#official zutara month

[zutarawasrobbed]

Fire Nation Press

Reporter: Fire Lord Zuko, Ambassador Katara; rumors of a potential relationship between you both have been circling the last few months with no confirmation. Are you willing to go on the record today and admit what everyone already knows, that you’re in a relationship?

Zuko: No, because we’re not.

Katara: Yes, I’m afraid your information is outdated, sir. We aren’t dating-

Zuko: Exactly, now if you’ll excuse us we have a meeting to atten-

Katara: We’re engaged.

[burst-of-iridescent]

Hi, I’m new to the zutara fandom. Why does it seem like every month is a zutara month or every week zutara week? What does it mean?

don’t worry anon, there’s only one actual zutara month and zutara week! but the fandom is so creative and cool that we’re constantly having zutara events of some kind, which is why it can seem like there’s always something going on haha.

but you know, in the immortal words of mae whitman, katara’s voice actress:

[desertbcrnnobody]

PULLS IN TWO DAYS LATE!

My first official Zutara month art!

This is for Reluctant Allies.

[arverst-aegnar]

Day 30: Time Loop/Time Travel

heck yeah, i completed two days this year!!

the ending is a bit more abrupt than i wanted, but it just was not cooperating with me, and i was afraid that if i left it too long with my other incomplete Zutara Month ideas it might get infected with "takes too long to finish -itis". so here it is.

The word spreads quickly, covering the entire Earth Kingdom in a matter of days and reaching the Northern Water Tribe’s court within a week. Even the remnant of the Southern Water Tribe, all but forgotten at the bottom of the world, hears about it before the new moon.

Fire Lord Ozai is dead. His successor, Fire Lord Iroh, has declared his intentions to put an end to his nation’s war of domination. Petitions for peace and offers of reparations are being extended to all world leaders.

The Southern Water Tribe elders suspect a trap of some kind. Some think the proposed Peace Conference is actually an opportunity for him to kill the other nations’ leadership, leaving them vulnerable to his armies. Others suspect a subtler scheme to conquer the rest of the world through diplomacy, or perhaps a combination of culture and technology. 

For Sokka and Katara, who only hear the news by listening intently outside the elders’ meeting tent, there are more pressing matters at hand.

“Dad’s going to need me with him at this Peace Conference,” Sokka declares. He pulls out his boomerang and takes aim at a snowman some of the little kids built last week. “Whatever the Fire Nation’s planning, it’s no match for Southern Water Tribe ingenuity!”

Katara worries her bottom lip with her teeth. “What happened to Fire Lord Ozai?”

Sokka scoffs. “Who cares? He was a big, fat jerkbender like all of them. Probably set his bed on fire ‘cause he was roasting the Earth King in his sleep.”

She says nothing as her brother goes to pull his boomerang out of the snowman’s head. Nor does she say anything when her father announces that he and his entire family will be attending the Peace Conference, along with several of his best warriors. 

On the ship, she delights in opportunities to use her waterbending to speed it on its way, or to play pranks on Sokka, but often she is found deep in thought, wearing a pensive look much too old for her.

“You’re strangely quiet,” Kya observes as they prepare to disembark. The voyage is over, but the journey to Omashu will take at least another day. “Something eating you, sealpup?” She pokes her daughter in the side, which provokes a giggle that quickly fades. Face unusually solemn, Katara shakes her head. Kya frowns, but leaves the matter be.

The entry into Omashu is packed like salted fish in a barrel, people from all over drawn to the Peace Conference, but an envoy from the king gives their delegation precedence over the rest. Sokka cranes his head back to take in the architecture. Kya’s gaze flits around, trying to take in the variety of clothing worn by native and visitor alike. Hakoda’s attention is on his family, but he makes sure he knows where all his warriors are at the same time. Kanna, riding an ostrich horse graciously provided by the king, seems mostly interested in staying upright, but her head turns every now and then when a familiar scent wafts in from one of the market stalls. Katara, kept at the center of her family unit, has no interest to spare for any of it.

When they reach the palace, they are immediately brought to the main hall, where King Bumi, Chief Arnook, and three of the Earth Kingdom’s Council of Five await them, as well as Fire Lord Iroh. No sooner are the official introductions made than Katara turns to Fire Lord Iroh and, with a hasty bow, demands, “Did Zuko come with you?” A half-second later, flustered, she stutters, “I - I mean Prince Zuko.”

In the chaos of the sudden trip, some things were left to the last minute, and that includes the talk Hakoda and Kya intended to give their children about how to behave in front of foreign royalty. The blood drains from Kya’s face. Hakoda, his face a storm of anger stirred up by fear, takes a step toward Katara, prepared to pull her back to safety. But before he can, to their astonishment a broad smile spreads across the Fire Lord’s face. With a shallow bow, he waves a hand toward a door behind them. “Prince Zuko is in the garden, but I am sure he would not mind the company, if your parents think it acceptable.”

Katara is running towards the door before he finishes speaking.

*****

Katara knows she’s going to get in trouble for this later. It’s her own fault, putting off the explanation for so long, acting like the little girl they believe her to be -- as much as she can, at least. But whatever punishment they think up is nothing compared to what’s waiting for her in that garden.

If he doesn’t remember, if she’s still all alone in this, then no punishment could be worse. If he does …

She’s never seen the garden in the Omashu palace before. It’s more ornamental than the ones she’s used to, and the main features seem to be rocks and crystals more than trees and flowers. But she can sense water -- a fair amount of it, too, like a small pond -- and she doesn’t have to follow it far before she sees him.

Zuko is next to the pond, his back to her. He’s smaller than she’s ever seen him, and not just because he’s sitting down. His hair is long enough to brush his shoulders, even pulled up into the traditional topknot. Like his uncle, he is dressed in Fire Nation red and gold, but the cut of his robes looks different to her untrained eyes -- Earth Kingdom style, perhaps? Surrounding him are half-a-dozen turtleducklings, and the wave of affection that sweeps over her freezes her in place.

“Hey now.” She recognizes that mildly scolding tone, even if his voice is a little different than the one in her memory. “You have to share with your sister. You’re not getting more seeds just because you’re bigger.”

Katara tries to say something, but it seems all the words she wants to say are trying to come out at once, and have jammed up in her throat. She stumbles back half a step.

The crunch of the gravel under her feet gets his attention. His head turns slightly in her direction, then he’s leaping to his feet, turning towards her -- 

Oh.

He doesn't have the scar.

For one moment, Zuko stares at her with wide eyes. Then in the next, he’s closed the gap between them, pulling her into the tightest hug she’s ever had. Katara wraps her arms around him and buries her face into his shoulder. “Katara,” he breathes, and a little sob escapes her at the familiarity and warmth in that single word.

“Zuko,” she manages. Her voice wobbles but does not break on the name like she thought it might. “Oh, Zuko.”

He pulls back too soon, but he cups her cheek with one hand while the other brushes her hair out of her eyes. Katara tries to smile at him, but it’s hard when every emotion of the past three years wants to pour out at once. Instead, she reaches up and gently touches his left cheek. The skin is smooth and whole under her fingers.

Zuko closes his eyes, but not before she catches a flash of pain. Immediately, she knows what must have happened. Why he has no scar. How Ozai must have died.

“I thought I was dreaming at first,” he says hoarsely. “I told him off. Yelled at him for being a terrible father and a worse Fire Lord. Then -”

Katara shakes her head and pulls him back to her. This time he’s the one to bury his head in her shoulder. “I know,” she tells him, her throat still choked. “I know. I did too.”

Later, she thinks, she’ll tell him about Yon Rha. About how in her determination not to relive the worst day of her life, she had pulled on his blood with a ferocity she had only seen herself use in nightmares. What his corpse had looked like, afterwards, and the look on her mother’s face. How what had once been a fantasy of power and relief had, if only for a little while, become a horrifying reality. Maybe she’ll finally find the words to describe the contradictory emotions that have been warring in her ever since, but even if she doesn’t, it will be okay, because now she has someone who will understand.

For the moment, she holds him close as they both succumb to tears.

[zukosdualdao]

the moon will sing a song for me (i loved you like the sun)

zutara month, day seven: divine intervention, @zutaramonth.

summary: when zuko takes the lightning aimed for katara, it takes a little more than her usual healing to get him back from the brink. feat. yue's words of encouragement and empowering influence on katara, medically necessary bloodbending, and a zuko who is too out of it to understand much of what is going on, but that's okay. katara has him.

content warnings: general references to violence and wounds, nothing more explicit than the show.

notes: title is from "the moon will sing" by the crane wives. yes i do too many lyric titles. no i will not stop <3. idk when sozin's comet officially ended but for fic purposes we are imagining the timing makes sense for the moon to be out after the agni kai. two pieces of dialogue were taken from the show.

Zuko groans as he's being turned over. His bones feel like liquid, his skin set alight, his heart like a crater in his chest.

Katara, he thinks, he tries to say, he doesn't know.

Katara looks at him with a worried expression, her lips turned in a frown, her eyes wide with fear and sadness as she presses a watery hand to his crumpled, prone form.

She is worried but alive. She is alive, and if she is here, then she must have defeated Azula.

Katara is alive. That is what counts. This was his destiny, then. To save her.

It wasn't a bad note to end on.

Zuko closes his eyes. There's a hammering thud in his chest. He is so tired. Normally, he'd associate the feel of it with exertion, or else desperation, and he would feel frantic. But he is so tired. He has been so tired.

"No," he thinks he hears Katara say. It sounds like she's underwater, or perhaps he is. "No, Zuko, don't you dare."

He struggles to open his eyes again because he doesn't want her to sound so angry with him and doesn't want her to be sad. It only feels like a moment has passed, or maybe it has been hours.

She is looking up. Pale, yellow light shadows her.

Katara is speaking with the moon.

The moon is also a girl.

Someone told him a story like that once.

A spirit, he thinks a little redundantly, with white tresses of hair and a glowy form and a gentle smile. The moon spirit?

Zuko jerks, a spasm of his body as he lights up again with the pain, and Katara looks back to him, alarmed.

"—but you know another way," the moon-girl insists softly to Katara, whom Zuko looks at as her mouth sets in a thin, determined line. Unless he's imagining it all, which is possible. "And I am here with you now."

After a moment's hesitation, Katara nods and sets her left, water-encased hand against his chest again and raises her other in a motion he faintly recognizes.

"This is going to hurt," she says warningly, sadly. "But it will help. I think. It has to." She shakes her head, torn.

Zuko doesn't know what's going on, but if Katara says it will help, that's all that really matters.

"I trust you," he slurs. Is that him? Does he sound like that?

Katara blinks. Zuko watches tears slip from her cheeks.

And then, it starts. She did not lie about it hurting. Despite himself, Zuko feels his body rising from the ground in pain and panic, and Katara has to keep him pressed down. His blood is boiling, his chest swelling. This must be what dying feels like. But then, he's pretty sure he was dying before. He supposes it's a process.

"—sorry, sorry, I'm so sorry—" Zuko makes out the words, faint in his ears, though Katara sobs them out.

Eventually, though, the beat of his heart evens. His blood begins to simmer down. The pain melts.

He watches as Katara pulls back, resting on her knees. The moon-girl smiles down on them before fading back into being just the moon, high in their war-torn sky again.

Nothing that just happened makes any sense, Zuko decides dazedly. But it was Katara who saved him, and that made all the sense in the world.

"Thank you, Katara," he rasps, looking up at her through heavy eyes. Looking at her made everything in the world seem alright again.

She looks down at him with a soft expression and a watery smile.

"I think I'm the one who should be thanking you."

[iela-0989]

Day 3 - After All These Years

Zutara Month 2023

After, all these years, they're still together, stronger than ever (NON-CANONICALLY of course🙄)

Heavily inspired by the 'not so recent' official art released🤭 Can't help but amused with the way the fandom reacts to the Zutara crumbs~ NGL, I was thrilled myself too😆😆😆

Somehow it feels good to see the Gaang as young adults. BUT, as a bitter Zutarian, I don't hold that much expectation on the upcoming movie. The canon already disappointed me so much. Just don't want to add more to disappointment. My heart still aching at the thought of not being able to see Zuko & Katara together🥹

[broadwaybalogna]

ZUTARA MONTH DAY FOUR: ASHES

-

Katara held him tight the night Iroh was officially ‘cremated’, or whatever people called it, Zuko didn’t really care. He just wanted to see his uncle again.

There were no ashes to keep.

He lay in bed, unable to sleep, Katara drawing circles on his back to help him feel calm.

”Am I selfish?” He finally asked, not making a move.

”For what?”

”For wishing I had something to remember him by?”

”No.” Katara immediately responded.

”What makes you so sure?”

”It’s not selfish, it’s just human.”

-

Read the full fic here:

@zutaramonth

[mysticwolfshadows]

Taken - Zutara

Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3 (here), Pt 4, Pt 5, Pt 6

When Katara opens her eyes again, Zuko has kept his word. He's slumped over onto a table, breathing softly. She can't help the little laugh that escapes when she notices the little line of drool coming from his open mouth. Her laugh only grows when Zuko jerks up in surprise.

"Whats so funny?" he demands, his cheeks somewhat pink.

"Nothing," she said. "You just reminded me of my brother."

They'd never really talked about her life before the Fire Nation, and he was clearly surprised. "You have a brother?"

She nodded, looking away. "His name is Sokka. He's a year older than me. He wants to be just like our dad." When he doesn't say anything, she looks up to find him watching her very intently. She can't help the heat that grows on her cheeks. "What?"

"You'll see them again," he promises. "I said that I was going to get your home, remember?"

His insistence on an impossible promise made months ago surprises her. She knows that it will never happen. If she isn't able to meet Ozai's demands, she will be executed, and if she is able to, the Fire Lord will never let her leave. So Katara just smiles and thanks him. She can't possibly expect him to keep his word on this.

There was something about that day that led to a change in Zuko. He comes to see her every day to get her out of work in some way. If he isn't able to come see her, he will warn her the day before. Within a month, if Zuko says he will do something, Katara can trust that he will have it done. He becomes a man of his word.

As months go on, others take notice. Katara starts to hear maids talking about how he is becoming an honorable young man, listens as governors express delight at having such a diligent and trustworthy prince next in line. A swell of pride fills Katara each time she hears them talking about her friend.

Months turn into another year, and then another. Katara spends each day with hard work under the Palace physician, with most afternoons interrupted by Zuko pulling her away. Some afternoons, they visit the training hall, Zuko now allowed in without a tutor, and he has her bend with him. Other days, they sit by the turtleduck pond, Zuko occasionally asking about her family. Rarely, Azula interrupts them, but Katara is able to get Zuko to ignore her, and his sister usually gets bored and leaves.

As her strength grows, Katara finds herself content with this life. She can live here, healing people and bowing to the Fire Lord's demands. Someday, Zuko will be Fire Lord. Perhaps he would be able to take her home then, but that is years and years in the future. Several decades, at least. By then, Katara would be unrecognizable to her people, and her people alien to her. She already begins to forget what her family looks like.

It's about 3 and a half years after Katara came to the Fire Nation that the fragile peace of her new life is shattered.

It was a very normal day for her. Zuko had warned her that he would be trying to join a war meeting, and wouldn't be able to see her if he managed to join. She spent the day in the clinic, healing stray soldiers and guards, and the occasional official that wasn't really injured. As the morning turned to noon, she found herself with nothing to do, and sat to have lunch. An hour later, the doors were being thrown open, a fanatic servant calling for a healer. Katara, being the best there was, grabbed up one of her water pots, and told the servant to lead the way.

She hadn't expected to be led to Zuko's quarters.

Rushing to her friends bedside, she ordered the servant to bring more water. Iroh was knelt at the other side, and as she pulled the wet cloth from Zuko's face, she demanded to know what had happened.

"There was an Agni Kai," Iroh said, his voice heavy with worry. "Zuko, he... He didn't fight, and then... Please, Miss Katara. Please heal my nephew."

Her hands were already glowing, gently laying bending cooled liquid on Zuko's red and clammy face. She didn't say a word, focused solely on healing the only friend she knew. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she panicked each time Zuko made any noise. He had to be in immense pain, had to be going through something unimaginable.

She worked on Zuko for nearly five hours. Her body swayed when she tried to stand, and her stomach rolled. Zuko would be fine. At least for now. She had never dealt with a burn so severe before, and had done her best. There would still be a scar, a terrible ugly thing that she knew would change his life forever, but she had been able to heal it enough to hopefully save his vision at least.

"Thank you," Iroh breathed as she leaned against the wall. "Thank you... Please... Rest. You have done so much for us already, and I can not ask you to remain beside him through the night."

"I want to," she said, voice soft. "Please, let me stay. I want to be here when he wakes up, and if something happens..." She trails off, unable to finish the somber thought.

"The room next door is empty," Iroh insisted. "You will need your strength, should he need healing again, but you have already done so much. Please, at least sleep. I will come to fetch you if he shows any sign of waking."

Of all the Fire Nation royals, Iroh had been one of the kindest to her. He loved Zuko dearly, and she trusted him to do just that. So she dragged herself into the room next door, and landed with a flop on the bed.

Only, when she woke in the morning, it was not to Iroh. The early Fire Nation sun glared through the somewhat open screens. A blanket had been thrown over her. She went to Zuko's room immediately, only to find Fire Lord Ozai leaving it.

There were guards now stationed outside. Quickly, Katara dropped her head into a bow, not wanting to risk being pulled into some impossible task when Zuko was still recovering. She waited until she was sure he was gone before lifting her head and trying to enter.

The guards stopped her.

"Return to your quarters, healer," one guard said.

It was always healer with the guards. They did not use her name, and had originally called her waterbender, as if it were an insult. Now, most used healer almost in reverence. Some she had saved from serious injury, cuts or burns that could have easily caused a scar if treated without bending. None had been as terrible as Zuko's, however.

"Why?" she seethed, anger and shock turning her voice into venom.

"Fire Lord Ozai's orders," the other said. "No one is to enter. Return to your quarters, healer."

Katara wanted to lash out, whip water at the guards with a move she and Zuko had been working on. But she had no water, and couldn't risk being on the chopping block again. She had to stay calm. She would have to see Iroh.

The general was nowhere to be found. She spent three days and sleepless nights trying to get anything out of anyone. No one would tell her anything.

It was on her third sleepless night that the world began to spin, her eyes staring blankly at the moon. It was late. Midnight, perhaps. She hadn't been keeping track of time. All she knew was that her friend was locked away in his room, a grievous wound across half his face, and she could do nothing about it.

As she blinked at the crescent moon, it began to blur. There was a buzzing in her ears, and she began to tilt. She vaugely recognized the sound of her name, before the world tilted and fell completely dark.

Next

[ekwolfwriter-blog]

WIP Zutara Month Challenge: No War AU

This one, I actually have posted before, but I will share again. It is where Katara is basically a princess of the Southern Water Tribe and Zuko is her personal night. For this, I am going to share the opening that I have been working on. Enjoy!

“Princess Katara! Please wait!” A servant calls for Princess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe Kingdom as she is running through the halls in less than official attire for a princess.

Katara, who is dressed like a normal citizen, blue parka with heave fur and a hood while wearing some black garbs under it with training boots, looks back to the servant. “If you want me to wait, you have to catch me first.” She smirked as she then glanced to a window and uses her momentum to jump out of it.

The servant gasps loudly as they made it to the window, only to see that Katara had bent some water to make a slide out of the window and fall to the ground with style. She looked up at the window and smirked. “See ya,” she smirked as she then took off over the gardens of the palace and hurried on top of the ice hut rooftops.

“Guards! Someone call for the guards,” one of the servants said.

Unbeknownst to them, there was someone that was already in pursuit of Princess Katara. They climbed the wall and managed to get on top in view of everyone around them. It was a young man that was in his early twenties. Fit as he managed to climb the wall with ease while wearing a light version of the blue parkas that most of the Southern Water tribe people would be using, while it was embroidered with some red flames in the fringes and part of the belt he wore.

Raven black hair was pulled back, but there were some bits of braided hair that were hanging from the side of his face – most of them to show honor and bravery as any good warrior of the tribes – as it swayed contrast to the red and pink scar on the man’s left side of his face. Gold eyes narrowed on the princess as he caught sight of her and began to speed off after her.

Meanwhile, Katara felt she was being clever with being able to sneak out with being noticed. She felt like she was finally going to get away this time. “Finally! I managed to outsmart them!” She managed to say as she kept running.

“Wouldn’t count on it, princess!” A voice said yelled behind her.

Katara gasped as she turned around to see the man from before following her across the rooftops. He was closing in on her as she groaned and used water bending to get to a further location. “Give it a rest Zuko! You are not going to catch me!” She yelled back.

“Is that a challenge, princess?” He yelled back as he managed to close in but then see her bend herself across the street they were on and get to another rooftop.

Katara smirked. “Shall we make it a challenge?” She stood there, feeling confident in herself that she managed to get his attention.

Zuko smirked. “Would not be much of a challenge, but the usual?” He asked as he put a hand to his hip and cocked his head to the side.

“Usual,” she smirked back.

“Then, better be get running as the guards are coming,” he confirmed as he pointed to the guards that were finally catching up to them. Some of them were water benders as they managed to get to the rooftop and close in.

Katara smirked as she then bends to throw a huge thing of snow toward Zuko as he was quick to react. He sent a blast of fire at the snow as it created a lot of steam. Enough coverage for Katara to make her daring escape. Zuko stood and waited a moment for the steam to clear before looking to the men. “She escaped! Fan out and find the princess!”

“Yes sir!”

The rest of the guards being to disperse and try to find Princess Katara before she escaped again. Zuko on the other hand waits a moment before he slipped away from their view. He looked around as he could see a little trail of steam that was lingering on purpose in the air. He chuckled.

“Watch out, Katara, time is running out.”

Hope you enjoyed this little snippet! I am going to see if can get one more done before I am out this weekend, but we will see!

[kaolinite91]

Avatar Generations - ATLA Mobile game!!

So... I just found out about Avatar Generations, the official ATLA game last week...

It's a turn-based game..

And I love it!!! 💕

The arts so detailed, the 3D models, so many characters and side stories!!! Aaaaaaaa I am so sad why it's so underhyped 😭

I kinda understand why people seems to not liking this game.. and I experienced a lot of bugs and the UI not optimized yet..

However this game still 2 months old..thus why its still buggy sometimes..but hopefully it got better..

---

I still trying to get S3 Zuko tho..hehe but I got S3 Katara!! So hopefully I can form my own S3 Zutara team..

Aaaand I really loves Sokka animation..he looks so silly and funny!!

I hope this game can be staying for some years.. or hopefully they made a paid ATLA battle game for console using all of this assets.. coz its so pretty ~~ 🥹

PS. I Just got free Iroh and guess what he did in heroes upgrade screen..

.

.

he sung Leaf from the vines...

🥹🥲💔😭😭🍃🍃🍃

(I got emotional)

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

The fact that the official atla channel AGAIN did a poll with non-canon ships, only for zutara to lose to sokka x ty lee is just 😂😂😂😂😂 I love how they pull out a poll involving zutara every other month and it just keeps losing

Neat. Also HOW is Sokka X Ty Lee not canon? Sure, they never dated, but she clearly had a crush on him, was constantly trying to flirt, and Sokka even flirted back in The Drill (because the writers forgot he was supposed to be Suki's boyfriend).

I wouldn't be surprised if the reason Azula knew Sokka's name and that he was dating Suki because Ty Lee was talking about how unfair it was that the cute boy that travels with the Avatar was already taken.

[atlararepairbigbang]

Meet the Mods!

We have an awesome team of mods working together to put on this event, so we figured we'd introduce ourselves as we prepare for sign ups to kick off on the 26th of March!

Sav, aka @badlucksav

Mod Sav here! My favorite ships are Irosami, Makonora, Makorra, YuTen, Zutara, Azutara, and JetLee, but I like any ship that makes my brain sparkle. I’ve been in fandom for almost 3 years, joining during the Renaissance initially as a ZK shipper but branching out into different ships and then into LoK as well. I’m a writer and sometimes artist, and occasional beta. A fun fact about me is that I wrote my longest fic (273k words) in just under six months.

Sooz, aka @it-is-sooz-again

Hi, I’m mod Sooz! I’ve been a part of the Avatar fandom since 2011, but only really started making fanart for it in the last couple of years. I’m a multishipper and rare pair fanatic, and can be sold on just about any ship that passes my way, but I have a soft spot for anything involving Jet or Ty Lee. Unsurprisingly, my favorite ship is JetLee. A fun fact about me is that all my headcanons are depressing 🙂 !

Orange, aka @orangepanic

Hello, I'm mod Orange. I'd never even heard of fandom until summer of 2020 when I suddenly needed a creative outlet to offset the fact I was locked inside my apartment and busted out 60k words of spiteful canon fix-it. My favorite ships are Irosami and complete and utter side character crack like Ursa/The Boulder, Lin Beifong/Lightning Bolt Zolt, June/Col. Mongke, Azula/Joo Dee, Baatar Beifong/Eska, and Viper/Jargala Omo. Fun fact: I've written nearly 25% of the Irosami tag on AO3.

Neva, aka @neva-borne

Hi, I'm mod Neva (pronounced knee-vah). I started writing for the fandom back in 2019, finishing my first fic a year later, though I've been a fan of ATLA since I was a kid. I kind of dove headfirst into fandom and running events. I'm an artist and writer, and I've dabbled in betaing through my event experience. My favorite ships are Zutara and Jursa, and I actually wrote the first ever Jursa fic on Ao3!

Crooked, aka @crookedmouth-mountainbones

Hello, I'm mod Crooked! I joined the ATLA fandom officially with the renaissance of 2020 but was first introduced to it back in college. I am a writer and beta reader in this fandom as well as others, and am your resident villain devotee. Rarepairs and crackships have always been my favourite, though I am -- to no one's surprise at this point -- partial to pairings involving Zhao. As for a fun fact, some of my non-fanfiction work has been published, which is cool, I guess, if you're into poetry.

And that's the team! We hope to see you soon!

[overlordneon]

could you tell us more about ur zutara kids

lol I can always talk about any of my steambabies because of love them.

Under the cut what I have for them so far. Kinda long.

So the twin, Ran and Shaw were both happy accidents, and at the time Zuko and Katara weren't even married yet. Katara had stressed about giving the news to Zuko for days and she knew it was something she needed to tell in person. Zuko was genuinely SO happy to hear the news.

Still, after some long talks over it, they decided to give the kids a chance at peaceful childhoods before having to deal with the consequences of their royal lineage. So, while Zuko covertly spent some time there to help with the newborns, Katara pretty much raised the twins alone with her family in the South Pole for the first few years of their lives. Meanwhile, Zuko publicly announced the existence of his children, though didnt reveal who/where they were and dealt with the social backlash of it largely alone- with some needed support from the Avatar.

Ran and Shaw only barely knew of their father. Whatever their mom was willing to tell them, she always seemed to speak so sweetly about him and their adventures together with her brother and friends. The outside of Kataras family no one else in the SWT had any idea who the father wad but when Ran showed signs of firebending, it became pretty clear where he was from. So Ran grew up as a little bit of an oddball, being the only firebender in the whole SWT. Shaw grew a knack for healing just to deal with any accidental burns Ran would give herself while trying to practice it.

They didn't have a proper introduction to the guy until they were about 5 years old. Zuko had to spend a month there for a diplomatic summit and took the chance to give his kids as much attention as possible. Ran especially, as she finally had a real firebending master to learn from but he also showed Shaw about Firebending puppetry. Shaw pretty much fell in love with the technique and worked out how to translate it into waterbending on his own. Their time together was short but it was all they needed to love their dad.

Now it was a waiting game for their time their dad would visit, the twin both competing to improve their bending and impress him. They loved their mother, uncle and grandpa but it was hard to feel complete after their dad would leave.

At about 6, Katara was pregnant once again with their baby brother Yuka. The initial outburst from the twins birth died down significantly, and Katara finally saw it was time to ask the twins what they wanted to do. They could try and live openly as a family, but their lives would change drastically. The kids agree to it and they have an official ceremony in the Fire Nation to introduce the kids, including a newly born Yuka. It's a rough transition at first when they start living in the Fire Nation. During the summers they still return to their home in the SWT.

At the age of 10, the twins were invited to see the Sun Warriors and learn more about the master who they were named after. Here was when Zuko got Druk as well.

About two years later, the twins start to branch out. Ran decides she wants to train with the Sun Warriors and Shaw spends time in the North Pole. Yuka is still too baby to go anywhere yet, but spends a lot of time with Iroh and even takes up archery while his siblings are gone.

As they all grow up there is this ongoing question of who would be "next in line" as Shaw wad technically born first but the Fire Nation might still have a hard time accepting a waterbendong Fire Lord. Zuko and Katara both figure they'll deal with it when the time comes.

But uhh that's all the backstory I have for them so far. I'm happy for the chance to blab about my headcanons.

I leave off by adding that Teoaangji and Sukka are both canon in this timeline and both have kids of their own that are all cousins. Tophzula is also canon but I don't think they have children yet.

[the-badger-mole]

I saw that ask about Aang crashing a zutara wedding lol imagine Aang bursting into the ceremony (he was invited but very dramatically turned it down) and screaming "I object!" and giving a whole long speech about how katara belongs with him, then everyone just kind of looks at him and the officiant is like "... Yeah the uh, the whole 'if there are any objections speak now or forever hold your peace' bit... That's not really a thing in Fire Nation/Water Tribe weddings...."

If it hadn't happened before, that would be Katara's snapping point with Aang. Aside from the fact that he's openly disrespecting her relationship with the man she loves, he just ruined a wedding that she and Zuko spent months planning. Aang would be leaving with several foot shaped bruises 😂

[zukodragon]

zutara week starts this month thank you god

[zukosdualdao]

stage kiss

zutara month, day 8: actors au, @zutaramonth

summary: katara just needs to earn enough to make passage to the northern water tribe, so she begins working as a seamstress for an acting troupe in ba sing se. fine enough work in theory, until the leading actress is out sick and katara is asked to step into the role.

other notes: au in which the avatar never returns, and the war is still going on. katara is 16 and just left home, zuko is 18 and let go of his search for the avatar two years ago.

Katara doesn’t believe this is happening.

Well, alright, she mostly does, but. Come on.

All she’d wanted when she came here was to find work that let her earn enough to book passage to the Northern Water Tribe. She had known it would be difficult—her own tribe hadn’t had contact with them in many years, for much longer than she’d been alive—but she hadn’t expected there would be no official transport there when she got to Ba Sing Se. 

It had quickly become apparent that her options were to either book passage through a sketchy crowd of characters—sketchy mainly in that she didn’t like the way they looked her up and down, so she’d have to decide which ones she ‘trusted’ the most—or to… purchase a ship herself. And get a crew. And probably learn how to steer it.

She’s still figuring it out.

In any case, she had to earn one way or another, so she was relieved to find the acting troupe when she did, as the director seemed eager for a seamstress right away. Apparently, the last one had quit with barely a word.

Guiltily, Katara does not mention her plans to leave as soon as she has enough money to make passage.

It goes well for several weeks. A lot of the troupe is friendly, if a bit rowdy for her tastes—one earthbending boy has broken so many props she doesn’t know how he hasn’t been fired for it yet—but she’s met some really wonderful people too. Some of the girls her age have taken to talking to her about things like boys and far-off places they’d like to see and makeup and fights with their families, and it makes Katara feel a little choked up. She’d had Gran Gran, of course, and Sokka, and all the little kids she adored and the elders she respected, but she’d never really had someone who was a friend her own age.

The one person she hasn’t made much headway with is a boy a tall boy with dark hair and a scar that clearly came from a burn over his left eye. She’d come to understand quickly that most of the war refugees were blocked off in the lower ring, and they’re in a sort of in-between state, where artisans and food stallers live—it all makes her feel sick to her stomach if she thought about it too hard—but she can’t help but wonder if that’s how he got it. 

Zuko, the girls tell Katara his name is. He’s quiet and snappish and glares a lot, only seeming to come alive, to become softer, in those moments on stage when he’s being someone else.

Katara finds herself a little fascinated, despite herself, but it’s nothing to pay any mind to. In the weeks ahead, she’s just got to focus on her work.

It goes well. Until it doesn’t.

“Xiu Bao has fallen ill,” the director says as he implores Katara to take the lead’s place. “We would be ever-indebted to you.”

“But I’m not an actress!” Katara exclaims, feeling her heartbeat grow ever faster.

All she’d wanted was to learn waterbending. Now, she’s being asked to join an acting troupe. Temporarily. But still.

“It’s no matter,” he says. “You’ve seen the play many times over by now—and you don’t have to say the lines exactly,” he adds, a bit urgently. It is, after all, only a few hours until the show is meant to begin. “Just… to the best of your memory.”

Katara purses her lips. She’s not an actress, but her storytelling was well-regarded in a way that always made her proud, if a little squirmy—just like your mother, the elders in her village used to say—so maybe that could translate.

“And I’ll be paid?” she asks.

“Of course,” he assures her. “Yes—thank you, Katara,” he adds, turning heel before she can point out that she hasn’t technically agreed yet. 

Probably smart of him.

When she finds herself on stage that evening, made up and in Earth Kingdom robes, she tries to tell herself it’s just like telling a story. Mostly, it works. She remembers the lines surprisingly well.

Something else surprises her, too—the way it barely feels like acting as she stands across from Zuko. His role is still quiet, surly, a romantic lead of few words, but there’s a charm to him, an openness, and she doesn’t know where she possibly draws it from.

It’s near the end of the thing when she remembers with sudden clarity—they’re supposed to kiss here. 

How did she find herself in this situation?

When he strides toward her, placing his hands on her waist, Katara’s breath stutters, and that… that isn't acting.

He looks at her searchingly for a moment—does the scene always take this long?—and when she gives a slight nod of her head, he leans forward. Their lips meet, and it feels like the world around them just… stops. His lips are soft and gentle against her own, and from this close, Katara can tell he smells of firewood and cinnamon. 

When he pulls back, they rest their foreheads together. Katara breathes in shakily. Zuko is supposed to have a line, Katara’s pretty sure, but he's looking at her with a swell of emotion. The director clears his throat from the front row, and it's only then that Zuko remembers this fact as well.

Katara smiles to herself a little as the scene goes on. Maybe acting wouldn't be such a bad way to earn her keep and save for her travels while she stays here in Ba Sing Se.