#why am i so attached to the idea of zuko falling in love with a soldier from a poorer area of the fire nation?? i keep coming back to this

[captainkirkk]

Asks! I can do that! Imagine if the Smitten Soldier was any sort of writer as a hobby and admits that the whole thing with the crush and the meetings and the general smitteness sounds like a great set up for a fairy tale? And starts writing it? Maybe the changling guard and the ever honest, sincere, fierce fae prince meet by moonlight chance, keep meeting in the in between hours where they can slip away. It's part wishful thinking, part dreaming. And then somebody finds the manuscript

Okay. I have a confession to make.

Do you ever just daydream idly and then spiral and accidentally Plot? Because I’ve done that. It’s not exactly what you’re suggesting (that is, SS writing out their story), but it reminded me very strongly of it, so here you go:

Zuko has been a fan of theatre his whole life. He inherited the passion from his mother, and his memories of attending plays are some of the happiest from his childhood. He especially loved the ones with spirits. 

In the Fire Nation, there is a very old tale about a spirit that stole the heart of a Fire Lord that accidentally slighted it. The Fire Lord is the soul of the Fire Nation, the living incarnation of Agni, and without their heart, the Fire Nation began to suffer. Crops withered. Livestock died. Newborns came in the dead of night, underweight without a bending spark. 

It is a very old spirit tale, so old it has passed into legend (though many people believe it to be true), and has many different adaptions with many different endings. Zuko’s favourite is the one where a person - either the Fire Lord’s child or lover or a group of loyal civilians - has to rescue the Fire Lord’s heart from the wayward spirit, and save both the nation and the monarch.

Zuko forgets about the tale as he grows older. But years later, after he is banished and returned and crowned Fire Lord, the spirit returns. And, once again, steals the young Fire Lord’s heart (for Reasons). 

Word spreads very quickly. People fear the Fire Nation will suffer once again. A great many people go searching for the Fire Lord’s heart, but they do so because they want the fame and glory of being a national hero, not because they care about what happens to Zuko.

A young soldier, who was born to a poor family of fishermen in the south, hears about the tale. Their commanding officer waves the tale away, because there is nothing anyone can do against spirits. But the young soldier can’t stop thinking about it. Because the Fire Lord is around their age, isn’t he? And his heart has been taken. That must be such a lonely and cold existence, to live without your heart. 

And so the young soldier sets out to find the heart. They don’t want glory or money or acknowledgement. They just want the young Fire Lord to be safe and strong again. And they - the only truly selfless person to venture out on this journey, alone in a ricketty boat with only their determination to keep them company - find it. 

And that’s how Zuko’s life accidentally becomes a spirit tale (or, well, more of one than it already is), that will be passed down for generations to come. 

[comradekatara]

ok I love your sokka/mai/toph dynamics and I want to hear your thoughts on the relationship between toph and mai in particular , as rich girls who resent their families I feel like they’d have a lot of common experiences growing up which would be a good start to their friendship, but how would it progress from there ?

yess their friendship would be so fucking good. like they’d just Get each other, and toph’s encouragement & understanding would definitely help mai figure out that she doesn’t need to dedicate her life to pleasing her parents, or anyone, for that matter, and she can go after what she wants without shame. and of course they both think the other is hilarious and badass and awesome. they’re always hanging out and causing chaos together. here are 10 bullet points about their friendship: 

they are each other's automatic assumed plus-one to family events. this arrangement begins one day when they're in their teens and mai is bemoaning an upcoming family dinner. toph first suggests that mai simply skip it, because that's what she'd do, but when mai admits she wants to see tom-tom (toph: "ew, why?") they hatch a scheme together. toph will accompany mai, and she'll begin the evening by acting like a perfectly composed young lady, but get steadily weirder and make mai's parents more and more uncomfortable as the night progresses. by the time the dessert course rolls around, toph is fully metalbending the dessert spoons out of their hands and cackling when they reflexively grab for them. this amusing display becomes a tradition – if mai is expected to attend anything, it's assumed that toph will be there as her mischievous date. toph even begins attending her own family events for the first time just so she can take mai, who will obligingly derail dinner by doing knife tricks for the horrified guests. in true theater kid tradition (much like her ex-boyfriend, mai's always had a fondness for live theater), any fancy rich people dinner becomes "dinner and a show." 

when they are in their early twenties, there's a brief period of time when mai and ty lee are temporarily "off." it's not important whose fault it was (it was both of theirs) but for weeks on end, neither one can shut up about the drama. while ty lee cries in suki's arms, mai sullenly stays in toph's little hovel, getting high a lot and eating all of toph's snacks. at some point during this period, mai suggests – with deadly seriousness – that she and toph should just hook up. toph is like, "okay, yeah," but by  the time they lean in to kiss, they've already thought better of it. they both suffer through a very awkward kiss (and it's not even bad, just terribly self-conscious) and then pretend to get distracted by other topics. they don't mention it again. 

neither one has the faintest idea how to do laundry. the first time they go on a trip together just the two of them, they can't figure out why their clothes smell so increasingly… weird. mildew-y. it turns out that you can't simply wave your clothes around in the river without any soap and then leave them out on a rock all balled-up and expect them to be dry in the morning. they wind up having to toss all the clothes they brought with them on that trip. it is a humbling experience.

one day, while staying at the fire nation palace, toph spontaneously decides to prank mai by pretending she and azula kissed last night. she claims the kiss was surprisingly good and then works her way up to shyly "confessing" that she thinks she's developing feelings. mai completely falls for it. she squawks and objects and threatens to tell katara. they cause such a commotion that azula actually wanders downstairs to see what's going on. though toph attempts to nonverbally communicate that azula should just go with it, azula reacts like an absolute space alien, letting loose a stream of nervous giggles and barely managing to fumble out the words, "i-i-i-i've never kissed a girl, actually." afterwards, mai is a little embarrassed for believing in it, but they're both way more embarrassed for azula herself. toph decides that kind of backfired.

for mai's thirtieth birthday, toph metalbends her a knife. engraved into the metal is a perfect image of toph herself, a kind of signature. the more normal thing to do might be to put this logo on the handle, but toph puts it right at the tip of the blade. this overt branding of the knife as an extension of toph herself leads to an inside joke where mai will sometimes ever so casually turn to toph and say "you killed someone last night," and toph will be like, "nice! good for me." 

toph gets super offended on mai’s behalf whenever someone refers to her as “lady mai.” it’s an outrage! toph insists. SHE’S NOT A LADY, SHE’S A DYKE!!!! (toph repeats this point so often that at some point, mai realizes she’s gone from quietly resigning herself to the reminder of her nobility to being just as outraged as toph.)

it’s a widely-known fact among mai’s friends that she is really, really jealous of sokka’s hair. toph’s like “so just cut your hair, then?” and mai’s like “but his hair is a cultural thing, it would be weird if i just. had his haircut.” so then toph suggests that they both cut their hair to look like sokka’s (pictured here & here), that way, it can’t be cultural appropriation! and mai’s like “that doesn’t make any sense.....but it sounds hilarious, so i’m in.” they also get glasses similar to his, despite the fact that mai has perfect vision & toph has none at all, and stop wearing shirts with sleeves, just to complete the look. at first sokka is like “okay, haha, very funny,” but like a year into them both sporting wolftails, glasses, and sleeveless tunics, it’s become apparent that they’re actually both deeply attached to these fashion statements. but it would have nothing to do with the hordes of girls who have been hitting on them... nothing at all... 

toph thinks it’s extremely funny that mai dated zuko. of course, she has enough tact not to voice this while they’re still in their teens, because it’s still a sore wound, but once they’re in their twenties, toph’s like “hey remember when you dated ZUKO?????” and starts laughing hysterically and then suki’s like “what’s so funny” and toph, between wheezes, is like “i just remembered when MAI dated ZUKO” and then suki starts cracking up too and then ty lee walks by and is like “hey guys whats going on” and stuttering between breaths, crying with laughter, toph and suki are like “remember when MAI??????? DATED?????? ZUKO??????????” and ty lee is like “DO I??????????????” and they’re all just rolling around on the floor trying to breathe through their laughter and mai is just. completely stone-faced, like “yeah that was pretty bad.”

toph, mai, suki, and ty lee almost immediately become a Squad after the war ends. existing on the periphery of this squad are sokka, the other kyoshi warriors, and aang, who is technically invited to any group hangout because his presence is always delightful. they invited zuko once, and they all agreed that it wasn’t fun for him. they invited katara once, and toph was like “watch out guys she’s gonna be such a buzzkill because she HATES FUN like a BORING OLD MOM” but actually katara got wayy too wild and the four of them had to rein her in. well, mai, toph, and suki egged her on; ty lee reined her in. but still, toph and mai definitely got a taste of the Sokka Lifestyle that night. 

the first, and last, time toph is forced to babysit tom tom, it is because literally everyone else is absent from the fire nation. even zuko, who would probably agree to hold tom tom while in diplomatic meetings, is currently in the earth kingdom or something, so toph is literally the only option mai has. approximately 15 minutes later, once mai has returned from her errand to both of them, somehow, covered in jam (and possibly blood??) mai’s like “...well?” and toph just says grimly, “i am never having kids.” 

[patchofsunlight]

Pretty Eyes | Sokka x Fem!Reader

Hello! This is my first ever imagine and I have no idea of what I’m doing, but I guess that’s the beauty of it all, right? So here we go!

SUMMARY: Y/N and Sokka do not get on well. That changes, however, after one particular night.

WORD COUNT: 6k I’m not used to writing oneshots it got so long I’m sorry if the “keep reading” thingy doesn’t work

WARNINGS: there’s a bit of kissing at the end? also I think there’s one or two cuss words. there’s some angst and mutual pining, since it’s an enemies-to-lovers. Toph is Y/N’s best friend bc I love her. and bad writing! I think it feels kinda rushed and English is not my first language so I’m not really sure how to feel about this tbh

I hope you like it! Also if you want to request something please do just ask me what I write for and I’ll tell you!!

Y/N definitely did not regret leaving Zuko and joining the Avatar and his team. It was probably the best thing she had ever done, the first step to finally forgiving herself for all the years she worked for the Fire Nation and for all the pain she caused alongside it, the first step to letting go of all the hurt she held inside her heart.

But Spirits, she couldn’t take Sokka’s attitude anymore.

“We can’t let Y/N go to the city alone, it’s a three day trip! What if she tells her Fire Nation friends we are here?”

He was the only one who hadn’t warmed up to her yet. Toph had taken a liking to her almost immediately, which Y/N firmly believed was for the sole reason of spiting Sokka, but she didn’t exactly mind. Toph was the first person to treat her like a human being and not an enemy, and she was deeply thankful for that. The first few weeks with Team Avatar were difficult — the Water Tribe people didn’t trust her, Aang was unconscious, Katara was going crazy with worry for her friend, and Sokka accused her of being a Fire Nation spy every two seconds. Siding with the Avatar in the crystal cave had done nothing for her reputation, it seemed: she was still Zuko’s friend, still a bad person, still Fire Nation scum, among other endearing titles.

Katara came around eventually, while Aang was still recovering from his injuries. At one point, the waterbender told her she was the only one not pissing her off in the Water Tribe boat they occupied, which made her smile.

And Aang, well, he was a sweetheart. She would never forget the way the small boy laughed loudly after Katara told him how she punched Azula in the face after the Fire Princess hit him with lightning, kindly leaving out the part where Azula immediately gave her a nasty burn after recovering from the surprise of a fist to the nose. 

“Come on, Sokka,” Katara countered, rolling her eyes in annoyance, “we’ve talked about this.”

Then there was Sokka, who still pretty much hated her, even as they now hid inside the Fire Nation together. “You know I’m right, Katara. You should go with her to make sure she doesn’t turn her back on us.”

“You guys know she is right here, right? Are you ignoring her or something?”

“It’s okay, Toph,” Y/N touched the girl’s arm fondly, avoiding the glare Sokka sent her way. “You don’t need to worry..”

“No, it’s not okay!” Katara snapped, letting go of the shirt she was stitching up and staring at her brother angrily. “Why don’t you go with her, then, if you’re so worried?”

“That seems like a good idea!” Aang smiled brightly from his place beside Appa. “It could be a fun bonding trip!”

“No!” Sokka and Y/N said almost at the exact time before exchanging a very confused look. Something seemed to ignite inside him just as he turned to glower at her with rage in his eyes. “Why don’t you want me to go, firegirl? Is it because I’m right?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s because you are a jerk to her all the time, but okay,” Toph muttered. Katara bit back a snicker, taking the shirt from the ground and trying to focus on it again.

“Well, I’m going,” Sokka announced, crossing his arms, “since she’s hiding things from us and trying to go to the city alone.”

“I am not hiding anything! No one else wanted to go to the city so I volunteered, it’s not that deep.”

“Well, then why wouldn’t you want me to go?”

“I don’t know, Sokka, why do you accuse me of being a traitor all the time?”

“That’s got nothing to do with this! But you did betray Zuko, who was supposed to be your boyfriend or whatever—”

“Zuko was not my boyfriend.”

“— and once a traitor, always a traitor.”

“That’s enough!” Katara interrupted, annoyance written all over her face. “We chose Y/N to make the trip to the city and I can’t take being near Sokka anymore, so you two will leave right now to get us supplies, food and clothes. Do you understand?”

“I—”

“I don’t care, Sokka! Go get your things, see you in three days.”

------

Sokka wasn’t really sure why he hated Y/N so much anymore. Hell, he was even starting to think he might actually enjoy her presence, in a way. Not that he would tell that to anyone.

She was still the enemy, even while Katara laughed at something she said and Toph clinged to her, talking her ears off about whatever was going on through her mind. She was still the enemy when Aang asked to braid her hair and when she talked to Appa and Momo while she thought no one noticed. Y/N was still the enemy while her eyes shone with delight whenever Toph made a joke and while she smiled that pretty smile of hers at Aang, and she was definitely still the enemy when his heart skipped a beat whenever she accidently looked at him without that angry look he always managed to put on her face.

Yes, Sokka didn’t like her in any way. He couldn’t like her, he refused to like her. She was from Fire Nation. Even if the others accepted her, he knew the truth — Y/N would never be trustworthy, would never be one of them.

The caves they were currently hiding in were Fire Nation territory, and the trip towards the city was long, specially since they couldn’t use Appa. After two miles, Sokka was already bored. 

“Is your Fire Nation home close by?” he questioned, a hint of accusation in his voice. Y/N didn’t spare him a glance and, for some unknown reason, Sokka felt annoyed by it.

“No.”

“Well, then where is it?” he pressed, staring at her.

“Where is what?”

“Your Fire Nation home.”

“I don’t have one, Sokka. Are you done?”

The Water Tribe warrior scoffed and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms, “you don’t have one, firegirl? Yeah, right. I’m sure you lived in a big house where everyone did every little thing you wanted them to,” he watched as she sighed, her eyes flooding with irritation, “am I wrong?”

It was her turn to scoff, “shut up, waterboy.”

He raised his eyebrows, “waterboy?”

“Come on, the quicker we do this the quicker I can be away from you. We have no time to lose.”

------

They set up camp in the woods near a small village halfway to the city. While walking, they didn’t speak much besides Sokka’s stupid questions and Y/N’s dry answers — he noticed how she acted different now they were alone together, almost as if she had closed up on herself and, ignoring the stinging in his chest, he wondered if she would ever smile and laugh with him the way she did with the Aang, Toph and Katara. With a certain heaviness to his thoughts, Sokka concluded that no, she probably wouldn’t. Not that he cared, obviously.

“I can do first watch,” he let her know, watching carefully as Y/N yawned and arranged her sleeping bag on the hard ground.

“You sure?”

“Yes. I’ll wake you up when it’s my turn to sleep.”

Y/N nodded, falling asleep almost instantly as she laid her head down. When she slept, she didn’t look like a traitor as much as she usually did. She looked like a normal, beautiful girl he would really love to get to know better. But of course he couldn’t, because she was from the Fire Nation and would eventually betray them all, or at least that’s what Sokka told himself to avoid getting too close, too attached. Spirits, he had lost so many people that adding one more person in his care-about list was unthinkable, unreasonable and just all-around stupid.

Sokka wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Y/N started moving in her sleep, her previously peaceful expression now filled with anxiety and fear as she turned and tossed. He furrowed his eyebrows, staring at her curiously.

“No,” he could hear her mutter, “please, no. Please.”

“Y/N?” his voice was calm as he knelt down by her sleeping bag, recognizing the signs of a nightmare. “Y/N, wake up. It’s just a dream.”

“I’m sorry,” she cried out, her eyelids shut tight, “please. I’m sorry!”

“Y/N!”

The girl sat up suddenly, hitting her forehead with his. Sokka groaned at the sudden pain, bringing a hand up to his forehead and touching it lightly. Meanwhile, Y/N took in her surroundings, her breathing heavy. She could already feel a lump forming inside her throat.

“Are you okay?” he asked after a moment, finally noticing her panicked motions and moving forward to touch her shoulder but hesitating. Sokka would usually greet her with a mean comment, but he could see the nervousness on her face and it worried him. “Do you need some water?”

“No, I’m good,” she swallowed, trying to slow down her breathing. “I just—just got a nightmare.”

“I noticed,” the Water Tribe warrior smiled sadly, “I get those too.”

She hummed in acknowledgement, trying to wrap her head around the fact Sokka was actively being nice to her. It felt weird but had a kind of warmth taking over her chest that she didn’t mind one bit.

He scratched the back of his neck, staring at her while she kept her eyes trained on her own hands, “do you want to talk about it?” He noticed her intrigued expression and sighed, going on, “Katara always tells me that talking about nightmares makes them go away. So… Do you want to talk about yours?”

Y/N looked at him attentively, searching for some type of mockery or teasing on his face. Sokka seemed to blush under her gaze, but she was sure it was just the moonlight tricking her eyes. Y/N exhaled deeply, crossing her arms in a defensive stance and biting down on her lower lip as she couldn’t find any bad intention in his gaze, deciding to share some of the vulnerability he was offering her. “It was just something that happened some years ago. Before I left with Zuko, I mean.”

He nodded, leaning on his hands with his arms straight while sat beside her, “I never understood why you left with him, to be honest,” he commented, “he doesn’t seem like the fun type.”

Y/N let out a small smile and Sokka could swear his heart jumped inside his chest for some reason, “he was never the fun type, but he was still my best friend, even though banishment changed him. But I didn’t leave just because of Zuko.”

That was new information. “You didn’t?”

She shook her head, looking down at her hands again, “no.”

“Then why?”

Sokka observed as her entire body tensed and felt the immediate urge to apologize for the question and tell her to go back to sleep. Before he could open his mouth, however, she answered in a broken voice that sounded nothing like her own, “I couldn’t stay. My dad had just died in the war and my mom…” her eyes were full of anguish and misery, still watching her fingers lock and unlock, “she wasn’t doing very well. My nightmare,” she hesitated, inhaling sharply before training her gaze on him again, “it was about her.”

They looked at each other, lazy eyes studying faces with a new curiosity and innocence they hadn’t held for one another before. Something flashed through Y/N’s expression before she asked, averting her pretty eyes from him, “do you want to see it?”

Sokka furrowed his brows in confusion, “see what?”

Y/N let out a shaky breath before raising her tunic slightly. The Water Tribe boy felt his whole face flush with embarrassment but he noticed the marks before he could look away — something that must’ve been a horrible burn, the scar covering a great part of her right side, stretching from her bellybutton to just under her chest. “Iroh spent a lot of time changing mine and Zuko’s bandages in the first months after we left,” she smiled sadly and then put her clothes back into place.

“Your mom did that?”

“She didn’t mean to,” Y/N shrugged her shoulders, “it was an accident, but still. Whenever I think about it, I’m really glad I was born a non-bender.”

“You are?”

“Yes. Having the power to cause so much pain and destruction… I wouldn’t want that in anyway.”

Sokka hummed in understanding and appreciation. He knew she was a non-bender like him but they had never really talked about what that meant to them and to Team Avatar. He wasn’t aware she didn’t crave bending like he did, but it felt nice to hear her speak about it like that.

Showing someone her scar felt… Different, but not a bad different. Y/N had grown accustomed to hiding it all the time, even though she didn’t feel ashamed of it. It was just an ugly part of her that held too many bad memories that she intended to keep to herself. Letting Sokka see it was strange and she didn’t know exactly why she did it, to be honest. It felt right, though. Talking to him like they were friends felt right. Being around him like that felt very, very right.

“You should sleep, waterboy,” she punched his shoulder softly, ignoring her own thoughts, “I’ll keep guard for the rest of the night.”

He was quick to deny, “no, I’m fine, you should—”

“Sokka,” her tone was demanding, “you need to rest too. Come on, get some sleep. I don’t think I’ll be able to fall asleep again anyway.”

He would love to disagree but he recognized the look on her face. She wasn’t asking him to sleep — she was telling him to. For some reason, that thought made him smile.

“Okay,” Sokka answered quietly as he got into his own sleeping bag, “good night, Y/N.”

“Good night, Sokka. Sleep well.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“It’s alright.”

------

The rest of the trip was better than expected. It seemed like that one vulnerable moment they shared affected their relationship in more ways than one, and they traveled peacefully to the city and back. They even managed to spark conversation with each other in some instances.

Sokka would love to say that being in good terms with Y/N made him satisfied, but that would be a lie. Aang, Katara and Toph were really happy with their new dynamic, glad they could talk to each other without mean comments or accusations — Y/N and Sokka were the only ones inside the Gaang who still had to become friends, and now that they did, everyone seemed pleased and content.

Except Sokka.

Being around her was difficult. Now that he didn’t expect the worst of her all the time, he couldn’t ignore what he felt whenever she was close by, the sensations he once thought were just his way of feeling disgust and anger taking a different shape. He would catch himself smiling stupidly at her while she laughed with someone else and would feel his whole face reddening when she looked into his eyes. However, he remembered very clearly the last time he felt something like that, and it didn’t end well. He couldn’t have that again.

Avoiding her was even more difficult and he couldn’t keep it up for a single day. After finally being able to taste what a friendship with Y/N felt like, he couldn’t stop from craving it more and more. Instead of being away from her like he intended so he could get rid of whatever feelings he was gathering, he actively went out of his way to be near her, even when his mind screamed at him to just let go.

Sokka couldn’t get attached to someone like that once more. He couldn’t forget what happened to Yue — liking someone was not his cup of tea, it would end tragically and he didn’t want it, couldn’t have it, not again.

But a part of him entertained these feelings, these thoughts. It didn’t matter, right? She would never feel the same for him, so it was okay. He wouldn’t get hurt because he would never actually have her so there was no way to lose her.

Right?

------

Everything happened fast.

They didn’t think the Fire Nation soldiers would find them anytime soon and yet they still did. They were nearing the Day of the Black Sun and being found out in Fire Nation territory was less than ideal, to say the least. Y/N was just glad they had Toph, Aang and Katara to fight for them — they were truly amazing benders and there were many more soldiers than she would normally expect.

Everything happened too fast.

She had been taught from a young age how to fight with a sword and was slowly trying to teach Sokka too, even though teaching was proving itself to be harder than learning. They fought from the sidelines, hitting the soldiers the three benders couldn’t hit or see. One of them had a sword too and Y/N rapidly engaged in a difficult fight while also keeping an eye out for Sokka, who was fighting another soldier to her right.

She couldn’t deny the feelings growing inside her towards the boy. Weeks before, she would have straight up laughed if anyone told her she would fall for him, and now there she was. Y/N loved his smile and his voice and his stupid jokes and the way he called her “firegirl” with an endearing tone instead of the accusative one he used to always have when talking to her only weeks before. She loved how his cheeks flushed red when she looked at him for too long and she loved hearing him go on and on about his plans and theories. She loved it all so much she didn’t even mind Toph’s constant teasing: “Calm down your heart, Y/N,” the younger girl would say with a mocking smile, “it’s just Sokka!”

“Shut up, Toph.”

Y/N knew he would never feel the same, but a girl can dream, and dream she did. They would talk late into the night, guarding camp together and exchanging childhood stories. Being around him was very comforting, in a way. 

Everything happened fast.

She got distracted when the soldier battling against Sokka seemed to get the upper hand, even though Sokka fought back and took control of the conflict again easily. However, that instant was enough for her own enemy to attack.

The pain was unbearable but Y/N kept on fighting. There was blood running down her skin, staining her clothes, the wound to her ribs deep and distressing, but she couldn’t leave her friends like that. She manipulated her sword the best she could, ignoring the sharp pain felt with every intake of breath, taking down as many non-bender soldiers as possible.

They ran for Appa when there was finally an opening, climbing onto the flying bison and leaving the remaining Fire Nation soldiers behind them.

Adrenaline was responsible for making her able to endure the pain but now that they were safe and flying while Aang and Katara disguised Appa as clouds, her vision went out of focus and she stumbled, clinging to Toph’s arm in a last attempt to remain conscious and alert. “Y/N? Are you alright?” the girl asked confusedly, her brows furrowed in question.

“Yes,” Y/N was able to get one word out, even though her thoughts were getting messier by the second and black dots appeared before her eyes. “Just tired,” she muttered. It was true — she could feel exhaustion taking over her body and head, slowly making her slump over herself.

She felt like her body was on fire, almost as if she had been burned all over. The pain made it hard to concentrate, her mind trained on the feeling of blood soaking her tunic, every breath causing waves of agony to take over her. The stab wound seemed to be throbbing, unabling her of any coherent thought.

“You sure? You seem—Spirits! Katara, come here! Y/N was wounded! She is bleeding!”

A part of her brain registered a touch to her ribs, Toph’s small hands hanging over her with no idea of what to do. She could hear Katara’s voice from somewhere on her right but she knew Katara needed to keep up their cover alongside Aang. They couldn’t afford risking their disguise just yet, they were still too close to those soldiers.

(Or so she thought. She couldn’t be really sure, since her mind was clouded and she felt extremely confused, the black dots slowly taking over her vision until she saw nothing but unrecognizable shadows.)

Amongst the screams, there was Sokka. He had left his place guiding Appa and came running to her, horror written all over his face as he started to put pressure on her bleeding wound, following Katara’s instructions.

“You’re going to be okay,” his voice sounded weird, disconnected, out of place. Y/N wished she could see him properly. She had come to appreciate how beautiful he actually was, with his endearing smile and bright blue eyes. She really wished she could see him. “Stay awake for me, alright?”

“Waterboy,” she mumbled with a lazy smile before darkness consumed her entirely.

------

There was so much blood. Sokka could see how the water covering Katara’s hands was stained, he could see how soaked Y/N’s tunic was. He could see her, her skin so pale she almost looked dead. That thought alone made Sokka’s stomach turn over inside his body, his eyes stinging with anxious tears.

They did an emergency landing on a small island nearby, Katara trying to maintain their cover as Aang rushed to the reins Sokka had abandoned in his frenzy. Meanwhile, Sokka and Toph were screaming at each other in utter panic, trying desperately to help their friend somehow. His hands were still shaking and red from putting pressure on the wound like his sister had told him to. 

“What is happening?” he stopped pacing as he heard Toph’s weak voice, the small girl playing with her own fingers in nervousness. “Is Katara’s healing working?”

There was ringing inside his ears as he stared at his sister. He could clearly see tears streaming down her face as she exchanged the red water on her hands for the clean one Aang had put on a container and positioned nearby. His heart throbbed inside his chest, a million thoughts going through his head at the same time.

Y/N was going to die. He was going to lose her. He would never see her smile again and he would never hear her laugh again and she would never tell him stories about her childhood again. He would never watch her as she played around with Toph and he would never be able to peek at her as she trained her sword fighting skills anymore. He would never talk to her late at night and he would never appreciate the way her voice sounded again.

He would never feel his heart pick up whenever she walked inside a room again. He would never smile unconsciously just by seeing her smile again. And she would never know how much she meant to him, how much he genuinely liked her and everything she did.  He was going to lose her without even knowing if maybe, in a distant time, when the war was over and they were safe, she would want to stay with him, making him laugh and smiling that gorgeous smile of hers at him everyday. Sokka would never know if somehow she wanted him as much as he wanted her, with all his flaws and faults and fears.

He would never know and he would never have her by his side again and he wanted to scream until his throat was sore. He wanted to cry himself to sleep and pretend this was just a bad dream he would eventually wake up off hearing her beautiful laugh as she chatted with Katara and Toph during breakfast.

“Sokka? Please, tell me what is happening. How is Y/N?”

The Water Tribe warrior felt a sudden anger spark up inside him. He should’ve done something, he should’ve noticed she’d been hit, and so should the others. Weren’t they powerful benders? Couldn’t they sense everything through the earth or some other bullshit like that? Weren’t they better than him in every way? Well, they could have at least saved her.

“Shut up, Toph! This is your fault! You should have noticed she was wounded! You should have helped her before it was too late!”

He didn’t mean it. A part of him knew it was not her fault, but his brain was enveloped in pain and desperation and he just wanted someone to blame so he didn’t have to deal with the guilt forming in his chest. He was losing Y/N and there was nothing he could do about it.

Toph went from worried to pissed off quickly, tightening her hands in fists and sending a few rocks flying towards the sea surrounding the island, “how is this my fault?! I was fighting off a few soldiers too, you know? It’s not like I could have stopped everything I was doing and ran to her!”

He moved his arms around frantically, “you don’t even care about her!”

“I don’t care about her? She’s my best friend!”

“You obviously didn’t care enough to help!”

“Oh, you little—”

“That’s enough!” Katara’s voice sounded fragile but terrifying, averting her gaze from her bloody hands to glare at them. “I can’t concentrate with all this screaming!”

“Sokka started it!”

“I don’t care who started it!” she barked, her eyes burning with rage. “Get out!”

Sokka opened his mouth to oppose, feeling his entire body tense with the idea of being away from Y/N in such a moment, but didn’t get to as Aang took a hold of his arm and started to lead him towards somewhere else on the beach. Toph groaned in frustration before leaving in the opposite direction.

“You need to calm down,” Aang sounded serene while dragging his friend through the sand, “arguing is not going to get us anywhere. We need to be together right now to get through this.”

The Avatar turned to look at Sokka when he planted his feet in place, tears flooding his eyes. It almost seemed like Aang was telling him how they had to support each other through their upcoming grief.

He was going to lose her. Damn, he had probably already lost her. She was gone and she would never know.

“Sokka? Are you okay?”

“I—” he hesitated, trying so hard not to cry he could feel his head throb. “I don’t—,” he swallowed harshly, but the lump in his throat didn’t go away, “I can’t lose her, Aang,” his voice cracked miserably and he gave up on holding back his heartache, letting the tears fall down his face. A sob wrecked his body and a hint of understanding went through Aang’s eyes, the smaller boy coming closer to hold his forearms.

“You’re not going to lose her, Sokka. Katara is going to fix it and she’ll be okay.”

“No, she won’t,” it was getting hard to breathe between his cries, but if felt better than pretending everything was okay, “she’s gone. And I—I think I’m in love with her, and she’ll never know. She’ll die and she’ll never know.”

“Sokka—”

“This is what happens every time I have feelings for someone. I lost Yue and now Y/N too.”

“Sokka, your feelings for Yue weren’t responsible for what happened to her. She told you not to be afraid of love, remember? I’m sure she is proud of you for moving on and falling in love with Y/N, and if we lose Y/N, your feelings will not be to blame either. But we won’t, okay? Katara is going to save her, I promise. She will be fine and you will be able to tell her how you feel. Do you understand?”

Sokka felt himself crumble in pain, another sob escaping his lips as Aang hugged him tightly. He cried loudly, holding onto his friend for dear life.

“Y/N will be okay, Sokka. She is strong and she would never leave us like that, okay? Never. I promise.”

------

When Y/N opened her eyes, it was already dark. A tent had been put up around her, but she noticed the cold night breeze even before she saw the starry sky. 

She took notice of the neat bandages covering her stab wound. There was a soreness to her every movement, but the searing pain from before was gone. She exhaled deeply and tried to sit but quickly gave up at the ache that formed in her ribs. Lying on the sand, she breathed slowly.

“Y/N?” she turned her head towards the direction of who was calling her and found Toph’s grey eyes. The small girl seemed tired, rubbing the sleep of her eyes and furrowing her eyebrows as she called again, “Y/N, are you awake? I thought I heard something.”

“Hey. I’m awake,” she smiled softly, moving her arm the tiniest bit just so she could touch her friend’s leg. 

Toph immediately gave her the biggest smile, jumping up from her spot sitting down to try and hug her friend carefully, “Never do that again, you idiot!” a weak chuckle escaped Y/N as she tried to hug back, but it hurt too much. Toph didn’t mind. “You got us all so worried! Aang went crazy trying to keep everyone calm, Katara cried a whole lot, and Sokka got so nervous he screamed at me. He apologized, though, so I’m not angry at him anymore,” Toph widened her eyes in realization, “I have to tell them you’re finally awake! Wait here, I’ll come back in a second. Try not to get stabbed in the meantime.”

Y/N giggled at her words, sighing as she found herself alone in the tent. For a second, she let herself wonder: she wouldn’t be up and about for a while, that much was obvious. However, Team Avatar couldn’t deal with that kind of liability and she asked herself what they were going to do about it.

Aang was the first to arrive, hugging her so tight Katara started screaming at him to be mindful of her injuries as soon as she reached the entrance. They spoke briefly about the gravity of her wound and Katara scolded her for not telling them she had been stabbed sooner while Aang and Toph bit back their laughter.

“Y/N?” Sokka’s hoarse voice was enough to make silence ring through the tent, the bags under his eyes dark and unmissable. Y/N met his blue eyes, her heart clenching painfully when she noticed the bare sadness inside them. 

Katara cleared her throat, grabbing Aang and Toph gently and steering them outside, “we’ll be handling the supplies if you need us!”

“What? I want to stay with Y/N!”

“Spirits, Toph, shut up.”

The Fire Nation girl smiled at the arguing outside, averting his trained gaze. An awkward quiet settled between them — Y/N didn’t know exactly why there was such a heaviness to the air they shared, but it was too clear to ignore.

“I—” he hesitated, a crack to his words as he closed his eyes tightly. “You really scared me today.”

Y/N tried to sit up, frowning from the pain. Sokka immediately knelt down next to her to help and it felt too much like the night he first woke her up from a nightmare, saying soft words and treating her nicely. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, holding onto his forearms for support, “I didn’t exactly mean to.”

“I know,” he muttered in response, sitting down in front of her. She crossed her legs under her and they stared at each other for a few moments, thick tension surrounding them. She couldn’t help but notice how close they were to each other, so close she didn’t have to lean in too much for their lips to touch. Slowly and unsurely, Sokka brought his hand up to put a lock of hair away from her face. Her stomach fluttered at the touch and Y/N sighed happily. “I was just afraid.”

She blinked in soft confusion that made his insides bloom with butterflies, “afraid of what?”

“Of losing you.”

She smiled, “You know Katara would heal me, Sokka.”

“I care about you very much, Y/N,” the words stumbled out of his mouth while she stared, “more than I probably should, but I do. You,” he shook his head, hesitantly taking his hand away from her face and wiping the tears that had escaped his eyes, “you mean a lot to me.”

His heart seemed to burn while she took his hand in hers, squeezing it delicately, “you mean a lot to me too.”

He exhaled deeply, frustrated to no end. “No, Y/N. You don’t understand. I—damn, I don’t even know how to say this.”

“I get it.”

“You don’t. You have no idea how broken I was just by thinking of not having you around anymore. I was so scared. I thought I would never be able to tell you how I feel about you,” he let out a shaky breath before leading his eyes back to her face, “I really like you, Y/N.”

“I really like you too.”

He groaned, “no, Y/N. I mean that I like you.”

“Yes, I understood that much.”

“No, I mean I—” he was interrupted by her soft lips on his, moving so gently he was sure he could die from the sheer tenderness of it all. Sokka was fast to kiss her back, bringing his fingers up to hold her jaw while her hands went up to his hair, a sharp pain running through her body at the movement and making her hiss. He moved away instantly, but her arms held him close. Their noses were still touching and they breathed heavily, eyes trained on each other.

She smirked, “is that what you meant?”

He chuckled weakly, rubbing circles on her jaw fondly with his thumb, “yeah. You’re way better at confessions than I am.”

Y/N threw her head back in laughter and he grinned at her happiness, “why, thank you.”

The couple gazed at each other, eyes sparkling with love. She sighed before leaning in and giving him a quick peck, giggling when his lips followed her blindly as she distanced her face from his. Sleepiness was catching up to her from the exhaustion of being hurt.

“Come on, waterboy. Lay with me.”

Sokka helped her lay back down, lying beside her and feeling his cheeks flush with delight when she snuggled up to him, getting into a comfortable spot with her head placed on his chest. He carefully positioned his hands on her waist, stroking her side absentmindedly. Her eyes fluttered close with satisfaction.

“Did Katara ask about your scar?”

“Not really. I think she was too worried trying to save me from death and all that.”

“Oh, I’m sure she was.”

She grinned, moving to play with his hair and exhaling contently, “I’m glad you’re here.”

He tightened his hold around her, warmth coating his every touch, “so am I, firegirl. So am I.”

In that moment, Y/N cared for nothing but the way his skin felt on hers and the sound of his heart beating under her ear.

so I asked @azucanela​ @beifongsss​ and @sokkascroptop​ on anon if I could tag them when this was done and they said yes so here it is? please give me honest criticism I have no idea of what I’m doing and I admire you all very much thank you!!

[brelione]

Marvel Movies (Rafe,Topper,Kelce X Reader)

This takes place about a month after this.

Mentions of choking,fighting,Captain America Spoilers,Kelce being a Disney Hoe

Series Masterlist

You could hear the sound of “Lost In The Woods” from frozen two along with the sound of a car door shutting.You grinned,looking outside your window to see Kelce walking up to your front door.He had been obsessed with the sound track since you,Rafe,Topper and him had watched it last weekend.He swung open your door,pointing at you. “DONT YOU KNOW THERES PART OF ME THAT LONGS TO GO INTO THE UNKNOWN!”He sang,swinging his arms to the tune of the song that was now playing from his earbuds.

You smiled,taking out your phone to record him. “Kel,what are you singing?”You giggled,zooming in on his face. “Bitch,you already know!!!”He said it to the same tune,making you bite your lip to hold back a snort as you saved the video to your snap chat memories.He sat down nexto to you on the couch,pulling out his earbuds. “Rafe and Top are late?”He asked.You shrugged,checking the groupchat to check what time Rafe had left his house. “Kind of but like its fine.Its my night anyways.”You reminded him.Kelce nodded,pulling his legs onto the couch and resting them across your lap. “What are we watching?”He asked,looking up to see nickelodeon on the TV.

You smiled,telling him it was a surprise before throwing his legs off you and going into the kitchen to snack prep.He followed you,not wanting to watch nickelodeon. “Hey,do you remember those brownies we ate when we were little?Like the ones with the colorful chocolate things?”You asked,opening a bag of doritos and pouring the chips into a large bowl.His eyebrows furrowed as he thought about it,grabbing a capri sun from your fridge. “Debby Ryan brownies?”He asked.You turned to look at him,the empty chip bag in your hand. “Do you know who Debby Ryan is?”You asked,laughing at him.

The realization hit him,making him laugh too. “The girl from tik tok!The meme one!”He answered.You nodded,throwing the empty red bag away.You grabbed the bag of sharable m and m’s,pouring the colorful candies into a bowl as well before bringing them both into the living room and setting them down on the table.He somehow ended up laying down half on top of you,the back of his head resting on your stomach.You didnt even hear Rafe pull up,the door opening with him standing with a paper bag in his hand.You missed the way his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed at the sight of Kelce laying on you,he quickly covered it with a smile.

Topper was right behind him,you turned your head to look at the blonde.You immediately burst into laughter upon seeing the pink,purple,yellow and green striped shirt he was wearing. “That’s gotta be the ugliest shirt ive ever seen.”You grinned,running your hand over Kelce’s curly hair.He rolled his eyes,sitting on the floor while Rafe put the paper bag down on the table next to the M and M’s,pulling out the contents.Sour gummy worms,dark chocolate chips,werthers caramels and a can of your favorite soda.He held the can,sitting at the end of the couch by your head so you could rest your head on his lap.He held the cool can to your forehead,knowing that you liked the feeling of the coolness.

You removed your hand from Kelce’s hair,putting on Disney Plus. “OOH-are we watching Winnie the Pooh?”Topper asked.You laughed,shaking your head as you went down to the row of Marvel Movies.Rafe had only ever seen Iron Man 2 so he wasnt very familiar with the films.Kelce preferred DC and Topper just sucked.You eventually came to The First Avenger,pressing on it.You squealed as the movie started,excited to annoy your friends.

 “I have a husband in this one too.”You smiled,remembering your huge Bucky phase in sixth grade that Rafe couldnt quite understand.He had only seen your Winter Soldier hoodie so he didnt really have a good idea of who Bucky actually was besides the fact that you loved 

him.During the scene where Steve received the Serum Topper had sat up,glancing between Steve and Rafe. “Am I the only one that sees a resemblance?”He asked.You sat up slightly,Kelce moving off of you so you could turn and look at Rafe properly.

He blushed,turning his head and looking away so you had to cup his face and get him to look at you.He bit his lip slightly,looking down at you.Topper rolled his eyes,regretting bringing it up in the first place. “Steve is more handsome.”You grinned,returning to your place on his lap.Kelce broke into laughter along with Topper,Rafe just a red mess as you continued watching the TV. “Isnt Spencer your husband?And 10K?”Kelce asked.You nodded,still watching the movie. “I thought Spencer was the love of your life?”He waited for your answer.You rolled your eyes. “I can have multiple loves of my life.”You answered,still watching the movie. “Can you pause this?”Topper asked,looking up at you from the floor.

You paused it,a bit annoyed. “What?”You asked.He opened a bag of sour gummy worms,popping one in his mouth. “How many husbands do you have?”He asked.You bit the inside of your cheek,thinking about it.Spencer Reid,Newt,Draco,Percy Jackson,Jack Frost,Peter Pan,Zuko,Prince Eric,Kristoff,Aladdin,T’Challa,Killmonger,Dallas Winston. “Uh...16.”You answered.Rafe laughed,fingers brushing against his chin as Kelce just looked up at you with wide eyes. “Who?”He asked.You blushed,counting off on your fingers. “Spencer,Newt-”Topper interrupted you. “Who is Newt?”He asked.You glared at him. “Do you not pay attention on Movie Nights?Eight months ago we watched The Maze Runner,the handsome blonde boy with the british accent.”You explained.He tried not to laugh at your passion for the topic.

 “Draco Malfoy,Percy Jackson,Jack Frost-”You were interrupted again,this time by Kelce. “The animated dude?The albino one?”He asked.You sighed,nodding.Rafe’s eyebrows knit together,frowning down at you. “You have a crush on an animated albino?”He asked.You sat up,looking between the boys. “You’re gonna tell me hes not cute as hell?Dont even act like you’re not a simp for Meg,Rafe.You too,Kelce,I saw the way you looked at Elsa when she let her hair down!”You reminded the boy.Topper laughed,forgetting that you knew all his secrets. “Dude,you were in love with Ariel when you were 10!”You exclaimed,making the boy shut up. “Who else?”Rafe asked,still curious. “Um...Peter Pan,Zuko-”You were cut off once again. 

“Birth mark dude from Avatar?”Rafe asked.You huffed loudly,stealing the bag of gummies from Topper and eating one. “ITS A BURN!”You nearly shouted. “You have such terrible taste in men.”Topper rolled his eyes.You glared at him,biting hard on your lip. “Get out.”You told him.He bit back a smile,looking up at you. “What?”He laughed.You pouted. “Go stand in the rain for two minutes.”You told him.He shook his head until you got off the couch,grabbing his hand and dragging him to the door. “You’re being mean so you have to stand in the rain.”You told him,opening the door.

He blushed,stepping outside and into the rain.He would never do this for anyone else but the smile on your face was worth it.Rafe looked outside the window,recording Topper standing in a T pose as water drenched his ugly shirt and hair.Once the two minutes was up you opened the door again,letting the wet boy come inside.He smirked before hugging you tightly,getting you completely wet. “TOPPER!”You shouted,pulling off your wet t shirt. “Dammit.”You huffed,pulling off your wet shorts and leaving yourself in just your bra and underwear. Dancing in bikinis multiple times so it wasn't that big of a deal but you didn't notice their wandering eyes. You turned to walk upstairs to change into new into new pants while top or just stood a blushing mess. 

At this point you'd forgotten about the movie and you were more focused on annoying your friends.Topper  knew better than to sit on your couch in wet clothes but unfortunately he hadn't brought a new pair to change into. So when you return downstairs in a tank top and pajama bottoms you saw topper in just his boxers sitting on your couch watching the movie.You went to sit on the couch,being pulled into Topper’s lap.When the scene of Bucky falling off the train came along Kelce had become attached,standing up to shout at the tv while you started crying a bit,Topper kissing your forehead lightly. “WHERES THE NEXT ONE?”Kelce asked.You grinned,grabbing the remote and moving on to Winter Soldier. 

“Theres like a ton of movies between these two but like we can watch those eventually.”You shrugged,ending up wedged between Rafe and Topper,Rafe’s fingers twisting your hair and tracing figure eights along the back of your neck. “On your left!”You spoke at the same time as Sam,grinning.Kelce grinned. “So thats why you always say that!”He put the puzzle pieces together.When Nat pulled up you saw the way Topper’s jaw dropped,you smiled. “I know,right?Shes like really fucking pretty.”You grinned,head against Rafe’s chest.Topper had began to doze off when Bucky came on with his metal arm,waking up fully again when he heard you whisper “He could literally choke me with his metal arm.”under your breath.He burst out laughing for a reason that Rafe nor Kelce could understand,plotting to use it against you in the future.

Somehow Topper had managed to fall asleep against your leg while Rafe had gotten you onto his lap,your head in the crook of his neck as you watched Steve get the living shit beat out of him.Kelce was on the edge of his seat,completely invested in the story. “Can we watch the next one?”He asked.You smiled,pleased with his excitement. “Tomorrow morning,okay?”You asked.He huffed but nodded,grabbing the blanket he usually used.Rafe pulled a blanket over the two of you,allowing you to sleep on top of him.The four of you must’ve slept in pretty late,waking up to your 1 P.M alarm that told you to take your daily vitamins.You groaned,attempting to move but being held by Rafe.

You yawned,seeing Topper in his deep,drooling double-chin sleep.You flicked Rafe across the head so he’d wake up,the brunette waking with a grumble. “Rafe,you gotta let go.”You smiled,kissing his nose tiredly.He grinned,letting you off his lap.You shook Kelce’s shoulder as you walked by,your shorts riding up.Kelce got up with a groan,the blanket rolling around his body like a burrito as he stumbled into the kitchen.You got yourself a glass of water,putting your four vitamin pills into your palm.He watched as you took them,grinning at you. “Good girl.You want breakfast?”He asked.You shrugged,still tired.Topper walked into the kitchen,wiping his face of drool and carrying the bowl of m and ms.

 “Hey,do you still have those frozen strawberries?”He asked.You nodded,watching as he grabbed the bag of fruit from your freezer along with almond milk,whipper cream,hot fudge and banana. “Where’s Rafe?”Kelce asked,his question being answered by the universe when the Steve Rogers look alike walked in,turning on the keurig.Kelce put some bread in the toaster,taking out the eggs and a frying pan and starting to make some scrambled for Rafe,some fried for you and an m and m omlet for Topper.Speaking of the blonde,he was pouring frozen strawberries,fudge,banana slices and almond milk into the blender,switching it on and dancing to the sounds of the strawberries being crushed.As the eggs began to cook Kelce quickly handed Rafe his mug before grabbing a glass,putting a layer of m and ms and whipped cream at the bottom,adding two spoon fulls of sugar,some milk and mixing it all together until it was a colorful slop,pouring ice in the cup before brewing some italian coffee to top it off.

As it brewed he rushed to flip the eggs,cursing when he realised the edges were burnt.He tossed it onto a plate,sprinkling some italian seasoning on it and taking the toast out of the toaster for you.He grabbed a jar of your favorite jelly,spreading a thin layer on both slices,reaching over Rafe’s head to hand you the plate.You thanked him,ripping the slice of toast in half.Topper turned off the blender,pouring its contents into a glass and making a huge mountain of whipped cream before sitting across from you.You smirked,reaching your fork over to get some whipped cream.He gasped,jaw dropping as he stared at you. “So you’re gonna put me in the rain for two minutes and now youre taking away my whipped cream?Do you wanna fight?”He asked,leaning forward.

You used your fork,knocking over the mountain of whipped cream before getting up and running down the hall.He ran after you,grabbing you by your wrist and pinning you against the wall of the guest room,panting.You two stared at eachother for a while,his bare chest pressed against you.His eyes flicked between your eyes and your lips,leaning down so his forehead was pressed against yours.So much was happening at once,you couldnt even comprehend it.But then from the kitchen you heard an argument starting,Topper letting go of your wrists as they two of you went back to the kitchen. “The third one is the best!” “FUCK YOU IN THE ASS,BITCH!”You walked in,looking between the two boys. 

“What is going on?”You asked.Kelce looked over at you,spatula in hand. “Which Descendants film is better?Two or Three?”He asked.You shook your head,sitting back down to eat your toast. “Fuck-dammit,Topper!You made my toast untoast!”You exclaimed,waving the uncrunchy bread.Kelce frowned,eyes softening. “Do you want me to make you more?”He asked.You shook your head. “No,its fine,Kelce.”You grinned,taking a sip of your coffee.It was sweet and creamy and pretty good,somehow Kelce always made the best coffee no matter what he put in it.Rafe looked between you and Topper,sensing that something had happened in the room.He hoped that Topper wouldnt intentionally hurt him like that,hoping Kelce wouldnt either.A plate of scrambled eggs was put in front of Rafe along with a bottle of barbecue sauce,making you stare at him in disgust. “I cant believe you put barbecue sauce on your eggs.”You shook your head,taking a bite of the toast and getting excited when you heard a crunch. “Oh-hey,dont worry!It didnt untoast”You grinned,enjoying it.

@sexytholland​ @28cnn​  @popcrone818​ @fttayla​ @cherryobx​ @n1ghtsh4d3-67​ @drewstarkeyobx​ @poguestyleskye​ @judayyyw​ @jjtheangel​  @outerbongs​  @copper-boom​ 

If you’d like to be tagged in all future JJ imagines/headcannons/series comment with a heart,if you’d like to be tagged in all future Pope imagines/headcannons/series comment with a smiling face,if you’d like to be tagged in all future Rafe imagines/headcannons/series comment with a frowning face,if you’d like to be tagged in all future Kiara imagines/headcannons/series comment with a question mark and if you’d like to be tagged in all future Sarah Cameron imagines/headcannons/series comment with a plus sign.Or if thats too complicated you can just comment whose name you’d like to be tagged in.

[missmorosis]

Bad Days

AHH hi everyone! So this was kinda all over the place- also @urmomoness​ i couldn’t put him in jail. I just couldn’t. Not even for his ponytail crime.

Enjoy another Zuko x Reader! Sorry for doing this to Zuko ahaha- I’m writing like two more Sokka x readers soon to MAYYYBEEE make up for it!! 💖

AHH also! I just reached 40 followers & this is my 200th post :) I love all of you guys, thank you so so so much!! 💖🧡🥺💛💚🥰💗😭✨💜

Pairing: Zuko x Reader

Word Count: 1.4k :)

Warnings: None!

Summary: Zuko was having a really bad day until Y/N came along to cheer him up!

Zuko was having a bad day. Scratch that, his day was worse than bad. 

To start off his day, he clicked his phone on to check the time. The time “7:49 AM” flashed up at him. He had 41 minutes to get to work, which was enough time since he just had to get in the car by 8:00. It was a thirty-minute drive, and his shift started at 8:30. He got ready, throwing on some clean clothes, brushing his teeth, and combing his hair. He hopped into the car, sticking his hand into his pocket, searching for his keys. 

Shoot. He forgot his keys. He ran back into the house, almost tripping over himself, frantically searching for his car keys. He looked under his mail, around the counter, and in every drawer. Where were they…? 

On the edge of his vision, he spotted something bright yellow, hidden under some papers. He shuffled them around and sighed. Thank goodness for Y/N. She had attached a neon yellow cat keychain onto his keys. Now slightly smiling at the memory, he ran back to his car, starting his engine. He pulled out of the driveway but frowned. 

Why was the engine making that sound? The car sputtered to a stop. Zuko cursed, jumping out of the car to try and see what was wrong. Smoke was blowing out of the front, and Zuko knew that he couldn’t take the car to work anymore. The only choice he had was to go on foot or catch a bus. The coffee shop was 12 miles away, so he decided to go with riding the bus. He Googled the nearest bus stop and went from there. The closest bus stop was 5 minutes away, and the bus was 3 minutes from reaching that stop! 

He ran as fast as he could in order to make it in time, rushing past trees and almost tripping over himself a couple of times. Breathing heavily, he plopped onto the bus stop bench as soon as he arrived. The bench was cold, but he didn’t mind. He was just relieved that he made it in time- 

What was that…? He squinted at something in the distance and cursed. The bus already left, and it was getting farther every second. Zuko pulled his hair in frustration. WHY. DID. EVERYTHING. SUCK. 

Sighing, he started jogging on the sidewalk, heading toward the coffee shop.

“Zuko?” A white car pulled up next to him after a good amount of time jogging. The window rolled down, revealing a smiling Y/N behind the wheel. 

“Y/N! Oh thank goodness, can you please drive me to work? I woke up on time, but I couldn’t find my keys and my car broke down, so I had to take the bus, but the bus left witho-” Y/N stopped Zuko from rambling and unlocked the car door.

“Get in, loser,” she said, laughing. Zuko let out a sigh of relief as he got in next to her, closing the car door behind him.

“Thank you so much, you’re a lifesaver.” He meant it. Zuko didn’t know what he would do if she wasn’t here right now.

“I know. You owe me some boba later, though.” Zuko rolled his eyes.

“Fine. Please take me to work, I’m going to be late.” Y/N started the engine and drove on course to the coffee shop. As soon as they arrived, Y/N blew Zuko a kiss goodbye as he ran into the shop. The bell jingled as he opened the door, rushing in as fast as he could. He glanced at the clock on the wall and cursed under his breath. He was an hour late.

“Zuko. Why were you late? We couldn’t open on time, since you’re our only worker today. I know we said it was going to be a slow day, but that doesn’t mean you can just show up whenever you want to.” His boss looked stern. Zuko looked at the floor, nervous for what was about to come.

“I’m sorry, my car broke down.”

“You missed one hour of your shift.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“Zuko. There are a lot of others who want this job. You aren’t exactly the best at making coffee either.” Zuko bit his lip. He knew what was coming.

“I- I know.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to give your job to someone else. I’ll send your last paycheck to you on Monday.” His heart sank. He was officially fired from his job for being late. He knew that the manager was really picky about their workers, but he didn’t know that being late was enough to get fired. 

“I... understand.” He opened the front door of the cafe, unable to look anyone in the eye as he walked out. The bell jingled again behind him when he closed the door, leaving the coffee shop behind. He walked away, biting his lip to stop himself from crying. He was just fired. He had no job. He let that sink it. He was just fired. He had no job. 

He looked around to see that Y/N’s car was still in the parking lot, and she was just getting ready to pull out. Zuko ran up (he was getting tired of running) and knocked on her car window. She looked up, giving him a perplexed look, but perhaps looking at the state Zuko was in, her face softened. She reached out to open the car door for him, and he fell in. 

They drove for a bit in silence, and Zuko thought about what just happened. What was he going to do…? He had no job, he needed a new source of income. He sighed, causing Y/N to glance at him. She kept driving until they pulled up at a boba shop, and now it was Zuko’s turn to look confused.

“Y/N, what are we doing here?” he asked. Y/N smiled at him.

“Well, I know you already owe me boba, but I decided to treat you since you look like you need it.” Y/N parked her car and got out. Zuko opened and closed the car door, making sure that Y/N locked the car, just in case, before he went on. Y/N grabbed his hand and pulled him with her into the boba shop. 

He had never been to this place before, and as he stood in line with Y/N by his side, he saw that the shop was called “The Jasmine Dragon.” Hm, interesting name… Zuko thought the name had a nice ring to it. 

When it was his turn to order, he had no idea what to get, but luckily, Y/N had his back. “We’ll take two White Lotus teas, please! One with boba, and one without.” Y/N turned to Zuko and whispered, “I promise you’ll like it! It’s totally your taste. Also, I know you hate boba, so yeah.” She remembered... Zuko’s heart felt warm. Y/N remembered the littlest details about him, and he was lucky to have her. 

Together, they sat down at a table for two, waiting for their order. When one of the employees called their order number, Y/N gestured for him to stay seated as she went to get their drinks. 

She was taking a lot of time to just pick up drinks… After another minute or so, she came back with two teas in her hands. They were aesthetically pleasing; some foamed milk floating to the top of the translucent drink, a bit of brown sugar falling down from the sides. Zuko almost wanted to “instagram” it, even though he wasn’t even that type of person. 

“Come on, try a sip.” Y/N pushed one closer to Zuko. He pulled it to his lips, trying a taste. Oh. Oh wow. It was sweet, but not too sweet. It was light and cold, refreshing his taste buds. The flavor was a perfect balance- 

“This… this is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” His eyes widened. Was it possible for anything to taste this heavenly?

“I know, right?! It’s SO good! People say it’s the best in the entire city of Ba Sing Se and I agree.” She stuck the straw into her mouth, drinking the tea as if the straw was permanently stuck to her lips. 

Together, they walked out of The Jasmine Dragon, drinks still in their hands. 

“Oh!” Y/N turned around to face him. “There’s more!” Her eyes twinkled. More..? “I scored an interview on Tuesday for you! I saw that they were hiring, and I knew something happened to your job earlier.” That’s what she was doing… 

“Y/N…” His voice trailed off. “Thank you.” He smiled at her, unable to express his gratitude.

“You still owe me boba!” She laughed, getting into the car once more.

Zuko was having a bad day, but when he ran into Y/N, his day got a lot better.

A/N: hopefully this wasn’t too bad! firing zuko was honestly hard but ofc he has a y/n to cheer him up! LOVE YALL!! thank you for reading 🥺💖

again, thank you for 40 followers & 200 posts :)

Writing Masterlist

Taglist! @urmomoness​

[bellatrixobsessed1]

From Chin To Yon Rah (Part 18)

Azula had blown it. She had gone there to track them down and came away with nothing but heartbreak and repressed memories. She curls up on the bed and wonders how long it will take before they tire of her. Before they finally stop coddling her and demand that she gets on with her life. When they will tell her to get a job and stop taking up space in their infirmary.

And yet she can’t get herself out of bed. Fresh out of fury for revenge, she has no reason to do so. Nobody to get up for and, by Agni, she doesn’t want to get close to anyone. Not ever again. Not when they will be taken from her or grow to resent her upon finding out who she is. Hajime and Atsu were rare gems, she can’t imagine that she will come by anyone else who would be willing to accept her. She isn’t sure that she wants them to.

She knows for certain that they have no more compassion or patience for her a few days later when they inform her that they need bed space for several new patients. When they offer her only shrugs and pitying looks when she asks where she can go.

Life becomes so terribly unbearable after that. It was hard to cope with before.

Now, people don’t even look at her. They go out of their way to pretend not to see the pathetic, shivering, dirty woman asking for a place to stay or something to eat. They put an effort into taking no notice of the ratty woman infested in body with lice and in spirit with survivors guilt.

With any luck, she won’t be a survivor for long. There is only so much a survivor can survive before the instinct burns out.

There is just enough of a flicker of that instinct for her to seek out a job, a way to make some coin. But the people of Chin know her too well already; they know that she is crazed and dirty. They have no interest in working with someone who’d earned a reputation for hallucinating a healthy pregnancy.

She still feels the kicks.  She still hears the cries. She now knows...accepts that they aren’t real. But she still covers her ears.

They avoid her with all of the effort they put into avoiding those afflicted with disease. That is the company Azula keeps now. On occasion she talks to the lepers and those with smallpox. She keeps her distance mostly conversing from the opposite end of the alley, though she doesn’t particularly care if she falls ill herself.

They are nice enough but she doesn’t get attached; their time is short.

Go-Hara is her favorite among them. Her face is swollen and bumpy, her hands puffy and disfigured. She has less time than the rest of them. Allegedly, she has been afflicted with leprosy since early teenhood.

Not a soul has spoken to Go-Hara, so she claimed, not until her. “You’re not afraid?”  She had asked.

“Not at all.”

“I am a monster.” The woman had brought those puffy hands to her lumpy face.

“No more than me.” Azula had declared, though her rot and ugliness comes entirely from within.

Go-Hara had laughed, hoarse and unpleasant, more like a death rattle than a chuckle. Right after Atsu’s screams and Hajime’s last breath, it is the worst sound she has ever heard. “Pretty girl, you are. Pretty face…”

“So what?”

She laughed again.

“I’m not afraid of monsters because I’m one of them.” She had thought of Hajime of how he’d always reassured her whenever the doubts had crept in. She hurt all over again, thrice over.

“You don’t fear the disease?”

“I wish it would take me.” She had said. Azula knew that Go-Hara was worth speaking to when the woman laughed at this too. She still isn’t sure of exactly what was so funny about her death wish.

Today, she sits at the other end of the alley and tosses Go-Hara one of the mangos she had snatched from one of the traveling merchants. “Come closer.” Azula demands.

“I will not.” Go-Hara says again. Azula is still leprosy free and to no credit of her own. Go-Hara avoids close proximity with her as though she is the leper and not the other way around. The woman bites into the mago. “Very good. Thank you.”

Azula nods. Sometimes it is a silent day, they will just sit at opposite ends of the alley and enjoy having the company. When Azula finds herself staring up at the sky she knows that today is a silent day.

That is fine with her, she doesn’t have much to say anyways. But apparently, Go-Hara has different intentions. “Can I tell you about my family before they abandoned me?”

“Go ahead.” She is a seasoned listener after enduring so many after work dinners with old man Ojihara. It dawns upon her that she misses his irrelevant boyhood tales. “Please, go ahead.”

And Go-Hara does. It is very different from Ojihara’s tales. The old man was all logic and lessons--each of his tales ended with some sort of cautionary lesson; don’t go hippo-cow tipping because it isn’t as funny and lighthearted as many young folk think it is, stealing possum-chicken isn’t a funny prank either.

Go-Hara’s stories are all whimsical and nonsensical. Oftentimes they have no point and Azula wonders if they really happened at all. She supposes that, that is why she enjoys them so well.

Sometimes it is nice to hear about something so absurd that it has to be true despite such surreal overtones. She can very easily see a pre-teen Go-Hara making her way into a badger-mole den and causing a stampede of singing gophers.  

“Your turn!” She declares when her story is through.

“My turn?”

“Humor me. Tell an old woman a story. It doesn’t even have to be true.”

And because her time is so short anyways, Azula tells her a story. She tells her a story about a fire princess who could have been something remarkable.   Go-Hara mentions it to no one else. Azula hadn’t expected her to.

That day she learns that some of the best people are the shunned people.

.oOo.

Sokka isn’t sure what to make of it. He has been analyzing and overthinking their conversation for hours now. He is almost certain that she had implied, several times, that she is in love with him, or at the very least, that she is getting there.

And he thinks that, that is a fragile place to be with her.

He finds her in the garden again. He is fairly certain that she is just out there to be out there, he can’t imagine that the seeds would have sprouted that fast even with the palace’s rich soil.

“Hey.” He greets.

Azula turns her head. “You’re up early.”

He shrugs. “I get the prettiest views in the morning.”

“You’re welcome.” Azula replies.

“I was talking about the--”

“Princess of the Fire Nation?” She interrupts. “I know.”

He laughs, he is glad to find her in better spirits. Her gaze is fixed upon the gold-blue of the sunrise as it throws shadows over the garden. “We should add strawberries to the garden.”

“Strawberries?” She quirks a brow. “Next to the turnips? Sokka, that make no sense.”

“It’s your garden, you can arrange it how you want to.”

“Yes.” Azula agrees. “And I would like to keep the fruits with the fruits and the vegetables with the vegetables.”

“Or you can spice it up and lay it out in a fruit, vegetable pattern.”

Azula shakes her head. “I know that there aren’t any crops in the tribes but I think that it is common sense, that the fruits and vegetables are kept separately.”

“Can you say that with confidence?”

Azula nods. “I’ve traveled to various parts of the Earth Kingdom and have passed many farms. Not one of them arranged their crops in a fruit, vegetable pattern. It is because they know that that’s a ridiculous idea.” She adds for good measure.

“Alright fine, we’ll put the strawberries all the way on the other side of the palace. Happy?”

Azula shakes her head, “that is too much unnecessary walking. Optimally the strawberries would be placed…”

He had forgotten how carefully she likes to lay out every detail. How concise even some of the most trivial things must be. But then he might not have truly know that to begin with, he has only heard Zuko mention it on occasion.

“And that’s why it’s important to keep the strawberries near the watermelons.”

He flushes, realizing that he hadn’t been listening at all. Though he isn’t entirely confident that strawberries and watermelons have the same growing season. “Azula, can you answer something honestly?”

She nods.

“Do you even know what you’re talking about?”

She thinks for a moment. “Not entirely. Seukhyun usually helped me with my gardens. I can’t quite remember everything he was trying to tell me about it.” She pauses. “I suppose I can ask the palace gardner…”

“Or we can figure it out together through trial and error. Don’t you think that, that would be funner.”

.oOo.

She supposes that it could be. She’d had a nice time the last few times that he’d taken her somewhere new. Spontaneity isn’t exactly her first choice but it has its merits. “That’s a strange way of asking if you have permission to plant your strawberries next to my turnips.”

He bursts out laughing again. The sort of barking laugh that includes holding his hands to his belly until the fit passes. He wipes a tear from the corner of his eye. She didn’t think it was that funny. “So is that a yes?”

Azula sighs, “fine. But only because I can shift the blame to you if my turnips don’t turn out well.”

It is quite therapeutic to do garden work. She thinks that if they had let her give it a try at the institution that she might have received it better. But then, she wasn’t exactly ready for something like that then. At that point, gardening was still entirely a peasant’s work. She supposes that it kind of still is. And she knows it by the curious looks she is given throughout the day, particularly when she re-enters the palace with muddy pants and dirt smudged hands and cheeks.

“New hobby?” Zuko asks.

Azula nods.

“I remember when you were burning things in the palace garden for being ugly.”

“My garden is going to be too pretty to set on fire.” She declares. “I have come inside for lunch and tea.”

“It’s almost ready.” Zuko smiles.

“Where are Mai and TyLee?”

“They went for a stroll around the capital. Where’d Sokka go off to?”

“He’s on his way inside.”

“You’ve gotten...close.” He notes.

“Yes.” She replies. “What of it?”

.oOo.

He shrugs as he sets out a few teacups, “I guess that it’s just nice to see that you’re making friends. It’s just…” he trails off. It’s strange. Surreal. Unexpected among other things. It isn’t the bad sort of strange and unexpected, not that he can see. In fact it is very much a relief to know that he won’t have to listen to constant bickering and mediate between she and everyone else.

Generally, she seems like she is doing significantly better.

“Did you finish reading it?”

It takes him a moment to connect the dots. “Almost.” He replies. Truth be told he has been hesitating to finish reading the journal. He knows already what is going to happen, he just isn’t ready for it. Doesn’t want to know the details and the how’s. Atsu is...was a sweet boy and he doesn’t want to flip the page only to find that he has died.

Agni, if he can’t even read it… He looks at his sister. At the scars on her neck and the very subtle bags under her eyes. He can’t even begin to fathom it.

She takes her teacup and cradles it in her hands the way she always had since they were kids. Sokka walks into the room and suddenly her eyes don’t seem so weary and tired. “I’m glad that you’re doing better.” He says finally.

Azula nods, “thank you.”

Sokka comes to stand in front of her, “you got dirt all over your face!” He declares boldly. “Let me just…”

She takes one look at his hands and grumbles, “Sokka, don’t you dare.”

Despite her protests, Sokka rubs the dirt from her cheek. By rubs, Zuko meant smears. He doesn’t just smear the dirt, Zuko thinks that he has added more to. His suspicions are confirmed at the crinkling of Azula’s nose.

“Zuzu, come here.”

Zuko steps closer. Honestly, he doesn’t know what he was expecting. She takes his sleeve, his lavish Fire Lord regalia and rubs her cheek clean. “Better, thank you.” She remarks.

[zuzuslastbraincell]

☕ Aang.

He's a character I don't see you talk about much, so I'm curious about you thoughts on him, his character arc, what you like or dislike about him, etc.

The short answer: Love Aang. He’s great! Feel like a lot of the dislike of his character (while fading, at least in the circles I’m in) is misplaced. People who think Aang didn’t make the right end game decisions don’t understand his character / miss the point, IMO. That said, dislike some of the character decisions especially r.e. Katara/Aang.

The longer answer: I really love Aang and I feel like the hate he receives from various parts of the fandom is very unwarranted, though I wonder if it stems from watching the show as a child his age and finding his playfulness unrelatable - like as a kid I might have found it exasperating but as an adult I find it very refreshing and it is so obvious to me that Aang is A Child, it informs how he behaves and his decisions massively, and I wonder if the dislike comes from the lack of perspective and being unable to view Aang as a kid, being kids themselves when these haters watched the show?

That said, all kinds of people do dismiss Aang as immature and it frustrates me to no end, because being cynical =/= maturity, a willingness to make difficult decisions that betray deeply held beliefs =/= maturity, and Aang’s decision to stick to his beliefs should always be viewed in tandem with the context that he is a victim of genocide, that genocide includes the destruction of a culture’s common beliefs and practices too, and whether those beliefs live or die in the future starts and ends with him.

Additionally, I feel like Aang does possess a lot of emotional maturity for his age, even if he has bouts of being immature (like, normal, honestly). Like he processes his anger in a way that is largely healthy, actually? I think that’s a thing most people don’t understand, they don’t see that as part of Aang, when really Aang processes his emotions like someone who’s had very clear healthy models for it. He does feel anger, and grief. When Aang tells Katara in the southern raiders episode vengeance isn’t the way, that’s something that he’s fought hard internally to believe in, that’s something that he’s learned.

Tying into that, I think an overlooked aspect of Aang’s development is how in season 1 Aang spent a lot of time looking for Fire Nation citizens who were good / who could be good, because the idea that the Fire Nation is fundamentally evil contradicts his world view (”the monks taught us all life was sacred”), but I think that was probably a perspective he clung onto as well as a way of dealing with his grief. Like, I feel like Aang has fought hard to reaffirm his beliefs in a world that seems determined to “prove him wrong”, surrounded with characters who largely don’t share or understand them & see it as naivety because they lack perspective and have only known war / understand the brutality of the opponent they’re facing on a personal level. I think we don’t see a lot of this explicitly, it’s largely subtext and often an internal debate -- Aang doesn’t have many people to soundboard these kind of thoughts off, there’s no one who is an air nomad or of a similar kind of upbringing around.

Tbh I feel that Aang is best in season 1, largely because his developments in later seasons also incorporate his feelings about Katara as part of his general development, and if I’m just completely honest with you all, I mean no disrespect to Katara/Aang folks you’re cool in my books but I’m just not sold by it at all. For example, because Aang’s journey mastering the avatar state involves him reckoning with his earthly attachments and the idea of letting go, and that conflict revolves around his feelings for Katara, and because I am not particularly sold by Aang and Katara, that impacts on how I view that whole arc. I love a good friends to lovers arc where the depth of those feelings extends to both friendship and romance but I feel like the way ATLA writes romantic arcs often involves a character suddenly looking at another with heart eyes and very little actual bonding to justify that sudden change, very few *journeys* or *arcs* that culminate in feelings (unrelated, but this is my theory as to why Zuko is shipped with almost everyone, because he literally has several life-changing journeys with other characters at the tail end of S3), and it’s fairly unconvincing / pretty flat to me? Especially since we do not get anywhere near as much an insight into Katara’s feelings in that regard? I get that romance isn’t always a grand arc or whatever but given that it’s tied to a lot of Aang’s S2 development, I think it ought to have more prominence.

If I’m honest, I also feel like Aang’s development regarding Katara and the Avatar State was incomplete, and that made a lot of his S3 development frustrating because in other aspects I think he came into his own and matured - usually in subtle ways, like his attitude in the Southern Raiders, but also we see him from being understandably upset about having to hide his identity, to incorporate aspects of Fire Nation dress into his final late S3 look - but in that aspect, his arc felt incomplete to me? This might be a poor reading of it, but to expand on how I see it, in S2, Aang is incapable of letting go of Katara until literally the most critical moment, when he has to -- at which point, he is struck down by chance. In S3, the concept of entering into the Avatar State being a matter of difficulty is literally not mentioned, so we can presume he’s come to terms with letting go of Katara - which directly contradicts the pushy behaviour he shows in Ember Island Players, the way he ignores her boundaries? And then that’s literally never addressed, Aang never apologises, Katara and Aang never have an important conversation resolving the conflict there, and in the end Aang gets the girl? It’s frustrating.

Like, the way I see it, “letting go” of Katara shouldn’t mean putting no importance on her - I actually like the idea of Aang not being willing to leave his friends behind, his compassion and care is important in this aspect. Rather, if I were in the writer’s chair, I would have it that “letting go” means a willingness to face rejection. Aang lets go of a romantic prospect of Katara - and acknowledges she can and might reject him, and that’s always a possibility, but opens his heart to her anyway out of trust (and when they get together, it’s not because he’s proven himself worthy, but because Katara wants to be with him). I think that would have been such a monumentally *powerful* message, especially in a late 00s cartoon, prior to the likes of Adventure Time and Gravity Falls quite explicitly deconstructing the idea of the male protagonist always getting with their crush (I feel like a vital context new viewers miss r.e. Katara/Aang is that the male protagonist would always always get with the girl in cartoons, it always happened, to the extent that female characters existed as much as love interests as characters in their own rights). I honestly don’t think it would even require that much in terms of change! I might show that in S3 Aang still has difficulty with the Avatar state at times - he can go into it at will, but not always - and that’s because he’s in the process of letting Katara as a crush go. I’d still keep the kiss in Day of Black Sun - tbh, I have no issues there, he thought he’d never see her again quite possibly, he’s impulsive, it makes sense - but I’d maybe highlight a slight awkwardness afterwards. I might even keep the awful Ember Island Players conflict - but crucially, I think Aang would have to learn from this. I think when Aang might realise he’s still struggling with the Avatar state as late as Sozin’s Comet episode 1, panic, realise he needs to internalise that belief more, and I think he’d leave Katara a note - including an apology for his actions before, for pushing her when she wasn’t ready, but explaining also, that he needs to go on a journey by himself to figure this out. Rest of Sozin’s comet goes ahead as normal, more or less. I’d end with Katara, maybe at the tea shop afterwards, talking to Aang and asking him why he went off by himself, explaining that she & the gaang would be there for him, he didn’t have to go on a journey alone. Aang would explain that he didn’t expect they’d understand, they’re not monks, and Katara explaining that maybe they wouldn’t, but he could *try*, that’s a risk you sometimes take (but concedes they could have been more understanding). And I think over that conversation it hits Aang it’s not about being alone. Everything’s connected. It’s about not clinging on. it’s about being willing to lose. It’s about trust. I think by the end, they agree to try and communicate better, and Aang then asks Katara out - mirroring “Do you want to go penguin sledding with me?”, similar kind of activity. He almost tries to over-explain and say ‘listen it doesn’t have to go anywhere’ but Katara just smiles and says yeah. And they leave to go on their first real date.

Anyway that’s how I *would* have handled it and that is what I think could be an interesting and compelling arc that wouldn’t take much adjustment to add. Aang is afraid of losing Katara, and realising that he can and might lose her is important.

.... that’s way more than I intended to write but yeah. I feel like a lot of Aang’s development ties in with his feelings for Katara and that’s where I take issue.

[kdinthecity]

Confessions of a Teenage Sugar Queen: Underwater

Welcome to Day Two of @zutaraweek. Here is the previous chapter from Day One, Chapter 1: Fired Up.

The Memorial Day holiday weekend marks the end of school and beginning of summer. Ozai—excuse me, Mr. Kasai, ever so graciously invited “Azula’s friends” to their family beach house on Ember Island. Dad must not have known we’d all be there without adult supervision, otherwise he’d never agree to this. Especially since Sokka is here with his girlfriend, Suki. Ugh, they are so disgusting together and not even subtle about it! I actually respected her—a cheerleader, taekwondo black belt, honors student who nailed the coveted coast guard internship for the summer. But when I stepped on something cold, wet, and squishy in the bathroom on the first morning of our beach getaway... just, ew.

I know it’s not their first time. And I know people do it, alright? Hell, Jet and I did everything but. I just want it to be special. And with someone I… dare I say it? Love.

Can you fall in love in high school? My rational brain says no. I write about it in my fictional stories, but that’s the only way I’ll entertain the idea. Besides, I have responsibilities. Gran Gran is great at taking care of us, but she isn’t getting any younger. Dad is gone over half the year. Sokka can barely match his own socks much less wash them. And for my junior year, I plan to take college level calculus, chemistry, and political science. I don’t have time for a boyfriend and certainly not any notions of love.

“Zuko was looking for you!” Ty Lee plops down next to me on my beach towel. I had distanced myself from the others, saying I want to work on my “tan.” My skin is dark enough already, so anyone with eyes can see through my outright lie. Even Toph wouldn’t be fooled. Although I swear that girl detects falsehood by the catch in your breath or the rhythm of your heartbeat. Toph teases that she can predict the next earthquake through her feet, but I bet she would feel it before the rest of us do.

It takes a while for Ty Lee's comment to register. Why would Zuko be looking for me? He hasn’t spoken a word to me since we arrived. I’m pissed about this, actually, and two can play the game of cold shouldering.

“He found the surfboards,” Ty Lee continues. “Did you want to surf?”

I do love surfing. Mom taught me. Sokka hates it; the uncoordinated doofus always falls off. But I’m a natural, almost as if I can command the waves. I'll be the bigger person and call a truce on this no-talking thing. Maybe Zuko surfs, too.

He doesn’t.

He doesn’t even like the water! He looks at the ocean like it’s going to swallow him whole. This could put up a serious roadblock in our relationship, I mean—friendship! Gah, we don’t even have that! I’ve spoken exactly 17 words to him. Why do I know? Because I've replayed that stupid encounter in my head, thinking I could have said something much more interesting. It would be a miracle if creepy, sexy scar boy ever talks to me again. Like when he gave me a board, he just grunted. And I took it without saying thank you! I clearly suck monkeyballs at conversation.

“Katara?”

“Hmm?” Get ready for case in point.

“I think I gave you the wrong surfboard.”

All I can think about is how tight my wetsuit feels all of the sudden and how his golden eyes shimmer in the midday sun. Even the half-lidded one is so striking, like his gaze is on fire. Zuko barely says a few words and apparently possesses the power to melt my insides and freeze my brain all at the same time.

“Huh?” Yes, I know. Eloquent.

“I gave you my sister’s board,” Zuko continues, a slight flush rising to his cheeks. “From when she was younger. I didn’t know how experienced you were.”

So… he was watching me. Again.

He shrugs. “Um. Maybe you want to try my mother’s instead?”

My tongue feels thick, but somehow I manage. “Yeah. Sure. That’d be great.”

He hesitates before handing over the board, tracing the rail with long nimble fingers. I don’t recall Azula ever mentioning their mother, so I wonder.

“Don’t worry,” I say. “I’ll take good care of it.”

He simply nods, and while the sadness in his expression is fleeting, it did not go unnoticed.

I distance myself again at the beachside bonfire that night. I much prefer the cool ocean breeze whipping through my hair over the hot stifling smell of burning wood. From my vantage point on a rocky ledge nearby, I can see the group down below. Azula assembles the ingredients for s'mores, taking a little too much pleasure in stabbing marshmallows with long metal skewers.

Sokka and Suki are snuggled up together in the same position they were earlier. With her head tilted back and lips slightly parted, I can only guess what’s going on underneath their blanket. Ewww.

Zuko is wearing a Hawaiian print shirt and handing out lei necklaces of all things. I decide he is much more interesting to watch—so awkward and adorable. He tentatively places the flowers around Ty Lee’s neck, obviously trying to look anywhere besides the cleavage spilling from her bikini top. She gives him a peck on the cheek in response. It’s too dark to tell, but I bet his face has turned as red as our school mascot, the firedragon. I wonder if he knows that Ty Lee is into girls.

Zuko’s sister waves him away. Sokka and Suki are making out now, so he avoids them. He’s obviously searching for someone. Could it be me?

Mai.

That girl has complained nonstop since we got here. She hates the sand. She sunburns too easily. Ocean water makes her eyes sting. Zuko doesn’t pay enough attention to her. Zuko won’t leave her alone! UGH!

He gives her TWO leis. And she fucking rolls her eyes at him. That’s it. I’m going for a walk on the beach.

I don’t know how long it’s been, but I have a tendency to lose track of time when I’m out here close to the water. My element.

Someone clears his throat. If he weren’t so wrapped up in his girlfriend—literally—I’d expect Sokka to start worrying and come find me. But no, this isn’t a concerned sibling visit.

“Missed you at the bonfire,” Zuko says.

“Yeah, sorry. I guess I don’t really like fire. It’s too—” Destructive. “—hot.” My throat feels tight again but not for the same reason as before. My thoughts have been... drifting.

“I like fire. As long as it’s controlled.” His voice is sexy as fuck, but surprisingly I am able to find mine this time.

“Well, anything out of control is a bad thing, right?” Control is everything. That’s why I work so hard to maintain it.

“Makes sense. I don’t really like the ocean for that reason. The waves seem… uncontrollable. Or controlled by a force that we can’t wield.”

Ah, he likes his control, too. “The waves are controlled by the moon,” I say.

“I know, and the moon is untouchable. At least with fire, humans can light it, contain it, and put it out. Y’know?”

“I think I’d trust the moon over a man with a match any day.”

He regards me for a few seconds with those sad, striking eyes of his, then laughs. “Maybe so.”

He turns to leave, and I’m searching my brain for something, anything to say to make him stay. I want to hear him laugh again.

“Oh! I almost forgot.” He’s suddenly back in my field of vision, and he’s closer than ever before. He smells like campfire and chocolate, and I didn’t think it possible, but those eyes are now smoldering. My breath catches as he gently places a lei around my neck; I shudder when warm fingers brush past my left ear.

He’s gone, and I discover this is no cheap party store necklace, either. The flowers are real, and their fragrance is intoxicating. I might feel high for a different reason, though.

“If you don’t like the ocean, then why did you apply for this position?” I’m basically high on two cups of coffee and a cocoa almond flaxseed energy bar. I’ve been anxiously waiting for our internship to start. We’re already on a boat first thing, and Zuko is gripping the side of it for dear life. Hahn immediately and shamelessly attached himself to Yue like a barnacle to a buoy, so it is only Zuko and me positioned here portside.

“It’s for PR,” he replies.

“What?”

He sighs. “Look, you wouldn’t understand.”

I don’t think his knuckles could get any whiter… or his face any greener. I can’t help but worry.

“Are you gonna be OK?” I ask when he’s clearly not.

“Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“No.”

“Can you maybe… explain? I can try to understand.” I stare at the right side of his face, chiseled and flawless. Admittedly, he’s beautiful. It's my turn to sigh.

His eyes remain fixated on the water below. “OK… it’s for my father’s business. To improve his reputation. It looks good for tech companies to support noble causes, give back to the environment. My father thinks I’m useless as an employee, so this is how he wants me to restore honor to the company name.”

“Oh.”

Even though I am mesmerized by his perfect profile, his statement doesn’t settle well with me at all. Of course, I want the position so it will look good on my college applications, and maybe that's a little selfish and not that much different. But I also care about the important stuff we're doing. Nobody ultimately goes into nonprofit work for personal glory, right? Maybe people do it to feel good about themselves, but somehow I know this is not Zuko's intention in this situation. It won't be fulfilling unless he feels something for it.

“Is that how you see it? As just a job to make your father look good?” I ask.

“Katara… I just need to… survive, OK? I need to graduate, get into a good college, so I can get the hell out of here.”

“But… you’ve got the education position at the Marine Center. How can you teach what you don’t really believe in?”

“I got that position because I have a ton of Future Fire Technology branded freebies to hand out when I go visit places. I’m telling you, Katara. It’s all about PR.”

But it’s not! It’s about speaking truth! And saving lives! And changing minds! That’s what Mom used to…

I can’t look at him anymore. I just can’t. I can only look at our reflections in the water and fight the urge to push him overboard.

What if he can’t swim, though? Is that why he’s afraid?

I look at his pained expression once again, and it seems like he’s already drowning.

The setting is modern day California, specifically Silicon Valley where HS kids are super stressed about stuff like internships because the tech culture is all around them, and Stanford and UC Berkeley are the “local schools.” Ember Island is like Angel Island; it exists solely for recreational purposes. The Marine Science Center is based on two real-life organizations in the Bay Area.

Chapter Three: Steamy  | Chapter Four: The Fall

[bozeia]

I had a very nice conversation with a good friend about fan stuffs and meta stuff. I wanted to share it, tentatively. Very long though so it’s all going under the cut.

Bozeia: Fandom drama. Bozeia: x_x ( + ) Lomithiel: Stupid fandom drama x_x Bozeia: Normally I am actually one of those people that has never felt like other people "ruin" a show for me. Bozeia: No one else I know relates to that! Bozeia: They always tell me, like. Bozeia: "The Homestuck fandom ruined Homestuck for me" or something like that. Bozeia: But like I just look at it as fans being dumb and having no bearing on what the material is trying to say. ( + ) Lomithiel: *nodnod* Agreed Bozeia: Right? ( + ) Lomithiel: But in this case...?  Is it the Voltron fandom, or a different fandom? Bozeia: =w=;; You pay attention yes it's the Voltron fandom. Actually, maybe I'll be able to explain this to you better than with my other friend. Bozeia: Uuummm, mmmmmmm okay so like. Bozeia: Ack, it's always been this way. I don't ever, really, have the privlege of geeking out over a fandom with other fans of the thing I'm a fan of. Bozeia: At the time the thing I'm a fan of is running/in progress/et cetera. Bozeia: At this point, my experiences have made me way too shy. ( + ) Lomithiel: *nodnod* Bozeia: I have a difficult time reaching out and trying to make new fandom friends. Bozeia: So I just lurk a lot. Bozeia: And am basically a stalker. Bozeia: So I just followed a lot of blogs that shared my interests. Bozeia: But, like. Bozeia: It's tumblr. Bozeia: So stuff that's related to what I like and who my favorite characters are just ends up on my dash even if it's from a blog I wouldn't have followed. Bozeia: And like. Bozeia: I don't know what it is but tumblr has this trend where freakin' everyone loves a specific character to death to the point of ruining it for everyone else. Bozeia: Like, Sans. Or Junkrat. Or, in this case, Lance. Bozeia: And it's like. Bozeia: I really, really like Lance. That one is my favorite character. Bozeia: And I want to write fic about him! Bozeia: I have a few ideas. Bozeia: But I wanted to try and get a better handle on his character. Bozeia: And finding, like. Bozeia: Character analysis posts that are ACCURATE is really difficult? Bozeia: Because a lot of people are biased and don't look at it for what it IS sometimes. ( + ) Lomithiel: Yeah, I have that problem with some of the Sans-analysises I've stumbled across on tumblr ( + ) Lomithiel: People get attached and want them to be what they want them to be, rather than considering the character exactly for who they are, flaws and all. Bozeia: Right! See, that was my thing. Bozeia: I haven't written in so long that I doubt my ability to portray flaws and how they cause conflict? Bozeia: Because, like. Bozeia: Like, sometimes, I only really relate to MY flaws. Bozeia: And my flaws are, specifically, "disengage super hard and hide when you upset people". Bozeia: Which is not, probably, what Lance would always do. Bozeia: Lance is loud and emotional (which I can relate to) but he's also not shy about confrontation and saying the occasional Obnoxious, Dumb Thing. Bozeia: So it's like. Bozeia: Pls help. Bozeia: But tumblr is the worst for help. Bozeia: And it's been on the back of my mind. Bozeia: And then I saw a post just now reblogged by someone else who called out everyone who puts Lance on a pedestal to the detriment of the other characters and it just sort of irked me. Bozeia: Not, like, in that way where they're wrong. Bozeia: But, like. Bozeia: In that way where it had to be said at all. -.- Bozeia: And now I'm wondering if it's even worth it to write my thingers because what if people are just tired of Lance content. Bozeia: Hnnn. Bozeia: But yeah, other than that and the car thing that's all that's up with me. Bozeia: I'm sorry, I just sort of word spewed. ( + ) Lomithiel: <3 ( + ) Lomithiel: Naw, s'good. ( + ) Lomithiel: I would say it is worth it to write your thingers if it would bring YOU enjoyment. Bozeia: I guess. It should bring me enjoyment. Bozeia: I guess the thing that's bothering me is this feeling that I am somehow...typical? Bozeia: Or like. ( + ) Lomithiel: And I would bet anything there would be people out there who would like it, too. Bozeia: A fandom sheep. Bozeia: And yeah, probably. Bozeia: At the very least I hope that if I DO write The Thing(s). Bozeia: That it would set a good example! Bozeia: Like, "Hey! This is Lance! All of Lance! Including when he does not so fun things! Remember that this is him!" ( + ) Lomithiel: *nodnod* I would not by any means call you typical. ( + ) Lomithiel: And exactly! :D Bozeia: *Nodnod.* ( + ) Lomithiel: Sometimes you gotta write a fanfic to Do It Right. Bozeia: To, uh, express this sentiment exactly. Bozeia: I do want to provide the context that, um. Bozeia: I have a Type. Bozeia: As far as favorite characters go. Bozeia: And it is always exactly the same, there are only two conditions. Bozeia: It must be an Underappreciated Character that is Underappreciated by EITHER or BOTH of the following parties: Bozeia: 1. They are Underappreciated by other characters within the universe of the show. Bozeia: Or. Bozeia: 2. They are Underappreciated by the FANDOM for some reason. ( + ) Lomithiel: *nodnod* Bozeia: I have a TON of characters that I fucking adore because they're unappreciated by fandom. Bozeia: Like, Star Fox? Bozeia: My favorite fucking character is Andrew Oikonny. Bozeia: Who is a throwaway boss that everyone makes fun of. Bozeia: But he had so much potential! Bozeia: Or Dragon Ball Z? Bozeia: My favorite is Raditz. Bozeia: Which is absolutely a character people would make fun of me for liking. Bozeia: But. Other times. Bozeia: Rarely. Bozeia: My #favorite will sometimes fall in line with whom the fandom at large most adores. Bozeia: With Avatar, my favorite from that show was Zuko. Bozeia: Because! Bozeia: Literally his entire story was "EVERY SINGLE OTHER CHARACTER SHITS ON HIM IF THEY DON'T LOVE YOU I WILL". Bozeia: And it so happened to win him the adoration of every fangirl ever, go figure. Bozeia: And now in THIS show. Bozeia: Everyone's #favorite is Lance. ( + ) Lomithiel: And Lance is the unappreciated one? Bozeia: It's, hmmm. Bozeia: I want to say. Bozeia: And I am trying to be objective. Bozeia: That he may be slighty underappreciated by his team? Or. Bozeia: At the VERY least he has some very, very faint feelings of being underappreciated whether it's true or not. Bozeia: Lance's actual problem is that he actually just has low self-esteem. Bozeia: Most of the time he covers it up SUPER WELL by acting like a hot shot. Bozeia: To the point where most of the time I think he fools himself. Bozeia: I think he intentionally fools himself like he probably appreciates "fake it til you make it" in a real way. Bozeia: But when he's alone and there's no one there he'll have some very real existential moments where he worries that he doesn't have a "thing" and that he's not really super GOOD at anything like the rest of his team. Bozeia: Like, he actually comes out and wonders if he's bringing his team down. Bozeia: And he's not sure because they wouldn't keep him around if he didn't contribute? Bozeia: Question marks. Bozeia: So. Bozeia: Within the spectrum of the show I don't at all get the impression that Lance really blames his team for not appreciating him enough. Bozeia: I think he's more worried about not being good enough for THEM. Bozeia: But that by itself has the overtone of "do they appreciate him because if he's having self-esteem issues then is his team there for him emotionally?" Bozeia: Et cetera. Bozeia: So. Bozeia: I think like, collectively, a lot of Voltron tumblr saw him have this moment in season 2 that a lot of them SUPER related to. Bozeia: Because it was the kind of emotional crisis that every depressed emo loser would have. Bozeia: Me included. Bozeia: Super me included, I am that loser. Bozeia: I have had that exact Lance moment. Bozeia: Multiple times. Bozeia: Hence why I fucking love him and why he is my son. Bozeia: <<<<< ( + ) Lomithiel: *nodnod* ( + ) Lomithiel: that is a very relatable feel, for... I imagine lots of the tumbler folks. *heh* ( + ) Lomithiel: And the fanbase in general. ( + ) Lomithiel: (I really gotta watch this show now) Bozeia: It's super good. Bozeia: But yeah, like. Bozeia: I'm trying to figure out how to write my way around Lance's EXACT emotional nuances. Bozeia: It is there and real but it is not. Bozeia: Always how a lot of writers like to portray it? Bozeia: Like, I think there is potential to writing him struggling with self-esteem, and even with depression. But. There is a key to portraying it accurately. Bozeia: And I think portraying it accurately should include the fact that he seems to almost overcompensate in trying to cover up, or keep ahead of, his own insecurities and melancholy. Bozeia: To the point where he naturally brags, and boasts, and hyper flirts, and sometimes even picks fights, to keep his head above water so to speak (yeah! water puns!). Bozeia: So, like. ( + ) Lomithiel: Reminds me of Raf (the ninja turtle) in a lot of his portrayals. ( + ) Lomithiel: A little. ( + ) Lomithiel: So, like? Bozeia: I'm trying to organize my thoughts. Uuuuh. I think. Bozeia: To the rest of his team. Bozeia: It's like this situation where Lance is really, really good at wearing this really happy jokerster mask. Bozeia: And he's really good at faking high self-esteem. Bozeia: So it's not his team's fault for not realizing Lance might be having issues. Bozeia: And, you know. Bozeia: I don't think Lance thinks it's their problem that he's having issues. Bozeia: Which is where, maybe, I'm having my issue with fandom sometimes. Bozeia: ...Not that it stops me from partaking in the occasional super angst whump fic someone wrote. Bozeia: It's a guilty pleasure even if it's not how I would've written it fml. Bozeia: But yeah. Bozeia: The short of it is I read that post and now I feel almost guilty for liking Lance. Bozeia: And also I'm a little disappointed in a number of writers who maybe exaggerate the wrong things in their portrayal of him. Bozeia: And it just makes me go "grr". Bozeia: Also wait. Bozeia: Raf as in Raphael from TMNT? Bozeia: Isn't he like. Bozeia: Temperamental and super confrontational? Bozeia: I think? ( + ) Lomithiel: He's got kind of the self esteem complex, tho, too, in some iterations. ( + ) Lomithiel: Where he's kind of the tough guy to cover it up. Bozeia: Ahhhh. Bozeia: The only iteration I'm SUPER familiar with is the newest Nick show. Bozeia: I honestly don't remember if that one has self-esteem issues. ( + ) Lomithiel: (and totally, the "it's not how I would have written it but mmmmm guilty pleasure" fics are the sauce sometimes) ( + ) Lomithiel: That's the one I'm thinking of. ( + ) Lomithiel: And, like... it's not like he SHOWS it really ( + ) Lomithiel: And maybe it's bits that I'm reading too much into, but I get the sense that sometimes he feels like all his brothers are 'better' than him in different ways, I dunno. ( + ) Lomithiel: ANYWAY ( + ) Lomithiel: Yeh, it's hard.  Like, one day I'd like to write my Undertale fic, and Sans is a similar "rabid fanbase" character, where it's like "well of course you're writing a Sans-centric story doesn't EVERYONE?" Bozeia: Right??? That's how I feel. -.-;; Bozeia: To be fair, I only really have the strong desire to write three fics. Bozeia: And once I write them, barring new content from the upcoming Season Three maybe inspiring me, I think I'd probably be done with fic for Voltron. Bozeia: Two of them are Lance-centric, the last one isn't even centered around the main characters at all. Bozeia: I want to write a fic about fan characters set in the same setting. Bozeia: Which, I'm not sure how that'd be defined, exactly. Bozeia: But it is a thing.

[birdcourt]

me? pumping out a large vriska essay again? yeah.

whenever i think of making an evil or even morally ambiguous character i get discouraged because i know for a fact i will make her vriska fucking serket. i just really am attached to the concept of a character conditioned for evil who after escaping their conditioner has become a smug jerk with a hero complex, and despite good intentions just keeps doing horrendous things, its interesting moral territory, because it uh. it blurs the lines with say, someone who does evil with justifiable good intent, its easy to say "yeah whatever fuck off" and accept that because they're so conscious of their evil that their worldview is beyond reconciliation. like uh. caesar from fallout new vegas, he's doing terrible things but he has a good intent and he explains it at a depth that i honestly did not expect when asked, he justifies it reasonably, therefore he's of his right mind enough that i dont care to pity him or even attempt to identify with him(this is slightly more of an out there example compared to the rest so for a recap, the legion's a big evil army that keeps slaves and does evil bad things this is allowed to survive in fallouts post apocalyptic wasteland, they fight against the ncr, which is more or less a standard democracy, here's caesars explanation of why he's created this (x) ) a villain that was conditioned to be bad but has no independence or sign of ever being good ever in their lives is easy to pity but hard to, identify with in any meaningful way, like gam zee fucking clownstuck, dont get me wrong, people can and have identified with him, and if you do good on you, but the fact of the matter is whether this is intentional on hussie's part, there IS no humanizing moment for him, or really any moment where gamzee's actions are portrayed as having any motivation behind them, and im fairly confident that gamzee acts how he does because the timeline could not sustain itself if he didn't, given that he's so vital to so many events in the timeline that we've already witnessed, events that would create a paradox if he was NOT evil.

AND a villain that is good intentioned, conditioned for evil, but isnt such a smug jerk about it is. hard to NOT identify with, there needs to be conflict, this ones like uh. zuko. zuko's way too easy to identify with because he had honor and respect, and was a big cut above the rest of the fire nation, and he only gets  better, and more humanized as time goes on, from the very next episode after being introduced he's given his first moment that sets him apart from the fire nation, and more or less every episode that offers more characterization for zuko sets him further and further apart, this is used to great effect in the season 2 finale, that feels as much a betrayal to the audience as it does to aang and katara, but theres something desirable with an uncertainty with what a character will do, we all thought we knew for sure he would help aang, and while that is very effective for zuko in particular, i absolutely love not being able to know at all until the very last minute someone like vriska, for me, hits a perfect sweet spot, and thats what makes her interesting, its easy to identify with her if you look for the moments of clarity where the persona falls away and you see the struggling person underneath(this for me is sadly best represented in the fucking non canon paradox space comic she stars in: "vrisky business" but i consider it canon cause hey why the fuck not its the definitive and clear humanizing moment hussie never bothered to include in the comic itself) and its easy to hate her if you look at all the truly evil things she's done with a ruthless grin on her face, and ultimately, and every time her morals were put into question, i had no idea what she would do, i knew she would die because i spoiled myself but, i genuinely had no idea what vriska would do when terezi confronted her, and i had no idea what she would do when tavros did, and this really contributes to the themes centric to her character, she feels like a very cool and very high stakes person keeping all their cards hidden until the very last minute at which they get to reveal it all in some really dramatic way, this is what makes her an interesting and complex character that i really enjoy, so much so, that i cannot separate her from the idea of a complex morally grey character in my head. which is probably just because i hyperfixate on homestuck so much but still.

[comradekatara]

I asked this question to another blog but never got an answer. I asked google but I couldn't find anything. How in God's name does me being a zutara shipper (and no I'm not sensoring the name bc why the fuck) make me a racist?

i appreciate the active hostility with which this question was asked. you seem to be really steaming right now, which makes me super inclined to answer your question with patience and respect!

by the way you phrased this, you seem to have made shipping a part of your identity. the phrasing of “a ___ shipper” vs “someone who ships ___” really speaks volumes. i’ve noticed this is the case with a lot of insular fan communities that become heavily attached to a specific romance within the show. especially when said relationship is not canon. i know it’s easy to get riled up over nothing, but i promise you this: you are not under attack. bryke did not slight you by not making your ship canon. no fan of atla is under attack for their opinions on atla. it’s a show. these are not real problems. it is perfectly valid to feel upset over the writing of a show (i, too, for example, think the mai/zuko and katara/aang resolutions in the finale were slapdash, poorly-written, and borderline-misogynistic) but at the end of the day, it’s just a show. 

on the other hand, when fans of a piece of media say “hey, this phenomenon (either within the text itself, paratext, or fan engagement) with regards to this thing i like is racist, actually,” they are not just saying “i feel hurt by this fictional narrative,” but they are also saying “this is actively harmful, because even the smallest form of racism is microcosmic of a larger issue that actively gets people killed every day.” (listen. i know this is very obvious to anyone who has ever experienced racism, but i’ve encountered a lot of white people who don’t seem to grasp that racism has explicitly harmful effects, so i thought i would elucidate this matter nonetheless.)

the pairing of zuko and katara, from what i’ve witnessed of fan communities over the past decade, seems to be founded on “the inherent sexiness of antagonism.” i’ve seen people say it’s about the parallels, the yin/yang, the thematic importance of forgiveness, and sure, i’ll give you that. they do parallel each other in resonant, deliberate ways. they are fire and water. katara coming to forgive zuko represents significant growth, and their friendship is poignant and meaningful. but i fail to see how any of this is inherently romantic. it is actually possible to love someone without having sexual chemistry. i know people ship zuko with literally everyone, including twelve year olds, but for a moment let’s put our common sense hats on and assume that it would be absurd to ship him with either aang or toph. shipping him with katara seems just as absurd to me. he certainly comes to respect her a great deal, but at the end of the day, he still regards her as a child. a child whom he loves and respects, but, just like aang and toph, a child nonetheless. katara is fourteen. a grizzled war veteran, yes, but an eighth grader nonetheless. if a junior in high school started dating a fourteen year old, they would be considered a creep. you know why? because it’s creepy! 

so back to what you zoot shippers seem to consider the crux of their chemistry: the antagonism. i could easily pull together eight scenes of them getting along, and yet every single gifset i’ve ever seen compiling moments of the two of them includes at least two or three in which katara still wants zuko dead. doesn’t seem very romantique to me! but what i regard as justifiable rage, a lot of you seem to think denotes sexual tension. the thing is, it’s not sexual; it’s just tension. katara has absolutely no reason to like or trust zuko, as to her, he has done absolutely nothing to prove himself distinct from the people responsible for the destruction of her home, the genocide of people like her, the murder of her mother, the spreading of an imperialist colonialist project. she trusted him to side with good in ba sing se, and nearly cost aang his life, so she knows she can’t afford to make that mistake again and risk aang dying. from her perspective, her rage is one hundred percent reasonable, and she has no plans of trusting him ever again, until he actively works to earn her forgiveness. from zuko’s perspective, he was just staring up at the sky, and now this incessant little five year old won’t stop bullying him, which is really annoying, sokka please get your irritating little sister to cut that out, why’s she being so meannnnn :( 

when zuko uses katara’s necklace as leverage, that is not sexy; that is him threatening katara with a family heirloom, and all that she has left of her mother. when zuko rolls on top of her to protect her from falling rubble, that is not sexy; that is him not trusting katara is capable enough to protect herself. by the end of the episode, he realizes that she is far more powerful and capable than he ever gave her credit for, and he is awed by her power. him treating her like a child (which, frankly, is fair, because she is) is decidedly not sexy. when zuko jumps in front of lightning for katara, that is not inherently romantic; he would have jumped in front of lightning for momo, and you know it. for one thing, he wasn’t risking a single thing; he was confident that he would be able to redirect it, then azula pointed it at the wrong person, but because he is impulsive, he dove in front of it anyway because he thought he still could redirect it, even though his stance was all wrong. but when actually given a moment to think, he chose katara to fight azula with him because she was the obvious person for the job on every tactical level. she is the most powerful bender he knows. period. water extinguishes fire. and fire is at its greatest and most powerful on this day. he’s not going to let toph into the line of fire; even if suki could fight azula, it would be deeply insensitive to make her considering azula tortured her in the past; and sokka has places to be, he doesn’t have time for your sidequest! katara is obviously the person you take. and there is nothing inherently romantic about zuko’s friendship with her. 

ah, but what about that time she touched his scar? was that not an unparalleled act of tenderness? a beautiful moment of gentle caress? i mean, yeah, sure, but i don’t see why that needs to be romantic. i mean, you can read romance into it, if you want to, because, like, i said, sure, but if anything, i think acting like that moment is romantic lessens its impact. this is an important moment for katara; she is humanizing the enemy! this is an important moment for zuko; he is allowing himself to be helped. i could analyze this moment for a writing standpoint endlessly, because it’s beautiful, but i won’t, because that is pointless analysis when i am, instead, trying to explain to you why i think the act of shipping this pairing is more often than not rooted in racism.

i will say this: i don’t think shipping them is inherently racist. i think if you think their friendship has potential for something more, and you think they should have gotten together, you’re not necessarily racist to think so. i think you’re wrong, but racist? well, that’s a different matter. no, i think this ship is rooted in racism for the simple fact that so much fan-generated content i’ve stumbled across over the years has been deeply, horrifically racist. i think this ship also lends itself to that kind of racism because it is so reminiscent of racist tropes that the majority white fans of the ship, either unaware of the harmful connotations of these tropes, or active fans of these tropes, love to employ uncritically. i’ve seen pocahontas aus. i’ve seen beauty and the beast aus (wherein, mind you, katara is the beast...........yes, you read that right). i’ve seen wildly popular fanart that sexualizes katara––who, may i repeat, IS FOURTEEN––in disgusting ways. and most of all, i’ve seen the delegitimization of katara’s anger towards zuko, as if she is simply supposed to “get over” the harm the fire nation has caused her. she is clearly deeply affected by the death of her mother, and zuko used her love for her mother as leverage: first, with her necklace, and second, when he used his empathy over their shared loss as a means of gaining katara’s trust. it’s clear that fans (not all, but many i’ve seen, at least those passionate enough to send me an ask with this phrasing) of this ship don’t actually give a shit about katara’s role as an indigenous woman, or why she would have no desire in dating a colonizer. sometimes it’s clear that people are actually cognizant of this, and even get off on it. they think it’s sexy. they think the racism is hot. 

katara and zuko have a fascinating dynamic. they are clear foils, and their relationship is poignant and has great depth. of the little we do see of their friendship, it’s clear that they care about each other a lot. but to imply that their relationship is in any way sexual veers into racist territory really, really quickly. now, i have no idea whether you, yourself are racist. i can guess, based on your phrasing of this ask, and knowing that anyone who thinks that “being accused of racism is worse than racism” is definitely racist, but i’m not going to make any assumptions one way or another. i hope you appreciate my taking the time to answer this, because much like that other blog you sent this ask to, i have absolutely no obligation to. it shouldn’t be my role to educate people on why [x thing] is/can be harmful, especially when they are clearly asking me in bad faith and are likely to disregard everything i just wrote. so all that being said, you’re welcome.