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iseeweirdthings · 2 months

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Thoughts and Notes on Netflix's 2024 Live Action Avatar the Last Airbender (spoilers!)

Good:

The Casting overall I think is good, I have some problems with characterization but overall everybody looks the part -azula.

The Effects good all the way through actually

Some of the Added Scenes, such where Zuko gets his platoon from

The Score, it's the same score

Bad:

Incredibly Show and Tell, like illude to something, foreshadow something, don't just show me it and explain it right away, not every plot thread has to be on screen.

Pacing, condensing 20 24 minute episodes into 8 one hour long episodes really hurts character moments and overall story progression.

The War!!! 70% of the dialogue is about THE WAR. That's not really what the original story is about, so much focus is about the war and you lose so much of the necessary innocence of the characters

The Live Action why do we doing this.

Nobody seems like friends when the camera is on, the chemistry isn't working sadly, I think it has to do with Dialogue and Pacing of Dialogue, they need to actually talk to each other rather taking turns performing one liners and monologues. There's too much space in between lines.

Every character is playing their trauma as if it's their first card in the deck, and pouring it out to everyone immediately, it's lazy, and unemotional when it should be.

I feel like I just watched 8 episodes of this show and followed this group but I don't know any of them, we're not given time to spend with them.

Character Notes

Avatar (the war) Aang, this isn't a child, he is played by a child but sadly he isn't allowed to be one. He's too weighed down by his trauma and responsibilities that he isn't given the space to have fun, and he does have a nice smile and he does look like Aang but they're playing him as a fucking rock. A Rock who can fly???

Also all the past Avatars give him such shitty advice which he always disagrees with and then when he leaves the spirit world he's like "they're absolutely right!" stand up for your own beliefs baby!

He gets so boiled down to being a hero and having to save everybody that he loses his own essence and appeal.

Katara (the prodigy) It just doesn't feel like the same character, she doesn't feel motherly, she doesn't feel angry, she isn't shown to be hard working, idk she's just there, so much of her original struggle was learning but through some nice words from Aang and Jet she's already a master before she gets to the North Pole.

Sokka (😐 this is the face he's making) I think he just needs to be more expressive and charismatic, I want to like him but he's just too stiff. Get that man high before filming or something idk. Should've been more sexist. it's a plot point.

Appa and Momo aren't characters, they're just there but not even there.

Zuko!! he's cute! I think he might be my favourite casting. He's frustrated and whiney and annoying in all the right ways. He's by far the most rounded character so far and that's helped by more screentime from not only him but Ozai and Azula. But! that's at the cost of their own mystique and characterisation.

He's also not funny enough, like original Zuko's dialogue is 90% "My Honour!!!!" and new Zuko at least to my knowledge doesn't say it one time. Like they're both hyper-fixated on the same task but one is just naturally funnier. idk maybe that's an easier thing to pull off in animation.

And like most people I think adding the platoon he thinks shouldn't be sacrificed as his crew is a good decision, I just wish he made it himself, rather than Ozai gifting/pawning them off to him. would've made it just all that better in my opinion.

Iroh! loved you at first! great casting, but you're allergic to smiling, I get it this first season we're really playing into the RIP Lu Ten but like Zuko is right here and you need to spend time spending time with this kid, show him that war ain't all that. there's joy and love in this world man, and so many amazing wonders. be happy just to live in a world like that. be happy man please. you're too old to not know how to grieve.

I think Azula's casting has yet to prove itself. The young girl playing her just seems like a really nice person, who doesn't at all look crazy enough.

They're also fucking her character, where is her self confidence? where is her unwavering faith in herself? Why is Ozai doubting her?? She's the mother fucking queen? why isn't she acting like it??? She just isn't giving crazy bitch.

Ozai, fine, but why are we seeing ur face??? sit in the chair!!!!

I think overall i want to give this show the benefit of the doubt, you're not doing a terrible job. Just give us more character moments and relaxation, it's not all about the war. it's about kids and growing and friendship and shit. also like write faster dialogue you can get more lines in like always. Especially for Sokka! he's the filler to any dead air. In 50 minute episodes there shouldn't be this much silence.

I'll keep watching, for season 2 I just hope that even as the show gets more serious, they can still create the beautiful moments of quiet and calm and fun. The show needs more fun, and the kids should have more too.

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impossiblycolorfulpanda · 2 years

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energybending epiphany

I have a theory on how energybending works and how one could achieve it without the need of a lion turtle.

From what we’ve seen, energybending can be used to give and take bending on a whim. Chi serves as the root of bending, so it’s obvious that energybending equals chi-bending.

But Aang was able to sense where Appa was in the swamp with some type of energybending, and with Korra, she was able to bend external spiritual energies, and can bend even after astral projecting.

But how one could achieve such powerful art without having it be bestowed by a lion turtle?

“In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements but the energy within ourselves. To bend another's energy, your own spirit must be unbendable or you will be corrupted and destroyed.”

In LOK, Tenzin gives the same advice to Korra, and we see her standing on astral lights. She sees a large projection of herself, holding a ball of light. That is exactly the same scene we saw in Aang when he was under his chakra session with Guru Patik.

That said, wouldn’t opening and mastering one’s chakras count as bending the energies within oneself? Not to mention four out of seven chakras represents the four elements, one chakra helps you see past the illusion of separation, even the divisions of elements themselves are but an illusion, and the last chakra allows one to harness pure cosmic energy from the universe.

“The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light.”

Spiritbending, while only seen be preformed by waterbenders, might actually be a sub-skill of energybending, and with enough effort, any bender could use this.

The avatar is required not only master the elements, but the ideologies of the other nations. Had Aang opened all chakras, he’d would have truly mastered the ways of the air nomads, in a way Yangchen never could, while doing the same with other nations. He’d have complete and total control over the avatar state and there for a fully realized master avatar.

Sure, he briefly does that, only to be zapped into a coma, but instead of learning how to do it again in a safer area this time, even after learning to accept firebending, he still chooses to cling on to his selfish earthly desires, at the expense of the time left for the world. That’s when the lion turtle comes in at the last second. Being fed up with this kid’s stupidity, this deus ex machina creature quickly teaches him only different ways to give bad guys spiritual dismemberments that’ll make everyday, for the rest of their lives, a hell on earth, and make himself even more of a dreaded figure then he already was to the fire nation.

And of course, he doesn’t make a sifu out of the lion turtle and further study the ways of energybending in hopes of reviving airbenders, he probably tried but LT said exactly what Patik said, let go of Katara to unlock the art’s secrets, but the “good guy” aangy was all like “hard pass” and never bothered again. He also lets the charade of separation keep on going.

Had he did open his last chakra, I don’t think he’d resort to killing Ozai or brutally ripping away his bending. Instead, Aang permanently opens all of Ozai’s chakras for him and restore physical, mental and spiritual balance from the inside out. Ozai can either serve as fire sage shaman, or he’s teleported into the spirit world to find peace.

#energybending #chakras #chi #atla meta #atla critical #lion turtle

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apparentlynotreallyfinnish · 5 years

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Do you have any advice on how to develop a long fic plot? Most of my ideas have little plot, and I have no idea how to come up with one. My simple ideas might be okay for a 2000 word fic, but not a 75,000 word one. My ideas are like Rhett and Link go to a fancy restaurant, or Rhett has a backache and Link massages him. They aren’t these big, multifaceted ideas that make a whole story like good writers (like you!) seem to have. I wish I could figure out how to get better at ideas and plotting.

Hello, lovely anon. I’m gonna describe my process plot planning Let Me Be Your Light. Maybe that will help you. :)

This became quite long, sorry…

It started with the idea of Rhett being a lighthouse keeper. That was the starting point. (I’m pretty sure I was heavily influenced by @its-mike-kapufty‘s tmoy fic that was posting around that time and wanted to do a grumpy Rhett.) I don’t remember if Link being a helicopter pilot was the first thing I thought for him but it was one of the firsts. I wanted them to meet intermittently so there would be plenty of pining (lol). I decided on a monthly meeting and figured a year would be a good timeline. So, originally the fic was supposed to be 12 chapters long.

I started by doing some research on lighthouses and decided that it would be located on Canada. I did some weather research and figured that near St. Johns would be best fit for the mood of my story (or the mood I had in my head at that point). I actually found two islands names North and South Bird Island and made up a third one for Rhett. ^^

I did some research on the area’s flora and fauna and what kind of unusual weather they might have etc. Some of it is used in the story, most is not. I had about 4-ish pages of notes on Newfoundland after I was done with my research. (Side note, don’t get too caught up on this part. There’s always more stuff to research. You gotta stop at some point and actually plot plan/write.)

The grumpy Rhett premise kind of naturally lead to a ‘hate to love’ story but that’s something to decide. What excites you? What kind of fics do you love to read? What would you like to read but haven’t seen?

I wrote little character bios for Rhett and Link. Not sure if anyone cares but here they are (some stuff was added later after developing the plot):

Rhett: writer, phd in some scientific field, a marine biologist. Lives off of book money and writing scientific excerpts for magazines. Was married. Wife died (was pregnant) when he was 33. They were in the car together. He has severe ptsd and survivors’ guilt. They’d been together since high school. Been alone for 8 years. Been at the light house for 6 years. A colleague helped him to rent it. The lighthouse itself is automated. He does do little maintenance stuff like clean the solar panels and change parts etc. Is probably like a 1-2 in Kinsey scale. So mostly straight but… Being alone is kind of a punishment but also something he needs, because people and crowds freak him out. He was like that even before the crash, but it made it worse. Also, can’t deal with people anymore. Especially happy people. Is basically afraid of happiness.

Link: a helicopter pilot, the supply runs are a monthly sidegig. Usually flies a medical helicopter. Openly gay. Dating a lot, a few longer relationships but nothing really serious. Always felt like something didn’t add up. Generally happy person with childlike wonder. Very impulsive and emotional. Open book. Often speaks before thinks. Has a lot of buddies but not many close friends. Always felt it was hard to feel connected with a person. Might be because was in a closet for a long time and always felt like he was lying to everyone around him. Has been out for 10ish years now. After he came out, kind of went to the other extreme and constantly threw his gayness in other people’s faces. Is still a bit like that but not so much. Loves flirting and getting a reaction, but really just wants everyone to be happy.

I would probably do this for other major character but didn’t have many in this fic. Stevie and Alex kind of sneaked their way in later. :D

I’m a visual planner so at this point I took a big sheet of paper and divided it into 12 section. I wrote the beginning (they meet for the first time) and the end (the proposal) in boxes 1 and 12. Then I added some bits: this is where they fight, this is where Link can’t come, this is when they have sex for the first time, this is where Rhett needs to go to the hospital etc. Then I looked at my researched and did some shuffling around to match the weather appropriately. The beginning month was purely decided on the fact that I had to have Link stay the night during the Nor'easters (storm) that are the worst between November and March. There were other stuff too, like when was the best time to see the icebergs. I went a bit crazy here and actually looked at weather history form 2017 (or 2018, not sure anymore) to get exact weather information for the dates. So while I was writing I knew exactly what the weather was like. :D

Little by little I added bits and pieces. This took a few days. I can’t really give advice how to exactly do this. I just think of stuff up and try it out. When I had something for every month I started to write.

I can’t have a too detailed plan. Usually I have a sentence or two per chapter; the main thing that needs to happen. Otherwise I won’t feel compelled to write. But this may be different for you. Some people need the detailed plan.

The plan changed a little when I started writing. After I wrote the first chapter I added the stones. At first I searched for a new stone every time I wrote a chapter but after like 4-5 chapters I made a plan and figured all the rest, so I had a list of those. The last few changed though when the whole ending changed.

I updated my chapter plan as I wrote. I write in order. Some people write the bits they are most excited about first but I could never do that, I’d never finish the boring parts after. I need the good stuff as a motivation to get over the writing lulls.

I got @sass-and-panache as a beta after I had written the first chapter. She helped immensely with the plot planning. We brainstormed together when I felt stumped and she regularly reigned me in when I went OOC with my characters. Sometimes I get stuck on a tiny idea and refuse to realize it does not work in the story. She was very good in telling me when I did this. There were a few things we disagreed on, though. ;) And when that happened I just did what I wanted. (Because I’m stubborn AF.)

Gosh, this became obnoxiously long… Sorry. Not sure if there is anything useful here. Maybe I’ll try to bullet point a bit:

1. Think of a premise. A couple dynamic you want to explore or an interesting setting or maybe a certain kind of ending.

2. Do some research if you can. It might spark some plot points you wouldn’t have thought otherwise.

3. Get to know your characters.

4. Make a plot plan. Visual or written. Don’t consider it written in stone. It will change.

5. Write.

6. Talk to someone about your plot. Get a beta if you can/want.

7. Re-plan if necessary.

8. Write some more.

9. Get stuck researching puffins (oh, sorry, that’s just me…whoops!).

10. If something doesn’t seem to work, don’t be afraid to scrap it. I’ve written whole chapters again when I’ve realized they didn’t fit the story. (If you do this, save the scrapped bits on another document. Sometimes you can use parts later.)

11. Write some more.

12. Cry when it’s done.

13. Write a way too detailed description how you planned the fic that no one wants to read. Think about deleting it and replying something else. Be too lazy to do so.

I hope this helped. Or if it didn’t, I hope this amused you a bit.

#lovely anon #Appa gives bad advice #lmbyl #writing long fic #writing #fic writing #rhink #plot planning #not a professional #Appa's way of doing things

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mimzy-writing-online · 3 years

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Writing Toph Beifong, Advice from a Blind Writer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The percentage of people born completely blind is even smaller.

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

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

What is it like to see nothing?

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

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

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

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

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

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

About Toph’s Relationship with Her Parents

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Louis Braille concluded that raised lettering was impractical because-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blind Jokes

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

Does Toph’s Earth Sense Negate her Blindness?

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

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

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

Is Toph Good Blindness Representation?

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

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

End Notes:

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

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

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

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sokkastyles · 3 years

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I’ve talked about this before, but I need to emphasize that Zuko working in the tea shop is a huge part of his arc and development. It wasn’t just something that lasted only a few episodes that he hated and then moved on from, it’s something that is threaded throughout his arc and into the finale.

Of course he’s not happy for a large part of the time he’s working there in book two. He’s a traumatized teenager who is desperately trying to achieve the approval of his father so that he can go back to the home he was banished from. Iroh tries to make the best of things in part because Iroh genuinely enjoys it and making the best of a bad situation is just who he is, but he also wants Zuko to be happy and wants to make the best life for his nephew that he can, and he knows that Zuko needs positivity and security in his life, as well as tries to nurture in Zuko an appreciation for the small things in life and an attitude of service. It is hardly surprising that Zuko is resistant to this, though.

Zuko complains even more when he and Iroh are presented with new opportunities, because he doesn’t want to accept the possibility of growth in this new life.

Iroh: Did you hear, nephew? This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the Upper Ring of the city!

Quon: That's right, young man, your life is about to change for the better!

Zuko: [Sarcastically.] I'll try to contain my joy. [Walks outside, slams door shut.]

Zuko spends seven episodes working in the tea shop in a twenty episode season. It runs through his entire Ba Sing Se arc. He grumbles, groans, and complains through most of it.

Iroh: So, I was thinking about names for my new tea shop. How about the Jasmine Dragon? It's dramatic, poetic, has a nice ring to it.

Zuko: [Shows Iroh the flyer.] The Avatar is here in Ba Sing Se and he's lost his bison.

Iroh: [Grabs the flyer.] We have a chance for a new life here. [Cut to Zuko looking out a window.] If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us.

Zuko: [Turns to Iroh.] Good things that are happening for you! Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?

Iroh: There is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity. I suggest you think about what it is that you want from your life and why.

Zuko: I want my destiny.

Iroh: What that means is up to you.

Zuko’s time in the tea shop is part of his arc of discovering that he can choose his own destiny, and although he didn’t choose to live as a refugee, he can choose what he makes of it, which is what Iroh is trying to teach him here. Part of that is choosing to accept Iroh’s love, choosing to appreciate the good things instead of wishing for something that he doesn’t have, and we know that Zuko’s desire to go back to being the prince of the Fire Nation and earn his father’s affection is ultimately empty, and part of a life where he was abused, as well as where he was a part of a system that was oppressing others.

Then Zuko refuses Iroh’s advice about accepting a simple life in favor of pursuing Appa as the Blue Spirit - an identity that represents Zuko’s internal conflict between his fractured self image, which in book two involves him using the Blue Spirit identity to steal, to get back a part of the old life which he’s lost. It is extremely painful for him to admit that trying to get back to who he was before his banishment is causing him to engage in self-destructive behaviors that are stagnating his growth. Iroh just wants him to be safe and happy but he also knows that Zuko has to confront this conflict within himself.

That’s why, after he frees Appa, he must throw away the Blue Spirit mask once and for all, symbolically letting go of his desire to go back to the Fire Nation.

Iroh: You did the right thing, nephew. Leave it behind.

Giving up the past is never easy. Especially giving up the ideas he’s held onto for so long, the idea of what he can one day get back that, as Iroh said in book one, had kept Zuko going through his banishment, that gave him hope. But part of creating your own destiny is realizing that you can find hope in places you didn’t think you could find it. Zuko has to find something else to put his hope in and that’s represented physically by the sickness he suffers after freeing Appa. His entire sense of self has been shaken to the core, because change, real change, is hard.

Iroh: You should know that this is not a natural sickness, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying tea.

Zuko: What's happening?

Iroh: Your critical decision. What you did beneath that lake. It was in such conflict with our image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body.

Zuko: What's that mean?

Iroh: You are going through a metamorphosis, my nephew. It will not be a pleasant experience, but when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful prince you were always meant to be.

Tea even makes an appearance during Zuko’s “metamorphosis,” because the tea is symbolic, y’all. Then when Zuko wakes up from his sickness, we see an immediate change in him.

Iroh: Now that your fever is gone, you seem different somehow.

Zuko: [Optimistically.] It's a new day. We've got a new apartment, new furniture, and today's the grand opening of your new tea shop. Things are looking up, Uncle.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that Zuko has suddenly decided that he loves serving tea and working customer service, but the change he’s experienced is about choosing to find the good, to accept change into his life, to accept humility, and love. And this is the most happy we’ve ever seen Zuko be. We also see him emotionally supporting Iroh and working on his relationship with his uncle because he knows that seeing Zuko happy makes Iroh happy. Before, Zuko made a big show of his unhappiness, slamming doors and frowning and shouting and generally acting like a spoiled teenager with major authority issues, which made Iroh visibly upset. Iroh constantly tries to get Zuko to change his attitude but in the end it’s something that Zuko has to choose himself.

Iroh: Who thought when we came to this city as refugees, that I'd end up owning my own tea shop? Follow your passion, Zuko, and life will reward you.

Zuko: Congratulations, Uncle.

Iroh: I am very thankful.

Zuko: You deserve it. The Jasmine Dragon will be the best tea shop in the city.

Iroh: No. I'm thankful because you decided to share this special day with me. It means more than you know.

Zuko: Now let's make these people some tea!

This is more than just Zuko being happy for Iroh or trying to be happy because Iroh wants him to be happy. We see the idea repeated here that you can choose your own destiny, and that those who do are rewarded by life. This is also echoed in Zuko’s conversation with Katara in which he tells her that lately he has realized that he is free to choose what he makes of the scars of his past, and his future. We also see him practicing what Iroh told him, he lets go of shame by letting go of pride. Instead of talking about what he thinks he deserves, he talks about what Iroh deserves. The dialogue also indicates that Zuko chose to be there.

This development is emphasized when Zuko and Iroh are invited to serve tea to the Earth King.

Iroh: I ... I can't believe it!

Zuko: What is it, Uncle?

Iroh: Great news! We've been invited to serve tea to the Earth King!

Zuko goes from “step aside, filth!” and complaining about doing work to smiling about serving tea to the king of a rival nation. That’s character development. And as I said before, it was essential to Zuko’s development in becoming the kind of Fire Lord that he is supposed to be.

The dramatic irony of Katara finding them and unintentionally ratting them out to Azula is that when Katara enters the tea shop, she finds not only a Zuko in a tea apron, but a happy one enthusiastically taking people’s orders.

Zuko: Uncle! I need two jasmine, one green, and one lychee!

Iroh: I'm brewing as fast as I can!

I love this scene so much because it’s like, imagine that you decide to go to Panera Bread and you find Kylo Ren working at the counter, cheerfully asking you if you want chips or an apple with that. It’s also hilarious that Katara’s immediate thought is they’re infiltrating the city when she knows that there’s an evil force of brainwashing government agents lurking about.

That Zuko genuinely found peace with his life in Ba Sing Se is narratively important because it makes what happens next even harder for him. “The Crossroads of Destiny” is a true crossroads because he’s fought hard to find happiness and hope in his new life, but then it’s all ripped away and he’s put to the test. That he fails it this time just emphasizes how hard it is to break free of old destructive habits.

This is why when he does go back to the Fire Nation, we’re shown his doubts, and how uncomfortable he is. He tries to be happy and to accept his role as prince, but he already knows that this is not the destiny he wants for himself. The excessive opulence of the Fire Nation is meant to show this. We see this in scenes like Zuko constantly being unhappy during the beach episode and becoming angry when he is told to relax and do nothing, and his insecurity at the party in a room full of rich kids.

In particular, we see him being uncomfortable being waited on by servants in “Nightmares and Daydreams”:

Servant #1: Fresh fruit, Prince Zuko?

Zuko puts out his hand and shakes his head respectfully.

Servant #2: May I wash your feet, sir?

Zuko respectfully puts his hand out and shakes his head again.

Servant #1: Head massage?

Zuko shakes his head again.

Servant #2: Hot towel?

Zuko looks at the towels for a moment and takes one. He is seen wiping his forehead before walking out of the room. The two servants bow behind him. Zuko walks out the palace gates, with Fire Nation citizens waiting for him.

Servant #1: Prince Zuko, is something wrong? You didn't take the palanquin.

Zuko: I'm just going to Mai's house. It's not far.

Servant #1: It's not a prince's place to walk anywhere, sir.

Zuko looks to the distance, walks over, and gets into the palanquin.

We see him trying to fit in with Mai because he’s a sixteen year old who has a girlfriend for the first time in his life and he wants to impress her, but what this scene actually shows is their differing values.

Zuko: Tell me, if you could have anything you want right now, what would it be?

Mai: Hm ... A big fancy fruit tart, with rose petals on top.

Zuko: You know, being a prince and all, I might just be able to make that happen.

Mai: That would be impressive.

Zuko: [To the servants.] Do you think you could find a fresh fruit tart for the lady, with rose petals on top?

Servant: Excellent choice, sir.

Mai: I guess there's some nice perks that come with being royalty. [Pushing Zuko to lay down with her.] Though there's annoying stuff, too. Like that all-day war meeting coming up.

Zuko: [Sitting up, followed by Mai.] War meeting? What are you talking about?

Mai: Azula mentioned something. I-I assumed you were going, too.

Zuko: I guess I wasn't invited.

The two look away from each other.

Zuko asks Mai what she would want if she could have anything and what she comes up with is fruit tarts. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Mai is shallow, but what it does mean is that she’s never had to worry about what she wants in terms of the big picture.

“Who are you, and what do you want?”

She’s also never had to go hungry like Zuko has, and never had to serve others like Zuko has.

And then she brings up the war meeting, which to her is only an annoyance. Zuko doesn’t care about fruit tarts and palanquin rides, but this is something he cares about. It’s also funny to me that Mai is like “make out time,” and let’s be real, nobody would fault Zuko, a sixteen year old boy, for enjoying a little hanky panky, but Zuko is like “no, anxiety time!” Which shows how much he’s changed and how much he is struggling to be happy despite all the fruit tarts and hot towels and having a girlfriend who is all over him.

It is NOT a coincidence that when Zuko joins the gaang, we see him genuinely happy and among friends and making and serving tea.

Zuko had to go back to the Fire Nation to really understand how much he had changed and to really be able to choose his own destiny, but we know which one he chooses, between a life of empty riches and a life helping others. Even when we see him addressing the people as Fire Lord, his speech is all about service and humility. When the crowd cheers for him, he does this:

Zuko: Please. The real hero is the Avatar.

Which shows how far he’s come from the boy who so desperately wanted recognition, who was repulsed by the idea of serving others or lowering himself to the status of a “peasant,” who only thought of himself and what he deserved. His last scene is not his coronation, not his triumphant moment of standing in front of a crowd as Fire Lord, or even confronting his father, but a quiet moment, serving tea to his friends.

#zuko #atla #atla meta #iroh #mai #the blue spirit #the tea is symbolic

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stitch1830 · 3 years

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Ok, so I keep seeing your posts and have had more Zutara thoughts because of them (thank you for that, btw 😊) so I was curious if you have read any fics or like the Mom Friend!Katara and Dad Friend!Zuko trope? It’s one of my personal faves.

Some common things I’ve seen with this are:

Zuko noticing Katara does a lot of the work while staying at the Western Air Temple and stepping up to help, but Katara is rightfully wary of him at that point and gets frustrated for varying reasons

Katara getting sick from constantly doing everything for so long and Zuko helping take care of her and the Gaang while she’s down for the count (usually happens after TSR so they’re slightly awkward friends at this point)

Katara and Zuko late night conversations where Katara isn’t just being Zuko’s therapist, or Zuko isn’t just being Katara’s therapist, but they’re giving each other advice and listening to each other in equal measure overall (even if some nights one is feeling more down than the other and they focus on that for just that night)

Katara and Zuko getting some solid cooking together/doing chores together/bending together content

Katara and Zuko getting teased by the Gaang bc they’ve started to call them Mum and Dad when they’re being extra Momtara and Dadko (you know what I mean lol)

Katara and Zuko working to comfort anyone else in the Gaang over relationship problems (usually Sukka stuff here with misinterpreting stuff and overthinking and all that), childhood issues (Toph and her stuff with her parents), not feeling good enough (Aang, the sweet boi son who is so nervous abt all the pressure on his shoulders), or just war trauma stuff (nightmares and cuddles from Momtara and Dadko - is best with Toph imo)

Toph accidentally calling them Mum or Dad while super tired is the wholesome stuff thing

Idk if you’ve got other stuff that you’ve seen or headcannons you’ve got abt this trope, lmk bc I feel like I don’t seen enough of it lol

Hello! Thank you so much for the ask, and I'm glad you are enjoying the HC's. We all deserve to have Zutara live in our minds rent free haha!

I actually don't think I've read a specific fic with that particular trope, sadly. I'm kind of new when it comes to reading Zutara fics and haven't spent too much time exploring ao3 (There's so much I was shook the first time I glanced at it!). I've seen a few fan art comics with this referenced, that's all though. But, I am totally on board with this headcanon and honestly think it's super accurate. It probably should be explored more!

Both Katara and Zuko seem pretty selfless when it comes to their friends and family, so it would make sense to me that they take care of the others first, either individually or together. And then in turn, noticing when the other is struggling and offering support. It's probably an interesting story to see how they navigate the rough waters, because Katara is probably somewhat skeptical of Zuko still, and Zuko just isn't sure how to handle the situation. They're also two of the most mature members of the Gaang, so it makes sense that they take it upon themselves to take care of the group. (Also the cuddle sessions? Talk about uwu).

If I were to add to this list, I think they would often scold the group if they were only using a single braincell between them all.

Zuko probably stays up the latest in the group to watch for any trouble. Sometimes he notices Katara or another member of the Gaang shivering, so he'll give them his blanket.

I can see them when they're alone complaining to each other about the group's shenanigans and finding comfort in being able to relate to each other.

Katara would scold the group for giving Appa too many treats. But then Zuko sneaks one more apple to the sky bison :)

This might not fit the HC, but maybe if Zuko needs to tell Katara something and he's afraid of her reaction (maybe it's bad news and they're all already stressed), he'll practice his speech on a badgerfrog.

Katara and Zuko definitely spar a ton together and they learn each others moves and tendencies well. That's why they're so in sync during their practice battle.

Those are my immediate thoughts on HC's! Also, if you have a fav fic with this trope, feel free to send it my way! Love reading some good stories haha. Thanks again for the ask, and hope you have a nice day! :)

#zutara #katara #zuko #atla #gaang #zutara headcanons #my asks #thanks for the ask!#gosh these two #best mom friend and dad friend around #I can totally see the group calling them mom and dad before the invasion lmao #momtara #dadko #they're so thoughtful #while everyone else shares one braincell #smh guys

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babypandawrites · 3 years

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Allies, Pt. 6

The Fortune Teller

Pairing: Sokka x F Reader Warnings: None Word Count: 4,530 Summary: Meeting Aunt Wu and getting your fortune told by her definitely does not make you come to any realizations at the end of the day. None at all.

-Navigation- | -Allies Masterlist- | -Atla Masterlist-

Sitting a bit away from the rest of the group, Y/n leaned her back against a rock settled on the lake shore. She held a small handmade leather bound journal in her hands, finger tips tracing along the cover. She hummed to herself, squinting at the cover. “Maybe just a small peak…” “Look!” Her head snapped up, looking at the others, then looking in the direction Katara had been pointing. She’d been pointing out to the water, where a green catfish jumped from the water before landing back in it. Y/n tucked the journal away. “He is taunting us… You are so going to be dinner!” As Sokka ran to get his fishing pole, she got up and joined the group. Sokka tried to cast the pole a few times, but nothing happened. “Hey! Where’s the fishing line.” “Oh, I didn’t think you would need it, Sokka.” Aang held up the fishing line, it had been twisted into something. “Aang, it’s all tangled!” “Not tangled- woven .” He airbended a gust of air to push him to his feet, and turned to Katara. “I made you a necklace, Katara. I thought since you lost your other one…” Trailing off, he smiled sheepishly and held out the homemade necklace to Katara. She took it from him. “Thanks, Aang. I love it.” Y/n got her bow from where it sat next to the tent, and pulled an arrow from the quiver before joining Sokka at the shore line. He had tossed his fishing pole into the water like a spear, only for it to disappear. “Stop taunting me!” She looked at him with an amused expression. “Sokka, I can catch-” Holding up his hand he cut her off. “No! No, I got this.” He drew out his knife, and lunged into the water, trying to catch the fish with it. Her and Aang both watched his antics in amusement. “So, how do I look?” Y/n turned back to look at Katara. The girl had put on the necklace Aang gave her, and while Y/n was pretty sure the question hadn’t been directed at her, she still gave her a thumbs up. “You mean all of you or just your neck? I mean, uh, both look great.” She raised her eyebrows at Aang. That kid was not very good at hiding his crush. Sokka got out of the lake, holding the fish he had caught as if about to kiss it. “Smoochie, smoochie, someone’s in love.” The fish flipped around in his hands, knocking him back into the lake and earning a laugh from Y/n. Aang rubbed at his head in an embarrassed manner. “I… well…” “Stop teasing him, Sokka.” Katara gave her brother an annoyed look. “Aang’s just a good friend. A sweet little guy- just like Momo.” “Thanks.” He was clearly put down by her words. Y/n rested a comforting hand on his shoulder, as a soaking wet Sokka approached the group. He was empty handed, and looked quite upset about it.

At a sound in the distance, Momo flew off in it’s direction. Aang used his airbending to join the lemur atop a large rock. He pointed to the source of the noise. “Someone’s being attacked by a platypus bear!” He jumped off the rock, presumably down to where the attack was taking place. Sokka and Katara ran off in the direction Aang pointed, as Y/n grabbed her quiver to put on her back, before quickly joining them. The three joined Aang, as a man calmly dodged attacks from the platypus bear. Aang, Katara and Sokka were trying to give advice to the man about how to evade the bear, but he brushed them off, claiming everything would be fine. Appa ended up scaring the platypus bear by roaring at it, not only making it run away but also making it drop an egg. Sokka went to pick up the egg. “Mmm! Lunch!” He sniffed the egg, before looking at the man. “Lucky for you we came along.” “Thanks, but everything was already under control. Not to worry, Aunt Wu predicted I’d have a safe journey.” The man put his hands together in a position of prayer and bowed slightly. “Aunt who?” Aang questioned. “No, Aunt Wu. She’s the fortune teller from my village. Awfully nice knowing your future.” Katara looked amazed. “Wow, it must be. That explains why you were so calm.” “But the fortune teller was wrong! You didn’t have a safe journey, you were almost killed.” “I think us showing up is what made it a safe journey actually, Sokka.” “The girl has a point. All right, have a good one!” The man gave a wave goodbye to the group, and began walking away, but he turned back again. “Oh, and Aunt Wu said if I met any travelers to give them this.” He handed Aang a long, thin wrapped object and walked away. “Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes. It could be fun.” Katara looked between her friends as she spoke her suggestion. Sokka waved off his sister's suggestion. “Oh come on, fortune telling is nonsense.” Glancing between the two siblings, Y/n offered a small shrug. “Even if it is nonsense, it could still be fun.” “See! Y/n gets it! Kinda.” “What do ya know, an umbrella!” The three looked over to Aang, who had unwrapped the wrapped up object, which was clearly an umbrella. The sky abruptly darkened as rain began to pour down. Katara smiled, and waterbended the rain into an arch above her head to avoid getting wet. “That proves it.” She ran to join Aang under the opened umbrella. Y/n found herself joining the two, trying to fit under the umbrella space as well. Sokka held the egg above his head. “No it doesn’t, you can’t really tell the future.” “I guess you’re not really getting wet then.”

The four walked down the road. Aang, Katara and Y/n were dry under the umbrella while Sokka was getting soaking again from walking in the rain. “Of course she predicted it was gonna rain. The sky’s been gray all day.” “Just admit you might be wrong and you can come under the umbrella.” Y/n nodded at Katara’s words. “The umbrella life is pretty nice, I really recommend it.” He looked at them blankly. “Look, I’m going to predict the future now.” Sokka made a bunch of funny movements and noises, before speaking in an exaggerated voice.. “It’s going to keep drizzling.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “See!” The rain instantly stopped, and the sun came out. “Not everyone has the gift, Sokka.” Aang closed the umbrella as he spoke. Appa came up on the group, passing Sokka, he shook out his fur causing the boy to be drenched more.

Soon, they came across a village sat atop a snowy mountain. When they entered through the gates of the village a herald dressed in black greeted them. “Aunt Wu is expecting you.” “Really?” Though it was something simple, it still seemed to amaze Katara in a way. The group followed the man as he led them to a building, closing the door once all four were inside. There were four sitting pillows placed on the ground. A young girl dressed in a pink kimono with her hair tied into large braids entered the room. “My name is Meng and I’m Aunt Wu’s assistant.” The girl seemed to take a quick interest in Aang. “Well hello there.” He rubbed his nose. “Hello.” Y/n took a seat on one of the pillows, Aang and Katara joining her. “Can I get you some tea, or some of Aunt Wu’s special bean curd puffs?” Sokka sat down as well. “I’ll try a curd puff.” “Just a second.” Meng bent down to address Aang. “So what’s your name?” “Aang.” “That rhymes with Meng! And you’ve got some pretty big ears, don’t you?” “Uh… I guess..” Aang seemed confused, rightfully so. “Oh, don’t be so modest. They’re huge!” Sokka spread out his arms wide. Y/n elbowed him in the side, as Aang looked at him angrily. “Well Aang, it is very nice to meet you. Very nice.” “Likewise.” Meng exited the room, leaving the four by themselves. “I can’t believe we’re here in the house of nonsense.” “Try to keep an open mind, Sokka. There are things in this world that just can’t be explained. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some insight into your future?” “It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs.” Katara seemed annoyed by her brother, and his disbelief. Y/n rested her chin in her hands, and looked over to her. “You really believe in this stuff don’t you, Katara?” “You don’t?” She offered a small shrug. “Not particularly. It’s just assumptions and intuition.” Katara looked at her with a blank expression. “You really agree with Sokka?” “I don’t think it’s nonsense.” “But, you don’t believe in it?” “I just don’t think it’s some magical ability, there’s logic set behind it that mostly consists of guesses.” As Katara rolled her eyes, a woman walked into the room. “Welcome young travelers.” This must be Aunt Wu. “Now, who’s next? Don’t be shy.” Aang, Y/n and Sokka all being disinterested, Katara stood up. “I guess that’s me.” She walked away following Aunt Wu into another room. Sokka was chowing down on the curd puffs they were given. “Not bad. Not bad. Mmmm!” He offered some to Aang, who declined. Y/n grabbed one from the tray when he offered them to her. Her nose wrinkled when he tried it, they weren’t really her cup of tea. Aang looked between the two. “So… what do you think they’re talking about back there?” “Boring stuff, I’m sure. Love. Who she’s going to marry. How many babies she’s gonna have.” Sokka shrugged as he spoke, eating another curd puff. “Yeah… dumb stuff like that…” Aang bit at his fingernails. “Well, I’ve gotta find a bathroom!” He jumped up and ran off. Y/n raised an eyebrow. “What’s his deal?” Sokka stretched out over Aang and Katara’s pillows. “Probably going to listen to my sisters dumb palm reading.” “Makes sense.”

After a few minutes Aang came back, clearly pleased by whatever he heard. “Looks like someone had a pretty good bathroom break.” “Yeah, when I was in there-” Sokka cut him off. “I don’t wanna know!” Aunt Wu and Katara walked back out. The woman looked between the three. “Who’s next?” “Okay, let’s get this over with.” Sokka pushed himself to his feet. “Your future is full of struggle and anguish, most of it self-inflicted.” “But, you didn’t read my palms or anything!” “I don’t need to- It’s written all over your face.” Y/n held back a laugh. “Um, I can go.” Aunt Wu looked over her for a short moment, before nodding. “Follow me.” She got up from her seat, and followed the woman off into the room Katara had been in prior. The two sat down across from each other. Aunt Wu carefully grabbed onto her hand, and looked over her palm. “Is there anything you’d like to know?” “Uh…” Y/n thought for a short moment. “I’m.. not sure?” “How about we take a look at your love line.” “Alright.” The woman traced her finger tip along her palm. “You will have a difficult and tragic love. Many things will go wrong, and there is no guarantee of reconciliation.” She grimaced. “That sounds…” “Horrible? It will be.” “Um… Is there anything else you're seeing..?” Aunt Wu hummed for a short moment. “I can see… where your soulmate is from. The Water Tribe.” “Wa-Water Tribe..? Southern or Northern?!” “That I don’t know. Though I can see you will care for several children in your future.” “Oh. Can you.. See anything about my future in general?” “Let’s see… Things will get worse, before they get better. Secrets will only harm you in the long run.” She gulped. “That is all.”

After Aang’s reading, the group left. “Well, now you got to see for yourselves that fortunetelling is just a big, stupid hoax.” Katara rolled her eyes at her brother. “You’re just saying that because you’re going to make yourself unhappy your whole life.” “That woman is crazy! My life will be calm! And happy! And joyful!” Sokka got more upset with each word he spoke. He kicked a small rock off the ground, causing it to ricochet off a nearby sigh and hit him on the head knocking him back. “Ow! That doesn’t prove anything!” Y/n helped him off the ground. “If talking to that woman told me anything, it’s that she’s speaking nonsense.” “You just didn’t like what you were told.” She looked at Katara with a blank expression. “Clearly.” Her tone was sarcastic. “Well, I liked my predictions. Certain things are going to turn out very well.” Katara clasped her hands together. “They sure are.” “Why, what did she tell you?” Aang offered a smile to Katara. “Some stuff. You’ll find out.” They all approach a large crowd that’s gathered at the center of the village square. Most of the people in the crowd stood in silence, looking up at the sky. Katara looked up as well. “What’s with the sky?” “We are waiting for Aunt Wu to come and read the clouds to predict the fate of the whole village.” One of the men in the crowd offered the answer. “The whole village?” Y/n looked at the man oddly when he nodded. “Interesting…” Weird stuff. Aang pointed up. “That cloud looks like a fluffy bunny.” “You better hope that’s not a bunny- The fluffy bunny cloud forecast doom and destruction.” “Do you even hear yourself?” The man looked at Sokka with an annoyed expression. A woman from the crowd took a step towards them. “The cloud reading will tell us if Mount Makapu will remain dormant for another year or if it will erupt.” “We used to have a tradition once a year of going up the mountain to check the volcano ourselves, but ever since Aunt Wu moved to the village twenty years ago we have a tradition of not doing that.” Sokka’s expression twisted to a mix of confusion and outrage. “I can’t believe you would trust your lives to that crazy old woman’s superstition.” “Seriously…” Katara shushed the two. “She’s coming!” Aunt Wu walked down and through the crowd, getting up to the stage that had been set up. She gave out several predictions, all of which pleased the village members to hear, one of which included that the volcano would not erupt this year.” Scoffing, Sokka gently elbowed Y/n in the side. “You think she’s crazy too, right?” “Well,” Pausing, she turned her head to look at him. Your soulmate is from the Water Tribe. “Yeah, definitely. She’s talking nonsense.” She breathed out a nervous laugh. “I’m gonna go see what Katara is up to uh- See you later!” Y/n turned fast on her heel and rushed off.

Arms crossed over her chest, Y/n paced in the space in front of Appa. The bison was laying on the ground, just outside the village gates. He let out a grunt. She halted in her steps, looking over to him. “You’re right, I’m stressing out about this way too much. I mean, why am I even freaking out? Aunt Wu’s predictions are just nonsense, right? You think they’re nonsense too don’t you, Appa?” Her eyebrows furrowed together as he grunted. “No, they have to be nonsense. There’s no way that Sokka could be my soulmate, that’s ridiculous. Right?” Appa gave another grunt, she frowned. “You’re not making me feel better here, Appa.” Sighing, she began pacing again. “Maybe I should talk to her again? I know, I know, I said her prediction’s are nonsense, but in the case they aren’t … She didn’t tell me if my soulmate was from the Southern Water Tribe or the Northern Water Tribe, if I get another reading maybe she can pick that up…” The bison grunted again, causing Y/n to look at him with an offended expression. “You could at least pretend to agree with me! This is why I take my issues to Momo, he’s much better at this than you!” Pausing she reached a hand out and patted his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. You’re definitely the better advice animal, Appa. You’re right, I’m just being crazy, it doesn’t matter. Thanks for the help Appa, I’m gonna go find the others now.” As she walked back into the village, Y/n scoffed. “I’m being crazy? Ridiculous, Appa is clearly the crazy one here…” Approaching Aunt Wu’s house, Y/n gave Aang a confused stare as he shouted something at a walking away Katara. “You good there bud?” Surprised by her sudden appearance, Aang jumped slightly. “Huh- Yeah. I’m fine.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you okay, Y/n? You were acting kind of weird earlier.” “Wh-! I was not acting weird. I don’t act weird!” She pointed an accusatory finger at him. “You’re acting weird!” “Uh-huh… You’re not here to get another reading, are you? Didn’t you say Aunt Wu was speaking nonsense?” Gulping, she looked to the side nervously. “I’m not! And she is!” As if on cue, the front door was opened, Aunt Wu standing on the other side. “I knew you would be coming back eventually.” Aang gave her a look. “Shut up.” Y/n turned quickly, and shuffled into the building. “You would like for your question from before to be answered, is that right?” Aunt Wu asked, as the two entered her fortune telling room. “Well uh-” Y/n breathed out a sigh, looking to the ground shamefully. “Yeah.” The woman led her over to an urn, it had been filled with bones. “Let’s try something else this time, pick one.” She motioned to the urn. Y/n looked at it for a moment, before picking one. They sat down, and she threw the bone into the fire when Aunt Wu instructed her too. The bone started to crack, small gaps forming in it. “Let’s see what it says.” Aunt Wu leaned closer to the fire, observing them. “The answer to your question, I’m still not seeing. But I can see that you will reunite with a family member soon.” “You’re sure? There’s nothing about it at all?” Another crack formed in the bone. “Ah… here it is. He will be from the Southern Tribe.” “The Southern Tribe…” Y/n was quick to push herself up to her feet. “I see well uh- thank you.” She bolted out of the house, uttering a quick apology to Katara when she shoved past her. Yeah, no. That woman was crazy! That couldn’t be true, there was no way- Y/n grunted, as she aggressively ran into somebody. She stumbled a bit, but was able to steady herself. “Ah- Sorry about t-” Realizing who she ran into, she’d cut herself off. “Oh wow, look at that, I have to go!” She turned and was ready to rush off, but a firm grip on her arm stopped her. “Woah- Wait! We need to find Katara and warn everyone. The volcano is going to erupt.” A very obvious wave of relief washed over her, as she turned to look at Sokka. “The volcano is going to erupt? So- Aunt Wu was wrong?” Aang and Sokka shared a look, before both offered a nod in confirmation. She breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank spirits… I mean- Not about the volcano thing that’s really bad but the Aunt- You know what nevermind, we need to get going and warn everybody!” As she started to walk away, Aang leaned closer to Sokka. “You think she’s acting weird, right?” “Definitely.” “Are you two coming or not?!”

The three found Katara, waiting outside of Aunt Wu’s door, which wasn’t exactly a surprise to any of them. Aang offered her a small wave of greeting. “Hi, Katara.” “Can you believe she won’t let me in? And after all the business I’ve given her?” Y/n raised an eyebrow at the girl. “But, she doesn’t even charge.” “I know, but still.” “Well, we have other things to worry about. Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano.” Sokka stepped into the conversation, causing Katara to look at him with an expression of annoyance and doubt. “Sokka, you tried to convince me she was wrong before. It’s going to take an awful lot to change my min-” She was cut off but the rumbling sound of the mountain erupting to life, smoke started to raise from the top of it. “Oh no!” The group rushed to the town square, to warn the villagers. They were able to get the villagers attention, and now stood with several people surrounding them. “Everyone! That volcano is gonna blow any second. Aunt Wu was wrong!” Sokka tried to warn the crowd, but they didn’t seem to be buying it. “Yeah, yeah, we know you don’t believe in Aunt Wu, ‘Mr, Science and Reason Lover’.” Y/n let out a groan. “This isn’t about belief! It’s about fact, and the fact is that volcano is going to blow!” “Yeah, we know you don’t believe in Aunt Wu either.” Slapping her palm to her forehead, she sighed. “These people are idiots.” “If you won’t listen to them, maybe you’ll listen to me. I want to believe Aunt Wu and her predictions as you do, but my brother and Aang saw the lava with their own eyes.” The villagers didn’t even listen to Katara’s warning and reason. “Well I heard Aunt Wu’s prediction with my own ears.” Aang airbended himself up onto the roof of Aunt Wu’s house. “Please listen to us! You are all in danger! And we have to get out of here. You can’t rely on Aunt Wu’s prediction. You have to take fate into your own hands.” An explosion came from the volcano, Sokka pointed in it’s direction. “Look! Can your fortune telling explain that?” “Can your science explain why it rains?” “Yes! Yes it can!” The crowd wasn’t convinced, and ended up dispersing back to their homes. Y/n pinched the bridge of her nose as they left, shaking her head. Katara breathed out a sigh. “They just won’t listen to reason.” “But they will listen to Aunt Wu.” Aang spoke up, landing back on the ground with them. Sokka’s eyebrows furrowed together. “I know, that’s the problem.” “Well, it’s about to become the solution. We’re taking fate in our own hands. First, I need to borrow Aunt Au’s cloud reading book.”

With the plan set, they each did their own part to make it happen. While Aang snuck into Aunt Wu’s house to get her cloud reading book, Y/n, Sokka and Katara stood watch. Once he had it, they split into pairs. Aang and Katara flew up on Appa to change the shape of the clouds, while Y/n and Sokka went to get Aunt Wu. “Aunt Wu! You’ll never believe it.” Y/n spoke, as the two guided her up to the stage from before. When they got to it, Sokka pointed at the sky. “Look! Something is happening to the clouds!” “That’s very strange. It shouldn’t…. Oh my!” One of the clouds had been shaped into a skull, to signal volcanic doom. Aang addressed the crowd of villagers when him and Katara got back. “We can still save the village if we act fast. Sokka has a plan.” “Lava is gonna flow downhill to this spot. If we can dig a deep enough trench we can channel all the lava away from the village to the river.” “If any of you are earthbenders come with me.” A twin raised his hand. “I’m an earthbender!” The other twin raised his hand as well. “I’m not!” “Everyone else grab a shovel-” Another explosion sounded, cutting Sokka off. “Come on, we’ve gotta hurry!” They all hurried to start digging out a trench, using the means of both manual work and earthbending. The volcano had started to spew lava, by the time the trench was finished and led into the river. “Everyone needs to evacuate! We’ll come for you when it’s safe!” At Aang’s direction, the villagers ran to safety. The group watched as lava started to race down the side of the volcano, engulfing the village gate and soon the cemetery. Once it reached the trench, it filled it rapidly. “It’s too much! It’s gonna overflow!” Katara shouted, as the lava filled to the top of the trench. Another explosion rocks the ground, burning rocks begin to rain down, along with ash. Y/n, Katara and Sokka began to run away, but stopped realizing Aang stood in place. He ran forward, launching himself into the air with his bending. As the lava begins to overflow, he blows the lava back to keep it from advancing from the village. He drew in a large breath before expelling it, using his airbending to cool the lava into stone. The three watched in awe. Y/n wiped at the sweat beading on her forehead. “Woah.” “Man, sometimes I forget what a powerful bender that kid is.” Katara looked over at her brother. “Wait, what did you just say?” “Nothing, just that Aang is one powerful bender.” “I suppose he is…”

After the volcano situation was successfully dealt with, everyone had gone back to the town square. Aang returned the cloud book back to Aunt Wu. “By the way, we kind of borrowed your book.” “So you messed with the clouds did you!” She snatched the book angrily from his grip, before beginning to laugh. “Very clever!” Turning his attention away from the two, Sokka addressed the villagers. “No offense, but I hope this taught everyone a lesson about not relying too much on fortune telling.” “But Aunt Wu predicted the village wouldn’t be destroyed, and it wasn’t. She was right, after all.” One of the men spoke up. Sokka got in his face. “I hate you.” Y/n looked between the two with an amused expression. “He has a point.” Pausing, her eyebrows furrowed together and her eyes widened. “Oh spirits, he has a point.” She dropped her head into her hands. Katara grabbed her brother by the shoulders. “It’s ok, Sokka. Everything’s gonna be alright.” Y/n held her head in her hands for a few moments, only looking up when someone nudged her in the shoulder. Ah, Sokka, great. “So,” Turning to face him, she raised a questioning eyebrow at the boy. “So?” “That was some pretty good trenching you did out there. You’re pretty strong.” Pausing, Sokka reached out and gently punched her in the arm. “For a girl.” He spoke in a joking tone, grinning wide. “Oh, uh, thanks. You’re pretty strong yourself.” Y/n punched him in the arm, but much harder than he’d done to her. “For a boy.” He winced, rubbing at the spot she hit. “Ow! I mean-” He cleared his throat. “That didn’t hurt.” She let out a laugh. “Sure it didn’t.” Climbing up on Appa as the group readied for their departure, she ignored the thought in her head that said Aunt Wu’s prediction might not be that bad.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar the last airbender x reader #atla x reader #reader insert #sokka x reader #sokka x y/n #sokka x you #team avatar #slowburn #book one allies

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missmorosis · 3 years

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Aang S/O Headcanons!

from my matchups hehe!! they may not be v good lsdjfksdf

here’s the zuko version!

here’s the sokka version!

here’s the suki version!

here’s the toph, ty lee, and katara version!

this bby loves to give you hugs hehe <3

you would get a lot of physical touch!!

aang WILL prioritize you, even if you didn’t ask

HE LOVES YOU SO SO MUCH!!!

he’ll give you lots of attention~

aang hugs aang hugs aang hugs

aang kisses aang kisses aang kisses

IF YOU WANT CUDDLES HE'LL GIVE YOU CUDDLES :D

he'll also cuddle you with appa snuggling with the both of you~

appa kinda feels like a giant pillow so its real comfy dndjdj

⋄✧⋄

he’ll listen to you and try his best to give you advice!!

he’ll totally put up with your drama if you’re dramatic :D

I MEAN

he ended the war?? which is- drama

he tried to solve any toph-katara drama as well LKJDFLKSJ

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it’s okay if you’re a quiet person!!

at first, he’ll prob think you just don’t wanna talk to him slkdjf

but when you open up, he’ll be like

😮💕

aang doesn’t mind that you’re an introvert!!

he’ll set up dates privately

somewhere with just the two of you, if you would like it!

like movie nights, or picnics, or just chilling together :D

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he wants to share a common interest with you!!

he’ll ask you to teach him your interests!

he’ll workout with you as well!!

like how he trained w/ katara hehe

he’ll learn more stuff with you!!

he just wants to do what you enjoy <3

this baby loves you smmmm

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you guys can listen to music together!!

HAVE YA SEEN HIM PLAY THE HORN THINGAMABOB IN THE HEADBAND EPISODE

He'll ✨vibe along✨ with you to all the music you blast hehe

He loves to dance with you!!

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if you like to sing, he’s GREAT

HE LOVES YOUR ANGELIC VOICE JSJSJE

"WOW THAT WAS SO GOOD!!"

"SING IT AGAIN!!"

Sing for him till your voice is all gone 😎

"Sorry” mwkdjeieiie

He goes to every single one of your shows!!

He's always super supportive

Will not hesitate to yell your name from the audience

WILL bring the entire gaang and make them cheer for you as well

"YAY ELLIEEEEEEE" *millions of claps*

He'll bring you flowers at the end of every single performance

No matter how big or small the performance was

No matter now major or minor your role is

He's just really proud of you 😭💖

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He won't be super protective

Aang wouldn't mind your guy friends

Frankly, he's just happy to have new friends cuz YOUR FRIENDS ARE HIS FRIENDS

He trusts you completely 💕

Now DONT ruin it and do something bad eididuud

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He wouldn't mind when you’re being rude accidentally

He totally understands that it happens

He loves you anyways, and he thinks that you're the ABSOLUTE SWEETEST

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Aang def loves how much you love others 😘

He appreciates all the effort you always put in!!

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AND ITS OKAY IF YOU'RE CHAOTIC

Please he deals with the gaaang dkdjdjkeejjdjd

He LOVES YOU SO MUCHHH AHHH

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You would feel super comfortable with aang

He would do anything to make you feel comfortable with him sljdflkasl

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He loves how goofy you are, and he’s real goofy with you as well :D

"LOOK, A PENCIL MUSTACHE"

"AHH BRB I NEED A PENCIL FOR MINE TOO!!"

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He can totally deal with your stubbornness- *cough the gaang*

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You can talk to anything about him and he would listen with his whole heart <3

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He'll calm you down if you ever get too aggressive

Hold you back from fights if he absolutely needs to sjdjjd

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you guys can listen to music together!!

HAVE YA SEEN HIM PLAY THE HORN THINGAMABOB IN THE HEADBAND EPISODE

He'll ✨vibe along✨ with you to all the music you blast hehe

He loves to dance with you!!

He'll listen to all the songs you recommend

He trusts you, and he trusts your music taste!! 💕

"Take a listen to this one."

You two would share earbuds and chill on the couch together

While listening to music, you would read or write

Aang would braid your hair

He loves doing it, and you love the feeling as well

He's actually quite good at it skjdjjd

You'll finish what you were writing with some really pretty hair and an accomplished feeling 😎

ITS A GREAT FEELING EJKEJE

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he’s very open with his emotions and I feel like he has great communication skills!

although he’s a great liar, he prefers to be honest with you 😌

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aang will never judge you!!

he’ll support you 100%, even if he doesn’t approve

he believes you know what you’re doing, and he’ll be with you every step of the way

he’ll voice his concerns if he doesn’t like what you’re doing, but he’ll support you :D

“I don’t know… but okay, as long as you stay safe.”

like how he did with Katara when she went after the man who k*lled her mom-

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he loves talking about everything to you, especially since he knows you won’t judge :D

in return, he listens to you and he’ll give you advice!!

compassionate baby always looking for the best and most positive solution!

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star-gazing with aang 🥺🥺

“Look at that star!! It’s so bright!”

“yeah! that’s (this star)”

you would tell him all you know

he would listen as best as he can!

“that star is part of this constellation!”

yall would look for the stars together

getting excited when you find a constellation 🥺

you guys can study astrology together!!

you two can share bracelets!!

wrapping the chakra bracelets around each other’s wrists :D

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he would steal your funny t-shirts, he thinks they’re hilarious and he loves them

he’ll show them all to Sokka/Katara, who also finds them funny 🥰

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he’ll express his love for you all the time, and you will never doubt that he loves you 💖

hope you enjoy these!!

#atla x you #atla x y/n #atla x reader #atla x yn #aang x reader #aang x you #aang x y/n #aang #atla

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momsopposed2theoccult · 3 years

Text

Not Alone

So I wrote a thing. It’s Tokka-ish but could be interpreted as romantic or platonic. I’m currently waiting on an Ao3 invite so I’ll probably post it on there as well once I receive my invite, but for now I figured I would post it on here because I’m excited to share it with you all! Oh and here’s a friendly reminder that Post Plus is bullshit and you will never, ever have to pay to read my writing. Writing is something I do for fun, and I post it on Tumblr because I want other people who love these characters as much as I do to be able to share that experience with me. Not to mention that I’m not looking to get sued by Nickelodeon.

The first time that Sokka noticed there was something wrong with Toph, she had been six months pregnant.

The two of them were lounging around her living room, Sokka stretched out across the couch with his left arm dangling off the side and Toph relaxing in an oversized armchair, her swollen feet perched on the ottoman in front of her and one hand resting on her rounded stomach. It was an unusually hot summer’s day, and the two old friends had happily retreated into the sweet relief of Toph’s newly installed air conditioning.

“Sokka, do you think I’ll be an okay mother?”

Sokka was taken aback by his friend’s blunt question.

“Well, just as long as you pay better attention to the kid than you did to Appa, I think you’ll be golden,” he joked, reflecting back briefly on the memory from their war days.

The then-tiny girl had tried with all her might to prevent Wan Shi Tong’s library from collapsing under the weight of Sokka’s own impulsive curiosity, all while trying to rescue their beloved sky bison from his captors. He would never forget the look on her face after it happened, nor would he forget the months she spent perfecting her sandbending afterwards, determined that she would never make such a mistake again.

Perhaps that had been the wrong thing to say.

Toph’s eyebrows scrunched together in a look of concern as she rubbed absentminded circles on the curve of her stomach with a flat palm.

“Sokka, I’m serious. Do you think I’ll be an okay mother?,” she repeated, some anxiety creeping into her voice.

“Well, yeah. Sure. Why wouldn’t you be?,” Sokka replied, although he couldn’t ignore the uncertainty in his own voice as he attempted to soothe his best friend’s anxieties surrounding the tiny life growing inside of her.

Toph exhibited many admirable qualities, but she wasn’t exactly nurturing. He couldn’t help but recall all the plants she had failed to keep alive over the years, or the way Katara was constantly scolding her for swearing in front of Bumi and Kya, or the way she tensed up around babies, as if she were afraid she might break them.

Toph sighed, blowing her sweaty bangs out of her face.

“I don’t know, I’m just… not great with babies. I never know what to do with them, y’know? They’re just so tiny, I always feel like I’m gonna break them in half or something equally barbaric.”

“No, no, I’m sure you won’t-,” Sokka began to reply, but Toph had not yet finished lamenting.

“And most kids get to have their dad there, but, y’know, any hope this kid has of ever meeting that lousy excuse for a man is long gone,” she huffed angrily.

“Daddy’s an asshole, isn’t he! Just a big ‘ole deadbeat loser!,” she said in a mocking babyish tone, giving her swollen belly a little pat.

Sokka rolled his eyes at his friend’s dramatics, but he couldn’t help agreeing.

The guy’s name was Kanto. He had been a bartender at one of Sokka and Toph’s mutual favourite dives, and an okay enough guy depending on who you asked, but as far as Sokka was concerned, he was the scum of Toph’s beloved earth.

The two of them had been getting a drink together like they always did on Friday nights, when Toph had caught the bartender’s eye. And honestly, Sokka couldn’t blame him. He certainly couldn’t deny that she was no longer the grubby twelve year old he had met all those years ago. He wasn’t going to pretend like he didn’t notice the curve of her hips or the way her tank top rode up her waist exposing a sliver of stomach. And he couldn’t ignore the way that other men checked her out nor how weird he felt about it when they did. Kanto had been one of those men. After a round of free drinks and a disgusting amount of quite frankly obnoxious eyebrow waggling, Kanto had somehow convinced Toph to come home with him, much to Sokka’s disdain. The rest was history.

The two of them had been an item for a couple of months. Toph claimed that she was happy with him, but Sokka didn’t need his friend’s talents as a human polygraph machine to figure out that she was lying.

He wasn’t all bad, he really wasn’t. He never laid a hand on her or anything like that. But Sokka couldn’t help noticing the subtle comments he made about her weight or her outfit or how she spoke just a little louder than he thought a woman should, nor could he miss all the changes she made to her beautiful, wonderful, perfect self just to fit his mold.

Sokka hated that Toph’s signature confidence could crumble so easily under the will of a man like that. It made his blood boil.

Toph began to fall apart when he finally left. Then when she found out that she was pregnant, she broke, and Sokka had been there to help pick up the pieces.

So yeah, not exactly Sokka’s favourite guy.

“You know you don’t need him, right?” He assured her.

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” she replied, brushing him off with a faint smile that she didn’t quite put her heart into.

Picking up on his friend’s feeble attempt to mask her obvious worry, Sokka got up from the couch and walked over to where Toph was sitting. He placed one hand firmly in hers and the other gingerly on her stomach.

“Toph, you’re the strongest person I know. Believe me when I say that if anybody can do this on their own, you can. But you won’t have to do it alone, because I’m going to be here for you every step of the way. Do you understand me?” He assured her.

She nodded in reply.

“Yeah, I understand. And thank you.”

But he could tell she didn’t really believe it.

____________

The second time that Sokka noticed something was wrong with Toph had been two weeks after Lin’s birth. Four old friends had gathered on Air Temple Island for a belated celebration of the new mother and child. Aang had cooked noodles, one of Toph’s favourites, but Sokka couldn’t help noticing that the latter had hardly touched hers.

“What’s wrong, Toph? Normally you gobble this stuff up in under five minutes,” Aang asked, voicing Sokka’s thoughts exactly.

The earthbender continued to absentmindedly twirl a piece of noodle around her chopstick, never bringing it to her mouth.

“I’m fine. Just not that hungry,” she assured them.

Sokka caught Aang’s eye and they shared a skeptical look. Katara looked at Toph with concern and a vague familiarity, as if something had suddenly dawned on her.

“You know, if something’s bothering you, you can always talk to us about it, right? I know that this is a new experience for you, and I understand if you’re feeling a little lost-,” Katara started, but was cut off by her friend’s inevitable defensive reaction.

“Oh, so you think this has to do with Lin? You think there’s something wrong with me? You think I’m not fit to be a mother? Well guess what? Lin and I are doing just fine on our own!,” Toph yelled in response to her friend’s gentle attempt to help her.

“Toph, I don’t think that’s what she meant. What she was trying to say is that being a new parent is stressful enough as it is, and I can’t imagine having to do it alone. We’re here for you if you need our help or advice,” Aang tried to reason with his angry friend, but to no avail.

“You know what, Aang? You can take your ‘advice’ and shove it up your ass. I don’t need your help, I don’t need anybody’s help. I’m a great mother!,” she shot back in response.

Sokka sighed. There was no reasoning with Toph when she got like this. Her fits of defensiveness and anger usually masked deeper fears and insecurities that could be difficult, nearing impossible to coax out of her at first. It was usually best to give her time to herself to blow off some steam, and only then could she be convinced to admit the truth about what was bothering her.

“I’m gonna go take a nap. That is, unless Sokka here has some unsolicited advice for me too,” she voiced in a warning tone implying that if Sokka did happen to have any comments to make, he better keep his mouth shut about them.

Sokka threw up his hands defensively.

“No, no, by all means, go take a nap.”

“Great, at least one of my friends doesn’t fancy himself a shrink.”

Toph stormed off in a huff to the guest bedroom, and although her fit of anger concerned him, Sokka was glad to see her getting some much-needed rest. The dark circles under her clouded eyes implying sleepless nights as of late hadn’t escaped him.

“What was that all about?,” Aang wondered aloud. “I’ve never seen her get that angry over nothing. We were just asking if she was okay.”

“I dunno. She hasn’t really been herself recently, has she?,” Sokka replied.

“I mean, she called me Aang. Just Aang. She only does that when she’s really upset.”

“Well, it is your name,” Sokka reminded him, although he too couldn’t help noting with concern that Toph had neglected to make use of her favourite choice nickname for their airbending friend.

“You know, right after I had Bumi I didn’t feel like myself either,” Katara shared. “It was like, before that moment, all I had to take care of was me. But then all of a sudden there was this tiny little human being who relied on me to survive, and I wasn’t sure if I could do it. I felt like my heart was walking around outside my body, and if I made even the slightest mistake I would destroy it forever. I doubted myself a lot. Everything was just so new and overwhelming, and some days I didn’t even want to get out of bed.”

“So you’re saying that you’re pretty sure that’s how Toph feels about Lin?,” Sokka asked tentatively as realization dawned on him.

Katara nodded.

“I do. Sokka, I think you should be the one to talk to her. She always listens to you. I’m not sure how you do it,” Katara remarked.

Sokka couldn’t deny the truth of the statement. In their twenty years of friendship, he and Toph had sought comfort in each other’s presence countless times. They had a mutual understanding that the other members of their group had often tried to imitate but could never quite replicate. Sokka went to Toph, and Toph went to Sokka. It was an unspoken agreement.

“Don’t worry, I will. I just think we should give her a little time to cool down first.”

“Good idea. You don’t want her to bite your head off,” Aang chimed in with a laugh.

____________

About an hour later, Sokka made the journey down the hallway to the guest bedroom to check on Toph and hopefully coax her out of her mood. He opened up the door to find the room dark and Toph laying on her side on the bed. She was trying to feign sleep, but Sokka could tell she was wide awake. Baby Lin was in her crib whimpering, supposedly for her mother. Sokka picked her up in his arms and rocked her back and forth, cooing softly.

“Here we go, Linny. It’s okay, Uncle Sokka is here.”

The child began to cry. She didn’t want her uncle, she wanted her mom.

“No, no Linny, don’t cry. Shhhh, Mama’s right here, see?”

Sokka carried Lin over to the bed where Toph was lying and tried to shake her awake, but was met with Toph’s hand slapping him away and an irritated growl.

“Go away, Sokka.”

“Toph, I just wanna talk,” he tried.

“Don’t you understand the meaning of ‘go away,’ dumbass?” She snarked.

“You’re really going to swear in front of the baby?”

“Great. Now you think I’m a terrible mother too. It’s fine, join the party,” she said in a sarcastic, vaguely accusatory tone, followed by her best attempt at rolling her sightless eyes.

“Toph, nobody is calling you a bad mother. We know you’re perfectly capable of raising Lin on your own. All we’re asking is that you let us help you. You’re not invincible, Toph, despite what you may have led yourself to believe.”

Toph paused, letting Sokka’s comment sink in.

“I- I’m sorry,” she began. “I know I was being kind of a bitc- a jerk back there. And I know you don’t actually believe I’m a bad mother but, but I’m not sure if I believe it. I’m so scared, Sokka. I don’t think I can actually do this alone. I- I know I said I could, but- but I think I was just lying to you, and to myself,” she choked out as tears began to cascade down her face.

Sokka raised his eyebrows in alarm at his toughest friend’s unexpected breakdown. He pulled her close to his chest and began to rub her back.

“No, no, Toph, don’t think that. You can do it, you can. But you don’t have to, because we’re going to be here for you every step of the way. I’m going to be here for you every step of the way. You don’t have to do this alone, you hear me?”

“Yeah- yeah I do. I do hear you,” she replied with newfound confidence, wiping her tears on his shirt. “And- and you know I’m blind, right? Not deaf. Of course I hear you,” she joked with a familiar smirk.

Sokka chuckled, glad to see that he finally had his best friend back. He pulled her closer to his chest and just sat there for a minute, planting a kiss on the top of her head and burying his face in her hair. Their moment of peaceful rest was broken by Lin’s frantic crying.

“It’s alright baby girl, it’s alright. Mama’s here,” Toph assured Lin as she picked her up and cradled her in her arms. As she carried her sleepy child back to her crib for some much-needed rest, whispering to her in soothing tones the entire time, Sokka couldn’t help noticing how at home she looked all of a sudden. How safe and comfortable she was with her baby in her arms.

She was going to be just fine.

#fanfic rec #tokka #nora speaks #nora writes

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cocobutnochanel · 3 years

Text

A Dream Too

Genre: angst, drama, romance, flashbacks, exboyfriend!Baekhyun

Main Characters: Byun Baekhyun x Reader (oc: female)

Warnings: profanity, mature themes

Summary: Love or career, people always ask. When your ‘successful’ self crosses paths with the love of your life again, you’ll see another woman live your ‘dream’.

Word Count: 2.5k+ words

'How do you truly move on?'

You ask yourself for the nth time today while waiting for the 20 minutes to pass you by so you can finally go home. Back to that thought, it was really confusing for you. You had no idea if you had moved on or just forgot. Or maybe, those wounds were just buried and no longer to be seen but nonetheless, still there.

"How do you move on?" You ask Dr. Kim who just entered your office, his tiny head peeping from the door's tiny crack. "Before you drift to your throughts again, you have a patient waiting. Your shift ain't over yet." Minseok, your friend since college and now colleague, calls the patient inside.

You sit straighter and clear your throat. A woman your age walks in with a three year old girl in hand.

You smile brightly at the child and her mom. "Hi, doc." The familiar little girl in pigtails waves shyly at you. "Hi, babe." She blushes at your usual nickname for her. This was the third time you have her over and you find her so adorable. She's so shy.

The woman your age hands you the file for them that was forwarded by the nurse. "Sorry to disturb you, doc. Areum is here to see you again." She laughs nervously as her child only bows in shyness. You put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Don't worry about it, ma'am. She's my favorite." You smile at the shy mother too. Probably where the little girl inherited it from.

Scanning the file, the child is said to have fevers. You remember too that three weeks ago, Areum came because of a fever. You take a thermometer to measure the child's temperature. "Kindly face the side, sweetie." You coo at her and she obliges in a second.

You sanitize the tympanic thermometer before putting it in her ear. While it hasn't come back with results, you ask her mother about how the child is. This happens so naturally. It was basically a routine. This was your dream.

"So since when did she have this fever?" You ask Areum's mom who was rubbing her child's back while you hold the thermometer in her ear. "Two days ago. Her immune system is really weak." She sighs sadly, looking at her kid with pitiful eyes.

You take out the beeping thermometer. Your eyes skim over Areum's temp, 39.2°. "How are you feeling then, Reummie?" You ask her while sanitizing the thermometer before putting it back.

You pick up the stethoscope around your neck. "Come here, babe." You say softly to Areum who willingly follows. You listen to her heartbeat and everything was pretty normal. The fever was the only thing bothering the child.

“Is there anything bothering you right now?” You frown a little at the little girl’s tiny grimace.

"Headaches." She mutters under her breath. You nod at the kid's answer. "Do you have cough? Some other sickness?" You ask her again, a pen in hand to take note of what the child's answer could be.

She shakes her head at your question. "Just fever." Areum's mom smiled sadly when she answered.

"Since you've been getting on and off fevers ever since, we will just assume for now it's because of the weather. It’s been snowing hard, Areum needs to put more clothes on." You advice while jotting down the prescription for Areum after checking her heartbeat.

"Just take what I usually recommend. Also, her vitamins and diet should be more monitored, ma'am. Her water intake too." You say that without looking at her mom but you know she's nodding and listening.

Areum’s mom was exceptionally beautiful. She was an exact opposite of her but you admired her tremendously. You admired her strength and courage. It wasn’t easy to be a housewife and a very hands-on mom like her. God knows you would never do that for someone.

Speaking of that, you never truly did. Your passion for medicine and science was always greater. Well, you thought so.

Snapping out of your thoughts, you sign at the bottom and hand the paper to Areum's mother. "If she still has fever until the end of the week, bring her back so we can run some tests on her." You say as she nods at everything you say. You hand her the prescription and she happily takes it.

"Thank you so much, doc." She smiles at you gratefully as she stands up. "Let me walk you out." You stand up yourself too and pick up your belongings that were prepared beforehand.

You hold Areum's hand as you three walk out of your office. Passing by the nurses' table, you log yourself out of your shift and finally proceed walking with Areum to the parking lot.

You see her reserved demeanor even grow when people and patients were around. She was an exact opposite of you, you think again. You were independent, confident and hungry for your career ambitions while she bowed a little too low. Women could be insanely different but still, her choice astounded you. It takes a lot of strength to be gentle, you ponder.

"Where are you going after, doc?" Areum's mom inquired when you entered the elevator for the basement parking, stopping you from getting lost further in your thoughts. "Just home." You press Basement 1 with your free hand as Areum held the other.

"There's a boyfriend waiting then?" She asks you with a shy smile, trying to make conversation. "I don't even have time for sleep. I can't imagine having one." You laugh at her question.

Wildly, you wonder back to your earlier thought. Maybe if I didn't become a doctor, I'd be a mother like her too. But I chose my dream.

You snap out of your thoughts and ask her back. "How about you, ma'am?" The elevator pinged and opened. "My husband's just picking us up to go home." She smiles with content as if her husband was everything. You kind of wished you had that too.

Well actually, you had it. But you lost it too.

Before you could part ways with the shy kid and her even shyer mother, a black sedan pulls up in front of you.

A familiar man in a suit gets out, a face you know too well. "Appa!" You smile at Areum who was now running to the dapper man. Despite being sick, Areum was still excited to see her dad. Areum's mom walks over to the driver too and you finally look up.

You lost your breath the moment you recognized his face. It was him. The reason why you had asked such questions to Minseok. His face alone brought you the memory.

(flashback)

You wanted to bang your head against the desk as you skim over the Macleod's Clinical Examination for the nth time today. Nothing was going your way today. Med school was stressing you out, giving you a maximum of 9-hour sleep a week.

You hear some noise from your living room. You decide to take a study break and finally head out of your study. You haven't seen your boyfriend for a week despite living in the same apartment.

Despite his schedule being loose as a freelancer, your med studies were enough to stop the two of you from seeing one another.

You turn the doorknob and see a surprising scene in front of you. "W-What is this?" Your voice broke at the sight of Baekhyun and his luggage. His eyes were red and framed with dark circles. He looked sad and tired.

"I'm moving out." He states the obvious, sitting down on the sofa with a troubled face. "Why?" Your voice cracked again as it sounded so much like desperation and shock.

"You don't even have time for me." He mutters softly, obviously trying to stay calm. You were shocked at what he said. He loved you the most, he supported you the most. How could he not understand that this was your dream? How could he not understand that this isn’t forever? How could he demand so fucking much?

You fall to your knees weakly as tears in your eyes threatened to spill. "It's not your fault. I'm not even forcing you to choose me, Y/N. B-But, I can't live like this. Not anymore." He huffs out as if it was a burden he had carried ever since.

"I know it's not my fault, Baek! Hell, you're making me feel bad for chasing my dream!" You cry in hopelessness. "I'm sorry." He whispers, meters away from you.

Tears have finally made way to your face as internal pain enveloped your being. "It's just that- I can't be with someone who doesn't have time." He tries to say it again as if it's gonna make things better.

"Is it really going to be worth it? Us breaking up over this?" You didn't want to beg but God knows you've spent half your life with this man, dreaming of spending the rest of it with him. Was he really not for you? 7 years just going down the drain because you didn't have enough time?

"Am I not enough, Baekhyun?" You ask once again when he falls silent, his face in his hands. "Am I not a reason enough for you to stay?" You were disgusted at how you were on your knees, begging a man to stay.

His face was filled with sorrow as his eyes avoid meeting yours. You suddenly remember that he was the same boy who loved you unconditionally with endless patience seven years ago.

"Byun Baekhyun, I have loved you ever since I saw you that day when you laughed out loud in front of the class while introducing yourself in fifth grade." You recall an image of the boy you have loved ever since. "Tell me, don't I love you enough?" Your lips were trembling.

"I'm sorry." Baek mutters again, making you cringe at his words. "Stop apologizing, for fuck's sake, Baekhyun! I’m asking you! Am I not fucking enough?" You explode in anger, tears and pain.

"Seven years..." You whisper to the air. It felt like it was just yesterday when you two were in high-school and in love. How did it end like this? How did it end just because of time. How could he not understand? "Don't you want me to reach my dreams?" You ask him again, tears streaming down your face.

He closes his eyes shut as tears started racing down his face too. It was at that moment you realized that you weren't the only one in pain. He was too.

Like how you are breaking right now, he had suffered in silence too. He saw how consumed you were, thinking he was no longer important in your life. He saw how this relationship made it hard for you to concentrate too. He saw how he slowly faded in your ‘dream’.

But still, it broke you knowing that you hurt him this bad. It broke you knowing that the pain was too much, he had to disappear.

Your world crumbled in front of you as he stood there in pain, determined to leave. He was your first love. He was your everything. How could something so beautiful end like this?

"I'm not forcing you to choose me, Y/N." He says painstakingly, sorrow and loneliness in his voice. The aching pain in his heart was now double as he sees you on your knees.

"Will you be happy?" You ask the love of your life as he held his things in his arms. He only nodded with gritted teeth, knowing it’d be hard for him too.

That was it. The sign you needed. You were gonna let him go. You loved him too much, you couldn't imagine letting him suffer even more. You would always wish for his happiness. So you take a deep breath and nod back at him too.

For the last time, he speaks to you. "I'm not forcing you to choose me because I'm holding you back. So reach your dreams, Y/N. Reach it without me, doc." He stands up and finally departing for good, leaving you broken and your questions unanswered.

Today's Byun Baekhyun looked no day older than he did the moment he left the apartment you two shared. The supposed life you two were going to have.

"This is Dr. Y/L/N, she's Areum's doctor." Areum's mom happily links his arm with Baekhyun, snapping you out of your momentary flashback. A soft 'oh' falls from his lips as a lump forms in your throat in silence.

You couldn't breathe. Your world stops like it just did six years ago while you were on your knees and on the floor of the same shared apartment. You weren't over him at all. Moving on meant completely being fine. But despite six years flying out the window since he left, he still had that effect on you. He still left you breathless like he did in fifth grade with his hearty laugh.

"You made it, doc." He gives you the same smile he had way back when he confessed that he had a crush on you in seventh grade. Your lungs constrict at the nickname and you couldn't say a word.

His eyes shone with adoration and love that was once for you. "Yeobo, do you know her? She's a very good doctor." Areum's mother cheered, her daughter nodding in agreement too.

You see him pick Areum up in his arms. Now, the little kid resembled him a lot. It made sense, you know. He was now with a girl who could only see him in the future. He was with a woman who loved him enough to give up on her career. How could you not notice?

"Appa, I'm hungry." Areum murmured against her father's shoulders. Baekhyun rubs his daughter’s back as Areum’s mom places a chaste kiss on her husband’s lips. Tears pooled in your eyes as a familiar pain spreads in your chest.

"I-I better get going." You stammered, feeling abandoned all over again. You knew you were going to cry if you stayed one more second with them.

He had moved on. He had a family. While you, on the other hand, are still stuck over something that happened years ago.

"Do you know her? Is she okay?" You can hear Areum's mother pry to her husband once again. Husband, your heart ached at that thought.

Before you were out of earshot, you hear Baekhyun's answer to his wife's question that makes you want to run back home and cry. Everything finally made sense. You weren't happy despite reaching your dream. It wasn’t complete. You still pondered over moving on. You still wondered how he was. But right in this moment, you realize it.

"Just an old friend, yeobo." No, Baekhyun, you were my dream too.

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xreaderxo · 4 years

Text

batsis!reader x zuko

au where someway somehow dc world & atla world coexist don’t ask me the details bc i don’t know how it would work but i’m bored i’m nauseous and i want to indulge

meeting the batfam:

you and zuko have been dating for around a year

team avatar knows you and loves you

you and suki spar together ALL THE TIME

she’s always like “how do you know how to fight so well??” and you’re like “my family is into martial arts”

zuko knows who you are, he knows who your family REALLY is like he knows the who situation

so he’s TERRIFIED to meet them

you want to introduce him but not all at once because your five brothers meeting your boyfriend at once??

fire lord or not zuko would be toast

so you decide to introduce him to duke first

you wait for a day where everyone besides duke and alfred are home

or so you think

you and zuko roll up to the manor and knock on the door and duke answers with a worried look on his face

“y/n i’m so sorry it’s just damian threatened me and he’s so scary-“

before you can say anything

there they are

dick:

dick takes it pretty good

“oh my gosh you’re y/n’s boyfriend!! you’re so cute!!”

takes pictures of you two

asks so many questions

“how did you guys meet??”

“where was your guys’ first date??”

“when did you realize you liked y/n??”

is pretty glad that zuko’s the fire lord bc 1. it means you’ll be protected by guards and 2. zuko must know how to deal with all the stress that comes from being a popular figure

tells embarrassing stories about you

“did y/n tell you about the time they were making their grand entrance at a gala and they-“

“dick! shut up!”

supports you two

constantly asks when the wedding is

jason:

when you guys walk into the main room jason’s there casually polishing his guns

“zuko, right? do you wanna see my f2000 assault rifle?”

casually brings up being a crime lord

def tells the story of the heads in a duffle bag

he asks how zuko got his scar and zuko’s like “my dad lit my face on fire when i was 13”

jason immediately becomes enraged

“what the fuck do you mean he lit your face on fire tell me where he is right now”

he’s got a soft spot for abused kids

from that moment on he’s so protective of zuko

“y/n be gentle with him”

“zuko i’ll carry your bags!”

“zuko don’t carry that knife i’ll do it for you!”

“why does he have a bruise on his neck?? y/n l/n get down here right now and explain yourself!”

zuko is kinda flustered and secretly annoyed bc he’s the fire lord he can take care of himself but of course he doesn’t show this

you’re like

“jason he’s the fire lord”

“i don’t care y/n”

tim:

tim isn’t surprised

he’s known you two were dating for months

he was suspicious at first just because of how ozai was but when he did his research he approved

zuko starts to introduce himself but tim interrupts him

“hi, i’m zuk-“

“fire lord zuko, brother of azula, son of ozai and ursa, best friends with avatar aang, formally banished, worked at a tea shop when age 16-“

you’re like “tim stop you’re scaring him”

they bond over business talk

tim giving zuko advice on how to help the economy come back and how to rule in general

they become best buds

they go on starbucks dates (zuko getting tea ofc)

duke:

after you yell at him for snitching and finally introduce him to zuko he likes him

like dick, he tells zuko embarrassing stories

“so we get to the infirmary bc y/n’s stomach hurt so bad they couldn’t move and we think something’s seriously wrong but turns out they just ate too much macaroni and the gas bubble was pushing on their intestines”

“duke i will literally murder you”

with zuko coming over so often to see you and tim he really starts to enjoy having another meta human around the house

damian:

oh boy

so you and damian and are so so close

you’re damian’s everything.

in his eyes, you’re perfect and nobody is deserving of you

he’s so rude

“i don’t think you and y/n should be seen together, your scar takes away from their beauty”

like cruel stuff

he catches you two holding hands one day and he attacks zuko

one day you sit damian down and beg him to stop

“dames he means so much to me you two are my favorite people i want you to get along”

so damian tries to be nice and he finds out him and zuko have a lot in common??

they were raised as royals in a place where they were told that doing evil is okay and then decided to be good instead

but he still thinks that he isn’t good enough

then he finds out zuko’s good with broadswords so he challenges him to a fight

they’re evenly matched, to damian’s surprise

“tt, i suppose you may possess the skills to protect y/n”

what really gets him on board tho

is appa

you tell zuko how much he loves animals and zuko’s like “let me call aang”

aang lets zuko borrow appa

when damian sees this bison he screeches

“what is it??”

“it flies???”

zuko lets damian fly him and from that moment on they’re cool

damian accompanying you to the fire nation so he can hang out with aang and appa

all in all? they end up loving zuko

#zuko x reader #prince zuko x reader #fire lord zuko #atla x reader #atla imagines #a:tla x reader #avatar: the last airbender #atla #damian wayne x reader #jason todd x reader #dick grayson x reader #duke thomas x reader #tim drake x reader #batsis

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slythergirlimagines · 4 years

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What’s A Date Without A Little Adventure?- Aang x Reader

Summary: After the war, Aang is desperate to ask you out and he enlists the help of his friends. Things don’t quite go to plan. Fluff and some angst! (GIF is not mine)

Words: 3,232 Requested: yes!

Masterlist

What’s A Date Without Some Adventure?

Aang was completely and utterly in love with you. It was a deeper and truer love than he’d ever experienced before. He knew now that his love for Katara has been a child’s crush, a product of being a young starry eyed kid. Not that Katara wasn’t lovable or that he still wasn’t starry eyed. It was just different now that he was older.

Aang had met you after the war. He had been somewhat lost after defeating Ozai. His purpose had been fulfilled, and all of his other friends had gone off to find their own purposes. Aang had decided to do the only thing that made sense and traveled, looking for any place he could lend a helping hand.

Your village was one of the first he had come to. It had been nearly destroyed by the war, and your people were desperately trying to repair it. Aang had a good feeling about helping, something in his spirit told him that this was an important place for him. Appa landed right outside of the village, and Aang had instructed his friend to stay there. Using his glider, he had bended himself right into the center of town, and right to you.

There was a fire blazing in one of the buildings. The villagers had been desperately trying to keep it contained to the one building, as they tried to fight it. You were front and center, giving orders and commands. Aang had been instantly taken with you, and the fierce determination on your face as you lead your people.

Aang had been so transfixed by you, that he hadn’t noticed the young girl trapped inside the burning building. In fact, it was your horrified expression that alerted him. Before he had even had time to act, you were rushing in yourself. Aang instantly jumped into action, trying to follow you. By the time he got to the top window, you were already there, tying a cloth around the girl’s nose.

You had locked eyes with Aang, and recognition seemed to pass over your features. His stomach had fluttered at the idea of you knowing who he was.

“Ana, go with him. He’s the Avatar, he’ll get you down safely.” You had told the little girl.

Aang had quickly taken the little girl down to her waiting parents. After making sure she was ok, he turned to come back for you. He had heard the building cracking, signaling that it was about to fall, and there you stood at the window’s ledge. You locked eyes with him, and then you jumped.

Aang got to you in no time, cradling you in his arms as you both landed.

“Good catch!” You had told him breathlessly.

And that had been it for him.

Aang had cultivated a deep friendship with you as the years went on. He had begged you to accompany him on his travels, and you had accepted. Together, you made a huge difference in the world. Appa, Momo, and the rest of the Gaang all loved you. Even Toph, who didn’t particularly like anybody, thought you were amazing.

Aang knew he couldn’t deny his feelings for you any longer. He wanted to ask you out, but he knew it had to perfect. You deserved perfect. He just didn’t know where to start. This week you guys were going to the Peace celebration, hosted by Ba Sing Se. All of his friends were going to be there, and he could think of no better time to ask you out. All he needed was a plan.

———————————————-

Aang’s plan was simple. You loved flying, and there were really pretty sunsets over Ba Sing Se. Aang decided he would take you up on Appa at sunset, and confess his feelings to you then.

When Aang asked you to go flying with him later that day, you enthusiastically agreed, throwing your arms around him and kissing his cheek. Aang blushed for the next few hours as he tried to make sure everything was perfect.

You showed up looking prettier than anyone ever had the right to. Your hair hung loosely over your shoulders, and you had been wearing a beautiful emerald green dress with golden arm bands. The color was perfect on you, and Aang could hardly form words or coherent thoughts as you approached.

“Let’s blow this joint!” You said by way of greeting. Aang watched starstruck as you hopped up on Appa and looked back down at him.

“Coming?” You asked, eyes sparkling in the evening light.

Aang nodded dumbly, and then climbed up after you like a puppy.

The night went well. You cooed over the sunset, and the colors had bathed you in a soft light. Aang opened his mouth to tell you his feelings when you interrupted.

“Aang, what is that?” You pointed down at something. A beam of light was shooting towards you guys. Aang sat puzzled for a minute, and then it clicked.

“Firework!” He cried. Appa got the hint, and dodged just before the thing exploded. Appa weaved through the various fireworks and managed to get you all to safety. You both had soot on your faces, and your hair was messed up from the sharp dives Appa took.

You and Aang just stared at each other for a minute in shock, and then you started laughing.

“Wow!” You said when you finished. “That was kind of awesome.” You had a beautiful grin on your face, that made Aang smile too.

“Yeah..” he said. “Awesome.”

“Next time we do that, let’s not try to get blown up.” You laughed. “But it does kind of remind you of how we first met doesn’t it?”

You eyes were soft in the starlight, and Aang had felt himself melt. He should have said it, but he just couldn’t. It wasn’t perfect.

——————————————-

Aang went to Sokka next. Sokka was like a brother to him, and anytime Aang had ever needed advice, it was Sokka he sought out.

Aang burst into Sokka’s room bright and early the next morning, ready to come up with a plan. Sokka was snoring, and drool collected on his pillow.

“Sokka wake up!” Aang yelled. He didn’t have time to wait patiently for Sokka to wake up. He needed a plan now!

Sokka jerked awake and screamed.

“Aang! What are you doing?!” Sokka cried, pulling the sheets over his body to cover himself. Aang rolled his eyes.

“Sokka I need your help, it’s about y/n!” He said, and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet.

“Oh I see.” Sokka said. His face changed from anger to a smug grin. “You’ve come to Ol’ Sokka for some advice on the ladies.” Aang rolled his eyes at the way Sokka pronounced “ladies” as “laydays.”

“I tried to ask y/n out yesterday, but it didn’t go so well, and I want it to be perfect!” Aang cried.

“Oh Aang. You’ve come to the right place my friend.” Sokka patted the spot beside him on the bed. Aang sat, shoulders slumped.

“Aang, let me tell you a little thing about the ladies. They love food!”

Sokka’s plan was a picnic. It seemed simple enough, and Aang had seen the perfect spot when you had flown in. There was a large tree on a grassy hill that looked inviting and romantic. Aang packed up the food and flew it out on Appa to set up.

Aang whisked you away on Appa with the excuse of a fun lunch. Everything had gone according to plan. The food had been good, Aang had been coherent enough to keep up a normal conversation. All was well. Again, Aang built up the courage to ask you.

“Y/n...” and then it started pouring.

You all were soaked by the time you got back, and you were shivering.

“Too bad about the rain. That was really fun!” You said. You stood there for a second longer waiting for Aang to say something, but he stomped off, huffing. If he hadn’t been so frustrated he would’ve seen the way you deflated as he left.

He should’ve known not to take advice from Sokka. What did he know about girls anyways? It’s time he asked Katara.

———————————————-

The next morning, Aang woke up determined to find Katara and get some real advice. He stalked through the hallways, on a mission. He remembered that Katara always practiced her bending in the mornings. You intercepted Aang in the hallway.

“Morning, Aang. Would you like to-“ you started to ask.

“Sorry, I can’t!” He said quickly. “I’ve gotta practice bending with Katara!”

Aang again missed your sad face as he hurried away.

Katara was practicing her bending like Aang had expected, and he quickly interrupted her.

“Katara I need your help!” Aang launched into the full story, and caught Katara up to speed on what was going on.

“So you see, Sokka’s idea didn’t work and now I need your help!”

“You went to Sokka for advice before me?” Katara asked hurt.

“Ugh, Katara please!” Aang practically shouted.

“Alright fine. Hmmm.” Katara said, one hand on her hip. “Oh I know! You should take her on a boat ride! Girls think that’s really romantic!”

“Katara that’s perfect!” Aang said, throwing his arms around her. “Thanks!” Again, he failed to see you watching them outside the window.

It was surprisingly easy to find someone with a boat, and Aang had you all out in the middle of the water by mid-afternoon. It was calm, and he was convinced that this time nothing could go wrong.

He noticed that you looked less excited than usual, and he started to feel insecure.

“Aang, are you in love with Katara?” You asked him hesitantly.

“With Katara?? No!” Aang said, laughing hysterically. It came out more panicked than truthful, and you began to read into it.

“It’s ok if you are.” You whispered softly.

“No no! Seriously, I don’t love anyone! Psh!” He said.

“Oh.” You said, face falling. Aang instantly wanted to take back what he said, but then you changed the subject.

“Aang what are those people doing?” You questioned. You pointed in the direction of a boat not too far away from you. The people on board were waving their hands and shouting.

“I think they’re saying hi.” Aang said, and as soon as he did, a giant sea serpent shot out of the water. Aang jumped into action, using his bending to get you away from the monster.

You all barely managed to make it to shore in one piece.

“Ugh!” Aang cried. “Let’s just go home.”

——————————————————-

Zuko was the next person Aang sought out for help. Zuko had been in a long term relationship with Mai for some time. He clearly had to know how to ask a girl out.

Zuko was at Iroh’s tea shop when Aang found him.

“Zuko! I really need your help.” He said, out of breath from running.

Zuko listened stoically as Aang explained his troubles.

“I need you!” Aang begged when he finished. “No one else has been able to help!”

Zuko sat in thoughtful silence for a long time, and then answered.

“If you ever tell Mai this, I’ll kill you.” He warned. Aang nodded eagerly so he continued.

“Once Uncle forced me to go on a date here, and there was a really pretty fountain that lights up at night. My date kissed me there. You may have to light it with your firebending though. The lights didn’t work on their own.” Zuko says thoughtfully.

“Thank you!” Aang cheered, and rushed off in the direction of the fountain to check it out.

That night, you were nearly asleep when Aang tapped on your window.

“Aang?” You ask him.

His heart was instantly in his throat as he took you in. You were sleepy and rumpled, but so so beautiful. His heart stuttered, and skipped a beat as his brain tried to remember what he was doing there.

“Y/n! Up for a little late night adventure?” He asked, holding out his hand.

You looked hesitant, but ultimately you nodded.

“Let me change really fast.” You said, hurrying back into your room.

Aang blushed and turned around to give you some privacy. Your tap to his shoulder nearly made him fall off of the window ledge.

“Ready?” He managed to ask you, swallowing hard. It just wasn’t fair that you were so beautiful.

“Ready!” You said, smiling widely.

Your walk through the streets of Ba Sing Se was beautiful. Streetlights casted a hazy, yellow glow over everything, and Aang was really starting to believe that Zuko nailed it.

When you arrived at the fountain, everything was dark. Zuko had been right about needing to start the lights then.

“Close your eyes.” Aang said, winking at you.

You did as he told you, and covered your eyes waiting.

Aang quickly threw a few balls of fire at the lights, casting the pond in a beautiful glow.

“Ok open!” Aang said proudly, arms open wide.

“Oh my!” You said. Aang was confused about the horrified expression on your face. He turned around to see what you were looking at.

A banner had been hung off of one of the lights and was burning.

Aang quickly doused the fire with waterbending, and the tatters of the charred banner floated to the ground.

There was nothing to say as Aang doused the remaining lights and lead you back home.

—————————————————-

Toph was the last person Aang considered going to for advice about love, but now she was all he had left. Aang found Toph under a shady tree on the back lawn. Her toes were digging into the ground, and she was lazily tapping a foot.

“Twinkle toes.” She nodded in his direction.

“Toph!” He started.

“Save it. I know just what you need to do.” Toph said. “A girl like y/n enjoys the wild things in life. You need to take her to earthbending fight. She’d love it.”

Aang thought this over. He didn’t really know what was romantic about bending, but at this point there wasn’t much else he could do to screw it up further.

“Ok, maybe you’re right! Thanks Toph!” Aang said, rushing off to find you.

You had woken up with a raging headache. Everything was making your head pound.

Aang knocked on your door, and you winced as the sound reverberated through your skull.

“Y/n!” Aang said, excitedly. “Wanna come on a walk with me? I know something fun we could do!”

“Oh, Aang that’s really sweet but...” you started to tell him about your headache.

“Please!” He begged, giving you the puppy eyes.

“Alright.” You smiled. You couldn’t say no to him, even with a headache.

The bending tournament was packed. Everyone was cheering for their favorites, and the air was rife with excitement. However, you weren’t doing so well.

Every cheer brought on a new wave of nausea and pain, and everything was too bright. Aang was absorbed in the fight, doing his own cheering. You wanted to be strong for him, because it was obvious that he was enjoying himself, but you just couldn’t handle it any longer.

“Aang.” You said quietly next to him. Aang turned his attention to you, and was immediately aware something wasn’t right. You were pale, and your cheeks were flushed. Someone close to you booed loudly, and you flinched. Aang understood then what you had tried to tell him this morning. And he had ignored you like a jerk.

“Oh y/n, come on let’s go!” Aang said, trying to keep his voice low.

“I’m sorry. I know you were looking forward to coming..” you started apologizing.

“No seriously, don’t worry about it y/n. I’m so sorry, you tried to tell me.” Aang winced.

“It’s ok. I think I’m just going to sleep it off.” You said.

Dejectedly, Aang hung his head as you left.

——————————————————-

“You all suck!” Aang yelled the next morning at breakfast. Everyone was here eating but you. Aang figured you were still upstairs sleeping off your headache.

“I tried every single one of your suggestions, and every single one failed. Every. Single. One.” Aang snapped. He didn’t really mean to project his anger on his friends. He knew that he was the one who messed things up on each date, but still their suggestions hadn’t even been things you would like.

The group eyed Aang nervously. Katara started shaking her head as if she was trying to tell him something.

“Aang.” She muttered.

“I shouldn’t have listened to any of you. All you all did was tell me things that you all wanted to do. I know y/n. She’s funny, kind, and brave. Not to mention beautiful, and I know her better than anyone. All I should’ve done was look her in the eyes and say ‘y/n will you go out with me?’” He finished, pounding his fist into the table for emphasis.

“Aang?” You said from behind him.

Aang froze, looking at all of his friends’ faces.

“We’re just going to go.” Sokka said, grabbing Toph by the elbow and leading her out. Katara and Zuko followed close behind them, and then you two were alone in the kitchen.

“Aang, did you really mean it?” You asked.

Aang turned to face you, blush and all. It was time for him to just admit it. Even if you didn’t feel the same, it was time to get it off of his chest.

“Y/n, I’m sorry.” He said. “This whole week I’ve been trying to ask you to go out with me, but I wanted it to be perfect and I messed it up each time.” He sighed, slumping his shoulders.

“Aang, why didn’t you tell me?” You asked him.

“I just wanted it to be perfect.” He said sadly.

“Aang, you didn’t have to go to any big effort to ask me out. I love you.” You chuckled.

Aang whipped his head up faster than you thought possible.

“You love me?” He asked, completely astounded.

“Of course I do!” You laughed. “And for the record, every single one of those dates was perfect.”

“But we almost died, and fought a sea monster, and I caught something on fire!” He exclaimed, throwing up his hands.

“Yes, but you were there and we were together. That’s all I need. And what’s a date without a little adventure?” You said, eyes sparkling.

Aang didn’t wait a second longer, pulling you into a happy kiss. He was so thrilled that he subconsciously started floating the two of you into the air.

It felt right, kissing you. Like every dream he’d ever had came true. Aang was so happy he could sing. And you loved him.

“Y/n!” He said, breaking the kiss. “I love you too! What I said on the boat, I was just trying to say I didn’t love Katara. Obviously I love you-”

You laughed at his antics, and simply shut him up with another sweet kiss. Aang was truly the happiest man alive. Then a terrifying thought hit. When the time came, how would he ask you to marry him?!

A/n: I’m slowly making my way through these requests. I’m really happy with what I’ve gotten done so far. Make sure to check out my masterlist to read my other work! Requests are open! I think I tagged everyone who wanted to be tagged in my ATLA stuff, but if I missed you please let me know and I’ll correct it.

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

@fire1ordzuzu @shortmexicangirl @wingeddemonclub @mangoberry34 @marvel-ing-at-it-all

#slythergirlimagines #aang x you #aang x reader #atla #atla fanfic #zuko x reader #sokka x reader #katara #toph #zuko #aang #sokka #y/n #avatar the last airbender

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sokkastyles · 3 years

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Someone asked me for thoughts on why Aang doesn't seem to have mentioned to anyone before "The Western Air Temple" that he knew Zuko was the Blue Spirit, in the context of both Aang and Katara having moments of trusting/wanting to trust Zuko and being betrayed. Katara brings up Ba Sing Se after he initially tries to join them at the Western Air Temple to confirm that Zuko can't be trusted, and Aang does bring up the Blue Spirit after Zuko referenced it in his speech, and I think the reason he never mentioned it before is because I think Aang's feelings about it are complicated and he's still not sure what to think about the whole thing.

At the Western Air Temple, Zuko brings up a few of his acts as The Blue Spirit to try to get them on his side. He mentions freeing Appa, and is immediately followed up by everyone lobbing accusations at him...except Aang, which Zuko notes.

Zuko: [To Aang.] Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me.

Aang turns to look at his friends, and Sokka shakes his head at Aang.

Aang: There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done. We'll never let you join us.

Zuko's comment shows that despite his rejection of Aang in that episode, the offer of friendship did mean something to him. And Aang's reaction shows a complex memory of that event as well. Aang's distrust of Zuko is shaken by Appa's affection for him, and when Zuko brings up the Blue Spirit Aang also hesitates, but it's when he looks to his friends that he changes his mind. This shows that Aang is still unsure about what happened. Aang looks to his friends because he trusts and respects their judgment, but also for confirmation about what to do because he is still unsure about his own feelings about Zuko.

I think that many people interpret Aang's offer of trust towards Zuko in "the Blue Spirit" as naive, and his willingness to trust Zuko here similarly, however, I think an important aspect of the Blue Spirit encounter is that Aang's first reaction to learning that Zuko was the one who freed him is not blind trust. He initially reacts to the reveal of Zuko's face behind the mask with fear.

Which is understandable, considering that Zuko had been nothing but antagonistic towards him up until that point, and I think at that point Aang also realized the true reason that Zuko freed him, so he's right to be wary.

So Aang's motivation for saving Zuko isn't necessarily because he thinks Zuko is a friend. He can't in good consciousness leave Zuko when he is helpless against Zhao and his men. And after he saves Zuko and he talks to him about Kuzon, it shows less that he trusts Zuko and more that he wants to trust Zuko. It's more of a wishful thinking conversation which I think he did not intend Zuko to hear at all, similar to when Zuko talks to Aang when he has Aang captured and Aang is in the spirit world. Aang can express to an unconscious Zuko that they might have been friends if things were different, but as soon as Zuko wakes up Aang is prepared to evade his attack. I don't think he had any illusions about Zuko being his friend, but his reaction to Sokka's question about making new friends is still sad, because there is that wistful regret that is tied to Aang's nostalgia for his old life, a life where the Fire Nation didn't wage war on the rest of the world and Fire Nation and Air Nomads could be friends.

Then Aang saves Zuko's life a second time in "The Siege of the North" and notice how Sokka reacts in particular to Aang saying they can't leave him to die. Sokka says they can because he had tried to harm them. Aang does not follow Sokka's advice because he values even the life of his enemy, but Aang still listened to Sokka, and in the scene at the temple quoted above, it is Sokka's distrust of Zuko and Sokka's shake of the head that convinces Aang to say Zuko cannot join them. Aang wants to trust Zuko but he does trust Sokka and when it comes to who can be part of the group, he trusts Sokka and the others first, even though they might have ideological disagreements.

There's also the group's reaction to the story of Sozin and Roku and Aang's interpretation of the story as being about friendship and about how anyone is capable of good or evil whereas the others interpreted it as "Fire Nation evil."

I think Aang is not naive about Zuko, but he is aware that the others are less optimistic and he might think that if he mentioned the Blue Spirit that the others would not believe him or would think him foolish and naive or say that just because Zuko did some good things doesn't mean he isn't capable of bad, too, which is true. Especially given the rest of the group's antagonism after Zuko first tries to join them. And that's exactly what happens when Aang does bring it up, Sokka says that Aang is just a big prize to Zuko, and Aang says Sokka is probably right. And that was true at the time it happened.

I think Aang wasn't sure what to believe and was afraid of making the wrong decision. The story of Roku and Sozin also parallels that. That's why even though Aang is ready to trust Zuko once Zuko shows that he is truly repentant (through his apology for burning Toph, something that Aang understands because it mirrors how he burned Katara), he still looks to his friends before giving the word on whether they will accept him. This is a good moment of complex characterization and growth for Aang because it shows his awareness of how it isn't just about what he wants or feels, and his actions might put other people in danger if he makes the wrong choice and his responsibility towards the people who trust him vs the guilt of running away from the Air Nomads vs Roku's wishy-washiness towards Sozin.

#aang #zuko #the blue spirit #atla meta #the western air temple

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stonerz4sokka · 3 years

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the gaang (& co.) on zoom

aang: ALWAYS mixes up his class times and it isn’t until sokka helps build his schedule and set reminders on aang's phone that he actually shows up to the right class at the right time, always excited to be there but is constantly getting distracted by the littlest things (doesn’t help that his window is behind his computer), isn’t afraid to tell the teacher when the hw assigned is too much (the whole class thanks him for that), types jokes in the class chat, wears his appa print pajamas to class everyday, motivates people to stay optimistic during these ‘troubling times’ (and it works)

katara: wears sweatpants and a crewneck everyday but NEVER forgets to do her hair, talks shit about the ugly white girls in their class (some are sokka’s exes) with zuko, wants to do pranks with toph but is too scared of getting caught (though she eventually does a few), takes the lead in breakout rooms bc she can’t stand the awkward silence although if aang is there they’ll both be very distracting, will literally laugh on camera every time she hears a stupid comment, gives emotional speeches to help motivate her classmates which are well-intentioned but come off as a little preachy :/ people still try though bc they weirdly don’t want to disappoint her, refuses to let a man interrupt her so she will continue talking even if their voices are overlapping for a good 20 secs

sokka: has an insane amount of reminders, alarms and organizational tools on his phone and computer so he doesn’t forget to go to class, he tries so hard to focus but ends up doing something that’s completely unrelated yet still educational, wears his same dumbass science pun t-shirts to class but he has his hair down more which makes the white girls in his class go crazy, starts all his sentences with ‘i think’ or ‘maybe we should’, tried to be clever once by setting a video on loop for his zoom background so the teacher didnt know he went to the bathroom but forgot to mute himself so the entire class heard him pee :(( his teachers enjoy him more in a zoom setting bc he's less of a distraction but they hate how he never stays on topics and asks questions they dont have the answer to, whenever katara sees him getting increasingly neurotic she’ll send him links to cool small businesses and they’ll ignore their classes n go online shopping together

zuko: always looks tired and grumpy even when he’s well rested, his camera is at 256p even when he has the newest macbook (azula messed w his computer & he still hasn't realized), extremely paranoid around accidentally unmuting himself so he just never talks, cannot figure out zoom and never screen shares for projects bc it takes him 15 mins every. time. is weird in breakout rooms because he's bad at social situations but he's trying!!! he could try harder tho :/ is able to empathize well with his fellow classmates n tries to lift their spirits (it rarely works but the effort feels nice), the teacher once saw him scream and punch his desk during the desmos activity and sent iroh an email about local therapists who specialize in anger management, spends his breaks between classes crying

toph: she will pick her nose, eat food, clip her toenails, do anything gross on camera to get back at her history teacher who told her she needs to be more ladylike, is actually cool in breakout rooms she seems like she would be super distracting but she would complain about the shitty teachers n provide insightful thoughts for the discussion/assignment at hand, does her zoom classes in her backyard so she could play with bugs, gives very helpful advice for maintaining ones sanity during online learning

suki: is always wrapped up in her blankets to the point where u can barely see her face, eats on camera & doesn't realize that no one wants to see that shit, she laughs at all the teachers' bad jokes bc she genuinely thinks they're funny, refuses to let sokka outperform in zoom learning so she does actually pay attention although it doesn't look like it, is really chill in breakout rooms n pretends she doesn't really care but will edit the work after class so it fits her expectations, she once farted in the middle of when she was talking and just pretended like she it didn't happen, actually is fine with online learning and likes the flexibility and doesn’t get why sokka is spiraling all the time ://

azula: oh god, she wears entire outfits with khakis and polos and SHOES!!! for her zoom meetings!!! she. wears. shoes. her hair is always perfect, tries WAY too hard and everyone knows when she wants to speak in class bc she literally starts vibrating on camera, one time someone won a debate against her in class and she turned off her camera for a good 3 minutes, when she turned it back on her eyes were watery and her entire face was red, doesn't understand how people are underperforming over zoom, has the second highest gpa in the school (after sokka) and managed to convince herself he is actively trying to ruin her life but he's just........ sitting there. constantly messes with zuko's google calendar so he's late for class, can clearly see the art of war by sun tzu on her bookshelf in the background

mai: yawns on camera whenever azula talks just to piss her off, doesn't talk often because her teachers & peers underestimate her but she's smart and when she does talk it's always something rlly insightful, one time her and ty lee were paired with jet for a project where he spent the whole time 'explaining' the topics at hand while they did the entire project on another tab and pretended to pay attention to him, tom tom will sometimes join her during class bc he misses her n she acts like she hates it but she does love spending time with him, is actually secretly extremely anxious about maintaining her grades during online learning but only sokka and ty lee can tell, her and sokka gossip through heavily layered inside jokes that only the two of them understand

ty lee: built a completely new daily schedule and organizational system the minute she learned they were switching to zoom, is always ready for class 20 mins before it starts but joins the zoom 2 minutes after class started so no one thinks she’s an overachiever, a great student but she waits too long to speak in class so she barely joins in on the discussions, is seemingly the regular ty lee but every so often she’ll pretend to go to the bathroom & turn off her camera to recollect herself bc she’s always on edge :/, would have the best gpa in the school but doesn’t want to seem intimidating so she purposefully scores lower on certain assignments so she has a 3.75 gpa,

jet: he tries to subtly vape during class by turning off camera his camera but its really obvious bc when he comes back he’s coughing and waving the smoke out the air, only participates in breakout rooms when the teacher comes in and immediately turns off his camera when they leave, staged a kidnapping during one of his lectures as an elaborate prank but no one cared noticed, someone else recorded the prank and posted it on tiktok where it blew up & all the comments were insulting him, he didn’t care though because ‘there’s no such thing as bad clout’

chan & ruon-jian: has not gone to a single one of their zoom classes sober (honestly barely attend), still tried throwing houseparties even when the cases were at their peak, tried to one-up jet's kidnapping prank by calling SWAT on themselves but ended up getting arrested because they forgot to hide their stash (they sell counterfeit juul pods), worst part was that their prank only got 250 views on yt :(

#ik this is pretty late considering it's been a year in quarantine but i made this for ME #the gaang #mai #ty lee #azula #jet #god azula would be SO FUNNY in zoom classes #tag urself im sokka #and sort of suki n mai #sokka and mai #ty lee and mai #my sokka n mai tag is sooo weak its my biggest flaw smh #chan #ruon-jian #didnt feel like tagging everyone but my otp chan-jian deserved the love💗#chan and ruon-jian

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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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