#actually the gaang are the evil ones for real

[saitoakirachan-fangirls]

When talking to an Azula hater: She's fourteen, she's abused, she's awesome, she deserves better, she's allowed to murder if she wants

When talking to an Azula stan: She's ruthless, she uses people without care, she abuses her brother and her friends, she's fucking evil, she doesn't get a free pass just because you like her

[sokkastyles]

This is something I've turning around in my mind due to the general discourse around Katara "hating" Zuko, and obviously she doesn't hate him at all after TSR, but do you think she truly even /hated/ him after Ba Sing Se? She was absolutely within her right to be hurt and angry about his choice, and I'm glad the show actually let her hold onto that for awhile b/c so often K has to be the bigger person and manage everyone else's emotions, but being hurt and angry at someone, even lashing out at them b/c of that, isn't the same thing as hating them imo. Like tbh their entire vibe to me from the moment Zuko turns up at the Western Air Temple until TSR is exes after a bad breakup but there's still unresolved feelings there, which was certainly an interesting writing choice for them to go with (only made more so by the textbook romance writing grovelling in TSR.)

Yeah, she isn't mad at him because she hates him, she's mad at him because she cares about him, because she wanted to care about him, and because she thought he cared about her. Even when she tells the gaang that Zuko was "pretending to be a human being" in the catacombs, it gives the impression that she is trying to convince herself that what she's saying is true, that the moment they shared and the vulnerability Zuko showed in that moment wasn't real.

The other thing that gives the lie to the idea that Katara hates Zuko or just sees him as an enemy is that when she confronts him when they are alone, and threatens him, she doesn't react to him like she thinks he's lying about wanting to do the right thing, she confronts him about how "you and I both know you've struggled with doing the right thing in the past." In front of everyone else, she makes it seem like she thinks Zuko is just evil, but when she's alone with him, she makes it clear that she knows he isn't, and that this is really about how she can't trust him, how he broke her trust. It's personal, not just about him being fire nation.

And the fact that she waited to tell him this in private, while denying her feelings in public, is absolutely romantic coded. I've also pointed out before that the framing of the confrontation mirrors the final scene between Zuko and Mai (or rather, that the Zuko and Mai scene, which is explicitly romantically coded, mirrors this one), Katara standing in the doorway to interrupt Zuko's triumphant moment with a reminder that his past isn't so easily moved past, and a reminder of who he's hurt. It absolutely gives vibes of an ex who you still have feelings for.

Which is why it's hilarious that Bryke made that comment about zutara being a relationship you experience before realizing what you really need (with the implication that Katara really needs Aang and Zuko really needs Mai), because what it actually feels like is two people who were immediately drawn to each other, ended up hurting each other, broke it off, but then still had feelings for each other and ended the series closer than they were before. If Bryke really wanted us to think zutara were not good for each other, then there could have been a moment where, when Zuko and Katara get their closure with each other, there's also the G-rated equivalent of "let's just be friends." Maybe have Katara say something like, "I forgive you, but I can't make the choice you want me to make." This is also in an alternate universe where Zuko more explicitly encourages Katara to kill Yon Rah. But none of that happens. The episode does not tell us that Zuko is not good for Katara or vice versa. It has Katara end the episode by explicitly disagreeing with Aang and enthusiastically embracing Zuko without any hesitation at all.

That hug is so meaningful because it's the release of tension that the narrative has been building up since that moment in the catacombs. It's not that Katara hated Zuko but now cares about him, it's that she wanted to care about him way back in the catacombs and now she's able to express that without being afraid that he'll break her trust.

[punkeropercyjackson]

The Atla fandom is a really good example of how persecuted people who fight back vs their oppressors are treated.Aang lived a happy peaceful life with other tibetan monks-nomads until the Fire Nation saw them as a 'threat' for no actual reason so the Air Nomad genocide happened and after being unfrozen,Aang had to face the harsh reality of the whole world and did a lot of good for it by doing tons of damage to the FN and other corrupted groups and gave tons of kindness to those he was trying to protect and save from them out of the goodness of his heart but he has a belief from his culture that's not inherently bad but goes against western ones and he said a few bad things out of non-malicious ignorance and his young age so he's branded a bigot,an 'apologist' and even a fascist

Zuko's the son of an imperialist king that gave him every privilege under the stars bar his love and taught him legitemate toxic masculinity and racist ideologies that he weaponized in his search of Avatar which in of itself is an act of racial violence because it was a hunt to down a survivor of etchnic cleansing BECAUSE of their heritage to kill them and even after Zuko's redemption arc,he still dosen't let go of his bigotry and dosen't try to or even get called out on it!Suki and Sokka LAUGHED at him mocking Aang's dead people and Aang didn't even get mad at him for his significant amount of other anti-Air Nomad jokes and in a meta sense,he's treated better by the narrative than Azula because he's male.There are zero redeemed female villains and he never got oversexualized like she did and you cannot remove her japanese/east asian-coding and her gender in this context considering what irl underaged easian girls are seen like and treated as

Zuko did damage and he did make up for it too but only to the Gaang and Aang never did any damage to begin with,he was entierly Zuko's victim pre-season 3 and a victim of his people as a whole.But 'Zuko was never truly evil' because it was how he was raised and AANG is worse than him by virtue of not being conventionally attractive and openly nice instead of a brooding emotionally constipated dickbag with anger issues and unrestrained violent tendencies.The Fire Nation are the REAL good guys and the Air Nomads had it coming because they were different

You think i'm taking things too far?Japan WAS historically an imperialist nation,Tibetans ARE victims of genocide and the Atla crew choose that specific coding on purpose from their research.And you missed every message they told us with Aang and Zuko,including Aang's friendship being why Zuko was able to see how shitty of a person he was and unlearn propaganda and fucking DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT instead of wallowing in his own pity as if he wasn't active persecutor beforehand and THAT'S why his redemption arc was perfect.Aang is every victim of our fucked up society that's bitten the hand that maimed him and you think he's the REAL monster for it because he won't conform or whitewash himself.You're a genuinely disgusting person if you hate him and you should be embarrased that you do it over Zuko as if you're anything like him

And if you're going to insult me and speak over me about this post?Congratulations,proving my exact point

[copaganda-clobberfest]

WELCOME

TO THE FIRST ROUND OF THE COPAGANDA CLOBBERFEST!

“You know that trope? That one trope *Everyone* hates? The trope in which a well meaning antagonist to our heroes, one looking out for the good of a certain community, suddenly does something horrible and drastic to make not only them, but the ideology they stand for the most villainous of all?”

NOW IS THE TIME TO BATTLE THEM OUT! Like Ken dolls, fighting for survival! Like your Polly pockets discarded in the closet, we’ll see which of these bitches jumped that slippery slope harder! Whose character did numbers on y’all, and blew up a bunch of grandmas and babies and hospitals with it!

ROUND ONE

HAMA from AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER vs AMON from THE LEGEND OF KORRA

Hama propaganda:

“A waterbender from the southern water tribe who was captured by the fire nation when they invaded her home. After being put through inhuman conditions to prevent her from waterbending, she learned to bend her captors’ blood instead to escape. She then lived undercover in the fire nation, for decades, before meeting the gaang. Then out of nowhere it’s revealed she’s behind the disappearance of a bunch of fire nation villagers and she tries to forcibly teach katara bloodbending so she can carry on her actions. And for what?? That doesn’t even make any sense!! She could’ve been at least targeting soldiers or officials but nope all of a sudden she’s actually the villain torturing innocents because she can and i guess that’s what happens after she goes through all that ???? ??”

“if iroh can get let off the hook for being a former fascist war criminal, hama can get off the hook for imprisoning people. hama was taken from her homeland, interned, and forced to watch all of her fellow waterbenders die in prison. the gaang's solution to her doing the same thing to members of the nation that wiped her people out? RE-INTERN THIS TRAUMATIZED ELDERLY SURVIVOR SO SHE'LL DIE IN PRISON LIKE THE REST OF HER PEOPLE. hama should be allowed to go home and see her few surviving friends and family again.

bloodbending wasn't just a cool evil new ability, it was a metaphor for generational trauma. that's why hama was so insistent that katara learn it: it was the final legacy of all those people who the fire nation purposefully exterminated, because it was the only thing that saved hama from that same fate. it was the only form of southern bending katara could inherit, because it was all that was left of them.”

Amon propaganda:

“his whole thing was that nonbenders are discriminated against in the avatar-verse, which isn’t all that wrong. except instead of fighting for something like more nonbender representation in government or, y’know, a n y t h i n g reasonable, he decides the way to solve this is clearly to take away people’s bending until… what?

honestly, I never was clear on if he had an actual plan

take away the bending of everyone in republic city? the world? stop at korra? who knows!

anyways. he decides it makes pErFeCt SeNsE that to solve the problem of nonbending discrimination (I honestly don’t think it was as oppressive as he claimed) by taking away peoples bending ability

which is akin to someone stealing your entire identity and for many, livelihood

but the real kicker is

the way he does it

IS BY BENDING

AND NOT EVEN REGULAR BENDING BUT A SUPER SECRET RESTRICTED ILLEGAL FORM OF BENDING

which is EXACTLY the kind of thing he fearmongers about when he says venders have too much power

so his whole platform of “I am one of you (nonbenders), chosen by the spirits to correct this inequality” is complete and utter baloney”

Always feel free to rb with more propaganda :)

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

i want to say something thats been bugging me for a while but there was this whole argument about katara and zuko being FUNDAMENTAL in each other's character arc and that baffled me because its simply not true? you can say they play an important role but to say they are fundamental is over exaggerating it. as fundamental at least to me inherently implies they are the foundation for each others arcs. like it got me sooo confused because i in no way see how zuko plays such a role for katara and same with zuko. because did we just forget that uncle iroh is the one thats actually fundamental to zuko? i feel like i never see him get talked about by these "zuko fans" unless its from a book with like one or two short sentences thats very clearly uncle iroh being a stereotypical dad and being like "oh a nice girl maybe good for zuko?" as if he wasn't pushing zuko to bring home a girl and getting him to go on a date with that girl in ba sing se idk to me it reads off as a parent thats just yappin lol

regardless of that though, im still baffled by that. katara isnt fundamental to zuko's character arc, uncle iroh is. zuko isnt fundamental to katara's character arc, her mother is (and i'd argue aang but i feel like that would just cause a shipping mess by even breathing his name lmao) anyways sorry but that still gets me to this day because how utterly confusing i found it. no one was even saying that they didn't play an important (role along with the other characters in the gaang) in each others arcs, it was saying they simply are not fundamental and that, for some reason, made them so mad lol

I'm sorry, anon, but I am saying they were not important to each other's character arcs, and this is taking into account my bias as someone who really likes their friendship. If a character is not around for someone's arc, or on their mind during it, they're not relevant to said arc.

Katara canonically saw him as nothing but the generic face for evil Fire Nation people until their talk in Ba Sing Se - only to then immediately regret her moment of empathy towards him and never mention him again. And as I've already said, that moment meant so little to Zuko that he couldn't even understand why Katara was mad.

They don't start interacting for real until Zuko the second of half of the final season, and they're not friends until the show is TWO EPISODES AWAY from the finale.

In The Southern Raiders, Zuko is basically the guy driving the taxi so Katara goes on her revenge quest. This doesn't hold a candle to the three seasons she spent being supported by the Gaang (or two in Toph's case), always thinking about her family, mainly her mom.

In the Last Agni Kai, Katara is just there to take action when it's time to shout MEDIC! This doesn't hold a candle to Ozai and Azula's shadow constantly hanging over him, Iroh's advice, the memory of his mother, his relationship with Mai, and the simple "Maybe we could have been friends" from Aang that was canonically haunting Zuko for months because it got to him that much.

Now, do I think it's possible, and very likely, that they will be very important in each other's lives from that point onwards? Of course! They ARE friends now, and if someone is in your life they're gonna play some kind of role when you're going through stuff. It's only natural.

But in the actual canon events? No, they were not important to each other's arc. They didn't have the opportunity to be - and that is part of why I wish the show had 4 seasons instead of 3, or that the comics had not sucked. It would've been so nice to see Aang not be the only member of the Gaang that plays a major role in Zuko's arc, and vice versa (especially with Toph, not only because I love their friendship but because she was denied a life-changing field trip).

[dukeofdelirium]

ZKs always try to play the victim and act like they just wanna ship their ship in peace, that they love Karata and want what‘s better for her. But the fact of the matter is they don’t care about the real Katara, they only care about there fanfic self insert version of Katara.

Their version of Katara who always pushes her own emotions aside and NEVER verbalized how she felt, who was never supported by her friends and had to do everything by herself, who hated having support Aang as this was “emotion labor”, who viewed Aang and the other members of The Gaang as her literal children despite Aang being two years younger and her not wanting to be seen as a mom, who apparently let herself be reduced to a “baby-maker” because she wanted three children of her own volition.

Their version of Katara whom they’re comfortable with writing as a cheater, a murderer, an abuse victim, a slave and someone who apparently deserved better meaning she should’ve been romantically involved with someone who oppressed her for months and “realistically” should’ve fallen in love immediately after reconciling, then become a part of the nation that colonized her tribe.

Zutara shippers don’t care about Katara.

They just say they “care” about Katara to try and make themselves look righteous and good. That’s all it is. It’s some weird morality play for them where they use shipping cartoon characters as a sign of good and evil lol.

Of course they play victim nowadays. Most kataang shippers are well into adulthood in 2024 vs most of us being like 12 when ATLA originally aired. As such, we aren’t really afraid of them anymore and we definitely don’t tolerate their harassment and overall bullshit like we once did decades ago. So now because we aren’t literal scared children being harassed by older ppl and instead we don’t gaf and will clap back on their asses, they act like they’re defenseless victims when in reality it’s a case of poking the damn bear one too many times.

It’s kataang shippers who have consistently tried to “ship in peace”. Zutara shippers are fucking incapable of staying out of designated kataang spaces. There has been a track record of this since 2005 lol. Hell, we even have to use a different tag on tumblr aside from the main tag because they won’t leave us the fuck alone!

Of course they don’t care about the actual characters. They care about trope. They don’t actually understand the characters of ATLA, that includes Katara, Aang and even their fav Zuko. They just care about the tropes they like and projecting the tropes onto the characters even when said tropes don’t work with them. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

[usernamesuggestionsarefunny]

My avatar tla hot take ACTUALLY UNPOPULAR and not just minority opinion is that Azula is a terrible addition to the series. On her own? Oh, her character was great, complex, etc. She is a queen, a great diva, wonderful villain, interesting, deserved a great redemption too (She is 14! A baby!) etc. She just would have suited a magic girl show, a horror movie (in the typical scary, powerful little girl fashion), or a darker, more mature show with more characters like her, meaning child prodigies, better.

Combined with the rest of the atlab story? Kinda makes me laugh. She is such a ridiculous addition that makes it obvious this is a kids’ show. When I first watched the show, Zuko's father and the fact he had branded him was such a serious “oh shit” moment. Like, that is a father whose expectations are truly ridiculously high. It was scary. I mean who could meet them?

Zuko, whether a villain or an anti-hero, was a special, unique character the first few episodes because he was intimately acquainted with the scary main villain in a way no one was.

Then comes Azula. Come at me to debunk me (I may not even try to argue because this is such a weird opinion in the fandom, for real I haven't heard it) but she feels like a writer self-insert. Not a little kid’s writer self-insert, mind you, she feels like a well-written, dark, and complex self-insert or oc written by a talented fic writer in her 30s with years of experience that may become an original writer someday, but an oc nonetheless.

Azula feels like “oh, Zuko could never live up to his evil father’s ideals? Oh here comes my oc Azula, despite being 2 years younger she is soo much better at firebending and does everything better, even being evil, she is the main villain’s golden child and sidekick! And the sister of the main antagonist who interacts with him constantly!” (oh isn't that so cool?) “oh shit wait she needs flaws otherwise she is a villain Sue, let's see.… perfectionism! Perfect flaw! and at the very end after needing a 2 against 1 setting to be defeated she has a mental breakdown, perfect!”

“But gifted children and prodigies exist!!” you may say. Yesss I knowww. She is both too dark of a concept and too corny for atla. I see the flaws and contradictions in the ~vibes~ Azula gives me, thank you anyway. But regardless of rationally being aware of this, the reveal that this powerful character that comes to replace Zuko in causing the gaang trouble (Because let's face it, the beginning of Zuko's redemption arc and needing an even bigger bad to replace him and shock the viewers by how much more dangerous/powerful they are is the whole reason for Azula’s existence) is his 14-year-old LITTLE sister is so… dorky and laughable for me personally. And not only because of her gender in case you come to attack me from that angle. Zuko's prodigy little brother would perhaps have been an even worse and more ridiculous big bad replacement (Girls being shorter is understandable, but with a little brother we would visually see how much Zuko would be able to beat him if this weren't a kids’ show with magic, it would be even harder to suspend my disbelief to). Like, I am sure the reasons I hate the concept are the very same reasons some others love it, but you are telling me that the one capable of fulfilling the evil child burner father's expectations is… simply some rando younger child? It is not that Ozai was a freak who wanted the impossible, it is just that Zuko wasn't it. It is corny, it is dumb. It is so obviously meant for kids. Thanks, I hate it.

Azula also combines in a very weird and bizarre way with Zuko's tragic origin story (Also it is just another source of angst that is completely unnecessary, that distracts from what his father did to him and never living up to his expectations or being too compassionate for his own good, now there is a little sibling in the way being better than him at everything). Call me crazy, but Zuko as an only child, or at least a child without crazy op YOUNGER siblings would have had a MUCH more interesting relationship with his father. Perhaps an even ANGSTIER and more complex relationship where his approval is just within reach but also not quite there. Where it seems conceivable and yet out of reach. Where Ozai is the type of abuser who gives him praise when he does something right just to tear him down mercilessly when he doesn't.

What Zuko has in canon with Ozai and Azula is also interesting, painful, and angsty, but it is “never be able to be this other random younger child who happens to be a prodigy so what is even the point of trying when dad always reminds me of how meh I am compared to her” instead of “never be able to be like my father who is putting all his hopes and that of his empire on me, who at times seems to care so much”. That last one is much more compelling for me personally for a character that ends up being the opposite of his father and learns being like him is not a good thing, it also gives Zuko a good, believable reason to keep trying to please his father: there is actually a chance, there is no one there who has already won the race. Oh my, his search for the Avatar would have made so much more sense without Azula why does Azuka exist in this universe whyy 😭

Don't get me wrong, the sibling rivalry and abusers putting children against each other, having a golden child and a scapegoat, is realistic in many families, but from a storytelling perspective I find it VERY whatever, MEH. Like, the moment Ozai burns Zuko would have been a much greater instance of utter betrayal and shock if Ozai actually acted at times like he had some hope in his son instead of being constantly comparing him to his sister. Now everytime I am made aware of what Ozai did to Zuko I am like “duh” what were you expecting, Zuko, baby? It is still evil as fuck, but no longer shocking or a wtf moment, it is just the boring, edgy and predictable culmination of Ozai already having a “better” child he prefers to succeed him, a total overkill, and in fact, knowing Ozai, he should have done so earlier or straight up had Zuko killed, it makes no sense he is still alive when Azula is a much better successor from his perspective. It means nothing and Zuko should of fing course be traumatized and emotionally and physically distraught by the damage done to him by his own father, but he should not longer logically be that shocked or struck dumb. From a fictional, storytelling perspective, for me personally, the moment loses a tiny bit of its power, at least from the betrayal-someone-who-should-care-for-you—hurting-you—instead aspect.

If I had been there to write the ~big worse bad before Ozai~ meant to replace Zuko as he begins his journey of redemption, I would have chosen something much more serious (I get “abused child soldier” is serious, duh, I just mean serious in a way that makes me fear for the gaang being faced not with a peer but with someone bigger and much more experienced, and not just distract myself with how horrible it is that a “father” makes a 14-year-old girl into a soldier for an invading army). I would have chosen an equally or even more powerful, ADULT, right-hand man (or woman) of Ozai. If it really had to be a sibling of Zuko, it would have been a brother or sister 5 years OLDER, and that is AT THE VERY LEAST, perhaps the son or daughter of a minor wife or concubine (To fix the issue of why they are not the heir and why Zuko could be jealous of their much better skills while at the same time still having a good reason to keep trying to earn their father's approval, which is that there is still time to learn and improve as the younger party, this could have also made Ursa more sympathetic since the “evil” sibling is no longer a child of hers that she emotionally neglected). This could also give the character depth in the sense that they hate the fact they have no claim to the throne despite being older and “better”. They could still care for Zuko while having a love hate relationship with them, a sibling rivalry, Ozai turning them against each other, same as Azula, without taking away from Zuko's interesting relationship with Ozai (I just want his urge to overpower his better sibling to come from a place of his father actually expecting him to do it and be mad he doesn't instead of just Ozai putting all his hopes on the other sibling and Zuko for some plot related reasons still wanting his father's impossible approval despite never being able to earn it because Azula is there, better at a younger age, is that too much to ask? Like at this point Zuko should be smart enough to see that firebending skills are inborn and related to ~fantasy-version-of-genetics~, he should logically have seen it is not his fault and stopped trying to be Ozai or Azula MUCH earlier).

So in summary, believe it or not, I like Azula. I like the whole child prodigy golden child psychologically groomed and abused by evil father angle and I would love a redemption arc for her. I just don't like her AS an atla character. I feel like she does a disservice to Zuko by even existing due to how complex and interesting yet overpowered she is, actually. She ruins his motivations imo. Ironically enough, Zuko does not do a disservice to her, he makes her more interesting because he is a warning of what could happen to her if she is not perfect, he makes her vulnerable. But here is the deal, this would work better if she was the protagonist.

Edit: I just realized it is not just Azula who does a disservice to Zuko's story, it is the whole “Ozai straight up hated the little fucker since birth and tried to kill him before as a child therefore what he did to him was not a consequence of Zuko being compassionate as fuck, Ozai might as well have been looking for an excuse”. It just cheapens it immensely.

Zuko caring for those soldiers still counts just as much (of fucking course), but it would have been more poignant story-wise for his suffering to have also be a direct consequence of his first signs of goodness + his father being an abuser pshyco and not just the latter + Ozai always hated him because Zuko is the good guy and his father’s empire is evil so we need a way to make the children see Zuko is good and not like the rest from the beginning in a painfully simple way by making Ozai inherently hate him or smt because abusers “loving” their children in fucked up ways is too complicated

[asocial-inkblot]

Things I Hope/d to See in the New ATLA Live Action Show

A source material-accurate Azula (duh) and Aang (the show's namesake!) with something extra added to both. See #7 and #8 for more on that.

Tweaked war-related plans that come across like they could reasonably be implemented in real life and which may be based on/allude to actual battle proposals from throughout history. I know little about these sorts of things but others have pointed out before that one of Sokka's plans, for example, may not have actually made much sense. And Ozai's plan near the end? Yeeaaahhhhh... I mean, I kinda get it in hindsight. But still. Let's have him come up with something better than that.

Appearances and clothing that call back to the ethnic groups and cultures that the show takes inspiration from (things are looking great on this front so far), but also

Eye colors like the ones from the original cartoon. This may seem petty but I find that it's actually important to use the right hues for each character and not just make everyone's eyes brown or black or gray (looks to me like that's exactly what they did). The reason being that, although I personally tend to dislike when non-white characters are given what I now call "white qualifiers" (meaning traits often used to make them still appeal to whiteness, such as light hair, light eyes, bone-straight hair, round eyes, etc.), in the context of the show, the eye colors are actually by and large ethnic characteristics and differentiators themselves. As I've noted before in a previous post from a while back: Ocean blue eyes = Water Tribes, brown and gray = usually Air Nomad or Earth Kingdom, amber or light tan = Fire Nation, with few exceptions for all of them.

Enough similarities for it to feel like ATLA but with enough differences that it's actually its own story. Again, duh, but we all know how often adaptations tend to get this part wrong.

An age rating that won't be used as just another excuse to shoehorn in as much violence, gore and sexual content as possible but instead to allow for the full illustration of the impact that war can have on a people and their society/traditions. We saw, imo, only little hints of this throughout the cartoon (when Aang found Monk Gyatso's remains is one extremely devastating example), but not near enough. I know the reason why, of course. However, things like that only helped sell the show short by not allowing it to fully flesh out into a world with true, viewable consequences.

An Azula who, from day one, is unquestionably made out to be exactly what she is: A child soldier who is also a victim of the war in a similar way to how the Gaang is. I want to see her allowed to show worry, even fear, either during or after a situation. Not because I don't love how kickass she is, but because at her age, level of trauma and amount of risk to her life everyday, she has all the reason to be more stressed from the get-go. Not to mention her family issues. I want Azula to clearly have anxiety or depression, something many of us can relate to. I also want that scene of her mental breakdown to STAY in some capacity, but be seen in-universe and hopefully—eventually—irl, too, as what it really was: A teenage girl pushed to her limits until she had no where left to step. Real, living people have had anxiety/panic attacks and meltdowns before and that didn't make them evil or any less worthy of sympathy. It only makes it that much more obvious how real Azula herself is, and how much she needed and deserved understanding.

I want an Aang who's allowed to cry, not once, not twice but over and over again as the weight of the burden of what it means to be a child avatar during a world war—and one who was out-of-commission for a century—start to take their toll on his mind, body and eventually spirit. After he reaches his breaking point, I want him to learn to forgive himself and even forgive others, and come back from it, stronger than ever.

A Toph who's tough but maybe a little less...umm... She should be/feel affected by the war too, okay? And have some level of guilt, fear or self-awareness at all times. So she should be like her original self, but deeper.

More Ursa pleeeaaaaaaassse. We know next to nothing about this woman and what we do know, still involves a lot of inferring. I need to know just what her beliefs were about the war and her family/relatives. I need to know if she...if she often feared for her or her children's lives!

A little less romance and a little more danger, planning and large platonic relationship growth as well as character growth.

Zuko actually learning something from his travels; early on, every time he meets someone/some new people, and on a regular basis. I also kinda want to see him have consequences for his actions. Not just that one time, where he was only a clueless 13 year old boy anyway. Doesn't have to be huge or bloody, but he needs to lose something every time he gains at the expense of another. The ATLA world (if not within the cartoon then definitely within the live action show) should have a real, tangible concept of Karma present, if it doesn't already. That would make so. much. sense.

If possible, a little more fleshing out of characters like Jet and the Freedom Fighters, Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors, Hama, Mai, Ty Lee, etc. And can we not demonize or shrug off victims anymore?

A still sexy Hakoda, Ozai and June. (I'm so sorry, don't hate me...)

An ending that won't make me break out in hives plez.

(That's it for now. I may come back here to add more.)

[princess-of-the-corner]

Miraculous Gaang

Ok so. Ideas.

Sozin Actually used to be part of the Guardian Order, but got into a fight with them over the fact that they are just sitting on these objects of power, not using them to “improve” the world. Eventually results in Sozin stealing the Peacock, then him and Roku duking it out, the Order getting destroyed, and Sozin spending the rest of his life searching for the rest of the Miraculous. Roku dies making sure other people can escape. So, total count of people who manage to flee the Order imploding:

Sozin, with a damaged Peacock Miraculous he can’t use now. He starts his company as a cover to search for the rest of the Miraculous, but he turns out to be a very good business man, so is actually successful. He eventually marries, has kids, and imparts on them the knowledge of the Miraculous, hoping one of them will succeed where he failed.

Roku’s girlfriend, who was pregnant at the time. Of course, the Order didn’t know they were dating, or that she was pregnant. Moves to another city, rebuilds a life, has her kid. Eventually tells them of the Miraculous, when explaining what happened to Dad.

A small assortment of monks, who immediately go into hiding to “preserve their knowledge”.

Gyatso, who was a child at the time. Roku entrusted the kid with the Miracle Box, under the assumption the other monks would protect him when they found him. Instead, Gyatso ended up mostly on his own, and has vowed to protect the Miracle Box as best he can.

Other idea, that Gyatso mostly uses the Turtle, which extends his lifespan, but briefly, much later, tried to use the Butterfly to help people, which resulted in it getting lost, someone dying, and Gyatso adopting baby!Aang. He is trying REAL HARD to balance “Good Parent, let kids be kids, freedom is important” with “Guilt™, Protective™, Oh God, I can’t let you get hurt like that”.

Then, so far, I think we have:

- Ladybug!Sokka

- Black Cat!Katara

- Turtle!Aang

- Dragon!Zuko

- Rabbit!Yue

- Pig!Jin

- Bee!Ty Lee

- Mouse!Mai

- Fox!Azula, or Monkey!Azula

- Tiger!Toph, or Ox!Toph

- Tiger!Suki, or Snake!Suki (for the record, I feel like the weapons could change a bit to match the wielder, so Suki could still have fans)

Also, if this isn’t Paris, we can just set it in Modern Style, Ba Sing Se?

(thoughts, feelings, opinions, ideas?)

-

Okay okay okay

So I think my main thought is that we now have an explaination of sorts for the Ursa/Ozai pairing.

Which is that ofc Sozin passed the torch of looking for the Miraculous to Azulon, and he eventually discovered Roku’s descendants. Azulon looks at that and goes ‘hey my youngest son is single and roughtly the same as that girl. Ozai you up to seduce her for information?’.

I don’t think Ursa would fall for him. Partly because she def still had her own fiance already but also like. Ozai can only do so much ‘charming’. So he probably ends up intimidating her into a relationship. Either because he’s trying to get information, or from some entitled ‘how dare you turn me down?’ thing.

I think I’m gonna lock in Tiger!Toph and Snake!Suki. And Azula with the Fox is too tempting considering Vulpyro.

Also yeah It doesn’t have to be Paris. Some modern city. Idk if i’d use Ba Sing Sae like it works but I think there could be like a name for the city itself while the different districts are named after the atla locations.

My thoughts on the Peacock:

/technically/ it’s not needed, but I can have some fun. I know it was mentioned on giving it to Azula, but I want Azula unaware of what Ozai’s doing. Mostly because she has more of an early redemption (she was still in contact with Zuko and Iroh so while she’s not fully redeemed she’s not loyal to him), so if she knew what he was doing she’d rat him out. He’s mostly using her to rile people up to be Akumatized.

So we have two options for the Peacock in my mind. One  is the OC I had made for the Avatar!Ty Lee AU because she’s /basically/ Nathalie if she was more unhinged and evil.

The second one is Zhao because tbh while we dunk on him at times, he was Book 1′s main villain and was actually good at what he was doing.

[pandawarrior]

Avatar Character Ranking: part one

Let’s start from the bottom up!!!

Who tier

 47. Random water tribe man

Literally who is that??? Someone please tell me. I do not know him.

46. Old guy who could be from fire nation

Never seen him before. Who is he?

45. Sword guy from fire nation

Wow he can use a sword. So cool. He is from the fire nation but not really. So cool. He is an old man and besties with iroh. So cool. Made minimal impact. Sokka did not need him but whatever.

44. Idk even know this guy imma be so real

I have nothing to say WHO IS THAT??

43. Old air nomad 

He was alive and then he was dead and Aang was sad. Okay????

F tier

42. Fire Lord Flopzai

Abusive loser. World’s worst father. Genocidal maniac; what were his redeeming qualities??? Notice the silence??? That's because there was none. He literally burnt his son's face off for not wanting to kill people. Deserves nothing but the worst. He’s so cringe “I aM nOw ThE pHoeNIx KiNg” SHUT UPPPP ARE YOU TWELVE HOW IS THAT COOL OR THREATENING THE PHOENIX KING SOUNDS LIKE SOME SHITTY BOOK ABOUT A DYSTOPIAN WORLD FILLED WITH REALLY TONE DEAF, BADLY EXECUTED METAPHORS THAT ANNOYING PEOPLE PRETEND TO LIKE  ACT AS IF IT'S THE MOST GROUNDBREAKING PIECE OF LITERATURE EVER!!! But I digress. Ozai is one of THE worst people ever and one of THE best villains. The fact we don’t see his face until season three?? Amazing choice. Like they couldn’t make a better villain if they tried he is just SUCH AN EVIL PERSON AND THEY LET HIM STAY THAT AWAY!! THERE'S NO SYMPATHY AND NO JUSTIFICATION!! HE IS JUST EVIL!!!  IF THE SHOW WAS MADE TODAY THEY WOULD GIVE HIM A SHITTY REDEMPTION ARC AND MAKE HIM BESTIES WITH EVERYONE AND GIVE SOME DUMB SPEECH ABOUT BEING A BETTER PERSON NOW AND THE WAR WOULD BE FORGIVEN AND THAT WOULD BE IT. I NEED TO DO A WHOLE DECONSTRUCTION OF HIS CHARACTER I HATE THIS MAN SO MUCH AND I LOVE THAT!!!

41. Sparky Sparky Boom Man

Tried to kill the Gaang. Not cool. The laser forehead stuff however is kinda cool. What was his problem fr though Zuko told him to stop and he wouldn't listen. It’s not that deep dude chill out. He actually made me mad when he turned up at the air temple. Does he not have a job??? 

40. Admiral Zhao

I HATE THIS GUY!!!!!! He killed the moon, he was committing genocide, he was a wasteman to Zuko, he was in everyones business. Like get a life, what a useless bum. Just sucks.

39. Sandbenders

Stole Appa. Absolutely disgraceful behaviour. That's all.

38.  Hama

Evil old hag. Yeah she was damaged but why is she beefing Katara because she doesn’t feel like imprisoning innocent people. Also attempted to kill Sokka and Aang. -10000000/10. Congrats on inventing bloodbending though. She ate that one thing. 

37. Guy who betrayed Earth Kingdom

Flop. Boring. Dead trim. That’s all. 

36. Scary Bird Spirit

Actually terrifying. I had nightmares about him when I was younger. This was the start of my hatred and fear for birds. He was doing too much and also he sank the library when the Gaang was still in it. Rude.

[sokkastyles]

Speaking of poor takes on Zuko...

What do you think?

Well, first of all this isn't so much of a hot take as it is straight up abuse apologism. It's not new, or cute, or smart or unique. It's abuse apologism. If you really feel "disgusted" by seeing an abuse victim empowered because you believe the lies their abuser said about them, then you are an abuse apologist.

Second, if you really feel disgusted at Zuko being a powerful bender and being firelord, maybe you shouldn't be watching the show.

Third, I've addressed this before, but it's funny that Zuko is the "salty" one when this entire post is the saltiest rant from someone who is mad that the show ended with a heroic character becoming powerful and a villainous character getting their comeuppance. Surprise, I guess?

Like, seriously, does this person know how fiction works? This post reads like it was written by a cartoon villain, and not the genre savvy kind of villain, the kind that is too dumb and/or too evil to realize why they caused their own downfall.

I am so tired of this. "But power is all she has!" Power is all Azula has because that is all she cared about, and she doesn't have that in the end because that is what happens when you forego actual values in pursuit of power, and when you abuse the power you have

Azula was born with power that she didn't deserve, a natural talent which caused her father to single her out so he could boost her ego and encourage her to be selfish and cruel and obsessed with controlling other people so that she could gain more power. But this is also what caused her to have a poor relationship with her brother, who she mistreated for being perceived as less powerful. It's what caused her to have a poor relationship with her mother, whose lessons she ignored because Ursa had no power, especially compared to her father. It's what caused her to have a poor relationship with her uncle, who she disdained for being a "quitter" and a "loser." It's what caused her to have a poor relationship with her friends, because she had to have power over them, had to control them with fear rather than having a real relationship where she's equal and vulnerable. Her need for power literally destroyed her entire life, and because of that, she ended up losing the power she had, to boot, because people who use their power to harm others do not deserve to have power.

That's the entire point. I can't even believe that someone would actually type that paragraph and think it was a good idea because if you said it to someone in person, you should probably expect to get smacked in the face.

Zuko gets to be powerful in the end because he dedicates his life to using that power to help people. If that disgusts you, then you deserve that smack in the face. I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people.

I also don't want to hear about how Zuko only redeemed himself because of "luck" or because he had help, because Azula didn't want any help changing and never made any steps to make any of those things happen. She didn't care about her mother trying to teach her right from wrong (until it was too late and she realized that she had becomes someone she didn't like, but too little too late). She didn't try to stop hunting the gaang. She didn't try to stop waging war on the rest of the world. She didn't try to listen to see her friends as real human beings instead of chess pieces she could control. Ditto with her brother. The reason she's alone and freefalling in "The Southern Raiders" is because she went there with the purpose of killing her brother and the gaang after her friends abandoned her because she tried to kill them, too. That's why she's alone. That's the purpose of that visual juxtaposed with Zuko having the gaang to help him and rescue him, because he also cared about them and tried to fight off his sister to save them.

And you know what? Zuko almost feels sorry for her, because she is alone. Because it is sad. It's a tragedy. But it's a tragedy of her own making, and when she looks back at Zuko, does she express any regret for her situation? For what she did to him? For how she hunted him down and also almost killed his new friends because he had the gall to leave his abuser?

No. Instead, she looks like this:

The whole POINT of that scene is that it is a tragedy, but that Azula already made her choices long ago, and that's why she ultimately can't change her fate. She doesn't want to, she doesn't even realize she needs to. At this point, she's not even sad about her situation because she still thinks she's on top, she still thinks she's better than literally everyone around her, still grasping at that power that she thinks will fulfill her, without any understanding at all of the responsibility that comes with power, and that's also why she ultimately does not deserve it, either.

[hello-nichya-here]

Do you think Azula should have been punished after the war? Or, perhaps more accurately - what should have been done with her after her defeat?

(This isn't getting into the conversation of what would be realistic or likely in that situation, that's a different and darker topic. I'd like some optimism today, heh.)

Before any kind of punishment is even considered, Azula would need psychological help. "Punishing" someone who is so out of it that they can't even say what is and or isn't real, let alone understand what did they to deserve said punishment, isn't justice, is just cruelty.

Once she's stable enough, I can see some people on the Fire Nation, mostly those who did cause some serious damage to the other nations by taking over cities, trying to essentially have Azula be punished for it all as if she had been the one responsible since it makes sure they wouldn't be punished AND they hoped it'd gain them the Fire Lord's favor since they're against his "evil" sister.

However, even if Zuko were to consider letting them do that (which he should NOT do since he is supposed to be a better person now), the Gaang would never allow that. Not necessarily out of compassion for Azula (which I'm 110% sure Aang would have) but also because they know very well that Azula wasn't responsible for the crushing majority of the bad shit that happened, and they’re NOT letting the people who were destroying their nations before she was even born use her as a escapegoat, even though they have MANY serious issues with her.

Some random Fire Nation general: Princess Azula should be sentenced to life in prison or death to pay for her crimes!

Hakoda, who fought that motherfucker and his men dozens of times and knows damn well they'd be way more deserving of something like that than a literal child would:

As for what should be done with her, punishment isn’t a necessity - having her atone for her mistakes is. Have her apologize to the people she hurt (the servants she banished, her friends, etc).

They should also do things that would actually help the world heal from the war - say, letting her brother know which of his “loyal” subjects are just a bunch of snakes that are going to stab him in the back on the first chance of having Ozai back in charge, pointing out the weaknesses of any general that turns against him... this would help mend their relationship AND do something good for the world in general since it’d mean the Fire Lord that doesn’t want a new war or to dominate the other nations won’t end up being burned alive and replaced some megalomaniac.

But most of all, Azula needs to see the world (again, only once she’s stable enough). She needs to truly understand just how awful what her nation did was so she will comprehend WHY she needs to change. Have Aang and/or Zuko bring her along on some mission that would require the help of as many truly powerful warriors as possible, or on a vacation, or on some boring political meeting to discuss how to keep the peace, so she’ll essentially have the non-traumatic version of Zuko’s banishment.

[really-sleep-deprived-nerd]

Yes yes I KNOW I lost my Soulmate AU rights but hear me out:

Zukka Soulmate’s AU

Just think about the possibilities:

If its one of those au’s where you can immediately tell when someone is your soulmate, imagine them meeting on the south pole, both of them freezing for a second.

Sokka feeling numb, having this horrible realization that he found his soulmate but he is not only an evil fire nation soldier, he is the one sent to destroy the only hope the world has left and also the person leading the attack on his home.

Zuko realizing he is never actually going to be able to just be with his soulmate, realizing that his father would never ever allow it and would probably kill his soulmate if he ever found out who he was, and that no matter what happened or what he did this was only going to end in heartbreak.

And after that second is over, they just:

“I’m sorry” Says Zuko, not being exactly sure about what he is apologizing for, if for attacking his village, for meeting this way or for the inevitable heartbreak.

“You don´t have to do this.”

“I...”Zuko hesitates for a second, before shaking his head with a pained look on his eyes and continuing, “You don't understand, I have to. I just want to go home. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.”

And then shit goes down mostly as in canon, except that Zuko is trying very hard to like, not ACTUALLY hurt either his soulmate or his soulmate’s sister and everytime they fight eachother they are like:

Zuko, using his swords so he doesn't accidentally burn any of them: So, how have you been?

Sokka, dodging and swinging at Zuko with his club: Not great, Katara and Aang have been INSUFFERABLE with their sappy soulmate shit lately.

Zuko, jumping out of the way: Oh, yeah, that sucks.

Katara, sending Zuko flying with her water: You do know I can hear you, right?

And then he actually turns joins the gaang on Ba Sing Se and Sokka has never been happier.

Or think about one where they don’t realize immediately. Maybe they have matching marks that are in a place where the clothes usually hide them or if you can tell from the mark which nation your soulmate is from then maybe Sokka was told to cover it so other people wouldn't judge him for it and Zuko was forced to hide it or dear old dad would burn that too.

It doesn't matter why, but they don’t realize that they are soulmates until AFTER Zuko finally joins the gaang. 

There are different ways we could play with the big reveal, maybe they are on the beach on ember island and when wearing nothing more than their swimming trunks they can finally see that their mark matches or maybe it happened in the Boiling Rock, where Zuko ended up wearing that top without sleeves or maybe after Zuko decides that his dad can Get Fucked he just stops covering his soulmark and Sokka sees it and is about to have a heart attack because What The Fuck Zuko Is My Soulmate.

It really doesn't matter how we do it, but the Reveal Happens and they just talk.

“I’m sorry.” Zuko says, because of course he thinks this is somehow his fault.

“It’s fine, I know you’re good now and you’ve already apologized for-”Sokka starts but Zuko interrupts him.

“No,” Zuko says softly, “I’m sorry that you are stuck with me. You deserve better than a disgraced prince that has made way too many mistakes and probably doesn’t deserve the chance he’s been given to redeem himself.”

And Sokka maybe just wants to cry a little bit because How Is Zuko Real and just hugs him tight and reassures him that it's fine, more than fine really. 

But no matter how we do it, one thing stays constant: When Sokka finds out exactly HOW Zuko got his scar he doesn’t freak out or anything, no, no, everything is fine, it’s just that now Aang doesn’t have to worry about killing the Fire Lord because Sokka is going to do it himself-

Sokka, its fine-

It is absolutely NOT fine and I am going to kill your father-

Sokka no-

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Bryke was in the Podcasts Braving Element book fire, and one the most interesting in that conversation was Bryke say Kataang relationship in Book fire was their favorite and Basco he is vibing for Maiko, but he say the headband episode is technically filler, it means is not canon that episode? What you think?

"Filler" was an anime term, about episodes that existed solely to give the manga they were adapting extra time to get more content for them to adapt. The filler episodes are canon (to the anime versions at least), but they don't move the plot forward, so if you skip them you don't miss anything important.

Eventually the term stopped being used solely for anime - and some idiots started using it to mean "bad episode", but the actual meaning is still the same: the episode can be skipped without the audience being confused. Only now these episodes exist not to catch up with a source material (in Avatar's case there wasn't one in the first place since it was an original series, not an adaptation) but rather as a "breather" episode, that can be more light-hearted, or character-driven instead of plot-driven.

To give an Avatar exemple: "Tales of Ba Sing Se" is filler, but it's still canon. It does not, in any way, further the Dai Li plot the previous episode had established - but we get focus on the characters, their personalities, dynamics, and THE tear-jerker that is Iroh singing to both honor his son and express his grief over his death. We already knew Lu Ten was dead and Iroh was grieving, but this episode gives it further depth.

Even if "The Headband" was filler, it'd still be canon - and so would be the dance with Katara clearly being into Aang.

And I personally do NOT consider "The Headband" filler. It furthers the whole theme of the season and the series ("How do you rebuild a world consumed by war? Through kindness"), we (and more importantly, the protagonist) get a deeper look into the indoctrination the people of the Fire Nation are subjected to, and more importantly, it is the episode in which we are introduced to Combustion man - ya know, the assassin that will try to kill the Gaang? The secondary villain of half the season? The one that is Zuko's attempt to resolve the problem of "The Avatar is supposed to be dead" that the previous episode introduced? Aka it is connected both to the aftermath of the Ba Sing Se plot and the "Zuko goes from villain to ally of the good guys" plot?

You CAN'T skip this episode without being confused as to who the fuck is that guy chasing the Gaang and who sent him after them. You'd have to wait until his last appearance, in which Zuko confronts him, for you to realize what the villain's deal was, meaning that PLOT would only become coherent after it was basically resolved.

It furthers the plot, therefore it isn't filler. It's just not ALL about the plot. By that logic, nearly every episode of season one is filler. The Beach is filler. Well over half the fucking show is filler if we're only counting episodes that have BIG, plot-twisting events as "important" episodes. Bryke need to stop parroting fandom nonsense to gain points.

As for Dante Basco being all excited about Maiko despite being a big zutara fan, that does not surprise me. He has ALWAYS said he liked their romance, and that Mai is the kind of girl he'd try getting with in real life.

Once again, the epic "power struggle" between Zutara fans and the evil dark lords Bryan and Mike is only in the fandom's weird minds. They weren't always kind to shippers, but the simple fact that they're so chill with Dante, and lots of other people, including writersn who went on his podcast and said everything from "I don't really care for Zutara, but I think could have worked" to "It's one of my OTPs" shows that this "Bryke VS Zutara" war is VERY one-sided and exists solely because people can't accept that, no, the writers are not throwing away their entire plan just to please you.

[the-badger-mole]

So there's definitely the traits about Aang you don't like. If you had the chance, how would you have gone about making sure Aang got called out??

Any other changes about other aspects of the show that you would have done??

OOHHH!!!! There is SO much I would have changed.

Starting with Aang:

Aang should have been called out about not helping Katara with the chores. One of the lessons he should have learned on Kyoshi should have been importance of not leaving one team member to do all of the work (Sokka should have been taught this lesson, too, of course, but at least he was learning other lessons about respect for women in particular). I'm not asking for Aang to face consequences for the sake of making him miserable (although...). What I really want is for him to consider people other than himself in a way that actually leaves a mark on his character and doesn't just make his superficial reputation better.

In Bato of the Water Tribe, he should have been taken more to task over his selfishness in hiding Hakoda's letter. I feel like the danger he put Hakoda's mission in with that bone-headed move gets overlooked in favor of his sadness about the possibility of his friends wanting to take a detour to see their father. Aang gets half an apology for that, but only half an apology, and not to Katara- the one he's supposed to have a romance (???) with.

He should have been called out for lying his way out of actually solving the problem in "The Great Divide". Yes, it was a tough problem, but he's going to have to solve even harder ones as the Avatar. Not even lightly chiding him for taking the easy way out doesn't bode well for how well he's going to do at his job in the future.

The fact that he was instrumental in the deaths of several Fire Nation soldiers in the Siege of the North should have been the beginning of his understanding of what he's expected to do to end this war that's been going on for a hundred years. He should feel some guilt over the war that's been going on for a hundred years. Even if ultimately he's not centrally to blame for either, neither could have happened without him making the decisions he made. I can understand it not occurring to Aang on his own that he played a part in (lets be honest) millions of deaths, but it should have dawned on him through context clues what the world- what his friends!- expected of him. He should have been looking for a non-lethal solution to the Ozai problem from the beginning of Book 2 at the latest! The way his reluctance to kill Ozai plays out in the show makes Aang look inexcusably stupid, unbelievably short-sighted, and dangerously selfish.

He should have been brought to task for how he treated his friends- especially Toph- in the desert. Yes, it's understandable that he was upset about losing Appa, but he took his anger out on his friends. That's not ok. He should have apologized. We should have seen him apologize. It wasn't Toph's fault Appa was taken. She didn't deserve that.

Katara should have had more of a voice in her relationship with Aang. He forced kisses on her twice, and aside from avoiding talking to him about feelings, Katara doesn't get to tell him how she actually feels about him, about them, about the fact that he doesn't respect her enough to talk to her about how he felt before he even thought about trying to kiss her. I hate Kataang, and there is no version of that ship that I would actually like (at it's best it's boring), HOWEVER, there is a version of Kataang that could have been less infuriating, and it's the version where Aang realizes how selfish he's been with Katara and apologizes, and then actually puts in the work to be more respectful of her. Not to get the reward of her affection for doing something he should have been doing in the first place (*ahembrykeahem*), but because he actually sees the error of his ways and his need to change for himself. Then maybe, after Aang had put in actual work on himself, maybe his "romance" with Katara could have worked, and Katara would have actually had a chance to thrive after getting with him.

The war should have had more of an impact on Aang. As the Avatar, he should have seen more people suffering under the Fire Nation's campaign of imperialism. Sure he sees refugees and even spends a couple of days getting to know a pregnant lady, but it never seems like he makes the connection between the abstract evil of the war and the real world suffering it caused. It never seems to sink in for him how bad things are. Like not even for his friends. Not even for Katara specifically, the girl he allegedly loves.

There are more things I would have changed about Aang, but this is already long, so moving on!

As for the rest of the show:

I would have spent less time on Aang and his feelings and done more with the world building. There is a ridiculously small amount of time dedicated to the Water Tribe cultures. Most of Book 1: Water is spent in the Earth kingdom! Why??? Most of the main cast is from the Southern Water Tribe! Then there's the question of the Air Nomads. A total annihilation of a people group is incredibly unlikely. Closer to impossible. It hasn't even happened in our world, and the European colonist had raised murder and genocide to an art form. You mean to tell me that not only did the Fire Nation manage to murder millions of people to complete extinction, they did it in a day? Seriously??? I'm not buying it.

Speaking of the Air Nomads, even if they decided not have any other air benders in the show (but seriously, why not?), there was no reason not to explore their culture a little more. There could have been history texts in those temples they visited. Aang could have discovered some scrolls on defensive air bending forms. Guru Pathik could have been less racist given more time to explain at least a bit of the nuance of Air Nomad culture and philosophy. Aang has a 12 year old's understanding of Air Nomad culture and philosophy. What could you tell anyone about your culture or your religious beliefs at 12? Maybe you'd absorbed a lot by then, but to be able to accurately explain either to someone who didn't already know? Well, we get the bulk of Air Nomad philosophy from Aang- the kid who couldn't even acknowledge that his own people had killed in self-defense.

Toph, Sokka, Suki, and, yes Katara should have been given more development and had more care shown to their inner workings. Aang and Zuko have way more time devoted to them (though the time spent on Zuko had more plot impact than Aang's). The other members of the Gaang deserved more shine, too. Especially Toph.

Obviously, I think Katara and Zuko should have ended up together, but I've written so much about that, so I'm going to end this here, because it's late and I still need to get ready for bed.

[loopy777]

so when confronting his father, Zuko makes the choice to redirect the lightning at his feet, rather than into the wall. How do you think thing's would have gone different for the rest of the series if he'd accidentally killed his old man here?

Well, it hinges on two things:

Does Zuko stick around to try to claim the throne, or does he run away because he figures he can't get away with murder in this case?

How does Azula react to Ozai's death?

The first will determine how the plot goes, either about antics and politics in the Fire Nation capital or with a focus on the gAang trying to evade a more concerted hunt. Since this series is named "Avatar: The Last Airbender," I would find a way to go with the latter, so I'd come up with a way to have Zuko flee as a fugitive just like in the cartoon. The time has come, by that point, to get him on the side of the protagonists and consolidate the cast.

The second is going to determine the nature and the tone of the finale. With Azula as the sole antagonist left (with Mai and Ty Lee, but I think their defection is still mandatory for Azula's arc), the entire rest of the cast needs to confront her. Since DoBS already had fights in the capital, I'd find a way to still have her attempt the destruction of the Earth Kingdom and be confronted in the process. However, all the main characters (Aang, Zuko, and Katara) teaming up on Azula is a bit much, considering that Zuko alone is supposed to be her equal by that point.

And I've never been sure how Azula should respond to having Ozai taken away from her. He's the center of her world, the measure by which she judges everything- herself most of all. I've only ever played with it in fanfic in much more complicated circumstances, so I'm genuinely not sure what she would think of learning that Zuko simply beat him in a straight attack. Would she lash out? Become self-destructive? Lose her grip on reality? All of the above?

I'd also want to conform to the themes of the show, so Aang needs to defeat imperialism with the ideals of his people and also show the Fire Nation's nature literally lead to its own defeat and destruction. (There's a reason the capital was wrecked in the duel between Zuko and Azula. Symbolism, ho!) This is quite a checklist. The cartoon had two villains to work with, so we need to create some more.

So I think we need to bring in some help for Azula. Instead of having her try to burn the whole Earth Kingdom (however that was supposed to work), I think she should create some kind of a spirit threat. Perhaps an evil dragon ghost kaiju of some kind. That can rampage across the EK for Aang to fight and transform into a nice peaceful happy-dragon spirit, and Zuko can confront Azula in a similar manner to the cartoon's finale.

Whatever happens with Azula's psyche, I don't think her final defeat should be a simple defeat and breakdown. I feel like the loss of Ozai is already enough of a loss for her, however she reacts, that losing a fight to Zuko kind of pales in comparison. I'd actually have him somehow save her in the end, with a hint of a little hope that it might be the beginning of her seeing things differently. I still like the idea of Katara helping Zuko in the fight, and Zuko somehow taking a hit for her, since that so neatly reverses his actions under Ba Sing Se.

It probably seems cheap that I'm looking for ways to so closely replicate what we got in the cartoon, but honestly I think that's because Ozai himself is only important to the story as a symbol of Fire Nation Imperialism and for his effect on Zuko and Azula. Even in-universe, his death just means one of his kids gets a promotion. There's no real political complications, no change in the Fire Nation's agenda. The big thing is going to be the effect on Azula, I think, and so the main change is going to be how her character arc goes.

As far as the effect on Zuko, I actually think it can be neatly incorporated into the story. Have the reason he loses his Firebending be his sense of guilt over killing his father, and then he has to wrestle with why he feels guilty at all. It can be part of the plot of 'The Firebending Masters,' and Aang can simultaneously get over his guilt over burning Katara.

Book Fire's resilience is proven, I think, by the fact that it spends most of itself on character-building stories, and the plot is rather minimalist. And Ozai just ain't critical to much.