her siblings, this might have actually been something of a secret fantasy, a life he could have had if he were someone different.

#zuko #jin #the tales of ba sing se #the deserter #atla meta #ty lee

[theowritesfiction]

'The Tales of Ba Sing Se'

I don't really have much to say about this episode. I like it just fine, but I don't know what to say about all these little vignettes that only tangentially tie into the overall plot.

The Toph and Katara bonding moments are probably my favorite of the episode. They have been working together well in the previous episodes, but this vignette cements their friendship. Them teaming up to teach those mean bully girls a lesson is just epic moment for them both. I love that even though Toph keeps repeating that she doesn't need anyone's approval, she is deeply appreciative of Katara's support and kindness.

It's great to see Iroh helping people without asking for anything in return, and him breaking down as he reminisces about his son is heartbreaking, but as an Azula stan, the vignette also makes me salty. So everyone deserves your help, Iroh, but not your niece. Okay, I see how it is. Still, a wonderful tribute to Mako.

I have literally nothing to say about Aang's vignette. It's a nothingburger for me. Would have rather checked in with what Azula and the dangerous ladies are up to, this was boring.

Sokka's haiku duel is perhaps one of the better examples of Sokka the comic relief being used in a truly amazing way that elicits genuine laughter from me even if I've seen this bit about a dozen times. It's just brilliantly written.

My god I had completely forgotten how nonexistent Zuko's game is with Jin. If not for the recovery at the end of the date and lighting the lanterns for Jin, I'd say Jin would have probably ranked him as her worst date ever. And Zuko, no, it's not really that complicated.

Momo's vignette... eh, bit of time wasting. Anyway, I have to say I didn't find this episode quite as fun as I remember it being. I guess it's an okay filler episode. But there definitely aren't any jerk points to award.

Ugh, Appa's episode is next... that will be a sad re-watch. :(     

#my atla rewatch #atla book 2 #the tales of ba sing se