#zhayu???

[snoffyy]

I was disappointed that “fish hat” was not a prompt for either Zhaozaipalooza. Would you consider writing? Any character/pair as long as Zhao and a fish hat are present.

So hear me out; originally, I was gonna do a lil cracky piece with Zhao as a marine biologist forced to wear a fish hat by upper management but somehow it devolved into more of a spiritual canon piece???? Anyway, this was a lot of fun to write, so a big 'thank you!!!!' for the prompt!!!! Especially for giving Fish Hat the justice it deserves.

(and a tidbit of irosami just for you, Orange <3)

Fog. Ghostly wreaths of it. Zhao stumbled, trying to blink past the heavy vapour. In the distance, figures. Screaming; almost inhuman, but distinctly human enough that Zhao wasn’t sure which would have been worse.

They named their regrets, their minds slaves to their own ambitions. A cold prickle of chill wormed its way through Zhao’s veins. That was going to be him. His mind, no longer his own. He didn’t even know how long he had.

“No,” Zhao whispered, squeezing his eyes shut when another scream sounded in the distance. No, no, no.

Was he even dead? Alive? Undead? What had happened the moment he’d been dragged into the water to now, stuck in this awful hell?

“Pay your penance.”

A voice, silvery and sweet, the same voice he’d heard in the oasis before fire had alit his hands and he’d…

“Where are you?!” Zhao demanded. “You’re the princess, aren’t you? Show yourself! What are you doing here?”

The fog morphed in front of him. And then… like a shaft of light slanting through storm clouds, there she was. Distinctly otherworldly, no longer human. Her eyes, luminescent. Her clothing, wispy. Everything about her was ethereal, as if she no longer had any ties to the mortal realm.

“You neglected the notion that the moon spirit had multiple forms,” the princess (was she a princess any longer?) informed him, peering at him serenely.

“You,” Zhao snarled.

“Yue,” she corrected. “Names have meaning, and while the title of ‘Tui’ falls to me now, my mortal sentiments still remain.”

Zhao sneered. “I still don’t understand what you’re doing here.”

“You killed the moon spirit,” Yue murmured. “But in doing so, you killed the ocean spirit as well. They were a pair. One could not live without the other, even if a new counterpart was offered. La is dying, Admiral Zhao, and he needs a replacement.”

“Good luck with that, then,” Zhao said coldly, bitterly. “My life’s work, wasted. All the time and effort expended, and I didn’t even do it right.”

Yue approached him, and he could feel neither warmth nor cold from her.

“If that is how you want to put it,” she said, now reaching out and brushing her fingers along his brow. “But perhaps not. You will take La’s place.”

Zhao stared, and even the screaming in the distance seemed to ebb away. “Excuse me?”

Yue held out her hands, a headdress manifesting from thin air. Pitch black, with a white spot on the forehead, scaled over like –

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Zhao hissed. “A fish hat?!”

Yue levelled an unimpressed stare at him. “You have a choice here, Admiral Zhao. Forsake your mortal name and take on the title of ‘La’, or stay here in the Fog of Lost souls, where you will join their ranks.”

She pointed at the figures in the distant, hunched over and apathetic. The screaming had stopped, and the silence was damning.

“You will be known,” Yue pushed the headdress closer, “but not for your mortal feats.”

Zhao stared at the headdress.

“It is a kinder fate than you deserve,” Yue informed him, her blue eyes icy.

Zhao swallowed. He’d never thought himself a fool. He’d never wanted to believe himself a fool. But pride was a stubborn thing, and it often twisted his own tongue, made him turn his nose up, building scoffs and sneers like second nature.

But what pride did he have here, if only to forsake it to the fog?

He met Yue’s eyes.

And grabbed the headdress.

.

“My grandfather knew the Moon Spirit, you know,” Iroh said, joined hands with Asami swinging gently in the cool ocean breeze.

It was beautiful tonight, with a full moon and the lapping waves creating the perfect ambience for a midnight walk after a late dinner.

“Princess Yue, right?” Asami brushed a wayward lock of hair behind her ear. “Her story is so saddeningly beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Iroh tore his gaze away from that strand of hair. “But Grandfather had seen her when she was mortal.”

“What of the Ocean Spirit?” Asami asked, stopping him with a squeeze of his hand before she bent down and lifted a white shell from the sand. “Avatar Aang fused with it, right?”

“No one really knows what happened to the Ocean Spirit,” Iroh shrugged, beaming when Asami grabbed his free hand and gently placed the shell in it. He tucked it into his breast pocket, patting it carefully. “But Avatar Aang said that the Ocean Spirit’s energy felt different. Almost like two new spirits had been born rather than just one.”

Asami hummed, her painted lips pursed, an adorable furrow of concentration scrunching her brows.

“Maybe some things aren’t meant to be known,” Iroh remarked, looking out over the ocean. The full moon was reflected within its depths, tranquil and lulling.

Push and pull.

Just as it has always been.

[ohyeahitsrarepairtime]

Rendering be tricky, here’s the fried fish wip so far

[vampiricmechanic]

[the first time he made her laugh]

ID in alt

[chocolate-cringymuffin]

I have decided everyone who rejects canon should be classified as "Canon inmune".

And I offer myself as the first volunteer to enter in this category.

[towiwi]

[proxissima]

Ozai/Zhao/Yue love triangle, except Yue may or may not be jealous whenever Zhao is around Ozai.

Yue knows she shouldn't care about how Zhao acts around the Firelord. One had gotten her into this mess in the first place, a marriage to secure the "alliance" between her tribe and the Fire Nation, and the other had been the one to officiate the ceremony.

And she doesn't care about it- for the first few months she's glad the admiral's attention lies elsewhere. It's only over time that her sentiments slowly start to shift.

Something about how Zhao seems to metaphorically drop everything the moment the Firelord is mentioned, when he bows longer than necessary before Ozai, and when he addresses him as "My lord", "My liege" with a tone a little too revering... it begins to frustrate Yue.

It doesn't help that she can't quite point a finger on whether or not the relationship of the two had actually ever gone beyond what would be considered appropriate – Ozai never appears to be bothered by it, despite being generally contemptuous otherwise – or if it's nothing more than woefully one-sided.

Ozai, by then, has taken notice of Yue's irritation. She might've been able to hide it expertly from others (Zhao certainly has no clue), as she had been born into and raised as royalty, as well, but he still has more than twice as much experience to show for and grew up in an environment significantly more competitive than hers.

She can't deceive him.

And what does he do about it? Ozai, bored by the lull following the acquisition of the Northern Water Tribe, decides to play and have a little fun...with both of them.

[queer-apocalypse]

Zhayu as Bernini's "Rape of Proserpina" anyone? No?

[moneneki]

Since you’ve written so many amazing big-brained ATLA rarepairs, which would you say are your favorites?

Hello and thanks a lot for both the complilment AND the ask!! I just love so much your Irosami content 😭😭😭

As for my favorite ATLA rarepairs... It's a but hard to say, but I'm extremely fond of Zhayu (also of Yue/Zuko but I don't know if it still counts as a rarepair) and Azula/Kuei, I just find those dynamics fascinating.

But as an important note, I love with my whole heart all the tags I've contributed the first work to! Now that I go through my AO3 profile I realize those are a few already 😂 but in particular, Hahn/Toph and Jin/Kuei. There's the very specific AU about Poppy Beifong/Zhao that I started writing as a crack fic joke and then it turned into a serious thing for me 😅

Thanks again, and sorry it took me so long to get to answer!!

[orangepanic]

New Fic: Firevision

Written for @zhaozaipalooza day 2 prompt, Rock Band AU, which was just too delightful to pass up.

Firevision Zhao/Yue Rated G Summary: Zhao is sent on a mission to put rival band Avatar in their place. Who he finds instead changes his strategy entirely.

[writebecauseyoucannotbreathe]

Thoughts on Zhayu?

No one ever asks me about Azulaang 😭

I'd recommend reading @crookedmouth-mountainbones zhayu fanfics. She's a good writer. She once drafted an amazing arranged marriage Azulaang Zhayu snippet that she refuses to share to mortal eyes besides mine. It was hilarious. Imma talk about it here so maybe someone can convince her to post it lol

Basically I mention a hc of the fire nation being very private romantically because they dont want to be emotionally vulnerable. So Azula thinks that marriage is simply an exchange of titles. To assume more would be presumptious. Aang meanwhile as an Air Nomads doesn't recognize a marriage certificate as anything more than ink on a page. To be married one must satisfy the other basically, but Azula doesnt seem to pick up on that and he's not the most direct.

So he asks Zhao for advice...

Zhao is tortured by this conversation. Absolutely tortured. How dare the Avatar ask him for bedroom advice with the Crown Princess. And in front of sweet innocent Yue no less (Someone who Zhao is certain does not want to be in such an arrangement with him and he's been surprisingly respectful about it). Yue meanwhile is all giddy because she had a similar problem with Zhao not understanding that there are maritial needs that must be met even if the marriage is solely political. She gives Aang a naughty scroll and Zhao dies six ways internally before his esteemed guests finally leave. 10/10 go read her fanfics

[trashfactorysstuff]

i am saying hello here bc going directly to your dms feels forward, but hello !!! very happy to see your enjoy fried fish - id love to hear your thoughts on moon spirit zhao or any other zhayu ideas you have if you want to dm, thank you again for sharing your art <3

WELL—- ITS A LOT TO SAY??

I’m new in the Avatar fandom and I’m surprised how active it is! So I went looking stuff to draw. I had phew ships but not one I genuinely like.

And I saw that a lot that ship Yue and Zhao and totally went to the 5 stages of grief but then I start looking at au’s and I found them so interesting!

And writers had a lot to do with it! I really love how creative they are and the aus are so *chef kiss*

Plus,

Richu is the best.

[snoffyy]

Chasm

There were creatures in the ocean. This, Yue had known all her life. Turtle seals, whale-walruses, koala otters… these were creatures everyone within the tribe was familiar with. Revered them, in a way. They gave her people food, warmth, clothing, tools. Every creature had purpose, and every purpose was thanked. Here, in the harsh, biting cold, their lives depended on it.

But there were other creatures. Stories of humans with fish tails. Translucent fins, scintillating scales, sleek, powerful muscles. They’d fascinated Yue when she was younger, and though there was enough evidence to prove these creatures were out there, most people went a lifetime without catching a glimpse of them.

Mermaids.

Every region of the world hosted them. Even in the bitter poles, they were there. Somewhere out there, at least.

Sometimes, Yue wondered if they led much more different lives than their land-dwelling counterparts.

Or, at least, Yue thought, as she clasped the betrothal necklace chained around her throat, if they led easier lives.

.

Ever since her engagement had been announced, Yue found herself wandering to the edge of the city to stare at the sunset, as if to count down the days of relative freedom she had left. It was peaceful outside of the towering walls, and the waters had always looked so pretty under the light of the setting sun.

“It’s my duty,” Yue said unconvincingly to the lapping waters. “I have to marry him. If I don’t, it will cause strife within the tribe. I have to. I must.”

The waters didn’t reply, of course.

“We can cooperate,” Yue continued. “My father wouldn’t have approved the betrothal if Hahn was unreasonable. I’m sure, at the very least, we can unite our interests in protecting the city.”

Below the waters, Yue thought she saw the shadowy mass of a seal animal flit briefly.

“The only reason my father would break the engagement is if Hahn did something truly terrible or if… I don’t know, he was accidentally killed during a hunt.”

A splash, and gentle ripples spread in a circular pattern. Yue smiled slightly. So she was correct; there had been an animal lurking within the waters.

“I shouldn’t say that,” Yue chided herself. “That’s horrible.”

.

Day after day, she returned to the waters, sometimes sitting in silence, sometimes talking about her day. More often than not, she’d unspool her thoughts about her impending marriage to Hahn. And without fail, the same animal she’d spotted that day would accompany her. She never managed to discern what animal it was, but she’d spy hints of it, from the dark mass travelling beneath the ice to the ripples and splashes it would make as if to agree with her words.

It was likely a large animal if the size of the splashes were any indication. She knew little else. Of its colouring, of its shape, of anything that could’ve given a hint as to what she was spilling her thoughts to.

One day, Yue had brought along a piece of raw meat, curious to see if it was a carnivorous animal. She’d tossed it into the water close to where she had seen the last indication of a splash before she returned home.

What a surprise it was to see the meat sitting on the ice the next day, completely untouched. As soon as she peered over the edge of the ice, a large splash caught her right in the face, the sound of a tail slapping against the water the only confirmation that it was the creature clearly miffed by her offering.

Raw seaweed? Tossed back.

Seal blubber? A tentative nibble taken out of a corner before it was left on the ice as well.

Finally, she brought a bowl of soup, setting it next to the water’s edge as if in offering.

The next day, an empty bowl greeted her.

It was amusing, in a way. Though Yue had to wonder what sort of high-intelligence animal had been keeping her company.

“What are you?” she finally asked after a week of leaving plated meals. “Who are you?”

A splash, and in the sunset, Yue stared, wide-eyed, as a long tail arched out of the ocean, water sluicing off glimmering crimson scales. It was nothing she had ever seen before. An indescribable beauty, almost otherworldly…

And then it was gone, slipping back into the water silently.

“Mermaid…” she breathed.

.

It was her secret, and it was supposed to remain her secret. Though the mermaid never fully revealed themselves, they seemed to be more comfortable with showing off their tail, lazily flicking it above the waves every so often or even giving her a glimpse as they dove into the depths.

Sometimes, if she was very lucky, she’d even see a flash of pale skin.

But she should’ve known that Hahn would grow curious. He’d been curious for a while, asking – no, demanding – to know where she ran off to at the end of every day.

She just hadn’t anticipated that he’d follow her.

“So this is what you’ve been doing every day?”

Yue paled, turning around to see Hahn pinning her with a fathomless stare.

“You’re giving our food to some animal?” Hahn scoffed. Then he seemed to remember himself, and a sickly-sweet smile spread across his face. “Sorry. I just meant, Yue, surely if you wanted to feed the animals, it’d be better to give them scraps instead?”

“They… have different tastes,” Yue managed.

“They’re just animals,” Hahn sighed. “They’ll be happy with bones. Besides, all animals are good for is for food and clothing. You know this, Yue.”

“They’re not…” Yue bit her lip. “Never mind.”

“Come on, let’s go.”

Yue reluctantly turned to head back with her fiancé, though not without gently setting the bowl of stew on the ice.

.

A week before the wedding, Hahn followed her out onto the ice again, this time with a spear.

“What are you doing with that?” Yue asked warily, hesitant to peer over the edge as she usually would.

Hahn smirked, flicking his hair out of his face. “Hunting. The wedding is in a week, and I’m supposed to provide the centrepiece of the banquet.”

“Right,” Yue said guardedly. “What are you planning on hunting?”

Her heart sank when Hahn approached the edge of the ice, the gleaming edge of the spear made sharper yet under the rays of the setting sun.

“I came out the other day at noon,” Hahn grinned. “And I saw something move underwater. It must’ve been your little friend. Red scales, too. There isn’t anything here that has red scales. Something that exotic would make our wedding the wedding of the century.”

“You can’t!” Yue protested. “That’s not a simple-minded animal, it’s… it’s…”

“It’s what, Yue?” Hahn asked, scanning the waters. “Come on, you can’t possibly think it’s a pet.”

“No,” Yue grabbed his arm, “but trust me when I say you can’t. Please, don’t do this. There are other animals that you can hunt, just not this one.”

Hahn’s eyes hardened. “Let go, Yue. You don’t know what you’re talking about. I knew I should’ve brought this up with your father. Do you even know what animal it is?”

“It’s not an animal,” Yue admitted. “Hahn, you can’t kill them.”

“Them?” Hahn echoed.

He was to be her husband, wasn’t he? It made sense to trust him, to divulge her secrets. How else was a relationship supposed to work? But reluctance stayed her hand, and she found herself at a loss for words.

“You can’t,” she repeated weakly.

And then, a trill.

Melodic, deep, crooning. Yue had heard many a song in her life. The greatest musicians in the Northern Water Tribe had sung at grand celebrations, fantastic orators reciting poems and stories of old. And yet none of them could compare to what she was hearing.

Hahn, on the other hand, was completely entranced. Enthralled in a way that was unnatural. Certainly not in the way he dropped his spear, stumbling closer to the edge, his eyes fixated on something in the water.

“Hahn,” Yue tugged at his arm, trying to shake off the reverie. “Hahn, get away from the water.”

“No,” Hahn murmured. “No. Let me go. I… I need to go to… I need to…”

Something, someone, crested out of the ocean. A head of brown hair, amber eyes, a proud nose. A man.

A man? Human?

No. A smattering of red scales crawled up the man’s neck, as crimson as the tail Yue had seen over the past few weeks.

Mermaid?

The man opened his mouth, revealing sharp teeth.

And then he sang.

Hahn tore himself out of Yue’s grip, diving into the water in a mad scramble. She shouted in alarm, reaching out for him, but her hand missed him by miles, and with a resounding splash, Hahn started desperately swimming towards the man.

And the man… the merman, dove towards Hahn, still trilling that haunting melody. It happened faster than Yue could comprehend. One moment Hahn was bobbing in the water, and the next, he was gone, dragged into the depths, not even a spread of blood in the water to indicate he was ever there.

Neither Hahn nor the merman resurfaced again.

.

She blamed it on a piranha shark.

Her father accepted the explanation after one look at her tear-streaked face. The rest of the tribe too believed her story after Hahn’s corpse was fished out of the ocean the next day, several bites taken out of him, piranha shark teeth embedded into the open wounds.

Too ambitious, she heard the warriors sigh as they dressed his body. He shouldn’t have tried to hunt a piranha shark. Land animals would have been easier. At least he’d have more of a chance on the tundra.

Two weeks later, Yue returned to the ice edge.

She hadn’t even needed to wait a minute before the man appeared before her, resting his arms on the ice. Amber eyes peered at her curiously, surprisingly warm for someone who clearly had no qualms drowning a person.

“Why did you do it?” Yue asked.

The merman lifted a brow in amusement. “He wanted to kill me.”

His voice was deep. It had no underlying musical quality to it, unlike that night. But Yue still remained wary, making sure she was more than an arm’s length away from the water.

“I was going to stop him.”

The merman hummed, tail flicking behind him. His fins were broad, powerful, sending a strong ripple with such a lackadaisical action. “Hmm. I’m sure.”

“I didn’t know mermen could be so violent,” Yue admitted.

At that, he perked up, grinning as if she had unwittingly told a joke that only he understood.

“Merman,” he repeated, chuckling. “How quaint.”

Then he trilled once more, and the same thrall from that night overtook her. But before she could attempt to shake it off, he vanished into the waters, leaving her alone once more.

She had an epiphany, then. The trills, the singing, the drowning…

She paled. How could she forget? Mermaids dominated the fantastical tales she adored, but there were other creatures out there. Other creatures that did not possess nearly the same innocent reputation mermaids did.

No, not merman, indeed.

Siren.

[ohyeahitsrarepairtime]

Push & Pull 🌗

[moonsugar-and-spice]

Recently found and read your fic Storms of Ice and Fire and can I just say while I was hesitant at first, damn you made a believer out of me cuz boy I was not expecting this caliber of fic from a pairing like this. The fantasy and worldbuilding slaps harder than donkey kong, if you ever write and publish original stuff I'll be lining up to read it.

Speaking of - your OC Lu Da is the olive in the Storms martini I don't normally get that into OCs but he is on another level. You managed to give Ozai a buddy and a likeable one at that, I wanna go on all the adventures with this legend. Excited seeing all the different asks and art of him too.

Welcome aboard the S.S. Ozara! A rowboat with a small but dedicated crew. (*Waves to the nearby S.S. Zhayu*)

Ah, this is so nice, thank you! I'm very glad you have been enjoying it (even if it's been 84 years since I've updated and I'M SO SORRY to everyone, but I do plan to finish it).

And I am touched to know that you like Lu Da! It has been an incredibly fun journey writing him, through his inception and all the various iterations up to now. There is no greater honor as a writer than knowing others have connected with a character you breathed life into.

[towiwi]

Happy Halloween 

[vampiricmechanic]

i've been trying to write a zhayu spirit would au fanfiction, hopefully i can get it somewhere