#The Gaang in a Galaxy far far away

[backhurtyy]

so what would it take to convince you to share your thoughts on the atla star wars au 👀👀

OMG.... very little is the answer.... i have so many thoughts, so i’m just happy someone wants to read them! anyways, this got really long- like REALLY LONG- so i’m putting it down below the cut. prepare yourself for some nonsensical rambling, far too much thought into lightsaber forms, and a lot of thought about Zuko and the Force 💖

Set post Great Jedi Purge- the Empire has taken over, with Sith Lord Ozai as the Emperor and having orchestrated the entire war as Supreme Chancellor

Azula is Ozai's apprentice; Zuko was supposed to be his apprentice, however he was never as strong or as good at using the Force as Azula was. He’s still powerful, but more in how he uses the Force to help him in a fight and to find things, rather than Azula, who can use Force lightning, excels at mind tricks, etc.

So instead of taking him as his apprentice, Ozai assigns Zuko to the position of Grand Inquisitor and tasks him with leading the Inquisitiorious Program to track down the Jedi that managed to escape the purge.

He uses Jar’Kai, with dual blood red blades…. This ended up becoming the form he used because when he was young, he could never get the hang of fighting with just one lightsaber and always used a reverse grip that left him far too open and vulnerable. Piandao, who was a darksider rather than a full Sith Lord, decided to teach him Jar'Kai to see if it would work better for him, and it did. Anyways, we’re gonna come back to his lightsabers later cause I’m very into them lmao

Aang was the Padawan of Grand Master Gyatso, raised at the Jedi Temple, and uses a Saberstaff with Soresu as his primary form (I think the defensive style and analytical approach to combat translates really well to Aang’s personality and airbending as a whole... also it's Obi-Wan's primary form, and I think they'd be friends)

Anyways, Aang and Master Gyatso were on a mission when Order 66 went out. Gyatso knew Aang was the galaxy’s only chance, always believing him to be the Chosen One who was destined to bring balance to the Force, and so he told him to run. Aang didn’t want to leave him, but Gyatso used the Force to send Aang to their ship and ordered their BD unit, MO-2, to get them out of there

Aang didn’t see Gyatso fall to the troopers, but he felt it in the Force, and swore that he would do what he could to defeat the Empire

He scoured the galaxy for other Jedi and rebels for a long time, trying to hide his identity and the beginnings of the arrow tattoos that marked him as a Jedi Padawan learner all the while he’s running from the Inquisition (I imagine him as a near humanoid species, who have tattoos rather than Padawan braids or silica beads. As they become Padawans, Knights, and Masters, the level of detail on the tattoo is increased)

One day, the Grand Inquisitor catches up to Aang and shoots his ship down over an ice planet in the Outer Rim

Okay now to Sokka and Katara-

Katara and her family has known that she was gifted with the Force since she was a baby making her toys fly throughout their home on Carlac, but being able to use the Force in the Outer Rim is dangerous. They're not often found by the Jedi Order since it’s too far out, but bounty hunters, pirates, and the criminal rings in the Outer Rim have no such limitations, and Jedi are valuable

Following ATLA, someone heard about a Force user on their planet and sent pirates/bounty hunters after her when she was little, and Kya sacrificed herself to save her daughter

Basically, Katara has had to hide her abilities her entire life even though all she wanted to be was a Jedi, and it’s only gotten more dangerous since news of the purge reached them. Sokka and Hakoda would do anything to protect her, but they knew it was only a matter of time before the Inquisition found her, especially since she has very little training in terms of shielding and what not. So, they pack up and leave to join the rebellion, where they hope to find a Jedi who can train her, and end up on Hoth

They quickly settle into the rebellion, with Hakoda becoming one of its leaders and Sokka and Katara two of its best strategists, pilots, and fighters

Sokka also gets Mandalorian armor and a vibroblade because I say so

They’re out on patrol when they see Aang’s ship go down in the tundra, and Katara feels something in the Force. She knows whoever is in that ship can help her become a Jedi, and before Sokka can stop her, she’s already running towards it

Basically they bring Aang back to base and he promises to teach Katara how to use the Force- just one thing, one of his kyber crystals is broken, so he needs to go to Ilum and get a new one. Katara asks to go with him, and he agrees

Back to Zuko- he didn’t trust that shooting Aang down was enough, so he flies down to the surface to catch him, and there’s a fight between the rebels and the forces Zuko brought with him. Aang and Zuko have a Maul/Qui-Gon esque fight, and eventually Aang manages to get away

He, Sokka, and Katara all leave together, and basically they fly across the galaxy in their transport, APPA, and make it to Ilum to get both Aang and Katara kyber crystals

Katara gets a blue crystal, and Aang teaches her Shien as her lightsaber form (it’s quick, fluid, and alternates between defense and all out attacks, just like her waterbending). They spend a lot of time meditating and going through saber forms and lifting stuff around the ship with the Force and generally being a pain in Sokka's ass because when things fall to the ground, they always manage to land on his foot

(Sokka's proud of his sister and thinks it's cool she's got magic powers, but do things always have to land on his foot??? He wasn't even on the same side of the room as them!!!!)

Basically along the way they meet Suki, another rebel who’s deadly with a blaster, and the Kyoshi Warriors. I also think it would be super cool if the Kyoshi Warriors were from Naboo and were the Queen’s Handmaidens- they look harmless, but these girls are warriors and can FIGHT

Zuko’s chasing them the entire time too

They find Toph along the way too, a super powerful Force user who uses it to “see” and is also a very talented psychometric. I think she’d use Ataru as her lightsaber form since it uses the Force to enhance movements (also the psychometry is for no specific reason other than I think it would be neat and also she and Vos have similar personalities lmao)

Anyways the plot of the show continues until at some point, Azula is sent after Zuko since he’s taking too long to capture the Gaang, and they team up to stop them. Azula uses Force lightning on Aang, but Katara manages to get them out of there before the siblings can capture them. She’s a very powerful Force healer, so she manages to save Aang

Okay this is the part that I think about nonstop, which is that Zuko goes back to the Empire after that fight, but he just feels wrong. The Force doesn’t feel the same anymore, he's cold all the time, his crystals scream at him and burn his hands when he tries to use them, his eyes are aching, everything his father says makes his head pound and the Force curl around him unpleasantly, and he has no clue why (he does, he's just too scared to admit that there's always been a little more light in him than his father wants there to be)

Basically he finds out something about how his great grandfather Sozin used to be a Jedi, until Sozin Fell and killed his best friend Roku, another Jedi and also Zuko’s mother’s grandfather, and he realizes there really always has been light in him. He finally admits to himself that he doesn’t actually want to be a part of the Empire, or a darksider

While he’s on the run, he spends a lot of time meditating and finding himself in the light side of the Force and stuff, and one day he opens up his sabers and purifies his crystals

I like to think that Zuko exists as sort of a Grey Jedi, who isn’t a darksider, but will never follow the Jedi Code or use the Force the way Aang does. So when he purifies his crystals, they turn a blinding white, to show how his destiny is in his own hands now. Also, I think one of his eyes stays Sith gold, while the other is dark brown, a color he hadn’t seen since before his mother died and his father began his training

Anyways, the Gaang saves the day; Aang fulfills the prophecy of the Chosen One and brings balance to the Force by defeating Ozai. Zuko and Katara fight Azula, and in typical Star Wars/ATLA fashion, Zuko gets Force Lightning’d. And up in the skies, Sokka, Toph, and Suki wreak havoc on the Empire’s Star Destroyers, and Sokka ends up breaking his leg because someone shoots the jetpack on his armor while he's trying to escape with Toph

#i have so many thoughts.... embarrassingly many of them are about lightsaber forms and why those work for their characters #but thank you for giving me an excuse to ramble about this lmao. i’ve been sitting on it for so long #zuko with heterochromia and dual sabers rights!!!!!! #also. i just think sokka should get mandalorian armor. as a treat. #also if anyone was going to ask YES i am definitely recycling mo2 from tstltf... but i think thats my right at the author of that fic lmao #atla x star wars my beloved #zukosadragon ace writes #zukosadragon ace speaks #thenegoteator #atla x star wars #atla #star wars #long post

[fandomsandfeminism]

Here is why the Ben Solo redemption just doesnt work for me- it's far too fast and far too easy. (I may even make a video about this, I'm so worked up.)

Like, I know Avatar the Last Airbender is the gold standard for ALL character writing, but Zuko's redemption is so fucking good.

First, we get a good understanding of why Zuko is the way he is. We see him struggle with his choices. We see him make BAD choices. All this background is important, because we fully understand his motivations, his flaws, but also his capacity for good. He helps the heroes at times and betrays them, has moments of mercy, moments of kindness, moments of weakness. We see him make the GOOD choice at the North Pole, we see him rescue Aang, we see him help Earth villagers. We also see him betray Iroh and the Gaang, team up with Azula, hurt people. We see him get what he THOUGHT he wanted when he is welcomed home and his realization that it isnt making him happy. This background work is 2 full seasons plus the first 5 episodes of season 3, (HOURS AND HOURS of content) and all of it primes us as the audience to believe that Zuko CAN be redeemed.

So when he ditches the Fire Nation towards the beginning of season 3 (episode 6?) We fully understand WHY this is happening.

And yet, when he tries to join the heroes, they do NOT accept him right away. He has switched sides, but he has not been redeemed to the heroes yet. THAT takes 6 more episodes to fully happen (2 hours of content) in which Zuko has to confront the harm he did to the other characters- how he and the fire nation he allied with hurt everyone from major characters like Katara to side characters like Suki. He has to confront these wrongs and HELP those people individually to make recompense. There is mistrust there that has to be rebuilt in a way that respect THOSE character's experiences and feelings.

And in the end, he earns their FRIENDSHIP. The show doesnt ask us to believe that these people, especially the girls he hurt, are his romantic interest.

It takes a long time, its worked for, and the pay out is consistent with all of the characters and their experiences with him.

This does not happen with Kylo Ren. He is literally still violently attacking Rey, hoping to turn her to the dark side and rule the galaxy, up until like 80% of the way through the last movie.

We don't get a good look at his childhood, we don't see him doing good things along with his bad choices, we don't really see anything beyond "he does TERRIBLE SHIT repeatedly but then looks conflicted about it." We don't see him confront the harm he caused Finn or Poe or his parents or even Rey. His dad's ghost is like "hey, totes no worries about all the people you killed, including me." Rey, who has first hand seen him slaughter a LOT of people is like "I just want you to be gooooood." This, not even forgiveness, but totally disregard for his harm is just handed to him over and over and over.

He throws his saber away and the next time we see him is the final confrontation with Palpatine. He gets a wholly unearned kiss and dies.

That's NOT a redemption arc.

If Kylo had like...ditched the First Order at the BEGINNING of TROS, spent the film working to bring down Palpatine for GOOD reasons, facing consequences for what he had done, and THEN made his big heroic sacrifice, then I may have bought it. I'm a sucker for that shit.

(But still, even then, not the kiss. Because of the...ya know...torture and rape threat.)

On the other hand, Zuko never actually personally slaughtered whole PLANETS, so maybe there just isn't enough time in all the Star Wars movies to repair that.

#star wars spoilers #star wars #atla

[agirlunderarock]

2 and 27 for the OC questions?

HULLO FRIEND! Thank you for the ask! I actually haven't rambled about my ocs here too much- mostly because I started off here thinking that I was going to be serious and write reviews and critical analysis all the time, but it always comes back to fanfic if I'm being honest. Anyways I'll try to answer these briefly and not ramble for pages and pages ^^;

SO On to the questions!

And if Anyone else would like to ask any questions they're listed HERE!!

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

So this might be because my current fixation is Star Wars, but my favorite OC is my Star Wars OC, Sas Vom. Like, I'm not going to pretend I'm unbiased in that. Last week was exactly a year that I've spent developing her and coming up with backstory and plots and things for her. I've definitely spent more time developing her and trying to be careful in how I develop her than some of my others. She's a shapeshifter, the planet she's from is supposed to be on the brink of civil war when she's active in the plot, the galaxy is at civil war, and she is a snooty pirate/smuggler. Thats not really what makes her different from my other ocs- I tend to write quippy rogues pretty often, at least one per fandom. Developing Sas' story has made me develop an entire network of OCs to flesh out her story and make her stand independently within Star Wars. Like I said her planet is canonically supposed to be on the brink of civil war during the clone wars, I have her filling a sort of "robin hood" role within the world. She steals from the Republic, wealthy crime syndicates, the Hutts, the Sepratist, whoever she can and get away with it, in order to try to keep war from breaking out on her planet. Because she's a robin hood type, she has to have a group of "merry men" that turned into her sister, her older cousin and their husband, some family friends and their friends and just a whole little network of people- plus dignitaries and politicians on her own planet. I have names and notes for all of them. Some are more developed than others but I love them all so much. I like to think that what I have planned for this character blends well into the established world of star wars, at least better than some of the other Ocs I have for other fandoms. As in, though I have Sas written in many Clone Wars stories and am developing a relationship between her and Obi-Wan, that doesn't need to happen for her to feel like she has a full story. In truth she feels like she could just be a reoccurring side character like Hondo or Aurra Sing, and that was all she was supposed to be when I started with her.

Yikes this wasn't supposed to be this long already and I have more to say on this one question so PAGE BREAK

I think the only other OC that mildly compares to the level of detail I've worked in, and has a story that could maybe hold up on their own, is my Avatar the Last Airbender OC, Amaya Howe. With her story and development I wanted to look at Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. As far as I know the only glimpse we get of that is in S1 when Aang tries to firebend before learning water and earth. We're not told its a colony, but we assume the gaang is still in the Earth Kingdom passing through a Fire Nation festival. But anyways Amaya is an earthbender born to a firenation governor in one of the colonies. She's got a twin who's a fire bender and naturally the two are pitted against each other and as I'm sure you'd be able to assume theres a lot to unpack there, especially with Amaya and repressing her earth bending for years and years. She eventually runs away from home after her mother leaves to join an earth kingdom civilian led rebellion, and stumbles upon Jet's gang in the forest. She doesn't really agree with all his methods, but she has no where else to go, and she feels useful there, so she stays a while. She'd eventually end up in Ba Sing Sae on her own as she tries to connect to something in the earth kingdom, but she feels both fire nation and earth kingdom- she's stuck in a bit of identity limbo, mostly because I am stuck with what to do with her and have not put forth the effort to do MORE.

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

Usually the songs come after I come up with the most basic underdeveloped version of my oc. Like Sas was Killer Queen by Queen- she was supposed to be a bounty hunter or a straight up pirate to rival hondo at first. I've settled on two songs for her though, one is Peace by Taylor Swift, and the other is We Raise Our Cups from Hadestown- I don't think she really embodies it, but she wants to and its something she strives for and wants to be worthy of.

But I did have a Dwarf OC named Kelda that did in fact start with a song. I was and am OBSESSED with Hadestown and the song Promises from the original recordings, not the broadway version the off broadway version HURT ME. But the more I listened to Hadestown, I wanted to write a character that could embody the feel of Hadestown, but for the Hobbit/Lotr. I was also very tired of the dwarf!reader ocs I was coming across in that they were all warriors or lamenting and brooding in some fashion. So I made Kelda a musician, I headcanoned she taught Thorin to play the harp as a way to cope with his brooding and lamenting. She turned stories of Erebor into songs. She grieved, but she also saw what they could build in the blue mountains and was openly optimistic. She sang as she worked, and was dubbed the "Little Songbird" which is a reference to the song "Hey Little Songbird" from Hadestown. So yeah Kelda didn't start with one song, she had two whole albums lol

OKAY IT WAS A GOOD THING I ADDED THAT READ MORE TAG BECAUSE I DID IN FACT RAMBLE A LOT! MUCH MORE THAN I MEANT TO! But I hope you enjoyed reading about probably my three favorite OCs and feel free to ask about any more specifically or other questions. I don't really ever talk about my ocs and stuff here so this felt good. Thanks Kai!

#OC asks #Star Wars OC #Atla OC #Hobbit oc #My OCs #My original characters #That girl speaks #that girl writes #oh are these tags going to get blocked because I used the word girl in my tags? #Oh well I've done it three times now #my writing