#atla is a fairly mature story

[bulkyphrase]

Post-CACW Stony: a fic rec list

I've been on a Captain America: Civil War kick lately, and since I know that Steve-friendly CW Stony fic can be hard to find, I've put together a rec list!

I am thoroughly team cap, but these range from being anti-accords to just not getting into the issue, and all are Steve-friendly as long as you can accept a lot little loving Steve-whump.

Atlas by nanasekei (@elcorhamletlive) (Not Rated, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, 11,505 words)

Summary: They don't hear each other.

Eigengrau by vorkosigan (@the-vorkosigan) (Teen And Up Audiences, 16,811 words)

Summary: Tony is captured; he doesn't know by whom, or why. He doesn't know how much time has passed since. What he knows is, he can now hear something in the adjacent cell, and that 'something' sounds a lot like Steve Rogers.

Nights When the Wolves Are Silent, and Only the Moon Howls by Cluegirl, Defiler_Wyrm (@cluegrrl) (Mature, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, 77,612 words)

Note: has a Stucky element too, but the relationship between Steve and Tony is the main focus.

Summary: “Could you drop all that stoic shit and be my freaking-the-hell-out wingman for just like, five seconds here?” Steve wasn’t sure he could think of anything he wanted less to do than to freak out about his wounds just then though, so he reached across his chest and gingerly patted Sam’s clenched knuckles. “It’ll be fine,” he promised, believing it. “Serum’s handled worse.” “You know, I actually believe you,” Sam allowed after a long second of glaring. “Which is deeply alarming, considering how much of your connective tissue I’ve touched in the last 4 hours. Now you wanna tell me what Russoff’s men did to you that made it look like you got mauled by a bear?” Steve flinched, then breathed the memory down to size. “Not a bear,” he murmured. “Wolves.”

More below the cut!

(trust me when i say) i'll get back to you by machi_kun (@machi-kun) (General Audiences, 1,549 words)

Summary: “Me and Rogers are not on speaking terms anymore.”

An Infinite Number Of Monkeys At Typewriters (Or, Steve and Tony Finally Get It Right) by JenTheSweetie (@jenthesweetie) (Mature, 18,864 words)

Summary: Tony blinked up at the face staring down at him. This was impossible. This was definitely 100% not possible, he had not just started giving a good morning handy to - “Steve?” After the events of Civil War, Tony and Steve wake up in bed next to each other in an alternate universe. It goes about as well as you'd expect it to.

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep by Cluegirl (@cluegrrl) (Mature, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, 152,765 words)

Summary: They all made mistakes. They all have regrets. They all have nightmares, suspicions, and questions they'd like to ask. And they all left business behind them that was never quite finished. This is the story of how the Avengers ask those questions, get their answers, and come together like fucking adults to make things right again.

Bring Him Home by seventymilestobabylon (@seventymilestobabylon) (Explicit, 13,769 words)

Summary: Tony misses Steve very badly after the Accords. Some days he deals with it better than other days. (a fic featuring the booty call flip phone, minor kidnappings, and time jumps between chapters because the election has been happening and my brain has been too mush to make a proper plot)

Conjugal Visits by xtricks (Explicit, 4,252 words)

Summary: AU: Steve Rogers gets captured fairly soon after Civil War and sent to the Raft. Tony discovers that trying to appease your enemies doesn’t work and ends up a prisoner too.

Down Came the Rain by captainoutoftime (@captain-outoftime) (Explicit, 75,274 words)

Summary: A mission goes badly for Natasha, who is discovered de-aged to three years old. She recognizes no one, but every kid knows Captain America. When Tony grudgingly makes a call, Steve makes good on his promise to answer. Steve has to work together with Tony to take care of a traumatized child and figure out how to turn their itsy bitsy spider back into a Black Widow. Neither of them really want to talk about what happened in Siberia, but living in close quarters, they have to come to some sort of peace - even if it means addressing some feelings they'd rather not admit to having. As they work together to solve the problem of a re-emerging Red Room, Steve uncovers something he never expected to find again: family.

Hating Steve Rogers by nanasekei (@elcorhamletlive) (Not Rated, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, 16,243 words)

Summary: The thing about hating Steve Rogers is that it shouldn’t be easy - but it really, really is.

I Have Questions by YourFadedGlory (HisNameWasAce) (@yourfadedglory) (Not Rated, 2,808 words)

Summary: There is only so much that Steve can carry. His legs quiver and his heart aches, he looks skyward, and in a startling moment of clarity he lets the shield go. Gouged and battered, it rings like a bell when it hits the stone floor. He wonders for a split moment if it will weigh on Tony the way it has weighed on him.

The Crying Game by fohatic (@fohatic) (Explicit, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, 36,403 words)

Summary: Steve Rogers stared at the dimly glowing digital screen of the little burner phone, rereading the text message as if it might somehow give away something he missed the first dozen times he scrutinized it. His frown only deepened, though, brows drawing together with consternation as the 88 characters only left him with an even more ponderous sense of uncertainty. If you meant what you wrote, I'll be at the Swissotel Sarajevo, 4/18. Presidential Suite. 9pm. Come alone. ...Nearly a year after Steve and Tony's fallout—and only weeks after press rumors that Tony and Pepper's engagement was inexplicably called off—Steve gets a message on the dedicated burner phone. Despite his instinctive reservations, he's compelled to answer the mysterious call. An approximately canon-compliant story.

the hope that kills you by meidui (@meidui) (Mature, 1,227 words)

Summary: Steve used to go on so much about freedom and choice. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. Some of the freedom he loved was big, big enough for him to lay his life down for over and over, and some of the freedom he loved was small, like the wind in his hair when he took his motorcycle out, but now he has to sob and take it when Tony sucks a deep flowering bruise where his prison uniform couldn’t possibly cover and whispers in his ear, “Who’s gonna help you now? Where are you gonna run?”

live for the hope of it all by meidui (@meidui) (Mature, No Archive Warnings Apply, 1,880 words)

Note: This is a sequel to the hope that kills you

Summary: “You can keep me here, can’t you?” Steve asks a little desperately as Tony kneels over him, spreading himself out all the better for Tony to take. He must have really hated his cell on the Raft, Tony thinks before he loses himself in Steve’s body, and for a little while, everything is the same as it has been for the past six months. It’s only after, in the dark and quiet of his own bedroom with Steve sprawled sleepy and heavy across his chest that Tony realises— This is their cell now.

The Phone by AvengersNewB (@avengersnewb) (Mature, 9,039 words)

Summary: Tony hates the flip phone Steve sends him, but he keeps it close at all times, and it never rings until it finally does and the news might help put things into perspective - Captain America : Civil War fix-it. or The phone can't take the place of your smile. [podfic added as chapter 2]

the things we invent when we are scared by nanasekei (@elcorhamletlive) (Not Rated, 18,305 words)

Summary: Steve is trapped in a dream machine, programmed to make him believe he's living his happiest fantasy. Tony goes inside to wake him up, but what he finds is a lot more complicated than he expected.

there's nothing but blue skies by Meatball42 (Mature, Major Character Death, 647 words)

Summary: “This isn’t good,” Steve said grimly.

[dimalry]

Previous anon here 🙋🏼‍♀️

And yes I agree. Sjm did not handle it very well since people have been fighting each other for over a year now and I believe people can have different opinions on it. I accept that people can see the situation in different ways because of how it was handled and/or from the bits they remember since most of us haven't read the books in a while 😅. I too haven't read them in a long time but from what I remember I didn't see it as SA or know all the details of what happened. And there are a lot of very similar debates happening in the fandom and there aren't any new ones, just a repeat of the same arguments people used one month ago, I guess this is a way to keep the fandom alive since we haven't been given anything?? But idk lol. I just keep to myself most of the time when I see someone having a different opinion as me and just continue with the things I enjoy.

Because of the way she handles certain topics, he have people arguing over who‘s right constantly. It’s actually so interesting how everyone has their own Interpretation of the text. There’s some beauty that comes with that, but people rather want everyone to think like them and that leads to this wildness in the fandom. When you have someone getting so triggered over your opinions, not only do they attack you but they create 5 more posts talking trash about you, that’s how you know the fandom is WILD 💀

When Rhys was first introduced I shipped Feysand right away (I thought Feylin was cute but I love me some morally grey characters). Things started to become.. weird when I arrived at the utm scenes and they made me uncomfortable. I didn’t think much of it when I finished the book because I thought we‘re going to get an epic redemption arc. We didn’t. Though I still loved Acomaf, I was fairly disappointed with how it was handled. My second time reading the books it only frustrated me. I really wanted to see some good redemption arc from a morally grey character, but it turned out that he isn’t morally grey in the first place and that isn’t a trope that I particularly like 😬I like Feysand and they’re fun to draw (I have most of them still in my drafts). I sometimes think of how I would‘ve written the story. Especially after Under the Mountain, that’s when I imagine what route Feyre and Feysand together would take. I took some inspiration from the atla world (I‘m so excited to draw and share my thoughts on this when I get the time 🥹), and Rhys In my imagination is definitely held accountable (no character is safe from accountability, even my favs)

You’re one of the great people who can bring a safe space in the fandom. Minding your own business and enjoying life is very mature ✨

[dukeofdelirium]

https://www.tumblr.com/dukeofdelirium/760911562701701120/do-you-just-have-those-characters-that-you-see?source=share

You're so real for this...2024 and I still see people said, "Aw how cute it is between Light and Misa or (any female characters)...."

See, even for someone who don't really like shipping, since the first I watch Death Note anime, then read the manga, I can't get it if people don't ship Light with L...

When I found your blog : Lawlight & Kataang shipper, yes? Kindred spirit...See, when I tell people I ship Kataang, most people will be 😁😆🥰🤩 but then I said I'm Lawlight shipper, people be like 😑😭🙁☹

Like, why people can't love 2 very different ships, right?

So, in ATLA, are you Zuko/Mai or Zuko/Sokka shipper or neither? Why?

Right?? I don’t get it fr. Shipping Light with Misa specifically is like.. LMFAO I CANTTTT he literally hates her so much but it isn’t even that he hates her, he actively avoids all sorts of intimacy with her and when he Does do something, he only does so to continue using her as a pawn. I mean, the only reason he even kept her alive was bc he didn’t have a choice in the first place bc of Rem. And like, his avoidance and internal rejection of her and other women isn’t even a “Kira” thing, bc he still did so when he was memoryless and we also know he avoided dating girls pre death note/Kira persona bc he said he was “waiting until college” etc. So there’s a clear canonical pattern of Light avoiding romantic relationships with women. Which on its own would be like ok whatever, but at the same time there is a clear pattern of an active interest in male characters even when they are equal to the female characters such as Takada vs Mikami. There’s also the fact he shows no discomfort whenever L touches him specifically during Yotsuba arc, and also the fact that in the manga he asked one of his friends to send him a holiday card to which his friend replied “I only send them to girls” which is essentially stating this is a romantic gesture and Light did just ask for it.

I mean, I could go on and on but there is quite a lot of gay coding going on in the manga and then of course in the anime and subsequent DN adaptations (minus the Netflix movie that we shall pretend doesn’t exist)

I don’t rlly get the hatred toward Lawlight tbh? It’s pretty weird, because their relationship is like… 90% of the appeal of Death Note imo. But to each their own I suppose. Personally, I just think there is a lot of canonical justification and intentional gay coding/subtext to warrant it.

If Ohba didn’t want us to ship lawlight then perhaps they shouldn’t have written them to be some sort of fucked up soulmate pair who complete each other and perhaps they shouldn’t have make jokes hinting at L and Light having a homosexual undertone to their relationship and PERHAPS they shouldn’t have had an entire story arc where L literally handcuffs himself to Light for 100 days straight and where they share an UNMONITORED room…. LMFAOOO that right there was 100000% ship tease idc what anyone says. Ohba knew what they were doing idgaf

And yeah I know about the kataang stuff. It’s weird for me too. See Lawlight is my OTP hands down. Kataang is a strong second contender. I love both pairings about the same but in very different ways. It’s funny because they’re very drastically different pairings of course, but that also is the stories themselves and the narratives.

Kataang is about the most wholesome ship you could ship meanwhile Lawlight is inherently fucked up butttttttttt Death Note itself is a fairly mature story dealing with inherently fucked up subject matter and characters so there’s rlly no avoiding that.

I don’t rlly care what someone thinks of my ship preferences, the only thing that annoys me is antis who misrepresent canon like with Kataang or antis with Lawlight who basically say we’re bad ppl for shipping it. Like as if Lawlight isn’t a huge ship in anime/manga lol. Truly one of the forefathers of toxic yaoi 🤣

As for who I ship Zuko with: I do ship Maiko though I’ll say I’m not hugely invested in the pairing. I don’t have much to say on it other than I enjoy their scenes in the show and I think they are a nice couple. I don’t care for Zuko and Sokka, I think it’s kind of in that same category as zvtara and I don’t care for that ship at all.

I actually ship Zuko with Aang lol. Like Zuko and Aang when they’re older, I can get behind zukaang 100% in part because they are like that kindred spirit thing similar to lawlight to me. I really enjoy that aspect of their relationship and I again think canonically, zukaang would be plausible if it weren’t for maiko and kataang.

Anyway, thanks for the message! Hope this answered your question :)

[raayllum]

it’s high key really annoying the attention toh gets on this website while no one acknowledges tdp exists

Yeah, sometimes I wish TDP got more recognition and appreciation in a fandom space for its storytelling (the parallels, the worldbuilding, the mature theme explorations) simply because we haven't had a western kids' show go this hard since TLOK (even if I think Korra stumbles in a lot of ways) and arguably ATLA in its explorations of war and morality, two things that TDP is obsessed with, as well as a sometimes overwhelming discussion of Grief.

However, to be frank, while many teen and adult fans of kids cartoons say that they want darker themes and storylines, what that usually means, I think, is more akin to something like TOH or She Ra, in which you know 1) your favourite characters will always typically survive with maybe one or two minor parental or villainous exceptions, and 2) one or two characters in an otherwise fairly cookie cutter 'good guy' cast will have a redemption arc or be quirky morally dubious in a way that's played for comedy, and there will be a handful of significantly "Oh Shit!" darker or creepier moments. The characters are mostly teenagers, the heavier plot stuff is regulated to a few standout episodes, with most of the other conflicts being things like figuring out how to make friends or struggling with not fitting in or deciding what you want to do with your life. And those are all good explorations, and it's not as though TDP doesn't touch on some of that (Callum is finding his place in the world, Rayla is 'changing careers', Ez struggles with his new responsibilities and not fitting in, Soren - like Hunter - leaves an emotionally abusive relationship with a parental figure).

But I think it's TDP's attachment of all of those things to morality that makes the emotional stakes higher and less comforting and/or comfortable for people who are, likely, going to fiction for escapism rather than exploration. (To be clear: one is not better than the other, I just know what my personal preferences are.) Rayla's 'career/schooling' change is whether she's going to kill people for a living; Callum deciding what sort of mage he's going to be is rooted in deciding how much he's willing to either slowly destroy himself or take on the impossible, both with some dire consequences; Ezran not fitting is is also tied to having mysterious, unknown magical powers the story still hasn't fully explained the root cause of. Yes, the three main kids are typically good people who want to do the right thing, but that's much easier said than done (Ezran burning the monster soldiers, Callum's ruthlessness, Rayla's self sacrificial tendencies manifesting in destructive ways). TDP is never going to have an episode of "I lied to my friends because I wanted them to think I was cool or not a nerd" or "I'm scared of them preferring someone else over me" or "I need to learn how to be a good friend" (hi TOH with like 5 episodes and She Ra).

Like Rayla lies to the boys, but that's because she isn't sure how to tell them that her father murdered theirs and made them orphans, and she's worried it will accordingly be a wedge between them.

Like, there's hardly any episodes of TDP that don't talk about grief or death or both in some manner. The show consistently explores unreliable narrators across all sides of its ethical spectrum(s). S4 has a subplot regarding religious traditions and the ethics of the death penalty. Most of Arc 1 and now into Arc 2 sees good people with good intentions or understandable motivations doing pretty terrible things to either themselves, the people around them, or both. The death and body horror imagery aren't one offs, but consistent series defining elements that are always treated seriously. Villains aren't people who don't love their families (or anyone) and good guys aren't good because they're good friends to one another. It's more complicated than that, from the body swap and discussions of the soul in S1, to the cycle of violence laid out explicitly in S2, to explorations of punishment and exile in S3.

Overall, I'm fine with the success and appreciation that TDP gets; some of my students watch it, actually, which makes it useful in some of our lesson discussions. Because TDP is a good show for kids, yes, but it certainly never pulls its punches in forcing all of its ensemble cast through the wringer.

TLDR; due to age demographics and tonal differences, particularly in character conflicts, themes, and amount of Lore, I'm not surprised at all that TDP is pretty underrated on tumblr. Again, doesn't mean these elements of 'maturity' make it Better (although I do think it's written more cohesively than She Ra and more consistently than TOH in its set up and payoff), I just know where my (and many other's) preferences lay accordingly, and am not surprised at the split.

[the-demi-jedi]

Looking for recommendations: mature animated shows like Pantheon, Blue Eye Samurai or Arcane.

I already have Scavenger Reign in my sights. By "mature", I mean complex, compelling story and characters; it can be a kids show if it meets those standards, like AtLA. I'm fairly open to watching an anime. And I absolutely don't mean edgy "comedies" like Family Guy.

Thanks! 😊

[roslynwrites]

Hi there!

I found you from your beautiful, stunning, nothing short of perfect fic, Incendiary! Apologies if you don’t want new fans/ commenters (feel free to ignore this message if it’s a lot!)

But because reviews were turned off I just had to let you know how amazing the fic was - somehow! This is not an attempt to ask you about your next chapter status or anything like that but to really applaud you for the work you’ve given us for FREE. I think zutara fans in general have felt alienated by the community (esp when creators of the show have openly mocked us) so finding like minded people & quality fics are seriously one of the things that make me so happy.

My brain rot with Zutara died a few years again & then I started watching the live action … saw the infamous scarf scene and well spiraled right back in. Last time I was obsessed with the pairing, was before your fic. So when I stumbled over it this round I ate it up within 2 days … despite having to be up early haha. It was such a master piece even as I write this comment I’m in awe. I wanted to leave detailed reviews on each chapter but honestly the way you built the story, woven canon elements into it & structured the dialogue was breath taking. You brought back so many details and even though it’s canon divergent - everything made sense. It’s not one of those ‘it’s outrageous but for the sake of the fic whatever’, it actually worked WELL.

The characters would do those things had it been a more mature show, aged up, different circumstances. I love that. I also appreciated the lack of focus on kataang and having Katara be more than just a trophy - she felt so true to her essence. I’m not sure what I was even looking for scrolling absentmindedly thought Ao3 but finding your masterpiece was really not something I’d dream of. I did think loosely of a forced proximity, marriage trope for them and you executed in such a satisfying way. I can say that I am so so happy for coming across this. I think I’ve learned alot from the way you write as well. You did such a good job with some of the sequencing and ahhh just a true delight and joy to read.

All this to say I’m so very thankful for your contribution to zutara nation!! You gave the fandom such a priceless gift I know incendiary will be a fic I come back to often to reread and marvel. I hope everything is well with you🫶🏼

This ask made me tear up a little with happy tears; thank you so much for coming here to send this to me, you wonderful person <3

It's interesting you mention the alienation of the zutara fandom in relation to other parts of the fandom, it's actually something I ponder a lot. Fandom dynamics are so interesting in general to me, and every fandom is a little different. I am not a Zutara veteran by any means, I sauntered in quite late to the party and I don't really interact much with other parts of the fandom nor in any discourse, but even to reclusive old me I think it's fairly obvious that the creators deciding it was a great idea to essentially declare open season on personally insulting a large portion of the fandom based on fictional shipping tastes had a pretty large impact on how the atla fandom interacts lol.

Which is, of course, a shame, but cultivating fun, relaxing spaces is still thankfully possible, and I do think that the loud troublemakers (regardless of ship) are a small percentage of fandom; the chill people are usually just quieter and have to be actively found. I am sooo glad my fic could deliver some joy and feeling of like-mindedness for you :)

[ljf613]

Look, I love Azula. Y'all know this. I probably have more thoughts, opinions, headcanons, and plot bunnies/fic ideas about her than any other character in the series.

But I have been seeing a lot of posts lately trying to reframe the entire series around her. And I need y'all to understand that Azula is not the main character. She is a side character who exists for the purposes of serving the story.

Whatever problems you have with how the narrative frames her (and I have plenty of my own), this was never going to be a story centered around Azula.

That's what fanfic is for.

[chatonnoir]

Hi, i started watching ML yesterday with the french dub because of your suggestion, and because cartoons in french make me nostalgic so I thought why not. Why do you recommend it so much, though?

Yesss I always love seeing more people watch the French dub! God where do I begin with all the reasons I love it?? I went in to it a bit in the ask where I was highlighting some script differences between the French and the English dubs. Note that I watch every episode in both dubs and think the English dub has a lot of good things as well (like that Chat Blanc performance hoowee). I push the French dub agenda a lot mainly because the English dub is so widely watched and a lot of more recent or casual fans don't even really know anything about the French dub, which is sad to me because it's honestly so charming. I also just think its good to watch media in its original language, especially if the story takes place in the country where that language is spoken. Going in to why I love it in detail:

It's more mature

A lot of the script choices in the French dub are more mature and make ML feel more like an animation that can be enjoyed by all ages (like the vibe I get from ATLA), whereas the English dub will often make you reaaaally aware that you're watching a show for 7 year olds ("TiMe To dE-eViLizE" my detested). Like, Hawkmoth/le Papillon sounds a lot more dramatic and menacing when he says "darken their heart" in the French dub, whereas when he says "evilize them" in the English dub, he sounds like a joke, like some kind of nonthreatening idiot villain from some low-budget Nick Jr. show for preschoolers where the heroes he fights are puppets.

I've found that they tone down the emotional weight of lines in English (as well as the romance, which I cover in its own point later) to the point where I find them less impactful. In Animan, for example, after Chat Noir thought Ladybug had gotten eaten by that T-Rex and pulled her in to a hug, he says "That was a wild ride," in English, versus "I thought I'd lost you..." in French. Another example: in the Eng dub of Copycat, Chat Noir says "his crush just got crushed! ... That makes two of us." In the French dub, he says "you just broke his heart, after all! ... Not just his, by the way." So, yeah, in both cases the English lines sound a lot more childish/less heavy and I really can't take them that seriously, but the French lines hit you like a punch to the solar plexus.

If you've ever tried to get a friend in to ML only to have them refuse because it's "too childish" or "cringy" etc., tell them to watch the French dub.

It's sweeter & more romantic, and the characterization of Ladybug and Chat Noir is more faithful to what was originally intended.

Let's be real, I'm here for the romance, as are a lot of us. Ladybug and Chat Noir are far more affectionate with each other in the French dub. In addition to the usual "my Lady" and "Buguinette", Chat Noir has called Ladybug "ma belle" or "beautiful"/"my beautiful" in Dark Cupid, "lady de mon cœur" or "Lady of my heart" in Frightningale, and "my Buguinette"/"my little bug" in Miracle Queen (as opposed to just "little bug" in the Eng dub). Ladybug often calls him "mon Chaton" and "mon minou", or my kitten/my kitty/my kittycat, and she uses the possessive "my" fairly often (totally normal thing to call someone whom you insist you're Not Dating lmao /s). One lighthearted not really serious fanfiction pet-peeve I've had is when people write Ladybug calling him "Chat." She calls him "Cat" a few times in the English dub, which is what fic writers are undoubtedly going for, but "Chat" is French and pronounced completely differently (like "Sha"), and in the French dub she only calls him "Chat Noir" in full when she's not using a petname, never "Chat". However, I've always felt like she uses the affectionate "Chaton" even more often than she uses "Chat Noir" in the French dub or "kitty" in the English dub. Calling him "Chaton" all the time comes as easy to her as breathing. I think fic writers are missing out on the chance to have Ladybug just be stupidly affectionate in every other sentence she says to Chat Noir. Like, guys, replace "Chat" and overuse "Chaton" all you want, it's actually canon and in-character

In this same vein, I have a lot of annoyances with how their relationship is characterized in the English dub, especially Chat Noir. His characterization in the English script seems to go for a more “Cool Guy Ladies' Man” vibe (which, I'll be honest, is not my cup of tea) whereas the French dub goes for more "endearingly corny overly affectionate hopeless romantic who acts like he stepped out of an old cartoon", which is how he's supposed to be characterized. I mean, come on, roses, puns, hand kisses --- he may be a cool hero but he is not a Cool Guy by any means. I feel like this line from Stormy Weather highlights it best: after Ladybug helps Chat Noir up and teases him about cats landing on their feet, and right before the iconic hand kiss, he says "thanks, miladybug, but I had it covered" in English, whereas in French he says "it was on purpose, my Lady, for the pleasure of meeting you again." In a choice between the Chat Noir who tries to play it cool VS. the Chat Noir who uses it as an opportunity to cutely say he fell on purpose because he knew his Lady would be around to pick him back up, the second one is indisputably cuter and wins by a landslide.

I'm not a fan of how English dub Chat Noir sometimes feels like a different character, but more than that, that difference in characterization is what feeds the stupid false idea prevalent among some fans/hate-watchers that he's a Nice Guy(TM) who is harassing her. This is especially exacerbated by the small differences in the way they characterized Ladybug to play off of him in the English script. The most glaring offense that comes to mind is the attempted kiss in Prime Queen, where Ladybug stopped him with "not a chance, Kitty" in English, versus "now is not the time, my Chaton" in French. Just a few words completely change the tone of this line and the impression it gives of how Ladybug feels. Both the delivery and wording of the first one give the impression that Ladybug is irritated by Chat Noir asking for a kiss. In the French version, her tone of voice, the wording, and her use of "my Chaton" give you the impression that she's unamused but still patient and soft with Chat Noir, and her gentle chastising highlights what she's actually annoyed by -- not his flirtation, but his bad timing. They're flirty best friends. She enjoys their flirty banter. What she hates is when he gets distracted/tries to flirt during tense moments. Ladybug's affectionate exasperation with and soft spot for Chat Noir are far more apparent in the French dub.

The English dub characterization also feeds the bad alphahole romance novel-esque fanfics that characterize him as his uber confident alphamale sexual badboy for their bad smut but we're not getting in to that

The platonic affection is sometimes better shown in the French dub as well, like Chat Noir telling Ladybug "you're my best friend" in Glaciator, or Adrien telling Marinette "I'm happy to have you as my friend, you know" in the French dub of Troublemaker rather than the English line, "I'm glad to have you as one of my fans."

Overall, I just find the characters more likeable and the relationships between them more tender in the French dub. The English dub is fun, but the French dub is just undeniably sweeter.

The French voice castings, especially Adrien / Chat Noir's voice

I definitely prefer Tikki & Marinette's French voices, as well as the French voices of most of the secondary characters. One thing I hear often from people who watched the English dub first is that they don't like is Plagg's French voice but ... I actually love it lmaooo. I adore both of Plagg's voices for different reasons, Plagg's English voice sounds like "cute mischievous gremlin sprite who will cause problems on purpose but you love him anyway", and Plagg's French voice totally sounds like "millennia-old cat god who invited himself in to your home and demanded wet food only, and who pretends to be nonchalant when he's actually already adopted you as his son in his mind."

Now on to the boy, the myth, the legend, the best part of the French Dub: Adrien. Like I said earlier, I do think the English VA does a great job as well (especially Chat Blanc GOD), but his French voice sounds far more age-appropriate most of the time. He sounds like the sweetheart shy boy he's supposed to be. His voice is so unbearably soft and sweet and warm, especially during tender/romantic moments, that it will literally melt you.

Then there's his Chat Noir voice. Honestly, I think French dub Chat Noir is unmatched. Sorry to English dub enjoyers but honestly to me 90% of the time English Chat Noir sounds like Spongebob. Benjamin Bollen's voice as Chat Noir has this musical quality to it that's so fun to listen to and that no other dub pulls off, and it fits his cartoony, overly affectionate, hopeless romantic dork vibe so well. It's like he ends every sentence he says with heart emojis. There's also the stupidly cute pouty voice that he uses when he's being dramatic/teasing, which you can listen to here and here. Also, the way he says “wo-ow” gives me so much dopamine. (Also very important: his singing voice is Angelic.)

This got long af because I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the French dub, but TL;DR: The French dub is superb because it’s charming and sweet and romantic and emotional and stays true to the characters. People who are used to the English dub may have a hard time adjusting from the voices they've gotten used to but I guarantee if they stick with it a bit they'll get used to it and it's absolutely worth it.

[setaripendragon]

I wish you would write a fic where soul mates are easier to identify between races in The Hobbit. If you recognize me, I'm the one who's crazy about your Bagginshield time travel fic. (I still pray for updates. I hope you get inspired soon.) Anyways, in this fic, I thought it might be cool if it worked off of the race's maturation points. Basically Thorin thinking he either doesn't have a soul mate or they never were interested in seeking him out. He's had Bilbo's mark before his Hobbit was born, so he assumes that they're close in age. He's never heard of how it works when one side is way younger. Besides, he has his people to take care of, shelter to find, food to procure. Thorin is Busy. So when Bilbo comes of age and feels the Pull, he realizes that he's the youngest. (I like the idea where the youngest is the one who gets a pull towards their soul mate, just to make sure everyone's old enough without that weird I've seen you grow up thing.) So he packs his bag since surely he's matched with a Hobbit and he won't be gone long. Even the other Hobbits don't mind Hobbits going on The Search, so Bilbo won't be discouraged from that. And our lonely boy would definitely pursue a promise of a soul mate. At least in this he will. Then he realizes he's almost at the Border of the Shire and he's concerned since the Pull is still leading him out. He dithers then stops by Bree to restock and ends up following the Pull all the way to the Blue Mountains. That's all I've got. I hope this sets off rabid plunnies in your head.

Hello! ^_^

(Yes, I recognise your username ^_^ I've actually been poking Not All Who Wander recently. Still a bit stuck, unfortunately, and not writing much anyway, but it's on my brain so -shrugs- we'll see what the muse feels like, I guess ^^")

Oh, I have a lot of Thoughts about how soulmarks might work in LotR. I've even written some snippets written out, but nothing particularly coherent ^^"

I am Obsessed with the idea of the different races having different kinds of soulmark (as you might know if you've seen my ATLA soulmates series ^^"). I'm not sure about the idea of hobbits getting An Urge To Go, it seems very counter to hobbit culture, and I doubt that they would have ended up quite so home-body-ish if such an important aspect of their culture was based on feeling a call to adventure (even if it does end up usually being only to the next town over). (It fits very well with elves, though. They already have that sort of thing written into canon, after all.)

My usual headcanon for Bagginshield in a soulmates AU is hobbits can only see in colour after they've met their soulmate, and dwarves have a heartsong. So Bilbo knows the moment he opens his door that Thorin is his soulmate, and Thorin doesn't have a freaking clue until... well, depends on whether you want tragic or fix-it, but towards the end of the quest, at least.

But I am intrigued by the idea of Bilbo being the one with A Clue He Can Follow. My first thought is to go basic for hobbits and say they have a name-mark, and Bilbo is born with a name no hobbit can read.

I can't imagine Belladonna leaving well enough alone here, so it probably would end up with Bilbo being fairly young throughout the story... unless the mark only comes in as a sort of puberty thing, maybe. And then you'd get Bilbo following in his mother's footsteps and making the trek to Bree looking for Answers, and then on to Rivendell when none of the men can read his mark. Elrond would, of course, be able to tell him what it says.

I am equally amused by the idea of Elrond telling Bilbo the tale of Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo being very nervous at the idea of such a Heroic soulmate (and then very unimpressed at his Rudeness when he does meet him), and the idea of Elrond not telling Bilbo squat about Thorin except where to find him (but then, I've kind of already done the 'wait, King Thorin???!?!?!' thing in Not All Who Wander, so... maybe the former?)

Either way, Bilbo then has to go all the way back through the Shire and out the other side to go poking around for dwarves in the Blue Mountains.

Maybe in this, it's the dwarves who only get colour-vision when they meet their soulmate? Thorin plagued by wondering if his soulmate isn't already dead. Maybe they died when Smaug came, or at Azanulbizar, or- or- or-

And then this fussy little hobbit turns up on his doorstep and ~Colours~ happen and he's got no idea if he's happy or furious or worried about this.

[flowerslut]

No. 26 NO ONE LEFT BEHIND Separated | Rope Burns | “Why did you save me?”

Rating: M for discussion of mature themes. Words: 3518 Summary: Jasper was raised from birth to be the perfect Fire Nation soldier. He just never thought that title would become synonymous with "murderer". So, like the coward he is, he runs. He'll figure everything else out along the way. (Hopefully.) Avatar the Last Airbender AU.

A/N: I... don't typically enjoy writing crossover AUs. Not my cup of tea. But I had ATLA on the mind last month and couldn't resist. Enjoy this little snippet of a daydream I entertained a little while ago. (But don't expect any continuations, please.) This story contains talk of war crimes, genocide, imperialism, and sexual assault.

DOOMED

Lightning cracked across the sky again and Jasper glared out into the rain. There was a space between the roots of an overgrown tree and the western wall of the cave that sunk down low, and the water was slowly creeping further and further across the rock. If it kept up like this he’d have to move further inside.

Not only was he unwilling to sleep on a wet floor for another night, but he couldn’t risk his hiding spot being illuminated by something as traitorous as the sky.

It was bad enough he’d been forced to light a fire to keep the girl alive.

At that thought he turned and glanced out of the corner of his eye confirming that yes, she was still there and yes, she was still unconscious.

But not dead. Thankfully.

He walked away from the entrance then. As far as hiding places went—as far as crappy caves that peppered the mountainside went—it was a fairly decent spot. The mouth of the cave was only a couple meters tall and barely a meter wide; well, if you didn’t count the tree that ate up some space along the edge. It was only big enough for people (or animals, he reminded himself tensely) to crawl in and out, but only if they knew where to look.

Thankfully, Jasper had always been good at finding places to hide.

When he made his way back toward the fire his frown worsened. He hadn’t gathered enough wood before nightfall and now there was no possible way it would continue burning through the night. The world was too wet and it was simply too cold to let the flames die down completely.

Of course, he could keep himself warm just fine. Now the problem he was faced with was curled beneath his cloak, shivering even in unconsciousness.

He stepped forward and quietly kneeled down, reaching forward to lift the material only slightly. Enough to see that she hadn’t bled through the bandages around her head, nor had her lips turned blue.

Yet.

Continue reading on AO3

[just-an-enby-lemon]

*Random ATLA AU Idea*

1. Aang wanted to run.

The Elders wanted to send him away, to take Gyatso away. His mentor (the closest he had to a father, the only friend - except Appa - he still had, the only childhood left) would listen, would have to and when the morning comes (soon, too soon, so soon) he would abandon Aang just like everyone else. And Aang would be alone soalonenoonelefteveryonegonenotachildjustAvataralonealonealone.

So he wanted to run, to abandon Gyatsu first. Thinking somehow it would hurt less (it wouldn't or how it wouldn't).

0nly he did not.

Not in this world.

And it changed everything and nothing at all.

Instead he walked, walked though the nigth, walked to the familiar door, walked too his master room and cried. "I don't want to go".

Gyatso didn't ask how Aang knew about the Elders orders, didn't tell the kid that it was for the best. No, he huged his meente (his son, his friend, his baby, how could no one else see that this was just a child? Not the master of elements, not yet, just a kid) and said "You won't." It was a vow, a promise he had no idea how to keep. But he would.

They talked though the nigth. And when the morning came somehow Gyatso was able to convice the Elders to give Aang one more year. "Them he will be thirteen, mature enougth to truly understand his call".

But destiny is destiny and Aang's was a hundred years too soon.

So before the end of the year the Fire Nation attacked. And this time Aang didn't want to run, he wanted to figth and to protect. But he was the only hope and he was a kid and he was scared and Gyatso screamed "RUN" and he did.

He would regret running just as he would (he did) in a world where he runned that nigth almost a year ago.

And he and Appa somehow fled. Maybe it was destiny or the Avatar State or just dumb luck (or missfortune). And just as it should be they falled. And the water around them froze.

And so did they.

For a hundred years.

Until two siblings from the water tribe found an iceberg.

...

2. "I'm the last waterbender."

Katara froze. In all universes, in all possible words, Katara always froze on that moment. She wanted to figth, to tell the soldier her mom was lying, to do anything. But she always froze.

And her mother always died.

So she runned.

Too little, too late, but she did.

Runned, trying to get away from the body of her mom, trying to escape the ashes.

With a broken toy sword, and I useless toy boomerang, Sokka saw the ashes, and he wanted to figth. He always would want to figth. He was a protector and his people were dying. But he was a kid and in no reality he would ever be able to win.

And in ever reality Hakoda would send his kid alway, not too much, but enougth, away from the figth, away from his mother corpse and the burnt smell.

So Sokka runned. He followed his sister to the snow. They runned non-stop trying to fend the memories away, but they were never able to.

They runned so far that Hakoda only found his kids two days after the invasion, half-frozen, scared and starved but alive ohalivetheywerealivehedidn'tlosttheytoo.

Running didn't change much for them. Katara would still mature too early and Sokka would still be a warrior and everything would be almost exactaly the same.

And they would still meet a misterius kid in an iceberg and go save the world with him even if it was hard.

They running had nothing to do with the fact that it was Zhao chasing them instead of a certain prince.

...

3. Lu Ten was nine and he was running in a metaphorical sense. His father would be Fire Lord one day and soo would he. He needed to hurry.

So he talked his grandfather into letting him go to a war meeting. He did not understand war or death but Iroh did and he was terrifield of seem his son in a war room. His father didn't care, he discussed civilian sacrifice in front of his grandson and didn't noticed Lu Ten terrified face or heared any of the kids pleas, Ozai found it funny, making japes of what he called his "nephew weakness", Iroh quickly found a way to win without this move and convinced his father of it with everything he had.

For the rest of the day his child told everyone of how his dad was smart and a hero and the best. And Iroh almost forgot, almost belived his son had not lost a once of his inocence in the whole ordeal.

But on the night, where the darkest thoughts came, Lu Ten asked about death and sacrifices and if they were doing the rigth thing. Iroh said they were. But sudently he didn't belive it.

Lu Ten runned on the sense where he wanted to know too much too fast. And as the year passed, as his son turned ten, an his nephew turned two and his niece came to this world, Iroh realized he needed to make a better world for them. He could not keep this war, this conquer, he could not keep doing the wrong thing.

So he found a group of people and he joined them. He sabotaged his own country, his own family for the White Lotus, for his children. He would make a better world for them.

History would tell about how The Great General Iroh had gonne mad in his son sixteth birthday. How in a fit of madness he attacked his brother, how he killed his own child and not much after his nephew and niece. And them realizing what he done himself. How Ursa disappered soon after. The poor Fire Lady lost in grief.

The truth layed in a confy and somewhat famous small tea shop on the Earth Kigdom. On the old man who runned it and on his three kids. It layed on Prince's Zuko's (or Lee) nigthmares and his soft smiles and lack of scar. It layed on Lu Ten's (it was a fairly Earth Kigndom name and no one discussed how a painter could be the one in the group who lacked creativity for a fake name) hard training and darkened looks (exclusive to fire nation soldiers and wasn't ironic that he almost became one of them) and in his art and his laugther and his LIFE. It layed on Azula's (and honestly the fact she had insisted on ZuLa as here fake name was completly insane and soo stupid but they just stopped trying convice he otherwise) maniacal smile and uncontrolabe rage fits (diferent of Lu Ten's hers didn't had a specific target, but at least were mostly resulted in burned trees and rocks) and on her friends and her few, small apologies and her compassion (it didn't came easy for her empathy, but she tried, she truly did and sometimes she was cold and cruel, but still was enought). It layed on Iroh's (Mushi) conteplative (sad) stares (on his regret of not being able to take Ursa with them), on the strange people with a white lotus emblem that sometimes appeared on the tea shop (sometimes needing healing, sometimes delivering mensages, most planing), on his tea and his stories and on his hope.

And when the news of the Avatar traveling with two water tribe kids came to them. It layed on the decision of finding them before Ozai. Helping them. Making the hope grow.

...

4. Toph was a runner.

This never changed. She still runned away from her parents overprotectivines again and again. She still runned into the badgermoles and became the best earthbender on history. She still runned into competicions and still became the Blind Bandit. She still runned into Twinkle Toes and his gaang and his adventures (and became his earthbend teacher of course). The only diference was that there were even more places to run into, and so Toph runned into a dumb good humored painter (a soldier in other life, a corpse), into cozy Tea Shop, into a nice old man who was more a father to her than hers ever would, into a akward turtleduck of a teenager and into a angry cool fiery girl (who she never had a crush on, shut up, Sokka).

She runned into the Avatar family and into the Tea Shop one and somehow this was enougth to unite them. To make them just one family. Hers.

[zelzenik]

I think as a society we need to shit more on this abomination.Seriously Katara changes her mind on a political/cultural issue just because she wants to make Aang's babies. AND SHE'S FUCKING 15.

So I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to respond to this ask (just because I tend to stay away from fandom discourse), but when it comes to my girl Katara, I can’t help myself so I wrote this anyways. There are a ton of really amazing analyses of the comics and how the Kataang relationship plays out within them so this will be a sort of personal meta based on my own life experiences.

Again, I’m going to preface this by saying that I’m no expert, and this is based purely off my OWN experiences (and my own research and my own interactions). That being said, let’s get on with the meta.

One of the things that stood out to me from within the original ask is Katara’s age (14 in ATLA and 15 in the comics), and in preparation for writing this take, I spent a lot of time reflecting on the time when I was a 14/15 year old girl. During that time of my life, I went through one of the worst relationships of my life – I won’t go into much detail, but it was toxic and manipulative, and it was with a boy who was actually a bit younger than me.

On a fairly regular basis, I work with both preteens (10-12 year olds) and younger teens (13-15 year olds) as a mentor. Though a lot of them deal with relationship drama, I can honestly say that most of them are not ready to be in a relationship. The same can be said for both Katara and Aang (or just Aang, at the very least). 

If I’m being completely honest, I can see Katara potentially being in a relationship. She’s often portrayed as the most mature member of the Gaang (alongside Zuko toward the end of ATLA season three), and she’s had romantic encounters in the past (those inklings of a thing with both Haru and Jet). Despite all that, though, I’d honestly have loved to see Katara explore herself as a person outside of relationships in the comics (because she’s literally 14/15 and she’s been through war and she’s had her childhood snatched from her). Even still, I wouldn’t have been vehemently opposed to the idea of her being in a relationship because again, she’s 14/15, and that’s when girls “typically” have a greater interest in having one.

Aang, though… Aang is a different story entirely. The fact that boys tend to mature slower than girls is no secret, and there are several studies you can Google right now that discuss the nuance of it. From my own experience working with both girls and boys around Aang’s age (12-13), the boys tend to act at least a year or two younger than the girls of the same age, particularly when it comes to things like dealing with emotions or romantic interest. I’ve had a few discussions on this with my own mentor who’s taught within that age range for over twenty years now, and she’s confirmed my observations. This is not a hard rule, of course, but preteen/teenage boys tend to act roughly a year or two younger than their numerical age. Contextualizing this for Aang, that means that he acts ~10 years old, and this is definitely portrayed/shown throughout the course of ATLA (and the comics).

Not only does Katara have two physical years on Aang (no, we are not counting the 100 years that Aang was in the damn iceberg), she also has several years on him maturity-wise.

Obviously just because a couple has an age gap doesn’t mean that their relationship cannot work. There are tons of girls who date younger guys and have healthy relationships. This, though, usually occurs once both parties’ maturities have levelled so that they’re on equal footing.

This is not the case for Katara and Aang.

They’re both very, very young. They both don’t know who they are as people. Generally, getting into a relationship at such young ages is a very bad idea, particularly when it stems from teenhood into adulthood. There are always exceptions to this, but it’s very easy to lose yourself in another person, especially when your own identity as a person is still not fully formed yet.

That toxic relationship I referred to that I was in when I was 14/15? I ended up in a very similar role to Katara. I would constantly take care of the boy I was with and clean up his messes. If he owed people money, they would come to me and ask for it. If he offended someone, I’d have to apologize on his behalf. If he did something stupid, I’d correct it. When other girls would flirt with him, I’d tolerate it and let it happen because I didn’t know how to express how awful it made me feel. I’d placate him and reassure him and defer to him because that’s how our relationship was. 

This is dynamic of the Kataang relationship. 

The girl allows the boy to make decisions for her rather than coming to one together. 

The girl tolerates the boy flirting with other girls because she doesn’t know how to say how much she hates it.

The girl has to hold the boy together because he’ll lose it if she doesn’t.

The girl doesn’t believe that she deserves better treatment because she’s grown so used to the way the boy treats her and disregards her feelings.

It’s unfortunate, but throughout the comics and LOK, it’s apparent that Aang became Katara’s reason. Her purpose.

And I honestly think that that’s horrifying. I don’t care if she’s “just” a cartoon/comic character. Countless little girls look up to her and adore her and see themselves in her. It’s incredibly problematic to have this sort of toxic relationship play out to such a large audience and be seen as “adorable” and “cute” and “wholesome.”

It only perpetuates this idea that girls need a boy to be their reason. It leads to these little thoughts being planted in their minds. It leads to them justifying a boy’s mistreatment of them because “Aang did it to Katara, and their relationship is GOALS so maybe my relationship is too!”

I’m endlessly grateful that I escaped the relationship I was in. I didn’t make it out unscathed, and I will always carry the scars I received from it to this day. But I didn’t end up married to him, and I didn’t have kids with him, and I’ve been able to establish who I am as a person without him. I’ve been able to leave him and the insecurities/hurts of our relationship behind me, and as I keep moving forward, I heal more and more every day.

Katara doesn’t receive this reprieve. She’s in a toxic relationship from the time that she’s 14, and it affects her deeply until the end of her life. She doesn’t get to discover who she is without Aang. She caters to her partner and constantly has to corral him. She’s left constantly with her two non-airbending children. I have nothing against healing, but the whole warrior aspect of her character is reduced to essentially nothing. It’s horrifying.

I think it’s really, really sad that Katara becomes simply known as “the Avatar’s girlfriend/wife.” It’s not right. More people should be upset by this. More people should recognize the toxicity of the Kataang relationship. More people should realize that the very traits they occasionally condemn in real men are also in Aang.

Bryke did a disservice to both Katara AND Aang through their relationship. Katara’s character shouldn’t have had to revolve around someone else, and Aang’s character shouldn’t have been allowed to stagnate so sharply.

I desperately hope that girls don’t end up in situations like mine or Katara’s. I desperately hope that boys will understand that there needs to be an equality in a relationship. I desperately hope that, if you’re in this sort of unhealthy situation currently, this post can give you the hope and courage to at least begin thinking about what’s best for – not only your partner – but also for you, as a person.

All that being said, Kataang is NOT a good representation of a healthy relationship. At all. Period. Stop romantacizing it, for the love of all women (and others! [because women aren’t the only ones who end up being trapped in toxic relationships – but that’s a discussion for another time]) who are caught up in ones like it.

For those who may have missed it, I’ll say it again.

Kataang is NOT a good representation of a healthy relationship. 

Look at it for what it is, beyond all the nostalgia and misogyny.

Stop romanticizing it. 

[sparkles-and-trash]

Modern ATLA AU Headcanons Meme

Reblog this post, and your own answers!

I love myself some modern AU's, and I love how different they all are, so, I made this so we can all share, and feel free to add characters if you want, and just not do any of these if the character isn't important to you!

General:

Bending? Yes! Always!

Monarchy? Nope

Our world or theirs? Their's all the way

Animals? Boring ones from our world, it's what I know the best lol

Aang:

Tattoos? yes, always, and I keep the inspired by the ones in the movie (the movie is awful but the tattoos are cool and actual rl inspired?

Home life/family/upbringing? I usually go with him being raised by Monk Gyatso, and keep everything else kind of vague

Major/job? I go back and fourth, but I like him as a tattoo artist, or as a vet, anything with animals, or as a nurse, preferably a pediatric nurse!

Hobbies? Skating, in any form, yoga, meditation, painting and art

Vegetarian or Vegan? I think he's be cruelty free as far as it's possible

Appa and Momo? Big, fluffy rescue dog and small, shifty cat

personality compared to canon? Pretty similar, maybe a tad less traumatized considering the war didn't happen, but he's still the Avatar, and he still suffered great loss very young

how long have they've known the Gaang? Toph since always, water sibs since middle- or high-school, Zuko either middle school or uni, spending on the story, Suki in high school when she dates Sokka

some random headcanon(s)? he doesn't drink, but he does occasionally enjoy some ouíd at parties or when others drink

Katara:

Home life/family/upbringing? Their mother died when they were really young, and Hakoda married his lifelong best friend, Bato. They're generally a happy family.

Major/job? I love doctor Katara, and vet Katara, but also Katara in Politics, working hard making the world a better place!

personality compared to canon? Extremely similar, kind, brave, not afraid to speak her mind, awkward in certain situations, a pesky but loving younger sister, etc.

how long have they've known the Gaang? meets Aang and Toph early high school, Suki pretty fast after, Zuko late high school or uni

Hobbies? Sporty, likes to play all sports but doesn't do any seriously, swimming, surfing, writing, reading

some random headcanon(s)? she very good in school, but she's not a goody-two-shoes, she likes a good party as much as anyone

Sokka:

Home life/family/upbringing? Their mother died when they were really young, and Hakoda married his lifelong best friend, Bato. They're generally a happy family.

Major/job? I always like him as some type of engineer, but anything clever and creative is cool!

personality compared to canon? Similar, but maybe a little less... insecure? in that he never had to protect for his entire Tribe very young, and he did very well in school and had lots of talent, but also he has enough struggles to not be a dick? Extremely competitive and protective tho.

how long have they've known the Gaang? meets Aang and Toph early high school, starts dating Suki soon after, Zuko late high school or uni

Hobbies? Surfing in summer, skating, always, drawing and painting, gaming

some random headcanon(s)? has ADHD, is a bi-king, very comfortable with that, and is somehow good friends with all of his exes

Zuko:

Home life/family/upbringing? Similar to canon, just a modern rich asshole version of Ozai, who's either a huge criminal or just inherited a lot of money, Ursa out of the picture, Iroh as caretaker from a young age, but still lived kinda sheltered and was very lonely in his kid and teen years

Major/job? I like tons of stuff for him, either him managing a Jasmin Dragon, preferably with him adding a book café, but also a writer, photographer or tattoo artist

personality compared to canon? very similar, but since I usually write them uni aged or older, he's more mature? But he does still have some anger management issues, can be oblivious to social settings, awkward, brash and has very little knowledge of some basic stuff due to growing up rich. But he's also very loyal, loves his friends so much, and wants everyone to be okay, all the time.

how long have they've known the Gaang? Aang either middle school or late high school, Toph from a young age, and the others either late high school or uni.

Hobbies? Writing, photography, reading, fan fiction, musical nerd, bad gamer

Scar story? Ozai, in some way, preferably when Zuko speaks against something evil he did in front of the wrong people, so similar to canon

some random headcanon? used to have a pretty bad stutter, and even tho it's almost not noticeable anymore, he's very insecure about it

Toph:

Home life/family/upbringing? Extremely sheltered, barley got to go to public school, snuck out a lot, moves out the second she can and has a tense relationship with her parents

Major/job? I never know tbh, so many possibilities, but I like her as some sort of teacher, either in earth bending, or martial art!

personality compared to canon? Pretty much similar as canon? Loud, unapologetically herself, fiercely protective over her friends, funny af

how long have they've known the Gaang? Toph and Aang since childhood, water sibs since early high school

Hobbies? passionate about good music, is a talented drummer, knows piano from childhood, is a fairly popular youtube gamer/streamer

some random headcanon? demiromantic bisexual, she teaches Zuko how to play the piano and he loves it sm it's their thing

Suki:

Home life/family/upbringing? Was raised by a single mom and has a bunch of siblings, not poor, but lower middle class, but comes from a loving home

Major/job? Professional athlete of some type, then a coach when retired

personality compared to canon? The same as for what we know! Good attitude, including, funny, very passionate.

how long have they've known the Gaang? most of them from high school when she starts dating Sokka!

Hobbies? Surfing, gaming, material arts, music, plays the bass

some random headcanon? flannel bi, has lots of freckles and big, green eyes

Mai:

Home life/family/upbringing? Similar to canon, but her mom divorced her father around the start of high school, and they had it a lot better then. She loves her little brother a lot, he's pretty similar to her and looks up to her a lot.

Major/job? Forensic Science major, usually

personality compared to canon? Similar, very similar. Quiet and calculating, but loves her friends and family dearly. Witty, in a quiet way.

Hobbies? plays the violin, reads a lot, goes to a lot of concerts

some random headcanon? I think of her as a lesbian, but I like aro ace Mai, too

Azula:

Home life/family/upbringing? Same as Zuko, but she moves in with Iroh a little later than him. No contact with her father after that tho, goes on the fitness stand against him after the Zuko thing. Very protective of Zuko, and she doesn't hide it, but she can be ruthless with him, too.

Major/job? Leadership, of some kind

personality compared to canon? She's definitely still Azula, she's amazing at reading people, can be cunning, and mean, but not cruel. Had a major psychological breakdown a few years after their father got sent to jail, a reaction to pushing everything away for. so long, and spent some time in a psychiatric hospital, and dealt with a lot with the therapists and doctors there. A very loyal friend.

Hobbies? material arts, advanced fire bending, fashion and reading

some random headcanon? was the leader of the debate club in high school, became a straight up legend in that crowd.

Ty Lee:

Home life/family/upbringing? Basically the same as canon

Major/job? professional gymnast

personality compared to canon? Same as canon

Hobbies? Dancing, cosplay, fashion

some random headcanon? Knows everyone's name, always.

Idk, tag a few people if you wanna, but no pressure to ever do it!

@flamelo @littlespoonsokka and literally everyone who wants to sorry I'm so bad at tagging jslkgg

[alkaria]

The Wielder of the Staff

Penny isn’t going to retrieve the staff from the Winter Maiden’s Vault. She’s going to open it, either this volume or next, that much is for certain - you can’t build up to a grand finale for RWBY without all four relics ending up in play. But it won’t be Penny walking out of that vault with a relic.

One of the key themes we’ve covered, in Penny’s character as well as in the Atlas arc more broadly, is about free will and choice - who you serve, why you serve, and what you do to serve. And ultimately, though Penny undoubtedly feels a debt and a responsibility to protect Mantle and Remnant more broadly - she never wanted this. She took on the mantle of Winter Maiden not because she was groomed to, like Winter, or because she wanted it, like Cinder - she took it because she had to.

We see her struggling to come to terms with the burden she’s placed on herself because of her selflessness in the first two chapters of Volume 8, but we don’t just see that. We see Penny’s central character flaw coming to a head - that even now, her destiny is being written not by her, but by the actions of General Ironwood.

(Hm. Two characters both starting with a P that ended up in contestation for Maiden powers, with a character arc of Destiny. That bodes well.)

Crucially, Penny is going to, over the course of this volume and the next, finally have a chance to carve out her own destiny - her ideals, her wishes, and most importantly, her limits. The points at which she learns it’s okay to say no to taking on more responsibility than you can handle.

And, as a result, she’s going to say no to taking the Staff of Creation out of the Vault.

But we know the staff will come into play, so who’s going to take it? 

I don’t know whether it’s too early in the story (and brothers, we’re 8 years in at this point) to say with any certainty whether who initially claims the relic will be ultimately relevant to the finale and whatever happens to the four relics, but it’s certainly clear from the Volume 5 finale that there’s a significant portion of symbolism allotted to it - even if just to mark the emergence of a relic as an important moment with no further connotation.

When Yang emerges with the Lamp from the Vault, she is raised up above the others - figuratively as well as literally. The first wielder of the Lamp since the Great War, held up by Jinn herself.

Remember Blake’s little speech to Sun earlier in Volume 5:

“I remember getting to know Ruby and thinking, this girl is the embodiment of purity. After a while, I saw Weiss was defiance. And Yang was Strength.”

Yang claimed the relic not because she was the only one there, but because she was Strength. She had what Raven lacked, and Blake’s speech came full circle. Yang is elevated onto the central platform, in a way that only three others even experience - Raven, as the Spring Maiden, Leo, as Haven’s Headmaster, and Oscar (for fairly obvious reasons).

Now, you may wonder where I’m going with this. Salem has the Lamp; the Vault isn’t open. Even if Penny refuses to take it, what’s that got to do with what’s going on right now?

Well, the person who claimed the Relic of Knowledge? She’s on the ground. She’s separate from the events in Atlas, and she’s not going anywhere near the Staff. The symbolism in the intro couldn’t be more apparent:

Everyone else, on the other hand?

I already ruled Penny out, but everyone else here could be in contention to wield the Staff. Although, personally, I’m going to narrow it down to two:

Nora

A lot of people thought Nora was getting flags as a potential maiden last volume, from her resemblance to Fria to her possible Mantle origins to her vocal disagreement with Ironwood. It, obviously, didn’t pan out that way. But there’s still a couple things in her favour for her claiming the Staff of Creation:

“Always hoping that a lightning bolt is gonna save you from this gravity”

That’s the line from the V7 intro that perked a lot of people’s ears, and I still think it applies, possibly even more so. More than anyone, Nora represents lightning. Her main literary allusion is Thor, the Norse God of Thunder. Her semblance is powered by electricity, and her weapon generates it. In the history of Robyn calling highly amusing and accurate nicknames for our cast, Lightning Bolt could easily apply to Nora.

Gravity obviously applies to the weight of the severe situation our heroes find themselves in, but that’s not just all. It also, obviously, applies to the huge flags we’re getting that Atlas could plummet to the ground, destroying both it and Mantle and handing Salem a huge victory in her quest to ruin humanity.

That’s not guaranteed yet. If we expect volume 8 to go the way of volume 3, where there is a significant defeat for our heroes, that doesn’t automatically equal a complete and arbitrary annihilation. After all, Salem could crash Monstra into Atlas and achieve pretty much the same goal. The key thing that came out of volume 3 was that Beacon was destroyed - but not unreclaimable. There were slivers of hope, and the smaller soul remained.

And that’s where Nora could come in. She’s been a stalwart protector of the people, especially Mantle, and if she were wielding the relic, she’d definitely not want to doom them by using it - and, equally, not doom them by losing the relic. Nora was there when Neo took the lamp - she’s going to know that the same thing could happen, and so, she will save us from gravity - by using the staff to lower Atlas safely to the ground before taking it out of the vault.

Weiss

“After a while, I saw Weiss was defiance.”

This feeds more specifically into the possible theory that each relic will be claimed by a member of team RWBY. While Yang has maiden flags from Raven’s possible death, after Penny gaining the Winter powers and Ruby mastering her silver eyes, the RWBY maiden ending looks unlikely. But anyone can claim a relic.

Weiss has matured a great deal throughout the storyline of RWBY, but the ultimate character motivation for her has stayed consistent: she wants to reclaim her family’s legacy and restore it to one comparable to her grandfather’s, in opposition to the mismanagement of her parents. She is defiant towards them, to her brother and sister, towards Ruby, towards the general trend of history, and towards General Ironwood.

“NONE of this matters right now!”

”Not friends. Family.”

So why Weiss, and not Nora?

Well, going back to the theory with the relics being claimed each by one of the members of Team RWBY, Salem is their end villain:

It’s team RWBY who are together confronting Salem in Ironwood’s office, and it’s team RWBY who’ll be stood together confronting her at the very end of all this. To do that, you need the relics.

To be sure, Nora is a member of the main cast - she’ll have an end villain to face off against, just like the rest of our protagonists - but even though it seems Tyrian is shaping up to be Qrow’s, Salem is very clearly not Nora’s. Arguably, we saw in Volume 5 that Nora is the only person capable of going toe-to-toe with Hazel:

“I don’t need him to hurt. I just need him to GO DOWN.”

Nora makes sense as Hazel’s eventual final foe - his origin story is being driven to work for Salem by his grief and possessiveness over his sister, who died as a huntress-in-training. Nora lost her teammate - a huntress-in-training - precisely because of Salem. We know she’s an orphan, and homeless - she likely has lost a great deal of people to the grimm. Morally, she’s the polar opposite to Hazel - someone whose hardship and grief made her a protector of the people, rather than someone on a doomed quest for vengeance for someone who would never have wanted it.

So if we rule out Nora for that sake, why Weiss, and not Ruby or Blake? Well, for one, Weiss has far more personal investment in Atlas as a whole.

“This is my home. And I’m not giving it up without a fight.”

For Weiss’ own character arc to complete as we eventually move towards a resolution and a departure from Atlas, her family needs to survive. Jacques is fairly irrelevant, and his death would matter least - but Willow, Winter and Whitley need to survive, and the Schnee family needs to begin healing. That doesn’t square itself with Atlas falling to the ground and millions dying. But it could square itself with Atlas being lowered enough to survive without the Staff, and Salem still making off with it in order to attack Vacuo.

Weiss’ semblance also thematically fits with the relic of Creation - she has a mastery of dust, and her glyphs are used to create a range of different things. Her arc points now towards creating something new - a new future for her family, for the SDC, and for Atlas. It would make sense.

For their own relics, Ruby and Blake make more sense being involved with Vale and Vacuo. While Blake is from Menagerie, not Vacuo, the Sword of Destruction would resonate well with her character arc. It’s a symbol of how she, and the faunus, have grown - the power to destroy, but rather than used angrily and blindly like Adam would, used carefully, with great thought. As well as this, the symbolism of the sword - taking up arms and fighting, rather than running away.

And Ruby is just obviously choice. She’s the central character of the Vale arc, one of her most defining traits is determination - the choice to never give up and keep moving forward, that we’ve heard referenced more than once post-Vol 3. But, if you’re wanting a bit more in the way of arguable evidence - who’s younger than the rest of their team of four, is pure of heart, makes choices that fundamentally determine everyone’s paths, and ends up with a crown?

So that’s where I’m staking my claim. Yang, the Strong, giver of Knowledge. Weiss, the Defiant, guardian of Creation. Ruby, the Pure, defender of Choice. Blake, the ???, arbiter of Destruction.

The only thing we’re missing is what embodiment Blake actually is.

[class1akids]

I was rereading your top 10 char. list, and it got me thinking about Izuku. Do you think the reason people like you and I dont like him so much because he's a static character? He doesnt really seem to change or grow. Sure, he gets stronger, but he does the same thing over and over without learning from it. Shouto and Bakugou both have matured and grown from their journey toward being a hero, but Izuku just seems to stay the same—to me, hes even the same from before he got All Mights quirk.

OK, so giant essay incoming, as I’m trying to articulate what bothers me about Deku lately. 

I’m going to preface it with saying that I generally find OP, morally perfect characters (like Superman) very dull and preachy and try to avoid these types of stories. And I understand it’s a personal choice - so I’m not knocking people who like these characters. It’s just that to me characters like that feel something like this:

So why the heck did you pick up BNHA?

Well, even though Deku’s story is basically perfect hero character meet perfect power, pre-Overhaul arc Deku was compelling because he was still an underdog - not skilled or trained enough to control his immense power.

The Origin Trio looked something like this:

Deku:  Heroism 95  Skill/control: 1  Power: 100, but breaks bones

Bakugou: Heroism: 1  Skill/control: 90  Power:  80

Todoroki: Heroism: 50 Skill/control:60 Power: 100 (and doesn’t break bones)

Because of this, Deku had to rely on his smarts to work around his weaknesses, team up with other people and it made for a compelling team story, which is the narrative that got me invested in BNHA.

I think by the Overhaul arc, Deku caught up to the other two in skill and control and his power has been steadily growing, with extra quirks, power-output and an ever-so heroic spirit, he’s passing into OP territory compared to not only his strongest peers but the top pro-heroes as well. Of course, the other two grew too - Bakugou made tremendous strides in character development, but his starting point was extremely low, while Todoroki grew in both heroic spirit and skills, on a much more moderate scale, because he already started fairly high. 

So what’s wrong with an OP character - Deku was always set to become the greatest hero?

Yes you are right. But BNHA also seemed like a team-oriented narrative, which was the main draw for a big part of the fandom, including myself. 

OP characters break the team narrative because they can do everything by themselves and much better than their team-mates. So why risk said team-mates’ lives? The morally perfect MC would never stand for his friends being hurt if there was something he could have done. And since he can do everything - well.... you get the picture. 

This leads to the side characters becoming marginalized in the main story and becoming mere cheerleaders of the main character which makes it harder and harder to accommodate them in meaningful ways that drives the plot. So they get relegated to “fillers. That also flatlines their growth.

 This is why many of us felt unhappy with the plus 7 quirks. Black Whip made characters like Sero irrelevant, because everything he can do, Deku can do a 100 times better. They would be reduced to training partners -this was the fear, which is exactly what happened. So there is a certain feeling of dread about the rest of the quirks - wondering who is the next on the chopping board.

So all OP characters suck?

Not at all. I think there are a number of ways that can make an OP character compelling. I can think of these examples:

1- by giving them real flaws. These have to feel foundational in a way that impedes them in their growth (Bakugou’s pride and selfishness is a great flaw, because it’s his No. 1. obstacle of reaching his goal).

2 - by putting them into moral conflicts with no clear “right” and no easy way out (think Captain America in Civil War). A choice has to be made, someone or something important has to be sacrificed.

3 - by giving a great internal tension on what they personally want to be and what the world needs them to be (think Aang in ATLA who is OP and morally upstanding, but he just wants to be Aang and a kid, while the world needs him to be the Avatar)

I feel like Deku has none of these right now. 

1. - He has no real flaws - crybaby is not a flaw as it doesn’t affect the story, too self-sacrificial/reckless could be a good one, but so far the narrative has rewarded him for it every single time and even treated it as the greatest sign of his heroic spirit. 

2- He hasn’t really had a situation yet where something had to give or he had to make a hard choice. Deku every time goes for the “I save everyone” and gets it (sometimes by the help of deus ex machina) and whatever losses there are, those are not his personal losses (e.g. he wins alone against Muscular, but they lose Bakugou as a group with Todoroki being the one who fails to make the catch).

3 - There is also for the moment no tension between what he wants and what he needs to do. He’s living his dream - training to become his idol with his idol’s power that just happened to reach its peak and has become way cooler and more versatile than ever. There is very little tension because we know Deku soon will easily surpass everyone in the class because he’s competing in a Formula 1 race car while everyone else is on a bicycle.

And this is why the Heroes Rising ending was interesting, because Deku had to choose between his dreams - becoming a hero and saving everyone and he was willing to sacrifice his power to do what the “world” needed him to do. 

So if you hate the story, why are you still reading?

I’m not gonna lie - if BNHA was nothing else than Deku’s story, I wouldn’t read it. His journey is not that compelling to me. Heroic average kid has great dreams and great spirit but no power, until one day, he stumbles upon his idol and gets handed the golden key to fulfil his wildest dreams. He works hard, sure, but his power is so overwhelmingly great that it doesn’t feel like he can lose at all.  

But I don’t think all is lost. The current arc gives me hope that it can still go in interesting directions.

I think the War Arc has set up some good possible conflict material that can challenge Deku’s simple worldview and put some tension into his journey that can lead to interesting places. The possibilities I see currently:

conflict with Bakugou over trying to go at it alone / Deku wanting to sacrifice himself but not accepting that others might do it for him.

conflict with All Might about the things he withheld from Deku.

fallout with Todoroki over the OFA secret

rethinking whether OFA is a gift or a curse as the price of power becomes more apparent

suffering a real consequence for his recklessness with loss of function of his arms that scales back his power level for a while, and forces him to rely on others again

realising how villains are made and have the type of ethical dilemma that Hawks faced with no easy way out.

There are many good ways to go from here to make Deku more compelling than just an empty vessel for OFA which is what he felt like lately (to me since DvK2 pretty much).

But I think Horikoshi should take more risks with him. Let him fail in meaningful ways, let him stand up again and learn and grow and become a more nuanced person with real struggles. He takes much more risks with his side characters and these pay off really well. There is no wonder why in terms of popularity Bakugou is so far ahead of Deku - and that’s because power is cool, but character growth that feels deep and fundamental is still cooler. 

[sokkathebluewolf]

I am chickened out from gladiator because it is this long and it keeps getting longer is it worth my time to read it ??

... Uh, well. I can’t help but wonder if you’re aware this blog is run by the actual author of the story in question? I don’t know if you expect me to give you a non-biased answer when I’ve considered the story was worth 8 years of my life xD as far as I’m concerned, it absolutely has been worth it, but I can’t speak for the whole wide world when it comes to that. If you want the opinions of readers, there’s probably other blogs run by people who have read the story and who might have critical opinions about it... that may be what you were looking for. If, however, you were deliberately hoping to get my opinion on my own story... well, yes, for me it’s clearly worth it xD Otherwise, I would’ve quit ages ago.

The story is indeed very long and it keeps getting longer, and it will keep getting longer because we’re not done yet and won’t be for a while :’D if you’re the type of reader who can’t stand it when they catch up to stories and have to wait for updates, well, feel free to give it a shot when I’m done writing it, I guess? It’ll be a while until then, but it’s up to you. If you don’t like reading really long stories, then it’s probably better for you if you don’t force yourself to read this one, I know not everyone is ready to dedicate that much time to reading something, especially if they have lots of things to do. Hence, if the length daunts you, that’s alright, it daunts me too and I’m responsible for it xD it’s fine if that deters you from reading it.

But as the way you phrased your question almost sounded like you’re challenging me to give you some sort of sales pitch to catch your attention, let’s see if I can pull it off:

Gladiator is a massive ATLA AU, not only in terms of story length but also scope: it’s a complete rewrite of the entirety of ATLA in a more mature setting, starting chapter 1 with the characters 5 years older than they were in canon. Aang’s adventures in saving the world did not take place here because of a simple enough reason: Katara didn’t accompany Sokka on his boat on the fateful day when they were meant to find Aang, which means the story as we’ve known it simply doesn’t take place. I’ve taken liberties here and there, added some changes from canon when I needed to do so, in order to ensure the story works, but the gist of the story is to set a stage where the Fire Nation marched onwards, practically unopposed, and conquered the Earth Kingdom with the power of Sozin’s Comet (just in case it needs to be clarified, without certain technological developments, Ozai’s wild plan to incinerate the whole world wouldn’t happen, and if Team Avatar isn’t assembled before the Comet shows up, said technological developments simply wouldn’t exist... :’D). I’ve had to figure out how many details would change, how much of the original story would or wouldn’t happen without Team Avatar’s involvement, I think most my choices have been solid, but it’ll be up to you to decide if you think they are or not if you read the story.

The worldbuilding of Gladiator, then, is preeeetty huge and complicated because of that starting point. There’s a lot of elements that are completely new (such as the Gladiator League and all its derivates), some OCs, some lore expansion, so you can definitely say it’s an ambitious project. In a sense, I’ve reset canon to zero, and at the same time I haven’t, which makes things complicated but, for me, really fun to develop. If you’re interested in seeing more of the Avatarverse explored, characters repurposed, with new dynamics and relationships, Gladiator may just be what you’ve been looking for :D

In my experience, the main reason why most people stumble into this fic (other than by sorting FF.net’s ATLA stories by review count and drawing blanks upon glimpsing a Sokkla story on the first page xD) is because they’ve been drawn into Sokkla, or they’re looking for stories centered around Azula or Sokka. Gladiator, evidently, features all three such elements because, obviously, those two are the protagonists and their relationship is the beating heart of the whole tale. I’ve been asked in the past who’s the real protagonist and I honestly still have no idea xD but anyways, if you’re interested in reading a story with a toooooon of Azula character development, even if it takes place across a long, long time, this story may just do the trick. I’ve done the best I could to keep her character as true to what I believed a young adult Azula might become, within the circumstances of this story. She has grown a LOT in 200 chapters, goes without saying (if she hadn’t, I’d be one heck of a failure of an author x’D), so if you’re interested in seeing a slow but effective growth arc for Azula, you’ll certainly find that in Gladiator. Same is true for Sokka, but I think most people who come to this fic for Sokka are interested in seeing him being a badass, which we have plenty of as well xD still, it’s also a long and slow process for Sokka to grow into a powerful warrior, neither him nor Azula start out in the story with all the answers, and they both bump into many hurdles as they navigate their complicated lives.

There’s a lot of humor in Gladiator, perhaps more than expected with a story that has that sort of dark premise, but it’s, on great measure, because Sokka and Azula are inevitably given to banter xD if you want to read a lot of banter between those two, well, you may not be bored in 200 chapters because, while the nature of their exchanges does vary as they both develop, their conversations are usually pretty spirited and they love trying to outsmart each other all the time.

If you are already a Sokkla shipper and the main reason you’re here is because you want more Sokkla goodness in your life... I’ll just say Gladiator has become a bit of a dream come true for me as a Sokkla shipper as well, because it’s the perfect space for me to work with virtually every idea I’ve ever had for these two. Yes, there’s drama and conflict here and there, if you’re not too given to angst there’s a few parts of the story that won’t sit so well with you, though if you love angst you’ll probably enjoy them plenty... yet what I’m most proud of, with this story, is having developed their relationship not only as best I could, but I’ve also attempted to defy typical storytelling structures for romance stories, where the lead couple can’t seem to have a stable relationship because “that would be boring”. Screw that, man: these two have been in a serious relationship together in-story by now for well over half the published chapters, and I’ve had the time of my life writing their dynamics as a couple while the plot continues to develop around them. This, however, is not everyone’s cup of tea, so if you aren’t all that given to seeing such traditional romance storytelling structures dismissed because I wanted to write my favorite ship dealing with all their external struggles while finding strength in the bond they share, Gladiator may not hold your attention long enough for you to devote yourself to reading it beyond chapter 100-ish. On the other hand, if this subversion of romance structure is what you’ve been looking for all your life, or if it’s what you always wanted and never knew you wanted it, or if you’re simply curious as to whether it works or not, Gladiator may suit your interests fairly well. Again, Sokkla is the absolute center of this story, both together and independently, so if you want to see a rewrite of ATLA with them at the core of just... everything? xD that’s absolutely what you’ll find here.

That being said, there’s things I guess you should mind about Gladiator: I have some relatively controversial takes about certain things, including interpretations of fan-favorite characters that some people have been known to take offense over. I, personally, believe my interpretations of those characters don’t deviate that much from canon or that, when they do, the setting itself explains why the deviation works as it does, but due to the fact that I work with a protagonist who was in a villainous role back in ATLA, her relationships with some characters can be more complicated than a lot of people seem to believe they should be. Hence, if you’re not particularly adverse to reading content that brings up big questions about the motivations of certain characters, or how they’d react if the story from ATLA hadn’t happened exactly as it did, you’ll have enough fun in Gladiator. If, however, you don’t particularly care to see anything that shows beloved characters in a not-so-flattering light, this story may not be for you (though, if you’re willing to humor me and allow my story to question your perception of those characters, feel free to try the story as well). 

There’s also a variety of dark themes and situations in Gladiator, something that any reader should be warned about in this day and age: I am 100% against violence for the sake of violence, to name one such subject, and I generally try to portray it with as much nuance as possible, but even if I feature my own characters criticizing their violent world and wanting to put an end to the strife caused by the Fire Nation, some of the violence in Gladiator may be a little too much for the readers who prefer the tone of the original ATLA. Hence, if that’s how it is for you, it’s another reason to approach the story with caution. I won’t pretend I’ve handled every theme and subject perfectly, but I’ve never wanted the darker moments to feel gratuitous in any way, so if you’re open to reading a darker take on the Avatarverse, this may work for you after all.

Alas! If you want to see Azula growing out of the toxic Fire Nation indoctrination, if you want to see Sokka gaining confidence and strength as a man and warrior, if you want to see a fleshed-out but still very much villainous Ozai, if you want to see Toph fulfilling her dreams of joining an all-out fighting league where she can beat people up for a living, if you want to see a myriad of secondary ATLA characters (like Song, or Shoji!) given new lives and even genuine protagonism, if you want to see Zuko discovering he’s allowed to just... be happy? xD Gladiator may prove interesting enough for you.

Furthermore, if you want to see Azula being true friends with Mai and Ty Lee, discovering a dragon, developing new firebending styles, confronting her misplaced beliefs about herself, rebelling subtly (and lately, not so subtly) against her father, growing into a great leader who could change the Fire Nation’s nefarious direction...  aaand if you want to see Sokka fighting creatively (sometimes with TWO swords!), navigating the dangerous waters of interacting with Fire Lord Ozai, staying true to his beliefs while also learning that the world is not as black-and-white as he was raised to think it was, understanding himself better and making the most of his potential as a quick learner, writing embarrassing haiku and being an unapologetic rebel who goes toe-to-toe with Heads of State just because he can... yep. Probably read it? xD

Lastly... if you want to see Sokka and Azula grow through their mistakes, learning to understand each other, fighting side by side, training together, dancing to no music, learning the underrated pleasure of proper communication in a relationship, sassing each other left and right, flirting in ridiculous ways, taunting each other in many regards, laughing at each other’s terrible jokes, protecting each other fiercely, challenging each other to a spicy ramen eating contest, discovering indirect bending, being highly inappropriate at times and places where they shouldn’t be, making long, dangerous yet fun journeys together, sneaking around to meet up when they’re not supposed to, standing by each other in their darkest moments, watching over the other when they’re sick/injured, being ready to sacrifice virtually anything for each other, and even defying and defeating even death to save each other...? Well, I don’t know if there’s any other stories where you might find all of this, but I can guarantee you’ll find it in Gladiator :)

If none of this is convincing enough... that’s a shame, but I understand. If it convinced you to give it a shot, however... I guess I’ll just hope you enjoy it enough to stick around! :) thanks for taking my story into consideration regardless of whatever you decide. Have a nice day!