#I think enough people have written about suki and sokka that I don’t need to expand on the botching of their characters

[talkingperfectly-loud]

Okay! So, I’ve finally watched the Netflix Live Action ATLA and gathered my thoughts! Spoilers under the cut…

Overall score: 7/10

Overall thoughts: I was actually pleased! I wasn’t going in expecting it to be like the original series, and I was really excited to see how they would tell the story, what they would keep, and what they would change. I think that they did a great creative job melding a bunch of story lines together in a way that made sense, but, on a negative note, they did miss some key character beats that ranged from baffling to unforgivable. I loved this cast, and I think they all embodied their characters so well (Dallas Lui as Zuko?!? Hello?! *Chef’s kiss*). Deliveries were a bit stilted (to be expected with young actors just starting out), but I actually found it endearing, and they’ll only get better with practice. The bending wasn’t nearly as punchy or fun to watch in live action (especially the water bending. Oof), but it was leaps and bounds better than the Movie That Must Not Be Named. Below are the major takeaways:

Things I disliked

- Making the discovery and freeing of Aang completely passive. In the animated show, this was brought about BY Katara and Sokka. Their characters and their bickering, which caused Kataras rage, which caused her to waterbend, which caused her to free Aang. In the live action, it just… happens? Randomly? Nothing caused it, and it was a much weaker moment because of it.

- They took away Zuko’s crucial moments of mercy. Yes, they have him save the 41st, and yes, they have him hesitate during his Agni Kai with Ozai… BUT he was about to burn Katara on Kyoshi island? When she was down and unarmed?? At the North Pole, he was about to burn Zhao, who was also down and unarmed?? Absolutely not. No. No way. He wouldn’t even burn Zhao in the original show, because he knows what it’s like to be burned and despite his rage, he is a good person. There is absolutely no way he would be willing to harm someone who is unarmed.

- Sokka not explicitly asking Suki to train him. We NEEDED to see that humility where he asks for their help, not just him staring wistfully through the door and her taking pity. Humble him!!!!

- Sokka not being involved in the Jet storyline. I know that Katara is more obviously the choice to get involved here (love interest, etc), but Sokka and Jet are foils! They are both young men tasked with protecting people they love. Not having Sokka’s moment where his skepticism and independence saves the day is such a loss for his character. This could have even been kept in the Omashu storyline, with Sokka evacuating a building before a bomb goes off, etc.

- Why the literal heck did Bumi himself come to the front of the palace to receive the inventions from Sai?? What the hell even was that scene??

- Cutting the Haru storyline. This episode is crucial for Katara, who has WAY too little to do in this show, tbh. Her rallying the earth kingdom prisoners, and encouraging them to fight back is so so so important. I think they tried to move this to the Northern Water tribe storyline (when she rallies the women) but we don’t SEE it!! It happens offscreen!!!!

- Minor, but the blue spirit mask looked kinda dumb. I wish they had taken inspiration from real kabuki masks and made it more scary.

- I personally feel that Ozai is TOO personable in this adaptation. I’m guessing Daniel Dae Kim probably had a lot of say over the portrayal of this character, but I don’t think they made him dark enough. Ozai is cruel and that is CRUCIAL. He is abusive and manipulative, and hateful. Framing Zuko’s banishment and mutilation as if these were deliberate “learning moments,” rather than cruel, unjustifiable abuse is character assassination.

- Azula isn’t Azula. No shade to the actress, but the script has her written as a hot-headed, temperamental teenager desperate to prove herself. That’s ZUKO! Azula should be able to make grown men per their pants. Do her bidding. She can command armies. She never lets you see her weaknesses or her walls. She is cold, calculating, and terrifying. She is 13 steps ahead of you. Live action Azula loses her temper during a fight, talks back to Ozai (?!?!), and whines to Mai and Ty Lee about her frustrations. That’s not Azula.

- The “ice moon” thing at the North Pole? Why? Why aren’t there any spirits in this world? There’s no need to change that.

- Zhao’s death!?! What the hell was that!?!? No no no no no. Absolutely awful in every possible way. Where was his karmic justice?!? Why introduce the Fog of Lost Souls if you weren’t going to show Zhao getting pulled down into it?!? Where was Zuko, offering him mercy, despite everything? Where was Zhao’s pride, refusing his hand?? Furthermore, you make Iroh of all people a murderer?!? Fine, you could have him intervene and push Zhao into the water like he pushed him down after the Agni Kai in the original series. But to kill him?? Unprompted?! In cold blood?! Zhao wasn’t even his opponent!! Horrifying and disturbing. Unforgivable.

Things I loved

- The order of events. I actually love starting 100 years in the past and not making it clear what is about to happen. I also love that it isn’t clear just how long Aang has been asleep for! I love love love that dramatic irony if you know, and the reveal if you don’t.

- Aang stealing Zuko’s notebook. Finally, it’s explained how the gaang knew Zuko’s name lol

- Aang & Iroh meeting and chatting on the ship when he’s captured! It’s such a small scene, but felt so reminiscent of their conversation from Book 2 that it made me happy.

- Suki being so awkward!! Yes girl!! You have clearly never flirted before and it is obvious! I also loved having her mother be the matriarch of the village. Makes total sense tbh.

- Fleshing out Omashu! I love that they combined Jet & the Mechanist here. It makes Omashu feel more real, and it’s a natural place to put these storylines. I think this was really well done. Also bringing Iroh & Zuko into the story here was seamless, and worked to further both their characters (Zuko choosing Iroh over Aang, Iroh sacrificing himself to save Zuko)

- Having Bumi be an angry old man. This is controversial, but if we put aside Legend of Korra for a second where canon says Aang and him stay bffs, this actually makes a lot of sense. It’s not fair that Aang got to be asleep for 100 years. Bumi, as he said, had to struggle and suffer during that entire time. I’m glad that not everyone is like “it’s okay, it’s not your fault” because it kind of is!! I’m glad they had someone to actually hold him accountable a bit!

- Aang and Zuko connecting during the Blue Spirit episode. Aang making Zuko smile! Them joking! Them feeling pity for each other! The star-crossed friendship of it all! Gorgeous, gorgeous scene.

- Expanding on the theme of friendship vs. isolation. It’s such a key theme in the animated series that flies under the radar, and I really like how they took it and seemed to run with it.

- Azula collaborating with Zhao. It makes so much sense, since Zhao is just some rando tbh?It sets up both the Dai Li storyline and sibling rivalry nicely in season 2.

- Having Zuko’s crew be the division he saved?!?! A stroke of absolute genius.

- No Kataang!! I’m so sorry, but I honestly always felt that any romance in the original series was gratuitous, odd, and oh so Western. This is a story about children at war. I’m glad the romance is taking a back seat.

- Having Pakku see Katara for HER, rather than for her grandmother!! I always hated that in the original show! She fights her damn heart out and he still won’t train her UNTIL he sees her grandmother’s necklace. It always felt like the age-old blight of men not being able to care about a woman unless they have, or can image having, a personal connection to them (What if that was your mother, daughter, etc). I LOVE this change.

- Katara rallying the other women!! Pulling up everyone!! This is such an obvious change I can’t believe they didn’t have this in the original show. As I said, though, I do wish we saw her speech to them. That’s such an important character moment.

[comradekatara]

responding to @levitatingbiscuits reply here because this post is already way too fucking long and I am not subjecting your dashboards to all that, but I do think this conversation is interesting enough to continue it (albeit under the cut):

I agree that roach work’s comment was annoying, and if you were responding to that, I get why you said what you said. this person regularly adds replies to my posts that are completely unrelated to the original point I was making, effectively derailing my argument and getting a bunch of reblogs from their followers who don’t have the common sense to ignore their pointless (and in this case, editorializing) additions. but everyone reblogging my post with your addition attacked me in the notes, as if I had said/implied all that you were arguing against, when I quite literally did not. and they said some quite nasty things, as if I couldn’t see their comments! I don’t go seeking out ppl saying shit about me ever, but if you do it in my house, we’re gonna have a problem.

as for your points...

I 100% agree that defending katara against people who unfairly vilified her, especially during the [vomits] atla renaissance (netflix you will rue the day...) is justified! I quite literally said aloud just last night, “anyone who hates katara can die,” and I fully fucking meant it. I don’t know why you seem to think we don’t agree here. maybe because I don’t think the solution to combatting idiotic, racist & misogynistic fans is by extolling katara to the point where you can’t appreciate her for her flaws. her flaws make her who she is as much as her virtues, and I would never negate the depth of her character just because I love her. I don’t “stan” katara, I appreciate her as a character who inspired me as a child for her strength and growth and brilliance, who is stunningly well-written and compelling.

meanwhile, the older I get, the more I’ve come to appreciate sokka. yes, I too was obsessed with katara the moment she came onscreen, especially when she showed the full depth of her anger over sokka’s misogynistic comment. I’d literally never even seen misogyny addressed before, let alone been given permission to be angry with it. katara knows her worth, and that makes her so fucking important!!! and yes, I know what it’s like to raise misogynistic brothers; it’s a thankless job!

katara was immediately inspiring to me, but appreciating sokka and the full depth of his character has been something earned with time. i think it's incredibly easy to misread him, dismiss his underlying motivations, and just generally discard him for the sake of the more exciting and shiny characters (in my case katara, azula, toph, iroh. truly appreciating aang has also been something i needed to grow older to do, but i think the more my maternal instincts develop, the more i want to pinch his baby cheeks and wrap him up in a big hug and kiss his forehead and put him in my pocket... i digress). i have come to forgive sokka for his sexism, and even excuse it. does that mean i think katara isn't in the right to challenge patriarchal ideas? of course she fucking is! just because sokka was deeply misguided in his gender essentialist views for logical reasons (before meeting suki, that is) it's not like katara should excuse him for it. katara has every right to get mad, every time she gets mad, and i love that her anger is treated as a virtue, because it is! her anger is righteous and sympathetic and revolutionary. she is so fucking important.

by "delicate touch" i didn't mean "sokka isn't acting like an airport dad" because i would never deny his grumpiness. sokka can be a massive cunt most of the time, and i love that about him. he is a miserable, neurotic, curmudgeonly little freak, and frankly, that rules. i think we need more teenage jewish grandpa representation always.

^ literally sokka

i think by delicate touch (again, i wrote this post like 3 years ago, i don't even remember writing it) i just meant that as much as he does kvetch, he also knows how to engage them in a way that gets them to do what he wants. when he makes them go to the library, he frames it in their terms, as if he's taking a vacation (frankly, taking a vacation to a library is something i've actually done, and it was awesome, but we all know how their library excursion turned out, so, yknow). or just how the only time he ever actually even reveals like a fraction of his insecurities is in "sokka's master," because as much as he complains, he never actually wants to burden them with his internal problems (which is not why aang bottles up his shit, and i think we all know that). as much as he complains, he also tries as hard as possible to preserve their innocence whenever he can, especially when it comes to aang. he could've been way less indulgent of aang's antics, but he isn't, because he knows how important it is for aang to be a kid despite the enormous loss he's suffered. anyway, since i know how hard it is to wrangle twelve year olds and try to convince them to do something when they'd rather do something else, sokka is fucking jesus on the cross for that, and you can't change my mind.

and by "de facto chief" i don't mean that sokka was the one taking care of the whole tribe. obviously kanna and the other adults were the ones in charge of making sure the community functioned smoothly, because again, sokka was like thirteen, and thirteen years olds are fucking useless. what i meant was that sokka took what hakoda said to heart, and thus considered himself the first and last line of defense should the fire nation ever return. it's not remotely a reach to think sokka was prepared to die for katara, because a) his mother literally did and b) his father all but told him to? maybe he was just trying to placate his kid, because i really doubt hakoda would actually be in favor of letting his son get himself killed, but it's clear that sokka took that to heart in the way in which he prioritizes katara over everything else. also, it's clear that hakoda does respect sokka a lot. he calls him a "great warrior" and a "genius," and it's not in vain, sokka is those things! hakoda sees his son better than he sees himself.

and i would never claim that katara talks about her issues for attention or sympathy from others. that's absurd. anyone who does so is plain wrong. but empathizing with others isn't emotional labor, it's healing for her, it's cathartic. when she talks to haru, jet, zuko, hama, aang, etc. about her trauma, she's doing so from a place of healthy emotion and vulnerability wherein she is exchanging empathy between them, receiving comfort and comforting in return. sokka doesn't know how to do that, which is a shortcoming to be sure, but the fact that katara is so open about her trauma does signify that she never felt a need to bottle it up the way sokka clearly does. (i would argue sokka's arc in the entire "swamp" episode is about the spirits all but taunting him for being so repressed about his trauma, but that's for another post.)

sokka wanted a bag to carry supplies in, not because it was fashionable. he enjoys that the bag matches the belt he got from the earth rumble tournament (he had no intention of purchasing such a belt), but katara is the one who shows an interest in fashion. and to be clear, i'm not saying that sokka would immediately know how and what to forage in unfamiliar terrain; foraging is fucking hard, and that's when you already have any kind of guide. katara is definitely the one buying the groceries, i won't argue that. whenever sokka is in the vicinity of a grocer while wearing blue, they tend to dismiss him with outright hostility, while being much more sympathetic to katara. it's a running joke that throughout the earth kingdom adults are far kinder to katara than to sokka. but this isn't actually an issue when they're hiding out in the fire nation and both disguised in red, curious! i wonder why adults fed imperialist rhetoric their whole life might internalize the idea that a young water tribe girl is harmless whereas a water tribe boy is a threat to be treated with hostility... but yknow, it could also just be vibes. katara does generally have a more pleasant attitude. it could just be that. who can say!

as for "jet," as i've already stated, i don't think the gaang has a leader. but katara does grow to trust sokka's instincts more and more over the course of the show. and sokka only tells katara not to trust jet once he has evidence! he tells her that he beat up a harmless old man, and katara still takes jet's side, even though he's obviously lying. as for aang, i really don't think sokka's instincts not to trust a person who for all intents and purposes should not currently exist and suddenly waltzes into their life while ignoring their current reality are that contrived. katara thinks she's in a story that she is the narrator and hero of (which, metatextually speaking, is true), but sokka thinks he's in a war and is thus suspicious of magical little manic pixie dream boys. and not for nothing, aang does set off the fire nation flare that alerts zuko to the location of their village, so sokka's instincts were actually correct here, even if aang is of course an angel.

and katara calms aang down from the avatar state, what, twice? and once she's literally just talking to him from behind a rock. her act in "the desert" is 100% a testament to her bravery and the unique bond she shares with aang, i'm not denying that whatsoever. sokka simultaneously shields toph in this moment, which granted is far less dangerous than what katara does with aang, but is also a subtle moment that demonstrates the nature of his bond with her (i don't really have a point here, i just love aang & katara and sokka & toph's relationships). i don't remember katara comforting aang for burning her, i just remember her reasonably telling him that he can't let his guilt get in the way of learning firebending, and showing him that she's healed to calm him down. and the comics are stupid, so i'm not even gonna address this point. anyway. sokka does come to trust her to fight her own battles as the show goes on and she gets demonstrably stronger, but he still worries about her whenever she's in trouble, and would do anything to protect her. he's still her big brother.

katara's idealism is inspiring & beautiful & heroic. but yes, it is also naive. that's not even a bad thing! katara fighting to preserve her childhood wonder and innocence in the face of incalculable loss is deeply moving to me. aang and katara show sokka and toph how to become more awe-inspired and vulnerable over the course of the show. sokka never would've suggested a beach party in "sozin's comet" if not for aang and katara's influence. that's growth. but that doesn't mean that katara was right to trust zuko in the crystal catacombs, or that she was right to trust jet, or aunt wu, or hama. i understand why she trusts these people (especially jet and especially hama), and it's hardly a bad thing to see the potential good in everyone, but zuko's betrayal hits her so hard because she had mistakenly put so much faith in him right before he turned around and helped azula kill aang. of course she sees potential in both aang and zuko, though. she's the heart of the show, and they're both mirrors to her character in significant ways. sokka is not a part of this central thematic triad, and he doesn't care that he's in a story, he just wants to make sure that his friends and family don't get murdered. they have different narrative priorities, but katara's are admittedly much prettier.

also, of course sokka wouldn't say he sees himself as a sacrificial lamb. even if he realized this about himself (which i also don't think he does), he wouldn't say it. saying it would negate the entire point. but i do think it's justified by the text. katara clearly carries the guilt of knowing kya died for her, and it's what inspires her to try and be her own mother for herself and her family, and to be the best waterbender in the world. sokka doesn't have that guilt. while katara feels it her duty to remember, to carry on her mother's legacy so that her sacrifice was not in vain, sokka feels it his duty to repress, to tamp down any shred of humanity that is not relevant to the war and to making sure his sister isn't killed for who she is. i don't think it's a reach for him to want to emulate his parents in this regard, since he clearly idealizes them and their bravery in defending their home, their culture, and their family.

no, i don't think sokka acts like a mom or a dad or even a wacky uncle (a grandpa, maybe). my point was to illustrate how neither of them are parents. they may try to emulate their parents in many regards, but they are still both very much kids, who happen have both seen far too much for their years. and katara mourns kya differently (more, as she claims, which i believe to be true) because her death was deeply personal to katara, in a way that it just wasn't for sokka. like i said, sokka represses his trauma. he claims that he thinks about yue all the time, and yet he barely ever talks about her. a defining moment in his life, which is hakoda leaving him behind, is only revealed to us in a flashback that occurs while he's sitting quietly by the fire watching over katara and aang as they sleep. katara's way of mourning kya was to try to become her in her guilt over her sacrifice. do you really think sokka doesn't understand the implications of this?

sure, he dismisses the domestic labor she does, which sucks of him for sure, though i'd argue it's just as much his cerebral stem bro attitude that prioritizes ideas and theory over those little manual tasks as it is straight up sexism. but yeah, it sucks. i know very few men who appreciate the work that goes into those "feminine chores," and it's absolutely because what is categorized as feminine is devalued by society. but yes, i think if the binary established is between "mom" and "servant", sokka sees katara as someone who is simply better at feminine labor, and that's not great of him, but katara does enjoy being feminine, so i understand why he'd make that assumption, seeing as the only thing she doesn't seem to enjoy is doing his laundry for him, which, yknow, checks out. do your own laundry, sokka.

again, katara has a more personal connection to the events surrounding kya's death. it's why her saying "you didn't love her the way i did" is both deeply hurtful, and something she clearly believes to be true. what she really means is, "you didn't grieve her the way i did," and it's because sokka doesn't feel like his very existence was responsible for her death. "the southern raiders" is a deeply personal episode for katara, and zuko is the one who understands her trauma, more intimately than sokka can, because kya did not sacrifice herself for him, but ursa did with zuko.

and yes, katara's seemingly throwaway line about how she's lost her childhood innocence hits really hard. it's why she's so immediately drawn to aang. because she wants to have fun again, but no one is there to encourage her, certainly not her depressed as fuck brother who only cares about being a better warrior. aang and katara inspire each other to preserve their innocence and they get to be kids together, which is what makes their friendship such a beautiful thing.

katara has a lot of skills and roles sokka doesn't. he can't midwife, he can't heal (obviously), he can't shop for groceries in the earth kingdom without being abused by vendors. he could probably cook and sew if he set his mind to it (we never actually see katara clean, but we do see sokka clean appa) but katara seems pretty confident in those areas, so why step on her toes. but sokka also has a lot of skills and roles katara does not. he reads maps, makes schedules, strategizes in battles, helps invent new technology, is able to fight without bending, is able to sense red flags that katara refuses to see, etc etc. they balance each other out, both emotionally and practically. considering that they basically raised each other, and didn't have parents to do things for them, it makes sense that they each have their own skillset, and function as a codependent team.

"the desert" puts her in a new situation to show that she's the group's heart. not just the group's heart, but the show's heart. she is the narrative center. that's what i mean by "the desert" being a trial for katara. it's not that no one else will step up, it's that they can't. aang is in the first stages of experiencing an immense grief, toph is feeling guilty and scared and lost, and sokka's attempt to quench their thirst put him out of commission for the rest of the day (though granted, he was trying to be helpful). katara is always there. she will never give up on people who need her. that's a core tenet of her character, and it is what makes her not only so kind and giving, but also a revolutionary leader. it's why i think she should go on to be chief, because while sokka wants to be like hakoda, he's not actually a warrior at heart, but katara is an inspiration to many, and her connection with people and the way she sees the best in them is what makes her the pride and joy of her people, just as much as her waterbending skill.

toph and katara are both in the wrong in the chase. katara comes from a communal society where everyone pitches in, so she sees toph as a spoiled brat for not helping her. toph came from a family that acted as if she was useless and helpless, so she thinks by letting every member of the group carry their own weight, she is affording them the basic respect her parents did not afford to her. it's a classic miscommunication, which escalates because katara and toph are both very loud, assertive middle schoolers who don't enjoy compromising their beliefs. they eventually do, which we see illustrated in the spa episode. but katara clearly wants to go to the spa and enjoys every second of it, she's just taking toph with her because she thinks toph needs a shower. for the most part, they both have a good time, katara because she enjoys feminine activities and relaxing, toph because she likes mud and spending time with her friends, and both of them because they got to do violence to some mean girls.

aang also gets mad at toph because he's prone to take katara's side in arguments, and also she insults appa, which is the final straw for him, even though toph is fully right about appa's shedding being how azula tracks them. toph leaves because she thought she was joining people who would make her feel respected, but they don't. katara literally mocks toph for being blind. i also got bullied for being disabled when i was their age, and i don't blame toph for not taking that shit. it's downright cruel. iroh helps her adjust her perspective, but ultimately sokka is the one who makes her feel most welcomed and seen, and while she loves katara and aang, it's clear that sokka is her best friend. he's also the only one who doesn't interfere in their fight in "the chase" (because he knows there's no winning against two extremely stubborn, sleep-deprived powerhouses).

katara didn't sacrifice her childhood for the sake of her family, her childhood was robbed from her. there's a crucial difference. she doesn't sacrifice her own emotional needs to comfort others, she engages in fruitful dialogues. the only person she actually sacrifices anything for is aang, you're right, and i do think that's extremely important as an aspect of her character. she believes in the power of the avatar, and she loves aang deeply. it's why if aang is the soul of the show, she is the heart.

zuko isn't a dad to aang, that's just a ridiculous thing to say, sorry. i don't think sokka is a dad to aang either, if anything they're brothers. zuko acts as a brother to aang and katara too. he's their older, grumpy, kind of an airhead, kind of a jerk brother. sort of like sokka 2: electric boogaloo, except unlike sokka, he's a wide-eyed idealist just like they are! idk where i was going with this. my point is i love this trio. lol

you're right to criticize what roach works said, but you were wrong not to specify the target of your criticism. just because someone adds a dumbass comment on my post doesn't mean i endorse it. and just because i make a post appreciating sokka doesn't mean i don't love katara. i mean, i think it should be pretty obvious that i love her a lot. it seems like we grew up in fairly similar circumstances, and while i know what it's like to grow up with a cerebral math bro misogynist brother who gets far more credit for doing far less work and is utterly fucking useless at taking care of himself, that doesn't mean i resent sokka, a fictional character, for whatever commonalities they may share.

katara and sokka are both flawed, multi-dimensional, well-written fictional characters, and i've given a lot of thought to their motivations, nuances, and the unspoken symbolic undertones of their dynamic and its relation to the themes of the narrative. we don't have to agree on what every unspoken detail signifies, but i don't appreciate being misinterpreted, and i especially don't appreciate the implication that i don't love katara, because i absolutely fucking do, with my whole heart, and anyone can see that. she means a lot to me!!! her virtues, her strengths, her flaws, and her failures. she doesn't have to be perfect to be amazing. in fact, if she were perfect, i doubt she'd be amazing at all.

[runephoenix6769]

Why Netflix aging up the Characters could spell disaster.

Ok, so I’ve tried to find confirmation that this is true and kinda found bubkiss so far.  But.... Zuko being aged up by two years does not bode well his motivation or Azula (or Sokka for that matter), narratively speaking and will massively change how their stories/character arcs hit.  It’s my belief that by aging up the characters they’ll kinda lose some of the soul of the show AND the poignancy of just how much pressure has been laid on the shoulders of Gaang and Azula's trio. The nuance of Children fixing a world broken by adults. (I shall preface by saying that anyone under 18 is a child and therefore even joining the military at 16 is still awful, but this post is being written within the context of the avatar universe, its societal norms and customs.)

Hear me out.  Within the show, all the main cast of children are supposed to be outliers and exceptionally skilled, even surpassing many of the adults in that world in terms of mastery of their elements and ability to execute strategy.   At 16/17 Rangi had her first commission after graduating from the Junior Corps in record time, to eventually become one of the youngest Lieutenants in Fire Nation Army service, during peace time.  400 years later we are in the midst of a global war, meaning the goal posts within the various societies would have shifted considerably. (Apart from the Earth Kingdom, they seriously need to get with the times.) Zuko is the heir to the throne of an imperial expansionist country, where military service is expected of many of the aristocracy. (If not every citizen doing something towards the war effort.) And has been since the reign of Sozin.  Being the heir, he would naturally be expected to take a military commission at 16/17, as precedent has been shown to us via Rangi. This would serve to foster loyalty from his soldiers, train him in ways of command to prepare him for taking over the Nation, etc etc.  Lets say that Netflix keep the rest of his story the same, so he is still ousted at 13 sent on a mission of folly as a cruel punishment. Well that just casts his 4 years at sea and his behaviour towards his men in an awful light. In four years he has not learned regard for the safety of his men? It makes the treatment of his men look callous instead of being a child who doesn't quite grasp how much his crew do for him, that they too have been ousted and separated from their loved ones! Four years of shite treatment would surely land a mutiny on his hands?  If anything, it serves to make him look whiny, and incompetently oblivious to the needs of others.  And what does it mean if they move the timeline of the Agni Kai up by two years, to 15?  It doesn't have quite the same impact. Remember what sits at the core of this show. It is ultimately about children trying the fix the world that the adults broke, violence, cruelty, child soldiers and the effects of war upon them, under intense pressure to succeed.  Zuko is supposed to be a child who hasn’t even begun to figure out what he wants.   His character arc in the show is supposed to be that journey!

Which brings me to Azula!  A child prodigy, who took down Ba Sing Se in a relatively bloodless coup at 14! Its meant to be an awe inspiring Herculean feat! A top notch military strategist, she is meant to be unmatched by any of her peers.  Her age in the OG show certainly explains her behavior, her not being developed enough in many ways. This contributes towards the deterioration of her mental health when she cannot reconcile the heavily cultivated sense of self with the reality culminating in the tragic and heart wrenching mental breakdown at 14! At 16/17, it makes it look like a huge ass hissy fit! OG Azula’s inflection moment begins in The Beach episode. She is begins to ask questions of herself in the form of small experiments. It takes the form of her hiding their identities on Ember Island.  It is as if she is trying to feel out if she is as witty and charming as she believes, but she comes to learn that she is woefully socially inept, people don’t like her for her, beginning the spiral of insecurity and self doubt. We are also told that Azula’s mother thought her a monster and she is massively hurt by that, though she plays it off as nothing.  This insecurity is blown wide open on the Boiling Rock cemented by Ty Lee’s betrayal and culminates in Azula, who is truly terrified that he might burn her in a way similar to Zuko, seeing her being sidelined by Ozai.  She takes as a form of punishment for her ‘failure’, a form of banishment, that she has been discarded like Zuko, when she had imagined being by her father’s side as they burned the world in celebration of their mutual victory rather than for what is truly is which is Ozai being a glory hog and reaping all the benefits from Azula’s hard work.  Which brings me to the suggestion by Azula to burn the world in the first place. A child suggesting that you ‘Burn the World’ smacks a whole lot differently when you think of it as a kid not quite grasping/understanding the ramifications of such a suggestion, but a 16 year old? Such a thing tips her from confused mentally unwell child with a crippling fear of failure raised without a lick of compassion to full blown villainy with nothing remotely sympathetic about her! The way the last Agni Kai is framed you are supposed to feel sympathetic towards her! Which makes me wonder if they are gonna paint Azula as unhinged straight from the get go? Her unravelling at the seams is supposed to be her journey!

Sokka.... at 17!  In the OG show, Hakoda does the right thing by telling Sokka to remain behind to look after the village because at 13 he is too young to go to war.  Why leave him behind at 15? Would that not serve to feed into feelings of inadequacy, that he was deemed too weak to leave and fight with the other men and boys of the tribe?  Now, I would argue that Sokka’s OG arc rivals Zuko’s redemption. He does feel inadequate and overcomes it. He also unlearns a shit load of misogyny! What 17 year old doesn’t take responsibility for his own clothes, in a tribe were adults are few and far between? What 17 year old expects his little sister to be his mother and bear the brunt of the domestic? How obtuse and unfeeling would that make Sokka? It would propel him to the side of boorish, lazy and entitled rather than the sweet teenage boy who grows to realise he has a lot to learn.  OG Sokka is humble as hell and not afraid admit when he is lacking! He will go and openly admit his flaws and learn from others who he had previously written off.  Suki gives him a glass of respect women juice and he keeps on chugging, only adding to the Sokka we know and love.  This is supposed to be his journey! 

OG Sokka is just as much of a genius as Azula!  They are both supposed to be exceptional. Having them sit at 16/17 figuring this all out within a war torn world were it would be totally normal for them to participate in the generational war machine kind of robs them of this. Their more child like behaviours, grappling with concepts and truly understanding their consequences is supposed to remind us that they are children, being asked to do something no child ever should! Aging them up casts these things in a whole other light, skewering the what makes this show so beloved!  If you change the core characters to the point their journey’s don’t make sense within the world they inhabit, or they become unrecognisable to the audience you’re trying to milk then really.....what’s the point?  

[that-was-anticlimactic]

time stops, though you don’t take a breath (renga)

aka boiling rock but renga written for @capt-snoozles alta / sk8 au

word count: 1,940

~

There was nothing quite like the feeling of Reki’s hair tickling his chin. His hair was so soft and had enough poof for Langa to bury his face in it.

“Langa,” Reki giggled, turning his head so he could look at his boyfriend. “You’re gonna mess it up!”

A soft whine escaped his throat as Reki turned, causing Langa’s chin to slip. “Mmm,” he grumbled, squeezing his arms tighter around Reki’s middle.

Reki sighed and shifted back to where he was before, allowing Langa access to replant his face in the ginger’s hair. “There you go, you big baby.”

Normally, Langa’s cheeks would’ve turned a bright shade of red at the comment, but he just couldn’t bring himself to care right now. It hadn’t even been a day since the group escaped Boiling Rock, and Langa was determined not to let Reki out of his sight for awhile.

The impromptu trip to the prison was to free Hakoda, Cherry, Joe, and Shadow. To be honest, Langa had not been prepared to find Reki or Suki there too. He thought that Boiling Rock was for high security prisoners like supposed war criminals and people who committed treason. He didn’t think the Fire Nation would send two kids there.

Langa could still feel the pang in his chest and the breath of air rushing in his lungs when Sokka had cried Suki’s name. He could still remember the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins when he looked over the balcony and saw not only Suki sitting on a bench, but also Reki.

Reki did something to him that nothing else could. Reki made him feel strong and whole and like anything was possible.

That was probably why, in the heat of the moment, Langa had attempted to jump off the building and into the courtyard.

Yeah, he could also still feel the pressure of Zuko’s arms wrapping around his chest and forcing him back onto the balcony and Sokka’s calloused palm when he slapped a hand over Langa’s mouth to prevent him from screaming Reki’s name and blowing their cover.

Suddenly, their plans had changed. There were two more people they needed to rescue because Langa was not going to leave Reki behind. Not again.

“What’re you thinking about?”

The glorious, heavenly sound of Reki’s voice drew him back to the present and Langa blinked. “You,” he answered truthfully.

Reki blushed, his cheeks turning nearly the same shade of his hair, and Langa hid a soft smile behind one of his curls. “Langa!” Reki pouted.

Spirits, Langa missed him.

“I was, though,” Langa said. “I missed you.”

At that, Reki smiled, the blush (unfortunately) fading. “I missed you too,” he replied softly.

There was nothing like the warmth that filled Langa’s body when he reunited with Reki to escape. They hadn’t been able to tell the redhead their plan in advance due to his echolalia, so Langa still hadn’t been able to hear his voice or hold him or tell him how much he loved him. They had to rely on Suki to relay the message shortly before the escape.

Langa had wanted to abandon the cooler—let Sokka and Zuko roll it down—the instant he saw Reki. And he almost did. It was only Zuko’s quiet “Don’t you dare” through gritted teeth that prevented him from doing so.

Then they were on the ground and Reki was there. He was just a few feet away.

So, Langa opened his arms and Reki came running—

Nothing compared to holding Reki—nothing except perhaps being held by Reki.

The second that Reki had made it to him, the second their arms were around each other, Langa had lifted him up, twirling him around. Reki’s mouth was pressed against the nape of Langa’s neck, so only he could hear his boyfriend’s laughter. Despite how muffled it was, it still filled the night in Langa’s ears.

Reki instinctively wrapped his legs around Langa’s waist the second his feet were off the ground, and Langa didn’t put him down for awhile, even after he stopped spinning. He didn’t want to let go.

Normally, he wouldn’t be able to hold Reki in the air this long—he didn’t have the strongest upper body—but this was Reki and it had been months since they last saw each other. It helped that he firmly planted his feet into the ground once he stopped spinning, and he thanked the Spirits for giving him incredible leg strength.

It also helped that Reki felt a lot lighter than usual, but that wasn’t good.

Langa shuddered at the memory of realizing that Reki was much easier to lift, and when his gaze flickered to Suki (who was having a whispered conversation with Zuko and Sokka), he noticed that she looked thinner than normal too.

And oh, how his blood boiled.

No, he hadn’t put Reki down until after they decided to stay and see if Hakoda, Cherry, Joe, and Shadow were arriving with the next batch of prisoners., despite Reki’s protests and Chit Sang’s complaints that they were disgusting (and they were used to it—they’d heard it all from Miya).

That was when he’d seen the dark bruise coloring Reki’s stomach. He saw it for the briefest of moments when Reki had lifted his arms to stretch after being put down, but they didn’t have time for that now.

“You okay?”

Again, it was Reki who grounded him, it always was. His voice was the gravity that pulled him back to the present and held him there.

“I was…” Langa trailed off, licking his lips. “I was so worried about you.” And then it all came rushing back—finding out that Reki was gone, that the Kyoshi Warriors that came to help were Azula and her friends, the pure rage that filled his body and consumed his mind when Azula said Reki’s name during the battle of Black Sun. Langa suddenly felt like crying all over again. “You were… you were there one day and then you were gone. Reki, I couldn’t—I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re amazing, Reki, you’re the most important thing in my life.”

Reki’s face softened and he squirmed until one of his arms escaped Langa’s hold, lifting it up and placing it gently on Langa’s cheek. “Hey, I’m okay,” he assured. Although it was a moment of comfort, something to help him calm down, all Langa could see was his bare wrist.

“Wait. Where are your friendship bracelets?”

Reki shifted uncomfortably. “They took them. We weren’t allowed to have anything with us when we got there so…”

Langa scrunched his nose. “But… your wrists. You need them or you scratch and hurt yourself.”

At that, Reki scoffed lightly. “I know you care about my tics, but the Fire Nation doesn’t. It’s not a big deal.”

But it was a big deal. When Langa squinted, he could see red marks on Reki’s wrist. He could seen faint lines where his nails had dug into his skin. It wasn’t fair; Reki didn’t deserve that.

“Hey, Shadow?” Langa called, raising his voice so the man in question would hear it from across the room (everyone could see that the two boys needed some personal time together so they gave them some space, but Joe, Cherry, and Shadow were still a bit on edge and didn’t want to let them out of their sight).

Shadow looked up from his own hushed conversation with Cherry and Joe. “What’s up? Are you okay?”

“We’re fi—“ Reki began, but Langa wouldn’t allow that.

“They took Reki’s friendship bracelets,” he explained, frowning. “Can you make him more?”

The older waterbender’s face shifted from confusion to understanding, and he sent the two boys a small smile. “Of course. Joe, you feel up to making some more charms?”

Joe cracked his knuckles, wiggling his fingers. “You bet I am!”

“And you’ll actually make them good this time?” Cherry said casually, twisting a strand of hair.

The comment made Joe’s eye twitch, and suddenly Shadow was stuck trying to break the two up again. Langa couldn’t tell whether they were trying to strangle each other or if they were making out, but either way, he did not envy Shadow.

Reki chuckled at the scene. “I missed them.” He tilted his head enough to look into Langa’s eyes, and blinked thrice. “You didn’t need to do that, you know.”

“Maybe. But I wanted to,” Langa said seriously (and Reki’s face flushed again—Spirits, it was the cutest thing). “You’re hurt. They hurt you.”

“They just took some string. It—“

“But they’re important to you and they help you so you don’t scratch yourself! And when you lifted your arms the other day I saw…” Langa swallowed, taking deep breaths because he couldn’t cry right now. “I saw a bruise. I don’t know how many more there are—there’ve been. You’re too thin, you and Suki both. They hurt you, Reki.”

Reki faltered for the briefest of seconds, his lips trembling. “I… a lot has happened the last couple months,” he said eventually. “But I’m fine, okay? I’m fine.”

And since Langa knows Reki, he knows what I’m fine actually means and he doesn’t believe it for one second. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not. I’m fine now that I’m here with you,” Reki said, and oh, how Langa’s heart melted.

“But what about—“

“I’ll be okay,” Reki interrupted, his eyes wide and swimming with something that Langa couldn’t quite discern. “You’re here, right?”

Langa nodded perhaps a little too aggressively. “Mhm. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know.” Reki clicked his tongue and his neck twitched. “We’re gonna get through this together, okay? All of this.”

“Okay,” Langa agreed, pressing a kiss to the top of Reki’s head. He paused and then said: “Are you hungry?”

There was a moment’s silence as Reki’s face twisted and he muttered the words under his breath a couple times. “Not really,” he eventually said, giving Langa an apologetic look.

That wouldn’t do. Reki needed to eat… but Langa wouldn’t force it. Not right now, at least. Everything’s happened so fast eating might be too much for him. Langa could still feel the adrenaline pumping in his chest (it hadn’t gone away. it had been there from the second they were running onto the gondola and a firebender had directed a burst of flames Reki’s way, from the moment Langa had shoved Reki behind him and drew water from the boiling lake below and doused the bender in it…) and he was sure Reki still felt it too (he could still see the way Reki’s chest had heaved when Ty Lee was about to hit Langa with her chi blocking—Reki hadn’t hesitated, he pushed himself between the two and blocked her fist).

“Okay. Are you thirsty?”

For a second, Langa was sure Reki was going to say “no”, to which he would’ve had to protest because who knows how much water the Fire Nation had given them while they were imprisoned. Luckily, though, after a moment’s thought, Reki nodded.

“Okay.”

Langa couldn’t help the wide grin that overcome him, and he (reluctantly) unwrapped a hand from around Reki’s waist and wiggled his fingers, popping the flask at his side open and bending the water inside so it floated to Reki’s face.

Reki rolled his eyes, playfully nudging Langa, but opened his mouth anyways, allowing Langa to direct the water inside.

“Thank you,” Reki murmured once Langa had bent the rest of the water back in the flask and made sure it was shut, snuggling closer to his boyfriend. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[theclockworkmonk]

Taller

Written for @kataang-week

Day 1: Height Difference

Words: 1,546

Read on AO3

Readon FF.net

******

Despite the ever-present cold, Katara wiped sweat from her brow as she stood back to look proudly at the building made of ice she had just finished. The Southern Water Tribe was swelling faster than anyone had anticipated, and now looked much more like its northern counterpart, with actual streets, canals, and buildings carved with waterbending, instead of the hodgepodge of tents and igloos that Katara had grown up in.

A large part of it had been personally built by Katara herself, and if she was being honest with herself it had long since become unnecessary. A migration of people from the Northern Tribe had come to help rebuilding, swelling the population, and even some Earth Kingdom natives had taken up residence, hoping to establish trade between the two nations for the first time in a hundred years, but they still weren't enough to compare to the population of a proper major city, so large sections of the construction Katara had been working on would remain empty for the foreseeable future.

She knew why she kept going, though. It took her mind off how much she missed Aang.

They had gotten a few months together in peaceful, laugh-filled bliss. But ironically, the same newfound peace that had allowed her to finally slow down and sort out her feelings for Aang, was also what made her finally realize how homesick she was. She had been running all over the world for close to a year, never really having time to think about Gran Gran or all the other people she had left, but as happy as she was in her new daily routine, it still didn't feel like home. Plus, her father had been away from home even longer than she had, and she wanted to make up for lost time. So when he had told Katara and Sokka that he was about to make the journey south, they had both known that they had to join him.

But the world still needed their Avatar, and they needed him in the thick of things, not at the bottom of the world. A hundred years of tension and hostility between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom hadn't vanished overnight, and new fighting threatened to break out every day, even if it wasn't being ordered by the Earth King or Fire Lord, so Aang had his hands full with his duty as peacekeeper and mediator. He couldn't go home with her.

It had broken her heart, and she hadn't known how to tell him she was leaving, but of course she hadn't needed to. With a smile, her sweet boyfriend had been the one to bring it up, insisting that she needed to go with her family, or Sokka would surely cause some kind of catastrophe without her there to look after him, and promised that he would follow her as soon as he could.

That had been seven months ago, and while the pain of missing Aang wasn't as sharp anymore, there were still multiple times a day when she thought about looking down into his gray eyes, or how nicely he fit curled up against her as they lounged on sofas or grassy hillsides.

And her inability to get Aang off her mind certainly wasn't helped by the fact that everyone in the tribe was constantly teasing her about being the Avatar's girlfriend. Every time she would walk past a group of younger girls, they would giggle loudly with each other and, if they were feeling bold, ask if the Avatar was a good kisser. Even Sokka was still coming up with new immature jokes every day; one would think he would get tired of it by now.

So here she was, enjoying her rare piece of solitude on the outskirts of the ever-growing ice city, making it even bigger.

"You know, the basic idea of going home to your family is to actually spend time with your family." Sokka's voice from behind her made her jump.

"Only if Gran Gran stops making wedding plans for both of us," she answered over her shoulder with a laugh.

"You're in luck, it's actually far worse than that," Sokka sighed, putting an arm around his sister's shoulder. "Her target has shifted, now she's of the opinion that it's time for Dad to find another wife."

Katara spun away from him to face him and her mouth gaped open. "WHAT!?" she shrieked so loudly it echoed off of the surrounding ice.

"Yeah, so stop being a loner and come back with me, we need a united front to squash this," said Sokka, and Katara was more than willing to start following him back towards the center of the settlement.

They were approaching their family's hut, right near the edge of the ice shelf where most of the villagers were still clustered, when something made both of them stop dead in their tracks.

To the north, across the water, she heard the distant sound of a loud, low roar. The unique sound of the roar of a sky bison.

Katara and Sokka looked at each other and their faces split into wide grins. They forgot their current familial crisis and ran towards the edge of the ice, waving frantically at the dark dot growing bigger in the distance. Katara was jumping up and down by the time Appa came in for a landing and she could make out Aang's beaming face. The bison's feet hadn't even touched snow yet when Aang leapt off his head and landed in front of Katara, and they both threw their arms around each other and shared a passionate kiss, trying to pour seven months worth of affection into it.

Katara felt like she was floating. She couldn't stop a very girly giggle rising up from her throat as she pulled Aang's face down to kiss him harder—

Wait. Down?

Her eyes snapped open and she suddenly pushed him away to arm's length.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she looked up and down at her boyfriend. No, she hadn't imagined it. He now had a few inches on her. He had shot up so far so fast that he looked like he had been stretched like taffy, his build skinnier than ever and lanky.

Aang frowned in confusion at her reaction. "What's wrong?"

"You're taller," said Katara, like this was a grave betrayal on his part.

"Than what?"

"Than me."

"I've always been taller than you!"

She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at him to say, Really? But Aang maintained his completely straight face. "Aang, everyone knows, I'm the tall, intimidating waterbending master, you're my tiny, adorable squirrelmunk of a boyfriend."

"What? NO!" Sokka's voice called from Appa's side.

Katara and Aang turned to see Sokka's look of despair. He had finally noticed Aang's change after helping a very grumpy and now-actually-blind Toph down from Appa's back and onto the ice.

"Ugh, I know, right?" grumbled Toph. "I've had to switch from short jokes to skinny jokes, which aren't nearly as fun."

"But I've got seven months worth of short jokes I've been sitting on!" Sokka whined pitifully. He, Toph, and Zuko had greatly enjoyed making fun of Aang for being shorter than his girlfriend.

Katara looked triumphantly back at Aang, daring him to keep the charade up, but he couldn't keep it in anymore and his face broke out into a mischievous grin, and soon he was laughing heartily, which Katara joined him in, despite her best efforts.

"Okay, you got me," said Aang. "But in my defense, I never expected you to get this….upset about it? I actually thought you'd be impressed, and maybe more than a little attracted. Is it really a bad thing that I'm taller than you?"

"Well I don't know….maybe," she said with a pout she hoped looked cute. "You were the perfect height for me to kiss you on the forehead. Now I have to pull you down." She did exactly that and planted a kiss in the center of his arrow. "See? Far too much effort."

"You're right, I'll miss that," admitted Aang. "However, if I may make a counterpoint," he pulled her close and easily planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Hmmm," Katara hummed in contentment, closing her eyes and smiling. "I suppose we can make due with that."

Their romantic moment was interrupted by Sokka and Toph doing a loud duet of simulated vomiting noises.

"Oh, like you wouldn't be doing the same thing if Suki were here!" said Katara nastily.

"Yeah, sorry Sokka, but the Kyoshi Warriors are providing additional security for Zuko," said Aang more kindly.

Sokka's face fell, and he sighed. But then, his face lit up and he gave a wicked smile that Katara didn't like at all. "Well, there is one upside to that. That means all the attention will be on you two."

"What attention?" asked Aang.

Leading Toph with one hand, Sokka placed his other one on Katara's shoulder and started leading her back to their family hut.

"Come on, sister, with the Tribe's biggest golden couple reunited again, it won't be Dad's love life that Gran Gran is sticking her nose into."

Katara groaned and considered jumping into the ocean.

[passable-talent]

Hey please continue your Zuko fic as soon as possible! I love it so much!

oh I’m so surprised I got this request within hours of posting part 3 👀👀

agsbfjcjs I tease I’m loving this series too

well everyone, here we are again

| part 1 | part 2 | part 3 |

“Who’s Mai?”

Zuko’s eyebrows moved a bit in confusion before it registered that you might’ve been asleep, that night, when he told you of his old girlfriend. And even then, he hadn’t mentioned her name. Slowly his hands pulled from where they had kept gentle grip on your biceps.

“I, uh,” he stuttered, “let’s find somewhere to talk.” You let him lead you into a room in the temple up toward the top of the cliff, far away from the rest of the team, and even Haru or the Duke weren’t likely to come up here.

Uneasy, you settled down against the wall, one leg extended in front of you and the other bent, it’s foot flat on the ground. You did your best to feel for Zuko’s heartbeat, like Toph could, to determine sincerity. You couldn’t sense it well enough yet, having barely gotten a grasp on seismic sense in the first place, and let your knee fall to the side.

“So who’s Mai?” You asked again as he sat down against a wall adjacent to yours. Not too close, but not too far away.

“An old girlfriend I had before I was banished. We spent some time together when I returned to the Fire Nation, but... it didn’t feel right. I’m not the same as I was before I was banished.” Any number of snarky replies came into your mind, but you didn’t respond, merely waiting for him to continue.

“Well, Sokka and I, we went to the Boiling Rock, a high profile prison in the Fire Nation. We were trying to pass as guards, but I got found out, and kept as prisoner.” You leaned forward with concern, for a moment forgetting the point of the conversation as you worried for him.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, nothing happened,” Zuko said, tossing his head to the side in a bit of guilt. “But the warden... the warden was her uncle, and she came in to see me.” You raised an eyebrow, leaned back to press your spine to the wall, interested in where this would go.

“I had written her a letter, before I left, and it wasn’t a very good one. I hadn’t known what to say. She was pissed, and threw it at me, and scolded me, and...” he shook his head, and looked down at his feet.

“It wasn’t good.” At this point, you began to wonder why he was telling you all of this. As much as you were more likely to air on the side of finding fault in his actions, it seemed to you like nothing had happened. There was nothing for you to be angry about- he hadn’t had some tearful declaration of love or anything, so what was the issue?

“I locked her in my cell to get away so that Sokka and I could escape with Hakoda and Suki. I feel kinda bad about that, but she got out, so whatever.” You tilted your head, not giving him the luxury of avoiding eye contact. You weren’t quite glaring, but you did find yourself trying to intimidate as best you could.

It was a good wall to build around you.

“And I feel so confused,” he said, closing his eyes and clenching his fists, “because I don’t understand. I wasn’t a good boyfriend even when we were ‘together’ earlier in the summer, and I wrote her a bad letter, and I left, and I locked her in a cell, and she still helped me escape. She stood up against Azula to help me escape.” This caught your attention, as you knew the guts it would’ve taken to stand up to the psychopathic princess. It was a sacrifice- it would’ve made her just as much an enemy to the Fire Nation as Zuko.

“I just don’t get it,” he said again, and you looked away from him.

“Ever considered that you’re sometimes a pretty good guy and that people care about you?” You said, without pausing on any particular word because you wanted to get the statement done and over with quickly. With your foot pressed to the floor you could sense through seismics the way his head jerked up to look at you, even if you didn’t look at him.

“You think so?” He asked, and a quick laugh made your chest jump once.

“Sometimes,” you said, turning your gaze back to him. “Was this all you wanted to talk to me about? Figure out why she would do that for you?”

“Well, that, and...” he pushed a few strands of hair from his face in nervousness. “I just wanted to be honest with you. When we met, I- I did nothing but lie, and I don’t want to lie to you ever again. I want you to know everything. Including the awkward moment I had with my ex-girlfriend.” Slowly a plan formed in your mind, and you narrowed your eyes in focus.

“Why does what you do with ex-girlfriends concern me?” You asked, and his eyes met yours, slight confusion in his expression. He swallowed, working out your meaning. This was his opportunity- would he say he cared about you? That he loved you? That he wanted you to not be jealous because his heart now belonged with you?

“You know why,” he said after a moment’s pause, eyes still locked on yours and voice low. A small smirk came to your face.

“I’m afraid I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Y/N,” he said quickly, voice almost firm. He paused to gather his courage and knotted his fingers into the fabric of his pants. “I care about you. And I wanted you to know that you don’t need to worry about Mai.” He paused a moment longer, finally breaking eye contact, which was a great relief to you.

“And even I know you don’t feel the same right now, but I know you did once, and I’m trying to earn that back again.” You swallowed hard, your gaze on the side of his face now that he’d turned it from you. With a split second decision you scooted closer, sitting beside him, and leaning your shoulder against his. You had to make moves like this, and the hug from before he had left, because if you didn’t, you’d never learn to. You were reaching out of your comfort zone, slowly, just like he was.

“I can’t trust you,” you whispered, feeling as though the two of you would break apart and scatter if either spoke too loud. “Not yet.”

“I know,” he said back, the badger frogs filling the silence between the two of you.

“But I’m getting there,” you said, resting your head onto his shoulder. “You’re earning it back, slowly.” He nodded, and the two of you fell into a comfortable silence. You let your eyes skip closed, and for a moment felt as though you could fall asleep, leaned against him like this.

This was how you had leaned on him when you were exhausted and on break from the Jasmine Dragons. You’d rest your feet and lean on him, and the two of you would talk until the break was over. It was so familiar, the sound of his breathing, the firmness of his muscle.

“You think you can ever trust me again?” Zuko asked, vulnerability in his voice, “After what I’ve done to you?”

“I think so,” you said, breathing softly. “I did once. And deep down, you’re that same guy. When you were in Ba Sing Se, you were guided by nothing but the kindness you were shown by your uncle. I’m not foolish- I know that Azula manipulated you. I know that, even though you aren’t the pure soul I thought at first, that you’re not the hunter that Katara thinks you are, either.” You changed your neck position, almost nuzzling your face into his shoulder. “Give me time. Show me you can be someone I should trust.” You heard him nod, and your eyes drifted closed.

When on the edge of falling asleep, sounds change. They’re heard, but not processed, merely accepted as background noise in a world fading away. It was like this, halfway between sleep and wake, when nothing was processed nor even remembered, that you heard Zuko promise.

“I promise I’ll become a man you can let yourself love.”

request for a part 5

edit: part 5 has been multiple times requested it’s all good

edit: | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 |

-🦌 Roe

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

love

Written for Day 7 of @aangweek! Read here on AO3.

~*~

7. love - don’t got nowhere to go / so we’ll go with the flow / yeah, we’re living the life / sippin’ on sunshine

“I can help clean,” Aang offered as Iroh began clearing their group’s cups and plates from the circular wooden table.

Iroh chuckled, shaking his head. “There’s no need -”

“I insist,” Aang interrupted, standing and collecting his own dishes. “It’s the least I can do to thank you for closing the shop early so we could be together without politicians and paparazzi peering over our shoulders.”

“There’s no use arguing with him,” Toph commented before Iroh could protest further. “Once Twinkle Toes decides to help someone, nothing will change his mind. Accept your fate, Iroh.”

Katara laughed along with the rest of their friends, and Aang gave them a guilty grin.

“Hey, I learned from my wife-to-be,” he teased, pressing a kiss to Katara’s forehead. “Never turn my back on people who need me!”

Katara rolled her eyes at his comment, but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. Aang and Iroh gathered the last of the group’s dishes before disappearing into the kitchen.

Zuko hummed in contentment, draping an arm around Mai’s shoulders. “I wish we could meet up like this more often. Be together without all the chaos.”

Today had involved an annual meeting of important representatives from all four nations, this year hosted by the Earth King. In other words, Katara knew, it was a very rare opportunity for their friend group to reunite in full. Only after the day’s politics had ended, of course.

Sokka snorted. “I agree, but you’ve gotta admit it’s pretty much impossible for this to be a regular event.”

“Ember Island is always open for an impromptu vacation,” Mai reminded them, earning more laughter from the group.

“I might take you up on that soon,” Suki mused, pulling her hair out of its ponytail and shaking her head. “A vacation is sounding more and more attractive with every second.”

Katara allowed herself a breathy sigh. “Spirits, if I could get Aang to take a vacation…” She snorted. “That would be the day.” Her fiancé was notoriously stubborn about working until he dropped. In fact, there was only one other person whose work ethic could compare.

Mai chuckled. “Zuko is exactly the same. Always working himself into the ground.”

Ah, yes. There it was.

Toph snickered. “Sounds like a match made in the Spirit World. Are you guys sure Zuko and Aang shouldn’t be the ones getting married next month?”

Zuko flushed a shade of scarlet as bright as his fire. “I’m sitting right here, you know.”

Katara bit her tongue to hold back a snicker as Toph grinned at him. “Yes, I’m very aware.” Her grin narrowed into a sly smirk. “You’re sitting right here, and yet you deny nothing.”

Sokka burst out laughing, lightly elbowing Zuko in the ribs. “She’s got you there, hotman.”

Mai snorted at the nickname before giving Katara a play-sympathetic look. “Master Katara, how do you cope with the fact that my husband and yours-to-be are in love with each other?”

Katara sighed, leaning back in her chair and pressing the back of her hand to her forehead. “Oh, it was incredibly difficult for me to come to terms with.” She wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. “After I learned they’d kissed, I thought I’d never -”

“Oh, Agni,” Zuko groaned, burying his face in his hands at the same time Toph exclaimed, “Sparky and Twinkle Toes have kissed?!”

Katara couldn’t feign her melodrama any longer, letting herself succumb to a fit of intense laughter that made her entire upper body shake.

“Yes, they have,” Mai confirmed with a smirk. “It was hilarious, and I will never let Zuko hear the end of it.”

Zuko stared dead into the distance, his empty expression screaming that he’d rather be anywhere but there. “You’re going to tell them the story, aren’t you.”

The melancholic certainty with which he spoke was enough to make Katara snicker once more as she gave Mai a knowing glance, but before the Fire Lady could respond, Sokka spoke.

“Of course they’re going to tell us the story,” he scoffed. “The Avatar and the Fire Lord kissing? That’s the kind of thing you pass on forever to future generations!”

Suki laughed. “You sound way too invested for someone who has also kissed the Avatar,” she teased, smirking at her boyfriend.

Katara raised an eyebrow in amusement. Now that was news to her. “You did what, Sokka?”

Blood rushed to her brother’s face. “Not on the lips!” he squawked, crossing his arms over his chest. “I am just very comfortable in my feminine side around Aang.” He tapped his cheek. “So yes, we have technically kissed, but not like that.”

“To be fair, I’m pretty sure we’ve all been on the receiving end of Aang’s affection in some way or another,” Suki conceded. “That’s just his way of expressing love.”

A smile flitted onto Katara’s lips at her friend’s words. She knew most of all, perhaps, how Aang inclined towards physical affection. He was especially fond of kissing the tip of her nose.

“Really?” Sokka said, bewildered. “What, does he have a ‘thing’ with each one of us?”

Suki shrugged. “I mean, I guess so?” She smirked at their group. “Aang and I have a special, top-secret handshake. That’s our thing.”

Katara laughed. “I remember when Aang was just beginning to figure out the motions he wanted to include in your handshake.” She held her own hands up in joking surrender. “I was never privy to the final product, of course. Only experimental aspects.”

Sokka pouted. “First of all, I am hurt that I was never told this handshake existed. And second” - wounded, he placed a hand over his heart - “how come I don’t have a handshake with him?”

Suki rolled her eyes. “Babe, you said yourself that your thing with Aang is cheek kisses.”

Sokka appeared unconvinced. “Yeah, but I’m not the only one who gets cheek kisses from him.” He jutted his thumb towards his sister. “Katara gets them all the time!”

“Katara is also going to marry him, Snoozles,” Toph said with a snort. “I don’t think it’s totally off-base to consider she might have a few additional privileges compared to the rest of us.”

“Katara might be the one who snagged the Avatar,” Mai drawled, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips, “but I think it’s safe to assume that everyone in here had a crush on Aang at some point in their life.”

Katara burst out laughing both at Mai’s declaration and the different forms of denial that followed. She’d long since accepted the reality that Aang’s charm meant many people would fall for him. And if anything, it made her feel even luckier that she was the one preparing for a wedding.

Mai appeared to thrive on the chaos she’d incited. The Fire Lady had clearly been spending more - maybe too much - time with Aang. “I don’t know why you’re all so up in arms about this,” she commented, studying her nails. “When I saw him dressed up for Zuko and I’s wedding, I wondered if I was marrying the right man after all.”

Zuko choked at her words, and Mai laughed as she patted him on the back. “Kidding. But I did think Aang was the best-looking man at the reception.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Zuko, who sighed, shoulders slumping. “No, I agree with her.” He flushed, his eyes dropping to the table. “Aang was definitely the most attractive person there.”

Katara remembered that outfit of her fiancé’s fondly. Saffron robes that danced the line between classy and casual, as fitting for an Air Nomad Avatar. And perhaps she recalled the attire begrudgingly, too, as it had attracted both wanted and unwanted attention towards her then-boyfriend at the reception.

“I’ll admit my heart fluttered the first time Aang returned to Kyoshi Island after the war,” Suki mused. “I hadn’t expected him to get so tall.”

Sokka gave his girlfriend an affronted look. “Wait a minute. Wasn’t I there -”

Suki silenced him with a finger over his lips. “Sokka. We both spent that weekend discussing how hot Aang had gotten. Don’t deny it.”

Katara raised an eyebrow at her brother. “You were planning to make some moves on Aang?”

Sokka’s face reddened. “You know what?” he finally said. “Maybe in another life. I’ll leave it at that.”

“You’ve been awfully quiet, Toph,” Mai commented, giving the earthbender a small smirk. “When did you realize you had a crush on ‘Twinkle Toes’?”

Toph crossed her arms over her chest, which Katara noted with amusement did nothing to hide the rosy blush coloring her friend’s cheeks. “Never. Because unlike all of you, I’m blind and therefore cannot be affected by Aang’s so-called ‘good looks.’”

“Aw, but Aang is so much more than his looks,” Katara teased, unable to remain out of the chaos Mai had incited any longer. “What got you, Toph? His voice? His jokes? His incessant kindness towards anyone and anything?”

Toph opened her mouth before slamming it shut. “Fine,” she grumbled. “I’ll tell you. On one condition.” She pointed at Zuko. “I still want to know how Sparky and Aang locked lips.”

Mai snickered at her husband’s misfortune, and Katara herself couldn’t help but laugh as Zuko muttered a variety of curses under his breath.

“An easy deal,” Katara agreed. “Now tell us - what got you?”

Toph exhaled a resigned sigh. “His voice,” she grumbled, and the table burst into another round of laughter and cheers. Really, they were lucky that Iroh or even Aang himself hadn’t returned to investigate all the noise.

“Honestly, no one can blame you there,” Sokka remarked, shaking his head. “Who could have predicted Aang would grow up the way he did?”

Katara raised an eyebrow at her brother, though she doubted the expression was as intimidating as she intended it to be. “Really?”

“Okay, well, except for you -”

“Enough chatter!” Toph interrupted, slamming a fist on the table. A smirk pulled at her lips. “Sparky? Storytime?”

Zuko groaned. “Remember how I said I wished we could all meet up more often?” He shook his head. “I take it back.”

Suki laughed. “Stop whining and get on with the story, Zuko.”

“Or else I’ll tell it for you,” Mai added, slipping her hand into her husband’s. Katara couldn’t deny the story would be funnier if Mai told it, as she’d already heard it a dozen times from her friend.

Zuko sighed. “It’s not even an exciting story.” He rolled his eyes. “I was going over some paperwork with Aang and Mai. At one point, Aang was called away for - for Avatar business, or something.” He huffed. “Aang went to give me a ‘goodbye kiss’” - Zuko pointed to his forehead - “because that’s his ‘thing’ with me, I guess. But I didn’t realize what he was doing, so I looked up to ask him a question, and we -”

“- and you accidentally kissed?” Sokka finished flatly. “Aw, man! That is boring.” He shook his head in disappointment. “Such a letdown.”

“What Zuko conveniently forgets to mention every time he tells this story,” Mai said, amused, “is that he leaned into the kiss.”

Toph burst out laughing as Zuko adamantly protested that no, he had not, no matter what his wife said. “So,” the earthbender said amidst her snickers, “what I’m hearing is that Zuko never really got over his crush on Aang?”

“No, he did not,” Mai mused. “But it’s not like I can hold that against him. Having a crush on Aang is perfectly understandable.”

“If it’s any consolation, Zuko,” Katara said, resting her elbows on the table and placing her chin atop her hands as she gave the firebender a devilish grin, “Aang thinks you’re a pretty good kisser.”

Her comment set their group off for the umpteenth time, and Katara snickered at the rollercoaster of emotions roaring over Zuko’s face. There was nothing better than sparking a little chaos every now and then, was there?

Huh. Aang had rubbed off on her, too. She supposed being engaged to him would do that.

“Uh… I feel like I missed something here?”

Katara bit the inside of her cheek to contain her laughter as Aang dropped into his seat beside her. “Oh, no. You didn’t miss anything.”

Aang stared with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment at their friends, who were yet to collect themselves. “Are you sure? What did you guys talk about without me?”

Katara hummed noncommittally, shrugging. “Nothing special.” She pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. “Just how much we love you.”

~*~

more of aang being adored by his friends in fanworks 2k21, please and thank you. i hope you enjoyed my collection of ficlets for the week, and as always - thank you for reading!

[sokkas-honour]

for the spotify wrapped writing i'll say number 4 and sokka?

omg this one was so fun to write! ty for requesting!

dream boy - modern!sokka x reader

pairing : modern! sokka x reader

wc: 1.7k including lyrics

notes/warnings: going off of the hc that sokka is a baseball boy from my girl @draqondance and it’s just unedited but enjoy !!

part 1.5 | part 2 | part 3

taglist (send an ask to be added!!): @draqondance @biqherosix @missmorosis

sometimes i think i see your ghost, in passing hallways, the staircase to my apartment,

the clock couldn’t seem to hit three fast enough, the sun was shining outside but everything about your seventh period math class just made you gloomy. you tapped your foot on the ground, anxiously waiting for the final bell to ring so you could get out of the boredom that was calculus. you sighed and rested on your hand that was on your desk and tried to see if you could understand what your teacher was saying but you’d spaced out too long to even know what the hell he was talking about.

with another sigh, you slightly turned you head. you were seated at the back of the class, meaning you could see a part of the empty hallway since the door was open and there he was, the beautiful water tribe baseball player. your heart rate picked up as he simply passed in the hallway though he seemed to catch your staring because he backed right back into your line of view and smirked at you.

his flirty actions imply earned a playful eye roll from you. you watched your friend laugh before waving goodbye and continued on his way knowing he’d be able to speak to you after school anyway.

god did you love that stupid boy. seeing him, even for a split second, singlehandedly made this boring period your favorite of the day. his smile, his dorkiness, his horrible jokes, just sokka in general made your heart race at a speed that was practically impossible to slow down.

i accidentally self impose, bashful thoughts, careless wants, emotional involvement,

the baseball game ended and your school won 7-4, with your best friend pitching his best game yet, you couldn’t contain your excitement. as soon as sokka stepped off the field, you rushed out of your seat to go congratulate him outside of the dugout. your whole friend group couldn’t make the trip to the away game but you had promised him that you’d never miss a game when he got accepted into the team freshman year and so far, you’d never missed one. wether you were swamped with work or sick, you always found a way to sit on those bleachers cheering him on.

“sokka! that was your best game of the season!” you exclaimed as soon as you saw come out and ran to him. he was smiling that adorable stupid smile he always did and rushed to join your halfway.

“i know! did you see how i curved that ball on the last guy! he never saw it coming!” he excitedly retold you the final play that you’d just seen, pride shining from his eyes and grin.

“yeah! sucker didn’t even know what hit him!” you replied matching his energy and he just engulfed in you in a hug out of excitement. to your dismay, he quickly retracted it.

“sorry! i’m just so excited!” he apologised though you didn’t mind at all, hell, you’re disappointed he didn’t let it last longer as you craved affection from sokka that was anything but platonic or initiated by you, how you wished the hug lingered.

“sokka! you don’t have to apologise! i’m just as excited as you are!” you reassured, your cheeks hurting from smiling so much as you placed both your hands on his arms to emphasise how unbothered you were by his actions.

“okayyy. can we go get sea prunes? pretty please?” the pitcher begged, looking down at you with his signature puppy dog eyes that made you practically weak in the knees, he knew you’d never say no to them.

you've got my heart bursting at the seams, maybe you're the boy from my dreams,

most people only saw you and sokka as two inseparable best friends, two peas in a pod, practically attached at the hip, and they wouldn’t be wrong. sokka and you had been best friends ever since kindergarten when he accidentally hit you in the head with a snowball during your recess.

you’d always been close friends but ever since highschool started, you’d fallen for your best friend and you’d fallen hard. his adorably cute smile, his adorably cute eyes, his adorably cute ponytail, his adorably cute jokes, just his adorably cute self was enough to make you long for anything more than a simple close friendship with the water tribe boy.

you’d seem to have done a pretty good job at hiding it as none of your friends ever picked up on it. sokka and you had always have a pretty touchy friendship, you’d hug all the time, you’d place your head in his lap, he’d lay his head on your shoulder, but none it had any ulterior motive. so when zuko confronted you about it you were surprised, he was the one to find out about it, not toph, not even katara, the said crush’s sister, no it was zuko.

zuko seemed to have seen right through your lies about your lack of feelings for the baseball player which led you to just dumping all the reasons that he made your heart put a race care to shame. you told him about the daydreaming that occurred whenever someone would point out that you would both be a cute couple, you told him about the monthly dreams you’d have about you finally confessing your emotions that were always reciprocated.

zuko was kind and always listened but always took the oppurtiny to tease you about it when you were alone.

if you're gonna love me make sure that you do it right, i’ll be under your window in the moonlight,

oh i tend to keep my heart locked water-tight, all you gotta do is meet me after, meet me after midnight.

‘y/nnnnnnn, meet me by our favorite tree like at around midnight. i need to tell you something important.’

you’d been doing your english homework late one night when your phone buzzed with a message from the boy that made you swoon. your heartrate would always pick up a bit when he would send you a message but the content written made it race even more. you quickly replied to agree to meet him.

you grabbed your coat and your shoes and quietly left the house, making sure not to wake your sleeping parents. once outside, you took the ten minute walk to an old willow that stood about halfway between the water tribe sibling’s house and yours. you had often spent afternoons with the two of them just laying in the ground and watched the leaves around them slowly move with the wind.

when highschool started, you often found yourself throwing a rock or so at sokka’s window when it would be late in an attempt to get him to sneak out with you for walks under the beautiful moon. one night you almost got caught so you both agreed to simply text and agree to meet at that nostalgic willow.

upon arriving and passing through the weeping willow’s leaves you saw a figure leaning against it’s trunk. you were able to recognise the boy thanks to the light from his phone that he was scrolling mindlessly on.

“hey sokka.” you made your presence none in a rather soft way, not wanting to spook him.

“hey y/n, thanks for coming.” he looked up and smiled at you and put his phone back into his jacket pocket. your eyes had long acclimated to the darkness and were able to see him sit on the ground and pat the spot next to him to which you happily obliged.

“so what did you want to say.” you asked once you sat next to him.

“okay well i wanted your help. how do i ask a girl out?” his questions came out of nowhere and took you aback, you feared the direction that the conversation would go in but you shoved your emotions down. sokka may be the boy of your dreams but he was still your best friend, and you’d always want him to happy.

“well first of all, i need to know who this girl is.” you smirked, a small spark of hope as your mind rushed to not only a horrible ending to the conversation, but one that ended in a confession of feelings from both sides.

“okay well, only if you guess.” he joked which earned a playful eye roll from you before continuing. “okay well i’ve been friends with her for a while but recently, i’ve been feelings differently towards her y’a know? she’s always been there for me and always knows how to make me happy. i just feel warm and safe with her. i dont want to ruin our friendship because it means so much to me!”

“well sokka, i give up.” your spark grew at his description of the girl he was mad for, the only person you could even think of that fit the criteria was you. boy if you only you hadn’t been that naive, maybe that would’ve saved you from the heartbreak that was coming.

“okay well i thought it was obvious.” he grinned, leaning his head back in a way that told you that he was thinking of the girl who’s name you were about to know.

“it’s suki. i’m head over heels for suki.”

your heart dropped and felt like a knife had just been shoved into it, twisted, and then ripped out. no, your heart had just been broken. you felt like crying, you’d been so stupid in thinking he’d ever have any feelings for you. god it all made sense now, you’d never admit it out loud but you had been spending less and less time with sokka in the last couple of weeks. you had been spending more time with zuko where you would gush about the boy you were in love with.

if only you’d looked at the signs, he had been spending more time with the star volleyball player, the straight a student, the perfect in every way, suki. you couldn’t hold it against him, you loved her as a friend and she was impossible to not love. the words that left your mouth following his confession hurt your soul more than anytning

“you’d make a great couple sokka, you really would.”

[thebluesunflower44]

Hello please tell me literally everything about leaves on the vine thank you good day

hi! thank you for the ask! you're going to regret saying 'literally everything' as soon as you click Keep Reading (: but first, a snippet

Toph😎 added Azula ⚡

[Sokka] Toph why

[Toph] Oops pressed the wrong button

[Suki] ...your phone is controlled entirely by your voice

[Katara] NOT AZULA!! She tried to kill all of us at some point!

[Aang] She nearly did kill me 😢

[Azula] Well, I DIDN'T, did I?

I should've tried harder.

[Zuko] AZULA

[Azula] Fine, that's not what I meant to say.

Honestly, I don't remember that. I was probably fucked up.

I was crazy back then heh huh hehehe

WIP ask game

I have a VERY MESSY, general outline for this, but it could change at any time. mostly just going where the gaang takes me!

the story is set 7 years post-war. yes, this is done so that toph can say "what up I'm toph, 19, and I never fuckin learned how to read." that's the only reason.

Sokka, Teo, and the Mechanist have invented phones, electricity, the Internet, search engines, and social media apps in those seven years. (if you like keeping your brain intact, you should definitely not think about the logicality of this story.) Iroh often helped generate electricity until the factories could sustain themselves and Toph was the one to create gadgets suitable for people who are blind.

on the seventh anniversary of the war's end, they unveil the phones to the public. the devices are available to everyone and there's no social inequity because this is my fic and what I say goes

they have Tumblr, but Toph insisted that they name it Rumblr. there is also Kohbook (haha get it like Facebook) that is used exclusively by the White Lotus, Kanna, Aunt Wu, and, for some reason, Bosco. cue ALL the facebook memes. we have them typing in capslock randomly, using all the wrong emojis at the worst time, shit-talking Pakku publicly because they forgot how to open HawkMessenger, praising their children/grandchildren/students to the skies and then ending with a really embarrassing anecdote...it's a fun time

idk a good name for the ATLA Twitter app (if you guys have ideas, help) BUT do you guys know that one account that pretended to be other people? I think the handle was jaboukie? they pretended to be other people by changing their username and profile picture, and then tweeted embarrassing things?? hopefully that rings a bell,, anyway - toph is going to do that. she likes the chaos.

uhh okay as for the actual plot, we start with an oblivious zuko and deep in denial katara. we also have suki and sokka who have to be separated for now, and there's a lot they're realizing they don't know about each other, so they have a bumpy road ahead. and then there's aang and toph who aren't even thinking of each other that way, but they will. they will

zuko is actually dating mai at the start of the story. that goes as well as can be expected from a zk story. as their relationship deteriorates, suki and toph are busy pulling katara out of denial, which culminates in the last snippet from this link

aang and toph development fhjkdsahf i still have to figure this out. never written them before so this will be a challenge

suki and sokka talk about how war has affected them. maybe they decide to take a break? look i really cannot write angst-less stories

iroh decides, after a few months of seeing zuko be mopey and face 107 assassination attempts, that he needs a wife. he arranges a whole partner selection thing without zuko's knowledge, and zuko, for all his Fire Lordy powers, doesn't know how to get out of this or refuse his uncle anything

katara is not included in the pool of possible wives, because everyone knows putting her name in a hat like that would piss her off. interestingly enough, she's pissed off anyway! it's anyone's guess why...

development shown through vine references yay

the whole shebang where zuko realizes he's looking for katara in every woman and confesses to katara

some more dramatic lines and growth blah blah blah

ofc, we also have sukka and taang developing in the meantime. sukka has probably gotten back together, and taang's nearing the point of getting together

insert melodramatic, tearjerking zk reunion here

kiss and be happy. maybe another assassination attempt if i'm in the mood for it

the end. maybe? probably

if you read all of this, I'm sorry. my brain is jumbled. here's another teaser :D

[Zuko] KATARA I NEED YOUR HELP

[Katara] On my way. What did you do now

[Z] Hey! I didn't do anything

I need help picking a wife. These ladies are terrifying

---chat switch---

[Katara] I hate Zuko. I'm going to bash him so hard the next time I see him

[Suki] 👀👀

[Toph] 😏😏😏😏😏

[Katara] That's not even an innuendo what is wrong with you two

[Suki] 😏😏😏😏

[Toph] 👀👀👀

[Katara] 🤬🤬🤬

[scarilydark]

ATLA Modern Au HCs

Aang

appa in this world is a giant shaggy dog, probably a mastiff

aang seems like the type to ride a skateboard, and also wear beanies, that type, he likes taking appa on walks (or well, runs) while riding, and still somehow never manages to fall

Aang is also the type to play a bunch of sports, not exactly competitive, but he just loves having fun, absolutely seems like the type to just be chilling one moment, and then get the ZoomiesTM the next, you know?

Katara

surfer chick, and very good (and competitive)

she seems like the type to be really interested in zodiac signs, you know? like i have absolutely no idea what any of it means, but i feel like she'd definetly know all her friends signs and whatever,

she's interested in nursing, but also takes karate lessons, and not just any regular defense classes, like, the brutal shit.

sokka

was absolutely a fuckboy, then suki broke his jaw, and it was basically night and day (basically just like the show)

it is absolutely not safe to roast him or his friends, he will fucking destroy you, and like, in seconds too (thank god he has strong friends, his tongue has written him some goddamn checks let me tell you)

he is way smarter than he appears, like, you'd be talking to him in lunch, or see him around, and have those expectations of what he's like in class, but no, he's much smarter than he let's on, and usually does really good in class (do NOT ask him to tutor you, though, he seems like he'd be bad at that, Katara is the safer bet)

toph

still blind, still like, a teenager, still an actual professional wrestler. like, seriously, i'm not joking here, she does moonsaults and german suplexs 30 year old men who weight 200 pounds, and you can't stop her.

goes to a public school even though like, her family has a wikipedia page dedicated to them, like she's Rich rich. but low-key about it cause she doesn't give a damn about any of that type of money, she had her documents forged in advanced so the staff and students didn't know who she was (she refuses to wear shoes, the school tried to make her, she wrote them a 500k check and told them to fuck off, the obliged)

for a blind girl, she likes really, really loud music, head thumping heavy metal music, she still somehow hears people when they call for her while she has her earbuds in, nobody knows how, she's like, a goddamn cryptid.

zuko

another Rich rich kid, also pretty chill about it, he also goes to a public school, not out of him rebelling, though, but cause his dad didn't bother to sign him up into any private school, it was azula who rebelled against daddy dearest and went to school with him (i like the idea of zuko and azula actually being like, close, ok?)

fiercely protective of his friends and sister, he has gotten into the Most fights in the school (and several known creeps, along with the weird science teacher, got attacked by a person in a blue demon mask, all ending up in the hospital, said teacher got fired for being...too close with some female students)

he's also skilled in like, tons of shit, he's taken kickboxing, played soccer, knows how to play a guitar, and still for some reasons tells everyone he meets that azula is the smart one.

Azula

she is, EVERYWHERE, smartest girl in the school, the best grades, in basically any and every club, head cheerleader, all of it.

to be clear, in this Au, azula isn't like, That different, she's still snarky, has a silver tongue that cuts like a knife if she wants, can probably kill you (and would) in most ways, and the smartest person in basically any given room, but she's also like, human, and something was different enough in their childhood which made azula realize that "maybe dad is wrong, and i should stick by zuko" and it's done wonders for her, despite their fathers displeasure (she is planning on killing him once she's 16 though, like, honest to god, has a google doc for it and everything, so i mean, the more things change)

she secretly is obsessed with pokemon, the only other person who knows is zuko.

every single one of them is Bi, or at least, very Very comfortable with their sexuality. like, sokka and azula seem very much like the types to lounge about, and cuddle with literally anyone. they also basically flirt with anyone, sokka and zuko have kissed several times, and like, they aren't romantically interested in each-other, it's very much "this is my husband sokka, this is his husband zuko" type situation. aang is the type of person who was like out of the closet at birth like, he never even considered liking boys and girls at the same time wasn't an option. azula and katara also founded their schools LGBTQ+ club, and anyone who tried to stop it's formation, or get it banned, got lit on fire.

there's other characters i wanna do, but can't think of anything for them yet,

ship wise, i'm feeling pretty feral, sokka is probably gonna be with suki (and get pegged) i'm feeling like katara would get a girlfriend in this particular au, who she'd be with idk yet. i'd also pair up toph and aang, but, zuko and azula, is what's troubling me, cause, i could pair azula with katara, i do like that ship, and i could do something interesting, like maybe pair zuko with someone strange like jet, or ty lee, since mai honestly kinda bores me, but i'm feeling...kinda zucest, here? like, i know, I Know. but, azula is the type who doesn't exactly understand right or wrong, and doesn't really get what society may feel as taboo, that's why her sexuality is so clear to her, and she's not afraid to be open about it, so like, she loves her brother, you know? this does not seem like something that'd be unusual for the character. my problem here is, what does this mean for zuko, especially when he learns of these feelings? well, from a very early age, they've relied on each other, dad basically disowned zuko, and mom was convinced azula was the devil, so when they needed comfort, they went to each other, once they realized they're being played against each other, and that's been the story since basically childhood onto high school, she's the one who tutors him if he falls behind on any subject, he's the one who helps her make more friends, even if he himself can be anti-social, they're both equally protective, if i was gonna go the Safe route, i'd say he should turn her down, and they'd have a stronger relationship cause of it, But... the devil on my shoulder is telling me he wouldn't be as against it as he should be, that it's more in character than i'd like to admit. and, while, obviously, the elephant in the room is still prevalent, i can't just, ignore what seems like the natural progression of these two characters given the situation i've put them in,

(please god don't kill me for this, i don't normally ship taboo ships like this, i literally just can't think of a way where i can pair them with anyone in this particular Au)

[comradekatara]

oof yeah i also relate w mai a little too much. Specific question: what do you think she does after the war? I can't really see her hanging out in the fire nation capital for all that long bc it would start to feel like a gilded cage imo

(disclaimer: i know that chell has written about this before but i also cannot find that post rn for the life of me so she cannot get mad that i did not link it here. because i included a disclaimer. you’re welcome) 

i think after the war ends, mai would feel obligated to stick around to make sure that her family and zuko are okay. mai has an overly accommodating sense of filial duty, and feels a dedication to zuko’s emotional needs that zuko has never expressed an interest in returning. but there’s also an ulterior motive in her staying in the fire nation, and it’s the fact that she is suddenly making friends. aang, of course, takes to her immediately, because he’s aang. she and toph find that they have a lot to bond over, and mai always looks forward to their blunt and hilarious banter. she plays pai sho with sokka, and they become fast friends. and suki gives mai advice on how to put her own needs before that of men, which is invaluable to shaping mai’s worldview going forward. 

eventually, she does leave the fire nation. she wants to travel the world without any looming threats or obligations to anyone. sometimes, she travels alone, sometimes with her friends. she doesn’t like staying in one place for too long, but she revisits the fire nation often, to check up on tom tom and zuko, in that order. and of course, there’s ty lee, her favorite person in the world. she invited her to join the kyoshi warriors, but mai is too much of a loner to accept her offer. she visits kyoshi island frequently, though, and it’s always a great time to be had. she makes new friends, across the globe, who don’t know her past, and who like her for her. she always comes back to ty lee, who knows every single detail about her life, perhaps even better than she knows herself, and mai is always surprised to find that that doesn’t scare her at all. 

mai dabbles in many hobbies and careers throughout her life. as a well-connected trust-fund kid, she’s never exactly had to worry about putting food on the table. so once she finally accepts that she can do what she wants, that’s exactly what she does. 

as part of aang and zuko’s initiative to expand the arts education in the fire nation, sokka and mai set up open mics in tea shops across the country, which they enjoy doing immensely because every open mic night is a new experience for people’s bad poetry to make fun of. they just share a glance every time someone says something dumb or trite, and then laugh about it the whole way home. katara chastises them for this, hand on her hip, saying, “isn’t it kind of insensitive to be mocking people who are putting themselves out there? i don’t see you two sharing your poetry.” the most hurtful part of that is the fact that katara can easily identify that they both write poetry. but fine, sokka and mai acquiesce, katara might have a point. sokka reads some satirical verse he wrote on the walk over, and mai adlibs some standup (it takes them both a really long time to stop hiding behind a shield of irony in their art, and of course they only enable each other). but the thing is, mai’s standup is really funny. to the point where she could almost make it a career. unfortunately, mai doesn’t consider professional standup dignified enough to do it full-time, so it merely remains a hobby. but while she’s traveling the world, she does use that as an opportunity to workshop her routine. 

mai also goes back to the school. she finds that a university level education is completely different from whatever the fuck was going on at the royal fire academy for girls. she gets to choose the classes that interest her, and none of her professors ever think to criticize her posture. she and sokka end up taking a lot of the same classes completely by coincidence, (because apparently they share some sort of unspoken psychic bond...) because they both nerd out over the same things. mai loves science – physics especially – but as a deep & sensitive soul, she also really takes an interest in all kinds of art: painting, poetry, theatre. and sokka’s enthusiasm for architecture and art history gets her to take a few classes in that too. she gets really into painting, using her precision with knives to be just as precise with her art, adding details others wouldn’t even think to see. she even shares her poetry, though she publishes it anonymously. ty lee references it coyly next time she sees her, though, and it flusters mai so much that she immediately leaves the room to go lie down for two hours. 

mai also spends a lot of time as an envoy for aang or zuko, stabilizing situations in remote places while the avatar and the firelord are busy elsewhere. with only her knives and the diplomacy skills she picked up as the daughter of a governor and a cloying social climber, she settles disputes all over the world, sometimes with ty lee, sokka, suki, and/or toph at her side. (once, it was just her and katara alone, and that was pretty awkward, because they never really clicked, but by the end of their trip, they had to admit that even if they’re not besties, they do respect each other. and mai even laughed at one of katara’s jokes!) she gives both aang and zuko really blunt, profound advice, and they find that she’s an excellent politician despite her insistence that she hates it. 

eventually, mai does “settle down” with ty lee. she’s not sure she believes in “settling down” or “marriage” or any of that bullshit, but also the thought of sharing a little house with ty lee and maybe a cat or two and growing old together makes her heart heavy with longing, and she ultimately recognizes that she’s done expanding her horizons, and finally answers the call. she is the one to make the offer to ty lee (note how much she’s grown) and of course ty lee readily accepts. they’ve been in love as long as they can remember, and while they may have gone away from each other, they never grew apart. they live on kyoshi island, near suki’s village, but farther in the woods. after all, kyoshi island has always been a haven for queer women. sometimes, mai will look back on her youth and think about how far she’s come, how she was so depressed and felt so empty and trapped. other times, mai does not reflect. she doesn’t need to. she’s exactly where she wants to be. 

[army-of-mai-lovers]

ATLA Fic Recs part 2!

part 1 (consider this link a re-rec of everything I recced in part 1, bc those fics are still amazing and at this point many of them that weren’t complete are finished now which is cool!) 

So I’m structuring this fic recs list a little differently than I did the first one. First one was just “fics I like” with no regard to how popular the fics were and a little bit of thought as to balancing gen fics with ship fics and trying to have a diversity of ships listed. This time, I am paying attention to how popular the fics are, and while I’m probably still going to rec popular fics/fic authors, I’m hoping to also expose people to some new authors with this list (as well as exposing people to work from their favorite authors that they may not have read)! Expanding your horizons is a really good thing, it’s how I’ve found basically every fic I love, and I hope y’all will love each of the fics I’m reccing as much as I do! In no particular order: 

1.  her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you by @aangsblush I said that I was going to rec this a couple days ago and here I am doing it because HOW ON EARTH IS THIS FIC AS BRILLIANT AS IT IS AND NOT LIGHTING THE FANDOM ON FIRE RIGHT NOW. I’ve genuinely never read a fic like this before. Never in my life. It’s a collection of vignettes, mostly dealing with Hakoda and Sokka’s various experiences of grief with Kya and Yue (and there’s a little bit of cute bakoda and sukka sprinkled in there as well). Like I said, the chapters were vignettes, some of them as short as two or three sentences, and yet somehow I was crying after every single chapter???? The author uses language so sparingly and so impactfully and I truly cannot get over how brilliant this is like bruh. who gave you the right. Who. Who. Tbh I could make a whole post about this fic (and I have!) but instead, I’m going to direct you to the fic, bc really, it speaks for itself. 

2. laughter lines by @bi-suki To be completely real, I tend not to read sad fics, or seek out sad media in general, but I read this fic and I’m so glad I did. It’s a modern au about Sokka and his family moving to Anchorage, separating him from his childhood best friend, Yue. Make sure you read the tags before you read this fic, please. It’s really sad. I started tearing up while writing out just that quick summary. Keep a box of tissues handy. I’ve read a lot of this author’s fics and they all have a habit of sticking in my head long after I’ve read them, but this one really packs a punch. Sokka’s grief and his friendship with Yue is written in such an intimate and beautiful way, and yes, I literally am crying right now thinking about it. I do think it’s hard to pull off writing yukka, especially in a modern au, while giving appropriate depth to both Sokka and Yue, but this fic really managed it so well. Even though this fic made me sad, I don’t regret reading it one bit.

3. call it fate by @bluberry-spicehead y’all are really converting me into a maiko shipper and honestly I’m so here for it. Mai’s one of my favorite characters in ATLA, and the care that the fic takes in portraying her perspective as well as her relationships with Zuko, Azula, and Ty Lee (despite the fact that Zuko isn’t even there when the fic takes place)--I mean, it’s honestly just incredible work. I’ve seen a lot of joke-y posts about “oh what if x happened with Aunt Wu instead of what happened in canon?” but never with Maiko and never quite the way this fic describes it. It’s really original and really carefully done, with all the complexity and nuance of their relationship infused into the details of the fic. And the way that Mai is written is both in character for her and expands on existing canon in a way that I really believe works for her. The writing is so immediate and really roots you in the world and in Mai’s head and I love it I love it I love it! 

4. i am your savior, your last serving daughter by @gays4korra *sokka voice* SUKI! Bruh. BRUH. The amount that I love both Suki and Kyoshi cannot be overstated, they’re both such fascinating and complex characters, and yet some people (*cough* the fandom *cough*) don’t want to see them in their full and complete brilliance. Enter this fic, which shows Suki and Kyoshi meeting, like someone saw my wildest dreams and was like “hey that’s a cool fic idea!” The TEARS I cried reading this fic (yes, I am aware that this is the fourth time I’ve mentioned crying over a fic in just this one post, these fic authors are incredibly talented and I have three planets in Cancer, fight me) Suki and Kyoshi, icons themselves, conversing across time???? iconic. simply iconic. And then the fact that Sokka orchestrated the whole thing because he wanted to make Suki happy? I love them, your honor. And Kyoshi being happy that Suki looks up to her because really Kyoshi’s a fluffy dork with self-esteem issues.... I’m crying again it’s so beautiful I’ve looked at it for five hours now. Gosh. read this fic. 

5. Balance My Heart in The Palm of Your Hands by @spookysukki ok while looking for this person’s tumblr I found out that this was their first work in the fandom and can I just say pal you POPPED OFF with this one fic and I hope that you write more because this was. This was awesome. Mailee is def in my top 5 (possibly top 2) ATLA ships but unfortunately I have a hard time finding content for it. Fortunately, every time I do find content for it it’s incredibly cute and this was absolutely no exception. It’s also the rare Mai & Sokka friendship fic which is not something I knew I needed in my life but is a concept that I am completely obsessed with having read this. Basically, Mai’s jealous of Sokka because Ty Lee keeps talking about Sokka being attractive, and shenanigans ensue. And you know me, I love shenanigans. This is also a Mai perspective fic which is awesome because as I said earlier, I love love LOVE Mai, and she’s so sweet and broody in this lsfjskdfjk I love her so much what an icon. 

5. earth system history by @pianjeong I have read this fic. So many times. I could honestly probably recite it from memory (jfdksjflsd ok that’s not true but at this rate I probably will be able to soon). It is an absolutely stunning fic. It’s like all my favorite parts of college condensed into one story (running around buildings you probably shouldn’t be in in the middle of the night with the person you have a crush on, coming out to your professor who is also gay, all iconic college moods). I’m simply obsessed with the way each character is written, and it’s so clear that the author knows what she’s talking about when it comes to geology, and that in general this fic was written with a lot of love for the characters of ATLA and also for rocks. It’s that love that keeps me coming back to this one. Cannot recommend it enough. 

6. the end is barely beginning by @katarahairloopies  gosh I don’t even know where to start with this one other than I cannot believe that it almost wasn’t posted and I’m so glad that it was because you truly can never have enough father/son moments between Hakoda and Sokka and I care them. I care them so much. Also can I just say Hakoda not remembering all of Sokka and Katara’s friends’ names and having to really think about it is such a dad mood. I can’t remember a single time in my life where my dad could remember all of my friends’ names (and there were points in my life where he would have only had to remember one name and yet. and yet.) I really love ATLA fics that are character studies because they tend to really retain the complexity of the characters as they’re depicted in the show (or make them more complex) and this one is no exception. There were so many lines of this that were just really poignant and beautiful. Again, cannot recommend it enough. 

[shrinkthisviolet]

Who would the Cobra Kai’s Characters counterparts be from Avatar: The Last Airbender & Legend Of Korra? Like which Avatar character is most like a character from Cobra Kai personality wise? The main parallels that I can see are:

Kreese = Firelord Ozai

Johnny = Zuco

I love to hear your thoughts on this.

Keep in mind, these aren’t perfect parallels, and some of the ships don’t work with the swap, but this is more about the characters anyway.

I actually think Ozai fits Silver better, while Zhao fits Kreese! It’s not quite the same dynamic, since Kreese and Silver are on much more equal footing than Ozai and Zhao, but Silver is a much more formidable opponent to Daniel than Kreese. Neither of them really try to win over anyone’s trust, but Zhao does at least pretend to be on the same side as Zuko, just as Kreese does for Johnny.

Sam = Katara! They both have that instinct to nurture before anything else, to protect the ones they love, and they will throw down for their friends if they must (and they’re unafraid of a tussle!).

Daniel = Aang! Both have the instinct to help, to give of themselves, and when they act recklessly, it usually has disastrous fallout (Aang because he’s the Avatar, Daniel because he overcorrects). Tho Daniel’s fuse is shorter than Aang’s for sure 😂

Miguel = Sokka! Both are seemingly the comic relief on the outside, but they struggle a lot with not feeling good enough (mostly in S3 for Miguel, due to his injury). And it’s interesting that Sokka and Mai are both nonbenders on opposites sides, while Miguel and Robby are star karate students on opposite sides 👀

Robby = Definitely Mai. Wanna talk about absent parents and a teen feeling like they need to raise themselves and hide away all vulnerabilities because every show of it just gets them hurt? FITS THEM BOTH TO A TEE! And they’re both “betrayed” by someone they thought they could trust with their heart: Robby with the LaRussos, and Mai with Zuko (tho in both cases, the offenders regret pushing Robby/Mai away and try to make up for it).

Demetri = Toph, as strange as it sounds! It’s not quite the same, since Toph doesn’t let anyone bully her, but she is constantly underestimated by everyone around her. She’s taught a new way of fighting that works for her, just like Demetri is, and it’s different from the norm (Demetri doesn’t vibe with MD teachings, so Daniel has to adapt. Toph can’t learn to earthbend the traditional way, so she learns from someone who understands–the blind badgermoles!). And ofc they have an epic moment, like Demetri throwing Hawk into a trophy case, and Toph freeing herself with metalbending, that cements their confidence!

Hawk = I guess Jet could fit here! Both of them get a bad rep from some parts of the fandom, they both initially befriend Miguel/Sokka, and they do things that Miguel/Sokka take personally (Jet wants to flood a village filled with civilians, Hawk becomes more violent and even breaks Demetri’s arm). They also both “flip the script” after some kind of trauma: Eli’s sick of being bullied, and Jet wants revenge on the people who killed his parents. They ALSO both have a sort of redemption arc: Hawk in 3x10, and Jet in Ba Sing Se when he’s trying to turn his life around! Tho Jet’s got cut WAY too short, dying just as he was helping the Gaang and TRULY letting go of his painful past.

Tory = Okay hear me out: Suki. Both girls have huge responsibilities on their shoulders (Tory’s family, Suki’s Warriors), and both are kindhearted. However, Suki is able to show that kindness much more than Tory because her Warriors are her equals. She’s trained them, they can match her, she knows they have her back. Tory doesn’t have anyone like that, except Aisha (who, incidentally, receives the most of Tory’s kindness!). Sam would probably get it too, if not for their rivalry. Suki and Katara obviously don’t have an antagonistic relationship, but 🤷‍♀️ I don’t agree with what Tory did in 2x10 (especially her exclusively blaming Sam) or 3x10, but can we PLEASE talk about what an AWESOME Kyoshi Warrior she’d be??

Aisha = Yue! The calm, levelheaded one who’s written off way too early and is mainly used in service of someone else’s story because she would totally shorten the plot of the show otherwise? Yep! And if you think Aisha was ever treated like a main character: let me ask you: what do we know about her? She’s rich, she’s Sam’s friend, Tory’s friend, Miguel’s friend...see what I’m getting at? We know nothing about her as a person! Same for Yue–she’s the Moon’s vessel, the Chief’s daughter, Sokka’s girlfriend...we know nothing about her as person! Hopefully the S4 writers fix that for Aisha, she deserves it!

Yasmine = Azula fits this one to a tee. Popular girl who does what she wants and doesn’t fear the consequences? Has an iron grip over the school/country, every whim at her command? Come on. We also see that she has the potential for goodness...one day in the future, through a very carefully written growth arc (for Azula, that would obviously be her own journey of self-discovery away from the Gaang. Let her find herself!!)

Moon = Ty Lee! Sweet on the outside, usually underestimated, but fierce on the inside. Remember when Ty Lee took down powerful benders with chi-blocking? Remember when Moon broke up with Hawk because she couldn’t stand his aggressiveness? Plus, there’s that sapphic subtext to consider from Ty Lee 👀

[madsthewordclown]

Four Walls | Sokka

warning: just lots of fluff because I wanted to

pairing: sokka x reader, modern au

summary: Quarantine is stressful, but Sokka’s a pretty great roommate to be stuck with. 

Y’all, this is my first fic I’ve ever written and I apologize in advance, and thank you for bearing with me. 

          “Traditionally, you’re meant to cook the noodles.” Sokka pretends not to hear you. Or maybe he really can’t hear you over the loud crunching of uncooked penne. There’s an empty jar of sauce on the table across from where he sits, crunching down dry noodles like its chips. You walk over to get a bottle of water from the fridge and notice two of your reusable milkshake straws sitting in the sink. Looking back the jar of sauce, you shudder.

           “Traditionally, the noodles aren’t meant to be whole-grain,” Sokka answers finally, as if the situation he is in is completely normal. The box of pasta now sits empty on the table, and he’s grinning from ear to ear. “How was work?”

         “Fine,” you answer. “Can I ask why you didn’t just boil the noodles? Weren’t they awful?” You know you’re deflecting about work, but it’s not a big deal. The restaurant had only just started to reopen, and you only got one or two shifts a week, but dealing with customers felt more grueling than ever. You knew Sokka missed having something to do, so you couldn’t complain too much.

           “Cooking them is too much work, Y/N,” Sokka replies matter-of-factly, “and they were awful, but I had to finish what I started.”

           Quarantine is not treating either of you well. For you, the strain manifests itself much more quietly; you haven’t been sleeping very well, and you get headaches more frequently than normal. For Sokka, it’s this. You don’t know how much orange juice he’s consumed straight from the carton, but it can’t be good for his teeth. Drinking tomato sauce can’t be too good, either, although he somehow manages to maintain his good looks nonetheless.

           “Katara called while you were gone,” Sokka mentions as you plunk yourself down in the chair across from him.

           “She did?” You frown. You and Sokka didn’t get too many calls from his sister or any of your other friends anymore. When quarantine started, you had frequent group calls and virtual game nights, but over time, they kind of fizzled out. You missed seeing everyone’s faces. While Sokka was a great friend and a great roommate, you couldn’t help but wish you were all under the same roof.

           “Yeah,” Sokka continues, standing up and picking up the empty pasta box and jar. He’s wearing khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt; it may be fit for a Midwestern dad, but at least he put on a full outfit today. Quarantine hasn’t exactly required it. “She’s scheduling a movie night for this Saturday. You’re off work, right? I tried to see if you sent me your schedule, I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss it.”

           “Yeah, I only worked today and then Friday this week,” you say excitedly. “Is everyone joining?”

           “Suki can’t make it,” Sokka shrugged, walking across the kitchen to rinse out the jar, “but Zuko and Toph will be there. And Katara and Aang, obviously.”

           You kick your shoes off under the table and feel the tension in your feet ease slightly as Sokka turns on the faucet. Your shift was busy, considering the circumstances. You yawn. “What movie are we watching?”

           “I don’t know, some indie film she and Aang found,” Sokka says, turning off the water and bending down to put the jar and box in the hot pink recycling tub you keep under the sink. Katara had brought it in one day after learning that Sokka didn’t recycle. You could still hear her telling him off about plastics in the ocean. She had been very pleased when she saw your small collection of reusable grocery bags. Good guys recycle, Sokka. Right, Y/N?

           “What’s with the outfit?” You can’t help but say. You notice that Sokka is wearing tennis shoes without socks along with his vacation ensemble. He grins at you again, blue eyes sparkling as he begins walking toward the door to his room.

           “Setting trends, Y/N/,” he laughs, “get with the program.”

           You wake up at four in the morning, again. You know before you’ve even opened your eyes that you are awake way too early; it’s happened at least three times in the last two weeks. You slowly peek your eyes open and pick up your phone, flinching as the bright light hits your face. 4:08. You sigh.

           You slowly pull yourself out of bed and easily leave your room without needing the lights, but the main room is more difficult. You have no clue what you and Sokka have left out on the floor in the last few days. You put one arm straight out in front of you to detect obstacles, and curse to yourself about leaving your phone on the nightstand.

           You carefully walk by what you think is the couch and swing your arm none too gently to find it. To your surprise, you hit something that definitely isn’t the couch.

           “Ow!” a voice cries out. You let out a scream, and jump back, falling on the carpeted floor with a thump. “Whoa,” Sokka says, and you feel relief flood over you. It’s just Sokka. You try to let your heartbeat slow down. “Are you okay?”

           Sokka must have gotten up and found the light switch. You see him in the corner of the room, his hair pulled up, and wearing his same Hawaiian shirt, but with basketball shorts. An even more atrocious outfit. You laugh to yourself as you continue to get your bearings. Sokka makes his way over to where you sit behind the couch and offers a hand to help you up. You take it.

           “You scared the shit out of me,” you say shakily as he helps you to your feet.

           “I’m sorry,” Sokka says sincerely. “I didn’t think you’d be up. Could you not sleep?”

           You shake your head. Sokka doesn’t press; just nods. “What were you doing in here?” You ask.

           “Same thing, but it’s probably because I drank too much coffee after dinner.”

           “How much coffee is too much?” Sokka just shakes his head slowly.

           “Too much, Y/N.” He looks at the ground for a moment. “Want to watch a show or something?”

           It becomes a routine for the next few days; watching shitty cartoons and soap operas with Sokka whenever you wake up in the night. He’s somehow awake every time, and you try not to dwell on it. You’re not one to talk. It’s nice, sitting with him and watching something that lets you not think for a while. That’s your problem; overthinking about anything and everything. You get to forget about work, where a customer coughing sends you into such a spiral that you have to spend ten minutes in the back room to calm down. You’re looking forward to it when you get home from your Friday shift.

           Sokka is in his room when you arrive, close to 11, even though your shift was meant to end at 10. You pull your shoes off as soon as you’re in the door and drop your purse on the floor, not even bothering to get to the kitchen table or couch before you’re lying on the carpet and staring at the ceiling. You don’t even hear it when Sokka comes out of his room and stands over you.

           “That bad, huh?” He says simply. You try not to notice the sympathy in his eyes, or the way his brow softens when he looks at you. You just nod your head and try to block out the echoing yells of an angry mom that you served earlier, and the mere $25_ _you brought home for tips after hours on your feet, working in a pandemic hellscape.

           Instead of trying to coax you up off the ground, Sokka disappears into the kitchen, the counter obscuring your view. You can hear him open and close a cupboard before he reappears, a bag of Doritos in hand.

           You can’t stop the shocked look on your face as Sokka slowly sits down next to you and then leans back on the floor. The bag of chips crinkles as he opens it and sets it on the floor between you. You wordlessly take out a few chips and start snacking. Even though Sokka has only been your roommate for a few months, you’re still impressed by how perceptive he is. He always seems to know what to do to make you feel better. You feel bad that you can’t do the same for him.

           Sokka talks about his latest project for his online summer class. It’s something to do with engineering, and you try to listen, but he gets to talking so fast and excitedly that you can’t keep up. You don’t understand most of what he’s saying anyway, but you like listening to him talk. Katara says he can’t shut up, and most of the time she’s right, but you like his passion.

           Between the two of you, you manage to finish the whole bag of Doritos. You can tell your air conditioning has shut off again when the blistering July heat begins to creep in, and that’s when you make the executive decision that it’s time to get off the floor. You turn to your side and are surprised to discover that Sokka is looking at you, and he’s not talking. You don’t know when he stopped, but you already miss it.

           “Are you sure you’re okay?” Sokka whispers, so quietly that you almost wonder if he said it at all, but he’s looking at you for an answer, his blue eyes boring into you.

           “Yeah,” you answer equally as quietly, your voice hoarse after lying silent for so long. You bite your lip and let your hand fall between you and Sokka. You ask something you should’ve asked a while ago. “What about you?”

           Sokka glances away for a moment and sighs. “I just miss people, you know?” You nod. He continues. “We haven’t seen Katara in, I don’t know, two months? I know we don’t always get along, but I miss her, and I know that she has to be careful, we all have to be careful, but that doesn’t make it less hard, y’know?

           “And it’s not just our friends, or even my dad or anything. Just people. I miss being around people, and not having any sort of outlet, you know? Just four walls.”

           “And little-old-me,” you add jokingly. Sokka rolls his eyes.

           “Four walls and you,” he amends. You try to ignore the rush you feel when he lets his hand brush against your own.

           “Want to watch a show or something?”

           Saturday night can’t come soon enough, and when you come out of your room after your shower, you’re surprised and excited to see that Sokka has gone all out with the movie night. The movie has to be streamed on the computer, so Sokka has his laptop set up on the coffee table, ready to go. You smell the popcorn he has popping in the microwave.

           “Ready for the best quarantine movie ever?” He greets, then jumps as the popcorn begins to pop almost aggressively in the microwave.

           “Of course,” you reply, hopping yourself over the back of the couch and pulling the throw blanket there over yourself. “I can’t wait to see everybody. It’s been too long.”

           Sokka is careful not to burn the popcorn and even goes as far as to dump it out of the bag and into an actual bowl for the two of you. He comes over and takes a seat next to you; you’ve both opted for sweatpants, as you both tend to do even though it’s the middle of summer. It’s not like you’re leaving the house, although Sokka still complains about the heat sometimes.

           You hop onto the voice call with the others at exactly 8 o’clock. Zuko is already there, of course, as well as Katara and Aang. It only takes Toph a few seconds to join after you.

           “Hi, guys!” Katara exclaims, waving at her camera. She’s already pressed up against Aang’s side on the sofa in their apartment, and he’s leaning his head on her shoulder. Their huge white dog, Appa, can just barely be seen at the bottom of the screen, laying across their laps.

           “Hey, Katara!” You respond excitedly, leaning in closer to the camera. “I miss you guys so much!”

           “Hey, Sokka, how’s your class going?” Zuko asks. Immediately, Sokka begins a tangent about whatever his latest project is. Zuko matches his enthusiasm with talk about his screenwriting class.

           “Nerds,” Toph mutters, crossing her arms. You laugh.

           “You guys ready to start the movie?” Zuko says. Aang gives a thumbs up into the webcam.

           “Flameo, hotman.”

           The movie is, of course, frequently interrupted by you and your friends’ commentary. Sokka has had to shush you multiple times, as you keep leaning over and whispering dumb observations and jokes in his ear. You aren’t one to take any movie too seriously, and this indie film is no exception. But you don’t think Aang would appreciate your comments, since he looks like he’s about to tear up as he leans into Katara before the movie is even halfway through.

           “Sokka, you look pretty cozy,” Katara giggles suddenly. You didn’t realize it, but now that you were paying attention, you could feel Sokka’s side pressed up against you as you both leaned in to better see the laptop screen. You can see now that his arm is draped over the couch behind you.

           “What? What’s happening?” Toph asks, and Zuko starts to laugh a little bit. To your surprise, Sokka doesn’t pull away.

           “I am, thanks,” he says, trying to be nonchalant, but still letting a sheepish smile sneak past his lips.

           “Okay, then,” Katara smiles, refocusing on the movie. Your heart flutters a bit as you remember where you are. With Sokka. Your roommate. Who you don’t need to have feelings for, but you think you might be doing it anyway.

           You feel your eyes getting droopier as the movie goes on, and you don’t really pay attention anymore. Before you know it, you can’t seem to get your eyes open anymore, and the sounds of the movie and your friends’ laughter fades away.

           You wake up to the sound of laughter. The movie is gone, and the screen is entirely taken up by your friends’ faces.

           “Oh, look,” Zuko says, “sleepy head’s finally awake.”

           “Shut up,” you groan. You didn’t even realize you had fallen asleep until the moment, and you hadn’t realized that you had fallen asleep… on Sokka. Your head rested on his shoulder, and his right arm was around you. One of your hands was resting on his lap. Your friends started laughing again, and you jerked your hand away, but didn’t quite sit up. You still felt too tired for that.

           “Well, we should probably go,” Katara said finally, although Aang was already definitely half asleep on her shoulder. Zuko and Toph muttered something similar, and everyone said their goodbyes. Sokka reached with his left arm to exit the call but left the laptop on.

           You feel Sokka gently grab your hand as your eyes start to drift shut once again, sleep too tempting to refuse. You feel him lean down and whisper in your ear, always careful, “Is this okay?”

           You nod into his shoulder, and you feel him breathe a sigh of relief as he rests his head on yours. It would always be okay. And you didn’t need to talk about it yet, although you’d have to eventually. For tonight, though, while the world raged on, it was just you and him, and the four walls of your apartment. And while the months of quarantine seemed to stretch on forever, you knew you had someone to hold on to.

[swordgayist]

book 3 ty lee and zuko

consider an alternate universe where, instead of maiko, zuko and ty lee develop a strong friendship while mai and azula’s close friendship (that might be peppered with some lesbianism) slowly degrades over time. allow me to elaborate.

zuko and ty lee start bonding on the journey back to the fire nation because ty lee is the only one among the people surrounding zuko who doesn’t bully and/or abuse him regularly, and vice versa.

TY LEE: aren’t you cold? what are you doing out here?

ZUKO: i’ve got a lot on my mind. it’s been so long, over three years since i was home. i wonder what’s changed. i wonder how i’ve changed

TY LEE: hm.

TY LEE: we all missed you.

(just getting the ball rolling here)

they talk more when they get to the fire nation, and the usual topic is azula, and how she treats them. they bond over the mean shit she’d do to them when they were kids because that’s easier to laugh at. it’d probably get a little more real sometimes too.

but the thing is, when it gets real, ty lee’s relationship with azula doesn’t sound a lot like zuko’s relationship with azula.

see with zuko, he isn’t actively afraid of her or subordinate to her. he is just competitive with her and she wins, and she also manipulates him a lot.

when it comes to ty lee and azula, everything is subtle. both ty lee and azula know that there is a power dynamic, but neither of them say anything about it. azula clearly hurts ty lee regularly, but they both brush it off afterwards. azula’s abuse of ty lee is just normalized, ty lee doesn’t say anything and the power dynamic continues.

the more zuko hears about it the more it sounds like how his father treats him rather than how azula treats him. 

meanwhile on the mai and azula side of things, mai’s character is going to be done much much differently. because i hate how she’s written on the show so i will change her until i like her who’s gonna stop me

basically, instead of this extremely disjointed idea that mai ...... likes to do villainy things ? but still somehow she only does them because she’s scared of azula ?? we’re gonna scrap that. mai loves doing cruel shit to other people.

we’re scrapping everything about her backstory too. her parents are just two ordinary fire nation politicians who love hearing about people who are lesser than them suffering (not just people from other nations, but people who are less privileged than them etc).

we’re also scrapping the part of her character where she complains all the time because it doesn’t add anything to her story and it’s annoying.

that classism aspect of mai’s character (”you know what’ll make you feel better? ordering some servants around!” for example) is gonna be expanded upon a lot. coming from a rich, politician family, mai is extremely blasé about other people’s suffering and believes very strongly that she just matters more than them and that bothering herself with them is below her. she sees how her parents interact with their servants and how they laugh about what happens in the earth kingdom colonies and the water tribes and she picks up the cruelty they display. 

because of that, her and azula get along well. usually when azula is mean to zuko or ty lee, mai just kinda laughs about it on the side. when she’s helping azula she relishes the distress she causes the people she attacks. she always sees it as fun and games. it provides a stark contrast between mai and ty lee as azula’s friends where mai joins azula out of apathy and love for cruelty, while ty lee joins azula out of fear.

(once again this is already kinda there on the show but then they just ??? ignore it and say that mai followed her out of fear too ??? which makes no sense ??)

then in the beach episode, the conflicts go a little like this:

zuko and ty lee are annoyed at mai for being so cruel and apathetic, mai and ty lee are annoyed at zuko for having all these emotional outbursts, and zuko is annoyed at ty lee for being so at ease and complacent in her maltreatment, while mai is just kinda slut shaming her. azula, like in the og beach episode, is too busy dealing with her own problems to be annoyed by other people.

we finally get a better extended version of this interaction between zuko and ty lee at the end of the beach:

TY LEE: what’re you doing?

ZUKO: what does it look like i’m doing?

TY LEE: but..... it’s a painting of your family.

ZUKO: do you think i care?!

TY LEE: i think you do.

ZUKO: you don’t know me. so why don’t you just mind your own business!

TY LEE: *sighs* i know you.

ZUKO: no you don’t! you’re stuck in your little ty lee world where everything’s great all the time!

ZUKO: ‘i’m so pretty, look at me, i can walk on my hands! whoo!’

ZUKO: circus freak.

zuko is annoyed that ty lee is so reluctant to stand up for herself and instead pretends everything is okay (this really comes out when after everything between them ty lee helps azula flirt), while ty lee is annoyed that zuko sees complaining about it and being angry all the time as “doing something about it”.

meanwhile the beach episode is the first time mai has actually been presented with the idea that ty lee (and also zuko) is not happy with how she’s treated. ty lee tries to hide it as much as possible out of fear for azula, but mai still kind of picks it up. and mai is also developing a little thing for ty lee (also peppered with some gayism).

but anyways, at the end of the beach and in later episodes zuko and ty lee repair their friendship. zuko finally starts to understand some things, and ty lee contributes to that a lot. zuko’s already realizing that he’s not happy, even as crown prince and as a hero to the fire nation. he’s starting to realize that the way his father treats him isn’t okay or loving in any way. finally in nightmares and daydreams he realizes that sitting quiet while injustice is planned right in front of him isn’t who he is. and because of his argument with ty lee in the beach, he realizes that he can’t just know it, he needs to do something about it.

and on the day of black sun he leaves the fire nation ayeeee

but that means he leaves ty lee alone. he was kind of a safe place for her while she was around azula, and by leaving he kind of took that safety away from her. he of course didn’t take her along to protect her, but yeah.

so in the boiling rock, ty lee sneaks away from azula and mai to talk to zuko. she gets mad that he left her behind, and when zuko tells her he did it to protect her, she’s conflicted on whether she would prefer to commit treason and be an enemy to the fire nation or just stay in the fire nation and let it all happen like she always has.

but she sees zuko, she sees how much healthier and more energetic he looks after confronting his abuser and leaving the fire nation (she finds it ironic that he looks happier and healthier as a fugitive in ratty prison clothes than he ever did as a prince in royal robes). and she can’t help but feel like maybe she could too.

and because of this, at the end of the boiling rock, while mai and azula are trying to stop zuko, sokka, suki and company, ty lee comes up to the landing platform and starts taking out all the guards before they can cut the cable holding the gondola up.

PRISON GUARD: what are you doing?!

TY LEE: saving my best friend.

(yknow instead of ‘saving the jerk who dumped me’)

zuko pleads that they should go back and save ty lee, but sokka remorsefully tells him that they can’t because if they don’t take this way out, they might not be able to escape at all. so all zuko can do is pray. rip.

so azula confronts ty lee. azula is confused and angry that ty lee betrayed her because she was sure she had ty lee under her thumb. but ty lee drops *the line*:

TY LEE: i love zuko more than i fear you.

and so azula gets ready to attack ty lee and ty lee gets ready as well.

and this is where mai starts to realize that it was indeed *not* all fun and games. 

mai picked up cruelty but with azula ...... it was built into her. she was taught it, it was all she knew. and in this moment she was actually going to kill ty lee. so in that moment mai had to make a decision. because it wasn’t just ty lee who was in danger, it was her, if she were to let ty lee die ty lee’s blood would be on her hands, because she will have let azula kill someone she loves. she needs to save herself from going too deep and becoming like azula (keep in mind this is *her* mindset, not necessarily reality).

so she steps in, and she uses her knives to pin azula to the wall. 

now, azula isn’t just angry and confused, she’s broken. because she knew ty lee followed her out of fear, but she thought mai actually saw her as a friend. yet even mai betrayed her, reinforcing the idea that trust is for fools because in the end, no one loved her enough not to betray her. and now with ty lee’s betrayal, it seems like no one fears her enough not to either.

the guards come before mai and ty lee can get away, and they are put in prison.

after the day of sozin’s comet, zuko orders for them to be released, and ty lee finally reunites with her best friend again. 

meanwhile, after a lot of introspection and conversations with ty lee, mai starts to see some of the errors in her ways. she doesn’t know exactly how to make up for it, but her first step is to humbly approach suki and ask if she can join the kyoshi warriors.

(also perhaps while they’re in prison mai confesses to ty lee, and ty lee tells her that she could never fall in love with the person mai was before they were thrown into prison, and that if mai changed her ways ty lee might be ready later in the future.)

after having spent a lot of time with the kyoshi warriors and better learning how to empathize with other people, mai is able to help zuko and the gaang with azula’s healing process.

+ty lee starts to see how mai’s changed and they start talking and whoo pansexualism (officially headcanoning ty lee as a pansexual)

and so on and so forth, this is the basic gist of it this is terribly written but whatever

[carbootsoul]

do you.. have any old man sokka hcs. particularly if they're zukka. because i can't stop thinking about grandpa sokka he lives in my head rent-free

oh my god i’m going to scream i had literally all of this written out and then accidentally typed ctrl+r and reloaded the page :sob: so when this takes me another like day and a half to post that’s why. anyway i love old people hcs bc like.. god i wish that were me. also this is a yue lives au bc i love her too much (and?? suki and sokka lives au i guess????)(also zuko isn’t fire lord.. they’re some kind of democracy) (also also by old man this is like.. 60s i think)

zuko and sokka are those old people who have like seven houses and travel between them with like... minimal notice to their friends, family, and half-dozen government leaders who they unofficially advise. whenever someone has something important to tell them they need to send a half-dozen hawks to every different house. izumi somehow always knows where her dads are

sokka keeps all the paintings he makes in a room in his house in the fire nation and he and katara went through it one day and started crying together about the evolution of his art- both about how his level of skill improved and about how the art showed the rebuilding of the world

sokka and suki and zuko and yue have a secret beach house in the earth kingdom and they all plan to live there together when suki and yue retire. in the meantime they all gather there for a few weekends every year and talk about how they should really all retire. and then they don’t.

(eventually yue finds some young community leader to be the new nwt chief and suki passes the torch of being the leader of the kyoshi warriors off and sokka and zuko just. stop taking earth king kuei’s calls and they do retire to that beach house and spend the rest of their lives lounging around)

@kyoshi-lesbians talked about gay slang in the atla universe and my favorite from that list was calling old gay couples penguin seals and old sokka would LOVE that slang

he first hears it at a white lotus meeting when iroh teases jeong jeong and piandao about how awful their tea is (are you saying that a pair of penguin seals in their fifties can’t make a decent pot of anise tea?) and sokka is like :0 i’m in love with that slang i know me and my husband are both only 27 but i will save this in my brain and once he turns 50 and decides he’s old enough he is THRILLED and never shuts up

the cool grand-uncle to the airbender kids. he always brings them treats from wherever he and zuko travel (they swoop into tenzin’s house and sokka has a box of candies and zuko has like, an investment into tenzin and pema’s retirement fund asjfksldj) so the kids love him. tenzin likes it.. less because the kids are a handful even when they haven’t had a bazillion caramels. he loves his uncles tho and they have good conversations about international relations

sokka’s leg injury starts to act up again when he gets older and so he starts using a cane. at a huge gaang family dinner he shows up with like. a stick he found in the woods. toph is like damn socks i could do better than that and i’m a blind 50 year old and zuko’s like hm well i could do even better than you and it becomes a whole thing with all of sokka’s family. (kya wins because she made hers out of a light enough material that sokka can bonk his sister over the head with it without hurting her)

he also does a lot of work with his sister and yue toward making the two tribes more accessible both to nonbenders and disabled people!! he and zuko also petition the fire nation and earth kingdom about similar initiatives but it’s a lot more slow-going because he’s not like, related to the leaders.

he’s the cool uncle but he is NOT the hip uncle. he could be the hip uncle but he only uses slang from like.. literally before he was born because like half his friends were old when he was young and he is no longer young. also he invented like half the technology currently in use but he still pretends not to understand how to use it just to drive izumi insane

zuko is perpetually graying (he somehow always has dark hair and gray temples) but sokka basically woke up one morning with completely white hair. he loves it bc it makes him look even more like a mad scientist

i hope these r kinda what u were looking for!! ajskldfsjd lok was so wrong and sokka deserved to be an old man