#zuko and aangs dynamic is also really good so far

[lolabearwrites]

Half way through the live action and I have to say, there is a lot of potential in this. The actors are pretty good, the effects as well. There are genuinely funny/sad moments. You can tell they are actually trying to bring Avatar to life.

I think the biggest problem this show has is telling instead of showing. And clunky dialogue. If they tweak stuff I feel like this show could go from mediocre to genuinely decent.

[byoldervine]

The Trick To Writing Filler

(TL;DR at the bottom)

Filler is when you spend a chapter padding the length of your story between plot-related events. Filler chapters have little to no impact on the overarching plot and can be self-contained, and thus in TV shows filler episodes are often reran the most as people unfamiliar with the show can casually watch without being confused without the knowledge of prior plot beats

So with the chapter being largely self-contained and acting outside of the plot, what do you use to make the filler chapter engaging? I’m going to use filler episodes from Avatar: The Last Airbender to provide examples

1. Worldbuilding. Zuko Alone depicts Zuko’s travels taking him through an Earth Kingdom village and becoming acquainted to the family that allows him to stay with them, especially their young son. He learns about what the Fire Nation’s impact on this village has been; destroyed houses, families torn apart, constant robbery and other abuses of power and injustices. And even after Zuko defends the villagers and his new friend, he’s venomously cast out from the village by even the little boy because he outed himself as a firebender. This episode explored the impact of the war on the people of the Earth Kingdom, the victims of war that have no involvement in it and no way of defending themselves from it

2. Character exploration. In The Beach, we learn more about Mai, Ty Lee, Azula and Zuko and how their own traumas and personal upbringings have impacted their personalities. For Zuko this is part of a turning point for him, but for the girls it’s more to understand why they are the people we’ve gotten to know over the seasons, especially Ty Lee and Mai. The episode also serves to showcase how Azula and Zuko are so out of place being just normal teenagers; Azula has no idea how to talk to her peers and no identity outside being Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, while Zuko’s hotheadedness and jealousy issues lead him to lash out and be far too confrontational and controlling for his own good. This episode isn’t really used to develop these characters, or at least not the girls, but instead explains and showcases their behaviours and the reasons behind them

3. Character development. Going back to The Beach, Zuko does indeed receive development rather than just character exploration like the girls do; he comes to understand that he’s not just angry at the world or angry in general, but angry with himself. This is a notable turning point for Zuko’s redemption arc, because he now understands fully that he truly regrets betraying Iroh and sacrificing his new start in life in favour of returning to the Fire Nation. He might not yet be fully decided on turning his back on Ozai, but without this moment I don’t know if he’d have gotten there, or at least not as quickly as he did

4. Relationship development. Sokka’s Master has a C plot of Aang, Katara and Toph all being rather bored and lost without Sokka’s presence. The A plot exploring Sokka’s feelings of inadequacy and uselessness in comparison to such powerful and formidable bending masters being contrasted with the Gaang unable to function without him already speaks volumes about their dynamics, but looking deeper into the C plot also shows how much value Sokka really does bring to the team; structure, planning, humour, a quick wit, strategic moves. The Gaang always supported Sokka and never seemed to view him as expendable outside of the occasional teasing, but having it acknowledged so clearly and plainly that they can feel a little aimless and flat without Sokka and being so delighted when he returns really shows us the kind of value Sokka brings to this team and brings us and the characters to further appreciate it

5. Downtime. The Ember Island Players depicts the characters taking a break to watch a comedic play based on their wacky adventures, only to be largely underwhelmed and displeased by how they’re portrayed. There are no stakes to this episode and barely any plot, just the Gaang taking a breather as they react to a bad play. This chance to relax and watch something inconsequential is just as important to the viewers as we’ve got the show’s finale in the next four episodes, which will be very plot-driven and intense. The Ember Island Players also has the additional viewer bonus of recapping the events of the show right before it all ends, giving the viewers time to reflect on the journey they’ve gone on with these characters. In order for the stakes to feel high and the tension to rise, there has to be downtime where there are low stakes and low tension; if things are intense all the time, the moments that are supposed to feel super intense will just feel average in comparison. Resetting that intensity right before such a big event while still acknowledging the looming threat coming soon will feel like the calm before the storm and allow your audience to soak it all up like the characters are

Wow, did I just go through all that without talking about Tales of Ba Sing Se? I’ll save that for another post if people are interested in more

TL;DR - filler provides a moment to breathe, reset the intensity levels the audience are experiencing and take a chance to step away from the external conflict (the overarching plot) in favour of worldbuilding and the characters within your setting. Small moments can amount to something big, and can help make large scale decisions or plot twists feel more build-up and in-character

[nerdiqueen]

hang on I have to rant

if you're not already aware, the five-man band is a literary device used to classify teams of 5 characters. it's what I call an external trope, meaning that you fit the trope to the characters, they don't innately have it.

a:tla has a pretty solid one, and it's well known enough, so I'm gonna use it to show you what I mean

it is comprised of:

the Leader, who directs the group and is usually the main character (aang)

the Lancer, who serves as character foil to the Leader and is often a bad-guy-turned-good or rogue element (zuko)

the Big Guy, who solves physical problems for the team and is frequently a goofball (toph)

the Smart Guy, who solves technical/logistical problems for the team and typically serves as an "idea guy" (sokka)

and the Heart, who solves emotional problems for the team- if there's only one girl, she's probably the Heart (katara)

there are three star wars groups I want to look at: delta squad, domino squad, and clone force 99.

first is domino squad, as they fit this trope the easiest.

fives is the Leader, the most strategizing one in the group

droidbait is the Lancer, far less cautious and more prone to injury than the others (the foil to fives' effectiveness)

hevy is the Big Guy, serving the oh-so-common "big gun demolitions expert" variant

echo is the Smart Guy, in the "guys, come on, stick to the PLAN" variant

cutup is the Heart, lightening the mood with jokes (hence the name)

the first to die is droidbait, leaving echo to serve as fives' foil, which allows us to see that fives is probably the most prototypical clone of the bunch. then hevy sacrifices himself, and cutup gets eaten, leaving only fives and echo until the Citadel arc which I haven't yet seen.

then we have delta squad. the thing about delta squad is that there are four of them, and while the four-man band is a thing, they make this perfect incomplete five-man band that I think is really really tasty.

boss (player character) is the Leader, guiding the team

sev is the Lancer, playing the "snarky rogue" archetype

scorch is the Big Guy, again the "big gun demolitions" variant- but with the added flavor of being very by-the-book (which we see the consequences of when he aligns with not only the empire but doctor hemlock himself in tbb)

fixer is the Smart Guy, tech expert

notice anything?

there's no Heart.

and that works. these are clone commandos- meant to be the most effective troops the republic has. they almost never interact socially outside of their squad, and when they do it's kept pretty professional.

we see that again in clone force 99, or as they call themselves, the bad batch

hunter is the Leader, his enhanced senses leaving him the most generalist of the batch (and also he's technically their sergeant)

crosshair is the Lancer, a "silent, ruthless efficiency" type

wrecker is the Big Guy, "big gun demolitions" variant yet again (I told you it was common) in the goofball flavor

tech is the Smart Guy, btw he's really well done and it never feels like he just "knows because he's smart" you can always tell how he figures things out

again, there's no Heart. but wait.

in the Bad Batch arc in clone wars, they pick up another member- echo. we don't see much of echo's interaction with the batch in that arc, but when we come back, echo is solidly in a sort of almost-but-not-quite Heart role. and then.

omega shows up in the "sixth ranger" role, there to shake up the group dynamic. throughout season one, we see omega slowly take over echo's role as Heart- and as this happens, it becomes clear that that was the role he was playing, as he talks hunter through how to best take care of omega. but omega, tagalong kid as she is, is much, much more suited to the Heart role than echo, and she takes his place- which allows echo to run off and have his own adventures with rex throughout seasons two and three, WHICH WORKS because echo is a regular clone who joined the batch later in life and thus isn't quite the same as the others, but omega is a deviant clone just like them!

[aangarchy]

I have enjoyed your thoughts on the Netflix adaption so far and I have to say we're basically on the same page. But I have found so far that episode 6 was my favourite episode by far. And I put that mainly down to the Aang and Zuko stuff. The fact they left it mostly untouched and just added to it felt really good to me. I also might hold a controversial opinion here but I feel like the chemistry between them in this episode is the strongest of any dynamic in this live action so far.

Oh no you are absolutely correct. I love the chemistry between Dallas and Gordon both on and off screen. It really feels like they're long lost brothers, Dallas really took Gordon in like family (especially seeing the clips of them at the tudum event where Dallas and Gordon did all the red carpet interviews together)

I loved the Blue Spirit chapter in this live action, and i am repeating myself but YES it absolutely is because they barely changed it. I loved Ken Leung's performance in this episode and honestly i kind of wished the fight to get out of the fortress lasted longer. Both Gordon and Dallas are really good at martial arts, so this fight felt the most like an Avatar fight out of all of the ones i had seen thus far. Even the change they did make, which is the conversation Zuko and Aang have while Zuko recovers, it was so good! I loved the way they played off of each other and it felt so naturally awkward bc these two are supposed to be enemies and they're just chatting.

My reviews of this LA are a lot of negative, and i understand that may not be fun to read for everyone, so please know that i do have some positive things to say about the live action.

I get a lot of people saying "you couldn't have possibly expected everything would be the same? Stop comparing to the original!" And to that all i have to say is: no, i obviously did not expect everything to be the same and i did expect things to be left out. BUT i was rooting for the changes they'd add to make sense and they mostly don't. If it were changes that didn't flip the whole dynamic between characters or disregard the point the original was trying to make i'd be happy, but that's not the case here. Also i will not stop comparing to the original bc this show is based on the original atla. Why in the hell would i not compare?? It's not like this is a completely different show with no relation to the original, and neither is it a spinoff within the same universe? It doesn't make sense not to compare!

Anyway review for 7 & 8 is underway but i'm still struggling with the format of the post and getting my incoherent messy notes into, y'know, english

[paragonrobits]

i have to admit one of the most genuinely unsettling developments in fandom recently has been fans reading a book where Gyatso muses about spreading their teachings to other nations and immediately assuming they mean in exactly the same way as colonial proselyting rather than simply... well, spreading their teachings without it being the same thing as imposing their culture on others

and, for that matter, saying that Gyatso is as bad as Sozin for thinking that inspiring others to embrace pacifism would be a good idea.

That Gyatso is as bad as Sozin.

That a wise monk is as bad as the genocidal warmonger and conquering imperialist who wiped out Gyatso's people and began a hundred year war of conquest and cultural destruction.

That Gyatso was as bad as the person who outright genocided Gyatso's people. And the worst part about it is that this seems to be largely a negative response from people in fandom who are getting very quick to excuse the Fire Nation as not 'really' being fascist or colonizing or demonize the Air Nomads (again, the civilization of pacifist monks that were genocided to such a degree that its the whole reason the original series is called 'The Last Airbender', because the others are all dead) or accuse the Air Nomads as deserving to be wiped out, or conclude that teaching others if they are receptive to it is the same thing as explicitly stamping out cultural practices and ways of life (which, again, the Fire Nation is explicitly doing), or insisting that the Air Nomads are outright racist while claiming the Fire Nation is neither racist or classist (despite a standard insult from Zuko and Azula at their most antagonistic is constantly demeaning Katara or Sokka as 'peasants', or other Fire Nation characters referring to the Water Tribes as 'barbarians' and 'savages', or referring to Earthbending in equally demeaning terms)

Its largely from parts of fandom that has been increasingly growing more insular and saying things like this for a while, growing defensive of the Fire Nation (my guess is because they're often based in shipping arguments that have increasingly come to focus on their cultures and were already favoring the Fire Nation for its sense of power and luxury, which is constantly emphasized in the most common ship dynamics by some groups), and I think that its just kept escalating until we're now at the position where you're getting people saying "the Fire Nation was right to genocide the Air Nomads' and its horrifying to hear, but also unsurprising. Some of these particularly extreme aspects of fandom have already been in this base for a while.

It's unsettling to see them mask off so violently, but its not surprising. Acting like Gyatso is more evil than the genocidal warmonger who winds up killing him because of his dislike for the Fire Nation's racist views (established in other stuff as far predating the Hundred Year War, and leading up to it) and contemplating teaching people in other nations is exactly the same thing as coercive missionaries with colonial intentions.

It's honestly come full circle from the canon of the series being that the Air Nomads were a tragic first victim of the Fire Nation's war and Aang, their last survivor, must end that war, to these outspoken fandom people insisting the Fire Nation did nothing wrong, that they were justified in burning all the Air Nomads alive, and that Aang is the true villain of the setting, largely because of dislike of him from shipping purposes or being angry that the series didn't abruptly detour at the last second into a 'killing everyone who gets in your way is moral and never has long-term consequences' story that is antithetical to the series' big emphasis on harmony, long-term consequences, and that doing things spiritually is more important than getting them done quicker.

[azure-firecracker]

ATLA Live Action Stream of Consciousness (Episode 2, Part 1).

Hang on this show is rated PG? Did they not see the people burning alive last episode?

The fire nation theme with a full orchestra goes so hard. I need Azula’s version too.

Zuko tearing up the room looking for his fucking diary while Iroh just fails to calm him down is peak 16 year old and his dad core and I’m living for it. I, too, want to smash stuff when my beloved things go missing.

Zuko’s right, Aang is a coward which is good because he’s nuanced! Now the show should acknowledge that.

We’re going to Kyoshi island yay!

Another good Katara monologue. They seem to have grasped the hopeful aspect of her character well (and it’s clearly in Kiawentiio’s acting wheelhouse). Now let her break stuff!

Wait if Aang can fly why did he fall out of the sky in the last episode?

On the Waterbending Scroll: @juniperhillpatient talked about this in a great post so I’ll link that here.

The Gyatso memorial was a really nice touch. I think Gordon’s acting was slightly flat (emphasis on slightly) but the way his voice broke on the last line broke me. Since it’s the first time I’ve had anything bad to say about his acting, I’ll give it a pass.

I will say idk if it’s sets of CGI but the whole setting is gorgeous. I’m glad their budget let them add in those details that we didn’t get in the cartoon.

Yay Iroh comedy! Give him more!

They nailed Zuko and Iroh’s dynamic. No complaints. Also since the main trio is less funny (which is fine) the comic relief is much needed.

Kyoshi Warrior makeup looks awesome!

Ooh Suki’s mom is here! And Suki getting some more background/development, always love! Not sure if I would have called “kindness” one of her core traits but it’s not like she wasn’t kind. She didn’t have much characterization to begin with besides “cool strong girl!” so I like that she gets a softer side.

Sokka’s fangirling over Suki this is cute and also hilarious. And Suki is EVISCERATING him with her skills.

Iroh is comedy gold (makes sense since I know this actor has a background in comedy) This episode overall is lighter which I think is a nice break since last episode was pretty intense.

Zhao seems like less of an asshole right off the bat. Is he sneaky or just watered down? (Like Katara-no I won’t shut up about her).

Shirtless Sokka was not necessary I want everyone to stay far away from over sexuality the teenage characters I don’t care that some of them look over Netflix don’t Netflix this.

I like that we’re expressing Aang’s grief more overtly. Something the original couldn’t do.

I find Aang and Katara’s friendship really wholesome.

Katara talking about Aang knowing how to connect…BUT THAT WAS KATARA’S THING. Why are they taking her good traits and giving them to her male friends istg.

Suki is so cool I love her definitely no character crush here. Her literally being like “I like this boy. Obviously the logical choice is to show him my fighting skills” she’s so real for that.

“Only justice will bring peace” - please tell me Katara being the one to read that line is important because thematically it’s a very Katara line.

Aang’s backstory with people being scared of him and losing control is an interesting new touch that I think could be used really well. (Also seeing some Azula parallels especially with the “lucky” thing but I don’t think I’m that lucky).

I do miss Sokka’s Kyoshi Warrior uniform. The tension though! A little more of a mature tone than the original and idk how much I want to lean into sexual tension of any kind but the characters are 16 so I thiiink I’m okay with this but NETFLIX IF YOU OVERSEXUALIZE THEM ALL I WILL COME FOR YOU!!

Part 2 coming soon!

[harrowscore]

*rubs hands* hehehe, off to a new ship game (¬‿¬): Zu//toph, Azu//aang, Iru//chani, Stilgar//Jessica, Historia//Ymir, Ere//min

oh, these are all good choices! let's see:

zutoph: i kinda ship it ngl. not nearly as much as i ship zutara but it's cute. i've never really thought/cared about it but... i can see it. toph and zuko's personalities mix in a very interesting way!

azulaang: SHIP IT. okay i have a confession to make: this is my atla otp, literally zutara whomst lmao. it's got the optimistic ray of sunshine but with a badass side hero + evil bastard sadcore villain, except now the stereotypical gender roles are inverted. finally some juicy stuff for a female villain! also, i love azula - she's by far my favorite atla character.

iruchani: kinda ship it, yes. i can totally see it - the wife & the other woman, but chani is the real wife in all but name while irulan stands doll-like by paul's side, aware she's being used and moved like a chess piece wherever he wants. so with paul being... you know. paul (i love him but lmao), i think she deserves some hot lesbian sex. like, good for them both tbh

stilgar/jessica: okay, this is just hot. maybe it's the javier bardem+rebecca ferguson combo that makes it so. maybe it's the reverend mother/unhinged follower of her dark messiah-like son dynamic. maybe because she needs to have good nasty sex after leto's death. but yeah - as i said, hot.

yumihisu: MY BABIES. seemingly opposites who can see their own reflections and pain in each other's eyes + monster romance (kinda; they certainly gave off some beauty&thebeast vibes when ymir was in her titan form) + the queen & her knight/protector... delicious, delicious dynamic. unironically yams' best canon romance lmao. i also like erehisu, but i do prefer her with ymir. the tragedy just adds to the pair imo.

eremin: OH MY GOD. my second snk otp!!! what can i say... childhood friends to enemies to friends again + soulmateism + eren's view of the world (that is going to shape the entirety of the plot) changes through armin's influence/he literally turns into a titan for the first time to save armin & is so ridiculously physical in his affection for him + opposites who are also complements + "i would burn the whole world for you" vibes. god they make me insane. one good thing about the anime ending was the final scene between them - i mean, the hug. tenderly holding each other in a literal sea of blood. "i will burn in hell with you" anyone?? HELLO????? also: my hot take is that they are vastly superior to e.reri (that i always thought as overrated) and only e.ruri can compare among the snk slash pairings... maybe. AH! and that eren should have been in love with armin, nothing about that ~i realized i'm in luuuurv with the girl who lives and breaths just for me only after i had a titan vision of the future from god~ nonsense, it was so badly written it makes me cry onion-style whenever i think about it.

thanks a lot for the ask, dear ❤️

[old-people-like-avatar]

Netflix Avatar the Last Airbender -- S1E3 Omashu Review [Spoilers]

Episode 3 of the show was noticeably weaker than the first two, unfortunately.

THE GOOD

Appa, yip yip! The way Gordon Cormier's face totally lit up when he said this was just pure joy and the embodiment of Aang.

Commander Zhao: I continue to be interested in Zhao's failure in officer training and scheming/conniving. More of this please.

Fire Nation resistance: I appreciated the introduction of the idea of Fire Nation rebels, planting the seed that not all Fire Nation citizens are bad. I also liked that Azula was instrumental in rooting them out and destroying them. Because of course she would be. And of course Ozai would roast them all alive.

THE I-APPRECIATED-WHAT-THEY-WERE-DOING-BUT-NOT-SURE-THEY-PULLED-IT-OFF

Jet/Katara: There was a lot to like about this dynamic. Jet had swagger. He had decent lines. "That's the price of freedom." They also had a good scene where they shared their pain and Jet helped Katara access her feelings for waterbending. But the "innocent people are going to die" line really didn't land with me because, well, no one died in the explosion we saw earlier in the episode. The explosion seemed kind of... small?

It makes no sense that Zuko/Iroh went to Omashu. I like seeing Zuko and Iroh together and seeing their dynamic develop. And they probably needed to get these characters there to set up later developments. But story-wise, in universe, it makes absolutely no sense that they went into an Earth Kingdom stronghold. Like what?

THE BAD

Clunky, terrible dialogue continues: "I just want to help people!" "One person at a time!" Wince.

Teo/Mechanist: Wooden, wooden, wooden. I hated all of their lines. All of them. These characters were flat and less than two-dimensional.

My cabbages: I love the Cabbage Merchant, but he just did not translate here in the live action. "My cabbages" felt totally off and like random pointless fan service, which it was, sadly.

UNKNOWN

Azula and sibling rivalry...? "He's done the impossible." Not sure whether this will pay off, but they have framed Ozai as playing Azula and Zuko off each other and Azula to be motivated by sibling rivalry. It's a different take and I am interested in seeing where it goes.

Zuko: Dallas Liu is doing an admirable job. I like what the actor is doing with the role. But... character Zuko thus far has not done much to earn cred with the audience. He's threatened to kill both Sokka and Katara in a rage. So far he's fully in villain camp with not much shading. Am willing to let this continue to play out before judging.

Onto the next one...

[releasemefromthevoid]

MY ATLA LIVE ACTION S1E2 THOUGHTS

EP1 - EP3

We all know that ATLA’s character arcs and just. character building in general is one of if not its absolute biggest strength. This show has a lot to live up to on that front, and if it can manage it, then that’s all the better. I’ll probably be critical of this aspect in particular, keeping in mind that this is generally meant to be an alternate canon which leads to Some changes in order to fit a shorter form.

Without going too far into it, I’ll say I will continue to be a little worried about the new spin on Aang’s character arc until I can see it play out all the way through. 

I’m also a bit worried about Zuko’s character. He seems a bit more willing to hurt people than in the cartoon, so I think they’re gonna have to play that pretty carefully moving forward. 

There are, of course, some things they’re doing incredibly well. Zhao’s character is On Point, and Suki feels about right too. I also am generally liking how they’re adapting plot points so far. There’s at least one episode from the original cartoon that I can tell won’t be adapted because of something in this episode, and it feels natural enough, I guess. I don’t have too many complaints on that front. 

Stay tuned for episodes 3-8! Live reactions/spoilers under the cut!

really fucks with me to not start with The Monologue

still don’t know how i feel about this iroh yet. is it just bc he isn’t mako? idk it’s like. uncanny valley iroh

also still not a fan of aang being so serious already. hopefully there will be a substantial enough character arc to replace that

katara so far is reading the most like the original to me

MOMO

gran gran. just had a waterbending scroll?? i mean. i guess. bringing back the southern waterbending style. i do think i like the original more in this case, it’s just a little more horrifying to have that style basically wiped out completely. that being said this is definitely a way to consolidate the waterbending scroll episode right? i shouldn’t expect to see pirates?

ok the iroh and zuko dynamic in the marketplace was on point

there is NO unagi, where is she

SUKI!!! suki looks GREAT no notes.

suki’s. mom? interesting.

kyoshi island seems a lot less welcoming to aang, even though they know he is in fact the avatar, which does a lot to remind us that they were supposed to be a neutral party in the war. this is not a bad change

zhao definitely has the right vibes

omg, suki 😭get some queen

okay so we finally get to see aang being a kid for a minute (please just let them be kids sometimes it’s okay)

SUKI IS EATING AND LEAVING NO CRUMBS. love that we still get the classic suki beats sokka’s ass scene

oh,, is that what they’re doing with aang in this series?? not a learning to be serious thing,, he’s learning to deal with the fact that he is powerful and he has to control that so he doesn’t hurt people. that’s interesting, so i’ll reserve judgment until it plays out. it just. doesn’t feel the same

the sukki romance is almost playing out in a more believable way than the cartoon, so that’s pretty great

so like. what happened to avatar roku? is he just gonna be replaced with kyoshi? like she’s a badass and we love her, but. why?

sokka is not hearing a goddamn word suki is saying. he is Too Entranced. i have never been more on board with this ship

how are they dealing with this without the unagi

gotta say the spirit world appearance is really cool. chromatic aberration was a good choice

oh yikes kyoshi that’s a bit harsh. i miss roku

was zuko. about to kill katara?? he would never. tell me he would never.

ok so this is a winter solstice at the fire temple moment. happening now so it doesn’t have to with roku later? interesting.

“only call upon the past avatars when i’m at their shrines” lol okay. fair enough. roku did Not adhere to that in show

zuko’s digging himself a hole with zhao here. bro IMMEDIATELY called the fire lord

ngl i’m loving this iteration of zhao. absolutely despicable vile man. hate that guy. great character. 

liking: SUKI <3, Zhao's characterization, set designs, sokka and suki's relationship

worried about: aang's character, zuko's character

disliking: roku's absence (though i do love kyoshi, god bless), no unagi :(

[starfinss]

mmm see that's what i was also trying to figure out. So far I've thought that maybe the gang is getting annoyed how they throw shade and purposely do petty things to each other that it's now effecting the group dynamic/missons?

ex. reader was tasked to get food but ended up "accidentally" not get enough for Zuko Zuko heated up water for everyone and gave the extremely hot water to her OR he heats up her food til it's slightly more overcooked/burnt than the others constantly bickering over what to do during strategy meetings cause they always disagree with one another

then Sokka or Aang (cause I feel either or be the one to crack and really set the severity of the situation in place) finally snaps and tricks them into going on a "hunting trip" by taking Appa and bringing them FAR from camp and dump their asses there to "learn how to work with each other" and he will come back to get them in 2 days OR if they can work together well enough to come back by foot on their own.

Maybe during this time they start to slowly open up to each other about their differences/past.

mmmm waterbender reader be cool cause the water and fire thing but tbh I think non-bender be better since then you could add that the reader in some way feels "useless/not important" to the group since they don't carry much to the group and only there because of their relation to Sokka and Katara or maybe they're friends with Toph and find out about her escape plan and tracked her? (not sure what to add to that part)

IM JUST WRITING THIS ALL AS I THINK TBH

Hmmmmmmmmm.

I love the hunting trip idea, that’s perfect, I’ll use that. I think the story is beginning to really take a solid shape. I’ve sort of divided it into three distinct parts— the beginning, with the bickering and the hunting trip, the middle, with them being emotionally tone deaf idiots, and the end, where the Gaang gets extra fed up with them being clueless idiots in love with each other, Toph traps them in an earth tent to talk it out, and then they do the do. It’ll probably be about three chapters in length.

As for the bender thing, you raised some interesting points. The relation to Sokka and Katara makes me think her being a waterbender would be cool, because Katara is a powerhouse prodigy child, and it’s easy to feel inferior when you’re on the same team as her and the fucking Avatar, who has mastery of not only your element but two of the others, with a pretty good grasp on firebending to boot. She’s surrounded by powerful benders, and feels like she’s not really giving much to the team, so she’s not confident in her own bending, or something like that. Maybe that could also be one of the reasons she gets along so poorly with Zuko in the beginning: he’s yet another very powerful bender, and she feels like she’s not strong enough in comparison even more so than she did before.

If you hate that and want to shoot that down, feel free, lol, I’m just saying what I’m thinking. She can totally be a non-bender if you like, I just think what I mentioned would be an interesting angle to go at it from.

[ikuzeminna]

Who are your top 5 favorite atla characters

This might surprise you, anon, but this is a difficult question for me. By the way, I hope you’re a Gundam Wing fan who noticed me in the ATLA tag and not someone from the ATLA fandom just asking me a question because boy, is this gonna be an introduction to my blog.

I can tell you my favorite character right off the bat, which is Toph. She’s cool, and badass, and sarcastic, and wise, and self-deprecating, and saving the day left and right, and just all around awesome. That is to say, she is a joy to watch and there isn’t a single scene in the series where I’m annoyed by her. What is also in stark contrast to Aang is her commitment to improving herself. Toph is introduced as one of the strongest benders in the series, but does that stop her from evolving? No. She confronts and masters her weaknesses, sandbending and metalbending, going so far as to invent the latter to do so. This is what keeps her from being an obnoxious Mary Sue, even though she can take down armies by herself; Toph earns her strength. Unlike a certain someone who is only the strongest because he has the glowy uber mode.

Number 2 would be Katara, who provides a very nice example of a rich and complex character, who also gets to have a very unique relationship with the former villain, Zuko. She gets a lot of really good writing, which is the reason I like her so much. The contrast between her Book 1 self and her Book 2 self and onward is also very interesting to observe, as we get to see what a healthy serving of self-confidence can do for Katara as a character and for her personality. She isn’t exactly different, but there is a noticeable level of maturity added with her mastery of waterbending. She also gets the most emotionally intense episodes. A Katara episode is always a good episode.

From here on though, it gets difficult.

Zuko is somewhere on the list of favorites, too, but only if I ignore the annoying parts, the greatest being the obsession with Iroh. I’m not gonna launch into a rant, because that would be a 20 pages long essay on its own, but know that no other character in the history of media has ever held my ire to the level Iroh does, not just on his own, but for the way he ruins other characters, too. Seeing him gets the same response from me the way mentioning the British Museum does to every culture the Brits looted.

Aside from that, one thing that has always gotten on my nerves with Zuko is how we see nothing of his supposed princely background. Running around and throwing temper tantrums to get his way is how a brat acts, not necessarily a prince. Weirdly, they get it right with Azula. You can tell from a mile away that she’s nobility. Zuko? Zuko oscillates between ridiculously crafty and effin’ annoying. There is only one tiny hint I can identify that speaks to a higher standing and that is the way he sits straight. Other than that, nothing. No impressive vocab or signs of higher education or flowery language or sense of perfection and finesse. So another point for bad writing.

I just need two more, right?

Hmm. I’m gonna cheat with those and pick Piandao and Ursa. lol

Piandao, because he is the poster boy for a proper master. He is insanely skilled and seemingly eccentric because he abhors over-inflated egos, being a humble and open-minded person. He teaches Sokka because of his own morality and conviction and seems like someone who genuinely wants to help people. He doesn’t troll people like Bumi, nor does he abandon his nephew to go on a glory crusade. He’s also not a drama queen like Jeong Jeong. He’s a good role model and should have been the sole leader of the White Lotus, seeing as his house is plastered with lotus symbols. And he never should have accepted Iroh and Pakku. >_>

Here is where I run out of truly favorite characters. Ursa is not so much a favorite as she is interesting to me because I’m digging the family dynamics the series hints at. One NATLA picked up, too. It’s not the abuse victim/hostage nonsense the comics threw at us, which is offensive beyond belief, but a wonderfully complex mess that, if added to correctly, can turn Ozai from a flat pancake into a fully rounded character while enriching Zuko and Azula, and provide a parallel to Katara’s and Sokka’s family, too. But I’m gonna spare everyone a lengthy explanation for this, as that could be another post on its own.

Suffice it to say that while Ursa looks like the angel to Ozai’s monster and the series, for whatever reason, tried to paint one bloodline as good while the other is eeevul, it’s her who killed Azulon. Give me all the gray characters.

This should answer your question, anon. Now to blather about the stuff you didn’t ask me for.

~Part deux~

As I said in the beginning, picking five favorite characters in ATLA is difficult for me because I don’t have that many characters I truly like. It’s not that I necessarily hate them, I just don’t care about most characters.

Like, I don’t care for Sokka. He's the comedic relief, okay, whatever. If he gets a moment of awesome, it feels unearned. Him being touted as a great leader makes me laugh since the series implies it’s because he’s suddenly the only one who can read a map. He’s horribly written. Everything is rushed, from his romance with Yue to his one-day mastery of swordsmanship. That crap takes years. Never mind him getting a super special awesome space sword that’s practically a lightsaber. So it’s not even his own skill?

Same thing with Suki. I’m not bothered by her character the way Sokka annoys me (I do, in fact, dislike him when the series over-inflates his worth) but she’s just not interesting enough for me to care about her. Her being tethered to Sokka does her no favors in my book either. If you remove every scene where she interacts with him, is there any screen time left for her?

Aang is a can of worms. I like goofy Book 1 Aang. I absolutely loathe Bryke’s self-insert Book 3 Aang. And don’t even get me started on the shipping. It’s like pairing kid Goku with teen Bulma. Just, no.

So do I like Ozai then? No. Unless I make him interesting, he’s boring. Azula started out very strong, but then fell apart because the show decided to strangle itself with binaries. She’s also incredibly isolated, having only pancakes and her brother in her orbit. Mai and Ty Lee are flat. Jet got killed off before he had the chance to develop layers. That leaves me liking blank slates like Kanna. Yes, I will prefer the stock character over the badly written, flat ones.

This may all sound like I don’t like the series or, at the very least, don’t enjoy it, but that’s not the case. I have plenty of episodes I watch and rewatch because it is a fun show and I don’t need to like all the characters to enjoy an episode’s story. Being flat or inconsistent doesn’t bother me when they can manage to be consistent for an episode at least. And the bending battles are cool to look at. The trouble starts when we take all the series into account because the wasted potential through shoddy writing becomes more apparent, especially towards the end.

When you compare the characters and their writing to the likes of the Gundam Wing cast –and now we swerve to my blog’s main theme– the difference couldn’t be more glaring. This blog is dedicated to one single series, with me writing meta upon meta, sometimes about the most minute detail in one of the first episodes because it’s a hint for something that happens after the series, in the movie following the show, because the level of care to get the characters not just consistent but also massively layered is utterly insane in this show. If you were to make a character relation sheet, you’d just end up connecting everyone because every character gets a unique dynamic with everyone else. And this series doesn’t even focus on the characters. It’s plot-driven. It’s about politics and war.

Ironically, I have a harder time picking a favorite episode in Wing than I would in ATLA because I enjoy the characters in their entirety, which is reflected in the entirety of the series. Wing is hard to watch because it’s not episodic. Some of the coolest moments happen without fanfare. But I’d have no problem listing five favorite characters. Duo at the top because he’s the best, hands down, then Relena, then Wufei, then- wait no, first Meilan, then Wufei. And then it’s a battle between Trowa and Noin, with Dorothy being close behind.

[likeabxrdinflight]

okay episode three was a huge improvement from the first two in a lot of ways. I'm gonna stop here for a bit, I think, cuz I'm not sure I want to binge all of this in one day.

so this one combines "jet" and "the mechanist" with aspects of "the waterbending scroll", but it's set in omashu, which was a great choice. the exposition problem is gone, the dialogue is much better (though aang still talks about "saving the world" a little bit too much), and the kids seem to have settled into their roles more by this point in the shooting. I think the diction might also be improving, but I also have the subtitles on now, so it's harder to tell.

omashu looks incredible. there's colorful markets, the mail system is utilized, it's big and spectacular and feels very alive. I think they combined practical sets with the CGI quite a bit because it really has a lived-in feel to it. probably the best environment they've created thus far. this gives me a lot of optimism for what they'll do with ba sing se if we get a season two.

the plot is...very different. but not bad here. they were able to make this episode flow very well by having jet show up early to help sneak the gaang into omashu. later, while aang is off with teo and sokka is helping the mechanist, katara wanders off with jet to trauma bond and struggle with waterbending. it all comes together as while the mechanist remains a traitor (we think...this is a 'to be continued' kind of episode...), jet's extremist move this time is to attempt to assassinate the mechanist in a move which would kill teo and other innocent people in the process. we see the fall out of jet's actions earlier in the episode too- he bombed a fire nation spy hut, but omashu citizens were caught in the blast.

this is such a better take on jet's extremism, because not only is he potentially harming innocent people, he's harming innocent earth kingdom civilians. there is no argument that he's taking down only enemy combatants or people complicit in the fire nation's war crimes. I suspect some jet fans aren't gonna love it, but if you're gonna have a character come across as an extremist, this is a better way to show that.

they also add a fire nation subplot here- and azula finally shows up! my girl! who colludes with zhao to try and undermine zuko. this version of azula doesn't want zuko back home, at least not yet. elizabeth yu is doing great btw, anyway who was concerned she can't be "evil" enough is...wrong. they're just wrong. she's gonna do scary just fine if they get a season two, don't worry about it.

finally they add a subplot with zuko and iroh sneaking into omashu to find aang. zuko does his impulsive zuko thing where he sets something on fire (it's the cabbages btw) and so in order to protect him, iroh takes the fall and outs himself as a firebender, leading to his capture. this is clearly going to set up the subplot from the animated show where zuko has to go and rescue him.

paul lee's iroh is so good btw, what a phenomenal casting choice. he's doing the most, honestly. the dynamic between him and zuko is perfect. I think he's a much better character than his animated counterpart as he's much more consistent. the white lotus has already been hinted at too. given how much this show is adding, I do wonder if they'll at some point give us a more detailed look at his backstory. we'll see.

I am now curious if they'll ever address his relationship with azula in later seasons but I don't expect that for now

this is obviously very, very different from the animated show, but honestly? anything they did in omashu was likely to be better. "the king of omashu" was one of the weakest episodes in the original, and the way they stitched these disparate episodes together managed to work very well. the themes of both "the mechanist" and "jet," which deal with earth kingdom citizens doing wrong things in the name of survival, freedom, and safety, played off each other nicely. these characters represent two sides of that conflict- the mechanist who is betraying his people to keep himself and his son safe vs jet who will go to any lengths to stop the fire nation, even if innocent people get hurt. and it was a solid way to use the city of omashu as a setting.

a little sad we likely won't get to see the northern air temple, and it does lose the ideas about cultural appropriation that were in the original. jet's story also takes some significant cuts, and his betrayal doesn't quite hit as hard. we also lose a lot with "the waterbending scroll"- we see katara struggling to learn the water whip, but instead of getting pissed at aang and having that whole side story with the pirates, she ends up with jet's gang.

katara is, unfortunately, still the weakest character of the main cast, but she was better here. some of that spark was there this episode, but it's just a shadow of the original. they are doing more with her trauma, however, and at the very least she's not nearly as parentified. this katara is not "motherly." so, there's that. but she's still the weak link of the main cast, I'm afraid.

azula is still my best girl though, and this azula? baby. absolute baby. I would die for her. the hair looks a little fake and I think it might be a wig but I'd still die for her. baby girl. ozai can catch these hands.

I'll have more to say on her later, I want to see the whole season before I talk too much about what they've done with her. but so far, I'm good with it.

[bluewithpurplepolkadots]

I think the thing with Fire Lady portrayals in fanfic isn’t so much the idea that it’s problematic to even write about someone of a colonised area marrying into the coloniser royal family: but the fact that people fail to realise being a Fire Lady is basically akin to being a rich tradwife on TikTok. It’s not, in any way, a power couple dynamic.

A Fire Lady has no political influence beyond the family they came from, the ability to influence their spouse and the future heirs they help make. They don’t have to do any traditional household work or real labour in the home: but only because there are servants/those with less privilege doing the work silently in the background for them. They can (and must) keep themselves busy in other ways.

About the only thing they have further control over is the education it seems of the children. And even then if the Fire Lord disapproves that’s kind of it for them.

Even if you think Zuko would never do something terrible (and I don’t think he would: he’s not his father) it’s still not an equal power dynamic.

And no: Zuko would never be so intuitive to fix this dynamic legally to the best of his abilities unless it’s directly pointed out to him. Zuko simply isn’t a socially intuitive person. He has internal biases and issues and he’s not instinctively a feminist at all (no) or really clued in to social issues beyond now realising ‘imperialism bad’ by the end of the show. This is the guy who calls his opponents little girls before his turnaround and was a bigoted ass to Aang after he joined the gaang. Let’s be realistic here in this cartoon with magic throwing rocks.

But honestly: He’s still a product of his upbringing and it’s not as easy as simply saying ‘I’m good now’. Even knowing something to be true doesn’t necessarily erase your upbringing or how you were raised influencing you subconsciously.

Zuko probably thinks of Ursa as the perfect mother. But she was still someone who espoused and raised him with FN supremist ideas. She was also just a person who according to the comics wasn’t from a high end FN political family with influence and who was working against Ozai and barely hanging on for dear life. And was then banished. Because Ozai had the power to do that and keep her away from her children.

Even if Ozai had been father/spouse of the year he’s still someone who with a snap of his fingers could take away everything from her. So could Zuko. He wouldn’t do that but the fact he even could is going to be discomforting to most characters if they realise this, especially if they’re far from their original home.

Thankfully some (I’d argue most) of these characters would definitely be the type to eventually point it out! But the idea Zuko is emotionally in tune does not work. At all. He also may even sweat over the idea of implementing it or whether his spouse trusts him/thinks he’s like his father: when that isn’t the point at all. (Like I said he’s kind of up his own ass sometimes).

Don’t get me wrong. Even if the dynamic doesn’t change, I think the Fire Lord having a spouse who knows what the hell they’re talking about in the internal politics of their nation and even other nations would be valuable to a Fire Lord and could sway things in their own favour: but they’re not co-leaders. A Fire Lady has no political clout on their own.

I think sometimes fic writers also try to ‘fix’ this by making characters ambassadors if they’re from another nation. But while a useful plot device to keep a character in the Fire Nation and interacting with Zuko a lot: it can probably only be temporary. As soon as they’re connected romantically they’d probably be considered somewhat of a liability/ unable to fully argue for their nation’s interests especially upon being married. It would be a conflict of interest so your’re kind of back on square one. Heck I sometimes wonder them just being friends could end up being an issue in an abassador role before the romancing even starts. But eh I’d let it pass in this instance: especially since in the case of Sokka or Katara the SWT is small. It’s fine to get your pairing started but it’s probably just that something has to give when it does.

I think the only way to ‘fix’ it would be for Zuko to make them co-leaders like the fics pretend they are. But like I said: he would absolutely not think to do this on his own without prompting. There would also possibly be issues especially from the FN itself if he made this change. It would take political finesse and probably people in the FN who know what the fuck they’re doing to guide it so it doesn’t end in an unstoppable rebellion. It’s probably a lot more complicated than Zuko deciding to make it happen even if he is an absolute monarch.

Edit: Another thought. Perhaps another way would be to simply make it easier for the Fire Lord to be arrested if they commit certain crimes or try to hurt their spouse. Who knows. But hard to say if this would be applicable if the Fire Lord implements it themselves. Could they… not also take those restrictions away if they’ve gone that far. Will a hypothetical Fire Lord in the future feel as generous if they suspect an affair or betrayal in some other way. Eh. Food for thought. (/end edit).

And honestly I have to wonder unless the character is someone like: Toph who can do what she wants elsewhere and is even nobility herself: if the person from another nation marrying in would ever be truly happy. And there’s a neat tragedy to that. Sometimes love isn’t enough.

[sora-of-uranus]

I've been so negative to the LA so heres a few things that I genuinely loved. Spoiles ahead. duh.

Sukis eye make up. the yellow blend into red? a nice subtle change to her character design that reallly adds to her

Zuko having those avatar dolls and their eyes lighting up. was cute

Zuko getting so hissy and destroying his room cuss his journal was missing. very relatable, very silly, the way Iroh is just kinda there realllly shows their dynamic well and also shows how Zuko IS just a stressed teenager

all the maps and drawings on the walls. they are very pretty and I'd love to have some of them irl

the entire scene of Suki and Sokka training together. Sokka slowly following her, Suki directing his moves and changing his forms. it felt like a dance and reallly highlighted how beutiful and deadly martial arts can be. it was also just filmed very sweetly with little noise beyond a sound track and grunts. Genuinely the best scene of episode 2 (and maybe the whole show).

Zuko unirioncally trying to fight Kyoshi??? it was so random but SO fitting. I aspire to be as stupid as this dumbass.

Sokka going "leader vs leader" to Zuko when asking him to fight was very cute and I HOPE they keep this style of interactions in like season 3 if they get that far.

JET USING THE HOOKS ON HIS SWORDS TO CONNECT THEM AND USE THEM AS ONE LARGE EXTENDED SWORD??? so intresting. SUCH a good use of props and how dynamic the fights in this show COULD be.

Longshot. Idk they are just so funny to me, I love how they are just casually posed on a tree as they shoot the first arrow.

the mechanist telling Sokka that he's tallented when it comes to engineering. it was very sweet, although I feel like it might bite the writers in the ass eventually. but for now it was very sweet.

I know in a past post I complained that Aang taught her bending to much, BUT Jet helping her open up about her mother and it helping her bending was an intresting take. I can see why people would hate it, but also why people would like it. Its intresting, its unique, and introduces an intresting paralel of Katara struggling to bend because of her emotions, and (hopefully) zuko facing that same issue later on in the series.

OMA AND SHU. best change of the entire series, truly the ultimate step up from the og, it works so well. I've seen this change in fanfiction and always loved it there, so happy it's now in a cannon media. Also the art work as they explain is very very beutiful.

Jets actor is honestly pretty fucking good. his "I thought you were on our side. On my side" speech in episode 4 was very sweetly done and it FELT complex with his emotions. espeically the choked up "i am nothing like the firebenders" MY GOD. Its a different take on Jet that shows a bit more of his sympathy then in the show and I think it realllly works. Props to the actor.

Zuko struggling to lie during episode 4 and make up excuses as he walks around the prision. Its so fucking funny to see him struggle and be all "well...my comanders gonna be pissed if I don't get to my duty in times" its so funny. I love Dallas I think he does a great job with Zuko and his characterisation will only get better if the show continues.

changing it to Sokka and Katara in the cave from Aang and Katara is honestly pretty cute? I know it takes away from the building romance with Katara and aang (although the show has cut so many of their interactions then this time it really WOULD feel forced) BUT it does work to expand and examine the theme of family that Avatar as a thing LOVES. Its espeically sweet arfter we've seen Katara and Sokka struggling deeply with each others wants and desires earlier in the show (espeically since this is stright arfter Jet). ( I am slightly pissed that its KATARA who is the skeptic in the tunnels. they could have the same argument with Katara being the one to believe. but oh well). Their argument was well worth it, it was long building, and truly felt like the two had buckled under the stress of leaving their tribe. Plus with the glowing crystals its like they are surrounded by stars which I think adds to the idea of missing home.

finishing the song secret tunel to then go "yeah there doomed!" with the biggest smile on his face. 10/10 comedy.

The arctitexture of the Omashu palace AND the crystals he bends are extrodinarily stunning. I mean the crytals look like smash beer bottles when broken, but when they are crystals???? suppper pretty.

ZUKOS PONY TAIL DOES THE PONY TAIL SWING BACK AND FORTH! Okay I know this is dumb, ut in the animation it didn''t happen as much or as extreme so it pleases me that real world physics are happening. Plus its just so silly.

The earth benders talking about how much was LOST during Irohs siege of ba sing se was pretty powerful. I've always been slightly irked that they wash over Irohs past and that he is JUST a good person, so it felt pretty cool that they took the time to kinda have him be....confronted by it? "I was a soilder" "you were a butcher!". It was a very quick examination of grief and ptsd, we got to see Irohs own sort of views about what happened, we got to see another persons desire for revenge because of the war, it was an odd scene for what we know of Iroh but it WAS intresting.

The funeral scene. "what a great honour for you and Lu ten to die in service of the fire nation" AND THEN ZUKO ACTING LIKE IT WAS WRONG TO SAY THAT. god. And then offering the medal that lu ten gave him to Iroh to properly comfort him? I was sobbing. It was a beutiful examination of Zukos conflict with what is expected of him, and what he WANTS to do. and then sitting by his side when no one else would? and Irohs tears only NOW comming once Zuko joined him? It was reallly and beutiful scene. I am so happy they added this.

genuinely when it was revealed that the tunnels where changing??? chills. I expected it. but it still shook me to my core. Maybe its cuss of the funeral scene before hand but either way props to them.

Okay so the animals sometimes looks goofy, BUT they also express WHAT they are so well. I love all the animals they look so fluffy and silly.

Iroh using the chains against hte earth soilders, once again some fun fight choreography and I am living for it.

Katara finding the badgermoles reacting to emotions with like...wonder and then Sokka going all "soo uhhh Mr badgermole" Was SO cute and in character.

Sometimes theres issues with the earth bending speed, but in the Bumi and Aang fight I found all the speed rather fitting. When he threw rocks, he THREW them. espeically the smaller rocks those shits are DEADLY. I mean that recreations of the animations scene where he bends over the rock looks goofy, like I get it but it didn't quite translate well BUT The rest of the fight looked pretty good. (and whilst I GET why it was important for Aang to face this challenge of this or that, it was upsetting for BUMI to be the one to do that. There are multiple other characters where it would make more sense, with Bumi being an old friend it just feels wrong. "you think like a child" "Is that really so bad?" was very sweet though.). I think Im a little over critical of what they've done to Bumi. it is a sweet story line and I can KINDA understand Bumis stance. realistically it wasn't that awful of a change its just jarring cuss its BUMI. Love his dress though I think it REALLY adds to this diversity of cultures and earth kingdom citys.

Seeing Zuko with that bandages arround his head and all his hair kinda really hurt. Also the use of leaves from the vine again. very sweet. "home. everything I need is on this boat" IT MADE ME SOB SO FAST. For all this shows changes, the changes they do with Zuko and Iroh work. The way Zuko saw the air bison and STILL chose getting his uncle to safty over even mentioning them? wonderful.

THE ICE DISKS! KATARA LITERALLY SAYING SHE GOT IT FROM THE EARTH BENDERS! its pretty cool. I like that they are already going deep with the benders taking elements from other bending styles is super fun!

Sokka and the little girl

[theowritesfiction]

'The Cave of Two Lovers'

Now this is an episode that I really did NOT want to watch. Having re-watched Book 1, I maintain that Katara and Aang had a very much friend / little brother dynamic, especially from Katara's side. This was the Book 2 episode that made it clear that they were really going to push Kataang. But it's not done well even here. Again, there is an over-reliance on external forces to push Katara towards Aang, which is simply annoying.

Anyway, I just find Aang's childishness so irritating during the Kataang moments that I'm going to slap him with 50 Jerk Points for annoying me.

The musical nomads were honestly pretty annoying as well. I don't want to waste my time talking about them, but just, ugh. Let's just say that I felt Sokka this episode. Leave me with the nomads and I'll also have a red forehead from slapping myself. :)

This wasn't a good Zuko and Iroh episode either. The myth of Iroh being wise is shattered and dispelled by him poisoning himself. It's ridiculously dumb. Zuko's actions with Song are the worst that I've seen from him in the show so far. After everything that Song and her mother do for him and Iroh, Zuko repays them in the worst possible way. Stealing the family's ostrich horse probably condemned them to poverty and losing their farm - that is how much a horse meant to medieval peasants (those very few who even had a horse). I was going to give Zuko 80 points for that, but the look on Song's face as she realized what was going on made me so mad at Zuko that I'm upgrading that to whole 100 JP. Also, I'm going to slap 30 points to Iroh - this was one occasion where he really had to intervene, but I think deep down Uncle Lazy just wanted to travel on horseback.

What I liked about this episode. Katara's training with Aang really reinforced how much she benefitted from her stay with the NWT. Katara has become such a force to be reckoned with. I like the whole legend of Oma and Shu, but weirdly it applies so much more to Zutara while not applying to Kataang at all. I also thought it was funny how after an implied Kataang kiss, Katara was still all 'okay let's get out of here' when Aang wanted to talk feelings lmao.

Overall, this is an episode I really struggled to get through.

Jerk Points for Book 2:

General Fong  - 200 Iroh - 150 Zuko - 120 Aang - 50 Pakku - 30

[juniperhillpatient]

The Warriors of Kyoshi re watch takeaways :)

I honestly forgot how funny the bickering between Katara & Sokka can be. It’s easy to mess up sibling bickering & banter but the show perfectly walks the line between realistic & relatable & just plain funny. Katara throwing Sokka’s pants at his face when he starts spewing sexist crap about girls & sewing was so funny

Suki!!! 😃 I loved the Kyoshi Warriors introduction. Pretty brutal that they were ready to throw the guys to the unagi but also based. Anyway it makes sense. How else can they stay out of the war other than taking a hard stance on outsiders? Also, I remember my family dying laughing at the Avatar fanboy with a frothing mouth & I still find him hilarious

Zuko telling Iroh he knows to keep a level head & can handle bad news & blowing up making the candles go wacko when Iroh says there’s no news of the Avatar is another moment that always cracks me up 😂

Okay Aang was super annoying in this episode not gonna lie. Katara literally got forced into the role of mother of the group, the only one who cared about food or planning while Aang showed off for his fan girls & tried increasingly obnoxious ways to impress her without actually just being helpful. And the move where he put himself in danger to manipulate her? And only apologized when he got his way & she was paying attention to him? Ugh

Suki & Sokka’s dynamic is so fun. Suki was so clearly flirting with Sokka even while she got him to humiliate himself (calling him a strong warrior & getting him to attack her knowing she could take him down no problem). Also Sokka saying he would he honored if Suki showed him some moves & the two of them sparring together *chef’s kiss* 💖💖💖 Plus Sokka got to unlearn misogyny. That would’ve gone from sorta funny to annoying fast.

Seeing the burning wreckage of the Kyoshi village is pretty sad. And I’m sorry but Aang isn’t… wrong to blame himself? Zuko gets a lot of hate for this from fandom but my issue with that is…. No duh? He’s the villain at this point in the story he’s going to act villainously I’m not sure what else to say about it. Aang should’ve listened to Katara telling him they couldn’t stay there long though. He let himself get carried away by the praise he was receiving & it led to the village being attacked by the Fire Nation, something they had so far avoided 😔

I really loved the end between Sokka & Suki when he apologizes for treating her like a warrior when he should’ve treated her like a girl. “I am a warrior, but I’m also a girl” is such a good line. This episode said Sukka rights 💖 I would’ve loved if Suki could’ve joined the gaang in this episode. Maybe the live action show will give us Suki joining early? That’d be neat.

Anyway that’s all I have for this episode :)