#i think that jetko friendship is important actually

[hella1975]

hey you guys seem to like my atla wips and im currently ignoring my lecture notes on exponential and logarithmic functions so here's another one for you:

i have an au that surrounds an Object - currently it's a necklace bc i think the 'overpowered magical necklace' trope fucks astronomically - that has the power to enhance any bending by tenfold. it's the equivalent of comet-powered bending except you can have it All The Time bc it's a necklace. traditionally, it was handed down through the avatars just bc it's so powerful that in the wrong hands it could become very dangerous (👀) so obvs it goes to the peaceful symbol of balance. it's very draining and most benders can only use it once IN THEIR ENTIRE LIFE because that's how fucking overpowered this necklace is, so it's more of a keepsake that the avatars have. THIS IS WHY AZULON GETS OZAI TO MARRY URSA. her grandfather is roku and since aang wasn't on the scene, the necklace stayed in ursa's family and they were charged with protecting it. azulon then took the necklace for his own gain. he didn't actually use it for years bc it's one of those 'knowing you can only use it once actually just makes you hoard it and never use it at all' things but he became OBSESSED with it and ozai was nervous of confronting him for a very long time but he wants that necklace. eventually, when zuko is 11 (aka the canon timeline for this), ozai makes a deal with ursa. now when i say her family were charged with protecting the necklace, i mean it becomes their whole thing. ursa was raised to believe this necklace came before her own life and it's one of the reasons she stays with ozai, bc she refuses to stray from it. ozai says to her that if she kills azulon and takes the necklace, then ozai will let her hold onto it as long as she remembers that it's HIS. she agrees bc at that point she's just desperate to get it back and she's very worn down by ozai at this point also, so she does as she's told, but instead of going straight to ozai, she hesitates, and goes to zuko instead. she gives HIM the necklace, tells him she's sorry, tells him to run. he doesnt understand what's going on but ursa is a mess (she's pretty hysterical and not making sound decisions hence her going 'hey im gonna give the most powerful object in the world to my eleven-year-old child who very easily could have stayed out of this') and eventually zuko runs with the necklace. to buy him some time, ursa confronts ozai and says that she's destroyed the necklace and thrown the remains in the fire. ozai is enraged and kills ursa. zuko sees this all happen and realise just how much danger he's in, and leaves.

he's 11 with absolutely nothing to keep him alive aside a hastily packed dagger and some money that he immediately has to spend on buying clothes that aren't immediately recognisable as imperial fire nation clothing. he goes to the earth kingdom, hungry and desperate and scared, and notices a stall selling food. he goes to steal, but he meets another boy trying to steal at the same time and they almost get caught. the other boy is very much 'fuck you i was here first this is MY town i know all the hot digs when it comes to stealing' and zuko's like 'my brother in christ NO ONE ASKED'. they're the same age and they're both angry, and they HATE each other at first. the other boy can tell zuko is fire nation and tries to kill him, but zuko already has quite a bit of training under his belt so it's not a fair fight. they both leave bruised and with their tail between their legs, but it starts a rivalry because they both keep coming to the same food stall. in the end, an unlikely friendship starts when zuko extends an olive branch by stealing from the stall and giving half of what he stole to the boy. they're both way too hungry to refuse. there's a comradery to it. it's a VERY slow-to-build friendship bc the other boy is soooo against being friends with a fire nationer, but zuko is still just so scared and alone and he just lost EVERYTHING and watched his mother die at his father's hands, so he's stubborn with it and keeps persisting in his growly, abrasive way. in the end, the other boy caves, and they start to talk. zuko finds out his name is jet, and that he very recently just lost his family to firebenders (it's very brutal bc while i dont think jet NEEDS a tragic backstory to hate firebenders so much i also think he must have seen something really awful to make him as extreme as he is). zuko is honest with jet and tells him he got kicked out of the fire nation, that his dad was a dick and killed his mum, and jet is like 'oh you're a victim of the fire nation too'. it takes a little longer for zuko to reveal exactly who he is, and jet is naturally furious and betrayed. they fight (like PROPERLY) and dont speak for a long time bc jet actually kicks zuko out of town and zuko's like 'fair enough' and goes, but at that point they're already kinda reliant on each other bc they're literally CHILDREN who witnessed horrific trauma and have no one else in the entire world, so jet comes after zuko. in this au, jet isn't as much of a jerk and he would never hurt normal civilians, and that's zuko's influence on him and what he learnt from this firebender who's actually good, but on the other end of that, jet's influence on zuko in this au is that zuko is a lot more brutal and sarky. he's kind of a bitch actually <3. jet teaches him how to steal. zuko teaches him how to fight. they become SUPER fucking close and start the freedom fighters together. it's very much steddie parenting the kids in stranger things like they're literally like an old married couple together (bc jet and zuko's friendship is based around just pure insulting each other) and act very much as the Adults despite only being teenagers at this point.

by the time canon catches up with us and the gaang arrive, jet knows all about zuko, from his royalty to his bending to the necklace. he's sworn to protect him. now, in this au the gaang actually catch wind of this necklace, and monk gyatsu spent a lot of time teaching aang about it bc he was meant to be the next inheritor of it. aang is VERY aware of how powerful it is and almost everyone knows the story now of how the lost fire nation prince stole it from his grandfather in the night, killing his mother when she caught him, powerhungry and cruel. sokka and katara are both very much WE CANT LET THIS NECKLACE STAY IN THE HANDS OF SOME CRAZY FIRE NATION PRINCE WTF WE HAVE TO FIND HIM so that's actually part of their whole mission. cut to them meeting the freedom fighters. sokka and zuko IMMEDIATELY hit it off bc what is an atla wip without zukka, and sokka's actually having a whale of a time bc he's finally with guys his age and zuko teaches him swordfighting and jet isn't murderous in this so things are actually Good, but then one day when zukka are sparring, zuko's living it up in some slutty low cut top and sokka SEES THE NECKLACE (bc zuko never takes it off, this is relevant). now normally it wouldnt be a big deal but sokka's a genius AND very cynical AND already hunting this necklace down, so he starts questioning when zuko left home - bc he's clearly fire nation - and all that and realises the timeline is exactly right. there's a whole betrayal there and zukka argue AND THEN THE GAANG TAKE ZUKO PRISONER EXCEPT IT'S A REALLY ODD SITUATION BC THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS ARE READY TO GO TO WAR FOR HIM RN AND THE GAANG ARE READY FOR A FIGHT BUT ZUKO KNOWS THAT THE AVATAR IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THE NECKLACE ANYWAY AND HE'S ALSO KNOWN FOR A LONG TIME THAT HE CANT RUN FROM THIS FOREVER, SO HE JUST STOPS EVERYONE FROM SCRAPPING LIKE 'IT'S OKAY I'LL GO'. so he's a prisoner but he's also?? willing?? basically everyone thinks he's a prisoner except zuko who knows he could leave at any time if he put his mind to it. jet is reluctant bc those two have the STRANGEST relationship like they are more than besties it's not romantic but it's very much 'we have silent conversations based purely on the twitch of your eye or a nod of your head we are telepathic at this point' and they've not been separated since they were kids and had that fight, but it's for the good of the world so it happens.

so there we go! we get zuko travelling with the gaang from jet's episode onwards! except he's a 'prisoner' and zukka already have a pre-existing relationship before zuko became their prisoner so it's SUPER awkward for them and also because zuko has worn this necklace non-stop for five years his bending is now FUCKED (rainbow fire but also zuko is insanely powerful with very poor control) and it's just a whole canon rewrite on all that basis /\/\ it's so fun <3

[allgremlinart]

haiiiiii friend can you explain jianzhu to me I keep seeing you post about them and I’m nosy and wanna know (<- stopped watching atla bc I realized zutara was never gonna be canon)

also jetko. can you explain jetko too (I’m thinking they’re more on the ghostbat spectrum where it’s like. intense friendship that left both emotionally scarred for the rest of their lives)

TEEHEE HEEHE HEE <- me when I get the opportunity to explain/infodump cross-fandom stuff to mutuals

ok so Jianzhu... ahhh Jianzhu... ((SPOILERS for anyone reading the Kyoshi novels))

This is Jianzhu and also like... probably one of maybe 4 canon images/art there is of him... he's not from the original cartoon he's from the Avatar Kyoshi spin-off novels that take place abt 400 yrs before the events of the show (idk how much you know abt atla lore from osmosis so this might get a little tedious? I'm just gonna explain as succinctly as possible.)

To be brief, he's a cunty old man. But unlike when I call, say, Minhkhoa a cunty old man it's not really loving ... its more like... I love to hate him. He's a REALLY good villain.

He's a politician. He made 500 people dig their own graves and then buried them alive. He beheaded his friend of like 20+ years. He drugs and kidnaps teenagers. etc. It's great.

His whole character arc is like... He's in control. You start off the book and he is very clearly in control, and he knows what he's doing, and he even sounds halfway reasonable sometimes but over the course of the novel he gets more and more desperate to grab hold of a situation that spirals wildly away from him and you get to watch it happen. His justifications for his actions get crazier, he gets sloppier and sloppier with his murders....

OH also you know how sometimes people think Bruce is some callous asshole who was only using his adoptive son who worshipped him as a weapon, and when he died he quickly sought to replace him without remorse ? Yeah he's like that but. Like actually this time. His dead adoptive son also then comes back after eating an eyeball in the spirit world (idk) and kills him by pressing a pebble through his sternum so. More successful than Jason at patricide I'd say. Look there's a lot I didn't cover, here's his wiki.

ok Jetko... ah... the ancient yaoi..

Important required reading before I explain this ship is this post. What you have to understand about Zuko is that for basically like... 40 episodes the only person he shares significant screen time with is his uncle so when him and Jet met in s2 and had a decent 3 episodes worth of interactions ... it was enough, lets just say that.

The basic Jetko timeline is they meet on a ferry while Zuko and his Uncle are disguised as refugees and they steal food together -> Jet tries to get Zuko (who he only ever knows as "Li") to join his emo band gang which Zuko refuses -> Jet sees Uncle Warcrimes heating his tea and correctly deduces that they are firebenders (ie not who they say they are; the enemy) -> Zuko and his Uncle work in a tea shop while Jet stalks them and steals things from their house and watches them from behind clotheslines (yeah) -> Jet confronts them in the teashop, sword fight, Jet gets arrested and brainwashed by the secret police (yeah) -> Jet dies under a lake which Zuko only finds out about a season later.

So they never had the 4 years of intense homoerotic cohabitation that ghostbat had,.. their chemistry and potential are pretty much instigated by a few of Jet's weird intense lines, such as "As soon as I saw your scar I knew exactly who you were - you're an outcast, like me." And the crux of the ship is like.. Jet both does and doesn't know who Zuko is.

He knows he is also angry and restless, like himself - he knows he is running from his past, like himself - and he knows he is going to Ba Sing Se to create a new identity. These things are all true, for both of them; what Jet doesn't know is that Zuko is from the imperialist nation that brutally murdered his parents and invaded his home and he incorrectly assumes that the anger he recognizes in Zuko stems from the same need to enact violence on those who have taken everything from him.

So I guess the "thought you were exactly like me but then I found out you're not which enrages and humiliates me so know I'm going to beat the shit out of you" thing from BTK no. 6 is something they share with ghostbat but.. Jet's anger is probably a little more justified than Minhkhoa's lol...

In conclusion it's your basic "doomed relationship/they work great together but that doesn't fix anything" ship premise. It used to be more popular back in the day... pretty sure I owe my life to maybe 3 different Taiwanese/Chinese doujin artists from 2009... yeah that's the gist of it.

[cescalr]

For the ship asks! If we're talking Avatar, what about Mei and Zuko?

I'll be honest, I'm not fond of it. I don't really like mei in the first place - apathy never sits well with me, and she never actually changed her mind? Mei at the start is mei at the end. She didn't think what the fire nation was doing was wrong, and she only sided against Azula to stay with Zuko, which would be sweet if she... actually liked him? And I don't think she does? She was happy with Zuko during his time back at the fire nation when he was acting the part of Ozai's favoured son, and its just... eeh. They give me bad vibes, I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if she threw a knife at him properly one of these days.

Plus, Mei doesn't have much of a character outside Zuko. I'd rather shew her development than her stagnation, and keeping her with Zuko keeps her the same. In the end, mostly, me*ko just bores me, which is the nail in the coffin for any ship. At least if I hated it I'd feel something, yk? I prefer meilee or even meizula and... really any other zuko ship (aside from aang >-< yike) over meiko, but... I wouldn't, like, absolutely hate it if a good fic had meiko in it, you know? I just don't like them in canon. Much like I've said before, I'm willing to give things their fair shot. It's just that Mei herself is a hard sell for me as a focal character. It's not even that she's a 'bad' person - I read Azula and Jet-centric fics, and even memorably one Ozai centred fic (time travel, it was interesting start but still a wip though so going to see where it leads) - it's more that I just don't know what to do with her. She's kind of a meh girlfriend and kind of a whatever person, to me.

In comparison, Zuko is literally The redemption arc guy. He's the character people want to replicate the success of. Zuko is such a person that he's iconic and Mei is kinda... there. For the record, I didn't even know she existed until I watched the show. Zukka and Zutara and Zuko's character arc were well known to me, but Mei was not. I ended up only liking zukka platonically, not minding and sometimes supporting zutara, shipping jetko for the angst and the parallelism, even giving some really au zuko stuff like that one toph arranged marriage series or his leadership/friendship/family dynamics with his crew a go, jin/zuko, song/zuko - loads of things! On the other hand, Mei didn't have much going for her in my estimation to begin with, and her portrayal by competing ship fans probably didn't help. There was one where she tried to kill him after the war ended, lmao. That was silly. But still. Bias is easy to build, even without meaning to.

So, would I say I like meiko? No. Would I say I hate it? Depends on the portrayal. Much like ronmione, I don't think it would take a lot of tweaking to make her abusive, specifically also without being OOC, which worries me. So I just don't poke that sleeping dragon and hang out in the other ship spaces.

In the end, I think they just didn't understand each other on a fundamental level. (Also important; Zuko never seemed to know what to do with her, the things shed like or appreciate, and never seemed to take her own expressions - mild as they were - of affection as well as one would expect were he actually in love with her, which is itself important to note, though of course also just my own interpretation of what we were given; a lot of their scenes were cut off at some of the most important parts, which doesnt quite sit right with me.) And I need something to dig my teeth into that just wasn't present for their relationship, except in ways I couldn't interpret positively. A shame, but oh well. We can't all like everything :).

[army-of-mai-lovers]

@katarahairloopies thank you so much for the tag!! talking about my writing to procrastinate writing is one of my favorite hobbies <3

prompt-share your: 

first fic: the actual first fic I ever wrote was a pjo self insert fic I wrote in a binder when I was eleven and shredded six months later, in which the whole love triangle plot between Leo, Frank, and Hazel was resolved in three pages because even then I hated love triangles, my self-insert proudly declared that they were “too smart to date” (this was the excuse I was using at the time to escape the fact that I was a lesbian), and the completely un-child friendly myth of Philomena and Procne featured heavily because it was the coolest thing in the Mythology Book For Adults That Little Arthur Should Have Never Got Their Grimy Little Hands On, among other things. the first fic I ever posted was a 1D self-insert fic that I regret deeply. 

favorite fic: ughhhh this is so hard I think it’s a tie between let him fly, victory lap, and like ripples, like love. let him fly was really important to me to write because the way the kataang family was portrayed in lok felt like a horrible twisted funhouse mirror version of my own family, and I knew that a lot of other mixed folks were upset by that portrayal, so I wanted to do something that showed Tenzin growing up with both Water Tribe and Air Nomad influences. honestly that’s the fic I’m proudest of, because I got feedback from a lot of other mixed folks saying that they felt seen by what I wrote, which is really all I’ve ever wanted. victory lap I love because I love writing and reading character study fics of characters who don’t get to do much on their own in the show, and I just love the concept of deconstructing the perfect badass Suki whomst we all stan and making her an actual human being. And like ripples, like love just makes me feel good, honestly. Writing it puts me in a good mood, and none of my other profoundly depressing wips do that quite as well. 

EDIT: ok I think the original intent of this question was favorite fic that someone else wrote fjsdkfjsdjfklsjf my bad. for me it’s between Hooked by @listless-brainrot, Balance My Heart in the Palm of Your Hand by the lovely sukis_fans on ao3, where the stars do not take sides by WitchofEndor on ao3, and paint it red, they’ll cover it up anyway by snowandfire on ao3. Hooked I love because it’s the original Jetru fic and because it’s one of the most nuanced characterizations of both Jet and Haru that I’ve seen in any fic ever, also List’s descriptions are phenomenal, also BRUH THE FRAMING DEVICE ok listen framing devices are so easy to mess up and List just made his perfect the rest of us can all go home I guess. Balance My Heart is to this day my favorite mailee fic, I’m obsessed with it it’s so sweet and so well thought out. The author pays so much attention to Mai and Ty Lee as characters and also!!! Mai and Sokka friendship!!! we stan!!!! where the stars do not take sides is honestly a fandom classic (or should be, anyway). Y’all know I love a good major canon divergence and this is honestly one of the most well thought out ones I’ve ever seen. Also the characterization of Azula and of Azula and Zuko’s bond is INCREDIBLE. god-tier content honestly. paint it red is also something that should be a fandom classic and really readjusted my opinions of Jet as a character with its well thought out characterization. I love the concept of past jetko when it’s not “Jet was a total asshole and Zuko was perfect in every way” and paint it red ABSOLUTELY delivers on this it is so wonderful. A common thread with all of these is that they prioritize characterization over “ship dynamics” and they make sure that all of their characterizations are nuanced and three dimensional, and I love them for that. 

most recent fic: love will always find you, the second installment in the donnaverse (in which the girls of Avatar inexplicably love Donna Summer and start a band together), which is about Yue and Suki going on their first date. There’s lots to love about this fic for me: it’s yueki (my favorite atla wlw ship), there’s a philosophical discussion of a Donna Summer song as they drive through LA, Suki backstory, background mailee, just good vibes all around. 

fic with the most notes: like ripples, like love by far, but my most popular fics on ao3 are the greatest of them all (in which Toph and Bumi I duel and become besties) and keep the world at bay (Avatar Sokka) 

a line or two from a wip: what I’m currently working on for atla femslash week-

She’d never needed anyone before, and she didn’t want to need anyone ever again. It was torture, picturing Yue’s face without being able to see her for real. 

Just one night. Only one night. 

How do you know? 

The moon always comes back. 

Suki felt the tears roll down her cheeks, the dry sobs wracking her body as she hid her face in her chest. I don’t know. I don’t know.

favorite character to write for (and why): Mako 100%. I vibe so hard with the tired older sibling with several undiagnosed mental illnesses energy he gives off. 

character(s) you find hard to write: I hate to say it but Katara. I love her to pieces but I have no clue where to start with her characterization wise, which is why if she’s in a fic she’s usually not the pov character and she’s sidelined more than I would like her to be. 

tagging: @listless-brainrot @the-hot-zone @miannmian @scrtminlikesdrawing and anyone who wants to!

[inkspot-fox]

Fanfiction asks because you physically can't stop me despite being in the room. Muwahahahaha. Fandom: 6, 8. 9. Ship: 11, 16, 19, Author: 39. Fanfiction: 46

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

.......oh god this is how I die and you know it. THANKFULLY I didn’t have any OTPs in my earliest fandoms. *sighs* So, first off, we’re gonna define ‘involved in’ as ‘having written fic for’ because otherwise we will be here all fucking night.

Y’all don’t judge me okay, I was. I was small. I’m still small.

Alpha Centauri - Deirdre & Zakharov science-buddies friendship OTP. I actually wrote a tiny thing for them once.

Vision of Escaflowne - Dilandau/Van. I didn’t even like Van, guys, I can’t justify this. I don’t know. I also had a HUGE spot for Dilandau & Allen family adoption fic, because goddammit that kid deserved better. ALSO FOLKEN X HAPPINESS.

Harry Potter - I actually. Didn’t ship anything in HP. Even friendship-wise. I had a lot of NOPE ships, but nothing I really looked for.

X/1999 - *siiiiiiiigh* Subaru/Seishirou. I have no answers.

Avatar: The Last Airbender - Asexual!Zuko + Gaang = friendship forever. Though the Jetko ship bit me pretty hard for a bit, because I have such a weakness for hatemances.

Doctor Who - Doctor/Master. I’m not even ashamed of this one. I still love this ship.

Batman - Batman/Jokester. Jokester, not Joker. Important distinction. 

Star Wars: The Old Republic: This will come as literally no surprise to anyone, but Scourge/M!JK. ALSO Vette & LS!Sith Warrior, mostly as best friends forever, but having seen the romance done, I ship them that way too with a very specific Sith Warrior. But mostly as friends, because it’s IMPORTANT and also they’re great.

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

I played the game, then got really really really mad about the heteronormativity, went looking for fic, found none of the fic I wanted, and decided to fucking fix it. And then I fell down the hole from there.

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

Star Wars: The Old Republic. There are some really, really great OCs with whom I have fallen in love. The lore that people come up with to fill in the gaps that the game leaves open can be really fucking phenomenal. There’s...really a lot of room for creativity, and the medium encourages it. SWtOR is a fantastic playground for “what ifs” and AUs. There are so many plothooks, so many things to play with, to break and to fix. And there are some damn good writers.

11. Who is your current OTP?

Considering I’m buried in writing Sunspots? Scourge/M!JK.

WAIT ALSO MARLI (Aki’s JK) AND SITH!KAT (my SI) FRIENDSHIP, IT’S SO IMPORTANT. But I’m not sure if that counts, as that’s our own AU...thing...

16. Are their any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Corso/Smuggler. It makes me feel physically sick. Kira/JK, which I might have different feelings on depending on when the romance kicks in, but...yeah...no. And I don’t know if they’re popular, but Nadia/JC and Ashara/SI can fuck right the hell off. 

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

In my current fandom? Hrm. Not really tbh. There have been fandoms where I really want to love a ship but just...can’t for some reason (*cough*Lost Girl*cough*), but I can’t think of any in SWtOR. Either I hate it, I don’t give a fuck, or I find a reason to love it.

39. What is you greatest strength as a writer?

Sometimes I can really, really rock the imagery. I can write some incredibly  evocative shit. I have made @anecdotesandelderthings tear up because I wrote something that damn sad and gut-punchy, and that like...never happens. E v e r.

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

Aw, shit. HMM. While I want Sunspots to get more love, it’s not finished yet and I’m not completely happy with it either. So honestly, either To Save a Stranger from Quiet Evils (Batman - Earth 3), Ashes to Ashes (A:tLA, the one that made Aki sad), or There is Always Time for Pai Sho (also A:tLA, ace!Zuko).

Yes, I know I picked three and the ask said one, but I...idk. I’m pretty equally pleased with all three of these.