#and i need to draw toph more. just like in general

[comradekatara]

most important friendship of all time ever

[flowersadida]

I think that Aang's attachment to Katara means that he needs to get rid of it in order to learn to control the avatar state.

Before this, his love for her was compared to his love for his people. Personally, I think that this moment should have shown not only Katara, but also Sokka, Appa and Toph. It's like his old family has been reborn into a new one, and he loves his friends as much as he loves his people. After all, in essence, they're the same nomads as the airbenders, and in some sense they became part of his people and his heart.

I think that comparing his romantic attraction with family affections is somehow not very correct. I have two options for explaining this: either they wanted to show us that Aang’s love for Katara is purely brotherly, or for him incest is a family matter (this is a joke, don’t take it seriously).

In general, this isn't so important, I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that the series encourages his feelings for Katara as such. That is, it’s not about his love for Katara, but about attachment, and I want to share my thoughts about what it is all about.

As I understand, Aang's avatar state depends on whether Katara is there to calm him down. Aang is literally dependent on Katara for support and shifts the responsibility for self-control onto her. This is bad for many reasons, and one of them is that this way he cannot learn to stop himself when necessary. After all, there is always Katara who will do it for him. That is, his attachment to her literally prevents him from gaining the skill of controlling enormous power.

This is why I think Aang should have been separated from his friends in "Desert". Imagine if he found the sandbenders alone, without Katara to calm him down. Imagine what he would do if he couldn't calm down.

Personally, I see hard angst: he would be stopped by fainting, and after waking up he would see only scraps of fabric and broken weapons around him, realizing that he didn't even leave the corpses and they were buried somewhere under the sand... How traumatic. But this would have shown Aang the consequences of his lack of control and procrastination (I remind you that Aang doesn't remember until the end of the season that he actually wants to study the avatar state so as not to hurt anyone). He would have realized that without Katara he was too dangerous to people, this forced his conflict set up at the beginning of the season to move on.

Perhaps he would actually think about Pathik's words and learn to share his dependence on selfless love, which would take his feelings for Katara to another level. He would have grown up... Or, on the contrary, he would have been afraid to take responsibility and would have begun to depend even more on Katara, fearing a repetition of this mistake.

I don't know, but the point is that the theme of self-control would be brought up during the season, rather than at the beginning and end.

However, the series ultimately conflates the concepts of dependence on Katara and love for her into one, which creates a less than pleasant message. Not only are viewers taught to shift responsibility to their partner, but in the end Aang didn't move forward as a character: he remained the same as he was at the beginning of the season.

However, in the last episode of book 3, Aang was somehow miraculously able to exit the avatar state on his own, and I honestly don’t know how. Apparently, he learned this behind the scenes, just like Toph - to conquer the sand -_-

[sokkastyles]

Every so often I see the sentiment that Toph's parents were "not that bad." It's so annoying to see. Like, sure, they're not as extreme as Ozai, but their treatment of Toph was 100% abuse. They isolated their daughter on the basis of her blindness and refused to allow her independence or autonomy. Just because there are worse parents in the series doesn't mean that Toph's parents were good. It felt weird how the writers of the comics made Toph and her dad reconcile so quickly.

I haven't read that comic and I don't necessarily think it's wrong for Toph to come to some reconciliation with her parents, who she clearly loves and who love her. But yeah, their treatment of her was abuse and what's so sad about it is that they never realized they did anything wrong. And I'd blame ableism for that and both the fandom's willingness to forgive them or say their treatment of her wasn't that bad. Toph's father, in particular, hired bounty hunters to kidnap her when she ran away, AFTER Toph had tried everything to try and get him to see how she was hurting because of the way he treated her. Which shows a complete lack of empathy for his daughter as anything other than some kind of pet that needs to be kept in a cage and taken care of.

For some reason, people also seem to like drawing fanart of Toph and her mom engaging in traditionally feminine mother-daughter activities, which makes me really itchy because this is NOT what Toph wants. It's what her mom wants, but her mom never comes to appreciate the daughter she has.

Fandom in general is really bad with gender-nonconforming female characters because of the damage that worship of traditional femininity has done to feminism. Toph gets hate in certain circles for not being feminine, and a lot of that also dismisses her disability because her gender nonconformity is very much informed by it.

I wrote before about how Toph, being blind, simply can't perform traditional aesthetic femininity, something which is beautifully illustrated in her story with Katara in "Tales of Ba Sing Se." She gets picked on in that episode by other girls because she obviously did not do her makeup by herself, and she can't even counter the insults because she can't even see what she looks like. It's not just that she doesn't like wearing makeup, it's a world completely closed off to her.

Unless she gets help from other people. And the show goes to great lengths to establish why Toph doesn't want help from other people, and that's something that should be respected. So yeah, no hate to anybody's fanart, but why do I keep seeing art of Poppy Beifong doing her daughter's hair like she's a pretty little doll? Not only is this not Toph, this is the opposite of what Toph wanted. Toph wants independence and so she focuses on the things she can do, which happen to be not traditionally feminine things. Being made up in a way that expresses how helpless she is and also makes her an object to be looked at by others, while she can't even see what she herself looks like, greatly diminishes her agency.

Note that I'm not saying blind people can't enjoy makeup or looking pretty. Just that for Toph, it's not her thing and she has a great deal of trauma surrounding it, so her discomfort with it should be respected.

I think the readiness to disregard how Toph feels, to overlook her parents' treatment of her, is also connected to the way society sees women as perpetually childlike. If Toph were a boy, I think her desire for independence would be taken more seriously, but she would also be derided for the ways she isn't independent because of her disability and because her parents conditioned her to be dependent upon them. See Zuko and the jokes about how he's stupid or incompetent at things for an example of that.

[lennons-lemonade]

i like, went to summer camp, came back, and immediately made this. that was a month ago but whatevs. anyways i came home and immediately fixated on the gaang. i just really wanted to draw them in a cuddle pile because i need to. plus i got to include appa as a dog and momo as a cat (which is the first time i’ve drawn either animal in years) and that was SOOOO awesome!!! this piece was a TOTAL trust the process thing. but it pulled through and it was amazing. ADDITIONAL FULL DISCLAIMER: UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE, NONE OF THEM ARE BEING SHIPPED TOGETHER!!!! DO NOT TAG AS SHIPS UNLESS I TAGGED THEM AS WELL!! ty:-)

anyways! here are some closeups of the characters!

since this is a modern kind of au i gave aang a grown out buzzcut. he kept his tattoos and back scar though because i have fun drawing scars and his tattoos are extremely important to me. he doesn’t exactly run warm, but it’s summer and it’s definitely warm out so he chose to sleep topless which everyone is cool with 👍🏻. he’s trans in this piece but since they’re like family (and i like it when trans guys are shown as comfortable with their chest as cis guys) it doesn’t make a difference.

i had a bit of difficulty imagining how katara would sleep (because yes, i thought out different sleeping headcanons for all of them). but i like how and where she ended up. i really like how close she is with zuko and aang, but i especially love how tangled up she is with suki! it’s still summer, so she’s in a tank top and shorts. but she gets a little colder than zuko and aang, so she gets a pair of wave patterned socks!

sokka was… fun?.. to draw. his hair was difficult but i had more references for him than i did for suki, so i made it work. he’s got a lot of little scars on his hands from fishing accidents, which i thought were fun details to include. i also got to draw armpit hair for the first time? that was interesting. he’s wearing socks, like the other characters that are from areas surrounded by water (his sister and his girlfriend). his socks have little boomerangs on them!!!! i was very excited about that!

suki oh my god okay. she is the most peaceful sleeper here. i gave her loads of little moles and scars which was fun! but tbh, her hair was a NIGHTMARE. not because it was difficult to draw, no it was easy. i just could NOT find any references </3. her socks are boring bc i didn’t want to draw koi fish, and i thought that would be the coolest for her. her shirt is a bluer green than toph’s since kyoshi island is surrounded by water!

okay so toph isn’t even cold, she just wanted to wear zuko’s turtle duck pajamas. as i did with suki, i gave her some moles and some scars. BUT no socks, because it’s toph we’re talking about. i also just now realized that she has canonically longer hair, but eff that. she chopped it off when she left her parents’ place. but sleepover stuff rq. the gaang totally thought she’d be a snorer and that she’d move loads. they got 1 out of 2 right. she is actually a SUPER silent sleeper, but she does toss and turn.

zuko is way prettier than how i drew him but i needed to do his scar justice and make a point. anyways , he’a also trans in this piece, why? because i’m trans and projecting. i headcanon that zuko generally runs warm, and with the other’s added body heat, i figure he’d want pajamas that weren’t too hot. so i gave him a muscle tank and shorts. his scar was loads of fun to draw and i wanted to point out that his ear has been affected by his scarring in this piece because it’s an important detail to me.

[swordgayist]

cultural appropriation in ATLA (hinduism edition)

i’m sure there’s already a ton of posts about this, but whatever, i’m still making one idc. 

ATLA’s cultural appropriation, everyone knows about it, the white people don’t speak about it, and the asian and indigenous people get ignored. we know the cycle. but i wanted to come here and highlight some of the most prominent examples of ATLA abusing hinduism, as i am kinda sorta hindu (i was raised in a hindu household, i go to chinmaya mission, that kinda shit). i might forget some things so keep that in mind.

this is gonna be divided into 3 main sections, since there are different ways that they disrespect hinduism that i don’t wanna lump together.

and i’d say i know a lot about hinduism but that doesn’t make me an expert, obviously, so if other hindus have anything to add and/or correct then please do !! and if anyone else wants to share how their cultures were appropriated then please do that as well !!

so let’s get started shall we?

appropriating hinduism

1) the avatar

we’ll start with the most obvious example: the avatar itself

i know that there are parts of the avatar mythos that are taken from other cultures as well but the idea of the avatar itself is primarily from hinduism.

basically in hinduism, the term dashavatara refers to the 10 reincarnations of lord vishnu (the god of preservation), with avatar(a) meaning form or incarnation in sanskrit, and das(a) meaning ten. it was said that whenever the world was out of balance, lord vishnu would come down to earth in a certain form to restore balance. Each reincarnation is considered a different life with a different story. the avatars of lord vishnu are often considered the saviors of the world.

so basically, the central idea of the show and the actual name of the show is largely based on hinduism.

2) chakras

many different indian religions have a concept of chakras (chakra meaning wheel or circle in sanskrit), but hinduism is the one that primarily preaches the system of seven chakras, the version used in ATLA.

chakras connect the physical body to the ‘subtle’ body (referring more to the spirit and the psyche) by connecting parts of the body to aspects of the mind. the idea is that through different forms of steady meditation you can manipulate the different chakras and allow the pure flow of energy through the body.

the whole idea of chakras on ATLA is that aang has to unblock them all to let the cosmic energy flow through him so that he can go into the avatar state at will. so yeah, pretty much that whole idea was taken from hinduism.

3) terminologies

these are just a few terms that were taken from hinduism. i’m pretty sure there are more that i can’t think of right now but yeah.

“agni” kai 

i’ll be honest i don’t know where the ‘kai’ part is from, i don’t think it’s from hinduism but if it is well fuck me i guess.  ‘agni’ in hinduism is the god of fire, so the creators used it in ‘agni kai’, the name for a firebending duel.

“bumi”

this is in reference to the hindu word for ‘earth’, which is bhoomi. this is also in reference to our goddess of earth, bhoomi devi. also this doesn’t really bother me but i wonder if the creators knew that bhoomi is a name typically used for women (as are most hindi names ending in ‘i’/‘ee’).

in general, concepts like having multiple complex gods (the spirits) who are capable of good and evil and the reincarnation cycle are prominent in a lot of asian cultures, including (and arguably primarily) hinduism.

mocking hinduism

now we get into the mockery of hinduism in ATLA, because it is very much there.

1) whoever the fuck that baboon guy in the spirit world was

now what the fuck was this.

i mean i wouldn’t say this is the most egregious example of them making fun of brown people but lord why did this even need to be there? this random guy from the spirit world has an indian accent ? and is fervently chanting ‘om’ for some reason, and it’s clearly meant to be seen as comical. also portraying brown people as monkeys....... really.

2) combustion man/sparky sparky boom man

when rewatching ATLA in 2019 i actually had no idea that this was a thing, because the last time i had watched it was as a kid and i didn’t finish it.

so lord was i in for a surprise when i saw...

now... now what.

if you didn’t know, combustion man’s ‘third eye’ is designed to replicate the hindu god of destruction, lord shiva. right down to the vibhuti on his forehead (referring to the three line markings around the third eye).

in hinduism, lord shiva’s third eye is used to reduce people to ashes, though as far as i can recall, not very frequently. the primary significance of the third eye is that it represents the ability of higher spiritual thought and higher consciousness.

the ATLA writers take the ACTUAL significance of the third eye, throw it out the window, and then take its destructive abilities to make a super duper cool and dangerous new firebending technique.

and if that wasn’t bad enough, the actual person who uses this technique, and is meant to emulate a GOD who is PRAISED, is a scary, burly, half metal man who is a villain and an assassin. not to mention the design of his facial hair replicates that super duper scary “terrorist” depiction of brown people, particularly of muslims, that white people are so thoroughly terrified of for no reason. 

this is a parody of a god, and they portrayed him as this terrifying, maniacal fucking assassin who, along with p’li, the combustion bender from LOK, is constantly referred to as a “third-eyed freak”. i’ve made this analogy before and i’ll do it again, this is like making jesus into a hitman.

now onto my favorite example...

3) guru pathik

ah, this motherfucker.

i don’t really have any problems with him as a character, i mean hell, must’ve taken a fuck ton of patience to handle aang’s “why would choose cosmic energy over katara” bullshit.

but we all know it, we see it plain as day, don’t even try to deny it.

“guru” literally just means teacher or guide, so i don’t really know why pathik needed to be referred to as “guru” so distinctively from aang’s other teachers and guides, but that’s just extremely trivial compared to all the other issues with this character.

first of all what is this character design? what is he even wearing? if they’re trying to replicate the clothes of swamis and priests and stuff this is already wrong, realized people don’t dress like this. and why the fuck does he have an indian accent? and why was this indian accent done by a non indian (brian george)?

once again, the poor but extremely heavy indian accent is clearly meant to be mocking, if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t’ve gone out of their way to get a non indian person to DO an indian accent, and instead they would’ve just gotten an actual indian person to play the role. 

and oh yeah, the onion and banana juice. because hindus just eat weird shit right.

whether it’s actually weird or not, the show certainly portrays it as weird. and as far as i know no hindu actually fucking drinks onion and banana juice.

ironic because brown people can absolutely destroy white people in cooking. but i digress.

i know what you’re all waiting for. because the guru apparently didn’t have enough fun with guru pathik, so they just had to come back to him in book 3:

where do i begin.

so this is obviously john o’bryan’s super funny and hilarious depiction of pathik as a hindu god.

usually when a god has multiple arms it’s to carry an array of things, from flowers to weapons to instruments, and one hand is typically free to bless devotees (ie. goddess durga and lord vishnu respectively):

but of course white people see this as weird and so they make fun of it, hence guru pathik having multiple arms just flailing about aimlessly (save for the two that are being used to carry the aforementioned onion and banana juice).

then there’s the whole light behind pathik’s head which is usually depicted in drawings of hindu gods to show that they are celestial.

also what the fuck is he holding? is that supposed to be a veena? because this is what a veena looks like:

and i assume the reason this was added was to mock the design of goddess saraswathi, who carries a veena:

but that right there in the picture of pathik looks more like a tambura than a veena. 

and it also just kinda looks like a banjo?

but i guess the animators just searched up “long indian instrument” and slapped it on there. actually no, that’s giving them too much credit, they probably didn’t search it up at all. 

and then the actual scene is pathik singing crazily about chakras tasting good or something while playing the non-veena and it’s all supposed to be some funky crazy hallucination that aang is having due to sleep deprivation. just some crazy dream, just as crazy as talking appa and momo sparring with swords or tree-ozai coming to life.

our gurus and swamis and sadhus and generally realized people are very respected in hinduism, they’re people we look up to and honor very much. and our GODS are beings that we literally worship. and the writers just take both and make caricatures out of them for other white people to laugh at.

4) other shit

before we move to the next portion i just wanna mention there are also smaller backhanded jabs that i can’t really remember now, but one example was when zuko was all “we’ll be sure to remember that, guru goody goody”. or when a character would meditate and say “om” only when the meditation is supposed to be portrayed as comical or pointless. or in bitter work when sokka was rambling on about karma. small things like that. but moving on.

south asian representation, or lack thereof

now i finally get to the “losing” hinduism part. by this i mean the lack of actual representation there is of south asians (the region where hinduism is primarily practiced) despite the fact that hinduism plays such a big role in the show’s world design.

i think it’s safe to say that broadly the main cast consists of aang, katara, sokka, zuko, toph, azula, iroh, mai, ty lee, and suki. 

a grand total of none of these characters are south asian. the writers don’t even attempt to add any south asian main characters. 

there are characters with dark skin, like haru and jet, but a) they’re not confirmed to be south asian and don’t have any south asian features or south asian names, b) they’re side characters, so they don’t count as representation, and c) even if they were south asian and main characters, jet wouldn’t even count because he’s portrayed as a terrorist.

the ONLY truly south asian character we get is fucking guru pathik. so yeah. not representation.

i don’t get how the creators of this show rip off of hinduism (among many other south asian cultures they rip off of), mock indians, and then don’t even have the decency to HAVE a main character who is south asian.

i’ve never gotten a chance to compile all this, and this definitely isn’t all the creators have done, but i hope this was somewhat informative.

[sunmoonturtleduck]

Zutara and Mutual Understanding: Part 3

Part 1  ｜  Part 2

Bending Styles

I’ve been wanting to write this meta for a long time, because this is probably my favorite Zutara parallel. Even though their elements are opposites, Zuko and Katara have very similar approaches to bending. They both struggled with learning bending as children, and as a result have a strong dedication to learning more about their elements. They also borrow bending moves from each other, and use their knowledge of other elements to make their own bending stronger.

Unlike Aang, Toph, and Azula, Zuko and Katara weren’t naturally gifted prodigies as children. Katara had no waterbenders left in her tribe to teach her, so she had to learn everything on her own until she met Pakku. While Zuko likely had many skilled firebending teachers around him in the palace, he still struggled under the intense pressure from his father. Both of them know what it’s like to feel frustrated by their lack of bending skills, and understand that it takes hard work to be a bending master.

Katara:

Wow, I can't believe you got that so quickly. It took me two months to learn that move.

Zuko:

[Azula’s] a firebending prodigy, and everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky, he says I was lucky to be born.

Zuko:

Why can't I do it? Instead of lightning, it keeps exploding in my face! Like everything always does!

Katara:

Why can't I get this stupid move?

For this reason, Zuko and Katara are the “nerdiest” benders of the Gaang, practicing frequently and always trying to learn more moves. They don’t see bending practice as a chore—they genuinely look forward to it.

Pakku: 

Katara, you have advanced more quickly than any student I have ever trained. You have proven that with fierce determination, passion, and hard work, you can accomplish anything. Raw talent alone is not enough.

Zuko:

So, Uncle, I've been thinking—it's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced firebending if I want to stand a chance against her.

Whenever the opportunity presents itself to learn more bending techniques, Katara and Zuko both leap at the chance with excitement. They also study other elements beyond their own, and incorporate what they learn into their own bending. Zuko copies Katara’s waterbending moves, like this one:

...and learns lightning redirection, which is based on waterbending technique. He also incorporates earth and airbending moves into the Final Agni Kai. Likewise, Katara uses earthbending-type moves in her fight with Hama and relies on breath control very similar to the Breath of Fire to beat Azula.

Katara and Zuko’s dedication to their elements would lead to mutual respect between them, and their flexibility in incorporating other bending styles could result in both of them creating whole new styles of bending their respective elements. They also have the unique opportunity to teach others about different, more powerful forms of their own bending. Zuko was taught by the dragons, so he can teach the next generation of firebenders how to think of fire as a source of life rather than destruction. Similarly, Katara is one of the few bloodbenders in the world, and she could use that skill to create a new field of medicine and train waterbenders to heal from the inside.

They could also fuse their bending styles into something new and more powerful, creating water and firebending that has never been seen before. Just imagine, for example, Katara adopting Zuko’s “breakdance” firebending move and using it to aim ice shards at an opponent. I sketched a really rough version of this so you can see what I mean:

Just…imagine.

Zuko and Katara could teach their students (and their children, if they have any benders) how to be flexible and open-minded in their bending, to take inspiration from multiple sources, and be willing to move past tradition. Anyone who learns from Zuko will be learning from a firebender who was raised to be violent but chose to be kind; anyone who learns from Katara will be learning from a waterbender who was expected to be a passive healer but became a fierce and assertive warrior. Their students and children will be forces to be reckoned with.

Image descriptions under the cut

Image Descriptions:

Image 1: A close-up shot of young Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender. He looks forward in concentration, his brow furrowed.

Image 2: A medium shot of Katara from Avatar: the Last Airbender. She has a confused and frustrated look on her face as she holds her hand out, trying to waterbend.

Image 3: A close-up shot of Katara with her right eyebrow raised, looking to her side.

Image 4: A close-up shot of Zuko with his brow furrowed, looking off to the side. Aang sits in the background, unconscious.

Image 5: A medium profile shot of Zuko clenching his fist and scowling in frustration. Iroh sits in the background, watching.

Image 6: A medium-wide shot of Katara with both fists clenched, glaring at some point off-camera. Aang stands in the background. Sokka sits even further back.

Image 7: A close-up shot of Katara smiling, looking ahead with an eager expression.

Image 8: A shot of Zuko and Iroh sitting in a dilapidated house, drinking tea and facing each other.

Image 9: A medium shot of Katara bending a shield of snow in front of her.

Image 10: A medium shot of Zuko bending a shield of fire in front of him. It is almost identical to Katara’s snow shield.

Image 11: A rough, black and white drawing of Katara kneeling on the ground, her head lowered.

Image 12: A rough, black and white drawing of Katara shifting into a “breakdance”-type bending stance. A stream of water rises behind her.

Image 13: A rough, black and white drawing of Katara continuing the breakdance move. Water swirls around her.

Image 14: A rough, black and white drawing of Katara finishing the breakdance move. The water around her has transformed into dozens of sharp icicles.

[goldenchan-fx2thepeacock]

Friendly Neighbourhood Phantom

rKay, y’all remember how I said I would write a fic for that one post I reblogged? Well, Wattpad still hates me, but here ya go.

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Danny was bored. He’d finally mastered the powers that decided to show up when he ‘died’ in the portal accident, but nothing was happening. Not that it was bad, just boring. He felt like he should do something. And when he overheard Sam talking about volenteering, he got an idea.  “Sam, what was that thing you were talking about volenteering for?” He asked. “Oh, it’s a soup kitchen not far from here. You thinking about helping out?” she replied. “Well, yeah. I was thinking about using these powers for something useful,” “Danny, that’s genius. But volenteering is a big step. Maybe you could just help out people in ghost form?” “Huh, that’s not a bad idea. Thanks Sam!” He ran to class.

After school, he put his backpack down and changed. The first few times it was painful, but now it was a numb tingling sensation. He knew about the more sketchy areas in town and sped off. 

He set down in a playground with a bunch of kids. There was one sitting off on her own. She was glumly playing with the sand.  “Hey kid, want to play a game?” He asked. She stared at him. At first, she seemed startled, but she smiled. “Yeah! Let’s play hide and seek!” She giggled. He smiled. “Okay, I’ll count to ten and you go hide. Just don’t leave the playground,” He turned around and closed his eyes. She giggled and ran off. Once he finished counting to ten, he turned back around. He heard giggling from her, but decided to wander when looking for her. “Oh my gosh, you’re so good at hiding. I wonder where you could be,” He heard giggling behind him. After looking around a few trees, he acted like he’d just spotted the play structure. “Maybe you’re hiding in here?” He peeked under the structure. She giggled up at him. “You found me! Now it’s your turn to hide!” She ran off to the tree. He dashed into the slide and hid just in view. She spotted him immediately. “Ha! I found you!” “You did!” they played a few more rounds. 

They were the only ones left when her dad showed up.  “Iliana? Where are you?” He yelled. She dashed out from the play structure.  “Right here daddy!” She yelled and ran over to Danny. He smiled at her and waved goodbye.  “Iliana! That’s dangerous, don’t play with demons,” The dad snatched her away from Danny.  “He’s not a demon!” Iliana said. “I’ve heard about things like you,” The dad narrowed his eyes at Danny. “Stay away from my daughter,” “We were just playing hide and seek!” Danny protested. “And I’m not a demon,” “Preying on children is wrong. Go back to hell,” Danny held back the tears and left. He knew the feeling. Transphobes liked to tell him to go to hell, but this was horrible. 

Once he got home and finished his homework, he looked through his insta. Then he got a random idea. He went to the account blurb and clicked “make new account”. He took a selfie in his ghost form and set it as his profile pic. What to call it? He drummed his fingers on the desk and an idea came to him. He typed it in. Danny Phantom. He posted a bunch of anti bullying posts and selfies. He’d take pictures when volenteering as Phantom and put them up. 

When he got to school in the morning, there was the usual buzz. Sam looked at him. Tucker was on vacation for a few more days.  “So, how’d ‘volenteering’ go?” she asked. “Pretty good. I played hide and seek with a little girl. Is that a good start?” “Sounds good to me. But pretty good with you usually means that something happened,” She knew him too well. “I got called a demon,” He snapped. She grimaced. “Oh, Danny. I’m sorry. What was it?” “I think it’s just the whole ghost thing. I doubt he could tell I’m trans,” “Well, that’s gotta count for something!” “Maybe,” He sat down in Lancer’s class and pulled out a notebook.  “Anything else happen?” “I started an account on Instagram for ghost me. I called it Danny Phantom. Should be easy enough to find,” “Don’t you think anyone’ll notice the parralels between that and Danny Fenton?” “The people here are too stupid to guess that. Besides, no one’s gonna connect the dots between me and a random ghost,” “Good point,” Lancer walked into the class.  “Alright class, you know the drill,” Danny pulled out the novel they were reading this week. 

Danny spent the rest of the week helping out in random ways and putting the pictures up on insta. Maybe it was kinda cheap, but unlike some accounts he’s seen, he was doing it solely for the purpose of raising awareness, not to make a good face. There were a few other derogatory terms thrown his way, but it wasn’t horrible. Today, he was going to start volenteering for real. He set down in front of the soup kitchen.  “Listen, we don’t have soup till later. Come back then,” A guy wearing a big apron said. “Actually, I was going to volenteer to help out,” Danny said. The guy turned around.  “You got a bit of a look going on there. Why do you wanna volenteer?” “To help out the community. And I can’t help looking this way,” “Huh. Well, get an apron on and help me make this soup,” The guy turned around. Danny obliged.  “Uh, you never told me your name,” Danny said meekly. “Milton’s the name. And since I gave you mine, I’m gonna need yours,” “Danny,” “That all? No last name?” “You didn’t give me yours,” “Nah, but the kids like you usually boast about it. For a teen, you’re pretty humble,” “Thanks?” “Okay, enough small talk. Help me stir this while I get the other ingredients,” Milton thrust a long wooden spoon into Danny’s hands and walked off. Danny started stirring the big pot on the stove. He smiled and hummed a little tune to keep his attention. Milton walked back in. “No picture taking? You really are humble,”  “I guess it just didn’t occur to me. I mostly made my account to tell people to be nicer to the less fortunate,” (Yes, the first part is a Toph line, but less condesending in this case) He kept stirring but didn’t pull his phone out.  “You kids these days. Always an ulterior motive,” “I mean, I’m a ghost, so I could’ve been dead for hundreds of years for all you know,” Milton stared at him. “A ghost?”  “Jeez, don’t panic or anything. Not all ghosts are malevolent. And I’ve only been ‘dead’, per se, for about a month,” “I thought it was just dumb hair dye and contacts,” Milton gaped.  “Yeah, teenager just casually floats and nothing’s weird about that. Got the ingredients?” “Wha- oh yeah. Here,” Milton dumps the vegetable in the pot. “Sorry to scare you like that. I just didn’t want you calling me a demon or something when you found out,” “Why would anyone do that? Seems cruel,” “People don’t often care about anything but their prejudices,”  “Generalization or stereotype there?” “Stereotype. I guess. Let’s just make soup,” He wasn’t about to spill his troubles onto a random stranger. 

He stood in the window giving out soup. Sam was standing not far off taking pictures. He wasn’t completely sure if he should keep posting. But it was kinda late to do that now. Danny Phantom had started to gain attention Danny Fenton never would.  “What the hell? I didn’t know Milton was the type to let freaks help out,” One skinny teenager in ripped clothes said.  “I didn’t know there was a reason to not let a person help the less fortunate,” Danny handed him a bowl of soup.  “Sorry man. I guess the stress of having to come here everyday is starting to get to me,” “It’s okay. When Milton takes his turn, wanna talk about it?”  “Thanks dude,” The skinny guy sat down at one of the many tables set up. “No problem. It’s the least I can do,” Danny smiled at him. Milton walked up behind him.  “I’ll take it for fifteen minutes. Ghost probably don’t need breaks, but I’d feel bad if I made you do all the work,” Danny nodded and ditched the apron. He phased through the wall and floated over to the skinny guy. 

The guy looked startled.  “You’re floating,” He stared at Danny’s feet.  “Ya know, probably could’ve told you that myself,” Danny smirked.  “Danny! Is your shift done or something?” Sam ran over.  “Nah, I just was gonna let this guy talk about his problems to someone,” “You’re a ghost,” The guy looked lost. “Yes and no. Semantics. Listen, I’m not here to tell you about my weird life. I’m here so you don’t completely lose it from having to support yourself,” “Thanks again for that. So your name is Danny?” “Yeah. This is Sam. What’s your name?” “Jack,” Danny held back the snort that came with thinking of his bumbling father. Bumbling couldn’t have been more accurate. Jack Fenton gave Danny bumblebee vibes.  “Nice to meet you Jack. What did you need to talk about?” Sam snorted behind Danny. “Shutup,” Danny slid into the seat across from Jack.  “What’s funny?” Jack said. “Nothing. My dad’s name is Jack and you look absoloutely nothing like him. Sam is drawing certain parralels that don’t need to be there,” “Your dad? Do ghosts have dads?” “Half ones do,” Sam said.  “We’re not talking about that. Why do you have to come here. You don’t look much older than 15,”  “If it weren’t for the glowy hair and eyes, I’d say you don’t look older than 12,” “I’m fourteen,” “Close enough,” “Whatever. Why do you come here?”

Danny became a hit with the soup kitchen users. He’d talk to people about they’re issues with an air of concern. He didn’t shut anyone down no matter how small the issue. Soon, he wasn’t a freaky prospect, he was the ghost who listened to people’s issues.  “I think we should get Jazz to help you out at the soup kitchen,” Tucker said one day at lunch. “I mean, she knows, so it can’t be that weird. It’ll give her some field experience with helping people out too. Yeah, that’ll work,” Danny took a bite out of the glowing sandwich.  “Are you sure that’s safe?” Sam poked it.  “Eating ectoplasm won’t kill me anymore than I already am,” “Touche,” Tucker said. “That’s not how touche works, at least I don’t think so,” Danny replied.  “And you’re in academic english,” Sam laughed. “You are too! And english is like, my worst class,”  “Fair enough. But yeah, getting Jazz to help out is a good idea,” She forked her veggy lasagna. “Okay! I’ll tell her tonight,”

The soup kitchen wasn’t the only place Danny volenteered. He kept up the random helping and stopped a few crimes when he came across them. It wasn’t like he went looking for crimes, but it came with the territory. He stopped a car crash one time. Danny Phantom slowly became a hit on Instagram. Danny had to turn off notifcations at night. He opened it and gaped.  “500 followers overnight! And it’s going up?! Holy shit,” He turned the notifications back off and did his morning routine. It was break day, so he glared at the sports bra he knew he’d have to wear.  “If I find that ghost boy, I’ll tear him apart molecule by molecule!” Jack Fenton said. Danny winced. It was normal at this point, but he didn’t like it very much. “Oh Jack. You know we should study it,” He head his mom say. Danny didn’t know what was worse, his dad’s threats of death or his mother’s dissociation.  “Dann-o! We’re going looking for the ghost boy today!” Jack said excitedly.  “What did he do wrong?” “Nothing, but he probably has an ulterior motive to all this helping stuff!” Jack replied. Danny sighed and pulled out the cereal.  “That’s the ecto contaminated cereal Danny,” Maddie said. Mom, that’s what he meant.  “Oh, whoops,” He put it back and grabbed a new box. “Why’re we keeping it anyways?” “It’s an experiment!” Mom replied.  “You guys and all your ridiculous ghost stuff need to stop it,” Jazz huffed as she walked down the stairs.  “But we have proof of ghosts now! And some of them can get they’re hands on human tech,” Jack- er Dad, said. “You mean social media? People could just taken random picture of a random guy doing that and made something out of it,” “He’s floating Jazzibear, that means something!” J- Dad said loudly.  “Photo editting,” Jazz knew it was hopeless, but she did it for Danny. “Believe what you want,” Dad grabbed some fudge from the fridge. 

Jazz and Danny walked to the soup kitchen. Well, Jazz walked and Danny floated. It was Saturday, so they were taking an all day shift.  “500 followers Jazz! That’s crazy for one night!” “That’s great!” “I know. Oh look, we’re here,” Danny sped over to the kitchen while Jazz sat at one of the tables. “Hey, it’s my favourite ghost,” Milton said. “More like the only ghost you know,” “Yeah, let’s stir this pot and make soup,” Milton laughed. Maybe everything wasn’t great, but Danny was okay with that. He smiled and stirred the pot of soup. 

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And, la fin. Maybe it sucks, but I felt like writing something for this. My first oneshot actually. Let me know if you want more of this! The idea came from a post I read by @redrobin-detective. I reblogged it for those who want to see the original concept. Sorry if my grammar is a little strange to you. I’m from Canada, and grammar here is different than the States. 

[ultranos]

So u mentioned that azulas makeup is fascinating. Can u elaborate? I got curious 👀

I can try! I admit I’m...absolutely no expert in cosmetics or the history thereof. I am not a person who generally feels comfortable wearing it. However, utterly deadpan casual commentary from my mother did get me at least interested in how it comes across in a non-western context.

So, even prior to Western imperialism, there was value in pale skin. Paleness was seen as a beauty standard in ancient China and Japan. In Japan, references go back as far as the Nara and Heian periods, in the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki as well as in the earliest novels in the world (Tale of Genji).

Specifically, even then, women (and men!) were lightening their faces with rice powder and other white powders (lead, in some cases) in China as well. I’ve said before that the Fire Nation draws a lot of cultural clues from Tokugawa/Edo Japan and a bit from Tang China as well. In the Edo period especially, there were rules around cosmetics:

By the early Edo period (1600-1868) there were elaborate treatises on etiquette and deportment for women that also gave detailed instructions on the proper use of cosmetics. During this period cosmetics centered on a palette of three basic colors: red (lip rouge, fingernail polish), white (face powder), and black (tooth-blackener, eyebrow pencil).

During the Edo period women were especially concerned with the application of face powder, for a white skin was regarded as the essence of a beautiful woman, as an old saying had it, "a light skin conceals seven other defects."

(We can discount the teeth-blackening for this, since that was a mark of a woman who was about to be married or just married.)

We do of course see hints of paleness being valued in the series, with Katara and Toph having powdered faces in Ba Sing Se when they are being treated like high-class ladies. We also see it in the statement the makeup of the Kyoshi Warriors makes, with the powerful juxtaposition of this makeup that is supposed to represent the gold-standard of feminine beauty with the martial prowess of the warriors. (Icons, all of them.)

So it’s into this context we see Azula enter. Azula whom we see wear the red lipstick, see in the royal spa, all of what we would expect of a royal princess. And yet...Azula does not wear the white face powder. Azula does not pretend that she is not in the sun.

Now, it could be a cultural note that paleness is not as valued in the Fire Nation, because of the cultural significance of fire and the sun so of course one would not hide from it. But that’s a huge departure from the usual meanings behind paleness: that being, you’re rich enough and well-off enough that you don’t need to spend your days working outside.

So I’m more comfortable assuming that paleness is still expected of high-born women. And in this context, Azula is defiantly asserting that she is a firebender and soldier first. She is out in the sun. She does not spend all her time indoors. Here, the choice of makeup is a deliberate choice. The red lipstick is a statement of adulthood (and, frankly, of wealth), but the lack of powder could also be a statement, a way of saying to the military commanders “I am not a child, but I am not a pampered, sheltered woman”.

It could also be a way of rejecting the “perfect, sheltered noblewoman” framing (the one Mai chafes under), a way of asserting her own identity. Or the only identity her father would let her have.

[passable-talent]

SoftZukoSoftZukoSoftZuko Pleasseeeee I need fluff and aftercare (doesn't have to be nsfw but I want my teeth to rot from the sweetness)

Zuko had had a hard day. Being a seventeen year old Fire Lord will do that. Sometimes when life got hard on him, he went to his uncle.

But Iroh wasn’t always home.

He was so young, and your relationship so new, that he hadn’t been quite ready to show so much vulnerability in front of you. But he knew he needed to talk to someone, or maybe cry in front of someone, and the person he was closest to trusting was you.

He trusted you, of course. He trusted you enough to share his bed with him, to share his time. He trusted you not to poison his food, and he trusted you to fix his hair when needed. But trusting you with the weights on his shoulders- that was something else.

You had been sitting in the gardens next to the duck pond. The sun was just about below the horizon, not that you could see it, but you could look at the red streaks wisping away into a dark blue night sky. The turtle ducks were long gone, and the peepers and badger frogs in the surrounding mountains were starting to sing their nighttime songs.

“Y/N?” Zuko asked, appearing at a doorway. You looked at him over your shoulder, and smiled. “Will you come to my room with me?” He had asked you such a thing before, obviously, and yet each time you reacted with just a little extra smile, a quick jump to your feet. You followed him to the fire lord’s bed chambers and when he paused at his dresser, taking a moment to let his hair fall, you waited for him.

“I just need to talk,” Zuko said, voice low, “and I need someone to listen.” Your head fell to the side, because you’d noticed the way he walked. There was a slump to his shoulders, a hang of his head, as though he were feeling defeated. And yet, there was a sharpness to his step, like his guard was still up. He must have something on his mind, it was obvious.

You stepped forward and placed your palm flat onto his back.

“You can tell me anything,” you promised, and you watched as he closed his eyes, absorbing your promise and deciding how much of his soul he was willing to bare. He took a deep sigh, and sat down on his bed.

“I’m frustrated,” he said with a hard exhale, “about the situation in Yu Dao.” You knew that he had been visiting Yu Dao a lot, but you didn’t really know what was going on there. It was a former colony, sure, but other than that you had no clue. You sat down beside him, slowly, taking his hand and setting it on your lap.

“It’s frustrating because I feel that what I’m doing is right. Breaking apart multi-generation families just doesn’t make sense, especially since after the war were supposed to be working on unity. It doesn’t matter what nation their grandparents came from, or at least I don’t think it should.” You nodded, following along, but didn’t offer any input. You weren’t educated on the issue and so felt you’d have nothing of importance to say.

“But Aang doesn’t see it that way. And neither does King Kuei. It feels wrong to be disagreeing with my allies, but they don’t understand.” The more he spoke, the quicker his words got, and though his tone couldn’t be described as ‘panicky’, it did seem that he was losing control of his emotions. “We can’t draw hard lines between nations anymore. I know that’s my fault, because it’s my nation’s fault, it’s my grandfather and father’s fault, but still, I have to protect these families-“

You turned to him and hugged him tightly, shocking him into silence for the time being. Slowly he defroze and hugged you back, tucking his face down and resting his forehead on your shoulder.

“You’re making the right choice,” you told him, even though you may not have all the facts. “I trust you. The nation trusts you. You’re not your father, you’re doing what’s right for the world. If you think this is the right decision, then it is.” He nodded slowly against your shoulder, and you closed your eyes.

“I just feel like- I’m fighting with all my friends. And one of them is the avatar- if you’re facing the avatar, aren’t you on the wrong side?” You pulled away from Zuko, gently reaching up to brush some of hair from his forehead.

“Aang is the avatar, but he’s also just a teenager, just like you. Sometimes he may not see the whole picture. But he will, because he’s your friend.” Zuko looked down, and you leaned forward to gently press a kiss to his scar.

“You’re a good man. And a good leader. You know how to make choices that will help people.” You laid down onto the mattress, putting your head next to his lap so that you could watch his expression. “I trust you.”

“You trust me?” You let a smile come to your face as you looked up at him, a softness in your expression and your heart.

“Zuko, you are so good. I’d call you perfect, but that’s a lot of pressure to put on you. You felt the scourge of the fire nation but instead of letting it beat you into submission, you found your way in the world, and found who you were meant to be.” You reached up, tucking your first and second finger into his hair to pull down a few locks to play with.

“You helped the avatar win the war, at the cost of your own family. You grew stronger and braver than your forefathers have ever been.” You paused, letting your gaze settle on his scar.

“And you brought more light and happiness into this palace than I’ve ever seen. The staff trusts you not to banish or strike or burn them when they do something wrong. You’ve let these people laugh again.” You let your hand drop, as it was getting tired, but you grabbed his again on the way down and brought it to your face, rubbing his knuckles against your cheek.

“Even if you don’t think you are, you’re a great leader. You’re already greater than any Fire Lord in recent history. Now, that might not be saying much, but-“ Zuko let out a small laugh, and you caught his eye.

“But I think you’re going to be one of the best Fire Lords that our history has ever seen. Including Sozin’s ancestors.” Zuko lowered himself to the sheets, and made possibly the most ungraceful movement you’d ever seen from a member of the royal family to scoot downward until he laid beside you. You couldn’t help but giggle.

“I trust you too,” he said, and you wondered if he’d been stuck on that aspect of the conversation this whole time. “I know I can come to you. Rely on you. I just worry that that’s too much of a burden, being Fire Lord and all.” You chuckled a bit and turned sideways to him, your arm acting as a pillow for your head.

“No matter how much you spill to me, it won’t match the pressure of actually making speeches. Don’t worry about confiding in me.”

“But what if it does become too much?” He asked, his gaze still pointed to the ceiling as though he were afraid to look at you. You reached over and took hold of his jaw, turning his eyes to you.

“Then I’ll tell you. You trust me to be honest with you?” His eyes flicked around your face for a heartbeat before he nodded, and you leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips.

“I’m in love with you, Zuko. I am. I’ll give you any support you need.” Zuko’s eyes widened, even though he’d heard you say it before.

“I love you,” he said, voice soft and low as though he didn’t want anyone else to hear.

You didn’t, either. It was a promise made between the two of you, and no one else. No one else had the right to the bond you shared with him.

“Y/N?” He said softly, after a long moment of easy quiet.

“Hmm?” You asked, your voice rough in your throat. You were almost close to sleep, laying in his soft bed with him.

“I’m always going to be here for you.”

“I know.”

“No, I mean- just because I’m Fire Lord doesn’t mean I can’t help you, too. I love you. And I want you to trust me enough to share everything with me.” You rolled over further until you were laying half on his chest.

“Zuko, what is it with you and trust? Of course I trust you. Of course I’d come to you with anything.” His eyes slid from yours and so you brought your hands up to cup his face.

“Zuko,” you insisted, and his gaze returned to yours.

“I’ve betrayed everyone, at one time or another,” he admitted, and you took one hand from his face to lace with his fingers. “Uncle, and Katara, and Aang, and Toph. My nation. I’m so used to not being trusted. It’s only a matter of time until you feel the same way.” Briefly your heart broke for him and you leaned forward to kiss him again.

“Listen to me, Fire Lord Zuko,” you demanded, not letting him look away. “That’s no way to speak about the best thing that’s happened to the fire nation in a century. You have your reasons, and I trust that. But I know that you aren’t who you were when you made some of your bad choices.” You pressed your finger into his chest, right above his heart.

“Stop living in the past. You know who you are right now- a kind, understanding, trustworthy leader.” You laid your head down once he nodded in conceit, and murmured another point on your way. “Trustworthy boyfriend.” He let his hand come to rest on your back, letting out a slow breath.

“Thank you,” he said, and you squeezed his palm into yours.

“Don’t thank me for stating the truth.”

-🦌 Roe

[comradekatara]

I saw your toph+katara gender post and honestly... thank you for being one of few ppl i've seen who actually do a deeper analysis of toph? Most people tend to just go "i love toph she's cool <3" and while that's fine, its so nice to actually see someone Get Her. Esp wrt her gender expression and relationship to femininity. She's always been v imporant to me, like when i was like 12 i used to watch youtube clips of the toph+katara spa day scene on repeat and have Feelings abt it (still think its a super interesting scene??). Imo, while a lot of her expression is def rebelling (+overcompensating) and doing the oposite of her feminine upbringing, a lot of it is also a genuine JOY at being covered in dirt/burping/being loud and crass and tough? Idk i just feel like a lot of her contemporary "tomboy" characters were more defined as "ugh i hate Skirts and Dresses", but tophs brand of gnc joy and complex relationship w femininity always hit closer For Me? Like. She's loud and crass and rude and badass and cool, she does find it fun to dress girly but as like an Activity with a buddy, she's overjoyed at being portrayed as a big buff dude ("that's exactly how i would cast it!"), she's actually very spiritual and perceptive when not in Loud Mode, she keeps her fancy hairstyle but adds messy bangs, idk she's just. Character of all time. I'd love to hear if you have more thoughts on toph+gender (or just toph in general), and thank you for actually Understanding Her <33

YES!!!!! i have so many thoughts and feelings on toph. she is one of my absolute favorite characters i truly love her so much, and like you said, i hate when people dismiss her even as they claim to love her. "she's so badass" like okay, and?

toph is also just very important to me as her disability informs so much of her arc. and that disability is also inextricable from her gender and her family and all the factors that shape who she is, her strengths and her insecurities. you cannot separate her parents' abuse from her gender, class, or blindness. it's the combination of being an aristocratic blind girl that informs who she is and how she's perceived, especially by her family. she's an only child in a family that would clearly desire at least one son, and you cannot help but wonder whether they stopped at one for eugenicist purposes, whether they couldn't bear the "pain" of risking having another disabled child. and also because they clearly consider having a blind child such a handful that any other child would draw their attention away from her dire, pressing needs. so they completely smother her, but they also dismiss her, trivialize her desires and ignore her feelings and treat her more like a fragile porcelain doll than a person.

it's why, by the time of "the chase," she gets inordinately defensive over katara's suggestion that she pitch in when setting up camp. i see a lot of people claim that toph in this episode is acting like a spoiled brat who refuses to do manual labor because she's too wealthy to understand, but that's not actually the case. toph is fine with doing manual labor (she literally spent who knows how long working in an underground wrestling ring, she's not unaccustomed to work), but she's averse to helping others. as she says, "i carry my own weight." she's establishing, erroneously but understandably, that her idea of affording others respect is assuming that everyone behaves on an individual basis. she's never had friends before, by her own admission, and so in her mind, the only model she's ever seen for "helping others" is smothering them, denying their agency, and deciding everything for them.

toph thinks that katara is a bitch because katara is suggesting that toph meddle in other people's affairs, instead of respecting their own business. and katara thinks that toph is a bitch because she does just straight up assume that toph is a spoiled brat who doesn't understand the value of community. and while toph isn't a spoiled brat, learning the value of community is indeed integral to her arc. and more than simply communal values of helping and sharing with others, she also learns to rely on them in turn. she learns how to embrace her vulnerability, and let others carry her weight for her. her apotheosis in the finale is literally hanging onto sokka, who is holding her entire weight with one hand, for dear life. putting her complete faith in him to carry her and protect her as he always does.

that ability to embrace her vulnerability among the people she actually trusts to not only love and support her, but also to recognize her as a human being and care about her as a a peer, is so crucial to her identity as someone who has learned from years of ableist stigma to put walls up and present herself as someone uniquely powerful and invulnerable. and it's not that she isn't uniquely powerful, but her strength is also largely a projection. it's why she's so delighted to be portrayed by a big buff man, because that's the kind of person she wishes she could be, so that she wouldn't have to be underestimated and belittled and oppressed by people who dismiss her and coddle her and disrespect her and, quite literally, put her in a box.

so if toph's experience with disability is informed by her class and her upbringing, then let's now turn to her experience with gender, which is equally informed by her background. katara often balks at toph's less feminine presentation, because despite her incredibly righteous crusade against limiting patriarchal standards, she nonetheless has her own hangups when it comes to gender. but then again, so does toph. just as katara disdains toph's masculinity, toph finds katara's femininity offensive because her only real model for femininity in her experience is that of aristocratic wifehood. poppy beifong, to be exact, who is not exactly a girlboss (let alone a revolutionary, like katara is). and when katara tries to shove toph back into a box, toph resists because of course she does, that's who she is. she's not going take what she experiences as violent repression lying down.

toph is wrong in "the runaway" to exclude katara from their fun, and she is wrong to call compare her to a mother, but it's not out of nowhere. there is an obvious precedent to these actions. katara is a genuinely feminine girl who loves to boss people around and dictate how they should live their lives. to toph, this is the most egregious sin imaginable. katara, through her femininity and authoritative attitude, is positioning herself, in toph's eyes, as her mother. and toph calls her out for being overbearing and claims that katara hates fun and wants to boss everyone around for this reason, even though sokka is obviously the primary fun-hating, overbearing member of the group.

however, sokka never dictates how toph should act or dress, sokka never made fun of toph for being blind (which is a thing that really deserves its own post, if we're being honest). sokka makes them spend their vacation time at the library and enforces his color-coded schedules on them and generally brings down the vibe what with his neuroticism and severity, but he also laughs at toph's jokes and banters with her in a way that treats her as a friend and not as a rival. and unlike katara, whose desires and commands seem completely arbitrary to toph, sokka's commands are grounded in a logic that toph can understand. so even if from an outside perspective, toph's claim that a revolutionary teenage girl who loves to cause trouble and seeks adventure and joy around every corner is trying to be the overbearing mom of the group makes no sense, it makes perfect sense to toph, based on her history with femininity, overbearing mothers, and feminine overbearing mothers.

toph presents masculinely as compensation, as a way to make herself seem strong and tough instead of dainty and submissive as she was always made out to be. she associates masculinity with strength and femininity with weakness because that's the paradigm she grew up in. it's why she's always teasing aang about his supposed femininity and calling him "twinkle toes" (which, as sokka points out, isn't manly). in their first interaction, aang beat her in a fight and humiliated her in front of all her adoring fans, and avatar or not, toph's gonna make him pay for that by undermining him in turn, by using his presentation as a monk to mock him. even if aang isn't gay or even gender non-conforming (within the assumptions of his own culture), toph is still employing the logic of sexism/homophobia to undermine aang when she makes jokes about him being "more in touch with [his] feminine side than most guys." and of course, the nickname "twinkle toes" is also deeply affectionate, and aang (bless his heart) never actually takes offense to it. but toph is trying to establish herself as more powerful than him due to the humiliating knowledge that he could beat her in a fight, easily.

toph's masculinity is inextricably tied to her invulnerability. she wants to be taken seriously and treated as a human being, which is respect that has been denied to her due to her status as a blind girl, save for her blind bandit persona, which superficially empowered her and made her feel strong. it's not coincidence that her rival earthbender is a guy who is essentially a parody of masculinity. toph wants to position herself as equivalent, if not directly superior, to the Most Masculine Man, because that's how she'll be afforded respect, in her mind. but she is a girl. and there's a part of her that likes being a girl, and wishes she could explore her femininity more than she's allowed herself to, beyond the confines of the beifong mansion. she keeps her hair long because she still loves her family and holds out hope that maybe one day they can accept her (she comes from a culture modeled off of tang dynasty china, so her long hair is likely a product of her adherence to confucian values). and once she embraces it, she genuinely does get into being made over at the fancy lady day spa.

femininity has been a genuinely harmful and repressive agent in toph's life, and it's understandable that she would internalize some misogynistic notions surrounding girl/womanhood as they were foisted onto her her entire childhood. but femininity isn't ontologically harmful. femininity isn't ontological, period. i think as toph gets older, and her friendship with katara grows deeper as they both come to be more honest with each other, she would grow to embrace her masculinity in a more organic and less compensatory way. less of a "i'm not like other girls" complex (which itself is not something that girls should be mocked and punished for, but rather a product of a patriarchal system that oppresses and alienates women, thus leading many less gender-conforming girls to attempt to assert their agency and individuality in any way they can, even if it means putting down others in the process), and more so genuinely coming to embrace her butchness. (you don't necessarily have to read her as a baby butch, of course, but considering that being a masculine girl is important to her, i think that's a really lovely and beautiful synthesis of her relationship to gender as a character.)

i think toph would learn stop pitting masculinity and femininity against each other, and instead embrace whatever aspects of either (or neither) she desires, while nonetheless respecting everyone else's deal in turn. i think she would also, in a key turning point, realize that even if she loves her parents, she doesn't have any obligation to be the daughter they expect her to be, and cuts her hair. and as she grows more secure in herself (which comes with age, no twelve year old is truly confident in their own skin), she would stop feeling the need to put other people down to feel big, and be comfortable embracing her desires. and, credit to her, she's clearly already on her way. the progress she makes being vulnerable, especially around sokka, even in what is chronologically a matter of months, is huge.

toph isn't just "badass" because she's strong and powerful. but rather, what makes her so powerful, at least to disabled viewers who see their struggles reflected in hers, is her ability to grow with her environment, allowing herself to admit help, and letting herself be loved. if you couldn't already tell, toph is incredibly important to me.

[beepiesheepie]

the tf2 mercs and what atla elements they’d bend cause you follow me and you signed up for my ramblings

this is literally gonna be that meme or mike wazowski hunched over and mike and that slug lady are looking at him like ‘wtf’. also these thoughts will not leave my brain until i write them down so feel free to ignore.

Scout: Airbender, hands down. Just look at him, look at everything he is and look at everything air represents. He’d likely be a rogue/non-monastery  airbender cause he’s so self absorbed and worldly attached that he can’t follow their customs (which also makes him a weaker airbender by default, why? see Kyoshi’s mom). Air is the element of freedom, fun, and humor, and just look at Scout, its his most defining traits. Imagine this kid just zipping around on the battlefield with a huge cloud of dust following him, or using a glider to fly in some way. He absolutely would.

Soldier: At first I thought he’d be a non bender, but then I began to think it over, and fire is what kinda bender he’d be (if he was one, he could still be a non bender). Fire is the element of power and passion, and not only can it become wild or unhinged in the wrong hands but it can be very destructive. That fits Soldier’s bill pretty well, he’s a passionate man of raw power. You could also make the argument he’s an Earthbender, what with his and its elements of machismo, courage, and physical strength, which Soldier is not lacking in. He could maybe bend lava if he was an Earthbender, and I don’t see him as a metalbender- metalbenders go through some form of major display of strength, something that forces them to be stronger than they are and work harder (see: Toph discovering metalbending and Toph teaching her metalbending students in the comics). Overall I’m pretty mixed on Soldier, but it is cool to imagine him using fire to blast himself upward or normally rocket jumping but when he comes down there’s a big wave of rocks going everywhere. If you have thoughts I’d love to hear them. Overall he’s more likely to be a fire or non bender in my eyes, non especially. (Imagine him going “I don’t need to throw fancy rocks or toss fireballs to shove this boot up your ass.”)

Pyro: It’s literally in the fucking name, its right there, their entire being, pyro. Firebender, hands down. Considering how mysterious Pyro is already I don’t know what else to say about them, but from my own personal vibes, I think they’d draw firebending from life, energy, passion, etc.

Engineer: I think this man’s an Earth and Metalbender, he’s courageous, strong physically (how else do you lift all those damn toolboxes), and generally a down to earth kinda guy. And of course he metalbends cause it’s Just A Very Engineer Thing. Also imagining this tiny lil dude earthbending massive rocks is really cool.

Heavy: Now hear me out. Waterbender. Yeah Heavy is a big dude, yeah he’s strong and masculine and powerful and huge and all that, but people forget- he’s a man of family. He has three sisters and a mom and they were shoved into a gulag at a young age. He’s also smart and has a PhD in Literature. He’s smart, and family oriented, and gets along with his team in game and out of the game. He protects and is a wall for those he cares about, which is a huge trait of waterbending. Feel free to share your own thoughts, I’d love to hear em.

Demoman: Tbh I don’t have that much on him. he strikes me as a nonbender, as a real Sokka kinda guy where his brains and strategic mind shine as a replacement for his no bending. Sticky traps and planning projectile arcs or using demoknight is a huge part of strategy when playing him. Also, combining alcohol and firebending never sounds like a good idea.

Medic: You’d think he’d be a waterbender cause of healing right? Lmao no this man gives 0 fucks for anyone near him, that’s a surface level analysis. This man strikes me as a nonbender. He heals using what he’s got and he doesn’t need no bending to magically fix things. Sweat and blood prevail.

Sniper: Also a nonbender. Doesn’t strike me as any of the four elements in any particular way, other than maybe air or water. Don’t have much thoughts on him either.

Spy: Oh my god I am so torn. On the one hand, he’s Scout’s father, and also imagine him as another rogue airbender, or maybe an ex monastery airbender so he has tattoos? Him being an airbender is solely for the rule of cool factor. On the other hand he could also be a nonbender, but having all the support classes be nonbenders is a bit disappointing. On the OTHER hand though, and I expect controversy for this, waterbender. He’s not the most community oriented, in fact he hates everything he works with, but this man absolutely would not hesitate to use bloodbending if it meant the job’s done stealthily, also, he has a weapon in the game that’s an ice spike. Not a lot of reasons for waterbending here I just think it’d be cool

Ok rant’s over I’m gonna eat a pint of ice cream ok byeeeeee

[sokkastyles]

Abused kids are often not aware of or have trouble regulating their own emotions but tend to, conversely, be hyper aware of and tapped into the emotions of others. This is a survival mechanism in people who grow up with an abusive parent, because any sudden changes in the mood of the parent could indicate danger. See the scenes of Zuko when he is with Ozai, particularly in "The Awakening" and in the flashback to the war meeting in "The Phoenix King," when Zuko carefully measures his responses to his father's praise, because even accepting praise is dangerous and could be a trap.

Although Zuko is often oblivious in social interactions, he actually shows a pretty keen insight when it comes to mediating and understanding what the others need once he joins the gaang. He figures out that the loss of his firebending is connected to his change of coat, he helps Aang overcome his fear of fire at the same time he overcomes his own mental blocks with regard to his element, and he realizes that Sokka will go on a foolhardy mission to rescue his father no matter how much Zuko warns him that it's dangerous, so he resolves to go with him. Particularly in "The Southern Raiders" he pretty astutely figures out that the source of Katara's anger was her unresolved feelings about her mother's murder, and knew how to help her. He also shows keen insight into what Katara needs. Aang, though he means well, responds to Katara with moralizing that just makes her angrier and more determined to go her own way. Zuko offers her the means and lets her lead the way, and defends her to Aang after Katara had made it clear she did not agree with Aang. Zuko, in fact, gets angry at Aang on Katara's behalf, and interestingly, Katara, the person who regularly told off anyone who ever said a bad word to Aang and who, a few episodes ago, threatened to kill Zuko himself if he ever hurt Aang, says nothing in response to Zuko’s sarcastic words to Aang, only thanks Aang for understanding in a tone that implies that she doesn’t think Aang understands at all.

Zuko also seems to be aware of the tension between Katara and Aang at the end of the episode, as he purposefully leaves Katara on Ember Island and goes to speak to Aang himself about what happened when they confronted Yon Rha. This implies not only that Zuko knew Katara needed space to process her feelings, but that he knew that Aang and Katara would need time away from each other after the angry way they parted, and it also implies that Zuko wanted to explain Katara's perspective to Aang, fearing that Aang would misunderstand. Aang actually misunderstands anyway, wrongly assuming that Katara had forgiven Yon Rha, and Katara angrily tells him that she will never forgive her mother's murderer, but does forgive Zuko.

Zuko tells Aang that he was right about Katara, although that is contradicted by what Katara just said and the events of the episode. I know some people theorize that this was a result of a lack of unity in the writing, but I also don't think it's out of character for Zuko to say this, even though he also ultimately disagrees with Aang's stance on violence. Zuko is again playing a mediator role and playing both sides a bit, because the episode positions him between Aang and Katara, but he also leaves Aang with a challenge to his moral absolutism.

So I don't think it's a stretch to assume that in the very next episode, Zuko was also picking up on some tension between Aang and Katara when he sat between them. I'm not sure he knows about Aang's romantic feelings for Katara - although he would when he hears his actor on stage call Katara "the Avatar's girl" and sees Aang nod. But he does seem to pick up on Aang's irritation being about more than just a taken seat, as he responds with unprompted anger. Zuko also takes note of Aang’s increasing anger throughout the play, with a concerned expression on his face. 

Remember what I said about abused kids being hypersensitive to the changing moods of others? It might be that, or Zuko might be feeling anxious about his role in the play and feeling like he doesn’t deserve forgiveness, or it might be that Zuko is hyper aware of the conflict between Katara and Aang carried over from the last episode to this one.

Actually, this shot is particularly interesting because the rest of the gaang is laughing at the portrayal of Toph, including Katara, until Toph shows that she’s pleased by the play’s portrayal of her. Then we see Katara frown, her attention shifting to Aang. 

Katara is unhappy that her attempt to get even with Toph backfired, then when she notices Aang as the camera pans to her left, she looks even more unhappy. Then we see the shot above of Zuko looking at Aang with clear concern over the situation. I’m pretty sure that Zuko is aware that something is going on between Katara and Aang at this point. Especially since Aang’s anger at being played by a girl (which is made worse by Toph’s happiness at being played by a boy) is linked to his insecurity about his relationship with Katara, and the play keeps making jokes about it, meant for us to feel sorry for Aang for being put in the “little brother” zone.

I think Zuko was generally anxious going into the play. You can see when they walk in that he has his hood pulled up, to hide his face, because he's aware there's a chance someone will recognize him. So even before the play starts, with its incriminating and humiliating portrayal of him, he is probably already on alert and wants to draw as little attention to himself as possible. Aang's outburst is the kind of thing that would draw attention, and Zuko tries to minimize the attention by insisting that Aang just sit next to him. Zuko also reacts with defensive anger, as he is wont to do when he is anxious or upset, which of course would have the opposite effect from drawing attention away from them. But Aang acquiesces in frustration, and Katara, interestingly, notices the dispute, but just like when Zuko defended her to Aang in "The Southern Raiders," says nothing. Katara also is facing away, fidgety, and looks unhappy while the confrontation is going on. This is also consistent with (and probably contributed to) the way Katara reacts to Aang’s pushiness and accusations later on.

Zuko spends much of the back part of season three physically close to Katara, which is a visual way for the animators to show how close they have grown. It’s not necessarily an indication of romantic Zutara, although there is nothing wrong with interpreting it that way, and I find it hilarious how threatened some people are by shippers gushing over the idea that he wanted to sit next to her, particularly in this episode because this episode actually intentionally plays up the “love triangle” for the purposes of getting the audience to sympathize with Aang and root for him to “get the girl.” Regardless of whether we interpret it in a romantic context, I think it is a good indication of how Zuko feels about Katara once he has gotten her forgiveness. Given Zuko’s social ineptitude, it would make sense that he would be likely to want to stick close to the people he felt closest to, especially in situations where he is surrounded by potentially hostile strangers. Witness his behavior in “The Beach,” where he spent most of the time awkwardly glued to Mai’s side and it was when he was separated from Mai at the party that he ran into trouble with the other partygoers, who make fun of him. That might explain why Zuko, although he comes from the opposite direction when they enter the theater as everyone else does, walks all the way down the end of the aisle to sit next to Katara. 

It might also explain why he wants to sit in between Katara and Aang, as these are the two people who he now feels closest to. It also is very likely that he is subconsciously picking up on the tension between Katara and Aang, which comes to a head later in this very episode. It’s worth noting that Zuko is often positioned physically between Katara and Aang throughout this episode, which is meant to communicate to the audience Aang’s anxiety over Katara not returning his feelings (and Zuko plays an indirect part in that, or at least, his stage actor does).

Zuko is also positioned narratively between Aang and Katara as a mediator and comfort to Katara after her fight with Aang in the very next episode, “The Phoenix King,” in which Zuko tells Katara to let Aang figure things out for himself when he runs away after yelling at Katara.

So no, I don’t think the deliberate positioning of Zuko in between Aang and Katara is a coincidence, nor is it “lol Zuko is clueless!” I’m actually very tired of seeing people talk about how clueless Zuko is, especially since a lot of his reactions come from trauma. Even if Zuko didn’t pick up on Aang’s romantic feelings towards Katara he very obviously picks up on and reacts to and interacts with the dynamic between them. And it’s very telling that certain fans will complain about the “infantilization” of Zuko when it’s traits that make him seem sympathetic, but then talk about a traumatized abuse survivor as if they’re completely incompetent.

[disabled-dragoon]

Disabled Characters That Shaped My Childhood

Is this similar to a post on my other page? Perhaps. But I don’t care. 

As it is disability pride month and this was essentially the entire reason for me making a second blog, I have decided to revise my list of disabled characters in the media that helped me accept my disability growing up! Probably won’t be all that good but eh, what the hell. 

Unfortunately I can only think of three characters from my childhood that I remember being featured prominently on TV growing up, but it is increasing! Slowly, but it is! So with that said......

Gabriella- The Little Mermaid, 1992-1994, Deaf

Possibly the first actually disabled character I can remember seeing on TV, I think Gabriella was the character that kicked off my interest in learning more about disability culture in the first place and I’m mad more people don’t remember her. 

She was my first real exposure to seeing disability outside of my home and the hospital, and yes, she might be deaf and I’m not, but she fascinated me and arguably catalysed my ongoing attempts to learn sign language. Her character was fun and loveable and I’m glad they took the time to kind of explain her deafness to the audience, then promoted the idea that actually she didn’t need to change herself to be wonderful. She was accepted almost immediately and was most likely the first introduction to sign language as a whole to a lot of children in the early 90s. The fact she kept coming back as a regular character was also amazing to see! 

Toph Beifong- Avatar: The Last Airbender, 2005-2008, Blind

Obviously needs no introduction....With the events of the last year, everyone had a chance to be reintroduced to the series that is Avatar and, by extension, the fantastic Toph Beifong! 

The whole series is one that focuses on overcoming oppression and marginalisation and, whilst it certainly is not perfect, the fact it had a disabled main character for the majority of its run and spin off is probably part of the reason this show holds a special place in my heart, even today. And the representation is not just limited to Toph either!

Remember the wheelchair bound “airbender” that the GAang comes across? Teo I think his name is. Or the armless villainess Ming-Hua in Korra? I do. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there are others that I’m missing but my point is, ATLA does a very good job to not use disability as a reason to make weak characters and I appreciate it so much. 

Toph was is the reason, I think, that I can laugh at myself today (in a good way, of course) and will always be my favourite character of the series for that very reason. 

Hiccup Haddock- How To Train Your Dragon, 2003, Amputee

Ah, How To Train Your Dragon. The guilty pleasure of my childhood. 

It was only a couple of years ago I realised the main character is, technically disabled, having one leg and all, and I never noticed despite watching it religiously when I was small(er). Maybe because they didn’t draw much attention to it after it happened, or maybe because I just did not have the attention span for movies...

But I appreciate it nonetheless, considering the whole movie series finished in 2019 I believe, so it’s still pretty relevant to the younger generations. And the fun colours and enjoyable theme of dragons that people are drawn to means that is a film people can be easily drawn to, and still gets attention. 

                       ~~~Honourable Mentions!~~~

1. Julia- Sesame Street, Autism

A little after my time but a treat to see nonetheless! Julia got a lot of attention when it was announced she would be joining Sesame Street, as the first regular character on the series to be diagnosed with autism. With so much more focus on autism and disability awareness in recent years, it’s refreshing to see children’s media starting to branch out more into exploring the concept of disability in youth and childhood!

2. Iron Man- The Avengers, Technically a heart defect

Okay, it didn’t last. I’m aware. And Iron Man and Marvel are...problematic at times, but arguably the comics and RDJs portrayal of Iron Man was a lot of people’s first introduction to the idea of sudden disability in later life, even if he had the money, resources, time and plot armour to overcome it. 

3. Hawkeye- The Avengers, Deaf

In the comics he’s deaf. Maybe not in the film series, but still. Pretty impressive. Not only is he sans superpowers, he has a disability, which in the world of Marvel you would expect him to be portrayed as weaker and incapable but he isn’t! 

4. Entrapta- She-Ra and The Princesses of Power, Autism

Okay. Yes. Still a bit out of my childhood, technically. But who didn’t watch She-Ra during the lockdown? I’m pretty sure it was confirmed(?) that Entrapta was written as being on the autism spectrum but correct me if I’m wrong. 

                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~

And END.

Sorry for a long first post, I just thought, in the spirit of the month, it might be nice to reflect a little on characters that potentially helped us in our childhoods, and characters that may continue helping children today. 

If I forgot any, or one needs to be added to the list, please tell me and why! 

Thank you!

And happy disability pride month!

[uselessbard1031]

to name a few… i definitely forgot that kanto and lin never met/realized their connection and the fact that kanto’s entire character aside from just his name is only contained within this fic because his character is 100% an atla/lok character and no one can tell me otherwise. i convinced myself that team avatar met V somewhere in the zafou episodes too cause i feel like they’d all vibe well. then i remembered that not much happened in the zafou episodes. also thought the speakeasy happened which i think kinda morphed in my brain with that tavern place in the misty palms oasis from the shows. might’ve also been my brain’s attempt to add izumi to more of the show because she was robbed of enough screen time. on a complete side note how do you think toph’s “sight” is affected after too many drinks haha? also i just chose to believe the lin and kya conversation about her being interested in women happened because our dear chief is as straight as her coiled metal cables and it needed to be discussed. also cherry chonk’s drawing of garbage is embedded into my brain so that 12/10 good boy lumped into the did i actually see it/did i not. there are definitely other moments these are just some i was able to remember from recently :)

I love to hear it! I really do try to develop characters that fit into the universe rather than disrupt it. Kanto was so much fun because pirates are like my favorite thing ever and the idea of a big scary himbo pirate with Toph makes my heart happy lol. V is actually based on my friend (also named V because I'm lazy). I needed a bartender/crush for Vira and Y/N to gossip about like schoolgirls and felt that she fit well.

As for scenes -- it's 100% canon in my mind, especially after Kya sniffed out the gay with Korrasami, that she and Lin at some point talked about Lin's obvious gayness. Side note, as 'straight as her coiled cables' made me laugh out loud. XD The speakeasy was because I mean it's the 1920s! Prohibition and speakeasies and all that jazz is a great fun way for troublemakers like Kuvira (and Y/N) to have some fun. I didn't even think about Toph's 'sight' being affected but I love the idea that it gets fuzzy like the desert. XD

Garbage is a 12/10 good boy and I absolutely LOVE Cherry Chonk's drawing of him (and all of their work in general -- seriously go check them out!)

I appreciate the message! I always love hearing my readers thoughts; It's one of my favorite parts of fanficiton. With a book, you get reviews sure, but with fanfiction you can follow along as people read chapter to chapter and that is uniquely amazing. :)

Love you all! Stay safe and hydrated! <3

[sokkabeifong]

Can you write some tokka angst 🙏

ofc I can anon and IM SORRY THIS IS SO LATE but better late than never I guess. this is set in modern times because modern times are fun to write for tokka okay? a bit longer than usual but the more angst the better am I right

Toph had promised Sokka that she’d go to the hospital when it happened, so that’s exactly what she’d done. She hadn’t promised that she’d actually get anyone’s attention. Or check in. Or ask for help.

Although… the contractions were getting more insistent, and she doubted the medical staff would leave her alone if she stripped off the stupid maternity pants and just squatted down right there on the lobby floor.

With a heavy sigh, she waddled her way over to the nearest front desk. Spirits, she hadn’t been in a hospital in years. She wasn’t even sure what the different branches and buildings and desks were all for. But there was no way that she was giving birth at home. Katara was in medical school, sure, but she wasn’t done. And Toph wasn’t about to risk her life and her child’s life for a “practice trial.”

Still, there was something unnerving about the hospital, with its stuffy feeling and too-squeaky floor. It feels clean, clean in a way that you can just sense. She didn’t need sight to tell her just how antibacterial this place was.

A pinging, traitorous part of her wishes that someone was here with her, that she didn’t have to do this alone. But it was her own stupid pride that had taken a cab all alone in a Wednesday night, and the only person she truly wanted present was somewhere she could never get him back from. She’d promised him before he died that she would go to the hospital if she felt even the slightest change. He wanted her to be safe, he said.

And now, of course, Sokka was dead and gone while she was here, swollen belly stretching out her sweater and maternity pants. As much of an annoyance as labor would be, getting the thing out of her was going to be a blessing. She’d spent too long unbalanced and vulnerable to attack.

“Can I help you?”

Toph was broken out of her musings by the question from someone sitting at the closest desk. She turned her head to where she hoped the person, a woman by the sound of it, would be.

“I hope so,” she smiled, falling back into a generic cover ID face. “I should probably see a doctor.”

“All right,” said the woman. She heard the clicking of nails on a keyboard, then something sliding across the desk. “Why don’t you take one of these forms, fill it out, and bring it back here?”

“Can’t ,” she said shortly. “I’m blind.”

“No worries.” The woman clicked her pen open like she had blind pregnant ladies come into the ER every day. Who knew - maybe she did. “I’ll ask you the questions and you answer, okay?”

“Okay.” Toph winced as another contraction hit her. At least the protruding baby bump gave her something to lean against. She made sure to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth as the woman began questioning her, just as Katara had instructed her to do. I’m a few hours, the whole thing would be over and then - she bit her lip and redirected her thoughts.

She wished Sokka was -

She redirected that thought, too.

“Reason for your visit?” the woman asked, yapping the pen against the clipboard.

Toph waited a moment before she turned around yet again, because she was in the middle of another contraction and couldn’t decide whether she’d rather scream or just go ahead and kill the lady.

“My contractions are about eight minutes apart,” she said.

The lady blinked once and then repeated, “They’re eight minutes apart from each other? So you’re in labor. Are you in active labor?”

Toph smiled sweetly. “Are you asking me to stick my fingers down and see whether or not I’m dilated to seven centimeters?”

To the woman's credit, the crudity didn't seem to faze her, and she plowed ahead with, “Ma’am, this is the ER. We’re not equipped for a birth. I’ll call you a wheelchair immediately, and we’ll get you up to Labor and Delivery. Trust me, it’ll be faster than checking in here and waiting for a transfer.”

“Where’s Labor and Delivery?”

“Fourth floor, and I -”

“I’ll just walk over there. It’s fine.”

“Ma’am, I really must insist. You’ve technically checked in—” she waved the yellow paper “—and you’re our responsibility now.”

Toph leaned heavily against the counter and deftly snatched the page out of the woman’s hand. At least her coordination was still functional.

“There. Now I didn’t check in, and I’m my own problem.”

“Ma’am, please. You’re in no condition to go wandering the hospital, whether you take that against your pregnancy or your eyesight. Let me just call someone to wheel you over.”

Luckily for the woman, another contraction rendered her unable to give a snappy retort. She waited for it to pass, quietly, quickly, then faced the lady once more.

“Fine,” she said tightly. “Fine. Fine.”

“Thank you,” the lady said, obviously relieved. Apparently she did not deal with stubborn blind pregnant women on the daily.

By the time she had been put in a wheelchair and taken through the long halls and winding corridors to Labor and Delivery, Toph had managed to calm herself down. Not because the situation was in any way calming, but because she’d stressed her body and mind out enough that she’d fallen into full-blown mission mode.

Which was fine. It’d probably be easier to give birth with that attitude.

“Well, you seem pretty together, Toph,” the nurse gushed as she checked in yet again at the front desk. “We’ll get you back as soon as possible. For now, if you can just take a seat in one of those chairs, and listen for your name.”

Toph let her real self fade into the background, giving over control to the five other women sitting in the waiting room, and promptly closed her eyes. If she was going to be in pain, she might as well rest while she could.

-

The calm blind girl out in the lobby was already a topic of discussion.

It wasn’t completely unheard of for someone to come in alone. Life was weird and sometimes people gave birth without anyone they knew to help them through the experience. But this girl? The calm young girl with ebony in her hair and in her eyes wasn’t any of the typical stories. She was clean and put together. She was calm and young and looked like the kind of person who would have a dozen friends by her side, even if the father of the child was no longer in the picture.

And yet, there she sat. First in the waiting room and then in her hospital room.

Alone.

Moreover, Miss Toph Beifong had claimed on her paperwork that her contractions were now five minutes apart. However, she was sitting too calmly for that. In fact, the nurse had sat with phone in hand and timed out more than ten minutes, and the girl hadn’t moved once. She’d sat there calmly. No wincing, no cursing, no crying.

It wasn’t until the nurse pulled the woman back and got down to take a look that anyone believe the claim at all.

"Shit,” the nurse murmured.

The doctor startled and glanced up to see if Toph had been offended by the curse. Fortunately, the girl seemed more concerned with how many fingers she had, and didn’t seem to have heard.

“What?” the doctormurmured, more quietly.

“Her cervix is nine centimeters,” the nurse answered.

“Shit,” the doctor echoed.

-

By the end of it all, Toph had decided she did not like labor. She’d made that decision before she began crowning, and nothing that followed did anything to change that. While she had experienced worse pain in her life, she had never experienced that kind of pain.

She had once spent four straight hours being absolutely crushed by a girl at the gym and, at the peak of labor, she was pretty sure she’d trade out that experience for her current one.

Nevertheless, she didn’t scream. She screwed up her eyes and doubled her body up and flexed her fingers. Tears leaked from her eyes from the sheer stress of it all. But her lips remained tightly closed. The skin around them grew white from where she bit them between her teeth, and the nurses were afraid she’d draw blood.

One well-intentioned nurse had advised that she just give in and cry out.

Toph had rolled her eyes, widened her legs, and pushed again.

In the end, nature was inevitable. Toph had always had someone to remind her to take good care of her body, so the whole experience was over in a few hours. She collapsed back against the wet bedding. There was sweat and blood and who-knew-what all over her, and she’d probably never feel clean again.

There was screaming in the background, and her eyes finally focused on the small infant being washed by the hospital staff.

Then her view was cut off by the ring of congratulating nurses.

“It’s a beautiful girl. Do you have the name ready for her?”

“Call it Toph, for all I fucking care,” Toph murmured, too quietly for anyone to make out. She turned over on her side, away from the child, and shut her eyes tight.

-

Later that night, after hours of tossing and turning in her sleep, Toph was awoken by the small mewing sound coming from her bedside. She sighed. She’d tried to have the baby whisked away to some far-off nursery where she wouldn’t have to ignore its presence, but apparently the hospital didn’t “do that anymore.”

Spirits, she felt so empty. Tired and empty and drained.

Deciding she could avoid it no further, Toph feels her way to the other side of the bed. The hospital is quiet, and she can’t even guess what time it is. Probably late at night. She waddled over to the bassinet, and the mewing became a full-fledged scream.

She jumped. The baby continued screaming, but less so, as if it hadn’t realized anyone was there. She found herself reaching down, feeling the child, the blankets, so afraid she would drop it or break it or… worse. For a moment she hesitated.

This is your baby, she thinks. You’re allowed to pick it up. It’s yours. And his. You can pick it up.

Her. She could almost hear Sokka’s voice echo through the room, reminding her that their child wasn’t an it. The thought made her smile.

Slowly, carefully, as though her life depended on it, Toph lowered her arms around the tiny, tiny baby and lifted her up. The baby stopped bawling and snuggled against her mother’s chest.

“Hello,” she said stupidly, like the kid could respond. But her mouth kept moving. “Um. Uh, my name’s Toph. I’m your - Spirits, I guess I’m your mom now, huh?”

The baby gurgled, her lips curled like she might cry again. Toph hurried to keep talking.

“Oh, God, um. What else, what else… uh, you have a bunch of aunts and uncles,” she said. “They’re all gonna help raise you. They’re annoying sometimes, but they mean well. You’re our first baby, you know.”

Our. The word made Toph close her eyes for a second. Try as she might, there would be no more “our.” There was only “she.” The “our” in her partnership was long gone. How was she supposed to tell her child that?

She decided to start with the basics.

“Your daddy was so brave,” she whispered. It hurt to talk about Sokka in the past tense, but she kept going. “He was so, so strong and brave and I just know he would have loved to meet you. He already loved you, you know. He wanted to meet you so bad, kid. He just never got the chance.”

The baby blinked, her eyelids heavy like hearing about the father she would never meet was too much for one night. Toph wholeheartedly agreed and set her down in the bassinet once more, making sure she was secure before plodding back to her own bed and face-planting on the blankets.

The nurse had told her the baby’s eyes were blue. She let that thought sink into her heart before drifting off to sleep.

[ruhrohimrorny]

What Subjects I Think LOK Characters Would Teach:

Lin: PE, obviously. Dating Kya and all the kids are happy cause there’s a noticeable shift in Lin’s mood once they start dating. She no longer forces kids to run a mile every day and instead does it once a week now, so the kids are hoping her and Kya stay together. She also coaches Golf and Lacrosse.

Kya: Waffled between MILF Math teacher, MILF Science teacher, and hippy/chill Music teacher, but decided on MILF Science Teacher. Getting strong Biology vibes. Very fun labs and not strict at all. Her and Zhu-Li are super passionate about leading the Science Bowl team. Seeing these young people be so passionate about STEM and helping their fellow teammates makes her hopeful for this young generation.

Tenzin: He kinda gives math teacher vibes, but a large part of his character in the show is about him keeping his history alive, and teaching others abut learning and respecting history, so I feel like he’s a History teacher. His class is a lot of notetaking but he plays quiet music and does a five minute meditation in the middle of class to encourage kids to relax, so students really like him and actually listen to him. Also, he’s kind of gullible so they make up fake trends to tell him. He once spent a week addressing people as “brony” cause students told him thats what people say now instead of bro. Kids got a good laugh out of that one. Him and Pema are another favorite teacher couple.

Bumi II: Def gives off eccentric/unhinged English teacher vibes. Very interesting and informative conversations in his class, but things get off topic very quickly. Whenever kids ask about Bum-Ju, he gets distracted and will talk the entire rest of the period about what to dress Bum-Ju up as for Halloween. Probably plays a lot of videos. And students don’t worry about if they read the books Bumi II assigns cause they don’t think he’s even read the books he assigns. When having discussions about the books in class, sometimes kids will make up stuff and say it’s in the book and for the most part, Bumi II goes along with it cause he doesn’t know what actually happens in the books.

Varrick: Also gives off eccentric/unhinged English teacher vibes, but because he’s a businessman/war profiteer, I’m gonna have to say he teaches Econ and gives students lots of unsolicited financial advice. Also supervises the Engineering and Robotics Club.

Zhu-Li: Science teacher, probably Chemistry. She’s very good at explaining and getting kids to follow her instructions. Not only is she a co-supervisor for the Science Bowl team, she helps Varrick run Engineering and Robotics Club, cause if it were only Varrick running it, no kids would come. His intensity and eccentricity scares them.

Iroh II: He’s definitely the young Math teacher everyone has a crush on. Very chill and doesn’t give a lot of homework. Kids love when he shows pictures of his dog to the class and eventually he brings in the dog cause admin think the dog is too cute to say no to.

Tonraq: Resident DILF History teacher. Kind of a hardass but also a nice dude so most everyone passes his class. Probably that History teacher that is also a football coach, so during fall he doesn’t give a FUCK about whether anyone actually turns anything in. Him and Senna is the teacher couple that seems like opposites but actually are pretty similar and balance each other out.

Senna: That English teacher that every mentally ill student becomes emotionally attached to. You know what I’m talking about. She’s so sweet, funny, and chill so all the kids love her class. Tries to include memes in her presentations to seem “with it” but they’re like, doge memes from 2014. But the kids appreciate the effort.

Pema: Definitely the sweet English teacher that occasionally has a mental breakdown when the students test her patience. Otherwise very chill. Also teaches the Childhood Education and Development class. Her, Senna, and Bumi II run the school newspaper.

Bataar: Drafting. Pretty chill, very skilled, and def smokes on the weekend. Also, him and Suyin are that teacher couple that everyone likes.

Suyin: Dance. Super nice and always has like to of those smelly plug in things going so her room smells good and has a “good vibe that evokes emotion”. Always plays EDM or weird 80s rock to get the kids moving. She runs the school dance team. When Bataar has prep period, he sometimes drops in to see Su dance, cause she’s mesmerizing to watch. All the kids think that, coupled with the fact that they eat lunch together every day, makes them the cutest couple ever.

Amon: Drama. He loves directing kids on how to totally live a role. If you can imagine, he sometimes gets a little overdramatic about drama, forgetting that these are just highschool kids, not Oscar winners, but his passion makes the class more enjoyable. Runs Drama Club with Tarrlok.

Tarrlok: Probably Physics. A difficult class, but he’s pretty good at explaining so most kids don’t struggle too much. His main focus is running student government, which he takes pretty seriously. Sometimes too seriously.

Unalaq: Teaches Psychology. The most pretentious teacher on campus. It’s literally so bad, that even other teachers avoid him. Amon abandoned his coffee still being brewed in the machine in the staff room cause Unalaq walked in and he didn’t want to be in a room with Unalaq again after he said that Amon’s outfit “looked like something stolen from the lost and found of a funeral home”. Unalaq sees it as “telling it like it is”.

Zaheer: Government and Politics. Tries to teach the class very well but also injects his own opinion into teaching a lot. The students find him scary but some also kinda think he’s hot. Also does Yearbook. Him and Senna run Mock Trial. Replaced the old Government and Politics teacher Hou-Ting after she retired. She was that one old teacher that made it a hobby to harrass students and constantly reminisced about when you could smack students.

P’Li: Math teacher. Much scarier than Zaheer. Plays her trash ass music very loudly while the kids work. Def yells at kids. She’s kind of funny when she’s in a good mood tho, and when she roasts kids it’s really funny cause it’s usually dead on. Her and Zaheer are those teachers that flirt a lot and you know they’re sleeping together.

Ming-Hua: Art. Loves drawing and, you guessed it, watercolor painting. Very chill and plays soft music but lets you listen to your own music. Super sarcastic and all the students eat it up. Literally a universal favorite. She runs Art Club and Fashion Club.

Ghazan: Guitar. Pretty cool teacher that definitely has some weird stories. All the students know he has a crush on Ming-Hua cause they flirt constantly, but he denies it. Runs E-Sports Club. Idk why I think that, it just feels right. Him and Ming-Hua are also the kinds of teachers kids become emotionally attached to.

Kuvira: Government and Politics also. Seems calm and reasonable, but is a total ass. Makes kids give up their phones, allows almost no talking, gives out more detentions a week than most teachers do in one year, and doesn’t allow for much discussion. Everyone wants her class cause she’s hot but most drop within the first week, to the point that counselors have to say no to some kids so they don’t have to get rid of the class altogether.

Bataar Jr.: Computer Lit teacher. None of the students respect him so they’ll play Minecraft the whole time or play inappropriate videos really loud. Doesn’t really put much effort into teaching, which for some kids is a dream, but for others is an annoyance. Him and Kuvira are the teacher couple that makes everyone say “wtf”. Literally no one knows why they’re together.

Izumi: Secretary/Attendance. Pretty much remembers everything and is super organized. She is the glue that holds the school together. Most students don’t know her name though cause she’s super quiet and works mostly behind the scenes. Whenever Zuko sends anyone her way though he reminds them of her name and to say thank you cause he recognizes how hard his daughter works to keep everything running smoothly. Izumi catches on to this and always manages to thank her dad with a nice tea and a hug.

Toph: Vice Principal. Scary as fuck. Doesn’t ever call kids’ parents cause she efficiently scares the shit out of every kid, so they never do whatever bad thing they were doing again. When she has to work dances, Katara always tries to get her to dance with her. She resists every time, but she always gives eventually. She’s happy to though, cause although she’ll never say it out loud, seeing Katara this happy at her old age warms her heart.

Katara: Health Clerk. Very sweet and everybody loves her. Sometimes kids pretend to feel sick just to talk to her. She doesn’t mind though cause a kid that has a tummy ache and a kid that needs to talk are both kids that need help, and she’s happy to offer whatever support she can. She also always offers to supervise dances when the school has them and always manages to bust a move.

Zuko: Counselor. Wants to be to students what his uncle was to him. Aang and Sokka were counselors too, some years ago. And while they could give some good nuggets of advice and offered the kids amazing support, they also would totally fuck up student’s schedules by accident cause those numbskulls were exactly that- numbskulls. So usually Zuko would have to fix that. He misses fixing their messes and, more importantly, he misses them (they aren’t dead, just retired). He hopes to retire soon too, cause he’s getting too old for this, but he secretly doesn’t want to retire just yet cause working at school allows him to see and spend time with Izumi. Since they’re both working, it’s not like they have too much time together, but even just her popping into his office to bring him tea or check in on how he’s doing that day brings a smile to his face that doesn’t leave for the rest of the day.

Raiko: Principal. After Toph stepped down cause she’s “too old for this shit” (her words), Raiko stepped in. The students aren’t a fan of him but he’s not terrible. And since Toph is still Vice Principal, she keeps him in check.