#got some water bender action there

[gatheringstars]

It’s White Boi Spring

[zutarawasrobbed]

ALTA Live Action Season 1 Initial Thoughts (Spoilers)

I just finished the season, and holy shit!

Quick things that need to be addressed/debunked:

“Sokka is no longer sexist”

I dont know what people were talking about when they talked about Sokka’s “sexism” being removed. It’s still there! But not in the overly exaggerated comical way it was in the original.

In fact, it’s more in line with ancient practices of indigenous tribes where men are seen as protectors and providers while women are expected to nurture. It’s not the same “boys are better than girls” narrative in the original.

Additionally, Suki still beats the fuck out of Sokka and humbled him really quick. They’re super cute by the way. And I love Suki’s “I like my men a little stupid” vibe. She’s great.

“Aang doesn’t run away like the original!”

That is not true. He does run away, but not because he’s trying to get away from the temple but instead to get some air because he feels overwhelmed. He’s more like taking a quick break and planning to come back. It’s not exactly the same, but almost. It also is done in a way where his guilt feels more justified.

“Katara doesn’t talk about her mom anymore like the original”

This is true… BECAUSE THEY SHOW INSTEAD OF TELL. I was honestly not prepared to see the death Kya in such graphic detail and how Katara was in the room hiding when it happened. It’s honestly really sad and more heartbreaking.

Plot:

The timeline seems to be ambiguous compared to the original series where it was “end of current year.” In fact, they repeat “three years” a few times, which makes me think if the series get greenlit for more seasons, it would be over a three year period.

Jet is still villainized but given more nuance and not a simple "good v bad" way like the original.

Zuko’s story about how he got his scar has additional lore that makes him come across as even more selfless and compassionate. The additional context of the platoon he advocated for in the war meeting, becoming his current crew, really added to the story.

Eradicated the nepotism baby plot point with Pakku only training Katara when he finds out he used to date her grandma. Instead, Katara proves herself and ends up teaching the other male fighters the techniques she learned from watching other benders use their elements and mimics them.

This season doesn’t have Aang learning any waterbending, but rather facing his trauma and the consequences of his actions. He get roasted by all his past lives. Which is an interesting choice, but I think it works well in how they executed it.

This season seems to actually be Katara focused and her journey of learning waterbending which I honestly loved because it really hits home the element of “water” being the story of an untrained waterbender learning her element. But, I do think Aang could’ve learned a little bending. It felt a little off.

Katara ends up advocating for all waterbending women and ends up leading an army of both men and women during the siege. She’s really bad ass and is given the title of master without being formally trained by Pakku. She made herself a master.

I think the timeline is a little wonky because of how much they had to fit in with the limited episodes they had.

Kuruk is given respect! I loved that.

June actually seems into Iroh which I thought was a funny but cool way to flip the script from the original.

The relationship between Zuko and Iroh is really beautifully executed. I love the depth they added with flashback scenes and their bond prior to the Agni Kai. It also wasn’t as frustrating watching Iroh and Zuko’s dynamic because Iroh communicated with Zuko in a way he could understand with straight answers rather than seeming to actively sabotage him with cryptic puns and shenanigans like the original.

They changed the love triangle with Yue Hahn and Sokka to be very healthy. They gave Yue autonomy and a choice in her relationship- which- again- is much more in line with indigenous cultures. Also, Hahn and Sokka’s relationship is really supportive and full of respect and no ill will.

They way they handled grief and the realities of war with the loss of life was very well done and really drove home the point that this is a war and these are child soldiers.

There’s a lot more but these are my initial thoughts. Will probably post more later.

Shipping:

Kataang is all but removed. Literally DOA. There is no indication of a crust on either side. It’s painted like a sibling relationship, which is like the original, but this time everyone seems to be on the same page. But, I swear the writers had to have read ZK fics because damn.

They canonized a popular Zutara theory/hc about the cave of two lovers and how the crystals would light up once it went completely dark instead of a “kiss” activating the crystal glow.

Speaking of the Cave of two lovers. They keep the Oma and Shu story with red and blue coloring. Making it come across more as foreshadowing than a direct link to the present tunnel story.

Sokka is put in Aang’s place with Katara in the tunnels and turned it into a story about the love of family and sibling bonds. Aang wasn’t even present.

Zuko and Katara share a meaningful look when they first see each other and continue to have a Katara centric scene followed by a Zuko centric scene and vice versa.

The scarf scene. I will not be elaborating further. If you know, you know.

Zuko and Katara fight scene in the North is epic. He still taunts her with almost the exact same dialogue but it’s so sassy- I love the banter.

Suki and Sokka were really cute and the actors had great chemistry. I think Yue and Sokka was really rushed and didn’t really feel anything about them, honestly. But I attribute that to lack of episodes to develop all that plot.

[roriaa]

When Sun and Moon meet - S3

Zuko x Fem!WaterBender!Reader Enemies to Lovers

As one of the Princesses of the Northern Water tribe, you were blessed with a gift by the moon. However you were permitted to be allowed to use the gift at all costs. From many hidden waterbending usages, the aftermath of the avatar visiting the Northern Tribe had led to your beginning journey, hiding yourself as a water bender as a princess from the Northern water tribe

Warnings: Scams, Explosions, attacks, arguing

Masterlist

�� * ‧͙ ⋆ ⁺ �� ☾ Chapter 14 - Sparky-Sparky Boom Man!!

Everything was going great. We saved a polluted village even if Katara had to lie about being “the painted lady”, Sokka got trained by a swordsman even if he had to lie about him being from the fire nation only to admit it at the end and only to reveal that the master already knew from the star, and now we were getting chased by a…metal man…? Luckily riding Appa rescued us, especially Aang which I assume that Aang was the one mental man was going for. Currently we’re watching Aang in the spirit world on the previous Avatar Roku's home. Aang got up, his mind still in the spirit world and squatted, grunting while letting out gas. The rest of us looked at each other completely bewildered at what we saw. “Do they have bathrooms in the spirit world?” Katara asked, completely confused. “As a matter of fact, they do not.” Sokka answered. 

The sun was rising by the time Aang woke up, he told us everything about the history of Avatar Roku and Sozin. From the beginning to the end. Even though Toph said all fire nation people were born evil, Aang explained how Avatar Roku was just as fire nation as Sozin but didn't turn out that way. “Do you really think friendships can really last more than one lifetime?” Toph moved her head down to the rocky floor beneath us. I grabbed her hand with mine and so did Aang. “I don't see why not.” I lifted my hand out for Katara to grab which she accepted gratefully. “Well…scientifically speaking there is no way to prove that-” “Oh Sokka just hold hands” Katara cut off Sokka’s statement, holding out her hand for Sokka to grab. Only took a few seconds for Sokka to quickly reciprocate our actions.

Sokka and I peaked above the rocks to see Katara and Toph training Aang. However the training was cut short once Toph and Katara were attacking each other instead. “Hwaaah!! Sneak attack!” Sokka jumped up to run towards Aang. Unsurprisingly, Aang caught him even if he was blind folded. “Uh you two, aren't you guys supposed to be training Aang?” I ask in the midst of their fighting. Both Toph and Katara turn towards me and immediately stop attacking each other. “Very well pupil, I believe we had enough training for today” Katara said, walking away from the muddy mess Toph and her caused. “While Katara cleans up, let's go have some fun!” Toph said in determination, using her earth bending to get rid of the mud on her. “Yeah!!” Sokka and Aang said excitedly. “I pass, I'm going to go with Katara, you three have fun.”

  ҉   ☾

“Y/N I have been meaning to ask this for a while.” Katara spoke up midway after breaking the crab. “Yes?” I responded, waiting for her question. “When we were at Ba Sing Se…” I inhaled at the mere thought of Ba Sing Se, Katara heard but she still continued. “You did something to control my body when we were getting attacked by Azula and her friends.” Katara explained. “Do you think fire nation grabs would taste different than Water tribe crabs?” I asked, attempting to change the topic. “Y/N you know what im talking about.” I sighed deeply as I turned to her. “I blood bended Katara.” I said straightforwardly. “How?!” Katara moved closer to me. “I am not even sure how! It always happens when I'm in extreme danger.” I explained. “I am not a good water bender, I only had one trainer in Ba Sing Se but even then I'm still not experienced in water bending. When I get upset or scared even the clouds start to rain.” I continued on with my rant. “I can teach you!” Katara spoke up excitedly. “No Katara, focus on training Aang instead of me.” I laugh, brushing her off. “I wasn't even supposed to use water bending in the first place.” I muttered under my breath, having memories from the northern tribe. 

“Y/N, where we live only men are allowed to use waterbending, that's their job…to protect” My father turns me to show the boys learning how to water bend. I look at my own hands in disappointment. “Especially people like you and your sister, you're both very important to this nation”.

I snap out of my thoughts to see Sokka, Aang and Toph running towards us with baskets of supplies. Where on earth did they get that stuff? Katara immediately read my mind and asked “Where did you guys get the money to buy all this stuff?” Aang takes a bite out of the apple, responding with his mouth already full from chewing the apple 

“Toph got us money” he took a seat on top of the rocky texture of the ground to continue explaining “She scammed ones of those guys in town who moves shells around all sneaky-like”

Sokka interjected with his adlibs “She used earth bending to win the game, classic!”

However, Katara wasn't at all phased by what they’re saying, putting her hands on her hips “Ah, so she cheated” she states. Toph stopped midway her bite to defend herself “Hey, I only cheated because he was cheating”

I sweatdropped at their explanation “Aren't we already on the edge of getting caught? If you guys continue these scams we would have an additional problem.” 

Toph rolled her eyes at my reasonability, I simply sigh as a response. Kids her age are horribly stubborn. “I'm just saying, this isn't something we should make a habit of doing,” Katara said.

“Why? Because it’s fun, and you hate fun?”

How is this considered fun? Maybe other nations find this entertaining, in the northern tribe this isn't at all seen as a hobby. 

Aang stands up pulling his bandana a little back to show some visibility to his arrow on his forehead. “Katara, I’ll personally make you an avatar promise that we won’t make a habit of doing these scams” Aang bowed, showing his nation's promise. 

That promise didn't last however, this led to some arguing, disagreeing and distancing from each other. What took a huge turn was when Toph apologized to Katara only for Katara wanting to participate in a scam. I shook my leg up and down waiting for Toph and Katara to finish their scam. I personally found their scams to be dangerous but if you're the one initiating the scam first you really shouldn't complain when someone gives you the same taste of your medicine. Usually these scams take a lot shorter than this, they really should be finished by now. Clearly we all felt the same with the time they were taking and decided to start looking for them.

  ҉   ☾

“This place is completely empty” I said, while looking around confused. It wasn't even that late, people still come out during this time. “Where do you think they might be?” Sokka asked as Aang hummed in response “Where do you think everyone is?” I felt shivers up my spine, already turning my body to look back, suddenly I got yanked by Aang, moving me to dodge the attack. The explosion caused the area around us to smoke, making me cover my mouth and muttering a small thanks under my breath. “It's a sparky-sparky boom man!” Aang popped up. Sokka followed, rubbing his head from the impact “You know, I'm starting to think that name doesn’t quite fit.”

“Then decide to change it later!” I huffed, popping up next to Sokka. Another bullet comes forward to hit us, instantly making us run away. I use my water bending, attempting to aim at his face before another bullet flies straight at me, making me miss, aiming ice at his feet instead. He was unable to move for a second before aiming at Aang, making him fly above, slamming his head against the statue. Sokka and I internally wince from the contact. Suddenly we hear footsteps behind us, we turn around to see Katara and Toph. “Oh thank the spirits you're safe!” I said joyously. “Where’s aang?” Katara asked worriedly.

Shortly Katara blows ice directly at the metal man’s head, making him unable to hit the beams from his forehead. We pick up quickly before running away to Appa. “Hey I got it! The perfect name for that guy, Combustion man.” Sokka said excitedly. Toph immediately brushed away his response by giving an encouraging response that feels somewhat out of character for her.

<- Back - Next ->

a/n: guess who is back...and there is no Zuko mentioned... IM SORRY...So like I was planning on scrapping the whole idea of this chapter and just skip to Zuko meeting the gang (I have deleted more filler chapters) however it would be a waste cause I was like almost done with this chapter. So another filler chapter before yall get the tension between Zuko and Y/N. ANWAYS thank yall so much for waiting all these months, I was heavily unmotivated and I didnt have any interest for Zuko until now. My hyperfixations come and go at the most random times. Anyways take care of yourself!!

--

taglist: @luvkvni @katovano @karmaswitch @someonesmember @velvet-spider @sh3sa1dwhat @nerdisthenewcool @meiraloves2dmen @fqnfics101 @iluvme547 @leaderwon @yukihatesreoyo @heart4hees @4l3x1s @kkissaku @corpsebridenightamare @newjellis @fatkish@pbeckn26@jasminesacademia @kyo-kyo1 @fl9wey @icantwaittoliveandlearn @ddottie

DUE TO ME NOT POSTING ON TUMBLR IF YOU WANT TO BE ON THE TAGLIST OR YOU ASKED AND DIDNT RECIEVE PLEASE TELL ME, YOU WILL BE ADDED IN THE NEXT CHAPTERS

[mxtantrights]

Bounded by shadow and blood (10)

let me tell you right now this part is on the big side. Not too big but it's big enough! Strap in y'all we're about to see the blood bender in action and the inner circle will get some answers!! happy reading <3

azriel x magic!fem!reader

You have about a month or so before you would have to return home. Two months with basically nothing to show for it. All you have is the fact you know your brother wasn’t and never has been in the night court. 

You throw the blood blade into the tree. It hits the mark in the middle. Again.

You were getting no where. 

You were getting angry.

As quick as lighting you raise you hand and ten blood blades fly into the tree, all making a ring around the mark. You let out a strangled breath, then another.

You put your hand on your chest. 

Lars knows something but you would rather twist in the wind than ask him for help. Or got back to the night court.

A voice in the distance calls out your name. It’s familiar, it’s Thesan. You look around to see where it could be coming from. You eyes move around the trees and then towards the palace. 

There at the entrance to the garden he’s waving you over. In his hands he’s holding a piece of paper. It must be important or he would have waited for you to come inside.

You lightly jog over to the garden entrance. Thesan holds the paper, which you can see now is a letter, out towards you. 

“It’s for me?” You ask.

“Yes, it would seem someone wishes to strike a correspondence with you.” he answers.

You take the paper into your hands. It could be your brother. It could be the council. It could be Amren. It could be the night court. It could be any number of people. 

Flipping the paper around to the back you look at the seal. Red. 

Could still be your brother, the council, or Amren. She likes red.

You rip it open and unfold the letter.

“Do you wish to be alone?” Thesan asks.

You look up at him, “No. I might need your support for what’s in this letter.”

Thesan holds out his arm for you to take. You take it in yours and let him guide you to the nearest bench. You sit at the same time. You untangle your arms from his and hold onto the letter.

Your eyes run over the words quickly. You let out a shaky breath.

“What is it?” Thesan asks from your side.

“It’s my brother. He wants to meet.” You say.

“That’s great, isn’t it?” 

You look at Thesan, your eyes starting to get watery. If your brother sent you this message, it meant he wanted to explain why he left. He didn’t want to go back. If the council ever found out about this they would install you permanently.

“Why would he need to meet with me if we wants to go back home?” You ask rhetorically.

Thesan hums in agreement. 

You tuck your head into your hands. Thesan rubs circles into your back. You were teetering the edge to crying. All that has built up since you heard the bad news, you were well owed a good cry.

“When does he want to meet?” Thesan asks.

“In a few weeks. At the Day Court.” You answer. 

“Why Day?” 

You shrug your shoulders, “Who knows what goes on in his mind. I don’t understand him anymore.”

“What will you do?” He asks.

You pick your head up. The warm liquid finally falling down your cheeks. You probably looked horrible. Blood benders cry blood, something about the confusion of water and blood in the body for the first few moments. Thesan wipes the blood from your cheeks.

“Either I go and hear him out, or I turn him in for deserting. But no matter what I choose I’m next in line.” You answer.

Thesan nods his head, “We’ll think of something. I’ll call in a favor, I’ll call in the army if I have to.” 

“Oh, don’t call your Captain. I don’t want to put him in the middle of this.” You mumble sadly.

“He wouldn’t hesitate for you.” Thesan adds.

You shake your head at that.

“It’s my mess. I’ll take care of it.” you say.

“I may have a mission for you, a stress reliever if you will.”

“Anything to get my mind off of this.”

-

The dress fit you in all the right places. It felt good to distract yourself. Instead of your usual red ensemble, you were in blue-ish white for tonight. It was better to blend in with the crowd who would no doubt be in all white. Normal of the winter court attire. 

You had never been but you needed this. To go on a low-stakes mission and have a bit of fun. Who knows when the next time you’ll have fun will be.

With bated breath you press down on your dress. You look over yourself in the mirror one last time. You hair was done, so were your nails. You opted out of makeup for the night.

You grab your bag and your cloak. As you open the door you can feel it. The presence of another person in the palace. There were many people around the palace but you were used to them already. This person didn’t quite belong. 

You close your door and track the new comer. The closer you get the more you recognize them. Night court. Inner circle. When you reach the door to the tea room you feel more. More people.

You open the door slowly. As you do you see them winnowing in.

Rhysand with Feyre. Cassian with Nesta and Morrigan. Azriel with the other sister, Elain, and Amren.

When Amren sees you she smiles and runs over to you. You hug. It feels like it's been forever.

“I still can’t get used to that.” Cassian says.

You pull away from her, “What are you doing here?” 

“I figured a friend might be the best solution right now.” Thesan says from behind you.

Amren smiles at you, “I wanted to come alone but...” 

“Right. Well, I guess we’re all going to the winter court.” you continue.

“Actually me, the high lady and her sisters are having dinner with Thesan and the captain.” Rhysand corrects you.

That ticked you off. He and Nesta would be here while you were out. It was already clear at this point that they wanted to figure out more about you. Whether they thought Thesan was the way to do it or to snoop around your room is unclear. 

You looked to Thesan.

“I’m banned from talking about you.” The high lord speaks for himself.

You look at him with surprise. You weren’t expecting that.

“I’m on strict orders to take them home if anyone does.” Feyre says.

You nod your head once.

“Well all this waiting around is making me antsy. Amren your with me.” Cassian says.

Amren leaves your side without a word. Before you can even protest, she, Cassian and Morrigan are out of the tea room. Cassian winnowing them to the ball. Which meant that the only other person who was going, and the only way for you to get there, was Azriel. 

You meet his eyes for the first time. He’s looking at you now. Maybe he’s over whatever it is that happened at the match. He clears his throat and offers you his arm. 

You look back at Thesan, who nods his head, and you turn back to Azriel. You walk over to him and wrap your arm around his. The darkness surrounds you.

-

You can feel his eyes on you. It’s like whatever happened didn’t happen and he was back to watching you now. None of them seem to offer you any details about it. And you don’t want to ask.

Who were you to ask questions when you wouldn’t answer theirs?

You grabbed a new glass with the winter themed drink. It wasn’t even getting to you, they must be watered down. You take a sip and look over your shoulder. As soon as you do, Azriel who was looking at you from across the room, looks away and busies himself with something else.

“I’ve never seen you around.” A voice pull you from your thoughts.

You turn back and he stands in front of you. A tall man, blonde hair and blue eyes. He has a single braid in his hair, and a charming smile.

“This is my first time in the winter court.” You say.

It’s a lie. You’ve been here before for undercover missions. But you weren’t about to admit to that. Especially not to a stranger, no matter how handsome he is.

“It’s no wonder the lakes seemed to finally unfreeze this evening.” He flirts.

You can’t help the smile on your lips, you almost let out a laugh at his audacity.

“I’m sorry, it’s just—I’m not that good in social settings.” He rushes out.

You raise your eyebrows, “Then this ball is probably not the right place for you.” 

He laughs.

“No it’s probably not. But I can’t go against my parents.” He says.

Parents, you think to yourself. His parents made him come here? Well that sounded a bit interesting. Where could this go, you wonder.

You hold out your hand and introduce yourself with your name. He takes your hand and places a kiss on top of it. He tells you his name is Elias. 

Elias is fun to talk to. He sees the world a bit differently than other fae. He wants to travel different courts and also wants to travel outside of the continent. For such a free spirit, you wonder why he hasn’t just done it already.

“What ties you here? I mean, you seem like you want to go right now.” You say to him.

He puts down his drink on the table and signals for another. A server comes and gives him a new glass, taking his old one. Elias asks if you want another glass but you decline.

“Certain duties.” He answers.

It’s the most plain answer he’s given you all night. You struck a chord. It no doubt tied back to his parents. Maybe they needed someone to provide for them. Or they would miss him too much to let him go. 

“Surely your parents would understand.” You speak.

“Oh they do, but it’s not really their choice either.” He answers.

It seems so vague. You want to know more about what he means. You form your lips to ask another question but the procession starts. The doors open and the high lord and his lady start walking into the ballroom. 

Elias dips closer to you and whispers in your ear, “There’s my cue.”

You watch in amazement as he gets up and scurries to the back of the procession. Of course. He couldn’t go anywhere he’d like whenever he’d like because he’s the high lord’s son.

Elias looks over at you with a guilt ridden face. You smile at him. It’s not like you felt you were lied to. You were lying to him anyways. But the fact he seemed to worry that he didn’t tell you was the wrong choice really comforted you.

You watch as the high lord and his lady take their seats at the end of the ballroom. Elias is at the front of the crowd now.

Kallias starts talking to his guest. You take this moment to scan the crowd to find where the inner circle went. You can see Amren standing next to an older male. Morrigan is with Cassian, at the food table. And Azriel…is no where to be found. 

You do another scan of the crowd to confirm that you can’t find him. Where did he go?

The high lord says something that makes the crowd applaud. You find yourself clapping to keep up with appearances. Then the high lord requests that the ball goes on. The crowd disperses a bit amongst themselves.

It’s not long until Elias finds you. It actually takes less than a minute. You smile when he appears in front of you with two skewers of what seems to be food.

“Frozen candy.” He says.

He offers it to you and you take it. You slide one of the ice crystals off the skewer and into your mouth. It tastes like cold sugar. It’s weird and tasty at the same time.

“Woah.” You speak with your mouth full.

“I know. I only come to these things for the ice candy.” He says and takes one into his mouth.

“Should I bite?” You ask. You realize how intimate that sounded and try to course correct but Elias beats you to it.

“That candy? No. Other things, maybe.” He quips.

You smile.

-

The night is winding down. Most of the guests have left or are still lingering around for the drinks. The high lord and his lady left an hour ago. Elias though, he stayed.

You, Amren and Elias were sharing a table. Talking about nonsense at this point. She was trying to get him to visit you in the dawn court. Something about a date.

That’s where you mind was when the man came bursting in with a body in his arms. A tiny body, a child. He screamed that he needed help. A few people ran over to the scene. Elias got up and you followed after him. 

The man looked at Elias and recognized him as the high lord’s son. He begs him to help. The child in his arms is bleeding and freezing the wound may be the only way to get het to some real help. Elias kneels down to help the child. You place a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He looks up at you, lips parted in shock. It’s not like you wanted him to let the child die, but you know what it looks like.

You kneel down next to him and put your hand on the wound. Blood benders tried to stay out of the spotlight because of their abilities. If people knew the capabilities of your kind, you would never see peace. You’re lucky that the first was between blood benders and humans was way past your time.

You look at the young child, “What’s your name?”

He looked not older than ten. He was too young to die. He looks at you with faint eyes.

“Perrin.” He says.

You smile, “Perrin, I need you to keep your eyes open. Can you do that?”

You don’t wait for him to answer. You start to clot the blood inside of his body. His breathing slowly starts to even out. The older man holding onto him looks at you in disbelief. He can’t form words.

When the blood inside of his body is finished clotting, you work on closing the wound. It only takes a matter of moments. The blood cells work with the skin cells to close the gash. You remove your hand and inspect your handiwork. It’s like Perrin was never hurt. All that’s really left to show for it is the hole in his shirt. But that is all that remains.

You look down at your dress. It’s stained. Thesan is going to kill you. If he sees it like this. You stand back up and wipe the blood from your hands on your dress. Its only then, when you have finished, that you realize the crowd you have drawn around you. Morrigan, Azriel and Cassian looking at you with faced filled with emotions you couldn’t describe. Elias is still kneeling, but he’s looking up at you now, a slight smile on his face.

“He said you would help, but I didn’t believe him.” The older man says.

You look at the older man now, “Who said that?”

“Kynas.” 

The mention of the name runs your blood cold like ice. You hadn’t heard it in a while. You suppose you shouldn’t be surprised. Your ex husband was exiled, not dead.

[highfantasy-soul]

Storylines NATLA Cut

While the 8 episodes of season 1 managed to weave together most of the plot lines (or at least themes from the episodes) from the animated show into the live action, there were a few notable storylines that were cut. I wanted to go over those plots and speculate as to why they might have been cut and whether we might see them in future seasons woven in (like how a couple things from future seasons were woven into this season).

Imprisoned

One of Katara's first big leadership moments was in episode 6 of the animated series when the Gaang stumbles upon an earth nation village taken over by the Fire Nation. All their benders had been rounded up and sent to a prison so that they couldn't fight back - the Gaang obviously get involved, plot ensues, and Katara gets herself arrested so that she can find the prison and free Haru (the earthbender she inadvertently gotten arrested). With the help of Aang and Sokka providing the earthbenders with some coal to bend, she inspires them to fight back and they free the prisoners.

I think this storyline actually naturally fits much better in book 2: Earth. The focus of season 1 of the live-action was water bending and the avatar state - I think a storyline focused on earth bender resistance fits perfectly in season 2 where we get to see even more of how oppressive Fire Nation rule is and how they're 1) seeking to take out all the other benders and 2) doing their whole imperialist thing with stealing natural resources from the populace they're colonizing.

Katara has her moment to speak on her mother with Jet in episode 3 of the live-action and I think it's a natural change to keep the rebellious side-character count manageable for now. Jet fills the role to show Katara's desire for rebellion and standing up to the fire benders and while I think the Imprisoned storyline is really important, I think they've got plenty of room to do that in season 2. A big part of that story was Katara leading people to stand up when they hadn't been before and I think there's a nice homage to that in the final episode of the live-action when she gets all the women in the North to stand up to Pakku and demand to fight.

So I don't think they've fully nixed this storyline, I think they'll include it in the Gaang's trek through the Earth Kingdom on their way to Ba Sing Se. To me, the live action is doing a better job at building the characters rather than starting out with them fully formed. Katara has learned through the first season of the live action about all different leadership styles and has grown emotionally to a point where she's not only confident in standing up against injustice, but also leading others in that fight against oppressors. I think moving her leadership skills from episode 6 of season 1 to season 2 will let us really see her journey to that point rather than just having her start there.

2. The Pirates

In the animated show, Katara doesn't get the Waterbending Scroll until episode 9 of season 1, everything she does with waterbending up until that point was just stuff she figured out herself. In the animated show, the Gaang stops and Katara starts training Aang in waterbending, he shows off and washes all their supplies away so they have to go into town to buy more. This is where Aang randomly buys a bison whistle (why a shopkeeper in the Earth Kingdom would have a bison whistle is not explored) and the group also is invited onto a pirate ship to brows their wares. Katara notices a waterbending scroll and it's far too expensive for them to buy, so Katara steals it from them (as they made it clear they stole it from its rightful owner). A main theme of this episode is showing how naturally gifted Aang is and Katara getting frustrated because she's had to work so hard for her little bit of waterbending and Aang just surpasses her immediately. Zuko and Iroh show up looking for a pai sho piece and shenanigans ensue with the Gaang fighting off both pirates and Zuko, but of course, they manage to escape.

So the two main things in this episode were 1) getting the waterbending scroll so Katara could learn more formal forms and 2) dealing with how the dynamic of the group changes as Aang easily surpasses Katara in waterbending power.

I like that the live action tied the waterbending scroll directly to Katara's family and them hiding their culture to keep it alive until the time came when they could revive it once more. I think it's a much more impactful way for her to get the scroll than just some random pirates. It also allows her to actually train from the beginning rather than just being naturally good - in the live-action, Katara really has to work at her waterbending and get help. While she's a naturally fast learner and super powerful, she needs at least some form of guidance whether that be how to get in the right spiritual mindspace for bending or the physical movements for different forms provided by the scroll. Animated Katara has already been doing very advanced moves (bending water out of Aang's lungs, lifting a fish, throwing water and freezing it, etc) and it doesn't really feel like the animated show continues to show the new stuff Katara learns from the waterbending scroll - it's just the water whip and then the scroll is forgotten (almost like this is an episodic kid's show where each story is largely self-contained and plot points rarely arc into other episodes).

As it's the episode were Aang really starts learning waterbending and they've held off on having that part of his journey in the live action for now, it makes sense that they nixed it. It's a fun character building episode, but in the grand scheme, everything accomplished here can be accomplished elsewhere (and possibly in season 2). Katara feeling a bit miffed that Aang picked everything up quickly while she had to work really hard at it can easily be moved to season 2 when they address Aang learning the new bending styles. I also like how they moved him getting the bison whistle at a random shop in this episode to Bumi having made it for Aang back when they were both kids.

Of course, they do give easter eggs for this plot as well as the great divide one in episode 6 of the live-action, so it's possible the Gaang did have similar adventures, just off-screen.

3. The Fortune Teller

I'm perfectly fine with them nixing the plot of this storyline and moving the themes of 'take destiny into your own hands, don't look to others to tell you what to do without examining their methods of determining your own destiny' and scattering it through the entire season. The hard plot sets up Kataang as a couple which I didn't particularly like, nor did I feel like it followed the actual theme of the episode. Katara is obsessed with believing everything the fortune teller predicted and for part of the story, the lesson is 'that's bull, make your own destiny, just because she said it doesn't make it true' but then when it comes to her marrying a powerful bender, suddenly that lesson is thrown out and she realizes that Aang is a powerful bender so maybe they will end up together? It felt like a lot of mixed messages with the goal of setting up a 12 year old with a 14 year old and like I've said before, I'm not a fan of child romances. Once they turn 15, ok, but 12? No.

4. Aang's part in Bato of the Water Tribe

I think it was a great beat in the animated show to have Aang so afraid that Sokka and Katara might leave him for their "real" family - then have them confirm to him that they're with him all the way. The storyline does hammer home how alone in the world Aang feels and his fear that everyone will leave him either because they have 'family' of their own or his path is just too difficult. While the character beat was good to include, I think it's too big of a character beat to be relegated to only a portion of an episode in the live-action. I think if they want to explore Aang's fear of abandonment, they'll need to spend a good deal of time on it not only because it's a big part of him but also because to this day, some fans haven't forgiven Aang for hiding that map - if they want to do it justice, we're going to need more than a quick blurb to understand Aang's motivations and give the audience time to forgive him. 

I'm glad they took Sokka's part of that episode and gave him the spotlight - and the spotlight could remain on celebrating Water Tribe culture rather than having Aang in the background making throwing up faces at everything. I think that the live action can still add in the ideas around Aang's insecurity over Katara and Sokka leaving him to go back to their people, and if they add it into season 2, I think it'll hit even harder after already seeing Bato in that season 1 flashback.

5. Sokka's Strategies

 20 episodes in the animated show gave Sokka a lot of opportunity to come up with unique strategies to win in unexpected ways such as using explosives to 'open' the door to Roku's temple, the ventilation shafts to get the coal to the earth benders in Imprisoned, and him tricking the pirates into fighting Zuko and co. While at first, I thought not having so much of that in the live-action was taking away from Sokka's character, on a re-watch, I realized that they didn't remove it, they actually gave the origin for it. Sokka's character journey in season 1 of the live-action was about him accepting that he could be more than 'just' a big strong warrior to help his people, he was allowed to explore his ingenuity too. It's only after he meets Sai the Mechanist that he starts to come up with plans to get them out of situations or form battle strategies. I think it was a great, subtle, way to show Sokka coming into his own and beginning to come up with great plans alongside his warrior skills.

I know some fans of the OG show absolutely love every side quest - and more screen time in plots that aren't all that important give a lot of space for character 'down time bonding' that a tighter story structure just doesn't have room for. I think that most of the animated show's character beats and lessons in each of their episodes was really good (with a few exceptions - one of which in The Great Divide I think the live action actually took and made much BETTER) but when making an adaptation in a completely different format, stuff is just going to have to be left on the cutting room floor.

I LOVE everything the live action added in it's place (expanding Aang and Zuko's conversation during the Blue Spirit section of episode 6, all the Fire Nation royal family stuff, everything about Gyatzo, and Sokka and Katara's spirit visions) so I'll forgive leaving out some beats from the OG. I still think that several of these storylines will make their way into season 2 in one way or another, so I'm holding off on fully declaring them 'nixed' from the live action.

[aangarchy]

Netflix atla live action review ep 7-8

Home stretch baby. I figured since i love the source material i should just be able to enjoy it, or at least be entertained by it somewhat. But even that was just not possible. I pirated it after the first three episodes just bc i didn't want to give netflix the satisfaction of a view.

It's not so much the acting, the costumes or even the bad/mediocre cgi, it's the writing. It's an absolute shitshow, a mess of the highest caliber. For someone who claims to love the source material, it really seems like Albert Kim didn't understand why a lot of the things in the original worked the way they did. Things that are important for character growth got removed, and lore that we normally don't see til later on in the show (or even in a completely different story within this universe!!) got crammed in. For no good reason too bc it doesn't really add anything, just gives us another obstacle or useless exposition that's supposed to explain another useless thing they added.

Both of the last episodes take place in the north pole. This makes sense somewhat because in the original all three of the last episodes took place there. The reason they did this in the original is to have room for all of the stories that still need to take place (pakku, zuko, spirit world, koh, waterbending training, sokka and yue etc.) However in this version, even though minutes wise we have more time, we have less story. Like way less. Also episode 7 proportionally is much shorter than 8 and it really gives issues with pacing.

Let's start with what annoyed me most. Where is the waterbending training? Where is it? The season's title is Water and Aang bent ZERO water this entire season unless he was in the avatar state. Katara "trains" yes, but it's mostly practicing moves she found on the scroll (which gran gran just gave to her? Why didn't this woman give it to her sooner???). She gets NO guidance from anyone, and the way she gets better at bending each time is because a BOY told her encouraging things. A BOY. In the OG we get Pakku saying "raw talent alone is not enough", which makes sense because bending in this universe is an extension of martial arts, and you have to train to become good at martial arts. This LA show however treated bending like a magic power, basically giving some mumbo jumbo about balance and a clear head and think of the people you love to become a better bender. And while yes, your mental headspace also is important (as highlighted in the original where zuko couldn't bend anymore bc he had no aggression left) it wasn't the only factor, it wasn't even the main factor.

When we arrive at the North Pole, Pakku and the chief of the North both expect Aang to help with battle strategy in order to stop the attack bc they're already aware it's coming. Aang tells them he doesn't really know how (wtf were they even expecting it mean that is a whole 12yr old) and they turn away going "guess we can't count on the avatar" like? Dude?? If they have such good intel that they already know the fire nation is preparing an attack, and that the Avatar is alive, how tf did you not hear that the Avatar is also 12 years old and far from a master of the four elements? Idk this weirded me out.

They removed the deserter episode, which means Aang doesn't renounce firebending, which means we get no storyline of Aang dealing with his conflicted feelings surrounding firebending because fire gives life, not just destruction. Katara also doesn't find out she can heal naturally. We just get told that healing is just a thing all waterbenders can do if they train for it. Katara's necklace has no significance at all in the story currently. Yugoda doesn't recognize that Katara is Kanna's granddaughter. Katara's gran gran being from the north originally doesn't play part in the story at all. Katara doesn't even once utter the words "this necklace used to be my mother's". Idk why that bothers me so much but it does. They also removed her rage at not being allowed to fight. Sure this show's Katara also goes to fight Pakku, but literally everytime she speaks she just sounds reasonable. She fights him not because she's So Enraged at not being allowed to become the master she's meant to be, but because the script demands it. She says it so matter of factly too. She's like a mellowed out shell of who Katara is supposed to be. I feel like this overall for her character in this show btw. I don't blame Kiawentiio bc i saw clips of her performance in other works (anne with an e notably) and she's good. This genuinely just seems like poor writing and directing. They removed all of Katara's passion. She's not warm, she's not feisty, she's not angry, she's not nurturing, she's also not flawed at all. I hate to say it but in this version she's giving Mary Sue, especially bc she just learns waterbending on her own, and then gets called a master out of nowhere. That's not how that's supposed to work. You're supposed to earn the term master.

Let's talk about Yue. Amber Midthunder is a great actress, but damn, that wig. Their budget was over 100 million dollars and yet they couldn't give my girl a lace front? Her wig was so structured and stiff, and if it were any other context like cosplay or a drag show this would have been perfect. Now it just looked really unnatural and instead of the hair being platinum it was gray. Yue's character got given more to do here. They changed the story to have her break her own engagement, but it's implied that the reason she did this is bc she met Sokka in the spirit world and... fell in love? Idk it was a bit weird. Both Suki and Yue were inexplicably entranced with Sokka. In the OG it's implied that Yue likes Sokka bc he's so different from the boys in the north, kind of like a city girl falling in love with a country boy. But here it feels different, he doesn't stand out at all compared to the other boys, and Hahn isn't a dickhead like the OG. I will say i like that Yue is a stronger character here. She takes charge of her own destiny and she is the one to realize that she can save the moon spirit, and wasn't told by someone else that she could do it. I am confused by them making her a waterbender, but i'm not mad at that change per se. I liked her sacrifice scene, her own acting was great. Sokka however... i genuinely burst out laughing, like so loud. The zoom in on his face, the expression, it was too much and too little at once. Overall, Yue's story was okay. Was it better than the original? Debatable. But it wasn't bad and that's a win.

We get Avatar Kuruk way earlier than we originally got him. I'm still kind of confused about the whole "you can talk to past Avatars but only in their shrine with their statue" thing, because if that's the case how in the hell is Aang ever gonna ask advice from Roku (or Kyoshi, since the writers clearly have a bias towards her and want to make her the main Avatar guide ig) without having to travel all the way to the shrine? Can they only talk in the one specific shrine or can we take a miniature set of Avatar action figures with us just in case we ever need advice? Also this lore abt the shrines and statues is flawed at best bc later on Kuruk shows up for Aang during the fight, while they're not present at the shrine. Either way, Kuruk was far from the go with the flow Avatar he was characterized as in the original. I know that we got some insight into Kuruk's story in the Kyoshi novels, and turns out it's a lot darker than expected, but Kuruk never let that change his character. He always remained chill, or at least kept up the facade, and i don't think OG Kuruk would be the type of man that is angry about how his life turned out. In this version, Kuruk is this scared, mean, bitter man who is really unsatisfied with his destiny, which he lashed out at Aang for. He seemed really angry at Aang to for no good reason. We're also not supposed to know this part about Kuruk's life yet. It's too much information and de waste time learning about his life story, the only reason we learn it in the first place is to explain the Special Spirit Killing Knife. Also the actor for Kuruk.... yikes bro. Idk which hallmark movie they pulled him from but he and his stupid polar bear hat looked like ass the whole time.

So there's this weird part about Kuruk having a Special Knife that is able to kill spirits. Idk if this is a thing from the Kyoshi novels that also made it into this show bc truth be told i haven't made it far into those novels yet at all, but it was strange to me. Somehow Zhao has this knife. We don't know how he ended up getting it (did the fire sage give it to him? I didn't see it but i might have missed it) and we pretend that this is the Only Thing that can kill spirits even when the spirits are mortal. Doesn't that negate the fact that the spirits are mortal, if they can only be killed by a Special Knife? Also there's this weird convoluted part about how the spirits actually live in the spirit world and only cross to the physical world once every ice moon to know what it feels like to be "mortal" and choose a different "mortal" form each time and this time they happened to be fish. But still, they can Only Be Killed By The Special Knife. Huh? What's the purpose of this added extra lore? I saw someone say the underlying point is that it shouldn't be this easy to kill spirits but.... that's the whole idea behind the Ocean and Moon spirits having permanent mortal forms? Them being mortal and choosing a form as insignificant as a fish, constantly circling each other to represent the precarious balance between Ocean and Moon, a balance that can be thrown off very easily. The whole point was that they're fragile so why add all this extra exposition for no reason? Why make the spirits harder to kill if in the end you're still just gonna have a guy stabbing a wet bag and not some rough spirit killing battle?

Zhao also just gets told by the fire sage that killing the moon is a thing he can do. I don't like what this changes about Zhao's character. Zhao is supposed to be this cunning man. He's scary, determined, strategically inclined, but alas overconfident and willing to go too far which ends up being his downfall. His ambition is what led him to do his own research by visiting a spirit library to find any weakness he could potentially exploit, and that's precisely what he found. In the original, Zhao always fought for his own career. His own accomplishments got him the tools to try and beat Zuko in the Avatar race. But in this version, Zhao just keeps getting handed things. He's a slippery snake that plays friends with Zuko and then tries to steal the glory from under his nose. He gets handed the archers, he gets handed the information on the moon spirit, he gets handed a war balloon (which completely ruins the surprise of the fire nation suddenly having air power at the invasion), and he gets helped by Azula of all people. It makes him look a bit chumpy in this story, and it really worsens his villain qualities.

On a completely other note, this LA seems to have a thing for making adults yell at a 12yr old Avatar for leaving the world behind, and it doesn't make any sense, because in this story Aang left on Appa for a joyride to clear his head. Aang didn't purposely leave. He had every intention of returning after an hour. Yet every adult in this show, even the past Avatars that know damn well Aang didn't flee from his responsibilities, yells at him bc he accidentally got encased in ice. And somehow this Aang gets made to feel worse about it than OG Aang even though he deserves it way less bc this Aang didn't actually run away! I don't like what this changes about Aang's character. In the OG, Aang has one fatal character flaw and that's avoiding responsibility. He runs away, and has problems with taking accountability for what his actions cost the world. He goofs around, plays games and likes to have fun to avoid having to face his destiny, all while carrying the guilt and blame for the century war. It's a huge part of Aang's character journey. The guilt he feels isn't misplaced bc Aang knows he ran off, and he knows that the world is in its current state because of his decision. In the end he takes responsibility by showing up to the fight with Ozai alone. In this LA, even though by all means Aang shouldn't feel responsible, he ends up taking responsibility right away. He goes to Kyoshi Island, not to goof around and ride giant koi, but because he knows he can talk to Kyoshi there. Kyoshi yells at him for leaving (again, why? She knows he didn't run away) and gives him a vision about the watertribe getting destroyed. Instead of panicking about it (like OG Aang did after finding out abt the comet) he just accepts that he needs to go and help. And while this Aang does get to have fun moments (i especially loved how in the first episode he sees playing watertribe children and immediately joins them, that was quintessential Aang), he just seems very down and serious a lot of the time. He's scared of people getting hurt and is very worried abt the safety of his friends to the point where he agrees with Pakku and tells Katara she shouldn't fight. It's not Aang at all bc OG Aang was rooting for Katara when she fought Pakku. To sum it up: i think the casting for Aang was perfect. A cute southeast asian skater kid that loves to have fun and genuinely just looked the part? Brilliant! I am genuinely not upset at Gordon's performance at all (although sometimes i wish he'd enunciate a bit better). But the writing messed up the character so much that i couldn't even feel the joy for having the perfect looking Aang. I will say Koifish Godzilla (Koizilla if you will) looked dope. What did confuse me abt the Koizilla scenes is that sometimes there was no music (which is a choice i often like bc it gives the scene extra gravitas) and then sometimes there was a majestic score playing in the back, like they couldn't choose how they were gonna execute it and just picked both. I know that's nitpicky but it bothered me nonetheless.

Speaking of Koizilla. Wtf was that thing they added about Aang "succumbing" to the ocean spirit and being "lost"? They didn't even explain it at all, but both Yue and Iroh talked about how Aang would be lost forever now. We don't get a why, we don't get a how. And "lost" is such a vague word for it too. Like would his spirit be lost and only his body remain? Would he be completely swallowed up by the ocean? Would he remain Koizilla, forever rampaging at the ice wall? They added this for extra tension i guess, but it doesn't really work when only minutes later Aang is able to return no problem bc Katara talked him out of it, so we don't even get to find out what "he'll be lost forever" means. Also: the scene with Katara talking Aang out of it was cute, but the execution was weird. Originally Katara gives this speech when Aang goes Avatar state at the southern airtemple. I like that they still kept Katara's speech to Aang bc it highlights their bond which is especially important for later on in the show, but I don't like how now Katara had to give this really heartfelt emotional speech to Aang in front of everyone else at the northern watertribe. It's supposed to be quite an intimate moment between her, Sokka and Aang as a new family, they're supposed to promise they won't let anyone harm him, which eventually calms him down. Here though Katara's just yelling these words at him in front of everyone and all the intimacy is gone. It also doesn't work as well bc we barely got any time of the gaang bonding. They spend episode 3-6 apart most of the time, so really they shouldn't feel this bond towards each other just yet. Because this LA removed a lot of the side adventures, we don't get the feeling that these kids have known each other for months.

Another thing they removed is Appa and Momo as characters. In the original they each get their own moments, we even got one whole episode with Appa as the main character (which won an award btw). Here though, Appa is solely used as a transportation animal and Momo... honestly i don't even remember what he does but i think it's mostly a small comedic bit? Also he hands the acorn to one of the characters. This is a bad change bc in these episodes Momo gets hurt so bad he nearly dies, and it has no emotional impact at all bc he's just an accessory in this story. I felt no emotional attachment to Momo and he just has no personality. I wonder how this choice is gonna play out when we get the kidnapped Appa story bc so far it's not looking good.

Anyway, for positives. I warmed up on Dallas's performance a lot, i wasn't that mad at Ian Ousley's performance and there were moments where he genuinely made me laugh. The cgi for the creatures was decent, but for the backgrounds it looked horrible. I liked that they showed how devastating the Seige of the North ended up being, with the unnamed kid and Hahn both dying. I liked the effect showing those two had on our main characters. I liked when Aang, Sokka and Katara all worked together taking out that one firenation ship. I liked the way they showed Sokka and Yue bonding. I really warmed up to the costumes as well, i still wish they dirtied it up a little to make them look less new.

There's probably some more positives but they're really minor compared to the negatives and also my brain is just done atp. I'm never gonna rewatch it for more analysis either bc i don't think i'll survive it lol. I might make another post abt my opinion on the show as a whole? Like an overall summary? Bc this shit is VERY long and i do apologize. If you made it this far, uhm. Thanks for caring abt my opinion so much that you sat down for like 10 minutes to read my angry yapping? I appreciate it.

Anyway bye

[stinkysarai]

role-swapped: sokka, and either fire sibling

made an account solely for this, but i feel like sokka role swapped with either sibling (either zuko or azula) makes some sort of sense. call me crazy (if anyone is even seeing this to call me crazy at all, then hello) all you want, but i don't know, i feel like it makes sense. though to be fair, i do really um, overanalyze things and might just be making my explanation sound really ooc and weird and too 'he's me i'm giving him my issues'. not sure. just here to be overdramatic i guess. sorta relate to all three of these characters so. take my 'it makes sense!!!11111!!11!!' with a grain of salt. also scared i got the characters all wrong. so. yeah

firstly, the similarities.

sokka and zuko:

sokka and zuko are both insecure fellas who want to prove to someone that they are honorable and worthy people; zuko wants to show his father and his nation that he is a worthy prince that should return to his rightful place for the throne, and sokka wants to show his father and his tribe that he is a strong and manly warrior, that he can protect katara and the tribe. they both have something to prove, something they want to become. they are both overshadowed by their prodigious sister and they both find themselves feeling lesser by it, just in different ways. sokka doesn't feel as useful as he wants to be and zuko feels like a failure compared to azula. they both don't quite like the fact that their skills aren't the best they believe they could be. the two of them both solve an issue between themselves: sokka learns how to overcome obstacles without bending, and zuko learns how to follow his own destiny and stand up for himself. they both have lost their mother, they both have distant fathers (except hakoda isn't distant because he wants to be, nor is he abusive, but that doesn't mean he isn't distant), and these similarities made me write this whole thing. it would be interesting to see how much would change and how much would stay the same, what life would be like for zuko and what life would be like for sokka. would their personalities swap as well? sokka's would change drastically, but i think zuko's would not change extremely.

sokka and azula:

don't get me wrong, sokka is insecure and everything, but he's also much like azula, at least, in my eyes he is. azula and sokka are both crippling perfectionists, excelling at a specific thing: azula's firebending and battle (plus regular) intelligence, and sokka's skillful planning, his own battle (and regular) intelligence, and inventing. they both see their father in a bright light, they both were heavily affected by his actions and again, they both lost their mother. due to their need to succeed and win, they both become irrational and heavily emotional when they do not. sokka blames himself for the loss during the eclipse raid, and azula has a mental breakdown when she loses against katara and zuko during sozin's comet. when they've been defeated, they break down in one way or another. and back to the first sentence, azula is insecure too. she feels unlovable and has major trust issues, and more that if i said, would make this already somewhat long thing even longer.

—

now: onto what i feel like the characters would be with roles swapped. zuko role-swapped with sokka: an insecure sixteen-year-old, angsty boy with a crippling need to be useful for his family. he misses his father dearly and wishes he could have spent more time with his mother, whose face he can't even remember. he looks like a trash bender compared to his younger sister, azula, who has blue fire and a natural, raw talent. he wants to be a warrior like his father, fighting against the monstrous water tribes. he's insecure about his unimpressive bending but learns to improve his skill and find new techniques instead of letting his self-hatred get the best of him. he helps aang, the avatar, defeat the water tribes, and while on adventures with the gaang, he learns to accept himself. he becomes more than just a planning, brooding, awkward guy; instead of making himself feel worse with his less-than-average firebending skills, he focuses more on using double swords, becoming very good at it. he rarely uses his firebending because of it, realizing that he doesn't need to be a good bender to be a good fighter/warrior. sokka role-swapped with zuko: a self-hating fifteen-year-old who misses his tribe and misses his honor. he is worthless, weak, and a failure, horrible at waterbending, unlike his gifted sister, katara. his father gave his left eye frost burn, and he is partially deaf and blind on the left side of his face due to it, but he deserved it; he spoke out of line, disrespected his elder, disrespected Ice (or water) Lord Hakoda, his own dad. ever since he was twelve, he has been looking for the missing avatar to bring back to his tribe to make his father (and tribe) proud and love him again. he travels with his honorary uncle bato, who helps him eventually turn a new leaf. bato helps him learn new skills and new techniques that help him improve his waterbending quickly, being patient with him and supporting him through his darkest moments. he realizes that what he is doing is wrong and he abandons his home and his father to help aang, the avatar whom he had been hunting constantly, learn waterbending. he learns from his mistakes and successfully becomes the Ice / Water Lord, helping aang defeat his father and simultaneously helping azula defeat his maniacal sister, katara. —

sokka role-swapped with azula: either thirteen or fifteen-year-old.(katara as zuko is aged up if sokka is fifteen, sokka as azula is aged down if he is thirteen) he is an extremely impressive waterbender, gifted and prodigious, unlike his poor older sister, katara. if he wants something he gets it, and he will go at any length to win, to defeat, to conquer. he, much like his talented father, never fail, they never fail, and they never will! he doesn't need anyone's trust or love; spirits, he doesn't need anyone. sokka'll use peoples' fear of him to get whatever the hell he wants, no matter what. his mother was right; he is a monster, and he- he takes pride in it! after his so-called 'friends' betrayed him, one for looooove and the other for, well, the one in love. ((can you tell i have no clue who to make his friends? maybe suki and yue?)) he saw her once again, taunting him while he grew furious with his stupid long hair. (stupid wolftails.) he messes his hair up, messes up once again, and throws the scissors in the mirror to try and make his dead, naive, stupid mom go away. but that's not all: even though he's perfect, even though he's supposed to be, he fucks it up. his father was supposed to be the Ocean King, and sokka himself was supposed to be the new Ice/Water Lord, but of course, his stupid sister and her stupid fire-bending friend got in the way of the water tribe's supposed-to-be success and defeated him, humiliated him. and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. he breaks down, crying nonstop and feeling utterly defeated.

azula role-swapped with sokka: she's the genius. she's the one who does the planning, it's azula. not zuko with his amazing firebending, not aang with his... dumb avatar-ness, not toph with her scary earthbending; no, it's sixteen-year old ((aged up to be oldest in the gaang like sokka is, but she can still be fourteen if u want i don't know.)) azula, the bad bender. agni, she's basically a non-bender anyway, with the way her fire can barely light a torch. but her uselessness doesn't stop her from trying to be perfect, of course it doesn't! she's useful, she knows it, she just has to figure out how. she can't strive to be anything less, not when she wants to protect her brother and her friends. not when she wants to be the next chief of the fire nation when this is all over. instead of wallowing in her own self-hatred, she decides to try something new; she decides to try bows and arrows. and agni, she's good. she decides that she doesn't need to be a master bender like zuko, aang, and toph are, because she's a master in her own way and doesn't need her firebending to be useful. she can still protect her friends and brother without relying on her bending. and while azula sometimes wishes that she were as talented as zuko is with firebending, she also understands that she is just as talented as he is without firebending, but with her bow. she accepts herself and her flaws.

—

while i think zuko and sokka's role-swap would make sense and works better, i also think that azula and sokka's role-swap works too, just a little... reachy. i guess. i don't know!!!! i just. sorta been thinking about this for too long. ahaaa i don't think this is gonna be read at ALLLL so hey guys! hey fruity gang! #awesome!

might post art idk? blegh ... SORRY TO WHOEVER READS THIS LIKE THIS IS SERIOUSLY DEF OOC IDK.

[shadowed-dancer]

I watched the Netflix atla and I have thoughts

I will break them down into positives, negatives, and assorted, but if you want the short version: it's better than the M Night Shyamalan film.

Positives

I like that Zuko's crew is the 41st division. It's a cute detail, and honestly I had always wondered how they chose soldiers to accompany an exiled prince

I actually liked Suki's characterization. Like yeah, I believe that girl has never had contact with outsiders. And I think her chemistry with Sokka is great! I can't wait for her to come back and see more of the world (her "thank you for bringing the world to me" line is cute when you consider he brought her an air, water, and fire bender... less cute that her village almost got destroyed but still)

Hot take: I don’t mind that they cut Sokka’s sexism arc. It was minimal in the original series to begin with, and with the pacing of the Netflix series it would have been pointless and rushed. I truthfully believe that if they hadn't mentioned the cut beforehand, 5 people at most would have noticed it was gone

Wow Koh the Face Stealer is SO MUCH WORSE in live action. So gross. His face BLINKS. 10/10 to whoever designed that, I hated it and recognize that it was perfect. I look forward to seeing it in my nightmares (also I don't mind the change of "don't show any expression". It still works)

Gyatso telling Aang that it wasn't his fault and that he wouldn't have been able to do anything was so sweet and important to me, especially with all the other adults in this series being turned into Grade-A assholes. It’s been a while since I watched the entire original series but were the adults THIS mean about it in the original? I know the occasional random townsperson would say "you abandoned us" but I don’t remember people like Bumi or THE OTHER AVATARS blaming him like that (I know this is the positive section but just to be clear, the positive is the Gyatso scene. Turning everyone else so mean will be touched upon in the negatives)

All of Gyatso's scenes were actually amazing. I cried. Also finding his body hit so much harder in live action.

Leaves from the Vine playing during Lu Ten's funeral and then again when Iroh chose to go with Zuko... I tearbended HARD at that one

I think they did a good job merging three story lines into Omashu. I know it may bother some fans, but for the time they had I thought combining all of those together within the city was clever. Plus, since we see the city get taken at the end of the season, we feel more invested since we spent more time there! (I'm also glad they didn't destroy the Northern Air Temple... that always bothered me)

The sets are lovely. They look so similar to the original show and it makes me happy to simply see these places come to life. I got so giddy seeing Omashu you don't even understand

I like the interpretation of Aang’s tattoo. That was actually the one thing I liked from the M Night Shyamalan film (intricate designs rather than a straight blue block) and I feel this is an even better interpretation (the designs are more subtle until he lights up)

The wink and nod to the great divide (and other episodes like the pirates) was cute. I do wish we got to see some adventures of the kids bonding, but boy am I glad they didn't feel the need to adapt the great divide

I liked that they sang secret tunnel a little early. The second the mechanist brought up the secret tunnels I burst into song on instinct, so it's only fair the characters do the same

I liked Zuko having a notebook on the avatars. Of course he would have made that. And I liked that Aang used it as a reference

I liked how they teased the "my cabbages!" line before giving us the real thing. Just a fun thing for fans of the original

Negatives

The first episode had so much exposition it actually felt exhausting. Also Zuko really came out of the gate swinging with his motivation, eh? No nuance or slowly unveiling why he wants to capture Aang? Ok...

Ozai confused me. After finishing the season I believe Ozai's motivation was "sacrifice the weak to become strong, use Zuko to fuel Azula to be better" but it felt so confusing to get there. There was a point where I thought he genuinely wanted to see Zuko grow and find the avatar, and while it's fine for Zuko to think that, it felt weird for us to be jerked around like that (especially the in-between point where it feels like he prefers his banished son to his spy-catching daughter).

I also don’t like the way he acts with Azula (again, I know it's an act, but it's a bothersome change). He calls her performance below average. What happened to "she’s a true prodigy, just like her grandfather for whom she was named"? When characters like Mai and Zhao have to tell us "he's just playing games" it feels like they are telling rather than showing. "She's a true prodigy" SHOWS US he has a very obvious favourite. "He's playing with you" TELLS US that he's lying, and we therefore need to just accept that Azula is actually his favourite even though nothing he has done supports that

I don’t like that Aang was heading North due to a premonition from Kyoshi. I always liked how "the avatar must travel the world and find their own teachers in order to care for the world". Why not let him look for teachers? It enforces the idea of the avatar needing to care for all nations in order to protect all nations. I feel like it was supposed to go for this new direction of “the avatar must do it alone” but unfortunately I don't like that message as much

I mentioned in the positive section, but so many of the characters are weirdly mean (specifically the adult characters). I feel like they are trying to go for a message like "childlike mentality isn’t bad and it’s this innocence that will succeed where adults failed" but it just comes across as every grownup but Gyatso being the worst. Why are Kyoshi and Kuruk yelling so much and blaming Aang for everything? I feel like the goal will ultimately be to prove them wrong, but I do not like this characterization

Zuko’s scar needed to be SO MUCH WORSE. Something I love about the original is that every time we look at Zuko, we get a horrific reminder of what kind of person the Fire Lord is. It didn't just make his skin a little red, his eye is stuck in a permanent squint. His ear is shrivelled. You can tell that it was BAD. Here? He could cover it with makeup if it bothers him that much. Where's the texture? Where's the ear and eye damage? Sometimes it looks more like a birthmark than a serious injury. At the very least, take away his eyebrow!

Sokka and Katara’s being trapped in the spirit world was lowkey a little dumb but I get what they were going for (it's more urgent than them needing to suck on frogs). It just makes it seem worse when Aang is sitting there chatting with Zuko about his brushes. Like I loved the conversation but the fact that Sokka and Katara's lives were in danger (along with the villagers) makes Aang seem weirdly dismissive in that moment

Also... I just realized while typing this, but did they give us an ending to Hei Bai being in pain? Did I completely forget the resolution to that or was it not shown?

I don't like that Zuko chose to fight in the Agni Kai. Seeing him on the ground begging forgiveness and THAT'S the kid Ozai scars and banishes is way more impactful than "he fought but didn't go all out"

This shit went off the rails in episode 7. Why is Yue a fox who just chills in the spirit world? What happened to Tui and La? Push and pull? Yin and Yang? I got confused somewhere along the way

Am I the only one who felt the Yue and Sokka kiss came out of nowhere? She literally said she called off her betrothal when she was 16 (before meeting Sokka) because that dude wasn't the right guy. But then the kiss immediately after implies Sokka is the right guy??? The guy you didn't know existed??? Or are we supposed to infer that she fell in love with him in the spirit world? Either one is so bad pleasssseee

I infinitely prefer Zuko trying to save Zhao and Zhao choosing to die out of sheer stubbornness, compared to Iroh killing Zhao to save Zuko. Like yeah, he'd do anything for Zuko, but I felt that crossed a line (and was less impactful)

Assorted Thoughts

They mentioned the mother of faces, are we gonna see Zuko’s mom get addressed at some point? Or was that just a wink and a nod for fans who know?

The kids are pretty good actors but Katara’s sometimes feels like she's… in a school play. For lack of a better description. She's not bad, it just doesn't always feel natural or as expressive as she could be

Yue's actress on the other hand... look I don't like insulting child actors but her performance was not my favourite

Meanwhile, I loved the casting for Zuko and Aang. I like this slightly-less-angry Zuko, and Aang's actor has such a sweet face that it hurt me to see him sad

I wish we got to see an Agni Kai between Zuko and Zhao. Simply because establishing it early helps introduce us to this idea. It makes it more impactful when Ozai declares Zuko must fight, since we now know what that entails

I feel like the series is at its best when it's doing it’s own thing (the Gyatso scenes, Suki's new characterization, Lu Ten's funeral) and is at its weakest when it's trying to copy the original

[wilcze-kudly]

consider: au where opal goes rogue, leaves the airbenders, basically becomes antifa against kuvira

I LOVE THAT

I alwys thought Opal may be an airbender who would splinter off from the Air Nomads more traditional pacifistic lifestyle. What's interesting is that by going up against Kuvira, she is protecting an Air Nomad value- that of freedom.

So it would be interesting to see that storyline and how it would impact her relationship with the other airbenders like Jinora and Tenzin.

I also think the Beifong family would support her wholeheartedly, perhaps getting involved in it too. I kinda have been toying with the idea of the Beifongs starting a resistance against Kuvira. They seemed to be the only people genuinely caring about Kuvira's actions and willing to try to put a stop to her.

I think B4's storyline would benefit a lot from a having the Beifong family as Pov characters, since they could actually offer insight into what's going on in the Earth Kingdom. They also have a very personal connection to the villains, Kuvira and Baatar Jr, which wasn't explored as much as I wish it had been.

If the queercoded miniboss from B1 gets almost a whole episode with flashbacks to traumadump aboud his bender communist big bro in B1, why did Su have to tell Korra that she adopted Kuvira OFFSCREEN. Lile doesn't that feel like something we should've seen. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THAT FUCKING COMIC.

When thinking about this idea, Iwas also inspired by Polish freedom fighters and their partisan activities, since Kuvira's rule over the Earth Empire has hallmarks of both Nazi and Soviet regimes, for example the Spirit Canon (before it got attached to the ridiculous robot) being inspired by an actual german canon (Dora), the literal Iron Curtain, the "re-education" camps, the militarisation, the forceful redistribution of resources, the rampant propaganda, etc, etc.

However, this storyline has strong USA influences, for example the almost complete dismissal of the actual people who live under the occupation, for the benefit of heroes from the thinly veiled New York insert.

The Beifong family stand out from this group as actual citizens of the Earth Kingdom, who were opposed to Kuvira's rule the whole time because they knew what the fuck was going on at least to some extent. They are members of an established Earth Kingdom family, daughter and grandchildren of an Earth Kingdom war hero, and they live in a city that is seemingly the seedbed of progress and innovation.

Their storylines could be fascinating as they come to realise that no one, not even the literal fucking Avatar seems to be too jazzed to help them, that they are quite literally on their own. This is not too dissimilar from Poland as it was at the beginning of the invasion. Despite having agreements with England and France of these two countries supporting Poland's independence, England and Frabce did not take up military action against Germany after its attack on Poland. Similarly, Republic City, the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads were not willing to put up a fight until Kuvira attacked them! Idk what the fuck the Water Tribe was doing but probably not much I assume.

Stories of resistance fighters in German occupied countries (not only Poland) are often forgotten in the larger picture, despite them playing vital roles in the war. This is especially poignant when it comes to countries that were absorbed into the Eastern bloc when said freedom fighters were hunted and murdered relentlessly to keep the people silent and obedient.

Seeing an echo of these often forgotten stories in the Beifong family, a family that tried to stand up against the dictator oppressing their country and then getting reduced to McGuffins in Korra's mental health journey and Bolin's ridiculous "getting back with my gf after I sympathised with Nazis" arc is disheartening.

The storyline was right there! The Beifongs have a personal connection to Kuvira and Baatar Jr, they have skin in the game, they have ideals opposing the main antagonist, they had the potential for an extremely emotuionally touching storyline, they have strong characters just begging to be explored. Opal and Kuvira are foils and it would be so easy to elevate Wei and Wing to the role of Baatar Jr's foils too, like a darker more antagonistic version of Tenzin and Bumi!

The storyline was right there!

But instead they get sidelined for Korra's, admittedly well done, but misplaced trauma arc and a weird fantasy oriental USA saviour fantasy. And then they get a shitty half assed comic where Opal and the twins to lesser extent are posited as unreasonable for being wary and angry at a person who tried to kill them! And Kuvira is woobified to an insulting extent.

Also Kuvira's attack on Zaofu, a wealthy and advanced city full of artists, scholars and visionaries gives big "Soviets and Germans commiting mass murder of Polish Intelligentsia in for example Katyń, in order to make the nation easier to control and take apart, due to lack of potential resistance leaders." I do not wanna hear you bitches talking about how she was right for wanting to "redistribute their wealth and shit". Her ass was after power and those damn platnium domes to make her military stronger. Like if this weren't a fucking kids show and they weren't planning a 'redemption' for Kuvira, people would be standing above mass graves and being shot in the back of the head.

Quick note: I'm going off mainly my knowledge of Polish history due to my own nationality and education, but there are similar stories in may surrounding countries, for example Ukraine which is currently still being attacked by Russia. The stories and ideologies Kuvira and B4 represented are still well and alive today, as was the rest of the world's indifference to the suffering caused by them.

This is why I feel so strongly on this subject and I wish it was handled better and with more care for the actual victims instead of the sorta "America adjacent" heroes.

I also want to note that I don't wish to erase the influences of other cultures and histories on Kuvira, B4 and the whole of Tlok. I am merely noticing themes and references that I was primed to see since I was a child, but that doesn't mean that this is the exclusive reading of the storyline.

I know this rant kinda fell away from the og topic and got heated but I have ✨️feelings✨️ about book 4, the Beifongs and Kuvira.

[mostlikelytofangirl]

Basically what's in my head

Jins and Nies as earthbenders; Jins as Ba Sing Se and Nies as Omashu

Lans as airbenders

Jiangs as waterbenders

Wens as firebenders

And avatar JGY

The avatar is known to be born into the Jins, but they don't know which one, and when JGS kicks JGy down the stairs, it's too late to check

JGY learned waterbending from Meng Shi; he learns earthbending from NMJ and then NHS (I picture NHS as a very weak bender that knows earthbending the same way Toph does, as an extension of himself rather than a weapon. He also bends metal). He learns the basics of airbending from LXC and teaches himself the rest, and then firebending from WRH (the most powerful firebender ever). He is also a bloodbender

JGY in this, I think, woukd be more resentful than in canon because as the avatar he's supposed ro bring peace and harmony to a world that's done nothing but chew him up and spit him out. Resentful enough to actually stay by WRH's side

When WRH captures everyone (like he did NMJ in canon), they stand no chance because JGY forces them all to theirs knees via bloodbending

It would be neat if all his chakras are blocked to such a degree that the previous avatars can't even reach him

The earth chakra is blocked by his fear of death

The water chakra is blocked by his guilt about never making it into the Jin (guilt about forgoing MS's dream)

The fire chakra blocked by the shame of not feeling truly guilty about his actions anymore

The air chakra that has been blocked since MS's death; a blockage that only got worse as he mourned his expulsion from the Nies and then his betrayal to LXC

The sound chakra that is blocked by the fact he is a spy, and then, by hiding his treason from LXC until they are captured

The light chakra blocked by the illusion of happiness that being WRH's son/lover/both brings (he can't be truly happy. Because LXC and NHS are jailed in the dungeons, and though they aren't at true risk because JGY as WRH to spare them, they are suffering)

The thought chakra blocked by JGY's attatchment to MS and to the people that are good to him

AAAAHHHHH you have some sort of dark Avatar going on here!!

It's fascinating how you manage to make it all fit, and how it would be to have an Avatar, the one supposed to bring balance and peace, siding with the "bad guys" and helping them in getting their nation on top of the others.

It makes sense in the context of this AU tho, JGY has been mistreated almost all his life despite his Avatar nature, so why should he help the ppl that dismissed him? Just bc it's the right thing to do wouldn't really do it for him. Maybe a bit more of what he is meant to do, but I can totally see how the prospect of being finally respected and treated well would be too big a temptation. He IS the Avatar, he IS special! He has seen how his past lives were treated with reverance and respect, why isn't he???

I can see WRH forcing everyone to show the Avatar the proper deference, he's a smart man that would figure that having the Avatar on his side would be better than trying to get rid of him. And of course, that would work wonders on the boy's poor traumatized hea :'D

I can also see how JGY could eventually unblock his chakras if he really wanted to bc he is made of determination tho... but why should he want it XD.

But there's a big chance for a sort of redemption for him! He had the best of intentions at first and he tried! But it's also interesting to explore how much of a different person he would be if he is in a similar position as canon, yet also being the most powerful being. Still, that wasn't enough to get him treated right by most ppl around him, it's very interesting tbh

Also the fact that technically JGY is stronger that WRH, so there's also that change in dynamics going on there since they are on more equal grounds, so to speak.

Fascinating indeed :D

[chaotickasugaicrows]

Now for the Fire Nation and uh some worldbuilding politics. (Part 1 of Avatar AU here)

The Fire Lord is none other than Muzan Kibutsuji. He is a tyrant, a dictator, a manipulative jerk, and oh yeah a fire bender. His family died in a convenient accident (cough assassination) leaving him to ascend the throne uncontested. Of course what he didn’t realize was that his younger brother Kagaya, a non-bender, escaped death, changed his last name, got married, and is now leading the White Lotus. Anyway, Muzan implemented a number of reforms to distract from the sketchy way he got the throne, including the creation of F.N.I.S. (Fire Nation Internal Security) built upon the foundation of a previous, much smaller and less invasive, internal security network. F.N.I.S. is run by Douma and does a number of things like making political dissenters disappear, putting all educational institutions under heavy surveillance, and ensuring the nation’s propaganda machine runs smoothly in regards to the war. Before we get to the war, however, first we’ll explain Muzan’s actions regarding the Avatar. In this AU Avatar Roku passed away when Muzan’s parents were in charge of the Fire Nation. Then he took the throne and promptly decimated most of the Air benders groups in a semi-secret campaign that resulted in Aang’s death before he found out he was the Avatar (rip Aang). Next, Muzan turned his attention to the Water Tribes and managed to kidnap the next Avatar and promptly attempted to train them for his own use but only killed the kid instead. Knowing that the next Avatar would be born in the Earth Kingdom, that becomes Muzan’s main focus. So for a couple decades, Muzan has been gathering power and reforming the Fire Nation into a more centralized state ready for (open) war. Despite attacking several other nations, the Fire Nation is not openly at war until Tanjirō Kamado is about 10 years old.

Time to switch to Tanjirō, Nezuko, and the Kamado family. The Kamados live in a more rural village in the Fire Nation. Tanjuro and Kie aren’t unobservant people and notice discrepancies such as the fact that some members of their community were getting subtly conscripted against their will. Also, news traveled about opportunities to supply coal to their government as ships use coal for power. The truth about military actions against the other nations including the decimation of the air nomads had been suppressed within the Fire Nation itself. Most of the population had little clue what their leader had been up to. The Kamados start questioning things within their village and get unlucky when a visitor from a neighboring town reports them. Usually F.N.I.S. would handle things but Muzan sees an opportunity to finally make the war public. He stages a massacre, hiring benders and non-bender mercenaries to mix in with Fire Nation soldiers all dressed in uniforms from other nations. The Kamado family’s entire village is killed as are the Kamados except for Tanjirō and Nezuko, age 10 and 9, who are captured by the in disguise forces and brought to Muzan because both of them are fire benders. Muzan subsequently erases the Kamado family from official records and hands Tanjirō and Nezuko over to his general Kokushibo to adopt/train.

So long story short, Tanjirō and Nezuko Kamado become Tanjirō and Nezuko Tsugikuni, Michikatsu/Kokushibo's unwillingly adopted kids, after their entire family and village are killed in a plot organized by Muzan. Those deaths are then claimed to be the fault of the other nations and the entire thing is used to launch the Fire Nation into a very public and larger war, galvanizing the citizens to support the war effort because it is now justified as retaliation. This is how these two are forced to work for Muzan against their will and Tanjirō gets sent to hunt down the Avatar and crew while his sister is held hostage back in the palace to ensure his cooperation. They also end up participating in the war itself, usually separately because Muzan tends to keep at least one sibling close so the other doesn’t get any ideas.

[natlacentral]

How the Costume Designer Behind Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Brought the Iconic Animated Looks to Life

Farnaz Khaki-Sadigh explains why Aang's outfit was so hard to perfect and shares the easter eggs hiding in the show's fashion.

2005’s Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the best examples of world-building put to screen in television history—thanks in large part to the show's fashion. The Nickelodeon animated series pulled its viewers into the magical universe of “benders,” by giving each of the world’s four nations—the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribe, and the Air Nomads—a distinct, recognizable aesthetic inspired by Asian and Indigenous cultures. The original ATLA also handled intricate character arcs and heavy themes around war and colonialism with a nuance that both kids and adults could appreciate, and the gorgeous 2D animation sucked every viewer deeply into the fantasy world. So Netflix’s new live-action adaptation had a tall order to meet when it came to bringing the beloved cartoon to life.

The streamer met the challenge with an impressive, charming flair by gathering a talented cast and crew filled with fans of the original cartoon, including costume designer Farnaz Khaki-Sadigh. While speaking with Marie Claire over Zoom, the Emmy winner—who previously worked on sci-fi/fantasy shows like The 100 and R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour— shared how she was able to successfully infuse real-world cultural inspirations into all of the outfits. It's something she hopes has lasting effects outside of Hollywood: “I hope that it inspires [viewers] to learn about other cultures and different parts of the world, to want to go visit them and understand them,” she says of the new series. 

Here, Khaki-Sadigh chats about her favorite costumes from the original series, her months-long research process, and the practicalities she considered while designing real-life versions of Team Avatar’s looks.

Marie Claire: How familiar were you with the original animated series when you got the opportunity to work on the Netflix show? 

Farnaz Khaki-Sadigh: I watched it a dozen times before I even got the job. When it was first announced that they were going to do a live-action series, I was like, ‘I want to work on this.’ This is a dream job.

Now knowing you're a fan, how did you approach honoring the original show while putting your own spin on the live-action clothes?

FKS: I definitely wanted to pay homage to the original. I think a lot of that comes through with the color palettes that we've chosen. [Also] keeping the silhouettes of the original animation and then breathing life into it with real-world materials and inspirations from the various cultures. The animation is more of a broader reference of the Asian and Indigenous cultures, so we went in and did a bit more specification—to give it a more dimension and narrow each culture in the show down to a specific group.

With the Southern Water Tribe, for example, we did take a lot from the Inuit culture. But I also learned that they did a lot of trades with certain other Indigenous groups and Northern Vikings, so we have a lot of those influences coming into [their clothing] as well. With the Northern Water tribe, we went a little bit more towards the Siberian Indigenous groups, such as the Yupiks and the Turkic tribes, to give it more variety and differentiation between the two fictional tribal nations. Then with the earth-benders, we see other cultures referenced. Omashu is very much based on Southeast Asian and Indian cultures. Whereas, there are smaller towns that we see in certain episodes that are based on other Asian cultures and Asian countries. So we brought in some Korean influences and some Vietnamese influences [for those]. We wanted to give [each nation’s aesthetic] a broader spectrum as opposed to just unifying everything under the one umbrella.

What were some of the challenges you faced in bringing these animated looks to life? 

FKS: It was definitely a lot of trial and error. You want to be authentic, but then you also have to take into consideration the fact that it is a show, and it is present-day as opposed to the mid-1800s, when the show is technically based on. They used a lot of materials back then that we don't use in the present-day. So it's just finding a balance of making the costumes look like they belong in that time period, but they're still comfortable enough for actors to wear today, and that they can move in it and fight and do all of their actions. We tested a lot of things. We built mockups and had stunt performers try to do fight moves in them to see what we had to change. Like if the weight of the armors were too heavy, or if they didn't sit properly, and [the actors] couldn't move their arms a certain way to do the bending that they needed to do. And we adjusted accordingly. We had a good enough chunk of time to do these trial-and-error runs to make sure that, once the garments were actually put on the performer, they were actually functional for them, and they could move and perform in them.

Is there a character who you really loved designing for, or one of the costumes that you're really proud of?

FKS: I cannot pick a favorite, to be honest. Every time a costume was done, and we would see it for the first time on camera, I think I cried a little bit because it felt so good. It felt surreal as a fan too, just to see everything come to life. 

Aang has the most recognizable look out of all of the characters. What was the process of figuring out his costume?

FKS: That one was the hardest one because it is one of the simpler ones out of all of them. Just because it's simple, it doesn't make it easy. We had to go through so many different materials to make sure that it flowed and moved with the air-bending. Then we had to make sure that the colors worked with the animation, but were also realistic at the same time. They had to work within our Air Nomad world, especially since the Southern Air Temple was based on Tibetan monks and their aesthetic [on the show] was pulled from that culture and their color palettes. We decided that, within the Air Nomads, we couldn't use any synthetic materials or anything that came from animals, just because of what that culture is based on. Everything had to be natural fibers. For the color of the Cape, I think we went through anywhere between like six and 10 different fabrics. We made so many different capes for him because the color kept shifting under the lights. So we had to find the perfect material and the perfect color, that moved, looked great, and didn't change color under the camera lights. One of the simplest costumes took us the longest time to figure out, but it was worth it.

The show also has so many great accessories from Katara’s necklace and Sokka’s bone choker to the Fire Nation crowns and helmets. What was the process of figuring out which accessories from the cartoon would be brought into live action?

FKS: We wanted to feature anything that was really iconic to the characters. Katara's necklace is a very big part of her character. It's a memento from her mother that sort of brings the North and the South together. It's all those little things that really made the characters in the animation. You look at that piece and you know exactly who that person is without them actually having it on. So those are the elements that we wanted to include.

Did it ever get overwhelming to handle something on this scale of world-building?

FKS: Absolutely, all the time. I did so much research and so much reading and talking to people from those cultures and learning from them. I probably spent like three or four months before I started the project—just between prepping for my interviews and then prepping to start conceptualizing once I had the job. I was constantly trying to learn more about the materials that were used and why they were used, and why certain cultures used certain colors and what it represented. There's how the materials moved; how the garments moved; how different ranks and social status affected and influenced the garments in that time period; the wars, the trade routes, and what was and wasn't traded, what was traded for what...all of those things. It really was a historical study of the cultures within the story as well as in real life. For example, Kyoshi is very much based on Japanese culture, and specifically Samurai culture. There's actually a group of female warriors in Japan called Onna-bu Geisha. A lot of the inspiration for the Kyoshi Warriors comes from those female samurai warriors.

Are there any looks you're looking forward to bringing to life in future seasons? 

I'd really love to do Ba Sing Se. That would be a world that I really would love to create, because I think there's just so much there that we can play on. I would love to do Ember Island. That was a really fun storyline in Book Three, and I think it would be really fun to realize that.

[descendant-of-truth]

I recently decided to watch the Last Airbender movie in full for the first time for analytical purposes (and as a fresh comparison for the upcoming Netflix series), and like. yeah, it's still decidedly Not Good, but everyone's already talked about that so instead I wanna write about the stuff I actually thought was interesting.

Some small things, first: despite it not really having any cultural significance, I was weirdly fond of Aang's red cloak?? Like it could've looked a little less like it belonged on a jedi, but it functions well for hiding his tattoos when necessary and makes for a cool silhouette.

Plus, it works as a good representation of the part of him that just wants to run away and hide from his responsibilities - something that the original design never really needed to account for, per se, but it still makes for a neat edition.

The movie cuts out the quirky conversation with Aang after freeing him from the iceberg in favor of him being too delirious from a 100 year coma to say anything, and on principle, this isn't. great. but the more I think about it, I think it comes down to the fact that his actual introduction to Katara and Sokka is so dry, not because they waited to have him wake up.

In fact, I think this could've worked out really well! The longer Aang takes to wake up properly, the longer everyone else has to develop an image in their head of what he's going to be like, and the bigger their surprise when this kid who was barely conscious and on the verge of hypothermia a few minutes ago starts bouncing off the walls with this big smile on his face.

The time spent at the Southern Air Temple also introduces a few things that I liked, for example: Aang actually namedropping some of his friends from there

Petition to bring back Chinto and Monae for the Netflix version

But for real, that scene just made me realize how kinda. odd, it is, that Aang never mentions any of the Air Nomads by name other than Monk Gyatso originally. We know he was friends with Bumi and Kuzon, but did he not consider any of his peers to be good friends of his?

More importantly though - just like in the original, Aang recognizes Gyatso's skeleton by his necklace. Unlike the original, however, this necklace is one that Aang made for him.

And I love this idea, but ohh boy do I not like how under-explored it is in the movie. You're telling me that they decided to have Aang make a necklace for his now-deceased parental figure, and didn't use that as an opportunity for him to connect with Katara?? The one who wears her mother's necklace as a memento???

Regardless of whether or not Aang decided to keep Gyatso's necklace, it's a conversation that absolutely deserved to happen, and despite the chances of it being extremely low, it's something I'd like to see the new version take a crack at.

Also this was just a genuinely cool action setpiece, the idea of using spinning boards as both a defensive and offensive structure for crowd control is super creative and I love it

The fight between Aang and Zuko at the north pole was also great; even though there was uncharacteristic lack of bending involved, they were able to capture a real sense of frantic energy and got some really cool moves in there that are difficult to show properly through screenshots.

Definitely one of the biggest changes to a plot beat (in my opinion) comes in the form of Aang struggling with waterbending rather than being a natural at it, and you know what? Probably my hottest take of this post is that I think this is a worthwhile angle to explore.

Water is the element of change, and in the movie, it's said to teach its benders "acceptance." On a purely tangible level, the movements for water and airbending are pretty similar, and they're both kind of "floaty" in a way. But ideologically? What part of Aang at this point in time has a grasp on how to handle change, much less reach acceptance?

He ran away from home because he was scared of all the sudden changes happening in his life. He didn't want to be the Avatar, and couldn't accept what that meant for him.

So, from that perspective, doesn't it make sense that water could be difficult for him to learn? I mean, no matter what you do with air, it's still just air, and it's everywhere. You don't really have to worry about not having enough of it in most situations.

But with water, you gotta think about what forms you can make with what you have, you need to be able to change its form from liquid to solid and back again, and it's just a lot more dynamic and weighty than what he's used to dealing with.

Combine that with just not being in the right headspace for learning after The Horrors and yeah, I'd totally believe that there's a world out there where Aang struggles to waterbend! A shame that it had to be this world, where the writers have little interest in exploring it beyond letting him make a Really Big Wave at the end in lieu of a character arc, but an idea with potential nonetheless

(Speaking of which, while not nearly as satisfying as the original finale, this shot does look extremely cool)

Overall, this was actually a pretty entertaining viewing experience! I already knew what to expect when it came to its flaws, which in turn made it easier to focus in on the parts that were interesting for me.

I went into it for a thought experiment, and it gave me a lot more thoughts to experiment with than I was expecting, so y'know what? I call that a net positive in this case.

(Also if anyone can link me to the comic adaptation of this movie, please do, I would love to know exactly what the differences are and how the art looks but I can't find it anywhere)

[sorstis]

I knew the Netflix avatar show wouldn't live up... But man I'm only 2 episodes in and I am so disappointed. I didn't even have high hopes for it and they managed to shock me with some of their decisions.

The original cartoon is 10 hours long.

Netflix chose to have 8 episodes totalling about 7 hours.

Why not 10, 1 hour long episodes? Who knows. Who cares. I'm fine with adaptations cutting stuff out or changing stuff due to the nature of adaptations. But the level of what I'll let them get away with changes based on medium adapted.

An animated TV show to live action TV show should NOT have to seriously change things in order to make it fit the TV. As it's literally already designed for it.

But having 22 episodes wouldn't fit Netflix's business model of binging long episodes!

Putting gyazos death at the beginning of the show, and showing it is just bizarre to me. It completely kills Aangs revelation of him being dead.

The original show made it have an air of mystery by you not knowing initially. All you know is this dorky kid is the avatar. And he was frozen in ice. It made you think, did he do it himself? Or who froze him? And why?

Where are all the air benders?

Oh they're dead? Woah, that's awful.

Instead you go in knowing all of this. It defeats the purpose of later revelations. What the fuck. Netflix's millions should not have ended up with writing this fucking atrocious.

Instead of stealing the water scroll, she now got it from her Gramma. How nice. Completely removes a fun character. And a plot point. Cutting down, alright whatever.

Remember Momo's fun introduction? They get scared and think there's someone at the air temple, to come face to face with a shadow who approaches them... Only to be a cute flying lemur! Adorable! And Sokka is hungry so he chases him around, adorable!

In the Netflix adaptation you'd think they'd keep such an iconic entrance! Nope! He literally just randomly flies up to them and joins them and Aang goes "hi momo" and Sokka is like "momo?"

And goes "yeah he looks like a momo-"

FUCK OFF FUCK YOU

Edit: I completely understand why the OG writers removed their name from the project and left the project. Fuck Netflix

[turboacek-blog]

Airbending didn’t/doesn’t need subbending

Was just randomly thinking about how of all the crazy sub-bending styles from Lightning to Metal to Blood, how out of place spirit and flight is to me at least

Basically, ever since early ATLA things like sound, and pseudo-flying thanks to gliders were never sub-bending styles

At most, it’s like ice bending to water bending

Sound

So when people used to say sound bending as a potential sub style I understood but then I wondered what they meant as airbenders can already extend and project their voice to a great degree

Like even in the supplementary material avatar Yangchen has a scream that’s deadly which is still air-bending so I do not think people mean sound like banshee from X-men or echo echo from Ben 10

Maybe manipulating how things sounds like if Katara is talking to someone, Aang could manipulate it to make it sound like Toph? Idk

As things like sound attacks are also just “air” attacks in other media

Flight

Flight is a weird one where I think while I get why it's seen as sub bending it really should just be an advanced air-bending technique as it is just unassisted flying and it is not much different when they use their gliders

Even though it got criticized in the live-action Netflix version when Aang was moving around in episode 1 it's basically flying the sub-bending that people view differently

It just feels that like the flying Bison, they should be able to fly and not glide not some special sub-bending thing

Even in things like Wans episodes flying in a cloud which is presumably air bending made is just flying even if its considered “assisted”

Spirit Projection

This is the strangest one as while I think it's similar to spirit bending where if you need to connect it to one of them four elements sure give it to air

But projecting the spirit in general doesn't feel right to me to be an air bending ability

Like we know non airbenders can be spiritually intuned look at Suyins advisor (I forget names) and Iroh

Just feels weird as Spiritual connection and Air being connected doesn't make sense when you compare it to metal with earth and lightning to fire

Conclusion

The main thing that gives them an advantage over most styles outside that Air is everywhere is the ability to reduce wind resistance and manipulate to such great lengths and such

This what Aang to run and move super fast making a lot of air benders superhuman essentially

They're essentially superhumans with air manipulation sound and gliding/flight along with wind resistance giving them superhuman abilities from speed, agility, jumping, and some strength they don't need anything else I felt

I acknowledge them being the only one to not get a sub-element would be weird but I also like the idea that it's the most pure and complete element where it doesn't need more and just needs to be more skilled at it

Written Feb 25, 2024 clearing drafts lol

[symphonic-scream]

Back when the Legend of Korra finale first aired, I was a little baby gay and had a different tumblr which I believe I deleted. On said tumblr, I think I mentioned vaguely that I had an idea for fankids for them

It's been 9 years since I deleted that tumblr. It's going to be 10 years since the finale this December. The release of the (underwhelming) live action Last Airbender has brought me back to a show that truly changed my life, and made me feel seen as a queer, mixed native kid (I'm a quarter, my grandpa was full)

So. Here's a little post about those ocs, who I found in my old seventh grade french notes (I never paid attention in that class lmao)

Anyways!y Korrasami kids. Let's go over them

Hiroto Sato (Ref age 16)

So I imagine that once their lives were stable, that they'd want to have a baby. Asami would carry in my mind, just because Korra would be all worried about how her body would handle it after the poisoning thing. However, their plans go, twisted. Cause they have twins

Their first born is their son, named after Hiroshi Sato, though Asami didn't want to directly name him after her father because her feelings would be still complicated. So, Hiroto. He goes by Hiro, mostly, and he's a fire bender

His eyes are a dark brown/grey, and he keeps his hair at a sort of medium length? It curls slightly around his ears, and he'd need glasses starting at age 14. He likes warm, comfy clothes

Hiro isn't very physically, well, talented. He's clumsy, trips over his own feet sometimes, the kind of person who's thinking so hard he smacks into polls and apologizes to them. He'd nervously chew on the skin of his thumb as he works. Hiro's an awkward guy, not great at conversation. He's always had a knack for art, and wants to become a city planner. He's not a great bender, but he does like helping out in the kitchen

Yasuko Sato (Ref age 16)

Their only daughter and youngest bio child, it's younger twin Yasuko! Korra chose her name. She knows how much Asami's mom meant to her, and honestly, the baby looked a lot like the old photos of Yasuko. As much as a baby can, at least. Like her brother, she's a fire bender

She's nearly a carbon copy of Asami. Green eyes, wavy black hair, though she smiles a little crooked. She keeps her hair up in a high pony, and even though she needs glasses like her brother, she rarely wears them. She forgets them more often then not, and just takes his to read momentarily. She's, like, "sleeves? Never heard of them"

Yasuko showed real promise in fire bending when Korra first started teaching her, so she decided to get both twins a proper teacher. Yasuko wanted to be a hero like her Moma, and grew up wanting to help people. Her goal is to be a fire fighter! She's the funny friend, always makes others smile, a jokester

Kova Sato (Ref age 19)

So, the next three are all adopted. There was a disaster type happening in the furthest parts of the Northern Water Tribe, and Korra went to help in the aftermath. After helping with search and rescue efforts, she goes to visit the injured to sort of, give them hope

That's where she meets Kova. He's 9 at the time, yet he was working hard to use his water bending to help heal alongside the elder women. She talks to him while handing out some food shipped in from Republic City, and finds out he lost his parents, and has been looking after his younger brother

Long story short, both boys return to the city with her, and Asami ends up understanding why her wife couldn't leave them behind

Kova is a big guy. He's mixed water tribe earth nation, so while he's got dark skin, his eyes are a dark green, and his hair is messy, dark brown. Quiet guy, but tall for his age. Real gentle, there's a reason he has an affinity for healing. He's got little sun freckles too!

He's great with words. He's a blooming poet, writing the stories people tell him during healing sessions. Incredibly kind, loves the idea of memories making someone immortal. The first poems he writes are of his birth parents, and the second? Of his mom's, and his siblings.

Haoyu Sato (Ref age 12)

He's Kova's younger brother, and was only 2 when Korra took them in and brought them to Republic City.

Haoyu is just paler than his older brother, with darker, messier hair, and blue eyes. His smile is bright, pure joy and energy. He's an endless ball of energy, and reminds his mom's and grandparents of a young Korra; he knows he's hot shit. He's an earth bender, starting at age 6

He's obsessed with pro bending. But, he doesn't dream of being an athlete, but an announcer. Reading is tough for him, and he struggles a bit in school, but when he comes home each day, he's surrounded by love, and care. Asami is always happy to sit with him and help him make sense of his school work, gentle, kind, and patient

I imagine he'd wear someone like a hoodie and soft puffy pants, the kind that end above the ankle.

Gyaltsen Sato (Ref age 5)

The youngest, and again, not exactly a planned adoption. His mother was a newer air acolyte, and she didn't make it through the birth. Tenzin asked Korra and Asami to look after baby Gyaltsen away from the busy temple until someone could take him in, but, the mom's got attached

Just barely darker than Asami and the twins, Gyaltsen has the lightest hair in the family, and the darkest eyes. He's an airbender who shows extreme potential, and is one of Jinora's most promising young students

He's got this spark for life. Everything is so cool to him, so amazing, it's rare for him to be disappointed by something. He feels things strongly, and his Moma Korra sits with him to meditate and talk about his big feelings

He's still very young and growing up, so he's got time to become himself

--

ANYWAYS. THERE THEY ARE. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!