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yourhighness6 · 5 months

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Zutara's Song is Definetely The Great War by Taylor Swift

I've seen a lot of Zutara songs and playlists out there and I wanted to share my opinion on my personal favorite

I want to start out by saying that this analysis is going to completely ignore Taylor Swift's intentions when she wrote the song and any analysis of the song in concurrence with her life. I'm also going off my personal feelings that the first verse and chorus are Zuko talking to Katara, the second verse, chorus, and bridge are Katara talking to Zuko, and the remaining parts of the song are them reflecting after the war.

My knuckles were bruised like violets,

Sucker punching walls, cursed you as I sleep talked,

For me, this was pretty typical season 1 Zuko. Angry at the world, fighting everything in sight, ect, ect. It's only after the first two lines that the song gets a little bit more specific.

Spineless in my tomb of silence,

Tore your banners down, took the battle underground,

That third line is really reminiscent of Ba Sing Se. He took himself out of the story, until, of course, he had to make a choice in "Crossroads of Destiny"

And we know what he chooses

It's almost phrased in the form of an apology, which connects it even further to their story. "Tore your banners down" could also mean the fall of Ba Sing Se in general. Aang is Katara's banner, the avatar who she put so much hope in, but the Earth Kingdom banner is also who she was fighting behind. Azula killed Aang, so I would personally say it's the latter, but I saw two meanings behind it so it's totally up for interpretation.

And maybe it was egos swinging,

The "egos swinging" bit resonated with me a lot, because at this point in the story Zuko isn't done with his character arc. He still seeks his father's validation over his own moral code, and although it seems to me like he's gotten over a lot of his entitlement, I think he still feels entitled to his throne. That's one of my favorite things about his arc, actually, that he comes from a place of privilege but eventually, unlike Azula, realizes that the right to rule isn't given by birth but by true care for the people you represent. (some politicians should take notes)

Maybe it was her,

To me, the "her" in this case is Azula, convincing Zuko their father will be proud of him if he returns to the Fire Nation, although it could also mean Mai. Again, open for interpretation.

Flashes of the battle come back to me in a blur,

This could mean a lot for different people. I've seen a theory about Zuko possibly disassociating (not unlike similar theories about Darth Vader), which I think is interesting. It could also maybe represent the guilt he still feels, which is my personal opinion.

Moving on, the chorus is fairly generic once again,

All that bloodshed, crimson clover,

Uh-uh, sweet dream was over,

My hand was the one you reached for,

All throughout the great war,

The hand part stuck out to me because of the part in the final agni Kai when they reach for each other:

(screencaps are bad quality but ya'll get the idea)

Then it goes back to the any enemies-to-lovers generic dynamic again...

Always remember, uh-uh,

Tears on the letter,

I vowed not to cry anymore,

If we survived the Great War.

And then we switch to Katara's POV:

You drew up some good faith treaties,

I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone,

You could argue that this is several moments throughout the series, maybe at the end of the war when she gets together with Aang, but I connected it most with her time spent on the ship after book 2. While Zuko was trying to fix his relationship with the Fire Nation and return to his family, Katara was isolating herself, worried about the war, about the avatar, avoiding her father and Sokka out of shame and feelings of abandonment. It was an extremely dark time for her, and although Zuko was trying to feel hopeful about his return, he doesn't even smile when he reunites with Mai. He knows he made the wrong decision.

You said I have to trust more freely,

This is after Zuko's redemption arc, during "The Southern Raiders" (which is probably my favorite ATLA episode, btw). Zuko encourages Katara to trust him, feeling that he is changed and is now deserving of it.

But she refuses to forgive or trust him

I would argue this is for good reason. She is clearly angry at more than just him, the entire Fire Nation, in fact, for murdering her mother and starting the war, but it is also very personal. When he betrayed her in Ba Sing Se after she revealed such a devastating detail of her life and they shared a connection, her abandonment issues probably came into play. It's similar to the trauma she had with her father after he left to join the war. She is scared that the people she cares about will leave her, just like her parents did, whether they had a choice or not, and just like Aang did when Azula shot him with lightning, again, without meaning to. Zuko left her intentionally to join the Fire Nation, even after she offered to heal his scar, a very important moment in their arcs. She is forgiving, optimistic, helpful, and kind to someone who hunted her and her friends for nearly a year, and he throws the offer of her most valuable asset back in her face and is instrumental in Aang's near death experience.

But diesel is desire, you were playing with fire,

He helps her. He uncovers her trauma, aids her in working through it, is supportive even when it was probably more than he bargained for.

And maybe it's the past that's talking,

Screaming from the crypt,

Telling me to punish you for things you never did,

Her mother did die at the hands of the Fire Nation, under Zuko's family's orders, whether they came directly from Ozai or not. But he wasn't the one who killed her or ordered her death, and he IS the one who is trying to defeat his father and end the war in favor of balance and peace. She realizes that...

So I just defied it,

...And finds it in her heart to forgive him.

After that, we start on the chorus again.

All that bloodshed, crimson clover,

Uh-uh, the bombs were closer,

I think that last line also refers to a different scene, much earlier in "the Southern Raiders", when Azula attacks the temple...

My hand was the one you reached for,

All throughout the Great War

...And Zuko saves Katara.

(I might do a separate post analyzing just this moment because holy crap there is A LOT there)

Always remember, uh-uh,

The burning embers,

I vowed not to fight anymore,

If we survived the Great War,

I think this refers to the agni Kai specifically, as does most of the bridge. The fire everywhere, the fear, the fact that it's the last battle of the war. It just fits.

It turned into something bigger,

Somewhere in the haze got the sense I'd been betrayed,

Your finger on my hairpin trigger,

Everything is depending on this battle. If they can't defeat Azula, what will happen to the Fire Nation? Will the people now just be under a new, arguably stronger and more powerful tyrant?

Soldier down, on that icy ground,

Looked up at me with honor and truth,

Broken and blue, so I called off the troops,

But they never learn what would have happened, because their combined efforts defeat Azula.

That was the night I nearly lost you,

I really thought I'd lost you

But not before Zuko (or rather, Azula) gives Katara the fright of her life.

(the love and concern on her face is so heartbreakingly beautiful it makes me want to sob)

And now everything is fine! The bridge is over and the next verse is full of hope.

We can plant a memory garden,

Say a solemn prayer, place a poppy in my hair,

For the poppy part, I'd like to address a particular fan theory. In the final scene, Katara has a pink flower in her hair.

(I left the usernames on, but please lmk if anyone wants a different type of credit. screenshot taken from this post: x)

According to another source I found, this flower is a pink peony, which symbolizes prosperity and a happy marriage.

(flower analysis originally from this post: x)

I know that this is a peony, not a poppy, but close enough? Also, if it were a poppy, it would symbolize compassion and platonic love.

Either way, I think of this as a kind of goodbye from Zuko to Katara. No matter what the situation was at the end of the series, whether Zuko was in love with Katara, Katara was in love with Zuko, or they were in love with each other, "platonic love" and "happy marriage" were a goodbye. It's either wishing her the best with Aang, or saying they can only be friends because of Aang or because of duty, but that he loves her anyway. (oh look, I made myself cry) At least, I think that in canon context. But within the song, it's a peony and they're now engaged lol

Anyway, the verse continues.

There's no morning glory, it was war, it wasn't fair,

And we will never go back to that,

And then the chorus starts again, but it's tone is far more hopeful than before. The worst is behind them. The war is over.

Bloodshed, crimson clover,

Uh-uh, the worst was over,

My hand was the one you reached for,

All throughout the Great War,

Always remember, uh-uh,

We're burned for better,

I vowed I would always be yours,

'Cause we survived the Great War.

It's just so perfect! I love it! (psst, if anyone wants me to also analyze another "Zutara song" feel free to ask)

#zutara #atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #katara #zutara flower #the great war #zutara song #zuko x katara #katara x zuko

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aerialflight · 3 years

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Fic Recs (cause it's always nice to give a shout out and get people into things I'm into rn)

[The Magnus Archives] (I recently finished the podcast and I fell into a hole for a while so here you go)

Sing a Song of Sixpence by Kaiel

Ship: Jon/Martin

In which Jonathan Sims is a Siren, and he fails to notice any new abilities granted to him by the position of Archivist. Or really anything about the Entities at all.

Takes place in season 1 featuring Jonah Magnus’s slow decent into madness

(The new mythology interwoven with tma's worldbuilding is so freaking good and I love how all the characters change and develop because of these changes. Also, f you Elias)

Along Came a Spider by Dribbledscribbles

Ship: implied Jon/Martin

Sasha James is the Archivist, as expected. Martin Blackwood is menaced by Jane Prentiss, as expected. Elias Bouchard weaves his web, as expected.

All goes as it should.

At least until something calling itself Jonathan Sims steps in.

(Web!Jon in this makes me want to weep, it's so freaking good. A pretty long, very excellent oneshot on what could've happened if Jon got taken by the web when he was a kid. And Sasha as the Archivist is ALWAYS so cool, we love her in this house.)

A Break in the Clouds by Ash_Rabbit

“I’m eight.” the kid sniffs as if eight was any different from four, maybe not an unspeakable horror then, just a regular horror. “And I heard that the Magnus Institute deals with-” his little nose scrunches, cute. “-spooky things.”

“Do you have a-” he cracks a grin, and then rethinks it as small hands tighten against their burden.”-spooky thing to deliver?” gods he hopes not, it’s bad enough when adults walk in and lay out all of their baggage, but for a child-

“There’s a spider in this book.” the kid says solemnly, raising his textbook sized parcel. “It ate Evan Pritchard.” a bloody fucking Leitner. Of course an eight year old would find a murder spider book. “This seemed like the best place to bring it.”

(I never thought about what the Original Elias could've been like AND NOW I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF THIS FIC. I LOVE HIM, HE'S COMPLEX AND HE CARES AND JON CARES AND THEY BOTH CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER. THIS IS THE CONTENT I WANT, OMG. Also, Jon being even smaller than usual is adorable, so cute. No wonder Elias wants to hug him, a LOT.)

See the Line where the Sky meets the Sea by The_Floating_World

Ship: Jon/Martin, Jon/Oliver Banks

When Jon is a child he looks into the infinite abyss of space. The Vast looks back into him.

(One of my all time fave fics in this fandom, no questions asked. I have reread this three times and am open to doing it again, god. Vast!Jon, such a concept. It's written so beautifully and the relationships Jon develops, so good. ugh. My heart. Please please read.)

Sweet As Roses by Prim_the_Amazing

Ship: Jon/Martin

“Come in, Martin,” he says, not looking up from his notes.

“Hi, Jon,” he says, and Jon stops writing at the sound of his voice. “We’re out of the green tea, but we’ve got lemon?”

Jon looks at him. Martin smiles at him in his usual tentative way as he sets the mug of tea down on Jon’s desk. Heat spikes so sharply in his gut that he twitches with it.

“Thank you, Martin,” he says, mouth dry, and he stands up.

“Oh,” he says, sounding almost surprised. He smiles again. “No-- no problem-- um, what are you--”

Jon takes Martin by the shoulders, leans up on the tips of his toes, and kisses him.

(You have no idea how much I howled through this fic, my god. *buries face in hands* The number of times I wanted to cry from sheer hilarity and horror reading this good lord.)

Things Could Always Be Worse by theOestofOCs

Ship: Jon/Martin, Georgie/Melanie

Sometimes, the most horrifying thing of all is what might have been.

Somewhere, Jon could swear he heard a crowd laughing.

Or: in which Jonathan Sims is forced to swap places with his alternate self—a tall, chivalrous hero extraordinaire, who knows neither fear nor nuance—and is sent to the aggressively straight alternate universe the Magnus Archives was never meant to be.

“Whatever place this is,” Jon announced, “I just want to be sure it knows I hate it.”

(I will say this once, THIS IS THE MOST CURSED THING IVE EVER READ EVER. Like holy hell. I can't believe this thing exists. please read it oh please please please)

[Supernatural]

heard from your mother (she don't recognize you) by Schmuzz

Ship: Dean/Cas, Jessica/Sam

A man named Cas wakes up in 2003 with no memories, but he's able to piece together a few things:

1. Supernatural creatures exist, and most of them will hurt innocent civilians if he doesn't stop them; 2. He has abilities that no human hunter should have, but he knows enough about human hunters to keep that to himself, and finally; 3. He keeps running into another hunter named Dean Winchester, who seems to be about as lonely as he is if he's willing to put up with those former facts long enough to help Cas unravel the mystery of who (or what) he really is.

For his part, Dean's still (not) dealing with Sam's departure to Stanford, and figures distracting himself with a bit of mystery and intrigue is as harmless as it gets, right? Right.

(THE fic I'm most into right now, been following this from the very start and it's AMAZING. Cas has agency and is making friends and S1 Dean is growing out of John's influence and is becoming a Person and the both of them first being friends then more. The slow burn as their relationship develops, SO GOOD. SO SO DAMN GOOD. *screams* Seriously one of the best spn fics I've read in a long, long time.)

anamnesis by cenotaphy

Ships: Castiel/Dean, Sam/Eileen

Chuck is depowered, Jack is the new god, and the world is free. Dean and Sam get into the Impala and chase down the miles on an endless highway, and their story is finally, finally their own to follow. At least, that's what Dean tells himself. But the diners and motels and painted interstate lines are blurring together and the smallest details keep catching at his brain like tiny fishhooks and he can't quite shake the feeling that not everything is exactly as it should be.

* Fix-it/alternate series finale. Canon-compliant through the end of 15.19.

(THIS IS THE FIC THAT GOT ME THROUGH THE FINALE OKAY. WHY COULDN'T THIS HAVE BEEN CANON. It's Disturbing and honestly plot-wise this makes more sense. Why couldn't we have had this. *screams*)

[Avatar: The Last Airbender]

where the stars do not take sides by WitchofEndor

Ship: Sokka/Zuko

When Azula is nine, she becomes an only child. She hears the Fire Lord call for Zuko's life, and in the morning, her mother and brother are gone. Azula may be young, but she isn't naive. She knows what happened to them.

Which makes it all the more surprising when Azula tracks the Avatar down and fights his group of peasant friends, only to find herself staring into an eerily familiar face.

(The fact one of the tags in this fic is, "Sibling Dynamic: Fucked Up But Wholesome" should give you an idea what this fic is like. Chaotic as HELL and I just love Azula here, she loves Zuko so much in her messed up way and Zuko loves her back in the exact same way lol. It's batshit and I am Here For This.)

[Naruto]

Eclipse by AislingRoisin (JayBird345) for HybrisAnaideia

Ship: Nara Shikaku/OFC

"In life, it's easier to remain stagnant and wallow in your troubles. But life isn't merely about continued existence, nor is it meant to be gone through alone."

(This is a fic that's slept on and I NEED people to read this. A self-insert fic that I find really interesting in its approach and the worldbuilding for the post-third war shinobi world is fantastic. I feel like there's a certain pattern with self-insert fics, not that is a detriment in any way to how much I enjoy them, so this fic feels fresh to me in a way I haven't read in a while. I am waiting eagerly for this to get updated! Please read!)

On Freedom and Other Formalities by iaso

Ship: Kakashi/Genma/OFC

When push comes to shove, Hiwa Inuzuka doesn't go down easy. Reborn into a new, dangerous world? She puts her past life as a spy to work. Thrown into a war? Hiwa does her duty, for Konoha. And when she's forced into an arranged marriage? All there is to do is beat them to the punch and get married first. Thankfully, Genma Shiranui is willing to lend a hand. Literally. SI/OC

(Listen, LISTEN, it's about the slow burn, the longing, the communication (it both has and hasn't and isn't THAT great??), the messy way you fit three very different people together, it's so freaking good! Also, Kakashi is so Chaotic here this is my fave characterization of him, you can't change my mind. And Genma is a Good Boi who is Doing His Best, along with the Self-insert character who I LOVE SO MUCH, SHE'S FANTASTIC FNEIWOPAF. Sped past this fic in the speed of light, I could not stop reading!)(Honestly, read all of the author's fics, they're all really REALLY good!)

Building a Castle by WhisperingDarkness

Without needing anyone to tell her, Sakura knew that talking to someone no-one else could see or hear would make her weird. It would draw the bad kind of attention to her, something people could make fun of her for.

She didn’t like being weird, but she did like the voice. Her inner voice was helpful and it was a part of her that had always been there. The idea of it not being there would have been so much weirder than anything else.

It was during her first year at the Academy that Sakura realised the voice was not in her head at all, but that it came from a cloudy shape floating next to her.

(Basically a short-ish retelling of Hikaru no Go. Only with more Shogi and Nara and Ninja's)

(Sakura can see ghosts (I'm noticing this is a popular trope for her) and it's really cute haha! Her relationship with Tobirama is sweet and I just enjoyed reading this so much.)

[The Magicians]

So Long (And Thanks For All The Books) by IncompleteSentanc (Erava)

Ships: Quentin/Eliot, James/Julia, Quentin/Margo/Eliot

When Quentin is told Julia wasn't admitted to Brakebills, he realizes he has a drastic decision in front of him. If he tells Julia about magic, he'll have his mind wiped as well as hers. But he can't just leave her behind, either. He can't lose his best friend, and he can't let her life a life with her magical potential stolen away from her.

So he makes a third choice.

(Really, and I mean REALLY well-done canon divergent fic, this is the Quentin & Julia friendship fic I have been looking for forever. It explores so much of what could've happened and I just love Quentin here, I really really do. Characterization done so right. I also recommend the author's other works too. Been a follower of them for a long time, they're great.)

[Game of Thrones]

The Road to Victory by writing_as_tracey

Too late in preparing for the Night King and the Long Night, the last stand at Winterfell is close to falling. Bran takes desperate measures to ensure victory, and Jon, Sansa, and Arya pay the price for it in a time unfamiliar to them, on the cusp of another war. [GoT, time-travel fix it]

(I swear, this fic made me laugh so many times, all the Stark are BAMF and fantastic, and Rhaegar gets Wrecked lol. It's crack btw, and the plot goes in directions you'll never guess and it's amazing hahaha!)

[Haikyuu!!] (I am very very late to the fandom but here I am)

Ballare (To Dance) by MidnightSparks

Ship: Iwaizumi Hajime/Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru, and platonic Kageyama & Kentarou (really love their friendship)

Kageyama’s first love is volleyball. His second, however, is ballet.

In one world, Kageyama Tobio is left behind by his parents. In this world, the existence of soulbonds keeps Kageyama’s parents in Miyagi and leaves Kageyama in the care of his grandma and grandpa.

(In which soulmates exist and that changes everything and nothing at the same time.)

(*buries face in hands* I have fallen for this ship so hard and I can't get out fudge me. I understand now. Their DYNAMICS FIEWONPAF)

Kings of Tomorrow by bokubroya (liarielle)

Ship: Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru

On the eve of Tobio’s 16th birthday, he counts down the seconds to midnight, and emerges with Oikawa Tooru’s name on his wrist.

It’s been two years since then, and Tobio thought they had an understanding. A silent, never spoken about understanding that this thing between them is nothing, and they’re going to pretend it doesn’t exist.

Of course, it’s just like Oikawa to change the game and leave Tobio wondering what comes next.

(I am WEAK for soulmate fics between these two, I don't even really like soulmate fics half the times what is WRONG WITH ME-)(Please suffer with me, I'm begging you. Its a good fic, thumbs up.)

[Crossover]

Honey and Magic by JustARatherVerySillyWriter, White_Squirrel for Super Carlin Brothers

Fandoms: Matilda (yeah you read that right), Harry Potter

Everyone knew Matilda was a rather extraordinary child, but even she didn't know she was a witch. Matilda Honey receives her Hogwarts letter in the year of the Triwizard Tournament, and soon, she will leave her unique mark on the magical world.

(Do I even need to explain how amazing it is to have Matilda in the wizarding world? And Matilda is a HUFFLEPUFF AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL THIS FIC IS GREAT PLEASE READ!!!)

An Eye for an Eye by DpsMercy

Fandoms: The Magnus Archives, Welcome to Night Vale

In which Jonathan Sims is not from the UK but instead, if you took his origins and turned them sideways twice then flipped them over, he technically would be from the US, the town of Night Vale specifically. Elias can’t do shit about it and gets a headache and slowly creeping madness instead.

(Look, I know probably everyone has read this because if they haven't, what have you been DOING with your lives??? Jon interning at Night Vale is Incredible, nothing phases this man, it's Delightful. I laughed so many times reading this, I'm not even kidding right now. Read or perish.)

The Favour by R_Cookie

Fandoms: Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Ship: Original Percival Graves/Harry Potter

Percival is ten years old when his grandfather tries to tell him that he's ensured the greatness of the Graves legacy for him, that he ought to be eternally grateful - but the explanation is hijacked by a stranger who manages to intimidate Chester Graves with an ease never seen before.

or: Hadrian (Harry) Potter is the Master of Death, who grants Graves a boon. Nobody could have known that the Deathly Hallows didn't turn you so much into the 'Master of Death' as into the anthropomorphic personification of Death. And so, Death becomes Percival's guardian angel, and Percival does not spit out his cereal.

(Look, I don't know how I stumbled back into the FBAWTFT fandom either, it just happened and I'm grateful for that. Otherwise, I wouldn't have found this amazing fic. Their relationship is slow and strange and I just love how Percival is characterized here. Also, one of the tag promises that it deviates from canon so I am really, really excited for that! XD)

baby that's what i do by natanije

Fandoms: Naruto, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!

"Are you telling me," Hidan exclaims, incredulous, "that you collect money all this time to give to orphans?!"

Kakuzu pauses. He blinks a few times.

"Huh. I guess I do."

(Tsuna reincarnates as Kakuzu and it's HILARIOUS. HE'S SUCH A MOM HAHAHA)

#Fanfiction #AO3 #Fic Rec #Fic Rec List #Podcasts #The Magnus Archives #Supernatural #Avatar The Last Airbender #Naruto #The Magicians #Game of Thrones #Haikyuu!!#Crossover #Matilda #Welcome to Night Vale #Harry Potter #Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them #Katekyou Hitman Reborn

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cablesscutie · 3 years

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Inspired by @hayleynfoster’s comic and some hilarious headcannons about the littlest steambaby with Hayley and @favlie

Read it on AO3

The day Avatar Aang comes to meet his second niece, Fire Lord Zuko refuses to let his youngest child out of sight. Katara rolls her eyes, and reminds her husband that neither of their children had ended up psychologically disturbed because of their flights. “Not,” she adds, pointing at Aang, “that I am allowing a repeat, but I think just holding her while firmly on the ground will be fine.”

“Mmmm,” Zuko hesitates, curling Kallik closer to his chest. Her big eyes blink up at the adults guileless from her blanket. “No.”

“You let Azula hold her!” Aang argues.

“She doesn’t do anything with the babies!” Zuko shoots back. It’s not strictly true, he knows, but his sister’s ritual with newborns is unsettling in a much different way. She simply stares deep into each child’s eyes upon being handed them, until some kind of understanding passes between her and the baby. Results have varied, but the most important part is that there was no threat to life and limb.

Katara’s raised eyebrow says that she also doesn’t believe Zuko’s words, but she doesn’t say anything. They are, after all, a united front - to the children, to politicians, to their friends. In the privacy of their chambers, however, he knows he will be hearing about this.

Katara and Zuko take the kids to spend Kallik’s first birthday at the South Pole. It’s a tradition they’ve observed with all three, and Zuko always looks forward to going to visit her family. The house is loud and chaotic, full to bursting with people, the exact opposite of his own lonely childhood. There is no posturing, and everyone loves and squabbles openly. On this particular visit, they have overlapped with Aang’s stay with Sokka and Suki, so Gran-Gran’s house is in even more of an uproar than usual by the time Zuko and Katara arrive.

Kya immediately dashes off to coo over her little cousins as they toddle around behind Pakku, pretending to be otter penguins. Satoshi runs to the kitchen to be showered in kisses and cookies from Gran-Gran. Hakoda finds them barely out of their parkas and already thoroughly abandoned.

“I could’ve sworn you had at least one other child,” he tells Katara, scratching his head as he pretends to search for his missing grandchildren. She laughs and hugs her father tight. Neither of them let go for long moments, and Zuko’s throat feels tight when he notices his father-in-law’s misty eyes. He looks down at Kallik, thinks of his other two children, and wonders for the thousandth time how Hakoda could ever forgive him for keeping Katara so far away. It’s why he hands his daughter over easily when her grandfather waggles his fingers expectantly and says, “Alright, give her here.”

Hakoda settles Kallik on his hip with practiced ease, and pulls Zuko into a brief hug with his free arm. “Good to see you, son.”

Zuko clears his throat. “You too,” he says, and Katara laughs softly at his awkward shuffling, amused by how he doesn’t know what to do with his hands without a baby in his arms. She answers his question by lacing their fingers together as she leads him deeper into the house to find her brother and their friends seated around the hearth fire watching the kids run around.

Hugs are exchanged all around, and Zuko settles into their familiar company. Hakoda joins them after taking Kallik to say hello to Gran-Gran and Pakku, and bounces the baby on his knee to make her laugh. Aang makes silly faces at her that have her letting out piercing giggles and reaching out to try and grab at the wooden beads of his necklace.

“Well clearly she’s bored of me,” Hakoda says, making to hand her off to her uncle. “Here you go -” Zuko leans over and intercepts.

“Oh no. No baby catapult,” he says, shaking his head.

Aang gives him a pout to rival Momo. “Come on, we’re indoors!” Katara clears her throat, and when Zuko glances over, her eyes are narrowed at him. With a sigh, he holds Kallik out to Aang.

“Fine. But I’m watching you.”

Extended family vacations to Ember Island always sound like a good idea to Katara. At first. When her husband is burnt out and aching, and the kids are climbing the walls, and she just wants to lie in the sun with a book, it seems like the cure for everything.

And then they arrive. Somehow, much like she forgets the excruciating pain of childbirth, she never recalls the onslaught of chaos and catastrophe that comes every vacation. Like the time Sokka got stung by a jelly-ray. Or the time Suki and Zuko got in a fight about disciplining each other’s kids. Or the time every single one of the kids managed to get sunburnt and couldn’t sleep. Every year, it’s always something, and somehow, it usually ends up being at least partially her problem to solve.

This year, though, is somehow turning out alright. They reach day three without major incident, and almost entirely without tears - a near miracle for a vacation involving five children under the age of ten.

“I’m almost done with my first book already,” she tells Zuko as they rock slowly in a hammock on the deck, whispering in hopes of keeping any listening spirits from knowing that she’s gotten her hopes up.

“Good, you deserve the break,” Zuko says. He looks on the verge of sleep despite the fact that the sun is still climbing in the sky. The dark circles beneath his eyes are already faded almost to nothing. She sighs happily and grabs her book, but before she can actually crack it open, she hears Toph cackling and her Mom Senses light up. Zuko calls after her in surprise as she leaves the hammock swaying wildly behind her, but she doesn’t look back on her way to the beach.

When she arrives, it is just in time to see Toph pick up Kallik, a wicked smile on her face. Sokka and Suki’s twins are further down the beach standing beside Aang, both of them jumping up and down with excitement, waiting for something.

“Go long, Twinkle Toes!” Katara’s eyes go wide, and faster than should be possible, she reaches them, yanking Kallik out of Toph’s hands. “Hey!”

“Absolutely not!” Katara says, scowling.

“I was gonna catch her!” Aang shouts. Katara shakes her head.

“This is not happening. No way.” Then, silently lamenting the loss of quiet time with her husband, Katara looks at the twins and asks, “Who wants to go get some ice cream?

At Zuko’s request, his birthday is not a big deal with his family. It’s a combination of the fact that the entire Fire Nation loses its mind about the day anyway, so he is all but forced to spend a day attending a festival in his honor, and the fact that he is used to his birthday being a marker of all the disappointments he has been in the past year. It is a long-standing compromise with his wife that she is allowed to throw him a small, family-only party, to be kept within the bounds of the garden. He enjoys the excuse to get everyone together without a barrage of meetings involved, and the rest of their family is so boisterous in comparison to him, he can almost forget that the day has anything to do with him at all.

For his thirtieth birthday, he makes the further concession of allowing Uncle to set up his new phonograph so there could be dancing. Zuko is manning the crank, watching Katara and Kya swing each other around while Aang sits next to him, flipping through the records looking for the right song.

“Do you have a request too?” Zuko hears him ask, and turns to see Kallik has toddled away from Uncle Iroh and approached the Avatar. She puts her hands on his knees and starts bouncing, flashing him a smile that shows all of her new teeth. “You want upsies?” Aang coos, and reaches to scoop her up by the armpits. Zuko clears his throat loudly, shooting Aang his best murder eyes, and the Avatar shrinks back into the collar of his robes a little. “What about dance party?” He lets Kallik grab onto his fingers and starts hopping around with her to the beat, hunched over and both of them giggling.

“Oh Uncle Aaaaang!” Kya sings, striding out into the garden where Appa has just landed. She has Kallik on her hip, and Satoshi follows along at her heels, excited to see Appa and Momo again. His pockets are already full of lychee nuts for his fuzzy friends.

“Hey guys!” Uncle Aang calls, his gangly arms waving excitedly. “Are you the welcoming committee now?” He lands in front of them on a gentle breeze, setting down his bag and grinning broadly.

“Mom and Dad are in a meeting,” Kya informs him. “But somebody wanted to go for a little flight.” She hitches the toddler higher and winks conspiratorially. “If you catch my drift.” Uncle Aang’s eyes go wide, and he looks between the kids with unease. Satoshi feels terror grip his throat. He knew his big sister was crazy, but would she really…?

“Oh I dunno, your Dad was pretty...adamant...that you all are grounded until further notice.” Satoshi lets out a sigh of relief.

“Dad’s in a meeting,” Kya reiterates, as though being in a meeting involves entering another dimension. She should know better, her brother thinks to himself. Mom and Dad always find out when they’re up to no good, and as the sibling who’s usually leading the charge into trouble, Kya should definitely have that figured out by now. Uncle Aang should absolutely know that by now, but with horor, Satoshi realizes that the Avatar is looking a little bit convinced. “And we’re not gonna tell on you,” she wheedles. Speak for yourself, Satoshi thinks, glancing around to see if there are any guards within earshot if he calls for their parents. Sadly, it seems nobody has realized that the Avatar requires careful supervision.

“Well…” Uncle Aang considers, then comes to his decision, smiling once again. “Alright, I guess one can’t hurt. Who’s going?”

Kya moves to offer Kallik to him, her tiny hands reaching out and making grabby motions. Satoshi’s world goes into slow-motion. There’s a roaring in his ears, and as if from outside his body, he hears his own voice say,

“I am.” Kya and Uncle Aang blink at him, stunned. Their uncle is the first to recover, and asks,

“Are you sure, kiddo? I mean, you weren’t the biggest fan when you were a baby…”

“I want to try again,” he makes himself say, despite his sweating palms. Uncle Aang grins and ruffles his hair.

“That’s the spirit! You get that from your dad.”

As his uncle’s hands grab him under the armpits, Satoshi hears Kya mutter, “It’s the self-sacrificing idiot gene,” and then he is gone. As he soars through the air, he wonders if maybe his body hasn’t even left the ground yet. He can’t feel anything. Maybe he just died of panic and this is just his soul taking off for the spirit world.

Then he reaches the height of his arc and starts plummeting back to Earth, and the sensation of all his internal organs rattling around asserts the fact that he is very much still alive and experiencing this. He closes his eyes before he gets anywhere close to the ground, so it comes as a surprise when he comes to a sudden stop, cradled briefly by robes smelling of hay and bison fur, before being deposited back on his feet.

“How’s the weather up there?” Uncle Aang asks him, patting him on the back. Satoshi doesn’t know what the weather was like. He doesn’t know anything except that solid ground beneath his feet may have replaced his mother’s hugs as his favorite feeling in the world. He meets Kya’s eyes, and sees from her horrified expression that he must look like as much of a husk of a child as he feels.

A quiet, affectless “Thank you,” is all that he can manage to say, and then he is wandering back into the palace, where he shoves his head into the nearest antique vase and screams.

“Psst.” A small sound behind him has Aang on alert. The Fire Nation Royal Palace hasn’t been a place of danger for years now, but with Toph and Sokka around, the probability of sneak attacks has risen a hundred fold. He doesn’t see anything though, and goes to turn back around, only to be caught by a surprisingly firm grip on his cape. About two feet below where he’d expected to find his assailant, Aang comes face to face with his youngest niece, Kallik. Her expression is the same determined furrow of the brow that Katara and Zuko have shared for so long it is impossible to tell which parent bestowed the trait on her. It has the eerie effect of summoning the terrifying force that is their combined will. Aang already knows that whatever she wants from him, he’s going to cave, and it will probably get him in trouble. “I hear you’re in the business of yeeting kids. I want in.”

Aang sighs. Zuko has been trying to prevent this day since the moment Aang met Kallik, and Kallik has been trying to evade her father’s overprotective tendencies since the moment of her existence. It is a battle Katara has elected not to fight, likely remembering her own impossible stubbornness and the futility of trying to stand against it. So it is with all of that knowledge that he says, “Okay.”

“Flameo!” Kallik cheers, punching at the air.

“Well ‘flameo’ was actually more of a greeting -”

“Let’s save the fun facts. I wanna fly.” With a creeping sense of dread, Aang follows the child pulling him along by the cape until they reach a courtyard. Kallik turns to face him, plants her feet, and rubs her palms together. “Alright,” she says, spreading her arms wide. “I’m ready.”

“Here we go...I guess,” Aang says, glancing over his shoulder as he reaches out to scoop her up by the armpits. The coast is clear, so he swings her around in circles a couple of times to get ready. As his niece starts to giggle, the garden blurs, and wind ruffles his robes, Aang feels the giddy anticipation of liftoff.

He hoists Kallik, up, up, up.

And then her momentum carries her out of his hands, and the wind that has built up around them propels her even higher. Her already small body shrinks until she looks more like the shadow of a bird in the night sky, clearing the palace roofs. A happy shriek pierces the air. Aang smiles, feeling her wonder as if it is his own. This is always the best part of someone’s first flight - witnessing them discover the wind anew - and while taking Air Acolytes to glide at the Northern Air Temple is fun, nothing compares to sharing this part of his culture with his nieces and nephews.

Kallik tumbles back into his arms, eyes wide with wonder, ecstatic grin plastered across her face. “Again!” she cries, the moment breath rushes back to her.

Aang laughs and holds her on his hip. As he always does, he asks, “How’s the weather up there?”

“The moon is huge! And I could see the whole city! And the ocean!” Kallik’s pudgy hands move in broad, sweeping gestures so similar to her mother’s bending as she speaks. He still remembers Katara’s delighted gasp the first time she flew, Toph’s bruising grip, Zuko’s shocked laugh. This moment, too, will be another piece of the Air Nomad legacy living on.

As Aang tosses Kallik yet again, Katara finds Zuko leaning against a pillar at the edge of the courtyard, watching. She approaches her husband, curious to find that he isn’t having a coronary at the sight of their daughter in freefall, and takes hold of his arm.

“You gonna yell at him?” she asks, feigning nonchalance. He doesn’t look away from them, but he is smiling, serene.

“Eh, she seems fine.”

#zutara #steambabies #zk fic #my writing

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heavensenthearty · 3 years

Note

I just saw a post that really rubbed me the wrong way. I’ll try to send it in a separate ask so that you choose to not publish the link if you don’t want to.

People do realize Zuko is a protagonist and “good guy” by the end of the series right? What is this obsession with claiming any version of Zuko that isn’t a total mess or asshole is OOC or “giving him Aang’s traits”? Maybe the problem isn’t Zuko fans erasing his bad qualities but other people erasing his good ones and highly exaggerating his bad ones because they’re bitter he’s the most popular character. Frankly even his “bad” qualities are debatable, like him “being an asshole” for breaking up with Mai by letter when him telling her the truth could get him killed. Or the main thing they care about, him yelling at Aang and not having an infinite amount of patience when the whole world is at stake. You know, sometimes being blunt or harsh is more valuable than artificial politeness. That doesn’t make you an asshole.

Anyway, Zuko is an amazing character and very much a good person. Us Zuko stans don’t need to change him to make him likable. He earned the spot of most popular character, he didn’t get there for shallow reasons like antis claim. No one should feel ashamed of saying they love him the most. That is a hill I’ll die on.

(Of course there are some ooc representations of Zuko in fanfic but that happens with EVERY character in every fandom. It’s not a unique phenomenon with just Zuko.)

Hey, A! Sorry that I took so long to answer your ask, I needed to gather my thoughts in something concise enough and after reading that post that you told me about I was left so...

... that it took me one hella lot of work.

I don't want to post the link because I don't want to reveal OP's identity and expose them to harassment, but there are A LOT of things to unpack in that post. I'll address them in parts:

People that subconsciously hate Zuko are like “I’ll just remove his asshole-ness [...]"

I think we all agree (Zuko included) that Book 1!him wouldn't earn a prize for Best Person of the Year, maybe not even Book 2!Zuko would, but I thought we also agreed that the entirety of his arc (his very, complete role in the show) was outgrowing that phase. That teenage phase. Every teenager has done assholish things at least once in their lives, even everybody's pretty princess/baddest bitch Azula when she told her friend Ty Lee that boys only chased her because she was being easy. And that was outside the context of actively fighting in a war.

I want to skip this part because I think the other points show OP's thinking method to so readily call Zuko an asshole at the slightest provocation.

People that subconsciously hate Zuko are like “I'll just remove [...] his anger issues [...] his instability in relationships [...] his hatred of being seen as weak [...]"

...

They realize all of that comes because of a lifetime of psychological, emotional and physical abuse, right?

People that subconsciously hate Zuko are like “I'll just remove [...] his insensitivity [...]"

Sure, because the guy who smiled after he gave an Earth Kingdom boy a free swordfighting lesson, who risked being discovered as a firebender just to light up some lanterns for a girl he just met, that expressed his condolences over the death of the mother of a girl who didn't even like him at the time, who told his abusive (I can't emphasize this enough) and ruler he had figured out the other nations hated them and they were right to do so; who spent the two Boiling Rock episodes fumbling with his words so he could come up with something comforting enough for Sokka, who did the same thing for Katara in the Southern Raiders and then respected her decision to let her mother's killer live even if he was angry at that man himself, who saved his uncle's sweaty, smelly sandal because he missed him; who then cried in front of Iroh because he was that much remorseful after betraying, and who then jumped in front of lightning to save one of his friends is insensitive. Right?

People that subconsciously hate Zuko are like “I'll just remove [...] his entitlement [...]"

...

Do they also realize a big part of Zuko's arc was feeling inadequate and unworthy and having a low self-esteem earning success by his own effort?

People that subconsciously hate Zuko are like “I'll just remove [...] his muscles [...]"

Listen, it's fine to not like a character for their design, but he literally went through a malnourishment phase when he was a fugitive. On screen.

People that subconsciously hate Zuko are like “I'll just remove [...] his ability to defend himself [...]”

Okay, first it was because he simply was fit, and now you hate him because he is a good fighter? 🤨

People that subconsciously hate Zuko are like “I'll just remove [...] his violent jealousy and TA-DA! A Zuko I can tolerate!”

People has articulated better than me why that scene was more complicated and telling about Zuko's mental health than him just "being jealous". The Beach episode as a whole is supposed to tell us how damaging life and unhappy his life at the Fire Nation has become for him, he tries to fit into groups of normal, spoiled teenagers (amongst which there is his own girlfriend) but he can't because he is not like them, he has gone through lots of hurtful and traumatic experiences. And now he is surrounded by people that has been openly ignoring or ridiculing him all day... amongst which there is his own girlfriend. His girlfriend that doesn't seem to enjoy his company at all, and who apparently prefers the one of a jock she just met that day.

One of the under-the-surface issues that are going on in that scene is that ever since they arrived at Ember Island, Mai has been awfully dismissive of Zuko, which is... okay, it's fair to assume he simply is not her type, then why is she dating him?

I don't know, you don't know, and Zuko doesn't know.

All he does is trying to do nice things for Mai and give her pretty gifts, and all she does is continue to reject him. Just like his father, just like his sister, just like his country, just like the Earth Kingdom.

Zuko is a person that has an awful lot of self-esteem issues, which they just happened to explode at that moment with Mai and that jock at the party, and that isn't a excuse for his behavior, but the construction towards that scene is for us, as an audience, to interpret it beyond him being jealous of a Fire Nation playboy.

*tired panting*

Okay, I think that is all with that post.

Now, about the rest of your ask. Personally, I limit myself to interact only with very few corners of the ATLA fandom, therefore I have little experience with certain types of antis and I can't form an appropriate opinion on them, but... it is for Zuko's good and bad qualities that he is such a good character. He is flawed and he is empathetic and he is reckless and he is human. Those are exactly the reasons why so many people during the ATLA renaissance try to put a claim over him and his sexuality and his arc. Because he is a relatable character and he has gone through universally relatable experiences, the ones that include doing bad things and outgrowing bad behaviours.

People act like only a certain type of person can identify with Zuko and therefore understand him the best, and that's not true. Like I said, he is universally relatable. He is a story about overcoming abuse and mental health issues, and there's nothing wrong with looking up to a character like that. And there's no reason to be bothered by antis, because relating to a character is a personal experience and nobody can interfere with it. So you don't have to be ashamed to say you like a character like Zuko because people has no right to tell you there is anything wrong with that.

#atla #zuko #avatar the last airbender #avatar the legend of aang #prince zuko #fire lord zuko #atla zuko #zuko atla #angel answers 🤍

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whentheynameyoujoy · 3 years

Text

So the ATLA Movie Is... Good, Actually?

Just kidding, of course it’s not, it’s so bad it sucked the paint off my walls. But after ten years of people pointing out its glaring flaws, why would anyone bother talking about this garbage heap if not to go the other direction? So here’s a very brief and very superficial list of things the movie does get kinda... not atrociously wrong.

And they won’t be fake hipster pokes, like “It’s fun to laugh at”, “The Rifftrax for this is OK”, or “Kudos to the actress for managing to say we believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in theirs with a straight face”.

(though now that I mentioned it, it is fun to laugh at, the Rifftrax for this is OK, and massive props indeed.)

Rasta Iroh

Yes, I know it’s not exactly the aesthetic of the real Iroh or that it makes no cultural sense for him to sport this do when no one else in the racebended Indian “OMFG what were you thinking Shyamalan” Nation does but goddamn, long-haired dudes are my one mortal weakness and I will ogle the hell out of him.

Jesus is that a man bun I see that’s it mum I’ve been deaded

Yue’s hair

No.

Now we’re talking. Yue’s hair turned white when the Moon spirit gave her life, so it makes sense for it to go black again when she sacrifices herself to revive the koi fish. It’s a neat detail I find myself expecting whenever I rewatch the scene in the show. Yes, I realize it’d be a pointless hassle to animate since she, unlike in the movie, immediately goes on to become the Moon herself but still. I like.

The Blue Spirit’s mop

Zuko, hun, what’s with the dance-off?

First of all, I want to imagine that Zuko the Theatre Nerd was about to leave his ship with just the mask like in the show but then stuck his head into the cleaning cupboard and went, “Yeah, more coverage might be good, even though it do seem mighty fried to shit”.

Which makes me giggle. I like to giggle.

And secondly, the hair’s movement is what makes the static mess of the Blue Spirit’s solo fight scene appear at least bit more dynamic because God knows the cinematography isn’t doing it.

Any particular reason why it’s at the edge of the action, shot all boring-like?

Now, I get why circular shots would be reserved for Aang while he’s in the practice area and then used once the two join forces. What I don’t get is why Aang’s part of the action scene has a defined visual style while Zuko’s delegated to a few stationary wide shots from afar as though he’s a tertiary goon, meaning that when the time comes to combine the respective pieces of cinema language and visually convey collaboration, there’s not really much to combine.

But as long as Zuko is stuck in this static mess, it’s that awesome disaster on his head flopping about that draws the eye, helping me understand that something even is going on over there.

It also prevents me from paying much attention to how the extras are mostly just staying put and a lot of the hits don’t land, so that’s good.

The music slaps

James Newton Howard is too good for this.

youtube

Pls ignore that the word “gods” is used in the ATLA universe

I can’t be the only one who constantly uses this piece to daydream about writing specific fanfic scenes instead of, you know, actually sitting down and writing them. It’s just so good at communicating a sense of sorrow while speaking of rebirth that I find myself getting misty-eyed whenever I listen to it. Unfailingly, the soundtrack as a whole manages to break through the mile-thick crust of horrible acting, confusing writing, and uninspired cinematography and make me feel things. And considering how everything on screen is working against it, that’s no small feat.

Imagine what a powerful experience it would be if the score was used in service of an actual movie.

Dev Patel

No wonder since he’s the only one in the film occupying that crucial intersection between “is a good actor” and “was given something to work with”. It also doesn’t hurt that he breaks with the trend of actors starring in martial arts flicks despite never having done any martial art.

And all EIP-jokes about “stiff and humorless” aside, he’s a pretty decent Zuko considering how abridged this version of the character is. A while ago, I remember hearing a reviewer say that with his comedic chops, Patel should have been cast as Sokka. And on one hand, yes, god, absolutely, I need to see that asap. But on the other? He captures all layers of Book 1!Zuko, the desperate obsession, rage, and self-loathing, and at the same time gives you a peek at the soft momma’s boy dork that’s buried underneath. For Christ sakes, he exudes intensity and ambivalence even when acting against an emotionless hunk of wood that’s giving him nothing in return.

Oh, and I guess there’s a tree in the frame.

Ba dum tss

What can I say, the guy’s good.

Showing vs telling

OK, so this movie is all tell and no show, except for one single moment. And it’s the exact moment where the original goes in the other direction in terms of how information is conveyed.

See, I never liked this. The revelation is preceded by Iroh giving advice to Zuko who scolds him for nagging. Iroh then apologizes, moves in to say the line above, and is interrupted by Zuko who seems rather uncomfortable with Iroh laying his feelings out like this. And once they’re out, Zuko verbally confirms that he knew already and Iroh didn’t need to bother.

All this extraneous information and pussyfooting ends up weakening what should be a profound scene that reveals to us, the viewers, how deep the relationship between these two in fact runs.

Compare to the movie where Dadroh acts like a parent by fussing and worrying, with Sonion needing a single look to tell him and us that he understands what it’s all really about.

It’s genuinely efficient and just good.

No Cataang

Fine, a bit mean-girl bitchy from me since I only start minding the ship in Book 3. And probably unintentional on the part of the creators since there are moments where I think they’re trying to set the romance up? There’s a, well, an attempt to recreate the famous introductory shot of fateful meaningful destiny of meaningness, there’s some slight note of saving each other’s bacon going on, I’m pretty sure they’re the only ones in the film who smile, and oh, right, Katara’s shoved into her post-canon useless role where she doesn’t ever do anything, and is all about Aang right from the get go.

Yes, I will blame the “executive producers” because a) I’m incredibly petty, and b) it’s perfectly in line with their vision of the character so why the hell not.

Hilariously, none of it reads on screen because the actors are just... yeah. These poor kids are struggling so much with delivering their own lines and portraying their own characters they don’t seem to have any strength left to create something between them. To be fair, the bare-bones shot-reverse shot style of their scenes doesn’t exactly lend itself to the idea they occupy the same universe, let alone are friends or each other’s crushes.

And I enjoy this immensely because it allows me to forget the depressing horror show Katara’s life turns into post ATLA.

Yes Zutara

I need to delve into this because it’s fucking hilarious. So in a movie which fails to establish the original’s central romance so spectacularly that if Aang got lost in a crowd I don’t believe Katara would notice, SomEOnE thought it’d be a good idea to add an utterly unnecessary non-canon moment where Zuko for some reason feels the need to pause his character-defining hunt for the Avatar which otherwise has him ignore everything and snap at everyone, and explain his central conflict to an unconscious peasant he doesn’t know, complete with gently pushing the hair from the pretty girl’s the soulmate’s the Water Tribe Ambassador’s the Fire Lady’s the love of his life’s her face away, AFTER his uncle nagged him twice to find a girl and settle down.

I just wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page and this is what we really saw.

Celibate Avatars

I have no idea why the decision was made, if TPTB thought expecting viewers to understand the story through the lens of Buddhism would be too much, or if the “executive producers” already worked their retconny magic. What I do know, however, is that there’s a big shift in worldbuilding and Aang’s struggle with his role as the Avatar stops being a personal conflict defined by a) his grief for Air Nomads, b) his notion of being robbed of the loved ones in his life, and c) the selfish attachment to Katara he confuses with true love. Instead, what he has a difficulty to accept is apparently a general notion of who Avatars are supposed to be, i.e. a fantasy version of Catholic monks, no family and worldly relations, period.

I guess either someone understood the original’s portrayal of de/attachment as “hermit no freaky”, or thought the audience would so why not go there outright.

Now, do I like this on its own? No, God no, it makes the world infinitely poorer and changes the story from an exploration of ideas which aren’t all that ingrained in the West, to a cliché tropester about a Catholic priest going Protestant so that he could be with a girl.

At least I assume that’s where they were going to take this eventually.

I mean, I think the direction was “look conflicted, this isn’t the final stage of your journey”?

But consider this—the show went there, it built on the concepts of Eastern philosophy and touched upon the ideas of spiritual awakening, only to swerve in the end and strongly imply they’re bullshit and Aang should have never wasted his time with them.

So honestly, I much prefer scanty worldbuilding to an insulting retcon by a damn rock.

Multiracial Air Nomads

Probably the most substantial “no hint of irony” point on this list and a genuinely good addition to the universe’s worldbuilding.

See, the notion of the elemental nations being perfectly separate and never mingling before Sozin has always been sketchy but it’s especially ridiculous in the case of airbenders. It never made sense to me for all airbenders to be Air Nomads and for all Air Nomads to be monks and for all monks to be chilling at the temples all the time to facilitate a quick everyone-dies genocide should an imperialistic warlord ever decide to commit one.

Because committing everyone to a single way of life at a handful of places kinda goes against the central philosophy behind airbending. Like the freedom and nomadism part.

Instead, there should be more variety to the airbending culture, with some staying at the temples as monks, hermits, and teachers while others live as nomads, travelling the world and creating more airbenders, with the resulting children in turn being influenced by the non-airbending cultures they grew up in.

And thus, not only should airbenders not be modeled after a single culture to create a one-size-fits-all lifestyle, but they should have the most diverse and dynamic culture out of the four nations.

And it’d be precisely this diversity which would pave way for an eventual reveal that some of them survived, that their complete extermination is impossible.

Because they’re everywhere.

You know.

Like air.

#atla #atla movie #zutara #anti bryke #dev patel #the last airbender #anti-kataang

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soopersara · 2 years

Text

NaNoWriMo 2021: Day 19

1776 words written today 53318 words written total (goal: 31673 words)

Milestones: Finished drafting Chapter 71 of A Tale of Ice and Smoke! Twice. Which probably doesn’t make any sense at all, but basically, I had written the end of the scene that I thought was going to be the end of 71, then I looked at my outline, realized that it made more sense if I bumped the freshly-finished scene to the beginning of the next chapter and bumped up a different scene, so... several hours later, I have the second attempt at ending the chapter done.

Also, I’m internally screaming because GUYS!!!! I’m officially at the finale! Which certainly doesn’t meant that Book 1 is done, because it’s going to be a multi-part finale, and for all I know, that could stretch out to be SUPER long, but still. The endgame for Book 1 has begun!

Which may make it more difficult to share sneak peeks for the rest of the month, but have two small-ish ones for today!

Sneak Peek: Beware spoilery material below the cut!

"Really, you're the only person I can’t stand up here."

"Wow, what a coincidence," Sokka said dryly. "I was about to say the same thing to you."

There was a near deafening squawk from the tent, and Zuko groaned, glancing back that way. Frog Face poked its weird, fluffy head out around the corner, then hopped behind one of the stakes and crouched down behind it like the stake was big enough to conceal the whole bird. Which it definitely was not.

Sokka snorted. "How does motherhood feel when your kid's an actual bird brain?"

That earned him an impressive scowl. "Shut up."

"It's a serious question."

"I thought you had important things to do back in the city."

Damn it. Sokka had said that, hadn't he? Well, he did have important things to do. Just not right now. Or today in general. Really, the only thing he had to do, aside from talking to Zuko was getting back to the house before Aang or Katara realized that he'd been out here.

Sokka stuck his nose up in the air. "As a matter of fact, I do. But first, you've got to promise me that you won't tell Katara that you talked to me about this."

Zuko made a face. "Believe me, the sooner I can forget this whole conversation, the happier I'll be."

“Would you try teaching me to warm myself up? Just in case?”

He nodded. “Of course I’ll try.”

She grinned and scooted just a little closer to him. It seemed almost impossible, but in the light of midday, her smile was possibly even brighter than he’d ever seen it before. “So how do I start? What do I need to do first?”

Zuko gave her his gravest expression. “The first thing you need to do,” he began, almost mimicking Uncle’s tone, “is meditate and focus on your breathing until you find a connection with your inner flame.”

Her excitement faded, and she dropped her head into her hands. “Zuko. That’s not very helpful.”

He couldn’t help it. Though it was small, though it was short, though he bit it back as quickly as he possibly could, a laugh escaped him. “Sorry, but I’m not sure what else I’m supposed to tell you. It’s pretty hard to use your firebending for things like that if you can’t access your firebending.”

She peered up at him between her fingers, gaze lingering just long enough to be almost uncomfortable.

His face warmed. “Um—what is it?”

“I just—I was about to say that it’s rude to laugh at me, but I just realized that I can’t remember ever hearing your laugh before.”

#nanowrimo #soopersara's nano updates #zutara #A Tale of Ice and Smoke

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sukkatherapy · 3 years

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💙{SUKKA PLAYLIST}💚

So in my fandom career, one of the first stages of commitment to a ship is dedicating a music playlist to them. As you may have guessed, Sukka is no exception.

Out of all the playlists I've made, Sukka's was definitely the most fun to make, as they are just so aesthetically pleasing. 🤧

I have 11 songs total and I recommend copying the songs and insert them into a playlist on whatever music service you use.

Good Times ~All Time Low

(you can see my post for this song here)

{"I never wanna leave this sunset town, but one day the time may come. And I'll take it at your word, and carry on. I'll hate the goodbye, but I wont forget the good times."}

Reread those lyrics. I dare you to tell me that isn't the fire nation attack scene in "The Warriors of Kyoshi".

Desert Moon ~ Mena Massoud & Naomi Scott

{"'Cause it waits for you there, and if you see it too, I can find my way to you."}

So the graphics I vision for this song are sorta based around Book 3 Sukka. I headcanon that Sokka would look up to Yue for reassurance when feeling lost, such as when Suki was imprisoned and he had no idea where she was. Also, post-Book 3 when they are in their long distance relationship, I know they would miss each other like crazy. Something I see comforting them is the fact that they see the same moon.

White Horse ~ Taylor Swift

{"I was a dreamer before you went and let me down, now its too late for you and your white horse to come around."}

{"And there you are on your knees. Begging for forgiveness, begging for me."}

Now we all know Suki is our resident independent- badass- queen who doesn't need anyone to look out for her, especially a man. I thought that this song was a good parallel to when she was fed up with Sokka's sexist bs in "The Warriors of Kyoshi". Like I can imagine her having to hear this from so many people around her growing up, and to hear it from someone she showed interest in must be disappointing. Not a super happy rec, but a necessary one nonetheless.

Even When/ The Best Part ~ Olivia Rodrigo & Joshua Basset

{"The best part is knowing there's something in my dreams that always makes me smile, its you. The best part is knowing there's someone in my life that makes it all worth while, its you."}

{"Even when you and I are worlds apart, I hold you in my heart. Even when I'm a thousand miles away, I wish that I could stay with you."}

So oddly enough, I actually find enjoyment in 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series'. But in the scene, the main couple sang this to each other when they couldn't be together for Valentine's day, and when I first heard it, my head immediately went to Sokka and Suki. Seeing that they had a long distance relationship for a decent amount of time and have many individual responsibilities, they are bound to miss some holidays and events. But even through that, they know they are the most important parts of each others lives.

Like I'm Gonna Lose You ~ Meghan Trainor & John Legend

{"So I'll kiss you longer babe, every chance that I get. I'll make the most of the minutes and love with no regret. Let's take our time to say what we want, use what we got before its all gone. 'Cause no, we're not promised tomorrow."}

I really love this song for them because after losing Yue, Sokka came to appreciate time, and didn't want to waste a moment with Suki. He realized that death can be sudden and real, which was why he was so protective of Suki during 'The Serpent's Pass'.

If I Can't Be With You ~ R5

{"I'd rather stay with you, if I had to choose. Baby you're the greatest, and I got everything to lose. And I just wanna be with you. And I can never get enough. Baby, give it all up I'd give it all up, if I cant be with you."}

I thought this song fit really well, and this lyric in particular reminds me of the failed escape attempt in 'The Boiling Rock Pt. 1'. Suki was willing to give up the concept of freedom if it meant staying to wait for Hakoda with Sokka.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Ed Sheeran

{"'Cause, honey, your soul could never grow old, it's evergreen. And, baby, your smile's forever in my mind and memory. I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways. And maybe it's all part of a plan. Well, I'll just keep on making the same mistakes, hoping that you'll understand.

That, baby, now take me into your loving arms. Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars. Place your head on my beating heart. I'm thinking out loud, and maybe we found love right where we are."}

Another headcanon service. I can just picture them leisurely dancing to this in the living room when they're married.

Stuck With You ~ Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber

{"So, go ahead and drive me insane. Baby, run your mouth, I still wouldn't change being stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with you."}

I thought this would be a good choice because as we see in the show, Suki will humor Sokka's jokes every once in a while versus just brushing them off. I can also see her being like "Hmm, you're an idiot, but I love it. I'm keeping you."

Gotta Find You ~ Joe Jonas

{"I need to try to get to where you are. Could it be you're not that far? You're the voice I hear inside my head, the reason that I'm singing. I need to find you, I gotta find you."}

Enough said.👏

Lift Me Up ~ The Afters

{"You know my heart is heavy, and the hurt is deep. But when I feel like giving up, you're reminding me. That we all fall down sometimes, When I hit the ground,

You lift me up when I am weak, your arms wrap around me. Your love catches me, so I'm letting go. You lift me up when I can't see, your heart's all that I need. Your love carries me, so I'm letting go."}

So I really love this song and feel that it could be used for literally any atla ship or even atla as a whole, due to the theme and aesthetic (might mess around and make an edit😏). One of my favorite things about Sukka is how supportive they are of each other, and how easily they make each other happy. They've seen each other at low points, they've been on death row, but through that they were still there cheering each other on.

Lucky ~ Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat

{"They don't know how long it takes, waiting for a love like this. Every time we say goodbye, I wish we had one more kiss. I'll wait for you, I promise you, I will."}

I think this pretty much sums up their time together during 'The Serpent's Pass'. They were apart for so long-and with the war, had no reason to really believe they'd see each other again. But then by chance they were brought together again, revealed their feelings, only to have to split up again. But through that, they didn't let the distance bother them, as they stayed committed to each other.

{"Lucky we're in love in every way. Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed. Lucky to be coming home someday."}

Well, we all know they're hopelessly in love, but I feel like this highlights one of the most important aspects of them; no matter how long or far apart they are, they always come running home to each other.

Well that was defiantly a doozy😅. Thanks to those who stuck around this far!

#sukka #sokka x suki #sokka #suki #atla #avatar the last airbender

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tehfabbooty · 4 years

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Jealous Part 1

My first attempt at a Zuko X Reader and an ATLA fanfic. I just love the idea of a jealous dom Zuko. 😍

*Takes place book 3 after Zuko gains their trust, made up an island*

........

"Sokka you literally ate twenty minutes ago."

You looked over to where Katara and Sokka sat, Sokka leaning over the saddle on Appa's back, grumbling about being hungry and glaring into the sky.

"Well I'm sorry, but can't a growing boy have needs?"he demanded, turning around to glare at his sister.

"Sokka, you almost ate the food meant for Momo and Appa,"Katara argued back.

"Ugh, chill out waterboy, before I make you a special kind of food,"Toph threatened.

Sokka perked up joyfully. His eyes were huge as he excitedly asked, "Really?? What is it?"

The blind earthbender grinned. "A nice, tasty delicacy I make for people all the time called a ROCK CAKE!"

You burst into giggles from your corner of the saddle while Sokka's face went from drooping in disappointment to a quick glare in your direction.

You didn't know this, but Zuko was smiling to himself as he steered the bison next to Aang. He had a huge thing for you, and hearing you laugh was one of his favorite sounds. So when he got to hear it, he revelled in it, letting your music-like laugh be the only thing he focused on. Secretly.

Which was a good thing he wasn't the only pilot considering you laughed often. Otherwise they all would have been completely lost.

Which is also why Aang usually offered to sit with him. He knew of his crush on you, no matter how hard Zuko tried to hide it. Aang noticed the signs real quick, considering Aang was going through the same thing with Katara. But he didn't dare tease him for it just yet. He didn't feel like falling off Appa anytime today. But he did plan on talking to Zuko about it later, just to try to give him some advice.

It was evening by the time the group arrived at a place called Kuidaore Island. Apparently, according to Sokka's research, Kuidaore Island was said to be one of the finer islands in all of the nations. The city was known to have anything and everything you could want, from clothing to goods to food to pets. So of course Sokka begged to take a small vacation there.

Softly landing Appa on a nice flat area of grass a few miles outside city limits, the gaang slid off of Appa's back and unpacked their things, setting up camp for the night.

As you wrestled to get your sleeping bag unhooked off the saddle, your foot started to slip and you started to fall off the bison's back.

"Shit!"you cursed, thinking you did so under your breath.

But Zuko was in earshot. He ran over from his spot around the campfire and caught you just as you let go of the sleeping bag, landing bridal style in his arms.

It knocked the wind out of you for a second. But just as you were about to say thanks, you lost your breath again when you realized who had caught you and was still holding you.

And staring into your gorgeous e/c eyes with his own golden ones.

Thank God it's getting dark, you thought as your face blushed furiously.

"T-thanks, Zuko,"you stammered as he slowly set you to your feet.

He didn't say anything. He was still staring at you.

And you didn't mind at all.

You stared back into his eyes, but before more could happen, Sokka shouted angrily, "MOMO! DID YOU EAT MY LEFTOVER BLUEBERRIES I SAVED FOR TONIGHT??"

Startled, you tore your eyes away to watch Sokka holding an empty bag upside down in front of the animal while glaring down at him, one hand on his hip like he was a scolding parent.

Giggling, you watched Momo chirp and rush off to hide in Appa's fur while Sokka groaned frutratedly.

"Well I guess we need to go find some food then,"you giggled, not noticing the death glare Zuko was shooting at Sokka.

Zuko softened his face before turning to you and saying, "Oh, uh, yeah. Would you like some, uh, company?"

You smiled st him, laughter still etched into your features. "Of course. I love your company."

Zuko smirked back, the green-eyed monster inside him relaxing a little, loving your words and your smile at him.

Later, after dinner, the gaang huddled around the fire again to discuss the next day's plans.

"Okay,"Sokka began. "To go proper food hunting - sorry Zuko and Y/N, but a few squirrels isn't going to cut it - we need to start here. This is where all their best food is made from what I have read." He pointed to a spot on the map he had found awhile ago.

Katara scoffed and rolled her eyes while crossing her arms, a smirk on her mouth. "Can't you think of anything but food, dear brother? It's like right after helping Aang defeat the fire lord, your second priority is finding something to fill your stomach."

Sokka opened his mouth to retort, but quickly closed it again, knowing she was right.

Aang piped up then. "Why don't we all split up and explore certain parts of this place?"

"I don't know, Aang. We are still sort of wanted by the Fire Nation...,"Katara said worriedly.

"Then we can find disguises. I think there are some houses outside the city we can scavenge,"Toph suggested.

"True. But isn't Kuidaore more of an earthbender's city? You'd be fine Toph with your clothes. But we would definitely have to change your hair and take out the hairband,"you replied.

"What? What's wrong with my hair?"Toph demanded, offended.

"Nothing! Just that if those guys are still hunting you, you need to not be so recognizable. Maybe change some things,"you said quickly.

As the group discussed tactics and how to make Toph unrecognizable, Zuko zoned out of it altogether as he watched you talking animatedly in the conversation. He loved the way your hair flowed down your back, how your nose and eyebrows scrunched up in thought. He loved the way the sunset threw lighting in all the right places, making your gorgeous eyes sparkle.

Meanwhile, across the fire, Aang noticed Zuko watching you and grinned to himself. He loved seeing his now-best friend being himself and finding happiness. Even if that happiness hasn't completely occurred yet. But in time it will, Aang will make sure of it.

Finally, the conversation started to end as the light of the sun faded away. You stood up and stretched, yawning.

"Well I think I'm gonna call it a night. Goodnight guys. See you in the morning,"you announced as you walked back to your sleeping bag, which laid next to Appa.

Finally, Aang thought. He jumped to his feet as everyone dispersed to their beds. He watched Zuko head off towards a tree to lay down, and followed him

"Hey buddy. Can I talk to you for a minute?"Aang asked as innocently as possible.

Zuko groaned to himself. He was so tired. He needed sleep.

But he turned himself to face the avatar, allowing a polite smile to adorn his face. "Uh, sure. What's up?"

"Uhh, come with me. So the others can't hear."

Zuko followed Aang away from the campsite and more towards the trees. As soon as Aang deemed it safe, he turned to his firebending teacher.

"So uh, I noticed you're madly in love with Y/N,"Aang began awkwardly. He was so terrible at starting conversations about awkward topics.

Zuko's eyes bulged out of his head. "Uhh, what? I-I-I don't know what you're, uh, talking about,"he lied, face going pale as the moon.

Aang laughed, earning himself a glare. He held his hands up in surrender. "Relax. I'm not going to tell her, I swear. I just wanted to, uh, kinda give you advice on a few things."

Zuko's eyebrow shot up. Aang, a twelve year old boy, - granted, he was born a hundred years ago - giving Zuko, a sixteen year old, advice on dating?

He chuckled. "Yeah, like what?"he asked, his arms crossed while smirking.

"I'm serious! I really do have some tips!"Aang shot back. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, you're going through the same thing I am right now and that's why I noticed and no one else did."

The fire prince's eyes squinted in confusion."You are? With who?"he asked curiously, his arms falling to his sides.

Aang nervously scratched the back of his neck. "That's, uh, not important -"he began, but Zuko snorted.

"Oh so you can pry into my love life and I can't do the same to you?"

Aang groaned. Running a hand down his face, he admitted, "Katara. I love Katara. Happy?"

Grinning, Zuko answered in his smartass tone, "I never am."

Aang laughed, then wiggled his eyebrows at him, saying, "But you are now, aren't you? I see the way you look at her."

His face reddened. "Y-yeah, she makes me happy. I really love her, Aang."

Aang smiled. "See? Not that hard to say out loud. But you want to be careful."

Zuko's golden eyes shot back to Aang's. "With what?"

Aang sighed before looking away. "Make sure it's the right time. And by that I mean, don't push her into anything, like making a decision. Your best bet is probably after the war, since our focus is on defeating your father. You don't want to confuse her and distract her from the task at hand, which could ultimately get her, you, or all of us killed."

Zuko nodded in understanding. "You, uh, wanna talk about it?"he asked awkwardly.

Aang shook his head. "Nah. I'm okay. Just remember what I said though."

The fire prince bowed in respect to the avatar. "Thank you, Aang."

Aang started to turn back, but spun around quickly again to add, "Oh by the way though. I'm 99% positive she's into you too." He winked and skipped away, leaving a blushing firebender to stare after him.

#zuko #zuko x oc #atla #atla zuko #zuko x reader #jealous zuko #jealous #fanfiction #jealous!zuko x reader

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kigozula · 3 years

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A Sokkla Fic inspired by the Story of Jake Long & Rose from American Dragon. Sokka finds out who is Love really is and an adventure is beginning. Will Azula and Sokka be able to live their love?

Chapter 1

She was strong as always and her eyes didn't make it easier for him. Those beautiful eyes.

Ever since he officially found out who she is, he kept losing the fights against the clan. It felt out of his control. He has always been weak when it came to her. That girl he is interested in, since the first time he met her.

They barely talked in battles. He especially stopped talking since he didn't want her to know who he is.

His friends had warned him several times that the likelihood that Azula was the Huntsgirl was extremely high. Though part of him thought so too, he tried to push away those possibilities and just ignore. He was afraid to put mountains between her and himself.

But her eyes could be seen. The rest of her face was covered. Only her ponytail and her eyes were visible. The Huntsclan were wearing matching suits. Only the Huntsmaster, the leader of the Huntsclan, had a different suit. He was always wearing a cape and a helmet resembling the head of an animal.

Suddenly the earth beneath their feet began shaking. They stopped fighting for a moment. A landslide. The earth was sliding down from the mountain and they had to act quickly. Sokka instinctively ran towards Azula to save her from the landslide. Both fell down, but what mattered was that they were save now.

"What is this now?" Azula stood up with difficulty. "Who do you think you are? Are you a superhero saving his enemy to make friends? Forget it!"

Sokka didn't say anything.

"I am Huntsgirl! I will have to end you someday. This is my goal Water Fighter!" she said with determination.

They heard the rest of the clan coming and Sokka ran to his fighters.

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She was putting her books in order when she saw him standing at the end of the hall. She smiled and walked up to him.

"Hey Sokka, sorry I couldn't join the learning session yesterday. My uncle needed my help." she said.

Sokka gave her a sad smile. "That's okay, I had other things to do as well."

The school bell rang. "I should be going now." And with that he turned around and walked to his classroom.

He still looked lovingly at her, but she sensed something bad. It seemed like the shyness and excitement in his eyes were replaced by sadness. He didn't approach or talk to her as he used to. Instead, he looked at her from afar and turned around when she saw him. As if they were completely strangers to each other.

Azula looked at the direction where he was standing seconds ago.

Did he lose interest?

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Azula and Sokka went to the Fire Nation Academy. They were on the same grade. Sokka immediately had a crush on Azula when he first saw her. She liked him too.

He became a bundle of nerves near her and could never gather himself to ask her out. Every time he was close to be brave enough, Chan, the rich boy of their school would pop out, ruin the moment and start flirting with Azula. His attitude made Sokka boil in anger.

Due to a school project, they had the opportunity to meet outside of the school. Both were excited. But their meeting was not ideal since both had their obligations. Their secret identities.

The Huntsgirl and the Water Fighter.

The Huntsclan and the Water Fighters were enemies. The Huntsclan, leaded by the Huntsmaster named Zhao, wanted power. Their first goal to gain that said power was to eliminate their biggest enemies.

The Water Fighters started as a small group in the Fire Nation, to protect people in their town from any harm. They grew more and more. They didn't have an official leader, but Hakoda was in charge of Sokka. He trained him and was like a teacher for him. As time went by, Sokka became a capable fighter. He led his group quite often.

The Water Fighters were completely covered while fighting. Only a narrow slit could be seen on the mask. You'd have to get very close to even see the eyes.

Unbeknownst in the beginning, Azula and Sokka were in truth enemies fighting against each other. But Sokka found it out someday. Since then, the energy between Azula and Sokka, as well as Huntsgirl and the Water Fighter changed. Sokka couldn't reach his full potential when he was fighting against the Huntsclan when Huntsgirl was there. Which was slightly becoming a problem. In school, he was just the sad boy looking lovingly and hopeless at the girl he fell in love with. Trying hard to stay away from her…

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"Sokka, stop sulking already she is the enemy! Accept that. She would kill you without hesitation!" Toph said.

"Lu Ten told us that the big hunt is tomorrow. It's only a matter of time for her to find out who you are." Haru added.

"I know. I know." Sokka said while walking home. "That's exactly what I'm fearing. If she finds it out, I won't see her smiling at me ever again."

Coming home, he went to bed early. Tomorrow was a ritual named "The Big Hunt". He didn't know the exact details of how it worked and he didn't feel like thinking about it either. He lay on his bed and looked at the ceiling with bleary eyes. They had shared some good moments together. He called back their memory of how they tried to practice for the school theater...

"The Dragon Princess and the Dragon Prince!" the teacher explained. "I have chosen two talented classmates, because it has the highest priority for our art education on our great academy."

"Azula will be our Dragon Princess and the perfect Dragon Prince is: Sokka!"

Sokka almost fell from his chair. Full of enthusiasm he looked at Azula, who smiled back at him. How did the teacher think of him as talented when it came to a theater play? He didn't know but he didn't care either. What mattered was, that he could spend time with Azula.

"Yes! Uhm, I mean yeah for sure. I will be the best Dragon Prince." he said. Fact was, that he had little trust in himself when it came to acting. But he would never waste a chance to be close to Azula.

"I have no qualms about that. Your friends have said that you are passionate when it comes to art." said the teacher smiling.

Sokka looked at his left finding his friends smiling nervously at him. He would thank them for their kindness for sure. Toph and Haru were the best friends he could imagine.

Azula and Sokka had met at the Tea Shop which belonged Lu Ten and his father that afternoon. He was nervous, in love, and sweet. She on the other hand tried to stay professional and focused on the script.

"I assume you know the famous story of the Dragon Princess and the Dragon Prince?" she asked him.

"Uh, yeah of course I do!" he smiled at her. He didn't know the full tale.

Azula was aware of how often he tried to lie to her to seem cool. She didn't think it was necessary but never complained. If, then it flattered her a little to know that he tried to be 'better' for her in everything. But she liked him the way he was, although she would never say it out loud.

"The teacher mentioned that act number nine is the most important one. So, I would suggest for us to start practicing with that part." Azula told him.

"Yes let's begin with it!" Until he realized what that meant.

"What!? Act number nine? You mean that act with..."

"If it's okay for you of course." Azula replied.

The Dragon Princess and the Dragon Prince would kiss in that act. Of course, Sokka would be the happiest if he kissed Azula, but he was nervous. Extremely nervous because he never expected so much of their meeting. But he needed to collect himself. There was absolutely no one he would or could do this with. If it would be another girl, he wouldn't even accept the role. He wanted to share every special experience with Azula and only with Azula.

Azula on the other hand didn't seem nervous at all. On the outside at least. She was also a bit unsure, if not as much as Sokka. She would not do that if it would be someone else, but she didn't want him to know that yet.

"Of course, it is, hehe, I mean of course I am... I am experienced in kissing!" he said and had a small flashback of his 'experiences'.

"Good night mommy!" said little Sokka and pressed a kiss to his mother's cheek. "Good night my love." replied his mother.

"This is your little sister Sokka." his parents said. "I love you Katara and I will always protect you from bad guys!" he told his baby sister in his arms and gave her a kiss on her tiny hand.

"Hello Teddy, I missed you!" and gave his favorite toy a kiss.

After practicing the beginning of the act they finally reached to scene in which they would kiss.

They put the script aside and looked into each other's eyes.

Sokka's mind was exploding. “It's just a kiss Sokka, it's just a kiss. Just a kiss with the girl you love. Calm down boy you can do that.”

Yet when he was looking into her eyes, his nervousness started to fade away.

Their faces started nearing each other and Azula closed her eyes. Just as he was about to close his too and press his lips onto hers, an unexpected guest rushed to them.

"Sokka! You have to come!" said Lu Ten.

At the same time, Azula saw a hawk waiting at the window. She knew her Uncle, the Huntsmaster was calling her.

That was it with their first kiss. It ended before it started.

The theater play didn't take place either because Azula had 'family responsibilities'. Today he understood what those responsibilities really had been.

He fell asleep while thinking about every moment with her.

#sokkla #azula #sokka #sokkla fic #my love my enemy

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volkswagonblues · 3 years

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(part 4/?) deleted scene from firebender’s guide: Sokka and Toph invent proto-braille

[note: going through my old drafts and realized i have a LOT of deleted scenes and materials from firebenders’s guide that got cut for pacing/plot reasons. Here’s a scene that was cut because I just could not cram any more stuff into the already long epilogue. I was very, very sad about it, because this was also the hilarious conclusion to a 90k long running gag]

“What’s that on your desk?” Zuko asked. He pointed to an open box, inside where sheets of thin metal and a tiny hammer and stylus.

“Oh, this?” Sokka pulled out one of the sheets. “This is Wager for the Water Maiden.”

He handed it to Zuko. The sheet of metal was embossed with rows of tiny characters, and Zuko ran a hand along a row, feeling the tiny ridges and indentations under the pad of a fingertip. A small mystery was revealing itself to him.

“I just have one question,” he said.

Sokka nodded eagerly; he looked so pleased with himself that the effort of holding it back was making him burst at the seams.

“I don’t understand...” Zuko said slowly.

Sokka leaped up. “Let me explain—”

“It’s a writing system,” Zuko interrupted, and stifled a smile when Sokka deflated like a punctured airship. “That’s what I’m guessing. A writing system that a metalbender can read, though, there’s no reason a non-bender couldn’t. The only thing I don’t understand is, wouldn’t it be faster to use some sort of chemical etching to score the metal? Rather than embossing it dot-by-dot by hand?”

Sokka pouted. “What’s the point of inventing genius contraptions if you don’t even get the chance to explain them?

[rest under cut]

“I apologize,” Zuko said, and mock-bowed. “Please elucidate, Sifu Sokka. If you want I can pretend like that I have no idea.”

“It’s not the same,” Sokka said, still pouting, “but to answer your question, Toph says it takes too much concentration to read acid etchings, and she says they feel kinda blurry to her. Something physical and tactile creates the best experience. I experimented by just tracing the characters, but that’s too time-consuming and not worth the effort. ”

“As opposed to using dots?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m sure that completely negates the effort of copying out a whole novel by hand,” Zuko said drily, and Sokka laughed out loud.

“I don’t do it all in one go. I’m copying it in monthly instalments, and then I send it to Toph along with my letter. We’re almost done Wager now, and for our next read I think I’m going to suggest some poetry. ”

Zuko studied the sheet of metal again. The dots look indecipherable to him, not like any script that he’d ever known – which means that, in addition to coming up with the idea of using a tactile medium for transmitting writing, Sokka and Toph must have worked out a whole system of making characters correspond to these tiny dots. It must have taken months of work. Years. He never asked Toph what she did in her time between illegal bending tournaments and wandering around the Earth Kingdom, picking up random students. He never thought she’d be interested in books, or reading, or anything to do with the softer side of human emotions, certainly nothing like romance.

But they had all changed, hadn’t they, since the end of the war? As much as Zuko felt like he could never escape it, other people had. Toph was about eighteen now, she wouldn’t be a child forever. She had the rest of her adult life to develop other interests. She would not stay a child forever.

He put the sheet of metal gently back into its box. “Incredible.”

Sokka gave him a shy, beaming smile. “Toph had the idea first, actually. And it’s not too difficult once you get into the rhythm of copying. My handwriting is bad, but not as bad as my drawing. Making dots is easier, actually.”

“Right,” Zuko said. “Sure, that’s great and all, but what I meant was, I always suspected that Toph and her “I only write to one person a month” excuse was a lie. It’s incredible you kept it from us all this long. How long has this monthly book club been going on between you two?”

He got a punch on the arm for that: proof that Toph’s influence was spreading.

“Oh, Aang and Suki both know about that we write regular letters,” Sokka said lightly. “It’s only you and Katara who believe that.”

“What?”

“No offence, but have you ever met yourself? She’ll never get up to anything fun if you two hear about it first.”

for more:

deleted scene 1: in which Zuko meets another firebender in the South Pole (here)

deleted scene 2: in which the boys discuss PTSD and therapy, and also Sokka is a stuff-gremlin (here)

deleted scene 3: Zuko and Iroh and their time in Ba Sing Se, and also Zuko has a feud going with his 80yo neighbour (here)

#Avatar The Last Airbender #zukka #my fic #thefirebendersguidetolivingLAD

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mmos-s · 4 years

Text

HIRAETH (zuko x reader) CH.1

Summary: fireman captured and is confused

CH.1 CH.2 CH.3 CH.4 CH.5

Zuko couldn’t remember a thing. All he knows is that it’s dark and cold, extremely cold. Every time he’d draw in a breath he felt like his lungs were being pierced by icicles. The place reminded him of the ‘Cooler’ from the Boiling Rock prison.

He’d wondered how long he’d been here for. Zuko remembered falling in and out of consciousness ever since he’d gotten here so he didn’t really trust the timeline he was trying to construct in his head. This is what he had so far:

Being with Sokka in an odd water tribe village, it was the middle of the day and the sun was out but Zuko remembered still feeling no warmth. That’s the thing he hated about most water tribes.

Sokka had turned around to look at what some merchant was selling.

Sokka started to bargain with the merchant.

Then things started to get foggy and Sokka had brought him to another booth.

Two more booths and everything seemed to get fuzzy.

That’s 5 things.

Great.

Zuko was growing tired of being chained up, his wrists were growing numb. The pole he was tied to was digging into his back. He tried melting them with bending since he thought they might’ve been ice but that didn’t work. Wow the prince of the Fire Nation can’t melt ice, shocking.

Zuko groaned for what felt like the fiftieth time and finally came to the conclusion that bending was not helping.

He decided to do something that could actually help him, look around. From what he could gather the walls were caving in around him. He guessed he was tied up in the middle of the room because he couldn’t see the back of it. There were no windows and it felt stuffy. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark and he began to notice even more things. Piles of papers were strewn on the floor, maps, notes, some were pages ripped out from history books. Used candles were all over the floor and puddles of ink could be found each time Zuko found crumpled up paper and a broken writing brush. Some things were hung onto the walls with ice picks, it took him awhile to make them out but when he finally did his heart sank.

Wanted posters.

There were wanted posters of Aang, Toph, Sokka, Katara, Appa, there was even one of his uncles except it was ripped like the other half was missing or something. And lots of others, though he either couldn’t make them out or didn’t recognize the faces. Zuko looked to the other side of the room and started to feel more dread setting in.

He found the other half of his uncle’s wanted poster. It was his picture, an old one but still his(oh spirits,,, who let him walk around with that haircut). A big circle of ink surrounded it along with a bunch of arrows pointed at his face. If things couldn’t get any shittier another huge arrow pointed towards another picture of him. Well not necessarily of him but the Blue Spirit. In big messy lettering, it read, “THE SAME”.

If it wasn’t so obvious Zuko would have guessed that he probably pissed this person off to a great extent. He got to thinking, who’s he angered lately? He sighed, he hated how long the list was.

He tried turning around to the best of abilities to get a look at the rest of the place. A table sat in the corner of the room. It was the same thing, notes, books, and bottles of ink. It was weird this time though, everything was neatly stacked and put in the right place. It was completely different from what was in front of him. He wondered what was written on the papers, it must have been different than the rest because the handwriting looked much neater. It was such a contrast that Zuko was starting to wonder if more than one person had captured him. If that was true, his luck just got worse.

Did he break a mirror or something? Honestly, what had he done to deserve this? Sure Zuko had hunted the avatar for a while but did something like that deserve this much punishment?

Zuko was sure it’d been hours already, he soon started to realize how weak he was and the cold wasn’t helping. He wouldn’t be able to get out of here even if he tried. He could only hope that when he woke up he’d feel a little bit stronger. Come to think of it, Zuko hadn’t really slept well in a while. Trying to sleep on a flying bison’s back while 1,000 feet above the ground is scarier than it sounds.

And with that Zuko fell asleep.

Y/N didn’t know if it was because she’d lived in the cold for so long but today felt warmer than usual. The marketplace was extremely crowded today, more than usual. She kept looking at the wall of wanted posters and huffed, maybe today would be different.

She never realized how hard catching criminals would be, though like any normal functioning person it wasn’t something she’d thought about frequently before all of this. None of the people on the wall seemed to have a high enough bidding. Once she’d visited General Lee she was sure she had found someone of value, he had a huge bounty over his head and no one had come even close to capturing him. He hadn’t even given her the time of day. The next she’d brought a Fire Nation traitor, accused of aiding the Avatar. Y/N was sure she’d succeeded this time. But, again, nothing. She’d promised herself that she’d never give up on her people but things were getting hopeless.

Then, something changed. She never knew she’d be so happy to have run into a swamp village and had fainted at the sight of an elbow leech. She’d found who she was going to hunt down . . . Prince Zuko. He was perfect. Oldest son of the Firelord, held a high status, and she’d overheard soldiers speak about how he was a traitor and let everyone down (she then found a wanted poster to prove it). There were basically no cons to him, he was flawless.

On the plus side she was sure the General would get his rocks off at even the thought of delivering someone so important. He’d probably get some honor badge too.

Too bad she let him slip through her fingers the first time. That was one of Y/N biggest regrets.

Y/N’s face grew dull. It didn’t matter, she hadn’t made any progress and wasn’t any closer to capturing him.

Capturing a Prince is much easier said than done.

It didn’t make any sense to her, it’s like he'd fallen off the face of the Earth. Usually she’d been hearing about him left and right, from stray Fire Nation soldiers in villages, stories about how once again he’d nearly captured and killed the avatar, but then things just went silent. Y/N hadn’t heard anything from anyone in weeks. Sometimes she’d ask people and their faces would just pull a blank like they’d never heard of him in the first place, other times they’d just straight up get defensive, telling her it wasn’t her place to be asking such things. She didn’t try to think about it too much. A lack of information wasn’t going to bring her down now, she was running out of time.

Hopefully, the general hadn’t flaked out on her yet, it had been a while since she’d brought someone to him.

Now that she thought about it maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to trust a fire nation general to keep his word. Maybe she should just try and jump him and--OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!!!!

Was Y/N dreaming? She had to be. Things couldn’t be this easy, they just couldn’t be.

There stood Prince Zuko, almost awkwardly might Y/N add, next to a booth with a merchant selling handmade bags. He was just standing there without a care in the world. It almost made her mad how nonchalant he was being. Y/N really doesn’t want to complain but she thought this would just be a little bit more dramatic.

She moved from the alleyway and moved closer to them, luckily enough the booth next to theirs sold mirrors.

“Hey Y/N,” Yao spoke.

“Yeah, uh hey.” Y/N half smiled, not really paying attention.

Yao was the daughter of the merchant who sold the mirrors at the booth, he’d been sick lately so Y/N had been seeing more of her. She didn’t like the circumstances but she did have to admit it was nice seeing a face her age.

“D’you hear about the avatar being here? Guess the rumour about him being dead was bull.”

“Yeah, yeah I heard. Probably why there are so many people out today,” Y/N said.

“Yuppp, not one person wants to buy mirrors though.” Yao crosses her arms and frowns.

Y/N laughs, she knew how much she didn’t like the job but she couldn’t not do it, her father needed her to. That’s one of the things she liked about her, Yao wasn’t very selfish.

She felt guilty about only half listening to her about her day but she had to keep an eye on the Prince and whoever he was with. She kept glancing at them through the mirrors in a way she thought wasn’t too suspicious, but she was obviously proven wrong when Yao spoke up about it.

“He’s cute isn’t he?” Yao smirked, she was whispering now so they wouldn’t overhear.

“Wha-”

“The one with the scar,” She said.

Y/N half nodded, “I guess so.”

“He’s with the avatar too apparently. It’s weird though, he looks so familiar.” Y/N didn’t say anything to that. It’s not like she could tell her she was Fire Lord Ozai’s son.

She was so nervous, he was standing right there, right next to her, barely even five feet away. Though surprisingly Yao didn’t take her nervous silence as the ‘omg I have to kidnap a guy right next to me’ type of silence.

“Don’t worry, Y/N. I’m more into the guy with the ponytail anyway,” She said.

Y/N laughs and rolls her eyes.

They both talked for a few more seconds until Y/N noticed the two leaving the booth. She waved goodbye to Yao and continued following them.

She started to realize the guy with the ponytail really liked to shop. She swore she nearly laughed every time the guy would drag the Prince around to another booth, he looked so out of place.

Before she could make fun of him some more Y/N had found her opening.

Zuko had asked the ponytail boy for a sip of water from his canteen. This was it. Y/N waterbended some of her medicine and went out to walk in front of the booth they were at. She purposely bumped into him rather harshly and slipped a little bit of the medicine into the flask while he was distracted.

“Sorry,” Y/N mumbled.

“It’s--” But she had already gone.

Now all she had to do was wait a little bit longer.

Y/N couldn’t believe things turned out to be this easy. Things went so smoothly it was almost scary.

She’d sedated him successfully, snatched him up from under his friends nose, managed to get out of a crowded village with an unconscious boy hanging on her shoulder and get home in just a couple of hours. Now all she had to do was write to General Lee telling him she’d found someone and give him Prince Zuko.

Yeah, this’ll work.

Y/N put down her writing brush and dragged her hands down her face. If she kept thinking about how well things were going she was sure to jinx herself.

She stepped away from her desk and paced around the room. He had woken up in a while, maybe the dosage she’d given him was too much.

She stopped her pacing and stood in front of him. She pushed away some loose notes and made herself a small spot on the floor to sit on.

His scar was what kept her from looking away from him. You really couldn’t miss it, it was pinkish till around the center, where the hue changed to a deeper red. It looked a little bit rough looking too, like if she were to drag her fingers along it would feel bumpy and coarse.

Whatever caused so much damage must have hurt badly. It didn’t look ugly on him though, surprisingly. It wasn’t repulsing in any way at all, it shocked her how much she kept looking at it. Y/N thought it was a little bit mesmerizing even.

Suddenly, Zuko had stirred.

Y/N had felt a rush of adrenaline, and a sense of hope.

The prince met her eyes and gasped. The chains clattered when his back hit the pole.

“Finally,” she said.

“Uh, hello?” He took a deep breath and scowled when Y/N took a step closer.

“Who are you--” He tried to ask.

“I really don’t think that’s important,” Y/N answered.

Zuko fell silent for a second and kept his eyes on her. He was clearly confused; it was written all over his face, it was almost laughable. Y/N watched him while he furrowed his brows and let his frown grow bigger, she wondered if he was going to try and use his firebending and fight her. Honestly, she was a bit scared. She’d never seen him fight before and she didn’t doubt that the Prince of the Fire Nation wouldn’t be skilled.

“What do you want from me?” He demanded.

“Well there's a lot to it, but I guess I could cut the story short so we don’t waste any more time.”

Y/N waterbended the ice holding Zuko up and turned them back into water.

“You’re my ticket to revenge.”

#atla #zuko #zukoxreader #zuko x reader #avatar the last airbender #toph #aang #katara #sokka #suki #xreader #reader insert

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not404error1 · 4 years

Text

Humor

These are just little nuggets of gold that make me smile, some are Crack posts, Some are Crack treated seriously, Others just have lots of Sokka.

Volatile By squirrellysemantics (AO3, E, 38658 w, crack treated seriously, secret relationship but the gang knows) Zuko can't quite handle the gift that the Firebending Masters have given him. Sokka lends a hand. Follows within canon up to a point from after the Firebending Masters. Much sex and silliness as well.

gone fishin' by lesmiserablol (AO3, G, 2531w, betrothal necklace, miscommunication, beto/hakoda, Hakoda POV, Iroh POV, Zuko POV, zuko goes icefishing, humor, fluff)

“I would like to learn how to make a betrothal necklace.”

Hakoda nearly drops his fishing pole in surprise. Under normal circumstances, this would be a cause for celebration. He would take the lures out of Zuko’s hands and wrap him in a tight embrace.

But under normal circumstances, he would know which of his children Zuko wants to propose to.

*a three part story of how Zukko and Sokka end up engaged*

Gossip Lord Zuko By RejectsCanon @rejectscanon (AO3, M, 9757, Matchmaker!Zuko, humor, fluff, coming out, secret relationship)

Zuko was probably more involved in the gossip around the palace than he had any right to be.

It’s not his fault, it’s really not. It’s just that sometimes he’s sitting in the kitchens (the best place to get the gossip) drinking tea and trying to relax for once, and some of the kitchen staff will start gossiping where he can still hear them. He doesn’t really try to listen in; it’s not his place and he won’t judge the staff based on whatever rumors are running around, but Spirits is it interesting. He tries not to listen too much, or get too invested in it though. Gossip is gossip after all, and rumors hardly ever turn out to be true.

But Zuko absolutely needs to know if Maya from the laundry room broke up with her piece of shit boyfriend.

Or, 5 times Zuko got invested in/meddled in palace gossip, and 1 time he was the subject of the gossip.

*I love this so much it’s just sweet turtleduck zuko and him making peoples lives better*

Friends Don't Let Friends Fake Date Each Other By naggeluide (AO3, G, 5349w, Crack treated seriously, Fake relationships, coming out)

Toph demands that Zuko fake date her. This goes just about as well as can be expected. Sokka steps in to show them how it's done, and this goes a bit better than expected.

Baby Hotline, please hold (me close to you) by crosspin (AO3, T, 6546 w, Modern AU, Zukko is an FBI Agent, Engineer Sokka, Humor, Fluff)

“And could you please verify your current relationship status? We need it for, um…” Zuko scrambled for an explanation and, unable to come up with anything halfway convincing, finished weakly, “tax purposes.”

“Oh, me? I’m single. Very single. Single as a Pringle. But not like a Pringle in a thing full of other Pringles. I’m like, the last lonely Pringle at the bottom of the can.”

Zuko is just a simple FBI agent trying to run a background check on Sokka, an engineer who's applied to work for the government, but Sokka's chaotic past is making the process...complicated. Still, Zuko doesn't mind too much as long as it means he can talk to the weirdly charming stranger

Wishful Thinking by mindbending (AO3, T, Getting together, pining zuko, pining, sokka, oblivious zuko, humor, post canon)

Right after Boiling Rock, Zuko found Sokka sprawled in his tent with a bouquet of red roses, and a ring of romantic candles, and one final rose set between his teeth. With the littlest twinge of envy, Zuko realized the entire display was for Suki.

The point is Sokka's flirting is about as subtle as a buffalo yak. To miss it, you’d have to be a complete and utter airhead.

*one if my faves so cute and funny*

A Simple Lie and A Simple Misunderstanding by Miyuki_scourgeofthefirenation (AO3, T, 6387, Secret relationship, pretend relationship, humor, Hakoda Pov (kinda) )

Hakoda thought he knew what the situation was with his children and their friends. Specifically, he thought he understood the situation between Katara and Zuko. Watching Zuko and Sokka interact now, however, and he's not so sure anymore.

What was Firelord Zuko playing at?

Based on the Tumblr post where Hakoda doesn't know which of his kids Zuko is dating.

Like father like son by AlyssiaInWonderland (AO3, T, 2051w, angst, humor, coming out)

In which Zuko and Sokka are in a loving but secret relationship, Zuko mistakes Hakoda for Sokka, and it is Angsty as well as Humourous, because I, the author, have No Chill Whatsoever.

Based on the tumblr prompt: Zukka have just started courting when Hakoda makes an appearance (you can choose the setting). Zuko has forbade Sokka from PDA until they tell him. After a long day, Zuko confuses Hakoda for Sokka and horror sets in - on whose side, you decide lol

*one of my faves*

self-fulfilling prophecy by agentandromeda (AO3, G, 1911w, fluff, crack treated seriously, pinning Zuko, humor)

Sokka thinks fortune-telling is bullshit, until Aunt Wu tells him he's going to marry the Firelord. Then he knows fortune-telling is bullshit

in other words by agentandromeda (AO3, G, 1267w, fluff, crack treated seriously, pinning Zuko, humor, katara pretends to be yue)

Zuko needs to talk to someone about his crush on Sokka. He decides to talk to the moon.

He doesn't expect the moon to talk back.

i don't think that man's ever been to therapy school by agentandromeda (AO3, G, 1425w, fluff, crack treated seriously, pinning Zuko, humor, identity porn)

Zuko just needs someone to talk about his feelings with. Aang recommends definitely real therapist Wang Fire.

my condolences and congratulations by jetlikelignite (AO3, G, 1628w, wang fire, humor)

Right before Fire Lord Zuko's wedding, Sokka completely unexpectedly and definitely actually dies. Probably. The Gaang makes their way to the Fire Nation for the wedding amidst this completely heartbreaking and legitimate tragedy that they're all handling suspiciously well.

*one of my faves*

The Duke's a Hazard by naggeluide (AO3, T, 50868w, crack, kidfic)

Everything changed when the feral child attacked. Sokka and Zuko are stuck co-parenting the Duke, and the last half of Book 3 suddenly becomes a lot more chaotic.

marriage ceremonies by solemnlyremy ( AO3, G, 1873w, Humor, misunderstandings)

Hakoda was even more confused. He thought Fire Lord Zuko had been dating Sokka. Now, he couldn’t tell. Zuko was equally affectionate with both of them.

Open Arms by acezukos (purplefennels7) (AO3, G, 2264w, Crack, humor, coming out)

Sokka tries to come out to his dad. It doesn't go exactly as planned.

or: sokka, panicking: you like guys!

#zukka fic recs #zukka fanfiction #zukka au #zukka #sokka/zuko #sokka #zukka fanfic

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watchathon · 3 years

Text

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Series Finale: Sozin’s Comet

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watchathon, a blog where I’m hoping to watch an episode of a TV show every weekday, with a short blog post where I write down my thoughts as I watch. Each new thought starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so. Now that the introductions are over with, it’s time to break that one-episode-a-day rule and finish off Avatar: The Last Airbender with the climactic grand finale, Sozin’s Comet:

PART 1: THE PHOENIX KING

- Okay, so, Katara in the intro is still saying “He has a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone.” I could’ve sworn they removed that part by this point... Maybe that was just something for the DVD?

- I like that the “Previously on” segment is so long. It really emphasizes how much buildup there was to this. How much the Gaang has been through to get here.

- I gotta say, I was not expecting a beach party in this episode.

- Somehow, for reasons I can’t explain because I don’t understand them myself, this ambush from Zuko made the audio of Nicolas Cage saying “Surprise attack!” in Into the Spider-Verse play in my head.

- Zuko’s really lucky that he earned Katara’s forgiveness before this violent pop quiz, seeing as just a half season ago... “You take one step backwards... one slip up... give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang - and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends right then and there. Permanently.”

- It never occurred to me that we didn’t get details on the war meeting before now.

- I’d bet hearing about this plan is the thing that tipped the scales and fully convinced Zuko to join the Gaang, and prevent the genocide of the Earth Kingdom.

- It’s so nice to see Zuko being welcomed into the group hugs. Especially when it’s Katara who invites him.

- I like that Zuko is teaching Aang to redirect lightning, the same way Iroh taught him.

- Even before it’s made explicit, you can tell that Aang’s uneasy about the idea of killing.

- Toph is just delighting in her role as Melon Lord, isn’t she?

- Someone out there has definitely written an AU fanfic where someone gets killed during this training and it’s Toph’s origin story as the malicious Melon Lord. If not, then I will write it myself, and it shall be the crackiest crack fic that ever cracked.

- Y’know what, I wish Toph could’ve actually gone on a life-changing field trip with Zuko too! Everyone else got one...

- This scene of Sokka climbing into Appa’s mouth is even more uncomfortable once you’ve... well, once you’ve grown up and... Okay, I tried to put it subtly, but I just can’t: Once you’ve been cursed with the knowledge of what vore is.

- Well, there’s a bait-and-switch if I’ve ever seen one: “Azula, you’re the new Fire Lord!” “=)” “But I am now the Phoenix King and still your superior who you will answer to.” “=O”

- Nice to see June and her Shirshu make a comeback.

- Does this mean Aang wasn’t running away on purpose? I honestly thought he was just going to that island to get some alone time, maybe meditate or contact the previous Avatars’ spirits.

PART 2: THE OLD MASTERS

- I’m not sure if this is something I forgot from June’s first appearance, or if it’s actually just never been brought up before, but I didn’t know her Shirshu had a name.

- It’s sweet that Zuko is seeking out Iroh’s help. Even if the method of finding him is, ah, well... unorthodox.

- Even Avatar Roku doesn’t know where Aang is. And here I thought it was some Avatar thing that had never been brought up before.

- It’s nice to see these people make a comeback. Bumi, Piandao, even Jeong Jeong and Master Pakku are here for the finale.

- I am surprised that we didn’t get an interaction between Toph and Bumi, though. The man Aang wanted to teach him Earthbending, the girl who ended up doing it... But I guess there’s only so much time, and I don’t think there’s any scenes that could be deleted to make room for it.

- It seems like Aang is just searching for confirmation of his beliefs, rather than actually seeking wisdom.

- I like that we get to see Bumi taking full advantage of the eclipse to take back Omashu from the Fire Nation, instead of just being told about it.

- It’s nice to see so many past Avatars beyond just Roku and Kyoshi, Avatars that we never heard of before, but now we hear their stories. But all of these past Avatars echo the same sentiment that Aang should kill Ozai, even an Air Nomad Avatar.

- What can I say about this scene of Zuko and Iroh reuniting? Forgive me for echoing a post I made on my main blog, but this is a scene that’s both sweet and sad.

Sad, because Zuko’s abuse at the hands of Fire Lord Ozai left him anxiously expecting furious punishment for crimes much less than what he did to Iroh. He can’t even comprehend the idea that Iroh would forgive him. His expression while apologizing to Iroh clearly shows he’s expecting the worst.

Sweet, because Iroh still loves Zuko like his own son, and doesn’t even need to forgive him because he never felt anger at Zuko’s betrayal: Only sadness and a worry that Zuko had lost his way, truly lost his honor. And Iroh is so clearly happy to see that Zuko has found his destiny, and joined the fight against the Fire Nation.

I could go on and on about this scene... It’s my absolute favorite scene in the whole series and it brings me to tears every single time I see it.

Gosh... it’s gonna be so awkward going back to the jokes and little mundane thoughts after this, isn’t it?

- Okay, I have officially given up on the idea of finding out what the heck this island is.

- I like the smile on Katara’s face, when she’s asked to team up with Zuko and fight Azula.

- It’s nice to know that Iroh will get the opportunity to run that tea shop, even if Zuko won’t be there to work with him.

- Okay, okay, so the island was actually a lion turtle. Frankly, I’ve still got a lot of questions. Even some new ones.

- It’s nice to see that the Netlix subtitles aren’t ALLCAPS anymore.

PART 3: INTO THE INFERNO

- Gotta hand it to the music, it can make even a scene of Azula making a fuss over a non-pitted cherry rather unnerving.

- Azula’s... Azula-ness has gone straight up to eleven with her newfound role. Hasn’t it? What with all the banishments, even banishing the entire Dai Li.

- Sokka, Suki and Toph are the real dream team.

- And we get a great final blind joke!

- I like that we get to see everyone doing their part in this final battle. All the members of the Gaang, even the White Lotus, get their moments to shine.

- The hallucination of Ursa shows that Azula, on some level, has an idea of what’s wrong with her. You can tell that they were thinking of a redemption arc for Azula come Book 4, though I am glad that didn’t happen.

- It’s chilling to see Ozai razing the forests of the Earth Kingdom like it’s nothing. And then to realize that this is what Aang will have to face.

- At first I wasn’t sure what Sokka’s plan was, but now that I see it in action, it’s really creative.

- I like the idea of a final one-on-one Zuko vs Azula duel(...a). It’s been a rivalry since Book 2, and it’s nice to finally see it get settled, even if I can’t imagine it’ll end up that easy: Otherwise, what would Katara do?

- It’s so cool to see Aang showing his prowess in all bending techniques, using them all in this final showdown.

- The background music during Zuko and Azula’s Agni Kai really sells it. It makes it sound almost tragic, and it is: two siblings pitted against each other, no choice but to fight to determine the future of the world.

- Azula might be slipping, but she’s still Azula, all too willing to cheat in what’s supposed to be a one-on-one duel.

PART 4: AVATAR AANG

- Netflix isn’t showing the intro for the individual parts, but I’ve gotta say... There’s no way that Katara’s still saying Aang’s “got a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone.” Right?

- I like that we get to see one last use of Metalbending from Toph in the finale.

- Dang, I hope this isn’t really the end for Sokka’s sword, or his boomerang. Especially when the sword was so cool, and one could say meaningful.

- I honestly wasn’t sure the Avatar State would ever be a factor again. But if there was ever a time, this is it. (ADDENDUM: This is probably the best time to clarify that I find and add the images at the start after writing the rest of the post.)

- And it’s so epic to see Aang bending all four elements at once.

- I like that Iroh got to burn down the Fire Nation flag.

- Since Zuko’s down for the count, I guess this means a battle between Katara and Azula, the latter powered up by Sozin’s Comet.

- To be honest, I could barely make out what Azula just said. “kjsdbksrbfkjvf family position to look after, kdcbkfh”?

- Katara may not be stronger than Sozin’s Comet-powered Azula, but she’s much more clever than Azula is right now as she loses her marbles.

- This is just the perfect kind of defeat for Azula. There’s no grace to it, no dignity, just writhing around, screaming and spewing fire as Zuko and Katara look on with pity.

- There’s probably a great practical reason someone could find for Spiritbending being a thing, but here’s why I’m glad it exists: Aang gets a happy ending. He gets to take down the Fire Lord, and hold true to his beliefs. If it weren’t for Spiritbending, if Aang killed Ozai, then he would be conflicted to the end.

And I don’t want that. I want Aang to get an unambiguously, undoubtedly happy ending, where the world is saved and that’s all there is to it.

Plus, Spiritbending is quite the spectacle.

- I’m guessing Sokka’s space sword and boomerang really are done for. But hey, there’s always headcanon. Maybe Sokka searched the forest and eventually found them.

- Weird to think that Ty Lee’s gonna be a Kyoshi Warrior.

- Again, I can’t believe Zukaang’s not the most popular Zuko ship in the fandom. Not a ship I’ll go to bat for, but it’s got all the hallmarks of a fan-preferred couple.

- It’s so nice to see Zuko’s coronation, and the official end to the war. It’s a happy ending for the whole world, the start of an era of peace.

- “Love and peace,�� huh...? Now that’s funny to hear in the finale to this show, considering the next show I’m covering, come 2021...

- I like that we get to see one last confrontation between Zuko and Ozai. Even if Zuko’s question of where Ursa is doesn’t go anywhere (in the show, I know they touch on that in the comics), it’s nice to see the newly-crowned Fire Lord Zuko having evolved past a need for Ozai’s attention, or a fear of Ozai’s wrath.

- It’s nice to see the whole Gaang having fun at Iroh’s tea shop, in the end. And I stand corrected, this is where we get the final blind joke.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m lucky in that most of my childhood cartoons hold up as an adult. I watched Kim Possible, Phineas and Ferb, Code Lyoko, Courage the Cowardly Dog...

Still, there’s something special about Avatar: The Last Airbender. It had a unique aesthetic and world that no other show was quite like. It had a story that was like nothing I’d ever seen as a kid.

And it doesn’t just hold up, it’s even better.

When I was a kid, it was as simple as rooting for the good guys to win, and for the Firebenders to lose, except for Zuko once he turned good.

Now, as an adult (but mostly as someone with a DVD player/Netflix account so I’m not just watching whatever reruns I can catch) I can appreciate the character development, the arcs, the entire story.

I can appreciate how Aang grew from a little boy who does indeed have a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone, into a hero who could save the world.

I can appreciate how Zuko was an abuse victim who did what all abused children wish they could do and left his abuser.

I can appreciate... Gosh, Iroh’s entire character and dynamic with Zuko.

Some people say that Avatar “starts off as a kids show, then turns serious”, but I’d disagree. Avatar is a show where our heroes change, where they learn lessons, where they come of age and become the kind of heroes who can end a war that’s been going on for over a century.

As relieved as I am to be (mostly) done with these posts for the rest of the year, I am still oh-so-glad that I’ve rewatched Avatar yet again, and I know that I will be whenever I rewatch it in the future.

Now, with all that said... Farewell! Until the Christmas special, at least...

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radishaur · 4 years

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If the zuko requests are still open, may I request hcs or a short story (whatever you prefer) of zuko x artist reader where he first joins the gang and the reader wants to show support to him but they’re way too shy and awkward so they just secretly give him drawings to cheer him up or offer advice?? Maybe he has a crush on them but thinks they too don’t trust him yet? I just had this general idea. You could totally change stuff up if you’d like :)

“Sorry! I was the person who just asked the artist reader! I didn’t put a gender but maybe female? The reader could be a nonbender if that’s fine? Sorry about that :)”

Absolutely! I love the artist trope so much. Some of my favorite Zuko fics have had the reader as an artist. I hope I meet your expectations! I may have gotten carried away but oops. I just love this trope.

- Zoe

•••

Drawings (Zuko x Reader)

Warnings: None

Genre: Fluff

Part: 1/1

Summary: See Request

•••

“Hello, Zuko here.”

As soon as we heard his voice, everybody sprung into action. Well, everybody except me. Toph, Katara, and Aang got into bending positions and Sokka prepared to throw his boomerang. I stood slightly off to the side in shock.

He looked different than the last time I had seen him. It seemed to be a pattern. Each time I saw him after a while, he always had a new hairstyle and seemed more....himself. He seemed like a completely different person than the angry ponytail adorning teenager that had invaded the Northern Water Tribe.

That was the first time I had seen him. I unknowingly helped him by saving him from drowning. I had pulled him out from under the ice in a drain pipe on the day of the siege. He wasn’t wearing Fire Nation clothing then, so I didn’t know better until I saw him fighting Katara and capturing Aang. I felt so bad about almost dooming the world to eternal hell that I left the tribe to join them on their adventures.

The next time I saw him was when his Uncle was hit and then later in Ba Sing Se. I was shocked to see him serving tea in the lower ring of an Earth Kingdom town, but I didn’t rat him out. Instead, I took to sketching him. I would sit outside the shop and look in through the windows. His hair was longer now and I couldn’t deny how handsome he was. Without the ponytail I had a hard time denying it.

And now, as he stood here in the temple, I saw the next version of him. The Zuko with longer hair and a deeply rooted regret. He was shy and awkward, much like he had been in Ba Sing Se, but this time he wasn’t confused. He didn’t look like he was fighting any inner battles anymore. He just looked hopeful. Hopeful that he could change the path he chose for himself.

It wasn’t until I heard him say my name that I realized I hadn’t been listening.

“You saved my life in the Northern Water Tribe. And you didn’t rat me out in Ba Sing Se when you found out I was there. You had to have seen something good in me,” he pleaded.

“You knew he was there?! And you didn’t say anything?!” Katara yelled angrily, sending a glare in my direction.

I hung my head in guilt before looking back up at Zuko. My heart ached seeing the expression he wore, but I knew I was already in hot water.

“I’m sorry Zuko. If they don’t trust you then neither do I,” I said before turning and walking away.

I didn’t want to stay. I knew exactly what would happen if I did. I wouldn’t be able to watch him walk away without insisting they were wrong about him. My mother used to say my unwavering trust in people was both a blessing and a curse. I see now that she was right.

Katara stayed angry at me for the rest of the day. I didn’t blame her. Even I still felt guilty that I had kept it a secret after he betrayed us. Although I guess you can’t really betray a side you were never on. Nevertheless it still stung.

Just as I had come to terms with the fact that Zuko would never be a part of the team, he managed to save us from Combustion Man. Aang agreed to have Zuko as his teacher after the group agreed he could stay. Secretly, I was glad they had changed their minds. I knew that it would take a long time for them to get used to him being around though, so I decided to try and do something small to make him feel less alone.

After everybody went to sleep, I decided to draw him a picture of his Uncle. I had seen him frequently when I was outside the tea shop. My memory was a little bit rough on the details but I hoped that he would look similar enough. I ripped the paper out of my sketchbook and slipped it under his door.

The next morning, he seemed to be a little bit brighter which made me smile. After that it ended up becoming routine. Everybody would go to sleep and I would slip him another drawing. Sometimes I would shove them under his door, sometimes I would stuff it into his bag of stuff, and sometimes I would leave it somewhere I knew he would find it. Each time, he would always look a little happier afterwards.

It wasn’t until we were on Ember Island that my little secret became not so secret.

I had never told any of the gang that I could draw. I mean it seemed like such a useless talent compared to their bending. Even Sokka knew how to fight with a sword. When it came to fighting I was a complete waste. I couldn’t bend and I had never learned how to defend myself. The Northern Water Tribe had a strict rule about women learning how to fight: they didn’t.

It wasn’t until we were sitting out around a campfire that the fact I could draw was even discussed. Everybody had been going around the circle and sharing a secret. When it got to me, I shrugged it off.

“I don’t really have any secrets. I’m pretty boring,” I said.

“That’s such a lie! I know you have at least one secret,” Sokka said, a cheeky grin on his face.

“W-What?” I asked, my heart racing slightly.

“I’ve seen your sketchbook. You’re an amazing artist,” he continued, acting all casual.

“Sokka!” I exclaimed, a blush now breaking out across my face.

“You can draw?” Zuko asked in shock.

He seemed to be connecting the dots in his head and I wanted nothing more than to dig myself into the ground and disappear. I just hoped they didn’t-

“I wanna see it!” Aang said gleefully.

I just hoped they didn’t ask to see it.

“I really don’t want to-“ I began to reply before Katara cut me off.

“I bet it’s in her stuff!” she called out before shooting up and going to grab my stuff off of Appa.

I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

“No!” I yelled out, running after her.

If they looked at it I would die on the spot. Not only would Zuko realize that I was the one giving him drawings, but they would all see the million sketches I had of him as well. Oh boy, there were a lot. Technically I had sketched all of them, but Zuko took up about half the sketchbook. It would be mortifying for them to figure out I had a massive crush on him.

“I found it!” Katara said as she held the sketchbook in her hands.

“Give me that,” I said, snatching the book out of her hands before holding it tightly to my chest.

“Oh, come onnnnn,” Sokka begged, coming closer to try and grab it from me.

I hastily avoided him and continued clutching the sketchbook for dear life.

“Guys, maybe we should leave it,” Zuko said, clearly not wanting to escalate the situation.

Little did he know why I was actually protecting this sketchbook so heavily. He probably thought it was just because I didn’t want them to see my art. Which, technically I didn’t, but not because I thought it was bad. I gulped as Sokka began cornering me.

“Y/N please,” Aang pleaded, standing next to Sokka, “We promise not to judge! We just wanna see!”

“I really don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I responded, shifting the book behind me.

I gasped when I felt the book get ripped from my grasp. I turned around to see Katara, smiling victoriously as she brought the book out by the campfire. Sokka and Aang ran over to her.

I dragged my hands down my face. I’m sure it was about as red as a tomato at this point. Is this what it felt like to die? I watched them from my position a few feet away, too scared to move.

“Hey, these are amazing!” Aang said.

I couldn’t help but catch Zuko’s gaze. The recognition in his eyes made it clear he knew I was the one slipping him drawings. I felt my face burn in embarrassment. And this wasn’t even the worst part.

I stayed rooted to the ground as the gang flipped through the pages. The beginning of the sketchbook was just drawings of the Northern Water Tribe. Then, it morphed into drawings of all of the gang minus Toph. Not that she could even see. She was still sitting on the log bench, not invested in the situation at all.

The next pages had some sketches of Zuko with his ponytail, mixed with some sketches of the oasis. They were still just complimenting the drawings, oblivious to the horror the next few pages would cause me. Eventually, it moved into drawings of our travels across the Earth Kingdom and Toph began to appear.

After that was the pages I was dreading. The first few drawings were of Ba Sing Se. Innocent drawings of beautiful buildings and random citizens. But then it turned into Zuko. Pages upon pages of Zuko and his Uncle in the tea shop. They all got quiet as they continued flipping. Mixed in with Zuko and his Uncle were some few other sketches, but it was clear that Zuko had become the focus of the sketches.

I couldn’t bear to look at them. I could only imagine their expressions. If they hadn’t figured out by now why Zuko was the center of my drawings, they would as they kept going.

The next sketches were of some of the Fire Nation villages we had stayed in. But after that, there Zuko was again. And this time they would definitely know. Some of my sketches were accompanied by scrawled notes on the side. A random look how cute he is or he looked so hot training with Aang today scribbled next to the sketches. The silence was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

“Y/N, I-“ Sokka started, clearly feeling guilty for bringing up my secret talent now.

“Don’t” I hissed, finally sending a glare his way.

I hadn’t even realized I was crying until I felt the taste of salt brush my lips. I wiped my tears angrily as they all sat there silently.

“Y/N-“ he tried again.

“I said don’t!” I screamed before storming off to my room.

I slammed the door behind me and made sure to lock it before I slide to the floor. I held a hand to my mouth to muffle the sobs that were now escaping me. This was my worst nightmare. How had everything gone to shit so fast.

•••

Y/N had run off and I was stuck to my seat. I couldn’t stop looking at her sketches. They way she drew me felt like I was looking in the mirror. It was like watching my transformation as a person with my own two eyes.

“Guys, we really messed up,” Sokka said, still feeling guilty for instigating the situation.

“I had no idea....I just thought she was self conscious of her talent,” Katara said quietly.

“What do we do?” Aang asked.

“You’re the Avatar! You’re supposed to know how to solve this,” Sokka exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

I wasn’t listening. I wasn’t even sure I could hear them. I flipped the next few pages and my thoughts were confirmed when I saw that there were a few pages ripped out of the back. I pulled one of her drawings out of my pocket and unfolded it, placed the ripped edge into the book. It was a perfect match.

“Zuko, what are you doing? You shouldn’t rip pages out of her book,” Katara scolded, reaching down to snatch the book away from me.

“I didn’t. She’s been giving me drawings. Look,” I explained, pulling out another of her drawings from my pocket, “Ever since I joined you guys at the temple I’ve been getting drawings. I didn’t know who it was, but....”

I handed the drawings over to them. One of them was of my Uncle. Another one was of my duel swords. Another of a tiny dragon. They ranged from simple tiny sketches to full blown detailed drawings.

As they looked them over, I couldn’t help but let my fingers trace a drawing of me in her book. I was smiling and looking off into the distance at something. Under it, in her neat scribbled handwriting was written: the first time he’s smiled :).

“I can’t believe she likes me,” I whispered.

I didn’t expect them to hear me, but they all stopped. I blushed slightly when I noticed them all looking at me. Katara looked furious.

“Listen here. You don’t have to like her back, but don’t you dare say anything to her that will break her heart,” she threatened, her eyes glaring into me.

“N-No! I......like her back.....actually,” I admitted, looking back at the sketches in her book.

I saw the three of them look at Toph, who had been sitting silently on the log the entire time.

“He’s not lying,” she said.

It was after a few moments of silence that I finally spoke again.

“I think I should go talk to her,” I suggested, standing up with her sketchbook in hand.

“Good luck,” Aang said, giving me an assuring smile as I walked inside.

I didn’t know what I was going to say. I didn’t know where to even start. There were a millions things I could say to her and none of them would be good enough. Instead, I found myself standing outside of her door in silence.

I took a deep breath and knocked. I could hear shuffling inside the room. I got no response.

“Y/N it’s me. Please let me in,” I begged, placing my palm against the door.

I was about to turn and walk away when I finally heard footsteps inside. I let my hand fall back down to my side as the door creaked open. Y/N stood to the side of the door without looking at me and motioned for me to come in. I did and she closed the door behind me.

“I’m sorry.” “Thank you.”

“Oh, ummmm. You first,” she mumbled.

“I wanted to say thank you. For the drawings. They made my day every time I got one,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck as I blushed.

“O-Oh. Uh....yea. You just looked so....sad, I guess. I thought maybe it would make you feel more comfortable around us,” she mumbled, still refusing to look at me.

I chuckled slightly and crossed my arms, looking down at my feet.

“Well it worked,” I said, smiling at the floor.

She shuffled across from me. I forced myself to look up at her and caught her gaze. She had tears brimming over her eyes and her face was red from embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry. I know I probably seem like a total creep right now. I know this can never happen. I just.....I don’t know. I tried so hard not to like you but I -“ she started rambling and I couldn’t stop myself anymore.

I pulled her face up to look at me and smashed my lips onto hers. It took her a moment of shock to register what was happening, but as soon as she did she was kissing me back immediately. I finally pulled apart and wrapped my arms around her in a hug.

“You’re amazing. You’re so special and so talented and too good for me. But I like you too. I like you so so much. I never said anything because I thought you hated me,” I admitted, laughing through the tears that started falling down my face.

“You thought I hated you? How could I ever hate you?” she asked, stepping back to look at me.

“Because I went home with Azula and I tried capturing the Avatar for months and I chased you across the world and I’ve made your lives miserable for so long,” I exclaimed, still in disbelief that she actually liked me back.

“Well, I don’t hate you. At all. You’ve proven that you’ve changed and that’s all that matters to me. Besides, you never actually physically hurt any of us, unlike Azula,” she joked, laughing slightly.

I pulled her into a hug once more and buried my head into her neck. I had never been happier than right now in this moment. I promised myself at that very moment that I would do everything I could to become the man she saw me as. To become the man she deserved.

To be the man in her drawings.

#zuko imagine #zuko x reader #zuko #prince zuko fanfic #prince zuko fanfiction #prince zuko fic #prince zuko

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