#i need zuko to be her side hobby at best

[waywardavatarenthusiast]

just so we’re on the same page, if azula isn’t redeemed and at peace by the time the aang movie rolls around, she better have her own slice of life.

you mean 12 years post war, aang and katara get to be engaged/married, zuko could have a kid on the way for all we know, and azula will still be zuko’s scheming little sister?

i swear if she’s a villain and doesn’t finish dinner and tuck her children into bed before heading to her lair, i’ll be done with atla.

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

A collection of fics I’ve read (/reread) and thoroughly enjoyed in the past week-ish from all kinds of fandoms and genres.

BNHA

a glimpse of tomorrow (looking back) by achievingelysium

Subject: Aldera Time Capsule Ceremony Forwarded Message— This year marks ten years for the Aldera Middle School graduating class of 20XX.

   To celebrate, we would like to invite pro heroes Kingpin and Deku, Aldera alumni, to participate in a public time-capsule opening. We are incredibly proud to have helped them on their journeys to becoming heroes, and would be most honored to receive them as guests and for them to speak at the ceremony.  

[...]

"Well," Deku says, leaning over to turn the monitor towards him. His eyes flick over the contents of the email one more time. "If they haven't changed, then I guess we could return the favor."

For the two of them, it's an opportunity.

A look into Bakugou and Midoriya's past—through a future neither of them imagined—as pro heroes, agency partners, and friends.

(Written for NWA: Prompts for All Event.)

never knew daylight could be so violent by lanestreets

Tsunagu is just about to ask what she’s talking about, exactly, when the feathers strewn around them suddenly take flight again, rushing towards the jacket on the ground in front of them. When Tsunagu looks down to watch them convene on the crumpled garment, he is shocked to find a small child sticking his head out from underneath the collar. The boy looks as confused as Tsunagu feels.

Or the one where Hawks is de-aged, secrets come to light, and Best Jeanist may or may not be planning the downfall of the Hero Commission.

The Umbrella Academy

Ghost Math by pinstripedJackalope

Number Five needs a new hobby now that the apocalypse is off.  He decides to help Klaus--and in turn maybe he'll help himself.

ATLA

Scriven Me Softly  by SensationalSunburst                

“It’s a piece of history,” He argued and she was, as always, shocked at the rolling gravel that flowed quietly from his mouth, “We must preserve it.” And Mae, who’d spent hours scrubbing the ghost of bloodied fingerprints from her brushes and days willing the scratch of pen to paper to drown out the sound of the Fire Princess's wailing; had looked at the child clutching ruined parchment to his chest and suddenly understood like a punch to the jaw why Prince Iroh had to be physically restrained from murdering his brother in cold blood.

Or: The early days of Firelord Zuko's reign as described by Royal Stenographer Mae.

Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

The An Ding Peak Lord's Holy Cheat Sheet by JerichoJaspersJeromeJr

There's a dozen basic things that Shang Qinghua should know but somehow doesn't. There's a hundred mysterious secrets that Shang Qinghua knows even when he shouldn't. There's a thousand profound mysteries that Shang Qinghua knows even when no mortal should.

Mobei-jun has noted it all.

so you have a bad day by tagteamme

Shang Qinghua is not stupid.

It does not take a genius to know what it means when you ask a servant where your lord has left to and they readily supply the name of an exclusive brothel in between the two realms. Especially when it's after your utterly disastrous first time together.

So he goes away for a bit to clear his head. And promptly gets kidnapped.

Untamed

The Fire Lapping Up the Creek by notevenyou  (+ podfic)        

Wei Wuxian travels to Lanling for his nephew’s one-month celebration alone, without Wen Ning.

Lan Wangji lives with the consequences.

Saw My Life in a Stranger's Face by timetoboldlygo                

Lan Wangji had long since stopped thinking of Wei Wuxian's body as Mo Xuanyu's. He grew used to all the ways it was different and the same from the last. But slowly, surely, now that they were comfortable, Wei Wuxian's face had begun to change again. The lines of his jaw became a slightly smudged drawing. Not all together unfamiliar, just enough that Lan Wangji second-guessed his own memory. There was one night Lan Wangji came home to find Wei Wuxian's eyes had changed color. He woke one morning and was taller, his silhouette stretching and growing like a shadow cast against the wall.

His smile was the same. The way he pouted, and slept in, the way he kissed. His terrible jokes. Lan Wangji would get used to a new face too if the husband was still the same.

(Or, the one where Wei Wuxian's face begins to change to look like his original body. It isn't easy on anyone. But it isn't so bad, either.)

The Mandalorian

A Source of Warmth  by CoffeeQuill                

Just this time, he thinks, as he turns and adjusts himself to lay down again. He lets the kid tuck into his side, and once again he closes his eyes.

And opens them again, because the kid has squirmed up higher and is pushing himself right beneath Dyn’s arm, almost trying to bury himself in his armpit, and he stares at the kid. “What are you—“ he starts.

Then sees the kid give a violent shiver.

 I have acquired a child.  by stingrcy                

How can I ensure its welfare without having it become attached to me? Thank you. 🗨 17 comments    ➦ Share    🠷 Save    🛇 Hide    ⚑ Report

(The r/Parenting AU some people wondered about but technically did not ask for.)

[nova-is-a-writer-now]

The things we never tell.

[[Zuko x Reader]]

Summary: After the war Y/N strays away from her friends, and her relationship with Zuko seemed everytime more distant, slowly she starts to fall into a darker place.

A/N: I took a very extensive but very needed break, I’m incredibly sorry to anyone who sent me a request before I disappeared and was left waiting for me to post it but my mental health was not the best during this past few months and it’s been hard to do anything at all. But I’m back and I hope writing again gives me a sense of purpose or something lol. Talking about mental health, this fic talks about heavy topics like depression and isolation, if you’re not confortable with that or are going through this stuff I recommend skipping this one, I will have lighter fics coming soon. Remember you are never alone, no matter how much you feel like it. There’s always someone to reach out to or ask for help.

Requested: Yes!!!! By a lovely blog that deactivated but went by the name of aristasiaclarke :( (yes that’s how long I’ve been away) But side note, if you sent me a request before my break and would still like me to write it send it to me again I’d be more that happy to do it!

Warnings: Depression, Anxety, Isolation, Angst

~IF YOU HAVE ANY REQUESTS DONT HESITATE TO ASK ~

The war was over, it had been for months now, yet some things hadn’t gone back to normal . You decided to stay in the palace after Zuko was crowned since your relationship with him had only grown stronger by being so close to losing eachother. Your friends on the other hand all went their separate ways. The friend group you’d spent so many days with, planning on how to defeat the firelord, training, camping, going on missions, it all became just memories and it had been so long since you’d all been together last. You couldn’t complain though, you understood after everything that had happened all your friends were left with many responsibilities laying on their shoulders and, in a way, none of you were the same kids you were when this adventure started. You had all grown up.

Zuko and you spent a lot of time together those first few months since you moved in, that period of time when his people understood his need to settle into his position and take charge of his nation, but after that was over the workload was relentless, Zuko had been left with a broken nation and the full responsibility of fixing it. At first he always made sure to eat every meal with you, chat and update you on everything new that had happened, little by little he started to miss lunch and then it was dinner, soon breakfast and any midday break was gone as well. It came to a point where you rarely saw him at all, him working so late you were usually asleep by the time he came to bed, if he did at all, and you waking up to an empty bed every morning.

Slowly but surely a feeling you knew all too well started reappearing in your chest, something you hadn’t felt in years and were too scared of to even acknowledge. You tried to figure out what to do with all the free time you had in your hands so the feeling wouldn’t consume your mind, you remodeled at least fiver rooms in the palace, picked up several hobbies, offered your help to servants all around just to be rejected, anything and everything your mind could think of, but nothing was enough. That darkness and emptiness inside of you seemed to be determined to conquer your every waking moment once again.

Last time this happened you had your old friends around you, back at home. You family did everything they could to help you, and little by little you learnt how to heal. But this was different, all you had now were empty hallways that lead to even emptier rooms, and the ones that weren’t empty you weren’t permitted to go into.

Days were longer and shorter at the same time; on one hand, a day seemed to last ages, all you did was wait til night fell so you could go back to bed and rest, on the other you started spending more time inside your room, taking naps here and there turned into sleeping most of your days, taking baths became a task harder than any of the ones you’d had to complete in your adventure days, the curtains stayed closed and the bed unmade, day and night slowly started to blend in together.

Servants noticed first, they knocked on the door several times a day to ask if you needed anything at all, to which you would always answer no. When you stopped going to the dinner hall they started to bring food to you, most of which you didn’t eat. One too many times they even had to drag you to the bath so they could get a chance to clean your room.

It was your personal maid who had decided to finally bring in the palace medic. After running some tests on you he concluded there was nothing wrong with you and all it could be was hormonal changes. But hormonal changes weren’t supposed to last weeks, not to mention months.

The maid tried encouraging you to go out to town, visit some new boutique that had opened or a restaurant with great reviews, but all you ever said was “maybe tomorrow”. She came to understand that tomorrow wouldn’t come.

—————————

One day she decided to not stand by and witness a girl who had once been the light in every room wither away. It took all her courage to approach the fire lord,. Even though she knew of his kindness and how different he was from his predecessor he was still an intimidating ruler.

“Fire lord” she called as the young man walked through the palace surrounded by his officials, discussing some political matter she assumed. He didn’t seem to hear her so she sped up and stood in front of the group of men.

“I’m sorry but any issue at the moment will have to wait, important matters need to be addressed with urgency.” He informed her with his usual formal tone.

“Your majesty, it’s miss Y/N, she-” the maid started but was soon interrupted

“Yes, well if she requires my presence please inform her I’m occupied at the moment, but whatever she needs she can ask the help to do it for her.” Zuko attempt to walk past her but the maid stopped him once again.

“Your majesty, I hope I’m not being too bold but I don’t think you understand, she’s very unwell.” the maid saw as Zuko was about to protest her audacity, but once his eyes fell on her he seemed to realize the seriousness of the matter.

Zuko’s heart sank, all kinds of thoughts went through his head, had you gotten injured? Had one of the rebellious groups he’d been dealing with infiltrated the castle and taken you? had you fallen ill with a terrible condition? He soon turned to his second in command and said “You can take charge from here”

The man rather surprised replied after a few seconds “Your majesty, this matter requires your presence, it can not wait.”

“Well it will have to, I’m going to be unavailable the rest of the day. I’m sure you all can manage without me.”

———————

Nothing could’ve prepared Zuko for the sight he encountered when he entered the royal chambers. He hadn’t sleept there a few nights in a row, not wanting to wake you up at late hours when he was done with his workload of the day, but even when he did sleep there he was too tired to even notice anything wrong. Now, at broad daylight, he saw it all.

You were cuddled up under the covers, your hair matted and messier than ever, very dark under eye bags and an extremely pale complexion, even laying down and under blankets and covers he could tell you’d lost a worryingly amount of weight. He’d never seen you in such state.

“What happened to her? Is she ill?” Zuko asked the maid who stood next to him.

“The medic has been called, your majesty, he wasn’t able to point out anything wrong with her. Said it was just hormonal changes, but I don’t think that’s what’s going on.” she said softly.

“Well then bring another doctor in. Someone has to know what’s wrong.”

“Yes, your majesty, we’ll being someone else in first thing tomorrow.” she bowed and was about to leave the room when the firelord stopped her.

“Thank you... for bringing this to my attention and for looking after her.”

The maid just bowed once again and made her way out of the room. Zuko walked up to you, your eyes were closed and even in your sleep an uneasy expression was plastered on your face.

“Love...” he cooed stoking the side of your face slowly. “Hey, darling... wake up.”

He made sure to rest his hand on your forehead to see if you had a fever, but on the contrary you were rather cold. You barely opened your eyes, but it was enough for Zuko to see how the light that had once been there was now gone.

“Zuko?” you asked, your voice barely audible and raspy as you tried to blink the sleepiness away slowly.

“Hey, do you feel sick Y/N? Does anything hurt?” Zuko’s hand had moved from your forehead to your cheek and his thumb was now sweetly caressing your skin.

You hadn’t felt a loving touch in what felt like so long, you’d almost forgotten that you could feel something good and not painful. It was all it took for tears to slowly start forming in your eyes and eventually rolling down your face.

At the sight of your partner’s concern, you forced yourself to smile a little and respond “Nothing hurts.”

“Y/N... something’s not right. I’ve never seen you like this before, i need you to tell me what’s going on.” Zuko’s voice was almost breaking, you could tell how hard he was trying to be strong and keep collected for you, this broke your heart even more.

You took in a deep breath, your mind running while trying to find an answer for him. You knew what was wrong, you’d ignored it so far, pushed it away even though it now consumed your every waking moment, but you knew you couldn’t do this anymore. “I don’t feel well, Zuko. I haven’t for a while now.”

“Are you ill? We’ve called a doctor already, he should be-” He said before you cut him off.

“Zuko... It’s not that kind of unwell.” you almost whispered. “A doctor can’t help me with this.”

The firelord seemed lost for a while, not quite sure of what you meant. You took a second before sitting up on the bed and pressing your back against the headboard. You decided to recount the events of the last time you’d gone through this to him, every sleepless night and every full of sleep day, the multiple crying sessions, the pain and hopelessness, the ever changing appetite, the heavy chest you couldn’t seem to get rid of. This was all terribly hard for you to do but needed to be done, for your sake and for his. Zuko didn’t seem to understand at first, his eyes looking at you attentively, waiting for the moment where the pieces of your story would fall into place. It took you saying how what was wrong with you wasn’t physical but rather emotional for him to get what you were referring to. His face had fallen into a heartbreaking expression, you didn’t know if it was guilt or pity or something in between.

Once you were done and the tears that pooled in your eyes while tellling your story had fallen, Zuko held your hand tightly. “This is all my fault. You should’ve been my priority.”

“Zuko...no. This isn’t your fault, it’s nobody’s fault.” You assured him as your hand went up to his cheek.

“I’m so sorry. You shouln’t have had to deal with this alone. You were there for me when no one else was and I want to do the same for you, always.” He tilted his head into your palm before turning slightly to kiss it.

“I’d like that... I really would.”

For the rest of that night, you and your partner opened up to each other like you’d never had before. For the first time since the war had ended you didn’t feel so alone, you were together and that made you feel like you had the strength to get better, maybe not today or in the days to come, but someday. He gave you hope.

[destinygoldenstar]

Mercury Black’s Fate

Hello, my Emercury stans, here I am, doing what I do best and analyzing media for a hobby. Yeah, I’m not a RWBY fan overall, (I kind of hate it’s leads) but I am a stan for Emerald and especially Mercury, honestly these two are the one thing that’s keeping me from leaving the show, as two of the most interesting, complex, and neutral characters the show has. I don’t even think the writers were planning on these two to be as interesting as they are, but here we are stanning them. (Stan-ing them, that’s... is that even a word?? I’m going to leave this in anyway, why not?)

Unfortunately, our precious Smirkury is caught in the hands of Tyrian, and separated from Emerald, most likely the one person he cares about. But he didn’t leave before realizing that Salem’s goal is to end the world, and though a ‘bad guy’ like him should be as thrilled as the scorpion, he actually shows fear towards the idea. But then again, these are the same writers who turned Ironwood into a heartless dictator, negating what humanity he showed, so I don’t think that characterization matters. Regardless, I made a post before explaining what I wanted to happen to Em and Merc, and what I expect the writers to do with them. But neither of those things in that post are likely to happen, because I predicted the story in Volume 8 to be a one sided Salem battle where Ruby in a very anti-climactic way, silver eyes Salem and banishes her before she can cause any damage, and saving Atlas with no consequences up their sleeve. What actually happened in Volume 8 turned out to be far more chaotic than I could imagine, and honestly I don’t really like the direction they went. (But hey, I got the prediction of Penny dying right, so... yay?) And honestly, in the post I made about Em and Merc, while it still holds up, I do feel like I can go further in detail on evidence from canon, implying what I said in that. 

This one is going to be Mercury centric, but to briefly mention what I think of Emerald (and I said this in that other post) I don’t think Emerald’s redemption arc is over. In Volume 8, the scenes we did get of her are great in showcasing what this girl is going through, and the consequences she regrets, and I did not expect some of the leads to actually question her, but I’m thankful they did. I do think that Emerald defecting is a good direction to take her, after all, Aladdin is a thief with a heart of gold, who after his lies and schemes, reverts out of their illusion to feel a need to express themselves. I will say I do have the same problem as everyone else regards to Emerald’s face turn, and that it’s very rushed. Two episodes of not being on the evil side does not equal a proper redemption, guys!!! I don’t expect any redemption in media to top Zuko’s, or strive to be on that level, though I do want to expect more than this. But, I am restraining myself from calling Emerald’s redemption ‘bad’ at the moment, because I feel like it’s not over, and that her claiming she switched sides, is actually the beginning of her arc, not the end. (I hope, anyway.) I feel like her countering Mercury on opposing sides is just what she needs to do through some proper development, because not only will she be interacting with team RWBY more and finding her own indiviualism, but have to face with a reality that who she had before in her life are now going to be against her. Remember, Emerald hasn’t resolved things with Cinder yet, so maybe she’s still clinging to her, or believes that she can take Cinder on their side as well, there is a possibility that she can return to the dark side. (Before you ask, NO, I do not want Cinder to get any sort of redemption, not just because I think she’s an awful character, but because she’s done next to nothing to emphasize wanting to change) 

But enough about that, what about Mercury? What is his fate, as it remains highly unknown. I will kind of take what I said in that other post and imply it here, but with more detail on my reasoning for these statements. And keep in mind, that just because I say I expect these things to happen, doesn’t mean that they will, as I could be wrong. (Actually, that’s kind of certain. Again, Volume 8) Now, I would start with what Mercury has gone through in the past that could possibly emphasize redemption, but somebody already beat me to that subject, and everything Myrkuri said in his video is basically my thoughts and feelings to that. So if you want emphasis on that, go watch this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKx9EBSfpjA

Now for the record, I don’t need Mercury to switch sides or join Team RWBY, I don’t need him to go through the same thing Emerald did. What I do need is for him to be acknowledged by the writers and have some sort of arc that isn’t about him being a monster. Again, I said it before, I want Mercury to at least be able to leave both sides and be given a chance to live his own life, remaining in a grey area. But that’s not what I’m saying will happen at all. What do I actually think will happen?

THE MESSANGER GOD MERCURY:

RWBY takes inspiration from fairy tales and legends for every character they make, and pretty much anyone whose watched the show knows this. The show is meant to be a subversive take on these stories, and twist them in dark ways that challenge the viewer into seeing only a grey spectrum. Unfortunately it’s done a terrible job at sticking with that format, but that’s besides the point. Mercury, as his name implies, is based off of the Roman god, of the same name. From my research, this is the God of financial gain, commerce, eloquence, messages, communication, travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery, merchants, thieves (Wikepedia) So, let’s break this down...

This was a god that would fly along the heavens and the underworld, delivering souls to the latter. And I don’t think I need to explain what represents the underworld in the RWBY universe. But one thing I realized was that boundaries and luck are considered labels for him, obviously with boundaries, Mercury vows to stay where he is as of means of fear, but... luck? After all the abuse this character has gone through? Another thing I find... honestly scary, is that the roman god Hermes, which Mercury is similar to, not only had the power of speed (which I’ll address later) but he attempted to fly upwards to the sun, where it burned his wings and made him fall to the water and drown. Now, I don’t want to say that this is the fate of Mercury Black, I do NOT want that to happen to him! But it’s something to think about... maybe Vacuo is the sun, maybe the Vacuo arc of the story is Mercury’s death. But here’s the thing, luck. Luck is one of the god’s attributes, so maybe with that detail, he’d be about to die, but someone saves his life at the last minute. But why would anyone come after him in the first place that would cause this?

MERCURY WILL GIVE EMERALD THE RELIC:

Going back to the symbolism, Mercury is also known as the protector of thieves. And what is Aladdin? Obviously, Mercury cares about Emerald, there’s no getting around that. He’s always protected her, and I am still baffled that it’s as subtle as it is, and these are from the same guys who wrote the rest of the show. And now that he’s off with Tyrian to retrieve a relic, what comes of that? If Emerald is on team RWBY’s side now, she’s going to head to that Cave of Wonders to retrieve that relic. And Mercury is going to be standing in her way. But again, Mercury is attached to Emerald, and even if Salem does order him to kill her for betraying them, he’s not going to do it. He’s the messenger god, so to fulfill that role, the only logical thing I can think of that implies this is that Mercury is going to give Emerald the relic, not forced to hand it over because she (somehow) overpowers him, but give Emerald the sword of destruction at his own free will. He clearly lingered when he heard that Salem is ending things, and he’s having second thoughts about his position. Now, I want build up to this moment if it does happen, I don’t want him to just go to the vault and automatically give Emerald the relic, I want there to be scenes before with him where he second guesses himself and his survival instinct. Maybe it’s though the Summer Maiden, maybe it’s through how horrifying Tyrian is, maybe it’s even though revisiting his past and it’s landmarks. (Again, I said this in my post, flashbacks, representing Mercury’s conscience as present him stands along these landmarks of his past. Make it happen) Maybe through all of these, he questions if this world is actually worth being destroyed, where even in the worst of environments, he encounters some good people that are in the same league as he is. Maybe the Summer Maiden also has a disability like he does, and she connects with him. It would all build up to the climax of either volume 9 or 10 (depends on which one they actually get the relic in) where Emerald is standing in Mercury’s way after everything, with the relic wide open, both of them forced against each other. Maybe Emerald reenacts their scene in Volume 6, but it’s her towards him about the choices they have, that he may be scared that the worst will happen, but Emerald, whose been through so much just to even be standing in this vault, feels like she’s right where she’s supposed to be. And recognizing that he doesn’t want Salem to win, Mercury gives Emerald the relic and lets her escape with it, pleading for her to stop all of this. But I don’t think he’ll defect with her, I more so think he’ll still be scared to leave, and will instead lie to Salem and Tyrian that he failed to get the relic. But the question is, would this action imply that he’s ‘evil?’

THE TRAP OF THE ‘THEY ARE IRREDEEMABLE’ CLAIM:

If it’s not Jaune, RWBY hates it’s side characters. Think about it. The show only wants you to like team RWBY, as anyone who opposes their ideals in the slightest are seen as in the wrong, and they have to learn a lesson, not the titular team RWBY, as their actions are golden and they are essentially perfect. If anyone opposes them, they’ll just mop the floor with them and sweep them over the edge like specks of dust. (The very reason why I practically despise team RWBY, but that’s a topic for another day) And sometimes they��ll even go the extra mile and claim that a character opposing them is a full on irredeemable monster. It’s only white and black. No morally grey whatsoever. Which would be fine if the format wasn’t meant to be complex and wanted to be a good vs evil plot (Ninjago, one of the shows I grew up with for example, is a pretty black and white world) But due to the format RWBY set up for itself, in the promise that there would be darkness and questionable morals that twist what audiences know about fairy tales, people are going to expect you to deliver on that, so if you don’t, you’re going to get a lot of bashing and internet posts that analyze what you did wrong! (My post... totally unrelated image) 

The only characters that don’t fall in this category, are you guessed it, Emerald and Mercury. But even then, the former just joined team RWBY’s side, so I don’t know if she’ll count anymore. Mercury is pretty much the key to breaking this, if the writers are smart, they’ll keep him as a neutral, they won’t kill him, they won’t turn him into a monster, they won’t make him join Team RWBY. What I’m scared of is they’ll “Breaking rules one through three” (Total Drama) and Mercury is going to become the Adam 3.0. (one of my repliers said that too) 

Adam Taurus and James Ironwood were done dirty. They’ve been the worst examples of what I’m talking about in this section. Look, I never cared about Adam’s character, but I know there was a lot of people who did and were looking forward to a morally grey antagonist who fought for civil rights and left the whole world on a grey area. With all that Faunus discrimination talk building to his motivations, it really seemed like we were going to get a complex antagonist that left a question on the whole world and society and gave Team RWBY a lot of grey area- NOPE! Adam is a full on villain, he’s an abusive ex to an underaged girl, he slices off the arm of one of our mains, he bullies his own followers, he kills his own kind to get a better position, he wishes to declare war on the humans, he’s EVIL. No grey area here! Look, if you wanted Adam to be a full on villain, fine, this set up can work (Avatar the Last Airbender for example, had the fire nation.) but it needs to be fleshed out otherwise people are going to accuse you of a lot of political stuff that I’m not going to get into. Oh and before you bring it up, yes I have seen CelticPheonix’s rewrites of the show, and though I’m not the biggest fan of them, I will not deny that they are so remarkably impressive that I wish it was canon. Seriously, check out this guy’s rewrites, he does such an amazing job at fleshing out Adam’s character!

Ironwood meanwhile has even less of an excuse to be a villain. He was a kind hearted man who was overprotective but wanted the best of his people, but the pressures of dealing with Salem descended him into stress and madness, which apparently, showing human emotion makes you EVIL. Ignore Team RWBY, who sparked all of this on him by lying to him about what’s in front of him, NOPE, Ironwood is the villain here, because that’s how the world works! So kids, if you don’t agree with an adult that disciplines you, they’re evil, and you did nothing wrong. SEE THE ISSUE HERE?!

Now onto Mercury, he laughed at the Fall of Beacon, like a maniac, and yes, there’s no excuse for being sadistic. He killed people, and being an abuse victim is not an excuse for being a jerk, fine. But let me ask you this, is Mercury truly irredeemable? Is he like Tyrian, who pretty much does fit that description? They’ve barely used Mercury for the plot up until this point, and given how expensive Yuri Lowenthal is as a voice actor, the worst they can do is barely use him again and treat him as a mute background buddy to Tyrian, treating them in the same vain. And yes, I will not like that. (Seriously though, if Yuri Lowenthal is too expensive for you, then either use him when you can, or hire someone else! I do not say that against the guy, I actually really like his work, his role as SpiderMan in the PS4 game is one of my favorite voice acting performances in media) 

So let me ask, if the writers plan on making Mercury beyond saving, why did they make Tyrian, who is like Mercury, but a hundred thousand times worse?! People are always going to route for/sympathize with/be more forgiving to the lesser evil of two characters. So quick notes on making a character irredeemable, if you really want them to be:

1. Don’t show the audience a backstory that explains their behavior.

A sympathetic backstory will only make people sympathize with the character and understand them, especially when said backstory involves them being abuse victims, or any other serious issue that should be sympathized.

2. Don’t make them regret their actions in the slightest.

3. Don’t give them consequences for their actions that could make them learn from it.

4. Don’t make them show humanity or empathy towards another person, that’ll only spawn sympathy

5. The big one: If you don’t want your character to be sympathetic, DON’T PUT THEM IN A SITUATION THAT MAKES THEM SYMPATHETIC!!

DON’T show Mercury’s backstory of him being an abused child without legs and semblance, DON’T have him show fear over what Salem is doing, DON’T make him lose to Team RWBY constantly that makes him want to train harder, DON’T make him show care for Emerald, call her out for her actions, and defend her from a sociopath, and especially, DON’T make him call out the girl he cares about and tell her that Cinder doesn’t care about her, using his own trauma to get through to her, claim he’s evil, but then follow it up with Tyrian calling him out for that idea, and making THE BEST SCENE IN THE WHOLE SHOW!!

Okay... okay, rant done. Mercury is sympathetic, they need to follow up on that and PLEASE not make him Adam 3.0. Anyway, what did this scene reveal?

MERCURY’S SEMBLANCE:

As you all know, Mercury lost his semblance to his father. We still don’t know what the semblance is, or what caused Marcus to take it, but essentially, this poor boy got a piece of his soul ripped out of him. Geez, no wonder he killed his father. 

So on the subject on what his semblance might be, I purposefully avoided the topic, because I genuinely do not know. Like, is it speed, is it flight, is it healing, is it poisoning, is it wind, is it phasing through walls like in that awesome fanfic ‘Loved by Almost No One’? (Dear god, I read that recent chapter in the middle of the night, and I won’t be able to stop crying) My best guess is speed, so that he can run away from Salem, but my idea is that no matter what it is, it will paint Mercury as something specific, where I think the point should be that he can’t be. There’s also this line:

“He told me I could have it back when I was strong, so I got strong, but I never got it back!” 

Implying that even when he killed his father, that was nothing more than an empty promise. My focus on this is section is whether or not he’ll get his semblance back? To which I say, he better! Because otherwise what was the point of introducing this to his story? (But then again they brought Penny back and killed her again) I said this in my want vs expect post, but I think if Mercury survives past getting the relic, he’ll be trapped in a situation where he’s vulnerable and weakened, left unable to be an assassin and has to find out who he actually wants to be, kind of like an anti-hero (like, season 2 Zuko, is what I’m picturing) and his reawakening of his semblance is figuring out that resolve, and finding his soul to be his. 

Or, it could just be used as piece of sympathy, and it won’t go anywhere. Which, again, if you want Mercury to be irredeemable, why did you introduce this?! But, here’s one scary thing that I’m theorizing, and I can’t avoid thinking about it because...

TYRIAN WILL POISON HIM:

This one is kind of going to be a guarantee. 

Why do I say that? There’s a shot in Volume 6 where Tyrian is pinning down Mercury on the floor, it cuts to his tail being hung over Mercury’s face, aiming at his neck!! That’s not the only one, there’s also Tyrian’s entire character, the way he asks Mercury and Emerald to do what makes them happy while holding out his tail, implying that he wants an excuse to kill them. And in Volume 8, whole Tyrian is dragging Mercury to the ship, it focuses on a grim with a SKULL HEAD.

Yeah, Mercury is going to get poisoned. And it breaks my heart to say that it’s a guarantee, but come on, this foreshadowing is blatant. I don’t want that to happen to my boy, but my guess is that if he does hand over the relic, Tyrian takes him out.

But if Mercury is poisoned, does that mean he’ll die?

REDEMPTION OR DEATH?:

I don’t know. It’s really a coin toss.

Mercury will give Emerald the relic, he will be poisoned, but what could his fate be in this toss?

Heads: He survives, he gets weakened, he’s taken in by someone, and is left realizing that the world is worth saving and there’s other places he can be. He’ll try to betray people, particularly Team RWBY, but it’ll backfire at his face, and he’s left finding out his own free will, thus reawakening his semblance. And if the best happens, he’ll become a side character and not a full time Team RWBY stan.

Tails: He gets the tail, is treated as a monster the rest of his days, and upon failing, the writers-I mean Salem has no further use of him, and Tyrian kills him with the poison tail. And that’ll be the day I stop watching, since Mercury and Emerald are the one thing I care about.

Go ahead, flip the coin. And do I have a catchphrase to end this? No, no one asked.

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

forever i will live for you

Right now, though? Yeah, Sokka wasn’t sure either of them would make great dance partners, what with Aang bleeding out from a knife wound to his stomach while Sokka desperately tried to stem the flow, blue fabric in his hands turning violet.

(Written for Day 3 of Aang Rarepair Week: Wounds/Wounded, hosted by @aangtheestallion. Pairing: Sokka/Aang. Read here on AO3, or continue reading below.)

Sokka wasn’t much of a dancer. But Aang was, therefore Sokka did his best to participate, if only to see Aang smile. At any and every party they attended, whatever events the Avatar’s presence was mandated at and Sokka was his plus one, he would allow Aang to pull him into at least one dance. Sometimes more, but never less. Toph often teased him about the compromise, but hey—it worked for them.

And come hell or high water, Sokka always gave Aang that one dance. He’d done so with blisters on his feet, a broken arm, a sprained ankle, and once with a concussion. Although Aang had stopped that last dance immediately when Sokka’s vision began to spin faster than they were.

Of course, Aang had danced through pain numerous times, too. Being lighter on his feet, Sokka often didn’t notice until after the fact, which always earned Aang extensive scolding. Not that Aang ever learned his lesson. But at the end of the day, Sokka gave their dance his all and Aang responded in turn, guaranteeing that one dance together was the best anyone had of the night.

Right now, though? Yeah, Sokka wasn’t sure either of them would make great dance partners, what with Aang bleeding out from a knife wound to his stomach while Sokka desperately tried to stem the flow. The blue fabric in his hands turned violet as he pressed it against the wound, soaking up too much blood too damn fast—

“The one party Katara couldn’t make it to, huh?” Aang croaked. Sokka could barely hear him above the frenzied cries of the crowd fleeing around them. Apparently an attempted assassination was too much for ordinary people to handle.

“Now’s not the time to think in retrospect,” Sokka muttered, abandoning the blood-soaked cloth for another wide strip of fabric he’d torn from his robes. Teo was chasing down an Earth Kingdom healer—no waterbender, but it wasn’t like they could be picky—as Sokka worked, while Mai and Ty Lee were ‘taking care of’ the would-be assassin.

Would-be. Because Aang was not dying tonight.

It had all happened so quickly, which Sokka kicked himself for even silently admitting to. Impractical, unhelpful, useless.

He, Teo, and Aang had helped the town over the course of the week with some mechanical and political issues. As thanks, they’d been offered a chance to attend the community-wide dinner. Aang was never one to turn down hospitality—nor Sokka food—and so the three had accepted the invitation in seconds. Mai and Ty Lee had tagged along at Zuko’s request to assist in the work efforts, hence their inclusion, too. But apparently the dinner being such a local, isolated event had made it the perfect target.

They’d stood up to dance, he and Aang. The one dance Sokka promised him for every event. Maybe that was the issue—they were predictable. Had a routine. Because when Aang had offered Sokka his hand and thrown him that charming grin, a grin that still made Sokka’s heart flutter after all these years, they’d both been—Sokka had been—too distracted to notice a man burst out of the crowd and twist a blade into and out of Aang’s stomach.

Aang had doubled over, orange robes stained scarlet, and everything was a blur after that.

Sokka tightened the fabric around Aang’s midsection before putting pressure back over the wound, knowing his partner couldn’t afford to lose any more blood.

“Where—Where are the others?” Aang hissed in pain as he tried to sit himself up, Sokka promptly freeing one hand to grab his shoulder and hold him still. “Teo? Mai and Ty Lee?”

“They are otherwise entertained,” Sokka replied, trying to prevent fear from leaking into his tone in the form of frustration. “Just—don’t move, Aang. This wound could start bleeding again if you shift an inch too much.”

The truth was that the wound had never really stopped bleeding, the spill of crimson only slowed, but Sokka had a feeling Aang knew that without needing to be told. The Avatar had always been too perceptive for his own good.

“How bad is it?” Aang whispered. Sweat beaded his forehead.

Sokka’s heart clenched in his chest. “Well,” he said, swallowing hard, “it could definitely be better.”

Aang laughed, somehow, despite the clear pain he was in. “Gee, thanks. I’d never have guessed.”

Sokka glanced around them as the crowd was at last thinning, desperately searching for a sign, any sign, of Teo returning with the local healer. There just wasn’t enough he could do on his own without any medical equipment—

“Was anyone else hurt?” Aang asked. His breathing had started to grow ragged in a matter of seconds, and Sokka had to blink away hot, panicked tears.

“Uh—no, no I don’t think so. Mai disarmed the guy right away and—and last and I saw she and Ty Lee were working to capture and restrain him when he—when he, ah, tried to disappear into the crowd.”

Aang only nodded in response, and fuck, Sokka knew it was a bad sign if Aang couldn’t continue conversation. Rambling was all but his only hobby.

“You can’t go dying on me, Aang,” Sokka whispered, the hot blood on his hands burning through his skin like acid. “That bastard interrupted our dance, which means you still owe me one. You can’t die until we have that dance. Understand?”

Aang gave him a tired grin, one that Sokka had never been able to stop himself from returning, even when his boyfriend was losing an ungodly amount of blood, apparently. “Yeah. I’d planned to introduce a new step for us tonight.”

“And you can show me that step as soon as you are healed,” Sokka promised. “So just—just hang on until then, okay?”

Aang’s eyes were starting to glaze over as he nodded, and Sokka again looked around desperately for any sign of Teo. Hell, he’d even take Ty Lee’s assistance at this point—maybe there was some kind of chi-blocking method she could use to stop excess blood flow?

“Katara’s gonna be on her way here before you know it,” Sokka lied when Aang attempted to move, his partner grimacing at the pain. “And she’ll be as pissed as I am that you went and let yourself get stabbed like this.”

A weak laugh escaped Aang’s lips. The sound made Sokka’s chest ache even as the smallest of smiles tugged at his lips. He ignored the hurt. For now, he just needed to keep Aang awake. Alive.

“Hey, Sokka,” Aang mumbled after a pause.

Sokka continued searching the crowd for a glimpse of Teo, still pressing blue—now purple—fabric against Aang’s wound. “Yeah?” Maybe he was—there! Teo was tearing towards the two of them, a dark-skinned woman with a stuffed satchel running at his side. “Aang, Teo’s bringing a healer—”

“We should get married.”

Sokka choked on his words, snapping his head around to stare at Aang with wide eyes. “We—what?”

A grin tugged at Aang’s lips. Weak, wavering, but present nonetheless. “I want to marry you. And I want you to”—he coughed, and Sokka’s breath hitched—“I want you to know that I want to marry you.”

In case I don’t make it went unspoken, but Sokka heard the words all the same. He didn’t dwell on them, refusing to acknowledge the possibility that Aang wouldn’t pull through.

“You know I’m a romantic at heart, Aang,” Sokka tried to joke. Ease the tension. “I can’t say yes without candlelight and music and rose petals—”

“Sokka.”

Sokka closed his eyes to hold back tears, silently begging for Teo and the healer to move faster. “I won’t—”

“Sokka, please.” Aang’s voice was growing faint. “Look at me.”

And Sokka did, because he’d never been able to say no to Aang. “Of course I want to marry you, idiot,” he whispered, tears dripping down his cheeks.

Aang smiled at him, elated despite his pain, and in any other scenario Sokka would have sealed the proposal with a heated kiss. But now—

“That dance I owe you?” Aang murmured. He placed a hand on one of Sokka’s forearms, squeezing it. “It’ll be at our wedding. Does that—” He choked, breaking into a coughing fit.

“Shh,” Sokka reassured him, almost laughing and crying as any shred of decorum had long been forgotten. “That sounds perfect, Aang. So you’d better stay alive to make it happen, okay?”

The sound of wheels skidding to a stop informed Sokka that Teo had arrived, knowledge reinforced by the healer dropping to the ground beside him.

Aang gave Sokka a tired but overjoyed smile. “I can’t die now.” His shoulders slumped. “I’d… I’d miss our wedding.” Aang’s eyelids fluttered shut, Teo pulled Sokka out the way, and the healer’s hands were stained with blood.

“He’ll make it,” Teo whispered, and Sokka broke down in sobs.

[flameo-firelord-hotman]

Part 1

Pairing: Zuko x Fem!Reader

Genre: angst

Warnings: none

Words: 2.1

Summary: to everyone she knew, [y/n] was a peasant, destined to be a servant just like her parents. To Zuko, however, she was his best friend. After losing his agni kai and being exiled, [y/n] was devastated. She thought she would never see him again. Three years later, she almost wished he never came back.

A/N: it’s finally here! So sorry for putting it off for so long. I felt unmotivated and like this wasn’t very good? But I’m posting it now, so there’s no going back lol. Enjoy! And please give me feedback :)

Part 1 -> Part 2

Series | Masterlist

Despite being a lower class citizen, [y/n] was very familiar with the halls of the Fire Nation Royal Palace. Her parents had been working as servants for the royal family since she was a little girl. Her mom was a housemaid. Her dad was a groundskeeper. To be a servant for the royal family was an honor, and [y/n]'s parents instilled this in her. Sometimes they brought her to work to teach her the skills she would need to become one as well.

Yes, her parents fully expected her to become a servant. Doing so was typical for citizens of her status. Specifically, though, her parents expected her to follow in their path and work for the royal family. Perhaps that would change when she met Zuko.

"Hi! My name's Zuko! What's yours?" A bubbly boy asked [y/n] one day. He was eight years old, the same age as [y/n]. His dark hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and he had bright, amber eyes. Back and forth he rocked on his feet, anxiously waiting for her answer.

It was rare for [y/n] to see the royal family, and it was unheard of for one of them to speak to her…until that day.

"M-my name is [y/n]. It's an honor to meet you, Prince Zuko," [y/n] replied bashfully. She bowed carefully to show her respect for the Firelord's grandson, as her parents had taught her to do.

"You don't need to bow to me. You're my friend now!"

[Y/n] quickly straightened up. "But, but--"

"Will you play with me?" Zuko asked eagerly. [Y/n] turned to her mom, who was washing linens. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to.

Her mom quietly said to her, "if the Prince wants you to play with him, then it's okay." [Y/n] turned back to the young boy and nodded.

From that day on, they became best friends. Previously, [y/n] never looked forward to coming to work with her parents. It was boring, and the palace and everyone in it seemed so intimidating. Since meeting Zuko, it became the one thing she looked forward to.

They often played games in the palace gardens, or played hide-and-seek inside the palace with Zuko's mom, Lady Ursa. On occasion, they would play with his sister Azula and her friends Mai and Ty Lee (but only when the princess let her).

Eventually, instead of waiting for [y/n]'s parents to bring her to work, he would invite her over for playdates. Even as they approached their teen years, Zuko continued to invite [y/n] to hang out. As they matured, they grew closer. [Y/n] didn't realize it at first, but gradually she realized: she had feelings for Zuko.

Then one day, the invitations abruptly stopped. [Y/n] could never forget. The last words Zuko spoke to her on that day would echo in her mind: I'll be fine, [y/n]. Don't worry. I've been training for years. I'm sure I can take on this guy!

She didn’t get to watch the agni kai, and she was glad she didn't. She overheard all the palace staff whispering haunting rumors about it afterward. If only she could've been there for him. [Y/n] begged the guards outside of the infirmary to let her see Zuko, but they wouldn't.

Then, the next day, he was gone. And so [y/n] grieved the loss of her best friend and crush, so sure she would never see Zuko again.

"Momma! Papa! I'm home!" [Y/n] called as she walked into their apartment, returning home from a long day of work.

Three years had passed since that fateful day. During that time, [y/n] slowly adjusted to her new life: one without Zuko, as well as one as a housemaid. At thirteen, she began working for one of the Fire Nation's many rich, noble families. Soon she would gain the experience and expertise to become a servant for the royal family…though she was not fond of the idea of working for the family that Zuko was no longer a part of and in the home that Zuko no longer lived in. The thought of it was dreadful.

"Oh, [y/n]!" Her mom cheered as she jogged up to her. "You will not believe what I heard at the palace today!"

"Momma, please, you need to get a new hobby," [y/n] said.

Her mom was always eavesdropping and gossiping with the other servants about the royal family. [Y/n] couldn't blame her though; it was the only fun thing to do at work.

"Oh, this isn't a rumor, [y/n]. It's real," her dad chimed in as walked into the room.

[Y/n] chuckled. "Well, if dad says so, then I'm curious. What is it?"

Her parents looked at each other and grinned before turning back to [y/n]. "Prince Zuko is coming home!" They exclaimed.

[Y/n]'s jaw dropped. She was speechless. No way. They're not joking, right? They wouldn't. That would be a cruel prank. But still, Zuko was given an impossible task. That can only mean…

"Sweetie? Aren't you excited?" Her mom asked with concern. "Are you okay?"

[Y/n] nodded quickly. "Yeah, yeah. I just don't believe it. It's too good to be true, you know?"

Her mom clasped [y/n]'s hands in hers. "Well, sweetie, it is true. Please tell her, honey, so she believes me!" She turned to her husband and laughed.

"We had a large staff meeting about it today," her dad explained. "We were told that he and his sister, Princess Azula will be here in about three days."

"Wow…this is really happening, isn't it?" [Y/n] asked.

"Mhm. Now, your mother and I are going to be working hard to welcome them home for the next few days. Don't be surprised if we return home late, okay?"

"Okay, papa," [y/n] smiled, trying to contain her excitement.

"And don't worry, we'll make sure you get to see him when he comes home." Her mother winked, making [y/n] giggle.

Over the next few days, [y/n] prepared for her reunion with Zuko. First, she made sure to have the day off. Second, she used her savings to buy a nice outfit. Third, she gave her hair a trim. Finally, she rehearsed everything she was going to say to him: that she missed him so much, how sorry she was for not being there for him, that she wished she could've gone with him, and that she was beyond excited to be with him again…perhaps she would confess her feelings for the prince too.

And when he returned, [y/n] was ready. She wore her new outfit: a short, rose colored tunic and sash over a long, maroon skirt. Her [h/c] hair was styled half-up, half-down with a top knot. It was a simple look, but she thought her best friend would like it.

A massive crowd gathered outside of the palace. Just about everyone living in Royal Caldera City was there. [Y/n] and her parents got as close as they could, which was unfortunately quite far away. They could barely see or hear Li and Lo speaking from the balcony…something about Azula invading Ba Sing Se and taking down the Avatar with Zuko.

"Now, the heroes have returned home! Your princess, Azula,"  shouted the two old women. Right on cue, the princess strutted out to the edge of the balcony. [Y/n] squinted her eyes to see her. Everyone around her cheered and clapped.

"And after three long years," they continued, "your prince has returned…"

This was it. This was the moment [y/n] had been waiting for. Her heart pounded in her chest, her jaw tightened, clenching her teeth, and her palms began sweating. The anticipation was killing her.

"Zuko!" Their voices boomed over the crowd.

And there he was: the banished prince, approaching the balcony's edge. [Y/n] stared in amazement. It really was true. Zuko came home! She jumped and cheered and clapped with the rest of the crowd.

After the public announcement, [y/n]'s parents brought her into the palace "to help with housekeeping." Yes, it was lie, but the palace guards believed it. They were very familiar with [y/n] and her family after all. Quickly, she strode through the halls of the palace, going to the one place she knew she would find him.

The hall opened to a large garden behind the palace. Beautiful flowers and bushes surrounded the area. Stone steps and tōrōs led to a large weeping willow next to a pond. The willow's long branches draped over the edge of the pond, the tips of its leaves tickling the water's surface. Beneath it sat the boy she was looking for. He was feeding small chunks of bread to a family of turtleducks.

It was like a dream. For the first time in three years, [y/n] was looking at Zuko's face. A large, patch of rough, red skin covered the left side…a remnant of his agni kai. It was shocking yet saddening. However, Zuko was still very handsome. His dark hair was pulled back into a top knot and decorated with a regal hairpiece. He had grown taller, his jawline was more defined and he had become more muscular. Zuko was no longer that little boy [y/n] remembered, which begged the question: did he remember her?

As [y/n] approached the prince, Zuko noticed her and made eye contact. His body froze and eyes widened.

"Hi, Zuko," [y/n] greeted him anxiously.

He immediately stood up and dropped all the bread chunks. The turtleducks took advantage and gobbled up every last crumb. "[Y/n]? Is that you?"

"Yeah! You remembered me."

Zuko beamed and opened his arms to [y/n]. They hugged each other tightly. [Y/n] felt three years of stress and tension in her body dissipate as she relaxed into his embrace. Not only was she seeing Zuko again, she was hearing his voice (which had deepened), she was feeling his warmth, and she was remembering what he smelled like.

"Of course I remember you," Zuko said, "how could I forget my best friend?"

"It's silly, I know…but it's been so long," [y/n] replied. They separated and looked at each other. Those amber eyes still shined just as they did when she first met him. [Y/n] felt her cheeks turn rosy.

"You're right. I'm really glad to see you again. I've missed you."

[Y/n] smiled. "I've missed you too. I have the day off if you want to hang out and catch up!"

"I'd love to," Zuko started, "but I can't. I'm going out with Mai today."

[Y/n]'s smile faded. "M-Mai?"

"Yep, he's taking me on a date today," a familiar voice from behind [y/n] said.

[Y/n] turned to see Mai approaching them. She gave Zuko a sweet smile, which Zuko reciprocated. Then, she clasped her hand in his and wrapped her other hand around his bicep. She rested her head on his shoulder and looked at [y/n]. [Y/n] felt her heart drop to her stomach.

Mai was as gorgeous as ever, not to mention she was wealthy and noble. Of course, Zuko would date her. [Y/n] suddenly felt stupid for even considering telling Zuko about her feelings. Why would a prince go out with a commoner? Why would a prince fall for one in the first place? Why did she think she had a chance?

"It's about time, if you ask me," another familiar voice interrupted [y/n]'s thoughts.

Azula, someone else she hadn't seen in years, strutted into the garden with a hand on her hip. As a child she was quite bossy and intimidating. From the rumors [y/n]'s mom told her, she never grew out of that behavior. Even now, she was giving [y/n] a dirty look.

"Oh please, Azula. It's been three years, and I just got here," Zuko scowled at his sister.

The princess scoffed. "Everyone knew Mai had a crush on you. Well, everyone but my idiot brother." Mai blushed and gave Azula a look, while Zuko groaned and rolled his eyes.

[Y/n] felt very out of place and uncomfortable. She wanted to leave. She wanted to run away. She wanted to go home. She wanted to lay in her bed and curse herself for thinking this was a good idea. Sure, [y/n] was beyond happy to see Zuko again, but she was also crushed knowing that his heart belonged to someone else. Moreover, being in the presence of Azula made her feel threatened. [Y/n] knew the princess despised her.

"Well, um, I'll leave you all to it. Have fun today…" [y/n] quietly said, smiling weakly.

"Okay, it was great seeing you again, [y/n]!" He said cheerfully.

"Yeah, it was good to see you too."

No…no, it wasn't.

[shortkingzuko]

title: love lines

relationship: mai/ty lee

no warnings that i can think of

summary: Mai tries not to think about how nice it was to feel Ty Lee’s hand against her own, tries not to think about how it would feel to have her press kisses against her palms or feel her eyelashes fluttering against her cheek. In some ways she feels nostalgic for when they were kids when Ty Lee was equally as touchy but before she learned to respect Mai’s boundaries. What a fool she was, to establish such firm boundaries in such harsh fashions. Mai hopes that Ty Lee will trip up, hug her for too long or too tight, press a kiss against her cheek in greeting as she does for so many others. Of course, Ty Lee never does. She’s too good, cares too much about Mai’s comfort, and tries so hard to make sure that she is never the cause of distress. Mai has never been described as touchy, and she made sure that everyone knew it. She wishes she could think of a way to tell Ty Lee that she might be the only exception.-- OR; Intricate Rituals Constructed To Allow Mai To Touch The Skin of Another Woman

this was a pinch hit that i fulfilled for @avatar-rarepair-exchange-2021 !! really fun to write :^)

read it on ao3 (and see all my tags and joshin around) or read it under the cut !!

“Mai, give me your hand,” Ty lee says, voice piercing through Mai’s concentration easily. She lets go of the edge of her book, languidly lifting it towards Ty Lee.

“Why do-” Mai’s question is cut off when a strong tug pulls her arm and her attention. “Ty Lee, what are you doing?”

Ty Lee holds Mai’s wrist, one hand pushing back her gently curled fingers, leaning over to eye at her palm closely.

“Stop moving!” Ty Lee says, wrestling Mai’s arm into a more convenient position. As quiet as they try to be, Mai can tell that other students are turning around in their seats, trying to get a glimpse of who’s breaking the silence of the library. “I’m trying to read your palm!”

Ty Lee finally has a grip she likes, cradling Mai’s now still palm like it’s something precious. One calloused finger traces over Mai’s skin, tickling it as the pastel pink nail follows some invisible shape. Mai swallows.

“Okay,” she says, trying to keep her voice even. She clenches her free hand into a fist and hopes that the hand that Ty Lee is holding isn’t getting as sweaty. Ty Lee studies the skin carefully, leaning in close at random.

Mai can feel her gentle breath on her hand, and against her best wishes, she finds herself leaning closer too, trying to see whatever is catching Ty Lee’s interest for so long.

After what feels like a thousand heartbeats, Ty Lee lets go. It takes a moment for Mai to realize that she can take her hand back.

“So, what’s the diagnosis, doctor?” Mai asks, trying as subtly as she can to wipe her hand on her jeans. Ty Lee giggles.

“Well the lighting in here isn’t great, so I didn’t get a perfect look, but it looks pretty good to me!” She grins, and Mai almost disagrees with her statement about the lighting, because the way her lip gloss shines and reflects in the fluorescent glow almost makes her brain short circuit.

Mai raises an eyebrow and looks at Ty Lee for a moment. Their staredown only lasts for a few seconds before Ty Lee laughs again.

“Fine! Fine! I’m still learning though,” she says, impassionedly, motioning to the various books and magazines that she’s spread out on their table, “but it looks like your success or money line was good-”

“It better be.”

“Yes, yes, I know, you’re in the sciences for the money. It looked pretty good, your lifeline looked  very  good, no breaks! And, uh,” Ty Lee almost looks bashful, with the way she looks away, cheeks going pink, “Your marriage line is pretty short, but your love line looks good.”

“Marriage is a sham,” Mai says, automatically. She doesn’t know why her heart is beating so fast at Ty Lee mentioning love. She always seems to feel nervous at the mention of love, or dating, or romance these days, though she tries hard to hide it. Ever since she came out as gay it  feels  like every mention is pointed at her, for some reason, like any whisper of love is meant to get a reaction out of her.

She knows it isn’t true, knows that Ty Lee of all people would never try to wind her up or make her uncomfortable on purpose. Mai’s certain that if she voiced these feelings to Ty Lee, armchair therapist that she is, that she would receive a long lecture about becoming more comfortable with herself and her desires, how she needs to stop repressing her feelings and ‘let her heart sing’ or something like that. Just the thought of it, makes Mai try to push the thought down even more.

“I know that you think marriage is a sham.” Ty Lee pouts and leans her chin on her propped up arm. The friendship bracelet that she forced Mai to make with her hands proudly on her wrist. Mai has to force herself to pull her eyes away from it and look back at the physics textbook that she should have been studying this entire time. “Maybe that’s why your marriage line is so much shorter than your love line.”

“I didn’t know that a marriage line existed,” Mai mutters, attempting to lose herself into equations and examples utilizing her ‘cousin Throckmorton.’ Ty Lee just hums in response, flipping back open a book of her own. They settle back into silence - a fact that those in their surrounding tables are surely thankful for - and it takes Mai a few more minutes to feel her heartbeat settle down too.

Mai tries not to think about how nice it was to feel Ty Lee’s hand against her own, tries not to think about how it would feel to have her press kisses against her palms or feel her eyelashes fluttering against her cheek. In some ways she feels nostalgic for when they were kids when Ty Lee was equally as touchy but before she learned to respect Mai’s boundaries. What a fool she was, to establish such firm boundaries in such harsh fashions. Mai hopes that Ty Lee will trip up, hug her for too long or too tight, press a kiss against her cheek in greeting as she does for so many others.

Of course, Ty Lee never does. She’s too good, cares too much about Mai’s comfort, and tries so hard to make sure that she is never the cause of distress. Mai has never been described as touchy, and she made sure that everyone knew it.

She wishes she could think of a way to tell Ty Lee that she might be the only exception.

Mai lets the thought swim around in her head as she waits for Ty Lee to finish her martial arts club. Other girls stream out of the practice room and changing room, and Mai does her best to sidestep all of them. She peers through the small crowd, trying to see the tell-tale high ponytail and pink scrunchy. The tea she’s holding is starting to burn her hand, and just as she’s about to turn to try and find a place to set it down, she sees a flurry of pink and then Ty Lee’s beaming face.

“Mai!” She cheers. Her cheeks are just as pink as her sweatshirt, and as she walks towards Mai she tries frantically to stab her dangly earrings back into her ears. It takes Mai a second to recognize them as the little daggers-earrings that she gifted her months ago. When Ty Lee gets close enough, Mai thrusts out her hand.

“I brought you that tea you like,” she says, hoping that her affection doesn’t seep into her voice. The way Ty Lee grins makes her think that maybe she failed. She doesn’t know if the thought upsets her or not.

“Aw, you’re so sweet!”

“No, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are,” Ty Lee teases, trying again to get her earring through its hole. She reaches out with one hand to save Mai’s hand from the hot cup, and Mai doesn’t allow herself to dwell on the feeling of gentle fingers brushing against her own.

“Want some help?” Mai asks instead. Ty Lee looks surprised for only a split second before she nods, passing her earrings to Mai’s outstretched hand.

A thrum of excitement courses through Mai’s body as she steps closer to Ty Lee. It isn’t cute or romantic, in fact, it’s kind of gross - Ty Lee still has sweat clinging to her neck and hair, and she smells vaguely of the university gym’s foam mats. Mai carefully pushes the earrings into each of Ty Lee’s ears, taking a moment longer than necessary to ‘make sure they’re both in.’

She steps back and sees that Ty Lee is smiling, but more softly, gentler than her usual beam.

“Thank you, Mai,” she says, soft enough that Mai almost has to strain to hear it over the ruckus of other students clamouring to get to their swim practice in time.

“Of course,” she chokes out, “Anytime.”

Mai is laying on Ty Lee’s laid out hoodie and is leaning her head on Ty Lee’s backpack. Her homework has been long abandoned as she watches Ty Lee run around with their friends on the unused field. Aang holds a frisbee, while Suki holds a baseball bat, and Katara and Sokka both seem intent to tackle each other and Zuko into the ground. Mai has long lost track of whatever game or objective they originally had but it’s still mildly entertaining.

She watches as Ty Lee jogs over, flopping dramatically on the grass next to her.

“Phew! What a game!” She says dramatically, not bothering to explain what the game is, and stretching in a way that reminds Mai of a cat. She turns to her side and props her head on a hand. “You doing okay over here?”

“Yes,” Mai says, flicking a piece of grass off her jeans. “I’m just resting. Class was… tiring.”

Ty Lee hums. “Well, make sure you don’t get a sunburn! It’s bright today, isn’t it?”

Mai looks up at the sky, the sun indeed shining brightly, occasionally intercepted by fluffy clouds that float lazily in the stratosphere. She looks down at her hands, curled loosely on her lap.

“Yeah, pretty sunny.” She purses her lips. “Since the lighting is good, want to take another look at my palm?”

“Huh?” Ty Lee says, and for a moment Mai wishes the ground would swallow her whole. Of course, Ty Lee doesn’t remember, she looked at Mai’s hand weeks ago. She’s probably moved on to a different hobby, has no clue what Mai is- “Oh, yeah! Totally!”

She quickly sits up and scooches over to press herself closely to Mai’s side, snatching Mai’s hand out of her lap, and cradling it.

“Oh, I can see all the lines much better!” She exclaims, tracing all of them gently with a manicured finger. Mai is thankful that Ty Lee is so preoccupied with her task because it allows her to close her eyes, bask in this closeness, trying to let herself feel okay with feeling. Her face feels warm, and though she knows that to a stranger she likely looks no different, she knows that if Ty Lee glances up she’ll be able to instantly see the faintest whisper of pink across her nose and ears.

She can tell Ty Lee is almost done with her examination when she hears her let out another hum. She snaps her eyes open and lets out a calming breath, tries to look nonchalant when Ty Lee glances back up at her.

“Money and life lines still look good,” Ty Lee says, smiling gently like she’s telling a long-con of a joke, “And look, your love line and life line are parallel to each other!”

Mai leans over and looks at her hand, eyes darting to Ty Lee’s sparkly nail polish. “What does that mean?”

“Oh, them being parallel means that you’re in control of your emotions, but since your love line starts  here-”  She taps just below Mai’s index finger, “It means that you’ll have a happy love life!”

“Oh… that’s nice,” Mai says.

“Totally nice! And look at your wisdom line, so clear! It says you're really careful and intelligent. Look at mine, all wavy. It tells you that I don’t focus on much.” She laughs and places a hand gently on top of Mai’s. Against herself, Mai reaches out, gently tracing lines on Ty Lee’s palm even though she can’t tell one line from another. She tries to look for a line that wavers, but the heartbeat in her ears distracts her.

All too soon, Ty Lee removes her hand and goes back to prattling away about different lines and their meanings. Mai can barely focus and doesn’t care much about the technicalities, but she enjoys the excitement that flows off of Ty Lee like an unpolluted stream and feels a warmth bloom in her chest as she cheats a few more minutes of comfort from her friend.

Ty Lee’s dorm is much messier than Mai’s is, and with anyone else, Mai would either bully them into cleaning or not bother entering. The pile of clutter, ‘mementos’, and undeniable garbage seems to lay claim to anything that leaves a person’s hand, hiding it away so that it takes at least a few minutes of searching to find anything. In contrast, Mai’s dorm is neat, orderly, minimalistic. Her first-year roommate once looked at Mai’s pristine desk and said it looked devoid of personality. It was easy for Mai to let people assume that no personality is her personality than explain every niche caveat of the point. The sheets she brings from home at black. She brings no posters, only hangs academic photos and graphs to help her study. Mai values privacy, values the protection that a blank face and dispassionate voice give her. It’s not that Mai lacks a personality, she thinks to herself, she lacks the need - or maybe the ability - to express it to everyone.

Ty Lee has none of those problems. Her personality drips off of everything she touches. Her room is a shrine to everything she loves in life. Ty Lee herself is a shrine to everything she loves. Mai sits at Ty Lee’s desk, shoving knickknacks to the side as she tries to make enough space for her hefty workbook. Ty Lee lays on her bed, legs kicked up in the air, staring boredly at her education textbook. When Mai can finally open her book without risking breaking any of the junk scattered on the desk, she starts working, sighing every once in a while as the work goes on and on.

They’re about half an hour into their work when Mai’s pen dies mid-equation. She furrows her eyebrows and tries to write again, getting nothing except a small rip in the cheap paper. She scribbles at the side of the page and only sees a faint indent. She groans.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Ty Lee asks, likely taking any excuse to push aside work for a few moments.

“Pen died,” Mai huffs, glancing around for where she put her bookbag. The number of blankets, sweaters, pillows, and scarves serve not only as a fire hazard but as excellent camouflage, even with the intense colour difference between their pink-to-orange-to-yellow hue and the dark, rich, burgundy of Mai’s bag.

“Just take one of mine,” Ty Lee says, “I have tons of ‘em.”

“Did you shoplift them?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool,” Mai says, reaching for the first pen she sees. Like many other things in the room, it’s pink, with a plastic star sticking on its end, bobbing with every movement. Mai does a test scribble and once she can tell it works, she dives back into her work, even as it becomes obvious that Ty Lee has gotten herself distracted.

After a few hours of studying and hanging out, Mai shoves her workbook into her now-found bag and walks across campus back to her dorm. When she takes everything out, she sees that she accidentally brought the pen with her. Walking all the way back seems pointless, and it’s not like Ty Lee would mind if she kept it.

She tosses her workbook on her desk, and carefully arranges the pen so that it’s square with the others.

Mai can feel her heart pounding as Ty Lee lays next to her, can feel her palms begin to sweat even as she rubs them nervously against her black sheets. Ty Lee watches the movie on the laptop screen while Mai keeps sneaking glances at Ty Lee.

She practiced what she wanted to say, how she was going to say it, but now it feels impersonal, cold, just as cool and bland as everyone thinks she is. She knows that Ty Lee would never think that, she somehow just  knows   how   much   and how   big  Mai’s feelings are even if she can’t show them.

Mai also knows that this won’t be a pointless venture. She’s repressed and scared but she’s not stupid. She knows that Ty Lee doesn’t spend the same amount of time with all her other friends, that she doesn’t try to reign herself in with anyone else, doesn’t try to wear black or burgundy or ‘edgy’ jewelry with the hopes of matching with anyone else, knows that she doesn’t send text messages with hearts for just  anyone.  Those are just for Mai.

As comfortable as  this  feels, as everything with Ty Lee feels, Mai knows that both of them want more. Ty Lee deserves more than just a friend with a crush. Maybe Mai deserves more too.

Steeling herself, Mai quickly leans over and flicks on the light, causing Ty Lee to blink rapidly and say, “Hey, what’s the big idea!”

“Ty Lee, can you read my palm again,” Mai rushes out, nearly stumbling over her own words. Ty Lee tilts her head.

“Why? Palm lines don’t really change, not like horoscopes or tarot cards or-”

“I want you to look at my love line again.” Mai can feel the tips of her ears warming and resists the urge to smooth her hair over them. She sees Ty Lee’s eyes - so calm and gentle - glance at the pinkening skin.

“Your love line?” Ty Lee repeats, a small smile appearing on her face.

Mai nods. “Yes.”

She holds out a hand, and Ty Lee gently takes hold. She takes her time to uncurl Mai’s fingers, to trace over the lines, pressing her body into Mai’s arm.

“Your love line looks good,” Ty Lee says softly, “Predicts a happy experience.”

“Any indication on when?” Mai asks, fingers twitching under Ty Lee’s gentle care.

Ty Lee pauses for a moment then shakes her head. “I think… that might be up to you.”

Mai nods. “Right, of course.” She takes a deep breath. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Ty Lee looks disappointed for a moment, makes to pull her hand away when Mai reaches for it ever so slightly, lacing their fingers together. Ty Lee looks down at their entwined hands, looks back at Mai and smiles, gentle and warm.

It takes Mai another second to calm the short circuit of her brain before she turns her head and leans towards Ty Lee. She’s pleased when Ty Lee meets her partway, and Mai can taste Ty Lee’s strawberry chapstick on her tongue, can feel the tingling of sparkles in her lip gloss and the buzz and the flutter of Ty Lee’s eyelashes against her face.

She can tell Ty Lee is smiling. Mai thinks she might be smiling too. She surprises herself by chasing after Ty Lee’s lips when she pulls away for a moment and isn't surprised at the giggles she gets in response. Her face is warm, her heart is thudding in her chest, and she isn’t remotely in her comfort zone. Ty Lee’s hand is calloused and gentle and warm and soft, and Mai is  holding it.  

Mai thinks she can get used to expressing her wants a little bit more if this is the outcome she gets.

[zuzuslastbraincell]

Since you like Mailee, what would be your ideal scenario for them? The best 'happy ending' they could have together?

oh such a good question!

I don't think they're necessarily, following canon, quite at relationship stage yet. I think Mai was surprised when Ty Lee chose her over Azula - no one had chosen her before - and then they're separated in different prisons most likely, so I imagine they spend a while sending each other letters while Mai is at the palace and Ty Lee is with the Kyoshi Warriors and communicate in honest words for the first time instead of gestures and tics and so on. Letters are a breath of fresh air after keeping it all in and it becomes a ritual they come to adore as they don't have to pretend to be different people around each other in them - they know each other's messy history, they don't need to dance around it or explain.

as characters go, Ty Lee, being one of seven, has strived to mark herself as an individual, and perhaps not received enough attention as she needed. Thus she moulds her personality around the people who need her (Azula) in order to get validation, and has a tension between being what people needs vs. being a unique individual that come from the same source: insecurity. I think she's not got a secure sense of identity and selfhood, which makes joining the Kyoshi warriors an interesting move (I imagine it was a poorly thought out impulse decision, where Ty Lee returns to what is familiar - being 'one of a matching set' - without thinking about how that might make her feel insecure. I like to imagine it *could* turn out well, it needn't be terrible, but that's partially on the Kyoshi Warriors & Suki to help her adjust). Really though, I would say it's quite possible - and Ty Lee possibly subconciously knew this - that it's a temporary move, on a longer journey to try and build a more secure sense of identity.

I think whatever happy ending endgame scenario for Ty Lee would need to include something where she could express her individuality - like arts & crafts, for example. She's always shown an interest in gymnastics and acrobatics, so maybe she'd also be involved in a dance troupe, for instance - which is interesting, given the footloose episode indicates there's been some repression & limitation placed on dance, so maybe she leads a comeback in it? I could also see Ty Lee getting stuck into things that are messy and unconventional with art - something very physical like pottery or sculpture. I also think her willingness to join the Kyoshi Warriors & the Circus indicates that she wants *distance* from herself and home. I think regardless where she ends up, it can't be the same environment she grew up in - a Fire Nation noble house.

Mai is similar in that she has found the environment she was brought up in stifling and tedious, with limited avenues for emotional expression. I know some people say that she'd be fantastic in politics - and that could be the case - but I can't see her as anything but frustrated with the artifice and the restraint asked of her. I feel like Mai knows much more clearly what she doesn't want and doesn't like - but is still figuring out what she *does* want. I think anything where she's stuck in the palace is a no and like Ty Lee she probably has a journey of self-discovery.

So like, considering this: I like to imagine after Ty Lee has done with being a Kyoshi Warrior and Mai has just reached Her Limit with Palace bullshit, Mai leaves the palace, meets up with Ty Lee, and they travelling companions for a while, visiting and exploring different places together (on Zuko's money lol). Mai likes to make little sketches of what she sees, observations, moments, but also I like to imagine she begins to express herself through writing, for the first time, begins writing darkly satirical novels dressed up as detective stories in the spaces she has. Ty Lee picks up about twelve different hobbies and keeps three of them, including crochet. I think eventually they settle down in a nice coastal town somewhere and set up a little arts and crafts shop selling lots of weird glassware and wacky pottery, largely Ty Lee's creation. Mai handles the books, and writes on the side, eventually sending her books off to be published anonymously (she's not interested in fame), which are met with critical acclaim, and she also runs a book group. Meanwhile, Ty Lee also gives pottery classes and helps out at an amateur dance group - and I can honestly imagine her ending up teaching people to dance, I think that would give her a sense of gratification from doing a hobby witjout competing for attention.

Basically they're just weird artsy gays who had a lot of heartfelt letters, decided enough was enough and went travelling together because they were tired of being apart, and then set up shop next to their favourite beach.

[loopy777]

RE: WIPs game: do I even want to know what Dicebenders is is it another scam how many times are the Gaang gonna get arrested for scamming

No, this time it's me scamming people. XD The dice in question are the RPG Dungeons & Dragons kind.

For a while I was doing a screencap webcomic in the style of "DM of the Rings" and "Darths & Droids" with another creative fan named Captain Boomerang. I was the scriptwriter and selected the screenshots for each panel, and Capt-BA would assemble the comics and improve my scripts (a process that did frustrate me a little, as I felt locked out of the revision process, but I did like the results. I just felt like I wasn't holding up my end of the partnership a bit). I wrote a story bible explaining the characters and storytelling rules, planned out the adaptation of the entire AtLA premiere, and had less detailed plans for the rest of the series, but we only got 6 comics in before Capt-BA went on a trip and never returned to the internet. I did manage to re-establish contact with her long enough to get permission to continue the comic, but the problem is that I have no image-editing skills whatsoever.

If I could find comic-making software that I know would do what I want and be easy to use, I wouldn't mind dropping some money on it, but everything I've looked at is trying to do lots of things I don't need. I only want a way to import existing pictures into comic grids, and then easily add dialogue bubbles. That's it. But the stuff I've found is more about image-editing than comic assembly, and it takes me an hour to put together a dialogue bubble that looks good. So I have 3 scripts that were never produced, which along with the planning docs are what's in that WIP folder, and I don't ever see myself going beyond that.

Besides, someone else already managed to complete something like this, and while I'm not a fan, I don't need to be. At this point, Dicebenders is dead. I'm glad I tried it, and it's a shame it didn't work out, but I'm happy with the other projects I've done instead.

I am squatting on an empty Tumblr for it, though.

Anyway, to share something new, here's the first section of the Story Bible I wrote to make sure Capt-BA and I were on the same page in terms of characterization. The rest of the bible details the plotlines for full series.

AVATAR: THE LAST DICEBENDER

BIBLE

Premise- A small group of players attempt to run a fantasy martial arts RPG that winds up essentially becoming the Avatar saga, or something very close. The main point of the series is comedy, based mostly on ridiculous links between Avatar and RPG's. Sometimes the humor will be in the vast difference between what happens in the comic, and what happens in the cartoon with the same screenshots. Other times, the funny will come from the unexpected ways they converge.

SPIRITUAL PREDECESSORS

DM of the Rings- The original, and my personal favorite. It's a good showcase of how to run a single quest together, while using narrative jumps to skip to the good bits.

Darths & Droids- A similar project, this stands out from its predecessor in two main ways. The players and GM are more friendly with each other, and are more or less having fun with each other. There is also a running, coherent storyline in both the game and in the lives of the players.

Benders & Brawlers- This is actually an existing attempt to do Darths & Droids with Avatar. This is helpful as an example of what we DON'T want to do, retell the Avatar story in a completely straightforward manner, with RPG players behind the characters.

CHARACTERS

None of the characters will be given real names. The players shall always be referred to by their character names, although this can be done in a teasing, ironic manner. When the characters are speaking, their dialogue bubble must always be attached to an image of the character.

The Gamemaster- The GM is a female in her early teens. She is a geek, and a bit of a social outcast for it. Nevertheless, she's trying to make that work for her, although she's not quite mature enough to make it happen yet. She has just discovered RPG's, and in her enthusiasm has gone all out in starting her own campaign. The only problem is that she doesn't know how to recruit players, so she ropes her best friend and little brother into playing with her. This is the GM's first campaign, so she'll a little in over her head. She knows the mechanics of play, and what she's supposed to be doing as GM, but doesn't have the fine skill in crafting an engaging RPG experience. Still, she wants to do her best, is willing to learn, and has a positive attitude about the whole thing. The GM has a strong crush on the Sokka player, but the only way she can express it is by having all the female NPC's flirt with the Sokka character.

Katara- Female in early teens, and the GM's best friend. Katara's player was friends with the GM from when they were both in grammar school, so while they have grown up into wildly different personality types, they are fully loyal to each other. Katara is popular, and outgoing, and doesn't care or know about geek stuff at all. She's only playing the game because the GM begged her to. At first, Katara is clueless about RPG's, and frequently questions or ridicules the mechanics of the game. She never quite gets into the idea of role-playing, but quickly takes to the idea of meta-gaming. She'll have her character act like a righteous do-gooder, because completing missions and fighting bad guys earns XP. She hoards items that will boost her stats. She'll advocate abandoning a mission/plot if it doesn't pay out enough rewards. Katara's player also can tend towards trying to Mary Sue her character, but this is inconsistent and usually shot down by everyone else.

Aang- Male in junior high, and the GM's little brother. He plays simply because his sister has cajoled him into it, and there are hints that he's getting some kind of reward or payment for it. He abuses his position by forcing the GM to give him what he wants in the game, even if it breaks the rules- access to the restricted Airbender class, the ability to bend all four elements, overloaded stats, an Avatar State that protects him from dying, a magic super flying cow ride, etc. However, it's important to note that Aang's player isn't a jerk. He's just immature, and like all kids, just always goes for what he wants via the easiest path, and doesn't realize that he may be causing trouble or hurting feelings. He's enthusiastic about trying out this RPG thing, but he has trouble coming up with any action beyond attacking or retreating. He's also hyper aware that the GM and Katara are girls. He is too old for cootie concerns, but thinks that girls are fundamentally different creatures with their own incomprehensible concerns. Having a big sister, he doesn't find this a big deal, just part of life. Aang's player is too young to be a geek. He likes cartoons and sports and fantasy and school-dramas. He also tends to follow whatever his sister likes.

Sokka- Male in late teens. This guy is your quintessential RPG player. He has is own top-quality dice, he's played campaigns and systems of all kinds, and knows the tropes of the hobby cold. He's a huge geek for all things geeky, but roleplay is easily his favorite. He's a social outcast, but he's made friends among his fellow geeks, and thinks life is just fine. Sokka's player joins when he meets the GM at the comic/games shop they both frequent. The GM was buying some sourcebooks and material to support the fantasy martial arts game she's running, and Sokka noticed, asked about it, liked what he heard, and got permission to join the game. What Sokka doesn't realize, because he is a geek and neither has experience with it or realizes it's even possible, is that the GM is sweet on him. This manifests in the character Sokka's canon luck with the ladies, only kicked up a notch. *Every single* female NPC flirts with him, whether it's appropriate or not. Sometimes player Sokka notices and tries to roleplay it, and sometimes he's just plain confused. Sokka has a few quirks. His best set of dice are his Lucky Red Dice, which always roll high when he needs it, but have been tested and proven to be fair dice. He also mandates that every character he plays use a boomerang; he was turned into a geek by the first video game he ever played, a Legend of Zelda title, and his favorite weapon from those games are the boomerang. Each of his characters has a unique, named boomerang.

Zuko- The GM's favorite NPC. She created him to be a compelling, dramatic character, with a complicated back story, moral struggles, badass loner personality, angst about his existence, a darkly noble quality, and a cool scar. The GM intended Katara to get to know Zuko, for her to try to woo him away from the side of evil, and perhaps to even have a romance with him. The PC's, however, couldn't care less about him. To them, he's just another mini-boss, and the fact that most of his character development is happening "off screen" means they don't realize that he's recruitable. A frequent gag is Zuko delivering a stirring monologue while no one pays attention.

Iroh- Background NPC. The GM tries to use him to give (ignored) hints to the players.

Toph- (tentative) A male munchkin gamer who picked a long list of weaknesses in order to get superbending. Toph's player is a friend of Sokka's player, brought in after an "incident" with his old group, and causes some initial resentment in the group when tries to show the n00bs how its done. Cowing Toph's player is a major victory for the GM.

Momo- NPC, but maybe make him a talking sidekick who gives the players hints when the GM is really exasperated?

Azula- the GM's best favorite villain. Azula is the GM unleashed, letting her take out frustrations on the players in both combat and harsh taunting. Eventually the GM comes to like the character so much, she retcons mental health issues into the character's backstory, and has her pet NPC, Zuko, spare her.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Speak No Evil (Part 18)

After several chapters of trying to decide which direction/ending I think would be more satisfying, I still haven't decided. So I’m going to try something super new! I’m going to have two versions of this story. I bring this up now because this is the chapter where there is a crossroads in a sense. So the next few chapters will be version one and then after I’m through with this story line I will come back to this chapter and take it in the second direction. These parts will be marked (V2) meaning ‘version 2.’  I hope that this makes sense lol.

The sun had begun to filter through the windows hours ago, spilling a pleasant and cheek-warming wash of gold over the upturned side of her face. But she remains in bed, head sunken into pillows that are so invitingly plush.

She supposes that she has earned, or at the very least, could use a day spent in bed. Or mostly spent in bed. There can’t be much harm in it, she and Zuko had come to Ember Island to relax. She has simply decided to take advantage of this rather late. She rolls onto her back and exhales. Her ankles are still throbbing lightly.

She stretches her arms and tries to prepare herself to fully wake up and rise out of bed. She could use breakfast, though at this point, it is lunchtime. She lingers for a moment in the hallway in front of the kitchen. Seicho is already awake, she probably has been for some time now.

“You don’t have to cook for me, you already did so much…” she hears Zuko mutter.

Seicho shrugs. “I like cooking, it’s a hobby.” She clearly has a lot of those, hiking, fishing, botany...it seems as though she has a new hobby for every day and she had spent a good portion of their trip going on and on about said hobbies.

“Are you sure?”

“Completely.” Seicho flashes him a grin. “But if you’d like I can show you how to perfectly cook and season a lobster!” She inhales deeply. “It already smells wonderful. The trip was fun but it’s nice to have a full kitchen of cooking supplies!”

Azula supposes that it does smell nice, especially when she adds a touch of rosemary and a sprinkle of parsley. The woman catches her eye. “You’re finally awake!”

‘More or less.’ Azula spells out. She rubs at her eyes

“Are you feeling any better?” Zuko asks.

She holds up her hands and gestures, ‘a little’.

“Good. Believe it or not, I was worried.” He pauses, “I’m still worried.”

She wonders if Seicho has told him yet of how furiously she tried to hike up that volcano. Agni, she hopes that the woman hasn’t shared anything while she was asleep. She’d much rather tell him herself, if at all. ‘Why?’

“You weren’t doing too good when you left and you came back covered in cuts and...swollen ankles.”

She shrugs, ‘I’m fine.’

She can tell that Seicho is itching to speak up. She finds herself flooded with relief. Seicho holds her tongue. She wonders how long the girl with keep holding her tongue.

‘Really. I’m fine.’ And she thinks that she is telling the truth. She doesn’t feel particularly good nor hopeful. But she doesn’t feel naggingly miserable either.

.oOo.

TyLee bunches her fists and takes a deep breath. She isn’t yet ready, but she is as ready as she can and will be. Regardless of her hesitations, she needs to do this. She needs to if she ever wants to bring her journey one step closer to full closure.

She finds Mai outside of her aunt Mura’s flower shop, pruning leaves and ruffled petals. Zuko hadn’t expelled her from the palace, as far as TyLee knows but TyLee also can’t imagine that Mai would feel particularly welcomed there.

She takes another, much deeper breath. Agni, her hands are shaking. She isn’t sure how in the name of the spirits she is going to confront Azula. She thinks of Tuya and of the rest of her expedition mates. She thinks of the words ‘clever’ and ‘innovative’. She isn’t just ‘sweet’ and ‘cute’ anymore. She isn’t just some bubbly, naive child. Well perhaps she is still bubbly and chipper but she is smart. She is strong and resilient. She can hold her own.

She will hold her own.

“Hello, Mai.”

Mai looks up from her flowers as nonchalant and unexpressive as she always has been. Maybe she could use a venture away from the Fire Nation too. Maybe everyone can use a vacation from the Fire Nation. “How was your trip to…”

“The poles.” TyLee finishes. “It was amazing. Mai you should have seen it, it was glittery and enticing and it was like the Spirit World covered our world in stars…” she is rambling again. That stupid perky rambling. “And I learned a lot about myself.”

Mai quirks a brow. “Good things?”

TyLee nods. “Yes. A lot of good things.” She pauses. “And I thought about a lot too.”

“Like what?”

“Like about how I let everyone take advantage of me. Not just Azula but Zuko did it, you did it, and even Suki did it sometimes.”

Mai opens her mouth to interrupt but she won’t stand for interjection, not this time. “I don’t even think that you guys meant to do it. Azula, sure. But not Zuko and Suki. Sometimes I think that it just happened naturally. Because I let it happen. Because I couldn’t say no.”

“You didn’t mention me…”

“Because I’m not sure about you, Mai.” She confesses. “I’ve thought about it over and over again and I still can’t tell if you actually cared about me--if you actually loved me or if you were just trying to spite Azula and Zuko.” She wonders if Mai is even sure herself. Quite possibly she thinks that Mai had been killing two iguana-parrots with one stone.

“What if I told you that it was a mix of both?”

TyLee is quiet for perhaps longer than she has ever held a silence. The question has so much weight, so many nuances to consider. “Then I would say that it still isn’t okay. I don’t want to be part of some scheme. I didn’t distance myself from Azula to become your pawn instead.”

“You weren’t just a pawn…” Mai trails off.

“I was a pawn with perks.”

Mai shakes her head, “I loved you. For real.”

“So did Azula.” TyLee points out. “But I was still a pawn. I was still being used. Don’t you think it’s a little strange that you were getting trying to get back at Azula by doing the exact same things she did?”

“Why are you defending her?”

And there it is; the trap that they always set for her. She almost didn’t catch it. “I’m not. Actually…” it dawns upon her,  “I think it’s the opposite. I’m telling you that what she did, how she use me, was wrong. And I’m saying that it doesn’t become less wrong when you do it.” She bites her lip, weary of what she is about to say. She thinks that she may have already scratched at the surface of this nagging itch in her head. “If anything it’s worse when you do it.”

For the first time in a while, Mai looks genuinely angry. Her brows crinkle and her mouth curves down ever so slightly. “How so?”

“Because you think that you’re doing it for the greater good. And you pretended like you weren’t doing it. At least Azula was trying to stop and even if she wasn’t, at least she was up front about it…”  The problem with Azula, she realizes, is habit. Habit and constant apologies with no great efforts to make a change.

“What do you want from me, TyLee?”

“I want you to admit it. I want you to acknowledge that you were using me.” She wants clear cut confirmation that she isn’t seeing things that aren’t there. That she isn’t making an issue of nothing at all. She needs to know. “I need you to see that it...it really messed with me, Mai. To have so many people--to have the people I loved the most use me over and over again.” She attempts to blink away a few tears.

Mai’s expression softens and she rubs her hands over her face. “I did it okay. I loved you but I used you. I was mad at Zuko. Azula is the worst person I’ve ever met. And You’re one of the best. It was perfect; they’d both get hurt and I’d...we’d be happy.”

TyLee shakes her head. “You’d be happy. I want to be loved, Mai. I want to be loved completely with no ulterior motives.” And it comes to her that she can be.

“So what are you going to do, TyLee? Cut us all out.”

She doesn’t want to. She’d love to keep talking to Mai and Zuko, and even Azula, if only in moderation. “If I have to. Don’t make me have to.”

.oOo.

“No, no, like this!” Seicho takes her by the wrist and guides her hand.

‘Is there really an exact method of sprinkling salt on sizzle-crisps?’ Azula asks.

“There’s a particular way of arranging the dish too once the salt and spices are added. Personally I like to arrange my fruit slices and salad leaves to make pretty pictures…”

‘You like to play with your food.’

“It’s an art, princess! Culinary art. An undervalued art, if you ask me!” She pauses. “If you want, you can put the parchment aside and spell words out with fruit slices or sprinkle tyme to make letters.”

‘No thanks.’ She writes as Zuko grumbles, “and dirty our counters? We don’t have servants here so I’ll be the one cleaing the mess.”

“Azula can help!”

‘Azula won’t help.’ Cleaning is beneath her. Getting her hands dirty to knead dough and toss flour was a task better suited for serving personnel. She still isn’t sure why she has rolled out and flattened so many circles of dough. She gestures to them, ‘what for?’

“We’re going to wrap the sizzle-crisps in them, of course.” Seicho smiles.

Azula blinks.

“What kind of abomination are you having us make?” Zuko throws his hands up, kicking up a cloud of flour.

‘An affront to taste buds all over the Fire Nation. We ought to have you banished.’

“Don’t banish me until after you try it.” Seicho declares.

Azula picks up one of the sizzle-crisps and wraps it up in a blanket of dough. She supposes enduring the woman’s terrible cuisine creative process is the least that she can do.

.oOo.

Azula has grown unresponsive again. Seicho doesn’t think that her cooking innovations were that horrid. In fact Zuko quite openly enjoyed her wrapped sizzle-crisps and she could swear that Azula was only pretending not to.

“What’s wrong?” She finally asks.

‘Just thinking…’

With Azula this can mean anything really. Usually it isn’t anything good. Usually when Azula thinks, she thinks too much and she ends up crying either openly or privately. “About what?”

‘My voice.’ She hovers the brush over the parchment as if to add something more. She eventually retracts it.

“What about it?”

‘I want it back.’

Seicho nods. She could imagine. Reflexively she touches her fingers to the woman’s lips. Azula curls her fingers around her wrist. She expects to be swatted away but the princess simply holds her hand in place.

She shifts and turns back to her parchment. ‘Do you want to help me find the spirit and get it back?’ She quickly scrawls, ‘truthfully this time. I actually want to look.’

“Yeah, we can do that and maybe this time our brothers can tag along. I really want you to meet Zhang-Zin.”

Azula nods, ‘I suppose.’

Seicho grins. How exciting it will be to go on a real adventure with her. One with a genuine goal. One where they can truly get to know each other. “Great! I was thinking that we can take a little break first. Maybe go to the beach or a party and then we can start planning our next trip.”

‘The beach sounds…pleasant enough.’

She springs off of the bed. “Tomorrow, we can go shell hunting tomorrow and I can show you this tidal pool with these spiny urchins.” Her head is abuzz with idea after idea. Bits and snippets of things that might make Azula feel lively again. And this time she is optimistic that it might just work.

[zukkatrash]

A Mask to see me as I am

a modern zuko wears makeup au, 2k words, finished, read under the cut

Summary: Zuko tries to cover up his scar with make up, fails miserably but realizes that he doesn't have to cover his face to stand to look at it

(includes bad Haikus from someone who doesnt know shit about Haikus)

credit to @turtleduck-vibes for beta reading this (thanks again ur the best!!♡)

---

The first time Zuko remembered putting makeup on his face was when he was six.

His mother was painting Azula's face next to him for a festival. He couldn't help himself, just dipped his fingers into the small container of colour and smeared it on his face, trying to mimic the delicate lines mother had drawn on his sister. His mother had smiled at him as she wiped the paint off of his hands and tried her best to fix the greasepaint on him into something more put together. Zuko barely remembered the festival or even what was painted on his face, but he did remember the concentration in his mother's eyes. The dedication and love she put into every stroke of her brush and how she smiled when he giggled at the tickling sensation.

Ozai hated it.

Mother didn't paint his face

again, remembering screams.

---

The second time Zuko put makeup on was when he was thirteen, desperately trying to hide a hickey he could not and would not want to explain to anyone.

---

It didn't hide it.

Ozai found out easily.

It had hurt so much.

The third time Zuko put makeup on was when he was fifteen. He still couldn't stand looking into the mirror longer than it took to check if there was something between his teeth. So he skipped the mirror, grabbed the foundation and more or less smeared it onto his eye. The texture of it felt weird on his face, too clumpy and suffocating. So foreign from the salve he had used to heal the wound. The brush however, brought back the memory of his mother. Her death still stung in his heart — He suspected it always would. But when he stopped attacking his face with the pigment for a second and just let the brush glide along his face, he could only think of his mother's smile. He lifted his face to the mirror and couldn't help but hope that it wouldn't glare back at him with the mark of Ozai's hate.

It looked almost worse.

His eye still too small. The place where an eyebrow should be standing out starkly. The skin around his eye clumped with makeup in a harsh contrast to the smooth unmangled rest of his face. 

It took exactly three and a half seconds for him to tear his face away from the mirror.

---

He could not hide it

Hatred burned into his skin

So he wiped it off

The next time Zuko put on makeup, he was a bit more prepared, having read up a bit on proper application and the like. He set his things on the desk in front of him, asking himself once again why he was even trying. The scar would always be there. Burned into his skin. Zuko had already spent his tips from the teashop on this, so he might as well try. But when he faced the mirror, he still couldn't hold his own gaze. He should be used to it by now, having lived with the scar for over two years. Having lived with Ozai’s contempt for as long as he could remember. But hope could be persistent. Zuko knew he could never earn his father’s love. That it wasn’t something a child could earn, that it should have been given to him from the second he came into his life. Zuko knew Ozai was wrong and hateful and abusive, but still he couldn’t help but hope on some days. Couldn’t help but hope that the mirror would show him something different than the truth

Hate.

Disappointment. 

Condemnation.

He moved the mirror, only his right side visible to him now. Maybe he could practise there until he could finally stand seeing his own face again.

But what good would that do? If he wanted to hide his scar he had to put the makeup on his scar. He adjusted the mirror again. If he didn't move, all he could see was his cheek. The rough skin looked bad, but not as horrible as his eye. As my whole face- he couldn't help but think. He put some foundation on his brush and began spreading it. Unsure how to hold the brush, unsure how to move the brush, unsure why he was even trying.

But the brush felt nice and if he just focused on this small part of his face he almost forgot what he was trying to do. So he kept going, letting the brush glide over his skin, adjusting the mirror ever so slightly as he kept going. Scooting closer to it when his eye came into view, not wanting to see it compare to the other one. The normal one. The intact one. Before he knew it he had covered it all. He was done. He pulled back from the mirror.

---

But it still looked wrong

His skin the same colour, but

A mangled landscape

Zuko gave up on trying to cover his scar. The skin was too broken to ever look normal. The eye too broken to ever look normal. He was too- No, Uncle wouldn’t want him to think like that.

But he couldn't deny that he liked putting on the makeup. The method of painting, as if his face was just a sheet of paper and not a testament to Ozai's cruelty. The focus only on a part of his face, without time to criticise when there was art to be done. The memory of his mother smiling down at him as she tickled his nose with the brush. So Zuko didn’t give up on makeup. Only now, he stopped trying to hide something that would always be there.

At first he tried to emulate other people’s makeup, starting with simple things, or what he had thought to be simple things. More often than not, it didn’t come out looking any good. The soft green around his eyes, however, did look quite nice and he couldn't help but think of his uncle's work apron as he looked at his face in the mirror. For the first time in a long time, he could see his own smile look back at him.

---

The face still the same

His again with colours and

Memories of love

At seventeen Zuko’s weekend routine now had an addition. Instead of reading or studying, he would put on makeup after his shift at the jasmine dragon and wipe it off in time for dinner. He would lock the door, set the mirror on his desk and take out the small bag from where it was stuffed in his bottom drawer. He would see how different colours looked against his face, how the shapes accentuated different parts of his face, but he wouldn't cover up his scar anymore. Mostly he settled on leaving it alone altogether, since the pigment didn't tend to feel all that good on it. He got good at it though. Now he even took pictures of it, mostly just to track his progress, but the first one he had taken was a celebration. Of the first time his eyeliner looked not only even but good. Never to show anyone though. Not that he really could show anyone, since Jin would definitely tell his uncle. It wasn’t that she was a telltale, but only a few people managed to spend much time with Uncle without letting some secrets slip.  Zuko still couldn’t quite believe how easy it had been to come out to his uncle, how accidental it had been.

So maybe it wouldn’t be that bad if Uncle knew. No it definitely wouldn’t be bad. But this wasn’t only a hobby, or something Zuko just was. This was something that helped him look in the mirror. Even if his face was bare he knew how well blue went with his eyes. Where to put highlighter to bring out his cheekbones. How to get the tail of his eyeliner just right. This was something that helped him see himself behind his face.

---

A way to separate

The now away from the past

Mask to see himself

There was a knock at his door.

"Just a moment." He called back. Uncle was early, usually Zuko would have at least another half hour until dinner. He grabbed a makeup wipe and almost scrubbed it at his face. But today he had finished the dishes early. Today he had been ambitious. Today there were delicate flowers on his cheekbone. Flowers he had drawn and cleaned off with a q-tip and redrawn over and over again until they were perfect. He couldn't just wipe them off. 

“Do you need to come in?” Zuko asked before he could think better of it. 

“Are you alright, nephew?” And there it was. He hated to worry his uncle, the man had done so much for him and Zuko still just served to make his life harder.

“Yes.” Everything was alright, he just didn’t want him to come inside and yet even Zuko could hear it in his own voice. The undertone that would tell Uncle that there was something.

“I only wanted to ask if you would like to join me on a walk before dinner” Uncle’s voice was as gentle as ever.

“Nope, I’m good.” Zuko could almost feel his Uncle’s disappointment through the door.

“I am worried about you.” There was hurt in his voice and there was nothing Zuko would hate more than hurting his Uncle. He had to tell him, or rather show him.

“Zuko,” Uncle paused and Zuko already knew what was coming, but he really was fine. But then again Uncle wouldn’t know that. Zuko had already thought of telling him, but this felt like it was his and only his. He was sure Uncle wouldn’t react badly. Hell, Zuko could probably come home with bags full of stolen stuff and Uncle wouldn’t be mad at him. But this had been the first skill he had ever honed that wasn’t for other people, not to convince them of his worth. It wasn’t even that he didn’t want to tell Uncle, he just didn’t want to tell anyone.

But then Uncle had continued talking. 

Zuko took a deep breath, he knew he didn't have to worry. He knew Uncle loved him. He knew Uncle would never be mad at him for this. And yet the walk from his desk to his door had never felt longer. Zuko put his hand on the door and before he could think himself out of it he opened it.

His eyes were glued to the floor and his voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s not done yet.” Uncle took a second to react, which was to be expected but still Zuko couldn’t help his internal freak out at the silence. 

“Oh, what lovely jasmine blossoms.” and Uncle’s words were filled with love and a split second later his arms were filled with a very relieved Zuko.

---

Flowers blooming free

Pressed against a smiling cheek

Honesty brings freedom

Uncle knew and despite Zuko's worries it still was his. He might be getting more pictures of flowers when Uncle went on a walk but he didn't pry. He never pried, only ever waited patiently with open arms and a cup of tea, and when the next Saturday came around, Zuko didn’t lock his door. But left it wide open as he settled in front of his desk. And he almost didn’t startle when the apartment door opened later and the sound of Uncle’s hum filled the space.

Zuko was about to pull out his phone when he realized something. He didn’t have to take the selfie in his room where the light didn’t reach in the evening. He could catch the sun as it set from the living room. Uncle didn’t look up from his book as he passed him on the way to the window. Zuko very much understood it as the gesture it was. That their home was a place for Zuko to be himself, that Uncle wouldn’t stare at him just for expressing himself. He very much appreciated it as well, even though he had shared his secret, didn’t mean he was quited ready to really talk about it.

Vulnerable trust

Held steadfast with time and pain

And wounds can still heal

[mushroomjar]

Aang was an asshole. The fact people think Katara deserved any of his crap is insane. I wish he had died alone the way he deserved. Zutara was a better ship. And the people who ship Zuko with that brat are insane. Zuko at least got someone great like Mai unlike poor Katara who ended up with someone who mistreated her.

Okay dude, what the fuck. You’re getting a little too aggresive there. Don’t make it hard for me to be nice to you, please.

First of all, Aang was... not an asshole? He made mistakes, sure, like I said, with hiding Hakoda’s letter, but he gets rightfully scolded for it, and makes an effort to not do such stuff again. I genuinely can’t think of many other instances where he could be seen as an asshole. Maybe when he yelled at Toph in front of her parents because she didn’t want to play along with him or something? Idk, maybe that one time was kinda mean, but it was more like a kid’s fight than something very serious. When else? When he got mad at Teo’s father and community for desecrating the Air Temple? That was completely justified and you can’t tell me it wasn’t. Sure, they needed a refuge, but they desecrated a sacred place, one which Aang holds very, very dear to his heart.

He wasn’t an asshole to Katara either. The one time he was not good to her was when he kissed her right after she said she was confused, and it’s not painted in a positive light, and he immediately apologizes. Other than that, he always has heart eyes whenever he looks at her, and although more subtle, she does as well. Katara liked him back, it wasn’t a one-sided love like some people like to claim it was.

Honestly, this was the part of the ask where you completely lost me. “I wish he had died alone the way he deserved.” My guy (just an expression, not trying to misgender you), do you realize you are wishing for the sad, painful death of a twelve year old? A twelve year old who had to almost give up his childhood and lost culture to save the whole world? A twelve year old survivor of genocide? Who always did his best to treat everyone right? Even villains? Who was compassionate and loving and joyful and kind? Maybe you should take a leaf out of his book, maybe that will teach you a bit more about kindness.

And ah, I see, you’re a Zutara shipper. That explains a lot (no hate to Zutarians who aren’t like this tho). Well, I don’t particularly like that ship, but you can like it if you want to, I guess. However, you do know you don’t have to hate Aang to ship Zutara, right? Or did that bit of common sense go way over your head?

Also, why are you complaining to me about Zukaang? You know I don’t ship Zukaang, right? (Again, no hate to people who do) Did you even look through my blog? I have a whole Zukka tag. Clearly you only saw that I support Aang and decided that was enough to project all your pent-up anger and frustration out on me, because... your favorite ship isn’t canon? Idk...

And finally, Aang mistreating Katara? When? I already discussed the moment when he kissed her without her consent, and I will remind you, once again, that was not painted as a positive moment, in fact Katara was allowed to be angry at that, and Aang felt really bad about doing that and apologized right away, like he should have. Other than that, Aang is such a romantic with Katara? He always treated her very well and with respect. I keep thinking about them in the episode of the cave of the two lovers (or whatever it was called, sorry, I forgot), and how after she complimented his waterbending, he immediately said “thanks, Katara. Sifu Katara” while bowing to her, showing he has a lot of respect for her and acknowledges her power and appreciates her teachings.

It genuinely feels like we didn’t even watch the same show, I honestly just don’t know where you got all this hate for Aang from. I’m not saying Aang has to be your favorite character, heck, if you don’t like Aang, you know what? Fine, you don’t have to like him. But stop going to the blogs of people who do like him to send hate. This comes from a place of caring and concern: this is not good for you or your mental health. This will only make you more miserable and resentful. Go look at videos of puppies or something, take up a hobby, but I mean it when I say that wasting your time sending hate anons to random blogs won’t do you any good in the long-run. You need to stop, not just for the people who are receiving your unnecessary hate, but also for your own good. Please at least think about this.

[gloves94]

Sunburn [Prince Zuko] 23

Warnings: None   Rating: PG-13   Pairings: Zuko/OC   Summary:  “You have everything you’ve ever wanted.” “No.” He said softly. “Not everything…”  His golden eyes looked at her with a melting intensity she had never witnessed before. “I guess not.” She responded with glassy eyes as tears welled up threatening to break the dam of her eyes.

My fanfiction: M A S T E R L I S T

AN: I'll be the first to admit it. The last few chapters have been rough. So I wrote this with the intent of lighting things up.

xxx

The veil of the night covered the Fire Nation.

It was so late that the only living things awake at this time should've been the hooting night owls and other creatures of the nights. Creatures such as the auburn haired spy who had successfully infiltrated the Fire Nation's palace.

Tsai looked around swiftly before putting a hood over her head. She stepped out tucking a scroll with viable information in the back of her pants before slipping away. Like every other night she had to make way to the hawkery to communicate a message for her evening mission. She snuck around the corner of the hallway and almost had a heart attack when she came face to face with someone.

Zuko stood before her leaning against the hallway’s wall. His arms were crossed over his chest and his sharp eyes were fixed on hers. He didn’t seem groggy or sleepy in the least.

“Going somewhere?” He asked cooly.

She placed a hand over her racing heart and took in a deep breath. Stopping herself from screaming from the shock.

It took her a moment to regain her composure and she glowered at him. "I told you to stay away from me!" She repeated angrily. "Were you watching me?"

"You still haven't answered my question," he pressed not answering hers.

"I don't have to," She muttered as she walked past him. "Or what? Are you going to order me to?" She narrowed her light brown eyes at him. She hated it when he ordered her around to do stuff. He couldn't believe he had the audacity to do so after his betrayal, after everything he had done to her.

Zuko was convinced that Tsai was never going to forgive him. Never going to look at him and think of a decent human being again.

He tried. The spirits know he tried to make things right. He would try to speak to her. To purposely run into her around the palace when she was running errands for his sister. Sometimes he would even ask her to do pointless stuff for him. Just to keep her near. It was never anything painful or humiliating. Most of the times they were petty, ridiculous favors so that she could catch a break from his sister.

"Try this roast duck and fire-berry tart," he had demanded one afternoon. "I have to see if it's poisoned. The ice cream too."

Sometimes he would even leave bowls of fruits or sweets outside of her room in hope that they might make her day a bit more bearable.

He could still remember the angry look in her face as she glared daggers at him yet ate the full roast duck meal. She would never let it show let alone vocalize it but she was more than grateful for these small favors. Still, it wouldn't change the way she felt about him. She was still seething in anger every time she saw him, even more when he was with his perfect new girlfriend.

Zuko kept a close eye making sure that Azula wouldn't make her do anything too brash. Regardless every day the girl looked more and more exhausted. He knew it was because she wasn't sleeping at night. Dark circles carved under her eyes from exhaustion as she went on in her day by day without complaining. After seeing her that night he guessed she had been doing this every night, but to do what? Her mysterious motives for remaining restless were still a mystery to him. Was she sneaking out to visit his uncle?

"What? I can't explore the mainland?" She said referring to the Fire Nation Capital over her shoulder lying with ease.

“Liar,” he called her out flatly seeing right past her façade. “I’ve been watching you for some time now. Sneaking out at late hours. Almost passing out during the day. Where do you go? Who do you go see?” He inquired.

“That’s none of your business,” she snapped. It really wasn’t. He made a hum in the back of his throat.

“You need rest,” he advised sound like his uncle.

“Don’t you have a girlfriend or something to keep you busy? A hobby? Princely duties to attend?” She said mockingly before turning away from him.

“Have you seen Uncle?” he chased after her. She wasn’t really sure where she was going. All she knew was that she didn’t want to be around him. “You have!” He pressed on.

She would neither accept or deny that claim.

“Did he see you? Did he say anything to you?” He questioned as he tailed behind her.

She scoffed cruelly and looked over her shoulder. “He’s not talking to you?”

“No…” he answered quietly.

“Figures. Why would he want to talk to his betraying nephew?”

“But you betrayed him too!” He called out.

She stood silent for a moment. She slightly flinched as if she was going to say something but turned away silently instead.

“What are you not telling me?” He stood dead in his tracks when he realized she would not answer to him. Letting her go vanishing into the night.

Xxx

The other day Azula had demanded that she fetch a rare lily pond from a nearby pond infamous for being pooled with leeches. The poor girl returned to the palace soaked and muddy covered with leeches from head to toe. She would withdraw to her small windowless prison room completely drained where she could have a cold dinner of either stale bread, rice and sometimes dry chicken.

Another day she had been walking to the Royal bathroom chambers carrying two heavy buckets over her shoulders filled with rose petals. Petals which would be used for the princess's weekly rose water bath. She stumbled upon the hallways sleepily almost collapsing from the exhaustion. When she turned a hallway and encountered the one person she did not want to see.

He said her name in a worried tone and she ignored him continuing forward in her trek.

“Let me help you,” he said reaching for one of the wooden buckets she carried over her shoulders. “I can manage just fine, Prince.” She responded in an annoyed tone.

She looked ill. He could see the strain in her as she struggled to carry the heavy wooden buckets over her shoulders. Her body was even slightly wobbling from side to side to side from exhaustion. He snapped his fingers and before she knew it two servants that seemed to appear from out of the nowhere took the buckets off her shoulders and would finish the task from her.

She leaned over resting her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. She pushed her hair out of her face and looked at him with a hard expression on his face. It was always like this with him. She didn't need his help and certainly had no need for his sympathy. If she was fully well rested she would've most definitely been able to deliver to Azula. However her sleepless nights really weren't helping...

“I don’t want anything from you!” She angrily snapped at him. Before standing up and dusting her clothes off.

He, of course, was already used to this and had found a way around her bickering, push aways and protesting.

“Actually,” he said in a matter of fact tone. “Seeing as you are also my servant. I have something I need you to do for me.”

She gritted her teeth in fury, wondering just what stupid task he had in mind for her.

Moments later she found herself in his bedroom chambers. She tried her best not to appear interested by the artifacts and materials that were in the room.

“This is by far the stupidest task I’ve been forced to do,” she complained beyond irritated from his bed. She looked at the prince who was sitting on a wooden chair besides his bed looking down at her with his arms crossed over his chest an annoyed look in his face.

“General curiosity,” he shrugged with a rare, small smirk playing at his features.

“This..” she fought of an exhausting yawn. “Is so pointless...”

“You will not leave this room until you count every single thread on this blanket.” He ordered in a tone that was forcibly unsympathetic.

“This is so dumb. You’re so dumb…” she said weakly pointing a finger in his direction. But the bed... It was so comfortable. Her body sunk into it. Sleeping tempting her, calling her.

She currently lay on his bed, her nose buried against the heavy blanket as she counted every microscopic thread and stitch on the comforter. Sleep was taunting her, it was so seductive. Just a little cat nap wouldn't help...  He looked so smug. She had reached somewhere in the hundreds when she finally succumbed into its hands.

How could she not? Wrapped in warmth? Sleeping on a cloud, specially when the bed was wrapped in such a familiar comforting scent. What was that again eucalyptus?

It took him some time to realize it smelled like him...

Zuko let out a sigh he had been holding when he realized the exhausted girl had finally passed out from the exhaustion. He hated just how hardheaded she could be sometimes. He shook his head and pulled a thin blanket over her sleeping form before exiting his room.

xxxxx

AN: Stop reading here if you want a nice fluffy chapter. Do not read the following 3 sentences unless you want it all to go to hell again.

xxxxx

That same day Tsai was caught sleeping and as a punishment the soles of her feet were repeatedly whipped with a wooden cane in torture.

She swore not speak to the prince again.

She didn't tell him why.

xxx

FIRST https://gloves94.tumblr.com/post/621142853126602752/sunburn-prince-zuko-1

NEXT https://gloves94.tumblr.com/post/621609431202971648/sunburn-prince-zuko-24

PREV https://gloves94.tumblr.com/post/621582363973009408/sunburn-prince-zuko-22

CHAPTER MASTERLIST

[thethiefandtheairbender]

(1/2) is it okay to not like maiko but stan mai? i like both characters but everytime they were together i just personally found them really dislikable people, save for the "you miscalculated" scene. plus i wanted mai to have an arc outside zuko where she overcomes her apathy (aka emotional suppression developed in response to her traumatic upbringing). maybe she doesn't want tom tom to have to grow up in the world the fn is creating, forced to stifle his feelings and opinions like her.

(2/2) maybe she develops a hobby/passion that under the fn is disallowed. "i don't care about anything...except this guy" just doesn't do it for me, esp since she always had that exception for zuko since she was a kid so she didn't change much. i like kataang btw so it isn't some "get zuko free for katara" bs. anti maikos never wanna discuss these specific things and shit on mai (and aang) bc it's just about zutara.

of course it is! i would argue that through the course of the show mai does overcome her more outwardly apathetic nature in a lot of ways - but that’s mostly through her relationship with zuko. i also think mai makes it clear that, in some ways, she does care about some things other than zuko. she does care about herself and gets indignant towards him on her own behalf & despite being in abusive relationships with azula and her parents, mai knows how she does want to be treated and will stand up for herself in relationships where it feels safe to do so, which is impressive. she also defends ty lee on a number of occasions and it’s clear that they have a strong relationship. we learn a fair bit about her family: a governor father, her mother’s view on their political situation, a baby brother, and a revered uncle. she also does have some loyalty to her country, as she says to zuko, “save it? you’re betraying your country” when she reads his letter and learns he’s going to join the avatar. 

mai’s arc with zuko isn’t “i care about this guy more than anything”. because you’re right, mai in many ways already knew how much she cared about zuko. what her arc actually leads to is mai being able to express that and fully stand up to her primary abuser (azula) because of the love she feels for him, the conviction and trust she has that he’s not doing the wrong thing, and she finds a healthy support system (at first ty lee, and then the gaang in the epilogue) on the other side.

i also think it can be important to remove a sense of self sometimes, too. like, would i want a relationship like mai and zuko’s? no. does that mean they’re dislikable? no. some of their best moments are with each other. zuko awkwardly trying to woo her a bit, them enjoying each other’s company and being physically affectionate with cuddling, clearly one of them cares enough about art to get a portrait done, mai’s dry humour and also how she holds zuko accountable, zuko’s confidence in her own abilities: “trust me, she doesn’t [need protection].” 

Like I’ve said before, I recommend my meta here to anyone who loves Maiko or, really, to anyone who loves Mai. It may be able to change your mind. Maybe not. 

All that being said, while I don’t follow the comics, Mai is given an arc outside Zuko regarding wanting Tom-Tom to be raised differently, her family’s political stances, another love interest, and much more. But for the timeline ATLA was following of like, nine months or less in all of the characters’ lives, I think Mai’s arc within the timespan of the show itself was beautiful and perfectly suited.

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

First Monday of the month, which means Coming Attractions Post!

(Especially since I skipped last month, whoops…)

Before we get into it, as I always do in these things, plug for my Discord server--it’s pretty quiet, but basically a slightly more interactive version of this tumblr. Sometimes I talk a little more about origfic or other stuff than I do here, too.

Also, this is not my only hobby! As some of you may know, one of my others is lacework, and I now have a sideblog for that. I have pictures of my completed projects up there, and will probably have more stuff as I start…well…making more stuff.

Anyway. On to the actual writing stuff aka why most of you are here (also a few requests for feedback/Opinions behind the cut).

So, I didn’t get much done over the month until, like…the last few days. In part because work got super bonkers for reasons I’m still Cranky at but that is a vent for my personal blog, lol.

Precipice:

I have threeish scenes left, which I’m probably going to do as one more chapter (unless they end up Super Long, then I might split it into two). That’ll close out Arc Seven, and the first big chunk of this fic. As I’ve said before, I’ll split off into a sequel fic (working title Protectors) at that point, along with doing a sort of…interquel, working title Preludes, that mostly deals with integrating Rebels content. Also probably Maul.

Right now, I’m tentatively planning six installments to Preludes? Mostly because six feels like a nice number to work with, lol. These will be one-shots that aren’t super interconnected, all taking place during the six-year timeskip. These are the ones I’m thinking about doing as of right now (subject to change, and I welcome suggestions!):

one involving Kallus on Coruscant, shortly before he gets reassigned to Lothal;

one involving Hera and whoever her contact is in this AU (since Ahsoka’s doing something different from the Fulcrum stuff);

one where Kanan and Ezra connect with Obi-Wan et al. (probably through Hondo);

one with Luke, probably similar to that one episode where Leia turns up in Rebels canon;

I really do need to figure out what the heck is going on with Maul, don’t I.

…something else????

The only ones I’m 100% sure about including are the one with Kallus and the one where the various Jedi link up because those are necessary and/or plot-relevant, though I’m still working out specifics (especially on the Jedi one). I may also include something with Thrawn, since I’m doing something different with him than canon did. Like I said, I welcome thoughts/suggestions/etc.

Protectors will then pick up six years after the end of Arc Seven, with Arc Eight. And, as a treat, the working titles for Arcs Eight and Nine are Escalation and Watershed. In theory, I’m planning to post Preludes alongside arcs eight and nine, but we’ll see.

…anyway, uh, what I forgot to mention earlier is that my plan is to wrap up arc seven/the first fic in this series this month. Hopefully I will actually pull that off XD. And then we move on to the other stuff.

Other SW Fic Projects:

Big Bang is coming up again! I think signups will be next month? I’m considering three different plotlines as of right now, though that’s assuming I don’t come up with something new and exciting and/or another ObiAniDala plotline, which is what I seem to do every year…which one I end up doing probably depends at least partly on how S2 of the Mandalorian goes, since two of the three ideas heavily feature Bo-Katan. Of course, one of those lacks a plot and the other is pretty episodic/involves a lot of blank space I still need to fill in…

Anyway, we’ll see how that goes after the show airs and I get more event information, especially since it’s going to be structured differently/teaming up writers and betas much earlier in the process, which will be nice and possibly help chronically-undecided me actually pick something so I’m not scrambling to finish at the last minute but given that it’s me I probably will be anyway XD

As for other SW projects…I still owe a few meme fills from, like, April…but otherwise, extant projects are mostly back-burnered for now.

AtLA Projects:

Aka, the reason why SW projects other than Precipice and SWBB (and any one-shots/prompt fills that occur to me) are back-burnered, lol.

I am working on an AU outline, set to come out this month. There’s a couple of fulltext fics I’m playing with. I haven’t gotten any actual text written down yet, but I know where I’m going with them, at least to start.

The AU outline will be a canon-divergent thing set during the Ba Sing Se arc, and will be hopefully out Soon.

Fulltext fic #1 is…basically, the premise is, Lu Ten had a lover during the Siege, the soundtrack to this fic involves a lot of West Side Story, he left her with someone to remember him by, and then there’s some mindbending and complicated politics after his death. I think I talked a little more about this in a previous post? Anyway, one of the things I’m considering is whether to just tell this story linearly, or to start several years later, and go into the whole star-crossed lovers backstory as she regains her memories of what actually happened. The advantage to the first option is that it’s easier to work with shifting POV, which I prefer; and also involves more canon characters more quickly. The advantage to the second is that I think it would work really well for this particular storyline? Assuming I could get people invested in her and/or Ba Sing Se Politics/Worldbuilding that fast …y’know, when I think about it like that, maybe linear is the best option, lol…

Fulltext fic #2 is an Avatar Zuko AU, where he figures it out at age thirteen, and at that point decides he has roughly three and a half years until the comet, aka three and a half years to figure out how to make all this work (not to mention at least starting to learn air, water, and earth), and hopefully by then he’ll know what he should be doing with it? Whether it’s to resurface and Prove His Worth by defending the Fire Nation during the leadup to the comet, or something else (though Something Else doesn’t quite occur to him until he starts doing the other stuff). This will heavily feature at least one of my old OCs, and probably a few others (and likely one or two new ones), especially during the first two years. I’ve got things more or less worked out up until Aang resurfaces and Zuko’s plans have to shift/he has to cut his earthbending year short (much to Toph’s annoyance). Because once Aang is awake, everyone thinks he’s the Avatar (he’s not; there’s another explanation for how he iceberg’d for a century), and that fact just escalates All Of The Things.

((I’ve mentioned before that I am Pathologically Incapable of not creating a bunch of OCs and AtLA is a particularly strong example of that, so...yeah, that’ll be a Thing in pretty much anything I write in this fandom))

…anyway, this should be fun, once I actually get actual text down XD

Original Fic:

I did write one thing last month! Which was nice. Hopefully, I’ll get a bit done this month, too. For those of you who don’t know, most of my original stuff is posted on rainbowfic, which is a great community and if you guys do original stuff you post online, you should come join.

I’ve also started poking at a couple of new concepts, because that is how my brain do. Including one Arthuriana story despite the fact that I’m not super into Arthuriana but then my brain was like “what if Mordred was a girl?” and welp. Here I am.

NaNo:

I’m proooooooobably going to do a similar setup to what I had the past couple years--set myself a wordcount goal, but not bind myself to any single project. Depending on how things go this month, either with Precipice!verse or SWBB or my AtLA stuff, or if that Mordred thing catches on, I might try to prioritize one or more things (like, have my goal be 20k on X project, and 30k on other stuff), but I’ll decide that closer to the date.

…I think that’s everything! What are you guys up to lately? Does anyone have NaNo plans? Any thoughts on stuff I mentioned on my docket, so to speak? What’s on your mind?

[moonagewitch]

More thoughts on the ballet au

So bending is still a thing but no avatar because magic is fun and I like it and honestly it is fun to think about how the law would work in a modern bending world but that’s another post.

Katara is the first Water Tribe woman to be accepted into the very best company located in the Fire Nations capital. She is considered gifted in ballet and even more so in water bending. Her waterbending brings a new element (lol) to ballet as typically firebenders, airbenders and non benders are the traditional professional dancers.

Zuko studies history with a focus on political history he is on track for a PhD. Still a firebender and a swords master. Though that is literary his only hobby the boy needs to get out more.

The gaang are there, Sokka travelled with his sister to study at the university he is found in the same classes as Zuko as they both study history Sokka, Toph is a very unlikely architecture student. earthbending is very complimentary to architectural students, Suki works with the company that Katara dances with and is a very accomplished gymnast. Aang is a dancer he is on the professional track and was snapped up as a student at the company at a young age and his jumps are amazing thanks to his airbending.

Azula and the girl gang are there, Azula is the top pick for the next principal dancer (that is until Katara was hired by the company) she is gifted her dance blazes along side her fire. She is also not sure if she is happy or not to finally have some competition for the principal spot. Ty lee is also working with the company as a physiotherapist she is also a very accomplished gymnast and loves to show it. Mai is often found with the two hanging out at the company but isn’t a dancer. She is studying but doesn’t like to talk about it as it is business and boring but she is doing it for her parents so she can take over their business (she lies she loves it)

And then shenanigans and slice of life stuff 🤷🏼‍♀️ that’s all I got