#Azula/Hahn

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Tincan

Summary: Azula, Mai, TyLee, and Tom-Tom go to the aquarium that Hahn works at. Azula and Hahn have very different opinions on sharks.

AN: Oml, I'm so glad to be writing for Azula again! It feels like it's been forever. But I finally had time and an idea at the same time.

Azula never had an interest in the sea nor the waves. In fact, she likes to stay well away from it. She has seen it erode great and mighty cliffs, has seen it swell up and batter piers. She has seen it drag houses away from their foundations and reduce them to little more than driftwood. 

She has seen what it has done to her leg—the way it has slammed her against the rocks, the way it…

She shudders.

And now TyLee wants to take her to an aquarium. “It’ll be fun, I promise!” She insists. “I’m going to get one of those cute little otter keyrings! And maybe some stickers that I can wear on my face and legs!” 

“You can go to the mall for that.” Azula mutters. 

“They don’t sell aquarium stickers at the mall, Azula!” 

And that’s how it had started. It’s how a good many things start; TyLee gets this quirky little idea and she and Mai indulge it. Of course, it isn’t all terrible. In fact, most of the time they have a nice time together. But this time?

No, Azula doesn’t care to see the ocean again, even if it is held behind glass. Somehow the glass seems too thin, too breakable. 

Azula pulls her pant leg back down to conceal the patch work of scars. The ones that end at her kneecap where the prosthetic begins. 

“Also, I kind of already told, Mai that we are on the way…” TyLee gives a small grimace. 

Azula sighs. “Right, well you didn’t…”

“I said that we were going to the aquarium and she told Tom-Tom.” 

Azula’s stomach sinks. She doesn’t particularly want to condemn Mai into hours of dealing with a Tom-Tom tantrum; the boy had given Azula herself a good bite on one occasion. “I guess that we’re going to the aquarium.” Azula mumbles. 

“You can look at the stingrays! You like stingrays, right?”

There was certainly a time when she had. She had also rather enjoyed the bioluminescent plankton. But that was quite some time ago. “Yeah, sure, TyLee.” 

The girl is grinning from ear to ear. Azula wishes that she could keep her stomach from sinking and turning. Really it’s rather irrational to resent the aquarium. She takes a deep breath and slips into the passenger seat. 

.oOo.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to at least see the otters with me?” TyLee asks. 

Azula nods. “I’m sure.” 

“We can go pet the stingrays.” Mai offers as Tom-Tom gives her hand another tug.

“No thanks.” Azula declines. A good part of her wishes that she could, but the stingrays are never swimming alone and the thought of putting her fingers anywhere near sharks, babies or not, leaves her shuddering.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon.” His little feet slide across the ground. He has more success in moving himself than he does with getting Mai to budge. 

“It’s fine.” Azula gives a nonchalant wave. “Take Tom-Tom to see the…”

“Sharks!” He shouts. “I wanna see the sharks!”

“Azula doesn’t like sharks, Tom-Tom. You like octopi, right?” 

“I don’t care what Azula likes!” Tom-Tom stomps his foot. “I like sharks, not octopuses.” 

“It’s alright, Mai.” Azula insists. “Take him to see the sharks I’ll…” she looks around the gift shop. “I’ll read one of the books.”

TyLee pouts, “aww come on, at least come inside of the aquarium, you don’t have to go near any of the exhibits.” 

Right, because immersing herself in the ambient wave sounds while in a rather dim space, decorated to exactly resemble the crevice of an ocean floor trench is exactly what she needs. She bites her lower lip. “Alright, but I’m not staying for long. And I’m not going with you guys to see the sharks.” 

Thankfully they go to see the otters first. Azula supposes that she doesn’t mind otters, they mind their own business and don’t bite the shit out of anything that breathes in their general direction. She doesn’t mind watching the manatees either. 

Dolphins?

They are a little dicey. 

Does she trust them?

Not particularly. But she sticks around.

It is only when they wander off into the darker recesses of the aquarium where the sharks reside that she goes her own way. Evidently, her own way has taken her right into the kiddy section. She supposes that if she is going to be a baby about the sharks, she might as well be in the kiddy section of the aquarium. 

She imagines that TyLee will like it here anyhow; she can poke at jellyfish and starfish. So Azula finds herself a spot on the wall to prop herself against. And she waits, inspecting her nails and sparing disinterested glances at her phone. 

“Hey.” 

Azula jolts. 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” The boy apologizes. Azula looks him over; chin-length dark hair, nicely combed and partly pulled back. Dark skin—she thinks that she sees a tattoo on his bicep, a dolphin maybe—vivid blue eyes and a square jawline to bring it all together. He smells faintly of cologne and heavily of fish food. And it is no wonder, he is wearing an aquarium uniform with several damp patches. 

“Am I not allowed to linger?” 

“Actually, I was kind of hoping that you would stick around for a bit. It’s been kind of a slow day and it’s getting a bit boring being by myself over there.” He jabs his thumb in the direction of the interactive tanks. “Most people like touching the starfish and jellyfish so Star is getting all of the attention.” He nods at the interactive tanks that run parallel to his own. “Star always takes the starfish tanks and our boss lets her do it because the kids love it when Star talks about starfish. Hanh, on the other hand…he gets tired of that joke.”

“Who is Hanh?” 

The boy chuckles. “Me, I’m Hanh. I get tired of star puns.”

“Oh.” 

“Yeah…” He rubs the back of his head. “So…”

Azula quirks a brow. 

“I know that it’s all kiddies stuff here but would you like to feed the stingrays or something?”

Azula casts the tank a weary look. “They share a tank with the sharks.”

“They’re just bamboo sharks.” Hanh smiles. “And they’re just babies.” 

“They still have teeth and my fingers, that I’d like to continue to have, are just small enough to fit in their mouths.” Azula twirls her bangs around one of said fingers. 

“Have you ever pet a cat before?”

Azula scrunches her brows. “I frequently pet my friend, Mai’s cat. Why?”

“Bamboo shark and cat teeth are pretty similar in size and shape.”

“I’m going to need to know where you are sourcing your information from.” 

“Firsthand experience.” 

“The weakest kind of evidence when trying to debate or win an argument.” Azula declares. 

“Well good thing we’re not arguing then.” Hanh folds his arms over his chest and smirks. He, Azula decides, is not as clever as he thinks that he is. “They’re bottom feeders, you know.” He continues. “Unless your fingers are made of mollusk shells or taste like crustaceans they’ll be fine.” 

Azula presses her lips together and half-frowns. She can’t quite deny that she does, at least somewhat, really want to pet the stingrays. She used to love them well enough, she still has all of the plushies and posters that Sokka used to give her before he and Katara moved away for an unconventional life at sea with their father.

Stingrays, like Sokka and his sister, are part of a bygone ear. A small window of her life that drifted out and away shortly after her accident. Part of a childish innocence that had been yanked and torn away from her at the very same moment her leg had been. 

“I’ll pass.” 

Hahn groans and buries his face in his palms. When he looks up he is wearing the most ridiculous, exaggerated pout that she has ever seen. His once attractive face is not tainted with this forced bug eyed look and a jutting lower lip that she is certain he thinks is adorable. “Please, my boys are starving!” 

“Your boys?”

“My stingray babies need food.”

“Then go feed them?” She tilts her head. 

“They are tired of me, they want you to feed them.”

Azula swallows. He reminds her of Sokka. Her stomach sinks. She misses Sokka. She misses surf competitions with Katara. She misses long summer nights spent on the beach with Chan, Sokka, a campfire, and the beverages that Ruon managed to smuggle. She misses a lot of things.

“I don’t like sharks, Hahn.” Perhaps it is the nostalgia. Perhaps she is just tired of keeping things to herself, out of sight and out of mind, just the way father likes it. She pulls up her pant leg. “I’ve seen what they can do. And I’d be perfectly okay with plucking one of them out of that tank and watching it flop around.” 

Hahn grimaces. Whether it is at the sight of her mangled leg and prosthetic or her words, she isn’t certain. 

“Sharks are like people. Some of them are bad and some of them are good…”

“I’ve heard the statistics.” Azula rolls her eyes. “A shark attack is about one in eleven-million. You’re more likely to get struck by lightning, drown, get into a car accident. Yes I know. But I didn’t get struck by lightning and I didn’t get hit by a car.” She scoffs.

“Sorry.” He mumbles. “I’ve always been a shark enthusiast.”

Azula sniffs. “Spoken like a boy who has never had his leg torn off.” She pauses. “I’ll bet that you’ve never even seen a shark up close.”

“I actually swim with them.” He replies quietly. Azula’s stomach sinks—she has just sucked the enthusiasm right out of him. But is it not his own fault for pestering her? “Sorry, I’ll leave you alone.’ 

Azula swallows. “I didn’t say that you had to stop talking to me.”

“You didn’t have to.” 

She thinks that she should say something. But he is already sulking back to his shark tank, probably to coo at the sharks and tell them that he’ll protect them from that mean girl who wants them dead. And later he will probably vent to Star.

It is what it is. TyLee is calling her anyhow.

.oOo.

Hahn brushes his fingers over Tincan’s smooth skin. Tincan has always been his favorite since the day that she had tried to eat a tin can. Or maybe she had been trying to make a home of it. Either which way, Tincan quickly became his favorite shark. 

He waits for Shipwreck to glide away and drops another mollusk into the tank. “Hurry up.” He mumbles to Tincan. “Before Shipwreck comes back and steals it again.” 

“How’s it going over here?” Star asks. 

Hahn shrugs. “I guess it’s going alright. I haven’t gotten much company aside from that one girl.” 

“The pretty one with the prosthetic?”

Hahn nods. 

“What were you guys talking about anyways?”

“How much she hates sharks.” 

“Oof, you could have just told me that you were having a rough day.” She frowns. “I, on the other hand, have had a delightful day!”

“And this is why I didn’t tell you…” he grumbles to himself. He likes Star well enough, but geez that girl can be so…clueless. 

“I met the most adorable little girl today. She had these chubby cheeks and these really bright green eyes. She loved the jellyfish and was able to tell me all about them. Of course I already knew everything that she mentioned, but…!” She pauses and wiggles her brows. “I pretended like I had no idea.” 

“You’re a real saint, Star.” 

“Sure am.” She beams. “The kids love me.” She pauses again and sticks out her lower lip. “They love the starfish more.” Quickly she adds, “but they definitely love me too!”

“That’s nice, Star.” He dips his finger back into the water and lets Tincan rub against it. He tries to pay attention to Star. Really he does, she has better things to say than his own brain does. But he can’t quite focus. 

He stares at Tincan, at her beady, precious, little eyes. He couldn’t even change the mind of one person. And there are probably millions like her out there; people who would feel no remorse, who would, perhaps, even delight in slaying a shark. Spiders, bats, bears—they’ve all got their reputations. And their reputations don’t seem to inspire compassion. Rather they seem to spark some violent itches in people. 

He would love to lift Tincan out of the water and give her a little kiss on the head. Maybe when Star leaves for the night he’ll dunk his head into the water and give her that peck. Of course, he will have to reckon with the stingrays and Shipwreck too. 

“Oh! Sorry, Hahn, looks like I got another group.” 

“Don’t worry about it. Do your thing.” He waves her off. 

He glances at the clock on the wall. His shift will be up soon. He will probably have to wait until he gets one of the night shifts to give Tincan her kiss. He finds a container of stingray food and scatters it into the tank. He watches them swarm their meal until he hears footsteps behind him. He takes a deep breath and prepares to prattle off his usual chipper greeting to a small child. When he turns around, that greeting dies on his tongue.

“I have decided that I will feed the stingrays.” 

“Are you sure? There are still baby sharks in there?” He grumbles. “And they still want to eat your fingers specifically. Not anyone else’s, of course, just yours.” 

Her expression deadpans. “You’re being redundant; saying that they want to eat my fingers specifically is the same thing as saying that they don’t want to eat anyone else’s.” 

“Just trying to emphasize the point.” Is he being an ass. Yeah. Probably, a little. “Maybe Tincan doesn’t want your fingers in her tank anyways.” 

“Either she wants my fingers to be in the tank so that she can eat them or she doesn’t want them there. Which is it?”

Hahn blinks. He can’t tell if she is being snarky or if she genuinely wants to know. This girl certainly knows how to hold up a good conversation. “I already told you; these sharks are friendly. They’re more likely to get hurt–usually by people–than hurt someone.”

At this the girl seems to flinch, it is only the slightest little motion. The faintest flicker of hurt in her eyes. Hanh sighs, maybe he is being a little harsh. Or alot harsh. “You were probably attacked by a great white or a tiger shark. Those ones are statistically the most likely to attack unprovoked.” He pauses. “But a lot of times people provoke them without meaning to…”

The girl nods. 

“Bamboo sharks nip sometimes, but it’s like a cat bite.” He pauses. “I guess that, that can still hurt…”

“Are you going to let me feed the stingrays or not?” 

“Yeah.” He replies flatly. “Sure.” 

The girl takes a cluster of dead shrimp.

“I kind of already fed them so they might ignore you.” He mentions. “...Just like you’re ignoring me.” 

“I’m not ignoring you.” She states simply. “I just don’t speak when I don’t have anything worthwhile to add.” 

“Right.” He folds his arms across his chest and watches her reluctantly lower her hand into the water. 

.oOo.

Azula has to admit that she is a touch disappointed that he had been right about the stingrays ignoring her. One brushes up against her knuckles as it makes its lazy circles around the tank, but mostly they glide out of reach. 

She should have just stuck with TyLee, Mai, and Tom-Tom. But Tom-Tom wanted to see the big sharks and the big sharks make her stomach lurch. She can imagine them locking eyes with her and banging into the glass in an attempt to finish her off.

And if she stares long enough she can envision herself suspended in the water in a cloud of red. She shudders. She isn’t even by the large sharks and she can feel the phantom tingles tracing the lines of her scars. 

“Are you okay?” Hahn asks. 

“Perfectly.” She replies quietly. 

“Really, because…”

“I’m just disappointed that the stingrays aren’t interested.”

Hahn bites his lower lip. “The stingrays aren’t but someone is…”

Azula jerks her hand out of the water. 

“She won’t bite, I promise.” Hahn tries. “Look.” He dips his hand into the water and rubs his hand right over the baby shark. “She actually loves to be petted.” 

It is Azula’s turn to pout. 

“Here, I can…” he begins with words and finishes with a gesture. She lets him take her hand and guide it back into the water. 

Her tummy is tickling frantically. A fluttering that grows more and more intense with each centimeter that the shark closes. And then it is upon her, nuzzling its maw against her hand. She feels like she is going to be sick.

“It’s alright.” Hahn promises. “She’s just going to take that shrimp from you.” 

Azula grits her teeth and eyes the shark with a burning intensity, half expecting to see her fingers reduced to bloody stubs. But the shark is…it is gentle. It takes the shrimp from her the way that Mai’s cat takes bits of kibble. 

“See.” Hanh smiles. 

Azula nods. 

She watches the shark circle her hand a few times, rubbing against it. It’s skin is so smooth and so cool against her own. 

“That means that she likes you.” Hahn notes. “Her name is Tincan. She doesn’t eat fingers but she did try to eat a tin can once.” 

“Oh.” Azula replies. “Okay.” 

And Hahn laughs. “You’re not easy to talk to, you know.” 

Azula nods. “Yes. I know.” 

He chuckles again. “I didn’t offend you?” 

She shrugs. “It’s not offensive if it’s true.”

“Some of the most offensive words are offensive because they’re the truth.” He counters. 

“That’s the smartest thing that you’ve said all day.” She replies. She scrunches her brows, purses her lips, and peers more intensely at the shark. 

“You’re not thinking about…”

“I’m not going to hurt the shark.” She cuts him off. She is, however, still slightly concerned that it will hurt her. 

And perhaps her anxiousness shows one her face because Hahn speaks up again. “Do you want to give her another shrimp?” 

Azula bites her lip again. “I…I guess.” 

Now Hahn’s eyes are sparkling. He hands her another shrimp. This time she lowers her hand without his to guide it. Her brows knit in concentration.

“Well?” 

“Well what?” 

“Are you guys bonding?” 

Azula tilts her head. “Maybe. I guess.” 

.oOo.

At the very least, she looks much more relaxed. 

“I’d say that you’re ready to go swim with the great whites now.” 

The girl’s head jerks up and she shakes it quite quickly and adamantly.

He laughs and lifts his hands, “I’m joking, I’m joking.” 

“Thanks.” She mutters. 

“For what?” 

“Not doing that thing that people tend to do when they see me.” 

“Run away in fear?” 

“Ha.” The girl rolls her eyes. “No. That thing where they look at my leg or listen to me talk about what happened and then…” she trails off. “They get weird about it.” 

“How so?”

She takes a deep breath and offers an impression of a sympathetic expression. And with an almost uncanny softness in her voice says, “I’m so sorry, that must have been really. Hard. I don’t think that I would be able to handle it if I lost a leg. You’re so brave.” 

“They’re just trying to be nice.” 

“They end up being patronizing.”

“So you’d rather have a bunch of idiots like me, telling you to just get over it and love sharks.” 

She nods. 

“Seriously?”

Another nod. 

He bites back the urge to call her strange. 

“I’m tired of pity. And I’m tired of people being delicate with me.” She replies. “You say it how it is. Sort of.” She hums to herself. “You have your opinions and you didn’t listen to my sob story and change them. You like sharks. I…”

“You what?”

“Can maybe tolerate one specific shark.”

Hahn beams from ear to ear. “Tincan is a good girl. Shipwreck is friendly too. He’s been hiding in his…”

“Plastic rendition of a shipwreck?” She guesses.

“That’s right.” Hahn confirms. “Hey, if you come by tomorrow, I can introduce the two of you.” 

“Okay.” 

His grin widens. “Great, I’ll see you tomorrow then…”

“Azula.” 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Azula.” 

“Okay.” 

“And I’ll have Tincan and Shipwreck well fed so that they won’t crave human fingers.” 

.oOo.

Azula rolls her eyes. But stupid jokes certainly beat saccharine, socially obligated niceties. Truth be told it is kind of nice to have someone willing to make tactless jokes for once. It is more authentic and somehow more comforting. 

It makes her feel normal. 

She takes one glance back at the shark tank before finding her way back to the lobby where TyLee stands, dripping in otter merch. A ridiculous, fuzzy otter hat and a bright pink t-shirt that reads ‘you and me otter go to the aquarium more often.’

Tom-Tom, naturally, has his own shark hat and a shark fin affixed to his back. He holds a plastic shark that he has taken to running around with while making swooshing noises. Azula supposes that she should probably give Tom-Tom credit too. Most people don’t even mention sharks around her let alone act out shark attacks with toy sharks in front of her. 

She hates to imagine what sort of chaos he and Hahn could cause to her psyche in a team effort. 

Of all of TyLee’s whimsical ideas, Azula thinks that this might have been one of the better ones.

[sockfus]

still thinking abt the toxic jetko thing but like the abusive ex jet trope is SO overdone so boring. what if zuko was the toxic one 🤨 what if they were both mutually toxic. justice for jet he deserves better than this. let them both be assholes

[coralpaperthoughts]

they could never make me hate you [insert any child/teen from atla's name]

[zuko-always-lies]

Younger characters tended to be presented more sympathetically, so this is an interesting question. Please reblog for more votes.

@atla-polls

[tachiha3]

Yoohoo natla ep 7~~~~~

• Jeeko jeeko jeeko jeeko jeeko

• I wanna eat the northern water tribe. So much ice....

• AAAAA WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT WIG?? 😭 The penis looking hair from the movie was better...

• Not loving what they did to Azula. At all.

• Hehe "just a girl". 🎀

• Yue can bend.............

• Yue's so pretty aaaaaa!!! If it weren't for that goddamned wig.

• YUE WAS THE FUCKING FOX ARE YOU KIDDING ME I WAS WONDERING WHAT THE FUCK THAT THING ON HER TAIL IS

• They took away Hahn's bitchiness 🙄 god forbid a guy is a bitch

• Why is this so gay? Everything is gay in this show.

• Kuruk seccy...

• Wtf is wrong with you, kuruk...... Wtf is this. Do you people.... don't like male characters being anything other than reSpOnSiBLe?

• Oh so that was a memory. Plothole again.

• Dude your mom literally died and that's your most painful memory?

• Five sentences and they're already locking lips 😑

• ...........i hate this. (at the aang and katara scene)

• ..i hate this a lot (at the azula scene)

• .....i hate this with every ounce of my being (aang trying to butt in)

• Wow this is stupid.

• episode 3 got competition for being at the bottom

[zukkaart]

SURPRISE

I posted Chapter 11 of Try Hard early because I love to spoil you guys.

*jealous and protective Zuko has entered the chat*

Also we learn some more Zuko lore. And for those of you wondering wtf is going on with Azula and the Northern Water Tribe - trust you will find out. I’ve already decided I’m going to name the chapter “Azula, Interrupted” (get it?)

Anyway please enjoy

[waterfire1848]

An evil!Water Tribe AU has been in my head all week. I can’t stop thinking about the potential of this.

[moneneki]

Since you’ve written so many amazing big-brained ATLA rarepairs, which would you say are your favorites?

Hello and thanks a lot for both the complilment AND the ask!! I just love so much your Irosami content 😭😭😭

As for my favorite ATLA rarepairs... It's a but hard to say, but I'm extremely fond of Zhayu (also of Yue/Zuko but I don't know if it still counts as a rarepair) and Azula/Kuei, I just find those dynamics fascinating.

But as an important note, I love with my whole heart all the tags I've contributed the first work to! Now that I go through my AO3 profile I realize those are a few already 😂 but in particular, Hahn/Toph and Jin/Kuei. There's the very specific AU about Poppy Beifong/Zhao that I started writing as a crack fic joke and then it turned into a serious thing for me 😅

Thanks again, and sorry it took me so long to get to answer!!

[doyouevenshipbr0]

examples of atla live action’s attempts to be more feminist and how they actually had the opposite effect and/or hurt the integrity of the show

already talked about katara and pakku. does not make sense that she did not have a master. point blank. just because something sounds empowering (ie katara saying “yes. and ur looking at her.” after zuko asked if she found a master) doesn’t mean it automatically is. there still needs to be logic and katara “being her own master” defies logic imo im sorry!

katara in general. she has no ferocity here which to be very honest i dont think is fully the writers’ fault. some of the blame goes on them but the actress for katara just delivered alllllll of her lines w the same exact mild tone. katara is overly motherly. she is bossy. she is passionate. she is nurturing. she is emotional. THERE IS POWER IN THESE THINGS!!!!! why would we take away her spark?!?!?!

i loved live action suki. however, i LOVE the line in the original when her and sokka part ways and sokka says “i treated u like a girl when i should’ve treated u like a warrior.” and suki says “i am a warrior” *kisses sokka on the cheek* “but im a girl too.” THAT LINE WAS SO PERFECT like lemme say it again there is POWER IN FEMININITY! there is no shame in that!!!!! why does this show wanna take that away so badly. at one point live action suki says something like “im not just a warrior, im a kiyoshi warrior” and before she parts ways w sokka she thanks him for showing her some of the world or something like that. which was fine but i just love the simplicity of the original. a girl can be a warrior and have a crush. why do we have to change that?

this is a small one and it doesnt REALLY matter, but i cant help but think they changed this to be more “feminist” which is just dumb. yue isnt betrothed? well she was but she broke it off? and hahn (her ex) isnt a huge dick? i mean it wasn’t the worst thing and i didnt really mind it but i was just kinda like ?????. feel like yue being betrothed tied into her sense of responsibility and foreshadowed the sacrifices she will make for her people. so. feels rly weird that they changed it. i think it was to show more women agency which is always cool. but in the original, yue finally gets her agency by becoming the moon spirit. that should be the end of her character arc. idk. a weird change that seemed unnecessary.

sokka not being sexist. honestly i think the live action did a good job at omitting this while not REALLY making it feel like something was missing. with that being said, something was still missing lol. once again, its apart of sokka’s character. i feel like everyone has already expressed their hate for this so ill just leave it at that.

i am a TAD indifferent on the women of the northern tribe joining the forces during the fight. on one hand i cant lie i smiled bc obviously i love water bending and i love women so there was definitely apart of me that was happy to see that moment. however. it was kind of giving like in endgame when theres that random shot of all the women superheroes in one frame so the movie could have a “slay queen. we are girlbosses:)” moment. like it just felt a little empty and it wasnt the feminist battlecry they thought it was. these women have been healing their whole lives. why would they be any good on the frontlines of a fight? they never learned combat skills! HOWEVER, when we see them, its mainly just them reinforcing the walls so like. that makes enough sense. im cool w that.

i know im dwelling but as we know i hold atla in the highest regards. it does a lot of things perfectly imo. and one of the things i think it does PERFECTLY is its treatment of female characters. literally the only thing i can think of that i dont like is when team azula beats the kiyoshi warriors and ty lee says something like “u are NOT prettier than us” NDBSKSJDJ like ok that was weird. but anyways. it irritates me how the live action kind of seems to have this pov that says “the original was good, but there were some ideas and plots that were outdated so we changed them to keep with the times” like they’re fixing something that was broken if that makes sense. when in actuality, i think atla’s representation of women is perfect and timeless. it was relevant and powerful in 2005, and it is equally as relevant and powerful in 2024. there was nothing about its feminist themes that needed to be “fixed” or “updated”.

[innocentimouto]

Some atla opinions that I feel like have been explained in old posts

Aang supported, respected, and comforted Katara throughout the series.

The first one to ever trust or help Zuko was Aang.

Everyone in the Gaang did chores, not just Katara.

Katara comforted many characters, not just Aang.

Appa should have been afraid of Zuko.

Sokka is not a good judge of character.

Sokka should have been the one to go with Katara to face Yon Rha.

Toph is bratty.

Toph didn't care about the war.

Haru showed a lot of hatred for the Fire Nation.

Hahn was a missed opportunity. And so was every ek kid.

Katara was the only normal one for not trusting Zuko.

There are more pros than cons in keeping Jet alive for the plot.

Jet was a great leader.

All the Freedom Fighters were fine with flooding the village.

Ty Lee can be cruel.

Mai was friends with Azula, willingly.

Suki deserved more development.

Jin should have gotten the chance to confront Zuko over Ba Sing Se.

Teo should have made plans with Sokka.

Hakoda should have praised Katara for her bending.

Hakoda should have been able to fight in the finale.

The White Lotus made a lot of characters look worse.

The only actions Zuko regretted were the ones against Iroh.

Zuko was fully prepared to capture Appa and use him as bait by any means necessary (ie firebending).

Iroh is a hypocrite.

Azula was abused.

Azula lost many times.

Bloodbending isn't evil.

Book 3 was rushed.

[survivalove]

I was thinking about how much yue’s death must have meant to katara (and I honestly believe her death had the most impact on her after her mom’s, yes even more than jet) in the narrative sense.

imagine katara finally reaching the north in all its grandeur, meeting her northern equivalent and she’s probably thinking how much better off yue had it than her. but then yue goes on to make the ultimate sacrifice, not just for the world but specifically for the water tribe and waterbending. and then how much waterbending has always been such an integral part of katara’s character and how like her mom, yue gave her life so katara (and the entire tribe) could not only survive but live on waterbending.

and then just how much yue’s narrative is a foil to katara’s arc just as much as azula’s is:

these two princesses trying to meet their father’s expectations and both meeting their tragic end (re: defeat for azula) as they do just that.

especially yue, being a girl i don’t believe she was going to be a chief hence her arranged marriage to hahn. her life has always been carved out for her and the only way she breaks free from this is by literally dying, but of course, she dies for her people. she makes her father proud while freeing herself from the life he sets out for her by simultaneously losing the ability to live at all.

i also think it’s fascinating how yue a nonbender growing up in the north where she never would have learnt how to fight anyway becomes the most powerful waterbender ever in death.

and then you have katara, who is if nothing else, a survivor. katara is a female character that gets to choose where she lives, who she loves, when she fights, heals etc. without any pushback from her father or anyone in her tribe. her legacy extends past her home and goes beyond the men in her family but it’s because of women like yue and her mom that she has the chance to do so.

so i think katara would hold yue in high regard and her death would definitely have impacted her (at least symbolically) more than the canon lets on.

i also like to think katara spent some time with yue realizing they have more in common than just daughters of the chief. idk maybe she thought yue would have been too naive and pampered in the beginning but that’s just me projecting atp.

i think they would have bonded due to yue’s spirituality and her storytelling, possibly filling little gaps in katara’s cultural knowledge like the story of the moon and ocean spirits. i think katara would have appreciated it and in return yue probably relished having a female friend that wasn’t trying to compete with her or kiss up to her for brownie points, which i imagine happens in societies with nobility if jane austen adaptations have taught me anything.

[audsthoughts]

I get it, live actions aren’t for everybody and that’s totally fine. Not everyone’s gonna like it. But to shit on the stupidest things, or draw the dumbest conclusions??? Blocked. Y’all look dense as fuck. Views will be mixed as they always are, quit clogging up the tags with your negativity and find some chill 😂 The originals are still there to watch or read and enjoy…so go do that…it’s literally on the same app 👏🏻 I’m trying to be understanding I am, but some of y’all are so damn hung up you’re letting it completely destroy something you’d otherwise enjoy

Anyways!! Here’s some of the stuff I loved from the atla live action!

•cinematography, soundtrack, costumes - all on point

•getting to see the airbenders flourishing!!! Also the dude who played Gyatso?! Didn’t think I could love him more!! Even though it was painful as FUCKKKK getting to see the first invasion of the fire benders was an epic masterpiece

•speaking of, the first scene?? With the earthbender soldiers in the fire nation?? Iconic

•Omashu: unpop opinion I’m sure (bc y’all hate change but simultaneously hate when it’s carbon copy????????🤦🏼‍♀️) I loved how they incorporated like 3 or 4 episodes into one, and they flowed really well together. Jet is FOINEEE. Mechanist was perfect & his son is a freaking badass, amazing casting! Even though it was change, the secret tunnel scenes were still really freaking cool and the badgermoles were SICK AS FUCK. Also I love that Bumi was still cooky but not just randomly cooky? Like mans was run down from being king basically the entire war…which FAIR. And it made sense that he was peeved with Aang BECAUSE they were such good friends. Like the other avatars being mad at him? Yea that’s whatever. But for Bumi it was kinda personal. Also CABBAGE MAN WE MISSED YOU 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Oh! And the way they mentioned other episodes like they were lore when Zuko was trying to find Aang? That was an amazing way to tie back to the OG series

•I love how they incorporated the blue spirit, Koh, the fog of lost souls & parts of the ep where sokka and Katara got sick & Aang had to get them frogs - just reimagined it. Oh also Hei Bai! Yea, I loved that whole episode. Koh & Hei Bai were SCARY as fuck, it was awesome!!

•HAHN MY BELOVED…I ADORE YOU! Favorite character that they added/changed. Katara getting the other women involved in the battle?! Tui & La? The oasis?! 😭😭 stunning!!!! I also LOVEDDDDD Aangs avatar spirit that he turned into, literally perfect! And I loved the change that he gave himself over to the spirits wrath..fucking SICK. Also right before aang turned into the spirit/whatever that’s called, I was praying they’d do the line and thEY DIDDDD!!!

•Fire lord Ozai?? 😳😚 nothing needed to be said - perfection

•Kyoshi?! The Kyoshi warriors?! SUKI?! - speechless

•I like that they’re making more of a point to show how smart Sokka is! Mechanist calling him an engineer…I hope they play more into that! Ik they did a bit in the show with the subs (cartoon), but still

•”~hE rAn~” seriously my favorite line, I was DYINGGGG!!! The scenes with Zuko and Iroh, Zuko before the war meeting, the leaves from the vine being in the background at the funeral….ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME?! Zuko’s crew being the crew he SAVED?! And when they find out they all do the fire nation bows to their prINCE?! 😭😭😭😭

I’m being fair y’all - things I don’t love/hope they change:

•this one I’m 50/50 on - I don’t love that they tried to give Kuruk a reason for disappearing. They tried to pull shit from Korra to make him look meaningful & not useless as an avatar and it didn’t hit for me

•some of the wigs: obviously we won’t see Yue again, but I wanted her hair to be white. I didn’t love the wig but it wouldn’t have been as bad for me if it wasn’t so grey. Also do NOT love Azula, Tylee or Mai’s hair. Ik they look just like the show but whether that’s wigs or their actual hair (I’m clueless) it needs some serious improvement. Azula’s looks great down, I just don’t like how big the side pieces are that frame her face when it’s up.

•Katara, my love, I am PRAYING part of your development is also going to be her becoming more outspoken and badass, bc this season we saw the tiniest of glimpses of it, not a fan (unless it’s a part of her development…she did grow up in a tiny ass tribe so I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt)

• IK they’re going with a much more serious Aang, but pleaseeeee give us some actual moments of him being a kid. We saw that like twice 😭

•Dante is the PERFECT ZUKO, I will hear NO slander. However, I need him to be more of a dick. I’m hoping we’ll get that when he gets super desolate when they’re on the run & then we have Zuko alone & he has his inner battle. I need snarky dickhead Zuko, so you can truly see the big differences between what he’s fighting (himself vs. who his dad wants him to be)

Have fun kids!

In case I haven’t made it clear, idgaf if you disagree. I go so hard for these live actions because it’s fun! It’s just supposed to be fun and different and new. If you get so serious about it you’re ALWAYS going to be disappointed, there’s no way around it bc nothing is ever going to be as good as the original book, the original show, the original tale. OG atla is ALWAYS gonna be the winner, nothing will compare! So sit back ~relax~ and find some joy in the little things

[luminousdryad]

to make things brief cause I suck at organizing what I have to say, the live action was definitely Something™.

Cast: 10/10 kinda biased personally but yall can't take this from me

Gordon as Aang and Dallas as Zuko were the standouts imo. Gordon needs some direction on line delivery and the angstier scenes but overall he's very charming and I'm so proud of him for getting so much exposure!

Ian as Sokka was great, I just wish he was allowed to be more...messy? like Sokka pretends to be chill and all that but he's actually dramatic so I hope that gets improved in the next season if there is one

speaking of improvement, Kiawentiio as Katara brought out a softer side to the character but sadly diminished her spark and passion. I like that Katara now actually feels like a younger sister, it makes sense within the context of the story that Sokka and Gran Gran would shelter her after what happened, but as someone said, her anger is so central to her character and I just wish that got shown more. It's more of a script and direction problem tbh, if you look at Kia's interviews she has the sass and feistiness Katara needs

Lizzy as Azula is great, the writing is a bit clunky though so she did the best she could with it. Can't really comment on Mai and Ty Lee yet because they're kinda just there but it's a nice setup

Maria as Suki? perfection show stopping never the same she is a queen and I love the tidbit of Suki backstory which she never really had in the og show. I love her being such a loser around her crush we love to see girlfailures girlfailing. I wish the writers didn't make them KISS though 😭 slowburn ftw

the adults were great

Writing: 6.5/10

There were genuinely good moments and I love the concept of mixing up certain plot points to condense the story

But they just suffered from too much Telling instead of Showing WRITERS PLEASE LISTEN TO THE CRITICISM YOU HAVE TIME TO IMPROVE PLEASE

Omashu, mechanist, and Jet plot mixing as a concept was fine, but it dragged on and my friends and I got bored of it. I like it in theory but if it was going to take THAT long couldn't they have just separated one of those storylines for a different episode?

I appreciate that they tried to develop the water siblings' relationship by making them the stars of the Secret Tunnels, but I would've changed the way they "conquered" the problem (really? badgermoles respond to love? cute in theory but like why). If anyone's watched Barbie: A Fairy Secret there's a part where Barbie and her frenemy accuse each other of why their friendship failed, and it helps them make up and breaks the curse put on them. So that's what I would've done, force them in a life or death situation in which they have to say the unsaid things, maybe hug it out and boom

The way they handled Koh and the Spirit World was a Mess™ but the effects were decent

Zhao meeting horrible ends in every incarnation is so deserved

Yue having more agency was a welcome change AND I LOVE THAT SHE WATERBENDS. Then waterbends even when the moon is gone. It's such a nice visual nod to the fact that she has the moon spirit within her

That said, the show could definitely use more visual storytelling, less weird dialogue. Like it's so strangely common for shows or adaptations these days to exposition dump. Like they did not have to make Yue say that the ocean spirit was angry, literally just show me the dead moon fish and I'll get the idea. Then Iroh says "That's Wrath" that's just redundant now isn't it

I like that they saved Katara bringing Aang out of the Avatar State until last even if it could've been done better

HOW DARE THEY MAKE ME LIKE HAHN HE WAS A JERK IN THE SHOW BUT THEY MADE HIM A GENUINELY GOOD CHARACTER. Yes to brown men not being portrayed as jerks but also in the original it was a nice contrast to how far Sokka had come because Hahn reflected who he used to be. But live action Hahn </3

I like that they showed the deaths and blood. I wanted a live action that was both lighthearted but more realistic when it came to the injuries and death, and that'd kind of what I got

Other thoughts + overall

You can tell they put so much heart into this show, watching the bts, the bending boot camp with the correct martial arts, the easter eggs, the nods to the comics, the beautiful adaptations of Cabbage Merchant and Secret Tunnel nomads, there's so much passion behind the show it's a shame it suffered in its writing

which is why if they read reviews and criticism from the bigger name fans (TheAvatarist, HelloFutureMe, etc.) it would really help them improve for future seasons! The cast is stunning already and they have great chemistry (hopefully gets improved too!)

The live action is just a different angle to the show. And I'm saying this as an Avatar fan–the original wasn't perfect, either. I had some problems w it but the overall show was genuinely so good and heartfelt, those problems weren't glaring enough to put me off (unlike The Dragon Prince, sorry). The live action definitely wasn't perfect, but it tried to give us a new look into Avatar. Again, no adaptation will ever be a 1:1 remake and none should be. Where's the fun in that? But while the show is so full of heart and with actual fans working behind the scenes, I doubt if they listen to any criticism that they can't pull this off better next season.

[tzilatza]

NATLA Review - spoilers

Woke up today still feeling annoyed after finished the Netflix ATLA remake last night, and I think I've figured out the core reason.

It's the fact that: If they had held truer to the original source material, we could have had a truly great show. I disagree with those calling it a complete disaster. The acting was good, great in some cases. The effects were very well done, the bending looked about as good as it can in a live action media. The scenery was lovely.

But what happened in the writer's room?! The way they just reveal all the back stories up front EVERY TIME is honestly insulting to the audience. It's like they're so terrified that smartphone culture has made the public so accustomed to instant gratification that they have no faith we will stick around and keep watching if they make us wait for anything.

They're also clearly terrified of complexity. One of my biggest gripes with this remake is Jet's story. They completely took out his plans to murder a whole town of innocents in order to get a few enemy soldiers. Now, Jet isn't my favorite character, but his story is so important. Because it is real. The world is full of people who have been so brought down by injustice that they lose their sense of right and wrong, and we need to see that on screen. If Jet is too complex for them, how will they handle Ba Sing Se in the second season.

This goes along the same lines as removing Sokka's sexist moments. They felt they had to do it to make him more 'likable.' Yet the writers themselves went full sexist on Katara's character. They've taken out so much of her spark, her righteous and justified anger, and they've done it because even in 2024, people expect women to be more passive to be palatable. Enough people have already commented on them removing Aang's choice to run away. Heaven forbid the main character not be an absolute paragon. Did y'all notice that they even made Hahn likable? Hahn?! What reason do you have for making Hahn likable Netflix?! His role in the narrative is to be an example of toxic masculinity that is clearly the bad choice compared to Sokka who has learned and grown out of his own.

Don't even get me started with what they're doing with the fire nation family, I'm not ready to tackle that. In general, I have no problem with Azula getting a little more backstory and humanizing, but why season 1? Throwing in all these extra scenes just sacrifices screen-time where they could've actually fleshed out the real season one plots instead of rushing through things at breakneck pace. (ex: Aang escaping Zuko's ship in about 2 minutes flat)

At the end of the day, the scenes I most enjoyed were those that held true to the original like the Blue Spirit sequences. They could've easily done more of this, held onto the important plot points and even more important character complexity, while maturing it for an adult audience. I'm not disagreeing with every change they made. Go ahead and take out the silly Nickelodeon gags, add cussing and more realistic violence to get your mainstream viewers. Go ahead. They could've easily made a darker more mature version of the show and still held onto all the old fans in my opinion. But claiming that you're making a 'more mature' version and then removing the complexity and subtlety because they didn't think viewers could handle it...

What makes me most sad is that there are a lot of people who will experience ATLA for the first time through this show. There are a lot of adults who are not willing to watch original ATLA because they refuse to acknowledge an animated series can be anything other than a kid's show. Those people will watch this and think it's the real deal, and that just makes me sad.

If you've read this far, a very sincere thank you for listening to my rant. If you're an OG fan who enjoyed it, I have no problem with you. It was a fun watch, I was just hoping for more. If you are a new viewer who has never seen ATLA before, I sincerely want to hear your opinions. Is it a great show to someone who isn't holding it against the context of the original? And do you plan to watch the original now?

[saintvainglorious]

Fics I Enjoyed in January

I was putting together a list of the best fics I read last year and was reminded of two incredible ATLA fics I read in February 2023 ((Never) Forget Who You Are by mindbending and up in the city (until the stars lost the war) by Madseason). Those two fics are absolute perfection and sent me down an Avatar: The Last Airbender rabbit hole this month.

I read an insane amount, for me, even more than I did last year in September/October, when I was chowing down Drarry longfics like a starving dog. There's approximately 993k words of fic in this rec list - if you assume the average novel is 90k, that's about 11 books!

half in the shadows, half burned in flames by r_astra Avatar: the Last Airbender | Gen | 4k | Not Rated

“They say you tried to kill the Firelord,” Hakoda says. "Why?" Zuko doesn’t know how to answer. Because I hate him. Because I love him. Because he wants to see the world burn. Because he knotted one hand in my hair and cupped flames against my face with the other. Because my mother is dead. Because my uncle is dead. Instead, he shrugs tiredly and says: “Someone has to.”

i am through finding blame by sokkaesque/@sokkagatekeeper Avatar: The Last Airbender | Gen | 6k | Teen & Up

Sokka was fourteen the first time he realized people didn’t apologize to him very often. Or, Sokka during The Southern Raiders.

a nation, held by snowdarkred/@snowdarkred Avatar: The Last Airbender | Gen | 6k | General Audiences

It doesn’t take long for the rumors to start. The Fire Nation prides itself on its civilization. It isn’t like the other, lesser, nations who throw their children away by sending them into war. They are to be protected, because children are the future glory of the nation. The crown prince is thirteen when his father burns his face in front of an audience of hundreds.

The Iconoclast by ranilla_bean/@ranilla-bean Avatar: The Last Airbender | Sokka/Suki/Zuko | 21k (WIP) | Explicit

After a protracted civil war, the victorious new Fire Lord sends a call for a new bodyguard across the four nations. A Southern Water Tribesman and a warrior from Kyoshi Island respond.

Life in Eden by WitchofEndor/@a-witch-in-endor Avatar: The Last Airbender | Gen | 14k | Not Rated

In which Ursa tries to be a better parent to Azula, and it doesn’t change very much. And then, quite abruptly, it changes everything.

While Mighty Oaks Do Fall by WitchofEndor/@a-witch-in-endor Avatar: The Last Airbender | Sokka/Zuko | 181k (WIP) | Teen & Up

The newly-crowned Fire Lord Ozai offers his firstborn son to service in the temple. This turns out to be a catastrophic mistake.

where the stars do not take sides by WitchofEndor/@a-witch-in-endor Avatar: The Last Airbender | Sokka/Zuko | 60k | Not Rated

When Azula is nine, she becomes an only child. She hears the Fire Lord call for Zuko's life, and in the morning, her mother and brother are gone. Azula may be young, but she isn't naive. She knows what happened to them. Which makes it all the more surprising when Azula tracks the Avatar down and fights his group of peasant friends, only to find herself staring into an eerily familiar face.

War Crimes by Lovely_Elbow_Leech/@lovelyelbowleech Avatar: The Last Airbender | Sokka/Zuko | 90k | Mature | Part 1 of All's Fair

Book one ends with two major differences: 1. Sokka went on the mission with Hahn (it did not go well) 2. Zhao survives the North Pole and that proves unfortunate for everybody (except Zhao, obviously). Imprisoned on Zhao’s war ship, Sokka and Zuko have to work together to survive. They are not very enthusiastic about this prospect. And they argue. A lot.

War Games by Lovely_Elbow_Leech/@lovelyelbowleech Avatar: The Last Airbender | Sokka/Zuko | 443k (WIP) | Mature | Part 2 of All's Fair

Sokka is aware that being friends with the enemy is going to bring complications, but he probably should have guessed that being friends with Zuko in particular, was going to be a bit like dunking your head repeatedly into a bucket of angry Fire Ferrets.

Below the Sun by CSHfic and VSfic Avatar: The Last Airbender | Sokka/Zuko | 25k | Teen & Up

Sokka is washed overboard while working on the fisherman's boat during the storm. He wakes on a deserted island. Or... mostly deserted.

Will We Last the Night by CSHfic and VSfic Avatar: The Last Airbender | Sokka/Zuko | 143k | Teen & Up

Chief Arnook never assigns Sokka to protect Princess Yue, so he goes to fight the Fire Nation with the other men. When the moon dies, and the ocean spirit takes its revenge, Sokka is caught standing on the deck of a Fire Nation ship. Sokka should have drowned… and he would have drowned, if not for a certain Fire Nation raft fleeing the North Pole. [An enemies-to-lovers season 2 rewrite, where Sokka is separated from the gaang during the Siege of the North, and travels the Earth Kingdom with Zuko instead].

[suzukiblu]

Ko-fi thank-you sentences for @primtheamazing; excerpt from the in-progress sequel to you make a really good girl (as girls go).

The first day on Azula’s ship is . . . odd. It feels a little unreal and distant traveling like this, leaving her whole life behind, and Yue isn’t sure what to think of the experience. She keeps feeling like she’ll wake up or snap out of it and things will be normal again. 

Or . . . different, anyway. 

She thinks of Azula’s rooms and the one and only bed in them, and tries to–she doesn’t know what Azula expects tonight. They’re both girls, and Yue can’t bear Azula the son and heir that Hahn would’ve expected from her, but Azula’s been acting like a husband would. Or at least . . . something like a husband would. She proposed, and fought the boys, and went on the hunt. 

She got her a necklace. 

Yue’s still wearing it. Which–of course she is. It’s normal enough. Not necessary, now that they’re married, but normal enough. And more normal for royalty, on top of that. Especially in a situation where she’s being taken to be presented to Azula’s family as her wife. 

Yue doesn’t have any idea what to expect from Azula’s family. She didn’t even know Azula existed before she showed up, so who knows who else might be in it? Zuko, obviously, and very obviously the Fire Lord and his lady, but otherwise . . . Azula doesn’t have another brother, she’d said, but are there sisters? Cousins? Aunts and uncles? 

There’s at least the Dragon of the West, she knows. Obviously she knows about him. But she doesn’t know if Azula’s mother has any siblings or anything like that, or if there are grandparents on her side, or . . . 

There’s so much she should know that she just . . . doesn’t. 

She could ask Ty Lee, she supposes. Ty Lee would probably tell her, and then she wouldn’t have to bother Azula about it. Or at least she could ask Mai, who might not mind a few questions. Mai is going to be the Fire Lady someday; she must know Azula’s family tree as well as her own. 

Well, they’re about to be the same family tree, so . . . yes, of course she must.

So Yue should too.