#young airbending kids adored her though

[nessandaus]

Not really an AU but, I've been thinking about my idea for an ATLA/avatar story.

Set during the time of (young) Guru Laghima, it would follow the story of the Avatar and her older sister. They are from the earth tribes, and have to flee their home after a strong, nonbending general calling himself the King of Earth and his army kill their parents.

The older sister, Sisi, is a 13 year old (at the beginning of the story) earth bender whose family had a stronger connection to the spirits than most. Sisi had been learning wood carving from her mother and earthbending construction from her father when the army destroyed their lives. She eventually grows into the person who invented the bending and solstice locks scattered through the various temples around the world, a feat which earns her the name "Lockbender".

The avatar, Mimi, is 6 at the start of their story, only just starting to learn earthbending. She is found out as the avatar because she liked to play with fire as well, able to make the fire and rocks around her dance from a young age. As she and her sister slowly travel the world, Mimi masters earthbending, then the other elements.

Laghima is a young, cocky, 16 year old airbender in the beginning, out on a nomadic voyage to learn about the world and the spirits that inhabit it. He finds the young sisters and likes to travel with them as he learns from the various places they visit.

Cheeks is Mimi's animal companion, an Iguanaparrot who they found injured. She likes to eat berries and carrots, and she picks up words to parrot relatively easily (and then just says "Berries please berries please" over and over)

The first book, Earth, is mostly slice of life of them travelling and becoming friends for 10 years until Mimi is a master earth bender and ready to learn other elements. Laghima is on and off, visiting temples and meditating with spirits a lot more than his companions. He also makes sure the two young girls are safe from danger, scouting and making sure they avoid the growing Earth army. The finale is them fleeing the Earth Kingdom, as the Earth King is crowned in the newly built Ba Sing Se.

The Second book, Fire, the companions enter the fire kingdom, and Mimi begins her fire training. Sisi, in barter for their stay, starts putting her construction and woodcarving abilities to work, helping to build and reinforce the temples, and gaining her name of Lockbender. Laghima meditates at all the temples, and floats for the first time. This book ends with Mimi being declared a master of firebending in only two years, and Cheeks picking up some fire related swear words.

Book 3, Air, the companions go to the Western Air Temple. As Mimi works on air bending and struggles to get past some blocks, Sisi works on improving the integrity of the upside down buildings. Laghima is made Mimi's part time teacher and is recognized as a Guru by his people. He hasn't yet mastered the state of mind for permanent floating, though is consistently floating with meditation. During this time, they also visit the other air temples regularly so Sisi can check the construction and install the giant airbending locks. It takes Mimi 3 years to master airbending. This season ends with the Earth king finding out about the avatar, and quietly dispatching a team to find and capture her, as the Earth Avatar is one of his citizens and therefore should listen to him.

Book 4, Water. The companions, still with Laghima, head towards the small southern water tribe to learn water bending. On the way, they instead discover some other water benders, a young new tribe in the middle of a swamp. Mimi starts to learn water bending from the swamp benders, and Laghima communes with the (while younger, still large and old) banyan grove tree, and finally learns what he needs to be weightless always. Sisi meets a swamp bender girl named Rocha who decides to join the companions (they're gay, Harold). A short bit through the book, they pick up travel to the Southern water tribe to complete Sisi's training, having gained all they could from the swamp. In the meanwhile, the earth king's team are getting ever closer. With half the book left, they complete the water training, the fastest of the elements, and are captured by the earth king's forces.

then plot, plot plot, it ends with Sisi sacrificing herself so Roche, Laghima and Mimi can escape. Mimi is a quiet avatar who spends the rest of her years trying to protect others from war. Laghima becomes the wise floating guru we hear about. Roche holds the memory of her wife dear, and retires to the banyan grove swamp where she spends years strengthening the spirit of the tree.

It's revealed also that the writer of this history is an old Mimi, with Cheeks also looking a bit grey on her shoulder (parrots live forever), looking out upon a peaceful Western Air Temple. With a small lock designed by her sister on the outside of the journal.

[roseeycreates-blog]

Pema on Farmer AU

Pema is a niece of one of the acolytes at Air Temple Island. Aang, who was always fond of kids, allowed the acolytes to bring their young relatives to the island, so Pema ended up growing up there. She is the same age as Suyin, and they became close playmates when they were little. Since Su’s parents were often busy with work, she spent a lot of time at the Air Temple, which brought her and Pema even closer. They got along well, but as Su grew older and Toph started training her in earthbending, their time together dwindled. Pema understood, knowing that Su’s training as a bender was important.

One day, when they were about ten years old, Suyin was practicing her bending when Pema accidentally startled her. Su lost focus, and a small rock flew out of her control, hitting Pema. It wasn’t that forceful, but it surprised Pema enough to knock her down, and she started crying. An acolyte who saw the whole thing rushed over and immediately started comforting Pema, but she was angry with Su.

“You need to be more careful, Suyin!” the acolyte scolded.

“I’m really sorry,” Su apologized quickly. “I didn’t mean to hurt her!”

The acolyte just glared at her, shaking her head. “You’re as arrogant as your mother.”

Su’s eyes widened at the harsh words. She looked at Pema, expecting her to say something in her defense, but Pema just stood there, silent and looking down. They had grown up together, shared so much, but in that moment, Pema didn’t defend her. It hurt more than the acolyte’s words.

That was the beginning of their fallout. Su eventually confided in Bumi and Kya about what had happened, but she kept it from Tenzin. She knew how much the acolytes adored him, and she didn’t want to cause any trouble.

Bumi and Kya understood her feelings. They had experienced the acolytes’ subtle discrimination because they weren’t airbenders themselves. They never mentioned it to their parents because they knew it wouldn’t make a difference. The acolytes acted perfectly in front of Aang, so there was no proof of their behavior.

Years later, as they all grew up, the incident remained a sore spot for Su. Even though they all moved on in their own ways, that moment stayed with her, shaping how she saw Pema and the acolytes.

[panbelle]

9 Fandom Peeps to get to know better

tagged by the lovely @boleynecklace <33

3 ships you like:

Zutara - Zuko/Katara from Avatar the Last Airbender

RobRae - Robin and Raven from Teen Titans (2003)

Spideypool - Deadpool/Wade Wilson and Spiderman/Peter Parker (Marvel)

First ship ever: Besides every disney princess and her prince, I'd probably say Sky/Bloom from Winx Club, I was heart eyeing them sm as a kid. Honorable mentions to Riley and Lucas from gmw, Joey and Phoebe from Friends, and Cleo and Lewis from H2O Just Add Water for other ships young me adored.

Last song that you heard: Haus of Holbein from SIX the Musical

Favourite childhood book: Magic Treehouse was one of the first series I ever loved. Really fostered my love for magic and sibling dynamics.

Currently reading: Red, White, and Royal Blue (yes, I saw the movie first)

Currently watching: Oh boy, multiple things. New Girl (first time through), Criminal Minds (second time through), RuPaul's drag race, Sofia the First. Whatever I'm in the mood for really.

Currently consuming: Nothing atm. I'll probably have some tea before bed though.

Currently craving: That tea sounds pretty good actually.

tagging @susiephone @riddlerosehearts @vorpalinas and anyone else who wants to participate! Tag me I'd love to learn more about you <3

[a-mad-scientist-approaches]

A New Era (1)

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony, but everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he turned against it. A hundred years passed, and the war ended, but a new Avatar has yet to be found. The Earth Kingdom waits, ready, for any stirrings of power expected to rise in their lands. The Fire Nation works to rebuild relations with the rest of the world, sending its trusted envoy Skulduggery Pleasant to keep watch over Nefarian Serpine. The Water Tribes strengthen themselves, and the last scattered descendents of Air Nomads hide, not yet ready to believe they are safe. Their newest member, Stephanie Edgley, starts to stretch her wings. The pieces are in place. A transplant of the Skulduggery Pleasant characters and plot into the Avatar world, to see what would change.

Chapter 1: The Stage is Set

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P1 P2 P3 P4

‘Story time! Story time!’

The little girl ran upstairs, never having looked so eager to be put to bed. Gordon followed, casting a helpless glance back at his brother and sister-in-law, who laughed heartlessly in his face and returned to their conversation by the fireside.

Sighing, Gordon left the warm embrace of Desmond and Melissa’s rather small (cosy, he corrected himself) living room and followed the five-year-old up the rickety staircase.

She was waiting in bed, practically vibrating with anticipation. Gordon took the seat she mandated by her bedside.

‘Story!’ she demanded again.

‘Alright, alright,’ Gordon said grumpily. ‘Spirits, you’re bossy tonight.’

‘Please,’ she corrected herself, giving an adorable gap-toothed grin that mercilessly eliminated all his defences. If Gordon hadn’t been so impressed by its effectiveness, he would have been irritated.

Who was he kidding, this kid had stolen his heart with her first words.

Fortunately, he reassured himself, no one besides himself knew that, so he would not be susceptible to any teasing from her parents. Ignoring the little voice reminding him that all his niece had to do was enthusiastically exclaim “Story time!” in order to get him to abandon intelligent adult conversation and obey her wishes, he made himself as comfortable as he could.

‘What story would you like tonight? The one about the valkyries?’

‘I’m Valkyrie,’ she told him.

‘Yes, your mum and dad were just telling me. Do you feel braver with your new name?’

‘Yes!’

‘No more bad dreams?’

‘Uh uh. No more bad spirit. He leaves me alone now.’

‘Well that’s very good to hear. You can raise all kinds of Cain for him now.’

Valkyrie laughed, even though Gordon didn’t think she knew what he meant.

‘So, what kind of story would you like? We’ll have to make it a good one, I’m going back to Omashu tomorrow.’

‘I wanna know about the airbenders!’ Valkyrie bounced in place, ruffling her covers.

Smoothing them back over, Gordon said, ‘Ah, yes. Now this one is a true story, so we have to be very respectful. Are you going to be good and listen quietly?’

Valkyrie nodded eagerly.

‘Alright then.

‘Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony, but everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. The evil Unnamed Fire Lord wanted to rule the world, so he secretly made machines that could climb cliff faces, and ships that could sail as fast as the waterbenders, and trained an army to overpower anyone who would dare stand in his way.’

‘Except the Avatar,’ breathed Valkyrie, eyes wide and entranced.

‘That’s right. Now the Avatar was only young- a little older than you. He was still being trained by the monks at the Air Temples, and was far from ready to face the Fire Lord. And the Fire Lord was coming. He knew he had to kill the Avatar if he wanted to rule the world, so the monks came up with a clever plan: they would trick the Fire Lord by hiding the Avatar at the Northern Air Temple, so that when the Fire Lord came to the Southern Air Temple, he wouldn’t find what he wanted, and the airbenders could trap him.

‘But something went wrong. The monks underestimated the Unnamed’s desire for power. Instead of just attacking the Southern Air Temple, all four temples around the world were invaded. The Unnamed had decreed that not only the Avatar, but all the airbenders must die. So the Fire Nation stormed the air temples and killed everyone they found, and if they heard whispers of airbenders who had escaped anywhere in the world, they would hunt them down and kill them too.’

‘How did the Avatar get away?’ Valkyrie asked in a hushed voice.

‘A very clever airbender protected him through the chaos of the battle. He helped hide him and trained him, taking him from nation to nation so he could master earthbending, and waterbending, and firebending too. They spent years hiding and biding their time, growing stronger and inspiring resistance and freedom fighters across the world! They became known as the Air Avatar and his master, the Last Airbender. And the Last Airbender was your great-grandfather.’

Valkyrie clearly already knew this, back to bouncing in place with a huge grin.

‘But we don’t talk about that to others, do we?’ prompted Gordon.

Valkyrie shook her head soberly. ‘It’s a secret.’

‘Yes it is.’

Before Gordon could continue with the story, Valkyrie asked, ‘Uncle Gordon, why is it a secret? There’s no more airbenders anywhere anymore, not even Mum or Daddy or you or me or Uncle Fergus or Aunty Beryl or Carol’n’Crystal.’

‘Well, the bad people who were around back then didn’t care if you were really an airbender or not. If you were related to an airbender, or friends with an airbender, or helped hide an airbender, that was good enough for them. So we just keep this little secret to ourselves, because even though it’s not that dangerous anymore, there’s still bad people like that out there somewhere.’

‘Okay.’ A troubled frown worked its way across Valkyrie’s face. ‘That’s scary.’

Gordon winced, then hastily backtracked, sitting on the bed beside Valkyrie and putting his arm around her, making sure not to squash the threadbare brown badgermole toy nestled in there with her. She snuggled into his side.

‘It’s okay, we’re just being careful. The bad people are all locked away now, and they’re not going to hurt us. You don’t have to be scared, we’re all perfectly safe. It’s just in case, you understand? Your mum and dad are never going to let anything happen to you.’

Looking slightly more reassured, Valkyrie nodded, and Gordon hurriedly continued with the story, hoping she’d forget about the warning.

‘So, once the Avatar was all grown up and had learnt how to bend all four elements, he went to fight the Fire Lord. And they had a great battle! Fire flew, and rocks smashed, and the wind howled and the ocean roared. It was incredible! But then the Avatar got hurt, and the Fire Lord was winning. He closed in, ready to strike- and out of nowhere, who came to rescue the Avatar but his old master and friend, the Last Airbender!’

‘The Last Airbender fought with everything he had! The Unnamed had killed his people, his family, his friends, and he would not let him take anyone else! He wanted to make the Unnamed pay for all he had done.’

‘That’s bad,’ Valkyrie piped up. Gordon glanced down at her in surprise.

‘Is it?’ he said with interest. He hadn’t thought she’d pick up on that particular moral deliberation.

‘Yeah. Daddy said the Air Nomads wanted peace, and wanted to be nice to other people, so that’s what we should do. Great-granddad forgot that.’

‘Yes. He did. Good girl for remembering.’ Personally, Gordon was on his grandfather’s side there, but he doubted Melissa would appreciate him lecturing her five-year-old daughter on the subtleties of war and justice.

‘Like you say, the Last Airbender forgot about what he’d been taught in his youth, and wanted revenge. He fought like he was possessed by a dark spirit! Some say he was, and that the blood of the Spirit World will forever flow in our veins.’ Valkyrie shrieked as he tickled her, giggling until she calmed down.

‘Really?’ she asked.

‘No,’ said Gordon. ‘He just fought really well.’

‘Oh. Okay.’

‘But in the end, the Unnamed won. The Last Airbender hurt the Fire Lord so much that he had to retreat, but was fatally wounded in return. With the last of his strength, he made sure the Avatar was safe, and would continue to fight back against the Fire Nation. And then he died, at peace and knowing he had done his part so that the world might one day be saved.

‘Reinvigorated, the Avatar might have gone right after the Unnamed and challenged him again! But something was happening in the Fire Nation. The Unnamed was old, and though he was powerful, he was growing weaker. One of his younger generals decided that he wanted the throne for himself, and before the Avatar could finish the job, he assassinated the Unnamed and crowned himself Fire Lord Mevolent.

‘Fire Lord Mevolent was no less evil than his predecessor, and the Fire Nation became stronger under his reign. For sixty more years, the war raged, and the Fire Nation was clever. They knew the Air Avatar wanted to defeat the Fire Lord, and made sure that he never got another opportunity. And so, in the end, it came down to the sheer will of the people.

‘After one hundred years of war, the world was desperate. It was no longer the Avatar’s job to save everyone- it was up to everyone to save each other. So the Earth Kingdom gathered the last of its soldiers, and the Water Tribes the last of their warriors, and even the people in the Fire Nation who didn’t agree with the war and didn’t like Fire Lord Mevolent all rose up! And together, they planned, and they were clever, and they became strong and quick and braver than they had ever been before! Fire Lord Mevolent was a very evil man, and he was bad to many, many people, even his own family. Eventually, he made so many enemies that the bad Fire Nation soldiers were overwhelmed, and Mevolent himself was defeated by his own son. The war was finally over.

‘Fire Lord Caisson put the bad Fire Nation generals in prison, and the ones who were willing to learn how to be good again were given a second chance. Then, he and everyone who had helped him began rebuilding cities and villages and farms, but most importantly, they began to rebuild trust. And in the end, the world became much safer, and much, much happier. Just in time too,’ Gordon added, ‘because you, little missy, were born not long after the Hundred Year War ended. We needed to make sure everything was ready for you, after all.’

Valkyrie giggled, but her smile faded sooner than Gordon would have liked, and she cast worried eyes up at him. ‘But Uncle Gordon, you said all the bad people got locked away, but just now you said some of them got a second chance. What if they go back to being bad?’

Well, Gordon couldn’t say he wasn’t worried about that too. It had taken Gordon longer than he cared to admit to relax around any firebenders; he was still learning, to be honest. After generations of knowing that the lives of himself and his family rested on one stray rumour about their heritage, deconstructing that mentality was going to take some time. Especially as more than a few of the firebenders loyal to Mevolent had escaped capture and were still out in the world somewhere.

Fortunately, most of the really crazy fanatics had been jailed in various top-secret locations around the world that Skulduggery wouldn’t divulge no matter how much Gordon pestered him. But Serpine now, Serpine was a worry. Apparently the Dai Li had him under strict observation in Ba Sing Se. Not strict enough, if Gordon’s sources were to be believed, and Gordon was inclined to do so; after all, there had to be a reason Skulduggery had gotten the Fire Lord to make him a Special Envoy and send him over to the Earth Kingdom. If that reason wasn’t something to do with keeping an eye on Serpine, Gordon would eat a whole sack of fireflakes.

‘They’re not going to do that,’ Gordon told his niece reassuringly. ‘Have you heard of the Earth King? The one in Ba Sing Se?’

‘Eechan-Mary Torteyus.’

Gordon laughed. ‘Yes, him.’

‘Mummy says he wouldn’t know what we want if we bit him on the bum.’

‘Er, right. Him. Well, after the war King Eachan put a lot of rules in place to make sure that the people who were bad during the war could never do what they did again. So you don’t have to worry, because all the Dai Li agents and Earth Kingdom soldiers are ready for anything bad to happen.’

‘Uncle Gordon?’

‘Yes?’

‘What happened to the Avatar? He never defeated the Fire Lord. You said Caisson did instead.’

‘Well, that’s a bit of a sad story. You see, he never got another chance to end the war, and one day, after he’d done a lot of good things and helped lots and lots of people, he died.’

‘But there’s always an Avatar. He gets re-in-car-nat-ed,’ Valkyrie sounded out carefully. ‘That means he gets born again into another body.’

Gordon huffed dramatically. ‘Why don’t you tell the story then, since you seem to know everything, Little Miss Smartypants?’

Once she finished giggling, he said, ‘Yes, the Avatar was born again, into one of the Water Tribes this time. No one ever found out who he was though. Eventually he came out of hiding, but instead of helping, he joined Fire Lord Mevolent.’

‘A bad Avatar?’

‘A very bad one.’ Gordon had only ever heard stories, but they’d chilled him nevertheless. He was definitely planning on including some of them in a book one day. ‘People think he died at the end of the war, but the next Avatar hasn’t been found yet.’

‘What happens when they are?’

‘Well, you remember those rules I told you the Earth King made? Some of them mean that when the Earth Avatar is found, all their training and schooling will take place under the Earth King’s supervision. He doesn’t want the Avatar to become bad again, and he’s going to make sure it doesn’t happen.’

‘Oh. Okay.’

‘Now, do you think I’ve given you enough dreams for tonight?’

‘But I want more stories!’

‘Ah ah ah, you’ve coerced too many out of me tonight as it is. Time for bed now, or your mum and dad aren’t going to be very happy with me.’

With much whining and extortion (on Valkyrie’s part) for more stories to come, Gordon was eventually able to tuck her and her badgermole into bed. As he blew out the candle, he heard one last sleepy, ‘Uncle Gordon?’

‘Yes Valkyrie?’

‘Why did the Water Avatar go bad?’

‘No one really knows. Sometimes people just make bad choices.’

‘That’s sad.’

‘Yes, it is.’

‘Okay. G’night Uncle Gordon.’

‘Good night, little miss troublemaker.’

Shutting the wooden door quietly, Gordon reflected on that. For his writing, he’d researched the Avatar Cycle quite a bit. He’d heard that the spirit of the Avatar, Raava, was one of light and peace. It fundamentally shouldn’t be possible for an avatar to wreak as much harm as the last Water Avatar did; to do so would cut them off from the very core of their being… it must have torn him apart inside.

Although, the general consensus was, if there was ever anyone capable of cleaving their own soul in half, it was Avatar Vile.

[synergysilhouette]

Describe your MC and their relationship with the LIs

(Taken from one of my now defunct Reddit accounts)

Sadly I don't have any artist skills, but I hope you enjoy him anyway! I feel like I made one or two more MCs over my

My OC's name is a cisgender man by the name of Malachite. He has a buff body type (think 90s/early 2000s superhero build and then scale it back a bit) and is a rather devout young man--not stuffy or naive, though. He hails from Prakra, and is the son of a noble family, with three older brothers and two younger brothers. I haven't established his race; I'm thinking perhaps indigenous American, Pacific Islander, or South Asian inspiration (including Romani). He has a good tan, blue eyes, and silvery-blue hair that goes past his ears (not to mention he's hung and thicc af)

I honestly picture him as a cross between DC comics' Nightwing, Kingdom Hearts' Riku, Marvel's Quicksilver, and a young Ikem/Norem from Avatar: The Last Airbender. His fashion sense is definitely trendy, unique, and cool, dressing in tropical colors. Currently he's clad in a sleeveless multicolored shirt with a clasp or two usually undone to show off his big pecs, tight pants that leave nothing to the imagination, and boots that are very durable. I imagine there are gemstone or feather motifs here and there with intricate patterns throughout his clothes--he's not a boring dresser. I'm kind of thinking he dresses like he's an anime character that just got thrown into the video game "Hades." During the summer months, I imagine he wears green tunic with rainbow accents and matching sandals with a gold band on his thick thighs (I've gotta stop now).

If you wanna know more about his past, just ask.

Relationship with the LIs inside their routes

Lucio--They spoil each other A LOT. Malachite gives into his charm and seduction as well as helping him with his empathy. Given his MANY mistakes, Lucio is kind of on thin ice with people a lot, so when Malachite's family heard of their marriage, they didn't really approve. They were highly critical and accused Lucio of corrupting him, so Lucio has to work hard to improve himself in order to show he's worthy of Malachite's love. That said, it's not one-sided; Malachite doesn't want Lucio to feel like he's always having to better himself. Malachite loves him for who he is: a dramatic, fanciful, adventurous, fashionable semi-himbo. Currently they're the fathers of two daughters and a son.

Nadia--While not naive, Malachite has a kind of innocent outlook, almost like a Disney prince comes to life. Nadia loves how he sees the good in things and is easily entranced by new things. Not to mention his breeding has always taught him to be respectable and professional, making him the ideal consort. Nadia's learned to curb spoiling him so he doesn't feel like a pet, and instead gives it to their child--their only child, given Nadia isn't great with kids but Malachite always wanted one and she didn't want him to have it with a surrogate. Plus she's awakened a naughty side in Malachite, a submissive incubus that seeks only to please her. Needless to say his family approves of her and her family approves of him.

Asra--Their relationship started a little rocky, with their professional relationship having to take the backseat to their romantic relationship. Asra has become less controlling and more open with Malachite, and they've talked about expanding the magic shop and getting apprentices of their own--by which I mean both kids and teaching unrelated kids about the art of magic. I keep picturing "Howl's Moving Castle" with this, though one odMalchite's older brothers (inspired by Marvel's Loki)--who absolutely ADORES Asra--insists he brings his kids to learn from them when they get old enough, and Malachite worries about how Asra and his brother will influence the couple's future kids.

Muriel--I think Muriel goes outside of his comfort zone a lot for Malachite. Staying in his hut frequently, they engage in a lot of physical activity (take that how you will), but Muriel treats him to trips into Vesuvia often. Malachite's family is VERY concerned about him living in the forest away from everyone, and have a Demeter-Persephone relationship whenever they see him. Malachite's style has rubbed off on Muriel, and they live a very sweet life--with more kids than Muriel expected. Seriously, they have four kids and Malachite wants MORE. Good luck with that.

Portia--They were definitely best friends before getting married, and Portia did have to chase away any suitors who came to their door (including a conniving noble who looks like Marvel's Colossus), but when Malachite looks at her, she feels safe and loved. Malachite's frequent acrobatic activity and her constant work for Nadia keep her on her toes, and Pepi is there to quell her concerns most of the time. Malachite's family has their own comments, but they mainly keep it to themselves, with one of Malachite's younger brothers (kinda like Asta from Black Clover) giving them his outspoken support. They both have babies on the brain, but they don't have any--yet. Man, when it happens, Vesuvia won't know what hit it.

Julian--Okay, first off: the therapy relationship had to conclude before the romance TRULY begins. As Julian traveled, he gained fame as an acclaimed actor (when he's not being a scientist), with Malachite right by his side, acting, singing, and dancing. The triplets--three tan sons with auburn hair--are also aspiring actors, and Malachite's family is more than interested in cultivating the next generation's skillset. While weary of Julian's science affiliation (being more on the magic side), they find him a respectable--albeit aloof--man who is good for Malachite.

Relationship with the LIs in a poly route

I'll keep it short: I imagine he's legally married to Nadia since she's the best option position-wise and his family wouldn't protest, but given that I headcanon Lucio and Portia living in the castle as well, he most frequently engages in relations with them. And he has a FWB relationship with Julian, Muriel, and Asra, with the potential to be more. He has several kids, and the family is certainly growing.

Note: when romancing the guys, you can imagine adoption, surrogacy, or mpreg, but I'm just going the mpreg route. Also I imagine a bonus route where Malachite romances Salim and Namar without being a homewrecker.

[thebakingqueen5]

KW 2021: Missing Scenes

Day 3 for Kataang Week 2021 hosted by @kataang-week with the prompt Missing Scenes!

This was arguably the most obvious way to go about this prompt but I wanted to write it anyways because if there’s one missing scene that should’ve been included in the series, it’s something to bridge the gap between EIP and Sozin’s Comet.

Links: AO3 | FF.net

Summary: Another year, another summer, another week of prompts celebrating our favorite couple. Kataang Week 2021 Day 3: Missing Scenes. Bridging the gap between the Ember Island Players and Sozin’s Comet Series Finale.

Word Count: 2.8K

It was another cool night on Ember Island. The moon was beginning to rise and was lighting up the corridors and central courtyard while the Gaang got some food to replenish themselves after a long day of training and preparations.

Sozin’s Comet was a mere few days away, and tensions were higher than ever. Earlier that day, the true plans of the Firelord had been revealed: that he was planning to use the comet to wipe out the Earth Kingdom entirely, which meant that Aang had to face him on the doomsday itself at the latest. It was a challenge he felt none too prepared for.

He thought that he was going to get more time to master his earth and firebending, but with this newest revelation, it was pretty clear this was not the case, and the stress was beginning to get to the young airbender.

The practice battle against Toph posing as the Melonlord had Aang’s stomach tied in knots. Before today, the final fight seemed so distant, almost inconceivable, something that he would only have to do when he was absolutely ready for it. But now? It was coming, and it was coming fast, and Aang had no idea how to handle it.

The boy hadn’t really thought about what he would do when he finally faced Ozai. He assumed that by the time he mastered all four elements, the solution would be obvious, but it wasn’t. Everyone else seemed convinced that killing him was the only option, but that went against everything Aang had been taught by the monks. It didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like him. How was he supposed to do something so drastic when he didn’t even believe in it? There had to be another way, something he was missing, there just had to be!

“I have a surprise for everyone!” Katara called as she walked into the clearing, immediately snapping Aang out of his intense thoughts. He briefly glanced up from the plate of food in front of him as everyone’s eyes turned to the crimson-clad waterbender, a rolled up tan scroll in her hands.

“I knew it!” Toph exclaimed. She grinned devilishly as she looked up from her wooden bowl of rice. “You did have a secret thing with Haru!”

Sokka, Suki, Zuko, and Katara all blinked at her in confusion and gave the blind earthbender a bewildered look, unsure of where her supposed epiphany came from.

“Uh…” the waterbender responded slowly as the others returned to their meals. “No. I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this.”

She unfurled the parchment in her hands, making a slight swish noise.

“Look at baby Zuko,” she cooed. “Isn’t he cute?”

The paper in her hands was in fact a painting showing a happy, bright-eyed cherub of a baby laughing as he played on the beach. He looked to be quite young, having only a tiny topknot on his head and a mere two teeth in his small mouth while a tiny shovel and sandcastle lay on the ground next to him.

Everyone except for Zuko laughed and “aww”d at the adorable picture while the firebender stared at the others gravely.

“Oh, lighten up,” Katara admonished when she noticed his lack of response. “I’m just teasing.”

“That’s not me,” the firebender said, opening his eyes to look at her. “It’s my father.”

The Gaang looked on in shock as Katara rolled the scroll back up. They were all wondering the same thing- how could such a precious baby have become the most cruel man on the planet?

“But he looks so sweet and innocent,” Suki frowned, her voice faltering.

“Well, that sweet little kid grew up to be a monster,” Zuko spat. “And the worst father in the history of fathers.”

“But he’s still a human being.”

Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice. Aang’s back was hunched over his tray of rice and beans a few feet away from them, and a deep frown rested on his normally cheery features.

“You’re going to defend him?” Zuko questioned.

“No,” Aang clarified. “I agree with you.”

“Firelord Ozai is a horrible person, and the world would probably be better off without him,” he said as he stood up and turned around to face them, “but there’s gotta be another way.”

“Like what?” Zuko deadpanned.

“I don’t know,” Aang shrugged. He turned his gaze down and away from the others, eyebrows tilted upwards in concentration, when an idea came to him.

“Maybe we can make some big pots of glue, and then I can use gluebending to stick his arms and legs together so he can’t bend anymore!” he said excitedly.

Zuko smiled sarcastically. “Yeah, then you can show him his baby pictures, and all those happy memories will make him good again.”

“Do you really think that would work?” Aang asked eagerly, oblivious to Sokka and Suki snickering behind the firebender.

“No!”

Aang sighed heavily and hung his head in defeat. He needed to find another solution, think out of the box somehow. He stared at the ground for a few moments in exasperation before hopping down the stone steps to pace under a hanging orange lamp in the courtyard.

“This goes against everything I learned from the monks,” he said, walking back and forth. “I can’t just go around wiping out people I don’t like!”

“Sure you can!” Sokka interjected from the sidelines. “You’re the Avatar! If it’s in the name of keeping balance I’m pretty sure the universe will forgive you.”

Aang’s arms and slumped upper body shook violently with rage.

“This isn’t a joke, Sokka!” he shouted. “None of you understand the position I’m in!”

How could they, after all? They hadn’t been at the Air Temples a century ago. They hadn’t been raised by the Nomads to be peaceful and treat every life as sacred. He was the last of his people, and somehow none of them could see that. To them it was the simplest decision in the world- just get it over with and save the world, but it wasn’t to Aang. It wasn’t as cut and dry as that.

“Aang, we do understand,” the waterbender frowned. “It’s just-”

“Just what, Katara? What?”

“We’re trying to help!” she said angrily, her temper also rising.

“Then, when you figure out a way for me to beat the Fire Lord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!”

Aang raised his arms in frustration with the last few words and stormed off in the direction of his room, feet stomping loudly against the stone floor.

“Aang, don’t walk away from this,” Katara began as she made a movement to follow him.

Zuko put a hand on her shoulder, and the waterbender faltered, turning towards him.

“Let him go,” he said quietly. “He needs time to sort it out by himself.”

The waterbender huffed in indignation and began walking towards her own room.

“I’m going to turn in early tonight,” she muttered, arms wrapped around her torso. “Good night, guys.”

“Good night,” the rest of them mumbled back, all but Zuko turning their attention back to dinner. The firebender scrutinized her receding figure as Katara turned the corner and went down the left hall to her room. He knew she was likely going to talk with him anyways that night, but the least he could do was make sure she gave the airbender enough space to cool down.

After a few minutes of glaring at the corridor, Zuko turned back to the ragtag team of misfits and their lively voices. Though he had been traveling with Team Avatar for some time now, the way they managed to turn the subject of conversation to the Earth King’s bear Bosco in such a short amount of time would forever be a mystery to him, but nevertheless he listened attentively and heard from them all the latest exploits of what went on beyond Fire Nation borders.

Meanwhile, true to her word, Katara went back to her room and attempted to sleep, but it was an effort in vain. The last few days had been weighing heavily on her- she and Aang had never experienced such a tumultuous period in their friendship before, and between the kiss during the play and the past ten minutes, it was safe to say there was some tension.

She closed her eyes and groaned, tossing and turning to try and find a comfortable position to no avail. She just couldn’t take her mind off it. Katara stared at the ceiling and let out a short huff before sitting back up with a new fire in her eyes. She wasn’t going to sit around, no, she was going to face her problems head on like a rock!

“Toph would be so proud,” Katara chuckled as she wrapped her kimono on over her bindings.

With as much stealth as she could muster, Katara carefully opened the door from her room and crept down the hallway until she was facing the entrance to Aang’s.

She stared at the block of wood intently. It almost seemed like a cruel metaphor- the barrier between her and Aang not only physically, but emotionally as well.

Nevertheless, Katara was here to get things done.

The waterbender didn’t want to knock and alert everyone else of what she was doing, but she also didn’t want to show up unannounced and startle Aang. After a few minutes of careful consideration, Katara concluded that the latter was the lesser of the two evils, and she slowly pushed the handle and entered his room.

In the very back, she saw Aang’s silhouette in the partially open paper divider splitting the balcony from the main room. Katara walked closer to him, and she sat down silently at the opening of the divider when she saw him in deep concentration. He had been meditating with four small candles, some water, and some rice buns on a wooden board in front of him. The dim light of the candles highlighted Aang’s tense features, contorted in frustration.

“I know you’re there, Katara,” the airbender said after a few moments, apparently not as concentrated as she thought. “I could hear your footsteps from a mile away.”

The girl blushed furiously in embarrassment and promptly decided the floor was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Katara apologized. “I just wanted to talk but I get if you’re busy-”

Aang sighed and bowed his head in reverence to the spirits before opening his eyes and turning to look at her with a kind expression.

“It’s alright. Meditating wasn’t really getting me anywhere anyways,” he said sheepishly. “What did you want to talk about?”

Katara twisted a lock of hair around her finger and scooted closer to him.

“I’m not here to lecture you or anything. I’m not here to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do because ultimately it’s up to you and only you. You’re under a lot of stress right now, and I get that. I just don’t want, well, us,” she gestured between them, “to be a part of that stress.”

The airbender laughed nervously and looked at the trees around them to avoid her gaze. He subtly wiped his growingly sweaty hands on his cotton shirt, praying to all the spirits that she wasn’t talking about what he thought she was talking about.

“W-w-what do you mean? You, me, we’re f-friends! Good friends! Th-that’s all there is to it, right?”

“I’m talking about last night at the play,” Katara responded quietly, fingers fidgeting around in her lap. “We should talk about it.”

“Thanks a lot, spirits,” Aang groaned internally. He sighed and tucked his knees into his body.

“I think we both made it pretty clear that we want different things, Katara. It’s alright, really,” he said with a sad smile. “I made a mistake kissing you, especially after you already said you were confused, and I’m sorry. You don’t have to worry about me- I’ll get over it. I just don’t want to lose your friendship. I’d rather we just pretend like it never happened.”

The regret in his eyes was as clear as a full moon against the backdrop of a cloudless night sky, and it killed Katara from within to see it.

“We both said a lot of things that night, Aang,” she frowned. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot the last day, and I didn’t explain myself very well.”

Aang looked at her hesitantly, silently pleading with her to continue. The waterbender tried her hardest not to grin when she saw his unintentional yet extremely endearing puppy dog eyes and instead threw her head back to look at the stars above them.

“I don’t want to lose your friendship either, Aang,” Katara murmured, gazing up at the sky. “You’re the first person I’ve known from outside my tribe, the first other bender I’ve met- you showed me the world. You were my first real friend, and... also my first kiss, first three actually.”

Heat rushed up to their cheeks while Aang became very invested in the wooden flooring, eyes fully concentrated on the patterns of the boards .

“...but more than that,” Katara continued, “you’re the first person I’ve cared for this much, and my brain, my heart, really, doesn’t quite know how to feel about that.”

She tilted her head to the side to look at the boy next to her, who was now also staring at her with newfound hope.

“So yeah,” she exhaled loudly, “I’m confused. But I don’t want to pretend like none of that night ever happened, because if I’m being honest, a part of me wanted all of the… all of our kisses to happen.”

The two sat in silence for a few moments while Aang tried to process her words and formulate his own response.

“So…” Aang trailed off. “Does that mean this, us, still has a chance?”

Katara looked at their intertwined hands and gave him a sad smile.

“Maybe, but that’s just it, Aang. We can’t, not right now.”

The airbender’s cautious smile immediately dropped and was replaced by a frown as he broke eye contact.

“We’re in a war,” she murmured apologetically. “No one, especially not us, can afford to do anything differently. In three days, you’re going to be facing the Firelord, which means in three days, one way or another, this war will be over, and sacrifices will probably be made.”

“Katara, you’re not saying-”

She shook her head. “I’m not saying that, but war means making hard decisions, and in that moment, with that decision, we can’t let emotions cloud our judgement. No matter what sacrifices might be made, we have to end this before it’s too late.”

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t come to that,” Aang said firmly. “I don’t care what it takes.”

Katara smiled at him and leaned in to gently press a kiss to his cheek.

“I know you won’t. I also know that whatever happens with the Firelord, you’ll do the right thing. Not because you’re the Avatar and you have to, but because you’re Aang. Because you’re my Aang, and my Aang always does the right thing.”

The airbender let out a breath of relief, heart practically glowing at her faith in him, and enveloped her in an embrace.

“Thank you, Katara. For everything. For being here for me the last few months, for getting me out of that iceberg, for coming here tonight telling me what I really needed to hear. It means a lot.”

Katara happily returned the hug and squeezed him tight. “Of course, Aang.”

She furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed the circles under his eyes as they broke apart.

“It’s getting late,” Katara whispered, her fingertips lightly tracing his cheeks.

“I’ll leave you to all this-” she gestured to the candles and food, staring quizzically at the contents of the board. “-Avatar business and whatnot. I wish you the best of luck.”

“Thanks, I’ll try my best,” Aang laughed softly as the girl stood up and began walking back to her room. “Good night, Katara. Sweet dreams.”

“I know you will, Aang. Good night and don’t stay up too late- you’ll need your rest.”

The waterbender quietly exited and Aang released a heavy sigh as the door closed with a soft thud.

The airbender turned back to his spread, closed his eyes once more, and resumed his meditation, hoping that somehow, by some miracle, there was another way waiting for him.

“I sure hope you’re right, Katara. I’ll need that luck.”

[zukoscomet]

I realised recently that I never actually collated all the ideas I had about my Zutara kids so here, have some steambabies! Idk I just really like the idea of Katara and Zuko having a big family after all they’ve lost when they were young, and as an only child, I guess I kind of romanticise the idea of having siblings. 

TW: I hc that Katara would have had a miscarriage, so if that is a trigger for you then maybe don’t read on.

Shameless plug but if you wanna read more about this, my series on AO3 is roots and wings.

Their firstborn is a boy who they name Kai after Kya. His full name is Kaito but nobody who knows him ever calls him that, not even when he’s in trouble. I’m not going to go into too much context about like the pregnancy bc you can already find that stuff here. He turns out very much like Zuko physically - tall, golden irises, straight black hair, narrow angular face - but he has mixed tawny skin and his eyes are shaped round and wide like Katara. He’s born on the last day of summer in 109 AG, so because of superstition that firebenders are born in peak summer, there’s some uncertainty about what he’ll bend - if at all - but then when he’s three and a half, he makes a flame. Iroh trains him to firebend until he’s about 16, then he goes off to the Sun Warriors for a year to finish off, and he ends up a very spiritual firebender. Kai is like the dream first child - the softest boy ever to live - and when Katara and Zuko go on to have more children, he’s a really great big brother, like wholeheartedly adores his little sibs even if they drive him completely nuts about 95% of the time. He’s quite a conflicted and confused kid growing up. He’s never quite sure of what he wants in life but finally, when he’s 17, he decides that he realises that he doesn’t want to be Fire Lord and passes along the heir status to his sister. After that he joins the Sun Warriors and eventually marries the chief’s daughter, Himari, and they have two firebender girls, Aiko and Sol. 

Izumi arrives not long after her brother in 110 AG. Katara and Zuko planned to wait but it ends up that there’s barely a year between Kai and Izumi and it comes as an extra shock as Katara didn’t figure out she was pregnant again till like 18 weeks in. Katara goes into labour early at 35 weeks and Izumi is born really small - she never completely catches up either and it’s hilarious because after successive generations of tall male Fire Lords, they get Izumi who’s barely 5 feet - but she’s otherwise fine. She’s physically a mish-mash so overall she resembles nobody especially - Katara’s hair, complexion and big round eyes, Zuko’s irises, Azula’s heart-shaped face and highly arched brow line, Hakoda’s facial features. The superstition about summer births for firebenders peters out real quick when Izumi, born in the autumn, bends blue fire at two and a half and, taught by Jeong Jeong, she grows into a prodigal master. When she’s young, Izumi is the polar opposite of her brother - feisty, stubborn, determined and whip smart - and she’s a heathen teenager but by about 15 she mellows and matures, and part of Kai’s reasoning for abdicating is that Izumi seems a better fit for Fire Lord. Izumi was always kinda apathetic to kids but at 19, she accidentally gets pregnant and has her son, Kazuo, then her daughter, Kira, eleven years later. Izumi becomes Fire Lord at 37 but she only rules for about 14 years before retiring. Since she had Kaz so young, if she stayed on the throne much longer, Kaz would also be an older man when it came time for him to inherit, so she decides to step aside and Kaz is coronated just after his 33rd birthday. 

(Kazuo takes after his Gran Gran in more ways than just his blue eyes; he’s a waterbender so Kaz is the first waterbender Fire Lord)

After a break, Katara and Zuko decide to try for a third addition and Katara gives birth - in the Southern Water Tribe, for the first time - to Bashira, four years after Izumi. Shira looks probably the most like Zuko out of all the children, even more than her elder brother does. They share the same tall and lean physique, the same long black hair, Shira is mixed but still the palest of all the steambabies and their faces are practically identical. They’re characteristically very similar, too - serious, intense and reserved. The only differences is that her hair is curly, her eyes are blue and finally, Katara gets her waterbending child. Both of them suspected that Shira was going to be a waterbender even at the early stages of the pregnancy, but it’s still super exciting when Shira tosses a wave at her elder siblings when she’s two. Katara is teaching her as soon as she possibly can but over time some tension develops between them when Shira turns out to be quite different from her mom in terms of natural bending style. Shira is very fight-oriented, she learns dao swords from Zuko and never shows as much of an interest in the healing arts, but when things blow up and eventually Shira is able to explain that she wants to be able fight like her mom did during the war, things straighten out and Katara guides Shira all the way through to mastery. She eventually moves to the South in her late teens to lead the tribe’s warriors. There, she has three children - waterbender twins Kenzo and Kenji, then a daughter named Kanna who’s a firebender like Grandpa - but the marriage to their father doesn’t last and in her 50s, she ends up in a relationship with Aang and Toph’s daughter, Lin.

Katara gets pregnant for a fourth time - planned - just after Shira turns two, but this time she has a miscarriage. Zuko was overseas when it happened so she went through it alone. Katara is devastated and resents Zuko for not being there. She knows it’s not his fault but she can’t help her emotions and that makes her feel even worse so she just shuts down - stops doing her Fire Lady work, stops spending any more time with Zuko and their children than necessary, won’t let the rest of the family visit them and spends most of the day lying in bed. Zuko doesn’t know how to help her so initially he decides to give her space to grieve however she feels she needs to, but it just deteriorates until one day Zuko suggests that maybe they should both go to therapy or marriage counselling or something because it can’t go on like this. Katara just completely loses it at that and ends up yelling at him all the things that she’d been bottling up over the last couple of months. Katara says some awful things and she’s expecting Zuko to take it poorly, hence why she kept it all inside up till now, but Zuko just accepts every bit of it and after that, she’s finally able to grieve properly and mend.

About six months after they come back together, they decide to try again and Katara eventually falls pregnant. The pregnancy itself goes smoothly but both of them are so stressed about something going wrong like last time and the effect that might have on both of them, then Gran Gran passes away when Katara is in her thirtieth week, so the full ten months were incredibly hard-going. 

It’s a big relief when the baby is finally born on Ember Island, three years after Shira in 117 AG. They name her Lili in honour of their recent losses, since lilies can ease scars and Iroh once referred to them as lights in darkness. From the beginning, Lili is the image of Katara in every way physically and characteristically - kind, patient, gentle, but does have quite a temper if she’s pushed too far. She’s also a waterbender, though it takes her a little longer to manifest her abilities than any of her siblings, first gaining control of the water at the age of six. Lili is incredibly endearing, as both a child and an adult, and she becomes so particularly popular with the Fire Nation public that the firebending qualification to be considered an heir to the throne is reversed, so Shira and Lili are inducted into the succession. Born in the same year, Lili had a long-term relationship with Tenzin, Aang and Toph’s thirdborn, but as they grew older, Tenzin was concerned that if he married her, their children would have heritage of all four elements and degrade the chances of Tenzin producing airbenders and continuing the Air Nation. That concern resulted in a kind of on-again-off-again thing but eventually Lili sent him off with an "I don’t want to be with someone that isn’t even sure he wants me" and went travelling the world for a few years. When they’re both in their thirties though, Lili and Tenzin reconnect and get back together, eventually marrying and producing five children - Jinora, Aya, Hiro, Rohan and Kano, the elder four airbenders and the youngest a waterbender.

A few months after Lili is born, Sokka and Suki have a baby girl and when Katara and Zuko go to visit their new niece, they agree that night on a spur-of-the-moment that they want one more child. The morning after, they talk about it properly and decide it’d be better to wait till Lili was a bit older, but Katara found out six weeks later that that one time had been successful. About halfway through, they find out that they’re expecting a boy and Katara is especially excited since their son had always been more closely attached to her whereas their girls were very firmly Daddy’s girls. Sure enough, when Kallik arrives in 118 AG, he’s a big Mama’s boy and remains so his entire life. Apart from his curly black hair, Kallik is the spitting image of his uncle, to the point that Hakoda says that seeing Lili and Kallik together is like seeing young Katara and Sokka. Kallik is the hardest to handle out of their children - loud, playful, mischievous and an exhausting troublemaker. All of the siblings fight like cat and dog but Kallik and Izumi are by far the worst, on the level of one walks into a room and the other is like “And I took that personally” and they never seem to grow out of it even when they’re both old and grey. Kallik is the only nonbender in the family and initially he struggles with this a bit but he spends a lot of time hanging out with Uncle Sokka, learns dao swords with Shira and Zuko, and by the time he hits his teens, he comes to view it more as something that sets him apart from his siblings. When he’s 18, he goes to join the United Forces and he stays in service till his late thirties, when he meets Ren, another serviceman from the Northern Water Tribe. After beginning a relationship with him, the pair settle in Republic City and end up adopting two daughters, Kirima and Alasie.

About a decade after Kallik is born, it seems like things are kind of slowly drawing to a close as the kids are getting older - Kai is 19 and has left home, Izumi is 18 and living away in Republic City while she studies at university, Shira is 14 and already talking about moving South the first chance she gets, Lili is 11 and wanting to go Northern Water Tribe to train with the healers there, and Kallik is 10 and dreaming of being a great military commander like Grandpa Koda and Uncle Sokka - when suddenly Katara starts to get really, really sick. Zuko is absolutely terrified, thinking that there’s something seriously wrong with his wife, but after some deduction, it turns out that Katara is actually pregnant again. The relief at realising she’s not dying is short-lived and the reaction from both of them is basically holy shit holy fuck we are too old for this our other kids are practically all grown up now we are done with babies we can't seriously have six children what are we going to do. There’s a lot of discussion, especially since Katara is 43 by then and the risks for her to be carrying another child are higher, but they ultimately decide to go through with it. Ironically, it’s the easiest of all her pregnancies and when Katara delivers a baby girl in Republic City in 128 AG, there hadn’t been a single complication to speak of. Iroh had passed away two years earlier, devastating the whole family but Zuko in particular, but the baby is born with his irises - a darker gold - so they name her Ilah. Her eyes are big and round like Katara’s but other than that, Ilah resembles her Grandma Ursa most strongly, with her thick chestnut-coloured hair and slight, delicate facial features. Naturally, Katara and Zuko think all their babies were the cutest baby but Ilah is probably objectively the cutest, with her big honey-coloured eyes, chubby cheeks and soft little curls.

Inevitably, since Kai, Shira, Lili and Kallik had all either left home before she was born or did so when she was still a little girl, Ilah gets a lot more concentrated attention from Katara and Zuko. She’s completely spoiled and doted upon by the whole family, including her elder brothers and sisters who visit her as often as they can manage. Since Izumi still lives in the palace permanently as the Crown Princess, she and Ilah are close, but Ilah ultimately ends up being closest with Izumi’s son, Kaz, who is only a year younger than his aunt. Ilah was even in the room when Kaz was born, though it wasn't an intentional move. Zuko was supposed to be watching Ilah when things got intense with Izumi’s labour but things escalated from 0-100 real fast and Katara didn't have time to hand Ilah off, so she stayed tucked in a sling on her mother’s back as Katara helped her eldest daughter to deliver her own baby, somehow sleeping through all the noise and commotion. Ilah and Kaz end up more like a brother and sister or best friends than an aunt and nephew, though Kaz always calls her Auntie Ilah when he’s teasing her. Ilah is perhaps the shyest around strangers of her siblings, uninterested in celebrity and attention, but she’s the most adventurous, determined and creative, interested in science and invention from an early age. Growing up, Ilah felt a little pressured by the renown of her family, especially when her firebending turned out to be just about average in power, but when she’s 12, Ilah figures out that she can combustionbend. From there, she applies her bending abilities to science and when she leaves home for university, she invents the combustion engine at age 20. The rest of her adult life is spent travelling virtually non-stop, working on innovation projects for the different nations. She never has children, on the account that it would be unfair to expect a kid to move around as much as she does and she’s happy enough with her numerous nieces and nephews, but she eventually marries her long-time girlfriend Li-Mei, an Air Nomad tasked with searching the world for new airbenders. 

[somedayonbroadway]

In an ATLA au. who'd be the avatar and who would be from each tribe?

I would like to thank @bitchiaintanonymous for helping me to develop a few ideas for this AU. It’s not exactly like the original storyline (I have another ask for that), but I had lots of fun with this.

In the beginning, there was peace. Water, Earth, Fire and Air, each tribe had a balance, a purpose and a strength. The Avatar kept peace between the elements and tribes were willing to help each other in times of hurting.

But that was a long time ago.

It’s been a hundred years since the Avatar was last seen. Some believe they have yet to be reborn and some believe the cycle of the Avatar has been broken, that the last Avatar died off in the Fire Nation after the war broke out. Nothing has ever been the same since. The four nations are in an endless battle. There are no allies. It’s ever tribe for themselves.

Water

The Northern Water Tribe is careful. When the war broke out across the world, no one Nation is said to have started it. No is allowed in or out of Water Tribe territory. Any bender of Earth, Fire or Air is considered a traitor and is executed on sight. Children are trained from a young age for combat and are forced to fight each other in order to improve technique and control.

Jack Kelly — Jack is a wild soul. That’s what his mother used to tell him, anyway. That is, before she was killed in a battle with the Earth Kingdom. Jack never knew his father. The only family he had was gone. So Jack was on his own, placed in an orphanage where one boy takes him under his wing and becomes very protective of him. He is a powerful water bender who values healing people the most out of all of his abilities. While Jack loves his people, he knows there’s an evil that lies within his own village and he hopes to one day escape it and help restore peace to four nations, though he knows he’s trapped. Still, that doesn’t stop him from hoping and praying and taking in a child with AirBending abilities and hiding him from the rest of his village. Eventually, Jack is able to escape his heavily guarded village with the kid and work to find peace within the nations.

Medda Larkin — Miss Medda is a water bending teacher who is welcoming of anyone who needs her help and knows to look for the best in people, though she is also very good at preparing for the worst in them. She takes Jack Kelly in, adopting him from a local orphanage. Originally, she files to adopt two children from the orphanage, but due to conditions in the village, she’s told she has to choose. Unable to do that, Medda continued to fight for both children until she went in for a visit to find that one of the files was pulled, apparently by her own doing. But Medda knows what happened. She just doesn’t tell anyone that there’s an older boy looking out for her Jack Kelly. She just thanks him in every way she can. Medda is a protector. She protects those who need protecting and gives people a place to go and helps those escape that need escaping.

Specs — Spencer isn’t a water bender. He grows up an orphan, never even knowing his parents. He is placed in an orphanage where he pretty much keeps to himself. Until, of course, he meets Jack Kelly. He knows from the first second of meeting that kid that he wants to protect him. So he does. He volunteers to fight other kids when Jack is chosen to do it. He gives up his extra food for the kid. He pulls his file out of the ring when a woman tries to adopt them and lets Jack go home with her. He is definitely one to play it safe, and doesn’t like it when people threaten his or Jack’s safety, but even when Jack finds a way out of their village, Specs follows him, needing to protect him at all costs.

Smalls — Saraya is the little princess of the village. She’s not really a princess, but she’s the daughter of the chief and she’s the sweetest little girl, though she knows how to find herself in trouble sometimes, dragging others with her. She adores her village and never cared to leave. She never even knew there was more out there. She’s a young water bender with a lot to learn.

Henry — Henry is the son of the village cook. He’s often bribed by others for more food and better sides. He knows people are just using him, but he adores the attention. Henry is a water bender, but he rarely trains, mostly just wanting to learn how to cook and one day prepare the biggest feast for the four nations to enjoy together.

Buttons — Joey is a badass. They grew up with a big family and often had to fight for their fair share. They have a big heart but aren’t afraid to manipulate and fight for what they want. Buttons is not a water bender, and envies the power that comes with such a thing. They are a seamstress, hence their nickname and they know exactly how to make people do what they need when they need it.

Mike — Mike is a twin. Identical. He is one half of a very powerful water bending duo. He and his brother are the pride of the Northern Tribe and are said to be its most valued protectors.

Ike — Ike is a twin. Identical. He is the other half of a very powerful water bending duo. He and his brother are pranksters and love to mess with other kids. While they are highly respected, they are also very much annoying.

Vince — The village bully. Not a water bender. He hides behind his wit and strength. He longs to be a soldier and fight for his nation.

Earth

The Eastern Earth Kingdom is strong. The land they occupy looks vulnerable and easy to attack. That is, until they start changing it. The Earth Kingdom isn’t isolated. They allow newcomers onto their turf and get to know them before pouncing. Most end up being taken prisoner, but there are a select few that are allowed to pass in and out of the kingdom. Earth benders are trained heavily, often to the point of exhaustion, to be brutal in battle, nearly lethal. Any benders who hesitate are injured or trapped, forced to fight their way out.

Spot Conlon — Sean is a very powerful earth bender. In fact, he’s the most powerful earth bender in the kingdom, so much so that everyone is pretty much terrified of him. He never hesitated to learn the ways of his power, even going so far as to learn metal bending. He grows up with only his mother, vowing to protect her at all cost. She’s sickly and Spot is often taking care of her. Most kids are terrified of him except for one young optimist with a broken leg. Spot often tries to ignore him but he can’t help but envy the boy for being so happy, even with such a tragic past. Spot is not a very hopeful being and he’s even worse at making friends. He’s made to be a weapon, a very strong weapon. It’s hard for him to figure out he has a heart.

Crutchie Morris — Charlie is a kind soul. He never wants to hurt anyone. But he has the means to. And his father knows that. When out in training with his old man, Charlie refuses to continue bending so his father traps him and drops large boulders on him, telling him that the only way out is through bending. Bending had always led to destruction in Charlie’s eyes. He’s scared of hurting people, but he still attempts to save himself. He’s just not quite fast enough to save his leg. He’s only eleven when it happens. His father disowns him and abandons him on the spot while Charlie is forced to make himself a crutch and brace from the earth. And from then on, he’s on his own until he makes friends with the most feared bender in the kingdom and actually starts learning to protect people rather than attack them.

Coffee Bean — Beatriz is a girl training to become a warrior for her kingdom, studying the traditional ways of the kyoshi warriors and longing to one day lead her own mission. She’s the youngest girl there.

Hot Shot — Angelo is the leader of a small group of thieves around the kingdom. He believes himself and his crew to be the good guys as they steal from the rich and give to the less fortunate, but mostly they steal for themselves. He is not a bender and doesn’t care to be.

Finch Cortez — Patrick is Hot Shot’s right hand man. He’s always wanted to be an earth bender and is the first born male of his family without the ability. So he runs away and joins the crew of thieves.

Mush — Michael is the muscle of the pack of thieves that run around the kingdoms. He was abandoned right after he was born and grew up an orphan.

Kenny — Kenneth is the con of the group of thieves, growing up with a starving family who only barely scraped by, he steals so they can eat. He is an amazing actor and can talk himself out of any situation.

Romeo — Romeo is the littlest boy in the kingdom. He is a happy little boy with a loving family but after meeting Spot Conlon, decided to hide his bending abilities from his family, making them believe he doesn’t have any because he doesn’t want to be trained like Spot and Charlie were.

Elmer — Elmer is an earth bender who grew up with a lot of sisters and is made fun of by the older men in the kingdom for being very flamboyant. He likes to use his earth bending skills to help things grow. He loves to watch trees and flowers grow.

Fire

The mainland Fire Nation is ruthless. Though each nation is fighting for its own power, the Fire Nation is convinced they are going to end the war with world domination. Children are taught in school that the Fire Nation is innocent and will work to restore the peace in the world by taking leadership. Kids are also taught combat in an elegant, traditional form. Fire benders are treated as the superior in the kingdom while non benders are treated more as servants.

Katherine Plumber — Katherine is a princess. Well, she was, anyway. Growing up as the princess, Kathefine never paid much mind to the cruelty in the world, much less in her own kingdom and castle. When she grows up a bit, she starts to see the evils that live in the power she’s being offered and, after becoming a very graceful fire bender, she takes her red cloak and her knives and she runs, not wanting to be trapped in a kingdom that is so bend on world domination. She knows that if she stays with her father she may be killed on account of him staying in power. So she runs with a boy that has been the closest thing she had to a little brother and they set out to try and hide from the Fire Nation, though they don’t have much of a plan from there.

Albert DaSilva — Albert is a fire bender. He’s the only one in his family. He has two older brothers and his Papà, but he’s taken away from them when he’s found to be a bender so that he can be trained and treated as such. Albert misses his family everyday but is granted a room in the castle at a young age. This is when he meets the princess. They become fast friends and Albert and Katherine end up sneaking out of the castle at night to go on adventures and visit Albert’s family. Albert starts to feel trapped and confused as he grows and he and the princess run off, using their fire bending skills to get out of the castle and out of the kingdom.

Joseph Pulitzer — Pulitzer is the Firelord. He is born into a position of highest power in his kingdom and he abuses it, just like his father had before him. Pulitzer is set on ruling the four nations and making fire bender the superior beings.

Jojo De La Guerra — Josephine is a fire bender and a contortionist who loves to scare people by crawling around like some kind of demon and then makes them laugh afterwards when they swear they hate her. She’s very sweet if you’re on his good side but she’ll burn you before he thinks you’re gonna burn her.

Kid Blink Baletti — Louis is a kid who was burned at a young age. He’s not a bender and is made fun of by his peers constantly. At some point, a pair of bullies take it a bit too far and burn his eye, leaving him half blind and in need of an eye patch.

Bill Hearst — Bill is one of the princess’s two personal guards. He is a bender but he hates using violence unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Darcy Reid — Darcy is the other guard of the princess and he is extremely protective, never allowing anyone to hardly get close enough to touch the princess. And of the other guard. He may or may not have a crush on Bill.

Morris Delancey — Morris is the elder of the two local bullies that terrorize the non benders of the kingdom, but overall he’s just a kid who doesn’t know any better.

Oscar Delancey — Oscar is the younger of the two local bullies that terrorize the non benders of the kingdom. He follows his big brothers example in being superior as he has no one else to look up to.

Air

The Wandering Air Temple is meant to be the most peaceful place in the world. At least, before the war it was. When the fighting started, the Air Temple was a sacred place where Air Benders could learn the ancient ways of their people and strive to fight without the consequence of death should they ever come in contact with an attacker. After the war begun, all of that changed. Air Benders are ripped away from their families at young ages, most not even remembering what their parents look like and are trained in how to use their abilities to win any fight, be it fair or otherwise. Teachers are cruel and powerful and often take the children to different, secluded places to train, places where no one can find them.

David Jacobs — David is the only Air Bender in his family. At least, that’s what he tells the nomads when they come to take him away. He manages to hide the abilities for a long time, not wanting to be taken away from his family as he is the one that always provided for them. He is forced into training and often holds himself back as to hide how powerful he is so maybe his teachers will let him go home. David always wanted to escape with his siblings and find them their own island so they could start their own civilization where anyone could come to find refuge and a safe place to live. It was always a long shot. But David can still dream.

Racetrack Higgins — Anthony is a wild soul, just like Jack. Maybe that’s why they’re destined to find each other. When Anthony is ten, he is told, as he is the most powerful air bender in their temple, that he will be training with the most skilled teacher, one all the kids are afraid of, and for good reason. Not wanting to train with the man, Anthony waits until he’s over land and dives off the flying bison that is meant to take them to their location. As he falls, the man who is supposed to be his master, tries to stop him and fails, but manages to stop Race from being able to break his fall and he crashlands in the middle of the North Water Tribe’s village for by who else but one of the only people who would immediately heal him and take him in. Jack Kelly. Jack protects him after that and hides him, making him look like another water bender. Race loves to play jokes on Jack, like falling over the edge of a cliff just to catch himself with the air and fling himself back up. Gives Jack a heart attack every time.

Les Jacobs — Les is a young air bender, David baby brother, who always has a smile on his face and is grateful for everything he has. He loves to play games with his family and doesn’t fully understand the dangers of the world.

Sarah Jacobs — Sarah is David’s twin sister, also an air bender who hides her abilities.

Sniper — René is an air bender as well. She is trained to be lethal and has many people who fear her. She’s also an accelerant shot as she uses her air bending abilities to make sure she hits her target every time. Sniper doesn’t remember her family and she doesn’t care to know them for a long time.

William Snyder — Snyder the Spider is the most air bending master in the temple, possibly the world. He is the teacher that is supposed to teach Race. He is known for stealing the air from people’s lungs and surrounding area, making it difficult for fire and water benders to be able to bend in his presence.

Myron — Myron is a non bender who trains heavily in combat to protect the temple that moves every couple of years. He is a valued soldier.

Tommy Boy — Tommy Boy is a carver and a blacksmith. He makes things for the residents of the temple. He makes gliders, weapons and anything anyone can think of. He works there with his father and mother and is not an air bender but builds things that can help him fly like one.

Barney — Barney is a local bread maker. He and his aunt run the shop and Barney has a relatively normal life as a non bender.

Graves — Skylar is a bender who likes to learn the cruel ways of his kind. He was ripped from his family and thrives as a student of Snyder’s.

So what do you guys think? Who would the Avatar be?

[the-last-cuddlebender]

Since when young Tenzin is underloved? His dad loved him the best and treated him as the special one and his mom adores him and maybe his siblings would give him shit when they were kids because they were jealous but he had Lin as a good friend and then he cheated on her with a 20yrs younger woman. The guy gets as much loved as he deserves

Hi, anon! So there’s a few things to unpack here, so I’ll try to be as concise as I can. This is pretty much what I think Tenzin’s childhood was really like and why he should be appreciated just as much as Bumi and Kya. Also with Kataang TLOK parenting thrown in. I’m pretty tired and don’t wanna edit an essay, so I apologize if it rambles.

Also, I’m not gonna touch the whole Tenzin cheating point. I’m fairly certain that that’s just objectively wrong. Everything else I’m more than happy to discuss, though:D

To be clear, when I say I feel like Tenzin is under-loved, I mean by the fandom (and by TLOK, but to a smaller degree). Under-appreciated might be a better word. Or under-explored? Idk. I just know that Tenzin’s childhood—just his—doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Outside of Tenzin having some angsty one-on-one’s with Aang (which I love, make no mistake!), I don’t see a lot fleshing out his childhood. Bumi and Kya get a lot of it, though (or the kids as a whole, but nothing that’s just Tenzin’s).

I don’t subscribe to the idea that Aang treated Tenzin as “the special one.” Bumi and Kya being jealous—in the way that seems to be the majority consensus—of Tenzin when they were kids is a bit hard for me to imagine, too. I try to stick to canon as much as I can, but, for some things, I have to draw the line. There has to be evidence, not just anecdote, otherwise I hc it into oblivion. I’m not saying their feelings in TLOK aren’t valid. They absolutely are, and Aang would never want those feelings to be invalidated. Children just retain things differently. A traumatic accident could have no effect on them but falling in the shower and bumping their head might. Developing brains are weird. 

I can see Kya and Bumi giving Tenzin some shit when they were kids (Tenzin does admit that Kya picked on him), but I highly doubt that was any more/less than normal sibling rivalry and Cain Instinct. Sure, Aang might have given Tenzin attention for being an airbender, but he gave Kya and Bumi attention for being a waterbender and a non-bender, too. To me, it’s like having siblings who play different sports. Just because dad went to every one of my sister’s soccer games doesn’t mean he didn’t attend every one of my basketball games. The hyperfixation on airbending in TLOK makes it sound like that was all Aang cared about, but even in ATLA we can see that that isn’t true. If it was, then he would have kicked out the mechanist from the Northern Air Temple. 

To say that Aang loved Tenzin the best is to imply that he loved his other children poorly, which isn’t true in the slightest. I can entertain the argument that he spent more one-on-one time with Tenzin, but that could be attributed to different children with different personalities having different wants and different needs for validation from their parents. And I will gladly defend it, even though I personally hc otherwise.

It’s hard to talk about Tenzin without also talking about Aang and Katara, so bear with me here:

Tenzin and Kya:

Tenzin was the last airbender besides Aang. Kya was the last waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe besides Katara. To assume Aang treated Tenzin as the “special one” because he’s an airbender would, if using the same logic, mean assuming Katara treated Kya as the “special one” for being a waterbender. 

I’ve never understood why The Southern Water Tribe being inherited by the Kataang kids isn’t as big of a deal as Air Nomad culture. Both of them were recovering cultures on the brink of extinction, so they both have a lot of pressure for the kids to live up to.

Plus, if Sokka had a right of passage for being a Water Tribe warrior, then who’s to say there wasn’t a right of passage for Kya, specifically, for being a waterbender? She would be the special one, there. And maybe Tenzin struggled with his two heritages because being an Air Nomad meant being vegetarian but being Water Tribe meant using dead fish to go penguinsledding?

Tenzin and Learning too soon:

Tenzin probably learned about his responsibility of carrying the legacy of the airbenders at a very, very young age. Aang and Katara probably tried their hardest to wait until he was older to tell him (a-la Gyatso wanting to wait until Aang was older for him to carry the burden of being the airbenders’—and the world’s—last hope, too), but it was unavoidable. It was a part of the world’s history, and the aftermath of the war wasn’t exactly something a kid could avoid. Plus, I’m sure Aang wanted to correct airbender history as it was taught in schools as soon as he got the opportunity after the war.

Tenzin just has the abstract “idea” of what his bending culture was like when it was alive and well. Aang has memories to draw upon from which to imagine the future that the airbenders needed to rebuild towards. Tenzin gets second-hand notes.

Tenzin also didn’t have a baseline by which to measure if he was a “good airbender.” He had only Aang to compare himself to. ONLY AANG. This is talked about in TLOK but only in regards to Aang being his dad, if I’m not mistaken. But Aang isn’t just Tenzin’s dad. Aang is his father, the Avatar, and the youngest airbender to get his master’s tattoos. That’s a LOT more to live up to than just being his kid. And it’s the only thing Tenzin has to compare himself to to measure whether or not he’s a good airbender. I’m shocked that his spiritual ineptitude isn’t more of a haunting issue for him, quite frankly.

Tenzin and Bullying:

Tenzin didn’t have any airbenders his age (anyone like him) growing up. Even Aang had a childhood with other airbenders. As a father, Aang was as playful as a kid, sure, but, to a child, it isn’t quite the same because they don’t share that special bond of growing together and having a shared upbringing. 

Katara can especially empathize with this. 

Airbending is the element of fun. It’s kindof hard to express/embrace that facet of the element if Tenzin is the only one his age who can wield it.

I can almost guarantee that Tenzin got voted out of playing with other kids at least a few times because he was the only airbender (and that would make teams unfair). He probably learned to play by himself. That would certainly make him serious. Toph would probably teach him how to entertain himself, too. And that might lead to Tenzin and Lin hanging out. Who knows?

I honestly think Tenzin was bullied quite a bit (and not by Kya and Bumi), and that the bullying attributed to his demeanor as he grew up. Him cowering from Kya or running from his siblings when they picked on him was an exasperation of what he was probably dealing with outside his home.

In the recent comic with Katara and the pirates, we see a Fire Nation soldier flaunt some pretty nasty ideas about the Air Nomads because of Sozin’s propaganda. I don’t think that 15 years (or however long Tenzin was born after the war) is going to reverse that. Tenzin was probably picked on for being an airbender in addition to being the Avatar’s kid. 

If the rise of fashion post-war was as fast-growing as industry, I can imagine kid-Tenzin being made fun of for being bald (even though it was part of his religion/culture) and for dressing in robes when the world, especially Republic City, was beginning to adopt different clothes. 

Tenzin is an incredibly tender soul around those he loves but also incredibly serious around his adversaries. He has a soft inside and an armored shell, and that thick skin is usually forged through unsavory interactions. And he definitely interacted with plenty of normal kids his age. Aang missed the chance after the ice, and Katara was the only one her age in her village besides (kindof) Sokka. There’s no way Aang and Katara would keep their kids cooped up and strictly homeschooled. At the very least, Toph would bust them out if they did.

Tenzin and Katara:

Now, I’m not saying that Tenzin blames Aang because he obviously doesn’t. But Aang has memories of what airbender life was like, and Tenzin has only dreams. Honestly, it’s like he’s caught in the situation Aang was in when he was a young Avatar. They both have to live up to something that was pretty much just a legend. How could Tenzin possibly be expected to compare himself to something like that and be peachy fine? Aang wasn’t. So maybe, just maybe, Aang and Katara decided to have Tenzin go on private trips with Aang so Tenzin could understand that part of himself that was so hard for him to get? Inner peace is pretty dang hard to think about with THAT much pressure. 

And yes, it was Aang and Katara who decided on the trips. I will not for a second believe that 1.) Aang would make that kind of decision without her input or 2.) that Katara would let one of her kids get private time with dad that would even potentially give the illusion of favoritism. 

Katara knew how important one-on-one time with a parent was to some kids. This is why she tells Sokka to go see Hakoda instead of her in Ba Sing Se. She saw not only how much Sokka wanted but how much he NEEDED to see their dad. Sokka and Tenzin were both caught in a “passing of the torch” scenario (tbh, the scene where Aang tells Tenzin that he’s proud of him in the Spirit World reminds me of when Hakoda tells Sokka that he’s proud of him during the invasion when he’s injured. In both instances, it kindof solidifies the official passing of the torch).

“You didn’t love her like I did”—Katara learned pretty quick in tsr about how incredibly toxic the assumption of loving or being loved more/less was. She would never under any circumstance agree to anything that would show favoritism to one of her children. Absolutely no way. Aang and Katara are a team, and to villainize one for favoritism is to villainize the other.

Tenzin and Yue:

Tenzin had a stressful upbringing. I would even make the argument that he and Yue had a similar time trying to conform to a responsibility that they were told/learned about at a too young age. Their mindsets are very similar—responsibility even at the sacrifice of their own wants and happiness and an overwhelming love for their father.

Tenzin: “I have a responsibility to Republic City.” Yue: “I have a duty to my Tribe.”

They were both determined to love and carry on the legacy of their father and their people, but they did it in their own way. They both struggled with their responsibilities from an extremely young age.

Finishing thoughts I guess:

*********************************************

I can imagine a young Tenzin crying and trying to hide from the world that was shoving its weight onto his shoulders, and who, when Aang finds him hiding in the bison stables or somewhere similar, cringes away from Aang for a split second before recognizing his father and holding on so tight that it hurt. Aang tried his damnedest to teach Tenzin airbending and the responsibility of being the last airbender when Aang was gone, but even he knew that he couldn’t keep the weight of the world off of Tenzin forever. Aang never got that chance when he was told he was the Avatar. He heard the monks say that he was “the airbenders’ last hope” because storm clouds were gathering. Young Tenzin probably felt just as hopeless. The one-on-one trips he took with Aang were specifically to the places Aang had visited in S1 when he was still recovering from realizing that he was the last airbender. Maybe Aang took Tenzin with him one-on-one, just the two of them, to drive home the message that Tenzin was not the last airbender like Aang had been?

“I-I’m just one kid…I can’t. I…I-I’m just—”

“Shhh, shhh, shhh…I know, buddy. I know. But you’re my kid, too. You’re my entire world.”

“Everyone says I’m—”

“Don’t worry about them. They’re not here.”

“B-But—”

“But? What but? Are you hiding someone in your sleeping bag, Breeze-Butt?”

“N…No…”

“And do you see anyone else here?”

“…No.”

“That’s right. So don’t worry about them. It’s just you and me right now, okay? Just breathe. There you go. Just like I taught you—You’re doing so well, bud. Shhh…You’re okay. You’re not just one kid. You’re Tenzin. And you’re my son. You and your brother and sissy are my entire world. I love you so, so much...Oh, see? There’s that million-yuan smile!”

“…Thanks, Daddy. Love you.”

“Love you more. Do you want to try going in the water again? Or we can stay up here if you like. Whatever you want.”

“I wanna try again. But…But maybe just a small fish? I don’t wanna fall off again…I-I can’t do the air-chute yet…and the water hurt.”

“I’ll round up the smallest koi there is. I’ll sit right behind you, too. How’s that sound? I won’t let you fall.”

“Okay!”

*********************************************

Maybe this has been said before idk. These are just my thoughts on Kataang parents and Tenzin. I retcon the entire Kataang family as it’s presented in TLOK, but this is how I imagine it going down in canon. 

This isn’t an attack on any person or fandom btw! I just think Tenzin isn’t as appreciated as the airbean deserves😞 He’s been through so much😭

If there’s a secret stash of young Tenzin appreciation content somewhere, please share!  I might be looking in the wrong places for Tenzin love, and I would love nothing more than to be wrong, honestly. So, please, if there’s a secret stash, yeet me that link!!

[ejm513]

ON SOKKA, TOPH, LIN AND SU’YIN

EDITED  BECAUSE I WROTE THIS AT ALMOST 10:00 PM WHEN I HAD TO GET UP AT SIX IN THE MORNING BUT I JUST WNATED TO WRITE SOMETHING TO GET MY BASIC IDEAS OUT BECAUSE I WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SLEEP IF I DIDN’T. DID I MENTION I’M NOT THE SMARTEST PERSON?

Hello my lovelies! So I finally got my act together and watched Avatar The Last Airbender and…

Yeah, I don’t know what was wrong with me when I was a child. It just wasn’t my cup of tea. But at this point in my life it is quite possibly one of the best shows I’ve ever watched and is now one of my favorite shows.

In fact I’m re-watching after finishing my first binge about a week or two ago.

Theirs is so much to discuss not just with Avatar but with The Legend of Kora (I’m in the middle of season three… I like it a lot but I’m just having a harder time getting through it. I’ll probably wait to finish it until it comes to Netflix). What I want to focus on is Sokka, Toph, Lin and Su’yin.

Because if there’s nothing I love more than family, babies, children and family drama.

I mean seriously that’s literally what everything I write is about.

I don’t have a problem not at all.....

So you can imagine as soon I heard there was a theory that Su’yin may or may not be Toph and Sokka’s daughter my imagination and excitement went in overdrive, because even though I adore Sokka and Suki I always thought there was SOMETHING between the two of them. It’s clear in Avatar that Toph has a crush on Sokka which I mean can we blame her?

While it doesn’t appear Sokka has any romantic interest at that time, he is extremely caring and protective of Toph. It’s not impossible to see their relationship maybe not deepening into love but becoming something more than simple friendship and becoming physical.

But what evidence is there that Su’yin is Sokka and Toph’s daughter? Just because it’s a nice idea doesn’t mean it’s true.

Well it turns out there is some substantial evidence to back it up.

First of all there is Su’Yins coloring.

Now that doesn’t necessarily point to anything. But it is interesting to note that her skin coloring is the same as those in the water tribe, who tend to have darker skin tones. 

On top of that there is a physical resemblance between her and Sokka. 

And then... there is this... 

This is Baatar Jr., Su’Yins oldest child. Sure he does look a lot like his father

But I would argue he looks even more like Sokka. It’s kind of eerie how similar they look and I don’t think the animators and show creators would do something like that unintentionally-especially in a show like this.

Then you need to factor the personality similarities-Su’Yin’s sarcasm, leadership abilities, her devotion to family above all else. It all rings very familiar. 

I personally lean more towards the side of this theory being true, but there are some arguments to be made against it. 

The biggest argument is that Sokka would never be an absentee father. It’s just not in his nature. We know that both Lin and Su’Yin’s fathers were both absent and not a part of their lives. 

And then we have to factor in Sukki and what happened to her. 

Well here’s what I think could have happened. 

There’s another theory going around that Sukki died young in some sort of battle. It would make sense to a certain extent given what she does. I’m going to lean in on that theory, but it is highly possible that their relationship just didn’t last. After all they were young and the hard truth is statically the majority of young relationships don’t last. These seem to be the most probable explanations, as we know jack shit about what happened to Sukki. 

Lin’s father was a man named Kanto. The jerk left for whatever reason-maybe the pair got in a huge fight, maybe he just didn’t want a child or couldn’t handle the responsibility of being a parent. Basically we can assume he was a dead beat who honestly doesn’t even deserve such an amazing life partner as Toph and amazing child as Lin. 

 I don’t doubt for a second Sokka stepped in as a father like figure of Lin and thus they would be spending quiet of bit of time together. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Sokka would be a top notch father figure with Lin-funny, creative, and surprisingly gentle and tender. Lin being Lin would probably act like her mother-all strong, tough and independent. But secretly she loves the doting and gets very upset when he has to go. 

So as you can imagine Toph and Sokka are spending quite a bit of time together. Toph is enamored by Sokka and how great he is with Lin. Her old crush is beginning to bubble up and maybe turning into something more. If we go off the theory that Sukki died young or their relationship just naturally ran it’s course he’s probably been enjoying female company that isn’t his sister or anyone on the council. They’re both grown adults who are single who have a very deep connection and have probably been lonely so it’s not out of the question that they uh.., well... you know. 

Now I don’t think they would necessarily end up in a serious relationship for various reasons. Toph is to hell bent on her freedom and independence to truly settle down in a serious relationship, and Sokka has probably been through to much bad luck with relationships to want to truly get invested... even if it is Toph and he low key loves her and Toph’s heart flutters every time she’s with him.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it is cannon that Toph has had her fair share of sexual partners, which I would like to state for the record there is nothing wrong with. So it’s possible Sokka wasn’t the only person she slept with. So when she became pregnant it’s entirely possible she wouldn’t know for certain who the father is. Now obviously when Sokka finds out he would probably demand to know if he’s the father her being blunt would say something along the lines of 

“I’m not sure who it is Snoozle’s, and I’m never really gonna know because I won't be able to see the kid. Besides it doesn’t matter who the father is I don’t need any help.” 

So for nine months Sokka is sitting on pins and needles waiting to know the truth. When the baby finally comes and he sees her it’s... it’s pretty obvious. Though she’ll never say it out loud, Toph can tell just by feeling her facial features. 

Now there’s a problem. Even though she doesn’t neccasrily want to keep him away from his child Toph being... well... Toph... still insist that she doesn’t need any help. More over she doesn’t want to cause Lin any resentment, confusion or pain by Su’yin having her father around but her’s is gone. 

Besides there’s the whole issue of him being a member of the council and her being the chief of police... I could see their relationship causing a controversy and or scandal that no one wants. 

Sokka on the other hand wants to obviously not just be apart of his biological child’s life but Lin’s life-as Lin has basically become his child as well. And in reality Toph knows she can’t stop him, moreover  as stated earlier she is not heartless and doesn’t necessarily want to keep Sokka away from his daughter. So they come up with compromise. 

He’ll continue acting as a father figure, but he will be nothing more than Uncle Sokka. He goes along with it so he can still see both of his girls and be a part of their lives. 

He spends more time at Toph’s home than his own. He helps Lin with her homework and happily plays and cuddles with Su’yin. He helps makes sure they go to bed at a decent time (while under the guise giving them all the freedom Toph wants them to have). At first Sokka will sleep on the couch, but slowly but surely the pair end up sleeping in the same bed and living as a couple... just in the safety of those four walls. 

It’s a bit of an open secret between Team Avatar and company-especially Katara because she would know the truth from the second she laid eyes on the child. But out of respect for Toph and the delicate balance they created no one says a word-especially because I can imagine Sokka is gone a good portion of the time with his various duties. 

I’m not one who subscribes to the fact he dies protecting the new avatar Kora, because it is cannon that he helped put members of the Red Lotus in jail. What I do think is he passed before ever getting to tell Su’Yin the truth. And Toph realizes she messed up and it’s most likely her one biggest regret. In the end I don’t think she would say a word to anyone about the truth until she is on her death bed... because she is just that pig headed and stubborn. 

So that is how I think everything could have possibly panned out... and don’t be shocked if I end up writing a fan fic about this! I also hope to write a post examining Aang and Katara and their children because once again I love children and family and family drama and there is a lot that too. 

Also might I add it’s so endearing and sweet that Zuko-the character who had the most toxic, abusive and fucked up family had, by all appearance, the happiest family with the least amount of drama. 

God.

Bless. 

It.

[lettersfromn0where]

My Steambaby Headcanons (a Semi-Condensed Version)

I am almost absurdly passionate about my zutara headcanons, and after literal months spent thinking about them constantly, I have so many that one could fill volumes with them. I won’t bother y’all with that, BUT I want to put my steambaby OCs out there because I adore them and want to scream about them more. So. Here we go. [note: these were created for my The Waiting Game AU, but you don’t need any context to get it except that an Aang/Oc ship is Kind Of Important.]

Okay, so first up we have Crown Princess Izumi, the oldest of my steamchildren. Izumi is the classic Fire Nation princess: she’s a smart, studious firebender who resembles Zuko more than any of her other siblings (though she does have Katara’s chin). She can be a bit cold, but she’s fiercely loyal to her loved ones and, when given the chance to be, is quite the hopeless romantic as well. Of her siblings, she’s closest to her next-oldest sister, Kya, and her youngest sister Sana; her favorite non-parental Gaang member is definitely Aang; and outside of the family, she is very close to twin classmates named Kaoru and Asaka, the children of a noble family who attended her primary school and remained lifelong friends. (She’s briefly engaged to Kaoru, though it doesn’t last for Reasons.) she eventually marries Hideo, the generic but sweet son of a government official, and they have two sons, Iroh II and Kenji.

Then we’ve got Kya, the second-born Princess, who’s just about a year younger than her older sister. A waterbender and by far the most gifted combat bender of her siblings, Kya is a bit of a problem child. As a middle child, a backup heir, and a waterbender in the Fire Nation (who also looks far more SWT than most of her siblings - she’s very similar to Katara in appearance), she has a lot of trouble fitting in, and will often play on her penchant for troublemaking to get attention. She’s also very athletic and a talented waterbender, a skill she’s worked tirelessly to develop. But she’s also fiercely loving and committed to making the decisions she believes to be right. Case in point: when the Earth Queen insists that her younger son, Prince Hyun, marry one of the FN heirs as part of the settlement of a post-war border conflict, Kya offers to marry him in order to secure the peace deal. As Hyun (Hyun, you sweet dumb kpop idol lookalike himbo bby boy, I love you) is nothing like his conniving mother, their initially-acrimonious relationship doesn’t take long to turn into a genuine love match, perhaps the happiest of the steambaby marriages. They have four children - Xinyi, Jangmi, Shiori, and Atuat - and are wildly popular with the public. Stan Hyunya for clear skin.

And now we come to Ryuji, our only boy and perhaps my favorite steambaby. Though he’s a waterbender, Ryuji is just about an even blend of his parents in appearance, and resembles neither of them in temperament. Where his parents are both outspoken and somewhat hot-tempered, he’s very soft-spoken and shy, preferring the company of very few people - his mother, his youngest sister Sana, and his best friend Yuna (Aang/Hina [OC] kid - any Haang fans out there?), namely. He’s the soft, bookish mama’s boy of my dreams pls shut up I am Projecting. Anyways. Ryuji also has a bit of middle child frustration, and he’s the only steambaby to go away to school (Ba Sing Se University, where he studies medicine - he and Yuna attend together bc they are literally inseparable) because he feels rather useless back at home, as the third-born heir. He also later shocks the family and the Fire Nation by choosing to elope with Yuna, with whom he has naturally fallen madly in love, despite his family’s protests because as the second-to-last airbender, Yuna has a bit of a conflict of interest with his...princiness. Naturally, they realize that this is stupid and come around, and though Yuna and Ryuji still don’t see the family as much as they manage Air Temple Island (and Yuna is a Republic City Council member), they manage to smooth things over. They have three children - two daughters (Dolma and Yangchen, both airbenders) and a son (Sora, a firebender, and the next in a long line of FN mama’s boys).

Next is Sakari, the only nonbender in the family. She’s so much like Sokka that it’s somewhat frightening, though she looks a lot like both of her parents - she’s very sharp and quick-witted (she’s 100% the funny one in this family), a talented nonbending combatant (thank Hina for that one), and a perpetual disaster. She’s very unlucky in love, as you’ll know if you’ve read Give The Game Away, and her closest relationships are with Haang daughter #2, aka Yangchen (yes, Yangchen is also a Yunuji kid - there are two, though I can’t say why because GTGA spoilers) and her younger sister, Sana. She has a tragically doomed crush on Yangchen for most of her adolescence and eventually serves in her sister’s cabinet in some capacity which idk yet but it has to be something bc she’s way too smart to do nothing.

Then finally we have Sana, the baby of the family. Sana, another firebender, is definitely the pretty one (well, they’re all pretty, but she’s especially stunning) - she essentially looks like Katara with Zuko’s eyes, and she has a LOT of admirers. She’s exuberant, outgoing, and incredibly sweet; there’s nothing she loves more than a good party, which absolutely baffles her mostly-introverted older siblings. Not a particularly talented firebender, but no one cares because she’s good enough to be super warm all the time and therefore very cuddly. (She is everyone’s favorite one to cuddle.) As a young adult, she’s diagnosed with what’s heavily implied to be an autoimmune disease, and her health is relatively fragile from then on out - it’s also thought that she’ll be unable to have children because of this, which causes her to break off a relationship with her childhood sweetheart, Haang Kid #3 aka Gyatso. (The reasons involve air nomad genes and it’s all very complex and there’s definitely NOT a 7k word oneshot about it. Nope.) however, after an absolutely disastrous first marriage to a scum-of-the-earth type, she finds her way back to Gyatso, and - improbably - they later have a surprise baby, a daughter named Kumiko. She spends most of her time out in the country, as the prying eyes at the palace are too much for her after what she went through with Scummy First Husband, and is a surprisingly happy country bumpkin with Gyatso (though she can definitely still work a room).

Why every freakin’ steambaby falls in love with a Haang kid, idk. Figures. I’m not creative. Will this make any sense if you didn’t read TWG? Unsure. But this has been fun ig?

[stitch1830]

here’s a dunebaby question, which one is your favorite! Or if you just can’t chose cause they’re all so lovable what’s your favorite thing about each one?

OOO great question! This is hard because the dunebabies are like my children lmao. I don’t wanna play favorites! I think secretly it’s Kenji because I have a lot more story ideas with him, but I do my very best to space out the stories and even out the spotlight lol. BUT I will give some of my favorite things about them because I'm in the mood to chat (ramble) about everything related to Taang lol.

My favorite thing about Lin is that she is a Beifong through and through, but not quite. She has these quieter tendencies that don’t necessarily scream a characteristic of Toph or Aang. She’s also a BIG grudge holder. And while Toph can be stubborn, she never struck me as someone that held grudges; she was rather forgiving if people were sincere. And Aang is really big on forgiveness; I don’t recall him ever holding a super longstanding grudge. But Lin will. She’ll be wronged by some cashier when she was ten, return to the store years later and remember the cashier that messed with her. And she’ll give them attitude just like Mama taught her. I think out of all the Beifong's, she seems like this odd sheep that has a very different personality from the rest of her family, but not really. It’s just more muted and reserved.

Gyatso is this super lovable kid that just wants to make friends with everyone, and I think that’s really sweet. He cares a ton about how other people feel and thinks that if everyone talked it out, everyone would be happy. He is a Beifong though, and the only people that have ever really ruffled his feathers are his siblings (and they’re allowed to). So sometimes (often) he’ll fight with them. Gyatso is super clumsy too, literally trips over his own feet everywhere he goes. He tries to be more careful as he gets older, especially when he’s around his mother. But, what many don’t know is that if Toph is the only one to help with one of Gyatso’s injuries, she’s is the calmest, gentlest, and most patient person in the world. Secretly, he loves it when she has to take care of him because she’s super sweet about it (not that Aang isn't, but it’s a side of his mother that no one else really gets to see).

Suyin is just a firecracker, just like Toph and sometimes it drives Toph crazy how similar they can be, but then there are times where she is just like Aang, so they don’t really know who she resembles the most personality wise. It’s like her personality shifts with the seasons... She’s the second youngest child in all of the Gaang and is SPOILED because of it. Very persuasive too. We probably won’t see this side of Suyin too much in my stories, but she is very outspoken about things she believes are wrong in society. Her best friend is a blind earthbender too (an OC of mine) and even though everyone has tons of respect for her mother, sometimes people treat her friend differently because he’s blind and she yells and complains that it’s the stupidest thing in the world that people would do that. She’s pretty good about putting people in their place when they say dumb things, and her friend is grateful for it, but he is also a super mellow kid and is like “Su it’s fine, nbd” and she’s like “NOPE.” 

Kenji is the perfect mix of sweet and adorable and chaotic. He is easily persuaded by his siblings to wreak havoc, and as a young child doesn’t think twice about it. He was also obsessed with playing with his aunts. Growing up, he got a lot of attention from the adults and because of that, often went to them for play time instead of “cousins” because his aunts and his Mama were cool and tough and the best playmates (Katara and Suki often missed play time with their own kids at this point, so whenever they had the opportunity, they jumped on it). He’s also just super sweet! If he asks his mother to play with him and she says in 20 minutes, he’ll wait. Or if she says not today, he’ll be mad, but okay. Mama said no. Same with his dad, he’s pretty good about listening to them the first time around (surprisingly). He’s also like this picture perfect toddler that has the most adorable and squishable face and it makes it hard for people to say no to him. Another interesting thing is that he’s very good with his other senses. He had his mother teach him how to see with them at a very young age, and because of that is really good about knowing his surroundings and not solely relying on his eyes to see. And while he’s an Airbender, he instinctively knows if Su is standing behind him or if Lin’s at the door or if Gyatso is upset without looking at them. It makes Toph and Aang wonder if some seismic traits were inherited or just learned, because like, it’s only with his siblings that he knows where they are (if they’re close proximity). Kenji just chalks it up to sibling telepathy.

Okay, there. Some of my favorite things. I totally rambled, but it’s after work hours and I like talking about everything and nothing, but especially about Taang lol. Thanks for the ask, and if anyone wants to know more, feel free to ask me questions!

[authorjoydragon]

Joy! I saw this question and it made me curious about your dunebabies... Which dunebabies prefer Toph, which prefer Aang? And who are their fav siblings? Many thanks my friend, sorry for my tardiness :)

Sorry this took me so long my mind has been in the gutter due to the NSFW prompts LOL. Time for a FLUFF BREAK!

Oh this is an interesting question!! God why did I make EIGHT dunebabies shit fcuk-

Bumi is honestly a true neutral. He admires both of his parents immensely, and spent a lot of time training with both of them! He loves his air nomad heritage, even if he’s an earth bender. He’s basically everyone’s favorite sibling, mostly because he was a constant in their life and always a voice of reason and unconditional support. (He’d say he doesn’t have a favorite sibling, but it’s definitely Tasha.)

Gyatso won’t admit it but Baba is his favorite. They’re just so alike- they think the same way, so they are just naturally really close. Not to mention he was the first airbending son and had a lot of time training with Baba. Him and Bumi are also really close, because they were so close in age and had to watch the other kids together a lot. He also bonded a lot with his younger sister Tasha with the pressure of being the new air benders.

Tasha is the absolute sweetest. She clung to Mama a lot when she was young, but she would say she loves her parents equally. Even if her personality is more similar to Aang’s, she’s a Mama’s girl. Out of her siblings, she’s usually always with Gyatso. Air heads gotta stick together. (As you can see, the oldest three are very close.)

Rimi may look like Aang, but that’s about all she got from him, besides perhaps insane skill (which could also be from Toph so who knows). She doesn’t need bending to kick your ass. It’s maybe perhaps that she is so similar to Toph that they actually bash heads a lot. Rimi likes to go to Baba to talk things out when Mama upsets her. If Baba isn’t there she goes to Bumi. She doesn’t like showing that she’s upset, but Bumi never makes fun of her.

Kusa is the carbon copy of Toph, and she loves her Mama to pieces. Baba is super fun though... so she can’t make up her mind. She adores Rimi to the moon and back.

For Nishe and Raanzin... they are total opposites. While Raanzin is calm and quiet, Nishe is a wild troublemaker. Raanzin enjoys sitting with Baba in the early morning hours for some peace and quiet, even if he’s not an air bender, Baba says he’s got the spirit of one. He really just tolerates his siblings. Nishe would say both her parents are mean to her and always telling her to do something. Toph and Aang argue where she gets her troublemaker genes from. (It’s both of them.) She likes Mama a little more only because she lets her gets away with more. Her favorite is Gyatso because she can usually get him to go along with her pranks (sometimes Rimi and Kusa can be talked into it too). Bumi always puts a stop to them though. Loser.

Suhn is so much younger than the rest, so he’s almost always strapped to Baba’s back while he’s running after the other kids. He loves Baba. He’s a very quiet kid, and he gets along best with Tasha and Raanzin. Tasha is ten years older than him, so she loves to toddle him around with her and is excited to have a younger sibling to help learn their air bending.

Thanks for the ask stitch! Keep sending me asks about these dunebabies I love building their characters! 💛 I’ll write that Beifong Family Chaos Fic one of these days...

[hardcore-evil-regal]

Not The Only One

Summary:

For the prompt: the past

Aang reminisces about old times and reflects on what that means for his legacy.

You can read it here, on AO3 or FF.net

“Do you remember how we met?” Aang asks as they lie in bed, her head resting on his chest as he runs slender fingers through her hair.

“Mmph,” she mumbles against his chest, “that was like fifteen years ago.”

He sighs, looking down at his wife who looks so peaceful and cute resting half on top of him.

“It doesn’t feel like fifteen years ago,” he admits, wondering how those years went by so quickly. “I remember when-”

“You need to shhh,” Toph interrupts him with a finger pressed against his lips. “I am trying to sleep.”

Aang lets out a low chuckle, amused by his wife’s crankiness and the adorable pout on her lips. 

“Sorry,” he whispers, still threading his fingers through her hair in a soothing motion. 

She grumbles something under her breath but it really comes off as more adorable rather than intimidating with the way she’s practically curled on top of him like a kitten. Plus, he feels a little guilty because it’s kind of his fault that she’s not been able to get much sleep the past few nights. Gently, he places a hand on the enlarged swell of her abdomen, feeling their unborn child kick in response. His wife lets out a grunt at being kicked from the inside.

“You had to wake the kid,” she all but whines.

Despite her protests, she makes no move to shift his hand away, instead burrowing her head into his chest. Aang can’t help but reminisce as he thinks about how far they’ve come and how their lives have turned out. Thinking back, he recalls the first time he ever saw Toph, before he knew what she would mean to him. He remembers visions of a girl in a pretty dress, flitting between the trees as he chased after her through the swamp, her laughter ringing in his ears. Even days after the visions, he could still hear the sound of her laughter. A smile pulls at his lips at the rumbling little snores escaping his small and heavily pregnant earthbender now. 

Continuing to sweep his thumb against the skin of her abdomen, he thinks about the first time they met. He enjoys laughing about the old memory, his wife however, still holds it against him that he illegally won the Earth Rumble match and disrupted her clean winning streak. Of course after the war she returned to the Earth Rumble competition to reclaim her title, and her championship belt sits proudly on a shelf in their living room. Pressing a small kiss to the top of her head while she sleeps, he marvels at the life they’ve made together. Aang is pretty sure that if someone had told him that he would be married to his earthbending Sifu and expecting his first child with her, he probably would have asked them if they’d drunken cactus juice. In some ways, the idea of he and Toph together seemed almost preposterous, yet in other ways it seemed like perfect sense. After all, opposites do attract.

He is distracted from his thoughts by the feeling of a strong kick against his hand. 

“There there little one,” he whispers to his unborn child, “lets not wake your mum up hey.”

His words and soothing voice seem to do the trick because the baby settles and Aang is maybe just a little proud of himself at being able to calm their child without disturbing Toph. Closing his eyes, he tunes into his seismic sense and can feel the tiny pulsing heartbeat in his wife’s womb, along with the strong and slower rhythm of his sleeping wife’s heartbeat. Feeling the vibrations of the life force of the two most important people to him brings him a deep sense of comfort and he allows himself to drift off to sleep feeling the steady vibrations of their hearts beating.

Years later, when they are expecting the birth of their third child, Aang remembers how anxious and excited they had been experiencing the pregnancy and birth of their first child. His wife is far more nonchalant about the whole process now, though she does tell him from time to time how much she does not wish to go through labour again. Holding his first born daughter in his lap, he tells her stories of how she used to kick her mother in her sleep, much like her youngest sibling often does these days, and how he would soothe her in her mother’s womb. She giggles at his story, the sound reminding him so much of the laughter of a young girl he chased through a swamp so many years ago. 

“You’re so silly daddy,” she tells him with a devilish grin that makes her look so much like her mother. 

He feigns hurt at her words before launching a tickle attack, her arms and legs flailing as she fails to fend off the mighty Avatar’s attack. Her giggles grow louder, turning into shrieks of laughter as she almost falls off his lap, tumbling towards the ground before she is caught by a puff of air that sends her right back into her father’s lap. She quiets as she realises her father has stopped the tickles and is looking at her with an expression she has never seen before, tears threatening to fall from his grey eyes.

“You airbended,” he whispers as a tear leaks down his cheek. “You airbended!” He cries louder, picking her up and twirling her around.

She smiles and laughs at her father’s excitement, thrilled by the way he swings her around in the air, but the significance of the moment is lost on her young mind. 

Tears continue to fall from his eyes as he hugs his daughter close, running his hands over the back of her head soothingly. He is overwhelmed with emotions, elation, sadness, relief. For the first time in years he is not the last airbender, and his heart is filled with hope that his culture and his airbending legacy will no longer be lost to the past. 

x

x

A/N

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I hope y'all are enjoying Taang Week as much as I am :)

[synergysilhouette]

I know "The Arcana" is overlooked a lot, but I still wanted to write about my MC and his relationship with the LIs. I originally designed him differently, but I can't find the post on reddit!

My OC's name is a cisgender man by the name of Malachite. He has a buff body type and is a rather devout young man--not stuffy or naive, though. He hails from Prakra, and is the son of a noble family, with three older brothers and two younger brothers. I haven't established his race; I'm thinking perhaps indigenous American, Pacific Islander, or South Asian inspiration (including Romani). He has a good tan, blue eyes, and silvery-blue hair that goes past his ears (not to mention he's hung and thicc af)

I honestly picture him as a cross between DC comics' Nightwing, Kingdom Hearts' Riku, Marvel's Quicksilver, and a young Ikem/Norem from Avatar: The Last Airbender. His fashion sense is definitely trendy, unique, and cool, dressing in tropical colors. Currently he's clad in a sleeveless multicolored shirt with a clasp or two usually undone to show off his big pecs, tight pants that leave nothing to the imagination, and boots that are very durable. I imagine there are gemstone or feather motifs here and there with intricate patterns throughout his clothes--he's not a boring dresser. I'm kind of thinking he dresses like he's an anime character that just got thrown into the video game "Hades." During the summer months, I imagine he wears green tunic with rainbow accents and matching sandals with a gold band on his thick thighs (I've gotta stop now).

If you wanna know more about his past, just ask.

Relationship with the LIs inside their routes

Lucio--They spoil each other A LOT. Malachite gives into his charm and seduction as well as helping him with his empathy. Given his MANY mistakes, Lucio is kind of on thin ice with people a lot, so when Malachite's family heard of their marriage, they didn't really approve. They were highly critical and accused Lucio of corrupting him, so Lucio has to work hard to improve himself in order to show he's worthy of Malachite's love. That said, it's not one-sided; Malachite doesn't want Lucio to feel like he's always having to better himself. Malachite loves him for who he is: a dramatic, fanciful, adventurous, fashionable semi-himbo. Currently they're the fathers of two daughters and a son.

Nadia--While not naive, Malachite has a kind of innocent outlook, almost like a Disney prince comes to life. Nadia loves how he sees the good in things and is easily entranced by new things. Not to mention his breeding has always taught him to be respectable and professional, making him the ideal consort. Nadia's learned to curb spoiling him so he doesn't feel like a pet, and instead gives it to their child--their only child, given Nadia isn't great with kids but Malachite always wanted one and she didn't want him to have it with a surrogate. Plus she's awakened a naughty side in Malachite, a submissive incubus that seeks only to please her. Needless to say his family approves of her and her family approves of him.

Asra--Their relationship started a little rocky, with their professional relationship having to take the backseat to their romantic relationship. Asra has become less controlling and more open with Malachite, and they've talked about expanding the magic shop and getting apprentices of their own--by which I mean both kids and teaching unrelated kids about the art of magic. I keep picturing "Howl's Moving Castle" with this, though one odMalchite's older brothers (inspired by Marvel's Loki)--who absolutely ADORES Asra--insists he brings his kids to learn from them when they get old enough, and Malachite worries about how Asra and his brother will influence the couple's future kids.

Muriel--I think Muriel goes outside of his comfort zone a lot for Malachite. Staying in his hut frequently, they engage in a lot of physical activity (take that how you will), but Muriel treats him to trips into Vesuvia often. Malachite's family is VERY concerned about him living in the forest away from everyone, and have a Demeter-Persephone relationship whenever they see him. Malachite's style has rubbed off on Muriel, and they live a very sweet life--with more kids than Muriel expected. Seriously, they have four kids and Malachite wants MORE. Good luck with that.

Portia--They were definitely best friends before getting married, and Portia did have to chase away any suitors who came to their door (including a conniving noble who looks like Marvel's Colossus), but when Malachite looks at her, she feels safe and loved. Malachite's frequent acrobatic activity and her constant work for Nadia keep her on her toes, and Pepi is there to quell her concerns most of the time. Malachite's family has their own comments, but they mainly keep it to themselves, with one of Malachite's younger brothers (kinda like Asta from Black Clover) giving them his outspoken support. They both have babies on the brain, but they don't have any--yet. Man, when it happens, Vesuvia won't know what hit it.

Julian--Okay, first off: the therapy relationship had to conclude before the romance TRULY begins. As Julian traveled, he gained fame as an acclaimed actor (when he's not being a scientist), with Malachite right by his side, acting, singing, and dancing. The triplets--three tan sons with auburn hair--are also aspiring actors, and Malachite's family is more than interested in cultivating the next generation's skillset. While weary of Julian's science affiliation (being more on the magic side), they find him a respectable--albeit aloof--man who is good for Malachite.

Relationships with the LIs in a poly route

I'll keep it short: I imagine he's legally married to Nadia since she's the best option position-wise and his family wouldn't protest, but given that I headcanon Lucio and Portia living in the castle as well, he most frequently engages in relations with them. And he has a FWB relationship with Julian, Muriel, and Asra, with the potential to be more. He has several kids, and the family is certainly growing.

Note: when romancing the guys, you can imagine adoption, surrogacy, or mpreg, but I'm just going the mpreg route. Also I imagine a bonus route where Malachite romances Salim and Namar without being a homewrecker.

Lemme know if you have any questions!

[i-am-just-a-kiddo]

thanks for tagging me @vishcount, as always 💕

rules: answer 30 questions and tag however many blogs you want!

name: just kiddo on here 

gender: blob

star sign: leo

height: 164 cm

time: 15:26 o’clock as i am answering this question

birthday: 28th july 

favorite bands: okay here we go, it’s gonna be a huge list:

Epik High, BTS, The Smiths, My Chemical Romance, Son Lux, MUSE, The Cure, SHINee, QUEEN, HYUKOH, Placebo, Nell, Karpe Diem, Daughter, Low Roar, Arcade Fire, Japanese Breakfast, The Smashing Pumpkins, Brockhampton, Lucidvox

favorite solo artists: Code Kunst, Heize, Phum Viphurit, Vaundy, Meryem Aboulouafa, joji, keshi, Frank Ocean, Tamino, Gazelle, Nas, Enny Owl, Yseult, Suran and any other solo projects from above mentioned groups 

last movie: Over The Moon (2020), which was very sweet and unique, i had fun

last show: Alice In Borderland which i binged last weekend; though i have been watching the weekly updates for Druck, Manner Of Death, Follow My Sunshine and Color Rush. Also i rewatched the last episode of Strangers From Hell on tuesday.

when did i create this blog: summer of 2013

what i post: my fandoms, art, history stuff, aesthetics, occasional memes and just anything that comes up and i like? politics sometimes too

last thing i googled: worm on a string (my sister did not know what that was so i had to show her fghjkl) 

other blogs: a kpop blog, a writing blog that i don’t use anymore, another inspiration blog that is dead and recently i started a history blog but i have done nothing with it

do i get asks: not really no

why i chose my url: i was i 14-15, obsessed with the song I’m Just A Kid by Simple Plan and was going through rough times, so here i am. 

following: 492

followers: 466

instruments: phew, nothing tbh. i once tried the violin when i was little for 1,5 years but i gave it up. i also went to a course for the djembé, which was actually a lot of fun? but i never owned one so i just stopped at some point. other than that we had to learn the harmonica in school and i went to the music-branch in middleschool which was very silly because i am not talented in music and i still don’t know the musical scale fghjk. so i was just singing in the choir and now i know that i can’t live without music, but i don’t want to make it myself.

what i am wearing: black turtle neck under a woolen black pullover, high waisted blue-green plait skirt that reaches my shins, black stockings

dream job(s): author, researcher at some uni, working in uni in general? might even be professor for this

dream trip: phew. the whole world? definitely the whole of asia from west to east from north to south; specific mentions is Gyeongju in S. Korea, Kyoto in Japan,  Kathmandu in Nepal, Istanbul in Turkey  and I really really want to travel the Transsibirian Railway? I also really want to travel through Mongolia and Siberia. New Zealand and Australia for sure, that has been my dream for ages. Cairo in Egypt, Addis Abeba in Ethiopia. Canada and Alaska. the list goes on and on and on

favorite foods: and kind of salad, pasta, sushi, pizza, ratatouille, korean and chinese food (probably not authentic but it’s all i know), pad thai, my grandma’s cooking

nationality: irrelevant but ig european 

favorite song: the tree songs i currently listen to a lot is chlorine by twenty one pilots, the entierty of the strangers from hell soundtrack but especially room no. 303 by the vane, and everything by enny owl, but especially ribcaged.

last book i read: boy. i read only uni stuff. but i read The Clouds Float North - The Complete Poems of Yu Xuanji, translated by David Young and Jiann I. Lin. I can recommend it dearly, it’s a bilingual edition and her poems are so beautiful. 

Am gonna count  Recasting Antiquity: Ancient Bronzes and Ritual Hermeneutics in the Song Dynasty by Jeffrey Moser, eventhough it’s a dissertation. 

top 3 fictional universes i’d like to live in: 1.) Harry Potter, because that’s what I grew up with and I would still choose from all the worlds. It always feels like home. 2.) Avatar: The Last Airbender - another thing I grew up with and I would adore. I wouldn’t need to have any adventures, i wish i could just bend elements and chill my life. 3.) Eragon (Inheritance Cycle). This one is just goals. Dragons?! Dragons. Please gimme.

tagging: everyone i am tagging is of course not obligated but am just putting here who i love getting to know better: @the-cloud-whisperer, @sassyassassy, @cortue, @intyalote, @isabellaofparma