#sokka's pov is too interesting not to do research on

[volkswagonblues]

at the stage of writing my zukka biopunk AU where my notebook has, among other things -- 

notes on inuit seasonal migration, what the inside of a seal look like, multiple mary oliver quotes, the second law of thermodynamics, the phrase “the ineffable terror of predetermination” underlined three times, how snow sleds work, how ice fishing jiggers work, the mating rituals of penguins and how otters bring up their young, the use of negative space in Haida artwork, and my own shitty musings on the physics of bending and how that connects to food web trophic levels

[citrina-posts]

Thank you to @scrtminlikesdrawing and to @pianjeong for the tag!

 First fic: My first EVER fic was a H*rry P*tter fic from when I was about eleven. It was about Ginny learning Quidditch on her own. Luckily it was never finished and posted. My first published fic has since been taken down. It was a Raven Cycle fic, but it was pretty terrible and unfinished, so… it’s gone now. The first published fic that still survives is from Bakoda Fleet Week 2020, take your time on me.

 Favorite fic(s): Ok so I have a few for ATLA and a few for the Raven Cycle, which I also love dearly. sword of fate, pride of heart by @zukkababey and burn bright, burn fast by @pianjeong are for sure near the top of my list, because a) pianjeong and b) amazing writing. I also love slow electric dawn by @vietzuko, it’s in my opinion one of the best modern au Zukka fics out there.

My favorite fics for the Raven Cycle/Dreamer Trilogy are the collected by philosophersandfools on ao3, Finding That Love Song by LydiaStJames on ao3, and like thunder under earth by laumonie.

 Most recent fic: some kind of hero is a Gaang superhero AU, mostly in Sokka’s POV. It’s currently only got one chapter, because I thought of it, got super excited, wrote one chapter, and posted before realizing I had no plans. I have not had much time recently for writing, but I’m hoping to keep working on it and post at more regular intervals once I have more of it done. If you want a finished fic, my most recent complete story is sing a little louder, laugh a little softer. It’s a fic exploring the music of the ATLA universe featuring Gaang dynamics and lots and lots of superfluous research. I ended up learning a ton from writing it, and it’s my favorite of all the ones I’ve written.

 Fic with most notes: lantern on a hill. Because it’s Zukka. But also this story is pretty special to me and I loved writing it a lot. It’s an ambassador Zuko fic, in which Zuko moves down to the South Pole and spends three chapters stressing about Sokka. Bakoda is also in it. I’m pretty terrible at selling fics, sorry :)

 Line from a wip: Listen. I have so many works in progress it’s not ok. But I’ll give you one from a modern mailee fic I’m working on:

“Zuko and Mai walk into the living room to some sort of strange yoga circle. The Kyoshi gymnasts seem to be trying to educate Aang, Sokka, and Katara. Ty Lee is right in the center, showing off some painful-looking stretch that the others are replicating with various levels of success. As Mai watches, Sokka wobbles and then collapses to the floor in a dramatic heap, taking down Suki next to him.”

 Favorite character to write and why: I really, really love writing Aang. He’s so complex and interesting, full of joy and light but also a darkness I feel like a lot of people don’t write enough of. Despite being the main character of the show, I feel like he gets a little left out in terms of fanfiction. He’s usually not the star of the fic and gets relegated to Sokka’s or Zuko’s Best Friend the Avatar.

 Least favorite character to write and why: Strangely, Suki. I feel like she’s such a blank slate because of her lack of screen time in the show. I love her, but I always worry I’m going a bit too bland on the characterization just because there’s not tons of source material to work with. I also struggle with Zuko, perhaps for the opposite reason: there’s so much to get wrong, because he’s so complex and contrary in canon. I also don’t find him particularly relatable to myself, so it’s a bit difficult to write from his perspective.

 I’m tagging any lovely writers who want to do this! It’s really fun being able to look back at your own works, and I encourage everyone who writes to do it.