#even if you're not an iroh fan it HITS
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i'm not a zvtara shipper in any significant way, but sometimes i can't help but see aang as slightly hypocritical. i get that he managed to let go of katara in CoD, but i don't understand how exactly he let go of her but was still super into her in all of s3. what does "you need to let her go" even means? also, i get that he doesn't want to kill ozai at the end of the series, but what about the times he hurt people in ways that would result in deadly injuries? (i don't hold the end of S1 against him since he was being used as vessel by the ocean spirit, i'm mostly talking about the avalanche he caused on the northern air temple episode)
When Aang leaves the Guru, despite knowing he won't master the Avatar State at all if he left at that point, he did it because he literally ahd a vision of Katara being in danger. When he is letting go of his attachment in that season finale, he gives one last glance at Katara, who is in the middle of a battle, because he knows that the only way to truly help her would be to trust that she will be okay and focus on preventing the Fire Nation from winning.
On the episode "The Awakening", when Aang is panicking and wanting to reveal to the world that he is alive and fight the Fire Lord without a plan, he goes alone. On the day of the eclipse, he kisses Katara, but they go their separate ways in the battle, instead of him being close by in case she needs him.
The "learn to let her go" thing has NEVER been about him no longer being allowed to be in love with her, or even a close friend, and it was never a fully black and white issue either - that's why we see IROH, the guy who lost his son because he chose his quest for power over thinking as parent and thus keeping him away from the battlefield, telling Aang that he is right to choose love above everything. Why we have Katara be the one to literally bring Aang back from the dead. Why the Guru himself explicitly uses Aang's love for Katara as a way to make him strong enough to deal with the grief of losing his people, and why he says "Learn to let her go" not "Forget about her" (there's a reason the cliche of all cliche lines is "If you love someone, set them free" - attachment existing, by itself, it's not a bad thing, but holding onto it ALL the time can get toxic).
Hakoda let his children go when left to fight in the war, doesn't mean he no longer cares or shouldn't care. Iroh let Zuko go in book 3 because at that point he had understood that his nephew needed to follow his own path, doesn't mean he no longer cared or shouldn't have cared anymore. Why is Aang the only one being held to an absurd standard of "If you understood that you can't always be with the people you care about because you got other responsibilities besides just being their friend, that means you're supposed to never want them around even when that wouldn't negatively affect anything"?
As for Aang's supposed "fatal victims" - this is a cartoon that operates on cartoon physics. The Omashu slide/mail system on episode 5 should have left the heroes permanently paralyzed from waist/neck down, assuming they didn't full on die because the human body simply can't survive a fall like that. Firebenders don't burn themselves when practically holding the flame they're generating, nor when they literally breathe fire. We've seen some of the bad guys survive falling down from an airship and hitting the ocean, in full armor, and be completely unharmed.
The show had casualties - but it was always highlighted a fatal injury instead of glossing over it. There's a reason the showrunners were surprised fans ever thought there was even the slightest chance Jet had not died. In a world where people survive absurd stuff, the show suddenly changing the tune to go "Actually this one screwed over some people" is the ONE way to know there actually was a death, and these situations are still the exception, not the rule.
"Oh but Nichya, it was an avalanche!" yes, much like the one in Mulan - a cartoon that is famous for going "Ya know what, the bad guys didn't die despite being buried in the snow long enough that all the good guys left, and only after a major plot event." It's almost like animation does that kind of stuff all the time...
You can't apply real world logic/physics to a cartoon, and it's very weird that the fandom only feels like doing so in the explicit attempt to create a reason to hate on Aang because they don't like that a pacifist remained a pacifist.
#anti zutara#pro kataang#pro aang#aang deserved better#aang defense squad#respect aang or die by my sword
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Moments I loved from NATLA Episode 4 - Into the Dark ❤️️❤️️
Aang and Iroh interacting more - love that they're not friendly to each other, per se, but it builds a foundation that makes their later respect make sense
The Earth Kingdom being harsh with their 'fallen foes' is nice to seed in here as in the animated version (season 1), most of the 'bad' stuff was relegated solely to the Fire Nation
The Earth Kingdom is no pushover and it's nice to see that early
Sokka defending his dad "My dad would have never done what you did" even after he commiserated with the Mechanist about his dad 'not valuing' what Sokka could bring to the table.
Though Sokka is frustrated that his dad doesn't see "him", he knows his dad is an honorable man doing his best and when Sai tries to use him as an example of 'doing the wrong thing just to survive', love that Sokka calls him on it
SECRET TUNNEEELLLL!!!
Like them introducing this now - all old buildings have secret passages - it's just a law
Teo's "its time to fight!" attitude - love it. He's so ready to stop cowering and wants to hit back
Flopsy statues!!!!!
Rolly ball throne? Nice touch
"Bumi? BUMI!!" :D
"You did 🤨" Love how Aang keeps his "I'm just gonna say the truth and I don't care if that's 'not allowed' I'm gonna do it anyways because your social rules are stupid" attitude
Katara's water pouch!!
Love the shake in Jet's voice as he tells Katara "I am nothing like the firebenders"
Katara's assessment is shallow on her part, but the core has a ring of truth - no, freedom fighters aren't the same as their oppressors, but when you start harming your own people to hurt the enemy, then you really have lost sight of what's right and wrong - why you're fighting.
FREEZE JET'S ASS!
I love Jet, especially this version of him, but yeah, no touchy
And Katara is absolutely right: Jet might have helped her through her block, but her power, that's all hers.
What are you going to do, Zuko?? What choice will you make!!??
Love that we're getting this choice of his here in Omashu
Bumi's puns 😭 kill me now - though very canon accurate
Like the vibe that everyone just has to laugh as to not anger him - there's less of a whimsical madness vibe to Bumi here and a more serious - yeah, this guy is our leader vibe that's quite unsettling
The tonal shift with Bumi did give me pause, but I like how the writers kept the jokes, the games, his eccentricities, but shifted the vibe to make them darker
In the cartoon, whimsy might work, but if you think about it realistically, that leadership style would NOT work during a war - a 100 year war, at that.
HIPPIIEESSSS!!!!
Sokka getting into that maraca - you let your little musical heart fly
"What are you doing here?" "We're doin' what we're doin'" :)
Oma and Shu lesbian supremacy!!!
Always get chills when this story is told
Lol Sokka's "There's no such thing as angry spirits." Right before the episode where they're kidnapped by an angry spirit XD
Love the switch up of the rocks not really being the path out - keeping us animated show fans on our toes as to what the lesson will be this time
Everything about the Earth Kingdom soldier's interaction with Iroh - all of it is just so good.
The cartoon glossed over Iroh's warmongering past - but he did do terrible things that hurt so many people. No, 'it was war, I was a soldier' is not an acceptable excuse (we didn’t accept it with Jet, so why the double standard for a ROYAL MILITARY GENERAL??)
The funeral scene
Leaves from the Vine
Zuko offering a soft and kind memory of Liu Ten instead of just talk about him being a soldier
Zuko sitting next to Iroh so he won't be alone!!!!!!!!!
The conversation between Katara and Sokka in the cave where she talks about how Jet helped her and Sokka how Sai helped him - then Katara reminding Sokka that when he was forced into a leadership position for the Southern Water Tribe, he didn't have anyone to help him through that
The concept of us all needing people to help us through our journeys is so important and really comes around at the end of the episode and just through the entire series
BADGERMOOOLLLEEE!!!!
Is it bad that all I could think about was how cute it was the entire time it was on screen?
Dallas Liu is so. Freaking. Good. At. His. Stunts!!!!
And the first mention of the theme Zuko struggles with of compassion being weakness!
Sokka's little 'thanks!' as Katara saves him from the badgermole XD
Seriously, all the little touches in Ian Ousley's performance are great
Idk why Sokka assumed the badgermole was a man, that's clearly a dignified lady
The power of sibling love guiding the badgermole was a great alteration from the OG - if they can be controlled through music, they can definitely respond to emotions
Bumi's whole speech here - and his willingness to get crushed - is what brought me around on this portrayal of him
He's right: it's a game where you have to make impossible choices - you have to fight even when you don't want to (a much more poignant message for Aang than 'look at things a different way')
The power of friendship saves the day!!!
"You CAN rely on your friends - and that's the only way I'm going to save the world: with my friends"
"You think like a child" (derogatory) "Is that really so bad?" (genuine)
Bumi made Appa's whistle!!! 😭😭😭😭
One last time Zuko chooses protecting his uncle over capturing the Avatar 🥲
"Everything I need is right here on this boat" 😭😭😭
[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]
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Netflix Avatar the Last Airbender -- S1E4: Into the Dark Review [SPOILERS]
THE GOOD
Lu Ten's Funeral: The scene next to Lu Ten's casket was a powerful new addition to the series -- the best scene in the show so far. I am myself a bereaved parent. So I was tearbending alongside Iroh. I recognized Iroh's face: the face of shock, of utter disbelief, of nature being twisted and turned upside down, with his son dying before him. Iroh sitting there, blank-faced, receiving well-meant condolences regarding Lu Ten's "honorable" death. And then Zuko's simple gesture of remembrance, of sharing a story about Lu Ten and a memory. A bereaved parent just wants to know their child will be remembered. The dialogue was spot on here, and Dallas Liu really nailed that scene.
Zuko rescuing Iroh: This story line really shined in the episode. First, I have to comment on Dallas Liu's action sequences: holy mackerel they look awesome. But more importantly, they show Zuko choosing Uncle Iroh over pursuing the Avatar not once but twice--in the prison and after he and Iroh get on a boat. Still made no sense that they went to Omashu, but if that's what had to happen to get this payoff, well, then, okay I guess.
Zuko/Iroh everything: "Everything I need is on this boat." Loved it.
Iroh/Earthbender prison guard: The scene where the Earthbender guard is talking about his brother and Iroh is talking about being a soldier in war really added layers to Iroh. Good addition.
Secret tunnel with Sokka and Katara: This worked for me. Sure, the minstrels were pure fan service and completely unnecessary, but Sokka and Katara having to find their fraternal love and work out their issues to make it through the tunnel? I was sold. "You're not dad!" rang totally true. I enjoyed seeing the siblings work things out. The actors did quite a good job selling it, too, even though there were still a few clunky lines in there--especially from Katara. (The line about Sokka having to do it all alone? Yes, we know, you showed us this in Episode 1 already? What's with the writers giving Katara clunky unnecessary lines?)
THE I-APPRECIATED-WHAT-THEY-WERE-DOING-BUT-NOT-SURE-THEY-PULLED-IT-OFF
Bumi bitterness: I appreciated the show's take on King Bumi as a man embittered by the hard choices of war. That message felt powerful to me. But again, the Bumi/Aang storyline hit the same note that the Kyoshi/Aang scene in Episode 2 tried to hit: accusing Aang of just wanting to play games and have fun while abandoning his duties to the world. This beat just did not hit the mark because, again, they never showed Aang just wanted to play games and have fun while abandoning his duties to the world. This is why I was frustrated with Episode 1: they didn't show enough of Aang just being a kid.
THE BAD
Bumi koooky-ness: Bumi's craziness did not translate well onto the screen, I have to admit. It came off cringey to me. And his "games" weren't really games.
Mechanist/Teo: These characters continue to fall completely flat for me. Like, shouldn't that guy be arrested?
THE UNKNOWN
Where is Azula?
I want more scheming Commander Zhao.
#avatar the last airbender#atla#avatar: the last airbender#live action atla#live action avatar#natla#netflix avatar#netflix atla
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Ok live action atla reaction for episode 2.
It was better than episode one. Where episode one was a dumpster fire actively trying to hurt me both as an avatar fan and as someone with a basic understanding of how multimodal media is used to craft stories, episode two is fine.
I hesitate to call it great or even good when my only other point of reference so far is one of the worst episodes of TV I have seen in the past decade. Or possibly just ever. But I can comfortably say it was fine.
Perhaps my biggest on going issue is still the dialogue. When they don't sound like they just walked out of a LA therapists office, they instead sound like they are either in a circa 2010 disney original tv show, or just straight up like the writer explaining directly to camera how they are justifying skipping events from the animation because they have made the characters so much more mature and self aware of what they need to do/become for the sake of saving the world.
In short, Sokka remains unfunny.
I can't believe the "I bet you taste like chicken" comment wasn't even in response to Momo doing anything in particular. Momo is just there chilling on Aang's shoulder and Sokka is glaring at him like Momo is his arch rival, talking about a singular non mishmash animal that he has probably never even seen before because where the fuck where the chicken coops in the south fucking pole!?
Katara's strives in bending probably look impressive to anyone who hasn't seen the first episode of the animation where she already outclassed her current progress. Girl was out there (accidentally) splitting icebergs out of anger, but I'm meant to be impressed she can make a water ball in 3 seconds? I hate how badly she has been nerfed.
I also hate how they made it that Gram Gram actively helped nerf her by denying Katara her inheritance until it was clear she was gonna hop on a flying bison and go on adventures with the Avatar. She didn't even give her the scroll directly and apologise to her face. Just shoved it in her bags with a sorry note and now we're deprived of Katara stealing from pirates! Which means Katara is gonna be carrying that "goody toe shoes always morally correct with no room for nuance mom friend" burden for who knows how much longer now.
We did FINALLY get some Iroh adjacent behaviour from Uncle Iroh. Him trying to cajole Zuko into eating some street food and getting distracted mid sentence because he noticed some sticky rice wasn't perfectly executed but it was better executed than any other Iroh moments we have seen so far. Mostly he still hits as gaslighty and condescending. And don't get me wrong. OG Iroh COULD be gaslighty but never so fucking blatantly. There's no finesse, no gentle distractions layered with concern. Where is the charisma? Instead we effectively get him going "you're wrong. you should consider giving up." at every other time he talks to Zuko (less so this episode than last but only because he "tries" to teach Zuko diplomacy. Yes there are quotes around tries for a reason. He basically says Do This, gives no real guidance on how and then steps in to do the thing the second Zuko is sucking because he's never had to do this shit before and doesn't want to do it now especially since he has no idea wtf Iroh means).
Anyways, didn't they say they were overhauling the Ba Sing Se arc to make it less gaslighty? Yet they let this vibe fly with Iroh of all people?
We did at least get Suki though. And she's mostly pretty recognisably Suki. Save for the instant and hardcore pining for Sokka because he immediately became a surrogate for her yearning for the outside world. I can appreciate that they wanted to nix Sokka's sexism and instead just made him insecure about his status as a warrior, and they almost made it work but they cut themselves off from such an interesting interplay of tension by having Suki just as, if not more, eager to show off her skills to Sokka as he was to act like he was a big tough southern water tribe warrior. They were on to something when they had her question how he could be the guardian of his village if he was here with the Avatar instead. They could of had her be dismissive of his claims at being a warrior when he was clearly acting like an undisciplined blow hard and the fanthrowing/chokehold scene could have been a "stop acting tough, I am the warrior you're claiming to be" moment which wouldn't have involved any sexism on either side and have made a basis for mutual respect when Sokka comes along to the training hall. They could have had him humbly ASK instead of awkwardly miming until Suki noticed. We could have still had Sokka in Kyoshi Warrior garb. It would have stuck closer to the original, it wouldn't have taken up more time, and it would have created a much more satisfying interplay of tension between the two characters which also would help ground their future relationship in mutual respect.
I will say though, although the writing fucking choked the cinematography, the lighting team, the actors and the editors all came through with creating a sense of attraction between the two characters. So that wasn't nothing.
Kyoshi was a high point. Still fell victim to the dialogue writing, but a very strong perfomance by Yvonne Chapman accented excellently by the sound design team during some of the more intense parts when they layered in all the other Avatar voices. She was a good choice for giving Aang a bunch of hard truths and I liked how she both told him he had to find his own path but when he kept pushing for a more concrete answer just started telling him to deal with shit her way, because that felt very Kyoshi.
Also the entire sequence of her manifesting through Aang to show him a bit of what he could do as the avatar and lowkey to protect HER island was fucking badass. Not a single fire nation soldier left that island with clean underwear after facing Avatar mother fucking Kyoshi.
Unfortunately I was very quickly brought down from this high by Aang closing out his part of the episode by saying that Kyoshi told him something terrible was going to happen to the Northern Water Tribe if he didn't get up there and do his duty as the avatar to stop it. A conversation beat that happened off screen btw.
This annoys me for several reasons, starting with since when can the Avatar's collective past lives tell the future? The big threat to the Northern Water Tribe was originally Zhao coming to kill the moon spirit, which is a culmination of his lust for dominance and power and his plans to capture the avatar for himself. So either that isn't happening (and they are unnecessarily trying to revamp a perfectly good finale to stroke their own egos) OR they have made the nonsensical decision to foretell this tragedy in the show instead of just letting the tension mount naturally because 80+% of their audience already know shit goes down in at the Northern Water Tribe. Which annoys the fuck out of me. Aang was always going to go North for water bending training anyways, and especially this borderline hyper responsible version of Aang who knows even if it will hurt emotionally he will need to learn the other elements. There was no good god damn reason to add a second layer of urgency by saying if he doesn't get there bad shit will happen!
My closing rant is really more of a question, but why the fuck is it every time we see a firelord, (Sozin and now Ozai) that they are just hanging out in the middle of the fucking chamber chatting with some fucking guys until a prisoner/messenger arrives while the fire throne looms menacingly in the background upstairs and 50 feet back. Where is the menace and pizazz of them sitting looking down on literally everyone and everything from up on high flanked by flames, committing atrocities with a wave of their hand and a few low spoken words that everyone grovels to hear? I believe in Daniel Dae Kim's ability to look scary and lordly on a fancy chair, especially if the fancy chair has FIRE, why doesn't the director?
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The Earth King Re-Watch
This was a fun episode. I wouldn't call it one of my favorites, but I enjoyed it. Seeing Aang & Appa finally reunited is pretty heartwarming. I was a little annoyed & confused by Sokka's random new "positive attitude" even though he had some really endearing moments in this episode. I just don't get it. Yeah, Appa is back but you just discovered an underground creepy brainwashing cult & your old frienemy was killed? You have no reason to believe you're any closer to convincing King Kuei to hear you out? I can see the whole "brand new positive attitude" thing happening once the other good news hits later, but right at the start? It just felt jarring & weird.
Katara saying she wants to leave this horrible place....I will take my "Jet's death mattered" crumbs where I can get them. I think Katara & Toph's idea to leave makes a lot of sense, but so does Sokka & Aang's desire to force Kui to hear them out...I mean, they are trying to plan this attack on the eclipse...So, that was a well-set-up conflict, because both sides make sense. I also absolutely loved the fight scene with the Gaang breaking into the palace! Everything about it was iconic. It was neat to see Aang use earth-bending in a fight against earth-benders too because he usually relies heavily on air-bending. I loved Katara & Sokka apologizing lmao - & Toph saying Kue's distrust after they broke in made sense.
Kue is a bit pathetic & easily pushed around so I'm not a huge fan of him. Bumi has a chaotic morality & he's not always the most LIKABLE person but at least he's fun so I always enjoy him. Kue is just pathetic, & not even in the hot way lol
Possibly the best part of the episode was Katara telling Sokka that he gets to see their dad & Sokka bouncing around in excitement & hugging her & kissing her while she's just like "yeah yeah, I know, I'm great."
[ID: Sokka saying "Nicest....sister...ever!" to Katara while Aang & Toph watch.]
Also, the Gaang talking about how they will miss each other while they're split up was really cute. I loved the group hug & Sokka like "alright alright, we love each other" trying to end the hug was such a mood - me when friends or family try to get all touchy-feely lol! Sokka gets 10 iconic behavior points for interrupting Aang before he could confess his crush on Katara. I wish I was giving out jerk points so I could give them to Aang for the line "yeah, girls are waiting for us." Ugh, pushing the Katara/Aang agenda before Jet's body is even cold? The writers deserve jerk points for that tbh! Not even Aang really, 'cause he's just a kid with a crush, but I'm still allowed to be annoyed.
Anyway. Zuko gets 500 iconic behavior points for doing one nice thing in his entire life & immediately collapsing like a Victorian maiden. Zuko you drama queen, ily. However, while I've said this re-watch has made me appreciate Zukaang I MEANT the romantic ship Zuko & Aang NOT this monstrosity that lives in my nightmares.
[id: a horrifying image of Zuko & Aang's faces combined.]
What the fuck lmao
As for the rest of Zuko's dreams.....Very interesting lines from Azula & a very interesting performance from our lord & savior Grey Delisle. I will say nothing more about that :)
[id: Dennis from It's Always Sunny saying "because of the implication..."]
Anyway *ahem* right, I think Zuko clearly sees his father & sister as sort of devils & Iroh as an angel on his shoulder. This is what the writers were going for, & an unpopular opinion maybe but I think it works to an extent. The biggest issue here is that Zuko continues until the end of the series to treat Iroh like a messiah of good & he never learns to view Azula with any more nuance despite evidence that Iroh is not perfect & Azula is not irredeemable. Another issue I take is that while I love Azula as the embodiment of the Fire Nation & that darker path here, especially right before Crossroads of Destiny, & I actually find the shifting of the blame about Ursa's disappearance & by extension Zuko's bad childhood from Ozai to Azula super interesting - it's again, just something that's never addressed as wrong by the narrative & therefore becomes frustrating.
[id: Azula as a blue dragon next to a scarless Zuko]
I would have liked to see Zuko's black & white way of thinking about his uncle & sister (which is just really obvious here with the angel & devil motifs) addressed by the narrative. However, I don't think the whole "two sides arguing for different paths through dream visions" in itself is bad. It's certainly fun to watch & makes for a nice visualization of Zuko's internal struggle. Oh, Zuko & Azula get +500 iconic behavior points for foreshadowing the Crossroads of Destiny betrayal. I know it's just a fever dream version of Azula, but she still gets the points.
Oh, & Azula, Mai & Ty Lee get 1000 points each for their Kyoshi Warrior surprise reveal at the end. I love them so fucking much.
Anyway, that's all I have for this episode! Tune in next time for more rambling thoughts on the kid's cartoon!
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Heyho, Id like to know more about Haruka, do you have something like a masterpost that has details on her ? 👉👈
Ohhh thank you! Unfortunately I don't have a masterpost, but you can find her tag here and here is the start of the first draft of her story. the story has changed, but this first draft still has important elements like her choosing Iroh and the Fire Nation over her home of the Earth Kingdom and becoming more free on the battlefield and being passionate about the arts; also each chapter has a link to the next and to the previous chapter so there's no searching X3
But I can give a lowdown of her current story if you're interested ^^ I may actually make the following it's own post XD
Haruka was born in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se and had a natural talent for singing; she is also an earthbender but she has not given that ability much practice, other than to possibly find gemstones that weren't of much value, but enough to afford a few days of meals. Her parents noticed Haruka's interest in singing (which was better than her earthbending) and they were able to get her some lessons, and through nurturing that talent blossomed her love of the arts, and she also became proficient in playing the koto, the shamisen and the erhu. She is active in theater and dance as well, and with this knowledge her parents would set her up to perform for nobles, which is how they made their fortune.
Haruka's talents allowed them to live in luxury; she even became part of traveling troupes and has been requested specifically by nobility across the Earth Kingdom. However, her parents have been keeping a secret from her: They've engaged her off to a wealthy man in Ba Sing Se without her knowledge. When Iroh arrives at Ba Sing Se for the siege, Haruka and her parents have been off so she can make more money with her performances and (unknowingly to her) to procure her wedding ensemble.
When Haruka and her family are unable to return to Ba Sing Se, at first she has the guts to go and confront Iroh, who is merely entertained by the woman's ire. But soon Haruka learns the truth of her future, and she's horrified. She confronts her parents, and they tell her they know what's best for her. They leave her alone at the home they're staying at (which belongs to her fiance; it's a vacation manor close to Ba Sing Se) so she won't intercept any more of the letters or money they're sent from her fiance.
Haruka, desperate to escape her fate, wanders the area and comes across a Fire Nation village, where she sees a posting for wanted performers to entertain Iroh's army. The pay is good; if she performs a few times she could save up to escape her fate; so she packs up one night, and after the maids are asleep, she sneaks off, disguises herself, and walks into Iroh's camp. They get the idea eventually that she's the 'entertainment'; and they let her perform, and she's a smash hit.
Iroh is absent for her first several performances, but by the time he sees her, she's already got several fans in the army. Iroh is intrigued, and several more performances later he himself offers to dance with her. She's a little hesitant, knowing if he finds out who she is, she'll be embarrassed; he may humiliate her - but money is money. She dances with the general and he meets her every move. Her dances eventually become more and more emotional; she's often joined by other soldiers in war dances; which she is honored to learn. But other nights she's there to lull them and calm them - each performance she wears another mask. It might be that of a beautiful woman - it might be a demon, or a ghoul, or an old woman for a lighthearted opera to cheer them up.
But during one of her performances they're caught off guard and attacked by an Earthbending battalion. Haruka is no warrior, and Iroh is quick to intervene and give her cover. Yet even with her lack of fighting knowledge, she can't just sit by and watch, as she's grown fond of her crowd - something she wasn't expecting. She watches a soldier go down, one who was always excited to see her perform, and she's struck in a rage. While still disguised, she finds her heart in her earthbending for the first time, and she helps defend the Fire Nation troops while helping to fend off the Earthbenders.
After the attack, Haruka reveals herself to Iroh, and she tells him her predicament. He knows that if she's found in their camp again, she could be killed, but she doesn't care. She tells him that if the siege ends and she sets foot in Ba Sing Se again, she will die anyway; and she'd rather die performing for people who enjoy seeing her than being locked up in preparation for a man she does not know or love. She swears her loyalty to Iroh, and she is accepted in full, so she becomes part entertainer for the troops, but also a part-time soldier for them when needed, and she gets some knowledge on how to fight. Haruka's earthbending techniques have roots in firebending; a lot of her strength is also very rooted in her emotions, for even though she can come off as cold and disinterested, she is also very driven and full of energy. She isn't all that nurturing or maternal, but she is genuine and will support people she cares about.
She and Iroh eventually begin a romance, but it's cut short when Lu Ten dies. Eventually, Haruka goes to the campsite only to find it's abandoned. At the very least, she still has enough of the earnings from performing to leave and begin a new life away from what her parents have set up for her.
But she does reunite with Iroh four years later during Zuko's banishment; and despite the rocky reunion, they end up back where they started and she's still very much faithful to her general.
#Thank you for the ask!#I love Haruka but I've neglected her ;;#I was writing her story a ton but I think I got burnt out#but I still love her and want to give her a good story#Haruka
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atla gif challenge
a sad moment [½]
leaves from the vine
#atla#atlaedit#iroh#avatar#avatar the last airbender#gifs#lu ten#fnrf#by me#edit challenge#i cried making this#even if you're not an iroh fan it HITS#airbendersource
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Selfish [Yandere! Zuko]
(this is old old. I wrote this five / six years ago so yeah, shitty lmao).
It commenced with simple requests, and insignificant obligations to those requests. Those simple requests were merely daily favours of help, that Zuko asked for, which [Name] always aided him with. These simple requests were similar to the following:
"[Name], could you help me cook dinner?" Zuko asked, smiling at her.
Instantly, The [H/C] left what she was occupied with, and joined the raven-haired prince with what he was doing: Cooking. "I'll be happy to," She said smiling at him, and kissing him on the cheek. Then, she proceeded to take the vegetables away from, and start cutting them by herself, while Zuko moved onto the easier tasks.
Then, these simple requests became more complexed.
"[Name], can you go to Ba Sing Se to attend the meeting with the Earth King in my place?" Zuko asked, opening his eyes to look at his beloved, while he was receiving a royal comb massage.
The said female glanced at him with a tired face, while she cradled an infant in her arms, trying to get it to return to its slumber.
"But I have to attend another meeting with General Iroh in your place, take my Firebending class, and take care of Izumi. I couldn't possibly-"
"Your meeting with the General Iroh will be scheduled to be at midnight. You can cancel your Firebending class, and we can hire a baby sister for Izumi. With all this arranged, you can successfully make it on time," Zuko interrupted, closing his eyes in content. "Yes, over there, that's the spot," He spoke, leaning his head against the female's hands that was massaging his head. This gesture caused her cheeks to turn pink.
[Name] narrowed her tired eyes at the Firelord before her. "I haven't had a proper sleep in days-" She began, but once again, Zuko interrupted her before she was able to finish her sentence.
"You can catch on your sleep on your way to the Earth Kingdom. Please, I need you to do this for me," He said, looking at her with pleading eyes.
[Name] sighed heavily before she looked away and muttered, "Fine."
Zuko was delighted with her response, because he motioned her to come. [Name] sighed and walked towards him with their baby girl in her arms. She leaned down towards Zuko, pecking his lips.
These complexed requests then morphed into orders that [Name] had became obliged to follow. If she ever refused to not do as she was told, if she ever defied against Zuko's orders, she faced dire consequences.
Zuko walked through the Royal Garden of his palace with a neutral face, while his long Fire Nation royal robes, staggered behind him on the garden's ground. Zuko walked in peace for a few moments, when he glanced at his right. There, the sight that he saw, filled him with indignation.
He saw his spouse with their baby sitting on a mat, having a picnic with another man. The tan Brunet man, was laughing with his [Name]. Zuko's nose flared in anger, before he exhaled heavily which caused slight fire to come out of his mouth. With an 'extreme enraged' expression written all over his face, he stomped away, deciding that he will deal with [Name] on that night.
"Why were you with another man?" Zuko snarled, the moment [Name] entered their bedroom.
The said female looked at him with a confused face,as she tied her hair in a messy bun. "I don't know what you're talking about," She said, shrugging.
She tried to walk past the angry raven-haired male that stood in front of her, but he blocked her way.
"What do you want Zuko? I have to go to Ba Sing Se tomorrow," [Name] exclaimed, looking at Zuko with annoyed and tired eyes.
"No you won't," Zuko hissed, glaring at her.
[Name] furrowed her eyebrows, before they shot up in her hair with anger and annoyance. "What do you mean I am not!? I cancelled my Firebending class for this stupid meeting, that you're too damn lazy to go to!" She snapped, glaring at him with furious eyes.
"What did you say?" Zuko hissed, grabbing onto her arm.
"I said you're lazy! I have to do everything around here, even your damn duties! I haven't gotten a proper sleep since that troublesome child of yours was born! It's like.. I'm not your wife, but your slave that is here to fulfill your selfish needs! I am sick and tired of living like this!" [Name] hissed at Zuko, snatching her arm away from his grip.
She walked a few steps away from him, before Zuko grabbed her arm, and pulled her towards him, her back hitting against his chest. Zuko leaned down towards her ear, fanning it with his breath, which caused shivers to run down [Name]'s spine. But nonetheless, she held her ground.
"What do you want?" She growled, anger clearly evident in her voice.
"You're right..." Zuko began whispering in her ear, as he licked her earlobe. This caused another shiver to run down her [Name]'s spine, as her stomach began to churn because she felt an eerie feeling creeping at the bottom pit of it.
"You are my slave, here to fulfill my selfish needs," Zuko said with a cunning voice, as a smirk appeared on his face.
[Name] opened her mouth to reply to him, but she wasn't able to when Zuko tossed her in their bed, and she landed face first on the mattress.
That night, [Name] learnt how truly selfish and unthoughtful Zuko was about others, other than himself.
--
Lowkey cringing at this xD lmao
#Yandere x reader#Yandere images#Zuko x reader#Yandere zuko#Yandere zuko x reader#Atla x reader#Yandere#yandere drabble#Yandere scenario#Yandere x you#Ambivalent writes
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Ah you're back :) If you're still taking questions, I wanted to ask what you thought of the dragon prince, if you've seen it yet?
Yep, I definitely don’t mind taking questions. :)
I enjoyed The Dragon Prince. It has so many elements that I like. The character designs are great and varied. I love how the females are not sexualized. I am a huge fan of medieval fantasy. I love Fire Emblem, dragons, and the like. The world, lore, and magic system is very interesting. I love the conflict of dark magic requiring the sacrifice of creatures. I love how even nice people like Claudia use it. I will definitely watch more seasons if they get released.
The visuals didn’t bother me too much. That aspect has been criticized a great deal and there’s not much to say that hasn’t been said. Some scenes looked great. Other times, not so much. They were distracting at times, but I had my expectations tempered. I knew that it was never going to have the budget ATLA had. It’s nowhere near as awful looking as the recent Berserk anime, which I suffered through (mostly out of curiosity).
There were areas I thought could have been better. This season really felt more like a half season. Maybe this is because the show is in a trial phase. More episodes are not guaranteed. They need to prove it is successful first. A lot of people say Book 1 of Avatar was the weakest because of all the filler and the slow pace. But I disagree. I rank Book 1 over Book 3. I liked how in Avatar Book 1, the story took its time and moved at such a pace to *very* slowly give lots of world building and character development, while still moving forward to the epic battle at the North Pole (my favorite season finale). Each episode was distinct, had its own plot, setting, and message to contribute. So TDP so far feels a little rushed in comparison, but if it gets the green light for more seasons, that may change.
The other thing that bothered me was that there was a LOT more humor than I was expecting. It seemed like every other line was a witty joke/gag and it frankly got annoying after a while. Avatar had humor too, but during TDP, I just kept wishing the characters would speak more “normally” without sarcasm, puns or over the top silliness. It’s almost like the writers decided that every character had to become Sokka. Avatar never bothered me to that extent. It made it hard to take the story and characters seriously.
There were times in Avatar that I also thought had this problem of tone inapproriateness. But generally, it had a more palatable balance between humor and seriousness. And this is more a matter of taste, but I thought a lot of the humor was cringey and just not that funny. Like a lot of the humor seemed geared to a very young demographic that just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Avatar wasn’t perfect and had some real crap jokes. But I did genuinely find a lot of its humor quite funny and witty. Especially on the Zuko/Iroh side. Like hot leaf juice, and the “maybe it should be a proverb”.
As for the characters. I liked Callum. He’s a nerdy artist who feels like a failure at being a prince. I wished we could see more of the serious side of him. The moments where he says he feels like nothing without magic, and how he felt right being a mage. He feels insecure living up to expectations. More of that. Tone down the silliness. I don’t mind it in moderation; he doesn’t need to go full angst. But I want to be able to take him more seriously going forward.
Same with Rayla. Honestly, I expected her to be more serious. An assassin who was raised to ignore her emotions, be immune to the fear of death, and who finds herself suddenly allied with humans. But she seems so goofy? I have nothing against her having a soft side. I fully expected the social awkwardness and some vulnerability. But I would have preferred a more gradual peeling back of the layers. She seemed to become buddies with the boys too quickly. Instead of a transition from stoic and cold to more open, she started right off the bat really silly and lighthearted. Again, I wanted to take her more seriously.
Ezran was the kid. He was fine, I guess. Some of his jokes were meh, but he’s a kid so I give him some slack. The Bait hijinks maybe were a bit overused but whatever. He hasn’t had much development yet. I’d like to see more of his serioys feelings about being the crown prince explored. The talking to animals thing felt weird. I don’t know how I feel about that yet.
Soren and Claudia were cool. I like their basic personalities. Soren as the endearingly cocky jock, and Claudia as the spacey dork. But again, I got frustrated that interesting developments would get a little attention, but then just go back to gags. For instance, Soren is told to kill the princes. He is clearly disturbed by this. Claudia is also told that her dad values the egg more than his son. This was so interesting. I wanted to see how they would be affected by this. What nice drama! But they just went right back to acting silly and it made it hard to take them seriously.
And that’s the running theme for me. I just had a hard time getting fully invested because so far the tone is a bit too lighthearted. And some of the events felt contrived. Like Rayla dropping the egg in the water. Couldn’t they have found a better way to have that happen than Rayla holding the idiot ball? Why does she need to have her heartfelt speech while they’re in such danger? So stupid.
I see much potential for intesting themes and character development. More so than I did with Korra. I loved King Harrow’s dialogue the most. His speech about how children are more free than kings was great. He had a goofy side, but most of his dialogue was serious. I’d like more of that. His whole death scene was very well done, especially with the music.
So far, I am looking forward to more. It’s not the second coming of Avatar yet, but then again I am not one of those people who thinks Avatar was flawless either. Even one of the most praised aspects of Avatar that Aaron Ehasz is credited with, Zuko’s redemption arc, is something I had a LOT of issues with. Zuko’s arc disappointed me, and I find it kind of overrated, to be honest. So we’ll see how TDP goes with him as showrunner. I am a natural critic and I love to analyze and critique stories even if I enjoy them. So overall, I don’t want to let the criticism seem like I didn’t like TDP. I think Wonderstorm did a great job. I am very picky and there aren’t that many cartoons/anime out there that can hold my interest for even 9 episodes.
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Important question: Obvs you're a big fan of AtLA but what's your opinion on Legend of Korra??
“big fan” does not even begin to cover my relationship with avatar: the legend of aang
i actually really did enjoy legend of korra, i rewatched it a month or two ago and enjoyed it once again - but i much prefer the aang series. i do truly love the characters of korra, but i don’t think the villains reached the height of azula and ozai when it came to being interesting - especially as there was a new villain each season, and then it was like the one before never happened.
honestly, the best villains of korra were the red lotus, and I really enjoyed all of season three (i think that and season one (PRO BENDING YEAH) were my favourites), and really, a good villain makes a good show.
once again my main ship didn’t become canon (zutara and makorra will remain forever in my heart though) but i don’t really mind all that much. season 4 i’m a bit iffy on because i wasn’t a kuvira fan, and i think the plot wasn’t as interesting as the other seasons after korra returned - like, the time when she was away (KORRA ALONE YEAH) was really interesting, but the struggle afterwards was meh.
season two i want to dislike because i think the villain wasn’t very good, but i really did enjoy learning about raava, the avatar spirit, seeing iroh again etc etc. so i still like that one a lot
(faves to least: 1, 3, 2, 4 if youre wondering)
kai is my son, mako is my true love, bolin is my best friend in the universe
though whilst i say all of this in my jumbled way i actually think i prefer korra over aang as people??? mainly because i just don’t like aang as much as i think i’m supposed to - like, his character is beautifully crafted and very well presented, but i think our personalities dont gel very well so i never liked him as much as i was supposed to - whilst korra is like my fighting side personified, so i really enjoy her.
overall, good show, definitely a good good good show, but it doesn’t at all hit the heights that atla set out in the first place.
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