#azula insults people and is great at it

[gloomybadger4life]

Insults Azula would use towards advisors/ministers.

Just because she has redeemed herself doesn't mean she has no desire to put incompetent fools in their place.

General incompetence:

The record of your birth was a waste of parchment.

Perhaps your portrait should be added to the dictionary, under the definition of idiocy.

Your input has been duly disregarded.

I will not call you an imbecile, you may have intelligence. For some reason you refuse to use any of it.

Expressing frustration at the whole council:

The fact all of you have your limbs is a testament to my reformed ways.

For some reason all of you seem to think governance is achieved by phallic measuring contests.

You are all fortunate my brother does not believe in executions. Public, or private, for that matter.

What other insults would Azula use?

@wingchunwaterbender @krista-kritical @local-enby @chaosmagetwin

@ziezii

[somewhereincairparavel]

Can I just add that Zuko is much much more than his romantic relationships? Like forget Zutara, Maiko, Jinko, or even Zukka. They're all great ships, don't get me wrong, but the way Zuko picks himself up every time he falls and eventually ended up being close to azula's equal in the final Agni Kai, should be talked about more. You have to remember that he was considered a very dull kid compared to azula, his talents paled in comparision to her, he didn't shoot blue lightning like she did, yet he was able to sustain the fight for SO long that even azula began to feel inferior.

He was born as a "dull" kid with "no spark" according to ozai, he was a considerably slow learner compared to Azula, and had to work twice as hard as her to get to azula's "basic" level. He had to watch as his sister was being put in a pedestal and most likely had to listen to people badmouthing him as being "not worthy" enough to be a ruler.

Yet he never gave up?? It's easy to give up in his situation considering that he'd been belittled by his dad and sister his whole life, heck, he'd been PUBLICALLY humiliated by him. Yet he had the resilience to prove his worth.

He has a backbone of fucking steel that really inspires me tbh.

[bluespiritshonour]

I don't think they managed to pick up Zuko's character arc following his regression in Book 3.

Book 1 Zuko seems to have more empathy/his head screwed on right than Book 3 Zuko sometimes—with regards to other people. You can see in hindsight that they were setting him up for redemption by showing that this side of him was beaten out of him.

His entire deal in Book 2 was having his privilege stripped so he gets to see what it's really like. He does some really shitty things: sometimes because he's desperate and sometimes because he's an entitled bitch. But again, they seemed to be setting up for him to be disabused of those notions.

Book 2 even has Iroh say that pride is a source of shame, that being humble is the way to break out it. We know a great deal of Zuko's issues have to do with shame.

Compare how calm Azula is at a perceived insult (she's very confident) to how defensive Zuko usually gets.

Yet. They don't follow any of it up in Book 3: him getting burned to show that he'd make a good leader, one that cares about his people. Him sparing Zhao and being considered weak because of it. And later trying to save Zhao. Him coming into contact with so many Earth Kingdom people and feeling entitled to their kindness—until finally, finally it's him helping Lee and his family.

All this amazing ground work but they dropped the ball.

Book 3... He regresses, yeah. That's the point. But he's somehow a lot more callous to Mai/Ty Lee/the Gaang than he was to Zhao or the Earth Kingdom family he helped. It's almost like they forgot they wrote those things in preparation for his redemption arc.

It goes from assigning equal importance to him and the other characters to coddling him. I guess that's what it is: Book 3 coddles him.

It's a huge missed opportunity because I think they laid good ground work in Book 1 and 2.

[tzilatza]

NATLA Review - spoilers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[flameohotwife]

So I always thought the canon pairings in AtLA had good writing/development but all the Aang and Mai bashing has made me decide to rewatch the series because shippers of a certain other ship called them "abusive" and Aang sexist. But honestly, I love how Mai calls Zuko out on his jealousy and possessive behavior in "The Beach" and Aang is always supportive of Katara's dreams, even refusing to be trained by Pakku because he's sexist to Katara. I like that Sukka teaches kids watching the show to treat women with respect but also Kataang and Maiko in the examples I mentioned above are also good examples of feminist moments in the show too.

YES! Anon, say it louder for the people in the back! There are so so SO many amazing feminist moments in this show and honestly I loved watching it with my kids (multiple times, haha) for that reason. I don't remember growing up with media that showed SO may instances of how girls/women could stand up for themselves in those types of situations. I love how Katara stood up to Pakku (with Aang's support! His little "Go, Katara!" makes me smile every time) and also how she CONSTANTLY takes boys on in fights, from pirates and Rough Rhinos to the taunting kids that subsequently get frozen where they stand ("oh, a girl has her ways") and anyone who insults Aang. How SHE is the one to defeat Azula in the end. How the WHOLE SHOW starts with her rant against Sokka's sexism. How Suki finally put's Sokka in his place. How Toph had to be played by "a really BUFF guy" in EIP because the Fire Nation couldn't admit to being bested by a tiny, 12-year-old girl. How Mai won't let Zuko treat her like a possession with no agency of her own. How she is the one to save HIM in the end at Boiling Rock (how's that for a damsel in distress?). How Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee are trusted by the Fire Lord to perform tasks even the highest generals can't achieve. How the show is relentlessly turning sexist stereotypes on their heads and making viewers question what they think they know.

Beyond the feminism (which you all probably already know I adore so much), I love that each of the leading boys has learning experiences wrt less-than-ideal behaviors towards girls/women, because in real life boys (and girls, too!) are GOING to make mistakes as they're learning and it's important to show how they can move beyond those mistakes and not forever be defined by them. Zuko learns not to be a possessive asshat like he is in The Beach (at least, we don't see him act that way towards Mai again--he might as well have broken up with her via text and not given her the option to follow him to the "good side," but he never acts possessive again. Baby steps). Aang learns he can't just solve their relationship problems by kissing Katara when she's confused. He gives her space and she clearly thinks he's learned from it by the end (really, by the next episode). Sokka learns not to be sexist and that sometimes girls are going to be stronger/better fighters than he is AND THAT'S OKAY. Good, even! It doesn't make him "less of a man" or anything like that, and we don't hear those sexist ideas come out of his mouth again. ALL of these make great talking points for parents watching the show with their kids, too.

Kids make mistakes. They lean on stereotypes or prior experiences and sometimes that bites them in the butt. AtLA shows that we can teach kids hard lessons. Not only can we fight back against injustice but we can improve ourselves when we've been the ones to mess up. And I really think that's something special.

Thanks for sending in your thoughts, anon! You're so right.

[highfantasy-soul]

Things I LOVED in NATLA Episode 7 - The North

Lt Jee actually being worried for Zuko!!!!

And Iroh tenderly bandaging Zuko's head 🥺

Zuko desperate to make sure his father doesn’t truly think he's turned against him!!!!!

A FANTASTIC set-up for his eventual ACUTAL turn against his father

Zuko genuinely thanking Lt. Jee 😢

And aaggghhhh!!! Zhao being a tricky slimey mf

This is a slick way to get Zuko being blown up without the pirates - though they're fun characters, I think this set-up enhanced the themes they were exploring in the season more

TEAM AVATAR!!

So cute that Aang excitedly tells his friends he made a connection with Zuko - Sokka is unimpressed while Katara has hope that people can turn out to be good.

Agna Qel'a!!!!

It looks GORGEOUS! And love that it has a name now!!

Apparently it was given a name in one of the books, but they never did name it in the show, so I'm glad they did it here

I don't even care that they know it's the Avatar right off bat and they're ready to welcome them in - it was cool as shit flying over the city on Appa

Maybe they had scouts out that saw Appa flying and brought news to the city, same as the scouts who saw the Fire Nation fleet - I'll accept that

Them treating Aang like a weapon rather than a person 😡

It's something that comes up a lot in the series and I'm glad they aren't shying away from it

Lol Katara's sibling jibing at Sokka staring at Yue 🤣

I love these little sibling moments - they're just so cute

And Sokka now hard-core staring at the ground instead of at Yue because Katara said he looked like a weirdo doing that 😅

Zhao's overacting at how pissed he is 🤣

Then his 'omg I can yes and this. I can SO yes and this!' as Iroh tells him what he 'think's happened

Oooohhh Iroh's understated insults at Zhao's qualifications

And Zhao's comeback about no record of failure unlike Iroh😐 bitch, that still doesn't make you qualified!

More Azulaaa!!!!

I really love this added storyline to see exactly why Azula is the way she is

It's great to see that her place as next-in-line isn't a shoe-in here - she's desperate to show her father that 'she's the one' and will do anything to get there

Sokka's heart eyes 😍

Stewed sea prunes 😭😭😭

"It tastes like home" 😢

I like this intro to Pakku - like with Sokka, they're not doing a comical level of sexism, they're making it more realistic

YUE IS A BEEENNDDEERR!!!!!!

Also, using it for the most important things: dessert

Sokka's absolutely abysmal (bet very endearing) interaction attempts with Yue 😅

Her little fake gasps as he keeps saying the wrong thing, but smiling because she knows what he means, she's just teasing him 🥺 incredibly adorable

Love that they have a conversation that actually has substance!

Don't hate me, but in the cartoon, they never had a substantive conversation ONCE. It was just Sokka flirting, Yue giggling, then Yue freaking out and running away - rinse and repeat like, 5 times in the course of 3 episodes.

Omg Hahn isn't a dick!!!

I like the more mature tone they've taken in the live action - they can have jokes, but for serious topics like…idk, a battle against the Northern Water Tribe being genocided, they make the characters take it seriously

GOOOOODDDD the adults expecting Aang to be a master strategist and offensive weapon!!

This actually makes sense that they'd believe he could do it - Aang is the culmination of all the past Avatars, so they'd assume he has all their knowledge and power.

The poor kid just got out of his iceberg, though!!!

"Airbending is primarily a defensive discipline"

You tell them, Aang!!

"But you're not JUST an airbender" :( don't bring logic and reality into this, Arnook

"I did it with the help of my friends 😊"  sweet baby Aang

And here's Pakku, telling Aang what a lot of watchers were frustrated about this season: uuhh maybe you should have been focused on your training

While that's a legit comment, I think the live-action showed why Aang didn't pretty well

Love love LOVE that we're introduced to healing with respect rather than the distain it was shown in the animated series

Healing is a wonderful and beautiful skill and I'm glad we got to see Katara interested in it (and it being used) rather than Katara sadly moping into the igloo filled with children learning healing

Sometimes, when people try to make things less sexist, they end up making it more-so. I think that happened with the animated series where healing was actually put up in conflict with combat - where combat was clearly shown as the 'better' skill and healing was 'stupid and bad, we don’t want to do that'. The live-action showed that healing is an important and powerful skill, the only issue comes when you aren't ALLOWED to do anything else. Healing itself isn't the issue, the fact the women are kept from combat IS the issue.

Nice Hahn and Sokka fishing for info about Yue

Avatar Kuruk RESPECT!!!!

LOVE Yue getting more character here!

She can pop into the spirit world! It makes so much sense with her having part of the moon spirit inside her!

The live action fleshed her out soooo well!

Poor Sokka not understanding AT ALL why someone would want to go to the Spirit World for fun 😂

"Don't do that. Don't make it less than what it is"

Such an important message for EVERYONE. You don’t have to have the most tragic of backstories for your trauma to be important. This isn't the oppression olympics - we aren't doing the whole 'well someone else has it worse so you can't complain' bullshit.

Everyone has hurt in their lives and everyone deserves to have their hurt taken seriously and healed. It isn't 'strength' to pretend it's nothing - it's strength to face it and accept that it was important, not something to shove under the rug

Yue reminding Sokka about what makes him special - his care for his friends! He's not a selfish guy - just because he wasn't the best leader or warrior when he was 13 doesn't mean he has nothing to offer the world

"Hahn is everything a girl could want. But he is not the boy of my dreams" 😭😭😭

"Being the Avatar means being the one who bears the burden: alone."

The thing is: like in the animated version, this advice MAKES SENSE! But it's how you USE the advice that makes the difference

No, you can't put all the weight of responsibility on your friends, but neither can you do it without any help - or without caring for others. It's very much advice coming from pain: all the Avatars got hurt because they DIDN'T abandon their friends and so they're giving a skewed version of the advice onto Aang to try to spare him the pain they went through.

It's Aang's job to find the balance

Sokka's fish carving that Yue thinks is a bear 😭😭😭

I wanna see it, props department!!!!

Yeess!! Katara's first confrontation with Pakku!

I like how she still tries to lead with diplomacy, making her case, and Pakku has 'reasonable' excuses not to let her fight

Instead of him being cartoonishly sexist, he's much more realistic giving 'logical' reasons for Katara not to be in combat, but she stands up anyways because she knows it's wrong.

I can see how some might find Aang not wanting Katara to fight to be jarring, but this is in line with the animated series

When they're going into particularly dangerous missions, Aang does have a tendency to try to do it himself and tell Katara to sit this one out - he does it in The Winter Solstice: Part 2.

He's just been told a past life's love was killed because he didn't keep her out of his fight, he has no idea how he's going to win this battle, and he's realizing that he does see Katara as someone incredibly important to him. It's in line with who Aang is to try to keep her safe and away from the battle

Zhao coming up with nicknames for himself 😑

Iroh straight up calling Fire Nation 'info' propaganda!!

While some people could see this as 'treason', when you're in positions of power in high-control groups, you KNOW it's propaganda - you HELP CREATE the lies and when people are going to do something stupid (like attack the North without a solid plan), you let them know that they're being stupid if they're going to make battle plans based on the lies you've helped spread.

Zhao and his dumb bitch destiny 🙄 he's such a great villain - he's one who's bought into his own lies

"The plan is to prove my father wasn't wrong to trust me with this mission. The plan is to go in and capture the Avatar once and for all. The PLAN is to reclaim what is rightfully MINE!! 😤" - "So, no plan? 😐" - "I'm working on it uncle 🥺"

This exchange = gold. Pure gold.

"It's almost as if he's working for someone else - someone much smarter"

WOOOOWWW Iroh, throw that shade a little more, why don't ya 🤣

Though I LOVE that they're giving Azula her brainy due - she's smart and she's the one not to be underestimated.

AZULA'S LIGHTNING!!!!!!!

Love how she stood up to her father, but because she was able to 'prove' her strength, he respected it rather than punished it

"Set me loose" AAAAHHHHHHH

SUPPORTIVE BROTHER SOKKA!!!

Love how matter of fact Katara is "I'm going to challenge Pakku to fight" - just like that. She's decided, so it's going to happen.

Sokka admitting Katara was right 😭😭😭😭😭

"Who's talking sense? What I'm trying to say is: go kick his ass" FUCK YEAH THAT'S RIGHT!!!!

Aang trying to go forward and help Katara, but Sokka holds him back

Love the sibling solidarity!!

The fight is almost beat for beat the one from the animated series!!!

I love that the live action knew exactly which sequences to put in almost 1-1 from the animated - this fight being one of them

"Is that all you got?!?!" FUCK YEAH!!

"They'll just say I lost" "Did you?"

The fact that it wasn't just Pakku's opinion that would change everything - Katara's actions inspired everyone else, even if Pakku didn't want to change his decision.

Change isn't made by changing one man's mind - it's about standing up to them and inspiring others (like in the Imprisoned storyline) to stand up too

Even inspiring Aang to realize that the conclusion the other Avatars came to from their pain was wrong - that Katara was right and that EVERYONE gets to choose whether to fight or not for themselves

Avatars aren't the only ones who worry about protecting people - it's a human, family thing, not just a mystical force of balance thing

Only Aang can write his own story - not anyone else.

This is a great through-line for the whole series where everyone has expectations put on them and they have to decide themselves who they want to be

Don't eat the sooty snow, Momo!!!!!

"Ok, time to fight"

I like that we end on the fire nation ships arriving: next episode is going to be THE BATTLE

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

[timur-pannonicus]

Azula, Iroh and Lu Ten speculation and possible hc

It's been a really long time since I made an original post so here we go.

Trigger warning: Gender roles, marriage within families, historical realities that are repugnant to a lot of modern people.

Anyway...

I didn't come up with the theory myself but there's a headcanon that Azula and Lu Ten were supposed to be married, as arranged by the then Fire Lord Azulon.

If you take the comics as proof, there's a scene where Azulon says that he's marrying Ozai of to Ursa so that the union of Sozin's and Roku's blood will create a powerful dynasty that will rule the world.

However, Azulon is outraged at the very notion presented by Ozai that his firstborn Iroh should be disinherited, which leads to the possible conclusion that Ozai and his progeny were never meant to succeed the throne but to marry into the main line to strengthen it.

Even if you reject the comics it still remains plausible. Azulon clearly didn't have much love for Ozai, marriage between cousins in a great lot of societies through history barely raised eyebrows among commoners, never mind royalty, who often mistakenly believed "pure" blood makes offspring stronger.

Azulon might have arranged the marriage soon after Azula was born or also likely when she proved to be a prodigy and genius at firebending.

In any case, it provides a different or at least additional kind of explanation for Iroh's attitude towards Azula.

Lu Ten was most likely at least in his twenties when he died so Iroh knew what kind of women his son got along with and which not. Thus he tried to influence her into being the kind of girl his son would like. As we all know, she wasn't measuring up when she was little and after Lu Ten's death Iroh lost a good chunk of his motivation to try getting along with her.

It also gives new light on why Ozai dug his claws into her so early and raised her to be as much like him as possible. Even if he never formally got the throne he could influence the nation through his daughter, the queen.

This adds to his she was born lucky comment, from the start she had the right gender.

Plus, in my benefit of the doubt interpretation of Azula she did feel at least somewhat positive towards Lu Ten. Apart from condemning Iroh for not razing Ba Sing Se in revenge for his death there's the infamous moment where she asks Ursa and Zuko what would happen if Iroh died. She did not ask about Lu Ten and when Zuko counters and asks how she would feel if Lu Ten wanted Ozai dead, she doesn't talk back but runs out of the room.

Might also explain why she never really mentioned wanting the throne. For a good chunk of her life she was supposed to be queen anyway, giving her a rather secure sense of entitlement, so why announce it out loud to everyone?

Rant end.

Note: I'm pretty sure I will face disagreement but I simply like speculation for its own sake at times. Maybe I'm too hard or too soft on a character. Feel free to give reason why I am wrong but NO foul language or personal insults will be tolerated from my side and I don't want to see people being rude to each other in notes or reblogs either.

I'm also not exactly the best at tagging so if you have suggestions for that I'm all ears.

I wish you all a nice day.

[masterghandalf]

MG Reads Embers: Chapter Thirty-Three

Note: This is a continuation of my reread and commentary of Embers by Vathara, originally posted last fall and winter on my Dreamwidth account.

Chapter Thirty-Three We open with a brief author note. A/N: Warning, Azula in this chapter. The chapter proper begins with Tingzhe Wen reading some earthbending scrolls the Dai Li apparently had stashed away, while feeling like something isn’t right. He looks around and sees Jinhai meditating with Shirong, Jia and Suyin going over old histories with Huojin, Luli reading to her children, and Meixiang working on her knives, making sure they’re sharp enough. Tingzhe asks Meixiang if she knows what’s wrong and considers doing some meditation himself – she thinks it’s because Min is being held captive, but Tingzhe’s not sure. He’s read a lot of history, but he doesn’t have any experience with this sort of battle himself. Meixiang and Huojin remind him that he’s got lots of people around him who do know and to listen to them. Meixiang assures him that they’ll get Min out – her grandfather was a Fire Sage, so she knows the spirits are watching out for their family. Shirong, who overhears, thinks that someone so in touch with the spirits should know the war is wrong, no matter what Kyoshi did to the Fire Nation. Apparently, the Earth Kingdom’s official histories don’t mention much about what happened, but Tingzhe knows that about three hundred years ago, Fire Nation pirate attacks suddenly stopped, and Kyoshi was somehow involved. Meixiang is surprised – she thought everyone in the Earth Kingdom knew that. Tingzhe admits he never wanted to pry into the facts missing from the official histories for his family’s sake; Meixiang gathers everyone together and tells them the story of what Kyoshi did. Once she’s done, everyone is stunned. She relates how Sozin’s father, when he was a prince, went to beg Kyoshi in her old age to release her decree, but she never did – and Sozin must have hated the indignity of his father being forced to beg. He might have asked Roku, but Roku didn’t leave his training for the Fire Lord’s funeral, which was a terrible insult. And of course, nobody else could break the decree, since if you break loyalty you die, and everyone had to be loyal to the Fire Lord. Tingzhe wonders why people didn’t just leave the Fire Nation. Shirong reminds him that Zuko was exiled and had no choice – that’s not the same thing is disloyalty. Beyond that, it was the Avatar who ordered everyone to swear to the Fire Lord. That means the decree has the full force of the spirits behind it, and the sprits will turn on anyone who defies it. On the other hand, carrying out the war doesn’t hit the Fire Nation with spiritual misfortune for the same reason – technically, they’re following the Avatar’s orders.

Tingzhe realizes that so long as the Fire Lord wants the war to continue, it will, and nobody can oppose him. Shirong explains that at a Fire Lord’s funeral, it’s customary for all the great names to attend or send proxies to confirm their fealty to the new Fire Lord. Roku must have been a great name, to be allowed to be friends with a prince – by not coming or sending someone, he was essentially saying that his role as the Avatar was more important than his role as a subject of the Fire Nation, and since Kyoshi had already refused Sozin’s father, Sozin had no reason to believe Roku would think differently. Shirong thinks that Sozin was evil, but he might have given up too, in his place. Huojin realizes, though, that Iroh broke loyalty to Azulon, and then avoided having to swear to Ozai – he’s been free for years. But he still had loyalty to his nephew, so he stuck around for Zuko’s sake. Shirong suddenly starts laughing – he’s realized that Zuko’s an exile, so he’s technically outside of Kyoshi’s decree. He can do whatever he wants. Meixiang realizes that Zuko can set up his own independent domain, and already has the people to do it. Huojin wonders if anyone in Ba Sing Se is still loyal to their old lords back in the Fire Nation – Meixiang says Zuko’s descended from Byakko, which is as old a domain as they get, and he’s a powerful firebender and he has a lot of dragon blood; he can shield them, especially since he’s a healer. Other healers can’t touch loyalty sickness, but fire healers can. They wonder about earth – and point to an old scroll Jia has. But somehow, nobody else seems to be able to see it… Amaya and Shirong capture… something from midair and have Jinhai burn it. This was a spirit’s influence; everyone surrounds Shirong, and he admits he saw that scroll before, but never seemed to be able to remember it. They start discussing healing, and how it differs from regular bending. Jia wants to learn, if it can help get her brother back. Tingzhe is proud of her, and of his family – he thinks they’re going to be fine. Of course, there’s still one enemy in the way… Azula.

We cut to Azula as she tries and fails to bend hot water. She recalls that Iroh studied waterbenders but can’t figure out why. She thinks fire is the superior element, but still… if Iroh learned something useful, he should have shared it with someone who could use it, like her. She wonders how long Iroh has plotted against her father, but vows that he won’t hurt him – Azula is strong, she’s Ozai’s heir, she’s loyal. Everything Zuko isn’t. She remembers Ursa telling Zuko to protect her but thinks that’s foolish… she doesn’t need it… and besides, who’d protect a monster, anyway… Azula reflects on how she’s spent years building up to her current victory. Zuko’s only alive because their father wanted to teach him a lesson – and give her a reminder of what happens if she should fail. As if she ever would… can’t he trust her? But a Fire Lord always has people plotting against them… but after Azula took Ba Sing Se without a single soldier, nobody will ever dare plot against her again. She thinks she needs to focus on maintaining the Dai Li, who are too useful a resources… though she’s not sure how they let those spirits get into the palace. The Fire Sages wouldn’t stand for it. She might need to get some of them assigned here. She turns her thoughts to Mai, wondering at how Mai dared betray her when Azula did so much for her, including covering up her relationship with the royal family to give her a shot at a relationship with Zuko. Of course, Mai’s great-grandmother and Azula’s grandmother were sisters, which can cause complications. Apparently when people descended from sisters marry, the resulting children can be… monstrous. Not that Azula disapproves of firebenders born without sentimentality. And maybe she still has a chance to find out for herself – even if Mai and Zuko won’t have any children, she can always wait until Tom-Tom comes of age and marry him herself.

Meanwhile, Mai herself has arrived with messages. The top one is from General Gang, which the Fire Nation had intercepted. She can tell something was going on with him and wonders why he wanted to send word to Ba Sing Se so quickly, Still, it’s a moot point now. She also sees that Suzuran is due to come into port tomorrow. She knows it’s a dumping ground for malcontents and incompetents, and also that Captain Jee is in command – and Jee has a history with Zuko. She drops a few hints, hoping Mai will pick up on them, and also laments about Yakume’s behavior earlier and how he was clearly one of Iroh’s soldiers. She wonders what her father was thinking, leaving Zuko with their uncle. Mai thinks he needed to at least have a show of someone training Zuko, a potential heir, and nobody took Iroh seriously anymore anyway. Meanwhile, Azula wants to know what to do about this potential insurgency. Mai suggests watching and waiting. Azula is amused and looks forward to crushing them – she starts to weave her plans. She thinks about how she’d made previous crews under Zuko mutiny, though Zhao ended up derailing all of that with his own plans; Azula’s glad he’s dead. But now, the world will bend to her will.

We cut to Aang and his friends coming up on shore, Toph thrilled to be on land again – and how the spirit Zuko sent, which Toph has named Boots, is apparently helping her goad Aang into actually practicing. Aang isn’t happy about letting the world thing he’s dead, but Sokka convinced him it was tactically smart. Zuko knows Aang’s not dead, though, and Toph wonders what he’ll end up doing. She knows Zuko chased Aang across the world, with a level of determination beyond sanity – or even humanity. But that doesn’t bother her – she thinks he’s a decent person anyway. Still, Aang crossed lines with him, and Toph knows he won’t be able to give up on revenge. Meanwhile, Sokka is trying to talk Aang into practicing deflecting projectiles against his boomerang. Aang remembers the Yu Yan archers, and Sokka wonders why they’ve never seen them again. They know someone broke Aang out without using firebending – the Yu Yan aren’t firebenders either, and neither are Mai and Ty Lee. Just because they’ll be hitting the capital during the eclipse doesn’t mean it won’t be dangerous. While they’re working, Katara takes Toph aside. Toph wants to know why Katara isn’t pushing Aang to learn air healing. Toph herself is a great fighter, but she has no idea how to heal using earthbending and doesn’t have the right attitude. Katara wonders if Haru might be a good choice for an earth healer and shares the story of the prison barge. Apparently Zuko already told Toph about tracking Katara using her necklace, with angers Katara. Zuko had admitted it wasn’t very honorable – but when tracking an enemy of the whole Fire Nation, any method goes. Anyway, Katara knows the Air Nomads were peaceful – so why did the healer from her vision have a sword? Toph thinks maybe she needed to defend herself – healing takes a lot out of you, more than normal bending. Katara thinks bending is a gift from the spirits, and they have to respect that, or they’ll end up like the Fire Nation, burning whole forests for fuel. Toph backs up – the Water Tribes use swords, made from teeth and bone rather than metal, but still swords. Would Katara use one if she lost her bending? Katara thinks this doesn’t have anything to do with spirits, so Toph reminds her that her people use water for everything – they even build with ice. So what’s wrong with the Fire Nation using their element and burning things for fuel? Katara thinks it’s not the same, and none of them have any honor, including Zuko. Toph wonders if she might try healing after all – it might help with her headache.

Toph wonders if Katara is so mad at Aang and Sokka and indicates she’d be willing to help; Katara says she’s not angry at Aang, but he doesn’t seem to care about her mom, even though he was so angry when he found Gyatso’s skeleton that he nearly blew them off the mountain. Toph reminds her that Aang didn’t have a mom, he had a teacher… he might expect Katara to feel the same way about Pakku. Toph’s reminded that Katara is also Aang’s teacher, and he has a crush on her, and thinks that won’t end well. Out loud, she reminds Katara that they’re all from different places and have different values, but they can work together to win, and then fix things. Katara thinks she sounds like Sokka, which Toph doesn’t mind. She thinks Katara does need to calm down before she goes back to work with Aang… maybe she’d like to help Toph try some experiments with seawater? We cut to Iroh and Zuko as they wrap up practicing. Zuko thinks he’s not good enough, but Iroh thinks he can pass as an ordinary firebender long enough to get into Ba Sing Se unnoticed, even if he couldn’t fool Azula herself. Zuko says Azula missed him in the palace, and Iroh is impressed. Zuko’s used to hiding from Azula – he knows how not to be found. This gets the attention of Sergeant Kyo, who asks Zuko to demonstrate – and suddenly the sense of his inner fire seems to vanish. Zuko’s blending his own inner fire into the heat around him, camouflaging it. Apparently, he was inspired by a book Iroh gave him as a child – Iroh hadn’t realized he’d take it that seriously. Kyo thinks the book’s not a bad place to start – and anyone who can hide from their crew, including Teruko, is clearly doing something right. Iroh is amused that he’s treating Zuko like a newbie marine. Kyo says it’s all about the state of mind, and not everyone can do it. Zuko knows Azula will have the Dai Li with her, though, so they’ll have to be extra careful. Meanwhile, Zuko notices that the refugee ferries are gone; no more refugees are coming to Ba Sing Se these days. He wonders if they could find them, and if Teruko might be up to playing pirate. With Amaya’s connection, Zuko might be able to get crews. But Zuko will have to be the one to present this plan to the Earth King in person – Zuko doesn’t think Azula has him. He must be in hiding, so Zuko will have to get to him and persuade him. If he can’t, he’ll have to try his luck with individual captains. Teruko says she’ll need plans for the harbor, which she thinks Iroh must have. He admits he does… and is amused that if they’re breaking Kyoshi’s decree, they’re going all the way, and are becoming pirates indeed.

We cut to Langxue and Saoluan, docked near a delta and watching Fire Nation ships through a spyglass. She thinks they look too good to be pirates and asks one of the sailors they’re traveling with if he knows who they are. The sailor, Shu, starts rambling about how they’re near the Foggy Swamp and there’s waterbenders here, but after some prompting says he thinks the Fire Nation guys are from Byakko – Byakko’s not too bad, as Fire Nation people go, even if they do eat bugs. Langxue doesn’t care what they eat – he just wants some real food. Meanwhile, the ship’s captain is arguing with the swamp man he’s been trying to trade with. The swamp guy has a message from Hue, who knew Langxue and Saoluan would be coming; the Moon told him. Langxue introduces himself and Saoluan, says they’re already doing what the spirits want. The captain already has enough problems, so Langxue and Saoluan get in the boat with the swampbenders and head off with them. They bring them over to dock with the Byakko ship, where they’re met by an older Fire Nation nobleman who Saoluan finds very intimidating. She feels safe in his presence, though, even though he’s Fire Nation, and she doesn’t know why. Langxue thinks he’s being very obvious about something – he’s not even sweating. The old man comments that he’s old enough to do as he wishes, calling that a “custom” which Langxue corrects to “human custom.” But Langxue thinks the old man is here to help them – Yue and Hue wouldn’t have sent them to meet him if he was a dark dragon. The old man introduces himself as Shidan of Byakko and says that his grandson will need their help. Saoluan is put off by his attitude, and Langxue tells her the truth – Shidan is a dragon. Saoluan is stunned – she thought all the dragons were dead. Shidan admits many of them are, and the survivors have gone to great lengths to make sure the world thinks they’re extinct. But they have common enemies – Shidan hopes he won’t have to help them take on the whole Fire Nation, but for now they have to leave, before Makoto finds them. Langxue realizes his past life knew Makoto – but that was a thousand years ago. How has no one killed her? Shidan says many have tried, and died trying – apparently, she was nearly killed centuries ago, before Kyoshi came and ruined things. A century ago, she found a new tactic – she took human form, and married Fire Lord Sozin and became the mother of his heir. Saoluan realizes that Ozai isn’t human and is shaken.

She tells Shidan that Azulon is dead, which he knows, and he says Makoto will never forgive his clan for that. More than that, she knows the yaoren and hates them, though Shidan has managed to keep her off Zuko’s trail so far. Worst of all, she’s been Koh’s ally in the past, and may be again. Shidan and his wife have managed to keep Makoto out of Byakko so far – and Shidan’s parents died doing it - but she’s old, powerful and evil, and he can’t fight her head on forever. Especially since Shidan assumed human form to marry Kotone, and he’s tied to that form until she dies. Fortunately, his current mission gives him a chance for some action and to help the Moon Spirit, so he’s very committed to it. He offers them aid, and his ship. He can get them through Fire Nation blockades – and he knows Langxue is like his grandson. Shidan felt Zuko drown and be brought back and decided to leave home to seek him. Byakko has connections with the Foggy Swamp already, so… here he is. Saoluan doesn’t trust him, but Shidan assures her that his kind my be ruthless, but they are honest and forthright. Saoluan says he’s wearing blue, even though he’s a Fire Nation noble, and Shidan says that’s not a lie – Byakko is located at a mountain now, but they were originally a wave clan. They’ve kept their healing knowledge hidden, since it can save a person from dying from broken loyalty… and the Fire Lord won’t allow that. Langxue remembers all the wave clans are healers and can’t believe that the Fire Nation would wipe out half their own people – and then he and Saoluan both realize what Kyoshi must have done. Again, Shidan offers temporary alliance against common enemies. Langxue and Saoluan accept. For the moment, though, Shidan has an errand of his own – he needs to assure his clan that their line is secure. There aren’t dragons in the Foggy Swamp… but apparently something of that sort. They need to stop by Pohuai Stronghold, which, conveniently, is on the way to Gaipain. Saoluan wants to know what they’re waiting for.

We end with an author note: A/N: If you're wondering what's up with firebenders and genealogies, besides just trying not to have too much dragon blood, the interested reader might check out human mitochondrial genetics on Wikipedia. Especially the facts that the mtDNA passed to kids from the same mother can vary remarkably, and have differing effects depending on the nuclear DNA involved. Mixing two species (and their mitochondria), even with the spirits taking a hand, isn't exactly something that's always going to have good results. Given the Fire Nation doesn't have genetic testing to figure out what the problem is, they go by a rough rule of thumb: do not marry descendants of sisters. Even so, this doesn't catch everything. And yes, theoretically speaking, Mai and Zuko would be fine. They don't know that. Plus, they know Azula's involved. Assuming whatever Azula's involved in will screw you up royally (pun intended) is a survival trait. "Dragon-child" doesn't have to refer to a direct dragon descendant; it can also refer to anyone who exhibits enough of the traits to show there's a lot of dragon in their background. And it can skip generations. (However, Teruko does come from a long, long line of tavern-burners...) Akuma komainu-ko - roughly, "devil stone lion (or lion-dog) cub". The stone lions are protective guardians outside temples. Shidan's outfit - think Piandao's robe, with a belt and a haori on top. Yes, the "mountain stripes" were inspired by the Shinsengumi. (Does anyone know what Piandao's outfit is officially called? As far as I can tell it's either some kind of changshan or Manchu-type robe, but I can't track down a positive ID.) For those who are wondering - don't worry about Sokka and Suki. Those two, in canon, understand each other enough to know they've got cultural differences to work out. I think that's the most grounded, plausible, working relationship in the whole show. (And one of the cutest. Sokka's Look of Awe when Suki goes after the Warden in Boiling Rock... there's a guy secure enough in being a warrior to appreciate her!) And a reviewer pointed me to the TVTropes page on Embers. ...You guys are awesome. (Yes, even those of you who think I like Zuko too much. And that I did everything wrong. That page is cool!) MG’s Thoughts I don’t have nearly as much to say about this chapter as the previous ones, but it actually contains a fair bit that I like, and most of what I don’t like is more minor. While I have my qualms about how Vathara writes Azula, the way she depicts her internal monologue here – full of arrogance and ruthlessness, but with a core of insecurity that bubbles to the top at unpredictable moments and that she never lets anyone else see – feels very genuine. The scenes with the Gaang also work better than a lot of what we’ve been seeing from them lately, since everyone’s calmed down enough that they’re allowed to just be people for now, though elements like “Toph Knows Best” and “Katara Is Irrational and can’t see beyond her own culture” still crop up. I’m of two minds about the bit with the Wens – I probably like them the most of Vathara’s various OCs at this point in the fic and enjoy their dynamic, but we get yet another chance to talk about how Kyoshi ruined the Fire Nation (this time, giving Sozin – who the fic in general, to its credit, does usually depict as evil – a few inches of whitewashing), and I really don’t see how Meixiang (who has lived in Ba Sing Se for decades, is married to an Earth Kingdom man and raised four Earth Kingdom children) remains this ignorant about what is and isn’t common knowledge in the Earth Kingdom. And I still don’t like how much of what’s going on with the Fire Nation refugees is bound up in the loyalty stuff.

This chapter also sees the official introduction of Shidan, and the fic’s second main antagonists – Makoto aka Sozin’s dragon aka Sozin’s wife, who’s been foreshadowed so far, but only a little bit (I’m not sure if she counts as an OC or not; very technically, she’s not only a canon character but two can characters but taken in a direction radically different from anything canon ever established about them). Frankly, this falls into a lot more of the “this stuff would be interesting in an original work, but I don’t like it as part of Avatar specifically” category that I’ve mentioned before. It also plays into what I think is one of the core tensions of the fic – Vathara is trying to do something that’s more gritty and “realistic” than canon with its emphasis on sociology and politics, while also cranking the high fantasy elements of the setting up to eleven in ways that make the story fundamentally less grounded and realistic. I don’t think it’s a needle that’s impossible to thread… but I’m not sure Embers actually manages it.

[anonymous-gambito]

Tbh I think the thing that most ruins this episode for me is that one old man insulting Zuko in a way that makes him sound unreasonable and cruel, just on the basis of Zuko having been maimed and disowned by his father, because although the episode wasn't about Zuko seeing how Fire Nation soldiers mistreat and abuse Earth Kingdom people, it could've still taught another lesson; One about the savior complexes of colonizing nations born from a belief of their own superiority in comparison to cultures and nations they see as inferior.

Zuko there thought himself a hero, saving these poor Earth villagers from their corrupt superiors, saving them from themselves. He proudly proclaims himself the heir to the Fire Nation throne (son of a man who in this very episode was shown to have no qualms about killing his own son for power) ...and then the Earth Kingdom villagers tell him to gtfo. Lmao.

And I see some people here on social media just... not getting it. Calling the villagers ungrateful, saying they're mean for shunning someone who "saved them". But this is no salvation.

This is like when a gringo starts getting too comfortable talking about brazilian politics and societal problems to the point you get the feeling they'd be very happy to support another coup. It's horrible.

Just a few months ago when twitter was temporarily banned in my country, we had El*n M*sk trying to pull that crap. Trying to claim we Brazilians "have no freedom" and that we are a poor poor people being suppressed and censored by our government that clearly needs the help from the likes of him, and here's the thing; the only people who agreed with him were the ones who want a dictatorship. No one else was fucking grateful. There's no normal response to this kind of crap besides "No, no, we're good. We don't need you and we don't want you, because we hate you more than anything. Please go fuck yourself somewhere else and maybe fall down a flight of stairs while you're at it".

And I can see people objecting to this comparison, saying "But Zuko actually meant it!" or "But Zuko is an exiled teenager, not a rich man in power!", but here's the thing: Zuko wants to be, and he wants that power, and that is how Zuko presented himself to these people, as the colonizing prince come to save the poor and helpless Earth Kingdom citizens from themselves, you know, by toppling their current leadership. Yeah.

So of course they don't want anything from Zuko, of course they want him gone, and of course they hate him. It doesn't matter how bad they have it with the soldiers, because to them in this scenario Zuko is the bigger threat, the greater of two evils, the prince from the imperialist nation that brought them to this situation in the first place, a nation that has tormented them for over a 100 years, here coming with the same old excuse that that their torment and their subjugation is being done "to their own good". So of course they don't appreciate his damn help.

Remember how at the end of the season, Azula takes control of Ba Sing Se (with the help of Zuko), and it is a Tragedy. It is framed as a tragedy, a poison, a violation. These people weren't "saved" from their corrupt government, they were just made more powerless and lost than ever.

So yeah, I believe that if this episode had come with just a bit of a different angle, some different framing, focused a little bit less on being a Zuko pity party, it could've been really great.

The fact that Zuko Alone doesn't have Zuko defend the villagers against corrupt Fire Nation troops is both one of the biggest missed opportunities ever and also one of the weirdest ones. Like, they could have written as a moment where Zuko starts to empathize with ordinary EK people and comes to term with the harm that the FN is causing to their lives. Instead, Zuko is faced with a situation where corrupt and evil EK authorities are abusing ordinary EK people, which is probably exactly the same narrative he's been learning from FN propaganda about the EK his entire life.

[nono-bunny]

Thoughts from watching the ATLA live action!

Episode 5:

An very fun fight scene to start the episode!

Genuinely love them confirming the fact that Katara is such an excellent bender because she's resourceful and takes inspiration from the other bendings, and it's such an early case of this train of thought too!! I love it! Her and Iroh would get along great, I really want to see a scene with the two of them just hanging out now haha

Lmao Sokka flirting with a Fire Nation soldier is genuinely so in character, my dude is just looking for a date everywhere he goes

Katara is pretty great in this episode so far! She seems much more open and communicative, it feels a bit like she's growing comfortable with Aang which is great to see.

My name is Sokka, rhymes with Okka! Oh? Pippinpaddleopsicopolis coming from Sokka this time? Oh wait is she the third, after Bonzu and June? Anyway, this is a very sweet scene

Are they... Perhaps going to do a parallel big brothers thing here with Shi-Yong and Sokka? That'd be fun!!

Angry, mean Zuko is fun too. Azula... Makes me sad.

Huh... Interesting- Sokka AND Katara get to be in the spirit world here?

Seedy Tavern... IS THIS THE JUNE EPISODE??? Maybe not, but oh my god this is so funny, just... Mentioning the exploits of the animated Gaang that are implied to happen off screen here hahaha. A bit heartbroken about no "I'll save you from the pirates" and mentioning them brought up that pain, but following it up immediately with The Great "worst episode in the series" Divide is fucking fantastic.

June baited me!!! Her and Nyla were outside the pub!! Oml that entire scene was fucking hilarious

Genuinely, why is Wan Shi Tong here, it's so fucking weird. A lot of the changes I can understand, but this dude's whole thing is that he and his library are interconnected- why is he just... Here, outside of it? Fuck, I actually hate this whole thing. I really liked how OG Sokka was kinda spiritually tuned against his will, here his reluctance is just a joke to uplift Katara- it feels bad, and them being unable to understand Wan Shi Tong fucking sucks. Literally why are they even here, genuinely I hate this change a lot. Literally the water siblings' only contribution to the scene is "hehe we can't understand what the magic spirit animal is saying" and it feels insulting, and cheapens everything they adapted here. Also, they literally couldn't even have him say "until we meet again"?? Are we just. Not gonna see him next season and/or ever learn his name? I hate that he appeared here, it was meaningless and didn't fit with ANY of the established lore. It literally was just a character cameo, it fucking sucked balls.

In other news, unhinged Azula!!! I love my girl. Every scene she's in is good and perfect and I love that she's in this season so much!!

I think I can pretty safely say at this point that they're finally getting into the groove of writing Iroh- he's much, MUCH better here!

I like the theme of both Sokka and Katara being in denial about something, and I think that's a fantastic plot thread to have here. That said, I still think having Wan Shi Tong introduce it was a wild choice that contributed nothing- he's literally just there for people who saw the original and would recognize him, and honestly? That makes it worse because you know it doesn't make sense that he's here. That role should've been filled by either another spirit, or someone new entirely. The whole scene with him was just SO bad, but I'm glad they seem to be recovering here.

Pretty funny to see Aang and Katara realize they can't bend only for Sokka to essentially be like "welcome to my world" and be the only useful one by paying attention because he isn't distracted by how weird everything is.

Sokka and foxes. It's a thing. Actually, I'm really happy that they're making sure that Sokka is vital here given that it's originally an episode that revolves around his journey in the spirit world- which it doesn't show too much, because ultimately the focus there is on Aang and the role and powers of the Avatar, so I'm happy to see a focus on Sokka here!

Dangerous fog gives me some P4 vibes ngl, my stress immediately shot up purely through association.

In general the vibes of this episode kinda feel like it can serve as a sort of precursor to The Swamp, which I desperately hope they don't cut because I feel like it could work really well with them having experienced something similar before already!!

Oh no. It's Katara backstory time, isn't it? Oh no. Fuck, literally making Katara relive this is brutal- having older Katara experience most of it somehow hurts more than if she just saw her younger self. Fuck, Katara bending to try and save Kya and having it directly lead to her death is devastating.

Koh?? Ah fuck, this whole thing is emotionally ruining me rn. Btw, Katara's face should 100% be gone, idk why they're once again breaking established rules here just to feature spirit world characters, but I hate it.

So... I hate this Hakoda? He sucks? Why would they make him suck so hard? This is a bad change. Hakoda was ALREADY a bit controversial, they didn't need to make him an asshole. Idk if these are like... Real things that happened or what Sokka is projecting went on behind the scenes, but I hope beyond hope Hakoda isn't actually like this.

Cool, Sokka's face is gone too! What the fuck are they even doing in this episode, I hate it so much, they're legit just alternating between good and bad scenes, it's wild!!

It feels really weird that Aang is automatically emotionless here when meeting with Koh. I don't like it, it feels off, like he was warned- but he wasn't, he has no way to know he should be emotionless, and it isn't exactly his neutral state, so... What the fuck. This episode is a mess. Showing the monkey face has no effect when we didn't see the faceless monkey, Koh has no reason to interfere here... It's all literally just so shoved in and feels so unnatural!!

I... Also can't believe it's really Gyatso, in fact, I don't think he is, and if he is, it feels like the wrong time and wrong way to make me believe it is him.

Still cried, and even though it makes no sense and he's done very little to prove it ig I am meant to belive this is Gyatso, so I'm just. Ignoring how poorly written that whole setup was and focusing on the meat of it- it was heartbreaking, and something I'm very glad Aang got to hear. Even though it wasn't executed super well, I am glad we got to see Gyatso again.

This episode REALLY struggles with it's plot and premise, but it hits all of the characters moments extremely well, and that kinda sucks- it could have been great if they just took out the pointless spirit cameos. Idk why Wan Shi Tong was here, and there's literally no reason to bump Koh up to here instead of later in the season- in fact, it weakens his connection to the plot and completely uproots Hei-Bai's because the focus on him is all but gone. It matters that Aang meets Koh while his physical body is in the Northern Water Tribe, where Kuruk- who faced him and lost- was from. Here his powers barely matter, he appears to just... Eat people? It's weak and doesn't work, and the impact is genuinely so much weaker than the original. I don't get the choice they made here at all, he doesn't even connect to Katara and Sokka in any meaningful way, and I wish the writers felt comfortable enough to just create a new spirit with powers that actually fit rather than just coopt and ruin Koh. Honestly? They could've just made Hei-Bai do it semi-accidentally out of grief and it would've worked better than inserting a being with known powers into a situation that necessitates changing them dramatically to tell the story they want. Koh and Wan Shi Tong should not be in this episode- the only theme connecting them is the spirit world, and by that logic you could put Zuko's banishment and the students' dance party in the same episode because they're both about kids from the Fire Nation. It sucks. As much as episode 3 didn't work, I at least got the idea they were going for- it only didn't work because it was a bad setting for it and because they cut integral character moments, not because it was doomed conceptually, y'know?

So Gyatso is obviously lying to Aang about being able to talk more later... Why? Why the fuck is he doing that? Is he trying to teach Aang a lesson about timing or something? It's weird and I don't get it.

I'm... Confused. Is Aang going to be captured trying to save his friends by going to the Fire Nation?? Are Sokka and Katara just gonna be completely absent next episode given that it's the Blue Spirit one and it'd be overly depressing to just cut to them in captivity on Koh's cave? I don't get it. Aang was literally already in the spirit world, so I don't really get why they wouldn't just have Fang ferry him to the temple and have him meet Roku as a Spirit. Is his physical presence there really so important? It feels weird. Literally how does he think he's going to get there solely on his glider??? Some wild decisions here in this episode, for real.

This episode had probably straight up just the worst adaptation of stuff from the original, while simultaneously having the best original stuff. It's... Disappointing to see that tends to generally be the vibe of this adaptation- they try too hard to bring over beloved stuff from the original, and it's to the detriment of this reimagining that has proven to be capable of some really great stuff. Koh and Wan Shi Tong had no place here, ans Sai and Jet both lost the appeal of their episodes for the sake of just... Having them both appear. For contrast- Bumi was wildly different, they took a pretty big swing with him that evidently not everyone was gonna like- and I thought it was a brilliant alternative depiction of a guy who lived for way too long meeting an important friend from his childhood that never had to face the same difficulties he had, and how they still reconcile at the end even if he's much more bitter about it here. And Bumi STILL struggled from sticking too close to the original- his original jokes don't work in live action, but they were still there, unfortunately lol. Anyway my point is that like? Genuinely this show is doing a good job, and it had a really tough fucking challenge, and I think by trying too hard to appeal to old fans rather than committing to telling the same overall story through a different lens using different methods... It really shot itself in the foot, because purists were never gonna be happy even if they stuck to a 1 to 1 adaptation, let alone when they change stuff- they should've just fucking went wild and created an alternate universe fix it fic that reimagines all the characters AND only uses stuff that works from the original. Here they're clearly forcing some stuff because fans love them, and it shows, because things stop making sense. I know I'm probably contradicting myself a bit: I've always liked Hakoda, so seeing him be a jerk here sucks- and yet, it's an alternative take on his character, what he could've been, and in fact, what some fans see him as! And yet, I still don't like this change. Everyone is gonna have opinions on every change, and I feel like they knew that going in and tried to do their best to mitigate that by including a lot of fan favorite stuff- even when it doesn't work- because isn't it fun to see your favorite thing come to life? You have people saying "At least we got ___" right alongside those that say "Wish we still had ___". This show had an insane amount of pressure on it right from the start, and the fact that it was coming from so many sides surely didn't help mitigate that, but. As much as I'm not pleased with what they did to some of my favorite stuff, it has also proven to me that this version of the story is worthwhile, and it's impossible not to see the care and thought put into it! It'd be a lot easier if I could just hate it or love it, but. Honestly it's so interesting in that each episode features choices that elicit both emotions from me. As much as I truly don't get the thought process behind the early inclusion of Koh and Wan Shi Tong, or why they dropped Sokka from Jet and Aang from The Northern Air Temple... They still did interesting things in these episodes! They have a lot of misses, but they also have a lot of hits, and at the end of the day... I'm genuinely enjoying watching this show! I think that for the most part it could stand on its own really well, and a lot of my gripes with it are stuff that would almost certainly not be an issue for people who haven't watched the original- and that's important too! Even if it disappoints veteran fans, it's important that things don't feel out of place for new ones, and honestly I can't imagine many things here that do! Frankly, it's actually mostly the occasional carry over joke from the original (The dramatic Cabbage Merchant moment is probably a wild thing for people not in the know, for example lmao)

Anyway this episode was. A real mixed bag, and I felt equally as strongly about the things I liked and the things I didn't. It's definitely more disappointing for it, I think- the fact that I really liked some of it while I really didn't like others- but. Overall I think it was probably a good one, and honestly I mostly just wish it was allowed to be more original- which is a great thing, actually! They're doing such a good job with the original/changed aspects of the show that I wish there was more of it, and trust that it could have worked better rather than the existing lore remixed to fit the occasion! Honestly I hope they get some breathing room from the announcement of two more seasons, and that they feel more comfortable with making this their own alternate version of the story rather than an adaptation. Don't get me wrong, they should still follow the general throughlines, but... If this episode has proven anything, it's that they shouldn't force themselves to remix and adapt parts of the original story that they don't think fit in theirs just to check a box.

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Imagine being Mai’s younger sister and having a reciprocated crush on Zuko ever since you were kids. For obvious reasons, neither of you acted on your feelings but when you reconnect as adults things are different.

Part two here

Part three here

___

You were Mai’s younger sister, only a year younger but that year made a big impact on your life. The age difference meant when Ursa and Ozai were looking for companions for Azula, despite being three years older, Mai was sent as she was the eldest. After a few supervised playdates Mai was selected and you weren’t surprised in the slightest. Mai was everything you wanted to be, responsible, well-behaved, beautiful and respected. Your family adored her because she was the perfect daughter and no matter what you did you couldn’t get out of her shadow.

Mai was so perfect she even started dating the future Firelord when she was 13. You’d seen that coming too. You knew Mai had a crush on Zuko for years and that had always made you wary of Zuko. The truth was being the same age as him you saw a lot of Zuko and you also liked him but learnt early on he was Mai’s.Your sister liked him and you wouldn’t do anything to get in her way. So you just focused on being Zuko’s friend until apparently that was too much as well. Azula informed you one day when you were 12 that Mai was jealous of you and Zuko doing homework together. Azula was ruthless with her insults, she called you cheap, jealous of Mai, desperate for Zuko’s attention and a thousand other things that stuck with you. So from that day you stopped interacting with Zuko when you could help it. You never wanted to cause trouble and were used to putting your wants and feelings to the back of the pile so just did that, no matter how challenging it was. You saw Zuko almost every day at school and sometimes more. He was dating Mai so he was always around and it sometimes led to interactions. He’d ask you to pass Mai a note or give you something Mai had left at his. The worst times were when he’d come over to yours after school. As Mai was in the year above she finished earlier and so Zuko would walk with you to your home. You weren’t sure why he did it, you’d been distant with him for long enough. You refused to speak to him apart from nods if he asked you a direct yes or no question but still he’d walk beside you all the way to your home. It was tense and uncomfortable every step but still the next week Zuko would do the same thing and you could never work out why.

Your crush never faded but you managed to place it in the background where you could ignore it. You never bothered with dating because honestly you didn’t feel that excitement with anyone like you did around Zuko. You didn’t see the point in getting involved with people unless you liked them so you rejected every boy. Which caused great aggravation between you and your parents. By the time you reached 19 and still hadn’t brought home one suitor your parents were at their limit. "We thought Mai would be the one with no prospects but she’s dated two very respectable men" your father frowned "whereas at 19 you haven’t had a single partner". You resisted the eye roll "maybe not but i am very high up in my profession”. Mai didn't even have a job you wanted to add but you refused to tear down your sister just to make yourself feel better. Your accomplishments alone should be enough. You worked at the Boiling Rock prison, your uncle had gotten you the job and you liked it. You wanted to help rehabilitate the prisoners and although many guards didn’t share your affinity you’d been climbing higher and higher and were finally in the position to enact some reforms. It was an impressive feat but of course your parents weren’t that pleased. In their eyes there was one main thing you were failing at and that surpassed anything you had done correctly. "A career is great but what about a family?" your mother asked "you can’t be alone forever". "Why not?" you burst "i can provide for myself, i don’t get lonely and i don’t like anyone enough to waste my time on them". Your father shook his head "it reflects badly on our name if you are not married, Mai at least gave suitors a chance not to mention her and Zuko will inevitably get back together but you are too selfish to try. It’s not just about you, your actions impact us too. What will it look like for us if our daughter is alone forever?".

The argument went round and round with no conclusion. Your parents refused to listen and you refused to sell yourself for the family name. It was like this every time you came home so you avoided it as much as you could but this was a monumental occasion. You had an audience with the Firelord to pitch him your suggested reforms. You waited in the reception for your appointment while your parent’s voices replayed in your head no matter how many times you tried to banish them. This was too important, you wouldn’t let them ruin it no matter how badly the odds were stacked against you. Everyone at work had said your task was impossible, that the Firelord would never care about something as “unimportant” as reforming the prisons. They’d pointed out that Ozai would not have cared so why would his son be any different. You suspected they were correct but you’d gotten this far and at least had to try.

A Kyoshi warrior appeared and told you to follow her. She explained Firelord Zuko was very busy so your meeting had been halved in time. That didn’t ease your anxiety. You were shown into a room and minutes later Zuko entered. You hadn’t seen him in years, not since his break up with Mai, but he hadn’t changed much. Despite knowing him since you were 5 you’d been trained to respond appropriately to royalty and bowed immediately. Zuko told you to rise before he paused "y/n? My meeting is with you?". You nodded meeting his eyes fleetingly "yes i’m the general at boiling rock, i thought you knew....". "I knew you worked there but had no idea you’d risen so high" Zuko smiled "well done i’m sure your family is very proud". You looked away awkwardly and chose not to answer "i understand you don’t have a lot of time so thank you for seeing me". Zuko nodded his head "yes i’m sorry for shortening it, if i’d have known it was you i would’ve pushed my other appointment back instead but i’m afraid now it’s too late". "It’s okay i can condense it down into a 3-minute talk" you said in business mode and launched into your proposal. Just 1 minute in Zuko stopped you and you felt your stomach fill with dread. He wasn’t even going to let you finish before he dismissed your reforms. You sighed sadly when Zuko stood up "i think i can save us both some time, i agree with everything you’ve said and move we pass these reforms". You blinked "what?". "I agree with you" Zuko said simply "i’ve seen how the fire nation punishes people and i don’t like it, i say we start working on these immediately, are you free some time next week to discuss them thoroughly?". You blinked "to discuss them with you?". Zuko nodded "i’d like to help with this as much as i can and support your project fully, i’m free next Wednesday how about we meet and discuss them all in-depth?". You blinked "that’d be amazing thank you Firelord". "Zuko" he said correcting you "come on y/n we’ve known each other since we were kids you don’t have to call me that, at least not when we’re alone". You looked down embarrassed and nodded "thank you...Zuko". Zuko smiled "no problem, now i’m really sorry but i do have to go. So i’ll see you next Wednesday, send my best to Mai and your parents" and Zuko left the room.

You were utterly shocked by your meeting, as was everyone at the prison, and wondered if it would all come crashing down on you. Maybe Zuko would realise Firelords didn’t tend to be so helpful and cancel the whole thing but no such message arrived and so the next week you arrived at the palace. Armed with stacks of your plans you entered still half expecting to be turned away but were led inside. You were taken straight into Zuko’s study where he already sat waiting. "Y/n" he smiled "it’s good to see you again". "You too....Firelord Zuko" you said glancing at the guards in the room. "Dismissed" Zuko said and they left. "I pretty much have all day so don’t worry we don’t have to rush" Zuko told you before he glanced at the table. "Given it’s early i’ve got us some tea and breakfast things if you’d like a cup?" he said gesturing to them. You paused surprised, Zuko was very friendly and not anything like Ozai, it was hard to believe they were related. "Erm yes please but shouldn’t i?" you asked as Zuko went to prepare the tea but he shook his head immediately. "I’m Firelord not dead" he replied and began pouring the tea. He passed you a cup and took a seat across from you "now i promise no interruptions this time, tell me your ideas". 

You and Zuko discussed the reforms all day and you were thrilled how much he agreed to pass. It would be a lot of work but as you finished up you were hopeful and excited, you could do this. You could actually make a long-lasting positive change!

You packed up your belonging in this haze when Zuko paused thoughtfully.  "I have an idea" Zuko said "this is a very delicate and intricate proposal so how about we monitor it closely, we could meet say every week to go over its progress and discuss it?" Zuko asked. You paused "are you sure that’s not too much of your time?". "Of course not, i meant what i said, I like this project. It will do a lot of good, it’s just getting it there". You nodded your head "thank you that sounds great". Zuko smiled "perfect so we will meet every week to discuss this, it will be informal don’t worry and i’ll cover the costs of your travel, would you like to stay in the palace or at your home?". "My home is fine" you said even though the thought of seeing your parents every week pained you. Zuko smiled "great, how is everyone? Mai? Tomtom? Your parents?". "Mai’s good" you smiled "she’s happy" you said awkwardly trying to not mention her boyfriend which Zuko saw right through. Zuko smiled "y/n i know Mai is dating Kei Lo you can talk about it, we broke up almost 2 years ago". "Or course i just didn’t want to upset you". Zuko chuckled "as great as your sister is i am officially over her" Zuko smiled "so how is Tomtom, he must be big now?". You nodded "he’s nearly 7". "No!" Zuko cried and you laughed "i know! I still remember when he was born, it feels like yesterday". Zuko smiled “and your parents?". "They're fine" you said quickly and Zuko noticed how quickly your walls came back up. Something was clearly bothering you relating to your parents however Zuko understood parents were difficult so he didn’t push you. He thanked you for coming and led you to the door hoping whatever it was, one day you’d confide in him about it.

You returned the next week and every week after and found Zuko to be just as friendly and unfirelord-like. You also noticed how with the preparation springing into place these meetings no longer needed to be as intense or frequent but still Zuko scheduled them weekly. You wondered why when it occurred to you, Zuko might be lonely. Growing up his only friend had been Mai but she had also been his girlfriend. Now they’d broken up, his father was in prison, Azula was on the run, his mother & other relatives all lived far away and the avatar and his friends were constantly travelling...Zuko was the same age as you but so alone. You knew how that felt and so you didn’t stop the meetings either.

As time progressed the meetings also changed in their tone. Seeing as you could usually finish the business talk in an hour you and Zuko had taken to doing different tasks. From playing pai sho to feeding his newly hatched dragon Druk but your favourite was the palace gardens. Zuko had put a lot of effort into them and they were more beautiful than you ever remembered. So weekly you and Zuko would spend hours outside in them, talking and sitting together.

Zuko noticed how you were slowly but surely warming to him. You had always been careful and cautious around him in the past and that hadn’t changed but as the weeks went by you smiled more and actually looked him in the eye. You even started asking him questions about himself and his life. Your confidence grew and Zuko couldn’t escape how happy it made him feel to realise you felt safe around him.

One week you and Zuko were inside eating lunch together when his head guard Suki appeared. "Firelord Zuko i’m sorry but we have urgent business". Zuko nodded "what is it?". "Nobleman Rao has appeared unannounced at the palace, he claimed his cart broke down but considering he’s been pestering you for an audience for months that seems convenient. He’s here with his family and he wants to dine with you tonight". Zuko sighed "and if i refuse not only will i look rude but he will just stay longer". Suki nodded her head "as annoying as this is, i think the best thing would be to throw him a nice dinner and get him dealt with". Zuko nodded "tell him he can dine with me later". As soon as Suki left Zuko turned back to you. He tried to smile but you saw the weight this brought on him. "Is this man that bad?" you asked and Zuko nodded sighing. "He’s old fashioned and thinks he deserves respect just because of his family name. He constantly talks and demands a lot, i knew i’d have to see him eventually but i planned on having other people there too to try and balance his demanding nature. His wife is the same so i guess it’ll be two on one" Zuko sighed "i’ll be fine it just won’t be a pleasant evening". You frowned and an idea formed in your head "could i help?". Zuko looked up "what?". "Well perhaps i could help to ease the tension or to distract him from you? I don’t know i just thought if you wanted someone on your side there....". Zuko smiled, like your sister you weren’t known for being social unless you had to be so your offer meant a lot. "You’d do that for me?" he asked and you blushed "i mean i don’t want you to be overworked, you’re already doing so much...i want to help you". Zuko smiled touched "y/n that’d be wonderful, are you sure you don't mind?". You shook your head "not at all".

Hours later outside the royal dining room you regretted your decision. As soon as you’d finished eating you were rushed away by maids to prepare for a formal dinner. You didn’t have any fancy clothes so were made to borrow a royal dress so extravagant and expensive you felt like a peacock. You picked at the dress self consciously when Zuko appeared, also dressed in finery. You noticed him take in your outfit and sighed "i know i look ridiculous! It was the only dress they had on short notice so don’t mock me". "I wasn’t going to, you look beautiful". Zuko stared at you as he said that and you blushed vividly as you realised he wasn’t joking. "Sorry" Zuko said noticing he’d made you blush "but it’s true, you don’t look ridiculous at all". You blinked taking in Zuko’s compliment when he extended an arm to you “we should go in, are you ready?”. Still confused and blushing slightly you took his arm.

Zuko led you to the large dining room and stepped into the room confidently. You were amazed at how easily he could transform like that. He seemed to grow in size and morphed into an impressive confident king. You walked beside him slightly in awe and had trouble taking your eyes off him. Zuko brought you out of your daze as he introduced you to the nobleman. "This is my friend y/n" Zuko explained "she was visiting me too and so i invited her to dine with us". "The more the merrier!" Rao smiled and you smiled back politely but noticed him staring at the dress. Like Zuko he seemed to admire it but his stares made you uncomfortable whereas Zuko’s didn’t. As if sensing this Zuko seated you away from the man and placed himself in between as a buffer. You smiled at Zuko gratefully and took your seat.

The dinner was as Zuko expected. Rao was constantly asking veiled questions and prodding Zuko’s vague answers mercilessly. However as there were more people it was easier to change the subject and Zuko noticed you were particularly good at this. You deftly countered his questions with ones of your own and also quickly befriended Rao’s wife Uyaru and got her talking which left little room for her husband to speak. Zuko smiled at your hidden diplomacy skills and Rao was obviously annoyed at how this evening was turning out. When the dinner was reaching a close he tried to corner Zuko in a last attempt to get support on expanding his territory. You and Uyara were discussing something when Rao rudely interrupted her. “I’m sure the Firelord doesn’t want to hear about your trip to Ba Sing Sei” he said curtly “I’m sure he’d much rather hear about the news from his people. I’ve heard rumours from the northern providences that general Osonu is poorly managing his land and would be better off selling it to someone who can properly manage it. Has your grace given any thought to the matter?”. There it was and so blatant too, had the man no shame trying to steal land from a man who had done nothing wrong. Osonu was a good man who valued his residents more than his profits. His reputation was far better than Rao’s in a moral sense even if it wasn’t from an economic viewpoint but Zuko knew which he preferred. Zuko dodged the question but Rao kept on pushing and you intervened. "I thought your territory was the eastern providence sir?" you asked innocently. Rao paused "it is....". "ow? I was just confused because you have such a keen interest in the northern towns, do you have family there?". "No" he said awkwardly and you paused "I see, so it’s just a hobby then? Keeping track of historic lands that have belonged to the Osonu line forever and will always belong to them" you asked “I also love history” you smiled brightly. Rao paled and looked down “yes me too...so what are the plans for the comet this year?" Rao asked and Zuko smiled. Suddenly Rao didn’t want to talk about the Osonu lands anymore and it was all because of you.

The rest of dinner wrapped up rather quickly after that and as it finished Zuko felt so excited to leave the dining room. Finally with a bow, you and Zuko left and were securely back in his study. As soon as the door shut he spun to you a large smile on his face. "Was i okay?" you asked anxiously and Zuko laughed. An actual laugh escaped him and prevented him from speaking for several seconds which did nothing to help your nerves. Finally he responded "were you okay? Y/n you were perfect!" Zuko cried and you blushed. “You played his wife perfectly and then that feigning innocence with his territories i forgot how smart you are" Zuko smiled "but after tonight i’m sure I’ll never be able to forget again!”. You were a red mess and Zuko paused "y/n are you okay?". You nodded "i just...it’s nice to feel like i’ve helped you". "More than you know" Zuko said softly resting a hand on your shoulder. You glanced at it but didn’t move away, you just looked down with a light smile. “I’m pleased....perhaps next time I visit we should do something to celebrate?”. “Certainly” Zuko beamed and you smiled back feeling happier than you had in a long time.

Zuko watched you for a while longer before he seemed to realise what he was doing and looked down with a blush. “I’ll let you retire now, i’m sure you’re exhuasted from spending all that time smiling and nodding”. You nodded “it was tiring, I don’t know how you do it all the time”. Zuko shrugged “all part of being Firelord I guess”. You nodded “I know but I just wanted to say I recognise how difficult it is and say...well if you ever need anyone to stand by your side and help you get through it, I’m here for you”.

Now Zuko was the blushing mess. He’d felt alone for a while, his friends and family all meant well but they were so far away and he didn’t want to bother them with his problems. However here you were outight offering to help make his life easier no questions asked. Zuko was so pleased you’d come such a long way from the kids who hated one another and was excited about where this was going. He liked you, a lot and now he just needed to work out how to express that to you and make it into something more...but that was for a later time. 

Zuko smiled “thank you y/n that’s very kind. I will be taking you up on that offer a lot I am sure”. “Anytime” you replied, meeting his eyes for a few seconds before looking away. “Goodnight y/n and thank you” Zuko bowed and you bowed back “goodnight Zuko”. Zuko got shivers as you said his name and they didn’t leave him even when he was back in his own room. He collapsed onto his bed and smiled at how well things had gone. Tonight could’ve been a disaster but because of you it’d been one of his favourite nights as Firelord. Zuko couldn’t stop smiling and decided he’d tell you how he felt as soon as he worked out the right way to do it and he knew just the man to talk to. 

____

So i’m definitely planning one more part to this but might also have some ideas to turn this into a longer series! I’ll see how it goes :)  

[hello-nichya-here]

Not So Different; Part One - If Azula Is “Crazy”, So Is Zuko

Whenever anyone talks about Azula possibly getting a redemption arc, or so much as shows sympathy for her, they immediately have to put up with bullshit that so called "Zuko fans" (that don't actually understand his character) love to spew out. They'll claim she's completely unreasonable and crazy, that she's too cruel, selfish and entitled, and just too far gone to be saved, but the "evidence" they use to back this up could easily be applied to Zuko.

Azula had the infamous "Do the tides command this ship?" moment in The Avatar State which could turn the crew against her since ignoring pretty what was pretty sound advice could damage the ship, and seriously injure or kill them and/or her. She could also be a real bitch towards Mai and Ty Lee, aka her only friends, which isn't a smart move and shows that she isn't that great of a person. In The Storm, Zuko not only wanted to chase Aang through the storm, but straight up said "The safety of the crew doesn't matter" right in front of said crew, and made sure to personally insult/threat one sailor who quite clearly had more experience than he did just because he didn't like being told what to do. He also spent 5/6 of the show horribly mistreating Iroh, who was often his only ally.

Azula has that whole speech to Long Fen about the divine right to rule, agrees with Ty Lee when she says that people should worship the ground they walk on (and even says she loves it), trashes Chan’s house after being rejected by him, and cannot understand why her friends “betrayed” her even though they had pretty good reasons to do so. In The Swamp, Zuko says that people should just give him and Iroh stuff, in Zuko Alone he says he is the heir to the throne since he is Ozai’s son despite the fact that Iroh is the rightful Fire Lord, trashes Chan’s house with his sister (he started being aggressive on the party way before she did), and in the beginning of book three he cannot understand why Iroh doesn’t want to help him out - it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the knife still firmly on his back, could it?

Azula tried to capture the Avatar (aka the symbol of peace AND the last survivor of a genocide) and eventually killed him, she conquered Ba Sing Se and renamed Omashu in homage to Ozai, was willing to kill Zuko and Iroh if they sided with her enemies and threw Zuko under the bus when they were allies, and she also threatened Ty Lee to force her to join her and did almost fight Mai to the death after her "betrayal." Zuko tried to capture the Avatar and even sent an assassin after him, wanted to give Aang's glider (one of the lest relics of the air nomads) to Ozai, helped Azula conquer Ba Sing Se and burned down Suki's village, robbed a bunch of people on the Earth Kingdom, was willing to kill his sister when they were on opposing sides of the war, and betrayed Iroh, letting Azula take him as a prisoner to Ozai, who could have very easily decided to kill him to make sure he'd never "steal" the crown from him, because that was what would finally allow him to go home.

Azula was more than okay being the princess of a nation that would set the world ablaze to prove their superiority. Both her and Zuko also laughed at Iroh's joke about burning Ba Sing Se to the ground (who was the first person to call Azula crazy again?). While Zuko felt disgusted at himself for not speaking out against the plan to commit genocide against the Earth Kingdom, it took him 30 episodes - aka three years of banishment and a few months back at the Fire Nation - for him to acknowledge, even to himself, that things like the genocide against the air nomads, the destruction of the South Pole, and taking over Earth Kingdom territory were bad. In Zuko Alone, he proudly says that he is the prince of the Fire Nation and the son of Fire Lord Ozai.

At the end of book three, Azula is still loyal to her dad even though he is terrible (both as a father and as a person), and even when he stabs her in the back, after everything she did for him, she doesn't turn her back on him. At the end of book two, Zuko choses to fight for Ozai's approval yet again and goes back to the Fire Nation, even though the bastard disfigured and banished him and even ordered his sister to capture him (Funny how Zuko's loyalty to Ozai is recognized as proof that being fed propaganda your whole life can truly fuck you up, but Azula's loyalty to Ozai is used to deny she was ever abused and/or manipulated in any way)

Finally, after losing everyone she ever cared about, Azula completely loses touch with reality, to the point that she is paranoid that everyone around her is a traitor and banishes them (which is actually putting herself in danger) and she even starts hallucinating, and the "conversation" she has with "Ursa" shows that she is questioning her mentality of fear being the only reliable way. Zuko has TONS of episodes that show him being completely irrational (ranging from trying to capture Aang without a plan on the North Pole and fighting in a waterbender in the snow, during a full moon, to him being up in a mountain, in the middle of a storm, basically daring the universe to fuck around and find out), and in The Earth King he is so conflicted between what he was taught was right by Ozai and what he personally feels is right that he passes out, gets physically sick, and starts having weird fever dreams.

It’s funny how the episode that “proves” Azula is beyond help not only has her acting the way Zuko did throughout the entire fucking show, but also has him essentially acting like her during their Agni Kai - calm, collected, and using his opponent’s ego to make them to make a grave mistake that would assure his victory. It’s almost like neither of them is truly beyond help, regardless of any mental illness/intense reaction to trauma and stress, and that the only reason Azula gets labeled as such is because fans and even the narrative are often biased against her.

[mayfay]

Did I forget Azula was mute and Zhao existed? Yes, yes I did.

Anywho while I don’t see any major changes to the main story early on the gaang is definitely a bit more cautious, well more like Azula is forcibly holding them back till they get it in their heads to not dive feet first into danger (this does not succeed as often as she’d like). Funny enough this means the biggest friction in the group is probably between Azula and Aang more than anyone else. Partially due to his recklessness but also cause of how quickly he slots into place in their little group, takes them away back to the main continent, and how much danger his presence puts Sokka and Katara in even without their big plans. Probably a good number of mini fights between the two at first that trail off into a very tense truce (on Azulas side at least. Aang might be having a great time), until some major disagreement occurs and two have to work things out at least a little.

Lots of potential episodes they could have their big argument in but personally see it happening with Jet.

A bit reminiscent of her and Katara’s arc but where Azula and Katara worked out a truce based on growing closer and being very annoyed the other ended up under their mental circle of “people that are mine”, Aang and Azula end up more based around Aang having many complicated emotions about responsibility and Azula pushing being a bit of a guideline for how something could go wrong. A very very paranoid guideline, but if even Azula can’t offer reasons to not trust someone or not do something beyond “it could be dangerous” it’s probably fine.

As for their travels I definitely see them being a bit more tense, not just because of Aang and Azula fighting but also because Azula’s pretty easy to clock as a fire bender, and even when she’s not her obvious disability is gonna earn some looks (the extent depends on how you see the Earth Kingdom views disability, but even if we assume they don’t care Azula probably still gets picked as an easy mark by virtue of not being able to quickly communicate, especially when combined with their status as travelers).

Pretty major moments I see are

Kyoshi island. Azula and Suki are gonna be like feral cats getting put in a room together, both seeing the other as a genuine threat to the people in their circle, and with Azula being able to actually fight and Sokka having the misogyny beat out of him years ago with a mix of Katara and Azula and less village influence I can easily see her taking Sokka’s original role in the episode, though he may tag along as well. And of course in the background Aang and Katara are following canon and about to get chewed the hell out (fun idea of Azula coming up with entire new signs when she wants to curse someone out but their current versions don’t feel strong enough. May leak over to Sokka making up new words to attempt to translate, bringing forth an unholy combination of sailor talk, royal insults, and tribesmen phrases into the world. Probably gets watered down to what feels like an appropriate mishmash of sounds though since they both learned not to curse in front of Katara and Aang is like 12)

Omashu’s definitely the first time Azula properly almost kills someone after Bumi pulls his stupid rock trick. Only reason man isn’t deep fried is that lightning requires movement (and Azula probably isn’t as confident with it without the years of royal training and lack of practice from always being in an already tense village).

If there’s gonna be any romance Fortune Teller episode’s gonna be a good time for the first hints to start showing, but overall probably the same.

All of Aangs issues with fire bending around this point may not happen at all with Azula there, but considering trauma I bet she focuses way more on breathing, meditation, and forms before letting him touch the stuff. Probably gonna go the same as canon but since Azula is teaching him over a much longer time frame than canon I can see him get overconfident and play with fire in front of Azula instead of Katara, which goes about as well as expected (especially if he burns her like in canon. Bonus points for if this Azutara, though if not it’s possible Sokka takes the lead and keeps people from overwhelming her, inadvertently leading to Katara not learning to heal as early as in canon and Azula potentially getting another scar. Though following the headcanon fire benders don’t burn easily it’s possible she’s fine physically).

Northern Water Tribe is a mess and a half but Azula being mute and a girl probably keeps them from throwing them out entirely, though things are probably still much more tense than in canon. Bonus points for Azula thinking her and Yue are Suki vs Azula part 2 but it ends up being entirely one sided (even if it’s not an Azula x Sokka thing he’s still her closest friend, no way is she letting him anywhere near royalty without a fight)

Any extra thoughts or ideas? I think I hit the major points of season 1 (maybe sorta looked up the episode list to remember what happened but shush) but still plenty I left out even among the major ideas. Especially in regards to shifting character dynamics and all the fun feelings they get to enjoy seeing each other develop and in so many unique situations.

AU - Azula is horribly burned by Ozai in the throat and loses her ability to speak. She’s not sent to capture the Avatar but, instead, sent to the Southern Raiders who regard her as nothing more than a discarded princess and treat her as much. During a raid on the South Pole, Azula is injured and unable to call to the raiders. She’s found by a familiar nonbender with a boomerang.

[sokkabaddiebender2021]

Listen, I feel like this must be said. Just because you like Azula, or even because you hate Zuko, does not mean you should be justifying everything that Azula does.

I just find a lot of hypocrisy in these arguments. Because people will say “don’t say Zuko had it worse then Azula” and then legitimately say that Azula had it worse then Zuko. Like, when did it become ok to compare abuse and say what kind of abuse was worse then others??

Don’t forget the imperialist actions of the characters!! This coming from someone who really likes Zuko, I fully accept he did some pretty bad shit, like violent imperialist shit. I don’t understand why Azula fans cannot understand that she did too. They were both raised with the same ideals, Zuko outgrew them. She did not.

And this is not to say he is perfect. He’s a flawed character for a reason and is still learning to overcome these harmful beliefs. But to pretend that somehow this doesn’t apply to Azula, to accept that Zuko has these harmful beliefs and was wrong for these, but not do the same for Azula is ridiculous.

I am well aware that Zuko fans have been pretty unfair to Azula. I think the argument that she’s pure evil and doesn’t deserve redemption blah blah blah isn’t great (although I’m still on team Azula gets help not a redemption arc cuz narratively that’s boring and repetitive).

It’s just.....people get so defensive. It’s like when someone says “hey Azula kinda is not a good person cuz by the end of the show she still harbors hateful bigoted beliefs and treats the people around her poorly” and they’re like “WELL ZUKO DOES TOO AND ACTUALLY HE’S THE WORST CHARACTER IN THE WHOLE SHOW AND—“

Yes, yes he did. But did you forget that he has a redemption arc that spans the width of the show of him literally realizing he was wrong (did y’all not watch day of black sun???). You don’t need to completely insult a character (Zuko) in order to support your fav (azula). This goes the other way around as well, but I know for me personally I critique Azula a lot because....well Zuko is not the only character she opposes/doesn’t treat well.

Please just accept your favs have flaws, and that is what makes them interesting characters.

[tea-and-la]

“Katara is Hot-Headed”

.... okay, so i’ve seen this ICE cold take enough time to warrant a formal post. i’ve seen and strongly agree with the posts i’ve seen that refute this, like @shewhotellsstories post here. but unfortunately, this sentiment is still something that’s widely accepted in the atla fandom. it’s no surprise that “katara is hotheaded” is the common argument for “why zutara doesn't work.” and while it’s more than irritating that zutara antis love to align them in ways that are only negative in nature, i’m not going to get into that. i’m going to focus on katara. 

one of the key defining aspects of katara’s personality is her patience. she is unwavering in her faith of aang (through their numerous supportive talks), as well as her encouragement of her friends when they need it (ex. toph in the runaway and sokka in sokka’s master.) but most notably? let’s talk about the desert episode because this is where katara’s patience really shines. 

there are a lot of things going on in that episode. aang is dealing with grief from the loss of appa and lashes out at both toph and katara while also intermittently flying away from the group. what would a “hot headed” or quick-tempered person do in this situation? let’s look at some of the dialogue: 

aang: [Enraged.] How could you let them take Appa?! ‌ Why didn't you stop them‌?!

toph: [Defensively.] I couldn't! The library was sinking! You guys were still inside and-

aang: [Snaps at Toph in a harsh way.] You just didn't care! You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone!

aang looks extremely furious at Toph as Katara walks over to him. She puts her hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down.

katara: We're all concerned, but we can't afford to be fighting now.

in that dialogue, katara inserts herself in to mediate. she recognizes that he’s in a dark place, and she sees past the harshness of his words to see that they come from a place of hurt, not malice. she reacts with empathy and understanding. 

a quick-tempered person would not have responded in this way.

the majority of this episode, katara is essentially the leader of the group. it’s swelteringly hot, which is enough for any hot headed person to get irritated, but she doesn’t. 

toph: Katara, can I have some more water?

katara: Okay, but we've got to try to conserve it.

sokka: [As he points to his mouth.] We're drinking your bending water. [He tries to define the taste of the water, smacking his lips. Disgustedly he exclaims.] You used this on the swamp guy! Urch!

toph: It does taste swampy.

katara: [Sad tone.] I'm sorry, it's all we have.

in this scene, even momo complains about the taste of the water, the only water they have. and katara’s response was to apologize for something she can’t control. 

after this point, she has to lead toph through the sand, while sokka is high on cactus juice and aang is upset. instead of getting frustrated, she tries to inspire hope into them all: 

aang: [Hopelessly.] What's the difference? We won't survive without Appa. We all know it.

katara: [Encouraging.] Come on, Aang. We can do this if we work together. Right Toph?

toph: As far as I can feel, we're trapped in a giant bowl of sand pudding. I got nothin'.

katara: [Hopeful.] Sokka? Any ideas how to find Ba Sing Se?

Sokka and Momo lie side by side on their backs, arms and legs stretched out. Sokka smiles blissfully.

she does get annoyed, but she doesn’t direct that frustration at any of them, unlike a quick tempered person would do.

katara: [Grabs her head in annoyance.] Ugh ... We're getting out of this desert, and we're going to do it together! Aang, get up. Everybody, hold hands. We can do this. We have to.

the point of these excerpts isn’t to say that anyone else in the gaang is horrible. i just wanted to point out the moments when she could’ve gotten frustrated and lashed out, but didn’t. not once. 

patience and quick temperedness are antonyms of each other. and imo, the fact that so much of katara’s character is defined by her patience (even outside of this specific episode) and nurturing (for over 80% of the show)  is enough to refute her “hotheadedness.” especially, when the other members of the gaang are allowed to be upset and/or angry on occasion and their dispositions/temperaments are not immediately associated with hotheadedness. maybe unpack why that is. 

let’s take the instance when she and toph argue in the chase. first of all, this episode is characterized by all of the members of the gaang being sleep deprived (i.e. not in their normal states), so their attitudes should be taken with a grain of salt. (what humans do you know that are happy-go-lucky when they haven’t slept enough?)

 anyway, the episode starts with katara attempting to lightly hint to toph about  group dynamics. 

katara: So Toph, usually when setting up camp, we try to divide up the work.

toph: [Shrugging casually.] Hey, don't worry about me. I'm good to go.

katara: Well, actually what I'm trying to say is, [Holds arms out in gesture.] some of us might fetch water, while someone else might set up the fire pit, or put up the tent. [Momo flies over to her, dropping several berries he had collected into her hands.] Even Momo does his fair share.

toph: [Breezily.] Katara, I'm fine. I can carry my own weight. I don't need a fire, [Pats bag.] I've already collected my own food and look, [Earthbends a rock tent over her.] my tent's all set up.

katara: [Slightly irritated.] Well, that's great for you, but we still need to finish 

toph: [Angered.] I don't understand what's the problem here!

katara: Waves her hand dismissively and walks away.] Never mind.

from the above excerpt, she drops the issue and doesn’t lash out. later, she even goes back and tries to make amends with toph. she even tries smiling before she heads over there.

Cuts to Katara, who sets down a jug of water. She looks over at Toph, sitting comfortably beneath her earth tent. Her dull expression changes to one of slight happiness. She approaches Toph who is eating some sort of food item.

katara: [Rubs back of head sheepishly.] Hey Toph, I wanted to apologize for earlier. I think we're all just a little tired and getting on each other's nerves.

toph: [Casually.] Yeah, you do seem pretty tired.

katara: [Growing disgusted.] I meant all of us.

Cuts to shot of inside Toph's earth tent as she lazily tosses the food item onto the ground and lays her head down to rest.

toph: Well, good night.

katara: [Slightly irked.] Good night.

none of her mannerisms and word choices are characteristic of someone with a temper. despite toph’s slight unintentional antagonistic remarks, katara doesn’t react. 

later, after they managed to evade the azula’s tank train for the night, they land appa. and katara tries, again:

toph: [Leaping off Appa and lying on the ground, relieved.] Ah, land sweet land! [Rises and says cheerfully.] See you guys in the morning!

katara: Actually, can you help us unload?

toph: [Points a finger at Katara in irritation.] Look! I didn't ask you to help unload my stuff! [Turns and begins walking away.] I'm carrying my own weight.

katara: [Angrily.] That's not the point. [Approaches Toph.] Ever since you joined us, you've been nothing but selfish and unhelpful!

toph: [Enraged.] What? Look here, sugar queen, [Points finger at Katara.] I gave up everything I had so that I could teach Aang earthbending. So don't you talk to me about being selfish!

the only times when katara reacts in anger that could be perceived as impulsive, is when she is insulted by Pakku and when Sokka suggests that she leave the Fire Nation town without helping. Both of these are hardly instances of hotheadedness, and moreso a reflection of who she is as a character: someone who doesn’t turn her back on people who needs her and someone who fights injustice. 

why would we call katara hotheaded for not settling for being antagonized by a misogynistic asshole? she was a trailblazer in that scene and it meant so much to the little girls of the Northern Water Tribe. similarly, why would we call her hotheaded for not being able to turn away from people who are in need? after all, that’s a core part of her character’s trauma: feeling of survivor’s guilt that there was something she could’ve done to save her mom. it’s part of why she has to act to help others. her passion isn’t synonymous with hotheadedness. 

[citrina-posts]

Avatar: Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation?

I love Avatar: the Last Airbender. Obviously I do, because I run a fan blog on it. But make no mistake: it is a show built upon cultural appropriation. And you know what? For the longest time, as an Asian-American kid, I never saw it that way.

There are plenty of reasons why I never realized this as a kid, but I’ve narrowed it down to a few reasons. One is that I was desperate to watch a show with characters that looked like me in it that wasn’t anime (nothing wrong with anime, it’s just not my thing). Another is that I am East Asian (I have Taiwanese and Korean ancestry) and in general, despite being the outward “bad guys”, the East Asian cultural aspects of Avatar are respected far more than South Asian, Middle Eastern, and other influences. A third is that it’s easy to dismiss the negative parts of a show you really like, so I kind of ignored the issue for a while. I’m going to explain my own perspective on these reasons, and why I think we need to have a nuanced discussion about it. This is pretty long, so if you want to keep reading, it’s under the cut.

Obviously, the leadership behind ATLA was mostly white. We all know the co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino (colloquially known as Bryke) are white. So were most of the other episodic directors and writers, like Aaron Ehasz, Lauren Montgomery, and Joaquim Dos Santos. This does not mean they were unable to treat Asian cultures with respect, and I honestly do believe that they tried their best! But it does mean they have certain blinders, certain perceptions of what is interesting and enjoyable to watch. Avatar was applauded in its time for being based mostly on Asian and Native American cultures, but one has to wonder: how much of that choice was based on actual respect for these people, and how much was based on what they considered to be “interesting”, “quirky”, or “exotic”?

The aesthetic of the show, with its bending styles based on various martial arts forms, written language all in Chinese text, and characters all decked out in the latest Han dynasty fashions, is obviously directly derivative of Asian cultures. Fine. That’s great! They hired real martial artists to copy the bending styles accurately, had an actual Chinese calligrapher do all the lettering, and clearly did their research on what clothing, hair, and makeup looked like. The animation studios were in South Korea, so Korean animators were the ones who did the work. Overall, this is looking more like appreciation for a beautiful culture, and that’s exactly what we want in a rapidly diversifying world of media.

But there’s always going to be some cherry-picking, because it’s inevitable. What’s easy to animate, what appeals to modern American audiences, and what is practical for the world all come to mind as reasons. It’s just that… they kinda lump cultures together weirdly. Song from Book 2 (that girl whose ostrich-horse Zuko steals) wears a hanbok, a traditionally Korean outfit. It’s immediately recognizable as a hanbok, and these dresses are exclusive to Korea. Are we meant to assume that this little corner of the mostly Chinese Earth Kingdom is Korea? Because otherwise, it’s just treated as another little corner of the Earth Kingdom. Korea isn’t part of China. It’s its own country with its own culture, history, and language. Other aspects of Korean culture are ignored, possibly because there wasn’t time for it, but also probably because the creators thought the hanbok was cute and therefore they could just stick it in somewhere. But this is a pretty minor issue in the grand scheme of things (super minor, compared to some other things which I will discuss later on).

It’s not the lack of research that’s the issue. It’s not even the lack of consideration. But any Asian-American can tell you: it’s all too easy for the Asian kids to get lumped together, to become pan-Asian. To become the equivalent of the Earth Kingdom, a mass of Asians without specific borders or national identities. It’s just sort of uncomfortable for someone with that experience to watch a show that does that and then gets praised for being so sensitive about it. I don’t want you to think I’m from China or Vietnam or Japan; not because there’s anything wrong with them, but because I’m not! How would a French person like to be called British? It would really piss them off. Yet this happens all the time to Asian-Americans and we are expected to go along with it. And… we kind of do, because we’ve been taught to.

1. Growing Up Asian-American

I grew up in the early to mid-2000s, the era of High School Musical and Hannah Montana and iCarly, the era of Spongebob and The Amazing World of Gumball and Fairly Odd Parents. So I didn’t really see a ton of Asian characters onscreen in popular shows (not anime) that I could talk about with my white friends at school. One exception I recall was London from Suite Life, who was hardly a role model and was mostly played up for laughs more than actual nuance. Shows for adults weren’t exactly up to par back then either, with characters like the painfully stereotypical Raj from Big Bang Theory being one of the era that comes to mind.

So I was so grateful, so happy, to see characters that looked like me in Avatar when I first watched it. Look! I could dress up as Azula for Halloween and not Mulan for the third time! Nice! I didn’t question it. These were Asian characters who actually looked Asian and did cool stuff like shoot fireballs and throw knives and were allowed to have depth and character development. This was the first reason why I never questioned this cultural appropriation. I was simply happy to get any representation at all. This is not the same for others, though.

2. My Own Biases

Obviously, one can only truly speak for what they experience in their own life. I am East Asian and that is arguably the only culture that is treated with great depth in Avatar.

I don’t speak for South Asians, but I’ve certainly seen many people criticize Guru Pathik, the only character who is explicitly South Asian (and rightly so. He’s a stereotype played up for laughs and the whole thing with chakras is in my opinion one of the biggest plotholes in the show). They’ve also discussed how Avatar: The Last Airbender lifts heavily from Hinduism (with chakras, the word Avatar itself, and the Eye of Shiva used by Combustion Man to blow things up). Others have expressed how they feel the sandbenders, who are portrayed as immoral thieves who deviously kidnap Appa for money, are a direct insult to Middle Eastern and North African cultures. People have noted that it makes no sense that a culture based on Inuit and other Native groups like the Water Tribe would become industrialized as they did in the North & South comics, since these are people that historically (and in modern day!) opposed extreme industrialization. The Air Nomads, based on the Tibetan people, are weirdly homogeneous in their Buddhist-inspired orange robes and hyperspiritual lifestyle. So too have Southeast Asians commented on the Foggy Swamp characters, whose lifestyles are made fun of as being dirty and somehow inferior. The list goes on.

These things, unlike the elaborate and highly researched elements of East Asian culture, were not treated with respect and are therefore cultural appropriation. As a kid, I had the privilege of not noticing these things. Now I do.

White privilege is real, but every person has privileges of some kind, and in this case, I was in the wrong for not realizing that. Yes, I was a kid; but it took a long time for me to see that not everyone’s culture was respected the way mine was. They weren’t considered *aesthetic* enough, and therefore weren’t worth researching and accurately portraying to the creators. It’s easy for a lot of East Asians to argue, “No! I’ve experienced racism! I’m not privileged!” News flash: I’ve experienced racism too. But I’ve also experienced privilege. If white people can take their privilege for granted, so too can other races. Shocking, I know. And I know now how my privilege blinded me to the fact that not everybody felt the same euphoria I did seeing characters that looked like them onscreen. Not if they were a narrow and offensive portrayal of their race. There are enough good-guy Asian characters that Fire Lord Ozai is allowed to be evil; but can you imagine if he was the only one?

3. What It Does Right

This is sounding really down on Avatar, which I don’t want to do. It’s a great show with a lot of fantastic themes that don’t show up a lot in kids’ media. It isn’t superficial or sugarcoating in its portrayal of the impacts of war, imperialism, colonialism, disability, and sexism, just to name a few. There are characters like Katara, a brown girl allowed to get angry but is not defined by it. There are characters like Aang, who is the complete opposite of toxic masculinity. There are characters like Toph, who is widely known as a great example of how to write a disabled character.

But all of these good things sort of masked the issues with the show. It’s easy to sweep an issue under the rug when there’s so many great things to stack on top and keep it down. Alternatively, one little problem in a show seems to make-or-break media for some people. Cancel culture is the most obvious example of this gone too far. Celebrity says one ignorant thing? Boom, cancelled. But… kind of not really, and also, they’re now terrified of saying anything at all because their apologies are mocked and their future decisions are scrutinized. It encourages a closed system of creators writing only what they know for fear of straying too far out of their lane. Avatar does do a lot of great things, and I think it would be silly and immature to say that its cultural appropriation invalidates all of these things. At the same time, this issue is an issue that should be addressed. Criticizing one part of the show doesn’t mean that the other parts of it aren’t good, or that you shouldn’t be a fan.

If Avatar’s cultural appropriation does make you uncomfortable enough to stop watching, go for it. Stop watching. No single show appeals to every single person. At the same time, if you’re a massive fan, take a sec (honestly, if you’ve made it this far, you’ve taken many secs) to check your own privilege, and think about how the blurred line between cultural appreciation (of East Asia) and appropriation (basically everybody else) formed. Is it because we as viewers were also captivated by the aesthetic and overall story, and so forgive the more problematic aspects? Is it because we’ve been conditioned so fully into never expecting rep that when we get it, we cling to it?

I’m no media critic or expert on race, cultural appropriation, or anything of the sort. I’m just an Asian-American teenager who hopes that her own opinion can be put out there into the world, and maybe resonate with someone else. I hope that it’s given you new insight into why Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show with both cultural appropriation and appreciation, and why these things coexist. Thank you for reading!