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zbeez-outlet · 3 months

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This is my (unasked for) review and critique of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. I’m not expecting much of a response, I just have so much to say and no one to talk about it with. I’m putting it here so it doesn’t fester in my brain and it’s my blog, I can talk about whatever I want.

I am going to divide it into two major sections, the first being a review of the show as a stand alone, the second being a comparison to the source material. Each section will have smaller headers so I can stay on topic and organized, I’m going to try really hard not to obnoxiously rant or flood my review with unsupported opinions. I have a lot to say, but I want to make sure I articulate myself well and don’t fall into venting without reason. If you see me doing that, please let me know.

I want it to be made clear now that these are my thoughts on the show, I’m not forcing anyone to think the same as I do or insulting anyone for having different views than me. I also want people to know that this is an extensive detailed review, I’m going to be covering a lot of very broad and very narrow topics. I’m not trying to nitpick inconsequential details, this review is supposed to focus on important and fundemental aspects of the show. I will be harsh, but I’m going to try not to be unreasonable.

This is going to be extremely long. If you’re not interested in reading it all, I completely understand and I’m going to include my initial rating and a summary of why I gave it that rating here.

My overall rating of the show: 4/10

Review Summary: While the visual effects and environments were for the most part really great, the quality of writing fell behind drastically in comparison. There were major issues with characterization, consistency, and plot development that will pose a challenge in future seasons. The dialogue was often dry and overly expository, it allowed no room for nuance, subtlety, or complexity because they’re constantly telling us what everyone is doing, thinking, and feeling. The acting was mostly subpar, but I think that was because the writing suffered so greatly rather than through major lack of talent or skill from the actors. The pacing was abysmal, 8 episodes was never going to be enough time to tell this story. For me, it has a very surface level amount of entertainment but as soon as you try to look a little closer, try to answer questions or search for any depth, the quality drops entirely.

Extensive in depth review below. Because I’m not watching the show as I’m writing this, please let me know if I’m misremembering any major details so that I can correct myself if/when needed.

Sorry in advance for how obnoxiously long this is, I tried to give clear headers so you can bounce around any specific topics that interest you.

NETFLIX ATLA as a Stand Alone Show

In this section, I will not be making any comparisons or references to previous Avatar content. I will do my best to strictly speak on what Netflix gave us and its quality in different categories.

Costumes/Makeup

Overall, I thought the design of the costumes and styling was really solid. They felt really unique and representative of the different cultures, which is always appreciated. There was an issue for me though that took me out of the show sometimes. Nothing looked lived in. There was no dirt, stains, wrinkles, or wear and tear of any kind and the colors were so bright. The actors sometimes looked like they were doing a theater play or dressing up for Halloween, not living in a struggling world at war. Overall, costuming and makeup was really good, just throw some dirt on there!

Yue’s wig was terrible, I think we can all agree.

I do have a gripe with Zuko’s design though. His scar looks like a bruise or an eye infection, not a gruesome burn scar. I know I’m not the first person to say this, and I’ll keep saying it until they listen. It needs texture, it needs to be larger, and for the love of god shave his eyebrow.

Environments and Locations

I thought the locations looked great, especially the artful cgi on the wide shots of places like the Southern Air Temple, the Fire Nation and their ships, and Omashu. Good cinematography and just really well done work as a whole. There’s a few times when the backgrounds during scenes looked more like stage sets than lived in cities or villages, but it was rarely anything so drastic it harmed the show for me. I really liked the amount of background clutter and knickknacks that helped with realism and there was always a lot of people that helped these places feel populated. Zuko’s room on his ship especially was so cool, it told so much of his story without ever needing explanation. Having a collection of avatar artifacts and plastering his walls with drawings, research, theories, maps, and plans was genius. I loved that they included animals, once again it helps with immersion and realism, and it would be really easy to just not include them for simplicity sake. Especially the funky animal hybrids, I hope to see more going forward! The use of ice, wood, furs, and bone for the Southern Water Tribe was so good. The massive rib cage for the community hut in the tribe was fantastic. I could go on for a long time. For me, the settings were probably the best part of the season.

Bending Graphics

The strongest elements of bending visually were air and fire. They really captured the movements of each, the fluidity and speed of air bending, and the aggression and passion of fire bending. Earth bending looked okay, the actors did a pretty good job of making it look heavy, but overall it felt like it was moving too slowly to me. I think the scene at the beginning of the first episode was the best example of earth bending. The fight with Bumi was very underwhelming for me.

Water bending looked terrible almost the whole time. The way the water physically looked was pretty good, but there was absolutely no weight behind it. Every time Katara hit someone with water, it splashed with the force of a Nerf water gun. The movements were slow, clunky, and so nonthreatening I probably wouldn’t have tried to dodge a single one of her attacks. Her battle with Pakku was one of the most boring battles I’ve ever seen. There was no haste or desperation in either participant. I’m hoping they’ll figure out how to do this better in the future. The ice was decent though.

As a whole, the fight choreography looked pretty good. Certainly moves I could never do. There were times when characters were completely cgi to account for difficult or impossible moves and it was really obvious. Aang in particular looked very wonky when he was fully cgi during his Avatar State moments or when he was flying around like his introduction scene. So passable but definitely room for improvement, I think the artists who work on these aspects of shows and films are very impressive.

Dialogue

The dialogue is 80% exposition, 19% repetitive conversations about responsibility and duty, and 1% misplaced poorly written humor. It’s unnatural, it’s dry, it doesn’t allow for any nuance, and there’s no room for character growth or connection when they have to waste all their words on making sure the plot is on track.

When the introduction of your main character is him looking directly into the camera and telling us the kind of person he is, there’s a dialogue problem. When so much happens off screen that you have to have characters talk to fill in plot holes because there’s just not enough time to tell the story, there’s a dialogue problem. When you put intentional pauses around bad jokes for people to laugh, there’s a dialogue problem. When characters have to say over and over that they’re family but they don’t feel like family in the slightest, there’s a dialogue and characterization problem. I’m not going to script the bad examples, I don’t have the time or patience for that, but I was very unimpressed. It felt like the first draft of a script to me.

And I dare anyone, of legal drinking age of course, to take a shot every time a character says the words responsibility or duty. I swear the floor and ceiling will switch before you reach episode 3. If characters have to keep shoving their responsibilities down our throats without actually doing anything to solve them, there’s a dialogue, characterization, and plot problem.

Also one of my biggest pet peeves with a series is when the first episode or movie ends with a line like “It’s only the beginning” and then plays crazily dramatic music. But that’s a personal preference, not an actual issue.

Acting

First and foremost, I have nothing against any of these actors. I’m sure they’re perfectly wonderful people and they deserve opportunities to prove themselves. My goal here is not to shame or insult or belittle any actor on this show. That being said, none of their performances were perfect and I do have critiques. This is not meant to be a personal attack on any of them or on anyone who enjoyed their performances.

I think the dialogue and overall writing really worked against the potential these actors had. I don’t know how involved the director was in the filming process or helping them with their performances, but there were definitely some failures here.

The strongest performances to me were Sokka, Iroh, Lieutenant Jee, and the Earth bender that threatened Iroh when he was captured (I couldn’t find his name, but he had an unprecedentedly good performance). By far the best was Jee, I felt his emotion more than any other character on the show and would love to see a lot more of him. Sokka balanced well enough with what he was given, but he also had the most character opportunity (which I’ll get into in the next section). Iroh I think filled the mentor roll pretty well, the writing for him leaned a little to close to fortune cookie, but he did feel wise and powerful when he needed to be, mostly. For a comedian though, his humor fell really flat to me, I wish they had given Paul Sun-Hyung Lee some freedom to improv, I think he would’ve done a good job if he could play with the character.

Katara and Azula were awful (so was Mai, but she didn’t get a lot of screen time so I’m not going to focus on her). Katara was so dull and emotionless for the majority of her role, her delivery felt so unnatural. Again, I think the writing was an obstacle, but I felt no connection from Katara at all. And certainly not between her and any of the other characters, which is a major problem for one of the main cast. Her and Sokka felt like strangers half the time, like they were getting to know each other as much as we were getting to know them. I swear Azula’s actress was reading off a teleprompter the entire time, she was somehow robotic and overacted at the same time (I’m sorry, I know that’s harsh, but she just isn’t a good actress, at least not in this).

Zuko had some really solid moments, his scenes with Iroh in particular were great, but overall I didn’t love him. A lot of people seem to be upset at his “tantrums” but honestly I think they fit the character well, though there was one or two too many. He’s an extremely troubled teenager estranged from his family and home, tantrums make sense. Again, I think the dialogue really got in the way of his potential and I don’t think he pushed his acting range enough. Almost every actor needed to show more emotion in one way or another.

Aang has some of the best moments and some of the worst. I have a lot of respect for young child actors, especially ones taking on the challenge of such a massive beloved character or franchise. It’s a lot of pressure for someone still growing up and learning how to be his own person. He handled the few childlike moments Aang was given so so well, he has the brightest little smile and playful attitude. The disconnect came with his more serious moments, he’d get these long monologues and, like Azula, sometimes seemed like he was reading off a teleprompter. I do think it’s a character he’ll grow into really nicely though as long as the writing lends itself to that.

It’s very important to remember that the director signs off on everything. Every performance, every scene, every script (that is also signed off by the lead writer). If something is off, it is not strictly the actors’ faults and should never be treated as such. Do the actors need more experience? Sure, but they more importantly need better direction, scripts, and support from the crew than what they’ve gotten. I’ve seen interviews with the main cast and they all seem wonderful with a lot of potential, particularly the actor for Aang, so clearly the director and lead writer are the ones that are slacking.

Characterization (of the main cast)

Aang

He goes through no change or character development from the beginning to the end of this season.

His water bending training hasn’t even started and he has no further control of the avatar state, so power wise he’s remained completely stagnant.

He constantly says how important Sokka and Katara are, because they’re his “friends”, but there’s been no bonding or development of their relationships. If they didn’t tell us so often, I wouldn’t even think they knew each other beyond first day of school ice breakers.

His most profound moment was his conversation with Gyatso in the spirit world, which I actually really liked. I think he really needed support from someone who knew him before. The home being deserted when Aang goes back to see him definitely hurt.

It feels like this show really really wants us to hate this 12 year old boy. Every adult or authority figure is constantly yelling or berating Aang for something he didn’t even do, it was an accident he didn’t come home and got frozen in ice. Especially from the avatar spirits who should know for a fact he didn’t purposefully run from his responsibilities. The tone is all off and I’m not sure the writers understand what they wrote.

Aang’s biggest mental hurdle will continue to be his guilt for disappearing, which he didn’t even do on purpose so the guilt is unjustified, at least the amount others are thrusting on him.

He looks confident at the end of the season, but I don’t buy it because he hasn’t earned it, there was nothing that he did or said that showed why he would feel so confident when he hasn’t learned anything and he hasn’t proven himself capable beyond getting possessed by the right spirits.

His reaction and aftermath to the death of his entire culture was very underwhelming. His grief sent him into the Avatar state and then he mutters a bland apology and the others are mad at him for falling apart when he’s literally lost everything and everyone he’s ever known. It’s something that needs to be handled far more delicately and it’s not.

As the titular character, it kinda sucks how sidelined his character development has been.

Sokka

If I had no knowledge of this series going into it, I might assume Sokka is the main character because he has the most developmental moments in the season and is easily the most well written character.

Physically handing over the protection of his tribe, while small, was a profound moment for him because he was not only going against his father’s orders, it was the first step to realizing he could be something more than a fishing boy from the south. Which is pretty much his whole emotional arc.

With Suki, he was able to prove himself as someone willing to learn and better himself as a warrior. He learned too fast considering it felt like they were only there for a day maybe, but they were on a time crunch with pacing.

In Omashu, Sokka found that his hobby for invention shows he has a talent for engineering and being a tactician. These are pretty important traits that make him a well rounded character.

By the end of the season, he’s gone through pretty profound loss and change to become the beginnings of a leader.

He was kind of supposed to be comic relief as well, but honestly to me it was done as a sloppy afterthought and almost none of the humor landed. Not just with him, but with most comedic moments.

Katara

I’m sorry, I’m about to rip this poor girl to shreds, the writing for her was awful.

She has absolutely no personality beyond the thousand yard stare she gets every time her mom comes up. Every emotion she has is weak and downplayed by exposition, she’s mostly passive and has almost no effect on the characters around her (besides Jet sort of? And I guess Pokku during the most boring fight of the show).

She adds almost nothing to the team besides being a water bender. It’s literally her only characteristic beyond dead mother.

Speaking of water bending, she did absolutely nothing to earn the title of master and no one can convince me otherwise.

She learned six moves from a scroll, trained off screen so we have to take her word for it, made one move that she copied from another bender, and never once had a single second of instruction from an actual master. Getting that title when she’s done nothing to earn it is crazy.

Teaching herself with no support or guidance is not empowering like the writers seem to think it is. It’s just lazy and so unrealistic it’s laughable. She doesn’t have any of the training necessary to be considered a master.

Also I just really dislike how every obstacle for her to be a better water bender is a mental one, first with Aang and then with Jet. Like yes, clearly emotional state matters, but it’s still a physical discipline that requires technique and training of which she’s had none of besides pictures in the scroll.

The fact she was so dismissive and disrespectful of healing bothers me too when it’s a very valuable practice. She didn’t stay for that training either, so how is she going to use the oasis water in the future? Oh wait, Katara’s “a natural” which is just so infuriating because she’s barely struggled to learn a thing the whole season. As soon as she’s in a good mood, her bending works just fine. That’s not how learning or mastering a discipline should work.

Sorry, I know I’m getting into ranting, I’m backing off. It’s just such poor character work for someone so important to the story.

Zuko

Episode 6, “Masks”, was by far the best episode and largely because of Zuko’s character work. Outside of that episode, he’s pretty consistently narrow minded and angry which doesn’t offer him a lot of depth. But it’s all packed into “Masks”.

I loved that the 41st division was his crew as it was physical proof of his sacrifice and compassion for life. Obviously his scar is also proof, but seeing the people he saved alive hits different. And the fact that he didn’t try to take any credit is very modest and honorable for him.

However, I wish he had chosen to make the 41st his crew rather than it being forced on him as an additional punishment to his banishment. I think if he had made that choice, it would have showed even stronger resolve.

His moment with Aang in the shed after rescuing him as the Blue Spirit was very well done and showed how hard it’s going to be for him to overcome his father’s influence.

Lu Ten’s funeral was a wonderful moment meant to build on Zuko’s relationship with Uncle Iroh, it was quite beautiful.

Unfortunately, outside of the moments I mentioned, there wasn’t much other opportunity for character growth because it had to be so exposition heavy.

Although he did choose to go after his Uncle instead of the Avatar in Omashu and that’s an important value in family that Zuko has.

I do appreciate that they cemented his ideals around honest and honorable glory, but it did get a little preachy and repetitive.

I think overall he has a lot of potential for growth in future seasons.

Pacing

Whoever thought 8 episodes was enough to tell this story is extremely delusional. Having more minutes does not equal having more time, 8 episodes offers no wiggle room for such an expansive story no matter how long they are. I’m so sick of production companies thinking it’s okay to so heavily compress storytelling, let your characters breathe and give them some time to develop. It’s one thing when it’s something like Queen’s Gambit (which is fantastic, if you haven’t watched it you should!) that only focuses on one person vs Avatar which is balancing four or five main characters, extensive world building, and complicated plots. It’s something that needs time, but is instead rushed so drastically there’s barely any time to comprehend one conflict or character before another one is expositing in your face. Netflix is one of the biggest offenders of this, but HBO does the same. The Last of Us could have used an extra episode or two for Joel and Ellie’s relationship to solidify more (I’m not going to get into TLOU though, so please don’t come for me for this opinion, it’s not the focus and if you want a more extensive review of that, let me know). It feels like writers think characterization and development just happens and they don’t have to take the time to actually write it in.

With 2-4 more episodes, they could have had the time to really explore the things they needed to without overloading on exposition. Ask yourself how much time did you feel like passed between episode one and eight? Did it feel like the few months it was supposed to be? To me it felt like maybe two-three weeks, and that’s not the fault of watching it so quickly. There’s never any indication of how much time passes, which is its own issue, but also ultimately confuses audiences if they have to guess.

Every interaction and conflict is rushed, why are these writers so scared to take their time? If Netflix isn’t offering more episodes, then you need to adjust your writing to compensate, not condense everything like a sardine can and then act surprised when it’s a structural problem. It’s a fundamental issue that affected the entire potential of the show.

Plot

Aang should have, at the very least, started mastering water bending. It’s stated several times in the season that he needs to in order to fully become the avatar and be powerful enough to end the war. That is the overarching plot that is integral to the story. And yet he doesn’t bend a single drop of water the entire show until he’s forced to after being possessed by the vengeful ocean spirit (and when Kyoshi also possesses him, but again that wasn’t him, that was the avatar state). Because of the time skips that’ll have to happen between seasons, he’ll probably do most, if not all, of his water bending training off screen. Which is, say it with me, bad writing!

They kept hinting at the comet but never outright said what it would do or when it would arrive. Not giving any kind of timeline for the biggest conflict of the show is really worrisome for their future plans. I understand they have to allow a certain amount of time flexibility to account for the younger actors aging, especially Aang, which I completely understand and respect. That’s why time skips will happen. But to not give any kind of timeline shows really poor planning.

Also, please tell me if I’m misremembering or if I somehow missed it during my watch through, but I’m pretty sure Team Avatar still doesn’t even know about the comet, what it means, or when it’s coming. That’s a pretty big thing to overlook when it’s the catalyst for the Fire Nation’s power.

The fact that the show kicked off with the genocide of the Airbenders, who are all conveniently in the same spot, and Aang just happened to escape it because he essentially went for a walk to clear his head and got caught in a storm that came out of no where is way too coincidental for believable circumstances. It’s, louder for those in the back, bad writing!

They had four years to plan this all out, I don’t understand why it all seems so unfinished and thrown together with pieces from different jigsaw puzzles!

Comparisons to Source Material

In this section, I will be comparing the Netflix adaptation of ATLA to the original animated series. This will be about things that stuck out most to me as consistencies, changes, and valuable moments in each rendition of the story.

Consistencies

Writing-wise, obviously they got a lot of the big plot points down, and I’m not going to list them all. If you’ve watched both, you know what they are. Pretty much the essentials…sort of. The great divide even got a shoutout which I thought was funny.

I mentioned above how “Masks” was by far the best episode of the Netflix season, well it’s not a coincidence that it also has the most parallels and consistencies with the episodes it was based on (“Storm” and “Blue Spirit” which are also arguably the best episodes of Book One). I was going to be so mad if they took away the Blue Spirit part of Zuko’s character, but clearly it’s a fan favorite and for the most part I think they did it justice.

I loved that they kept in a lot of the hybrid animals, at least in dialogue if we didn’t actually get to see them. It would have been a really easy thing to just get rid of for simplicity sake. I hope we get to see some more CGI versions of these animals because the ostrich horse looked really good. Momo and Appa for the most part looked good, sometimes a little wonky but nothing crazy, I just wish they had more screen time. They don’t feel like characters yet, just a pet and a vehicle (essentially).

I was really pleasantly surprised to see Hei Bai, I was honestly expecting them to scrap him. He looked really cool too. I do wish we could have seen him turn back into a panda when Aang helped him, but overall I’m just glad we got him at all.

I didn’t love what they used him for, but Kho was visually amazing and everything I hoped for. Absolutely terrifying, will haunt my nightmares again.

June was also a pleasant surprise, I hadn’t looked too deep into the cast list and wasn’t sure if she’d be included. I did think it was a little weird she was flirting with Iroh vs the other way around (like what was the point of that? just take out the flirting entirely if you’re going to be weird about it) but overall she’s pretty much one to one the same and I still liked her a lot. Nala should have been a little more anteater/mole-like instead of wolfish but overall not bad at all.

We got the Cabbage Man. They teased him a little a first, but we got him.

My Favorite Moments from the Netflix Version that Change or Expand on the Original

I sang its praises above, but again Lu Ten’s funeral scene was just so beautiful and really built on Iroh’s fatherly affection for Zuko. I know it’s mostly a replacement for the leaves from the vine scene in “Tales of Ba Sing Se” because they’re never going to be able to fit in that episode. So it’s nice that they deemed it a moment worth capturing in a different way.

I’m not going to reiterate exactly what I said above so go see Zuko’s characterization again if you need to, but making the 41st division his crew members was a constructive choice that I liked a lot.

I don’t know why but just the idea of Gyatso sticking around in the spirit world to be able to speak to Aang one last time hit me so hard. I absolutely loved it as an addition to building their relationship. Aang always deserved a goodbye, and even though this wasn’t exactly that, it was what Aang needed to cope with his immense loss and the pressure he was under.

When Iroh was arrested by the guards of Omashu and being taken to the pit, he had a really intense but moving interaction with one of the earth bending soldiers. I think it was such a good way to portray war and perspectives from both sides. The soldier rightfully and angrily blamed Iroh for his brother who died at the siege of Ba Sing Se, which Iroh was responsible for. He accused Iroh of being evil, of having never gone through loss, which we as viewers know isn’t true, but he doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t defend himself. Doesn’t reveal his own loss to get even. He takes the abuse and the blame and just utters that enough people have been hurt. Great performances all around, really solid writing. I wish more of the show had followed this example.

That lady hitting Zuko with a brush to stop him from attacking Aang, a child, in Omashu’s marketplace. That was one of the funniest scenes in the whole show. Bring her back!

“Everything I need is on this boat.” - ‘nuff said.

Major Character Differences (I’ll try to keep this concise)

Aang

He lost the majority of his lightheartedness which made him so lovable in the first place. He does a lot of monologues and speeches to intense music now. He’s still 12 guys, let him swim with giant elephant koi and dress up as Pippinpaddleopsicopolis the Third to get into Omashu!

I really don’t like that they changed him actively running from his title and responsibilities to just going for a jaunt with Appa to clear his head. That removes so much depth, guilt, and fear that he should have. In the original, it was his choice to run away with the intention of hiding and never coming back, in the Netflix version, it was an accident he never came home. That’s a massive character change.

People called him a coward, but he literally isn’t when it was a very coincidental accident that forced him into the ice in the first place rather than his choice to actively run from his destiny. He’s yelled at and screamed at and insulted constantly, even by people who are meant to help him, when he didn’t even do what they’re accusing him of. He didn’t deliberately run away, he accidentally got caught in a storm. And he just takes all of that guilt and blame and anger from everyone when he genuinely did nothing wrong.

Getting rid of his crush on Katara is a problem, but I’ll get into that more later.

I don’t care why they think they did it, but making Aang agree with Pakku in any respect about not letting Katara train or fight was so extremely disrespectful to both characters.

His reaction to losing his people was way underdeveloped, they gave him no time to grieve. And the fact that Katara doesn’t help him out of his initial Avatar State spiral is so damaging to the friendship they’re supposed to have. Their friendship always came first, let them interact and build that relationship!

Sokka

His small sexism arc that everyone is up in arms about. Do I think it should have been included? Yes. Is it the end all be all of his character? No, like I mentioned above, he got the most character moments in the show. But it was really important in its own way. I saw someone say, “Sokka may not be misogynistic, but Netflix’s ATLA adaptation certainly is.” And they’re right.

What I really didn’t like was what they did with his relationship with his father and ice dodging. Sokka had a great relationship with Hakoda built on trust, mutual admiration, similar tactical mindsets, and strength of character. He passed his ice dodging test with Bato with flying colors. There’s no reason to completely flip those dynamics, there’s already enough other conflicts to explore without giving Sokka daddy issues he didn’t have in the first place. Whoever made that choice was projecting hard.

Hakoda eventually trusts Sokka to lead the invasion in Book 3, but none of that exists here and it doesn’t feel like there’s a path yet to lead to that. (I have a lot to say about the invasion later)

They have Sokka take over a very paternal role with Katara instead of her being maternal, and he is constantly very overbearing, patronizing, and talking down to her as if she has no (or does not deserve a) mind or agency of her own. They (as in the writers) are acting like the age difference between them is 10 years instead of 1-2 years.

Also taking out the very important moment when Sokka was the one who saved an entire Fire Nation village from Jet was just wrong. Not only was it an important stepping stone towards leadership and diplomacy for Sokka, but it also showed that even on the “bad side” of the war, there are innocent people who deserve protecting.

Sokka wasn’t nearly as funny as he should have been.

Katara

Everything about her was wrong, scrap it and try again.

She had none of the passion she should have had. Katara gets mad, she yells and insults and waves her arms around to make her point. She gets jealous and petty. But she’s also so unbelievably kind and caring, she’s the only reason any of them take proper care of themselves. She’s lighthearted and fun when she can be, she plays and laughs and cares so incredibly deeply.

Katara inspires people in a way none of the other characters can, although Aang does learn a lot from her in that regard. She’s incredibly hardworking, loyal, and dedicated to those she loves. And yes, she feels immense pain and sadness for her mother, but that’s not all she is.

LA Katara felt like a hollow shell 90% of the time used for exposition, 5% mom trauma, and 5% sort of emotional. The writing just didn’t lend itself to complexity, flaws, or character depth.

She’s one of the first well written and well rounded female characters a lot of us encountered as kids and they stripped her of everything that made her who she is. Someone for young girls to look up to. It’s shameful.

For some reason they made her explicitly and directly responsible for her mother’s death, which is a very strange and damaging change to make that I don’t think they totally understand the difference of from the original.

They took away all of her maternal behavior, which just tells us what they think of maternal behavior, that it’s a weak trait for a leading character and not worth exploring in a person that had to take that role in her family and village as a whole at such a young age. It’s like the writers thought that Katara being motherly was problematic and sexist, which is a mindset that is itself problematic and sexist.

They’ve essentially turned bending into a magic that relies solely on emotional and mental stability instead of a martial arts form requiring discipline and training. I don’t even think the writers realize they’ve done this, which in and of itself is a massive issue.

Although I will say the water whip on the flaming arrow was a good use of water bending, it just didn’t feel earned to me.

For as much as they focused on her mom, they never once brought up Katara’s necklace?? They took out Pokku’s connection to Gran Gran and never mentioned anything about betrothal necklaces. There’s just so many changes they made, large and small, that feel pointless or contradictory to the source material for no reason.

Zuko

Frankly, so early into Zuko’s character arc, there isn’t a lot of difference here. Most of his development starts in Book 2. I do like the animated version a lot better, though. I am biased, but I also think that even though they hit on almost all the same points, the original just handled it with far more nuance, care, and time. With the Netflix version being so rushed, any payoffs we had just didn’t feel totally earned.

I do think it was a big shame that they had Iroh kill Zhao instead of allowing Zuko’s attempt to save him from the ocean spirit. It’s a pretty important character moment that shows how Zuko wants to help people, save people, if he can regardless of how they’ve treated him. They can make this point again if they do “Zuko Alone”, but I’m honestly really scared they’ll cut it.

Having Zuko fight back during the Agni Kai against his father in the flash back was way out of character and takes away from the severity of the punishment and the trauma of the abuse. He was a 13 year old child terrified of not just disappointing his father, but of suffering harm from the one person he should trust most. And Ozai convinces him he deserves it, so there’s no world where he would have fought back in that scene. And it changes the meaning from a father violently burning a child that has surrendered and begs for forgiveness to a soldier winning a one-on-one battle against another soldier and branding his victory, no matter how dishonorable it is.

Also, at this point, Zuko is an amateur fire bender with barely any experience or progress in his training. Him getting the high ground over Ozai for even a second is ridiculous and diminishes Ozai’s skill level. It could be argued Ozai did it on purpose to give Zuko an opportunity to prove himself as ruthless as Ozai wants him to be, but that completely goes against the precedent set by Ozai that he hates being questioned or otherwise made to look weak in front of anyone. I think I understand what they were going for, but honestly it came off as an opportunity to show off the actor’s fighting skills rather than holding the weight it should for the story.

I DO like that Zuko has a war journal (*diary*) about the avatar, history, and essentially a map of his journey. I DON’T like that Team Avatar uses it as an expository tool and excuse to not properly explore the world and learn things for themselves or through other people.

I don’t think Zuko said the word “honor” once, but please correct me if I’m wrong.

Iroh

Similar to Zuko, they hit a lot of the same surface level points with a few misses here and there.

They didn’t show us Iroh’s connection to the spirit world, they just told us right before the battle at the North Pole and we’re supposed to believe it, which we do because we’ve seen the original, but that was kind of lame. (Not including Roku’s dragon was also lame, but I digress).

They expanded on his past in a few different ways which I did like a lot and mentioned above.

The Netflix version comes off more preachy and gimmicky to me than wise, which is disappointing. I think the actor could have done amazingly with the right script.

They didn’t show him redirecting lightning, which is arguably one of the most valuable skills in the entire show and extremely important for the finale for both Aang and Zuko.

And just like Sokka, he was not nearly funny enough.

Bumi

His characterization was all backwards and wrong and I hated it.

Visually, his makeup and design was pretty good, but that’s the extent of any positives with the Netflix version.

Bumi would absolutely never ever ever have made a joke about the genocide that took Aang’s entire people. That was disgusting and disrespectful to Bumi and Aang.

He was never mad at Aang for disappearing, he was actually extremely understanding and only hoping to teach Aang further about his duties as the avatar. He quite literally welcomed him back with open arms.

The way he treated others, especially his servants, was appalling and borderline cruel.

He never stepped down from protecting his people or became complacent in a way that put them in danger, Omashu was thriving beautifully under his care. When he surrendered to the Fire Nation in Book 2, it was the best way to protect his people without bloodshed and he knew he’d eventually get their home back. He was literally waiting for the Solar Eclipse to do it (which I’ll touch more on later).

This also means that by having Bumi actively fight and lose, instead of surrendering with neutral jing, he won’t be able to realistically give Aang the advice that is supposed to lead him to Toph. Wait and Listen.

I did appreciate the lesson he was trying to convey to Aang about the difficult choices that wartime forces on us, especially leadership (like who gets what food or medicine), but they did it all wrong.

Shame on the writers for what they did to Bumi’s character, I could write an entire essay on everything they screwed up just with Bumi.

Suki

They made her into a lovesick day dreamer instead of the strong warrior and leader she was meant to be. She’s going to go off to war, don’t diminish her strength. Her being a fighter should be the forefront of her character, not a lonely girl pining for a boy and dreaming about the big world.

Her and Sokka’s relationship should have been built up over time, their kiss was so misplaced. When not much time passes before Sokka falls for Yue, it makes him seem like a player.

And that moment Suki’s staring at him shirtless is cringy and yucky, they’re teenagers. Don’t do that.

We’ll see how she is when she shows up again…I actually liked the actress quite a bit, but her writing wasn’t good. That seems to be a theme here though.

I do wish her hair was still auburn instead of black, that’s personal preference though.

Gyatso

They did him so dirty with his death, it was anticlimactic with none of the power or savagery that was implied in the original. His skeleton was literally surrounded by dead Fire Nation soldiers, I wanted to see that dangerous potential on screen and am very disappointed not to get it given how explicitly they wanted to show the genocide of the airbenders.

Jet

Jet’s vendetta is specifically against the Fire Nation. On some level I do believe he would resort to violence against a traitor giving the Fire Nation information, but I don’t think he ever would have put Tao or other innocent (non-Fire Nation) bystanders at such great risk. Maybe that’s splitting hairs though since in the original he was prepared to drown an entire village, of Fire Nation people specifically, as a whole he felt pretty consistent.

I just don’t like Netflix smashing so many plots and characters together, they deserve room to breathe in their own stories.

I hate that he was the catalyst for Katara’s bending training though, instead of her own hard work and practice or training with actual masters. Jet knows nothing about bending or how it works. It’s another instance of stripping Katara of her skill and work ethic.

Yue

As a personal preference, I hate that they made Yue a water bender. She has part of the spirit of the moon in her, so logically I understand where they’re coming from giving her those abilities. But she’s not a water bender! The spirit was working to keep her alive, not to give her powers she shouldn’t have had in the first place.

She’s a princess dedicated to her people and wanting to learn how to lead but also buckling under the pressure of expectations, particularly around her arranged marriage. I saw none of that in the Netflix adaptation, except that she likes to make desserts when she’s stressed, so there’s that I guess. It’s just still missing the depth, but again they don’t have time to really explore these topics.

They make a point with Pokku about the role of women in the Northern Water Tribe and yet somehow Yue is allowed to just call off her arranged marriage. That’s a pretty distinct cultural contradiction. It just shows me the writers don’t know how to portray misogyny as a narrative tool or how to do consistent world building.

Her wig looked awful.

They should have used what happened to Momo (which ouch, that wasn’t necessary) as an opportunity for Katara to prove that she knows how to heal, because she hasn’t done it yet and she’s supposed to bring Aang back from the dead in Book 2.

Azula

I appreciated her introduction scene where she exposes a coup against her father while undercover. It was a little cheesy with her reveal, but it does establish her character decently well early on. And the cover she chose, dead brother and mother, is really interesting narratively.

The writers for Netflix went off about how they didn’t want to portray sexism, through Sokka specifically, but then they stripped the main female leads of most of their agency (Katara, Suki, and Azula all fit this category, I’m worried what they’ll do to Toph).

Azula has almost none of the arrogance that she should have, certainly none of the calm calculated intensity that made her so fearsome and intimidating. Azula should be scary, and she’s definitely not here. She just came off as such a brat with a twitchy face and prone to tantrums.

Her fire isn’t blue, that bothers me a lot. Blue fire is hotter than red fire, it’s supposed to be an indication of not only her fire bending strength but also her temperament. Plus it’s supposed to help us differentiate between their powers when she’s fighting Zuko.

Lightning bending requires so much skill, precision, power, and focus. I don’t believe for a second Netflix’s Azula should actually be able to do it. She was only able to do it because she was mad, and that’s not how it’s supposed to work.

She definitely didn’t earn being able to overpower Bumi and takeover Omashu. Although granted it feels like they nerfed a lot of Bumi’s power, he certainly doesn’t feel like one of the most powerful earth benders in the world.

Ozai had originally sent her out to collect Zuko and Iroh, not to lead an army in a battle against one of the greatest (or what should be one of the greatest) strongholds in the Earth Kingdom. It’s unrealistic and silly. And it’s not like Bumi gave up like he did in the original, he literally said “We’ll be ready to fight” when he revealed that the Fire Nation was headed their way.

Ozai treating her like a nuisance is also way out of character. He’s supposed to feed into her ego and inflating all of her more dangerous traits because he sees them as powerful and necessary for the future leader he expects Azula to be. Zuko should be the disappointing son with no faith or support from Ozai, and Azula the gifted prodigy given every opportunity and surpassing Zuko in Ozai’s eyes. As Zuko said, “He used to say Azula was born lucky, I was lucky to be born.” Somehow that dynamic has almost completely switched and Azula suffered the most from it.

She’s very miscast, the actress was awful. I’m sorry, but not sorry enough not to say it.

Ozai

Ozai should despise Zuko, he’s far more terrifying that way. It’s way more compelling watching a son that’s been so manipulated by his traumas try to win the affections of his father that don’t even exist than the same daddy issues we see in almost every movie or show where the son is trying to live up to his father’s expectations unhappily. Ozai should have no expectations for Zuko, that’s the difference. He sent Zuko on a mission he wouldn’t come back from on purpose, to get rid of him.

That’s terrifying, how disconnected he can be from his son. Trying to make Ozai more human or sympathetic by making him care for Zuko takes away from the monster he’s supposed to be as a villain. They’re not making him more complex, they’re making him more generic.

I just kind of generally don’t like that they’ve revealed so much about him and Azula in Book 1 because part of the well written structure of avatar is that the “villains” escalate from season to season, going from Zuko to Azula to Ozai as the main antagonists. I’d rather they had kept that structure and given more time to better plot and character development.

Plus revealing him so early took away a lot of his intimidation factor for me. Mystery and intrigue is good you guys! You don’t always have to lay all your cards on the table right away.

And at the end when Ozai more or less says that the attack on the Northern Water Tribe was a distraction to take Omashu makes zero sense to me. Not only is it an arbitrary copy of what Sozin said in the beginning about attacking the Earth Kingdom as a distraction for killing all of the air benders (which is also stupid), but thematically and structurally it doesn’t make any sense. The timeline doesn’t add up at all, not that they gave us any indications of timeline. And at this point in the war, the different nations, tribes, and kingdoms are so segregated that the Water Tribe probably wouldn’t have gone to help Omashu in the first place, certainly not in time.

Also I refuse to ignore the blatant contradiction they put in Zuko’s scar story. Zuko is punished extremely severely for INDIRECTLY insulting Ozai, when he’d literally been asked what he thought of the war plans, but when Iroh DIRECTLY questioned Ozai in front of the entire court and spectators (interrupting the Agni Kai, a sacred type of battle in the Fire Nation), there’s no punishment at all. I really don’t understand what the writers are doing with the amount of contradictions.

Roku

Botched, I hated what they did to Roku.

Trying to make him funny? That, right away, ruined his character entirely. I won’t ever be able to take him seriously. He would never make jokes when Aang is desperately looking for guidance and understanding. He’s not a funny silly character, it’s like the writers forgot to add in some levity and chose literally the worst character to force humor onto.

Roku is one of the coolest and wisest characters in the series with some of the most badass scenes and they took away all of them. The future of his portrayal does not look bright.

Kyoshi

Now, I love Kyoshi as much as the next person, but she got way too much screen time.

Not only did they give Roku’s badass possession moment in the Fire Nation Temple to her for absolutely no reason on Kyoshi Island, but they made her the leading influence of Aang’s spiritual journey (he’s constantly trying to reconcile with the advice she gave him) which makes zero sense.

The hundred year war is the consequence of Roku’s legacy and mistakes, it has literally nothing to do with Kyoshi. Roku should be the one mentoring Aang spiritually and guiding him through the remnants of his choices as the Avatar.

Giving her weird future vision for the attack on the North Pole was really weird and made no sense to me, and completely shifted Aang’s motivations from learning water bending (which he never does even once) to warning the Northern Water Tribe, which they end up not even needing him to do because they’re already prepared to fight. Just a convoluted mess narratively.

She isn’t supposed to be that agro of a character, she’s pragmatic and diplomatic. They based her off the memes far more than her source material and it shows.

Making Kyoshi so much more prominent feels like such an insincere thing to do for the sake of “girl boss strong female characters hoorah” that ultimately hurts the writing.

Kuruk

I don’t really know why they decided to give Kuruk so much screen time when it should have been given to Roku or any other character for some development, but I would say it was a decent portrayal. Just an unnecessary one.

They actually used book material for him, which is surprising given the changes they made, but it was specifically for the “spirit killing knife” which was stupid and no one can convince me otherwise.

Having spiritual conversations with so many of the past Avatar’s this early on feels like they’re going to be removing, or at least drastically changing, the Lion Turtle scene in the finale which has me very concerned.

Egregious and Potentially Detrimental Changes from the Original

Removing Jeong Jeong and Aang’s First Experience with Fire Bending

Aang’s terror of fire after hurting Katara when he got too confident is vital for his development. It’s the main reason he eventually accepts Zuko as his fire bending teacher because they both struggle with having hurt people and wanting to fix their mistakes.

This was also supposed to be Katara’s first use of healing, which again I think is something really important for us to actually see she can do. Because all they’ve said is she’s “a natural” just like everything else and that’s such bad storytelling.

Jeong Jeong is a member of the White Lotus and a really important factor in Iroh’s endeavor to take back Ba Sing Se in the finale. Could they do it without him? I guess, but it’s really disrespectful to me to just not include him.

Taking him out will affect plots all the way in season 3.

Not only that, but Jeong Jeong is a valuable example of someone born on the wrong side of the war wanting to make a difference and change his ways. It’s realistic nuance for war!

What Seeing Wan Shi Tong in the Spirit World Means to Me, the Implications for the Library, and Consequences

Wan Shi Tong, similar to Tui and La (the moon and ocean spirits), came to the physical world with the express purpose of bettering humanity. He made the personal sacrifice of staying away from the spirit world so that the human race would have access to his vast and wonderful knowledge. He couldn’t go back and forth between the physical world and the spirit world because he had to be there to keep the Library standing in the physical world in the first place, it can’t stay there without him. The fact that he’s in the spirit world, to me, means that the library may not be in the physical world at all.

Other indications that his library isn’t in the physical world are that Zhao didn’t get his knowledge of Tui and La from the library, he got it from ancient Fire Nation scrolls and records instead (which doesn’t make a lot of sense), and the sun dial that Sokka would have used to discover the solar eclipse and begin the plan for the invasion is now located in the Fire Nation instead. How is Sokka going to learn about the Day of Black Sun now for the invasion? (There’s a lot of setup for the invasion that they’ve screwed up and I’ll talk about it more in a couple other sections).

So assuming we’re no longer going to have the library, there’s a lot of follow-up implications and consequences. This means that we won’t have Appa’s kidnapping which causes a few problems.

One, Appa’s kidnapping directly leads to Jet’s death, the only major on screen death (or injury that leads to death) in the entire show. I guess you could also count Combustion Man, but Jet’s was infinitely more emotional and important to the story.

Two, Appa’s kidnapping and subsequent rescue is vital for proving to the Earth King that Long Feng is a traitor and the Dai Lee has been compromised. This leads to the Earth King trusting Team Avatar’s word implicitly about the Kyoshi Warriors which allows Azula to infiltrate, learn about the invasion plans, capture Katara, and ultimately “kill” Aang at the end of Book 2. Can the writers work around this? Probably. Do I trust them to? No.

Three, protecting Appa is how the Kyoshi Warriors get overpowered by Azula in the first place and Azula is able to infiltrate the Earth Kingdom in disguise. It’s how Suki is captured and ends up at The Boiling Rock prison.

Four, Zuko being the one to let Appa go is a massive character moment as he struggles to let go of the burdens that Ozai pushed onto him to capture the avatar at all cost to others and himself. It leads to his “metamorphosis” as Iroh calls it, leads to him giving up the Blue Spirit identity, and is what makes his later betrayal so painful. Plus, Appa likes him now which is a stepping stone later for Aang to trust him when Zuko wants to switch sides.

And five, Appa’s brief stop with the guru as he’s trying to get back to Aang leads to how Aang gets any instruction on controlling the avatar state. Which also leads to his “death” at the end of Book 2 when he tries to reopen his chakras like he was taught during the fight with Azula. Again, do I think there’s a workaround here? Yeah, but I don’t think they’ll do it well.

Where’s Haru and What it Means for the Future

Removing the “Imprisoned” storyline takes away Katara’s first and one of her most important moments of being an inspirational leader, learning how to speak up for others, and how to make connections with people outside her culture. But they’ve already stripped Katara of so much of her depth, I’m not surprised they took it out.

The more important issue is that Haru, his father, and their people (all Earth Benders) that she helped rescue were very prominent foot soldiers for the invasion in Book 3. Where are they going to get alliances to build an army against the Fire Nation now? My bet is either they won’t, which is concerning for many reasons, or it’ll happen between seasons off screen which is a massive writing problem! Vital events and plot points happening off screen shows extremely poor planning.

Indications of Removing the Swamp and More Poor Planning for the Invasion (are they cutting it out?)

I’ve pretty much convinced myself that the writers are cutting the invasion out of the plot. I’ve listed many reasons above why I think that’s the direction they’re going, but the last straw was when Sokka and Katara were in the spirit world.

I’m almost 100% sure they’re getting rid of “the Swamp”.

When Sokka and Katara are in the spirit world, they are confronted by their worst memories and most difficult emotional obstacles the same way they had been in the original when they were in the swamp. It wouldn’t make any sense to do that again, so they’re probably getting rid of the swamp entirely.

Which means Team Avatar will never encounter the Swamp Water Benders, which then means they lose even more foot soldiers and allies for the invasion. That’s two major allies that just won’t be involved. Between the potential changes to the Library, the lack of allies, and the fact that Hakoda has no trust in Sokka as a warrior, I don’t see how they’re going to realistically be able to do the invasion. If they do, I’ll be shocked and skeptical of how they manage it.

And as another personal pet peeve, taking out the swamp also removes another facet of water bending, being able to control plants by the water in them (which additionally leads into blood bending).

Other Changes That Really Bothered Me

Exposing the Genocide of Aang’s People and the Comet in Episode One

While I did appreciate (to a degree) getting to see the attack on the air benders and how the fall of the Air Nomads happened, I really don’t like that it’s the first thing we see. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s okay and often more beneficial not to reveal everything right away! I much preferred getting bits and pieces as we went along to put together the whole puzzle and have the time to process each new facet of the war. Giving it to us all at once and as the first thing we see takes away so much intricate story telling.

I really didn’t like that all of the air nomads were in the same place for the attack, that’s so unrealistic that they had to create an arbitrary festival to make it happen.

Originally, the Fire Nation attacks all four Air Temples with the power of the comet to back them up for the initial attack. It shouldn’t take one night where they’re all conveniently in the same place (except Aang) and kill them all, it should take one night to deal them such a severe blow that finishing them off over the next few years is easy. Because of course some would get away and were hunted down, that’s how war realistically works.

Removing Aang’s Crush on Katara and What it Means

Oooooh this bothers me for so many reasons, but I’ll try not to be too crazy about it.

I don’t know why they got rid of it completely, unless they’re just waiting until Aang and the actor are a little older for it to be more appropriate. But with what they did with the “Cave of Two Lovers”, I think they’re scrapping the love between Aang and Katara entirely.

Which they haven’t done anything to help them bond at all as friends in the first place except like two moments of bending instructions from Aang and a lot of dialogue about how they’re family. Aang and Sokka have had way more bonding moments together, I can believe they’re friends at least.

One of the biggest issues will be, if they somehow manage to trick Netflix into letting them adapt Korra as well, Aang and Katara’s kids and grandkids are fundamental to the plot there. But that’s getting way ahead of ourselves, let’s just focus on ATLA.

Aang’s feelings for Katara are very important, particularly for being the sole reason he stops trying to master the avatar state, only to attempt it again later to protect her, and then he ends up “dead” for it. He admits to loving her out right in those episodes.

The thing about Avatar is almost every detail is valuable in some way and dominos into a larger plot point. Their love for each other isn’t a major focal point of the show but it does matter, I just really hope they’re not planning on changing love interests.

Moving Anything from Other Seasons into Season One

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this, but bringing anything from other seasons into season one when you already have such limited time is really irritating because that time would have been better spent on actual character development or including more vital points from season one.

Changing Lore

Aang accidentally bringing both Sokka and Katara into the spirit world with him just because they were in close proximity is ridiculous. He shouldn’t be able to do that. It makes much more sense that they’d be stolen by Hei Bai than piggybacking off Aang when neither of them are spiritually inclined.

Making Avatar shrines the only way for Aang to access his previous avatar is so limiting and irritating, he gets better at it as he becomes more spiritually connected to the avatar state (like in the ocean during the first episode of Book 3 when Aang contacts Roku, or on the Lion Turtle when Aang contacts four past Avatars). Also they completely contradict this rule letter in the season when Aang sees Avatar Kuruk for a few seconds just outside in the Northern Water Tribe. Like they specifically said it, and then completely contradicts themselves, that’s a pretty big consistency error when it’s a change they made.

They removed any significances of the solstices. Once again, giving us no timeline or indication of time passing in the world.

The reason Roku is able to control Aang’s body and powers as much as he can in the Fire Nation Temple is because of the winter solstice when the veil between spirit and physical world is thinnest. But now any Avatar can do it as long as Aang connects with them at their shrine. Kyoshi should not have been to do that to him and it replaced Roku’s very profound moment at the temple.

I don’t like that they said Tui and La are only in physical form one night a year (I think that’s what Zhao said, or something about an ice moon, whatever), and then that night just happened to be near. I can’t think of a single reason why they would make that change. There’s just too many convenient coincidences happening in this version of the story. Tui and La specifically gave up their spiritual forms for vulnerable physical forms for a reason, learn the lore!

The special spirit killing knife was stupid. I don’t know if it’s in the novels and I missed it or if the writers (more likely) came up with it, but it’s seems like really convenient and silly lore that actively contradicts a lot of what was originally set up about the spirits. And added a lot of unnecessary exposition that didn’t even tell us how Zhao got it.

In another similar vein, the MacGuffin of the statue of the many faces goddess spirit that Aang took from Roku’s artifacts to save Katara and Sokka from Kho was just so weird to me. He just eats people now? What happened to him stealing faces if you show an emotion? That was what made him so terrifying, and it was just another moment they stole from Aang and showcasing his potential. It wasn’t his negotiation skills or his self control that saved his friends, but a very convenient object just sitting on a shelf waiting for him.

None of their lore changes made sense or had a purpose to me other than to arbitrarily be different from the source material.

Mature ≠ Graphic

The writers said repeatedly in interviews and articles that they wanted this live action adaptation to essentially be a more mature version. They even likened their vision to be something similar enough to appeal to Game of Thrones fans, which to me was a massive red flag going into the show. Please, do not mix up maturity and graphic violence.

The only thing more “mature” about the live action is that we actually see people being burned alive and killed throughout the season. The original has far more mature writing because of how delicately and intricately it handles very serious concepts. The Netflix writers either do not trust audiences to pick up on subtle and complex ideas, do not trust the actors to portray subtle and complex ideas, or they do not know how to write subtle and complex ideas. Or some combination of the three. Everything is exposition, which I’ve said so many times before, but I will keep saying it until they learn not shove plot right in our faces with no nuance.

The writers simply think they’ve created something more mature because it’s sometimes violent and not a cartoon, which isn’t how that works.

It’s not mature, it’s graphic. Know the difference and you’ll be a better writer for it!

Humor

Yes the humor in the original leans a little more childish, but you don’t solve that by stripping the humor entirely in the adaptation! Almost any attempt at humor, to me, felt like an after thought and was mostly misplaced in a scene (like with Roku, I’ll never get over that). Just overall lost a lot of the whimsy. I understand that animation lends itself to way more expressive, cartoonish, and childish humor, but there’s plenty of funny live-action films and shows. Why did it have to take such a back seat? Again, that’s not a sign of maturity, it’s a sign of a very surface level understanding of how writing works and of what the original ATLA had to offer.

What Was The Point and What Could They Have Done Instead (imo)?

Being brutally honest here, I really don’t think there was any point to making this live action adaptation, especially with the limitations they put on themselves. I think it was, overall, a waste of money and resources. In theory, it was really exciting to have the opportunity to see the world come to life. And in a lot of ways I think they accomplished that between the location designs, costumes, respectful and accurate casting, and environments. I just think that was their main focus, making it look right, that the writing took an unfortunate back seat that made the whole show suffer.

There are two directions I think they could have taken instead.

One, I think they should have planned for six seasons. Every book of the original has a roughly mid season event that could act as really solid season finales. They would be able to stretch out the story and not compress or rush their writing so much. It would be structured more like this:

Season 1 Finale - The Winter Solstice and Discovery of Sozin’s Comet

Season 2 Finale - The Siege of the North

Season 3 Finale - Getting to Ba Sing Se and The Drill

Season 4 Finale - Aang’s “Death”

Season 5 Finale - The Day of Black Sun Invasion

Season 6 Finale - Sozin’s Comet and Confronting the Fire Lord

I understand that doing this doubles the length, and subsequently the cost of the show, which is a big ask. But I also think if they don’t have the resources to do it right in the first place, then they shouldn’t have done it at all. Is it better than the 2010 version we got from Shyamalan? Of course, but please allow yourself to have higher standards than literally scraping by the bottom of the barrel of quality.

I don’t expect anyone to have as in depth opinions or critiques as me, and I don’t begrudge anyone for enjoying the show or even liking some of the changes! But I will say that we all, no matter how critical a viewer you are, deserve better than mediocre quality.

The second direction I think they could have taken, and I really think they should have, is to write something completely original within the world setting of Avatar. There are quite literally dozens of avatars that existed before Aang that have no story yet! They had an opportunity to write some original that actually fits into the 8 episode limit they had while also further expanding on the history and world we all love so much.

I just think the audience, that mostly consists of fans of the original, would have been far more accepting and open to an original story rather than a middling attempt at retelling a story that’s already so beloved.

If you made it this far, I am extremely impressed and also worried for your health! This was mostly me needing to get all of these thoughts and critiques out of my head without ranting to friends and family that have no idea what I’m talking about and would get annoyed.

Anyway, that is my very extensive review that nobody asked for! If you need clarification or further analysis on anything I said, or if there’s something I missed that’s a critique for you on the live action, or if there’s anything you disagree with that I’ve said, please let me know in the comments below! But be nice, I will block anyone being mean about people opinions or thoughts. This is an open friendly space, I won’t tolerate bullying.

Thank you for probably far too much of your time!

#avatar the last airbender #atla #netflix #netflix avatar #avatar live action #my review #please don’t be mean to me if you disagree #I know this is obnoxiously long but no one is forcing you to read it

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willsimpforazula · 1 year

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Sokkla Santa 2022: Kataomoi

Kataomoi (片想い) - noun; one sided love, unrequited love or alternatively, a story of two people finding out that in fact, their one-sided love maybe isn't as one sided as they thought Note: if the header is bold and in italics, it means it happened in the past. if it's just bold, that means it's in the present as to why kataomoi, the best explanation i've seen is this video, but unfortunately it's in mandarin so that kinda sucks if you don't understand mandarin :( basically, the whole shebang can be summarized in these few lines:

生まれ変わったとしても出会い方が最悪でも

Even if we're reborn and meet in worst possible way

また僕は君に恋するんだよ

I'd gladly fall in love with you all over again

so yeah...anyways bone apfel tee and mariah crimbus or something ________________________________________

例えば君の顔に昔より

シワが増えてもそれでも良いんだ

If there were more wrinkles on your face than yesterday, that's alright

僕がギターを思うように弾けなくなっても

If I couldn't play the guitar like I used to before

心の歌は君で溢れているよ

My heart won't stop writing songs about you

高い声も出せずに思い通り歌えない

If I can't hit the notes like before, if my voice is gone

それでも頷きながら一緒に歌ってくれるかな

Would you still nod and sing along with me?

割れんばかりの拍手も響き渡る歓声もいらない

I don't need a standing ovation, or cheers from the crowds

君だけわかってよわかってよ

You're the only audience I care about

Present day

Temple Hall

Royal Palace, Caldera

"Princess Azula, do you reaffirm before Agni and the Spirits that you will remain faithful to this man for as long you live, whether in sickness or in health, in wealth or in poverty, in good times or bad times?"

"I do." she answered, looking into the deep blue eyes of the man she was proud to call her husband.

"Councilman Sokka, do you also reaffirm before Spirits of the Moon and Sea that you will remain faithful to her Highness for the rest of your days, whether it be in sickness or in health, in wealth or in poverty, in the good times and difficult times?"

"I do." the man replied as he too, gazed into her honey-gold eyes, unable to keep a smile from appearing on his face.

"May the Spirits' blessing continue to pour on your marriage and may Agni's light guide your paths. You may now-" the old sage proclaimed, before he was rudely cut off by the duo immediately launching into a loud wet kiss that echoed through the empty halls. Deciding that he should probably put a stop on things lest they re-consummate their marriage right then and there, he coughed loudly and quickly sent them out of the temple.

Wrapping her arm around his, they walked in a comfortable silence back to their quarters, exchanging small kisses between themselves. Turning a corner, they bumped into Zuko on his daily walks with Druk.

"Well this is something I never expected."

"Whatever were you expecting, Zuzu? Us going at each other's throats?"

"C'mon now, you know we always go at each other." Sokka teased as he poked her, making her turn as red as Druk, who watched the whole scene unfold before him with bored beady eyes from atop his perch on Zuko's shoulder.

"I don't need to know what you and my sister have been up to in your alone time. Hell, I don't even want to know what sort of nasty shit y'all get up to."

"Wow, such a caring big brother I've got. Shouldn't you be concerned about what this big bully does to your poor defenseless sister every night?"

"Hey hey hey, if I remember correctly, your exact words last night was -"

"Shut up right now Sokka or I'll make sure you won't be celebrating Father's day next year."

"Do that, and I'll make sure you won't either Zuzu."

"What's going on here?" Suki's voice interjected, one hand cradling Izumi whilst the other fanned her with a metal fan.

"Your husband was threatening my husband."

"Zuko!"

"I wasn't, I swear!"

"You should know better than to fall for your sister's bait." she chided, shaking her head. "Anyways, you should have told us you were coming instead of just appearing suddenly." Suki continued, now pointing the folded metal fan at Sokka.

"We wanted to have a private ceremony, don't want or need a whole lot of attention. Especially from Kuei. Remember the last time we told you guys we were coming?"

"Oh." Both Suki and Zuko replied, as long repressed memories came back to the surface involving Druk, Bosco and an unexplained fire that ravaged some of Kuei's more hardline ministers' quarters but left the rest of the delegation's quarters untouched.

"Yeah.

"I'll be honest, I thought both of you were on the verge of killing each other the last time we visited."

"Which was how long ago? Just because you got to marry for love and we didn't doesn't mean we can't find love too, Zuzu. I mean, show me someone who'd be thrilled to be in an arranged marriage."

"Alright alright, you got me there. I'm happy that both of you are happy with each other."

"If that's all, we'll be heading back now, see you at dinner time."

"Okay-wait why? Do you have plans for the afternoon or-"

"Look Zuko, as much as I'd love to tell you first off, I'd like to not traumatize little Izumi here and secondly, I doubt my ex wants to know what type of bedtime manoeuvres I pull on my brother-in-law's sister. Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be taking our leave."

As they disappeared round the corner, Zuko turned to Suki and asked "Just what did Sokka mean when he said 'bedtime manoeuvers"?"

Rolling her eyes, Suki sighed and replied "Do I really have to spell it out for you?"

"I just don't want her to get hurt."

"Trust me Zuko, you'd be the one being hurt if you ask too many questions." Suki shuddered, remembering the time she accidently walked into the wrong room to find Sokka in the middle of railing Azula, who was at the time was blindfolded and bound to one of the pillars of said room.

"But Sukes-"

"Don't make me break out the metal fan." ******** ********

Darling 夢が叶ったの

Darling, my dreams came true

お似合いの言葉が見つからないよ

Even if I can't find the right words to say it

Darling 夢が叶ったの

Darling, my dreams came true

愛してる

I love you ********* ********

たった一度のたった一人の

Just this once, just for me

生まれてきた幸せ味わってるんだよ

I'm grateful to have been born

今日がメインディッシュで終わりの日には

Every day with you feels like the main course, and when the day finally ends

甘酸っぱいデザートを食べるの

I'll have a sweet and sour dessert to end

山も谷も全部フルコースで

It's a full course meal, complete with peaks and valleys

気がきくような言葉はいらない素晴らしい特別もいらない

I don't need platitudes, I don't need any special gifts or treatment

ただずっとずっとそばに置いておいてよ

All I ask is that you'd let me stay by your side forever

僕の想いは歳をとると増えてくばっかだ

My love for you only grow stronger with time

好きだよわかってよわかってよ

I hope you understand my hints

Nine years ago…

Apartment

"So this is it huh. Forever consigned to be your arm candy at your stuffy dinners and public engagements." Azula sighed as she surveyed the rather spartan furnishings of Sokka's penthouse, already missing the rich trappings and decor of her palace room.

"I'm insulted that you'd think I would treat you like a piece of arm candy."

"Then do pray tell Sokka, what is it that you would have me doing? Certainly not a menial secretary job, right?"

"....." "You cannot be serious."

"If you have better suggestions I'm all ears princess."

"I'll…I'll think of something, just you wait!"

"Mmm sorry, but I don't have all day. There's work to be done and I'm already behind schedule. Oh, one last thing, please don't mess with the stuff in my workshop. It's for your own safety."

"Bold of you to assume you can stop me, Sokka."

"Does everything need to be a contest Azula? Spirits you're going to send me into an early grave."

"You're welcome." she smiled.

"Tui and La, would it kill you to not be so….you? I mean, I don't expect us to get all lovey dovey and shit on day one but for crying out loud, at least work with me a little here."

"You're asking me to be…not me. Which is impossible. That's like asking you to not crack lame jokes or abstain from eating meat."

"Tui and La give me strength." Sokka muttered as he threw his hands up in exasperation. ************

Two years later…

Midnight

Having finally put Kya to sleep, Katara was looking forward to getting some rest herself when she heard a series of loud knocks on her door. Grabbing a water skin just in case it turned out to be an intruder, she was shocked to find Azula kneeling on her doorstep, panting and gasping for breath as she cradled Sokka in her arms.

"Get away from my brother!" Katara screamed, ready to lash out against her. Instinctively, Azula flinched and moved to cover Sokka, lest her whip miss her mark and hit her brother instead.

"Please just listen to me! Sokka-he he needs your help! I need your help! His fever won't go down no matter what I've tried and-"

"Why didn't you-never mind, here, I'll take his right, you take his left." With each one under his arms, they supported him to a nearby guest room, where they laid him on the bed.

"Don't try anything funny. If you so much as hurt a single hair on his body…" Katara warned, before moving to grab her gear from the medical wing, her heart feeling a mixture of uneasiness at leaving her brother in Azula's hands.

Rushing back to the room, she overheard Azula's sobs as she begged and pleaded for Sokka to wake up from his fever, her sobs mixed with confessions and promises as her tears soaked the front of his shirt. Pushing away her feelings of suspicion and guilt for interrupting what was an intimate moment between the duo, Katara gave the door a couple of soft raps, before entering and withdrawing a small stream of Spirit Water, which she hovered over her brother's body as Azula looked on expectantly, hoping that of all people, she could heal him.

Putting the water back into its vial, Katara turned to her and replied "Sokka's fine, he'll make it. As for you, I have…many questions. About you and your relationship with my brother. If-if you want to spend the night here, that's fine. There's a sleeping mat in the cupboard."

"Katara….thank you." she whispered.

******

The next morning ,

"So let me get this straight, this is all Zuko's idea?"

"Yes. How many times must I tell you?"

"It still seems so stupid and ridiculous. And you're sure Sokka went along willingly?"

"First off, the fact that he answered Zuzu's request should be an indication that he went along willingly. Second of all, he had at least a week to think over the decision before he came to my chamber and said yes. Lastly, our marriage certs are still in the Royal Archives, do feel free to look it up the next time you're visiting my dumdum brother.."

"You can always fake certificates."

"Then ask Suki. She was there. Look, I know you don't trust me, and you'd be right. I'll admit…I don't have the best track record when it comes to being honest and..we'd probably never get along in a million lifetimes but-" Azula replied, before she was cut off by the sound of a door creaking open to reveal a rather dazed and confused looking Sokka.

Immediately, Azula leapt off her stool and enveloped him in a bear hug, burying her face in his chest. "You have no idea how worried I was, Sokka. Don't you ever do that again. Ever. Promise me Sokka."

"I promise. Sorry about that." he sheepishly replied, stroking her hair and back. Glancing up, he saw that he was in fact, not in his apartment but in his sister and Aang's living quarters.

"Oh uh, hi sis…long time no see?"

"Be thankful I'm not freezing you to the wall, your wife here would be very angry if I did considering she dragged you from your apartment to my place in the middle of the night to ask me for help."

"Azula…I-wait you told my sister? She knows-"

"I still can't believe you didn't tell us that you got married in the Fire Nation to her Sokka! You'd think to let us know about something as serious as that."

"Well, it wasn't the right time. There was..a lot of things we had to work out and-"

"And when would that have been? Bumi has been bugging me for the past two years asking me when uncle Sokka was coming over to visit. Two whole years, Sokka."

"Well, you can tell him that uncle Sokka is here. Guess I'll stay for a while, if that's okay with you 'Zula?"

"Yes, Sokka. I think…we can stay for a bit."

"I still can't believe it. You and her. It-it doesn't make sense. I mean it does..but no, it doesn't." Katara shook her head. "Tui and La it's too early for this shit."

"I don't know what else to tell you. I mean, I suppose we could consummate our marriage right in front of you if it makes you happy. " Azula shrugged.

"EWWW NO!"

"Wow 'Zula, I didn't know you had an exhibitionist streak in you." Sokka teased, making her turn a deep shade of pink.

"Sh-shut up Sokka." she huffed and swatted him.

"You're not denying it, which makes me wonder, just what other naughty little thoughts are there to be discovered in that brilliantly sarcastic mind of yours?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Azula whispered sultrily in his ear as she rubbed against him.

"Mother of La, could you both not have sex in my living room! Go back home then if you two are-are going to-gah!" Katara shrieked again, waving her hands in the air.

"Relax Kat, we weren't planning on sullying your living room. That's just gross and disgusting."

"You two better not, I'll freeze both of you to the seawall if you. Also, when are you going to tell Dad?"

"I suppose I could pay him a visit. What do you think, Azula? How does a honeymoon trip to the South Pole sound to you?"

"That sounds like a horrible place for a honeymoon. Can't your dad meet us somewhere like Ember Island?"

"Ember Island sounds so cliche and cheesy." Sokka whined.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"What about Shu Jing?"

"I suppose that is…acceptable."

"Then it's settled then."

"Sokka you didn't answer my question, when are you going to tell dad that you and Azula are married?"

"Can't you see my wife needs me right now? I'll get to it when it get to it Kat. Now shoo, we're having a moment here." "Mother of La, give me strength to deal with these two idiots."

"These two idiots can hear you." Azula shot back. "Just...try to keep things appropriate, okay?" *********** ***********

ねえ darling 夢が叶ったの

Hey darling, my dreams came true

お似合いの言葉が見つからないよ

Even if i can't find the words to say it

Darling 夢が叶ったの

Darling my dreams came true

愛が溢れていく

My love is overflowing for you

Five years later ….

Sokka's bedroom

Republic City

As the sun made its slow ascent across the skyline of Republic City, Azula found herself reluctantly being roused from bed by its rays tugging on her inner fire. Through bleary, half lidded eyes, she tried to stretch, only to find herself locked in position by Sokka's arms. Frowning slightly, she tried to wriggle free, only to find that he held on to her tighter than before. In addition, she could feel him rubbing against her, making her let out small gasps and moans.

"Mmm 'Zula, ss-s-so warm." Sokka moaned as he nuzzled her, his stubble tickling her as his legs locked with hers, completely trapping her in his embrace. Sighing, she resorted to giving him a stinging pinch, which immediately released her from his grasp.

"Ow Azula!!" he yelped, releasing her from his arms and nursing the raw area where she pinched him.

"Sorry, but you were half way to squeezing the life out of me. Here, let me." she replied, kissing the spot where she pinched, putting on her best sorry face.

"Better?"

"Mm hmm."

"You really are such a big baby." she sighed.

"And you're still so mean to me."

Rolling her eyes, Azula replied "You're lucky you're cute. Fine, I-I'm sorry. Okay?"

Seeing his brows furrow, she immediately recognized the threat for what it was and attempted to put a stop to it. "Whatever it is you're planning Sokka, knock it off. I mean it."

Pretending to consider her opinion for a moment, Sokka replied "Mmm….how about..no.", sticking his tongue out at her.

"Sokka…"

"Tickle attack!" he yelled, catching her by surprise as his fingers went for her sides before hitting other spots on her, making her jerk and arch as her laughter filled the air between them, sounding to Sokka's ears like the most beautiful voice in the world.

"M-mercy Sokka…stop..please…" she panted, her face close to resembling a tomato in terms of colour while she caught her breath.

"Please what?"

"N–no-no-more tickles Sokka, please?" she pleaded weakly.

"Alright, but only because you said please. Here, drink some water." Sokka replied, handing her a glass of water as she sat up against the bed frame while Sokka patiently knelt in between her legs. Placing the glass on the bedside table, she saw that Sokka was staring at her with hungry eyes.

"Like what you see?"

"You know I do." he breathed, admiring the way her body almost glowed in the soft rays, the lacy babydoll she wore to sleep last night revealing as much as it concealed. Crawling up into his lap, she rocked her hips against him, feeling his hardness rub deliciously against her.

"Already hard for me? Spirits Sokka how many rounds can you go?"

"As many rounds as you want me to, princess." he growled as his hands moved to liberate her body from the confines of her dress. As soon as her dress hit the bedroom floor, Azula locked her legs around his waist and flipped them both over onto Sokka's back.

"My turn." she purred, before yanking his pants off him, letting his hard cock spring loose. Cradling it in her hands, she rubbed and teased his head, smearing precum all over his shaft as he gazed into her eyes.

"So hard, just for me."

"Always and forever." he panted, a groan escaping his lips as she continued to stroke him from tip to hilt.

"A-A-Azula, I want-no, I need you now, please…" he groaned, as her strokes were definitely going to have him exploding in her hands if she kept up the pace.

"So demanding." she tutted as she moved to place her folds above his, teasing him as she only let the tip enter her.

"What's the magic word Sokka?"

"Please?"

"Please what?"

"Please will you ride me, princess Azula?"

"Why of course, my dear husband." Slowly, she lowered himself down on his smooth heat, her eyes rolling in the back of her head as the sensation of being oh so filled by him sent her mind racing with pleasure. Splaying her hands on his chest, she wiggled and adjusted her position until she was satisfied that he was going to hit all the right spots in her when she rode him.

"Spirits Azula, that was hot."

"Really, Sokka? Is hot the only phrase in your vocabulary?"

"You are a firebender after all."

"I believe the phrase you're looking for is absolutely, devastatingly sexy."

"Well then, I want you to absolutely and completely ride me like your life depends on it, princess. Think you can do that for me?" Sokka asked as he sat up, littering her neck with multiple love bites and nips.

Pushing him back down, Azula gathered his hands above his head and snapped and ground her hips into him. "Let's see how long you can last." she smirked, before setting off on a blistering pace that left him breathless as she rolled and bounced atop him, her hands pinching and teasing his chest as she moaned and cried out his name.

" 'Zu-'Zula, you're hnggh -so tight and wet for me."

"Just for you Sokka, just for you… " she gasped.

"D-Do you trust me Sokka?"

"With every fiber of my being."

"Tell- tell me if-if it gets uncomfortable, okay? I just want to please you."

"Pretty sure all of you pleases me, princess."

"I'm serious Sokka." she folded her arms, stilling her hips.

"I…I want you to tap my arm if it gets too much okay?"

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, sitting back up before she pushed him back down, her hands going to either side of his neck before she started to apply pressure in small increments while her hips resumed their routine, slamming up and down on his cock with loud wet smacks that filled up the space between them.

"Oh."

"Um…we-we- could just go back to what we usually do if-" she nervously replied, her hands moving away when Sokka stopped her.

"We could try something new…I suppose. Change up the pace a little."

"Are you sure? I mean, I've never done this before.:.." Azula trailed off.

"I won't know if we like it until we try it. I trust you Azula."

"If-if you say so…" she gulped. "Here goes nothing." With Sokka guiding her hands back onto his neck, she steadily applied pressure onto his throat little by little, while her hips resumed their grind, taking him deep within her over and over again until they reached a comfortable pace, their eyes glazed over with pleasure and satisfaction as they took in the other's nude forms.

"Mmm princess, wha-what other kinky thoughts do you have in that pretty little head of yours?." Sokka panted, as his hands rubbed circles on hers.

Leaning over his ear, she nibbled and teased "That's for me to know and for you to find out.", sending a tingle of excitement and want flowing down his spine.

Suddenly, he could feel the steady pressure she had been applying to his throat ramp up, the point of her nails making their presence felt as she bucked and arch atop him. As his breathing shallowed, he could feel her core squeezing and soaking his length, edging him ever closer to the finish line.

" 'Zula….ke-keep that up and I'm go-…oh- hnhh !" he stuttered and jerked his hips into her, his hands frantically tapping her arm as his vision started to blur and his head was feeling slightly woozy. In a flash, the pressure on his throat was gone, replaced with soft kisses as she collapsed on top of his chest, his orgasm sparking a chain reaction in her that had her cumming within seconds.

"So-sokka, are you okay? Sokka, talk to me. I-I didn't mean to hurt you, I thou-" she asked, her voice fraught with concern.

"J-just need a minute…." he stammered, drawing in deep lungfuls of air. Slowly, he sat up on his elbows, as she stared at him with wet honey-gold orbs, worry and concern etched on her face while grabbed some pillows and placed them behind his head.

"Stop-stop scaring me like that, I was so worried that-that I hurt you again." she mumbled into his chest, as he stroked her back.

"Shhh it's okay, it's a learning experience. By the way, where did you get that idea from?"

"I, um, well…I was at the bookstore with your sister last week…and um…there was this novel th-that had some title like.. No Big Deal or something and-Agni it's embarrassing." she blushed, feeling the tips of her ears grow hot at the memory.

"Well, I suppose it must really have you all hot and flustered if it made you want to recreate a scene from the novel. Who knew Princess Azula of the Fire Nation could be turned on with just words on paper?" he teased.

"If you ever so much as squeak about what I told you….."

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed. After all, we wouldn't want the world to know that you like shoved up against walls, now would we?" he smirked, the memory of them making hot passionate love under the tunnels of the palace with her shoved against the bare rock wall unwittingly turning him on again.

"You just love shoving me up against hard surfaces, don't you?"

"That's because I know how much it turns you on, princess." he poked, to which she pouted and swatted his chest.

"Anyways, I feel all sticky and sweaty and a nice hot shower sounds really nice right now."

"Mmm… how about a long soak in a hot bath? Between last night and just now, my muscles are sore all over and I don't think I'll be able to walk straight for the next two days."

"Oh no…."he mockingly replied, "You're just looking for an excuse to get me to be your one man palanquin, aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged."

"You're under arrest." Sokka replied, imitating one of the metalbenders that made up Republic City's police department.

"Officer, it's my first time…couldn't you let me go with a warning? I promise I'll be a good girl. Please don't arrest me…" Azula blinked coquettishly at him, putting on her best puppy face as she played along with Sokka.

"You know, we should do that sometime, I can always get a set of uniforms and handcuffs from Toph."

"I suppose we could try that next time Sokka. Now, if I recall, there was talk about you setting up a hot bath for your princess…"

"One hot bath coming right up." ************

While Sokka set about setting up the bath, Azula made sure he wasn't looking and crept away to their pantry, where she pulled out a bottle of sparkling wine and some glasses before returning to their bathroom.

"I think it's all set Azula, do you want to-what's this?" he asked as he turned around to find her holding said bottle and two glasses.

"Well…I thought, um since, well….it's our wedding anniversary today and um..maybe we should do something special?" she rocked back and forth on her heels, her face turning a rosy pink as she still found it difficult to vocalize her love and adoration for Sokka, preferring instead to display it through actions.

Placing the drinkware on the sink, he pulled her into a passionate kiss and an equally intimate hug, telling her just how much he appreciated her gestures and how proud he was of her.

"S-Sokka..can't breathe…owww." she mumbled into his chest.

"Sorry." he replied, letting his arms slacken around her.

"You get in first, I'll handle this."

"No, you get in the bath first. That's an order from your princess Sokka."

"Don't mind me if I do." he replied, letting himself sink to the bottom as the heat and oils lapped away at the weariness in his bones. Seconds later, Azula joined him, handing him a glass as she too, happily sank into the warmth, snuggling up to Sokka as she took a sip from her glass.

"Azula?"

"Yes, my dear husband?"

"Thank you. Happy anniversary, Azula." he toasted, before setting aside his glass and wrapping his arms around her.

"Happy anniversary to you too, Sokka." she replied, landing a sideways kiss on his lips as she mewled and purred like a satisfied kitten, letting herself be held in his arms, wishing the feeling would stay forever. ******** ********

君が僕を忘れてしまっても

If one day, you don't remember me anymore

ちょっとつらいけどそれでもいいから

It'll hurt, but that's okay

僕より先にどこか遠くに

I'll never let you go ahead of me

旅立つことは絶対許さないから

I won't ever let you leave before me

生まれ変わったとしても出会い方が最悪でも

Even if we're reborn and meet in worst possible way

また僕は君に恋するんだよ

I'd gladly fall in love with you all over again

僕の心は君にいつも片思い

My heart will always be chasing after you

好きだよわかってよわかってよわかってよ

I love you, do you understand?

Darling 夢が叶ったの

お似合いの言葉が見つからないよ

Darling 夢が叶ったの

ねえ darling 愛してる

Chieftain's residence

Southern Water Tribe

Standing on the balcony, Azula looked out to see that despite the cold, there was still a hustle and bustle on the streets below that reminded her of Republic City as the residents gathered last minute items for the winter solstice festival. Feeling a familiar pair of arms wrap around her, she immediately back herself into him, greedily sucking his body heat as she wove her fingers into his hands.

"Whatchu thinking about, princess?" he asked, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Y'know Sokka…there's something I've always wanted to ask, if you don't mind."

"Ask away."

"I know it sounds like I am questioning…us..but just hear me out for a minute. I don't know what life was like for you prior to us getting married, but it seems like you were willing to throw away everything you've built and had and hitch yourself to someone like me who…isn't like Yue…or Suki..?"

"I…Spirits don't roast me for this..but I guess it was a small twinge of pity that kind of got the ball rolling. I mean, comparatively speaking Zuko had done a lot worse than you, like kidnapping Aang, kidnapping my sister, betraying us to the Fire Nation on top of the usual antics of trying to kill us everytime we met, yet we gave him another chance and just..it didn't seem fair to not offer you that same chance. Besides, we were all young and didn't know any better back then."

"But clearly you must have seen something to convince you to take that leap."

"I guess…the more I thought about it, the more my mind kept flashing back to what happened back in the North. Did Zuko ever tell you what happened?'

"I heard bits and pieces of what happened, but not the whole story."

"Well, the Moon Spirit was once a person named Yue. If I had to guess, she was probably the same age as you were and just as devoted to her people and her duty as you were, though I guess she was more gentler about it than you are. Anyways, turns out, the reason she had white hair, and I mean white like fresh snow, was that she had the Moon Spirit living inside her when she was a child."

"Okay…but I'm not sure how this relates."

"I'm getting there. Anyways, we hit it off, only to discover that she was bound by arranged marriage to some jackass named Hahn, and-"

"Hold up, you tried to steal someone's fiancee? Agni Sokka, you really have no limits to your promiscuity don't you?"

"In my defence, I was young and dumb okay?!"

"The mess you made yesterday says otherwise."

"That's why I have you to help me clean up my mess." he smirked, earning himself a decent nudge to his gut from her."

"Oww!"

"Serves you right, you big man-child." she huffed.

"You mean, your big man-child."

"Unfortunately."

"Moving on, turns out the reason Zhao went after the Northern Water Tribe was because he found a map showing all the spiritual hotspots of the Four Nations. He was planning to kill both the Moon and Ocean Spirit in one blow."

"I knew Zhao was a dumbass, but even he knows there'd be severe consequences for fucking around with Spirit beings."

"Clearly he didn't, cuz he killed the Moon Spirit. And-and the only way to save it was…was for Yue to give back the life she gotten from the Moon Spirit all those years ago. I watched her die in my arms that night." Sokka paused, as Azula turned around and hugged him, rubbing his back as the memories threatened to overwhelm him.

"The longer I thought about it, the more I started to..see I guess you could say, you being stuck in a similar situation, and it just..felt unfair. The night before I was supposed to head back to Republic City, a freak storm came out of nowhere and hit Caldera, grounding all airship routes."

"I remember that. I couldn't sleep the entire night, the wind kept me up."

"Same, I couldn't sleep that night because of the wind so I got out of bed and asked Yue if..if this was a sign and-well, she appeared to me. Told me that while the choice was ultimately mine to take, she'd give her blessing and protection for what it's worth if well, I agreed to Zuko's plan to marry you to keep you out of Kuei's hands. I suppose she saw something between me and you that convinced her. Plus, if I'm being honest, you certainly did fit my type. Beautiful, intelligent and totally capable of kicking my ass into next year. Yeah, I was kind of crushing on you…just a little. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, it does. I suppose I too should come clean and tell you that I kinda sorta…was falling for you as well."

"Oh ho, and when was that? Come on, I promise not to tell anyone." he winked and teased her.

"After the day of Black Sun, I…couldn't stop thinking about you and-and I imagined what it was like…to um well…Spirits Sokka it's so embarrassing to say it out loud."

"I am well aware of the effect I have on your decision making abilities. You're welcome, by the way. In any case, aren't you glad you have me so you don't need to rely on your imagination anymore?"

"You're lucky you're cute." she huffed into his shoulder.

"Point noted. Anyways princess, do you want to head in? It's getting chilly out here."

"Weak." she poked, sticking out her tongue at him.

"Having you as my personal space heater certainly hasn't helped."

"Wow Sokka, is that all I am to you? A personal space heater? I don't know whether to slap you or kiss you."

"How about I make that decision for you?" he replied, tilting her chin up to meet her lips. As they deepened their kiss, Sokka's tongue licked her lips, filling him with the taste of cherries and honey before she allowed him access. In return, her tongue crossed over into Sokka's mouth, exploring every inch of it as they held their kiss. When they finally broke for air, Azula couldn't help but smile at the man she was proud to call her husband.

"Alright Sokka, let's head back in, it is getting a little cold." ***********

As they crawled under the sheets, Azula burrowed her way into his arms and nestled her head against his chest.

"Sokka?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you." she whispered.

"Love you too. Good night, princess" he responded, planting a soft kiss on her forehead that made her giggle slightly as his hand flicked off the lights. As Sokka's heartbeat gently lulled her to sleep, Azula looked up at the night sky and whispered in her heart a thankful prayer to Yue, promising that she would chase after Sokka with everything that she had, no matter when or where, for just as his heart belong to her, her heart was also his. Closing her eyes, she dreamed of him, as she always did.

#sokkla #sokka x azula #sokkla santa 2022 #rated S for sokkla sexy times #go read kataomoi's lyrics and tell me that it's not a love song despite the title #AU

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