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spookyji · 2 years

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# huening kai + miniskirts !!

tw. f!reader, perv!huening kai, fantasizing, unprotected, pussy drunk, semi public. nsfw + minors dni !!

a/n. it’s the finale! thank you for all the love n support the perv series has gotten, i really can’t express how much it has meant to read all the sweet reblogs, comments, and asks about this series <3 please enjoy~~ love, mille

taglist. @hyunimylove @alpha-mommy69

perv mini series masterlist

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“kai?” a concerned voice calls, soft and sweet as his senses come back to reality. blinking drowsily, he vaguely registers the worn material of his varsity jacket brushing against his cheek, dark, wavy bangs casting shadows over his eyes as his vision blearily focuses. an eye-level row of empty, wood topped desks, chairs tucked neatly under. large, open windows reveal the cloudy sky, overcast and a light gray. “kai? are you awake?” lifting his head from the crook of his arm, kai sleepily glances over, met with facing a soft, navy wool sweater vest. leaning over, hair framing your face as you gaze down, head slightly cocked at him in expectation. “oh— i’m awake,” he mumbles, “where’d everyone go?” “it’s lunch, kai,” you pout, having waited for him so patiently to wake up and losing half your break time, “did you really sleep through class?”

as much as you adored him, kai had a tendency to nap through classes, several abysmal grades marring his record. always behind on assignments, but not even the strictest teacher could resist his sheepish and cute apologies as he turned in work a month late, crumpled in the corners and clearly partially done by a certain someone. but regardless of academic prowess, his real reputation rested in the court, the star of the varsity hybe high basketball team. blessed with a large build and height, long arms easily allowing him to make basket after basket, raining two and three pointers every game. if anything, he best team player to possibly walk the earth with the unmatched positivity and sportsmanship. and yet here he was, lazily blinking away sleep as he attempted to figure out what had happened before his untimely nap. “couldn’t help it,” he yawns, long legs awkwardly stretching under the desk too short for him, “late night practice yesterday.” shaking your head in affectionate dismissal, you reach into your bag, pulling out a neatly packed lunch to share before tugging over a chair to his desk. as you hand over a pair of chopsticks, kai’s hand pauses over them, his gaze staring at the floor, freezing he lifted his head up from the desk.

and for a moment, all his other thoughts are overridden with one. pretty, plush thighs, the soft flesh squished against the seat and very poorly covered by your skirt, riding up your leg as you sat down. so, so short, the expanse of skin so enticing, supple and smooth, decorated with small blemishes. short shadowy overhang leaving little to imagination. if only a little higher… and he’d be able to see cute hem of your cute panties. something about your thighs feels so indecent but so alluring, and he can recall how perfectly they slide into his hands, almost wishing he could— “kai?” you ask, glancing down at the floor, “what is it? a bug?” “erm—nothing, um, let’s eat!” kai fumbles, shaking his head and ruffling his bangs before accepting the utensils, trying to clear his mind. a loop of flustered swears at himself for being so easily distracted; he really really really couldn’t afford to pop a boner here, no matter how much he liked the skirt… and your thighs. confused but smiling, you pop a strawberry into your lips, observing him. kai’s ears were bright red.

“did you want a drink?” you question, leaning to the side of your seat to reach your bag. and it’s almost game over— your skirt sliding to the side, exposing the backs of your thighs as you rummage in your bag in search of said drinks, cute cotton panties unintentionally flashing him. plush and soft, so sweet and delicately untouched, and before he can realize it, a sudden, loud snap jerks your head back up. it’s kai, wooden chopsticks messily broken in his hand as his face burns bright red, shifty as he immediately avoids your gaze, clumsily turning towards the window and kicking the desk leg in doing so, resulting in an uncomfortable groan of the old furniture. “are you sure you’re alright?” your warm hand places itself on his forehead, touching to make sure he wasn’t ill, a slight sheen of sweat meeting your fingers. “y-yeah, just a little—um, out of it.” he stammers, before awkwardly yanking off his varsity jacket, “oh—s-sorry about your chopsticks.” stifling a laugh, you gently pry open his hand, taking the broken pieces away before walking away to toss them in the trash. and kai doesn’t know what to do. why was he so obvious? why did he have to make such a fool of himself? and why, why, why were your thighs so pretty? thinking quickly, he shoves his jacket on your seat, hoping you’ll cover your legs without him saying it… because he can’t bring himself to ask you without looking again.

“pass!” squeaking of shoes on the court floor, sunlight streaking through the high windows and casting shadows of the overhang railing. sounds of shouts and calls, basketballs hitting the wooden floor as the team members run about, dribbling and passing fluidly. “kai!” burnt orange ball hitting his palms before roughly tossing into the basket, the swish of the net and shape whistle blowing signaling the end of the round. a sweaty palm pats kai’s back as he pushes back his wet bangs. “you’re still getting better,” yeonjun laughs, “we won’t be a match for you sometime soon.” “ya, there’s no way he can be this good,” beomgyu grumbles, flopping down on the floor with a huff, flapping his loose shirt in attempt to cool himself off, soobin joining him as he pants from fatigue. awkwardly smiling, kai lets out his signature giggle, watching as taehyun and yeonjun converse with the coach, clearing up skills to improve on.

as he sits down beside his exhausted teammates, his mind drifts back to today’s earlier events. you’d taken his jacket and covered his legs to his relief, but he really couldn’t keep the thought of your pretty skirt and legs out of his mind. like a nagging thought, it murmured at the back of his head, resulting in (only) one emergency bathroom visit where he was sure he was getting hard, but it was thankfully a false alarm. he really didn’t want to jerk off in a public bathroom… especially one with multiple stalls. … but then again, there was that time he’d had you in the locker room, but that wasn’t like jerking off alone— a sharp whistle blare calls his attention back to reality, tank top sticking uncomfortably to his back as he fumbles to come back to reality. practice first, then he could go home and think all he wanted. at least that was his plan.

“kai, your girlfriend’s here!” yeonjun shouts, voice echoing across the court. “keep it pg!” beomgyu laughs, easily catching the basketball kai throws at him as the latter races across the gym. “kai—!” you giggle as his arms tightly wrap around your body, oversized varsity jacket loose, “you’re so sweaty!” as always, kai was always more affectionate when he was fully awake and out of class. leaning into his hug, you wonder what could have brought on such a tight grip. it wasn’t as if you had spent hours away from him? “not done with practice yet,” he mumbles into your hair. he wasn’t about to admit it, but he really couldn’t bear to look at your legs, and he also felt a little bad about having such indecent thoughts about you all day. so squeezing you tighter, kai ignores the members laughs in the back at their sweet maknae. “that’s okay,” you reply, muffled slightly by his sweaty tank top, “i’ll be back later anyways.” seeming vine grip unrelenting, you pat his back, knowing he has to get back to practice. as he reluctantly letting go, you unzip the jacket, revealing your outfit from earlier. his varsity jacket had been long enough to hide your skirt, and now that it was unzipped, kai was hit with the same wave as earlier. he really liked your skirt. maybe too much. the long hem of his oversized jacket accentuating the short skirt, somehow making your legs look even more enticing. so when you lean up and press your lips to his in a sweet kiss, he can’t help it but lean into it, fingers instinctively playing with the hem of your skirt, wishing he was at home and not stuck at practice.

“k-kai?” you mumble, pulling away his lips, his large body pressed into yours. “is something wrong?” he asks, a split second before he realizes it. the tent in his shorts pressing to your tummy, your widening eyes falling to the hard sensation against your abdomen. he’d gotten hard faster than he’d ever gotten hard. “ah—! i-i’m so sorry, i d-didn’t mean to—“ kai gasps, stumbling backwards into the gym door as his cheeks flush bright red, clumsily attempting to cover his massive bulge. “it’s okay,” you giggle, watching as he bumps his head into the wooden door in his fumble, “is this why you’ve been so odd all day?” stepping towards him, you smile sweetly as you palm his bulge, “always want you too, kai.” and that’s all it takes for kai to scoop you up, hand clumsily groping your plush thigh as he shoves open the door to the nearby storage closet, dark and filled with sports supplies.

nearly tossing you on a pile of boxes, he rushes to shove the door closed, barely clicking the lock in place before he’s kneeling in front of the stack, aggressively tugging your legs towards him. “w-wait, kai—hnng!” you whine as he yanks your panties down, sighing at your pretty, wet pussy glistening in the dark, only for him. licking a stripe up your folds, tongue pushing past and tasting your sensitive cunt, panting needily, hot breath heightening the wet, sloppy sensation. one hand tightening around your thigh, squishing the pillowy skin as his nose brushes against your clit, such lewd sounds of his messy addiction filling the hazy air as kai greedily licks up your slick, driven even further by your dazed moans. his head buried between your thighs, mini skirt only slightly obscuring his pretty features as you cling to the edge of the boxes, sweet heat spreading across your skin. and all kai can think of is how he’s wanted this all day, to hear your cute whines of arousal as he pleasures you, so addicted to your taste and soft, delicate pussy. “haah—kai!” you shakily whimper, eyes squeezing shut, unable to even bear such a lewd sight as your hands finding his wavy hair, tugging him closer as the pressure builds in your abdomen. “nnngh, w-want more,” kai moans, uneven breaths as he licks your clit, swirling his tongue around the sensitive nub and coating it in saliva before sucking on your bud, burning heat flaring in your stomach at the sensation. “ah, kai—so c-close—!” you wail, thighs clenching around his head as your orgasm crashes down, juices soaking his pretty lips as you tug him even closer, so addicted to his pussy drunk state. and it feels so lusciously depraved when kai licks up your cum, swallowing as he groans so prettily, so deep in heaven, buried between your plush thighs, tasting your release and scent so heavy of sex, your miniskirt brushing against his bangs.

and he’s so painfully hard, kai’s bulge so prominent he thinks he might cum in a second. your hands finding his jaw and tugging him to stand between your legs, pressing your lips to his, coated in your juices in messy kisses, hot breaths before diving back in, so wet with saliva and your essence, he’s lost in your touch. needy whimpers, forgotten shame as your legs hook around his waist, his hard length pressed to your soaked folds. your small hands reaching down for his shorts, shoving them down with little care as he tugs you closer, fingers squeezing the plush of your ass. how depraved you feel to yank down his boxers, his moans lost against your lips as your nails scratch against his thigh, precum dripping on your pretty fingers. and in a second, kai sheathes his cock in your tight cunt with a grunting pant, tip of his thick length rubbing your sweet spot. your ass scrapes against the edge of the box, kai nearly holding you up in his firm grip, shoving your back against the boxes as your arms wind around his neck, pulling him closer, only a breath apart. “nngh— s-so tight ‘n pretty, r-really like,” kai mumbles against your lips, so lost in arousal as your wet lips lock, swallowing your cries at the stretch as he thrusts carelessly into your soft folds, so enraptured in the immense pleasure.

your cute hands finding the bulge in your tummy, pressing down to feel his veiny cock rub against your walls, added pressure nearly causing kai to lose his uneven rhythm as he moans uncontrollably into your lips, wet tongues touching, your whimpers his oxygen. “haah— so w-warm-“ kai pants, so aroused as your cute mini skirt brushes against his abdomen, your hand adding pressure to the already tight stretch, lewd whimpers filling his ears. “—k-kai, f-faster!” you wail, so close to your orgasm, burning stretch at his massive cock, veins rubbing your sensitive wall with every thrust, so tight, so big, so careless. tears pricking at your shut eyes, clinging to his body as your pussy clenched down, orgasm slamming into your body as you sob into his sweaty tank top, so wrecked and ruined from his reckless, rough thrusts. and all it takes is for kai to look down for a moment, seeing your pretty thighs split apart as your tiny cunt takes him so well, mini skirt rumpled and brushing against the base of his cock, for his cum to flood your pussy. “mmsph— t-too much!” your cute cries falling deaf to his ears as kai roughly presses his cock as deep as he can, so, so much of his hot seed filling up your tummy, milking his dick of every drop as you cling to his broad frame, weakly whimpering at such a full sensation.

“nngh—my pretty so full,” kai pants, his hand running over your tummy, soft skin between the bulge of his cock, other hand squeezing the swell of your thighs as he presses his sweaty forehead to yours, breaths hot against each others lips. “k-kai, c-can’t move yet,” you mumble, feeling so weak as he lifts you back up on the boxes, swollen folds dripping cum as he pulls out with a shaky groan, cock coated in your mixed release, air so heavy with the scent of sex. resting his hands on thighs, squeezing the plush as he watches his white seed leak from your tiny pussy, on the hem of your cute skirt. and kai wants more. with a gasp, he needily tugs you off the boxes, so recklessly shoving your chest against another stack, cute ass exposed to him, skirt barely covering the sweet swell. “kai—? hnng–!” you whimper, only for his hard cock to press against your ass, his hot, sweaty chest pressed to your back, so broad and heavy as he whispers in your ear, desperation giving way to need. “wanna have more,” a barely conscious moment before his dick is pushing into your tight folds again, so intent on staining your skirt in his cum.

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it wouldn’t be something mille writes for kai unless he was such a needy perv lollll

#eeek kai n his bulge kink #thank you for all the support for this series <3 #i hope please stay tuned for the next series too ^^#txt smut #txt hard hours #txt hard thoughts #txt x reader #txt x you #txt scenarios #txt imagines #huening kai smut #huening kai x you #huening kai x reader #hueningkai smut #hueningkai x reader

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sneezypeasy · 2 years

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Original Script Analysis, Part 1: Kataang Is Better... And Also Worse.

I want to start this off by saying that when it comes to media analysis, I personally don’t tend to give authorial intent a significant amount of weight – at least, not by default. I understand why authorial intent is so often debated among media analysts, and why so many metas and critiques often hinge their arguments on paratextual information that serves to provide potential insight on what the authors were thinking or planning. But I myself tend to follow more of a “Death of the Author” framework. There are some exceptions, such as when I believe the author’s stated intent – or even details such as their background, life experiences, advocacy etc – has bled through their work so heavily that it becomes impossible to ignore its impact on the final product. (E.g., reading Fyodor Dostoyevsky compare murder to state-ordered execution, it is hard not to contextualise the passage with the knowledge that Dostoyevsky himself faced a firing squad and was given a pardon at the very last minute). Even then, I tend to treat paratextual information like – Understanding the context behind x scene or y narrative choice potentially adds a layer of meaning to it, particularly why some scenes may have been framed the way they were, or why the author chose to tell/expand/conclude the story like this instead of like that. I use paratextual information to deepen my understanding of the author’s reasonings behind their choices. I don’t use paratextual information to form my opinion on whether their choices were good.

(I prefer to form my own opinion on that, based on what I think of the text itself.)

That being said, like most of you readers I too had heard the many rumours surrounding the writing/production process behind ATLA, especially when it came to the ships. Which ship, if any, was planned for, when were the romance arcs finally decided, were there conflicts/disagreements between writers, were there script changes and animation edits to strengthen one pairing while weakening other, and so on and so on. I’d heard the rumour that The Southern Raiders went through multiple rewrites/changes, because it was originally “too shippy”. I’d heard the rumours that Aaron and Elizabeth were pro-Zutara, Bryan and Mike were pro-Kataang, and that their respective positions/opinions on these two pairings seep through their writing in an acutely perceptible way.

I’d also heard the counter-argument, the official narrative endorsed by the creators that any chemistry or subtext between Zuko and Katara was always intended to be platonic, and that readers who saw anything romantic between these two characters were simply setting themselves up for disappointment by projecting their own expectations or preferences onto the show, nothing more.

Over the past 15 years or so, these debates shaped much of the ATLA “shipping discourse”, sometimes even dominating discussion on the subject. I myself have gotten many a variant of “Zutara was never going to happen, get over it” – even when I’ve made a deliberate effort to omit any mention of authorial intent in my analyses, because, as I’ve said, I still don’t consider that kind of paratextual information relevant to my own opinions on why I think Zutara just works better. But given the intensity of the arguments surrounding behind-the-scenes shenanigans, their impact on the final product, and even their supposed significance in determining shipping validity, it was impossible not to wonder at the truth behind all these conflicting rumours.

So when I set foot in the WGF, it was admittedly difficult to contain my bubbling excitement and anticipation. Even still, I resolved to keep my expectations low. Rumours are rumours, after all. Secondary sources must always be taken with a healthy grain of salt, and some of the rumours weren’t even second-hand information at that. And I already knew that no matter what I found, my own opinion that Zutara is the best love story almost written, would not change.

All that said and done, let’s just say that I found the discovery... highly rewarding, and for those of you who have spent years refusing to accept that you were just “reading into things”, I hope my findings bring you some long-awaited vindication.

There are two other disclaimers I need to get through before we continue:

1) The Writers Guild Foundation is not a lending library. You may make an appointment to view the scripts in person, and you are allowed to take notes and manually copy as much as you like. But you will not find copies of their scripts online, and photos and screenshots are strictly prohibited. From what I understand it’s a copyright issue. Legally I’m fairly certain that embedding photos in this post and accompanying it with critique and analysis would/should count as “Fair Use”; however, I know that at some point I’d like to be able to return to the library, and I don’t want to risk being blacklisted for not following their rules.

As such, all the images embedded in this post are reproductions of snippets that I had to manually copy and type up, word for word. It was slow work, so as much as I’d love to be able to just plop the entire script of The Southern Raiders (or any ATLA episode) here for you to read, I had to narrow my focus a fair bit. I mainly noted down, in order of significance:

additions, omissions or changes in the original script compared to the show

bits where the writer’s notes/storyboard directions contained insights or descriptions that I found interesting, surprising, or just plain funny

scenes that weren’t really all that different or unexpected, but we love to see it in writing anyway (ahem Crossroads of Destiny *cough*)

I’m sure there’s a lot that I still managed to miss - even visiting over two days, I couldn’t read every episode. I highly encourage Zutarians living in or near LA to make an appointment and read the scripts for yourselves. You’ll be able to see more than what I’ve posted here, and you might even unearth some goodies that escaped my notice.

(Credit goes to @lady-of-bath for taking my boatload of notes and reformatting them to look like scripts again ❤)

(Also apologies that some passages are split across two images; that just means they were long enough that they spanned two pages and I couldn’t be bothered splicing them back together so I just embedded them here as separate image files. I promise I didn’t cut/remove anything; images not separated by a line of dashes should be read as one continuous snippet 😊).

2) The second thing I ought to clarify is that, from my understanding, the drafts I read were final drafts. These were scripts submitted to the guild just prior to storyboarding, voice acting, animating etc. As I read them, I noticed that the only changes to the script that I could tell were non-dialogue related - so things like, descriptions of the characters’ actions, movements, facial expressions/body language, what you can or can’t see in the shot, etc. Otherwise, voice lines have been essentially kept intact. This suggests to me that the changes made to the script after submission to the guild, were also made after lines had been recorded, possibly even after scenes had been storyboarded. It also suggests that the scripts the voice actors read were the same ones I read in that library. (There is one notable exception that I found, a very interesting exception in my opinion, which we’ll get to later.)

While I would have loved to have seen the earlier drafts, to be able to see how the script changed with each revision (including revisions made to the dialogue prior to voice recording), it’s my understanding that the guild rarely ever receives these scripts, and such was the case again this time. I did also have a look to see if they had the ATLA Series Bible, but unfortunately that hadn’t been submitted either. It is what it is. Still, I’m not mad about what I found. :)

And on that note - ONTO THE SCRIPTS!

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I’m going to start off by defending Kataang a bit here. (I know, I know. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the juicy Zutara stuff in due course.) In my 2 hour long video analysis I talked about lack of development being one of the biggest structural problems with Kataang as a ship. Specifically, I showed how you can take the scenes that we know to be “Kataang scenes”, jumble them up so that they appear in a different order than they do in the show, and the end result still makes just as much narrative sense - or maybe even more sense than they did in the show.

Interestingly, the original scripts for these scenes do not fail this test - at least, I don’t think they do. Let’s start at the very beginning:

It’s love at first sight for Aang, which we all knew already. For Katara, it’s less “love” and more “wonder”. But it’s a powerful meeting for both of them. Honestly, this isn’t all that different from how I perceived this scene on television when I watched it.

Let’s continue with the Fortuneteller:

Okay, so again, roughly what we see on television. Katara realizes Aang could be who Aunt Wu was referring to, and is unsure what to make of this. Fair.

Next, the Cave of Two Lovers:

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Unlike in the show, Katara doesn’t blush in this script (I also checked the ending of the script where I remember her blushing again in the show, but the script doesn’t mention any blush, anywhere). However, Katara seems to be taking the possibility of Aang as a love interest a little bit more seriously here. In the show version, they hug, Aang seems a little awkward and is clearly hoping for some closure/confirmation of where they now stand, but Katara doesn’t seem to spare it a second thought - she just yeets it out of there. The slow parting and the “awkward look” these kids share in the script suggests, at least to me, that script!Katara is placing more weight on what just happened than show!Katara does, and she at least seems aware, maybe even nervous, of the fact that sharing a maybe-kiss in a secret love cave might do something to their dynamic that she’s not sure how she feels about yet.

The divergences get more interesting now. Enter The Earth King scene, where Aang attempts to confess his feelings to Katara:

“They both know what he's about to say.”

WELL. Not only did they cut out the “he looks her directly in the eyes” part, but they completely took out any shot that might have indicated a mutual understanding between them, as was written in the script. Instead, we get a deer-in-the-headlights look from Katara, then her head cocks to the side “What is it, Aang?” and then… nothing. Everything about her body language on screen is written to suggest she either has no idea what’s coming, or is doing a great job of playing coy about it.

The cheek-kiss is intact in both versions, however. Let’s keep going.

I didn’t take notes on the Headband. I probably should have, but I didn’t bother because there weren’t really any notable differences between the script version and the show version. What you see is basically what you get - Aang dances with On Ji, Katara is agitated but acts aloof, Aang invites her to dance, she hesitantly accepts, they dance and it’s all very cute. She says “that was some dance party, Aang” and gives him another cheek-kiss at the end. If there were any differences from script to screen, I didn’t spot them.

But there was a pretty big difference for Day of Black Sun:

(By the way, this confirms an earlier version of the rumour that had been based on alleged edits made fairly late in the storyboarding process. Credit to @lady-of-bath for procuring this receipt).

So, what I’m basically getting here is that, in the original script, up until the midpoint of Season 3, the writing was originally heading towards a Kataang conclusion. And actually - you may disagree with me here but you know what? I actually don’t hate this version of Kataang. (So far, anyway).

There were two main issues I had with Kataang - the structure/pacing of it was all over the place, and on a deeper level I felt that the conflict they set up regarding Aang’s character arc and “letting Katara go” were not properly resolved in the show, leading to a lack of cohesion in the storytelling.

Combing through these passages, script!Katara reads way more natural and realistic, to me, than show!Katara. Let’s look at the progression here, from Katara’s side:

She meets an “adorable” boy and forms an instant attachment to him

She sees their dynamic as platonic until a comment from Sokka makes her question whether it will always be so in the future. She doesn’t quite know what to make of this at the time.

She shares a maybe-kiss with him in a secret love cave, and seems to be aware/nervous that their dynamic may change as a result.

Some time later, he works up the courage to confess his feelings with her, and the script makes it clear that she understands what he’s trying to say and may even have been anticipating it.

They go to a party where Katara is moody seeing Aang dance with someone else. Then Aang asks Katara onto the floor, and they dance, and Katara seems genuinely pleased/delighted.

Finally, just before the eclipse, he kisses her. She may not have been expecting it, but her reaction (smiling after him as he flies away) shows she didn’t see it as unwelcome.

If Kataang were actually written like this, I think that would solve the structural problems of the ship that really bothered me, and I probably wouldn’t have stopped shipping them. It’s very clear to me that taking any of these scenes, as written, and jumbling them out of order, would completely mess up the steady (if subtle) progression of Katara 1) seeing Aang as a potential love interest, 2) understanding he sees her as one, and finally 3) realising she does actually return his feelings.

It also makes Katara feel much more like a real person, and less of an objective for Aang to try to reach in a “two steps forward, one step back” sort of situation.

I think, even then, I still would have shipped Zutara as well, because I don’t think the symbolism and depth to Zutara can be beat. But I’m pretty sure I would have kept a soft spot for Kataang, for the fluff. At least, I wouldn’t be strongly opposed to it. My position would likely be “eh, there’s flaws, and it probably could have been written better, and I think writing Zutara instead would have been more compelling and thematically satisfying but you know what, this is cute. I get it.”

Of course, that’s before we get to the second half of Season 3, where Kataang goes from oscillating in place to taking a nose-dive out of ... nowhere.

And in a way that seems to seriously contrast with how the ship had been written from Cave of Two Lovers to Day of Black Sun, the downward spiral of Kataang coinciding with a deepening friendship/connection for Zutara - seems to be exacerbated in the original script.

Remember how uncomfortable it was to watch Ember Island Players in the show?

...

It’s quite a bit worse here.

Aang comes off significantly less sympathetic in this version of the episode. Here he is, looking at Katara “accusingly”, and even “glaring” at her, because the actress playing her on stage is flirting with actor!Zuko. Why is he so angry, and at her? And meanwhile, she “pretends not to notice”? Ick.

I’ll be honest, I never had a strong opinion of Aang being “possessive” in this scene. I understand why other people did, and I totally see where they’re coming from with that. Personally though, I kind of gave him the benefit of the doubt and just perceived him as immature, not really getting it, and I always perceived his jealousy to be more hapless than disturbing. This is just my personal opinion, but I felt that their clash in this episode was more indicative of a lack of compatibility and understanding between them than anything else, and obviously I think the non-con kiss was wrong, but generally I didn’t think the kid had bad intentions - I just saw him as... too young, to be honest. He did get pushy and demanding, and either way Katara deserved better, but with Aang, I kind of understood it to be stemming from hope/desperation rather than anger/entitlement.

The writing here, however, does not leave room for me to be charitable. Aang hearing Actor!Zuko suggest that Katara was supposed to be “the Avatar’s girl”, and glaring at Katara as if to say “Yeah!” - I don’t know how to read this as anything other than possessiveness. Yikes on a cracker.

ALSO, did you notice that Zuko and Katara don’t scoot away from each other in this version? Read it again; the absence of that bit escaped me on my first read-through. (Credit to @zutarawasrobbed for spotting that difference!) Zuko and Katara are still sitting next to each other here (the earlier “I wanted to sit here/Just sit next to me, what’s the big deal?” scene is still intact), and all it says about Katara is that she’s pretending not to notice Aang simmering at her from two seats away. Wow.

The non-con kiss is kept intact and most of it is just dialogue so there isn’t much deeper insight to gain from the script, though again, Aang comes off more explicitly volatile/angry at the end of it:

Later, Aang rejoins the group in the theater, and sees Actress!Katara reach a goofy platonic understanding with Actress!Aang, and reacts to this with chagrin and embarrassment. There is no reference to Katara averting her gaze from the screen in a sad or awkward manner, as how she does in the show.

Overall, I find that Kataang looks worse here, a lot worse than in the show. The omission of Zuko and Katara’s “awkward scoot” is intriguing as well. To be honest, I never perceived “the scoot” to be explicit confirmation or denial of any potential attraction between them (that clip can genuinely be read two ways depending on what trope you’re trying to invoke; neither are inherently invalid), however, the fact that it wasn’t originally written but was added in later... that’s interesting.

Some of you might be forming some opinions by this point. I have some of my own as well, though I want to hold off on them for now. Let’s have a bit of a palate-cleanser with the snippet of Zuko sharing some vulnerability with Katara before we move on:

❤

Now I am going a bit out of order here - I know that EIP actually happens after The Boiling Rock/The Southern Raiders, but as I was already on the topic of the Kataang arc, I decided to continue with that before I delved into the other episodes. So now we’re going back a little bit, chronologically.

(Also, you know me, gotta save the best for last 😉)

Ultimately I had a very brief look through The Boiling Rock, and nothing really jumped out at me - except for this bit:

I can’t be the only one tickled at the idea that Zuko just yeets himself out of that prison cell and doesn’t seem to spare Mai a second thought 😂 (if you’ll recall, the show has the two of them share a glance through the cell window after Mai yells “Get off of me!”; Zuko looks apparently apologetic/sad while Mai just glares at him). I know people have pointed out how amusing it is that Zuko seems to forget about Mai completely after TBR, right up until their last scene together, but the way this scene is scripted here just makes it even funnier to me.

But I know which episode it is that you guys all want to read.

*record scratch*

Oh ho HO, what have we here Elizabeth Ehasz 😉

Next up - Part 2: The Southern Raiders, The Finale, and What I Think About it All

#atla #atla original scripts #zutara #kataang critical #writers guild foundation #part 1 of probably 3 parts #will try to get out part 2 asap #thank you so much for your wonderful patience #stay tuned!#text post #long post

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