Zuko in his first meeting with Aang: You are just an insignificant human, don't even cry for mercy because I won't give it to you.

Zuko a few months after living with Aang: You should teach those peasants a lesson, Master Aang!!!

A small sketch of the AU!Demon Spirit

emotional support frog

who will absolutely eat your hand.

I remember watching the Boiling Rock pt. 1 and seeing Sokka tell Zuko "I need to regain my honor" felt so strange to me. The only place we see Sokka care about honor was when he was wearing the Kyoshi warrior outfit where and Sokka seems proud of its significance (gold insignia represents honor). But he does see Zuko obsess about honor all the time and probably knows is a big FN thing. I always thought it was Sokka's way of trying to manipulate (this word sounds harsh but I can't think of a better term) Zuko into letting him go into his little suicide mission by using the concept of honor, which he knows Zuko cares so much about. I wonder what your thoughts on this are bc I've always liked your atla analysis

yeah I’ve joked about this in the past. I don’t think sokka is outright manipulating zuko here (sokka can be manipulative, but this isn’t really an example of that) but rather using terms he knows zuko will understand. speaking his language so as to get through to him. the notion of honor is obviously not some discrete or ontological quality, but rather a descriptor of cultural value (often intertwined with a culture’s notion of masculinity) so sokka clearly does care about honor even if he doesn’t use that exact term. so his choice of words here is very clearly deliberate. and yet zuko is like “believe me, I get it” because he’s genuinely so oblivious as to assume that sokka said that completely by accident and not specifically for his benefit. because zuko doesn’t really consider how his own words will be received by others when he says them, he just says whatever he’s thinking and feeling, and doesn’t understand that some (most) people are more socially aware and comport themselves for the benefit of others. which is why he thinks that azula is some kind of serial liar and manipulator rather that someone who simply knows how to say what others want to hear. it’s actually pretty funny if u think about it.

i think zuko and lu tens dynamic was like. if lu ten told zuko the sky was green and grass was blue zuko would believe it due to how he admired his big cousin. and lu ten knew that and found it funny and cute. but he never told zuko anything like that

I saw a post that pointed out something important so I feel the need to clarify

I think I would still like Netflix ATLA to somehow make Zutara canon

HOWEVER

I know it wouldn't actually be making "Zutara" canon

"Zutara" requires both Zuko and Katara

right now, my boy is hard to see and my girl is absent, nowhere to be seen

BUT

considering the fandom ignited once more over a short (but kinda fascinating) scarf scene, I would love to see what crumbs or moments they would give us (the fans) to work with

Any au in which the Zuko and Azula care about each other is automatically my favorite thing. Give me extremely fucked up drama siblings being suicidal and homicidal respectively or give me death. I want them to huddle up together like two very disturbed baby birds 

ATLA Au where Sokka befriends a rogue Knowledge Seeker ✨

(More info under the cut)

Side A: Sokka Adopts A Stray Fox Spirit

- After a toddler Sokka gets lost in a blizzard, a Knowledge Seeker that is taking back a scroll wanders upon him. Knowledge Seekers in this world not only retrieve information for the library, but also protect it - sometimes with their life. - This particular Knowledge Seeker feels the need to protect Sokka (who, unbeknownst to them both, is going to be a genius who tilts the world of knowledge on its head), and disregards its former duty in order to make sure the tiny human makes it. - If Sokka dies, then so much knowledge will be lost to the world. The spirit can’t have that. It curls up around Sokka, giving the child warmth and saving his life. - It decides to stick around when it realizes this particular human is rather curious and thus drawn to danger, aiding this one in its destiny. And while spirits don’t need to eat (And can eat just about anything), it’s also a bonus that human treats are really good!! Side B: Sokka Becomes A Knowledge Seeker (or New Spirit Entirely...?)

- Everything is the same as above, except for the fact that young Sokka succumbs to the coldness despite the spirits best efforts... - The Knowledge Seeker, keen in fulfilling its duties, essentially thinks, “Well shit. Can't let this potential go to waste. I'll sacrifice myself in order to heal the world, aid destiny, and ultimately expand knowledge for the world. This human's worth it." - Doggo combines its essence with Sokka’s soul, and gives the child a second chance at life. - Sokka in return gets canine teeth, a bigger propensity for meat, can go Borf, probably has auburn hair (still not set on the design), and has most of the abilities of the Knowledge Seeker. - No ears or tail on a literal level (Maybe...), but these abilities include: enhanced hearing, the ability to innately and uncannily Know Things by accessing his past spirit life memories and having a connection to the library, a 6th sense for danger and spiritual activity, climbing up walls like Spider-Man, and eventually being able to walk back and forth between worlds! As well as typical dog traits, like growling, claws, teef, and a propensity for meat!

Random atla trope I love—Katara and Zuko bonding over their shared ex, Jet. Bitching about him as a bonding activity

thinking about Zuko and Sokka sitting in an important council meeting or something when toddler Izumi runs in crying and completely derails everything because she has a boo boo...a few moments later her kyoshi warrior guard comes in out of breath from running after her... she just took off because she wanted her dads 🥹

anyway she curls up in Sokka's lap and Zuko kisses her boo boo to make it better and Sokka folds up a piece of paper into a little crane for her play with and the meeting continues on as usual

your sokka is SO sokka and i say this as someone who holds him so dear ur writing of him is amazing. tbh im sooo fussy with his portrayal but its pretty nailed. like so many fics (esp zukka and zuko centric and ESPECIALLY ones where hakoda like adopts zuko) he's constantly pushed to the side in favour of zukos issues and zukos problems when in reality sokka is very hurt himself and has suffered a lot. man i GET taob sokka i really do bc people seem to think he was a lil mean but nobody seems to realise when you're in sokkas position it would've read like everyone was against you. all the swt men, including his dad who snapped at him, and even katara and aang and suki tell him to give zuko a chance and the fact that they were trusting someone who had hurt all of them so much- because yes WE know zuko wouldn't have killed them, but the gaang didn't. not when they were being chased and terrorised, and when sokka had his trust betrayed in the prison, he had absolutely every right to hate zuko, esp when it felt like everyone who he thought would understand his feelings, including his own dad who had been hiding his relationship with zuko from him, seems against him. his conversation with hakoda was probably my favourite scene in taob just bc he was allowed to feel like that without being treated by the narrative as someone just being mean to poor little zuko. he gets to be a sourpuss and angry and jealous at zuko for feeling like hed been replaced by his own dad. all of the water tribe men get this treatment like they're not written as bad people for being wary or disliking zuko initially (even chena despite being enemy no.1 at the start). his convo with hakoda was so important bc it stressed the detail that yes zuko has suffered and deserves to be cared for but SOKKA is his son, his actual child who is so hard on himself for things out of his control and who has hurt so much and deserves just as much as zuko does. sokka is just a baby my boy. he's not the main character but he's just as complex and intricate as zuko, not just in taob but also for the times we have seen him in tams there's been keen detail to his emotion and how he's feeling pointed out

me rn

pigeon hunting :)

redraw of an old doodle now that i have a clear idea of what aang's dino form looks like. background under the cut cuz im proud of it

quick in the tags who were the first characters you ever looked at and said "I could fix him"

my greatest flaw is that i would lowkey ship sokka/azula if i wasn’t so convinced that azula is a lesbian. bc just think about it. they’re both these hyper logical calculating masterminds with debilitating perfectionist complexes to hide their perceived worthlessness, so they’re constantly achieving, and while they never feel any real joy in winning, they get actually suicidal the second they fail at anything. they think everyone who can’t keep up with them is some sort of idiot because they refuse to live in a world where they are in fact more intelligent than most people, including the adults around them. they love making the most insufferable puns you’ve ever heard and get offended if no one laughs. they have daddy issues and mommy issues. they share so many of the things they have wrong with them. so like. just imagine how amazingly awful they would be as a couple. they would indisputably make each other worse , but in the most disastrously entertaining way possible.

Zuko: Due to several experiences in my youth, I cannot just 'walk up and join a circle of people talking'. Plus it sounds horrible so no thank you.

i’m not one to care about ship wars but it’s just insane to me that almost two decades later, zu//tara shippers are pulling the exact same shit. you can’t go five posts into the kataang or aang tag without some shipper acting absolutely unhinged.

The Dragon-Touched King

Heat

Everything around him was on fire

The flame burned hotter than anything he'd ever felt, but they only threw off the faintest hint of light

Zuko reached out, groping blindly through the darkness. The intense heat was the only thing guiding him. The invisible flames drew closer or farther to show him where he needed to go. Suddenly the ground opened beneath him and he was tumbling down into the vast emptiness.

He landed with a thud on something much softer than the stone far he was expecting. The mound rose and fell rhythmically for a moment. Then it began to rumble and shake. Suddenly, sconces lining the walls flared to life. The light was blinding after so long in darkness, but it only took Zuko's eyes a moment to adjust.

Ran stared down at him, blue scales gleaming in the light. In spite of himself, Zuko trembled. He knew better than to think the dragon would harm him, but the sight of a full grown dragon was always awe inspiring.

How did he get here? Zuko wondered this for the first time since he'd found himself in the cavern with the nearly invisible flames. He had no memory of coming to the Sun Warrior's island, or to Ran and Shaw's cave. It occurred to him that he must be dreaming, but it was too real. He'd felt the scorching heat, Ran's scales shifting beneath his hands, the dragon's hot, moist breath rolling over him, causing his clothes to cling to him damply. If this was a dream, it was his most vivid yet.

Young Fire Lord. Ran's voice rolled through his body, felt rather than heard. Zuko scrambled to his feet and bowed respectfully. He cast around a quick glance for Shaw, but he couldn't see any sign of the tell-tale red.

You have been given a gift.

"Yes," Zuko acknowledged, thinking of the newly hatched dragon that had made itself a comfortable nest in Zuko's bed. "Druk has been a pleasure."

Young dragon is doing well. We see and we are pleased. Ran assured Zuko. But Druk is not the gift I speak of. Zuko's brow furrowed in confusion.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," he said. Ran let out a low rumble that shook the stone walls. It took Zuko a moment to realize he was laughing.

You will understand, Ran promised. Call up your flame. Zuko hesitated. If he was dreaming, and he wasn't entire sure one way or another, he could very well wake up to his bed sheets burning. But Ran fixed him with that unnerving sharp eye, and Zuko felt compelled. He held out his palm and willed a flame to spark. The familiar flame danced to life and flickered for a moment. Then the color changed. The flame got hotter and turned a deep blue. Zuko gasped, but before he could say anything, the color changed several more times. The blue flickered to red, then green, then purple, then it seemed to disappear from view, but Zuko could just make out a distortion where the flame still burned. The heat was as intense as the invisible flames that guided him to the dragon.

What does this mean?" Zuko asked almost to him self.

It is Dragon fire, Ran told him. Dragon-touched Fire Lord. You will lead your people back to true knowledge. You will show them the true mastery of flame. You will return them to true fire bending. Keeper of the dragon fire.

Zuko almost groaned. He understood what Ran was asking of him. It was daunting. He already was leading his people out of war and working to undo a century of dangerous nationalist propaganda. Now he was also being tasked with undoing the same decades' worth of improper fire bending techniques. Terrific.

Show them the true way of dragon fire.

@metaorigin