#zuko a fire lord nerd

[zukkaturtleduck]

Been thinking about this a lot

While Zuko’s motivation to help Katara find her mom’s murder might be to be besties with her, I think there’s a huge version of him that was crazy excited to be a vigilante again 😂

Zuko is literally Batman and he’s just been waiting for an excuse to wear black and go on a mission to beat up a bad guy

[zukkaturtleduck]

This is the such valid valid head canon and I’ve decided this is the hill I’m gonna live on.

It just makes sense that zuko might not be a military tactician he and manipulative he definitely knows his paperwork game and networking

That man is a people pleaser already and had to learn the hard way to discern who cares about him or not and he lets his compassion guide him so it just makes so much sense

I’m really fond of the idea of Zuko being a very competent bureaucrat. Is he an amazing fire bender by literally anyone other than the royal family’s standards? Hell yeah! But he’s also got an incredible head for facts and figures and his calligraphy is On Point and he can read really really fast so he’s just really good at paperwork.

And so one day Zuko gets fed up with Azula taunting him about being Fire Lord as soon as she escapes that he’s just like fine. And he dumps copies of rice tax allocations and legal petitions and a long list of candidates for a new Minister of Health and funding requests from the Minister of Education and the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Culture (all of whom he’s planning on firing but he gives them to her just to see what she does) and he says okay. Be the Fire Lord. Those need to be done by the end of the week. I’ll bring the rest down tomorrow.

And Azula’s beyond competent okay? She could do all of this and more. So she looks through everything, makes a few modifications, some of which Zuko even takes up because his little sister is a genius, but damn if it isn’t boring as hell. Sometimes when Zuko comes by she’s looking over a budget allocation for the Ministry of Agriculture and casually says, oh we had to arrest Minister Yu because he tried to assassinate me. His replacement gave us a new budget. And Azula’s eye twitches as she crumples up the parchment she was holding and thrusts her hand out to receive the new budget allocation form. She sets it on fire and pretends it’s the traitor. Nobody should get to kill her brother except for her.

And by Agni Azula knows what he’s doing because between the two of them there was one that actually enjoyed doing homework and one that would rather be outside practicing forms. But Azula Will Be Fire Lord mark her words. Azula was the politically savvy one. Azula was the one who knew how to maneuver all the pieces into place.

Azula wanted to burn all the paperwork, even if that was as good as admitting defeat.

She lasts until Zuko peers into her cell to comment on the fact that she couldn’t set a meeting with the cabinet on the day of the summer solstice without losing the support of the Sage’s (who were invaluable in maintaining the dynasty) that Azula loses it. She sets the paperwork on fire. Zuko opens the door to her cell and she stomps out.

Zuko is the Fire Lord, and the Lightning Princess stands at his side. Pointedly not doing paperwork.

[leovaldiva]

Me when anyone mentions a fandom I’m in

[000marie198]

Okay okay I just realized something.

Zuko is a theatre kid right, we all know that. I mean, aside from every other thing solidifying that he's a theatre nerd there's also the most major evidence aka The Blue Spirit. Boy really chose a theatre mask from his favorite play to wear and sneak out to do stuff.

And it gets better!

The Blue Spirit (as Zuko's shenanigans had given it a reputation and a different title) is based upon the Dark Water Spirit, which he used to play as when he and Azula reenacted the scenes from Love Amongst the Dragons when they were little. He really went ahead and chose the exact same character he would play as a kid and as it is clear from his ninja skills when Blue Spirit makes its debut in the series, this isn't the first time he has gone out as the Blue Spirit.

Scary ninja skills aside, what I wanted to point out was Blue Spirit's theme. It is a great theme and the rising and falling volume of the jingles gives it an air of creepiness and mystery. But here's the thing, aside from all the times it played during the appearance of Blue Spirit, there is one other time that theme played. Zuko wasn't in the Blue Spirit disguise at the time, he was swimming through the turtle seal tunnels to sneak into the North Pole. Why play the Blue Spirit theme when he isn't in that disguise. Logically, because he was sneaking in, he was still using his stealth and it's Zuko. This just affirmed that it isn't just Blue Spirit's theme, it's now Zuko's theme just as much.

But there's another explanation too. Blue Spirit is the Dark Water Spirit, from the play, and the character which Zuko used to play the most as a kid. And Zuko is a theatre nerd. Which means he has imaginary of one too even if he was single-minded about his goal. And he was sneaking into the Northern Water Tribe, wearing white camouflage, through the underwater arctic caverns. Through the water. Aka the domain of Dark Water Spirit.

Taking MuffinLance's hc from Little Zuko VS. The World where the kid cannot help himself from humming the theme song of Blue Spirit wherever he goes while disguised as one, I believe the theme is something he likes to imagine when 'playing' or 'acting' like the Dark Water Spirit.

And using all his stubbornness and survival and stealth skills to swim through arctic waters in the turtle seal tunnels is definitely something that'll make the theatre kid part of him go "I am the Dark Water Spirit"

Ergo, Blue Spirit theme playing even when he isn't wearing the mask. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Zuko, an absolute nerd.

Thank you for reading my essay

And there's another thing!

Considering the hc I've come across a few times where Zuko had the Fire Lord's fit redesigned to suit his style better, I've just now noticed that nearly half his Fire Lord outfit as seen in comics is based more on the one as the Dragon Emperor's costume from the play instead of the original Fire Lord robes that he wore at the coronation or the ones Ozai used to wear.

Jcjfjfchjdjfnfjgjfjffhj Even as the Fire Lord, he can't stop being a theatre nerd

[narrativelysignificantturtleduck]

i like the lore that piandao trained zuko but i don't think it was exactly the wholesome adoption that people like to do with zuko and any father figures. like in my mind piandao receives a letter from the fire lord like "the crown prince sucks at firebending and you're the best swordsman in the nation so we are sending him to be trained. this is non-optional" and piandao's legitimately contemplating committing treason rather than compromise his values and then the end of the the letter is like "we know you're usually selective we'll pay whatever" and piandao's like. okay FINE please pay me an absolutely ridiculous amount. and ozai agrees bc anything to get his failson out of his hair and piandao sends the money to the white lotus to fund a resistance group in the earth kingdom

and baby zuko, that turtleduck-loving mama's boy theater nerd, arrives on his doorstep and this is where most people would have him change his tune but piandao's just like "sure he seems cute now but he'll grow up to do imperialism". he teaches zuko the dual swords, a commoner's weapon, bc the ideal path for this kid who seems way too nice to be part of the royal family is to give it all up. but he doesn't think that's gonna happen. like iroh comes for a visit and he also seems nicer than the rest of the royal family but he did the siege of ba sing se so like. what does it matter that zuko likes theater and turtleducks and his mommy? he can still hate the earth kingdom and water tribes.

all of this is going on in his head, of course. in his actual interactions with zuko he's a very kind and patient teacher. he knows ozai's a bad dad and he wants to at least try to help this kid onto a better path. but it's not until he hears about the banishment and reports of a guy in a theater mask with dual swords committing treason that he's actually like "oh shit maybe there's some hope for this kid after all"

and he only really adopts him post-canon when iroh fucks off to ba sing se and SOMEBODY needs to help this poor kid navigate fire nation politics and i guess that's gonna be me. okay actually i like him now :) maybe i'll set him up with sokka

[ao3feed-zukka]

land of the midnight sun

Read now on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/zIYnhXl by 136108 The year is 99 AG. The Southern Raiders have not been seen in the South Pole for decades. A tiny ship, bearing the future of the Southern Water Tribe, braves its way north to reconnect with their Northern counterparts. The year is 102 AG. The Fire Lord is dead and treachery abounds within the royal family. A small procession of Fire Sages, surrounding a boy who was once a prince, leaves the palace and makes its way up the rim of the caldera to the High Temple. The year is 106 AG. With the Hundred Year War brought to a stalemate, the Fire Nation finds itself impoverished and largely cut off from the rest of the world. In a desperate attempt to salvage his rule, Fire Lord Ozai sends a delegation to the South Pole led by his former son, the Fire Sage Zuko. Their objective is to form an alliance with the Southern Water Tribe, the group in control of global trade routes—at any cost. (Unbeknownst to Fire Sage Zuko, this is not their only mission.) Words: 2875, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar: The Last Airbender (Live Action TV 2024) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: M/M, Gen Characters: Zuko (Avatar), Sokka (Avatar), Azula (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar), Iroh (Avatar), Hakoda (Avatar), Bato (Avatar), Katara (Avatar), Aang (Avatar), Toph Beifong, Shyu (Avatar), Yue (Avatar), Suki (Avatar), Kanna (Avatar), Pakku (Avatar), Zuko's Crew (Avatar), Mai (Avatar), Ty Lee (Avatar) Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko, Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Ozai & Zuko (Avatar), Hakoda & Sokka (Avatar), Sokka & Yue (Avatar), Sokka & Suki (Avatar) Additional Tags: Minor Aang/Katara (Avatar), Minor Azula/Toph Beifong, Minor Bato/Hakoda/Kya, There are more platonic relationships I just can't tag them all, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-100 Year War (Avatar TV), Fire Nation politics, water tribe politics, Fire Nation culture, southern water tribe culture, Arranged Marriage, Cultural Differences, Manipulative Ozai (Avatar), Canonical Child Abuse, Canonical Character Death, Fire Sage Zuko (Avatar), Demisexual Zuko (Avatar), Nerd Zuko (Avatar), Fire Nation 41st Division (Avatar), the Fire Nation loves Zuko, Zuko accidentally becomes Ozai's rival and sparks a civil war, Even when (especially when) he tries not to, Nerd Sokka (Avatar), genius sokka (avatar), Oblivious Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Disaster Sokka (Avatar), Sokka's nerdiness lowkey shifts the tide of the entire war, If I had two nickels for every trauma bonded codependent pair of siblings…, Please can these siblings be normal about each other for one second, Zuko Takes Himself on a Life-Changing Field Trip, Aang has decided he is Zuko's best friend (Zuko's opinions on this are irrelevant), Toph Beifong is a walking lie detector and she is making this Azula's problem, Appa Adopts Zuko, Obscure references to centuries-old Fire Nation history, The spirits will not stop fucking around with mortal matters Read it on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/zIYnhXl

[assorted-fics]

Fics of the Month

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Zuko Has A Cat (Or More Accurately, A Cat Has Zuko) by Stressball

Instead of being exiled on a boat, Zuko is dropped off in the Earth Kingdom. Eventually a certain crazy old lady finds him, and he is subsequently adopted by her cat. Based on an idea by MuffinLance

We Dance To Fast Music by entity9silvergen

Zuko didn’t like to dance. Neither did Mai. But Ty Lee did and they’d do it for her. Fortunately for them, Ty Lee cared about how they felt and wanted to show them just how wonderful music could be. All Zuko and Mai knew were slow dances, the things of ballrooms and romance. Ty Lee only knew the dances of friendship, freedom, and fun.

The Family You Choose by TunaFishChris

Some people are born with soulmarks. Zuko has them, but his grandfather burned them off because they "make you weak."

Team Avatar has a few things to say about that.

An Age of Blossoms by agustsea

Sokka has been an unfortunate victim to many uncomfortable realizations in his life.

When he was sixteen it went like this. The deranged, reckless, fire-breathing prince that chased them across half the world was, as little as Sokka wanted to admit it at the time, actually kind of cool. Now, he’s twenty one, sparring across from that same prince– now a king– in a small courtyard at the heart of the Fire Nation, and he realizes that not only is the Fire Lord actually kind of cool, he’s also really pretty.

OR

After the war, Sokka goes to the Southern Water Tribe to help his people rebuild. Five years later, he accepts the role of ambassador to the Fire Nation and returns to a city and a man that are almost unrecognizable.

Spider-Man x The Fantastic Four

Super Hero After School Club by YouWannaGoBro

When the Fantastic 4 are saved by a scrawny nerd who appears to have no idea that he has super strength, how else could they return the favor but to help him understand and control his powers? In which Sue, Ben, and Reed are trying really hard to prevent this kid with powers from turning into another weirdo New York street super villain, Peter is trying to pretend he hasn't been doing the hero thing longer than all the Fantastic 4 members combined, and Johnny is trying to get a hot date.

Weaving Spiders Come Not Here by Mizzy

People are treating Peter oddly. Really oddly. It turns out they're being nice to him because they think his boyfriend cheated on him. …with Spider-Man. It's honestly quite tiring pretending to be jealous of yourself.

Trial by Fire by Iamujerarana

Johnny's been more of a pest than usual lately, and Peter can't figure out why, or what's with all of his truly bizarre behavior. Or, Johnny tries to ask Peter out in the most outrageous ways, and Peter's too horrified (and busy fantasizing about murdering Johnny) to understand what's happening. ***** Knives, Peter decided as he watched Johnny sweet-talk the concierge. When he killed Johnny, knives would be involved. Or maybe swords. Like, the giant curvy kind. Johnny flashed his most charming smile at the concierge No, Peter thought, scowling at Johnny. There would definitely be poison. Johnny slid his finger along the concierge's hand, and the concierge blushed red. The really painful kind of poison, Peter thought. The kind that made your insides shrivel up. Screaming in pain, the whole bit.

Avengers x Daredevil

My Guardian Avengers (Can I Get a Refund) by prettybirdy979

‘I can see you have it,’ Captain America says in a deadpan that would put Brett to shame. Matt just grunts at him. You know what? If these arseholes want to deal with the scum of Hell’s Kitchen, they can deal with it. The man stumbles to his feet and half walks, half falls in Matt’s direction. Matt just looks at Captain America with a dark smile. ‘You want to deal with these assholes? They’re all yours.’ * Or Daredevil needs to protect a certain law firm in Hell's Kitchen. He's a little slack about protecting this Matt Murdock fellow though, and the Avengers are only too happy to step in to help. Matt is SO not okay with this. (Shut up Foggy, so what if it's his own fault!)

Avengers

tell me what you want what you really really want by mindshelter

First Fic: if you wanna be my lover (you gotta get with my friends)

MJ still remembers Ned’s initial disbelief when Peter—infamous for missing class back in sophomore year, suspended for two weeks freshman year—finished his bit of the group write-up four days early. The work was perfect, and so was Ned's chemistry grade. After that it was Peter this, Peter that, Peter parted the Red Sea, it’s true, MJ, I was there; I saw it. MJ, hey, are you listening?

Then Ned says, “We should invite Peter to join AcaDec.”

or;

peter isn’t rock bottom on midtown’s social ladder; he’s underground. friendless, rumoured to get into street fights. ned declares him bestie material anyway, and mj catches feelings.

she also meets tony stark(?) in foodtown, of all places, and makes a spider-man(??) sighting.

Tremors and Tribulations by Fernandidilly_yo

Tony feels a prickling behind his eyes as the man continues on about Howard Stark and his greatness. He feels breathless as he stares at his mother’s coffin. He feels lightheaded as he stands here, the only Stark left in existence.

Tony takes a deep breath of frigid air and slips the sunglasses on with fumbling fingers. And then, when his hands won’t stop trembling, won’t stop giving him away, Tony stuffs them into his pockets. Pretending for the world that he isn’t falling apart, because that’s what he’s supposed to do.

(Or: Nine times that Tony Stark's hands shook, and one time they held steady)

how long until spring (i miss you) by mindshelter

It’s nothing personal – they just didn’t know each other; she usually belonged in another sphere than him, in posh galas, dull board meetings, catching snatches of sleep on overseas flights. He was decades younger, a burst of energy and intelligence that Tony wanted to hone, nurture, and keep close to the ground for as long as he could.

So, when she approaches Peter on the lake house’s dock, both of them swathed in black and sorrow and asks if he wants to join her inside to see the message Tony left behind, he says no.

(set immediately after endgame.)

This Isn’t A Love Song, This Isn’t A Fable by rayrae118

Steve's not OK with people's perception of Captain America, no matter what he says or how much he pretends otherwise. It's like no one in this time period realizes that there's more to him than a spangly outfit. And yes, he's including the Avengers in that.

... or, the one where everything's all right, until it's not.

Series Held Together

First Fic: Held Together by Spiderwebs by TunaFishChris

Steve is not coping well in the twenty-first century. At all. Three months after the Chitauri invasion, he decides he's had enough.

But just as he's about to end it all, he runs into the new hero in town.

Welcome to Planet Queer by TunaFishChris

The Parkers have never really talked about sexuality of the LGBTQ+ community. Neither positive nor negative things. So Peter had hoped that when he told Aunt May that he prefers boys that she wouldn't do something drastic and out of the blue, like kick him out, as if she were a queerphobic Transformer.

Except now, he's on the street, and has no idea what to do next.

Luckily, the Avengers have his back.

(Un)Fortunate Circumstances by lomku

Or how Steve wakes up from the ice in the SHIELD facility, runs into Tony, and kind of kidnaps him in his bid for freedom.

Harry Potter

Hogwarts, to welcome you home by gedsparrowhawk (FaceChanger)

“You understand, Professor,” Harry began, after a moment, “that I don’t have my N.E.W.T.s. I never even finished seventh year. Between everything, I never had a chance the first time around, and then afterwards there didn’t seem to be much point. Hermione argued for it, of course, but I was so tired of Britain. So technically, I am completely unqualified for the position.”

“Quite a way to begin an interview, Mr. Potter,” McGonagall said, dryly.

Or, three years after the war, Harry Potter becomes Hogwarts' newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

A Young Radical’s Guide to Love by Blamebrampton

Memories of the war are still fresh, which is all the excuse Decent People need to do appalling things. In this quietly waged conflict, Draco Malfoy is happy to be on the right side of things for once, and even happier to find he’s not alone.

Doing the Lamberto Walk by Blamebrampton

There are only three traditional choices for the cashed-up hero after victory. Harry Potter is too young to settle down and provide the wizarding world with a happy ending, and has too acute a sense of humour to spiral downwards into a spectacular flame-out. That leaves a life of good works. Choosing to lead it in Muggle Brixton comes with its own set of challenges, including Malfoys in the biscuit aisle.

The Spellmaker by SonnyGietzel

Latin; a dead language with no practical applications except perhaps the deciphering of old texts and as a particularly quaint party trick. Thankfully, as Harry finds out, Latin is not as dead as he was first taught when he decided to learn the language. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, of course; he loved Latin, and would have been proud to know it even had it been as useless as it was pretty. But in the world of Wizards, the world of Magic, Harry realizes his rare talent with words is particularly valuable, and allows him to use magic that no one's ever heard of, that no one's ever seen. But as time goes on, and he becomes more and more entangled in the webs spun by those around him, he starts to realize just how deep the magical rabbit hole goes and how dangerous power like his can be. All Harry had ever wanted was for the world to make sense.

[eponastory]

RULES: make a poll of at least five of your all-time favorite characters and then tag five people to do the same. see which character is everyone's fave.

Tagged by: @firelily-mermaid-jedi

To put it into context, my favorite characters are not based on attractiveness, because some of them aren't even human, but their complexities. As in their character. One or two of them are just because I'm a huge nerd and it's for shits and giggles.

Let's seee.... who can I tag...

@broadwaybalogna @forevermore05 @omegansamurai @longing-for-rain @johnskleats

[tickle-bugs]

Hi! I had this super cute Korra idea and was wondering if you could write a fic for it. So like basically she and Bolin are earthending training, and he beats her and is like super gloaty about it, so she gets him back by encasing him in rock and well y’know…tickling him lol. I’d also love if you could throw in a raspberry or two!

Rock and Roll

Summary: After traveling the Spirit World, Korra returns home to the Air Temple. Familiar grounds beget familiar habits and she soon finds herself returning to her favorite hobby: pro-bending. Well...semi-pro, anyway.

Spoilers for the end of The Legend of Korra and the comics that follow the end of the series!

Korra’s reunion with Air Temple Island brought her a peace she hadn’t known she needed. Traveling with Asami had given her time to quell the one remaining tempest in her brain, the one that wrestled with the mint newness of her sexuality. It meant that when they finally arrived at the temple doors, Korra had only her friends on her mind. 

“Do you think everyone looks different?” Korra whispers to Asami, linking their fingers together. They step into the main courtyard. Korra breathes in deep. Still smells like home. 

“No. But I think you should go check, just to be sure.” Asami kisses her on the cheek, taking Korra’s bag off her back. “I’ll get our room together.”

“I love you.” Korra squeezes her hand. Asami beams. 

“Love you too.” She hefts Korra’s bag easily, having grown stronger during their travels, and wanders off towards the temple interior. Korra’s so occupied with watching her go, she doesn’t even notice Bolin and Mako stepping into the courtyard. 

“Korra!” Mako shouts with a laugh. Bolin gasps himself into a coughing fit, gesturing wildly. Korra sprints towards them and scoops them clean off the ground, cracking something in both of their spines with the force of the hug. 

“I told Mako something cool was going to happen today! I could feel it.” Bolin punches Mako’s shoulder and he grunts. 

“It’s good to see you guys. I missed you.” Korra tilts their foreheads together, tossing her arms around their shoulders. 

“Are you hungry? Mako was just about to make lunch.”

“Was I?” Mako deadpans. Bolin employs his absolutely lethal puppy dog eyes. Pabu scrambles atop his head to assist. Mako sighs deeply and waves for them to follow him.

…

Tenzin had been gracious enough to round up his family, promising every whining child and adult that they’d have a meal with Korra another time. Though Ikki and Meelo’s begging tugged on her heartstrings, she had the rare comfort of knowing they weren’t going anywhere. She could take a moment to relax with her friends without sacrifice. 

“Tell me everything. What did I miss?” Korra drums her hands on the table. Bolin stares very pointedly at Mako, who starts to hem and haw. He eats a dumpling instead of answering. 

“Mako started training with Fire Lord Zuko.” Bolin nudges him with his shoulder. Mako sighs. 

“You what?” Korra leans forward. Bolin does the same, batting his eyelashes at his brother. Mako glares at him. 

“That’s incredible, Mako. He seems like he’d be a great mentor.” Asami plucks a dumpling from the steamer basket. 

“He is. He’s seen and done so much! It’s incredible.” Mako gestures a little wildly, starry-eyed, and Korra chuckles. 

“Well, so have you.” Asami smiles. He turns a little pink and ducks his head. 

“You’re such a nerd. That’s what you were all nervous about?” Korra narrows her eyes teasingly, taking a dumpling. Mako scoffs and steals it from her hand. Before she can fight to get it back, he takes a triumphant bite and leans back in his chair. She loosely considers vaulting over the table, but she decides to save Pema the headache.

“No, he thought I was gonna tell you that he’s totally got a crush on Princess Ursa.” Bolin stretches innocently.

The room erupts into shouting. Mako busies himself with strangling Bolin while Asami and Korra pepper him with questions. Bolin paws at Mako’s face and chokes out a protest. Asami manages to pull them apart. 

“I don’t have a crush on her! She’s a smart, capable tactician…with pretty eyes…and nice hair…oh god.” Mako drops his head into his hands. Bolin pats his shoulder. 

The conversation flows from Mako’s love life--hopeless--to events in Republic City. Spirits don’t have a fantastic grasp on human affairs, but they seem confident in Zhu Li taking the Presidential helm, which is nice. As they chat, the stack of empty bowls in the sink grows more and more precarious. 

“Okay, what else…oh! We made another mover.” Bolin feeds small vegetable pieces to Pabu, who perches comfortably on his head. 

“What? Why?” Korra frowns. 

“Now that Varrick’s First Gentleman, he’s picking up a lot of his old hobbies. He told me he was struck with urgent inspiration to make his magnum opus.” Bolin gestures excitedly. 

“Beifong’s tired of babysitting him, so he’s on informal house arrest,” Mako snorts, leaning towards Korra. She snickers. 

“What’s the story?” Asami pinches Korra’s knee so she stops laughing—counterproductive, as it just forces her to stifle a yelp. 

“Nuktuk has laid down his arms as the hero of the south and taken up…wait for it…pro-bending coaching! He invents it! Turns out, his dad was one of the best benders in the world and Nuktuk wants to preserve the legacy!” Bolin gestures even bigger. Pabu nearly slides off of his head as he moves around. 

“Wait…isn’t that the plot of The Pebble’s new mover? The one about The Boulder?” Asami collects the empty bowls from the table and dumps them in the sink. As she comes back, she kisses Korra’s forehead. 

“Uh, noooooo. The Pebble’s grandfather was the pro-bender. For Nuktuk, it’s his dad. Totally different.” Bolin nods resolutely. Asami opens her mouth to argue, but Korra pinches her knee. Asami glares. Korra gives a shit-eating grin. 

“Right, sure. You two up for a friendly match, now that you’re a double pro-bender?” Korra leans on Mako’s shoulder.

“Oooh a Fire Ferret reunion? Count me in!” Bolin gasps excitedly. 

“Count me out.” Mako stands and stretches. 

“Aw c’mon, Mako! Where’s your competitive spirit?” Korra socks him in the arm. He returns the favor. 

“Knock yourselves out.” He laughs fondly, ruffling Bolin’s hair as he passes. 

“Guess it’s you and me then. Nuktuk, Hero of the Arena, versus…the Avatar.” Bolin makes a noise like a crowd cheering. 

….

“Come on, Bolin! Put your back into it!” Korra throws a boulder at his head. He pulls his hands apart and the rock shatters, submerging into the earth. 

“Taunting me isn’t gonna work. While you and Asami were out frolicking, Tenzin and Jinora showed me the path to inner peace. I’m totally chill now.” Bolin butchers a few Air Nomad forms and then nods, satisfied. 

“Is that right?” 

“Yep. I’m super zen.” Bolin closes his eyes and takes a meditative stance. Korra throws another rock at his head. He yelps and deflects at the last moment, scattering it to dust.

“Would you stop doing that?!”  

“Are you going to fight me?” She puts her hand on her hip. 

“Alright, you asked for it. No holding back.” He smirks. 

As she flips out of the way of a chunk of earth the size of a Satomobile, she’s quickly reminded why he was a pro long before she ever met him. She’s used to earthbenders with squat techniques. Bolin is fast. He moves earth like water, adapting quickly to shifts in gravity without breaking a sweat. 

She takes a rock to the torso and goes flying, skidding to a stop on her back. She narrows her eyes at him, flips back on her feet, and resumes her stance.

“Oh yeah, I’ve still got it.” He flexes. 

“Whatever. Lucky shot.”  Korra rolls her eyes. Bolin continues to flex, striking new and irritating poses. Pabu scampers out onto his bicep and copies him. Bolin turns unexpectedly and Pabu squeaks, scampering back to the solid ground of his shoulder. The poor thing slips and tumbles right into Bolin’s shirt with a terrified shriek. 

Bolin makes the exact same noise, followed by a string of frantic, high-pitched giggles and shouts. Pabu skitters around his waist and Bolin tries to grab him. Korra muffles her laughter into her hands. 

“P-Pabu!” Bolin squeaks, finally wrangling the fire ferret into his grasp. He starts sternly lecturing Pabu, but Korra’s long past listening. She’s too busy sowing the seeds of a plan. 

“Let’s go again.” Korra grins. 

“Best of five? Let’s do it.”

Korra and Bolin circle each other, locked in tense concentration. Korra moves first, launching stone after stone to where she thinks Bolin will be, rather than where he is. She breathes with each shove, doing her best to root her body to the earth. 

To Bolin’s credit, he easily manages her aggressive assault. He complains about it, sure, but he deflects or redirects every blow before it can break his stance. He splits a large boulder and pelts her with the pieces. She slides and flips out of the way, curving with the air rather than through it. Even though Bolin strikes her from beneath with a stone, Korra still manages to bend a bucket’s worth of water directly into his chest. 

Korra clenches her fist and the water flash-freezes. As it crackles into a solid up his body, Bolin stammers up a protest and wiggles fruitlessly against the ice. He strains every which way, the muscles in his neck tensing, but he doesn’t budge.

“‘Kay, so this definitely isn’t competition-legal. How about you let me go and we call it even?” Bolin blows his curl out of his face. 

“Mmm, nah. Best of five, remember?” Korra smirks, cracking her knuckles. She makes a big show of stretching. 

“I can’t fight you in ice. Ohhh, you’ve got a real scary face right now. Like…like Eska levels of scary—“

Korra bends away a chunk of the ice, leaving a perfect window for Bolin’s stomach. She pinches him there and he giggles once, sweetly. They blink at each other. Korra breaks out in a smirk. He starts to babble, shaking his head fervently, but he collapses into nervous snickers and incoherence when she gets closer.

“Tickling is cheating, c’mon--KorraKorraKorraaaah!” He squeals, bubbly giggles pouring forth faster than he can hope to speak. He wiggles as much as he can—not at all—and tries to suck in his stomach away from her fingers. She follows easily, poke-poke-poking at the softer parts of his stomach to make him jump. 

“This isn’t even a fair f-fight!” Bolin whines, shimmying like his life depends on it. 

“It’s not fun if it’s fair.” Korra shrugs. She bends away some ice from his ribs and plucks her fingers across them. His giggles somehow find more urgency, making his whole torso tremble. His voice rises in time with her fingers, cracking beautifully when she decides to tickle under his arms. He lets out a tumble of desperate syllables and hiccups.

“Ohmygod, move!” He snorts, oh wow, and keeps trying to escape. He attempts wide, pleading eyes but his nose keeps scrunching and preventing his progress. 

“Move, huh? Not stop?” Korra raises her eyebrow. Bolin buries his face in his shoulder. 

“Alright, tell you what. Surrender your victory and maybe I’ll let you go.” Korra tickles mockingly under his chin and Bolin snorts again, slamming his chin down. She spiders across the skin she can reach, avoiding his scrunching. She brushes his ear by mistake. 

Bolin’s voice leaps at least two octaves. He wrenches so hard that he actually cracks some of the ice around his shoulders. Korra grins like a demon. Bolin’s eyes widen. 

“I’m so telling Opal.” She snickers. 

“Don’t you dare!” His cheeks and ears burn bright red. She chases the blush with her fingers. Bolin cackles, whipping his head back and forth to no avail. She pokes at his collarbones and he yelps, hiking his shoulders as far up as he can. 

The ice crunches, then crumbles. Bolin stumbles forward, clutching his torso through the tail-end of his laughter. Korra backs up and starts awkwardly chuckling with something like remorse. 

“Hey, Korra?” Bolin narrows his eyes, deathly serious. “Run.”

“Threatening the Avatar?” She jokes weakly. 

Bolin sprints at her like a train as a reply.

She yelps and takes off, bending air to launch herself onto the temple roof. Bolin uses earth to follow suit, his serious demeanor melting into the giggly little ‘I’m gonna get youuus’ that one would expect from someone like him.

She misses her jump onto the next roof and Bolin catches her by the waist. Her loss of balance translates to him, unfortunately, and they both crash to the ground. Bolin pulls her close and rolls to break the fall, but he doesn’t release her from the bear hug. He giggles evilly in her ear. 

Oh shit. 

“Bolin, hang on—“

“Gotcha.” He grins, vibrating his fingers into her stomach. “Now, time to defend that championship title.” 

Korra squeals loud enough to send birds and spirits flying from the temple trees. 

[crackedpumpkin]

in honour of the atla live action, i decided it was time to post @theblindhag and i's reaction when it first released on netflix. This is episode 1 under the cut. enjoy.

Thats sozin’s comet, the comet named after sozin

“STAWP”

THE BENDING IS GOOD

Dude got baja blasted

“My sights are set higher” he says as he stares up at his prisoner

HE COOKED HIM

Im a 5 star michelin

He got intimate with HIS burn marks

Its giving genshin impact

OOGWAY CAMEO

Glowing ninja girl

Loving the brush strokes

Ye old uggs

Theres the bald bitch

Eggs in a carton

Why are the airbenders american

Brother gyatso the GOAT

He a real one

No bald cap

Aangs tatted

Its giving buddha statue

HE JUST IRON MANED HIS WAY UP

Aangs in his soliloquy era

STEADYYYYY URGGGGGG

HMMMMMMMMMMM

Mighty morphin iceberg time

He turned into a bakugan

THEY GOT DADDY ISSUES

Sulk later paddle now

Guys its zuko

Oh shit oh fuck

He’s a conspiracy theorist

NERD

oh, nice we’re not gonna die!

“🧍🏻👁️👁️”

A mysterious little bald person

SHE SAID THE LINES

HORANGHAE

Hes finding his inner peace

“Something about armour”

“Something about ARMS”

REESE BLUSHIN AT SOKKA ARM

ARMOUR FETISH

CONFIRMED

Its giving victorian era scandalous ankles

Victoria def had a secret fs

Lord of… snow and ice.

Avatar, gay discount?

“Why did the fire nation start the war?” “Gay discount.”

HE USED HIS SHARIGAN

Appa took a fat piss in the sky 🙁

Boneless temple

Ep ended with horanghae

[zukkaart]

okay so what if Zuko never left the fire nation after being welcomed home. Zuko is crowned fire lord instead of azula because of birth order, when ozai becomes Phoenix king. the avatar movement has to go underground and things get worse. Azula never had her breakdown because she was never defeated but there's clearly something wrong. ozai gets annoyed with her paranoia eventually and decides to marry her off to the southern water tribe chief, against his (and her) will, mostly as a way to get rid of her. she arrives in a foreign land, expecting to be hated and kept as prisoner until she dies. instead the first thing hakoda says to her is "I'm sorry". sure they're all wary of her, but she's still a teenager, Katara's age. the second the fire nation embasarries leave he tells her he's built her an igloo of her own. Azula figures its a prison cell, but its really hakoda's way of saying 'i dont want anything to do with you wifely'. and suddenly azula is in less danger than she's ever been in before. basically just recovering domestic azula with dadkoda. and eventually azula and zuko reconcile and decide to take the fire nation down from the Inside and story plot blah blah. but mostly hakoda adopting azula and giving her the parental love she never got 😭

I absolutely can NOT even begin to tell you the brain worms this gives me.

I think it makes a lot of sense for the time period in which avatar takes place too because I think it’s supposed to be circa 1700? (Correct me if I’m wrong) and obviously in most places at that time arranged marriages were very common, and many rulers did not shy away from marrying their children (daughters especially) off to much older men as long as they gained significant advantages from it- I wouldn’t be surprised if Ozai did the same. (Sorry for the info dump I’m a history nerd)

If you read “the art of burning” by hella1975 on Ao3 it is basically all dadkoda content but with Zuko and it’s absolutely beautifully written- probably one of the best fics I’ve ever read.

Circling back on topic- I could see Azula resigning herself to what she’s been taught her “wifely duties” are and constantly telling herself “just one son, just an heir, then hopefully he’ll never touch me again” (Yes Sokka but let’s just say for political purposes her father wants her to provide a SWT/FN heir) and then she realizes that Hakoda would NEVER do that to her or anyone else - and her cold facade begins to drop revealing the scared little girl she really is beneath the conditioning.

Bonus: Zuko absolutely despises the marriage because that’s still his little sister and just because he accepted his role doesn’t change where his morals fall. So he plans a whole months trip to some remote place for “training” but instead steals his old ship and goes to the SWT to get Azula back and maime anyone who laid a finger on her regardless of the political consequences, but he shows up and Azula explains how Hakoda basically adopted her instead. Zuko actually finds himself jealous of Azulas situation outside of his fathers influence and finally having the childhood that neither of them ever were offered but is ultimately so grateful to Hakoda for it.

And then he meets the water tribe heir one night while he’s grappling with these feelings of jealousy vs grief vs gratitude and having dealt with his father leaving and losing Yue and seeing Katara and Aang being happy and traveling together while he stays in the south he completely understands and helps him work though it.

[kiki-strike]

Aawwwhww my silly former history nerd brain made so happy when a fanfic Zuko pointed out that your majesty is for fire lords (kings actually but yknow fantasy) and your highness is for princes. They are not interchangeable levels of respect !!

[ao3feedzukka-blog]

(PODFIC) While Mighty Oaks Do Fall

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63158374 by hesitantskeleton High Sage Kenji blesses Fire Prince Zuko with the resilience of the reed, who bends in the wind and never breaks. When he is done, Fire Prince Ozai narrows his eyes, seemingly displeased by this blessing. But Kenji does not speak for himself; he is only a vessel. - The newly-crowned Fire Lord Ozai offers his firstborn son to service in the temple. This turns out to be a catastrophic mistake. - Podfic recording of WitchofEndor's While Mighty Oaks Do Fall starting chapter 11 Words: 147, Chapters: 2/20, Language: English Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen, M/M Characters: Zuko (Avatar), Yue (Avatar), The Gaang (Avatar), Azula (Avatar), Zuko's Hat Relationships: The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Zuko & the Fire Sages, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Yue & Zuko (Avatar) Additional Tags: Funny Hat Zuko AU, Fire Sage Zuko AU, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Found Family, Fire Hazard Siblings, canon-typical child abuse, Zuko is the Temple's Baby Nerd, Worldbuilding, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko has never met a hill he wasn't ready to die on, Autism, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming February 17, 2025 at 12:45AM

[sokka-partyrockis]

"Or something," Sokka echoed, raising an eyebrow. He kept his arms crossed tight against his chest, extremely careful not to step on, or knock over, absolutely anything. Not even one little speck of dust. He started muttering, haven't you read all these already? Big Avatar nerd that you are, and similar sentiments. When Zuko pulled him down by the hair, he had to windmill his arms not to fall over.

"Hey! Hey!" he cried, slapping his hands over his mouth once Zuko let go. The words reverberated oddly through the chamber, almost like-- no, definitely like--

"Might I suggest," said the huge, scary, ancient Fire Lord ghost, "the fourth shelf down from the sixth shelf from the left. Of course, I will expect each and every one of those scrolls to be put back exactly as you found them, young man."

Sokka definitely did not yelp. He absolutely, certainly did not scream, jump out of his skin, crash against the shelves and then against Zuko, gripping onto his arm for dear life. Something happened, but not that. It was totally more of a situation where the ghost nefariously pulled all if the scrolls from the shelf and made them bump-bump-fall all over him and Zuko in flurries of paper older than Appa. The ghost grew in his maniacal laughter-- no, actually. The ghost was quiet. The ghost was shooting him a stern look, now that he turned. When the scrolls settled everything was even more painfully quiet.

He blinked.

The Fire Lord stared.

Sokka felt very much like when he was eight and sitting in front of Gran-Gran, while she came up with just exactly how to ground him this time.

He bowed with his forehead to the ground. "OhnobleFireLordSenzoupleasedon'tkillme.Pleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillme."

Fire Lord Senzou stared on.

"Anyways," he continued on to Zuko. "You will need to read of... the warlord era of the Fire Islands, of volcanic activity as it relates to surges in spiritual energy, and... tell that boy to stop grovelling, will you."

"Pleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillme."

Sokka's skin just crawled. Itched. Shuddered. Too many fiascos had happened in small, dark caves already. The four walls of stone put him on high alert, even though there was absolutely nothing to do other than pull out scrolls and get lucky. He wished for his boomerang. Or his club. Or his sword. But they were all upstairs: all he really carried in his pockets was his little mirror, his master's Pai Sho tile, and some dried meat. For emergencies.

"That's, um. That's his bones in there? Are you sure this place isn't haunted? It wouldn't be very fun. If this place were haunted. What if we're disturbing his spirit or something? Zuko?"

[cursed-ideas]

zuko is a theatre nerd

So, apparently my dad never realized this, but Zuko is a theatre nerd. That's where the Blue Spirit mask comes from.

It changes so much about how he views the world!

Because, he's learned just about everything about people from plays! And it makes so much sense about how he thinks of himself and and shit!

Like, he sees himself as the hero's tale. Maybe he really did know how awful his father is, and how impossible this task is, but since the Hero's quest always seems impossible, but the Hero succeeds anyway! Zuko sees himself as the hero of the tale until about a third of the way through the third seasom, because thats what you would do in the play! Hell, Aang showing up three years after Zuko started the quest only reinforces his hero's journey!

And that adds an interesting account to Iroh- he's never really working in his brother's interest, and when Zuko leaves, he leaves as the advisor to the hero: the normally old, wise but loyal advisor to the hero! And when Zuko realizes Aang is the hero of this play of life, he abandons everything he's worked for to help him!

I wrote this in a general mess after randomly telling my dad that Zuko was a theatre, and thus a conversation sprouted from that, and if you have questions about the conversation ask me because wOAH

[ao3feed-zukka]

(PODFIC) While Mighty Oaks Do Fall

(PODFIC) While Mighty Oaks Do Fall https://ift.tt/m0pLr4P by hesitantskeleton High Sage Kenji blesses Fire Prince Zuko with the resilience of the reed, who bends in the wind and never breaks. When he is done, Fire Prince Ozai narrows his eyes, seemingly displeased by this blessing. But Kenji does not speak for himself; he is only a vessel. - The newly-crowned Fire Lord Ozai offers his firstborn son to service in the temple. This turns out to be a catastrophic mistake. - Podfic recording of WitchofEndor's While Mighty Oaks Do Fall starting chapter 11 Words: 147, Chapters: 2/20, Language: English Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen, M/M Characters: Zuko (Avatar), Yue (Avatar), The Gaang (Avatar), Azula (Avatar), Zuko's Hat Relationships: The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Zuko & the Fire Sages, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Yue & Zuko (Avatar) Additional Tags: Funny Hat Zuko AU, Fire Sage Zuko AU, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Found Family, Fire Hazard Siblings, canon-typical child abuse, Zuko is the Temple's Baby Nerd, Worldbuilding, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko has never met a hill he wasn't ready to die on, Autism, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming via AO3 works tagged 'Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)' https://ift.tt/P0c6fjI February 16, 2025 at 09:45PM