#zuko is a gay pirate

[paramouradrift]

At long last, I bring you...

AN UPDATE!!

I have five more chapters sitting in my draft document waiting for revision, so keep a weather eye out for further updates in the coming weeks.

[aangsfrogs]

Pirate!au where Zuko and Sokka are captains of their own fleets and end up liking each other so much they decide to “co-captain” and it’s totally not gay

[prying-pandora666]

I can see why you voice Azula. Your manipulative and a liar just like her.

You say you have nothing against Zutara but you defend Aang anytime we have valid criticisms of his sexism and racism.

You are highly critical of Maiko and yet you claim to love both Zuko and Mai. If you loved them so much you’d want them to be happy together.

You reblog any Zuko ship that isn’t Maiko. Casually scrolling your blog I have seen you support Zukka, Jinko, Toko, and Zutara but that last one is obviously fake because you also criticize the pirate scene.

Meanwhile you hypocritically support Azula ships like Sokkla, TyZula, and Mailee. You don’t call out Zucest either just like your TERF icon Grey.

Your obvi a Kataang shipper in disguise. Zutarians have been fighting this battle since the beginning. We won’t fall for your Trojan horse.

Azula always lies.

I can see your entire post history behind your eyes. You were born with nothing. And you’ve had to troll, and plagiarize, and drama-post your way to the top.

But true power? The divine right to multi-ship? Is something you’re born with.

Your followers (if indeed you have any) may not know how this is going to turn out.

But I know.

And you know.

Those allegations against Grey Delisle were false. Katy Perry stans made them up because Grey called Katy out on voting for anti-gay politicians.

Whoops. Guess you’re not as informed as you thought.

Don’t flatter yourself.

You were never even a shitposter.

[portraitoftheoddity]

Hnnnnfdskhfsafhjkdjkslakdls I stayed up until 3am binge-reading (rereading from the beginning and then catching up on) @paramouradrift's gay pirate zuko series and now I don't even know wtf I'm doing with my life. like what am I supposed to do now? go to the gym? pay bills? cook dinner??? when I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?????

[emkini]

heyy I read towards the sun the other day bc I saw you mention it and it fucked. so ty!!!! if you feel like it, do you have other atla recs? 👀

Ohohoh do I

Notes:

I tend to be primarily a zuko-centric gen fic enjoyer in the atla fandom so that's what most of these are gonna be!

Pretty much every author on this list has a bunch of stellar works and I'd recommend checking out all of their ao3 profiles, but these are just some of my personal favorites!

I've been having a Rough Time™ lately, so most of my faves fall on the soft and squishy side– if you're looking for heavy angst I do not have much of it 😔

-----------

Salvage (complete) by @muffinlance is by the same author as Towards The Sun and a fandom classic at this point; I cannot recommend it enough. Summary: Mid-Season-One Zuko is held for ransom by Chief Hakoda. Ozai's replies to the Water Tribe's demands are A+ Parenting. Hakoda is… deeply concerned, for this son that isn't his, and who might be safer among enemies than with his own father.

The Fire Nation Yacht Club series (reads as complete) by @sword-and-stars gives me all the emotions. Summary: Sokka knows three (3) things: 1. The caldera is on fire. 2. Ozai’s really, really dead (and so is his daughter). 3. The only one having a worse day is probably Zuko. / Everyone has their breaking point. This is what happens after you’ve broken. In which healing is a process and also it kind of sucks.

For Hearth and Home (complete) is another classic fic by the same author (honestly just check out all of their work, it's all stellar) that I absolutely adore. Summary: There’s a child underneath Fire Lord Zuko’s desk. He doesn’t realize this until he sits down and tiny hands wrap themselves around his ankles, and Fire Lord Zuko definitely does not shriek and backpedal away at the unexpected touch. He definitely does do that but Gou, the single guard he’s agreed to let shadow him, is kind enough not to mention it.

Mountains and Badgermolehills (complete) by Glass_Onion is an incredibly fun and well-written romp of a read. Summary: After the Blue Spirit frees the Avatar from the Pohuai Stronghold, Admiral Zhao captures Prince Zuko under suspicion of treason. Isolated from his Uncle and his crew, Zuko has only one ally: the chatty prisoner one cell over.

The Art of Burning (incomplete, ongoing) by @hella1975 is superb- lots of angst, lots of emotions, and lots of memes. Summary (excerpt): In a warring land, the Water Tribe forgave the enemy in an act of defiance. For this, he was torn from them, and this time, his wounds won't heal so easily.

Embers (complete) by Vathara is another fandom classic– one I have not yet been able to finish because dear god is it long. like holy shit. Very dense and plot-heavy and an incredible read if you're a lover of worldbuilding and fantasy politics. Summary: Dragon's fire is not so easily extinguished; when Zuko rediscovers a lost firebending technique, shifting flames can shift the world...

where the stars do not take sides (complete) by WitchofEndor is a very sweet and interesting canon divergence fic, and of course as always I am a SUCKER for the fire siblings being close. Such a sucker. Summary: When Azula is nine, she becomes an only child. She hears the Fire Lord call for Zuko's life, and in the morning, her mother and brother are gone. Azula may be young, but she isn't naive. She knows what happened to them. Which makes it all the more surprising when Azula tracks the Avatar down and fights his group of peasant friends, only to find herself staring into an eerily familiar face.

Honor & Vengeance on the High Seas (complete) by @paramouradrift is a very fun read– I haven't finished it yet but if you love boats, pirate Zuko, and angry teenagers being gay and doing crime, I guarantee you'll have a good time. Summary: Zuko was banished, but instead of devoting his life to finding the Avatar to regain his honor he gave in to his spite and became a pirate against Ozai.

And the world, still so wild, called to me (I was lost, I’d been kept on my knees) (complete) by delightfullydiscordant– An Aang-centric fic that hurts my HEART Summary (excerpt): A study in grief and loss, in anger and hate.

a viper-lizard's tales (incomplete, ongoing) by Yumi_Take is really sweet and very fun; it has a simple but unique and interesting prose style that I really like. Summary: The desert sun burns and Zuko probably shouldn't touch the moving cloth, but he does anyway.

[the-innefable-idiot]

ok im gonna give my 2 cents about Izzy because I've read Jenkins interview

the reason why his death stirred up so many emotions is because season 2 Izzy is a different person from season 1 Izzy

I feel like the whole "Izzy dying to represent Blackbeard dying" would've worked if he stayed the same enabler asshole from season 1

but in season 2 he changed, he has found a family and something to live for, so killing him was gutwrenching, specially after he survived amputation earlier in the season

I've read some posts about this not being a 'bury your gays trope' and I technically agree, since this show is filled with queerness, however killing a queer man after he has found happiness might be considered a variation of this trope

an ideal ending that would bear the same simbolism as it did? Make Izzy find another family of pirates and choose to leave The Revenge, kinda like Gamorra in GotG 3. Show him flirting with a pirate captain everytime they pop up at Spanish Jackie's and make him not choose Ed in the end. Voila, Izzy choosing to leave simbolizes Ed choosing to leave Blackbeard behind, and no one dies ✨

I really don't care about character deaths and I need they are necessary, but what happened to Izzy made me really sad because he had a really beautiful redemption arc and his death felt meaningless, specially in a lighthearted comedy show, why is he the only one who had to die??? Can you imagine the last airbender if theyve killed Zuko in season 2??????? That's why I think people are upset about

Also Con O'Neill became my babygirl this season and I'm sad to see him go :(

[transboysokka]

Avatarverse Hottest Man Tournament!!

Round 1 Pool C

Welcome to the Avatarverse Hottest Man Tournament! The women excelled in the waist grabbability tournament and I'm gay and want something for myself, so here we are. (What do I mean by hottest? However you interpret it tbh, I don’t care)

We have 64 total characters in the first round, broken up into eight groups of eight. The top four characters from each pool will advance to the bracket rounds!

No pictures this round, if you don’t know who someone is, Google them or don’t choose them.

[bard-llama]

WiP Game

Rules: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! Then tag as many people as you have WIPS. anyone who you think might enjoy this.

tagged by @gasmeros! Thank you for the tag!

Warning in advance - this will be LONG! I physically cannot tag as many people as there are wips - but if you're interested, please do it!

Setting: OG Cartoon

Pre-Canon

Air Nomad Avatar Zuko

Early War AU (The First Reaction to Truth is Hatred)

Multi-Bending Zuko

Zuko's Odyssey

Unyielding

Crew Bonding: First time they see Zuko breathe fire when frustrated (I'll keep my silence, though it burns my tongue)

Aang in the Iceberg: Dreams

Airbender/Firebender Dual Wielder Zuko

June and Zuko walk into a bar

Our Love Become a Funeral Pyre

Ozai is not a people person

Zuko becomes Fire Lord at 13 AU

Earthbender Zuko

Haunted Toy

Instinctive Bending

Gyatso adopting Aang

Crooked World

Pirate Zuko (Fire, Water, and Government (Know Nothing of Mercy))

Another dream

Author Zuko: The Truth About the Air Army

Artist!Zuko: Pre-Canon

Aang Haunting Pre-Canon Zuko

Monk Tashi’s Journal

Friend of the Sex Workers

Gyatso/Roku

Season 1

Spirits Made Them Do It series

Two Lovers, Forbidden From One Another series

Soulmate Dreamsharing AU (Once Upon a Dream)

Damned by a Look

Baby AU

Helping Hands

Time Travel Zuko (A Second Chance at Family)

Agni's Little Flame

Storyteller Zuko (Those Who Tell Stories Rule the World)

Zuko stops chasing Aang, so Aang chases Zuko (Zhao’s Retribution)

Viva la Resistance

Bed of Leaves

De-aged Zuko

“I’m in love with your voice.”

Working Together/Mission Fic

Toph Joins S1

Gyatso Runs Away With Aang

Self-Harming Zuko

Animal Transformation: Zuko is a finch-hawk

Time Travel Zuko 2: Electric Boogaloo

Soulmate Potential

Bad (?) Reputation

Silence

Time Loop/Loop Zoop

Aang being worthy of power

“Come with me.”

Dreams/Nightmares (Freudian Nightmares)

Dreamsharing, but it’s all sex

Blue Spirit puts out fires

Genderfuckery: Genderfluid Aang

Genderfuckery: Puberty Blockers/The Avatar Has Tits

Grappling turned Frotting

Season 2

Ba Sing Se Boyfriends series

Seduction of the Innocent series

Earth and Air (sequel to Fire and Water)

Accidental Shaman Zuko series

Healing Fire

(Going) Down and Out in Ba Sing Se

The Fire Lord and The Avatar

Azula and her brother

Aang in the Iceberg: Angst Coma Time Travel

Demonic/Ghostly Possession (Blue Spirit Tagalong)

Spontaneous Combustion

Gay Bar

Aang Approaching Zuko Morning After

Pampering Zuko (Rose Petals and Candlelight)

Truth Serum

Body Swap

Ozai finds out Zuko joined the Avatar

Continuation of Wan Shi Tong's Uninvited Guests

Identity Porn

Nerd Lords

Fight Club

Southern Water Tribe – why are there so many more men than women?

Drugged Zuko Rescue

To Choose One’s Own Destiny

Joo Dee

Masking (Masked Affection)

Gaang in Ba Sing Se with Aang trying to befriend Zuko without telling them who ‘Li’ is

Fuck for-profit healthcare (How Zuko Became a Radical Socialist)

How tf is Li dating the Avatar? A teashop customer perspective

Jasmine Dragon Gift Shop AKA Li the Glassblower

Fantasies

Iroh Ships It

All Roads Lead to Ba Sing Se

Season 3

Justice, Served Cold with a Side of Vengeance series

Hope for the Future

Dragon Mama Zuko

High Priest of the Dragons

Zuko adapts other bending techniques

Fire Control

Following the Rules (The Consequences of Breaking The Rules)

Nightmares

Katara hating on Zuko

Punishment

Rope Burns

Trusted with Weapon

Custard Pie/Cheering Up on a Bad Day/Pining

Zuko Asks Forgiveness Through Action (Actions Speak Louder Than Words)

Aggressive Zuko (I'm Your Fire, Your Desire)

Shirtless Sparring

Early S3 AU

Fluffy Zuko/Aang

Zuko blows Aang while Katara watches

Choosing Nonviolence: Aang sees Zuko’s Scars

Choosing Nonviolence: What Is Forgiveness?

Flower Language

Gifts

Katara POV Zuko tortured by Fire Lord

Zukaang Western Air Temple (Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You)

Sexytimes – Voyeurism

Gossip

Zutaraang

Dad Convo

Something to Live For

Keeping the Avatar Alive

Zutaraang Lap Sex

Hidden Communities

Blue Spirit Reveal

Balance/“. . . sorry, I talked too much” “No no no not at all. Keep talking”

Attacking a surrendered opponent

Dream Sharing - Mid-S3: Zuko is back in the palace with everything he ever wanted, but his nightmares are worse than ever. Meanwhile, the Gaang end up helping this kid in the Spirit World or something and have no idea it’s Zuko.

Dark Water Spirit Curse

Depression and Executive Dysfunction (Cut My Heart Into Pieces (but it's still yours))

Artist!Zuko: Western Air Temple Discovery

Katara Jealous/Mad about Clingy Aang with Zuko

Aang with a cunt: Cunnilingus

Aang with a cunt: Aang hiding how aroused training with Zuko makes him

Touch Starved Zuko

Honor

Early S3 Aang Pining

De-aged Aang and Zuko both

Underwater Blow Job

The Fire Nation’s Flaws Revealed

Altruistic Help

Zuko’s hair

Post-Canon

Imprisoned DoBS!Zuko becomes Fire Lord and has an awkward conversation (Thrice Cursed, Once Broken)

Prosecution of War Crimes (Action, Inaction, and Consequences)

All the Politics (A Seat at the Table)

A Royal Heir

Zuko collects strays

Sibling Rulers

PAIN (The Long Road to Recovery)

Wearing Zuko’s clothes (What’s Yours is Mine)

Relationship Reveal: Post-Canon to the FN Court

Gaang Established Routines – Domestic Fluff fill

The Tournament of Kingship

Airbender Blow Jobs

Everyone wants Zuko (Reading Lips)

“My heart feels like it’s dancing when I look at you.”

Kuei & Zuko Arranged Marriage (To Weave a Tangled Web)

Gaang Marriage (Commitment to Balance)

Zuko navigating 10 (billion) relationships'

Treasure (sequel to Pearl)

First Kiss/First Time

Kanna

Shaking it up down South

Getting Zuko to Sleep

PWP Genderbent Aang picks up Zuko without Zuko knowing

Blue Spirit x Avatar Aang

Toph and Zuko’s Life-Changing Field Trip

Crossdressing Gaang

“I can’t stop thinking about you. When I wake up, when I’m about to fall asleep…”

Aang loves his friends

Katara and Aang decide to pursue Zuko

Everyone is in love with Zuko: He catches a clue

I Still Dream About You (Are You Lonely For Me Too?)

Sparring for who gets to take Aang

Jeong Jeong

Southern Water Tribe Mixed Children

Brother

Toph/Zuko Political Marriage (An Arrangement for World Peace)

Toph/Zuko S3 Hookup (Aged Up)

Author Zuko: Blue Spirit/Avatar Aang

Author Zuko: Zuko writes about the Fire Lord and Avatar’s Bond Thru Time

The Southern Waterbending Line

Post-canon Iroh and Zuko

Jet Redemption

Zuko is not in touch with his emotions

Consolidating Power: Zuko vs the Dragon of the West (The Power Behind the Throne)

Post-Canon Hanahaki AU

Cultural Differences/Fuck “Aang is so innocent and pure”

Touch Me Please

Marking

Facefucking

Destined to Love You/You’re the One I’ve Been Searching For

Sauna

Shaving/Aang serves as Zuko’s hands

Zutaraang Double Penetration

Femslash Zukaang

Post-Canon Horny Aang/Trying not to get caught

Voyeurism/Eyes on You

Desirable

Massage/Rimming

Zutaraang Pining

Inappropriate Use of Bending

Aang as the Sun: Zuko’s Astronomy Poetry

Zuko Ass Worship

Thigh Riding

North Pole Huddling for Warmth

5 Love Languages

Fuckbuddies while Pining for More

Weak to Aang

Katara and Mai Conspire

Thigh Fucking

Mastery (Post-Canon)

Aang Dances with Disguised Zuko in Front of Everyone (Veiled Desire)

Setting: Netflix ATLA

Pre-Canon

Avatar Fam Adopts Zuko (Family is a Title that is Earned)

NATLA Zue Arranged Marriage

Zuko’s Notebook

Season 1

Zuko’s Notebook/Aang wondering about Zuko (So Familiar, Yet So Unknown)

Silk

NATLA Crew Mutiny and Aftermath (Shifting Tides)

“Avatar Who? I’m just an Airbender”

NATLA Spirit World Developing Friendship (Seeking the Shards of a Shattered Soul)

JFC that's 220 WiPs.... and those are just the ones I'll admit to 😅

Also, I have a lot more post-canon WiPs than I ever realized! I always kinda figured I mostly did during-canon AUs - which like, I do, obviously, because there's 116 of those set during the OG canon - but still! 71 was a lot more post-canon fics than I was expecting!

[ao3feed-zukka]

Run Fast

Read now on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/N1zpB2K by 1shaunangel1 After daring to escape Zhao's clutches, Sokka now longs for his true home—the endless ocean. Yet, his hopes dim as he learns of Zhao's cruel curse, condemning him never again to feel the safety of the ocean's embrace. With despair weighing heavily upon him, Sokka faces the stark truth that his only chance for freedom lies in the unlikely hands of the most dreaded pirate of the seas, the Blue Spirit. Once dismissed as mere legend, Sokka now confronts the chilling reality of standing face-to-face with the notorious figure. ---- A.K.A. Zuko would do anything the selkie asked him to Words: 4980, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: F/F, M/M, Multi Characters: Sokka (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar), Suki (Avatar), Yue (Avatar), Zhao (Avatar) Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Yue (Avatar) Additional Tags: MerMay, MerMay 2024, Selkie Sokka, selkie sokka (avatar), do selkies qualify for mermay.... oh well, Creepy Zhao (Avatar), Canon-Typical Violence, Threats of Violence, Captivity, youll see - Freeform, Pirate Zuko (Avatar), Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Selkies, Badass Sokka (Avatar), Hurt Sokka (Avatar), zuko doesnt know what hes doing of course, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Badass Suki (Avatar), Moon Spirit Yue (Avatar), Eventual Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Minor Suki/Yue (Avatar), Zuko is Whipped Read it on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/N1zpB2K

[paramouradrift]

Justice & Updates

Man, I totally forgot to report that yesterday was update day. My bad.

Anyway, this one begins Zuko's full-on pirate arc, so enjoy!

[sword-and-stars]

Hey, hi, Hai 👋🏼 long time no chat. Love you miss you can you help me out I’m going crazy. Didn’t you write the one where Sokka sniffs roommate Zuko’s dirty gym undies? I’d be ashamed to ask if fandom hadn’t beaten all the shame out of me but I combed the archive and I’ve been out of the zukka loop since gay pirates ate my brain but I can’t find it and was wondering if I’d simply dreamed it up. Hope all is well 😘

Hello friend!! I love you and I miss you!! Welcome back.

Regarding Sokka’s bad laundry manners, that is definitely not my fic. Horny enough to be one of mine but definitely not asdfghjkl.

It’s not really a trope I’d read but I’m sure that one of you filthy fornicators had read it! Any ideas?

[madhbh]

Top 10 Favorite Characters 2024

guess I’m doing this every two years

@meankeene @menage-gay-trois and you dear reader if you do so care to make one

10. Manon Blackbeak

“Do you believe monsters are born or made?”

Throne of Glass (2012) // c

9. Kratos

“The cycle ends here. We must be better than this.”

God of War (2018)

8. Caeser

“Apes together, strong.”

Planet of the Apes (2011)

7. Carl Grimes

“There’s gotta be something after.”

The Walking Dead (2010)

6. Todoroki Touya

“I can tell you’re at a loss for words, so let me spell it out for you: THE PAST NEVER DIES.”

My Hero Academia (2014)

5. Monkey D. Luffy (OPLA)

“I’m a different kind of pirate.”

One Piece (2023)

4. Joel Miller

“You’re right. You’re not my daughter. And I sure as hell ain’t your dad. And we are goin’ our separate ways.”

The Last Of Us (2013)

3. Nico Robin (OPA)

“I WANT TO LIVE!”

One Piece (1999)

2. Zuko

“I’m free to determine my own destiny, even if I’ll never be free from my mark.”

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)

1. Frodo Baggins

“How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand, there is no going back?”

Lord of the Rings (2001)

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

Something something Kaneki was always number 1 for symbolic reasons because he was the character I resonated with most, and now Frodo has taken his place.

Also, redemption arcs/no one is inherently evil my FUCKING beloved (and opla Luffy because oh my god iñaki godoy is prettiest fucking human on this planet)

[shylittlefr0g]

So, a pirate AU about Damianya and the Eden guys.

So, Anya is the captain. She kidnapped Damian and his boat (lives in a boathouse with one room and shit) because the marines are following her.

Something like "wow man, sorry about this, i really need your boat, don't worry, i gonna leave you go in the next island"

"AREN'T YOU THAT GIRL WHO WAS ASKING ME TO JOIN HER PIRATE CREW??? WHERE ARE WE GOING?"

"Ahm... Yah :D, to the North."

"...Wait a minute. *checks his compass* IT'S ON THE OTHER SIDE PRICK-"

And they end in the next island (i dont have a name) where they found Becky, the princess of that island. Anya and her gets along, and in a moment Anya ask her "hey, you wanna be free, don't you? Lets go to the ocean! And turn down this crazy world!"

"...That sounds so fucking gay, im in."

And now you have the principal trio in a ship where with some luck two people entered in.

Emile and Ewen are in the next one, where Damian comes from, Eden.

Donovan and Melinda are important people on that one, with shops and capitalism, and "they" exiled Damian to don't get along with his family interests (like Zuko but less traumatizing, and without a brother who wants to kill him.)

So, in the end, Damian realized he can't get back home, and Anya say to get a bigger boat. And then they stole one from the Desmond Family (with Emile and Ewen help, and they are now in the crew because they are accomplices)

(and of course, Damian and Becky can't get along because they are fighting for Anya's attention.)

[legallyhermione]

Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

Ooooof this is such a hard question!! Thank you for the ask, I love this kinda stuff!!

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here they are!

1. Any of MXTX’s content (I’m counting them as one because I love too many things 😭): For me, these novels and adaptations were my first foray into danmei and Chinese media. I also discovered them at a time when I was questioning my identity and coming to terms with the fact I’m queer (which is…not really accepted in my family). I watched The Untamed first, then read fan translations of the novels before they started being officially translated, and I keep coming back to them because I find them so thought provoking. I like that none of the characters are presented as perfect people; they’re all flawed humans, but we love them anyway.

2. Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty: found family, Sherlock Holmes-like detective skills, spies, political machinations, food as a form of love? What more could I ask for! I just love this show. Haven’t gotten to read the novel it’s based on yet, but I’m hoping to soon!

3. Yuri on Ice: one of the first anime I ever watched, and it’s just so sweet and lovely. Definitely one of my comfort shows! Plus there are some crazy good fics. Still hoping one day we’ll get the movie!

4. Harry Potter: I struggle with this one a lot, because I very much dislike JKR’s transphobic rhetoric. But the fan spaces of Harry Potter provided me with support and escape I needed many times throughout my life, and for that the fandom of Harry Potter will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s been a part of my life nearly as long as I can remember.

5. Thousand Autumns: another one with some very morally grey characters! I love thinking about who and what is right and wrong, and this novel definitely makes you think about it. Lots of political world building as well, which I love.

6. My Cousin Vinny: a fantastic movie that I have many fond memories about. The jokes and digs about the south vs the north in the US always make me laugh, and as someone who has lived many years in both of those areas, those scenes make me giggle.

7. Haikyuu!: another one of my comfort shows! It’s just happy and fun and adorable. I love this one. I watched it sooooo many times during lockdown.

8. BBC Merlin: was morgana my bi awakening? I shan’t tell! Suchhh a good show, I miss it so much. Another fandom that has some incredibleeeee fanfics. Y’all writers are so talented.

9. Our Flag Means Death: I think this was maybe my first piece of media that explicitly included multiple queer characters but the entire storyline wasn’t only about the otherness and pain of being queer (or just a stereotyped role). This show made me feel seen in ways no other media had before. Plus, the show is gay pirates. It doesn’t get much better than that!

10. Avatar the Last Airbender: me and my siblings all loved this show, and we still watch it together often whenever we’re together. It’s so good. Zuko’s character development is still quite possibly the best redemption arc I’ve seen. I love it.

Phew. It was so hard to choose 10! I’m glad you didn’t ask me to pick one because I’m afraid that would’ve been impossible for me! What are your favorites???

💚

[justforbooks]

“I always felt like the kid that sat at the foot of the gods,” said Treat Williams, who has died aged 71 following a road accident. And it is true that the first decade of his movie career was dominated by one high-calibre director after another.

John Sturges put the doughy-faced, darkly handsome actor toe-to-toe with Michael Caine in The Eagle Has Landed (1976), adapted from Jack Higgins’s novel about a plot to kidnap Winston Churchill. Miloš Forman gave Williams his first lead, as the hippie Berger in the screen version (1979) of the 1967 musical Hair. He was an ill-tempered army corporal in Steven Spielberg’s wartime comedy 1941 (also 1979). Sidney Lumet drew on his cocksure swagger and his air of moral ambiguity in Prince of the City (1981), a thriller about police corruption. And Sergio Leone cast him as a union boss in the gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America (1984).

It was Lumet’s film that announced Williams as a formidable talent, with a special aptitude for ensemble playing. He starred as Danny Ciello, a corrupt drugs squad detective who becomes increasingly isolated as he informs on his colleagues in the elite Special Investigations Unit. The character was based on the detective Robert Leuci. Williams lived with Leuci while preparing for the part. He also attended drug busts and hung out with police officers. “By the time we started rehearsals, I was thinking like a cop,” he said.

Janet Maslin in the New York Times commended the “playful, arrogant, effectively brazen quality” of his portrayal. Equally integral is the seam of self-disgust that runs through Ciello, first when he is exploiting his power over drug addicts and dealers, then when he turns on his own kind.

Williams went on to display a menacing eroticism in Smooth Talk (1985), directed by Joyce Chopra and based on Joyce Carol Oates’s 1966 short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? When he turns up in the second half of the film as Arnold Friend, a vision of adult masculine prowess that the teenage protagonist (Laura Dern) seems to have been yearning for, he is simultaneously ridiculous, alluring and intimidating.

Williams was born in Stamford, Connecticut, and raised in nearby Rowayton, the son of Richard, a pharmaceuticals executive, and Marian (nee Andrews), an antiques dealer who also ran a sailing school. He was educated at Kent school, Connecticut, where he first began acting, and at Franklin & Marshall College, Pennsylvania. He studied in New York at the Actors Studio, where his classmates included Mickey Rourke, and was hired as understudy to four parts (including Doody, played on stage by John Travolta) in the Broadway production of Grease. Eventually he took over the lead role of Danny Zuko, which he played for three years.

Having already appeared on stage in the London production of The Ritz, Terrence McNally’s comedy about a hounded businessman hiding out in a gay bath-house, he was then cast in Richard Lester’s 1976 movie version.

Auditioning for the film of Hair was a lengthy and arduous process. During his 12th audition, he recalled: “I started removing all of my clothing. At the end of the monologue, I was standing stark naked in front of them … They applauded, and I told them: ‘This is all that I’ve got, I don’t know what else I can give you.’” It was enough.

Discouraged when Hair, 1941 and the comedy Why Would I Lie? (1980) continued a run of box-office flops, he began an alternative career flying planes in Los Angeles. A call from Lumet, who was looking for an un-starry and largely unknown cast for Prince of the City, put him back on track.

He continued to alternate between film and theatre, following Lumet’s picture by appearing in Ohio in Carlo Goldoni’s farce The Servant of Two Masters and on Broadway taking over from Kevin Kline as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance. On television, he played the boxer Jack Dempsey in the TV movie Dempsey (1983), Stanley Kowalski – opposite Ann-Margret as Stella – in A Streetcar Named Desire (1984), the title role in J. Edgar Hoover (1987) and the super-agent Michael Ovitz, co-founder of CAA, in The Late Shift (1996), for which he was Emmy-nominated.

In Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995), he played a thug working as an undertaker and using corpses as punch-bags. He was also in the noir-ish Mulholland Falls, the superhero adventure The Phantom (both 1996) and the thriller The Devil’s Own (1997), starring Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt.

Better than these were two projects that displayed his versatility: the monster movie Deep Rising (1998), in which he does battle with sharp-fanged sea-serpents, and The Deep End of the Ocean (1999), starring Williams and Michelle Pfeiffer as a couple reunited with their son many years after he was kidnapped.

He starred in Woody Allen’s Hollywood Ending (2002), played James Franco’s father in Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours, and the writer Mark Schorer in Howl (both 2010), which also starred Franco as Allen Ginsberg. He had a recurring role on the series Everwood (2002-06), as a widowed neurosurgeon settling in Colorado with his children, and on the cop drama Blue Bloods (2016-23). He also appeared in many Hallmark channel productions, including the series Chesapeake Shores (2016-22), as well as the Netflix musical Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square (2020).

He is survived by his wife, Pam Van Sant, whom he married in 1988, and their children, Gill and Ellie.

🔔 Richard Treat Williams, actor, born 1 December 1951; died 12 June 2023

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[transboysokka]

Spoiler free episode 5 thoughts but it’s basically just a liveblog now

The Fire nation soldiers should be just a little more red, there’s no reason for this to bother me but it does

Momo is cute af actually

I can’t stop praising Dallas’s Zuko but I especially love that there’s NO way he wasn’t playing him gay like wowww the fruitiness is such a gift

Cool concept change with the Spirit World here

Okay I love how the great divide and the pirates and the fortune teller all canonically happened and we don’t even have to see it lmao

JUNE!!! I forgot how hot Arden Cho is lol

ANOTHER FUCKING GREAT S2 CAMEO

I still don’t get why Azula’s in this season but I do love what they’re doing with her and also like motivations/backstory/trauma just like the others

I’m getting SO sick of Iroh’s voice

FACING TRAUMA YESSSSSS

So they’ve basically combined all this with The Swamp concept. Cool find good for development but I gotta say I’m not a fan of what they did with Sokka here though

The friend Aang meets in the Spirit World is SUCH a cool call it’s so good for him

Aang being TOLD the genocide is not his fault is so important omg

It’s so cool that every Spirit World episode and concept ever has kind of been combined into this. Even some Korra stuff

I didn’t love the last episode but I feel like we’re back on track now