I remember reading an ATLA fanfic a while back (it was unfortunately deleted) where the author never called it “the Hundred Year War.” Instead, they kept saying “the Hundred Years of Conquest,” and whenever people attacked fire nation soldiers, they called it self‑defense. At first I thought it was just a stylistic choice or maybe the author trying to be edgy. I didn’t think too hard about it.
Then I rewatched the show, and suddenly it clicked. The author was extremely accurate. When you really think about it, there is no “war” in ATLA the way we usually imagine a war. There aren’t two equal sides fighting each other. There’s just the Fire Nation, a powerful empire that believes it’s superior, trying to conquer everyone else. And the rest of the world is basically just trying not to be wiped out. Calling that a “war” almost makes it sound fair or mutual, when it’s really one-sided violence.
That’s why the language in that fanfic hit me so hard. Words like “conquest” and “self-defense” expose what’s actually happening. The Fire Nation isn’t fighting a war; they’re invading, colonizing, and destroying entire cultures. And the people resisting them aren’t “soldiers” in a traditional sense. They’re survivors. They’re communities trying to protect their homes, their families, and their identities. The fanfic author understood that, and changing the vocabulary made the whole story feel more honest.