we updatingggg :)

Full fic summary below!

“Aang? I’m not going to let them take you away from me,” Gyatso said without preamble, walking into the room.

He watched as Gyatso took in the scene: the note on his bed, Aang fully dressed and standing at the window with his glider clutched tight, ready to leave. Gyatso’s eyes widened with the realization, and the look he shot Aang, so full of heartbreak, made his cheeks burn with shame.

“Aang?”

Aang’s shoulders sagged. Of course Gyatso wouldn’t let them send him away. For a moment, all he felt was relief. And then he dropped his glider with a clatter on the ground and rushed towards Gyatso, still standing in the doorway with his hand resting on the post. He wrapped his arms tight around his teacher’s waist and pressed his face into the warm woolen robes.

-

“I need to practice waterbending,” Aang said, locking down thoughts of home for a better time. 

“Indeed. It is difficult to maintain a productive schedule when our circumstances change with so little warning.”

“It’s nice to be back somewhere familiar, but I still miss the Water Tribe sometimes. I wish I could still train with Aluki.”

Gyatso placed a hand on his shoulder, warm and feather-light. “Our situation is less than ideal. But you are skilled - I know you will succeed in spite of this.” He paused. “When is it true that one has learned something?” 

Aang shrugged. 

“When they can teach it to someone else. Perhaps you can teach me.” 

Aang blinked. “You want me to teach you waterbending?”

“Can I not learn about it, even though I cannot bend water?” Gyatso asked. 

“Okay. Okay, sure,” Aang said, smiling. “Uh, should we start from the very beginning?”

“Your basics are the most important part.”

Aang nodded. “So, the stance for waterbending is similar to the airbending stance, but Master Aluki always said to stand like you were standing waist-deep in the ocean. You have to be light enough to move with the water, but firm enough to not be pulled out or knocked down,” he said, getting into his waterbending stance. Gyatso copied the movement, settling down into a steadier stance than his usual with ease. 

Aang nodded, a little surprised. “That’s perfect. Wow.” Gyatso rocked on his feet. 

“A lifetime of watching, my young friend. An old man like me is bound to pick up some tricks.” He held out his hands over the water. “What next?”

Aang smiled. “Well, the most basic movement of water is the wave,” he said, calling up the water and rocking back and forth, pressing his hands out. In response, the water moved in a small wave, back and forth. He looked over at Gyatso, copying the movement. 

“It’s all in the wrists, pull them in slowly and flick out,” he said. “Otherwise, it’s just a surge, not a wave.”

Aang saw Gyatso watching him with a strange expression.

“What?” he asked, dropping the wave. “Do I have a wolfbat in the cave?” he asked, covering his nose. “That’s embarrassing.”

“No,” Gyatso laughed. “No wolfbats in the cave.” He paused. 

“I simply wanted to tell you that you have done very well in your training. You have much to be proud of.”

Aang frowned, dropping his gaze. “Bumi’s been showing me some basics for earthbending, but it’s going so slow. I was already learning katas in waterbending after only a few weeks, but with earthbending my stance still isn’t quite right.”

“You do not credit yourself. Did I ever tell you I was eight years your senior when I received my tattoos? I do not believe you realize how remarkable it is that you’ve mastered two elements already at such a tender age.”

Aang grimaced. “I don’t know if I’d say I’ve fully mastered waterbending. Sometimes I can still hear Aluki in my head correcting my form.”

“That is the mark of a good teacher. Tell me, do you hear my voice when you airbend?”

“No, but that’s ‘cause you’re always right there,” Aang grinned.

“If I weren’t, then?”

“I can’t really imagine that.” After a beat, he pulled a stream of water from the pond and flared it over his head, making it into a mist. “I want to test something. Can you bend this?” he asked, sending the mist into the space between them.

Obligingly, Gyatso bent. When the misted air moved, he laughed in delight. 

Okay so i really liked that they weren’t afraid to make aang fuck it all up a little. he’s out and about making his mistakes and doing shit without thinking. When i saw him release tagah i was like oh okay. just going straight for it i guess but his impulsivity as a character esp for something like bringing back the air nomads makes sense and i really enjoyed it.

of all the characters, sokka and toph seemed the most like themselves imo. sokka in particular was a standout he was so good. zuko and (i fear!!) katara seemed like they didn’t have enough material. sokka and toph got to hit the comic relief button every so often so they just seemed more dynamic.

lowkey one of my favorite parts was the spirit world escapade where they all changed ages and met with the spirit hog. it was so goofy and needed.

obviously loved the scene where aang flashes back to his childhood and comes back to gyatso’s wisdom. seeing little itty bitty aang running past him and then aang telling tagah they both have to forgive themselves was such a perfect retrospective on the show esp since it’s largely made up of fans who watched when they were small and are watching this movie as adults. as an adult, coming to the realization of how you were just a child, about anything really, is a weird feeling and i really really liked that they captured that.

and genuinely i loved that the premise of the movie was air nomad centric. when i watched the show for the first time as a little kid and i saw the finale and there were no airbenders it genuinely ate me up like it was a real issue for nine year old me crashing out about there being no more air nomads.

and I’m gonna hold space to talk my shit for a second so.

💩 so one of the immediate things i was tweaked about was the fact that. aang literally knows how to energybend. that’s like a huge part of it. he learned from a lion turtle and everything. i know it’s an intense process and probably shouldn’t be done willy nilly or whatever but i was imagining there’d be a discussion about it that just never came.

i WISH i had gotten to see a little more katara. she was so good but I feel like she hit her stride in the scene where she threw down with tagah. but this is a kids movie and aang is the mc so i understand the plot needed to be streamlined. but also “im not like you, this world hasn’t been good to me!” said to “you have no idea what this war has taken from me ME PERSONALLY” katara was crazy girl SIT DOWN!!! 👉 🪑

all those were pretty minor but one thing that I actually didn’t vibe with was the fact that like. in the og show the magic system of bending felt very realistic and grounded, with rules and limitations. it felt like an incredible but still ordinary aspect of the universe. the magic system in this movie was a MAGIC SYSTEM. there’s no unbendable spirit required to create new benders. use this staff! everyone on team avatar Died but the water had Spirital properties so katara came back to life and then also healed everyone. And wasn’t even tired 💅. Oh man we are stuck on the opposite side of the world, something that featured as a season long plot line in the og show. good thing i can call my old pal the Ocean to time warp us home. man like it just didn’t feel congruent with how bending and the spirits worked in the og show and i really like it best when it’s slower and more mystical versus something that’s more like a superpower.

the replacing the Chinese characters with ‘avatarian’ was very jarring and i did not like it.

Okay shit talking done thank you for holding space for me 💩

another thing i really liked was that the end of the air acolytes including that little lady who tried to step to katara, they were embraced as part of the air nomads despite not being benders but the flip side of when tagah dies they don’t hit him with ‘you weren’t a REAL air nomad!!’ bc even though his bending was granted to him and he was corrupt, he’s never no true scotsmaned out. they treated him very fully as both an airbender and an air nomad the entire time and I love that they did that.

Also the animation ATE that goes without saying!!!

‘I agree😒’