I introduced a friend to ATLA a few nights ago, and they had only known two things about the entire show: the cabbage meme, and that Aang apparently wants to ride every large and dangerous animal he can possibly find. We got through the first five or so episodes, and my friend noted that Aang is exactly what a 12-year-old would be like if given godlike powers, and that this is literally just what he could do with airbending. He canāt even wield any of the other elements, and heās one of the most powerful people on the planet, because heās an airbender.
And that got me thinking.
This snippet from Bitter Work is one of the few pieces of concrete information we get about the airbenders, at least in ATLA. Iroh is explaining to Zuko how all four of the elements connect to the world and to each other.
Fire is the element of power, of desire and will, of ambition and the ability to see it through. Power is crucial to the world; without it, thereās no drive, no momentum, no push. But fire can easily grow out of control and become dangerous; it can become unpredictable, unless it is nurtured and watched and structured.
Earth is the element of substance, persistence, and enduring. Earth is strong, consistent, and blunt. It can construct things with a sense of permanence; a house, a town, a walled city. But earth is also stubborn; itās liable to get stuck, dig in, and stay put even when itās best to move on.
Water is the element of change, of adaptation, of movement. Water is incredibly powerful both as a liquid and a solid; it will flow and redirect. But it also will change, even when you donāt want it to; ice will melt, liquid will evaporate. A life dedicated to change necessarily involves constant movement, never putting down roots, never letting yourself become too comfortable.
We see only a few flashbacks to Aangās life in the temples, and we get a sense of who he was and what kind of upbringing he had.
This is a preteen with the power to fucking fly. Heās got no fear of falling, and a much reduced fear of death. Thereās a reason why the sages avoid telling the new avatar their status until they turn sixteen; could you imagine a firebender, at twelve years old, learning that they were going to be the most powerful person in the whole world? Depending on that child, that could go so badly.
But the thing about Aang, and the thing about the Air Nomads, is that they were part of the world too. They contributed to the balance, and then they were all but wiped out by Sozin. What was lost, there? Was it freedom? Yes, but I think thereās something else too, and itās just yet another piece of the utter brilliance of the worldbuilding of ATLA.
To recap: we have power to push us forward; we have stability to keep us strong; we have change to keep us moving.
And then we have this guy.
The air nomads brought fun to the world. They brought a very literal sense of lightheartedness.
Sozin saw this as a weakness. I think a lot of the world did, in ATLA. Why do the Air Nomads bother, right? Theyāre just up there in their temples, playing games, baking pies in order to throw them as a gag. As Iroh said above, they had pretty great senses of humour, and they didnāt take themselves too seriously.
But thatās a huge part of having a world of balance and peace.
Itās not just about power, or might, or the ability to adapt. You can have all of those, but you also need fun. You need the ability to be vulnerable, to have no ambitions beyond just having a good day. You need to be able to embrace silliness, to nurture play, to have that space where a very specific kind of emotional growth can occur. Fun makes a hard life a little easier. Fun makes your own mortality a little less frightening to grasp. Fun is the spaces in between, that canāt be measured by money or military might. Fun is what nurtures imagination, allows you to see a situation in a whole new light, to find new solutions to problems previously considered impossible.
Fun is what makes a stranger into a friend, rather than an enemy.
@polarspaz welp. more bug leon. except this time he's not a bug except for one very notable exception.
...
When Leon woke up, he knew today was going to suck. Heād been fortunate enough to have a few quiet days on baseādays heād even gotten to spend as a human. That was in part due to Luis testing a new variant of the suppressant drug, but also the peace and quiet simply made Leonās passenger easier to convince. They werenāt in danger, so Rucio was more inclined to let Leon beā¦ him.Ā
But, human or not, it couldnāt banish the prickling ache that had invaded his limbs that morning. Not only that, Leon managed to trip getting out of bed, nearly walked into a wall, and spent several minutes feeling like his feet were about to give out from under him. Everything just feltā¦ off. Like the world had been shifted three inches to the right and Leon was left staggering to catch up.Ā
It was weird and Leon hated it.
He stumbled his way to the baseās kitchen, grabbing a mug of coffee before not quite collapsing onto one of the benches. Mike leaned next to him, nudging him in the shoulder. āLooks like youāre not quite awake yet, ey chief?ā
Leon mumbled something incoherent but let Mikeās assumption stand. Unfortunately his lack of balance today didnāt seem to be the result of lack of sleepā¦ If only. While Leon nursed his coffee, people milled about, making themselves food in the little industrial kitchen they shared before moving into the adjacent ācafeteriaā (though calling it such was generous, considering it was a few fold-out picnic tables and a hodgepodge of individual mugs and dishes.)Ā
By this point, people on base could recognize Leon as a human, though they didnāt tend to spot him as quickly when he wasnāt literally the biggest one in the room. He was fine with that, it gave him some more quiet to try and wrangle the aches threading through his back and legs. A few people, like Mike swung by to offer greetings and playful jabs at his height.
Leon smiled, and held back a wince when people stepped into the space behind him, his brain protesting it should hurt, they had to be stepping on it, they were too close get off.Ā
Eventually Leon took his leave and slowly pushed himself to the baseās makeshift training rooms, hoping to get some practice in. Tripping himself on the way there made him think better of it. His balance was still shot, he kept leaning too far forward and if it wasnāt for the wall, heād have faceplanted several halls back. Leon muttered a curse, resting his head on the wall.Ā
Shit. If he went nowā¦ heād just make a fool of himself.Ā
Annoyance twisted in his chest, a feeling only amplified by the echoes he could sense from his passenger. annoy annoy idiot annoyā Leon gave an exasperated sigh, rubbing his chest where the dual emotions originated, his own annoyance intertwining with his parasiteās.
āWhat now?ā Leon muttered.
Rucioās answer, apparently, was the familiar twisting feeling of muscles stretching and bones rearranging. Leon hissed, not from pain but surprise, as the wrong wrong wrong not-pain of his body changing shape twisted up his spine. Leon looked at his hands, expecting to see claws pushing from his fingertips or skin peeling away to reveal carapace, but they were still human. Instead, the feeling of change twist no-pain was concentratedā¦ at the base of his back.
Leon looked back, already suspecting what heād find. Sure enough, pushing its way out of his spine and over the top of his pants was the beginning of a tail. Leon swallowed, the usual nausea at watching himself twist and reshape threatening to claw its way up his throat. Still, he watched. Oddly though, the tailā¦ didnāt look much like it usually did? Instead it was kindaā¦ ratā¦ likeā¦
After much internal debate, Leon poked it. Rucio had learned to limit sensation from whatever part of Leon was changing to prevent him from being crippled by sheer agony so Leon didnāt pick up anything from the growing limb. But upon contact, his hands could feel the tail was a lotā¦ fleshier, than he expected. Still soft.
Though, as the limb thickened and lengthened, that was changing. Ridged segments started to take shape, gaining definition and growing tougher and harder as the usual carapace formed. Instead of something comparable to a wet noodle it was swiftly turning into its usual form as something muscled and powerful.
However, Leon realized, the tail growing at his backside was also threatening to pull his pants down. Leon hastily grabbed hold of them before they could leave him ass naked in the middle of the hallway. Itās not like Leon had much going onā¦ down there. But damn it, Leon had his dignity!
āReally Rucio?ā Leon hissed, the nearly-full-grown tail slapping against the floor in response to his frustration. āIn public, too?ā
Rucio simply echoed back satisfaction. Oh, the damn bug was proud of itself was it? Leon growledāthough the sound had much less effect without the larger vocal cordsāand sent a spike of wordless anger at his freeloading renter. The plaga just echoed back better better better.
Leon snorted, looking down at where he was still holding his pants up. Damn itā¦ and none of his clothes that could accommodate a tail would fit him like this! God fucking damn it! With a sigh, Leon turned to retrace his steps back to his room. If nothing else, he could at least find a belt or something.
It was only once he was in his room, threading a belt around his back and through the loops in his trousers, that Leon realized he hadnāt tripped or stumbled once. That the odd twisting ache that had followed himā¦ was gone.
A chill ran up Leonās spine, all the way from the tip of his tail. He swallowed, glancing down to the now-familiar appendage as he curled it round to be partially in front of him. Leon stared at it, at this piece of himself that didnāt fit, not with soft skin and flat feet and three feet less of height. It wasnāt human, it shouldnāt be here while he was one (however briefly, but he was human.)Ā
Leon lashed his tail sideways, then slammed it down to the groundāonce, twice, thrice. It was a bit juvenile, akin to a temper tantrum, but in the privacy of his room Leon didnāt really care. And, it loosened some of the twisting knot in his chest.
āFuckingā¦ justā¦ā Leon cut himself off with a sigh, letting the tension ease out of his body. No ache. Just. Frustration. He rubbed his chest, sending a spike of not done with you toward his passenger. Rucio had the audacity to chirp and echo back better better better.
And unfortunatelyā¦ it had a point.Ā
Leon took a deep breath and resigned himself to having a tail, as a human, until he fully mutated again. Shaking his head, pants now firmly in place, Leon strode back out into the base. His tail unfurled behind him, swaying with an easy familiarity that filled the too-empty hole behind him.
ā¦
Bonus:
As he walked, Leon passed Mike, who did a triple take. āUhā¦ yer uhā¦ tail?ā¦ is showing?ā¦ chief?ā
āYeah,ā Leon sighed. āApparently my passenger decided this was happening.ā And in the privacy of his own mind, Leon very very quietly, wasā¦ not totallyā¦ against the outcome. Luis, at least, was sure to find it endlessly fascinating.
The various soldiers, however, were differently fascinated. Mostly in the fact they tried to poke Leonās tail,Ā apparently bolder now that Leon was mostly human shaped save the obvious exception and didnāt tower over them. Leon proceeded to escort them to the training mats to soundly disavow them of the notion.
Not only can you feel how Leon frustrated is by his clumsiness in this, but you can also tell how upset he is when he realizes that being fully human no longer feels right to him anymore.
And RUCIO, MY PRECIOUS LITTLE BASTARD! He is absolutely PERFECT HERE! Him calling Leon stupid and annoying for not figuring out what's wrong, had me roaring! AND I LOVE how smug he is after Leon admits he's got a point.
Leon almost dropping trow in the hallway was funny as hell, and i especially ADORED how Leon was obviously indulging himself a little bit when he got his tail back by whipping it around to vent his frustration!
Gosh this was a really FUN and CUTE FIC! ANOTHER ADDITION TO THE GLORIOUS HOARD!
When Leon wakes up after passing out in the boat in the middle of the lake, he notices that something is off immediately. His hearing had been amplified as he was able to easily pick out the sounds of fluttering leaves and chirping crickets from across the distance shore. His sense of smell was also cranked to the max, and he couldn't help but gag as the rotten smell of Del Lago began to clot inside his nose.
Confused and slightly irritated, Leon simply waves off his new enhanced senses and continues looking for Ashley, but things just keep getting weirder.
No matter how much he runs, he's not getting the least bit tired, in fact he feels REALLY energetic, like he had an endless supply of energy he desperately needs to burn off. He eventually encounters some Ganados and instead of the usual feelings of fear and panic, he instead feels EXCITED.
He dives into the fight without any hesitation, kicking and shooting harder and faster than he's ever done in his life. He can't stop the feral grin the stretches across his face when he sees more Ganados pour into the fray, not caring that he just used the last of his bullets and only has his knife left to depend on. He just simply starts snapping necks and tearing flesh, not noticing the sparks of lightning that are arching off his arms, or the clouds of frost ghosting over his lips
It's not until when the last of his villager falls dead does Leon realize that something is very, very wrong with him. He looks down at the bodies around him before glancing down at his now transformed clawed hands, his fingers tingling as blue sparks flared between them. There are also black scales speckled across his arms like moles, and his teeth felt sharp and jagged like a shark.
tangentwithtanner
yousharknotpass
jbbartram-illu
dededos
annaxmalina
