#fencer Zuko

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Finding you again- Zutara Month Day 20 Part 1

So in honor of day 20 of @zutaramonth​ prompt ‘College’ I’ve decided to bring back a fic I was working on for Zutara Week 2021, my Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo au, with fencer!Zuko and rhythmic gymnast!Katara. This one is based off the prompt Hair from that year, but it also fits since they’re all attending sports university. It’s an update from the last time I posted this and I’m hoping to actually do all the chapters this time. Anyway, enjoy!

College

“I hear you’re not even father’s son.”

“Disobedient child!”

“Never forget how much I love you my little duckling. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

“Zuko?” closed golden eyes opened and turned to see his coach standing in the doorway of the changing room. “Ready?”

“Yeah. I’m coming.” He tucked the hairpin in his hand into his bag and pulled it onto his shoulder, picking up his foil.

“Do you think it’ll happen again?” Piandao, his coach asked, taking the bag from Zuko after he made sure his student had his items first. “The panic attacks?”

“I don’t know. I still don’t know the cause.” Zuko reminded, fitting his gloves on.

Piandao sighed and stopped the young man, “And I take it you haven’t gone to the therapist I suggested to your uncle?” Zuko didn’t answer which made the bearded man sigh again, this time full of frustration. “Going to therapy is good for an athlete, especially if it helps your panic attacks. You do realise if you weren’t doing so well in training, the school would actually consider removing you. not to mention those who have connections.”

Zuko didn’t need to be reminded that the one person he wanted to avoid for the rest of his life was unfortunately still involved just because of where he went to school.

“I still get the best wins at practise. I beat Jett all the time.”

“But Jett is department captain and wins competitions. It’s been a year since you’ve been able to place in a competition, let alone not get disqualified. Zuko, if it happens again today, I’m pulling you from competitions until you start seeing the therapist.”

Piandao walked ahead, leaving him standing there. The threat was there and worrying. Thing was, as much as he wanted to do this, he knew he was going to end up having a panic attack again.

Never forget how much I love you my little duckling

Those words felt like a lie every time he heard them in his head.

“No?”

He felt uncomfortable as he stared at the guy in front of him. Mako Choi was an up-and-coming fencer. His own brother was well known for his own skill in taekwondo. After his match – where like he predicted, he’d gotten disqualified after the whole room went double, his hearing got wonky and not to mention, his heart beating like it was trying to escape his chest – Mako approached with his coach, asking if Zuko would train him for his Olympic qualifying match in a few months.

“I just don’t see what you can learn from a guy who’s been disqualified from every match since the season started.”

“A lot from the guy I’ve admired since he’s entered the competitive scene.”

Fiddling with the strap to his bag, Zuko shrugged. “Sorry. I don’t think it’s a good idea. That’s my coach over there, Piandao. He could recommend someone better.” Skirting around the two, he darted to where he left his bike, trying not to feel guilty. If things had been normal, he would have agreed. Mako would have hated his teaching style, he was sure, but at least he could have tried. Right now, all he wanted was to go back to his dorm and sleep, even if it meant dealing with Jett later. He was sure it would be snide remarks and threatening to have him do the worst event for the school’s upcoming Sports Day.

He was all set to go, Piandao just coming out of the gym, still talking with Mako and his coach, when his phone rang.

“What Sokka?”

“So, Coach texted the results of the match. Jett wants to talk to you; says he’s got the prefect thing for you to do to make up for your loss. The rice lifting challenge.”

Zuko had to bite his lip to keep from screaming. Their school’s sports day was each Department against each other in different events. It also had the tradition of one member of the Department being a cheerleader. Each event and challenge gained them points to winning the whole Sports Day and usually ended with a bonus in their funding usually for food. The idea of the lifting challenge was like it sounded: to carry as many industrial size bags of rice, like the one the school cafeteria ordered, and hold it for as long as possible, adding more bags to hold every minute. Usually, the Karate Department would be the one to win, Fencing never even coming close.

“I’m not going.” Zuko said, making up his mind. He’d dealt with enough today and not to mention what he was going to have to deal with once his uncle heard he hadn’t gone to his therapist appointment. He hadn’t said it to Piandao, but Uncle Iroh had booked one, he just never went.

“What?”

“I’ll hang out at Lu Ten’s office or something, but I’m not going. Not to the crapshoot of a meeting or to Sports Day. I don’t care what he threatens me with. I’m only coming back to drop my kit off.”

“Um, well…” Sokka sounded hesitant still, instead of warning him to not piss off Jett. Zuko knew what was coming next wasn’t good. “I actually heard Mai was back. Didn’t make it past the preliminaries for the national team I hear.”

Clearly, this day could get worse.

“Screw it, I’m not coming back for the next few days. I’ll be with my uncle if you need me.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Normally I’d be begging you to come back so I don’t deal with a pissed off Jet, but ask Toph to do your event for you. it would put the Weightlifting Department in danger of losing but it would be big help to her. They’ve still been trying to mess with her and she’d love a chance to get back at them. Just come back to campus, drop off your things and ask her. then I’ll take you out for lunch at my dad’s restaurant. You love his marinated salmon.” Sokka enticed.

Zuko sighed. “I want two orders. And you’re paying.”

“Done! Get here soon.”

Zuko didn’t bother answering, stowing his phone away and pushing off, heading towards Republic City Sports University.

Multiple girls watched the blue ribbon flow like water as Katara did a back leg grab turn. As she brought her leg down, she twirled her ribbon to the side, ready for her coach’s next instruction.

“Good. Very good.” Yagoda said. “your turns have gotten much better. I see someone has been practising her stretches on both sides. Now, I want to see your fouettés. If you want to place in the upcoming competition and qualify for the national team eventually, your routine has to be perfect. Ty Lee, pay attention, because I want to see your fouettés after.”

Suki looked at the girl dressed in pink, who pouted at her matching hula hoop. She didn’t know why she was pouting. Ty Lee was already the most flexible out of the whole department, fouettés were easy for her.

Before the girl in blue could start her turns, the door to the practise studio slammed open, the door slamming into the wall. Standing with all the self-importance in the world, her gold eyes gleaming much like her smirk stood Azula Lung, daughter of the Prime Minister of the Fire Nation and ace of the Karate Department at the school. She had a massive amount of sway within the school just because her father. Not that she was a spoiled girl who would threaten her father on people. Oh no, she took care of giving threats herself and she took care of them well. Some people had assumed her father bought her admission, at least until she competed in her first competition with the rest of the department. She placed first, gained a record and left her opponents in bloody messes. Azula had skill and she knew it.

Seeing that she had everyone’s attention, she easily strolled inside, another girl following her. While Azula was dressed in reds and golds, this person was mainly in black. Her lightweight trench had long sleeves that mainly left her nails exposed, the red catching on the lights in the studio. She looked bored and sullen.

“Mai!” Ty Lee cried, running over and throwing herself at the girl. She looked uncomfortable with the hug but she didn’t push Ty Lee off of her.

“Mai has returned from her qualifying competition for the national team. We’ll be taking Ty Lee with us.” Azula announced, not even asked, announced to Yagoda.

Thankfully, while any other coach would bend easily, Yagoda did not. “You can get Ty Lee after practise is over. She still has her own hoop routine to show me, not to mention her routine for the Department cheerleader for Sports Day.”

Azula scoffed. “Sports Day, waste of time. She won’t be attending.”

“She will if she doesn’t want to be benched from the next competition.”

Azula’s smirk turned into a frown as she glared at Yagoda. “You really wanna do this?”

“This might work with your coach, but you’re not my student, and you don’t pay my salary.”

“We’ll see about that. Ty Lee, plan for us to go to Ember Island this weekend. I’ll take care of this.”

Azula turned and walked out, Ty Lee still holding onto Mai.

“I just can’t believe you’re back! I missed you soo much! Are you visiting before you head to the Olympic dorms?”

“Ty Lee. I’ll explain later.” That was all Mai said before peeling off her friend’s hands and walking out.

Katara watched Ty Lee pout, her whole-body slumping before Yagoda clapped, getting everyone’s attention.

“Let’s start again. Katara, fouettés please.”

While Katara was able to land her fouettés with little issue and do a perfect run of her ribbon routine, she kept thinking about what Azula had threatened. Everyone on campus knew that the Karate Department had gotten the old Weightlifting Department’s gym thanks to Azula. No one knew if the threats – because what else could it have been? – had come from Azula or her father. Just that before everyone knew it, the Karate Department was moving into gym that the Weightlifting Department had worked tirelessly to get hold of from the school, leaving the overworked Department to take residence in one of the older gyms. The last thing she wanted was for Yagoda to lose her job thanks to a spoiled girl.

“She won’t fire her. I mean, Ty Lee is her friend.” Suki said, spinning one of her clubs around her hand with ease.

“The same Ty Lee who didn’t seem that bothered her friend was threatening her coach.” Katara reminded, watching Ty Lee run through her routine with ease. She was Katara’s biggest competition, as Suki had no desire to aim for Olympics, instead using rhythmic gymnastics to better her tenssen jutsu skills for when she eventually took over her family’s dojo. Katara truly believed Suki would give Azula a good fight if she’d joined the Karate Department instead.

“Ok, fair. But come on, Yagoda was on the national team until her retirement age, both as a single competitor and as part of the group team. the school would be insane to fire her over something as small as ignoring a student’s demands, even if it was from Azula.”

Thankfully they weren’t going to fire Yagoda. Threaten her Department was a whole other matter.

“They’re threatening to cut our budget if Ty Lee isn’t excused? You can’t be serious!”

After practise was over, most of which had been with Yagoda on her phone arguing with someone – the Dean it would later be gossiped about – she’d called Ty Lee and Katara over and gave the news.

“You’re seriously going to accept this?”

“Katara, if it were up to me, I would ignore Azula’s demands but I can’t without it affecting the whole team.”

“Why are you letting her push people around like this?” Katara asked, turning to Ty Lee.

The girl shrugged, turning the hoop in her hand. “That’s just the way Azula is. She gets what she wants.”

“Yeah, and leaves a wave of destruction behind her.” Katara muttered loudly enough. Ty Lee flinched slightly but she can’t find it within herself to feel sorry. “So, she can’t be our Department cheerleader. Now what?”

“I want you to take her place. I know,” Yagoda interrupted, seeing Katara revving up to complain and protest, “It’s a lot of extra work, but think of it as planning your own routines. I’m usually helping you or giving them to you. if you come up with a good enough routine, I’ll let you perform it at the upcoming competition.”

“That’s not fair! What about me?” Ty Lee complained.

“Maybe don’t use your friends to back out of commitments. Make sure to pass the outfit you got to Katara, it was bought with our budget and I’d rather it didn’t go to waste. Katara, meet me here during open hours so we can go over the routine for Sports Day.”

Ty Lee huffed. “This is so unfair. I’ve been begging to do my own routine for a competition for ages.”

Rolling her eyes, Katara looked at Ty Lee. “And me being forced to take your place so the rest of us don’t suffer is fair? Grow up Ty Lee. You have all the chances to be amazing at this and you give it up to please your friend, who honestly, is nothing but a bully. And the fact that you seem blind to it says a lot about you.”

She didn’t let Ty Lee respond, putting her ribbon away before following Suki out the door.

“Wow.” Suki said, once they had fully exited the gym. “you let her have it.”

Katara dropped her bag on the ground and pulled on her jacket, the Southern Water Tribe symbol proudly displayed on the back. “I’m not gonna feel sorry for her. I mean, who does Azula think she is, just lording over everyone like that, like she’s some princess or something? So, her dad is Prime Minister; technically speaking, so is mine. You don’t see me using my name to do whatever I want.” She complained as she pulled her hair out of its bun.

“because you’ve got sugar in your veins.” A new voice said.

Coming up behind them, led by an oversized Bernese Mountain dog was Toph. If Azula was the Karate Department’s ace at only a sophomore, Toph was the Weightlifting Department’s as the youngest freshmen to be admitted into the school with the most amount of records ever gotten as an incoming freshman. However, many of her teammates didn’t believe she deserved to be there. For one, Toph was blind and another was she was the heir to one of the richest families in the Earth Kingdom. They seemed to ignore Toph ran away from home to even apply and if anything, her blindness made her work even harder. She was sarcastic and sassy and on the worst of days grinded every one of Katara’s nerves, but she was a true friend and Katara felt lucky to have her.

The nicknames she could have done without.

“I heard Azula. What’s the thief up to now?” Toph asked, letting her guide dog lead her past the two rhythmic gymnasts, knowing they’d follow.

“Dragged Ty Lee away for the weekend, leaving Katara here to take her place as Department cheerleader. On the plus side, Katara was given permission to create her own routine for the next competition, which upset the poor Ty Lee.”

Toph burst into laughter. “Serves her right. If she didn’t like it, maybe she should find new friends.”

“I am happy, but it’s already another thing to add to my plate, not to mention practising, checking on dad and now doing what I think is one of the dumbest traditions in the school.”

Toph cackled in a way that told the others she knew something. Toph had this way of just knowing people and hearing things which she used it to her advantage all the time.

“You won’t be saying that when you hear who some of the Departments’ cheerleaders are. Wanna take a guess as to who’s the Fencing Department’s cheerleader?”

Katara looked over at Toph, who’s smile grew maniacal. Usually that meant someone was going to get embarrassed as hell. It usually tended to be Sokka.

“Wouldn’t it be one of the girls?”

“Nope.” Toph shook her head, popping her p.

“Is it-?”

“Katara, watch out!” Suki cried.

Turning the corner, a guy on his bike appeared and with a panicked look, veered off course at the sight of her. She still stumbled over her feet and fell to the ground, her hands pricking in pain as they were scratched. Thankfully though, her jacket took most of the damage. The guy on the other hand, tumbled onto the grass as he was thrown from his bike, the vehicle in question clattering loudly.

She took in the pale skin and dark hair surrounding his face, his gold eye grimacing in pain. It didn’t stop her from noticing the large burn surrounding his right eye. she noticed that his school jacket was the same one Sokka wore, meaning he was in the Fencing Department.

“You should be more careful.” She meant for it to come out a bit nicer, but the anger from dealing the whole situation with Azula and Ty Lee slipped in.

clearly the guy didn’t enjoy being yelled at as he snapped back. “I didn’t see you.” he seemed to rethink his anger and continued in a calmer voice. “Are you ok?”

Katara sighed, trying not to keep hold of her anger. It was an accident and yelling at him wasn’t going to do anything. Though, his pale skin and gold eyes reminded her of Azula, but he hadn’t been the one to manipulate the whole school to get what he wanted. “I’m fine. here.” She got up, pulling his bike up while he grabbed his kit that had fallen off. Other than a few grass stains, he didn’t look too hurt.

“What’s up Sparky?” Toph called, Badger bringing her over and with surprising accuracy, punched the guy in the arm, hard.

“Ow! Stop calling me that.”

“This is Zuko. His dad owns that really cool tea place I keep telling you guys about.” She loosened her grip on Badger’s lead, his signal that he could greet people, as he nosed Zuko for pets. “This is Sugar Queen and Honey, aka Katara and Suki. They’re both Rhythmic Gymnast.”

“Nice to meet you.” Zuko said, wiping his hands from the slobbery kisses Badger gave him in return from the pets on his pants before fitting his bag on his bike again.

“So, have you seen it? what does it look like?” Toph asked, leaning in as Zuko took the bike from Katara.

The gymnast wondered how the two met. Zuko, from what she could tell, was quiet, seeing how he was answering most questions with a few words. Toph was wild and had no filter. Maybe he was different in front of others he knew better.

“How do you – you know what? Never mind. I haven’t seen it, and I don’t know if I can guilt him into showing me. He’s already holding Jett off for me.”

Toph’s face contorted hearing Jett’s name. while she hadn’t been there for Jett’s dating and cheating scheme, Toph didn’t like Jett on principal seeing how Sokka complained about him all the time, he didn’t seem to care that he cheated on Katara and that he was rude to anyone who wasn’t he close friends. While Toph could stand being around Pipsqueak on the weightlifting team, Katara would have to remind Toph that setting Badger on Jett wasn’t a good use of a guide dog.

“What’s his problem now?”

“I’ve been instructed to do the rice lifting challenge for the Fencing Department, but after the day I’ve had, not gonna happen. Any chance you wanna stand in for me?”

“Didn’t you have a competition today?”

“Why do you think I’m avoiding Jett?”

It wasn’t often Katara saw Toph look sorry and with pity. Getting Toph to apologize was near impossible and she’d cover her emotions with her snark most of the time. Clearly whatever relationship she had with Zuko was something deeper than she understood.

“Alright. I overheard the Weightlifting Department talk about switching the orientation of the gym to mess with me, so anything to piss them off.”

“Perfect. I gotta go before Jett finds me, but good luck. And sorry again about knocking you over.” He said to Katara, before he got on his bike and took off.

“So how do you know him?” Suki asked.

“I go to his old man’s tea house sometimes; he was working there and I got to know him and his family. He’s Sokka’s roommate apparently.”

“Oh, that’s Zuko! He’s a pretty good fencer from what I hear. Weird though, I haven’t seen his name in the announcement of students placing.” Suki said, speaking about the posting on their school’s website so they could show off their students and people could keep track.

She had a point. Katara never remembered seeing the name either. She also found it a bit strange Sokka never dragged his roommate to meet the rest of them but at the same time, never really said a bad word about him. There was something about Zuko though that seemed familiar. It wasn’t the burn around his eye, in fact it was his eyes. There was something about the gold that seemed different from other Fire Nation born. It was on the tip of her tongue but nothing came to mind.

“Hey, let’s go find Sokka. Maybe if we catch him off guard, we can get him to agree to let us wax his legs.” Toph said, taking Badger’s harness again.

“Ok, why?”

“Well, you’re cheering for your Department. Who do you think is cheering for the Fencing Department?”

“Oh!” Suki bursting into laughter, grabbing Katara’s arm, “We’ve got to go see this.”

At least there was a small positive for the day. Before they got far, Katara noticed something glinting in the sun. it was a gold hair clip, the design of the Fire Lily shimmering with the inlaid stones. It was exactly where Zuko had landed. She quickly scooped it up, letting Suki drag her along as she took a good look at it. it was beautiful, a bit old if the oxidation on it was anything to go by, but still pretty none the less. But why was Zuko carrying it? his hair was long, but not long enough to need a hair clip like the one she held, not to mention it seemed a bit feminine. So why did he have it?

“What do you mean she wants to get back together?”

Zuko looked up at his cousin, who stopped his job of placing stickers on the bottles. He knew his uncle was going to be coming in with another batch and if they didn’t move quickly, he was going to scold them.

“She moved back. She didn’t make it past the preliminary rounds. She and Azula found me as I got back on campus and she told me she wanted to get back together, that I was the only person she could date. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.”

Mai’s reappearance in his life was something he could have done without. While he gladly gave up any relationship between him and Azula, his relationship with Mai was nice. It was safe and they understood each other. At least until the day he had his first panic attack and it caused the first of many disqualifications and Mai wouldn’t answer his calls. In fact, with Azula smirking in the background, she dumped him like he was nothing, saying her career in archery was more important than him. He wanted to make it as a professional fencer, but never at the expense of the people he cared about. When she stood in front of him, after another disqualification, asking to get back together, he yelled at her. Told her to leave him alone and follow Azula’s orders like the good dog she was. He didn’t regret his words, even after seeing the look on her face.

“Wow. She’s got some nerve.”

“Lu Ten! Zuko! You two better not be talking and not finishing those bottles! That delivery is due in an hour!”

“We got it dad!” Lue Ten called before turning to his younger cousin. “What are you gonna do?”

“Ignore her. There’s nothing I want from her anymore, so it’ll be easy. You’re putting that on crooked.” He pointed out, looking at Lu Ten’s bottle.

“Shit. I could kill Aang. Who orders tea for 3 different Departments the day before they’re needed?”

Zuko didn’t bother mentioning that their younger cousin wasn’t the smartest person with some things. While he focused on putting the correct stickers on the types of bottled tea, all he could think of was where his mother’s hair clip disappeared to. He knew he had it in his bag, resting on the top of his gear. It wasn’t there when he emptied it and it was no where in his room at the house. He had no clue where it could have ended up. The campus was huge and he’d been around quite a bit before heading home so if it did fall out, it could be anywhere.

“Guess I’ll have to ask Sokka.”

“Sorry?”

“Nothing.” There was a lot involving his mother he didn’t want to tell his cousin or his uncle. “Hurry up before Uncle comes with the next batch. Everything starts at 1 pm and I don’t need Jett getting ideas of dragging me back in.”

Thankfully they finished on time and Lu Ten drove them to the school. While he directed Lu Ten to where the Fencing Department would have their tent, he stacked the coolers on top of each other and headed to where Aang said the Track and Field Department would be set up. The noise from Sports Day and people gearing up for events surrounded him. The year before he was ready to try and get his Department on the tiers, even with Jett being an ass. This year, he wanted to be as far away from this as possible.

“Watch it!”

Stopping, Zuko turned to see past the coolers, surprised when he realised, he nearly crashed into Katara again. The last time he saw her, her training clothes were blue, made even more aware with her Southern Water Tribe jacket she’d been in. this time, it looked like Ty Lee had gotten a hold of her and threw her into her own closet. Her cheerleading uniform was bright pink, the Department jacket somehow matching. He guessed Ty Lee had that made since all the Departments lettermen jackets where some shade of grey.

“It’s you.”

“Sorry. We’re creating a habit.”

“Hmm, more like you are, but that’s fine. what is this?”

“Tea, from the Jasmine Dragon. My cousin put in a massive order last night so it’s getting delivered now. It’s for the Track and Field and Weightlifting but I’m sure Toph wouldn’t mind you stealing a bottle.”

“Tempting, but if my coach sees us downing extra sugar before the day is over, she’ll kill me. I heard from my brother that Jett is trying to hunt you down and since I hate Jett, you should probably deliver that before he finds you.” Katara said, pointing over her shoulder, to where the main field was.

“Thanks. Sorry again.” He walked around her when she called for him. He looked over his shoulder, watching her walk up to him, tugging something from the bun she wore. It was a hair clip, a very familiar one. “That’s…”

“I found it the day we met. It was where you landed so I thought it might be yours?”

He dropped the coolers on the ground, taking the hair clip from her. It looked slightly shiny, as if it’d been cleaned. He was about to ask, looking up when he stopped. He really got a good look at Katara, her bright blue eyes, the braid that spilled onto her shoulder, with the minor kinks from being in a bun.

“You, you went to Ba Sing Se Preparatory.” he stated.

“Yes?”

“You screamed at those bullies.”

He couldn’t believe he forgot. Her blue eyes briming with anger, the conviction in her voice as she yelled at the bullies from down below, even Sokka trying to calm her down. her family saved his life.

Zuko crawled carefully on the ledge as he wiped down the windows, the rest of his class pushing desks out of the way to be swept and mopped. Most of his classmates didn’t want him anywhere near an open area, especially with his limited vision but he’d just gotten his bandages taken off and he wasn’t about to let it hinder him.

Without them on, he didn’t see Mom flinch at the sight of them, though the massive burn that he now had wasn’t any better, let alone the lack of hair that had been left too. The fights between his parents were getting worse and Azula’s teasing was starting to become more hurtful than playful. He wanted it all to stop. If he pretended that things were ok, maybe they would be eventually.

“Hey scarface!” Zuko looked over, 3 of his school bullies storming over. He tried not to flinch, already knowing what they were going to yell at him about. They’d been doing it all day. “We lost the race thanks to you!”

Zuko used to be more confident. But after the burns, a few harsh words and he’d start retreating back down into himself. These bullies took advantage of it. During their Sports Day, Zuko had dropped the baton in the relay race and ran in the opposite direction of everyone else, away from the bullies yelling at him.

“Mr. Reversal, can’t believe you’re so stupid.”

“You need a walking stick, scarface? Huh?”

Zuko felt one of them shove him and he expected to hit the window frame. Instead, he went flying out the open window. Zuko would mostly remember being caught by an older man with darker skin, most likely from one of the Water Tribes, with kind blue eyes, who held him as he burst into tears and two younger children. The boy patted his back, telling him not to worry because his sister would take care of it and the girl screaming up at the bullies from the ground floor. Her long braid swung back and forth as she shook her fists and threatened to do violent things to them. her eyes seemed bluer than her families, like the clearest ocean.

Katara blinked at him before she gasped. “Wait, Zuko Lung? You, you were in the River Class with Sokka. You disappeared not long after my dad caught you.”

“My uncle, he took custody and it was far from where he lived, so I had to…I can’t believe I forgot about you. Sokka’s my roommate.”

With a smile, Katara shrugged. “no one ever said he was smart. Are, are you happy? Before you left, you always seemed…”

For the first time since this whole list of messes started, Zuko felt like his smile was real. “I am. I mean, I’m dealing with different things, but for the most part, I’m happier than I have been in years.”

“Good. I should really let you go deliver those before Jett shows up. But, don’t be a stranger, ok?” Zuko had only just picker up the coolers again when Katara got his attention again. “How did you know it was me? You didn’t recognise me yesterday.”

“Your hair. I remembered your braid most of all from that day.”               

[worst-siblings-tournament]

Round 1

Skystar and Graywing (Warrior Cats) vs Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha (Naruto)

Scar and Mufasa (The Lion King) vs Jude and Taryn Duarte (The Folk of the Air)

Krauss, Eva, Rudolf and Rosa Ushiromiya (Umineko) vs The Princes of Stormhold (Stardust)

Blitzø and Barbie Wire (Helluva Boss) vs Bardas and Gorgas Lordan (The Fencer Trilogy)

Vinsmoke Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji (One Piece) vs Nikolai and Vasily Lantsov (Grishaverse/Shadow and Bone)

The Batsiblings (Batman) vs Rattlesnake and Sirocco (Wings of Fire)

Dee and Dennis Reynolds (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia) vs Folgers Coffee Siblings (Folgers Coffee commercial)

Ianthe and Coronabeth Tridentarius (The Locked Tomb) vs Therese and Jeanette Voerman (Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines)

Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba (Danganronpa) vs Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary (English history)

Ruby and Aquamarine Hoshino (Oshi no Ko) vs Richard and Helen Gansey (The Raven Cycle)

The Endless (Sandman) vs Lark and Sparrow Oak-Garcia (Dungeons and Daddies)

The Bridgerton siblings (Bridgerton) vs Clary Fairchild and Sebastian Morgenstern (The Shadowhunter Chronicles)

The Sanderson Sisters (Hocus Pocus) vs Velvet and Veneer (Trolls 3)

The Seven Sisters Colleges (Real Life) vs Zeus and Hera (Greek mythology)

Akio Ootori and Anthy Himemiya (Revolutionary Girl Utena) vs Tom and Jake Berenson (Animorphs)

The Hargreeves siblings (Umbrella Academy) vs Ledroptha Curtain (The Mysterious Benedict Society)

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian (MDZS/The Untamed) vs Rei Asaka and Fukiko Ichinomiya (Oniisama E)

Adam and Eve (NieR: Automata) vs Dys and Tangent (I Was A Teenage Exocolonist)

Percy Jackson and Polyphemus (Percy Jackson) vs Mercer and Gage (The Silt Verses)

King Richard and Prince John (Robin Hood/English history) vs Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII (Egyptian history)

Uru Somezuki and Saito Sejima (AI: The Somnium Files) vs Illumi, Killua and Alluka Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)

Andrew and Ashley Graves (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley) vs Belzedar (The Belgariad)

Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire) vs Torak (The Belgariad)

Phillip and Caleb Wittebane (Owl House) vs Ogata Hyakunosuke and Hanazawa Yuusaku (Golden Kamuy)

Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston (How To Train Your Dragon) vs Andrew and Aaron Minyard (All for the Game)

Goneril and Regan (King Lear) vs Ruby Rocks and Saccharina Frostwhip (Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy)

The Beagle Boys (Donald Duck universe) vs Catherine and Hindley Earnshaw (Limbus Company)

Sam and Dean Winchester (Supernatural) vs John Wilkes and Edwin Booth (US history)

Anne and Mary Boleyn (English history) vs Rodrick, Greg, and Manny Heffly (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

Anastasia, Drizella, and Cinderella (Cinderella) vs Wolf 40f and Wolf 42f "Cinderella" (Real Life, Druid Peak wolf pack)

Byes: Azula and Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Cain and Abel (The Bible)

[a-man-named-shang]

Characters that Inspire Shang:

Zuko - particularly this drive for duty/honor. I think this will be especially more relevant when Shang finds out more about his father and that situation and correlate some with Book Three Zuko somewhat. I'm thinking especially with the messed up family and wanting to fix things and that strong care for other people. Also since canon Shang sings about all the force of a raging fire, so why couldn't Shang be linked to a badass fire bender (this is what I'll imagine for him in an ATLA au). See me possibly prepping some ATLA aesthetics soon to celebrate og Avatar (idk how to feel about this new show still). Also the awkward side of Zuko? Yeah I think there's that awkward to Shang in there too.

Charles from The Brothers Sun - Laur brought this guy to my attention and once I watched the show I thought yes 10000/10. He is Shang inspo. He's the older sibling, he's responsible, he feels like he has to do everything. His motto is protect the family. He prioritizes this over his own needs and interests. Charles fights and fights even though he has these soft good things he likes, like churros and perfecting a recipe and all that. And Shang too he focuses on his responsibility and his family's needs, his company's needs. He hasn't really let himself dwell on the things he might actually need.

Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka from Ouran High School Host Club - This is going to probably seem like an odd take, but hear me out. He's the more stoic character type in a very chaotic and crazy vibe of a squad. He comes from a family that has lived to serve another family for generations. There's that duty that's ingrained in him and that's something ingrained in Shang. He's serious and Shang is serious, and I think Shang if faced with someone with that sort of bright optimism and softness like Mori with Honey would also be protective and want to defend them with his life.

Zoro from One Piece - you have to have the more straight/serious guy opposite of the goofball like Zoro is to Luffy. It's a similar situation as Mori and Honey to me. He's a swordsman, and Shang canonically uses a sword of course. Swyn Shang is a fencer, but to me it is the right sort of feel. I think if Shang didn't have duties to his family, or responsibilities that he had to hold onto, maybe he would have a dream like Zoro. Being the best fencer in the world or something like it. I think he would probably admire a character like Zoro and want to embody some of him.

Tuxedo Mask - You all know I talked about doing that personality quiz to see what inspo I could find? Most of them were all serious leaders, which fair yeah, people like T'Challa and Mufasa and George Washington in Hamilton and all that. But Tuxedo Mask was also on the list and at first I thought that was pretty funny, but then I thought about it a bit and you know what? Yeah. That's a vibe. That can give me some inspo. It's the protector energy, which is so deeply rooted in my Shang muse. Also the roses? I know it sort of grew from Regency there, but I am thinking Swyn reality Shang also really has a love for roses. And so the rose connection and Tuxedo Mask using them as a weapon is a nice touch. I like that link. It's also doing everything in one's ability to protect the person you love, and Shang would do that for the people he cares deeply about.

Captain America - I used to write a Captain America/Steve Rogers muse. That energy is in there somewhere still I think and it does seep into my strong responsible muses. I think some of that energy was in Arthur, and some is in Shang too. Plus a bit more sass like Steve Rogers has. lol. If Arthur was Captain America, he would have been the fresh out of ice (or out of the grave lol) just wanting to fight for the town and protect everyone as he knows it, then Shang is the Winter Soldier era Cap and on, with some social awareness and interest and settling into himself. Still very responsible and putting that before his mental health, but willing to do some other things. Shang is also willing to do other things, he just won't prioritize them. But he will try dating and things like that which Arthur wouldn't have done. Yeah this turned a little into an Arthur vs. Shang comparison within the inspo but I can't help it. They are similar muses, but also different as I said.

So yeah, those are my character inspo things for Shang right now. Fun journey. Next i'll probably want to do aesthetics. Who knows.

[chiliger]

Random thought of an AU where Sokka is in the swim club of his high school but is kinda finding the sport unfulfilling as of late.

One day after practice, he walks past the gym and catches sight of the fencing club. Out of curiosity, he watches a pair spar, mesmerized by their quick and elegant moves. He makes a habit of watching the fencing team everyday after swimming for about a week, even mimicking the moves he observes, before he is caught by the fencing coach, Mr. Piandao. Sheepishly, Sokka expresses interest in the sport, admitting he’s never even held a sabre; but Piandao invites him to try it out after the team finishes for the day.

(More under the cut.)

Despite his sloppy stance and stiff moves at first, Sokka shows signs of promise and quick learning. Mr. Piandao encourages Sokka to come during the next club meeting and maybe try a few rounds with some of the beginner players. Sokka is ecstatic with the idea and as soon he gets home, he looks up videos of fence matches and practices the moves and stances, using an umbrella as a sabre. He practices all weekend, much to Katara’s chagrin whenever he swings the umbrella too wide and knocks over something in their room.

Come next meeting, he skips swim club and heads for the gym the fencing club practices in. Mr. Piandao is pleased to see him and hands him a spare sabre, vest and mask, then has him pair up with some of the more novice fencers. Near the end of the meeting, the club members gather together for a few rounds of dueling for anyone who wants to, whether novice or advanced. One of the fencers, who has kept their mask on for the majority of the meeting, is challenged to a round and wins so quickly that Sokka had to make sure he didn’t blink and missed something.

The same fencer keeps a winning streak for a few more rounds, and when no one volunteers to challenge them, Sokka, despite his better judgement, raises his hand. He steps up before the fencer, unable to make out any details of the person’s face because of their mask. The first and second round go quickly, with Sokka losing both. For the third round, he ups his game, managing to parry his opponent's quick strikes, and almost making a successful strike of his own. He still loses the third round, but he isn't sulking, he's more invigorated than before by the beauty of the sport.

As the club clean up and put away their equipment for the day, Sokka spots the talented fencer from the before, and runs up to them as they remove their mask.

"Hey, thanks for the match. I'm sure I wasn't much of a challenge, I'm just learning how to play" he says with a bright grin. He holds out his hand. "I'm Sokka."

The fencer, bright eyes that are almost golden, looks at him for a moment before taking his hand. He doesn't smile, but his raspy voice is soft, "Zuko. Maybe with some more practice, you'll be able to beat me."

Sokka laughs, not sure if Zuko was teasing or encouraging him. "Maybe. I bet I could if you teach me some of those sweet moves."

Now, a corner of Zuko's lips twitch up just slightly that Sokka thinks he imagined it. "Keep coming to the club meetings, and we'll see about that."

On his way home, riding his bike, Sokka is wearing a brighter grin than he had before. He thinks about the idea of officially joining the fence club, and learning more from Mr. Piandao, and thinks of seeing Zuko again and maybe one day, winning a duel against him.

Sokka lets go of his bike's handles as he approaches the slope of a hill, raising his arms up as he speeds down the slope with a loud and cheerful whoop.

[nobodyfamousposts]

I finally know how to start my ML AU sabrina/ladybug fanfic, and I have sketches. I just gonna change other minor things so it passes from other ml au kwami swap fanfics: some are that, sabrina and adrien are going to have pets, kagami and her mother are gonna be villains, there's a different reason why the monastery was destroyed, bunnix appears early, and gabriel is not the main villian. Etc. HELP feed back

Congratulations!

Giving them pets would add a new dynamic. Both with the kids and with the kwamis. It would really depend on how you do them and the involvement in the plot.

I can definitely see Tomoe being a villain, given what we know of her. Not just in her attitude towards Kagami, but her history. Blind. Fencer. High status. It's fully possible she could have shady dealings or have had involvement in magic to try to regain her eyesight. Kagami could make for an interesting antagonist herself. You could have her be a devoted but somewhat reluctant follower of her mother's will. You could have her be the perfect "heir" to her mother's empire and be trained from birth to take over that role. Would she be the awkward girl who genuinely wants friends and may have potential to become a hero? Or would she pull a Zuko and hold onto her family instead?

Yes please to a different reason for the Monastery being destroyed. After all the foreshadowing, I thought it would be something serious. A betrayal. An Anakin-esque turn to the dark side and loss of friendship. And specifically NOT because the Guardians themselves were just as dumbed down as anyone else in the show whenever the plot convenience gets involved and thought it was a good idea to leave a starving child alone with ancient and POWERFUL items when that child never wanted to be there in the first place.

It would be interesting to see who you would have as the main villain. Gabriel could be a starting villain. To be either caught by the heroes or crushed by a newer bigger villain. Or he could be reformed and try to help the heroes either with or in place of Fu once the new villain arrives.

I'd be curious to see what you come up with.

[maipreciation]

atla characters & random jobs I like to imagine them having: 

Aang- sky diving instructor

Katara- investigative journalist

Sokka- college professor (mech e? marine bio? aerospace? idk)

Toph- twitch streamer

Suki- park ranger, competitive swimmer

Zuko- composer, youth soccer coach

Azula- potter, celebrity agent

Mai- contract attorney, high fashion designer

Ty Lee- physical therapist, interior decorator

Yue- professional mermaid, second grade teacher

Jin- indie bookstore owner

Song- wildlife conservationist 

Teo- children’s book illustrator

Jet- olympic fencer, guy who plays guitar in a coffee shop

Haru- true crime novelist, barista/ owner of aforementioned coffee shop

Longshot- trick horseback rider, world renowned hibachi chef

Smellerbee- camp counselor

[the-dumb-gaysian-demigod]

The Gaang College AU! (with sports they play/played in high school)

Aang- international relations major, psychology minor. on the archery team. dude’s not getting physical, nuh uh. perhaps a cheerleader since he likes the air? 

Katara- pre-med major, psychology minor. I actually feel like katara would make a great fencer (not sure why, but I just think so). definitely on the swim team, but probably a diver, not actually a swimmer... bet she could do mad butterfly strokes though

Sokka- political science major, pre law minor. Ok, soccer definitely... BUT ALSO BASEBALL— I CAN SEE SOKKA AND SUKI PLAYING BASEBALL AND SUKI BEING A PITCHER AND SOKKA FLEXING LIKE “OH MY SWING IS THE BEST ON THE TEAM” 

Suki - pre-law major, minor in gender/sexuality/women’s studies. Plays soccer, does judo, too... and SOFTBALL YEP GOING OFF OF THE PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH SHE’S THE PITCHER AND AS MUCH AS SOKKA FLEXS HIS SWING HE CANT HIT HER FASTBALLS HAHAHA

Toph- either undecided or some major that i’ve never heard before, like adventure education or something. Does wrestling 100%. Probably the only girl on the wrestling team in high school. Maybe did weightlifting, too. 

Zuko- international business and marketing major, philosophy minor (which his dad totally raged over). Played ball. 100% basketball, point guard probably, except he probably hated it and wanted to play some other sport, like lacrosse or something. 

Azula- business management and electrical engineering (double major bc girl is just genius like that). Woman’s basketball and softball— I’m telling you azula would make the best point guard in women bball history with her strategic thinking and shit— ALSO she’s the “CHESS IS A SPORT” gal (no personal opinions here, but I can totally see Azula saying this)

Mai- criminology and psychology (double major as well). Archery? Yes. 100%, yes... do we even need to explain. Probably was the manager of the bball team at some point, too. (no cap she definitely went to all the games even though they were boring asf— only went because Zuko was there) 

Ty Lee- Entertainment/dance major, communication studies minor. This is pretty simple, I think. Gymnastics. Maybe a flyer for cheerleading since she’s so comfy in the air. Probably did martial arts as a kid. 

[ao3feed-zukka]

The Dead Are All Living

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2U37IML

by g3mstone

Zuko just needed someone to spar with. Follows Zuko and Sokka's relationship through the days leading up to and following the final battle.

Words: 1493, Chapters: 1/6, Language: English

Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Sokka (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar), Katara (Avatar), Azula (Avatar), Toph Beifong, Aang (Avatar), Hakoda (Avatar)

Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar)

Additional Tags: Angst, Fluff, Secret Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Accidental Bedsharing, those are two different things, Sibling Bonding, sokka and zuko think they're good liars but they're really not, two dumb boys, Sparring, zuko and azula have an actual relationship, so do sokka and katara, talking through their issues, toph says fuck, everyone says fuck really, im a classically trained fencer and i decided to make that everyone elses problem

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2U37IML

[blu-3-winter-spring-world]

Tagged by @willbyersthings

My favorite characters right now ( the characters are always changing)

1. Will Byers (Stranger Things)

2. Vanya (Umbrella Academy)

3. Larry Trainer (Doom Patrol)

4. Jason Todd (Dc Comics)

5. Peridot (Steven Universe)

6. Cyrus Goodman (Andi Mack)

7. Zuko ( Avatar the Last Airbender)

8. Hinata Hyuga (Naruto)

9. Helga G. Pataki (Hey Arnold!)

10. Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars)

Tagging:

@sokkable @fencer-x @kketcchuupp @kippenbruh @wise-will-byers

[multi-fandom-asks]

VLD and ATLA matchup? INFP gal who is very awkward and klutzy. Competitive fencer. Aquarius. Black. 5'7 (wanna be taller) short black curly hair and nearly black eyes. HUGE BIOLOGY NERD. Introverted. Hopeless animal lover. Competitive. Closeted emotional about EVERYTHING. Blunt to a fault. Eyebags. Self conscious AS FUCK. Procrastinator™. Hate being ignored. Sketch and paint when I have time. I am VERY sarcastic. I have a dark sense of humor. Been told I was weird. Analytical by nature.

here you go, @thenerdyrebel! thank you so much for being patient; my life has been chaotic af. enjoy!

first off, your Voltron match up....I ship you with Keith!

while Aquarius and Scorpio (Keith’s canon zodiac sign) can be challenging when it comes to relationships; you have many personality traits that I think you and Keith would bond over.

Keith adores competitive people, and your spirit and grit when competing in something is crazy endearing to him. he thinks the fact that you fence competitively is sexy and he begs you to train him (you eventually acquiesce and do...he’s good, but you still kick his ass)

the two of you bond over the fact that you typically keep emotional matters to yourselves. it’s a challenge sometimes...you want to open up to him, and he wants to open up to you....but emotional vulnerability is difficult. you both get the hang of it though and come out of your shells.

he LOVES your sarcasm and snarky sense of humor. it’s the type of humor that can make him snort with laughter. your bluntness is also one of his favorite things about you - you don’t sugarcoat things and that’s a good thing.

one of the many perks of dating Keith is endless cuddles with Kosmo - you can never be unhappy when you’re snuggling with space doggo.

also, eye bags? same. he gets them often.

and you are a way better artist than him, much to his chagrin

~

Now, your ATLA match up...I ship you with Zuko!

I think Zuko has many traits of an Aries, and the signs of Aries and Aquarius can blend very well together. you both have a zest for life, a powerful independence, and no pun intended, a fire within.

your love for biology is adorable to him; and he loves listening to you go on and on about what you’re passionate about. he may not understand the nitty-gritty of scientific matters, but he catches on and has learned a lot from you.

your introverted nature is something he can connect with...he knows what it’s like to shy away. you can’t hep but be a bit more outgoing when you’re with him, though. adventures are inevitable when you’re with this handsome firebender.

and this man is such a sucker for dark hair! he loves playing with your hair when you guys cuddle. you totally can fall asleep like that.

Zuko’s more intelligent than people give him credit for; and he’s got a perceptive nature that is similar to yours. the two of you are practically detectives together!

~

Keith and Zuko are very similar characters, and I feel they’d both be a really good match for you - I really hope you enjoyed this match up! It was a lot of fun 😊 and I’m always happy to write for my bois.

- mod Aoi 🌺

[benisasoftboi]

In Which I Explain The Entirety of Star Wars, Despite Being Very Much Unqualified To Do So

I have only seen one Star Wars movie - it was The Last Jedi. I saw it, with no context, two years ago in theatres when it first came out. I was very surprised to find out that it made a lot of people very angry, because I quite liked it, as did the friends I saw it with. I can’t say I remember much though.

All the rest of my Star Wars knowledge comes from its generally inescapable nature in the pop cultural zeitgeist. I might have seen a bit of Episode 6, which I don’t know the name of, when I was round a friend’s house once, but I was very tired, and it was about a decade ago anyway.

That’s just some context for my lack of qualifications to do this. My friend said I should still do it anyway. I will not be looking anything up as I write this, so all spelling mistakes and other general errors are mine. 

So anyway - The Entirety of Star Wars:

Original Trilogy 

There is a guy called Luke. He is played by Mark Hamill and he is George Lucas’s self insert. He lives on a planet where there is only sand, because in this universe all planets have only one terrain, I think. He drinks milk. The milk might be blue.

A guy played by Liam Neeson finds Luke. I think this guy’s name is probably Obi Wan Kenobi, but I might have that wrong. At some point he will die tragically and it will be formative for Luke, but then he will also come back as a ghost. Ghosts exist in this universe. 

Possibly Luke has known this guy for a long time or possibly he is a stranger, I am not sure. Somehow they end up on a spaceship.

Luke needs to learn how to use magic powers called the Force, which seems to be mostly telekinesis, and also lets him use a really fancy but probably impractical sword called a lightsaber that shoots blue or sometimes green or sometimes red light. This is called Jedi training. Jedi Knight is a religion. You can claim to be one on the census in the real world. They seem to be really serious people despite having a silly name.

Everyone also has guns that go ‘pew pew pew’ and nerds get really mad when you make fun of that.

Luke will meet many colourful and interesting people on his journey. These include:

A woman played by Carrie Fisher who is also his twin sister but he doesn’t know that until after they kiss. Her name is Leia or maybe Laia. She has silly hair. At one point she wears a slave bikini because she’s enslaved to a gelatinous blob because that’s just how it goes when you’re the woman in a 70s sci-fi movie

A guy called Han Solo because he is Edgy and Does Things Solo. He and Leia have a romance and it’s Drama. He also has a spaceship that people will build very impressive lego replicas of. He dresses like a cowboy. I’m 90% that he is played by Harrison Ford

A bunch of walking teddy bears called Ewoks who can kill you and live in a jungle

A guy called Lando Calrissian who I think wears fancy clothes and that’s all I know about him, he might actually be a villain I’m not sure. He might die?

A little blue robot who hid behind some rocks one time and then in the re-release he hid behind more rocks than before and the fans got Mad

A big gold robot who is nervous and gay and might be gay for the little blue robot, like they might be married but that also might be a meme I’m not certain

A weird green goblin thing called Yoda who makes Luke carry him around and speaks in broken English that annoying people have spent the last thirty years imitating. He dies, but then is a ghost so it doesn’t matter really

A guy called Boba Fett who is a bounty hunter. I genuinely have no clue how he fits in to all of this. He might not actually be from Star Wars, maybe I’m mixing him up with something else. 

Luke is also trying to fight the Evil Darth Vader who works for an Evil CGI Emperor of the Evil Empire. They live on a big spaceship called the Death Star and it looks like a moon but isn’t and people think it’s funny when you point that out for some reason. They are the Dark Side, which makes them easy to root against because they’re just cartoonishly evil I guess. I think they are also bureaucrats. They have Stormtroopers, who might be brainwashed people or might just be robots, or might even be clones. They all wear identical white armour with helmets so people don’t care when they get shot. Kinda like fencers.

Darth Vader is actually Luke’s father and this is a twist except not anymore. This means he is also Leia’s father, I’m not sure if she knew. Also Luke loses his arm. Darth Vader gets redeemed and then dies but also takes down the Evil CGI Emperor with him.

I don’t know what happens in any of the movies, but I know that the first one ends with them getting plans for or from Leia, not sure, the second one has the dad twist, and the third one has ghosts. Also they blow up the Death Star by shooting a garbage chute really hard. 

Prequels

These movies are widely disliked. The first one has too much bureaucracy. They are about Darth Vader’s backstory. He used to be a guy called Anakin. He will Become Evil. He will also meet many colourful characters. They include:

His love interest, who is called Padme. She wears a silly hat and dies of a combination of Childbirth and Sadness. I saw this bit happen one time when I was a kid and I was stuck round my mum’s friend’s house and her son was playing through this part in the LEGO game. It was sad

A guy with a red face whose name might be Maul and has robot legs? 

A guy called Jar Jar Binks who everyone seems to simultaneously hate and feel a desperate need to make sex jokes about 

Angry Jedi People

Probably some robots

Anakin hates sand and is pretty but grumpy. His hatred of sand is what will prevent him from finding Luke in the original movies. He falls in a volcano and gets turned into a robot man and it’s very dramatic. He has an angry red lightsaber. He murders a bunch of children by executing Order 66. Or maybe that was in the first set of movies I don’t know. I’m not sure how they made three of these movies, there doesn’t seem to be much to them.

Also there is something called ‘mitoclorians’ and I don’t know what they are but they make nerds Very Mad.

Expanded Universe

There was an expanded universe, but Disney said it wasn’t canon when they bought the rights, so now it isn’t. If I were a Star Wars fan, I would not take this lying down, because what right does Disney have to say what’s canon? Why is it up to the copyright holders? They are a corporation, not a writer. Expanded universes are always really fun and full of wacky nonsense that would never get put in the mainline stuff. I don’t like it when people try to dismiss them. 

Stand Alone Movies

When the new trilogy started, they also made some stand alone films. They were called Rogue One and Solo. Rogue One is about a woman named Gin or Jinn or Jin or Ginne or - I wish I hadn’t restricted myself to not looking anything up - Urso. The spelling doesn’t matter because she dies. So does everyone else. Then Darth Vader shows up.

Solo is about Han Solo and his friends and they have an adventure and there’s a robot who wants robot rights but she dies so no one has to address the slavery thing. Also apparently it was going to be a comedy but got reshot as a drama. I hope I never watch it because that sounds terrible, even as much as I like Donald Glover who I think is in it probably. I think his character might have been in love with the dead robot.

Sequel Trilogy

These movies are about a girl called Rey. She makes nerds mad by existing and being the protagonist. She is Space British. She is a scavenger and is friends with a really cute little orange robot. Somehow she ends up in space. She starts hanging out with Older Leia’s crew, which include a pilot named Poe Dameron and a guy called Finn, but I don’t know why he’s there. People ship them with each other, and also with Rey. 

The other person people ship Rey with is Kylo Ren, who I call Space Zuko because when I saw The Last Jedi, he showed up and I was like ‘oh, it’s Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender but in space’, because he has bad hair and is angry about his Daddy Issues. I hope in the next movie he gets better hair and fewer Daddy Issues like Real Zuko did. A lot of people get really angry about Rey and Space Zuko being shipped together, but they’re still the most popular ship on AO3. So no matter what happens in the next one, nerds are going to be mad about it, and I am not looking forward to it.

Kylo Ren killed his dad, Han Solo, because he was radicalised to be evil for reasons I don’t know. The guy who runs the New Evil Group, which is called the First Order, is an ugly CGI guy called Snoke. It was apparently a Big Twist that Kylo kills him Last Jedi, and it made nerds really mad. I don’t understand why people were surprised, because when I saw the movie, I saw that guy and was like ‘oh he’s gonna get killed by Space Zuko because that would be Drama and also from a production standpoint having a guy who needs lots of special effects is much more difficult than just having Adam Driver wear a scary mask’ and then I was right so maybe I’m smarter than all the nerds. 

There is also a guy called Hux and he is a ginger. I think he is evil.

The other thing people got really mad about was that Rey’s parents were not established characters. People wanted her dad to be Luke, I think, who is in Last Jedi. I was happy about this because I like Mark Hamill. He spent the movie teaching her about the force while they hang out on an island with a race of merchandising opportunities called Porgs. He dies at the end but he might be in the next one as a ghost anyway. 

Also there was a girl called Rose and people decided that not liking the character meant they could be mean to the actress, which is not true and everyone who was mean to her should be ashamed. There was another woman as well, but I don’t remember her name, she had purple hair and was serious and I have no idea if she was good or evil. 

Kylo Ren’s real name is Ben which is not very sci-fi. Maybe that’s why he changed it.

Though come to think, Luke isn’t a very sci-fi name either. 

Anyway, that’s everything I know about Star Wars.

Feel free to ask me questions about Star Wars and have me try to answer.

Do not, under any circumstances, try to actually explain Star Wars to me. I’m much happier as is, thank you very much

[sasuhinasno1fan]

The way you had your hair reminds me- Zutara Week Day 1

My second Zutara Week though I hope I can actually finish it this time. I decided I really wanted to do something with Katara doing rhythmic gymnastics so I decided that since most of the prompts fit, I’ll do a sort of Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo AU. It’s a good kdrama if you’ve never heard of it. trying to fit 16 hour long episodes into 7 days is gonna be interesting. I’ll warn you now and let you know there will be onesided LuTara but for like a day maybe. I haven’t written that day yet so we’ll see. This will end in Zutara happieness, I promise. Anyway, enjoy. Hair

Zuko crawled carefully as he wiped down the windows. Most of his classmates didn’t want him anywhere near an open area, especially with his limited vision but he’d just gotten his bandaged taken off and he wasn’t about to let it hinder him.

Without them on, he didn’t see Mom flinch at the sight of them, though the massive burn wasn’t any better. The fights between his parents weren’t either and Azula’s teasing was starting to be hurtful more than playful. He wanted it all to stop. If he pretended that things were ok, maybe they would be eventually.

“Hey scarface!” Zuko looked over, 3 of his school bullies storming over. He tried not to flinch, already knowing what they were going to yell at him about. They’d been doing it all day. “We lost the race thanks to you!”

Zuko used to be more confident. But after the burns, a few harsh words and he’d start retreating back down into himself. These bullies took advantage of it. During their Sports Day yesterday, Zuko had dropped the baton in the relay race and ran in the opposite direction, away from the bullies yelling at him.

“Mr. Reversal, can’t believe you’re so stupid.”

“You need a walking stick, scarface? Huh?”

Zuko felt one of them shove him and he expected to hit the window frame. Instead, he went flying out the open window. Years later, Zuko would mostly remember him being caught by an older man with darker skin, most likely from one of the Water Tribes, with kind blue eyes, who held him as he burst into tears and two younger children. The boy patted his back, telling him not to worry because his sister would take care of it and the girl screaming up at the bullies from the ground floor. Her long braid swung back and forth as she shook her fists and threatened to do violent things to them. her eyes seemed bluer than her families, like the clearest ocean.

He didn’t know they’d slip back into his life years later. That the little girl who threatened bullies for a boy she didn’t know, would become so much more important to him.

                                             ________________

Zuko unlocked his bike, trying not to feel discouraged. It was hard not to when he’d been disqualified from another competition for having a panic attack. Every time he walked onto the mat, his hearing would go wonky and he’d start seeing double, not to mention his heart beating like it was trying to escape his chest. As a result, he’d always forget to sault his opponent and the referee.

Along with being propositioned to train an up-and-coming fencer to get onto the national Olympic team – which he refused because how was he supposed to help someone when he could even finish a match – all he wanted to do was collapse onto his bed. He could already tell that during training tomorrow, he’d have to deal with snide remarks from Jett. How that guy became captain, he’d never know. He knew if he just beat him in training like always, it would piss him off even more and with the school’s Sports Day coming up, he was not in the mood to do the worst event for the Fencing Department.

He climbed on his bike, adjusting his kit sitting on its place but stopping himself from peddling back to campus when his phone rang.

“What Sokka?”

“So, the results of the match went up. Jett wants to talk to you; says he’s got the prefect thing for you to do to make up for your loss. The rice lifting challenge.”

Zuko had to bite his lip to keep from screaming. The idea of the lifting challenge was to carry as many bags of rice and the industrial size, like the one the school cafeteria ordered and hold it for as long as possible. Usually, the Karate Department would be the one to win, fencing never even coming close.

“I’m not going.” Zuko said, making up his mind.

“What?”

“I’ll hang out at Lu Ten’s office or something, but I’m not going. Not to the crapshot of a meeting or to Sports Day. I don’t care what he threatens me with. I’m only coming back to drop my kit off.”

“Um, well I actually heard Mai was back. Didn’t make it past the preliminaries for the national team I hear.”

This day couldn’t get any worse.

“Screw it, I’m not coming back for the next few days. I’ll be with my uncle if you need me.”

“Wait! Ask Toph to do your event for you. it would put the Weightlifting Department in danger of losing but most of those guys don’t like her anyway. She’d love a chance to get back at them. come back to campus and ask her and then I’ll take you out for lunch. At my dad’s restaurant. You love his marinated salmon.” Sokka said, trying to entice his roommate.

Zuko sighed. “I want two orders. And you’re paying.”

“Done! Get here soon.”

Zuko didn’t bother answering, stowing his phone away and pushing off, heading towards Republic City Sports University.

                                     ______________________

Effortlessly, Katara grabbed her back leg and straightened it as she did her pivot. She kept her balance as she came out of it and continued to twirl her ribbon. Her coach nodded.

“Very good. You’ve been practising. Your balance is better. Now I want to see if your fouettés have improved as well. If you want a chance at placing first and getting noticed by our sponsor and qualifying for the national team preliminaries, your routine can’t have any mistakes. Ty Lee, pay attention. I’m testing your fouettés as well.”

Katara looked over at the girl dressed in pink, who was pouting down at her matching hoop, Suki patting her on the shoulder. While Katara and Ty Lee weren’t friends, it was hard to not bond over being singled out by their coach.

Katara stood at the ready, twirling her ribbon as she readied herself when the door burst open.

“Azula!” Ty Lee cried.

Azula Lung was the student with the most sway in the whole school. Her father was the Prime Minister of the Fire Nation and while he didn’t hold much power in Republic City, since all powers were equal, that didn’t mean much at the University. She got the best room, private transport to competitions and rules didn’t apply to her. She could boss around any coach, even though she was in the Karate Department. There’d been rumours that her place was bought, until her first competition where she creamed everyone. She was her department’s ace. In fact, she managed to take the Weightlifting Department’s old gym for the Karate Department, which started a massive feud between them. she was rude and arrogant and somehow, one of Ty Lee’s best friends.

Katara noticed a girl standing next to her. She was dressed in all black, the only colour being the red of her nails. She looked incredibly bored and only looked annoyed when Ty Lee launched herself at her.

“Mai, you’re back!”

“Mai has returned from her qualifying competition for the national team. We’ll be taking Ty Lee with us. Problem?” Azula announced.

“No of course not. Except, Ty Lee, you were supposed to show me your routine for Sports Day? Since you’re our department’s cheerleader.”

Azula scoffed. “Sports Day, waste of time. She won’t be attending. You, blue peasant.” Katara balked at that and narrowed her eyes. “You’ll be taking her place. Problem?”

Katara opened her mouth to say, yes big problem, but all the girls of the Rhythmic Gymnastics Department crowded around her, suffocating her with their hands.

“None at all.”

“Thanks Katara!” Ty Lee said, scooping up her bag and dashing off, Mai following and with a raised eyebrow that spoke of her superiority, Azula leaving as well.

“You can’t argue with her Katara.”

“She’d have you removed from the school. I heard she got a person’s whole family business shut down for pissing her off. Do you want that for your dad?”

“Her dad might be the Prime Minister, but he’s practically a mafia boss.”

Comments like this floated over her head, as well as ones telling her they’d help with making a routine for Sports Day, which was in a few days. All Katara could think about was how completely unfair this all was.

And she let it out too once training was concluded for the day.

“It’s completely insane how she can just lord over them like that!” she said, harshly untangling her hair from its bun.

“Easy, you’re gonna rip your hair out.” Suki said, stopping her from tugging at it more and helping to pull half of it into a bun like she usually wore it.

“She’s a student. A sophomore at that. Where does she get off acting like she’s the greatest thing in the world? Just cause her dad is a Prime Minister? So is mine!”

“I thought Water Tribe issues fell under Yue’s dad’s jurisdiction?” Toph, a member of the Weightlifting Department asked, her hand holding on tightly to her guide dog’s harness. She was just as well known as Azula, due to the fact that she was blind but was still one of the highest climbing Weightlifting competitors at the school. She beat all the senior’s bests within her first month.

“Yeah, only because the South is smaller. That’s not the point! The point is, she does whatever she wants and doesn’t get in trouble for it and it extends to her friends too. I have a competition coming up soon and instead of working on my routines for that, I’m going to be learning choreo for a routine for one of the dumbest traditions of Sports Day.”

“Oh,” Toph said, a massively mischievous smile on her face, “well you won’t think it’s stupid when you hear what I heard. Wanna take a guess as to who’s the Fencing Department’s cheerleader?”

Katara looked over at Toph, who’s smile was growing maniacal. Usually that meant someone was going to get embarrassed as hell. It usually tended to be Sokka.

“Wouldn’t it be one of the girls?”

“Nope.” Toph shook her head, popping her p.

“Is it-?”

“Katara, watch out!”

A guy on his bike and panicked look as he turned the corner, thankfully started the veer off course at the sight of her. She still stumbled over her feet and fell to the floor, her hands pricking in pain as they were scratched. Thankfully though, her jacket took most of the damage. The guy on the other hand, had to shove his bike off his feet, rubbing at his shin.

She took in the pale skin, paler than Toph’s and dark hair surrounding his face. It didn’t stop her from noticing the large burn surrounding his right eye. she noticed that his school jacket was the same one Sokka wore, meaning he was in the Fencing Department.

“You should be more careful.” She meant for it to come out a bit nicer, but the anger from dealing with Azula slipped in.

clearly the guy didn’t enjoy being yelled at as he snapped back. “I didn’t see you.” he seemed to rethink his anger and continued in a calmer voice. “Are you ok?”

ok, now she felt bad about snapping at him. “I’m fine.”

“Oh, what up Sparky?” Toph asked, seeming to brighten as she figured out who almost crashed into them. her guide dog Badger, lead his owner over and with surprising accuracy, Toph punch the guy on the arm.

It was a little scary how well she could do that.

“Stop calling me that.”

“Hey, tell me. Seen his skirt yet? I know he doesn’t shave his legs so please tell me he’s going all out for this.”

The guy sighed. “Thought Sokka told you not to tell anyone.”

“Sokka? He’s the Fencing cheerleader? That’s why he’s been borrowing my hair pins? Those things are expensive.” Katara interrupted.

Toph burst into laughter, clearly enjoying herself while Suki looked thoughtful.

“So that’s why he asked for makeup advice. Suddenly Sports Day is looking a lot more fun.”

“Speaking of which, I’m going back to my room before Jett finds me to let me know my event. Oh, Toph wanna annoying your department?”

“Always.”

“Take my spot for the Rice Lifting event. I’ve dealt with way too much to even put up with Jett today.”

Katara furrowed her brow, wanting to say something about the fact this guy wasn’t going to participate but then she noticed Toph’s smile dropped a little and her punch was definitely softer the second time she hit him.

“Done deal Sparky. Tell your old man I’ll see him later.”

“So who was that?” Suki asked as the guy finally took off.

“Zuko Lung, not related to the royal brat. I go to his old man’s tea house sometimes. He’s Sokka’s roommate apparently.”

“Oh yeah, he’s a pretty good fencer from what I hear. Weird though, I haven’t seen his name in the announcement of students placing.” Suki said.

She had a point. Katara never remembered seeing anything either. She also found it a bit strange Sokka never dragged his roommate to meet the rest of them. there was something about Zuko though that seemed familiar. It was on the tip of her tongue but nothing came to mind. Oh well, for another day then.

“Hey, let’s go find Sokka. Maybe if we catch him off guard, we can get him to agree to let us wax his legs.”

                                             __________________

“I hate you.” Sokka mumbled, hiking his cheerleading skirt up. Katara bit her lip to keep from laughing at the crop top he was in. apparently, he pissed off their department captain by telling him that Zuko wasn’t participating and Toph was taking his place, so his new uniform was worse than his last.

She tossed her braid behind her, trying not to think about how young she must have looked. She had her hair like this when she was younger since it was much easier to put it into a bun. Her own uniform was rather pink for her taste, but Ty Lee basically guilt tripped her into wearing it since it already been bought. She was still annoyed at this, even more so when she found out her new roommate was Mai. The dark and depressing girl was apparently in the Archery Department and Sokka, who’d been in that Department before transferring to fencing, said she was undefeated. Yet she didn’t get past the first round of preliminaries to get onto the national team.

“Hey Sokka!” Aang, a member of the Track and Field Department came bounding over, his own skirt floating around his legs. “Katara, you never told me how much fun a skirt can be. Took me a while to find boxers that weren’t too long but still.”

“I’m glad your having fun Aang. At least someone is.” She said, smirking at Sokka.

“You deal with 3 hours of having your hair ripped out and then come talk to me.” Sokka snapped. “Ugg, I’m gonna kill Zuko. This is all his fault.”

“Wow.” A familiar voice said. Zuko was in casual clothes, carrying a cooler. Next to him was a man, with a squarish face, the same gold eyes and dark hair as Zuko, though his hair was pulled back into a top knot. “See if I bring you anything ever again.”

“You know Jett will kill you if he sees you.”

“He can’t do anything. My uncle called to pull me out for the afternoon. This is work, we’re delivering ice tea for the Fencing and Track and Field Departments. Aang, next time, don’t put your order late at night.”

Aang looked embarrassed. “Sorry. You were already gone when I got back from training. I was going to order for the Rhythmic Gymnastics department, but I know how conscious your coach is about sugars and such.” He said, looking at Katara.

“It’s ok. I’m stealing one though, I deserve the extra sugar for being in this outfit.” She said, walking over to Zuko and opening the lid on the cooler. She noticed he was staring intently at her face.

“What elementary school did you go to?” he asked suddenly.

“Huh?”

“Did you go to Ba Sing Se Preparatory?” he asked.

“Yes?”

“You screamed at those bullies.”

Bullies? Wait. It hit her like a thunderbolt, why he looked so familiar. His burn was a bit more faded but she couldn’t believe he forgot him. He’d been pushed out the window by bullies and her dad, would come to drop off lunch for her and Sokka, managed to catch him before he hurt himself and she’d screamed at the bullies from the floor.

“Holy crap. That was you!” Sokka said, “you had like no hair then!”

“Sokka!” he’d disappeared from class for a few weeks and when he came back his hair was cut so far back that it made his bandages stick out more.

“Yours was in a braid then.”

She was confused for a moment when she realised, he was talking to her. Yesterday her hair had been out but now it was in the same style she had it in as a child.

She’d always wondered what happened to him when Zuko suddenly disappeared for good one day. She’d didn’t think she’d find out now.

[taliashires]

We are in the second month of 20Biteen

And I found out earlier that the term りょうとうつかい (ryoutoutsukai) is a term that means dual sword fencer and bisexual in Japanese. Knowing how much ATLA loves their hidden messages and symbolism it makes both Zuko and Jet bisexual [x]

Let us all celebrate 20Biteen further with some canon korrasami kisses

[hanacassiopeia]

Part 5 : 07:17

Adrien : i’m gonna offer her a revenge ! [...] Wait ! your sword !

Girl : (flawlessly takes off helmet )

Adrien (surprised) : how about having a revenge ?

Girl : no need. you won, in my family second chances don’t exist. Goodbye.

Adrien :  hey !!! what is your name ?!!!

Tikki to Marinette : you might get in the fencing team after all !

Adrien :  follow this car !

Marinette : !!! an akuma !  we need to capture it before it akumatizes someone ! hurry ! Adrien is in danger !

8:50 : Girl at the phone : mother, you thought i was good enough but, I lost. i will not get in the Argencourt School

Hawkmoth : riposte, ia m the papillon. i am giving you a second chance, you’ll be able to prove that you’re the best, but in exchange, you’ll have to bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculous

Zuko Riposte : on my honor, Papillon. I will win !

meanwhile : Adrien : she is the only daughter from a family of prestigious fencers ! her mother and her grandfather were world champions, i thought i’d seen her somewhere. she just arrived in Paris along with her mother, it’s incredible !

[sasuhinasno1fan]

A blessed meeting at dusk- Klance Month Week 2

It wasn’t planned at first but House of Night just came to mind when I started this. I also wrote a good chunk of this on like an hour of sleep, so any mistakes, I apologize for. I caught a few when looking over it but I know I didn’t get all. Even writing this, I’m making basic spelling errors and my dyslexia is really switching words. Again, just pre-klance in this but I plan for it to definitly expand in the next fic. So hopefully you enjoy.

@monthlyklance Dusk/Healing

Lance should be asleep. He should be but sleep alluded him. If he’d been new to this whole vampyre thing, he would of said it was because he wasn’t used to sleeping the whole day away. But he’d been a vampyre for a while now, almost a year. Plus with extra nights being up later because of Dark Daughters and Sons meetings, he had every reason to want to fall asleep.

Maybe his mind was still buzzing with everything that happened. Honerva, their High Priestess and headmistress of their School of Night, said that war was coming. Humans had to be taught their place and they would teach it to them. Nyx wanted this. That was a lie. Allura heard the words herself and Lance considered her to be his High Priestess more than Honerva. It was hard for others to believe her though.

It was a gigantic mess really. Allura was blessed by Nyx, the stories went. The mark of Nyx that every vampyre had was different for her. Her own was fully coloured in and she had markings as if she was a full fledged vampyre and not a fledgling. But she wasn’t the only one with markings like that. Hunk, Pidge, Shiro and Lance all had markings like that, their extra markings matching the elements they’d been affiliated with. Expect Shiro. While Lance had Water, Pidge, Air and Hunk, Earth, Shiro didn’t seem to have a special ability given to him by Nyx. He never complained about it.

“I was dying from a disease with no cure and thanks to her, my parents never have to be in fear of whether or not I’ll die. Well, assuming I live through the Change.”

A scary thought, but they all knew Shiro would be fine. And when he was with Allura, they were the power couple who could do anything. Until Allura slipped up. Lance wasn’t mad at her, not when he heard from Shiro about how his own feelings had been wavering. Allura had fallen for Honerva’s son, Lotor. Except, no one knew that little fact until he went spouting about his conquest with Allura and they couldn’t even beat him up for it. People saw Allura as a slut and her break up with Shiro didn’t make it any better. He was glad that they’d all stopped and talked, letting Allura and Shiro talk about the wavering affections for each other, how as much as they cared for each other, the spark was gone. Even in the midst of the chaos, their group could stand strong. But they still looked weak in the eyes of the whole school. Not a laughing stock, since they knew Nyx wouldn’t appreciate that, but they had no standing in trying to prove Honerva wrong. The woman had the school eating out of her hand, and as of right now, there was nothing they could do.

Just as they were dismissed to go back to their rooms, the Sons of Erebus, warriors who served the vampyre council arrived, acting as soldiers for a war that shouldn’t happen.

“If this continues, darkness and evil will overtake everything and vampyres will never be seen as good again. This war will destroy everything.” Allura had said that night by the oak tree they had dubbed as theirs.

With everything going on, Lance should of taken the excuse to rest after the effects of the day before, so he could be ready to help Allura spread the truth. But worry was eating him alive. Nyx was powerful, but she never controlled her children. They had to believe the truth of their own well being. Other than her soothing and caring words, there wasn’t much she could do.

Lance pushed the comforter off him, grabbing his Fourth Former pull over and stuffing his feet in his nearby high tops. If he couldn’t sleep, he’d at least do something to distract him.

The sun was still out, even as it approached dusk and Lance could feel the slight discomforts a fledging felt around the sun. he quickly darted across the grass until he reached the Gymnasium. Lance took a deep breath. He enjoyed being in here, though he’d love it more if the fencing students picked up after themselves. Lance pulled out targets and went to his locker to pull out his usual gear. He grabbed his bow, making sure his hip quiver was adjusted just how he liked it. With his glove in place, he notched his first arrow, pulling it back and taking a breath, before letting go.

Archery was something he’d done in school when he was human. He’d never been more glad that muscle heads wanted to challenge themselves and convinced the school to do a trail class, which was filled by more than just muscle heads. His friends always said that if they knew Nyx didn’t give him the affinity of Water, they’d swear she blessed him with archery skills. This was Lance’s release, his way of escaping everything. He feared that his skill would be used in this stupid war.

“Hey!” the sudden shout surprised Lance so much that the crescent moon design he’d been shooting was thrown off by an extra arrow on the back side on the moon. “What are you doing in here?”

Standing by the doors was a member of the Sons of Erebus. Lance recognised the armour from when they appeared at Honerva’s announcement. This one though had a hood on his head, blocking most of the top half of his face. Lance could only really make out black hair and the barest hints of the markings of a fully turned Vampyre on his cheeks.

“Aren’t teachers supposed to be in bed also?”

Teachers? Oh, Lance’s mark. Like Pidge, Hunk and Shiro, his own was filled with a different colour as opposed to the normal turned Vampyre. Apparently there were said to be Red vampyres, though they were rare, but nothing like the 3 of them. Lance woke up after passing out at home as his parents got him ready to come to House of Night with a bright blue filled crescent moon and wave like markings framing his face. He had gotten mistaken for a teacher by new fledglings all the time. To a warrior who didn’t know him, that same mistake wasn’t much of a leap.

“I’m not a teacher.” Lance tugged at his pullover. “I’m a student. I have permission from Professor Slav to be here.”

“It’s 7 pm. The sun has barely gone down yet. Why in Nyx’s name are you in here?” the guy approached him, clearly smart enough not to stand in front of Lance while he was armed. Lance still couldn’t see his face that well, though he could see his eyes now. The were purple, kinda like the sky just before it goes dark. Lance missed seeing the sky like that.

“Wait 7? it was like 5:30 when I got here? When did it get so late?”

“Aren’t classes delayed for you anyway since the sun will still be setting by the time 7:45 comes around?” the guard asked, watching Lance pull his glove off and his hip quiver.

“By 15 minutes. I’m heading back now, you don’t have to stick around.”

“I’d feel better escorting you back myself. High Priestess Honerva wants her students protected.”

“Yeah I’m sure.” Lance muttered under his breath as he headed to his locker and put his things away. He decided to leave the targets, give the fencers a taste of their own medicine. He got a look from the warrior but he didn’t say anything as they left the building.

The sun was mostly gone, the dark purples and reds taking to the sky as it got closer to night time. It didn’t feel as bad to be outside so Lance took his time walking across the lawn. Just because he was being escorted back to his room didn’t mean he was gonna make it easy. The Sons of Erebus, as far as Lance was concerned, was just as much the enemy as Honerva was. They followed the High Priestess and it wasn’t Allura.

He stopped when he heard barking and the yowling of a cat. Yowling he fully recognised.

“Zuko!”

“Kosmo!”

Zuko was an odd cat. Most cats at House Of Night either roamed free or bonded with a vampyre. All his friends including him had one. Zuko, a small British Shorthair who had the temper of a banished prince, didn’t belong to anyone but included himself in their group. They guessed it had to do with them always following Shiro’s cat Kuron around. With no owner of his own, they all took care of him. And now Lance had to do it again from a...dog? A large fluffy Husky to be exact.

Zuko was up in a tree, one he was usually found in, hissing down at the dog. With him was Lance’s cat, Katara, which he fondly named after seeing how the two could swat at each other but Nyx forbid if another cat tried attacking while the two were together. (Lance wasn’t afraid to admit he was Zutara trash)

the guy aimed for the dog, grabbing it’s collar and pulling. “Kosmo down!” the dog listened, still barking away at Zuko and Katara. Clearly they didn’t appreciate that and they jumped from the tree, onto the guys head and into Lance’s arms.

Lance scrambled to hold two fluffy cats and not inhale a lot of fur. He could feel the claws digging into his skin as the two hissed at the dog.

“Kosmo, sit! Be quiet!”

Lance took a look at the guy, who’s hood had fallen off, no doubt from when the two used his head like a spring board. His hair was long, though from the back, it looked a bit like a mullet.

“How did you even get out?” the guy scolded the dog, who seemed to be pouting.

“Why do you have a dog in a campus full of cats? Was your school different or something?” Lance asked, trying to figure out what a dog was doing here. Cats were the animals of Nyx. Who in their right mind brought a dog to a place that was filled with cats?

“Or something. I didn’t bond with a cat, I bonded with a dog.” the guy said, facing him.

Lance stared. When he was gifted with his affinity to water, Allura had told him the reason his, Shiro, Pidge and Hunk’s marks were so different. His blue was for his water, Pidge’s green for air and Hunk’s yellow for earth. Shiro’s purple should of meant Spirit but no such luck. He always stood in place for the fire candle during blessings, because no one ever arrived with a red filled crescent moon.

Until now it seemed. What had been hiding under the hood was a red filled moon and flame like marks on the guy’s forehead.

“You. You have...” Lance trailed off.

“Didn’t think you’d be one to judge.” the warrior snapped, pulling his hood back up, once again hiding his marks.

“I’m not judging. it’s just, we never thought we’d…Shiro and Allura are Fifth Formers and the whole time since me and my friends came here and became part of her court, she’s never seen anyone with your markings.”

“So you’re not the only one?” the hostility in the guy’s voice disappeared, leaving caution.

“the whole main court of the Dark Daughters and Sons have them. Well, except Shiro doesn’t have an affinity but his mark was still filled when he arrived here.”

“High Priestess Honerva has said things about you.”

Lance glared. “I’m sure she has. Look, your decision is all your own, but I hope you understand Nyx enough to know this war of hers is going to get everyone killed.”

“The High Priestess thinks the humans are out to get us.”

“So is the Church of People. Nyx sees everyone, including the humans as her children. You guys call yourselves the Sons of Erebus, who was Nyx’s lover. If you listen to Honerva and go along with this, you’ll be disgracing Nyx.”

“You don’t make that call.”

“No but I’ve heard enough of her and Allura’s cries to know this isn’t right.”

Lance knew if he continued to stay here, he’d dissolve into a fight with the guy and probably put their group in even worse light. So he turned and left, ignoring the fiery stare of the vampyre behind him.

                                                  ________________

“He had the mark?” Allura asked, as they all walked to their home room classes, almost 2 hours later.

“Yep, red crescent moon, flame marks, everything. Clearly he knew who I was but I’m pretty sure he would of kept his hidden were it not for the cats. I shouldn’t of fought with him. I was just, mad that someone who was blessed by Nyx would think this war was ok. we’ve been blessed by Nyx and we’re made out to be the enemy. What does that say about Nyx?” Lance said.

“Lance, I know dealing with this is hard and we want to defend Nyx with our dying breath, but this guy deserves to make his own choices. He hasn’t been through what we have, so his experiences aren’t the same. We can’t force him.” Shiro said, putting his hand on Lance’s shoulder.

“Not to mention that Honerva and her precious little boy twisted everything to work in their favour.” Pidge complained from her spot in the front. “the Sons of Erebus might not be able to do anything anyway. The serve the council, which Honerva rules over. Unless the Head High Priestess of the all High Priestesses decides Honerva is in the wrong, even if he did believe us, he’d be no help.”

Lance sighed. He knew it was true. Until Honerva slipped up or Nyx herself appeared, they were on their own.

“Allura.” a silky voice called. They all stopped and Lance could see Allura tensing.

She turned with a fake smile, a staple to what she’d been wearing the past few days. “High Priestess Honerva. How can I help you?”

the guy from last night, along with a few other warriors followed Honerva. The glee she had from holding such power over them was so evident, but to anyone else, she just looked like her regular self, High Priestess of the House of Night.

“I would like to introduce you to Kolivan. he’s head of the Sons of Erebus. This is Allura, Preistess-in-Training of the Dark Daughters and Sons. In fact, this is her court.”

the tall muscled man with a stern look and a scar on his face, bowed his head. “A pleasure to meet the ones blessed by our great Goddess.”

he meant that. Lance could tell and judging from Honerva’s face, she wasn’t happy about it.

“Yes, blessed by Nyx. I hear you have one in your midst as well?”

Kolivan nodded to the hooded guy, who pulled it down, revealing his red markings. “This is Keith. he’s a student at the House of Night in Texas. His proficiency in fighting skills has allowed him to advance into training with us. The High Council has asked that he guards the blessed ones.”

it was clearly the first time Honerva had heard of this.

“The High Council? I was not informed of this.”

“You weren’t supposed to. The Head High Priestess of the Council is a seer and saw great danger to us if anything were to happen Priestess Allura and her court. We decided one of their own and one of our bests should be the one to protect them. Should he say the word, we would be there to defend them. Of course, I’m sure you’d agree.” Kolivan explained with a look that said he didn’t need her approval.

“It’s like a blessing from Nyx herself.” Hunk whispered.

He wasn’t wrong. Here they thought the arrival of the Sons of Erebus meant they had no way of stopping his war, but now it looked like they might have a chance, to at least try.

Keith stepped forward, not taking his eyes from Lance and bowed his head. “I look forward to getting to know you all. Please place your trust in me.”

As Lance stared back at those dusk purple eyes, he hoped that Nyx blessed them all. He had a feeling they’d need it.