#it’s zuko so like. his best isn’t always great. but he was doing HIS best

[melzula]

Okay I have an request

So like we are azula and zuko sister and we adored by both but like in the catacombs we choose gaang over azula and zuko of this and please can y/n x sokka and now zuko now wants to join gaang and yeah I am not good with words I hope u understand what I said😁

Y/n can be a firebender or non bender its ur choice anyway

a/n: okay so there’s a lot to tackle in this request which is why i chose to do it as headcanons so i hope you don’t mind !

summary: being the middle child isn’t easy, especially when your siblings are Zuko and Azula

As the only non-bender and middle child of the royal family, you never felt like you mattered

You were the Black Swan of the palace, a disgrace to your father and his image

You kept to yourself, staying in the shadows and out of his way while your siblings took the spotlight

However, just because your father looked down upon you didn’t mean your siblings shared his sentiment

In fact, they adored you

Zuko was an attentive older brother. He let you follow him everywhere, defended you against anyone who dared speak badly about you, and was your shoulder to cry on whenever your father was feeling particularly cruel

He saw you for who you were, and who you were was an intelligent, kind, talented young woman meant to do great things in her lifetime

Azula, while being particularly mean to Zuko at times, never once treated you the way she saw her brother

Despite you being a nonbender, she surprisingly never speaks down to you or makes you feel less than

It could be because she doesn’t see you as competition as she does Zuko, or maybe she truly does just feel genuine sisterly love for you

Maybe it’s because whenever she felt your mother was unfairly favoring your brother over her, you were always there to assure her that she was a wonderful bender and just as important

Maybe it’s because sometimes she wished you could be her mother instead

Whatever her reasoning, Azula sees you as a comforting presence in her life. She seeks your validation constantly almost as much as your father’s, and she’d do anything to protect you and your honor

Things became worse for you when Ursa left. She could no longer intervene when your father felt like tormenting you, and your siblings knew better than to say anything in your defense. Shortly after her banishment, Ozai deems it best to send you away to the academy since he has no other use for you

Your departure is hard for both siblings. Zuko is gutted that he can no longer be there to protect you or look after you. Though she acts as if she couldn’t care less, Azula is devastated at your leaving. Her source of comfort is being ripped away from her, and she has no one to look out for her

At the academy you learn various forms of physical combat and weaponry wielding. You’re especially fond of using tanto swords in battle and they’ve become your weapon of choice when in a fight

Zuko and Azula send you letters during your stay at school behind your father’s back updating you about your home, their lives, and their annoyance of each other. You keep every single one they send, and it eases the ache of your home sickness

It’s also at the school that you learn of the Agni Kai and Zuko’s banishment. Your heart breaks for your older brother, and you’re devastated at the fact that you never got the chance to say goodbye and you may never see him again. He still sends letter for a time, but as the years pass they become less frequent and almost nonexistent. Azula’s letters follow the same path

Years pass and your father deems it time for you to come home. Now that you’ve made a decent fighter out of yourself he finds your worthy of being his daughter again

However, your stay is short lived. Azula recruits you to be part of her little team to capture the Avatar and your brother, and you don’t really have any other choice but to agree

You downplay how skilled you are in fighting so that she doesn’t expect much from you and force you to do too much of the work. You don’t want to go against her, but you also don’t want to have to fight your brother and your uncle

You also don’t exactly feel good about destroying the world’s last hope for peace

And that’s why, when the time comes, you choose the Avatar over your siblings

You’re tired of being pulled back and forth, of always being stuck between your siblings with no real purpose, of not being able to do anything for yourself

Zuko is astonished by your choice and conflicted. Just when he finally had found his way back into the family you chose to leave it. Why were you doing this? Why were you ruining everything?

Azula is furious. Your betrayal hurts worse than mother’s. You’d always taken her side, always comforted her and supported her, you’d always been there, and now you were leaving. How dare you leave her?

“You fool!” She’d cried, angrily sending a blast of blue flames your way knowing you wouldn’t be able to stop it. If not for Iroh, surely her strike would have ended you. The fact that your own sister was willing to hurt you for the cause was enough proof to know you were making the right decision

You help the Avatar escape and join his group, vowing to help them in any way you can to win the war. Your fighting skills and knowledge of the Fire Nation makes you a big help and they appreciate your assistance

It doesn’t take long for you to win their trust and acclimate into their group. You become fast friends with everyone, growing especially close to Sokka who may or may not have a huge crush on you

He definitely becomes your shoulder to lean on when things get tough, because he knows it can’t be easy for you to just leave all you’ve ever known behind. you struggle constantly over having to choose the Avatar over your siblings, but he constantly assures you that you’ve made the right choice

Least to say your departure makes Zuko’s return home even more conflicting and turmoil filled. How can he enjoy being back home when you’re not there to enjoy it with him? How could he be happy knowing his sister was out there risking her life to help the Avatar?

Your decision definitely inspires his own to leave the Fire Nation and aid Aang and his friends

Your abandonment of your siblings also fuels Azula’s descent into madness, fueling her fire to continue her mission to capture the Avatar

It’s a rough position you’ve found yourself in, but it’s not like your whole life hasn’t been you stuck in a terrible spot

Being the middle child is hard, especially when your siblings are Zuko and Azula

[comradekatara]

Any fun Aang facts/ headcanons/ thoughts?

i don’t know if this is exactly fun but i think a lot about aang coping the first couple years after the end of the war. like i think on a spectrum of “the war is over and im so happy!!” to “suddenly thrust into a leadership position that is uniquely isolating and horrible,” aang perhaps isn’t struggling as much as the new firelord, but it’s a close thing.

i think katara would be the one who is happiest out of all of the gaang, since the war being over relieves this huge weight off her shoulders and she also gets to do the fulfilling work of rebuilding her tribe and finally being able to live up the potential she’s always imagined for herself, being able to preserve and pass on her heritage to a hopeful new generation. (that isn’t to say that she isn’t traveling the world with aang, trying to mitigate the damage caused by the war, but she would go back home as soon as possible. she needs to see gran gran!!!) there’s a sense of pride and satisfaction and joy to her role in this world that cannot be denied. 

suki is in a similar position, where as the leader of the kyoshi warriors, her reunion with her sisters and their return to kyoshi island would be triumphant and joyous, and she gets to participate in the process of teaching a new generation of warriors, passing on her traditions and using her skillset to help people elsewhere. but then there’s also the lingering, nagging memory of being alone in a maximum security prison, and that trauma isn’t something one just gets over… 

i see toph, more than anyone, spending the most time with zuko in the fire nation. she understands what it’s like to be alone, and she’d rather be with her family than her biological parents. i think she does visit them, but it doesn’t go well. toph may be incredibly sharp and mature for her age, but she is still just a kid, and the fact that her father will continue to reject her his entire life is a great wound, as much as she could flippantly deny it. but zuko understands what that’s like more than anyone, so being able to help him helps her through her own pain. even if zuko is a dick about it (although i think she stubbornly forces him to acknowledge her pain at some point instead of just outright dismissing her like he did on ember island), it’s a symbiotic relationship in its own way. i mean, he could definitely use a human lie detector. 

sokka is like all over the place. i don’t know man he’s too complicated to sum up in one little paragraph. but yeah let’s just say the war ending doesn’t automatically Heal him and Solve his copious Issues. because it does solve some things but it also causes other problems. new problems even. but i already sort of talk about that here so let’s just move that for now. 

and then of course zuko being crowned boy king of racist nation is like… not great. it works for thematic/symbolic/narrative reasons, of course, but realistically. it's a struggle! so, like i said, i think toph would stick by his side, and i think aang spends a lot of time in fire nation as well, and sokka as much as possible (NOT because he loves zuko, but because he thinks zuko is very stupid and he’s the world’s biggest control freak so if he doesn’t micromanage everything he’ll feel like it’s his fault if anything goes wrong). but iroh is…. not there. his best friend katara (i said what i said) is in the south pole or traveling the world or anywhere but Here. azula is. broken?? the world?? is broken?? and he (famously a fuck-up) is supposed to fix it???? poor kid. 

anyway. this is all preamble to contextualize what can only be described as The Worst Puberty Anyone’s Ever Had. okay here’s a bonus fun headcanon: aang is born in october! i say this because he’s the most libra to ever do it (i don’t know shit about astrology but i do know that). so for the entire run of the show (from winter to summer) he is twelve years old. i don’t know if you’ve been around any twelve year old boys recently (not to brag, but i have), but they are Going Through It. and that’s the average twelve year old, not even including the shocking temporal displacement and being the sole survivor of a genocide and shouldering the burden of the whole fucking world and knowing that an entire country full of people want you dead. 

the fact that aang maintains his childlike wonder and sweetness for the most part means that it’s going to hit him like a truck once the war ends and he finally has a chance to focus on himself. we see the early stages of puberty affecting him in terms of how he behaves around katara, the change between his book one kiddie crush and his book three confusion and intensity. but it’s more than just burgeoning sexuality. he wakes up, is informed that he’s been stuck in an iceberg for a century, that everyone he ever knew with the exception of appa and bumi are dead due to a genocide, and that it’s his responsibility to end the war. and the rest of the show is him trying to step into that duty and finally becoming the kind of person the world needs him to be. and now… it’s over.  

on one hand, there’s that overwhelming sense of relief. he did it. he successfully prevented yet another genocide, stopped the war, and did it all without compromising his values. his new friends (his new family) are all alive and safe and now can rebuild the world together. they can rest and have fun and be kids. and that’s what aang is celebrating in the finale when he looks at all of them and smiles, when he hugs katara in acknowledgement of how far they’ve come. aang is incredibly strong and resilient, and it’s a strength that comes from a place of genuine love and understanding. he was taught good values as a kid, values that have guided him through the most unimaginable of tragedies. but he’s not perfect. no one is. 

no one can prevent the oncoming swirl of hormones and trauma and second-guessing that is about to hit aang once it finally occurs to him that the purpose he has been fighting for ever since his entire life changed is now over, basically, and he has to figure out what it means to be alive outside of one sole, defining goal. as anne carson said in red doc>, “to live past the end of your myth is a perilous thing.” as jp sartre said in la nausée, “i outlive myself” (specifically, anny says it to roquentin). what is aang doing if not ouliving himself? had he lived a normal lifespan that hadn’t been disrupted by a spiritually imposed stasis, he probably would’ve been dead by now (long dead, if we can assume that his death in lok is by natural causes). and his myth, his grand destiny of stopping the war and once more carving out a space for his people in this brave new world? well, he did it. accomplished it with flying colors. now it’s over. now he is a perilous thing. 

as i alluded to before, i think the only person who can really truly empathize with aang’s situation is sokka. sokka, too, has survived beyond any point he imagined. he has built his entire identity around being a shield, and now that the war is over, his ability to protect others from immediate threats and sacrifice himself for a cause has been ripped away from him. he now has to forge an identity beyond reducing himself to a soldier, in a fundamentally unfamiliar world. sokka was shaped by war, and yet he lived past it, past the end of his myth. aang’s world is now also unfamiliar, not solely because the war is over, but because the war is over and yet he is still alone. he did it, he saved the day, and yet what is his reward? he saved a lot of people, but none of his people. he can never go home again. 

aang and sokka’s role as foils is something i want to write about more because i do find it truly fascinating, but in these terms i think we can also read their psychological states postwar as a sort of reciprocal dynamic. i’ve spoken in the past about how in a postwar reconstruction landscape, sokka would do a lot of the administrative work that aang cannot. not only because aang is literally twelve, but because aang cannot focus all his attention on this world when he is also its only real tether to the past. so sokka would make room for aang to focus on being the last airbender by sort of taking on the mantle of pseudo-avatar. solely in the most bureaucratic sense of the title, of course, but that would be the role that sustains and (somewhat) fulfills him after the war. and i think aang would be grateful for that, but he’d also be somewhat resentful?? not of sokka (aang is too emotionally mature for that, plus he respects sokka too much), but he’d definitely resent himself. think about how guilty and shameful he feels whenever he feels like he’s let the world down due to factors beyond his control. and so the fact that sokka is doing so much of what aang himself should be doing because he’s too busy being defined by his status as a genocide survivor… well, it might make him angry. he might lash out. and we’ve seen him frustrated, volatile, and emotionally confused. it’s not pretty. 

i know that we all only want the best for aang and want him to be happy and thriving after the war because he’s such a perfect kid who deserves the world, but realistically, i do think there would be a period where he’s kind of hard to be around. not only because that’s just something that happens to all adorable baby boys once they turn thirteen (i, for one, learned this lesson extremely painfully), but because he’s dealing with a lot and the only person who even remotely understands what he’s going through is also the most emotionally repressed guy he knows. 

throughout atla, he never allows himself a moment to just stop and feel, because the depth of his grief is actually scary and incredibly difficult to confront. but i think if he did ever allow himself to feel, he might never stop. he might, in fact, spend a month or so curled up in blankets in bed eating nothing but bean curd puffs and shutting out everyone but momo. i actually think that’s more realistic than him immediately entering a perfect relationship with katara and being highschool sweethearts and popping out three kids. and frankly, i think going through that kind of depression now that he no longer has any pressing responsibilities also happens to be something he’s earned. he’s been pushing down his grief, ignoring it, distracting himself from it, this whole time. it’s time he finally lets himself feel. 

on a happier note, i like thinking about aang and suki getting closer after the war (or even being close offscreen during the show, like on ember island). i like to think that suki can act as a sort of cool big sister figure to aang, who has suffered just enough that she can empathize with his pain, but isn’t too close to the situation (like fellow genocide survivors katara and sokka, or genocide perperators’ direct descendants, like zuko) that she can still discuss it with him without bringing her own baggage into the fore. she’s very good at giving direct, no-bullshit advice in a nonetheless kind and compassionate way, and she’s also very good at joking around and knowing how to let loose and have fun in a way aang appreciates. she also really admires and highly values the role of the avatar in the world, and she also admires and cherishes aang as a person, so i think she could give him that kind of measured encouragement that aang really needs to hear. 

obviously katara has done this for aang a lot in the past, and i’m not saying she wouldn’t also continue to be a shoulder for aang to lean on, because no matter how much he may try to push her away, she will always be there for him, but i think suki also sort of provides a necessary detachment where he isn’t bogged down by any romantic feelings for her and she isn’t bogged down by her own all too similar trauma the way katara is. suki has people to help her work through her own trauma (sokka, her sisters, etc.) so aang doesn’t need to reciprocate. she’s just happy to be there for her surrogate baby bro who needs her. she’ll serve the avatar in any way she can, whether by becoming a kyoshi warrior, by sacrificing herself to free his bison, or by just chilling with him in bed while he rants about his impossible situation and cries on her shoulder.

[erisenyo]

“I’m coming, just sit tight!”

for zukka please and thank you! <3

For this prompt game!

“Sokka, come on, we’re going to be late!”

“I just need a minute,” Sokka calls back, unconcerned, like he didn’t just get out of the shower, fuck.

But it’s okay, it’s okay, this is fine. This is still fine. Zuko might have meticulously planned every bit of the day, because Sokka loves nothing more than a thorough and well made schedule, but it’s fine. They can just…not do the walk along the pond that Sokka’s favorite local painted is always painting, and Zuko can scale back the time he’s allotted for lunch and afternoon snack, and—

“Sokka, it’s going to take forty-five minutes just to get there! Hurry up!”

“Which is where, again?” Sokka calls back, sounding fucking breezy.

“Somewhere we need to be in forty minutes,” Zuko grits out, finally giving into the urge to shove off the couch and pace the living room.

“Relax, hot stuff,” Sokka laughs from their bedroom, thank fuck. At least he’s out of the bathroom. “It’s a staycation, isn’t it? What’s the big deal?”

Like the fact that they’re already going to show up late isn’t enough? “If we leave too late the traffic is going to be awful,” Zuko says, aiming for something reasonable and logical and hearing it come out more pleading and whiny. Great.

Sokka snorts. “You only care cause you want to go ninety the while way there.”

What Zuko wants is to get there on time. “I thought you cared about plans,” he accuses.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Sokka huffs, audibly rolling his eyes. “Sit tight.”

“I’m sitting,” Zuko growls, “Plenty tight.”

“Yeah you are, babe,” Sokka calls back, smirk obvious just before the fucking hair dryer whirs to life—

“You haven’t even—Sokka! We don’t have time for that!”

“It’ll just take a minute,” Sokka shouts back over the noise, like he’s ever taken less than twenty minutes to dry his hair in his life. “And then I just need to pick out earrings—”

“Oh, are you fucking—there’s no time.”

“—and maybe do some braids—”

“I put it on the shared calendar, your fucking shared calendar—"

“—and touch up my nails—”

“—and now you’re going to be fucking late to your own fucking proposal your nails are fine!”

The hair dryer shuts off, Zuko breathing heavy in the sudden silence, horror slowly creeping into his chest as he plays back his words and—

Sokka swings into the doorway, bare-chested and definitely naked, hair dry and braided and beaded, nails a fresh deep blue and his favorite Hawaiian shirt dangling from his hand. “…Did you just propose to me?”

“…No,” Zuko tries, feeling himself frozen, caught.

“While yelling at me?” Sokka grins, delighted.

“No,” Zuko repeats, more forceful this time, scrambling. “That wasn’t—that isn’t—it’s not—that doesn’t—”

“Nope, that totally counts,” Sokka crows, grin huge and shit eating like this is the best thing to ever happen to him and Zuko is going to die. “It absolutely counts, and I say yes, and I’m going to tell everyone—”

“No, Sokka, come on.”

“—that I made you so mad you proposed to me on the spot—”

“You can’t.”

“—I’m going to put it in our wedding website and in my vows and—”

“Fucking hell, fuck you, you can’t—”

“Sweeter words have never been said,” Sokka says airily, ducking back out of the room to finish getting dressed and if it’s just a matter of pants it really will be only another minute… “It’s what everyone longs to hear from their fiancé!”

Zuko opens his mouth and then closes it again, letting himself slowly smile to himself as he mouths the word back again. Fiancé. He does like the sound of that…

And he’s pretty sure he can still surprise Sokka into silence with the matching armbands.

And the pig roast.

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

Can I ask your top 10 fav fics ever (from any fandom, if you don't mind)?

Also, just curious, is there a story behind your name "that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction "?

Top 10 fics, in no particular order, (these are all complete, in English and most have just a touch of angst. Also there’s no smut, it’s just not something I enjoy reading)

things lost in the fire by earlgreylover98

ALTA fic In which Zuko isn't sure Ozai knows which side of his face he burnt off and it sends him spiraling, the gaang finds out about his scar. It's a super great one shot, 5,067 words

Drinking Buddies and Diaries by dove_dove

Good Omens fic where Muriel reads Aziraphel’s diaries and Crowley finds out some stuff about his angel. 31,115 words

The death song of arthur pendragon by hanyuism

Merlin fic, Orpheus and Eurydice but make it Merthur, the angst is amazing, 6,827 words

Two Feasts and a Bard by emerillon

Merlin fic, pure Mercelot fluff, completely destroyed me, I’ve reread this an unhealthy amount of times. 2,785 words

Possessed by Emrys by ooh_look_the_void

Merlin and Gaius tell Arthur that Emrys is a magical entity who possesses people to interact with the mortal realm so Merlin can use magic. It gets a bit out of control when Merlin isn’t the only one getting possessed by Emrys. 10/10 fic had me wheezing. 14,759 words. (You do need an account to read it but well worth it)

Kilgharrah Moves to Camelot by ticketyboo00

In which Kilgharrah learns to actually be a decent person, gets therapy and is surprisingly a good brother figure to Merlin. 55,918 words

i know why the birds sing your name by ironfamjam

Arthur is banished from Camelot, Merlin follows him, together they unite Albion and find a family along the way. It’s really cute, Merthur and background Gwencelot. I can’t remember if there were a few mild smut scenes but they were skipable I think. 113,376 words.

Merlin in disguise by Theroundbartable

5 Times Merlin disguised himself. And 1 time he stops hiding, Gwaine being Gwaine, Arthur being smitten, Merthur. 21,576 words.

For Want of a Nail by 0hHeyThereBigBadWolf

Fleeing from Essetir in the bloody beginnings of the Purge, Hunith finds herself on the doorstep of Leon’s family (Hunnith’s old friends) so Leon and Merlin are raised as brothers. Also needs an account to read, but one of my all time favourite fics 234,831 words

the cute guy next door (might be a villain) by Alesyira

Mha fic Shinsou is an underground, undercover pro hero trying to find a lead on a case that may or may not involve the socially awkward guy living next door, (Midoriya) Misunderstandings ensue

And shit that’s 10. I have so many more so let me know if you want any others. I’ve got a few Yuri on Ice fics, a lot more mha and toh, one or two Sasaki to Miyano, Seraph of the end and Sherlock fics. I’m still getting into Song of Achilles fics, but there’s a few of them and a few crossovers too.

And for my name, there’s a kinda long story behind it, but the short version is my grandad used to call me Nerdy or clever or anything like that, he always said being smart and working hard to be smart was the best thing a person could do and I really looked up to him as everything I wanted to be when I grew up. Then when I came online in lockdown during Covid, it was just a whim that stuck to go by Nerd, or ThatNerd on Ao3 but the user was taken so I added bits till I found something available. After he died, it became more sentimental but generally it was just a lockdown thing that stuck.

[zuko-always-lies]

Have you considered that Zuko is just a bad friend?[This will not be a Zuko friendly post]

While this title is a bit of a joke, the point remains: there is a very strong argument to be made that canon Zuko is just not a very good friend, that he’s someone who doesn’t treat his friends very well. Obviously there are many events in Zuko’s life which negatively affected his interpersonal relationships, so I don’t intend this to be an exercise in blame. I’m merely noting a pattern that I think Zuko will need to work on in the future:

Ty Lee: Zuko is extremely vicious in what he says to Ty Lee in “The Beach,” which stands out because it’s about the only substantive thing he ever says to her, and because Ty Lee is extremely kind to him that episode. He never apologizes for it. He also deliberately tries to provoke a fight between Ty Lee and Mai.

Mai: Let’s us just say that Zuko treats Mai very poorly in “The Beach,” and never really apologizes for it or recognizes what about his behavior was wrong. This includes getting into fits of violent jealousy the moment Mai even lays eyes on another boy.

Now let’s turn to the Gaang. In all cases, Zuko starts off eager to please and gain their approval. However, once he passes this initial hurtle, his behavior doesn’t necessarily measure up.

Toph basically approves of Zuko from the start, and he has to do little to win her friendship. As a result, he largely although not entirely ignores her. He feels comfortable dumping his emotional issues on her, but when she tries to do the same to him, he’s dismissive of it. All things considered, Zuko isn’t a terrible friend to Toph, but I wouldn’t say he’s a great one, either.

Aang rapidly warms up to Zuko, particularly through their field trip in “The Firebending Masters.” However, we see some questionable treatment of Aang later on. Zuko twice mocks the culture of Aang, a genocide survivor whose culture was murdered by Zuko’s ancestors, in “The Southern Raiders.” Worse, Zuko, in the series finale, decided it was a great idea to try to light Aang on fire in order to terrify him into submission, because said best friend didn’t want to train and Zuko didn’t feel like reasoning with him.

Sokka is an interesting case. Zuko tries hard to win his friendship in the “Boiling Rock” episodes. However, once this is accomplished, Zuko starts behaving differently. In “The Southern Raiders,” Zuko uses Sokka to find out about Kya’s death. However, although Zuko emphasizes the importance of revenge, it doesn’t occur to him to offer the opportunity to Sokka. Zuko doesn’t directly tell Sokka what he found, nor does he give Sokka the chance to join on the little “vengeance expedition.” The fact that Sokka already forgave Zuko means that Zuko has no reason to care about giving him an opportunity for closure.  And of course, when Sokka, who also lost Kya, says that he thinks killing Yon Rha is a bad idea, Zuko ignores him.

Zuko’s treatment of Katara is a whole mess of its own, although it’s largely confined to one episode:

1. Zuko feels entitled to Katara’s forgiveness.

2. Zuko ignores Katara’s very clear and reasonable explanation about why she doesn’t like or trust him to instead decide it must be all about her mom.

3. Zuko decides to manipulate Katara into liking him by giving her the opportunity to murder someone she hates. That someone is a bad person who did something truly awful, but whose actions are not necessarily much worse than what Zuko himself did, much less what Zuko’s believed uncle Iroh did. Zuko claims this is all about “justice,” but the fact that he had no interest in giving Sokka an opportunity to come along and participate shows the real character of Zuko’s actions here.

Zuko is mostly nice to Katara after “The Southern Raiders,” but his treatment of her in the episode always feels terrible to me.

Zuko and Suki don’t seem to have any significant friendship, so there’s nothing to say here, one way or the other.

[ninacytosis]

For the time lost

Summary: Zuko wants to erase every reminder of his past mistakes, and Katara will take him on a journey to, quite literally, heal both of their scarrings.

Contains: Angst, Fluff, Katara has burns scars from Aang's first attempts to firebend, Katara tries to get over her resentment towards the FN, Zuko doesn't hate Azula.

Dear reader: I hope you enjoy it! <3 Let me know if you want me to continue posting.

Find chapter two here.

Also if you prefer reading in ao3 here's the link.

┊┊┊┊☆┊*🌙*┊☆┊┊┊┊

Chapter One

“Dear Zuko:

I hope this letter finds you well. Since you didn’t respond to my messages from the previous weeks, I couldn’t help but do a little investigation on my own. Aang told me he last visited the Fire Nation a couple of days ago, and to his surprise, you weren’t there. Honestly, this got me even more curious. What are you up to, Fire Lord? What juicy secret are you keeping from us?

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that my dad made some octo-fish soup this weekend. I bet you have never tried it, well, maybe on your finding-the-avatar days you stopped by and tried. But that doesn’t seem like you. One day Sokka and I will cook you some, but only if you tell me why you’re being so distant lately!

We’re always here for you, Zuko.

Hugs,

Katara”

Zuko read the letter while waiting for the water to boil. He had never heard of octo-fish soup to this day, but he wasn’t opposed to trying new dishes. In fact, most of his favorite dishes weren’t even from the Fire Nation. After trying the Omashu noodles, who could blame him?

 “Dear Katara,

I hope you enjoyed that soup and the company of your family. Knowing that you spend good quality time with your family brings me so much joy and relief because all of you deserve it. I hope that every good memory makes up for every bad one, though unfortunately, healing doesn’t work like an exchange, does it?

As the Fire Lord, certain duties demand my presence in the other nations. So, as much as I wish my lack of responses were due to a secret vacation of mine, they are more like business trips. Might as well call me the Fire Businessman now. (Don’t let anyone read this to Toph because she most certainly will call me that.)

It was nice hearing from you. Send as many letters as you please. Even if I’m not home, I’ll promise I’ll read them. By the way, how are your little waterbenders doing? I’m sure it was harder to handle Aang, you know, back in our teaching-the-Avatar days.

Best,

Zuko”

He sat down and frowned at the piece of paper. It’s not that he wanted to hide things from her, or his friends. But it was almost embarrassing to write and send a letter describing his last weeks. It was a path of emotions he was unready to walk through. She would probably forget it in a couple of weeks anyway, and then he would be able to tell her everything.

“Dear Zuko,

Or should I say, Dear Fire Liar?

Even though I don’t have a lot of time in my hands, I still managed to get some information about your mysterious “business” trips. Sokka’s been of great help, for once, and a little bird told him that people from the Northern Water Tribe have spotted you in very weird places. But being honest, I still don’t know what is it that you’re hiding so hard. You got yourself an Ice Lady?

On another note, it’s very exciting to see both of the Nations exchanging goods and, you know, not trying to slit each other’s throats. I always wanted the war to end of course, but it was very hard to imagine a future so full of prosperity. It’s hard to grasp sometimes.

I hope I’m not getting overly emotional but it makes me think about my mom a lot. She never lived in a world without war in it, isn’t that fucked up? Some days I feel a strange guilt running through my body because I get to move on and she will always stay there. This seems like I’m getting all over the place. I don’t usually say this stuff to anybody, but I know you would get it. And today seems like a good day for letting it all out.

When I’m down, I like to think that she sees the world through the eyes of Sokka, or dad’s, or even mine. It’s silly, I know. But it makes me feel closer to her.

Well, enough about me. Tell me more about your trips, about your uncle’s new place. I’m dying to know. Maybe next time you should try doing business in the Southern Water Tribe and pay us a visit. We all miss you!

Hugs,

Katara”

Zuko took a long breath. No amount of tea would cure the unmeasurable shame that he felt reading Katara’s letter. He knew how empathetic she was, and how much he loved her family, and he could never forgive himself for what his family did to the world. Every day he looked at himself in the mirror and was reminded of a past he could never erase, his face became no longer his once his dad put his palm on it.

His sudden state made him forget about Katara’s little quest. He was not only full of shame but also full of passion to help others. Every reminiscent of the war also reminded him of the resilience of people during difficult times. And every time Katara changed the subject, Zuko needed to excruciatingly tell her how much her strength motivated him to be better. And after writing that letter, he decided it was time to invite her to the palace.

[deathbycoldopen]

I finished the first season of the live action ATLA, and I have to say my reaction is… mixed.

I went into it determined to have an open mind, and there was definitely a good chunk that I enjoyed! For one thing, I love what they did with both Suki and Yue, taking advantage of the longer episode lengths to give them both lives and motivations beyond just “pretty girl that Sokka crushes on” (Suki obviously gets more depth in the og show during seasons 2 & 3, but Yue has always struck me as a rather one-dimensional character).

The best (if traumatizing) choice was to actually show the Fire Nation attack on the airbenders. Doing so gave a real emotional heft to Aang being displaced a hundred years with the weight of failing to prevent a past genocide, and the pressure of having to stop another without any idea how. Not only that, but it did a great job of indicating, right at the start of the show, that this was an adaptation indenting to transform what was fundamentally a kids’ show with complex themes into an adult series with the ability to really expand on that depth and complexity.

…and then it didn’t.

Oh, the show pokes at the repercussions of Iroh having waged a long and deadly siege agains Ba Sing Se, and it does a decent job at deepening the fuckery that is Zuko’s backstory. But so much of the more ambiguous or complex parts of the original have been flattened in this adaptation—and not in ways that can be explained by the compressed narrative. Instead, it feels like the sanitized story and characters are a direct result of a purity culture that demands all things black and white, never shades of gray.

Let’s look at Zuko, the villain-turned-hero with an iconic but bumpy redemption arc in the original series. Part of what makes Zuko’s story so goddamn compelling in the original is that he begins as a true villain, who does some horrible things and is led astray more often than not by his explosive temper; and yet his horrifying backstory and desperation for a loving family that never actually existed compel us to view him with some sympathy, even as he acts against our protagonists.

Yet in the adaptation, Zuko is consistently painted in a softer, kinder light than he was in the original. He has no hand in burning down the village on Kyoshi Island; he hears Aang out and even seems to consider Aang’s offer of friendship rather than immediately lashing out after the Blue Spirit reveal; he is notably more respectful to Iroh and loses his temper much less frequently and violently.

Even the change of Zuko fighting back against Ozai in the agni kai can be construed as him recognizing that Ozai is the bad guy, especially when it means that in order for his exile to make sense he has to defy his father again after he’s already been burned.

This is a pattern that is repeated with nearly all of the characters with any degree of ambiguity. Pakku is depicted as kind of a decent person who’s just being held back by his deference to tradition, rather than being pretty much an asshole regardless of whether he’s following tradition or not. Hahn is a nice guy who is in love with Yue but accepts her decision not to marry him, instead of a dick that sees her as a trophy and is more than happy to marry her despite her disinterest.

Sokka is a huge victim of this flattening of flaws. His early-show misogyny is entirely absent, making his stumbling with Suki a little odd and ungrounded, and his dismissal of Katara’s skills even more so. The narrative doesn’t allow him to be anywhere close to as boneheaded and stubborn as he is in the original—this version of Sokka would never angrily slash through the swamp despite the warning signs, or blatantly lie to Won Shi Ton and then even more blatantly steal from him.

Sokka isn’t even allowed the most understandable tactical mistake from the original show: using the air ship in the fight at the Northern Air Temple, and inadvertently delivering the Fire Nation’s greatest asset. That honor is given to a generalized “spies” that are distanced even from Sai himself.

If the heroes aren’t allowed to have flaws, the villains are even worse off, without anything that might make them sympathetic. Jet, who in the original sits in a similar in-between place as Zuko, is pushed firmly on the side of villain over the course of his two-episode arc. Instead of Jet fighting dirty against Fire Nation colonists who are nevertheless civilians, he bombs buildings in Omashu; it’s easier to denounce him when he’s hurting Earth Kingdom civilians with his tactics, rather than people who may or may not be complicit in the war. He’s even labeled a terrorist, an easy buzzword for a largely usamerican audience to point to and say “ah yes, that’s a bad guy.”

The main villains— Ozai, Zhao, and even the brief scene of Sozin— are ironically even more cartoonishly evil than in the animated show. Ozai and Sozin both declare their evil plans— out loud, with villainous aplomb— to use one major military movement as a distraction for another, even bigger movement. (Sozin’s plan at least made sense, in that the distraction was “leaked” intelligence rather than an actual deployment of troops. How the hell did Ozai have enough troops and a decent supply line to attack both the Northern Water Tribe and Omashu at the same time? And it’s not like the distraction actually served any purpose, since it’s explicitly stated several times that the separate nations don’t send aid to each other anymore.)

Ozai’s treatment of Zuko is even more abusive than in the original, especially with the aforementioned change where Zuko actually does fight back as ordered. His choice to burn Zuko and then later banish him then must be explained by Zuko showing compassion, a much more typically “evil” motivation than the more complex (though no less abusive) notion of Zuko dishonoring himself.

Zhao gets an even worse character lobotomy, which is impressive given that his original character is pretty unabashedly villainous. But rather than a devious, powerful, and ambitious commander looming over everything Zuko or Team Avatar does, this version of Zhao is cartoonishly incompetent. (It doesn’t help that the only thing I’ve seen Ken Leung in is Person of Interest, where he plays a similarly buffoonish character constantly in need of rescue. When held up against Jason Isaacs’ mesmerizing but intimidating voice in the original, there’s no comparison.)

Zhao is no longer a respected military leader but a backwoods commander who barely passed the exam to become an officer; his rise through the ranks isn’t due to military successes or a commanding presence but because Azula finds him easy to manipulate; cutting Jeong Jeong means that we don’t see Aang get the better of Zhao by playing on his temper and lack of control; even discovering the secret of the moon and ocean spirits seems more like blundering luck than actual determination and intelligence. You can’t take Zhao seriously as a threat in this adaptation, even when he’s killing the moon spirit and destroying the balance of the world— he’s a nuisance at best, with Azula as the real looming danger.

Disliking Zhao’s character changes might just come down to a matter of taste, of course. I’m always going to be more interested in intelligent, competent characters, whether they are heroes or villains. But it forms part of this pattern of flattening characters and plots and arcs, and brings me back to the fundamental question that kept hitting me over the head while watching the series.

Why?

Why make an adaptation? This is a question that comes up whenever an adaptation of anything is made: what does the adaptation bring to the table that the original did not? Often the answer to this question is money, but there’s usually an attempt to point to a different answer, if only to distract from the greed.

Sometimes the answer is simple— a translation, for example, is an adaptation made to reach a wider audience. Sometimes the answer is more complicated— changing Lord of the Rings from books to movies, as another example, took advantage of the music, acting, and visuals to pack more emotional punch than the books did.

I would argue, as I began to at the start of this post, that the benefit of adapting ATLA from an animated kids show to a live action series is the bucking of those “kids show” limitations. ATLA deals with a lot of serious, heavy topics that don’t get fully explored because they are too complicated and intense to be greenlit in a network show aimed at 10 year olds. In addition, ATLA (and particularly Legend of Korra after it) faced an uphill battle to portray some more sticky topics such as queerness, in part due to the time period when they were produced.

A live action show produced by Netflix seems to bypass all those hurdles, allowing for a darker and more socially progressive show than what the original was able to accomplish. But despite showing onscreen the destruction of the Air Nomads, the adaptation of ATLA seems more sanitized than the original, playing to the lowest common denominator in a way that the original never did, despite the latter being a kids show and the former ostensibly being for adults.

I came away from the new series with a bad taste in my mouth, even with some things that I really enjoyed, and I think this is the crux of why. The adaptation didn’t update the original; it stripped it of anything that might be deemed problematic and replaced it with a black and white worldview that is, in fact, antithetical to the themes of the original show.

After all, the creators seem to have reasoned, who would root for Zuko’s redemption if he actually needed redemption in the first place?

[outerspaze]

Really short zuko x male reader fic lmao

i kinda wrote this as i came up with it so it’s not that great

“What’s wrong?” Zuko inquired with you.

“Nothing. I’m fine,” you snapped at him.

“Well, considering that tone of voice something must be on your mind. You can talk to me, you know,” Zuko replied softly. He didn’t want to seem rude by calling out your attitude, because usually you weren't rude unless something was plaguing your mind.

“It’s stupid but if you want to know then fine I guess.”

“Of course I’d want to know. I care about you a lot, you know.”

“My friend just told me that he didn’t want to be friends anymore. He said that I’m too annoying and he only wanted to be friends because he wanted to get with me,” you took a deep breath in, trying not to start crying. “He said that I wasn’t worth dealing with even if I had a nice body.”

Your attempts to hold back your tears had failed, and you started crying uncontrollably. You started breathing in and out in short, quick breaths.

Zuko quickly brought you into his arms. He rubbed your back and tried to soothe your sobbing the best that he could.

“That isn’t a stupid reason to be upset. That asshole doesn’t deserve your time,” He told you while trying his best to hold back the rage in his voice. No one should ever be able to talk to you like that.

“He was right, though. I’m really annoying, aren't I?”

You starting mumbling words of self-loathing; saying things about how you were just a burden on those around you.

Zuko couldn’t stand hearing you talk about yourself like that. He quickly and without thinking held your face in his hands and kissed you in the hopes that you’d stop saying those things.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking. That was so rude of me I should have asked I’m sor-”

You quickly cut him off by kissing him back. You’d been friends for a very long time, and you’d always had a bit of a crush on him, but you never knew what to do about it. Zuko had always seemed very out of your league, and was he even gay, anyways?

“Will you stop being so mean to yourself, now?” Zuko asked you somewhat jokingly but still serious.

“Maybe if you kiss me again,” you replied flirtatiously.

Zuko put one of his hands around the back of your head and the other on your waist, pulling you in again. He kissed you slowly and sweetly. Both of you kissed and never wanted to pull apart, but eventually you had to take a break to breathe.

“I really love you, you know. I love your cute face and even if you are annoying sometimes I still love it. I love every part of you and I always will,” Zuko spoke quickly, staring deep into your eyes.

Tears started to slowly fall down your cheeks again, to Zuko’s concern.

“Did I make you upset? If you don’t like me back it’s totally fine! We can still be friends I don’t mind!”

“It’s not that it’s just, nobody’s ever said that to me before,” you choked out, trying your best to get a handle on your breathing.

Zuko pulled you in for a hug and started running his hands through your hair. It was like everything you’ve ever dreamed about.

“I’ll say it over and over again,” He spoke softly in your ear, “I love you.”

———————————————————————

catch me writing so much zuko x male reader fluff. i’m a hugeeeee zuko simp it’s not even funny

[magnorious]

Review: The Last Airbender Episodes 4&5

Why was Netlfix so hell-bent on adapting this show instead of making something new in the ATLA universe? Make a Kyoshi spin-off! Everyone would have been hyped to watch Kyoshi crush skulls between her thighs. Make some other avatar we’ve never heard of with complete freedom to do whatever you want with their story. The 100-year war can’t be the only conflict in the history of this world and the gap between Wan and… I believe Kuruk is the earliest-named Avatar in canon after him, is massive.

It would have been free from all the “the cartoon did this better” nitpicks and legit complaints.

If they wanted to Game of Thrones-ify it, they should have taken notes on how to deliver exposition. Opening the pilot spoiling the best reveals of season 1 would be like opening GoT with Jaime Lannister stabbing the Mad King with full context for why he did it, instead of waiting for that reveal when he’s confessing to Brienne.

“The Storm” was perfect, and you soiled it!

—

Season 1 of the original is the weakest in terms of consistency. This season has both “The Storm” and “The Great Divide”. It didn’t have the biggest budget and didn’t have the intense overarching story of 2 or 3 with the struggle over the Earth Kingdom and the climax with the Fire Nation.

So skipping and rushing a few episodes like “The Great Divide” or even “Bato of the Water Tribe” and just sifting out all the important beats wouldn’t have made too many complain. I didn’t have a huge problem with shoving 3 episodes worth of content into one menagerie because it still worked, even if it didn’t stick the landing.

But it just keeps going. If they hadn’t cut away to the Fire Nation scenes, maybe they could have reworked all this Omashu plot into one episode. I’m bored. I’d rather be annoyed, than be bored. Boredom is the cardinal sin of entertainment. They take forever in the Spirit World too with all these unnecessary flashbacks for Sokka and Katara.

Still don’t like Iroh. “It seems we are always getting on or off boats, perhaps that is our lot in life, Prince Zuko.” Wow. Sagely wisdom. I want that on a t-shirt. Totally.

*Side note: Couldn’t you keep any of the original episode titles? Name the premier “Boy in the Iceberg,” episode 2 “Warriors of Kyoshi”, episode 3 “Jet”, episode 4 “The King of Omashu”, episode 5 “The Winter Solstice”.

Aang’s conversation with Iroh in the crystal cave prison cells looks and feels like they stole it from “Crossroads of Destiny”, except that Aang is way more vitriolic than he should be. He gets indignant, but he never gets so judgemental.

When I said in my last review that these characters aren’t cartoonish enough — Bumi is supposed to be over 100 years old, as old as Aang. His actor looks 60. Costume is pretty, though and coding the kingdom of Omashu as Indian and the rest of the Earth Kingdom as Chinese implies they were their own kingdom for a very long time and got annexed so, kudos.

Bumi’s voice attempts to fill the cartoonish void but because everything else is so grounded, it’s just awkward. He got turned into a royal jerk, not just a crazy old man like he used to be. Also not letting the “Bumi” reveal happen, that even one of Aang’s ties to his old life is still kicking, is disappointing. This isn’t Bumi. Not to mention that Bumi, in season 1, would never let this happen to his city, or his prisoners of war. Manufactured drama is manufactured and we all noticed.

~Secret Tunnel! Secret Tunnel! Through the mountains! Secret Secret Secret Secret Tunnel! Yeah. ~

I am actually shocked they kept the hippies. Very well brought to life.

I didn’t mind episode 3 playing fast and loose with the episode order and content, but butchering the “Cave of Two Lovers” is a crying shame (and dragging it out of season 2, no less). The story of the two lovers (read by Katara, not the hippie whose name escapes me) was reflected in Katara and Aang’s journey through the caves. Romance has never been Avatar’s strong suit, but the episode was still entertaining. Now it reads like Katara and Sokka are the lovers, which is a *choice*, but no, they just bicker.

Iroh’s side plot with the Earth Kingdom soldiers, with this unnamed dude we don’t care about, certainly fills the more adult tone they insist on going for, it just doesn’t need to be here. Once again, the original got away with implication flawlessly, instead of preaching the horrors of war explicitly.

I can’t remember exactly, but Lu Ten was danced around as a topic until Iroh’s mini-sode in “Tales of Ba Sing Se”. We could see that he wasn’t all smiles, we knew the wacky uncle was a bit of a mask, but that episode showed you exactly who Iroh is when no one saw it coming. All this filler is just a whole lot of unnecessary scenes and dialogue hammering home a backstory done way better with far less.

And, that episode was in season 2. Once again, the writers can’t hold out on a mystery for anything.

*Side side note: For shame slipping a piano into the score! For shame! Get that Western percussion out of here. Maybe GoT is just on my mind thanks to that rumor, but the theme music for the Southern Water Tribe sounds a lot like the Winterfell theme in the beginning. Hell and gone from any asiatic influences.

“It wasn’t the crystals that guided Oma and Shu,” no, actually, it was. You just didn’t want to animate the wolfbats so you turned the gentle giant badger-moles into snarling beasts.

Oh, there’s Zuko’s sympathetic side in that flashback about Lu Ten. Nicely done, no notes. That’s the Iroh I want the entire season. I hear that Leaves from the Vine in the background.

—

Episode 5 opens with some ham-fisted exposition and wow, that was impressively bland. 

I… spoke too soon about omitting Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis. My mistake. And I spoke too soon about enjoying Azula and Ozai. They’re both still great, they just don’t need to be here yet.

Because they have to make up scenes for these characters, they still say a whole lot of words without saying much at all – except that Ozai now randomly actually respects his son and chastises his daughter for mocking Zuko. That’s new. Ozai is all about “self-serving flattery and coy whispers.” Dude named himself the Phoenix King and invented a rank above Fire Lord for his own vanity. He would be a loser if he wasn’t so powerful.

Okay, the show got me. I actually laughed out loud when Zuko tried to bribe the Earth Kingdom tavern keeper and it didn’t work.

Nice to see they paid as much attention to the “Great Divide” as the Ember Island Players, but for shame about “The Waterbending Scroll.” That was a decent episode. They also skipped most of “The Fortune Teller” and carved out June and *man* is that some rushed CGI on Nyla.

Wan Shi Tong?! *checks notes* 20 episodes early?! His VA is great. Gravely goodness.

Iroh accidentally reads the script notes when he says “Zhao is already making his moves and we have yet to draw our tiles”. These two are aimless, leadless, and hitting plot points like potholes.

Regarding Aang dragging Sokka and Katara into the Spirit World with him, as far as I know only avatars and Iroh can enter the Spirit World. They don’t need to be part of these scenes. When I said the writers did their homework in the pilot, they must’ve read the SparkNotes for “The Winter Solstice”, and instead filled it with stolen flashbacks from season 3.

I take it back. I take back wanting to skip “Bato of the Water Tribe”. Hakoda never got the chance to do Sokka’s ceremony, that’s why it was Bato’s job, that’s why Sokka was left behind and so much older than the rest of the kids in the village, because he wasn’t a man yet. Are all these supposed to steal from “The Swamp”? They aren’t from season 1.

Koh looks great. That’s the best part of this whole over-long sequence. Koh. Even seeing Gyatso again doesn’t feel earned when this scene doesn’t need to exist. It’s not like Katara and Sokka are learning new information, nor are they the bridge between the worlds. Aang doesn’t quite feel like the “last airbender” if he can chat with Gyatso’s ghost whenever he wants, he’s supposed to be utterly alone, 100 years divorced from everything he’s ever known.

Gyatso’s speech is nice, if I extract it from its context.

—

This show is missing artistry. Some beautiful establishing shots and cinematography, scenes I can freeze-frame and stare at and turn into wallpaper – not to mention that once again, it’s too damn dark to see anything in night scenes.

Once again, the VFX is very obvious and distracting. I know the artists aren’t to blame, but, gee, had the whole thing been a cartoon, there wouldn’t be a need for realistic CGI.

Slamming all these episodes together like this makes them messy. The plot isn’t a meandering adventure filled with side-quests anymore. It’s not written like a show where you tune in once a week for a good time. It’s written like a bingeable Netflix property, and released all at once like one. They could have at least staggered the release to two episodes at a time.

I don't think I'm actually going to finish it. At least not now. I don't want to give Netflix the view thinking I watched beacuse I was invested. I wish it were as bad as the original movie, if only so I could make fun of it.

[juniperhillpatient]

Care to share one or more of your takes you would consider controversial for atla.

Ooh this is tough cause I feel like I’m constantly sharing my ATLA opinions so they’re mostly known 😅

A rundown of bullet point takes that I won’t budge on & think are straightforward but see people debating constantly anyway 👁👁

The Boiling Rock Betrayal was well written & did make sense people just over complicate it. Mai & Ty Lee deserved more detailed examinations of their views in other instances but it’s extremely plain what happened in this instance: adrenaline fueled actions were taken in an emergency / life threatening situation. Mai & Ty Lee weren’t wrong to save lives (it also wasn’t planned? why & how do people think it was?) & Azula was sympathetic for being hurt after the betrayal (but she was still unequivocally the villain here)

We don’t know enough about Ursa from the show to truly know what her relationship with Azula was like, making multiple interpretations of the dynamic equally valid

This is less about the show itself (though the comics & the writers being insecure about their canon ship don’t help) & more the fandom but K.at.Aang vs. Z.utara arguments are some of the most obnoxious pointless arguments I’ve ever seen & the slander toward both Aang & Zuko from opposing sides is REALLY sad considering their friendship & character arcs are at the heart of the show. It’s a kid’s show y’all calm down you can want whichever cartoon characters you want to kiss it’s not that serious. These arguments also tend to frame Katara as a prize to be won rather than one of the most badass characters in her own right & it’s uncomfortable

Anti Zuko takes from Azula fans & anti Azula takes from Zuko fans are both equally embarrassingly hypocritical & ugly

Hm okay a lot of these have had to do with the Fire Nation characters, let’s mix it up. Sokka isn’t a super genius OR a dumbass. He’s someone who would get bad grades for not doing his homework cause it’s boring but he aces every test. He’d explain some complicated physics subject to you then eat pizza out of the garbage in front of you. This one might not be *that* controversial but I do feel like I see debates over his intelligence lol

Southern Raiders is a great episode & it’s not about shipping (I mean it *can* be but that’s not the main point) it’s about opposing ideologies. Katara not necessarily forgiving Yon Rha but also not killing him is an AMAZING Katara moment where she makes the best choice for HER. If you hate this episode cause of shipping discourse or bad takes or whatever you’re missing out on an excellent episode that finally explores the anger & grief Katara has over her mother’s death. I see so much discourse over this episode but I try to ignore it cause it’s one of my favorite episodes & I don’t want fandom bs to ruin that for me

I loved Jet & felt like there was a lot to explore in this kid who’s charming & manipulative because he had to become that way because of trauma & wanted to care for other kids. I loved his dynamic with Katara & later Zuko & seeing how he’d changed. I initially thought his death, while it made me sad, was narratively fair to drill home the brutality of war. But the vagueness & later jokey callback changed my mind. Can’t drill home brutality if you’re gonna write it like *that.*

Final take & this is about the fandom at large: we forget this is an early 2000s kid’s show. It was fantastic storytelling visually beautiful & we wouldn’t still be talking about it if the characters didn’t grip us. The endless discourse & debates over things that don’t matter are tiring & ultimately a waste of time & energy - so that’s my final unpopular atla take for the day 😄 (also I’m NOT claiming to be guiltless when it comes to partaking in these debates lol) (also this isn’t about *analysis* which is always fun I’m talking more about discourse over dumb shit like why iroh gave azula a doll)

Thanks for the ask!

[comradekatara]

Hello, how would you rank the gaang+fire ladies in a best sense of style to worst of sense of style?

oooh fun! wait, is this modern au or not?? just in case, i’ll do both…

toph is the worst, obviously. she has no sense of style whatsoever. she does have her little pom pom opera headband, which is very cute, and honestly her fire nation fit is the cutest one (sorry katara), but i don’t think she actually gives a shit about any of that, she just happens to slay regardless because she can’t not slay. in modern au she mostly wears large shirts and sweatpants and flip flops, and yet somehow she still looks remarkably good “dressed like a slob” (katara’s words) because she is simply beautiful enough to pull it off.

i don’t think zuko has a bad sense of style, i actually think a lot of his outfits are genuinely cute (i esp love his one tank top in book 1 that’s such a look imo), but like toph, he also isn’t really putting effort in, so it’s not so much a “sense of style” as it is in his nature to serve cunt. in modern au he actively tries to spice up his wardrobe (with katara’s help), but then he never actually wears any of the stuff they bought together because he needs his emotional support favorite cardigan and/or black turtleneck. he can pull it off because he looks cute and cozy, but no is mistaking him for an expert in fashion any time soon.

i always wonder how aang found those monk’s robes in book 3, whether he made them himself, and if so, with which fabrics. so in that sense, he’s actually a diy style icon. but in modern au, he literally dresses like roman roy in the finale, walmart boys’ color block t shirt, so i’m docking points even though, again, he does look adorable and it is a Look in its own right. the light up heelys also add or dock points depending on who you ask.

from book 2 onward, sokka has a nice, simple outfit that is a good cut and a good color without being remotely flashy or complicated, and he accessorizes with weapons, which are both practical and spice up his outfit. “like toph, he also doesn’t give a shit about his looks, it’s just a coincidence that he looks good,” one could argue. but i think he knew what he was doing with that sleeveless top. and besides, he was excited by the fact that his bag matched his belt. in modern au, sokka doesn’t give a shit about style until adulthood, because he and katara just focus on their respective domains and thus katara has the monopoly on fashion, but then he starts figuring out his gender and sexuality and the world of fashion opens up for him. that said, his idea of going crazy is like, wearing a couple rings, so he’s still towards the middle bottom of this list.

azula doesn’t really have a sense of personal style, she just wears what she thinks looks best for her circumstances, and since her goal is to intimidate, she happens to slay. but if she was like, a farmer, she would not be bothering with the winged eyeliner and red lipstick and perfect hair, because that is a product of her environment rather than an internally motivated mode of self-expression. so in modern au, she trades shoulder spikes for shoulder pads, and knee high boots for tastefully high heels, but the effect is the same. respect me, fear me, take me seriously in my navy blue blazer.

suki never really gets to pick her own outfits unless you count the fire nation crop top, which is cute but obviously wouldn’t be her first pick in garb. that said, the kyoshi warrior armor obviously goes so hard and she looks great in it, so she’s a style icon just for that. in modern au, she dresses in a way that is deceptively simple but knows that it makes her look really hot to her target demographic (dykes and sokka). she generally just opts for flannel and cargo shorts, but on days where she’s on a mission, she’ll wear a short sleeved loose button up with half the sleeves undone, some necklaces, and no bra. and she’s a hero for that.

mai’s outfit is actually my favorite in the entire show (like, i would wear it), but there’s something kind of cutesy about her hair style that i feel like was probably imposed on her by her mother. like don’t get me wrong, it still looks good on her, but i can’t see her actually caring to maintain something so elaborate without the presence of external pressures. i can picture modern au mai’s sense of style so perfectly, though. soft flared pants, in a silky fabric; turtleneck tank tops; leather jackets: dark peacoats; dyke boots to stomp around in; mostly in various shades of dark red, dark blue, and black. she keeps it simple and classy, and has the freedom to experiment with hair styles more as well. when she’s alone, everyone is envious of her effortlessly chic steez, and yet, when she is with ty lee, everyone’s like “awww it’s cute that ty lee lets that kind of schlubby girl hang around her.”

ty lee puts effort into her appearance for the purposes of attracting specific results. she knows she’s beautiful, of course, but she also wants to be beautiful in a cute way, harmless and inviting. pink is less threatening than red, showing skin makes her seem vulnerable and desirable, her braid is simultaneously perfect and kind of messy. in modern au, ty lee would similarly be attuned to the cultivation of her aesthetic for a similar purpose. she wouldn’t just wear whatever she felt like, but rather would have an extremely curated wardrobe of outfits that all adhere to the same theme of making her look impossibly beautiful but in a cute and harmless way. idk man. there’s something wrong with her, i think, but also that thing might just be patriarchy.

katara is the only character who canonically takes an interest in fashion for the sake of fashion (iirc), and so that immediately elevates her in my opinion. she clearly cares a not insignificant amount about her appearance, and takes pride in looking good (as she should, because she’s beautiful). i love the idea that she got her book 2 outfit in the northern water tribe and was so excited about getting a new fit that she literally wore it the entire season even though it was springtime and she was sweating buckets. she’s so excited about dressing up in ba sing se, or when they steal clothes in the fire nation, or when she gets to take kyoshi’s clothing in “avatar day,” or when she goes to the spa with toph, or when she’s telling aunt wu about her skincare routine. it matters to her! and i think that as she gets older, and more resources are available, she gets to expand and experiment with her wardrobe more, and that’s really fun for her. and in modern au, she’d also love fashion of course, and would have a lot of opinions on how to participate in fashion ethically. her wardrobe would be kind of all over the place because it’s mostly thrifted, but she’d put so much effort into curating an outfit every day before she leaves the house, and she can go weeks if not months without repeating an outfit, not because she has an unlimited wardrobe, but because she’s really clever and thoughtful when it comes to what she pairs together on any given day. and she sometimes makes her own clothing, or modifies thrifted pieces, and that somehow looks great on her too. my point is, she wins in a landslide.

[peony-pearl]

I think one of the easiest, but still complicated ways, to look at Iroh’s ‘laziness’ or how he ‘sat back during Ozai and Zuko’s Agni Kai’ is something that kind of happens in a lot of families.

There are things that seem strange to other families that, within another family unit, would be very normal.

When I would talk to my previous therapist, I was going through a period where I really, really missed my family. The only family I have near me is my dad and stepmom and her family extended around the city that I’m not close enough with to just go and visit or go to lunch with. I have to travel 2+ hours to start seeing others, and, working full time, I don’t get the chance to just up and go as much as I would like.

I grew up with my mom and stepdad, two older siblings, and around aunts and uncles and my maternal grandma (dad’s parents lived out in the country; I rarely saw them if he wasn’t in town). My grandmother was always within reach and was reliable; a stern British woman who made sure no one went without, but wasn’t the traditional warm, affectionate Grandma, although I have so many pleasant memories of her.

I saw a very specific portion of my aunts and uncles on a regular basis for Sunday dinners at her home (my mother was the youngest of 8 kids). Some showed up less than others; and being a kid I took those days for granted.

Growing older and seeing and knowing how internally distant my family is, let alone that many of them are barely Facebook-savvy, I would tell my therapist how much I missed it. She would say ‘well, try to reach out and get an idea of a reunion going’

to which I replied ‘oh no, you don’t understand. That isn’t going to happen.”

And she would ask why.

And I didn’t have an immediate answer other than ‘it’s just not.’

Everyone knows things about their family in ways they can’t discuss that may seem obvious on the outside. My family is hermit-like, quiet, particular; unless they’re bonding over something they enjoy and then we can laugh and riot. But change on my mom’s side is HARD; to the point that it’s an inside joke - even to my dad who has been divorced from my mom for over 30 years. I can joke about my mom’s sides particularities with him, because it’s very very obvious once you spend some time with them.

Distance is normal on my mom’s side; and even a bit on my dad’s side. We can joke a lot about how we can never talk for years and then we see each other and just continue like nothing’s happened. It’s not personal, we just... aren’t great at keeping in touch. Unless some are more prone to messaging or texting; then it’s a matter of actually sending something.

‘Wait, don’t you at least send a ‘hey how are you?’

Actually no. I’m friended with some family members on Facebook and we just... don’t really talk. But if we all see each other again we’ll continue like we always have.

I don’t even have the contacts to all of my family members. Ones that I do, I rarely speak to. I speak the most to one of my sisters, but that doesn’t detract to how much I love my other sister. I see my dad and stepmom on a regular basis and I call my mom 2-4 times a month. But I can’t just call my mom without sending her a text earlier saying that I can call, or else it’ll throw her off. She wouldn’t tell me I couldn’t talk, but her routine will get shifted around.

Because even if I did get the idea out about a reunion for my mom’s side, it’s a matter of who could show up; or who WOULD show up, or who would even respond to the idea of a reunion.

And maybe I’m wrong; because change for me is hard too, and the idea overwhelms me, even to see people I love, to navigate such an idea frightens me as well.

Families all have their internalized issues; it doesn’t answer problems to their fullest and I’m probably just rambling, but anyway.

Back to the point

Zuko, Ozai, Azula and Iroh, being part of a militaristic royal family that is highly dysfunctional and absolutely shows favorites (despite Iroh trying his best to become enlightened from his mistakes and traumas), isn’t going to change on a dime. Zuko’s Agni Kai was horrifying.

And yet Azula, Zuko’s own sister (who has her own set of issues), and Zhao (who, aside from speculations, is not part of the royal family) smile at the act of Ozai burning his son’s face. No one is showed to balk at the series of events or cry out for Ozai to stop.

Zuko - the crown prince, spoke out against a cruel plan and was punished for it by his own father - no one in the kingdom stepped forward to stop it, despite it being obvious that something had to be done.

But Iroh, even if he tried to help simply knew one thing.

If just couldn’t be stopped. And he would never be able to tell anyone outside of the fire Nation how and why.

Because it just couldn’t.

[buggachat]

Related to the Zoé ask you responded earlier: what’s your opinion on Chloé? Do you think she can still become a better person?

Because, personally, I do. And just as you, I hope Zoé can help her in that.

I just think people take Thomas Astruc way too seriously. I’m not arguing whether you should like him or not, he’s just a normal person after all and it’s fine if you dislike him.

But he’s trolled us a lot of times. When people asked him about Felix, he always said his concept get dumped. Instead he was recycled as Adrien’s cousins.

Or, like, before the firsts “hints” of Chloé humanity, he always said on Twitter she was just a bad person. But I think it’s more complicated than that, otherwise why show her struggle with her mother?

I was skeptical when we found out Zoé is Chloe’s half-sister, but I gotta say I like the idea. She seems very sweet and I hope they can get along eventually.

What are your thoughts on it?

I absolutely agree with you.

People take what Astruc says on twitter way too seriously, considering he’s constantly playing devil’s advocate, trolling, and straight up lying to us about things in the show. That’s all not even mentioning language barriers and the like. It’s his way of combating spoilers, and just because he implies something, doesn’t mean at all that it’s true. 

I find it kind of frustrating that everyone is hating on Chloe’s arc when we have absolutely no idea where it’s going. We DON’T know that she wont get a redemption, but everyone acts like that’s definitely the case and attacks the creators of the show over it. 

People act like her betrayal was completely out of left field, as if it wasn’t HEAVILY foreshadowed in Miraculer and just..... made sense.

Like, who cares about what the guy on twitter who constantly lies to us says? Let’s look at the ACTUAL TEXT of the show. 

Chloé didn’t just randomly turn against Ladybug. Hawkmoth, a grown ass man who has known her since she was a toddler, decided to specifically prey on her insecurities and weaknesses. He tried it in Miraculer, and it didn't work (which took SO MUCH WILLPOWER FROM HER??), so he planned it out more thoroughly and tried it again... after making sure she was feeling as vulnerable as possible.... by akumatizing her parents.

Her turning point was choreographed like an akumatization! The grunting, the trying to the resist, the shot of the person's head being hung.... and then looking up at the camera and agreeing with Hawkmoth.

And why? Because that's basically what happened to Chloé, just without the magical assistance. Akumatizations happen when Hawkmoth preys on people's emotional vulnerabilities when they're at their weakest..... and that's exactly what he did to her.

Chloé isn't a great person. And yes, she is a brat..... but that doesn't mean she's incapable of change. It doesn't mean she can't try to be better. She was trying! But the fact of the matter is that trying is hard, especially when the supervillain of the series is a man who is a master of manipulating people at their lowest. Chloe's attempt at being a better person was put to the test, and she failed.

But she wasn't happy about it.

Once Miracle Queen failed, Chloe stood there and let Ladybug pluck the miraculous off her head.

And then, in her shame, she tried to flee the country.

Really, I need to emphasize this. When Miracle Queen lost, Chloé let Ladybug take her miraculous off and then declared that she would flee the country. She didn't swear revenge on Ladybug. She didn't declare herself a threat. (and no, saying “im not your fan anymore!” is not declaring yourself a threat). She just seemed....... angry, yes, but mostly ashamed.

She tried to be a better person and failed, yes. But that just means she has to try harder. And maybe she'll never be Queen Bee again, but she'll have to accept that she doesn't have to be a superhero to be a good person.

Literally the scene Chloé’s in right after her betrayal is THIS:

The ACTUAL TEXT of the show portrays what is at worst a tragedy (a young girl being manipulated by a man at her most vulnerable to do something she regrets) and at best a redemption in the making (remember how the Ba Sing Se arc ended for Zuko?).

.... But everyone ignores it because....... “thomas astruc, the person who constantly says weird things on twitter, said some weird things on twitter". And honestly that makes me sad, because I think this is a really interesting and engaging arc so far.

Chloé’s a brat. She’s been a brat the entire time. She doesn’t want to be a brat anymore. She was relying on being Queen Bee to be her big break, but she lost that privilege..... and now she has to rely on herself to get her out. She wont get better instantly. I’m sure she’ll continue to be a brat for a while— but, to me, the show always has and still is implying that she’s trying.

And, I dunno, Zoe’s inclusion in the show sounds to me like their way to move Chloé’s arc forward.

[atlabeth]

warmth - zuko x fem!reader

summary: the two times he notices her shivering and the one time he does something about it. 

a/n: lmaoo we have been in a DROUGHT my people. i have barely given you any content this whole month and i feel bad. i wrote this out over the course of a few hours after getting the idea in the shower. i did not proofread. i am not sorry. enjoy.

and NO that end part is not dirty it is simply two kids sharing a bed for warmth bc they got cute lil crushes on each other 🔫🔫🔫🔫

wc: 1.6k 

warning(s): this is pure fluff bbbbbb 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three times. 

It happened three times before Zuko was finally able to get over himself and have a real, face to face, one on one conversation with the one person he hadn’t been able to get out of his head. 

Y/N. It was a name that had made a home in his mind, belonging to a girl that had made a home in his heart. He knew that she was a waterbender from the Northern Tribe and that she had joined the team after the Siege of the North, but apart from that, her life was a mystery to him. She was a mystery to him. 

It was pathetic. How could he become so enraptured with a girl when he didn’t even know the first thing about her? When he had spent the past couple of months fighting against her, trying everything in his power to hurt her? When she had no idea he even thought about her that way? 

Sometimes Zuko questioned himself, but then he caught a glimpse of her — the gleam of her hair, the way her eyes crinkled at the edges when she laughed, the fierceness with which she fought rivalled only by the way she cared for her injured friends afterwards — and he laughed inwardly. 

There was no way he couldn’t feel that way about her. She was simply enchanting. 

But there was only one thing he questioned more than his affections — why in the name of Agni could he not just walk up and start a conversation with her? There was no one else in the world that made him as nervous, as flushed, as completely incapable of basic speech as Y/N, and it drove him insane. 

It drove him insane that it took three times. 

~~~

The first time he noticed her shivering, it wasn’t on purpose. 

Zuko was serving tea to everyone as they gathered around the campfire, chuckling as Aang recounted one of their earlier adventures, back when he was still trying to capture the Avatar. Thinking about his past, who he used to be, was painful, but it gave him all the more reason to be thankful for where he was now. 

He wasn’t as focused on Aang’s story as he was on Y/N, though. She could hardly keep her thoughts to herself, interrupting every couple of seconds to add a detail that Aang forgot or give her own input on the events that he was describing. He started to frown as he noticed her shivering despite sitting right next to the fire — Zuko didn’t even realize how distracted he was until he felt someone hitting his arm. 

“Hey!” He was snapped out of his reverie by the harshness of Katara’s voice, angrily gesturing at the broken teacup and now spilled tea all over Haru. 

“Oh— I am so sorry,” he stammered as he crouched down and started to pick up the pieces on the ground. “Are you okay?” 

“It’s just.. really hot tea,” Haru muttered with a small wince. “No big deal.” 

“You’re right. It’s not a big deal.” Y/N raised her hand and with a small, fluid movement, she bent the liquid out of the fabric and formed it into a tiny sphere in the air. “See? Good as new. And you’re not even burnt.” 

Haru chuckled and pulled at his tunic, giving Y/N a grateful nod. 

“Can a sky bison drink tea?” She mused as she moved the liquid orb around in the air. 

“I don’t think so,” Aang said with a small laugh. 

“Shame we have to waste it.” Y/N bent it away from the group and let it fall to the ground, sinking into the rock below them. “Zuko can always make more though, right?” She said with a hopeful smile. 

“Uh, yeah. Of course.” 

“See, guys? No harm, no foul. You’re the best, Zuko.” She gave him an overexaggerated wink then began to pester Aang to get back to the story, leaving Zuko to continue handing out tea and keep his shaking hands as steady as possible. 

She really had no idea the effect she had on him. 

~~~ 

The second time? It was definitely on purpose. 

The night was unusually cold, even with the bonfire blazing in the middle, and he found his eyes trained once more on Y/N. This time she was the storyteller, giving them all a taste of Northern Water Tribe culture as she recounted a bedtime story she was told as a child. She had a whole arsenal of character voices at her disposal, keeping everyone thoroughly entertained despite the numerous lines she forgot. Zuko didn’t even realize he was staring until Sokka elbowed him in the elbow, gesturing at her with a nod of his head and a cocky grin. 

“What are you doing, just gawking at her like that?” 

“Wh— gawking? I am not gawking. I’m— I’m just listening to her.” 

“Yeah, sure. But I’m pretty sure Appa could start talking right now and you wouldn’t notice because you are hopelessly into her.” He gestured at Zuko’s eyes with his hand then in Y/N’s direction. “Gawking.” 

“I— I am not!” He protested, tearing his eyes away from Y/N’s animated face to give Sokka one of his signature glares. He lowered his voice to a whisper to ensure that no one would hear them. “I’m not into her, I’m not gawking, I am appreciating her storytelling.” 

“Uh huh, yeah.” Sokka looked at her and grinned before glancing back at Zuko. “If you’re not into her, then I can ask her out, right?” 

Zuko didn’t respond, simply kept glaring at him in hopes that it would intimidate him into backing down so he wouldn’t have to say anything and risk embarrassing himself. 

Sokka chuckled and held up his hands. “Alright, geez, I’m just joking. But maybe use some of that fire to keep it going? Looks like she’s cold.” 

Almost immediately, he broke eye contact and fueled the fire with a simple blast. Y/N shot him a grateful smile and nodded as she continued her story, and Zuko noticed her hands falling back down into her lap from their former place on her arms. 

No amount of fire could’ve caused as much warmth as her smile. He was sure of that. 

~~~

There was no way he could miss it the third time. After all, she was the only one there. 

Zuko hadn’t been able to sleep so he ended up outside, and there she was — sitting there, all alone in the middle of the temple grounds, shivering quietly with a moonless night sky as her backdrop. Before he could second guess himself, Zuko started walking over. 

“Hey.” Y/N greeted him without even looking up as she pulled her arms around herself, bringing her legs up to her chest in an effort to conserve all the warmth she could. 

“Hey.” Zuko took a seat on the ground next to her and crossed his legs. “Are you cold?” 

She let out an airy chuckle and nodded. “Strange, isn’t it? I grow up surrounded by snow and ice and I’m perfectly fine, but after a few months away a couple of breezes are tearing me down. I don’t get it.” 

“You’ve been shivering a lot lately,” he said after a beat of silence. Y/N raised an eyebrow and gave him a wry smile. 

“What, have you been looking?”

That sent him stammering. “I-I— yes? I mean— no, I’ve noticed, but I’m not actively looking at you, that’s weird, I’m not— I mean—”

Y/N threw her head back and laughed, the same laugh that sent flutter bats through his stomach and made his heart burst with happiness. She set her hand on his and squeezed, giving him a gentle look that almost immediately ceased his rambling. “Zuko, it’s alright. It’s… nice that you’ve noticed. Like you’re looking out for me or something.” 

He opened his mouth to respond but couldn’t find his voice — he was sure his cheeks were as red as his tunic, just at the simple touch of her hand — and it only got worse as she placed her other hand on top of it. 

“You’re warm,” Y/N muttered. “Like… intensely warm.”

“Is that bad?” He wondered aloud, preemptively panicking. “Do you want me to turn it off? I can’t turn it off, but I could find a way somehow—” 

“Thank you,” she interrupted with another small laugh, “but no. I don’t need you to uh, turn off your firebending. That already happened once. But you’re adorable to think of me like that.” 

The two of them stared into each other’s eyes, the air between them heavy with something she couldn’t quite place. Y/N pursed her lips and bit back a growing smile as she glanced at the ground. 

“This is, uh… really helping. With the cold, I mean. And I was… I guess I was just…” Another laugh. “I was just wondering if you’d maybe want to spend the night with me? Just because my room is especially freezing, and you’re so warm, and I think I would sleep a lot better if I—”

Now it was his turn to interrupt her rambling. There was something about her getting so flustered about him in the same way he did around her that made this easier. “I’d love to.”

“Great,” she breathed, the same smile from before returning just a little bit brighter. Y/N stood up and they began their walk back into the temple, hands still intertwined, warmth emanating between the two of them. 

Three times. 

Two strikes. 

One success. 

And that was all he needed.  

[zuko-always-lies]

You know, if the writers actually wanted to imply that Iroh cared about or loved Azula, it would be trivially easy to sneak in a scene or two implying that.  They included scenes implying that Zuko cares about Azula, multiple scenes implying that Azula cares about Zuko, two scenes implying that Ty Lee cares about Zuko, at least one scene implying that Azula cares about Ty Lee, multiple scenes implying that Ty Lee cares about Azula, scenes implying that Ty Lee cares about Mai, and arguably even at least one scene implying that Azula cares about Mai. They managed to imply that Iroh still cares about Ozai without ever showing the two directly interact.

But there isn’t anything implying that Iroh gives a fuck about Azula, and especially nothing implying that he gives a fuck about 14 year old Azula.  The most anyone give ever point to is that he got her a gift as an afterthought that anyone who spent five minutes with her would know she wouldn’t like, while getting Zuko a cool personalized gift of great significance and meaning. 

In fact, the clearly established pattern in the show is that Iroh hates and dislikes Azula. He scowls at her with a look of pure hatred the moment she shows up in “The Avatar State,” before she’s done anything other than politely say hello. He deliberately traps her and prevents her from escaping in “The Chase” and gives no indication of sympathy toward her. He actively incites Zuko against her in “Bitter Work” and encourages Zuko’s violent rivalry with her.  He gives no indication of caring about her in “The Crossroads of Destiny.” In the series finale, he refuses to fight his own brother because “it would be wrong,” but without hesitation sends Zuko to kill or capture his own sister. Azula always calls Iroh “uncle,” but Iroh never refers to 14 year old Azula as his niece.

Again, there is a lot of evidence that Iroh deeply dislikes and hates Azula, at least once she grew older than 8 years old, and none that he cares about her. The Legacy of the Fire Nation(postcanon, but has some interesting takes on Iroh) even explains why he hates her(he blames her for Ozai abusing and neglecting Zuko). It would be trivial for the writers to demonstrate that Iroh has some mixed feelings on Azula(something they managed to do with Zuko, Ty Lee, Mai, Katara, and Lo and Li, which is nearly every character that Azula has any sort of personal connection to or interactions with other than Iroh, Ozai, and Ursa), but they didn’t. And there’s no issue with Iroh hating and disliking he niece(because she competes with Zuko for power, status, and parental attention), unless you believe that Iroh is a saint sent done by God. In fact, it’s arguably one of the less despicable and hypocritical things Iroh has done in his life.

But no, Iroh is Good(TM), so we get convoluted explanations about how he always secretly loved Azula and wanted the best for her and just never showed it, or claims the fact that he hates her is proof she’s a demon-child who was born evil.

[sokka-with-his-hair-down]

zukka + sharing clothes !!!

“That’s... my shirt.”

“Hm?” Sokka hummed, looking up from his phone.

He found that Zuko was staring at him quizzically, brow furrowed and lips quirked up in amusement. “I said that’s my shirt.”

Sokka’s mouth fell open a little. “Oh. I guess it is.” He looked down at the band tee and smiled a little. “It’s cozy.”

“I think you should give it back,” Zuko suggested, stepping closer to the couch where Sokka was curled up.

“But what if I won’t want to?”

“Dire consequences will follow.”

Sokka whined. “There’s always a catch.”

Zuko flopped down next to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek, smiling. “Always when it comes to my clothes, babe.”

“So, what, are you gonna get back at me?”

“Maybe.”

“How?”

Zuko grinned and sunk deeper into the cushion. “Hey now, I don’t wanna lose the element of surprise.”

Sokka huffed, but still scooted closer.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Roughly four days later, when Sokka walked into the apartment, he wandered to the kitchen so find Zuko nursing a cup of tea in a dark blue hoodie—his hoodie—with a smug look on his face.

“Zuko?”

“Yeah?”

“Is that...”

Zuko didn’t make eye contact as he tried for nonchalance. “Your favorite hoodie from last year’s music festival? Maybe.”

“Ah,” Sokka breathed, “is this your payback?”

“I don’t know. Is it?”

“It is.”

“Whatever you say.”

Sokka leaned against the counter, unable to conceal his fondness for the pettiness of Zuko’s actions. “Fine. Be like that. We’ll see how well it plays out for you.”

Zuko didn’t lose his smirk as he continued drinking his tea.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

After that, it was Zuko’s button down.

And after that, it was Sokka’s jeans.

And after that, it stopped being a competition and more of a ritual.

It wasn’t something they talked about a ton. It was one of those things that went almost unspoken about once they got into the rhythm of it. Zuko hadn’t even considered what other people might think until he was out at lunch with Katara and she took notice of his attire.

“Zuko?”

He looked up from his food. “Yeah?”

“Is that my brother’s jacket?”

Ah.

“Oh. Uh. Maybe.”

She gave him a look. “I know you two were going out, but I didn’t realize it was so... serious.”

“How, exactly, is sharing clothes a serious thing?”

“It’s—y’know!”

Zuko shook his head. “I legitimately have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Katara frowned. “Sharing clothes is something a serious couple does.” She leaned forward. “Are you and Sokka... serious?”

That question caught him off guard. He hadn’t really thought about it. Yes, he and Sokka had been going out. Yes, they’d become comfortable being affectionate outside of their formal dates. And yes, they stole each other’s clothes. A lot. And yes, they cuddles on he couch and kissed a ton and oh.

Well.

Were they serious?

“Uh,” Zuko breathed, “I’m gonna have to get back to you on that.”

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

“I wanted to ask you something.”

Sokka was trying to make dinner (key word: trying) when Zuko brought it up.

“Uh, sure,” Sokka said, struggling to set the oven timer. “Shoot.”

Zuko cleared his throat. “Right. Um. It’s about us.”

“I sure hope this isn’t a break up,” Sokka joked, pressing the buttons in the oven in frustration.

Zuko exhaled a laugh. “No. I wanted to ask if we’re serious.”

“Serious?”

“Like, a serious couple.”

“Did my sister put you up to this?”

Zuko huffed. “No! Well, kind of, but not really. This is- look. Just answer me.”

Sokka laughed and leaned against the counter. “Well, if you wanna be, then yeah, we’re serious.” He thought for a moment. “If I may ask, how did this question come about?”

Zuko, slightly red in the face and a little jittery from the excitement of him and Sokka being serious, replied, “Katara said that sharing clothes is a thing serious couples do. So I was just. Curious.”

“Ah. I see. Well,” Sokka grinned deviously, “then we’re about to be really serious, because I’m stealing your nice button down tonight.”

“Hey, that’s my best shirt-”

“Mm, and it’ll look great on me. Thanks, babe!” Sokka ran out of the kitchen, laughing, leaving Zuko disoriented, a little annoyed, but mostly warm all over.