Big Cousin On Babysitting Duty

big cousin on babysitting duty

parts of live action ATLA that I can think of right now and thought were particularly well done include:

- opening scene with the earthbender (he fought hard and died brutally, it sets the tone well for this world at war)

- the air nomad genocide (it feels so different when we have to see it for ourselves, jeez louise)

- Kyoshi fighting through Aang (metal as hell)

- the cave of two lovers (gay Oma and Shu!! red and blue Oma and Shu!! hell yeah!! I also just like how they had Sokka and Katara in there instead, and their familial love got them out)

- that earth kingdom soldier talking to Iroh (more nuanced than just "corrupt soldier punch old man", also "he was only 19" got to me, great acting bro)

- Zuko talking to Iroh at Lu Ten's funeral (Zuko saying what he's supposed to but then instead of leaving he shares a memory of his cousin and just sits with his devastated, unresponsive uncle so he isn't alone, oh my god I cried)

- Seeing Zuko's father tell him he's banished (he looks so young and scared and he echos what his mother must've taught him about the weak being capable of growing stronger)

- Zuko's crew being the 41st division (I love that it ties the crew directly to the action that upset Ozai and led to Zuko's banishment, plus it gives the crew a pretty damn good reason to respect him despite him being a bratty asshole sometimes)

Is this the first ever time we’ve gotten official show-style art of Lu Ten??? I love him so much, he’s got Iroh’s eyes 😭

Lu Ten: I'm sorry to say this, kiddos, but your father has passed away. Zuko(10): *bursts into tears* Azula(8): *shocked* How...how did father die? Lu Ten: Uhh (Flasback to Lu Ten shoving Ozai out the window) Lu Ten: Assassin. Lu Ten: With more arm strength than he thought he had.

Little Zuko and little Azula love Lu Ten. They love Lu Ten so much, they successfully smuggled themselves into Lu Ten's baggage when Lu Ten left to go fight.

Lu Ten, meanwhile, finds out that his little cousins snuck along for the ride way too late.

He knows they're gonna lose the fight.

He isn't about to let a couple of little kids die like that, murdered by Ba Sing Se soldiers too hyped up by war.

He may have been prepared to put his own life on the line, but he's not sacrificing Zuko or Azula's. But he also knows that if he flees the field with them, then Ozai will absolutely use that as an excuse to "punish" his own children.

Lu Ten does not want to know what that punishment entails. He is, in fact, more terrified by whatever it may be than the literal war raging outside his tent.

So.

So.

He swallows his pride for his country, his love for his father, and his dreams of being a successful general.

He grabs the kids, fakes his death, and runs.

Zuko's crew can't believe he has a “lady friend”