#ch: katara

[blluespirit]

okay first three episodes thoughts

good

bending is cool as fuck

sozin’s actor does an amazing job at full crazy but calculated

scenery is STUNNING

monk gyatso made me cry. idk why i just saw him and wanted him to give me a hug so bad

APPA ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOD AND NOT LIKE A LITERAL MONSTER

i wasn’t sure how id feel about them showing the air nomad massacre but i think the importsnt thing is that they showed it was a massacre - and that although they can defend themselves, they don’t have the ability to fight back like an organised army would bc they’re pacifists! they attacked a peaceful group

the abandoned fire nation ship in the southern water tribe looks so fucking cool

ARTIST ZUKO???!!! LETS GOOO

Dallas does an amazing job at getting across Zuko’s intense desperation

I actually ended up loving all the Sokka and Suki interactions sm it was so cute and wholesome

Katara is perfect i will kill and die for her

Azula’s opening scene being her manipulating those people trying kill ozai ultimately leading them to getting burned alive by him and smiling - literally so fucking good. she is the best villain in history of forever

really good move having the mechanist (Sai!) and Teo be in Omashu imo. having them destroy the northern Air Temple so carelessly always pissed me off

THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS ARE LITERALLY PERFECT I AM SCREAMINGGGG

I was wondering how they were going to introduce the Mechanist and Jet in a limited amount of episodes but I like how they combined the two stories

Also Sokka absolutely nerding out in the Mechanist’s home is so important to me

Zuko getting has ass beat by that lady for fighting Aang is literally so funny and reminiscent of the goofy aang vs zuko fights we see in season 1 (to be clear: i adore zuko. this is NOT hate on him)

Zuko losing shit about his notebook and trashing his room and then outing himself as a fire bender in Omashu is so perfect. god i love him so much. it’s very season 1 zuko. it’s giving I DONT NEED ANY CALMING TEA!!!

things i was not a fan of: (some of these are a little pedantic i’ll admit)

Exposition is a little is a little janky but i’ll forgive it i guess bc at least it isn’t egregious as The Movie That Shall Not Be Named

Aang leaving just to get fresh air/clear his head and intending to come back is a silly change to me. all i keep thinking about is the storm where we got those epic Zuko and Aang parallels which now doesn’t really work and also takes away a lot of Aang’s depth. A good change adds to the story, but personally this seems to take it away

WHY would they not make Katara the one to bring him back from the avatar state? just seems like a strange choice to me? not saying this from a shipping point at all but that moment is a big step to their bond/friendship especially since they have only just met

Still don’t understand why they made the head of the village Suki’s mum. like i don’t think it’s a terrible choice but they still could have let them have a mother/daughter bond but still let Suki be the leader without any implications of nepotism. it mostly seeems silly

tl;dr - really enjoying it so far!

[katrara]

the women who made me - [ 2/?] cartoon queens >> katara

“I know sometimes it hurts more to hope and it hurts more to care.”

[lavilicious]

War Games Chapter 26 be like. Everyone say thank you, @lovelyelbowleech

[sorrowmarked]

katara starter for @de2thletter's yue.

It wasn't that Katara was ungrateful for a chance to learn to heal from water bending masters. She was! Healing was useful! She'd seen it herself when she'd healed her burned hands. It was a wonderful thing, but it being separated by gender just seemed ... well it seemed stupid. Boys could learn to heal. Girls could learn to fight. Wouldn't it better that everyone was trained in both?

"I'm not saying learning how to heal isn't great," Katara said, "I'm just saying you've never once wanted to learn how to fight?" She asked, looking up at the older girl. "I mean you could keep yourself safe, keep your people safe!" She said. "There's no reason for the boys to learn to fight, and the girls to learn to heal, that's just ..." well she didn't want to call it dumb, but it was. Katara caught herself before it slipped out. "It doesn't make sense. You know I've mostly taught myself, I could teach you a few moves if you wanted."

[arimantin03]

“I didn’t mean over the bending, Aang. I mean, of them being closer.” Sokka put as much insinuation into the word as he could.

Instead of reacting the way Sokka expected, Aang looked at him with concern. Then he reached out and patted Sokka on the knee, his whole face radiating sincerity. “Katara would never do something like that. You don’t have to worry.”

Sokka was confused, and suddenly felt like they were having a different conversation. But he grinned back, still trying to puzzle it out.

“Zuko wouldn’t either. He’s very loyal,” Aang added.

Fanart for War Games by the very super talented @lovelyelbowleech. Seriously if you haven't checked out this fic yet it's life changing.

Scene from Ch. 31. Two equally misinformed individuals try to puzzle out a conversation with each other. (They are both very confused.)

[localfanbaselurker]

I’m watching Voltron: Legendary Defender for the first time and here is what I have had to say per each season (this is 1-2) (3-4) (5-6) (7) (8)

Pre-Watch Knowledge

->big transformers type robot

->pretty alien girl that looks like princess yue from A:tLA

->they are the epitome of color-coded characters

->space??

->there was crazy people in the fanbase that sent cupcakes laced with something to the creators

->queer baiting (this one in particular got me)

->klance.

->^honestly I only knew that because people were comparing it to zukka and I wanted to check it out

->my friend really likes it

Post S1 thoughts-

->that cliffhanger was crazy imagine they weren’t renewed for a s2

-> i went on tumblr after and youre telling me they made that show IN TWO YEARS?? EIGHT SEASONS. IN TWO MF YEARS?? that is insane. props to the writers bro they fr must of known what they were doing.

->all of these characters already scream “doomed by the narrative”

->my fav characters are pidge and lance

->I definitely did NOT expect yue Allura to be British

->bonding moment.

->^like yeah okay i get it now

-> the healing pods are a very interesting concept. Like, what if you get some ailment that it doesn’t recognize?? Do you just die??

-> genuinely felt so bad for Not Yue. Allura. Allura when they had to remove her father’s memory thing. Like yeah I know the castle was corrupted or wtv but bro imagine. Your entire race is dead. your mom, who you previously knew alive is now most likely dead. You already had to go through losing your father once, and now you have to lose him again. Any sliver of hope you had of staying connected with him is gone, because the entirety of his essence is now gone. She’s stronger than me, I would have never given him up so easily. I admire that about her.

->I also made the horrible mistake of going on ao3 after

yk for gits and shiggles… and when I go to a new fandom I always search by hits to see the classics first yk

…

WHY are you guys so 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂… I genuinely shed a tear what. I was flabbergasted to say the least.

On that note the top 23 were about redguy/blueguy getting smoochy-smoochy with each other so I guess that should be a hint as to what you guys like

->the description of the show says the robot (voltron) is operated by “five teenagers” but that shiro guy has to be AT LEAST 25. He is pushing 30 you can’t convince me otherwise.

->for now it’s kinda giving atla except the war is intergalactic and lasted 10,000 years instead of 100.

->all the other characters seem to have a pretty clear background, but we haven’t yet heard about Keith’s backstory, so I want to know (I know now, this was my initial thought)

->shiros backstory/ptsd is very interesting, lots of angst possibilities i see

-> I had an inkling that pidge was…genderly different. (At first I thought she was transmasc)

Post S2

-> WHERE is my man. Where did he go.

-> Pookie please come back. Now. It’s not a suggestion.

->KEITH BACKSTORY I PREDICTED THEY WERE GONNA SHOW US YAY I LOVE BEING RIGHT

-> he’s galra! Soooo much whump opportunity

-> the whole “Allura doesn’t hate you she’s just a little upset to find out ur part of the race that killed off her entire peoples and family and okay maybe she does hate you” scene with keith and hunk is really giving that scene in atla: the southern raiders where zuko thinks katara hates him and sokka reassures him (badly) while he was just trying to get laid w suki.

->^ that’s gay

-> the aliens they met are going to be very important, aren’t they?

->^ oohhh so this is where the “langst” stuff comes from? he’s just kinda insecure i think, but it can’t possibly just be this episode that has that tag so high, unless flanderization is just really popular with you guys, but already suspect that unfortunately

->^Allura high key ate with this

->the “Blade of Marmora” people are definitely gonna be important later

-> the mall episode was soooo fun! fav s2 episode for sure!

->^gay. It’s literally giving “two bros chillin in a hot tub. five feet apart cus they’re not gay”

-> I know of 2 ships now. klance and allurance. I only see the former though, the latter seems more like a running gag/unrequited crush thing (for now i suppose)

-> Coran is an icon. I love that whimsical man. he’s beekeeping age per say.

-> I need pidge to find her brother and father man I feel so bad for her PLEASE DOBT TELL ME THEYRE DEAD ILL LITERALLY DIE.

-> pidge is sooooo cool i love her so much she’s literally the pookiest of the pookies

-> Who tf is gonna be the black paladin now. Keith sure as hell isn’t ready for that. maybe Allura?? Cus yk she kinda already leads them a little bit

These are thoughts I had compiled over a while now. I am on S5E3 as of now (07/03/24) but I wanted to document my thoughts either way. I will post on the tag “laura’s first vld”

[jmesther]

I just discovered this very fluffy Kataang fanfiction. (at least at first it’s fluffy) One of the earlier ones. It’s au where Aang saved the world on his own without meeting Katara and then Zuko sets them up. Apparently there is smut at the very last chapter if you’re into that stuff.

[quillthrillswriting]

i'm writing in jealous aang AND a sparring scene in the upcoming ch of "the teenager in the iceberg"- y'all kataang stans are eating GOOOOODDD 🤭

in order to placate you lovelies, enjoy a couple short & sweet excerpts!!!

also, i love the way that tiny aang in the header looks like he's desperately trying to seperate jet and katara 😭🤍

⁎⁺˳ ✧༚ ˎˊ˗ ♡ ˗ˏˋയ ✩

Sokka rose, crossing his arms as his expression shifted to anger. “The traps are Fire Nation. You can tell from the metalwork- no other tribes can achieve seams this flawless without the aid of a Firebender that can bend blue flame.”

Aang’s nose wrinkled as he gently landed next to Katara. “What do the firebenders want with these forest animals?”

���We won’t be sticking around long enough to find out.” Sokka said decisively as the three began to walk back to where they’d left Appa. “As the leader, I say we get walking AQAP.”

Katara raised an eyebrow. “AQAP?”

“It means As Quickly As Possible.” Sokka recited the acronym as if it was obvious. “It’s a more efficient method of communication. I call them ‘short-word-quick-talkers.’ Trust me, they’re gonna be very popular.”

Katara and Aang side-eyed one another sceptically before falling into step behind Sokka. 

⁎⁺˳ ✧༚ ˎˊ˗ ♡ ˗ˏˋയ ✩

Katara bent a stream of water from the bottle strapped to her hip, then carefully sent a water-whip straight for their fire, silently proud at how much her late-night practice sessions had allowed her to improve. “Who says you’re qualified to be the boss, all of a sudden?”

“I’m not the boss, I’m the leader.”

Katara scoffed incredulously. “You’re the leader?”

“Naturally.” Sokka puffed out his chest like a peacock pigeon. “I’m the oldest.”

Aang raised an eyebrow, grinning teasingly. “Sokka, I’ve been around for over a century. I have training robes that are older than you.”

Sokka deflated slightly, his shoulders slouching before he managed a retort. “Well, I’m wiser, then. And I have instincts.”

“Ooh, instincts.” Katara wiggled her fingers at him, her voice filled with fake awe. “Please, oh wise leader, share with us your wisdom.”

⁎⁺˳ ✧༚ ˎˊ˗ ♡ ˗ˏˋയ ✩

“Down you go,” Jet grinned, self-satisfied and authoritative in his stance. Katara beamed back, her lips parted in an amazed expression, while Aang and Sokka’s features quickly settled into irritation. Before long, an archer and a few other kids dropped from the trees surrounding them, and both Aang and Katara jumped into the fray in response alongside the mismatched gang of weapon-slinging kids. Sokka joined in, his irritation visibly rising as Jet took down each soldier before Sokka could even get close to being in range.

“You snooze you loose, man,” Jet shrugged, his hooks snagging on a man who had been about to grab Katara. “Apologise to the lady.” He smirked, then kicked the man hard, dropping him to the side.

“I had her,” Aang grumbled under his breath, occupied with bending currents of wind to sweep soldiers out of the clearing. Katara furrowed her brow at Aang’s irritation, but decided to note it as something to ask about later. Finally, the remaining soldiers scampered out of the clearing in retreat, their shouts and yelps echoing through the forest. Katara still couldn’t take her eyes off of Jet. He sauntered over to her, a roguish grin on his face as he spoke.

“Hey.” He tossed his hair as he said it, his grin directed entirely at her now, and Katara felt a soft blush spread across her cheeks as she looked up at him. She broke her gaze only to check that Aang and Sokka were okay, and as she looked across the field to Aang…

Was she imagining it, or was his jaw clenching? Was she imagining it, or was his normally approachable expression shifting into a deadpan stare?

⁎⁺˳ ✧༚ ˎˊ˗ ♡ ˗ˏˋയ ✩

His gaze flicked from Jet to Katara, to the brush brushing her cheeks, the soft smile of her full lips. He was hit by the thought that he wanted to be there, next to her, in Jet’s place.

What was it about Katara that made Aang feel as though he could only breathe when she was around? 

⁎⁺˳ ✧༚ ˎˊ˗ ♡ ˗ˏˋയ ✩

Katara was too caught up in her Jet-related nerves to notice the way that Aang’s breathing was coming more quickly, that his fists were quickly clenching and unclenching. She walked towards Aang, who was joined by Sokka, only for Aang’s eyes to flit away every time they met hers. She reached out an arm reflexively, her hand lightly brushing Aang’s bicep as her brow furrowed in concern.

“Are you alright?”

His eyes flashed with something she couldn’t quite read, and his jaw clenched before he spoke. “I’m sorry, Katara, I just… I need a minute. My judgement is…impaired, right now."

⁎⁺˳ ✧༚ ˎˊ˗ ♡ ˗ˏˋയ ✩

He hesitated a moment before continuing. “Would you… would you care to join me for sparring practice, tomorrow morning? Might help you feel a bit safer next time you need to face off against Fire Nation swine.”

Katara smiled back. “I’d like that.” Jet continued to regale her with stories of all he and his fighters had accomplished as of late, but Katara found herself distracted, her gaze wandering over his shoulder every now and then.

It was not lost on her that Aang’s light had stayed on and his curtains drawn until Jet had returned her to her room for the night.

♥ if you want to stick around for this ch to drop, feel free to head over to the work here! ->

[princess-of-the-corner]

Tried to think of some Miraculous Gaang names! You may want to Google a few of these, fair warning.

Ladybug!Sokka - Captain Harmonia/Harlequin/Beetle

Black Cat!Katara - Painted Jaguar

Turtle!Aang - Lion Turtle, Tortiseshell

Snake!Suki - Pythonic, Tealtime, Naga, Aspen, Tock Viper, Medusa/Stheno/Euryale, Teal Gorgan

Tiger!Toph - The Blind Tiger

Dragon!Zuko - Seiryu 

Fox!Azula - Inari, Kistune, Silver Reynard, Kuma Lisa, Blue Ren (“the tale of Miss Ren”)

Pig!Jin - Babirusa

Bee!Ty Lee - Bumblebee (there is literally a “Dance of the Bumblebee” music score), Honeycomb

Mouse!Mai - Rat Queen (based on the “Rat King” from the Nutcracker Ballet. Kind of as a slide parallel to her canon thing, here, Mai’s parents signed her up for ballet, where she met Ty Lee and Azula.)

Ox!Haru - Oxenfree (all I got right now)

Horse!Teo - got nothing but “Pegasus” which is taken

Rabbit!Yué - Luna Lapine, Luna Angora, Satin Moon, Velvet Moon

Monkey!Kuzon - a bit more explanation here. Mostly, I was trying to fill out the miraculous roster, cause AtLa only has a few “main” characters, I was trying to find some named characters the Gaang is shown being friends with who are roughly their age. I didn’t list Jet or his friends, cause, honestly, what exactly would their story be?? How do they integrate? Like, I’m sure you could do something, I just couldn’t really think of anything at the time. But also, I realized all the friends of the Gaang belong to Katara, Sokka, or Suki, later Zuko - Aang and Toph don’t really have any that are unconnected from them. In Toph’s case, she was raised super sheltered, and never got a chance to meet anyone, while Aang HAD friends, but they’re all mostly dead, except Bumi, because of the 100 years in ice thing. And we already have Bumi here being an old man. The only other friend Aang really mentions is Kuzon, the Fire Nation kid who … I think there’s a short story about the pair of them fighting off poachers? Anyway, I was basically imagining Kuzon as “Le Chien Kim, but Animal Lover and Environmentalist Advocate”. He would have grown up next door to Aang and Gyatso, and that’s how the pair are friends. As for names … I want to say Tarzan or Mowgli, but I feel like, even in universe, those would get him visits from lawyers.

Now, briefly into ships - this is just me spitballing my random headcanons, PLEASE TO ALL READING THIS, WE ARE HAVING FUN, LET’S NOT BRING THE ATLA SHIPWARS HERE! THIS IS JUST ME SPITBALLING! THEY CAN ALL BE CHANGED!

so, Katara/Aang. Aang I see as non-binary - they don’t mind which pronouns you use, but mostly uses he/they when referring to himself. Katara believes she is straight, but is actually bi with a bigger attraction to males.

Sokka is poly-pansexual. His relationships start with Sokka/Yue, until Yué realizes she’s actually AroAce, and they break up. Then later Sokka/Suki, which morphs into Zuko/Sokka & Sokka/Suki, which changes to Zuko/Sokka/Suki. Suki’s bi, while Zuko is … Zuko (demi-pan, but never has the words for it till WAY later).

Toph is Aro, or at least grayromantic, as is Teo. Teo I also see as trans, but that might just be me.

Mai/Ty Lee eventually becomes Mai/Ty Lee/Azula. (Sexuality uncertain, but my cousin does call them the “Deadly Lesbians”.) There’s a brief Mai/Zuko, but only to get Mai’s parents to back off and leave her alone.

Haru is our only totally straight guy, congrats man, you are our cishet+!

Thoughts, Feelings, Opinions, New/Different Ideas?

(Also, side note. We still have Cabbage man, right?)

-

OH SO

Loving the names! I think I’m gonna make a masterpost of the names here once I finalize them.

Totally get the thing on Kuzon. Like yeah I’m trying to think of other characters to fill out the Hero team and other than Jet’s group there aren’t a lot. There’s a reason I dragged Jin into this(other than the fact that I love her)

And yeah I’ve been turning Jet and co over in my head trying to think of what they’d be and I can’t think of anything for them because there’s so many changes to the base setup.

AS FOR SHIPS

I have my ships I like and while I do take suggestions it’s my au and I get the nonsense!

Obvs the Aang/Katara stays.

I see the Zuko/Sokka/Suki and raise you adding Jin in there.

Swinging to Yue: I always have mixed feelings in some AUs because I love her and Sokka in Canon but most AUs they never really work out. And in this one idk why they wouldn’t exactly? Like nothing gets in the way. Maybe if I write Sokka starting the Suki relationship first and then while they’re poly they’re not at a ‘hey how do you think about another person?’ discussion stage when they meet Yue? And then by the time they are at that stage either they’ve moved on or Yue has her own partner?

That said. Yue/Azula. Any time I have the chance for them I take it. Like the equal opposite you see my vision.

I also have this weird soft spot for Toph/Ty Lee. Probably has something to do with that post of ‘Ty Lee teaches Toph to walk on her hands’ thing because as funny as that post is these two are menaces it’s great, the amount of trust involved in it!

Haru is def our token straight though.

My one original thought:

So like. The Gaang has a range of ages. And in atla that’s fine due to the circumstances. But here it’s kind of a question of ‘how do they all meet/become friends/etc if they never really meet’? so I’m gonna make shit up to squish them into the same grade in school. 

Aang and Toph skipped a grade. Homeschooling put them a bit ahead of their peers in public school so they just got placed ahead.

On the flipside, Zuko got held back a grade due to the whole ‘being kicked out and horrifically scarred’ thing. Like between the mental and physical care he’d need he missed a lot of class that year so just. Repeat the year.

[dealbrekker]

I wrote this quite literally 10 years ago. Her birthday is coming up and everything. I'm proud of this story and that I finished a multichaptered fic. I only ever did one shots.

There are things I'd change and work differently, but I'm still pretty in love with this and figured I should reintroduce her back into the wild. It would be crazy if anyone on here ever read it back then...

Begging all your pardons for the epilogue in advance lmao.

Hope it's enjoyed ☺

Amidst a time of peace and a dimming marriage, Fire Lady Katara journeys back home to the Southern Water Tribe to reconnect with her people. While there, she meets a nomadic firebending artist whose scar is as striking as his work. As the moon wanes and her visit ends, the stranger molds an image of his life much different from what history knows to be true. AU.

[blluespirit]

Overall NATLA Thoughts

Okay, now that I've watched the series, I can give my thoughts.

Overall, I thought it was good!!! I had fun watching it! I'd rate it a solid 6.5/10. It's nowhere as good as the original, but it was definitely enjoyable and made some nice changes here and there that I liked. There were also some things I was also Not a fan of too.

I said in another post that it's best to treat this like an AU of the original. There will things that are great and things that are bad. That's the nature of adapting something.

Having said that, I need to get my initial thoughts off my chest... here we go.

Things I thought were good:

Sokka's characterisation - I really enjoyed him! I thought Ian did a good job! He played the funny moments well and retained the underlying seriousness/cautiousness. It wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed the changes a lot and think it was overall a solid performance.

Zuko's characterisation - Like Sokka, I do think I was most satisfied with their performances. A lot of Zuko's moments from the cartoon are sometimes... well, cartoonish and definitely wouldn't translate to live action, but I think Dallas did a nice job at balancing Zuko's desperate anger and that occasional sassiness well.

Zuko and Iroh moments were great. Had me on the floor crying. As it should have.

The bending looks a trillion times better than the movie - I understand it would not have been easy for the actors but, overall, I was very happy about it.

The scenery was stunning. It just looked so beautiful. I loved it so much.

Absolutely ADORE that they made Zuko a good calligrapher and artist. I read a fic about a million years ago where Zuko is a fantastic calligrapher and I thought it was perfect and made so much sense, and now I can say it's canon. This is perfect for me.

S U K I

The Freedom Fighters were ✨ perfect

They were so real for making Oma and Shu lesbians

Koh, Wan Shi Tong and Hei Bai looked fantastic, but I have more to say about all of them below, unfortunately.

I actually like the change they made that Katara is Aang's sole waterbending teacher.

Aang is not perfect, and needed more goofy scenes HOWEVER, I did like how they've had Aang's guilt more prominent in the story. The original didn't do a very good job with that, imo.

Zuko entering is breaking and entering era by breaking into an impenetrable Earth Kingdom prison is just perfect.

In Masks, I like how Aang and Zuko got a longer conversation - that was pretty cute.

I liked how they changed Yue a bit and got her out of the arranged marriage... how Yue saw Sokka in the Spirit World before meeting him in the real world.

Things I didn't like:

Far too much info-dumping/exposition. So much spelling things out. It was not as egregious as the movie, and I get there's a lot of information that needs to be conveyed well and quickly... but sometimes it really took me out of the show.

Why are Mai and Ty Lee here.... I was hoping the live action would give them a bit more depth (and they might as it goes forward!), but why put them in season 1 at all if they're just going to stand around???

Some odd changes - putting this as one point, but there are some bizarre changes that didn't make sense to me, as they did not benefit the story or deepen the characters. I have two main examples: a) making it so Aang didn't run away from home, and b) making it so Zuko actually fights Ozai in the Agni Kai.

Characterisation of Katara was Not Great. I don't think I got many hints of the reckless, compassionate, badass Katara until the end when she fights Pakku and rallies all the women together to fight (which happens off-screen). She was sweet and kind, but she just lacked the fire that OG Katara has.

Azula's characterisation - Azula is desperate to impress Ozai and so her character is just…. brewing with anger, frustration, desperation. I was SO excited to see the Azula we are introduced too… perpetually and irritatingly calm, calculating and ruthless. She's perfect, she's terrifying! She's literally the character of all time. But this Azula had more Zuko vibes? I don't think there's anything wrong with giving Azula more concrete motivation by wanting to impress Ozai and establishing that Ozai is abusive to both his kids, but I do think trying to do that right off the bat is a mistake.

WHY is Wan Shi Tong here. I love Wan Shi Tong, but like I said: Why Is He Here? Why could we not have his iconic, ominous as fuck introduction from The Library, and instead he's introduced in a random season 1 episode giving Aang Information(tm) about the Spirit World.

When Aang gave Koh the statue, and then he just takes it and immediately lets all the villages go, and neither of them even say anything, I actually laughed out loud. Like, I am so sorry, but what in the jesus fuck was that.

Speaking of Koh - I think Koh is better the less we know about him. Roku saying ~all Koh wants is a family like the rest of us~ just pissed me off?? I like my Koh the Face Stealer Terrifying and Unknowable, thank you.

NOTHING EVER REALLY HAPPENS WITH HEI BAI!!?? where's my precious spirit bear?? Like Aang never really does anything with him and the replacement Koh story is boring and it sucks.

Bumi.... sorry I just didn't vibe with him at all.

Things I can't decide on:

Fancy spirit knife to kill the moon spirit annoyed me a bit, but I guess they wanted to Kuruk something to work with and a little bit more interaction with Aang which I get but idk. I really flip/flop on this one.

I've been very on the fence about having Azula (and Ozai) being in the show in season 1 in general. I'm not sure if it benefited either of their characters.

Azula & Ozai's dynamic - Okay, so, I think they're trying to give Azula more depth, right? They're trying to establish what it was like for Azula to live with Ozai and that she's also (like Zuko) trying to desperately prove herself to him, but Ozai using Zuko's... achievements to do that just felt so weird. I get he's doing it to manipulate her, but that just felt so wrong when in canon it's very obvious that Ozai just didn't give a single fuck about Zuko. Ozai pits Azula against Zuko by saying he's a failure, he's a bad bender etc. Azula is born lucky, Zuko is lucky to be born - like, Ozai says that to Zuko's face. I don't know if I am communicating this point very well, but it just didn't seem right to me??

Zuko vs Zhao in the Siege of the North... I genuinely do not know how to feel about it! I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. I don't know how to feel about Zhao telling Zuko that his mission is a sham and that Azula is the prized one... It feels like it's saying the quiet part out loud? In the OG we all know that Ozai sending Zuko on that mission was an excuse to get rid of him, but we can work that out, no one actually says it. And then Iroh just fucking killing him/mortally wounding him instead of the Iconic scene where Zuko reaches out to save him despite everything Zhao has done to him, but Zhao's own pride gets in the way from letting him accept help from Zuko.

Zuko’s crew being the 41st is not necessarily a bad thing at all!!! But I do just want to say that in the original, the attack goes ahead, and presumably, those soldiers die. It’s horrible. Zuko’s sacrifice is in vain, and it was always going to be in vain because the Fire Nation as it stands would not allow Zuko's compassion to win. Ozai would not allow it. While not necessarily a bad choice (all the soldiers bowing to Zuko on the boat was so sweet I loved it!) but I think it does take away some of the horror of Zuko’s story (same as it does with making Zuko fight back in my opinion) because the whole point is that Zuko did the right thing - and he was punished for it, and those soldiers died anyway.

anyway...

Okay!! got that off my chest. I know I just had a big whine here, but I still had a lot of fun watching this show. I think some of the backlash is a bit over the top and unwarranted. It was never going to stand up to the original - and that's okay.

Enjoy it for what it is!

[reyxa]

can't we just get oolong? ch. 5

AO3

title: can’t we just get oolong? author: Reyxa rating: T summary: au where zuko and iroh settle in ba sing se post-banishment. when a pretty water bender start frequenting the jasmine dragon, zuko’s world turns upside down.

Chapter 5: boiling over

Fresh crimson blood spills from his split knuckles, trickling down his fingertips. Zuko grits his teeth, his brows drawn tightly together as he shakes out the pulsing pain throbbing through his palm.

He looks down at the splits in the middle three knuckles of his left hand, each cracked and streaming red. He never used to bleed like this when he got injured practicing firebending. The injuries were more often blistered or charred skin that would dull his nerves over several days. The rivulets of blood were reserved for sword fights; a skill he didn’t hone until he lost his bending.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he closes his fist, opening the crevices further. “I don’t care what you want. What I want is for you to stay out of our way.” Katara’s words lodge themselves in the auditory part of his brain, rewinding and playing out over and over again. He wants to punch the wall again.

Why did he have to say that last week? He fucked it all up. He could literally see it as she ran down the hall of the Earth Kingdom palace, the threads that entwined them, the ones that led him to his destiny, snapping one by one the farther she ran from him.

And for what? He asked a waterbender who despises firebenders to give him back his weapons. What was he expecting? That she would be nice enough? That she cared? That she also felt some fragile thing between them and it was strong enough to make her loosen her values?

“Idiot,” he hisses at himself, clenching his fist tighter. He hasn’t seen her since.

He wipes the beading forehead sweat off his face and onto his apron. One last time, he turns on his heel away from the wall, and deftly raises his palm as he steps forward down the dark alley. Somehow, he had hoped his utter self-despising would kick up his fire enough to produce something. His palm tingles and blisters, like the fire beneath his skin is scorching the underside of his palm trying to burn its way through. It warms feebly, the air heating up a few degrees.

No fire. Not even a flicker.

He grunts. He should tend to his wounds.

He kicks open the door to the alleyway, it brings him satisfaction hearing the wooden door creak and moan as it jolts against the teashop wall. The bustle of the busy midday crowd in the shop blares out into the backroom he’s standing in, and it irritates him. Grumbling to himself, he yanks open the napkin cabinet in the backroom. He dresses his knuckles in the dark green cloth they usually use for tea spills.

Ember Island iced black tea is what he throws together for himself. The ice cracks as he pours the hot steeped tea over it.

“Zuko!” his uncle calls from the front of the shop. “Come here once you’ve finished your tea!”

Suppressing a loud groan, he throws back the rest of the tea and chokes down the smoky taste of it.

He walks out into the shop, feeling fussy. Over the years, he had come to tolerate, if not take some pleasure in, the gentle bustle of the teashop– the elderly people laughing, the water boiling on the fire in the back, pai sho tiles clacking as the afternoon sun streams in through the windows. But he was never content. He’ll always be restless, he thinks.

Uncle Iroh– who Zuko thinks could never look anything but content– smiles at him. He shuffles over, teapot in hand. “You look terrible.” he laughs, retying Zuko’s apron. Zuko throws him a sour look as Iroh lifts his wounded hand and covers it with his own wrinkled one. Iroh tuts. “You should be more careful. After you tend to that last table, why don’t you rest for the afternoon?”

He can’t be mad at his uncle. That was the first lesson he learned post-banishment. His brow softens and he nods at the only person who cares for him.

Resigned, he approaches a table with two Dai Li agents whispering over a stack of paper. “Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon, what can I pour you?” he murmurs, tapping his quill against his notepad.

They shoot him twin dirty looks.

“Green tea quickly,” one says coldly.

Zuko sets his lip in a harsh line, but nods as he walks away. Trouble isn’t worth it, yet. He brings them the tea cold, and takes his time warming the teapot with firebending to linger by their table.

They don’t notice him hovering. Curiously he peers over their wide hats at the paper.

He nearly drops the pot. Lingering ten seconds too long, Zuko blinks at the printed image of the sky bison with a large sum of money stamped under it.

“Leave us,” the agent grunts.

Thoughts rushing fast, he tilts the spout so the hot tea spills onto the table. It fountains off the table into one of the agent’s laps. The agent startles and Zuko apologizes profusely, handing the agent several napkins as the other agent helps him dry off.

With the agents distracted, Zuko swipes a flyer from the stack before leaving some spare napkins on top.

He pours over it in the backroom after his shift, a flicker of hope warming in his chest.

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[geothewriter]

Vermillion Seas Cardinal Skies: Chapter 11 - The Sword, The Man, The Legend

After liberating the small village of Jang Hui, Sokka feels pretty bad. In this chapter, he realizes his potential, Zuko discovers an important piece of his past, Aang reveals some secrets, and we get a training session!

Hello reader-friends! The funny thing about these chapters is that the ones I write on planes tend to be longer. This is absolutely no exception to that rule. I remember back when I posted chapter 5 saying that I wanted to limit the number of extra long chapters. Welp, looks like the shorter chapters are an exception to the average ch length here. Oh well, I don't think you're complaining!

As always, a massive shoutout to @achillmango for her incredible editing capabilities.

The sound of metal sword on metal sword clashing in the background almost entirely drops away from her ears at the seriousness of Aang’s expression. “Katara, have you ever felt really strongly for someone?”  Wow. Right now?  This isn’t where she expected this conversation to go, nor the place to have it.  She turns her gaze away, and answers noncommittally, “I– uh…I guess I have.” She looks up toward the branches of the tree and notices the midday sun shining beams of golden light on them, Its warmth is comforting yet something about this feels wrong. The light flickers against the slow-drifting pollen in the air.

Without further adieu, please enjoy Chapter 11 - The Sword, The Man, The Legend on AO3!

[shamelessliarkickapow]

The King's Pet or The King, ch 43

AO3 and ff.net

Giant eel-hound rider safety class in an au of the au:

Instructor: Now kids, it's important to remember that these animals run very fast on land and swim very fast in water, and speed can be dangerous. You need to take special precautions, especially with the tack and gear to prevent both water damage and slippage.

Zuko, 11, not paying attention:

Katara, 9, absent:

[ssreeder]

HI SREEDYYYY

i finally read ch 20 of itf IM SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONGGG 💔💔 anyways tho it was sooooo goooddddddddddd omg……

i kinda.. dont like suki…. LIKE I UNDERSTAND WHERE SHES COMING FROM and i like get it but just like move on and get with jet like hes right there and she obviously likes him…. i get it tho WHATEVER!!

BUT KATARA OHHH I LOVE HERRRR SO MUCHHHHHHHHHHH shes so silly and funny and ACCEPTINGGG. like she found out ab zukka and was like I NEED TO CONFIRM IT but then shes happy cause her brothers happy IDK BUT I LOVE ITT!! i wish ara and her couldve been friends tho i love ara i miss her

yk i was praying for her downfall SOOO hard but now i like her she was just abused but that FUCKER zhao!!! and then shes lowkey falling in love with shen (i think, i mightve forgotten) AND THEN HE DIES bro….

anyways i love how u write jee, no notes, perfection.

okay now im gonna rant ab zukka AGGFHAGGRGGAGGAG I LOVE THEM SO MUCHHHHHHHh theyre so silly and goofy and i live them im biting my phone rn (/j) i dont know what to say ab them omg. their relationship progression was soooo like satisfying like when i read liab like i wasnt even upset that they hadnt realized anything yet i was just so sad and happy it was so crazy. IM SO EXCITED FOR ZUKO TO TEL IROH EVERYTHING!!!! finallyyyyyyy!!!! ZUKO SPEAK UR TRUTH!!

oh and jets chill too

OKAY IM VERY EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER BYE!!!!

Haha I’ve been getting so many… mixed reactions to LIAB suki & I’m not going to lie I love it. Writing her as a less than perfect, judgmental, immature teenage girl is so fun (being influenced by jets attitude isn’t helping) but she’ll ‘come around’ soon, it just takes time haha. (not that her and sokka will be buddies again idk if that’s going to happen sorry)

OUR GIRL KATARA!! attitude & anger BUT ONLY WHEN ITS JUST! She doesn’t hate Zuko in LIAB, she just doesn’t appreciate his attitude, and of course she wants sokka to be happy! She just also wants him to stop being a sneaky liar!

Jee is wonderful I adore him I also have no notes / & YES ZUKO & IROH TALK 8k COMING SOON WOHOOOO FINALLY!!! Letsssss goooooo

[bruhstation]

a few questions about the avatar au: 1. what are the roles of everyone? is lady aang, thomas katara, percy sokka, gordon zuko and henry toph? 2. what bending power does duck have? 3. how will the last agni kai play out?

yessss a question for the avatar AU…. :D a bit of rambling ahead because I am incredibly autistic about this new AU of mine. I've also answered your second question through the first question, if you don't mind :)

like I've mentioned before, this AU is set in an alternate universe where the air nomads are still alive and there's no hundred year war. there's still conflict though. this isn't really an "X in Y's place" AU -- I'm fitting the ttte/cstm characters in the atla universe. I'll tell you what the steam team is doing in the AU! (art of some of them here)

thomas is a young, amateur waterbender from the southern water tribe. he spends most of his time hanging out with edward and percy. he always gets into trouble -- stuck on ice floes, buried underneath snow, and drenched in water after a failed waterbending attempt. this was also one of the ways he encountered lady, which is after an avalanche near a cave. thomas proposed the idea that all four of them travel the world together and find bending arts teachers for lady ("I need to train too and become a really great waterbender!")

edward is a waterbending master from the southern water tribe. although he still has a lot of fire in him, he displays little interest in fighting and spends his free time brewing tea and writing in his journal. despite not revealing much about his past prior to living in the south pole, he teaches thomas waterbending and is some sort of father figure to him. edward's respected by a lot of tribespeople, though they tend to poke fun at him for being too old. after the formation of team avatar and getting his two old friends to join (after visiting the earth kingdom and fire nation consecutively), they said that edward is able to bloodbend, but edward entertained the silly idea by saying that "he's too old and small for that". he is also VERY quick and agile in chi-blocking techniques.

henry is a strong yet sickly, cynical yet gentle earthbender from gaoling, earth kingdom. after noticing the rising tensions in politics in ba sing se and witnessing how corrupt the dai li has become after a life-threatening accident, henry resides in the quieter part of the earth kingdom and manages his own flower/tea shop. after team avatar witnessed his immense strength in apprehending bandits wreaking havoc in his shop, lady asked henry to get on board the team. henry initially refuses, not wanting to get caught up in any weird life-threatening avatar business, but after being convinced by edward, he eventually folds. thomas does notice that his teacher acts awkward around their team's newest earthbending teacher.

gordon is the youngest son of a nobleman from the fire nation. he had a disgraceful agni kai -- stemming from a difference in political beliefs regarding their family and their relations to the fire nation army -- between him and his older remaining brother, scott. gordon lost, but not officially, as scott refused to scar him, disgracing both him and gordon. he then ran away to the boonies of the fire nation where he honed his lightningbending skills -- his signature bending arts -- in order to restore his pride. he first met team avatar when he challenged lady in an agni kai (gresleys loooove their agni kais) until edward had to chi-block him before he even launched an attack. as prideful as ever, gordon believes lady needs a firebending teacher (true) and joined team avatar. he doesn't seem too thrilled to see his old distant friends on board with him, though.

james is an ember island theater actor who believes he deserves more than what he's paid. he's very passionate about acting but is dissatisfied with the scripts given to him. team avatar encountered him when he was playing gordon in one of the plays (and horribly butchering his character). james joined because he wanted to learn more about their journeys and thought that he's essential to lighten up everyone's spirits. james is still his vain self and once told lady that being the avatar isn't THAT hard but he's a genuinely caring person. he's also the "bard" of the group and has some sassy yet well-meaning pick-me-ups. his favorite songs to cover are "girls from ba sing se" and "secret tunnel". also he and gordon once got drunk off cactus juice and the group never let him live that down.

percy is a nonbender from the southern water tribe. he's a known charmer for both his cute-ish face and determined personality. his mother was duck's sister, an earth kingdom noblewoman, while his father is a south pole tribesman. since there's no hundred year war in this AU, percy trains as a south pole tribe warrior just to guard the south pole village. since there's no threat (until d10's army invaded because he heard that lady is there), he spends most of his days helping out the tribespeople with whatever task they have or getting himself dragged into thomas' antics, including being the avatar's playful "bodyguard" in their world-cross journey.

toby is a waterbender from the northern water tribe and is the first person to be recruited in team avatar after they had left the southern water tribe. he was initially mavis' (the north pole princess) caretaker and one of the waterbending masters, but after an attack from d10's fire army, she turned into the moon to preserve waterbending. toby then joined team avatar out of guilt but found himself to be entertained by thomas and percy's antics and lady's curiosity about the world outside the air temples, which gives him hope for the youth. toby also has a strong dislike towards the fire nation army and the earthbending soldiers, particularly the dai li, and is well-versed in the militaristic structures of the two big countries and their weaknesses.

duck is an earthbender from one of ba sing se's noble families. he's really loyal to his city and the earth kingdom itself. although many people consider him charming and intelligent, he's really adamant about following laws, though this is mostly because of his family's influence. the little western (don, doug, oliver, toad) is kinda his body guards/personally recruited soldiers that work for him loosely and their primary target is to watch over diesel, a suspected spy from d10's army. duck senses that d10 is planning something bad for ba sing se. this is also his reasoning to join team avatar (despite initially distrusted by the strike trio). even though he doesn't always follow them around, he provides updates regarding the fire nation and earth kingdom.

and that's all for the famous 8!

as for the final agni kai, I'm still thinking about that one. at first, I was thinking the final agni kai wil be between spencer and gordon instead of between scott and gordon because the two brothers never genuinely hated each other while the two cousins are seconds away from blowing each other up. but, in what reason would spencer be working with diesel 10? why would he side with a nonbender who wants to abandon the old ways of bending and bring forth a new era in an extreme way? then I thought of spencer just being a massive fire nation glazer (and having thrown scott in jail or injured him) and how his dislike for team avatar turned into hate after they freed the prisoners from the boiling rock prison (including hiro). I'll get back to the idea later because I LOVE gresley family drama

thanks for the ask, anon! this was really fun to answer :]