#kyoshi is real for that i fear

[crowlion]

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Me: *points at Rangi before Kyoshi is found to be the Avatar* Me: Sugar Mama-Nepo Baby. Me: *points at Rangi after Kyoshi is found to be the Avatar and inherits all of Jianzhu's wealth* Me: Sugar Baby-Nepo Baby.

[aangarchy]

Netflix atla live action review ep 4-6

So, they completely ruined Bumi. Spoiler warning.

The more episodes pass by the more confused i get with the choices that were made. I wrote down commentary for the episodes and the thing that i wrote down the most was "why does this happen?". The writing is incredibly confusing and messy, feels too rushed in some spaces and too slow in others. There's just... so much going on and so little at the same time. They brought in elements that in the OG don't get introduced until later in s1, s2, the comics, or even the legend of Korra. The reason these things get introduced so early here is not clear at all, because they don't serve any purpose other than to be an obstacle to Aang, Sokka and Katara on their way to the North.

Mai and Ty Lee are.. there. They get introduced earlier but they don't serve any purpose at the moment other than stand around, watch Azula train, ask questions so that Azula can give us the answers the viewer needs. My guess is they only got introduced for the audience who watched the OG to go "oh we know them!". We get the secret tunnel story earlier too, but it has absolutely nothing to do with love. Somehow "love is brightest in the dark" now correlates to the badgermoles being able to sense a human's emotion. It's a waste of a storyline, doesn't teach us anything about love, gives us Omashu lore which is useless bc neither Sokka nor Katara actually use love to escape the tunnels. Also Oma and Shu are lesbians now, but you only know that bc they changed Shu's pronouns. Wow, so progressive! We have lesbians in the story now! Boy do i feel represented as a sapphic!

We get Koh early on as well, but his entire gig got changed. Now suddenly he doesn't steal faces but he "feeds", and hunts using the fog of lost souls (which is tlok lore mind you) as a tool to trap humans. We introduce the mother of faces (comic book lore!), or rather pendant of her that Koh owns. There's no reason for her to exist in this story though other than to be an easter egg to everyone who read the search (Not even the majority of the fandom!) and to offer a solution to this problem we've created, which is Koh capturing our friends in order to eat them and us not being able to convince him into letting them go. There's no feeling of dread in the Koh scenes at all because the whole problem of not showing emotion is just not a thing now. No suspense, no fear, just a weird cgi clown face worm. The worm doesn't even menacingly circle around Aang to invoke a feeling of being surrounded, it just sits there. I also just don't understand why Koh is here already bc now who is going to give us information about Tui and La?

This decision also creates a problem that Hei Bai's story just isn't about Hei Bai anymore. We get fed a few lines from a talking fox about how the forest spirit got hurt, but there's really no solution? Aang buries a pinecone in front of the statue and tells him not to give up hope but he didn't even really need to do that, because Hei Bai wasn't the one kidnapping villagers! It was Koh. Why did we appease Hei Bai if Koh was the real villain? Hei Bai/Koh's story leads us to Roku, but Roku is completely useless. All he does is undermine Kyoshi's advice to Aang, tell Aang about the mother of faces pendant so he can appease Koh, and then we leave. I knew in advance Roku wasn't going to warn Aang about the comet here bc Albert Kim already told us working with a deadline like that with child actors is just impossible. But with Roku suddenly not being Aang's main Avatar guide he just gets nothing to do. There's no suspense in this part of the story either, bc the time limit of the winter solstice isn't a thing here at all. Aang also ends up flying over Fire Nation borders without issue, and gets led right into the sanctuary without the puzzle of figuring out how to open the door, and without the problem of Zhao's soldiers waiting for him when he comes out. It creates this issue of there not being any excitement, at least for me. I genuinely am getting a bit bored with the show, which was never an issue with the OG for me. There's a reason all of this extra material didn't get introduced until later on. There's too many characters and they all get too little time to really do anything useful, they're not fleshed out, the stories aren't thought through and it ends up getting very confusing and boring. I'm genuinely curious for the perspective of people who have never watched the OG cartoon, bc i wonder if they're even able to follow along without prior knowledge of this universe.

Bumi is just... not Bumi. They completely changed his character to be this bitter old senile man that resents Aang for abandoning the world. This doesn't make any sense because in this version of the story Bumi shouldn't know that Aang is the Avatar at all, because Aang was told right before he disappeared! So why does Bumi immediately know that Aang is the Avatar, and why does Aang immediately recognize him? Also the original point of Bumi's tests is to get Aang to approach fights and puzzles from a different angle, so he can learn versatility as the Avatar. But here the tests are just happening because Bumi is mad at Aang for leaving and wants to get back at him for being gone so long. He says some lines about Aang having to learn to make hard choices and you can't rely on your friends, but Aang ends up proving him wrong in the end! What is even the point of Bumi's part in the story now, except for him just being another obstacle on the way to the North Pole?

There's a lot of instances where I feel like the bond between characters gets completely lost. We barely spend any time with the side characters like the mechanist, Teo, Jet and the freedom fighters, and the people in the spirit village. It makes some scenes feel very out of place. These storylines all happen at once, and they don't get their individual moments to shine. We have no room to feel betrayed by Jet or Sai, because we barely got to know them to begin with. Jet and Sai only spend time with One member of the gaang each, but when their betrayals come to light the rest of the group acts devastated, as if it was their dear friend. Sokka also gets really mad about the Jet thing, but he only met Jet once when he smuggled them into Omashu, and Jet didn't even tell Sokka his name. He said it afterwards when Katara met him again. It makes absolutely no sense why Sokka is yelling at Katara for trusting Jet only bc she finds him attractive, when Sokka wasn't even there during all of that!

The sense of family between the gaang that we get from the original also just doesn't happen here. Especially because these characters so far have spent more time apart than together. Aang constantly gets separated from Sokka and Katara, leaving no room for them to bond. We get Katara and Sokka bonding, but they shouldn't need those types of scenes because they're already siblings (which isn't very clear in the show either btw!). I ended up forgetting that Sokka and Katara were trapped by Koh, bc we spend so much time away from them (a whole episode, which is now an hour!).

I have little to no criticism for the Blue Spirit story. Want to guess why that is? Bc they left it pretty much untouched. We even get a little bit of an extra scene, with Zuko and Aang talking while Zuko recovers after getting hurt during the escape. I liked this choice, especially bc it highlights how conflicted Zuko is.

This is where we get Zuko's backstory. I have one question here: why did they make Ozai more sensible and less ruthless? Was that a Daniel Dae Kim decision? Bc it feels like a Daniel Dae Kim thing to do. They're very on the nose with the way Ozai is abusing Zuko and Azula, but then they turn around and make this man visit Zuko after he burned him and praise Zuko about finding the Avatar. I understand that they did this to show how Ozai uses Zuko's accomplishments in order to push Azula, but even if it were to do that: the original Ozai would NEVER. The problem here as well is that they don't let the viewers draw any conclusions themselves anymore. They're holding the viewer's hand through the whole thing, leaving no room for nuance or doubt.

I just finished episode 7 and 8 and I have Things To Say. None of which are good. Writing it down is challenging so it might take a day or two.

[low-budget-korra]

Comments on Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender

*spoiler alert*

First of all I'm gonna start by saying it is one of the best adaptations I've seen so far. And that's the key word, adaptation. I've seen a lot of fans and others complain about some things that honestly, doesn't make sense because some things only work in a cartoon(just as much as some things only work in a book or a video game)

And before I start to talk about some topics that I judge important, I also wanna say that the production is fantastic, from the costumes to the CGI. It all looks amazing. (A part from Yue's wig)

1. The Script

It's not easy to pick 20+ episodes and make it fit in only 8 but damn they did a hell of a good job, especially when judging what was important to show and what they could let it go. Some fans commented that since there's no fillers, the Gaang and others miss some development but I think that for the universe of the live action what we got here it worked.

I can express how much I like to see Ozai and Azula's relationship and how it is now clear that he uses the siblings against each other, manipulating them to get what he wants. But I will admit I miss the fear Azula had, since it's implied in the show and some extras that she does fear Ozai, and fears becoming like Zuko.

I hope the 41. Is just fine after the battle in the north. See all of them bowing to Zuko after discovering that Zuko was the one that saved their asses and was heavily punished by that...it was beautiful. I loved the writers did that, give names and faces to Zuko's crew and a beautiful yet sad arc when Ozai banished his son and the men who he saved.

I also loved that they put weight into things that was treated as a joke, like Katara talking about her mother. She was a little kid who saw her mom get murdered in front of her and the live action made sure to let us know that it is not okay to make jokes about something so traumatic. All of the deaths here have tons of weight in it, it's not some random person, is someone we met, someone we liked, someone who helped. The costs of the war, something the cartoon manages to show us but know in live action, with real people, the massage gets stronger.

And they didn't forget Iroh's past like the fandom does, which is great. That actor, the earthbending soldier really let it all out, that's how you use the few screentime you have.

Sokka's isn't sexist and y'all were making a storm outta a cup of water, is not like Sokka sexist didn't go away after like the 4 or 5 episode in the original show. I think the live action was able to bring more depth to him in comparison to the first season of the cartoon. We see how he feels about his father's, the absence of him and his duty as warrior who kinda doesn't want to be a warrior.

I need a Gyatso in my life, I didn't know I needed to see more of him until the live action gave us more of him. Kyoshi was the Thor coming to Wakanda from this season, WHY THE FUCK BRYKE DONT WANNA GIVE US A KYOSHI SERIES? She is absolutely a jewel of a character. Roku and Kuruk, damn poor Kuruk man, so much pain in his words but again that's what it means to be the Avatar, it's not fun and games. Zhao saying to Aang what Korra villains said to Korra😭 that the world doesn't need the Avatar anymore, it hurt.

Guys I'm gonna say it, there's no way in hell for anyone to ship Kataang here. I'm saying this because some shippers complain that the secret tunnel part was different but c'mon, look at Kiawentiio and look at Gordon, it would be so s awkward and weird and just wrong. I know they don't have a big age difference, is only like 3 years but when they filmed Gordon looked so much younger than her, maybe in the next seasons the difference won't be that big.

The pace is good, once you start you don't wanna stop.

2. The Acting

Everyone is really good at capturing the essence of it's characters and somewhat making them their own. The highlights for me were Dallas and Ian, Its like they came straight from the show. Ken Leung's Zhao was also amazing as he was way more threatening here than he was in the show.

Kiawentiio was the Katara we were looking for, she is kind yet strong, brave and caring. And Gordon was Aang, sure, he has to learn a few things since he slipped a few times in his acting but nothing that could ruin the experience, that kid is good and just needs some experience.

Elizabeth Yu was Azula. It was different but yet the same character, is like learning something new of her and I like how cleared she show emotions with her eyes. Maria Zhang had great chemistry with Ian and I can't wait to see more of Suki. Arden Cho and Yvonne Chapman as June and Avatar Kyoshi look like they came out straight from the cartoon. Daniel Dae Kim...man is Ozai, so cold, so sharp, so scary, already way better than the cartoon version. I wanna see more of Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Iroh since the character he really starts to shine in book 2.

3. The live action doesn't have the spirit of the OG?

Yes, it does have. The thing is now that we are seeing real people, things get dark one way or another but I don't think it ruined the spirit of the show. Aang is still a kid, Sokka still making sarcastic jokes, Zuko still annoying as hell, Katara still hopeful and strong... There's everything there really.

The thing is stuff like genocide, murder, war, death and suffering are, for some people, better to watch as pixels in a cartoon than real people.

I think it's a great adaptation and I would recommend it to every fan.

[itslenagain]

My thoughts on episodes 1-3 of Netflix ATLA (SPOILERS):

1. Commander Zhao has middle-aged white guy manager energy. I feel like this man is about to lead me in a team-building exercise

2. Aang having his origin story changed irks me! He ran away impulsively in the original show and got stuck in the ice. In this version, he fully monologs to Appa about his fears, but then just leaves for a joyride and gets stuck. It takes away from the significance of Aang leaving in the first place. When Kyoshi berates him for running away, it doesn't feel right because in this version, he didn't really run - he just got stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time

3. The Zuko that stood on an iceberg during a full Moon and challenged Katara to battle would be absolutely enraged at the Zuko that ran from the conflict in Omashu

4. Also, the fact that Zuko has not mentioned honor yet? What the fuck?

5. Seriously, Commander Zhao has a LinkedIn. He's got great networking skills

6. I miss aggro Katara. This version is way more subdued (though we do get a sibling fight in episode 3) and somehow listening to Aang's weird circular philosophy helps her learn how to waterbend and I don't get it

7. Seeing Aang be joyful is a nice change from the movie that shall not be mentioned

8. If Gram-Gram putting the waterbending scroll in Katara's bag replaces the storyline where Katara says fuck cultural looting and steals one I will scream

9. It's interesting to see Azula so early in the story, but I'm bummed we missed out on the whole blackmail thing with her & Ty Lee

10. Do you think Commander Zhao pays his employees a fair wage? Do you think they have health insurance? 401k matching? Vacation time? Sick days? What kind of benefits does his company offer?

11. This version of Sokka is definitely not silly enough

12. I feel robbed that Aang got to transform into a magical girl but we didn't get a magical girl transformation sequence

13. Also, we were robbed of Sokka crossdressing as a Kyoshi warrior and they are so rude for that

14. The graphic murder of the Airbenders felt. Weird? Wrong? I don't think we needed to see that. The impact it had when Aang arrived at the temple to find all of them gone in the original show felt heavier than in this version. We saw what happened, we know they're all dead. As a kid watching ATLA the first time, I remember feeling hopeful for Aang that maybe he wasn't really the last one. We don't get to feel that with this version

15. They did not understand Uncle Iroh at all. His character is so weird. Maybe it gets better???

16. The pacing is weird but maybe that gets better too???

17. I have never related more than when Ozai just burned that Earth nation dude who was about to start monologing, please shut up in my presence

18. Apparently everywhere has names?? Who decided on these names?

19. As a lesbian I also get horny on main immediately for girls who could definitely kick my ass, Sokka was so real for that

20. Overall I think they lean into the idea that the audience for this show is primarily older than the audience for the original (they're not totally wrong!) but I worry about it losing some of the messaging along the way. Part of the beauty of the original ATLA show was tackling these big, complex issues in a way that both kids and adults could relate to and understand. Anyone who knows me knows I also love Bluey for this, along with a few other shows that do it well. Media like ATLA that tackles the ideas of colonization, genocide, war, and so many other important issues is crucial! I hope that these topics are handled just as well as they were in the original series.

Am I going to watch the whole thing? Probably, yeah. Will I enjoy it? I hope so! It's not terrible, but it's also hard to do a show that has so much nostalgia attached to it in a way that will please all viewers.

If you haven't watched it, I think it's worth a shot. Just don't expect it to be an exact retelling of the original story.

[rusty-lustful-fireflies]

Some framing problems in atla and on Jet as a murdered potential

That's right. I said that. Jet is the definition of murdered potential.

Maybe it's because atla is after all a kid's show so it doesn't dive that deep into how terrifying it feels to survive during war, especially as a child. The absolute horrors of it are tamed compared to reality and I think I get the reason why.

So they just pull ,,hey kids remember revenge is bad" lesson here. HOWEVER, by that logic, they should just say attacking innocents and contributing to war is bad too and give Zuko the same treatment.

But prince Zuko does get multiple opportunities to change and sympathetic narrative framing. He fails many times, but we're shown how hard it is for him to change because of how he was raised. That we need to be patient.

On the other hand Jet is always portrayed as simply wrong and almost always irredeemable. Even though he is a genocide survivor and wasn't raised AT ALL, taking the burden of caring for other orphaned kids instead. To be fair he learns from his mistakes fast and with little encouragement he's willing to change. But because unlike with Zuko we're shown the ones he would hurt in Gaipan very much in the face and we can't ignore that, it's hard for the audience to sympathize with him and it is unwilling to do so. On the other hand the kids that could burn in the kyoshi village because of Zuko's actions are more of the afterthought, and personal one at that, never shown in the series.

So he gets treated worse, even though one could possibly argue that he's intentions were more selfless. My point wasn't to bash Zuko here tho. I just think that Jet could be potentially a very interesting character: he would expand on the gaang's perspective, of how it is not to just be badly hurt by the fire nation, but leave in the constant fear of it for all the formative years, of actively doing your best to fight and protect others, but slowly loosing hope, for it all seems to amount to nothing, of how hard it is not to radicalize in radical conditions, of having all adults blatantly turn their backs on you. Sadly very real and common experiences while growing up during war times.

It understandable how he got his ,,kill or be killed" mentality so it could be a powerful message about breaking the cycle of hate if instead of being shunned he would heal and got closer to overcoming his trauma. Or he could be a reminder that some grieve always stays with you and although it's never to late to change (Iroh) the damage and trauma the war inflicts on people won't just disappear overnight.

I think season 2, despite killing him, of done Jet more justice than the third one, but it still has many elements that could be done better, at least in my opinion. Anyways some of yall treat him like you only seen the ember island propaganda play.

thoughts on jet part 1

[king-bumis-armpit]

Hey! I’m just reaching out to say that I would be really interested in reading the continuation for the “how Zuko finds out Mai and Kei Lo broke up” fic.

I love your fics! Thank you for giving us Maiko content!

Put a Ring on It, Part 2

Find part 1 here

Summary: Mai goes out on a date, and comes back to find her ex-boyfriend loitering in her Aunt’s shop.

Author’s note: Thank you so much to everyone who showed interest in a part 2!! It makes me so happy you all enjoy my silly little stories ^^ And big thank you to @ninolovers. I love your page so much!! 

This one got… a little less silly and a little more angsty. And my hand slipped, so I added more sappiness than intended. It’s perhaps a tad ooc, but I hope you all enjoy!!

Also, I’m still taking fic ideas, but I will probably be slow in writing them. Thank you to everyone who’s given me ideas so far <3

Cross posted on AO3 and Tumblr

TW: Canonical violence and more kissing than I normally write.

WC: 3349

“Um… so… what do you like to do for fun?” Kage asked.

Mai held back a sigh. The awkwardness was palpable, but the young man in front of her was trying his hardest to make conversation. Mai knew she should make an effort as well. “I like throwing knives, sharpening my knives, and collecting rare knives.”

Kage ran a hand through his hair. “That’s cool.” 

Silence descended once more as the pair focused on their lunch. Ty Lee owed Mai so many cups of tea for this. 

She had recently started dating Kaori, one of her fellow Kyoshi Warriors. Of course Mai was happy for her, she liked Kaori well enough and it was nice to see her friend even more bubbly than usual. However, when Kaori’s brother came to the Fire Nation for a visit, Ty Lee not-so-subtly began pushing for a double date. Mai, wanting to be a good friend, agreed. Big mistake. When she arrived at the garden restaurant, it was just Kage. The girls had “urgent warrior business to attend to,” which Mai assumed involved making out in the sparring rooms of the palace.

Nonetheless, Ty Lee had chosen a great spot for a date. The restaurant was outside of the Caldera proper and built on one of the smaller hills overlooking the harbor. The owner of the establishment had turned the surrounding grounds into a large outdoor garden, and installed large picture windows on every wall. Even in the rain, the view was striking. 

Mai was trying very hard to keep her irritation at bay. It wasn’t this guy’s fault that Ty Lee had ditched her. And Ty Lee herself was probably trying to help. After Mai’s break up with Kei Lo, Ty Lee had encouraged her to either talk to Zuko or start making a serious effort to move on. This was clearly a ploy to get her out in the dating game again after so many months of refusing. Unless… unless there really was urgent warrior business that involved Zuko’s security.

A bolt of anxiety coursed through Mai’s chest, and she forced herself to tamp it down. That was not a possibility. Zuko was safe. She needed to think about anything else. “I met your sister in prison!” It was a rather inelegant attempt at human interaction. Mai was normally much better at this, and Zuko was the one who floundered. 

“Oh, yes. She told me. You and her girlfriend were part of the resistance to Ozai’s rule, right?”

Mai feared that Kage had been told a nicer version of events, but she did not have the mental energy to figure out what was safe to say. If there were rules, then Ty Lee should have come to enforce them. “We were eventually, but first we actually helped Fire Nation conquer Ba Sing Se by pretending to be the Kyoshi Warriors. It was really ironic when Ty Lee became one for real.”

Kage frowned. “So when did you join our side and get arrested?”

Mai stiffened. “That’s a long story. We actually broke my ex-boyfriend out of a different Fire Nation prison.”

“Are you all known for your prisons or something?”

He had no idea. “Umm… some of them. The one my ex-boyfriend was being held in is called the Boiling Rock. My uncle is actually the Warden there.”

Kage smiled, “That’s good! He must have helped you.”

“Uh…” Mai did not know how the conversation had blown up so quickly. “He kind of hated my ex. He threatened to end him for breaking up with me in a letter. But my ex’s friend took him hostage…” Kage was staring blankly at his plate. “Um… anyway, what did Kaori tell you about Ty Lee?” That would have been a much safer place to start.

Kage looked up. “She told me about the aura-reading thing. Ty Lee said my aura was vibrant orange. What about you?”

“She says it's gray.”

He looked sympathetic. “That’s not very nice of her. I’m sorry.”

Mai raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think it’s so bad.” Personally she thought orange was hideous, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. “I like gray. It goes with the steel of my knives.”

Kage pursed his lips. “Right. Your knives.” Mai would’ve thought he’d be used to female knife wielders, being related to a Kyoshi Warrior and all. But she acknowledged that her life story made for a rather unsettling lunch topic.

She searched her mind for a mundane question to ask: “So… how has your visit to the Fire Nation been so far, Kage?”

“It’s been really nice. The scenery is so beautiful here,” he gestured around them meaningfully, to the stormy gardens.

“Are you staying in the capital for the week?” Mai asked.

“Yes. And then my sister and I are taking a trip to Ember Island for a few days. Have you ever been?”

“Many times. I used to go there as a child.” Mai thought back to those sunny days playing with Zuko and Azula in the sand. Then her mind turned to her most recent visit.

— — 

After wrecking Chan’s house, Azula declared a tactical retreat before the authorities showed up. The four friends made their way back to the sea-shell cottage, but Mai was too wired to sleep. Azula marched confidently inside with Ty Lee hanging off her arm. Zuko followed, but paused at the threshold, noticing that Mai had stopped.

“I think I need to decompress. I’m going to go for a walk.” 

Zuko let the door close. “I’ll come with you.”

Mai pursed her lips. He had said a lot around that campfire earlier, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it all. She had forgiven him, but it still stung.

Sensing her hesitation, he walked over and took and took her hand. “I'm sorry for earlier. I promise I’ll be quiet if you want me to. Just don't go alone.”

She leaned into his side. “It's fine. I have an idea.”

She led him across the beach in the opposite direction of Chan’s house. They reached a rockier stretch of shore and Mai knew they were in the right place. She guided him through the rocks until she found what she was looking for. A large tide pool lay at their feet.

Zuko gasped, “This is just like when we were kids. Do you remember? We would search for urchin-crabs!”

Mai smiled, “I remember. Why do you think I brought us here? Can you give us some light?”

Zuko created a small flame in his palm and the pair crouched down to peer in the water. 

“There!” Sure enough a deep purple spiny shell scuttled across the bottom. Zuko laughed, “I loved coming here because Azula was afraid of the crabs. It was the only time we could play together without her.”

Mai smiled at the memory. “Yeah. But come to think of it, that was probably good for her. It gave her a chance to be alone with your mom.”

“Hmm. I guess that’s true. I hadn’t thought about it before. It’s… hard to think about those times. I know I keep saying this, but everything feels different.” 

Zuko stood, and Mai followed with a frown. Ever since Zuko returned, he kept talking about how everything felt off. She knew that he was referring to deeper issues, his relationships with his family and feelings about affairs of state, but it was hard not to take it personally. When he left, she was a shy little girl and now she was a moody teenager. 

Mai sighed. “It’s been a long time since you’ve been home, and even longer since you’ve been here. It’s natural that things have changed.” She put a hand on his back. “If you need time to figure out why you’re so upset and so angry, then you can have it.”

Zuko had the nerve to pout. “You normally tell me that not everything’s changed and that I don’t have to worry.”

Mai rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well it doesn’t seem to be helping.” She dropped her arm. “I’m saying that if you need… if you need to be on your own, and reassess what we thought the future would be, you can do that. Just let me know sooner rather than later.”

Zuko furrowed his brow. He was about to speak, and then it clicked. “Are you breaking up with me? Again?! Mai–” her name sounded like a strangled prayer. 

“Calm down! I’m not breaking up with you. I just– I don’t know how to help! I thought maybe I was part of the problem.” Mai abruptly sat back down at the edge of the tidepool and brought her knees to her chest. She felt tears prick her eyes and so she hid her face.

Zuko sat slowly behind her. “Mai, you are the only person I have never doubted. When you kissed me in Ba Sing Se, it was literally a dream come true. The only reason I didn’t jump for joy was… uncle. But I really like how you are now.” Zuko wrapped an arm around her.

“I thought I was a big blah.”

Zuko winced, but he didn’t retract his arm. “No. You’re not. I was just frustrated because I can never tell what you’re thinking. I really thought you liked Ruon Jian for a second there.” 

Mai unburied her face to glare at her boyfriend. “But why? I hardly spoke to him! He came up and talked to me for like two seconds before you tossed him across the room.”

Zuko chuckled. “That felt good.” Mai narrowed her eyes, and Zuko pulled her in closer. “Seriously though, I think the fact that I’m relying on you so much is part of the problem. I mean it when I say you’re the only thing that hasn’t changed for me. If you found someone else, I would be all alone. And I know that isn’t an excuse to be awful, but I want you to know it’s not like I don’t trust you or anything. I was just scared.” 

Mai could relate. Even in his banishment, when Mai pictured her future, Zuko was by her side. For him to return so unsettled in his own vision of the future… it was affecting her more than she’d realized. 

Mai tucked her legs under her and put her arms around Zuko’s neck. “Honestly, I’d already forgiven you. Now, tell me more about the feelings that haven’t changed.”

Zuko was smiling broadly now in the moonlight. “First of all, I love you. I trust you. I want to be the person who makes you smile the most.”

Mai blushed fiercely, glad for the cover of darkness, “Okay–”

But Zuko continued, “I’ve always wanted to undo your hair and run my fingers through it.” He moved his hand from her shoulder to the back of her head and took out one of her buns, and her hair cascaded down her back.

Mai laughed, but protested, “Hey!”

“And I want to kiss you.” Zuko buried her fingers in her hair. Mai closed her eyes. They both leaned in. She could almost feel the touch of his lips when–

Sploosh! Something in the tide pool made a noise and Zuko let out a rather unmanly squeal, as they sprang apart. He called the fire back to his palm. Another urchin-crab had joined the first, ostensibly by utilizing the belly-flop method. 

Mai cackled, “Looks like Azula isn’t the only one who’s afraid. Don’t worry, my sweet prince, I’ll protect you.”

Zuko smirked. “Please do.” At long last, they shared their kiss. Zuko pulled back to look into her eyes. “For real, Mai, keep protecting me. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Mai held him close. “I promise. I’ll always be by your side, as long as you want me.” And she was, until she wasn’t.

— — 

“Umm… Mai, I asked what you did? On the island?”

Oh, right. She was on a date. With Kage. It appeared she had frozen with her chopsticks halfway to her mouth. Her mother would have some choice words about the propriety of such an incident. 

“I always enjoyed searching the tide pools for urchin-crabs. You can also collect shells on the beach if you’re…” She really shouldn’t say stupid, “into that kinda thing. Or you could play beach volleyball.” He seemed unimpressed. Maybe she should try for a joke? “Oh! I had one friend who was really into arson and destroying private property, but I wouldn’t recommend it for your first visit.”

“Right. Well… this has been really great but I just remembered that I wanted to take a walk around the gardens. Alone. So, I’ll just…” Kage stood. “Thank you for your time.” He sprinted into the rain as thunder cracked in the sky above.

Mai had officially been ditched for the second time in one day. Third, if you counted Kaori’s ditching separately from Ty Lee’s. And now Mai was left to foot the bill of both meals, after which she would have the pleasure of walking home alone in the rain. Yippee.

— —

For some reason, Auntie had hung the closed sign on the door. Not that Mai minded, she was most certainly not in the mood for small talk and, in this weather, they probably weren’t getting any customers anyway. 

She stomped in and began shaking off her coat. “How was your outing, dear?” her aunt asked. Her tone was weirdly formal, but Mai was too preoccupied to think too deeply about it.

“It was awful!” She whipped her coat in the air, and it made a satisfying crack. “I never–” crack– “want to see–” crack– “another man again!” crack!

Satisfied with the state of her coat, she hung it on one of the hooks by the door and turned to face her aunt. And, standing beside her, was the Fire Lord, ruler of the nation and her ex-boyfriend. Mai said a silent prayer to Agni, letting him know that now would be a good time to engulf the world in a sea of flames.

Auntie Mura broke the uncomfortable silence. “Well, I’ll leave you two to it, then.” With that, she disappeared into one of the many back rooms.

“H-hi.” Zuko looked terrified. He was white as a ghost, and he was holding his hands behind his back in a poor attempt to conceal something. She remembered Ty Lee’s urgent business, and she knew her aunt’s shop was registered as a secure escape location when they were dating. What if there was an attack and his hands were injured?

Mai made her way through the plants in the shop to stand before him. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

“What?” Zuko asked. “I’m fine. Why?”

“You look shaken. And Ty Lee said… Ugh, never mind. She was probably lying to make out with her girlfriend.”

Zuko chuckled. “You mean Kaori? Yeah, I’ve had to talk to them about PDA on duty. Suki tried but she couldn’t get through.”

Mai allowed herself a small smile. “Good luck.”

Zuko bit his lip. “Mai… the truth is, I am nervous. I ran into Kei Lo earlier while he was engagement ring shopping.”

“What?!” Mai was astonished. They’d only broken a few months ago, right? She didn’t like him romantically anymore, but it hurt to realize he’d outpaced her. Especially with how her date earlier had gone. 

“Yeah, I’m sorry.” Zuko seemed very uncomfortable now. “I didn’t think you would care.” She could hear his temper sneaking into his voice.

“I don’t!” It didn’t sound convincing even to her. “I mean, I don’t care that he’s moved on, but now I feel… like I lost a race.’

Zuko snorted, “That’s not how it works–”

“Yeah, I know. Get on with your story.”

“Right,” Zuko continued. “I thought he was going to propose to you and I might… have gotten just a bit jealous.”

Mai’s head was spinning. “If you’re proposing now, I can’t.”

Zuko shook his head. “Not yet.” Her heart fluttered. “But I did get you something.” He brought his hands in between them and offered her a long jewelry case. She opened the lid. Inside rested a beautiful silver necklace. The charm was a plum blossom, her namesake flower, and in the center sat a garnet, her favorite gem.

“I don’t know what to say. It’s gorgeous, and it’s exactly my taste, but why?”

Zuko delicately took the necklace back and moved behind her to clasp it around her neck. “When I was in that shop, I realized that I would never be happy if I didn’t try to fix things again and remind you of how I feel. I know it’s been a long time since our breakup, but consider this an apology and a vow to do better.” His fingers grazed her nape as moved her hair back in place over the necklace.

Mai crossed her arms. “And do you know why you have to apologize? You can’t just throw jewelry at me.”

Zuko walked back around and grasped her upper arms. “I never should have stopped talking to you. I never should have hidden things from you. Mai, I was afraid you would realize how bad of a screw-up I was and leave. But, in the end, I drove you away on my own. I am so sorry. Please–” his voice broke, and a tear rolled down his cheek. “Please come back.”

“Okay,” Mai’s own voice was quivering and her vision was blurry. She embraced him tightly. They stood like that for a few minutes listening to the rain fall.

Mai realized that she still had that same old fear of heartbreak and future rejection. It was temporarily sated, but she could sense it beneath the surface. Perhaps it was part of her, and nothing to do with Zuko at all. She held onto him with all of her strength. She had always known the reason he brought out that emotion was because she loved him in a way that she hadn't loved anyone else before or since. It was so worth it, there was no one else for her. Now, it was her turn to trust him to protect her in the future. And she found that she did.

“This is the best day of my life,” Zuko whispered into her hair.

“And it's all because of Kei Lo?” she asked teasingly.

“Honestly yes. I wouldn't have had the courage to talk to you without him.” He pulled away slightly to frown at her. “Especially since your Aunt told me you were on a date.”

Mai laughed. “Don't worry, you heard how that went.”

Zuko remained unmoved. “Was that guy rude or creepy to you?” He moved his hands to her waist and brought her close again. “I can and will have him exiled if he–”

“No, no, no.” Mai assured him. “I think I was the weirdo. Besides, he’s Kaori’s brother so he's returning to Earth Kingdom soon anyway.”

“Good riddance.”

“Zuko, you don’t even know him.” 

“I don’t need to!” he insisted. “At least you were happy with Kei Lo.”

Mai rolled her eyes. “Kei Lo was my boyfriend, and Kage was a blind date. There’s a difference there.”

“Well I don’t like him! I wish I knew the second you and Kei Lo broke up. I would have been here in a heartbeat.”

Mai caressed his cheeks. “You could have visited sooner, as my friend.”

“I’m not proud of this, but I don’t know if I could have handled that.” Zuko was right. They both had a lot of progress to make.

“I understand… I probably would have turned you away. I’ve still been figuring things out too.”

Zuko smiled, “Can we figure them out together?”

Mai smiled back at him. “Honestly, I would love that.”

They leaned in, and, as their lips met, the sun appeared from behind the clouds. Even through the windows of the shop, it reflected the gold of his crown and the silver of her necklace in a brilliant array. 

[jbk405]

Despite losing my weekend and everything else, I was able to read The Reckoning of Roku over the past few days. I was a little hesitant getting into this one, because it has a different author than the previous “Chronicles of the Avatar” book and I have trouble imagining anybody living up to F.C. Yee.

It’s not bad and much better than I feared it would it be, but unfortunately its concept is better than its execution.

Two glaring problems struck me throughout its run and really “pulled me out”. The first was the political and economic terminology used throughout the book, which doesn’t fit the Avatar world and their normal manner of speaking. It’s all CORRECT, but not how they would say it. For example, Gyatso describes hired soldiers working for an evil company as “cogs in the machine” — i.e. not the people who bear ultimate responsibility — but that saying is so out of place in a world without either an industrial revolution or an economic revolution that shifted the power away from the landed nobility to corporations. In a different conversation he calls Roku’s family and the rest of the nobility “the oppressors”, and again he’s not wrong, but it’s not a criticism that makes sense in a world where feudalism is omnipresent in all nations.

I saw a great post here on tumblr a few weeks ago that I apparently didn’t reblog (At least I couldn’t find it when scrolling back through my blog) about how historical figures may have believed and argued and fought for the same things we do, but their entire language for how they ARTICULATED those thoughts was forged by the society and time and language they lived in. Kyoshi and Yangchen dealt with corruption and poverty and exploitive business practices as well, but it was presented through the lens of this world. Gyatso could have made all the same points, but in a way that made sense for his character.

The second problem for me was the idea that Sozin has always been Evil. That completely removes the tragedy of him being corrupted by power and turning on his oldest friend. The book does make it clear that Sozin views Roku as a “real” friend, so it’s not like he’s been planning to manipulate Roku since childhood. But at 16 he’s already comfortable staging a fake attack to maneuver Roku into his desired plan of action, and at the end he literally KILLS someone out of a prediction that this person may someday turn against him (He's correct in that prediction, but that's not the point).

With a controlling, domineering father on one hand, and a genuine friendship with the Avatar on the other, Sozin's character should have been "This person had the potential to be Zuko, and isn't it tragic that without an Uncle Iroh to save him he fell down the path of darkness". Instead he's already committed to self-aggrandizement, and in turn this makes Roku look like a fool for never catching on. I don't blame him for not understanding right now, he's still young and trusting, but even adult Roku never caught on to what kind of person Sozin was until he literally had already launched an invasion of the Earth Kingdom. He didn't even understand beforehand when Sozin flat-out told him what his plans were. And it's understandable if this happened gradually over the decades they spent apart, but this guy's Full Sith starting before he's 20.

It's still an overall enjoyable read, and I'll buy The Awakening of Roku when it's available, but unless this gets better on re-read it's on a lower level than the preceding books.

[paragonrobits]

a while back I made a joke about Sokka acting like rationalism is a valid philosophy in the setting he is from and trying to deny the existence of spirits as an extreme way of coping with their alien ways (and possibly alienation from his people's ways, depending on how much you consider the Southern Water Tribe to have a close cultural connection to vibing with spirits in general that has been lost due to the severe loss of information from so many of their people dying over the Hundred Year War) and the punchline was Koh the Face Stealer apparently now just following him around out of bored curiousity and now I actually want to make that a whole thing

the specific vibe here is that Koh is not an active danger to Sokka in this context. This works on the assumption that Koh does the face stealing thing in specific circumstances, but he won't do it unless you specifically go against the rules governing that: you gotta do it by showing emotion around him (which is bad for Sokka) and during specific situations and contexts which are apparent and he or another knowledgable being is obliged to inform people of this and the consequences (which is good for Sokka).

This further would emphasize the idea that spirits act according to their natures and functions; Koh stealing someone's face is not a moral decision, no more than a cuckoo bird smashing the eggs in another birds nest and laying its own in there is a moral decision. While its clear spirits are sapient, they're also bound by their natures to think and act in certain ways, and I take the idea that Koh is related to the concept of empathy; when he steals faces, he sees things through their perspectives in an extremely literal way.

This, in turn, leads to him being fascinated by specific people. In this case, he is following Sokka around because he intrigues Koh. He is an apparent contradiction in many ways; a man professing to a purely rationalist view of the world despite the power of bending ignoring what he knows of the laws of the natural world, having percieved the existence of the spirits as a form of reality that supercedes those same laws of nature. A brother-in-law to the Avatar (or just real close to him, depending on whether or not marriage is actually a thing Katara and Aang care for), but indifferent to the fact that Aang's existence is indispitable fact that the spirits exist.

A man shaped by fear of those outside his home, and yet a self-made polymath of sorts willing to learn from all nations. A warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, proud of what few traditions remain, and also one studying from his experiences all across the world, making something quite unrelated to those traditions but still defined by them. A man who can conceive of impossible, revolutionary technologies from first principles; completely untutored in the scientific principles behind them due to his people's decline, but able to still figure out the broad strokes from imagination alone, leading a way for geniuses to figure out how to make the idea work.

A benign paradox. A man shaped by fear and knowing every unfamiliar shape on the water could be another night of mourning, but still journeying across the world, befriending others and making connections across the world anyway, in the Earth Kingdom and Kyoshi Island and in the very nature that would have destroyed his own home, and through Aang, extending a hand to the memory of the Air Nomads.

And so Koh finds him fascinating. He wants to understand him, and not purely through the lens of his mind. Koh wants to speak to him, hear him speak, and offer his own statements on his perspective.

And also from Sokka's perspective, a notoriously dangerous spirit so powerful even Avatar Kuruk couldn't kill him is now following him around, and might just steal his face on a whim if he's not careful.

Because, the truth is, with spirits... you never know. They're not human. They might be friendly, or hateful, or kind and bitter and they run on seemingly incomprehensible rules that make absolutely no sense to him and he has no idea what he's supposed to do with this information, and now a giant centipede monster is following him around wherever he goes.

In the shadows; watching, listening.

Judging.

[allgremlinart]

Have you seen the father glowworm design from avatar generations? What do you think?

YES and I'm happy but conflicted

Like YAY!! FINALLY FATHER GLOWWORM ART !! Overall I really like this design; I also interpreted him as having tentacles, I like the carapace/bug theme with atla spirits in general... Also his description was pretty vague/hard to interpret artistically so I'm impressed/happy with this.

Personally I would have made the eye bigger/more of a focal point and made his tentacles more... blood vessel-y if that makes sense, since I imagine his ambulations to be more lumbery/crawly than slithery. Like he has to be able to wedge himself between trees and in mountain holes/run across spirit swamps.. etc

My only REAL grievance would be. WHERE ARE HIS TEETH !!! WHERE ARE THE TEEEEETH ??? Where is his collection of human teeth that he uses as talons/his own teeth in his gooey gooey appendages :((? they were so cuntyyyyyy... I fear that going forward the more pg-13 elements of the Kyoshi novels are going to keep getting nuked 😔

[hersterical]

I was in the shower at 2 am the other day and I started thinking about 1. How weird it is that Kyoshi Island of all places stayed neutral during a hundred years of war in which evil colonizing dictators were taking over the world and 2. How weird it is that all of the Kyoshi Warriors were teenagers. Like it makes sense for the Southern Water Tribe for Sokka and Katara (and Kanna) to be the oldest because everyone older than them went off to war. That doesn’t make much sense for the Kyoshi Warriors. And it also doesn’t make much sense to me for Kyoshi Warriors to just retire the moment they begin reaching their physical prime. So I did what any sane person would do and came up with an overly complicated and detailed explanation that probably raises more questions than it answers:

Even before Sozin’s Comet comes the lesson that the Kuoshi Islanders have begun to take from the story of their island’s creation has shifted from “standing up to evil colonizing dictators and helping those with less power than yourself is awesome” to “outsiders are dangerous and the Kyoshi Islanders need to look out for the Kyoshi Islanders” which lead to them becoming much more isolationist and insular.

Then the comet comes. The islanders don’t know exactly what happened but they know that it can’t be anything good. They have a protocol in place to take all of their most precious avatar artifacts and hide them in the safest part of the island at the first whiff of danger. Good thing too because not long after the day the sky turned dark with ash and blood the Fire Nation raided the island. The Kyoshi Warriors fought back, but they were never meant to handle this kind of threat. The Fire Nation soldiers searched the whole island for any sign of escaped Air Nomads and any potential sign of the Avatar, burning any and all Kyoshi artifacts they came across in the process. The Fire Nation may not have found any airbenders, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t miss any or that some may show up at a later date, so Sozin kept a close eye on Kyoshi Island by turning it into an outpost. The soldiers aren’t exactly on the island itself because of their presence there was too strong then no airbenders would ever choose the island to hide, but they are close enough, and come to the island frequently enough to make they can catch any suspicious activity.

The islanders fought back at first. They couldn’t risk fighting the soldiers head on, especially with the number of warriors that died in the initial conflict, so they mostly resort to sabotage that are actually surprisingly effective. However, any Kyoshi Warrior who is caught sabotaging was dealt with. Never publicly so as to not cause outcry and riots, but just enough details of what they did to these Kyoshi Warriors were whispered about to cause their sister warriors to lose sleep at night and feel fear and despair slowly chip away at their will to fight. Even if they are temporarily even more incentivized to attack by these rumors having this happen over and over again does weigh them down. The attacks and sabotage lessen in both frequency and intensity over time but they’re considered more of a nuisance than an actual threat. Kyoshi Island is considered one of the cushiest posts you could possibly be assigned outside the Fire Nation (said with affection by some soldiers and derision by others). Some of the low ranking soldiers even come to genuinely love the island and the islanders and commit some low level treason to help where they can. They aren’t at peace, nor do they have a truce, but there is a sort of calm between the two groups.

Then Firelord Sozin dies. Firelord Azulon has different priorities. He figures that if there were any surviving Air Nomads hiding out on Kyoshi Island that they would’ve been found by now and the Avatar must’ve been reborn into the Water Tribe. Kyoshi Island offers no real strategic advantage and is just enough of a threat for it to not be worth the effort of bringing it into the Fire Nation by force now that Azulon is in such a rush to find the Avatar in the South Pole. The soldiers stationed at Kyoshi Island are ordered to join up with the Southern Raiders the moment the leader of the island signs an agreement to officially agree to be subservient to the Fire Nation. However, the chosen Fire Nation delegate is in a great rush to join with the rest of the fleet since he’s also getting a promotion out of the move, and his opponent is incredibly clever. The leader of Kyoshi Island manages to manipulate the Fire Nation delegate into agreeing that the Fire Nation will not conquer Kyoshi Island so long as they remain neutral in the war. Before the ink is even dry the Fire Nation delegate races off to his promotion in the Southern Raiders, not realizing how much he screwed up.

Kyoshi Island is officially a neutral party in the war. But the Kyoshi Warriors are another story. They couldn’t possibly sit back and do nothing. But to do so openly would cause the Fire Nation to show the islanders no mercy. One night all of the older Kyoshi Warriors disappear. Officially, no one on Kyoshi Island knows where these warriors have gone. No one on the island is to say a single word about these missing warriors. The whole island basically just Ba Sing Ses themselves into forgetting those warriors ever existed in order to protect themselves. Some of the Kyoshi Warriors come back years later, no questions are ever asked about where they were or what they did, but most of the warriors never come back. Some of the Kyoshi Warriors disguise themselves as men and join the Earth Kingdom army, but most of them travel to smaller Earth Kingdom cities and villages to teach the civilians how to defend themselves and to organize themselves so as to defend against robbers and thieves and maybe even a small platoon of Fire Nation soldiers.

It becomes a sort of tradition over time. As soon as the younger generation of Luoshi Warriors are old enough to look after the needs of the island the older warriors disappear without a trace and no one ever acknowledges it just in case the Fire Nation ever comes back.

Firelord Azulon dies and Ozai ascends to the throne. Ozai just straight up forgets Kyoshi Island exists. He didn’t think it was important in his geography lessons as a young prince so he didn’t bother remembering it exists. He’s royalty, you can’t expect him to remember every insignificant island in the world

The latest generation of Kyoshi Warriors has only been gone for about a year when the Avatar shows up. The whole ‘staying neutral’ thing quite literally goes up in smoke and yet Kyoshi Island remains standing. Just like in the show the Islanders all decide it’s time to finally officially join the war.

No one ever mentions the past Kyoshi Warriors (on screen at least) out of habit and because the not talking about them has become such an ingrained part of their tradition.

After the war ends, all of the surviving Kyoshi Warriors who still think of Kyoshi Island as home returns and lives out the rest of their lives at peace

[araveninthedarknight]

A New Character in the Story chapter 1!

So this is my first full length/non drabble fanfic, please don't expect much from it. It is Yasushi X OC and while i know most characters will be out of character, I am still new to writing and am for now just focusing on bettering me as a writer..Call it creative license and personal interpretation. That being said, I won't have a set update schedule for it for the time being, maybe in the future.

Warnings: Normal high and low swearing, fighting and all that jazz, probobly out of character high and low (sorryyy)

A young boy who loved High and Low but hated storms was home alone, waiting out a thunder storm, but as it crept closer, so did his fear, he was wishing for Yasushi to be real, to be there to be the big though one while he curled into him like a whimpering lost puppy. He decided that to distract from the brewing storm, he would watch High and Low, eat some popcorn, and hope to drown out the horrible noises and block the flashing lights with blackout curtains. Bobby booted up Netflix, turned on the movie and cranked the volume, making some popcorn and plugging his phone in.

A particularly loud clap of thunder roared like a lion over head, shaking the small house on it's foundation and jump-scaring the poor storm spooked late teen aged male on his couch. His sandy brown hair was all over his face, slightly shaggy and now tickling at his eye lids as the jolt from the storm caused it to move out of place. His green eyes darted to find his remote, wanting the television up louder though it couldn't actually go up much more.

"I need Yasushi to come roar at the damned thunder with Kyoshi to scare it away..." He mutters softly as he pulls a blanket from the couch back over his shoulders and lap, hoping to scramble for any type of comfort as his fear loomed over his head like a personal storm cloud. In reaching for his phone,just as a bolt of light lit the sky an erie purple, Bobby got shocked, sending him into a knocked out state. This zap would change the course of his life, but he had no clue it would.

A groan came from tired lips, a lingering dull throb in the brunette's head. He felt like he had been plowed down by bricks, sitting up almost made him fall back in exhaustion. But something seemed different then he was used to, this did not feel like his home at all, and he would be the first to proclaim he was afraid. Bobby hated the unknown and begrudgingly opened his green eyes, clear glasses on the bridge of his nose. He confirmed while using a finger to shove the lenses to his range of view, that his was NOT his house, and he had somehow ended up outside on a clear day sitting in an area that seemed all too familiar to him. He decided it was all just a dream, he would close his pools of emerald, lay back and let his cheeks feel the flutter of dark lashes, long fans over cheekbones, and sleep. Clammoring seemed to make the boy groan inwardly, hoping that whatever was in his dream state would leave him alone to his weird dream escape plan.

"Hey, what's this? A new kid?At Oya??" Fujio asked with confusion seeping from his every word, they never really got many new kids, let alone ones that looked so damned out of place.

"Please tell me this is some kind of fever dream.." Bobby thought to himself as he sat up once more, dread in his gut as he came face to face with the Oya students, ones that only existed in a fictional world. Damn had that zap in the storm messed with his brain. He surveyed the crowd around him, recognizing Fujio at the front, still as puppy-like as he was in the movie, the leather couch under him felt almost searing hot to the touch, making it more life like than ever before, and he never had had such a lifelike dream, he was now well and truly afraid. Eyes landing on Todoroki, the teen felt even more unnerved, he had quite the intimidating aura up close and Bobby felt like this was going to be the end of his short life as he knew it, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This had to be a dream right?

Yasushi watched everyone around the boy, Jamuo trying to talk to the new face, and even the male with the bleached hair and braids knew the poor thing was shaking in his boots and looked ready to cry, overwhelmed and wanting nothing more than to hide away from all the rowdy teens.

"OY, let the guy breath, it won't get you anywhere to be half way to being on top of him." He yells loudly, making the newcomer jump in his spot, slightly cowering in fear and causing weird feelings to arise in the chest of the bleach blonde male, but he pushed it away. He had decided it was best to ignore any issue causing feelings and go to his though exterior.

Bobby sat curled in a ball on the farthest corner of the old leather couch, trying to avoid all eye contact, a new voice broke the silent barrier that had been the air, stirring more feelings of dread within the deep pits of the teen. "You don't look like you are from here, where do you come from, and why are you here?" Asked Todoroki, his voice like a teacher, frim and proper, enough to make someone be cautios, if smart and not against athority anyhow.

"W-well, I'm originally from the united states, but I just recently moved here." Bobby lies,trying to keep his voice smooth,firm and steady, but he knew these guys would sniff out one fuck up, so he only had one chance, had to make it count, "And my name is Bobby, so I would prefer to be addressed as so." The teen was inwardly impressed with how stern he had been, holding his own like a brave lion against a diffrent lion in a den for domanance.

Kyoshi noticed how Yasushi looked at the newest oya attendee and raised an eyebrow to himself, wondering if love had started to blister at his seemingly anti anything other than fighting and Kyoshi heart. It seemed silly to most to notice a change like that just in the eyes, but after being basically brothers as long as the two had, he knew in a heartbeat it was a foreign look to his friend and he needed to figure out how to get it more often, hoping to help his friend like a good wingman.

Bobby stands as the crowd thins, putting his hands in his pockets of his black jacket as he looks over the roof of the school, people milling about looking much smaller from his new vantage point than he realized, to be fair he had only been on a roof once now, and that was something he was convinced it was a dream still, just one that felt so real that you could taste and smell and even feel the dream world around you. Bobby had no clue it wasn't a state of a relm only found in sleep but a random freak accident that gained him his one with, as if it was a geni wish grant for the brunette's own glee, despite the current state of fear he was engulfed in like he had been during the storm. This could be a disaster, or this could be one hell of an adventure, only time will tell.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Do you have any Avatar Kuruk headcanons?

Hmmmmm I have a few! (under the cut for length)

So Kuruk is known as a party animal, and while I think it has SOME truth, the over exaggeration of it isn't really him. He's kinda Bruce Wayne-ing it half the time. And while he was a bit of a romantic and a little flirty, he wasn't nearly as bad as his reputation later became. Like he wasn't a manwhore/rake or whatever you wanna call him (at least before the spirits). (after the spirits..... I'm tempted to believe that even if he did sleep around....I fear it might've been because he was preyed on like that one maid did, maybe not all the time but I don't think he was surrounded by a lot of good people ;w;).

UNFORTUNATELY, his old team and supposed close friends had their perception colored later in life and forgot his real personality. Remembering only the silver tongue flirt, and thus they thought Yun was the perfect ringer.

The only people who saw his real personality since fighting the spirits was probably Ummi and Nyahitha, and Kelsang (that one time). And ironically that had more similarities with Kyoshi than other's probably saw. (which is why Nyahitha gives her so much shit and clocked her in like five seconds kfjdksjfa)

Kuruk was TOTALLY and 100% working OVERTIME in Rise of Kyoshi. This guy was trying SO FREAKING HARD to get Kyoshi together with Rangi. TT0TT Like he was totes feeding her lines of his poem because of how Rangi looks, and legit forgot Kelsang knew the poem. Kyoshi even mentions how it looked like Rangi was outlined by a spirit during the Chameleon Bay chase, and that spirit HAS to be Kuruk. TT0TT My man is the best wingman, he was trying so hard for his OTP to be together TT0TT

Kuruk and Kyoshi def vibe in the afterlife. They founded the "I Miss My Wife" club. Only for the most miserable though, which is them. ("I get Kuruk but what about Kyoshi-" My headcanon for how Kyoshi's love life goes is not a pleasant one ;w; So yeah, club founders).

Kuruk was totes fine with Kyoshi killing Xu, he probs would've been up in her face like he was with Chaejin/Huazo incident if he wasn't at least a lil' chill about it. Maybe at worse disapproved, but it was probs something like "Eh, he's an ass, you gotta do what you gotta do. Not my move but who am I to judge?"

If the "you get the face of your loved one when reincarnated" is correct, then he is so happy and sad whenever he looks at Kyoshi. Kyoshi might've decided to present herself wearing make up in the afterlife because she saw how much it hurt him.

Because of that, for the time Kyoshi hated him, he was devastated. TT0TT

He's still Yangchen's biggest fanboy, but likes to tease her about spirits. All in good fun tho. He was always so happy to talk with her.......even when his life was falling apart. TT0TT

He likes to brag about having it easy and being sandwiched between two awesome Avatar lady eras. They usually do all the talking for him when ppl hit up the Avatar past selves line (I like to think Kyoshi and then Roku found a better way to deal with spirits, so Kuruk gets to just kick back and delegate to a different Avatar now. His best advice being "don't kill the spirits" now TT0TT). He deserves rest and this is the closest he's getting to it damnit!

HC that Roku is a fanboy of Kyoshi, Kuruk has a soft spot for the boy since he totally GETS IT.

Kuruk tried his best to keep Kyoshi alive when she was younger. Not much you can do as a spirit, but he was always by her side through her worst fevers. It hurt him seeing her like that, especially when his dying wish was to make sure his friends did right by her. TT0TT

He really likes Korra, little upset he didn't get spiritbending, but hey watchu gonna do? He totally took off his hat/coat when talking to her cause of her animal guide tho fkjsadkfja He's glad she brought back the airbenders (especially since it made Yangchen happy).

I'm fascinated by his past relationships with Hei-Ran and Ummi. I think the song "If We Never Met" by John K fits him and Ummi's relationship tbh (since a lot of the lyrics seem to fit what we know about them).

That's all I got right now. I wish we got more information, I hope he gets a novel soon. TT0TT

[pandawarrior]

Avatar Character Ranking: part four

Final part and the most elite characters!!!

A tier

15. Haru

Rebel. Beautiful with and without the moustache. He freed his village from Fire Nation and he didn’t get captured on the day of the black sun. What an absolute king. I had a crush on him because I have good taste in men. HARU FOR EARTH KING!!!

14. Aang

This may be controversial but just hear me out. I don’t hate Aang first of all. He is a good avatar and he did his job all the time. He learnt all bending forms and took down the earth king in what?? A year?? Two years?? Amazing. He stuck to his morals and didn't kill Flopzai. He had a sick tattoo. HE’S THE AVATAR IT’S HIS SHOW. Now. With that being said. He is so ANNOYING. I am so sorry. He is. Out of the main five (Katara, Sokka, Aang, Toph and Zuko) in my opinion, he is the least interesting as a character. Like they could have added more depth. We never really saw him grieve over the loss of his ENTIRE POPULATION. He got a bit mad and moved on. Also let’s be real. Katara, Sokka and Toph were carrying him the whole time. Like most of the plans were from Katara and Sokka They were the masterminds and the backbones of the Gaang. I’m not saying Aang didn’t do anything, but without Katara and Sokka he would be toast. Alson can i just say I don't blame Aang for running away when and getting trapped in ice for 100 years when he found out his duty because same. Now for the REALLY controversial bit. AANG ENDED UP WITH KATARA WHEN SHE SHOULD’VE BEEN WITH ZUKO! THERE! I SAID IT! I could explain why but It would take too long. So to conclude, Aang is great and I like him if course I do but the other main four were better characters and that’s that. Aang can also do the air ball spinny thing which is awesome. 

13.  Ty Lee

DON’T GET ME STARTEDDD!!! SHE IS A QUEEN!!! SHE NEVER FLOPPED NEVER TANKED!!! She was backflipping, cartwheeling, chi blocking (bending?) What couldn't she do? The only one that could go up against mother Katara. Girls wanted to be her, Guys wanted to be with her. No one was doing it like her. Did you see her outfit?? The pink??? Amazing. She rode for Mai, that was her bestie, they were locked in. Chiblocked azula for Mai your bestie would never. 

12. Mai

The realest of the real. Hated her life but she loved Zuko. Real. Absolutely GAGGED Azula “I guess you miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear” OH??? My life was never the same. Betrayed Azula and her entire country for Zuko. Again too real. HER PARENTS ARE DUMB FLOPS THAT DON’T LET HER EXPRESS HERSELF. Bit mad. BUT SHE ALSO THROWS KNIVES!!!  I used to think she just had knife dispensers in her hands but the fact that she hand throws them is cooler. Monotone permanently and I love her for it. I place no blame on her for Zutara not happening. 

11. Avatar Kyoshi

Why is she so high??? Because she stood on business. She came back to life and said ”I killed that man, what about it” and dipped. Absolute menace. The makeup, the fans??? What else is there to say? Has a whole island and fanclub AS SHE SHOULD!!

S tier

10. Katara 

Don’t get mad at me for this, and if anyone is anti-katara near me I will fight you. She DESTROYED THE PATRIARCHY HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE HER? She ended everyone who tried her. Left no witnesses. Was healing and battering people. MASTERED BLOODBENDING ON THE SAME NIGHT SHE LEARNT IT!!! MOTHER!!! LEGEND!!! QUEEN!!!! ENDED HAMA!!! The most responsible Gaang member, she was always looking out for them. But why is she number 12?? Icl…. she got on my nerves a BIT too much. Like, she just did too much sometimes. The most out of pocket thing was when she said sokka didn't love their mom as much as she did?? No need for that. Also, she was dragging out the “not forgiving zuko thing” girl just say you're heartbroken and move on. And she threw Toph in jail. Now Katara. Why. Apart from that and a few other things, literal icon. Her iconic hair loopies are iconic. I used to try to recreate it with my braids lmao. 

9. Suki

SUKIIIIII!!!!! SHE REFORMED SOKKA LITERALLY TURNED HIM INTO A SUFFRAGETTE, THE POWER SHE HOLDS!!! “I AM A WARRIOR BUT I AM A GIRL TOO!” NOT JUST ANY GIRL THE NO1 GIRL. WHAT DID SHE DO WRONG??? NOTHING!!! SHE HAS NO FLAWS!! SHE DEFIED PHYSICS AND CAPTURED THE PRISON WARDEN BY HERSELF!!! EFFORTLESSLY!!! YOUR FAVES COULD NEVER!!!

8. Azula

Guys she’s just misunderstood I swear. She was 14!!! 14 and she had grown ass men shaking in their boots. 14 and she was popping bitches left and right. Literally everyone failed: her mom, Flopzai, even zuko and iroh lowkey. My girl just wanted to be loved, it's not her fault. I'm gonna do a full character debrief on her. I have too much to say, but she is one of the most misunderstood and best characters ever written. She is so complex I literally watch psychology of azula video all the time. The way her character is written. Can't wait to get my psychology A Level so i can analyse her. The beach episode and her flirting had me crying. She's so funny, I love her. 

7. ZUKO

My first boyfriend. When he grew his hair out, six year old had heart eyes. Best redemption arc ever written and I stand by that. He was never evil, he just wanted his Dad’s love and also he is so awkward and funny. He’s so angry at everything I feel bad for him but can I talk about something. One of the most iconic moments of the show is when he did something good and his immune system SHUT DOWN. I was crying, that was so funny. Also, Iroh and Zuko together is comedy gold and also sentimental because Iroh found a son in zuko and Zuko found a father in Iroh. AH I CAN’TTT. Zuko stood up to his abusive uglyass dad and showed him that he can redirect lightning. Zuko teaches Aang to redirect it. In the final battle, Aang redirects the lightning and FLOPZAI’S FACEEEEE. I would therapise Zuko don’t worry. Poor Zuko. I’m gonna do a character debrief of him too because he is literally my first love.

6. Iroh

I wanna drink tea with him once. I know one conversation with him would change the trajectory of my life. Leaves from the vine deserves a Grammy. (Guys I think Iroh was a war criminal and everyone just forgets it nut I can’t make it go away from my head). Anyways he is so cool, he can breathe fire from his mouth. Laos, he kind of tanked when he just let Azula grow uo wit Ozai. but anyway, I love Iroh he’s such a cool guy. I hope hes having a blast in his tea shop. 

5. SOKKA (air horns sound)

First of all, he had unlimited game. He could pull anyone and everyone. Secondly, boomerang. Thirdly, manbun. Fourthly, he’s SOKKA. He was the comedic relief but I just love him so much. He wasn’t a bender but he was still battering people. He didn’t have that much depth till the last season but he was so brave and he had the Gaangs back no matter what. Like he never missed. He was prepared to break into the most secure prison ever to get his dad back like that's a true warrior. Do you know the episode where he goes to get the sword and the Gaang is bored because Sokka isn’t there. That’s how it was watching LOK except that it hurt more because he was dead. Also Sokka and Suki are a power couple. Literal couple of the series.

4. MOMO

WHERE IS MY MOMO SPIN OFF SHOW??? WHERE IS IT??? WHERE???? Momo should have been the next avatar ISTG

3. Appa

APPA!! The real MVP of the show. Carried everyone (literally). Was the bravest. Appa’s last days?? Actual depression serum. Like it’s so sad. Where is my Appa prequel, sequel, soin off show, book series and spin off of the book series WHERE IS IT??

2. TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best character on the show. Everything she did was iconic. Was an underground wrestling champion and nobody knew. Beat the everloving shit out of grown men BY HERSELF. She’s like four feet tall by the way. She sees with her feet. If that's not the coolest thing you've ever heard then I don't know what to say to you. If toph is not even in your top three then don't ever speak to me i am so serious. She was the only one who knew Zuko was being fr about switching sides. That’s my queen fr. SHE! INVENTED! METALBENDING! INVENTED IT! A WHOLE NEW FORM! SHE DID IT!!!!!!! What did your fave do???? That's right they flopped. Toph is the best bender in the show and the best character, argue with the wall. 

 1. Cabbage man

This is half joke, half serious. Cabbage man is not only a victim but he's also secretly a scientist because how was he travelling the world at the same time as the Gaang with NO appa. King behaviour. I hope he got compensation because he lost so much money with all those destroyed cabbages. RIP.

[coeureina]

WOL Inspo Chart

Was tagged by @oazuredragoon , who clearly can't get enough of this girl so!

Left side, top to bottom:

Lexa kom Trikru (The 100): Lexa's entire aesthetic and introduction was what made me get hyped about the show seeing as how she wasn't in the books. She was always interesting to me for how she commanded the respect of her people and was a visionary. She did what she needed to do even if people ended up hating her in the end. It was a trait I knew that Iza needed to have.

Eris, Goddess of Discord (Sinbad): Eris by far was one of my favorite villains and in the beginning even with Iza being hailed the Warrior of Light, she was indeed a villain. Eris is the true, pure representation of malevolence and deviance which after losing her entire family, that's who Iza became. In order to beat the Garleans she had to be just as ruthless, manipulative and intelligent as they were. They bought chaos into her life and she would return the favor BUT despite that she remained a woman of her word.

Evelyn O'Connell (formally Carnahan) (The Mummy): Evie's love of history, knowledge and adventure in general is another one of the bases of who Iza is at her core. She adapts that philosophy of "if she could touch something and see it, then it was real".

Right side, top to bottom:

Avatar Kyoshi (Avatar the Last Airbender): Everyone knows Kyoshi as the "take no shit" Avatar and this is extremely true but she is also a person who was empathic, considerate, trusting and level-headed. She also suffered from low self-esteem and doubted her abilities to be a good avatar. To loved ones, she showed those soft traits. To the world, she is the direct, fierce and assertive woman we know and has always been an idol of mine. It would have been easy to pack on only good traits to the making of Iza but I wanted her to have hidden gems as well that only the most determined of people would find.

Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto): The entire story of Naruto from beginning to end is emotional and so inspiring. To be doubted and feared to loved and respected is something he earned through years of having one goal and dream. In many ways, Naruto and Iza are truly one and the same in that respect except the talking. Iza would much rather just beat someone's ass.

Lynn Wiles (Pulse): Lynn's personality of seeing life for what it is and having the ability to connect with everyone she meets while while being incredibly cheesy is who Iza was and who I hope to make her once again. It's one of the many things that has to be drawn out by the right people.

Honorable mentions: Nesta from ACOTAR. IYKYK.

Template can be found here for anyone interested! Tagging @phoebe-of-ivalice @bunaribae and anyone who hasn't done one!

[visd3stele]

i have only watched the first two episodes, but i have to write this down before i forget it

SPOILERS AHEAD

i'm so upset you people made it seem so much worse!! i'm talking about ATLA live action show, of course. all i saw about it is criticism, harsh, angry criticism. which is valid, to each their own, but it's not that bad!! it's actually quite good. for people who haven't seen the original it should be gold. their new fav fantasy series.

yeah, the plot is moving FAST. faster than it should and thus eliminates so many things. like, getting to see Aang's backstory so soon, whitout showing how happy he was before finding out he's the avatar and how the other kids pushed him away once the news got out, gyatso being told to stay away too being the final drop, causing him to leave and despise being the avatar. in the show he just fears the responsability. which is in tune with his character. it's valid. it's just far less complex and complicated.

Aang's still childish and likes to play and goof around, he just accepts his role faster. fear of hurting others, a very important characterization of him that appears in the original show as well, plays a huge role still, he just becomes responsible and stops running from who he is faster.

Katara and Sokka are really well written. Sokka's sexism isn't out and open, it's not obvious and it's watered down a lot, but it exists. harder to catch on, easy to brush away, but it's there. and Katara is motherly, the only thing i was upset about was her not mentioning her mother. it was made up for with the flashbacks, but still.

Zukko didn't mention his honor once!! whyyy??? i mean, i know it's a running joke in the fandom, but all humor aside, it plays an important part in his character. throughout the series he learns how to be an actual honorable person, he learns he's the only one who can give himself this value, he can't receive it from – or have it taken away by – Ozai. other than that, though, he's a really good Zukko. he has the entitled prince patience – or lack of it more likely. he has the anger, the need to succeed driving him over his limits. he's rude with those he sees beneath him. i have faith his growth will be well handled.

SUKI!!! other than the fact she has an immediate crush on Sokka, she's also good. her and Sokka still train, she still beats him and shows him how to fight better. he still tries to show off in her face and is ashamed to lose to a girl. he's ashamed to ask for her help. but he comes around real quick. it's two seasons worth of character development and relationship development crammed in one episode. but they have to do that to catch your attention. the average public has lost their patience to watch a slowly developing, complex character arc. and they don't want the show to be cancelled.

Uncle Iroh is on par with who he is in the original. nothing to comment here.

there are major chances, like Aang channeling Kyoshi and entering the spirit realm so early in his journey. but the channeling other avatars in their temples is an interesting addition in my opinion. i personally like it and am ready to see more of it.

Katara is learning a bit fast, but she still can't fight Zuko on her own, so they didn't, thankfully, make her a prodigy mary sue. it's fine by me. she still has to work to achieve her powers and it actually reminds me of how fast she learns when she has a teacher, so they did rush her, but the struggle is still there.

they leave so many things unadressed because they don't have time to write them in, but they do touch the important main events. so i'll take it.

the costumes are SPLENDID!!

all in all, i like it. it's nostalgic and i can see my childhood show come to life. nothing could replace it, but it's a beautiful addition.