HOLY SHIT AVATAR

[jaina]

Sooo God bless the UK, for providing us with Avatar-y goodness sooner than Nick does. WHY DID WE EVER WANT OUR FREEDOM FROM THIS GREAT COUNTRY, WHEN IT IS SO CLEARLY FULL OF AWESOME? And I watched Avatar 3x10 and 3x11 like the naughty downloader I am (except hey, it was streaming video, so I'm not a criminal! Maybe?) and basically: I came.

Hard.

Let us take this in bullet points, for clearly I cannot be coherent in paragraphs! This is also not in exact order, because I've only watched the episodes once. SO FAR.

• Aww, bringin' back the old outfits! Very nice. I like that there are a few changes to them, reflecting their growth in this book. I am kind of sad to see Aang's hair go, because I think it looked really good on him, but shaving it off was a nice thematic moment. Really digging his new robe-y clothes in the old colors. It's also nice to get confirmation that Azula limited his fighting options when she fucked him up in Ba Sing Se.
  
  
• Bringing back old friends from their travels. YES. This makes a lot of sense, and is way more entertaining than just a bunch of random soliders their dad picked up. HEE HEE I am so glad to see the swampy dudes, that's awesome. I half-expected Hakoda to bring out Suki, not that I know how he would've found her.
  
  
• HARU HAS A MOUSTACHE HA HA HA. I'm still deciding if it can be called a pornstache...leaning toward no, though it could become one with not much effort.
  
  
• Oh Sokka, you are not a motivational speaker, even if you are a great tactician. I need to get a transcript of his speech onstage later, because it was lolarious. "And Haru grew a moustache that you can see in the front row" (or somesuch) was damn funny.
  
  
• What's that? ZUKO'S PULLING HIS HEAD OUT OF HIS ASS? WITNESS MY JOY. I'm glad he wrote Mai a letter. That was a nice relationship while it lasted-dorky and teenage and very real. It might not have been True Love but I have no doubt that Zuko really did care about her, and that warmed my heart even as I was cackling from glee.
  
  
• Okay, The Kiss. I don't ship Katara and Aang; it's not that I hate the pairing or anything, it's just that the idea of discovering your One True Love at age 12 squicks me madly. That said? That was a really sweet moment, and I liked it. No matter how things turn out, Aang really needed to do that! It was cool.
  
  
• During the whole invasion sequence, I was just-cackling and flailing and enjoying the whole thing. So cool, guys, SO COOL. Everyone getting to use their talents like that was just a fabulous, wonderful culmination of all that's come before.
  
  
• TOPH CONTINUES TO BE A BADASS METALBENDER. I just like to see that. It's so cool.
  
  
• Iroh! Iroh, are you continuing to woo the ladies even in jail, you big ol' pimp? ILU. <3
  
  
• Sokka, Toph and Aang going through the tunnels to find the fire lord = SO AWESOME. "I'm so glad you joined our group!" Me too, Sokka. Me too. I also kinda love that they faced Azula while Zuko faced his father. Aside from the fact that Zuko needed to face Ozai more, Azula is really more of the villain for our gaang. The fire lord hasn't really done anything personal to thing. Yes, losing one's mother and being part of an enslaved world is personal to them, of course, but it's just business to Daddy Ozai, whereas with Azula? SO PERSONAL. Also I'm pretty sure she's even more evil than Ozai.
  
  
• That said! OH AZULA, YOU ARE GLORIOUSLY MANIPULATIVE, I LOVE IT and will try to ignore the pet Dai Li she brought home, because I'm still trying to wrap my head around a group of soldiers that can be super-loyal to whoever their boss is but still tell the Earth Kingdom itself to fuck off. I dun get it. But she is so great, she can even pwn while she has no bending!
  
  
• Aaaand Azula knows that the best way to get at Sokka is...SUKI! OTP, y'all. Oh. Tee. Pee. Oh man, I am gonna rewind that and listen to the fury in his voice over and over. I'm also still pretty sure that she's not dead, though I expect resolution of her status either way now that they've bothered to bring her up again. IT'S ABOUT TIME SOMEONE DID.
  
  otp~
  
  
• Zuko finally tells his father to fuck off. Yes. YES. I am sooooo glad that he explicitly said what we've all known for ages: Ozai isn't just a fucktard, he's a CHILD-ABUSING fucktard! I had a glee heart attack when Zuko said that HELL YEAH Iroh had gotten to him and that he would go beg forgiveness (you should, son. You really, really should.) Then I about died of FURTHER glee when he said he would go join the Avatar.
  
  WHEEEEEEEEE!
  
  
• Also. ALSO. I feel this deserves its own bullet point.
  
  Zuko shot lightning.
  
  I could just leave it at that, but I won't. Because it was awesome. I guess it really IS something you just have to be ready for, and he was, and Ozai was pretty surprised, and my love just tripled. I was SERIOUSLY flailing, and by that I mean my arms were waving in the air as I sat watching at my computer desk, alone in the room. I just COULD NOT CONTAIN THE JOY.
  
  
• During the departure on Appa bit, I was like, well, let's hope the fire nation keeps y'all alive for interrogation, because otherwise, why the hell wouldn't they just execute you? But I guess they needed the kids to stay positive. Um.
  
  
• IROOOOOH NOOOOOO DON'T GOOOOOO YOU HAVE TO LET ZUKO EAT PILES OF CROW. Man I would like to have seen him bust out. Did he just like break metal bars with his fists or something?
  
  
• ZUKO FOLLOWING THE GAANG YES YES YES. Oh man, that should be a bumpy reception! But an awesome one to watch. I wonder, is Nick America really going to stick the hiatus between 10 and 11? Because 11 and 12 seems like a much more natural spot.
  
  
• Katara/Aang still seems more likely to me if Katara's going to get any canon pairing, but if Zuko does successfully join up, I bet his presence will at least make that a shakier deal, if only to tweak the fans. I approve of fan-tweaking.
  
  
• I am kind of glad that the eclipse didn't work, in the end. This way, when they take Ozai and company down, they do it fully under their own power and not just because nature handed them a cool trick.
  
  IN CONCLUSION: More, please? Actually, maybe not. I don't know if my heart could take it. I think I need to watch these episodes a few dozen more times before I can handle more.