#something something about the similarities between waterbending and airbending

[angstandhappiness]

FASCINATING

i was reading meta about how Ozai probably burned Zuko's face with the same move he uses to try to land on Aang after Aang enters the Avatar State in the final episode; you know the one. Charging up a fire attack, hand cupped outward, fire erupting out in a powerful blast...

There's a lot of cool character moments in that. The same move he used to mutilate his son, dismissively knocked away and putting Ozai off balance, exploiting his massive ego and temper to keep him off balance as Aang takes the offensive. The same move that he used to mutilate his son, deflected by the hero whom that same son taught.

But I realized something particular about Aang's move. That's not a Firebending kind of move he uses, nor is it a Waterbending move, though its similar.

The move Aang uses to knock Ozai's attack aside is an incredibly quick and graceful manuever. His wrist moves up and pushes against Ozai's wrist, turning the momentum of it against him and knocking it off course, rendering the energy put into it completely useless and Ozai opened, as Aang then lands a destructive Airbending blast that smashes Ozai into rocks just as Ozai had just done to him.

Making the indestructible force go be dangerous somewhere else, moving it about in a circular way.

The move Aang used to open up the fight and humiliate the grandson of Sozin, whose forefather genocided the Air Nomads and began the hundred year war, the move Aang used to defang the same technique Ozai probably used to mutilate his son, that sets the tone for a battle that ends with that war ended and the Fire Lord dethroned so that a new age of love and freedom can arise...

is unmistakably an Airbending move.

[starlight-bread-blog]

Three Books, Two Characters, One Story

An essay on Zuko and Katara's characters and character arcs

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Zuko and Katara, fire and water, red and blue, one rises with the sun, the other rises with the moon. And yet, they are similar, tied together and grew closer than they could have imagined. In this essay I will discuss Zuko and Katara's characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender. I intend to touch on their shared traits and backgrounds, on their development and on their points of convergence in their over overarching story. Now, without further ado, let's begin.

——————

The Common Ground

Zuko and Katara share their core traits and core events in their respective lives. Firstly, their loss of their mothers. Zuko lost his mother, Ursa; and Katara lost her mother, Kya. But if you ask me, it goes deeper than that. For Zuko, the loss was a loss of shelter from the cruelty of his father and the bliss of being a child. In Zuko Alone, we see how Ursa took care of Zuko, played with him, and gave him a proper childhood.

With that gone, he remained almost completely unprotected. But more importantly, he lost his childhood. (It is true that he still had Iroh, but Iroh can help to an extent. He can’t be at the dinner table when Ozai tells Zuko he was lucky to be born).

Similarly, when Katara’s mother died, something in her internalized it. As Sokka says in The Runaway:

We see Katara help fill the void many times in A:TLA. Namely in The Desert, where she takes care of the Gaang in ways ranging from giving her bending water to endangering herself to pull A\ang out of the Avatar State. Katara doesn’t like to be viewed as someone who lost her childhood, as her reaction to Sokka’s speech was to join Toph and go scamming. However, Kya’s death is an integral part of who she became. She wants to cling to her childhood, and she partly succeeds,but that speech was made for a reason. A part of it was gone with Kya.

Another parallel between their similar grief is sacrifice. Zuko’s mother left to save his life from Fire Lord Azulon’s ruthless order. Katara’s mother died when pretending to be the last waterbender of the South Pole when a Fire Nation raid came looking for her. Both of their mothers left because they protected them, saving their lives from the cruelty of the Fire Nation. In these parallel narratives, the themes of sacrifice against them are intertwined.

But beyond their grief, I believe that at their center, they are very similar. Zuko and Katara are filled with righteous anger and empathy even towards strangers. Although clearly everyone in the Gaang is a good person, doing their part in ending the war, it’s not a defining trait as it is for Zuko and Katara. In The Painted Lady, Katara insists on helping a Fire Nation village while Sokka pressures that they’ll leave to make it to the invasion, while Toph and A\ang remain natural. Her compassion clashes with the Gaang. When Sokka scolds her for being impulsive with her attempts to aid the village, Katara angrily responds with this:

Similarly, the thing that kicked off Zuko’s arc was this righteous anger. In The Storm, we learn that Zuko’s scar came from him standing up to a general who suggested sacrificing a division of rookies for an operation.

You can't sacrifice an entire division like that! Those soldiers love and defend our nation! How can you betray them?

It is their shared compassion and anger at the injustices around them that makes them and the way they interact with the world so similar. Iroh described Zuko as “an idealist with a pure heart with unquestionable honor”. How well does this describe Katara?

Moreover, it is not only their anger. They are both incredibly strong willed with how they act on their anger. In The Waterbending Master, when Katara found out master Pakku won’t teach her because she’s a girl, she didn’t give up. She challenged him, a master, to a fight to prove that she can do everything a boy can do. And Zuko’s strong will is almost over talked about. When A\ang escaped his ship, he jumped on his airbender staff. In Zuko Alone, Ursa said to him “That’s who you are, Zuko. Someone who keeps fighting even though it’s hard”.

To sum up, Zuko and Katara’s foundational events and personality traits are parallels to one another. They both lost their mother when they sacrificed themselves for them, and it marked the end of an era for them. They are both driven by compassion and righteous anger and have a strong willed personality. They are guided by their morals first and foremost. They are parallels to one another.

The Development

Zuko and Katara’s character arcs serve as parallels to each other, and bring them closer together. Zuko’s redemption arc is, to put it simply, about unlearning Fire Nation propaganda and coming to realize the horror his country inflicted on the world. In book 2 Zuko sees the harm they caused first hand, and in The Day of Black Sun he fully rejects the Fire Nation.

Zuko: Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was.

He rejects the lie that the Fire Nation is somehow helping the world - that it’s inherently good. His arc was about unlearning Fire Nation supremacy.

Katara’s arc is not as easy to pin down, but it’s nevertheless there. Her arc is about idealism, hope and a change in perspective. Katara started her journey as an idealist, the literal voice of hope in the opening, and with a black and white view of the world - the Fire Nation is evil, and everyone else is good. Throughout the show, Katara encounters both good people from the Fire Nation, and bad people from around the world of Avatar, such as Long Feng, Jet and Hama. In The Puppetmaster in particular she learns that waterbending can be just as destructive as firebending, if not more so. Her arc is about unlearning naivety and Fire Nation inferiority.

The symmetry comes from them learning to lean on the other’s view across the seasons. In book 1, they are rigid in their view. Zuko is still working a full time job tracking the Avatar, while Katara still clings to her black and white view of the world, such as when she had a conversation with a Firebender who told her firebending is inherently destructive. In book 2, Zuko becomes a fugitive and sees the Fire Nation’s horrors for himself, while Katara sees that the one safe haven from the Fire Nation can be evil too. In book 3, Zuko goes back to the Fire Nation to see that it’s not what he’d imagined at all, while Katara goes to the Fire Nation to find people just like her.

Not only are their arcs symmetrical, but they are what allows their bond to flourish. Katara can only forgive Zuko after she’d let go of her ideals, and Zuko can only seek to redeem himself in her eyes after he’d let go of his idealization of the Fire Nation. Their bond is a true testament to their arcs.

The Encounters

Zuko and Katara’s relationship carries a lot of narrative weight. Their journeys are intertwined on many occasions. For Katara, it’s significant that after Katara masters waterbending, it is Zuko whom she has to defend herself to. It’s significant that she sees humanity in Zuko, despite him being the face of the Fire Nation. It’s meaningful that she goes to find her mother’s killer with Zuko, and even bloodbends before him. And finally, it’s meaningful that she spends the 4 part finale with him.

For Zuko, it’s significant that when he truly connects with someone other than his uncle, it’s with Katara. It’s significant that he learns through Katara that revenge doesn’t always help. It’s significant that Katara is the last member he has to earn forgiveness from. And it’s meaningful that jumping in front of a lightning bolt to save Katara is his last act of redemption.

While Sokka and Zuko for instance never interact in book 1 besides some one liners, Katara and Zuko had a subplot around Katara’s necklace. Although their stories do diverge, such as most of book 2, they always return to spend the season’s finales together. They don’t drive each other’s characters forward as much as they represent milestones in each other’s stories. You cannot remove their scenes together and have the rest of the show make sense.

——————

In conclusion, Zuko and Katara’s characters follow a story of mutual suffering, personal development, and deep friendship. They have a common experience of sacrifice, sorrow, and unflinching compassion. These experiences have narrative weight because they act as development, redemption, and forgiveness catalysts, creating a connection that ultimately serves as a reminder of how far they’ve come.

[cienie-isengardu]

Zuko’s stealing habits: Additional observation 

I have already talked about Zuko’s stealing habits in second Book and came to the conclusion that, narrative and visually speaking, he stole food and money primarily for Iroh’s sake. Even stealing the ostrich horse from the kind Earth family that fed Zuko and Iroh seen at the beginning of the season (something I did not include in the previous part) was done for pragmatic reasons rather than out of spite or for fun. As in, the ostrich horse gave them additional advantage to avoid or run away from pursuit. Iroh was not happy about Zuko’s choice but he ultimately accepted it and never again scorned his nephew for taking that animal - the later episode showed the ostrich horse was vital for their escape from Rough Rhinos. 

Interestingly, Zuko wasn’t that much prone to stealing and/or appropriating someone’s property in the previous season either. Especially not for a petty reason. The three examples (or as close to stealing it could be) that comes to my mind happened in:

Avatar Return, when Zuko took Aang’s staff that the young airbender used in fight against him and then offered willingly as a token of his surrender in exchange for leaving Katara and Sokka’s people in peace.

On his ship, the Banished Prince said:

This staff will make an excellent gift for my father.

What A) shows he didn’t think of keeping the last airbender’s weapon for himself and B) is a similar gesture done by Iroh, who sent little Zuko a knife of an Earth Kingdom's General that surrendered to him during the siege of Ba Sing Sai.

The Waterbender Scroll, during confrontation between captured Katara and Zuko:

Zuko: Tell me where he is and I won't hurt you or your brother. Katara: Go jump in the river! Zuko: Try to understand. I need to capture him to restore something I've lost, my honor. Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost. Katara: My mother's necklace! How did you get that? Zuko: I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering. Tell me where he is.

And yes, Zuko did not steal the necklace, as Katara lost it when she helped imprisoned earthbenders to free themselves and Zuko found it in ruins of the workcamp. But he was willing to use it as a bargain chip and later, to track Aang with the help of June. From this episode he knew the necklace meant a great deal to Katara but for him it was a tool to fulfill his mission. 

The Blue Spirit, we can assume Zuko, as the Blue Spirit, was infiltrating Fire Natin’s stronghold to steal information about Avatar and/or Zhao’s plans, as said knowledge was denied to the banished prince. And mind you, the first time we saw Blue Spirit at the fortress was long before Zhao’s people managed to capture Aang. 

During the first season, Zuko may not have a strong moral opposition to destroying other people’s villages or pursuing Aang from one end of the world to another, or keeping Katara’s necklace but in general he does not steal unless it is necessary. He does not even take trophies from defeated enemies and/or attacked villages (Water Tribe and Kyoshi Island were left immediately once Aang either surrender or escape) with the exception of Aang’s staff that Zuko wished to give his father, no doubt to earn his respect. Which is something fitting the theme of the second Book.  

But the most ironic thing about Zuko’s stealing habits? Iroh’s reaction. Our dear uncle Iroh was not happy that his nephew has no problem stealing - and is stealing to either provide them food and comfort to the level Iroh was used to (book II) or to fulfill his mission of capturing Avatar (book I). I mean, that is a reaction we should expect from a responsible adult and the fatherly figure, right?  However in "Bato of the Water Tribe", Iroh himself was shown stealing perfumes while everyone was busy fighting

just because it smelled nice and there was no one to stop him. And from “Waterbender Scroll” episode we know Iroh had money to buy himself nice things on whim.

But nope, stealing from people that he helped Zuko and June to attack is all right yet he will be upset that his nephew is desperately trying to please his father by capturing Avatar by any means AND Iroh, by providing him food and comfort the older man was used to.

[waterfire1848]

I just read about your au where Sokka and Azula are the only ones that realize their world has become a musical, I found it very interesting!

I shared this AU with stardust before, but I loved to imagine a scenario where the gaang travels FOWARD in time ( like their 2024) and decide to watch a theater production about themselves(lower expectations due to ember Island players)

But it turns out to be a musical presented in the style of Hamilton, maybe focused on Sokka and his eventual political contributions after the war, or just aang's journey in general

How do you think they might react to ir?

Hello, anon!!!

Thanks to a spirit attack, the Gaang find themselves in modern New York time. Sadly, they're in the middle of the road when they land and run to the side of the road. They've never been in an area like this and there are so many people and nothing around them looks like home, so, of course, they're terrified and run into the closest building they can find for some kind of safety. They manage to make it into a theater, which is the only building name they recognize, and take a seat to rest for a minute, trying to collect themselves and figure out what is going on. (Aang: Look. Katara: Is that a poster with us on it? Sokka: Come on, not again. Zuko, reading the poster: Avatar: The Last Airbender. A story of war and hope. Sokka, groaning: It's happening again.) They decide to sneak in to watch the show because they don't know anything about this modern world and, in their minds, they think that this would be a good way to see what all has changed or how they're viewed in this world. Is it more like the Fire Nation where they're about to die at any second or is it like the South Pole where people like them?

Firstly, the play is incredibly well done (from an effects standpoint I mean) which shocks the Gaang because they were expecting something more along the lines of what they saw on Ember Island. (Theater can evolve a lot after a couple hundred years or so). The second thing is that they are shocked with how well they’re portrayed. (Aang: They got a boy playing me!!!! Zuko: Really? Nothing about how they’re actually showing our struggles and not just playing us as idiots or crying or just angry? Sokka: I’m saying good meat jokes!🤩 Katara: And I’m not crying every second. Suki: We had a very low bar of expectations.) The first part of the play is fairly similar to what actually happened, with the events now portrayed much better and more seriously. The only difference? People sing. There’s a solo song when Aang breaks out of the iceberg, a solo for Zuko about his honor, a mini solo song for Katara when she gets the waterbending scroll, and a song with everyone when they meet Suki, a song between Aang and Zuko———“I can sing that good?” “No. No, you can’t. Please don’t sing.”———and a song with everyone at the North Pole. Once the final song is over, the light dim and everyone leaves and the Gaang takes it as their sign to go. (Suki: What’s got Sokka all upset? Kaatra: He’s mad he didn’t get a solo song.)

As I said, the play really does show things in a more serious light, so when they get to the second part and Azula, Mai and Ty Lee come up not only do Mai and Ty Lee get a song about how nervous and scared they are because they don’t know what’ll happen if they say no but there’s also another half of the song dedicated to how excited they are to fight the Avatar and bring honor to their nation. (Katara: I have to ask, is honor a Fire Nation thing or a you thing? Zuko: Fire Nation thing. Sokka: Don’t give me the mental image of Azula with one of those horrible ponytails screaming honor all the time). They’re about halfway through the second part when Azula gets a solo song———“Seriously!? She gets a solo?!” “Let it go, Sokka”———, dedicated to her talking about how she’ll captured the Avatar but there’s also a moment in the song when she gets a spotlight moment and sings about how she’s scared of her father and failing him. The song is one that the Gaang gets caught up on because they never imagined Azula to have these fears of not being enough and failing Ozai. It makes the Ba Sing Se final fight and song that much more interesting.

The play ends with the correct way that the comet actually played out. In the third act there’s a song for Katara with bloodbending, a duet of Aang and Zuko that mirrors the one they sang during the first act, a song for everyone during the DOBS, a song between Mai, Ty Lee and Azula when they betray her and a song for the final battle———“My eyes! My eyes!” “Zuko, it’s okay! Calm down!” “My father is singing! He’s singing!”. All in all, the play wraps up much better than the one the Ember Island Players put on. (They still don’t know how to get out of this time but at least the theater has gotten much better). The Gaang decides to slip in backstage when the musical is done so that they can talk to the actors and actresses about the play.

When they get backstage (first of all sneaking backstage at a play is a lot harder in this time period. There is a lot more security now and everyone thought they were 'crazy fans'), everyone runs off to talk to whoever played them and the actors really have no idea who these people are, because why would they? (Katara: You played the parts so well! Aang: And your singing is amazing! Sokka: Why didn't Sokka get a solo song? Actress!Katara, in a whisper: Did someone call security yet?) The kids are kicked out by security but they don't really care. That play was 10x better than whatever the Ember Island Players did and the singing was really good, if kind of weird at some points. (None of them will be able to get over hearing Ozai and Zhao sing. That traumatized them more than the war).

[descendant-of-truth]

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

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

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

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

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

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

Petition to bring back Chinto and Monae for the Netflix version

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[mah-o-daryaa]

The Cycle Repeats: Part I

One of the key themes of the ATLA franchise is the concept of the Avatar; master of all 4 elements, the fusion of humanity and Raava, the spirit of light and order, whose sole duty is to bring balance to the world, and be the bridge between both the physical and spiritual realms. Along with this comes the idea of reincarnation, which is the premise of the Avatar Cycle, the idea that the Avatar reincarnates in a cyclic order in any of the four nations (fire, air, water, earth). Another concept related to the Avatar Cycle (although originating from the fandom) is the idea of the Avatar fixing the mistakes of their past life, which is often indicated in differences in both habitual circumstances and personalities between both predecessor and successor, and therefore differences in morality.

But what if I were to tell you that the saying "history repeats itself" is also true among Avatar incarnations? Not exactly going the same way, but rather parallels between the lives, personalities, and accomplishments (and failures) of past lives?

In this series of metas, I will be going over parallels (or in some cases, foils) between certain pairs of Avatars that lived decades, or even centuries apart, and yet could not have ever been more similar.

The Unlikely Analogy: Avatars Aang and Kuruk

"Aang was an Air Nomad born in 12 BG and the Avatar during the Hundred Year War, succeeding Avatar Roku and preceding Avatar Korra. As the Avatar of his time, he was the only person capable of using all four bending arts: airbending, waterbending, earthbending, and firebending. He was also one of a select few Avatars and one of the first in many cycles to learn the ancient art of energybending as well as the first Avatar known to have actively used the technique."

"Kuruk was the Water Tribe Avatar immediately succeeding Avatar Yangchen and preceding Avatar Kyoshi. Native to the Northern Water Tribe, he was a powerful and gifted bender who dreamed of changing the mortal world for the better by uniting the people and acting upon the foundations laid by Yangchen."

Both texts above are directly taken from the first paragraphs of their respective wiki pages; however, you would be forgiven for believing they are nothing alike, specifically due to their respective heritages. In reality, I would wager that Aang and Kuruk are actually the same person (literally and metaphorically).

(WARNING: There will be possible spoilers for both The Rise of Kyoshi and The Shadow of Kyoshi, particularly regarding Kuruk's backstory. If you do not wish to be spoiled, I suggest not reading any further and scrolling past this post until you have finished reading both novels. You have been warned.)

Kuruk's legacy plays a central role in both Kyoshi novels, especially in the Shadow of Kyoshi, where it's revealed that Kuruk hunted and killed dark spirits. This lead to both his body and spirit falling apart and him dying at just 33.

The first parallel is, ironically, their heritage. Aang is an Air Nomad, and his native element is air. Kuruk is a Water Tribesman, and his native element is water. Air and water are compatible in the sense that water can literally be described as a combination of the qualities of earth and air. Like earth, water can be strong and solid. Like air, water can be gaseous, fluid, and unpredictable. However, water also has an intermediate liquid state, with a definite volume, but always changing shape. Something about being the element of change or something. Just like the Avatar Cycle. I actually wrote a meta dedicated to this subject.

Why am I mentioning this? It's because the first element Aang learned to master (besides air, ofc) is water (which was also the element that was easiest for Aang to learn besides his own, due to air and water having similar philosophies), and he first learned to waterbend in the Northern Water Tribe, Kuruk's home (although he only learned the basics with Master Pakku; he only mastered it under the tutelage of his companion Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, who is also part-NWT). Conversely, the last element Kuruk learned to master was air, and he mastered airbending at the Southern Air Temple, Aang's home (he learned to master it under the tutelage of his companion Monk Kelsang, and it can also be assumed hat it was the element that was easiest for Kuruk to master besides water). Both Kelsang and Katara go on to become mentors to Kuruk and Aang's successors, Kyoshi and Korra respectively.

Another parallel is that both Kuruk and Aang were successors to wise and influential Avatars of their time (Avatars Yangchen and Roku respectively). As I have said in the first paragraph of the introduction, I mentioned the idea of the current Avatar fixing the mistakes of his/her predecessor. In The Shadow of Kyoshi, it is revealed that Yangchen neglected the spirit world, often siding with humans when making decisions between them. This lead to an increase of corrupted spirits ravaging the physical world during Kuruk's time by passing through rifts created by Father Glowworm, some attacking up to a dozen villages in one day. In the episode The Avatar and the Firelord (Book 3: Episode 6), it's revealed that Roku, by refusing to kill Firelord Sozin, was unable to prevent the Air Nomad Genocide and, by extension, the Hundred Year War. Both Kuruk and Aang had to face the consequences of their revered past lives.

Also, Kuruk ended up spending so much time in the spirit world that he ended up neglecting his duties in the physical world. He also started leading a lifestyle filled with alcoholism and debauchery, both as a coping mechanism and as a smokescreen to hide his duties from his Team Avatar (Jianzhu, Kelsang, and Hei-Ran). This means that both Aang and Kuruk have avoided their Avatar duties, but due to different reasons. Aang ran away because he didn't WANT to be the Avatar, while Kuruk ran away because he NEEDED to be the Avatar.

Kuruk hid his illness from his friends because he wanted to protect his predecessor, Avatar Yangchen's legacy (she often sided with humans over spirits when making decisions between them), and because he worried for his friends' safety. Both Aang and Kuruk share a common fear: being unable to save their loved ones from despair. This can be tied to the episode Nightmares and Daydreams (Book 3: Episode 9), where Aang suffered with anxiety nightmares the night before the Black Sun invasion. One series in particular consisted of his friends, Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Toph, suffering, with Aang unable to save them, and Kuruk's refusal to confide in his friends to keep them safe (which could be a result of two of Yangchen's companions sacrificing their lives to protect her, and Kuruk not wanting to repeat it). The difference is that unlike Kuruk, Aang did confide in his friends (more accurately, you could say that his friends confided in him, as he was the only one able to defeat Firelord Ozai), and in the end, they all played a role in defeating Ozai.

This isn't even taking account the Kummi-Taang theory, which indicates more parallels between them both. To give a simple run-down, the theory states that Toph is a reincarnation of Ummi, Kuruk's wife, whose face was stolen by the spirit Koh The Face Stealer, hence why Toph was born blind, and why Aang met her in the mystical swamp in the episode of the same name (Book 2: Episode 4). I'll post another link to the actual meta dedicated to it:

On a more positive note, both Kuruk and Aang are stated to be bending prodigies, Kuruk especially. They each invented an airbending technique at the Southern Air Temple during their airbending training, demonstrating their unique creativity and adaptability (Kuruk's technique involved creating a cushion of air under a heavy object so it could be slid and moved over a floor with care, Aang's technique, the air scooter, is a spherical "ball" of air that can be ridden balancing on it like a top). Aang had already learned 35 of the 36 tiers of airbending at the time, so it would be rather ironic if Kuruk's technique was the only one Aang hadn't mastered at the time; however, I do have a theory that both techniques are connected, which I will discuss in a separate post. Aang earned his airbending mastery tattoos, and had Kuruk been an Air Nomad, he woud have gotten the same tattoos. Though, he did get a sky bison as a gift, and Aang's animal companion was a sky bison (Appa).

I noticed that the only time Kuruk actually wears his iconic polar bear headdress is when Aang summons him in the episode Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters (Book 3: Episode 19), not counting his brief appearance in The Avatar State (Book 2: Episode 1). In The Old Masters, Aang summons the past four Avatars before him for advice on how to defeat Firelord Ozai. According to @atlaculture, Kuruk's decision to wear the headdress in front of Aang--a strict vegetarian--could be him subtly reminding Aang that killing isn't always merciless (as Kuruk was a hunter, and probably had to hunt down large animals for food or as a rite of passage), which is stated here.

I noticed the line Aang says just before he summoned Kuruk:

"I need to look deep inside myself."

Despite the existence of the webcomic Escape from the Spirit World, which takes place between Books 2 and 3 (although Yangchen did say Aang wouldn't remember his journey in the Spirit World), this lines implies that out of Aang's past four lives, Kuruk's is the one he knows least about (Roku was Aang's predecessor, Aang probably knew/learned a lot about Kyoshi during his visits to the Earth Kingdom, and Yangchen, being an Air Nomad like Aang, was revered almost as a god-like figure across the four nations). Ironically, if you dig deeper, Kuruk is also the past life who was/is most similar to Aang.

Also, Kuruk's actual advice to Aang was: "Aang, you must actively shape your own destiny and the destiny of the world." This piece of advice has multiple interpretations. What Aang interpreted was Kuruk telling him to kill Ozai (combined with the fact that Kuruk was wearing a literal animal skin in front of Aang, only reinforcing his interpretation). However, Kuruk never said anything about killing Ozai. He could have actually meant that to him, it doesn't matter how Aang defeated Ozai, or even if Aang did kill him. To Kuruk, the only thing that mattered was Aang performing the act of Showing Up, and actively finding a way to defeat Ozai himself. Therefore, Aang obtaining energybending and then taking Ozai's bending away rather than killing him doesn't mean he didn't follow any of the Avatars' advice. On the contrary, by actively finding a third option to end the war, and actively participating in the final battle, Aang actually subconcisiously followed Kuruk's advice to heart (although you could say Aang didn't follow Kuruk's advice, since Aang didn't actively seek out the lionturtle; rather he was merely kidnapped by chance).

The final parallel between Aang and Kuruk is their relatively young deaths; more specifically, their final wishes. Kuruk died at just 33, surrounded by his Team Avatar, and he made them promise to take care of his successor and make sure she succeeds as the Avatar. Around 500 years later, Aang died at a relatively young biological age of 66 (and the chronological age of 165) surrounded by his Team Avatar and the Order of the White Lotus, and he made them promise to do the exact same thing. However, both Yun and Korra ended up growing up isolated from the rest of the world, and being told that being the Avatar was the only thing that mattered, which led to a serious mental stunt, even though it wasn't Aang's fault Korra ended up being kept in the Southern Compound on the orders of Tonraq, Tenzin, and Sokka, or Kuruk's fault that Yun was being physically and mentally abused by Jianzhu and Hei-Ran. The only difference was that Korra was correctly identified as the Avatar, but Yun wasn't. Kyoshi did not grow up the same way, but she was not spared either; I'll make a meta on her too. But seriously, how in the four nations is it possible for two people who lived centuries apart die with the exact same wish given to their loved ones? Unless they were the Avatar.

In conclusion, despite the difference in Aang and Kuruk's heritage, morality, and overall results as the Avatar, one could argue that it is true that certain beats in the cycle often repeat, depending on their journeys, personalities, and abilities. In the next part, I will explore the parallels between Avatars Aang and Kyoshi, Kuruk's successor.

Next ->

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

I do love the expanded ATLA canon, I think it's fun and great, and I'm constantly hoping that they'll bring in stuff from like the rpg into main canon.

But we all have to admit to each other that sometimes the people making stuff for the expanded canon don't really care if what they're making is canon compliant (or even make logical sense), because they know they aren't making stuff for the main canon.

Like Nyanchi's official design, she's not canon compliant at all:

Like she's an Air Nomad nun in training from Roku's time, and nothing about her design but her eye color is canon compliant.

Why's she dressed like that and not in the initiate uniform we know everyone's supposed to wear until they earn mastery. And it's clear from her lack of tattoos she hasn't done that. Why's the front of her hairline not shaved back?

I don't even know if this design is supposed to imply that she dyes her hair. Or if it's actually possible for people to bond closely enough to extremely minor spirits like the dragon fly bunny spirits to experience a physical change.

When the only time something similar has ever happened in primary canon was between Yue and the moon spirit Tui, who was a great spirit in charge of giving all waterbenders their bending. Also it was considered a massive deal for spirits to have tangible bonds with humans like that.

Her design is pretty cute, and I'm sure that's what they were going for, but I just find it completely out of left field and not really suited for the era she's supposed to be from.

If she was a post-convergence Airbender honestly I wouldn't have anything to say. I'd believe stuff like bleach and hair dye to exist in Korra's era, along with a lot of the new Airbenders not having the same cultural ideas of beauty as the original Air Nomads did. Thus choosing not to style them as the Air Nomads did.

But like there's a character from the RPG set in Korra's era who design wise looks far more like she belongs in Roku's era than Nyanchi does.

It's Tsemo:

Like I buy this girl being from Roku's era far, far more than I do Nyanchi. But she isn't, she's from Korra's era, even though she's dressed far more traditionally, and not in the modern Air Nation student uniform.

Anyways Rinzen is the only RPG Airbender, as far as I know, who looks like her art was made with what era she was supposed to be alive taken into consideration:

[thequibblah]

Hi Suze! So I was rereading your regency avatar au again because it’s so great. And I was wondering what bender would Harry have been in this Au? Sorry if you’ve already been asked this before

hi and thank you, thats so sweet of you! i can't remember if someone has asked that before. part of me is like well. he's the avatar naturally. but even if he IS the avatar, what element would he start with?

i think i like the idea of him being a firebender first, obviously cut from a very different mould from james or sirius, similar to how korra in her series comes across as very different from the waterbenders we'd come to expect as the norm in ATLA. if i can say something painful....in a future for this AU where his parents die and harry is sent to live with the dursleys like in canon, i can imagine them overreacting to his firebending similar to the way they do with his magic — it's certainly the most un-ignorable element — and linking it to his bad-influence father; the same can be said of others in canon who don't care for james, like snape. (it's interesting too to have subdivided inherited magic applied to hp canon... like instead of harry's magical inheritance being from both his parents, he has specific magical inheritances from each and they're kind of obvious legacies. how would it affect harry to learn about his dad's less than stellar teenage antics? how would it affect his firebending, especially if that's the kind of bending he had first and is constantly brought up as a similarity between harry and james? kind of like with aang's struggles to learn firebending after he burns katara in s1, or korra's struggles to learn airbending) i also like the idea that it would be an early, obvious if perhaps superficial similarity to james much in the way harry's physical appearance is. but being able to bend all four elements, he of course always has lily's powers with him. like, the hurt/comfort reunions with sirius and remus later on in life (poa-gof-ootp style) write themselves.

ugh not u giving me things to think about...

[theriu]

Ya’ll are keeping Stinky Jess constantly in my periphery and I am delighted, so until I get some Actual Art drawn, here are some random Stinky Jess facts under the cut (largely made up on the spot):

Pets: Two catgators named Betty-Lou and Hoffstetter. Rides them like waterskis.

Actually started doing earthbending soon after she learned waterbending but no one realized it for years because it’s just muddy water, right? That’s definitely still waterbending, right? Sure, it’s a little THICKER than other muddy waterbending sometimes, but—

Enjoyed making her own firebending will-o-the-wisps to lead trespassers away from the villages and also to mess with friends. Took umbrage with any actual spirit will-o-the-wisps who tried to and lead people to their doom, though. (Ironically, swamp tribespeople came to trust will-o-the-wisps more because hers were harmless and the spirit ones stay on their best behavior now.)

Every few years or decade, got in a fresh argument with one of the past avatars via Avatar State Convo about how she’s supposed to go out into the world and manage things among the nations. She staunchly maintained that the swamp tribes are ALSO important and have their OWN human and spirit issues, and “it don’t sound like none o’ ya’ll other avatars have paid us no mind,” and they had to admit that nothing terribly unbalancing was happening in the other nations right now, “so probly ain’t nothin’ terrible gonna happen if’n I keep bein’ avatar for these here folks.” Nothing bad ever came of this so she maintains to this day that she was right.

She then badgered whoever-it-was into telling some juicy story from their life and teaching her a fun new bending trick.

First inventor of that cool “swamp monster” vinebending trick Huu does in A:TLA. Naturally, she used it mostly to freak out friends and neighbors.

Disappeared into the depths of the banyan-grove tree one time for like a month, during which some unsettling swamp tremors happen. Came back with a new campfire story about how she punched some huge grumpy spirit in the face. She in fact restored balance by defeating a growing evil that would have poisoned all the world’s water from the depths of the swamp, but she’s oddly vague on those details. Modern-day researchers would have to talk to some actual spirits who were there to get the full scope of the averted calamity.

Used airbending and waterbending to make air bubbles for swamp-diving. Had an impressive collection of ancient relics and lost junk and an unsettling large catgator skull.

Despite being an unrepentant prankster, Stinky Jess was very fair-minded on points of actual justice and grew up to be a pretty good mediator of feuds. Her methods were, of course, sometimes unorthodox; she once stopped an inter-tribal feud by swamp-stinking everyone involved out of their villages and not letting them back in until they sat down and talked things out like adults. This is celebrated as a yearly holiday up to the present day (celebrating involves camping in canoes and kids throwing stinky mudballs at each other).

May or may not have snuck out of the swamp a few times in her life to track down other low-key offshoot tribes. Always came back with some outlandish story like how she fought a giant sand monster or rode a dragon. [Scribe’s Note: Reminds me of something from Si Wong merchant accounts, check records when home again.]

Future avatars who happen to contact Ol’ Stinky Jess usually enjoy chats on such mundane but important topics as how to resolve feuds between neighbors with strangely similar pie recipes.

I like to think that at least once, the Avatar cycle seemed to skip the Water Tribe—like people knew it was the water tribe’s turn, everyone was looking for them, the tests are done on all the kids, but like 60-80 years go by and no avatar until some Earth Kingdom kid shows up. People wonder if the cycle skipped a generation or what, but nothing serious was going on at that time so they shrug and move on.

It’s only many many years later that someone is researching Swampbender oral history and someone tells the story of “Ol Stinky Jess, she was a funny one, could light the swamp on fire an’ all sorts o’ shenanigans! Best catfishgator catcher in the tribe, she was” and thats literally it, she just lived a totally chill life in the swamp and nobody knew what an avatar was at the time so they just rolled with that funny gal’s odd bending ways.

[fortressofserenity]

Thorny Topics

When it comes to the subject of what is cultural appreciation and what is cultural appropriation, the latter often comes off as a performative interest in something. That’s from my experience appropriating Chinese culture to feel less western, until I started frequenting Chinese websites more often and began incorporating more hanfu influences in earnest. The former is a sincere interest in something foreign, albeit one that’s either anchored in respect or tempered by it. Sometimes the line between the two is blurred, but ultimately the latter will lead to the former if the interest is sincere enough.

As for Avatar: The Last Airbender and its Asian pretensions, somebody said that its creators primarily based its overall atmosphere from Hong Kong martial arts films and anime with Southeast Asian, Northeast Asian and South Asian cultures as window dressing. It’s pretty much got traditional Chinese characters pat, but not so much when it comes to adhering to a rather westernised philosophy and understanding of things. Per Chinese cultural logic, the waterbenders would be in the north and firebenders based in the south. The airbenders would be in the east, since that’s wood’s cardinal direction and wind’s subsumed under it.

If because both of them penetrate things and that plants give off oxygen, the metalbenders would be in the west and earthbenders at the centre. Also the waterbenders should wear black, since that’s the colour water’s associated with. As in it gets real deep and dark when it comes to the ocean, white with metal (silver, gold and iron when you think about it), green and blue with wood (these colours were only given separate words and characters later on in China’s linguistic history), yellow and brown with earth and predictably red with fire. Actually regarding green and blue being both associated with wood, it can be pulled off in a way that’s reminiscent of flowers and fruits.

Especially flowers like violets and cornflowers as good references, but that involves being more deeply influenced by Chinese culture or at least have a deeper understanding of it than they’re used to or think they do. Supposing if the Philippines were to become more deeply influenced by China at this point in time, it wouldn’t entirely undo western influence and at best it would minimise it. It would, however, lead to more organic borrowings not just due to a growing admiration for China and Chinese culture, but also and most importantly how close the Philippines is to China. So strongly around the corner enough to have these borrowings take off real well.

It could even happen anytime soon if America stops being a superpower for good, but it could take off in a way it couldn’t fully be with Spain due to how close these two are. Spain had to rule the Philippines through Mexico, but with China it could take off more easily due to it being a stone’s throw away from us. Similar things would happen if the Philippines became more heavily influenced by Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, all three of them are also a stone’s throw away compared to Latin America if one were to consider both logistics and geographical proximity. This would be China’s advantage over America in many ways.

I’m getting off-topic here but you should get my point where if something’s actually influenced by another country, especially on a larger scale, then the cultural borrowings would come off more organically and naturally. This is something that I feel the Avatar stories lack, if because it was written by people who never lived in a community or country that’s influenced by China in any way. It becomes evident in the philosophical undertones of the story so far, there’s not a lot of characters respecting anybody who’s older than them.

Well as far as I know of since I’ve just started reading the comics, when it comes to bats in Chinese culture they’re actually associated with luck and happiness as the Chinese word for bat is homophonous with another word for fortune or something like that. Dragons in Chinese thought are linked with weather and water, in fact there’s as much a link between dragons and snakes in China as there is in the west because not only do Chinese dragons look snakelike but that snakes are referred to as little dragons. Additionally and something that should be noted more often, dogs were historically used in China for rodent control.

Because a huge chunk of the Avatar stories seem to owe Chinese culture, right down to the use of Chinese characters it’s odd why there’s not a single dog used to hunt down rats in those stories. It’s like that in Ancient China, since this happened before the arrival of cats there. It still is the case with its neighbours like the Philippines and Indonesia, they may be influenced by Chinese culture but only certain aspects of it. Especially the ones that can be easily commodified, not so much the other aspects that go against western stereotypes of Chinese and East Asian cultures. I even think if Avatar was created by somebody who’s actually Chinese, it’d turn out differently to the point of being alien.

Which says a lot about Avatar being made by people living in a place that’s not impacted by China in any way.

[influenzalake]

Batfam and Superfam + as ATLA Benders

totally original idea nobody has ever done before 

also only going on the original series, we dont talk about Korra

Bruce: Firebender

- Bruce would be a firebender because of the burning within him. Similar to how Zuko only found his power through pure rage, a young Bruce had to train, meditate, and suffer even more to find his strength elsewhere. His rage still plays a part in his power, the more he loses it the stronger he becomes. I see Bruce hiding his bender abilities for a very long time, refusing to expose his power as Bruce Wayne. As Batman however, here are rumors and whispers about the Bat being a Combustion style firebender. Little do they know, their Batman has mastered every sub-group of firebending possible. Bruce would specialize in combustion though. Great for keeping the mystery of the Bat and causing distractions when Bruce is in public and Batman is needed. 

Selina: Waterbender

- Water, free , flowing , always changing. Adaptable and versatile. Selina has not mastered any specific sub-group of bending, but has heard about bloodbending and uses healing waterbending for herself. Selina uses the cold, unpredictable weather of Gotham to her advantage. Any rain, any fog, any humidity is a Gotham waterbender's dream. She specializes in freezing the water. She uses frozen water as makeshift keys, spikes as weapons, and ice / smoke walls for her getaway. I think Waterbender Selina would change the color scheme of her Catwoman suit so she could use the water to her advantage. Black against ice and water does not blend well. She would make her own custom suit to blend into the Gotham darkness and to reflect her waterbending skills. 

Alfred: Waterbender

- Master Alfred, wise, powerful, and experienced in the world of waterbending. He specializes in Healing waterbending and mastered this ability in his youth. Now sharing his knowledge with Firebender Bruce and guiding his ward the best he can. His healing comes in serious handy when said ward arrives back at the cave barely in one piece. Wayne Manor always has tolerable weather despite what the reports say, as Alfred puts a dome of water for protection. Alfred is a formidable adversary and can incapacitate enemies in an instant. Alfred is also an advanced bloodbender, something even Bruce doesn't know. Alfred discovered his power during his time in the M16, but has sworn off such an act unless absolutely necessary. Alfred prefers to completely freeze his enemies, from near or far. 

Dick: Airbender

- "The element of freedom" , Dick is an airbender that can use the power of flight to some degree. His powers came to him naturally, as both of his parents were airbenders and invested a lot of time into their bouncing baby boy. He loves the flowing rush of wind in his hair and the thrill of being high in the sky. As a young boy, he used his airbending abilities with a "now you see now you don't" style. He was energetic, playful, and full of life.  As a young man, Dick uses his airbending abilities to keep his enemies off balance and to disorient them. In emotional outbursts, he is capable of huge whirlwinds. He is focused and has centralized his power. Dick either uses his power in a lower intensity to toy with his foes or goes all out there is no in between. He likes to tease younger heroes in a brotherly way, blowing their cape over their heads or uses the wind to mess up their hair. Dick has said the "breaking wind" joke over 100 times. 

Starfire: Despite the title, I see her as a Nonbender and despite her name, i don't see her as a firebender either, for the sake of the fic she will be an airbender

- In the crossover in my head, Starfire shares qualities with Ty Lee. Adding to this idea, the theories that state Ty Lee is or is a descendant of an airbender helped figure out what bender Starfire would be. Starfire has a free spirit and shares her joy with the world. Her airbending style is of Tameranean influence not found in any corner of the Earth. For that reason, she has not mastered or successfully attempted any of the airbending sub-groups. Tameranean Airbender Starfire can fly without needing to airbend and her favorite airbending move would be air currents. 

Jason: Firebender

- Due to his early life, Jason would have discovered his firebending at a young age. This early discovery and practice makes him a very strong very dangerous firebender before he even hits double digits. Bruce would notice his potential to be a force for either good or evil, and relate a lot to the rage inside of young Jason. Unlike Bruce, Jason never felt the need to control his anger and tame his fire. Jason feels that trying to calm him is restricting and his emotions are his most important quality. Any chance of him subduing his feelings and finding his firebending from his diaphragm instead of his rage went out the door after he died. He now cherishes his anger and feels it is more important than ever. He feels another layer of betrayal from Bruce, being a fellow firebender and daring to try and change him. The Red Hood would now have a tertiary meaning, with him as a firebender. He would retain everything from every trainer and experience he has ever had though, keeping his true power a secret. Jason can lightningbend and redirect with extreme effort. 

Roy: Earthbender

- Earthbender Roy would never be truly comfortable with his bending. Earth is solid and steady, something that was never granted to Roy in any way. Roy has tried to bend the earthbending subgroups, but failed. It didn't help that his mentor was Airbender Ollie that struggled to relate with and properly teach his earthbending sidekick. Roy could not connect with the earth, the source of his power, and found his bending abilities to be a useless burden. Roy's earthbending breakthrough didn't happen until later in his life. He eventually got his grip through his isolation and by practicing alone. Roy developed his own bending methods and has unique moves. He now loves the smell and feeling of dirt. Roy can do minor metalbending. 

Tim: Waterbender

- Tim is a prodigy waterbender. Able to move small bodies of water as soon as he got to stand on his own two feet. Tim would fill the room with glittering snowflakes when he was alone as a boy. He has some experience with healing, but even less experience with spirit and blood bending. Those subgroups required test subjects, and young Tim did not want to get in trouble. He feels it in his bones that he is capable of such feats. He instead turns his attention to refining his waterbending. By the time he becomes Robin, his waterbending has advanced so far Bruce is impressed and Alfred is so proud. Alfred is secretly ecstatic to have another waterbender in the manor and shares whatever tips he can with the prodigy. With Tim as the newest member of the Batfam, Dick jokes that all Bruce needs now is an earthbender Robin and he would be the Avatar. 

Conner: Earthbender

- Conner is strong, rigid, and very heavy. Earth is strong, rigid, and very heavy. (lol jk) Conner had some trouble with his bending abilities in his early stages. He could barely earthbend steadily, much less start on a subgroup and people would joke that he should have been a firebender. Jokes like that only made Conner fight more with his bending side. Conner would compare himself to other benders who took so quickly to their affinity. Con felt spited, as he had questions but never got the answers. He wanted nothing more to be like Clark, one with the earth. Conner had no mentor in his beginning. Conner's fighting and bending style came from surges of emotion, which made his bending unpredictable and unreliable. Over the years, Conner spends more time with himself. He works to accept his creation and who he is. With this self reflection, Conner finds peace. He finds that the world is not against him and he is not a mistake. Conner, as an earthbender, feels like he can finally breathe. He feels stronger than ever, that strength coming from his personal security.

Damian: Firebender

- Born of two strong firebenders, Damian had no doubt in his mind that he would be the best in the nation. Damian's first introduction to firebending was that it was a force for dominance and destruction. Damian internalized that perspective upon himself, only thinking himself capable of doing harm with his bending, never learning it could be more- or used for anything different. Due to the pressure of his LOA upbringing, Damian mastered firebending, every subgroup, and bends blue fire. He has studied endlessly about other elements and has a superiority bias against nonbenders. He thinks himself as higher than the Firelord, and believes that when the LOA's plans are complete he will be. 

Jon: Airbender 

- When Jon was born, his parents would always guess what kind of bender he would be. They looked at all of his behaviors as an infant and toddler, waiting for their precious child to start showing signs. There were bets from all of their friends and family. To everybody's surprise, he was caught floating to the top of his nursery by his parents. The news was out! Jonathan Samuel Kent was an airbender. This fact would have drawn some questioning stares, if Jon wasn't the spitting image of Clark. Turns out Lois had some airbender from her mother's side. His parents are shocked but overjoyed nonetheless. Clark is determined to learn everything about airbender culture and power to give his only son the future he deserves. Jon grows up to be a spoiled, friendly, and gifted airbender.

Clark: Earthbender

- Clark is an earthbender alien to nonbenders Martha and Jonathan Kent. Even being from another planet, Clark feels the earth as an extension of himself. Mastery of the art came easily to him. He spent a lot of time in nature as a young boy and he taught himself how to feel the earth. His heightened senses were a blessing and a burden. Clark was aware of every rumble coming from below and had to learn how to concentrate. In his young teens, Clark learned how to use both his Kryptonian and Earthbending powers safely and reliably. As an adult living in Metropolis, he spends less time  in nature, but can still remember his roots and feel the movement of the world all around him. Clark says he is not the power, but the earth is. As Superman he doesn't use earthbending in his fighting very often. If he does use it, it is in desperate moments and pretends it was not him. Everybody thinks Clark Kent is a nonbender.

Lois: Waterbender

- Lois has a complicated relationship with her bending. She never felt the need to use her bending nor did she feel any interconnection with water and what it represented. Lois knows some bending moves, but never spent too much time worrying about her bending. Her father wanted a firebender or at least an earthbender, but above all wanted a son. Lois grew up feeling that bending was not important. 

Jimmy: Either an airbender, earthbender, waterbender, or a nonbender. For fic's sake, Jimmy will be an airbender. 

- He's never had any formal training, so his bending isn't that strong. Jimmy likes using his bending for fun, he can make himself float, saving items before they drop, and it helps him go faster when he's running around for work. He likes being a casual bender.

Bizarro: (being the opposite of Clark) Airbender 

- Bizarro's bending is very random. He doesn't control it very well. When he does airbend, it is pure strength. Powerful, but it is messy bending. He kicks up dirt and other debris, also bringing into his attacks. Bizarro can fly without the help of his bending. He hasn't tried to practice any  airbending subgroups. Bizarro idolizes the avatar, he fanboying is very cute.  

Diana: Earthbender

- Diana is an incredible earthbender. Diana has trained alongside ancient masters and studied their techniques back on Themyscira. She masters earthbending and all their subgroups. Her favorite subgroup is lavabending. Part of her training included rumination, focusing on becoming one with the Earth. It was said to bring an earthbender closer to the source of their power. Diana has never revealed this to anyone, but after leaving the pristine island, Diana felt like her power was weakened. The Earth was truly suffering and she felt the ground beneath her as sloppy. As Wonder Woman, Diana uses earthbending sparingly. She knows her raw fighting power is strong enough. Diana doesn't want to aggravate the Earth any more than it already is. 

Barry: Airbender 

- Barry was not a natural born airbender. Funnily enough, it came after his superspeed powers. Due to this, his power is limited. His hypothesis is that the access to the speed force also made this possible. Acquired bending is a very rare phenomenon, but then again, the man was struck by lightning and became a superpowered being. When running, Barry feels the air around him dissolve and he goes FAST. After some time as the Flash, he learned the difference between the speed force and airbending. He tries to airbend but the mix of his speed powers only allow him to create sharp blasts of wind. Barry has tried all of the airbending subgroups, but physically cannot. He finds that his greatest airbending strikes come from his legs, not his hands. 

Arthur was already a waterbender lol

[andiwriteordie]

Question on your & @messrsbyler’s atla au—would the party be living in the colonies??? To explain how they all know each other/are childhood friends??? Earth-benders & fire-benders living side-by-side, maybe the Byers have to hide their airbending (do we still have the air nomad massacre or no? Bc El’s a waterbender, right? And is she being trapped in ice or no?). Maybe the Sinclairs are descendants of a small waterbending sect that didn’t live at the poles, like the Swampbenders but not—culturally waterbenders but also culturally members of this Fire Nation colony in a formerly Earth Nation (but that was a long, long time ago) territory? Isolated within the community bc of this (ie the racism Lucas experiences in canon & Lucas on the Line but atla-ified ig)? (Also when did the war start for this au? The fire nation still has to attack, right? Are the Wheelers any kind if nobility/royalty, are we even really aiming to fill the roles of the show or just parallel (“we” lol sorry im invested in this but it’s 100% ur & messrsbyler’s au i was just Having Thoughts plz don’t mind me or feel obligated to answer)? Or are the main villains just Brenner & Henry, deviating from atla plot/villains entirely?)

every time someone asks me about atlagate i grow in power and the devil on my shoulder (*cough* nic *cough*) cackles maniacally tbh.

so, a caveat to alllllll of this is that i'm just pulling things out of thin air and building off of things nic and others send me too, so idk what nic is thinking for this nor do i have a true outline/world built for all of this. just vague ideas that i like to word vomit.

anyways! rori (/rotisserie5107) actually sent me an ask asking something that i think is a bit similar, ella (/nancysglock) wrote some beautiful stuff about lucas which i added onto here that might help out as well, and toy (/toystoryfan) asked also asked some questions here about what the party's childhood would look like!

that was a long winded way of saying, i think when it comes to setting i am imagining something more along the lines of the stranger things timeline (1980s) but set in the avatar world. so similar to how LoK is essentially the 1920s but in a world with bending, when i imagine what i'd write, it's a 1980s bending world! so i think things would probending would exist, we'd see inventions that utilize bending, we would have political turmoil related to issues of bending, etc. also like i told rori earlier lmfao, how that fits in with the true AtLA/LoK timeline is beyond me because uh... korra is water... el is water... i guess all the others in between them died real fucking quickly if we want el to be a reincarnation of folks like korra and aang LOL.

so, with that in mind, if i were writing this, it would more so follow the stranger things story itself but adapted into a world wherein bending exists. the catalyst for the story would be will's kidnapping by henry (who i have hc'd as a fellow airbender), and the kids would discover el (the avatar, who nic with their giant amazing big brain created a headcanon of how sick and incredible it would be if el didn't even realize what the avatar was or that she was special. she just knew that she could bend those four elements). obviously, things within the story would be adapted to draw on the avatar lore and things like that and create au, but i think when i'm imagining it i see the 4-5 part book/season arc that stranger things has created. (i say 4-5 bc i know canon is 5. but if i wrote it, bye bye s3, simply so i can have 4 books for the 4 elements lol.)

but that's what i love about aus so much because there absolutely is room to create an au where it's the stranger things characters dropped into the avatar storyline and there is just SOOOO much there!!! so much untouched potential!

[jello-in-my-bello]

It’s time that we had a real conversation about Aang...

For the main character of a television series, Aang somehow almost always finds himself under-rated and dismissed in fans’ posts. You see all these posts and, when they do reference him, it’s usually accompanied by the phrases “immature” and “12-year-old boy.” I mean honestly, in some ATLA fans posts, it seems as if Aang’s name is almost synonymous with the word immaturity--and it’s been that way for years. I’ve always wondered why people discredited him. Was it because they saw his age and immediately ruled him out? Is it an excuse for Katara and Aang to have never happened? Was calling him the most immature character a way to bring up their favorite characters? Or did they simply get conditioned to think Aang was immature because everyone just... said he was? Well, I think Aang’s the most mature character (from start to finish) on the show, and Imma tell you why. 

I think that Book 1 Aang is the Aang that everyone has stuck in their head. We get introduced to Aang in a strange way: he’s a boy frozen in an iceberg, and the first thing he asks is to go penguin sledding. Then he boldly explores a fire navy ship after being told it might not be a great idea. This kid’s kinda stupid, we think. Why does he care about penguin sledding? Why does he explore something he is told not to? Then he stops at Kyoshi Island to ride the Unagi, then he stops at Omashu to ride the delivery service, and then he lets the gang stop at other locations—having mini adventures—without worrying about learning waterbending on any sort of timeline. Why does he choose to explore all these different places at first rather than master the four elements? Doesn’t he even care about being the Avatar? Ah... that’s right. He’s only 12. 

Except surmising his entire maturity (or lack thereof) to the fact that he stops for these adventures means that you are ignoring one glaring detail of the show: Airbender and nomad culture. Aang asking Katara to go penguin sledding instead of what year it was and taking his friends to all those random stops in B1 so that he can explore can not be chalked up to immaturity. Because then you are ignoring an entire culture. We don’t get to see a lot of airbenders, and I think that plays into the problem, but from what we do know, we learn that a critical part of their culture is that they travel. A lot. And experience different cultures. A lot. Think about all the different places he’s referenced going to 100 years ago in the series. Then think about all the friends he’s talked about having in these obscure places—and it always sounded like he visited them more than once. Traveling, experiencing different cities, and meeting new people was a part of him and a part of his culture. He wasn’t being a 12-year-old when he stopped to ride the Unagi or the delivery shoots in Omashu, he was being an air nomad

On a similar note, one of Aang’s most notable traits is saying, “Hey, check this out,” excitedly while doing some air bending trick that seems juvenile--like spinning marbles around or doing an air scooter.  People look at him doing this and his previously mentioned traits and go, “Oh, what a kid.” But here’s the thing: we can’t roll our eyes at his persistent need to show people marbles floating in the air or his air scooter. In the episode “Southern Air Temple,” we see Monk Gyatso—an extremely old, wise air bender—throwing cakes on other monks’ heads, and then we’re told throughout the series that Airbenders were known for their playful nature. Airbenders didn’t use their bending the same way other benders do. For example, Waterbenders might show off their skills by creating a giant wave and being like, “Look how cool!” (See: Katara, like every time she learns a new move.) We know Airbenders have some pretty powerful moves--we’ve seen the tornado Aang created, the air body imprint of Aang that slammed Zuko back--but they don’t show off those moves because they’re so combative and not so fun. They show off the good-natured side of air bending (ex: Gyasto’s staff surfing when he was a child).  So those marble/air scooter tricks can’t be watered down to 12-year-old immaturity. Because he’s not being a kid when he does those things, he’s being an Airbender. People also tend to look over the fact that he is a survivor of a genocide. You need to keep in mind that he is a living relic and the only example left of what his race was. So even later in the series when he continues to show people those tricks, he’s showing them not just for fun, but to keep his culture alive. And what do you think he’s going to show them: a tornado with random objects flying around in it or two marbles flying in his hands? Which is a better representation of Airbender culture?

Also, do not forget that Aang earned his arrows. Airbenders are not just regular benders; they are known for being especially enlightened. You don’t just need to be a master at airbending to get your arrows—you also need to be a master at their culture. Aang was an enlightened boi. Look at all the speeches that he gave as the series continued. He didn’t just magically become wise in the course of a few months because he had to fight the Firelord, he just tapped into what was always there and never showed. The maturity was always there, and the receipts are in the arrows. 

So, I’ve gone over why he’s not as immature as everyone thinks, but why do I think he’s the most mature on the show? It’s because his emotional maturity is freaking through the roof. He’s part of a genocide, his culture is mocked, the few things—his clothing and glider—that he had left from his home were completely destroyed, and he had to do something that severely went against what he believes in. And he almost never loses his shit. In fact, we only ever see him get actually upset (we’re not counting the Avatar state cause that’s a whole different thing) 3 times in the series: when he was telling Katara about how the monks wanted to take him away from Gyatso, the episode when Appa was stolen, and when he was explaining that no one understands the position he is in (in terms of killing Ozai). Think about how much we saw everyone else freak out over the course of the show? About even smaller things.

Katara and Zuko are generally accepted as the two most mature characters of the series. But why? Zuko is continuously snapping at everyone, and, yes, he matured. But he is not completely there yet. He still somewhat believes in revenge (See: Southern Raiders), and it’s only at the last episode of the series that he understands violence is not the answer. And Katara? She acts very mature towards everyone else, but when it comes to her own emotions? She’s a whole basket full of mess. (See: Southern Raiders, again. Or anytime she uses anger as her way to show she’s “passionate.”) A good way to showcase the difference between Aang and these two is realizing that all of them lost a parent from the war and analyzing at how they handled it. (For Zuko let’s focus on the idea that he never really had a father) Katara lost her mother, Zuko his father, and Aang his father, Gyatso. Throughout the series, losing their parent was a huge topic point for both Katara and Zuko so much so that it was as if they thought no one else had ever suffered. (Katara, we see you telling Sokka that he didn’t love your mom the same). Aang, however, acknowledges his pain, tells stories of Gyatso and uses him as an example of what he wants to live up to— eventually coming full circle at the end wearing Gyatso’s beads and an identical outfit. I can’t imagine a more mature way to handle what happened than that.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is, maturity isn’t based on how you have fun, it’s based on how you react to hard situations. And nobody, nobody reacted better in those situations than Aang. So if you watched Avatar and thought it was a story about a young boy maturing, then you misjudged. It wasn’t a story about an immature boy growing up. It was a story of an Airbender becoming an avatar. 

[miekasa]

Low key i would absolutely love an aot/atla fanfic crossover. Random crossovers are my guilty pleasure maybe i’ll write it for myself😩🤚🏼

I also headcanon eren as a firebender, i think Hange would def be either an airbender or a nonbender. Erwin would be an earthbender :)

Okay okay I have thoughts. I’d love an aot/atla fic if somebody wants to write it…. I have $4 ready for you 😭😭

Eren is a firebender, something like Zuko in his progression. Definitely had a phase where he “loses” his bending and has to find a new source that isn’t pure anger/vengeance; probably after accidentally burning one of his friends/his mom. Also think that like Zuko, he never learns to bend lightning, only redirects it from people attacking him. It frustrates him to learn it at first, but once he does and feels it go through him, he decides that he never wants to use it himself.

Mikasa…. can go so many ways in my head omg. Firebender suits her, like Azula in her technique, blue fire and all; and she’s not just skilled as a bender, but in hand to hand combat, too. She’s smart above all, so even when she can’t bend, she’s not down for the count. She’d be able to bend lightning, too, but would only do it when absolutely necessary. BUT BUT!! Can also see her being a waterbender and there are definitely similarities between her and Katara (last of her kind, won’t turn her back on people who need her, incredibly skilled for her age); not as naive (?) as Katara could be sometimes, but there are comparisons for sure. Don’t know if I can see her as a healer, tho she’d wish she’d be able to. For sure would be a blood bender; but like with lightning, she’d only do it when heavily threatened.

Armin would honestly be a non-bender, but if he had an element it would be air. Water is an obvious choice, but I think he can still have the infatuation, and respect for water and benders, without being one himself. Honestly, he’d probably have spent so much time around water and felt such a pull from it that everyone thought he’d be a waterbender; as a kid his parents/grandparents probably tried to get him to bend water (and he’d happily try), and it wasn’t until a fit of frustration that he realized he’s an air bender instead. Plus there’s the pacifist nature of airbenders, and the way that airbending is more defensive than offensive; but also airbenders bear this cruel kind of pressure in controlling an element that’s so essential. Fits him idk.

Jean is a waterbender and if you’ve seen tlok, then I think his fighting style would mimic Korra’s; people often note that she fights like a firebender even tho she was born a water bender, and used it way more frequently than Aang. His hand to hand combat would also be similar to her, tho his attitude would be slightly more mellow. He’d also be a healer, but it’s something he keeps under wraps for a while; it’s not until one of his friends is seriously injured that people find out. He feels a kind of pressure when he’s healing people, and it’d hurt him a lot if he weren’t able to save someone.

If Sasha had an element, it would be air or water, but I see her more as the Ty Lee kind of type. She looks super sweet and it’s easy to overlook her, but she’s insanely precise and skilled (she did save someone running on a vertical wall once). Definitely blocks Jean/Eren’s chi when they start getting into it with eachother to save everyone the headache. Also walks on her hands sometimes just because she can.

Connie is another toss up… I’m serious about him not being a waterbender that would be so chaotic pls 😭😭 wanna say air. He’s seen as goofy and kind of a free spirit, but he’s very connected to his friends. Aang not wanting to give up Katara to unlock the avatar state kinda reminds me of Connie hugging Jean and Sasha when they get back on the airship after Marley; he knows it’s selfish, but he’s happy his friends are safe. He has moments of rage and hates to be betrayed, but overall he’s mostly calm and open to hearing other people out. Plus he’d 100% be in an airball like Aang whenever he could be. But if he weren’t a bender, he should 100% have a boomerang. It’s perfect for him.

Levi is a firebender there’s no doubt in my mind. The only other potential option is an earthbender because I think he’d be the one to figure out metal bending under pressure, but I still like fire more for him. He understands that fire isn’t just destruction, that it’s warm and energy; and that’s why he doesn’t need to exert much power in his firebending. If he were to hold a flame in his hand it wouldn’t feel threatening, despite it being fire it wouldn’t even feel “too hot” to touch; it’d be warm, comforting, like you could put your hands immediately to it and not get burned. He’s aggressive when need be, but he doesn’t let his emotions cloud his bending, because that’s when he’d hurt someone he cares about. Can bend lightning but honestly if Levi is lightning bending, you’re as good as dead 💀💀

Okay, okay… I hear your Hange non-bender argument and I raise you Hange as an earthbender who is primarily a metal bender. Suit of metal that they bend on and off their body, definitely carries the metal whip around… do you see the vision. They sometimes forget they can actually bend earth and get frustrated, stomp too hard to flail their hands a little too roughly and everyone loses their balance as the floor shakes and Hange just “O.O…. oopsies!”

Honestly…. I think Erwin would be a non-bender. Sokka essentially mastered the non-bending fighting types of each nation, and that’s something I see for Erwin. Leans towards a sword, and kinda wanna say two swords would suit him better. Maybe it’s the aot influence, but that works for him in my head. I also think Zeke might be a non-bender.

Porco is an earthbender, no doubt in my mind. Dare I say a lavabender, tho I kinda wanna give that to Reiner. Maybe both of them? Reiner built like a brick wall, so earth isn’t that far off… don’t know if he’d completely master a sub element, but lavabending is a possibility for him.

Annie is an earthbender, too. You know how Kiyoshi had the fans and was an earthbender and murked that one general then came back as a ghost to say she didn’t regret it? Anniecore <33 she doesn’t really master any sub elements completely, but she doesn’t have to; her earth bending is as solid as it possibly can be. Under pressure, I’m sure she’d be able to adapt to metal bending, but she doesn’t prefer it.

Pieck would be an airbender!! Agile, quick-thinking, and adapts to whatever situation shes put in. Gets a kick out of blowing air into peoples faces, and how are they gonna prove it’s her? Exactly, they can’t. Lastly, I’d give water to Bertolt. The ability to both be calm and insanely destructive. Might be a healer, too, but could just be a regular bender.

[heliosoll]

can you tell us about your avatar the last airbender dr?

like what was your relationship like with everyone?

what bending did you have and how did it feel?

what were your fav memories!!

and was it a realistic dr that looks like this reality (if u know what i mean)

Hi! Sure :) Standard disclaimer that this is just the reality I went to and your experience will likely be different!

In that DR I actually scripted that I would completely forget that I shifted there and other realities until a certain point (Zuko becoming the fire lord)! And yes it was realistic looking :)

I was a waterbender from the Northern Tribe and I mostly did icebending! I met them when they first went there and were looking for a waterbending master to teach Aang :) Usually I script out sexism but this time I just scripted that it wasn't as bad as other realities. So it was essentially just like the show, occasionally you had to deal with comments and really traditional ideas but you didn't have to deal with like... murder. Yknow? The reason is that I wanted a cool backstory hahah I started watching the waterbending lessons in secret and practicing without anyone knowing (I guess kind of like Toph's story?). So when Katara got rejected, I was able to help her in secret :)

My relationship with them was so pure ngl!! They're adorable in real life :') But we also very clearly looked like children and that often made me sad like damn we really are children sent to war this shit sucks. I often ended up being the mom friend but I did try really hard to let go and just have fun. Especially once Toph came along! I ended up treating her a lot like a little sister. I mostly just felt bad that she had to deal with that kind of life and I wanted her to be able to lean on us and not feel so alone. I also bonded a lot with Sokka! I'm not sure if I said this before but in my OR, one of my parents left us when I was a baby and I often leave that in with my DRs because it's hard to move on. We bonded a lot over not knowing our parents, though obviously for very different reasons.

I think I was the only one who supported Aang not killing Ozai at first... I understood where he was coming from and that did put tension between us and the others. But in the end, it was okay! Thankfully, Aang figured it out and was able to fully defeat him without killing him.

For favorite memories... oh where do I start :') Like I said, I tried really hard to just have fun with them! I really wanted to take their (and mine) minds off of the war so I often joked around with Sokka and tried to liven the mood. We couldn't really have food fights but I really enjoyed throwing food at Appa and Momo so they could catch it! Momo especially loved that - he considered it a game hahah Katara and I practiced waterbending all the damn time and Sokka yelled at us to quit it more times than I can count ajdghljag She helped me with normal waterbending and I helped her with icebending! We had completely different styles too so that was always fun :) Suki also taught me a lot about fighting! I love them :')

My fighting style was honestly really similar to firebending (movement wise). So while our bending was different, practicing with Zuko was really fun!

Bending feels really natural! Like you just think about what you want it to do, concentrate/focus on it, and boom! It definitely gets easier the more you practice though. If you aren't focused it can be hard to control it. Though I do think certain elements are "easier" to control. Like Zuko often described fire as something you need to work with rather than control (and I believe that's partially what they learned from the dragons?). Meanwhile, earth is an element that was easier for people to full on control.

This is already a bit long so I'll stop here! Let me know if you want to know anything else :)

[katierosefun]

omg i love atla's universe and i love beyond evil! can we have your list of the characters' hc as benders? pretty please💕 i love going through people's hc~

RIGHT anon, so i had to take a second to write this out bc OHOHOOO

so i headcanon'd joo won as a firebender, in part because of his attitude, but also how i feel like he just has that duality in him, what with fire being able to destroy something but also bring something to life, which is exactly how i see joo won and how he goes about his whole life. (also, a nod to iroh's whole speech on the elements: those of the fire nation have desire and will to achieve exactly what they want, which i think sums han joo won up nicely. sometimes that's a good thing, other times it's a bad thing, just depending on what the goal is.)

i see dong sik as a waterbender, in part because i love the fire/water duality, but also because something about how waterbenders always seem to prioritize community (think the water tribes, the swamp people). i think dong sik is someone who was always at the heart of his community, whether he necessarily wanted to be or not--but more than that, he also is someone who's had to adapt to so many of the changes in his life. there's something to be said about how he really had no choice when it came to adapting, but i see him as a waterbender just because of how he looks at a problem and works his way to getting what he wants, rather than crumbling apart. (needing to be fluid, needing to move with the tides of change, even if he hates it . . . very waterbender of him.)

i see jae yi and ji hoon as airbenders--jae yi, because she's someone who strives after freedom first and foremost. that's not to say that she's completely detached from her home, but we see that she looks outward, and she takes breaks when she needs to. she'll always find her way back home, but that desire to break herself free has always struck me as airbender of her. i kind of see ji hoon in the similar boat, just because of that one time he'd sounded so resentful about having to be stuck in manyang. like jae yi, i think he does crave a bit of freedom or movement outside of the town (which is made more interesting when we look at the script book, which notes that ji hoon had, at one point, actually been .. . . a part of a failed kpop group).

ji hwa strikes me as a an earthbender, just because something something about how she has that same attitude that's so reminiscent of lin beifong, ngl--but also, just the fact that ji hwa is just so no-nonsense. she definitely has her own secrets, but she still faces confrontation as head-on as she can: batting away lee chang jin, straight up asking han joo won if he has a problem with her, etc. all the signs of an earthbender.

the only character who i'm not totally sure of is probably park jeong je. he strikes me as an airbender in some ways (although that might just be because of his speech pattern, and how he too craves freedom), and also because i like the image of him holding a tiny tornado in his hand.

but as for other headcanons . . . god, i have this image in my head of dong sik bending the raindrops around him and joo won so that it doesn't hit their heads . . . . or joo won holding a little flame in a power outage, the flame only barely lighting dong sik and his own face (y'know, like that scene in the secret tunnel episode between katara and aang) . . . oh, and i can see ji hoon and jae yi racing each other on gliders in the skies, and ji hwa just stomping her foot to create a little earthquake if she's pissed.