#ch; azula

[inmydrcams]

what do you mean the avatar live action didn't cast a blind actress for toph???? like wtf??? that's the bare minimum you could do here

[blluespirit]

there are so many amazing and powerful benders in atla but what i love about zuko is that whether or not he can use his bending in that moment has zero (0) bearing on how much he’s going to absolutely kick your ass. no bending? that’s fine - he’s got swords. no swords or bending? that’s fine - he’s literally just going to beat you up. if you’re REALLY unlucky then you get all three. as a treat.

[lucyskywalker]

The best thing I did on tumblr was stay away from ATLA fandom.

No one is going to make me hate Zuko

No one is going to make me hate Aaang

No is going to make me hate Katara, nor Toph, nor Soka, nor Uncle Iroh, nor Ty Lee, nor Suki.

They won't make me dislike any character, especially not over a ship.

[velvet-vox]

V and Doll; trauma, mental disorder, and low empathy.

(Warning: this post is slightly outdated and contains some incorrect medical terms that don't correspond to the modern classification of ASPD. You can still read it if you are curious, but don't take anything stated here as hard facts. They are not.)

Very recently on my notifications I received a reblog by @aroaceweirdos101 to a response I've made to a post talking about how Doll went through so much more pain than V, and it made me realise that the response in question was actually, like, really good.

I had genuinely forgotten and underestimated how good of an analysis of both V, Doll, mental health and societal stigma it really was.

Now, of course, I disagree with the sentiment that Doll suffered more than V and fully believe that out of the two V endured way more pain and trauma than Doll; yet, although the responses in the comments checked out with what I previously said, they felt... meaner?

Like, the answers went to the opposite extreme of the original comment and tried to downplay Doll's trauma in comparison to V's, almost implying that Doll was a b##ch (which she was) for snapping as hard as she did when V still managed to retain a sense of restraint; and I disagreed with that, so in response I wrote this:

*Look, I believe both Doll and V are interesting characters, and although I feel more sympathetic towards Doll, I definitely believe V went through so much more pain than Doll and had way more reasons to snap and be the way she is now, but I just really hate people who use that as an excuse to label Doll has the more evil of the two or "she was always just a psycho, she just needed an excuse to snap"; it's especially disheartening when people straight up interpret her as unreademable or pure evil, when V and N's body count is 10 times higher than Doll's.

Also, I'm sorry but I really can't stomach the possibility of Liam redeeming the genocidal war machine and not the broken orphan created by said psycho, it literally would be the fictional pinnacle of "since these are the protagonists, they can get away with as much as they want and are always in the right"; I'm fine with the way Doll died because it was done by Cyn and there wasn't any moral lesson to be gained from our protagonists about it, but if it was done by N, Uzi, or worst of all V again, it should have played out like "we have reasons to do the things we do, and you have yours, unfortunately we're on opposite sides and you are hurting us so we must kill you now".

The human (worker drone) mind is extremely fragile, and some people, due to a probably inherited and undiagnosed mental illness or a particular personality type, are more at risk of snapping then other people, yet instead of being understanding towards those who are born with more issues than others (especially women, look up Azula or Ashley Graves) we tend to isolate, demonize and then kill them because they were incapable of fitting into the larger societal standard of acceptable social behaviour, even when said society never did anything to help them meet its unreachable standards because it required too much work from society's side to give you the special attention you needed in order to make you work and fit in.

V was a quiet kid because she was shy, Doll was a quiet kid because she was introverted. Those are two very different types of people and one of them (Doll) was inherently more at risk of developing mental health issues than the other due to their personality type and how it's stigmatized.*

Here's also the original post made by an anonymous user on @md-confessions

Also, here's the link to another post still talking about V and Doll. I made two comments in response, but neither of them is particularly well thought out and since you can't correct them I left them as they were.

Now, back to the highlighted part:

I want to use this response as a springboard to talk about the main differences between Doll and V when it comes to their different handling of their decaying mental health and why it's unfair to say that one of them was worse than the other based on their actions and attitude towards the problem.

(Also, all of the Murder Drones characters are extremely complex, and the fact that the show doesn't have filler makes it harder to get a good grip on one's particular mindset, so if it seems like I'm talking more about Doll than I am about V, it is because V is the most complicated character in the cast and I'm not as confident to talk about her as I am with Doll; it took one entire year to finally understand Doll as well as I do now, so V is a touchy subject for me that's why I might not do her justice).

First of all, it has to be said: Doll is a sociopath, V isn't, despite appearing like one. And that's ok.

When I say that I feel more sympathy towards Doll than I do for V, this is what I mean: I don't sympathise with Doll heartlessness more than I do with V jackassery; rather I understand and relate with Doll's low empathy since I also have low empathy as well, and it is quite common for people like us to be misunderstood for uncaring individuals.

It's the same reason why I and many others tend to like villains and sympathise with them more than we do with the heroes (Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2 is the perfect example for this); it's quite common for villains to be written as individuals with low empathy, as an highly empathetic individual tends to be harder for the audience to buy as an antagonist, since you need to justify why someone this caring is committing all this heinous and terrible stuff, but if that person is already unemphatetic by nature, than it's just a matter of establishing their goals and motivations. These people also tend to be ostracized by their environment and go through a gruesome and violent death because it's socially acceptable to let these despicable individuals find comeuppance through death since they lack the traits that make a person traditionally good.

So, when people use the "So what? She's got dead parents. Many others do, including Uzi, who's also infected with the Absolute Solver, yet they have not become cannibalistic serial killers obsessed with revenge" as a slight against Doll it's not entirely fair because from what we've gathered in the show the other worker drones don't suffer from sadistic impulses and sociopathy like Doll does, even if they (Rebecca) are pretty uncaring. (Side note, Uzi also suffers from sadism/sadistic impulses, but not from sociopathy, hence the main difference between the two).

V, on the other hand, despite what her introduction and psycho girl persona might trick you into believing, was never a sociopath nor did she struggle with low empathy, she was, instead, a pretty timid maid who suffered through unspeakable physical and psychological trauma that led her to adopt this fake identity to cope for the atrocities that she was now committing for the company (Absolute Solver) and the safety of N; V cared about N in a pretty normal person kind of way: she kept N at arms length and hid the truth from him so that he wouldn't get hurt, all while detaching herself from the actions she was now committing, not saying Doll wouldn't or didn't commit any of these actions, but V did them in a way that better aligns with someone who doesn't suffer from sociopathic disorder.

Speaking of N, since he has been mentioned, I'll say that while Uzi suffers from sadism but not low empathy (she has shown to be pretty empathetic many times), N doesn't suffer from sadism but from low empathy; as better explained by a section of this post made by @melissa-titanium :

N x Doll

Don't believe me? Then maybe you should rewatch the series again because N's unemphateticness is his own can of worms to delve into.

But back to Doll, it's time to dissolve (😏) one of the oldest misconceptions surrounding her character:

Doll reached out for help. A lot. She just didn't have any luck with it.

Call me crazy, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised that the fandom wide spread belief that Doll rejected all the help that was handed to her to be a massive lie, and in fact, Doll actually tried to reach out way more than you thought, arguably, even more than Uzi:

The impact that Yeva's education has had on Doll's life can only be noticed in this way: Yeva extended her hand to Nori and she accepted it, thus, it is fair to assume that Yeva taught Doll to be pretty open to others and to give a hand to someone in need (the show was rewritten after the pilot, so ignore the incongruences with Doll's initial characterization), and in fact, after enduring the trauma of watching her parents die, she opened up to Lizzie for help and support, unfortunately, Lizzie wasn't exactly the right person to talk about these things (no offence to her, all of Uzi's classmates suck for one reason or another, including Uzi herself, I guess that's what happens when you are stuck inside a bunker your whole life), after all, Doll was still killing and cannibalising her classmates.

Then, before she went back to gain her revenge, she tried to get Uzi on her side, which wasn't an attempt to open up, but she was still willing to connect, even if for the wrong reasons. Finally, once she discovers that Uzi also has the Absolute Solver, she promises to help her out, and at this point, Doll wishes to talk it out with Uzi, but because she is surrounded by the Disassembly Drones (V), she can't.

And now, for the most interesting discussion, there's this brief and frankly weird moment in episode 5 where Doll compliments Khan for raising Uzi, and while Khan laughs it off immediately, since he is a dumbass, this could have been a perfect opportunity for him to reach out to Doll and reason with her, since she's clearly putting aside whatever her objective actually is to talk to him, but he doesn't catch on, and this leads Doll to immediately closing herself off again and returning to the mission, and like, maybe we all kind of underestimated how much significance this moment carried, but consider this:

Doll, at this point in time, has been living out in the cold for what... a month? Six months? A YEAR? If we exclude J and Cyn from the equation, this is probably the only social interaction she ever had since The Promening, yet, because of Khan's lack of touch, she immediately reminds herself of the massive disconnection between her and the other workers (eh ehm sociopath) and thus storms off rapidly; this moment is actually quite painful when you look at it from this perspective, yet it's also, the only interpretation that makes sense? Otherwise how do you explain the existence of this moment when Murder Drones is a show infamous for his high plotting and lack of filler? They had to go out of their way to animate this, so why did they play it off in this way?

Tessa is a meanie

Penultimately, and again, I want to bring up a post by @capnsaltsquid since that's where I got the inspiration to write this paragraph off, Doll opened up to J and Tessa to get the answers she was seeking, yet not only Tessa shot her in the face for s###s and giggles, but then proceeded to fraternise with her parents murderers, and at this point, she closes herself off enough to realise that she might have to unintentionally kill Uzi and leave everyone in the dust if she wants to get anything at all.

But unfortunately, that is not the case, she dies of a lonely, meaningless, gruesome death, and at this point, she still tries and finally succeeds in reaching out to Uzi, and yet, like all of her previous tries, this is unsuccessful, as Uzi has other things in mind right now.

To wrap things up nicely, both V and Doll went through severe amounts of trauma and handled said trauma in a similar yet also different way, since they are different individuals who process emotions and love differently, thus the actions they took made sense for the person they were and should only be judged in the context of their writing and characterization.

Want more?

[akiizayoi4869]

Hey! Here are the remaining screenshots from The Tale of Azula, ch 4 to the last chapter, ch 6.

This novel is really making me wish that we had some Azula dedicated episodes.

[shoutoutout]

Show You What All the Howling Is For - Ch. 13 (June/Azula)

June readies her spear and then strikes like a flash, piercing clean through the next caterpillar carp’s eye. It bulges and bursts and then she pulls it from the water. “Feel free to catch your own breakfast,” she says to the fish which spasms uselessly.

Azula drops her pile of dirty clothing into the stream. “No, don’t let me interrupt,” she says knowing she has done just that. “I’m ravenous.”

—

June and Azula take a trip, 12 years after the finale.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54540040/chapters/162516388

[camcat1320]

Replace Wan with Azula and this is the subplot for my fanfic, ch. 2

[wingsfreedom]

This initially was only about the umbrella scene, "Azula and Ren: first help" but then I checked which chapter it was in and ended up rereading the horrible dispute. Ch.250

Here's a good image of the Imperial Guard's full uniform:

P.S I also edited the last Ozai art here by adding a marble texture to the pillar and a bit warmer colors to the piece overall. Just in case anyone's interested in a (slightly) better version.

@seyaryminamoto

[saiilorstars]

ch.20: Sailor Reign

Story Masterlist

Fandom: Sailor Moon (Crystal)

Rewrite of season 2, AU-ish in that there’s new OCs and the fusion of plots from the manga, crystal and the og series

Pairings: Eventual OFC x OMC, Usagi x Mamoru

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​​​ @arrthurpendragon​​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​​​​​​​ @stareyedplanet​​​​​​​​​​​ @foxesandmagic @kmc1989 @caplanbuckybarnes

Also on  on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

The Sailor guardians frantically crowded around their friend on the street. Blood was spilling fast from Azula's body, some of it seeping onto Tuxedo Mask who was supporting her on the ground.

"Can we heal her!?" Sailor Mars shouted desperately at her friends.

"The wound is too big! I'm not sure if it's possible!" Sailor Moon frantically examined her Moon Rod. She'd never had to heal that kind of wound on anyone!

"We have to do something - she'll bleed to death!" went Sailor Hemera.

"Azula!?"

"Azula, stay with us!"

"Azula!"

But Azula was not responding to anyone nor anything. Tuxedo Mask didn't want to move her but another part of him wondered if racing to the hospital was her best shot.

"Sailor Moon, just try the Moon Rod!" Sailor Venus urgently pushed Sailor Moon to do it.

While Azula didn't respond, she could hear the buzzes of voices around her. How horrible it was to hear but not move and tell her friends goodbye.

Because this was it, right? This was where she was going to die? At least she was surrounded by her friends...but her family...oh my God her family. She'd left in such a hurry, so angry with them, and now she wouldn't be able to tell them anything ever again.

"O-okay…" Sailor Moon's hands were shaking as she tried to command her Moon Rod. "M-Moon Princess Hal - OW!" She dropped the Moon Rod and hunched over as something sharp jabbed in her chest. "Ow! Ow! OW!"

The rest of the guardians were puzzled with her sudden reaction, but quickly reacted when she fell to her knees doubling over in pain.

"What's going on!?" Sailor Hemera exclaimed, glancing back at Tuxedo Mask. He was just as confused why Sailor Moon was crying out like she was the one dying.

"Sailor Moon, what — ARGH!" Tuxedo Mask gave a similar cry of pain all of a sudden. Unbeknownst to him, the same jabbing sensation had erupted in his chest. In all the pain, he was forced to let Azula go.

Sailor Hemera quickly settled the redhead better on the ground and then, like the rest of the guardians, went to figure out what was happening.

Sailor Asteria had joined them as well and was looking at the affected. "What the hell's going on here? Is it contagious now too?"

"Did Senka do something to them!?" Sailor Mercury panicked at the idea that Senka had snuck in some sneaky Shadow attack on them both.

"You guys, Azula's not going to last very long," said Sailor Venus, gazing down at Azula. She was looking a lot more sickly pale now, and the red in her stomach wouldn't stop growing.

"Sailor Moon, c'mon you have to try the rod!" Sailor Jupiter said, swiping the Moon Rod off the ground to hand back to the blonde.

"I can't — I can't —" Sailor Moon struggled to breathe. Whatever was happening was getting stronger and stronger. From the corner of her eye, she could see Tuxedo Mask was in the same state. What the hell was going on!?

"Hold on…" Sailor Circe was the first to see a glowing purple light emerging from Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. She pulled Sailor Hemera and Sailor Asteria away from Sailor Moon then motioned Sailor Siren to look at the two in pain.

The purple glow was getting stronger in both Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. In fact, it was growing so strong that even Sailor Moon's guardians had to back away from the two.

"You don't think…?" Sailor Asteria began with a laugh of absurdity, one which earned herself cold looks from the rest of the group.

"What are you talking about?" Sailor Jupiter inquired about them, asking rather annoyed too. How could they be so carefree when they were having such a major problem?

But the Shadow scouts ignored her.

"It wouldn't surprise me…" Sailor Siren said to Circe, "It would have been the perfect strategy. Hide it in a place no one would ever look…"

Sailor Hemera's face was glowing with excitement. "She hid it...in them!?"

"Hid what!?" went Sailor Venus, glaring at them all. "What are you talking about!?"

"Princess Reign…" Sailor Circe gazed at Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask with newfound light in her eyes. "She never hid the Shadow Crystal inside her body…"

Sailor Mars was the first to understand. She spun back to Sailor Moon and with wide eyes watched as a piece of a purple crystal emerged from Sailor Moon's chest. Another piece of the same crystal glowed as it was expelled from Tuxedo Mask's chest.

"What's...going on…?" Sailor Venus blinked fast and watched the two pieces of the crystal join together to form one purple-black crystal in the air.

Sailor Jupiter rubbed her eyes. "Is that…?"

"The Shadow Crystal," Sailor Circe began to smile softly. "Princess Reign left her Shadow Crystal to the two people she trusted most in the world."

"…Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity." Sailor Hemera almost smacked herself for being so clueless. Of course Reign would have done that! It made perfect sense!

Reign spent most, if not all, of her life in solitude. Prince Endymion was the first person to show her what a friend was like. He was not a guardian who was at her beck and call, he was a friend. And because of him, Reign met Princess Serenity who showed her that even though they were thousands of miles apart, and two very different people, they could still be friends. With those two, Reign learned what it was like to trust, to laugh, to have fun. At her time of death, of course Reign would choose to leave her Shadow Crystal to the people she loved the most.

The Shadow Crystal glowed beautifully as it lowered itself down to Azula's body. Once it entered through her chest, the glow spread all over her body.

"What's it doing?" Sailor Mercury shielded her eyes as did the others from the glow.

"Healing," Tuxedo Mask groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. He was finally getting the air his lungs desperately needed. "Reign...she once said that the Crystal healed her if she ever got hurt. I saw it once too…" Images were rushing through his mind at the moment, so many to take in and so many…of Reign.

And true to the story, the Crystal's glow slowly died down and left behind a perfectly healed Azula...with a dark, purple compact over her chest. A purple triangle glowed on her forehead while a silver crescent moon wrote itself over the triangle. Three silver lines started from the bottom of the crescent moon to the base of the triangle.

When Azula opened her eyes, they were weak. She didn't understand why everyone was staring at her with such...bewilderment. Only a second later, her eyes fell shut and she was out cold.

Sailor Moon pulled herself up from the ground and breathed in sharply. She looked down at Azula with a new light — with new memories. Her mind was spinning.

"I'm so sorry," Chibiusa's soft voice diverted everyone else's attention. She dropped her Luna P ball and ran to Azula's side, hugging her and repeating her apology.

~ 0 ~

The group took Azula back to the base as soon as it became possible. Azula had been in and out of it for a few hours after the attack. When she was finally able to stay up, and she remembered what happened, she almost wished she had died instead.

"You're the Princess," Meroko couldn't stop saying, which probably wasn't helping either. She was just so excited! Their search had finally come to an end! She was gazing at Azula in a whole new light - a whole new creepy light was what Azula thought of it.

"Stop saying that," Azula whispered quietly and hugged herself. She felt like she was on display for everyone, and even though they were her friends...she was so confused. There were new images in her head, memories she supposed, but they were all fragmented that she couldn't make them up.

"It's true," Nara stepped forwards along with Asteria and Emica in a perfect line. "You are Princess Reign. And we" — she gestured to the other three Shadow Scouts — "are your Guardians. We are sworn to protect you and your Shadow Crystal until the end of time. Princess Reign…" she got down on one knee and had the other girls fall in line, "...we are here for you once again."

Azula lost it when the four Guardians bowed their heads at her. "Don't do that!" she jumped out of her seat, dropping her purple brooch in the process. "Don't ever do that again!"

"Azula…" Mamoru tried to grab ahold of her arm but she inched away from him too. She was freaking out and he could see it.

"I'm not her," she kept saying, hoping that someone would believe her, or at least agree with her. "I'm not Reign, I...I can't be. I didn't even have the Crystal…so, so I…I can't be her…"

"But you have it now," Minako gently reminded her, feeling quite sympathetic for the girl. She knew better than anyone else what it meant to discover you had a whole other life and that it would now mesh with your current one. It took a lot of time to accept the new reality. "The crystal came out of Mamoru and Usagi - we saw it. And it went to you. It's the reason you're still alive."

"I just…" Azula felt like her entire world was crashing down on her and if someone didn't help her, she would drown in it. "I would remember if I was some freaky Shadow Princess, okay!? I would—I would remember something like that! And I don't!"

Usagi cleared her throat and kindly smiled at her. "You really wouldn't," she spoke with the air of experience. "I didn't remember anything until the day my Silver Crystal appeared."

"But I still don't remember anything!"

"It can take some time for you to regain all your memories of your past life," Luna hopped off the stool and patted up to her. "But the evidence is clear, it has always been there. It's probably the reason you didn't forget about the Sailor Scouts like the others did when Usagi wiped everyone's minds."

"It still doesn't make sense," Azula shot it down. "Usagi forgot."

"Your Shadow Crystal works differently," Nara spoke up again, trying to ease her nerves. "You yourself are wired a whole different way. Remember that you are not just a person, you are a link to the Shadow Dominion - to the souls themselves."

"Stop saying that!" Azula gritted her teeth together. "I am normal! I am…" she trailed off and spun around until she found Chibiusa.

The little girl had not spoken since they retreated to the base. But now that the attention was on her, she squeaked. "I'm so sorry…"

"You knew, didn't you?" Azula asked, already knowing the answer. "What you were saying before...you knew that was the place where 'Reign'" — she did air quotation marks — "would appear. You knew who she was this entire time and you didn't say anything?"

"It's against the rules!" Chibiusa exclaimed, trying to make the argument but her throat felt like there was a lump. "I'm not supposed to say anything-"

"Oh spare me, you already broke the biggest rule by time travelling! Next thing you'll say is that I'm your mother or something…"

Chibiusa looked away, and Azula raised her hands.

"I am not the Princess, I am not Reign. I am only Azula Keena! I'm your tech girl!" she frantically gestured to the computers. "I make constant theories! I love space but I'm not from there!"

"Azula…" Usagi made the move to hug her but Azula ran off. "Azula!" Usagi was kept back by Mamoru. "We have to go to her!"

"She needs some time to process it," he sighed. "It's a lot to take in."

"What now, then?" Makoto glanced at them with no clue on their next move.

"Reign has been found, and therefore we need to leave," Nara regretted to say because as soon as she spoke those words the rest of the girls began to shout 'what!?' in unison. "I think bringing the Princess to Obscurius is our best option for her safety."

"But taking Azula out of her home can be detrimental for her mental health," Ami pointed out. "Despite her true identity, she still has a life here. She has a family. If you take her away from the only thing she's ever known, it could be dangerous."

"Senka thinks Azula is dead, giving us the upperhand," Emica began to say, now thinking like her true strategic self. "She has no idea that we have both Princess Reign and the Shadow Crystal now. We can hit her with a blind hit and hopefully seal her back into the Shadow Dominion."

"You think," Rei spoke the key words in Emica's nice speech. "The fact is you are just as lost on Senka as we are. Together we can take down Senka. And I really doubt Azula would ever leave us."

"It's for her safety," Emica argued logically.

"But is it the best option?" Usagi countered. "Ami is right. This is the only life that Azula has known and no amount of past life memories is going to change that. We should be trying to help her get through this, not trying to take away the little she has left."

~ 0 ~

Despite spending the rest of the day outside, Azula hadn't gotten one clue as to what to think. When her body finally started making demands for proper rest, she regretfully returned home. There was a small bag left outside the apartment door and when Azula picked it up she saw signs of Chibiusa's doings on it. The child had drawn a cute little bunny for her with a thought bubble saying "I'm sorry".

Despite her terrible, awful day, Azula smiled. At the end of the day, Chibiusa was just a kid.

She peered inside the bag and saw the purple brooch inside. It was a careless gesture, she began to think, when she realized the brooch was practically useless to a regular person since the Shadow Crystal was inside her.

She froze.

Had she just said 'regular person' like she wasn't one anymore?

She dashed into her room and locked the door. She let herself slide down to the ground and cradled the bag like Chibiusa often did with her Luna P ball. "I'm normal, I'm normal…" she whispered to herself.

She looked into the bag again and pulled out a small package of brownies she was sure came from Usagi. They were probably a bit hard but Azula was used to them by now. Next, she took out a brilliant red rose from Mamoru. Azula rolled her eyes - those three were so dramatic. The only thing left inside was a strip of paper and the brooch. Azula pulled out the letter and looked it over.

It's okay to be afraid, Azula. I was too. But when I was the princess, you were there for me. You said everything would be fine because I was the Princess and I had a big heart. I could do wonders. Now I can do the same thing to you. You have the power to help people and I know you want to own it. So please, don't be afraid. We are all here for you.

- Usagi

Azula took in a shaky breath and reached inside the bag. Her hand carefully picked up the compact and pulled it out. She grazed a hand over it, feeling its cool glass bubbling with energy. It was beautiful too, she couldn't deny. There was a black glass outlining its flame-like shape. Purple and silver filled the insides of the glass with one particular shiny purple gem placed at its center.

It was hers.

If she said the right thing...then she would transform into a...a...Sailor Guardian? She was Sailor Reign?

Azula quickly got up from the floor and rushed up to her bed. She stared at the compact for another minute before thrusting it under her pillow. With her hands against her face, she turned away.

It scared her to pieces.

~ 0 ~

Esmeraude stood on a high building roof overlooking the city. Her heeled boot stepped over the ledge and purposely kicked some rocks off the ledge. "Chiral? Achiral?" her velvety voice called upon.

Two twin brothers with long, white hair and pitch black eyes appeared behind her. "We're the Bould brothers," they chorused together.

Esmeraude turned around and gently blew her fan to her face. "I learned my mistake that using a regular old figurine wouldn't be enough so this time...we're going to kick it up a notch." She walked over to the center of the roof where a golden figurine of herself stood. "There will be two figurines sucking up energy this time around. No chances will be taken. One here and the other in the mongrels' park. Split up and protect each of them. And kill the rabbit."

"Of course!" the Bould brothers split to their tasks.

Esmeraude laughed loud in the night.

Her laughter, unknowingly, was carried out towards one lone Guardian…

"The Black Moon Clan is a fearsome group but a redeemable one as well. Help Sailor Moon stop them," A dark, familiar voice, warned in a black foggy area. "They are being manipulated by an even stronger foe. He is Death and Living. He is—"

Azula woke up with a deep gasp. She patted her face as if she expected to be someone else.

'You must not be afraid, Reign.'

Azula clutched her head and squeezed her eyes shut. "Go away…" and yet, as much as she pleaded, she couldn't get rid of the strange, funny feeling inside her.

It had to be the Shadow Crystal's doing, she was sure.

~0~

"Luna, you could have woken me up!" Chibiusa zoomed down the streets in the morning.

Artemis and Luna were holding onto Chibiusa's sleeves, if not she would fall. "I tried repeatedly but you wouldn't listen!" Luna argued, well skilled since she had the same argument with Usagi almost every morning.

"I was just too tired I guess!" Chibiusa made a face and took a quick swerve into the next block. "I stayed up to see if Azula would call Usagi!"

"She never called anyone!" Artemis assured and yelped when Chibiusa came to a sudden halt just outside her school's gaze.

The three quieted down as the sounds of furious voices carried out. Chibiusa walked in calmly, though cautious, and came into the gardens of the school to see the entire school fighting with each other.

"What's going on?" Luna gasped.

Chibiusa spotted her friend, Momo, a small girl going head on against a taller boy. Momo looked incredibly mad, in contrast to her usual cheery self. She flipped the boy over then saw Chibiusa staring at her. "What are you looking at!?" Momo pointed at Chibiusa.

"Momo, what's-" Chibiusa squeaked when Momo came running at her. She tried to turn away but Momo proved to be quicker and slid a foot at Chibiusa's legs, essentially tripping Chibiusa over. "Momo!" Chibiusa called after her friend but Momo kept running into the building along with other students.

"Are you alright?"Artemis asked Chibiusa but seriously doubted she could be alright after being attacked.

"Why is everyone acting like this?" Chibiusa frowned and dusted herself off. "Momo!" she ran after her friend, ignoring the calls of the cats warning her it was dangerous.

"Artemis, look at that," Luna nodded to the roof where they could see a significantly large, golden figurine of Esmeraude.

"Dark power," Artemis narrowed his eyes on it. "We need to call in the girls!"

"At once!" Luna agreed.

~0~

Chibiusa cautiously walked the hallways of the school and found everything to be in shambles. The lights weren't even working so it was all dark and extra scary. She found her homeroom class door opened just a creak. She pushed it open with a lone finger.

"Ah!" She retreated back into the hallway after finding her teacher, Momo and the rest of the class waiting for her.

"Run!" Luna exclaimed and the girl did as told.

The group chased her down the hallway but thankfully missed her going into another classroom.

"This has to be Esmeraude's work," Artemis said.

"Chibiusa, you need to get out of this building at once," Luna urgently said. She hopped onto the teacher's desk near the window overlooking the yard. "No one is outside right now. We should go now."

Chibiusa shook her head. "No. I can't leave my friend here so that the Black Moon Clan can keep using her."

"It's dangerous—"

"I know," Chibiusa assured both cats she understood the situation. "But Momo was my first friend here and it's my responsibility to help her." Chibiusa had a strong sense of determination that no one would be able to take away from her.

~0~

There was an incessant knocking on Azula's apartment door, and since no one was home, it was up to her to answer. She sighed when she found Meroko, Asteria, Emica and Nara on the other side. "Leave me alone!" She attempted to close the door on them but Emica stuck a foot between the threshold..

"Not so fast, there's an emergency," Emica said, though she didn't look very pleased herself. "Esmeraude is attacking some school and it looks bigger than the last time you faced her. We need to get you out of here."

Azula's face quickly formed an 'are you serious' expression expected by the girls. "No!" Her second attempt to shut the door was stopped by Meroko slamming a hand on the actual door.

"I actually agree with you, but I'm outnumbered here. Your safety is all we care about."

"We want to take you to Obscurius before Senka realizes you're not dead," Nara explained but Azula was already scoffing at her refusal. "Their people are our sister civilization. The King and Queen would accept our petition of asylum—"

Azula waved for her to stop talking. "Do you hear yourself!? I am not leaving! And I'm certainly not leaving Senka to terrorize my friends!"

Asteria's eyebrows raised with a bit of joy. "So then you're accepting to continue battling? As Sailor Reign?"

"I...I don't know…" Azula admired and walked back into the living room. "It's so confusing. I can't remember right. All I've got are weird feelings."

"It's an emotional journey, we understand," Nara tried to assure it was all normal but Azula corrected her.

"No, no, I'm not talking about feelings as in emotions. I mean like this weird feeling inside me," Azula gestured at her body. "It's like I...I can feel things that aren't here. Like Rei and Mamoru do, but it's different...I heard voices last night in my head."

"Those must be the shadows of the Shadow Dominion," Nara concluded. "It was what Queen Nyx had too. The shadows of the Shadow Dominion are the actual souls of everyone from our world. You're their conduit, their link to this world."

"You really want to make me fear this more, huh?" Azula shook her head and started back for the open door. She told them to leave. "I'm very sorry but I'm not Reign."

"Just because you keep saying that doesn't mean it's going to become real," Emica warned.

"What are you even doing?" Azula unexpectedly snapped. "Up until yesterday you hated me and my friends! But what? Now that you think—"

"I don't 'think' - I know who you are," Emica corrected. "I saw it, don't you forget. And yeah, I'm still not fond of your friends but you are my Princess—"

"Stop saying that!" Azula ordered through gritted teeth, getting more and more riled up. "God don't any of you listen!? I'm not a princess!"

"Okay," Meroko raised her hands, showing she was trying to be peaceful. "Let's forget about the whole royalty thing for a moment and just...focus on the fun part. You're a Sailor Scout - you're a powerful Sailor Scout. You equal the only other two Sailor Scouts in the galaxies. It means you can definitely help right now. I'm sure Chibiusa is waiting for Sailor Moon and Sailor Reign to come help her."

Up until Meroko had spoken Chibiusa's name, Azula had been rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Now the redhead was expressing concern for the situation she'd yet to know of. "What...what do you mean? Is Chibiusa in trouble?"

Asteria saw her sister's plan and decided to follow it. Azula was dead scared of what it meant to be 'Reign' but if the tables turned to show what it meant to be a Sailor Guardian then perhaps Azula would be more willing to come with them. Even if it meant Azula didn't leave the city like Nara and Emica wanted, it was still a start. "Esmeraude is attacking Chibiusa's school. We have reason to believe this time she's conjured up two powerful energy-sucking figurines of hers. Minako said they'd followed a trace to a figurine in the park but Chibiusa is definitely near another one at her school."

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but...I think it's time Sailor Reign made her debut and helped these children out," Meroko smiled kindly.

Azula felt terrible, really. She admitted not so long ago that she wanted to have powers like the rest of her friends but now that she apparently had them...she didn't know what to do with them. She didn't know anything.

"This is ridiculous, we need to go," Emica said once again.

"No," Meroko turned on her, shaking her head. "We should help here!"

"You're in no position to talk!" Emica faced her with a firey anger. "You've already abandoned your group for those Silver Milleniums when Reign wasn't here! Don't you dare do it again now that she is here! Your top priority is her—"

"I know that!" Meroko got in Emica's face, almost touching noses in their standoff.

"Girls…" Nara looked from one comrade to the other, wary.

"She needs to remember where she should stand—!" Emica began to shout when Azula cut them off.

"Enough!" Azula waved them all to be quiet for a second while she organized her thoughts. "So... Esmeraude thought of a more elaborate plan now. Is Senka around?"

"Not that we know of," Nara shook her head. "Which is why I must insist on our plan to leave the planet."

"I may not know what u intend to do about...this," she waved a hand at them and herself, "but I sure know that I am not leaving."

"But Princess—" Emica went to argue but once again Azula cut her off.

"This is my home. I'm not going anywhere. Let's go see what's going on at that school." Azula started out the door when she remembered something else. She cast a rather nervous glance at her bedroom for a second before deciding to run into it.

"We're not actually going are we?" Emica turned to Nara expecting for some kind of back up but Nara sighed.

"We must obey. It is our duty."

"Ready," Azula emerged from her bedroom a minute later with a hand inside her jacket's pocket. "And I want two of you to go help the girls at the park." The order slipped off rather easily from her tongue but Azula figured if they were to follow her then they might as well do something useful.

"I can go," Asteria volunteered, then waited for someone, especially Emica, to volunteer next.

"We are supposed to keep you safe!" Emica stomped her foot down.

"Newsflash, the worst has already happened. I died," Azula reminded with a straight, calm face. "Now please, accompany Asteria to the park. Esmeraude must have a droid somewhere lurking in the park." She smiled briefly then headed out first.

~0~

Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter arrived at Chibiusa's school first.

"They're probably inside," Sailor Venus nodded to the eerie silent building.

Sailor Moon gulped at the terribly large golden figurine at the top of the roof and decided it was better to be inside than outside where she could be picked at any moment. She barely dodged a chair thrown from the upstairs window.

"What kind of evil uses kids?" She grew more and more disgusted with the Black Moon Clan.

"The Black Moon Clan does," Sailor Jupiter answered with a big frown.

The three girls went looking for Chibiusa as quietly as possible, deciding if Chibiusa had common sense then she would hide in a classroom. Thankfully, their suspicion was confirmed in the third classroom. Chibiusa scared her when she emerged from behind an anatomy skeleton.

"Sailor Moon!" the girl threw her arms around Sailor Moon's waist and cried.

"And the girls?" Luna asked as she and Artemis came around from the same hiding spot.

"They're coming. They found another figurine at the park," Sailor Venus explained while Sailor Moon pried Chibiusa's hands from her.

"We're going to get you out, okay?" Chibiusa gave a somewhat nod and allowed Sailor Moon to lead them out of the classroom.

But as soon as they walked back into the hallway, they were met with possessed students and even a teacher. Chibiusa immediately spotted Momo in the group.

"Momo! Please!" Chibiusa tried to go to her friend but Sailor Moon yanked her right back.

"It's no use, she's being controlled by the dark energy," Artemis reminded her.

"HEY!"

The crowd, including Sailor Moon, Chibiusa and the cats, all followed the source of the voice to none other than Azula waving at the other end of the hallway.

"Azula, no!' Sailor Moon shouted, thinking her friend had no real plan as the crowd started coming for Azula instead.

But then, Sailor Hemera jumped in front of Azula with an attack ready to go. "Bright Sun Attack!"

Knowing the attack well, the others had the good sense of shielding their eyes just as Hemera's bright light filled the hallway.

"Run!" They heard Azula's order.

Sailor Moon pulled Chibiusa down the opposite way of the hallway with Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter leading the way, and the cats right behind them. Azula, Sailor Hemera and Sailor Circe met them by going around a different hallway.

"You came!" Chibiusa exclaimed at the sight of Azula, throwing herself into redhead much like she had with Sailor Moon.

"You're making a habit of getting into trouble and expecting me to cover you," Azula chuckled and hugged her back. "You should stop that. I sent Sailor Siren and Sailor Asteria to the park to help," she then told Sailor Moon.

"Where's Sailor Reign?" Chibiusa softly asked, waiting to see the much talked about Guardian appear.

"Uh…" Azula shook her head. "We should just get you out of here."

"Not without Momo!"

"Who?"

"My friend! The Black Moon Clan doesn't get to take her like they took Mommy!" Chibiusa pulled her hand from Sailor Moon and started running away.

"No! Chibiusa!" Sailor Moon quickly chased after her.

The others had no choice but to follow as well. Chibiusa had a perfect knack for finding those possessed by dark energy. She crashed into Momo who was looking ready to start hitting.

"Magical Chains!" Sailor Circe fired her silver chains from her staff and grabbed the little girl by the wrists

"No! Don't hurt her!" Chibiusa planted herself between Momo and the others.

"She's not your friend right now, Chibiusa!" Sailor Circe struggled to keep the chains in place. Momo was twisting and turning on purpose.

Laughter filled the air as one of the Bould brothers appeared behind Momo. "I am Chiral, one of the Bould brothers. It is time to say goodbye, Sailor Scouts!"

As soon as he raised his hands to attack both Sailor Hemera and Sailor Circe pushed Azula as hard as possible to get her out of the way. Chiral shot white energy from his hands and trapped the three Sailor Guardians, Chibiusa and Momo in an energy box. It immediately started to electrify them all.

"No!" Azula scrambled to get up. The lone brother examined her in such a condescending manner, anger bubble inside her. If only he knew…

She blinked and looked down at her jacket. Her hand stuck inside her pocket and felt the compact still tucked inside. She bit her lip nervously, but the agonizing screams of her friends drew her in. She could see poor Chibiusa holding onto Momo, crying out.

"They're just children!" she screamed but Chiral laughed at her. Azula gripped the compact inside her pocket.

'Say the words, Reign. Don't be afraid anymore. Say…'

"Shadow Crystal Power!" the words rolled off Azula's tongue like they had always been there, just waiting to be said.

A purple and silver glow took her body over. Ribbons flashing silver and purple covered her figure, slowly forming a purple leotard with a matching purple skirt whose hemline faded into a glittering silver and black hemline. She wore matching purple boots with black ribbons as a lacing. A silver circlet encrusted with purple and black gems twinkled into appearance over her fiery red hair. And last came the formation of a silver and black staff with an orb at the top, a light purple flame-shaped jewel at the center.

"Guardian of souls and protector of the Shadow realm, I am Sailor Reign! And you will fear me!" Sailor Reign's sharp eyes laid upon the stricken Bould brother. She pointed her staff at him. "Let them go before I make you."

"Sailor Reign? I don't think so," Chiral pulled an arm back to attack but at the same time Sailor Reign began to hear the voices in her head.

''The chameleon staff can help! Use its force!'

Without much knowledge, Sailor Reign said the words entrusted to her by the voices. "Shadow Scream!" she raised her staff and flinched as it fired off three consecutive times. She cracked open an eye to see dark purple-black energy - shadows - erupt from the staff's orb screaming like it had an actual voice.

"What the - leave me alone!" Chiral was left to battle with three Shadow entities.

"The box? How do I crash the box?" Sailor Reign desperately asked the voices. At this point she didn't care if she was crazy for believing they were actual voices of the Shadow Dominion. So far, they were helping and that's all that mattered.

It seems like Chibiusa was already on it without intending to. There was golden energy flashing from her forehead as she cried out in pain. She had somehow gotten ahold of Momo and refused to let go.

The discharge of energy erased the Shadows around Chiral, but still left him stunned. "It's the Rabbit? We have the rabbit!?"

Chibiusa's energy was enough to get rid of the energy box as well. Momo blinked lazily and looked around, becoming all too scared like a normal person would be. "What's going on?'

The rest of the Guardians were released from the brothers' grip.

"Sailor Reign?" Sailor Moon beamed at the sight of the redheaded guardian.

Sailor Reign sheepishly smiled in return. Their moment was cut short when the second Bould brother appeared.

"Brother!" Achiral seemed frantic.

"If you're here…" Sailor Moon began, her thoughts rushing to her friends who were meant to stop him at the park. "Where are the others!?"

"Looks to me like he ran," said Sailor Venus with a smirk.

The taunting tone in her voice provoked the brothers immediately. They fired down at the group at the same time, creating such an incredible blast of energy.

"No!" Momo did the unthinkable and jumped in front of Chibiusa to take her blow.

Chibiusa swore she saw Crystal Tokyo's destruction right then and there again. Someone had once done the same thing for her just as the explosion happened. Everyone kept doing that, putting themselves in danger just to protect her. And they always got hurt afterwards.

She cried again and this time expelled even more energy than the last. Something flickered in and out on her forehead and blinded everyone on the scene. By the time it died out of existence, the Bould brothers were gone.

"They used the distraction to escape!" Sailor Hemera exclaimed as she frantically looked around for the brothers.

"No, they're still here. They want something from us," Sailor Circe said suspiciously.

"They have the others," Sailor Venus recalled the words implying the capture of their friends.

"Then let's go find them," Sailor Circe gripped her staff and smirked. "See if they can handle all of us at the same time."

"Artemis, Luna, stay with Chibiusa please," Sailor Moon instructed, then went to follow the others when Sailor Reign grabbed her arm.

"Uh, just for the record, I have no idea what I'm doing," she felt the need to admit just in case they depended on her for something big. She did not want to be a liability.

Sailor Moon smiled and admitted the same. "It's why we're a team. When I don't know what to do, someone else does. And when no one knows what to do, I know."

The Sailor Scouts ended up coming out of the building in search for the Bould brothers.

"I didn't take those two for hide and seek players," Sailor Hemera whipped out her trusty, golden sword just in case.

"They've got a different game than all the other attackers we've had," Sailor Circe said, meaning that alone to be a warning.

"What - ah!" Sailor Reign jumped in her spot - causing the others to quickly whip around ready to fight - when her staff puffed out of existence and changed into a bow and arrow "How did I do that?" she blinked at the bow and arrow now in her possession.

No one got to answer for the Bould brothers had appeared in the air and started firing strange electrical beams at them.

"Enough is enough!" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed and struck her electric blow. The brothers split and easily dodged it. One of them then fired at Sailor Jupiter from behind, encasing her in a black energy sphere. "Let me out! Let me out!" The brunette scout pounded on the sphere and even tried to take it down herself only to have the power bounce furiously back and forth inside.

"They're not trying to fight anymore, they're trying to capture us…" Sailor Venus took a step back. "But what for?"

"Who cares!" Sailor Moon cried as she jumped around trying to dodge the black beams. She screeched when she jumped just a bit too hard and lost her balance. It really would happen to her, she thought.

"Let's take the big prize, brother," Achiral mused. He put his hands together, thinking of creating a sphere just a bit more powerful to fit the Scout, and attacked.

With perfect timing swooped in Tuxedo Mask to get Sailor Moon out of the way. "Are you okay?" he quickly asked her while Sailor Venus and Sailor Circe tried to capture the lone Bould brother with their magical chains.

"It's not working!" Sailor Venus growled when the Bould Brother freed himself from the magical chains.

"Sailor Reign" Tuxedo Mask spotted the girl still trying to figure out the bow and arrow in her hands, "use it!"

"I - I don't know how!" She waved the two objects. "A second ago it was a stupid staff!"

Sailor Circe gasped in deep offence. She whirled around. "The Chameleon Staff is not stupid!"

"Whatever!" Sailor Reign snapped back.

"Just use it! The Shadows will help you!" Sailor Circe didn't say more as she began to dodge the brothers' attacks.

Sailor Reign looked between the bow and arrow and decided nothing could go worse than it already had. She raised the bow and pulled its arrow back…

'Aim for one of the brothers, Reign. The left! Fire!'

Without thinking, Sailor Reign drew back an arrow that appeared just after firing the first. She started shooting at more arrows like she'd always known how. The Bould brothers each took two of the arrows to their chests. Their screams erupted simultaneously as black smoke started spewing out from them..

"What…?" Sailor Reign dropped the bow and rubbed her eyes. Was she doing that? A purple glow invaded the Bould brothers' bodies until they shattered into nothing. Sailor Reign jumped back and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my God!"

"Oh, you are good," Sailor Hemera said with utter delight.

"Sailor Moon - destroy the figurines!" Sailor Circe commanded the frozen blonde scout.

Sailor Moon took her eyes off what used to be the Bould brothers and finished it off with her Moon Rod. "Moon Princess Halation!"

The large golden figurine on the roof burst into pieces and shut down all dark energy. The figurine at the park was also destroyed. Not even a second later did Esmeraude appear in the air.

"Well, you all think you've won, haven't you? Trust me, I've got big ideas for all of you! Don't think this is over!" With a scowl, Esmeraude disappeared.

"I don't know about you guys but I definitely feel like I won a little something…" Sailor Reign said to her friends with a giddish grin on her face. Her Chameleon staff had returned to normal and she was definitely beginning to like it.

"Great job, princess!" Sailor Circe congratulated her. "If Queen Nyx could see you, she'd be immensely proud."

Reign didn't know what to feel about the comment. She hadn't even begun to consider the idea that she technically had two mothers now, albeit both of them were dead but the fact was still there. The truth of the matter is that she had so many things to think about and organize before she could truly call herself a Sailor Guardian and much more…Reign.

[reyxa]

can't we just get oolong? ch. 4

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 4: Ginseng

“Zuko!”

“Wh–” he jolts awake, smacking his head on the doorframe of the teashop’s backroom as he whips around. “What, Uncle?”

“You’re falling asleep standing!” Iroh presses a large cup into Zuko’s hand, a wide grin etched into his face. “Stayed up quite late, did you?”

Zuko rubs the smarting pain out of the side of his head, chugging down the drink in his head. The sleep weighing heavy on his shoulders lifts a bit as he drinks. He’s had his fair share of sleepless nights, but none so tumultuous. His brain is foggy with thoughts of Azula’s oppressive presence in the city, and the way Katara’s fingers had brushed against his wrist as she undid the knot of her necklace.

Grinning, Iroh slides the cup out of Zuko’s hand and places it on the table. He places a large hand on Zuko’s shoulder. “You are lucky, waterbending inspires inner harmony. You could learn much from her, Prince Zuko. I hope she bends you into shape!”

Iroh laughs just as loudly as Zuko groans. “I’m never gonna see her again anyway, leave it alone!”

His uncle continues laughing. “Go take some rest, Prince Zuko. Can’t have you drooling into the tea, can we?”

~

Katara awakens to pain shooting up her spine, rattling her teeth.

“Wake up, lazy bones!” Toph’s grating voice, accompanied by the reverberations of her earthbending cleave into Katara’s consciousness. “It’s past noon!”

“Ow!” Katara yelps, rubbing her lower back as she clambers up from the hardwood floors of their apartment. “Toph!”

“Oh good, you’re up! You’ve got plans tonight,” Sokka passes her a piece of parchment. She squints at it, an extremely detailed drawing of some kind of bear-creature swims into view. “A party!”

Katara rubs her eyes and blinks again at the parchment. ’Please join us this evening in celebrating the Earth King’s bear, Bosco.’ “Bear?”

“Are you feeling okay, Katara? You slept in more than usual.” Aang frowns at her while he feeds Momo.

Last night floods back into her memories. She still isn’t sure how smart it was to reveal their whole journey here to someone from the Fire Nation. The banished prince, no less. But she remembers his breath brushing gently against the nape of her neck, the shy tone of his voice as he had invited her back.

“Katara?” Aang pokes her. “Maybe you should rest tonight. You seem out of it.”

She laughs nervously. “I’m fine! Just… adjusting to Ba Sing Se life, that’s all! So, the Earth King will be at this party, huh?”

“You and Toph will go in as noblewomen and get the Earth King’s attention! Me and Aang will sneak in and Aang will dazzle him with his Avatar-ness and we’ll be on our way out of this city.” Sokka snatches the invitation from her. “Then it’s bye bye Fire Lord!”

‘We’ll be on our way out’. She musters a cheerful smile. It’s better to put distance between herself and Zuko as soon as possible, she tells herself. Can’t have another Jet situation, she’s learned her lesson this time.

read on ao3

[inmydrcams]

I actually really enjoyed the atla live action??? like, I think the wigs are dreadful and some of the outfits are super clunky but the story REALLY works and the actors are doing amazing and it feels like they're actually doing something interesting with it hitting all the main beats of the cartoon but with more concise storytelling cause they have the privilege of knowing exactly where they're headed

[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!

[erisenyo]

Hey there, can I ask how you come up with your OC names?

Anon I am THRILLED you asked because I am about to dump so much in-my-head-only worldbuilding on you, so much more than you probably needed or wanted lol.

As always this is not short, and forgive in advance the butchery I’m about to do of like, all of phonetics and linguistics.

OKAY so generally speaking, when it comes to names I have a set of foundational building blocks/general guidelines for the various countries and I work from there. These are based on phonetic characteristics of the canon names we see, and then from there I'd start layering in additional fun along groupings I've noticed around gender or class or family lines or whatever if I want to take the worldbuilding that deep.

So for example, with the Water Tribes…

We have Sokka, Katara, Hakoda, Bato, Kya all from the South, so I pick out...

Hard K or T sounds being quite common

Primarily A and O as vowels

Vowels being between consonants (ie, being single vowels)

Names being 2-3 syllables

In the North, we see Yue, Hahn, Agna Qel’a, Arnook, Kanna, Pakku...

Some similarities with the Ks and hard Qs

Now we see some softer ‘gn’ and ‘hn’ and L sounds, and the addition of P (which makes Bato’s “B” and Sokka’s “S” stand out)

Some ‘oo’ instead of ‘o’ vowels (so double vowels)

Hahn and Yue with no hard consonant sound at all (and both upper class!)

So that gives us some basic starting blocks to start building up names that sound like they fit within the Water Tribe culture in terms of sounds, as well as some potential regional and class differences to start working with! (Maybe Q sounds are only in the North, and upper-class people have soft consonant names, for example.)

Similarly in the Fire Nation…

The royal family is Zuko, Azula, Ozai, Azulon, Sozin, Iroh, Lu Ten, so...

A lot of Z and K sounds

(Male) names that end in N

A lot of two-syllable names (with the emphasis on the first syllable)

A lot of riffs on each other (Sozin and Ozai, Azulon and Azula, Azulon and Zuko)

Iroh and Lu Ten stand out as having fairly distinct names comparatively, with the “oh” ending and the softer "Ir" and "Lu" starts

Chan, Zhao, and Ruon-Jian are the other upper-class guys we see, which gives us...

short syllables again

N endings (for men) agai

The ‘two word’ name again (so Lu Ten's name naming structure is used elsewhere)

The introduction of “Ch” and “J” and “R” and double-vowel sounds (ao, uo, ia)

We also see Roku and Kuzon...

So very similar names to our royal bunch with those Ks and Zs and oku/uko and uzon/ulon sounds

Also older names from 100+ years ago, and commoner names

Mai, Ursa, Ty Lee as our upper-class ladies gives us...

short syllables again

‘two word’ names again

M sounds!

Mai and Ursa both don't have a hard consonant stop

Some phonetic/vibey similarity with “Mai” and “Ty”

And adding in Chit Sang (another commoner!) (presumably!)...

Another two-word name

Introduces the ‘ng’ ending

Leverages a lot of the consonant sounds we already saw

Uses an “it” usage of the "I" vowel (vs Iroh’s I)

So pulling it all together, in addition to those foundational consonant and vowel sounds, we also see that the royal family has a distinct naming convention that may be rooted in archaic naming styles.

And we can start to build out some ideas around gendered naming, family/honorific naming, and some potential class/pre-unification culture differences, as well as some space to speculate about why Iroh and Lu Ten’s names are so different from the rest of the royal family, too (as well as the ammunition to suggest that Zhao comes from a family of suck-ups lol)

Moving onto the Earth Kingdom (where I truly went wild)…

We start off with Toph, Haru, Long Feng, Kuei, Jet, Bumi, Poppy, Lao, and there's a lot of varability here!

Generally, the names are one or two syllables and start with a consonant

We see more double-vowel pairs (uei, ao), perhaps in the upper class but just as many single vowels

Consonants are hard or soft, and don't seem to group like the Water Tribe or FN royals did around particular sounds

Names end in vowels or hard sounds or softer 'ph' and 'ng'

Those guardrails are fairly wide and broad for feeling out distinct-sounding names, but it makes sense given how huge the Earth Kingdom is and its history of war, displacement, movement, etc.

So for a fic like That Love You've Been Looking For which was super EK-centric and focused on worldbuilding, I ended up breaking it down into broad regions and leaning into place names as well to help articular some basic rules:

In the southwest (Gaoling, Toph, Lao, Poppy), I decided that there’d be a mix of single and two-word names, and that the ‘ph’ ending would be used by women and the ‘ng’ ending for men

On the western coast (Haru, Omashu, Bumi), I went with primarily two-syllable names that follow a ONE-two pattern (PA-lo, BU-mi, CHE-lu, HA-ru) and went with mostly softer consonants

In the north (Ba Sing Se, Si Wong Desert, Long Feng), I went with short multi-word names where each part would be a single syllable

And in the center I was kind of pulling it together from what was left, but I went with names that end with an ‘an’ or ‘in’ sound and echoed some of the place names I was using

So we have some building blocks for the various regions, this time that we can use to indicate where someone’s family could be from and to give each region a more specific feel.

For Kyoshi...

I generally lift the Earth Kingdom rules, but view it as more of a trade-center and melting pot (Suki could fit in WT or FN rules), so it's deliberately a lot looser and with more variation.

And everywhere has a Lee/Li, so none of these rules are hard and fast, and I imagine too that there’s a ton of cultural mixing and fads and trends and whatnot in naming across various regions.

A quick note from a process standpoint--

This approach is very much not trying to find names within various existing real-world cultures. If I'm writing ATLA canon-world, I tend to stick to the idea of leveraging real-world contexts as a base rather than a strict guide. Something I wanted to flag, as there are other ways to go about OC naming that lean much more heavily into researching the naming conventions of various cultures throughout history, thinking about translation and name meaning, etc.

And also, if I need a lot of names, I'll often use the Fantasy Name Generator and look for names that either fit or that I can tweak into the above 'rules.' (Otherwise I accidentally start giving people ship names lol, RIP to Mailee, Maizula, and Yutara, you lived on under new personas)

I also don't always dig as deeply into the way names can signify class or status or whatnot, either. It can be very fun, but sometimes you just need a one-off name so your POV character looks like they actually interact with the people they nominally see every day haha

Editing 10/24 to add - this is representative of my prior approach, going forward I have shifted to leveraging real names as much as possible and building headcanons around, for example, different real-world inspired cultural influences within the nations

[firenaition]

sad girl: ch. 10 is HERE!

featuring needy aang, cockblocker zuko, and a whole lotta dark azula action

[scribbledonausednapkin]

Six Sentence Sunday

Thank you for the tag @j-1173 !!

Rules: Share the six most recent, or semi-recent sentences of your WIP

From my recent update to Azula Always Lies (Ch. 7 Compassion)

“Wait! Be careful!” Zuko heard the soldier calling after him, but he was too focused on stepping mindfully while finding the quickest path to the attackers. He ended up making a wide arch around the main group of fluffy, hard shelled babies until he came up behind the gull-crabs. They squawked and snapped their claws at him as he tried to shoo them away. Then the group began to charge him, so he went to draw a flame, stepping back into a defensive stance - but his heel caught on shell and he fell back onto his butt. He hit the ground hard, groaning.

He had failed; the seal-turtles were about to become breakfast.

--

Who doesn't love Zuko and animals?

Tagging (with no pressure): @halfhoursonearth-writes, @poeticmoonspirit, @juniperhillpatient

If you don't want to be tagged I am sorry just lmk and I won't tag again.

If you do want to be tagged also lmk and I will do so next time! (I just tagged blogs I know enjoy ATLA)

[shoutoutout]

Show You What All the Howling Is For - Ch. 12 (June/Azula)

The years pass and her mother never returns. So what’s more pathetic, really?

Avoiding mirrors because she is terrified to see her…

Or avoiding mirrors because she hopes she will?

—

June and Azula take a trip, 12 years after the finale.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54540040/chapters/160593643