mah-o-daryaa

[mah-o-daryaa]

Avater Kuruk Discovers KPOP: Demon Hunters

Hey... ARE THEY FIGHTING DEMONS USING MUSIC??? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME YOU COULD DO THAT?

JINU YOU LITTLE--- YOU ABANDONED YOUR FAMILY??? I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT WOULD BE UNACCEPTABLE WHERE I'M FROM!

probably crashed out at least once hearing Wan replay Your Idol

WAN DON'T YOU DARE PLAY "SODAPOP" IN THE SPIRIT WORLD! If any spirits come flying here, then just know that I warned you.

But---

Last chance, Wan.

But you gotta admit, it really is catchy---

...

... Fine.

Later:

... WAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN??? WHY IS FATHER GLOWWORM RUNNING TOWARDS YOU AT LIGHT SPEED??? HOW IS HE EVEN ALIVE??? KYOSHI! I THOUGHT I SAW YUN EAT FATHER GLOWWORM! DIDN'T HE DIE?

[mah-o-daryaa]

...

...

OH MY GOD??? WHERE IN THE FLYING HOG-MONKEYS DID YOU GET THIS IDEA IT'S SO AWESOME!!!

That could be a legit idea for an original show. Can't wait for updates!

everything changed when the air nomads attacked

@the-badger-mole: hello from the air nomad attack au anon (alliteration is always appealing)! This is as much of the idea as i have right now, and is more than i ever intended of writing it. Anyone seeing this is welcome to make use of this idea however they can, because i'm certainly not likely to.

100 years ago, the Air Nomad leadership had been feeling troubled for quite some time with the state of the world. So much violence, so little meditation, so much focus on material possessions, so little connection with the spiritual. They saw themselves as the cure. When Roku died and the next Avatar was born into their number, they saw it as their opportunity to reshape the world into a “better” place. Sozin did something they disapproved of -- something perhaps morally questionable, but way less objectively bad than, say, colonizing the Earth Kingdom or attempting genocide -- and they executed him, and placed a puppet on the throne. They told their people the leaders of the world were like wayward children, leading the world into an era of war and cruelty, and they, the enlightened Air Nomads, needed to take them in hand and lead them to a brighter, fairer future.

100 years later:

* Aang rules the Air Nomads as a “benevolent” father figure. He’s effectively an absolute dictator, with everyone following his commands.

* The Air Nomads are smothering the entire world, metaphorically speaking. Most leaders are puppets, enforcing Air Nomad beliefs on their populations because they know they'll be imprisoned or worse if the Air Nomads decide they're "leading people astray". Bending is strictly controlled: only Air Nomads can teach it, regardless of the type, and their methods of teaching are based on airbending, ignoring the strengths and styles of each element. People caught bending in an "unauthorized" fashion can be imprisoned or have their bending taken away.

* The NWT is the most compliant: the Air Nomads manipulated their strict traditions and strong sense of community to browbeat them into following along. The SWT is dissolved, with various (very small) communities hiding out in the Earth Kingdom or some parts of the South Pole. When they’re found out, it tends to be bad, as the Air Nomads considers their attachment to their families, use of furs, and dependence on hunting to require extra special conditioning to “correct”.

* The Earth Kingdom is very divided. No one is interested in listening to what the Air Nomads have to say, so when a monarch or leader is replaced with a puppet or intimidated into backing the Air Nomads, suddenly a bunch of their subjects leave, swearing allegiance to other leaders and moving to other areas.

* The Fire Nation is suppressed the hardest, both in an effort to combat fire's determination to act, and because the Air Nomads believe the Fire Nation wanted to wipe them out one hundred years ago. Firebending is very heavily restricted, if not outright illegal. People in the Fire Nation fall mainly into two categories: those smothered by the Air Nomads, who follow along and don't cause trouble (the majority); and those for whom the Air Nomads only fuel the fire, and have overbalanced into fighting for fighting's sake (led by Ozai supported by Zhao and Azula).

* Over the past few decades there have been fewer and fewer airbenders born, as a result of the imbalance in the world. Aang uses energybending to give airbending to those he trusts, and though he publicly assures everyone that the diminishing number of born airbenders is a good or at least neutral or temporary thing, behind the scenes he’s trying desperately to change it.

* The plot centers around two things: one, some kind of reconnection with the central spirits behind earth, fire, and waterbending, and two, ending the Avatar cycle permanently.

* Aang's working toward something, i'm just not sure what. Possibly some version of the Harmonic Convergence whatever from LoK, where he'll be able to grant airbending to the ones he likes and take bending away from those he doesn't. Or maybe he's trying to make himself immortal, somehow.

* The main characters are Toph, Sokka, Katara, Zuko, and Tenzin -- Tenzin (alternatively named Gyatso) in this case being Aang's great-grandson. Suki would be there too, i just have no idea where to put her.

* The story starts at Tenzin's airbending mastery ceremony. It's a big celebration: not only is he the Avatar's great-grandson, but he's the youngest master in a long time (not sure how old he is exactly, probably not twelve but still just a teen), which encourages the Air Nomads worried about the dwindling number of airbenders.

* Around that same time, bad weather forces Toph and her mother to stay at the temple, and a series of events leads to Toph saving Tenzin's life with earthbending. But her earthbending is the Bad kind, so Aang determines she needs to have her bending taken away. Toph escapes before this can happen -- possibly with the help of Tenzin, though he's quickly persuaded he made the wrong choice when the Nomads discover what he did.

* Tenzin is the antagonist-turned-hero of this story, though in a different kind of storyline than Zuko's. A natural free spirit, Tenzin recognizes instinctively that the Air Nomads are in the wrong, especially as he's confronted more and more with evidence of their and Aang's wrongdoings, but he's also afraid of confrontation and overawed by his great-grandfather. His story arc has to do with confronting the unhealthy Air Nomad philosophy, internally as well as externally, replacing it with a healthier understanding of freedom and humility, and learning to stop running away and stand up for what matters.

* Not precisely sure what Sokka and Katara's family situation would be like in this AU, but they're more or less on their own when the story starts. They're traveling through the Earth Kingdom, insisting they're just wanderers or refugees or traveling merchants, and definitely don't have anything to do with the mysterious healings that seem to follow them. Toph runs into them, figures out what's going on, and they team up.

* Zuko lives with his uncle, having disowned his father (!) after ... something. As noted earlier, Ozai is the leader of the hyper-violent Fire Nation resistance, so it probably had something to do with that. Outwardly he's one of the passive, suppressed Fire Nation citizens, but there's rumors about this Blue Spirit character running around at night ...

* Not quite sure about Iroh. He's still a good guy, very supportive of his nephew, but he might be more passive this time, seeing as Zuko isn't in as desperate need of guidance. Perhaps he's been crushed by the loss of his son, and fears losing Zuko too, or maybe he's still part of the White Lotus, and serves as the last nudge Zuko needs to join up with Toph, Katara, and Sokka.

* Ozai is still a bad person, but not quite as terrible as in canon. He’s a narcissist who considers violence the best, if not only option; but instead of growing up as a prince of the most powerful nation fed on a diet of ethnocentric, imperialistic propaganda, he’s from the most oppressed country in the world, the victim of the ethnocentric, imperialistic propaganda, and his family hasn’t held real power for a hundred years, so his megalomania hasn't quite reached the level of canon. Plus the condition of the Fire Nation does stoke some very low-level sympathy for his people. He’s not exactly any better as a father, but he’s not as explicitly abusive, either, as he’s too busy with his causes to set his children against each other, and he doesn’t receive near enough fear or deference from those around him to be able to hurt them with impunity.

* No other thoughts, except that i'd definitely have Zuko and Katara end up together, because they are the best and i love them.

[mah-o-daryaa]

Hakoda the Grief Pirate it's time for Hakoda the Grief Pirateeee

Kya is killed, as in canon. Unlike canon, Bato is killed too. This means that rather than join the war, Hakoda goes mad with grief and gathers a few ships' worth of men - desperate, brutal men who want to repay the cruelty of the Fire Nation in kind. Not soldiers, not sailors, killers.

And he takes Katara.

The first place he goes is the Northern Water Tribe. He gets an audience. He goes to Chief Arnook and the elders and says: either I leave here today with a master for my daughter, or none of us leave this room alive.

Katara gets a master.

As in canon, Katara is a prodigy. With a year to focus on her waterbending and drilled by a man wearing her father's face who tells her "we're all going to die doing this" and "but we'll bleed them a thousand times over for every one of us" and most importantly he says "we're going to avenge your mother" - growing up under that man, Katara becomes terrifying.

Sokka is left alone. The last bit of love in his father's heart was spent on him, though he doesn't know it. It was spent on leaving him. It was spent on sparing him from seeing what his father would become.

Sokka goes out often, looking for traders and sailors and ships. He finds no news and too little fish. Until one day, an iceberg cracks open.

The boy is young and Sokka hasn't been a big brother for a while now, but it turns out that it's like riding a penguin - you never really forget. So when Aang gets kidnapped by some ponytailed jerk, of course he goes after him.

That he only manages to ruin Aang's escape and get them both captured is beside the point, okay? The Fire Jerk cheated.

(Appa follows them, if you're wondering. Aang doesn't seem to be in any real danger. Zuko isn't an especially merciless captor, no matter how he tries.)

Sokka finally gets some news. The Frost Wolf is believed to be a Northern raider (to protect his tribe from reprisals) and he is feared. He leaves only one survivor in each of his raids. He tasks them to deliver a simple message: the seas are no longer safe for the Fire Nation. He replenishes his crew with convicts and pirates. They say he has a crazy mechanist working for him. They say that an icy fog follows where he goes, blocking out the sun and chilling Firebenders to the core. They say he can't be killed.

-

"So, these guys of yours -" Sokka began and paused to let the answering "they're not my guys!" wash over him, "do they say anything about a girl?"

The Prince's ears reddened. "I don't listen to that kind of filth."

Which means you have listened, Sokka might have said if he felt like teasing. He didn't.

"Not like that! A girl, a little younger than me. Have you heard anything about that?"

Sokka held his breath. This was it. Of course, it didn't mean anything if Zuko hadn't heard...

"No." The Prince's voice was unusually quiet. Zuko's good eye glinted in the orange light of the torches.

Sokka couldn't help that his exhale caught in his throat on the way out, it wasn't - it was just a shock, he reasoned, it didn't mean anything that Zuko hadn't heard...

Zuko stood up and made to walk out. He stopped at the door.

"I'm sorry," the Prince said. "I have a sister, too."

The door closed and Sokka was left alone and with questions. Questions like:

How did he know?

-

The trip to the Fire Nation is long. Any experienced commander could have told Zuko to limit his interactions with the prisoners. To rotate out their guards and never have their meals brought by the same person if he could avoid it. Any experienced military commander would have seen the risk of two child prisoners, one of who is particularly genial and charming while the other is funny and sarcastic.

Iroh, one of the most experienced military commanders alive, encourages Zuko to learn all he can about his enemy. It's an advantage, you see.

(And if the watch lists are edited to put crewmembers with children into frequent and close contact with the prisoners - well, that's Iroh's prerogative. He is a General. And if there are a few minor navigational errors that lenghten their journey, well, that he knows nothing about. He's a General, not an Admiral.)

Meanwhile, Princess Azula is tasked with putting an end to the Frost Wolf's provocations. It would be terribly inconvenient if she were to have frequent encounters with another bending prodigy, about her age and wearing blue robes and a mask. They should make out about it.

Eventually, they'll all have to reckon with their monstrous fathers and murderous siblings.

[mah-o-daryaa]

Note that this wouls also apply to KPOP: Demon Hunters

And to think that Kuruk's problems would have been solved INSTANTLY if he just sang the opening theme song of Demon Slayer twice a day in the Avatar State!

[mah-o-daryaa]

RIP Avatar Kuruk

You woud've loved KPOP: Demon Hunters

[mah-o-daryaa]

This whole essay is filled with horrific details but there's one that stood out to me.

I stopped keeping track of how many new orphans I had operated on. After surgery they would be filed somewhere in the hospital, I’m unsure of who will take care of them or how they will survive. On one occasion, a handful of children, all about ages 5 to 8, were carried to the emergency room by their parents. All had single sniper shots to the head. These families were returning to their homes in Khan Yunis, about 2.5 miles away from the hospital, after Israeli tanks had withdrawn. But the snipers apparently stayed behind. None of these children survived.

This is a depth of depravity and moral sickness I associate with something like the Dirlewanger Brigade.

[mah-o-daryaa]

Thank you to everyone who got me to 1000 likes!

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the journalists who stayed behind in northern gaza to report on atrocities like decomposed babies in hospital beds and patients who had been bulldozed in their tents by the idf and skeletons in the streets—now starving on camera, even as they continue to report.

the doctors who stayed behind in every single hospital and got sniped, kidnapped and tortured for their efforts. the director of al-shifa whose hands were broken and was forced to crawl on all fours. the doctors of al-amal and al-nasser hospital who were stripped and bound and beaten.

is there anything worse than watching people who are brave and conscientious and principled punished for it? people who are determined to do their duty until their last minute standing? is there anything like this, watching them waste away at their posts for five months straight?

[mah-o-daryaa]

...

Yaaangcheeen! Does someone have a crush again?

Why are you like this?

Just tell me!

Whatever. You said that you were going to write your own book, right?

Yeah. And one of the characters has the exact same hairstyle as him what do I do what do I do

wouldn’t you like to know math boy

[mah-o-daryaa]

That's a really good point. I mean, if Aang could take bending away, then surely he could give airbending to the Acolytes if he was that desperate. I saw some posts saying that Aang can't use energybending to suddenly give a nonbender the ability to bend; he can only restore bending to someone who was once a bender (like when he restored Korra's bending at the end of LOK Book 1), but there's no evidence supporting this claim because Aang didn't know that was possible. And the reason why he didn't know it was possible is because he never tried!

HUH?!?!?!

Since when did Aang surpass all the other Avatars by being selfish, supremacist, and refusing to do his duty to bring balance to the world because HIS morals were being challenged, falling asleep, and waking up on a lionturtle, who gives him all the solutions he'll ever need, without Aang needing to do a THING, and later being hit in the back by an ULTRA POINTY ROCK EX MACHINA, and letting his PAST LIVES do all the work FOR him, after being CURBSTOMPED by Firelord Ozai, and then just TAKING HIS BENDING AWAY, making sure that Ozai's still alive and jeopardising Zuko's reign in the process, ALL AT THE LAST SECOND??? Have we even WATCHED THE SAME SHOW?

Not to mention whoever wrote that CLEARLY DIDN'T READ THE NOVELS! Even KORRA did more for the Air Nation than AANG did! Who wrote this garbage on TV TROPES, BRYKE???

Did the definition of enlightenment CHANGE in the last hundred years? Or is it just me?

[mah-o-daryaa]

The next 'Evacuation' will be complete annihilation!

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Spirits, Rain, spirits! Is that supposed to be me?

AVATAR YANGCHEN! YOU CAN'T SAY THAT!!!

Say what?

You know what Wan's talking about. The "s" word. In front of Kuruk.

Kyoshi, it's OK. Let Yangchen have her moment- WHO IN THE NAME OF DRAGONS IS THAT GUY???

Kuruk, that's Yangchen's... "companion" Kavik. He's from the North Pole, just like you. And by "companion", I mean crush.

YOU SON OF A-

Yangchen, they were gonna find out about your crush even if I DIDN'T tell anyone. Just look at the positives.

You know, the girl's right. You do look really beautiful in the fanart, Avatar Yangchen. And that Kavik looks like a handsome young man.

I wonder why that Kavik guy looks a lot like my dad. Or Kuruk.

Korra, don't worry about it. It's probably because they're all from the Northern Water Tribe. Roku had a waterbending teacher who looked just like that, but crusty-dusty and really old.

Wan you can't just say that!

I can, and I have. Now shut up, you bald egg!

You MONKEYFEATHER! Oh forget it.

You know, Aang, I was also gonna say that Kavik and Kuruk both look a lot like your father-in-law, Hakoda.

Really? That's... ohhh.

Kyoshi, please dont-

AVATAR AANG! WHO TOLD YOU IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO MARRY YOUR OWN DESCENDANT?

Umm... what about my fanart?

Oh yeah! It's nice, I guess.

I agree!

Totally!

Why didn't I think of painting during my era?

Shut up, old man.

... I think that's enough for now.

[mah-o-daryaa]

THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING! EVERYTHING'S CONNECTED!!!

Uh, Kuruk, we get it. Someone acknowledged your opinion. Now get off my computer.

Fine.

Sometimes I think a lot about the overlap the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes have in the unsaid things, or the things implied by the biome: heavy emphasis on seafaring, how ocean kumquats are similar to sea prunes, the Painted Lady being a beloved water spirit specifically revered by a Fire Nation town, respect and appreciation for the opposite element (you can’t tell me the Fire Nation wouldn’t have a monsoon season to create all that lushness, or that the Water Tribes wouldn’t be thankful for the return of the sun after every polar winter)

Which also made me think about any overlaps or connections like that with the Air Nomad Temples and the Earth Kingdom: the temples are all built high up on mountains, but I feel like Air Nomads would appreciate the overwhelming sense of big sky that Earth Kingdom plains and more arid landscapes would have (if you’ve experienced the American Southwest, you know exactly what I’m talking about).

Nebulous thoughts, but I like to think about the overlaps and parallels of opposing elements a lot

[mah-o-daryaa]

Mone's Introduction (+ Masterlist)

Welcome to my Tumblr account!

Name: You can call me Mone as per this account Age: I'm a teenager (13-19) Gender: She/her Fandoms: ATLA, Riordanverse, Harry Potter (formerly), Ninjago (Occasionally), Voltron (Occasionally) What I do here: Just chilling around, wasting my time (and occasionally write stuff) What I DON'T do here: Bullying people for their opinions DNI: Racism, sexism, misogyny, Islamophobia, zionism, neo-nazis, other religious nutjobs, bigotry of any kind Favourite Characters: I have... a lot of favourites: ATLA Katara Zuko Sokka Toph Iroh Korra Kyoshi Kuruk PJO/HOO/TOA Percy Jackson Leo Valdez Jason Grace Piper McLean Apollo/Lester Papadopoulos Dionysus/Mr D Favourite Ships: Taang (ATLA), Zutara (ATLA), Sukka (ATLA), Percabeth (PJO), Valdangelo (PJO), Valgrace (PJO), Solangelo (PJO) (thanks sis for reminding me) Hobbies: I'm gonna be a writer!

Masterlist:

The Unlikely Analogy

Avatars Aang and Kuruk Avatars Kyoshi and Korra (+ Yun)

Elemental Symbolism and Foils

Avatars Aang and Kyoshi Avatars Kuruk and Roku The Element of Change

Equivalent Elements

Avatars Kuruk and Korra Avatars Aang and Yangchen

Other Metas:

ATLA Modern AU: Avatar Edition

Disclaimer: After my encounter with the Avatars for The Cycle Repeats series, they have decided that they will be infiltrating my blog from time to time. Text spoken by a past Avatar will be colour-coded for your own convenience:

Avatar Wan: Bold Red Avatar Yangchen: Bold Orange Avatar Kuruk: Bold Purple Avatar Kyoshi: Bold Green Avatar Roku: Bold Black Avatar Aang: Bold Yellow Avatar Korra: Bold Blue Me: Bold Pink or Simple Black

[mah-o-daryaa]

HUH?!?!?!

Since when did Aang surpass all the other Avatars by being selfish, supremacist, and refusing to do his duty to bring balance to the world because HIS morals were being challenged, falling asleep, and waking up on a lionturtle, who gives him all the solutions he'll ever need, without Aang needing to do a THING, and later being hit in the back by an ULTRA POINTY ROCK EX MACHINA, and letting his PAST LIVES do all the work FOR him, after being CURBSTOMPED by Firelord Ozai, and then just TAKING HIS BENDING AWAY, making sure that Ozai's still alive and jeopardising Zuko's reign in the process, ALL AT THE LAST SECOND??? Have we even WATCHED THE SAME SHOW?

Not to mention whoever wrote that CLEARLY DIDN'T READ THE NOVELS! Even KORRA did more for the Air Nation than AANG did! Who wrote this garbage on TV TROPES, BRYKE???

Did the definition of enlightenment CHANGE in the last hundred years? Or is it just me?

[mah-o-daryaa]

Thanks for answering, Badgermole! For me, Korra isn't my favourite Avatar (she's more in my top 3), but Aang's still my least favourite of the known Avatars. It's not that I hate him or anyhing, it's just that I can't help but like all the other Avatars more (even Roku and Wan). Not to mention, he's pretty boring and in hindsight, a bit infuriating with the whole energybending and pointy rock BS in the finale.

I understand why you didn't want any context, since you needed to read the Kyoshi novels to understand the context anyway I remember it was from @kyoshist's TikTok account (timestamps 1:46-2:45 of this video if anyone else wants to see the footage for yourselves). For context, Avatar Wan had just revealed that Avatar Kuruk was (SPOILER ALERT) r@ped by one of his maids when she got him drunk on wine (worse, he was hospitalized after he killed a spirit), and Korra wanted to throw her grave in a volcano as justice for him (which is GREAT). But then Aang (and tbf, every other Avatar besides Wan (who was enjoying the chaos) and Kyoshi (who actually supported her)) tried to stop Korra from doing that, and Aang even said the same thing he said to Katara right before she went to confront Yon Rha ("It's easy to do nothing, but it's hard to forgive.")

THAT was an example of Aang not only disregarding a Water Tribe Avatar suffering from abuse (Kuruk), but ALSO taking the chance to impose his Air Nomad morality on ANOTHER Water Tribe Avatar (Korra, who is his literal SUCCESSOR)! To be fair, this isn't canon (it's a parody of the Avatar Cycle), but given what we've seen of Aang's negative qualities in the show (his Air Nomad superiority, his disrespect of other cultures (particularly SWT), and his lack of empathy), I can't help but think that he's really in character in this segment.

To add salt to the wound, AANG had also disregarded Katara's consent by kissing her TWICE without asking for it (DoBS and EIP). If Kuruk found out about the EIP kiss especially, he would've INSTANTLY spawned up in the real world and beaten Aang so hard he would have entered the Avatar State, all faster than you could say "That's rough buddy."

Although, to be fair to Aang, it was Wan who revealed it without Kuruk's permission, with the intention to make Kuruk upset about it. If ANYONE has the right to disclose private information like this, it's Kuruk.

Good morning, Lady Badgermole!

So, I found this comment on an ATLA TikTok video, and...

... since around 98% of your brain matter is dedicated specifically to trash-talking A@ng (which I for one really admire, the fandom needs more people as honest about their opinions as you), I think I already know your reaction to this comment 😅. Would you like any context surrounding the comment?

Bonus question: Have you read the Avatar novels or watched Legend of Korra? If so, who's your favourite Avatar (assuming A@ng is your least favourite)?

I don't need context. This comment is true in any context.

As for who my favorite Avatar is, I haven't read the novels, so it's Korra by default. Even though the show wasn't very good, she was at least more interesting than Aang