HP/Avatar fusion musings

[timepiececlock]

I spent about 10 minutes pondering the lack of entertaining Avatar/Harry Potter crossovers on the internet, and pondering whether I wanted to bother even outlining one. I decided I didn't-- HP fanfic is just too hard to write. Takes too much preparation and research. Even 2 years ago, when I was writing plenty of HP fic, I frequently invented my own magic names and stuff because I couldn't be bothered to fact-check with the books.

But I couldn't resist making a "What If They Were Sorted" list for the ATLA characters. Here you go.

Slytherin:
Toph
Azula
Mai
Jet

Ravenclaw:
Sokka
Teo
Song

Gryffindor:
Aang
Katara
Yue
Haru

Hufflepuff:
Zuko
Ty Lee
Suki
Jin


Toph is a born Slytherin, from the secret combat identity to lying to her parents to hustling street-people to being a pain in the ass. Love that girl.

Azula and Jet are also Slytherins, for basically the same reason. They just also happen to be crazy and malicious, two things Toph is not.

Sokka is a Ravenclaw, because even though he's an idiot, he can be smart sometimes, and seems to relish in knowledge for knowledge's sake.

Aang, Katara, Yue... Gryffindor, because they each have the hero's heart. So does Haru, though he's a bit like Neville I think.

Ty Lee, Suki...Hufflepuffs. These are awesomely talented and professional ladies who know their stuff and practice till they kick ass. I stuck Jin here because I've no idea where to put her.

Zuko is a also Hufflepuff, because his most defining feature is that he never gives up, he never stops trying, and he never backs down. He may be an immature asshat sometimes, but you can't say he's not a hard worker. (Second choice would be Gryffindor; anyone who thinks he'd be Slytherin needs their head examined)

Comments

[littleduchess.livejournal.com]

Actually I agree with all of those. Zuko is too straightforward to be a Slytherin. And god, would I love to be in that common room when Toph and Azula get their groove on!

[crzysheelf.livejournal.com]

I agree with your descriptions... at Zuko you had me going for a minute there, lol. As much as I truly don't like crossovers... sticking the AtLA cast in a HP world would be a teeny-tiny bit fun!

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

yeah, HP fans tend to be crazy about their canon nitpicking. (Rather like LOTR fanfiction. Although, at least for me, it's better to write HP fanfiction than LOTR fanfiction. The nature of LOTR doesn't really allow much room for the sort of one-shot fanfic most people write, and there are even fewer people who could write grand epices in the traditional LOTR style. And if you are expending that much energy and you do have the talent, dude, why aren't you writing your own books?)

your list, though, is fantabulous. :-)

part 1

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Exactly. THe only LOTR fic I've written was a drabble crossover between Buffy and LOTR, and it takes place in a dream. (this is on ff.net, btw) LOTR is even more intimidating that HP, because with HP you can fake it.

When I was writing HP fic, my solution to not remembering the names for things was simple: just make sure I'm always writing about something that isn't in the books. That way I could make up all the spells I wanted, and not worry about it. Also, I simplified A LOT. Instead of saying the spell itself, I'd describe what the spell did and let it go unsaid.

In terms of epic, masterful LOTR pieces... I've only read two that I really loved, and both were about Legolas, one of the hardest characters to write good fanfic about.

1. The Price Of Freedom: a fanfic of unspeakable awesomeness. Epic adventure, gradual, painful, soaring romance built on friendship and solidly developed in a gorgeous action/adventure AU. It takes the unusual pairing of Eowyn and Legolas, and it makes it work. It gives both characters stellar treatment, and has great fight scenes to boot, as well as a host of original villains that feel real and dangerous. I... I just can't praise this fic enough. Just rereading my old reviews of it now, I want to read it again! I have to give you a warning, though... this fic may forever altar your shipping tendencies, if you have any for LOTR. In one sitting I was completely changed from an Aragorn/Eowyn shipper to a Legolas/Eowyn shipper, despite little to no actual ship-worthy content in the original books. Thus the power of good writing! Anyway, it's a trip and you should go read it like RIGHT NOW.

from the prologue, which takes place in The Two Towers:

"I will trust you," she said steadily. "You have told me more of the truth than those I have loved and trusted my entire life. For that, though not for that alone, I will call you friend if you do not think me too bold."
"I think," he said gravely, "it would be a great tragedy if you were ever anything less than bold, Eowyn Elvellon."
"Elvellon?" She repeated.
"Elvellon," he said again. His smile was like the sun on budding leaves in spring, warm and full of hope, like a child's smile. "It means 'Elf friend.'"

From my original review:

"And then, of course, there's your Eowyn. She's fabulous. Though I just started looking at Eowyn fic, your version is the best characterization I've read by far. While reading, I feel like you got her voice, her thoughts. This is not a fan's attempt to emulate Eowyn-- this *is* Eowyn I'm reading about. And that's a precious quality to be found in writing.
This is no woman who falls before the feet (or the gilded hand) of a man-- this is the woman who cut the head from the Nazgul Witch King. It makes me want to cheer at the thought. Her leadership here is amazing (even when she makes misjudgements)... and yet she has retained her femininity, if only for her strength in not apologizing for being what she is. She is no man!"

"You've managed to make Legolas come off as everything that I liked about the original character, without selling out to cheap melodrama, unrealistic fanon qualities, or overembellished romanticism. He seems like an elf here-- very stoic and pretty and kind... but passionate of soul. He doesn't talk to much or too little, and you've managed to give him that warrior's practicality and efficientness that came across in the film."

part 2

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

And...

2. In Wonderland: the fic that was my favorite LOTR fic before I discovered the one above. Whereas that story is an action/adventure, this is a tragic love story. It's Legolas/OC that is inspired by Alice In Wonderland, and it has an OC who begins as a Mary Sue but turns out to be anything but. It's a great love story, moving and heartbreaking and it takes your breath away. It's a very original plotline (a rare find!) and as a prequel it sets the stage, in a way, for the events of LOTR. This was my favorite LOTR fic for a long, long time... before I read Price Of Freedom. Honestly, both are equally great. This one is only 90,000 words, shorter than the other fic by a good 40,000, but it still feels very long, and very emotionally intense.


Snippet from chapter 4:

They were like dolls!

Perfect and beautiful and absolutely frightening! It was like having a meal with living statues. Only their eyes had seemed alive. All of their faces had been still and smooth and expressionless and... oh, the horror of being watched by a table of dolls! And to make matters worse, strange phrases and half-stories had pounded in her head relentlessly, screaming for her attention. She literally felt as if her head were about to split into two.

Kythe had smiled at her often and for awhile, that had been enough to settle Karalynn's jangled nerves but finally she could not take it anymore. The mixture of hunger, terror, and nervousness had made her light-headed and weak.

Though she had taken only a few bites, she felt as if she were going to empty the contents of her stomach at any moment.

She had to leave the table before that happened.

She ran and ran, not knowing where she was headed. She only knew she had to get as far away from those creatures as possible.

Karalynn made a sharp left and ran out of the hallway and into a grassy field. In the near distance, she could see the edge of a forest and that looked like heaven to her. She wanted to hide so badly. To go to sleep and wake up where she belonged, where there were no elves or kings or....

"Karalynn!"

She only had a second to register that someone had said her name before a hand grabbed her arm and spun her around.

Legolas' blue eyes were dark with worry as he looked at her and she tried vainly to pull her bare arm back from his soft hand.

"Karalynn, everything will be okay." he said firmly as she struggled away from him. "Come, let me take you to the..."

" 'There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head!' " Karalynn said the thoughts in her mind out loud. "I don't know what it means! But these thoughts keep... and dolls at the table and... I don't know where Middle Earth is and..."

To her dismay, Legolas grabbed her other arm and his grip was like steel in a velvet glove.

"We'll help you figure it out." he said. "All of it. But later. You have to eat, Karalynn, you need your strength. I'll have your food sent to your room so that you can stay in bed and I'll stay...."

But before he could say another word, she doubled over in pain and emptied the meager contents of her stomach onto his body.

[jakia.livejournal.com]

I agree, and would love to read a nice HP/Avatar crossover.

But you know what I'd enjoy more?

A Naruto/HP crossover. A well-written one. For some reason, Naruto/HP seems more plausible than Avatar/HP. Same timeline, I suppose?

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I would say it's more plausible because the plots are essentially the same story: a young boy in supernatural school has special hidden destiny, grows up with peers and learns to use his abilities. It's merely the decoration that's different. They even begin at about the same age.

Although, take out "school" from that summary, and its the ATLA plotline too.

I actually found a pretty cool Naruto crossover fic, once. I can't remember what it was called. But it had Naruto, Hinata, and a few other characters being sent as adult ANBU to act as guardians of Hogwarts grounds, watchdogs of a sort. It was a good action fic. Unfortunately I just tried to find it on FFNET, and couldn't, just a lot of yaoi fics or lame ones.

[jakia.livejournal.com]

I know! Yaoi is almost all I can find in the Naruto section. Avatar...doesn't have that big of a love for yaoi (other than jet/zuko). It's weird.

I think I know what fic you're talking about, I just can't remember what it's called. Hm...

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

For a long time, like the first two years of the fandom, Naruto was almost exclusively yaoi. Now its evened out a lot-- there's a decent amount of het fic to be found for numerous pairings, canon and unconventional.

I've noticed how het-normative ATLA fic is. I'd guess this comes from two things:

1) the fact that Zuko doesn't have any males his age to interact with in the cast except Aang's group or Jet, neither of which are easily to work with in terms of arranging story situations. Except Jet, because he's great.

2) Sokka and Aang have, like, ZERO chemistry. They're like two alien species, and thus no one's willing to write fic about them.

[greedyslayer.livejournal.com]

Wow, I swear, you're the first one who goes with my idea of Toph in Slytherin, I find her usually in Gryffindor; it's not just her green, but the snark and she IS ambitious to overcome her blindness, to be just as good as people who can see, to be "the greatest Earthbender" in the world...and let's not forget, in that same grand claim, I'm pretty sure she mentioned something about "dunderheads...."