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reinerispretty · 4 years

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rotations. (zuko x f!reader) pt1

hello! i’ve been writing this story over the past few days, just for myself, but i wanted to share it with you all since avatar is on the rise again :) this will be a multiple part series, and it will probably be pretty long, so enjoy!!

part 2 (also linked at the end) here

“Those are my favorite, too,” A young voice said from behind her. She turned around very quickly and faced the reason why she was here: Prince Zuko.

She bowed quickly, incredibly surprised that the Fire Nation prince was speaking to her. “I wish I could’ve come in sooner. They’ve all been snatched up.”

Zuko looked around to make sure no one was listening, before leaning in closely to her. “They’re making more down in the kitchens, but people will be all over them as soon as they get up here.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Do you want to get some with me or not?”

---

(Y/N’s) servants had braided her hair too tightly. They were only following her mother’s orders, of course, but the headache that was forming at the roots of her hair only furthered her sour mood.

The night was the tenth birthday of Prince Zuko and all respectable families within the Fire Nation were expected to attend. This meant that she could no longer sit in her room and eat Fire Flakes while listening to her mother complain about how the servants treated her oh so horribly. Instead, she was dressed in her nicest and most uncomfortable clothes to travel to the Fire Lord’s palace.

She had never met any members of the royal family before, but her parents had many times. Her father was a very respected Fire Nation general and her mother came from a long line of wealthy Fire Nation aristocrats. (Y/N) had only just turned nine, and as her father put it, she was now old enough to attend royal events. She was not excited to attend Prince Zuko’s birthday celebration at all, but her friends were incredibly jealous of her. It had been the talk of their town for moths. She did not quite understand why, because to her it just sounded like a boring party full of the snooty friends of her parents. And she had never even met the prince before, so why was she being invited to his birthday celebration? It did not make much sense to (Y/N) why she was expected to attend. Regardless, the Fire Lord had invited her entire family to the celebration. It would be very dishonorable not to attend.

“Try to put a smile on your face, (Y/N). You’ll get wrinkles from frowning so much.” Her mother was a beautiful woman and she remained that way because she rarely did anything. She did not want to go into the sun for fear of it damaging her skin. She made their servants do all of the work in her house because she feared that her hands would become calloused and rough. When she was not busy doing nothing, she chose to comment on every aspect of her daughter’s appearance. Her unruly hair, her complexion, and her rough hands from firebending were some of the many things of which her mother disapproved.

(Y/N) frowned even harder and crossed her arms, slouching in her seat. She turned her head and looked out the window at the hundreds of houses their carriage passed by. They belonged to the regular people of the Fire Nation. The people who didn’t have to attend stupid parties. She wondered if she could ever have a normal life. One where she could run in the streets with her friends and not have to worry about what her punishment would be for returning home dirty, or where she could go to the market and buy a mango for herself and eat it right there on the spot.

Her family’s carriage arrived at the Fire Nation palace after sundown. Her mother exited the carriage first, the her father, and then herself, but not before she pulled out her braids. Her scalps felt instantly relieved as her fingers combed through her hair. The only part of the hairstyle that remained was the traditional Fire Nation topknot. She did not mind that as much as the braids.

She hopped out and struggled to gather the train of her red dress. If she did not bundle it in her arms, her small feet would trip over the fabric. Her father looked at her disapprovingly and her mother held her tongue, but she could feel the literal fire behind her eyes. (Y/N) cast her own eyes downward as they walked into the palace.

The celebration was the grandest she had ever seen, her own friends’ birthdays paling in comparison. Food surrounded the outskirts of the ballroom, filling the air with the scent of cooked meat and hot pastries. The entertainment danced throughout the crowd, shooting fire from their hands, feet, and mouths in ways she had never seen in her own firebending training. But before they could join the rest of the crowd, they were led into the throne room. It was customary that the guests of the Fire Lord paid their respects before entering parties. It was something that she knew happened frequently, but she couldn’t help the pit of fear that was forming in her stomach.

She had always thought that Fire Lord Azulon looked incredibly terrifying in the pictures from her schoolbooks, and her thoughts were only solidified as she entered the throne room. Azulon sat at his throne and while he was an incredibly old and frail-looking man, his demeanor was one that demanded respect.

His son, Fire Prince Ozai, sat to his right. She had heard her father speak very highly of Ozai in the past. His face was contorted into a disapproving frown that scared her almost as much as Azulon’s face. To Ozai’s right sat the Fire Princess, Ursa. She sat with a small smile on her lips as (Y/N) and her parents entered the throne room. She had heard stories of Ursa’s kindness from the commoners that lived in her town. Ursa liked to go out and be amongst the people, much to the disapproval of her husband.

Beside Ursa was Prince Zuko and Princess Azula. Zuko had just turned ten and Azula was eight, meaning that she was right between the two of them. The children looked very different from regular kids their age. They sat like royalty and both had the most bored expressions on their face.

Both of her parents bowed to the ground and she quickly followed. To dishonor the Fire Lord and his family meant total disgrace of her own. She was only nine, but she had understand this lesson since she had been born.

“General,” the Fire Lord said. Her father stood and bowed.

“Your majesty,” Her father spoke. “I bring my wife and my daughter, (Y/N).” They both stood.

Azulon hummed. “Present the girl.” Her body became stiff with surprise. She looked up at both of her parents. Their faces were contorted in nervousness, even though they tried to hide it. They said no words of encouragement to her. They only parted to let her move closer to the Fire Lord.

Her hands were shaking but she tried to hide them in the large sleeves of her dress. She bowed once more before speaking. “It is an honor to be in your presence, Fire Lord Azulon.” That is what her teachers had told her to say if she ever came in contact with a member of the royal family.

“How old are you?” Questioned Ozai. The young girl gulped. Her throat was dry, and she had to swallow many times before she could speak.

“Nine, sir.” Her voice was meek and she wondered if the royal family noticed it.

“You have begun your firebending training?” Azulon questioned.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Show us.” Ozai demanded. His voice was oddly harsh for a man who spoke to a child. She looked back at her family, but their eyes remained focused on the royal family.

Her dress was far too restricting to firebend in, but she knew she had to obey orders. She began demonstrating the lesson her and her teacher had spent months perfecting. It required many high kicks and flips, things that were almost impossible in her uncomfortable dress.

She tried to imagine that she was back in the privacy of her own home, performing for her teacher. She was a kind woman who made firebending seem like a beautiful dance. (Y/N) hoped to be half as good as her master one day.

When she finished, she was breathing heavily and struggled to control herself. She closed her mouth tightly in hopes to regulate her breathing.

“Dismissed,” was all the Fire Lord said. She bowed once again before practically running back to her parents. Once they had left the throne room, she demanded to know she had done.

“Very impressive, dear,” Her father said, a smug smile on his face. She beamed up at him before turning to her mother.

“All that bending isn’t good for your complexion.” Was all her mother said.

“Why did the Fire Lord want to see my bending anyway?”

“I’m sure he has heard remarkable things about your progress,” Her father said, before diving into a conversation with a ship captain.

That made her feel good. Her father rarely expressed that he was proud of her, so she knew that was about the closest she would ever get. She didn’t try to talk to her mother, because she knew her disdain toward firebending. Her mother was a bender, but she saw it as a useless waste of time.

Quickly, she separated from her family and made her way to the food tables. She hadn’t eaten before they arrived. She had been too busy being prepared by the servants. She stuffed food into her mouth as quickly as she could, but arrived at the fruit tarts a moment too late. Fire Nation fruit tarts were a local delicacy. If they hadn’t spent so much time in the throne room, she might have been able to eat a few before they completely disappeared.

“Those are my favorite, too,” A young voice said from behind her. She turned around very quickly and faced the reason why she was here: Prince Zuko.

She bowed quickly, incredibly surprised that the Fire Nation prince was speaking to her. “I wish I could’ve come in sooner. They’ve all been snatched up.”

Zuko looked around to make sure no one was listening, before leaning in closely to her. “They’re making more down in the kitchens, but people will be all over them as soon as they get up here.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Do you want to get some with me or not?” She pursed her lips and crossed her arms.

“That depends. Are we gonna get in trouble?” Zuko laughed.

“Only if we get caught!” She laughed with him before following him out of the ballroom. He led her down a long and dark hallway that was only lit with torches. Tapestries lined the hallway and depicted images of Fire Lords in the past. She stopped at an image of Sozin, who stared down at her disapprovingly. She knew now, where Azulon and Ozai had gotten it from.

“That’s my great-grandfather,” Zuko said off-handedly. “Are you coming or not?” She picked up her pace to catch up to him.

“Has anyone ever told you that your family can be really scary?” Zuko simply shrugged. She scoured her mind to find some talking points to share with the young prince. Their lives were so incredibly different. Would they ever be able to find common ground? “So, this whole celebration is for you and you’d rather be sneaking off to the kitchens to get fruit tarts?” Zuko sighed.

“It’s a bunch of people I don’t know anyway. And I was said that I missed the fruit tarts and I saw you were sad about the fruit tarts, so I figured it would be better if both of us got in trouble rather than just one of us.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” They rounded the corner in silence.

“I’m (Y/N), by the way,” She said quietly.

“I know. I was in the throne room earlier.” He looked at her sideways. “Your firebending is pretty good.”

“Thanks! I can teach you, if you want.”

“Teach me? I have some of the best firebending teachers in the nation! Why would I want you to teach me?”

“It’s called a joke.”

“Oh. Sorry, I guess.”

They had reached the kitchens. The servants inside bounced around the room, using their firebending to cook the copious amounts of food that the guests upstairs requested. She thought back to the parties that her own family had hosted. Their kitchens had never been this busy.

The two children spotted the fruit tarts at the same time. They sat on a platter, stacked elegantly atop each other. She turned to Zuko.

“You have to get them.”

“Why me?”

“You’re royalty! None of the servants are allowed to get mad at you.” She shoved him forward into the kitchens, mouthing, “Go!” At him. Zuko crept across the kitchen, trying his best to not be noticed by any of the cooks. Quickly, he snatched the platter of fruit tarts and ran back to her.

“Hey! Get back here!” A cook with a gruff voice shouted after them. They ran away quickly and again, Zuko led her through the halls of the palace. He led her outside to a pond with turtle ducks swimming across it. They sat underneath the tree to catch their breath and immediately started eating. The fruit tarts had cooled since the run, but they heated them back up with firebending.

“What are you two doing?” The children turned to see Azula stalking toward them.

“Nothing,” Zuko said defensively, his mouth full of fruit tarts. Azula rolled her eyes.

“Tell me now or I’m telling Father.”

“We’re eating fruit tarts,” (Y/N) explained. “Would you like some?” She extended the platter to Azula. The young girl eyed her warily before taking one.

“You were in the throne room earlier.”

“I was. Along with my parents. Firebending in a dress isn’t really easy.”

“I can do it just fine,” Azula scoffed, turning her nose up at her. The girl smiled awkwardly.

“Of course you can, princess. I’m sure you’re one of the best firebenders in the nation.”

“Did you steal these from our kitchens?”

“She didn’t steal anything, Azula,” Zuko groaned. “I took them from the kitchens. What’s the big deal? They can always make more.”

Azula opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the voice of her mother.

“And what are you all doing?” Ursa walked to the edge of the pond. Again, she stood and scrambled to bow to royalty, but she waved her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, (Y/N). I am Ursa, Zuko and Azula’s mother.”

“And soon to be Queen of the Fire Nation,” Azula said proudly, stealing another fruit tart.

“Zuko, I see you raided the kitchens again,” Ursa scolded. “What have I told you about doing that?”

“That I shouldn’t...”

“If I may, your highness,” (Y/N) cut in. “I am partially the reason why Prince Zuko stole the fruit tarts...the party was all out, you see, and he saw how sad I was, and--”

“It’s quite alright, dear. It’s nice to know that Zuko was so kind to you.”

She smiled up at the queen, who took a seat beside the children and popped a fruit tart into her own mouth. “If we don’t hurry and eat these,” Ursa said, “The whole party will start wondering where we are.”

read part 2!

#atla #zuko x reader #sokka x reader #aang x reader #fire nation #katara #toph #aang #zuko #sokka #writing #fanfiction #atla zuko

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thinkingisadangerouspastime · 3 years

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hi! random question that you’re not obligated to answer (i just love your ka metas): do you think that aang acted like he was entitled to katara’s affection? sorry for the bother if this is a question you’ve gotten before, i’m just curious about your thoughts

Hi anon! It’s always lovely to hear people like my metas 💛 And you’re in luck - I have not gotten this specific question before, though I have answered similar questions, and as such I will probably link those posts throughout.

Forewarning: I use the general you very liberally in this post, so like. It’s not directed at you, anon djhskdjsajs I don’t want you think my sarcasm is in response to your ask (your ask was very lovely!! 💕)

Okay. Let’s get started! The funniest thing about the (nonsensical) claim that Aang acted “entitled” to Katara’s affection is that there is no canon evidence to support it. Opponents more often than not can only bring up one (1) episode as an example of supposed “entitlement” because no other Kataang interactions in the series demonstrate entitlement from either end! Like, wow. Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel. And I’m sure we all know what episode opponents love to propagate, don’t we?

Yep, you guessed it: “The Ember Island Players.”

From the get-go, the fact that people who vigorously oppose Kataang essentially only appeal to the contents of one episode for Aang’s supposed “entitlement” is a major indicator that, in fact, the entitlement is not truly there, and that those opponents are actually misconstruing the entire episode. I mean, if you are trying to make an argument about something but you only have one piece of “evidence” to support your claim, then a) any half-decent teacher/professor would fail you, rip and b) that’s a sign that maybe your claim doesn’t hold water. If you can’t find evidence to support it, then you’re probably looking at your case from the wrong angle. Analysis 101.

As such, I find the “entitlement” claim particularly ridiculous because opponents repeat the same faulty rhetoric over and over! The only people that might be convinced are those with confirmation bias. I’m sure that’s their audience, of course, but it’s still hilarious dfjaksdasks.

Anyways. Here’s the excerpt from the EIP transcript that opponents l o v e to spotlight with their “entitlement” claims:

Aang: Katara, did you really mean what you said in there?

Katara: In where? What are you talking about?

Aang: On stage, when you said I was just like a… brother to you, and you didn’t have feelings for me.

Katara: I didn’t say that. An actor said that.

Aang: But it’s true, isn’t it? We kissed at the Invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we’re not.

Katara: Aang, I don’t know.

Aang: Why don’t you know?

Katara: Because, we’re in the middle of a war, and we have other things to worry about. This isn’t the right time.

Aang: Well, when is the right time?

Katara: Aang, I’m sorry, but right now I’m just a little confused.

Aang tries to kiss Katara.

Katara: I just said I was confused! I’m going inside. [Exits the balcony.]

Aang: Ugh, I’m such an idiot! [Puts down his head on the balcony railing.]

Opponents claim Aang’s behavior is “entitled” here for two reasons:

1) He asks Katara several questions about their relationship status.

2) He kisses her.

Before I get too far into this, we have to consider the context of the episode. Katara and Aang have this conversation after just watching 95% of “The Boy in the Iceberg,” aka Fire Nation propaganda. I have talked about the specifics of the play being imperialist propaganda here, but the gist of it is that this play is meant to demean the Gaang, to portray them as lesser and weaker than the Fire Nation. The fact that the play ends with Ozai’s victory is a stark reminder of this mentality. So: Katara and Aang have just watched this play that preys upon their insecurities and paints them as awful caricatures of their true selves. It is only natural that they would be more tense than usual. The reason I bring this up is solely to inform their conversation on the balcony, however; I don’t think their frustration solely defines what they say/do, but it’s worth keeping in mind, “Hey, they’re stressed and upset, of course this conversation might not go perfectly.”

Now, I have talked about the infamous EIP kiss before and approached all the rhetoric surrounding it like Snopes Fact Checker in this post, lmao. I did discuss in there why the kiss is wrong, which no one has ever argued against, but also why the kiss is simply a mistake: not sexual assault, not entitlement, not an unforgivable decision. I’ve copied and pasted specifically my notes on the “entitlement” claim below regarding the kiss, but if you have time, I definitely recommend the whole post jksdhjasdka (I’m quite proud of it). Anyways! Here’s the excerpt:

Claim: Aang acted entitled to Katara and her affection.

Status: False.

I’ve briefly addressed this already, but Aang backing off when Katara pushed him away is the exact opposite of entitlement. An impromptu kiss is not always indicative of entitlement. It can be, especially if the person being kissed has never expressed any interest in the person kissing them, but Katara and Aang were mutually interested in each other. They’d mutually kissed twice already by that point: in CoTL and during DoBS. The EIP kiss was inappropriate. NO ONE HAS EVER SUGGESTED OTHERWISE. But when you’re 12 and you’re already kind of in this semi-relationship with a girl you’ve been through hell and high water with (who has kissed you twice on the lips and on the cheek multiple times, not to mention it is only you she ever expresses such affection towards), it is not fucking “entitlement” to make a move on her, even when the timing is off. IT’S JUST A MISTAKE. A POOR DECISION. NOT ENTITLEMENT. NOT MANIPULATION. NOT SEXUAL ASSAULT. Full stop.

Also, these EIP people love to call Aang entitled for this kiss, but there isn’t a single peep heard from them about Zuko’s line in TSR where he demands to know what’s “wrong” with Katara, since she hasn’t forgiven him yet when everyone else has. And look. I think Zuko was just frustrated here, and that he, too, made a mistake and is obviously not irredeemable for it, but. If you’re going to argue that Aang was entitled in EIP, you’d better be ready to acknowledge the argument that Zuko was acting entitled in TSR, too. And hell, let’s take it a step further! Call Aang entitled for EIP. Call Zuko entitled for TSR. Call Sokka entitled for choosing to stay at Boiling Rock on the off chance his father would arrive, thus making Suki and Zuko feel obligated to stay behind with him, effectively putting all of them in danger. What an entitled decision, risking his friends’ lives on the 0.01% chance Hakoda would be one of the many, many possible war prisoners arriving at Boiling Rock!

Damn. That sounds ridiculous as fuck, doesn’t it?

And guess what. That’s exactly how the “Aang was entitled” arguments come across. Hate to break it to you. Trust me when I say to do yourself a favor and stop perpetuating that faulty rhetoric!

So that is what I have already assessed, lol.

To be frank, the most frustrating thing I see perpetuated is that the EIP kiss somehow ruined Aang and Katara’s relationship. But when it comes to assessing weighty issues like the notion of “entitlement” in a relationship, the fact of the matter is that you have to look at both the relationship as a whole and the context in which it is situated. Opponents never want to do that, because doing so debunks their entire (baseless) argument, lmao. Katara and Aang are best friends. And by EIP, they have both expressed romantic interest in each other multiple times. (Here is a post explaining the development of Katara’s feelings for Aang, just to put out that fire before anyone sets it lmao.)

So why, why do opponents think Katara would never find it in herself to forgive Aang for a mistaken kiss? Katara is shown over and over again throughout the series to have one of the biggest hearts. She wants to see the good in people. That’s why she gives Jet a second chance (even though a person could argue he did not “deserve” one); that’s why she helps the Fire Nation village in “The Painted Lady”; that’s why she forgives Pakku (once she sees he’s willing to change); that’s why she is the second person in the entire show (excluding Iroh) to offer Zuko a hand of kindness (in CoD)! That’s why she eventually forgives Zuko, even after all he has done to the Gaang (e.g. sending an assassin after them, being complicit in Aang’s death, attacking her and kidnapping Aang at the NWT, manipulating her with her mother’s necklace, to name a few, lmao. bless his heart, but like Jet, someone could easily argue Zuko doesn’t “deserve” another chance - and yet Katara still gave him [and Jet] one. in fact, she gave Zuko multiple).

In other words, Katara is almost always willing to extend friendship and compassion and forgiveness to others - why would she revoke that privilege from Aang after a single error that is comparatively lesser to all the other horrible things she’s experienced in the war? Again, I’m not downplaying how terrible of a decision Aang made. It’s inexcusable. But it’s not the end of the world, and considering the context of the show (e.g. Aang and Katara liked each other and they both knew it), it’s… not some heinous crime. Compared to, oh, how about attempted murder? lmaoo

Even beyond Katara’s innate kindness, Aang is Katara’s best friend. She loves him. The show portrays it as romantic through the seasons, but even if someone isn’t into shipping (which is super valid), Katara and Aang’s connection is one of the primary lynchpins of the show! (The other being Aang and Zuko, the greatest foils of all time.) Katara and Aang epitomize several of A:TLA’s thematics (and aesthetics) because they are complementary: yin and yang, push and pull, Tui and La, moon and ocean, blue and orange, water and air. This gifset and related commentary beautifully demonstrate how even when Katara and Aang disagree, they respect the other’s the decision. So after 60~ episodes depicting Aang and Katara as having mutual respect and love for each other in every form as well as emphasizing Katara’s natural inclination towards kindness/giving people the benefit of the doubt, opponents still think Katara wouldn’t forgive Aang because of one mistimed, inappropriate kiss? What?? Make it make sense, lmao.

In sum, the kiss was a mistake, not an act of entitlement, and it’s absurd to think Katara would hold that against Aang for the rest of his life.

To backtrack a bit, opponents also love to use the fact that Aang asked Katara several questions about their relationship status as examples of his “entitlement.” Just typing that out highlights the ridiculous nature of this assertion, lmao! Let me rephrase it for maximum hilarity:

“Aang was unsure about where their relationship stood? Well, how dare he ask numerous questions to resolve his confusion!”

Like, what was the alternative jskfajksdas if you are in relationship limbo with someone, it is far better to ask them ‘too many’ questions for clarification than to simply assume one way or the other! Kissing Katara was wrong, flat-out, but asking her questions to better understand where they were in their relationship was like. exactly the right decision, lmao. I genuinely don’t see how that could be indicative of entitlement? Especially because, once again, Aang and Katara both like each other and they both know that by this point in the show. That’s why Aang doesn’t ask if Katara likes him - he knows she does. That’s why Katara doesn’t negate her feelings - she knows she’s interested in him, and the blockade between them is not a lack of reciprocation, but the fact that they’re “in the middle of a war” and consequently it’s not “the right time” for them to begin a relationship. Katara has seen Aang die before! She knows he’s facing a near-impossible victory! I can’t blame her for not wanting to start a relationship with him at that point. It would hurt twice as much to lose him again if they were together in a romantic fashion (amatonormativity, am I right?). Again, Aang’s kiss was entirely inappropriate, but him asking her questions about their relationship is a) an example of fostering healthy communication and b) what any therapist would encourage, lol.

Oh, but I’m “forgetting” something, aren’t I? Right. This line:

Katara: Aang, I’m sorry, but right now I’m just a little confused.

If we want to talk about parallels, which I know the A:TLA fandom adores, this line sounds suspiciously like:

Yue: … but I like you [Sokka] too much and it’s too confusing to be around you.

Yue and Katara are actually in similar situations here. Outside forces are interfering with their relationships; for Yue, there is her arranged marriage, and for Katara, it’s the life-or-death nature of the war itself. They aren’t confused about their feelings, as Yue knows she likes Sokka and Katara knows she likes Aang, but they are confused about how to reconcile those feelings with their external circumstances. And can you blame them for that? They are facing impossible decisions (the fate of their nation and the fate of the world respectively). I would be confused, too! So Katara’s response isn’t a reaction to any so-called “entitlement” from Aang; she is experiencing genuine confusion about how to approach her own feelings for him in the midst of a war.

In sum, Aang asking questions about their relationship was a logical step to take resolving his confusion and is in no way related to “entitlement.” Katara’s confusion was not “letting Aang down easy” and interpreting it as such requires disregarding every preceding line of the conversation and its context.

As you can see, Aang’s actions in EIP are not at all “entitled.” His questions were understandable. While his kiss was inappropriate and inexcusable, it was also a mistake, and there is no canon evidence to support the conclusion Katara would never be able to forgive him (her literal best friend!) for it.

Before I end, I’ll touch briefly upon the DotBS kiss, because it is also occasionally used as an example of Aang’s “entitlement” towards Katara’s feelings. Whether you like the trope or not, this moment falls under what is called the “Now or Never Kiss.” TV Tropes actually lists Kataang/DotBS as an example under the Western Animation tab:

“Avatar: The Last Airbender: The fact that he’s finally going to face the dreaded Firelord, and possibility that he might not come back alive from that battle, gives Aang enough motivation to kiss Katara.”

Again, whether you like the trope or not, it involves reciprocation from both parties:

“The Not-A-Couple [i.e. both parties] don’t want to go out without revealing how they [i.e. both parties] really feel. It’s now or never. They kiss.”

Katara and Aang both like each other. When Aang initiates the DotBS kiss, Katara kisses him back. Her lips are still puckered when he pulls away. Furthermore, Katara had initiated a kiss with Aang prior to this incident, in CoTL. Katara was also the one to initiate every cheek kiss with Aang (who is the only character she ever demonstrated such affection towards). So Aang kissing Katara during DotBS follows an established precedent of Katara initiating different kisses, romantically inclined, with Aang. It’s not entitlement; it’s him knowing they mutually like each other and him realizing this might be the last time he ever sees her. Again, you can hate the trope, but don’t blatantly misconstrue its meaning. You’ll sound like Fire Nation propaganda, lmao. (For clarification, jic: the general you. not anon!)

Here is a fantastic post by @imreallyhereforkataang explaining the DotBS kiss in more detail as well as discussing why Kataang’s progression in the second half of Book 3 was, in fact, well-developed, and how Katara and Aang are best friends above all else and know that (which was the core of their relationship from the start).

And a bonus fun fact: in the original storyboard (link takes you to storyboarder Giancarlo Volpe’s DeviantArt with said storyboard), it is noted that Katara smiles after Aang kisses her. Why? Because she likes him as much as he likes her! It was changed by a “higher authority,” according to Volpe, probably to add more realism to the romance (i.e. Katara likes Aang, yes, but as she herself points out in EIP - there’s a war going on, and love is always terrifying to reconcile with war).

(Seriously, though, do read Volpe’s description on the storyboard. Takes you a second to scroll down and maybe a minute to read. Short yet informative, discussing how you can see on the storyboard itself that someone revised the image so Katara isn’t smiling after the kiss.)

Anyways! Opponents’ argument that Katara wasn’t interested in Aang therefore is and has always been entirely inapplicable.

To conclude: the entitlement assertion is laughable. There is no canon evidence to support it. As such, I encourage you to laugh whenever you see it! Pull an Azula, for that matter:

[ID: Gif from “The Beach” episode of A:TLA. Ty Lee, mimicking a guy, asks Azula, “Hey there sweet sugar cakes. How ya likin’ this party?” Azula proceeds to burst into exaggerated laughter, earning stares from everyone else at the party. End ID.]

Thank you for the great ask, anon! Hopefully my response was satisfactory 💛

#surprise friends!! a kataang analysis!! i probably will not write any others until may 💀#kataang #kataangtag #aang #katara #atla #avatar the last airbender #atla meta #amy answers #anon #amy analyzes

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half-a-hetero · 3 years

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ATLA BATTLE OF THE BANDS AU SETUP PT. 1

oK SO I’VE HAD THIS AU IN MY HEAD FOR TWO FKN DAYS AND I HAVE COME TO EVER SO GRACIOUSLY INJECT IT INTO YOUR MIND- THE GAANG PLUS YUE AND THE FIRE NATION GALS IN BANDS. a battle of the bands au. tHINK OF THE aRt. n i’m thinking zukka and yueki, and they meet at battle of the bands but yk...we got 2 sets of pining idiots yk yk. i thought this up five (5) days ago and iM DYING

(tw: mentions of canon-typical abuse, and past death)

this is basically just the setup but i’ll add little tidbits and worldbuilding and art later

zuko (18): drums + backup vocals

mai (16): bass guitar

ty lee (15): keyboard

azula (15): lead guitar + vocals

suki (17/18): rhythm guitar

they do some group vocals/harmonies but not that often

so like azula has this really strong, really powerful voice, and that means she could do really moving rock ballads/power ballads, and etc etc. she took extensive guitar and voice lessons as a kid because of That Fucker Ozai™ and thats why she has so much control. same with zuko, except he didnt take voice lessons (he just liked singing) and quit guitar after ozai went to jail (it was a painful reminder of The Shit He Went Through) and took up drums to let out his anger and frustrations instead. Azula stuck with guitar because it was something she loved to do, despite her past.

where azula has a bold voice, zuko has a raspy-yet-smooth-at-the-same-time one that matches azula’s really well. while she’s off singing power notes, hes singing the lower, raspier undertones and it sounds really nice.

zuko also took up art classes and is genuinely proud of his work.

he’s secretly (its not that much of a secret) an art nerd

zuko, azula, and suki wrote a few songs together, kinda

for lack of better explanation, ozai was (canon-typically) abusive, and he got drunk one day and got mad at zuko and pushed him. zuko fell into the fireplace, and boom. scar.

azula got mainly mental trauma because zuko would take the blow for her, but she got therapy and theyre both for the most part better (there are still some relapses)

azula’s secretly a DC nerd

zUkO wEaRs riNgs

the canon-typical atla “ozai pitting them against eachother sibling rivalry” comes into play through guitar (hence why zuko drops it. he wanted to let his sister have something she loved for herself. also, he didnt like it). ozai was a classical guitarist and famous [the money and the “royalty” canon aspects]

should i….mullet zuko?

aro azula and toph >>>>

ty lee is still from the circus, except this time mai was there too, which is where she learned knife-throwing. they both ran away from the circus summer after freshman year and met azula though mai’s bass lessons (alternatively, they met at martial arts classes). theyre 14/15. they moved in with azula, zuko, and iroh around the middle of sophomore year (grade 10) when ozai was arrested. the azula and ty lee were 15, mai was 16, and zuko was 17 at the time, around the ages they were in the show when the war ended (i think??)

azula said it didn't matter cause they had a huge house. she says it was half-empty, anyways, but mai and ty lee know that meant she liked their company.

they get along really well with suki

everyone realizes they can all play instruments, the core parts of a [rock] band. they start playing together, and eventually decide to become a band

their band is called ‘the kyoshi warriors’ (or something idk this is off the top of my head) in honor of the girls’ martial arts instructor, master kyoshi, who passed away

WAIT SJITGHHFSD FAN THE FLAMES IS A GOOD NAME TOO WHAT (although i can see that being more of a song name) credits to boom ( @boomerangsandadora) for that (go check out their ideas on this au)

theyre inseparable

together, mai, ty lee, suki, azula and zuko look fucking menacing. just imagine that. fucking bamfs

mai skateboards. just. this is a kind of important plot device. shh.

suki joins their friend group gradually. first, she’s attended azula’s martial arts class since they were in second grade, and moved up the belts like wildfire (along with azula). she tried to befriend azula a few times, but gave up over the years because azula wasnt interested in friendship (no thanks to ozai pressuring her to always be first. azula saw her as a rival, suki saw azula as a particularly competitive classmate and but equal in skill). She was zuko’s classmate since freshman year (grade 9) but only became his friend in sophomore year through a literature assignment the two were paired up in. she was really his only friend, cause everyone was too busy sizing up his scar. the two became inseparable then on.

she plays rhythm guitar because she loves guitar but agrees that azula is better at being in the (relative) spotlight

on the outside, suki and zuko looked tough, but underneath that, they’re two bumbling, pining gay idiots

suki’s parents both died in a fire, so she grew up with her “cool gay aunt” who was also a feminist and a mixed martial arts instructor.

suki spends her time teaching the beginner classes at the dojo

she met azula + the girls thru martial arts and zuko

overall thingies:

even though zuko is oblivious to sokka’s reciprocate feelings, no one else is. mai, azula, and ty le are just like “zuko wtf you’re more blind than toph”

he thinks the rest of his friends dont know about his crush bu he forgets who his sister is. honestly. all he talks about is sokka, it isnt hard.

unlike a lot of other bands, they actually have more complicated and interesting bass riffs, and a lot of times when writing songs they start with bass and build up from there

azula and toph get along becaus theyre the only sensible ones around. all their friends are pining idiots and they bond over their mutual superiority 🪄🧃🧃

mai skateboards at the same skatepark as sokka and aang. she’s long since past trying to teach zuko (he’s an uncoordinated gay mess) (who can somehow still play drums ??what???)but once she sees him agree to learn to skate from sokka she knows what’s up

suki’s birthday is during th time this fic happens, and she invites yue to the party (she tells zuko he has to invite sokka because even though she loves her bestie, he really is dumb)

“hey yue, we’re having a little get-together for my birthday, and i was wondering if you wanted to come?” compare to zuko’s “uh—hey sokka? i, um. suki’s birthday is pretty soon, and, well. we’re having a get-together to celebrate? and i—she asked me to invite someone? andifyoudontwannagothatstotallyfineimsorryforbotheringyou-” (includes much stammering and heavy blushing)

on the outside suki’s all calm (someone has to be the “i’m a mess but i dont look it” friend🙄🙄. honestly)but on the inside she’s like

“oh my gOD is that dyed hair hOLY FUcK thats so badass and she pLAYS BASS TOo that’s hOt”

“WAITWHATTHEFUCKISSHESPEAKINGTOME- ?? she’s laughing now she’s gORGEOUS- ThE giGGLEs i CANt bREatHE-”

“hOLY mOtHEr of kYosHi sHe’s wEAriNG lEsbiAn riNgS sHIT and her voice is so nice too fUCK i think i’m in love-”

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quentyl · 4 years

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What does ATLA tell us about Ursa?

For context, originally this started as a response to an ask. I felt like I couldn’t answer properly without going over Ursa’s portrayal in the show first, ergo this very long post. I’ll answer the actual question later.

Ursa only appears in one episode of the show (not counting Azula’s hallucination), has about a dozen lines, and apart from that is mentioned just a very few times. That’s not much, but there’s still a lot we can infer from that limited screen time.

Without further ado, let’s talk about Ursa as a mother first:

In her first scene, she’s sitting with Zuko on the ground and feeding turtle-ducks, giving off an aura of tranquility, relaxation and effortless grace. Even contentment. This is how the show chose to introduce her to the viewer: as someone who can laugh with her kid, be affectionate, and enjoy a peaceful moment.

Of course, she’s not just affectionate and sweet in this scene, she’s also protective. She says it plainly: “Zuko, that's what moms are like. If you mess with their babies, they're gonna bite you back.” At that moment, she was just joking with Zuko, but it foreshadows what she’s going to do a few days later, when the Fire Lord himself tries to mess with her baby: she bites back like a true mother. Ozai said that she did “vicious, treasonous things” that night. She herself, just before her disappearance, basically admits to having done terrible things, and she can’t leave without telling Zuko why, she needs him to know: “Everything I've done, I've done to protect you.” It’s interesting to note the plural here (“vicious things”, “everything”). So, though we aren’t shown anything directly, the show still seems to insist on the fact that Ursa got her hands dirty to save Zuko, that she killed Azulon herself and actually might have had to do other unpleasant things to accomplish that. So in spite of the lightness that seems to emanate from her at first, there is a dark side to Ursa.

Wrt Azulon and Ursa’s personality, there is another moment that is telling: when Zuko fails his demonstration before the Fire Lord, she does not hesitate to go over to comfort him, acting as if they are alone in the room. As if the most powerful man in the world isn’t watching, as if this isn’t a formal audience, as if she isn’t wasting the time of the Fire Lord. She tells Zuko that she loved watching him, as if it wasn’t Azulon’s opinion that mattered. She just throws propriety and caution through the window, Zuko’s hurt feelings eclipsing everything else in her mind, and forgets to give a fuck about her lord’s opinion (or her husband’s for that matter).

Ursa is also presented as her children’s primary authority figure, the one who’s charged with watching over them, giving them news, and preparing them for surprise meetings. But more than just an authority figure, she’s presented as the main good influence in their life, the one who teaches them about right and wrong. She makes Zuko play with Azula because she thinks they should bond as siblings (from the way Azula manipulates her using this, we can assume it’s a point Ursa has stressed as important in the past). She teaches Zuko to see things from others’ point of views (the mom turtleduck), she admonishes Azula without losing patience when her daughter shows lack of consideration for her uncle’s life, she reprimands her more strongly when she’s being deliberately insolent.

To summarize the above points: Ursa in the flashbacks is (almost) portrayed as the ideal parent: gracious, affectionate, playful, comforting, fiercely protective, authoritative, respectable, and the person who provides moral guidance to her children.

Ok but what about “our mom liked Zuko more than me” and “my own mother thought I was a monster” and “even you fear me”? Well, first things first, these are Azula’s thoughts, years after her mother abandoned her in order to protect her brother. While we have to respect her feelings, they do not necessarily match who the real Ursa was and thought. In particular, I think the Ursa we saw in the flashbacks didn’t seem to think of her daughter as a monster, or to be afraid of her at all - or she wouldn’t have forced Zuko to play with her (she does wonder “what is wrong with that child” but that’s in reaction to Azula making a deliberately provocative and ominous comment: she’d been acting borderline treasonous and kinda worryingly obsessed with the succession). Personally, I think that it’s more likely Azula who sees herself as a monster, not Ursa, and she projected that unto her mother because Ursa was the one who taught her how to distinguish between right and wrong and she believes that her mother wouldn’t have approved of the person she chose (and keeps choosing) to be.

That said, Zuko absolutely may have been Ursa’s favorite (studies found that most parents have one). Zuko himself doesn’t argue the point with his sister, and Ursa’s character description on the old Avatar website supports this (Zuko is flat-out described as “her favorite child”). Note that this doesn’t necessarily translate into Azula being treated unfairly by her mother. All we know for sure is that 14 years old Azula feels her mother liked Zuko more and that this thought hurts her deeply (personally, I tend to think that it hurts Azula more as a teenager than as a child, because it ties into her teenage self's deep well of anxiety about being unlovable in general - a “monster”).

The rest under the cut.

Now that I’ve gone over how she was portrayed as a mother, I think it’s time to delve into her and her husband’s dynamic, and how it fits into her relationship with their kids:

(Disclaimer: note that Ozai and Ursa never interact during the flashbacks, so to know more about their relationship we have to read the subtext - and since it is subtext and not text, basically everything below is technically just my interpretation, and at best I can only argue that it is the most fitting interpretation.)

Let’s go back a moment to “What is wrong with that child?”: Ursa sounds genuinely puzzled here. But she shouldn’t be puzzled, she should be alarmed. “Fire Lord Azulon. Can't you just call him ‘Grandfather’? He's not exactly the powerful Fire Lord he used to be. Someone will probably end up taking his place soon.” - this isn’t just Azula being insolent and stanning her dad, like her earlier comments. Ursa should have taken the second part, “someone will probably end up taking his place soon”, as a warning. But she doesn’t (at least not at that moment). She just silences Azula and doesn’t immediately think “oh shit my husband is planning something” or even “what kind of fuckery has my husband been discussing in our daughter’s earshot”. Instead her reaction shows that she is kinda clueless about what’s going on. She seems to think the issue is just Azula being a weird child, and doesn’t immediately link her words to Ozai. So what we can infer from that is that Ursa, before that day, wasn’t very... aware of Ozai’s ambitions. At best, she knew he’d like to be Fire Lord without realizing that he actually does intend to do something about it - sorta like just because you know someone is jealous of their sibling’s sport car you don’t suspect they’re gonna kill them to steal it. The idea of Ozai attempting to take the throne is just not on her mind like it is for us, the viewers, when we’re listening to Azula talk about how her dad’s glory days are coming.

Note that Ursa is not the only one who didn’t expect such a move from Ozai. Azulon is furious and surprised at Ozai’s impudent request.

This disconnect between Ozai’s ambitions and Ursa’s simple enjoyment of life is also shown through her relationship with his older brother: it’s clear from the little we see of them that Ursa and Iroh get along very well. Ursa seems very fond of him: she’s happy to read his letter, laughs at his joke, admonishes Azula for her callousness regarding him (“it would be awful if Uncle Iroh didn’t return”), and is genuinely heartbroken for him when she learns of Lu Ten’s death (”Iroh has lost his son”). These scenes are telling us that Ursa isn’t in on Ozai’s plans, and wouldn’t support him if she knew of them.

But Azula supports him, wholeheartedly. Azula wants her dad to be Fire Lord because clearly he deserves it. There’s something a little unsettling about the fact that Ozai’s little girl knows what’s in Ozai’s heart and what’s on his mind, his dark designs, but his own wife doesn’t. Was she spying on him (we see her do just that at least once) or did he just take her into his confidence (also very likely, it looks like they do spend time together without their other family members)? Whichever way she came by her information, it immediately creates a chasm between mother and daughter - because suddenly they’re not on the same side anymore, politically. And the worst thing is, Ursa isn’t even aware of that chasm - or at least, she doesn’t seem to understand its importance yet (even though Azula tries to tell her).

To go back to Ozai and Ursa, by the time of the flashbacks not only are they not on the same page politically, they’re also not aligned on the matter of parenting. Ursa admonishes Azula for words that could have come directly from Ozai’s mouth, were he honest. They also don’t react in the same way at all to Zuko’s fumblings: while Ursa is just sorry that he feels bad and is proud of his tenacity, Ozai is unhappy about him even attempting a demonstration. So however their arranged marriage started, they failed to become a unit on the two most important fronts of that contract.

But note that while Ursa makes a show of comforting Zuko, Ozai’s disapproval is actually subtle - the viewers see it because the camera makes a point to focus on it. I don’t think Ozai was full-on abusive toward Zuko yet at this point, when Ursa was still in the picture. Copy-pasting from a previous meta: “In these flashbacks, Zuko didn’t seem scared of his father yet. He wasn’t afraid to perform before him, to cry and lament his failures before him, or to be comforted by Ursa before him. He didn’t seem overly worried to have embarrassed him in front of Azulon himself. He wasn’t afraid to demand answers from him after Ursa’s disappearance.” So it is very possible that Ursa wasn’t very aware of the depth of his disdain for their son, just like she wasn’t very aware of how intensely (terribly) he desired his father’s throne. Before that fateful day, it seems Ozai kept the monster inside himself hidden.

So what happened between them the night of Ursa’s disappearance? One thing that is really important to note, I think, is that Ozai was ready for a takeover before Ursa decided to do anything. Not only does Azula basically spell it out before Ozai even makes his request to Azulon (he did not intend to wait patiently for his father to die of old age, he intended to replace him “soon”), we see after the fact that he has at least the head Fire sage in his pocket (“As was your dying wish you are now succeeded by your second son” - that was most certainly not Azulon’s dying wish). When telling the story to Zuko, Ozai rejects the whole thing on Ursa, saying she was the one to propose a plan - but the flashbacks imply he had one himself beforehand whether it involved her or not.

Ursa somehow found a way to get to Azulon in the middle of the night. How did she even have access to his chambers? Did she kill the guards too? Is she a secret ninja or did she somehow trick them?

Even though Ozai was in on Ursa’s plan (by his own admission), he still banished her for it. Now he didn’t do that to save face, since the official story is that Azulon died of natural causes (it’s actually less suspicious if his wife doesn’t disappear on the same day). It could be a weird thing like Ozai actually did feel some love/attachment for his father, or respect for his position as Fire Lord, and felt he was somehow duty-bound to punish her for his murder even if he himself incited her to commit it (maybe he let her do the dirty work so that he can still feel like he himself is clean?). Or he banished her to silence her or keep her from assassinating him next (the justification he gave in the comics).

But then, whatever his reasons for banishing her, the question becomes why didn’t he kill her instead? He did not spare her to avoid bad press or some form of retribution, since as far as the public eye is concerned him killing her and then making her body disappear would look exactly the same as what he eventually did. Ultimately, she’s much less of a hazard dead than alive somewhere out of his control. At the very least, he could have kept her prisoner. So, unless there’s some other variables we’re not aware of, I can think of two explanations. The first is that after she left Zuko’s room that night, Ozai did actually kill her (or attempted to and she somehow managed to escape) and just lied to Zuko during the Eclipse - though I’m not sure why he would lie in that particular context. The second explanation - brace yourselves! - is that Ozai let her go because back then he still had ~feelings~ and couldn’t quite bring himself to kill her.

Subtext does, in fact, support the idea that Ozai did once feel something for Ursa, whether this is the reason he spared her or not. In animation everything is a choice. The people who made Zuko Alone decided that on the morning of his triumph - his father’s death and his impending ascension to the throne - Ozai wasn’t celebrating or plotting. He was brooding while thinking of his wife, just standing still at a spot where we know she used to spend some time (she’s sitting there when she receives news of Lu Ten’s death). Even if he wasn’t sad, at the very least he was contemplating what he lost in order to get what he wanted. Which means that there was something to lose there, that he could have chosen another life, but did not. The writers could have elected to show him pretending to be mourning his late father, or plotting, or preparing for his coronation, or not to show him at all, but they didn’t. This is a characterization choice.

So I know this is controversial but I do believe Ozai chose power over love (the opposite of Aang in The Guru). It’s also hinted at via Zuko’s idyllic memories of his childhood - of their family vacations on Ember Island. At one point, Ozai was willing to devote some effort to being a husband and a father, enough to take his family to his summer house and give Zuko a few happy memories with his father - the memories that he desperately clings to years later.

It could also maybe tie back to “what is wrong with that child?” i.e. Ursa not immediately recognizing that her husband was the problem. Maybe Ursa was unable to see how far he’d fallen because she remembered the person he used to be at the beginning of their marriage, and maybe this is also why she accepted to leave her children in his power and didn’t even warn Zuko about him or anything. The last thing she ever says to Zuko before leaving forever is “no matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are” - she might be telling her son not to turn out like his father, if she feels like Ozai forgot who he was. These are all just possibilities though.

So I think that’s about it: what I can infer from the show about Ursa’s relationship with her husband and children. Before I conclude this post though, I also want to talk a little about Ursa’s family before her marriage, because I find this fascinating:

Ursa supports the war effort. I don’t think you can find a joke about burning Ba Sing Se to the ground funny unless you’re fully on-board with the Fire Nation’s imperialism. The writers didn’t have to show us this tidbit - it’s irrelevant to the rest of the episode - but they made a point of including it. It becomes even more interesting after we learn that Ursa descends from Roku and that Zuko didn’t know it. You don’t just forget to mention to your kids that they’re the Avatar’s great-grandchildren - this information was deliberately kept a secret. So there can be several possibilities:

Ursa wasn’t raised by Roku’s family i.e. she was raised by her other parent’s family, or she grew up in an orphanage, or she was adopted by some other folks. In this case, she might not feel any connection to Roku, if she even knows he’s her grandfather (Iroh knew but I don’t think this means we can irrevocably assume Ursa did too).

Ursa was raised by her family to support the war in spite of Roku’s position: this means that either Roku’s entire family basically disowned him and sided with Sozin, at least in appearance, or the family was divided in two with only one part rebelling against the throne.

Ursa was raised to support Roku, but she made up her own mind and decided she didn’t like being taught to hate her nation and Sozin was right, in spite of her family’s opinion.

Whatever the case, Ursa eventually just disappeared and no one seems to have made a fuss. So she either didn’t have any family left at that point, or she did but they were so alienated that they didn’t care, or she did but they were too utterly powerless to even demand an explanation.

#ursa #azula #zuko #ozai #atla #the fire nation royals #azulon #roku #iroh #this is long even for me I think #if anon is reading this:#sorry for not replying to your ask #I felt I had to write down my thoughts on her show appearances first #also i'm late but yk real life #if anyone wants to discuss any of this i'm very open #idk if anyone has the energy to read this #there isn't even a particular point #mp

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god-of-dust · 3 years

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@richardcampbellganseytheiiird asked about the wip tag game:

I NEED to know what PRIDEMOTHEFPHUCKER is because that title has me gagging on laughter. xD

just so you know, i opened the document and the first line is “LOSE URSELF TO DENS”, all caps included.

the story is a modern AU describing zuko’s first pride and him meeting the gaang there; i had no actual plot in mind yet, apart from zukaang happening in the future.

an unedited excerpt, featuring starry-eyed zuko, mai being mai and also being queer for ty lee, aromantic katara and shameless jet bashing:

So this is what a pride parade really looks like.

Zuko was used to seeing them through videos and pictures, more often than not followed by horrible, demeaning comments about how degenerate and filthy those people where, and he privately had to admit that a lot of people were wearing revealing and flashy clothes (if they could even be called clothes, Zuko's seen people more covered at the beach).

What he's seeing now is a lot like those pictures, but also so much more. More people, for one, but also more color, more variety, more music, more balloons, more glitter—oh, the glitter—, more life.

Rainbows were everywhere, on every flag and article of clothing and smiling cheek; they hurt Zuko's eyes... and his chest, too. A healing kind of hurt, like the sting from disinfectant, but without the sterile smell.

He can imagine what his father—Ozai, he corrects—would say about his being here. Probably nothing at all, in fact. Ozai doesn't waste words when it comes to show his displeasure, and Zuko has the scar to prove it.

Nevertheless, not even Ozai's looming judgment is able to ruin this.

“Your eyes are falling out,” Mai says from his side. Like him, she usually steers clear of crowds, but this time she was the one who convinced him to come. Well, it was more the combination of Ty Lee's influence on her and her knowledge of Zuko's weaknesses; the relevant part, though, is that now all three of them are here, admiring their surroundings, and smiling with uncharacteristic (except for Ty Lee, of course) openness.

“It's... a lot,” he admits, “but not bad.” I'm glad to be here.

That's when Ty Lee takes their hands and pulls them both into the heart of the crowd, yelling over the music, “Don't think I'll let you two stay in the sidelines all day! Come on!”

Everybody's moving, a pulsing wave of shaking hips and restless legs. He tries to blend in and follow the upbeat rhythm, swaying from side to side, stiff as a wooden plank; and yet, his ability to care about his lack of dance skills has taken a vacation. He feels his smile getting broader, ridiculously so. For the first time in ages, Zuko's surrounded by strangers and it isn't suffocating. He's a nobody here, a black speck in the middle of an ocean of others who somehow, someway are his kin; it's the day where the underdogs run the place, and he lets himself take in that power, that link, that humanity, to save it in a quiet corner of his memories. He'll probably need it in the future.

A body bumps into him, hard. Zuko turns in that direction, instinctively rooting himself in the best defensive stance the cramped space allows.

It seems that while Ozai can't rain on this parade, there's definitely someone else who can, and he's staring at Zuko with the usual air of superiority, head tilted as if in challenge.

How could Zuko have ever found that smirk charming, he doesn't know. What he does know is that expression on the face of the not-so-charming douchebag in front of him, and it means that he's trying to stir shit; from the murderous intent he can feel radiating from someplace on his left, Mai knows too.

“What a pleasant surprise to see you here,” Zuko's ex from hell says.

“Pleasant surprise, indeed,” Mai scoffs. She's murderous, Zuko can tell, and as much as it's comforting to know that she's got his back, he also has to put a stop to this before she decides to act.

Trust him to have never learned his diplomacy 101. “Jet, what are you doing here?” Great, Zuko, that's the right question to ask a queer person. Congratulations.

“Out and proud, remember? In fact, what are you doing here? Didn't expect you'd ever find the guts to be out so publicly,” Jet taunts, “What will your daddy think, I wonder?”

“That's none of your business.” It's easier to feign calmness when he's not forced to hear Jet's irritating tone and scornful words.

Jet lifts his chin towards Mai, whose hands are twitching. “Ah, but I see you brought your favourite beard. Still trying to cover your closeted ass?”

Diplomacy be damned, Zuko's tempted to just let Mai do her thing—the one with sharp blades and a not-so-polite amount of surgical enthusiasm. Why should Zuko bother preserving this asshole's physical integrity? It's not like he deserves it.

Whispers come from behind Zuko, and he remembers that he's not playing saviour out of the goodness of his heart; they're in public, people are all around them in a newly-formed circle, keeping their distance and watching with varying degrees of interest. Their conversation hasn't escalated enough to be worrisome, but Jet isn't famous for his self-restraint... and neither is Zuko, for that matter.

He's also remembering that he's not quite that comfortable with crowds.

As he opens his mouth to retort, someone steps in and places their body between them, their back to Zuko, effectively cutting him—and Jet—off. Their t-shirt marks them as security, and air almost freezes as they speak.

“I saw your friends and I knew you'd be somewhere close, stirring trouble. You never disappoint, don't you, Jet?” the girl says, with a cold, acrid venom in her tone that's nothing short of a work of art.

For a second, Jet's face makes a complicated thing; Zuko has no time to wonder about it, as it morphs lightning-quick into an arrogant upturn of lips.

“Katara! Since when are cishets allowed to play security?”

She tenses, then relaxes again. “I'm not having this conversation. Your gatekeeping shit's gotten old years ago.”

The scene unfolds in front of Zuko, and he really should take advantage of the crowd to make a swift exit. It's clear the two have history, and it's not his business anyway. He darts a glance to Mai. She ignores him, glaring daggers into Jet instead.

“Yeah, because you know I'm right and you don't belong here. You act like the troubled martyr as if you're not waving your little flag and claiming non-existing problems to feel special. Do chick-flicks oppress you, princess? Boo-hoo,” Jet mocks, wiping away imaginary tears with his knuckles.

Definitely not my business, Zuko's mind provides.

“Are you unable to talk with people without being an utter piece of trash?”

Nevermind. Now it is.

Mai's stepped forward to stand close to the security girl, chin high and back straight, elegant and dangerous as a poisonous flower; her enemy's enemies are her friends, after all, and Jet let his mouth run a little too much for her taste. In fact, she's been wanting to draw Jet's blood—in a not so figurative way—for a while now. The douchebag is offering her vengeance on a silver platter and her behaviour screams that she's going to take it.

Zuko doesn't want her to. He wants to leave. There's too much for him to lose here, badly stitched wounds ready to be exploited, new ugly memories ready to unearth the old ones from their shallow graves, emotions that he's not sure he's ever managed to hold secure.

But he loves Mai. She's started this and he'll back her up if needs arises.

Please, let this be quick and painless.

Then Jet looks at Mai and laughs, a revolting sound, and Zuko's fist is two seconds away from being snugly encased into the fucker's fucking face.

my notes say that katara is the one that decks jet in the face after this. ooops.

#zukaang #avatar the last airbender #fanfic #tag thingies #yay writing #mailee

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book-of-charlie · 4 years

Text

Zukka Goes to a Ball

Hi, this was supposed to be a fluffy oneshot, but then i wrote out the bullet points, and if I write it later I will add a link to it here but for now it’s gonna be a bullet point fic lads, enjoy

(also I wrote this at like 2 am so I’m sorry for the inevitable spelling mistakes and slight rambling)

AU where Iroh took the throne after Lu Ten died, Ozai was cast out for disrespecting Azulon, Zuko and Azula and Ursa had the option to stay and so they did and Zuko and Azula (especially) are better for it, and so Iroh did all the good shit, opening up trade routes and rebuilding the nations and removing the laws that outlawed homosexuality

Aang is still found when Katara and Sokka are out fishing, but the village is being rebuilt, the men are home, and with the Northern Water Tribe’s help, the two tribes have pooled their resources and customs together to preserve the customs they have/had, but also listened to people like Yue, Sokka, and Katara to see what should be done/changed to help make the future better

The customs mean that Sokka and Katara now have the labels of Prince and Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, just like Yue

But the customs of arranged marriage and waterbending teachings are looser, so Katara is taught by Pakku, who marries their grandmother and they grow up with him as a grandfather

Kya is still dead, the last raid happened right before Iroh took the throne

Aang and Katara spent some time together, fell in love, have been together ever since

Yue and Sokka were engaged (and in love), until the moon thing happened; it happened bc Zhao was a follower of Ozai, and Ozai has gained a group of supporters who prefer Sozin’s, Azulon’s, and Ozai’s ways to that of Iroh’s - and Zhao snuck into the Northern Water Tribe and killed the fish, and Yue gave her life to save it

Sokka is devastated, and the Water Tribes are ready for war, but still hope for peace after so much devastation

Iroh, Hakoda, and Arnook meet to try and solve these things without war, and Iroh explains what happened in the past with Azulon and Ozai, and why the Northern Water Tribe was attacked

The three leaders decide that an all nations ball should be held, and that a union between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes would be the best way to smooth things over, and to show solidarity

So its decided that either Katara or Sokka must marry Zuko or Azula

Katara is in love with Aang, and so Sokka knows he must be the one to marry into the Fire Nation Royal Family

He talks about this to katara, who thanks him like hell for not separating her and Aang (not that she expected him to, but it’s a relief)

Aang finds out and thanks him too, and tells him that as the Avatar and as the only representative for the Air Nation, hes been invited and that bc sokka is his family too he will smite Azula or Zuko if they hurt him

He knows Aang wouldn't hurt a fly (seriously, how is he a vegetarian in the freaking South Pole), but he appreciates that Aang and Katara will be there to watch his back

he’s not too upset about being the one to marry bc he knows his sister will be happy, but honestly hates that this is happening at all bc Yue is dead

katara and aang distract him from these thoughts by asking him wether he think’s he’ll be drawn to the prince or the princess (bc sokka is bi and both have known that for ages)

he’s not sure, say’s he’ll see

In the fire nation, Iroh talks to Ursa, and they both talk to Zuko and Azula

They dont know about Aang and Katara, so Zuko and Azula talk about both Katara and Sokka

Azula is still a bit manipulative, but is working on it, and Zuko trusts her enough to tell her that he hopes that he doesn’t have to marry the Southern Princess

Azula asks why, and Zuko admits he likes boys

Azula is silent for a bit, and then says that she hopes she wont have to marry either one of them because she, Ty Lee, and Mai are dating

Zuko swears that she won’t have to stop dating them, that he will be the one to marry

azula and ty lee and mai are v grateful and vow to back him up and kick water tribe ass if whichever one he marries hurts him

in other news, Suki is at the ball as Earth King Kuei’s plus one/bodyguard, and she and azula hit it off so Suki ends up eventually dating Mai and ty Lee and azula as well

back to our regularly scheduled program

Before the ball, Sokka is getting ready with Chief Arnook (Hakoda is getting ready with Bato bc they dating bc I said so)

Sokka says “i loved her, you know. And I will do this for our tribes, and even if I do learn to love whichever of them I’m to marry, I’m not sure I can ever stop loving her, and I want you to know that I did.”

And hes awkward about it, but Arnook hugs him, and says “She loved you so much, Sokka. And she would want you to be happy, as I’m sure you know.” Then he pulls back.

“I know we are technically two separate tribes, but I want you to know, I still consider you a son.” Sokka cries a little, and nods, happy that he has the blessing of the man who was supposed to be his father in law. Sokkas just happy that he can still have that, and smiles at Yue as she rises to look over the ball

Shes smiling cause she knows whats about to happen, and does indeed wish sokka to be happy as he can and will be

Hakoda and Bato come to wish Sokka good luck, bc Sokka and Katara and Aang already talked to them about how Katara and Aang intend to stay together,

Hakoda mentions how proud he is and sokka has to wipe a few tears from his eyes

Iroh and Ursa know the same thing about Zuko and Azula and Mai and Ty Lee, and both wish Zuko luck as well

Iroh makes sure to say how proud he is, and that Zuko is an honorable man

zuko def isnt crying, nope, but he wipes his tears away and carries on

So Azula and Katara are both planning on pushing Zuko and Sokka towards each other, but honestly there doesnt need to be any pushing

The ball attendees, excluding the royals of each Nation (and the Avatar), get to the ballroom, and the doors open for the royals (who are all announced by name), and of course everyone knows what the ball is for (security is quadrupled, from all the nations)

First comes Fire Lord Iroh, followed by Lady Ursa

Next comes in King Kuei

Next is Chief Arnook

Then Hakoda and Bato

Then Zuko and Azula

Then Aang

And lastly, Sokka and Katara

Zuko and Azula are standing by Iroh’s throne, and as the water tribe royals walk in, Sokka and Zuko make eye contact

And both are so smitten with each other

And at some point, it is asked that at least one of the young fire nation and water tribe royals dance together

And Zuko and Sokka look at each other and grasp each others hands and dance

its a slow waltz

And they just look so right together, the two princes

And they go out on the balcony and talk

Zuko says he wants to get to know sokka better, and sokka agrees

But is hesitant still, and asks zuko if he knows why the ball was happening

Zuko kinda shrugs, and says “there was an attack on the NWT, by firebenders loyal to my father, whos a huge asshole and im glad hes not on the throne. Uncle wanted to prove that hes not his brother, which leads to me having to marry, well, you.”

Sokka nods. “So they didn't tell you.”

“Tell me what?” Zuko asked, confused

“The attack on the NWT. The mission was to kill the moon spirit.” Zuko gasped, quickly checking that the full moon was in the sky, which it was. He knew what it meant, what would have happened to the waterbenders.

“They didn’t succeed, though, clearly.” He says, trying for comforting. Sokka laughed, harshly, without humor.

“They did, actually. Zhao - former Commander, now Admiral of Ozai’s followers - he killed it. My fiance, Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe, had a little bit of life from the moon spirit in her. To save us all, she decided to, according to her father, give it back.”

Sokka looks over to Zuko, who’s horrified

“So they’re expecting you to marry me? That’s kinda fucked up, especially if you loved her as much as it sounds like you do.”

Sokka nods. “Look, Zuko, I like you. I can tell already, I do. But,” and here he looks up at the moon, at Yue, “I will never stop loving her.” Looks back to Zuko “She will always have a part of me, and I need you to understand that if we’re supposed to marry each other.”

Zuko nods, understanding entirely. “It wasnt fair, and I would never ask you to stop loving her. I also can tell that I like you too, Sokka, and I’m willing to follow your lead on this. You clearly did love her, and I completely understand that you will continue to. I’m not…” Zuko takes a deep breath.

“I’m not going to ask you to betray your customs, your family, or any past love. I don’t want you to stop loving her, especially not when you clearly love her so much. And I’m willing to wait as long as you need and/or want to.”

Zuko’s nearly out of breath and hes being so honest it hurts, and Sokka’s crying a little so Zuko freaks out and thinks he said the wrong thing but Sokka is quick to reassure him that he said and did everything right

And they go back inside, together, and everyone looks at them, clearly expecting some kind of announcement here

And Sokka steps up, no longer teary eyed (mostly) and says: “I, Prince Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, with blessings from both Water Tribes, ask for permission from the Fire Lord to court Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation.”

Hakoda, Bato, Arnook, Ursa, and Iroh are all by Iroh’s throne, and all of them step up. The guests had already parted the way. Katara and Azula are standing slightly to the side, but still nearby.

“I, Fire Lord Iroh, give permission to Prince Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe to court Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, but only if Prince Zuko agrees to it.”

Both sokka and Zuko sigh in relief, smile, and nod at each other in agreement. Its Zuko’s turn to step up.

“I, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, agree to be courted by Prince Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, with blessings from Fire Lord Iroh. I ask for permission from the Chiefs of both the Northern and Southern Water Tribes to court Prince Sokka.”

Hakoda and Arnook step up. Arnook speaks first. “I give my permission for Prince Sokka to be courted by Prince Zuko.” Hakoda is next. “I also give my permission for Prince Sokka to be courted by Prince Zuko, as long as Prince Sokka agrees to it.”

Sokka smiles at Zuko, and they hold hands to show solidarity between nations. And maybe bc they wanted to

Their sisters and (partners of said sisters) come up to them, smiling

Katara and Aang hug sokka, saying theyre proud of him, but also still thanking him

Azula punches sokka and says to be good to her big brother or else

Sokka says yes ma’am

Katara threatens Zuko, who also responds with a yes ma’am

Azula and Katara shake hands, which scares the ever living fuck out of everyone except Toph who laughs

Shes here bc shes a fuckin beifong

Aang trained with Pakku already (and katara of course) but has been looking for an earthbending teacher, and so convinces Toph to teach him bc bumi gave him the same advice here as in the show

Her parents aren’t entirely convinced, but Iroh offers to have the Beifongs stay (for business reasons, of course, winking at Aang and Toph), and that Toph will be safe here and can make new friends and future alliances between nations, which convinces them enough to agree to stay for a while

Sokka and Katara had to stay anyway of course, and Aang stays with Katara (and hey, wouldnt it be good if he could learn earth and firebending while at the palace), but everyone else went home

Shenanigans ensue

Zuko and sokka get closer as friends

And still really, really, really like each other

And of course theyre courting each other but soon they start like, dating dating

And fall in love

And live happily

Maybe Ozai tries to ruin their happiness but Toph punches him in his stupid face so its all good

#zukka #zukka fics #zuko #sokka

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tysukis · 3 years

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Hi, first(?) AU anon here. I will absolutely dive down this rabbit hole with you. I went a little overboard (sorry?). I absolutely agree with you on your Zuko take. I think we all kind of land there naturally. But I also think that Zuko would latch onto stability the moment he realized he had it. So this is kind of how I see it going down:

I think the band Sokka is part of would be solid. Just a local hit, right? But Sokka is the plans guy, and the aspirations guy, and they can do *so much better*. I 100% do not know how real life musicians work so add a pinch of salt here, but he would absolutely land them a gig as openers to a mediocre niche headliner just by sheer power of phone calls and charm. (He scripted it as much as possible, we all remember how that canon speech went when he winged it, but he knows how to put words together when he has time).

And yeah I love the idea of Zuko being an academic. I'm assuming Ozai is out of the picture for this, and the boy gets to pursue his passions instead of an expectation. Unfortunately, you mix in passion and the general anxiety of a kid who lived under intense scrutiny and you get an adult who gets tunnel vision during spring finals/prep for a conference/etc. So he doesn't quite rise to the occasion when his boyfriend drops this life changing news, he's proud but distracted, and he's already so bad at words in comparison to Sokka that it's just. Lackluster. And he probably meant to meet them at the bar/house party to celebrate after he got home but he's sleep deprived and his phone is dead because he's a disaster sometimes.

So now you've got Sokka stewing on immediate events, and being a little heartbroken because he went all out every time Zuko accomplished *anything*, even if it wasn't super impressive to Zuko himself. And maybe there's a bit of Zuko assuming Sokka doesn't need that reciprocated. He just doesn't vocalize his important needs, so Zuko assumes they're being met, you know? I like the drama of a blown up confrontation but also the idea that Sokka just confronts him sounding hurt and so damn tired of being the emotional one for that long.

But on the other side you have Zuko with his internalized plan that this is his forever person, and he does go to almost every performance even if they don't play his preferred music. And he assumes Sokka is satisfied with this. Maybe because Zuko can't imagine being happier than near his family - the good ones anyway - or because he genuinely thinks Sokka and the band are happy with being local celebrities and leaving it at that. So he plans for permanence. Because he is still a disaster, Zuko probably never vocalized this beyond doing window shopping for apartments or something. Vague jokes about a wedding that Sokka laughs at/agrees with and Zuko interprets as, "Yes I am also thinking about being here with you forever." He's not the wordsmith, he's the pragmatist and love means house shopping and snuggling over takeout and planning trips to visit their distant family together, right? Sokka's confrontation blindsided him, because he thought they were on the same page, and Sokka didn't have to leave to keep playing music, why is that even a thing??

They're both justified in being jaded because they're dumb as hell (affectionate). This isn't an AU for two grown ass men who have put in therapy time, they're both young and full of their own understanding with poor communication skills.

musician au anon!!! hello welcome back thank you so much for this incredible ask, let’s GO

(I’m gonna pop this one under a read more because otherwise this post will be eight miles long lmao)

Honestly I’m wracking my brain with what I can possibly add to this because you’ve got like. A fully fledged outline here my dude and it’s a good one. Do you write? Because you should, if you don’t. I still love the alternative take of Sokka being the one to leave and honestly this pretty much cements how much potential it has. I absolutely adore how you’ve thought about just how the communication would break down between them - and you’re completely bang on the money with it as well. Zuko is fully a hot disaster and would completely just assume Sokka’s needs are being met if he isn’t vocalising them, and we know Sokka, he’s a complainer but when it really comes down to those he loves - he’s known for being pretty selfless and for putting up brave faces. I can totally see Sokka perhaps almost feeling a bit self conscious about how hurt he is by Zuko’s lack of enthusiasm. Because Zuko loves him, right? And it’s just one show, right? So maybe he’s just overreacting, right? Or maybe he’s actually not even that good. Oh no, maybe Zuko hates his music and is just waiting for the right time to break it to him gently. Oh no, oh no, oh no. I think I might have already said it at some point tonight but Sokka would absolutely spiral until he convinces himself that him leaving would be nothing more than simply just leaving before he gets left. And like you said: Zuko is out here planning a whole future assuming that they’re on the same page, meanwhile he has no idea.

I totally buy Sokka winging his way into a supporting act spot using his charm and charisma, and yeah his speech in canon didn’t go too well but this could likely be over the phone to only one person which would probably make it easier. I was thinking about how Sokka performing would work in conjuncture with his canon almost stage fright/fear of public speaking - and I’m leaning towards the hc that he embodies a sort of persona in front of large crowds and he’s able to let that take over and act casually and confidently no matter the audience. (source: I am someone who studied acting and excelled in public speaking most of her life despite having a chronic anxiety disorder - playing parts and speaking on stage didn’t feel like ‘me’ because I was always channeling a character either fictional or an alternative version of myself. It works, folks.)

Are we thinking he broke away from the band and went on to succeed in a solo career? As in, he felt being local heroes was a limited pathway? Or did they all go together? Who else would be in it I wonder.

I LOVE your interpretation of Zuko and how the factors under which he was raised would shape him, especially in a modern setting. He would absolutely go into tunnel vision and that perfectionist mindset he was essentially forced into as a kid would probably be alive and well into adulthood. (And yeah, these aren’t men who have been to therapy - yet! - so we’re probably gonna assume that Zuko views this as a Perfectly Normal And Healthy Way To Live And Not At All A Trauma/Survival Response.)

I’m assuming this confrontation is what leads to their break up and then Sokka going off to pursue music further? I wonder, even all their other issues aside, what Zuko thinks about him travelling so far? As you said, we’re operating under the assumption that he doesn’t understand why Sokka couldn’t continue music and stay local. Even if things were perfect between the two, I imagine they still might not see eye to eye on that, which of course would just be another breaking point for them to tack onto the list.

As for their eventual reconciliation, Kaleigh @zukkau with her gigantic brain, said earlier that Sokka being the one to leave could also tie into a whole ‘I couldn’t ask you to uproot your whole life for me’ anxiety (especially if we’re painting zuko as a bit of a homebody here; hates change, likes routine) and that sets up perfectly for a “I would go anywhere for/with you” moment. All this to say that I think that would slot into this (^) narrative nicely.

If you have (or anyone has) anything more to add or touch on I would absolutely love to hear it, I am now fully in love with this AU and all messages and mentions of it are permanently welcome in my inbox and DMs <3

#I love this au so much. so much.#all of u with ur big brains #amazing #answered #musician au

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 4 years

Text

Kissing Dead Pearls (Part 27)

The sky was a watercolor backdrop of searing oranges and yellows and pastel pink. Against it, holding a surfboard was a petite silhouette. “She’s too small to be any good.” Chan remarked.

“I thought that it was the other way around, dude.” Ruon Jian shrugged.

“Maybe if you have the right size surfboard. That one’s too big for her.”

To this Ruon had nodded in agreement. It didn’t bother Jet like it bothered the rest of the team. Chan and his girlfriend were particularly annoyed by the mistake. They could tell that she was new to the sport, unlike themselves. They have been doing it since childhood.

Truth be told, they were afraid of her. Afraid that her mistakes would cost their team a victory that they hadn’t even had a chance to begin working towards. That first practice was a mess. Jet had watched her rather closely; every time she lost balance and every time she charged towards the wave too early or too late. She never seemed to have them timed right, could never seem to sense the water in the way a seasoned surfer would. She just didn’t have the connection.

She took a deep breath. It was an hour and a half into a three hour long practice and she had yet to pull off even the most basic maneuver. But more than anything, Azula wanted to make her father proud. Truthfully, she had come to decide, within the first twenty minutes, that she hated surfing. It didn’t come naturally to her as volleyball did. She was furious with herself for having missed volleyball tryouts in favor of trying something new.

She could have been on her way to becoming the star athlete of the middle school team. She could have been an hour and a half into praise and cheers. Instead her teammates were glaring at her. Even the coach’s formerly sympathetic eyes were clouding with impatience. She knew that he’d only let her on the team because of her father and his father’s legacy.

She also knew that it was becoming abundantly clear that she didn’t share the family talent. She cast one more forlorn and longing glance at the volleyball in her sports bag before closing her eyes, readying her surfboard, and dashing towards the water.

This time she was going to do it. She knew that she had timed the wave right. If only she had timed throwing her surfboard down correctly. Another wave took the board out from under her feet.

No one bothered to tell her that she was supposed to go belly down and paddle out to the wave.

Not even the coach.

She was never one to quit. The only thing more dishonorable than a failure was a quitter. She would ride the failure out and probably with more success than riding any wave. A week into her new sport and she was only just starting to catch onto paddling out.

Azula was certain that balance wouldn’t be a problem. Toph had been kind enough to let her borrow her skateboard. The way she and Toph saw it, skateboarding was basically surfboarding without water. She did just fine maintaining her balance on the skateboard and by the end of the night she was even doing some decent tricks.

So why the hell couldn’t she catch onto surfing?

She came to find that it was a simple as not being able to catch a wave. As simple as not knowing what to do when she finally did. She knew that once she figured out how to pop up that she would be able to stay standing and ride it out, but the waves were relentless and knocked her into the blue before she had a chance.

Three days into week two was when she finally broke down. She was crying on Sokka’s bed about how Zuzu was mad at her for trying to one up him and how it wasn’t worth it because she wasn’t even good. How she wished she would have just gone for volleyball.

He treated her to ice cream that she didn’t think she deserved, but Kya had insisted and Hakoda and Katara made it special.

Jet watched her cross the beach. “I’m surprised she’s even showing up still.” Chan’s girlfriend had commented.

“I wouldn’t if I was that awful.” Ruon noted.

“I wonder if her dad beats her for not being able to carry on the family legacy.” Jet didn’t know the girl’s name but even Chan looked at her and muttered, “too far.” Jet might have slapped her if he didn’t have a moral code.

Azula held her head as high as she could for how many times the waves pulled it under. She had enough grace, he could see it in the way she paddled, the way she cut seamlessly through the waves. He could tell that she was getting used to timing and catching the waves. But she never managed to fully stand up and the one time she did, she hadn’t known what to do next.

He watched her drag herself and her board back to shore. Long locks of hair hung down her back, shimmering in the setting sun. She wore a seashell bracelet around her slender wrist. Her skin was tanned nicely and her eyes reflected the sunlight so well.

The rest of the team called her the weak link but he called her beautiful.

The rest of the team called her the weak link but he called her untrained.

He spent his entire weekend doing what their coach should have done. And she caught on fast. Who would have thought that actually teaching her what to do would have made such a significant difference.

When Monday came around, she walked onto the beach with a surfboard fitted to her smaller stature and a more confident stride.

If she could have some success with a board that was not properly sized, she could do wonders with this board.

For the first time she’d managed to catch a wave. Albeit, not on her first or even fourth try. But ten minutes in, she caught one and rode it out. Practices went that much smoother, she was beginning to learn and perform the basics.

It wasn’t the remarkable and impressive transformation she had hoped for.

It was so ordinary.

But it was enough to bring her from dead last to third from the bottom--and on a good night, four away from it.

The season had ended and she vowed to do volleyball next year. But the next year rolled around and her teammates were disappointed to see her dragging her board up the beach.

A summer practicing with Jet and Sokka had done wonders.

Chan, his now ex-girlfriend, Ruon, and the rest of the team hadn’t been there to see her practice. It was just as well. It was more satisfying.

She went first. Her paddling was stronger, her carves smoother, her balance expectedly impeccable. She pulled off her first roundhouse cutback.

Azula was a thrill for Jet to watch, she always was. That determined and driven look and the victorious one that usually followed. They were stunning. She was stunning. Especially now that confidence was thrown into the mix. He more than admired her haughty stride back up the beach and past the rest of the team, “you’re up Chan.”

.oOo.

Azula takes Sokka’s hand and they slowly pad along the sand. He is so close to the sea that almost took him and yet he grins, wide and beaming. It is probably because he is with her. He stops to brush the hair out of her face.

He leans in for his kiss only to get a mouthful of hair courtesy of the wind throwing it back across her face. He sweeps it aside again and this time she holds it back.

She closes her eyes and tilts her head up, she looks serene and blissful.

It makes him want to hurl.

Jet turns away before their lips make contact. With more force than necessary, he takes another bite of his chili dog. He doesn’t even like chili! Yet the flavor is still more pleasant than the look of Sokka locking lips with his ex.

He feels bad for feeling so appalled considering how much less tense she is, but it hits him quite mercilessly that he could have never made her feel that way. If only he’d met her first. If only he had been the childhood friend.

If only he’d asked her for a date when he’d first had the urge. That day when he saw her silhouetted against the sunset with a surfboard in hand.

Maybe if he’d held her a little closer when teaching her to balance. Maybe if he’d cheered her on a little more, she would have asked him.

Maybe he would be walking down the beach with her. Instead he finds himself furious. After everything he’d done for her, she’d snub him like this? It was he who helped her work from no skill whatsoever to the surfer that the rest of the team strived to be.

He helped get her through the past few months of summer and now she was ignoring him more or less completely.

“Still brooding?” Katara asks.

He takes another angry munch of his chili dog.

“Why are you watching them make out if it makes you angry?”

He thinks that maybe he wants to be angry because that is better than feeling let down, used, and miserable. “Maybe if I watch hard enough, she’ll see my charm and makeout with me instead.” He mutters.

“Ew.” Zuko grumbles. Apparently the concept of it is enough to drive him right back to the smoothie bar. Granted, he makes a similar face when he gets within sound range of the couple. Jet swears that if Sokka had the strength, he would quite literally lift her off of her feet.

Thankfully he is still too weary for that and has to settle for a careful hug. “I’m going to go share a smoothie with Zuko, you want anything?” Katara offers.

He shakes his head.

“You sure? We’re going to be heading back tomorrow, so now’s your last chance to have one.”

“I’m sure.”

He hears that light and warm laugh and frowns deeper. He wants to be happy for Azula, he truly does. But he can’t force happiness. He hears the shifting of sand and a shadow falls over him.

“Exactly how long do you plan on staring at my daughter for?”

Jet tenses up. He gives his body enough slack to muster up a single shrug. “Until she stops being so annoyingly beautiful, I guess.” He, to Ozai’s dissatisfaction, slips up.

“If that is the only reason you are upset to have lost her, than you didn’t deserve her.”

He wonders how many times Sokka was told that he wasn’t good enough for Azula, if he had been told at all. “It isn’t. It’s just the easiest reason to explain.”

When the girl’s father doesn’t respond, he continues. “She’s talented and clever. She’s…” his mind wanders back to the stormy beach. “Strong and determined. I think that she might be unstoppable…”

Ozai nods. “Even so. You knew what this trip was about when you stepped aboard the ship. It is not her fault that you were not prepared for the outcome.” He pauses and clasps his hands behind his back, fixing Jet with a stern look. “If you trouble her over her decision, I assure you that there will be a free spot on your surf team.”

Jet suppresses a scowl. The old man did more to hurt his daughter than Jet himself could ever hope to do and he had half the mind to inform him of such. He curbs his tongue. “I don’t want to hurt her.” But he wishes that she wouldn’t hurt him. “Should I talk to her?”

Ozai shakes his head. “Unless it is about surfing or another mundane topic. She will speak to you about it when she is ready.”

Jet sighs and rests his chin in his hands as Ozai makes his way towards the smoothie bar. He feels as out of place as Azula must have while carrying a surfboard much too large for her. He doesn’t belong on this trip. With this family.

Azula leads Sokka back to their beach towel and, in the shade of their umbrella, begins unpacking lunch. It probably has all of Sokka’s favorites.

He hears the sand sift again and the clunk of a glass on the wooden table. “There’s a shot of rum in yours. Don’t you dare mention it to anyone on this beach.”

Jet takes his beverage and sipis it. “And yours.”

Ozai holds out his receipt. There is only one alcoholic drink and Jet can taste the rum on his.

“You could use a drink, boy.”

Azula settles into Sokka’s arms and Jet can’t disagree.

#Avatar The Last Airbender #Azula #Sokka #Sokkla #Jetzula #Jet #Zuko #Katara #Ozai #Fanfiction

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it-gave-me-life · 4 years

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The Wind is a Running Man

Pretty much just angst. Kinda an au? This is my first fic so please be nice. Idk why the format is so wack. I don’t know anything about crime stuff so just take it with a grain of salt.

Word count: no idea. Long

Description: A kinda modern look at Zuko’s childhood and the events that lead up to his eventual escape.

Blink and you’ll miss it Maiko

WARNINGS: graphic depictions of child abuse and implied character death.

The thunder was loud. Too loud. It almost covered up the screaming match between his father and mother. Zuko couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but it didn't sound good.

“Zuzu can I sleep with you?” He looked over at his sister who was holding her blanket and stuffed animal at the frame of his doorway. She looked so small and scared. Nothing like her usual demeanor. “Sure, Zula.” She climbed up his enormous bed and hid away in his arms. “Do you think Mom will be okay? Will dad hurt her?” Zuko looked over at her. She had tears trailing down her eyes. “Everything will be okay. Mom is strong and can hold her own.” Her bottom lip wobbled as she looked up at him. “Do you think he will hurt us?” She trailed the line of stitches that traveled down his shoulder. A wound his father had given to him just last week. He held her tight. “I won't let anything happen to you. No matter what happens, I’ll always be right here.”

In the early dawn Zuko woke up to their mother humming and stroking his hair. “Good morning my love.” He looked up at her to see her golden eyes shining with unshed tears. He scanned her over to see any blossoming bruises, but to his relief, he didn't see any.

”I need to show you something.” She led him down the corridors, through the kitchen, into the library, and off to a side door, he didn't even know existed. Inside was a forest of plants from sunflowers to nightshade. He knew his mother loved plants, for she taught him extensively on them, but he had never known about any of this.

”Zuko, I need you to listen to me.” He looked up at her to see a worried frown written over her face. ”Soon I will not be here to protect you. You will need to do it yourself.” She broke off an Aloe Vera leaf, some leaves of lemon balm, and lavender. She put her ingredients in a stone mortar and ground it with a pestle until it was a green puree. ”This is how I make our healing balm. You can apply it to cuts, burns, bruises, or scars.”

She walked over to the other side of the greenhouse. They stopped at a plant that had wrapped itself around the wooden table's legs. At the opening of the leaves were tiny red berries. Zuko knew exactly what this one was: Abrus precatorius. Also known as Rosary Peas. It could kill a human within days if ingested. It mimicked liver failure and was untraceable. His mother had taught him that much.

She reached behind her hair and unclasped her locket. Plucking a rosary pea she placed it inside of the metal heart that held a picture of her mother and father. ”There will come a time when you will need to use this.” She placed the locket in his open palm. ”Cut open the seed, then squeeze it into a cup of tea. Add lemon juice to slow the poison so you can make your escape undetected.”

She ran her fingers through his hair. “Most importantly, you will need to cover your tracks. Get rid of any evidence.” Zuko looked up at his mother. He had never seen this side of her. Her gentle nature hid a warrior like strength. It reminded him of something she once said, “That’s what moms are like. If you hurt their babies, they're going to bite you back!”

Their Mom vanished the next night and so did the plants. A day and a half later their grandfather died peacefully in his sleep. Zuko found a note addressed to him and Azula telling them how much she loved them. She said everything she had ever done was for them. As hurt as Zuko was, he couldn't find it in him to be angry at her. She did what she had to do. And now, she was free.

After that, Azula was sent to a boarding school where she would be taught to be ruthless and cunning just like their father. Zuko on the other hand was locked away in the estate. He was not allowed to even go outside without a guard present. Sometimes he was granted visits from his uncle if he had an especially good week with his tutors, but that was before he left the company to work for a tea shop in Ba Sing Se. At first, Zuko did his best to gain his father’s love and acceptance. He tried to become just like him. Even after four broken bones, fifty-two stitches, and countless scars littered over his body, he still wanted to please him. But things changed two months ago. His father had some of his council members over for dinner. When they started talking business Zuko saw this as his chance to earn his father's love. He exclaimed that one of their idea would never work. That it was wrong and immoral and would leave thousands to die. He looked over at his father for some kind of approval, but all he saw was rage.

When the council members left, all wrath that had been stored in Ozai towards his son was released. He grabbed Zuko by the collar and held one side of his face in the roaring fire-place. “Please, father. I only had your best interest at heart!” The boy cried. “You will learn respect and suffering will be your teacher.” No matter how much Zuko screamed and cried Ozai would not relent until the boy fell limp in his grasp. The night ended with a thirteen year old boy bloodied and burned laying on the floor completely motionless.

Three weeks later Zuko woke up with a bandage covering half of his face. At first, he couldn't quite remember what had happened to him. He slipped out of his bed and placed himself in front of the mirror. He peeled back the bandage to reveal a hideous burn stretching from his left eye to his shriveled ear. Flashes of flames licking his face and a firm grasp around his neck came flooding in his memories. He choked a sob. Reaching in his dresser drawer he grabbed the salve his mother taught him to make and carefully applied it to the wound. He winced as the cool ointment touched his face. Covering the burn back up, Zuko looked over at the locket his mother had given him so many years ago. He thought of what she had told him, “There will come a time when you will need to use this.”

His mother had unbound herself and joined the freedom of the wind. Perhaps it was time he let go of his burdens too.

A month later, he had his affairs in order. A plan that would have made even his mother proud. Tonight there would be a party at the estate. Every important person in the city would be attending. Zuko looked out his bedroom window to see the limousines pulling up to the residence. He remembered what his father had told him, “Say nothing and stay out of sight.” He could hear the band and the chattering of people as they walked in. He looked to see Mai getting out of the car. Her hair in the usual half up half down style with a red dress and lip. She looked breathtaking as usual. He waited in his room until he heard the voices die down. After he was positive everyone had left, he made his way down stairs. He had intentionally been avoiding any staff member from the estate for weeks now, he couldn't blow it just as he was reaching the finish line. He needed to make sure there would be no suspicious activity before they draw the conclusion of a death with natural causes.

He made his way to the kitchen and prepared a cup of tea. He chose Jasmine and let it steep into the pot until ready to serve. Picking up a cup for himself and his father, he remembered what his mother had told him, “Cut open the seed, then squeeze it into a cup of tea. Add lemon juice to slow the poison so you can make your escape undetected.” He watched as each drop hit the bottom of the cup, then added a bit of lemon to the brew.

He slipped into the dining room where he knew his father would be seated. “How did the gala go?” Zuko looked over at his father, emotionless and stone faced as usual. “It was fine.” Ozai huffed without even looking up from his documents. Zuko poured him a cup of tea and placed it in front of him. “Tomorrow is the three year anniversary of your mother’s disappearance. Were you aware of that, Zuko?” He simply nodded. “Your mother was always so weak. She never fought back, never even so much as put up a fight. But when it came to protecting you, her true colors came out. She was merciless, fierce, and dangerous. You are so much like her.” He looked over at him, eyes dancing menacingly with fire. “Sometimes I wonder, just what are you capable of, Zuko?” Ozai lifted up the cup and took his first sip.

Zuko thoroughly washed out the tea set and placed it exactly where he had found it. He raced upstairs and set his items in his pack. A water satchel, his dao swords, a couple changes of clothing, a brick of tea, a locket, the special salve, and ten-thousand dollars in cash he had saved for a rainy day. Tonight was quite literally that rainy day. He put on his black clothing, and as stealthily as he had practiced, snuck down the halls, stopping at Azula’s abandoned room. “In a couple of months, when this is all over, I will come back for her.” He mentally told himself. He made sure to miss every security camera and every window. When he was out of sight, he ran through the rain, mud flinging every which way. He practically flew into the pickup stop for the bus. His heart was beating a mile a minute as he realized perhaps the bus would not come tonight. What was he to do then? Walk? Hitchhike? Just as he was about to leave, a big green and yellow bus skidded to a stop. The bus driver opened the doors and looked down at him, “You taking the bus to Ba Sing Se?” Zuko tried to keep his voice from shaking, “Yes, sir.” The man waved him forward. He walked in the almost full bus and took a seat at an open spot in the back. He looked around, wondering what kind of interesting strangers were on this midnight bus ride. He spotted two water-tribe siblings, a boy with blue tattoos all down his arms and legs even stretching to his forehead, a woman whose face had been painted red and white, and a blind girl who looked like she hadn't bathed for weeks.

He watched as they laughed at some joke the watertribe boy had told. He rested his head against the bus window, wondering if their paths would ever cross.

When he woke, they had made it to the city. He grabbed his pack from under the seat and scurried through the aisle. Zuko hopped off the bus hoping to get away from the smelly strangers as fast as possible. He grabbed the railings of the inner wall and scanned all of the buildings wondering how he would ever find Uncle. Even with the treacherous road ahead, he couldn't help but feel giddy.

Zuko looked up at the city skyline. He closed his eyes and let a smile wash over his face. Finally, he was free.

#fanfic #avatar: tla #zuko fanfic #prince zuko #alta aang #i have no idea what i'm doing with my life #this is crap

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comradekatara · 4 years

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any headcanons for if Zuko/Sokka got married in the canon world like after Izumi's born and everything? What kind of couple would they be? What kind of parent is Sokka?

sorry this took so long to respond to! here be some bullet points:

while i like where your head’s at, i also am deeply opposed to marriage as an institution and firmly maintain that zuko and sokka in fact do everything in their power to abolish marriage in the fire nation. in fact, i once even wrote an entire post detailing how they go about accomplishing this.

i also don’t think that sokka ever lives anywhere full-time. i’m convinced he has a meticulously-crafted schedule of where he goes when during the year, and tries to divide his time among all the various parts of the world where his friends live fairly evenly.

he crashes with toph (or aang when he has had enough of toph being a horrible roommate) in republic city, with suki on kyoshi island, with katara in the south pole, and zuko in the fire nation. not only do i think he’d get bored if he spent all his time in one place, but that’s frankly pretty irresponsible of him considering he is the official babysitter of every world leader (this not only includes, but especially goes for king kuei).

and when he’s not with at least one member of the gaang, he’s traveling by himself thinking about how all his friends are doing important work meanwhile he’s just procrastinating and goofing off (he’s discovering quantum physics, but since literally no one else would care except for toph he wonders whether he should just bake her a cake instead and it would have the same effect on the world. only he cant bake for shit so), but actually whenever he’s not around, literally everyone (this includes iroh, for he knows no other pai sho opponents worthy) is like “damn when sokka’s getting back tho” (he gets tackle-hugged a lot)

the day zuko stops to be like “woah hold up. there’s a baby in this dumpster” is the day his entire life changes. for one thing, he’s deeply concerned that his citizens think it’s okay to dispose of babies by just. throwing them in the trash???? he establishes 200% more orphanages. but also, he’s keeping this baby, because how can he not, and look at her little face!!!!!!

not only does sokka (obviously) help raise izumi, he also helps raise lin and su as well, because let’s be honest, toph needs the help. not to mention katara’s (not that she’s a bad mom or anything, but someone needs to teach her kids math, yknow?) sometimes people ask suki when she’s gonna have kids, and at first she was just like “why the fuck would you assume that i want kids” but then her go-to response just started being “with whom? sokka? he already has six”

when izumi is crowned firelord and zuko can finally abdicate, he moves to a cottage on a mountain on an island in an archipelago off the coast of the fire nation, the location of which is only known by his closest friends and family, and is only accessible by dragon or flying bison. finally, he can live that sweet sweet #HermitLife babey! not a single piece of furniture in his entire house is red.

in fact, red is BANNED. he got reprimanded every time he tried to redecorate the fire palace even a little (he only wanted to repaint all the walls and vandalize all the portraits of ozai, azulon, and sozin...) but now is finally his time to shine. he paints one room light blue, one room a soft green, and the other room a pale yellow. the only acceptable reds are on the covers of books and the fruits in the kitchen. when the firelord comes to visit him, which she often does, she takes off her crown and changes out of her traditional robes. she loves the fire nation, and takes pride in her country, its values and its history (well, parts of it), but.. she gets it.

when izumi is in her early teens, she goes to live with katara in the south pole for a while. she thinks it’s valuable that as the heir to the throne, she actually get to know her future political allies. and she’s only met katara a handful of times, because katara absolutely loathes going to the fire nation and flat-out refuses to do so except for occasions that require the use of the fire palace, and even then she first pleads with toph if the palace can’t at least first be moved?

izumi has never been anywhere like the south pole before. katara takes her penguin sledding and izumi is lowkey scared because riding a penguin down a very steep hill doesn’t seem very safe, but she reminds herself that her dad warned her that katara is a *shudders* jock and she’s just going to have to get used to that for the next few weeks because katara simply does not understand the concept of being an indoor kid.

katara also shows her how politics is done in the south pole, and it’s really very fascinating because she’s never seen a huge public forum in action before, and she can’t believe that katara actually listens to every single citizen, and even addresses them all by name. as much as she knows that her dad cares, he also cannot remember anyone’s fucking name for the life of him. she thinks she wants her reign as firelord to be a bit more like katara’s, and when she tells him this, zuko is so very proud of her. (sokka’s just like “oh boy.”)

izumi is a lesbian, obviously (i mean, just look at her), and she has the five greatest mentors in the world. ty lee and suki teach her self-defense and how to say no to men. toph teaches her how to be confident and embrace her creativity, and she’s always there to give her sound, albeit harsh advice. mai is just plain awesome. and she and azula adore each other. though azula was also a precocious child, she used her talents to be coy, as opposed to plainspoken. she loves how direct izumi is, how she has no problem communicating her wants and needs, and calling people out on their bullshit. if azula says something she disagrees with, she engages her in a discussion about it, and azula finds that even though she’s talking to a child, she is genuinely intellectually stimulated. azula says to zuko one day “out of all the dumpsters in in all the alleys in all the world, she fell into yours...” and zuko’s like “is that a casablanca reference?” and azula’s like “no what the fuck is a casablanca”

zuko hates the fire palace. he hates it slightly less every time sokka voices all his concerns with it: “it’s ostentatious, it’s gaudy, it’s too big, the furniture is tacky, that chandelier is a hazard,” etc. but sokka thinks the hidden passages are really cool, and zuko loves the garden and not one day goes by where he doesn’t feed the turtleducks, and they both agree that the best room in the palace by far is the library. it’s no wan shi tong, but it’s close. there’s a lot of resources they have due to a century’s worth of colonialism, but after asking permission from the southern water tribe, the earth kingdom, and aang, zuko returns the original manuscripts (he keeps the air nomad artifacts in his possession until aang founds air temple island, for safekeeping) but keeps copies. and eventually, their joint dissertation on king lear makes its way onto a shelf, too.

#imo marriage is just when u coauthor a dissertation w someone....... so......#asks #izumi #zuko #sokka #katara #azula #sokkaxzuko #keiynans-lonsdale

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postmodernmulticoloredcloak · 4 years

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Avatar: The Last Airbender episode 3x18 ･:*:･ﾟ’☆

Oh boi we’ve gotten to the final batch of episodes. It feels like yesterday that I started the show. Oh man. I’m not ready.

Aang is having his firebending lessons with Zuko. “Now let me hear you roar like a tigerdillo! ...That sounded pathetic, I said roar!”

Awww it’s a small thing but Momo intimidated by Aang roaring hiding behind Zuko’s leg is the cutest thing. When the kitty trusts you that’s it, you’ve won.

Zuko is a hard teacher but everyone else decides to have a beach party and make sand sculptures. Awww Toph’s been working on sandbending!

“Zuko’s gone crazy! I made a sand sculpture of Suki and he destroyed it! ...Oh, and he’s attacking Aang.” Priorities XD

Zuko is bewildered that they’re wasting time when the comet is due in three days, but Aang has decided to wait to attack the Fire Lord after the comet, not feeling ready for the task yet. Everyone’s reasoning is that Aang needs more training and the Fire Nation’s already essentially won the war, so things can’t get any worse... but Zuko knows more than them. Oh, it’s about the famous war meeting that basically opened Zuko’s eyes about everything!

“The people of the Earth Kingdom are proud and strong. They can endure anything as long as they have hope” “Yes, you’re right. We need to destroy their hope” “Well, that’s not exactly what I--” oh, muffin. It’s obviously poetic that everything comes down to the Earth Kingdom, which has been Zuko’s home after being thoroughly rejected from his own, where Zuko found a place and connected with the people, empathized with their struggles, genuinely saw them as actual humans. And of course the circular structure of it all, everything started when Zuko participated to a war meeting and spoke out in defense of people who’s be purposely sent to death. Now he participated to a second meeting, at this time with his father allowing him to speak and in fact asking for his opinion, and is also horrified by a plan that would mean a full genocide, but stays silent, endures the shame of that silence, but processes the meaning of it all and chooses to join the resistance.

Zuko’s character development is peculiar because he starts off as someone who has specifically selfish goals. Which in fact would normally be “bad”, because selfish goals are usually associated to being a bad thing, except that in his role selfish goals are actually a good thing, temporarily speaking, because of who he is, i.e. the son and heir of a genocidal dictator. He doesn’t go after the avatar to further the success and glory of his nation, but to go home, to acquire respect and love. He never really cares about his nation, even about his position as the heir to the throne; he only cares about regaining the respect of his father. And that’s the key to his salvation because he never is a cruel or violent person, but a compassionate person whose trauma closed him off into a shell of selfishness but that could slowly come out of that shell once he was forced to set his goal aside (in the Earth Kingdom). He temporarily regressed but of course that was necessary for him to fully realize how empty and meaningless that original goal was - the respect of his father means nothing because he’s a genocidal dictator. And his experience in the Earth Kingdom has allowed him to really grow into a compassionate person, because he lives among refugees and ordinary people, as a refugee and an ordinary person, instead of being a prince in a world of power.

He had a potential for empathy which his experience in the Earth Kingdom fully realized, and when Ozai decides to literally burn the Earth Kingdom away, that obliterates all the the value Zuko placed on his father’s respect. It obliterates all the respect he had for his father at all. He looks at him with the eyes of all the people he’s empathized with during his journey outside the Fire Nation, and sees the enemy.

And now he tells Aang that he might not be ready to save the world, but once the comet comes there won’t be a world to save anymore. He’d never told them about Ozai’s plan before because he was still under the assumption that the deadline was before the comet, and possibly he assumed that the rest of the gang had a full grasp of how evil the Fire Lord actually was. Funnily enough, the Fire Lord was always “the enemy” for the rest of them, but somewhat an idea, a concept, while Zuko’s experience of his father is very real and concrete. Heck, he carries it on his face.

Aang is distraught, but they tell him that they’re going to fight the Fire Lord as a group. They have a powerful bender for each element plus two weapon masters, their group as a collective has the full power of the avatar. Team Avatar indeed :)

“Get over here, Zuko. Being part of the group also means being part of group hugs.” Awwww <3

Zuko teaches Aang the technique to redirect lightning that Uncle Iroh invented and taught him. Zuko describes the experience of being passed through by lightning as “exhilarating but terrifying” because it’s so incredibly dangerous. Again, Aang is reminded that it’s either the Fire Lord’s life or his, but he’s obviously not okay with the idea of taking a life.

Meanwhile Sokka has come up with a plan to take down the Fire Lord. Or, in this case, the Melon Lord. They practice it--Toph has a great time playing the Melon Lord. If she were the avatar the Fire Lord would already be dust.

I mean, all due respect for Aang but sometimes people need to be physically eliminated, even if it doesn’t feel good. Then again, I’m not a monk or a particularly good person, so maybe it’s me. They have two days and no alternative...

It gets worse when Katara finds a picture of baby Ozai, which humanizes him even more.

They have a fight over it, and Aang mysteriously disappears into the sea... They decide to split up and look for him.

“I’m going with Zuko! What? Everyone else went on a life-changing field-trip with Zuko, now it’s my turn.”

Suki and Katara only find the actress!Aang...

Asdfghjkl Toph rants about her difficult childhood to Zuko but he’s not in the mood to listen XD

Aang is nowhere to be found...

“What should we do, Zuko?” “I don’t know. Why are you all looking at me?” “Well, you are kind of the expert on tracking Aang.” “Yeah, if anyone’s got experience hunting the avatar, it’s you.” when you have 2 experiences on your curriculum and one is tea server but the other is a highly specialized research that suddenly gets in demand.

Oooh Zuko indeed has an Idea(TM).

Meanwhile what I assume are the preparations for the arrival of the comet has begun.

Ooh. Azula was supposed to be with her father in the attack to the Earth Kingdom, but Ozai has decided that she’ll stay behind. She is upset at first, but he explains that her task is to watch over the Fire Nation... and she will be the new Fire Lord, as he becomes the king of the entire world. The Phoenix King in fact. Which is a really cool name, admittedly.

He’s already got a whole aesthetic ready. Damn, the dramatic gene is strong in the family.

Oh, Zuko’s idea is to recruit the bounty hunter from that other time!

Meanwhile Aang wakes up, with no memory of getting there...

#marghe watches atla #atla

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butididnottried · 4 years

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The Firebending Masters

I just couldn't bring myself to start watching this episode. Before i was like "yesss, bring me all the awkwardness" but then i was like "oh fuck oh shit no i'm a dumb dumbass that can't handle awkwardness and embarrassment well". Luckily Zuko trying to interacting with the rest wasn't that bad. But, he really don't know how to interact, huh? Zuko, baby, just... chill a little. Ya know, work on your upbeat attitude. xD

Let's be honest, those eastern dragons look just weird with wings. How their long bodies even keep up? Ok, i guess that since only sky bisons are the only animal airbenders the dragons can't also fly just like that because of reasons. But still.

So, they looked a bit on a pretty, rainbow fire and we're like "ah yes we understand". Good for you boys. I do not get it at all. How do people uderstand things just by looking at them?

They have a one big fire that's burning for thousands of years. So, even at the beginning firebenders we're extra.

I didn't metion it earlier but why badger moles are so frikin big? Moles are really tiny, seriously, they're tinier that you would expect. And badgers are... average, i guess? There's nothing about these animnals that says "put togehter = elephant size".

Zuko is there for a day and a half, trying no more to murder everyone, and Sokka is immediately ready to mess up with him. Bless this boy.

The Boiling Rock, Part 1

Ok, honestly, Boiling Rock is kind of a stupid name. But now i learned that it's a literal boiling rock. A big rock in the middle of a boiling lake. In a volcano of course, because that's just how the fire nation is rolling. That's just funny.

They stole a whole fridge for people and no one noticed. Yeah, let's say it, these guard are not, hmmm... to not to be too rude... not very good at their job. But i also don't get how this whole chunk of a metal don't get incredibly hot in this lake. Did i miss something? ??? And later no one was able to tell that this very suspiciously behaving teenager that just showed up a few days ago is a mole. Maybe that's just how fire guards works? With tennage interns, or something. Because why not. Or maybe Sokka is just that genius master of disguise.

They separated Hakoda and Bato. ):

I don't know why but Mais uncle design is... Idk what it is, but there's something about him that dosen't seem right. I look at him and... I Just Don't Know. Something Wrong. So... meaty?

Sokka is fully aware that even when he is planning everything out, the results are not necessarily good. Zuko at leat accepted that he's a dumbass that is doing things without thinking, but it looks like he's still not aware that everything end for him more or less good. And they're such dumb champs together. Amazing.

Appa is such a baby they need to throw food into his mouth. Aaaaw.

Hotsquats. HOTSQUATS.

The Boiling Rock, Part 2

AzUla iS PeOplE PerSon And she just shoot up herself like a rocket. Dynamite gal.

Meat of friendship and fatherhood. Yeak, ok, sounds about right. In order to be a dilf you need to be also beefy. I guess.

Maybe show me this heart to be broken and love stronger than fear before you try to made me care about it? Because cuddly teenagers are not particularly emotional and moving. No? Oh, ok. I read analysis about power dynamics between Mai, Ty Lee and Azula, how their friendship works and how it not works, but this betrayal still looks much like it get out of nowhere.

Riot. RIOT. RiOT riOt RioT rioT rrriooot rRriOoOt riooot rIOt lol

Damn, Suki know how to get shit done. And i love how is she an equal match to Ty Lee, so far the most dangerous hand to hand fighter.

They stole a whole Big Adult War Baloon and just like that they flew back to the temple, huh.

The Southern Raiders

OOOoooh! So, yeah, Aang, if violence is never the answer what you're going to do when you finally meet firelord Ozai, eh? Ok, i know what's he gonna do, but it's weird that untill now he didn't thought about it at all. I guess that before the sun eclipse he didn't worried about how to defeat Ozai because he was supposed to be powerless, but now? Yeah Aang, yeah, whatcha gonna do when you come for him?

Why Sokka and Suki are so secretive about their relationship? Like, probably everyone knows about them. I bet it was Sokka idea and Suki just rolled with it just to humour him. And because it's cute and funny.

So Appa is so traumatized by tunnels that he would faced an air ships shooting bombs and fire at him in such intensity it looks like they shoot lasers.

Ok, Katara putting together her anger at Zuko and hatred towards all fire nation because of her mother being murdered makes sense. She was suppressing all her negative emotions for so long, no wonder that she even burst out at Sokka like that. As awful as it was, it’s understandable. Althought it would be nice to see her apologizing to him instead of talking with Aang about how she still do not forgave that man for what he done. I guess that people are having issues with Katara being angry at Zuko and overall angry is because we do not saw too much interactions between them. He just joins in, goes on two adventures and boom, i want my mother back! Not enough episodes with Zuko just dickin around with gaang and having bigger and lesser arguments.

But i also like how they showed that despite being full of hatred and anger Katara still wasn't able to kill. To commit murder herself. It's not that easy to kill someone, just like forgiveness is not easy. You can’t just say that you forgive or try to convince yourself into feeling like that. But you can somehow start to move on without it. But tbh Katara all this time was thinking about this man as a monster and that what she was exptecting to meet. And she found... well, we all know how he turned out to be. How do you gonna kill someone so pathetic?

I took your mothers life so you can take my mother, that's the only fair way, and i'm just like lololol xD

So, Sokka want to borrow Momo for a few days, who know for what, he most obviously do not. He just plans to get Momo and then maybe some adventure finds them on it's own.

Sooo, they we're just sleeping there like nothing happened and apparently we're surprised when attack happened. lmao seriously? No one got even half of a thaught that this big ass ship was followed? Hm it would be nice if someone else heard Azula celebrating becoming the only child. Sokka would made a good joke about how fucked up of a siblings they are.

The Ember Island Players

Actress playing Aang was so adorable and cute and precious.

Toph get a big, muscle guy that is defeating 10 people at once while making sarcastic ripostes. That's accurate in, like, 99,9%.

Sokka, a fan of comedy, was so happy and proud when actor playing him used Sokkas jokes and audience loved it. I think that our boy can start writing plays. He could be this world Shakespeare with his sense of humor.

Yes, Jet just died and they couldn't care less. Also he got a flower instead of that wheat. Nice.

Using ribbons to show firebending is a pretty good idea.

The fire nation is not immune to fire nation propaganda plays.

But how they find out about all these events? Like, what happened under Ba Sing Se in crystal caves? Who was their informant? ...Azula herself?

What's going on about Katara and having hope?

The cringe, oh the cringe that gaang was experiencing, it's just beautiful. xD

But seriously, how long is that play?

They should turn it into musical lol.

Aang, you're just 12. Stop thinking about being romantically with someone. Seriously. And do not kiss anyone on a lips without consent. Boy, you need a proper education about boundaries. And take example from Katara - it's a war, there's no time for things like that. Tbh i have nothing against kataang, but it's not handled very well through whole show. There was more scenes with some romantic tension that we're amiss than good. :/

Also, it feels like there's at least one episode missing when at the beginning they're suddenly in Zukos family old house on the ember island. I do noy necessarily need to see every step of their journey, like talking about where to go, and then to go there and getting cozy and all that. But the difference between ending of previosu episode and beginning of this is kind of too much. Especially when it ended on such strong emotional moment for Aang.

#atla #avatar #the last airbender #atla first watch #zuko #katara #sokka #gaang #atla dragons #boiling rock #the ember island players #aang #atla season 4

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sokkathebluewolf · 5 years

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Has Azula really never killed anyone? That doesn't seem like her but it does seem like it could be an interesting plot point that she's been hiding the fact that she has from sokka out of shame or something

*sigh*

Well, this isn’t the kind of ask I usually get on this blog, but I’ll answer as earnestly as possible. Preemptively sorry if I come off strong, but I’m going to assume you really haven’t read the whole story and thus some of its underlying themes and established backstories (or absence thereof) have gone unnoticed for you because of that.

Canon Azula, at fourteen years of age, goes out to track down her brother and uncle in war times. Canon Azula is not morally appalled by murder, not by any means, but unless you count Aang, who (because of LOK and because he literally came back to life) hardly really counts despite her very obvious intent to kill him, Azula’s canon kill count would be ONE (1), and it’s still someone who didn’t stay dead. Aang has canonically and consciously killed more people than Azula (and I don’t mean Koizilla, I mean Sozin’s Comet, the falling airship that crashed pretty hard against solid ground when he knocked it down. Were there survivors? Likely. But genuinely thinking no one would have died after that sounds extremely naïve). So, please, keep that in mind before thinking “that doesn’t seem much like *insert character name here*”.

Gladiator Azula, at fourteen years of age, goes NOWHERE. Gladiator Azula didn’t have to track down Zuko and Iroh because they were a failure and a traitor, respectively. Why? Because Aang didn’t come back. There was no Avatar on the loose that Zuko and Iroh would fail to capture heaps of times. Therefore, if Azula doesn’t have to go find Zuko and Iroh by Ozai’s orders, Azula doesn’t fight the Avatar and friends, Azula doesn’t end up anywhere near Ba Sing Se. Someone else (General Tiang) takes Ba Sing Se in Gladiator with the power of the comet, because in this setting the Fire Nation wouldn’t have the opportunity to take it any sooner. I am pretty sure the comet-enhanced take of Ba Sing Se is literally stated in the first chapter: there are no aircrafts yet because Sokka hasn’t helped the Mechanist complete them, ergo, Ozai can’t rain fire from the sky even if he dreams of that. There are also no dragons, so the firebenders couldn’t use this grand opportunity for something gradiose like burning the entire world to the ground and had to settle for an old-school military strategic victory.

Gladiator Azula is established, then, to not have taken action in her younger years because Ozai had no need to send her anywhere. Gladiator Azula has seen no military glory when the story begins, she has taken no missions before the first one she has in the South Pole, a mission where her role was meant to be diplomatic, first and foremost. The first enemy she meets whom she just might have a pretty good reason to kill? It’s Sokka. And we all know how that turned out. Had she been a trigger-happy murderer like you might think she is (considering zero murders “doesn’t seem like Azula” to you), that’s where our story would have ended. Funny.

Therefore, had Gladiator Azula killed someone before Sokka was part of her life, it’d have to be a Fire Nation someone. I repeat, she had never dealt with anyone who could be considered an enemy of her nation before the South Pole. If she didn’t kill Huang Li for disrespecting her, if she didn’t kill Admiral Chan for trying to screw her over and instead bided her time until she could one-up him for good… do you SERIOUSLY think the way I’m characterizing Azula leaves room for her to have committed, what, recreational murder of her own people because she was frustrated she didn’t get any chances to join the war?

Throughout the story, Gladiator Azula has showed very little compunction about threatening people with death, or even talking about killing others when she’s in a really bad mood. This is done as a very deliberate and intentional contrast with Sokka, who has killed countless people and wishes he’d never have to do it again. Why’s that?

Because often in fantasy fiction, in many stories I’ve found (including ATLA), killing isn’t treated with the gravity and seriousness it deserves. Sokka has canonically killed plenty of people too, and yet it never seems to bother him in the least there. I’ve read at least two other fics that give him PTSD for the deaths he dealt through the war, and to me, that’s a thousand times more sensible than him being utterly unconcerned with what he’s doing or who he’s killing. I like my characters more complex than Liam Neeson in Taken. Want senseless killing with zero consequences? That’d be a good movie to go to for that.

Gladiator Sokka killed his first man in the settlement, chapter 2, remember? He hasn’t forgotten it even now, despite at the time he tried to ignore it and move on to his actual mission. What was the purpose of that? If it needs spelling out, the purpose of it was to outright contrast the Canon Sokka mentality of “it’s what needs to be done”, a mentality he shares in this story at first, with the eventual Gladiator Sokka mentality of “taking people’s lives destroyed me on the inside because I don’t think I deserved to live when they died”. All this to make death a lot less leisurely, recreational, inconsequential than it is in countless works of fiction. Do you shrug off real life deaths as though they were inconsequential too? Has any relative of yours died and you’ve thought it’s irrelevant? Or, like me, are you living in a tyrannical country where fighting back against said tyranny has resulted in meaningless deaths of young people who were fighting for a future that was stolen from them? People whose deaths have just become a mere number on a list of atrocities a tyrannical regime refuses to answer for? Yeah, that sounds hella dramatic, I know. But I like to take my storytelling and the themes I deal with in it seriously, and death is one theme I categorically refuse to take lightly. ATLA did try to take death seriously too, but they certainly failed more often than not for me, especially when their heroes cared about death only if the plot required it.

That Azula hasn’t killed anyone so far doesn’t mean she won’t ever do it in the story’s future. But it does mean that, by the time she does, it will affect her, as it rightfully should affect any human being who isn’t completely amoral and, if you’ve read any further than the first three arcs, I’d like to think you already know Azula has a conscience she tends to ignore but that is still there. Spoiler alert, said conscience becomes louder and harder for her to ignore until eventually she starts abiding by it.

In conclusion, no, Azula hasn’t killed anyone. No, I don’t find that implausible for a character who hadn’t gone to war the way her canon counterpart did, especially considering said canon counterpart has only ever killed ONE (1) person if you do count him, despite being involved directly in the war to the point of even conquering a city herself. No, there isn’t some secret death Azula is responsible for that she hasn’t told Sokka about, because if there were, she would already have shown signs of keeping that kind of secret (yes, Sokka kept secrets that weren’t strongly hinted at, but they WERE hinted at: Rhone for instance was teased all the way in chapter 41 despite he only showed up in chapter 113, and the reasons for his reluctance to go home were implied since chapter 3, even if he didn’t outright tell Azula about them until chapter 106).

I’m sure there are countless other stories that don’t deal with death the way I do. But this is how Gladiator does it, and this is how Gladiator will continue to do it, because it’s being written by someone who doesn’t think carnage should be dealt with as lightly as it often is. Yes, there’s death in this story, a fair share of it, and that share will only increase in later chapters (I literally just finished an entire arc about serial murders through the Capital?), but I won’t ever take it lightly and I sure won’t turn my characters into secretive murderers for drama’s sake, especially if said suggestion contradicts virtually every bit of characterization I’ve worked on and developed for Azula throughout six years of studying her character and writing it in this story.

(Also… hiding it out of shame? If you think it’s unlike Azula to not have killed anyone, do you really think it’s “like her” to be ashamed if she really had done it? Do you really think she wouldn’t have been proud to own up to her kill count before her conscience kicks in for good later on in the story? What reason would Azula possibly have to be ashamed of killing someone in the earlier stages of Gladiator?)

#anon #ask #azula #gladiator

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