fic rec: the zukaang edition nobody asked for

aka don't rewatch this series, it WILL fuck you up (and then drive you up the wall searching for fic that has long since vanished off the face of the internet)

note: a good handful of these will be gen and/or pre-slash. also by "canon compliant" here i mean, well. "anything not directly contradicted by the show itself." there's ... a lot of canon for this 'verse, okay.

New Favorite Thing by suzukiblu (post-series; humour, drama, romance) wherein aang struggles with a ... development, and zuko has no idea what is going on (until he does) An Almost Intolerable Titillation by Mokuyoubi (post-series; drama, humour, romance) it's hard being a fire lord when your best friend is an airbender with time on his hands Art of Lightning by findmyantidrug (post-series, canon compliant; angst, drama, friendship, pre-slash) aang asks zuko to teach him how to make lightning. zuko tries, and fails, and has his world turned upside down - in that order

The Tongue of the Flame by The Writer Triumphant/soleluz (pre-sozin's comet; drama, pre-slash) what's a little platonic frenching between friends when it's all in aid of mastering firebending, anyways?? we could jump in the ocean and sink like stones by warmth (post-series, canon divergence, soulmates trope; drama, angst, romance) wherein being the avatar comes with the questionable bonus of knowing your soulmate from the get-go Epitaph by knittedace (post-western air temple; drama, friendship) zuko shows aang the grim discovery he made during his stop-off at the western air temple three years previous stop all the clocks by SongofHopeandHonor (post-atla, canon compliant, character death; friendship, grief, bittersweet) avatar aang passes away at a measly sixty-eight years old, and zuko supports katara through the immediate aftermath as best he can - he understands the particular flavour of her grief all too well, after all sparring prompt-fill by avatarwindboy (post-series, canon compliant; action, drama, romance) just a friendly tussle between friends, no latent attraction here at all hahah a,,,, The Idle Mind by findmyantidrug (post-series, canon divergence; friendship, drama) two young men with a lot on their minds and shoulders spend a quiet evening pushing each other's buttons cloudburst (devotion, chapter four) by SongofHopeandHonor (post-series, canon divergence; drama, domestic, romance) two men and a little airbaby Long Live The Prince by Julia451 (post-boiling rock, canon divergence, genfic; politics, drama, angst, friendship) when chit sang joins the group, he brings some rather troubling - if slightly outdated - news to the table Striking Balance by Victoria Hughes (post-series, canon compliant, genfic; politics, drama, friendship) in which the fire lord struggles to produce solutions, and to refrain from throttling his best friend Seriously, He Didn't by InformalSpoofer (post-series, canon compliant; drama, friendship, romance, ust) in which zuko is absolutely not a ball of repressed and deeply inappropriate feelings, okay, fuck you Antebellum by Min Daae (post-western air temple, canon compliant, genfic; angst, drama, friendship) helping each other in small ways, one night at the western air temple when sleep proves hard to find Meditating Angry by AJ Rayne (post-western air temple, canon compliant; drama, friendship, humour) in which aang has questions, and zuko has resting rage-face Burn Therapy by Cadence (post-boiling rock, canon compliant, genfic; drama, angst, friendship, humour) settling in at ember island, aang and zuko share some quality time together while talking shit out and burning offensive portraiture The most important thing by Blue-with-purple-polka-dots (post-firebending masters, canon compliant, genfic; drama, angst, friendship) wherein zuko needs to get some things off his chest after their journey to meet the masters If we knew each other back then by Lily Kalanoa (post-blind bandit, canon divergence, temporary amnesia trope; action, drama, angst) in a threeway altercation between azula, the avatar's group, and himself and iroh, zuko takes a hit with startling consequences The Soul-Binding Series by ranty_rie/notavodkashot (post-series, canon divergence; drama, friendship, pre-slash) the unorthodoxed relationship between once-enemies and almost-friends (and the perhaps-more) Oh My Friends, My Friends, Forgive Me by Obvious Ghost (post-western air temple, canon compliant; drama, angst, friendship, pre-slash) in which switching sides is no smooth transition, and butting heads is inevitable - especially when you're a gang of kids effectively spearheading a war Adaptation by aliwildgoose (post-western air temple, canon compliant, genfic; drama, humour) zuko has some very strong opinions about love amongst the dragons hurt/comfort prompt fill by avatarwindboy (post-series, canon compliant; grief, friendship, romance) after iroh's passing, aang offers what comfort he can All About the Frogs by Victoria Hughes (season one, canon compliant; drama, angst, introspective) aang and zuko and their alternating points of view before, during, and after their escape from the pouhuai stronghold patron saint of the lost causes by warmth (post-series, canon divergence, arranged marriage trope; drama, romance, angst, open-ended) what zuko wants and what his kingdom needs may, sadly, be mutually exclusive zuko seeing aang with hair for the first time prompt fill by avatarwindboy (post-series, canon compliant; humour, romance) in which the avatar has been off doing his avatar thing for a whiles, and there have been some ch-ch-changes since he and zuko last met After Atlas Shrugged by soleluz/The Writer Triumphant (post-series, canon divergence; angst, drama, grief, slow burn) wherein aang assumes care of zuko's daughter when mai's death rocks the axis of his entire world The Mixed Tape by hiza-chan (callunavulgari) (post-series, canon compliant; angst, drama, introspective, romance) a morning in bed and a quiet struggle with zuko's demons zukaang superhero au by avatarwindboy (alternate universe, superhero au; angst, drama, romance) in which zuko is sad and touch-starved and flammable and aang will not stand for it “aang, grown up and being the avatar in peace-time” prompt-fill by suzukiblu (post-series, canon compliant; drama, friendship) wherein the firelord has a surprise for an avatar (or two) kiyi and aang prompt-fill by avatarwindboy (post-series, canon compliant; fluff, friendship, romance) because putting little kids to bed isn't hard enough without your best friend being a horrible enabler with you all in tangles by kingdra (aroceu) (universe alteration, highschool au; humour, friendship, romance) homecoming looms, as does aang's hopeless crush on his chemistry partner. he's totally handling it. Five Times a Prom Invitation Almost Happened and One Time it Did by DracoMaleficium (alternate universe, highschool au; humour, angst, friendship, romance) in which aang and zuko don't so much dance around each other as stagger gracelessly about, trying to feel each other out, and katara is eventually forced to put her foot down Hard to Resist by findmyantidrug (post-series, canon compliant; romance) an overdue reunion gets a little out of hand "chrysanthemum" prompt fill by corsetcamellia (post-series, canon compliant; fluff, romance) a treatise on why you should never let your guard down around airbenders - no, zukes, not even the cute ones His Place in the Universe by ice_is_blue (season three, canon compliant; humour, angst, friendship) shooting the breeze with your enemy-turned-friend while stuck in an ancient booby trap waiting for help that's never gonna come, as you do Untitled by amiko_16 (post-series, canon compliant; drama, pre-slash) oh, that toph and her jokes Rites of Spring by inlovewithnight (post-series, canon compliant; humour, friendship) reinstating weird old traditions and putting up with avatars. #justfirelordthings Following Older Steps by BlackEyedGirl (post-series, canon compliant; drama, friendship) an unexpected, fire-breathing visitor shows up at his door, and zuko doesn't need to ask who's responsible Pressure by kanthia (post-series, canon compliant, genfic; angst, drama, friendship) in which aang struggles in the aftermath of ozai's defeat, and finally turns to a friend for help Degrees of Need by findmyantidrug (post-series, canon compliant; drama, romance) wherein aang helps zuko pass a sleepless night (and vice-versa)