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mimzy-writing-online · 3 years

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Writing Toph Beifong, Advice from a Blind Writer

I’m Mimzy, an actual visually impaired writer and blogger who talks a lot about writing blind characters accurately and sensitively. A while back someone sent me an anon asking how to write Toph more accurately and sensitively.

Anonymous asked: Hi there! Your blog has been super-helpful already - I thought I knew a bit about writing with blind characters, but it turns out there was a lot to learn - but this is more specific. I'm writing a The Last Airbender fanfiction, and one of the characters is Toph. I think the fandom has done a fairly good job of respecting her blindness, but what are some things you'd like to see when people write her? I want to represent the character as best as possible; thanks in advance!

It’s taken a while for me to answer because I have a lot of thoughts about it as both a blind writer and someone who has read a lot of atla fanfiction. So here we go:

Before we get started, I want to mention some things:

One: I have an entire series for writing blind characters that continues to grow with time and the most up-to-date version can be found pinned as the top post on my blog. There will be a time-stamp for when the post was last edited and a long series of links to all relevant posts on the subject.

Here’s a quick link to that post, but again, all you have to do is click my blog url and you’ll find it immediately.

Two: I’ve noticed something amazing about the atla fandom and I would like to thank you for it. I’ve noticed a lot of bloggers have taken to writing image descriptions for both the fanart and memes you post in the fandom, whether it’s OP including the description or another blogger adding it themselves. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a fandom so consistently doing this and that’s incredible. Realizing how many different blogs were picking up this habit has warmed my heart.

I’d like to see writers use her other senses. There’s soooo so much more to her O&M (Orientation and Mobility) than earth sense.

Beyond sight and earth bending, there’s hearing, touch, smell, taste, sense of direction, hot vs cold, sense of pain, sense of where your body parts are in relation to the rest of you, sense of internal well-being, etc. Before Toph had mastery of her earth bending, she had to have mastery of those too.

Toph also must have very strong opinions about certain smells, sounds, tastes, and textures. Toph is opinionated about everything, and when so much of your understanding of the world depends on senses that most people are ignoring in favor of some other sense you don’t have, it gets frustrating. I’m sure that tree looks pretty but the smell is terrible. Who cares if this fabric looks pretty, it’s scratchy, do. not. like. at. all.

But also in positive ways too. Oh, that flower arrangement looks bland and monochromatic? Who cares, it smells sweet and honey-like. Weird dark cavern with high ceiling and no light? The harmonics are awesome.

Every character probably has a certain sight or image they’re particularly fond of: Katara watching snow fall, or Aang enjoying how small the world looks from up on Appa, or Zuko enjoying the sunrise every morning during meditation. In that line, Toph must have some things personal to her that she enjoys.

I imagine she likes the taste of foods familiar to her childhood, the smell of whatever flowers grew around her home, and the texture of certain kinds of dirt Example: loose dirt probably isn’t the best for seeing, but I think she would enjoy how it feels to run her fingers through it or maybe enjoy the way it softens her perception of the world the same way sighted people like to see colorful, bright lights reflecting off puddles in the middle of rain.

If you struggle with this, that’s okay. I recommend taking some time to think about it for yourself, to find what tastes and smells and textures and sounds you enjoy the most, what makes you feel safe and at home, what brings you comfort, and relate that back to Toph.

In a Modern AU, I want to see Toph have a cane. Even in a Modern AU with bending included in the world building, I think Toph would benefit from having a cane.

The cane has a lot more function than bumping into things. A big part is that it signals to others that you are very obviously blind. Which is a big deal because sighted people are really, really bad at spotting the blind person.

(psst, please stop saying ‘the blank look in her eyes’ because I swear to god it’s been killing me inside for years.)

Also, even in an AU with bending, I think Toph would like the advantage of tapping her cane to create a stronger, more distinct vibration than a small shifting of her weight on her feet. It would have more control.

You could give Toph a guide animal, buuuuuuut, um, Toph is not a guide dog person. Like, there are some people who definitely prefer a guide dog, and some people who definitely prefer a cane, and some who definitely prefer no mobility device at all. Toph does not have the vibes of someone who wants to be both responsible and reliant on an animal when she’s so insistent that she can take care of herself on her own. Toph likes animals, but not that much.

Although, yeah, only 10% of the blind community use mobility devices, so cane and guide dog users are the minority of the blind community, but I stand by the vibe that Toph would love the independence of a cane. Also, it’s almost never ever done. Modern AUs never seem to touch much on Toph’s O&M skills with canes or guide dogs.

I wrote a whole post on everything you need to know about canes, what orientation and mobility is, how you learn O&M, what kind of canes exist, how to use them, how to describe the sensory input a cane gives you, and everything I know about guide dogs from past research.

Honestly, you could give Toph (or any blind character) a cane in any AU, because I fully stand by the theory that canes are a piece of technology that has been invented, lost, and reinvented again and again.

I wrote “I found a piece of lost blindness history” a few months ago after a visit to see my grandparents. My grandmother told me how her blind aunt found a way to write letters by hand to send to my grandmother when she was a child. I speculated on how the long cane has probably been invented and then lost and then reinvented over and over again in history, as well as giving a little history on the growing popularity of guide dogs in the 20th century following World War 1.

About the “blank look in her eyes,” I have a theory to the exact cause and nature of Toph’s blindness.

I know it’s common to think that the milky green color of her eyes is why she’s blind, though I’m not sure how many realize that milky green color is caused by severe cataracts. At least, cataracts is what I assume to be the reason for the color of her eyes. However, people with cataracts still have some remaining sense of light and shadow perception.

Only 9% of the blind community is completely blind, seeing absolutely nothing. The rest have some remaining vision, even if that’s only light and shadow perception or the perception of vague movement.

The percentage of people born completely blind is even smaller.

Toph says that she’s never been able to see, which would lead me to guess that the initial cause of her blindness was a defect with the visual processing part of her brain. I also theorize that the cataracts developed slowly over her very formative years and that she likely wasn’t born with them. For that reason, I think it would have taken a few weeks or months for her parents to realize there was something wrong with her eyes.

Here is a post about the developmental years of blind children and how their life would differ from both sighted children and from someone who went blind as an adult.

What is it like to see nothing?

It’s a concept that sighted people struggle with and I completely understand. I myself didn’t understand the concept of “nothing” until someone explained it as this:

“Imagine trying to see out the back of your head.”

Which, genuinely, imagine that. Try that. Because here’s what I found. There’s no part of my body that can help perceive that. I don’t have eyes there, nor do I have a part of my brain that can process that. Because of this, there is no sense of light or dark, no shape or shadow or movement or depth that I can perceive. There is nothing.

And honestly, it gives me a headache trying to think too much about it.

Toph doesn’t see black, doesn’t have a mental image of it. When people talk about light and dark, Toph has nothing to base the concept on. The closest relation she has to that is silence versus sound, or her earth sense when she’s in the air on Appa versus when she’s on solid ground. But it’s not the same.

I would like to examine the way the show tried to describe Toph’s earth sense, that black void with ripples of white stretching from her feet and outwards. Television is a visual medium so of course their explanation of Toph’s earth sense would be visual, but that’s not what it’s actually like in her head. More accurately, it’s like touching the back of your head to something and feeling what’s solid behind it and what has more give. A wall versus a pillow for example. Slamming your hand on a flimsy table and feeling it rattle under your palm. And for someone so adept at using that sense, she feels not just the table surface under her palm, but the individual rattles down the four legs, how uneven those rattles are because the legs are carved decoratively instead of solid planks, and how the foot of each leg bumps against the ground, and how the floor vibrates in response to the impact, which she feels in both her feet and hand.

About Toph’s Relationship with Her Parents

It’s not something I see touched on much. There’s been a lot of focus on Zuko and Azula’s relationship with their parents and the abuse, as well as exploration of Sokka and Katara’s trauma with losing their mother, and Sokka looking up to his warrior father while Katara struggles with her abandonment issues.

Please don’t take this as a critique, because there are a few valid reasons for this and I would like to give you some insight on how to explore Toph’s relationship with her parents.

For starters, the show had a lot more reason to focus on Zuko and Azula’s parents, with Fire Lord Ozai being the primary villain and Zuko’s greatest abuser, and Azula’s dependent worship of her father in response to Ursa’s neglect and favoritism of Zuko, which was likely Ursa’s response to Ozai’s favoritism of Azula. Their parents are huge driving motivators for why Zuko and Azula make the decisions and mistakes they do, why they are at one point in the show the villains themselves. (And why I think Azula should get a redemption arc and some healing.)

Katara’s trauma of losing her mother and blaming herself is a huge factor in both her response to the war, her relationship with her bending, and her motherly nature with her friends. The show has to explore that. Just as it has to explore Sokka’s problems with toxic masculinity in response to being the man of his village, and his desire to be a great warrior and leader like the father he idolizes.

The show needs to explore that to make the plot move forward, and it benefits from these being two sibling sets with different responses to their upbringing and different sibling dynamics, setting them up as foils for each other.

The show also wouldn’t benefit by giving Lao and Poppy Beifong more screen time. Their established character were two nobles who kept as far out of the war as possible and prospered monetarily for it. Poppy was polite and demure and Lao liked to lead the conversation. Unless the gAang decided to return to Toph’s home, those characters had no reason to pop up anywhere in the show. And if they did, they would be a hinder to Toph and her part in the plot as both Aang’s earth bending teacher and as the greatest earth bender in the world, tossing Fire Nation soldiers eight ways to Sunday.

So truly, I understand that there’s not a whole lot of canon material (comparatively) to go off of when developing this, but I will offer some insight on what is there in canon.

Toph’s relationship with her parents is explored in that it maps out why Toph doesn’t want to be mothered by Katara, why she wants to prove how independent she is, but there’s very little on screen interaction between Toph and her parents.

Toph deeply loves her parents. I think that plays into why she doesn’t want Katara mothering her, because she has a wonderful mother at home who she loves and wants to better understand her, but she had no friends growing up and no older sister, which are the roles she needs and wants Katara to fill. If Toph wanted a mother figure, she would have latched onto Katara. Look at how Zuko never sought out another mother figure but did find a father figure in Iroh as he began to heal from his childhood trauma and separate his self image from his father’s acceptance.

Toph is in a complicated situation, she loves her parents but the way they’re raising her is hurting her in the long run. But Toph can see that their actions are because of their immense love for her. She can see how they would do anything for her. While she never had any examples of how other noble children were treated by their parents, who might have been distant or disinterested or always away for their social and work lives, she was remarkably loved by her parents. Her father put careful thought into her tutors and checked in on her progress. Her mother feared for Toph’s emotional state when she was kidnapped (even if she was incorrect about how Toph would respond), showing genuine empathy for her daughter.

I think their over protective nature became the love language Toph best understood them by, and part of her reasoning for not revealing how capable she was, was because she wanted to keep experiencing that love and care for as long as she could. But it’s not a love language she would put up with from anyone else.

I would like to point out Toph’s genuine excitement to see her mom again in the season finale of Book Two, how badly Toph wants her mom to understand and accept her for who she is.

My thoughts on what Toph can’t do: read, swim, see in the sand, fight things mid-air.

For how incredibly powerful the show makes Toph with her earth bending and the O&M she taught herself through it, they do touch on some of her weaknesses when they come up and find a useful way to showcase them.

The Serpent’s Pass was an excellent example of Toph’s vulnerability in water. From her fear of not being able to see on Katara’s ice bridge to not being able to swim and needing Suki to save her, Toph’s weaknesses putting her in danger added to the excitement and “sitting on the edge of your seat” feeling while watching the episode without turning her into someone who was helpless. She was just in a position where her normal defenses were useless.

Just like the earth benders in the metal prison in the ocean, or Katara having little water in the middle of a desert where her friends needed that water to survive more than she needed it to fight, making her vulnerable later in the show when the insect-wasp things attacked. Just like fire benders being weaker at night, or powerless during a solar eclipse, or a sighted person being lost in the dark. Those were just situations in which the tools you were accustomed to relying on could no longer help you or were taken away.

The show was clever in that it didn’t make her inability to read a direct threat to her safety, but rather as a clever plot device for her to be alone when the sand banders attacked and have to choose between fighting them to save Appa, or holding back an entire fricking building by the tiniest spire on its very top from falling into a void leading to the spirit world. It also showed her weakness to not being able to see or fight as well in sand. Which the show later made an effort to show how she’d improved on that problem in Book Three when she was surrounded by nothing but sand at Ember Island.

Like improving her ability to see in the sand, I would like to see a character teach Toph to swim, or at least float, so that she never feels helpless again. If she took the initiative to improve her sand bending so much, I’m sure she would have learn to swim eventually.

And on the note of reading, I’ve seen some speculation on how Toph could learn to read, whether it’s through using ink that has some percentage of earth mixed in, or developing the sensitivity to feel out the different weight, consistency, and texture of ink on paper.

I would like to bring your attention to Louis Braille, the blind Frenchman who invented Braille while studying at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles, the world’s very first school for the blind in Paris France (established 1785). Previously Louis was learning to read through a method in which each letter was pressed into the paper to leave an imprint that someone could feel out with just their fingers.

Louis Braille concluded that raised lettering was impractical because-

1. It is difficult to read, the letters had to be printed in huge font to be fully felt out and printed on thick paper.

2. Thick paper means higher quality, more expensive. Larger font means more paper is needed for a single text.

3. This made it inaccessible due to expense and the sheer volume of a text.

4. If today’s Braille books are hard to access and giant compared to traditional books, I can’t imagine how inaccessible those raised letter books really were.

The subject of Braille, the start and controversial near downfall to Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles were discussed in a post about writing a blind character during the Victorian Era.

I’ve heard others complain in the past about fantasy universes in which a sighted person invents a solution to allow the blind to read, when the most effective and longest lived method was invented by a blindman over two hundred years ago and is the standard taught in schools today.

And while I couldn’t easily explain it or how it works because I can neither read Braille nor speak Chinese, I can tell you that Chinese Braille exists and works only slightly differently from the Braille western languages use. So, again, modern AUs especially would benefit from enabling Toph to read Braille and use a computer and phone with screen reader.

But just as easily you could choose not to have her learn to read but rather have sighted people read things aloud to her. Whether it’s in a professional setting as an adult having an assistant who reads and writes for her, or as a cute, fluffy little moment between Toph and another character. Both are just as genuine to the blindness experience.

Blind Jokes

If you ever get around to reading my post about blind jokes, I’d like you to remember that it’s primarily written for people writing original characters and that Toph canonically makes blind jokes, so to take away from that would not be true to her character.

Does Toph’s Earth Sense Negate her Blindness?

It’s a question I’ve seen raised before and discussed by both abled, disabled, and blind people. There are multiple perspectives on it, but my own take on it is that Toph’s earth bending does not negate her blindness, but rather functions very much like the process of learning to use a cane.

She had a tool, a teacher, and she learned to use that tool. Instead of a cane, it was seismic perception and her teacher were blind badger-moles. She spent years learning to earth bend as they do and then continued to take it to new heights as she explored fighting with it on her terms against sighted fighters.

Come to think about it, I would love to see Toph teach another visually impaired or blind earth bender who to see and bend as she does.

Is Toph Good Blindness Representation?

This question was posed to me in the comments of my master post, and my answer was something like this: “Toph is good representation, but she can't be the only type of representation we get. She's the best we had 15 years ago, but there are a million ways to nuance the blindness experiences. Toph's experience being born blind, having very over protective parents, being a small girl in a patriarical and wealth influenced society, having no friends growing up. Those are all great aspects of blindness to show, but there is so much more to explore. As for her blindness and whether or not that's negated, that's also nuanced. She has limits, she's not all-powerful, but she is the best earth bender hands down. More or less, I love Toph, she's a great character, give me like a million more blind characters who are completely different from her.”

I want to see accurate and well-written blind characters become much more common in modern media, and that’s why I started this blog. So if you decide you want to write your own blind character from scratch, feel free to come back and look at some of my other stuff.

End Notes:

I want to thank the anon who sent the original question because it never occurred to me how much the atla fandom would benefit from a post like this.

You should follow my blog. Along with advice about writing blind characters, I write general writing advice and answer questions about writing, college, plot development, character analysis, and living with blindness. I curate writing advice from fellow writeblrs, write my own image descriptions for writing memes, post about mental health and working/living with ADHD, disabilities outside of blindness, and LGBTQA+ topics.

#avatar the last airbender #toph beifong #atla toph #atla #blind character #writing advice #writeblr #fanfiction

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gladerwolfstarkimagines · 3 years

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Imagine being Azula’s favourite friend who she recruits first. The two of you have always had an unspoken attraction which neither of you were brave enough to acknoweldge...until you save her life and Azula decides to reward you

Background

You and Azula attended the academy together and had initially started as rivals. You were an above-average fire bender and because she didn’t know you Azula saw that as a threat. So she made it her mission to ruin your life when one day she found you arguing with Zuko. You didn’t hesitate to yell at him or point out his faults and from that moment on Azula knew she’d misjudged you. Azula be-friended you and you became a part of her group. Over time you became her favourite. She trusted you and could feel your loyalty to her, which was something she grew to respect more and more as Mai was compromised by Zuko and Ty lee became even more whimsical. You soon became inseparable and as the friendship grew it began to feel like more...you realised you liked Azula as more than a friend. You enjoyed every second you spent together and thought she felt the same. The tension between you grew and although Azula would grow flustered around you when you flirted with her she never reciprocated your feelings openly. You were heartbroken but understood that falling for the princess of the fire nation hadn’t been a very smart decision on your part. So needing some space to mend as soon as you graduated from the academy you joined the army. It hurt to be around Azula every day and to know you could be something great together if only your nation was more progressive. So you ran away from the situation and didn’t see Azula for years. You managed to stop thinking about her constantly after a few weeks and soon your heart didn’t feel as broken anymore...but you knew deep down you still cared about her. The princess would always be your first love.

Your POV

The army was tougher than the fire nation academy for many reasons. For one your name, reputation and grades didn’t matter once you passed through the doors. They didn’t care if you'd sparred with the best fire benders or got the highest grades in combat skills for ten years, you were reduced to a number and treated as one. You hated every second of it but the alternative was to return to your family and you’d take anything over that so you stuck it out.

One day all the recruits were ordered to wear their best clothes and report to the large training hall which could only mean one thing. Someone wanted to buy troops. High ranking generals or rich businessmen could hire trainees for missions or any jobs they needed completing. The buyer could choose who they wanted after watching you all in training and you would then decide if to accept or not. You took every opportunity you could and so stared straight ahead for inspection, trying your best to look hirable when a voice broke your resolve. "I’m looking for something in particular" Azula told your trainer and you only just managed to keep your head forward but a small smirk broke out on your face. Azula spotted you and walked down the line slowly before stopping in front of you. "Well, well who do we have here?" she asked. You looked up at her and matched her smile "long time no see huh?". Your trainer was horrified at the way you addressed the princess and rushed to yell at you when Azula cut him off with a laugh. She took your arm and you hugged her tightly. Your stomach exploded in butterflies and you clutched her tightly, you’d missed Azula dearly. "Your highness i don’t know what...i’m sorry for this one’s behaviour" the trainer started obliviously and Azula rolled her eyes "are they all as dumb as you? Obviously i know y/n". You smirked and Azula was spurred on by that beautiful expression she’d missed. "You really have no idea who she is?" Azula asked laughing "this is y/n l/n, her father is friends with my father and she is a personal friend to the royal family. To hear you haven’t treated her appropriately is very displeasing" Azula frowned and you smiled as your usually cruel and horrible trainer shook. "I’m sorry we had no idea who she was! We will treat her better, promote her actually" he babbled. "No that won’t do" Azula said "and that wont be necessary, y/n will be leaving with me for a job and won’t be coming back here". The guard hesitated "i...you can’t just take a recruit". "I’m not but i could" Azula growled "i think you’ll find it’s more y/n quits". "She can’t quit" the guard replied “she made an oath” and Azula raised an eyebrow in response "are you tell me what i can do? Are you telling a noblewoman what she can do? Any debt she owes you will be wiped by my command, understand?" Azula barked. The trainer paled but nodded "yes princess" and bowed his head. "Good" Azula nodded and she strode with you right out of the front doors.

Azula brought you to the lodgings she was staying at in the nearest town and you were amused to see it had been given the royal treatment. Red everywhere, freshly polished surfaces as far as the eye could see, gold and silver decorations lay on every available service and of course a large portrait of the fire lord hung on the wall. Over a lavish dinner Azula told you the mission making you realise you’d accepted and left the army without even asking for any details. You were fine with hunting the avatar and Zuko with Mai and Ty lee but you also recognised you would’ve accepted almost any mission Azula gave you because you’d been so happy to see her. Azula had always had this effect on you and time apart hadn’t done anything to lessen that. You were as much in love with her now as you were the day you left two years ago.

After dinner Azula led you to your shared apartment, it contained two bedrooms with ensuites and a large living room which you were pleased to see and you sunk into the sofa happily. "Your hair’s shorter" Azula commented suddenly and you nodded touching it self consciously "yeah it was a target in sparring". Azula scoffed "seriously? Don’t they teach the other recruits proper fire bending moves as opposed to childish tricks?". You shrugged "they told us to win by any means. That it doesn’t have to look good so long as you win". Azula laughed again "amateurs all of them! Of course it should look good". You smirked "well when it comes so easy to you" and glanced over her. Azula shrugged but had a large smile on her face "well I suppose I have been blessed in that aspect". You laughed again and smiled "this is nice". Azula smiled too "it is" and you locked eyes for several seconds before she looked away slowly. Azula stood up abruptly "we should get some sleep we’re moving on foot tomorrow to go get Ty lee and then Mai". You were excited at the thought of seeing your old friends and grinned "great! Also don’t think i didn’t notice you came for me first" you called as Azula made her way towards her room. She halted and you smirked "I always knew i was your favourite but really Azula to make it so obvious" you grinned and Azula paused. You walked to your own room and Azula finally responded "i always made it obvious you’re my favourite, it’s nothing new" and went into her room.

You stepped into your own room and leant back against the closed door blushing vividly from the encounter with Azula. You’d spent all your time in the army trying to convince yourself your relationship with Azula was purely platonic. That the fact your heart sped up whenever you thought of her or how you dreamt of her often was just because you were close friends. You managed to convince yourself you weren’t in love with Azula and that she didn’t feel anything for you either but less than a day with her and you knew that was a lie. You couldn’t deny the way she made you feel and how she smiled at you in a way she never did with anyone else...as much as it made you nervous your realisation also excited you. You couldn’t wait to be around Azula again and felt a happy glow spread over you. You settled in your bed, a smile still on your face and burrowed into the exquisite cushions. You expected to fall to sleep easily but a while later you were still awake. You frowned confused as to why. You were happy, you were with Azula and the bed was comfy so why couldn’t you sleep? You figured maybe the bed was too soft compared to what you were used to in the army so went into the living room to try the sofa. You laid down and realised this was better, more like the beds back at the military. You had just closed your eyes when Azula’s door opened. "Trouble sleeping?" she asked and you nodded "i think the bed’s too comfy". Azula laughed "i thought the opposite, really y/n your taste has worsened in our time apart". You shrugged "it’s better than what i’ve been sleeping on for the last 9 months". Azula lay down on the sofa next to you and you looked at her. You didn’t ask why after finding her own bed soooo uncomfortable she came to lay on a sofa barely a foot from where you were and just enjoyed the silence. “So, anything else i missed you didn’t put in your letters?” you asked. Azula hadn’t written to you much at the academy and honestly that had been a good thing. You’d have just missed her more than you already had but she did send brief updates once a month. Azula nodded "probably tons, i couldn’t write often". You didn’t point out she wrote to you on the first of each month religiously instead you turned on your side to look at her. Mai and Ty lee had also written to you but you’d noticed compared to their letters and the changes in their lives Azula’s had been...well boring. You felt almost sorry for her, you’d all moved away to different things but Azula had been stuck at home with a father who was cruel, the ghost of a cold mother and the memory of a banished brother. Azula quickly discussed some events that had happened and then also turned on her side to face you. "What about you then? How was military life really?". You shrugged "not as i expected". "I knew that job would be awful" Azula commented "why did you stay so long then?". You sighed "well i liked some parts of it, the physical training was similar to what we did in the academy which i liked, the mental tests were better, they made me use all my brain". "That’s a first" Azula chimed in and you rolled your eyes "i liked those parts of it...could’ve done without the abuse from the trainers, food restrictions and ban on leaving". Azula raised an eyebrow "remember what i always told you y/n no self-pity, you could’ve left at any time. You chose not to". You thought Azula sounded a bit angry when she said that but you shrugged "i could but that would have meant going back home not coming back to the capital and I’d rather fight all the trainers at once than that" you said through gritted teeth and Azula saw you’d tensed. She recalled you never got along with your family but she hadn’t realised they were part of the reason you’d taken such an awful job so soon after graduation. "They hated my move to the capital and said if i failed at all they’d have me back and married, i had one shot to escape them, there’s no way i’d give it away because i didn’t actually like what i’d chosen". Azula didn’t comment she just watched you conflicted, she hated self pity and weakness but you were so like her, she’d have done the exact same thing in your position. "But you did leave" Azula commented “you left to come with me” and you looked down "i did...". Azula saw the way your face changed, filling with worry and she actually felt slightly guilty. You’d left instinctively for her when she asked, no matter what it might mean for you in the long term. You did all that for her and it proved to her again why you were her closest ally.

Azula laughed and you looked at her confused "y/n do you really think i’d make you give up your job for a small mission?". You frowned "what?". "Your parents won’t be angry because this a much better job, you’ll be paid more and you’re working with me" Azula said pointedly. "They can’t say anything against that, as long as you’re with me they can’t touch you" she smiled and you grinned at Azula "you’d vouch for me?". Azula nodded "of course, i want you with me and that’s what i’ll get, i don’t care who your family are they’re not taking you anywhere ever". You were equally touched and shocked "ever?". Azula nodded "well obviously you might not be here forever but they’re never taking you back to tie you to a marriage, i’ll just keep coming up with excuses to keep you in my company until you’re too old and then they’ll have to leave you alone with me" Azula explained and you smiled "sounds perfect".

Azula laughed and met your eye, seeing how intensely you looked at her gave her chills. Azula had missed you greatly in the capital but honestly she’d let you leave without a fight. She sensed a growing attraction and longing for you which she knew had to stop. So she let you go figuring some distance would be good but as soon as she needed allies the first face in her mind was yours. The second she saw you she knew she’d made the right choice but she also felt the attraction just as suddenly. Laying here staring at you made it more apparent than ever and it scared Azula. She blushed and turned away from you, facing the back of the sofa "try and sleep" she commanded "we'll be up early".

You didn’t comment on how much Azula was blushing or how she’d chosen to sleep out here with you. You just smiled and closed your eyes basking in the feeling of all she’d said and the safety of her. “Good night Princess” you whispered and you fell asleep almost instantly.

The next day you reunited with Ty lee and then Mai. Ty lee had launched herself at both you and Azula when she saw you and the same occurred for Mai. Mai grunted and hugged Ty lee begrudgingly. "I thought you ran away to the circus?" Mai asked Ty lee and she nodded "i did but y/n and Azula showed up and well they called louder than the universe" Ty lee smiled. "Wait y/n and Azula, isn’t the circus closer to the capital than the military?" Mai asked looking from you to Azula. "Yeah so?" you said confused and Mai shrugged "nothing just seems like it’d make sense to go to the circus first then military but hey i’m sure Azula had her reasons for coming to get you first" Mai smirked slightly. You didn’t look at Azula but Mai and Ty lee exchanged a look at the matching blushes you were both sporting, some things never change. Azula recovered first and pretended Mai hadn’t said anything about the two of you and began explaining her plan. You joined in after a few seconds of recovery but still felt giddy at Mai’s words.

Throughout your trip you and Azula grew closer and closer just like you’d done at the academy. Although neither of you spoke about it you felt drawn to one another and Azula acted differently around you. She sought you out more than the others, always kept the closest proximity to you and paired Mai and Ty lee and you with herself whenever you had to split into teams. As you fell into old habits all the past feelings came back and you began to worry at all the dangerous situations Azula was putting herself in just to please her father. She’d infiltrated Ba Sing Sei without any backup besides you, Ty lee and Mai which terrified you. Of course her plan worked but still you were so grateful Azula had been unharmed and managed to take over the whole city without any mishaps. You hoped it’d be smooth sailing from there but of course she wanted her brother and the avatar too. You did exactly what she said to try and help her but you couldn’t escape the feeling something would go wrong. Azula had left to go and face the avatar all alone apart from her dai lee agents and you couldn’t get her out of your head. Azula had put you in charge of making sure the earth king and his bear were looked after but you wanted to ensure she was okay so left it to Ty lee and Mai. You followed the secret passage you’d seen Azula take and found your way into a massive cavern filled with people. You spotted Azula fighting the avatar and saw her shoot him with a lightning bolt. He fell to the floor and you gaped at the fact Azula had likely just killed the avatar. The water bender with the avatar then went into a rage and flew through the air using a massive wave to catch him. Azula smirked ready to engage with her and you saw Zuko standing beside her. You were surprised to see Zuko beside her, never thinking she’d actually manage to get Zuko on her side but of course she was a master at manipulation. You smiled at all she’d achieved when you noticed Azula’s uncle Iroh was approaching them. He had flames in his hands and was looking right at Azula who was fixed on the water bender. You gasped at Iroh’s intentions and how nobody was aware of what was going on behind them. You broke out into a run and leapt down the cliff as quick as you could. You were getting closer but you still weren’t close enough. Iroh raised his hands and you went into panic mode. “Stop” you yelled and threw your own fire as Iroh released his own. Your strike managed to hit his off course and it hit a rock beside Azula. Azula and Zuko both jumped and Iroh turned to you. You were now stood blocking his path to Azula and you sensed he still wanted to take her down. You anticipated his attack and blocked it instinctively before firing back your own. Iroh was much stronger than you so you were heavily outmatched when suddenly two flames burst onto the scene. Azula sprang in front and began attacking her uncle savagely while Zuko helped. You were again slightly surprised by Zuko but quickly joined in. With three on one even the dragon of the west couldn’t last long and with a final hit from Azula he fell to the floor. “Seize him and throw him in a cage” Azula spat and walked past him to you. “I thought I told you to wait upstairs” she said fixing her intense gaze on you and you shrugged “I wanted to help and I think it’s a good job I did”. Azula shot you a look at your boldness but you could tell she was more amused than annoyed. “You appear to be correct” she replied curtly before walking past you. You smiled after Azula, admiring how happy she looked and why wouldn’t she? She’d taken over Ba Sing Sei, possibly killed the avatar, brought down her uncle and convinced Zuko to ally with her, all in all it had been an excellent day and Azula had proved herself a force to be reckoned with. You began following her when you saw the guards walking Iroh in the opposite direction. You were going to look away when you noticed he was still staring at Azula. You could feel his anger and knew what his intentions were, he meant to finish the job. In the blink of an eye Iroh burst out of his restraints, threw his guards to the side and took a stance. “Azula get down” you yelled sensing the electricity in the air but he had an excellent shot at her and she had nowhere to go. Instinctively you threw yourself into the path of the lightning.

Azula also responded instinctively. She conjured her own lightning to meet her uncle’s when she saw you running into the fight, You tried to raise a wall of fire but there wasn’t time, you got hit by the bolt and collapsed. Azula only just managed to direct her own bolt away from you and felt her heart beating rapidly. As the smoke cleared Azula saw your body on the floor rage consumed her. She conjured a huge amount of electricity and sent it all at her uncle. He tried to block it but Azula’s bolt sliced through his defences hitting him square in the chest. Azula didn’t even check to see if her bolt had met its mark, she knew it had so rushed to your side. “Y/n” she yelled and she knelt beside you staring at the smoke coming off your back where the bolt had hit you. Your uniform was partially melted and Azula could smell the burning flesh strongly. "I need water” Azula yelled grabbing you and trying to feel for a pulse. She felt one and felt her own breathing somewhat stabilise too. "Now" Azula yelled and people rushed forwards. Azula poured the water over you "it’s okay" she told as you winced as she poured more. "We need to get her into the pool" she called "someone help me get her to the water". Zuko appeared and helped Azula carry you to a fountain. You were semi-conscious which made Azula hurry even quicker, she wanted to reduce your pain as soon as possible. Azula climbed into the fountain first and told Zuko to pass you to her. She took you carefully and laid you on your back floating. Your eyes closed as you passed out and Zuko called for a doctor. Azula clutched your by your arms keeping you close to her in the water "you will not die y/n" she snarled "you will be fine do you hear me?". You didn’t respond.

Later

You woke up face down on something soft and tried to move your face away from it when shooting pains erupted along your spine. You felt like your back was cracking open and groaned loudly. "Careful y/n" you heard someone say and saw it was Ty Lee. "Ty lee? What happened?". "You got burnt" she explained "on your back..luckily Azula cooled you in time to stop any long-term damage but it’s still really sore so be careful". You reached for your back and flinched at the slightest touch of it. "Stop" Ty lee told you "Azula said i’m to watch you and make sure you rest, apply more soothing cream on it every three hours and just basically always make sure you're okay!" she told you cheerfully. You shook your head "Ty lee i’m fine you don’t have to sit guard over me" you tried to sit up and went pale from the pain. "Don’t do that" Ty lee cried rushing to your side "if you want to get up i can pile some pillows in front of you for you to lean on. I don’t think you can sit up for a while". You pouted annoyed but asked Ty lee to bring you said pillows and managed to pull yourself up onto your elbows "so what happened? Tell me everything". "Well thanks to you we managed to stop Iroh escaping and hurting Azula, we took Ba Sing Sei and the avatar is dead". "Wow" you said surprised "That is... a lot". Ty lee nodded “Ow and Zuko’s back on our side". You nodded and smiled "I bet Mai is happy". Ty lee grinned too "she is i haven’t seen her since we started for home". "We’re on our way back?" you asked and Ty lee nodded "yes but Azula said me, you and Mai are to stay with her even after we arrive back in the capital, she said she still has a need for us". You smiled laying your head down blushing slightly, Azula had kept her promise, she wasn’t letting you go. You sighed happily and Ty lee smiled "y/n?". "I’m just glad to be going back" you smiled "i think we'll have lots of fun". You had been dozing when the sounds of the door made you jolt awake sending shooting pains down your back. You winced but prepared yourself for an attack until you saw her. Azula raised her hands as she saw you jump and she smiled "just me". You relaxed "Azula, sorry i was asleep". "Don’t apologise you need to rest after what happened, i just wanted to come check on you. We'll be in the fire nation in a few hours". "That’s good news" you smiled and Azula nodded "how does the back feel? Ty lee says you’re doing as well as can be expected" Azula’s eyes drifted to your back and you froze. You were now very aware you were laid on your front with only a blanket covering your bare torso from Azula’s eye. Azula stepped closer and you rushed to explain and stop her inspecting you. "I’m fine" you told her "the burns aren’t too bad, they hardly hurt at all". Azula raised an eyebrow "then you won’t mind me having a look?" and stepped beside you. She reached for the blanket and you grabbed her hand with an uncomfortable strain "wait, i lied...i don’t want you to see it, Ty lee says it looks bad. It’s in the blistering stage and yes it hurts but everything has already been done for it and me so you don’t need to see it or check on me". Azula titled her head to one side as you couldn’t meet her eye and she sighed sitting on the floor beside your bed. "It will scar but unlike Zuko you can wear yours with pride" Azula said forcefully and you looked up at her shocked "with time i’m sure it will simply resemble a tattoo" Azula explained. You turned on your side to look at her, something you’d practised with Ty lee and could now manage. "Ty lee told me you did as much for me as you could...i can’t really remember it but..". "Do you remember jumping into the path of lightning for me?" Azula said "without protecting yourself or even any concrete attempt to do so, and what for?". You sighed thinking Azula was angry at you "i...i know it was reckless and stupid, it went against everything we were taught at the academy but I don’t know Azula, i did it without even thinking. I saw it heading for you and you weren’t ready! It would hit you and i just did it without hesitation, i know it seems stupid and emotional but i don’t regret it Azula i’d do it again" you told her sighing, feeling she wouldn’t understand. "I know that might sound stupid...why i’d do that for you but Azula i..." you started as Azula cut you off "y/n". Azula gently raised your head with a hand helping you to look at her. You were confused by Azula’s gaze, it was soft but at the same time intense, you couldn’t recognise the emotion, was she angry? Happy? Excited? Apparently it was somewhere in the middle. Azula leant down to you, hand on your cheek as she ghosted her lips over yours. You felt a sensation like water being thrown over you as Azula kissed you softly and quickly before pulling back "i don’t completely get it but i understand" she smiled blushing softly "i think I can imagine why you did it" she said looking away from you "thank you for saving me". You were speechless, Azula was thanking you? Azula understood why you did it? Did that mean she liked you too? She’d just kissed you so of course she did! Or was that what she thought you wanted? Azula had been used all her life, did she simply think you did this in order to make gains with her?

Azula smiled slightly to see your brain short-circuiting at her actions and stood up. "i just wanted to make sure you were okay so now I know you are i’ll let you go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when we’re there". You nodded still confused and watched Azula walked away. You weren’t sure what had just happened but you knew you had to make Azula realise you didn’t do this just to use her. "Azula" you said suddenly "is that...what you just did...if that was my reward or what you think i wanted from you after today...i didn’t save you because i was expecting a reward or anything from you so what i’m saying is you don’t have to compensate me if you don’t want to. I didn’t do it for any reason other than to keep you safe".

Azula blushed suddenly and felt her emotions swirling, she realised she was happy. To hear you express openly your desire for her safety filled her with excitement and she realised nobody had ever cared for her before like you did. Azula nodded slowly "that is welcomed news y/n" she smiled "but i didn’t reward you like that as a forced compensation either" she told you "although my intentions were personal and selfish i suppose”.

You smirked slightly and nodded "good...i mean fine with me". Azula nodded "i’m glad we understand each other, good night y/n". "Good night princess Azula" you said savouring the words and Azula’s eye twitched but she maintained her calm expression and bowed leaving. You lay back giggling as realisation (and the medication you were on for the pain) set in. Azula had kissed you and told you she didn’t do it because she thought she had to but because she wanted to! For selfish reasons!!! You wrapped yourself in your blankets and didn’t stop smiling even in your sleep.

____

Is it just me who loves the idea of being in a secret relationship with the princess of the fire nation? I feel like Azula would excel at sneaking around the palace and would like rebelling against Ozai for once

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comradekatara · 3 years

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the gaang + how well they would do on the infinity train?

this is suuuper hard because there are so many factors to take into consideration. first is obviously the train itself. the train's function in a metanarrative sense is to serve as a vehicle for storytelling, dissecting & deconstructing the process of a narrative and how a character's arc is propelled by their circumstances. the train supposedly functions to improve its passengers, and yet we also know that The Train is a deeply flawed mechanism that can corrupt and further traumatize its passengers just as much as it can "fix" them. when the train invites you in with the single-minded goal of getting your number to zero, assuming you ever disembark, you're probably gonna be left with even more trauma than when you arrived, or at the very least, weirder trauma.

grace wanted to be seen, but instead of learning to value herself for her own intrinsic worth instead of relying on validation from those around her, she was enabled by that validation and literally started a cult. likewise, since jet is basically a less heinous version of simon, i see him taking a similar path to the apex (though he would of course name them the freedom fighters) trying to overthrow the tyrannical one-one and reinstate the True Conductor. he would think his path is righteous. he would think he is protecting those kids from evil. who knows what would happen once he learns the truth.

then there is the matter of what the train wants from you. the train arrives at a pivotal moment in one's life, when they are at an emotional crossroads and need a catalyst for growth. for example, jesse's problem was relatively small (because he is perfect) but hurting his brother caused him emotional turmoil nonetheless, so the train stepped in. this means that to answer this question properly, i would have to answer not only when the train arrives for them, but why, and seeing that every single atla character carries massive amounts of baggage (most of it flavors of trauma that infinity train has not addressed), this proves extremely difficult. i have to identify the most narratively satisfying moment in each character's lives to have the train arrive, and then i have to make assumptions about which cars would propel them which way (emotionally). you're asking me to outline nine different fanfictions.

only jet's character feels similar enough to any of the characters we've seen in infinity train for me to even have an inkling as to what path he would take. while sokka and tulip are quite similar as people (rational, scientific yet creative thinkers who over-rely on logic over feeling, are deeply loyal, and instinctually blame themselves for the problems caused by others), their character arcs themselves have little in common. both aang and hazel experience a tragic loss of pure, childhood innocence (which is why i cry over both of them every day), but in relatively dissimilar ways (at least appa gets to return to aang). min-gi and zuko are both pressured by their upbringings to conform to a standard that makes them miserable to please their parents, only to ultimately embrace their own passion & truth... but not only do those arcs play out completely differently, zuko and min-gi are completely different people, and if anything, zuko's approach to life is far more like ryan's (ie, jumping off a cliff and hoping he lands on his feet).

but what i think you're really asking, at the end of the day, is how emotionally mature, self-aware, and capable of positive growth is each atla character? because how am i supposed to know what the train would do to their psyches, considering each external situation would shape them differently, and unless i'm supposed to meticulously craft fanfiction for each one of them (which i wouldn't be opposed to doing, but only for one character, i simply cannot do all nine – also, i'm surprised infinity train AUs aren't more common, but then again i'm not particularly familiar with fanficition, so maybe it is!), it would only be an approximation, in which i identify their core problem (which again, is not how real people work, or even how atla characters work, but how The Train works) and then analyze how long it would take for each of them to solve said problem.

so, that was a very long-winded preface. without further ado:

aang's main problem is that he keeps running away from his problems, which is to say, distracting himself from the enormity of his grief. personally, i would say his coping mechanism isn't the worst. after all, he experiences so much world-shattering pain in such a short span of time, and he does deserve to preserve his childhood and his innocence for as long as possible. but, for the purposes of the narrative, the train must necessarily disagree. he must confront his grief head-on, without distracting himself from it or flying into a destructive rage that he'd only regret later. it also depends on who his companions are. with katara by his side, he can get through anything (and vice versa), but it's unclear who will be there to guide him through his pain. that said, i know he'd make it through okay. he's aang. he has to.

katara lives in a fairytale. like i said with aang, that's not really a bad thing. she's a great kid with big dreams and a big heart. she wants to save the world, and – guess what! – she does. but living in a storybook strips one's worldview of the nuances of life, not simply the harsh realities of the world, but also the full extent of one's personhood, outside of simply the black and white worldview of heroes and villains. katara's apotheosis is when she confronts yon rha, looks him in the eyes, and sees a human being staring back at her, another human being. she is no longer in a revenge tale. she is out of stories to tell herself. (life doesn't make narrative sense.) ironically, the train is a metaphor for storytelling, so katara coming to realize that she isn't in a story would both be confusingly meta and also fucking brilliant (if i do say so, personally). i don't know how exactly it would play out, but by god i would pay to see it.

in many ways, sokka is remarkably open-minded, and in many ways, sokka is extremely stubborn. i think he'd come to terms with his own emotional growth (which would be rooted in learning his own self-worth) faster than he'd come to terms with the train itself. "okay, fine, yeah, i deserve love regardless of what i can do for other people, but WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS PLACE?!?!?" his journey through the train is actually everyone else's dream experience on the train. passengers and denizens alike keep falling in love with him (or at the very least, admiring him more than they've ever admired anyone they've ever met), but he doesn't even notice because he's too busy being extremely suspicious of everything he comes into contact with. yes, he'll solve your problems and puzzles and help people and make meaningful connections and eventually he might start to realize that he is worth something even when he's alone, even (especially) when he's being unconventional or "weird" or "selfish." but even once he does get his door, does he walk through it? oh no, he takes it apart and tries to figure out how it just created a fucking portal. so while he would technically "do" quite well, he is never leaving that fucking train. rip sokka.

well, toph needs to learn to accept and embrace her own vulnerability. she definitely goes through that same crystal karaoke car tulip did. that, or the train just tortures her by putting her in increasingly more painful situations in which she must ask for help. but that's too awful to even think about, so i'm just gonna say she has to sing karaoke.

zuko needs to learn to trust his instincts and his own internal moral compass instead of the external pressures being forced upon him by his Father (capital F to emphasize that his nation & his father – aka the patriarchy – are one & the same for him, lmao). and he would fail. a lot. but eventually he would realize that his number goes down when he lets himself be himself, and he would leave the train happy. he probably also gets a bunch of cute little talking animal companions to guide him through. he deserves it.

the train appears to suki while she's having a breakdown in solitary confinement at the boiling rock. she finds healthy ways to cope with being put through hell while on the train, and by the time she gets off, she's being let out of solitary. it is a very rewarding experience, and one that she can swear wasn't just some hallucination. she's constantly telling herself yes, of course it was just a hallucination.... but still... it felt so real....

if i had to diagnose azula with one singular problem that plagues her at the core of her very being, it would have to be her fear of rejection. but it's not good enough to just keep having train cars reject azula, she has to accept that rejection, instead of just intimidating people into submission after the fact. she needs to understand why she is being rejected, and be fine with it, and learn from it, instead of letting her lack of universal perfection in every area anyone could ever excel in shake her to her very core. when ty lee proved that she secured the affections of dumb stupid boys better than azula ever could, she did an arson to cope (which of course is still very valid of her uwu). azula needs to learn to come in second place, third place, even last place, and shrug it off, think to herself, "hopefully i'll do better next time, and if not, that's okay also," and once that happens, everything else will fall into place. though maybe she could read bell hooks or smth at some point on the train cuz i think that could help too.

mai needs to stop being so goddamn depressed all the time. has she tried lexapro, or perhaps using a lightbox in winter? her favorite coping mechanism, knives, only helps her feel something some of the time, but most (if not all) of the time she's still being expected to play a part. has she tried, like, being herself? i heard from zuko (you know, the guy? from the train?) that "being yourself" works wonders. so the train gives her that opportunity. and she actually even enjoys herself for once in her miserable fucking life.

omg there must've been some sort of mistake ty lee was totally sent here by accident because she's actually super happy all the time and doesn't have any problems!!!!!!!! jk, can u even imagine? ty lee hates her life too, she just doesn't go around advertising it like mai does with her big dyke boots and depressing eyeliner. but apparently she also needs to learn how to "be herself," whatever that means. as if life isn't a constant performance, you know, like jacques said or whatever. she sees mai on the train. she rolls her big beautiful brown eyes. "oh god, not you too."

#obeetlebeetle #fuck this took me over an hour to write #asks #the gaang and #analysis #AUs #synthesis #mailee infinity train au when.....#sokka is the only one who dies on the train. unfortunate. aunt wu was right once again.#god this question was hard #so many factors to consider #i want the mailee season tho #and i want it NOW!

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pencilscratchins · 3 years

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back to bother u again but!! could u tell us more about azula and the gf u made up for her? the gears in my mind are clicking and im tempted to write about them 👁

i will literally talk about them until you guys dont want to hear it and then, probably long after (also im sorry bc i think this is longer than the first one SKSK)

- so when sokka notices that azula is flustered by nasim, he immediately makes them go over and talk to her, and he spends the whole time talking about how “into lettuce” azula is.

- - nasim thinks she’s really gorgeous, obviously, and as soon as she opens her mouth and is a disaster-- nasim realizes she’s adorable and starts to flirt.

- - - azula basically shuts down like “fairest advisory, i hath never before tasted lettuce but i am well verse in tea pairings for--” sokkas like “why are you talking like an old timey pauper,”

- they get back to the house and sokka tells zuko about it and zuko immediately is like “well i have to meet the woman who has converted my sister into a human being,”

- he goes with them the next day and abandons his fiancé as soon as they get there to have azula bring him to nasim.

- they find her and nasim is just like fuckin HUH

- - because from nasim’s perspective; the cute awkward girl who tried to talk to you panics when you flirt back and drags her nice, obviously bi sort of familiar looking friend away. aw bummer she left, but whatever that was fun. next day, shes back and this time; she’s with the leader of a fucking soverign country but he introduced himself as “lee” and he’s just as awkward as she is and my god, there’s two of them.

- - - zukos like awkwardly trynna find out if she likes girls while also trying not to lose his mind at azula breaking down. and nasims just like “how DO i respond to this.”

- while the gaangs out and about that night, azula runs into nasim and nasim asks her out to get tea because azula mentioned knowing about it and nasim’s never really gotten into it.

- - azula accepts because she loves knowing about things, and they really get along; like azulas telling stories about iroh being tea obsessed and making jokes and nasims like… actually laughing which has never happened with no threat of violence??

- - - and nasim is really enjoying herself because azula’s really funny and actually listens to her talk about the boring shit nasim’s into like the environment and agriculture and seems like genuinely interested (azula never really got to learn about that stuff since ozai always made her focus on military history)

- they part ways and azula finds her brother whos like where’d you run off to?

- - when she tells them, sokkas like “thats was a date” and zukos like “lmao no that’s was not a date, you and i did that all the time when you were an ambassador!” and sokkas like “... yeah those were dates,”

- anyway, the rest of the gaang finds them and is like “what are you talking about” so zuko spills the beans which is when they all decide to get involved because azula’s like never dated.

- enter: mischief

- after a week of them being there and seeing each other a lot between random happenstance and the gaang’s interference, nasim invites them all to go on a tour of her family farm (“however, under no circumstance is the avatar is allowed to come” aangs like “understandable and justified! have fun!”)

- - they go and single-minded azula gets really into the farm work which sends nasim’s heart a flutter because hot girl moving hay, helps cow give birth, error error.

- - - they meet her family too, who mentions they’ve never seen nasim so excited about someone which the gaang is like “hell yeah you go azula” but then azula is like “oh FUCK”

- because of course, azula thinks that nasim if likes her, that means she doesn’t realize who azula is and as soon as she finds out, she will not be interested so she starts to self sabotage bc like that’s her nature.

- after being ghosted for a while, nasim is like “wtf i thought we had something going” and after azula’s talk with katara, she admits her identity and nasim is like “... and?”

- - she’s like “i knew who you were since the second time we met.” “how?” “... well, you were with the fire lord, who you look exactly like and your name is azula. hop skip and a jump….”

- they start dating and do long distance for a little bit when their vacation ends and azula heads back to the palace, but azula surprisingly, keeps wanting to go back.

- - she has her own hang ups about abandoning zuko and leaving her old life behind, but eventually iroh helps her get through it (i imagine theyve repaired their relationship at this point and iroh’s apologized) so she decides she’s gonna stay until sokka and zuko’s wedding then she’s moving back to nasim’s town and really gonna give being a person a shot.

- (also, i think katara and aang bring nasim to the wedding as a sweet gift and its then azula realizes “oh fuck we really are friends”

IM SORRY ITS NOT MORE DETAILED im not the best writer, but i would love to see what other ideas anyone would have if you’d ever want to write about it 👉👈

#spookyseinaka-remade #ALSO PLEASE WRITE ABOUT THEM I WILL CRY #long post #under cut #read more #ask #not art #is nasim getting her own tag now fuck i hate myself okay #nasim #thank you for enabling me #atla #redemption azula #redemption! azula

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an-aspiring-jester · 3 years

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A tiny bit of rant in Maiko’s defense

Note: this is just my personal reading of the canon and everyone’s entitled to have their own interpretation! I just wanted to get it off my chest.

It is often argued that Mai is an obstacle in Zuko’s redemption arc. She encourages passivity and maintaining the status quo. And I totally agree! She’s the girl that was literally taught to “sit still and be quiet” her whole life! She doesn’t talk about Zuko’s problems not because she’s invalidating his feelings but because she sees no reason to dwell on things neither of them has any control over. Keeping things to herself is her coping mechanism.

Her joke about not wanting to hear his life story falls flat - true. She tells him to stop worrying immediately after - that’s not the response he needed right now. But her heart was in the right place. She already knows his story. She wants Zuko to be safe and happy. And she thinks that maintaining the status quo would keep him safe. THAT’S why she discourages him from attending the war meeting. She knows that publicly burning children is wrong - but she can’t see any other way out than to simply play by the Firelord's rules. She’s given up to the circumstances, she’s depressed. This is not the right course of action, obviously, and it clashes with Zuko’s need to stand up against his father.

Zuko desperately tries to fit back in the Fire Nation. He lets himself be distracted with cute little dates and grab whatever little moments of happiness he can in the hostile environment. They both do.

Mai’s entire life strategy is to just... wait out or ignore the bad stuff. You can’t do anything about it, just give up. And YES - for most of the season they DO have a passivity problem that keeps feeding itself.

So yes, Zuko NEEDED to leave Mai behind to do what’s right. But instead of insisting that Mai was holding him back, can we acknowledge that Zuko pushes Mai forward?!

Because the Boiling Rock happens. And Mai, for the first time in her life, stands up for what’s important to her. She OVERCOMES her passivity problem - thanks to Zuko! Yes, at the moment she does it for love rather than political agenda - but that’s still amazing character growth! “I love Zuko more than I fear you” - it’s one of the strongest lines in Atla! This basically sums the whole show up: love is stronger than fear.

We tend to focus so much on what ZUKO needs in his character arc, that we forget that Zuko may be precisely what OTHER character’s arc needs.

Zuko gives Mai agency. Even if she never before questioned Fire Nation’s ideals, she is challenged to do so now. And she trusts Zuko. She first fell for the boy who recklessly stood up for others, and she finally gained the courage to do so herself. (Hey - she pretty much accepted she may actually DIE at Azula’s hands for this! That’s selfless sacrifice.) She cares about him more than anything and she can grow into a better person by his side.

They’re both 16-year-old kids that still have a lot to learn - mainly in the communication skills department. I agree with all the arguments that they can unintentionally hurt each other a lot - as evident in the Beach episode. Zuko has trouble speaking up about his inner turmoil due to trauma, he was taught to never question the Fire Nation and tries to fit in a role that’s expected of him - but we can’t blame it entirely on Mai. She may not be the most emotionally open person ever, but the important thing is that they KEEP TRYING. They care about each other and are putting work into the relationship. It’s clear that after that their communication got at least a bit better (and don’t even get me started how emotive, open and comfortable Mai is around Zuko... that includes showing negative emotions, too. And that’s what Zuko wanted for her, btw.) so we have no reason to believe they won’t work through their issues after the finale. Also - I disagree with claims that Mai is controlling or abusive - “don’t ever break up with me again” is a just lighthearted jab at his less than classy breakup note - it can even be argued that him confronting her openly would spare them some of the problems, who knows how Mai would react? Perhaps she would have joind him or at least helped him with an escape? So it’s actually an argument for Zuko to NOT run away from his problems and confront her directly - you know, like you’re supposed to do in a relationship, instead of just assuming what’s best for the other person. Also - his goofy grin at that remark is proof enough that he didn’t read it as a real threat at all. (And his dreamlike expression when he so much as mentions her name, or literal heart-eyes he makes upon seeing her before his coronation clearly indicates he’s just as head over heels for her as she is for him.) (And no, he didn’t have time or power to free her from jail right after the Agni Kai, it doesn’t mean he’d forgotten about her. I agree that writers could have handled it better but there’s only so much you can fit in the episode timeframe.)

To sum up: they aren’t the perfect couple. YET. But NO COUPLE is, at least not at first. Love needs a lot of work. Both of them still need to grow and they’re gonna make mistakes. People hurt each other sometimes, it’s inevitable. And sometimes you have to put your own well-being first and walk away. But as long as the other person is willing to work with you - as we see both of them do - you can build something beautiful and lasting together. That’s why Maiko is my favorite ship in Atla. (Sukka is just too perfect, so I don’t think about them a lot. XD)

#avatar the last airbender #mai #zuko #maiko #atla #mine #rant #I don't even know if it's coherent #but I needed to write it down or I wouldn't be able to focus on anything else #I just got a lot of maiko feels all of a sudden XD #Additional note: it is pretty much established that most of the Fire Nation citizens are basically brainwashed since childhood #And instead of writing them all off as corrupt and evil they should be treated as normal people who also deserve compassion #So Zuko being forced to reject Mai because she USED TO condone Fire Nations ideals seems counterproductive #Not everything about Fire Nation is evil - the country just needs a better guidance - and so does Mai #It's not a lost case #people change

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widowed-mistress · 3 years

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I am a very big advocate for more Zuko(more specifically Zukka) Rapunzel stories. It just FITS. I have a post explainer why, but I won't link it, because I'm evil.

HOWEVER, while I know not many of those have shown up, I still want to talk about it. Because most of these stories take two roots: putting Zuko in the Rapunzel story, or putting Rapunzel story into the Avatar Universe. These are pretty self explanatory, but I wish to bring a third option. Because even though I know people won't write about it, it'll make me happy to get it down.

This third option is a bit of a mix but also a separation of the two previously mentioned ideas. Agni provides for the sun drop that creates the flower, Ursa is forced to marry Ozai per cannon, Ursa gets sick when she's pregnant per Rapunzel's story, they get the flower per story, Zuko is born per cannon.

However, here comes the idea of Zuko's hair, obviously he can't cut it. But I can never replace the idea of long black haired Zuko with long blond haired Zuko, oh well. In this story, Ozai(or whoever you want to represent Mother Gothel) can't kidnap Zuko.

People know of the flower, and they know Zuko was born only because of the flower. The nurses and Urse all know how Ozai feels about Zuko because of how he was born. To kidnap him would be to paint a political mark on him.

Zuko grows up being a bit of a national treasure, still considered weak since he's all about healing, but treasured. He may even be paraded by his grandfather as a way to receive the countries favor through healing them with Zuko. When Azula is born she's the clear next ruler while Zuko is a figure head or symbol in Ozai's eyes.

He had a plan now, but Zuko is still vibing. He may heal Azula and Lu Ten whenever they play, which they both appreciate. Azuka loses that appreciation as she grows up because she's meant to be perfect and finds his need to heal her as an insult. However, she lets him because it lets her get to practice more and become even more perfect. Ursa will have Zuko come over whenever they're playing with the turtleducks in order to heal any I'll ones, and I just felt my heart melt.

Things still go according to cannon. Lu Ten dies, Azulon gets killed, Ursa disappears, Ozai usurps the thrown from Iroh, and Zuko gets banished with Iroh following him for protection. However, things are more different between Zuko has been surrounded by healing his entire life. When he finds Aang, while he still chances him around, he finds himself battling with himself over his mission.

Moreover, nobody from outside the fire nation know about Zuko being a reincarnation of the flower(is reincarnation the right word???? I'm going to say reincarnation)

Imagen how confused Sokka, Katara, and Aang would be with having this RIDICULOUSLY long haired fire nation teenage prince following them around the world. They constantly debate if it's a fire nation royalty thing or something. They use the threat of cutting his hair constantly until Aang starts to worry that Zuko keeps his hair long for religious reasons. Sokka one days undoes Zuko's brain to distract him with all that hair during a fight, not expecting Zuko to know how to fight WITH the hair. Like EVERYONE is expecting for Zuko to start struggling with his hair in his face, even his own men, not for him to start using his hair as a damn wip!

I feel like with this version of Zuko would join the gaang early. Either being kidnapped by the gaang before they make it to the north pole, much to Iroh's worry. Or he ends up healing the moon while at the north pole.

If the lather is the root taken, it would be funny if every time he's stuck with one of the group members if he tries to heal them. How well those go very greatly.

If he does have the power of the Hurt Incantation, per the tangled TV show, I bet he would have found it early in life and hid it for himself because he was horrified. The only person I could see knowing about it would be Ursa, she might even be the person to give him that fear of that other power.

In my mind, before the war, the golden flower was open to everyone. Protected by the village that held it but allowed to be widely visited by anyone who needed it, even those of other nations. With the war came the silencing of anyone who knew of the flower. Which is why Ozai banishes him after the Agni Kai, so he doesn't catch wind of rebellion within the kingdom as response to Ozai burning the Golden Flower's Human Body.

Zuko gets along with Aang, old people stuff. Zuko and Katara are healing buddies. Zuko and Toph horrid parents forever. Zuko and Suki are fighters.

Zuko and Sokka but heads but respect each other. Sokka is constantly upset at first after having found out his powers because as Katara says "he is living proff of the so called tall spirit tales". They end up balancing each other out. And like many people bet that Sokka helps Katara with her hair loopsies, he helps Zuko with his way too long braids.

That was so much to place down with no clear direction, so have fun tearing into this one, folks. Have a good day!!

#zuko #zukka #avatar #atla #rapunzel au #sokka #katara #aang #ursa #ozai #avatar the last airbender #atla au #au #agni

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visit-ba-sing-se · 3 years

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Did somebody say Zuko discovers he has rainbow- fire? (actually a really nice ask that I deleted on accident did)

It had been long day, and Zuko enjoyed the few moments of silence while he made his way through the place garden. The sun had already set and all of the visitors from the day seemed to be gone. It had been Aang`s idea to open the areal to the public, and of course it had been a brilliant one. During the day, the garden now was filled with people from all nations, who came traveling from further away to see the famous royal garden, or just from around the corner to take a small walk. They came and brought chatter and laughter, life and curiosity. It was beautiful. And now, he made his way here in their footsteps. Alone. Or was he not?

Suddenly, Zuko stopped.

Directly in front of him, a small boy was standing on the trace, obviously lost. When he noticed Zuko, he quickly took a step back.

He went down on one knee. Hoping to not scare the boy any further, he asked as calmly as possible: “Hey, what are you still doing here? And where are you parents?“

“I don’t know.“ The boy responded so quietly that Zuko nearly did not understand him.

“You don’t know where your parents are?“

The boy nodded. Zuko waited, hoping that he would continue talking. But all that followed was in silence.

“So…how did you lose them?“

“I just wanted to look at the ducks for a bit more, and now they are gone.“ The boy covered his eyes “And it is so dark. And I just want to go home. And my mom and dad. And….and...“, the had finally lost the fight with his tears and was now crying so bad that his last words became inaudible.

“Hey, hey.“ Zuko carefully laid a hand on his shoulder. He felt the small body shiver with each sob. „We are going to find your parents, alright? What is your name?“

“Yun.“ The boy responded hesitantly. “But this place is so big. I don’t think we will ever find them.“

“Alright, Yun. I promise you we are going to find them. And I kind of live here, so I would say I know my way around.“ Zuko would just take him to the main gate, he decided. If he had lost his child here, where would he wait? Probably at the entrance. And maybe the guards there did see something or could help with the search.

Yun nodded, but he still did not seem too convinced. “But it still is so dark. And I hate the dark. It is so scary.“

Zuko took a moment to think. Judging by his accent and name, the boy likely was from the earth kingdom. Which again meant that if he had ever met a fire bender before, it had not been a good meeting, seeing all the crimes which the fire nation army had committed.On the other hand, the darkness of the night seemed to bother him beyond everything else.

“Would you like a bit light?“ He finally asked.

The boy nodded.

Zuko opened his palm, and small flame started to flicker over it. Only that it did not look as Zuko had expected. No ordinary flame lit up the night, but a rainbow. It looked like the dragon fire.

“It is so so so pretty.“ The colorful flames reflected in his dark, wide opened eyes. “Can I touch it?“

“No.“ Zuko smiled, still nearly equally amazed by the rainbow flickering on his hand. “No, it is way too hot. It’s fire.“

“But it does not look like fire.“ Yun paused and tilted his head. “I mean, not like the fire I know. Not like normal fire.“

“That is because it is special fire.“ Zuko responded, lacking any actual explanation. “Just for you.“ Yun smiled wide, and Zuko wished there was a way to capture this moment. Or that they could just stay here for a little longer. But he knew that Yun had parents waiting for him, and that he soon would start missing them again.

“But now, let us go, okay?“ He therefore said.

Yun nodded, but he still seemed more interested in the fire than into anything else.

“I wish I could make fire, too.“ He said after they had taken a few steps. “Then I would not have to be scared of the dark anymore. My sister always makes fun of me for that. But that’s also just because she is mean. I also asked her to tell mom and dad to wait for me before I went back to the pond. But she didn’t. And that-“ Yun made a dramatic pause, “is mean.“

“Do you have a sister?,“ He asked before Zuko had time to respond.

An image appeared in Zuko`s mind before he could prevent it. Azula, how she had looked after the last Agni Kai. “Yes. Yes I do.“ It took him a lot of strength to keep his voice from breaking.

Still Yun seemed to have noticed something. “She is mean too, huh? Did you also have a fight?“

“You could say that. A big one. A very big one. But we will make up again somehow.“ Zuko said, more to himself then to the boy. There was no way to describe how badly he wanted to believe his own words. “And you and your sister should too.“

“Okay, maybe I will. But only if she apologizes.”

Apologize. Zuko could not remember any time where Azula had ever apologized for anything. Maybe he should apologize. But what for? For not being a better brother when she needed one, a voice inside his head whispered. It felt like a fist was clenching around his heart.

Luckily, Yun quickly interrupted his thoughts again.

“Is this the gate? I remember it from today before!“

They really already had arrived at the entrance to the park. In the light of the torches, Zuko could see two adults talking with the guards, gesturing widely. A girl was standing nearby, her head hanging low.

“Yes it is. And does this look like your family?“, he asked Yun. Before the he could respond, the girl, who had been the first to notice them, already come running towards him. “Yun, Yun! Mom, dad, Yun is back!“

“Not thanks to you.“ Zuko could see how Yun tried his best to look angry.

“I know.“ The girl, who now stood in front of them breathing heavily, responded. She sounded honestly sorry. „I just wanted to fool you a bit. Because you made fun of me for eating too spicy fire flakes earlier.“ As Yun did not respond, she added quickly: “And you can have my lost mochi to make up for it.“

“It’s okay. But never do that again.“ Yun said in a very serious voice. The girl nodded, an equally serious expression on her face.

Zuko could not help but smile. If only all fights could end like this. And if only all fire was only there to guide the way.

#zuko #avatar #Avatar The Last Airbender #atla #avatar zuko #azula #atla fanfic #my writing #celebrate with me that I survived my exam #I was really hesitant to post this hope you like it

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fakeikemen · 4 years

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The "Cave of Two Lovers" foreshadows the Zutara interactions in "Crossroads of Destiny"

[And maybe after that too; (yeah this part will be purely based on speculation)]

(See also: A meta that everybody has already written but I haven't because I was living under a rock and watched Avatar very recently)

Like seriously, it is so obvious? I see people try to interpret "The Legend Of Oma and Shu" in so many other ways; like yeah, you're free to interpret it however you want but— most people try to make sense of it while thinking that the tale is just a random occurrence? But it's not.

And here's why:

(I'm so sorry, I tried to add the "keep reading" link here because this gets kinda long but it just won't work) (Also click on the pictures if you want better resolution).

The tale of Oma and Shu is about two lovers who belonged to villages that were at war against each other. To continue meeting each other, they learnt earthbending to create caves in the mountain that divides the two villages. But one day Shu didn't come to the caves. He'd died in the war. So Oma unleashed a terrifying display of her power. And then when people were willing to listen to her, she called off the war and strived for peace between both the villages. As a result the city of Omashu was created— as a monument in remembrance of their love.

So in comparison:

1. Two people belonging to the opposite sides of the war

(Other than the 100 year old war that has been going on, Zuko and Katara are involved in a very fundamental conflict: Capture the Avatar Vs. Protect the Avatar.)

2. With the same colour scheme:

3. Share intimate moments in a cave lit by green crystals:

A popular argument for this comparison is that; Oma and Shu had a positive impressions of each other when they first met. Unlike Zuko and Katara where Katara's first impression of Zuko was pretty negative because he invaded her village.

Zuko and Katara's first proper conversation happens in "Crossroads of Destiny" i.e.; the scene I'm talking about here. After this interaction that they have, I think it's safe to say that they did have positive impressions of each other. (Until Zuko made the wrong choice.)

Other than that, about the colour scheme being a coincidence: Here and here are posts by @marsreds about how the colours are definitely not a coincidence.

But seriously guys? Oma and Shu were the FIRST EARTHBENDERS and yet, instead of greens and yellows they were designed with RED and BLUE?!? (I'll take about Oma's green dress below.)

And on that note, why were Zuko and Katara the only ones who were thrown into the catacombs when everybody else was being held at the dungeons? The dungeons wouldn't have been easy to escape, neither for Zuko nor for Katara.

It's because Zuko and Katara were meant to share an intimate moment in a cave that was supposed to jog our visual memory to remind us of the caves built by Oma and Shu.

(Seriously though, I wasn't really paying attention during CoTL and thought that the Omashu legend was just put in to consume screen time, so I missed the red/blue thing. But then I watched CoD and saw the catacombs and I was like: "Isn't this like that cave made by the lovers?" And then I proceeded to have an oh shit moment because, I knew that Zutara was not canon so I never even considered the possibility of the narrative hinting at anything between them but then this happened. I mean, it's pretty darn obvious).

The colour of the crystals being the same in both caves is no coincidence either— if they just wanted two random caves with crystals, then they could've used a different colour because crystals of different colours exist:

Moving on,

The Visual Cues:

According to the colour coding Zuko = Oma (red) and Katara = Shu (blue).

So,

EXHIBIT A:

I feel like this one speaks for itself.

(I personally think that in this parallel Oma is in red because Katara at this point still sees Zuko as the face of the Fire Nation.)

EXHIBIT B:

This sequence of frames show Oma (dressed in green, like Zuko was in the catacombs) and Shu (dressed in his usual blue), standing on neutral territory and reaching out to each other and then being torn apart by the war.

Pretty much like:

The first time they are in each other's presence without the cause of their conflict (i.e. the Avatar), Zuko and Katara reach out to each other empathetically and attain bone deep understanding of each other within a matter of minutes. This whole encounter is in Ba Sing Se, which counts for the neutral territory because it hadn't been completely taken over by Fire Nation at that point.

And honestly? The raw vulnerability and intimacy of this scene and the high emotional energy of their powerful dynamic is just— wow. (I put off my binging spree for a whole day because I didn't have the heart to see Zutara not become canon after all of this.)

And soon after, Zuko and Katara face each other in battle, their tentative friendship torn apart, as they fight from their respective sides of the war.

EXHIBIT C:

Whenever Oma and Shu appear in the same frame during the visualization of the legend, Oma is always on the left half of the frame and Shu is on the right.

Similarly, throughout all their interactions in the Catacombs, whenever the frame exclusively includes Zuko and Katara, Zuko (like Oma) is on the left half of the frame and Katara (like Shu) is on the right.

The parallels (or foils rather):

In CoTL, we see Song who is a healer (cures Iroh of his poisoning). She mentions that she hasn't seen her father since a Fire Nation raid took place in her village. Zuko empathises with her and says that he too hasn't seen his father in a long while. But then he refuses to say anything else about it.

Later Song tries to reach out to Zuko and tries to touch his scar— which Zuko prevents her from. She shows Zuko her own scars to show that she understood him.

And yet, Zuko doesn't open up to her.

After a while of life-changing and eye-opening experiences, in CoD, when Katara has her meltdown and cries while saying that her mother was snatched away from her by the Fire Nation; Zuko sees an opening to offer an olive branch and he takes it, he empathises with her and tells her that how his mother was snatched away by the Fire Nation as well.

Then Zuko opens up to Katara in a show of complete vulnerability. He openly talks about his scar and what he feels about it. In response, Katara offers to heal his scar and then Zuko lets her touch his scar.

It was nothing but a deliberate choice to make Song slightly parallel Katara (a healer, lost a parent because of the war) and then making Zuko not open up to her and not let her touch the scar, only for Katara to be the one he opened up to and allowed to touch the scar.

After being trapped with Aang in the cave in CoTL and sharing an intimate moment with him, as soon as they find their way out, Katara runs straight ahead without looking back.

But after her time with Zuko, trapped in the Catacombs in CoD, while leaving she turns back to look at Zuko.

Judging by the amount of time the animation puts into showing us Aang's disappointment at Katara running off and into making it clear that Katara did look back at Zuko and that Zuko looked right back at her, to me, it feels like the choice to show this was pretty deliberate.

(Turning back to look at a person while leaving is a romantic trope that has been overused to death? Or is it just bollywood?)

Also I wouldn't have paid this much attention to this small detail if not for the fact that just a hint of the Omashu legend theme is played here?

No, I swear I'm not making it up.

The Omashu legend theme is used in CoD:

The Omashu legend theme is largely dominated by the music of a stringed instrument (forgive me, I don't know what it's called) alongwith a steady melody playing in the background.

In CoD, when Katara and Zuko start conversing for real, (i.e.; when Katara says: "I'm sorry I yelled at you.") what sounds like a variation of the background melody in the Omashu legend theme, starts its subtle ascent as the background score, but sans the music of the stringed instrument.

It is when Katara says: "Maybe you could be free of it." [About Zuko's scar], when then first hint of the stringed instrument is heard. It is only a single note of the strings but it's there. And this "single note" sound keeps on repeating at regular intervals with the melody building up until Aang and Iroh burst into the catacombs.

But then, when Katara is leaving with Aang and she turns back to look at Zuko, this time the music that plays for a few seconds at best, is dominated by the stringed instrument again and this time it's unmistakable.

Also I don't think this music is used anywhere else in the course of the whole show? So it can't really be a coincidence? But I don't really know. I'm saying this on the basis of as far as my memory can reach.

And this is as far as canon stands testimony to what I am trying to say here.

But what about the second half of the story yk, the dying thing, you say?

Well this is where the speculations come in.

Speculation Time:

As a thumb rule, a romance foreshadowed by a tragic tale is meant to have a happy ending.

So this time when Katara's (Shu) life is in danger (Azula's lightning bolt), Zuko (Oma) steps in at the nick of time to save her life (by jumping infront of Katara to intercept the lightning).

(Since I have crossed the limit of images in a post, here is a post by @araeph which illustrates this point.)

Yes, I am completely aware that Zuko taking the lightning bolt for Katara is not his declaration of love for her. What I mean to say is that the whole scene was so very painfully obviously romantically framed (the immediate change in music when Zuko realises where the lightning bolt was headed, both of their expressions, Zuko's agonized "Nooooo", the slow-mo throughout the shot).

I am also aware that Zuko would've taken the lightning bolt for anyone. But it is the narrative that demands that Zuko take the lightning bolt for Katara and Katara only. Because this has atleast 10 different payoffs (a direct callback to the Book 2 finale where Azula had shot Aang with the lightning; the grief of which was for Katara to bear but this time Zuko himself stands between the lightning and Katara instead of being the silent spectator, the culmination of both Zuko and Katara's personal character arcs, Zuko's scar would parallel Aang's: Aang got it because he chose Katara over the world and Zuko got it because he was willing to give up the world to save Katara, etc, etc).

Tl;dr: The lightning scene wouldn't hold all that much weight if it wasn't Zuko taking the hit for Katara because the narrative literally demands it.

This is where we start wading into really murky waters.

From mucking around on Tumblr due to Zutara feels™, I came across this post where some of the ideas for Book 4 were written:

• The Southern Water Tribe experienced the longest series of attacks from the Fire Nation. Zuko and Katara become political partners and work together to help end the animosity and repair relations between their two nations.

• Just like how Zuko learned to appreciate the Earth Kingdom, he would learn to appreciate the Water Tribes. Katara also learns to respect the complexity of Fire Nation culture. There is no such thing as an “evil” nation.

And that basically means that Zuko and Katara would've been working together to de-escalate the hostility between their respective nations and improve the relations between the two nations, while learning about each other's cultures simultaneously as the world would be in the process of being rebuilt after the war and they would be major role-players in shaping the new world.

Which is quite similar to how Oma strived for peace between the two villages and then as a result of the improved relations between the villages, the city of Omashu was built as a monument to the love story of Oma and Shu; which might just be symbolic of building a new world where both the villages could live in peace due to the initiative taken by Oma on behalf of herself and Shu.

The story would've come a full circle; that's all I'm saying.

If you've stuck around for this long, thank you for taking the time to read this long ass post with points that you may already have read ♥️

#i just have a lot of feelings about zutara #i mean this was being built up so perfectly but then bryke ruined it by not making canon #oh and they said that zutara was never even supposed to be a thing #i mean everything was just there in the context #atla #zutara meta #atla meta #meta analysis #oma and shu #oma and shu parallels #cave of two lovers #crossroads of destiny #into the inferno #avatar #anti bryke #zutara #ira's posts

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slythergirlimagines · 4 years

Text

Well Why Don’t You?- Zuko x Reader

Summary: You and Zuko constantly dance around each other, and Sokka and Toph have had enough. Fluff, with a tiny bit of angst!! Masterlist

(GIF isn’t mine!) Words: 3,398 Request: yes

**** let me know if I you all want a masterlist!

Well Why Don’t You?

The first party Zuko hosts is a year after the war. It is a “welcome to Fire Nation” party, to honor the new members of one of Zuko’s outreach programs.

One year after the war, and everything is slowly starting to feel normal. Your parents had died before the war began, and having no where else to go, you ended up sticking close to Zuko, your best friend.

Zuko had brought up the idea first, claiming that he had no one left either, and it had really worked out quite well for the both of you. You gave Zuko advice and opinions with an honesty no one else would. Zuko offered you a place of belonging and a deep friendship.

Though you missed your parents and your friends, you had never felt quite so happy as you did with Zuko. You knew a lot of that happiness had to do with your feelings for him.

Zuko had joined your side and won you over first. You believed him before anyone else did, and as time progressed, you slowly started opening up to each other. You often teamed up in battle and just naturally gravitated towards each other. Toph and Sokka had teased you about it relentlessly. You had realized you loved him when Azula struck him with lightning, when you had almost lost him.

Then Zuko had healed and had become Firelord, and you hadn’t said a word to him about your feelings. Now you are really starting to regret it as you watch him dance with Mai. They had broken up a long time ago, but that didn’t make you feel better as you watch him pull her tighter to him and whisper in her ear. Angrily, you slam your finished drink on the table.

“Another.” You demand, and Sokka looks at you with troubled eyes.

“Y/n, you’ve been drinking a lot more than usual, are you sure you can handle another?” He asks you, brows furrowed. You must be really obvious if Sokka was noticing something wrong.

“Obviously it has everything to do with Lover Boy and Mai.” Toph says, inclining her head in the direction of the dance floor. For a blind girl, Toph really does see everything.

“No it doesn’t.” You hiss.

“Ooh you hit a nerve.” Sokka giggles, tipping his drink back. You aim a hard kick to his shin. Sokka chokes on his drink, and you take a little pleasure in his sputtering. Toph pats him a few times on the back, but she’s laughing too hard to really help.

“Ok, ok. I’m sorry. I won’t say anything else about your all encompassing love.” Sokka says.

“All encompassing love for who?” Zuko asks, head cocked to the side like a puppy. Mai is there, arm wound tightly through his. She smiles at you, but the expression looks forced on her usually bored face.

“For wine.” You cover smoothly. “I was just about to get another drink and Sokka was teasing me for being an alcoholic. I showed him though.”

You nod at Sokka, who now sits rubbing his shin.

“That’s my girl.” Zuko smiles. “Guys, you all remember Mai?”

Everyone at the table nods, and exchanges pleasantries. Zuko pulls out a chair at the table and seats Mai, and then takes the chair in between you both.

The wine is catching up with you, and your head is fuzzy, even fuzzier with Zuko so close. You want to kiss him, to hold his hand, to be with him. All of that is impossible with Mai next to him. Of course Mai is beautiful, and of course that’s who Zuko would go for. Mai is a badass and she’s controlled. She’d be the perfect match for Zuko and his mood swings.

You stand up too quickly suddenly desperate to get away, and knock over your empty wine glass. You wobble in place before regaining your balance.

“Y/n?” Zuko asks, concern etching his face. “Are you alright?”

“Fine!” You say in a voice that tells everyone you are absolutely not fine. “I’m just off to get some wine! Haha that rhymes.”

Your awkwardness combined with the alcohol has just made a painfully embarrassing moment that you’ll never expunge from your brain.

Sokka bursts into drunken laughter like a child, and Toph rolls her eyes. You barley manage to get yourself out of the party before you start crying.

————————————————-

The next party Zuko hosts, you are prepared to make a move. Toph has taken to giving you weekly pep talks, and she’s bolstered your confidence a lot.

You had picked out the perfect dress, a black gown with a plunging back. The bodice was tight against your figure, and emphasized your curves. You spent all day creating a dramatic makeup look and pinning up your hair. You knew you looked good, hopefully Zuko would see it too.

You take up your usual spot at the table with Toph and Sokka. Katara and Aang were hardly ever at these things, too busy running their academy or fixing the world. Toph and Sokka are a bit more like you, with no where to go.

Toph and Sokka are starting a drinking game, and you’re too zoned out to really listen to the rules. You’re eager to see Zuko, and even more eager to have him see you.

“With the rate she’s going, we’re going to die of alcohol poisoning.” You hear Toph say.

“What?” You ask. Toph smiles sheepishly, and looks to Sokka to say something.

“Well...” Sokka says, and his face says that he is absolutely trying every way to get out of this.

“Are you playing a drinking game about me?!” You demand. Their smiles give it all away, and suddenly you feel rather affronted.

“What are the rules??” You smack your hand down on the table.

“Obviously it has something to do with being the most beautiful girl in the room.” Zuko says, smiling at you. He places a kiss to your cheek, and then sits down. You could literally explode on the spot, but even in your high you don’t miss Sokka and Toph taking a synchronized drink.

So it was about you and Zuko then.

“Thank you.” You tell Zuko, and you can’t help the warmth that colors your tone. Who gave him the right to be so charming? You knew this was his normal diplomatic persona, the one he used to flatter his subjects. You could pretend it was real for a night.

Sokka and Toph drink again, and this time is not subtle at all. Zuko notices, and quirks his eyebrows at them.

“So what are the rules?” He asks, truly perplexed.

“Don’t have any.” Toph says. Zuko rolls his eyes, but leaves them to their own game.

You’re about to ask Zuko to dance, when an advisor comes up to him.

“Lord Zuko, I have someone who would really love to meet you.” The old man says. The person who wants to meet Zuko is clearly the beautiful young woman trying her best to pretend she isn’t watching the exchange.

Zuko notices this too, and smiles at his advisor.

“Of course, give me just a moment.” He says. You’re torn between two feelings. On one hand, you love Zuko’s devotion to his people, but on the other, jealousy is eating at you.

Zuko smiles at you softly.

“You really do look lovely.” He says. “Don’t go anywhere guys, I’ll be right back.”

You watch him walk away, with a heavy heart. It seemed like nothing would truly be enough to capture his attention.

“Drink!” Sokka calls, indicating your wistful glances at Zuko. You drink until your glass is empty.

————————————————

You don’t go to the third party. Every inch of your body hurts, and your head is pounding. You think you might have a fever, but you don’t want to call anyone in to check. You absolutely despise being sick, and sometimes you like to just wallow in your sorrows.

Toph comes in to check on you before the party. She’s dressed in a lovely green gown, and a gold headpiece.

“Toph, you’re gorgeous.” You croak. “Stay away from me though, I’ll get you sick.”

Toph gives you a pitying look.

“You sound awful.” She says.

“I feel it.”

“Do you want me to send somebody in to check on you? No offense, y/n, but you actually look like you could be dying.”

“Thank you Toph, I really wanted to hear that.” You mutter into your pillow.

There is silence for a few seconds as Toph debates what to do.

“Seriously Toph, I’m ok. Go have fun.” Then sitting up, you tease her. “Tell me all about Sokka’s reaction when he sees you in that dress.”

Toph blushes, and hurries away like you expected her too. Content at your privacy, you fall back on your bed to get some sleep.

You had only just fallen into a fitful sleep, when you are awoken by someone stroking your face.

Zuko sits in your bed in his party robes, looking more concerned than you’d ever seen him.

“Zuko?” You croak. Maybe this is a fever dream or a hallucination. There’s no way that Zuko left his party to come sit with you.

“Hey.” He says softly. “Toph told me you were sick. I sent for a healer a few minutes ago.”

He brushes a few sweaty strands of hair out of your face and you groan internally. How could he ever want to be with you after seeing you like this?

“Get away from me, you’re going to get sick!” You protest when you realize that he’s sitting too close.

Zuko rolls his eyes, and moves closer just to spite you.

“I don’t care about any of that, y/n.” He says. He leaves his hand on the side of your face, and his thumb strokes your cheek bone. “You’re really hot.” He says.

You know he doesn’t mean it the way it sounds, but in your feverish state his words are funny.

“No you’re the hot one.” You say, giggling. Zuko smiles, but he also looks more concerned than before.

“You’re delirious.” He says. The healer knocks on the door, and Zuko hurries to let him in.

The healer makes him stand away from you, as he gets to work. Zuko paces, watching everything with his amber eyes.

You’ve never really noticed how beautiful his scar is, before right now.

“Thank you, y/n.” He says, and you blush.

You definitely hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

“My lord, I think she’ll be ok after some rest. We just need to break the fever.” Zuko winces, and you think that he must be remembering the time he was sick in Ba Sing Se. He had told you about it long ago, about how painful it was.

“Alright.” Zuko says, “Thank you for seeing her. I’ll stay with her.”

“My lord, I am perfectly happy to stay...” the healer trails off at Zuko’s face.

“I’m not leaving her.” Zuko says, tone final. The healer bows his head, and starts instructing Zuko.

“Keep the cloth cold, and keep her under the blankets. I’ll come by to check every few hours. The best thing for her to do is sweat it out.”

You hear the door close, and then Zuko sits beside you on the bed again. You hadn’t realized that you had closed your eyes.

Zuko’s hands replace the healers, and he starts pressing the cold cloth against your forehead.

“What about your party?” You croak.

“More important things for me to be doing.” Zuko says. You are ill, quite possibly delirious, but you could swear you hear some deeper meaning in his words.

——————————————————

The fourth party Sokka and Toph are armwrestling, and you are keeping score. You all are by far the loudest table, and you know that if it wasn’t for your status as war heroes, you would have been kicked out long ago.

Zuko has been floating around tables all night, shaking hands and kissing babies. The people love him, and they see him for the great ruler he is. You’re happy for him, and you’re proud. But you also miss him.

Zuko finds his way over to you all during round 8. Sokka is only up by one point, and the narrow margin has really been a blow to his pride. You’ve decided to call a winner at round 9, so this victory really determines the outcome. You hate how into their stupid game you are.

Toph is just edging out Sokka when Zuko’s hand touches your back. He lets it trail slowly upwards and cup the back of your neck, thumb rubbing in slow circles.

“Who’s winning?” He asks lowly, to not disturb the serious concentration. You’ve never been more turned on in your whole life.

“It’s a toss up right now.” You say, obviously flustered. “If Sokka wins this round, he’s the winner, but if Toph wins we go into sudden death.”

“Mmm.” Zuko says close to your ear. Goosebumps explode down your body, and you fight a shiver. You glance over at him, and you lock eyes.

Is he looking at your lips? Is he leaning closer? Am I?

“Victory!” Toph cries, slamming Sokka’s arm into the table.

Your moment with Zuko is broken as you turn to them.

“That’s a tie. Round 9.” You say. You turn back to Zuko with a smile, and find one mirrored on his face. He looks happy, you think. More content than he has in a long while.

“Y/n?” A cocky voice asks you. You turn to find one of Zuko’s youngest advisors standing there. He is around your age and rather handsome. One of the types that knows it too.

“Dance with me?” He smirks, holding out a hand.

“Sorry.” Zuko says, with faux politeness. He drops his arm around your shoulders and curls you into his side. “We just can’t spare her. She’s our scorekeeper.”

His arm is holding you tight against him, possessively. Your whole body is fuzzy again as you smile at Zuko.

You turn back to his advisor and shrug.

“No one else can do it.” You say by way of explanation.

Zuko doesn’t move his arm the rest of the night, and neither do you.

————————————————-

Sokka and Toph are done with the games. You and Zuko had been dancing around each other for years now and it was really starting to get annoying. They couldn’t even enjoy getting drunk at parties anymore without one of you looking longingly at the other all night.

That’s why they were currently holed up in an unused advising room discussing plans.

“We’ve got to do something, Sokka. It’s not even fun to drink anymore.” Toph cries, slamming a fist on the table.

“Tell me about.” Sokka says. “All they do is drool over each other.”

“You’re the master strategy guy, let’s come up with a plan. There’s got to be something we can do.” Toph taps her foot rapidly against the ground.

Sokka sits in deep thought for a minute, hand rubbing his jaw. His blue eyes are far away as he considers several options.

“Well, jealousy didn’t work either time they were around other people. Zuko was still too chicken when y/n got all dolled up, and aside from locking them up together I just don’t know what will break their stubborn minds.” Sokka groans.

Suddenly, he and Toph both jump up.

“That’s it!” Toph says. “New mission, find a door that locks from the outside and lock those idiots up.”

————————————————

The fifth party Zuko hosts, you rewear the black gown. You liked it, and Zuko had called you beautiful when you wore it. Maybe tonight it could be your lucky charm.

It’s Zuko’s birthday, and you had managed to get Aang and Katara here as a surprise, and they were going to stay the entire weekend. Iroh was also going to come stay, and you had planned a smaller private party for tomorrow. You knew Zuko would be thrilled to spend some seeing his friends, and actually getting to spend some time with them.

You were just finishing spraying yourself with perfume, when Toph comes barreling into your room.

“Y/n, quick it’s Zuko!” You are in instant worry mode as you follow her out.

“What’s happened Toph? Is he alright?” You question.

Toph leads you through the winding corridors, and into a back part of the palace.

“Toph!” You demand as you come to a stop in front of a door you’ve never seen.

Sokka stands there, dressed in his finest blue party outfit. Toph is in her usual green.

“You guys? What’s going on. Where’s Zuko? Is he alright?” You question.

“He will be.” Toph says from behind you. Sokka opens up the door, and before you can ask anything else, Toph shoves you inside and the door slams shut.

Instead of falling onto the ground, something warm and hard catches you. Arms wrap around you to steady you, and you can instantly tell it’s Zuko.

“Zuko? What’s going on?” You ask him. “Are you ok? Toph said-”

“They did the same to me.” He chuckles. Your eyes are adjusting to the darkness, and you can just make out his smile. “I think we’re being set up.”

“Oh.” You say, as calmly as possible.

“Yep! And you’re not coming out until you talk about your feelings.” Toph says. “Gonna be weird to have a birthday party with no birthday boy. So you better make it quick.”

Zuko still has his arms around you, and you find that you haven’t moved yours either. You’re so close that you can feel his body heat.

“Zuko.” You whisper, softly. “I’m sorry they’re ruining your birthday.”

You can’t say that you feel that badly about having some alone time with Zuko, but you feel the need to share it all the same.

“Don’t be.” He whispers back, head lowering. “This is exactly where I want to be anyways.”

Your face breaks out into a grin as you wrap your arms around his neck.

“Yeah?” You ask.

“Yeah.” His lips are on yours immediately after, and there’s no more time for talking.

Zuko pulls you as close as he can, pressing hot kisses down your neck and to your collarbone.

“This is my favorite dress.” He says, running a hand over it appreciatively. “I always thought about how I’d tear it off of you.” He growls and then brings his lips back to yours.

In between passionate kisses you manage to respond.

“Then why don’t you?”

The invitation seems to be all he needs, because his hands are suddenly everywhere. They leave warm tingling trails wherever they touch, and you think you might be in heaven. Zuko’s hands deftly find the zipper, and he’s got it halfway down when the door is thrown open.

You and Zuko blink guiltily into the bright light of the hallway, and you can just make out the horror on Toph and Sokka’s faces.

“I did not think it would work this well.” Toph says, thoughtfully.

Sokka simply looks disgusted at the whole thing, and shudders.

“This room is occupied.” Zuko says, winking at you. He closes the door with a well aimed kick and you all are alone again.

“Hi.” You whisper, smile too wide for your face.

“Hi.” Zuko says. He leans down and kisses you again, a little less hungry than before. He takes his time, really exploring your mouth with his tongue.

You’ve never loved him as much as you do right now, in this tiny closet.

“Zuko.” You say, pulling back from the kiss. “I love you.”

Zuko pulls your face up to look into his eyes.

“I love you too. So much.” He says, and then he kisses you again and again.

“We better go.” You say, almost sadly. “People are going to start missing you.”

“I don’t care.” He growls, nipping at your lips.

“I have a suggestion.” You say, coyly. You stand on your tip toes to whisper in his ear. “Why don’t we make an appearance, and if you’re really good, we’ll sneak away and finish what we started.”

Maybe Zuko hugs his friends and promises to see them tomorrow. Maybe you stay at the party for all of ten minutes. Maybe Zuko all but carries you away. And maybe, for years to come, you and Zuko find yourselves in the habit of getting stuck in tight spaces.

A/n: Wow two in one night! I hope you enjoyed reading this story! I’m going to try to get through as many requests as I can this weekend, so keep an eye out. If you want to request something, please do! My asks and inbox are always open! I hope I tagged everyone who asked, but if I didn’t, please let me know and I’ll add you! As always you can find my work under the tag slythergirlimagines!

Taglist: @galacticamidala @a-random-queer-kid @taeeemin @realimbo @samsmultifandomblogs

@fire1ordzuzu @shortmexicangirl

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tsukihimeyfan · 3 years

Text

Sorting the main cast of AtLA into Hogwarts Houses

I know I’m late to the party because I’ve seen many different people tackle this before, but I feel like it is my civic duty as both a Potterhead and an AtLA stan to put in my two cents, since every single time I’ve seen it talked about people either misinterpret what each House values in their members or pick a House by taking into account only one aspect of their personalities. I want to make it clear that these are my own opinions, which I’m basing on the definitions we’ve gotten of the main traits of each House over the years and the “core values” of each AtLA character, and that I’m in no way am I trying to insult anyone who thinks differently. That being said, here goes nothing!

Let’s start with the easy ones. Namely, the Fire Siblings:

1) Azula is 100%, undoubtedly, definitely, incontrovertibly Slytherin. Just doing a quick rundown of the qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his handpicked students, as stated by the Sorting Hat, Albus Dumbledore and Pottermore: Cunning? Check. Resourcefulness? Check. A disregard for rules? Check. Using any means to achieve her ends? Check. Shrewdness? Check. Ambition? Check. Self-preservation? Check. Pride? Check. An argument could even be made that, as a member of the Fire Nation Royal Family, Azula also kind of meets the “blood purity” criteria. I’m sure most of us agree on this. Even if she does exhibit a lot of loyalty to her father as well as courage and intelligence, there is just no contest. Azula is one of the most Slytherin characters I’ve ever seen outside of the Harry Potter universe.

2) In the same way, Zuko is irrefutably a Hufflepuff. Hear me out! I know that he’s very brave and daring, but when we think of Zuko, what is his most essential trait, what do people tell us again

and again

about Zuko’s character?

He’s a hard worker. And what’s the House of the hard-working?

"You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true, And unafraid of toil.”

You guessed it. Hufflepuff. Of course, that’s not the only trait valued by this House that he exhibits. Who is more loyal in the series than the child who got half his face burned off and still did his best to earn the love and respect of the one responsible? Who never faltered in his loyalty even when he was sent away on an impossible mission? Who spouted angry words most of the time yet was willing to let his ticket home go temporarily in favor of ensuring the safety of his Uncle and his crew? That’s right, our boy Zuko. That very loyalty to his father is what unfortunately bound him for the longest time, until he was forced to face what a monster he was and let go of it in favor of more important things, namely his own morals and his loyalty to his Uncle.

He also has an incredibly strong sense of justice, as proven by the above statements, as well as this moment:

and he can be incredibly patient when he needs to be, as seen during The Blue Spirit and the Southern Raiders episodes.

Hufflepuffs are also said to be fair (which he clearly is), dedicated (need I say more?), honest (which Mr. shouts-his-feelings-at-the-top-of-his-lungs and can’t-lie-without-being-obvious-or-glancing-away-and-has-been-found-out-every-time-he-tried of course is) and modest (this one he starts without but by the time he joins the Gaang there isn’t anyone more modest or humble)

As “an idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honor” , Zuko is the Hufflepuffiest Hufflepuff to ever Hufflepuff and I will die on this hill

3) Another easy one is our girl Suki, whom I’d say is a Gryffindor through and through, even if she is very loyal to her friends.

The rest of the Gaang under the cut.

The other members of Team Avatar are a bit trickier because they all exhibit a pretty even mix of traits from more than one House, but still if we just concentrate on their defining characteristics we can get to an answer.

4) I’d argue that Sokka belongs in Ravenclaw, even though he is of course quite brave and extremely loyal to his loved ones, not only because he’s a strategist and an inventor, but also because, as best stated by Master Piandao:

Ravenclaws most value wit, learning, intelligence, creativity and wisdom (this last one is a bit iffy but I’m sure he’ll get there when he’s older), as well as priding themselves on being original in their ideas and methods. That’s Sokka to a T.

5) Katara gave me a hard time. She’s unbelievably loyal to her friends and family, she’s compassionate, patient, fair, hard working and dedicated, with a REALLY strong sense of justice, so a case can be made for Hufflepuff easily. However she can also be quite cunning when she wants to (most obviously during The Waterbending Scroll, City of Walls and Secrets, The Painted Lady, and The Runaway), she has a lot of ambition (if you count every variation of “I will make the world a better place by force if I have to”), she disregards the rules when it suits her (again The Waterbending Scroll as well as The Runaway) and she can be proud at times, so we could argue she’s a Slytherin. She’s also undoubtedly very intelligent and even quite wise for her age. It took me a while to decide but then I pondered; at her very core, what are the statements that define her? What words just scream “that’s it, that’s Katara”? They are, of course, these two phrases:

The first sounded incredibly Gryffindor to me, and the second is half Gryffindor half Hufflepuff, so it had to be between those two. As such, I decided to look into Gryffindor first. Katara is, of course, astoundingly courageous, but what else? I had to actually look up definitions for the Gryffindor traits besides courage because they all just kinda meant “brave” to me initially 😅, but what I found was:

*Nerve: “one's steadiness and courage in a demanding situation”. Yep. Who’s the most level-headed, steady and reliable person whenever the Gaang is in any kind of pinch? That’s right. Katara

*Daring: “adventurous or audaciously bold“. Yep. I’d say she ties with Toph for boldest in the Gaang

*Determination: “firmness of purpose”. Yep, absolutely. See the above image from the Painted Lady. ‘Nuff said.

*Chivalry: can mean 2 things, one is “sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms”. All of that is true of her (her “arms” being her waterbending), but I found it interesting that to be chivalrous can also mean “gracious and honorable toward an enemy, especially a defeated one, and toward the weak or poor”. I’d argue that this fits her even more. Once again, just take a look at The Painted Lady episode.

*Courage and bravery: they can mean the same thing, namely “the ability to do something that frightens you” and of course that fits Katara, but the word courage in particular has another meaning, which is “strength in the face of pain or grief”...

I’d say she’s pretty good at that. I think that settles it, Katara is a Gryffindor.

Turns out that when it came to the water tribe siblings Bato was right all along

6) For Toph I was split between Gryffindor (thinking of her brash, bold nature) and Slytherin for a while, but after looking into Katara and researching all those definitions I think I have to give it to Slytherin. Of course, Toph doesn’t seem to be very ambitious unless you count “being recognized as the greatest earthbender in the world”, but she is quite cunning. She knows exactly how to use her “poor helpless blind girl” persona to get what she wants, as seen both on The Blind Bandit and The Runaway. She’s also an extremely good actress, being able to play the “reserved and obedient little girl” to her parents for years, and being easily able to pick it back up when it suits her.

She’s also stubborn, proud, and 100% willing to use any means, regardless of laws or rules, to get what she wants.

As for self preservation? Remember that her response when asked to teach Aang, which was crucial to save the world but would’ve compromised her secret, was this:

Slytherins can also “hesitate before acting, so as to weigh all possible outcomes before deciding exactly what should be done “ and my first instinct was to say that it didn’t fit Toph at all, but what is Toph if not a person who “waits and listens before striking”? Slytherins tend to favor Neutral Jing it seems.

Almost forgot that as a daughter of the Beifong family she’s sort of nobility and she technically also meets the “blood purity” criteria.

7) Finally, we get to my boy Aang. He was really difficult. He’s loyal, patient, fair, kind, modest (usually) and just but I can’t really call him a hard worker most of the time.

He’s brave, adventurous, determined and chivalrous but he does tend to get discouraged during demanding or stressful situations (his friends always make it better though)

He’s creative, very wise for his age, and quite smart (except when he’s playing around with Sokka in which case they share one brain cell 😂)

He can even be cunning when he needs to be. If he ever went to Hogwarts, he’d definitely be a Hat Staller like Harry. I heard someone say once that they considered Aang a Gryffindor because he liked to show off a lot, but that’s not really a Gryffindor trait (think of Neville Longbottom, Remus Lupin, Harry Potter and Minerva McGonagall. I think any one of them would sooner Stupefy themselves than go show off their skills in front of a crowd for no reason other than to brag).

Once again, we must pin down what it is that defines him, what his core is. After much thought, I decided it’s this:

It’s his compassion, which he learned from his people, and his desire to value and protect all life. It’s his loyalty to the ideologies of the Air Nomads of which he is the last remaining bastion. It’s his strong moral code, his sense of right and wrong, his wish to make friends and to believe the best of everyone. That’s his center. That is what makes him Avatar Aang. In light of that, I think we can consider Aang, first and foremost, a Hufflepuff.

In the end, Team Avatar is made up of one Ravenclaw, one Slytherin, one Gryffindor (two after Suki joins), and two Hufflepuffs

Ironic, that the House least valued in the Harry Potter universe is the one that houses arguably the most pivotal characters of Avatar the Last Airbender: Zuko and Aang. Fitting, that even in this they parallel each other.

This is already long enough so I don’t think I’ll do Mai, Ty Lee, or Iroh. Maybe some other time.

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scarletemeterio-thesecond · 4 years

Text

New Opportunity (Zuko x Reader)

Warnings: mentions of death.

Genre: Angst, Fluff.

Fandom: Avatar The Last Airbender.

Summary: Zuko and reader are in love with each other but they’re not ready to say it out loud.

Word Count: 2482

This is part of a writing challenge from @fromthewatertribe! I used prompts number 4: “I’ve always been in love with you, since the beginning”; number 6: “I missed you so, so much”; and number 40: “We’re more than friends and you know it”. Go check her profile!

Reader is gender neutral!

Zuko and you used to be friends back in the Fire Nation until he was banished. At first, you would write him some letters and he’d even answer from time to time, but eventually, you became as close as strangers. It wasn’t anyone’s fault in particular, and you knew that the two of you had different things to think and worry about, but sometimes you just wished that things could’ve been different.

You soon realized that there was no use in wanting to change the past, and even though the loss of your friend hurt you, you knew there was nothing you could do and that sometimes things needed to end. So even though it took you a few years to acknowledge it, you also realized that there was nothing else for you in the Fire Nation. You never supported the war and hated how much suffering your country had brought on to the rest of the world, so you decided to run away.

On your journey away from home, you happened to encounter the Avatar, and eventually, you joined them. They told you a few stories of their previous adventures, and whenever they named Zuko, your heart ached a little. You knew there was no point in wishing for him to magically come to you and be your friend again, but sometimes you still liked to dream.

But one day you realized that you didn’t have to keep dreaming because he was already in front of you. He said he wanted to join your group, and everyone was super skeptical about his offer. You tried to act the same way as they did, but deep down you knew he was telling the truth, and you wanted him to join you.

And eventually, he did. And when that happened, and you started spending more and more time together, you realized that all your feelings had never gone away. You realized he was still very important to you. He also realized he was still very in love with you, and he knew he had to do something about it.

From the very first moment, you tried to catch up after all those years. You were happy to see him and even happier to see him smile. You’d never seen him with his scar, but to you, he was still the same Zuko he’d always been and even though you’d never said it out loud, he was aware of that. He was also very glad to be by your side, especially since you always made him feel at home.

Deep down, both of you knew about your feelings for each other, but for some reason, you’d never actually admitted it out loud. And, quite frankly, it was easier that way. You were too afraid to lose him again, and you didn’t want to get too attached. But you were totally lying to yourself because you were already in too deep, you just didn’t want to admit it.

The thing was that everyone knew, even Zuko, but he obviously didn’t want to pressure you, so it was a never-ending cycle of indecisiveness over telling him or not something he was already aware of. And it was for that exact reason that spending time with him was both a torture and a blessing.

•••

You were sitting at one of the edges of the temple, with your feet hanging. The sun was about to set and you were by yourself thinking about your life and a whole bunch of things when suddenly a voice caught your attention.

“Mind if I join you?” You looked up and your eyes met Zuko’s, and you moved a little to the side so he could sit next to you. “What are you doing here by yourself?”

“Just thinking, it’s very peaceful here,” you replied and he hummed in response. “Did you need something or just missed my company?”

“No, I just wanted to be with you,” he answered while giggling. “This may sound cheesy, but after spending so much time apart, I kinda want to make the most of it, you know?” You nodded in response while still looking up front, thinking about his words. “I know I already said this a million times, but I missed you so, so much.“

You lifted your head and looked at him. "I missed you too, Zuko, a lot.” You smiled and so did he, and then you let out a sigh. “Who would’ve thought that after three years we would be at the Western Air Temple talking about our lives?” You lay back on the floor, making Zuko turn around a bit so he could still look at you.

“Well, there’s no place I’d rather be,” he said while looking directly at your eyes. You smiled softly and even blushed a little. The tension in the air was evident, but neither of you had the courage to make the first step, so you stayed in silence.

You sat down again and looked at the sky, admiring the sunset. “I don’t think I could ever get tired of this view,” you commented. “It’s so beautiful.”

“It sure is,” he agreed, without paying any attention to anything except for you.

•••

It was late at night and everyone was asleep, except for you. You got out of your shared tent with Katara and sat next to where the fireplace had been lit up a few hours later. You’d had a nightmare, and it had felt extremely real.

You were all forced to leave the Air Temple, so now you were camping. You’d dreamt about Zuko going to face Azula, only that in your dream, he ended up getting extremely hurt, and you thought that you’d lose him again.

You snapped out of your thoughts when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You quickly pulled away and finally calmed down when you saw that it was Zuko.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay,” you mumbled. He took a seat next to you and you instinctively rested your head on his shoulder.

“What are you doing awake?” He asked.

“What are you doing awake?” You teased him and he giggled a little.

“I asked first,” he whispered. You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, replaying your nightmare in your head.

“I had a nightmare,” you said. He took a hold of one of your hands and started caressing it with his thumb.

“Do you want to talk about it?” You knew you wanted to talk about it, but wondered how much you could say without actually confessing your feelings. After a few moments of silence, you decided that it didn’t matter and you told him anyways.

“You died, Zuko,” you said after telling him your dream. “And I don’t know, I guess I’m afraid of losing you again, this time for good,” you admitted.

“Hey, look at me,” you did as he said and lifted your head from his shoulder, shifting a little to your side so you could be face to face. “I’m right here, okay? You don’t have to be afraid of that because I’ll always be by your side, (Y/N).” He brought the hand that he was holding to his face and planted a soft kiss in it. You closed your eyes and suddenly you felt some tears running down your face, and you also immediately felt his arms wrapping around you. “It’s okay, I’m here, don’t worry,” he kept repeating.

You had your head on his chest and you wrapped your arms around his waist, getting closer to him. You eventually calmed down while listening to his heartbeat and stayed there while he ran his hands through your back and hair.

There was a bit of silence between you two, and he even thought that you’d fallen asleep, but he realized you hadn’t when you got rid pf your tears with one of your hands.

“How are you feeling?” He asked.

“I’m fine,” you mumbled and softie pulled away from him. “Oh, no, I left some tears on your clothes,” you said in an apologizing tone.

“It’s okay, it doesn’t matter,” he replied. “Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want to go to bed now or not?”

“I think I’d like to stay here for a little longer if you don’t mind,” you answered.

“I don’t, I’ll stay here with you,” he said.

You smiled at him and proceeded to answer his other question. “And I’m better, I promise. I’m always better with you by my side”.

•••

You’ve been hiding in Ember Island for a few days now, and you decided to enjoy the beach since you had a little free time before dinner.

When you went outside, you saw that Zuko was sitting on the sand and you decided to join him.

“Hey,” you said once you were close enough for him to hear you, letting him know that you were there.

“Oh, hi, (Y/N),” he greeted you. “Did something happen?”

“No, I just wanted to come here since it’s Katara’s turn to make dinner and I saw you, and now here I am."

He smiled at you and took a deep breath. "Do you remember when we came here?” He began saying. “We were like 9 I think, and I remember begging my mom to let you come with us at least once,” he recalled.

“I do, I remember I was so excited, it was my first time going to the beach,” you said. “Things were so much different back then,” you mumbled and thought about everything that had happened to you two. You snapped out of your thoughts and saw that he definitely had something on his mind. “What are you thinking about, Zu?” He looked at you for a moment and smiled briefly.

“About everything, I guess,” he replied. “My past, my family, our friends… us.” You grabbed one of his hands and intertwined your fingers with his. “It’s just that things have changed a lot in such a short time, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” you whispered. “I understand what you’re talking about, being back here has been making me think a lot, too. I’m just glad that between all those changes we managed to find each other again,” you said.

“Me too, (Y/N).” He squeezed your hand a little bit and rested his head on your shoulder. “I wish we could freeze time and stay here forever, just like this,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, that would be nice.”

•••

Going to that play ended up being a bad choice, and on your way back to the house every complained about it. You, on the other hand, just stayed silent. You didn’t like at all that there was an implied romance between Zuko and Katara, and it made you feel bad since you had feelings for him.

“Well, let’s just go to bed and forget about that plat,” said Sokka. Everyone agreed and said goodnight to each other.

You watched them walk away and then Katara approached you. “Hey, are you coming?”

“I think I’ll stay here for a bit,” you answered.

“Okay, just don’t stay up until late, you need to sleep,” she said. “Good night, (Y/N).”

“Good night, Katara.”

You walked over to the fountain and sat on the edge of it. You leaned back a bit and looked up at the sky, and it wasn’t long until you felt tears falling from your eyes. You felt upset and didn’t want to keep your feelings inside anymore, but you were afraid of things going badly. You felt frustrated not only with yourself but also to your current situation in general. If only you weren’t afraid, if only you weren’t a coward, if only…

You let out a sigh and rested your elbows on your knees, hiding your face in your hands. You got a little scared when you felt a hand on your shoulder, and when you saw it was Zuko, you just went back to your current position.

“Go away, Zuko,” you said.

“I’m not leaving you here like this,” he responded. He sat next to you and placed a hand on your back. “What’s going on, (Y/N)?”

“I’m just very confused,” you mumbled.

“Confused about what?”

“About everything! About my feelings, about my future, it’s just a lot sometimes.” You lifted your arms from your knees and sat straight.

“Hey, (Y/N), look at me,” he asked. “I get how you feel, okay? Trust me. But there are some things that we just can’t control.” He put one hand on your cheek, cupping your face and you leaned on it. “You don’t have to bottle everything up, you can always talk to me.” He caressed your cheek and then you quickly pulled away, getting up.

“Stop it, we can’t do this, we can’t act like this,” you said with your back facing him.

“What are you talking about? Why? I don’t understand, (Y/N).”

“Because we’re friends, Zuko!” You stood there, looking at him from a distance with tears still in your eyes.

“We’re more than friends and you know it, (Y/N),” he said while taking a step forward.

“Stop it, Zuko,” you turned around to walk away but his voice stopped you.

“Don’t walk away! Stop walking away, please.”

You turned back and your eyes met his. He walked over to you and then you broke the eye contact.

“We both know how we truly feel about each other, we just can’t keep ignoring it,” he told you.

“What’s the point? What if it doesn’t work? What if… What if I lose you again?”

“You won’t lose me, (Y/N),” he slowly took ahold of one of your hands and you turned your gaze to them. “And I know you’re scared, but shouldn’t we at least try?”

“I don’t know, Zuko…”

“Please, (Y/N),” he begged. “I love you. I’ve always been in love with you, since the beginning, and I can’t imagine my life without you in it,” he confessed.

“I can’t imagine mine without you, either,” you mumbled. He softly cupped your face once again and you finally looked at him.

“Then let’s try, (Y/N).” You took a deep breath and quickly thought about it, and then you slowly nodded.

“Okay, but slowly, please,” you said.

“Of course,” he agreed. “Is it okay if I kiss you?” He asked.

“Yeah, it is,” you answered, and then you felt his lips against yours. It was a soft and sweet kiss, and when you two pulled away, you pressed your foreheads together. You were obviously still afraid of the future, you couldn’t change that from one moment to another, but you thought that maybe, and just maybe, it would all be worth it if it meant that you had him by your side. “I love you, too, Zuko.”

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miraculouscontent · 3 years

Note

*moon walks in* have you ever written anything for zutara? If not that’s cool *moon walks out*

I’ve written a piece, yes. It’s a what-if on Zuko’s scar getting healed by Katara instead of them getting interrupted after their conversation in the catacombs:

"It's a scar. It can't be healed."

"This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I've been saving it for something important. I don't know if it would work, but..."

Likewise, Zuko didn't know why he allowed Katara to touch his scar. He'd long grown used to the fact that he had it, but that also didn't mean he let people idly touch it like it were something to gawk and poke at.

And what did he really expect? That his scar would be magically taken away, just like that? His life had never been that easy. He'd struggled all throughout his existence, and any wounds caused along the way were likely there to stay.

This girl was clearly fooling herself, acting as if it'd just be--

"Yeah, I--" Katara summoned forth her spirit water. "--I think this might work."

He gave her a weird look, though given that his neutral expression usually made him come off as sour anyway, she probably couldn't tell. "What?"

She seemed to ignore him, her spirit water bending around her hand. She looked up at him, eyes briefly squinting like she was unsure, then stared down at the spirit water with the same expression. She took a breath, apparently solving whatever mental debate she was having as she raised her hand to touch his scar again.

He flinched, and then hated himself for flinching. The water had been freezing.

"Oh!" she gasped. "Sorry. You're a firebender, so it must be too cold for you."

He was almost suspicious, but the look in her eyes seemed genuine. He had a slew of responses for her, most of which were sarcastic, but he somehow ended up saying, "It's fine. I can handle it," instead.

She tilted her head, concerned, but that just made him more determined to prove her wrong. He forced himself to stand rigidly in place, staring her down like he was ready for a fight.

She snorted - actually snorted - at him! Was she amused? The nerve!

"Alright, hold still," she ordered gently, raising her hand again.

Zuko tried not to look so obviously like he was steeling himself up. Thanfully, if Katara had noticed anything this time, she showed no sign of it, and the water touched his face without issue. He was surprised in a way, as he'd expected her to make the water colder just out of spite.

It was nice to be wrong, he supposed.

The water felt strange against his skin. He couldn't see what she was doing obviously, his left eye closed from the water while his right could see a bit of her hand if he really tried. Katara's gaze, meanwhile, was focused and steady, never wavering from where her hand was.

He was only forced to stop looking when the water began to glow. The temperature of the water suddenly stopped mattering, as he couldn't determine it. Maybe it was numbing him?

He could feel the vibration as the liquid shifted like a calming wave, like it were washing over the left side of his face over and over despite it already being submerged. At first, he didn't understand how it felt like it was seeping into his skin, seeking impurities and washing them away, without hurting him at all.

But water was the opposite of fire. His father's flames had burned him and the heat had dug so deeply as to leave a scar, so it would only make sense if water could reverse it. He'd just never imagined it was possible, and he was more glad than anything else that the light forced him to close his eyes as to avoid Katara seeing any more emotion than he was comfortable sharing.

Could someone's sins really be washed away with something as simple as water?

Suddenly, there was the sound of rocks collapsing nearby, jarring both he and Katara out of their state. Katara staggered forward in surprise, but seemed compelled to keep her hand on the left side of his face. Likewise, he tried not to move, unsure of how interrupting the process would go and not wanting to tempt fate.

His left eye couldn't see beyond the now-faint light of the healing water, while the right could only stare at Katara. She'd averted her gaze, presumably to look at what'd caused the disturbance, and although Zuko couldn't see it himself from where he was at, he knew well enough that she was capable and would say something if anything were wrong.

Katara's eyes widened. "Aang!"

Recognizing the name of the Avatar, Zuko's head twitched on reflex to look, only barely managing to keep the rest of himself still as Katara's hand was still on him. She went through something similar, shifting her body as if to run off before remembering the situation.

She peered up at him, the light intensifying now that her focus had returned. She tilted her head and eyed him critically as she ran her thumb where his scar was. He may've taken the critical gaze personally under normal circumstances, but he supposed it was just the water having an effect on him.

Finally, the light died down, Katara pulling her hand away along with the water. Zuko was immediately hit with the strange sensation of just the left side of his face, covering it with his hand in surprise at the shift in his vision.

Katara had already run off. He straightened, looking over to see her in the middle of hugging Aang, who was currently glaring at him. Iroh was nearby, rushing to Zuko to embrace him. It wasn't that Zuko wasn't happy to see his uncle, but he focused on returning Aang's glare, not sure what the Avatar's motives are.

Given that, he wondered aloud, "Uncle, I don't understand. What are you doing with the Avatar?"

Aang broke away from Katara and replied, as if he'd been asked, "Saving you, that's what."

Needless to say, Zuko didn't appreciate the cheekiness in his tone. He tried to move, ready to fight, but Iroh hugged him tighter to prevent him from going anywhere.

"Zuko, it's time we talked," he said sternly, but quietly. Finally pulling away - allowing Zuko to lower his hand from his face - Iroh turned to face Katara and Aang. "Go help your other friends. We'll catch up with you."

Aang bowed, then ran off for the nearest cave. Katara followed, but kept a slower pace to look back at Zuko.

He saw a slight raise of her brows, then a smile that wasn't directed at the Avatar, but at him. He tried not to show too much of a reaction to it, not matter how bizarre it was, but that didn't stop him from continuing to maintain eye contact until she'd fully disappeared into the cave.

Then, remembering himself and that Iroh had never answered his question, he turned. "Why, Uncle?"

Iroh faced him, looking serious. "You're not the man you used to be, Zuko. You--" He cut himself off, eyes going wide and mouth dropping open in surprise. Apparently, all the seriousness had just drained out of him. "You're really not the man you used to be!"

"What?" Zuko asked, but realized a second later exactly where Iroh was staring. Bringing a hand up to his face, he finally felt along where his scar was.

Or rather, where his scar used to be. His skin was smooth, his vision just as good in his left eye as it was in his right. In fact, the only sign that there'd been a scar at all was his lack of a left eyebrow, though that could grow back with time.

"The... Katara," he began, "she used a type of water she got at a spirit oasis."

"A spirit--of course..." Iroh's expression regained its calmness as he placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Zuko, listen to me. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been, and now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny."

Zuko raised a brow (well, the only one he had), not sure he understood.

Iroh continued, "It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good."

Zuko opened his mouth, but the conversation was cut off by a sudden earthquake. He managed to keep his balance, but a slew of crystals suddenly burst through the ground, separating him from Iroh and trapping the latter in a crystal prison.

He gaped at the sight, then assumed a fighting position at nothing in particular and readied himself, not showing any emotion even as Azula descended form the sides of the crystal chamber alongside what he presumed to be two earthbenders.

Walking to Zuko and Iroh, Azula kept up her usual demeanor despite his vanished scar. "I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle, but Zuko," she began, "Prince Zuko, you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?"

Zuko glared. "Release him immediately!"

"It's not too late for you, Zuko," Azula insisted as she stopped in front of him, not paying his order any mind. "You can still redeem yourself."

Iroh shouted to Zuko from his containment in the crystals, "The kind of redemption she offers is not for you!"

"Why don't you let him decide, Uncle?" Azula challenged. She glanced back at Zuko, voice softening as she continued, "I need you, Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day - " She raised a fist for emphasis. " - this glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have Father's love. You will have everything you want."

Father's love? Everything he wanted?

"Zuko," Iroh called out gingerly, "I am begging you. Look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want."

Zuko looked back and forth between the two, Azula's eyes unusually gentle while Iroh's were as gentle as they always had been. However, he lowered his gaze, not meeting either.

"You are free to choose," Azula said. She raised a hand, the gesture wordlessly telling her guards to leave the premises. That done, she simply walked off into the cave that Aang and Katara had gone.

Zuko thought back to Iroh, though still not looking at him. I'm begging you, he'd said, and it was familiar because he'd said it before. Zuko had been down this path before, being asked what he wanted and what his "destiny" really was back when he tried to take the Avatar's bison. He remembered it well.

I'm begging you, Prince Zuko! It's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you, and what do you want?

Prince. Iroh had called him that, even back then. Azula was doing it now as well, but...

Zuko knew deep down that it was one of her tricks. He'd played her games too many times; been played too many times. He wasn't foolish enough to think otherwise, but he also couldn't be sure that Azula would betray him completely.

Already, he could hear a fight ensuing in the the direction that Azula had gone. His feet were itching to move; to do something, but what?

Iroh spoke up, "You said it was water from a spirit oasis."

Zuko glanced over at him, giving him his attention.

Iroh continued, "Zuko, that scar you had was full of suffering and terrible memories. Had you truly wanted to go back to that, I'm sure that you wouldn't have been able to be healed from it." He shook his head, his voice thick with sorrow. "All this time, you've been trying to make up for something I've never held against you."

"What do you mean?"

"Think," Iroh urged. "You spoke up, yes, but against the idea of lives being lost! Are you going to apologize for that?!"

Zuko blinked, eyes wide at the fact that he'd never thought of that.

Iroh's voice softened. "I'm sorry that I let you into that meeting. I had to live with that guilt for the scar you had on your face."

"What? Uncle, no, I'm the one--"

"You were young, but you were already a far better Fire Lord than your father will ever be. You cared about the lives of others even if they weren't for your own benefit. I'm proud of you, and I'm so happy that you have a moment to start over again." He paused, squirming briefly within the crystal restraints. Realizing that he was firmly stuck, he looked back to Zuko, uttering firmly, "Go."

"But, Uncle--"

"Go!"

Zuko's feet finally moved. He dashed past Iroh and into the cave as quickly as he could.

He felt stupid. He felt pathetic. He'd spent all this time torn and twisted between two sides when his heart had made up its mind a long time ago and his body struggled to listen.

"The Fire Nation took my mother away from me."

"I'm sorry. That's something we have in common."

Common. Relating to someone was not something he often did. His father and sister had long since convinced him that he was less than nothing without earning his honor back, but what did honor mean? If he was less than nothing, why could he get so close to the Avatar and his bison with his own efforts?

The only thing he had in common with Ozai and Azula was blood, and it'd been boiling away ever since he'd been banished.

Who are you, and what do you want?

As he made it out of the cave, he jumped, letting out a blast of fire between the ongoing fight that Azula, Katara, and Aang were having. They all stared at him as he landed, his stance ready for action as he looked around at the lot of them. Now that his mind was clear, he could see the almost expectant look in Azula's eyes, along with a hidden threat if he dared to betrayed her.

He was no pawn. Not anymore. He wrote his own destiny.

"I'm Zuko," he declared firmly. "and I want the kind of honor that you and my father could never give me!"

He inhaled, then thrust his arms forward to let out a blast of fire so loud that it drowned his own cry of frustration. Years of pent-up aggression were put into the flames, and he just barely caught the sight of his sister's wide eyes before she almost seemed to become engulfed in it. It wasn't that he thought he'd truly destroy her with it, but finally letting it out gave him a sense of freedom he hadn't felt before.

Aang and Katara flung themselves back due to the heat, despite not being within the flames' particular range. Aang gaped, confused, then glanced at Katara for answers.

But she wasn't looking at Aang. She was meeting Zuko's gaze with her own. For the moment of calm in the battle, they simply stared at one another.

They said nothing, but shared an unspoken promise, held together by the simple commonality they shared.

Let's take down the Fire Nation together.

#other: non ml talk #((Could've sworn that I'd posted this a long time ago. Sorry about that!))#Zutara

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iamahugegeeknicetomeetyou · 3 years

Text

okay lemme just sprinkle some yueki into your feed real quick

let’s ignore the fact I’m about to change so much of the canon plot

anyway so

let’s say as in book one they arrive at the northern water tribe like usual sokka has his schoolboy crush on yue and as in canon she is engaged to another man

but on the moonlit meeting instead of just confessing she is married to another man she confides in sokka that she actually also is doing it to cover up the fact she likes girls

The Southern water tribe is very small and I can imagine them being very excepting of different sexualities as they are very close and tightly knit so they are probably very supportive and caring

however we’ve seen how the Northern water tribe is much larger on formalities and with a casual sexism ingrained in their society I can imagine that homosexual relationships are probably disapproved of

therefore being royalty in the Northern water tribe she probably decides that for political power and presentation it will be best just to cover up and marry a man

however ever sokka has been so sweet to her ever since he arrived and coming from a place that she’s heard is more excepting she takes a leap of faith and confesses her true motives for not being with him

and sokka being sokka is just immediately cool and completely supports her so instead of being there as a lover he is there as a friend to distract and support her while she has what looks like a bleak life in front of her of pretending to be someone she’s not

but then comes the fire nation attack and zhao being an absolute piece of trash and kills one of the water spirits and yue has to sacrifice herself

but just imagine as she does this but the spirit only take some of her life force and allows her to live as well almost as a thanks for her sacrifice

and she is overjoyed because she’s allowed to live however now it’s time for the avatar and sokka to move on and she suddenly gets this horrible feeling of being isolated and alone her entire life because sokka was the first real friend she’s ever had and she’s been able to confide so much in him

so she says the fuck it and decided she’s going to escape from the northern water leaving a message for her father admitting the truth about who she is and travel secretly with the avatar among the nations helping them in any way she can

obviously being a royal she doesn’t know that much about the outside world or about combat fighting however with sokka as her teacher and actually knowing a lot about political powers in the outside world I can imagine that she would be a useful ally to the gaang

skipping forward to book 2 episode 12 we finally see suki again but this time yue is there

they first see her when they’re trying to enter ba sing se and right off the bat yue is so into her however here comes the problem that so is sokka and she obviously does not want to hurt him in anyway so she kind of just pretend her feelings don’t exist as she usually does

but it’s actually really hard to see one of the first girls she’s ever felt feelings for and can now be open about them she still has to hide them for fear of hurting her friends

regardless this is the last time she sees or hears of Suki until they invade the fire nation until the day of the black sun when azula mentions she has been arrested and put in prison

then obviously they have to escape the fire nation and take refuge in an air nomad temple but yue hasn’t stopped thinking about Suki ever since she met her let alone now she knows she’s in fire nation custody

and when sokka confides in her that he plans to break her out of prison yue, with her new training decides to tag along on the mission with zuko and sokka because even if she can’t be with Suki romantically like hell she’ll just let her rot in a fire nation prison

the boiling rock episodes go more or less the same where she pretends to be a guard like sokka and helps with the prison break although it’s kind of uncomfortable for her the entire time because she has these feelings for Suki that she has to hide

nonetheless they break her out and she is now free and comes back to the air temple with them

now they have quite a bit of time where they’re just at the temple with aang learning fire bending and waiting until they can attack again

and during this time she actually gets really close to Suki as a friend

at first it’s kind of awkward because they don’t know each other that well and they only met once but gradually as the others train suki notices that yue has dramatically less experience even if she is a diligently strong fighter

so she offeres to help and teach her some of the kyoshi moves

yue absolutely loves this idea until she realises how intimate training can be and how much Suki ends up touching her even if it’s just slightly change her position or adjust her stance she realises that training was probably one of the worst idea she’s ever had because the entire time she’s having the biggest lesbian panic

but aside from training they also begin to become close friends, yue opening up about how much she misses home even though they forced her to be something she’s not and Suki opening up about how much she misses the kyoshi warriors as they are like family to her

but then I can imagine that sometime in the air temple Suki and sokka kind of agree that they just work better as friends and that their romantic relationship was lovely but they just work better in a platonic way

and I head canon that yue absolutely loves to look up at the moon because it reminds her of home but also how she got here and the connections she has to water bending and the spirits so I can imagine while the rest of the gaang sleeps she always sneaks out and just stares at the moon for hours on end

but imagine Suki starts to notice this behaviour and instead of calling her out on it just joins her occasionally and watches the moon silently with her and that they have these quiet intimate moments they have every now and again

however one night Suki seems kind of down when she joins her and yue has noticed that her visits are getting more and more frequent and Suki only really comes out there when she is struggling to sleep herself so she asks what’s up and Suki confesses that her and sokka broke up

anyway even though she’s really into Suki her first priority making sure her friends are okay

Suki explains that it was a mutual decision and she’s not heartbroken in anyway because her and sokka both decided that they work better as friends and their relationship is better when it’s platonic but nonetheless she did really like him and it’s still a shame

and yue is just here listening on the edge of her seat because her crush is finally single

but she also feels really awkward because it’s her best friends ex and also a presumably straight girl so she just decides to pretend once again have feelings do not exist

but from then on every night Suki joins her even if its only for a 10-20 minutes it’s an everyday sort of thing and sometimes they sit for hours at a time in a comfortable silence or talking quietly about things and gradually their relationship grows more and more intimate

until one night they’re just sitting in the moonlight and yue accidentally starts staring at Suki and she doesn’t mean to but she can’t help but admire her beauty so Suki jokingly says “see something you like?” upon noticing yue’s gaze

and yue just lesbian panics so hard and it’s just like “no no just looking at the moon” and Suki starts teasing her jokingly of course but yue actually finds it really hard because she’s trying to deny these feelings and her being all cute about it is not helping

but trying to defuse the awkwardness Suki confesses that she finds yue very pretty too and yue just kind of sits there gobsmacked and Suki goes on to say all of these wonderful things about her about how she’s not just pretty but she’s also kind and caring and sensitive but is also an amazing person with a forgiving heart

and yue is just kind of sitting there in shock because it started out as teasing and now she’s going on this huge tangent about what an amazing person she is and yue swears she’s never been more in love with anyone in her entire life

and the entire time Suki has been staring at this moon must suddenly after she finishes her tangent about how amazing yue is and as she turns to look at her yue realises that in this moment she doesn’t care about anything else but her

so she kisses her

and Suki at first is kind of shocked but she doesn’t pull away until after a few seconds and in those few seconds she stares at back at yue are the most terrifying of yue’s life because she thinks she’s made the most terrible mistake ever and completely misread every signal she gave her and thought that she had a horrible misunderstanding

but then Suki suddenly just kisses yue and her brain just completely collapses in on itself because she has no idea how to deal with all these feelings but they end up kissing for awhile under the moonlight and after some time Suki gently pulls away and rest her forehead against yue’s and just says so delicately “i’ve been wanting to do that for a long time”

and yue just shuts off because this is too much because she just kissed the girl of her dreams and found out that the feelings she feels are not one-sided

but after that they have a long talk about their relationship and about how they both obviously feel more than platonic feelings and about Suki being bisexual and realise that dating is actually something that really love to do but of course with sokka they don’t want to hurt him they decide to secretly date and just go slow for awhile

and it all goes well but yue is a terrible liar and feels horrible from concealing this from sokka so while the rest of the gang are out and the three of them are left at the temple they decide that they should tell him

and they are completely terrified he’s going to be really horrible about it but they sit him down and confesses that they are dating and sokka is just like “took you guys long enough”

and they just sit there opened mouth because they thought that they’ve been so good at hiding their feelings for each other that no one in the group suspected they’re dating

but sokka says he could tell from the beginning yue had feelings for Suki but didn’t wanna push so just left them in peace but then once him and Suki agreed they worked better as friends he was basically just waiting for them to end up telling him that they’ve gotten together

and they are both just so shocked he isn’t mad but he confesses that he is also bisexual and has feelings for zuko that he’s been repressing for awhile and isn’t going to face any time soon but has nonetheless and that he completely support and loves their relationship

and they’re both so relieved and so happy

and yeah from there they go into finally defeat the fire nation and win the war and afterwards yue returns home to her people and she is so overwhelmed by the amount of love and support she receives when she returns home and her father confessing he never meant to make her feel like an outcast but just wanted what was best for her and the water tribe

but yue isn’t ready to come home yet so she continues to travel with Suki for awhile and the avatar as they continue postwar to do whatever is necessary to make peace

but later on she’s called back home as it’s time for her to take the position as chief and she feels she’s going to have to leave all of her friends behind however with zuko as the fire lord and the fire nation as a close ally and the avatar needing to protect all places in the world she’s actually still really close to everyone

and on top of that Suki decides to move to the Southern water tribe with her and she works as a bodyguard and also bring some of her kyoshi warrior friends as well as training some non-benders in the Northen water tribe some martial arts while there

and yeah they are just like bad ass wives in the Northam water tribe together

sorry this is so long but I just felt that this had to be said because like c’mon guys it’s yueki 🤲😩 also if you wanna see any good you yueki edits go onto @/s4ppos page on instagram she has a couple of them I think and they are the most beautiful things I have ever seen

#lgbtq #lesbian #bisexual #yue #princess yue #suki #suki x yue #yue x suki #atla #avatar the last airbender #yue alta #lesbian yue #yue lesbian #suki bisexual #bisexual suki #suki atla #zukka #yueki

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thoughtsbynyx · 3 years

Text

Part 2 of Why I Ship Zutara

(and why Kataang took the short way out)

*this time with pictures* (it’s longer than the previous but worth the read, bare with me)

part 1

GAang Dynamics

(see Katara and Zuko’s portions I couldn’t figure out a way to incorporate them fluidly)

RoyalTeaLovingKookiness explains the GAang’s dynamic as well

Katara is (the G)Aang’s Mother/Older Sister Cont. (and character develpment)

In the GAang. Katara “adopts” Aang almost as soon as she bends him out of the ice

She almost always looks after Aang, keeping him on task, helping him learn, being the rational voice they all need to hear sometimes

With Toph she’s less of a mother and more of an older sister that tries to steer their junior in the right direction (they bud heads and have a couple fights, but manage to have fun together and help with what the GAang needs)

She has to unlearn how to be a kid/teen because she learned to be a mom first

She bears a lot of the emotional work and trauma for the GAang, even before Zuko appears in Book 3

In Book 2 & 3 (mainly) she learns that she is allowed to be fun, immature, and selfish with what she needs/desires (which was something she’s been made fun of & had to apologize for)

She realizes and embraces the fact in Book 3 that she can be an individual person that follows what she wants without having to worry or care about what the others thing she should do (this also happens in the NWT, Ba Sing Se, and various places in the Earth Kingdom) (she becomes more assertive in what she needs/wants)

Zuko: the dad the gAang needed

He’s obviously educated (both in & out of banishment)

(Leadership skillz) He’s commanded a ship at 13

Has worked for a living wage at 16 (as seen by Jet, he can (barely) handle customer service)

When he was accepted into the group, he channels the only responsible adult he knows-- Iroh

making tea, reckless outings to help others, thinking ahead of oppnents and obsticles, letting them vent, providing shelter when they needed cover, dad jokes (”leaf me alone!”), and being a human shield

Look at FrostGaurdian’s post for more

Zuko’s Nature

In the Zuko Alone episode we can epsically see that he’s been in the shadow of his younger sister Azula

Throughout Book 1 he threw tantrums left and right

With his obession (read: hyperfixation) on honor, he was stuck in his “failure” against Ozai when he was 13

/\ \/ he relapses into this thinking when he joins Azula in Book 3

He took advantage of Iroh before they separeted, and even then he searched for his approval and validation

The Warped perception of Love and each other

It may not be obvious but Aang has an idea of Katara in is head that is not like her in the SLIGHEST (see Southern Raiders section)

He even points it out in the comics

Image description:

*13 and 12 year old Aang and Toph are discussing what it’s like having a crush*

Aang: “Believe me, Toph, I know what it’s like to have a crush on someone, it can blind--” *Toph is unamused*

Aang: “ Yeesh, Sorry. What i’m trying to say is, sometimes you can like somebody so much that it affects your perception of them.”

Toph: “Kind of like how your perception is affected by your fuddy-duddy traditions”

With Katara in the comics it points out the “right kind of love” but referencing Zuko’s sacrifice in protecting Katara

Image Description:

*Hakoda talking with Katara about love*

“So you know that the right kind of love-- the kind that’s real, that sacirfices--that kind of love doesn’t blind you. It actually helps you see“

In both instances it shows that Aang is putting Katara in a pedestal and doesn’t see her for who she is because of the crush he has on her.

The Fortuneteller

*Also even though Aunt Wu tells Katara she’s to marry a powerful bender it could’ve been anyone, not just Aang. Zuko, Azula, or Toph (maybe even be single forever and reject it all together because she’s a master bender) were also candidates. She didn’t get any more specific besides powerful bender*

a lot of the information that I gathered is from wednesdaywildheart’s post

This episode shows how Aang’s crush is just a crush, using Meng as an example

Meng points out how both their names rhyme “that rhymes with Meng!”

The Parallels

Like Aang is with Katara, she’s 2 years younger than he is

The “sparkles” show up when they both see their crush and plays the same music

They have tried to flirt the same way with their crush (and were both brushed off when their crush showed disintrest and indifference)

The Differences

Towards the end of the episode, Meng realizes and acknowledges that Aang doesn’t return her feelings and advances. She even tells Aang that she supports his feelings towards Katara

(This doesn’t happen until Book 2) When learning more about the Avatar State, and the Spirit World from Guru Pathik, Aang had to open all 7 chakras, however he couldn’t open the seventh (the Thought Chakra), refusing to let go of is attachment to Katara, blocking himself from the Avaatar State (which bit him in the butt (or back) when he faced Azula)

(of course this could be because he’s 12, and hasn’t learned the difference between between, lust and Iove, platonic and romantic attraction yet)

Ember Island Players

Catie-does-things goes in depth with analysis of this episode

You can’t tell me this wasn’t one the most Anti-Kataang, Pro-Zutara, Anti-Zutara, Anti-All three of them episode (besides Fortune Teller and Southern Raiders)

Even though the play is a mockery retailing Books 1 & 2, it does give a possible reason why Katara would choose Zuko instead of Aang, (“the Avatar? He’s like a little brother to me!”) and she even used a similar phrase in Book 1 (“he’s a cute little guy like Momo!”)

Aang was lowkey OOC here, when it was stated by Actor!Zuko to Actor!Katara “aren’t you the Avatar’s girl?” to which Aang nods, a grim/serious look on his face (because of this he literally confuses canon with fanon, and at the intermission confronts Katara on a statement she never said herself, instead taking to heart what an actress portraying her said)

Literally one of the very few episodes where these two talk about their feelings toward each other (and it ends terribly)

Because Aang is 12 (and frozen for 100 years), he may not (completely) understand romantic and platonic boundries, getting upset at Katara, and not reading her (uncomfortable) body langauge before kissing her

Direct conversation from the episode:

Aang:“But it's true, isn't it? We kissed at the Invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we're not.” Katara: Aang, “I don't know.” Aang: “Why don’t you know?” Katara: “Because, we're in the middle of a war, and, we have other things to worry about. This isn't the right time.” Aang: “Well, when is the right time?” Katara: “Aang, I’m sorry, but right now I’m a little confused.”

To be continued in Part 3.....

some of what will be featured:

Southern Raiders (supposed to be here but this is wayyyy long)

Parallels

(Blue Spirit & Painted Lady, All Book Endings, Red & Blue ships, Lightning and Blood Bending, Oma & Shu)

#zutara #anti kataang #Zuko #katara #aang #atla #let me hyperfixate in peace

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