#Toph: sounds like a you problem

[avatarfandompolice]

you can tell someone never understood the ATLA characters enough to have a valid opinion on them by how angry they get about Toph not being a perfect parent

[lu-vin-it]

The Reservoir

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2 | The Secrets of the Fire Nation

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Summary: Like every year, your father takes you on an expedition to find Wan-Chi Tong’s lost library. This time, however, you actually get results. Results that change your life forever.

Pairing: Sokka x Reader

Gender Neutral (They/Them)

Word Count: 5,243

Warnings: I had to do Suki a little injustice... I'm sorry guys.... buuut I'm thinking of giving her a love interest in the Boiling Rock episode, any suggestions on who she's with? I wanna do a wlw relationship so tell me your ships plsss :)

Thank you to @lemkay-luminary for proofreading this chapter!

After making it out of the desert on a sand sailer, you and your new friends found a small waterfall and pond. You jumped in as soon as you saw it, only bothering to take off your backpack. The cool water was just what you needed after a week in the sand pit. Sokka, Katara, Aang, Toph, and even Momo, all joined you after a minute, though. 

After a few hours, you, Sokka, and Toph get out of the water and sit down on some rocks. 

“Hi Y/N! Um— I just wanted to say thanks for putting up with me yesterday.” Sokka says nervously, his cheeks a bright red. 

You smile. “No problem. I just didn’t want you to get separated from us. The juice in the cacti out there is brutal.” You reply, wincing.

“Yeah.. I should’ve listened to you.”

“Well, at least you’ll know for next time.” You wink at him and then walk over to your backpack, pulling the blanket rolled up on top to wrap around yourself. 

“Waterbending bomb!” You look up at the top of the waterfall as Katara launches herself off. When she hits the water, it sprays everywhere, drenching you and all of your things.

“Sure! 5,000 year old maps from the Spirit Library! Just splash some water on them.” 

You gasp and dump out your backpack, quickly grabbing some of your Father’s books he had asked you to hold for him and frowning. They are completely soaked. “No.. No! Come on!” You flip through some of the pages, feeling teary as you realize most of the ink was smudging. “You can bend the water out of this right!?”

“Yeah! I’m really sorry!” She bends the water out of your things and Sokka’s map. 

You sigh in relief seeing minimal damage and hold the book close to your chest before putting your things away. “Have you figured out which route we’re going to take?” You sit down next to Toph as Sokka lays out the map.

“Okay, so we just got out of the desert, so we’re about here,” He points to a place on the map. You nod in agreement. “And we need to get to Ba Sing Se, which is here.” He points at your home. “Looks like the only passage connecting the south to the north is this little sliver of land called the Serpent’s Pass.”

You shake your head. “Do you guys have a death wish? Be honest.” None of them reply. “That route is deadly. We can take the ferries at Full Moon Bay, that’s the quickest way.” 

“Have some faith, please! I know what I’m doing!” Sokka replies. 

“Hello fellow refugees!” You guys turn around and are met with a family standing in the path. A pregnant woman, an adult man, and a teenage girl. 

“Hi! Are you guys headed to Ba Sing Se too?” Aang greets.

“Sure are! We’re trying to get there before my wife, Ying, has her baby.” 

“That’s great! You can come with us.”

“We’re going through the Serpents pass.” 

You elbow Sokka. “Remember what happened last time you didn’t listen to me?” He rolls his eyes.

“But the Serpents Pass is deadly! Only the truly desperate take that route!” Ying says, shocked. 

“See!” You exclaim making Sokka huff. 

“You should come with us to Full Moon Bay.” The man offers. “Ferries take refugees across the lake. It’s the fastest way to Ba Sing Se.” 

“Hm.. Sounds like someone was right.. Again.” You smirk. 

“Hmm peaceful ferry ride or deadly pass..” Katara says sarcastically, rubbing her chin. 

—

When you arrive at the port, you guys get in line for the tickets. 

“Hi, five tickets for the ferry to Ba Sing Se, please.” 

The woman behind the counter looks you up and down. You’ve met her many times over the years, yet she never fails to scare you. “Passports?” You reach into the side pocket on your backpack and pull yours out, handing it to her. 

“No one told us we’d have to have passports!” Aang exclaims. 

Sokka comes up to the desk. “Don’t you know who this is? He’s the Avatar!” 

“Ack! I see fifty Avatars a day! And by the way? Not a very impressive costume.” She points at a group of people in bad Avatar get-ups. “Besides, no animals allowed. Do I need to call security?”

“No! That won’t be necessary, ma’am.”

“Next!”

“I’ll take care of this.” Toph says, walking up to the desk. “My name is Toph Beifong and I need five tickets.” She puts her passport on the desk.

The woman gasps. “The golden seal of the flying boar! It is my pleasure to help anyone of the Beifong family.”

“It is your pleasure. As you can see, I am blind and these four imbeciles are my valets.”

“But the animal–”

“Is my seeing-eye lemur.”

“Well normally it is only one ticket per passport.. But this document is so official.. I guess it’s worth five tickets.” She stamps each ticket and hands you them.

“Thank you very much.” Toph grabs the tickets and you guys walk off. 

“Alright! We scammed that lady good!” Sokka says, holding his hand up for a high five. You go to give him one but he moves his hand out of the way at the last second. “Nuh–uh-uh! You were mean this morning, you don’t deserve my high fives.”

You deadpan. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I hurt your poor little feelings?” 

“Yes you di– Oh. You’re being sarcastic, huh?” 

You giggle. “You’re cute when you’re clueless.” You roll your eyes. 

Suddenly, a guard with striking grey eyes grabs Sokka. “Tickets and passports, please.” She says, holding out her hand. 

“Is there a problem?” 

“Yeah, I got a problem with you! I’ve seen your type before! Probably sarcastic, think your hilarious. And let me guess? You’re travelling with the avatar?” You snicker, how was a stranger able to read him with that much accuracy.

“Do I know you?”

The guard grabs a fistful of his shirt. “You mean you don’t remember? Maybe you remember this!” She leans forward and kisses his cheek. You furrow your brows.

Sokka gasps. “Suki!” He leans forward and hugs her. 

“Sokka it’s so good to see you!”

“It’s good to see you too!” He wraps his arm around your shoulders. “This is Y/N, they just started traveling with us too!” 

“Hi! It’s nice to meet you.” You say, offering her your hand and a smile. 

“Nice to meet you too!”

—

Suki brings you and the rest of the group up to a guard tower where you guys can talk in private. 

“You look so different without your makeup and the new outfit!” Katara says.

“That crabby lady makes all the security guards wear them.” She turns to Sokka. “And look at you, sleeveless guy, been working out?” Sokka blushes and you deflate a little. Was there something going on between them? Why wouldn’t Sokka have said anything before? 

“Oh, I’ll grab a tree branch and do a few chin touches every now and then! Nothing major.”

“Are the other Kyoshi Warriors around?”

“Yeah, after you left Kyoshi we wanted to find a way to help people. We ended up escorting a few refugees here and we’ve been here ever since.”

Your eyes go wide. “You’re a Kyoshi Warrior?” She nods. “That’s awesome! I’ve read about you guys! My Father and I even visited Kyoshi Island a couple of months ago.. I took a class but fighting has never been my strong suit.” You sheepishly scratch your neck. 

“Really? How’re you managing with these guys? Get into any trouble yet?”

You deadpan. “If only you knew.” 

She laughs. “So, why are you guys getting tickets for the ferry? Wouldn’t you just fly across on Appa?” You all look down.

“Appa is missing. We hope to find him in Ba Sing Se.” Katara replies solemnly.

“I’m so sorry to hear that. Are you doing okay?” Suki asks Aang.

“I’m doing fine.” Aang raises an eyebrow. “Would everybody stop worrying about me?”

“Avatar Aang! You have to help us!” You walk over to the ledge and look down. It’s the family from earlier. “Someone took all of our belongings, our passports, our tickets! Everything is gone!” She sobs. 

“I’ll talk to the lady for you.” 

—

“I can’t believe we gave up our tickets and now we’re going through the Serpent’s Pass.” Sokka says as you guys walk through a refugee camp.

“I know.” You frown. “Of all the times I’ve been in and out of the desert, I’ve never gone through the Serpent’s Pass. I’m kind of scared.” 

“Why? You have me!” He wraps his arm around you cockily. 

“Oh yeah? You gonna use a tree branch to protect me from the sea serpent?” You tease. 

He narrows his eyes at you. “Never mind. I’m not saving you.”

You laugh. “Okay, I’m sorry!” You smile at him. “I would be honoured to be saved by you.”

“Wait up!” You and Sokka turn around to see Suki, in full Kyoshi Warrior garb, running towards you. “I’m coming too!”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

She frowns. “Sokka, I thought you’d want me to come.” She places her hands on her hips, surprised. Her eyes flicker to you and her frown deepens. 

“I do! It’s just–”

“Just what?”

“Nothing I–”

She scoffs. “You know what? Never mind, good luck getting through the Serpent’s Pass.” Suki makes eye contact with you and gives you a pained smile. “It was nice meeting you.” She turns around and walks back the way she came from.

“I don’t understand.. Did I say something?” Sokka asks, turning to you. 

“No, but that’s the problem. She wanted you to want her to come.” 

He frowns. “But I do want her to come! Suki’s a great friend and an amazing warrior.” He scratches the back of his head.

You laugh. “You really are clueless.” You grab his wrist and pull him towards the rest of your group.

—

“This is the serpent’s pass? I thought it would be more windy, you know, like a snake. Guess they misnamed it.”

You snicker at Sokka. “Yeah, sure they did.”

“Look at this writing.. How awful.” Ying says, walking up to one of the posts at the entrance. 

“What does it say?” Toph asks. 

“It says ‘Abandon hope.’” 

“How could we abandon hope? That’s all we have!” Ying cries into her husband’s chest.

“I don’t know, the Monks used to say hope is just a distraction. So maybe we do need to abandon it.” 

You furrow your brows at Aang. “What are you talking about?”

“Hope isn’t going to get us into Ba Sing Se and it’s not gonna find Appa.” He turns around. “We need to focus on what we’re doing right now, and that’s getting across this pass.”

“Okay.. if you say so.” Katara replies sadly. You go up to her and rub her back. 

–

About an hour into the climb, you start passing through the Fire Nation side. You grow increasingly anxious the more ships you see. You have never been an enemy of the Fire Nation, but travelling with the Avatar would definitely do the trick. 

“The Fire Nation controls the Western Lake, supposedly, they’re working on something big on the other side and they don’t want anyone to find out what it is.” You point at one of the ships. 

Suddenly, the rock under Than falls. Toph quickly bends a platform for him to fall on, saving his life. She tosses him back up and his wife and daughter catch him.

“I’m okay!” The platform falls into the water, giving away your location to the Fire Nation ship. 

“They spotted us! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Sokka yells. The ship sends a fireball directly at you.

Aang flies up and hits the fireball back to the ship, but they just send more, one of them hitting the rock above you, causing boulders to fall. Toph creates a slide for them to roll off of, saving your life. 

“Y/N! Are you okay!?” Sokka asks, running to you and grabbing your arms. 

“Yeah… I’m okay. Thanks to Toph.” You tell him shakily. Sokka inspects you closely and then threads your hand with his. You start running, grabbing Toph with your free hand when you pass her.

—

That night, you camp out on a high point of the Serpent’s pass. Unfortunately, your friends still had yet to get any supplies, so you still only had your things. Deciding against putting up your tent, you just lay out your blanket and put your sleeping bag on top of it. 

Sokka sits down next to you. “Are you sure you’re okay after earlier?” 

“Sokka, I’m fine. Stop worrying so much.” You go through your backpack and pull out one of your Father’s books. “I haven’t had a chance to sit down and read in so long.” You say, a grin spreading across your face. It falters slightly when you open it, running your fingers over your Father’s signature inside. 

“Was that your Dad’s?” He asks quietly. 

“Yeah. He had so many books he couldn’t fit all of them into his backpack so he’d give them to me to carry.” You look down. “When we get to Ba Sing Se, I’m going to have so much to do. I’ll have to tell people and go through his things..” Tears well up in your eyes. “I’ll be all alone.” 

Sokka places a hand on your forearm. “You won’t be. You have us now! You can always come with us!” 

You smile at him softly. “I appreciate that but.. I’m not really much help to you guys. I can’t even fight.”

“But you know things! We would’ve been lost in the desert without you helping Katara.” 

“There’s plenty I don’t know, though. Like this war, I don’t really know about what’s happening. I understand the Fire Nation is trying to conquer everyone, but why? When did this start?” You sigh. “I’m going to read.. Goodnight, Sokka.” You give him a tight-lipped smile and then walk away, over to a ledge where you made yourself comfortable and started reading. 

—

The next morning, Aang starts leading you down the path again. All is well until you come across a section of the pass that is fully submerged in water. 

“Everyone, single file!” Katara shouts, taking charge. She moves her hands in a parting motion, bringing her right hand up and then doing the same with her left. “Aang! I need help!” Aang creates an air bubble with his airbending and after a second, you’re completely under the water. Momo dives in and swims past you guys, mimicking the fish. Then, he nervously runs back into the bubble making you glance at the water. A huge shadow swims beside you. “What is that thing?” It shoots through the bubble, filling it with water and making you all scream. 

“It’s the serpent!” You scream, grabbing the arm beside you, Katara. Toph stomps and then raises the rock under you guys up. “Oh my..” You curl over, holding your stomach and praying to yourself that you don’t puke. 

“Are you okay!?” Sokka asks, putting his hand on your back. 

“Yeah.. I’m good.” You gag. The serpent swims out of the water and hisses at you. 

“I.. I think I just found out why they call it the Serpent’s Pass!” Sokka frantically looks around him before grabbing Momo. “Oh great and powerful sea serpent, please accept this humble and tasty offering. Thank you.”

“Sokka!” Katara chastises. 

Aang sends a wave of air at the serpent and then turns to you guys. “I’ll distract it. Katara, get everyone across.” He flies up towards the serpent. Katara starts freezing the water, creating a bridge. You all walk across and then she freezes her feet and glides over to the serpent on the water. 

“Toph, come on! It’s ice!” You turn around to see Toph put one foot onto the bridge and then jump back onto the rock.

“Actually, I’m gonna stay on my little island where I can see.” The serpent falls right onto the rock behind her, making her scream and jump onto the bridge. “Okay! I’m coming!” She slowly starts walking to you.

“You’re doing great! Just follow the sound of my voice!” Sokka coaxes.

“It’s hard to ignore.”

“You’re almost there!” The serpent’s tail whips backwards and breaks the bridge, pushing Toph off of the edge. 

“Help! I can’t swim!” Your eyes go wide and you immediately jump in to save her.

“I’m comi– Y/N!” Sokka cries. You quickly reach her and dive under to pull her up. 

She gasps as she breathes again. “Oh, Sokka! You saved me!” She turns around in your arms and kisses your cheek. 

“Uh.. I’m not Sokka.” 

“Oh..” She awkwardly laughs. “Well. You can go ahead and let me drown now.” You laugh in response. You swim over to the path, slower with Toph. You put her against it and let her pull herself up allowing you to get yourself up. 

“That was so dangerous!” Sokka screams, panting. You roll your eyes, expecting him to scold you. “But.. It was pretty cool.” You glance up at him, shocked. 

“Really?”

“Yeah! I didn’t know you were such a great swimmer.” 

You smile. “Thanks, Sokka.” You kiss his cheek and then walk up to Toph. “All good?”

“Yeah, thanks to you.”

“No biggie.” You shrug. “You saved me earlier. We’re even now!” 

She smiles. “Still, thanks.” You turn around, hearing Katara cheer. Aang glides down with her, and you all join the cheering. 

You all start walking quickly after, and thankfully, only have to walk for about forty-five more minutes. Once you finally reach the end, you smile in relief. 

“Look! It’s the outer wall! Now it’s nothing but smooth sailing to Ba Sing Se!” Sokka exclaims. 

“Ah!” Ying gasps. Than and their daughter rush to her. 

“What’s wrong?”

“The baby’s coming.” Ying carefully sits down. 

“What? Now!? Can’t you just hold it in or something!?” 

“Sokka, calm down.” Katara says, placing her hand on her brother’s arm. “I helped Gran Gran deliver lots of babies back home.”

“This isn’t the same as delivering an arctic seal! This is a real human thing!”

“It’s called a baby. And I’ve helped her deliver plenty of those too. Aang, get some rags. Sokka, water.” The boys rush off to do their tasks. “Toph, I need you to make an earth tent– a big one.” Toph steps forward and raises her hands, rocks shoot up around the family. “Y/N, come with me.” 

Once inside the tent, Katara moved swiftly, directing you to stand beside her just in case she needed help, and then positioning herself between Ying’s legs. “Alright, Ying, get ready to push.”

—

Hours later, Ying had birthed a beautiful baby girl. Sokka, Toph, and Aang finally come inside. 

“She sounds healthy!”

“She’s beautiful.”

“And so squishy looking.” Sokka says, warily. You elbow him.

“What should we name her?” Than asks.

“I want our daughter’s name to be unique. I want it to mean something.”

“I’ve been going through a really hard time lately.. But you’ve made me hopeful again.” Aang tells Ying softly, his eyes full of tears. 

She smiles. “I know what I want to name our baby now– Hope.”

“That’s a perfect name. Hope.”

“Come on, let’s give the family some privacy.” Katara says, shooing everyone out. 

You, Sokka, and Toph stand beside the rock-tent. 

“I can’t believe I just helped birth a baby.” You furrow your brows. 

“See! You are helpful!” Sokka grins. 

You raise an eyebrow. “That’s not the compliment you think it is.. But thanks.” 

“You’re welcome!” You guys walk over to Aang and Katara. 

“I’m going to fly ahead and find Appa. I promise, I’ll find him as fast as I can. I just really need to do this.” Aang says.

Sokka places his hand on Aang’s shoulder and smiles at him. “See you in the big city.”

“Say hi to that big fuzzball for me!” Toph punches his shoulder. 

“If you need some place to crash, you can stay at my place.. It’s kind of messy but you can sleep on the couch.” You give him your address and pull your house key out of your backpack.

“Thanks, Y/N. And, I will.” He takes the key and smiles. 

“You’ll find him, Aang.”

“I know.” He opens his glider and looks down at Momo. “You ready, Momo?” The lemur nods and then they both take off. 

Not even ten minutes passes before Aang is flying back. 

“Aang, what are you doing here? I thought you were looking for Appa.”

“I was– but something stopped me– something big.” 

— 

After Aang flew you each to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, Toph used her earthbending to lift you to the top of the wall. 

“Now, what was so big that Appa had to wait?” Sokka asks.

“That.” Aang points. You follow his finger to what looks to be a giant drill.

“We made it to Ba Sing Se and we’re still not safe.” Ying cries. “No one is.”

You spot some guards walking towards you and poke Sokka in the side. “Psst! Guards!”

“It’s okay, Aang will take care of this.” 

“Hey! What are you people doing here! Civilians aren’t allowed on the wall!”

“I’m the Avatar. Take me to whoever is in charge.” The guards glance at each other before waving for you to follow. They lead you to where a man, General Sung, sits behind a desk.

“It is an honor to welcome you to the outer Wall, young Avatar. But, your help is not needed.”

“Not needed?” Aang asks incredulously.

“Not needed. I have the situation under control. I assure you, the Fire Nation cannot penetrate this wall.” He stands up and leads you over to the ledge. “Many have tried to break through it, but none have succeeded.”

“What about the Dragon of the West?” Toph asks. You furrow your brows, wondering to yourself what she was talking about. 

“Well, technically, yes. But he was quickly expunged! Nevertheless, that’s why the city is named Ba Sing Se. It’s the impenetrable city. They don’t call it ‘Na Sing Se’!” He holds his stomach as he laughs. “That means penetrable city.” He deadpans.

“Yeah.. Thanks for the tour. But we still got the drill problem.” Toph narrows her eyes. 

“Not for long! To stop it, I’ve sent an elite platoon of Earthbenders called the Terra Team!” 

“That’s a good group name. Very catchy!” Sokka compliments. 

General Sung looks through a telescope and gasps. “We’re doomed!” He screams. 

Sokka slaps him. “Get a hold of yourself, man!”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He rubs his cheek.

“Maybe you’d like the Avatar’s help now?” Toph crosses her arms. 

The man walks up to Aang and shrinks. “Yes please.” 

You all walk up to the ledge, looking down at the failing earthbenders sadly. “So how are we going to stop them?” Aang asks. Katara and Aang look at Sokka. 

 “Why are you all looking at me!?”

“You’re the idea guy!” Aang shrugs.

“So I’m the only one who could ever come up with a plan?” He frowns. “That’s a lot of pressure.”

“You’re also the complaining guy.”

“That part I don’t mind.”

—

Once the Terra Team were brought up, you guys went over to the infirmary where Katara starts healing one of the earthbenders. 

“What’s wrong with him? He doesn’t look injured.” General Sung wonders, rubbing his chin. 

“His chi is blocked. Who did this to you?” You gasp and go to sit beside Katara, closely inspecting his joints. You’ve read countless books on chi-blocking, finding the art incredibly interesting. You’ve learned a couple of the moves yourself, but only ones that would incapacitate a person’s shoulder. Chi-blocking was an incredibly hard art to master, and it’s even harder if you don’t have a teacher.  

“Two girls ambushed us. One of them hit me with a few quick jabs, and suddenly I couldn’t earthbend and I could barely move. Then she cartwheeled away.”

“Ty Lee.” Katara sighs. “She doesn’t look dangerous, but she knows the human body and its weak points. It’s like she takes you down from the inside.”

“Oh! Oh, oh, oh, oh!” Sokka gasps. 

“Yes?”

“What you just said. That’s how we’re going to take down the drill– the same way Ty Lee took down all these big earthbenders!”

“By hitting its pressure points!” You realize. “Sokka, you’re a genius!” You all rush over to the ledge to look at the drill. 

“We’ll take it down from the inside.” Aang says. 

—

You follow your friends over to where you guys came up at when Sokka turns to you, scratching his neck. 

“Y/N.. maybe you should stay up here.” 

“Sokka, if Y/N wants to come, Y/N should come! Stop being so bossy.” Katara defends. 

You laugh. “No, it’s okay. He’s right. I’ll be deadweight down there. Hurry back though, okay?” Katara frowns but doesn’t say anything. 

“Once Katara and I teach you some waterbending, you’ll be coming with us everywhere!” Aang exclaims. 

You grin. “Looking forward to it.” They pile onto a rock Toph raised. “Be safe, guys.” You wave at them before they start sliding down the wall. You sigh when they disappear from your line of sight and walk over to a place you could see better. 

A cloud of dust forms and covers the Drill, you immediately assume it’s from Toph, your suspicions being confirmed when you spot her, Katara, Aang and Sokka run into the cloud of dust before disappearing once more. You place your head on your hand, leaning against the wall. This was going to be a long wait. 

—

After about an hour the drill hits the wall, causing you to bite your lip anxiously. 

“You!” You glance over to see General Sung running towards you. “What is taking your friends so long!?” He comes to a stop. 

“I-I don’t know. Just trust in them, okay? The Avatar is with them, after all.” 

He narrows his eyes at you. “And why aren’t you with them?”

“I’m not a skilled waterbender or fighter.. I wouldn’t be much help so I sent them ahead without me.” He glares at you but says nothing before walking away. You silently hope they’re safe. 

—

Thirty minutes later, the back of the drill starts leaking some sort of rocky sludge. Suddenly, you see a flash of orange running on top of it. You grin, no doubt in your mind that it’s Aang. He runs towards the wall before stopping, about to bend when a bunch of rocks are catapulted right for him. 

“General Sung! Tell your soldiers to stop shooting rocks down here!” You hear him yell faintly. The soldiers continue to send rocks down, but Aang moves like a pro around them as he starts cutting the drill with his waterbending. 

After a while, Aang gets visibly worn out, when suddenly, blue fire shoots right for him. You gasp, watching a girl in fire nation clothes walk out. They gain fighting positions quickly, with the girl shooting another round of fire directly at Aang. He dodges and sends air right back, which she easily jumps over. She starts sending fire in consecutive shots while Aang uses a water whip to extinguish it as soon as the fire leaves her hands. She jumps up, spinning in the air and kicking a huge fireball right at Aang, he creates a water shield, but it’s broken, sending him flying back a little. 

She takes a step closer to him right as the soldiers start sending more rocks. The fire nation girl dodges each one with a beautiful technique you just can’t help but admire. Aang uses his airbending to catch a rock and send it right for her, sending her sliding back to doge it. He earthbends a pile of rocks in front of him and starts sending smaller rocks after her. She spins with her foot in the air and kicks towards Aang, sending the biggest amount of fire you had ever seen one person create after him. His barrier is broken and he’s sent flying back. He hits the wall and falls forward. 

Tears well up in your eyes. “No.. no. Aang! Come on!” You whisper-shout. The drill starts shaking and expanding, causing the wall to shake as it goes all the way through the ‘impenetrable wall’. You gasp, grabbing onto one of the pillars for support. Your heart beats rapidly as you go through every possible scenario in your head. Was Ba Sing Se going to fall? Were you about to lose your only home directly after losing your Father? Tears fall down your face. 

Not even to mention, you haven’t seen Sokka, Toph, or Katara since they left the wall. You have no clue if they’re okay, and now, you can’t even see. 

It’s when you hear a “Hee-yah!” That you let go of the pillar and run towards the ledge again, just fast enough to see Aang run down the side of the wall. The fire nation girl climbs onto the drill and sends a ball of fire at Aang, but at the speed he’s going, it misses him, and he lands directly onto a rock wedged into the hole he made a moment before. The hit is so powerful it emits a wave of air strong enough to send the fire nation girl flying. The drill explodes at the base of the wall, and then again four more times down the body. Sludge comes pouring out of the back again, and the drill starts smoking. 

You grin. “They did it!” You cheer. 

A few minutes later, Toph earthbends them all up. They step onto the wall and you bring them all in for a hug. 

“That was amazing! I mean– Aang– when that fire nation girl showed up with that blue fire? You did so good!” You shake Aang by the shoulders. “I can’t believe you guys did it! Well– I can– you’re the Avatar, after all, but still! That was so cool!” 

Aang laughs. “Thanks, Y/n!”

“I just wanna say, good effort out there today, Team Avatar.” Sokka says, grinning. 

“Stop it with the team Avatar stuff! No matter how many times you say it, it’s not gonna catch on.” Katara deadpans. 

Sokka scratches his chin. “How about the Boomerang Squad!?” He pulls out his boomerang. “See, it’s good ‘cause it’s got ‘ang’ in it.” He grabs Aang’s head. “Boomer-Aang!” You giggle. 

“I kinda like that one.” Aang replies with a shrug. 

“Let’s talk about this on our way into the city.” You all turn around. 

“The Aang Gang?”

“Sokka..” Katara, Toph, and Aang start walking away. You just laugh some more. 

“The Fearsome Fivesome!”

“You’re crazy.” Toph says, shaking her head. 

“What? We’re fearsome! Right, Y/N?” 

“Yeah, of course we are.” You reply sarcastically, a smile playing on your lips. 

“I know you’re being sarcastic, but I’ll take it!” 

You roll your eyes, the smile becoming a full grin. “You’re so stupid. C’mon! They’re leaving us!” You grab his wrist and drag him with you at a jog until you catch up with the others. You let go when you fall in line with them, but he picks your hand up and holds it, making your stomach erupt in butterflies.

──────────────────────

Taglist: @randomgurl2326 , @staygoldsquatchling02 , @acupnoodle , @ginger-swag-rapunzel , @polish-cereal @graciexmarvel

[oneatlatime]

The Tales of Ba Sing Se PART 1

Once upon a time in Ba Sing Se, the Gaang got Appa back. The end. Please?

This title sounds rather expositiony, but last episode was already a plot/exposition dump, and a rather dark one at that. So who knows? Not me.

Sokka hun I think you're supposed to shave with a blade slightly less substantial than that.

I am fascinated by the hair loopies. I always thought that they were braided in, but they clip in. Does she have a magnet in her braid that they clip in to? A lego type system?

CAT

Toph's morning routine is uncomfortably close to mine.

I know Toph likes being slobby to stick it to the man, but wouldn't it also help with her spatial awareness if she's always sporting a healthy coating of earth? Maybe she can sense where her limbs are better or something?

"Spa day!" "Do I have to?" UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE GUYS.

That has got to be torture. How would you like a pumice stone to the eyeballs?

Now THAT'S a healthy coating of earth.

You're not usually into that stuff? You got dolled up last episode.

Are there voice acting awards? Because whoever voiced these guys needs one. I have never in my life heard such perfectly distilled middle school clique bitch impression.

That's cathartic.

Katara's smothering/mothering tendencies usually annoy me, but it's a good thing those means girls happened when Katara was around, because this calls for serious hugs. I almost want to say that it's out of character to see Toph not be 100% sure of herself, but I think it adds character instead.

Do you think anyone's ever told Toph before that she's really pretty? Ever?

That's a good hug.

Is this short stories? Like an anthology? TALES of Ba Sing Se. Like day in the life? Ok. I'm going to break this up for ease of reading/writing.

The Tale of Iroh

If Iroh hadn't distinguished himself by making the best tea in the city, he would have come to everyone's attention anyway by single handedly fixing everyone's personal problems.

Bending soccer. Why didn't I think of that?

His voice is funny in this scene. Also isn't honour a fire nation thing?

One of my absolute favourite things about Iroh is that his philosophical side is always balanced out by a practical side. He's always philosophising but he's also always grounded. Sometimes hightailing it is what needs doing. Sometimes your sister is crazy and needs to go down.

You know you're bad at crime when your poor stance actually offends the guy you're mugging.

I also like how Iroh really doesn't moralise. He'll teach this guy what conditions the moonflower likes; he'll teach this guy how to mug better. Knowledge is for sharing, no judgment attached!

Random mugger speedruns Zuko's arc.

So pretty. It's been a while since there's been good pretty.

oh shit

ok

Now I have questions!

The Tale of Aang

Writers take note: You see this sad face? You see what you've done to my boy? You can reverse it with one simple trick! GIVE HIM APPA BACK.

I love this. Can't help Appa, so Aang helps every other animal in Ba Sing Se instead.

I want to know what this is. Monkey panther?

I didn't realise until now how tall platypus bears were.

CABBAGE GUY! HI!

Actual dragonflies. Punny.

I love these. My nomination for cutest atla animal.

I hope that wasn't required agricultural land. Should have put the zoo near the drill instead. That land already looked close to salted.

This was some Toph level bending. Love to see Aang's skills progress.

Turtle seal's got competition for cutest animal.

Just call this portion the petting zoo and it's a win.

The Tale of Sokka

Something I don't talk about enough is Sokka's supernatural skill with that boomerang. The realistic explanation is that he's spent every spare minute since receiving it honing his skills by chucking it at random piles of snow, but I like to think he's a boomerang bender. Actually wouldn't boomerang bending be a manifestation of latent airbending tendencies?

I make this face at lasagne.

I may have to make another Sokka's Stupid Faces post.

There is nothing oaflike about falling out of a window and into a Haiku. He was even polite about it!

Somebody introduce Sokka to flyting.

Forget about being a warrior, Aang needs to end this war yesterday so that Sokka can go be a poet. Warrior poet. He's way too creative to waste on cannon fodder.

Poetry bouncer. The longer I think about that the funnier it gets.

Betrayed by hubris.

A Poetry bouncer. Who comes up with this stuff? How do you come up with that? I keep thinking about a poetry bouncer and I keep giggling.

I'm breaking this post here as I'm reaching the image limit. Part 2 coming immediately!

[comradekatara]

sry if u already answered this, but like thoughts on gaang + the girls trying weed for the first time + how they would do it 🙈

the first time suki tries weed she is ten years old. a bunch of the older girls are getting high together, and when none of them are looking she steals their bong. they find her on the bathroom floor hacking up a lung. but once she finally stops coughing she’s like woah this rules…

you may be wondering why i’m listing suki first when i don’t usually do that for these kinds of posts, but since suki is of course the one who introduces every other member of the gaang to weed, it feels only appropriate.

suki gets high with sokka like a week into the start of their relationship. sokka is pretty disappointed tbh. he thought maybe weed would solve all his problems and unlock the secrets to the universe, but in actuality it just made his head hurt. alas

suki then tries to get high with zuko, who flat out refuses. he doesn't like suki, and he's afraid that she can tell (she can) and is in fact trying to poison him. so sokka has to suffer the intolerable Weed Headache all over again so that he can get high with zuko, because he wouldn't feel safe otherwise. "why doesn't he just not get zuko high in the first place?" you may be asking. well it's because suki begged sokka to get zuko high upon her insistence that it would be really funny. and it is.

katara also wants to try weed but suki is like "not until you're older" (she may sound like a massive hypocrite here, but she knows that sokka would kill her if he ever found out that she gave DRUGS to his BABY SISTER!!!!) and even when katara is like "but you're barely older than i am and you've clearly been doing this forever???" suki refuses to budge. eventually, after one million years, katara finally gets to try a hit from suki's special stash, and she's like "yeah, wow, this is good weed. wayyy better than iroh's tbh." to which sokka and suki are both like "excuse me WHAT???!?!?!?!?!"

aang wants in on suki hotboxing the bathroom and is just like "why does it smell like gyatso in here?" to which suki's like "your mentor, the air nomad legend, monk gyatso, was a pothead?" and aang's like "well i don't know about that, but your room smells exactly like the stuff he'd give us to calm us down whenever we got too hyper." at which point suki just shrugs and passes her joint.

iroh is actually the first person to give toph weed. like with that unpleasant katara revelation, suki feels immensely betrayed. so does sokka, for some reason, even though he doesn't even smoke weed. toph thinks it's just fine tbh, but then she discovers that getting azula high is actually the funniest thing ever, and she starts smoking way more, specifically with azula.

azula and toph get high together pretty frequently. sometimes (whenever he catches wind that this is happening) sokka joins them just to chaperone (he's scared of all the damage they might cause with any sort of common sense filter turned all the way off) and also to witness it (it's truly a sight to behold). they mostly just bitch about their terrible families, but their insults are really funny, and they make each other crack up. they have fun together.

suki is really proud of the fact that she's the first person to ever give mai weed. she's like, "wait..... did iroh never...." and mai's just like, "you really think i'd let that old creep push drugs around me?" weed does for mai exactly what sokka had hoped it would. for once in her life she's not hyper vigilant while also being bored out of her mind, but actually kind of chill and happy. sokka is so fucking jealous.

ty lee refuses to try weed, or any kind of mind-altering substances whatsoever. she won't even drink a single glass of wine at dinner. she's convinced that the moment she lets her guard down someone will finally find one of her weaknesses (a real one, not just the ones she advertises on purpose to deflect from her true vulnerabilities) and exploit it. suki, on the other hand, doesn't understand how someone so hot and cool could also be so straightedge. she's constantly trying to get mai to convince ty lee to try weed, but mai is just like, "sorry but this is just how she is, there's no changing her." eventually, years down the line, ty lee is finally sufficiently worn down and agrees to try weed once with suki and mai, but that they must first shut all the doors and close the blinds and promise to never let her out of their sight. it goes...fine? she's never tempted to try it again, but at least now she knows, and that's that.

bonus: no one knows this, but it wasn't actually gyatso who gave aang his first joint. it was bumi.

[toph-bi-fong]

Alright, making a separate post because the original one is long as is.

That sounds like a you problem then. I’m not sure why you felt the need to announce it to the whole KA fandom- which must’ve been your intention since you posted it in the main tag. Well it worked, you caught our attention.

These are fictional characters. They are tools used to tell a story. They are not real. They do not attend westernized schools in the real world. They are from an Asian inspired fantasy land.

On top of that, they do not stay 12/14 forever. They age throughout the course of the post-story.

And still maintain their relationship after all these years.

Who… who’s using Aang being 100 years older as justification for being with Katara?

I don’t know man, applying real life brain development to characters from a show about manipulating elements through martial arts is kind of a reach. Again, he’s not a real kid. Someone else already tried this argument- didn’t work.

For the record, I’ve been shipping Kataang since I was 13 myself. I didn’t find it weird.

“No judgement to Kataang shippers, except let me post my judgment about the ship you love into the main tag and call it gross and imply it to be pedophilic.”

Yeah, okay. Sure Jan.

Look, you’re welcome not to like Kataang, but posting stuff like this in the main tag is going to increase the likelihood of KA shippers seeing it and reacting to it. I mean, were you just expecting us to agree with you and scroll past?

You called our ship gross. And for what? A two year age gap between two fictional characters who don’t even stay as kids forever? A wholesome lovey-dovey relationship?

I mean, really, this all could’ve been avoided if you had just said you preferred shipping Kataang as adults. THAT’S FINE. I prefer shipping Toph and Zuko as adults.

But naw, you had to go into our main tag and make an announcement that you find kataang gross.

[hedgiwithapen]

Toph and zuko “I thought we were friends” and “wasn’t I worth a goodbye?”

"Where are you going?" 

Toph can feel the familiar footsteps as Zuko approaches, which is good, considering the way his voice echoes in the open hallway. She doesn't bother to turn around. 

"What does it look like?" she asks, an edge to her voice she's too tired to conceal. 

"Like you're about to walk into a wall," he says, and Toph smirks at the sense of confusion in his voice. 

"Into, through," she shrugs. "Why do you care?"

"Why do I--" Nothing burns, but she can smell the singe anyways. "I thought we were friends. You're sneaking out in the middle of the night--"

"I'm not sneaking," Toph cuts him off. "And it's not my fault you people think the middle of the night is a weird time to be up."

"Did something happen?" she hates the worry in his voice. 

"No. And that's the problem." She frowns. His foot, in a fancy silk slipper, slides backwards on the polished floor, a tiny whisper of noise her bending catches better than her ears. "I can't live like this. There's too many people, and they're all--bustling. Sweeping the floor I'm walking on, acting like I'm going to drown if I so much as step towards your Turtle-duck pond. The Gaang fussing was bad enough till they figured out I'm more competent than any of them, I can't take it another minute of this. Happy?" 

"Why didn't you say something?" Zuko asks, moving to sit. She can hear the silk of his robes brushing against itself in the folds. Someone must have alerted him, and he can running, even though the air was chilly with night. She's determined not to let him pull what his uncle does. But she sits.  The bench is oddly out of place, cooled lavastone, without glaze or polishing to make it seem like something it isn't. She runs her fingers over the lumpy surface. 

"You and everyone else have countries to rebuild," she says. "You've got stuff to deal with. And don't try to say I'm more important than that, because of the two of us, I'm the one who's had parents treat me like the most precious object in the world and it really, really sucks. Also, I'm not an idiot. "

"I wasn't going to say that," Zuko lies. 

"Yeah. So I just figured I'd get out of here for a while. Go explore for real. Who thought I'd miss camping?"

"Toph..."

"And you can't forbid me to go. I don't answer to you, Firelord," she finishes. 

"I wasn't going to. I just.. You were just going to leave? without telling anyone? Wasn't I worth a goodbye, at least?"

"I never say goodbye," Toph says, tapping her bare toes on the polished stone flags. Something's not right with Zuko's heartbeat, with his breathing. It takes a moment for her to place the changes. He's crying. Which...Fuck. "It's not like I'm not coming back. You know that, right?"

"What?" Zuko says, trying to disguise the sound. "I... yes. Of course I do."

That's a lie, too.

"Zuko. I'm not going to flee into the woods forever. I just need some space for a bit. I don't miss camping more than I'd miss you guys. I'll come back. I promise."

"When?"

She sighs. "Couple of days. Okay?"

"...okay. You know Katara's going to kill you."

"Pft, she can try." She grins, and wonders if he could see it. "Thanks,  Zuko. for understanding.  I'll remember for next time."

"I'll see you in a few days," he says, suddenly formal. "Please don't break my palace wall."

"I'll put it back," she says. "Bye, Zuko."

[quillthrillswriting]

the gaang...as an indie rock band....? kataang, where aang's only way of confessing his feelings is by writing katara a love song....? 😏

💳💥💳💥💳💥💳💥

i present to you, excerpts from my new one-shot: Well, My (Not-Yet) Boyfriend's In A Band

⋆---––——––---⋆ ⋆ ---––——––------––——––--- ⋆ ⋆ ---––——––--- ⋆

Aang winced, shielding himself with his drumsticks as he walked into Sokka and Katara’s garage almost a full half-hour later than their agreed-upon rehearsal time, as if the two thin pieces of wood could protect him from the combined side-eye of his friends. Even Toph, who regularly rolled in ages after rehearsal had started with a tea in her hand from Uncle Iroh’s, was shooting him a glare, which is how Aang knew he’d really messed up. He ducked his head into the entranceway, silently cursing himself for being just a bit too tall for the garage doorway.

Katara shifted from her position against the opposing doorframe, where she had been judgmentally leaning as she echoed the look in Toph’s eyes. “Aang…”

He threw up his hands in preemptive defence, words tumbling one after the other from his mouth. “I know! I know, I know I’m late,” he tugged his high-top converse off awkwardly, stashing his skateboard in the usual crevice he leaned it against. “But I swear, it’s for a good reason.”

“It better be,” Toph scoffed. “I blew off homework to come here.”

“Toph, you wouldn't have done the homework either way.”

⋆---––——––---⋆ ⋆ ---––——––------––——––--- ⋆ ⋆ ---––——––--- ⋆

“I can feel you glaring at me, Zuko.” Toph smirked, then turned back to Aang. “You’ve been rustling around in your pockets for a while now, you sure you’re not stalling for a good reason on why you were late?”

“It is a good reason. Look!” Aang finally managed to tug out the crumpled piece of paper from his cargo pocket, unfurling it for Toph to see.

Silence filled the room, and then, in a tone laced so much with sarcasm that it was hard to tell when the tone stopped and the sarcasm began, Toph said flatly. “Well, it sounds like a piece of paper, but I assume you’re referring to what’s on the paper. Way to taunt a blind girl, Aang.”

“I-I didn’t mean, I-” Aang stuttered awkwardly, his cheeks flushing an embarrassed shade of pink. 

⋆---––——––---⋆ ⋆ ---––——––------––——––--- ⋆ ⋆ ---––——––--- ⋆

“The only problem,” Aang added, “Is that the songs can’t be covers. We have to write something original. The idea of the music festival is to spotlight new young voices in indie rock.”

The others exchanged sidelong glances. “I’m sure that we can write something.” Sokka said with finality. “How hard can it be?”

Hours later, Sokka was sprawled on the couch, head stuffed between the dove grey cushions as he groaned at their utter lack of progress. Katara was perched on the arm of the couch, biting her lip as she tried to run through lyric ideas in her mind. Toph was (very un-subtly) preparing for a nap, curled up in the room’s vintage armchair, while Zuko paced with a hand on his chin, lost in thought.

Unsurprisingly, the five of them had discovered that writing original music does, in fact, require both skill and inspiration, something none of them felt they had at the moment. 

⋆---––——––---⋆ ⋆ ---––——––------––——––--- ⋆ ⋆ ---––——––--- ⋆

“What about a love song?” Zuko suggested.

 “Ick, oogies!” Sokka yelped from his position next to the mini fridge as he pulled out a pair of sodas. He moved as though he was going to throw one to Toph, then thought better of it and just gently placed it next to her as he sat. 

“You have a girlfriend, Sokka.” Zuko pointed out as Sokka settled next to him. 

⋆---––——––---⋆ ⋆ ---––——––------––——––--- ⋆ ⋆ ---––——––--- ⋆

“Aang, this is, this is great!”

“I like it.” Zuko nodded.

“Would someone please put text-to-speech on?”

“Let me read it out loud.” Sokka said, apologetically. “My bad, Toph."

♥ check out the (completed) fic & my ao3 here! ->

[leantailean]

Izumi being Toph’s daughter could be the reason for her glasses.

No, really.

Okay just follow my crazy for a moment.

No one in Zuko’s family wears glasses, right? And Mai throws knives which requires sharp eyesight to do accurately. So why does Izumi have vision problems?

Let’s consider what probably caused Toph’s blindness. She says she was born blind, so we know it’s congenital. Her eyes appear opaque which sounds like cataracts. Toph mostly likely has congenital catatacts.

Predispositions to congenital cataracts do run in families. If Izumi inherited this condition, she would need immediate surgery to save her sight. Delaying surgery results in the eye never developing properly due to missing out on sunlight, which still results in blindness. But if Izumi’s was caught earlier, they could’ve surgically removed the cataract.

It may sound too advanced but there have been rudimentary catarcter surgies in India since 5th century BC. In ATLA they could even use bending to improve the prognosis!

If all goes well, the only long lasting side effect would be the need for corrective lenses.

Like glasses.

Hello! And thanks for the question!

This is a very interesting theory, but I believe that Izumi is Mai's daughter. She and Mai are practically look like the same person. She also resembles her grandmother.

Unfortunately I don’t know much about  hereditary eye problems, (but if happens that someone who reads it knows some factual information about it and can give some links I would be very grateful.)

I don't consider the comics and LOK to be a canon (in fact, you're talking to someone who doesn’t even consider the atla third book to be completely canon because of some terrible writing decisions or how the writers treated some of the characters in the third book, especially Zuko , Iroh and Aang, lol🤓). I like to think about LOK as of some sort of AU. And in general, I have almost no doubt that Toph and Zuko actually have a common child in LOK. Like, just look at Lin. She looks like someone from the FN. Her facial expressions, movements, her stubborn, strong personality. Do I at least doubt that Lin is Zuko's daughter? No, for me this is the canon. It's possible that Toph and Zuko got together around the time he and Mai had broken up for a while, or it's even more likely that Zuko widowed and after that he could have got into a long-term relationship with Toph. I don't want to think about Zuko being a widower, or that Mai died - I adore Mai, she's my best girl, my second favorite female ATLA character after Toph. And I LOVE maiko. But we know that in LOK Sokka died early, and Aang died quite early, so anything is possible. But, in any case, Zuko and Toph could have had a long relationship, nothing in LOK contradicts that version. As I recall, Toph mentioned that Lin's father's name was Kanto. Imagine: Zuko secretly dating a woman who doesn't want to be drawn into FN court undercover games, so he sends her love letters and sign them as "Kanto", and there is someone who reads these letters to Toph. God, I love that.

However, Izumi is definitely Mai's daughter.

But this is a very interesting theory, thanks for sharing it!

[bard-llama]

WiP Wednesday: Toph and Zuko get married. For politics. Because why not?

After the war, Toph mostly stuck around in the Fire Nation. She didn’t have anywhere better to go, and she preferred to stick by her friends’ sides, rather than go off on her own. Not that she couldn’t take care of herself alone. But why would she want to? A great deal of the Fire Nation Royal Palace had needed to be rebuilt after the Day of Sozin’s Comet, and Sparky generously allowed the repairs to be made with earth. It meant that Toph could see – but it also meant that she could sneak around through the walls without anyone noticing. It was as she was hidden in the wall behind the kitchen listening to servants gossip about their Fire Lord’s marriage prospects that the idea came to her. 

Hurrying to Zuko’s office, she burst through the wall (circumventing the guards in front of his door) and announcing, “guess what?” Zuko sighed, looking up from his desk. “What?” His voice was tired and it bothered her.  He’d been working himself half to death lately trying to mend relations with the Earth Kingdom. They were asking for totally unreasonable reparations and kept sending over ambassadors that carried huge sticks up their asses and it was annoying. It was embarrassing. Toph was rarely proud of being an Earth Kingdom citizen. But she was one – and a fairly notable one at that, given her family’s nobility and wealth. That was exactly why this could work. “We’re getting married.” Zuko was silent for a long minute, staring at her. “We’re… what?” “We’re getting married,” Toph said again. “Think about it. The Earth Kingdom has been being a serious pain in the butt. They want concessions from the Fire Nation. So what better concession than marrying the heir to the Beifong family? Marriage alliances are a time honored tradition, and it looks good for them if they can snag a royal with just a random noble, right? Meanwhile, it means you don’t have to marry any of those fucking courtiers, ‘cause peace with the Earth Kingdom is more important than their families’ advancement, right? Like, this is something your council could be convinced of.” Zuko was still just looking at her. “Well? Say something!” She chucked a pebble at him. He dodged. “You – you want to marry me?” he sounded genuinely baffled and she frowned in response. “Well, why not? You can’t say you’d prefer one of those ambitious noblewomen.” “Definitely not,” Zuko confirmed. “But I – you – seriously?” “Seriously. This is the solution to your problems, idiot. Why aren’t you excited?” Her frown was maybe a little reminiscent of a pout, but seriously. Where was the adulation and admiration of her genius? She’d just solved a big issue!

[yandere-avatar]

Incorrect Quotes

Y/n: You're the love of my life and my best friend, I would do anything for you Aang: I want you to eat three meals a day and have a decent sleep schedule Y/n: Absolutely not Aang: You said anything Y/n: I lied

--

Store Worker: Would a Ms. Katara please come to the front desk? Katara, arriving at the desk: Hello, is there a problem? Store Worker: *points to Aang and Y/n* I believe they belong to you? Aang and Y/n, simultaneously: We got lost :( Katara: I didn’t even bring you guys here with me-

--

Katara: Let me show you a picture from last night that really upset me Aang: Okay, but in my defense, Y/n bet me 50 cents I couldn’t drink all that shampoo Katara: That’s not what I wanted to- you drank SHAMPOO?! Aang: Yeah, for 50 cents Katara: WHY?? Aang: Cause Y/n bet me 50 cents, what doesn't make sense about that?

--

Aang: In your opinion, what’s the height of stupidity? Y/n: *turning to Sokka* How tall are you? Sokka: I hate you

--

Sokka: Truth or dare? Aang: Dare Sokka: I dare you to kiss the hottest person in the room Aang: Hey Katara Katara, blushing: Yeah? Aang: Could you move? I’m trying to get to Y/n

--

Sokka: Everyone, synchronize your watches. Aang: I don’t know how to do that. Katara: I don’t wear a watch. Y/n: Time is a construct.

--

Y/n, walking into their house: Hello, people who do not live here Aang: Hey, Y/n! Katara: Hi :) Sokka: Sup Toph: *A mouth full of food, waving* Y/n: I gave you the key to my place for emergencies only! Zuko: We were out of Doritos :(

--

Katara: Just be yourself. Aang: 'Be myself'? Katara, I have one day to win Y/n over. How long did it take before you guys started liking me? Toph: Couple weeks Sokka: Six months Zuko: Jury’s still out Aang: See, Katara? Aang: 'Be myself'. What kind of garbage advice is that?

--

'Can I copy the homework?' Katara: I can help you with it! Aang: Yeah, sure :) Sokka: Bold of you to assume I did the homework Toph: lol nope Y/n: Wait, we had homework?!?!?! Zuko: *Read 5:55pm*

--

Y/n: Rules are made to be broken. Aang: They were made to be followed. Nothing is made to be broken Katara: Uh, piñatas Sokka: Glow sticks Toph: Karate boards Zuko: Spaghetti when you have a small pot Y/n: Rules Aang:... Aang: Everytime you say something Y/n, I lose 5 years of my life Y/n: Not like you need it

--

Y/n: Who the fuck added me to a fucking group chat? Katara: >:( language! Aang: Yeah watch your fucking language Sokka: OKAY WHO TAUGHT AANG THE FUCK WORD? Toph: 'The fuck word'. Zuko: Are you stupid? You guys use the f word all the time Katara: Oh my god they censored it Toph: Say fuck, Zuko. Aang: Do it, Zuko. Say fuck.

--

Y/n: Good morning Aang: Good morning Katara: Good morning Sokka: You all sound like robots, try spicing it up a bit Toph: MORNING MOTHERFUCKERS Sokka: Sometimes I regret talking

--

Katara: Why are Y/n and Aang sitting with their backs to each other? Sokka: They had a fight Katara: Then why are they holding hands? Sokka: They get sad when they fight Katara: Okay...?

--

Aang: *Screams* Y/n: *Screams louder to assert dominance* Katara: Should we do something?! Sokka, observing: No, I want to see who wins this Toph: I put 20 on Aang Zuko: I'll take you on that offer

[grendelsmilf]

Have you heard that is going to be a new avatar series, post-korra? Not sure how i feel about that, I guess it depends who’s involved, because the books have been good, but if they try to make it even more modern than korra it’s probably going to backfire

ugh, yes. really not looking forward to this. or the “adult gaang” movie. or the netflix live action. i like the novels because they do a good job of fleshing out the worldbuilding through past avatars (seeing, for example, a fire nation pre-sozin, air nomads pre-genocide, the geoeconomic conditions that led to the north/south pole divide, the way internal earth kingdom politics affected all nations, the ripple effects how the spirits were affected by human choices, etc.) but it’s clear that they have no idea how to handle the politics of their world in a post-atla-finale landscape.

the comics are godawful, and of course lok is a political dumpster fire. i really see no way for them to make a show about an avatar post-korra because it would simply highlight and exacerbate the problems they established with lok, namely the facts that they don’t know how to “modernize” the world they created without westernizing it, all the radical anti-imperialist politics of atla being replaced with pro-colonial centrist copaganda, the bizarre developments with the spirit world, and the fact that atla specifically works as a standalone story in the first place so trying to expand on it in any way shape or form beyond the timeline of the show’s finale simply doesn’t work!

i wouldn’t mind if they made more content about past avatars (because again, i like the novels!) but it’s clear they have no idea how to handle their postwar future. i don’t want to see the gaang as adults! considering we know how they turned out in lok (zuko maintaining a colonial presence in the earth kingdom, toph becoming a cop, aang and katara nuclear family, etc etc) that sounds depressing as fuck! i don’t want to see an avatar after korra in some bizarre attempt at a “modern” world.

even if the writers on these projects do truly understand the ethos of the show, these characters, the themes that made atla work in the first place, they’ve written themselves into a corner with what they already established in lok. it shows with faith erin hicks’s attempt to salvage the comics. she is good at writing these characters and this world, and yet she still has to abide by the worldbuilding established by the godawful gene yang comics on one end of the timeline and the lok world on the other, so she’s severely limited by what she can write about in a way that doesn’t contradict “canon” (in quotes because i refuse to abide by it lol).

if avatar studios really wanted to expand their franchise without taking a big fat shit on atla’s legacy, they would make media expanding on tangential lore that people care about, like a kyoshi warriors spinoff series, or a kanna bildungsroman (just as examples). it’s clear they don’t know what they’re doing, so i have absolutely no faith in them. that said, hire me bryke you need me

[mdhwrites]

Luz's impulsiveness and lack of interest in other people's feelings in the face of her grand fantasies - and the fact that she is rarely, if ever, taken to task for it - is one of the reasons why I never fully got into TOH from the get-go. (And then the hype train took off and I got even more frustrated) So I thought that the direction her arc would take was realizing that "understanding" is a two-way street. If she wants to be understood, she has to come to terms with the facts that:

a) Her actions have consequences for other people.

b) Sometimes (not always, just SOMETIMES) she has to compromise on her fantasies for the good of herself and others. Meet them in the middle occasionally.

c) Other people are more willing to put in the work to understand you if YOU also put in the work to understand THEM. It's easy to blame others/society for being misunderstood/feeling like an outcast. It's harder to accept that the way you behave is not serving you or your relationships and some part of it needs to change if you want to grow as a person.

But from the sound of the finale (I haven't watched TOH consistently since the first part of season 2) Luz's arc is that she is perfect and doesn't need to improve whatsoever and everyone else needs to get on her level? Am I getting that right?

You are! And... Especially when contrasted with Amphibia, the reason you are is actually BIZARRE because both TOH and Amphibia do something different besides the normal teenage character form of growth... Kind of. See, everything you just described actually doesn't need to be the main thrust of Luz's character arc but it doesn't it mean that it's unreasonable to ask for. After all, just about EVERY teenage protagonist undergoes one form growth (not an arc. Honestly I need to do a blog smacking people about the term): Maturity. This is just inherent to where they are in life because they're about they have the proper experience to attempt to be mature but are still young enough to make the basic mistakes that come with learning how to be a person with other people. This is actually the main thrust for character for Aang, Katara and Toph in Avatar because, to briefly go into it, a character is about real change in a character. Something fundamental shifts in them. That's what makes it an arc because usually the process of changing that sort of thing is painful and takes time and does need to be more pronounced. This is why Zuko, and Sokka to a lesser extent, undergo character arcs that do genuinely shift who they are as people. It makes Sokka less misogynistic (because that was a part of his character before the Kyoshi) which in turn leads to him changing his definition of a great warrior which is a big deal to him as a person. And Zuko... *gestures at the whole sad boy* But maturity is more about refinement which is about growth. It's effectively the difference where in episode one a character might entirely ignore or not want to discuss problems that they're having but then in S2 they've learned enough and grown close enough to those around them to be able to actually talk about the issue and seek help instead of thinking they have to do everything themselves. This is where Katara gets her proper understanding of people and loses more and more of her anger so that when she is angry, it's for the right reasons. It's Toph not needing to show off as much and keep focus. It's the fact that despite the fact it would hit him on a personal level, if Aang hadn't found a harder, more dangerous out for beating Ozai... He would have been willing to kill him when in S1, something so painful would have immediately made him want to abandon the idea entirely. But none of these change the fundamental aspects of the character. That's why Aang, Katara and Toph mostly still behave 1:1 in regular situations than when they were first introduced because they're still kids and they have time to stop being childish or not because like Bumi demonstrated, childishness isn't a bad thing so long as it doesn't blind from the necessities and other people. That's how a lot of shows can have character growth while keeping their same tone because the core of the character doesn't need to change. Amphibia subverts this in S1 by explicitly making it an arc. Anne is a bad person at the beginning of the show. Period. She isn't just a goofball teenager, even if what she does doesn't make her a villain either, but she is manipulative, lazy, harsh dismissive, etc. because of what she's picked up from Sasha. But over the entire course of S1, we see everything that indeed changes her so that she is more mature, even to the point where if Anne HADN'T gone through her arc... The plot of S2 wouldn't function because she wouldn't be the heart at that point. It's REALLY impressive frankly how well Amphibia actually tackles what's happening in the background of these characters.

Meanwhile... TOH subverts by not having it happen. This is actually a little funky to talk about with Luz because S1 makes it look like they're doing what most kid's shows do. She's making mistakes rooted in being a teen and who she is and she's theoretically learning while fixing the problem and having hijinks. This is a LOOOOOT of Molly McGee and that's not a bad thing since I could also list off a dozen cartoons that are like this.

But I did say theoretically, didn't I? That's because of two problems going on. The first is technically not a problem in concept because Luz is part of a larger cast. Some of those lessons are going to go to other people like Amity, Gus and King. The main problem with this is that Gus doesn't matter and Amity's 'growth' is made problematic by the fact that it's more about retconning her first appearance than it is actually about growing because 'She was actually always a good girl. We swear.' This is why I still argue Amity doesn't really have an arc. It's not that something fundamental is changing about Amity, it's just that we're getting introduced to who she really is. (I actually have a blog specifically about this like I do about Hunter, or I thought I did, but I couldn't find it so have me talking about character arcs by contrasting Amity versus Anne) Either way, it makes it so that the lessons being learned aren't really being carried forward at all. Just look at how little Amity actually gives a shit about Willow post her lesson in Understanding Willow.

The other problem is the Fluttershy Effect as I will call it because that's where I first heard this. It's where the same topic gets addressed over and over again with nothing changing. Now, TOH actually gives few shits to having blanket in its episodes so the fact that it exhibits this anyways is really bad. Just look at Luz and Eda's relationship. In the first season, there's multiple episodes spent on "Hey, maybe you should listen to your mentor when she talks about magic," or "don't take shortcuts on magic." In S2, that shifts to "Trust Eda" because despite Eda not thinking Luz is weak and giving her substantially more freedom, there's still multiple episodes where the tension is Luz giving Eda the middle finger about thinking she's weak before going and proving herself, which was already a thing in S1 PLENTY. It's just now shifted that Luz isn't mocked into proving herself but being a mad girl. This repetition shows a refusal to grow.

To mature. The real capstone to this is effectively what the human realm becomes what she perceives as her greatest mistake. She ran away to another world and didn't have to suffer for the consequences for her actions once so she could live out a fantasy rather than actually having to try to grow as a person and relate to other people like she would have had to at camp. Her decision to stay in the human realm and never face the Collector, who she blames herself wholly as why he exists in the first place, is just another run around of that. Even if she technically didn't choose to come back to the human realm (in a moment I find frustrating when an episode before that she quickly thought up a complex solution to be the hero and save Hunter while in distress and on a time crunch but can't ask the simple question of "WHAT TO DO YOU EXPECT TO DO AGAINST A GOD!?"), her choosing to stay still counts, even when given the option to go back. And then we get to her character finish where actually... At first it looks like it's going to salvage itself. The whole process to get here will still have been bad but accepting mistakes and moving on is actually a sign of maturity. Camila has a GREAT point that is directly addressing a human problem for the majority of her speech that would have actually resolved Luz's problems and at least made it so that the show's failed attempt at an arc with Luz coalesced into something.

But it instead ends with the idea that Luz being understood is all that's important despite no one besides bad guys, at best, showing any amount of push back on her for over a season by then. The closest it comes is Amity asking Luz to STOP LYING. And even then, Luz doesn't face consequences for it for more than five seconds which gives Amity saying she doesn't want to be around her the feel of "We need to get to a more meaningful and romantic spot for me to a perfect girlfriend again." *hurk* And the attempt in general with Luz's character arc in S2B shows her just regressing as a person. Doubling down on her worse traits and then learning nothing because the show has a finale for the arc in mind and refuses to let anything budge until then. That or because they aren't really willing to criticize Luz as even S1 struggles to properly criticize Luz as it muddies its morals or just shifts Luz's perspective a little but that her heart was in the right place.

It's just a disaster and frankly probably one of the biggest reasons why if I had to say if TOH is good or not, even from a basic perspective... No. Because it's a kid's show that reinforces the worst parts of childish behavior, avoiding consequences, listening, understanding, responsibility, etc. and wanting all the glory without putting in the effort. It's a show that I don't think would make a kid necessarily a worse human being like Teen Titans Go might but... It's not something that will make them a better person. And TOH IS a kid's show. That cannot be ignored, especially when there are PLENTY of writing choices that are only acceptable, at best, from a kid's show in it. Not that TOH wants to admit it.

=========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[galaxywing-has-adhd]

atla incorrect quotes feat my oc part 2

Sora: So... what’s goin’ on?

Toph: You want the long version or the short version?

Sora, hesitantly: The short one, I guess?

Toph: Shit’s fucked.

Sora: Oh. Well, yeah, that’s definitely not an optimal situation.

Sora: Hello, McDonald's, I would like to purchase 130 chicken nuggets. Prepare yourselves.

Sora: Zuko, I think we have a problem.

Zuko: What, the fire?

Sora: No, the- wait, what fire?

Zuko: Oh forget about it, this sounds more interesting.

Sora, in a room with Zuko, Aang, and Toph: It’s calm in here.

Sora: It scares me…

Sora, to Zuko: If you see Aang, give them this message *makes a neutral face*

Sora: They'll know what it means.

*later*

Zuko: oh, and Sora said to give you a message.

Zuko: *makes a neutral face*

Aang: Oh no. The neutral face of displeasure.

Toph: Trouble at 2 o'clock!

Zuko: *looks down at their watch*

Zuko: Now, how do you know that?

Sokka: Are we really going to let Sora keep Zuko?

Katara: We kept Toph.

Sora: Wake up! The sun is shining!

Zuko: What do you want me to do, photosynthesis?

Zuko: Oh, so when crows remember people who wronged them and hold grudges, its “intelligent” and “really cool”.

Zuko: But when I do it, I’m “petty” and “need to let it go”.

(Sora: "I just wanted to share a fact about crows")

Aang: honk.

Zuko: WHAT.

Aang: HONK.

Zuko: WHAT DOES HONK MEAN THIS TIME YOU WHIMSICAL PIECE OF SHIT?????

[oneatlatime]

The Journey to Ba Sing Se Part 2: The Drill

Could I have Appa back please?

The Previously On segment actually didn't spoil anything for once. Nice.

I do like these tank things. In fact I like all Fire Nation technology. Not what it's used for. But the designs are neat. And more interesting than most actual military tech. You ever look at something techy, and think to yourself 'there was an artist involved here,' because that's the impression FN tech gives me. It's not beautiful, but there's a pleasing toothiness to it.

Excellent sound design on the metal screechy moving bits. And is that tank escort really necessary?

I know this is a kids' cartoon, with characters that are designed to be the audience's age. I know! And usually I can suspend my disbelief and forget that I'm watching children do very adult jobs! But this caught me so off guard I laughed. The Fire Nation's big secret project to break through the wall once and for all, that would be an absolute career making achievement for whoever is in charge, and they've given it to a bunch of teenage girls. This is where my suspension of disbelief stops.

Can you imagine the meeting where this was proposed? The Fire Lord being like "Who can lead the attack on Ba Sing Se? We lost Zhao at the North Pole, does whoever it is who occupies his equivalent rank in the Army want the job? Or even Zhao's second in command perhaps? Or how about: three middle school girls, two of which aren't even members of the military? Doesn't that sound like a good plan?" And of course all his advisors have to agree and be like "that sounds like an excellent plan your lordship; did you have any particular girls in mind or should we go scout out the local Claire's?" because the last guy who disagreed with him got his face blown off. I don't care how viciously talented Azula and friends are; a country that puts eighth graders in charge of invasion plans should have lost the war in year one, not still be winning it in year 99.

Did that random commander guy just smack Ty Lee in the face?

Problem the first of this plan: unless the Fire Nation has invented pocket dimensions or bags of holding, there is no way that that drill, even stuffed full of soldiers, would hold enough people to take a city that seemingly contains every single refugee in the entire Earth Kingdom.

Do you think those refugees got preferential treatment for arriving on an Avatar powered elevator?

"I'm the Avatar. Take me to whoever's in charge." OWN IT BABY!!!

That's one hell of an irrigation system they must have.

"He was quickly expunged." Was he? I got the impression he quit. Of his own accord.

Something tells me like forty guys throwing rocks won't stop that thing.

So... what was Mai doing that whole fight? Hanging decoratively off a rope?

I'd forgotten how stupid Earth Kingdom generals were. Luckily Sokka is there to vicariously express my opinion of them. A reverse beat up Sokka quota fulfillment!

Toph is such a little shit and I love her.

Aang sure does put up with a lot sometimes. Part of being the Avatar. It's a good thing he has such patience. Can we talk about how lucky the world is that Aang is the one tasked with putting up with nonsense like this? Imagine if Sokka or Toph were the Avatar. There would be casualties.

I like complaining too buddy. Nice to see Sokka's worth being recognised. Now can we do that outside of a life or death situation too please?

I joke about Zuko's dumbass behaviour, but let's be honest, it's inherited.

Jet. Fuckboy. You do not make it easy to even slightly like you. Guy is missing the point as much as Zuko usually does. Going straight MEANS leaving the freedom fighters behind. It doesn't mean reforming them somewhere else. And what Fire Nation threat are you going to find in Ba Sing Se for your Freedom Fighters to fight? You know, if this idiot was actually serious about fighting for Freedom rather than blowing stuff up for fun, he'd fudge his age and enlist in the Earth Kingdom Army.

Four points: How does Katara know Ty Lee's name? Is this confirmation that waterbending healing cannot remove a Chi block? I love that the trait that gives away Ty Lee's identity is the fact that she cartwheeled away. I love Sokka. Just in general.

There is no way this girl is not tripping.

Can you imagine how loud standing right next to that drill must be?

ABS

Normally I'd say that one earthbender trying to slow the drill down with spikes will work even worse than the Terra Team who tried and failed with like 40, but this is Toph we're talking about. It could work.

These children are so polite when they're committing industrial sabotage. Truly, they were raised well.

Do you ever get the feeling that whoever is in charge of designing Fire Nation armour is into a few things that he's trying to repress so hard that they're coming out in all the wrong places?

Jet seems to have lost all the manipulative abilities he had in his episode. Suddenly he's very bad at reading body language and keeps saying the exact opposite of what he should.

New achievement unlocked! 1000% agreeing with something Zuko said! That was a pretty stupid move.

Cups made out of leaves are neat.

Katara, you can't have it both ways. You can't look to Sokka to make the plan, then get snippy when the plan correctly plays to all of your strengths. He physically CAN'T bend. Either you come up with a better plan yourself, or you do as the guy you appointed planner suggests.

Points in favour of allowing Katara to murder people, exhibit 1.

Confirmed: Sokka is catnip for girls.

Even in comparison to the others, Ty Lee has a bad case of cartoon physics.

Did Katara just disarm herself? That'll come back to bite her in 3, 2, 1...

Mai gets a second personality trait! Yay!

There is no way this is actually practical armour. This is someone in procurement with a thing for sweaty bulging muscles and puppy masks.

And thus, the log ride was born. Later versions would go on to perfect the concept by introducing a log.

I felt Sokka's mud freakout in my bones. Looks like Katara giving away her water isn't going to be a problem.

Petition to let Katara say bitch. The voice actress said Circus Freak but I know what I heard in my heart.

Remember that time Sokka smacked his forehead so many times that his face was permanently red? My turn now.

Aang. I know you love your friends. But maybe a battle on top of a moving machine of destruction in the midst of an aerial assault from your idiotic allies while facing off with the single most powerful and amoral firebender in existence, isn't a place to bring your pet lemur?

Beat up Sokka quota fulfilled by little sister. It's surprising that isn't the case more often. I know Sokka took it too far, but if you don't want him telling you what to do, maybe you shouldn't have looked to him for a plan?

Toph is here! Day saved.

Finally some sense re: Momo safety.

Time for the Western showdown. There's even something that could stand in for a water tower in the background.

If Azula had just struck at Aang the second he got knocked unconscious, rather than waiting until he woke up for dramatic purposes, she would have won this. I give Zuko Hell for being a theatre kid, but he's not the only one in the family.

I would love to know what they make Fire Nation boot soles out of. They have supernatural traction.

I take back everything I said about pet safety. That was a really cool Momo assist.

Aang invents the pneumatic hammer.

I LOVE that the cut braces had an effect after all. Sokka's contribution counts!

I bet this guy's wishing he'd been eaten by a giant fishman like Zhao right about now. Have fun explaining that one to the Firelord!

HOW is Ty Lee still alive?

HOW does Azula still have knees after that drop?

HOW does Mai have such perfect timing?

ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN

They really ought to put wheels on all but the back car to reduce friction and save energy. Then again, if the Earth Kingdom is one thing, it's stupid.

So... Jet's change of heart lasted a bit less than one episode. Good job fuckboy!

So precious.

So Pretty.

Final Thoughts

This was like 90% action, with the other 10% being split between Zuko & Iroh plot stuff and Sokka playing comic relief. So there's not that much to talk about here really (she says, having found a whole post's worth of stuff to talk about).

Sokka had his bossy pants on, admittedly because he was asked to don them. Aang got to do some proper Avataring. Katara and Toph got to exercise their bending muscles. I'm not surprised that Toph was absent for much of the middle of the episode, because - let's be honest - given the right tools, Toph would have finished the Drill in one move. And then they'd be out of episode.

Actually, Mai got to have a personality beyond Too Bored To Live this episode. This is probably the most personality I've seen out of her so far. She's much more expressive when she's with just Ty Lee, rather than Ty Lee and Azula.

And Zuko! Had! Common! Sense! Iroh had to be a dumbass for Zuko to shine, but Zuko was, once again, the most reasonable character in his little B plot. For future reference: If you want to make Zuko reasonable, all you have to do is nerf his uncle and juxtapose him with a terrorist.

I loathe Jet. Always have, probably always will. But I'm still disappointed in him. His 'turning over a new leaf' - if it was sincere at all - lasted like 10 on-screen minutes. I feel sorry for Smellerbee and Longshot. I don't think their faith in their glorious leader is going to be repaid. He seems to brush off Smellerbee's opinions.

The strangest thing this episode was how few lines Azula had. I guess maybe they were using silence to try to show how calculating and collected she is compared to others, but honestly my first thought was that the voice actress had something going on. A cold? A previous engagement? It felt really weird to hear her speak so little, since previous episodes have shown she's not averse to gloating and dramatic monologues. She didn't even have much in the way of facial expressions.

I think the winners this episode were Mai, who got to have a personality; Zuko, who got a turn with the brain cell; and Aang, who got to work out pretty much all the bending he knows so far and successfully Avatar.

I did notice with some of the shots of Aang moving the big boulders the idiots were chucking down, that there was a kind of fuzziness to the air between Aang and what he was moving. Was I seeing the actual bending energy (Chi I guess) moving?

[burntcape]

I feel like if the gaang had phones and could text each other itd be the most chaotic shit especially if they had a group char

Like.

sokkathatendsinokka: zukoo get tf on

blindbandit: Sokka I swear to Tui and La stop you've been spamming that for the past half hour my TTS keeps going off shut the hell up

sokkathatendsinokka: fuck u 😒

firelordzuko: Shut the fuck up god damn.

sokkathatendsinokka: omg hii 😘😘🥰🥰🥰😻😻😻😻😻

hydration1234: SOKKA TOPH AND ZUKO LANGUAGE >:(

blindbandit: OK bitch one two three four

avataraang: Will you guys all be quiet!!! Momo and Appa are trying to nap and the notification sound is bothering them 😢

hydration1234: EXCUSE ME?!?!??

blindbandit: You saw that you bitchass

hydration1234: Ur a b****!

blindbandit: PUSSYYYYY SAY THE ACTUAL CURSEEEE DO IT BITCHH

sokkathatendsinokka: wtf

hydration1234: IM NOT SAYING THAT

blindbandit: Why is it cause twinkle toes is here I bet I could get him to say fuck

blindbandit: Twinkle toes say fuck

avataraang: F word

blindbandit: Damn it

hydration1234: No, its just impolite :/

firelordzuko: Shut. The. Hell. Up. I'm doing work. How do I mute this.

blindbandit: Who the fuck cares about politeness its a group chat you're not being very polite to me so whats the problem sugar queen

sokkathatendsinokka: u dont 👁👁👁👁👁👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀🪃🪃🪃🪃🦎🦎🪃🪃🪃🦎🦎🦎🦎🦎👁👁👁👁

hydration1234: GIRL DO NOT CALL ME SUGAR QUEEN

firelordzuko: What the hell.

[blindbeta]

Hello! I'm wondering if you have any advice for navigating character death without it feeling disrespectful or like representation being snatched away (I'm talking about important blind characters / protagonists dying towards or at the end of stories, not blind characters getting killed off right at the beginning)? One thing I thought of is having other blind characters in the same story who don't die, but are there any other things I should be aware of? Any pitfalls to avoid? Thank you so much!

Some Tips for Killing Off Blind Characters Without Being Ableist

It will depend on the actual story, the tone, and how the death is portrayed, but I have a few ideas I can provide. While I normally suggest avoiding death of blind characters, I understand that sometimes it works for the story. A lot of my concerns stem from how the death itself is portrayed and what messages the audience are expected to gain from it. I’ll attempt to explain more in the following advice.

Killing off blind characters becomes less of a concern when they are not the only blind character. Having more blind characters as you suggested would have been my first recommendation.

When it comes to losing representation, having other characters is helpful. Having a cast of mostly blind characters isn’t going to present as much of a problem compared to a cast with only one blind character who dies.

Avoiding death due to blindness would also help. This includes someone killing the blind character because of blindness, them killing themself because of blindness, the character having a fatal accident due to their blindness, or the character’s death being portrayed as tragic because the character was outside or doing something viewed as less safe for blind people. An example of this situation would be if Toph from Avatar: the Last Airbender was told fighting in the Earth Rumble was unsafe, did it anyway, and was killed in the ring. Blind people already have our daily activities viewed as unsafe, which can be infantilizing, and so having media portray the tragic death of a blind character who dared to go on a quest wouldn’t be fun to read.

My advice is to afford them agency in their death rather than focusing on torture, trauma, or passivity. It sounds like you’re already on the right course, but I wanted to include this here just in case.

Additionally, framing the character as their own person, rather than focusing on how their death makes sighted people feel, would be beneficial in giving them agency. Again, you are on the right course, according to your question, as this probably occurs more often with disabled characters who die as part of backstory or toward the beginning of the story.

Of course, I cannot give you the exact best formula for killing off blind characters, but hopefully this gives you some direction.

I also suggest having a few sensitivity readers. Aside from me, you can find more options here. @sensitivityreaders