#a little azule sokka

[amorningxundone]

The life beneath my skin

bleeds out

from these new legs

and my heart

beats in the space entwined

by our fingers and palms

breathing

with the walls of this room;

It’s me and you—

your soul too willingly offered

and my neck chained

to a cage

built with a guise

of friendship

and the effacement

of an old regret;

Buried like a curse

our tell tale memory lurks

under floor boards

for the next generation

of naivety:

a still learning boy

and his soon to be

tragic misstep.

“The maple wood house and its magnolia tree” - AXI

[mycomfortblanket]

Under the Mistletoe

written for @su-univeralai for winter solstice! Love you dearly darling. Happy Holidays.

"Honest to spirits, it's probably the most childish thing I've ever heard of," Azula waves her hand in the air as if to ward off the idea itself. "I mean really, receiving items from people just because you asked nicely? Jut go buy it if you want it so badly and stop depending on others for happiness," Azula swirls her drink and levels her cool gaze at Sokka who has been recalling the traditions of the Southern Water Tribe.

"You're really missing the point of this," Sokka replies with an eye roll. "Plus, it's more than just getting presents. There's other important stuff!" He looks at the other people sitting at the table for some backup.

"Oh? Name some of this 'other important stuff' then," Azula challenges.

"Well, it's different in every culture. In the Water Tribe, the whole village comes together and we have a feast and tell stories around the fire before the gifts are exchanged at midnight!" Katara chimes in. "The Earth Kingdom, I think, does something similar..." she trails off, looking over at Toph for confirmation.

"Yeah, I guess. We have a big dinner together, but there is usually some kind of festival going on in town, but I wasn't ever allowed to go. The gift-giving thing wasn't really a tradition with us since... you know... I had everything a blind child of wealth could want besides my freedom."

"What about the air nomads, Aang?" Katara asks, her mouth full of sweet bicuits.

Aang blsushes and looks down at the fruit on his plate, pushing it around with his fork. Looking up, he avoids eye contact with everyone and immediately looks back down. "Uh, we had this thing called mistletoe. It's like a- uh... a little berry plant, but it would be hung up around the temples in random spots. The trick was... was to get the person you liked to stand under one with you. If you managed to do that, then you had to..." he blushes again and stuffs a slice of papya into his mouth to buy himself some time.

He can feel everyone's eyes on him as he chews slowly. He risks a glance up and immediately looks down at his hands when he meets Azula's gaze. "Come on, out with it, Airhead," she urges.

Aang swallows his food and clears his throat. "You had to..." his eyes flick up to Azula's and finds that he can't look away. "You had to kiss each other." He can feel his cheeks heat up as he admits this. Everyone else's was so wholesome and had to do with giving while his was... not. She holds his gaze for a moment longer and he swallows hard. Her golden eyes seem to challenge him slightly and the slight raise of her eyebrow just solidifies it.

"Hmph. Actually sounds like something I could participate in," Azula says after a moment of silence, her eyes never leaving his.

"Sounds like a load of shit to me," Toph interjects, ruining the moment. Aang snaps his head over to Toph, forgetting that the rest of the group is in the room.

Katara scoffs at Toph's brash demeanor, "Whatever, Toph. You're just jealous Kanto isn't here to take you under the tinsletoe," she waves her chopsticks at the blind girl. Aang notices the mess up on the name, but decides it's not important enough to correct.

"Hey, Zuko. I can think of better things to do with our mouths under some tinsletoe," Sokka waggles his eyebrows at Zuko and gagging noises can be heard around the table along with choruses of 'get a room' and 'grow up'.

~~~

Back in his designated bedchambers in the Fire Nation, Aang is folding up his robes for the night and laying them on the dresser when he hears the door to his room open. Before he can turn around, he hears, "Could you have been more obvious at dinner, dude?" Sokka's voice carries over to him.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!"

"Oh, you kiss under this random bush thing," Sokka looks up at Aang with the biggest polarbear-dog eyes he's ever seen and his voice dropping down into a whining tone, "Please, Azula. Go stand underneath this with me and we an kiss and live happily ever after," Sokka drops down to his knees before Aang, his hands steepled in front of him. "Oh, please! Oh, please! Oh, please!"

Aang scoffs and rolls his eyes, pushing Sokka's head as he walks past him, "That is the furthest thing from what I did." He makes his way over to the couch that sits in front of the fireplace and picks up a stack of letters that he needs to read through and write replies to.

"Whatever, dude. Even Zuko said something to me about it and we all know how emotionally stunted that man is." Sokka plops down onto the couch beside him, propping his feet up on the coffee table and throwing his arm over the back of it.

Aang snorts, "I still question how you were able to get your feelings through to him without him panicking and running off." He opens the letter and starts to skim through it.

Sokka hums at his friend and leans a little closer while waggling his eyebrows, "Looking for some advice, dear Avatar?"

"From you? Never." They sit in silence for a moment, Aang pretending to read through the letters as his mind goes a million miles an hour. After a moment, a thought occurs to Aang, "What does the Fire Nation do for Winter Solstice? We never asked them."

Sokka pushes Aang's head in a playful manner. "Smooth transition. They used to do this thing called a Krampus Parade, where evil spirits would come and try to steal the joy, but dragons would come in and save the day or something? Nothing romantic in that department, though. Although Zuko say there's going to be a party the night of winter solstice, maybe you can come up with something then. But, just so you know, your little tinsletoe idea, it would be a pretty smooth way to kiss her," he says as he stands up and makes his way out of Aang's room.

~~~

The next morning, Jein comes in to set Aang's room up for the day, opening curtains, making the bed, filling the basin with fresh water. Once he is finished, he stands in front of Aang's desk with his hands clasped behind his back, "Is there anything else I can do for you, Avatar, sir?"

"No, Jien, you're always amazing, thank you." Jien bows and is just about to turn around to head out of the room when Aang's head shoots up with a thought, "Wait, I have a question!" Jien turns around with his eyebrow raised. "Do you know if there is any mistletoe that grows nearby?"

Jien gives him pretty accurate directions to a small town directly outside of Caldera that has the mistletoe that grows along a particular street. He manages to find several bushes immediately and packs several branches of the bush into his knapsack to bring back to the palace.

~~~

"I just think your time could be better spent doing something else or trying to woo her in a different way," Toph says as Aang stands on his tiptoes to fasten a branch to the top of the doorway.

Aang snorts and sets back to admire his handiwork of fastening the little branch. "I think you're just jealous." He looks down at the little Earthbender as she pulls another branch from the knapsack and hands it to him.

"Me? Jealous? I think you're forgetting who you're talking to," she mumbles as they make their way to the next targeted doorway. They manage to tag two more doorways before Toph pipes up again, "What exactly is your plan with this tinsletoe shit?"

"Haven't thought that far," Aang grunts as he jumps a little as he attempts to attach the branch to the door frame. "I'm sure an opportunity will come up."

Several days pass and Aang never manages to get Azula under a mistletoe with him. It's like she knows where they're located and manages to avoid him and the tagged doorways and random hallways at the same time.

The day the Winter Solstice arrives, the palace is filled with Nobels, leaders from countries and cities, and random people. Aang stands on the edge of the ballroom holding a cup of gin, his eyes scanning the crowd.

"Who're you looking for?" a voice comes from next to him.

Azula has managed to completely skirt around his searching eye and come to stand right next to him without him even noticing. He smiles down at her, "No one anymore." Her lips tilt up in the suggestion of a smile. Together, they both turn back towards the room and people watch.

Every so often, one of them will point out a particular stuffy looking Noble and make up his or her life story, trying to get the other to crack and laugh loudly.

"Oh, that guy over there," he nudges Azula's shoulder and gestures towards a man who is directly in front of them. "His mistress is actually his wife in disguise. She's planning on using his infidelity to take him for all he has. And once she does, she's going to buy a huge mansion on the coast and sit in her pool drinking mimosas all day."

Azula snorts next to him. "Why would she have a pool if she is living on the coast?" she asks, hiding her smile behind her glass.

"Why are you asking me? Go ask his mistress/wife. She's the one buying it. And-" he's cuts off by recognizing the tune that the band is playing. "Hey, dance with me?" Azula's small laughter immediately dries up.

"What?" she asks, her confusion showing on her face.

Without answering, Aang takes her glass from her and sets it on the nearest table before taking her hand in his. Leading her out to the dance floor, he spins her once before pulling her close, his hand cupping hers while his other rests on the small of her back. He can see the uneasiness on her face as her eyes dart from side to side, taking in the dancing couples next to them.

"Aang, I don't know this song."

"It's okay, just follow my lead," he pulls her a little closer until their chests brush with every movement that they make. The uneasiness on her face begins to fade as she gets the movements down and soon, she has a large smile on her face.

As the song comes to an end, he gives her one final spin before pulling her back in, closer this time, and gives her a slight dip. He can hear the small gasp she lets out when she catches sight of something over his shoulder.

He slowly pulls her back up, but her face is still trained towards the ceiling, towards whatever it is that she's looking at. "Did you plan this?"

"Plan what?" he questions, his voice soft. He leans just a little closer to her, inhaling her scent. "The mistletoe," she whispers. He's close enough that he can hear her over the music and the people talking. "Did you hang it there on purpose?"

"You know the name of it," he says, not phrasing it as a question. He's a little surprised. Everyone else had been getting the name wrong, seemingly not actually listened to him when he told what the traditions of the Air Nomads were.

Azula brings her face back down to his, her eyes searching his. "You planned this?" she questions again.

He gives her a small smile and her eyes flit down to his lips, "I've been trying to get you under one all week," he says. He barely has time to get the words out before she is pulling him down and slotting her lips against his.

[prying-pandora666]

The Gaang’s Canon Romances: Where Are They Now?

In honor of the new adult Gaang movie in production, let’s check in with our heroes and see how the canon romances are holding up!

Kataang

First we’ve got Aang and Katara discussing their future in a post-war world which is struggling to live in harmony after 100 years of aggression and colonialism. No matter what happens, they remain committed to supporting one another:

Sukka (and Toph!)

Toph’s still single and ready to mingle. Her bff Sokka, on the other hand, only has eyes for his girl Suki! Things seem a little strained though due to being long distance:

Maiko

As for Zuko? Looks like the neophyte Fire Lord and Mai are on the rocks. Gotta hand it to Mai, though, she’s still the Queen of sick burns:

Bonus! Azula in Akuma Asylum

Azul—oh… uh. Azula looks like she’s not having a great time. Maybe Zuko should’ve checked the reviews on this mental hospital before he sent his little sister there. Looks like she’s yet to learn that the greatest love of all is loving yourself:

(check out @book4air)

[shytastemakerthing]

Hi there, can I get a Twisted Wonderland matchup for my OC (in a romantic sense)?

Name: Adriana “Addie/Ria” Jasmine Strano-García Pronouns: She/her Sexuality: Bisexual Appearance: Long and thick curly hair. Dark umber hair colour. Light brown skin (like the Scarabia Dou). Brown eyes. Hourglass figure. 5'2. Personality: She is a sassy, witty and bold former popular mean girl, who became humbled after her ex cheated on her with another girl, but still has a lot to learn in order to become a better and more balanced person. She’s also quite ambitious, analytical and a quick thinking. On the flipside, she’s secretive, cut throat, manipulative, super guarded, even to the point of hiding shit from loved ones, in her own head too much, over thinks things and has some huge himedere tendencies due to coming from a wealthy family. Hobbies: Drawing, painting, improv, photography, playing video games, streaming series, snowboarding, running and hiking What she wants in a partner: I think she ultimately wants a partner who is loyal, understanding and truly cares about her, especailly after being cheated on. She also responds to acts of service and words of affirmation the best.

Extra Facts:

Aspects of her personality are heavily inspired by the animated versions of Alice, Tiana and Princess Jasmine.

She is also inspired by Sokka (ATLA), Poppy (Wild Child) and Naofumi (ROTSH).

She’s an INTP-T and 8w7.

If she identified as male and was a mage, she would’ve been sorted into Pomefiore or Octanivelle.

Hello and thank you so much for your request! I do hope that you like it and I am so sorry for the wait!

Tw: None

I match you with..........

Jade Leech

Listen, he knows what it means to always be guarded. It is something that he clearly excels at in his day to day life, both while at home in the Coral Sea and while at NRC as the Vice Housewarden of Octavinelle Dorm. If there is anyone who understands the feeling, it's him. But that also means he knows exactly when you do start putting your guard up.

Is there a chance that you would like to join him for a hike in the mountains? The moment that he hears that you enjoy hiking, he is silently at your side (honestly, how does he do that?), and then asking if you would perhaps like to join him in the Mountain Lover's Club? He is leaving for a hike this weekend and he would love it if you would join him. He is often alone on these hikes and he would love to have a chance to share the experience with another who shares the same love for nature that he has.

Honestly, I could see him getting into photography as well. While there are some of his mushrooms that he is able to cultivate just fine, but there are others that he finds out in nature that he can't exactly just take. Whether it be because there are little of them or it's in a protected area, he will gladly take many pictures of them. He would love to see what pictures you have taken as well. Consider it a date. Come over to the lounge and he shall prepare some tea and you both can share the pictures that you have taken.

Now, as you are with Jade, you're going to see a lot of Floyd and Azul. Mostly Floyd. They're a package deal most of the time. While Floyd won't terrorize you as much as he does to other people, it's in his nature to at least poke the bear at times. It's simply one of the ways that he shows his affection and that he cares. You're with his brother, so that makes you family as well.

Jade may be a cunning man of little white lies and half-truths, but he knows when to and when not to have that persona of him, especially around you. He is someone who is understanding of what you went through in your past and how that has affected you, so he makes the truth very evident in how he is with you. You could not ask for someone more loyal than he.

Back to the photography topic, if there ever comes a time where you ask if you can take pictures of him in his true form, while he may be a bit teasing about it, he will agree. Where would you like to go? What would you like for him to do? He quite enjoys that you also love this side of him, the real him.

Overall, Jade is a loyal and devoted partner. He will make sure that you are taken care of and that you have all that you need whenever you need it. He loves that he can just be normal (well, his version of normal) while he is with you, and there is no place that he would rather be than being with you.

[casp1an-sea]

Comfort Characters

Fathers:

Steve Rogers AKA Captain America

Tony Stark AKA Iron Man

Han Solo

Doppo Kunikida (BSD)

Mother:

Hera Syndulla

My Boys:

Tech :3

Armitage Hux >:(

My Boyfriend:

Azul (Caszul/Caszurole)

Mon Mari:

Rook Hunt (Hunter’s Song/Chanson du Chasseur)

My Wife:

Jade Leech (Frilled Shark)

(so Floyd is my brother in law)

Fictional Found Families:

The Bad Batch

The ghost crew

My special little guys:

Kwazii Cat (Octonauts) (Kin)

Lewis McCartney (H2O) (Kin)

Luke Skywalker (SW) (Kin)

Thorax (MLP) (Kin)

Shining Armor (MLP) (Kin)

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo (SW)

Qimir/The Stranger (SW)

Cal “Carl” Kestis (SW)

Alexsander Kallus (SW)

Howzer (SW)

Gonky (SW)/srs

Unidentified clone trooper  (332nd Company) AkA ARMS (sign my petition) (SW)

Coran Horn (SW legends)

Anakin Solo (SW legends)

Arista (Little mermaid)

Johnny Cade (Outsiders)

Crutchie (Newsies)

Raph 2012 (TMNT)

leather head 2012 (TMNT)

Spider-man in general

Harry Osborn 2002 (Spider-Man)

Gwen Stacy AkA Spider Gwen/Ghost spider (spider Verse)

Braco (Violeta)

Tenya Iida (MHA) (kinda an f/o?)

Kyoya Ootori (OHHC)

Tom Harris (Alex Rider)

Alex Mercer (JATF)

Harry Hook (Descendants)

Mathew (Og Lego friends)

Noble Bell college student council aide AKA Travis because I have decided that is his name (Twst)

Nick Nelson (Heart Stopper)

Elle Argent (Heart Stopper)

Daring Charming (EAH)

Sokka (ATLA)

Lucifer (Hazbin Hotel)

Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel)

Stolas (Helluva)

Ozzie (Helluva)

Better then Blitzø guy (Helluva) (Look I don’t ship him with Stolas he was just nice okay let me have this)

[tsukikoayanosuke]

Behind the Fic: TW:OPT - Chapter 89

No one: Absolutely no one: Not even Dire Crowley himself: Jonah: I'm about to end my whole career (you can hear Riddle overblotting again in the background while Azul is cackling like a madman)

Does writing a first kiss scene is always this intimidating or am I the only one?

WARNING: This will contain a bit of spoiler for the newest chapter of my fan fiction Twisted-Wonderland: Our Precious Treasure.

The title of the song is from 'Queen of Heart' by Royal Scandal

Bringing back what technically what MC said in one of the options back in Episode 2 [The lone wolf will only be hunted by the crowd.] But this time, instead of MC telling this to Jack, it's Jack saying this to MC/Jonah. Is this what you call an ironic echo?

This is where Jonah's conflict really happen. It was hinted especially in The Rebel of the Wilderness with him willing to risk his safety by challenging Leona, but at the same time not wanting Leona to get in trouble from Crowley's decision. His recklessness and how easy he's willing to give himself up for the safety of his crew really shows in this chapter. Jonah's arc of wanting to solve everything alone if he can probably be continuing.

Not gonna lie, I wish I can make the other characters here to do more, but just like before this is more focused on Azul and Jonah.

Also, the fight scene was really unexpected. Riddle was supposed to be the only one barging in but was stopped by the controlled Ace and Deuce. There wasn't even supposed to be a fight scene so forgive me if it was a bit sloppy.

A little section where Jade used the Golder Trio against Heartslabyul was inspired by the fight between Katara and Hamma who used Sokka and Aang

Speaking of the fight scene, when I finish writing that scene the mood suddenly changed. Man, this chapter turned dark very quickly.

A small part of Jonah’s dialogue when telling his collateral is based on Rapunzel deal with Gothel after Eugene was stab.

A reference of Ursula dialogue in Azul’s dialogue near the end.

Azul, unlike canon, didn't give Jonah an underwater-breathing potion. This means I have a reason for a very early Pomefiore potion making bonding session.

Fun fact, this is how the chapter goes in a nutshell in the very early draft:

Azul: *grabs Jonah's chin* So, what are you going to give up, captain? Jonah: ... What if I give you my first kiss? Riddle: *yeets himself into the room, screaming murder*

Yep, that was how it was supposed to go, with Jonah only giving up his first kiss. However, after everything that had happened, I felt that this won't be enough, especially considering Azul already tried to kill Jonah with the curse. So, the stake became higher.

A small note, I was not expecting this Octavinelle adaptation to be this dark and probably ended up in a downer ending like the Savanaclaw adaptation knowing that this arc's ending is very close to Scarabia Arc. The original plan was to follow canon with the only difference was Jonah giving up his first kiss because the Ramshackle Dorm was confiscated when Jonah went against Azul's order. I wasn't expecting Jonah and Azul to be this close to the point people started shipping them (and I sort of too...). Their relationship is supposed to be just boss and employee, not this. But do I regret it? Absolutely not. A commenter in the fic mentioned that JonAzul feels way more mature and compare to ROnah's puppy love crush, and I wholeheartedly agree with it.

[mobagehelllocal]

“do you even lift bro?” extra notes i - iii:

I finally finished rereading all my “do you even lift bro?” stories! Man, I feel like I wrote them ages ago. As I mentioned before, I have been going back to do grammatical edits and what not. In the process, I’ve also been noting down my thought process for writing these pieces, and little easter eggs I put in for fun~ This extra notes will contain my thoughts from versions i to iii! 

*please do not read if you haven’t read “do you even lift bro?” ver i - iii. 

The title came to me immediately upon reading the request hahah. originally, it was meant to just be fluffy and cute... but I think it’s actually pretty funny. To me, at least hahah. 

Divus’s was the one exception, but i’ll get into that later.

The reader personality was based on one of my ocs. She was also the oc in my special Malleus x OC story, “bright eyes.”

I went with her because she was an OC, who, in my opinion, is the epitome of a optimistic fangirl lmao. If you’ve read “bright eyes” then I think you’d understand what I mean hahahah. 

For ver i--I think I definitely wrote Riddle’s first. followed by Leona, Azul, Malleus, Kalim, Vil then Idia. 

One of my best friends is a super huge Riddle stan (if you’re reading this, hi sis!) so I wrote his story primarily with her energy in mind. In short, she would most definitely bench press Riddle. 

Her energy + the base reader personality makes Riddle’s story one of the most fun actually. His reader is probably the most mischievous ones--which I thought balanced out well with Riddle’s actual personality. 

Leona’s story is heavily influenced by pride dynamics. It’s common knowledge that it’s the female lions who hunt hence why in Afterglow Savanna--the women are stronger. Leona is royalty, so I assumed that from a young age he’d be told to wed a strong woman. 

I also need to note that Leona is described as respecting women. here’s the thing, I’m pretty sure it’s specifically women from Afterglow Savanna because they could bench press him. That’s not to say he doesn’t respect all women--he probably just puts women from Afterglow Savanna on a different standard because of his experience with them. Either way, you surprised him greatly, and assume that Leona will not be able to look you in the eye for awhile.

Azul’s story specifically takes place after Jamil SR Lab Coat episodes and Azul’s R PE Uniform episodes. I found their relationship funny, and thought it would be fun to continue off from there. 

Most of Azul’s stories come from me just wanting to fluster the hell out of Azul... that being said, I did delve a bit into the magic of TWST for this one. I remember it was Crowley (was it in the prologue?) who noted that magic is dependent also on how much someone believed in their ability to do something. This is why Azul falls down haha, his will faltered and he stopped believing. 

Jamil doesn’t get a break at all, doesn’t he? The reader and Jamil actually vibe really well because they both understood enough about Kalim to know what he was doing.

I think I remember being pretty stuck on which one to do for this. I think it was reading Jamil’s SSR Dorm Uniform story that really made me have an ‘aha’ moment on how to write it--since something like this happens on there. 

Surprisingly for Vil, once I had figured out that I wanted to write him getting mobbed, and being saved by his reader--it flowed out really fast from there. 

For Vil, I always end up bringing up the issue that he’s something like a celebrity and you are one in the million who adore him. I thought that this was just one way to sort of tackle your relationship together. 

I really enjoyed highlighting how you love Vil different from the rest who adore him. The importance of how you see his flaws and still love him--especially because as an influencer Vil has a certain pressure to appear in a certain way. 

Idia’s was the last one I wrote, but I had a lot of fun because I stuffed it full of references. I figured that Idia’s thought process would be more of him thinking life as a game, that’s why he uses terms like support level often in my writing. 

On that note, I know ‘Gao-Gao Dragon-kun’ is a reference to Tamagotchi, but I decided to just merge up Tamagotchi and Pokemon in this case. Hence why ‘Gao-Gao Shield and Sword’ existed lmao. I didn’t put too much effort in that and just switched ‘Shield and Sword’’s order HAHAH. I did consider making it ‘Gao-Gao Gun and Wand’ though. 

‘Water Crest: The Seven Dorms’ is a reference to Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I felt incredibly clever when I came up with that HAHAH. But also, when he references support levels, he’s talking about a gameplay in Fire Emblem. For people who aren’t familiar with this, essentially, FE has a system wherein the more you use two units together the likely their support will rise. The supports go from C-B-A-S, with S as the highest. When Idia says he works hard on S Support, he literally means he went out of his way to spend time with you and befriend you. Isn’t that cute? When he references SS Support, it actually doesn’t exist HAHA, but he didn’t realize there was “another level” sort of thing xD

When I write funny Malleus stories, the other members of Diasomnia are likely to be hiding in the bushes. Most funny stuff probably fly over Malleus’s head so... The other Diasomnia members pop in to react hahaha.

To Malleus, your tendency to treat him as a regular person, and not treating him as a lord--makes him incredibly fond of you. It’s because you treat him as an equal, that makes him treat you as an equal. I also think this was the piece where he started calling you “bright light.” There’s no deeper meaning to it, he really just sees you as a bright light--like a brilliant star. You, literally, light up the world. :,) 

Ver ii order of writing--Ashton, Dire, Divus. I had come up with the premise of Divus first though. 

I think Dire was the hardest one for me, because I kept worrying about things like--’what if he’s not actually like this,’ or ‘what if that isn’t how he would actually act’ etc etc. but I think it turned out pretty alright.

Dire, for all his claims of being a kind person--I think actually is a kind guy. He does have the tendency to be a little manipulative and whatnot... but at the end of the day he does care.

For Divus, I sniffed GBF Belial’s Perfume because I wanted to get inspired (and I sort of headcanon they smelled alike) but it went horny too fast. 

Divus is naturally intrigued with you, and he’s also very aware you’re attracted to him. So it amuses him to fluster you. He’s very aware of how good-looking he is, and he doesn’t mind flirting with people.

How I chose to portray Divus is actually based on how @avionvadion writes Divus in her story “Once Upon A Dream.” please check it out! It’s a super cute fanfic about a girl in Twisted Wonderland~ 

Ashton... I was surprised at how fast I was able to write his piece actually hahha. I went with a no braincell, but cheerful and all-around good guy. 

I don’t think there was a lot of Ashton to really research about, but... I just tried to make him good guy Gaston... for now xD 

Ver iii--it went Floyd, Jamil, Jade, Rook, Lilia, and Epel.

There’s this scene in, I think, the first episode of Avatar: The Legend of Aang where Appa wouldn’t fly. So Sokka just straight up... insulted? Appa? i guess. Then Appa suddenly COULD fly, and Sokka was just straight up amazed and yelling... Yeah that was my primary inspiration for Floyd’s story.

Floyd... Floyd is twins with Jade, let’s not forget that. I’m sure Floyd is actually really intelligent, he just isn’t in the mood to be sometimes. Hence he’s able to really understand something when you say something seriously. I think Floyd would always take you seriously when you say something important. 

For Jade’s story, my inspiration was the story of my dad tripping. It was only witnessed by him and mom. My mom talked about how terrifying it was to watch a six foot tall man fall down. My dad just found it funny. Hence, I thought, Jade should trip. 

Other than that, the general idea I wanted was that it’s our time to pamper Jade. He’s one of the two characters who I know would love to pamper his reader. So this was his lover’s chance to pamper him. Also, he’s also one of two characters who would have an idea about your insane strength.

Jamil, much like Jade, is the type of guy who pampers the people he loves. He doesn’t take to being pampered too well. He’s not used to it. 

Jamil also appreciates getting his hard work recognized, so I’m sure he has a praise kink hahah. He’s also easily embarrassed. I think Jamil needs someone who acknowledges all of his hard work, who also accepts his mistakes. 

Epel was the last one to write, and actually a genuine struggle for me. I always... end up writing something in relation to his struggles with his face and femininity. Epel is someone who wants to be seen as a real man, so I worried about what he’d think of a reader who had the strength he wanted. 

I figured if it was anyone else, it might inspire jealousy in Epel--but because it was his lover, he was able to push aside his negative feelings and look at the bright side. You’re truly his ideal, and he wants to learn how to be strong from you.

Rook was another tough one. There did exist a version where you surprise him... but the more I thought about it, the more I found it impossible for Rook to not know or not have an idea. He’s the other character who would have an idea about your strength.

On that note, thinking about a romantic partner for Rook... I thought what was best was someone who wouldn’t find him odd. Who would actually try to learn about him. 

Lilia’s... was also pretty easy given he enjoyed hanging upside down a lot in the main story hahah. Lilia cute, I love him. Also, when will Lilia stop messing with Idia? Probably never tbh. 

I touched upon the topic of mortality and immortality, but because I wanted this to be lighthearted--I chose not to pursue it. It would drag the mood down, but honestly--it’s something we can’t ignore and is very integral in relationships with Lilia or Malleus.

[thisentertaining]

Instinctual - The Instincts of the Airwalkers- pt 1

Zuko wasn't sure what to think about the tales of modern day figures living and flying in the Northen Air Temple. His people are... thorough. He doesn't want to let Aang down, but he finds it hard to believe that anyone not stuck in an iceberg had escaped the eradication.

When he got to the temple, he hated being proven right. What's more, he hated seeing Earth Kingdom strangers destroying what little of Aang's heritage survived the attack of his people. But the day that the Fire Nation launches a second attack on this once idyllic temple, Zuko hates the most that he has to finally make a clear choice.

He'd thought he'd made this choice already, thought he'd made it several times over, but the question remains when he'd least like it to: Is he willing to fight against his Nation?

Read on Ao3

Read from Beginning

Azula had never been shy about calling him insulting names. In fact, he was almost certain that casual insults had been more common than ‘Zuzu’, and she certainly never deigned to call him Zuko. She’d had a lot of fodder to create the names, centering on how he clung to Mother, his inability to please the tutors, his abysmal fire bending progress, the innate weakness that she and Father saw and he’d never been able to identify to change. Most of them bothered him, and he wasn’t good at hiding it, which only encouraged her to keep using them.

The only one that hadn’t bothered him was when she called him a Theatre Nerd. Ursa had been an actress, bringing life to even their bedtime stories before Azule got ‘too old’ for them. Zuko hadn’t felt too old, but he was older than Azula, and so he’d been too embarrassed to request that they continue. Regardless, he’d loved trips with his mother to see the theatre, and even Azula had enjoyed when they went to the Ember Island Players together, if only because Ursa eviscerated the poor quality shows with a viciousness that the prodigy could appreciate.  

After Mother disappeared they never went to another play, but Azula would use the insult every time she caught Zuko cramming a theatre scroll in his homework pile or humming the notes to the overture in ‘Love Amongst the Dragons’. Zuko hadn’t minded. If anything, it had made him feel closer to his mother, as if this was a part of her that remained even though she was gone. Additionally, he didn’t really think there was anything wrong with enjoying good storytelling.

This was not good storytelling.

The man at the fire had told a story that was winding, without a clear plot or purpose. Even his terminology was off, he called airbendenders ‘airwalkers’, and acted as though it was reasonable for the main character to think it was a human-sized parrot. He only really got artistic with it at the end, and by then Zuko was as bored as Aang was enthralled. The Fire Nation teen was mentally going through the Airbender-featuring plays he’d read to give Aang a proper story when the man stopped talking.

(Technically, scrolls with non-Fire-Nation main characters were illegal unless the foreigners were the villains, but Ursa had a cache of scrolls that even Ozai had never known existed.)

(They’d disappeared the night she did; all but one. Zuko’s favorite, a biography of Avatar Kyoshi, had appeared under the turtleduck tree. Mom used to joke that she regretted letting Zuko read that one because he’d learned to be stubborn from a woman renown for her will even among a nation who took pride in their tenacity.)

“Aren’t airbender stories the best?” Aang asked happily, and Zuko felt some of his annoyance at the subpar story ease. This was important for Aang, it was good that he got the reminder that his people were not forgotten.

“Was it realistic?” Katara asked. “Is that how it was back then?”

“I laugh at gravity all the time!” Aang said immediately, referencing the man’s ending line.

Zuko snorted. “You laugh at everything all the time, Aang.”

“Well, so did the other airbenders. There used to be a running tab to see how many times you could get a pie to land on someone’s head! But it only worked if they actually got pied, if they spotted it and deflected, you didn’t get the points. Monk Gyastso won every week.”

That… hadn’t been in any of the plays Zuko was thinking of. Except… maybe that one scene in ‘As the Wind Follows’… that had been a pudding, but maybe it had been inspired by the pie thing.  Zuko was just about to ask when the man showed up with his hat, obnoxiously shaking it in front of a half-dozing Sokka. The teen scrambled in his pockets, but all of them knew exactly what he would find. Or wouldn’t find. They’d spent the last of their money at the Fire Nation Festival, and had been too busy running from Zhao since to try and pick up odd jobs.

Anything but fishing.

The man walked away with a disgusted grumble and Zuko couldn’t help but a feel a pang of guilt. Mom had campaigned for funding to be channeled to the dramatic arts back home, knowing first hand how hard it was to make a living. Here, they didn’t even charge tickets, relying wholly on the tips of their listeners. Zuko wished he could give something, but he owned almost nothing, and could not spare anything he did.

Aang jumped up and followed the man, thanking him for the story. Zuko watched as Katara and Sokka bickered about their nonexistent funds. It should be fine, they should be able to survive off of what they had until they reached the Northern Water Tribe, and hopefully they would be generous to their tribesmen and the Avatar… and Zuko would get stuff by association.

Suddenly Aang was there, moving so quickly that Zuko hadn’t seen him shift, eyes wide and smile so huge that it seemed to split his face like a alli-pelican. “Guys, they say the airbenders last week. They must have- some of my people survived! I’m not the last airbender after all! WOO HOO!”

In his excitement, the boy created a tornado under him and shot into the sky, cheering all the while.

One of the other story patrons gasped. “A giant parrot!”

______________________

“We’re almost to the Northern Air Temple!” Aang said as Appa floated past yet another identical mountaintop. Excitement threaded every syllable the boy spoke, and he was practically vibrating in his seat. “This is where they had the championships!”

Zuko squinted, though he was always squinting now. Aang had never pushed Appa to go this fast before, and as they got closer the air bison seemed to just keep going faster, the wind on their ride was much more intense than the risers were prepared for after weeks or months of fairly sedate flying with occasional bursts of speed. “The… pie throwing championships?”

“No!” Aang laughed. “For sky bison polo.” The boy launched into a well-detailed explanation that was ignored by all of his passengers.

“Do you think we’ll really find airbenders?” Katara asked Sokka, but her face was filled with hope rather than the concern and dread filling Zuko’s stomach.

“You want me to be like you, or totally honest?” Sokka asked.

“Are you saying I’m a liar?” Katara asked, affronted.

“I’m saying you’re an optimist. Same thing basically.”

She huffed and turned to the boy who had said hardly a word since Aang had made his announcement. “What do you think Zuko?” She asked, as though expecting him to be on her side.

He wished he could be. “My people are very… thorough, Katara. If Fire Lord Sozin saw them as a threat… well, neither he nor any Firelord after him were known for doing things part way.” Nor for showing mercy.

The girl cast an anxious look at Aang, pain creasing her face. In attempt to just, get rid of that look, Zuko allowed. “Although… they were nomads. How can I say that they didn’t miss a couple who were off… doing couple things. In a hundred years you could have as many as four or five generations easily. There uh, there’s a chance.”

Sokka sent him a look while Katara’s smile returned. Zuko scowled in response and looked down. Nothing that he’d said was false. It was just that… well his people were very thorough. They’d killed the last of the dragons, spiritual creatures blessed to be the first Fire Benders. If they’d managed to hunt down each and every one of them, Zuko feared that the Air Nomads hadn’t been much trouble. He shouldn’t have said anything. He’d spent too long with dwindling-nonexistent hope, he’d forgotten how much it hurt to be disappointed.

Except, maybe they wouldn’t be disappointed.

“Hey guys, look!” Aang shouted, and gleefully pointed at an impossibility.

They could see the air temple in the distance, and it was absolutely surrounded by flying figures, figures larger than any giant parrot. People. Airbenders.

His people had failed.

If Zuko hadn’t become so much a traitor, that thought wouldn’t be bringing him so much job, but looking at Aang’s face he couldn’t find it in himself to feel anything else.

Katara gasped in wonder. “They really are airbenders!”

“No they’re not.” Aang argued, his excitement having drained with starling speed. The boy crossed his arms and settled petulantly against the Bison’s head.

“What do you mean?” Sokka demanded. “Those guys are flying!”

“Gliding maybe.” Aang said angrily. “But not flying. You can tell by the way they move.”

Zuko squinted at the figures and could kind of see what Aang was talking about. “They’re all going the same paths.” He realized suddenly.  “They’re riding air currents.”

“Riding them, not creating them.” Aang agreed. “They’re not airbending. Those people have no spirit.”

Zuko caught movement out of the corner of his eye and hit the deck, grabbing a protesting Sokka and dragging his with him, though Katara was too far away at the front of the saddle. The pair had barely hit the ground when suddenly  cart glided inches from where there heads had been, a boy in green laughing merrily as he flew past. Zuko popped up with a scowl, punching out a firebending move that should have served as a warning shot just as close as the strangers dive had been. It would have, at least, if he could produce anything more than a weak-looking puff of smoke.

Sokka pat Zuko on the back awkwardly as Katara turned back to the Avatar. “I don’t know, Aang. That kid seems pretty spirited to me.”

The kid swung back up by Appa’s head, sending Aang a look, and suddenly Aang’s face morphed into a competitive smirk the likes of which Zuko had never seen on the boy’s face, and he immediately jumped off the bison, his staff growing it’s sails as he chased after the glider.

“Great. Yeah, just, go after the stranger, Aang. Great idea.” Zuko grumbled, and Sokka laughed at him.

“You’re just grumpy cause the guy didn’t notice your fire-poof.”

“It’s a good thing he didn’t notice my bending. He’s Earth Kingdom, it would have been bad for us. I shouldn’t have even tried.” Zuko grumbled, and looked away so that he didn’t have to acknowledge that it wasn’t the bending that had upset him. It’s was Aang’s face just before he jumped into the sky. It was an expression that Zuko had never seen before, but one that fit the child so well. How many times had he made it in the past? Flown circles around the other child-monks in the temples, played games with people who could actually keep up.

How much had his people actually taken from him.

Luckily, the teen was momentarily broken from his thoughts when two close-flying gliders got too close to Appa’s nose and the bison jerked back, jolting the trio in the saddle.

"We need to get to some land before it get’s to us first." Sokka said once they’d settled, and Zuko happily jumped to steer the bison to the temple, anything to keep his mind focused on anything else. Anything beyond how good it looked to see Aang racing the glider.

It wasn’t much of a race. Aang had a freedom of movement that the glider simply couldn’t accomplish, running along walls and using is air sphere where the earth kingdom boy was much more restricted. Though, using smoke to create a caricature of Aang was a decent comeback. Still, when Aang landed beside Katara and Sokka there was something impossible to decipher in his expression.

The earth kingdom teen landed shortly after, skidding halfway across the platform before stopping, and immediately other children came forward to remove the wings and tops of the cart, though it became clear that the boy wouldn’t be getting out of the cart itself as he expertly wheeled himself over to the trio.

What followed was a lot of geeking out. The kid, Teo apparently, geeked out about the airbending and Avatar-ness, Sokka geeked out about the gliding chair. Zuko geeked out about nothing and tried very hard not to see ghosts in every corner. Teo led them through the temple, and Zuko had to fight to keep his face from screwing up. It wasn’t bad, per say, but with the plays and Uncle’s teachings, he’d pictured the nomad’s temples as things of beauty, clean and simple. This was… not that. There were pipes filling so much space that the lines were hard to follow with his eyes, and the walls had become an odd off-grey color. Some of the pipes even bisected reliefs and carvings and sculptures, creating ugly holes and cracks in the likely once-beautiful designs.

It was… sad.

Probably a lot sadder for Aang. Zuko realized when the boy flatly refused to share in Teo' pride and Sokka’s wonder. Zuko followed when Aang walked away, placing a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. Aang cast him a weak attempt at a smile as he walked him over to a large mural that had probably been stunning before it was stained with soot and marred by piping. Katara came on the boy’s other side and offered her silent support as well. “This is supposed to be the history of my people.” Aang said mournfully, gesturing at the images on monks and bison still faintly visible. One figure had even been decapitated by an extremely disrespectful pipe placement.

He wandered over to a stylized statue of a bison, the fountain now filled with disgusting polluted refuse. A plume of dark, sick looking smog burst from the statues mouth, making Aang jump back in disgust.

Zuko twitched awkwardly. “Do you want me to yell at someone? I’m really really good at it.” He offered.

Aang’s answering smile was a little less weak this time. “No, it… you don’t have to do that.”

“If that changes, let me know.”

“I will. Thanks.”

Katara, still on this bizzarely-nice kick, sent Zuko a wide smile before turning back to Aang. “I’m sure some parts of the temple are still the same.”

“Maybe. Hey, Teo! Are there any parts of the temple that haven’t been… changed like this?”

The boy, who had been deeply entrenched with Sokka about… something, scrunched his face in thought  before brightening. “Yeah! There are some platforms in the east side of the temple that are kinda tricky to get to so we haven’t done much with them! I can show you the way if you want.”

Zuko sneered, anger and guilt melting in his stomach uncomfortably. That mural was just as stained with smoke dust and ash as it was ruined by pipes. His people had brought this pain to Aang just as much as these squatters did. He’d already realized that this war was wrong, that they shouldn’t be fighting, be decimating like they were. Was it so much of a leap to think that it had never been right? It was hard to think anything else at the moment. He was furious that Aang had lost so much, and felt horrendous guilt knowing that his people had a part to play. But Sozin wasn’t here. This kid, this trespasser was. “I’m sure Aang knows this place far better than you. We don’t need a guide.”

Sokka cast him a surprised, reproachful look as Teo flinched back physically from the vitriol in Zuko’s voice, the venom in his words. The look Aang sent was understanding, almost grateful, but he shook his head. “It’s okay, Zuko. I’m- I’m upset but this isn’t Teo’s fault.” No, it was the Fire Nations’. His peoples’. His. “We would be honored if you could show us the way.”

Teo sent a hesitant smile at the boy, but still watched Zuko carefully until Katara cut in. “Sorry about Zuko. He’s just really protective of Aang.”

“I am not!” Zuko protested hotly.

“No, of course not.” Sokka mocked, having gotten over his shock. “You just singlehandedly snuck into a Fire Nation stronghold for him.”

“I mean, that-“

“And risked getting arrested by the Fire Nation to get him a teacher.”

“I just wanted Fire Flakes.”

“And you-“

“Enough! I get it.” He grumbled, and Teo laughed.

“It’s okay.” The boy said with a easy casualness. “I can understand being protective of someone. It isn’t a big deal, I forgive you. I don’t like to be mad at people anyway.”

Zuko squinted at him. “Are you sure you’re not an airbender?”

Aang laughed. “Maybe some of our philosophies have rubbed off on you just by living here.”

Teo grinned back. "Well, I wouldn’t mind that. The airbenders seemed awesome. How about this, you can tell me all about them on our way to the eastern platforms.”

“Only if you tell me how you guys ended up here in the first place.”

____________

Zuko trailed slightly behind the group and tried very hard to look as not-Fire-Nation as possible as Teo led them through the winding corridors. They were refugees, of course they were refugees. Every time you see Earth Kingdom people in weird places, it was because they were refugees fleeing the war. Which meant that his people were not only the whole reason this place got abandoned, it was also the reason why it had gotten reinhabited, why even this last spot of the Air Nomads was being changed and destroyed.

“It’s nice to see at least one part of the temple that isn’t ruined." Aang said happily as they made their way into a courtyard.

There were wooden doors surrounding the area, likely dorms, and a few noble and peaceful statues acting as guardians. Aang stared at one of the statues with the first hint of peace that had crossed his face since they’d landed. Zuko was about to ask Aang about the figure’s history when suddenly a loud voice yelled lookout, and the statue was destroyed right in front of Aang’s eyes.

Out of the dust stepped a man with the worst haircut Zuko had ever seen (and he’d tried to do a bald phoenix plume after his injury). “What the doodle?” The man asked, and Zuko was even more certain that he did not like him. “Don’t you know better than to be in an active construction zone? We have to make room for the bathhouse.”

“Do you know what you just did?” Aang asked, voice filled with a passionate fury that sent shivers down Zuko’s spine. “You just destroyed something sacred. For a stupid bathhouse!” He cried, anger so intense that his voice broke.

The man seemed entirely oblivious, “Well, people around here are starting to stink.” As though that was the important point.

“This whole place stinks!” Aang shrieked, sending a gust of wind to push the destruction machine off the mountain face. “This is a sacred temple. You can’t treat it this way. I know what it’s supposed to be like.”

“The monks?” The man asked. “But, you’re twelve.”

“Dad, he’s the Avatar.” Teo responded. “He used to be here a hundred years ago.”

“What are you doing? Who said you could do this?” Aang asked, his fury not abated in the least. “Just because you’re refugees, doesn’t mean you can destroy something sacred. Destroy history.”

The man wove a tale that would have been heart rendering, had he not said it in such a ridiculous way, and had he not been completely oblivious to the anger that was only building in Aang as he spoke of ‘improvement’ and ‘progress’. The distracted man soon had his attention pulled away as he realized the time, dismissing his conversation with Aang as though that would clear him of the repercussions.

Zuko attempted to smile at Aang. “Looks like I’m not the only one whose good at yelling.”

The boy grimaced. “Yeah, I kind of lost my temper.”

“That isn’t always a bad thing, Aang. Maybe he’ll be more careful with this place now that he knows how important it is.”

The airbender perked. “Yeah, maybe!”

Teo rolled up to them. “Hey, Aang, I want to show you something.”

The boy looked hesitant, but nodded. Zuko looked up, but Sokka had already wandered off with weird dude so he shrugged. Might as well stick with the airbender. Aang needed all of the help that he could get.