#siege of the north

[lizarin]

I forgot how fantastic The Siege of the North's use of color is. Story telling at it's finest.

[marmot-bee-person]

If I had a nickel for every time a character turned into the moon to save humanity, I’d have two nickels

Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.

In other news, I had the Gifted Clans Series (RR Presents, Korean mythology) on the brain. I feel like there are memes.

Emmett Harrison saying ‘my first girlfriend turned into the sun’ has invaded my brain.

[waterbenderkat]

Love the subtle detail that Yue is the only one whose eyes remain in color after the Moon spirit is killed, due to having it within her.

It’s subtle, but it’s there.

[youfreakinnerd]

"Halloween ended six months ago, pumpkin carving season is over…" "No… It's not over!"

I've still got Avatar on the brain. I bought five pumpkins in December and I was planning to carve them for Christmas. Fast forward three months and I was going to carve these up for my birthday but instead decided to upload a video. I'm glad I did!

Filming update: ATLA Rewatch 2 is filmed, got my reshoots done and the first part of Rewatch 3 covering "The Earth King of Omashu". So once I get some spare hours I'll get those edited together and out into the world. (Thanks for being patient!!) Between drawing practice, getting ready to move and go back to school, practicing for a talent show, working full-time, AND getting back into making videos I've been running myself ragged. But rest assured, I plan to make YT a consistently uploaded thing soon. My filming and editing process is getting more streamlined, and I'm coming up with other ways of sharing stuff with you all. I even filmed myself carving this pumpkin! LMK if you're interested in something like that below.

And as always, thanks for stopping by. I look forward to geeking out with you all soon.

~Nerd youfreakinnerd@ YouTube

[hello-nichya-here]

Is Zuko indirectly responsible for Yue's death?

Eh... a little. He kidnapped Aang, which is, ya know, bad, and maybe Aang would have been able to stop Zhao from getting the fish and killing the moon, so Yue wouldn't have had to sacrifice her own life, but we can't know that for sure. Zhao wasn't alone, and Aang himself said he couldn't win against all the Fire Nation attackers because there just too many of them.

I cut Zuko some slack on that episode because, unlike in a situation like him burning Suki's village or threatening the Southern Water Tribe or the fall of Ba Sing Se, he was utterly screwed and desperate. Even during "The Blue Spirit" he wasn't in as terrible of a position, because he still had his title as prince (a banished, disgraced one, but still) his ship, his crew, his uncle, and likely wouldn't be attacked if he didn't cause any trouble for the Fire Nation. He would never be able to come home, but there would be no threat to his safety.

But during Book 1's finale? He had been hiding in Zhao's ship after a murder attempt because Iroh, the only family he had left at that point, thought it would be better to let Zhao believe Zuko really was dead, and then he let him go chase Aang again, at night, in the middle of a snow storm, all alone in enemy territory AND with no ally other than himself. Hence him running into the problem of finally having the Avatar - but having nowhere to go. And when he actually stopped chasing Aang? Ozai sent Azula to capture him because, thanks to Zhao knowing he was the Blue Spirit, he was now a traitor and would be hunt down.

I know the lines are a bit more blurry in the world of Avatar, but if there was ever any moment in which Iroh could be seen as endangering Zuko, it was that one - hell, Iroh realizing he almost got his "son" killed was probably why he was following him during "The Chase" and tried to reason with him in "Lake Laogai."

And lets not forget what happened after that episode, when he actually stopped chasing Aang for a little while: Ozai sent Azula to capture him because, thanks to Zhao knowing he was the Blue Spirit, he was now a traitor and would be hunt down no matter what he did, and the only way to save himself was by capturing Aang. It was no longer just for his honor, it was about survival.

The boy had almost zero hope left and was just trying literally anything to no longer be in the shitty situation Zhao (and Iroh) put him in, and the impact of his actions on everything that happened in that episode are a bit hard to measure because they are too many "maybes" involved.

That being said, let's be real, if at some point Zuko felt it was necessary to kill Yue, he'd do it. Just look at him having zero issue with Azula killing Aang, and then sending an assassin after him. If he had never been banished, Aang had never been found, and Zhao had managed to conquer the North Pole, Zuko would be happy about it, because he was raised to be unbothered by the thought of his nation commiting literal genocide.

[lightdancer1]

Intermediate chapter of the Siege of the North is done:

Next up will be the next two chapters of A Far Green Country and the aforementioned string of one-shots.

[ljf613]

I am super excited about this musical.

[shortmexicangirl]

i will forever be obsessed with the use of colour in the siege of the north

[cuteniarose]

My best friend is watching Avatar for the first time and I think Yue’s sacrifice broke her-

[stardust948]

So you know during The Siege of the North when Zhao flipped Hahn over the ship? Um...is he okay? He kinda didn’t show back up after that. What happened to his team? Were they just standing there listening to Zhao talk about killing the moon? 

[waterbenderkat]

Rewatching Siege of the North again and just… bawling?

I can’t describe it, but as a spiritual person something about these episodes just hit differently, capture something I’ve never seen media capture before. It’s both fuel and bittersweet pain for the spiritual self.

This? This touches deep down to the very soul. This is something special. And I greatly appreciate everyone behind this show for giving us this finale (and show in general).

[companionsofusall]

[id: almost finished painting of yue: an intuit woman from avatar the last airbender. She’s in her moon spirit form, looking down atop of aang in his ocean spirit beast form, and encircling her arms around him. The painting is done on glass, and she’s stylized so that the beast is glowing, and casting white highlights on her. Meanwhile her shadows are transparent. The background is semi transparent- clear paint is built up around it giving it a watery texture. Weaving around yue and aang is a scroll- slightly tinted brown. At the point it crosses in front of yue, it reads “the moon gave me life...” end id]

Better pics in frame and in sun will come tomorrow!!

[chlorophyll-my-cup]

spent too long in pixlr for this.. but when I have a vision, I see it through

[falcon-nerd]

Siege of the North pt 2 is a masterpiece

Really, it is.

The change in the color scheme when the moon spirit is killed is amazing. Everything goes black and white except for when its in the light of something else. 

You can see the color on things when someone is firebending nearby, and you can see color when the Aang/ocean spirit giant goes by. Everything else is completely back and white

Everything but Yue’s eyes. They stay blue the entire time. It’s because she has part of the moon spirit inside of her

I only noticed this after the third time I watched this episode.

I know that it’s a pretty obvious thing, but I just thought I would talk about it since I found it really awesome

[lightdancer1]

A brief excerpt from the upcoming chapter of Dragon of the West:

"Zuko," his mother's voice spoke, with a different kind of distraction to the tone he'd heard otherwise, as the fires crackling around her left hand began to take on a violet hue.

"Yes, mom?"

"In the future, I hope one day you'll forgive me for not talking you out of accompanying me here into this."

He shook his head. "I'm a Prince, mom, it's what I should be doing."

Ursa shook her head. "You're still my son and a child, Zuko."

The violet light intensified and the permafrost began to melt underneath her and Zuko blinked, sparks dancing in front of his eyes from the brightness of the light.

"We've talked about my heritage from Roku," his mom's voice said quietly. "Now, Zuko, let me show you what happens when that heritage lets itself *burn.*"

Violet light shot out, Ursa's flames hot enough to compress into a beam that was straighter than most fires, arcing straight for the ice-wall of the Northern Tribe, the soldiers on it seeing a single Fire Nation leader at the head of their armies firing a thin purple light toward the wall.

The light began to move like a sword and then they began to cry in terrified fear as the wall began to collapse under them, as Aang kept most of them from falling with air currents and Pakku shook his head in despair watching the wall collapse, though this was just outside what the Fire Nation Army could see. Its cheers echoed with a resounding voice of doom and thunder.

Ursa smiled then with a savage relish and let herself take steps forward, Admiral Zhao decidedly quiet. It had been his foolish idea to take the Fire Nation into Noon-Darkness on ice. Now, Ursa reflected, it was time, at last, to do what the Agni Kai had given herself only a small taste of. She had spent so many long years in the shadow of her husband and his hatred and his fear.

Her other fist lit with purple light and the Fire Nation Army surged forward, the Firebenders unleashing a reign of Fireballs.

"Your sister's in there, Zuko," she reflected with a hard voice. "I'll not have that bounty hunter scoring more cheap points at my expense. I'll find her myself. Then.......what shall be, shall be."

[aleteia-ff]

In my memory the series spent a lot more time at the North Pole but I guess it just feels that way because the episodes are so impactful. Starting The Siege of the North now and ready for it to wreck me. Love the start of it already, with the clear contrast between how Katara and Aang train & the obvious Yue + Sokka chemistry <3